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tuckersgirl · 3 years

Text

Possibilities

Summary: You recently joined the Avengers and have started going on missions with them. A mission goes south and it’s your fault. Steve yells at you in front of the team. Bucky comforts you. Sweet, supportive fluffy Bucky. Maybe he’s got a chance at love after all.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: ~2k

Warnings: None. This is my first ever story. I am planning to continue it, but I’m not quite sure where I’m going to take it yet. I realize Stark Tower isn’t necessarily the right setting for the current Avengers HQ per the MCU, but I wanted the story to take place in NYC and I made it so.

The engine of the quinjet hummed in the background as Steve’s voice echoed in the hangar. “You could have gotten everyone killed! What were you thinking, Y/N?!”

You just sat there with your head hung low. You knew you’d been stupid. Trying to prove yourself as the newest member of the Avengers. You hadn’t meant for it to go wrong and now the whole mission was a failure because of you. Steve and Bucky had to swoop in to save you and the opportunity to infiltrate one of HYDRA’s safehouses had been lost.

The quinjet touched down on top of Stark Tower and you were the first to exit, walking swiftly down the ramp and straight for the stairs instead of the elevator the team usually took. You couldn’t stomach being in such close quarters with everyone you’d just let down on the ride to your shared living space. You got as far as the second landing before you sunk to the ground in tears.

What is wrong with me? The voice in your head lit into you. What ever make me think I could be on this team? Steve and Bucky were so close to getting killed to save my ass. God, I’m a complete failure. I don’t even deserve to be here after this.

Downstairs, the rest of the team was milling about, grabbing food from the kitchen, and discussing the mission.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on her, Steve. She’s new here,” said Bucky.

“If I’m not hard on her, how is she going to learn?” Steve replied. “New or not, if she’s going to come on these missions, she has everyone’s lives to look out for. We can’t afford for someone to be cavalier.”

“She wasn’t being cavalier. She couldn’t have known that there were 4 more agents around the corner,” Bucky said, defending your decision to pursue the first 2 gunmen you’d encountered.

“She has to think ahead,” Steve countered. “Anticipate all the possibilities and make the right decision in a split second. That’s what being an Avenger means.”

Bucky sighed. He wasn’t going to win this argument. He felt terrible for you. You’d looked utterly miserable in the back of the jet, obviously blaming yourself for your error in judgment – and for what it had cost the team. He went to your room to find you.

Knocking lightly on the door, he waited but there was no answer. He knocked louder, but when you didn’t open, he assumed you were either still too upset to talk or had gone straight to bed. He decided he would check on you in the morning.

__________________________________________________________

You woke with a start. You were still sitting in the stairwell of Stark Tower, leaned up against the wall. You must have fallen asleep after your pity party. The cool of the concrete walls soothed your aching head. Looking at your watch, you saw it was 1:13 a.m. Probably safe to head downstairs now. Everyone should be asleep, or at least have retreated to their rooms for the night.

As you entered the living room you tried to be quiet. Just as you started to creep towards the hallway a voice stopped you in your tracks. “Aren’t you a little old to be sneaking in? I was worried about you.” You sighed in relief. It was Bucky.

“I just needed some time alone to think about things. Had a lot to process.” You were grateful he couldn’t see your red, puffy eyes in the dim light.

“What happened wasn’t your fault,” he stated, standing up and walking over to you.

“I don’t see how it could be anyone else’s fault,” you came back, emotions starting to swirl again. “How could I be so stupid? I messed things up for everyone and almost got you and Steve killed. I shouldn’t be on this team. I obviously can’t do this.” You closed your eyes in frustration.

“We’re fine. And having each other’s backs is what we do around here. Don’t think Steve hasn’t made a bad call a time or two…. or twenty,” Bucky said with a smirk. The corner of your mouth twitched up in a half smile. “He can be tough, but we’ve all been the new kid around here and it takes a while to find your feet,” he continued. “Give yourself some time. You’re going to be great.”

You sigh and turn your eyes down the hallway. Exhaustion from the evening’s events setting in, and all you want is a hot shower and the solace of your bed.

“Sounds like you should get some rest. Things will look better in the morning.” Bucky placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, and you could feel the warmth radiating off him.

“I hope so. It certainly can’t be worse than today.” you sighed. You offer a small smile and turn to make your way down to your room. You feel calmer after talking to Bucky. At least there was one member of the team who didn’t hate you.

You climb into bed and do your best to not rehash the mission over and over in your mind, thinking about your every mistake and its consequence. Eventually your thoughts turn to Bucky and the conversation you had. He had always been reserved since you started on the team. In fact, you weren’t sure you’d ever really talked to him aside from a quick ‘hello’ when you were first introduced. He seemed quiet and even borderline grumpy most of the time. You were surprised by how supportive he had been when you were feeling at your worst. Maybe there was more to the man besides his gruff exterior. These thoughts gently swirled in your head as sleep finally overtook you.

__________________________________________________________

The next morning you wandered out into the kitchen, silently dreading having to face the rest of the team. Everyone was settled and eating when you entered and made a beeline for the coffeepot. No one acted like anything was amiss and continued their morning conversations as you poured yourself a cup. You saw Bucky sitting on a stool at the counter, so you made your way over to him with a cheerful “good morning.”

“Good morning to you,” he chirped back. You saw several team members whip their heads around to stare in disbelief. Bucky was not known for being a morning person, typically refusing to speak to anyone until he’d had at least three cups of strong coffee. “How did you sleep?”

“Better than I expected,” you admitted. He smiled at that and turned back to his plate.

“Y/N,” Steve piped up from the table. “I was thinking we could work on some training today. Try to go over what went wrong and how to fix it.”

“Yeah, that would be great,” you responded. “I obviously have a lot to learn and I want to improve so something like that never happens again.” Steve nodded, a look of respect coming across his face. You were willing to admit your mistakes and try to learn from them. He couldn’t ask for more than that from a new team member.

You changed into your workout clothes and headed down to the gym. Steve reviewed the events of last night with you, so you understood where you went wrong. He then paired you with Natasha to learn how to handle multiple attackers at once so you would be better prepared for next time. She taught you several new moves that you practiced with her. Then, she called Bucky over to add a second opponent into the mix. At first Bucky took you down to the mat easily. He was a lot bigger and stronger than Natasha. She reviewed the moves with you again and showed you how to leverage your new skills to overpower a larger attacker. You try again and, after a few more attempts, manage to land Bucky flat on his back.

“Hey! Nice job!” he smiled, not bothered at all that he was taken down by a much smaller rival.

“Are you sure you didn’t just let me win?” you ask, grinning.

“Nah, doll. I don’t roll over. Even for a pretty lady, such as yourself,” he says with a wink. You’re a bit taken aback at his flirtatious comment. You’ve never seen him like this. He continues smiling, looking relaxed as he gets up off the mat and offers you his hand to pull you up.

“Let’s go grab some water,” he says. You follow him over to the benches and grab your water bottle, taking a swig. “You looked great out there.”

“Thanks, I was feeling really good about the moves Nat was showing me. I have so much to learn!” you acknowledged.

“One step at a time, doll. You’ll get there,” Bucky replied with another wink. You were beginning to enjoy this banter and decided to take it up a notch.

“What if I like to go fast?” you responded with a raised eyebrow. That caught Bucky’s attention.

“Well, if you like to go fast, I think I have something you might like.” He started walking off and tossed a look over his shoulder that told you to follow. You both walked out to the garage where he showed you his motorcycle.

“Awesome!” you exclaimed. You loved bikes but hadn’t been on one in ages.

“Wanna go for a spin?” he asked.

“Definitely,” you replied. And with that, you were on the back of Bucky’s bike with your arms wrapped securely around his waist.

He drove you both to the city’s waterfront and parked his bike so you could get off and walk around. It was nice to get out of the compound for a bit. With all the endless training it often felt like you never left. You strolled along the water for a while side by side, talking and just enjoying the sunshine. He finally slowed and turned to lean against the railing, facing you.

“You know, I’m really glad you came out with me today.”

You smiled up at him. “Yeah, me too. It’s a gorgeous day and the company is pretty great, too.”

“Oh really?” he smirked.

“Don’t get full of yourself, Barnes,” you mocked, rolling your eyes. “I was so desperate to get out of that place I probably would have come with Tony.”

He laughed at the thought. “Well, I’m sure Tony would have shown you a great time, but I’m glad you agreed to come out with me.” His eyes softened as he gazed down at you, his eyes flickering to your lips. Your breath caught in your throat as your eyes automatically darted to his mouth in response. He leaned in slowly, giving you a chance to back away. When you didn’t, he closed the gap and softly pressed his lips to yours. You stopped breathing, your heart racing in your chest as you did your best to respond to his kiss and not pass out. As he started to pull away, you chased his lips and nearly lost your balance.

“Shh,” he soothed softly. You nodded, eyes still closed, head swimming from the intensity of the kiss. He took a small step back and smiled down at you again. Your heart warmed and so did your cheeks, so you turned your head to look out over the water. He brushed a stray strand of hair behind your ear and let his fingers trail a path down your neck that had you shivering.

“Let’s go, doll.” He led you back to the motorcycle, handed you the extra helmet and you took off again headed back to Stark Tower.

When you entered the living room together, Sam was the first to see you. “And where did you two run off to?”

“Just thought my girl here could use a little time outside of the prison cell,” Bucky charmed.

“Uh huh,” Sam nodded, eyeing you suspiciously. You shrugged with an innocent expression on your face and headed down the hallway to your room.

“So,” Sam started in a low voice, looking at Bucky. “What’s up between you two? Don’t think I haven’t noticed you’ve taken a shine to her.”

“She’s a sweet girl. And she needs someone here to be nice to her. She’s had a rough start,” Bucky shrugged.

“And you’re sure that’s it…?” Sam countered.

“How about you worry about yourself, Sam,” Bucky chuckled as he headed down the hallway leaving Sam to shake his head and laugh. After years of struggling to reclaim his life from HYDRA’s clutches, maybe his friend had finally met someone who could help him open his heart up again.

#bucky barnes #sebastian stan #first story #marvel

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littlemisslipbalm · 4 years

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harry and reader have a pet, but they break up and pet finds reader’s old shirt

Anon request - harry and reader had a pet together, but broke up. The dog finds one of y/n’s forgotten shirts and brings it to Harry (full request here)

This is FLUFF but also ANGST (i guess) oh my god WHAT DID I DO! i am so sorry, but i did a bad thing with this request, the ending is...well it’s kinda happy. i love happy stories but for some reason when i got down a hole, i just keep digging it deeper - i hope i sorta gave you what you wanted tho anon

Listening: “I Will” and “And I Love Her” by the Beatles

Warnings: break up angst, mentions of dog death (im truly so sorry what is wrong with me - i promise it’s still kinda happy)

Harry and you had been broken up for about a month now. You two loved each other very much, but you had reached a breaking point. You weren’t a fan of show business and held a regular job. Harry’s constant travel, touring, and press - everything that came with his fame from his passion - became too much for you. One night, after Harry had missed a date you had made weeks prior due to an interview taking longer than expected, the two of you had it out. By the end of the entire fight, both you and Harry were crying.

The worst part of the break up besides you moving out was that you and Harry had a big old English sheep dog together. Harry loved Paul McCartney and insisted you and him adopt a dog of the same breed as Paul’s dog, Martha. You and he had named yours George to keep with the Beatles theme. When you broke up and moved out, Harry and you had a long conversation about who should keep the dog. Despite Harry’s busy schedule, he pleaded to keep George and eventually you relented, not having the heart to take George away from Harry when you were already leaving him, much to his dismay.

Harry sat at the little coffee table in his now half empty home. It was far quieter now, since you had left he didn’t bother playing music really. He loved to find new music and show it to you when you were home together, playing it by himself wasn’t as fun. He heard George padding around the house as he reminisced on how you used to rub George’s belly till you were a giggling mess at how cute he was. Harry smiled sadly at the memory. He’s brought out of his reverie when he feels a wet nose nudging his hand resting on his thigh. He looks down to see George at his side with something creamy and linen looking in his mouth.

“Whatcha got there, Bud?” Harry says, first brushing George’s hair out of his eyes and then reaching to take the piece of clothing he had gathered from the dog’s mouth. George let go easily, obviously intending to show Harry it. It was one of your t-shirts. Harry looked at George and gave him another loving pet, he missed you just as much as Harry did. You must have forgotten it when you had rushed out all those days ago. He loved this shirt of yours, a sweet simple cream top with a lemon and an orange on it. It looked gorgeous on you, and Harry was so happy to see it, the only thing that remained of you in this home you once had shared. As much as he wanted to keep it, cherish it and use it to reminisce the times when you ran around your home together in the top, he knew you would be missing it dearly. He knew the right thing was to return it to you. The best thing would be to have a mutual friend return it to you for him, but Harry didn’t care about doing the best thing. He wanted to see you.

He texted a simple, “I have something of yours, are you home?” to you. He felt strange using the word home, when he knew that your home should be with him. When you responded a quick ‘yes’ he grabbed a coat, his keys, slipped on his shoes, and put George on a leash. “Wanna go for a little ride, Georgie?” Harry asked sweetly to the dog. George only wagged his tail in response. The two headed out the door to where you now lived.

Harry and George arrived at your new apartment a little ways further into the city, closer to your job, and Harry rang the bell when he reached your door. You sighed at the sound, not ready to face Harry since you had moved out. When he had texted that he was coming over you tried to tidy yourself up. As much as you hated to admit it, you missed Harry so much and you missed the life the two of you had made together even if it was far from perfect.

You opened the door to not only Harry, but your former joint pet, George. When George saw you he jumped up and began to lick kisses onto your face. Your grimace had quickly transformed into an overjoyed grin, open with laughter and slight disgust. “Down, Georgie!” you attempted to say while the dog loved on you. When you managed him down, you bent down to his level and gave him a good face rub and kissed his nose. Then, you turned your eyes to Harry, who had watched you with a sparkle in his eye. Your grin turned to a soft, sad smile. You exchanged somber ‘Hi’s and you let him come inside, against your best judgement.

“George, here, he found your shirt somewhere, brought it to me. Thought you’d want it back…” Harry trailed off once the two of you had sat down on your couch and let George off his leash to roam the place. “Thank you…” you didn’t know what else to say, but the air around you and Harry was painfully tense. “Y/N, listen, I miss you so much and I know it’s not fair for me to say this because you had your reasons, but, would you ever give us another chance? I won’t be this busy for the rest of my life...and, and I still love you, I don’t think there’s anyone else for me out there.”

You were speechless, watching Harry look at you so earnestly, being so vulnerable despite him knowing that things might not change. His jaw was clenched, but he stared straight at you, his large hands soft and open in his lap as he faced you. You noticed how he was rather unshaved and how his shoulders were slumped in more than usual. He looked rough, probably just about how you looked right now as well. You didn’t know what to do, saying that didn’t change how you felt.

“I don’t know, H, uh Harry,” you stuttered with your use of your old nickname for him. “I don’t want you to wait forever on me and I can’t wait on you forever either. I never stopped loving you and I probably never will, but we can’t go on living these sad, lonely lives - miserable because we didn’t work out.” You looked him in the eye now, pleading with your eyes for him to understand what you meant. You wanted him to know that you loved him, you really did, but with where the two of you were in your lives - it wasn’t going to work out.

Harry nodded, somber and sad. He knew you were right, that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt. He got up after telling you he understood. You walked him and George to the door, giving George one last belly rub at the door. Just as you were about to shut the door, Harry turned with some final words, “You don’t have to wait for the right timing for us, but it’s my choice if I want to wait for that time. So, I will. I’ll wait for you, Y/N, and our right time.”

Eight years later

Y/N hadn’t seen Harry in a long time, maybe a few times at mutual friend events, but you were never able to be friends with him, it was too hard. You kept your love for him close to your heart, but you had had relationships since then. None had ever compared to yours and Harry’s, no matter how many lonely nights you had during your two’s relationship, no one else ever came close to that spark, that magic you two shared. You had seen and heard from friends that Harry had dated around in the past eight years as well. Various women of high celebrity status. Everyone of them perfect in their own way, but everyone of them always disappeared from Harry’s life after awhile. No matter who they were, Harry always saw something in them that reminded him of you at first, that’s what got him interested, but then when he realized they were their own person, he had trouble staying committed, being attentive. Whatever they needed from him as a partner, he couldn’t give it to them. Maybe Harry got tired of them, maybe they had real problems, or maybe they simply weren’t you.

Then, one night, you heard a heavy knock on your door. It was not too late, but you weren’t expecting anyone so you cautiously went to check what they wanted. You couldn’t suppress the look of shock on your face when you saw Harry standing before you. He was a mess, his clothes and hair were disheveled, his cheeks were painted with tears and his entire face was red. “It’s George...darling, our boy, he-he’s dying. I took him in for his 13 year old check up and they said his heart’s not working the way it used to,” he choked out.

All you could say was ‘Oh my God’ and quickly wrapped your arms around Harry’s shaking mess of a body. The fact that he called George ‘our boy’ when you hadn’t lived with them in eight years fluttered your heart, but had to be pushed to the back of your brain right then. He usually loomed large above you, but now he practically had to rise up to meet your shoulder. “Said we should put him down soon, so that he doesn’t have to suffer anymore,” he continued to ramble into your shoulder through his sobs. His emotions spilled over into you as you guided the pair of you to your couch, far more worn in since the last time Harry had been here. Tears welled into your own eyes thinking about the five years you had spent with Harry and George, raising him from a puppy with Harry. It had been so hard to leave him with Harry and almost never see him, Harry always offered to bring George around, but it was too hard for both of you. It was best that you let George live with Harry and Harry only.

“We’ll figure this out, H,” you whispered as you rubbed Harry’s back. “Where’s George right now?” you asked staying quiet as you tried to comfort Harry as much as possible. He looked up from your shoulder, his tears leaving a wet spot on your t-shirt. The tear tracks on his cheeks only growing more prominent the longer he sat before you. “‘S in the car, couldn’t leave him home alone, but I didn’t want to bring him up in case you didn’t answer.” “Alright,” you nodded, “You wanna go get him, together, and bring him up here? You two can stay here tonight, don’t think any of us should be alone right now.” You tried to smile through the pain, it probably came off as more of a grimace, but Harry’s eyes were so blurred he probably couldn’t tell. He whispered his thanks and the two of you journey out to his car, where George sat. Despite what the doctors had told Harry, George seemed just as happy as he always was, maybe just a little more docile.

“Can’t jump anymore,” Harry mumbled as the three of you walked back into your apartment. “It’s okay, H, I’ll make him a makeshift doggy bed out of extra blankets, feel right at home,” you reassured Harry and then went to the kitchen to put on a pot of tea. This was going to be a long night. You got the kettle situated and then went into a back room for your extra bedding you usually used for guests staying on your couch. Harry helped you to set up George’s bed in your bedroom. It was a silent understanding, since you were using the guest sheets for George, that meant Harry either had to sleep without anything on the couch or in your bed. Since George was going to be in your room, you figured Harry would opt for the real bed.

The kettle whistled and you left Harry to finish making the dog bed. His tears had dried, but he hadn’t spoke much except to answer your questions. The night went on, you drank your tea, cried some more, cuddled with George, and then got ready for bed. “You can sleep in my bed, it’s fine, H,” you said immediately when you saw Harry look questioningly at the uninviting couch. For the first time that night, he gave you a small smile and headed to your backroom. George padded behind him, ever the diligent mate. After closing up your apartment, you followed the other two into your bedroom.

Harry sat slightly stiffly on your bed and George panted happily at you from his big sheet bed on the floor. It felt like old times, yet also completely new at the same time. You climbed onto your side of the bed, Harry still remembering which side you preferred even after eight years. You handed him a glass of water and placed your own on the side table, “Crying...takes a lot out of you. We’ve got a big day ahead of us, gotta take George out to his favorite places tomorrow. Drink up.” Again you witnessed Harry’s soft smile grace his perfect, yet sad face. Your strong facade you had tried to keep up all night for Harry was slipping away the sleepier you got. A single tear started to run down your face and Harry noticed. “Hey,” he said and instinctively scooted closer to you, wrapping his bare arms around your soft shoulders. “S’okay, Darling,” he cooed into your hair. You softly weeped in his arms feeling so confused right now. However, a sense of safety also settled over you with the familiarity of Harry’s sweet nothings in you ear and his strong arms cradling you close to his warm chest.

The next morning, you and Harry got ready and took George out to his favorite places, a gourmet dog biscuit shop, the dog wash place, and a little park by the river you and Harry both lived near. It was a beautiful day out. Sun shined and George had so much fun. Harry and you talked about your lives now. Harry’s career had begun to wind down, he’d chosen to stop touring for at least five years a couple months ago. He still wrote music, but he was doing other things and also was trying to live a more peaceful life. You had switched your job a couple years back and had moved up faster at this new one. You worked much less, but were paid more - meaning you had more free time and you didn’t have to worry about money. It seemed both your’s and Harry’s lives had slowed down and gotten to places where you were ready for a relationship as serious as the one you previously had together.

When you two had arrived at the park in the afternoon, you had realized no one had stopped and asked for a picture with Harry all day. Maybe the stars were aligning, albeit in a slightly tragic way. As you sat next to Harry and lovingly watched George prance among the tall grass near the river, you watched Harry’s hand creep itself onto yours. You turned your palm and intertwined your fingers. Then you looked up and met Harry’s gaze immediately. You both smiled, knowing a secret no one else need to know. A love like yours could never go away. It hadn’t left either of you over the past eight years. Even after being parted for so long and having minimal contact over those years, the two of you so easily picked up in a better place than you were when you were in the prime of your first time together. You had both grown so much and your lives had changed. It had come. As Harry had said eight years ago, you just had to wait for “Our time.”

#harry styles #harry styles blurb #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fan fic #harry styles x reader #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #yikes #my writings #take this away from me #this is a sin #im sorry #hopefully you can still enjoy

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ivarthebadbitch · 3 years

Text

Strange things can happen

Chapter 15 summary: Ubbe attempts to turn on the charm for Aldreda, and Ivar has some unexpected visitors.

Canon divergent, everybody lives, arranged marriage AU after 4x14. Read this chapter on Ao3.

Previous chapters: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

On Ao3: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Pairings: Ivar x OC, Ivar vs. basically everyone

Warnings: None

Word count: 2466

Notes: Yes, I know I said no chapter this week, but lucky(?) for you, I actually got my shit together. No promises for next week though!

Tagged: @youbloodymadgenius @heavenly1927 @nukyster-blog @bae-roman @adhdnightmare @danisnotsosecret (let me know if you would like to be tagged)

CHAPTER 15: All we can do is...

Although Aldreda had by her own choice been sequestered in a spare room for much of the day after speaking to her grandfather, with no particular desire to see or talk to anybody, the news of the unexpected arrival of Ragnar Lothbrok and his son Ubbe around sundown had trickled in nevertheless. Not for the first time, she wanted to be a thousand miles away from this place. Getting herself smuggled out of the palace in a wine barrel increasingly sounded like a reasonable solution to all her problems. Maybe Ivar had been on to something after all.

But before she could start planning her escape in earnest, there was a knock on the door. She reluctantly got up to answer it. It turned out to be her father, with a vaguely familiar-looking Northman hovering behind him in the hallway. Her heart immediately sank.

“Aldreda, may I present Ragnar Lothbrok’s other son, Ubbe,” he said with a strained smile, motioning for Ivar’s brother to step forward. She was extremely relieved in that moment that she was still dressed and did not have to meet Ivar’s brother while wearing her nightgown.

After glancing at Aethelwulf, Ubbe hesitated and dipped into what Aldreda supposed was some sort of bow. Then, to her surprise, he took her hand and kissed it. “Hello,” he said in English.

She let go of his hand and curtsied back awkwardly. “My lord Ubbe, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

He stared at her in confusion. Her father nudged her and murmured, “I don’t think he knows our language.”

“Oh,” she said. Embarrassingly enough, though Ivar’s English had improved to a remarkable degree in the past couple months, the same could not be said for her Norse. She frantically tried to recall her vocabulary. “Ah...how are you?”

He seemed relieved to hear her speak his language, however badly, and he smiled at her. “Our journey was long and difficult, but I am better now that I have met you.”

She had no idea what to say to that in either language. “Thank you,” she finally replied. Then she turned to her father. “I would like to speak to you,” she said in English.

He looked surprised. “Oh, of course. Right now?”

“Yes.” She tilted her head at Ubbe. “And alone.”

“Right.” Her father grasped Ubbe by the elbow and then escorted him back into the hallway with a polite smile before closing the door in his face.

“What is going on, Father?” she demanded once the door was closed.

He took a seat at the desk and ran his hands through his hair wearily. “Should the annulment proceed—and now it certainly will—Ragnar Lothbrok has proposed that you marry Ubbe. Your grandfather was receptive to the idea.”

She supposed she should have expected this: to be handed off immediately to the next available suitor with no say of her own, or even the faintest gesture that her feelings might have mattered in the least. Somehow, foolishly, she had thought that maybe this time would be different. But clearly she was mistaken. Judith had been right after all.

“And you?” she asked in a small voice.

Her father sighed and looked away. “I did not like the idea of you marrying Ivar,” he said. “Neither of you even had time to get to know each other before you wed, though I admit I was too quick to judge him. You did your duty, of course, for the good of Wessex. But sometimes our hearts pull us in other directions, and that is no sin. Though your grandfather and Ragnar Lothbrok would like this matter resolved quickly, I have requested that you be allowed to decide whether the match is to proceed, and that Ubbe be baptized into our faith. They have agreed to these conditions.”

She threw herself into his arms without hesitation. “Thank you,” she whispered, hugging him tightly. Then she stepped back with a frown. “What will happen to Ivar?”

“The king has decided that the annulment can be formalized the day after tomorrow, once the final details have been worked out with Ragnar Lothbrok,” he said. “Afterwards, Ivar will return to Kattegat with his father. Ubbe will remain here and preparations will be made for the engagement. Tomorrow, you should spend at least a little time with him.”

She nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak. It is for the best, she told herself for the thousandth time. Ivar could hate her if that was what he needed. She hoped he wouldn’t.

Her father squeezed her shoulder. “All my life, I have tried to do the right thing for my country, and my father, and my god,” he said. “I believed that if doing the right thing came at the expense of my personal happiness, then the cost was worth it. But now I see that these two things may not always be in opposition to each other. Sometimes happiness can be the right thing, and I would very much wish for all my children to be happy. I am sure that your mother would have wanted the same.”

“Yes, Father,” she whispered. She was a woman now; she knew she should maintain her composure and not weep in front of him. Once she started, she would not be able to stop.

It must have been obvious. “Oh, my dear,” her father said gently, pulling her close and touching his forehead to hers, and she lost herself entirely. She sobbed in his arms for what felt like an eternity as he patted her back and murmured soothing words. Finally, as her sobs began to subside, he poured her a cup of water from the pitcher on the desk and gave her his handkerchief to wipe her eyes.

“You always raised me to understand my duty towards others came first,” she said once she could speak again. She blew her nose and returned the handkerchief. “In a way, that made everything easier, because then I could say I didn’t have a choice. But what if I make the wrong choice now? What if I make a mistake and I don’t know how to fix it?”

He squeezed her hand. “We can’t always fix everything,” he said. “All we can do is the best that we can.”

With that, her father smiled and left her. Alone in her room, she undressed, blew out the candles, and climbed into bed. She didn’t think she would sleep at all that night, but somehow she had exhausted herself. Within minutes of closing her eyes, she was fast asleep.

When Ivar woke in the morning, the sun was already shining high in the sky and flooding the room with light. He hadn’t meant to sleep for so long. Usually, Aldreda would wake before him, and she would eventually nudge him to get up. But she hadn’t slept there last night, presumably having found herself another room for the time being. Of course, it hardly made sense for them to continue to share a bed if they were no longer going to be married.

His stomach growled and he suddenly realized he was ravenous. He might have elected to stay in bed all day otherwise, having nowhere else to go and nothing to do, but he finally forced himself up, washed his face, and slowly got dressed. Then he crawled over to the door, and finding it still locked from the outside, he banged on it until an annoyed guard opened it and glared down at him.

“Does King Ecbert mean for me to starve?” he snapped.

The guard closed the door in his face without a word, but within ten minutes, a servant came by with a plate of food and then hurried out before Ivar could make any additional demands. He wolfed his breakfast down in minutes. Once he was done, he picked up the plate and turned it around in his hands a few times. Even though he felt a little better after eating, he thought he would feel much better if he threw the plate at the locked door.

The moment it left his hands, the door opened without warning and his father stepped inside. The plate struck him squarely in the chest and bounced off. It clattered around noisily on the floor until Ragnar bent down with a groan to pick it up and set it on the table.

“Father,” Ivar said in what he hoped was a steady voice, staring up at him.

“Ivar.” Ragnar sighed and sank down to the ground with his back to the door and legs splayed. “I am meeting again with King Ecbert today. Tomorrow morning, you’ll go to the priest and the marriage will be annulled. Then you and I will return right away to Kattegat while Ubbe remains here to be formally engaged to Aldreda. You will do this without making a scene and embarrassing your people, your family, and yourself. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Father,” he said dully.

“Hm.” Ragnar tilted his head back against the door. “Do you have anything to say to me, boy?”

He had spent hours since yesterday working through various defenses and excuses for his behavior, but in that moment, his mind went blank. He picked at the fabric of his pants, overcome by emotion. “You left me,” he said at last, his voice suddenly breaking. “You left me again and you didn’t even bother to ask how I felt about it.”

Ragnar watched him in silence. As a child, Ivar had seen his father as a giant, unreachable and untouchable, but in this moment, sitting across from him—all he looked like was a tired old man, nothing like the great king and warrior he had always idolized.

“I remember, you know,” Ivar continued. “Sigurd said I just dreamed it and I couldn’t possibly remember because I was only a baby back then, and maybe he’s right, but it doesn’t matter. I remember looking up at your face. I remember you leaving me somewhere cold. You said you did it because you thought my legs were a weakness and I would die anyway. But I don’t care anymore why you left me. I just want to know if you’re sorry that you did it.”

Without taking his eyes off him, Ragnar slowly got to his feet. “Do you think you’re the first child to be left by his father?” he asked harshly. “I survived. You survived. The gods willed it. It doesn’t matter whether I’m sorry or not.”

With that, he turned and left as abruptly as he had come, leaving Ivar sitting alone on the floor. He sat there in silence and watched the shadows creep along the walls and listened to the sounds of the servants walking by in the hall, laughing and arguing cheerfully. If the door had been unlocked, he would have been tempted to charge out of the room, snarling curses to make them turn and run, but Ragnar had of course been careful to lock the door behind him. Even if his father was not sorry, he was ashamed of what he had done, Ivar realized. It still hurt. But he remembered what Aethelwulf had told him in the carriage: that he didn’t have to make the same mistakes as his parents; that it was possible to be better. He hoped he was right.

With nothing else to do, Ivar finally hauled himself back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling as the sun gradually sank below the horizon. He tried without success to avoid thinking about Aldreda, who was probably off having dinner with Ubbe and blushing when he smiled at her. His brothers all knew how to charm women; a skill he had never bothered to try to pick up—what was the use? He’d never be like them.

He unsuccessfully tried to wrench his thoughts away from Aldreda and Ubbe and plan for his future back in Kattegat, but he just couldn’t shake the image out of his mind. If Ubbe really could make her happy, though...if this was really what she wanted...well, maybe that was what mattered most. Maybe he just had to figure out how to let her go.

At some point in the evening, the servants came in to light the candles and bring him another plate of food, even though he had no appetite. He lay back on the bed, shut his eyes, and firmly ignored them, which no doubt made them happy. He even let himself doze for a while. His dreams were fragmented and hazy: he was lying in a tent in Mercia with Aldreda curled up at his side; he was on the boat to England again, watching Jormungandr rising out of the dark water to strike; he was sitting on the throne of Kattegat before a room full of cheering skeletons; he was his own father, looking down at the helpless infant in his arms. No other way, my son.

He woke to a hesitant knock at the door. “Fuck off,” he snapped sleepily in Norse. It was probably Ubbe dropping by with some long winded explanation about how this was all being done for Ivar’s own good. Ubbe was the last person on earth he wanted to see right now.

He sat up in surprise when Aldreda poked her head inside. She had a hesitant look on her face, as though she thought he would shout at her. “Sorry, I thought you were my brother,” he explained sheepishly, rubbing his eyes.

“Can I come in?” she asked. Before he could answer, she quickly added, “You can say no. That’s all right too. I just...I didn’t want to be alone tonight.”

Some part of him wanted to refuse out of spite; to say don’t worry, you’ll be rid of me soon enough and won’t have to look at me anymore, just like you wanted, same as everybody else. He could watch her expression turn from uncertainty to shock before slamming the door. Then she would go back to her own room and he would lie in bed awake all night, and he would only see her one last time in the morning to formally annul the marriage before getting sent home. That would be the end of it.

She hovered in the doorway, hair loose over her shoulders and dark circles under her eyes for lack of sleep. In that moment, she didn’t look like a princess of Wessex or the granddaughter of a king: just a girl, not much older than himself, and no more certain about the future than he was. He sighed and shifted over on the bed to make room for her. After a few seconds, she stepped inside, shut the door, and joined him.

#vikings #ivar the boneless #fanfiction #fic: strange things can happen

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spine-buster · 4 years

Text

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 4

September 28th 2019

Aberdeen Bloom was letting it all out.

Siena had called, cooped up in her room in the house she rented with two other girls, taking a break from studying for torts law or shorts law or whatever type of law it was that she had to study. It was these moments – moments when Siena caught up with her younger sister – that reminded her that she was slaving through law school because Aberdeen would probably need a lawyer one day after doing something colossally stupid. She’d usually start the conversations with “You can’t tell mom and dad…” and Siena would promise not to. And, well, she’d keep that promise. Because sisters never told. They only ever told on Camden.

Aberdeen told Siena about the night with William in June – she told her about a week later, after Siena was finally settled back into her place in Ottawa. They’d talked about it for a while and had come to terms with the fact that Aberdeen would never see William again because of the whole Sweden thing and because of the fact that Toronto was a city full of a few million people. They’d accepted it and moved on.

But then, of course, William showed up in the elevator on her first day of work and the floodgates opened.

“Wait…hold on a second,” Siena held her hand up. “You’re telling me you hooked up with a Toronto Maple Leaf.”

“Yes.”

“A hockey player. That guy was a hockey player.”

“Yes,” Aberdeen stressed.

“And now…” Siena paused. “You work for the president of the team that he plays for.”

“Precisely.”

Siena let out a long, loud sign, facepalming before rubbing her temples. “I don’t know how you get yourself into these situations, Aberdeen,” she shook her head. “I honestly don’t.”

“I don’t, either.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

Aberdeen looked at her sister weird. “There’s nothing I can do about it. It says right in the employee handbook that no employee and player are allowed to hook up. I can’t tell Brendan and William can’t tell the rest of the team. That’s that.”

“Are you scared he might?”

Aberdeen considered the question. “I really don’t know. On one side, I feel like if he really wanted to tell them he would have told them already, and Brendan Shanahan would have found out through the grapevine and I would have already lost my job. Like, I wouldn’t have even gone to Newfoundland. On the other hand, I feel like the comments he’s been saying to me just make it seem like this is a game to him and he’s waiting on the most opportune moment to tell.”

“Comments?” Siena asked.

Aberdeen sighed. “I went to dinner with a bunch of them in St. John’s because Jason invited me, and he asked me who my favourite Leaf was in this really flirty way,” she explained. “Then a few days later he found me alone and told me I should have said him. Or at least have said he was fucking awesome because that’s what I said that night after we hooked up.”

Siena facepalmed again. “Oh, Aberdeen…”

“I know, Siena.”

“Does Kasha know?” she asked.

“Of course Kasha knows.”

“Kasha won’t tell a soul. She’s good like that.”

“I know. My problem here is William.”

“Listen, Aberdeen…this is a fucked up situation but it’s…I mean, technically you didn’t hook up with him when you were employee. It was months before. You had no idea who he was. That’s what my lawyer brain is telling me right now.”

“I don’t know if that matters,” Aberdeen said. “I keep getting told that this is the dream job, that if I do well with Mr. Shanahan I can have my pick of any job in any field that I want in Toronto, including writing. That’s how well connected he is. I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side at all. I have to be on my best behaviour and I have to keep doing well.”

“Then keep being on your best behaviour. Keep doing your job,” Siena encouraged. “And keep William away.”

***

September 30th, 2019

With only two days until the start of the season, Brendan had a lot of meetings with a lot of people. There were meetings with hockey ops, meetings with the head scouts, meetings with player development, meetings with analytics. It was a much busier time than just three weeks ago. A lot more coffee runs. More ordering of catered lunches. More running around like a chicken with her head cut off, like Brendan said she would. And this wasn’t even the start of the season.

Brendan wanted her to sit it in on the meeting he had now with basically the entire senior management so they could go over upcoming events and initiatives they’d put on throughout the season. Kyle Dubas would be there. Brandon Pridham and Laurence Gilman, the assistant general managers would be there. Dave Morrison, the director of player personnel would be there. Brad Lynn, the director of team operations would be there. Stephen Hare, the director of finance would be there. Steve Keogh, the director of media relations would be there. Alison Rockwell, the director of business relations would be there. Leanne Hederson, the manager of hockey operations would be there.

Aberdeen was clearly studying the employee directory.

They had a list of things to talk about, and talked through them all. Aberdeen had her notebook and tried to take notes, but she felt like she was writing a foreign language and none of this would make sense when she went to read them again. There was talk about “You Can Play Night”, about galas, about charity golf tournaments, about community outreach programs, about the alumni events, about the MLSE Launchpad initiatives…

Then they started to talk about alternate jerseys. She thought there was only home and away jerseys, but no, there was apparently a third for a special night. A “St. Pats” jersey. It was green. A definite change from the blue, but they kept going on and on about it. Do we do this? What about this? How about this? It was incredibly pedantic. She felt like she was in science class again, doodling instead of taking notes since she had no clue what was being said or what was going on.

“Do you think we should go with the same one from last season, or should we choose a new design?” Dave Morrison asked.

“It’s hard to say. If we go with last year’s design, jersey sales may stagnate or decline if we compare it on a year-by-year basis, but a new design will boost that,” Stephen Hare said.

“Well, listen. It’s the 2019-2020 season. We can go with the design from 1919-1920,” Brandon Pridhan said, pulling up the mock-ups of the jersey. Aberdeen took into account the green and white, the lettering, everything. “Or should we balk the season number and go with this one, the 1926-1927 season design?” he held up the other mock-up. It was basically the exact same design, except the colours were inverted.

They were having an extremely serious and long discussion about this? Aberdeen snorted from the corner.

Suddenly, when she looked up, every eye in the room was on her. The smile immediately dropped from her face. Brendan was looking at her. “Something funny?”

Oh shit. Oh shit. Ohfuckohfuckohfuck. “No, no…” she began, trying to cover for herself. “It’s nothing – you know – it’s just that they look exactly the same to me. I…you know, I’m still learning about all this stuff.”

“This…stuff?” Brendan asked, repeating her words. The look that he gave her – she never wanted to be looked at like that again for the rest of her life. “Oh…okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You get hired by the Maple Leafs and you sit in on this meeting with, oh I don’t know, that iPad Pro which the company paid for, and you scoff because you think we’re taking this too seriously, and you don’t care about what jerseys fans put on their back. But what you don’t know is that this hockey sweater is not just blue and white, it’s not just green and white, it’s actually a symbol,” he paused, moving from his spot at the table, walking around it. “You’re also blindly unaware of the fact that in 1919 the Toronto Arenas were about to go under, only to be saved by a group of investors who renamed the team the Toronto St. Patricks, and who later made Conn Smythe their managing partner and their eventual owner. Conn Smythe ended up changing their name in 1927 to the Toronto Maple Leafs because that maple leaf was the national symbol of Canada and, as he said, a badge of courage and a reminder of home of when he was a Canadian Army officer during World War One,” he picked the design he liked most from Brandon and pinned it onto the board, taking another from the pile. Aberdeen’s heart stopped beating. “The blue and white, he said, represented the Canadian skies and Canadian snow. The name has changed, the investors have changed, and the logo has seen design changes, but that maple leaf is a symbol that represents the identity of Toronto, the history of this city, and the pride of the country. It represents millions of dollars and countless jobs, and so it’s sort of comical how you think that you ever made a choice that exempted you from caring about these jerseys when, in fact, this city’s identity and one of the most well-known national symbols were selected for you by the people in this room who ran this hockey club. All because of the influence of this stuff.”

He held onto a picture, holding it face up. She broke eye contact to look down at it, only to see it was the maple leaf that was currently on the jersey. The thirty-one points, meant to represent 1931 and the opening of Maple Leaf Gardens; the 17-vein detail, meant to represent when the franchise was founded in 1917; the 13 veins at the top, meant to represent the 13 Stanley Cup championships. She realized what this symbol meant to not only the people in this room, but to the city, to the fabric and identity of it, to its storied past and bright future. She realized the history behind it, the countless people who wore the sweater or jersey with pride for over a century now. She realized how wrong and careless she’d been.

When she looked back up, Brendan was staring at her. So was everyone else still seated at the board table, some of them with amused looks on their faces. “I’ll be outside if you need me,” she said, barely above a whisper because she was too embarrassed to even speak. She clutched her iPad Pro and took the picture, walking out of the room.

The second the door closed behind her, she burst out into tears. The tears streamed down her face as she escaped into the washroom, slamming the stall door behind her and locking it before breaking down in the bathroom stall. Brendan Shanahan had just embarrassed her in front of some of the hockey world’s most important people and she deserved it. She couldn’t believe she could be so fucking stupid and so dumb and callous and just such a…such an idiot. And now here she was, crying about it in a bathroom stall. She’d never be able to recover from this. Brendan would think she was an idiot until the day she died. He’d die before her and in heaven he’d still think her an idiot.

She stayed in the bathroom stall for a while, crying it all out and eventually stopping because she had no more energy to cry. She opened the stall door and looked at herself in the mirror, trying to wipe away the tears. Her eyes were red and of course, her cheeks were stained with tears, but she was thankful that she wore waterproof mascara that day. She tried to collect herself, even though she had just made a complete ass of herself. She still had a full day of work to do. She still had to make it until 5pm. Somehow.

When there was nothing more she could do to fix her appearance, she sighed and decided to head back to her desk, ready to face whatever punishment Brendan was going to give her when he got out of the meeting. There was nothing more she could say or do. She swung open the door to the washroom and stepped out into the hallway.

Although when she did, she crashed into a body. When she looked up, it was, of course, none other than William Nylander. Because her day couldn’t get any better from here. “Hey,” he said, smiling at her.

“What do you need?” she asked, not bothering to greet him.

He noticed the tone of her voice and the redness of her eyes and immediately changed his demeanour. “What’s wrong?”

She side-eyed him. As if he cared. “I just made a complete ass of myself in front of Brendan. No biggie,” she huffed.

“Did you get a coffee order wrong or something?”

Now she really side eyed him. She understood the stereotype of personal assistants, but this was not the time to start making jokes and devaluing her job. “What do you want? Why are you even in the offices?” she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I wanted to see you.”

She scoffed. “Oh, get a life, William.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t know why you feel the need to keep taunting me when we’re on the job, but it needs to stop,” she said. “Don’t you have drills to go through? Don’t you like, I don’t know, need to tape a stick?”

It was his turn to give her a look. “Hey, don’t be mad at me just because you screwed up at your job today. I came up here to see you because I wanted to see you. I’m trying to be nice.”

“Taunting me at my job isn’t being nice,” she said. “If you can’t tell, I’m not having a good day. So I’d appreciate it if you just…wouldn’t.”

“Whatever you did can’t be worse than sleeping with a Maple Leaf and then working for his boss,” William retorted.

Okay, now she was angry. She grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the small kitchen – the one she’d retreated to when she walked in on them in their underwear – and shut the door behind them so they could have a private conversation. “Listen to me,” she began, her voice as steady and as intimidating as it could be. “I know I’m not saving the world or anything, but this job means a lot to me. This isn’t a fucking game to me like it is to you. This is my life. This is my livelihood. This is my career prospects in any industry in Toronto if I do a good job here. And you, William Nylander, are not going to take that away from me.”

“I’m not trying to take that away from you,” William declared. “Don’t you think that if I didn’t want you here, I would have told the guys or told Brendan already?”

Aberdeen thought back to the conversation she’d had with her sister, where she brought up the exact same point. She shook her head. “Then stop with the comments. Stop with the ‘coming to see me’, flirting in front of your teammates, and the flirting in general.”

“I can’t do that,” he responded.

“Why not?” she demanded.

“Because I want you.”

The words hung in the air for an uncomfortable amount of time as William and Aberdeen stared at each other, his blue eyes piercing her hazel ones. Her jaw dropped at his words, and she tried to respond but she couldn’t think of anything to say. There was nothing to say. He just dropped a bombshell and she had no way to recover. He wanted her. He wanted her. He…wanted her? “W…What?”

William didn’t respond. He only smiled. He didn’t say anything else as he left those words with her, opening the door and leaving the kitchen, leaving her completely dumbfounded.

***

Later on that night, as Aberdeen was walking back to her condo after the day’s work (and not seeing Brendan again – probably for the best, since she was going to write out and rehearse her apology she’d tell him tomorrow if she didn’t get a call that she’d been fired tonight), her phone buzzed in her pocket. She assumed that it would be Kasha, wanting to know what they were going to do for dinner. But when she looked at her screen, it was an unknown number that texted her.

i promise im not going to tell anybody. im not going to tell any of the guys, or kyle, or brendan, or anyone what happened in june. that stays between us.

im not that guy. i wouldn’t do that to you.

She stopped dead in her tracks. A pedestrian behind her almost crashed into her and yelled at her to watch where she was going. She collected herself and moved off to the side so people could pass by her and she could read the texts over and over and over again. She didn’t even want to know how he got her number. She didn’t want to know what covert operation he pulled.

She gulped.

***

October 1st, 2019

Aberdeen was impatient in the backseat of the town car as she and Lou waited for Brendan to appear. Her leg was bobbing up and down and she was pretty sure she would have chipped all her nail polish off by now if it wasn’t shellac. She had written out and rehearsed her apology to him and knew exactly how she was going to deliver it. She knew she had to makes things right.

“Miss Bloom,” Lou said from the driver’s seat, looking at her through the rear-view mirror like he often did. “Nervous energy.”

“I’m sorry Lou,” she apologized, trying not to bob her leg. “I just need to say something to Mr. Shanahan.”

“Something bad?”

“How many apologies have you heard in this car?” she asked.

Lou chuckled. “Many, Miss Bloom.”

“How does he react to them?”

Lou shrugged. “Depends.”

She gulped. As if on cue, Brendan emerged from his house. Lou got out of the car to open the door for him.

“Good morning, Aberdeen,” he said, his voice cheery as he got into the backseat. He already had a stack of newspapers with him. He was acting as if nothing was wrong. “How are you this morning?”

“I’m…good,” she replied, confused. She decided she should just get right into it. “Mr. Shanahan, can I speak to you about something?”

“Brendan,” he corrected her like he always did. He was focused on the newspaper in front of him. “And yes, Aberdeen, you may.”

“Can you look at me?”

That caught his attention. He lowered the newspaper and took off his glasses, waiting for her to begin. She took a deep breath. “I want to sincerely apologize for my comments yesterday in the meeting,” she began. “It was really insensitive of me to scoff, and then to make that comment – just really callous, and I want to apologize. I don’t want you thinking that this job means nothing to me, because it does. It means the world—”

“Aberdeen,” Brendan interrupted her, holding up his hand. She stopped talking, and could tell he was thinking of what to say. “First of all, thank you for your apology,” he began. “What I said to you in that room, in front of everybody – I just wanted to make sure you know the importance of the work we do here.”

“I do. I mean – I do now.”

“Hockey in Toronto is not just hockey,” he began. “It’s a living, breathing entity in and of itself. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you will see the importance of not just my work, or the work of anybody else that was in the room that day, but of your work too. You are part of the Toronto Maple Leafs now, Aberdeen, whether you like it or not. You have a role to play here in the success of the team just like anybody else. Just because you’re an executive assistant, it doesn’t mean you don’t.”

“Yes sir,” she nodded her head.

“I know you have a steep learning curve to go through. I knew that when I hired you. You’ll go through it. And you’ll make a hell of a lot of mistakes along the way. But you’ll go through it. And you’ll come out better. With more knowledge. Understood?”

“Yes sir. Absolutely,” she nodded her head. Brendan sent her a quick smile before putting his glasses back on and focusing on the newspaper again. “So…I guess this means I’m not fired?” she asked, just for reassurance.

That actually got a laugh out of Brendan. “No, Aberdeen. I could never fire an Etobicoke girl.”

***

October 2nd 2019

The season opener was just pure insanity. There was no other way Aberdeen could rephrase it besides that – just pure insanity. Brendan had meetings, she had to coordinate this, she had to run for coffees, she had to go get notes from someone, the phone was ringing off the hook…Lou even had to take her in the town car up to Yorkville, to Prada and to Gucci and to Hermes, so she could pick up ties for him to wear once all the media came rushing in. It was a complete shit show. She barely had time to eat, drink, or even think because she was so busy trying to get everything done.

But something happened to her once she and Brendan made their way up to the media gondola to sit in the President’s private box with Kyle Dubas and Brandon Pridham: she watched the game. From start to finish, she watched the Toronto Maple Leafs dominate the Ottawa Senators 5-3 to win the game. She saw Auston Matthews score two goals – and William assist beautifully on one of them. It was textbook perfect. She saw the comradery of the boys on the bench. She saw Brendan and Kyle seem excited.

She remembered back to how excited the people of Newfoundland were at just a practice and an exhibition game. She saw how excited the crowd was tonight at the way the team played and the outcome of the game.

She began to get it.

She followed Brendan out of the gondola so they could head down to the locker room about five minutes before the game was going to end. When the team began to come in, she wondered if she should clap – her questions were answered when she saw the equipment personnel fist-bump the boys. She held out her hand to show her support. Brendan laughed.

“Wooooo! Let’s go baby!” Auston screamed as he looked directly at her, fist-bumping her with his enormously large hockey glove. In that moment, she was sure one of them was going to knock her over one day.

“Good job boys!” she yelled out as they trickled in. John was next, giving her a fist-bump and a quick nod.

Morgan saw her and screamed at her. “Wooooo!”

“Wooooo!” she mimicked, smiling from ear to ear as she fist-bumped him. She held her hand out for Andreas, for Kasperi, and for Sandin. William filtered through, and when she caught his eye, a large smile appeared on his face. “Good job boys!” she yelled out again as they fist-pumped.

As they boys filtered into the locker room and began to take off their gear, Brendan walked in, motioning for Aberdeen to follow him. She stood behind him and Kyle Dubas as they watched Mike Babcock make his post-game speech and present the team with one of the Raptors’ game used balls from their championship run. One player would get it after every game won. Auston got it tonight for scoring two goals, and he did a few tricks.

Aberdeen helped usher Mike into a separate room so he could do post-game media before they went into the locker room. She watched as a horde of reporters stuck microphones into his face and asked him questions about the game. When Brendan called her back into the locker room, he told her he was free to go.

She looked up at one of the TV monitors that was broadcasting Mike’s interview from the other room live, wanting to hear what good things he had to say before she left. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw William approach her, the bottom half of his gear still on, chucking something into the garbage. He stood beside her, looking up at the monitor too to listen in.

“Can you speak to Matthews’s goals tonight? The assist from Nylander must have looked good on your end,” one of the reporters asked.

“Yeah, the goals were good. Looked really good. The assist looked better than the one’s from last season, that’s for sure – he’s clearly been practicing,” Mike began.

Aberdeen didn’t hear anything else he had to say as she furrowed her brows. She knew that she didn’t know anything about hockey, but she thought the team played fantastic tonight. They won, for heaven’s sake. If she was a casual viewer and thought they played well, and that William’s assist on Auston’s goal looked incredible, that had to speak for something, right? A person who wasn’t even a fan being impressed? She didn’t know. But when she looked over at William, she saw a defeated look on his face. He clearly took the comments to heart, and it killed her to see his excitement die down over a stupid comment.

“Does he always give you backhanded compliments?” she asked quietly, looking at him.

William noticed her looking, and gave her one of those tight-lipped smiles as he shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. I’m used to it.”

Aberdeen didn’t like that answer.

#william nylander #william nylander imagine #william nylander fic #william nylander fan fic #toronto maple leafs #toronto maple leafs imagine #toronto maple leafs fic #toronto maple leafs fan fic #nhl #nhl imagine #nhl fic #nhl fan fic #hockey #hockey imagine #hockey fic #hockey fan fic #the president wears prada series

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chandelier-s-notebook · 3 years

Text

MCYT AUgust by me and @ghostofsilas Day 13: Post-Apocalyptic AU

Tagging @sleepysnails

Ao3 Link

--------------------------

Wilbur was in charge of rekindling the fire for breakfast.

The sound of Techno’s hatchet splitting logs for the fire filled the camp site. Phil was poking around their bags to find enough food suitable for a five person breakfast, while keeping their current supply in mind. Being a band of nomads in a post-apocalyptic environment didn’t really provide anyone with a stable food source.

Tommy and Tubbo were sitting in the hammock chatting away in the early dawn, watching the sun rise through the trees. It was a beautiful sight, the oranges peaking through the greenery.

It was a quiet routine that the five of them had fallen into since the Fallout. Granted, that was only three years ago, but they felt like they’d been traveling together for centuries. They knew each other’s ins and outs; deepest fears and greatest desires; dreams and wishes; prior families and love languages.

“Can we play manhunt?” Techno asked after tossing Wilbur some wood chunks. “I feel like doing a bit of running.”

“Yeah no problem.” Wilbur waved him off. “We’ll come looking in five minutes. What are the boundaries?”

“Stay in the woods, no crossing any roads.”

“Got it.” Wilbur shot Techno a thumbs up. “See you later.”

“Wait up mate!” Phil called, quickly standing. “I’m coming with you, two versus two.”

Techno paused. “You are?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

Wilbur watched the two of them leave out of the corner of his eye, most of his focus still on the fire in front of him. “Tubbo? I assume you don’t want to go out and search.”

“No thanks!” Tubbo said, smiling wide. “Besides, someone needs to watch the fire! You and Tommy can go searching.”

Wilbur smiled. “I’ll just get the fire properly started, then we can go after them.”

It took a few tries and a few minutes, but Wilbur eventually got the fire properly started and stabilized. “Tubbo! Come sit!”

Tubbo hopped out of the hammock, leaving Tommy all alone with the blankets. He skipped over and plopped himself down on one of the bigger seating logs.

Tommy grumbled at being left behind, but he dutifully balled the blankets up and tossed them down with the rest of their supplies.

Wilbur grabbed a water bottle for Tubbo, “In case the fire gets out of hand.”

Tommy then followed Wilbur out into the woods to find the other two. Wilbur was very used to rough terrain, even from before the Fallout, whereas Tommy was used to tiled floors and never really got the hang of physical activity out in the wild. He didn’t slow the group down by any means, but he wasn’t always the best at keeping up when they weren’t walking on old eroding asphalt roads.

Wilbur took Tommy through the bush, following old trails that he and Techno had marked out the day prior. He took one of them and then started carving his own, walking around trees and stepping on low lying plants to flatten a path forward.

Once they reached a clearing, Wilbur sent Tommy forwards a little. “I’m just gonna climb up this tree. Get a higher viewpoint to see if I can stop them.”

“Okay! I’m not catching you if you fall!”

Wilbur chuckled and grabbed onto the thin trunk of the tree. He climbed up it, losing his footing a couple times, but never falling down.

Wilbur got himself situated a couple branches up and looked around the clearing. It didn’t look like much of a clearing to Tommy. All he could see was tall grass that reached his nose, he’d most likely need to get Tubbo to check him for tics later.

“I see them! They’re at the other end of the clearing,” Wilbur said. “I just don’t know how they got there. I can’t see their path.” Wilbur then turned to Tommy. “I’m coming down.”

He swung down from his branch and he grabbed onto a chunk of tall grass. Using it to break his fall, he grabbed onto it but still fell backwards to the side of the path.

Tommy started laughing a little at Wilbur, he didn’t offer to help him of course. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Let’s go find another way to them.” Wilbur then beckoned Tommy forward back down their path.

Here’s the thing. It’s much easier to walk when stuff gets flattened in front of you, with the tips facing away, but when you gotta go backwards it’s easier to trip on something. Tommy fell forward, needing to grab onto a tree for stability.

“You good Tommy?”

“Yeah. I’ll let out a proper shriek if something is really wrong.”

“I thought Tommy Innit didn’t shriek,” Wilbur teased.

“Exactly. Meaning if I do something is really wrong,” he joked back at Wilbur. “I’m good though.” Tommy shook his foot to get out of the grass. “I’m fine, go on.”

Wilbur led Tommy around the trees to another entrance point to the clearing. “I’m gonna go over there and climb that tree. Techno and Phil might have seen me and moved.”

He took off quickly, leaving Tommy to run after him.

When Tommy reached Wilbur, he was crouched at the edge of the clearing trying to spot them. “Do you see them?”

“Yeah. They’re right there. On the other side. I can see the white stripes on Phil’s hat.”

“Where?”

“By that bush over there. Can you see?”

“Nope.” Tommy stepped to where Wilbur was and tried to look, but he still couldn’t see. “That’s okay. I’ll just follow you.”

Wilbur chuckled and stepped forwards into the tall grass. He went slowly, so as to not make too much sound and alert the other two of his presence. Tommy was just following behind trying to keep his footing and enjoying the atmosphere.

None of them ever let Tommy go hunting with them, so this was the closest to it that he’d ever be getting. Tommy didn’t really want to go hunting either, he mostly just wanted to hang out with Wilbur, Techno, or Phil. He adored hanging out with Tubbo back in camp, but they knew each other pre-Fallout. Plus, they both agreed that the other people in their group were super interesting and fun to be around.

Wilbur froze. “They’re going back into the trees.” He took off to the woods. “I’ll be back for you!”

Tommy ran after Wilbur, but the other was much faster than him; Tommy lost him when he dipped into the tree line. Tommy could hear Wilbur chasing Techno and Phil towards the left, but he didn't have enough confidence to follow him into the bush.

Tommy had his communicator on hand if he did get lost, but he knew that the three of them would come back for him. Plus, they all know how to find ‘north,’ so they’ll be able to come back and find him.

Tommy heard the three of them running around and he smiled. This was good for them. They were always so concerned with Tommy and Tubbo getting to have the last of their childhood--they were teens thank you very much--that they never had fun themselves. But even before the Fallout, Tommy found it weird that adults never seemed to play.

“Is he still behind us?” Phil’s voice broke out through the trees.

Tommy smiled and turned back to camp. If he wanted to, he could try to get back on his own, but he had no confidence and couldn’t even remember how to get back to the path Wilbur had carved.

Tommy then heard loud laughter from Techno.

He wasn’t quite sure, but he figured that Wilbur had caught them from the sounds of the woods. He waited around a little longer, then to his left he saw Techno and Phil coming through the tall grass.

“Hi!”

The two of them were still laughing and Phil raised a hand to wave. Phil carved the path forward and on the second to last step, he tripped over himself and fell to his face. Techno doubled over in laughter, and Tommy giggled--still looking around for Wilbur.

When Techno and Phil reached Tommy, a smiling Wilbur came out of the woods on Tommy’s right.

He ruffled Tommy’s hair and the four of them started to make their way back to the camp and Tubbo.

“You know,” Wilbur said. “When you asked if I was still behind you, I was about an arms length away. If I just reached out my arms I would have caught you.”

“But you didn’t,” Techno taunted lightly. “You know we were on our back in the trees when you spotted us. If we were in the trees you would have never caught us.”

“But you weren’t,” Wilbur sang back.

Tommy laughed, and lagged behind, walking the path behind them. It wasn’t fair to them, but the dynamic was very much split into Tommy and Tubbo; and Techno, Wilbur, and Phil; but that didn’t matter because it worked, and they never had any problems crossing over.

“Tubbo!”

“Tommy!”

“Hello!”

“Who’s hungry?” Phil asked, walking around them to grab the pan and lard. “I’m going to cook something up.”

Phil occupied himself making dinner while Techno, Wilbur, and Tommy all piled into the hammock and made faces at Tubbo, who was taking pictures with the Polaroid camera they’d found and sourced film for. It had cost them a lot back then, but everyone was in agreement that it was worth it just to keep the memories.

They all gathered around the campfire to eat. It was tradition, a little family dinner thing that they couldn’t help continue even in the warm months when they didn’t need to huddle for warmth.

The movies had lied in that regard. When the Fallout happened, it was the middle of winter. The dead of winter. When everything was at its coldest and wouldn’t be warming up anytime soon. Just as many people died from the Fallout itself as they did from the heavy winter coating the majority of the world in the northern hemisphere.

“We should get moving,” Techno said once everyone was done eating. “Starting packing up.”

Tommy and Tubbo worked on taking down the hammock and putting it in a bag with the blankets. The two of them organized and zipped up all the bags, while Phil and Wilbur grabbed their hatchets and other items spread around their site from five days of comfortable use.

Then Techno froze.

Wilbur walked up to him in concern and heard him counting under his breath.

“Stop,” Techno muttered, still counting.

Wilbur froze as well.

“Pack up faster.” With that, Techno was moving forward towards whatever it was that he saw. One handed hatched in his hand, pocket knife in his pocket.

Wilbur turned back to the others with urgency. He trusted Techno with his life, if Techno said he had it covered, then he had it covered.

Phil on the other hand was way more concerned. He was immediately ready to go after hand. Hand instantly going to the knife holder on his belt. “I’m going after him.”

“No,” Wilbur shut him down. “No you aren’t. He wants us to leave. Techno can handle himself.”

“I know, but--”

“He told us to wait.”

“Okay,” Phil acquiesced.

There was a nervous energy in the air. Phil was pacing back and forth, looking in the direction that Techno ran off to. Wilbur was less lax about cleaning up the site. Tommy and Tubbo awkwardly bristled and waited to be told what to do.

“Should we leave and wait on the road?” Tommy asked, grabbing his designated bag and tying it around his waist.

“Yeah,” Wilbur said. “Wait no!” he corrected after Tubbo took a step towards the road. “No. You guys can’t defend yourselves. We don’t know how many there are, stay with the group.”

“Ok.”

The tension lasted a couple more seconds and then Techno was darting back towards them. “Shit. Shit. Shit,” he muttered running past them down the path.

“Go!” Wilbur said.

Tommy and Tubbo ran after Techno upon command. If Techno was cursing then something was horribly wrong.

Once they were sufficiently in the middle between the campsite and the road, Techno stopped. “One armed. One not. Twenty feet,” he muttered to himself.

Tommy and Tubbo stopped next to him and waited for Techno to do whatever mental math he was doing. They both waited silently, both aware that things were not okay.

Wilbur and Phil appeared to their right with most of the stuff and dropped it on the ground next to the three of them, standing in the middle of the forest.

“Techno?” Wilbur asked.

“Shh, he’s thinking,” Tommy said.

“One armed. One not. Twenty feet. Ten split.” Techno took a deep breath and finally noticed his friends. “Let’s get out. There’s that farm house down the road we noticed. I checked it out last night. It’s empty. We’ll stay there for a while. Lay low. Did you get all the stuff?”

“No, there are a few things left. Like your cape,” Wilbur said.

“Shit. I need that. We need to go back for it.”

Tommy grabbed Techno’s bag and moved out of the way for Techno to pass him.

“Phil, you stay with Tommy and Tubbo, wait for us.”

“Got it.”

Techno and Wilbur went back to the campsite. Tubbo grabbed Tommy's arm and dragged him forward. Tommy tripped slightly, as Tubbo was walking a little quickly for him, but Tommy knew better than to fight it.

Phil stood guard outside of the forest entrance, hand on his sheath. Tommy and Tubbo sat nervously where Phil had dumped his stuff down yet again. They had an idea, but hadn’t explicitly been told what was going on, and they honestly didn’t want the answer.

“We’re gonna be fine right?” Tommy asked.

“Of course,” Phil answered easily. “You’ve got Techno and I.”

Tommy nodded, mind eased for the time being.

Techno and Wilbur jogged out of the forest with everything else.

“One armed. One not,” Techno continued to mutter.

“Techno?”

“It’s nothing Tommy. It’s fine. I just saw two other people.” He took a calming breath, handing Phil the larger axe that they had.

Tommy took that as his cue to grab Phil’s bag and throw it over his free shoulder.

“They were walking through the woods. Followed Phil’s path. Saw us and got scared--same as me--wondered what other people were doing there.”

“We should get out of the open,” Wilbur advised.

“Yeah. Good idea. Tommy, you don’t mind carrying my bag?”

“Nope.”

“Tubbo, could you grab the pan? The three of us will stay back. You two get to the farm house.”

Tubbo nodded, as if he was pulled back into the moment by being addressed directly. He grabbed the pan and turned abruptly, making his way back to the building they’d seen five days ago.

Wilbur had kept his stuff, holding a hatchet.

Tubbo walked very quickly as far away as possible; Tommy was slower, but still was walking at a brisk pace. It’s a little hard to be quick when you’ve got three bags, but adrenaline is one hell of a drug.

Tubbo and Tommy reached the house first and dropped everything on the porch. Tubbo wrapped his arms around Tommy and took deep breaths.

Tommy didn’t quite know what to do, but he was perfectly happy to receive hugs.

Wilbur passed them to go source some water for everybody. Techno scouted the house one more time. Phil sat on the porch silently.

“Is everything okay?” Tommy asked once more

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. We’re safe.”

Tommy nodded, his heartbeat calming down. When he grabbed his water bottle from Wilbur, he was weirded out to see it shaking in his hand. That’s not something he ever remembered happening before. It was honestly probably impossible that he’d never gotten an adrenaline rush in his life, but this was the first time he remembered.

“My hand is shaking,” he noted.

“Yeah. That’ll happen,” Techno reassured. “Gimme your wrist.”

“I’m fine.”

“Give.”

Tommy decided to not fight it and presented his wrist.

Techno grabbed it and pressed his thumb into Tommy’s pressure point. “Yeah. Adrenaline. Normally you’d have five milligrams, but you’ve got twenty right now.”

“Oh shit.”

“Don’t worry. It’s normal.”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah. I get that.”

Tommy somehow got Tubbo to bring their hug to a seated position on the porch.

“We’re okay,” he said.

“We’re okay,” Tubbo agreed, quieter.

Everyone came around for a group hug on the wooden deck, warm arms and bodies bring the cuddle pile down to the floor.

“We’re okay.”

#TommyInnit #Tubbo #Technoblade #Wilbur Soot #Philza #Sleepy Bois Inc #One-Shot #MCYTAUgust2021

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inkribbon796 · 3 years

Text

I Thought We Were Brothers Ch. 1: Wish I Could Relive Every Single Word

Summary: Marvin and Chase have a lot of unspoken grievances between each other and neither of them know what to do about it.

A/N: For Marvin’s birthday. Chapter title from the song “Brother” by Kodaline.

Chapters: 1, 2

Marvin knew he should say something. Anything at this point was better than the growing chasm opening up between him and several of the Septics. J.J and Henrik were civil on a good day but Chase was a different matter.

It started way before time travelers came came back with grim news, or Marvin first voiced the want to train Chase’s daughter in magic. It began with Robbie.

Sweet, innocent Robbie.

Marvin would never apologize or regret raising the young teen from the dead. He couldn’t.

The magician had looked the young man’s mother dead in the eyes and swore that he’d protect Robbie. Had sworn on his magic and own soul that he would do everything in his power to always bring him back to her alive. And Marvin had done just that, he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he hadn’t tried.

But that night had left Marvin and Chase on unspoken bad terms. Chase ceased trusting Marvin, had started drinking again, and then cleaned himself up a couple months after. The atmosphere, forever spoiled.

After the incident with the Suits, Marvin had ceased trusting Chase as well. Chase now had a part of Clubs forever buried in his soul, and it showed in little ways. His beard was getting trimmed instead of him just allowing it to go wild until he shaved it back. He’d gotten a gun, a real one, and was hiding it in his room in the base. None of the heroes tried to talk about it, but many of them knew it was there. The marksman sometimes made especially barbed jabs at Marvin when he was tired or too exhausted to keep his filter up. Then there was the matter of Dark.

Marvin had seen the look in Chase’s eyes whenever Damien was on the news. Chase was especially anxious whenever Marvin got near any of Dark’s kids. Even if those kids were King and Host. Dark was more willing to hold long conversations with Chase, and Chase had been caught by Marvin on more than one occasion texting Dark.

There was something growing between Dark and Chase and everyone was too busy walking on eggshells to confront either party about it.

Well Marvin was sick of watching his friend group tear itself apart. He needed to talk to Chase, before the guy did something stupid.

Marvin walked into the comms room. Chase was in there with Tommy and King.

“This job always as borin’[1] as shit?” Tommy asked.

King chuckled, “Yeah but so long as you’re listening to the feed you can be on your phone or work on stuff. Logan and Bing once built a transforming roomba from the ground up during a couple comms sessions. It’s why Logan likes to be in here, he gets his little side projects done.”

While King and Tommy were talking, Chase immediately noticed that Marvin had opened the door and was just staring at him.

“Hey Chase, can we talk?” Marvin asked.

“Logic, takin’[2] a smoke back,” Chase scoffed into the microphone and stood up, “King, yeh[3] have seniority, call us if anythin’[4] happens.”

“Yes, finally!” King smiled in joy and threw his arms up as Tommy groaned in annoyance, flopping back in his chair and rolling his eyes. “I got it!”

Without a word, Chase stepped out and quietly motioned for Marvin to follow him and took him out to the little smoking area. There Chase lit up a cigarette and took a deep lungful of nicotine laced smoke, before even acknowledging Marvin’s presence, “What do yeh[3] want?”

“I wanna talk,” Marvin reminded. “Why do yeh[3] think I followed yeh[3] out here yeh[3] bollocks[5]?”

Chase took a seat, “Fine, what yeh wanna go on about?”[6]

“Look, I know we don’t usually talk, but we need ta[7] talk about somethin’[8],” Marvin told him.

The marksman gave an amused chuckle, “Nah, we don’t have anythin’ ta talk about. Just go back ta yer books Marv.”[9]

“Yeh[3] hate me, so we got shite[10] ta[7] talk about,” Marvin told him.

“You murdered Stacy an’[11] the kids, ‘a[12] course I fookin’[13] hate yeh[3]!” Chase ripped the cigarette out of his mouth and stomped towards him.

Marvin flinched and Chase pulled away, “An’ sure yeh didn’t this time, but yeh did the other times, yeh did before they came back. Yeh set an entire city on fire, killed hundreds ‘a people. What am I supposed ta say ta yeh?”[14]

“I know,” Marvin called back, terror in his voice. “I know an’ don’t know what the fook was wrong with me ta brin’ me ta that point. That is hundreds ‘a thousands ‘a people who did nothin’ ta deserve the horror ‘a fookin’ burnin’ ta death!”[15]

“I don’t remember what was wrong with yeh[3],” Chase shot back, still angry. “I got stuck with that fooker’s[16] feelings, not his memories.”

The two of them fell quiet, the air nasty and injured between them.

Marvin felt like poison was bubbling in this throat. “The fook[17] happened ta[7] us?”

“Yer gonna have ta be specific,”[18] Chase asked curtly.

“I wanted ta[7] learn magic an’[11] hunt ghosts,” Marvin raked his hands down his face. “I didn’t want ta[7] save the world an’[11] deal with the fact I fooked[19] the future so bad it had ta[7] be fixed.”

“Yeah,” Chase frowned, before his phone went off. Chase pulled it out to see a text had shown up. It was Mori, in the water, near some tunnels with a fish in his mouth, the photo taken from the shoreline which meant Memento or Tempus had probably taken the picture.

The picture got a tiny breathy laugh from Chase, and a small smile. His kids seemed to be having fun, they didn’t seem to be getting into some big trouble. Yet, at least.

“They usually text yeh[3]?” Marvin asked, trying to make his tone sound less hostile.

“Yeah,” Chase’s expression turned bittersweet, he started texting Dark with an update. “Helps ta have a second pair ‘a eyes on ‘em. They tend ta slip out ‘a the Manor or the warehouses when Dark’s not watchin’. An’ that’s on a day when Wil doesn’t just sweep ‘em away an’ cause trouble with ‘em.”[20]

“Why are yeh in charge ‘a watchin’ ‘em?”[21] Marvin asked, completely confused. “Can’t those two just rise an’[11] repeat what they did with the other six? I mean if yeh[3] can handle raising six fookin’[13] demons in secret, three seem like no big deal.”

Chase paused, his fingers still. They were going to figure it out eventually. King already knew, he’d confided that in Chase already. “Cause[22] they’re mine, Marv.”

Marvin spent the next minute trying to figure out if Chase was joking, and then another minute trying to figure out how that was possible since they were demons and Chase was still human.

But a nagging feeling tickled the back of his head: was he still human?

Logan and the other Sides had been demons since the first moment he had met them and no one had been the wiser. Not even the Sides, and Marvin should have known. He should have taken one look at Virgil and more importantly Remus and known. Chase could be a demon, he could not know, and fly under every kind of test and radar known to magic itself. Hell, Patton and Roman still came up as humans for those tests.

“Do— Does uh,” Marvin floundered for an adequate response, because what the hell was he supposed to say to that! “Does Dark know?”

“Yeah, he’s the one who told me,” Chase was moving his cigarette back up to his lips. “Don’t know if he told the rest ‘a[12] his kids but they all know too. King said as much.”

“So what now?” Marvin asked.

Chase let out an ugly, contemptuous snort, “What about now?”

“Dark’s got yer[23] kids, is there another custody battle comin’[24] up?” Marvin winced at the memory of Chase’s last custody battle, one he had lost handedly.

“They’re Dark’s kids, he’s the most powerful bein’[25] in all Egoton, there’s nothin’[26] ta[7] fight against, Marv,” Chase dismissed, rolling his cigarette around in his mouth.

“Chase, no yeh can’t just roll o’er an’ just—”[27] Marvin spat.

“Calm yer[23] fookin’[13] tits, Marv,” Chase scoffed. “Dark an’[11] I have somethin’[8] set up. I see ‘em[28] more than I see my human kids.”

Marvin shoved his hands in his pockets, not sure what to do with them. “Okay, that’s good at least. So did yeh an’ Dark talk about stuff then. I know that the Clubs version ‘a yeh was with him in the future.”[29]

“I don’t have a future with Dark anymore,” Chase snarled. “He’s with Wil.”

“Wil cheats on him with practically the entire town,” Marvin reminded.

“I know!” Chase slammed his fist on the bench before raking his fingers down his face. “Yeh[3] think I haven’t noticed that bubblegum bastard perched on his arm, being the fookin’[13] shittiest arsehole[30] in the whole fookin’[13] world?”

Marvin opened his mouth but Chase turned and started on a tirade, “Dark is loyal ta[7] him. He fookin’[13] raised those kids almost by himself. An’[11] what does he get in return? The fooker[31] rips his heart out an’[11] leaves. It pisses me off.”

“I thought they said Wil died?” Marvin asked and all the momentum bled out of Chase’s system.

“Yeah he did,” Chase corrected himself. “Fook![17] I did it again.”

“Did what again?” Marvin asked.

“I say weird thin’s[32], I do weird thin’s[32],” Chase dismissed. “Yesterday I made like three different coffees, one fer me, one fer Eef, an’ another fer Dark. Crank wasn’t e’en in that day, an’ why the hell should I be makin’ a fookin’ coffee fer Dark? I was in the base.”[33]

“Wasn’t future yeh datin’ him or fookin’ him or somethin’?” Marvin asked.

“I think he was gonna[34] propose,” Chase admitted.

Marvin just stared at Chase, “What? How do yeh[3] know?”

“I caught myself lookin’[35] at rings,” Chase admitted. “Tryin’ ta find somethin’ that looks nice with red an’ blue. Not that it’s ‘a any use now.”[36]

“How much do yeh[3] remember or feel?” Marvin asked, coming closer and taking a seat next to Chase.

“I don’t have memories, just his feelin’s[37],” Chase frowned in thought. “Frustration, anger, love. Future me was so smitten with Dark that I know he was killin’ fer him. The weight ‘a my guns feel off now. Whene’er I look at Mori an’ Memento I feel so upset ‘cause they’re with Wil an’ they’re so big an’ it eats at me. Wilford fookin’ stole my kids an’ changed ‘em, an’ I’m supposed ta stand by an’ watch his aura keep changin’ ‘em.”[38]

“Have yeh tried talkin’ ta Dark about this?”[39] Marvin questioned.

“An’[11] tell him what?” Chase demanded. “That I fookin’[13] hate his guts an’[11] I wanna[40] take him out on a date ta[7] this nice curry place I saw on my last patrol at the same time. That I think his boyfriend is awful fer[41] him an’[11] I wanna[40] put a hollow point right between his fookin’[13] eyes?”

Marvin was trying to find some way to comfort or calm Chase down as he kept rambling. “Yah know maybe I should march my arse o’er ta his office an’ tell him that I hate wakin’ up in the morning. That when I wake up, I can’t stand it when my bed is fookin’ empty. That someone is supposed ta be in my bed with me an’ I just lay there fer hours ‘cause I can’t leave until he knows I’m there.”[42]

“Yeah, Marv, Dark would love that,” Chase laughed sadly. “Big, powerful mob boss would love some sad alcoholic who can barely hold himself together long enough ta[7] get out ‘a[12] bed in the mornin’[43]. That’ll really get his attention.”

“Well he must’a liked somethin’ ‘cause he was datin’ yeh,”[44] Marvin tried to offer.

“Wil was dead,” Chase reminded. “He’s alive an’ kickin’ now. Dark’s not gonna e’en look my way if Wil’s alive.”[45]

Marvin and Chase went quiet again. Unsure how to help either of them.

Fortunately for Marvin, he didn’t have to. King called them both back in. City hall wanted Average, Marvin, and Jackie to come in for a meeting.

Marvin saw the tense look in Chase’s eyes but he agreed and the two of them set off to meet Jackie at City Hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Accessibility Translations:

1. boring

2. taking

3. you

4. anything

5. balls

6. Fine, what do you want to talk about?

7. to

8. something

9. Nah, we don’t have anything to talk about. Just go back to your books Marv.

10. shit

11. and

12. of

13. fucking

14. And sure you didn’t this time, but you did the other times, you did before they came back. You set an entire city on fire, killed hundreds of people. What am I supposed to say to you?

15. I know and don’t know what the fuck was wrong with me to bring me to that point. That is hundreds of thousands of people who did nothing to deserve the horror of fucking burning to death!

16. fucker’s

17. fuck

18. You’re going to have to be specific

19. fucked

20. Helps to have a second pair of eyes on them. They tend to slip out of the Manor or the warehouses when Dark’s not watching. And that’s on a day when Wil doesn’t just sweep them away and cause trouble with them.

21. Why are you in charge of watching them?

22. Because

23. your

24. coming

25. being

26. nothing

27. Chase, no you can’t just roll over and just—

28. them

29. Okay, that’s good at least. So did you and Dark talk about stuff then. I know that the Clubs version of you was with him in the future.

30. asshole

31. fucker

32. things

33. Yesterday I made like three different coffees, one for me, one for Eef, and another for Dark. Crank wasn’t even in that day, and why the hell should I be making a fucking coffee for Dark? I was in the base.

34. going to

35. looking

36. Trying to find something that looks nice with red and blue. Not that it’s of any use now.

37. feelings

38. Frustration, anger, love. Future me was so smitten with Dark that I know he was killing for him. The weight of my guns feel off now. Whenever I look at Mori and Memento I feel so upset because they’re with Wil and they’re so big and it eats at me. Wilford fucking stole my kids and changed them, and I’m supposed to stand by and watch his aura keep changing them.

39. Have you tried talking to Dark about this?

40. want to

41. for

42. You know maybe I should march my ass over to his office and tell him that I hate waking up in the morning. That when I wake up, I can’t stand it when my bed is fucking empty. That someone is supposed to be in my bed with me and I just lay there for hours because I can’t leave until he knows I’m there.

43. morning

44. Well he must have liked something because he was dating you

45. He’s alive and kicking now. Dark’s not going to even look my way if Wil’s alive.

#Superhero AU #Masks and Maladies #birthday post #footnotes #Marvin the Magnificent #Chase Brody #angst #Chase is dealing with his feelings #so is Marvin #unrequited feelings

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localhorrornerd · 5 years

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31 Horror Movies for the Halloween Season

Well.. It’s a little bit over 31 bc of sequels and such but it’s a fun title for horror recs! For the record these are in no particular order in like what’s the best or anything! It’s just a list of horror movie recommendations that might get you in the Halloween mood. I tried not to have huge well-known movies on here, but I did throw in a few just because I love them and couldn’t resist. I did try to add small descriptions for each one, but given there’s like 31 movies on here, they are rather short. Either way, hopefully you’ll find one or a couple movies here that you’re interested in!

1. Trick ‘r Treat

A rather well-known one but is it really a list without Trick ‘r Treat? A fun horror anthology with four different stories that connect to each other in some way - including the fact they all take place on Halloween night! A fun one to actually watch on Halloween.

2. Hell House LLC

For the record there are two sequels (Hell House LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel & Hell House LLC 3: Lake of Fire), however I have not seen either of them so can’t include them here, but if you want to watch them I’d say go check them out! Basically it’s a documentary style type film that follows what happened up to the days a horrible tragedy took place on the opening night of a haunted house attraction. No one knows exactly what actually went down, so the reason for the documentary is to attempt to figure out what truly happened that night.

3. Repo! The Genetic Opera

A horror musical! It’s set in a future where organ failure is extremely common so naturally a huge company comes along and is like “Okay you can have an organ transplant, but you have a huge payment plan and if you can’t pay then we’re just gonna kill you and take your organs back.” Also it has so many good songs would highly recommend if you haven’t seen it (and you can stomach a bit of gore).

4. The Devil’s Carnival & Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival

Another horror musical! And done by the same people who did Repo! For the record The Devil’s Carnival is only about an hour long but the sequel is a full length movie! A short quick explanation is that it’s set in Hell (unsurprisingly) and follows the people who end up there - also during this the Devil is planning an attack - but I’ll let you find out the rest if you haven’t seen it yet.

5. Ju-On and/or The Grudge (Any Film)

It’s my favorite horror franchise, so of course Ju-On was gonna end up on here! Whether it be the original Japanese films or the American remakes, it follows vengeful spirits who were murdered in their home and are taking revenge on anyone who enters.

6. Sinister & Sinister 2

Okay I know Sinister 2 is one not very well liked, but since I have seen it I decided I might as well include it (though I don’t really remember my thoughts on it it’s been a while). Video tapes that contain children murdering their families and a mysterious being that may be at the center of it is the basic plot for these movies.

7. Tragedy Girls

Basically you got two best friends who capture a serial killer because they themselves want to become serial killers! Don’t wanna say too much outside of that, as that is the basic plot concept honestly, but it’s a really fun movie.

8. The Final Girls

A girl dealing with the anniversary of her mother’s death ends up, with a small group of others, stuck in a horror movie that her mother actually starred in. Okay as much fun as this one is it does pull on the heart strings a bit I gotta admit. But it’s truly great and naturally has a feel of an older slasher movie.

9. You Might be the Killer

Another one that’s got that older slasher movie vibe as it takes place at a camp. One where the counselors are getting picked off one by one by a masked killer. Comes in our protagonist, who is calling his friend, who isn’t at the camp and also is a huge horror enthusiast, for help to figure out what to do and maybe figure out what’s going on/who the killer is.

10. Danur (aka Danur: I Can See Ghosts)

A young girl who just wants friends finds them in the form of three potentially paranormal ones. Though it seemingly being just a childhood thing, it actually becomes of great importance as she gets older. This movie also has a sequel, Danur 2: Maddah.

11. Fright Night

For the record I am talking about the remake here, as I have not seen the original, but if you would prefer to watch that one - or maybe even both - go for it! Basically, teen starts to believe his new neighbor is a vampire after more and more people go missing. Also David Tennant is there if you go with the remake so that’s always fun!

12. Tales of Halloween

Admittedly I wasn’t too into this film, but I know a lot of people like it! Not too much to say, it’s a horror anthology with 10 different segments that take place on Halloween! So you’re bound to find something you enjoy within it, whether it be the paranormal, witches, or even just dumb fun horror comedy antics.

13. The Tag-Along

Based on an urban legend from Taiwan, “The Little Girl in Red”, it focuses on a man and his girlfriend. Of which the man’s grandmother suddenly goes missing one day - eventually leading to him discovering clues of a potential unknown little girl who had began following his grandmother around. There are two sequels to this movie as well that I have not seen yet, that being The Tag-Along 2 & The Tag-Along: The Devil Fish.

14. Three... Extremes

Another anthology film that contains three separate stories, each one coming from a different East Asian country. It also has a prequel, Three (or 3... Extremes II in the U.S.), and a full length film made from one of the stories within it, Dumplings.

15. The Hallow

Really feel like the point of this movie is like ‘Don’t fuck with the woods’. As it basically focuses on a couple and their baby, who seems to be the target for the odd things happening to them that seems rather connected to the woods nearby.

16. The Devil’s Candy

A man moves with his family into a new home, and slowly begins to feel as though something is possessing him in a sense. That and also the potential fact his family is being targeted by the previous resident of the home.

17. Wake Wood

Apparently FMA did not teach us not to fuck with the dead enough, so here’s a movie about a grieving couple that lost their daughter who move into a town that holds the power to bring someone back from the dead for only 3 days. Unfortunately like FMA, things go horribly wrong (just not... in the same way as FMA).

18. The Cabin in the Woods

College students go out to a cabin in the woods in which things quickly take a turn for the worst. Seems simple enough, but it’s so much more complicated than that - however I won’t be sharing any of those details for those who haven’t watched it yet.

19. Prevenge

A pregnant woman who’s husband has recently passed away, believes that her unborn child wants her to track down and kill everyone who was involved in the accident. An extremely wild but honestly rather fun time.

20. You’re Next

Home invasion, baby! In which everything goes to hell for a family and their partners when masked killers start trying to kill everyone there. Though things take a turn quick and you start to wonder who is really the ones being hunted down here. (A fairly well known one, but I had to recommend it given one of my favorite characters in horror is in this movie)

21. Kuronezumi (aka Black Rat)

Not too much to say here basic plot wise. Six students receive texts from their dead classmate, they follow as the texts ask and go to the school at night, and then start getting targeted by a killer wearing a rat mask.

22. Lights Out

A family potentially being haunted by a creature that only appears when the lights go out? Plus a whole lot of family drama? Always fun truly! It’s also somewhat based off a viral short film of the same name that the director had made before he got to make it a full length film.

23. Absentia

Absolutely had to put a Mike Flanagan movie on here. One that focuses on a pregnant woman who’s started towards attempting to move on with her life after her husband disappeared seven years ago. However, as she takes a huge step towards doing so, something rather odd happens - which I’ll let you find out for yourself if you choose to watch it.

24. Halloween III: Season of the Witch

Perhaps it’s because it’s the one Halloween movie without Michael Myers, or perhaps it’s because I was blanking out on movies I watched that aren’t extremely well-known, but I felt the need to add this one on here. It focuses on this man who is out to kill children on Halloween by using a line of Halloween masks. So basically another fun one to watch on Halloween!

25. The Barn

Teenagers go to a barn where there’s a supposed curse that can awaken Halloween-themed monsters on Halloween night. What could possibly go wrong? Honestly another one that would be a lot of fun to actually watch on Halloween.

26. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

A really fun documentary type film where it’s set in a world where iconic horror slashers are actually real! And a documentary crew are out to make a movie centered around Leslie Vernon, who wishes to go down in history as another one of the famous slashers. This one is really just *chef’s kiss* to me, very much recommend if you haven’t seen it.

27. Creep & Creep 2

Found footage type films in which we follow people who are hired by this rather concerning man to film him. That’s really all I can say unfortunately without trying to give away too much.

28. What We Do in the Shadows

Another documentary-style type movie! It tends to be more comedic than it is horror, but it follows a group of vampires that live together! Sort of documenting their lives and how they survive day by day. Honestly it’s so ridiculous and hilarious, and I know many people have seen it by now but I have to recommend it none the less as it’s one of my favorites. Plus, it also has an equally hilarious tv series now that you can also give a watch!

29. The Banana Splits Movie

Who doesn’t want to see the Banana Splits as animatronics that start randomly slaughtering people after the news that their show is going to be cancelled? Honestly it’s really just a fun, ridiculous movie that isn’t meant to be taken seriously. Perhaps something to watch with friends to get in the mood for Halloween.

30. The Last Exorcism

Another one that has a sequel I have not seen: The Last Exorcism Part II. Another documentary style film (Sorry I added so many of these whoops), that follows a reverend who goes around performing fake exorcisms. Things start getting a bit more complicated though when lines start beginning to blur between what is real and what is fake while doing his current “exorcism” he was asked to perform.

31. V/H/S & V/H/S 2

There is also a third film, V/H/S: Viral, however I have not seen that one. Not too much to say here, they’re basically just an anthology of short horror films that are supposedly being shown from VHS tapes.

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worldcakecakecake · 4 years

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Feliciano and the King of Hearts

Chosen by the gods as the Queen of Hearts from the moment of birth, we follow Feliciano’s story as he grows into royal life, learns to rule, go against age old customs, and his relationship with his husband to be, the King of Hearts.

Chapter 1 I Chapter 2 I Chapter 3 I Chapter 4 I Chapter 5 I Chapter 6I Chapter 7 I Chapter 8 IChapter 9I Chapter 10I Chapter 11I Chapter 12 I Chapter 13 I Chapter 14 I Chapter 15 I Chapter 16 I Chapter 17 I Chapter 18 I Chapter 19I Chapter 20 I Chapter 21 I Chapter 22 I Chapter 23 I Chapter 24 I Chapter 25 I Chapter 26 I Chapter 27 I Chapter 28I Chapter 29 I Chapter 30 I Chapter 31 I Chapter 32 I Chapter 33 I Chapter 34 I Chapter 35 I Chapter 36 I Chapter 37I chapter 38 I Chapter 39 I Chapter 40 I Chapter 41 I Chapter 42 I Chapter 43 I Chapter 44 I Chapter 45 I Chapter 46I Chapter 47 I Chapter 48 I Chapter 49 I Chapter 50 I Chapter 51 I Chapter 52 I Chapter 53 I Chapter 54 I Chapter 55 I Chapter 56 I Chapter 57 I Chapter 58 I Chapter 59 I Chapter 60I Chapter 61 I Chapter 62 I Chapter 63 I Chapter 64 I Chapter 65 I Chapter 66 I Chapter 67 I Chapter 68 I Chapter 69 I Chapter 70 I Chapter 71 I Chapter 72 I Chapter 73 I Chapter 74 I Chapter 75

Chapter 76

The next two days somehow blurred to Feliciano. He felt like he had been stuck in the same place…when he had only been there for perhaps only an hour, breathing and hoping this ease could bring hm an answer. He laid his feet upon the surface of this canal, sometimes starring off into the blur of this other island. It was the German one they had told him several times, boats occasionally coming here to pick up anyone who wanted a visitor…yet the last few times he had denied the passage still trying to think, trying to piece as time passed.

Yes, it darkened and lightened here in the usual day and night cycle, the night a splendorous one of black, purple, blue and infinite of stars that sparkled elegantly on the waters. One lived here like any other regular life, with the same pass times and leisure, easy to forget that they were dead and only waiting for a mourning to pass so they could enter the third realm. Everyone reverted to the colors of their life, only glistening, and brightening, for, as someone had told him, you have shed your magic and your spirit can shine straight anew. But indeed, since all your magic was drained in the first realm, you had no power here, but it didn’t disturb from the utter peace and felicity. People went on, Feliciano wondering if they had forgotten they once could possess such force.

For some reason he had kept his own magic…but he preferred keeping it hidden. He didn’t know what it meant, how the people would react to it and what the angels would say. So, he settled to himself that if he had to use it, then small things that can fit in the palm of his hand.

The angels only came when new people entered or when they had to pick someone to lead them in their entrance to the third realm. He never saw the full process, he would only see as the angel would come to someone, talk, lead them deep into the most darkened street in the town, disappear between and that person never came back. They always went alone, no matter the family household they made in their time in the island.

They had established these families to make the settling easier, to have a group to count on and spend your time until you were called. Feliciano had found it with a group that called themselves Galdi, the one to which the little boy he had met belonged to.

His name was Timoteo…only five years old when he passed. He was from Ragusa, at the south of the peninsula and thus very far from Barga. He had been heavily sick with an immune problem that he suffered from since birth. The youngest of three siblings, his parents working with the governance of the town. The four of them had tried hard to deal with his disease, but the war cut the route of medicines and the healers that helped. His eldest sister left to fight in the war, the sadness taking the largest toll that eventually led him here.

When Feliciano had heard the story, he broke and put on himself more blame for the occurrence of the war, so many times apologizing and wishing he could grant the boy his life back. Timoteo forgave him, smiling and mentioning how he suffered no pain, in a wonderful place with just as great people and had even met the Queen of Hearts.

Yet it didn’t heal the fault, it still added to the weigh of what he was supposed to do. This tension always lay with him, grasping as he did now the edges of his seat as he forced himself more the words he had gotten to.

The four stances…could be so many things. Care, Devotion, Empathy, Belief, Force, Magic, Openness, Knowledge…and on and on with countless of words that piled and yet none shone out to him as the intended. He needed a way to make them clear, so when he worked on showing it…he wouldn’t be doing the wrong one.

Okay, um… Intent, Loyalty, Calculation, Anger…he spun on words, twisting them around himself, hoping they could show.

Wish, Leadership, Serenity, Force…another sigh in his anguish, just as Timoteo took the sitting right next to him, by now knowing Feliciano’s concentrations on this, remaining silent, gazing up to him wondering if perhaps this time he had something. He knew Feliciano had given up when he moved his gaze away from the waters, up to the distance that gave him the next coming island.

“I asked Giancarlo if he had any ideas this morning, and he suggested you asked Augusta.”

Oh…if only it was that easy. “Augusta won’t answer me…” he tried to control his exasperation, no worth being shown to a child.

“She lives within you…shouldn’t she…shouldn’t she help you.”

Feliciano rolled his eyes and wished he could tell her that as well. “Timoteo…she might want me to learn it myself. After all, I’m Queen, I should know this by nature…yet I don’t…she might also be disappointed because so.”

“No…maybe she’s just making a game,” he had thought like the child he was and Feliciano chuckled and blessed that he was there with him.

“Wouldn’t that be fun?” He raised his legs to himself, now taking a break, thoughtful and only one person in his mind, his gaze now more intent than ever on that specific canal that connected. Timoteo knew…and he waited and even expected Feliciano’s decree to row forward…yet silence continued between them.

“Why haven’t you gone to the German island yet?” He asked, slow as to not cause any more distress…he could tell Feliciano was hesitant. “King Ludwig is supposed to be there…right? Maybe he can help you.”

“Yes…he is supposed to be there…but…” he sighed and saddened like he could melt to the floor in it. “It was as the angels said…if he were here then they would have known…a message should have arrived there of my presence… if Ludwig would have heard it…he would have come as quick as possible…but it’s been two days and there’s been nothing of him.”

“…the angels suggested you could still check,” he wanted to believe.

“I could but…I’m afraid of what I can find out…you know the real story of Augusta and Romulus don’t you?”

He nodded excitedly, attentive, and glowing ready to hear the tale all over again.

“When Romulus passed by Khaos’s hand…he didn’t come here…for the longest time Augusta thought he had completely disappeared…lost and truly left without a chance to see him again…” what dreadful things, what misery…he shouldn’t be telling this to a child…yet Timoteo continued to gaze up to him with big innocent eyes, unperturbed by the words.

“And you’re worried that the same thing has happened.”

And the very words he had been thinking, not daring to say out loud, were whisked into the air by the young boy. “…he…was killed by Khaos…I doubt he would be so merciful.” And he turned away, not wanting the island to give him false hopes.

Yet despite how everything seemed so unlikely…Timoteo wanted to keep that hope. “I can go with you if you want, so no matter what you find…I’ll try to help you and…we can figure something out.” He didn’t know what…but he wanted to keep Feliciano faithful to the chance of seeing Ludwig again…even if it meant not in the Interludes…even when there wasn’t a single way.

Feliciano sighed, straightened up and there was intention in the way he gazed that made Timoteo know they were meant to take the next coming boat.

The Queen realized that the boy had truth in discovering more of what this could be. No matter what he would find out…he was sure it would not stop him from searching a way.

The sailor who was in the boat that transported Feliciano and Timoteo couldn’t stop stuttering his words, wouldn’t stop bowing…or staring intensively at the Heartian Queen. Feliciano giggled and tried to give him as much ease as he could on the journey…a half hour one with a lot to witness in these waters as they crossed.

Despite how these boats could hold the weight of bringing about twelve spirits, only one person rowed, their oars the only thing in this realm that trespassed the water reflection under them to push. From what Feliciano had learned, these rowers were not angels, but spirits who had lived themselves long ago, had passed all four realms, lived with the Aces and were granted this job once there. They either wished it or it was given as a sort of punishment for wrong doings they did in their past life. They were knowledgeable in the map of this world, their rower pointing and naming the other islands they witnessed from afar. But each soul was limited specific routes, and this one in particular could not go further to the islands they couldn’t see or the ones from other kingdoms.

With each paddle forward, Feliciano became heavier, his expression more fallen, the sailor and even Timoteo distracted in the conversations of other passengers to really notice. The island began to come clearer, with building of stone and wood that showed the clear artistry unique to the German province. It was a mix of old and new, of city and country, and it reminded Feliciano of one of the inner streets of Berlin. The beauty made him blissfully forgetful, ignorant to a crowd of people that were surely awaiting friends or even loved ones. The surprise was soon quickly spread as they witnessed him. The usual whispers Feliciano had now been used to arose, but he didn’t bother to listen or give attention at first. He rose out of the boat, helping Timoteo to stand at his closeness, making sure they were both well suited in their arrival before Feliciano could turn to the crowd…taking a deep breath and preparing himself for the answer he would get.

“Greetings,” he started and continued in German, “despite how it might seem, I am not really dead.” He went on with the usual information of his journey until all could understand the circumstances to not create a massive panic.

“We understand well, your majesty. But why come to our island?” A man had wondered for all.

“I…” and here it would come, his voice coming into a shake, gripping his hands, and biting his lips from not showing more this weakness. “I’m looking for my husband.”

Startlement, all exchanging confused glances, then searching between one another, wondering if simply they had missed him.

“King Ludwig?”

“Yes, is he here? If so, then please, take me to him! I have to see him!” He begged, his eyes watered now, a reaction the men and women moved back from…not understanding what to do, what to say. Timoteo took a stronger hold of his hand, easing him, reminding to be patient and attentive.

“Your majesty, we know our dear king was taken…but…”

“We…believe he’s already in the third or fourth realm…maybe with the Aces…” one tried to alight.

“No…it doesn’t make sense. With the amount of time Ludwig has been dead…he should be here…I know he should be here…” Feliciano insisted, thinking they were only hiding him, ready to dash forward and look for himself.

“Your majesty!” One woman told the loudest, taking well his attention as she stood high and mighty in the crowd, understanding well…Feliciano could tell that currently she has been the longest there, perhaps only hours to be chosen for her path to the third realm. “Ludwig is not here…and he hasn’t been here…” harsh words, enunciated and sure that Feliciano had no way to denying. The tears fell and his breath began to hitch.

“Emilie, be reasonable, perhaps-” one tried to alight.

“I’ve long been here…and no king has come…and none of the people I was with at the beginning mentioned such a presence.”

Timoteo’s heart hurt for Feliciano, who now began to shake in his hold, and he looked up to him vastly worried. Even with his grasp, Feliciano looked lost, ready to suffocate at the harshness his breathing increased in.

He should have expected this…he shouldn’t be surprised, it shouldn’t be suffocating him like this.

“Not here…not here…” Feliciano repeated in anguish.

But he did have hope…his heart truly believed he would be there so everything could be the same as it was…but now…no…such a chance was never to occur again…Ludwg suffered the same faith as Romulus…he was gone…he was gone…gone…gone…

“I’m so sorry, your majesty…we would love to know what’s going on also and help…but…there’s nothing we can do…” someone tried to come close to give whatever comforts, but no matter, Feliciano began to loose focus, sweating from the harshness it took to breathe.

“Feliciano…Feliciano?” Timoteo tried to call, but it was like he was slowly disappearing from his vision.

So many began to try and call for him, but he gave none an answer as his breath overcame everything else.

Roderich was surprised he could run this fast, could even let his legs raise him as he went across that ruined expanse. He was heavily bruised, blood coated his armor, yet he still managed some force to keep up with the other two.

“Ready?” An Oralee called, reminding him of the mission.

“We’re even!” a Whitean joined.

Yes, the three of them were perfectly aligned, amazingly so as the ground crumbled underneath them, as ribbons of darkness danced about them, the feet of Khaos menacing ever closer with stomps that could have swallowed them all to be forgotten. But no…they were determined that this wouldn’t be their end. With grimaces, with pain in every single one of their bones, they extended their hands in a perfect balance, a beam like rope being formed. They began to move apart, expanding the distance, sometimes wobbling as one jumped or dived to avoid a ribbon. Soon enough they had what they wanted, a perfect space, the three moving until it was targeted like a large bow.

“Fire!” Roderich shouted and they released just as they would an arrow, a field running up, the end a large shard that fell and pierced into Khaos. A scream, chilling and painful to hear, especially being this near. The monster began to bend in a nearing to the ground, to fall. The three smiled at achieving this, one of the rare times, but it was quickly vanished when they noticed it was ready to fall on them. From their awe, they had to dash at whatever space they could find.

The ribbons were coming at them fiercer, messed, and dangerous without control. They didn’t think it would be possible to pass through, closing their eyes and expecting the soon taking. But then came the insisting voice, along with the call that was unique of a specific kind of deer bread for the use of war as this. They were tall, imposing, fast and with antlers capable of taking many to death at a time.

“Come on! Come on! Come on!” Came the shout of the Jack of Diamonds, ushering them forward to him, all taking a grasp of the animal, safe and secure before it hasted away to the safest ground they could reach, the top of a mountain that they made their center of operations and health when it was not moving and possible. João was there to greet them, pen and scroll in his hand ready to write the next commands and messages.

“It worked…” the Oralee told, trying to catch her breath, “…but I don’t know how much time it gives us.”

“We got him to fall…it’s more than what we hoped for,” João told them in gratitude.

“We can’t waste anymore time. Hurry with the next part! There are still some towns here that need to be evacuated!” Vash reminded them all, with his deer, heading over to continue helping these people. The others went ahead, only João and Roderich remained, both to stare at both sides of the view they had.

The side were Khaos was wallowing in was filled with darkness, once such greet greens and rivers now in greys, smoke and only but cracked earth. Only some soldiers remained to fend and attack as continuous, preparing, swallowed and surely tearful with fear and mourning for their land. Roderich especially hurt…seeing his kingdom driven to this, a weeping he needed to hide…not now when there was still much to do, with Khaos still undefeated.

They turned to the other side, these mountains doing well to hide the towns and even city in the distance that needed to be hurried out and emptied this instant. What gave them more panic was the fact that they could see the Spadian border from here, flags raised and armies ready to begin the defense and attack they had planned…what they had called new people for, begged for new plans and weapons.

“Go and join the rest with the help in evacuating whose left, I’ll stay here and send messages if anything else happens,” João suggested, hiding his own turmoil by focusing on the writing he had to do.

João would be alone then…something that didn’t sit well with Roderich. Now they needed to be together, to help and aid…

”Roderich!” He turned to see Elisa, ruined and panic in her eyes, “some people won’t leave unless it is by your command. You have to hurry! They believe that you’ll manage everything, and their towns won’t be destroyed!”

Roderich decided on hurrying instead, only being able to send João luck.

“Khaos is right at Spade’s doorsteps!” Louis announced the contents.

“I’m writing the commands to begin and act!” Arthur exasperated, not liking to be reminded.

In this array, in this action and load of continuous working, Elizabeta couldn’t bring herself to go on, heavily bended on her desk, trying to hide her expression of dread. Currently, Kandake was the only one that could grant her comfort, a hand soothing on her back, telling her a mantra to keep breathing.

“All of Clubs is destroyed…everything is gone…” Elizabeta went on to whimper and mourn over the loss of her kingdom, under her reports on how every single province had suffered a darkened poison, all her population left without a home, runaways in other kingdoms she didn’t know could last and the rest…dead…gone, a pain adding and only sinking her more in this position. Others could only stare, not knowing what reach they could make at such a happening…one that would surely befall on them.

Aldrich sighed and turned from all to stare back at the pool…hoping for some new hope from Feliciano’s body, still suspended and drifted…no changes. It had only been a couple of days since they began mourning…they shouldn’t be expecting anything for the coming weeks. Pookie was the only one that sat and took watching next to him, patient and still for his master’s return. Aldrich gripped the latest letter that arrived…not finding it in him to read aloud and worsen the air.

As the Spadian border was spotted and was ready for the onslaught…the Hearts border was preparing itself for the same faith.

Herakles walked the line all the time, one end to the other, sometimes using ferries, even serpents that lived in these waters and offered their help. He wanted to believe it stood powerful, everybody armored, ordered in precision, men and women from different parts of Hearts…even other Kingdoms, ready to face off this monster.

A particular shout made many gasp out of order, for Herakles to see the shake clear in many of their eyes, their grips tightening around their weapons, some making clear sound. Over in the distance, a haze yet still on those hills of Clubs, above it all stood the rage of Destro, the armies there dealing what they could in their battle, the shines of their spell alighting the darkness of this monster. They were all small, like nothing…none of this was working.

Soon…once the monster could take his passage through the mountains, it would cross the sea, blacken it and then it would be a battle of their responsibility. It would touch ground in Hearts for the first time and begin its ever approach on Berlin.

“Feliciano…Feliciano!” All it took was just the right shout, to make his vision clear again, to halt his breathes enough so they could slowly settle at their usual pace. “Remember… we’ll figure something out…we’ll find a way…” The boy seemed to lead him back into place, back into his position, into realizing where he was, to the plans…to thinking. Feliciano gave a half smile, turning to the others to nod and make his way elsewhere in the town…somewhere where they could be alone to think…and realize what it was they should do next. They chose a forgotten corner where no one came to bother them, the water reaching at the steps there, Feliciano meeting for that same relax, that sign to head into his mind and let words wander again. It was also a moment to truly let his breaths go back to their usual rhythm…and to try and forget about the scene he just created. He looked back, noticing that the crowds went to focusing on other things, on those who came new here…Feliciano intended to apologize once it was time to leave.

“If he’s not here…then, he’s not really dead,” Timoteo alighted, sure and positive.

Feliciano couldn’t join in it…for his mind only repeated that he was gone, out of a reach that they couldn’t hold to anymore. “Timoteo, I know you want to help…and I know you want to believe that Ludwig is out there…but it’s just-”

“What happened to Romulus?”

It was so sudden that Feliciano took some time to settle on the new question. He thought to all the stories, all the readings, new and old…that letter Ludwig had received from him…that tearful confession on the past field long ago. “Augusta had thought he was gone…”

“But she kept hope didn’t she! What was it that she thought that she desperately tried to believe in? The reason she hid her own importance, erased from history all together.”

“Because…she thought Romulus’s soul was still alive somehow…even if not in the Interludes…and if it was given enough attention it could come back…” Slowly the mechanics in his mind started to turn, started to fall in their place to give it more thought. The letter…the letter. “She was…partially right. Romulus’s spirit did survive…it was just…Khaos kept it…he tainted it with darkness and gave it to the Beilschmidt line to pass through…like Augusta was passing through mine…” he stood as it came clearer in his mind like water. “Like Khaos, like me…Ludwig was going to go through his own surge…he was going to…” His mind headed in that darkness, the one he had learned from Ludwig, to understand, to read out the answer, like runes, like monsters, screaming and avenging in nightmares, now in their world come to life. “Khaos…captured him…tainted him…” He paced in anguish as the reality became surer, trying to escape, seeing if perhaps there was something he missed. When there was really nothing else…he suddenly stopped and froze at what it meant. “He was…” he shook, he saw, right before him as if ready to swallow him all. “I know…oh no…I know…”

Timoteo came up and tried to reach him, “what? What is it?”

Feliciano turned, horror in his eyes, “I know what happened to Ludwig…I know where he is.”

#Feliciano and the King of Hearts #fatkoh #f&tkoh #gerita #gerita fanfiction #gerita fanfic #gerita fic

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lynnsfics · 4 years

Text

Coffee Stained Confusion Ch. 13

~~~

Bucky walked into the living room and sighed. “Sorry that took me so long, they needed more details on HYDRA-” Upon seeing you sound asleep on the couch he smiled softly and went to his room. After grabbing a light blanket off the bed he re-entered the living room and gently covered you with it. He turned off the television, which had still been playing Brooklyn-99 and went to bed.

Not five minutes after he climbed into bed he heard a shrill scream come from the living room. Heart pounding he ran to the room, expecting the worst, only to find you sitting up on the couch, a few tears running down your face.

“Doll, what is it? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Bucky, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you I just-”

“Had a nightmare?” He guessed,

“Yes, I’m fine, though. It’s not a big deal.”

“Are you sure? After my time with HYDRA I had horrible nightmares, and one of the only things that helped was talking it out.”

“I don’t want to bother you, it’s late and-” “It’s not too late, and I don’t mind at all.”

“I was her, Elaine Berlioz, the agent that I killed,” your voice shook as you spoke, “and I could feel the fire, the heat, it was as if I was facing some divine punishment for what I did by experiencing it.” “One of the things HYDRA does is make you feel guilty for what happened. And although physically it was you who did that, it wasn’t you. What you did doesn’t define you as a person.” “Thank you, it’s just,” you paused, “I thought I was past this. I thought, I don’t know, I guess I thought I’d be able to move on.”

“Progress is not linear. I mean, I’ve been away from HYDRA for over a year and there are still nights where I wake up screaming. But I’ve also made a lot of progress. It isn’t as hard as it used to be, and I know you’ll make progress too. Sometimes you might fall back into negative thoughts, and that’s alright, but keep striving for a better outlook.”

You glanced down and smiled. “I never really thought about it like that.” He sat down on the couch next to you, “When I first came to the tower, Bruce and Natasha helped me deal with my PTSD. Not everyone was exactly welcoming at the time. They were some of the few who understood.” He paused and looked at the ground before continuing, “But after the truth of Tony’s parents was revealed, even they started to distance themselves.”

“What happened to Tony’s parents? I thought they died in a car crash.” “That was the official story that HYDRA spread, but in reality, I was responsible. Well, the Winter Soldier was, anyways. After that was revealed, Stark wasn’t exactly thrilled with my being here. Eventually, though it was all sorted out. We aren’t the best of friends, obviously, but we don’t hate each other either, which is more than I could’ve hoped for.” “I’m glad you told me about that, it must not be an easy thing to open up about. If it’s not too much trouble, I understand if you don’t want to, but would you be able to stay up with me and watch a movie or something? It probably doesn’t make much sense, but I don’t feel safe enough to go to sleep yet. With my anxiety I have a hard time sleeping in new environments sometimes, unless I have something to make me feel safer.” In a quiet voice you added, “Or if I have someone nearby who makes me feel safe.” Bucky nodded, “Of course I can stay up, I doubt I’d be able to fall asleep just yet anyways.”

Picking up the remote you turned on the television and began watching a comedic cooking show where none of the chefs actually knew how to cook. As you were watching the show it got chillier in the room and Bucky noticed you scootch a little bit closer to him. It wasn’t long after that when you sleepily laid your head on his shoulder. Noticing you were finally asleep again Bucky tried to reach for the blanket but couldn’t get it without disturbing you. Trying the next best option he gently put his arm around your shoulders, just to keep you warm of course, no romantic feelings involved- that’s what he told himself at least.

Soon after you snuggled in closer to him and Bucky recalled something that you’d mentioned earlier that evening. You couldn’t fall asleep if you didn’t feel safe around someone. ‘She feels safe around me,’ he thought to himself. ‘Well, that’s a first.’

~~~

You awoke the next morning to find Bucky in the kitchen making pancakes. You glanced over at him from your spot on the couch. “Well, look who finally decided to wake up. I’m making breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes.” You stood up and walked to the counter, “That sounds great, do you need any help?” “Nah, I should be fine, thanks though.” You smirked, “Really? Because the uh, pancake flour on your face tells a different story.”

He chuckled as he tried to wipe it off, “Okay, maybe I need just a little bit of help.”

“Yeah, I think you do. Here, I’ve got it,” you stood on your tiptoes and before you quite realized what you were doing, you wiped the powdery mix off his cheek. It was then that you realized just how close you two were standing. Taking a step back you felt a warm blush flood your face and instantly looked down. “Sorry about that, uh-” “It’s fine, really,” Bucky responded with a light laugh. He shook his head and headed back to the stove, trying to hide the slight butterflies he was feeling. Picking up the mixing bowl, he poured some of the mix into the pan and reached into a little basket near the fridge. Pulling out a hair tie, he quickly pulled his hair back into a cross somewhere between a ponytail and a bun. He walked back over to the counter and grabbed the bag of chocolate chips to put away.

“Wait, can I see that for a second?” He handed you the bag and you grabbed a few chocolate chips and sprinkled them onto the pancake cooking on the stove, then proceeded to put a few more in the mixing bowl. “There weren't enough chips in it,” you said with a slight smile. “My mom used to make these for breakfast, and the chocolate to pancake ratio was always perfect. Of course by that point it was basically chocolate chips with only some pancake, instead of pancakes with chocolate chips, but hey, they were good.”

“Well, that sounds delicious,” Bucky said with a smile. “I won’t tell Steve if you don’t.”

“Well, looks like we have a deal. And if he does find out, just let him know that at least now you didn’t have to add brown sugar to it.” “Brown sugar?” he asked. “Do you like, cook it in with the pancake or-?”

“I mean, I suppose you could, but whenever I have plain pancakes I sprinkle some brown sugar on top of it with the syrup, and it always tastes delicious. You’ve never had that?” “Well, no, growing up we didn’t really add much ‘flavor’ to food, and I never thought to try it once I got back.”

“You literally live in the Avenger’s tower and never thought of it? Well, I’ll need to have a talk with Tony about the tower’s food plan if I’m going to stay on the team,” you joked. “Oh, look that one’s ready!”

Bucky flipped the pancake and sure enough, it was a perfect golden-brown with melted chocolate chips scattered throughout.

“You can have the first one,” Bucky offered, “after all, it is your recipe.” Smiling, you accepted the plate and took a bite, and just as you thought, it was incredible. “It’s just like I remember,” you said, a soft smile playing on your lips and you thought about the last time you had these pancakes with your family.

It had been a bright June morning, and you woke up extra early to watch the Saturday morning cartoons. You heard your parents talking in hushed tones in the next room, but you were too engrossed in the episode of Looney Toons playing to pay much attention to their conversation. After the show ended you went to the kitchen and got out the pancake mix, but when you tried to pour it yourself the powder spilled all over you. Your parents came to the rescue, though, and soon enough you had an extra-chocolatey chip pancake in front of you to make up for all the Bisquick mix in your hair.

“These are delicious,” Bucky said, snapping you out of your thoughts. Then, changing the subject he asked, “Do you remember them? Your parents, I mean.”

“Uh, bits and pieces. Some memories are crystal clear and others seemes, I don’t know, warped almost. Maybe it’s for the best, it isn’t good to dwell on what could’ve been.” You chuckled, “I mean, that’s what my therapist told me anyways, but for all I know he may have been working for HYDRA, so maybe his advice isn’t the best.”

“Memories can be a tricky thing,” Bucky admitted with a laugh, “half the time Sam will say I did something as the Winter Soldier and I honestly don’t know if I did. Like last week he said I slashed his car tires, and I don’t think I did, but who am I to say? Oh, I almost forgot!” he exclaimed, “Steve said that Natasha wanted to start your training today. We should head down to the gym, best not to keep her waiting.”

~~~

Taglist:

@sydneyisnotawriter

Just a head’s up, the next update might be a bit short as my birthday is this week so I might not have much time to write! Like always, likes and reblogs are appreciated! Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list! Love you all <3

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cinaja · 4 years

Text

Before the Wall part 13

An acotar fic on the time of the War. For summary and the entire fic, click here.

Disclaimer: Acotar and the characters belong to sjm

A/N: I finally stopped writing this in bullet points! This is almost 40k words long now, so I decided it was past time to write it ´normally`. I hope none of you mind.

Either way, I just wanted to thank the people who are reading this and leaving likes and comments, it really means a lot to me❤ And if you`re a silent reader, it would be really great if you could maybe leave some kind of sign, because so far, I don`t have really many readers (that I know of)😉

----

*Seven months later*

The past months have been going great for the Alliance, and especially for Jurian`s army. They have been winning battle after battle. By now, there are rumours going around that their enemies` magic has little effect on them. Some soldiers even whisper that the gods (whichever ones they worship) are on their side, that they have blessed the human armies and are keeping them from harm.

Jurian wonders what they`d say if they knew the truth.

With a mixture of amazement and jealousy, he watches Miryam draw a symbol on the hilt of another sword. It glows softly, then vanishes into the hilt. It is the middle of the night and they are alone in the armoury, something Jurian made sure of in advance.

Getting Miryam to actually use her powers even in such small capacity has been a struggöe that lasted almost two months, but it was well worth it. The impatient part of him wants to push her to do more, to use her power in the way rumour claims witches are able to. (If he was the one born with this power, he certainly wouldn`t hesitate. He hates to admit it, but sometimes, he is almost jealous.) Jurian doesn`t push, though. Of course he doesn`t.

“You don`t have to watch every time, you know?”, Miryam says, “Surely it is boring for you.”

“Your company could never be boring.”

Jurian steps closer to Miryam to gently put his arms around her waist. Miryam laughs and Jurian presses a kiss on her neck. He`d love to continue this, but the time for their nightly activities is limited, so he lets go of her.

“You could teach me, you know”, he says.

Miryam stiffens ever so slightly, as she takes up the next sword. “No.”

“Why not?” Jurian has been thinking about that question for quite some time. Ever since he saw the kind of difference even a spell as simple as that, a bit of protection against the Fae`s magic, can make. “You told me that some spells can be used even by humans.”

“If you overstep your limits, you die. And the magic takes your soul as a price.” Miryam doesn`t look up from the sword she`s just working on. “I won`t be responsible for that.”

Jurian is about to argue that he`ll be careful when another thought occurs to him. “Wait. But that doesn`t mean it`s dangerous to you, right?”

“Don`t worry. I`ll be fine.” Miryam puts down one sword and takes up another one. “Do you have any idea what that emergency meeting tomorrow is about?”

"You're the politics experts", Jurian says, "I'm just around to give those Fae pricks a good beating."

"You give yourself too little credit."

Jurian laughs. "Now that's something I've never been accused of. Would you feel better if I said that I'm a better commander than half of these pointy-eared bastards."

Miryam smiles and says lightly, "As the local politics expert, I'd feel better if you'd stop insulting our allies."

"How about you get me an aerial army and I learn to hold my tongue?"

It isn't an outrageous demand. Helion and his soldiers had to leave almost two months ago already (not that Jurian had minded. Miryam had been growing quite a bit too fond of Helion with his constant flirting). And two weeks ago, the soldiers from Sangravah were pulled out, too. As annoying as the Fae can be, they fight well and Jurian's army is short a few soldiers without them.

"I'll try", Miryam says. As one of the councilmembers in charge of the organisation between camps, she is certainly in a position to do it, but moving troops is always complicated.

Miryam turns back to her work, but she seems tense. Like something is wrong. Jurian wrecks his mind for what it might be, but with her, there are many options.

Finally, he says, "You don't have to worry about the meeting. If it was something bad, we'd have heard already."

Miryam frowns. "They don't call meetings with the entire alliance easily. Usually, it's just whoever is needed or can be bothered to show up."

Which means that usually, Miryam is there and Jurian isn`t. With the alliance now in place for a while, fractions have formed and Miryam is... well, maybe not the leader but certainly one the most important players in one of those. Jurian only bothers to go to meetings if he knows something important will be discussed.

“If anything bad had happened”, he says, “we would have heard. They wouldn`t wait until the meeting to tell us.”

Miryam looks relieved, at least a tiny bit. Sighing, she puts the sword she was working on back into its place.

“Done for tonight”, she says, “Want to go somewhere?”

“Another moonlight walk? You know how well the last one went.”

Miryam narrows her eyes and Jurian grins at her.

“Let`s go. You know I love courting danger.” Jurian loops his arm through Miryam's and leads her out of the armoury.

Together, they walk through the camp. In the middle of the night, it is quiet here. The few soldiers on guard quickly look the other way as they pass, some of them hide grins. (Their relationship is a favourite subject of camp gossip - not just here, but through the entire camp. Their sneaking around will likely be known to everyone around by morning, but the true reason will remain secret.)

There is a small river running next to the camp, just far enough away that the guards won`t be able to see them. Miryam sits down on a stone. She pulls off her shoes and lets her feet dangle into the water. Jurian sits down next to her and she leans her head against his shoulder.

“I`m scared”, she finally says.

“Of what?” He hesitates. “Her?” (Speaking Ravenia`s name, he learnt, is just as bad an idea as asking after Miryam`s past.)

After the incident with the bounty hunters, they haven`t heard anything from Queen Ravenia again. Well, they heard plenty of her armies, slaughtering their way through the Southern Continent, but nothing related to Miryam. Apparently, the bounty hunters didn`t tell anyone about Miryam. They got lucky and so far, there is no sign that things are about to change.

“No. Not... her.” Miryam shakes her head. “I don`t know. It`s stupid, really.”

“I`m sure it isn`t.”

“My life is going great”, she says quietly, “I have somewhere I belong, and friends and you. But that means I have so very far to fall, too. I just keep expecting something to go wrong.”

Jurian pulls her closer. “That`s life, Miryam”, he says, “Nothing is ever certain, everything can be lost. But that just makes it more precious.” He thinks of all the soldiers he saw die while he was working his way up through the ranks of the rebellion. Of his parents, dead before he was old enough to truly understand the word. He takes Miryam`s hand. “But I can promise you one thing”, he says softly, “As long as I`m alive, you won`t ever lose me.”

----

Taking the Callian Pass may have had a large strategic advantage for the Alliance as a whole. However, for the Seraphim aerial army, it turns out to be a rather unfortunate choice. Because for the past seven months, they have been stuck there.

Drakon has written (well, signed) fifteen letter to the Alliance already, asking them to have someone replace them. The answers have been pretty phrases that all held the same meaning: No. One of the disadvantages, apparently, of having one of the only aerial armies on the Continent.

“What a bunch of crap”, Drakon mutters, frowning at the papers before him and crosses out a paragraph, “Won`t work.” He reads the next one and crosses it out, too. Half a minute later, the entire paper ends up in the bin.

Groaning, Drakon takes out a huge, leather-bound book and flips it open. There has to be some kind of precedent. There is always a precedent or at least something you can use as a starting point.

Sinna, as usual, enters without knocking. When she sees the papers and book strewn around the room, she rolls her eyes.

“We`re in the middle of a war, and you`re spending your time with a bunch of books?”

“We`re in the middle of a war and I`m trying to find a solution to the problem that causes it.”

“Problem: Slavery. Solution: Free the slaves. It`s that simple.”

“Problem: Slavery and half the Fae believing that humans are worth less than animals. Say we win this war and free all the slaves, that mindset will remain. If we don`t find a way to solve that, there will be another war. And another. Maybe not in a year, but eventually.”

Sinna sighs. “And how do you know that?”

Drakon points towards the books lying around. “Historical precedent and people who are smarter than me and were nice enough to write their ideas down. The only issue is that while I have found tons of examples of how things didn`t work out, I`m still looking for some precedent of a situation like one ending well.”

“Then I have good news for you”, Sinna says.

“Oh?”

“Given how things are going, this war is going to take a few years at least. So you have plenty of time to find a solution.”

Drakon glares at her. "Not funny."

"Kind of funny, actually”, Sinna says, sitting down on a chair, "Come on, just look at yourself. You've really got the confident, charming Prince down by now. Your people love you - someone has to make sure you don't get over-confident. After all, the history is littered with arrogant asshole royals."

"Hardly any danger of that", Drakon says, "I'm well-aware of what most of the Continent thinks of me."

"Yes", Sinna says, "And you may become the best ruler Erithia ever had, but no one beyond our borders will notice if you keep hiding."

Drakon walked right into that, really. Another proof that he's absolutely horrible at politics.

"I'm not hiding", he says, "I'm focusing on what I'm good at and taking care of my people."

Sinna crosses her arms. “It`s an emergency meeting. Would it really kill you to go? Just this once.”

“I went to the Black Land just once and look what it got me”, he snaps.

Sinna glares. Drakon glares back. He`s getting better at that, too. After a few seconds, Sinna sighs.

“Fine. Your choice.” She nods towards the papers. “Planning to get those published again?”

“Once I`m ready.” Which may just take a while yet. But, as Sinna said - this war is only just beginning.

----

The meeting room is stuffed. It`s an emergency meeting, which means that most of the important Alliance members appeared personally. (Well, except for Prince Drakon, who seems determined to become the only ruler not to turn up at a single Alliance meeting. Miryam has begun a letter to him thrice now and thrown it in the fire each time without getting more than a few words written down.)

Miryam is almost halfway through greeting everyone by now. The High Lord of the Night Court approaches, dressed head to toe in midnight black, his expression stern.

“Milord”, Miryam says and nods to him.

He gives her the barest incline of his head. “Lady.”

They never really got over their rough beginnings. The High Lord is not the kind of male to ever forgive having his hand forced by an eighteen years old half human. And perhaps Miryam is not the kind of female to ever like a male who allows a place such as the Hewn City to exist, either. But they made it work - mostly because Miryam has too much influence for the High Lord to risk an open confrontation.

“How does your court fare?”, she asks, “I heard that Hybern still gives you trouble.”

He nods gravely. “Due to those Spring Court bastards, no doubt. But if they think the Night Court will fall so easily, they are sorely mistaken. Even with some of our soldiers fighting on the Continent, we are still strong.”

Miryam refrains from saying that without the thousands of soldiers the Alliance sent, things would look much different. If anything, it's the Alliance helping out the Night Court, not the other way around, but like most of these royals, the High Lord would likely rather eat his sword than admit that.

Before she can think of anything to say, Noctus, the High Lord of Summer, joins the discussion. He nods to Miryam, then turns to address the other High Lord.

"Is it true that the Alliance had to send ten thousand troops to help defend your lands?"

The High Lord straightens. And just like that, Miryam is forgotten and the only thing the two males seem to care about anymore is their pissing contest.

Prythian males. Just typical.

Miryam takes her chance and sneaks off to find better company.

“Having fun?”, an amused voice asks from behind her.

Miryam turns around to Helion (technically also a Prythian male, but one she likes.) “I`ll never understand why you males can`t take your pissing contests outside.”

“Ah, but where would the fun be in that?” The heir of the Day Court grins at her. “I heard a rumour that the gods have blessed your armies and are protecting your soldiers from peril. Met any gods recently?”

“Ass”, Miryam mutters, softly enough that no one but him can hear her.

Helion laughs and winks at her. Apart from Jurian, he is the only one who knows the truth behind the rumours the soldiers have come up with. He even helped her test the spells she came up with before she wove them into the weapons. Beyond that, he was little help, unfortunately. The Guild is secretive, meaning that hardly anything about their powers is known to the outside. So Miryam has to figure everything out herself. (She`s getting better at it. By now, she has the basics of the language mastered.)

“Any idea what this meeting is about?”, Helion asks.

“No.” And it annoys Miryam to no end. Usually, she knows whatever is going on in the Alliance, but this time, there was no getting the information. “I heard a letter arrived, but Queen Nakia got hold of it first and refused to let anyone else see it. Not even Andromache was able to find any information.”

“You`re pissed.”

“Worried.” Miryam learned early on that missing vital information is a quick way to die. Usually a gruesome death. (Not that there were any other kinds of death in the Black Land.) So she prefers to have all the information and prepare accordingly.

“Well, we`re about to find out”, Helion says and nods towards the clock standing in the corner. “We should take our places.”

Miryam gives him a tight smile and slides into her seat next to Jurian. He puts an arm around her shoulder and begins absentmindedly toying with her hair. In spite of everything, Miryam relaxes a bit.

It is Nakia who begins the meeting this time, smiling like a snake. Miryam has no doubt the female enjoys the power being the only one with vital information gives her.

“Yesterday”, the Queen says, “I received a letter. From the Loyalists.” She draws out each word, savouring it. “They request a meeting to discuss this war. A possible end to it.”

“An end?” Jurian snorts. “The only possible end is them freeing their slaves. If they`re unwilling to do that, they can shove their offer up their ass for all I care.”

A few people nod in agreement, but most - especially the Fae - remain silent. This is not good. Because these Fae may be ready to fight for human freedom, but in the end, they have no stake in this fight. If the Loyalists make a good enough offer, who knows what they`ll do. And Nakia, the damn fool, doesn`t even realise what that message might do. She just relishes the power.

That is why Miryam doesn`t like losing control over a situation.

“It`s not that easy”, one of the Fae says, “Such an offer should not be rejected without thought.”

“You`ve got to be kidding me”, Jurian mutters.

The Grand Duke of Sangravah says softly, “He has a point, you know? If we reject a peace offer without even letting them speak, it will make us look like the bad guys. And there are some territories still considering their alliance in this war.”

Worse than that, there seem to be some people at this very table contemplating their alliance. Likely the Loyalist`s intent. To strew discontent.

“We should agree to the meeting”, Miryam says, “Send a delegation, hear what they have to say. But one thing should be clear from the very beginning: There will be no peace unless slavery is abolished.”

There are nods and murmurs of agreement, but Miryam marks the faces of those who remain silent. The High Lord of the Night Court is among them.

Helion asks, “Do we know who will be leading the Loyalist`s delegation already?”

Miryam knows the answer. She knows the answer even before Nakia says, “Queen Ravenia of the Black Land.”

Miryam hates the fear that shoots through her at the name. How can the mere mention of the female still have such power over her?

“And who will lead ours?”, the Erithian emissary asks.

Miryam knows the answer to that question, too. And just this once, she cannot play the part. She does not know the right thing to say - Cauldron, she can barely contain her panic.

“I could do it”, the Grand Duke says. Miryam wonders if she`s the only one who notices that he is saying it to protect her. (Quite possible, since the identity of her former owner is still a closely guarded secret.)

But Andromache shakes her head. “I mean no offence, but surely you understand why this is unacceptable to us. The one representing our Alliance in this war cannot be Fae.”

Indeed, none of the human Alliance members look pleased. A few of the Fae, in turn, seem offended. Jurian is too busy watching Miryam with barely-concealed worry to look angry.

“You still don`t trust us?”, one of them hisses.

“This isn`t about trust”, Andromache replies, “but about the message we`re sending.”

Another Fae shrugs. “Why are we even discussing this? We all know the answer.”

The High Lord of the Night Court frowns. “While I certainly respect Lady Miryam`s abilities as an emissary”, he says, “she is still a girl of nineteen and in no way qualified to head a meeting this big.”

Miryam barely listens to the discussion raging around her, even though she`s now the one at its centre. She doesn`t want to go. She can`t. Ravenia will be there and she will recognize her. Memories flash through her head, blood and death and suffering. Fire burning her skin.

She cannot do this. Impossible. She may sacrifice everything, do everything for her people, but this is too much.

The argument is now turning into a full-fledged fight. And suddenly, Miryam can see it. The rift that is already beginning to form between them. It will only widen after the meeting. Fae territories will leave - not all, but some - and then, the tide will turn.

She closes her eyes and for once, she allows herself to remember. That last day, standing in the sand just beyond Ravenia`s palace. The vow she made. She ran afterwards.

She won`t run now.

She opens her eyes. “I can do it”, she says.

Everyone turns to her. Miryam lifts her chin.

“You don`t have any qualification or authority to represent us”, the High Lord drawls.

Miryam holds his stare. “I have been representing this Alliance, Lord, for weeks before you ever joined. And I said: I can do this.”

“Miryam, you don`t have to...”, Jurian whispers, but she shakes her head.

“You`re wrong. I have to do this. And I will.”

She looks around, meeting all of their gazes. Daring each of them to object. No one does.

----

Mor is covered in dirt and sore, but she feels alive. Like there`s lightning in her veins and she can do anything she wants.

It is always like this after battle. Even if the battle isn`t a real one but just a skirmish. It calls to some part of her. Some great, ancient beast that has perhaps always been living under her skin and breaks free whenever she fights.

In the seven weeks since Jurian has allowed her to fight her first battle, she has fought enough to know that the feeling will pass. It will pass and she will be left behind empty, her hands covered in blood that isn`t hers. Then, lying awake at night, Mor won`t feel great anymore. Not at all.

But for now, there are still adrenaline and magic thrumming through her veins. Mor takes a bowl of water from the table in her small tent and begins to wash her hands. Blood turns the water pink and she unceremoniously unfastens her dirty leather armour.

She has only just put one some light linen clothes when she hears a noise coming from behind her. The sound of a heartbeat. Mor whirls around, diving for her dagger. She stops when she recognizes Az standing in her tent.

He looks changed. Older, somehow. Azriel, of course, was never carefree like the rest of them, but now, there are shadows in his eyes that Mor never saw before. And a coldness that she doesn`t recognize.

“Az!” She dashes forward, closing the distance between them to hug him. His shadows lighten and Mor`s own gift whispers of his feelings. She pulls back. The last thing she wanted was to give him hope where there is none, but she hasn`t seen him in months and the reaction was instinctive.

“Are you all right?”, she asks, scanning him from head to toe. A part of her is itching to read him, but he won`t.

“I don`t have much time”, Az says, like he hasn`t heard her question. “The High Lord doesn`t know I`m here and I have to be back before he finishes the meeting. But I need your help.”

“Anything”, Mor says without even thinking about it.

Az dips his chin. “The High Lord sent Rhys to a camp in the South. It`s led by a commander named Pelior who has a grudge against nobility. He hates Rhys and without his father`s protection...”, he trails off.

“What can I do?”, Mor asks.

“Get him out. And fast. Pelior is making Rhys and his soldiers fight on the frontlines every time. Each battle might be the last.”

Dread tightens Mor`s stomach. Still, she says, “I don`t have the power to do such things. I can`t transfer his army.”

But Az shakes his head. “Cassian is a grunt soldier in one of the armies and I can`t do anything without the High Lord`s orders. It has to be you, or Rhys dies.”

“But-”

“I have to go.”

Without waiting for her reply, Az vanishes. Mor remains standing in her tent for a moment, thinking through the possibilities. There are few enough. And something tells her she should hurry.

Mor frowns. The thought running through her head is reckless, near-crazy and relies entirely on her ability to lie. Not to mention that should it go wrong, she will be knee-deep in shit. But it is her only idea.

Still, Mor feels dirty when she sneaks into Jurian's tent. There are wards, but those allow Mor in. Carefully, she shifts through the desk until she finds his Alliance council seal.

Mor takes an empty paper from the desk and writes a letter, changing her writing enough that it won't be recognized. Then, she seals the letter and presses the seal into the wax.

Carefully, she puts the seal back to where she found it and leaves the tent. As soon as she is past the wards, she whispers a quick prayer to the Cauldron and winnows.

----

A/N: This isn't really a cliffhanger, right? Originally, this was supposed to be longer, but then, it would have been a real cliffhanger, so I decided to let it end here. That means that the next part is already halfway done, though, so it should be up more quickly than this one

#miryam #jurian #drakon #andromache #helion

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daisylincs · 4 years

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Staticquake 20, 13 with enemies to lovers

20 = Teacher AU and 13 = Detective AU. With enemies to lovers!! Oh, this is going to be FUN.

Daisy is a teacher at Shield Academy, a unique school in that it's specifically for orphans, specifically to help them find a family in friends. For Daisy, an orphan herself, the school's mission means so much. She never had access to something like this when she was stuck in the system, but she knew it would have changed her life if she had. And seeing how it changes little orphans' lives every day means everything to her.

Then, one horrible day, it comes out that one of the school's top board members, John Garrett, is completely corrupt. The asshole was siphoning funds off people's generous donations to Shield, and using them for his own illegal means.

Everyone worries that the school is going to be closed down, Daisy more than anyone - this place is her life and soul, and a passion project in the way none of her colleagues can really understand.

But luckily Coulson, their headmaster, has a kind of grudging partnership with the local police captain, Talbot. So instead of being shut down, they just have to have a detective in each class until they find out who was helping Garrett (because there's no way he was acting alone.)

For her part, Daisy HATES it. This is a school for helping little orphans find families, dammit, not for freaking them out by having a cop standing over them the whole time.

And no, she doesn't care how cute he is.

(Because of course her assigned detective is cute. The universe is unfair that way.)

That doesn't change the fact that she hates him.

She has to give it to him, though, he really tries to be nice at first. "I'm Lincoln," he says, holding out his hand for her to shake and offering her a nice smile.

"Yeah, I don't care," she says coldly, brushing past him and leaving him standing, surprised, in the doorway.

He doesn't get the memo, and tries to corner her before her next class. "Hey, uh, I don't think we met properly earlier -"

"No, we didn't," she interrupts, slamming her coffee mug down with a lot more force than necessary. "And I'm not interested in meeting properly now, either."

She gets up and leaves him gaping after her again (if she's not careful, this is going to become a thing.)

The next period, he seems to have learned his lesson a bit, and just wordlessly holds open the door for her. (She steps on his toes on the way past.)

And for the rest of the day, she takes a vindictive kind of pleasure in making him fetch and carry for her the silliest things for her. If she has to have a cop standing there spoiling her lessons, she figures, she might as well make use of him.

Now it doesn't matter how nice a person you are, eventually you're going to get annoyed when someone keeps sending you off on senseless errands. Daisy knows that perfectly well. In fact, she's counting on it.

"Why are you so determined to hate me?" a frustrated Lincoln demands when her kids have left for the day, folding his arms and glaring at her. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You mean aside from scaring my kids and spoiling my classes?" she replies archly. "You're here, and you're a cop. Isn't that enough?"

"I'm a detective," he corrects. "And what do you have against the police?"

"That's none of your business," she says, letting her voice bite cold. "See you tomorrow, Sparky." (That last bit as a mockery of the lightning-bolt insignia of his department.)

The next day (and the next), she makes it her personal mission to make his life as much of a hell as possible. If he thought yesterday was bad, oh boy he hasn't seen anything yet. Computers keep breaking, cables and whiteboard markers keep disappearing, and somehow it's always his job to go find replacements.

And that's not even the best part. That's when she sweet-talks Nick, their grumpy one-eyed cook, into giving him chilli sauce instead of ketchup with his burger, and salt instead of sugar in his coffee.

Really, it's no secret that Daisy hates Lincoln. And it shouldn't be all that surprising that he starts to hate her right back.

And he's a cop. So he has full right to pull her over for questioning whenever he likes.

Which of course he does. Constantly.

Everything about him just makes her so irrationally furious. There's the way all her colleagues seem to like him - which, excuse me, guys, he's a cop?? He's literally here to investigate you! And there's that mocking smile he gives her when he pulls her out of class at just the right time to annoy the living hell out of her, the smile that makes her want to slap him so hard because he should not be allowed to look that attractive while being such an asshole. Then there's the fact that he won't stop bugging her about why she's so against the police, which somehow always evolves into the two of them yelling at each other about "stubbornness" and "none of your damn business" and "bloody infuriating!"

Honestly, their feud is becoming the stuff of legend in the school. She swears she saw one of her older students, a mildly obsessive girl called Ruby, recording one of their shouting matches the other day.

And it's not just the students. On no less than fifteen occasions to date, Hunter has made it his personal mission to drop into her class and go "killed each other yet? No? Oh, what a shame."

Mack's in on the joke, too, and teases her relentlessly about it. He's even taken to calling Lincoln her boyfriend, which is the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard. It's just Hunter's idiocy rubbing off on Mack - there's no way she and Lincoln would date, ever. He's the worst. And even if he is kind of cute, that's TOTALLY not the point.

Jemma just shakes her head at the whole thing. "You're acting like an idiot, Daisy," she says in her yes-I'm-right-and-we-both-know-it voice. "Both of you are. And you're going to regret it someday."

As always, Jemma is right.

Because Talbot somehow gets it into his head that she, Daisy, is the one who was working with Garrett.

"But that's ridiculous!" she shouts, and everyone in the room agrees emphatically. "Shield is my life, why the hell would I betray it?"

It's then that Lincoln comes in.

And Daisy just thinks, oh, shit.

Because of course the cop that's been monitoring her thinks she's the biggest asshole in the world. He hates her, and now that she thinks about it, her behaviour towards him could actually very easily be seen as aggression because she didn't want to be found out.

Oh, shit.

She's dead. She's so, so, so dead.

She starts to panic a little. Shield is her entire life - she pours everything she has into this school, into helping these little orphans find a family in friends the way she's found a family in her colleagues. If they take Shield away from her, she doesn't know what she'll do.

She meets Lincoln's gaze, sure that she's going to see triumph there, but all she finds is confusion.

"Daisy?" Lincoln asks, incredulous. "You think Daisy's working with Garrett?"

Talbot nods. And to Daisy's total shock, Lincoln shakes his head firmly. "That's impossible."

"What do you mean?" Talbot asks impatiently. "She's the computer science teacher, it would be easy for her to steal funds like this."

"But she'd never do it," Lincoln says, firm. "This school means everything to her. She cares about it and the kids here more than anything."

"It's not Daisy," he repeats emphatically. "You got that?"

Grudgingly, Talbot agrees, and the whole room sags in relief. Daisy's colleagues rush to hug her, but all she can feel is numb disbelief.

Lincoln defended her. Lincoln defended her. After all the asshole-y things she did to him, and all the times she went out of her way to make his life a living hell, he defended her.

She's still standing there in a state of shock as everyone trickles out of the room. It's only when Lincoln makes to leave that she snaps to her senses.

Grabbing him by the arm, she pulls him into an empty classroom, ignoring Mack's knowing little smirk.

"You defended me," she tells him, still holding on to his arm. "Why?"

"What, you thought I was going to let that moustached dirtbag drag you off to jail for a crime you didn't commit?" he asks archly.

She shrugs, suddenly feeling like she's really misjudged him. "No, but… you hate me."

"So maybe you're not my favourite person in the world," he says, and that gets a smile out of her. "But it's obvious that you care a lot about these kids. The way you smile when they look at you, and the way they smile back - it's honestly incredible. Very few people will care so much about kids who have so little. I don't need to like you to see that you're an incredible person."

Daisy is genuinely touched. Okay, so maybe she did misjudge him, just a little. And maybe she was a little unfair to hate him immediately.

"I'm an orphan, too," she admits, properly meeting his clear blue eyes for the first time. "That's also why I hate the police. They were always the ones who pulled me from foster home to foster home. I guess after a while … every bad thing that happened, I just associated with them. It’s an orphan thing, I think."

"So that's why you hated the idea of a police detective in your class," he says, his eyes flooding with understanding.

She nods, dropping her gaze. "Yeah. And it's unfair to you, I get that, but…"

"Don't apologise for having a shitty past," he says, firmer than she expected. "No-one's ever going to blame you for it."

"I'm not apologising for that," she says, meeting his eyes again. Wow, they really are very blue. "I'm apologising for taking it out on you. That was wrong."

"A little," he admits. "But hey, I'm not entirely blameless in this, either. I was kind of an asshole, pulling you out of class right when it'd annoy you."

"Kind of an asshole?" she snorts. "Try the dictionary definition of asshole."

“And what does that make you?" he asks, arching her eyebrows in a way that should annoy her but is instead making her catch her breath.

"I don't… know," she says, suddenly sharply aware that she hasn't let go of his arm yet. Oh, and they've also somehow drifted closer during this whole conversation, so that there's now barely ten centimetres of space between them.

God, this is awkward. And it's only made worse by the fact that Daisy definitely just thought about kissing him.

She makes to pull her arm away, cheeks burning, but Lincoln stops her with a hand on hers. "Wait."

And that one word is enough to spur her into action. Firmly closing the last distance between them, she wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him.

She kisses him with all the annoyance of a thousand arguments, where she raged at herself for finding him so attractive just as much as she raged at him. She kisses him with weeks' worth of denial and repressed feelings, and hot damn.

That's a kiss. "What do you say," she says when they break apart, totally breathless, "we turn this into a whole different kind of fighting?"

"I cannot believe you just said that," he says dryly. "But I'm in."

"Good," she says, and kisses him again.

(The police department finds Garrett's mole a few days later - the douchebag-y Phys Ed coach, Grant. But for some reason, Lincoln keeps coming back to the school. And for some reason, Teacher Johnson never yells at him or tells him to leave.

Teacher Simmons just rolls her eyes whenever any of the students ask her about it. "Cluelessness," is all she'll say in explanation, before walking away to go plan their next science project with her boyfriend.

The whole school figures it out eventually, of course. Daisy and Lincoln aren't exactly subtle.

But everyone is really, really happy for them.

The End.)

This is my favourite bullet-point fic yet - thank you thank you thank you lovely anon for this wonderful prompt!!

#tropes mashup #teacher au #detective au #enemies to lovers #staticquake #bullet-point fic

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nicknellie · 3 years

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First, numbering them is absolutely brilliant because especially where paragraphs kind of change abruptly. I just keep like saying a word before it with a little dash mark just so you can (hopefully) have some reference as to what I’m talking about, but now I can do numbers!

1. Never knew I needed this until you typed it however this is everything

2. Exactly, that is the thoughts that they have and it takes Reggie breaking down for them to finally talk to each other about it because none of them wanted to approach the situation

3. Yes, I maybe should’ve chose a better point but I was like you can tell he’s passionate and it kind of shows what I mean. Also I feel like the fact that he still hasn’t processed his death might also be a sign that it’s hard for him to change his mind (Alex doesn’t like change, and neither does Luke)

However eventually Luke is able to reconsider what he said and also sometimes admit that he might’ve been in the wrong (but not often, hmm thinking of what I can reference from the show, possibly the dance ?)

4. Yes, and if he did intervene then everyone knew that they needed to be quiet and listen (also Alex is one of the only people who Luke would possibly let change his mind and or consider the other side quicker)

5. Due to his upbringing Alex always tries to be respectful hence why he said sir to Caleb however he is a sarcastic person and has quick comebacks

6. And that loneliness only grew after the boys passed away (part of the reason why he isn’t able to get close to people in fear that they will pass as well)

7. Same here, that’s part of where my theory came from. I agree, people grieve in different ways and that could’ve been how Bobby grieved and he shouldn’t be judged for it.

8. Yes he definitely goes through their bags. I do agree with you however at the same time I wonder if the bag did stay in the garage just because at the time Bobby knew how Luke and his parents parted (possibly could be that after a while, more so after he talked to them, he gave them the bag)

9. Absolutely and Reggie kind of switches between crosswords and sudokus just because he’s interested in lots of things

10. Precisely, despite the fact that Reggie is the one who is actually afraid of heights not Alex, Reggie tried to convince Alex that he was going to climb Mount Everest. Another time Reggie tried to convince Alex that they were going coffee tasting and didn’t want to make him feel bad because all of them had toffee nut in it (Owen is allergic to toffee nut hopefully and that’s the explanation I can offer😂)

11. They can’t lie to each other at all, Alex is the best liar sometimes when talking to other people (at least in defense of the boys) and in general Luke just can’t lie

12. Luke would definitely be the person who would cut someone off for something rude that they said. (Usually after exploding and saying why exactly they are wrong, especially if someone says something bad about Alex)

13. There’s a drawing of Reggie with a cowboy hat (https://kidovna.tumblr.com/post/639425200784572416/hi-little-reggie-in-a-cowboy-hat-even-if) (oh how I hope that link will work) and now I just want to see a picture of Sunset Curve with cowboy hats because Reggie was sad and they couldn’t say no

14. Yes, alongside those songs I offer the ‘devil went down to Georgia’ (i’m basically saying it because a version of this should be this song the boys use against Caleb and it’s basically them saying that they are better than Caleb) (also because it was released at some point during the time that they were alive I believe)

15. Yes those are the only art styles that Reggie has. Sometimes he randomly has half of the picture be realistic and then the other half be like Booboo Stewart’s art (Picasso like maybe ?)

16. Reggi definitely help decorate because not only was he impatient but he wanted to eat the cake. (The shape was kind of horrendous because Alex was trying to get it to be the exact shape of the character however the cake came out fantastic)

17. Yes the boys always juggle between if they should be concerned about the fact that he’s baking or the fact that he’s baking again so happy times (once again something he did that reminds him of his parents so for a long time the boys were the only ones who got the bake goods)

18. It took me longer than it should’ve to find this link and honestly I have no clue who wrote it but it’s so good https://archiveofourown.org/works/28308108 (same for this one as well)

19. Precisely it wasn’t like he was fixing the amp and then all the sudden it started raining. He just thought that starting to fix it in the rain would be best

20. You took the words right out of my mouth, yes. Honestly Alex was another son to Emily and Mitch so the fact that he was hurting so bad made them so mad. Maybe that’s why he had his stuff because if he was kicked out then he probably wouldn’t have had time to get everything that belong to him so because of Mitch and Emily that’s how we got his stuff (if they caught the rest of the boys climbing a tree to get what belonged to Alex and honestly only provided a car they will never say) (what if they just egg the house with Emily and Mitch’s help)

21. Exactly, Alex didn’t have the courage the tell Luke for a bit and still to this day Luke has no clue that Alex spend those nights at his house. (Also occasionally that Emily and Alex would talk and Emily would give him food just to make sure that they were well fed)

22. Sunset Curve just needs more in general, any scenes for them works

23. Yes!! Sadly I don’t have the book but I did see that (sometimes you just never know with shows because they easily could’ve taken a theory that the fans had and turned it into something completely different). I’m so happy that this is confirmed, although this still does leave the potential for them to reveal her in season two maybe (not sure) (just more Rose in general is needed)

24. Thank you, yes and I get that part of the reason may be that they don’t have as much screen time and don’t have as much about them known as the boys (hence the need for past stories) however they are wonderful characters played by wonderful actors and deserve more. Also the fact that neither of them really sang in season one is my one regret. (Flynn had ‘I got the music’ however that was kind of like an alternative reality partly, and aside from a bit in ‘the other side of Hollywood’ we don’t see much dancing/singing for Willie)

Flynn just like Luke is very set in her beliefs and also would be the first person to cut someone off/explode at someone if needed. However eventually she is the first person to reconnect with Carrie. Honestly just more of both of them is needed, in any fashion.

25. He does blame himself for their death and the fact that he wasn’t there (could be part of the reason why he started therapy because he believed this for so long)

26. Honestly I want them to give Trevor more character because aside from being Carrie‘s father and stealing the songs we don’t really know a lot about him or who he is (same for Bobby as well) Agreed, I would love to see more Carrie and Trevor moments.

27. Honestly I feel like that will be how they start to process their deaths because they realize, exactly as you said, that they are not going to age however everyone else is

28. Yes, everything you just said needs to be canon. There’s no in between for Reggie song writing it’s either pure country or heavy-metal. (Once he wrote a rock-ish song for Luke but it was most so along the lines that Luke needs to let him add his country music into the set list)

29. Exactly, that is entirely my thought process as well

30. Lightsaber fights happen all the time, Ray gets concerned by the floating lightsaber but Carlos shrugs it off with ‘it’s the ghost that’s been haunting our house’ (Tia is there and is shocked)

31. Wait wait, that is brilliant. Although Reggie can do it by himself, the pictures always turn out much better when Bobby isn’t there so the last few steps of the developing process are always saved for Bobby alone. (Also once Reggie just left a picture in mix while he was soaking the film and the picture turned green, no one knows why)

32. Yes, and if for some reason a fan can’t locate Reggie, they give the stickers to Alex. also the album is not only full of pictures but the stickers that they gave him, also a drawing that a fan made of Han-solo that made Reggie cry in a good way)

33. They all cried to be honest, although Alex only cried because all of them were crying

34. Oh my yes, that is his blackmail material and he uses it well. You are absolutely right that is exactly what Luke does, (also once got stuck in a child swing set)

35. I didn’t even think about her managing it but yes that is precisely what she does and she is in charge of those photo shoots. However once during golden hour, he is the reason for that one happening (also did the same for Willie because)

36. You stole the words out of my mouth that is exactly what he did.

37. I’m just now picturing it in my head and I need this in my life (imagine Julie just bundled up and since the sleeves are long they are overflowing as well and Alex just melts).

38. Luke is such a scaredy cat although when they meet Caleb, Alex said that he would be hiding behind Luke they all knew that if it came down to it that Luke would be hide behind Alex. So obviously this sentence meant that this needed to be created

39. They have matching costumes.. what if it’s like dirty candy where each costume is in a different colour. (Luke hates them even though he once bought them matching pjs)

40. They all dance with each other, just to displeased Luke for the longest time Bobby and Alex would just waltz around the garage (we all know that Luke joined them after the first time). Also once Willie sees Alex waltzing with Julie and decides that this is the greatest thing that has ever existed (also bamboozled because Alex never told him he could dance)

41. I wasn’t thinking about these things existing at all but I now need one as well

Ok I’m going to do my best to answer this quickly because I’ve got schoolwork to do but I absolutely love responding to these and want to do this instead, so I’m just going to expand onto each point I can and I might come back and edit it later with more detail!

2. Yes! Like one day in rehearsal Reggie just seems really out of it and the guys ask what’s wrong and he basically just asks if they even really want him there or they just keep him around to spare his feelings. Prompts Bobby to make them all sit down and talk it out because clearly they all have some issues they need to get a grip on

3. Oh yeah I get what you mean, kinda like it’s hard for him to adjust to any new or different way of thinking, even something as trivial as a song they’ll play probably like one time. I think you’re right about him actually managing to change his mind - it takes him a while and he despises admitting he’s wrong but he will do it if it’s really clear he wasn’t right

4. Oh yeah I love that! Like Alex knows just how to talk to him to get him to at least start reconsidering. Alex is a good influence in that way because he ensures Luke is always looking at every perspective and considering everyone in the band rather than only himself or sticking to only his ideas (I feel like he probably gets carried away writing songs and only wanting to include what he comes up with and Alex needs to gently remind him that he’s in a band, he’s not a solo artist)

5. Yesss you’re right - I think he has surprisingly quick wit and he doesn’t like arguing because it’s so fast that he’ll sometimes say things he doesn’t mean and finds it hard to take it back

6. Yeah omg that hurts to think about - having the boys in his life made him happy and less introverted but all that was ripped away from him too when they died

8. Oh yeah actually I like that! Seeing as we see ambulance lights/police lights in Unsaid Emily it’s likely Bobby was there first to identify bodies and collect stuff, so if he didn’t know Luke’s parents were coming then he would have just taken Luke’s things and gone through it - he finds a completed Rubik’s Cube (seeing as that’s part of where this whole massive list started lmaooo) and remembers Luke fiddling with it before the sound check and even that just breaks his heart

10. Now you mention it, Reggie being afraid of heights is something I could get behind - the boys would sometimes go to theme parks and Reggie would be the one who would wait with all their bags while they were on the rollercoasters. He preferred watching them all have fun anyway, it made him feel like a proud parent. Abbcoeprke yes definitely, Alex has the same allergy as Owen so Reggie was just panicking like “we just didn’t want to risk your health!”

11. Oh yeah definitely, Alex can lie unless it’s to one of the boys; Reggie only gets away with lies (not to the boys) because he comes up with the weirdest stuff and people just think it’s Reggie being Reggie so it’s hard to tell when he’s lying; Bobby is just way too casual when he’s lying which is how they catch him out; Luke “where is your kitchen by the way?” Patterson cannot lie to save his life

12. Luke is 100% willing to just cut all ties with someone even if they’ve been perfectly nice before - if it was an honest mistake that the person is willing to learn from, Luke would still keep them at arm’s length to avoid them hurting any of his best friends again

13. Yes omg thankfully I made the link work and that’s freaking adorable (I follow that person and I love ALL their art especially Reggie, they’re so talented) and yes oh my god. Reggie has been sad for a few days, maybe because his parents are fighting, and so Luke has the idea to do something kind of like a cowboy-themed party. It’s not really a party, it’s just the four of them spending the whole day wearing cowboy costumes and line-dancing but it definitely does the job of cheering Reggie up

14. Omgggg I listened to the song and I’m amazed at how perfectly that fits!!! Wow you’re exactly right, Reggie loves that song and he loved it even more after Julie pointed out how much it related to their situation

15. Ooooh I love that like a combination of the two styles!! Definitely a bit of Picasso inspiration in there too!

16. Yes lol the shape was weird because of that and also Reggie kept picking bits off to eat (Alex kept slapping his hand away but Reggie was so excited that he couldn’t bring himself to kick him out of the kitchen completely)

17. Yes omg and now I’m just thinking about young Alex being taught to bake by his mother back when they were really close, so now that’s all he can think about when he bakes - it gives him equal amounts of comfort and stress because he’s comforted by the happy memories but sad that he’ll never have those days back. But the cookies he’s left with at the end are great so it kind of gets rid of any sadness!

18. Ooooh I’ll read that when I’ve got time!!

19. Yeah lmao like it just didn’t occur to him that it would be a terrible idea. He kinda thought that rain was relaxing in a way and just. Went for it.

20. Asjkxbskl I love that like Mitch and Emily being good responsible parents the majority of the time but someone upsets Alex?? His own parents upset him??? Ok boys it’s time for payback get in the car

21. Yesss Alex just showing up at Luke’s house whenever he needed to just to speak to Emily! And the way she would look out for him!! 🥺🥺 plus Mitch making sure he took on the role of Supportive Father Figure

23. Yes you’re so right any more Rose content will make me so happy! I’d love to see her interacting with young Julie and Carlos, or her and Bobby being friends, or her meeting Ray, or her and Victoria being supportive sisters, plus her with her band Rose and the Petal Pushers!!! Just anything to do with Rose and I’ll be happy

24. Omg yes I’d kill for more performance from both of them! I want a Flynn and Julie duet or even Flynn and Carrie, or just Flynn becoming their resident rapper so whenever they want a rap section in a song they call on her. I desperately need a Willex duet, and yesss I need Willie dancing more - we were robbed of him and Alex dancing together at the HGC so we need any dance between them tbh. Ooooh yes I totally agree like when she’s like “watch it Carrie” in the music class, she’s just very protective and loyal and I honestly love her for that. Yesss more Flynn and Carrie!!

25. Definitely, he must have suffered so much survivor’s guilt afterwards and I think it was probably a while before he went to therapy, so maybe a lot of damage had already been done

26. 100% right, Trevor needs more character development. Honestly I kinda want to see him just losing his mind trying to figure out how the boys came back, and I also want to see him somehow communicate with them, explain his point of view and apologise. It’s an idea I’m including in a fic I’m writing but it could work here too if Trevor was to become the band’s manager to help them achieve the goals he did but they never got to

27. Especially Luke!! Him realising that Julie is growing older would be really tough for him :(((

28. Lmao yes Reggie writes songs to tell the boys to do things or to get his opinion across like “this one’s called: Shut Up, Luke, Country Music Is Good, You Just Have Poor Taste” or “I present: Alex, Just Ask Willie Out Before I Do It On Your Behalf”

30. Lightsaber fights are the way Ray actually finds out the guys are ghosts. He doesn’t believe Carlos so asks Julie and then as she’s trying to talk her way out of it the fridge opens by itself (well, Luke opens it, but that’s how it looks) and Ray is just like “are you sure there’s no ghosts?” and she has to explain everything. Tía Victoria just watches in horror and won’t come back to the house for months - eventually she does come back and bonds with Alex somehow

31. Absnfoflske yes the amount of pictures Reggie has accidentally ruined because of his terrible developing methods is unreal. Bobby stopped finding it funny when Reggie started getting really upset about it and spent like a week straight perfecting the technique

32. Awww yes Alex being like a sticker messenger and fans giving the boys fanart! For Reggie it’s almost always Star Wars (a lovely Han Solo like you said omg I love it), and for the others it’s usually portraits of them (Alex was once given a jigsaw but never figured out how people knew he liked them so much bc he never really made it public???)

34. Omg YES. Other places Luke has got stuck: halfway through the railings of a fence, inside a washing machine, his foot got stuck in a toilet, he got his arm trapped in a vending machine for five hours, in a tunnel on a children’s climbing frame (that was the same day as the swing set lmao), and once inside a suit of armour (nobody ever figured out where he got the armour from - even Luke himself wasn’t really sure)

35. Oh my god oh my god oh my god Willie and Flynn photoshoots together!!!!!! With Luke and Flynn, Willie is definitely also the most photogenic (they found out because Reggie accidentally took a photo one day and everyone looked dreadful except for Willie who was practically glowing) so some days during golden hour like you said Reggie will just take the two of them down to the beach and make them do a photo shoot omgggg

37. Yes 🥺🥺 the second he sees her he just marches right up to her and hugs her (bonus points if she’s sad (about her mum or something else) and she found Alex’s jumper and put it on for comfort and she’s crying when he finds her but he calms her down just by hugging her and letting her keep the hoodie for as long as she wants it which ends up being forever)

38. Akdbsokcod yes exactly that’s freaking amazing I love it

39. Oh my god yes! Alex had multiple outfits but his favourite was pink, Reggie’s was red, Luke’s was blue, and Bobby’s was yellow (he wanted black but Alex said no because he didn’t want him to overheat while exercising like he would have done in black). And matching PJs yes omg that’s so cute. And Julie gets them all matching onesies - Reggie absolutely adores them

Here’s a genuine real actual photo of Sunset Curve in their workout gear (left to right is Reggie, Alex, Bobby, Luke)

(Could I have found a better picture? Probably. Is this a thousand times funnier and therefore worth choosing instead? Definitely.)

40. Yes totally and after that Willie insists Alex teaches him too and Alex once again resumes his position as resident dance teacher

#this definitely wasn’t a quick response lmaooo but oh well i had fun doing it ��😂#williexmercer #asks #emily answers #julie and the phantoms

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jazy3 · 4 years

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Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 16X12

I watched the new episode of Grey’s Anatomy over the weekend. I liked it. It was a standalone that focused on some of the characters I'm less interested in so it wasn't as thrilling as it could have been but it was good. One thing I loved about this episode and last week’s was the humour! They’ve really brought the humour back to Grey’s Anatomy and I am here for it! We could all use a laugh these days. Meredith’s Voice Over this week is about secrets and how they all come out eventually. Very true. I loved her line, “The question is what are your body’s secrets? And are you ready to know?” We all fear the truth sometimes. Meredith Grey asking the real questions.

Maggie and Jackson run into each other at the hospital. We find out that she took Richard’s advice and went to ask Koracick for her job back. He hasn’t decided yet. Jerk. Jackson proceeds to throw shade and Maggie throws it right back. That’s my girl! We find out that Maggie and Jackson have been invited to what they think is Richard and Catherine’s anniversary dinner. Next we see Catherine and Richard arguing. We find out the dinner is actually happening so they can tell their kids that they’re separating. Yikes! The other clue here is that judging by the promo Meredith does not attend. If it was a real anniversary dinner Meredith would absolutely be in attendance because Richard is like a father to her.

Her absence really should have tipped Maggie off that something was wrong. That being said, Maggie’s been going through a tough time recently and got kinda drunk pretty soon after arriving and she is historically pretty oblivious sometimes so I guess I can’t blame her for that. Meanwhile Levi is at home recovering and Nico is there helping him. Awww they’re so cute! I love them together. I loved Levi’s line, “Except for the ball gag and jock strap were good.” LOL!

We find out that Levi’s Great Uncle Saul is in hospice and he’s dying. According to Levi he was an ass to everyone else except him and he’s devastated that he’s dying. Poor Levi. Meanwhile, Maggie shows up for dinner at Richard and Catherine’s very nice house. She wishes them a happy anniversary and gifts them chocolates. Richard and Catherine are stunned. They completely forgot it was coming up. Oh boy.

Jackson arrives next and wishes them the same and gifts them an Alice Mann painting all the way from South Africa. Maggie feels bad for only bringing them chocolates. Catherine tries to smooth things over. Richard wants to cut to the chase and tell them. Catherine wants to hold off and gets everybody wine. You can see where this is going. Then the doorbell rings. It’s Vic from Station 19! Jackson invited her because he thought it was a dinner party. And she brought Dean because she thought it was a party party, not a dinner party and as we later learn is trying to set Maggie and him up since he previously showed an interest in her.

Meanwhile, Levi comes to visit Uncle Saul with Nico in tow. They banter and then Saul chastises him for still living in his mother’s basement. Levi beats around the bush and Uncle Saul is having none of it. “You think I’m getting on a roof with a bugle horn anytime soon?” Oh Uncle Saul! With that Levi introduces Nico as his boyfriend and comes out as gay to his uncle. Nico goes to shake his hand and Uncle Saul promptly dies right in front of them! Only on Grey’s! Which results in a stunned Levi uttering the phrase, “I killed him. I killed him with my gayness.” Oh my god! Interestingly Justin Chambers is still credited on this episode even though he does not appear. As with last week’s episode this is likely because he was away but still under contract and expected to return when this episode was shot last year.

I think we’ll start to see more obvious storyline changes beginning with episode 13 as it would have been the first one filmed in the new year either during or after Justin decided to leave the show. It’s a shame we’ll never get to see the original storylines as they were planned, but Justin gave 15+ years to a show that nobody thought would make it past Season 1. So as much as I miss Alex as a character I get it. When it’s time to move on it’s time to move on. You have to do it when you feel ready and not by anyone else’s clock or timeframe.

Back at the hospice Levi is doing his best to follow Jewish tradition with regards to Saul’s body. His Aunt shows up and then promptly peaces out! Oh man! Over at the dinner party Jackson is a complete ass and Maggie calls him on his crap completely! I’m so here for it! You tell him! You go Glen Coco! Catherine continues to be cold towards Vic and honestly I kind of love it! She asks Vic if she’s allergic to shrimp and in response Dean says, “Vic? No! She’ll put anything in her mouth!” Oh Dean. You are not helping. LOL!

Dean and Maggie seem to get along well which is nice. Maybe there’s hope for them still. We find out from Vic that during her training the nickname first responders used to refer to Pac North was The Morgue! Oh boy. Back at the hospice Levi and Nico are playing cards. Nico still wants that sandwich. Levi’s a hard no. Then in walks a man who Levi doesn’t recognize but who clearly knows Saul. Then Levi introduces himself and the man recognizes him. He knows who he is because Saul talked about him all the time. My heart!

He correctly identifies Nico as his boyfriend and Levi is confused. We find out that Uncle Saul was gay and this man was his partner. Twist! We find out that Saul and Daniel were the loves of each other’s lives and that Daniel is heartbroken at his passing. I guess Levi’s gayness didn’t kill Uncle Saul after all! That’s a relief! Back at dinner Maggie shares Catherine and Richard’s proposal story and then Jackson makes this lovely speech about how they’re the gold standard. Which would be wonderful if they weren’t separating.

Catherine and Richard talk in the kitchen. Catherine gets emotional and says that maybe they’ve been too hasty with the separation. Richard agrees and says that if he wants things to move forward he needs her to apologize. He says he knows that doesn’t come easy for her, but to him he can’t move forward with her without it. I loved their exchange. “Richard I am sorry, but-” “Apologies don’t have the word ‘but’ after them.” Talk that truth Richard! Talk that truth!

I’d really like it if we got more of an explanation of Catherine’s actions. They still haven’t explained why she didn’t stand up for Richard or didn’t apologize afterward or try to fix it. Back at the hospice Daniel and Levi lovingly prepare Saul’s body in accordance with the Jewish tradition. It’s very moving. I loved Daniel’s line, “Your generation takes for granted what is possible.” It’s heartbreaking but also true. There’s some really wonderful commentary here about how far social attitudes and legal rights have come for gay people in the U.S. and elsewhere in the last few decades. Like many things we, the younger generations, often take hard won victories and certain possibilities for granted. This scene made cry because as Daniel says the fact that our generation can even do that for a second is reason to hope for a better tomorrow. The acting was very well done.

Back at dinner Maggie and Jackson are arguing about his yacht when Richard gets a text that he’s very happy about. Catherine goes off because she thinks he’s talking to his girlfriend. He’s not. It turns out the text is from Alex. Richard has been talking to him about making Maggie an offer to run their Cardio Department and he’s approved it. Judging from this information and other info we’ve received Alex is still living in Seattle, still running Pac North, still married to Jo, and still spending time with Meredith.

So does this mean their new plan is to off screen his character? Justin Chambers has moved on but the character of Alex will continue to exist off screen? Not sure how I feel about this yet. On the one hand I don’t want them to kill him off on the other I hate not seeing him and want him to get a proper send off. But this also leaves it open for him to come back on screen in the series finale which I would love. It’s clear to me that they had a storyline planned out for Alex’s character and Pac North prior to this. Obviously since the actor had moved on they are having to scrap and rework that plan. I’m sad we’ll never see the intended version.

But at the same I also respect that an actor has the right to move on when they’re ready to do so especially after 15 years. It sucks for the character but it’s good for Justin Chambers so it’s a toss up as a fan. Also why is Catherine outraged? Koracick said he’d think about it when Maggie talked to him. You snooze you lose pal. Also why is Jackson such a patronizing entitled asshat these days? What’s up with that?

Things finally come to a head at dinner and Catherine and Richard finally announce that they are separating. Poor Dean. He gets invited to what he thinks is a party and instead winds up at someone’s break up dinner. Fun! Catherine and Richard both leave the table and Jackson and Maggie follow them out. I’ll give Jackson one thing: he’s a wonderful and loving son. He’s there comforting his mom when Vic comes to drop off some plates. Catherine finally warms to her and offers her some cobbler. It’s a very sweet moment.

Meanwhile Maggie and Richard talk outside. They have a heart to heart and then Maggie asks about the job offer. It’s a lot of money. She’s surprised Alex thinks she’s worth that much. Richard says he thinks so too. She accepts! It seems to me that the original storyline would have seen Maggie, Richard, Owen, and Alex working together at Pac North. But since Justin Chambers has moved on it looks like that will be happening off screen now.

As everyone prepares to leave Vic and Maggie talk it out and clear the air. I’m glad they did. They’re issue is with Jackson not with each other. We cut to Levi and Nico. They’re back at home packing up his things. His mom comes downstairs. Levi explains that Uncle Saul is gone and that he’s moving out. Levi gives this great speech to his mom about how he’s super gay and that his mom saying she accepts him but not telling anyone isn’t really acceptance and he can’t do this anymore. Because Levi’s made a decision. He doesn’t want to wait until he’s old and dying to be free. He wants to be free and live openly now as a gay man and be happy. Levi’s mom thinks Nico put him up to this but as Levi explains he loves her but he has to do this.

I’m so proud of Levi! Standing up to family is hard especially when you love them but you have to do it. Back at the house Catherine and Richard argue. Richard asks if Catherine was hoping he’d fail when he took the job at Pac North. She says she hoped he’d come to his senses and asks if Maggie turned down his absurd offer. Why does Catherine think the offer is absurd? It’s more than Grey Sloan was paying her clearly and they indicated they weren’t interested. Why wouldn’t she take it?

Richard has had enough. He calls Catherine out on her need to control everything and that the success of Pac North is because of him and that she had nothing to do with it and it’s killing her. I’m glad Richard is finally calling Catherine out on her need to control everything. It really is absurd. In response Catherine calls someone named Harry and asks them to find out how much it would cost to buy Pac North. Seriously? This woman would rather buy a struggling hospital than apologize to her husband?

I saw the Catherine Fox Foundation buying Pac North as a likely resolution to the storyline but I pictured in a more positive way. This is just mean and spiteful. I figured Alex and Richard would turn Pac North around, make it a great hospital, and bring it up to Grey Sloan’s level. At which point Catherine and the other doctors would see the value in it and offer to make Pac North part of the Foundation. That way everyone would keep their jobs but we would see the doctors go back and forth. However, that plan obviously involves Alex being on screen as he’s the Chief. I’m wondering if Justin’s departure caused them to have to rewrite this storyline in a more negative way or if that was the plan all along.

It’s impossible to say and we’ll never know for sure, but one thing that is evident to me is that the writers and showrunners didn’t think Justin would be leaving this season or this soon in the season. If they had known they would have written this storyline differently. That being said everyone has a right to move on when they’re ready to do so and it’s up to the writers to make it work now that the actor has moved on.

Also did this woman just threaten to shut down an entire hospital that employs hundreds of people just to spite her husband for succeeding without her? WTF?!?! Where would those people go? Where would their patients go? Mercy West Medical Centre and Seattle Grace Hospital merged years ago, Dillard Medical Centre was shut down for obvious reasons, and the show has established that both Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and Seattle Presbyterian Hospital run at capacity patient wise. Where would they go?

I feel like Catherine’s line at the end about not being sorry was supposed to be empowering but to me it just felt cold, selfish, and cruel. Richard didn’t do anything to her. Richard stood up and stood alongside Meredith who he loves like a daughter and instead of trying to understand that Catherine is acting like he betrayed her. Next week’s promo seems to be more Station 19 oriented and doesn’t really tell us much so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

Until next time!

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introvertguide · 4 years

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King Kong (1933); AFI #41

The latest movie for review was the one and only creature feature on the AFI top 100 list, the iconic Kong Kong (1933). This was the equivalent of a blockbuster for the time as it was first presented at Radio City Music Hall for 4 days and all shows were sold out. The film incorporated layering technology that had never been utilized before, which I assume made the experience of watching in a 9,000 attendance capacity crowd on a 30 foot screen an amazing experience. The film did not win any awards, but has since been recognized as a defining film for special effects in Old Hollywood. I was able to track down a version of the movie with commentary by Ray Harryhausen and I want to discuss what was revealed about the film production, but we should do a quick summary of the film first. I will not go into too much detail since the film has been remade three times now and most everybody knows the story, but I still need to do the standard...

SPOILER WARNING!!!! I AM GOING TO GIVE AWAY THE PLOT OF A MOVIE THAT IS 90 YEARS OLD AND HAS BEEN REMADE TWICE!!! IT WON’T EVEN BE THAT IN DEPTH, BUT I GET IN TROUBLE IF I DON’T SAY SOMETHING ABOUT SPOILERS!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

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The film starts out with a movie director named Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) who is looking to discover an actress. He has a map to a secret island and he wants to shoot a film there. He hired a ship with a crew and his producer has secured a camera, but an actress is still needed. Denham scours the streets looking for a pretty new face that is desperate enough to not ask questions. He quickly discovers Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) as she is trying to steal an apple from an apple cart. He pays for her, gives her some food, and whisks her away on the boat.

On the ship, it is revealed that only Denham knows where they are going. He has a hand drawn map to a place called Skull Island where there is a giant wall that contains a world of monsters. Ann Darrow falls in love with the first mate, Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot), by the time boat makes it to the island. A large group goes ashore and they run into natives in front of a huge wall with a giant door. There seemed to be some sort of ceremony involving the sacrifice of a young girl, but that changes when the natives see Ann and they want to take her for their ceremony. The group from the boat decides it is a good idea to get off the island, so they row back to the ship. In the night, a group of natives spirit away Ann and her absence is quickly noticed.

Fires and celebration light up the sky and the crew figures out that the natives stole their actress. The tribe is then shown opening up the giant door, tying Ann to some rocks inside the enclosure, closing the doors leaving her alone, and then hitting a gong to summon the beast. The sailors all run up on the natives right as Kong appears and takes away Ann. The group including Denham and Driscoll open the door and half the group chases after Kong deep into the enclosure.

All of the men who go inside are slowly picked off by either Kong or dinosaurs that live in the enclosure, which turns out to be somewhat of a Jurassic jungle. Kong has to constantly fight off beasts that want to steal Ann from him including an allosaur, pterodactyls, and what appears to be the Loch Ness monster. With the constant barrage of predators, the chase team of sailors is whittled down to just Driscoll and Denham. Denham goes back to the gate and Driscoll goes after Ann. During one of Kong’s monster distractions, Driscoll is able to steal Ann and they flee back to the gate with Kong following behind. Everyone gets out of the enclosure successfully, but Kong is so mad he breaks down the gate and wreaks havoc on the native village killing many. Our three main characters and a few of the sailors that stayed behind to guard the gate run back to the boats with Kong following, but Denham is able to throw a gas bomb in the face of the giant gorilla and he is subdued.

The beginning of Act 3 has the hardest cut between settings of any movie I have ever seen, yet it makes sense in the movie. Kong is somehow transferred to New York from Skull Island where the beast is chained up. Time has passed (I am not sure how much) but the giant ape will be revealed to the public at Radio City Music Hall. Denham has made $10,000 in one night in ticket sales to see the beast and gotten ahold of the press to document the occasion. It turns out that Driscoll and Ann are about to be married as well. All of this is neither shown nor explained outside of about 1 minute of dialogue. Anyway, back to the film...

Kong is being displayed for the public and Driscoll and Ann are dressed in their best that Denham has bought for them. The couple are introduced on stage and then the press is brought in to take pictures of the beast. Kong becomes so enraged by all of the flashing that he breaks his bonds and escapes. He is somehow able to get out into the streets where he stomps on people and destroys an elevated train. Ann and Driscoll escape and hide in a hotel which Kong is able to find. He does pick a lady out of the wrong room initially and he just drops her to her death. Second attempt gets a jackpot and Driscoll basically faints while a giant hand steals Ann.

After some more destruction, Kong takes Ann and climbs the Empire State Building. They get to the top and planes are sent in to shoot Kong off the building. Eventually he falls and dies on impact. Ann and Driscoll are OK and Denham walks out of the crowd to see the body of Kong at the base of the giant building. The movie ends with Denham saying the famous line. “Twas beauty that killed the beast.”

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First, let me say what an absolute treat it was to watch this film with the commentary from the great Ray Harryhausen. That man is a class act with so much great insight into film making during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was apparently 13 when the movie was released and he saw it in theaters on many occasions. The work of special effects director Willis O’Brien and producer Merian Cooper in King Kong influenced Harryhausen when he made The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, and Clash of the Titans. The special effects in these films then influenced a huge list of great directors like James Cameron, Guillermo Del Toro, Tim Burton, Peter Jackson, J.J. Abrams, Wes Anderson, and George Lucas. I learned so much about the connection between King Kong and my favorite movies, it was just a great watch.

King Kong was actually made in three different sizes and there were multiple models of each. One giant gorilla head, which was manned by three men, with a single giant foot and a single arm with a hand, were made for the close up interaction shots with the actors. The fingers and toes on the full sized limbs had to be moved by hand (many very strong hands presumably) so there is no movement from the digits in these shots. A bunch of 2 foot wire framed puppets of Kong were made that could interact with the dinosaurs and the buildings around New York. Finally, a couple of six inch puppets were made to superimpose onto stock shots of the Empire State Building for the famous ending shots of Kong climbing the giant building..

Almost every shot in the film that didn’t involve a simple human interaction was created through layered shots. All the shots of the island, any shots of King Kong or any monsters, many shots of the jungle, and many shots of King Kong interacting in New York. The use of matte paintings in the far background with paintings on glass in front of those made all the shots seem deep and lush. In front of these were layered the stop motion puppets of Kong and the monsters and at the very front were humans and directly interactive props (cars, plants, huts, etc.). I never realized how much work went into every single shot of this film and I can see why it is so famous.

Another note is the direct influence on some of the most famous films of all time. The approach of King Kong started with sounds, went on to the effect of the great apes weight hitting the ground, and ended with the giant figure coming out from the trees. This method of introducing a monster has been highly copied, most notably the T-Rex in Jurassic Park.

The film was somewhat risque at the time and some of the film was cut on first release. Kong biting people and squashing natives was not originally included. There was a scene in which Fay Wray fell into water in her ripped white dress and that was not included. Also, Kong picks up a lady from the hotel that Ann is in and promptly drops her (she wasn’t blond so she has to go), which was harsh enough to be cut from the original release. None of this seems that bad today, but there were no restrictions on film in 1933 and studios didn’t know what would upset audiences.

One thing that struck me as funny while watching (and the commentators noted this as well) was how every character immediately loved and was willing to die for this blond white lady. Denham just found her on the street and the entire crew didn’t think she should be on board for about 3 minutes, then suddenly Driscoll loved her and the entire crew was willing to die horribly to save her. The natives took one look at her and thought she would make a better sacrifice then the young girl they had. Kong was willing to fight off all forms of monster to protect her. I thought he might have simply wanted a companion, but he tossed that other poor woman from the New York hotel down off a building. At the end, men shot the ape off the Empire State Building sending bullet spray everywhere in an effort to save the girl. I honestly don’t think she was worth it, but that is just one man’s opinion.

So is this film worthy of being on the AFI List? Absolutely yes. It does not have great acting, but the contribution to American cinema through the effects, the story, and the pure ambition is well worth a spot on the list. Would I recommend it? Across the board yes with no hesitation. I especially recommend watching with the commentary, if that is your thing, because watching this film and listening to Ray Harryhausen tell stories is an absolute treat. Definitely one of the best film watching experiences I have ever had.

#King Kong #1930s #black and white #american cinema #AFI list #special effects #stop motion #miniatures #introvert #introverts #classic film #ray harryhausen #commentary #dinosaurs

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donteattheappleshook · 4 years

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Of Cars and Bars Chapter 13/14

As always, thank you Krystal @kmomof4 for all of your amazing beta work and for just being a lovely person. This story exists because of and is dedicated to you! (Thanks for the support even though I keep making you angry with all the angst!)

Tagging @teamhook because you asked :D

Here’s the last chapter before the epilogue! I can’t believe it’s almost over!

Summary:

Rated E

When Emma Swan is offered the chance to go on tour as an opener for one of the most popular up and coming bands of the decade, the last thing she expects is to find that the lead guitarist is the stranger she had a one night stand with five years ago.

This started out as a smutty two shot about Emma Ruby and Mary Margaret going on a road trip and has evolved into a slow-burn mutual pining angst-fest.

Read it from the beginning on Ao3 and Ffn because tumblr eats all my italics.

Chapter 13 - New York

If you were here beside me, instead of in New York / If the curve of you was curved on me / I'd tell you that I loved you, before I even knew you / 'Cause I loved the simple thought of you

The tour was over. They were back. Everything was over.

Things had happened really quickly after that night. They cancelled the show and then every show after that for the rest of the summer. They’d refunded everyone, lost the income - she didn’t really know the semantics of how that had happened, Belle had handled all of that.

There had been rumors of course - rumors about why the tour was called off so suddenly. They ranged from one ridiculous explanation to another. The boys had fallen out, broken up, a drug scandal, the band wanting more money, someone was sick…

Emma ignored them for the most part - as much as she could anyway. It was hard to ignore them when she was constantly being reminded of everything she’d lost whenever she stepped outside and saw a magazine with his face on it. He was always hiding it in those pictures, looking away, his shoulders hunched, looking annoyed or exhausted. She didn’t recognize him half the time. There was none of the joy and excitement that had originally attracted her to him.

She’d gone back to Boston, back to her old apartment… like nothing had happened. But it had. Her life was different now. Now she had people recognizing her on the street, reporters and paparazzi hounding her with questions about why she’d left, if it had been because of her and Killian’s supposed romance. She told them to fuck off most of the time. She didn’t like fame, she found. Not the darker side of it she was seeing now, anyway.

The worst part was the social media. Angry, vicious people who hounded her online, angry because they thought she was dating Killian, angrier because they thought she had dumped him, angriest because they thought she was the reason the tour had ended. They called her names. They called her awful, worthless. Told her that she didn’t deserve Killian, that he deserved better, that her music was terrible. All thoughts she’d already had in the back of her mind, thoughts that she thought she’d finally overcome but that were slowly making themselves heard again. She’d had to delete her accounts eventually.

She’d had to quit her job too. It was hard to set a honey trap when everyone knew your face. It was hard to tail a skip when you were being tailed by cameramen. It wasn’t just cameramen and fans that were after her though. Since she’d gotten home, she’d been approached by seven producers, all of whom wanted to sign her and her band. Ruby and Mary Margaret were thrilled, they couldn’t understand why she was so hesitant. Well, actually, they probably could, but they were letting her believe they didn’t know.

It felt wrong, wrong to make music without him. It was ridiculous. She’d done it before him, she’d done it since him. But one of her favorite parts of writing had become the look that appeared on his face whenever she played something new for him, that proud, awed expression he would give her. And she missed him putting in his two cents. Missed the way he would casually pick at his guitar and create a verse that perfectly captured how she was feeling. She missed… she missed him.

But he was gone. He’d left. He’d told her he would in the bar and she’d walked away, abandoned once again, and then the same night he was on a plane. He hadn’t even come back to the room for his luggage - hadn’t come to say goodbye. You didn’t say goodbye either. It was true. She hadn’t said goodbye. She’d been the one to walk out of that bar. But he hadn’t followed, hadn’t asked her to come with him. It didn’t matter. He left, not her. Everyone left.

“You about ready to go?” Ruby asked, her voice holding that tone of sympathy so close to pity that it irked her. Emma looked once more at her apartment, the place she’d lived since leaving Storybrooke over six years ago. It was empty now.

She’d thought coming back to her old life would have made things easier, would have made it easier to move on, forget him, forget how he made her feel and how he’d broken her heart. But it hadn’t. The whole place just felt wrong now. Like it wasn’t home anymore. Home had become something else, not a place but people and now… that was gone too. She missed it. There was nothing left for her here anymore.

“Yeah,” she said, throwing her bag over her shoulder. “Let’s go.”

They were on their way to New York. They were going there to - Emma could hardly believe it, hardly say the words - record an album. Emma had turned down most of the offers, hadn’t wanted anything to do with it. But it wasn’t just her decision. It was Ruby’s and Mary Margaret’s too. It was their life as well, their dream, their career. She didn’t know if she would ever want to be in the spotlight again - but she would try, for her friends.

But every producer that she met just reminded her of Neal - someone who was out to take what they could from her, use her for their own gain regardless of what she wanted. They didn’t care about music. They cared about profit. Only about profit.

But then Graham and David had introduced them to Robin, the man who had recorded their first album, the one who liked to set insanely high bars when it came to music. He was a man with standards and who insisted on hard work and dedication but at the same time… he got it. He was a musician himself and he understood the artistic side of it.

Not all of his artists were well known. Of course he cared about that to an extent - it was his livelihood - but he also had a few indie bands under his wing. He liked good music. That was it. He liked good music and wanted to share good music with the world and he wanted to share her music with the world.

He was sweet, Emma learned as well. A nice guy, funny and upbeat and charismatic. She’d never seen him get angry but she assumed he probably did a good fatherly ‘I’m disappointed in you’ thing that was way more effective than anger. She was looking forward to working with him. She just worried she wouldn’t live up to his standards - not anymore, not with how she was feeling.

When they’d agreed to sign on, Emma had a condition. She was tired of just being Emma Swan and her band. She was tired of all the bad things associated with her name now. She was tired of being front and center when her friends were just as much a part of this as she was. There was no way she could have done this alone. And her name drew too much attention too, something Robin thought they should use but Emma didn’t want to. They named themselves The Ugly Ducklings after a favorite childhood storybook. Her friends liked it. Liked that they felt more like a group now, like what they’d always been.

They settled into their new apartment pretty quickly. David and Graham already lived in New York most of the time so they had helped them find a place and did most of the heavy lifting during the move. It was strange to see them all the time, without the others. Belle and Liam had gone back to London with Killian. When he left for England. When he left her to go back to England.

She hadn’t heard from him. Not a word since that night in the bar. It had been two months. She’d now been away from him nearly as long as they’d been together. Who was she kidding, they’d been together all of five minutes before he left. That was a new record. Usually they stuck around for a little while after she decided to let herself lo- no. she didn’t want to think about it.

She’d given him space at first, hoped that he might reach out if he wanted her, if he needed her - her support or her presence or someone’s shoulder to cry on. But he hadn’t. And it hurt. He hadn’t asked her to come with him. He’d decided she didn’t matter enough and he’d left her behind. Maybe he’d decided he didn’t want to have someone so broken hanging around, being a burden while the case went on.

She knew a lot more about it than she wanted to. The story was all over the tabloids, all over the papers too. And maybe, she’d looked it up a few times online, worried about him, despite everything. The case was dragging on, more and more witnesses being called in, new evidence being ‘found’. It wasn’t just a decision about letting him out anymore. Gold had pushed for a mistrial, insisting he was innocent, wrongly convicted and that he should be acquitted of all charges. She couldn’t imagine what it was doing to Killian, to go through all of this again. But that wasn’t her place. If he’d wanted it to be her business he’d have asked her to go with him.

But something still irked her, more than all the hurt and the loss and the abandonment she felt… guilt. Guilt because she knew, on some level she knew what she’d done. She’d done what she always did. She ran from him, ran away from the possibility of love and of happiness because she’d been so afraid to lose it. The barest hint that he could walk away and she’d walked away first.

But he would have left eventually, she tried to convince herself. Maybe he wouldn’t have. But it was too late now. Now he was in London, regardless of who had run from whom, who had abandoned whom, he was gone now. He was thousands of miles away and he likely hated her - or worse, didn’t even think of her at all. It was broken. She’d broken it. She’d gotten scared and she’d fallen victim to those fears and she broke them.

But he hadn’t tried to fix it. She’d started counting on him trying to fix it and this time he hadn’t. He’d given up. One time too many. She’d messed it up one time too many and hurt him once too many and this was the consequence. It didn’t matter how much she wanted to run to him, to be with him, to be there for him. His silence spoke volumes. He was done with her.

“That was lovely, Emma,” Robin said as they finished recording the vocals for one of the tracks. “Can we try it again with a bit more energy?” he suggested. Emma wanted to laugh. She hadn’t had energy in over two months. Her life had been a blur, a sad, heavy cycle of empty day after empty day.

But she didn’t say that, instead she said “Yeah, sure,” and tried it again. She could tell from his face that it wasn’t much better.

“Perhaps we should move on to one of the ballads,” he suggested. “Let’s do the one you played at the last show - the one that went viral.”

“No,” Emma said quickly. Not that one. She couldn’t do that one. She couldn’t sing that one again - ever probably. She couldn’t sit here in a booth and sing about how she’d fallen in love with someone, had finally believed that she deserved to be loved. Not when that someone had ripped her heart out hours later, reminding her that she didn’t.

“I just mean…” she tried when Robin looked at her in surprise. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m not feeling well today. Maybe we could just work on the music for now? Try the vocals again tomorrow?”

He looked at her like he didn’t believe her and she didn’t blame him - the lie had sounded shit to her own ears. But he nodded, giving her that same, sympathetic smile that Ruby had.

“Sure,” he said. “Let’s call the others and see if they can get over here. Why don’t we work on the chorus to this one while we wait.” Emma agreed, thankful, and went to grab her guitar. She flinched when he spoke again. “It’s alright to miss him, you know,” he said.

Anger was her first emotion, her first after heartbreak but that was always there so it didn’t count. “Excuse me? You don’t know me,” she snapped. Robin only nodded, he didn’t flinch back at her bite like most did.

“I don’t,” he admitted. “But I know Killian. I know him pretty well actually and I know that he’s hurting now - more than I’ve ever seen him hurt before. I can hear it in his voice.”

Emma felt her eyes tearing but she fought it. She would not cry over Killian Jones, she’d done that enough already. Enough for a lifetime. She’d heard that he was struggling, that he was always anxious now, always quiet - that he missed her. Belle had said so on the phone. ‘How do you know?’ she’d asked and Belle had said she just did. Emma didn’t believe her. You didn’t just leave someone that you could miss like that. Unless she heard it from him she couldn’t believe any of it, it was just their friends trying to save something that was already broken. And she hadn’t heard anything from him.

“What does that have to do with me?” she demanded, not thrilled with the audacity of this guy she barely knew assuming he knew anything about her life.

He gave a sad smile. “When I produced Abandon Ship!’s first album, Killian had written a hit. Liam had shown it to me, I remember because he called at seven in the bloody morning to play it over the phone. When they came in to record it though… it was different. It was sadder, it was slower… he sounded like you when he sang it.” Emma’s breath caught. You left him first, a voice taunted.

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out,” he continued. “I’ve heard enough bits and pieces from the guys and Ruby and Mary Margaret to piece together where that song came from, who it’s about.”

“What’s your point?” Emma asked, still angry but some of the venom gone from her voice, some of the fire dying out.

“My point is, perhaps it's time to stop writing sad songs about one another and to just… try.”

Emma’s eyes dropped to the floor. “I did try.” Robin smiled sadly again.

“My apologies,” he said. “It’s not my place.”

Graham and David had tagged along with Ruby and Mary Margaret, they were always tagging along now. It was hard. It felt almost like it should, all of them together, but they were missing a few crucial pieces. Having half of the whole there just made the missing half hurt more, made it more obvious that it was missing. She loved David and Graham, they’d become like brothers - but they were a reminder now. Whenever they walked in the room she’d catch herself looking behind them, looking for him to follow them in, only to be reminded that he wouldn’t.

Halfway through their session, when they were taking a break to have some lunch, David received a call. It was Belle on the other end and David put her on speaker. She updated them on their lives, on how the trial was proceeding - they’d hired a lawyer - a high power one that they hadn’t been able to afford when they were young and broke and the first trial happened. She thanked the guys for staying behind, for doing damage control while they were in London. Graham and David had done a hell of a lot of free shows to try and appease some of the bad press. Turned out David could sing. They’d also done a lot of press and appearances and charity events and she knew they were a little exhausted from all of it. Both Graham and David dismissed her thanks as unnecessary.

Emma was sitting awkwardly a few feet away, as far as she could get in the tiny back room of the recording studio, actively trying not to listen - actively failing. She could see that the others were trying to avoid drawing the conversation to him. But when Belle started to say that she was worried about Killian, and David awkwardly tried to hint that now wasn’t a good time, she heard Liam on the other end of the line.

“Is Emma there?” he asked and she felt her heart race. She hadn’t spoken to Liam since that night in the bar. She’d been too afraid to. Afraid he hated her now. With some reluctance, David said she was. “Put her on the phone,” Liam demanded and everyone looked at her uncomfortably. She could hear Belle begging her husband to leave it alone but he wouldn’t listen. “Emma, are you there?” he asked.

Her voice cracked the first time she tried to answer. She cleared her throat, tried again. “Yeah. I’m here.”

“Pick up the phone.” His tone left little room for discussion, even from hundreds of miles away.

Her palms were sweating as she walked over to the table where the phone rested, right there in the middle of all of her friends who were still staring at her with trepidation. They knew whatever was coming wasn’t good either. Liam was a force. She knew that. And he was angry. She nearly turned it off, touched the little red button and ran. But she didn’t. She was an adult. She could talk to another adult. She picked it up and took it off speakerphone.

There was a long weighted silence before Liam finally spoke. “You promised me, Emma.” he said.

“Liam, I-”

“No. All those months ago, I begged you, I begged you not to let him love you if you were going to leave. I told you what it would do to him. You promised me.”

Her words caught in her throat, trapped in the lump there as her eyes burned with tears. “I’m not the one who left,” she said and while she wasn’t looking at them she could feel the way the tension in the room grew at her words, everyone waiting on bated breath.

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” he snapped. “He needed you Emma. He loves you. He still needs you. Why aren’t you here?”

“I-” She didn’t know what to say. His anger was terrifying, his words cut deep and hurt. She knew he was right. She’d promised. But he’d left and he… the excuse felt weak even as she thought it now. He loves you. He still needs you, the words played over and over in her head. She struggled for something to say, some way to work through the pain and the self-preservation that were warring inside of her when she heard Belle's voice, muffled and far away. “Killian, you’re back. We-”

Emma hung up the phone. She hung it up and put it back on the table and grabbed her stuff and ran out of the room. Liam was right. She’d left. She kept leaving and she was going to do it again now. Because that’s what she did best. It’s what she’d always done. It kept her safe and it kept her from getting hurt… only this time, this time it hadn’t worked so well.

Ruby and Mary Margaret found her a few hours later on the couch in their living room where she’d been sitting since she got home. Wallowing. In guilt and heartbreak and fear and doubt. They approached her cautiously, feeling out the mood in the room before sitting down across from her on the coffee table. She could feel another ‘mom and mom’ speech coming on.

“Was Robin really mad?” she asked, realising the very serious possible consequences of walking out on a recording session when they were new and unknown and completely dependent on him wanting to keep them. Ruby waved a hand dismissively.

“He’ll get over it. He’s used to working with moody artists.” Emma glared but it had no heat behind it.

“Emma,” Mary Margaret started.

“Don’t,” Emma said. She didn’t want to hear it. She’d heard it from Liam already today, she’d heard it from people on the street and online. She got it. She was an asshole. But she didn’t know what to do about it. She was so so scared. Mary Margaret, always the sweeter of her sisters hesitated, but Ruby inhaled deeply and Emma prepared herself for the storm.

“No. Enough is enough. You’re being an idiot.”

“Ruby!” Mary Margaret was cut off.

“She is. You are. Look, we let you get away with it this long, we babied you and let you lick your wounds but really - We’re done. These aren’t even your wounds to lick.”

“He left!” she tried.

“Emma, grow up,” Ruby snapped and Emma reeled back like she’d been slapped.

“You’re being so selfish. Yes, he left. But he left because the psycho that killed his girlfriend was possibly going to walk free. He left because he had to. Where did you find him?”

“A bar…” she said weakly.

“That’s right. Doesn’t that give you a little sense of where his head might have been at?” Ruby’s words were harsh, her tone harsher and Emma wanted to run but she had nowhere to go. She was trapped, listening to her, letting herself be reamed out. She didn’t even have the energy to defend herself, didn’t have the leg to stand on either.

“He was hurting, rock bottom, as bad as you were when you saw Neal again - I’m gonna go ahead and say maybe worse. And yeah, his first thought wasn’t about you. So what did you do? You left him. He needed you and you left him there to go through it alone.”

“He’s not alone,” she tried.

“That’s not the same and you know it. Emma, I know you’re scared and you try to protect yourself and you have good reason to. And because of that we let you get away with a lot, because we love you. But this? You being this selfish because you’re afraid that you might get hurt? Making this about you and your fears when it should have been about supporting the man you love? I just…” She shook her head and Emma could feel the disappointment and even the shame radiating off of her. “He’s not Neal,” she said, looking at her with an expression Emma had never seen directed at her. “But right now… you are.”

The tears burned hot in her eyes. Ruby’s words were harsh, cruel even. But… they were right. Emma looked at Mary Margaret. She looked nervous but not like she had any intention of defending her and so Emma knew she agreed. And she should. Maybe she’d just needed it to be laid out like that, to be called out on it… but Ruby was right.

She’d let Killian in, let him care for her, maybe even love her. She’d encouraged him, let him think it was safe to give her his heart, to trust her with it. And then the moment he’d needed her, the first time he hadn’t only thought about her wellbeing and her fears and had fallen victim to his own… she’d left him. She’d run out of that bar like a bat out of hell because… what? He hadn’t asked her to come to London with him? He hadn’t outright told her he needed her? She was an idiot. She should have stayed, should have gone with him.

She thought about the night before, how she’d tried to push him away, gotten wasted at that bar on cheap whiskey and he’d stayed. Not because she’d asked him to but because he knew she needed him too, even when she was saying the opposite. And when it had been her turn to do the same… she’d run. She’d only thought of herself, let her insecurities take over, let herself be blinded. She’d been selfish. She’d abandoned him. He’d never have done that to her.

“What if it’s too late?” she asked, the first of her tears making their way down her cheeks. Ruby scowled at her for a moment but it stopped when she spoke again. “What if I hurt him too much, too many times, used up all my chances. What if I ruined it and I can’t fix it.”

“You can always fix it, Emma,” Mary Margaret spoke, putting her hand on Emma’s knee. “Love, true love can always be mended. It might not be the same after, but it can be stronger.” She must have seen the look Emma was giving her because she spoke again. “Don’t. I know you like to make fun of me for believing in true love but I’m not talking about some fairytale, predestined, meant to be garbage because that’s crap. If it’s really love then you have to work for it and fight for it and you have to go and admit that you fucked up and make things better, make amends. That’s love.”

“You just have to decide if you’re gonna fight for it or not,” Ruby said. Emma watched them both. She wanted to go. She did. Killian was the best thing that had ever happened to her and she had screwed it all up and she wanted it back, she wanted him back. How she felt about him, how he made her feel, how he made her laugh and smile, his weird obsessions and his stupid quirks and his constance and his baggage... she wanted it all back. But still, years, decades, a lifetime of letdowns wouldn’t let her, froze up with fear that she was wrong. With that last little doubt.

“What if he doesn’t want me anymore. What if he can’t forgive me?”

Ruby and Mary Margaret exchanged a look, eyes wide. “What if he doesn’t -” Ruby started in disbelief. “Show her the video, Snow.”

Mary Margaret took her phone out and fiddled with it for a moment. She turned it over then and handed it to Emma. The video was dated only two days ago. It was Killian, sitting on a little stage in a bar somewhere during what looked like an open mic. She could hear people in the back of the video whispering, wondering if that was him, what he was doing there. But she ignored them, focused on him.

He looked… sad. Sad and lonely and heartbroken and everything else she was feeling right now. His playing was still immaculate, his voice was still breathtaking, but he had none of the stage presence he usually did. It was like all the fun, all the carefree confidence and charisma had been drained out of him. He still held her attention though as he sang. Sang about a woman he missed, longed for, who wasn’t here with him… a woman who was in New York.

“Is that enough proof for you?” Ruby demanded.

Emma stood, walking past them and out of the room, adrenaline running through her veins, making her heart race and her fingers tremble. She headed straight for her room, could hear her friends following her as she grabbed clothes haphazardly out of her closet and some of the boxes she had yet to unpack. Where was her bag? She huffed and she searched for it. She knew she should have unpacked when Mary Margaret told her to.

“What are you doing?” Mary Margaret asked from the doorway.

“I’m going to London.”

***

Killian was tired. He was so tired. It had been months now of talking with lawyers, of turning down Gold’s lawyers offers to strike a deal. No. There were no deals. Gold would spend the rest of his life in prison for what he’d done. He’d taken the rest of Milah’s life away from her and Killian would be damned if the monster didn’t meet the same fate.

He was headed back to the flat he’d rented with Belle and his brother when they arrived. It was strange to be back. After nearly a decade of living in the States, of living in Boston and New York and even LA for a little while. It was strange to be home. Although it wasn’t really home was it?

He’d learned long ago that home wasn’t a place. It was the people that were around him. He had his brother, his sister-in-law, he spoke to Graham and David regularly on the phone, even to Ruby and Mary Margaret sometimes�� but not to her. He thought he’d found one, a new home, one they all could have made for themselves, one he could have made with her. But then it had been ripped away from him. No, not ripped. She’d taken it, walked away with it and left him behind, empty and alone to suffer through all of this. Not alone technically but… it wasn’t the same.

Today had been the first day of the actual trial. After months of preparation he had finally gotten to sit in that witness box and tell the world what a terrible, inhuman being that man was. He told them how Milah had planned to tell her husband she was leaving him that night, how she’d gone home to do so.

After not hearing from her for nearly 24 hours, he’d gone to her home, somewhere he’d never been before out of fear of her husband finding out. He hadn't truly understood her fear when they were happy and together. But he understood it then, when he found her. He told the jury about the blood, about the way she’d just been left there, tossed aside while Gold left the city. This wasn’t manslaughter, he told the jury though he knew he couldn’t change the verdict now, was reminded of it by the judge. But he said it anyway. It hadn’t been a crime of passion. It had been the cold-blooded act of a man who refused to lose something he believed belonged to him, believed he owned.

The cross-examination had been worse. Horrible, cruel questions that you shouldn’t ask someone who had lost the love of their life. Maybe not of their whole life, a little voice had piped up, but he shut it down. He couldn’t think of that. He was already spending his days reliving losing his first love. He didn’t want to be reminded that he’d lost his second, the woman that he thought might be his true love - all sappiness be damned. But she’d walked away, she’d decided not to choose him. Killian had only loved two women in his life, and both had left him. It just hurt all the more that Emma left by choice.

He’d replayed that night over and over in his head. Remembered how close he’d come to opening that bottle. He’d walked there in a daze, the recall to that time bringing back memories of the man he’d once been and he let himself step back into that man’s shoes. That man had led him straight to a bar. He’d warred with himself, he’d won. But he didn’t know how much longer he could hold out. Not when with every passing day he was reminded of how Milah had been taken from him. Not when with every passing moment he saw Emma again, walking out of that bar and out of his life… again.

He’d believed her. Believed her when she'd said that she wanted to be with him, that she’d wanted to stay. But then, after one look at the darker side of him, the moment they’d faced a challenge, the moment he’d needed her most, she’d run. It felt like someone was ripping out his heart every time he thought of it. He hadn’t been enough. He’d let himself believe he was and then she’d proven him wrong.

The pain and the heartbreak turned to anger more often than he’d have liked to admit. And he was angry with her. Angry with her for giving up on him, for giving up on them so easily. But also for disappearing from his life so completely. He could understand that she didn’t want his love anymore. But they had been friends hadn't they? Why hadn’t she reached out? Why hadn’t she called him? Why was she never around when he called Graham or David? Ruby and Mary Margaret sure seemed to be around all the damn time.

She’d disappeared, cut herself out of his life completely, and it hurt. Yes, he loved her, but he’d also grown to count on her, on her being there, on the way she made him laugh and the way she challenged him. He needed her support. But she wasn’t there. She hadn’t just left him - she’d abandoned him and that thought hurt more than any. She knew what it meant to be abandoned. She knew what she was doing to him, how it would break him, especially now when he needed her so much. She'd done it anyway.

That was the worst part. The fact that despite all his anger and her abandonment and the fact that sometimes he wanted to curse her name… he still needed her. He missed her. He loved her. He tried to stop but he couldn’t and that made it worse. She’d let him fall in love with her, had led him to believe that she could love him too and then she’d changed her mind - and he couldn’t.

He still wrote about her. But as angry and hurt as he was, he couldn’t put it into words, something stopped him every time. Instead all of his songs came out longing and heartbroken and full of love and loss - but never anger, never hate. And he knew it was because no matter what he did, his heart wouldn’t stop wanting her, missing her. And so he was left here to mourn her and hate her while the ever growing ache in his chest reminded him that he would probably never stop loving her.

That was the thought that was itching at the back of his mind as he walked up the last step to their fourth floor flat - the lift was somehow always broken. He rounded the corner towards his front door as he dug his keys out of his pocket. He looked up and froze, the keys falling through his fingers and onto the ground at his feet.

Emma. Emma was standing outside his door, a bag in her hands and bags under her eyes. She looked nervous. She saw him and her breath hitched, her fingers tightening around the strap of her duffle. His thoughts were reeling. What was she doing here? Why now? After all this time? Why hadn’t she come sooner? What could she possibly want from him now? But he didn’t voice any of them. His mouth had forgotten how to form words and so he stood there, slack jawed and dumbfounded like an idiot.

“Hi,” she said after a long, tense moment.

“Hi,” he answered because it was the only word his stupid bloody mouth seemed to be able to form. She didn’t say or do anything else, just stood there, waiting. He didn’t know what for. Someone walked by then, cast them both a strange look and it snapped him out of his thoughts a little. He picked up his keys and stepped up to the lock.

“We should probably go inside,” he told her. The walls had ears here and he didn’t want this - whatever it was - to end up on the front page of the Sun in the morning. She nodded but didn’t say anything as he fiddled with the key. She was so close. He could feel her next to him and it affected him the way it always did. He wanted to touch her, to pull her into his arms, to kiss her, to ask her to hold him and let him cry over all that had happened.

But he couldn’t. That wasn’t who she was to him anymore. He didn’t know why she was here. And seeing her again felt like having his heart broken all over again. He couldn’t handle it anymore. It had been too much pain. Between her and Milah's memory he'd suffered more pain than any man should have to take in a lifetime, let alone in a few months. So he took a page out of her book - he got angry, he put his own walls up. Angry was safe and it hurt a hell of a lot less to look at her from behind the glass around his heart.

She followed him wordlessly into the flat, into the kitchen where she dropped her bag on the floor. He opened the fridge, really wishing he could have a beer right now - or some rum, rum was always best. He clenched his fist and tried to calm it before pulling out two water bottles - a poor substitute - and handing one to her. She took it hesitantly, standing on the opposite side of the island from him. She only stared at him as they both didn’t drink and finally he couldn’t take it anymore and he spread his hands on the counter, hung his head as his knuckles turned white.

“Why are you here?” he asked, not able to look at her, not wanting to see the expressions play out on the face that he loved, the one that drew him in so easily. She left. She left, he repeated to himself. She didn’t answer at first and he was forced to look at her.

“I came for you,” she said and he wanted to laugh. Now? Now she came for him?

“Why?” he asked again and he saw it this time when the doubt flashed in her eyes. She took a deep, steadying breath and reached out her hand, placing it over his own. His own breath caught in his throat, her touch feeling like it was searing through his skin.

“You know why,” she said and it made his blood boil. He ripped his hand away.

“No, Emma, I don’t,” he snapped and saw the shock on her face. “I don’t bloody know why you’re here. You left me in that bar two months ago. You just left and then I never saw you again. You ignored me for weeks. After -” the words got stuck. “After everything that happened between us. You changed your mind and you just - god, you just fucking abandoned me there, didn’t you?” He saw the hurt in her eyes and it egged him on. Good. It was about time she hurt too, after everything she’d put him through. “My life has been hell, Emma, and right now I’m too tired to try and figure out what you’re doing here so please tell me or just leave.”

“I -” she started and he fought the guilt he felt at the way her eyes cast down, the way her shoulders slumped. She’d made this decision. Not him. Yes, he’d come back to London, but she’d chosen not to come with him, had walked away the second he told her his plans. She’d ignored him. That hurt the most. “I’m sorry,” was all she said.

“Well, that’s great, you’re sorry. You didn’t have to fly all the way across the world just to tell me that.” He saw her hesitate and it made him stop. There was something in her expression that made him think that wasn’t all she’d come to say.

She was looking at him like… like she’d looked at him that morning in his hotel room, the morning she said she wanted to try. He hated the way his heart raced in his chest, the way hope swelled there even after all she’d done.

“What did you come here to say, Emma?” he asked, his tone softer now than it had been a moment ago, but his shoulders were still tense, he still held himself back from her, on edge and afraid of the havoc he knew she could reap on his heart.

“That I-” she started quickly, rashly but she stopped and he saw the way her walls slammed up, holding her back. He hung his head. She couldn’t say it. She’d never been able to say it and she probably never would. What did she want from him? To come back and let him be her dirty little secret again? Because that’s what he’d been. She’d used him and he’d let her and then the second they even thought about being more, she’d looked for an excuse to run and she’d found one.

“Just go,” he said, his tone defeated. “Please.”

“Killian..”

“Please,” he repeated. “I appreciate you coming here and saying you’re sorry. But Emma, I can’t sit here and wait for you to be able to tell me how you feel, for you to decide that you want this to be real. Because I don’t even think you know if you do. I waited for you while you protected yourself, but I think now it’s time for me to protect myself. So please, just go,” he said.

He couldn’t look at her so he didn’t see the look on her face when she stepped back, when she picked up her bag and she walked out of the flat. He stood there for a long time after she’d left. And the longer he did the angrier he became. But not at her. At himself.

He’d accused her of not being able to admit how she felt, and maybe she hadn’t but he’d forgotten one, fundamental thing about Emma… She didn’t use words to express her feelings - she never had. Even with Ruby and Mary Margaret he rarely heard her admit how much she cared about them but she showed it with gestures, with thoughtful gifts and physical touch and by going out of her way sometimes or doing things she didn’t like just to make them happy.

He thought about the first time she’d showed him she cared, when they’d made love in that hotel room the night of Liam’s birthday, when she’d smiled at him at breakfast. He remembered how she’d struggled to tell him she liked him in the dressing room but he’d believed her because he knew already - because she showed him in her own way, by kissing him in front of their friends and holding his hand as they walked into a crowded party - and then again when they walked into the breakfast room to meet their friends. She’d written music with him, had helped him with his own songs, had let herself be vulnerable with him, let him see her fears and let him in as he helped her write… Even before all of that, she'd held his hand on the plane when he'd been scared, she'd taken him on the ferris wheel and won him that stupid giant bear. All this time, she'd been showing him and he'd been blind to it.

He was an idiot. Emma had flown to London. Yes, it had taken her a while to get here. Yes, she’d doubted him and she’d gotten scared. But she’d flown thousands of miles to come find him, to be with him. Maybe she hadn’t been able to tell him how she felt but in Emma’s language… he was a goddamn idiot. She’d flown to London for him. He didn’t need her to make a confession of love. She already had.

He rushed to the door but he knew it was too late. He ran down the hallway, down the stairs and out onto the street. But she was gone. Fuck. Fuck! He called her phone. It went straight to voicemail. He called Belle, called Liam, neither of them even knew she was coming. He called Ruby and Mary Margaret and David and Graham. Nobody knew where she was staying. The trip hadn’t exactly been planned ahead of time, Ruby pointed out. They promised to try to reach her but that she’d told them her phone was dying when she called to tell them she landed an hour ago.

He walked around town aimlessly, his heart racing every time he saw a blonde woman only to be dismayed when it wasn’t her. How many goddamn blondes were there in this city? He got a call from Ruby a little later telling him she’d spoken to her and that she was staying in a hostel in the city. She gave him the name. Said she’d told Emma he was looking for her.

He ran there. Not caring about the weird looks he got for running through the streets of London in jeans and a leather jacket. He was an idiot. He just had to hope that he hadn’t screwed it up so badly that he couldn’t fix it.

He got to the hostel and asked about her. The guy at the counter refused to tell him anything, something about customer safety which, yes, he understood that made sense but it really didn’t help him in his current predicament. He tried to bargain with the guy, tried to plead his case, but he wouldn’t budge.

He sighed, finding an armchair in the lounge and collapsing in it, his head falling into his hands.

“Hey, man,” a woman said and he turned to look at her. She was a young Asian woman, probably a few years younger than him with her hair in boxing braids. She had an American accent and a giant backpack at her feet. He raised a brow at her. “That girl you’re looking for. She about yea-high, blonde, total knockout?” she asked, holding her hand up beside her.

“Aye,” he said, hesitant but hope sparking in his chest. “Have you seen her?” he asked almost desperately.

“That depends,” the woman crossed her arms, looking impressively threatening for her age and size. “Did you hurt her?”

“No!” he answered quickly, then hesitated. “Well, not physically. But I did hurt her - that’s why I’m looking for her.”

“Are you gonna hurt her again?” she asked, raising a brow in a way that mirrored his signature move.

“I bloody hope not,” he said with a sigh. “Please, I’m just trying to make amends. I was an idiot and a tosser and I’m hoping she’ll forgive me, but I can’t ask her to if I never see her again.” The woman looked him over once with a little more judgement in her expression than Killian was really comfortable with. Then she smiled slightly, more of a smirk really.

“I always like a man who can admit he’s an idiot,” she said. “She was looking for some bar,” she continued, pulling out her phone. “The one from this video,” she turned the screen so he could see it and his heart pounded against his ribs. “I told her it’s-”

“That’s okay,” he said, standing. “I know where it is.”

She looked at him strangely before glancing down at the video again. “Oh hey, is that you?” she asked with genuine surprise.

“Aye,” he said. “Thank you…”

“Mulan,” she supplied. “I hope you find her.”

“Me too,” he admitted. As he left he heard her call out behind him.

“When you find her, tell her the whole you’re an idiot thing! You’d be surprised! It goes a long way!” He felt the smile tugging at his lips.

He walked into the bar. He knew it well, it was familiar territory for him. It was a little dingy, the drinks were cheap and carding wasn’t really a thing. Neither was cutting people off which was why it had been one of his favorite places when he was younger, and when he was a drunk. But he’d come back to it recently because it was familiar, because it was one of the first places he and Liam and Graham had played in (before they’d met David). And, because it had open mic nearly every night which meant he could just go up there when he needed a break from the real world, when he needed to let himself get lost in music for a bit.

He’d been on that stage most nights this week. The owner hadn’t complained, he’d actually brought in business now that word had gotten out that one of the Jones brothers was playing there. He was starting to think he’d have to find a new place soon. The point was to blow off steam and feel like a human being again, not to be hounded by people who wanted pictures with him and women who wanted to take him home.

He’d almost accepted a few of those offers in the first few weeks after he got here, after the preparation for the trial started and missing Emma became unbearable. But he hadn’t. One vice just led to another and it wasn’t a path he wanted to go down. And he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He might have thought that Emma had left him but he couldn’t even imagine sleeping with another woman now that he’d known her. It felt wrong. Like a betrayal, despite everything. And he knew it would only leave him empty.

He made his way inside, finding a table near the door so that he could see her if she walked in. He cast a glance around the room but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. That was alright. He would wait. He would wait here until she came in, and if she didn’t come in then he would go back to her hostel and wait there, and if he didn’t find her there then he would bloody fly back to New York and tell her he was an idiot in America.

He had only been sitting there for a little while, drinking a rumless coke when he saw her, not at the door, but getting up on stage, borrowed guitar in hand by the looks of it. He sat up straighter, his heart racing in his chest as she settled on the stool and looked up, right at him. She didn’t look surprised. A small, hesitant smile crossed her face, despite the anxiety and the fear on it.

His heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his body at this point. Had she known he would come here? Ruby had told her he was looking for her, she’d come to the bar he played in. She’d gone on stage just minutes after he arrived. She’d expected him. Only now he had no idea what to expect. Would she be angry, hurt, had he broken this beyond repair?

“Hi,” she said into the mic and a couple of heads glanced up to look at her. He was fixated. She wasn’t looking at him, her gaze moving around the room uncomfortably. “Um, so,” she hesitated in that way she always did when she was nervous, when she had to voice her feelings. “Someone accused me today of not being able to admit how I feel... And that’s actually pretty true. I’m really shitty at talking about feelings - I’m shitty at feeling them honestly. But, this person helped me with that, with a lot of stuff.”

Killian heard a whispered “Is that Emma Swan?” as more people gave her their attention.

“I was always really afraid of love because it’s only ever hurt. So I put up some walls to keep it out. But I don’t want to keep it out anymore.” She finally looked at him and he felt her gaze in his chest, in his gut, in his heart. He smiled at her, a little, nervous, hopeful thing, and she continued. “I fucked up. I really fucked up and I’m just hoping that you can forgive me and that some part of you still feels the way you did two months ago in that hotel room because…” she hesitated, looking down before lifting her eyes back to his. “Because I love you.”

Killian sat there, awestruck and slack jawed. She loved him. She loved him and she’d said it - in front of all these people, in front of all the cameras that had come out when she’d started speaking. His whole body felt numb, like he had no control of his limbs or his fingers. But then she started playing and the song, the lyrics, the memories rushed into his bones and his skin and his blood, filling him and bringing him back to life, to her. To Emma.

“Oh don’t you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me. I said you’re holding back. She said shut up and dance with me.”

He stood, walking across the bar like a sailor drawn to a siren. He didn’t care about the whispers in the room, people recognizing him, the people filming and taking pictures and gossiping. All he could think of was her and the stupid, ecstatic smile on his face, making his cheeks hurt. As he got closer her own smile grew, doubt melting away in her eyes and replaced with an expression he’d seen there so many times before but hadn’t recognized, love. She loved him.

He hopped up on stage, not caring that he was cutting off her song and she barely had time to stand before he caught her face in his hands and kissed her hard and long to the soundtrack of cheers from the bar patrons. He felt her arms slide up his chest, felt her hands grab hold of the lapels of his jacket as her lips curled against his own, laughter bubbling out of her as he kissed her the way he’d wanted to for months. He’d missed her so damn much and now she was here in his arms and she loved him and he was never going to let her go again.

They pulled apart when a wolf whistle cut through the air, making them laugh. Killian looked down at her, into her eyes that were shiny with happiness and with tears.

“I’m sorry,” she said and he shook his head.

“I’m sorry. I was an idiot.”

She shook her head this time. “I love you,” she said again and he felt it fill his entire body.

“I know,” he smiled at her, at the way she rolled her eyes and smacked his chest in annoyance, trying to pull away despite the way her lips turned up. He held her fast, bringing those rolling eyes back to his. “I love you,” he told her and it felt like heaven to finally get to say those words, to finally say it out loud. She smiled, took hold of his hand that was still cupping her cheek, kissed his palm and he felt her love, words or not.

“I know,” she teased and he smiled. Because she did know. She’d known for a long time, she’d been able to read him like an open book from the beginning. He’d just taken a little longer to understand that she’d been right there with him all along.

He glanced around the room, hearing the people who were still excitedly going on about them, some of them knowing who they were, some not but caught up in the moment. He looked back at her, a little worried, knowing she liked her private life private, that that wouldn’t be an option with him.

“You sure about this, Swan?” he questioned. “I don’t think we’ll be able to hide this from the rest of the world.”

She didn’t say anything, she just kissed him again in front of a couple dozen screaming fans. He pulled her into his arms. Trial be damned, distance and time be damned, five years and running and pain and whatever else was to come be damned. He loved her and she loved him and finally, after all this time, he didn’t need to doubt it anymore. He didn’t need to doubt anything anymore. Because he knew now that he would be okay. He had her. Everything else just faded away.

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