#shakes head wags finger still not forgiving him for whatever he said there Not Cool man

[the-acid-pear]

Honestly I always mostly just think of the [looks at notes] 3 managers Harry was friends with when thinking of what he lost but considering he's that old and has been jumping between franchises so much and also the fact Every Fucking Phoney (save for 3) got scrapped by the time we meet him; how much as this man lost? How many people he cared about has he seen die gruesome deaths again and again? Has he managed to find time to process this to grieve or has he just desensitized himself to the situation entirely? I wonder if some vague memory or reaction from how he dealt w this while in the war is how he keeps it at bay. Though it's rich of me to take his formality at face value when he has shown to not be a stranger to strong emotional reactions. Much to think about!

#luly talks #dsaf #harry Fitzgerald #dsaf harry #the last comment refers to him mentioning having mental breakdowns while on the clock ⌚ when you say you're having one in da bathroom #i dont recall the exact quote #also that. uh. tje review. funny for once im referencing that in an air of pity and not judgement #shakes head wags finger still not forgiving him for whatever he said there Not Cool man #but uh. yeah like #really think of him as the veteran stereotype just fully scheduled day to keep the demons at bay #also bc his job Forces him into this position which like #he . is one of the best phone guys for that reason #he accepted his role as a sort of machine even if reluctantly (''i think this is partially what lincoln fought for'') #yes sorry for remembering thr most oddly specific lines from this game they're running gags w my ex that's why #usually. #but like in that big post i wrote along that other person analyzing harry he is just. such a soldier #THAT'S AN INSULT. BTW. #queueing this for 12:08 pm #but writing it at 12:40 am #I'm on a roll tonite. but hit post limit ☹️

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch7: Ordinary People

Chapter Summary: Frank faces the aftermath of his dumbass choice whilst Mary heads to Boston for a few days. When the court case starts, emotions are running high and Frank finally confesses his feelings to Fliss.

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. Flashback at the start involving domestic violence.

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: Contains SPOILERS for the film!!!!! If you haven’t seen it please be aware of that before you read on. As a Lawyer I know how long the types of cases depicted in GIFTED can take, however they can also be done pretty fast. With that in mind, and because it fits with how I want the story to go I’m spreading it over approximately 6 weeks or so, so just roll with me!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 6

"I saw you...he had his hands all over you."

"John, I didn't want him too...he was drunk, just being over friendly..."

Fliss cowered as a sneer crossed her husband's face, the features she found so handsome once upon a time were distorted in anger, his dark green eyes clouded with rage as he towered over where she sat on the crouch. In a flash he had reached out and grabbed a fist full of her hair, yanking her to her feet. Fliss gave a cry of pain, stumbling after him as he dragged her up the stairs. She tripped at one point, her hip colliding painfully with one of the steps but he paid it no attention.

No mercy.

"You're mine, Sugar.” He said, his voice steely. “You know that."

"I know," she sobbed as he threw her into the bedroom where she scrambled for purchase on the bed as he pushed her so hard she fell face down. Before Fliss could raise herself, John had grabbed the back of her neck and pushed her face harshly into the pillows.

"Why do you make me do this, Felicity?" He asked, releasing his hold as his thighs bracketed hers. Fliss heard the tell-tale clinking of his belt and she gave another sob, knowing full well what was coming. He roughly pushed her dress up over her hips, leaving her underwear clad ass exposed.

And then the leather stuck her. Again. And again. And again.

"I'll mark you so hard no one else will ever want you," he snarled as he continued his assault ignoring her screams of pain and pleas for him to leave her alone. “You’re mine..." Fliss sat bolt upright, gasping as she glanced around her bedroom. She was shaking violently, the dream had been so real, so vivid, she could almost physically feel the pain. John had belted her so badly that night she hadn't been able to ride for a week, and she still bore the marks where the buckle had ripped through her skin.

The worst thing was, that after he had finished, he had held her, stroking her hair, soothing her, explaining why he had to punish her so much. It was sick, twisted. Just like him. "He’s gone, he was to blame. I’m strong, not weak, I’m strong, not weak." she repeated her mantra through gritted teeth. Thor, hearing her breathing deeply and her trembling voice, jumped up onto her bed and shoved his head under her arm as she hugged her kneed tightly. Looking down at her faithful dog, she buried her face into his fur, holding him tight as she ran through her calming thoughts in her head. The sound of the ocean, the wind in her hair as she galloped on the beach, the soft and gentle hugs she received from her dad, her mum...and dare she even think it, Frank. And then another image filled her head. The sight of him kissing Bonnie at the bar.

“Wanker.” She muttered, wiping the tears from her face as Thor licked her cheek, his tail wagging as she stroked him. With a few more deep intakes of air, her breathing evened out and she gave Thor a final squeeze before she pushed the duvet down and swung her legs out of the bed and headed to the bathroom.

***** Frank had also woken up to a nightmare. His head was pounding from the shots he’d downed at the bar and being jerked awake by Bonnie’s screams as Mary had turned up in the apartment earlier than she was allowed on a Saturday hadn’t exactly helped the situation. He had fucked Mary’s school teacher for no reason other than the fact he was drunk, stressed and needed a release.

Well played, Adler, you fucking moron.

Thankfully, Bonnie seemed to be in the same place as him about the entire situation, hastily telling him that it should never have happened, something he profoundly agreed with, as he saw her out to a cab, apologising for Mary’s interruption, literally incapable of thinking of anything else to say. It was the most awkward morning after he had ever experienced in his life.

And there was something else compounding his growing bad mood. When he had finally checked his phone as he stood outside for a few moments after Bonnie had gone, hoping the fresh air would sort his head out, he realised he had a number of messages and missed calls from Fliss. Groaning he remembered that he should have called her after the court case but had completely forgotten. Firing her a quick apology, along with a promise to talk to her later when it was time for Mary’s lesson, before he headed back inside.

Mary was sat on the rug with her lego, pieces scattered all over, Ice Age playing on the TV.

“Awkward…” she sing songed

“Mary.” Frank looked at her for a moment and when she didn’t look at him he crouched down “Stop! Stop! Stop with the Legos. Listen.” he took a breath and she looked at him “Do we have a rule about Saturday morning?”

“What?” she asked softly

“Are you allowed in this apartment this early on Saturday morning?” Frank pressed, looking at her.

“No.” Mary sighed, averting her eyes from his.

“No!” Frank nodded, his voice a little louder before he paused again “Are you allowed to... hey!” he reached out to stop Mary as she returned to her Toys. “Stop! Enough with the Lego. Are you allowed to use Roberta's keys?”

“No.” she still wasn’t looking at him.

“No! So, hey! Look at me. Then why are you here? Huh? Can you answer me that?”

Mary’s eyes filled with tears but Frank was too angry at the fact she had disobeyed him to comfort her.

“You broke every rule! You just embarrassed me. We have these rules.” He angrily stood up, turning to head back out of the door into the kitchen “We've gone over them a hundred times!” And then, when he stepped on a piece of Lego in his bare feet, his frustration boiled over as he hopped on one leg, clutching the side of the dresser which was pushed flush against the wall.

“Shit…God, damned it…” He yelled as he slapped the side of the dresser, leaning against it, bending down to rub his foot. “Can I just get five minutes of my own life?”

At that Mary jumped up and bolted into his bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Frank stood up, before he sighed, one hand on his hip, his eyes closed. He’d overreacted, he knew that. He was more pissed at himself for being an idiot than he was at Mary. He ran his hand over his face and glanced at the clock. Mary’s riding lesson was at two and it was now just pushing ten-thirty. Deciding to leave Mary to cool down before he made breakfast, he headed into the kitchen to clear up yesterday’s dishes.

He heard the door to his room click open about twenty minutes later. Giving her another ten he wiped the counter down before he made his way back into the main room and sat on the edge of her bed, where she was snuggled down in her alcove which sported a collection of shells they had stuck to the wood panels and a few photos, one of her mom, one of her and Frank and one of her and Fliss with Monty. She was huddled in the corner, Fred laying on her knee, the laptop resting on his back as she tapped away.

“Nothing that happened today was your fault.” Frank spoke gently and looked at her “I got mad at you...I was really mad at me,” he looked at her and she continued to ignore him, “and the manufacturers of Legos. They should all be in prison. So I'm sorry.” he said gently. She paused tapping but still didn’t look at him. “Do you forgive me?”

“Sure. Whatever.” she mumbled.

“Hey, close the laptop. Come on. Please.” He watched her as she avoided looking at him. “Doesn't count if it's not eye to eye.”

She hesitated so he asked again, gently. “Come on, please.”

With a sigh she did was she was told and looked at him. Her eyes, so like Diane’s, were full of sadness and Frank felt his gut twist in guilt.

“Do you really have no life because of me?” she whispered, her eyes shining with tears and Frank cursed himself for his outburst before.

He shook his head. “That's not what I said.” he looked at her.

“Did you mean it?” she pressed, not buying his statement for one minute, her voice soft.

“Last week you said I was the worst Uncle in the world, and you wished death upon me ‘cause I didn't buy you a piano.” Frank held her gaze. “Did you mean that?”

“No” Mary replied, her fingers tangling in Fred’s fur “Not entirely.”

“Well,” Frank said, not bothering to ask which bit she had actually meant. “There you go. We say things all the time we don't mean. So let's forget it, okay?”

“Okay” Mary agreed

“Okay.” Frank nodded, standing up

“Frank?” she called as he headed towards the door to head down and check the mail. He stopped and turned back, even though he couldn’t see her.

“Yeah?”

“Can I have a piano?”

“No.” he deadpanned, turning for the door.

He strode down across the lawn to the mail boxes, unlocked his and pulled out two letters. One looked like a bill, the other was in a manila coloured envelope, and was stamped with some kind of official seal.

“Was that really Mary's teacher this morning?” Roberta appeared. He glanced at her and returned to his post “And there was me thinking Fliss would stop you doing anything stupid.”

Frank’s head shot up “Fliss?” he frowned “What are you talking about?”

“She came here last night, to see you. Mary roped her into Karaoke before she left and said she was going to come and find you at Fergs”

Frank frowned. “Well she didn’t. I never saw her last night so she-”

Oh,fuck fuck fuck!

He trailed off with a groan as he realised that she had probably seen him with Bonnie and then felt a stinging slap round the back of his head.

“Shit!” He exclaimed, glaring at Roberta “Jesus, that fucking hurt!”

“Good.” she stared at him. “You know I have a book called ‘Fundamentals of Decision Making’. You can borrow it.”

He glared at her, he didn’t need this. Not now. His attention turned back to the letter and he noticed the seal was from the court house. With a frown he opened it. The header- ‘Highsmith, Kistler & Sellers Attorneys at Law’ -greeted him and he started to read. It was an order for him to surrender Mary for two days into Evelyn’s care, at a time and date to be agreed. It wasn’t unexpected but it was pretty fast considering it had only been agreed yesterday. His mother really wasn’t wasting any time.

“What is it?”  Roberta asked, noticing the frown on his face

“Its nothing.” he said, leaning on the post box, still reading the letter. “Looks like Mary gets to go to Boston for a couple days.” He noticed Roberta stiffen and he looked at her. “It's just two days. Relax.” he said gently.

Because he was always honest with Mary, he sat down once he was back inside and told her about the letter. She knew there was a court case going on, he had explained it all to her as best as he could so as not to cause her any worry. She soaked up the information and shrugged before saying that going to Boston sounded kinda cool. Frank simply nodded and said that he would sort out the dates on Monday. They ate a late breakfast-slash-early lunch and once Mary was changed and ready, they headed up to the riding school.

As Frank drove there his stomach was doing flips, the nerves at seeing Fliss were overwhelming, more so because he had no idea what he was going to say to her. It was strange, he felt guilty about the fact he’d slept with Bonnie, even though he had no real reason to. It wasn’t like he and Fliss were an item.

Fliss greeted Mary with the usual warmth before she turned her gaze to Frank, and he could see the hurt in her eyes, compounding that guilty feeling even more.

“Sorry I didn’t call you last night.” he offered and she shrugged.

“It’s okay, I know you were busy.” her voice carried no sarcasm, it was measured and cool but Frank knew she was referring to Bonnie, his suspicions confirmed. She turned away, barking an instruction to Joanne who looked at her, nodding.

Frank leaned on the paddock fence as he always did, a little way from the other parents and watched as Fliss taught the three girls, that gorgeous smile on her face. Mary was certainly getting the hang of it now and was able to trot around unaided. After about forty minutes they were done and heading out of the paddock. Fliss made no attempt to come and speak to him, like normal, and made straight for her office. Casting an eye on Mary who was leading Monty back to the stable he followed Fliss.

“I take it you’re mad at me.” he spoke tentatively.

“Why would I be mad at you?” she asked, pulling three cartons of apple juice out of the fridge for the kids.

“Because you saw me last night with Bonnie.” he pressed.

He saw her stiffen slightly before she took a breath and turned round.

“I’m not mad.” she shrugged.

“Could have fooled me.”

“I just, well I think you could have considered Mary a little more, that’s all.” “What does that mean?” he frowned.

“You know damned well what it means.” she looked at him “Mary told me before when we were tacking the ponies up that she saw Bonnie this morning, wrapped in one of your sheets. I mean, Jesus Frank that’s her teacher. Can you imagine how awkward its gonna be if any of the kids find out that you’re fucking her?” “Ok, I’m not fucking her.” Frank held his hand out to stop her.

“So what were you doing last night then?” Fliss hissed, “Playing scrabble?”

“Hang on, are we really arguing about this?” Frank looked at her, frowning. “Why? Why do you even care?”

He paused, looking at her. Her eyes locked onto his and she swallowed, and for a moment he hoped she was going to tell him what he wanted to hear but she shook her head and shrugged.

“You know what, you’re right. What, or who you do in your spare time is your business, not mine.”

With that she pushed past him and headed out into the yard. Frank let out another sigh before he headed out to collect Mary.

******

Fliss made no attempts to speak to Frank over the next few days. He messaged her to tell her about Mary heading to Boston at the end of the week and she replied politely, telling him that she was sure it would all work out, but beyond that she didn’t reach out further. However, she did call to wish Mary a safe trip to on the Thursday morning just before Evelyn arrived to pick her up, and told her she wanted to hear all about it when she came home on Saturday afternoon. By the time Frank got the phone back, Fliss had hung up.

“Frank she likes you. “ Roberta said when she popped over to wish Mary goodbye. Mary wasted no time in informing her that the reason Frank was in a bad mood wasn’t just because she was going to Boston, but also because Fliss was angry at him. Of course she had noticed, because she noticed everything. “She’s hurt and it’s yo’ own dumbass fault.”

Yeah, yeah he got that.

With Mary gone, he decided that night to take a cool box of beer down to the harbour and work late. He was in the middle of pulling a gear box apart when his phone went. It was a message from Bonnie asking if she could meet him to talk. Which was how he found himself sat on the deck of the boat, her opposite him, both wrapped in blankets and clutching bottles of Bud.

“I have had a series of nightmares, where I'm fired because of what happened. You get it?” Bonnie shook her head, rolling her eyes. Frank smiled at her as she laughed “And then I remind myself, that everything that happened, was just all the alcohol and people do far worse right?”

At that Frank laughed. “Yeah we were pretty drunk.”

Truth be told whilst he did think Bonnie was attractive, there was nothing there, and that was compounded by the fact that as he sat, looking at her, he felt no urges at all. She was simply another one of his Friday night hook ups, only this had turned out to be slightly more complicated.

Yeah, he should definitely borrow that book from Roberta

“So I guess, what I came here to say,” Bonnie sighed, “I think you’re a great guy Frank, and I’ve got your back on this damned custody case but, me and you…it just…” “Oh, absolutely, I’m with you.” Frank hastily agreed, thanking the Gods she’d brought it up before he had to. “It was a mistake.” Bonnie arched an eyebrow and he groaned. “Shit, I don’t mean that how it sounds but, well, it was, wasn’t it?”

She smiled and nodded, cocking her head to one side as she surveyed him. “I do think you need to speak to Fliss though.”

“Fliss?” Frank frowned, “What’s she got to do with this?”

You like her." Bonnie said simply.

Frank paused before he shook his head, smiling. “Is it that obvious?" "Well, if it wasn’t evident from the way you talk about her, the fact you called me by her name twice last night is most definitely a giveaway." Oh Jesus. Ground please open... "I called you by her name? When we- " he grimaced and she chuckled, raising her eyebrows "Oh God. Bonnie, I'm so sorry." He groaned and ran his hands over his face.

“Like we said, mistake.” Bonnie smiled, “Especially when you’re clearly hung up on another girl. “ "Yeah well, I think I've kinda blown it. Story of my life." Frank sighed taking a pull from his bottle.

“Blown it?”

“Yeah she's pretty pissed. She saw us in the bar and has hardly spoken a word to me since”

"And you’re giving up that easily?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t even know if she likes me in that way so…” He shrugged and Bonnie leaned forward slightly.

“If she’s that pissed at you over the fact that you hooked up with someone else then she absolutely feels something for you Frank." Bonnie smiled softly. “And it would be a shame to let something as stupid as a one night stand screw it all up for you.”

Frank looked at her for another moment or two before he finished his beer and offered Bonnie another one which she accepted and then asked him about the court case. Frank filled Bonnie in on the running order for the testimonies which would start on Tuesday before she bid him goodnight and left. He contemplated messaging Fliss once she was gone but decided against it. He would give her a few days to calm down, and give himself some time to figure out what the fuck he was going to say.

***** It was Saturday afternoon when Frank reached out.

Fliss was busy on a lesson when her phone went. Taking a quick minute to look at it, she read the message from Frank asking if it was ok if they swung by as Mary was home. With a deep breath she replied telling him it was fine, before she turned back to her client who was one of the boarders on the yard.

She had just about finished some thirty minutes or so later when she heard Mary calling her name. She turned and gave her a smile and a wave. Once she had finished with her client and taken payment, she turned to Mary and gave the girl a hug.

“Hey!” she beamed as Mary hugged her tight. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too!” Mary beamed “And so has Frank.”

“That so?” Fliss stood up straight and looked at him. He took a deep breath and shrugged, but the little smile on his face told Fliss that Mary had completely and utterly busted him. She rolled her eyes and then gave him a little smile of her own. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, sounds great.” He nodded, gratefully taking the olive branch she had offered.

They made their way into the office and Fliss moved to the small kitchenette area at the back, filling the coffee machine before she turned to Mary, leaning against the counter.

“So, tell me all about Boston.” Mary began to gush about all the things she had done, Fliss listening and asking questions as she made her and Frank a coffee. He took his with a thanks whilst Mary told Fliss how she had looked at some photos, learned more about her mom and then done some complicated Maths for a professor at a University. At that Fliss noticed Frank stiffen slightly and she looked at him, gently shaking her head. He smiled tightly and turned to look out over the yard, taking a few steps outside.

“And she has a piano.” Mary finished, “I mean I didn’t get to play it but…”

“You should come over to my mum’s.” Fliss smiled “She’ll let you play hers. That’s what she used to do, teach people music.”

Mary smiled, before she looked over at Frank who was stood watching a few people riding in the paddock, the lessons for the day having concluded which meant the boarders were free to do what they wanted.

“Are you still mad at Frank?” Mary looked at Fliss.

“Not really.” Fliss shook her head “I got a little bit cross but…” “Yeah, he can make me cross too.” Mary said wisely “He does dumb stuff sometimes.”

Fliss laughed and studied the young girl. “Yeah, you got that right.” “But he’s a good person.” Mary concluded.

“I know.” Fliss agreed, her eyes flicking to him before she looked back at Mary.

“I don’t want to live with Evelyn.” Mary shrugged “I mean she was nice and looks like my mom but…she’s bossy.” Fliss smiled.

“I want to stay with Frank.” Mary continued. “Because I know he loves me. And he did before he found out I was smart.”

Fliss felt a lump in her throat at the girl’s confession. She glanced over at Frank again who ran a hand over his face, rubbing at his eyes underneath his shades.

“Hey, Mary, why don’t you go say hi to Monty.” she said gently. “Tell Joanne I said you could help with the feeds.” “Yesss.” Mary cheered, scooting off her chair and shooting across the yard. Fliss saw Frank follow her with her eyes before he turned to her as she walked over to him.

“How you holding up?” she asked him gently.

“Apart from screwing up my life, I’m good.” Frank snorted, taking off his glasses and tucking them into the collar of his t-shirt. “Just hope I’m not screwing hers up as well.”

“Don’t’ say that.” Fliss shook her head “You know that’s not true. Mary’s fine.”

There was a pause before Frank took a deep breath and looked at Fliss. “I hate that we haven’t been talking. It’s been kinda lonely.”

“I thought you and Bonnie might have, ” she trailed off, shrugging, “gone out or something, I don’t know.”

Frank sighed “I’ve only seen her once since. And that was so we could have a straight up conversation about how what happened was a mistake”

“A mistake?” Fliss raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Frank nodded. “And as far as mistakes go, that one was pretty spectacular.”

“And you actually said that to her?”

He nodded.

“Wow.” Fliss snorted.

“She agreed so we’re both going to try and forget it ever happened.” Frank shrugged and he Fliss’ gaze for a second before he took a deep breath “Is that why you’ve been ignoring me?” he pressed “Because you thought me and Bonnie, were, like together?”

Fliss swallowed and looked away, trying to think of something to say that didn’t give her feelings away. He’d hit the nail on the head. She had thought that, and more over she was jealous so had distanced herself on purpose.

“I just,” she looked back at him, “well, I suppose I didn’t want to step on any toes, so to speak, that’s all.”

“There’s none to step on, trust me.” Frank looked at her. “I don’t feel that way. Not towards Bonnie.”

Fliss looked at him, feeling her cheeks growing warm before she turned away and quickly changed the subject. “So err, anyway, she seems to have enjoyed Boston.”

Frank let out a large breath at the fact that Fliss had effectively withdrawn back from what he had felt had been the edge of a breakthrough there for the pair of them but, well, he had no right to be annoyed, especially after everything he’d done. “Yeah.” He nodded with a little smile.

“So what’s next?” she asked.

“Well she has a court interview with the Child Welfare department or whatever they’re called on Monday.”

“Sure it’ll be fine.” Fliss replied “It’s not like she’s treated badly or her welfare is an issue, Frank.”

“And the hearing starts in full on Tuesday.” He explained “They’re opening with a bang.” At his words Fliss frowned as he turned to face her. “Mary’s biological father has apparently signed an affidavit, nominating my mother as Mary’s legal guardian.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Fliss hissed, suddenly seething with anger as Frank shook his head “That’s a real shitty trick.”

“Yep” Frank agreed.

“Does Mary know?”

“No. I’ll have to tell her though, otherwise Evelyn will no doubt.”

“Your mother gets access to her again?”

“Whilst this is going on she gets visitation rights so…” Frank shrugged, and Fliss couldn’t help but notice his despondent nature.

“So when you gonna tell her?”

“Tuesday night, after it’s done. I don’t want her worrying or knowing he’s in town because if she knows and he doesn’t ask to see her, well at least once he’s gone then…” he bit his lip. “She’s gonna be upset either way but, what else can I do?”

“Nothing, just what you think is best.”  Fliss said gently “I told you before that’s all you can do Frank.” He looked at her and she sighed, opening her arms and he gladly stepped towards her, wrapping her up in a hug.

******

Tuesday rolled around far too quickly for Frank’s liking. The interviews on Monday went fairly smoothly, he had a little bit of a questioning over his TV choices for Mary but other than that he’d left that session feeling pretty okay about it.

And then he’d walked into court, seen his mother and the snivelling little shit that was now being questioned by his Mother’s Lawyer.

“Mr. Polland, are you the natural father of Mary Adler?”

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

Frank sat still, glaring at the ass hole sat in the dock.

“And how you can be certain of this?

“Well, I always knew, but then you had me take a DNA test.”

Course they did…

I would offer the test results as result of evidence of that Mr. Polland is the father and natural guardian of the minor. As well as an affidavit from Mr. Polland nominating Mrs. Adler the maternal grandmother as the legal guardian of the minor.”

Frank sat up slightly, his jaw clenching. This ass hole had no right to decide what was best for Mary, he’d never fucking met her. Greg touched his arm, shaking his head, telling him to keep quiet.

“No objections.” Greg spoke.

“Mr. Polland has Mrs. Adler offered you any monetary reward or employment for coming forward today?” Evelyn’s attorney continued.

No, sir. I have a job of my own.”

Frank suppressed a snort. Bullshit she hasn’t paid you.

“Thank you. No further questions, your Honour.”

Greg then stood up and waited a second before he opened his cross examination “Mr. Polland when was the last time you saw Mary?”

“I've never seen her.” Polland shifted slightly and Frank watched him intently.

“Why not?”

“By the time I heard about Diane…passing the baby was gone already.”

Her name is Mary, ass hole. Frank took a deep breath.

“Well, did you try and find her?” Greg pressed.

“Best I could. I couldn't just go and search the entire country.” Polland shook his head, trying to make a joke out of it. Frank was pleased to see the judge wasn’t laughing.

Greg nodded and paused again, before suddenly asking “Do you use a computer at work?”

“Sure.” Polland replied

“You know what? Help me out.” Cullen turned and grabbed his laptop “Let's google ‘Mary Adler’ and see what we find.” he placed the laptop on the dock and turned it towards Polland. He hesitated for a while and looked at the Judge who gestured with his hand, instructing him to do as he was told. Polland began to tap when Greg spoke again “You know what? You better add her middle name.”

Frank watched as Polland stopped, because of course he had no idea what her midde name was.

“It'll narrow it down. Eileen” Cullen informed him. Polland looked up and caught Frank’s eye, his face sheepish. Frank kept his face straight, his chin resting on his hand, fingers making an L-shape round his jaw as Polland looked away and began to tap.

“Yeah, Hit enter.” Greg nodded. “Okay, now head to page two…second hit. Would you please tell the court what you see there?”

Polland hesitated “It's a newspaper article called ‘Not so terrible twos’”

“And one of them is Mary Eileen Adler.”  Greg nodded “Same name as your daughter. Born on the same day as your daughter. With a photograph”

Polland looked at him.

“In your defence, you'd never recognize it…”

“Your Honour, this is...” Evelyn’s attorney stood up but Cullen was quick to cut him off

“Your Honour, if there's one thing here that's sadly obvious it's that Mr. Polland has never been a genuine guardian of the minor and his nomination of Mrs. Adler is no less disingenuous.” he looked at the Judge.

Frank shifted slightly as Judge Nicholls looked at Polland, then to Evelyn, then to him before he turned glanced at the notes in front of him.

“While the state of Florida gives deference to nomination by natural parent, I'm inclined to side with Mr. Cullen's laptop at this time.” he said, nodding at Cullen, effectively dismissing the affidavit. Frank allowed himself a relieved smile as Cullen nodded.

“Thank you, your Honor”

Once court was adjourned for the day, Frank obligingly walked his mother to her car when she asked him to. And as they walked, she told him about his step father Walter. Frank had found it odd how he wasn’t featuring in any of this, but his silent question was answered as Evelyn told him he moved out and bought a ranch in Montana.

“Bullshit.” Frank exclaimed as they walked in the sun, his suit jacket handing over his arm.

“Exactly. A man whose idea of roughing it is being too far from the ice machine at the Ritz Carlton now owns a thousand acres of grass and dung.”

“Walter Price is a cowboy.” Frank smiled, shaking his head, making a mental not to tell Fliss later. “Walter Price puts on a Brooke's brother suit to take out the garbage!”

“Well, now he has a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and a horse that doesn't know dressage.” Evelyn shook her head.

“Is there some logical reason for this?” Frank asked.

“Midlife crisis, apparently.”

“He's seventy.” Frank scoffed

“I know. Must have been on time delay or something. I guess I should be happy it wasn't a twent-five year old cocktail waitress. But then again an affair you can explain to friends in a minute. For this, you put on a pot of coffee.”

“And he's out there right now?”

“Yessiree!” Evelyn imitated a Western accent. “Riding the range!”

Frank lost himself for a moment as he and his mother joked, mocking exactly what his Step Father would look like. He hated to admit it, but at times like this he was reminded how similar he was to his mother. Same dry sense of humour, no nonsense nature…

“The fastest asset management in the West.” he snorted and Evelyn smiled.

“The man who shot Liberty Mutual. That's what I've been calling him” she said as they stopped at her car.

“That's really, really funny.” Frank chuckled, and then sighed as his mother opened the car door. He leaned down and spoke to the driver. “Take her to the airport.” he said, straightening up. “Go home, Evelyn. Or Montana. Rustle some cattle.” he said gently.

“You know I have no desire to hurt you. I hate it that we're at odds.”

And then, he was also reminded just how different they were too.

“We're always at odds.” he shrugged.

“Yes.” She said, almost sadly before she climbed in the car. “Hotel.” she instructed her driver, closing the door.

**** As anticipated, when he broke the news to Mary about her father, she had a meltdown and locked herself in the bathroom. No amount of coaxing from him or Roberta would draw her out. She was sobbing about how her dad didn’t want her…and then Frank was struck with an idea and he pulled out his phone to call in reinforcement which arrived in the shape of Fliss some twenty minutes later.

“I still can’t believe that wank stain was even given the time of day.” Fliss seethed as Frank greeted her outside. “I mean…”

“It’s done, his claim was thrown out but...”Frank nodded to where Roberta was stood outside locked bathroom door.

“Why you had to tell her that waste of oxygen was testifying I’ve no idea.” the woman shot him a look.

“Because it's the truth. And if I didn't, Evelyn would've.” Frank reasoned.

“If I was the dad of a little girl and I never saw her and I was in the same town. I would visit her.” Fliss heard Mary’s crying and Frank saw her face scrunch up in sympathy. “He didn't even need directions. He could've followed you here.”

“Ok, Roberta, can you…” Fliss asked gently. Roberta stood to the side and Fliss spoked to the door. “Mary, sweetheart, it’s me.”

“Lissy?” Mary sniffled.

“The one and only.” Fliss smiled, before she sighed “You know what, you’re right. He could have come to see you. But he didn’t. And that sucks, but it has nothing to do with you.”

“He doesn't even wanna see what I look like.” The girl sobbed again.

“You know I never met my dad either.” Fliss said gently “He abandoned my mum before I was born, made no attempt to see me at all, and then he was killed when I was 4 months old. He died without ever seeing my face. And you know what?”

“What?” Mary sniffed.

“That was his loss.” Fliss continued. “And then my mom met Bill when I was two, and he’s been my dad ever since. He looked after me and loved me, just like Frank does for you.” Fliss glanced at him and he dropped his hand from where it had been cupping his chin, folding his arms round his chest as he shot her a small smile. “Like we all do Mary, you’re so loved. By Frank, Roberta, me…” Fliss continued, “Now come on, open the door.”

There was a pause and they heard a rustle, before the lock on the door clicked and it opened. Mary stood in the doorway, her eyes red and wet from tears before she gave another sob and threw herself at Fliss. Fliss crouched down on one knee and held her back, gently rocking her and Frank felt his chest tighten at the display of affection.

And then he had an idea.

He crouched next to them, his hand gently reaching out to brush Mary’s hair back as she turned her head which was on Fliss’ shoulder to look at him.

“Put your shoes on. We're going for a ride.” he said to her softly. Then he turned to Fliss “You too, that is if you want to.”

“Sure.” she nodded.

“Roberta?” Frank looked at her, and she shook her head.

“Your truck only got three seats.” “We can take mine.” Fliss offered as Mary gently released her.

“No, I think you two got this.” she said, with a knowing smile.

*******

“What are we doing here?” Mary asked as they sat on the seats in the waiting room and Fliss found herself wondering the same thing. She hadn’t questioned Frank, he obviously had something up his sleeve.

“Waiting.”

“We can see that.” Fliss replied playfully, and he looked at her, rolling his eyes as Mary continued.

“Why?”

“Because I said so.” he shrugged, returning to the National Geographic magazine he was flicking through.

“How long do we have to stay here?”

“As long as it takes. And keep your voice down. It's a hospital.”

As long as it takes turned out to be an hour and a half. Through which time Mary had groaned, moaned, used Frank’s legs as a climbing frame, which Fliss noticed he had expertly ignored simply slouching in his seat, legs apart as Mary draped herself over them. Eventually she had curled up next to Fliss and laid her head on her lap, dozing off.

Fliss was busy reading something on her emails when she heard a bit of a commotion and the group at the other side of the waiting room all stood up. Frank’s eyes flew to them and then he gently gave Fliss a smile before he nudged Mary awake.

She blinked and watched as a man walked into the waiting room dressed in scrubs, a huge smile on his face.

“It's a boy.” he announced and the group erupted into cheers. Fliss glanced down at Mary who was watching in awe as everyone started to congratulate the man, all crying, sobbing with happiness, cheering, praising the lord.

“That's exactly how it was when you were born.” Frank spoke softly and Fliss then understood. He was showing Mary that she was loved, that she was wanted.

“This happy?” Mary asked

“This happy.” Frank confirmed.

“Who came out and told everybody?” she asked, and Frank leaned over gently brushing her hair behind her ear.

“I did.”

The emotion of the moment got to Fliss and her eyes watered. Frank raised his head and they shared a look as he smiled and she smiled back before Mary piped up.

“Can we stay for another?”

So they did, and when the next family all celebrated Mary jumped up, heading over to the group. They all smiled at her as she was swept into their celebrations. Fliss reached over and gently took Frank’s hand, giving his fingers a squeeze, a gesture he returned until Mary came back and pulled Fliss over to the group with her. Frank leaned back and watched as Fliss simply smiled and wiped her eyes as she congratulated the family and he let out a sigh, swallowing slightly, lost in his thoughts.

Eventually the family all dispersed to go and see their new arrival and he told Mary that it was too late to stay for another. She fell asleep on the way home against Fliss and when they got home it was a careful manoeuvre to get her out of the car without waking her up. He gently placed her in bed before he walked Fliss down to her car.

“Thank you.” he broke the silence.  “You were amazing before. You’re just amazing full stop.” he said, trailing off.

She blushed slightly and tucked her hair behind her ears.

“I mean it Lissy…” he sighed, “You just…”

He hesitated for a second before he reached out and gently placed his hand on her hip, pulling her softly towards him

“Frank.” she protested softly as his face dropped towards hers, her hands gently on his chest keeping him away from her “Look, I, ”

“I’m sorry.” he swallowed, his head dropping as he sighed at her rejection “You don’t have to explain.”

“It’s not even three weeks ago you were in bed with another woman.” she looked at him and he grimaced, pulling away.

“I know and I really wish that hadn’t happened” he sighed, the hand that had been on her hip moved and ran through his hair “My head was fucked and…”

“How do I know it isn’t now?”  Fliss looked at him “How do I, or you for that matter, know that this…” she gestured between them with her hand “…isn’t just an emotional response to what’s going on as well?”

“Because it’s not.” he shook his head, his eyes not leaving hers as he drove his message home “I care about you Fliss, more than just as friends, and I’m kicking myself now because what I did means you don’t believe me.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you.” she took deep breath, as she looked down at her hands, the fingers of her right hand fiddling with her left. “And it’s not that I don’t feel the same.” She looked up at him, her voice quiet.

At her words a soft smile formed on his face as she continued to talk.

“But right now, you need to concentrate on Mary, and getting through this week.”

He nodded, swallowing “Yeah, I know, you’re right.”

She smiled, and reached up, taking his face in her soft hands. “But I promise you I’m not going anywhere.” her eyes locked onto his “And whatever this is,” she gestured between them once more, “if it’s right, then it’ll still be there when this is all over.”

She stood on her tip toes to place a gentle kiss to side of his mouth and he leaned down, pressing  his forehead against hers, his eyes closed as he swallowed. They stayed like that for a moment until Fliss backed away gently, squeezing his hand.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” he frowned

“Yeah, the Wicked Witch of The West is testifying is she not?”

Frank gave a huff of a laugh “Yeah she is.” “Like I said, you’re not alone. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He watched her climb in her car and waited until the tail lights had disappeared before he turned and headed inside. Finally all the cards were on the table, and it hadn’t been a rejection, quite the opposite actually.

For the first time in days, Frank slept soundly that night.

**** Chapter 8

#riding high #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #gifted #gifted fan fic

[solohux]

Hey, prompts are still open! And I just got this quick idea. Hux is a house fox, domesticated and rather pampered. Kylo, on the other hand, is as feral as feral can be but he just loves to stare at Hux from the forest line. The, rather red, fox loves to sit on the window sill and sun bathe and just love to watch this feral black fox from his pillowed sill. Hux is never let out but when his owner leaves one day, nothing is stopping Hux from meeting his beloved admirer.

Of course, one meeting leads to two, then three...and then a few pups, much to the owners chagrin.

what is meant to be a drabble has turned into 1.8k. enjoy!

Armitage has been waiting for this day for a while now. His owners, are having a overnight date night tonight, leaving the pampered pet fox alone in their countryside mansion for the day, free to do whatever he wants without their gaze.

Today, Armitage is going to see the black fox. A neko like Armitage, the fox has long, dark hair and two furry ears that sit atop his head, and bushy black tail with a white tip. He appeared last summer on the very edge of the forest that backs onto the Hux’s family home, staring up at the window where Armitage spends most of his day. The windowsill of one of the mansion’s many studies—on the second floor—gives Armitage a grand view of the woodland and beyond, and he loves nothing more than lying in his heated bed amongst a plethora of plump pillows and napping the day away. He’d spotted movement in the garden below one early morning and looked down to find a handsome black fox

So feral and rugged, Armitage had fallen in love almost immediately. He’s never even met another fox like him before, though neighbours had brought their excitable puppy—Poe—around for a visit one day and Armitage had screamed bloody murder at the pup. He didn’t like others in his territory but nothing unwanted had stirred in him when he set his eyes on the black fox in the garden, watching him prowl around before going back to the forest.

The black fox has been back to visit Armitage and stare up at him every day ever since.

The day has finally arrived that Armitage can sneak out without repercussions. Madame is fussing over him as she usually does, stroking through his soft, copper-coloured hair and making sure the red bow around his neck is still as perfect as it should be. Armitage almost purrs at her touch, always loving how much his owner spoils him.

“Honey, we have to go,” Sir says, tapping his foot at the door. “The car is waiting.”

“I just hate leaving him,” Madame says, fixing his blankets and pillows to make sure that her pet is comfy.

“He’ll be fine. It’s only for one night.”

“We’ve left you plenty of food, dear Armie,” she says, combing her fingers down his spin and to his fluffy tail. “And we’ve even left the television on the cooking channel.”

“Darling, please. Let’s go.”

“Yes, yes. Coming.” Madame stands up, smiling down at Armitage with her bright red, lipstick-covered lips. “Be good, Armie. We’ll see you soon.”

Armitage merely gives his tail a bit of a wag as they leave the room, though he listens carefully for them grabbing their suitcase and going out of the door. As quickly as he can, Armitage kicks off his covers and dashes to the front bedroom, peeking out from behind the safety of the blinds to see Madame and Sir climbing into their taxi and being driven away down the long, cobbled path to the front gate.

They’re finally gone. Armitage breathes a sigh of relief. The house feels much bigger with just him in it, free to wander around without the worry that he’ll disturb Sir’s work and be punished for it before Madame can find out, but he hasn’t time to dwell on things. His admirer is, no doubt, already waiting for him on the border to the forest.

But before Armitage can dash out of the door, he looks down at himself. Currently, he’s wearing nothing but the thick, red ribbon around his neck—tied in a bow but looking more like a collar—and a pair of skimpy red shorts. Madame has an array of clothes for her pretty pet all in the wardrobe in Armitage’s own bedroom so he goes there and begins looking through the clothes, wondering what would look best to impress his admirer for their first meeting. The black fox is always bare-chested and barefoot but wears knee-length black leggings and a long, black cape that looks like it could be made from the fur of his prey—or perhaps, another neko who dared go against him—so it’s unlikely that the fox would be too concerned with Armitage’s outfit.

But still. He wants to look nice for, what he considers to be, a first date.

Leaving his red shorts on, Armitage adorns a simple white shirt—one that’s a little short around the middle to reveal a classy amount of his soft belly—and a white hooded cloak, one that has a long slit up the back to allow his tail to be free. He may be a little chilly but he feels good in this outfit, showing off his pale skin in all of the right places. He slips on a pair of his diamante-encrusted slippers and heads downstairs, ignoring the platters of food that Madame has left out for him. There’s only one thing he wants right now and it isn’t that kind of meal. He’s hungry for something else.

Armitage quickly finds the key to the back door and he’s out onto the porch in the cool September air without hesitation, though gets overwhelmed after he takes his first breath of fresh, outdoor air in a long while. He’s a solely indoor fox, a neko bred for humans to adopt and keep as their pets. He has never known anything other than his warm windowsill, never even felt the grass beneath his toes—but by the looks of the dampness that covers the grass on the edge of the porch where he stands, he doesn’t want to feel it and he’s more concerned with his pretty shoes getting ruined.

But the very moment that Armitage looks up and finds the black fox staring at him from across the way, everything else becomes irrelevant.

Armitage’s first step onto the outside ground is met with disinterest as he walks across the Hux’s perfect back garden, through the back gate and out into the so-called wilderness; the patch of unowned land between the Hux’s mansion and the forest.

The black fox looks as handsome as ever, though as he gets closer to him, Armitage can see a scar that runs across his face, one that looks like 3 parallel claw marks that cascades over one eye and down his cheek. A battle wound, Armitage assumes. He finds himself shivering at the thought of the black fox being feral.

Armitage, in his white cloak, stands opposite the black fox and flags his tail in a sign of friendliness. From the safety of his windowsill, Armitage hadn’t quite realised just how much wider the other fox’s physique was compared to his own. He’s very broad-shouldered, but it only makes his cape and his stature look more regal, like a forest king.

“Hello,” Armitage speaks in his native fox-tongue, hoping that the black fox speaks the same language as him. His hopes of that are seemingly slashed in half when the other fox cocks his head at him and begins to close the gap between them with small steps, his dark gaze examining every inch of Armitage’s body as he moves closer.

Could Armitage have been wrong all this time? Is this fox about to claw him and sling him over his shoulder to be tonight’s meal? How naïve of him to think that a handsome, feral fox could possibly—

But the black fox drops to his knees very suddenly and bows his head as he reaches out for Armitage’s hand, taking it and placing a very gentle kiss on his knuckles.

“Taa’mia risaan,” the fox says, his voice deep and perfect.

But Armitage hasn’t a clue what he’s said, “I-I’m sorry?”

The black fox looks up, his dark hair falling around his face, “It’s forest-speak for ‘you are beautiful’. Very beautiful.”

Armitage feels himself blushing. “Thank you. You’re handsome yourself, Mr…”

“Ren,” the fox stands up, still holding onto Armitage’s hand and gives it another kiss. “Kylo Ren. I am Master and Leader of these woods.”

“I’m Armitage.”

“I’ve never seen a fox like you before,” Kylo says, sniffing the air a little. “Those humans. They stole you?”

“No,” Armitage shakes his head, looking back up to the house. He can see his windowsill from here, so close but so far at the same time. “Those people are my owners. They keep me warm and feed me and buy me things.”

“Red foxes have not been in these woods for centuries. I did not know they still existed but you captivated me the moment I saw you through the glass.” Kylo leans in to Armitage, clearly unaware of personal space so the closeness makes Armitage widen his eyes. “Your hair. It’s like a crown of copper.”

“Master Ren—”

“Kylo.”

“Kylo. I only have a limited time away before my owners are back and I must be back inside before then,” Armitage explains. “I want to know everything about you. And more.”

Armitage can’t help it. He turns around and lifts his tail up, revealing his perfectly peachy ass in his tight, red shorts. He half expects the fox to begin howling like a wolf at the sight but he doesn’t though he begins breathing deeply, his hot breath on Armitage’s neck just as the latter feels teeth begin to scrape against his skin. He almost melts back against Kylo’s chest.

“Your cape,” Kylo says quietly. “It is getting dirty.”

Before Armitage can complain about the change of topic, he’s swept up into Kylo’s strong arms as though he weighs nothing. Armitage can barely contain his glee.

“I suppose you have a den in these woods, Kylo,” Armitage says, raising an eyebrow and wrapping his arms around his admirer’s neck.

“I do, my pretty red thing,” he replies, carrying his new mate into the forest, “But forgive me for wanting to bring you some dinner first. For a pampered pet, you are much too thin.”

“Careful, Kylo. I can leap out of your arms and go straight back home.”

“Oh, Armitage,” Kylo growls, making Armitage smile and sending shivers across the red fox’s skin in excitement. “I’d like to see you try.”

#kylux #fox hux #fox kylo #this was a lot of fun to write! thank you so much for this lovely prompt! #m:writing

[thatshankcallednewt]

The Death Cure: Gally - Forgive You in a Heartbeat; Part Three

If case you missed Part One//Part Two... [ tags: @heartache97 ]

Gally shot up in his bed, sweating and puffing anxiously. He looked around the room nervously, waiting for a Crank or a Griever to appear, but nothing lurked in the dark except for the sleeping bodies of Newt, Thomas, Fry, Brenda and Jorge. He swallowed the dryness from his mouth and got up from his bed. He wandered barefoot over to an open balcony of the old building and leant on it, staring out into the city ruins.

    The Last City was lit up blue and white, and he could hear white noise even from where he was, which was far out of sight. Tomorrow night, or technically, that night, they would break into the city and execute phase one of their plan: kidnap Teresa.

    It was the best plan he had to go on, and although Thomas seemed to hate the idea of it, he agreed that it would be the only way to extract their trackers so they could get inside WCKD’s building undetected, and have knowledge on where they kept both Minho and you.

    Maybe the idea of seeing you again kept him from sleeping properly. But he never slept properly, anyway, even in the Glade he would find himself wandering around in the night until he either practically collapsed from exhaustion or you’d comfort him enough for him to fall asleep.

    He missed those night when you would sit next to him, listen to him talk, or you talk to him. When you would hold his hand or touch his face. When he escaped WCKD and found Lawrence, he regretted never kissing you when he had the chance. He always wanted to, but he was never sure if you were only joking around. And he hated the idea of the Creators, or WCKD, watching him.        

    He sighed into the night air. If it were up to him, he’d go in, guns blazing, right now. But he knew that that would be stupid and careless. He just couldn’t stand the thought of you being trapped in there, being used for their experiments. But he knew you were strong, and he knew he’d find you if it was the last thing he ever did.

    “Can’t sleep?” a voice asked sleepily, as a pair of bare feet shuffled onto the balcony. Newt leaned on the railing beside Gally, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He stared out into the ruins with big eyes, now wide from the sight of it all.

    “Mm,” Gally said, looking at the city again. “You?”

    “Haven’t slept a wink since we left that shank place,” he replied, yawning. “Bloody tired though, exhausted, actually.”

    “Yeah,” Gally said, “I know the feeling.”

    “You always walked around the Glade like some kind of insomniac,” Newt remarked, as he pulled up memories of seeing Gally trampling through the grass in the middle of the night.

    “That’s because I was… am an insomniac, Newt,” Gally laughed, shaking his head.

    Newt chuckled, “Right,” he shook his head too, “you bloody know what I mean.” He paused, “Are you thinking about her?”

    Gally sighed. Newt could always tell what was on other people’s minds, he had some kind of talent for it. Maybe he could read minds. That was why Newt got along so well with Alby back in the Glade, during the first days. Gally swallowed, “Yeah, I guess I am. I’m always thinking about her.”

    “You thought she was dead?”

    “When I didn’t see her with you guys, I thought the worst must have happened.”

    Newt nodded, remembering the many nights he spent trying to comfort you. You weren’t as much of an insomniac as Gally, but you had your fair share of sleepless nights, especially in the Scorch, and especially after Gally’s “death”. “She misses you.”

    Gally looked at Newt a moment, his eyes widened a little.

    “Don’t act so surprised,” Newt said, amused, “she followed you ‘round like a bloody puppy back in the Glade, don’t you remember? If she had a tail, it would have wagged every time she saw you,” he laughed.

    Gally laughed too, remembering the first time he saw you in the Box. How he grumbled when you wouldn’t leave him alone. But you persisted with him, talking to him when no one else would bother, learning the kind of person he really was. He remembered how you slowly but surely became friends. He smiled at the memories. Then, all of a sudden, he realized that you would think he was still dead. He frowned, “How was she? Before WCKD got her?”

    Newt twisted his mouth in thought. He stared out at the ruins again, the night breeze shifted his hair a little. “She was a mess… but she’s strong. She just kept going, I guess, like all of us.” Newt breathed out a soft sigh, releasing the pent-up stress from the day. He tugged at his jacket collar and continued speaking, “She told me… after we got out of there, she said that she hated what you did, and she was angry for it, but she could never hate you. She said that if you ever came back, she would forgive you in a heartbeat.”

    Gally looked at Newt for a little while, unsure what to say. He had often wondered what she thought of over what he’d done to Chuck. If it weren’t Grievers or Cranks, it was the death of Chuck he’d dream about. He closed his eyes, briefly, and then nodded. His eyes opened and they stung with emotion, and he swallowed the lump in his throat. “What do you think they’re doing to her? To Minho?”

    Newt’s hands clenched around the railing, “I don’t like to imagine it. But I know that they’re both stronger than anyone I know.”

    “You’re not worried we won’t find them?”

    Newt thought about it for a little while. He took his time to choose his words carefully. “I think we will,” he nodded, “I think we will because… because none of us would leave any of ‘em behind. This isn’t some quick, get in and get out bullshit heist. This is a rescue mission. They’re our friends, and we would do anything for them, right?”

    Gally nodded, firmly, “Right.”

    Newt patted Gally on the back, “Try and get some sleep, I know it’s hard, but we gotta try. Tomorrow’s gonna be a big day.”

                                                            ***

You woke up. The sedation wasn’t as heavy as usual, so it didn’t take you long to regain control over your body and become fully conscious. You weren’t sure how long you had been out, but it must have been a while.

    Your mouth felt incredibly dry, so you took the water bottle they left on your tray and unscrewed the lid before gulping down the cool liquid. You wiped the water from your mouth with your sleeve and glanced out the window through your door. There weren’t as many people walking by as usual, so it must have been much later in the day. Had you been out a whole day?

    You blinked against the harsh light from the corridor. As you peered out the window, down the hall, you squinted. You couldn’t see as many security guards either and it was much quieter.

    You sighed. You went to screw the lid back onto your bottle when you fumbled with the thing and it dropped to the floor. It rolled around on the cool surface and slid under your bed. You knelt onto the cold floor and stuck out an arm to reach underneath your bed, your fingers feeling for the lid.

    Your fingers found something else. A thin, cool, plastic square. You pulled it out from under your bed and inspected it. It was one of the nurse’s I.D cards. You stared at it a little too long and you realized it would unlock your door if you pressed it against the scanner.

    Suddenly, an alarm resounded through the building. You jumped up from the floor, quickly re-screwed the fallen lid back onto the bottle and shoved the I.D card into your bra, under your shirt. You sat down on your bed, your heart beating fast inside your chest. Your eyes darted across the room and then you looked out the window.

    Officers ran by your room without a second thought. They were headed elsewhere in the building. You let out a sigh of relief and quickly stood up from your bed. You waited until all personnel had cleared your hallway and then slid the I.D card over the scanner.

    You jerked the door open once the locked clicked and you peeked your head out from your room. This was your chance, your only chance. You exited your room and let the door shut slowly behind you. You were on edge, but you forced yourself to think clearly.

    You had to get some kind of weapon to defend yourself and possibly threaten with, there was no way you were going to make it out of this building without one, otherwise they’d easily lock you up again by jabbing you with a needle. And, you had to somehow find Minho.

    You followed the hallway where the soldiers had disappeared to. You crept slowly and cautiously, and every now and then, you pressed your back up against the wall and waited for a doctor to pass by. They seemed unphased by the alarm that had rung out through the building only minutes earlier.

    Finally, you reached a corridor with an officer. He was the only one, and he stood just past the door you were to go through. You carefully scanned the I.D again and the door clicked open. You pushed the door all the way.

    You wondered if you should try passing the officer, and just hope he wouldn’t notice that you were a WCKD prisoner, but when you saw him reach for his gun at the sound of the door closing behind you, you jumped at him.

    You grappled with him for the gun he held in his right hand. He slammed you into the opposite wall and you ducked when he aimed his gun and shot at you. Whatever it was, exploded against the wall and sizzled out quickly when it hadn’t hit its target. You ducked again as he shot another time and charged him. Your arms wrapped around his waist as you took him to the floor. He tried grabbing for your arms but missed. You leapt for the gun that had fallen out of his hand and slid across the floor, but you felt his hand clasp around your ankle.

    It happened in slow motion, one minute you were in the air, your arms outstretched for the gun. You felt his fingers wrap around your ankle and yank you back. But it was too late because your fingers had a grip on his gun. As he pulled you across the floor toward him, you turned and aimed the gun at his chest and pulled the trigger.

    Some kind of bullet hit his chest, but it didn’t pierce his skin, instead it snaked out like a spider’s web and electrified the officer until he rolled around on the floor, stunned. You stared at the gun in your hands, you hadn’t seen one like it since escaping WCKD the first time.

    You gulped and turned away from the soldier and ran down the hallway. Your bare feet echoed along the hard floor, almost slipping over a few times. You slowed to a quiet creep when you heard a voice up ahead.

    “Turner!?” an unrecognizable man’s voice echoed, “Turner, you okay back there?”

    You concluded that he was referring to the soldier you just stunned, but you couldn’t fake a man’s voice for the life of you. So, instead, you did the next plausible thing and jumped out from where you were hiding and shot at the man blindly.

    He yelped in surprise and stumbled to the floor, writhing with the electric shock.

    You neared his fallen body, feeling a little sorry for putting him in so much pain. You eyed his outfit briefly, suddenly wondering if it would work as a disguise. Your eyes darted down the hall, you still had a ways to go, and you still had to find Minho, and you were certain you wouldn’t be so lucky every time you stumbled into a WCKD soldier.

    You licked your lips nervously and checked the hallway for any signs of life before hitting the guy hard in the head with the end of your gun. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell unconscious.

    You grabbed his arm and slid him into a storage closet. It was dark inside, but you had to make do, so that no one would notice your presence. You quickly got changed into his uniform, it was a little baggy in some areas, but it would do. It was much better than wandering the hospital in patient scrubs, barefoot. Now you had a helmet to mask your face.

    You left the soldier inside the closet and closed the door behind you, after checking if the hallway was clear. You held your gun close and walked down the corridor, trying to act as if you were supposed to be there. You glanced at the digital bulletin boards as you passed them, hoping to make sense out of the information plastered on them but to no avail. It was a longshot to think they would just display Minho’s whereabouts in any old hallway.

    Then there was a buzz of static and a comm inside your helmet echoed, a voice fizzled and said, “Prisoners spotted on the fifth floor, backup needed now!” There was an echo of yelling in the background and then the audio was cut off.

    Your eyes widened at the suggestion. Prisoners? Your heartbeat climbed in your chest as you picked up speed, running through hallways, passing flashing lights and doctors alike. They didn’t bother to question your appearance.

    You were about to enter into an open elevator when a voice yelled over the mic that they had jumped through the window and landed in the pool, in the main courtyard. You hesitated between the open elevator doors and the stairwell that would lead directly to the courtyard. You turned towards the stairs in a last-minute decision, and rapidly descended them two at a time. Your boots echoed in the empty stairwell and your breath became short with nerves. Surely, the “prisoner” was Minho, it had to be. And if it weren’t, then maybe you could save whoever it was anyway.

    You approached the door and threw it open with a sudden surge of nervous energy. You quickly scanned your surroundings and spotted a group of WCKD soldiers dressed the same as you, heading for the pool in the middle of the courtyard.

    You ran to catch up to them, and they didn’t question your arrival. Their guns were aimed at three people splashing around in the water, broken glass littered the concrete around the pool and still fell from the window above. You glanced up at the smashed window and spotted Janson briefly before he disappeared, probably on his way down.

    You swallowed and looked at the boys. Your heart leapt in your chest when you recognized Thomas, Newt and Minho as they clambered up the side of the pool. Thomas and Newt’s faces were revealed but they were clad in the same uniform you had on. They must have snuck inside the WCKD building in search for you both.

    “Don’t move!” a soldier yelled as he advanced towards them, his gun trained on Thomas.

    You quickly raised your gun to the soldiers. You shot at them without a moment’s more hesitation, in the chest, one-two-three—

    “Stop!” one of the WCKD soldiers yelled before you could shoot him down with the others. He dropped his gun and his arms were raised above his head. “I’m on your side!”

    You hesitated, keeping your aim on his chest still. You breathed heavily under the mask. You glanced at the boys who stood at the edge of the pool, just as confused as you were. You ripped your helmet off and tossed it to the side, and a look of relief passed through the boys’ eyes.

    “Y/N!” they yelled in unison, and quickly climbed up the concrete steps towards you, dripping wet.

    You flashed them a smile, “Miss me?”

    The soldier with his arms above his head in surrender slowly removed his helmet, revealing a pair of blue eyes you thought you’d never see again.

    He eyed you a moment, dropping his helmet to the ground. It clattered over the concrete. “Yes,” he said slowly, in response to your question.

    “Gally…?”

#tmr imagine #tmr #tmr gally #gally #gally x reader #gally/reader #reader insert #gally fanfic #fanfiction #tst #tdc #the death cure

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Riding High Ch7: Ordinary People

Chapter Summary: Frank feels the aftermath of his dumbassery

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. Flash backs to domestic violence.

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: Contains SPOILERS for the film!!!!! If you haven’t seen it please be aware of that before you read on. As a Lawyer I know how long the types of cases depicted in GIFTED can take, however they can also be done pretty fast. With that in mind, and because it fits with how I want the story to go I’m spreading it over approximately 6 weeks or so, so just roll with me! As always I’m a ho for a REBLOG and COMMENT!

Chapter Song: Ordinary People by John Legend

Series Masterlist Main Masterlist

“I saw you…he had his hands all over you.”

“John, I didn’t want him to…he was drunk, just being over friendly…”

Fliss cowered as a sneer crossed her husband’s face, the features she found so handsome once upon a time were distorted in anger, his dark green eyes clouded with rage as he towered over where she sat on the crouch. In a flash he had reached out and grabbed a fist full of her hair, yanking her to her feet. Fliss gave a cry of pain, stumbling after him as he dragged her up the stairs. She tripped at one point, her hip colliding painfully with one of the steps but he paid it no attention.

No mercy.

“You’re mine Sugar” he said, his voice steely “you know that.”

“I know…” she sobbed as he threw her into the bedroom. She scrambled for purchase on the bed as he pushed her hard so she fell face down, but before she could raise herself again he had grabbed the back of her neck and pushed her face into the pillows.

“Why do you make me do this, Felicity?” He asked, releasing his hold as his thighs bracketed hers. Fliss heard the tell-tale clinking of his belt and she gave another sob, knowing full well what was coming. He roughly pushed her dress up over her hips, leaving her underwear clad ass exposed.

And then the leather stuck her. Again. And again. And again.

“I’ll mark you so hard no one else will ever want you…” he snarled as he continued his assault. “You’re mine…“ Fliss sat bolt upright, gasping as she glanced around her bedroom. Thor, hearing her breathing jumped up onto her bed and shoved his head under her arm as she clamped her hands over her face. Looking down at him she buried her face into the dog’s fur, holding him tight as her breathing evened out. She ran through her calming thoughts in her head, imagining the sound of the ocean, the wind in her hair as she galloped on the beach, the soft and gentle hugs she received from her dad, her mum…and dare she even think it, Frank. And then another image filled he head. The sight of him kissing Bonnie at the bar.

“Wanker…” she muttered, wiping the tears from her face as Thor licked her cheek, his tail wagging as she stroked him. She was shaking slightly, the dream had been so real, so vivid, she could almost physically feel the pain. John had belted her so badly that night she hadn’t been able to ride for a week, and she still bore the marks where the buckle had ripped through her panties and skin.

The worst thing was, that after he had finished, he had held her, stroking her hair, soothing her, explaining why he had to punish her so much. It was sick, twisted. Just like him. “No power over me anymore, no power, no power…” she repeated her mantra through gritted teeth before she pushed the duvet down and swung her legs out of the bed and headed to the bathroom.

***** Frank had also woken up to a nightmare. His head was pounding from the shots he’d downed at the bar and being jerked awake by Bonnie’s screams as Mary had turned up in the apartment earlier than she was allowed on a Saturday hadn’t exactly helped the situation, not to mention the fact that he had fucked Mary’s school teacher for no reason other than the fact he was drunk, stressed and needed a release. Thankfully she seemed to be in the same place as him about the entire situation as he saw her out to a cab, apologising for Mary’s interruption, literally incapable of thinking of anything else to say. It was the most awkward morning after he had ever experienced.

And there was something else compounding his growing bad mood. When he had finally checked his phone as he stood outside for a few moments after Bonnie had gone, hoping the fresh air would sort his head out, he realised he had a number of messages from Fliss and a few missed calls. Groaning he remembered that he should have called her after the court case. Firing her a quick apology promising to talk to her later when it was time for Mary’s lesson, before he headed back inside.

Mary was sat on the rug with her lego, pieces scattered all over, Ice Age playing on the TV.

“Awkward…”  she sing songed

“Mary…” Frank looked at her for a moment and when she didn’t look at him he crouched down

“Stop! Stop! Stop with the Legos. Listen.” he took a breath and she looked at him “Do we have a rule about Saturday morning?”

“What?” she said softly

“Are you allowed in this apartment this early on Saturday morning?” Frank pressed, looking at her.

“No.” Mary sighed, averting her eyes from his.

“No!” Frank said, a little louder before he paused again “Are you allowed to… Hey!” he reached out to stop Mary as she returned to her Toys. “Stop! Enough with the Lego! Are you allowed to use Roberta’s keys?”

“No.” she still wasn’t looking at him.

“No!” Frank said, his voice gathering momentum “So, hey! Look at me. Then why are you here? Huh? Can you answer me that?”

Mary’s eyes filled with tears but Frank was too angry at the fact she had disobeyed him to comfort her.

“You broke every rule! You just embarrassed me. We have these rules.” he said standing up, turning to head back out of the door into the kitchen “We’ve gone over them a hundred times!” And then he stepped on a piece of Lego in his bare feet. His frustration boiled over as he hopped on one leg, clutching the side of the dresser which was pushed flush against the wall.

“Shit…” he yelled “God, damned it…” he slapped the side of the dresser, leaning against it,as he bent down to rub his foot  “Can I just get five minutes of my own life?”

At that Mary jumped up and bolted into his bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Frank stood up, before he sighed, one hand on his hip, his eyes closed. He’d overreacted, he knew that. He was more pissed at himself for being an idiot than he was at Mary. He ran his hand over his face and glanced at the clock. Mary’s riding lesson was at 2 and it was now just pushing 10:30. Deciding to leave Mary to cool down before he made breakfast he headed into the kitchen to clear up yesterday’s dishes.

He heard the door to his room click open about twenty minutes later. Giving her another 10 he wiped the counter down before he made his way back into the main room and sat on the edge of her bed, where she was snuggled down in her alcove which sported a collection of shells they had stuck to the wood panels and a few photos, one of her mom, one of her and Frank and one of her and Fliss with Monty. She was huddled in the corner, Fred laying on her knee, the laptop resting on his back as she tapped away.

“Nothing that happened today was your fault.” Frank said gently and looked at her “I got mad at you…I was really mad at me…” he looked at her and she continued to ignore him “…and the manufacturers of Legos. They should all be in prison. So I’m sorry.” he said gently. She paused tapping but still didn’t look at him. “Do you forgive me?”

“Sure. Whatever.” she mumbled.

“Hey, close the laptop. Come on. Please. Doesn’t count if it’s not eye to eye.”

She hesitated so he asked again, gently. “Come on, please.”

With a sigh she did was she was told and looked at him, her eyes so like Diane’s were full of sadness and Frank felt his gut twist in guilt.

“Do you really have no life because of me?”

Fuck. Frank cursed himself for his outburst before and shook his head.

“That’s not what I said.” he looked at her.

“Did you mean it?” she pressed, not buying his statement for one minute, her voice soft.

“Last week you said I was the worst Uncle in the world and you wished death upon me ‘cause I didn’t buy you a piano.” Frank looked at her, holding her gaze. “Did you mean that?”

“No” Mary replied, her fingers tangling in Fred’s fur “Not entirely.”

“Well…” Frank said, “There you go. We say things all the time we don’t mean. So let’s forget it, okay?”

“Okay” Mary agreed

“Okay.”  Frank nodded, standing up

“Frank?” she called as he headed towards the door to head down and check the mail. He stopped and turned back, even though he couldn’t see her.

“Yeah?”

“Can I have a piano?”

“No.” he said, turning for the door.

He strode down across the lawn to the mail boxes, unlocked his and pulled out 2 letters. One looked like a bill, the other was in a manila coloured envelope, and was stamped with some kind of official seal.

“Was that really Mary's teacher this morning?” Roberta appeared. He glanced at her and returned to his post “And there was me thinking Fliss would stop you doing anything stupid…”

Frank’s head shot up “Fliss?” he frowned “What….”

“She came here last night, to see you. We roped her into Karaoke before she left and she said she was going to come and find you at Fergs”

Frank frowned. “Well she didn’t. I never saw her last night so she-”

Oh,fuck fuck fuck! He trailed off with a groan as he realised that she had probably seen him with Bonnie and then he felt a stinging slap round the back of his head.

“Shit!” He exclaimed, glaring at Roberta “Jesus…that fucking hurt!”

“Good…” she stared at him. “You know I have a book called ‘Fundamentals of Decision Making’. You can borrow it.” ‘

He glared at her, he didn’t need this. Not now. His attention turned back to the letter and he noticed the seal was from the court house. With a frown he opened it. The header- ‘Highsmith, Kistler & Sellers Attorneys at Law’ greeted him and he started to read. It was an order for him to surrender Mary for 2 days into Evelyn’s care, at a time and date to be agreed. It wasn’t unexpected but it was pretty fast considering it had only been agreed yesterday. His mother really wasn’t wasting any time.

“What is it?”  Roberta asked, noticing the frown on his face

“It’s nothing.” he said, leaning on the post box, still reading the letter “looks like Mary gets to go to Boston for a couple days.”

He noticed Roberta stiffen and he looked at her. “It’s just two days. Relax.” he said gently.

Because he was always honest with Mary he sat down once he was back inside and told her about the letter. She knew there was a court case going on, he had explained it all to her as best as he could so as not to cause her any worry. She soaked up the information and shrugged before saying that going to Boston sounded kinda cool. Frank simply nodded and said that he would sort out the dates on Monday before they ate lunch and headed up to the riding school. As he drove there his stomach was doing flips, the nerves at seeing Fliss were overwhelming, more so because he had no idea what he was going to say to her. It was strange, he felt guilty, even though he had no real reason to. They weren’t an item.

Fliss greeted Mary with the usual warmth before she turned her gaze to Frank, and he could see the hurt in her eyes, compounding that guilty feeling even more.

“Sorry I didn’t call you last night.” he offered and she shrugged.

“It’s ok, I know you were busy.” her voice carried no sarcasm, it was measured and cool but Frank knew she was referring to Bonnie, his suspicions confirmed. She turned away, barking an instruction to Joanne who looked at her, nodding.

Frank leaned on the paddock fence as he always did, a little way from the other parents and watched as Fliss taught the 3 girls, smile on her face. Mary was certainly getting the hang of it now and was able to trot around unaided. After about 40 minutes they were done and heading out of the paddock. Fliss made no attempt to come and speak to him, like normal, and made straight for her office. Casting and eye on Mary who was leading Monty back to the stable he followed Fliss.

“You’re mad at me.” he observed gently.

“Why would I be mad at you?” she replied, pulling 3 cartons of apple juice out of the fridge for the kids.

“Because you saw me last night with Bonnie.” he pressed.

He saw her stiffen slightly before she took a breath and turned round.

“I’m not mad.” she shrugged.

“Could have fooled me.”

“I just…well I think you should have considered Mary a little more, that’s all, instead of simply wanting to get your end away.“ “What does that mean?” he frowned.

“You know damned well what it means.” she looked at him “Mary told me she saw Bonnie this morning, I mean…Jesus Frank that’s her teacher…can you imagine how awkward its gonna be if any of the kids find out that you’re fucking her?” “Ok, I’m not fucking her…” Frank held his hand out to stop her.

“So what were you doing last night then?” Fliss hissed, “Playing scrabble?”

“Hang on, are we really arguing about this?” Frank looked at her, frowning “Why? Why are you so mad about it?”

He paused, looking at her. Her eyes locked onto his and she swallowed, and for a moment he hoped she was going to tell him what he wanted to hear but she shook her head and shrugged.

“You know what, you’re right. What, or who you do in your spare time is your business, not mine.”

With that she pushed past him and headed out into the yard. Frank let out another sigh before he headed out to find Mary.

******

Fliss made no attempts to speak to Frank over the next few days. He messaged her to tell her about Mary heading to Boston at the end of the week and she replied politely, telling him that she was sure it would all work out, but beyond that she didn’t reach out further. However, she did call to wish Mary a safe trip to Boston on the Thursday morning just before Evelyn arrived to pick her up, and told her she wanted to hear all about it when she came home on Saturday afternoon . By the time Frank got the phone back, Fliss had hung up.

“Frank she likes you. “ Roberta said when she popped over to wish Mary goodbye. Mary wasted no time in informing her the reason he was in a bad mood wasn’t just because she was going to Boston, but also because Fliss was angry at him. Of course she had noticed, because she noticed everyting. “She’s hurt and it’s yo own dumbass fault.” the woman concluded.

Yeah, yeah he got that.

With Mary gone, he decided that night to take a cool box of beer down to the harbour and work late. He was in the middle of pulling a gear box apart when his phone went. It was a message from Bonnie asking if she could meet him to talk. Which was how he found himself sat on the deck of the boat, her opposite him, both wrapped in blankets and clutching bottles of Bud.

“I have had a series of nightmares…where I’m fired…because of what happened. You get it?” Bonnie smiled, rolling her eyes. Frank smiled at her as she laughed “And then I remind myself, that everything that happened, was just all the alcohol and people do far worse right?”

At that Frank laughed. “Yeah we were pretty drunk.”

Truth be told whilst he did think Bonnie was attractive, there was nothing there, and that was compounded by the fact that as he sat there, looking at her, he felt no urges at all. She was simply another one of his Friday night hook ups, only this had turned out to be slightly more complicated.

Yeah, he should definitely borrow that book from Roberta

“So I guess, what I came here to say…” Bonnie sighed “I think you’re a great guy Frank, and I’ve got your back on this damned custody case but…me and you…it just…” “Oh, absolutely, I’m with you…” Frank said, agreeing quickly, thanking the Gods she’d brought it up before he had to. “It was a mistake…” Bonnie arched an eyebrow and he sighed .“Shit, I don’t mean that how it sounds but…well, it was, wasn’t it?”

She smiled and nodded, cocking her head to one side as she surveyed him. “I do think you need to speak to Fliss though?”

“Fliss?” Frank frowned, “What’s she got to do with this?”

"You like her.” Bonnie said simply.

Frank paused before he shook his head, smiling “that obvious?” “Yeah, and there’s the fact you called me by her name twice.” Oh Jesus. Ground please open… “What when we… ” he grimaced and she chuckled, raising her eyebrows “Oh God. Bonnie… I’m so sorry.” He groaned and ran his hands over his face.

What a fucking ass hole.

“Like we said, mistake…” Bonnie smiled, “Especially when you’re clearly hung up on another girl. “ “Yeah well whatever may or may not have been there, I think I’ve kinda blown it… story of my life.” Frank sighed taking a pull from his bottle.

“Blown it?”

“Yeah she’s pretty pissed. She saw us in the bar and has hardly spoken a word to me since”

“And you’re giving up that easily?” Bonnie raised an eyebrow. He sighed and she leaned forward slightly “Take it from me, another female, that if she’s that pissed at you over the fact that you hooked up with someone else then she feels something for you Frank.“

They stayed and chatted about the court case for a while and he filled Bonnie in on the running order for the testimonies which would start on Tuesday before she bid him goodnight and left. He contemplated messaging Fliss but decided against it. He worked late again on Friday, for the first time in months foregoing his trip to Ferg’s and by Saturday afternoon he was ready to welcome Mary home. He’d missed her.

“I’m loaded with swag!” she said, with an air of someone out of Gossip Girl, not that he’d seen a lot of that mind, as she skipped towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist as well she could with the bag she was carrying. His hand dropped to the back of her head as he hugged her before he looked up at his mother.

“Wanna come inside?” he asked as Mary skipped off calling Fred’s name.

“Cat.” she said, with a faint smile as she shook her head.

He nodded to her and turned to follow Mary.

“I need to ring Fliss…” Mary said immediately.

“Well, I got a better idea.” Frank said, “How about we head over there and see her?”

“Yesss.” Mary said, before she looked at him. “Are you friends again?”

“We never stopped being friends she’s just mad at me because I did something stupid, but don’t worry, it’ll work out.” he said.

I hope…

***** Fliss was busy on a lesson when her phone went. Taking a quick minute to look at it, she read the message from Frank asking if it was ok if they swung by as Mary was home. With a deep breath she replied telling him it was fine, before she turned back to her client who was one of the boarders on the yard.

She had just about finished some 30 minutes or so later when she heard Mary calling. She turned and gave her a smile and a wave. Once she had finished and taken payment, she turned to Mary and gave the girl a hug.

“Hey…” she smiled. Mary hugged her tight and Fliss chuckled before she glanced up at Frank “Coffee?”

He smiled, taking the olive branch she had offered. “Yeah, sounds great.”

They made their way into the office and Fliss moved to the small kitchenette area at the back, filling the coffee machine before she turned to Mary, leaning against the counter.

“So, tell me all about Boston.” Mary began to gush about all the things she had done, Fliss listening and asking questions as she made her and Frank a coffee. He took his with a thanks whilst Mary told Fliss how she had looked at some photos, learned more about her mom and then done some complicated Maths for a professor at a University. At that Fliss noticed Frank stiffen slightly and she looked at him, gently shaking her head. He smiled tightly and turned to look out over the yard, taking a few steps outside.

“And she has a piano…” Mary finished, “I mean I didn’t get to play it but…”

“You should come over to my mum’s.” Fliss smiled “She’ll let you play hers. That’s what she used to do, teach people music.”

Mary smiled, before she looked over at Frank who was stood watching a few people who were riding in the paddock, the lessons for the day having concluded which mean the boarders were free to do what they wanted.

“Are you still mad at Frank?” she turned back to Fliss.

“Not really.” Fliss said “I got a bit cross but…” “Yeah, he can make me cross too.” Mary said wisely “He does dumb stuff sometimes.”

Fliss laughed and studied the young girl “Yeah, you got that right.” “But he’s a good person.” she shrugged

“I know.” Fliss said, her eyes flicking to him before she looked back at Mary.

“I don’t want to live with Evelyn.” Mary shrugged “I mean she was nice and looks like my mom but…she’s bossy.” Fliss smiled.

“And I want to stay with Frank.” Mary continued “Because I know he loves me. And he did before he found out I was smart.”

Fliss felt a lump in her throat at the girl’s confession. She glanced over at Frank again who ran a hand over his face, rubbing at his eyes underneath his shades.

“Hey, Mary, why don’t you go say hi to Monty.” she said gently, “Tell Joanne I said you could help with the feeds.” “Yesss.” she said, scooting off her chair and shooting across the yard. Fliss saw Frank follow her with her eyes before he turned to her as she walked over to him.

“Hey.” she said, her tone soft. “How you holding up?” “Apart from screwing up my life, I’m good.” he snorted, taking off his glasses and tucking them into the collar of his t-shirt  “Just hope I’m not screwing hers up as well.”

“Don’t’ say that.” Fliss shook her head “You know that’s not true. Mary’s fine…”

“I hate that we haven’t been talking.” he said after a pause,  looking at her. “Been kinda lonely.”

“I thought you’d have been with Bonnie.” she said softly, shrugging.

Frank sighed “I’ve only seen her once, this week. And that was so we could have a straight up conversation about how what happened was a mistake”

“A mistake?” Fliss raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Frank said “And as far as mistakes go…that one was pretty spectacular.”

“And you actually said that to her?”

He nodded.

“Wow… “ she snorted.

“She agreed so…” Frank shrugged and he held her gaze for a second before he took a deep breath “Is that why you’ve been ignoring me?” he pressed “Because you thought we were… you know, together?”

Fliss swallowed and looked away, trying to think of something to say that didn’t give her feelings away. He’d hit the nail on the head. She had thought that, and more over she was jealous so had distanced herself on purpose.

“I just…” she looked back at him, “Well, I didn’t want to step on any toes, so to speak, that’s all.”

“There’s none to step on, trust me.” Frank said gently.

“So err, anyway, she seems to have enjoyed Boston.” Fliss changed the subject.

“Yeah.” Frank said

“So what’s next?”

“Well she has a err, court interview with the Child Welfare department or whatever they’re called on Monday.” he said.

“Sure it’ll be fine.” Fliss replied “It’s not like she’s treated badly or her welfare is an issue Frank.”

“And the hearing starts in full on Tuesday.” he said “And they’re opening with a bang.” Fliss frowned as he turned to face her “Greg called me yesterday. Mary’s biological father has apparently signed an affidavit, nominating my mother as Mary’s legal guardian.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Fliss hissed, suddenly seething with anger as Frank shook his head “That’s a real shitty trick.”

“Yep” Frank agreed.

“Does Mary know?”

“No. I’ll have to tell her though, otherwise Evelyn will no doubt during her access.”

“She gets access?”

“Yeah, whilst this is going on she gets visitation rights so…” Frank shrugged, and Fliss couldn’t help but notice his despondent nature.

“So when you gonna tell her?”

“Tuesday night, after it’s done. I don’t want her worrying or knowing he’s in town because if she knows and he doesn’t ask to see her…at least once he’s gone then…” he bit his lip “She’s gonna be upset either way but, what else can I do?”

“Nothing but what you think is best.”  Fliss said gently “I told you before that’s all you can do Frank.” He looked at her and she sighed, opening her arms and he gladly stepped towards her, wrapping her up in a hug.

******

“Mr. Polland, are you the…natural father of Mary Adler?”

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

Frank sat still, glaring at the ass hole sat in the dock.

“And how you can be certain of this?

“Well, I always knew, but then you had me take a DNA test.”

Course they did…

I would offer the test results as result of evidence of that Mr. Polland is the father and natural guardian of the minor. As well as an affidavit from Mr. Polland nominating Mrs. Adler the maternal grandmother as the legal guardian of the minor.”

Frank sat up slightly, his jaw clenching. This ass hole had no right to decide what was best for Mary, he’d never fucking met her. Greg touched his arm, shaking his head before he stood up.

“No objections.”

“Mr. Polland has Mrs. Adler offered you any monetary reward or employment for coming forward today?” Evelyn’s attorney continued.

No, sir. I have a job of my own.”

Frank suppressed a snort. Bullshit she hasn’t paid you.

“Thank you. No further questions, your Honour.”

Cullen rose again and waited a second before he opened his cross examination “Mr. Polland when was the last time you saw Mary?”

“I've never seen her.” Polland shifted slightly and Frank watched him intently.

“Why not?”

“By the time I heard about Diane…passing the baby was gone already.”

Her name is Mary, ass hole… Frank took a deep breath.

“Well, did you try and find her?” Cullen pressed.

“Best I could. I couldn’t just go and search the entire country.” Polland shook his head, trying to make a joke out of it. Frank was pleased to see the judge wasn’t laughing.

Greg nodded and paused once more before suddenly asking “Do you use a computer at work?”

“Sure.” Polland replied

“You know what? Help me out.” Greg said, grabbing his laptop “Let's google 'Mary Adler’ and see what we find.” he placed the laptop on the dock and turned it towards Polland. The man hesitated for a while and looked at the Judge who gestured with his hand, instructing him to do as he was told. Polland began to tap when Jason spoke again “You know what? You better add her middle name.”

Frank watched as Polland stopped, because of course he had no idea what her midde name was.

“It'll narrow it down. Eileen” Cullen said. Polland looked up and caught Frank’s eye, his face sheepish. Frank kept his face straight, his chin resting on his hand, fingers making an L-shape round his jaw as Polland looked away and began to tap..

“Yeah, hit enter.” Greg instructed. “Ok, now head to page 2…second hit…would you please tell the court what you see there?”

Polland hesitated “It’s a newspaper article called ‘Not so terrible twos’”

“And one of them is Mary Eileen Adler.”  Greg nodded “Same name as your daughter. Born on the same day as your daughter. With a photograph”

Polland looked at him.

“In your defence, you’d never recognize it…”

“Your Honour, this is…” Evelyn’s attorney stood up but Cullen was quick to cut him off

“Your Honour, if there’s one thing here that's sadly obvious it’s that Mr. Polland has never been a genuine guardian of the minor and his nomination of Mrs. Adler is no less disingenuous.” he looked at the Judge.

Frank shifted slightly as Judge Nicholls looked at Polland, then to Evelyn, then to Frank before he turned glanced at the notes spread out in front of him.

“While the state of Florida gives difference to nomination by natural parent, I'm inclined to side with Mr. Cullen’s laptop at this time.” he said, nodding at Cullen, effectively dismissing the affidavit. Frank allowed himself a relieved smile as Greg nodded.

“Thank you, your Honor”

Frank walked his mother to her car, as she told him about his step father Walter. Frank had found it odd how he wasn’t featuring in any of this, but his question was answered as Evelyn told him he had bought a ranch in Montana.

“Bullshit.” he exclaimed as they strode down the path in the sun, his suit jacket handing over his arm.

“Exactly. A man whose idea of roughing it is being too far from the ice machine at the Ritz Carlton now owns a 1000 acres of grass and dung.”

“Walter Price is a cowboy.” Frank smiled, shaking his head.

“Walter Price who puts on a Brooke’s brother suit to take out the garbage now has a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and a horse that doesn’t know dressage.” Evelyn shook her head.

“Is there some logical reason for this?” Frank asked making a mental note to tell Fliss.

“Midlife crisis, apparently.”

“He’s 70.” Frank scoffed

“I know. Must have been on time delay or something. I guess I should be happy it wasn’t 25 year old cocktail waitress. But then again an affair you can explain to friends in a minute. For this, you put on a pot of coffee.”

“And he’s out there right now?”

“Yessiree!” Evelyn imitated a Western accent.

Frank lost himself for a moment as he and his mother joked, mocking exactly what his Step Father would look like. He hated to admit it, but at times like this he was reminded how similar he was to his mother. Same dry sense of humour, no nonsense nature…

“The fastest asset management in the West.” he snorted and Evelyn smiled.

“The man who shot Liberty Mutual. That’s what I’ve been calling him” she said as they stopped at her car.

“That’s really, really funny.” Frank said, and then sighed as she opened the car door. He leaned down and spoke to the driver  “Take her to the airport.” he said, straightening up. “Go home, Evelyn. Or Montana. Rustle some cattle.” he said gently.

“You know I have no desire to hurt you. I hate it that we’re at odds.” she said as she say in the car, looking at him through the open window.

And then, he was also reminded just how different they were too.

“We’re always at odds.” he shrugged.

“Yes.” She said, almost sadly before she spoke and issued an instructions to her driver, which Frank also realised as a direct defiance aimed at him “Hotel.” 

**** As anticipated, when Frank broke the news to Mary about her father she had a meltdown. What hadn’t anticioated was her locking herself in the bathroom and no amount of coaxing from him or Roberta managed to draw her out. She was crying her little heart out, sobbing about how her dad didn’t want her…and just before he kicked the door in he had a stroke of inspiration,  pulling out his phone to call in reinforcement.

It arrived in the shape of Fliss some 20 minutes later.

“I still can’t believe that wank stain was even given the time of day.” she seethed as Frank greeted her as she strode in the door.

“Well his claim was thrown out but…”Frank nodded to where Roberta was stood outside locked bathroom door.

“Why you had to tell her that asshole was testifying I’ve no idea.” the woman shot him a look.

“Because it’s the truth. And if I didn’t, Evelyn would’ve.” Frank reasoned.

“If I was the dad of a little girl and I never saw her… and I was in the same town… I would visit her.” Fliss heard Mary’s crying and Frank saw her face scrunch up in sympathy. “He didn’t even need directions. He could’ve followed you here.”

“Ok, Roberta, move…” Fliss said gently. Roberta stood to the side and Fliss spoked to the door. “Mary…honey, it’s me.”

“Lissy?” Mary sniffled.

“The one and only.” Fliss smiled, before she sighed “You know what, you’re right. He could have come to see you. But he didn’t. And that’s nothing to do with you.”

“He doesn’t even wanna see what I look like.” The girl sobbed again.

“I never met my dad either…” Fliss said gently “He abandoned my mum before I was born, and then he was killed when I was 4 months old. But before that he never made any attempt to see me. He died without ever seeing my face. And you know what?”

“What?” Mary sniffed.

“That’s his loss, just like it’s your…father’s loss, and I hate to use that word because he’s not really got any right to be called that.”

Mary said nothing, but Frank could hear her sniffling still.

“But then my mom met Bill when I was two, and he’s been my dad ever since. He looked after me and loved me, just like Frank does for you.” Fliss glanced at him and he dropped his hand from where it had been cupping his chin, folding his arms round his chest as he shot her a small smile. “Like we all do Mary, you’re so loved. By Frank, Roberta…me…” Fliss continued, “Now come on, open the door.”

There was a pause and they heard a rustle, before the lock on the door clicked and it opened. Mary stood in the doorway, her eyes red and wet from tears before she gave another sob and threw herself at Fliss. Fliss crouched down on one knee and held her back, gently rocking her and Frank felt his chest tighten at the display of affection.

And then he had an idea.

Fliss watched him as he crouched next to them, his hand gently reaching out to brush Mary’s hair back as she turned her head which was on Fliss’ shoulder to look at him.

“Put your shoes on. We're going for a ride.” he said to her softly. Then he turned to Fliss “You too that is if you want to.”

“Sure.” she nodded.

“Roberta?” Frank looked at her, and she shook her head.

“Your truck only got 3 seats.” “We can take mine.” Fliss offered as Mary gently released her.

“No, I think you two got this.” she said, smiling.

*******

“What are we doing here?” Mary asked as they sat on the seats in the waiting room and Fliss found herself wondering the same thing. She hadn’t questioned Frank, he obviously had something up his sleeve.

“Waiting.”

“We can see that.” Fliss said, and he looked at her,rolling his eyes as Mary continued.

“Why?”

“Because I said so.” he said, returning to the National Geographic magazine he was flicking through.

“How long do we have to stay here?”

“As long as it takes. And keep your voice down. It’s a hospital.” Frank said.

As long as it takes turned out to be an hour and a half. Through which time Mary had groaned, moaned, used Frank’s legs as a climbing frame, which Fliss noticed he had expertly ignored simply slouching in his seat, legs apart as Mary draped herself over them. Eventually she had curled up next to Fliss and laid her head on her lap, dozing off.

Fliss was busy reading something on her emails when she heard a bit of a commotion and the group at the other side of the waiting room all stood up. Frank’s eyes flew to them and then he gently gave Fliss a smile before he nudged Mary awake.

She blinked and watched as a man walked into the waiting room dressed in scrubs, a huge smile on his face.

“It’s a boy.” he announced and the group erupted into cheers. Fliss glanced down at Mary who was watching in awe as everyone started to congratulate the man, all crying, sobbing with happiness, cheering, praising the lord.

“That's exactly how it was when you were born.” Frank said softly and Fliss then understood. He was showing Mary that she was loved, that she was wanted.

“This happy?” Mary asked

“This happy.” Frank confirmed.

“Who came out and told everybody?” she asked, and Frank leaned over gently brushing her hair behind her ear.

“I did.” he said softly.

The emotion of the moment got to Fliss and her eyes watered. Frank raised his head and they shared a look as he smiled and she smiled back before Mary piped up.

“Can we stay for another?”

Frank smiled and Mary jumped up, heading over to the group. They all smiled at her as she was swept into their celebrations. Fliss reached over and gently took Frank’s hand, giving his fingers a squeeze, a gesture he returned until Mary came back and pulled Fliss over to the group with her. Frank leaned back and watched as Fliss simply smiled and wiped her eyes as she congratulated the family and he let out a sigh, swallowing slightly, lost in his thoughts.

Eventually the family all dispersed to go and see their new arrival and he told Mary that it was too late to stay for another. She fell asleep on the way home against Fliss and when they got back t was a careful manoeuvre between them both to get her out of the car without waking her up. He gently placed her in bed before he walked Fliss down to her jeep.

“Thank you.” he said to her gently “You were amazing before…you’re just…amazing.” he said, trailing off.

She blushed slightly and tucked her hair behind her ears.

“I mean it Lissy…” he said, “You…I dunno.”

He hesitated for a second before he reached out and gently placed his hand on her hip, pulling her softly towards him

“Frank…” she said softly as his face dropped towards hers, her hands gently on his chest keeping him away from her “Look, I…”

“I know.” he swallowed, his head dropping as he sighed at her rejection “You don’t have to explain.”

“It’s not even 2 weeks ago you were in bed with another woman.” she said gently and he grimaced, pulling away slightly.

“I know and I really wish that hadn’t happened” he sighed, the hand that had been on her hip moved and ran through his hair “There’s really nothing going on between me and Bonnie…it was just a one night. My head was fucked and…”

“How do I know it isn’t now?”  Fliss looked at him “How do I, or you for that matter, know that this…” she gestured between them with her hand “…isn’t just an emotional response to what’s going on as well?”

“Because it’s not.” he said, his eyes not leaving hers as he drove his message home “I care about you Fliss, more than just as friends…and I’m kicking myself now because what I did means you don’t believe me…”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you.” she said gently, shaking her head as she took deep breath. “And it’s not that I don’t feel the same…”

It’s not that I don’t feel the same At her words a soft smile formed on his face as she continued to talk.

“…but right now, you need to concentrate on Mary…and getting through this week.”

He nodded, swallowing “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

“No maybe about it.” she smiled, and reaching up she took his face in her soft hands. “But I promise you I’m not going anywhere.” her eyes locked onto his “And whatever this is…” she gestured between them once more “if it’s right, then it’ll still be there when all this is over.”

She stood on her tip toes to place a gentle kiss to side of his mouth and he leaned down, pressing  his forehead against hers, his eyes closed as he swallowed. They stayed like that for a moment until Fliss backed away gently, squeezing his hand.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” she said softly.

“Tomorrow?” he frowned

“Yeah, the Wicked Witch of The West is testifying is she not?”

Frank gave a huff of a laugh “Yeah she is.” “Like I said, you’re not alone. I might bring a hosepipe,see if she melts. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He chuckled at her joke and watched her climb in her car, waiting until the tail lights had disappeared before he turned and headed inside. Finally all the cards were on the table, and it hadn’t been a rejection, quite the opposite actually.

For the first time in days, Frank slept soundly that night.

@the-omni-princess​​  @momobaby227​​ @geekofmanythings16​​ @angelofhell-666​​ @thewackywriter​​ @marvelfansworld​​​  @cobalt-gear​​  @asgardlover75​​ @jennmurawski13​​​​  @jtargaryen18​​​ @saiyanprincessswanie​​​  @navispalace​​​ @patzammit​​​  @joannaliceevans-fanficblog​​​  @icanfeelastormbrewing​​​ @djeniiscorner​​​  @ayamenimthiriel​​​  @coldmuffinbanditshoe​​​  @disneylovingal​​​ @madzmilllz​  @sgtjaamesbaarnes​​ @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​​ @southerngracela​  @goldenfightergir​ @kellymat​ @official-and-unstable-satan​ @pagesoflauren​ 

#riding high #frank adler x ofc #frank adler #gifted #gifted fan fic

[loveafterthefact]

Love After the Fact Chapter 39: You Can Have Your Snack and Eat it, Too... Next Time.

It's Adam. Adam is the snack.

First  Previous  Next

“Thanks, Hunk.” Shiro smiles, sets up his comms unit to send a live video to Keith. He sighs, staring ruefully down at the plate of pastel… whatever. It’s not food. He refuses to believe it. “Cheers.”

“Some for me too, please.” Adam materializes, sits down next to the captain, stiff and clearly uncomfortable. All his usual flair has faded, leaving him subdued. He seems more like he’s taken the same beating that Lance has. There are shadows under his eyes. It makes sense, if Shiro thinks about it. Adam works when the crown prince works, and said prince has clearly been working nonstop.

Cue awkward silence. Hunk slides a plate over to Adam, receives a murmured thanks in return. He’s so quiet, Shiro realizes. It's a far cry from his cool yet bold rejection earlier.

"Tired?" Shiro asks.

"To the bone." Adam drags a hand down his face, working at the sagging skin beneath his eyes. “Captain?”

“Hm?”

“I apologize for my earlier conduct.”

“I- What?” Shiro stares at the Altean in bafflement. “Why?”

“You are a captain, and I was left at your disposal. My behavior was inexcusable. I was extremely rude.”

“Aren’t you a born noble?”

“Yes. Or I was. Now, I am Crown Prince Lancel’s attendant. While I hold this position, I have no status. I am no more than a servant, though the crown prince keeps me comfortable and facilitates my interests.”

Shiro begins eating, letting the disgusting flavors coat his tongue and the roof of his mouth. He won’t complain; he won’t say a word. Next to him, Adam begins to eat too. He eats like one does when he hasn’t eaten in way too long but doesn’t want anyone to know.

He really is wonderful, Shiro thinks. Hazel eyes, made less approachable by lenses. Brown hair. Brown skin, forest green scales shimmering on his cheeks. Delicate wrists. Strong, clever fingers. Intensity crackles in the air around him -usually-, laser precision in everything he does, including telling Shiro off.

People never do that; they treat him like he’s perfect. It’s exciting, in a way, that someone remembers he’s not, that he’s a whole and complete person. It’s also humbling.

“Actually?” he whispers, setting his fork aside. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. You were right. It wasn’t about you. It was about me. It was selfish, inconsiderate, and unfair. It wasn’t acceptable to put you in that position. So… In summary, I was an ass, I suck, and I’m sorry.”

Adam finishes his meal, pushes his plate away. He regards Shiro with narrowed eyes, bottom lip caught in his teeth. “Finish your food.”

Shiro chuckles, nods, resumes eating the awful Altean food. “Do you think I’ll die if I eat this?”

“I guess we’ll find out.” Adam turns sideways in his chair, watching the man eat. “Have a good night, Hunk.”

“You too, Adam. Don’t make my kitchen gross. Take it elsewhere.”

“Hm.” Adam stares, making the hair all down Shiro’s back tingle under his uniform.

“I mean it, dude. I cook food here. My staff eat here. My daughter plays here.”

“Yes, I’m aware. Goodnight.” Adam smiles a slick, sly smile as Shiro finishes off his food. Hunk just groans in defeat, shutting off all but the oven lights, leaving them in the relative dark.

“There! Done!” Shiro wags a finger at the datapad. “You better hold up your end, you drunk little shit.”

Adam quietly turns off the datapad. “Thank you for the apology. I forgive you.”

Shiro nods. “You’re welcome... and thank you. For forgiving me.”

They sit there in the dimly lit kitchen, illuminated by a row of stoves along the back wall. The coldboxes softly hum. Adam nibbles at his lip, runs a hand through his hair. He’s exhausted, run more than a little ragged. He thanks the Ancients Lance gave him tomorrow off. As much as the crown prince drives himself into the ground, he takes care of his people.

Adam will still try to make his only friend’s load a little lighter. Maybe then Lance can get some rest, too.

Shiro sighs, smiling good-naturedly even in defeat. “Well, Allura needs rest, so we’ll be leaving at our leisure tomorrow. I’d better sleep while I can.”

The captain makes to stand, but Adam catches him by the collar of his uniform, pulls him in for a kiss. It’s not a long one, only lasting a few ticks, but it’s bold, firm, assured. When Adam pulls back, it’s with a self-satisfied smirk.

“That’s for being a gentleman.”

“I… was the exact opposite of a gentleman,” Shiro whispers, holding those sparkling, green-and-gold eyes with his own as he gapes. He’s not aghast so much as in awe.

Adam shakes his head. “You're gentlemanly enough, even if you are a bit of an idiot sometimes.” The slender attendant stands, small smile still gracing his lips, green scales glowing ever so softly in the twilit room. “It’s better this way, don’t you think? It’s about us.”

“Definitely better… Well actually, I’m supposed to stick my tongue in your mouth-”

Adam laughs, shakes his head. Color swims up into his tired cheeks. “Keith would never agree to those terms. Nice try.”

They both laugh, a soft, intimate kind of laugh. It sings in the space between them.

Adam lays a hand against the Galra’s cheek, works his fingers into his fur. Shiro purrs deep in his chest, leans into the touch. Adam's smile softens, that nervous worrying of his lip finally ceasing.

Shiro wants this tiny, fragile alien as his mate; he’s sure of it. He has no claws or sharp teeth, and most of his senses are so dull as to be almost useless, but by all the gods he’s the perfect blend of poise, elegance, and chaos. Shiro would take Adam as his mate right now if he thought the Altean would consent, but he knows he won’t. So instead, he simply responds to Adam’s words in an effort to make him stay a little longer.

“No, he wouldn’t.”

“Then I guess you’ll have to wait until next time, won’t you?” Adam bends down, presses their lips together again. It’s oddly sweet, sweeter than Shiro would have thought him capable of. Adam keeps that side of him very well-hidden. “Goodnight, Takashi.”

Adam slips away like a satisfied cat, liquid and smiling. Shiro gazes after him, eyes wide, lips still parted. He laughs into the empty kitchen, lips curling into a grin.

“Goodnight, Adam. Sleep well.”

Next time, huh?

#LoveAftertheFact #LAtF #klance #galtean au #altean lance #galra keith #adashi #altean adam #galra shiro #voltron legendary defender #vld

[prurientpuddlejumper]

HEY ANON, sooooo remember how I said I know I said NO to this ask?

well I LIED!!! (kind of!) This is a bit of a different angle on it, and is actually an idea I got while watching Legends of Tomorrow XD I hope you enjoy this kinda wacky concept :D 

Please pretend, if you will, that you have just been reading a full-length novel about a band of plucky heroes trying to thwart the enigmatic-but-definitely-villainous plans of an evil monster, and this is the last 2 pages >_>

A group of valiant heroes race through a dark castle, which stands like a spire atop a desolate Swiss mountain, their boots clapping against the stone as they descend into the dank dungeon below.

“Stop, fiend!” a golden-haired adventurer shouts, “the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation will never allow you to pierce the veil!”

“YOU ARE TOO LATE,” a harsh, booming voice echoes. A steel gate drops in front of them with a heavy clank, and another behind, trapping them. The voice cackles madly. 

Gathering his instruments around him, the dark, immense silhouette of the monster emerges from the shadows, and draws an intricate sigil upon the floor.

“In fact, I was counting on your following me. Did it not seem too easy?” he taunts. Taking a long spear, the creature plunges it deftly and suddenly between the metal bars, hitting his target. One of the adventurers, a sallow young man in glasses, gives a sharp yelp as the weapon pierces his shoulder. “The blood of a descendant of my despised creator. The last ingredient.” The monster grins a pearly-white grin that does not match his dry-parchment complexion. With a fluid motion, he flicks the blood onto the sigils, and the markings begin to glow with magic. As the etheric light swirls and fills the air, the room shakes as if by earthquake—no, not the room—it is as if reality itself is cracking.

“Whatever beast you are summoning, you-you mustn't!” the sallow young man cries, “There was a reason my ancestor refused to help you! He believed you were capable of destroying all of mankind if he granted your wish. There will be repercussions even you cannot predict. I know you hold an ancient grudge against my family, but you cannot doom the entire world! Please! I’m begging you to reconsider before it’s too late!”

There are many things the creature could say, that he could spit at this naive Frankenstein in contempt, but he is bored of hatred after so many years. The whole of humanity could burn—or not—all he cares about is one thing, and nothing will stop him from getting it. He watches the glowing of the seals, his eyes feverish with anticipation.

“Here it comes. However monstrous this fiend is, whatever he summons from Hell shall be even worse. Brace yourselves!”

Slowly, you begin to remember. You remember the ashy taste of smoke filling your throat and scorching your lungs. You remember the searing pain of your flesh blistering as it was licked by the flames. The rough rope digging into your wrists was a discomfort you could no longer feel over the agony of burning alive. And then everything went black.

You open your eyes.

There are distant shouts echoing off the hard stone walls of the torch-lit dungeon you appear to be in, but you hardly give them any notice. The first thing you see is a familiar face, smiling so sweetly and tenderly at you that you almost don’t notice its cadaverous hollowness. You never minded his appearance, anyway. There is a haze around your memory, like waking from a dream, and you’re not quite sure when you last saw him. (Don’t you see him every day?) All you know is there’s a burning feeling in your stomach of missing him so much.

“It is really you?” he whispers, almost a prayer.

“My love!” You laugh brightly, throwing your arms around his neck and flooding him with kisses. His arms lift you off the cold stone altar or sarcophagus you had been laying on.

Somewhere in the distance, voices argue in sharp, confused tones. In between the desperate, passionate smashing of your lips against his, you make out only a few words, including, “—doesn’t look like a demon?” and “what the f—” 

His skin is just slightly too cool for a human, as always, but his arms still feel warm around you. You’re freezing, actually. As if you had been swimming in an icy river. And as you peer out over his shoulder, you confirm you are indeed in a castle dungeon, surrounded by strange tools and occult paraphernalia, with several oddly-dressed prisoners trying to free themselves from a steel cage.

“Wait. What… what happened? What is this place?” you tremble, pulling back. He sets you down again on the stone platform, his face unreadable as he searches for the words to explain. His hesitation convinces you something is very, very wrong—he never hides anything from you. You stare at the back of your hands. Your skin. There was something wrong with your skin.

It was… fine.

“No. I remember… I remember burning. The fire. How am I not burned or scarred?”

“My love…”

“No! Not just burning. I died, didn’t I?” you demand, breathing hard and shallow.

He puts a large hand on your shoulder, and his yellow eyes meet yours, trying to calm you. In a slow, deep voice, he says, “It has been two-hundred years, my love. It is the 21st century now.”

“Two-hundred years?” you breathe. “That can’t be.”

“I can thank Victor for one thing. There is no reason my body, powered by an artificial mechanism of life, need ever age or die. I have lived all this time, learning every science and mysticism that could return you to me. When my father refused to aid me in restoring life to your physical form, the dark arts became the last refuge of my hopes. I have spent every waking minute finding a way to bring you back. And it worked. Finally, you are here. We are together again.”

He stoops to kiss you again, but you stop him with a hand on his chest. “But… So much time has gone by. We were only together a decade. If it has truly been two centuries, you’ve been working to restore me far longer than we ever knew each other. Do I even know you anymore?”

“Of course you know me!” he snarls, making you jump. “I did all of this for you—now do as you were meant to, and love me!” He gnashes his teeth, towering over you at his full eight feet of height. Your breath catches in your throat and tears prick your eyes. He was always prone to outbursts of emotion, but he never behaved like this before. He never made you afraid. 

Who had he become in all that time? Left on his own, his goodness and gentleness eroded away as he obsessed over his one goal—you.

But as quickly as his anger flashed, the moment he saw your horrified expression, he melted to his knees, bowing his head over your lap. “I am sorry, my love. Forgive me. I have been alone for so long, waiting for this day. You still know me.” He looks up, yellow eyes soft and sorrowful. He reaches cautiously toward your face, and when you don’t recoil, wipes a tear that had formed at the corner of your eye. 

You consider his apology, and, after leaving him dangling for a few dreadful moments, stroke his hair like the magnanimous owner of a penitent cat after a night of roving. “Have you never loved again in all this time?”

“Never. Who else could ever tolerate such a wretch?”

“Oh you poor, foolish man.” You cup his chin, and can’t help but get caught up admiring him. Though his skin was scarred and shrivelled like a corpse, he had a strong jawline that made him quite handsome. “Of course there are others who would love you. I’ve always told you so.”

“And if they were caught up by some angry mob that was looking for me? If they were burned alive for loving me as well? No—I could never put another in danger after what happened to you. Not until I could correct the injustice that was done.”

You lean in to kiss him, but are interrupted by the loud choking sounds of weeping. One of the men in the cage—a bespectacled boy bleeding from his shoulder—blows his nose into a handkerchief and swipes at his reddened eyes.

“Th-that’s so beautiful. I had no idea.” he whimpers.

Oh right. Those guys. 

"Umm. So, who are they?"

"Oh, well, you see..." The creature scratches the back of his head, and shrugs his shoulders sheepishly. "I had to break certain... laws of nature, you know, spitting in the face of god and so forth in order to bring you back. There may have also been some crimes involved. At some point a monster-hunter group got wind of what I was doing, and—"

"You WHAT? CRIMES?"

"And, you know, the prejudice of humans against me has not changed in the passing eras." His eyes shift around the room, landing on his feet, which he scuffs nervously on the floor. “They just see a monster and… and make assumptions.” 

"Oh don't give me that excuse, buddy, you are in SO much trouble! Breaking the laws of nature..." You wag your index finger at him.

Grinning widely, he pulls you off the altar into his arms, and squeezes you tightly to his chest. You nuzzle into him, breathing in his familiar tomb-scent, and twining your fingers around his neck, through his long, dark hair. You sigh. Life was always an adventure when you were by his side, good or bad. Now you have a second chance, whatever the future holds. You're finally home.

#frankenstein #monster x reader #x reader #monster x human #the creature x reader #frankenstein x reader #mild angst + fluff #gender-neutral reader #reader-character: 'ooh I wonder if everyone rides in airships now??' #My writing

[lesbianfreyja]

80 + macden 👀

80. You owe me.

-

“I’m not doing this. I don’twant to do this,” Mac insisted. His head tipped back, looking up at the sign hungabove the entrance to the building before them.

“You’re doing it,” said Dennisfirmly.

Mac felt Dennis’s knucklesbrush against his a few times before Dennis fumblingly caught his hand and squeezed.Mac snorted and rolled his head to the side to look at him, watching Dennisgrin back.

“We can’t afford it, Dennis,” he complained. “We paid rent late twice thisyear already. Last time we did date night, you took me to Denny’s!”

“Here’s the thing, baby boy.”Dennis moved in front of him, patting his chest. His fingers curled into thefront of Mac’s shirt. “Last year, you got me a bag of salt and vinegar chips formy birthday, and the year before that you forgot it completely.”

“I didn’t forget,” Mac interrupted.“I gave you that blowjob!”

“That was because you’d spentfour hours watching a Ryan Reynolds marathon that afternoon and you felt guiltyfor calling me the wrong name in bed,” said Dennis. “You didn’t even know you’dmissed it until the next day.”

Mac shifted around, his eyesrolling.

“Den…”

“So, this year, I’m picking outexactly what I want and all you have to do is swipe the card.” Dennis slung anarm around his shoulders. “You owe me.”

Mac sighed. “Fine, man. Whatever.But if one of them tries to scratch me like it did last time I’ll never forgiveyou.”

“You like cats,” Dennisreminded him. “It was one feral cat one time. Come on.”

He took Mac’s hand again andstarted pulling on him, and reluctantly Mac followed his boyfriend inside. A bellabove the door tinkled when they came in, and several animals in cages nearbylooked up eagerly at them, wagging their tails.

“Hi!” a saleswoman popped up togrin sunnily at them. “How can I—”

“Oh, Mac! Look at this one!”

Dennis pulled Mac around thegirl and released his hand to drop down to his haunches. He stuck his fingersthrough the slats in the cage, and the kitten inside slunk as far away from himas it could.

“Black cats are bad luck, dude,”said Mac. “Every time it runs by you, it means a witch is cursing God in yourhonor! I don’t wanna be cursed that much, bro.”

Dennis twisted around to lookup at him. “You don’t really believe in witches, do you?”

“It’s true! That’s a straightup fact!”

Dennis snorted softly, shakinghis head as he turned back to the cat. Even though he’d been waggling hisfingers through the cage at it, slow and hypnotic in an attempt to coax itcloser, it stayed trembling as far away from him as it could. Grunting, Dennispulled his hand away from the black cat and straightened up.

“Whatever,” said Dennis. “Youwere an ugly little bitch anyway.”

Mac trailed after him as he meanderedfurther down the same aisle.

“Maybe we could look at thedogs?” Mac suggested, eyes widening hopefully. “If we have to get a pet, a dogwould be way more badass—”

“Don’t even try it,” Dennis saiddryly, shooting Mac a look over his shoulder. “It’s my birthday. And I want a cat.”

Mac sighed. Dennis wandered pastmore cages, dismissing the animals inside as being too scrawny, too big, toobitchy-looking, not enthusiastic enough about him jamming his hand in their cage.They walked up and down a few more aisles, with Dennis rejecting every single catthat they saw. They were only a few cages left, filling Mac up with dread thatthis errand was about to extend well into the afternoon if they had to drive togo look at another pet shop.

Dennis frowned at a fat brownone who kept swiping at his hand. Mac’s eyes drifted away from his millionthpainful rejection, scanning the surrounding cages absently.

“Holy shit!” Mac shouted out. Hedarted past a few more cages and dropped hard to his knees on the floor. Heshoved his face in close to the bars of this cat’s enclosure. Instead ofrearing back, it stayed nibbling at its food bowl. “Dennis, look at him! He’s socool!”

He heard Dennis trailing afterhim and felt him settle just behind him to the side. When he glanced upeagerly, Dennis had his arms crossed and he was frowning down at Mac on the ground.

“What are you talking about, Mac?It’s just a—” Dennis picked at the nametag hung on the cage, squinting at thedescription. “—Mac, it’s just a stupid tabby cat. They’re like, everywhere.Charlie’s got about five that follow him from his building to the bar.”

“But he’s so orange!”

Mac’s face scrunched up in aweand he leaned back in close to the cat’s cage. It finally stopped eating longenough to acknowledge him, and it slinked closer, sniffing the air tentatively.Mac pressed his face right up near to the bars and it flinched back at first,minutely, at his sudden movement forward. After a second it padded closer againand ducked toward the side of the cage too. It pushed its snout near Mac’s noseand sniffed again. Mac laughed. When he looked up, a faint smile was tugging onthe edge of Dennis’s mouth. Mac grinned and stood up.

“He’s so cute, Dennis!” hesaid. “We have to get him! Can I hold him?”

Mac whipped around to look fora sales associate. Dennis spotted one first and flagged them over.

“This one’s a girl, bro,” saidDennis.

“No way. It’s way too cool-looking.Look how orange he is!”

“Yeah, she’s really orange.” Dennisrolled his eyes. “But look, dude, the tag says right here that her name is Chloe.”

Chloe lookedup at them both through the top of her cage, tilting her head. Behind them, someonecleared their throat and they both turned around to look at the girl from earlierstanding behind them.

“Hey there,” she said. “Youlike—”

“I wanna hold this one,” saidMac, pointing at Chloe.

“It’s my cat,” Dennis snapped, stepping in front of Mac. “She’s for me. Potentially. If we decide to gether.”

Mac leaned against Dennis’sback to get closer to the salesgirl.

“Whatever. Just take her out!”

The salesgirl stepped aroundthem to undo Chloe’s cage.

“Be careful,” she said, easingChloe up out of it. “She doesn’t usually like men.”

She handed the cat off toDennis, after he won the shoving fight between him and Mac to hold her first.Dennis was surprisingly still, and quiet, as he gathered her up in his arms. Shewas tense at first, but when Dennis stroked a hand down her back she started torelax.

“Wow,” said the girl. “I’m surprised,she generally doesn’t trust—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dennis interrupted.“We’re done with you. You can go now.”

“I — can’t just leave you herewith an animal unattended,” said the girl, uncertainly. “Um, I’ll stand overhere while you make a decision.”

She moved a little way away to watchthem from over by some fish tanks. Mac shuffled in closer to Dennis, reachingup to scratch at Chloe’s ears. Her eyes closed, and she nudged into Mac’s hand.

“She likes us!” Dennis said, lookingup to grin at him.

“It’s probably because we’regay, dude,” said Mac, moving to rub her under her chin. “She can sense that we’renon-threatening.”

“That’s not a — you know what, sure,”said Dennis. He knocked Mac’s hand out of the way so he could lift her up andlook her in the eyes. She blinked slowly at him. With one paw, she reached outlike she was going to touch him on the shoulder — then instead she brought herarm down and smacked Dennis in the face.

Mac doubled over laughing.

“Bitch,” Dennis gasped softly,but he brought her back to his chest and kept running his fingers down her backanyway.

“Oh, my God, dude! She’s perfect!”Mac said. “Dennis, bro, we have to get her! Look at her, she’s so cute…She’s alreadycopying me, we have to take her home. She’s…what’s the word? She’s imprintingon us!”

“Cats don’t do that,” Dennissaid. He still sounded a little annoyed but he tucked Chloe under his chin andhugged her closer.

“Yeah, they totally do!” Macinsisted. He reached out to pet her side, dancing around where Dennis’s arm wastucked beneath her.

“You’re thinking of ducks.”

“Ducks do it too. It’s a thingthat like, any small mammal does. Trust me, that’s science.”

“It is absolutely not,” said Dennis.“So what? You think that big dogs don’t imprint on people but little ones do?”

“Of course not, Dennis,” Macsaid, rolling his eyes. “That would be stupid! If they have the potential to become big, then they can’timprint. Duh. It’s a gene some animals have, bro, trust me.”

Dennis thought this over as heput Chloe back in her cage and the salesgirl brought them up to the counter tostart filling out adoption paperwork. They would need an interview-type meetingfirst, apparently, to bring them up to speed on Chloe’s background and historyand make sure they had the means of providing for her. Institutions were sostupid. Mac wanted to bring her back now but the saleswoman said it was literallyimpossible, even when he argued and got loud. Bitch.

“Lions,” said Dennis as theywere walking back to the car. He snapped his fingers in the air like he’d justsolved an impossible riddle.

“What?” Mac turned to look athim. “What are you talking about?”

“Lions are like big cats. So byyour own theory, cats can’t imprint.”

He smiled proudly.

“No, you’re getting confused,”said Mac, shaking his head. He pulled open the passenger side door to the carand climbed in. “Lions are just relativesof cats. One of the genes that makes them super big and gives them a mane alsomakes it so they can’t imprint. They’re different.”

Dennis rolled his eyes.

“Let’s just go buy stuff fordinner,” he said, twisting the key into the ignition.

They got to bring Chloe home aweek after they met her. Dennis had gone all out and bought her a bed andlitter box and several large bags of food from Walmart already, but Mac hadgone back to the pet store to pick up things for her to play with. Annoyingly,she avoided all of Mac’s super cool food-shaped toys to gnaw on the edge of thepillow they had sat her on so she could lay between them on the couch.

Dennis was obsessed with her,wouldn’t stop nudging her ears and stroking her back while she ignored him tokeep chewing on their pillow.

“I guess it’s okay that she’s agirl,” said Mac, frowning at her. “At least her color is still badass.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Dennis cooedat the kitten. “He’s just jealous that you like me more than you like him.”

“We should still call her somethingcool, though,” said Mac. “Hey! Remember how you promised to name your firstbornkid Murphy? After I died, remember?”

Dennis finally looked away fromthe cat to glare at him.

“No fucking way, Mac,” he said.“We are not naming her after Robocop. She’s sweet, we should name her somethingsmaller—”

“You promised!”

“When you actually die forreal, I’ll change her name to Murphy. Okay?” said Dennis. “Until you’re in theground I don’t have to do jack shit that was on your little list of funeraldemands.”

“But you’re—”

They were interrupted by a loud,plaintive meow coming from betweenthem. Mac glanced down at her, but Dennis was already lashing out to scoop herup in his arms. He petted at her head, pulling her into his chest and turning awayfrom Mac like he was trying to hide her from him. Mac made an irritated noise,trying to swipe out around Dennis to pet her again.

“I won’t let him name you Murphy,”Dennis promised.

“Well, we have to change it tosomething because Chloe was the name of the bitch who pushed me off a swingsetin fifth grade!” said Mac. He brought his fist down hard on his thigh. “We saidwe’d be cat dads together, Dennis.You don’t get to hog her.”

Dennis sighed. He lowered thecat onto his lap, where she promptly started kneading at him until he wassuitably comfortable enough for her to curl up on and go to sleep. Dennislooked up at Mac, smug.

“Why don’t you go scoop hersome food?” Dennis suggested. He gestured down at her. “I can’t move.”

Grumbling, Mac pushed himselfoff the couch to deal with her dinner. While he worked, he tried to come upwith a better name for her, but everything cool that he liked was a dude’s name.It wasn’t his fault that women were never in any good movies.

“What about Anne,” he said suddenly,spinning around with a finger in the air.

Dennis wasn’t listening to him.Dennis was bent over, rubbing at the cat’s stomach and murmuring something intoher ears. Mac softened, watching them for a minute or two. Eventually he turnedaround to keep scooping her some dinner. He guessed they could fight about what to name hersome other time.

DISCLAIMER! i clearly knownothing about cats or pet shops lol so that’s all creative liberty at work. i mean, i skimmed the pet smart website on adoption. and my friends have cats. also, adopt don’t shop x

#honeyreynolds #ask #iasip fic #fic #fic stuff #iasip #mac x dennis #drabble tag

[loustellaperry]

Draco finds a three-headed dog

     I scribbled up a Harry Potter edition MASH game, and used my answers as the prompt for this post. My answers were Draco, Mansion, Fluffy, and shop owner. This is what my imagination did with this information... 

It was a particularly dark day, but that was to be expected when it’s the middle of April in England. I couldn’t help but race the raindrops on the window, as they fell. My back had gone numb, as I’d been sitting in the same spot, by the same window, since I got home at noon.

…

I had woke up straight from a PTSD nightmare, of a scene I was involved in when I was around fourteen. It was the day, my mom slapped me in the face, right before I got on the train for school. In which case, I wouldn’t see her again until Christmas.

I sat up straight out of bed, with the same nerves I had the second her hand hit my cheek. Shaking fingers, a racing heart, and sweat droplets lining my forehead, I pulled myself from my not-so-dreamy state. The rain hadn’t begun yet, but the sky already seemed rather dreary.

The clock read 9:13 am, and as usual I headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. I became a coffee drinker at the mere age of 16. It was my go-to, to keep me going through the toughest part of my life. I carried it with me to adulthood.

Four of my five fingers took turns tapping my finger prints against the table top. In order, from my pinky to my index finger, while my thumb sat there stabilizing them. I sipped my coffee through dry lips. My face still felt swollen, as though I hadn’t seen sleep for four months. I mean, this wasn’t entirely wrong. I lifted my eyes from my coffee mug to the phone, in the hallway. I have never heard it ring… ever. I can’t believe I’ve been living here for four months, and no one’s called me. Not even Crabbe or Goyle. To be fair, I haven’t really reached out to any one since moving in.

I inherited one of the Malfoy manors when my uncle passed, in December. It’s still filled with all his things. He lived alone, and sold bewitched muggle artefacts straight out of the foyer, much like the rest of my family. I’ve distanced myself from most of them, in honor of my mental state. After the battle of Hogwarts, I went straight to therapy and have been there ever since.

It took me three years to realize my situation wasn’t the greatest. I guess I was brought up to believe if you could pay your bills, and have extra left over, then you needn’t complain. I was never taught to take care of my mind. After about a year and a half passed, my relationship with EVERYONE slowly but surely deteriorated. I’ve only talked lightly to my parents, as I transitioned from their roof to this one.

A lot’s happened inside my brain since then. I’ve began using poetry and famous literature to subside the pain. This was my Slytherin shining through. My uncle had quite the collection going, in his book room. It reminded me of a smaller version of the Hogwarts library. Loads of history on famous wizards, spells, potions, poetry, and even muggle fiction. I’ve also took over his garden. He had quite the abundance of herbs, as well. I’m thinking about buying a place in Diagon Alley, and selling them. You see, cutting ties with my family the way that I’ve been, is sure to decrease my income. And I’m just slightly over sneaking around, and selling illegal objects from my home. There’s a peacefulness that comes with the idea that you have nothing to hide.

…

               I took a cabbie to London, to meet my therapist at 10:30. Recently, I’ve been overly disconnected. I find myself lost in a daze, replaying events from my childhood. She said it’s normal for complex cases of PTSD. Talking about it helps, or at least it’s supposed to. My therapist has this way of swimming straight to the darkest depths of my brain, and showing me memories I buried there, LONG ago. Although, each weekly session knocks me down for the remainder of the six days left in the week, I do feel my head becoming easier to carry.

I guess I just miss my friends, and kind of my parents. I’m supposed to forgive them for their ways even though, they never apologized. I just feel shameful, because I, too, feel like I have things to apologize for. I just can’t bring myself to do it. It’s also hard, when I feel like they are still living in their old ways, and just because I’ve found a path out of illegal activity, doesn’t mean they want to.

They also kind of make me feel dumb for living the way that I am. My dad even said I’ve brought shame to the family name, as they’ve given me everything, and the way that I repay them is “seeking help, like some sort of peasant”. If asking for help, makes me a peasant than so be it. I couldn’t open my mouth before, without exploding on someone, about something that was never ignited. Although, I lead a quieter life now, my chest doesn’t hurt as much.

…

Therapy sped by, and was mostly silent on my part, as I said earlier, I’m pretty disconnected right now. Not much to say, when my mind isn’t all there to begin with.

As I opened the heavy door, I was greeted by immediate brightness and thick rain. If the breeze hadn’t been so pleasantly cool, I would have pretended I was dying. I find myself thinking about death a lot. But it’s apparently “normal”, when you’ve encountered the things that I have. According to the plan my therapist has made, those dark thoughts will decrease as I talk through them. It just feels like to me, that they’ve increased… a lot.

I opened my dark green umbrella, and ventured down the sidewalk. Old thoughts from school flooded my brain. Almost all of my peers were already married and having children. Here I am almost 21, and just living off the same wealth, I’ve had since I was young. I’m constantly reminded by my therapist that I’m still pretty young, and have lots of love to give. But honestly, FUCK LOVE…

 and then I caught a glimpse of him. It was a fat, grey dog, with three heads. As soon as my eyes landed on it, it had taken a sharp turn down an alley. I followed closely behind, almost catching up to it, but then it hopped through the brick wall. I ran over to the area, that it disappeared in. I drew my wand and tapped on the bricks. Nothing. I crouched down and examined my surroundings. I didn’t know there was a wizard portal here. Then I noticed the transparent air shaking, as though there was something under it. It can’t be…

I lowered myself to it’s level, and reached into the air, hoping to pull off whatever invisibility device this pup was using. To my expectations and slight surprise, I could feel the creature underneath my hand, it was just… invisible. A few seconds later, it’s transparency faded and against the wall, was a shaking very small but plump three headed dog. The school’s old gamekeeper owned one. Her name was Fluffy and she guarded some of Hogwarts most valuable secrets. Only, that one was the size of a small building. This one was the size of a baby bear.

“Are you alright?” I made my voice small enough to fit the tiny creature.. All three of it’s heads, flinched as if I was going to hit it… them. “I’m not going to hurt you”, I meant, I’ve not been around a dog since at least five years ago, but I definitely won’t kick you.

All six eyes lifted to meet my gaze, with a glossiness of tears. All ears were held down, and it’s entire coat was trembling before me. This was probably the cutest and purest thing I’ve seen all year. I reached out and let it sniff me, and softly touched the middle head. It seemed to not mind.

“Now, do you have a home? This is a strange place for a creature like you to be wondering around”

“Excuse me, sir, are you alright?” A man peered around the edge of a building. “Oh, yeah… I just found…” and when I looked down, the dog had went invisible again, also it had three heads. “I mean, I had dropped something. But I found it, thank you”.

The man shook his head slightly, tilted his hat, and kept walking. Filthy muggles, treating me like I’m crazy!- I mean, he was just an interested man, not filthy, he never said I was crazy… his facial expression did… I don’t know, it just seems like muggles are extremely nosey and annoying. I mean, I’ve met pure blood wizards that were the same. I just hate people, to be fair.

Glancing down, the dog was now in full sight and wagging it’s tail. “How about you come home with me?”

As I picked up the creature, I realized how heavy it actually was, and how hard it was going to be to get into the cab without looking suspicious. “The only thing, I need you to do is stay invisible”.

…

It snores. Also, it’s a boy. I named him Snake, because why would you not name an animal after a different animal? Snake fell asleep shortly after we got home, and I’ve kind of just been sitting by this window, ever since. We’re probably ordering out for dinner.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing this, and using a MASH game as a prompt. Also, I’ve always wanted to write harry potter fan fiction.

Message me, and lemme know what you think of this version of Draco.. 

#harry potter #fanfic #draco malfoy #imagination #fan fiction #malf #slytherin #j.k. rowling #writeblr #writing prompt #mash #spilled ink #spilled thoughts #potterhead #potter prompt #prompt #story prompt #one shot #witchblr #wizard

[youngjusticeslut]

And They Were Roommates (Chapter 6)

Fandom: Young Justice Links: FF.net // AO3 Characters:  Artemis Crock, Dick Grayson, Lian Harper, Roy Will Harper, Jade Nguyen Ships: RedCat Summary: While Jade and Roy were out on their date, Artemis babysits her niece. Rating: T Word Count: 2545 Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters.

Babysitting wasn't so hard.

Artemis had never seen herself as a motherly person, by any definition of the word. Really, she hadn't given kids much thought at all before her and Wally had gotten together. Even then, they'd both known it was a long way off. Aside from a couple comments on how cute their future offspring would be, they hadn't even discussed it. She knew Wally had wanted kids, someday, and she'd accepted it.

There had been a short period of time, in the weeks after his ceasing, that Artemis bought a bag full of pregnancy tests. Just in case. Zatanna had found her once, crying on the floor of the bathroom with three negative tests all around her, insisting that now she had nothing. Not exactly a highlight of her summer. At the time, having Wally's baby seemed like the perfect way to remember him by. Looking back, she wanted to shake herself for being so illogical. With him gone, the only kids in her future would be the pre-teenage kind; 'mentor' sounded a whole lot more appealing than 'mother'.

Still, there was something about Lian that was so easy. An adjective she never would have guessed would be used to describe any offspring of her sister's. Upon first learning about Lian, Artemis could only imagine the little terror she would grow up to become. She never would have expected her to turn out to be such a sweet little thing.

Artemis wasn't sure if it was genetics, the parenting, or sheer luck; all three bore equal chances as to how her niece turned out.

"Boosey," Lian insisted, clapping her hands and trying to scoot closer to the dog. When he heard his name, Brucely wagged his tail for a quick moment. Upon realizing that it was his new torturer, he scampered away to the kitchen. Artemis couldn't help but laugh at the disappointment on Lian's face, smoothing back her hair.

"I told you, Babe, he doesn't forgive easy. You pulled his tail one too many times."

"Boosey!"

"Who needs Brucely when you have your cool aunt Artemis?" she asked, picking up Lian and holding her over her head, making her fly. That quickly eliminated any displeasure on the baby's face, instead morphing into utter glee.

Artemis laughed again, making her niece fly for a few moments before setting her down in front of her toys. "What do you suppose Mama and Daddy are up to?" she asked, handing Lian a couple of blocks. The blocks fascinated her enough to miss Artemis' question, thus no answer.

It was a wonder Jade had agreed to go out with Roy at all. Artemis could only imagine how terrible the night would go. "It's going to go one of two ways, Lian," she explained, helping her build a block tower. "Either your Mama and Daddy are going to fight, or they're going to have sex. You know what that means?"

Lian ignored her, knocking down the block tower and cheering in delight.

"It means," Artemis said, building up the tower once again, "that either way, I'm going to end up with a headache. But between you and me, I think I'd prefer the sex," she muttered.

The baby nodded thoughtfully. "Sex," she repeated, picking up a block and trying to place it at the top of the small tower.

Artemis' eyes widened and she balked, unsure of what to say. Her first thought was that Roy was going to kill her. The immediate afterthought was that she didn't care, because this was hilarious. "We're going to keep this little development between the both of us, cool?" she asked.

In response, Lian knocked down the tower again; it was close enough to an agreement.

They played together for a while, building block towers and tossing different toys around. At some point, Lian started to stick everything in her mouth so Artemis gave her a pacifier. All in all, Lian was a very low-maintenance baby; it was no wonder how Jade got along with her so well.

Around nine, Artemis' phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, her stomach sinking when she saw the name on the text. While part of her, the weaker part, told her to ignore it, she couldn't. Artemis hadn't heard from him since the funeral. Her fingers were clumsy as she dialed him, praying that he wouldn't send yet another one of her calls to voicemail.

Luck was on her side, today.

"You're in Gotham?"

"Promised Tim a visit. Thought I'd see if you were around."

Artemis smiled, curling her legs underneath her and handing Lian one of her toy trucks. "No such luck, Grayson. Thought the world's greatest detective would know that."

"He's been a little off his game lately. Where are you?"

"Long Beach."

"Working on your tan?"

She scoffed. "Not quite. I'm babysitting."

"I hope the kid is cute, at least."

"The cutest." Lian squealed in discontent as Artemis ignored the rattling toy she tried to give her. Her aunt mouthed an apology and took the toy, shaking it and bopping her on the head. "I'm watching my niece."

Dick hummed on the other end. "I was wondering why Cheshire had gone quiet." There was no judgement in Dick's voice. Her other friends, they either wouldn't ask, or there would be a note of discontent in their voices when they did. Everyone who met Lian loved her. It was just her parents' relationship they disapproved of. "She and Roy still trying to make things work?"

"They're on a date. God only knows what kind of trouble they're getting up to."

"Want some company?"

"Maybe not tonight. Lian's being very insistent for her aunt's full attention," Artemis said, pulling her niece onto her lap and cuddling her. "But soon. I want to see you."

"Miss me?"

"More than you know, Batboy. Have you finally come out of hiding?"

Dick laughed, but it was forced. "You could say that. Fancy a trip to the east coast next week?"

"You mean you don't want to experience the California sun?"

"Thought we could go to Bibbo's. Like old times."

It took a second for Artemis to come up with a response. Her, Wally and Dick had spent far too many evenings at Bibbo's, gorging on milkshakes and french fries, pretending to study but doing anything but. The team had used to go, too. They would order one of everything on the menu and Wally would eat anything they didn't finish. It would never be like old times.

"Maybe not Bibbo's," Dick said to her silence. "Pizza?"

"Yeah, Pizza works," she sighed, holding Lian closer to her chest. She was so lucky that she was too young for heartache. "I just want to see you."

"I want to see you too, 'Mis. Talk soon, okay?"

"You got it, Dick."

Artemis was never, ever going to let them live this down. Not long after she finished her conversation with Dick, she spied the ever telling flash of blue and red lights. At first she hadn't looked outside, figuring it was just a drug-bust, or some overzealous teenagers getting caught. The aching urge to spy took over and she finally opened the balcony door to observe.

The sight of Jade and Roy, barely clothed and in handcuffs was something she was never going to forget. It didn't take five minutes before she was down there, planning to do some damage control.

"Well look at what we have here," Artemis simpered, smirking at her sister and brother-in-law. "I thought you said she was kidding, Roy."

"Miss, this is a private matter. I suggest you take yourself elsewhere," the policeman urged, nodding towards the street.

"I'm their family. You mind telling me what they're being charged with?" Artemis asked, turning her gaze to Jade who looked far too comfortable for her liking.

"Indecent exposure. Having sex in public is a misdemeanor, Ma'am." Artemis' eyes narrowed at her two roommates. On the one hand, she couldn't believe that they were stupid enough as to do this; on the other, she wasn't surprised in the least.

Jade rolled her eyes. "We don't need your help, Sis. I was handling it just fine," she insisted in Vietnamese, only to be shoved by Roy, who was nearly as red as his hair.

"Just get us out of here. I'm cold and this is embarrassing," he muttered back, his Vietnamese not nearly as polished as his wife's.

"Really?" Jade cocked her head to the side. "More embarrassing than the time you-"

"Shut up, Jade. For the love of whatever is up there, I'm begging you."

Artemis shook her head before looking to the officer. He was young and a little naive looking; this wouldn't be too hard to get out of. She'd managed to get out of worse. "Right. Well, as you can see, these two are tourists," she explained, rocking Lian's stroller back and forth when she felt her shifting. The last thing they all needed was for her to wake up and start screaming. "They didn't know what they were doing."

"Tourists?" the officer frowned, glancing at Jade, who grinned, and then Roy. "The both of them?"

"That's a little racist, don't you think?" Artemis asked, turning her glare on the officer. "They're visiting me from Vietnam. These two idiots didn't know any better."

"I'll need to see their passports," the policeman said, wavering a bit when Jade winked at him.

"Look, Officer, I'll be honest with you," Artemis began, leaning against the stroller. "This can go one of two ways. You can wait here for me to get their passports, arrest them, and take them to court. But I assure you, this trial won't be as cut and dry as you think."

"Are you threatening me?" the policeman asked, narrowing his eyes.

Artemis held up her hands. "Not at all, Sir. I'm just saying, you don't seem to have a lot of evidence. Are you sure you caught them having sex?"

"They were in the water, Ma'am."

"Yes, but they still have their underwear on," she said, nodding to the two.

"Not by choice," Jade piped up. "Roy was being so awfully slow."

"Shut up, Jade."

Artemis pretended to listen to them before looking back at the policeman. "They were intending on going skinny dipping and got carried away. How can I be sure that you're not prejudicing against them because they're foreign?"

"Well, I-"

"Look, I don't want a case, and I'm pretty sure you don't. So why don't you let these two off with a warning and let the embarrassment of being caught be enough of a punishment?" Artemis concluded before nodding to the baby in the stroller. "If not for them, do it for their poor child, who has to live with these idiots."

"I can't just let them go-"

"If you need a crime to bust, I heard a scuffle coming in that direction," she said, gesturing to the busy street.

The policeman looked between Artemis to Jade and Roy before he finally sighed and moved to uncuff them. "A warning," he agreed. "Make sure they're well versed on the law here in America. Next time, they won't be so lucky."

"I assure you, there won't be a next time," Artemis promised.

Jade grinned as she was uncuffed, drinking in the young policeman without hesitation. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'd get in all kinds of trouble just to see him again," she purred, still in Vietnamese.

"No, you won't," Roy growled, rubbing his wrists and trying to locate his pants.

Once the policeman was out of sight, Artemis glared at the two. "I can't believe you let yourselves be caught. Really, don't you two know any better?"

Jade shrugged. "We've never been caught before. I thought it would be kinky."

Her husband immediately whirled on her, blue eyes wide. "You knew?"

"Of course. Did you really think that I didn't know a rent-a-cop was sneaking up on us. I'm more surprised that you didn't know."

Artemis snickered. "She has a point. No wonder the Shadows found you out." She could tell that Roy was about to explode, so she shushed him before he could, nodding to Lian who was still miraculously asleep. "Wouldn't want to wake the baby, now would you?"

"Well, that was fun. It was nice to speak Vietnamese for a bit," Jade mused, slipping into her clothes far too easily. "You should really work on yours, Red. Your pronunciation is atrocious."

"You're awfully calm for someone who almost just got arrested. What would have happened if they found you out, Jade?" Artemis scolded, pushing the stroller back to the apartment once the two were dressed. "There are hotels for a reason, you know."

"We weren't thinking," Roy muttered. "It won't happen again."

"Right, like I believe that. Please, next time, be a little more careful. I had to drag your baby out here, and it's chilly, and she could get sick," Artemis continued. "If this had gone any further, I probably would have had to get Ollie involved, and we all know how that would have turned out. So next time you guys are feeling kinky, try a sex shop," she muttered, turning to look at them.

But they were gone.

"For fuck's sake," she muttered, shaking her head as she entered the lobby of the apartment. Still, she wasn't surprised. At least she didn't have to worry about their thwarted sexcapade taking place in the room next to hers. "Your parents suck," she said to her sleeping niece as they entered the elevator.

Still, at least they seemed to be getting along better. It would make meals a lot more enjoyable; before she could cut the tension between them with a knife. Hopefully this was the start of the two of them working out their issues.

She exited the elevator and rolled the stroller towards the apartment, looking forward to nothing more than a quiet night of Netflix and wine. Instead, Artemis was greeted with a folded paper on the door. She raised a brow and opened it.

Thanks for the breakout, Sis. Door will be unlocked before midnight.

"No. No, this is not happening," Artemis growled, banging on the door. "Jade! Jade, I swear to god, you better open this door right fucking now," she growled, reaching in her pocket for her key. But it was gone. She swore she heard a chuckle from inside the apartment, followed by a concerning amount of banging.

Artemis groaned, sliding down the wall and banging the door for good measure, pulling out her phone again. "Correction, Lian. Your parents are the fucking worst."

#young justice #artemis crock #dick grayson #jade nguyen #roy harper #lian harper #young justice fanfiction

[temptation-narnia-chronicles]

From Upon the Golden Thrones

Episode 14: Workaholic

      Sludge caked the ground as the winter's snow began to melt and mix with the dirt. Lucy ran through the garden with wild abandon, not caring if she dirtied her skirts, as she indulged in the warmer weather and the tiny buds sprouting on branches. A hint of spring, pastel and dainty and precious, lingered in the air. Soon cherry blossoms would line the trails and the sweet aroma of fresh blooms would coat the country in a sugary haze. As much as Lucy loved winter and all of it's offerings, she absolutely delighted in spring.

     "Lucy, please be careful!" Susan called, contemplating running after her at the risk of muddying her dress. She didn't want to look completely unpresentable, even if they weren't expecting guests any time soon.       "Why should I? It's so beautiful out!" the valiant called back, weaving through rows of labyrinthine shrubberies.       "Calm down, Susan. Let Lu have a bit of fun" Edmund replied, sidling up to his sister. A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he watched his baby sister frolic and play. She was as carefree as they came and it warmed his heart to see her enjoy herself so much. He wished he hadn't taken advantage of her optimistic innocence in the past.       "You ought to be telling Peter that" the gentle replied tiredly, shaking her head. She looked up at the window to his office, slightly creaked ajar so that the cool breeze swept into the room. She could just see him now, hunched over his desk reading and rereading every single paper ten times over as if he was certain he wasn't fully comprehending any of it. He signed every document slowly, cautiously, like the entire planet might explode if he didn't take his time. Thus was the way of the past two months. Peter never took a break. "It's like he went from one extreme to the other" Susan added disdainfully. "I hate seeing him do these sorts of things to himself. If only he'd just listen..."       "I think by now he might be beyond saving" Edmund remarked, slightly joking. Susan didn't think he was very funny. "Listen, all I'm saying is that maybe this is what Peter needs. You saw how he was with Eilonwy. He put her before his work. Now that she's gone, he's been doing nothing but work to deal with her absence and that might not be the worst thing. This is the most productive we've been all year thanks to him."       The young queen shook her head. "No, Edmund, this is not what Peter needs. What he needs is help" she argued. "Can't we speak with Aesop about this and ask for some sort of potion to cure him of this?"       "I'd say go for it but that's the thing: Peter's not sick, he's productive" Edmund said. "And you should be grateful for that. He's doing good work, Su, whether he knows it or not. He's signing treaties. He's making alliances and setting up a real import and export system. He's even pushed for construction on your orphanage. If nothing else, you have to be happy about that!"       Edmund had a point, that was undeniable. Still, Susan found it hard to believe that all this hard work was without consequence. Sooner or later, Peter was bound to burn out. And when he did, absolutely everything would come crashing down in a cataclysmic explosion that nobody really wanted to see. There wasn't much they could do, though. Peter was stubborn and perseverant. No matter what they tried, they knew he wouldn't budge. Even a game of cricket was refused in the stead of more work. All that was left to do was wait in hushed tensity until he broke so they could clean up the leftover pieces and patch him back together again.       "I know it's rather treasonous to speak ill of your king behind his back" Tumnus whispered one afternoon, "But I must say, I'm growing rather concerned about King Peter!"       "He's a sorry bloke, he is" Mr. Beaver replied. "Ever since Ellie left, things haven't been quite the same."       "Oh, I do wish she had at least told us where she was off to" Mrs. Beaver said, pacing back and forth as she wrung her hands together. "Why does she always do this?!"       "Because she's an inconsiderate little wench who deserves a right smacking!" Mr. Beaver said. He loved Eilonwy like a daughter, he really did, but he was never fond of her random disappearances. He felt he and his wife had a right to know when and where she was running off to all the time. Especially now, after all they had been through and all the changes that had come their way. It's far easier to come and go from a little dam as it is a heavily guarded castle. Sooner or later, she wouldn't be allowed back.       Mr. Beaver rose from his seat and rubbed his wife's back. He hated seeing her so distraught. It wasn't right for Eilonwy to worry her so. However, it was unfortunately very characteristic.       "I'm sure Eilonwy had her reasons" Tumnus said with a wag of his finger. He was far more forgiving of the girl, perhaps a little too much. He cared for Eilonwy deeply, not in a romantic sort of way but as deeply as you love your long-time best friend. In many ways, that was what Eilonwy was to him. They didn't always get along but he still treasured her companionship deeply and unconditionally, which said a lot considering the way she had treated him during their last encounter before his imprisonment.       "She doesn't think!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed. "She thinks about no one but herself. She's hurting us. She's hurting the country. And she's especially hurting Peter!"       "I know why she did what she did" Mrs. Beaver then spoke, shaking her head as if she had a terrible migraine. "She spoke to me in confidence that night in Allies Enclave. She told me of her uncertainties, of her fear that Peter was to ask for her hand. She said she didn't feel she was ready for something like that, that she wasn't even sure if she was happy here. I suppose Peter's plans scared her off and that's why she left." Her paws were shaking at her sides, she was so overwhelmed with emotion. "To think, I could've stopped this if I had only...if I had only spoken to her just a little while longer!"       "Don't blame yourself, love" Mr. Beaver comforted. "None of this was your fault. Eilonwy's the only one to blame. I just hope that while she's gone, she learns to grow up and take responsibility for her actions, or else."       "I guess all we can do now is hope King Peter will be alright" Tumnus spoke. The Beavers nodded sadly, intertwining their paws in an act of support and reassurance. They would simply have to wait out the storm in quiet unity.       Peter was not alright. Dark circles highlighted bloodshot eyes and there was a pallor to his face that his siblings knew couldn't be healthy. All he ever wanted to do was work. Even at breakfast, he leaned over a stack of papers his eyes scanned once, twice, three times over while mindlessly snacking on a pastry.       "Peter, don't you think you ought to put that away, at least while you eat?" Susan asked as cautiously as possible. She couldn't stand to see him do this to himself, but she didn't want to trouble the waters anymore than they already were, either. The High King acted as if he hadn't even heard her, going about his business and taking another bite of his food. "Peter, I'm sure whatever that is can wait until you're finished eating" she continued, a bit more stern this time. Now he replied with a soft grunt, but his eyes remained locked on his work. Susan was beginning to lose her cool, fists gradually clenching at her sides. "Peter..." she said, attempting to remain as soft as possible. Edmund and Lucy could tell something was brewing deep inside of her. "For the love of all that is holy, Peter William Pevensie will you please just for once stop working?!"       The entire room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Edmund and Lucy glanced to each other frantically, as if they wanted to escape but had no means to. The pair tensed in their chairs, awaiting the ensuing reaction. Both of them knew it wouldn't be pretty.       Peter's eyes slowly lifted from his work, hand tightening it's grip around the quill. There was an anger in his eyes they had only ever seen the likes of at Beruna, something raw and violent and real. Susan straightened her back and stood her ground, tilting her chin slightly upward in dominance. "How dare you presume I don't know what I'm doing" he growled. "How dare you order your king to stop his work!"       "How dare you talk back to your queen!" Susan shouted back.       "My queen?! I am superior to you, Susan, and I will do as I please! If I want to work during breakfast, I damn will!" Peter said. His face was starting to grow red with rage, his knuckles whitening as he tightened his grip. "I can do whatever the hell I please, Susan! I can do whatever I want!" he then began to shout, growing louder and louder with every reiteration. "I can declare war on Calormen if I wanted! I can sail to Galma without any notice! I can ride to Ettinsmoor and search for Eilonwy if I wanted! And I can certainly sit and sign papers while I eat this stupid little pastry!" he screamed, taking a violent bite of his food at the end of it all. Tears welled in his eyes for as he shouted, something within him began to snap. He did his best to hold himself together but he had to face facts: he was finally crumbling.       The moment Susan noticed this emotional shift, she softened her gaze immediately. "Peter, I..." she began but Peter interrupted her.       "Don't even bother! I don't want to hear it!" he shouted. Slamming his leftovers onto the plate, he swiped his hand across the table with a mighty yell and sent all of his paperwork flying. Lucy gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth, instinctively gripping Edmund's with the other. "I don't want to hear any of it!" Peter screamed, tears rolling down his cheeks now. He stalked to the door and with one rough motion, slammed it shut behind him with such vigor the entire castle shook.       Susan buried her face in her trembling hands, holding back tears of her own. A part of her wanted to just rush after him and try to comfort him but she knew that was the worst thing she could've done. It was evident now that Peter was utterly inconsolable. There was nothing anyone could do to heal his wounds. The High King would have no other choice but to heal himself.       Barrelling down the hallways, Peter burst through the double doors and darted straight to the stables. It had been weeks since he had visited Besnik, terrified of the thought of returning after he and Eilonwy's tearful goodbye. Now that he was back, all the memories flooded back in vivid technicolor, a million daggers stabbing at his chest. A wail broke past his lips as he kicked at the ground, drew his sword, and began hacking at the wooden post of his steed's pen. Besnik reared with a fearful neigh, recoiling and shaking his head in distaste.       "Easy there, your highness! You'll hack a limb off if you're not careful" Phillip retorted.       "I'm not in the mood for scolding, Phil!" Peter remarked, taking another rather large swing at the post.       "Well, if anything, be careful not to spook the horse" Phillip whinnied, tilting his head toward the unicorn. Not that Phil's words made much difference: Besnik was already pretty psyched out.       Once Peter had released the bulk of his anger, his eyes fell upon his steed apologetically. Gasping for breath, he sheathed his sword and trudged forward, extending a hand to calm the creature. "I'm sorry, Bes. I didn't mean to scare you" he cooed.       "Then what did you mean to do, if I may ask?" Phillip interjected. Peter didn't really want to have this conversation right now, but he had no idea how to reject a horse's conversational advances.       "I just needed a bit of a release, is all" he mumbled, averting his eyes. Phillip nodded knowingly.       "You miss Eilonwy, I know" he said. His voice seemed much softer now than before. "I miss her, too."       At this, Peter finally met the horse's friendly brown eyes. There was a sadness in them that was very familiar to the young king. "You do...?" he asked. The steed nodded.       "She'd always give me some extra oats every time she came down to visit Everlast" he replied fondly. "I miss Everlast a great deal, as well. She was a dear friend, a true blue ally. I dream of the day she may someday return."       Phillip spoke with such affection for the mare that Peter began to wonder whether there was something deeper between the two of them. The thought of an equine romance was both overwhelmingly bizarre and mildly heartbreaking to him. To think, Phillip and Everlast in love, only for the mare to be pulled away unwillingly by a rider whose heart was in the wrong place. A pang of anger coursed through Peter at the idea. Nothing about this was fair. For anyone. He leaned against Besnik's stall and sighed. "I feel the same way, Phil. I feel exactly the same way."       While Peter was gone, Lucy sat upon the balcony inhaling the fresh air and reveling in how beautiful the sea looked. It had been so long since they had ventured off someplace, she felt, that perhaps a good voyage abroad was in order. The more she thought about it, however, the more an idea began to form in her mind until...       "Susan! Susan!" the littlest Pevensie called as she rushed down the hallway. She assumed she'd find her big sister in the library, per usual, hard at work on her orphanage plans. As expected, the gentle stood before a long table filled with blueprints and sketches and design notes.       "What is it now, Lucy?" she asked, slightly frustrated. There was still so much to be done, and Susan was determined to make this place perfect. Lucy didn't give a care how important this was right now, her idea was the most important.       Skidding to a halt at her sister's side, Lucy grasped Susan's arm and stared at her with stars in her eyes, brilliant and brimming with excitement. "I have an idea for curing Peter."       As night fell across Narnia, Peter rode through the woods on the back of his loyal steed. There was something bizarre about returning to the forests, especially as winter was beginning to melt and make way for spring. He thought back to their journey just a year before, to the cherry tree and Aslan's camp. To Eilonwy standing by his side and fighting against his wishes at Beruna. A tightness filled his chest at the thought of her. A part of him desperately wished he'd somehow run into her out here polishing her sword beneath a tree or making camp near Allies Enclave. Anything so long as he could see her one last time, and perhaps even attempt to convince her to come back home.       But no, he knew that was impossible. She was gone and she was never coming back. He needed to make peace with that. As much as it hurt to say it, he couldn't possibly go on constantly thinking that at any moment, she may return. If she wanted to come back, she would've by now.       He continued to ride all the way until he reached a clearing where a lamppost shone brightly. A tinge of familiarity crossed his mind: this was where it had all began. For a moment, his heart leapt into his throat. Everything seemed so different now coming from the other direction, and he wasn't sure he liked what he saw. A thick tangle of trees lay on the other side and for a moment-- just a moment-- he wondered if the wardrobe was still there. I wonder what would happen if maybe, just maybe, I went back, he thought to himself, but then shoved the idea away as quickly as it came. That was absurd. There was no way he could leave, even if he wanted to. He was far too kind to leave his siblings behind, to let them wonder what the hell had happened to him. Plus, he realized, once you walk out, whose to say you're ever guaranteed to return? Dismounting Besnik, he stepped lightly toward the branches in an effort to at least take a peek. Much to his surprise, there was nothing but foliage. The wardrobe was completely gone. A surge of panic coursed through him at the realization. It was one thing to leave and never come back, but another matter entirely to enter and never escape. He recoiled uneasily, clinging to the lamppost as he caught his breath and calmed his gut. Nobody said they were ever bound to leave, anyways. But nobody ever said they were bound to stay, either. The uncertainty began to overwhelm Peter until his head was spinning and he felt like he was going to throw up. He didn't like not knowing, but at the same time had realized he had spent a great deal of time that way so this shouldn't have been such a surprise.       Blue eyes lifted up to the moon and stars overhead, accompanied by a defeated sigh. Wherever Eilonwy was in the world, he began to wonder if she was staring up at the same sky, too. If only he knew. He supposed that was as close as he'd ever get to her, even if that wasn't enough for him. If only she would just come home already. Without her, he was certain he was nothing.       Susan flitted over to the grand hall as the sun broke past the horizon, joining her brother and sister in hopeful excitement. "He should be here any minute now" she whispered frantically. Lucy nodded with great delight.       "Did you see him at all on the way here?" Edmund asked.       Susan shook her head. "No, I didn't. I haven't seen him since yesterday morning, truthfully. I hope he's alright."       "Well, he better be!" Lucy exclaimed. Just as she spoke, the sound of heavy footsteps rang from down the hall. Susan shushed the others and motioned for them to stand up straight and look presentable. Peter entered the room shortly after.       The High King glanced to his siblings suspiciously as he slowly stepped inside, immediately sensing something was up. "Are you three alright...?" They all nodded. "Well, what's going on...?"       "We have something we'd like to show you!" Lucy exclaimed. She bounded forward, taking her big brother's hand in hers, and guiding him toward the large window draped shut. Susan slowly pulled the tasseled drawstring back to reveal the Splendor Hyaline docked and ready for departure. The magnificent's eyes widened in a panic, trying to speak but producing no sound. "Don't you love it, Peter? A week long trip to the isles all for you!"       "B-but...why?" he finally asked.       "You've been working really hard, Pete, and we decided you deserved a bit of a vacation" Edmund stepped forward to explain.       "But I have so much work to do still..." Peter argued, dazed and confused.       "Nonsense, Peter. You've done enough already. Now it's time for you to simply sit back and relax for once" Susan replied, resting her hands on his shoulders from behind. "Just trust us on this, please. We really think you deserve it."       "Well, a-are you all coming, too?" he asked. The three of them nodded.       "I mean, unless you don't want us to. You could sail alone, but I don't see much of the fun in that" Edmund remarked.       "But what about the orphanage? And the spy corporation?" the magnificent asked.       "All taken care of" Susan replied. "Sallowpad is more than prepared to man the spy corporation, and the Beavers are taking over the orphanage project while I'm gone. They're far more suited for matters of construction and design than I am, anyways, so I'm putting my full trust in them."       By now, Peter couldn't help but laugh. All of this felt so surreal, as if he was trapped in some sort of hazy summer dream that he would wake up from at any moment. A nagging portion of him whispered to refuse, that he had far too much work left to do at the Cair, but the looks on his sibling's faces made it hard not to accept. Sighing in defeat, he shook his head and replied, "Alright. A trip to the isles it is, I suppose." Lucy cheered with absolute joy at her brother's decision, leaping up to wrap her arms around him excitedly. As they all rejoiced in the voyage ahead, Peter looked out across the sea in hope that this was just the sort of reprieve he needed. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea, after all.

#t: futgt #t: futgt c: fourteen #narnia #the chronicles of narnia #fanfiction #narniaff

[yourlocalyorozuya]

The Tale of the Morose Manbeast Ch. 05

Pairing: Abeno Haruitsuki/Ashiya Hanae [[Slow Burn fic]]

Rating: T [up till now]

Ahhh apologies for the wait! Really, I didnt mean to postpone this chapter for so long orz initially i was writing SS fics (i made the mistake of signing up for more than one) and then i basically had to apply for university applications so that took up my time. I'm quite sorry for the wait, really!!

i tried making this chapter longer and added some more fluff to make up for it. forgive me? :D

well, in any case i hope u enjoy it dear reader!

Ch 01 || Ch 02 || Ch 03 || Ch 04 || A03 link

The Tale of the Morose Manbeast

Chapter 5

When he wakes up, it's to the sun in his eyes and the cool breath of the wind on his skin.

Something soft against his cheek.

The scent of flowers.

This was wrong.

These kind of pleasant sensations, that put his mind at ease-

They don't...belong here.

He opens his eyes and the sensations were gone.

"The wind..."

The very wind itself seems to have stopped. His breath hung in the air from his lips, in a bizarre stasis that stifled his lungs.

He whispered those words unconsciously.

He was alone, in a grassy field.

It felt coarse on his bare fingers.

Like paper.

He breathes back out.

Where was he?

Where were the others?

Abeno and Fuzzy?

Where were they?

He was alone.

He stumbles to his feet, nearly falls over again. His legs felt foreign to him, his mind even more so. Like he'd been sleeping for centuries.

"Abeno...san? Abeno-san?" His voice was as weak as the papery grass.

Where were they? Were they even here?

He felt like they were.

He continues to stumble along. The grass rustles under his feet louder than usual.

The trees...they seemed fake.

When he touches their bark, it's unusually smooth and cold.

Where...?

A cool soft breeze on his cheek, disturbing the stasis.

He turns around.

A lake? When did he...

He pauses. Then walks closer to it.

The surface of the lake was impossibly smooth. Glass grew on the edges, trapping the ground and forest growth in its wake like tiny little transparent prisons.

"This is...weird." Ashiya murmurs as he stares at the lake. This was more than a little weird. It was impossibly weird.

The gleam of the sun off the water's surface is bright, unusually bright.

He kneels by the side of the lake.

How strange.

How pretty.

He extends a hand out towards the water.

"...!"

And it's immediately grabbed by another.

A hand that broke through the clear surface of the water, fingers cold as ice, chilling the blood in his veins.

He draws back without thinking, the hand doesn't let go and there's an insurmountable, heavy weight on his arm.

"Don't come close!"

He hears the voice somehow, hears it over his pounding heart.

Sun in the water, over the golden gleam of hair and eyes.

A shock into his senses, he can breathe and finally he demands.

"...Who?!"

"Don't touch the water!"

The grip on Ashiya's wrist is vice-like, enough to leave a bruise. Enough to stop him in his tracks, for the panic to settle in.

"What?!"

"This water is enchanted. Anyone who sets eyes on it is drawn to it, they'll walk inside the water and drown themselves without even a spare moment to think."

"D-drown themselves?!" Ashiya stutters. He looks down at the stranger, a man he's never seen before.

A stern, handsome face, golden eyes and hair that grew past his shoulders. Past his shoulders, down his bare torso...and into the water.

"...Wait...why are you in the water?"

"Hah?"

"Aren't you in danger? You just said..."

"Me?" The man frowns, "...No. I'm fine. You won't be."

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you playing a prank on me?!"

"What...?" The stranger scowls at him, leaning towards him some more. And Ashiya leans back a little, intimidated, "Why would I waste my time playing a prank on you?"

"I don't know? How am I supposed to know?!"

"Then why are you even thinking that?!" For some reason, the stranger seems to be getting more and more irritated with each word.

"You were the one telling me I was about to drown myself in that lake, and then here you are waist-deep in it!"

"What?? You..."

It's at this point that Ashiya realizes that the stranger's torso being bare may indicate that the rest of him is also bare. And once he realizes that, he immediately leans more far back, cheeks flushing under the weight of the stranger's stare.

What was even with this situation?

"...Fine. This does look strange. Let me-"

The soft splashing of water immediately catches his attention and Ashiya panics.

"W-wait!"

"Hah, what?! I'm getting out of the water, what's-"

"Wait, wait, not yet!"

"Not...yet? Why?"

"Th-that's..." Ashiya looks down for a bit before he starts and resolutely keeps his eyes fixed on the stranger's, "...No reason."

"...Tch."

The stranger sighs and looks up.

"You don't have time to waste. You shouldn't be here."

"I...don't even know how I ended up here in the first place."

"You don't remember?"

"I do. But...I don't know where they are, or even where I am!"

"They?"

"My..."

There was...something odd just then.

An odd expression in the man's eyes.

"You-"

And from somewhere, they hear the rustle of leaves on a wind that doesn't exist.

"...Run."

"What?"

He hears the crackling of ice all around them.

For some reason, it was difficult for Ashiya to breathe all of a sudden.

"Hey."

When he peers into those eyes again, they're deathly serious.

The grip on Ashiya's hand had slackened...but he could still feel thin, cold fingertips press softly into his skin.

"What is-"

"There's no time for questions. You have to run!"

"But-!"  

A loud crack.

Loud enough, close enough to resonate in his body, send chills up his spine.

"Run!"

And he complies. He runs faster than he had ever done in his life.

He leaves the clearing, the man, the lake behind.

And he's so, so absorbed in the sound of his footsteps, his heart beating in his ears, the breath leaving his body...

...he does not notice the howl that echoes in the forest behind him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

How did this happen?

It's been so long.

He glances down at his hands, his human hands and fingers. Thin. His...'body' feels weak.

He doesn't have long to think on this.

Chills in the air, crawling down his spine.

It's been so long since he'd been human. He'd almost forgotten how dangerous it was to be one.

The water splashes around him as he braces his hands against the shore of the lake. Case in point; this very lake.

Of course, he wouldn't be pulled down so easily.

He takes a deep breath and paces his heartbeats. Makes sure to berate himself in between.

He should have payed more attention. He should have.

He wasn't expecting to...be here again.

His fingers press against the dirt.

They shake a little at the electricity coursing through his veins.

They're coming.

He sees them from the corner of his eye.

Hulking, shadowy masses that drip into the earth, sharp claws and teeth made of stars.

He feels the grass underneath his fingers shrivel and char.

"...You."

He tastes blood on his tongue, he can hear every breath, every heartbeat, this was, this was-

The threat is more than spoken for in the fire that swirled around his body.

"I won't let you take anyone else away."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

How far had he run?

Trees surround him on all sides, a path neverending.

He can still hear it.

Where were they?

Where was he?

He can still hear it in the edges of his mind. Just out of his hearing.

A cold, unearthly screeching that racks his heart like nails on chalk.

"...!"

He just barely registers his feet hitting something and something pulling at his ankle. And then he falls flat to the ground.

"Ow! Ugh..."

That hurt. Ow. He can't feel his face.

The papery grass is rough on his fingers and feels strange on this skin. When he manages to pull himself up, he touches his cheek and his fingers are smeared with blood.

...Ugh. What a mess. He sighs.

"...What am I doing?"

More rustling makes him look up. Something...up ahead. Something was shaking the branches up ahead roughly.

As he stares, he sees...he sees the branches recoil. Wither away, shrivel away, turning brown and fall to the floor as claws made of the stars themselves grip roughly at the leaves.

And while he stares, dimly, he notes that the screeching in his mind had grown louder.

He can't hear anything else.

Not his breath, his own heartbeat. Nothing.

Nothing.

Was he even alive?

A single, glowing, pupil-less eye stares back at him.

Before he'd even realized it, he's leaning closer towards it.

And is promptly smacked in the face by something fuzzy.

"Gah!"

He's thrown on his back as whatever landed on his face falls to the ground.

"What was that?!'

He scrambles back up, feeling his face, movements rough and clumsy, feeling his breath and sensation return to him.

And something in front of him. Small, sentient, white fuzz.

"...Fuzzy?!"

The...creature looks back at him. Closes his eyes...was that a smile? His tail was wagging.

The screeching in his head seems to intensify and he clutches at his ears, gritting his teeth.

"Aagh!"

He can't blink. He can't breathe. He can't move.

And all he can do is helplessly watch as the monster reaches for him.

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The Tale of the Morose Manbeast Chapter 5: Paper Fairytales End.

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#the tale of the morose manbeast fic #iratheweak writes #abeshiya #abeno x ashiya #fukigen na mononokean #[[I DID IT ITS DONE IM SO PROUD OF MYSELF NOW TBH #[[and sorry for the wait again #[[hope u enjoy fie nd