#you guys better make rise rat king okay? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

inkandpen22 · 3 years

Text

Fate in Narnia

Pairing: Prince Caspian x Female!Reader

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1.7k

Summary: A year after the Narnian Revolution, Y/N, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie are sent back to Narnia. This means the three have a chance to be King and Queens, but most importantly, it means Y/N and Caspian can see each other again.

Masterlist

I return home from my classes at the university with groceries for dinner. After a long day like today, I’m reminded that it’s just me left to take care of Edmund and Lucy. Peter and Susan joined Mother and Father in America six months ago. They write to us often, promising they’ll send for us too when it’s safer. Honestly, I’m not sure how much longer I can balance classes, work, and picking up the slack for Aunt Beatrice. Her son Eustace and her husband don’t do anything to help around the house. Sometimes it feels like I’m taking care of five people.

“Edmund! Lucy!” I holler up the stairs after I set the groceries down in the kitchen.

When I don’t hear a response, I jog up the steps. They should be back from school by now, it’s nearly time for dinner. I hear a commotion coming from my and Lucy’s room. If it’s Edmund and Eustace going at it again I might just scream and I’m supposed to be the more patient older sibling!

I swing open the door to find Eustace and Edmund fighting. However, my attention is stolen by Lucy standing in front of a picture frame spewing water.

“What have you three done?!” I rush into the room.

“It wasn’t us!” Lucy explains, grinning brightly.

I glance between my sister and the ocean painting frantically. “You mean-”

Narnia. Caspian.

Eustace and Edmund finally notice the water swallowing up the room. Edmund hurries over to us. Based on his grin, he’s thinking what we are too. Eustace screams and goes to rip the frame off the wall.

“I’m just going to smash it!” He threatens.

“No!” My siblings and I struggle with our cousin for the frame.

The ice-cold water fills the room in a matter of seconds. We each struggle to kick ourselves to the surface as the furniture of the room starts to float. I close my eyes, afraid of what may happen. I keep kicking to the surface, in the need of air. When I finally reach the top after what feels like an eternity, I take in a deep breath.

“Swim!” Lucy shouts. “Eustace swim!”

I snap open my eyes and a massive wooden ship is sailing toward us. I scream and Edmund grabs my arm to get me to start swimming. My brother and I swim like Olympians to get away from the path of the ship.

“It’s Caspian!” Lucy yells enthused. “Guys, It’s Caspian!”

Edmund and I halt immediately. Two men swim up and take each of us safely.

“Caspian,” I repeat breathlessly, searching the surface for him.

“You’re alright now,” the sailor assures me as he starts guiding me toward the ship.

“Are we in Narnia?” Edmund asks one of the sailors helping us.

“Yes, you’re in Narnia,” the man chuckles happily.

After Edmund and I are brought up on the side of the ship, one of the sailors offers me his hand to help me on. I step onto the deck and immediately start scanning the many faces for the one I want to see most.

“Y/N!”

I spin around on my heels and am met with the raven-haired prince I’ve been longing to see. A bright smile appears across my lips as I run across the short distance. He opens his arms to me and I leap into them. He laughs deeply, twirling me around playfully. His embrace is warm and strong, just as I remember. Oh, how I’ve missed him. He lowers me to the deck, but his hands remain on my waist.

“How long has it been for you?” He checks instantly.

“A year and you?!”

I can’t hide my worry that it’s been forever. Granted, he looks far too good for it to have been too long. He looks practically the same except for the facial hair.

“Three years,” he smiles and relief rushes over me.

“Thank heavens it wasn’t over a thousand again,” I sigh, laughing lightly.

“You still are older though...” he sucks in air sharply between his teeth.

“Oh stop it!” I swat his arm playfully.

“Beautiful as ever I might add,” he compliments and leans in to plant a kiss on my forehead.

“Caspian!” Ed interrupts joyfully.

“Edmund!”

Caspian and Edmund embrace and Lucy comes to join us. Our attention is stolen when Eustace lands on deck failing.

“Get this rat off of me!” He screams.

A mouse comes leaping off Eustace and bouncing over to us.

“Reepicheep!” Lucy gleams.

“Good to see you again, Rep,” Ed greets.

The mouse bows to the three of us. “Your Majesties, always a pleasure.”

Caspian comes up behind me and drapes a blanket over my shoulders. I thank him quietly and wrap the fabric around myself. His hands remain on my shoulders as we watch my cousin go mad.

“Where in the blazes am I?!” Eustace fusses.

“You’re on the Dawn Treader! The greatest ship in all of Narnia!” A minotaur announces to Eustace.

The boy faints instantly, making everyone on the crew laugh, including Caspian and Edmund. Lucy ridicules them.

“Was it something I said?” The minotaur asks us.

“No, don’t take it personally. He’s just never been to Narnia,” I explain kindly. “In our world, there aren’t any minotaur.”

“Oh, interesting,” the creature replies with a shrug.

Caspian slips his arm around my waist and appears at my side. “See to him will you?” He asks of the sailor.

“Right away, Your Majesty,” the minotaur bows.

Caspian then jogs off to the stairs leading up to the helm of the ship.

“Gentlemen!” Caspian gathers everyone’s attention. “Behold our castaways! Edmund the Just, Lucy the Valiant, and Y/N the Gracious! High King and Queens of Narnia!”

Each of the sailors gets down on one knee and bow their heads. My brother, sister, and I can’t help but smile.

Caspian hurries back down and takes my hand to guide all of us inside. “Come! Let’s get you changed and I can show around!” _________________________________________ As the sun starts to set on the horizon, I watch over the side of the ship as the waves hit against the wood. Dolphins play in them, dancing along with the white foam. It reminds me of when I would watch them at sunrise when we lived in Cair Paravel.

A pair of arms snake around my torso and bring me into their chest. I rest my head back against Caspian and slip my arms over his. He plants a kiss to my temple gently. For a year I’ve missed this. The last time we were in Narnia, Caspian and I hardly had any time after the revolution to settle. It came as a shock when Peter announced we would be returning home. I wasn’t ready to go and Caspian wasn’t ready to say goodbye. It took every ounce of willpower to leave.

“I have a surprise for you,” Caspian whispers in my ear.

“Oh do you?” I snicker.

“Close your eyes,” he instructs with a nod.

Reluctantly, I close my eyes and hold out my hands. I feel a familiar leather sheath and strap brush against my palm as Caspian lowers the object into my hands slowly.

“Okay, open!” Caspian gleams.

My eyes flicker open and sure enough, it’s my old weapon gear. “My dual-swords!”

“I’ve kept them safe since you’ve been gone!” Caspian tells me.

Over the moon, I spin on my heels and pull him into a hug. I can’t believe he’s kept them with him after all this time and even took the liberty of taking them on the voyage. His arms linger around me and I ponder the feeling.

“I’ve missed you,” he whispers against my shoulder.

“Me too,” I mutter solely, resting my cheek against his chest.

Caspian tightens his embrace upon hearing my words. Three years have gone by for him. A year was long enough to feel like a lifetime to me.

“So Caspian-” Edmund voices, making Caspian and I part. I place my weapons down on a barrel and lean against the rail behind me. Edmund doesn’t notice my glaring at him for interrupting. “-have you managed to find yourself a queen in the three years we’ve been away?” Edmund asks, amused.

“Oh uh...” Caspian stammers nervously.

My lips part as I stare at my brother dumbfounded. “Ed-”

“No, none to compare to your sister,” Caspian answers to my surprise.

“Ew,” Edmund grimaces in disgust and cowers off somewhere.

I turn to Caspian in awe. “Do you really mean that?”

“Every word,” he whispers, reaching up and caressing my cheek.

I lean into his touch as my eyes fall shut with immense peace. A sense of peace I haven’t felt in over a year.

“I’ve counted the days, waiting for your return. I knew there was a chance it may never happen, but I couldn’t give up hope. I still love you, Y/N,” he confesses and I open my eyes. “If not more than I did when you left.”

I step forward, leaning into my press my lips to his softly. The sensation is exactly as I remember, if not better than before. I part from him for a second, resting my forehead against his. Our eyes meet, my Y/E/C ones, and his jet black ones that I adore so much. The eyes I’ve dreamt about each night for the past year.

“I love you too, Caspian,” I whisper.

He smiles, releasing a breathless laugh of joy and takes a step back. His hands take both of mine and he rubs them with his thumbs softly. “I... I know you’ve never had a choice and I know I’m asking a lot of you but... will you stay here in Narnia... with me?”

My eyes search his face at a rapid rate. Is he truly asking me this? I take a moment to consider what he’s really asking me. I would be leaving behind my world forever. I may never see my family again. After all, this could be the last time we ever come back to Narnia.

“And I know that would mean asking you another question,” he continues. “I have something else for you.” He steps back and lowers himself to one knee.

My lips part as I start to comprehend what’s happening. The crew takes notices and starts to gather, along with Edmund and Lucy.

Caspian reaches into his pocket and a reveals a gold floral engraved ring in his palm. “It was my mother’s. I’ve kept it with me, waiting for you to return. I don’t wish to bombard you. I know I’m asking you to make an impossible decision and-”

“Yes,” I answer.

“Yes?!” He repeats, rising from his position.

I laugh, “Yes! Yes, Caspian I will marry you!”

He wraps his arms around me and lifts me off the deck. “Oh, I love you so much, Y/N!” Above him, I lower my head and bring my lips to his.

Instantly in my heart, I can feel that my fate was always meant to be forever with Caspian in Narnia.

Masterlist

#narnia #narinia imagine #prince caspian #prince capsian x reader #lucy pevensie #edmund pevensie #imagine #fanfic #ben barnes

191 notes · View notes

elizabeethan · 3 years

Text

Watch the Sunlight Fade: 8 / 17

Emma Swan finds out that her boyfriend has been hiding something from her: he’s in a gang and trying to get out. Reluctantly, she decides to support him, sticking it out with him until they have enough money to flee to Florida. All she has to do is wait and ignore that feeling in her gut that something is seriously wrong. With the help of a kind and handsome stranger, she just might make it out alive.

Or, alternate summary: I’m horrible at summaries, please just read it.

Something of a cross between a What Still Remains AU and a Sons of Anarchy AU.

A/N: Things might be starting to come together this week! Let me know your predictions.

This chapter talks extremely briefly and ambiguously of Emma not exactly wanting to have sex with Neal. Also, there is a discussion of Killian’s semi-violent past. Nothing is detailed, but let me know if you need more information or anything!!

Rated M

Get added to my tag list

Read the Rest

Read my Other Stuff

Read on Ao3

~~~~

The days turn into weeks, although Emma can’t help but feel as though time is dragging her along mercilessly. Nothing has changed since she found out about Neal, how he’s the brother of the leader of The Lost Boys. Nothing, aside from her feelings of safety and security, of confidence in her relationship, being completely shattered.

Every night, she fights off the desperation to walk across the hall and join Killian in his bed, letting his strong arms consume her and blanket her with a sense of ease and contentment. Every night, she fights with herself as she crawls into bed with Neal, a man she thought she loved, and forces herself to put on an act of affection towards him. She forces herself to lie back and accept his convoluted attempts at showing her that he loves her, knowing that he couldn’t possibly. If he loved her, he would never have lied to her. If he loves her, he would let her go.

She also fights with herself through the anger she feels, directed inward rather than at anyone else. Sure, she’s mad at Neal for what he’s done, what he’s putting her through, but at the end of the day, she’s the fool to let herself be put in this position. It’s her fault. She should have seen through his lies from the moment she met him, but she was too desperate for love and family and acceptance. He knew that, too, and he exploited her weaknesses like she meant nothing to him.

It drives her mad to not know what he’s after. She’s hardly the most skilled person at finding people who don’t want to be found, so why he feels the need to target her specifically, she can’t say. It could be argued that, in some perplexing, psychotic way, he thinks he loves her, but she knows now that this isn’t love. It can’t be.

Lying at his side, wide awake through her inability to sleep, she can’t seem to shut her mind off. Each time she closes her eyes, she feels terror at the memories burned behind her lids. Every time she closes her eyes, she sees Neal on top of her, despite her resolve to squeeze her eyes shut each time he decides he wants to be with her. Usually, she’s able to go to another place, letting thoughts of the beach or her happy future serve as a distraction of her fear, but sometimes she can’t ignore the feeling of his rough fingertips burning her skin.

Sometimes, when she’s in Neal’s arms and struggling to get past the feelings that come along with being with him, she thinks of Killian. Not necessarily in a way of longing for him-- not because she wishes she was with him instead, although she can only assume it would be more pleasurable-- but because of the comfort that he always brings her. Being with him is like being embraced by warmth and safety itself. It’s like the rest of the world turns off, and all that’s on her mind is the soothing way his arms wrap around her and the gentle rise and fall of his chest against her cheek. She doesn’t have to worry when she’s with him. She only has to think about how good it feels to be in his arms.

And she’s noticed his physique, too. It would be difficult not to. She noticed that first night, when he lifted his sweatshirt off and pulled his t-shirt up with it. She noticed the other day when he visited her in her cave of an office, leaning his shoulder against the door frame with his arms crossed, muscles bulging out of his sleeves and a tempting smirk coloring his lips as he teased her over the dinosaur of a computer she was working on. She notices the way he looks with almost everything he does, and she knows it's a dangerous game that she’s playing.

It’s not like she never found Neal attractive. But knowing what she knows now, she can’t help but to feel slightly nauseated every time she sees his face. She’s got to get out of this.

~~~~

“Since you did such a good job with the last one, I have another little task for you,” Peter says, his voice teasing and his smirk unsettling.

Emma works hard to maintain her composure as she sits straight up in her seat, one she was finally awarded after weeks of standing awkwardly before the group sat at the table. Today, when she walked into the daunting conference room, Peter invited her to sit beside him, beside Neal, and has been leaning towards her in a way that she knows is meant to appear polite, but holds a threatening undertone.

“Okay,” she agrees, trying to make her voice sound confident and fighting off the fear that never seems to go away.

He turns from her to Neal and remarks, “she really has begun to come into her own, hasn’t she?”

“I guess,” he shrugs, and a part of her feels offended at his nonchalance. Despite her strong desire to be anywhere but here, she thinks she’s done a pretty nice job of trying to fit in. Ever since Gold spilled the beans a few weeks ago about Neal’s status in the club, she’s held it together fairly well on the outside, with the exception of her initial breakdown.

There’s only one person she truly feels comfortable breaking down in front of. Only one person who she really trusts.

She hasn’t told Neal that she's found out his true identity. She and Killian have talked about it at length, sometimes able to spend time alone together especially when Neal leaves, and they’ve agreed that it’s for the best to keep her discovery under wraps. Gold’s subtle drop that Neal is his son and brother to Peter was purposeful, and she can’t let him come out on top. She knows, she’s terrified, but she’ll maintain her composure. For whatever reason, Neal doesn’t want her to know, so she’ll keep playing dumb.

“Who do you want me to find?” she asks, wanting nothing more than to prevent Neal from saying anything else casually offensive. His small digs at her serve a purpose, she now knows; to bring her down as far and as quietly as he can.

“This one may be a bit more of a challenge; a member from a rival gang. While Graham was more of a nomad, this man has ties to the Kings of Elsinore and is better protected. I want you to find out everything you can on him.”

“Okay,” she nods assuredly. “Well, I'll take whatever you have on him and get to work, then.”

Before she can move from her seat, Peter’s hand is on her wrist, oppressively holding her still. “Not so fast. There’s someone I’d like you to officially meet. Call in Hook.”

A man Neal knows, Walsh, she thinks, stands from his chair and walks towards the door, summoning someone inside. She has to stop her jaw from hitting the floor when she sees who.

“You two seem to have met casually, but I’d like you to officially meet Killian Jones. He’s gotten himself into a touch of trouble and, as punishment, will be helping you with whatever you need until this man is located.”

She gulps, anxiety setting in again despite how hard she’s been trying to keep it at bay. She promised herself she would be strong, refusing to let them get to her, to let them see her squirm. She will keep her promise to herself. “Okay,” she murmurs, forcing herself to peel her gaze from Killian’s. She can’t help but wonder what he’s done to get into trouble with Peter. She selfishly hopes they weren’t caught without her knowledge.

~~~~

“What happened?” she begs desperately once the door to her small office is shut, Killian ushering her into the room before practically slamming it. “What are you in trouble for? Killian, please tell me they don’t--”

“Nothing like that,” he hisses, stepping towards her. With a soft, gentle voice only just above a whisper, he says, “love, you have to stay calm. You did phenomenally pretending we don’t know each other well, but we have to keep up the ruse.”

“Sorry,” she whispers. “I know, I just… what happened?”

“Nothing, love, I promise. I only refused to go on a trip with them last week and Peter feared I wasn’t dedicated to the club’s cause.”

“You did?” she asks in surprise. When Neal told her that he wasn’t dedicated, she forced herself to believe him. When Killian says it, she doesn't even consider doubting him.

“Aye. Told them I had pressing matters to attend to.”

She cocks her head suspiciously and asks, “what were the pressing matters?”

“The Mummy Returns was on TV, remember? We watched it together.”

She can’t help the smile that breaks across her face, a snort escaping her throat despite her best efforts as she shakes her head and feels a blush creeping up her neck and pinkening her cheeks. “You’re dumb,” she says, and she feels like a child in a playground with a school crush.

“Well,” he shrugs, giving her a beaming smile. “Here, love. I’ve got the information we have so far. Time to start digging.”

A part of her almost wants to take her time, content to sit in the small office with Killian sitting beside her for quite some time. No one would suspect a thing, what with Peter already telling her that this guy would be harder to find; it’s the perfect excuse to soak in all of the comfort and happiness that Killian brings her despite her circumstances. But she knows they have to keep up appearances so as to avoid being caught in their elicit friendship, so she’ll work at a normal pace and hope no one notices that her smile is genuine rather than the forced one she gives Neal.

James Spencer is certainly a hard man to find. If she didn’t already know that he was linked to the Kings of Elsinore, she would be lost, as the man seems entirely enigmatic in nature. He seems like a ghost, her research pointing her absolutely nowhere, but Peter insists that he’s got ties to this rival club, despite her finding no evidence to support his claim.

She groans after a few hours, dropping her head to the desk as Killian continues to bounce a tennis ball off the wall in his boredom. It certainly is a punishment for him; the fact that he has to sit here and watch her find nothing is likely eating him alive. “It’s only been a few hours, love, you’ll find something soon,” he tries to console. Her frustration wins out, though.

“This is stupid.”

“Aye.”

“Are all of these stupid gangs this hard to navigate around?”

“Aye, I'd assume so. Although, I've never been a bounty hunter.”

She rolls her eyes, picking her head up and glaring. “I wasn’t a bounty hunter. I was a bail bondsperson.”

“That’s different?”

She holds her hands out, requesting the ball from him and catching it when he tosses it, only to throw it back at him with too much aggression. He yelps and laughs at her too loudly, and she can’t help but smile in response. She settles back into her chair after the short reprieve and sighs.

“How can I find someone who doesn’t want to be found if I know absolutely nothing about the environment he lives in?”

He hums in agreement, nodding and remarking, “you need an inside man.”

“No, I just need to know how a fucking motorcycle gang works,” she grumbles. It’s been a confusing few weeks, and she realizes that, while she’s gotten a few small bits of information, she still has no idea what the club’s actual purpose is. “Like… why even bother having one?”

He gives her a soft smile, standing from his chair and dragging it closer to her. “Are you sure that’s what this is about?”

“What?” she asks indignantly, giving him a look that she seriously hopes conveys how annoyed she is.

“Your little tantrum, love,” he teases. “Is it really about not knowing enough about how gangs work? Or is it, perhaps, more about your need to know everything about a situation in order to convince yourself that you’re safe?”

With another glare shot his way, she drops her jaw in surprise and shakes her head. “What the hell do you know?”

He smirks. “I know a lot more than you think. You’re a bit of an open book, love. And I’ve known you long enough now.”

“To what, psychoanalyze me?”

“I may have considered studying psychology, had I gone to university,” he laughs. “I know you’re scared, and I'm beginning to realize that not knowing what’s going to happen, or what’s happening without you knowing, is probably feeding that fear.”

With another heaving sigh, she drops her head back down, resting it on her arms and nodding. “You’re right,” she concedes, although part of her wishes he wasn’t. It’s true, though, being so in the dark about everything is making her feel weak.

His hand lands on her shoulder, staying there for a moment before he gently and slowly scratches his fingertips against her skin and pulls away. “I can tell you what I know, if that’ll help.”

She perks up, lifting her head and recalling a conversation from weeks ago in which he told her that his brother was an influential member of the club. “Yes,” she says, and why she didn’t think to ask earlier, she doesn’t know.

He gives her a nod and another one of his encouraging smiles, the one that always makes her heart skip a beat, and clears his throat. “What I know is that Neal is older, but Peter is in charge. From what I gather, and I was never privy to much, Neal went off on his own for a while and Peter took over everything. Gold’s always seemed a bit more… hesitant around Peter, but I almost suspect that he favors Neal. Either way, Peter was running things behind the scenes for quite some time before Neal left. When he came back, it was with you on his arm and with Peter happily leading, refusing to give up his spot. No one argued with him.”

She nods, but it doesn’t tell her much. She’s always known that Neal is more of a follower, happy to do whatever he can to impress his friends. The fact that he willingly gave up what seems to be his birthright doesn’t really surprise her.

“So what are they doing when they go away on their trips?”

“Usually seeking out merchandise. They deal in stolen goods, mostly watches and the like. Typically, a trip is a heist of some kind. A jewelry store, antique shop… sometimes even banks with safe deposit boxes.”

Emma looks down to her own wrist, Killian’s gaze following closely behind, and notes the watch she wears. The one that Neal gave her after one of his trips. She shudders and moves to take it off.

His hand stops her, looking into her eyes deeply and shaking his head. “Keep it,” he murmurs. “We can’t let them know that you know any of this.”

“Why?” she asks in a whisper. “Why is it so bad if I know?”

“I don’t know,” he shakes his head again. “But if Neal hasn’t told you, there’s a reason for it.”

She nods in understanding, letting her heart rate slow as his hand remains on her wrist, moving down to the top of her hand. She wants to wrap her fingers around his, but she knows she shouldn’t. “Can I ask something about you?”

“Of course.”

“Why do they call you Hook?”

His eyes drop from hers, glancing down at their joined hands, and she watches his brows knit together tightly. She feels his grip on her hand tighten, and despite both of them knowing it’s a bad idea, his fingers weave with hers and he squeezes her hand. She squeezes back.

“There are things about my past that… that when I think about telling you, I become…” he sighs, unable to finish his thought.

“Killian,” she whispers, “I already know you’re in a gang. Can it really be that bad?”

“Aye,” he answers immediately, his eyes meeting her own in a desperate attempt to convey to her something she can’t quite read. “I’m not… a good man.”

“Of course you are.”

“No. Maybe I’ve never thrown knives at a woman I’m supposed to love, but I’ve certainly… I mean…”

“Killian.” Her grip on his hand, the one she should release, tightens. “Whatever happened… you’re not that person. You’re good. I know bad people and I pegged you as good the second I saw you.”

It’s as if he can’t meet her gaze, too ashamed of whatever it is that he’s done. Too fearful of what will happen if she finds out. He witnessed her finding out that Neal has been lying to her, and she wonders if he fears a similar response now.

“I don’t-- it’s silly,” he laughs. “I just… I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“You can’t,” she whispers. After everything he’s done for her, everything he plans to do for her, he could never disappoint her.

He sighs, squeezing her hand once more before turning it over in his and drawing a line across her palm. “I was a-- an angry lad growing up. My father abandoned us, my mother died. I found myself seeking release. Ways to get my anger out. I was never taught anything productive.”

She stays quiet, letting him open up to her on his own terms and distract himself by tracing the lines in her palms. “I came here at fifteen. Gold recruited me for… well, to put my anger to good use, in his eyes. He used me-- he’s always been good at picking out someone’s weakness and exploiting it. Whenever he needed information out of someone, he would bring me along and I would…” he sighs again, taking a deep and grounding breath. “I had a favorite weapon,” he mumbles.

With a nod, she tries to stay calm, tries not to let fear overtake her. She was fearful of Neal when he held the knives and smirked at her, and of Peter when he pressed the tip of the blade to his finger and smiled. But when she presses her hand to Killian’s cheek and makes him look up at her, she feels no fear. She sees only truth and regret and a longing to be a different person.

“It was a hook?” she asks for clarification, but she can see the answer in his eyes.

“From Gold’s boat,” he croaks. “That’s usually where we would take… the people we were interrogating. But, Emma, it’s been years. Liam found out and put an end to it. I think that’s--”

“What?” she asks gently as he cuts himself off, shaking his head painfully.

“I think that’s when things started going poorly for him.”

He’s done so much for her. He’s soothed every ounce of pain she’s felt since she got here, since Neal sliced her cheek and he touched it tenderly. He held her together as she cried harder than she ever had before. He’s vowed to see her out of this danger despite the predicament it puts him in. And still, she feels powerless to help him. He’s sitting before her, broken and in anguish, and she can’t heal him like he has her.

All she can do is take his cheeks in her hands and promise him, “that was not your fault.”

“Emma,” he breathes, his eyes pleading with her, for what, she isn’t sure. “He… he kept insisting I stay out of it. He kept holding me back, refusing to let me go, putting up a fight… I think they got tired of it, eventually. Of someone constantly questioning them and going against their word. He’d still be here if I hadn’t--”

“No. You had no hand in what happened to Liam. And when this is all over, you’re gonna be able to leave too.”

It’s bold of her to assume that it’s something he wants. He’s told her plenty of times that he wants to help her escape, but he’s never mentioned a desire to leave himself. It’s bold of her to assume that that’s in his best interest. But when she looks at the sadness and regret in his eyes, a part of her knows that it must be.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs after a moment of silence, and she lets him cast his gaze downwards again. “I should have--”

“It’s okay, Killian. The things you’ve done in the past don’t reflect who you are now.”

“Of course they do,” he nearly spits, clearly angry with himself as he pulls away and throws his head back. “I was a monster then. How can you not think of me as a monster now? I’m no better than Neal or Peter.”

“Don’t say that. Peter would probably do something like that now if he wanted to. Would you?” She lets her voice rise just the slightest amount, feeling more intensity than before and finding it necessary to convey to him that she doesn’t see him as a monster.

“Of course not.”

“And Neal… don’t even get me started. He nearly pulled his gun on me last week because I asked him where he was going. Would you do that?”

“Emma,” he says softly, finally looking at her once more, and she knows what he’s thinking. She knows he wants her out of his apartment; out of his life.

“You’re not a bad person,” she whispers, leaning closer to him just as he sits forward again, and they’re so close that she can feel his breath warming her nose. “I know bad people. You don’t qualify.”

He nods, his eyes deep and soulful as they bore into hers, and says, “I want to be a good person for you.”

No one has ever spoken to her like this. No one has ever expressed such a definitive desire to be worthy of her. No one has ever been so close to her and not made her instinctively want to pull away. And when she sees his eyes fluttering shut, his lashes touching his cheeks and casting long shadows in the dingy light, she wants to lean closer.

She almost does, too, is tempted to close her eyes like he has and touch her lips to his, but there's a swift knock on the door and they spring apart so quickly that she kicks his shin, causing him to bend and silently groan. She cringes in apology as she jiggles the mouse to her computer, begging it to wake up before the knocker enters the room.

“Any luck?” Gold asks as he pokes his head in.

“None so far,” Killian answers easily, his persona shifting effortlessly and maintaining their cover. “Swan’s searching high and low, but we don’t know much about Spencer’s tactics yet.”

“And Hook’s been a help to you, Miss Swan?”

“Yes,” she smiles, fighting the urge to lunge out of her chair and wring his neck for the name he’s given Killian and his insistence to still use it despite his obvious discomfort.

“It’s clear already that you have the club’s future in mind; I'm sure you’ll find something soon enough.”

She nods, staring as he walks away and cocking her head in confusion. “So weird,” she says softly once he’s gone, trying to remain quiet as he’d left the door ajar.

“What?”

“That’s the second time he’s mentioned the club’s future, specifically. What does me finding this James Spencer have to do with the future of the club?”

His response is a shake of his head, a slight roll to his eyes before he stills suddenly. His eyes widen as he looks down, then his brows knit together in thought, and she can clearly see the cogs turning in his mind. It’s like she’s watching him have an epiphany in real time. He looks up at her once, urgently, then he snaps out of it as if he’s remembering where he is, his demeanor shifting entirely as he smiles. “I’m not sure. The old man never makes any sense.”

“Killian…?”

“I’m sure it’s nothing, love. We’ll just keep working on finding Spencer, alright? There’s no need to worry.”

For a brief second, she feels distrustful of him. It’s reminiscent of when Neal tells her not to worry about things that she couldn’t possibly understand. It’s like he knows something, but he doesn’t think she's capable of handling the truth of whatever it is. For a brief, fleeting second, she doubts him.

But she can’t let herself think like that. Neal lies to her to protect himself. Killian has been nothing but honest with her, wanting nothing but her safety. Truthfully, if whatever he’s discovered is bad enough that he doesn’t want to tell her about it, she isn’t sure she wants to know.

~~~~

Tagging: @courtorderedcake @kmomof4 @stahlop @klynn-stormz @laschatzi @emelizabeth88 @lfh1226-linda @kday426 @elisethewritingbeast @timeless-love-story @captain-emmajones @gingerpolyglot @ebcaver @ilovemesomekillianjones @teamhook @superchocovian @itsfabianadocarmo @tiganasummertree @gingerchangeling @jrob64 @onceratheart18 @xhookswenchx @winterbaby89 @swampmedusa @ultraluckycatnd @dancingnancyy @love-with-you-i-have-everything @shireness-says @snowbellewells @hollyethecurious @ouatpost @daxx04 @the-darkdragonfly @donteattheappleshook @therooksshiningknight @eeteeaytay @xsajx @itsfridaysomewhere @alexa-fangirl-forever @jonesfandomfanatic @wefoundloveunderthelight @qualitycoffeethings @rapunzelsghosts @spaceconveyor @badcats-andmice @batana54 @sailtoafarawayland @deckerstarblanche @zaharadessert @xarandomdreamx @hookedmom @pirateprincessofpizza

#Watch the Sunlight Fade #Captain swan fanfic #cs ff #sunlight ff #captain swan angst #captain swan fluff #emotional hurt/comfort #tw

49 notes · View notes

escapewriter · 3 years

Text

until we meet again

request : prince!seungkwan x thief!reader where the king is neglecting the kingdom so reader and atz/skz members form a crew that reader is the leader of that steals unnecessary stuff from the palace so food and stuff can be bought from other kingdoms and y’all are basically keeping the kingdom alive. but reader gets caught by seungkwan one night and almost gets executed cuz he doesn’t believe reader abt the state the kingdom is in, but opens his eyes later. angst and fluff pls! tyty

pairing : prince!seungkwan x thief!reader

genre : fluff, humor, slight angst

type : oneshot

wc : 3.1k (3100)

warnings : stealing, mentions of execution

main masterlist || svt written masterlist

requests are closed

a/n : this is me killing two birds with one stone. i finish a request along with participating in the royal themed writing event for ficscafe. i hope you all enjoy this, i really liked writing this!

You wait silently behind a bush, keeping an eye out for the signal. Watching carriages and wagons pass by and into the gates of the palace, you hear a crunch behind you. You turn your head, watching Jisung munch on an apple, the savory juice trickling down his chin as he hums in content. “Where the hell did you get that?”

He looks at you, shifting in his squatting position before holding the apple out towards you. “Want a bite?”

Your eyes shifted to the market behind him, seeing a display of apples before narrowing your focus back on Jisung. “I can not believe you stole food from them, do you know how hard it is to make money?” Watching him shrug you turn back around to wait for the signal.

“Okay, but we take from the palace all the time, it’s not like this is any different.” You rolled your eyes, spotting Wooyoung a few feet down the dirt road with his wagon.

“Yeah, but the palace has riches that they keep to themselves. Out here, on the other side of these gates, everyone is trying to survive.” You see Hongjoong peak out of the bush on the other side of the dirt road, blanket in his hand. “Jisung, get ready.”

You both get in a better position, bags secured tightly around your shoulder. Wooyoung arrives at the first checkpoint before the gates. He patiently answers the guards questions before they check the items hidden under the tarp. He looks at Hongjoong, giving him the cue. Hongjoong stands up, walking to a campfire close by, and lets the blanket catch on fire. He yells, running up to the guards, distracting them from checking the wagon as he screams for water and help.

Woonyoung pushes the wagon forward and sends you the signal. You grab Jisung, tugging him along as the tarp on top of the wagon opens for you both. “Welcome!” You smack Hyunjin’s head, telling him to be quiet as the three of you wait for Wooyoung’s next signal.

＊＊＊

The wagon came to an abrupt stop. All bags were full of treasures from the palace that were to be sold to other kingdoms for the sake of restoring the kingdom the King has been neglecting. Crops and other resources that were used to survive have not been shipped to the kingdom for half a year, which is what led to the formation of you, Jisung, Wooyoung, Hyunjin, and Hongjoong. The five of you sneak into the palace, taking various items that seem worth hundreds so you could sell them to gain money to pay for the shipment of cloth, pottery, and crops. It wouldn’t have been this way if the King simply looked after his kingdom.

You stepped out of the wagon and into the hut you shared with the other four. Placing all three bags on the table, you watch Hongjoong sort out all the jewels into separate piles. Wooyoung emerged from the doorway, sitting at the table Hongjoong was at. “You know the three of you almost got caught, right?” You rolled your eyes, a small smile making its way onto your face.

“Yeah, but we didn’t. Plus it was worth it,” you picked up a ring, “if I didn’t take the risk, I wouldn’t have gotten this precious jewel.” You examined the ring, deciding to keep it as a souvenir for the adventures you’ve made with your friends.

“Yeah, but Wooyoung’s right,” you look down at Hyunjin who sat on the floor next to the table as he played with a golden tablecloth, “it was really risky with how far you went.” You sighed, not being able to defend yourself before Hongjoong spoke.

“How far did they go?”

“The Princes’ room.” You smack Jisung on the arm for ratting you out, only receiving a wince then a shrug in return.

Hongjoong said your name in a warning tone, “you better watch yourself. You go too far, you may not come out and we won’t be able to save you.”

“I know Hongjoong, I’m the one that enforced these precautions.”

***

Clearly, you should have listened to those precautions more because here you were, hiding in the closet of the kingdom’s Prince.

Your breathing was staggered as you cupped your hand over your mouth. The rest of the guys should be gone by now, but since it was Hongjoong leading the mission that week, he would be too stubborn to leave. You bite your lower lip in hopes that the prince doesn’t enter the room. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on your side as you heard the stomps of multiple feet enter the room.

“Vernon, you have to help me find it,” your eyes widened, the hand covering your mouth attempting to muffle any that could potentially escape, “I swear, the last time I saw it was on my dresser.”

“Seungkwan, I promise you that it’s okay if you lost your ring, we can always buy a replacement.” You swallowed, mind racing back to the ring that was currently sitting on your table back at home.

“A replacement isn’t the same, I need to find it. You gonna help me or do you have other things?” The floor began to creak, the weight walking past the closet before a sigh was heard. “Where the hell could I have put it?”

“I’ll help you later, my mom needs my help in the kitchen. Let me know if you find it.” You heard footsteps leave the room and the door close. You don’t know what the ring is worth and why it’s so important to this Seungkwan guy, but if you got home, maybe you can find out.

Or not because the second the doors to the closet opened and yours eyes connected, you immediately jumped up, trying to cover the mouth of the man in front of you as you tackled him to the floor. In attempts to calm him down, your mind failed to think that this guy is the Prince and probably knows how to defend himself.

He quickly locks both your left arm and leg and immediately flips you over so he’s on top. Your eyes full of fear as he pins your arms to the sides of your body. He narrows his eyes, staring deeply into yours before turning into a sharp glare. “Who are you?” You don’t answer, but instead look to the side, trying to think of some way to escape. “Are you not going to answer me?”

“Well you can probably guess what I do.”

“Sarcastic one, aren’t you. Trust me, you do not want to be on my bad side.”

You don’t know what took over you at that moment, but you just became a new person. “Believe me then, your highness, you’re already on my bad side.”

＊＊＊

You woke up strapped to a chair in a cold room. The small window with the moon shining through was your only form of light. You don’t even remember how you ended up there after telling the Prince that he was on your bad side. And honestly, he should know that the whole kingdom is growing more hatred towards the royal family.

The screeching noise of the metal door took you away from your thoughts as you saw the Prince come into the room with a small candle. He sets it down on the table, eyes trained on you, waiting for any movement as if you weren’t chained on the chair. “So, thief, are you going to tell me why you were in the castle?”

“I’m a thief, why else would I be there?”

He scoffs, leaning against the wall. “You do realize that I can have you executed, right?” You thought for a moment, a little fear rising but pushed it to the back of your head. You shrugged at him. “You’re not scared?”

You shifted in your seat, thinking about what to say, or maybe what any of the guys would say if they were in this situation. Jisung would probably cry, Hyunjin would look away out of nervousness, and both Wooyoung and Hongjoong would be stubborn and refuse to speak. But what would you say? “No not really.”

Clever.

“Well, you should be! I can have you killed at any moment!”

You looked around the cell you were in, the unimpressed look clearly evident on your face, “Yeah,” you humed, waiting for any sign of death machine, but you had this feeling that he could never kill you and you don’t know why, “you’re not gonna kill me, are you?”

“You have my ring! I know you do!” He whined, catching you by surprise as he stomped his foot. “You’re not leaving here until you tell me where you put it.” He furrowed his eyebrows, sitting on the chair next to the table. Your lips formed a straight line. What’s the deal with this ring anyway?

“I won’t tell you where your ring is until you tell your dad that the entire kingdom is dying.” His eyebrows shot up, a disbelief scoff escaping his mouth.

“Our kingdom isn’t dying.” He folds his arms and looks away from you, frustration evident in his actions as he clenches his jaw.

“Dude, any tools, cloth, crops, and other necessities needed haven't been shipped here for half a year,” you look down, trying to contain your emotions as you thought about how everyone has been struggling to just get out of bed in the morning, “why do you think I steal from the palace? Because then I can sell it just to use the money to pay for the shipment of the things that your kingdom needs. I shouldn’t be the one to do it.”

He sighs loudly, slowly turning around and clapping his hands. “I applaud you. That was some acting and a great lie. Our kingdom is perfectly fine,” he walks closer to you and leans down, face inches away from yours, “you have no idea what you’re talking about.” He stands up and laughs, picking up the candle from the desk before heading towards the door.

“Then I guess you’ll never get your precious ring back.” He stops momentarily in hesitation, but ignores you and continues to exit the cell.

＊＊＊

Seungkwan sat on his bed, his mind racing on whether or not the information you’ve told him was true. It couldn’t be because if the castle got supplies, shouldn’t the rest of the kingdom get supplies too? He rubbed his temples as he fell back on his back, groaning in frustration. The door to his room opened with a creak, standing at the doorway was Vernon.

“What’s up with you?” Vernon walks in, taking a seat next to his best friend. “Still can’t find your ring? I’m telling you, the guys won’t care if you get it replaced, I mean, this castle is huge and it’s easy to lose things here.”

“It’s not that this time,” Seungkwan sat up, “it’s just,” he pauses, debating on whether or not he can ask Vernon, “what if I’m not a good King?” He watches Vernon scoff and look away.

“No offense to your dad or anything, but trust me, you’ll be a way better King than him.” Seungkwan tilts his head, confused as to what his friend was talking about. “You don’t know?” Vernon looks into his eyes, surprised that his friend doesn’t know what has been going on. “Your dad is a selfish coward. The people in his kingdom are dying because he won’t pay the shipment of the crops they need to survive.” Seungkwan looks down at his hands and plays with his fingers, you were right. “The payment increased by a few pieces of gold, but the man is greedy, as if he doesn’t have a whole castle.”

“How do you know about this Vernon?”

Vernon places a hand on Seungkwan’s shoulder, a small smile on his lips. “We may be best friends and have grown up together, but I’m still a peasant and in the lower class that works for your family. I have to go out the gates to get resources for my family because we’re not allowed to eat the food in the kitchen,” he pauses, patting Seungkwan’s back as a form of comfort, “if you went out there, you’d see how bad it is.

＊＊＊

Seungkwan stood in front of the gate to the castle, watching all the people scurry by and the wagons pass by. He looks around, seeing markets have a low supply of food, children who have barely any coverage of clothing, and some huts falling apart as men try to repair them. His heart feels heavy at the sight, his emotions going crazy as he thought about how the people are feeling. Is he on their bad side just like how he is with you?

“Sir! Sir!” He watches a young man walk pass a market, dark circles evident under his eyes as he turns around to face the owner. “Do you know when the next shipment will come in? You and your group have been doing so much for everyone, but we haven’t gotten any new supplies in a few weeks”

The man looks down, sorrow and regret on his face. “Unfortunately, Mister, we don’t have enough money yet. It’s been hard as we have lost a member, but please, try to wait a little longer.”

Lost a member? You? Seungkwan’s feet took him towards the man who was walking away. He placed his hand on his shoulder. “Excuse me,” the man turns to look at him, his eyes scanning Seungkwan who has covered his whole face besides his eyes, “I can help with the rest of the payment.”

＊＊＊

Your head lolled to the side, a sigh escaping your mouth as you tried to sleep in the uncomfortable position. Your eyes shot open as a man cleared his throat. You slowly moved your head up as you watched the silhouette open the door. “So I’m guessing you’re the reason Seungkwan has gone out the gates of the palace?” You didn’t know what to say, mainly because you had no idea what this man was talking about. “Or maybe I encouraged him a bit, but it was unintentional at least.”

He walks up to you, a clunking noise coming from his hand, “I’m Vernon by the way,” he lifts up a string of keys and begins to unlock you from your chair, “if you have his ring, please give it back,” he holds his hand up with the same exact ring on his pinky, “it’s a friendship ring we have with some of our other friends.”

You nod your head, ignoring what he said and rubbed your wrists once they were free. “Why did he go out there?”

Vernon shrugged, looking out the small window of the cell, “to see for himself.” He holds his hand out, helping you stand. “Seungkwan has got to pick a better place than the wine cellar, he knows I go in here.” He stops you from leaving, “I’ll let you go after you eat. Mom always told me to feed visitors.”

＊＊＊

You opened the door to the small hut, a breath of relief escaping your lips as you saw your four best friends together at the table. Immediately, you were surrounded and engulfed into a big group hug. It was nice, the feeling of home and back to the way things were. The only difference was that everything won’t be back to where they were because the Prince will freak out now that you have been set free. Part of you wants to go back and maybe talk him into making some change, but you couldn’t focus on that.

“Now that you’re back safe, we have some news.” You sat on the chair, looking at Wooyoung, who signaled to Hongjoong.

“Earlier today, I was approached by a man who said he could help pay for the shipment. We told him what we do, which I know was probably a bad idea, but he gave us payment that would last probably two years.” Part of you wanted to believe it was Seungkwan because no man living in the kingdom had that much money unless they lived behind the gates, so you just thought it was a traveler.

“That’s great news!”

Jisung took his seat next to you, “We thought they…” You snorted, thinking back to the night before and Seungkwan’s paranoia.

“They couldn’t even if they tried.” You look to your room, excitement bubbling in your chest as you couldn’t wait to sleep on your bed. However, your conscience echoed Vernon’s words in your head. “I’ll be back, I have to return something.”

You heard the boys calling for you, telling you to not go as you went to your room to retrieve the ring. “Gosh, shouldn’t you have learned your lesson by now?”

You grinned at Hyunjin, “you know I never do.”

＊＊＊

You went through the back of the garden where Vernon escorted you out. There weren’t any guards there, for no one had known about this area of the palace. Hopping the gate, you walked to the door of the kitchen and peaked through the window. The lights were turned off, the full moon as the only source that illuminates the room. You heard someone clear their throat behind you, deja vu hitting once again. Turning around, you were met with Seungkwan, behind him was Vernon smirking and walking away.

“I can’t believe he let you leave— no, I can’t believe he fed you and let you leave.” He glared hard at you, to which you rolled your eyes.

“Well you’re not the best host,” you took a step forward, eyes focusing on him, “but I wasn’t the best guest either.” You played with the ring in your pocket as you looked at his hands that were missing a ring. “I forgot to bring my gift before entering your home,” you cautiously walked up to him, took his hand in yours and placed the ring on his pinky finger.

His eye scanned yours, the moonlight capturing your features perfectly. He never looked at you like this, nor has he ever seen you in this light. You’re astonishing.

Smiling softly, you let go of his hand, “thank you for paying for the shipment,” you took a step back, bowing, “your highness.” He looked at you with a hint of guilt in his eyes, but before he could say anything, you were walking away. You turned your head as you were about to hop the gate, “until we meet again!”

#ficscafe royalty drabble event #newskynet #caratwritersclub #seventeen #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #seventeen oneshot #seungkwan #boo seungkwan #seungkwan imagines #seungkwan oneshot #svt seungkwan #seventeen seungkwan #svt #escapewriter.request

91 notes · View notes

fbfh · 3 years

Text

light up the dark [V] - leo x reader

genre: romance + action + enemies to lovers kinda

word count: 2.4k

au: none

pairing: Leo x gothy!child of eros!fem reader

requested: yes teehee

warnings: spoilers for HOO but like what’s new, at least one fuck, mentions of breakfast foods and burger king, one “cranberry fucknut”, brief visit to a historical memorial site, I think that’s it????

summary: you have a very weird dream that leads you to realize you’re actually on some kind of quest! very fun! you, Leo, and Jason follow a lead, find out Chiron’s sending you guys some backup, and realize you’re going to need a very large airbnb

listen to: making mirrors - gotye aka the best dream sequence music

also we’re the rats. it’s not relevant just living in my brain.

a/n: honest to god it tookme so long to write this i forget what happens in the first half rip

also requests r open uwu

Your dream is unnerving, and not just because you had spent years in a dreamless sleep and forgot what dreaming was like. Okay, partially because of that, but also because of the atmosphere.

You’re standing in a dark room. It’s pitch black, but you can make out the shape of the room, which is unusual to say the least. It’s long and rectangular, and the ceiling has cylindrical indents, almost as if giant logs were supposed to fit there. The indents go across the short side, with another in front of it, like a rope bridge across a river. Giant curved metallic discs like flat mushrooms are embedded in the ground at regular intervals.

You get the feeling something’s missing. You stare up at the ceiling trying to get more information, when something hot and glowing presses against the roof. It shines through, casting everything in a strange pink light. You can’t see it, but you know what it is. A translucent sundial that gave off a glowing orange cast.

Sunstone.

You look back down not wanting to hurt your eyes, and they fall on someone else in the room. He hadn’t been there a second ago. He’s blonde, and looking up at the ceiling, seemingly unbothered by the blinding light.

“He has it,” he says, wistfully, almost regretfully.

"Who?" You question.

"I can't pronounce his name, no one can."

"How can we get it back if we can't find him?" He smiles, liking how you know what he needs you to do before he even tells you.

"I can't tell you his name, but he's very old… some may even say archaic…" He looks at you with intention, searching for a spark of understanding. He doesn’t find what he’s looking for, and continues, “and not far from here. Which is good, since I need you to get it back for me.”

“How do we find it?” He tosses you a small, clear container filled with what looks like yellow slime. You look at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“It’s a drop of sunshine,” he explains, “don’t touch it or you’ll burn up. It’ll glow when you get closer to what you’re looking for.” You tuck it in your jacket pocket.

“Can-”

Before you can get out the rest of the sentence, you feel like you’re being pulled out of deep water. Your eyes shoot open, and you take in a quick breath through your nose. You open and close your eyes a few times, and push yourself into a sitting position. There’s a weight on your stomach and you trace the hand back to Jason, who had gently nudged you awake moments ago. His mouth is open and there’s a stale smile, like he was about to tell you to rise and shine. Your stare is unwavering, and he retracts his hand.

“Uh… breakfast is ready,” he says, turning back and heading over to the couch.

“Kay,” you mutter, still groggy and disoriented. Maybe sleep just isn’t for you. Jason hesitates about half way across the room, noticing the lack of cat-like vengefulness in your tone of voice.

“...You okay?” he asks softly.

“Fine, just a weird dream,” you roll your shoulders, back sore and stiff, to try and loosen the two stubborn knots just below your shoulder blades. His eyebrows furrow at your words and you continue, “I’m starting to think I should add a little chloroform to my sleepy time tea.”

“What happened?” he asks, sounding way more serious than you’d expected.

“I dunno, I-” he cut you off, calling for Leo. Jason encourages you to tell them what you’d dreamed about as in depth as possible once Leo comes in from the sitting area, so you don’t have time to gauge how he seems after last night. You feel a little silly trying to describe a surreal dream to them, especially since they seem to be paying such rapt attention. After recalling as many details as you could, they sat in silence for a minute. They share a look, then sigh in unison. Jason pushes up his glasses and squeezes the bride of his nose as Leo lets out a soft ‘fuck’.

“I’ll go iris message Chiron, Leo, do you want to get some food and offerings to burn?” Jason says. Leo agrees, and Jason’s already in the sitting area, misting water in the air with a squirt bottle. Leo puts a hand on your shoulder.

“Why don’t you get dressed, I already made some coffee,” he says, the spike of hesitance that shot through his stomach at his instigated physical contact dissolving when you nod sleepily. An unusually warm feeling clouds through you, less distant and detached than normal. You realize while digging through your bag that for whatever reason, you didn’t hate the feeling of Leo’s hand on your shoulder. You grab your clothes from your bag, and feel a weight in your jacket. You reach into the pocket, and pull out the “slime” from your dream. It glows briefly, fading as you walk towards the bathroom. Huh, you think, at least now we know what to look for. You’re grateful for the example as you get dressed and freshen up, wondering what the hell happens next.

Burning the food doesn’t take long. Leo throws the extra breakfast they’d ordered onto the metal table on the patio, except for a piece of toast he held in his hands. He summons fire until the toast is engulfed in flames, and drops it with the rest. He fans the smoke and asks for guidance, protection, typical pre quest stuff. After a minute or two, he pours out a pitcher of water to extinguish the flames, and heads back into the sitting area with Jason. On his way, he watches you through the open bathroom door for a second as you put on your makeup. You sure are different from girls he’d liked in the past. A strong twinge of pain from the previous night makes him flinch. He shoves it away, and takes a seat, greeting Chiron through iris message. Jason had just finished filling him in on the dream and the sundial, and he looks worried.

“I was afraid this might be the case. I'd gotten word that something like this might have happened, but I hoped it was just hearsay… I'm sorry boys, but you're most definitely on a mission from the gods. The story behind that sundial is long and complicated; in summary, if Apollo does not have his sundial by june, summer cannot happen."

"Wh- like, time will stop?" Leo says.

"Will it just skip to autumn?" Jason adds.

"What about Persephone?"

"Can Demeter do anything?"

Chiron holds up his hands to quiet them.

"I wish I could say, but no one really knows what will happen, only that we do not wish to find out."

"So, what do we do?" Jason asks.

"Who can I send?" Chiron says to himself, "Dear gods, this is… unfortunate."

"Chiron," Jason says again, getting his attention.

"Right, I'm sorry my boy, this whole situation is… preoccupying." Jason agrees, and asks what they should do next.

"Get as much information as you can from what Apollo has told you. I'll gather some people to send over at once, they'll be on their way shortly. This is most distressing…" he trails off, lost in thought again, and the iris message cuts out. Jason's stomach is in knots.

After freshening up, you get dressed, having chosen your clothes deliberately before. If shit’s about to hit the fan, which it looks like it is, you’re going to need a strong balance of comfortable and kick ass. Plus, it’s still the cold part of spring, and New England weather is no joke.

You assess yourself in the mirror, satisfied with your choice; half black half gray cargo pants with chain belts, a long sleeved fishnet top with a black crop top over it, and one of your favorite pairs of platform boots. You topped it off with a layered choker studded with black jewels and delicate chains, asymmetrical earrings - one attached to an ear cuff, the other dangling - and a ring that looks like a snake wrapped around your finger. Last but not least, a dark olive green bomber jacket with ‘god save the queen’ written on the back in paint.

Your mind wanders as you lean closer to the mirror, laser focused on perfecting your eyeliner. The memory of Leo’s hand on your shoulder creeps back up, and your brow furrows at the panicked flush to your cheeks, wondering why you didn’t push him off.

‘Some cranberry fucknut broke his heart last night, I didn’t want him to feel worse’, you think deliberately, refusing room for any objections or alternative solutions your brain keeps offering up. You finish your makeup relatively quickly, pleased at how much better it looks when you don’t sleep in it for years. Your hair is… hanging in there, but you can’t drop everything and redye it now. At least you know what color you want next - a nice, coral tinted red. You’ll have to keep an eye out the next time you go shopping.

Finally, you’re ready. You put away your makeup and pajamas, and make your way over to the boys. You grab some coffee and pick at a muffin, the strategy session beginning.

Jason takes a sip of his own coffee, scowling at the slightly burnt taste.

“Where should we start looking? Do we have any decent leads?”

You sip your coffee, your face mirroring Jason’s moments before.

“The guy from my dream-”

“Apollo,” Jason interjects.

“Right,” you continue, “he said whoever has what we’re looking for has a really hard to pronounce name or something. Maybe we can start there.”

After some back and forth, and consulting of travel guides, you find a memorial for some historical figure with a name that definitely would have gotten him bullied.

“Wasn’t that guy a demigod?” Leo asks, and Jason confirms. You’re already checking the maps scattered around for a route.

“It looks like it’s pretty much just further west from where we are, we can probably get there pretty easily,” you remark. Jason and Leo look at you, then each other. No one has any better ideas, and at least it’s some kind of lead.

Four and a half hours later, you sat in the car in stumped silence. It took almost three hours to get up to the memorial site, an hour to look around and realize there is absolutely nothing there that can help you at all, ten minutes to debate what to do next, and twenty minutes to get burger king, since no one had eaten since breakfast.

“Well, that sucked.”

Leo and Jason give you a look, knowing you’re right.

“Yeah, it did.” Jason agrees matter of factly, earning a small chuckle from you and Leo.

“So what do we do now?” Leo asks.

“Well, no one’s around, we could probably iris message Chiron-” before he could finish his sentence, a shimmery image of a tan girl with choppy dark hair appears in front of him.

Jason and the girl - Piper, apparently - greet each other enthusiastically, then Leo follows suit. It looks like she’s in a cab, holding something at arm's length. You make it out to be a phone, probably to trick her cab driver into thinking she’s on a facetime call or something. Two other people lean over, one blonde and smiling, the other dark haired and irritable, and more greetings are exchanged. You lean slightly to the side so you’ll be out of site and hopefully won’t have to make any introductions. Leo seems to catch onto this, and when Piper’s eyes land on the edge of your shoulder.

“So did Chiron send anyone else?” he asks before she can say anything.

“Yeah,” she replies, “Frank and Hazel are coming from camp Jupiter; Frank’s flying, and Hazel’s getting a ride from Arion,” Leo and Jason nod in understanding, picking up instantly on her deliberate word choice. Christ, you’re going to have to get a bigger place than that hotel room.

“Uh… Percy and Annabeth just started spring break, so they’ll be coming soon. Hazel should get there first, for…” she glances at the cab driver, “obvious reasons, and me, Nico, and Will are on our way now, we should be there in a few hours.”

Your skin is already feeling prickly from the idea of being around that many people. They talk for a few more minutes, and Jason says he’ll tell them the specific address as soon as possible before ending the call.

Thankfully, you all had repacked the car with your bags from the hotel room before you left, just in case you needed anything, so there’s no need to make the two and a half hour trip back to the hotel. You sigh and turn to the boys.

“Why don’t we go get some groceries and stuff, and I can get us an air bnb.”

They agree, pleasantly surprised and grateful for the normalcy of something like grocery shopping, and you ask how many people there are going to be.

“Uh, should be te-”

“Eleven.” Leo says firmly. Jason looks like he’s going to say something, but he bites back whatever it is. Leo’s hands normally dance around like swirling snow, light and natural with subtle patterns if you can figure them out. But right now, his normal subconscious movements seem to be heavier, more intentional. His relaxed expression is set in stone, a silent plea to move on, act like everything’s normal, and you know he’s covering up the depth of the wound that girl left on his heart. A twinge of concern flares in your gut, and you blink, looking away.

“Okay,” you say, pulling out a pen and notepad from your bag to write out a grocery list, “Let’s go. What do we need?”

Jason pulls out of the parking lot, and begins to head to the nearest box store. Your eyes dart over to Leo involuntarily a few times, and by the time you’re almost there, he seems to be almost back to himself. Subconsciously relieved, your mind starts to wander back to the list, skimming it one more time to make sure you don’t forget anything.

Maybe you can pick up some hair dye while you’re here.

#Leo Valdez #leo x reader #leo valdez x reader #Heroes of Olympus #heroes of olympus x reader #LV light up the dark #enjoy babes teehee

83 notes · View notes

fairie-gothmother · 4 years

Text

In The Shadow of Starlight, Part 6: Gut Instincts

First part: The Fall

Previous: The Sheep Will Flock

How long had it been? Days, weeks? Troy lost track of time while he’d been slowly starving to death. Since his excommunication, each moment blurred into the next as whatever he possessed of the leech power fed off of his own body. Finally, he had some relief. He couldn’t help but be grateful for the scientist’s carelessness during the lab experiments. That was the first time he’d taken from any siren apart from his twin. It felt very different. This energy was more restless than he was used to. Maybe this what Ty meant by saying she could taste what she leeched.

Now that Troy had some extra juice, he felt incredible. Even after Lilith dumped him in Sanctuary’s garage on the bottom deck, he was amped. And what did Troy do when he was hyped up and left to his own devices? He beatboxed. The Calypso bobbed his head and swayed to the groove, bustling around the room and inspecting the equipment. He had to admit, it wasn’t a bad setup. He knew everyone was talking about him, probably deciding where to eject him into space, but he wished they’d hurry it up already.

He paused when a noise from nearby threw off his rhythm. A beep came again from a cluttered desk. With no regard to the desk owner’s privacy, he opened one of the drawers to find an Echo device inside. It was an older model, but obviously still in working condition. Troy glanced over his shoulder and scanned the room for cameras before putting the Echo on silent mode and slipping it into his pocket.

“Hey.”

Troy reeled around, startled from the voice and saw the blue haired siren descending the stairs into the workshop.

“Relax,” the sapphire siren said. She wiped the dust off a tool box and casually leaned against it. “Don't look so guilty. I, uh… Sorry for phase-chucking you across Tannis’s lab. You alright?”

Oh. He wasn't busted after all. Still, Troy couldn’t help but be suspicious. No way she cared to chat. Probably cared even less about hurting him. A golden canine glinted through his lopsided smile. “I did ask for it, didn’t I? But yeah, I’m good. No hard feelings, Meg.”

“It’s Maya,” she said, obviously annoyed. “Get it right next time. Okay, Trent?”

Excuse me? Troy furrowed his brow and glared at her. She wore a playful smirk and raised her eyebrows as if daring him to correct her. Interesting. She was messing with him.

“Alright then, Maya. Let’s hear it already,” he folded his arms across his chest. “Are you guys gonna launch me into the nearest sun? Or does the scientist want me as a lab rat for unethical tests? Whatever it is, please don’t tell me it’s life in prison. That’s boring. I deserve something creative.”

Maya shook her head. “Oh, no. You don’t get off that easy. You’re still helping us fight the COV.”

Troy cocked his to one side, analyzing the siren in a skeptical stare. As hard he looked for the smallest hint that she was full of shit, her body language suggested she was telling the truth. He huffed, “So what, no punishment then? I figured the Firehawk would want this handsome mug served on a silver platter.”

Maya gave a one shouldered shrug. “You said you didn’t leech Tannis on purpose. Sometimes powers are weird like that. With some training, you might be able to control it.”

Easy for her to say. If only it was as simple as meditating on a mountain to master his broken siren powers. “Ah, right. You’re from Athenas. I’m sure those monks taught you all about control and restraint, great power is great responsibility, blah-blah-blah. But it’s pretty safe to say that I’m a special case. Clearing my chakras isn’t gonna do it for me.”

“It would at least help with that attitude of yours.”

Troy began pacing and brought his flesh hand to his chin. “I don’t know. It wouldn’t be considered very zen if I accidentally ended up leeching you. Then again, you might taste like chamomile tea.” He cast a half-hearted sideways glance in Maya’s direction.

Maya rapidly drummed her fingernails on the tool box and said, “I take it back. I’m not sorry to phaselocking you.”

“That’s what I thought,” Troy snickered. “Be honest. How many times a day do you phaselock stuff just because you can?”

Maya closed her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her, mimicking a monk’s prayer pose. “I take a great amount of pride in my self discipline so if you must know-” She raised her left hand, and her fingers sparked. A ball peen hammer levitated from a workbench and hovered across the room into Maya’s hand. “I do it all the time.”

Troy scoffed. “Show off.”

The two were locked in a stare down. It wasn’t clear who cracked first, but neither of them could keep a straight face for long. A gentle blue glow emitted from Maya’s siren marks. Troy’s smile dropped as he looked down to his left hand, noting the harsh red light of his own marks.

“You really didn’t know that would happen to Tannis, did you?” the blue haired woman asked softly.

“No,” he answered honestly. “I’m still trying to get a grip on everything myself.” All his life he’d been broken. His parents treated him as a burden, although they never said it outright. He was constantly sick and needed extra help when he struggled with the use of only one arm. And Tyreen never considered him an equal. Even as one of the twin gods, he wasn’t seen in the same light as the God Queen. And now that he knew he possessed siren power without knowing it, his whole outlook was in question. What did it mean? What other parts of himself remained untapped?

Maya said, “Even if it’s only half, you’re still a siren. It’s not an easy life. Sirens have always been feared, hunted, extorted… worshipped.” Troy met her blue-gray eyes for a moment, then redirected his gaze to the wall. “We’re just trying to find our place.”

Troy’s heart skipped a beat. We?

“Yeah,” he said in a voice just above a whisper. He snapped out of it and quipped, “But, you gotta admit. Life would sure be a lot easier if I could phaselock grapes into my mouth all day.”

Maya scrunched up her face and flung an empty can at Troy, who reflexively caught it in his mechanical hand with a metallic clang. He waved it, shook his head, and grinned at her.

“Nice catch, wise-ass. Now, get in the drop pod,” Maya teased.

That tiny thing? Troy had used porta-potties with more legroom than that. “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Troy groaned. The siren smiled wickedly as she held the hatch open and ushered him inside. He sighed knowing the ride back to Pandora would not be a comfortable one.

~~~

On a normal day, Ellie was a delight. Today was not a normal day considering her garage was used as solitary confinement for one of the most hated influencers in the galaxy. Maya recalled her saying, “He’s about as welcome as an outhouse breeze.” It took a while to convince the mechanic that her garage was just as she left it. Eventually, she cooled her boiling blood down to a simmer.

If Maya was being honest, she didn’t actually believe that Troy hadn’t messed with something. Call it a gut feeling. The same gut feeling that knew Ava would be a siren someday. The same gut feeling that told her to go talk to Troy just now. Her gut hadn’t lied to her yet so she didn’t question it. The ex-God King was absolutely still on thin ice, but she was willing to give him a chance. Maybe he just needed some guidance. Either that or he was a hopeless, cocky little shit.

Hydraulics hissed from the rising door as Maya entered the ship’s bridge. The orbital view of Pandora loomed outside the windows of Sanctuary’s observation deck. Crew members clacked away on keyboards at their posts. Lilith and Tannis stopped mid-conversation when they noticed Maya approaching.

“Troy’s on his way back to base,” Maya announced, slightly out of breath from rushing up three flights of stairs. “Cramer should be waiting for him when he lands. What did I miss?” she asked when she noticed neither of them would look her in the eye.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you about Tannis sooner. I decided the fewer people that knew about it, the better. These days, being a siren puts a target on your back,” Lilith apologized.

The revelation that the two of them were keeping Tannis’s siren powers a secret was shocking to say the least, but Maya wasn’t upset. She understood. Her own siren powers had been used by others to threaten an entire planet’s population. “I get it. I’m glad to have another siren on our side.” Maya smiled at the scientist, who awkwardly returned the gesture. It was cute when she made an effort.

“How are you, Tannis?” Maya asked.

“I'm fine. No need to fuss,” Tannis said. “It was actually interesting to experience the leech power first hand.”

Lilith knitted her brows. “Troy could have killed you. We still don’t know his intentions. Who knows what other abilities he’s hiding.”

Maya recalled the look of shock on Troy’s face while he held Tannis’s wrist, and the way he kept his distance from the two sirens afterwards as they processed what the hell just happened. After the conversation she’d just had with the Calypso, Maya felt the need to voice her opinion. “It seems like he doesn't understand his abilities either. I really don’t think he leeched Tannis on purpose.”

The commander was unconvinced. “Even if that’s true, we can’t underestimate what he’s capable of. This is still Troy Calypso.” Lilith stared out of the window at Pandora below. “For now, he’s useful to us. We’re going to need all the power we can get. It’s about time to make our move on the Holy Broadcast Center. There’s been a lot of activity lately. I’ve got a feeling something big is about to go down.”

Claptrap’s eardrum piercing voice called from the command console, “Incoming transmission!”

Speak of the devil. Maya’s heart sank as Tyreen’s smug face appeared on the overhead monitors. She was beginning to wonder if the COV had tapped their coms. Their timing was unusually coincidental.

“Hey, Lil!” the cult leader said in a singsong voice. “How’s life been as a non-siren normie human? Does it suck? I bet it sucks. Not gonna lie, these powers of yours are pretty sweet.” Lilith was seething. Tyreen had a knack for getting under her skin. The Calypso continued, “But hey, you don’t have to take my word for it. You know someone who knows all about my Firehawk upgrade. Just ask my brother.”

Damn. Word had finally reached her. Now Tyreen knew the Crimson Raiders were harboring her disowned twin.

“By the way, did that traitorous freak happen to mention the fact that he stole something from me? Can you believe it? Yoinked it right out from under me. I don’t want your grubby normie fingerprints on my stuff so if he shared it with you, I’m gonna need it back.”

Lilith calmly replied, “I assumed you’d know better since you were the one who dumped him in the middle of nowhere. He wasn’t exactly in any condition to exchange gifts when we found him. He’d been stripped and unarmed.”

Tyreen paused before shrieking with laughter. “She said unarmed! Please tell me you meant to make that pun.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “I needed that. No big deal. It’s a matter of time until I find it anyway. Well, I’ve got places to be. Big milestone event coming up. You’re gonna love it. Oh, and tell Troy I said hi before he runs outta juice and shrivels up. 'Kay? Laterz!” The Calypso winked before the feed was cut.

Maya’s fists tingled with the urge to meet that punchable face. She hollered back at the empty screen, “Troy will be the one kicking your door in, you cocky bitch!”

Claptrap said something about the video transmission’s crappy production value, but no one was listening. Lilith grit her teeth. “Using Troy was the plan, but that’s only if we can keep him alive long enough to get there.”

Maya squeezed her fists tighter, causing her fingernails to dig into her palms. Tyreen was always one step ahead of them. She couldn’t care less that her brother was in the Raider’s custody. Because of Troy’s dependence on her, she never even saw him as a threat.

Tannis chimed, “I have a theory, but you aren’t going to like it, Lilith.” All eyes turned to the scientist. “It is apparent that Troy cannot absorb the life force from living things through touch alone, with the exception of sirens. According to my experiments, it’s highly plausible that he can gain the same effect by ingesting it directly via anthropophagy or hematophagy.”

The room was silent apart from the humming of the spaceship. Maya blinked and said, “Tannis, no one understands you when you talk like that. In layman’s terms, please?”

Tannis sighed in disappointment but explained, “Troy should be able to regain energy from cannibalism or drinking blood.”

~~~

Sorry it took so long for an update. I’ve been working through a serious creative block. Showing my girl Maya some love in this part. This was a little shorter than usual, but I hope it was still entertaining. As always, thanks for reading my garbage! <3

#troy calypso #borderlands 3 #redemption #fanfic #fanfiction #Troy #calypso #au #in the shadow of starlight

13 notes · View notes

funeral-clown · 4 years

Text

for @matttheratking

happy birthday king

you ever take a look at your hands and wonder, how did i get here?

i don’t

pepe the prawn/rizzo the rat 4 times someone thought they were dating and the 1 time they realized they were

1. Kermit

Kermit knocked on the door rapidly, trying to quell his rising frustration.

“Rizzo, c’mon, open up! The cast meeting is in ten minutes, and you still need to present your ideas for the Pizza Rat sketch! It’s cultural relevance is dwindling by the second!”

When no reply came, he grumbled loudly before lifting his tiny green hand to bang on the door again. Before he could connect, it swung ajar in a sudden jarring motion. Light filtered from the dressing room into the dim backstage hall, illuminating the shadowed wooden floor. Kermit wished vaguely for eyelids, so he could blink. Instead he looked down.

“Oh. Er. Hi there, Pepe, I was expecting Rizzo.”

“I know,” the prawn snapped, “I am thinking the whole county knows! Your frog lungs are very loud, and I,” he gestured grandiosely to himself, “am trying to take a nap!”

Kermit coughed, feeling awkward.

“Right. Well. There’s a staff meeting in ten minutes. What are you doing hanging around in Rizzo’s room anyways?”

The prawn shrugged.

“We are the same size. It makes his clothes the perfect size to steal, okay?”

Kermit frowned.

“You have more arms than he does!”

“I also have scissors, okay? Now leave! This king of prawns, he needs his beauty sleep.”

“Yeah, well,” Kermit fumbled for the reigns of the conversation, “Well. If you see Rizzo, tell him-”

“I will be telling him you want to see him. Okay? Okay! Now leave! You are late for your cast meeting.”

With that the door slammed shut. Kermit turned to leave, only to hear a rusty wheezing laugh.

“D’ya think he bought it?”

“Of course he bought it! I am an ACTOR, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now help me back into this pizza costume.”

Inexplicably flustered, Kermit dashed towards the stage for the meeting.

2.Bunsen and Beaker

Rizzo and Pepe were playing their usual game of “Who Can We Scam Into Buying Lunch” when Bunsen and Beaker slid across from them at the table. The friendly banter halted immediately as they blankly stared.

“Hello!” Bunsen offered cheerfully.

“Meemeep!” Beaker echoed.

“Uh. Hi,” Rizzo responded. “What, uh. Whatcha up to?”

“Well! I’m glad you asked, my rodentious friend! Beaker and I were hoping to share our luncheon with our two similarly minded friends today!”

Pepe’s antennae twitched.

“So you will be begging off food too?”

Bunsen and Beaker looked at each other and laughed.

“Oh no, I’m sorry, but we won’t be trying to steal anyone’s lunch. WE have worked tirelessly through the night, and have constructed a perfect alternative for the worker on the go!”

“Please don’t blow to table up,” Rizzo muttered, “Please, God, don’t let them blow the table up.”

“Don’t be silly! Of course we won’t be blowing anything up outside of the lab!”

Beaker nodded, meeping in agreement.

“However, as a pair of hard workers yourselves-” Pepe laughed- “We think this might interest you.”

“Is it food?” Rizzo asked bluntly.

“In a way!”

“Is it sentient?”

“Not so far!”

Pepe looked at him and shrugged. He shrugged in return.

“Alright.”

Bunsen jostled excitedly.

“Very well! Prepare to feast your eyes, and your bodies, on THIS!”

He rolled up the arm of his lab coat dramatically to reveal several stickers with various food shapes.

“Uh, Doc, I don’t wanna harsh your vibe here, but are you saying you’re edible, or are you trying the feed us stamps.”

“Not stamps, my dear friend! Oh no, these are no mere stamps at all! These are nutrition patches! A whole serving of food, compiled on a simple slab of sticky paper! We have cut out the need to eat entirely! We’re sure they will be all the rage.”

Beaker meeped excitedly, showing his own arms covered in piles of the things. Bunsen paused, alarmed.

“Beaker, I thought I told you to stick to just a few! These are still in beta testing, there’s no telling what wearing so many at once will do!”

Rizzo chuckled nervously.

“Hey, you guys haven’t seen Willy Wonka by any chance, have you?”

“No, why, does he work here?”

Rizzo and Pepe slowly started making their way from the table.

“Great visit. I would rethink the nutrient patch thing, though. Taste and smell and texture are all parts of what make food so great!!

“Plus, the unions, they will be all over you, okay? Workers will be told to wear patches instead of eat, it will be a whole mess, okay?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry, Mr. Prawn! Beaker and I have been in our own union for quite some time! Another thing we have in common!”

“....Yeah, sure, okay! Just be ready to juice him.”

“Juice him?”

Beaker slowly began to swell, turning purple.

“Juice him.”

In the frantic mayhem left behind them, one could almost miss the small exchange.

“How do you think he knew about the actors guild for small animals?”

“I dunno, okay? My question is how long until Kermit decides our next parody movie is gonna be Willy Wonka!”

“Honestly,” Rizzo added, “I’m shocked we haven’t done it already.”

3. Gonzo

“Wait, you’re moving out?”

Rizzo stopped to look up at him from throwing things in a suitcase.

“Of the room? Yeah.”

“But where will you go?”

Rizzo dropped the jacket he was holding and jumped up to sit on the bed.

“Well. It’s a bit pricier, rent-wise, but I was thinking down the hall.”

“You pay rent?”

Rizzo wished his eyes could roll.

“No you lamebrain, and neither do you! We all live in the same house, I just thought, you know, it might be time for me to move up in the world. Literally. I’m bunking with Pepe now, things are a little more my size with him.”

Gonzo frowned.

“Is this because I keep stepping on your stuff on accident?”

“It is, in fact! It is in part because of that!”

“I said I was sorry!”

“And I forgive you but you can’t help being a big.....whatever you are any more than I can help being a rat! And when a rat’s stuff gets crushed for the twenty thousandth time, a rat starts looking for other lodging.”

Gonzo sat on the floor so they were eye level.

“You’re not mad at me?”

Rizzo laughed.

“Nah, besides. I think your girlfriend wants to eat me.”

“Camilla would never!”

“A chicken can’t help being a chicken anymore than a rat can help being a rat!”

“Why not live with some of the other rats then?”

Rizzo scoffed.

“I’m related to most of em, and the ones I’m not want their own space too. If y’know what I mean.”

“I don’t!”

“Yeah that’s for the best. Anyway, aside from not getting stepped on anymore-”

“That was only once!”

“Ahem! Aside from not getting stepped on anymore, I think me bunking with Pepe would be good for us from now on too. Give us a chance to grow the act without being around each other all the time.”

Gonzo shrugged, setting a blue hand on Rizzo’s shoulder.

“Well. I like being around you all the time, Rizzo. We’re best friends. But if this is what you wanna do, go live with the prawn, I understand. Besides, I can finally fit that chicken coop in here!”

Rizzo laughed awkwardly.

“Yeah you go wild buddy. I’m gonna finish packing.”

Pepe poked his head in.

“Hey, Ritzo, you ready to go?”

Rizzo pulled Gonzo’s hand off his shoulder before hopping down.

“Yeah almost.”

Pepe squinted.

“There is a weird energy in this room right now, eh?”

“That’s just Gonzo. He can’t help it.”

“It’s a medical condition!”

“I pity your doctor,” Pepe stated.

Rizzo grabbed his suitcase and dragged it to the door.

“Hey buddy, any chance I can get some help with these?”

“Oh, sure!” Gonzo leaned over to pick them up, only to heave and huff dramatically trying to lift the tiny luggage with his fingers. “Oh wow, what do you have in these, rocks?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rizzo scoffed, “It’s the set of encyclopedias my mom sent me for Christmas. Now let’s go, it’s just upstairs!”

He and Pepe ran ahead before Gonzo could object.

“Well,” he muttered, “At least the suit each other well.” He jiggled the suitcases in silent reiteration of the pun.

4. Miss Piggy

She saw them practicing ballroom dance with Pepe in a tutu and just assumed.

Rizzo frowned at the mail.

Pepe looked up from the blueprints of the vending machine he was studying.

“What’s wrong? You look upset. We’re finally pulling off the snack heist of our dreams, okay! We’re never paying for chips again! This is a time of joy, okay?”

Rizzo hesitated.

“I just got a letter from my ma.”

Pepe got up and walked over, concerned.

“Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, it’s alright, it’s just. Well, look.”

Pepe scanned it over.

“Congratulations on your- Oh. She thinks we’re?”

“Yeah. And I mentioned it and turns out she’s not the only one.”

Pepe frowned.

“Really?”

“Yeah! Like what, just because we live together, we’re in a relationship?”

“And eat together every day?”

“And are listed as each others emergency contacts?”

“And know each other’s bank account information?”

“Wait, what?“

“Nothing! We were listing things!”

“I’m changing my pin number.”

“Eh, I can guess it again.”

“Pepe!”

“Back to the list, okay! And we, uh, we share clothes!”

“Sure, if laundry’s backed up! And we, um, we hatch schemes together!”

“Snack heist!”

“And sometimes at night if I am lonely I steal your blankets to simulate the warmth of another person!”

“That’s- I have nothing to say to that.”

“Well I wouldn’t have to do that if I could just crawl in with you, okay?”

“You- Wait. Pepe do you WANT to be in a relationship?”

“I don’t know! If we get married we can’t testify against each other in court.”

“True. And it would be a pretty big tax break, if either of us paid taxes.”

“Kermit and Piggy would finally have competition, okay? We can overthrow there cutest couple powerstreak and usher in a new age! It’s the time of rat and prawn, okay!”

“Year of the rat, baby!”

“And prawn!”

They both stared at each other for a moment.

“So I guess she was right. We are in a relationship.”

Pepe shrugged.

“Eh. I could do worse. And you could not do better.”

Rizzo wished again, and not for the last time, that he could roll his eyes.

“Whatever you say, babe.”

#happy birthday matt #more muppets fanfiction #i realize miss piggy was a cop out i was running out of ideas #i hope you enjoy this bc it was easily the most difficulty i've ever had writing something

3 notes · View notes

erintoknow · 4 years

Text

murder lives forever

Spiraling - A Fallen Hero: Rebirth Fan-fiction

[Read on AO3]

This is who you are now. Better get to work. Tw: death, self-harm [Savages]

“Rosie – position?”

Her voice crackles over the helmet radio, “Yeah, I’ve got clear sights.” Can hear the little hesitation of held breath.

Wait for it.

“You sure about this, Ghost?” She’s already switched to your new moniker, you note. Say what you will about Rosie; the woman is a professional. After tonight the rest of the city will know to mark ‘Puppetmaster’ as out of date.

“It’s – it’s not like you’re going to kill him. Just… flush the game if I give the signal.”

“...right. Okay, you’re the boss, boss.”

“Don’t forget it.”

Tucking your chin down you drop over the edge of the roof you’ve been hiding on. Jet boosters cushion your fall to a light landing. Fastening your cape close around you, you make a difficult figure to spot in the gloom. An impossibly dark shape blending into the larger shadow. Lou Marconi is a career bureaucrat who’s had a job working for the city for almost as long as it’s been called ‘Los Diablos.’ Long-lived and well-paid to be able to afford living in his own private mansion up on celebrity row.

This part of town, houses are further apart and street lighting is reduced. There’s a cool satisfaction to be had in how Marconi’s eagerness to flaunt his wealth only makes it easier for you to infiltrate. A brick wall delineates the edge of the lot. About as tall as you are.

It’s like he’s not even trying to keep you out.

A scramble over the top and you drop into a row of bushes. Tap the side of your helmet to switch into low-light vision. One of Mortum’s handy little programs starts tagging likely laser detectors. Under everything the pulsing thrum of a telepathic dampener blankets the minds in the building.

That’s your first target. With the Rat-King buffering you against the worst of it, you pull a song tight against your head – keep focused. Push forward to where the psychic chaff is the loudest. If you’re lucky, it’ll be a security station for the whole complex. Make your job easier.

So many shadows, so many nooks and crannies for you to stick to as you move along the perimeter of the building. It’s an open secret that Marconi makes his living as one of Los Diablos’s most bribable officials. If you’re going to reshape the city’s politics then the knowledge in his balding, wrinkled head is going to be invaluable.

Breaking into locked city hall safes, or cracking encrypted files is risky and time consuming. So you’ll break into his mind instead. He’s been avoiding public functions for a while now – paranoid little sleazeball. It’s like he thinks someone’s after him or something.

As you get closer to the dampener the pounding in your head intensifies. Can feel it in your teeth. A pressure pushing down, or something like the hiss of a CRT screen, a hissing pain that pierces through your skull with all the precision of a mortar round. Stripping away everything.

The Rat-King chitters in irritation. Sorry guys, we’re almost through this part, you promise. A small security station, wooden walls, windows. Hah. You were worried it would be inside the main building. But this? Marconi may have been around a few blocks but it’s clearly made him arrogant more than it has anything else.

Quick check up and down the walkway, no incoming patrols. Gritting your teeth you slide inside, stepping over the laser detect across the threshold. Inside, a bank of monitor screens takes up one wall while a bored looking man in a blue guard outfit reclines in a chair with his back to the door, feet up on the desk. There in the corner, the stainless steel tube about as thick as your torso rises from floor to ceiling. Take that out and you can finally breathe.

But first the guard.

He doesn’t even register you behind him until you’ve got your arm around his neck, crushing his windpipe. Your other hand claps over his mouth. He tries to pull free, slip out, fight back. But you’re the one in control here.

Finally the man goes limp and you let go. Immediately you get to work examining the control board. Dampeners consume a lot of electricity. You doubt they keep it live all the time, so…. There, the dail. Turn it down and the oppressive weight on your head easies up and fades away. It’s like standing up in the open desert after a week in confinement. Laughing you stretch out your awareness, casting wide and mentally tagging the notes of the guards patrolling the building. And… there’s Marconi in the dining hall, with some guests and… is that?

You sigh. So much for joy. Well, he’s the sole Ranger you haven’t fought yet. Suppose it was time.

Before you leave, you press your left hand to the dampener. The nanovores don’t need much coaxing to reduce the damn thing to dust. You’ll take no chances tonight.

As for the guard… He’ll wake up soon on his own. Raise the alarm. Grabbing his mind, currently placid in unconsciousness, you drag it down deeper, wrap it in a dream. On a whim you coax it to be something nice. Ice cream with his daughters.

There.

That should at least buy you time until the next check in.

Dining Hall is towards the back. You’ll swing around, wait for the bastard to go to the bathroom and snag him on the way back. If it goes well, you won’t even be noticed.

It’s not going to happen like that, but you can hope.

Sure enough, Rosie cuts in on the radio. “Uh, hey, Boss?”

“What?”

“I’m seeing some weird movement.”

“Police?” Was there a tip-off? Who? How? You didn’t even tell Rosie the actual mission until this evening.

“No, I don’t know what. It’s just… bad vibes, man.”

You grit your teeth. ‘Bad vibes’ huh. Well, you only have yourself to blame for encouraging Rosie to be candid. “I’ll take it under advisement. Keep your eyes on the roof.”

“Roger.”

The voice in your ear goes silent again. You hang at the corner. So far, you’ve stuck between the pair of patrols circling the grounds. Not much time left until someone discovers your work at the security station. Marconi is on the other side of those windows. Just his bodyguard with him still…

Fuck it.

Ducking your head down you break into a run, jumping over the hedge and crashing through the window. Alarms immediately start blaring as people start screaming. The Rat-King pulls your attention and you throw yourself down to the ground. Something flies over your head and explodes in a burst of light and sound outside.

As you get to your feet, you find yourself face-to-face with the bodyguard. “Marshal Steel.” You grit your teeth. “Playing private bodyguard?” Not even the inflexible Wei Chen is above making money on the side you guess. Disappointing.

Chen watches you, hands at the ready, a shoulder-mounted mini-missile system attached to his power armor. Great. “I can’t say I care what you think of me, Puppetmaster.”

“It’s Ghost.” You do your best sneer with a mirrored helmet. “Try to keep up, Marshal.” This is your only second time out, and first time using the name, but he doesn’t need to know that. Let them sweat a little.

“I’d heard the rumors, but you disappoint me, Puppetmaster.”

Rumors? So there was a tip-off. Who squealed?

You shake your head. Stay focused. Stay in control. “Just going to ask our friend here some questions. That’s all.”

Marconi bristles at that, presses himself back against the dining table, a half-eaten roll of bread in one hand. His face is bright red as he raises his voice “What are you doing!? Protect me!”

Chen frowns, a note of irritation spiking across his mind. What’s the matter Chen? Don’t like taking orders? He plants his feet, and you tense up, waiting for the missile you’ll have to dodge.

“No!” Marconi shouts, “Don’t blow up my house you idiot!”

“My orders are only to keep you safe.” Catch the briefest glimpse of a smile on Chens face as another rocket goes flying your way. You throw yourself sideways, crashing through the dinner table, the wood snapping in half under the sudden weight of your suit. Your helmet flashes black in response to the burst of light, ears ringing. Stun bombs? What is with these assholes and treating you with kids gloves? You’d think at least Chen would be willing to go for the kill.

Noise – people talking you can’t make out while your ears keep ringing. But, fuck. Marconi’s running. The roof. He’s going to the roof.

You grin.

Great.

You’d give Rosie a head’s up, but the fist coming down on your torso takes priority. You roll out of the way, scramble to your feet. Shake your head, think the ringing is calming down. “Alright. Fine.” You raise your fists. “Only fair I treat the Marshal too.”

“Hrm.” Chen frowns, staring at you. What’s he looking at? Seeing something – fuck – You push off, taking a swing at him. Force him to focus on the fight. He staggers backward. Gets his bearings and then swings his arm around at an unnatural angle. A plated fist catches you in the throat, knocking you to the floor.

Coughing, you sputter, pushing yourself backwards to put space between the two of you as you catch your breath. Damn, when could he extend his arm like that? The Marshal has some new tricks.

“So you’re just another contract killer after all.”

You dodge his fist as you get up, duck under his arm as you get behind him. “What are–” You cut yourself off, hiss, “Don’t think y–you can distract me. I know your tricks, Chen.”

He twists around as you dodge around him, “Do you?.”

Oh fucking goddamnit.

You grit your teeth. This. This is why you should just keep fucking quiet on operations. Don’t get mouthy, you idiot. The two of you trade blows as you dance around each other. This is not good. Not a good match up at all. You’re fast enough that Chen can’t really touch you save for the occasional lucky hit. But are any of your blows getting through that armor? He’s showing no signs of slowing down. You need to disengage. Grab Marconi before he gets away.

The Nanovores? Could they crack the armor? But what if they…? Steel is your enemy. Killing him is part of the end-game. Taking him out shouldn’t be sending your stomach into knots. Why did you even get these damn things if you weren’t going to use them?

Fuck it.

Gritting your teeth you catch his arm with your left hand. Start to coax the Nanovores to life and –

An explosion shakes the building, the chandelier above you both jostling in a chime of clattering glass.

You let go, jumping back. Heart in your throat.

Chen doesn’t press the advantage, glaring at you. “What did you do.”

“I didn’t do anything!” You raise your hands. Under your breath you activate the radio, “Rosie?”

“Boss! Something on the roof just went–”

“I know!” You hiss.

Chen narrows his eyes. “Who are you talking to–”

“Shut up!” You hold up a hand, tuck in your chin, not taking your eyes off Chen. “Keep an eye on the fucking roof. Don’t let him leave.” You jump backwards out of the way of Chen’s fist. “Goddamnit Chen, I’m not here to f–f–fucking kill anybody!”

“Then who set off that bomb, Ghost?”

“I don’t fucking know!” You grit your teeth. Fire is spreading through the building. Was it a bomb or a missile? Which would be better? And then there’s… “Shit.” You look away from Chen, run through the map in your head. “There’s people trapped.”

“What?” Chen tenses up, staring you down. “How do you know?”

“Don’t act stupid.” You snap back. “I know you know I’m a telepath.” You move towards the far end of the hall. “We need to get them out of here.” You put your hand against the wall, frown, glance back at Chen. “Don’t just f–fucking stand there, you idiot. Use your plasma cutter. Help me get through this wall.”

Chen frowns. Some sort of internal debate. Then he nods and follows you. “Roger.”

Fuck, this isn’t going to help you at all. It’s too like the days you and Chen worked emergency relief. But– “Why are you doing this?” Chen cuts through the wall, kicking it down.

“W–what?” You take stock of the other side. Looks like some kind of guestroom? Still not far enough.

“You could have left this to me. It’s not your problem.” Chen follows your direction to the next wall you indicate with a tap of your hand.

“Don’t be stupid. I’m – I’m not a killer.”

Things would be so much easier if you were.

“Still.” Chen grunts, knocking down the weakened square of wall. “Not killing and actively saving are two different things.”

“S–shut up.” You hiss.

Now here’s a room with some damage. One wall is gone, open to the outside air as flames lick the edges, spreading across the ground and burning the furniture. There’s a hole in the floor where part of the basement roof caved in. With a hand gesture you take the lead, hopping down first into the cellar.

Some kind of storage room. More collapsed ceiling blocks the way out. Two panicking employees freeze in their efforts to dig their way out, looking up at you with dread. Ah shit.

Catch sight of a woman trapped under a toppled shelving unit at the far end. Ignoring the two men you push through the rubble towards her. Can hear the ‘thud’ of Chen following you down. Clearing out the rubble.

A broken gas pipe catches your attention and you divert to twist it closed at the nearest valve. Would be just your luck if there’s still enough gas to blow the room up when the flames get here.

Back to the woman. Grit your teeth as you strain to lift the shelf. Chen catches up with you and you jerk your head towards the woman, unconscious against the ground. “Get – get her out of here.”

Chen bends down, cradles her between his arms. As soon as he’s clear you let the shelf drop with a gasp of relief. Jesus. Those exercises are paying off. You shoo him away, as you catch your breath. “Go, idiot!”

He hesitates. Face unreadable. “Be careful.”

“Y–yeah whatever, just go!” You sag backwards as Chen finally turns, shielding his charge under his body as he shoulders through the collapsing rubble.

If you were smart you’d make your own exit now.

You aren’t smart.

Race to the hole up. Boost-jet jump back to the ground floor. The room is fully ablaze now. A second explosion rocks the building, sending you scrambling to keep your balance as you race through the hallway. Rosie’s voice crackles back over the static. “Holy shit, you alive down there?”

“I’m fine. Report.”

Rosie’s voice is frantic, speech rushed. “Guy was gonna fly out. I scared him into cover, then his damn chopper blew up.”

“Shit. Is he still alive?” You stretch out your awareness, canvas the dozen panicking minds fleeing the building.

“I don’t know! I can’t see anything in the smoke.”

“You did your job.” You job up the stairwell, run down the hallway to the roof access. “Pull out. Wait at the rendezvous.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. Every damn cop in the city is going to be on you any second.”

“Consider me appraised.” You cut the connection, up another round of steps and then – oh. A chunk of the building has already collapsed. Well fuck. That’s not a good sign. Gritting your teeth you peer through the smoke and flame, try to appraise a chunk of roof that’s still stable. There!

A running jump with boosters flaring puts your hands just in range to grab the edge. Smoldering wood creaks under your weight as you swing in the open air. Arms scream complaints as you pull yourself up. Wheeze for breath once you’re on your feet. Shit. Not in total shape just yet you guess.

Firelight coats the ruins of the roof in a dozen criss-crossing shadows. Chunks of scattered metal litter the ground. You foot catches on something and you glance down. Dead body. Kick it over, and it looks like a guard. Blue uniform. Damn. Dead for an asshole like this? Not worth it.

Speaking of which…

There! The Rat-King directs your attention. Weak, stunned thoughts. You race across the roof to find a prone Lou Marconi on the ground. Blood gushes out of his nose. Broken? But still alive. That’s all you need. Who doesn’t want the two of you talking this badly?

Well, too bad. They failed.

Maybe – maybe wait until you’re somewhere safe before you say that.

With a grimace you pick up the bleeding man. Only one way off the roof from here. Can your booster jets handle both of your weights?

Fucking hell.

Holding the limp body against you, you take another running jump. Jets flaring against the pull of gravity as you plumet. Slowed, but not by enough. You crash into the brush, white fire cascading up your legs and into your spine. Momentum carries you forward still, sending you crashing against the perimeter wall and

fuck

fuck no no no…

You shake Marconi. Where’d his mind go? It was still there. However faint. However dim. Can’t check for a pulse or breath with your gloves on. Press a hand to his chest as tight as you can bear. Nothing.

You drop the body to the ground with a thud.

He… he was going to die stuck on that roof anyway right? So – so you didn’t really – you were trying to save him. Sure you were planning to rifle through his memories like a thief through cabinets, but you weren’t – you weren’t going to kill him.

Fuck.

fuck fuck fuck

–––

Watch your reflection in the mirror. Only minor bruises and sore muscles from tonight, but you’ll fix that.

The face in the reflection is empty, it’s eyes a rancid green, partially obscured under a veil of curling red threads twisted out of shape. Skin paler than anything has a right to be under Californian sun. Whoever you jacked your genes from clearly was never meant to see the light of day.

Don’t look down, stare ahead at that grimace, gritted teeth. The sharp pain. The knife clatters out of a hand as steam from the faucet brushes the silver, condensing against the glass. With a hiss you shift position, pressed against the counter. Too hot – too warm. You jerk the arm out from under the spray. Pat it down with a towel. Distant screaming alarm bells in the back of your head. Grab a stretch of bandage and wrap the wound.

You’re here. This is real.

Almost.

Almost fooled yourself back there. Sneaking in where you shouldn’t, dropping everything to get someone out of trouble. It’s not you anymore. Let it go.You put two Rangers in the hospital and humiliated a third. You destroyed priceless exhibits and ensured no one would ever remember your old alter ego ever again. Now someone’s died – directly because of you.

‘He was going to die up there anyway,’ ‘it wasn’t your fault.’ Excuses. If you hadn’t had Rosie keep him from the helicopter, then at least his death wouldn’t literally be on your hands.

There’s no turning back from this, only pressing forward. However far you can get before the end.

You’re not going to burn alone.

–––

Jane shades her eyes from the afternoon sun as she looks down at the business card in her hand, frowning. ‘Mia Ochoa.’ A reporter for LD Confidential. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”

The deceptively small Fillipino woman sitting across from her huffs at that. “It’s the most respected independent newspaper in Los Diablos.”

“Uh-huh.” Jane slides the card into her purse, making a show of thinking it over. Wound her professional pride. Make her think she has something to prove. “And… how can I help you, Miss Ochoa?”

Ochoa flips over to a blank page in her penpad, chewing on her pencil eraser. A serious look settles over her face. “I know you were at the Gala the night of Puppetmaster’s debut… and…” She hesitates, watching her lunch partner carefully. “I have reason to suspect you know more about what happened that night then anyone else.”

Jane’s eyebrows shoot up. She ducks down her head, hissing angrily. “And where do you get off making that kind of claim?”

From you, of course. You sent her the anonymous tip-off. Something to whet her appetite. Mia Ochoa is exactly what you need to start working the media angle. An established reporter with a respected reputation for pushing the edge, but not so famous as to be unapproachable by a nobody.

“I have my sources.” Ochoa answers, tactfully. “As I trust you have yours.”

Jane sits back, frowning. Drums her hand on the table. “Suppose I did. What’s your angle?”

Ochoa leans over the table, dropping her voice. “There’s something going on with this city. Something weird. I intend to get to the bottom of it.”

Hrrm… Jane hums to herself and shifts in her seat. Pulls out photocopied piece of paper. Ochoa’s eyes watch the paper as Jane spins it between her fingers. “You hear about Marconi?”

“You’re going to tell me it wasn’t a house fire.”

Jane purses her lips, puts the paper down on the table between the two of them. “Nooope.”

Ochoa picks up the paper, brow creasing as she tries to read the smudged print. “So the whole Puppetmaster arson thing was just a cover-up.”

“Oh, Ghost was there.”

She looks up at Jane. “Ghost?” Blinks. “Oh.” Looks back at the paper in her hands.

“And somebody wanted our friend dead. But it wasn’t Ghost.”

“Who?”

Jane spreads her arms wide, leaning back in her chair. “You’re the famed investigative reporter. Investigate.”

#fallen hero: rebirth #fallen hero fanfic #fanfiction #fhr/Ariadne #tw: death #tw: self harm

23 notes · View notes

alwaysahiccupandastrid · 5 years

Text

(Some of) My Favourite Quotes from the How To Train Your Dragon movies

“This is Berk.”

“There’s Fishlegs, Snotlout, the Twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and...*voice crack* Astrid. *cue heart eyes*”

"You sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much raw... Viking-ness... contained?! THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!" // “I’ll take my chances.”

"Well, between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?"

“Excuse me, barmaid! I’m afraid you’ve brought me the wrong offspring - I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side! This here? This is a talking fish bone!”

"It's not so much what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand."

“You need to stop all...this.” // “You just pointed to all of me.” // “Yes, that’s it! Stop being all of you.”

"Oh, the gods hate me. Some people lose their knife, or their mug. No, not me. I manage to lose an ENTIRE DRAGON?!"

"Oh, man! I should've gone first! 'Cause I was thinking, you know, we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings, but do we have enough... Bread-making Vikings? Or small-home-repair Vikings?"

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it."

“Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain, love it."

“What’s the first thing you’re going to need?” // “A doctor?!?”

“Get back to bed, ya overgrown sausage!”

"Toothless? I could've sworn you had... teeth."

“Ha! It’s like the size of my- AHHHH!”

“I AM HURT, VERY MUCH HURT!”

"Everything we know about you guys is wrong."

“SON OF A HALF TROLL, RAT EATING MUNGE BUCKET!”

"Uh, you're right, you're right, you're right. I'm through with the lies. I've been making... outfits. So, you got me. It's time everyone knew. Drag me back. Go ahead. Here we go."

"OW! Why would you DO that?!"

"That's for the lies! And that's... [Drops the butt of her axe on Hiccup's groin]... for everything else!"

“Da-da-da, we’re dead!”

“And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile.”

[Punches Hiccup] "That's for kidnapping me... [Kisses him on the cheek] That's for everything else."

“They’ve killed hundreds of us-!” // “And we’ve killed thousands of them!”

“You’re not a Viking. You’re not my son.”

“Three hundred years and I’m the first Viking who wouldn’t kill a dragon.” // “...First to ride one though.”

“I wouldn’t kill him because he looked as frightened as I was...I looked at him, and I saw myself.”

“So? What are you gonna do?”

“I knew it. I’m dead.”

“That’s for scaring me!” // “What, is it always going to be this way, this-?!” // *kisses him* // “I...could get used to it.”

“THAT’S MY FUTURE DAUGHTER IN LAW!!!”

"Oh, what? You want an apology? Is that why you're pouting, big baby-poo?"

"Well try this on! [hugs him, tries to wrestle with him] Oh, you feeling it yet? Huh? Picking up on all of my heartfelt remorse?"

“He's down! Oh, and it's ugly! Dragons and Vikings, enemies again! Locked in combat to the bitter--[Toothless pins Hiccup] --AAHHHhhhh..."

[After Toothless licks him] "You KNOW that doesn't wash out!"

"So, what should we name it?" [Toothless scratches his armpit] "Itchy Armpit it is."

“Son, we need to talk!-“ // “Not now, dad, I’ve got a whole day of goofing off to get started.”

“What you’re searching for isn’t out there, Hiccup - it’s in here. Maybe you just don’t see it yet.”

(Slow motion) “Oh my 😏 me likey... take me...!”

"I don't know. It's kind of hard to wrap my head around, to be frank. It's not everyday you find out your mother is some kind of... crazy, feral, vigilante dragon lady." // “Well...at least I’m not boring!”

“...he got me back. Right, bud? You couldn't save all of me, could you? You just had to make it even. So,..peg leg!”

"Never take a toy from a dragon. Don't you know anything?"

“This is why I never married - this, and one other reason.”

“You’re as beautiful as the day I lost you.”

"That's your mother?" // “Well, now you see where I get my dramatic flair!"

“May the Valkyries welcome you and lead you through Odin's great battlefield. May they sing your name with love and fury, so that we might hear it rise from the depths of Valhalla and know that you've taken your rightful place at the table of kings. For a great man has fallen: A warrior. A chieftain. A father. A friend.

“He always said you’d become the strongest of them all - and he was right.”

“You have the heart of a Chief and the soul of a dragon”

“A Chief protects his own.”

“It wasn’t your fault, bud...they made you do it...please, you’re my best friend...my best friend.”

"Yeah! Take 'em down, babe!"

“Now do you get it? This is what it is to earn a dragons loyalty!”

“He’s challenging the Alpha!” // “To protect you!”

“See..I told you it was in here.” (Punches his suit, making his wings sprout up)

“The Chief has come home!”

"This is Berk. A bit trampled and busted and covered in ice, but it's home. It's our home. Those who attacked us, are relentless, and crazy. But those who stopped them, oh, even more so! We may be small in numbers, but we stand for something bigger than anything the world can pin against us. We are the voice of peace, and bit by bit, we will change this world. You see, we have something they don't. Oh, sure, they have armies, and they have armadas. But we... we have... OUR DRAGONS!”

“Ohhh I know you’re a demon, no human legs are that skinny!”

“That’s really just a nitwit who forgot to fire proof his butt.”

“Astrid, I had him right where I wanted him.” // “And now he’s right where I wanted him.”

“I thought this was supposed to be a stealth mission?” // “Yeah, they always start that way.”

“Mmm, gorg-e-ousss...Watch the hair!”

“Hang up those saddles and get married.” // Tuffnut: “The M word.” // Ruffnut: “Gross. Unless it’s me.”

“Marry him, please. You’re the only one with any sense around here. With you wearing the pants, there’s still hope.” “Wow, Gobber! Not awkward at all!”

“Hiccup...this is Berk, son. It’s our home.”

“Even Night Furies?” // “Especially Night Furies.” // “Those are scary!”

“Well, we could just take Gobber’s advice and tie the knot. That should fix everything! But hey, if you’re having doubts about yours truly, I’m sure Snotlout is still available.” // “He only has eyes for your mom.” // “OH, playing dirty now, huh?” // “You asked for it...looks like there might be a wedding after all...”

“Okay okay; you win! You always win!” // “You knew what you were getting into.” // “Uh-huh, right.”

“It’s more like a Bright Fury-.” // “A Light Fury!” // “...Yeah, yours is better, probably...”

“Bud, what’s gotten into you? What is all this slobbering and panting?” // “Isn’t it obvious? He’s in love!” // “Trust me, relationships are nothing but pain and misery. (*Astrid lightly hits him*) Ow... What did I just say?!”

“Show these nay sayers, of which there are many, that you are more than just a malnourished runt with bad hair, strange teeth and a twig for a neck.” // “You're-you're really bad at pep talks.”

“I'll give him a piece of my mind. And by mind, I mean fist!”

“Did you miss the part where we almost died? Have you seen my house?”

“Look, I know this is our home - my father left me to protect it. But Berk is more than this place. WE are Berk! The people, the dragons! I say Berk is wherever we go!”

“We have to fight for their freedom.”

“Furies mate for life, you see.”

“Ah don’t mind him - it’s not your fault you have the body of a Norse God. I myself have that same problem.” (Tries to flex, back cracks painfully)

“Who died and made you Chief?” (*everyone groans/Gothi hits him*)

“Can we lose the whole honking goose thing? It’s hard to imagine wedded bliss with that going off every minute.”

“I’ll go with you, for protection-.” // “(quickly) NO...(pause)...you’re far too important here.”

“Oh, now you can draw!”

“Save it for your girlfriend! Go on, get out of here!”

“About that leg...lose the limp, no ones gonna marry that.” // “I have a prosthetic leg!” // “Yeah, and I have a parasitic twin but you don’t see me limping around about it!”

“I feel like how Ruffnut feels every day: dumb.”

“Odin be spanked!”

“I try to avoid looking at her because she gives me acid reflux.”

“If they’re stuck with Ruffnut, I’m more worried about them.”

“I know what you're thinking. You've never had a prisoner this hot.”

“Oops, you let the dragons out! They’re gonna get you, no this ones gonna get you...!”

“Now that’s a king.”

“Dad? Are you gonna get us a new mom?” // “I don’t want another. Your mum was the only woman for me. She was the love of my life. But with love comes loss, son. It’s part of the deal. Sometimes it hurts, but in the end, it’s all worth it. There’s no greater gift than love.”

“Well, you’re right. You’re back to where you started. But I was the first to believe in you, and I have watched you doubt whether you’re worthy ever since. I am the person I am today because of you. I never told you that but it’s true. You’re the bravest, most stubborn, determined knucklehead I know. Toothless didn’t give you that, Hiccup. He just made it...” // “Easier.”

“So what are you gonna do about it?” // “Probably something stupid.” // “That’s the Hiccup I know.”

“You’re right, bud. It’s time. I was so busy fighting for a world that I wanted, I didn’t think about what you needed. You’ve looked after us for long enough. Time to look after yourselves.”

“Oh, Stormfly...my good girl.”

“So long...you big ugly beast. I’ll miss you.”

“Go on, bud. Lead them to the Hidden World. You’ll be safe there. Safer than you could ever be with me. It’s okay. I love you too. And I want you to be free. Our world doesn’t deserve you. Yet.”

“Go, Toothless...Go.”

“There were dragons when I was a boy. Ah, there were great, grim sky dragons that nested on the clifftops like gigantic, scary birds. Little, brown, scuttly dragons that hunted down the mice and rats in well-organized packs. Preposterously huge sea dragons that were twenty times as big as the big blue whale. Some say they crawled back into the sea, leaving not a bone nor a fang for men to remember them by. Others say they were nothing but folktales to begin with. I’m okay with that.”

“He’s not going to eat your father!”

“Legend says that when the ground quakes, or lava spews from the earth, it’s the dragons, letting us know they’re still here, waiting for us to figure out how to get along. Yes, the world believes the dragons are gone, if they ever existed at all. But we Berkians, we know otherwise. And we’ll guard this secret until the time comes when dragons can return in peace.”

#i wish i could put the entire scripts of all three films tbh #httyd #how to train your dragon #httyd 3 #how to train your dragon 3 #httyd 2 #how to train your dragon 2 #hiccup horrendous haddock iii #hiccup haddock #astrid hofferson #hiccstrid #snotlout jorgenson #valka haddock #stoick the vast #stoick haddock #ruffnut thorston #tuffnut thorston #quotes #fishlegs ingerman

306 notes · View notes

heyyyharry · 5 years

Text

In Another Life Series: Chapter 10 - The Sidekicks

…in which the protagonists aren’t always the only heroes.

Series description: Y/N and Harry are soulmates and destined to meet in every lifetime, but no matter how many times they reincarnate and find each other again, they never seem to get it right.

AU: reincarnation, soulmate!harry, prince!harry, assistant!y/n, witch!y/n.

Chapter 9 - The Witch: Y/N and Harry both have to choose.

Warning: This is the first time I’ve killed off a character guys. HOW DO WRITERS DO THIS?!!! Also this is about 6.5k word long so probably a ton of unedited mistakes in here.

wattpad link

“Hi, I’m here for the job interview?”

“Name?”

“Forman. Jason Forman.”

The hotel receptionist gave the young man a smile then told him to wait until the manager was done interviewing the other candidate as it would take around ten to fifteen minutes more. Being anxious as he was in job interviews, Jason would always arrive this early to mentally prepare himself. So he asked her where the toilet was and took the free time he had to go fix up and release his burden.

Jason followed the lady’s instruction, heading down the long hall and making a left turn; and as he was checking his phone while walking, he bumped into a girl. She immediately screamed at him to watch where he was going and as a habit he repeatedly apologizing for it.

It took him a while to calm down but eventually he recognized that face. He wouldn’t have known who she was had it not been for his best friend spooky relationship with her boss. He’d done a lot of research on Harry Styles to know the girl he had just bumped into was no other than Harry’s ex-girlfriend, singer/songwriter/demon in the form of a pretty girl, Lillie Xander.

“You’re lucky my Gucci shirt is not crinkled! You obviously couldn’t pay for it!” She snarled at him and dusted off her shirt to storm off without one second look back.

Jason had heard a lot about this woman from his best friend, but she was even worse than he’d imagined. He wondered how Harry Styles had gone through two years in a relationship with such an awful person, she was either a very good actress, or Harry was just really dumb, or maybe it was the curse that linked him to someone like her so as to match his previous lives’ storyline, whatever it was, Jason truly felt sorry for him.

When Lillie was finally out of sight, Jason proceeded to the toilet. Unexpectedly, another girl bumped into him for the second time!

“I’m sorry!” This one blurted out before he could, which surprised him for he expected the same attitude as Lillie.

Not everyone is the devil, Jason! Said the voice inside his head.

“It’s okay, it was my fault…I’m really sorry…” he apologized, yet the girl seemed too distracted to pay attention to his words. “Are you alright, miss?”

“Have you seen Lillie Xander?” She blurted out, catching him off-guard.

“I have, yeah…She just left. Why?” Jason’s eyes grew wide. “You know her?”

“Yeah, I was her assistant.”

Well, what are the odds…

“Was?”

“Yup, the bitch fired me for leaking her ‘private information’.” The girl did an air quote as she sticked out her tongue mockingly. “As if the whole world hadn’t already know about her constantly cheating on Harry Styles.”

“Cheating?! Is that true?!”

Judging by Jason’s weird reaction, the girl paused a bit to study his facial expression. She squinted her eyes, scanning him from head to toes, before taking a wild guess, “are you working for those tabloids who write shit about celebrities to ruin their lives?”

It took Jason a while to think of an answer. He rarely lied, especially about his identity, moreover he’d got a job interview in ten minutes or less, he didn’t have time for gossip, but he knew this girl hated her old boss and she would be willing to spill everything about Lillie, which might be able to help his best friend or at least his best friend’s soulmate (it was still weird for him to use that word). He just knew he couldn’t walk away from this opportunity, so he nodded his head quick.

“Y-Yeah? I am…” He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Was it very obvious?”

“You just asked a lot of questions,” she told him then locked her fingers around his wrist. “Come with me, I have a lot to tell you about Lillie Xander.”

“Your Highness, you’re not allowed!”

“Let me in! I need to see her! Mother!”

The armored guards turned a deaf ear to the prince despite how loud he was shouting and how hard he fought to break free from their grips. They only took commands of the Queen and the Queen only, they weren’t afraid of Edward’s empty threats.

“I need to speak to my mother!”

“Your Highness, you need to calm down. Her Majesty doesn’t want to see anyone at the moment.”

Just as the servant finished his sentence, the door to the Queen’s chamber was unlocked and the Queen herself appeared, looking serene, she always was no matter the situation. She waved her hand telling her guards to let go of the young prince and giving him the permission to enter before retreating inside. Her son quickly followed. He was enraged and she knew exactly why he was here, in fact, she’d been expecting him to show up and make a scene.

“What have you done?!” He shouted at her when the doors were finally closed. “You’re gonna have her executed?!”

“Yes, that evil young girl is going to be burnt at the stake at sunrise.”

“No! Ann deserves a fair trial like all prisoners!”

“She’s not just any prisoner!” Argued the Queen. “She’s a witch. Your father would—“

“Father is still unconscious! This is your decision!”

The Queen took a deep breath then turned around to glared at her child, eyebrows knitted together as she asserted, “he would’ve done the same thing to the person who set him on fire!”

“I’m going to speak to her myself,” Edward declared then turned to leave. But before he made it out of the door, his mother raised her voice and stopped him in his tracks.

“You’re forbidden!”

“Forbidden?” He turned around, eyes broadened in shock. “You can’t forbid me!”

“Your father is not dead yet so don’t speak like a King when you aren’t one. I am still your mother and your Queen.”

He didn’t say anything else but he didn’t move either. So the mother marched towards her beloved son and laid a hand on his cheek, causing Edward to step away from her reach immediately. This wasn’t the loving mother he’d always adored. Every single one of her words was full of hatred, he didn’t recognize this woman.

“Trust me, my dear…That girl is dangerous!”

Unfortunately, that one reason wasn’t enough to convince the young prince.

“That’s not why you don’t want me to see her…” he said, it was more of a realization than an assumption. “Does she…know father is still alive?”

For this question, Edward didn’t receive an answer or a reaction. However, he didn’t need one to know what he feared was true.

“She doesn’t, does she?” He nearly choked on his own words. “You had her think she’d killed the King!”

The Queen kept silent. The less she spoke, the more he was afraid of her. She had gradually turned into this monster in those bedtime stories she used to tell him when he was a kid, a cold-hearted monster, and he didn’t want to believe it, he needed to hear it from her.

“Or…you wanted her to think it was me who was responsible for her execution.”

“She’s a distraction, Edward! She clearly put a spell on you, don’t you see?!”

That was a ‘yes’, and Edward quickly extended his arms to keep her from taking a step closer. His hands were trembling and his breathing became ragged. He just couldn’t believe that his own mother was capable of doing something so cruel.

“Did you…plan everything? Ann being in that room when father was set on fire!”

“You’re accusing me of plotting against my husband?”

“You’ve always hated him and Ann! You have every reason to do that!”

Edward’s screaming caused the Queen to instantly backed away. The look of fright on her face, however, did soften the devastated son as she was still his mother, and despite all the things she’d done, he still loved her. Nevertheless, he was broken to pieces for he didn’t know who else to trust, not even himself. That was why he needed to speak to Ann, and the thought of her being put away for something she didn’t do deeply wounded him as he stormed out of her room, dashing past the guards, neglecting his mother’s pleading for him not to go.

Up in the highest tower, Ann was waiting for her death. She hadn’t eaten for days, she wished she could die of hunger, or be eaten by the rats. Any death would be better than being burnt by those spiteful people who was ruling this rotten country.

The moonlight snuck through the small gap high on the wall and formed a bright line on the floor in front of her. She had been staring at it for a very long time, and judging by this light she assumed it was a full moon, just like the night she met Edward. Maybe it was all the work of fate. She was meant to meet him that night, fall in love with him, and receive her devastating ending. They said when you were approaching your death, you began to reflect your entire life, and she did. Ann had faced death once, she was very young and the King’s army burnt down her entire village, she had to watch her mother and sisters burnt alive in front of her eyes. If it hadn’t been for Madam Maggie, she probably couldn’t escape and lived until today. She had escaped death once, now it was coming back for her, and she knew she couldn’t run anymore, she had to accept it. The truth was, she didn’t regret anything, not even her decision to stay, not even loving Edward, not even believing his love for her was true. Nothing.

Now as she was waiting for the sun to rise so as to end her misery at once, she thought about him. Maybe in another, when he wasn’t who he was now, they could be together at last.

“Ann, my love!”

When she heard that voice, she thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She thought she missed him too much so she started imagining things. But when the door was opened and he rushed into the room, her heart nearly flew out of her chest. It took her less than a second to burst into tears.

He shushed her and dropped down on his knees to pull her into his arms. They were both sobbing.

“H-How did you—“

“I paid the guards…I…I had to see you…” he said, holding her face, tracing his fingertips across her features as if to take every single detail into his memory. “Did they hurt you, my love?”

She shook her head no, smiling sadly to him. It was obviously a lie, but he didn’t have to know. She didn’t want to worry him some more.

“I’m so happy to see you again…” She rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes and breathing heavily. “I thought you didn’t want to see me anymore…”

“No, no, no…” He had never shaken his head so fast. “I’m sorry love…I’m so sorry…” The words spilled out endlessly even though he knew they were all useless now, they wouldn’t be able to save her.

“I don’t blame you…I…killed your father…”

“You didn’t, love, you didn’t. He’s alive.”

She squinted her tear-filled eyes in confusion and shock.

“My mother…She wanted you to believe he was dead, and that I was the one who…” He couldn’t say it, he couldn’t even say it. “I would never want you to get hurt…Never…”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

She was smiling. He had no idea why she was smiling, still he did too. Knowing these were probably the last few minutes they had together, at least he got to see that smile again.

“What are you thinking of, love?” He asked hoarsely for he’d been crying too much. She touched his face gently, the magic on her fingertips warmed up his skin in this dark cold room as her presence had done to his heart. Without her, he would probably break like ice, he wasn’t ready to let her go.

“Your eyes glow in the dark,” she said after a while, holding his gaze still as if to record the image into her memory and taking it with her to a place far away from here. “The first time we met they also glowed in the dark…I’ve never told you this, have I?”

“No, love.” He laughed in tears. “You hated me then.”

“Yes, and I didn’t even know you.” She giggled but that was the saddest sound he’d ever heard. “I’m glad you fell into that hole.”

“I’m glad I did…” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.

“I’ll never forget you, Edward.”

“Don’t say that…Don’t—” The Prince pulled her back to his chest and laid gentle kisses all over her face. Ann could feel his heart beating, and this was all she needed right now, to feel his heart before hers burnt to ashes. She knew their time together was running out, so she asked him for a little favor.

“Edward, darling…Can you give me one last kiss?”

He nodded, watery eyes shut tight as he pressed his lips to hers, feeling everything at once, it was bitter sweet to know it was their last. Ann was the first to break away, holding tightly onto his shoulders as she looked straight into his green eyes.

“When…When I’m gone…” She struggled to release those words, yet there was no other way. “You have to move on with your life…”

“Don’t say that!”

“Listen to me! You have to promise me to move on with your life! You’re gonna be a great King, and you’re gonna love again, you’re gonna have a family, you’re not gonna be like your father and mother, you’re gonna have a happy marriage and many children.”

“No…”

“Edward!” She was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, still she held onto him because he was all she had left. “You have to! But please be careful. The people around you aren’t who you think they are…”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have time to explain, just promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I will love. I will…” He nodded fast. “But I won’t love anyone else…Just you.”

“I know…” She snorted in tears while caressing his face. “It may be over for us in this life but we’ll meet again.” She took a deep breath to steady her breathing and looked at him in the eye to make sure he paid attention to her each and every word.

“Find me in another life. Only when you’ve found me, then we can be together…”

“I will.”

“Promise me?”

The prince nodded rapidly. He wasn’t sure what she actually meant, still he gave her his words, swearing on his own life that no matter how many lifetimes it would take, he wouldn’t give up until he’d found her.

Just as they managed to hold onto each other for the very last time, a big tall man in armor kicked the door open. Without waiting for a reaction from Edward and Ann, the King’s guards grabbed each of them then forced them apart by violence. They did as they’d been told, they didn’t care who might get hurt, they showed up by their Queen’s command.

“Don’t you dare hurt her!” Edward roared as he kicked and punched and tried everything he could to escape from the men twice his size who were holding him up like a rag doll. He threatened to take their lives if they refused to let go of Ann, but none of those men seemed bothered.

“I’m so sorry Your Highness,” said one of the guards as two others held each of his arms. “We only take command of His and Her Majesty.”

“It’s okay, Edward…I’ll be okay,” Ann assured him as she got up on her knees after one of the men had tossed her into the corner of the room. She was frightened on the inside but calm on the outside because she needed to be strong in order for him to be strong. If she broke now, he would give up on everything else that mattered to him, and she didn’t want that.

So they took him away, the heartless men wearing steel didn’t feel sympathy for the couple who had barely spoken their goodbyes. Before the door was closed between them, Ann saw Edward mouthing “I love you” to her and his beautiful green eyes like two little flames shining in the dark, just like the first time they met. To hear that he loved her, to know that he did, Ann couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Lisa knocked a couple times on her flatmate’s bedroom door and gave Jason a look as she raised her voice, “Y/N, Jason is here!”

“Tell him to go away!” was the answer they received.

Lisa released a heavy sigh as she kept trying to convince the heartbroken girl. “Honey, you’ve been in there for an entire day.”

“Just let me be, Lisa!”

Jason huffed in frustration then pushed Lisa aside so he could step nearer to the door and speak for himself, “Y/N, I have something I think you’d like to hear!”

There was no answer.

“Y/N?”

“Why is she so quiet?” Lisa looked nervous. “Should we break the door down?”

“Jesus, no!” Jason rolled his eyes in response to the girl’s crazy idea. “She always stays silent when she wants to end the conversation with someone, it’s fine, I think we should respect her wish to be alone.”

Lisa nodded understandingly as she followed Jason away from Y/N’s room. “So what are we gonna do with that recording? You’re gonna publish it online and end the little bitch’s life? I have multi fan accounts, I can��“

“No! God, would you calm down?!” Jason blew up his cheeks and gave out his hand. “Give me your phone. You have Harry’s contact right? In case something bad happened to Y/N on tour?”

“No, she gave me Jeff Azoff’s number though.”

Jason raised an eyebrow at her. “Who’s that?!”

“He’s Harry Styles’ manager, you old-fashioned baby!” Lisa scoffed as she handed the phone to Jason and let him go through the contact list to look for Jeff’s.

“I can’t believe I trusted Harry Styles and he ended up breaking her heart,” Lisa spoke while looking at her phone in the younger man’s hand.

Even though he didn’t look up at her, he still replied by saying, “he didn’t.”

“Are you actually defending him right now? Your best friend is crying her eyes out in her room, Jason!”

“Look, I can’t tell you what happened, not yet at least, but trust me, Harry loves Y/N as much as she loves him.”

Lisa shook her head. “I wouldn’t call it love, they barely know each other.”

Jason didn’t give any further comment, he knew Harry and Y/N knew each other very well, and had been for centuries. It was tragical how they would repeat the same ending until…eternity, if only he could find the cure and give her the happy ever after she deserved. Unfortunately, he didn’t have that power.

Jason dialed the number and put the phone to his ear, inhaling deeply while waiting for the voice on the other end of the line.

“Hello, Mr. Azoff…No! Y/N is fine, I’m her best friend, my name’s Jason. I need to speak to you about something.”

Edward didn’t come to witness Ann’s execution.

Ever since he was brought back to his room, he sat by his window until sunrise, like a dead corpse, ironically he really did wish he could be one. His life had had no meaning before she arrived, and now that she was gone, he’d lost his will to continue living.

Hours had passed, there was a knock on the door. Edward didn’t speak up, didn’t tell the person to come in or to leave, but said person entered the room anyway. It couldn’t be his father who was still unconscious, couldn’t be his mother either, she never left the King’s side, Edward knew no matter how much she’d said she hated him, she loved him much more than that; the only person left who could get pass his guards was his betrothed, Princess Emilie.

“The execution was just over…” she spoke up, and he didn’t even bother to bat an eye to her. He kept staring out at the window, at the lower roofs, at the skyline, at the clouds, anything that would take him away from this reality, even for just a moment.

Emilie shouldn’t have come here. She knew it herself, but she felt bad, yes, she felt bad for what she’d done. Ann was dead, and she should be glad, but all there was left in her heart was guilt.

“Her Majesty asked me to come check on you, my dear…” Emilie carried on as she gulped down her fear. She’d never seen him like this before, he was so quiet, so intimidating. Who knew what he could and would do? She stood there for a while, waiting for a reply from the Prince, and when she was sure he would continue with his silence, she turned to leave. But it was not until then did he speak to her.

“Did you do it?”

“What?” She released a soft chuckle, yet anyone could tell she was scared because she was caught. She couldn’t play dumb for too long, she’d just witnessed a woman burnt alive, it wasn’t just something a normal person could get over easily.

“Did you—“ Edward finally stood up from the seat by his window and the look on his face as he turned to her could slit her throat open. “—or did you not give that note to Ann?”

“N-Note? What…What note?” She started stuttering now. A person who was telling the truth would never stutter.

“They found a note at the crime scene,” said Edward as he took a step towards the trembling girl and backed her up against the wooden door, eyes burning with anger, one of his hand tightened into a fist as he raised the other and showed her one finger. “I’m going to ask you one last chance to be honest to me. Did you, or did you not, give that note to Ann?”

“I—“

“Answer me!”

He slammed his fist against the door beside her head and the words jumped right out of Emilie’s mouth before she could stop herself.

“It was the Queen!”

“What?”

“The Queen…Her Majesty…told me to…I…I didn’t…I gave the note to one of your guards, I…”

“Did you know what was written inside that note?” She opened her mouth to answer, not knowing it wasn’t really a question until he cut her off by shouting at her. “Did you know what could’ve happened to Ann if she hadn’t defended herself against my father?! Did you know that note took away a person’s life?! Did you…” He had to pause to control himself, his voice was shaking, nearly breaking, and she didn’t know whether he was going to cry or hit her or scream or go insane. She just knew he was completely destroyed. Edward continued after closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. There was a lump in his throat and the next questions got out in pain.

“Have you ever thought about how it’d make me feel?” He questioned, eyes glued to hers, the agony was etched on his face. “To know that every single person around me, my mother, my father, my betrothed, had destroyed my only chance of ever being happy. To let people take away the only person I’ve ever loved. Are you happy to see me like this?”

“N-No…Your Highness…I—“

“If you’re going to apologize, don’t…Meaningless apologies won’t bring her back…”

He backed away, and she could finally breathe again. He stood with his head hung low and hands on his hips, looking defeated. Then he called in his guards, leaving Ann bewildered when they barged into the room, ready to take his command.

“Make sure Princess Emilie is kept away from me from now on. I don’t care what my mother says, she is not allowed to speak to me, never again.”

“You can’t do that! I am going to be your wife!”

“I let you live because you are going to be my wife.” He pointed to her face and shut her right up, then turned to his men, nodding his head towards the door. “Now get her out of my sight.”

“You can’t do this!” Emilie cried out, choking on her own words as she fought to get away from the guards, but they had already grabbed her by the arms. “Please, Edward, please! I love you! Give me another chance please!”

Edward shook his head as he said to her, “I’m sorry, I can’t love you, and I never will.”

Then he signaled his men to drag her out of the room. Her screaming and crying didn’t bother him, he was tired; no, he was exhausted. Once he was left alone again, he went back to the window where he found peace and kept sitting there until sunset.

When Edward woke up, it was already night. He found himself lying in his bed, there was an old woman, a stranger sitting in a chair by his side, giving him a sweet smile. She had a gold front tooth, he knew every single one of the servants in this palace and he’d never seen this woman before, he would’ve remembered someone with such a unique appearance.

“What happened to me?” He asked her, and she answered by saying he had fainted.

“It’s okay, Your Highness. You’ll be alright.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name…”

“Because I don’t work in this castle.”

The Prince sat up right away, widening his eyes at the woman and was about to call for his guards when she shushed him and clicked her fingers to slam the windows by his bed shut, causing him to jump.

“Wait, you—“

“Yes.” She nodded. “I’m a witch, darling. I’m a friend of Ann’s.” The name of his lover got his stomach to twist. Her composure was in contrast with the shock in his eyes as he stared at her. And so she introduced herself, telling him to call her Madam Maggie.

Jeff turned off the voice recording on his phone and the hospital room sank back to silence. Harry, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, still in his hospital gown, didn’t say a single word. He stared at his feet, eyebrows pulled together leaving an uneasy grimace on his face. Jeff tried to guess what was on his mind but eventually gave up for he couldn’t decode that facial expression.

“I’m sorry,” was all he managed to say. He couldn’t come up with something better, what to tell your friend when he received the news his ex-girlfriend was pregnant only to find out it wasn’t his just two days later? Harry’s health was getting better (for some reason the doctors couldn’t explain) still it wasn’t good, Jeff could only hope this news wouldn’t be detrimental to his heart condition, which was the reason why he ended up in the hospital in the first place.

“Who sent this to you again?” Harry finally lifted his eyes to look at his manager, who was leaning his back against the edge of the table facing his bed, arms crossed as he gave Harry a shrug.

“Y/N’s friend, Jackson or something.”

“Jason,” Harry corrected him then asked fast, “did you…did you speak to Y/N?”

Jeff shook his head, leaving Harry disappointed.

“Sorry mate, she’s changed her number, I’ve tried contacted her a couple of times. She really doesn’t want to have anything to do with us anymore.”

Harry said nothing, but the frown he was wearing said it all. Jeff asked him what he would like to do with this news of Lillie’s baby being someone else’s because releasing this recording of her assistant confessing to all the bad things she’d ever done would save Harry’s reputation, even though it would do the opposite to Lillie’s and might even sabotage her career. Harry, of course, took the high road and asked Jeff to speak to Lillie’s team first, tell them to release their own apology statement and clarify Harry’s name, then get rid of the recording to save the little amount of dignity she had left.

“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Jeff nodded, pursing his lips, it’d be a lie to say he wasn’t disappointed because he’d been wanting Lillie to pay for everything she’d done, however he respected his friend’s decision. “You should get some rest. I’ll be right back in a bit, yeah?”

Harry replied by thanking Jeff then lied back down with his back facing the entrance. He was clearly acting out of character, he hadn’t spoken much since the day Y/N left, Jeff knew there was something going on between them, everyone in his team knew. They just decided to not bring her up, it was the only way for Harry to move on. He wasn’t so unfamiliar with heartbreaks since most of his songs were about them. However, nobody, not even himself knew, this could be a heartbreak that he would never recover from, not in this life, not even in the next.

Jeff exited the room and walked out into the hallway, ready to make a phone call to Lillie’s management team to end this all at once. But things just wasn’t that easy, by the lift, he found the main star herself. Lillie was trying to get to Harry’s room but was stopped by Sarah.

“Get out of my way I need to speak to H!”

“He doesn’t want to speak to you! Leave!” Sarah held her by the arm when she intended to pass. Lillie immediately shrugged her hand away.

“Touch me again and I’ll sue every single one of you!” She growled at her, eyes squinted. “I am the mother of his baby, I need to speak to him!”

“No you’re not!” Jeff’s voice caught the two women’s attention. Sarah sighed as she stepped aside, leaving Jeff to handle Lillie.

“What do you mean I’m not?” She scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest, then received an eye-roll from Jeff who was so done with her tricks and lies already.

He didn’t say another word, instead pulled out his phone and played the voice recording, all the three people in that hallway could hear loud and clear the voice of her assistant, and every single word she was saying. Jeff stopped the recording halfway through, after the girl had done talking about Lillie’s affair with a guy named Jake.

“I think that answered your question, Lillie.”

Lillie reached out to grab the phone but Jeff was quick to put it back into his jacket’s inner pocket.

“Has Harry heard this?” She frantically asked. Jeff just said a word “yes” and she immediately pushed him aside and ran straight to Harry’s room. Jeff and Sarah chased after to stop her but she already managed to burst right through the door, causing Harry to rise from his bed and slowly opening his sleepy eyes.

The second he saw her face, his expression altered and Lillie spoke quickly before he could yell at her to go, “please let me explain! Please, H!”

“Why is she here?!”

“I’m going to call security,” said Jeff as he turned away but Harry told him to hold on before switching his eyes back to Lillie, who seemed hopeful, probably thinking she might have another chance to fix this. Little did she knew, she’d already run out of trials.

“You have five seconds to say whatever the fuck you want to say to me before getting out of my sight,” he said to the girl, then gave Jeff and Sarah a look. His friends took the cue to leave, closing the door on their way out.

“Whatever you heard on that recording, she was definitely lying!”

Harry couldn’t take it anymore. He gave her another chance to come clean, and that was what he got, more lies. He was tired, exhausted, so he turned his face away from her and waved his hand to the door.

“Just fucking leave.”

“Baby, please I—“

“If you don’t go now, I’m gonna have to call my bodyguard,” Harry said as he reached for his phone but Lillie took hold of his wrist to stop him just in time. She dropped down on her knees by his bed, crying while pleading for forgiveness, she went on and on about how sorry she was and that she shouldn’t have done what she’d done to him, the same old shit he’d heard a thousand times before. She had put up an act for so long now it was impossible for him to feel any sympathy seeing her like this. He knew she never meant it, because if you were really sorry, you wouldn’t keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

“Leave.” He shrugged her hands away, pointing to the door, lips quivering as he said what he should have many times before, “I don’t want to see you…or hear from you…ever again. You stay away from me and my friends, okay? That’s all I ask of you.”

The girl started shaking her head, so fast it could fall off and it’d still be the last thing she cared about. She knew this was hopeless and desperate but what else could she do? She had a baby, a damaged reputation, and Harry was the only good thing left, now he was leaving her too.

“I’m sorry…” She repeated those two words for the millionth time despite knowing it was pointless. “Please…I’m very sorry…”

“For cheating on me?” Harry scoffed, furrowing his eyebrows. “Or for lying that the baby’s mine? Or for using me as promotion for your songs and albums?”

“For everything…”

“Then an apology won’t be enough,” he mumbled, eyes turned away from her since he was unable to look at her for too long without thinking about all the shit she’d put him through.

“But maybe it’s also my fault…” he trailed off, leaving her surprised. “I actually believed people couldn’t change that much. But you…I don’t recognize you anymore.”

The look on his face said it all, now Lillie feared it was really over this time.

“I’m still me…I’m still the same Lillie you met two years ago. Please don’t give up on me…you’re the only thing I’ve ever loved, please don’t do this…”

Hearing that from her made him laugh, in a bitter tone. He looked down, slowly shaking his head. “No. The only thing you’ve ever loved is yourself…”

Lillie parted her lips, yet Harry didn’t want to give her another chance to feed him with more of her lies. He took her hands and forced it off his knees, slightly pushing her away as he finally looked at her in the eyes.

“I hope that baby is going to change that…but I can’t forgive you, not anymore,” he straightforward told her and watched streams of tears running down her face. The sad thing about this was that he honestly couldn’t tell whether she was faking it or she was genuinely heartbroken, and he honestly didn’t even want to know.

Harry picked up the phone and called his bodyguard, leaving Lillie no choice but to send herself out of the room. Once she was finally out of sight, he secretly hoped this would be the last time he spoke to her, he hoped it was really over. He was more disappointed in himself than hurt over the fact that she’d done those things behind his back. It was him who had decided to give her plenty of chances she didn’t deserve, and as a result he received his own punishment. He guessed everything in this world happened for a reason then.

A nurse arrived not so long after Lillie had left to do her daily checkup on Harry’s health improvement. The old woman probably had just run into that girl on her way to Harry’s room, so the first thing she did when she entered was to ask him, “why was that young lady crying?”

“She was probably faking it, I don’t really know anymore.” Harry scoffed as he found humor in his own bitter words. “She won’t be back though.”

“Was she your girlfriend?”

“Ex.” He didn’t know why he was telling this to a stranger, maybe it made his chest feel lighter as he could finally release these thoughts and feelings. “She cheated on me, and had a baby with someone else then she lied and said it was mine…”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay…I guess I deserve that.”

“Why?” She asked, furrowing her brows at him questioningly. “Nobody deserves that, sweetie.”

“I don’t know but bad things happen to me very often.” He lifted his shoulders, sticking out his bottom lip. “I’m starting to think I might have been a very bad person in my previous life and now I’m paying for it.”

His comment made the woman smile. She proceeded to sort out his medications for the day as he kept the conversation going.

“I’m sorry to bother you with my life problems when you don’t even know me,” he said, smiling a bit. “But I can’t really talk about these matters with people who already know me. I’ve troubled them enough…Not that I wanna trouble you too though!”

“It’s okay, sweetie, I’m all ears.” The old woman chuckled. That was when he noticed her gold front tooth, which at first he thought was pretty cool, then he started having a feeling that he’d seen her somewhere before, he wasn’t sure exactly where. Maybe it was just a hunch.

“So all the bad things that you said were all related to love I suppose.”

“Not really…but yeah.” He groaned, watching her placing the pills on a tray and once she was done she pulled a chair to sit down by his bed, and so he began, “there was this girl…”

“There was always one, wasn’t there?” She smiled and told him to continue.

“I’ve never met someone like her before,” he said with a smile. He always smiled when he talked about her and he never realized it. “She’s like everything I’ve ever wanted, it’s like I’ve known her all my life. We have a lot in common, she cares about the things I care about, she cares about my thoughts and expectations and dreams, sometimes I actually believed she could be my soulmate.”

“But?”

“But she doesn’t want to be with me.”

“She doesn’t want to?” The old nurse raised an eyebrow with a mystery beam on her face. “Or she cannot even if she wants to.”

“Maybe a bit of both.” He shrugged. “Maybe she’s scared of being involved with someone with a complicated career like mine.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I…mostly…sing…I’m a singer.”

“That’s understandable, but I’m sure that’s not the real reason.” She reached out to touch Harry’s shoulder, and he literally flinched for he felt a sense of familiarity, like they’d had this same conversation before.

“Look sweetie, I have to go now. I’ll be back in a bit and we’ll continue this talk about this special girl of yours, alright?” She told him before rising from her seat.

As she made her way to the door, he suddenly remembered something so he called to stop her before she was gone. “What’s your name, ma’am?”

“It’s Margaret,” she replied with a friendly grin, her special front tooth sparkled under the light of the room. “You can call me Maggie.”

“I’m Harry.”

“Nice to meet you, Harry.”

And just like that she walked away.

#in another life series #reincarnation!au #harry styles #harry styles angst #harry styles writing #harry styles series #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles fanfics #harry styles fanfictions #harry styles imagines #soulmate!harry #assistant!y/n #prince!harry

346 notes · View notes

staliasjeronica · 5 years

Text

Riverdale 3.10 Thoughts *Spoilers*

- Jughead deadass tried to make us think that Archie was dead when we knew for a FACT that he wasn’t. What a dick lol

- FRED SEEING ARCHIE AGAIN. MY HEART.

- So… it took you being attacked by a fucking bear… to realize that you should have come home/stayed home because Hiram is a crazy, whiny ass piss baby? You literally lost your girlfriend for that but great job you’re the last one to know baby

- VERONICA SEEING ARCHIE AWWWW MY POOR BABIES

- The fact that Archie thinks that he wouldn’t get recognized without red hair… lmao dude sometimes, somehow, red hair looks like brown (some variations of it, anyways, I’ve noticed) so your “disguise” is shit but we still love you baby

- Why would Archie think that Veronica would never want to talk to him? Just because he broke her heart doesn’t mean she doesn’t still care for him, or a part of her loves him. Probably this “new, darker” Archie that no one wanted. Literally the writers need to leave Archie alone he’s so precious and innocent and that’s why we loved him! Hopefully when we slowly get him back to normal he can bring Betty with him and make her realize what she needs in her life/love life and finally the show can rise to a slightly better show.

- I don’t like that Varchie have sex because of Reggie but for everyone hating on her… fuck OFF man she’s currently SINGLE so she can fuck who she wants… I just feel bad for Reggie bc my poor boy is going to have to watch Veronica make this hard decision of who she wants to be with and ultimately it may hurt him. And I don’t want that. But I don’t write the show so yanno what the fuck can I do?

- He got a root beer float so signify that he’s not the same Archie anymore (I’m guessing) uhhh alright sure

- “New vacant look in your eyes…” Jesus fucking Christ Jughead can you ever be considerate, like, ever? At least Betty is showing she truly cares about her future husband (because we KNOW they are endgame okay we KNOW THIS)

- SO NOW THAT HE’S GONE THE SERPENTS ARE HELPING HIM? DUDE IF YOU WOULD HAVE SUGGESTED SERPENT PROTECTION BEFORE HE WOULD NEVER HAVE HAD TO LEAVE. I mean sure we needed to see a change to dark Archie (why the fuck was it a bear attack that did it though? A dream would have simply sufficed but sure) but wow you guys are horrible at plans if you come up with them wayyyyy too late

- I’m still mad at Jughead for sending Fangs deep undercover and risking his life to get his spot in the Serpents back. It’s clear that Jugrat has wanted to find someone to send in, but was too much of a whiny piss baby to ask, so he waited until he could pretty much blackmail/emotionally manipulate one of the Serpents and so he chose Fangs. (Also he did Choni wrong and Jugrat is dead to me until he finds some sense and ultimately ends up with Veronica)

- Can’t wait to see how much chemistry Archie and Betty have that Betty and Jugrat don’t

- I hate Betty but I feel bad for her about what her mom did. She’s so fucking mind washed and it hurts because the Alice we all know and love would NEVER do this shit.

- DADS OF RIVERDALE COMING TO INTIMIDATE HIRAM YES BITCH!!! FRED SAYING HE’D KILL HIRAM YES BITCH FP JONES NOT TAKING CONTROL/TAKING OVER FRED’S MOMENT YES BITCH

- Archie has to repeat Junior year? I mean it makes sense but I know the fear of not being able to graduate with friends… god lEAVE ARCHIE ALONE DAMMIT HE’S BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH

- REGGIE’S BIG ASS HAPPY ASS SMILE WHEN HE’S WALKING TOWARDS VERONICA I’M— HE’S SO FUCKING IN LOVE WITH HER MY HEART!!! He cares so much, she didn’t text him (because she was with Archie 😬😬😬) BUT HER PUSHING HIM AWAY MAKES ME SAD. I mean I know WHY it just HURTS

- “I get it, Archie’s back. Enough said” REGGIE FUCKING GULPED DOWN HIS EMOTIONS I’M SO SAD HE DESERVES THE WORLD.

- But also realizing that Reggie and Veronica were openly affectionate at school means that Betty and Jughead know? And they DIDN’T rat on her to Archie the second he came back? Mmhm ooc but thank GOD

- Oh yeah deadass forgot “Claudius” was a thing like he hasn’t been here for fucking years lmao

- See, this Hiram, the forceful “this is not a request” Hiram would have been a MUCH better villain than “I’m torturing this boy just for kicks” but wbk the Riverdale writers are on crack and can’t see/make a good storyline.

- We know FP becomes Sheriff which I guess will be good against Hiram and for the Serpent’s CRIMINAL ACTIVITY (fuck you Jugrat for not knowing how a GANG works you fucking idiot) but let me ask this… why the flying fuck aren’t they just giving SHERIFF Keller his job back? Like we know he knows how to be a fucking Sheriff so why are they going through the trouble of finding another one? Like what the fuck guys it’s NOT THAT HARD

- I wanted BARCHIE to study but BARCHIE AND JUGHEAD but I guess I’ll take what I can get

- FANGS MY BABY BOY. Thank God Barchie can be alone ❤️❤️❤️

- So because I don’t care about spoilers I already know who the Gargoyle King is (which I’ll rant about when it gets to that point) BUT IF HE KNOWS FANGS WHY DOES HE TRY TO FUCKING RECUIT HIM INTO HIS INNER CIRCLE LMAO *ps my baby Fangs looks so scared! If Jughead fucks this up and gets Fangs hurt I’m sacrificing him to Hiram myself

- “There he is” BITCH YOU CAN’T TELL ME BETTY IS SO FUCKING IN LOVE WITH ARCHIE LIKE WE NEVER SEE HIS THIS TRULY HAPPY!!!

- AWWW A WELCOME HOME/STUDY PARTY. Poor Reggie having to hear Veronica call him lover… but the angst… I’m here for it

- VERONICA SINGING IN SPANISH BITCHHH FUCK ME UP SHE SOUNDS SO FUCKING GOOD! But being able to see Reggie behind Archie reacting to Varchie is so angsty and incredible

- Archie having an anxiety attack my poor child LEAVE HIM ALONE JESUS CHRIST WRITERS

- See, this mind game shit that Hal does to Betty is where they should have gone. I mean, only that not the sudden ass black hood shit. THIS is a good villain. But they ruined it before it even began.

- Both Veronica and Reggie have a point. He’s different, but Reggie sweetie you gotta realize that he’s going through a tough time right now? I just know the writers are going to manage to fuck this up. God can’t they do ANYTHING right

- “You got some pretty big coconuts” ummmm what the fuck I didn’t realize Reggie was Cheryl… But again having Reggie get mad at Archie for having an anxiety attack is ooc and NOT THE FUCK IT Literally it pisses me the fuck off that they’re doing this to Reggie like sure he can be jealous but this is over the top and NOT IT THANK YOU NEXT

- “Hiram… no.” BITCH YES HERMIONE! Also I didn’t realize she had to appoint a sheriff but that still doesn’t answer my question as to WHY NOT SHERIFF KELLER? But the fact that she chooses FP is such a fucking “fuck you” to his Lodge saying last episode that I’m not going to search out lol.

- Hal being the OG Gargoyle King… wow… they really can only use characters they can make us hate, huh? But if he killed back then, why was he “normal” up until Betty’s stupid, somehow inspiring speech? IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE RIVERDALE WRITERS BUT I’M NOT SURPRISED

- Alice comes in every Monday? SHE WOULD NEVER. I mean of course rn she’s not in her right mind but he literally almost killed her? We know Polly was trying to get Alice and Betty to forgive him bc of her time with the Farm but come the fuck on why would Edgar want his “star recruiter and source of money” to visit her killer ex-husband

- I love how Fangs is getting more screen time but it’s scaring me because he’s not Betty or Jughead… and also what about his bEST FRIEND SWEET PEA. But Fangs looks so scared my baby!!! If anything happens to him… well you probably read what I’d do to Jughead

-What kind of fucking twig costume is that lmao and how is he making that weird growling sound (and why)

- SO FP AND JUGHEAD ARE HERE BUT WHAT ABOUT SWEET PEA WE KNOW HE’D BE HERE TO PROTECT HIS BOYFRIEND BEST FRIEND. Also we are NOT allowing another kid to be branded. We just aren’t.

- oh nvm he is here lmaoooo it’s okay I’m good now

- LMAO EVERYONE SCATTERS BUT THEY LEAVE THEIR KING AHAHAHAHA WHAT LOYALTY I’M QUAKING

- So didn’t we LITERALLY see Tall Boy die? I could have swore… or is this some mandella effect kind of shit

- So Jugrat what happened to “no crime” yet you kidnap a man and beat the shit out of him… so if he’s breaking his own rules lets kick him out YES LET’S DO IT But wow Jughead is so weak he can’t handle anyone calling Betty a bitch… even though she is…

- SO JUGHEAD GETS TO PUNCH HIM FOR CALLING BETTY A BITCH, RIGHTFULLY SO, BUT HE STOPS SWANGS FROM GOING OFF FOR KILLING THEIR FRIEND AND MOST DEFINITELY FANGS’ EX BOYFRIEND? Does Jughead deserve rights? let’s not discuss because that’s a BIG FUCKING NO

- REGGIE ON A DATING SITE MY BABYYYYYY he passed by all those girls bc he loves Veronica just saying :)

- First of all… Archie no sweetie you can’t cheat on your SAT’s… and Reggie just fucking spilled the truth oops

- NO JUGHEAD YOU CAN’T SACRIFICE YOUR “BEST FRIEND” but of course it’s going to happen…

- Did Betty just call Penelope “auntie” ummm no. Also Penelope gets screen time but Choni isn’t here to take their SAT’s? That is HoMoPhObIc

- “Are you one of those sickos who fantasize about serial killers?” Betty… your stupid ass does realize you’re basically talking about yourself, right? I mean obviously not in a romantic way that you’re insinuating but that’s still who you are. You and Jughead get your rocks off to serial killers and trying to solve them even though you’re shit at being detectives… but I’m all for going after Penelope so whatever

- Oh jk so it wasn’t Hal… damn my rantings about it are now void thanks Riverdale lol

- It’s funny how Betty never realizes these kinds of things despite how “great” she is at being a detective. She never gets anything until she’s told about it and that’s so fucking annoying. if you’re going to shove Betty (and Bughead) down our throats AT LEAST make her good at it

- “Because I will never be coming back here again” lmao we know Betty is going to come back like next scene lolol but alright

- RONNIE CRYING IN HIS BED MY POOR BABY

- It’s a good thing they didn’t ruin Archie by having him angry at Veronica. By him asking her to stay with him, we been knew that Veronica is one of his weaknesses. ALSO VARCHIE SEX MY BABIES.

- Am I just blind when tf did Archie get that cut above his eyebrow lol. Also he’s literally me taking a test aha

- “Why do you think I sent him instead of going by myself?” BECAUSE YOU’RE A COWARDLY CUNT THAT’S WHY

- Oh poor Hiram got shot… oh no… so sad… But if they think they’re making us believe he’ll die… we’ve literally seen him on set recently so this bitch ass of course will survive. Honestly just kill off who you’re going to kill off already and get it over with. I want to know if it’s worth it to watch the rest of this season!!!

- They’re really going to regress and make Veronica act ooc by thinking that Archie would actually try to kill Hiram… what shit heads. We know he’s going dark and wants Hiram dead but he would never ACTUALLY do it because he cares too much about Veronica. But also I know that’s her father but after everything he’s done why does she care that he got shot? I mean that’s like Betty watching her dad die… she wouldn’t care. But then again Betty is a mean bitch so her heart is darker lol

- SWANGS FREAKING OUT OVER ACCIDENTALLY KILLING TALL BOY AWWWW BABIES! But also does this mean Swangs didn’t take the SAT because Jughead made them babysit Tall Boy? I mean it makes sense bc Tall Boy would escape otherwise but my Serpent babies deserve a chance to get out of Riverdale. I’d want SP to become a doctor and yes slightly bc of his role in Hospital Show

— Imagine Sweet Pea becoming a doctor, and flipping off every person who told him he was just some lowly south side scum, and telling them he made it as a fucking doctor like come on I need this, he needs this

- Jughead doesn’t know what to do mmhmmmm great leaders need to be able to think quickly

- “Fangs sobbing” hey subtitles… STOP

- Fangs says “okay” as if “we’re gonna throw a party” makes absolute sense. What the… fuck? Also I LOVE my boys we know this but they KILL Tall Boy and Jughead’s okay with it but Choni steals an egg from his enemy and he kicks them out like a whiny bitch? Jughead is homophobic and we know he only kicked Choni out bc they could easily take over his Serpent King title lmao what a fucking loser, Jughead

- “Veronica and I broke up” um you broke up awhile ago just bc you had sex doesn’t mean you guys got together again but alright

- So speaking of Archie being on the run and breaking out of jail… why is he able to come back as if that didn’t happen? Wouldn’t they have a warrant out for him?

- SEE BETTY VISITED HER FATHER AGAIN.

- REGGIE COMING IN WITH A “CONGRATS IT’S A BOY” BALLOONS. HE REALLY LOVES HER SO MUCH HE JUST WANTED TO GET HER FLOWERS AND SHIT AND HE WASN’T PAYING ATTENTION I’M—

- Sweet Pea’s “woo” do I need to say more

- So now it’s canon that my boys drink alcohol but I’m definitely going to say it’s only for celebrations and shit okay? okay

- FP why the fuck would you scare them like that? Like, they get arrested for literally nothing and you roll up like a bitch… that was cruel

- Poor Fangs he’s so fucking scared… he can’t even be happy that he’s a part of the Serpents again (but ofc Choni doesn’t? Jughead you’re so fucking—)

- No… no you’re going to make Archie a fucking alcoholic? Really? Fuck Riverdale lives

- “It looks like a cell in here” FRED WHY WOULD YOU POINT THAT OUT TO ME NOW I’M SAD

#Riverdale #Riverdale 3.10 #Riverdale The Stranger #Veronica Lodge #Archie Andrews #Varchie #Betty Cooper #Jughead Jones #anti-Bughead #Sweet Pea #Fangs Fogarty #Swangs #Jeronica #Reggie Mantle #Veggie #Regonica #reggieronnie

66 notes · View notes

makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 122: What a Friendly Wall

Previously on BnHA: All Might filled Kacchan in on everything related to OFA and AFO and the like. Kacchan and Deku kicked off version 2.0 of their rivalry which looks to be much healthier and more productive than before. All Might talked Aizawa down from ripping both boys a new one, but he still put them both under house arrest and made them clean up the dorms. Kacchan gave Deku awkward rival advice to demonstrate how their relationship has grown and I was on cloud nine. Back at U.A., the kids (sans Kacchan and Deku) interacted with class B (who all passed their license exams) and, interestingly, Shinsou. Rat Principal conducted the opening ceremony, and All Might flashed back to his initial U.A. job interview, during which RP recommended a particular U.A. student (not Deku) as a potential successor to One for All. Presumably we’ll meet this mysterious person soon.

Today on BnHA: The opening ceremony concludes and classes resume. The kids ask Aizawa about the internships mentioned in the ceremony. Aizawa explains that they’re kind of like the work studies the kids previously did, but with the training wheels taken off. They’re also long-term and not arranged by the school but rather undertaken by the students in their free time. First year students normally do not participate, but with the rise in villain activity, the school is now considering it. Later that evening at the fanfic dorms, Deku takes out the trash and meets a disembodied face just chilling out in the wall near the garbage dump. Three days later, Deku is allowed to rejoin class, and Aizawa introduces the three top-ranked students at U.A. -- known as the Big Three -- to formally talk about the internships.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 151 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

OH MY GOD

have we really not gotten her bio before?? wow someone was really asleep on the job there

“you can’t deny that she’s almost becoming too powerful” I will not deny it, no

interesting that she has a weakness to cold environments. I wonder if her suit could be upgraded with a heater to counteract that. Todoroki had something similar I think

but. I do want to see sleepy Winter Tsuyu saying that she’s sleepy over and over again though

and her hairstyle is fucking mysterious. that has nothing to do with her being a frog girl. that’s all her

OH MY GOD IT’S THE GUY EVERYONE’S SCARED OF, HOUNDDOG SENSEI. I read your bio too early as well, sir. so I already know I love you

what the shit

I can why he is feared by children. for sure

lol Vlad King is translating

apparently Hounddog was spilling all the tea about Deku and Kacchan’s fight

everyone’s going to be so weirded out when they realize Deku and Kacchan are actually acting civilly around each other now. (or really, once they realize that Kacchan is behaving civilly toward Deku; let’s not pretend this wasn’t by and large very one-sided)

this makes three eventful things that have involved Bakugou within the last month. first the kidnapping, then him failing the exam, and now this secret nighttime fight. gossip for days. I’m really glad he’s starting to get his confidence now, he’s gonna need it to brush all of that off

so now the students are being dismissed back to their classrooms

some girl is asking another student whether he knows which first years got into a fight. but he seems to be ignoring her, and laughing almost ominously??

is this still the kid from the end of the last chapter? the would-be successor? Neville Longbottom? I don’t see any wings, though

so now class A is back in their homeroom and Aizawa’s telling them the new semester is gonna be even tougher than the last

Mina’s whispering to Tsuyu, “guess he’s not gonna say anything about it”

about what? the fight or the exam?? too much has happened recently, be more specific

now Tsuyu’s raising her hand to ask Aizawa a question

oh, she’s asking about the internships. forgot those were mentioned

the other kids are also curious

and Aizawa’s explaining they’re just like a more formalized version of the internships they did earlier

now Ochako is fucking LEAPING OUT OF HER SEAT AND SCREAMING “THEN WHY DID WE HAVE THE DAMN SPORTS FESTIVAL”

DEKU-KUN’S ARMS DIED FOR THIS!!!

and Iida’s agreeing that if they were gonna have internships anyway then why would it matter if they got scouted

wouldn’t they intern at the same places where they did the field training?

ah, Aizawa says that the internships are managed by the students themselves, so that’s why it was important for them to make some connections with agencies following the festival

I imagine this would be much harder for normal first year students who weren’t the stars of their first sports festival. they did say that it was usually the third year kids who got the most focus. they must really be desperate if they hadn’t been scouted by that point

apparently the hero agencies used to do their own recruiting in the past, but they would all fight over who got the U.A. students, so that’s why the system was changed

Aizawa says that now that they have their provisional licenses (except poor Todoroki), they’re eligible to participate in more formal, longer-term hero activities

so when exactly are these internships gonna take place then? he said he wasn’t planning to tell them about this until later. and apparently this used to only be something they did with the second and third year students, but given recent events, they’re now giving serious thought to letting the first years get some experience as well

and now first period is starting and Mic’s walking in lol. and Aizawa’s walking off

(ETA: oooh, this is a good opportunity to ask a question I’ve had for a while, which is: does anyone know what subject Aizawa actually teaches? because Mic here has now been established as their English teacher, and I’m just curious what Aizawa does. if I had to guess I’d go with hero law or something. but actually it would be really funny if it was like. art)

and we’re cutting back to the dorms yaaay

and Deku’s room

he’s working out and apparently his arm is feeling better

I guess he strained it a bit with that punch earlier?

and he’s remembering what the doctor said about him permanently damaging his arms if he keeps pushing it

the previous night he let his emotions get the better of him, and he’s thinking that even though he was being careful, he should probably restrain himself in future situations

now we’re cutting to evening and the other kids are giving Deku and Kacchan a hard time, which frankly I would be disappointed if they did not

BAKUGOU WILL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT ISN’T HIS DUST, HE DID A GOOD JOB CLEANING, UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE

I imagine that Bakugou actually is pretty good at cleaning, since he’s probably gotten his fair share of similar punishments in the past

(ETA: yeah I’m pretty sure the Bakugou household is spotless and Kacchan is a god at any and all domestic chores for this exact reason)

Satou and Kirishima are talking about Mic’s class earlier, and Jirou, Ojiro, and Hagakure are talking about the internships while Deku listens curiously

I’m surprised that the house arrest involved them missing all of their classes tbh

oh my god even Iida is dragging Deku

MISTER HOUSE ARREST

wow, apparently they were forbidden from talking about class to either him or Bakugou

I take it back, this is probably the best punishment they could come up with for either of them. they’ll never pull something like this again as long as they live

(well, maybe not for a couple of weeks. they’re still stupid and have short memories)

and as long as the teachers make sure they’re able to catch up (which shouldn’t be too hard given that these two were almost at the top of the class to start with), there isn’t really much harm done

anyway, Iida says he’s mad at Deku, and that he and Bakugou are getting their just desserts

so now Deku’s hauling out the trash and sulking about being left behind

it’s so perfect, because we know how obsessed Deku is with taking notes about everything. and we know how hyper-competitive Bakugou is. so yeah, they’d really be feeling it. and this is only the first day

anyways hey what the fuck is this

lol. :’D should I be getting ready to scream here

>:D hey there fella

oh okay, thanks

what a friendly wall

LMAO that’s exactly the interaction that takes place though, oh shit I can’t

JUST HERO SCHOOL THINGS

SKJDSLAK NOW HE’S ON THE GROUND

HE’S ASKING IF HE SURPRISED DEKU. YEAH BUD. YOU DID

WOW WHAT A WEIRD LITTLE FACEMAN

HOW PECULIAR

he says he’s sure Deku will know all about him soon enough! :)

in any case, what’s important is you keep your spirits up! :)

he says “there’s some sort of rumor going around” so Deku needs to have his wits about him :)

and now he’s disappeared again

gooooooood question. whatever it was it was amazing

and now we’re fast forwarding to three days later (so Kacchan is still on his last day of house arrest lol, BUT YOU DID START IT BUSTER)

and Deku is screaming apologies at everyone, and he’s fucking FIRED UP

looooool

so Aizawa says that now that Deku is back they’re gonna talk formally about the internships

I guess they don’t need to wait for Bakugou because he doesn’t have his license yet anyway. how fucking awkward is all of this for Shouto though, damn

Aizawa’s beckoning someone inside, and he says they’re going to hear about the internships firsthand from someone with personal experience

oh! it’s some third years!

woooooow omg

Horikoshi has mentioned Belgian comics before (as part of Monoma’s “likes” I think. of all people), so I guess it’s not that much of a surprise that he went and gave somebody a Tintin face

now I’m starting to think this isn’t the wings guy. is this still the successor that RP was going to recommend to All Might though? the hair’s the same so I’m thinking yes

imagine this guy with One for All powers. frankly I love him, so. it wouldn’t have been the worst thing

the girl is really pretty but also nondescript enough that I’m coming short when it comes to nicknames. PLEASE GET SOME CHARACTER TRAITS OR A NAME SOON SO I DON’T HAVE TO FLAIL AROUND

this other guy is basically Messy Uchiha Sasuke. like, Sasuke if he just didn’t give any fucks

(ETA: or Sasuke if he had elf ears and crippling anxiety)

so that’s the end of the chapter! is this next arc gonna be internships then. what will Bakugou and Todoroki do omg I’m gonna miss them

(ETA: I’m not even gonna comment sob)

BONUS:

the bonus page for this one was the hound dog guy. just a reminder that everyone is terrified of him and he is A Distinguished Man on Campus and he likes drinks with his dinner

#bnha #boku no hero academia #asui tsuyu #aizawa shouta #midoriya izuku #togata mirio #makeste reads bnha #mirio is so knowledgeable about the dorms #even though he only just moved in the same time deku and the others did #do the third years handle more of their own chores than the freshmen?#is mirio just passionate about recycling?#who even knows #but I'll tell you one thing he is the best and I'm delighted he's finally made his debut

62 notes · View notes

lovetheangelshadow · 5 years

Text

N'Pressions: Lion King 2019

So before I begin the review I wanted to briefly touch on my history with the Lion King. The Lion King was one of the biggest movies of my life. I still have almost all of my toys and I was obsessed with that film for years. It was basically my Frozen and not to brag but I personally think Lion King is a better film than Frozen for reasons other than nostalgia. Even as an adult and aware of the whole Kimba controversy and being aware of the flaws in the film it’s still one of my favorite movies of all time. There is a LOT the movie does right even from just a former animation student’s perspective: use of color, character design, and sound all to convey a story that still holds up to this day. So yeah it would make sense that Disney would put it in their remake list. Except, this film did not take any risks. Say what you will about Maleficent, or Aladdin, or even the Alice movies at least they tried something new even if it did not always work. Heck even with Aladdin they had Jafar be a former street rat who had ambition and clawed and killed his way to the top and even taunts that in front of Aladdin. You could essentially had Jafar be a dark reflection of Aladdin showing the dangers of ambition without restraint and could have spun something around that instead of the less than intimidating and sometimes whiny sorcerer we got. Then again you could argue the Aladdin TV series had already gave us that with Mozenrath. Even the broadway version gave you more than just the cliffnotes from the film. Such as a scene showing Timon in danger from falling off a waterfall and Simba being actual PTSD about the gorge incident which leads to the song Endless Night. Or the Madness of King Scar with Scar trying to talk himself up into denial of his own misery…and hitting on a teen lioness. Yeah I know she was technically an adult but it was still creepy. And sure Disney has constantly messed with the timeline of this story with Simba’s Pride, 1 & ½, and Lion Guard but they were for the most part pretty decent spin offs. More on that later.

The animation is stellar with the CGI looking almost exactly like real animals and the environments feeling real and part of the world the characters inhabit them in. The problem is that they stay too far on that end and it hurts the film. Even for the original movie they were aware of the natural color palettes and even admitted that they had to cheat a little here and there to make characters stand out or give the setting a wider range of hues to work with. Zebra stripes might be a little more blue, antelopes a bit more red, or giraffes more closer to golden tones. And I was not expecting the CG version to do that, but at least it could have been done with the main cast. Yeah I know it’s the “spot the protagonist” cliché that we joke about all the time with anime, but it really needed to be here. Lion King is a very character driven story. It’s not a documentary. You could have cheated with the colors just a little and no one would have been upset about it. Even in the Broadway version where the characters were represented by robes and masks instead of four footed fursuits, no one complained. And there is also the expressions. You really needed clear expression for this film and funnily enough there have been videos rising up showing the kind of expressions that animals can make. I get that Favreau thought the Jungle Book models were too human; but you would have gotten away with that in Jungle Book-but not for the Lion King. 80% of this film relies heavily on emotion and it would have been perfectly okay so cheat here. I want to bring up another realistic animal movie here for comparison: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. And I admit the film isn’t perfect either but it hits a lot of similar beats and moods of the Lion King; minus the sing of course. The movie has owls that are very close to their realistic counterparts save for maybe the eyes and the flexibility of their beaks for dialog. But it is very clear when Sorren is feeling fear, joy, hope, or anger. It is clear from the expression alone of Nyra’s royal and cunning nature. Also the designs of the birds are distinct from one another. Like from a glance there are marked differences between Sorren, Kludd, and Nyra and they’re all barn owls. The environments have unique color tones to them despite being more naturalistic environments like the Pride Lands. Even the Aladdin remake understood this with its costume designs and settings. Though Disney seems to have issues of late properly lighting dark locations of late making it very hard to see what’s going on. Guys, it’s okay to cheat a little with the lighting. You don’t have to be 100% natural.

Unfortunately the voice acting isn’t that stellar either. And it’s not to say that the cast can’t act. A lot of the people in the cast list are stellar performers in their own right, but here it feels like they were just reading the script without additional takes. It’s not the worst voice acting I’ve seen for a professional piece, but it is something that is another nail in the coffin. Honestly a much more improved voice reading would have at least helped in somewhat making up for the lack of facial animation. True sometimes in the original the acting fell flat, but it was quick enough that you wouldn’t really have noticed it unless you were looking for it. The best actors for the film would be Billy Eichner (Timon), Seth Rogan (Pumbaa), and John Oliver (Zazu). For the most part they did what the restricted animation did not and sounded like they actually were giving it their best for this movie even if they weren’t the stars of the story. Even Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Scar could have worked if they had done a few more takes. While not as deviously snide or royally condensing as Jeremy Irons but it was clear they were going for someone who was not happy with his lower position and could play act the caring uncle while still feeling superior if they pushed that a little more. Also they were the best part of the movie. The only musical number save for Circle of Life that I liked was their version of the Lion Sleeps Tonight.

Then we get to the cutting of some of the best scenes in the movie. I can forgive the hyena bickering scene before Be Prepared since they kinda do that already with Shenzei pointing out Scar isn’t king and can’t give them what they desire for. I’ll give a pass to Zazu not singing he coconuts song and the hyena’s showing dissent at the lack of food. But I will not overlook the Rafiki hitting Simba with a stick scene OR Mufasa’s ghost. Why didn’t you form the clouds into Mufasa, huh? It’s a scene that just about everyone knows more than anything out of the movie and you barely do anything? Just some vague lightning strikes that resemble him? No! I can overlook so much else, but I will NOT forgive THAT. Remember when I said about the other films messing with the timeline even worse than Endgame? Well you could have easily used those to give the film it’s own unique edge. Why not have Zira be a character in the film and show there is a split of alliance between the pride? She doesn’t even have to be a major player, but just enough to show rifts among the lionesses as the situation of the pride lands worsens. Or since they brought up the long war between hyenas and lions and how the elephant graveyard was once a lush environment until the hyenas ate it to the ground and play a little more on that like Serabi trying to get through to Scar this is why they kept the hyenas out. Or even have one or two hyenas such as Kamari and Azizi start rethinking their situation though they still turn on Scar when he sells them out. Heck even in the original they were aware of the problem; just not that THEY were the cause. Or even the scenes from the Broadway show I mentioned earlier.

Overall, it’s not a fun experience though it is not the worst I’ve been through. It’s still down there with films like Where the Wild Things Are and Digimon Tri-but doesn’t have my full visceral hatred. Save for one movie that is a rare feeling for me. But it made lots of money because we’re stupid about that and is going to keep on coming. For me there is only one other film currently that they could make worse, but I’m not holding my breath. I’m Noctina Noir, and was so not prepared for this.

#n'pressions #lion king #lion king 2019 #noctina noir

2 notes · View notes

prettyboyroger · 5 years

Text

Fame Chapter 3- Unfinished Business

gif: @/borhapmovie

gif: @/lewissimon

Part 1 Part 2

Characters: BoRhap! Roger Taylor, Katherine Teague (OC), BoRhap! Freddie Mercury, BoRhap! Mary Austin, BoRhap! Brian May, BoRhap! Chrissy Mullen, BoRhap! John Deacon

Pairing(s): BoRhap! Roger Taylor/OC, slight BoRhap! Mary Austin/Freddie Mercury in the background, slight BoRhap! Brian May/Chrissy Mullen in the background, past BoRhap! Brian May/Mary Austin in the background

Summary: A former child star making a new image for herself becomes involved with Roger Taylor as they both rise to fame, dealing with all that brings with it and that life brings along the way.

Rating/Warnings: PG-13, some reference to sex, smoking, references to alcohol

Disclaimer: These portrayals are based off of the characters in Bohemian Rhapsody, as such their personalities are based on the movie. This story is a work of fiction and the character of Katherine as well as many of the events in this series are fictional. I do not own Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, or Roger Taylor.

Word Count: 1914

A/N: So, so sorry this took so long to write guys!!! This chapter was a bitch to write!!! It’s not my favorite chapter, but in the next chapter things really start to heat up so we got almost the entire set-up out of the way so yay!!

19 January 1970

“You’re really not going to talk about this, are you?” Kathy drew Mary’s pillow closer to her chest. Mary and Kathy were sitting on Kathy’s bed in their flat. Biba didn’t pay well enough for individual flats. Kathy was wearing a short blue romper and had her hair tied back with a little white ribbon while Mary was in a floor length yellow nightgown “At least tell me how it went! Did he ask you out? Did you shag him in the dressing room?”

“Yes, Kathy, I shagged him in the dressing room.”

“Come on Mary, you have to tell me something! I helped make this happen!”

“You did nothing!”

“Nonsense, I told him that you were working today, that counts for something!”

Mary bit her lip, smiling at the floor, “He asked me to come watch his band audition new bass players.”

Kathy smiled and nudged her friend, “See I am the greatest wing-woman there ever was!” Kathy reached over into her nightstand and pulled out her lighter and a cigarette. She stuck the cigarette in her mouth, flipped open the lighter and drew it closer to her mouth as she turned back to her friend.

Mary looked back over at her as Kathy lit her cigarette and said “I need you to come with me.”

Kathy looked back at her friend, surprised at this development, “You want me to come with you on your date?”

“It’s not a date, the whole band’s going to be there.”

Kathy took a drag, “Is it Brian then? Are you worried about being there with your ex? Because if that’s why you want me there, well, his hair’s a little poofy, he need to stop trying to straighten it, but he certainly has a nice face and he is taller than me which most men can’t say and you know how I feel about guitarists and their hands-”

“No! No, that’s not what I meant! He’s bring his new girlfriend-what’s her name-Chrissy!” Mary’s face flushed in a way that made Kathy giggle. Mary’s face then suddenly turned guilty, “I may have already told them that you would come.”

“What, why would you, wait them? I thought you only talked to Freddie?”

“Well I did- I mean I meant to! It’s just that Freddie was so nervous to talk to me that he brought some- uh- support.”

Kathy raised her eyebrow, “Support?”

Mary quickly nodded, “Yeah, support. HewastoonervoussohebroughtRogerandItoldhimIwouldbringyoutotheaudition.”

“What?”

Mary took a deep breath “He was too nervous to go alone, so he brought Roger along with him and he was there and he was flirting and then he asked me if I had any friends that I could bring along to the auditions for him since Brian would have Chrissy and I would be going with Freddie- and I panicked okay? I told him that I did and that he had already met you and then he remembered you and now you have to come, you just have to come!” Mary collapsed like a folding chair, head on her knees now and her arms wrapped around her legs.

Kathy laughed at her friend’s distress, “I thought you said that I shouldn’t get involved with him, that he was a bad idea, and here you are setting us up!”

“I am not setting you guys up and he is still a bad idea! I just really, really need you to do this for me, please I really like this guy and I don’t want to mess it up by looking like a liar the first time I meet him!” Mary’s big blue eyes were were pleading with Kathy and Kathy always had a weakness for blue eyes.

“Alright, fine, I’ll go,” Kathy smiled at her friend as Mary hugged her.

Kathy looked down at the little pug that was asleep at the foot of the bed, “Can I bring Lady with me?”

“No, you cannot bring your dog to this audition!” Mary said looking incredulously at her friend.

“Why not? She’ll get lonely!” Kathy pouted and pulled the pug up to her face, waking the little dog up in the process.

“Lady’s a dog. She will be fine for a few hours on her own. I promise.” Mary watched as Kathy stuck her lower lip out and the pug started licking Kathy’s face.

Kathy sighed dramatically, “Well I suppose if I must leave her for a few hours, I will, but I don’t have to like it. Where is this thing anyway and when is it?”

“It’s in a room at Roger’s university at the end of the month. So you’ll go then? Even though you can’t bring Lady?” Mary actually looked nervous.

“Yes, I already told you, I’ll go even if I can’t bring Lady,” Mary’s face brightened at that, “But in the meantime we need to figure out what you’re going to wear to this!”

31 January 1970

The university campus was strange after dark when Mary and Kathy arrived. The hustle and bustle of classes was gone leaving only a few students in large groups walking around the campus at night. It was almost eerily quiet until Mary and Kathy reached the room where the audition was going to be held. Brian was sitting on a sofa with his arm around a pretty brunette, that must be Chrissy, and Freddie and Roger were excitedly talking about something and smoking when Freddie noticed the girls come in.

He leapt up from the couch and rushed over to Mary, kissing her on the cheek, “How beautiful you are. Guys, this is Mary-”

“We’ve met!” Roger chimed in wearing a huge shit-eating grin and looking directly at Brian who was the colour of a tomato now. Chrissy was looking between Brian and Mary confused.

“And this is her lovely friend Kathy who Mary has so generously brought for Roger.”

“Poor thing, no one deserve to have Roger foisted upon them,” Brian smirked at Roger, who glared back at him.

“Mary, Kathy, the two who are bickering like little schoolboys are Brian, brown hair, plays the guitar, and Roger, the blonde, plays the drums, and the lovely lady over there is Miss Christine Mullen, also known as Chrissy.” Mary and Kathy waved over to the group who waved back.

Kathy smiled over at Roger who was wearing sunglasses indoors like a real rockstar. Roger grinned back at Kathy, looking her up and down, before saying, “Well, you’re a pretty one, aren’t you?” Brian rolled his eyes at Roger.

Kathy looked over at him and raised an eyebrow, “Don’t you recognize me?” Roger’s eyebrows furrowed as Chrissy burst into laughter.

“This has never happened to me before!” Roger snapped at the laughing girl behind him.

Brian was laughing as well as he rose from his spot on the sofa and clapped a hand on Roger’s shoulder. “As much as I’m enjoying this Rog, it’s not as bad as you think. We just talked to her after our last show.”

“Well at least someone remembers me, I’d hate to think that I’m forgettable.”

“I remember-”

“It’s not you, doll, it’s that he can’t see.”

“What?”

“Brian, I swear-”

“Rog is as blind as a bat without his glasses,” Brian smirked at the fuming blond, “that’s why he wears his sunglasses inside, he thinks regular glasses aren’t very ‘rock ‘n roll’.”

“But he was flirting with the crowd during your show?” “He does that during every show, I think he figures that there must be at least one pretty bird in the crowd thinking that he’s flirting with them and he’s usually right,” Roger’s face was beet red now. The whole group of was laughing now, much to Roger’s dismay, when they were interrupted.

A man, more a boy really, entered the room. He looked very much like a cocker spaniel, with long brown hair and soft brown eyes and was dragging along a bass and an amp. “Excuse me, is this the room where Smile’s auditioning bass players?” His voice was soft and sweet, if a little timid.

Roger jumped at the opportunity to change the subject, “Yes! Yes it is!”

The cocker spaniel looking young man smiled sweetly and walked into the center of the room and set up his amp and plugged in his bass, “Hello, my name is John Richard Deacon and I was born on the 19th of August 1951.” The young man, John Deacon, then started to play his bass. It surprised Kathy just how good he was. Despite his cocker spaniel like appearance, he could play the bass parts of Smile’s rock tracks incredibly well. His timid demeanor faded away as he lost himself in the music and began to sway a little bit to the music. As he finished up a song that Kathy hadn’t heard before, Great King Rat, he stopped to look back at the group which had just been staring at him silently. “Well was I okay?” John’s timid demeanor had returned as he stopped playing the music, smiling back nervously at them.

“It was better than okay, darling, it was bloody great!” Freddie exclaimed and the younger man’s nerves seemed to calm a bit as his smile widened. “Brian, Rog, don’t you two think he was amazing?”

“Yeah, it was really good,” Roger added.

Whatever Brian was thinking, he didn’t reveal it on his face, “Your amp. Do you know how to fix it if it breaks?”

“I actually built the amp myself,” John smiled, “I’m studying electrical engineering.”

Brian’s eyes seemed to actually light up with that, “Well there is room for improvement in your bass playing,” Roger and Freddie groaned and look incredulously at Brian, “but the fact that you built your own amp is impressive. And useful. Can you meet us here a week from now so we can rehearse?”

John nodded and thanked them for their time, still looking a little deflated from Brian’s comment as he left.

“That was harsh. He was the best damn bass player we’ve had audition for us,” Roger commented taking a drag from his cigarette.

“He was, but there was still room for improvement. But I do think he may work out,” Brian said.

“Always the critic, dear, you must stop being such a perfectionist,” Freddie added putting out his own cigarette, “I’d love to stay, but I really must go or I’ll miss my shift.”

Freddie said something to Mary that Kathy couldn’t hear and kissed her on the cheek before leaving. Chrissy whispered something to Brian and Brian stood up, holding Chrissy’s hand, “We’re going to go, we’ll see you guys later.” The pair left hand in hand, leaving only Mary, Roger, and Kathy in the room.

“I’m going back to the flat do you want to come with me?” Mary asked.

“No, no, you go ahead, I’ll see you later,” Kathy replied glancing at Roger before smiling back at Mary. Mary hugged Kathy and left leaving only Kathy and Roger.

Roger walked up to Kathy with the cockiest smile she had ever seen on his face, “Not going with your friend?”

Kathy matched his smile with one of her own as his arm wrapped around her, hand resting on her back, creeping lower and lower, “I had unfinished business here. We never got to finish our conversation from the other night.”

“Do you want to finish that conversation over drinks?” Roger asked, hand dangerously low on her back.

“I’d love to,” Kathy replied.

A/N: And this you can see the exact moment Deaky started writing Back Chat in this chapter! Really excited for the next chapter, I’ve already started on it! Things really get exciting then! Sorry again for the wait!! Send me an ask or a DM to be added to the tag list!

Tag List:

@mhftrs

@radioblahblahh

@z---apocalypse

@fatbottomedbitch

@x1975sos

#fame #My fic #roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor fanfiction #roger taylor fanfic #roger taylor x oc #katherine teague #queen #queen fanfiction #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy #queen imagine

25 notes · View notes