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tommyspeakycap · 3 years

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Shelby!Sister getting poisoned whilst at dinner with the whole family?

changed it up a bit; reader is roofied at one of Tommy’s fancy ball type parties and there’s one particular gentleman around to help her out.

Good Team

Tommy had, since you were merely a little girl, endeavoured to introduce you emphatically as (y/n) Shelby, with your surname stated soaked in ferocity and warning. You are a Shelby. You are his little sister. He makes sure people know this. He makes sure they’re aware. He sees it as a pre-warning, the kind that lets them know that you are very very important to him without actually saying those words. He sees it very much as a pre-warning for grievous bodily harm had any trouble befell you at another persons discretion. It was made incredibly clear from the moment you were born that you were so far from off limits to the enemies that it didn’t even need to be spoken.

However, it was a relatively occasional occurrence that this message was not accurately conveyed no matter how clear your elder brother was about the matter.

You were usually so cautious and so careful, but you were in your brothers own ballroom with his own supplied champagne and you had very few worries of such a simple business gathering for Christmas. You were adorning an extortionate dress that Tommy had made for you with a beautiful fur shoulder wrap, cheeks dusted with a champagne blush and a gorgeous smile as you mingle with rich business people and rich couples who were born into money. They were amazing at times to ogle at, coming from such a poor background. It was hard enough to adjust to your new life flaunting pretty dressed and walking around with a purpose and a job that had significant purpose.

But it would be safe to say you weren’t so worried around these people. You should’ve known better.

You keep blinking, squeezing your eyes shut to try and find vision again that wasn’t restricted by blurriness. The heels on your feet didn’t aid you much in the way of keeping your balance as you stumble into a long hall. You don’t remember where you last saw Tommy and you can’t remember where the glass you were holding had gone. You don’t know much, but you know you have to find one of your brothers.

Heavy footsteps behind you send a rush of hazed adrenaline through your veins, forcing your legs to move you faster, your arms scratching off paintings lining the walls as you attempt to use the wall as a stabiliser.

“Someone’s ‘ad a bit much, eh?”

Your eyelids flicker as you try to keep them open against the light that makes you feel like your head is exploding. “No, no I- there’s someone trying to get me!” You hiss in a slurred whisper with arms that flail somewhat aimlessly as you attempt to point out the person behind you. The man with his his on your biceps steadying you leans around to get a good look behind you. “Mhm, there me no one there love.” He says, confused. You can only vaguely make out who the person is that holds you up and it’s someone you know your brother only invited so as to attempt to talk him into taking on more Blinders for distillery protection.

Alfie Solomons wasn’t entirely the most trustworthy person that surrounded your family. Him and Tommy had a bit of a tendency to betray each other, no matter how expected it always was. The London gangster probably wasn’t the best person for you to bump into and definitely not the most reliable, but he was who you had ended up with and although it could have been him that drugged you, it didn’t seem incredibly likely. He told Tommy and Grace when greeting people at the front door; “No need for the fucking niceties eh Tommy? I’m here for the free booze mate yeah?” and walked on through with a pat on your brothers back.

Despite the fact you didn’t have much trust in him, you really holed that he wouldn’t pass you off as being overly drunk and leave you alone. You feel dreadfully unwell. Alfie looks down the hall, then back at you and with a sigh, he slips his strong arm around your waist and pulls you into his side for your stability. “I think you’re right, Shelby.” Alfie mutters under his breath, barely loud enough for even you to hear. “Something‘s just not right.” He turns to you, using his arm that wasn’t wrapped around you to lift up your eyelid. Beyond the terror in your eyes in huge pupils. “You’ve been drugged,” he states, his voice still low. “Better find those brothers of yours.”

That brings you some form of relief, but the terror still remains. It’s a scary situation, to know what you want to do with your limbs and know exactly what you want to say, but to be unable to speak or walk or even hold up your head. Your heart hadn’t stopped racing and you were drenched in sweat. It’s a shock you didn’t recognise you had been drugged before hearing Alfie say it.

His arm is tight around the waistline of your expensive ballgown, keeping you steady against him as he walked as quickly as he could manage while supporting your weight. He only vaguely knew the way around Tommy’s huge country house, but he did know where the man’s office was, and he’d likely have a maid in waiting there who Alfie could send to fetch him once he got you there. As you both rounded the corner into the corridor that would take you to Tommy’s office, there a man dressed like a waiter standing seemingly waiting for you. “Mister Shelby sent me to collect his sister when he heard she was overly inebriated.” The man spoke. Alfie furrowed his eyebrows tightly, but nodded and walked you closer to him. You want to protest, but your mind still won’t coordinate with your body and the most you can do is grumble. “She’s a bit hard to deal with,” Alfie admits, “So a tip you should really know for the future?“ He pauses, moving as though he’s going to pass you over to the arms of the other man. Alfie leans in until he’s only a few inches away and whispers a warning “I fucking hate liars,” before sharply drawing back his head only to but it forward forcefully into the man’s face.

He stumbles back and Alfie takes that opportunity to grab the front of his suit jacket and throw him behind the two of you with a kick to his ribs a few times for good measure. He wraps his arm back around your waist and continues on down the hall as if nothing had ever happened. “Could tell by his-fuck!”

A yelp leaves you as your legs tangled when you attempt to bare your own weight and instead clatter to the floor with a thud. Alfie grunts and you fight to open your heavy eyelids to see that a man had dove out at him from a doorway along the long hall and there were now two of them and two of you, except they were both conscious and had full control of their own bodies, whereas it fell upon Alfie to fight for both of you. The Londoner truly does not know why he has put himself in this situation for anyone, never mind for a Shelby he had only met a handful of times. But every time he had met you, you were incredibly sweet and kind to him. He knows that they’ll stop attacking him if he allows them to take you and do as they please with you, but something in him prevents him from doing that. There’s a part of him that encourages him to spit the blood from his mouth and stand in front of where you lay in and out of consciousness on the fell, ready to fight for you like he had something to lose if he couldn’t protect you. Tommy would never know Alfie was there with you if he walked away now, but something in him wants to be there. Wants to fight for you.

And so fight he does, throwing punch after punch, trying to take on two at once. Alfie managed to take the blonde assailant out of the game by cracking the wall with his blonde head of hair, leaving him out cold and potentially dying on the floor. When he does that though, his moment of glory is short lived before the other appears behind him with an arm tightly around his throat. Alfie squirms and grunts, kicks and scratches attempting to get him off, but the attacker holds on despite the blows. Alfie thinks he may well have to accept his fate.

Then he clocks you again on the floor, except this time your hands and trailing up your leg, hiking up your dress and he is utterly confused at your behaviour, thinking that it must be the drugs acting weird in your system. That is, until your dress reaches your upper thigh and the London gangster feels what he thinks may be butterflies when he spots the holster and gun that had been well hidden by your long ballgown. He would laugh, grin even if he wasn’t being strangled nearly to death. He watched with blurry vision as you try to steady your hands enough to point the gun at the attacker that was too bury trying to hold Alfie Solomons down to notice your movements. Alfie squeezes his eyes shut as you move your finger over the trigger and he hopes to God your heads are steady enough to shoot the right person.

The bang goes off and very suddenly he can breathe again. He notes that’s a good sign. He scrambles away quickly, turning around to press his foot onto the bullet wound in the shoulder of his attacker. “I will come back for you.” He growls in warning, pressing his foot harder to elicit a scream before he nods and turns back to where you stand. He wipes the blood off the bottom of his shoe on the carpet before he steps forward to swoop your gun off the floor to slip it back into your thigh holster, and then he helps you back up. Except this time, he opts to sweep you off your feet and into his arms bridal style.

“Good shot.” He notes. You breath a chuckle with hooded eyes in response, but can’t manage anything else. If you hadn’t been severely drugged, Alfie might’ve kissed you.

He makes it to Tommy’s office with ease, ordering the maid to get your brother immediately. Alfie lays you down on the soft couch in the office, placing you carefully on on your side for safety in case you’re sick. He uses the not blood tinted side of his handkerchief to wire some blood splatter and sweat from your face gently, and offers a gentle smile. “We make a good team, Solomons.” You hum with words slurred and jumped, but he understand what you said nonetheless. “That we do, Shelby.” He rumbles back in response.

The moment is as any moment of yours often is, interrupted by your elder brothers storming in. Immediately, Alfie is ripped from your side by Arthur slamming the him roughly against the wall with a loud clatter and bang. John goes to stand by Arthur’s side, and Tommy takes a knee beside you. The patriarch places his cool hand against your forehead before dipping down to place his ear just above your lips. “She’s breathing.” He concludes, “What the fuck did you do to her?” He sneers through gritted teeth as he takes steps towards Alfie.

“And why the fuck and you covered in blood.” Alfie sighs heavily, rolling his eyes and flaring his nostrils at the proximity of the three Shelby brothers. “Funny story, you see Tommy.” He grumbles discontentedly, “Seems as though someone tried after your sister right under your fucking nose, mate. Drugged her drink, removed her from the crowd. I found her wandering the halls all fuckin’ disoriented yeah. Now I don’t like a man who targets a woman, much less has to fuckin’ drug her to achieve it.” Alfie shrugs. Tommy narrows his eyes, but something in him believes what the Camden Town Gangster is saying. Alfie doesn’t have much in the way of necessity for taking you and it wouldn’t make sense for him to have the opportunity to but instead to bring you here. Right to them. “Doesn’t explain the fucking blood.” Arthur hisses, slamming his back against the wall again.

Alfie holds up his hands. “You’re little sister isn’t such a damsel as you make her out to be, Thomas. She has a fantastic shot. Some cunts-“ Alfie’s words drop with pure venom as the reminder of the man nearly strangling him to death reenters his mind, “Came after her. On that note, you’ll need a carpet cleaner and some body bags just along that hall. Don’t let the missus see that mess.”

Tommy paused for a moment, his eyes not leaving Alfie’s even when he speaks. “John, check that corridor.” He orders, making his younger brother grunt in annoyance but do as told nonetheless. “Arthur,” He grumbles, placing a hand on his shoulder, “Take our sister upstairs and get Polly.” Arthur is hesitant. Tommy might believe the words that Alfie speaks, but Arthur despises him and the only thing he hates more than Alfie is the thought of Alfie’s hands on you without any of them being there to help you, protect you. He knows that he and a Tommy are asking themselves the same question. How could something like this happen to you right beneath their noses. How had someone managed to get to when they were so close, literally right in the same room in an event organised by them. Arthur couldn’t answer the question, but could probably have killed Alfie in his rage at that moment. “Arthur,” Tommy repeats more firmly, “Go.”

This time, he listens. But that’s not without a warning glare at Alfie, who simply offers a smirk in response. “And you,” Tommy says finally, turning his attention to Alfie, “Fuck off.”

Alfie chuckles, but begins to walk past Tommy to leave the office when the smaller man grabs his arm in a vice like grip that makes the tips of his fingers tingle with the strength of it. Alfie feigns the urge to fight back in reaction to the pain. Tommy leans in close to his ear with a low snarl, “You don’t just help people. I don’t care what the reason was eh, but don’t you ever go near my sister again.”

Then he lets go and Alfie simply shakes off his arm and walks away. He hasn’t listened to Tommy Shelby any time in the past, and it appears as though today will be no different.

#alfie solomons x shelby!reader #alfie solomons x reader #alfie solomons prompt #tommy shelby x sister!reader #shelby reader #shelby!reader #peaky blinders blurb

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chainofclovers · 3 years

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Ted Lasso 2x6 thoughts

I felt like the physical embodiment of a series of iconic reaction GIFs while watching this episode. I felt like Higgins gagging on air and right and wrong choices. As an invested, non-casual Ted Lasso viewer, I feel quite absorbed in the experience of every episode, but I’m not usually a LOUD non-casual Ted Lasso viewer. At one point last night, I shouted “This is the wackiest show ever made!” at @bristler, and that doesn’t even sound like something I would say. And by “wacky” I just meant “all the emotions are happening at once.”

This episode was absolutely great and I knew that every single Rebecca Welton feeling I have would intensify because of this episode and that is exactly what happened.

This is me bravely writing down my episode thoughts after only one viewing (just like last week) and a bad night of sleep! Copious spoilers and emotions ahead...

This show goes all in on hats! A lot of bad hats for giving bad relationship advice and making bad decisions! Feel like you’re gonna do something correctly? Just put on a bad hat, that’ll snap you right out of it. Just had a revelation that you are almost certainly in an abusive relationship? Your girlfriend is hiding in the parking lot with a terrible hat for you! (I love this show.)

Dark forest dark forest dark forest dark forest.

I truly, truly, truly do not mean this to sound judgmental of any other fan, but it’s taking everything in my power not to just type “dark forest” in the comments of every person who is outraged that LDN152 is not Ted.

Gonna get my initial thoughts on the Sam=LDN152 reveal out of the way. I honestly like this choice.

First, I like this choice because of who LDN152 isn’t. I think about how awful it would be if she’d matched with Rupert and realized she’d been manipulated by him and charmed by him all over again, and how, when she gets the same reveal the audience already has, she would end up retraumatized by having been charmed and taken in by Rupert all over again. I think about her matching with Nate (if he’d redownloaded the app) and the inadequacy of her assertiveness advice and how Nate is one of the only non-Rupert characters who’s used sexist language against her and how Nate’s insecurities would be like water trying to co-exist with the oil of Rebecca’s insecurities. Nate and Rebecca are fond of each other and seem to want to be in each other’s lives, but a romantic squishing together via dating app would set them both back lightyears. I think about her matching with Ted, a man currently on a parallel-to-Rebecca trek through a very painfully dark forest, a man swinging wildly between performative attempted wit and utter panic. A man she trusts with her professional and personal challenges. [Her challenging mother comes to town and Keeley and Ted are the people she wants with her at lunch.] Ted and Rebecca, with all their current limitations, and with all the ways the forest obscures the view, are trying to be there for each other in their real, non-romantic comedy versions of their lives, and the discomfort of matching on an app seems like the kind of thing that would make them rear back from each other instead of bringing them even closer together. It is not time. It is so profoundly not time that I would have been furious if the writers had continued the “maybe it’s Ted?” line of thought for another second longer than they did.

Second, I like this choice because of who Sam is. I know. He’s not an appropriate match for her. The power dynamics are all messed up and their ages are all wrong. But this does introduce a potentially interesting parallel between Rupert and his younger women and the scrutiny Rebecca would risk herself and Sam experiencing if she goes for it. Rebecca seems to have tried to put away her Rupert-related trauma, but the specter of Rupert is lurking, and I do see that being a good person making an ethically complicated decision with another good person is very different from being an abuser setting out to take advantage of multiple people...but there are parallels she might have to reckon with. Also, Sam is a kind person with a strong ethical center and a well-documented interest in Rebecca. He and Ted helped each other feel more at home in London during a time of deeply missing other homes, and Sam has internalized a lot of Ted’s ways of living in a way that might genuinely appeal to Rebecca even if she doesn’t fully realize why. The writers on this show don’t write messes for the sake of drama. They write messes because life is painful and complicated and also very funny. I’d be shocked if, however this Bantr thing plays out, it isn’t painful and complicated and also funny.

(I am already a little worried that whatever happens next is going to activate some very ironic fan reactions given this is a show whose thesis statement is about withholding judgment. This fear is based not on Ted Lasso-specific knowledge but on unfortunate patterns of fandom, but...you can fear the impact of racist, sexist, and ageist tropes on two beloved characters without embodying those tropes as a viewer. You can watch characters make decisions that could subject them to harmful scrutiny without performing that harm yourself.)

Ted Lasso is a fictional character who tweeted about the joy of eating out (you know...at the Crown and Anchor) the day before 2x6 launched and during 2x6 Rebecca invited him to eat out at the Crown and Anchor. (I love this show.) I am so, so, so fond of all the little lunch-y things in this episode. Ted can’t bring Henry his lunch because he’s “at work” aka living in London. Ted and Beard surprise each other with secret sandwiches on Fridays. Rebecca is overwhelmed by her mother’s visit (her mother’s performance of a harmful pattern) and wants Keeley and Ted there. The scene at the Crown and Anchor, as painful as all the divorce/separation feelings were, was also so homey and lovely in terms of these characters being friends, being at home in a place despite the very not-at-home feelings emanating from Deborah. The Bake-Off viewing! Ted being the designated driver (probably a good thing on this particular day)! Rebecca feeling discomfort but not shutting down! Also cute British pub feelings. Evidence that Rebecca has talked to her mom about Ted! About personal things about Ted!

Naaaaaaate. His bursts of confidence and insight. The pain and insecurity and anger almost literally bubbling under the surface.

I cannot say enough good things about Higgins. He’s grown so much, and his decision to be honest with Beard regarding his concerns about Jane was absolutely impeccably done. Many, many trusted people in Higgins’ life told him not to do it. They are all good people, and they were all wrong. Sometimes one human being’s honesty makes the difference for someone who is struggling, and that’s exactly what happened here. Beard truly heard Higgins. And of course he didn’t immediately break things off with Jane. But he heard Higgins, and when Jane showed up Beard’s face looked different than it ever has, and Higgins words are with him as he walks off into the night with Jane and that might save him. And Rebecca witnessed it.

And I’m so glad she witnessed Higgins’ choice in the midst of this very difficult experience of a) trying to find Ted because she knows he’s in pain and being unable to and b) watching her mother repeat a pattern that Rebecca herself was able to break. It taught me so much about Rebecca. The way she was punished (and described the experience using the language of punishment) for having an honest reaction to her mother’s decision to leave her father the first time. The way she was taught that love is conditional, that love and reconciliation are things you can purchase with gifts. The way her mother uses the language of self-help without internalizing what it would take to heal, and probably has little use for actual therapy. The way her mother drinks alcohol as a way to feel free.

I don’t even know how to think, much less write, about everything with Roy’s coaching and his image and how Ted feels about it and all the fatherhood things Jamie brings up and all the fatherhood things Ted is missing w/r/t Nate and everyone except for Rebecca taking at face value (or willfully deciding to take at face value) the idea that Ted’s panic attack is actually just him needing to go barf up a fish pie. Ted hugging his backpack in Sharon’s office. Rebecca trying to find him, and Sharon being the one who does. The words “I wanna make an appointment” being the words that conclude the episode at the exact midpoint of the planned-for show. Halfway through the middle season. The moment Ted realizes he’s never going to be okay if he doesn’t give therapy a try.

I also can’t say enough good things about the moment with the team and Sharon, the way she agrees to one drink, the way it’s clear that she adores them all. Sharon is exacting and professional without being cold and calculating, and everything she does in this episode is such a gorgeous model of assertiveness, patience, and moderation...three things Ted struggles with the most.

What a dark forest. What an excellent group of humans.

#ted lasso #ted lasso s2 spoilers #ted lasso 2x6 #meta by me #a lesbian watches ted lasso

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study-coffee-chicago · 3 years

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Royalty AU Part 2 (An Upstead + Upton Sister imagine) {Part of AU-gust}

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please remember to like/reblog, comment, and send me asks! Here's the link to the playlist I listened to while writing in case you want to listen to while reading (not my playlist): royalty au that is not just waltzing.

masterlist

"I don't even understand why I have to do this in the first place," sixteen-year-old Harper complained to her older sister, Princess Hailey Upton-Halstead, and her brother-in-law, Prince Jay Halstead.

"We've gone over this," Hailey groaned.

"Yeah? Well, do it again. Because I seriously don't see the point in dancing with a ton of strangers and trying to find a suitor. You expect me to choose who I'm going to marry in one night after one dance? I don't even like dancing."

"Well, pretend anyway!" Jay snapped.

Harper rolled her eyes. "And who do you think you are? My father?" she sneered.

"Hey!" Hailey yelled. "You do not talk to him like that! He and Will are more like fathers to you than our actual father, so I suggest you show Jay here some respect!"

"Ugh!" Harper yelled and stalked off outside into the spring air.

Then, she made her way out to the stables. She walked in and she made a beeline to her horse, Blue. Jay had taught Hailey how to ride this exact horse and after she and Harper officially moved in, Jay took some time to teach Harper how to ride as well. Blue quickly took a liking to the then six-year-old as she always fed him blueberries because Harper said that Blue needs blueberries and Jay couldn't tell her no. So, she fed him and brushed him and gave him all the attention in the world, so eventually, he just became her horse.

She opened the stall door and sat on a bale of hay, right next to Blue. He nudged her arm.

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any treats for you right now. Jay and Hailey told me that I can't get dirty so I can't ride you right now either." He nudged her again. "How rude of them, I agree." She sighed. "It's just ridiculous, Blue. I'm not even a princess, I don't know why they're doing this. I'm not Hailey's and Jay's child, even though they treat me like a child most of the time, and I didn't marry a prince. Therefore, I'm not a princess. So why do I have to go to this stupid ball to find someone to marry who I won't even love in the first place?"

Blue's ears perked up and he looked up. So, Harper followed his gaze. And, she saw Jay standing there, outside of Blue's stall, with a few sugar cubes in his hand.

"Can I come in?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure Blue would be quite mad if he saw the sugar cubes and didn't get them."

Harper nodded her head once and he opened the stall door and then closed it. But, she wasn't going to talk to him.

He set his palm flat and allowed Blue to start eating the sugar cubes. Harper rested her elbow on her knee and put her head in her hand, just waiting for Jay to leave.

"You know, there will be other balls besides this one," he said.

"I have to do more of these?" she whined.

Jay chuckled. "Well, yeah. Me and your sister don't expect you to find your perfect match after one dance. Just have some potential suitors open. And then, there will be more balls, and when you find someone you like, more balls after that with the main event being you and him."

"I just don't get it," Harper stated. "I'm not a princess in the first place. And, our neighboring kingdom is on the brink of war and you want me to focus on a damn ball? For crying out loud, the Severides don't like our rule and for all we know, rebels have invaded their kingdom and taken them over! And, since they don't like us, the Severides and rebels could be allies and be trying to infiltrate us."

"Listen," Jay started after Blue finished the sugar cubes. He motioned to the hay bale right next to Harper. "Can I sit?"

"I guess," she huffed and crossed her arms across her chest.

Jay sighed. "Listen, Harper. You say you're not a princess, but you are."

"No, I'm not! You know this!"

"Me and your sister aren't going to have any kids, Harper. After everything you both went through with your father, Hailey doesn't want kids in the slightest. And, I'm respecting her wishes. So, I'll take over for Will when he's done ruling. But, after that, I've named you as my heir."

"W-What? But legally, I can't."

Jay shook his head. "Harper, I'm a royal. I can make whatever rules I want. Hailey and I were going to tell you together after the ball, but seeing as you aren't a big fan of it, we've decided to tell you now."

"What does this mean?" she asked. "I have to marry a prince? I can't marry a commoner if I happen to meet one?"

"No, no it doesn't mean that at all. It just means to be smart with your decision. And, well, if you see Blake at the dance, don't shy away from him."

"Jay," she groaned.

"Hey, it's up to you, but bringing two kingdoms together would be a plus...even if they aren't really on our good side right now."

Jay looked down at his watch.

"I need to go, don't I?" Harper asked as she looked down.

"Yeah, you should probably start getting ready. Are you nervous?"

"I mean, now that it's finally becoming real and I actually have to go, I guess I am a little nervous. What if I fall or mess up during a dance?"

"Harper, we've practiced these dances since you were seven. You'll do fine."

"When do I get to dance?" seven-year-old Harper asked sweetly as she walked into the ballroom where Hailey and Jay were practicing the dance that they had to do for their wedding.

"God, Jay," Will said as he entered, not noticing little Harper. "You're terrible at leading. Maybe Hailey should lead instead. You're sh--"

Hailey cut him off by coughing and subtly pointing at Harper.

"--you're not very good at it," Will said.

"Says the man who hasn't even gotten married yet," Jay scoffed.

"I can do it!" Harper exclaimed. "I can dance, too!"

Will smiled down at her. "I'm sure you can. But, this is big kid dancing."

"B-But I am a big girl," Harper said as her bottle lip began to wobble. "Hailey said so."

"Harps, do you want to dance with me?" Hailey asked as she let go of Jay's hands and made her way over to her little sister.

"Can I?" she asked timidly.

Hailey smiled. "Of course you can. And, maybe while we're dancing together, Will can help Jay learn how to lead a little bit better." She threw a wink her future husband's way and Jay threw his arms up in exasperation. Will just held back his laughter.

Harper grabbed Hailey's hands and the two sisters began dancing together.

"May I cut in?" Jay asked and offered his arm to Harper. She giggled and nodded and then the two of them danced. Then, Will took over dancing with Harper so that Jay could practice with Hailey again.

"Between all the times I danced with Will when you and Hailey were practicing for things, I barely had to practice for my first ball," Harper joked.

"But now everyone's eyes will be on you and not me and Hailey," Jay pointed out.

Blue let out a neigh. "I know, Blue," Harper said and stroked her horse. "You tell him. That didn't help at all."

"Sorry." Then, Jay held his hand out to the girl who he viewed as his little sister. "Ready?" he asked as she took his hand.

"As I'll ever be," Harper answered nervously and allowed Jay to help her up. Then, they walked out of the stables and back to the castle so that Harper could continue getting ready.

***

Good Lord this gown is itchy, was what Harper was thinking. And, I could really use a drink if I have to dance with more ugly royals.

Harper glanced at the ballroom entrance where Adam and Kevin were guarding the doors. Maybe she could sneak out undetected. But, Adam made eye contact with her and just shook his head and chuckled.

Okay, so getting out of here's a no-go. Stupid rule that Jay and Hailey put in place that I can't drink until the end of the dance. Easy for them to say, they're just chatting it up in the corner with glasses of wine and don't have to worry about the future because they've already found their soulmate.

So, Harper swallowed her pride and made her way over to her sister and her brother-in-law. She really needed something else to focus on, and maybe focusing on the sweet taste of sips of Moscato falling down her throat would help. (After all, this is the victorian age, there's no age limit on when someone can start drinking.)

She picked up a glass from the servant's tray and said her thanks, but Hailey quickly swiped it from her hand.

"Hailey, c'mon. Please," Harper whined.

"No, Harper. You know the rules: no wine until after the ball is over."

"But you two aren't even dancing. Why do I have to?"

Hailey sighed in frustration. "Harper, we've been over this. You have to find a husband. You can't just be a spinster all your life."

"Why not? Because I know once I get married, I won't have any power or say in anything and I'll just be nice to look at. My husband will make all the decisions and I won't have a say in my own life!"

People turned their heads at her raised voice.

"Harper," Jay whispered sternly. "I suggest you go dance with someone or talk with someone else before you make both of us even more frustrated than we already are." Harper scoffed. Jay raised an eyebrow. "You will not dishonor this family, this kingdom, not after everything Will, Hailey, and I have done for you. Now go."

Harper resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She wasn't the one who asked Hailey to bring her here ten years ago when she woke her up in the dead of night to get her away from their abusive father. She never asked for this. But, here she was, having to dance and find someone who would control her for the rest of her life...just like their father did with their mother.

But, she walked away anyway...just as a waltz began to play.

Fantastic, she thought.

She started to walk towards the sides of the ballroom, maybe she could avoid having to waltz with a stranger, but she knew that it'd probably be no use seeing as this ball was for her in the first place.

She looked down at her feet as she walked, the end of her light blue ball gown dragging on the floor behind her.

She stopped when she saw that someone was blocking her path. Because she wasn't looking up, she only saw his shoes and the black dress pants he was wearing. Slowly, she raised her head.

He had brown hair, a cocky smile, and his eyes sparkled. He held out his hand.

"May I have this dance, Princess?" he asked.

Harper nodded. "You may," she answered.

She knew that if Jay, Hailey, or Will saw her turn down a dance, that they wouldn't be too happy, so she reluctantly accepted his hand and they started to waltz.

"By your facial expression, I take it you don't want to be here?" he asked.

"It's that obvious, is it?" she asked.

"Only a little. By the way, I'm Blake G--"

Everyone in the ballroom gasped as the lanterns that were lighting the room went out, and the musicians stopped playing a few seconds later as they couldn't see.

"If we can't get a real royal, we'll have to take you instead," was the last thing that Harper heard before a rag was shoved against her mouth and nose. She felt herself being carried, felt her hand still holding this Blake character's hand, and then she felt herself quickly slip into an unconscious state from whatever poison that rag had been soaked in.

***

Guards came up from the shadows and ushered Hailey and Jay into a secret hideout behind where they had been standing sipping on their wine and watching Harper dance with Blake Gallo-Severide.

"What the hell's going on?" Jay whispered angrily at the guard.

"We don't know, your highness. The lights went out so we figured it best to get you to safety as quick as possible."

"What about Harper?" Hailey asked worriedly. "Where is she? Is she safe?"

"That I don't know, my lady."

Then, the door came busting open and the guard drew his sword.

"It's only me; it's Ruzek," Adam said as he entered.

"Adam!" Jay whisper-yelled. "Where's Harper? Is she in another hideout?"

"Jay, I don't know, I just came through the tunnels to make sure that you and Hailey were safe. I can go look in other ones if you want. But, along with you, I'm trying to find out what happened in the first place. I have other guards, being led by Kevin, who are making sure that Harper and Will are safe."

"Good," Jay said. "If they're being led by him, that means they'll do a thorough sweep." He paused. "Just keep doing what you planned on, Adam."

"Alright, I'll let you know when it's safe to come out. It'll probably be at least half an hour because, even though the lights are back on, we need to make sure that the guests are all out safely and do a sweep of the palace to make sure that you can come out. This will all be done at the same time. There are servants and guards getting the guests out safely while the rest of us will sweep the palace and the tunnels."

"Okay." Jay gave him a nod, which signaled that Adam Ruzek could leave to continue his job of keeping the royal family safe.

***

"You may come out now," Adam said and then ushered Hailey and Jay out of the secret room 45 minutes later.

"Where's Harper?" Hailey asked.

Silence.

"Where's Will?" Jay asked.

"Jay!"

Jay heard his name being called and looked up to see his older brother, the king, running towards him.

"Are you and Hailey alright? I had one of the guards run down to the infirmary to tell April what was going on in case we or guests got hurt when the lights went off."

"We're fine," Hailey said quickly. She turned back to Adam and took a few steps toward him so she was only separated from him by a matter of inches. "Where is my little sister, Adam? And it'd be in your best interest to tell me the truth. Right now."

"Hailey, Jay, we couldn't find her."

"What?" Hailey screamed.

"We searched all the hideouts and the tunnels and swept the palace left and right, but there was no sign of her. I'm sorry."

Hailey took another step forward. "You're sorry? You're sorry?" she yelled. "It was your job to keep every single person in this ballroom safe and you let the person that this was meant for go missing! Missing! God, how could you let this happen? We trust you with our lives, Adam!"

Hailey felt someone place a hand on her shoulder.

"Hailey, sweetheart, how about we go get a cup of tea or coffee, and you let Adam explain what happened to Will," Jay suggested calmly.

"No! I don't need tea or coffee or any other hot beverage, Jay! I need my sister!" she yelled and spun around to face her husband.

"Sweetheart, I understand that. We all understand that. But, yelling at Adam here isn't going to get her back. We need to understand what happened so that we can find her. And for that, Adam needs to be able to do his job."

Hailey took a deep breath. "You're right, you're right. It's just, the last thing we did was fight. I can't-- what if..." She sniffled. "What if that's the last time I saw her?"

Then, she threw herself into Jay's arms and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck.

"I'll take care of her," he said quietly to Adam and Will. "Figure out what happened. And, Will, come tell us right away."

Will nodded and then Jay walked away with his very distraught wife still holding onto him.

Once they were out of earshot, Will turned his gaze directly onto Adam.

"What the hell happened?" he asked and threw his arms up above his head in exasperation.

"Let me preface this by saying that you will not like this answer." Will cocked an eyebrow at the head guard, urging him to continue. "A new guard had to take a leak."

"A guard had to take a piss?" Will practically yelled. "That's why we're in this mess? That's why Harper's missing? They know they aren't supposed to use the bathroom unless someone else can cover their post for them when there's a huge event or until the event's over."

"Kevin's already fired him, don't worry about that."

Will sighed in frustration. "So how'd it happen? How'd the lights go out?"

"You know how they're all connected to one main lamp?" Will nodded. "Whoever infiltrated lit a match and caused the coil to get too hot, thus causing the main lamp to pop--"

"...which caused all the rest of them in the ballroom to go out," Will finished. "I knew it was a bad idea to have them connected to one. I'll send a telegram to Casey right now to get him to change that and make them have different sources. Do you have any idea where they went? Any horse or wagon tracks to go off of?"

"That's what Kevin's looking at right now with others. But, I'm assuming that since they came in through the east window, that they came from the east."

"Is that the first place he's checking for tracks?"

"Yes."

"Good. We need to find her and get her home in one piece."

***

"God!" Hailey yelled when she and Jay were back in their bedroom, a guard outside their door. She was pacing nervously in front of their large, canopied bed while Jay sat on the edge of it, trying to calm down his wife. The coffee that he had Kim bring them was all but forgotten on the table in front of the newly lit fireplace. "She didn't even want to have a ball in the first place! If we just listened to her--"

"Hailey!" Jay yelled at her. She stopped pacing and whipped around to face him. He never raised his voice at her. Ever. Jay held his hands up in a sign of surrender. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. But, I need you to calm down--"

"Don't tell me what to do!" she snapped. But then, she took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I expect you not to yell at me, but then I yell at you. It's unfair, really. I'm sorry."

Jay stood up and walked over to her. Then, he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked directly into her teary eyes. "Hailey, you have nothing to apologize for. Your sister's missing. You have every right to be angry and yell."

"I know, I know. But this isn't your fault. And here I am, yelling at you. It's not fair for me to do to you."

"Listen, they'll find her. I promise you that."

"But how do you know that?"

"Because you and her didn't just escape your hellish dad for her to go down like this. She'll be okay. We'll find her and bring her home."

A tear rolled down Hailey's cheek and she took a deep, shaky breath. "How do you always do this? Talk me down?"

"Well, I have had ten years of practice now," he replied cheekily. Hailey faintly smiled and shook her head. "C'mon, let's drink this coffee before it turns into icicles, and then we can go to bed or get an update from Adam, Kevin, or Will if you want."

Hailey took Jay's hand and the two sat by the fireplace and drank their coffee, but worry was swirling around both of their heads.

***

Harper coughed as she slowly awoke in a damp and dingy place, the candle on the floor sitting in the rusty candle holder the only light. She felt rope digging into her wrists. The stone was rough and cold against her back.

"Princess, you awake?" she heard someone say.

Wait, she knew that voice. That was the voice of the man she was dancing with at the ball when all the lights went out. Blake something.

She coughed again. "I think so."

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

"Where are we?" she asked, her voice scratchy.

"Some dungeon of sorts, I think," Blake Something answered.

Harper's eyes grew wide as the door opened and closed. A burly man walked in, holding two bowls of what looked to be soup.

"Harper Upton and Blake Gallo-Severide," the man said as he paced the small, dimly lit room. "I was just going for the girl, but picking up another royal at the same time, one that the family doesn't like, well, I'd say that's quite a catch."

"What do you want?" Blake spat.

"Oh, wow, quite a mouth on you for a royal, huh, boy? Well, since you asked, I didn't particularly want you; you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but Harper here..." he trailed off and walked closer to Harper. He twirled a strand of her blonde hair, causing Harper to squeeze her eyes shut. "I needed her to get the king to agree to my demands."

Seeing as Harper was too terrified of this man to even speak, Blake took it upon himself to speak on her behalf. "You'll never be able to get King Halstead!" he yelled. "And, if you take her, there's no way in hell he'll give himself up!"

"Oh, but if I take the prince in exchange for Harper, then the king will give himself up for his brother. Funny how family works, isn't it? Now, here's your broth. Your hands are tied, so figure out how to eat it."

He let out a menacing laugh and then left the room, slamming the door shut with a loud thud.

"Do you know him?" Blake asked.

"No," Harper answered. "I have no idea who that it is. All I know is that he's going to hurt the only real family I've ever had." She paused. "And, you're a Severide? God, of all the people I had to get kidnapped with, it had to be you, didn't it?"

"Look," he started, "I know our families don't see eye to eye on how to treat their people--"

"Treat them?" she asked rhetorically. "Your family doesn't even help them! If there's a drought, you do nothing! A flood, you do nothing! You let your people starve when you could be helping them!"

"It's not me!" he yelled, but then quickly lowered his voice. "It's not me. It's my Grandpa Benny's rule. My mom and dad vowed to change things, but since he's still alive..." he trailed off.

"You can't do anything."

"Correct. Now, let's try to eat this soup, yeah?"

"But how? Our hands are tied."

Blake scooted himself across the floor and gripped the bowl with his tied hands. He could move his hands in the knot they were in, just not have them separate at the wrists. And, since his hands were bigger, he had no trouble wrapping his hands around part of the bowl. "Like this," he said.

Harper tried what he was doing, but since her hands were a lot smaller, it wasn't working. And, there's no way she'd be able to grip a spoon since her fists would just touch. The only thing the two could do was move their hands in and out since they were tied together at the wrists.

"C'mere, Princess," Blake beckoned.

"Why?" Harper asked.

"Well, you're hungry, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," she replied, still very confused.

"Move closer to me and I'll tip the broth into your mouth for you to sip. Fine by you, Princess?"

"I mean, I guess," she answered sheepishly and did her best to move closer to Blake.

Once she was close enough, he told her some more important things. "If you want me to put the bowl down, just tap the back of my hand twice." She nodded. "Ready, Princess?" She nodded again and he held the bowl up to her lips and slightly tipped it.

She sipped and never once had broth tasted so good. She was so hungry, as she had no idea how long she had been out or down in this dingy, dungeon-like area.

"I can promise you," Blake started after he and Harper were both finished with their broth, "that we'll get out of here."

"How can you promise that?" she asked, whipping her head towards him. "We don't even know where we are for Christ's sake!"

"Hey, my dad may be a prince and next in line for the throne, but he taught me a lot of things that might end up being useful in this very type of situation."

***

"What the fuck do you mean you haven't found anything yet?" Jay roared at three in the morning.

Hailey had finally fallen asleep from the pure exhaustion of crying her eyes out. Jay had had his arms wrapped around her in bed and hadn't slept at all, so he had untangled himself from her slowly and quietly enough that she didn't wake up, and made his way around the castle until he found Adam, Kevin, and Will talking in Will's study.

"Jay, calm down! We're working as hard as we can! Me and Kevin haven't slept in almost a day!" Adam said, trying to calm down his friend.

"Well, me either! God, how did this happen in the first place? I mean, I know, but how can you not find her? She couldn't have gotten that far, goddammit!"

"Everybody, just take a deep breath," Will said, commanding the room. Then, he turned to Jay. "Jay, I know you're frustrated because she's like a little sister to you--hell, she's like a little sister to me, too--but we can't do anything if Adam and Kevin don't get some sleep and let other guards take over--"

"So you're letting our two best guards sleep when Harper's missing? Unbelievable!" He threw his hands in the air.

"It'll be until sun up and then they'll be back helping the others," Will reassured his little brother. "But right now, what's best is for them is to sleep and let another head guard take over."

"Then give me all the information you've already gathered and let me lead the guards," Jay argued.

"That's not safe and you know it," Kevin said.

"He's right," Adam agreed. "Even if we did give you all the information we had, you'd still hit a dead end. And, you have battle training obviously, but not as extensive as we do. If they took Harper, that probably means that they want you and Will, so as Kevin said, it's not safe for you to go out and try to find her." He looked between Jay and Will. "That goes for both of you."

"Fine. Sleep why don't you. In the meantime, I'll look over these notes and maps and see if I can find anything."

"Jay--" Will began.

"No, Will! I know you're the king and all, but I was the one who pulled her out of that river ten years ago! I'll be damned if I let her die from this!"

***

"I got it! I fucking got it!" Jay yelled around six in the morning while he was working on his third cup of coffee and Will was half-asleep in his desk chair.

"How?" Will yawned. "How'd you figure it out when even our highly skilled guards couldn't?"

"I just, I remembered something, okay?"

"And that something is...?" Will trailed off.

"She was dancing with Kelly Severide's son when she was taken."

"Blake?"

"Yeah. So, they either tried to get into Severide's kingdom after they took the two or they're in ours or they're really close to Severide's."

"So they're in a place where they know we wouldn't look because it's not in our kingdom," Will said as he put the pieces together and sat up straighter in his chair, suddenly wide awake.

"Exactly."

"I'll go tell the guards."

***

"We're never gonna get out of here," Harper groaned as she and Blake tried their best to get some sleep with their backs against the stone wall.

"Never say never, Princess. Never say never," Blake said.

"Wow, didn't know you were a poet, too. Fantastic."

Harper closed her eyes again to try to get some sleep before they'd be woken up at god knows when to eat god knows what. At the same time, Blake was looking around the dungeon-like room for anything to help get them out of there.

He stood up, which caused Harper to open her eyes. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"They missed a spoon when they brought the dinner dishes up," he answered as he sat down and then picked up the spoon with his hands which were still tied in front of him.

"How's a spoon going to help us?" Harper skeptically asked.

Blake moved closer to her, the spoon still in his hands. "Great question. I'm gonna get the end of this spoon in the space between the knots to hopefully make it loose and then untie the knot."

"And how do you expect to do that with tied hands?"

"Wow, you're quite the pessimist, aren't you?"

"Sorry, when you listen to Jay and Will bicker all the time, the negativity kind of just happens."

Blake chuckled. "Whatever you say, Princess. Whatever you say." He paused. "And, to answer your question, I am going to get your ties off first, then you'll help me with mine."

"But I don't know how to do that!"

"Just watch me and hopefully that'll help. And, it's not that hard; you just stick the end of the spoon in a knot to make it loose. Pretty simple actually."

Harper raised her eyebrows but held out her hands to Blake despite her skepticism. He stuck the end of the spoon in the knot he thought was the loosest and twirled the spoon back and forth until the gap was big enough that he could fit a finger from each hand in and wiggle it. Then, he worked on the remaining knots.

Ten minutes later, Harper slid her hands out of the rope.

"You did it!" she whisper-yelled. "Now, time for me to get you out of here."

Blake told her the knot he thought would be the loosest and she got the end of the spoon in there and twirled, just like Blake did. With Blake talking her through the entire thing, she got the rope off his wrist in fifteen minutes. There was some fraying in his, but it was off nonetheless.

"What now?" Harper asked.

"See that window up there?" Blake asked as he pointed above the right of their heads. It wasn't much of a window, just a collection of bars that were bolted together and were bolted to the inside of the wall. Harper nodded. "Now, we tie the rope to the third of five bars so it's centered and we pull it off the wall."

"Rope? Against iron? I may be a woman, but even I know that iron is stronger than rope," Harper said.

"It's rusty," Blake pointed out. "Therefore, it should be easy to get off its hinges."

"And how do you propose we tie the rope to it since it's so high up?"

Blake squatted down. "Grab the rope and hop on my back, Princess."

"Fine. Just let me move these candles over here more so that I can actually see what I'm doing."

Harper moved the candles to either side of the window--on the floor of course--and then grabbed the less-frayed rope. Then, she got on Blake's back.

He boosted her up as high as he could, but she still had to stretch to tie the rope to that third bar on the window. Once she tied multiple knots that Blake deemed tight enough, only then did he put her back on her own two feet.

Then, he grabbed the slightly more frayed rope and tied it to the end of the other rope.

"Now, we have to pull hard. And, I want you in front of me because it'll work best if I'm in the back," Blake explained.

"But what if that grate hits me in the face?" Harper asked.

"Well, for starters, the minute it starts getting really loose, I'll tell you to get out of the way and I'll finish pulling it off. Secondly, when it comes off, I need to make sure it doesn't hit the floor, so I'm going to need to choke up on the rope when it starts getting really loose so that I can hold it and make sure it doesn't hit the floor."

"Okay, this is actually a pretty good plan. Who knew Prince Severide would be able to teach his son all this?"

"It's all--"

"I know, it's all Benny who's doing the things to your people. Now, let's get out of here. Maybe you can talk to Benny after this, but first, we need to get out of here before people wake up."

They positioned themselves on the rope, Harper in the front and Blake in the back. Then, they pulled, making their hands rope burned. But, at this point, neither of them cared; all they cared about was escaping wherever the hell they were.

Once Blake deemed it loose enough for Harper to let go, she did and stood off to the left. Then, he got closer on the rope and pulled. He heard the tell-tale creak of it only hanging on by one side.

He gave it one more pull...

Harper could've cheered when the grate came free of its bearings, giving them an out. But, she kept her mouth shut. Blake made sure to still be choking up on the rope so that it didn't hit the floor. It swung past Harper on her right side and towards the back of the dungeon-like room. But, she didn't know where it was on its backswing.

"Har--"

Harper felt a searing pain as the jagged edges of the grate ripped through the sleeve of her blue ballgown and into her tricep. She was about to cry out when she felt a hand clamp over her mouth.

"Don't scream," Blake whispered as he slowly lowered the rope connected to the grate to the ground, making sure that the grate barely made a noise as it hit the concrete.

Harper nodded with his hand still clamped around her mouth.

"I'm going to let go now," Blake warned. Harper nodded again.

Then, he removed his hand.

Harper bit down on her lip from the pain. She knew it was deep because she felt the blood trickling down her arm and heard the pitter-patter of blood droplets hitting the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she also saw the sleeve of her ballgown was beginning to be stained a shade of crimson.

"So, how we're getting out of here," Blake began, "because we'll talk about that cut once you're out, is that I'm going to boost you up so that you can crawl out." He handed her the less frayed section of the rope after he untied it from the other section which was still connected to the grated window. "Then, you tie this to the first tree you see and toss the other end back down and I'll scale it and get myself out the window."

Harper clamped her left hand over her right tricep. "How do you--"

"Know how to scale a wall?" Blake asked. She nodded. "There's only so many ways you can sneak out of a castle and not get caught...also pretty sure my dad did that when he was a kid, so I guess it runs in the family."

"Okay," Harper said and removed her hand from her arm. "Let's get out of here."

Blake untied the section of rope and handed it to her. Then, she gingerly got on his back once more, being careful to use her right arm as little as possible. He walked forward and stopped in front of the window.

"You can do this, Princess," he encouraged.

With that, Harper pushed herself up and out of the dungeon-like wherever they were, and then started running, the rope trailing behind her.

She saw a tree to her left and ran towards it, cut arm forgotten because of all the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Then, she wrapped the rope around the tree and tied a few super tight knots.

She ran back to the window with the end of the rope.

"Coming down," she whisper-yelled to Blake and dropped the end of the rope down to him.

She watched as he effortlessly scaled the wall and pulled himself up and out the window.

"What do we do now?" Harper asked once he was out as well.

"Run," he answered.

So, Harper hiked up her blue ballgown and tried to keep up with him as the two of them ran to the left and to their safety.

***

Jay stared at the maps in front of him for what seemed like hours. He went back and forth over the map of the border between his and Severide's kingdoms (a few miles of each kingdom included on each side) and the map of Severide's kingdom. He had maps from fifty years ago, twenty years ago, ten years ago, and current maps spread out on Will's desk and on the floor. He was frantically trying to find any notable difference in any of the maps, frantically trying to find any place that Harper and Blake could be hidden away that no one thought existed anymore.

His eyes widened when he found a small difference in the map of the border: it was an old well that had been there ten years ago but wasn't there now. This meant that there was an old well worker's house near there that wasn't being used now, either.

Jay grabbed the pencil he had been using and quickly drew a circle around the well and the house.

"Will, Will! I think I got it!" he exclaimed.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," Will repeated from his chair where he had previously been half asleep. He rubbed his eyes and sat up straight and leaned towards his little brother. "What have you got now?"

Jay waved him over and the two leaned over the desk. "This," Jay said as he jabbed a finger at the map from ten years ago. "This well was there ten years ago, but it's not there now." He pointed to the empty spot on the map. "See?"

Will nodded. "And you think they took Harper there because it's close to the border."

"Exactly."

The door creaked as it was pushed open and Jay and Will immediately looked up.

"Hailey," Jay said and started towards her. "What are you doing awake? It's five in the morning."

"I'm well aware of the time, Jay. But, I couldn't sleep. I'm too worried."

She made her way over the desk and her eyes scanned the maps in front of the two royals. She furrowed her eyebrows.

Jay noticed how pensive she was. "What? You look like you're thinking pretty hard there."

"That well," Hailey began as she put her finger on the map right where that well was. "I know it."

"You do?" Will asked, now as intrigued as his brother.

Hailey nodded. "That was about half a mile (800 meters) from my house. My mother used to go down to get our water from there. But, they stopped using it because there was a new one built a few months before me and Harper came here." She paused. "You think that's where they're holding them?"

"I mean, it's plausible," Jay answered, not wanting to be the one to give her hope or give her disappointment. "It's five miles from the border, making it seven miles from the palace. They could force them to walk five miles in a day or during the night if they had to."

Hailey quickly started towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Jay asked, starting towards his wife.

"To get our coats. I know the area better than you, so I'm going with you and the guards to find Harper. And don't you dare tell me no. If it'll make you feel better, I'll even ride with Adam so that I'm safer."

Jay pursed his lips.

"You cannot be thinking about letting her go!" Will yelled and then received a stern look from Jay for yelling. "Sorry, sorry, Hailey," he quickly apologized. "And, neither of you or me for that matter, should be going. It's too dangerous."

"Will, we'll be okay. We'll bring multiple guards and me and Hailey will stay in the middle, so that way we won't be open targets. You, on the other hand, do need to stay here," Jay said.

"And let you two go alone...even with guards? No way! There's no way in hell, Jay!" He yelled this quieter than the last time so that he didn't receive a glare from Jay.

"Man, you're the king. You've probably got a bigger bounty on your head than me and Hailey, so please, for the love of all things holy, stay here."

"If you two go, make sure you both come back in one piece. And bring Harper back."

***

As Harper's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the night while she and Blake ran away from the place where they were being held captive, she thought she recognized where they were. She vaguely remembered seeing that well that they had just ran by. She and Hailey would come to it for a drink on a hot summer's day after being outside in the heat all day. In the winter, she remembers being cold while she carried a bucket maybe a quarter of the way full back home while her mother and Hailey each carried two buckets that had been practically full. But, Harper had been eager to help and their mother took any chance that she could get to get her children away from their abusive father.

"Wait," she said, which caused Blake to slow down so that Harper could catch up to him. The blood on her tricep was now oozing down onto her wrist and hand as her wound continued to bleed. "I know this place."

"You do?" Blake asked.

"I think so. I'm pretty sure this is where me and Hailey grew up before she got us out of there and we went to live with Will and Jay. It'd be a lot easier to know if we had a torch."

"I mean, I'm pretty sure I could make us one," Blake said.

"No, that's okay. We just need to walk close to the houses. Most of them should have fires lit for a bit of heat and light...that is, if I'm remembering right. That should help us until we find the right house."

"The right house? Princess, not to be rude, but what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about us staying inside my old house until the morning if it's empty."

Blake cocked his head to the side. Harper's idea actually wasn't that bad. "Lead the way, Princess."

***

They were there: safety.

Blake put an arm out in front of him, silently telling Harper to stay behind him. Then, he pushed the old wooden door open. It wasn't that hard even though it did creak loudly due to all the rust on its hinges.

Then, he took a step inside and a few seconds later, beckoned for Harper to follow.

He walked over to the fireplace and swept a finger over the mantle, which caused his finger to be covered in dust. He waved his hand in the fireplace, gathering cobwebs all over his hand.

"I don't think this house has been used in years," he said. "Cobwebs are all over my hand from the fireplace."

"And they wouldn't be in there if someone had been lighting fires," Harper finished.

"Exactly." He felt around the mantle some more and then he felt what he was looking for: two candles and a box of matches. Most people left theirs on the mantle, and if this was Harper's family's old house, he was glad that they had done the same thing.

He fumbled with the box of matches until he got one out and then he struck it against the box and quickly used it to light the candles and then blew out the match and dropped it on the floor and crushed it with his foot.

He handed a candle to Harper but gasped at the same time.

"What?" she asked immediately. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that, you're really bleeding."

"Yeah, I know. But there's not much I can do about that right now." She turned her attention to where the door to the kitchen was and took a few steps closer. There, in that door, was the hole from the doorknob that Hailey had cut out all those years ago. "This is my old house."

"How do you know?"

"The hole in the door."

"How'd that happen?"

"That's a story for another day."

Blake nodded. "Fair enough. But for now we need to figure out how to stop that bleeding. How many layers are in that dress of yours, Princess?"

"Now, why would you need to know that, Prince?"

Blake chuckled. "I'm Prince now, huh?"

"You keep calling me Princess, so I figured it's only fair. But, why do you care so much about my dress?"

"I wanted to rip off a piece of the top layer and then tie it around your arm to hopefully stop the bleeding."

Harper sat down on the dirty floor and splayed her dress out in front of her. "Do it. It's really hurting."

Blake squatted down next to her. "You haven't complained once, though."

"Yeah, because we were running for our lives, Blake! I had more pressing matters to attend to!

Blake laughed. "Slow your roll, Princess." He set the candle down next to him and gently separated the first layer of the dress from the rest of the layers of the dress. Then, he made a tiny rip and paused and looked up at Harper. "Time to get that wound covered for the time being."

Then, all that could be heard between the two was Blake ripping a layer of fabric and then Harper grunting in pain when he tightly tied the strip of fabric around her right tricep.

***

The group of guards, along with the prince and princess, rode through the kingdom on horseback in the dead of night. Even though Hailey knew that the guards knew every inch of the kingdom inside and out, she still gave directions every once in a while.

They got to the old well and the old well worker's house.

"I'll stay here with two others," Adam said. "Kevin, you and the other four go inside and sweep the place. Go get Harper. Do whatever you have to do to get them back."

***

It felt like forever to Hailey and Jay, but it was only ten minutes. They heard yelling and sounds of things crashing to the floor and when they came out, they had three men with them.

"It looks like Harper and Blake escaped," Kevin announced. "We found these three bastards asleep and they didn't even realize they were gone."

"We just wanted change in our kingdom--" one started.

"Quiet!" Kevin boomed. "The only change you're gonna get is living in a dungeon the rest of your life. Now, did anyone help you besides these two? And I suggest that you don't lie to me or else I can easily make sure there's rats in there with you every single day."

"No," the man said and the two others shook their heads.

Adam waved his hand.

"We'll get them to the dungeon. We'll question them more once we're there."

Adam nodded and then Kevin and three other guards got the men on horseback and walked next to the horses so that they knew that the prisoners wouldn't escape. Then, they made their way back to the Halstead palace while Adam tried to figure out what to do next.

"Go half a mile that way," Hailey suggested as she pointed to the left.

"Princess, no disrespect, but why?" Adam asked.

"Our childhood home is that way. Maybe Harper and Blake went to stay there for the night."

"You heard her!" Jay ordered. "Go!"

***

Harper stiffened as she heard muffled voices coming from outside.

"You hear them, too?" Blake asked.

"Uh-huh," she confirmed.

He grabbed a candle and held it out in front of him. "Get behind me, Princess."

The door started to open slightly.

The minute Harper saw to stripe of color on the guard's boot, showing what kingdom she was from, she rushed out in front of Blake.

"Harper--"

"It's okay! It's okay! They're guards!"

When Hailey heard Harper's voice, she immediately jumped down from the horse, despite Adam trying to stop her.

"I don't care if it's not safe, Adam!" she argued. "Harper's in there, so I need to go!"

"I'll go with her," Jay said quickly and jumped off of his horse and quickly stood in front of Hailey.

The minute the two were in the door, Hailey rushed out from behind Jay and sprinted to her little sister.

"Oh thank God," she exclaimed and pulled Harper into a tight hug. "Thank God you're okay!"

Harper winced as Hailey's arm wrapped around the wound on her arm and squeezed. Hailey quickly pulled away.

Jay's eyes widened as he saw the wound on Harper's arm. The girl who he saw as a little sister was hurt...and he couldn't be sure who did it. While Hailey started to bend down to take a closer look at the ripped flesh, Jay took a giant step towards Blake.

"Did you do this?" he yelled.

"No, I--"

"Then explain to me! Explain to me what happened to her!"

"He didn't do it!" Harper yelled. Jay and Hailey looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue. "When we got out and got the grate off, when it came down, it hit me in the arm and cut me." She winced as Hailey lifted up the fabric that Blake had tied her arm off with. "Shit, this really hurts."

Normally, Jay or Hailey would scold her for her language, but given the circumstances, they both found it appropriate to swear.

"Does anything else hurt besides the arm?" Jay asked, seeing as Hailey was too worried about her sister to even speak. "Did they hurt you at all?"

"No, no they didn't. Just tied our wrists and kept us in this dingy dungeon place."

"Okay, well we should get you back." He turned to Blake. "We should get both of you back."

Blake nodded. "With all due respect Prince Jay, my family's palace is closer. Wouldn't it make more sense if we brought Harper there? Sylvie could stitch up her arm and she could rest there a few hours before you started back to your palace."

Hailey turned to Jay. "He does have a really good point."

He sighed. "Fine. But, I'm going back to our palace with one of the guards and then I'll meet you at Severide's. I want to know why this happened."

***

A few hours later, Harper's wound was fully stitched up and free from any bacteria thanks to Sylvie. Hailey was sipping coffee near her sister's bedside while Blake sat across from her, finally succumbing to sleep the same as Harper.

Jay, on the other hand, was just entering Severide's palace with Will in tow.

"Halsteads," Kelly said as Will and Jay, along with Kevin, entered Kelly's huge study. Benny was there, too. "Blake filled me in on what happened. God, that kid. From having his parents die in a fire and me and Stella taking him in, it's like he can't catch a break. We just wanted him to have a nice time at the ball last night and then all this happened."

Will cocked his head to the side and took a step forward. "Wait. So you knew that Blake went to the ball and that he still wasn't home and you didn't send guards out to search for him? Unbelievable."

Kelly held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I thought the kid might be getting some action. Lord knows all three of us did after balls back in the day."

Benny cleared his throat, clearly not wanting to hear about his son's escapades.

"Did we get anything from the kidnappers?" Benny asked.

"First of all," Jay began, "we, didn't do anything. Kevin here did most of the work and yes he did get some answers." Jay took a step back. "Kevin, care to explain what they told you?"

"The three men that kidnapped Prince Gallo-Severide and Princess Halstead were from your kingdom," he said as he nodded towards Benny and Kelly. "They were angry that you weren't doing anything for your people, and since our palace is apparently easier to get in just because of the architecture, they decided to get into the ball, kidnap the princess to try to get to King Will here, and then hold him for ransom until either Prince or King Severide came to get him."

"And why would we--" Benny started, but his son quickly cut him off.

"Oh shut up, father! You know I'd do it!"

"I mean, I guess I can see it." Benny shrugged.

Will cleared his throat. "With that now explained, are you going to do anything to help your people? Because if this happened once, it could easily happen again. I'm not usually one to give in, but in these circumstances, you need to. Hell, you've needed to before Harper and Blake were kidnapped!"

"Don't you dare--"

"Father!" Kelly yelled. "Will's right! Things need to change! Not that you'd understand because you barely know how to run a kingdom, hence why ours has gone to utter shit. We need change and we need it now."

"I'm still the king!"

"And I don't give a damn! You were galavanting the world, leaving your people, our people to suffer and being a terrible ruler." Kelly took a deep breath and lowered his voice. "If you don't do this, I will side with the rebels so that they can get what they want."

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh, but I would. And, you know as well as me that I never back down."

Kelly and Benny stared at each other.

"So?" Jay asked. "What's it going to be?"

"Yes," Kelly agreed. "What is it going to be? Have a traitor for a son or be a good person and help the people of our kingdom?"

Benny threw his arms in the air. "Fine, fine! I'll do it! I'll start focusing more on our kingdom, starting by making sure that prices for food are reasonable so that everyone can have food."

"That's all I ask," Kelly said. He turned back to the two Halsteads. "Now, do you guys want to see Harper? I'm pretty sure Hailey and Blake are with her now, but I've got no problem bringing you two down there while my father sorts things out." He threw a glare towards his father and then quickly turned his attention back to Will and Jay.

"That'd be great," Jay said. "Thank you."

***

"Good morning," Blake whispered when he noticed that Harper was finally waking up. That girl slept a lot compared to how much he slept after their whole ordeal. "Or should I say afternoon," he chuckled.

"It was a long night," Harper said.

"Care to head back to our palace in a few hours?" Jay asked. "No offense, Blake, but I'm sure her bed would be more comfortable than an infirmary bed."

"No offense taken at all."

"I'm just so glad you're okay," Hailey said and reached for Harper's hand. She moved her gaze between both Blake and Harper. "I'm so glad that both of you are okay. And, according to Jay and Kelly, some good is going to come out of this in that Benny is going to try and help his people."

"Good," Harper said. Then, she turned to Blake. "Since I guess you're not so bad at all, Prince Blake, I hope to see you at the next ball?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Princess." Blake smiled.

"See?" Jay started. "I told you that you're a princess, Harper."

A/N: Sorry this has taken me so long to get out! School started and I had a couple of rough shifts at work, so I wasn't in the mood to write. I know it's not August, but I started this at the end of August, so I'm still counting this as part of AU-gust. Also, the picture at the top is from the Biltmore House/Mansion that I visited in mid-August. (I took the picture.) Anyway, thank you so much for reading! And, please remember to like/reblog, comment, and send me asks! I love hearing what you guys think! As always, if you want to be added to my taglist, just tell me and I’ll add you.

taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @onechicago18 @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things @herecomesthewriterwitch @liampayne88

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notmrskennedy · 3 years

Text

Friendliness

A/N - ha so i just wrote this - no editing we die like men. here’s the alternate ending to my other post Likeability (this one is the more predictable one y’all will probably like whoops) if you’ve read the other one, just skip to the end it’s all the same in the middle

Summary - The Team meets a very unfriendly scientist which Spencer’s taken a fancy to

W/C - 2.9k (whoops)

Warnings - Mild Anatomy/bones/etc discussion, a pinch and change of swearing

----

Luke is holding his stomach in his hands. He could usually pride himself on keeping his cool, keeping his head—and stomach—together during a case. He’d seen enough dead bodies that this shouldn’t have thrown him like he’d just sailed twelve foot waves in a dingy.

But he is, after all, standing over a mass grave. Watching a too giddy scientist dig up the bodies.

You’ve captured everyone’s attention, for various reasons. Rossi is vaguely amused by your joyous shouting of bones and your rat moustached assistant. Luke can’t tear his eyes away from the car wreck—are you supposed to swing bones around like baseball bats? Reid seems more interested in your bad jokes and coveralls than he is in solving the case.

The rat assistant—Stewart Walsh—squeezes between Luke and Reid, scuttling like some kind of diseased turtle. “Doctor Y/L/N!”

You barely stop pouring over the mud covered pelvis in your hands to even acknowledge him.

“I just thought you should know that Dr. Evanston just got here.”

You look up, toss the bone to him, and snort. “Tell him the soil samples are four miles due east from here.”

“What’s wrong with Evanston?” Luke asks to no one in particular it seems, waving Stewart off to run for a group of approaching nerds in coveralls.

Ignoring the question or maybe Luke, you just turn back to your search. Elbow deep in mud, being nice must not have been on the to-do list. Reid leans over, hands in his pockets, and whispers, “Evanston stole one of her research papers. I thought he was going to get his teeth kicked in—“

“Skull!” you holler. Luke isn’t stupid enough to miss the glare reserved for the sheepish Dr. Reid.

He clears his throat. “Thoughts so far, doctor?”

“I’m thinking beetles,” is all you say before turning back to your skull. Luke might not know many scientists, but he doesn’t think that most of them look at human skulls like its the Mona Lisa. Like this fat piece of bone held the answers to the universe inside its empty eye sockets.

“Beetles?” Luke coughs. Rossi just shakes his head. Pretends this isn’t a conversation he’s having. Reid is still studying you like Luke might study infiltration schematics. Stewart runs up, out of breath, very rose coloured.

You’re eyes are sparkling as you wade over to them with a new radius bone in your hands. Everyone bends like they know what they’re looking at and you point along the edge of the bone. “It’s a subtle difference but these bones have been cleaned before being buried. My guess is carrion beetles. They’re very hard workers. And—“ you switch to pointing at the radial head— “minute scoring and kerf marks. These look pretty old, so I’m assuming we’re getting close to the bottom.”

“So our unsub dismembered his victims,” Rossi begins, “then cleaned the pieces?”

You nod and hand off the bone to a very blushing Stewart. “I won’t know for sure until I’ve had a chance to examine all the bones. There’s nothing definitive yet. What a hobbyist though, right?”

You chuckle to yourself and dive back into fishing out more finger and wrist bones. Luke turns, runs his hands over his face, and hikes a thumb over his shoulder. “Where did we find her?”

Rossi shrugs, “FBI easter egg hunt.” Luke blinks, while Rossi chuckles at his gullibility. “Come on, the doctor’s the best in the field. Good kid, I can tell.”

“Y/N’s great,” Spencer absently adds on, too busy staring at you. You’re explaining different types of dismemberment to Stewart like you’re discussing the rain. Luke grips onto his stomach just a little tighter.

“Y/N, huh?” Luke teases, momentarily forgetting the unsettling feeling in his gut about you. “You two, uh, friends or something?”

It’s Reid’s turn to stumble. “Yeah, but it’s—we’re just—we’re just—.”

Rossi shakes his head, slaps Reid on the shoulder. “Oh yeah, just friends. So, tell me. Do you talk about dismemberment before or after you make out?”

JJ wants to beg Emily not to make her go down into the basement. You’re down there. She knows it’s childish to be this avoidant—you are just a person after all. A creepy, psychopathic weirdo that makes JJ’s gut churn. She gets why Spencer’s taken to you—shared love of science and random trivia. She does. But that doesn’t mean JJ enjoys the cold ass morgue, smiling along as you ramble. Most of everyone’s limited contact with you has involved random facts and Stewart’s too intimate knowledge of fracture patterns.

There had been ten minutes of reassurance from Emily that you were, in fact, not a horrible person. Ended with JJ making the cold and dark trek down to the morgue. She couldn’t imagine working down here all day long. No one to talk to, no one to strategise with, no where to go. Maybe it suited you. No one would have to listen.

“—don’t know what to do!” echoes across the bottom of the stairwell, the morgue’s doors cracked open. The distress breaks JJ’s heart. Your voice stops her dead in her tracks.

“They don’t hate you,” Spencer’s voice comes after. Gentler, softer. “They—they just don’t know you yet.”

“They don’t want to, Spence!” and JJ winces with the words. It always hurt more when the truth came out in that tone. “I get it! You know? I work with human remains and don’t bring my people skills with me when I’m on the job, but—that shouldn’t matter!”

JJ winces again, tries to ignore how those are nothing short of teary sniffles echoing through her ears. She leans back against the wall and has no idea what to do. Spencer had obviously been down here for hours. Knew you well enough to get the teary truth. What could she do now? Interrupt?

She’d walked into hostage situations less freakin’ stressful than this.

“You’re right,” Spencer soothes, steadfast and strong, “it doesn’t matter. This isn’t—“

“It’s not your fault,” you sigh. JJ doesn’t want to hear the strangled touch to your voice. Doesn’t want to hear the break. “They’re your friends and I’m just your—“

“Doctor!” Stewart calls and JJ could scream. You’re his what?

At least, it’s as good as any moment to intrude.

“What, Stewart?” you snapped, already broken away from Spencer with wet cheeks and stained glasses. You wipe them off haphazardly with the tail end of Spencer’s sweater sleeve—JJ couldn’t help but smile, even if it’s a little strangled.

Stewart jumps like a wet cat and tosses a bundle of files into your hands. “Beetles.”

One word snatches the tears from your face. Snatches you away from Spencer’s side for one of the dozen skeletons on the tables. There was no reason to think that she’ll get her report from you now. With a rib bone in one hand and contemplation in your features—JJ can’t decide how unnerved she is—you’re a little too concentrated.

Stewart scuttles around you. A little too attentive. A little too cherry tinted. Yep. No reports to be had from either of you. JJ turned to Spencer instead, hoping that maybe he’d be helpful. Plastered up like a billboard, JJ knows that saccharine smile isn’t going to get her anywhere.

“Spence?”

He hums, halfheartedly tearing his eyes away. “Yeah?”

“I need the latest report for Emily, but I don’t think—“

“I’ll—just a second, JJ.” Spencer grins, sugary sweet, and slips away. JJ doesn’t miss how he places a hand on your shoulder as he passes. How you barely even notice that quite intimate contact. She also doesn’t miss how Stewart’s face sours at the action, how his eyes narrow enough that Spencer feasibly should’ve noticed.

Reports in hand a minute later, JJ leans over to Spencer. Elbows him in the arm. “Stewart seems pretty jealous. Any reason for that?”

Spencer shrugs. “Wouldn’t know a thing about it.”

Rossi doesn’t have an opinion. Everyone keeps asking—oh Rossi, you’re the wisest of us all, what should we do about poor little Y/N? He doesn’t know, doesn’t care. You are just some scientist who is doing a thousand percent better job than any other forensics ‘expert’ he’s had the pleasure of working with.

Your lab doesn’t smell. You don’t smell. Is there anything more to ask for?

But he does get the brute of having to make the trek down to the morgue—god, his knees alone—and receives most of the reports from the not as horrible as everyone thinks Dr. Y/N Y/L/N. Who is joyfully humming while squinting over one of the skeleton’s hands.

“Hey, doc,” he calls and you look up at him with an adorable sort of grin. “Got anything new?”

“Sure,” you chirp. Hesitate to wave him over. “If you want the details, that is.”

Rossi shakes his head, pulls up a stool to sit next to you and your subject. “I like to have as much knowledge as I can. You never know what will lead you to your un-sub.”

You settle your elbows on the table, straighten a stray finger bone. The team shouldn’t be worried about you being a psychopath. You’re dedicated, careful, attentive. Rossi hopes that if he ever gets turned into human remains, you’re the one looking over him. There’s been more care put into one skeleton than into his three combined marriages.

“You’re in luck,” you answer, “I’ve got a lot to tell you about our attacker. You’ve got time, right?”

Rossi nods, smiles. “Plenty.”

Penelope still hasn’t met you and that kind of pisses her off. You haven’t made it upstairs once? She flies into some dingy Wyoming hovel of a police station for like a week and no one’s thought to bring you upstairs? Rude.

She’s sitting in JJ’s desk chair, waiting for her and Luke to get back from interviewing a potential lead—some ex-felon who fit your makeshift profile. Reid’s scouring over some boring geographical profile, trying not to get annoyed as she nervously—angrily—rants about the case to him. She knows he’s tuning her out, but her work’s been put on the back burner until someone comes up with something to give her.

There’s only so much a computer can find and she’s no profiler.

It’s about five minutes after Reid snapped and left to get a coffee refill, when she picks up a call from the desk. “Hello?”

Creaking metal and shuddering breathing comes first. “Set the scalpel down” comes second. She swallows, silent, and panicking. What the heck is she supposed to do? Paying attention to those hostage negotiation seminars that she definitely didn’t go to would’ve come in handy right about now.

Said scalpel clatters onto some metal table, followed by a strong, “You really don’t want to do this. Please put the gun down.”

Oh god, this is happening.

“You just—“ a male voice snips, bellowing out, “YOU DON’T LOOK AT ME.”

“I do look at you, Stewart,” you plead just as JJ and Luke clamour through the bullpen’s door. Penelope puts the call on speaker, mutes it, and screams for them.

“I don’t know what to do,” Penelope sobs professionally, “someone’s got a gun.”

JJ runs for Emily’s office while Reid returns heedlessly. Luke puts a soft hand on Penelope’s cold one and squeezes. Newbie or not, it’s appreciated as the man’s voice returns. “I’ve tried for so long to get you to—to just—just look at me! I’ve done so much!”

“I know, Stewart,” you ease and Reid tenses. Nearly drops his coffee. “It’s not your fault. You’ve worked so hard.”

“Yeah,” Stewart sobs; Penelope can only imagine how crazy this kid must be.

“Did you leave all those bodies for me, Stewart?” you question and everyone holds their breath. Luke squeezes harder on her hand. Reid’s twitching like a rabbit’s nose, a death grip on his mug, frozen as a Michigan pond.

Stewart sniffles. Probably nods. Penelope doesn’t know whether to run or sit or cry. She decides it’s probably cry, but instead her fingers start moving to record the call, trace the office origin.

“It was a great puzzle, Stewart, it was really genius. It was a fun case to follow, you know that.” You swallow hard, metal tinkles through the speaker. Please, Penelope begs, don’t let them kill each other. I haven’t met the doctor yet!

“Why did you kill these girls, Stewart?” your voice is so gentle and lulling Penelope almost forgets that she’s listening to you try to save your own life.

“I wanted you to look,” he says, sniffles. “I wanted you. I want you, Y/N. I want you to love me.”

It’s either her computer beeping or someone falling through a table or a gunshot. She doesn’t know. She’s crying too hard to care.

Tara doesn’t know when she started to run—probably just after JJ, Luke, and Reid barrelled passed her by the bathroom shouting about the situation—but she’s almost to the morgue doors, right on Reid’s heels. Lord almighty, she feels so stupid. She’d had enough little one on one chats with Stewart to know he was some sort of psycho in disguise. To know that something was wrong with that kid. No one could last more than three minutes with your grad student assistant without wanting to take an eyeball out—his or theirs it didn’t matter. She’d let herself believe you when you told her that all forensic anthropologists seem like that. That there was nothing to worry about.

Nothing to worry about her ass.

Luke’s the first to storm the morgue, expecting what Tara is: you, dead, on the floor with Stewart on the brink of killing himself. But they stop and they stare and Reid beams on with the absurd look on your face.

You’re shaking with rage, pointing a gun at a very unconscious, crumpled, bleeding Stewart Walsh. Your teeth are bared in what Tara would consider out of a comic book—ludicrous and of someone who’s completely lost their mind. JJ makes the mistake of asking if you’re alright.

“Alright?” you chirp, feral and ravenous. JJ and Luke shrink back as you shout, “I lived in Honduras for three years! This isn’t even the worst thing that’s happened to me. It’s my third fucking kidnapping!”

“T-third?” Luke croaks.

“Third!” you shout again and recklessly set your gun on the table. Spencer grins, which sets you off further. “I’ve been nice. I’ve been accommodating. But this is my fourth psychotic grad student! I fucking swear—!”

Stewart groans—thank god he’s alive—and Spencer, thankfully, rushes forward to catch you before you can take anything else out on the kid. Tara’s heard rumours about mysterious other instances of your being under arrest. Illegal transportation of goods was one thing, police brutality was another. The scalpel sticking out of his knee is bad enough.

She helps Luke haul Stewart to his feet, reeking of desperation and a much needed psych eval. JJ follows close behind, closes the morgue doors behind them. But not before they hear your muffled sobs and Spencer’s smiling.

“You got him, Y/N.”

“No, Spence,” you correct, and Tara can’t help but be proud, “I kicked the snot out of him.”

Emily is barely awake when she sees it. JJ’s soft breathing next to her is lulling by itself, let alone if you add in Rossi’s rhythmic snoring and Luke’s idle whispers of sleep talk. Emily could do with some sleep and maybe a few days off. They could all use a few days off, especially after coming to terms with the fact a grad student had killed 12 women just to get a little action.

From a scientist who freely admitted to enjoying the company of bones over real people.

Alive people.

No wonder Stewart had done what he’d done.

Emily turns in her spot, lays back against the wall of the airplane and the seat. After nearly five decades—she’s never thinking about that again—of plane rides, she can comfortably say she can sleep anywhere. With any amount of noise, or cold, or pain.

But her eyes are accidentally open when she peaks around the seat cushion. Spies the Wild Dr. Reid in his natural habitat, reading some ridiculously long book and…carding his fingers through your hair? He’s got a lock curled up around his finger, gently twisting it as he reads. You’re sleeping—knocked the fuck out—in his lap, gripping loosely onto his leg.

You deserve the sleep, Emily decides with a smile. You’d worked the hardest on the case, up for nearly four days with as little rest as you can manage. How Stewart managed to stay awake enough to attack you is beyond Emily. She’s missed out on a few hours just today and she’s losing the battle with her eyelids.

No one ever asked her opinion of you. Probably didn’t have to. You were not the easiest to like, but you’d captured her respect and a bit of her heart when you’d said at the beginning of the case: “I’m an excavator by trade—I’m at archeological digs most of the time—so it’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that these ladies are murder victims. I don’t think I’ll sleep until I’ve got names for them. And maybe the murderer on my table.”

Emily understood the unease, the apprehension. Why everyone was relieved when you’d turned down the plane ride she’d offered you. How they all bit back groans when Emily had insisted. But they’ll have to get used to it, Emily thinks and she settles again. Because they’ll see you again. No doubt about it. The way you’re wrapped up around Spencer, how you hold tighter when the jet bounces a touch, says just that much anyway.

#no editing lads #dr spencer reid #spencer reid #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fanfiction #reid #reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #Criminal Minds #criminal minds fanfiction

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arvandus · 3 years

Note

Hello! Happy 750!!! So I have this OC with a singing quirk. She’s basically like Giselle from enchanted where she can control the people and animals and occasionally plants and wind with just her voice. However she processes everything around her as music so it’s constantly playing in her head and gives her severe insomnia. She’s also a member of the LOV so I was wondering what her interactions with each of the members would be like but mostly Dabi. Would they find her annoying or fun? Up to you

Thank you! It took me a little bit to dwell on this one, because the idea is so interesting! But I finally got hit by the Inspiration Imagination, and here we are! I hope you like it; I've adjusted it to x Reader per your request, and I hope you don't mind I took just a little bit of creative license for the Reader's perspective and how to describe her quirk. I also kept it very Dabi-focused in the interest of time.

Dabi x F!Reader w/ a singing quirk (SFW)

💙 It would be a rocky start at first. Dabi would have difficulty trusting you, simply because your quirk is so powerful. Anything that could potentially take away his free will would make him mistrustful and want to avoid said threat like the plague - or remove it entirely.

💙 But Shigaraki says you’re off limits, so he settles to keep you at arms length while at the same time keeping a close watch on you. One wrong slip, and he’ll handle you himself (or so he tells himself).

💙 He also mistrusts you because… well… as a fellow insomniac, he knows that you’re up at all hours of the night. He’s not sure why, of course… he never knocks on your door to ask. But he hears you shuffling around in your space, pacing in your room. What could possibly keep you up so late every single night? What’s got you looking so exhausted every day as if you never sleep? He’s convinced that you’re a spy, somehow sending messages to their enemies when everyone is asleep. Except he never hears you leave your room. Never hears you talking to anyone. So there must be something he’s missing.

💙 You’re an enigma to him, and it drives him crazy. Dabi doesn’t like unknowns.

💙 On your end, Dabi drives you nuts. He’s an asshole, every word that falls from his mouth laced in backhanded compliments and passive-aggressive accusations. You’d come close to using your quirk on him on many occasions, just to make him shut up or leave the room. Fortunately for Dabi, you have a personal code of honor that you abide by, and controlling people through your singing is only reserved for your enemies.

💙 He’s not your enemy… not yet at least.

💙 You know why he doesn’t trust you, and you don’t blame him… and he's certainly not the first person to be suspicious of you. But does he really gotta be such a dick about it? You try to be upfront with him, to explain that you live by a code and he’s safe from your quirk, but it makes little difference. Dabi doesn’t trust easily, and promises mean very little to him.

💙 His trust is finally gained when you use your quirk to save him and the other league members from certain death. There’s nothing quite like the sensation of hearing the beautiful notes of your voice while in freefall and then feeling himself being caught on a strong wind current, only to be set safely on the ground seventy meters below.

💙 After that happens, he begins to take an even greater interest in you, but this time with more curiosity and less mistrust.

💙 He starts poking and prodding, some questions being asked directly, while others are only implied. After all, he loves his little mind games, and even more so, he loves getting under your skin, especially since you refuse to use your quirk on him. It’s basically given him a ‘get out of jail free’ card for being a brat.

💙 He really, really wants you to prank the others using your quirk. And your little miss “I’m a good girl with a special code of ethics” makes the game that much sweeter. After all, you’re just as much a villain as the rest of them. If Toga can go around swinging her knives from her fingertips, then why couldn’t you sing a little song now and then?

💙 But Dabi quickly learns that you’re just as stubborn as he is, if not more so.

💙 Even so, it’s frustrating for you because if it were anyone else you wouldn’t have put up with this level of bullshit. The persuasion, the flirting, the school-yard level dares… the man has no shame and tries every tactic in the book to try to get what he wants from you. What makes it even worse is that a secret part of you enjoys his mischief. His ideas are tempting sometimes. Especially when the other league members annoy you.

💙 On top of all that, he is strangely alluring, even with his scars. And more importantly, the ‘song’ his body gives off is, well, a pleasant one to say the least.

💙 Every person has a ‘musical aura’ more or less, a small symphony of heartbeats, breaths, and something more… ephemeral. It comes through in the way they move through the environment, in the way the air particles are displaced around them and vibrate with their energy.

💙 And for some reason Dabi’s song is practically intoxicating, just like his sharp blue eyes that always seem to pin you down, heavy lids held up by a cocky smirk.

💙 The two of you reach an impasse in your battle of wills, an unspoken stand-off that never wanes. And it’s upon this competitive dance that the two of you begin to build some strange sense of camaraderie.

💙 He’ll eventually give up on his desire for pranking his comrades when he sees you use your quirk on heroes. But not just any hero, of course…

💙 Imagine Dabi’s glee when you use your song quirk to make Endeavor literally dance as the large man’s face flushes red with rage. It was intended to keep him busy while the League made their escape. But it makes it all over the news of course, and becomes viral online for months. The laughter that the two of you share when you get back to the hideout lasts for hours as you watch the news replay the scene over and over it. It really never gets old.

💙 Oh man, does he like you even more now. You’re his new favorite person. And he finally stops harassing you about using your quirk on the League members, instead finding much greater enjoyment in targeting different heroes together.

💙 There will come a time that he’ll catch you on one of your many insomnia-induced nights. It’s a hard one, sleep being kept at bay by the musical cacophony surrounding you, despite your obvious exhaustion. Your strength finally shatters, and you break down into tears in your room in frustration.

💙 Guess who ends up knocking on your door?

💙 Of course Dabi heard you. For months he’s been listening to the pacing of your feet or your frustrated sighs through the thin, old walls. It’s almost become a lullaby to him by this point, a way for him to know that you’re safe and sound… more or less.

💙 “What’s wrong, doll?” he’ll ask, as he stares down at your tear-streaked face. “I can hear ya through the walls, so don’t gimme any of your bullshit excuses.” Anyone else would hear the mockery in his voice, but for you with your quirk, you can hear the song of caring weaved through them, a hidden secret that you’re sure even he doesn’t realize is there.

💙 He won’t wait for an answer as he enters your personal space and makes himself comfortable.

💙 His sudden presence and that comforting familiar song it brings with it soothes more than you’d like to admit.

💙 But you do admit it. You admit to everything. The fatigue you feel, the way your quirk makes you suffer, and how for some reason, the song of him puts you at ease, drowning out the other noise. It’s like your inner radio is tuned just for him. Normally you wouldn’t admit to any of this of course, but you’re well past the point of exhaustion now, and your brain isn’t running as smoothly as it normally would. So what did it matter if you told him everything? You really didn’t have the strength to care anymore.

💙 “Your quirk is fuckin’ weird.” he admits. Then a grin will spread across his face. “You like my ‘song,’ huh? C’mere.”

💙 He’ll have you lay down with him on your bed and hold you close to him, your head on his chest as he rests his chin in your hair. “Does it help?” he’ll ask.

💙 Shockingly, it does. His music surrounds you, and you close your eyes as you let it cover you like a warm blanket. Everything else seems to fall to the wayside, your tired brain only able to focus on one melody - his. Before you can even nod in response, you’re fast asleep.

💙 It’ll become a habit for you two now… On particularly hard nights, he’ll keep you company and hold you. And maybe… maybe he’ll start letting you keep him company when he has hard nights too.

#Arv's 750 Followers Event #Dabi x reader #dabi x reader hcs #dabi x reader headcanons #dabi hcs #dabi headers #dabi sfw #dabi humor #dabi fluff #soft dabi

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anxiouspotatorants · 3 years

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heyy first off im obsessed w your account and the underdog quartet but also i feel like, with your new jess/paris playlist post, we need to acknowledge paris and jess’s first interaction when paris went into luke’s diner in “Richard goes to stars hollow” they had a very subtle interaction but he was clearly memorable enough to her to remember him and his name. I wonder if whenever paris when to stars hollow in the future she would look for jess what do you think

Thank you so much for this ask and the kind words!!! I’m obviously obsessed with UQ too, so finding more people who love that dynamic is just amazing!

Also yes we only had about two direct interactions between Paris and Jess but holy shit was the platonic chemistry there!! Paris bothering to remember him is something I would love to take as a sign that she was a Jess gal (especially since if you combine that with Keiko Agena saying she and Lane are team Jess, that means all my faves support my ship!)

Now for Jess and Paris specifically, I could honestly give you three different types of answers for this. First is that ASP and company didn’t feel like exploring that dynamic, so Paris probably doesn’t think about Jess or seek him out in the future, especially not after Rory’s break up. But that take is boring so let’s go for wild headcanons!

The second approach is on the more realistic side. I bet that Paris would avoid bringing up Jess every time he popped into her mind in front of Rory, but she would be too desperate to finally have that decent conversationalist to not bug Rory about him. She probably wouldn’t head over to Stars Hollow of her own accord considering how disappointed she was with the research results for that article, but she would ask about when Jess could come over to Hartford so she could rip his literary takes to shreds at a nearby cafe or at the elder Gilmores. Once Jess and Rory were a couple, Paris would double down on her requests but probably only have them met once or twice (Jess has work, Rory still has a tendency to compartmentalize parts of her life etc.). Post-breakup Paris would take Rory’s side, but secretly be sad to see a potential friend go. She probably felt like this guys really could be something, not just for Rory who seemed to finally get decent taste in boys, but for Paris who was finally starting to get more true friends. She carries a secret team Jess torch for the rest of the series but hides it in general criticism of any and all guys Rory is involved with.

On to approach three, aka balls to the walls whatever I want!! Hold on to your hat because this will be a long and windy ride:

After the diner-meet, Paris is intrigued by the guy who played along with her interrogation and eye-flirted with Rory. She doesn’t think she’ll see him again, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t want to.

After the dinner at Rory’s, Paris is honestly elated to finally have a great literary conversation with a guy her age. The only one to have come close is Rory, and that doesn’t say much for the «opposite sex» in Paris’ eyes. But she’s also furiously disagreeing with Jess’ «Austen loves Bukowski»-take, so she writes a whole several page argumentative essay and forces Rory to deliver it to Jess the next school day.

Jess responds not with a letter, but by having Rory hand Paris an annotated («blasphemy!») copy of a Bukowski work. There are no arguments from Jess notes, just underlines of quotes he thinks Austen would approve of, and excerpts from different Austen works put in the margins for comparison. Paris despises him for how much she is seeing his point.

At some point Rory get’s sick of being a carrier pigeon and drags Paris with her to ST after school so the two can fight in person. All three stay until Lorelai pops over for dinner, and Paris realizes she needs to haul herself over to the bus. She’s hungry and worried about the time she should have spent on homework, but ultimately really happy about the day.

She’s bummed to see Jess go after the car accident, but doesn’t have much time to think about it between school and… well, school. She does end up being one of the few Rory can talk to about Jess without getting the whole «bad bad boy»-speech she gets over in ST and at her grandparents’.

Rory doesn’t tell Paris Jess is back until the very end of their Washington trip when Paris finds the unfinished letter and Paris is boiling. She does cool quickly, but only to constantly bug Rory about when the three of them are going to meet up again for coffee and verbal war. Rory gets so stressed about it that at some point she gives Paris the number to Luke’s and tells her to go on her own for all Rory cares.

Paris does. Jess is surprised, but they get in the groove quick. What doesn’t go as smoothly is Paris asking what the hell is going on between him and Rory. His non-answers pretty much spell everything out, and in a rare moment of comradery, Paris decides to turn the conversation in to hating on Dean. Jess appreciates it. It doesn’t happen again, but Paris firmly puts herself in the team Jess camp from then on.

Paris is releived once Jess and Rory finally are together and it is great! More cafe talks! Study sessions! Movie nights! They even sneak both Paris and Lane out into concerts! Paris feels like for the first time in a very long time, she has real friends her own age. The kind who actually like you for you and want to spend time with you for you, not just to get better grades or a better reputation.

Paris sucks at being strong for Rory when Jess leaves. Like, she takes it really personal. This was supposed to be the one good guy, and he decided to be just like everyone else. But with time she learns to coach Rory into speaking her mind about the whole thing, and to support her in her own Paris-y way.

What she doesn’t tell Rory is that at some point after summer break (either because she gets hold of Jess for some scolding or because Lane does and spills to Paris or even if Jess gets in touch himself) Jess starts sending Paris beat up books he collects on the road around the country. None of them feature letters (at first), but annotations at the beginning declaring his safety and momentary location, as well as his general style annotations of the book inside the text. Paris starts responding with letters, and with time they start talking on phones and through email.

Paris helps Jess with his GED. They make it an equal study-buddy thing because Paris needs help taking certain writers seriously in her essays. Most of their sessions are over the phone, and a lot of it is just them daring each other to actually try. Paris gets actual stars on her improved essays, and Jess passes with flying colours.

Paris doesn’t know about Truncheon until Jess stands in front of her place ages later, dressed like a Kids Bop version of himself and holding a messengerbag with his debut novel. Paris tears through it in two hours (forcing Jess to sit on the couch next to her the whole time) and then spends another half hour furiously trying to tear it to shreds but actually praising it. She gives him their first hug ever, and hopes this afternoon is a sign they’ll slowly get back to being close friends in person.

Paris sucks at hiding how team Jess she is. So. Much. She does have genuine critiques of Logan and other guys, but her gut-defenses of Jess at random times in the day and weird reminiscing back to the «good old days» of diner talk after school gives her away immediately. Rory is uncomfortable, but Paris doesn’t even change her mind after Rory still picks Logan.

What she does do is invite Jess over for grown up evenings with Doyle. Whenever Rory is scheduled to be out and Jess needs to visit Luke anyway, Paris extends her invitation. They test wines based on price and taste, watch cult classics, eat takeout (in honour of Paris’ very first Mac and Cheese night) and talk for hours. One day wires cross and Jess gets in while Rory is there/Rory gets back while Jess is there and things get awkward.

Paris invites Jess to the graduation. Yes she has a limited amount of tickets and yes it’s weird to invite your friend who has barely been around ever but damn it she wants him there. He came to her when he was celebrating his accomplishments, she wants him to be there for hers.

They actually grow even closer as adults; emailing, texting and calling regularly. About 70% of it is general banter and picking on everything and everyone around them, but it’s a far more loving kind now — not that anyone who isn’t them would know, from the outside it looks like they want to kill each other. Regardless of outcome, Paris remains forever team Jess, and the two end up having each other’s backs for life.

So this went long and away from the point (and I only went through Paris’ pov!) but it was fun to write! I hope you like rant answers!

#sing it with me all together now:#THE POTENTIAL #btw thank you so much for the ask it brightened my day!#snark attack #jess mariano #paris geller #jess x paris #lowkey underdog quartet #gilmore girls #gilmore girls headcanons #gilmore girls au #my aus #my headcanons

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amajikilvr · 3 years

Note

HEY BBY 🥰🥰 I WAS WONDERING IF I COULD MAKE A QUICK REQUEST W A FEM READER WHO HAS A CAT QUIRK 😳 I think itd be so cute... kitten ears and tail </3 feline quirk :) comes w strength/goodhearing/sensitivity to smells n things like that! Really agile, cats always land on their feet lmao.. ANYWAYS JUST GENERAL HCS/CRUSH HCS WHERE FEM!READER HAS CAT EARS AND A TAIL with tamaki bc hes my main boy 😳 and Shoto if ur interested at all.. love u bye I just thought of this

headcanon corner - tamaki has a crush on cat! reader

word count 930

reader type female (she/her used)

Tamaki tends to be an observational person and you don’t exactly blend in even at a school like yours so it was only a matter of time before he took notice of you and eventually fell hard.

It’s a god-awful kind of crush that he can’t ignore no matter how hard he tries. Don’t get it twisted, you’re most certainly not the problem, you could never be a problem. Tamaki just becomes a sweaty, clammy, and nervous mess whenever he’s in your general vicinity. The way he sees it, that’s one-hundred-percent on him. You’re not scary or even that intimidating. You’re friendly, charming, and so soft-looking...

He’s gotten pretty good at coping with his anxious nature, but the presence of you tends to send him a good way backward in terms of progress. You’re actually gotten worried that Tamaki might be ill before when you caught sight of his flushed face and trembling hands. Your gentle concern made his heart swell and shake. Guilt also struck him knowing that he made you uneasy.

Being someone who can manifest similar appendages himself, Tamaki’s developed a bit of a fixation of sorts on your physical catlike features.

He sits behind you and more than often finds himself staring at your silky and always well-groomed Y/H/C ears that poke out cutely from your head. It’d be so easy to reach out and stroke them and that single thought is enough to send him into shambles while he’s just trying to do math at 9 am…

And oh god, your tail. He’s completely fascinated by it and the way it sticks out of your skirt and how its movements coordinate with your emotions like every other feline’s; it’s almost always in a hook shape, indicating your bubbly mood.

Once, you caught him staring right at it before class so you slowly let your tail snake out and playfully wrap around his leg while mischievously grinning the entire time. A good portion of Tamaki might have melted away at his desk that day. That’s when he realized that you probably will be the death of him-

At some point, Tamaki begins to think maybe you two weren’t as insanely different as he had originally thought… The cafeteria is particularly loud; endless chatter, obnoxious laughter, and even the occasional yelling. He’s wincing uncomfortably as he struggles to listen to Mirio’s story when he notices you sitting nearby. You look perturbed, a rare sight, and your tail is subtlety thrashing back and forth.

Does he want nothing more than to go and rescue you from the ugly noise? Of course. But coming up to your table? Talking to you? No way. He couldn’t do that even if you were to start the conversation. The chance goes to waste, but Tamaki is left with the knowledge that maybe you aren’t inhumanly perfect and that comforts him. It really does.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, Mirio inevitably figures it out and says something to him. It’s certainly embarrassing considering Tamaki hasn’t even liked anyone like this before. He’s not used to this kind of teasing being directed at him.

His friend is unsurprisingly encouraging about the whole thing and tells Tamaki to simply “go for it!”. If only it were that easy. Tamaki doesn’t believe what Mirio says is true; you definitely like him well enough and there was plenty of potential for something more to blossom sooner than later.

And according to Mirio? That whole tail incident? That was definitely you “flirting” with him. Apparently.

His intense crush does prove to be a bit of a problem during training. Tamaki is still as committed as ever to his own dream and the strength-building that comes along with it, but there are times when he finds himself wanting to watch you and nothing else.

You’re so agile… every stride, flip, jump, and movement is effortless and calculated. You could make something as minuscule as walking or taking a sip of water look incredibly attractive. Ugh. Even admitting that as a mere thought is enough to make Tamaki feel as if he’s been set on fire, every sense he has is extremely reactive to everything you do.

You end up approaching him after one of these classes. Both of you had just finished testing your quirks to their limits and Tamaki is not expecting to be facing you and the healthy skin and twinkling eyes that make up your pretty face. He has no choice but to stand passively and hear what you have to say. And try not to die in the process, of course.

Tamaki chokes a little and sweats profusely while listening to you talk, your smooth voice close to putting him into a trace. He can’t bring himself to make eye contact with you so he settles for keeping his stare on your tail; it’s standing straight and confident while the tip is twitching slightly.

He looks up once and sees you wet your lips with a single swipe of your tongue. Between the sight of that and the words you’re saying, he thinks he might pass out. You think he’s cool? You’ve seen him watching you? You want to get to know him better?

You sweetly ask for his phone. Somehow, Tamaki hands it to you with a shaking hand and can’t believe himself. He only nods knowing babbling and stammering would come out if he tried to speak. You rapidly type something, the only sound being the repeated click of your nail against the screen. His device is returned to him with the screen still on and you give him a huge, breathtaking smile before skipping off. Gone. Just like that.

Leaned against the wall, Tamaki is stunned in every sense of the word as he stares at the unfamiliar number, aptly named “Y/N 🐱💞” now living on his contact’s page.

#bnha imagines #bnha x y/n #bnha requests #tamaki amajiki x reader #tamaki x reader #amajiki x reader #tamaki amakiji #tamaki fluff #tamaki headcanons #tamaki amajiki x you #tamaki x you #amajiki x you #tamaki amajiki x y/n #tamaki x y/n #amajiki x y/n

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carminite-wyrm · 3 years

Text

Running Onwards, To the Hope of a New Day (Part 3)

Part 1 | Part 2

(Thank you to everyone who's been reading this fic of mine so far! I've really appreciated all your comments! Also, this will eventually be up on AO3, just not yet because I haven't been able to get an account just yet.)

In which Nyx tries his best, realises a few things, learns a new skill, and commits a minor case of arson.

All in all, Nyx was feeling pretty good about his chances, on his ninth run. He’d learnt from his eighth run that, no, setting the black-market dealer’s place on fire, stealing both the explosives and the phoenix down, and quietly dumping the explosives into one of the rivers that ran through Insomnia wasn’t enough to stop the rebels from bombing the signing ceremony. Considering there was more than one cell, he was sadly unsurprised by this. He’d also figured out that whatever was attracting the daemons was attached to the tracker in the hairpin in a way that he couldn’t just remove, which was a shame.

He learned that he needed to give Crowe a phone in some sort of blast-proof container or casing, because while he’d managed to give Crowe the means to contact him and Libertus sooner, the phone would be severely damaged without one. And, because the phone would be broken, Crowe wouldn’t be able to get in contact with them soon enough to stop Libertus from joining the rebels and giving them the vital information that they needed to launch their attack on the Citadel.

He had also found out that if he told King Regis about the traitorous Glaives he knew would survive the Princess’ extraction, that the King would be able to sever their connection to his magic before they encountered them on either the bridge or the overpass.

Unfortunately, its effectiveness was limited by the fact that there were still Glaives that he hadn’t known were traitors, and so they still had ended up rocketing off the overpass when another Glaive, who Nyx belated recognised as Isra Solis (and Crowe had cursed her out even more viciously than Nyx had, because Isra was as talented with frost magic as Crowe was with fire, and the two had been close, before everything went down).

At this point, Nyx was pretty sure that as soon as they got to that first attempt to escape the city, it was almost guaranteed that they’d be crashing the car sooner or later.

At the very least, Nyx thought to himself, as he finally found an old camera case which he hoped would be enough to hide the phone, this should help with stopping Libertus from leaving. Hopefully.

A day later, he awkwardly held the box of Crowe’s things, waiting for Drautos to move out of earshot. As Libertus raged at Crowe’s apparent death, Nyx took a deep breath, and quickly grabbed Libertus, warping them into one of the nearby alcoves (why there were so many alcoves by the morgue, Nyx had no idea, but he’d take it).

“Nyx, what the hell?!” Libertus gasped, nearly losing his balance at the sudden movement if not for Nyx’s steady grip on his arm.

“Lib…I don’t think Crowe is dead,” Nyx said, mustering the most serious voice he could, which was actually pretty serious considering how much potentially hinged on him getting Libertus to listen. “Look, you know how I gave her some of my curatives, right? Well, I also gave her a phoenix down and an extra phone.”

“…Why? What has that got to do with any of this?”

Nyx rummaged through the box in his hands, searching through for any of the items in question. Thankfully (for the point he was making, at any rate), he could not find any of the things that he had given Crowe.

“They said they recovered everything, right?”

Libertus nodded slowly.

“The phone isn’t here. Not even parts of it.”

Nyx was gratified to see the dawning realisation on Libertus’ face, and silently congratulated himself for finally convincing him of Crowe’s continued survival. And hopefully now, Libertus wouldn’t have too many reasons to leave, or at the very least, no reason to give information to that rebel cell.

“So, what you’re saying,” Libertus said, slowly, almost as if he couldn’t believe it. “Is that Crowe could still be alive.”

“Yes, exactly!” Nyx internally was jumping up and down with joy, this was exactly the reaction he wanted.

“We need to go find her.”

Wait, shit. Celebrated too early.

Nyx wasn’t even certain that Libertus would be able to find Crowe, if he went haring off now. And if he lost track of Libertus, then he wouldn’t to be able to assure himself of Libertus or Crowe’s safety. And if Libertus went running off, then that would alert the traitors that their plan hadn’t gone exactly to plan, and Nyx…couldn’t risk them changing the script that drastically.

“With what resources, Lib?” Nyx hissed, holding back Libertus with a hand on his shoulder. “We don’t even know where she is! She still has the phone, presumedly. We should wait for her call.”

“But what if she can’t call? What if she’s been captured by the Niffs, or- or.”

“…Give it a day, Lib. 24 hours, and if we don’t hear anything, we’ll go find her. But don’t you dare leave without me.” Nyx scowled, hoping that his mild concession wouldn’t be necessary. He didn’t exactly want to show off the fact that he knew the approximate area that Crowe would end up in, two days from this point, but 24 hours would give him time to come up with a reasonable excuse. He hoped, at any rate.

“Fine,” Libertus nodded. “24 hours’ll give us time to prepare, either way.”

“And don’t you dare try and resign, we’re going to need the King’s magic for this. Probably.”

“Alright, alright, hero.” Libertus shook his head, patting Nyx on the shoulder. “Worry about Crowe, not me.”

“I am not going to risk losing you as well, Lib.” Nyx scowled.

Libertus’ expression softened, then, and he drew Nyx into a hug.

“You won’t, Nyx.”

But I have. So many times, Nyx didn’t say, basking in the warmth of his best friend’s embrace. So many times, Libertus. I wish I could tell you.

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

When Nyx’s phone rang early the next day, showing the contact for the phone that he had given Crowe, Nyx was unashamed to admit that he broke down sobbing. Frantically hitting the answer button, he listened to Crowe tell him that Luche had nearly killed her, that she’d been rescued in the nick of time by the combined efforts of the phoenix down and a pair of hunters, and that (this time), for some reason, she was actually all the way at Hammerhead.

Why she was all the way there, Nyx wasn’t quite certain, but Crowe had explained that the phone had actually been slightly damaged after the fight with Luche, but when Crowe had been trying to get it to actually make a call, one of the hunters had said that there was a mechanic over at Hammerhead, who could repair it.

Nyx wondered why Crowe hadn’t gone to the outpost last time, surely an outpost as well-established as Hammerhead would have been the ideal place to take an injured Glaive to contact her allies. Then he realised that in the last run, the phone had been completely toasted, and perhaps the hunters had not realised that Crowe was a member of the Kingsglaive, until they had spotted the Imperial dropships and Crowe had gone racing off after them.

Still, he did have some other questions to ask her.

“Wait, hold up, why couldn’t the hunters call us for you? Don’t they have phones of their own?”

“Batteries died.”

Are you fucking kidding me?! Nyx thought. What were the bloody chances of that happening?!

“What.” He said instead.

“Yeah, apparently they were going to head to one of the smaller, nearer outposts because there’s some spares there, but when I told them I needed to get in touch with a member of the Kingsglaive fast, I think they broke like four or five road rules to get me here as fast as they could.”

Nyx couldn’t help but laugh at the image, before slowly managing to calm himself down.

“Can you hold for a moment? I need to get Libertus here before he does something stupid and tries to rush after you.”

“Sure, Nyx. Get him in here, I bet the big guy’s worrying his ass off about me. I sure won’t be going anywhere, the hunters said it was risky enough bringing me all the way over here in the first place.”

Nyx sped down the hallway, and raced for the stairs, almost knocking Luche down the stairs (if only) in his haste to reach Libertus. He slammed open the door, having only wasted a few seconds fumbling with his own set of keys beforehand.

“LIB!” He yelled, as he shut the door behind him.

“What?!” Libertus yelled back, from inside the bathroom, where Nyx could hear the sounds of the shower running. “It better be important, I only just got the hot water running!”

Oh, whoops.

Three minutes later, Nyx was awkwardly sitting on Libertus’ couch whilst Libertus talked with Crowe, the other man significantly less irritated at Nyx’s interruption when Nyx had told him he had Crowe on the other end of his phone. He didn’t mention to Libertus later, when the man had finally re-entered the main area of his flat and put the phone on speaker, that he had definitely heard the sound of Libertus sobbing even with the continued sound of running water. Nyx was honestly just happy that Libertus was still here, still with him, and that Crowe was still alive.

“Shit, Nyx.” Libertus finally said, after Crowe had fully retold her story. “Luche’s a fucking traitor. We should…we should tell the Captain.”

Nyx froze, from where he was preparing to head off to be part of the Princess’ escort into Insomnia.

“I…I’m not sure we should.” Nyx admitted, trying not to make it apparent that he absolutely distrusted anything and everything Drautos said or did. “The details of Crowe’s mission should have been confidential, as soon as she left the city. But despite the precautions that were taken, Luche was still able to find her, and nearly kill her. If Luche’s a traitor, what’s to say there aren’t any other traitors in the Kingsglaive? What’s to say that the Captain’s office hasn’t already been compromised?”

“Shit, is there anywhere else we can take this?”

“What about the Crownsguard Marshal? The Crownsguard deal with internal affairs, right?” Crowe chipped in.

“We could…but I’m due in for Citadel duty in ten minutes, and we can’t afford any possible traitors knowing something’s up just yet.” Nyx scowled, frustrated at how things had lined up. “Lib, can you see if you can talk to the Marshal?”

“Nyx, you know how I feel about the Crownsguard,” Libertus shook his head. “With my luck, I’d end up just pissing them off, and that’s the opposite of getting them to listen. Chances are, I’m not even going to make it anywhere close to the Marshal’s office.”

“Damn it.” Nyx sighed. “I’ll see if I can find him, when it gets to my lunch break.”

“I’ll see if I can think of any way to get Crowe back here soon, I’m certain Crowe showing up alive will lend support to our whole ‘Luche is a filthy traitor’ argument.” Libertus nodded. “Best of luck, hero.”

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

If one were to inquire as to why Nyx Ulric of the Kingsglaive was currently sitting with his head in his hands, barely an hour after his shift had ended, on the steps just outside the Kingsglaive barracks, he would tell them to politely ‘fuck off’.

It was, perhaps, not the most diplomatic of responses, but Nyx felt it easily summed up how he was presently feeling, after the utter shitshow that was his attempt to find the Marshal of the Crownsguard.

The actual searching and inquiry itself was quite fast. He’d only had to step into the Crownsguard building asking to see the Marshal, only to find out one little thing. One key thing he honestly wished he’d known far sooner, because it explained so many things.

The Marshal was not in the damn city.

Apparently, the man was off on some sort of confidential mission, due to return the bloody day before the signing ceremony for some Astrals-damned reason.

That was too late for any of Nyx’s current (and possibly future) plans.

And there was no way he, a single Kingsglaive, could even get the Marshal to return sooner, it simply wasn’t within the bounds of his current abilities.

So that avenue was closed to him, for the time being. Perhaps there were other people in the Marshal’s office he could approach, but Nyx simply did not know who would be a trustworthy, reliable person he could talk to in that branch of the military.

He briefly considered Fortis, before shaking his head. That man could be relied upon in a crisis, he had to admit, but…to most people, the only crisis happening at the moment was the political nightmare of the ceasefire. To most, it was a matter for diplomats and Kings, not foot soldiers and guardsmen.

Scowling off into the distance, he wondered whether it might have just been best to get Crowe back into the city, so that he could at least go to the King with direct evidence of Luche’s treachery. With any luck, Luche would have spilled everything, and then they could have killed Glauca when he inevitably fought back.

It seemed a bit late to try that this time around, though. Tomorrow, Insomnia would be invaded, after all.

Nyx sighed, before readying himself for his night shift guard duty, and the Princess’ inevitable kidnapping. Time to see if he could, at the very least, keep all his friends alive for longer this time around.

The next morning, he let himself back into Libertus’ room, to kick his plan of ‘Keep The King and My Friends Alive At Least’ into motion.

“Lib, I’m…I’m going to go talk to the King,” He said, and had a moment of amusement at Libertus nearly dropping his bowl of oatmeal in shock. “Crowe’s still at Hammerhead, yeah? Presumably heavily injured, but not injured enough to be unable to hold a call, right?”

“I would assume so,” Libertus nodded, after regaining his composure. “You sure you can get the King himself to listen? He’s a Lucian, and a noble to boot. You know how the combination of the two tend to treat folks like us.”

“…I think he’d listen. We have proof, now, and the next highest-ranked person isn’t even going to be here yet.”

“I still think we should tell the Captain-“

“No!”

Nyx winced as Libertus levelled a critical eye at him, the force of his disagreement clearly a bit…too much.

“Nyx.”

“Yes, Libertus?” Please don’t ask what I think you’re about to.

“Why are you so adamant about not telling the Captain?” Libertus put down his bowl, and crossed his arms, a pose familiar enough to Nyx that he knew Libertus wouldn’t take a vague answer. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“I- I think the Captain is also a traitor.” There. He said it.

Nyx waited, as the seconds ticked by, as Libertus seemed to turn the thought over in his head. He waited, for the inevitable doubt, the claims of paranoia gone too far in the wake of Luche’s betrayal.

“I’m guessing you don’t have any evidence, do you.”

Nyx raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t a complete expression of doubt, even if Libertus did still seem highly sceptical of his not-theory.

“No. It’s just,” Nyx fished around for the right word that wouldn’t cause more suspicion, considering he still wasn’t sure he could just outright say ‘yeah I’ve watched Drautos murder King Regis like three times by now’. “A gut feeling. An instinct.”

“Well, your gut instinct hasn’t led us astray much at all, has it,” Libertus sighed, his stance loosening dramatically as he sat down heavily. “Astrals damn it. And considering Drautos is actually respected by the Lucians, they won’t be likely to take your word without actual evidence to back it up.”

“And obviously, I couldn’t exactly break into his house or office to look for evidence.”

“Well, you could, it’d just be difficult.”

“What.”

Libertus shrugged, before gesturing at himself and Nyx.

“We’ve both got magic, idiot.”

“Yes, and? It’s not exactly conducive to breaking and entering, you know. Security cameras exist, and I can’t exactly fireball my way into his office.”

Libertus blinked up at Nyx, before vanishing in the slightest glow of crystal-blue.

“Oh.”

Nyx sat down, on the floor of Libertus’ shoebox of a flat, and laughed into the palm of his hand. He laughed, until he registered Libertus (now visible again), shaking his shoulder.

“You good?”

“I. Yeah,” Nyx wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye. “I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me. Six, it was so obvious all along!”

He looked up at Libertus, and grinned. “Can you teach me?”

“What, now?!” Libertus looked around, before sighing once again. “You want to go searching whilst the Signing Ceremony happens, don’t you? Fuck, of course you are, you reckless piece of shit.”

“Well-“ Actually, I was more thinking it’d be good for a future loop.

“Fine. You’ve got forty minutes before your next citadel guard shift, you better be listening closely, hero. The others in my squad took at minimum three days to hold this for longer than a few seconds. You might be a warp-spammer, but this shit takes more focus than a shield, for all that it drains your magic slower.”

“I’m listening, Lib.”

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

By the time Nyx had to leave for the citadel, he could hold the invisibility for all of two seconds, a feat that Libertus had briefly praised, before going right back to fondly complaining about Nyx’s aptitude with all things magical. It wasn’t enough to be truly practical, but Nyx figured he’d have time to practice it more, next loop.

“You’ll call me, yeah, if anything goes south?” Libertus had asked, grabbing hold of Nyx before he could leave.

“Yeah,” Nyx nodded. “I will.”

An hour later, he was hastily calling Crowe with the coordinates he had by now memorised, as he made his way to the rest of the Kingsglaive with their orders to mobilise. As for Libertus, he’d updated him as to the situation, tasking Libertus with keeping an eye on the situation within the city, and calling him if anything happened.

Obviously, Nyx knew that things were definitely going to happen, but the point was that he wanted Libertus to not run off and potentially get himself killed. Nyx had a plan, this time around, or at least the makings of one, and he was fairly certain he’d be able to keep his friends, the Princess, and the King alive this time around.

First off though, he had to survive the Princess’ extraction.

With a deep breath, he launched himself up onto the Niflheim ship, experience allowing him to stick the landing instead of the awkward crash his first time around. With expert motions, he directed the Glaives through the ship, right up to the point where Pelna found the Princess.

“Pelna, get out of there, now. Don’t go down that corridor, I spotted a really nasty daemon that way.” Nyx said, hurriedly, as he sprinted down the hallway to meet them. He easily ducked under a traitor’s attack, ripping off their mask just before he slit their throat.

He’d forgotten to check their identities the first few times around, too busy with trying to survive and keeping his friends alive, and while he knew he wouldn’t be able to get all of them in one run, he sure could at least find out who a few of them were.

Distantly, as he expertly tripped another traitor and killed them before they could even try and attack Pelna from behind, he wondered how much he had changed, already, with how many times he’d already replayed the past five days. Before this hell week, before the ceasefire, before the time loops, these Glaives had been his fellow comrades-in-arms. He’d saved them, and been saved in turn, on countless missions, in countless fights. And yet here he was, barely batting an eye as sisters and brothers turned on them all, as he cut them down within seconds of them raising their blades and spells against their former friends and allies. Their movements were so familiar, so scripted, he knew exactly how to move to counter their attacks, how to slip under their guard and slice them apart. The only true dangers, it seemed, would be the daemons, Luche and his posse, and General Glauca.

He shoved Pelna back with one hand as they rounded the corner, tanking a fireball from Tredd with his own shield, before retaliating with his own rapid blasts of lightning. He could hear Tredd curse, ducking around his own corner just as a tentacle from the octopus daemon began to tear the ship they were on in two.

He quickly directed Pelna and Lunafreya onto the ship they would escape in, nodding to himself as Crowe suddenly warped onto the open deck with a gasp, mirroring the events of Loop 7. He quickly shoved a couple of hi-elixirs into her hand, before turning around and seeing if he could spot Luche’s escape ship. Sadly, he couldn’t, and resigned himself to seeing those assholes again later, during the overpass chase.

“Shit, Crowe!” Pelna called out. “You’re alive?!”

“Yeah, no thanks to fucking Luche.” Crowe spat, and Nyx mentally noted down that two hi-elixirs were so much better than just one single elixir. “Nyx, you need to call Libertus, let him know what a shitshow this has all turned out to be.”

“And it’s gotten worse.” Pelna agreed, pointing out the falling Wall.

“We need to return to the Citadel-“

“Yeah, I know. The King and the Ring, right?” Nyx sighed, already calling Libertus.

“Yes, exactly- Wait, how did you know that?” Lunafreya suddenly appeared in Nyx’s field of view, eyes bright with concern, just as Nyx had finished talking to Libertus.

“You’re talking to the Glaive who’s pulled the most Citadel duty out of everyone, I picked up a few things,” Nyx said, suddenly aware of the fact that the importance of the Ring was…probably not the most common of information around. He hastily changed the subject. “I let Lib know we were coming back, he’s going to be waiting for us in the Citadel garage.”

“You sure he’ll be alright? What with that leg of his?” Pelna inquired.

“He might not look like it, but Lib is a very good driver.” Nyx thought back to the past loops. In every single one where he’d actually made it to that plaza, Libertus had, without fail, successfully crashed a car into Glauca. And on top of that, he’d also successfully navigated his way through a city in the midst of getting razed, whilst Nyx and the Old Wall had been tearing up the city in their respective fights. Libertus was the best damn driver Nyx knew, broken leg or not.

The four of them made it to the Citadel in what felt like record time, running into the signing room just in time to once again see Ravus’ arm on fire. Pelna and Lunafreya quickly hustled the King out of the room, whilst Crowe and Nyx did their best to harry Glauca with alternating blasts of fire and lightning. As they ran out of the secret tunnel and into the garage, Nyx grinned as he Libertus waved at them all. As Crowe rushed to give Libertus a one-armed hug, Nyx quietly relayed the identities of the rest of the traitorous Glaives he could be certain of, as well as his suspicions about Captain Drautos, to the King, who nodded even as he paled considerably at Nyx’s revelations.

“Astrals, but am I glad to see you, Crowe!” Libertus called out.

“You too, Libertus! Better not have done anything stupid whilst I was out.”

“Cool catch-up, but we’ve got General Glauca right on our heels,” Nyx said, slamming down another shield over the tunnel that they had just left. “We’ll take two cars. Pelna, you’re driving that car over there. Crowe, you and King Regis can get into Lib’s car. Me and the Princess will be with Pelna. We’ll exit together, and Pelna will take the lead. Lib, I want you to stay as close as possible to us, me and Crowe will be taking charge of killing anything that gets in our way, but there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to clear a path, so stay vigilant. Make sure your comms stay open.”

“Got it.” They all nodded, Crowe even giving him a thumbs up as she slid into Libertus’ car.

The drive out of the Citadel went exactly as Nyx had expected, and he quietly cackled to himself even as he leaned out of the window to throw a handful of lightning at one of the MT Armours chasing them. As he spotted the ship carrying Luche, Tredd, and the rest of their group slowly coming into view, he threw a fireball at them, before ducking back down into the car. Hastily, he grabbed the Princess’ hairpin from her, the woman too shocked by the suddenness of his action to protest.

“Pelna, hand me the wheel.”

“Nyx what-“

“You’re still good at warping, yeah? I need you to warp the Princess to Lib’s car,” Nyx sighed as Lib predictably began to also protest. “Lib, get someone to hold that door open.”

“Nyx, you fucking-“

“Pelna, now!”

To his credit, the man didn’t hesitate even with his protests, throwing his dagger in a shower of blue as he tugged the Princess along, leaving Nyx alone in his car.

Not for much longer, of course, because just as Luche and Tredd leaned out of their ship to try and shoot at them all, and just as Petra Fortis in his armoured van appeared in Nyx’s rearview mirror, Nyx turned his car to face Luche and Tredd.

The look on their faces as he drove the car straight at them would be one Nyx would savour for a long, long time. Luche’s string of curses as Nyx warped out of the car just before impact, would also be on the list of things that gave Nyx so much joy.

He landed on the side of Fortis’ van with a quiet oomph, clinging onto the kukri now lodged into the metal. A few moments later, he’d managed to swing himself into the front seat, after Fortis had rolled down the window for him.

“You’re insane, Ulric. Actually insane.” Fortis said, staring at him with wide eyes even as they caught up with Libertus and the others.

“Best warper in the Kingsglaive.” Nyx replied smugly, and winced as the yelling over his comm reached an even louder level.

After that, they somehow made it all the way to within view of the West Gate, even with the occasional daemon or magitek soldier that they ran into. It seemed Nyx’s gambit with the crashed car and the hairpin had paid off, for now, and he quietly let himself relax a little, though he kept an eye out for anything else that might stop their escape.

It was that caution that had him spotting the glimmer of silver and purple before it hit the ground in front of Libertus’ car, his yell of alarm all that they needed to grind to a halt just in time to avoid General Glauca slicing their car in two.

“Shit, Fortis, you and Lib are gonna have to guard the King and Princess, we’ll try and hold him off. If you see an opening, get out of here.” Nyx said, as he chucked a kukri out of the window, and began doing his level best to once again kill Glauca.

As Crowe covered the King and Princess’ retreat to Fortis’ van, followed by a very worried Libertus, Nyx threw himself headlong into the fight, Pelna darting in and out where he could, the two of them trying to keep Glauca’s attention long enough for Crowe to be able to join in.

“Why do you fight, for a King who would abandon us all to save his throne and his son?” Glauca roared, as Nyx warped out of the way of his sword, flinging a blast of flame to hide Pelna’s approach. “Walk away, Glaives, and you will see another day in peace, the Empire has promised it!”

“The way I see it, whatever Niflheim promised you isn’t enough to justify the utter destruction laid in its wake, Drautos.”

Glauca actually froze, momentarily, as Nyx called him by his actual name. And then cursed, because Crowe had apparently figured out how to properly stash the King and the Princess away, and had now joined the fight as well with a blast of flame that Nyx could see had melted part of his helmet.

“So, you know, then.”

“Yeah, I do, you traitorous bastard.”

The three Glaives did their best to fight Glauca, a blast of lightning from Nyx actually causing the armoured man to stumble backwards a little. This…wasn’t going terribly, Nyx thought, warping past Glauca’s shoulder and swinging back down, Pelna trying to go for Glauca’s knees at the same time. They were both flung backwards for their efforts, but Crowe had used that opportunity to slam another two fireballs at Glauca, only one of which the man was able to deflect.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a daemon making its way to them, ambling towards Fortis’ van. Nyx cursed, and launched himself at Glauca, trying to herd him out of the way so that Fortis could make a break for it, before the daemon got to them.

“Crowe, Pelna, we need to get Glauca out of the way!”

Pelna nodded, grunting as he parried a punch, before warping away from Crowe’s attack. Nyx dove forward immediately after, hissing as Glauca’s sword drew a sharp cut across his cheek, but it was worth it as he managed to get close enough to unleash a pulse of lightning strong enough to send Glauca back a few vital steps. He warped out of the way of his retaliation, letting Pelna take over briefly as he cracked an elixir onto himself.

They just needed to get Glauca a little further away, and then Fortis could, hopefully, get out of the city.

But Pelna was tiring, and so was Nyx, the fighting from earlier having already taken its toll even though they had come out of that mess mostly unharmed.

Glauca, on the other hand, seemed to be fuelled by whatever cursed shit made up that armour of his, and probably a few other things as well.

At this rate, Nyx had the feeling he’d be needing to put that damn Ring back on his finger. Again.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Pelna yelled as he dodged several swings of the sword, managing to avoid getting skewered only for Glauca to catch him around the waist and fling him across the road.

“Pelna!” Nyx yelled, unable to check on his friend as Glauca was now attacking him, and thank the Astrals that Nyx had already seen some of these moves and knew how to counter them, because it should be illegal how fast Glauca could move, in armour like that.

Nyx managed to blast Glauca in the way of one of Crowe’s fire blasts, just as he heard the screeching of tires. He grinned, even as Glauca doubled his attacks at him, Nyx holding up a shield just as he felt the van fly past him, the vehicle close enough to almost him.

“You do realise that you will die here, that nothing will stop me from killing that coward King.” Glauca growled, as he batted Nyx away.

“Your armour’s looking real bad, you know that?” Nyx quipped back, nodding to Pelna as the two of the charged at Glauca, Nyx aiming a blast of frost at Glauca’s feet whilst Pelna tried for a headshot.

They both missed, Glauca almost managing to get a kick out at Nyx, but they both managed to distract him enough to take yet another gout of fire to the head.

“You. I knew I should’ve had you killed when I had the chance!” Glauca roared, charging suddenly at Crowe, a sliver of skin visible along his collarbone.

“No!” Nyx yelled, warping after him, only to get a fist straight to his chest, winding him as he crumpled to the ground.

He could see Crowe warping out of the way, but she’d never fought Glauca in melee combat before, and melee wasn’t even her specialty-

The axe that lodged itself in Glauca’s collarbone surprised them all.

Glauca’s yell of surprise and pain was nearly drowned out by Libertus’ warcry, as the man suddenly appeared, his axe in both hands as he braced himself and completed his swing, turning that sliver of collarbone into a bloody gash, although Nyx could see the silver of the armour already trying to repair itself.

“That’s my sister you nearly killed, you bastard.” Libertus spat, and ducked as Crowe tossed fireball after fireball at Glauca, before she turned and set the approaching daemon alight as well.

“How-“

Nyx didn’t give him time to finish, letting Pelna use him as a springboard to launch right at Glauca, the man plunging a dagger right into that open wound before he landed in front of Libertus and Crowe, ready to help defend them.

“Damn, he’s still going?” Pelna shook his head, flinging up a shield to briefly deflect Glauca’s next attack. “That should’ve at least slowed him down significantly.”

Nyx warped back into the fight, giving the three time to reposition themselves as he tried his best to carve out more of Glauca. This fight was just as frustrating as it had been all the times before, as even though he had his friends with him, it was balanced out by the fact he didn’t have the extra power from the Ring. For all of his experience, Glauca was the worst enemy he had to fight, and it showed.

Drautos had been their commander, their beloved Captain. He knewall of their moves, or at least most of them, their fighting styles, their habits and their weaknesses. And that meant that he could counteract them with more ease than he should have.

Which meant that Nyx had to do something unpredictable, something so utterly insane not even Drautos could predict it.

His gaze skittered over the road, looking for something he could maybe use to his advantage. He couldn’t see anything, just broken concrete and asphalt, Libertus’ by-now trashed car, the corpse of a daemon smouldering behind them-

He looked back at the car, where there was a puddle of fuel slowly leaking from its side.

His first thought was that it was a wonder it hadn’t caught alight, what with Crowe’s flames. His second thought was that surely Glauca wasn’t completely explosion-proof, even with that armour of his.

“Guys!” He yelled, sprinting back into the fight. “I’m going to try something, I need you to herd him backwards, to the car!”

“What are you going to do, trip me?” Glauca actually sounded a bit amused, even though he was, in fact, getting slowly pushed backwards by their combined assault.

“No, even better,” Nyx watched as Glauca was finally backed up to the car, and probably as far as he’d get before he’d clue into the petrol leaking from Libertus’ car. “Everyone, get back!”

Pelna’s eyes widened in understanding, as he warped away and grabbed Libertus with him, and Nyx tossed as large a fireball as he could at Glauca and the car.

The resulting inferno wasn’t quite as impressive as the explosion Nyx had been hoping for, but the screaming from within was.

“Do you…think that’d kill him?” Pelna asked, as they all stared at the flaming wreck, from a safe distance away.

“I’m…not actually sure,” Nyx admitted. “Actually, are cars supposed to catch on fire like that?”

“If they’re a good quality car, no.” Libertus growled. “Cheap piece of shit.”

“Eh, better safe than sorry.”

The three men looked at Crowe as she began to hurl more fireballs at the car (and presumably Glauca), her barrage only pausing when she had to crack an elixir, before continuing on. Nyx shrugged, and joined in, except with lightning bolts. Her logic was sound, in his opinion, even if Pelna and Libertus were staring at them with increasing amounts of fear.

There was one slightly harrowing moment as they watched Glauca actually stumble forwards a few moments later, but Nyx and Crowe’s panicked blasts of lightning and fire respectively quickly had him crumpling to the ground. They stayed where they were, for a few moments longer, to see if he would get back up, before Nyx sprayed the flaming wreck with a light blizzard, and they moved closer to see whether Glauca truly was dead.

“Oh, yikes.” Crowe muttered, staring at the body on the road.

“That’s a lot of- I don’t think a burned body is supposed to smell like that.” Pelna commented, holding a hand up to his nose.

“Must be the armour, that shit was magitek. Must’ve had a bad reaction to all that fire we were hurling at him at the end.” Libertus reasoned.

Nyx simply marched up to the body, and stabbed what he assumed was the head. Twice.

“Alright, he’s definitely dead.” Nyx concluded. “If he wasn’t before, by some miracle, he is now.”

Crowe cackled, a little hysterically.

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

A little later, Nyx trudged behind his three friends as they headed for the nearest haven, presumably to rest and recover before they tried to meet up with any other survivors of the Invasion.

Dawn was breaking on the horizon, and he was simultaneously relieved by the sight, and dreading its arrival.

On one hand, as far as he was aware, he’d managed to keep all of his friends, and the King and the Princess, alive. Even Fortis was alive, and that was something Nyx hadn’t expected. But on the other hand, Insomnia was still a smouldering ruin, the Empire had gotten away with that Crystal, and Nyx was pretty certain the fatality count was up in the hundreds of thousands.

Up until now, he hadn’t managed to live past the dawn, had always died as soon as the sun had fully risen above the horizon. What if his survival now meant that the loops were finished? The thought scared him, somehow. He’d gotten used to slowly inching his way to figuring out the multitude of things that had led up to the city’s fall, and the destruction that came with it. What if he could’ve had more chances to try and stop everything from happening in the first place, if only he figured out a way to die before the dawn? What if there were parts to this puzzle he didn’t yet know about, vital pieces that could ensure everyone’s survival without the destruction of the city?

But, if he looped back now, then wouldn’t all the fighting he had just done be for naught? He looked at his friends, at their tired, but cheerful, expressions. To them, they’d just survived one of the greatest tragedies since the Fall of Galahd, and had even managed to kill the legendary General Glauca, the man responsible for the destruction of not only Galahd, but also Tenebrae, and now Insomnia.

He couldn’t- He couldn’t take that away from them.

And so, Nyx Ulric watched as the sun rose above the horizon, Pelna cheering as one of the imps that had been about to approach them almost instantly melted away into daemonic miasma.

And stopped.

He shuddered, clutching his head as a sudden spell of dizziness overtook him. He vaguely heard Libertus’ cry of alarm, as he stumbled backwards, something tugging on his chest even as the world around him seemed to flicker in and out like a bad television signal. Nyx had the abrupt sensation of the ground beneath him giving way, before his vision fragmented, like a broken mosaic almost, and he fell, dragged along by an unseen force. The swirl of colours that his vision had devolved into was nauseating, and Nyx shut his eyes, the sensation of freefalling continuing until-

He sat upright with a shout, as the world snapped back into place, and he was greeted by the familiar sight of his dimly lit apartment, sunlight streaming through the cheap curtains.

#ffxv #ff15 #final fantasy 15 #final fantasy xv #ffxv fanfiction #ffxv kingsglaive #nyx ulric #libertus ostium #crowe altius #pelna khara #carminite writes #Running Onwards (A Timelooping Nyx AU)#Loop 9 or as I like to call it #the one where Nyx finds out what it feels like to get yeeted back in time

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palmett-hoes · 3 years

Note

per your post "every single one of the monsters is autistic and/or adhd" will you elaborate on that?, if you do i will love you forever (not that i wont if you dont do it)

oh boy i would love to!!! unironically nothing brings me more joy than writing long, convoluted character analysis posts

---

okay so i’ve written several posts before about why andrew is autistic. his moral code, the roundabout way he communicates, his body language, his stimulation-seeking behavior, his strict adherence to transactional deals, the emphasis on honesty, and a dozen other details. at this point i just take andrew being autistic as fact, not just an interpretation

h o w e v e r i also hc that andrew is dyslexic, which is also a neurodiverse condition

- - -

similarly, i’ve seen more than one person interpret kevin as autistic, and i absolutely agree that it fits. not just the hyperfocus on exy but mostly the way he communicates. he’s very indirect, especially in his affection but very direct with his opinions. he tries to be helpful in a material way to the people he cares about, even if he comes off as negative. he wants the people he cares about to be safe and successful so he pushes them to work hard and reminds them in measurable ways how to stay healthy. he doesn’t factor in a lot of room for emotions, so instead he focuses on quantifiable things that he can improve. i personally act very similarly. approaching someone emotionally is hard for me, so when the people i care about have problems all i can think to do is try offering solutions, check up on their well-being, etc. practicality instead of conventional sentiment is extremely common with asd

- - -

so now let’s talk about neil. i had to think on this one for a WHILE but ultimately came to the conclusion that neil is adhd, probably hyperactive type.

like obviously neil is high energy. i would say he probably does the most exercise of anyone on the team. morning run, morning practice, afternoon practice, night practice with kevin and andrew, plus he doesn’t have a car so he runs to class (on a BIG ass campus), and goes for an extra run when he feels stressed. that’s... insane, honestly.

neil reminds me SO MUCH of this post that goes:

“Was just informed by my mom that I do in fact have ADHD and the reason I thought I didn’t was because ever since I was seven whenever I got super energetic my mom would have me go chop wood so now when I’m feeling The ADHD I go chop wood”

(phenomenal post) and that’s neil to a t. tell me this isn’t exactly how neil handles his problems and also exactly what mary would have had to do to keep her unmedicated and very energetic son focused on the task of staying alive

neil also definitely has that ADHD on/off switch with his interest. the obvious being exy which is like the definition of a hyperfixation, but you can see it in other things: the way he runs totally hot or totally cold with people, his complete disinterest in his schoolwork, the way he can’t seem to sit still long enough to follow movies. but then there’s also the hyperfocus. doing the same drill for hours on end. watching exy game after exy game. staring at andrew until time falls away

what’s more, neil on many occasions shows racing thoughts, both in an anxiety way (and anxiety often goes hand-and-hand with adhd) but also as a way to quickly and accurately take in details about people to build a character profile of them. this is what allows him to connect with the foxes, how he manages to get through andrew’s puzzles, and even how he knows what to say in order to knock riko down a peg. his brain just works so fast and it takes in a lot of very specific details and disparate information to make connections.

but also like,, neil has a HUGE problem with time blindness. like the instant he didn’t have his mother around to manage and direct him anymore he lost all sense of time. he stayed in Millport for a YEAR. and what did he keep telling himself during that time? basically “i really need to move on, but not just yet.” for a YEAR! then he gets to palmetto and he’s like “i’ll cut and run in a month or two” then he doesn’t “i’ll be gone by halloween” wrong again “i’ll leave by the raven’s game” nope. like,, the boy just has NO sense of time and he can’t seem to make himself DO anything outside of an externally enforced schedule. and even then,,, HE HAD 48 FUCKING DAYS TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING TO DO TO NOT GET MURDERED! 48 WHOLE DAYS. he didn’t make a plan, he didn’t write down any letters with goodbyes, he didn’t GO TO THE FBI LIKE HE’D INTENDED TO THE WHOLE TIME! nah he just made out with andrew and when he finally got to zero he was just like “ah shit, that was fast. oh well guess i’ll die” and that’s time blindness, babey!

---

let’s move on to nicky.

now i think it would be really easy to say nicky is just adhd because he’s high energy and forgetful but tbh,, i don’t think that’s all of it. like if you really look at nicky’s character and especially at his problems, he has asd problems just as much as he has adhd problems.

so nicky is dual diagnosis asd and adhd. also nicky reminds me a lot of a girl i used to know who was autistic/adhd

so, adhd:

very generally speaking, ppl with adhd will struggle with sitting still, listening to and following instructions, planning/organization, following a schedule, and some social boundaries like “appropriate” times and topics of conversation

i would say you see hints of this with nicky. he’s definitely a rambunctious personality, constantly on the move, constantly stimulation seeking. he’s very tactile. he likes to dance, he likes to party, he complains about it but he’s an elite-level athlete. he’s also decidedly very chatty, and doesn’t seem to really pay attention to what he’s saying. he distracts himself and the people around him have to keep him on track. he has some trouble with boundaries. he’s a little all over the place. he’s almost a bit of an adhd stereotype

also one thing i find interesting is that when neil sees him in the library doing work neil is surprised to see he’s capable of that, especially bc when we see the upperclassmen doing work they generally do it in their dorms or on the bus and/or with other people around. that hyper-social nicky would be alone in a quiet place is weird. but this is like the most common tip for dealing with adhd. don’t do it in a familiar space. have a designated space and time to do work. limit distractions. just a lil detail

so now, asd:

in all honesty, most of nicky’s actual problems in the narrative could be viewed as stemming from asd symptoms. his number one issue being that he has a lot of trouble with nonverbal cues (and tbh, verbal ones too). the twins are mostly quiet. andrew especially (when he’s sober) communicates primarily nonverbally, and nicky seems to have a lot of trouble with this. despite knowing them for the longest on the team, nicky honestly seems to have the least insight into the way either of the twins actually thinks or processes things. he loves them, and he’s very forgiving of them, but he fundamentally doesn’t understand them.

the twins, andrew especially, put up a LOT of nonverbal boundaries, and nicky sort of inadvertently keeps trampling all over them. he’s touchy in a way they don’t like. he talks a lot about their personal lives to other people. he treats them like they’re joking when they’re serious. etc. and like,,, you kind of get the sense that the upperclassmen feel similarly about him. beyond the homophobia, beyond the fact that he’s loyal to andrew, the upperclassmen still treat him with this sense of,, bafflement, i suppose? it’s clear that they don’t really understand him and he doesn’t really understand them. although, nicky IS curious about the upperclassmen, while the upperclassmen are pretty dismissive of him. it reminds me of when my sweet, floppy dog tries to play with my cat. their body language is different; they’re each receiving different signals than they believe they’re sending out

only,, nicky loves people!! he likes being around them, he likes talking to them. he’s interested in their lives and stories, but it’s very clear that he can’t read between the lines on people. he has an incredibly hard time with people who expect their actions to speak for them, which is most people, but is especially his cousins.

actually this is very much also an issue that i have: things need to be spelled out for me. the way i deal with it is i ask a lot of questions. ‘how do you want me to react to this potential situation?’ ‘what are specific things that make you most comfortable?’ ‘please explain to me exactly how you feel and what has prompted those feelings?’ and i’m always communicating vice versa like that with other people. a lot of specifics in both questions and answers

and the interesting thing is, when i was skimming through the books reviewing dialogue styles for another ask, i noticed that, actually, nicky DOES do this. with neil and the upperclassmen, nicky asks a LOT of quick, clarifying questions. things that ask after tone, that ask after intent. it’s kinda sad that he does this for communicating with acquaintances, but with the twins, the people he’s closest to, he makes a lot more assumptions. and i’m really proud of nicky for having this coping skill, because i can’t imagine it’s something he grew up doing. there’s no way he was raised in an environment that fostered this kind of open communication so it must have been something he learned about much later, probably in germany with the kloses, which would also explain why he’s a lil imperfect about it

---

now last but not least, aaron

this is another one i had to think through for a long time before it felt like it fit

much like how i felt that it would be easy to read nicky as simply adhd rather than also asd, i think it would be easy to say aaron is autistic simply because he is quieter, less rambunctious. however, i actually think he’s adhd, likely primarily inattentive type

in all honesty, aaron’s #1 character trait for the first two books is basically that he’s disconnected. detached. separated both from his family and his team. not in the same forcefully apathetic way that andrew is, more,, spaced out. he’s just kind,, there. not really paying attention to what’s going on, tuning in every once in a while only if something really catches his eye/ear then tuning right back out again. just sits in his corner and plays on his phone. and the thing is, from the moments when he does tune in, you can tell that he actually does care. he backs nicky when seth insults him in tfc, and we know he cares deeply about andrew even if he’s become disillusioned with their fraught relationship. he even hangs with his family, doesn’t seem to really try and slip away to other friends besides katelyn, he’s fine spending his leisure time with the monsters. so it’s not totally apathy, he’s just,,, tuned out most of the time

and, yea, that sounds like adhd. it’s not the type that most people are familiar with, and for a lot of people this causes it to slip under the radar. it can make it hard to get help or a dx because it doesn’t fit with how adhd “should” look or how someone “should” act, but difficulty focusing your thoughts and staying in tune with the current moment is absolutely part of adhd

addiction is also a huge problem for people with adhd. a lot of stimulants affect people with adhd very differently than neurotypicals, especially in small doses, and an adhd kid who’s struggled their whole lives with the disorder might try speed or god-forbid meth or fuck even coffee and suddenly find that things are a lot easier for them. they start to self-medicate, they don’t actually know what they’re doing, and then they’re addicted, and everything spirals out of control. we don’t know too many details about aaron’s addiction other than that his mother enabled him, but wouldn’t this fit? it’s also an explanation for aaron still taking drugs at eden’s, given that cracker dust seems to be a mild amphetamine. (aaron talk to betsy about the neurocog and get an actual prescription please)

(total throw away but aaron plays videogames and videogames are like,, adhd culture)

#Anonymous #txt #andrew minyard #kevin day #neil josten #nicky hemmick #aaron minyard #my posts #im talkin #cw addiction #cw addiction mentioned

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lazypeachsoul · 3 years

Text

who you really are.- Loki Laufeyson.

chapter one.

Warnings: this fic will include discussions of gender, pronouns, etc. This chapter does not include any warnings.

Word count: 1,6k.

A/N: This is the first chapter to a multi-part fic I created thanks to and idea by @insanitybyanothername. Thans for the inspiration! I hope you like it 🌼 This is more of an introduction to the story so not a lot of Loki x reader action.

Masterlist.

To be added to my taglist use this forms or write me an ask!

The first stages of a relationship can be challenging. A mix of excitement over the newness of the feelings and the awkwardness of trying to learn how to be around eachother created what many called the ‘honeymoon phase’. And everything they talked about seemed to grow exponentially when one of the parties was a god still trying to get used to Earth, or Midgard as he called it.

When you had first met Loki things had been rocky at best. You were another worker of Stark Industries who was tasked with leading the team creating the better and improved gear for the newest avenger, whose identity still hadn’t been disclosed.

It wasn’t until weeks into working with only notes about this mysterious person and their powers that the announcement was made. John Doe as your team had been calling him was none other than the nordic god Loki of Asgard. The uproar that the announcement caused shook the entire company. Tony Stark was offering shelter to the same man who had tried to destroy the world in 2012 and people were not happy.

Even within your team the situation was tense. Some members had quit because they had been personally affected by his actions and others remained just because they were curious about him. And that unfolded in the first try-on session for the gear.

He had appeared followed by Thor and your boss Tony Stark. Introductions were short and Loki didn’t seem to be in the mood for socializing. He remained silent, rolling his eyes and scoffing at the details you tried to explain about the new gear. And the tenth time he seemed to underrate your design you had to intervene.

“Anything wrong?” As much as you tried to keep your voice leveled the tension in it was not that well hidden.

“I am unable to comprehend why I can’t wear my asgardian attire. Thor does and nobody questions it.” He pointed to his blonde companion who seemed to be nervous about his brother's reaction. “I don’t trust midgardians to create something advanced enough for my capabilities.”

“I can assure you your ‘capabilities’ have been taken into account.” You responded through gritted teeth. “And as for the need of the new gear, since you are here on the intergalactic equivalent of parole you have to wear it so that you can be controlled in missions.”

The room grew quiet and the surprise was evident on everybody’s faces. Some of them were probably surprised you would unveil the real reason for the wardrobe change, others were surprised at your boldness when speaking to a god, and one person in the room was surprised at the sparkle he had seen in your eyes when you spoke.

Months after that interaction things seemed to have changed drastically. Loki was adapting as best as he could to his new home, although he would never call it that, and you had become a willing companion on that journey. So willing that it became something beyond platonic, leading you to your current situation.

Loki had arrived back from one of his missions hours ago and you still hadn’t seen him. Normally if he wasn’t too tired he would quickly clean up and visit your lab, spending the rest of the day sulking or complaining about the mission and avoiding the bureaucratic side of the job, reports apparently were too human for him to do.

But you still hadn’t heard a peep from him, making you wonder how bad the mission could have gone. You received Loki’s gear merely an hour after the announcement of his arrival and when checking the damage you didn’t see anything that would show big wounds or injuries, so him being hurt was out of the question.

Maybe Loki just was in one of his moods and waiting would be better. You were wrapping up your work and exiting your lab when you saw a red cape turning the corner of your hallway. Thor. he could help you to understand how Loki might be, they were on the mission together.

Holding your jacket and bag closer to yourself you picked up the pace, trying to keep up with the big strides of the God of thunder. You caught him waiting for the elevator,a situation that even if you had been working for the Avengers for years still felt weirdly normal for a god.

“Hey Thor! How are you? How did the mission go?”

You were sure that his booming voice when greeting you could be heard all around the floor, but it never failed to make you smile. Although you were infinitely closer to Loki, sometimes too close according to the people around you, Thor had become a part of your life. He had told you multiple times how happy he was that you and Loki were ‘pursuing a courtship that he hopes will last eons’ and he had always tried to tell you how grateful he was for how you treated his brother.

“The mission went great, we managed to put the fear of justice in them. They will always remember the Avengers are here to stop their evil plans.” He explained, making the entire mission sound like a fantasy book. “Loki was incredible, he served justice and showed his potential. You should be proud.”

“I am, Thor. Always am.” You admitted with a smile on your face. “Speaking of Loki, have you seen him? He didn’t come to my lab when he arrived.”

Thor looked back to the metal doors of the elevator, fidgeting with his armour. He never usually shied away from conversation so his reaction put you off slightly. Was Loki angry? Or maybe he lashed out and Thor didn’t want to give you a bad impression of his brother?

The elevator finally dinged signaling the arrival of the cabin. He entered quickly before turning and looking at your defeated form.

“Loki was okay, just deep in thought over personal matters.” Seeing you frown at his words, the man quickly tried to mend the situation. “His own personal matters, not yours. Yours as in courtship matters. He’s very serious about the courtship, do not worry about that…”

Seeing Thor tripping over his words would have been really funny if the situation didn’t worry you. From what you had gathered, Loki seemed to be overthinking something personal but not about your relationship. Great, that didn’t make you relax one bit.

“Maybe you could visit him. He went out but he must be back by now, that way your worries could be forgotten.”

“Yeah, maybe i should do that. We both know how Loki gets when he thinks too hard.”

Thor smiled at the comment, making way for you to enter the elevator and finally allowing the doors to close.

The living quarters of the superheroes were strictly out of reach for everybody but them. Workers were only allowed if invited or were needed for whatever reason. You had only been there once, Loki having invited you to wait in the living room while he got ready for one of your dates, truly teenager style. Normally both you and Loki preferred to find comfort outside the limits of the compound, like your apartment. Out of hearing range of super soldiers and trained spies.

When the doors opened to the quarters everything seemed eerily silent. The only other time you had been there the living space had been as noisy as you would imagine a house inhabited by earth’s mightiest heroes might be.

“Almost everybody is resting or training. That’s why there’s so much calm. Loki’s chamber is at the end of that corridor. I think it would be best if you went alone, he has a tradition of pranking me when I get close to his property since we were children.”

“Thank you Thor. I look forward to hearing more about that tradition someday. Relax, you must be exhausted from saving the world.”

He was thanking you back but you had already started walking down the hallway in the direction you had been told. It wasn’t difficult to find his room, it seemed to be separated from the rest of doors and had a much more regal look to it, more than likely his way of making his room more apt for his rank.

You knocked on the solid wood and waited for a response. When you knocked again, with more strength this time, the door moved and opened letting you enter. You knew you probably should have waited for Loki’s answer but seeing as the door wasn’t locked you thought he wouldn’t mind.

Upon entering the room you were in awe of the decoration, the area looked closer to a palace room than the basic compound design. Stepping further into the room you found a big bed, sheets undone and clothes strewn on top. Looking closely you saw what seemed to be a short sleeved dress, but you quickly discarded the idea. It probably was an asgardian tunic of some kind.

You heard movement to your left, finding the door of what would most likely be the bathroom. Loki must have been cleaning up after a rough day. You took a step towards the door ready to knock on it when the door opened unexpectedly, making you and the person at the other side jump upon seeing each other.

Your heart seemed to drop when the figure emerging from the en suite was not your boyfriend but the most attractive woman you had seen in your life wrapped in a towel. After years of learning through movies and tv shows the first thought that came into your mind was that Loki was cheating, but a closer look to the woman and you saw that mischievous spark in her gaze.

“Loki?”

“W-what are you doing here?”

Taglist: @teenwonder @kyli314

#marvel imagine #marvel fic #marvel x reader #loki x reader #loki odinson #loki imagine #loki laufeyson x reader #loki odinson x reader #loki odionson imagine #mcu imagine #loki laufeyson imagine #myfic

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that-yandere-life · 4 years

Note

sorry if it too much but loki from thor for the abc thing please 🌷

[Thank you so much for helping me celebrate! I hope that you enjoy, and that it was what you were wanting!]

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Loki can come off as inconsiderate to some, but never to you. He will fully take care of you, bathing you in the finest soaps, getting the best wine and feast imaginable. Anything you need he is right there ready to be tended to.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Favorite part of his: His tongue, let’s be real he is known as the silver tongued God for reasons other than his ability to lie his way out of any situation. Able to put it to good use making you fall apart over and over again.

Favorite part of yours: Your neck/throat, whether he is kissing or sucking on it, or wrapping his hands around it gently squeezing. It’s an incredibly intimate thing for him to be trusted by you with such vulnerabilities.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

He is a God who desperately wants an heir at some point, so likely it will always be inside of you. Even if you have a problem with it he will talk you into it, which he is incredibly good at.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Really enjoys multiplying himself and having all of them pleasure you at once, including but not limited to double penetration. Truthfully it’s the only other way that you would have multiple partners as Loki doesn’t share.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

He is incredibly old, so he has an immense amount of experience, all the better to make you fall apart with. Definitely knows what he is doing, sometimes to an extreme, wanting to try new and potentially dangerous things.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Cowgirl, sitting on his cock as he thrusts up into you with a brutal pace sure to make you cum until you can’t anymore. Grasping your hips in a bruising fashion, using them as leverage to pull you down on him at the same time.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Most of the time he is pretty serious, but he also has lighthearted moments where the two of you can’t help but laugh or giggle at the situation.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Impeccably groomed down there, trimmed neatly, not a hair out of place. While the hair on his head is lengthy, it would not translate to his manscaping.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Incredibly intimate, even in your most lustful of love making sessions. Always telling you how much he loves you, and how lucky he is that you allow him this part of you. It’s the time where he can be honest with you, and not have to worry about what anyone else might think.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Occasionally, when you are too tired, or aren’t in the mood for whatever reason. It’s more of when the moment strikes him and he doesn’t have you to fulfill his needs kind of thing.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Voyeurism, in the way of having sex places where you can and usually do get caught by whoever is nearby. Sometimes it's his brother, other times it's a servant, or party guest depending on the occasion.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

In the garden of the palace, somewhat closed off and private, but still the threat of getting caught will always be there. Besides the view of the flowers, their scents add to the sensory overload that he provides every time you are together.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Whenever you try to defy something that he says, or prove him wrong on something that he has told you. For some reason you standing up to him turns him on like nothing ever has before, enjoying your defiance immensely.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

I don’t think there is anything that he wouldn’t at least try with you, unless you were not interested at all. Then he would definitely not suggest it, wanting you to be comfortable at all times.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Again Silver Tongued God ™ he will use that tongue to bring you to orgasm, making you count each and every one until you are unbearably overstimulated. Of course he would never turn you down if you offer to return the favor. Possibly also using it for punishment if you get out of line in his mind.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

I would say it’s about 50/50, it really just depends on the mood, and the amount of time that the two of you have to get away. If you have all night he will start off sensual and slow, wanting to take his sweet time with you. If you have to engage in a quickie, or are particularly into the act then it will be rough and fast, banging your brains out until you can’t think clearly anymore.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Loki prefers to take his time, but if there isn’t an option he will take a quickie. Not to mention that your public forays tend to be quick as the mood typically gets squashed if caught by the wrong people.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

No risk, no reward is his motto. Always ready to do something outlandish, or try something dangerous, within reason of course. He would never put your life at risk.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Being a God, he has endless stamina. Able to go for literal days if you could, but he knows that isn’t realistic. So he relies on your communication to know when you have had enough, happy to just hold you close to him after.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Probably doesn’t really know about sexual toys, but once you introduce them to him… he is all in baby! Wants to use them on you, on himself, use them together. Astounded that Midgard has so many things to aid in sexual pleasure.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

The ultimate tease, let’s be real here! Always flirting with someone to make you jealous, gender notwithstanding. Enjoy’s it very much when you try to get him back by doing the same, teasing him, making him want more. Leading to some intense fucking that night, the bed may even break...

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Doesn’t really make noises per say, but he will be talking pretty much the entire time. Telling you what he wants you to do, dirty talk, praising talk, discipline, you name it and it will be coming out of his mouth.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Really enjoys using his abilities to cause sensory deprivation to you, causing your sight to go dark, “tying” you to the bed frame, and touching you with your heightened awareness.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Honestly he can make it look however you want him to, but his actual member is satisfying on it’s own. Long, slightly above average thickness, and 100% able to use it.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Surprisingly it’s pretty normal, nothing over the top, a few times a week, or whenever you are in the mood. Don’t worry if you want it he will rise to attention ;)

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Only falls asleep once you are comfortable and drifting off in his arms. Would need to make sure that you are taken care of first before he could even think about falling asleep himself.

#yandere marvel #marvel yandere #loki laufeyson x reader #yandere loki laufeyson #yandere loki #Anonymous

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kachinnate · 3 years

Text

,,,,okay i know i just said i wasn’t going to talk about the deh movie but actually yeah imma talk about it for just a sec bc y’all actually make me legitimately distressed sajkfndsmjkgds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQ_A0H1otc i dont have the braincells to do a shot by shot analysis right now but here’s what we’re lookin at

under a readmore because ghhhhhhh

firstly, let me lead with this: yes, from what we know, there’s a lot of things wrong with this movie.

the worst, in my humble opinion, being the bts treatment of the (very few) actors of color, and the lack altogether of any production team members of color. that’s something that should be acknowledged, talked about, and fucking dug into especially at the current fucking period of time we’re living in. it’s unsurprising, but disgusting nonetheless, and it set this movie up for failure from the very beginning. i’m a white person so by no means so i feel inclined or like i have any authority in saying what one should feel wrt all of that, however i will say if there’s to be a boycott in not watching this movie, that should 100% be the reason why. it’s fully poc’s choice whether or not to forgive the production team or give this movie a chance for the irredeemable shit it did in regards to handling the movie’s production. the movie imo definitely doesn’t deserve their forgiveness, but again, that is not for me to say.

there’s some little things too that i can’t fully think of off the top of my head - like, the whole making larry connor’s stepdad thing fucking irks me, for example, but, like...... listen.

if you know me like at all, you know my favorite word is nuance.

so, i’m going to say it outright: the way you people are approaching this three minute trailer shows literally.... none?? no nuance ??? is it no-nuance november over here or ???? like i’m begging you i’m BEGGING YOU to put aside your pre-determined prejudices against this movie and like stop pretending to be a renowned film critic for ten seconds because it’s really not as outright fucking abysmal as you are saying!! and also it’s possible to have opinions that aren’t completely fucking polarized to one side because guess what, the deh movie? a piece of media! what is the shit y’all are constantly preaching about having the ability to consume media critically ? because you’re trying to cancel a fucking trailer based on the contents of the trailer alone !!!!! hello !!!!!!!!

media is bound to be problematic. if y’all were as quick to judge any movie as you did this one, guess what you wouldn’t be watching any movies like ever <3

anyway lets get into the parts that are probably going to get me cancelled lmao

ben platt - listen. LISTEN. listen i know he’s too old to be reprising evan we ALL know he’s too old to be reprising evan i’ve heard this same argument since the announcement was made we get it we all know. haha he’s a grandpa yes bestie ur so right ur so funny wow. i do agree that we should’ve maybe had a not-ben-platt evan moment but here’s some things to keep in mind: the arguments of “oooh ABF is right there !!!!!!” 1. who’s to say he was available? 2. the environment of a movie is so, SO much different than that of a musical -- as much as you wanna pretend you know everything from just a trailer, there’s no way of knowing what scenes were added that might’ve made the movie like.. idk possibly more intense story-wise not even COUNTING the fact that just inherently a movie set is different than a musical one? like yes ben platt might be just being used as a device but that’s probably not the sole and only reason. Also, if i see One (1) more comment about his FUCKING HAIR 😃 first of all it’s not that deep like... if you’re so distracted by an actor having their hair different that’s on you, but going as far as to call it bad or distracting or being like Vehemently a way about it? y’all i know it’s most likely not your intention but that is literally just ben platt’s natural fuckin ETHNICALLY JEWISH hair sajknfgkjds!!!! i’m not the first to make this point, but like dsjnfkjdsg!??! y’all are being so mean about it and for WHAT? again, maybe not intentional, but it reads as like high key Very antisemetic and you should.... maybe not 😳 be that way

connor. the thing about a trailer is that they don’t show you all the scenes because they want you to come see the movie. right? can we agree on that? all the connor scenes in the trailer had SEVERAL hard cuts, omitting a lot of the scene -- like the computer lab scene! we see the beginning of it, there’s a VERY obvious hard cut, and then he’s running out! in my opinion my first watch through of this trailer i had a very like “:// hmm all these actors feel a lil like dry”, but man oh man the comments ive seen about connor. holy shit guys. this boy gets 7 minutes of stage time in the actual musical, and the whole thing is we DON’T KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT HIM. not to burst your bubble, and i by no means hate connor, i love me some good connor lives fics and stuff, but everything we write with connor being alive? that is !! speculation on our part !!!! those are headcanons and us using the little context we have!! connor doesn’t have any significant development IN THE SOURCE MATERIAL that is being adapted into a movie !!! you 1. can’t fully judge a character with already limited screentime in a 3 minute trailer, 2. can’t really call what connor has canonically in the musical as in depth character development !! what is his arc then !!!! he pushes evan, goes to the computer lab, has an outcast loner kid moment, gets upset, takes the letter, DIES. sorry stans, that’s just how it is !! and, AND, everything in between, all the idiosyncracies, that depends on the actor playing connor! speaking of, you know who the actor is playing connor in the movie? that’s right, colton ryan! so, i don’t know, maybe... have some trust in the process, in an actor who ALREADY has played connor on broadway???? and also trust that you will get more connor content then u are seeing from a 3 minute trailer!! dhgnijsdg and some of the comments on like his appearance specifically? like are you really made that he doesn’t have long hair?? they kept his nails and his rings but nahhh the hair was apparently a MUST HAVE (even though like.. not all connor actors on broadway always had/have long hair but w/e).. REGARDLESS. tldr on THAT , the movie would have to do a pretty shitty job if they want to take something from someone who doesn’t have much to begin with and i think y’all are being extremely harsh on this point

jared. honestly i’m a bit worried too about the like... name change, because it does have the potential to be taking out some representation, but... they did change the name to fit the actor’s ethnicity? it’s a really [hmm] topic because, again, from a trailer and from what we have been told we don’t KNOW a lot of the context, but i think it’s important to remember that uh.. jewish people aren’t just? always white ?? there’s a possibility they changed the last name to fit with the [ethnicity] while keeping him jewish?? ofc there’s the possibility that they Didn’t and ... again hm that’s its own thing altogether but just reiterates the point that you can’t knock a whole movie just based on the trailer. you can’t talk about things you know nothing about.

alana. same thing as before, you can’t.... completely bash a character based on a 3 minute trailer. there was discussion about how she seemed ‘shy’ when talking to evan, which like.. maybe she is but also that scene was them talking in a library like if u actually take notice of what’s happening in the scene jdskngsd though i do share the general consensus with many others that she won’t get a lot of screen-time but that’s neither here nor there 😔 moving on

scenes and the setting. one of the things i was most like.. tentative about in regards to a switch from a musical to a movie was how they were like... going to do certain scenes? naturally, a lot has to be different when we’re going from a minimal stage set to an entire movie with like.. settings. there are going to be new scenes because a movie lends to have like, physical places that aren’t just [evan’s bedroom] and [murphy kitchen] and [implied school]. so new scenes, new conversations, slightly different pacing.. this is all to be expected right like are y’all geneuinely surprised here or ........

there’s a lot we aren’t seeing yet because this is a TRAILER. again i already mentioned this re: connor but like... again, y’all are making some Claims that just... fucking outlandish. there are so many moments in the trailer that are very obvious Hard Cuts. you don’t have all the information yet. you are angry at a tiny fragment of something that is confusing you because you don’t have all the context. is there a chance that some of this shit is just genuinely Bad? yeah but you really cannot 100000% say it with your chest and gauge it without seeing the movie and understanding what that scene is in context. lowkey uhhh saw some jokes about the zoe scene in the car and :’))) ? jesus? christ????

concluding thoughts because my brain hurts but like. you don’t have to like the movie. you don’t have to WATCH the movie. like all media if you choose to consume the movie you should do so with some CRITICAL THOUGHT. but, just like the novel (and i do not want to have any discussions about that i don’t care if you think it’s good Or bad that’s not what this is about) you guys are going in this WANTING to believe it’s bad and completely polarizing your thoughts on what this is going to be. yeah, maybe there shouldn’t be a movie. i genuinely think we could’ve gone without. but it’s just a piece of media, it’s not a progression like all your (musical is good, novel is bad, MOVIE IS WORSE OH NO) posts are suggesting. they are all just. different pieces of media stemming from a source. at the end of the day it’s just a fucking movie. if you already hate it so much, guess what? you don’t have to watch it! you don’t have to put so much needless fucking hate into a 3 MINUTE TRAILER. you can stop being performative and dissing it for its poor treatment of POC while then going on to make fun of ben platt’s hair and just targeting a different group like! please !!!

i’m not trying to be a fuckin’ advocate for this movie because there’s so much opportunity for it to suck, i do Not have high hopes for it, and i’m not even really sure i want to watch it (i bought the novel when it came out and have yet to read it, and i’m sure the movie will like.. elicit very similar vibes from me lsdngjkdsg like im just not uhhh feeling it) but y’know what? watching the trailer did not bring forth the fucking onslaught of hatred in me that apparently has fuckin posessed all of y’all and like djnsgjksdg plagued my dashboard for this whole evening. don’t come into my inbox trying to like.. argue with me about this (preemptively im turning off anon because i like i Can’t lmao) this is just like... a rant i needed to get out of me real quick.

SO. tldr for now: have critical thought about shit you consume, there’s no ethical consumption under [the film industry], you can’t judge a movie entirely on its trailer, and y’all need to calm the fuck down

#garbage.txt #deh movie #ask to tag #irrelevant #bc this is lowkey a vent bc jfc #this isn't @ anyone btw this is just [in general mostly just from my dash] bc.. sighs #anyway im gonna refrain from making any more comment on this its just. frustrating.#edit: ok to rb

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