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lazuli-bloom · 3 years

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Roses and Styx

Chapter 3 – Kids' Games To Pass The Time

Beetlejuice x Reader

Word Count : 5,399

New day, new problems. Sure things aren't the worst they could be, but that new hire isn't making things all that easy at work.

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An annoying, rhythmic buzz cut through silence. Light seeped its way in, chasing away the shadows of sleep. You groaned and rolled. It was too early to face the new day.

Compounding your groggy state was the fact you didn't sleep for shit last night. The chilly October night sucked the warmth from your room, and you had only a few blankets to shield yourself from it. And the chill didn't stop your mind racing most of the night. When sleep came to you, it brought restless dreams.

The first wasn't terrible, just strange. A weird bug followed you home wanting to be friends. The other dream, however... A vile pit formed in your stomach.

Your thoughts drifted to the dream. You couldn't move. Arms, legs, head, nothing. You couldn't budge an inch no matter how hard you fought. Something wanted you to stay still. And it wasn't as if your surroundings gave you any clues either. Darkness blanketed the room. No details, just a barren inky void. The only thing you found with you was a set of pinprick lights.

A voice spoke. It whispered beautiful words coated in honey. Your guts twisted. A warm touch held your face, and the voice asked you a question. Your words caught in your throat. The entity glared at you with icy eyes, and the sweet words soured to a nasty venom.

You clutched your chest as the memory of searing heat replayed. It sank blazing claws into your waist and arm, blistering and cooking the flesh.

You drew in shaky breaths and wiped away the leftover tears. It was just a dream. It was just a bad dream. You're safe.

You took in one more breath before getting up to start your day.

Normally you would go straight to the bathroom, but you wanted to check something. You stepped out into the main living space and found it empty. A DVD case sat on the coffee table, but the TV screen was dark. The couch laid devoid of any unexpected house guests. No sign anyone else was ever there. Your heart sank as you realized the encounter you remembered was just another dream cooked up by your tired brain. A frown pulled at your lips and you sighed. No time to mope. You needed to get ready for work.

You opened the bathroom door and peered inside. Rigel napped on the top of the toilet's water tank, surrounded by shredded toilet paper. At least it was less of a mess than yesterday. You clean up the ribbons and tossed them in the garbage under the sink. After you topped off his food and water, you hopped in the shower.

The water in your apartment only ever got up to lukewarm on a good day. And that was not a good day. Frigged rain pelted you, giving you goosebumps. Not wanting to linger, you got out and dressed a few minutes later.

You combed your fingers through your hair as you looted the kitchen. Damn cat, why'd it have to throw up on your hairbrush? You grumbled to yourself and pulled out the off-brand cereal to fix breakfast.

"What 'cha doing, babes?" A voice from nowhere spoke in your ear.

Your knees buckle and you collapse, taking the bag of cereal with you. You gripped at your chest to still your heart, and rolled to sit with your back to the cabinets. A man in a rotting striped suit floated in your kitchen, clutching his rounder stomach as he cackled.

"Oh sweets, that's great! I wasn't even trying!"

As the shock fades, your features scrunched up. You got to your feet and tossed the bag on the counter. With crossed arms you pivot to glare at the ghost, still laughing his ass off.

"Giving me a heart attack first thing in the morning," you said with a huff, "I came out here and you were gone. I thought I had dreamed the whole thing, you jerk."

"So you're saying you missed me?" He batted his eyes at you, setting your cheeks on fire. You would not dignify that with a response. Instead, you turned back to the counter and fixed your breakfast.

"Where did you go then?" you asked and riffled through the silverware drawer for a spoon.

"I was checking on your neighbors. Did you know the guys a few doors down have a shit-ton of electronics?"

"Yeah, and old lady Smith has a garden in her closet."

"Really? Which one is she in? I didn't find that."

"She's on the third floor, but don't bug her too much. She's nice. Plus she bakes amazing cookies for me whenever I help her."

You scarfed your breakfast, and double checked you had everything done. Rigel was in the bathroom with his things. You had your wallet and phone. After you finished the last bite, you set the bowl in the sink along with the one from last night.

You rinsed out the bowl and hummed to yourself before you glanced over your shoulder to the ghost. He grinned at you with a tilt of his head. You gave him a small smile, only to frown.

"I have to head to work."

That simple sentence wiped the grin from his face. His shoulders sank, and the color of his hair shifted. A dull purple seeped in and overtook the green. That couldn't be a good sign. "You're leaving me here?"

"Well, you could stay here, or..."

"Or?"

"If you can be out of the way and let me focus on my work when I need to, then you could tag along with me. It’d be nice having someone other than my boss to talk to during the downtime."

His grin stretched across his face again, and he spun up to you, batting his eyes. "Oh babes, you do care! Of course I'll go with you! Not my idea for a first date, but I'll take it."

You pressed your lips tight. Was this a mistake? Not like you can take back the offer, though. That would crush him. You let out a long sigh and rubbed at your temple.

"Not a date, dude."

"If you say so," he purred.

You shook your head and grabbed the keys before heading to the car. The ghost trailed you, with an ever present chill at your side. On the way to the car, he pointed out each of the apartments and spilled whatever secrets he found out. You had an inkling of some of your neighbors' crimes, but you weren't one to go tattling. It was best to let them deal with their lives and you deal with yours. So you ended up nodding along to what the ghost told you.

When you got to your car, you sat behind the wheel for a moment. Once your ghostly friend floated into the passenger seat, you took in a breath.

"Okay. A few things before we get there," You said as you fought to start the car, "If either my boss or a customer comes up and needs to talk to me, I would appreciate it if you hang back for a minute and let me handle them. Otherwise, I mostly just front-face merchandise and I can talk with you so long as I'm quiet. Also, I take my lunches in the cemetery, so I can talk a bit more freely there."

"Sounds good to me, toots."

You rolled your eyes and got the hunk of junk started. The car protested with clangs, but you drove off with a little more of a fight. On the scenic drive to work he asked you to turn on the radio, which got a dry laugh from you.

"What's so funny?"

"Radio's broke. Most things in this car are broken. Radio, heater, a/c. All of them are broken."

"Can't you get a new one? There's cars all over the place, just take one."

"Th-this isn't Grand Theft Auto,"

"It will be once you take a car!"

"Okay, technically true. I meant this isn't the game GTA, this is real life. And I would get arrested."

"Not if you had help from the ghost with the most!"

You rolled your eyes and turned onto the main road, heading for work. The rest of the drive, the "ghost with the most" filled the air with his own voice, singing a medley of songs. Some of them you recognized, others you suspected he made up on the spot.

You pulled into the employee parking and parked your car alongside the two much nicer ones there. As you collected your things, Beetlejuice pointed to the sleek mustang.

"That car looks fun! We should steal a car like that!"

"I'm pretty sure that's Brandon's car. I'm not stealing my coworker's car to take for a joyride."

"But it would be so cool!"

"Maybe later," you said, stepping out of your junker.

The bell chimed as you entered the store and caught your boss's attention. He came over to greet you and made sure you were doing better. You gave a small laugh and rubbed at the back of your neck.

"Yeah, I'm doing better." You glanced sidelong to the ghost wandering over to the front counter.

"Good. Now hopefully I can focus on training Brandon without as many interruptions. He keeps breaking away to chat with every customer that comes into the store. So I need you to handle the customers so he doesn't have an excuse."

"Got it. And if you need help with him, I can always smack some sense into him. The new order of mallets is in the back, right?"

Mr. Turner laughed and turned to go back to teaching Brandon. You smiled to yourself and meandered over to the counter. Your ghost pal sat on the countertop next to the computer.

"You never mentioned you get to hit people at your job, any openings?"

"Sorry, spot's filled. For now, anyway. But who knows, maybe we'll need a replacement soon."

"Save it for me. I would kill to get to hang around a pretty little breather like you all day and get paid for it. But doing that for free is nice too."

"You're a shameless flirt."

"How can a sexy beast like me not be with you around and able to see me?"

You shook your head and glanced at the computer. There was something you wanted to look up, you were sure of it. But what was it? You stepped closer and opened a new tab for the search. It sat blank for a moment as you retraced what the topic could have been.

"What are ya doing, babes?"

"I can't remember what I wanted to search for."

"One hundred great ways to skin a cat?"

You raised a brow and frowned at him. "I'm not hurting Rigel." A light flicked on in your head.

You typed in the cat's name and clicked on the page for the star. A picture of the Orion constellation to the side of the page showed off the stars. Most of them had fancy looking letters next to them, with a few having numbers attached. Rigel marked the lower right star, while the upper left was the only other star with a word.

"Beh-tell? Goose? Wait..." You jerked your head over to the ghost, who wore a Cheshire grin. "That's how you spell your name?"

"Yep. That's me. Behtellgoose."

You read the name once more. Betelgeuse. Such a strange spelling to sound like beetle-juice. Kind of cool though. You smiled and closed out of the tab when an unfamiliar voice called out to you.

"Good morning, Art. Great to see you doing better!"

"Heh, yeah. Feeling better." You forced a tight-lipped smile to prevent yourself from frowning. Brandon stayed still with his own fake smile plastered on his face. After a beat of him not saying anything, you asked, "Do you need something?"

"You forgot to go grab your apron. What if a customer came in? That would look very unprofessional. Here, I'll watch the counter and you can go grab your apron."

The corner of your mouth twitched, and you took in a deep breath. You stepped away and grabbed your stupid apron. As you threw it on, the bell chimed. You rushed back out, hoping to catch the customer before Brandon.

The counter stood unattended and you found Brandon down one aisle with a woman discussing products. You groaned and pinched the bridge of your nose.

"Isn't that what your boss wanted you to stop him from doing?"

"Yes, Beetle, it is."

You hissed out a sigh and shook your head. As you walked over to them, you prepared yourself to speak in your chipper customer service voice. Brandon insisted he could take care of the customer, only for Mr. Turner to order him to get back to training. Brandon grimaced and stepped away to let you take over.

Your smile was easier to keep on your face after that. You helped the customer find what she needed and rang up her items. She left with a wave and you went back to the computer.

"What the hell is that guy's deal?" Betelgeuse asked, gesturing with a thumb to Brandon.

"I don't know. I don't know if I really care." You leaned back onto your heels and let your mind wander. Whenever you were alone, stuck at the counter, you always pulled up simple web games on the computer to pass the time. But with Betelgeuse there, you couldn't ignore him to play games.

"What are ya thinking about, sweets? How hot it would be to make out right now?"

You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms. "No, you flirt. I'm thinking of what we can do to pass the time. All I'm coming up with are twenty questions and I spy."

"I'm fine with that," he said as he flashed you a sharp grin. "Okay, I'll start. I spy with my rotten eye, something... metal."

"Well, that narrows it down."

The two of you spent the rest of the morning going, taking turns playing those silly kids' games. Betelgeuse huffed and whined whenever a customer, or worse, Brandon, pulled you away to help them. Any time you called him out on his grumbling, he denied it as the color in his hair shifted.

He caught you staring at his hair once or twice, which exacerbated the shifting colors. Each time that happened, Betelgeuse quickly picked up whichever game you two had been playing. You left the topic alone for the moment, but stashed it away to ask about later.

Halfway into a difficult game of twenty questions, Mr. Turner came up to the counter. You ignored Betelgeuse's smug punchable face and greeted your boss, hoping your frustration didn't bleed into your tone.

"Cass, I'm stepping out for a bit to pick up something. I should be back for you to take your lunch break. Keep an eye on the store and Brandon for me, while I'm gone, okay?"

"Got it. Burn down the place and leave no evidence. Can do."

He shook his head with a laugh. Mr. Turner said, "you turd," before he waved goodbye and left the shop.

"Ooh baby, I love you talking about crimes like that! Tell me how you'd light up the place."

You turned back to the ghost. He floated with his stomach parallel to the ground as he held his scruffy chin in his hands and swung his legs pointed upward. You laughed at the dork and smiled.

"Well, the kerosene is over there, and the rolls of rags are an aisle over. There's a blow torch with some of the other tools."

"Artemis!" You whipped your attention to the stick in the mud, frowning at you. You didn't even get the chance to speak. "That kind of talk is highly unprofessional! Going over ways to burn down the store, shame on you."

"I was joking dude, it's not—"

"Well, I don't find that funny. And you shouldn't address your elders as 'dude', it is very disrespectful."

"Alright, I'm sorry."

"Good. Now I need your help."

You gave a tight-lipped smile and nodded. Brandon motioned for you to follow him, and once he turned back, you brought two fingers to your temple and jerked your head away.

In the middle of a tedious and painful walkthrough of creating an order of paint, the bell rang. Brandon broke away the second it chimed and went straight to helping the customer. That was irritating enough, but after the regular said they didn't need any help, Brandon insisted on assisting them.

You took in a deep breath and let the man dig his own grave. If he doesn't value your help, then he's not getting it. You marched back to the counter and found Betelgeuse picking his teeth.

He licked a striped tongue over his sharp teeth then said, "What a douchebag."

"Tell me about it."

The customer came up to the counter a minute later, followed by Brandon. You greeted the regular and switched the computer over to its register display. Your new coworker nudged you aside and insisted on being the one to ring up the customer.

"Artemis, you should have stayed at the paint desk. I'll meet you back there in a minute, after I help this gentleman."

You wanted nothing more than to slap that man. Who the hell does he think he is? Calling you unprofessional and pulling stunts like that? You grit your teeth and forced a smile before excusing yourself to head back to the paint desk.

Betelgeuse floated after you and lounged on top of the desk. You spared him a glance, but stuck to pacing the small paint pit, waiting for that douche-canoe to get back there. The customer didn't even have a lot of things to buy, so it shouldn't take Brandon that long.

"That freaking jerk," you said under your breath, "I can't believe Mr. Turner hired a guy like that."

"Want me to kill him?"

"Tempting, but no. I'm just going to talk to my boss when he gets back." You checked your phone for the time. A quarter after one, which means only fifteen more minutes until your lunch break. "God, I hope he's here soon."

You tapped your nails against the metal top of the tint machine, the speed of which accelerated the longer you waited. What the hell was taking him so long? Did another customer show up? This was getting infuriating.

"You sure you don't want me to kill the guy?"

"No, Beetle, I don't want you to do that."

"Art, who are you talking to?"

You turned around to the voice. Brandon stood at the threshold of the paint pit with his hand on his hips and raised a brow at you. Your face burned as you laughed, attempting to cover up your embarrassment.

"Oh, just this annoying little beetle. It was crawling under the tint dispenser."

"Do you regularly talk to disgusting bugs?" he asked. You opened your mouth to speak, only for Brandon to keep talking. "It doesn't matter. You shouldn't act so childish. How old are you? Late teens?"

"No, Brandon, I'm closer to my thirties than my teens."

"And you're talking to bugs, where any customer can come up and see that behavior. You ought to grow up and act your age, Artemis."

The bell chimed again, and you shuffled to the side to get an unobstructed view of the front. Mr. Turner stepped in with a smile and a wave. You waved back and checked the clock on the computer. One twenty-seven, perfect. You pulled your apron's strings and took it off in a swift motion.

"Where do you think you're going, Artemis?"

"Lunch."

Brandon frowned, and you folded up your apron with a smile. He probably wanted to stop you from leaving, but that shit would not fly with the boss back. Betelgeuse hopped down from his spot on the counter and followed. You tossed your apron behind the front counter and greeted Mr. Turner. After a quick rundown of what had happened, you left for your break, with a quick stop to your car to grab your food.

On the walk to the cemetery, Betelgeuse mocked the stupid things Brandon said. He was dead on with his impression, too.

"Artemis, do you think I give a shit? I'm a giant douche with a stick up my ass! There's no fun allowed in the store."

You did your best to hold back your laughter, but that only caused you to snort. A laugh roared out next to you in Betelgeuse's voice. You covered your mouth with your free hand, but that couldn't stop your shoulders from bouncing. As the two of you crossed into the graveyard, you glanced sidelong at the ghost, who shot you a grin.

In the cemetery, devoid of any other visitors, you veered towards your usual spot, off in the corner and near the front gate. You sat on the stone bench, setting your lunch beside you. Betelgeuse, however, sat on a gravestone, with his feet propped up on the one next to it.

You opened up your small bag of chips and started snacking on them. Betelgeuse looked over from picking at his nails and raised a brow at you.

"That's all you're going to eat, babes?"

"I have a granola bar too."

You grabbed the other half of your lunch and showed him. He tilted his head with a frown, but said nothing. It grew quiet, save for your munching on the chips. Your mind wandered, and you zoned out, staring unfocused in a random direction. Betelgeuse moved, catching your eye, and you studied him.

He gnawed at his black nails with jagged yellow teeth. Stubble covered his round chin, matching the same green mixed in his hair. Has his stubble changed color like his hair has? And why did his hair change color to begin with?

You hummed to yourself after finishing the last of your chips.

"What's up, sweets?"

"I... was hoping to ask you something."

Betelgeuse tilted his head to the other side and raised a brow and pursed his lips. You gave a half smile and laughed. He looked like a curious puppy. How could this ghost-demon look so cute?

"What is it?"

"I've noticed that your hair isn't always green."

As soon as the sentence left your mouth, the color of his hair shifted to a deep purple. You shrank back as your stomach twisted into knots. Even without knowing what the colors meant, the frown on his face and sudden dodging of eye contact weren't good signs. On no. You messed up, didn't you? Why couldn't you have just kept your mouth shut?

"I'm sorry. You don't have to say anything. Forget I ever mentioned it."

You dug your nails into your palms and turned your gaze to your knees. Betelgeuse produced a mix of a growl and a groan, and you peered up at him through your hair. His lips pulled into an almost smile as he kept sharp eyes pointed at his hands, where he raked his nails through the hair of one.

"I might as well tell you, you'd figure it out eventually. My hair changes color with my mood."

You dared to lift your head more. Your lips parted as your brain processed the new information.

"Like a chameleon?"

"Like what?"

He tilted his head and raised a brow as his nose wrinkled. You forced out a small laugh and smile as you wrung your wrists. "A chameleon, the little lizards that change color. It's to communicate their mood. Darker colors like black are when it's stressed, neutral tones are when it's calm, and vibrant greens, or reds can be excitement or aggression."

Betelgeuse lurched forward with a growl and ran his hands through his hair, shielding the deepening purple from view. Your stomach twisted into knots. This wasn't getting better. You parted your lips only to press them shut a second later. Why did you have to screw up and bring up his hair in the first place?

Your nails dug deeper into your palms. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"If you're going to strip a guy naked like that, babes, you could at least buy me dinner first."

Your face wrinkled as you tilted your head at him. Betelgeuse still held himself curled and closed off, but he wore a weak crooked smile. Your lips twitched, and you huffed out a dry laugh.

"Alright, we can go through the drive thru to get a few things off the dollar menu."

"Ooh! I wanna try one of those green sludgy shake things from that Old MacDonald place."

"Sorry to break this to you, but they only sell those in March."

"What? That's lame!"

"Everything is pumpkin spice right now."

He pouted and crossed his arms with a huff. Despite the childish act, the purple in his hair faded back to a muted green. You chuckled to yourself as relief washed over you. With a soft smile, you grabbed the other half of your lunch and hummed before you opened it.

"Hey Beetle."

"Hmm?"

"I won't bring it up again if you don't want me to, but I wanted to say I think your chameleon hair is pretty cool. Like, is it magic? Or is it a demon thing? Or—sorry. I'm sorry. I'll shut up about it now. Sorry."

Your eyes darted to focus on your granola bar. You fumbled with tearing open the packaging for a second, only for the wrapper to give. The force sent your food tumbling to the ground. You stared at the broken bar and heaved out a sigh. Just wonderful.

Your pocket buzzed, veering your attention to it. You pulled out your phone and checked the caller id. Unknown number. Chills cascaded down as you stared at the phone.

"Something wrong, babes?"

"Nope. Everything's fine. Just some spam call."

You shoved it back into your pocket and let it ring. If the caller wanted anything, they can leave a voicemail. Besides, you needed to get back to work.

You picked up your trash and nodded your head to the gate. Betelgeuse hopped up and floated alongside you. After a few steps out of the cemetery, your phone rang again. Every fiber in you tensed up, but you left your phone in your pocket. The third time your phone rang, Betelgeuse spoke up again.

"Who the hell keeps calling you?"

You shrugged and laughed despite your dry throat. "Who knows? I have to get back to work though."

With a hurried pace, you made it back to the store in a few minutes. The bell swung, chiming away as you beeline for your apron behind the counter. Brandon stood at the register with a phone up to his ear.

"There you are, Art! I've been calling you and you never once answered!" Brandon frowned at you and slipped his phone into his pants pocket. "You're obligated to pick up if I or Mr. Turner ever need to call you."

"O-oh, that was you calling." A small breath escapes passed your lips and you relax, only to register what he said. "Wait, how did you even get my number? I've only ever given this number to Sam and Mr. Turner."

"Why does it matter how I got your number? The issue is; if work calls you, especially if you have a shift that day, you need to answer."

"Fine, okay. I'll save your number so I don't panic again when I'm called three times in a row."

"Oh please, three phone calls make you panic? Artemis, you're an adult. You should know better than to be worried about something as simple as a phone call."

You grit your teeth and smiled. This conversation wasn't going anywhere you wanted, and you didn't plan on sticking around. You threw on your apron and marched to a far corner of the store to get away from everyone. Well, save for the ghost haunting you.

"Wow, babes, that guy is a major piece of work."

"Piece of shit is more like it."

You grabbed at products on the shelf and pulled them forward, turning the labels when needed. If you looked busy, maybe Brandon would mind his own fucking business. You clenched your jaw and growled as you brought more things forward.

"I shouldn't be worried about phone calls? What the fuck does he know? He's never had to put up with the shit I have!"

"And what shit would that be, babes?"

You glanced up to the ghost laying on his stomach across the top of the aisle shelving. Betelgeuse tilted his head. Soft and earnest curiosity graced his features. The corner of your mouth twitched before you closed your eyes and let out a hiss.

"I don't want to get into it," you said, keeping your voice quiet, "but I've had someone call me over and over before. It wasn't fun."

You pulled the rest of the items forward within arm's reach before sidestepping to get more. Betelgeuse floated after you as you inched down the aisle. He picked the games back up, and you welcomed the distraction.

There were one or two rounds of I spy, several goes at twenty questions—which you're positive Betelgeuse cheated and switched his topic multiple times. Towards the end of your shift, well after Brandon left for the day, you two asked a few "would you rather" questions. While he asked a few risque questions at the start—bite or be bitten, top or bottom—his questions took a tamer turn, similar to the ones you asked.

"Okay babe, would you rather find a rat in the kitchen or a roach in your bed?"

"I mean... I guess I'd prefer seeing another rat in the kitchen over finding more roaches?"

"M-more?"

"Donna hires her incompetent nephew to do the pest control for the apartments." You swept the line of dirt into the pan and tossed it into the trash. "Actually, speaking of, I should double check the traps and make sure something isn't rotting somewhere in the apartment."

Betelgeuse watched you finish the last of the closing routine. You clicked the pan back around the neck of the broom and stuffed it into a corner behind the counter. The only thing left was Mr. Turner to finish locking up the cash and heading out. You leaned against the counter and rolled your head back to look at the ceiling.

A quiet stillness overtook the store. It lasted a few seconds before Betelgeuse spoke up again.

"Would you rather have a nicer place but the same landlady, or the same apartment with a nicer landlady—"

"Alright Cass, you ready to leave?"

You turned your attention from the unseen ghost to your boss. He smiled and gestured to the door. You returned a half smile before exiting. Mr. Turner locked up, and you waved goodbye. A minute later you sank into the car seat and rested your hands on the wheel.

"Well babes, this certainly seems familiar."

You glanced his way and rolled your eyes before getting the car started.

"Yep, it's been an entire day since a demon followed my home, like a lost puppy."

"I'm way cuter than any puppy. Plus, you can keep me in your apartment all you want and your shitty landlady can't do anything about it!"

"Nicer landlady, by the way," you said as the car sputtered to life.

"What?"

"I'd rather have a nicer landlady than a nicer place. Donna would just let a nicer place fall to ruin."

You pulled out of the parking lot and drove home. At the first red light, you tapped your finger on the wheel and hummed.

"Hey Beetle, would you rather stay in a comfortable and familiar place with people that don't believe half of what you say, or cut all contact with them and be alone if it meant freedom?"

Betelgeuse tilted his head from one side to the other, closing his eyes as he mulled over your question. As he thought, the light changed, and you continued on your way home. A sharp grin stretched across his face a moment later.

"Easy. I'd take my freedom."

Your lips twitched up. "Yeah... me too."

#beetlejuice #beetlejuice x reader #musical beetlejuice x reader #roses and styx #my writing #fun fact. I kept miss spelling Brandon as Brandong when typing this

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sif-the-tsunami · 3 years

Text

The Love I Can’t Give

Warnings: Pregnancy, fertility, motherhood, emotional neglect, jealousy, and emotional trauma

Authors note: I feel a deep, soul cleaning cry coming on. I had a conversation with my spouse today where I talked about how I realize that I don’t think I’ll get to be a mother again. And it hurts my heart in a real tangible way. Pregnancy announcements make me cry. Working with my pregnant coworker is difficult. We spent the afternoon with friends of ours and watching my friend who I adore with their husband just being doted on brought up a lot of emotions for me. I had a traumatic pregnancy and I know that my husband did the best that he could at the time. We were not ready to be parents when it happened. I guess I feel like if I have to cry, someone else needs to cry with me.

Anyways. Summary, Clark is in a long term relationship with a woman who was previously married. She has children from the previous marriage and has since been sterilized due to medical problems during her pregnancy. After a game night spent with a very pregnant friend, Clark comforts her as best as he can.

Clark lovingly gazed at the woman he adored across the table from him, she was one of the strongest women he had the pleasure of knowing. His beloved could weather any storm life could throw at her, she might swear and complain the whole time, and she would make it out the other side. But just like how he had his own weaknesses, she had her kryptonite. He could hear her voice crack ever so slightly as the night wore on, emotionally exhausted from holding back her feelings. Clark, who was acutely aware of his love’s heartbeat, could tell that she had been doing some of her breathing exercises when she excused herself earlier, trying to get control over her emotions. He knew when she was having a panic attack, she was trying her best to get herself back together and not worry him.

He pretended to get a text from their babysitter and brought the evening to a close earlier than they had planned. Ever the masochist, she would have stayed until the end despite the heartache she was enduring.

When they finally left their friend’s house, he caught what she had been pushing back as long as she possibly could. The staggered breath that was the only other outward sign she would give until her face would crumple and the tears would erupt.

“Hey, hun, do you want me to drive?” Without a word, just a slight nod, Clark came up behind his favorite human and kissed her shoulder. “You’re ok, I promise. You can let it out.”

They made it halfway to their apartment before the tears started to pour down her cheeks. Between broken gasps, she miserably choked out, “I’m sorry, Clark. I didn’t mean to ruin our evening...”

“You didn’t ruin anything. Sweetheart, you can always talk to me about whatever is going on.”

“Its... its so stupid.” She said softly. “You got a look on your face when Sarah was talking about her baby. And watching her husband just... so lovingly take care of her. My whole heart just broke. I can’t give that to you, I don’t get to experience that with you. Clark, you would be such a good daddy. You are so so wonderful with the girls. I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about. I love you, I love the girls. Our little family feels complete to me. You made the right choice for you, you told me how sick you were during your pregnancies. I don’t think I could do that to you. Knowing I was the one that caused you that kind of pain would be difficult for me.” Clark reached across the car to hold her hand.

“I wish I could have had a chance to celebrate from the very beginning, where we stand in the bathroom together waiting for the little pink line to develop. Where the first reaction is joy, not terror.” She sniffed hard, “I felt like I ruined our lives when I got pregnant the first time. That he would never forgive me. I loved her immensely from the moment I knew, and all I could think was how badly I failed her because I picked the wrong person to be her dad.”

Clark gently lifted the hand he held and kissed it. “He grew into fatherhood though. I’ve seen how he is with the girls, he adores them and they love him.”

“Yeah, but this wasn’t the life he wanted. I gave him so many opportunities to walk away, and I wouldn’t have held it against him. Then one day he accused me of cheating on him. And bear in mind, this was supposed to have happened when I was so severely depressed that all I could do was try to keep my baby from screaming.”

“I don’t think you’ve told me this before.”

“I think I’ve only told my therapist about this.” She looked out the window, and softly added, “There are some nights that I stay up and I hope that you never grow to resent me because I can’t have more babies. I love you so much, and the idea that I’m keeping you from something you want hurts my heart.”

“I could never resent you, the only thing I want is to show you that you and the girls are enough for me. Besides, I was a adopted, I know that blood doesn’t make someone your family.” Clark looked at her face after they parked. He watched the matriarch of their household compose herself before getting out of the car. He walked up behind her and held her gently to him. “Let’s take the scenic route upstairs, shall we.”

She wrapped her arms around his torso and placed her head on his chest, Clark placed a kiss on her forehead as they quietly ascended into the night sky.

#henry cavill #henry cavill fanfic #my apologies to henry cavill #clark kent #fluff

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uc-fakeadoption-au · 3 years

Text

herói do futuro: chapter 2

read on ao3:

chapter count: 2/?

rating: teen and up audiences

category: gen

warnings: no (archive) warnings apply

relationships: Nathan Drake & Victor Sullivan, Nathan Drake & Samuel Drake, Samuel Drake & Victor Sullivan

additional tags: fake adoption au, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, also titled just a dad and his two sons, Young Nate, Young Sam, aka hes not balding yet lmaoo, “young” sully, Team as Family, Fluff and Angst, pretty good amounts of fluff tbh, Family Bonding, accidental family acquisition, There will be headcanons, content warning for sully bc he’s young and hot, dare i say…dilf sully?, yes beta we DON’T die (like sam!!!), place-filler ocs (they don’t mean shit to the story I just needed someone for certain roles)

no summary for this chapter! sorry,,

alternative to ao3 under the cut:

Victor had to admit, that had been a pretty good save. It was a bit suspicious if you knew what to look for, but it seemed like it fooled the social worker. Or maybe she knew of their troublemaker reputation and just decided to not bother with it. Probably. She beckoned the Morgans over, trapping them close by putting a firm hand on each of their shoulders. Yeah, she definitely knew what was up.

"Boys, why don't you introduce yourselves to Mr. Smith here?", she squeezed their shoulders to drive the point home. Nathan couldn't hide a wince, while Samuel just rolled his eyes, batting her hand away.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm pretty sure the old man here already knows 'bout both our names. I mean, you were yelling around earlier".

"Well, I'm Nate, uh, Nathan. Nathan Morgan". The poor kid looked pretty uncomfortable. Well, that was his brother's fault, though.

"Yeah, no, I've got an old man's memory, you know. Please do tell me both your names, kids". Samuel seemed pretty annoyed at that. Good.

"Nice to meet you, Nathan. How about you, kid?"

Samuel just stayed silent for a moment too long, crossing his arms.

"Well?", Reed nudged him with an elbow.

He huffed, "Watch what you're doing with that arm, lady. You could have put a hole in my back acting like that, geez".

"Okay fine, it's Samuel. Happy now?"

She gave him a look.

"Very", she retorted.

Kid really didn't want to do any of this, huh. Brought this on himself, being a little shit like that.

"Very nice to meet you, kid", he jested.

"Uh-huh. Can't say the same, though".

Nathan, who had been pretty quiet during the whole thing, finally did a little pretend-slap-and glare routine at his brother, complete with a drawn-out whine of "Saaaaam!". It was kinda adorable, actually. Who was he kidding, it was really annoying. But the kid was like, 8, so it was probably normal, he guessed.

"Can we go now?", Samuel pointedly stared at Reed.

"Sure, you are dismissed. Just don't go set anything on fire or anything like that ".

"Sure thing, Miss Reed", Nathan gave his best mock salute before running after his brother, who was already somewhere in the very back of the courtyard.

Well, that was interesting, for lack of a better term.

"Well, now that you got to talk to the boys, shall we go to the administration office, Mr. Smith? We still have to discuss paperwork and some other details".

He mumbled some vague affirmative, following the woman inside. He still had to get his wallet back.

"Actually, can you point me to the bathroom? I'll come up to administration in a second".

The social worker didn't seem surprised, "Sure Mr., Smith, take your time".

Going for the scenic route, he actually went in the way of the bathrooms before circling back right to the courtyard. He found the Morgans perched on a tall tree.

"It was a nice lift back there. You boys are pretty good".

At that, both of them whirled around. Nathan almost fell right out of the tree.

"I dunno what you're talking about, old man", spat Samuel from his perch, his brother nodding along.

"Again, don't call me that. Your technique was actually pretty sloppy". He pointed at Samuel, "You couldn't come up with an engaging enough conversation, couldn't distract for shit", gesturing vaguely at Nathan, "And you were telegraphing all your moves".

The brothers exchanged astonished looks.

"Yeah? I guess you figured me an easy mark. But you kids picked the wrong guy".

"You're crazy", piped the younger boy.

Both of them looked ready to bail.

"Hey, before you get any ideas. My wallet".

They just stared.

"Fine, maybe I'll just call Reed to handle you. Maybe even one of the nuns — Sister Catherine seems to have taken a real shine on you two".

"Sure, do whatever you want, old man"

"But of course", completed Nathan, "Miss Reed could wonder what you're doing back here now that she already took you back inside".

They both dismissed him, Samuel with a sweep of a hand, Nathan with a half-hearted shrug.

Oh, it's on. "Well, you two sure are crafty little beggars, aren't you?"

"Anyways, I'm sure you don't wanna get caught in a mess just because of a misunderstanding, right Smith?", rebutted the eldest brother. "I assume you don't wanna get in trouble more than we do".

"Good point".

With a smirk, he turned back around, his brother following his example.

Nathan scoffed and tossed the wallet back down, while his brother just rolled his eyes and shook his head. As Victor left the courtyard, he could still see two little figures perched on the distant tree, swinging their feet around.

"Kid!" They barely glanced back, the little shits."The wallet".

Fortunately, Reed didn't insist on escorting him out, "trusting" him to know the way back out. Well more like she was busy with something and/or done with him, and couldn't be bothered.

He narrowly managed to get back inside and on route to the administration office before Reed came looking for him. He played it off as just a long bathroom break and gave his best half-baked excuse as to why he had to leave, right now, it was very urgent Miss Reed, the paperwork will have to wait.

While the visit hadn't been so good in terms of reconnaissance, he had found something (or someone) useful indeed.

Surely, that wouldn't be too hard.

The Morgan brothers were clumsy and untrained but had good instincts. Obviously, he did not want those boys to pursue it to a life of crime — he knew how that was, firsthand — he was sure he could negotiate to use their "talents" and knowledge of the place, work as scouts for him. He just had to figure out what those kids could possibly want in turn.

Okay, turns out it was a bitch getting any kind of clue from these boys. Just what he needed.

Out of the three times he tried to go back and talk to them, he only managed to get actually face to face with them once — and they bolted the second they recognized him (though it did look like it was Samuel who was calling the shots and dragging his brother around). While he wasn't as closely watched as the first visit — the social worker didn't really follow his every step anymore — the nuns sure were nosy. Nothing he couldn't handle, but it just wasn't worth the effort, getting them off his tail.

Another big problem was that he kept having to make up excuses not to go up to administration and those were getting worse by the second. At some point, maybe at the third visit, they got a hold of him long enough for the paperwork thing. At least the client had enough foresight — and money to throw around — to actually set up some kind of "backstory" along with the fake name. Thankfully, thanks to that Victor didn't get into trouble with the background check.

He was sure that if the kids could stay still and actually listen for once they'd consider his proposal, hell they might even enjoy it if pickpocketing random strangers was their idea of a fun afternoon.

Maybe, if he could get through to Nathan, the kid would listen and get the message to his brother. It was almost impossible to get the brothers separated long enough, as Samuel himself had told Reed earlier, his brother was always close by. Goddammit, this was looking worse and worse

And the main, most troubling point still remained: what the hell could possibly want in exchange for spying for him? It just really looked like they just didn't want to be here…

Oh.

He had to hope he lucked out and found the kid by himself for once.

Guess he can have nice things for once. He found the kid balancing on the edge of a lowish roof, trying — and failing — to pretend he wasn't trying to look through a higher window.

"Hey kid, what are you doing there all alone? Your brother abandoned you?", the boy just gave him a dirty side glance, going right back to his anxious window watching.

From the muffled half-yelling, he assumed that their troublemaking ways had caught up with the brothers. Maybe Samuel had taken one for the team to spare his brother the sermon?

"Get down, son. I gotta ask you something".

"Shh, I'm busy. Get back later".

Victor huffed, amused, "No can do, kid. I swear you're gonna like it if your little pickpocketing lessons are any indication".

At that, he looked back down, an excited spark in his eyes. He did manage to catch himself pretty quickly, putting on his best poker face. Which sucked, honestly.

"Sam told me not to talk to you at all. And he meant it".

"Oh yeah?".

"I think he's mad because you called his tactics shitty. Also, you insulted me, that's a big no-no". He shrugged, "So, no talking".

"Well he isn't here right now, is he? And anyway, what's he gonna do? Noogie you to death?"

He paused at that. Wow.

"Come on kid, I can see you're itching to hear it, come on down. What your brother doesn't know won't kill him. You can always tell him everything later".

"That's uh, a good point", that's right Sullivan, you almost got him.

At that, the boy finally jumped down from the roof. Finally, He made a vague "follow me" gesture, lighting a cigar as he walked a little ways over.

He told the kid about how he had been lying about a lot of things, how the name he knew him by wasn't even the real deal. He made a big show out of revealing the true one, giving the whole "my friends call me Sully" spiel.

The kid really tried his best to seem unmoved. In all his 8-year-old glory, tried to ask what was his angle, to which he replied with a simple affirmation of his and his brother's talent, which could only be improved with training, which he could provide if they helped him do a little something. Plus, they'd get another little thing in the end which was clearly way more to his and his brother's benefit, anyway.

Appeal to their ego, lay out the preposition, simple. It was obvious the kid was already sold on the idea. Now, he just had to hope the kid managed to do the same with his brother.

#uncharted fanfiction #uncharted au #uncharted fake adoption au #uncharted #nathan drake #victor sullivan #sam drake #chapter 2 babey #i am once again asking you to read my fic #chrono

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that-otome-potato · 3 years

Text

One Good Ride

I AM A THIRSTY POTATO! I have no regrets for that which you have chosen to click on and read.

Pairing: Kokuyou x Reader

Rating: Explicit/NSFW

Word Count: ~3700

Notes: THIS IS SMUT. No real story, just me quenching my thirst

Summary: When you have a boyfriend like Kokuyou and he invites you on a bike ride with him, who would say no? Especially when the ride turns spicy before you even make it to your destination!

Thank you @lancermylove for the inspiration and help with lore and such XD

‘Ding!’

The sound of an incoming message drew your tired eyes from your computer screen to your phone next to your keyboard. The sender read: ‘Kokuyou♡’. You immediately felt a rush of energy fill you and an excited smile to form on your lips.

When you leaned away from the keyboard and opened the text message, what you saw made your smile grow.

‘Grab your gear. Five minutes.’

You stretched and rubbed your eyes before closing down the Starless project you had managed to convince Unei to let you help with, and rushed to your closet. Inside, you changed out of your pajamas and into a pair of cute cut off shorts, a short sleeved t-shirt and running shoes. Looking at yourself in the mirror inside your bathroom and applying some light makeup, you grabbed your personalized helmet and jacket that Kokuyou had given to you the previous Christmas, and hurried out the door, locking it behind you.

When you reached the front door of your building, you skid to a stop when you caught sight of Kokuyou. He was a sight to see, leaning against his bike with his legs and one arm crossed while his other elbow rested on the bent limb, holding a lit cigarette near his lips with a fingerless-gloved hand. He took a drag from it as he watched other people pass by, eyeing them surreptitiously, ever cautious. You admired the way the smoke curled and undulated through the air as he exhaled before being taken by the light breeze that tousled his blood-red hair. It was an image that only a lucky few could see outside the covers of a high-end magazine.

Your eyes trailed from his short, flowing hair, down his leather clad arms, admiring the peek of pectoral muscles from where his black shirt was v-cut low. His silver belt-buckle caught a ray of sunlight that fell on him from above, dappled by the trees that lined the sidewalk. The buckle was definitely his style - you knew for a fact that if the need arose, he could use the piece as a weapon to defend himself. Dark blue ripped jeans encased his long legs, with black biker boots to finish off the look.

Unconsciously, you licked your lips at the delicious sight before you. “Hey, you,” you call to him as you exit through the glass front door of your building. This drew his attention and you felt his carnelian gaze on you like a flame licking your flesh as he looked you over from head to foot as you had just finished doing to him. When you stop right in front of him, you can see his pupils flare in appreciation, even as he smirks down at you and keeps up his tough guy façade. “Like what you see, tough guy? I certainly do.”

“Alright, you. Let’s get going already.” Kokuyou stepped to the side and motioned for you to get on first. Without further prompting, you hopped onto the back, yanked your helmet onto your head and threaded your arms through the sleeves of your protective jacket and faced him. This earned you a deep sounding chuckle from Kokuyou as he reached towards you to check the straps on your jacket and helmet to make sure you would be safe.

Once completed to his satisfaction, he gave you one of his rare looks filled with tenderness. “Beautiful.”

He continued looking at you on his bike for a few moments before he put his own helmet on and turned to lift his leg up and over to straddle his prized Aprilia, causing a flash of heat to move from the top of your head to your lower belly.

It wasn’t just him mounting his bike that caused this feeling in you - it happened all the time now. From watching him perform on stage to watching him as he worked around the tables in the shop. What was it about his movements that you found so attractive? You didn’t know, but it affected you greatly - and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

You were glad that your helmet was securely in place, lest your lover saw your blush and teased you for it.

Several minutes later, you were speeding out of the quiet part of town that you lived in, arms wrapped securely around Kokuyou’s muscular torso, his warmth seeping into you through your fingertips, his muscles under his shirt flexing as he drove expertly through traffic from one town to another, taking scenic routes and side streets that allowed slow, arching turns. You could even feel the rapid beat of his heart as it raced with the adrenaline and joy riding brought him.

There had always been something about moments like this that you enjoyed, that had affected you physically. So much so that it had been after a winding ride with Kokuyou that you had succumbed to the desire you felt for each other and had slept together in a room at a small hotel at the end of your trip before returning to Starless.

That felt like such a long time ago now, and yet the memories of that trip and others since then were as fresh as the day they happened.

You groaned, the sound muffled by the helmet you wore. The memories were proving to be so vivid that, between clinging to Kokuyou and the feeling of the revving engine between your legs, your arousal was settling hard and low in your belly. When Kokuyou stopped at a stoplight, you could help but pull closer to him and roll your hips a little, just for some friction to relieve some of the tension building up in your body.

“You ok back there?” You nearly jumped at the sound of Kokuyou’s voice, low and raspy in your ear.

‘Shit. I forgot that there was a Bluetooth mic in my helmet.’ You chuckled slightly at getting caught. “I’ve been better.”

You felt, more than saw, Kokuyou shift to turn his head to look at you from the corner of his eye through the visor. But you had other things on your mind. Like how you would be more than willing to rip everything off of his body and fuck him senseless when you reached wherever he was taking you, if not sooner.

When he started driving after stopping at yet another red light, the revving of his Aprilia to accelerate with traffic, you nearly whimpered when the fire in you flared, your arms constricting around him again to press yourself harder against him.

You had enough.

“Kokuyou, we need to stop.”

“Why? We’re almost there.”

“This can’t wait.”

“What, do you need to piss or somethin’?”

A frown formed on your face at the sound of a smirk on his voice. ‘The bastard knows…’

“Just find somewhere private.”

Your short conversation had only been a few sentences long, but the sound of his deep, whispered voice sent directly into your ear made it all the more intimate and erotic. As if he was whispering directly into your ear again, saying all the things he had planned to do to your body to give pleasure as he thrust into your giving heat.

Kokuyou turned back to look at you from the side again, his eyes meeting yours through the visor, peering deep into your own as if he was confirming his suspicions. You refused to be the one to break eye contact, trusting his driving and knowing he wouldn’t let anything happen to his motorcycle or you. You watched his carmine eyes widened slightly, surely seeing the desire shining in your own. Your heart gave a hearty thump at the sight of the red of his eyes getting eaten by the black of his dilated pupils and the sight of his Adam's apple bobbing under the edge of his helmet as he attempted to swallow.

Your lover quickly turned back to face the direction of the road and quickly found a deserted alley, driving as deep into it as he could before stopping and extending the kickstand with a flick of his booted heel.

You, on the other hand, had already pulled his shirt from his pants and snuck your hands up under it to caress the taught muscles of his stomach and upper torso, pinching one of his small nipples at the same time you rolled your pelvis against his ass. This caused a shiver that racked his entire body and a growl escaped his soft lips - you felt your body respond in kind.

The reaction you always felt to that sound had never happened with anyone but him. Whenever Kokuyou released one of his growls, especially when one or both of you were aroused, there was just something in the animalistic sound of it that created a need to copulate deep within you that you always answered.

With slight difficulty - you could, and had, spent hours exploring his large broad body and it was always difficult - you removed your hands from under his shirt and climbed off of his bike. Without delay, you took off your helmet, then his, before he even had a chance to bring one leg over the bike to face you.

Once he had moved one of his powerful legs over, you gripped the sides of his face and crushed your lips against his, drinking from him over and over like a woman without drink for far too long.

Kokuyou’s large, scarred hands came up to rest on your hips and brought you closer between his legs, his thumbs rubbing gentle circles on your flushed skin under the hem of your shirt. You could feel the hard ridge of his arousal every time you rubbed up against him. When you groaned, enjoying the taste of his lips, he pulled you even closer and you wrapped your arms around his neck, dragging your fingers lightly along the scar on the left side of his neck he received when he was younger. This rewarded you with another shiver and a growl from him.

Suddenly, Kokuyou’s strong grip grew more so as he lifted you up by your hips and you instinctively wrapped your legs around his waist and sat in his lap. A giggle escaped you before he took over the kiss, making you gasp and giving him the perfect opportunity to thrust his tongue past your plump lips.

Kissing Kokuyou was like having sex - not just emotionally, but by the way he thrust his talented tongue past the barrier of your lips over and over, to toy with your own and touching every part of your mouth. When he got in the mood, he would take your mouth and ravash you without even removing any clothing, leaving you hot and bothered if it was all he had time for in between performances or while on break from working in the shop.

But he always made up for any discomfort you felt from your shared desires later, sometimes multiple times and over the course of an entire night.

When you two finally parted, panting for breath you’d both denied each other, you ran your lips along his left jaw, leaving behind slow, sensual kisses along the way - his scar as your destination.

“What brought this on then?” His question came out raspy with the desire for you that you could feel growing even more.

“Does there… need to be...one… when your body calls to mine… on an inexplicable...level?” You ask in between kisses and nips, taking the flesh there between your lips and leaving small red marks behind. When you finally reached the sensitive mark, you dragged your tongue along the length of the old wound before taking the end closest to his ear between your lips and sucked on it. Hard.

“Fucking hell!” He growled at the same time he lifted one hand gripping your hips and brought it down smartly on your ass as light punishment.

You might have believed it almost even hurt, due to his angry tone, if not for the way his hips pressed against your own rolled up against your heat at the same time. The ridge in his pants definitely told you that he was enjoying your treatment of him very much. As it had before, when you heard the rumble escape him and vibrate through his chest, you could feel it ratchet up your lust for him even higher than before, nearly burning you alive from the inside out.

You were so close to climax, so close to feeling such bliss as you had never felt from another person in your life. “Kokuyou -” his name came out on a breath when the hardest part of him rubbed perfectly against your clit through your shorts and panties. Just...a...little bit...more…

He dug his fingers into your skin to hold your rocking hips still. “You still haven’t told me what all this was about, rubbin’ yourself against my back like a bitch in heat. How are you planning on fixing this?” He emphasised what ‘this’ was by pulling you back against him with increased strength and pressing his covered shaft against where you needed him most.

“You’ll see…” You gasped. Kokuyou was too good at making you feel sexy and desired. He knew all your weaknesses, where to touch you, where to kiss and nibble. You knew he enjoyed exploiting all of them, taking joy in seeing all of your reactions, claiming them as his own.

Kokuyou used his grip on you to lift you up into his lap, placing both knees on either side of his hips. This made it easier for you to teasingly move your hand down his hard torso, feeling every one of his muscles he’d worked hard for over the years. Your journey halted when you reached the ridge in his pants his cock had created. Using deft fingers you had gained from as long as you had been with Kokuyou, you unbuckled his belt even with the zipper of his pants being wedged against it by the crown of his manhood.

Finally, you released his cock from his pants and you smirked up at him when it sprang free of its confines. “No boxers, huh? Were we hopeful?”

He answered your smirk with one of his own. “Not so much as hopeful, but knowing.”

You just growled as you wrapped your hand around his hard shaft and began pumping it, using your other hand around his neck to bring his head towards you into a passionate kiss. Somewhat distantly, you could feel one of his hands move from your ass along the side and under the hem of your shorts to probe at the entrance to your womanhood past the edge of your panties. With one quick movement, he sheathed one finger, then two, inside your body and moved them easily with your arousal.

Your back bent away from him out of reaction at the feeling of his long, thick fingers moving inside you, the callouses on the tips of them creating a delicious friction along your inner walls. This gave him the perfect opportunity to latch onto your pebbled nipples trying to poke through your thin shirt and bra. It took everything in you to keep your hand around his cock as he thrust his fingers in you, scissoring them back and forth to get you ready for him while running his tongue around one nipple. He bit down on it slightly and tugged before releasing it and going to the other to give it the same treatment.

Pleasure was making your body absolutely sing at the slight sting he left behind, to the point you could feel your orgasm right in front of you. With one more thrust of his two fingers inside your body, you felt your release wash over you. You nearly screamed from how it came over you, but Kokuyou nuzzled your chin up and took your lips to keep quiet. When you finally settled, you looked at him, puzzled.

“Public, remember?”

A furious blush bloomed high on your cheek bones as you buried your head in his shoulder in embarrassment while panting for breath. How could you have forgotten?! “Oh my god.”

Kokuyou chuckled again and kissed your temple. “You good?”

His deep voice rumbled into your ear and awoke your arousal once more, helped along by his fingers still sheathed in your body and his hard shaft still in your hand.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Then let’s finish what you started. It’s because of you after all.” He removed his fingers from your heat and brought them up to his mouth to begin licking them clean of your arousal, not once breaking eye contact. “Mmm, delicious. Never been with another girl that tasted as good as you do.”

“...Bastard.” That same vibration from the top of your head to the tips of your toes returned at the sight of him enjoying your essence. He gave you a chuckle as a reward, but you abruptly cut it off when you lifted yourself up on your knees against the seat of the bike. Gripping his shaft with renewed strength, you steadied yourself with your other hand and, using his cock, moved your shorts and panties out of the way so that you could impale yourself on him in one swift downwards motion until you were sitting flush with his lap.

Both of you needed a moment once your bodies were joined, yours so that the burn of your walls to accommodate could abate, his so that he wouldn’t finish right then and there. After a few moments, you began rolling your hips back and forth slowly, the feeling of him moving inside you exquisite with your steady rhythm.

When you started fucking yourself on his shaft, he spread his feet wider to give support so as to avoid toppling the bike. Everytime you lifted yourself up, his grip on your hips brought you back down harder and harder, the crowned tip of him running across the spot along your walls that always caused you to melt as no other man had gotten you to.

Was it because he was longer and thicker than anyone else you’d been with, in every way? Or because it was Kokuyou and everything about him was stimulating in some way.

Soon, though, all those thoughts and any others turned to white noise as you started moving against each other faster, guided by his hands.

“Fuck, you’re tight. But so wet.”

Heavy, panted breaths escaped as you instead of the moans you felt in your throat. You used your legs to move on him, controlling the pace of your pleasure, trying to keep in mind where you were currently copulating.

Right as you started feeling your body toeing the line between pleasure and the bliss of climax once more, your walls constricting around him as he moved inside you, Kokuyou used his superior strength to bring your movements to a stop with his hands on your ass.

A whimper escaped you unbidden. “Kokuyou! Why did you stop me?”

“You were too close and I was a little too generous of your playtime. Now it’s my turn.”

Kokuyou stood with his hands under your rear, his cock still inside you, and turned to go around his motorcycle to press you against the building he’d parked next to. You gasp at the contact of the cold brick wall against your back. Using that same wall, Kokuyou moved his hands to your thighs and hooked his hands under your knees to bring them up, revealing where you were connected to the world, if it weren’t for his large body blocking anyone’s view. He looked down and you could feel him twitch inside you before he began moving again, watching his shaft slide in and out of you easily with your juices coating his cock.

Your new position also gave him the opportunity to hit you deeper and from a slightly different angle, the head of his manhood rubbing you perfectly along the ribbed flesh of your g-spot, knowing it would bring you to climax faster. You wrapped your arms tightly around his neck, bringing him as close as possible and he placed his forehead on your shoulder as if to concentrate as his pistoning hips moved harder and faster, becoming more erratic as he chased his own orgasm. You could feel the knot in your lower belly tightening again more and more the more times he filled you and retreated.

“Koku… I…” Kokuyou’s attention was drawn up to your face, to take your lips in a passionate kiss. As he devoured your lips and played with your tongue with his own, he brought your legs back down to wrap around his waist. Once you were securely wrapped around him, he placed one hand on the wall next to your head and the other hand under your rear to make sure you stayed right where he wanted you.

“Touch yourself. I can feel how close you are. Your sweet body has my cock in a vise grip and it’s taking a lot of strength just to fuck you, you’re so tight. Why don’t you go ahead and come for me again, _____.” You find a way to nod and he gives you a hungry smile. “Then do it. Come.”

You bring your hand down between your legs and begin rubbing your clit in time with his thrusts and it didn’t take long before your second climax came over you, rocking your body, your throat feeling raw from trying to keep from screaming out loud.

“That’s my girl,” Kokuyou whispered right into your ear before sinking his teeth into the tendon of your shoulder and groan, feeling his cock twitch inside you with his own release.

For several moments, your shared panting filled the alley. When Kokuyou lifted his head from your shoulder, red eyes met yours and they held such tenderness as he looked at you through slightly damp bangs. You looked down at him, a rush of love for the Team W leader filling your heart. You carded a hand through his hair to push it from his eyes and Kokuyou sighed at your touch.

“Feel better?”

“Much.”

“What was that all about? You don’t usually come on to me that strongly in public.”

You just chuckle and place your forehead on his. “What can I say? You’re hot, it’s hard to keep my hands to myself sometimes.”

#BLST Kokuyou #bsts kokuyou #my work #my words #bsts fanfic #blst fanfic #kokuyou x reader #Blackstar Theater Starless

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wonkasmissstarshine · 3 years

Text

The Chocolatier’s Rose {Willy Wonka x OC} Ch.21

GIFs not mine. Credit go to owners.

Summary: Rose and Willy officially move in together.

Tagging: @holdmeicant @willymywonkers @sleepiesapphicxoxo

After dinner and when Rose's friends made their way home for the night, Rose immediately packed a bag of clothes and personal belongings she wanted to bring with her to the house she was moving into with Willy.

Charlie wasn't going to lie. He was sad that he was losing his roommate, but he also knew that she was still living within the factory so he would still be seeing her everyday.

"I'm really going to miss you, Rosie" Charlie said.

"Oh, Charlie" Rose cooed, pulling her little brother into a hug. "I'm still going to be in the factory. I'll make sure to stop by the house everyday, and you can come see me at mine and Willy's house"

"I know" Charlie said. He looked up at his sister with a smile. "But still. I'm really going to miss hearing you sing yourself to sleep at night. I enjoy hearing you sing"

"Thank you, Charlie. I'm going to miss you too" Rose gave Charlie a kiss on the top of his head before letting him go. Once she had everything she wanted packed up, Charlie helped her carry her bags down the ladder.

"Well, Buckets" Rose said, taking a deep breath. "I suppose this is goodbye. Well, not really goodbye, I'll still be seeing you all everyday, but��"

"We know what you mean, darling" Mrs Bucket said. She gave her daughter a hug. "I knew this day would eventually come. I just never expected it so soon"

"The day our little girl finally moves out" Mr Bucket said.

"Dad, I'm twenty-six. Not exactly a little girl anymore" Rose said to her father.

"I know, but no matter how old you are, you'll always be our little girl" And with that, Mr Bucket hugged Rose.

And last, but certainly not least, Rose said goodbye to all her grandparents. She gave them all hugs and kisses on their cheeks.

"We'll miss you, Rose" Grandpa Joe said.

"We know you and Willy will be very happy living together" Grandma Josephine said.

"But don't you go forgetting about us" Grandpa George said.

"As long as you're happy, Rose. That's all that matters!" Grandma Georgina said.

"I love you all!" Rose said to her family. "And don't worry, Grandpa George" She winked at her grandfather. "I would never forget about you guys. I'll make sure to visit every day" There was a knock on the door. Rose answered it, finding an Oompa-Loompa waiting on the other side. She smiled down at him. "You must be here to escort me"

The Oompa-Loompa nodded at her with a smile. "Thank you" She said to the little man. She picked up her bags, and looked back at her family one more time.

"Goodbye, Rose!" They all said, waving to her.

"Goodbye, Buckets!" She said. Rose stepped out of the house. She followed the Oompa-Loompa to her garden. The garden where Willy was waiting in that small house for her. The house where they would officially start their lives together.

******

When Rose stepped into her garden room, she immediately noticed that it was dark, and the ceiling displayed a scenic picture of the moon and stars. She saw a light coming from inside the house and knew that Willy was inside, waiting for her.

She walked up the steps of porch. Rose was feeling very excited yet nervous. She was about to live in a different house from her family, but she was going to live with the man that she loved.

Taking a deep breath, Rose wrapped her hand around the door knob and turned it. She pushed the door open and stepped inside. She immediately fell in love with what she saw.

The house reminded her of a small rustic cabin. There was a small living area with a couch, a small coffee table, a small electric fireplace, and she loved the two chairs that were side by side. A W was stitched onto the back of one chair, and a R was stitched onto the other one.

On the opposite side of the living area was a small kitchen area. There was a working fridge, stove and oven, cupboards and counters. You know, everything a functional kitchen requires to be a kitchen. There also a sat a small table with two chairs placed on either side.

She explored the other rooms in the house, finding a functioning bathroom (With a shower! She couldn't wait for one of those), and a bedroom with a twin bed. This must've been an extra bedroom, in case Charlie wanted to spend a night.

Then finally, she came across what was to be hers and Willy's room. She walked through red satin curtains that acted as their bedroom door. The walls were a deep red and the carpet was black and plushy. There was a large dresser with labeled drawers, a vanity, two bedside tables and finally, a king size bed.

Rose ran her hands along the bed. The sheets matched with the room, being satin red. The pillowcases on the pillows were as well. The headboard, however, was black and velvety to the touch, and it was almost as tall as the wall itself.

"What do you think, starshine?" Willy's voice asked from behind Rose. She turned to look at him. "Do you like the house?"

"I love it, Willy" Rose said. She moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "But the best thing about this house, is the fact that you're here with me"

Willy let his hands rest on Rose's waist. "I couldn't have said it any better, my beautiful starshine" He started peppering kisses all over her face until he reached her lips and gave her a long, passionate kiss. "It's getting late. I suppose we should get ready for bed. I'll give you some privacy so you can get ready" Willy let go of Rose then walked over to the dresser, opening up a drawer and pulling out a pair of pyjamas for himself.

"I got some pyjamas for you as well. Just look in the drawer labeled 'Rose Pyjamas'" Willy explained to her. "I'll make sure to knock on the wall before I come in, that way I don't walk in on you" He gave Rose a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the bedroom to give her some privacy, and to go change himself.

Rose walked over to the dresser to find herself some pyjamas. She smiled to herself when she saw how the drawers were labeled. Everything on the left was labeled for Willy's things, and everything on the right for Rose's. She reached into her pyjama drawer, and pulled out the first thing that she saw.

She put it on and immediately looked in the mirror. It was a long and satin purple nightgown with thin shoulder straps. It also showed off the shape of her body, but not enough that you could completely see through the night gown.

Rose sat at the vanity, and grabbed a hair brush, preparing to brush out the length of her hair. She was about to start brushing when she heard a knock on the wall. "You can come in"

Willy emerged through the curtain door. Rose looked at him through the mirror and smiled at him. He was wearing red, silk pyjamas. Willy looked at Rose, returning her smile. "Could I brush your hair for you?" He asked as he stood behind her.

"I'd like that" Rose said, handing the brush to Willy. He took it and began to gently brush her hair. He was careful not to pull on it, as he didn't want to hurt her. She watched him through the mirror, his hands especially. She hadn't really seen them without his purple gloves before. She couldn't help but think they were the most delicate, yet beautiful looking hands she'd ever seen. "You have beautiful hands, Willy"

"Thank you" He said, grinning lovingly at her through the mirror. "Your hair is beautiful. It's soft to the touch and it smells nice"

"Willy, I couldn't help but notice the extra bedroom" Rose brought up. "Is it for Charlie to stay in if he spends a night?"

"Yeah, it's for Charlie..." Willy answered, before his grin faded a bit. It wasn't because he was sad or angry though. It was because of something that had been pressing on his mind since the moment Rose agreed to live in the house with him. But, he didn't want to bring it up now. Maybe later, when he and Rose have been settled into the house a bit more.

Rose saw his smile drop, but she didn't want to press him on what was wrong. If he wanted to talk with her about something, she would let him bring it up. Instead, Rose started humming the song that had been in her head for the past few days. Willy's smile came back as he listened to her.

"Charlie once told me that you like to sing him to sleep sometimes" Willy said.

"I do" Rose replied.

Willy had finished with brushing her hair and placed the brush back onto the vanity. He gently grabbed Rose by the shoulder and kissed her on the head before asking her, "I'd like you to sing me to sleep"

"Absolutely" Rose said.

The two of them crawled into bed and made sure that they were cuddled up together. Willy's arms were wrapped around Rose, and she had her head and hands against his chest, with her head tucked under his chin. Rose began to sing.

I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me

I still feel your touch in my dreams

Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why

Without you it's hard to survive

'Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling

And everytime we kiss I swear I could fly

Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last

Need you by my side

'Cause everytime we touch, I feel the static

And everytime we kiss I reach for the sky

Can't you hear my heart beat so I can't let you go

Want you in my life

Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky

They wipe away tears that I cry

The good and the bad times we've been through them all

You make me rise when I fall

'Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling

And everytime we kiss I swear I could fly

Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last

Need you by my side

'Cause everytime we touch, I feel the static

And everytime we kiss I reach for the sky

Can't you hear my heart beat so I can't let you go

Want you in my life

Willy fell asleep peacefully with a smile on his face. Rose fell asleep shortly after he did. Never once throughout the night did they let go of each other. They dreamt of one another once they were deep into their peaceful slumber.

#willy wonka x oc #willy wonka x reader #willy wonka #rose bucket #my oc #rose and willy #the chocolatier's rose

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omg-imagine · 4 years

Text

⊱ Forget Me Not (5/15) ⊰

Pairing: Keanu Reeves x Reader

Summary: After you wake up from a coma and realize that your memories from the last five years have been erased, Keanu works to bring back what you have lost.

Words: 3.1k

Warning: none (i’m giving you guys a break here lol)

A/N: Loved reading everyone’s responses to the previous part, but it will be awhile until you find out the truth 😈 Sorry that this was up later than usual, I’m currently drowning in finals which is thankfully ending this week. I hope you enjoy this one!

Part 4

The sound of birds chirping a sweet, melodious tune stirred you awake, and you rubbed the remnants of sleep from your eyes once they fluttered open. For a moment, you snuggled deeper under the duvet, pressing your cheek to the cool, silk-cased pillow. The soft fabric felt smooth against your skin as you laid there breathing in the scent of it—fresh cotton, with a hint of Keanu, or at least, that’s what you believed he smelled like.

This must be his usual side of the mattress, you thought. The other being yours.

After you had fallen asleep on the car ride home yesterday, you didn’t rouse until Keanu parked his car in the driveway and turned off the engine. Still drowsy from taking your medication, he guided you to the front door and then up the stairs to the master bedroom. He showed you the bathroom and the closet, pointing out where you usually kept the clothes you wore to sleep. When you assured him enough that you would be alright for the rest of the evening, he wished you good night before retiring to the guest bedroom across the hall.

It felt strange being alone in an unfamiliar room, much more sleeping in a bed that didn’t feel like yours. Despite this, you had woken up from the best sleep you’ve had in a long time. It could be because of the soft and comfortable king-size bed you had slept on or the calming lavender diffuser on the nightstand. Perhaps it was the fact that your life seemed to be better now than it was before, even though you had still had a lot to learn. Whichever it was, it didn’t matter at that very second.

Because for now, you would much rather bask in the peacefulness of the world around you.

It wasn’t until when your stomach growled did the tranquil silence fall apart, hunger forcing you to throw back the covers and leave the warm solace of the bed. Slipping on the silk robe that you had found hanging behind the bathroom door, you then stepped out of the room and into the narrow hallway. Immediately, you were greeted by the delicious aroma of eggs and sausages lingering in the air.

Carefully, you descended the stairs, pausing for a few moments to glance at the framed photographs of you and Keanu on the wall, providing glimpses of your happy relationship. There were four in total, all of which were taken similarly, the two of you smiling brightly with radiant eyes. The settings in each one were different; the first had you posing by a lakefront, the second was at a movie premiere, the next at a fancy restaurant, and the last at a garden.

Once you reached the last step, however, you realized that there was a vacant space for a sixth picture.

Turning your head, you caught sight of the photo that could have been displayed there resting on a console by the front entrance. Curiously, you walked towards it and picked it up with your hands, quickly noticing the large crack on the glass.

The picture was a selfie taken at a scenic overlook in what appeared to be Los Angeles. You had one arm draped behind Keanu’s neck, pulling him close as you kissed his stubbled cheek while he grinned at the camera. It was such a sweet captured moment, and it must have fallen off the wall recently.

“Morning,” Keanu’s voice startled you as he came up from behind, nearly dropping the picture in your grasp. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

You giggled slightly as you turned around, unable to stop the breath hitching in your throat when you saw him. He was dressed in gray sweats and a simple white tee that was just a smidge too tight around his arms. His dark locks framed his face nicely as he gazed at you with his chocolate-hued eyes.

Keanu was surely a sight to see first thing in the morning.

“It’s okay,” you finally replied. “I was too busy looking at this and didn’t hear you coming.”

“I forgot to put it back up,” he noted after seeing what you were holding. “Can’t believe I missed that while I was cleaning the house. I’d have to go out and buy a new frame for that.”

“No rush,” you added, your attention returning to the picture. “When was this taken?”

“Around three years ago,” Keanu answered as he neared you, looking over your shoulder. “That spot is actually special to us. It’s where we shared our first kiss, and since then, we’d always revisit that place.”

You smiled softly. “Really?”

“Yeah. Usually, you and I would take the bike up there to watch the sun go down and wait until the stars appear in the sky. It’s nothing like what you would see if you’re just standing out in the backyard.”

“Wait, a bike? Like a motorcycle? I rode a motorcycle up to the hills?” You spoke incredulously.

Keanu nodded, giving you a small smile. “Yes, you did. I know you’ve never been on a bike before you met me.”

“Don’t get me wrong, those things are cool, but I can’t imagine myself being on one.”

“Well, you grew to love it—the thrill, the excitement, the freedom. I even taught you how to ride by yourself,” Keanu revealed, much to your surprise.

“I must have been the worst,” you chuckled, setting the picture back on top of the console before wrapping your arms around your chest. “It took me years to learn how to get on a bicycle.”

Keanu laughed, brushing his hair back, and you suddenly felt the butterflies in your stomach. Something about his laughter as it reverberated in his chest brought you absolute joy. It also made your heart race, knowing that you were the reason for it.

“No, you weren’t that bad,” he said with a shake of his head. “Honestly, you’re pretty decent, but I promised that we would continue working on it.”

“You don’t have to lie to me, Ke,” you responded jokingly, the nickname rolling out of your tongue so effortlessly at the end.

For a beat, you saw the smile on Keanu’s face fell, but before you could ask him what was wrong, it returned, albeit a bit forced. You didn’t want to think too much of it, however.

“Um, I made breakfast by the way,” he stated in an attempt to change the subject. “I’m not the best cook, but I did my very best. I didn’t burn the sausages, unlike last time.”

“It does smell delicious in here,” you commented, feeling your stomach rumbling once more. “I can’t wait to try your cooking.”

“Good, and maybe afterwards, if you’re up for it, I can show you around, give you an official tour of the house.”

“I’d like that very much,” you smiled, nodding at Keanu before he began leading the way, and you followed.

---

After breakfast, you tried to help Keanu with the dirty dishes, but he insisted that he took care of them, wanting you to relax and take it easy. As he cleaned up the kitchen, you decided to brush your teeth and take a quick shower in your bathroom upstairs.

Peeling off your robe and clothes, you stood in front of the mirror, staring at the scars on your body. Although you knew that they would fade away in time, they would serve as a reminder of that fateful night—a night that remained mostly unknown to you.

Stepping into the shower, you turned on the water, adjusting the settings using the dial on the wall. The water cascaded your back with the perfect amount of pressure and temperature as the warm steam floated around you. Your mind eased as you stood underneath the gentle downpour, letting the mixture of water and soap careen down your body to the drain below.

You closed your eyes briefly, thinking back to earlier when you and Keanu were eating the food he had prepared that morning. He used that time to tell you more about himself. He started off with basic facts such as his family, his childhood, and his favorite hobbies. Then he got a bit deeper, sharing things that most people didn’t know about him. Slowly, you were getting to know the real Keanu, and from what you’ve learned so far, he was a great guy. Sure, he wasn’t perfect, but he was sweet and kind, and that’s what mattered, right?

Once you finished showering, you headed to the walk-in closet in your room with a towel wrapped around your body. Keanu had moved most of his stuff to the guest room, making the closet seem a lot bigger. For a good minute or two, you felt overwhelmed standing there, seeing all of the clothes that you apparently wore but wouldn’t have five years ago. Some pieces appeared to be too expensive for you to even afford, and you couldn’t believe that you owned so many pairs of shoes and purses.

Deciding to put on a black shirt with the word “Arch” emblazoned on it and a pair of jean shorts, you then heard a knock on your door, and you sauntered over to answer it.

“Hey, are you ready?” Keanu asked, smiling. “Nice shirt, by the way.”

“Oh, thanks. I found it in the closet,” you replied as you joined him out in the hall. “Show me around?”

Truth be told, the house wasn’t as large as what you expected Keanu to have. It was smaller than the houses nearby, but more modest compared to those extravagant ones other celebrities lived in. It had three bedrooms and three bathrooms, and a spacious front yard with flowers that you’ve planted yourself. The furniture and decor inside were tasteful, reflecting both of your personalities in each room.

The garage was big enough to fit four cars but instead were filled with Keanu’s most valuable possessions— his motorcycles. You listened intently as he talked endearingly about his bikes, almost the same way a child would gush about a new toy. It even made him excited when you showed genuine interest, especially after mentioning having his own motorcycle company, Arch, which explained your shirt.

Keanu then brought you out to the backyard, which quickly became your favorite part of the entire house. Not only was there a sparkling swimming pool and a patio area for barbeques, but it also had a breathtaking view of the rolling hills and the city skyline in the distance. You had to pause for a moment to take in the view. It was unlike anything you’ve seen before, and you had to remind yourself that this was your home now.

“There’s one more thing I want to show you,” Keanu said after a while, and the two of you went back inside, heading to the living room.

He gestured for you to sit down on the sofa as he walked to the bookcase by the television, pulling out what seemed to be a thick photo album. He carried it over to where you sat, placing it down gently on the coffee table in front of you before flipping it open to the first page.

“Our story,” you read the words written on the paper out loud, and you recognized your own handwriting.

“You love taking pictures,” Keanu began as he turned to the next page. “On our first anniversary, you surprised me with this album. You filled it with all of the photos we took together, showing the many adventures we went on. As time went on, we only added more to it.”

“I always say photographs immortalize precious memories,” you said, looking at each picture with fondness in your eyes. “Mom mentioned that I’m currently working as photographer.”

Keanu nodded. “You quit your office job to pursue your passion. You dream of opening up your own studio one day, but you wanted to gain experience first.”

You hummed in response as you lightly traced a finger over the edge of the page, softly smiling at the pure love radiating out of the images. Behind each of them was a story which Keanu recounted, hoping that it would jog some of your memory back. Although nothing came, you loved the sweetness in his voice as he spoke. He was a fantastic story-teller, bringing up every detail of the moment the picture was taken and making you feel as though you were currently there.

And that’s how the rest of the day mostly went for you and Keanu, only stopping to make sandwiches for lunch before going back to the couch. You were so engrossed in each tale that you didn’t realize the sky outside growing darker until Keanu turned on the lamp resting on the end table, illuminating the space around you.

As you ate dinner together, you couldn’t help but smile at all of the adventures you went on with Keanu. It was more proof that you were at your happiest when the relationship started. You now felt grateful to have met him years ago because you couldn’t even begin to imagine what life would be like if you hadn’t.

Before going to sleep later that night, you read the get-well cards that your loved ones had sent you while you were at the hospital. Most of the names that you recognized were of your family and friends from back home, and until today, the rest had been unfamiliar. Now you know that Betty was the owner of the book shop you and Keanu frequented, Lillian was your old neighbor from the apartment you used to live in, and Harry was someone from work.

It was already past midnight, and you still weren’t tired, even after taking your medicine. Instead of tossing and turning in bed, you decided to pass the time by going through the photo album again. You recalled the vivid way Keanu described the memory, and your head played each moment like it was a scene from a movie. Sighing, you shut your eyes and silently held onto that feeling of bliss the picture gave for as long as you could.

Suddenly, you heard a loud crash from downstairs, followed by a curse. Swiftly, you rushed out of the bedroom and headed to the living room, finding Keanu kneeling down and picking up winter boots from the floor. You assumed he was trying to reach for a box inside a nearby closet but had dropped it.

“Sorry for waking you up, I was searching for something,” he mumbled as he sat on his heels and ran a hand over his weary face.

“Don’t worry, I was still awake,” you reassured Keanu, helping him back up on his feet. “What were you looking for?”

“A camcorder,” he answered before storing the box back on the shelf in the closet. “We brought it with us on our trip to Italy and recorded a few things on it. I wanted to find it and show you the videos, but I think we might have left it at your parent’s house last Christmas.”

Keanu sighed heavily as he padded over to the couch and sank down in one corner. Meanwhile, you trailed behind him, sitting down in the middle as he glanced off in the distance. You could tell that he was exhausted, and you wondered what was keeping him up so late at night.

“What’s wrong, Ke?” You questioned, facing your body towards him as he rubbed his eyes.

“Nothing,” he uttered although he wasn’t very persuasive.

“Then, why are you still up?”

Keanu sat up, clasping his hands together on his lap, leaning forward. His hair shielded his eyes from you, and you carefully reached out to tuck it behind his ear. You didn’t let your hand drop right after, however. Instead, you placed it on the side of his face, softly caressing it with the tips of your fingers as you urged him to look at you.

“Keanu,” you whispered his name as he covered the back of your hand with his own. “You know you can tell me anything.”

He released a breath as you felt him lean into your touch, his eyes fluttering close. When they opened again, his lips finally parted to speak.

“It’s the nightmares. They came back last night, and I wasn’t able to sleep. I tried going to bed an hour ago but just couldn’t do it.”

“What kind of nightmares are they?” You inquired, still holding him.

Keanu averted his gaze as you stroked his cheek with the pad of your thumb. “It’s about your accident. I keep dreaming that you didn’t make it, and all that’s left for me to do is just blame myself for letting it happen in the first place.”

“Why would you blame yourself? I was the one driving in the middle of a storm. You had nothing to do with this.”

You noticed him instantly tense up at your words, and when he tried to move away, you kept him from doing so. “Ke, why would you say that?”

Keanu’s glossy eyes returned to yours as he shook his head. “I-I don’t know.”

You smiled sadly at him, choosing not to push any further for both yours and his sake. You could see that he was having an internal battle with himself, and although it was worrying you, you didn’t want to complicate things even more. “Okay, you don’t have to tell me now. Not until when you’re ready.”

“I want to tell you, but…” he trailed off, and you nodded.

“It’s okay. Whatever you did, I’ll understand. I just want you to get some rest tonight,” you replied as an idea came to your mind. “You probably know this already, but I like falling asleep with a movie quietly playing in the background. Maybe we could try that?”

“You don’t have to stay up for me,” Keanu declined, but you were already reaching for the remote on the table. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.”

You gave him a shake of your head as you turned the television on and quickly found a channel where a film was showing. “Nope, you took care of me yesterday at the restaurant. This is the least I can do.”

Keanu sighed in defeat as he sat back on the couch and calmed down. At first, there was a bit of distance between the two of you. Then, gradually, you began leaning into him, feeling your own exhaustion settling in. You didn’t notice the arm wrapped around your shoulder until half-way through the movie, and you couldn’t help but snuggle deeper into Keanu’s warm side.

Eventually, your eyes began to drift close as the sounds of his light snores filled the room. Not wanting to disturb the peace, you decided to stay there in the comfort of his arms for the night, and something about it simply felt right.

Part 6

Tags: @penwieldingdreamer @fanficsrusz @toomanystoriessolittletime @awessomness @meetmeinthematinee @ringa-starr @ficsnroses @iworshipkeanureeves

#keanu reeves #keanu reeves x reader #keanu reeves imagine #keanu reeves fanfic #keanu reeves x you #my fics #reader insert #rpf

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eleven-times-lively · 4 years

Text

The Honeymoon

In which reader and Fred go on the honeymoon of their dreams to Romania. 💕

Summary: Fred Weasley x Reader go on Honeymoon Word Count: 3147 Note: This took much longer than usual to write. Enjoy!

The party had died down as the night wrapped up. The elves were cleaning as guests filed out. You and Fred stood on either side of the door thanking your guests, and stealing smiles at each other. Once all that was left was the Weasleys and yourself, you all gathered at one of the tables before leaving.

“A final toast, to the bride and groom, y/n and Fred.” Bill exclaimed, holding his glass of firewhiskey. Everyone cheered, smiles around the table.

“To your future together, and may it be everlasting!” Charlie added. Him and Bill looked at Fleur, waiting for her to add something. Staring into the large crystal that served as the table centerpiece, she said nothing.

After a moment you began, “Thank you so much for coming, everyone. We’ve been waiting for this day for almost ten years, and I couldn’t have been more perfect. Being in France, having you here with us, it’s magical…” you added with a smirk.

“And, you know, being married to me I hope?” Fred added from next to you.

“Well of course, love.” You leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. “And a big thank you to Charlie, for taking us back to Romania with him for the honeymoon.”

“Well of course, y/n. You’ll love Romania; the castles, the forests, and of course my dragons.” He added, trailing off with a wink.

***

The next day you and Fred had gathered your things. Most of your belongings would go back to England with Molly and Arthur, but yourselves and the honeymoon luggage would be off with Charlie by portkey.

“Have everything? Ready love?”

“Yes y/n, all good love”he gave you a peck before grabbing the bags and heading out the door. “Charlie wanted to be back in Romania before noon!”

“I know love. It’s quarter-of, portkey travel doesn’t take long.”

“I know my dear, but I don’t exactly want to be the one to get in the way of Charlie and his dragons, not at the start of our honeymoon.”

“Of course.” you embraced in a kiss as Charlie met the two of you.

“It’s already getting late! The dragons are getting frisky.” You and Fred shared a knowing glance as he spoke.

***

Not a minute later the three of you were in a grassy field in Romania. Hearing the roars of dragons not far in the distance, you headed to Charlie’s small cottage.

“Lucky for you, the smaller one next door is empty, that’s where the two of you can stay. Give you some privacy…” Charlie never looked back as he spoke. You reached your cottage, Charlie seemingly satisfied with himself. “Well there ya go. I’ve to tend to the dragons, you can say hi tomorrow when they’ve calmed. Enjoy yourselves and get settled.”

“Thanks!” Fred and yourself said in unison. “Well then,” he continued, “shall we get this holiday started?” He picked you up in his arms, abandoning the luggage as he carried you inside. The cottage was simple yet inviting. A fireplace with a small hearth, a modest table and couch, and stairs leading up to a left which held the bathroom and open-concept bedroom. He carried you all the way up to the bed and set you down. He brought you into a deep kiss. You broke away when he moved down to your jaw and neck.

“Fred, you left the door open and our luggage outside.”

“It’s fine, there’s no one around, we’re completely secluded.”

“Yes but I don’t need your brother walking in on what’s about to happen.”

“Fair enough.” he stood up and headed down the stairs. After setting the bags just inside the door, which he then shut and locked, he was back upstairs and on top of you. Leaving sloppy kisses down your jaw and neck, he was taking his time. You dared make a noise as he hit that spot behind your ear, but caught yourself just in time.

“Muffliato.” you muttered at the door before continuing with Fred.

***

You woke up a few hours later, lying on your side with Fred spooning you. It was your favorite way to wake up; feeling so enclosed and secure with his warmth and air engulfing you, knowing nothing bad could happen with Fred right next to you. He stirred when he felt you moving slightly and your heart-rate pick up.

“What time is it, y/n?”

“Judging by the sun, probably around five or six.”

“Merlin, Charlie will come looking for us soon.”

“I know but I don’t want to get up.”

“Me neither, love. But knowing my brother, nothing will stop him from unlocking that door to find us.”

You chuckled as you sat up in the bed, facing your husband. You placed a gentle kiss on his forehead before climbing out of the bed.

“Looking stunning, love…” Fred quipped, admiring his bride as you headed to your pile of clothes on the floor. You just rolled your eyes and gave a chuckle.

“How is it that you’ve kept the same attitude and demeanour all these years?”

“What do you mean, love?”

“You’ve always been this goofy, carefree, loving person; since the day we met you haven’t changed. I love you, Fred.”

“I love you two, y/n.”

Just as you and Fred were pulling on your final articles of clothing, you heard the lock on the door slide open - coerced by magic - and the door fly open.

“Oi! Been looking for ya’s, it’s well past dinner!”

“Our apologies, Charlie, we’re coming right now if you’ll have us.”

“Well of course, anything for the blushing bride and my brother on their honeymoon.” he gave a warm smile at each of you. “Now if you’ll follow me, I have something outside for ya’s.” You and Fred exchanged puzzled looks and followed the redhead outside.

You walked a path to a grassy bank near the stream. Fred held your hand as you went, staying a few paces behind Charlie. “I’m not sure what he’s got up his sleeve, love.” he whispered as you went, “don’t be surprised if he’s just trying to feed us to the dragons.”

You stifled a laugh as you leaned up to him, “Anything would be okay as long as I’m doing it with you, Freddie.” He blushed as he gripped your hand tighter. He brushed your cheek with his hand as he bent down and brought you into a kiss. Feeling the plush grass around your ankles and the distant buzzing of a bee, the ground seemed to sway beneath you in the best way possible. His hand moved to your lower back as he deepened the kiss.

Before long you, Fred, and Charlie had reached the top of a hill. While gorgeous with plush grass, scenic views, and wildflowers blooming, there was nothing particularly special about the space; at least not to have warranted the fifteen minute hike. “I oughta take my leave here,” Charlie spoke up “but what you’re lookin’ for is just around that last bend over there.” He gave Fred a pat on the shoulder as he began his hike back.

“Shall we?” Fred asked, taking your hand once more and leading you a few feet upwards to the bend in the path Charlie had pointed out.

“We shall.” you finished, giving his hand a squeeze.

You ventured round the bend and as you did the whole world seemed to open up. While you had a stunning view from the last hilltop, where you now stood was absolutely breathtaking. A large, old castle perched atop the mountain peak, looming over the valley below. Bubbling and flowing through the gorge was a crystal-blue river. The air was crisp, birds chirped, and small creatures scampered about. You and Fred couldn’t help but stare, mouths agape, taking in everything.

“Merlin” you muttered, letting go of Fred’s hand to admire the bowtruckle pair on the tree next to you.

“Merlin, indeed” Fred added as a pack of pixies zoomed past him. “I suppose we’re meant to venture in the castle?”

“Wonderful!” you exclaimed, giving your husband a peck before running off into the towering structure.

Inside was an unreal sight. Floating candles donned the high ceilings, with a small table set up in the center. A dinner had been set out and soft ballroom music played in the distance. You and Fred stood, once again shocked, in the doorway.

“Goodness, love, Charlie really went all-out didn’t he?” Fred whispered as he leaned down to you.

“Certainly did.”

“What an absolutely perfect way to spend our first full day as husband and wife.”

“That it is, Freddie.” You took his hand and lead him to the table.

You laughed, talked, and enjoyed each other’s company inside the castle until sunset. “If you’ll come with me outside, I believe the sun is about to set.” You noted to Fred.

“Of course, love” He gave you a loving kiss before heading outside. As you stepped just past the threshold of the castle’s massive doors, a large hippogriff went soaring around the crest of the mountain and off into the distant hills. “My goodness!” Fred exclaimed, “if Charlie didn’t have most of the dragons in the area with him, I’d be scared!” He gave a light chuckle before laying down and guiding you with him. Snaking an arm around your waist and pulling you close, he gave a peck on your forehead. “I love you so much, y/n. We’ve only been married a day but it’s been everything I could’ve asked for and more. I’m elated to be starting this journey with you, and even more excited to be here with you right now.” His piercing and loving gaze cast down on you, smiling and radiating all the love in the world.

“Freddie, I love you so much more. From the moment I said ‘I do’ we had started our fantastic journey that can only get better from here. I feel like we’ve already seen amazing things in the few hours we’ve been here, and I can’t wait to see more with you.”

He pulled you into a deep kiss. Reciprocating, you melted into him, embracing his grasp. Staying in the moment for a long while, enjoying the feeling of romanticism and as a newly-married duo. You were locked together for so long that the sun had already gone down.

***

Two days later you woke with a start: it was the day you’d be meeting the dragons. You’d always felt a fondness for the creatures, and care of magical creatures was your best class back in Hogwarts, but Fred had kept you in London. Not that you minded, however. You had the opportunity to travel across eastern Europe, tracing elusive dragon species to preserve their kind, but your love for Fred kept you in place. Now a leading auror slowly climbing the ministry ladder, you couldn’t be happier.

Sensing you, Fred stirred, curling close to you and wrapped both arms around your middle. “Mornin’, love.”

“Hi, Freddie.”

“Ready to meet the dragons?”

“Yes!”, and with that you sprung out of the bed, narrowly missing Fred as he went in for a kiss. As if with a stroke of magic, just as you lept from the bed the door sprung open.

“Oi!” Charlie entered with spring in his step. “Is half past seven! Dragons’ve been waiting forever!”

“Sorry, Char” Fred groaned, slowly rising from the bed. “Was a long night.”

“Oi I bet, mate. Well, enough sittin’ around, be outside in ten, ya?” And just as fast as he came, Charlie was back through the threshold.

“Well he’s right, Fred!” you exclaimed, already downstairs and in fresh clothes. “Dragons!” Fred just groaned as he pulled on a fresh shirt and climbed down from the loft, but you were already out after Charlie.

“S’just a short walk to ma dragons. They’ve been waitin’ ever since I told ‘em they’d have visitors.”

You and Fred exchanged hopeful glances as you began the short walk down the hill to the dragons.

***

“Now before we go any farther,” Charlie spoke up just before rounding a corner, “you need to be calm and quiet. No sudden sounds or movements! We’ll start with the gentler folk.” He rounded the corner with you and Fred trailing behind. You came into a clearing with various large, roped-off sections. “Now of course we respect these creatures and they roam free. The only thing protecting ya is the forcefield in the sky. Once we go through that gate, it’s you, me, and the dragons. But we’ll be fine.”

You and Fred took deep breaths as you crossed through the small gate. You squeezed Fred’s hang tight and stifled a squeal.

“This here is Maggie, the Common Welsh Green dragon. She used to have a friend, but she went off to a conservatory in, you guessed it, Wales. They’re pretty gentle unless provoked, but again, stay calm.” He let out a whistle, and the dragon came swooping down, and he gave it a gentle stroke on the nose. “Y/n? Care to have a closer look?”

You wormed your way out of Fred’s grasp and skipped over to Charlie. The dragon wasn’t huge, but you were still scared. You hadn’t seen a dragon in person since Hogwarts, and even that was for metres away.

“Just go slow and be gentle, you’ll be fine.” Charlie took your hand and slowly guided it up towards the dragon, speaking to her the whole time. “Hey there, Mags. This is y/n, she’s super nice and loves dragons. She’s family so don’t worry.” Your hand made contact with the scaled being, and she let out a snort. You jerked back, but Charlie’s grip kept you generally in place. “It’s okay,” he reassured. You drew your hand up and down the dragon’s snout as she opened and closed her eyes in a happy manner. After a few moments, you turned back to Fred.

“Would you like to try, love?”, but as you looked back Fred was white as a ghost and frozen in place. “Fred? Freddie are you alright?” You started to run over to him, but were quickly reminded by Charlie to not do so. You made your way to your husband and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. You questioned again, but to no response. Charlie then came over.

“Shoulda mentioned he’s a wee bit scared of dragons. Always has been up close. He never said anything?”

“What? No. I assumed he loved them and that’s why he agreed to come here.”

“Oh no. He’s bloody terrified. Guess he just loves ya that much.”

You rested your other hand on Fred’s shoulder. “Why don’t you head back to the cottage dear. I’ll be alright.” You gave him a peck on the cheek as he managed to barely nod his head. In just an instant he apparated away, too scared to actually walk away despite the guaranteed security just metres away beyond the gate.

“Want to continue, y/n?”

“Oh yes of course! He’ll be fine.” you gave a longing glance behind you before catching up with Charlie.

“Now you can’t stroke the rest of ‘em, but at least you can meet them.” After a short walk, you came to the next set of low-hanging ropes. “This is my Hebridean Black, Zenith. They like space, so don’t get close.” He let out another low whistle and a much larger dragon came swooping down.

“Wow!” you exclaimed - quietly. You took in the beautiful dragon before you, remembering every detail. Before you could take in any more of him, the large creature flew away.

“Told you he likes privacy. Shall we meet the rest.” After many hours you’d met Frieda the Antipodean Opaleye in its small valley setting, Camie the Romanian Longhorn, Chimney and Jiminy the Swedish Short-Snouts, Nessie the Peruvian Vipertooth, Francesca the Chinese Fireball, Biddy the Ukranian Ironbelly, and Brewster the Hungarian Horntail. You finally came to the last set of ropes. “These are the Norwegian Ridgebacks, and I think you know one of them.” With another call of the whistle you’d come to know, two dragons came swooping down in elegant flips and turns, one of which you immediately recognized to be Norbert.

“Norbert!” you called out, earning a daggering stare from Charlie. “It’s fine, Char. Norbert and I were buddies before you came and adopted him.” Charlie’s eyebrows raised and his mouth turned up at the corners. Norbert let out an excited roar at your sight and voice. You hesitated to get close, as he was much larger than when you had last seen him.

“Glad to have a reunion. And this is Sally. She’s Norbert’s… special friend.”

“Awww! Norbert and Sally, that’s cute!” You and Charlie admired the dragons a while longer before heading back to the cottages, and by then it was almost sunset.

“Hope you enjoyed seein’ the dragons, y/n.”

“Oh of course, Charlie! Thank you so much for letting us stay here, it’s a shame we’re leaving in the morning.”

“Well you’re welcome back anytime.” You exchanged nods before heading into your respective cottages.

“Fred?” you called out when you entered. Your husband was relaxed on the couch, reading a book and enjoying a cup of tea. “Hey, love. You seem to be doing better.”

“Hi, love” he gave you a quick peck, “don’t worry about me. Did you have fun?”

“Oh tons of fun. I felt like I was just a third-year spending hours in the library reading about dragons again. We should talk about what happened.” He had a smile watching you talk about the dragons, which quickly faded.

“There’s nothing to talk about, y/n.” he said, wrapping an arm around you and guiding you down to the couch with him where you snuggled up together. “It’s just that dragons aren’t my favorite thing.”

“I’ve never seen you do that. I didn’t think the great Fred Weasley was scared of anything…” you trailed off with a chuckle. “Why’d you agree to come here, then?”

“Well first I wouldn’t say scared, just mildly irked. And secondly, I knew it would make you happy. Besides, who better than be to protect my wife from scary dragons?”

“I don’t know, maybe your all-star auror wife?” You both let out chuckles as he picked you up and brought you to the bed. You got changed into pyjamas and settled into bed, nuzzling against Fred. “What an amazing honeymoon, love. Couldn’t have asked for better. And I’m so happy to be here with you.”

“And I as well, y/n. What a beautiful start to our marriage. Shame we have to go home in the morning.”

“Yeah, but I have a surprise ready I think you’ll like.” Before he could ask any questions you muttered “nox” and snuggled further into Fred before drifting off to sleep.

#hp #charlie weasley #fred weasley #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley one shot #fred weasley fluff #fred weasley series #series #marriage story

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nadiaportia · 4 years

Text

Prelude

Dedicated to Nadia Satrinava.

Summary: In advance of her birthday, the Countess of Vesuvia enjoys a (presumably) quiet night in the city with her wife, the Viscountess.

Starring Nadia Satrinava and Sayelle of Bizatena.

"So, where is this place you have sung accolades about, darling?" Nadia drew the shawl closer around herself and looked at the small built-in restaurant in front of them.

They have left the Palace after a long day of work, because a countess didn't stop working simply because the next day happened to be her birthday, no, they had a delegation from Firent to meet and that demanded work and dedication, especially because the Papess of Firent didn't do diplomatic visits for just anyone. So it was to the Countess and the Viscountess to ensure everything would go according to plan and the sun had already been setting by the time they walked through the gates to leave the grounds.

Both wore cloaks to conceal their true identities - they had places to be, and being stopped by people was fine on any other day but… not now - and walked through the city holding hands as they made their way to the South End after the carriage had dropped them off so they could take a little bit of a scenic route. And now they were standing in front of the place Sayelle had visited with Asra, Portia and Deirdra one evening, after the three of them had toured the city for new places to discover and accidentally stumbled upon what Sayelle had described as 'a diamond in the rough' to her wife.

"Yes. Believe me, it's easily overlooked, but it's worth every single coin spent in there." She winked and squeezed Nadia's hand. "Allow me the honor of showing you the beauty of Bizateni cuisine, most revered Nadia."

"Who am I to deny you, most revered Sayelle?"

Sayelle grinned from ear to ear and led the way as they entered the restaurant. The air inside was warm and smelt of food and spices. "Let me do this, I'm already a known face around here."

"Oh, Vis-" Sayelle shook her head quickly at the waiter who had approached them. They coughed loudly and when no one seemed to had noticed them, they nodded and said in a much quieter tone: "Welcome, Viscountess. I will tell the chef right away of your and the Countess's arrival." They inclined their head towards Sayelle and Nadia, but Sayelle took off her shawl and shook her head.

"No need to treat us with reverence of any sort, we are just ordinary guests who happened to have ordered a table." She gave the waiter a reassuring smile who seemed to considerably relax at those words, even if they did throw a curious look at Nadia.

"If you say so, Vi-"

"Call me Sayelle, please. My companion would also rather go by her name"

"Very well, Ladies Sayelle and Na-."

"Just Nadia and Sayelle should be fine. We go to the bathroom just like you happen to."

The waiter let out a nervous laugh at that. "Very well, … please follow me." They led the two women to a table in the far back, a bit away from the other patrons. Both of them set down in their chairs after the took off their cloaks. Nadia looked somewhat more relaxed now that they had settled in their destination.

"So… what exactly do they serve here?"

Sayelle's grin was mischievous. "You'll find out soon enough - that's part of the surprise."

Nadia raised a brow. "Oh, so that was the great surprise for tonight? I almost expected something grander - a party perhaps, especially since Natiqa is an excellent planner and she's in Vesuvia now much more often."

Sayelle looked at the menu, seemingly too focused to hear her. "Have you ever tried Arak? It's anise-based liquor."

"I have heard of it but never had the pleasure.”

“Oh, you’ll love it, even if it’s a bit… strong. At least it was for me the first time.”

Nadia chuckled. “When was that first time?”

Sayelle made a vague hand gesture. “Hm, must’ve been when I was like… 14? One of the older kids had… uh, borrowed a bottle of it and I, along with some others who were a bit younger, pestered them for so long until they gave us a whole glass of it. I happened to be the first one to drink and unprepared as I was, I took a very big swig.” She shook her head. “I laugh when I think back to it but back then… it wasn’t a fun situation to me in.”

Nadia had her elbows propped on the table and leaned forwards to look at Sayelle as she told the anecdote. “Very well,”, she said with a smile and reached out to take Sayelle’s hand in her, “I will make sure to add my own story to yours tonight.”

“Do you already know what you want to drink and eat?” The waiter had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Yes, your best wine and some arak for each. As for food… it was very good the first time I had it, so for both of us the swordfish with some taboulé.”

Nadia almost sat upright - almost, because a countess didn’t allow herself to be caught my surprise.

“Swordfish, my dearest? I didn’t know they also served Prakran specialities!”

“Heh, us Bizateni have our method to prepare spiced swordfish. It’s all about the distinct use of spices-” The waiter caught themselves in the middle of their explanation and straightened their back. “Apologies, Countess! I meant no offense.”

“None taken whatsoever.” Nadia said gently. “I wasn’t aware it was also a speciality in Bizatena, I can’t wait to try it then.”

“Very well.” They said and hurried to get back to the kitchen.

In the meantime that they waited for the food to arrive, darkness had descended upon Vesuvia and the lanterns had been lit. Nadia had a lot to say about the delegation but obviously tried to not descend into ramblings, it just wasn’t appropriate for this special occasion, as amusing as Sayelle’s reactions to the meeting were, how she furrowed her thin brows, wrinkled her nose and snorted. By the time the food was served, they had each finished a glass of wine and were currently on their second.

“Oh, look, the arak!” Sayelle exclaimed when the waiter brought two small glasses filled with an opaque drink.

“And the food.” Nadia laughed. They thanked the waiter and Sayelle raised her glass of it before they began eating.

“It might not be your day yet, Nadi, so I won’t c-o-n-g-r-a-t-u-l-a-t-e you yet but this one still goes out to you.” Sayelle blushed furiously and hastily adjusted her glasses before she continued. “Because you are without doubt the most amazing, compassionate, caring, sweetest woman in Vesuvia and the entire world.” She squeezed Nadia’s hand and searched her face.

“I love you, Nadia. And I love being with you.”

Nadia blinked and then smiled. “I love you back, Sayelle. I truly do.” She took Sayelle’s hand to her mouth and pressed her lips on her knuckles.

“None of what I accomplished could have been possible without you or your presence, my dearest. So this is also a toast that goes out to you.” She raised her glass as well and they toasted. Sayelle managed to keep a straight face as she downed the arak in one go but Nadia briefly closed her eyes when she was done.

“Oh, good gracious. That was… intense.”

“You tell me about it. Quite the nightcap.”

“Well, good thing the carriage will take us back, this one could come close to taking me out.”

“Let’s hope not, can’t have you drop like a stone.”

“Now, I’m really interested how this swordfish is different to the Prakran one…”

Nadia carefully cut a small piece and tasted it. Her face indicated she was in deep thought as she was chewing. When done, she cleaned the corners of her mouth, much to Sayelle’s amusement.

“It’s different… but very good. I believe they use a different array of spices, it has a hot taste but unlike the Prakran variety.”

“Yeah, if I remember correctly, those herbs are found in the mountains between the city and the desert.”

The rest of the dinner went great; Nadia immensely enjoyed the food served to them, the wine was to her liking her as well, but the best were the little looks shared between her and Sayelle, when her eyes would crinkle a little bit as she regarded her, not fully smiling but making her look very content. When they finished the main course and dessert (sweet figs just like Sayelle liked them), they paid and tipped the waiter generously and left the restaurant hand in hand. The carriage waited just outside the South End for them and took them back to the Palace.

“It’s soon going to be midnight, I believe… I hope we get to the Palace before the bells toll.”

“Hmmm.” Nadia said and pulled Sayelle up into her lap. “I hope so too. I want to properly celebrate my birthday after all, only my lovely wife and me.” She pressed a kiss to her neck and let her hands roam over her body. “You are wearing the most gorgeous dress, my dearest. I can’t wait to take it off you and admire you in your entirety.” She gently cupped Sayelle’s face and let her lips ghost over her wife’s before fully claiming them. Sayelle leaned into her like a wilting flower and sighed when Nadia bit into her lower lip. She shivered when Nadia ran a hand over her back while still tenderly stroking her face with the other.

“Oh, it definitely will come off,”, she laughed when they parted, “but… err”, she put her glasses properly on her nose, “there’s something else.”

Nadia leaned back and considered the words for a few seconds. “It’s a surprise party, am I correct?”

“Weeeell, we all thought it was a great idea, and Natiqa volunteered to call together the cavalry. It’s just a tiny get-together, and I wanted to take you to that restaurant either way, so it all kinda fell in place.” Sayelle sighed with resignation. “I’m sorry if this turns out to be a bit too much.”

“No, not at all! I was just looking forward to us having each other for ourselves, and it doesn’t matter if that happens just a bit later.” She caressed Sayelle’s jaw with the back of her fingers and gently kissed the tip of her nose. “I suppose the usual suspects are among the guests?”

“Hm, I’ll neither confirm for deny.”

The carriage dropped them off in front of the Palace and hand in hand they entered through the gates.

“Where exactly is this happening?”

“Natiqa told me to go to the Palace Gardens and into the maze, they’ll be at the very center. I actually… don’t know for sure what they planned because Natiqa, Asra and Deirdra insisted on it being a surprise for me as well so I don’t ‘spill the beans’.”

Nadia and Sayelle walked through the Palace, a quick gaze at the clock told them it was soon to be midnight so they quickened their steps until they reached the maze.

“Imagine if we were to get lost now in here, whatever would be do?” Sayelle whispered as they easily navigated through the maze - they could do this in their sleep if they’d try.

“Spending our birthday lost in the maze? It could be worse if I were alone but I have the best company I could ever ask for.” Nadia squeezed her hand and gave Sayelle a look of complete adoration.

They took a turn to the left and finally arrived in the clearing. Small tables with food and drink on them were set and their friends were either sitting on the marble benches or standing in small groups.

“Didi! How was dinner? You look great, by the way; both of you.” Natiqa stated, as a giant anteater followed on her heel. “Ambrosia is very welcome to hang out with me more often, Sayelle. She’s quite… inventive.”

“Oh, I know. Constantly keeping me on my toes.” Sayelle caressed the fur of her familiar.

The others approach them too; among the gathered were truly the usual suspects. Asra, Muriel, Julian, Portia, Deirdra, Ximena and Lucio. Volta’s presence would have been unusual a while ago but she had become a good friend to Nadia, as had Valerius if their game sessions were anything to go and the fact that they would actually have friendly conversations together over a shared bottle of wine after a particular stressful court session. But the surprise guest no doubt had to be...

“Nasmira! I did not expect you to be here.” Nadia smiled and embraced her sister who hugged her back equally joyful.

“I'm happy to see you too, Dia! I was actually on the way, a surprise visit for your birthday as I was on a diplomatic mission in Venterre. I went to visit Natiqa at the Embassy and she told me about what she and Sayelle had planned."

"I'm glad to you have here." She turned to the gathered. "And you as well. I'm happy you are all here to share this moment with me."

"There's a small mountain of presents for you, milady, but only after the clock strikes twelve." Portia pointed to a table that was specifically reserved for the boxes and bottles on it. “Aaaas well as a cake!” She pointed to another table on which a light pink cake tower with violet and purple decorations stood.

"Oh, you shouldn't have." Nadia stated but Deirdra shook their head. "Oi, they're not just any gifts, they are unique in itself. ours is-” “not the best. We actually made ours on our own.” Lucio sneered as Ximena patted his arm reassuringly. “Now, let’s not start this night with broken noses, shall we? Although we did put in quite some effort.” She said with something resembling a smug undertone in her voice.

“Anyway, um,”, Julian coughed, “neither of you four made something that’s actually useful…” he shrugged and grinned at Asra and Muriel who rolled their eyes in unison.

“Either way, Nadi, I think I’m speaking for everyone when I say we’re equally happy.” Asra said and several people nodded or verbally agreed.

“And thank you for organizing this, Natiqa, really. It… does mean a lot to me.” Nadia once again hugged her two sisters. A wide smile was on her face and Sayelle swore that her eyes were slightly shiny but it might as well be the light of the candles.

“Okay, the clock should strike twelve soon-ish,” Deirdra said, “we need the wine to do a toast! We all need to take the first sip on the twelfth chime, or what was it again, Sayelle?”

“Twelfth chime, yes. I say it doesn’t really matter, you still get the double portion of luck.” Sayelle turned to Valerius. “Consul, what you got for us?”

“A very fine vintage, from my own estate in the mountainside of Venterre.” Valerius had the good courtesy to not be already drinking, that actually might bring bad luck.

“Sounds good to me, so let’s get to it.” Deirdra waved and both Julian and Ximena assisted them and Valerius in filling the glasses for the attendees.

“Dear Countess,” Volta began, “I just want to say I’m so grateful for having this chance at reconciliation with you. You are a good person, and I don’t think many other people would have forgiven me after…” she made a vague hand movement and Nadia nodded in understanding and smiled gently. “Don’t mention it, Procurator, really.”

“Oh, damn!” Natiqa clapped her hands. “Everyone get their glasses.”

Almost on time, once everyone had taken their wine glass wined with a red that smelled of plums and blackberries, the first chime was heard from the Temple District.

“Here we go!” Sayelle said. She and Natiqa began singing the verse of an Vesuvian birthday song while Sayelle was counting the chimes with her hands. Everyone joined in on the song and coincidentally it ended with the tenth chime. At the eleventh chime, Nasmira raised her glass and said loudly: “A toast to the birthday girl. To Nadia!”.

“To Nadia!” The twelfth and final chime rang as each person took a sip of their wine.

“Happy birthday, my love.” Sayelle said and pressed a soft kiss to Nadia’s lips. Asra, Deirdra and Portia cheered.

“Oh, before we forget about it,”, Ximena handed her glass to Lucio and hurried to one of the tables where a music box was placed. “What would a party, small as it is, be without music? Sayelle and Nadia, feel free to tear up the, well, dancefloor.” The music that played began quiet and mellow but very soon became quick and more energetic.

“Thank you, Ximena. What do you think, my dearest, shall we?” Nadia placed her glass on a table and held out her hand to Sayelle. The Viscountess grinned at her wife and took her hand. “A dance with my wife? I could never deny such a request.”

#my writing #without further ado... it's Nadia Time gals pals and lads #nadia satrinava #the arcana

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mbakuetshurisprincess · 4 years

Text

Shopping p.3

AN: so we’re just not gonna talk about how i was gone for a year, but I’m back and finna write up a storm. BIG ups to @chaneajoyyy for proof reading dis shit!

pairing: m’baku x reader

warnings: cursing i think thats it lol.

word count: 2312

Courting with M’baku was a.... interesting process to say the least. Every morning you awoke he was on your mind, you felt the ghost of his hands wrapped around your waist possessively as you slept and the same kisses that he peppered all over your face to wake you up as you walked around your small house. By the time that you walked out of your house you always practically tripped over the guard that he had stationed outside who was charged with protecting you.

“You know” You said as you made your way outside of your house the guard following close behind you. “If we’re going to be spending so much time together it’s only fair that we know each other's name.”

You heard the man chuckle behind you.

“Eamon” he said following you on your walk.

“Eamon” You toyed with the name in your mouth “I like that name, you know I have a thing about names. I don’t understand how people end up with ugly names, it’s the simplest thing yet somehow overlooked.” You hit a quick left turn, you wanted to teach m’baku a lesson about sending guards to your house. You weren’t some frail flower that he had to protect at all costs.

“Are we taking a detour today or are you trying to lose me again?” Eamon asked matching your quickening pace.

“We’re taking the scenic route to work today Eamon, stop assuming the worst about me” You smiled back at him but you were greeted with nothing but cold eyes.

“y/n lets go your shop is the opposite way we’re not doing this again.”

“Fine” You pouted turning around “I don’t need to be watched, you do know that right? I’ve run my shop and walked from my house to it and back everyday since I was 18. You don’t need to protect me”

Eamon laughed to himself, “You think this is about you? I’m here because my king requested that I protect the woman that has stolen his heart and I serve his majesty. This has nothing to do with what I want to do it’s all up to him.”

The rest of the walk to your shop you spent in silence reflecting on your subtle realization, M’baku wanted to protect you, he wanted to make sure that no one in the entire world would be able to mess with his girl. And he wanted you to know that. While your mind wandered astray your feet had taken you to the street that your shop was on. A bouquet of roses sat on your step, the bright red in bright contrast with the blank white snow that surrounded them. You smiled to yourself, he’d been sending you gifts all week and today’s gift had been roses. You picked up the bouquet and pulled out your keys unlocking your shops door. You hummed to yourself as you held the door open for Eamon to walk in behind you, he took his normal seat next to the door and pulled out his phone, no doubt informing m’baku that you had arrived at your shop and had started your work. You picked the note off of the flowers.

My dearest y/n,

Roses today, diamonds tomorrow.

Nothing is too good for you.

See you tonight my love.

~ M’baku

You smiled at his sweet note and felt a rush of happiness seep into your system, the blush redding your cheeks. Deciding to busy yourself you placed a pot of water onto a small burner.

“What are we feeling today Eamon?” You asked pulling out the rectangular tin that held your teas.

“What are my options again?” Eamon asked rising from his seat to walk over to your counter.

“Jasmine, ginger, green tea or this herbal blend that my mom gave me” you looked up at Eamon for his decision and he looked puzzled.

“You can pick this time y/n, I’ve tried all of them I don’t know which one I like the most” Eamon said as he returned to his seat at the front of the store.

“Ginger tea it is then.” You said grabbing the two tea bags and placing the top back on the tin and sliding it back into its place. While the water boiled you moved around your shop turning on your machines, you ran your hands over your records settling on the miseducation of Lauryn Hill. You popped the record out of its sleeve and placed it on the record player, intro played through the speaker on the record player, as you walked around your shop your mind flashed back to the last time you’d seen m’baku it’d been far too long...

“Why must you be so stubborn isithandwa?” M’baku asked. It was the third day that he had come to visit you since you agreed to let M’baku court you. He’d drop by around closing time and talk to you while you cleaned up your work for the day. He would walk you up to your parents house and talk to your Mom and Dad for a few hours before you fell asleep (with one of his arms wrapped around your shoulder and your back pressing up against his torso no doubt) he’d try to gently wake you up before deciding it would be easier to just call a car to come pick the both of you up and drive you back to your home. He’d open your front door and walk you back to your bedroom with you in his arms bridal style and plop you onto your bed, first he’d start by pulling all of your outside furs off leaving you in whatever pair of sweatpants or leggings you wore to work that day and a matching t-shirt. Next it was onto your hair most of the time your hair was pulled up into a puff so he would remove the hair tie that had kept it up, always earning a groan from you. Next he would throw on whatever bonnet he found laying closest to your bed making sure your head was on the silk pillows. Finally he would pull all the furs onto you that he could find. The first night that he had taken you home and wrapped you up in furs he looked down at his handy work and was immediately disappointed . “How is she still cold, she’s under 12 furs” he murmured to himself. He debated climbing into bed with you but he didn't want to overstep his boundaries. You whined pulling the covers up onto your back, M’baku noticed you start to shiver. He couldn’t leave you cold and alone in your house “Fuck it” he said as he started shedding his outer layer of clothing and climbing into bed next to you, wrapping his arm around your waist pulling your body against his own.

“M’baku” you would whine out his warm body instantly sending blood flowing through your entire body.

“Ssh ssh ssh my love” he placed a gentle kiss on your forehead. “Sleep now, sleep”

This night was no different M’baku sat on your counter his long legs touched the floor, his coat long forgotten hanging on coat rack along with most of his protection from the cold outdoors.

“I’m not being stubborn m’baku! I don’t need to be followed around!” you retorted back at him.

“He won’t be following you he’s just there for your protection. He will be seen and not heard I promise” M’baku stood up and walked over to you as you turned off the record player.

“I don’t need protection M’baku! What would I even need protection from? I work in a weapons shop for hanuman’s sake!” you turned back to face him.

“I don’t know y/n protection from anyone or anything, I just want to know that you’re safe!” M’baku came back at you with a fire you hadn’t seen in him before. “I-“ he paused, his voice had gotten softer and his hand had found its way to his forehead and started massaging his temples. “I just want to make sure that you’re safe y/n that’s it.”

You paused for a moment and looked M’baku up and down scanning his body for any sign that what he just said was a lie. You wrapped your arms around M’baku and placed your head into his chest. “I’m sorry” you said quietly into his chest.

M’baku took a deep breath in. “No i’m sorry isithandwa, I shouldn’t have pushed you. You said you didn’t want the guard and that should of been the end of it. Do you forgive me?”

You pulled your head out of M’baku’s chest “Of course I forgive you M’baku, do you forgive me for being so stubborn?”

M’baku lifted your chin up and brought his lips down to deliver a sweet and tender kiss.

“One guard” you said after the kiss “One guard, not seen AND not heard” you saw the smile form on M’baku’s face. He lifted you up off the ground as his hand found your thighs.

“M’baku stop!” you exclaimed laughing with him as he spun the two of you around “You’re gonna drop me! ”

That made m’baku stop spinning “Eh? you think I'm gonna drop the wife that hauman gave me? what am I crazy!”

The shrill scream of the teapot snapped you out of your dream like trance. You walked over and grabbed two handmade mugs and poured hot water into each mug.

“Are you sure you want ginger Eamon, this is your last chance?” you looked over to see eamon gazing out of the window, he turned his attention to you. As the steam hit you, you flashed back to another time M’baku had spent the night at your house.

You awoke to the shower running in your bathroom, no doubt M’baku had decided to shower at your place tonight. You looked over at the clock on your bedside table it shone bright with 1:38 am. The shower turned off and within a few moments the bathroom door opened and a wave of steam hit your face. M’baku emerged from the bathroom and his eyes met yours.

“See something you like isithandwa?” M’baku smirked at you adjusting the towel around his waist.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about M’baku” you said plastering an innocent smile across your face.

“You looked me up and down like you wanted to pounce on me. Is that what it is? You want me?” M’baku cooed at you as you sat up in bed.

“Don’t test me m’baku, I’m following your customs by withstanding from sex with you until marriage. If it were up to me i would of been showering with you just now” you said crossing your arms and pushing your bottom lip out into a pout.

M’baku walked over to you and placed a kiss on your lips. “I appreciate you and thank you little one, i know it’s not easy for you but trust me once we get together I will make it worth the wait”

“Yea it better be m’baku, hurry up and put some clothes on I wanna cuddle, I’m cold!”

Eamon’s words snapped you back to reality “Eh ginger is fine”

You hummed along to ex-factor as you dunked the ginger tea bag into eamon’s drink and then one into your own drink. You walked over to Eamon and handed him his drink.

“Thanks” he muttered focusing back outside the window after a few sips.

“I'm gonna get started I've got three jobs on back order so I might not be able to hear you with all the machines running”

You turned on your heels and walked into the back of your store and started on your work for the day.

Around 6 hours later you were done with two out of three of your orders and wanted to finish the third one tonight. You were blasting music so loud it blurred out your own thoughts, just how you liked it. You hummed along to your music as you grabbed the knife out of the ice bucket and turned around to set it on the tray.

“M’baku shit!” you dropped the knife you’d been working on to the floor. M’baku just smiled up at you from a chair sitting in your studio. You cut your eyes at him before you walked over to your speakers and turned it down so you could hear him.

“You really shouldn’t keep your music up that loud love” M’baku said to you as he watched you pick up the knife and survey it for damage.

“You really shouldn’t tell a woman with a knife in her hand what to do.” you said back to him. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“I don't know isithandwa it’s hard to remember I was so enchanted with watching you move and sing as you worked” M’baku chuckled making a mental note to remember this conversation.

“M’baku I'm serious! When did you walk in?” you whined out still facing him toying with the knife in your hand.

“ An hour isithandwa at max I swear!” he lied through his teeth he’d been there for at least two. You turned you back to him as you set the blade down on the counter and went back to your work. You heard M’baku stand up and walk towards you, you felt warm arms wrap around your waist with ease and his breath down your neck.

“Come with me today” M’baku mused in your ear, giving it a little nibble.

You felt your entire body relax into his arms and you let out a deep exhale releasing all of your pent up stress from today. “Go with you where?” you asked

“Come home with me today, let me take you to my home” he corrected himself “Our home”

#m'baku #m'baku imagine #m'baku x reader #black panther #black panther imagine #black panther fandom #black panther fic #black panther writing #black panther fanfiction

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insanityclause · 4 years

Link

On the afternoon of Thursday, March 12, 2020, Broadway was hopping, with 31 shows in one stage or another of production. That evening, Six was to have its opening night and Flying Over Sunset was to have its first preview. The evening after, Plaza Suite was to begin previews, along with Caroline, or Change. And then, over the following 42 days leading up to April 23, the eligibility cutoff for the 74th Tony Awards, several other shows — among them American Buffalo, Birthday Candles, Diana, Hangmen, How I Learned to Drive, The Lehman Trilogy, Sing Street, Take Me Out and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? — were to show their hands, gambling that a late unveiling would position them optimally for the sort of awards recognition that can make the difference between a show staying open or closing.

As it turned out, every Broadway show closed that evening — at least temporarily — as the Broadway League, the producers and trade organization that presides over the 41 theaters that comprise the Great White Way, shuttered all of them due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Now, two months to the day from when the Tonys ceremony was supposed to take place at Radio City Music Hall, members of the New York theater community — from actors to producers to publicists to the 50 or so members of the Tonys nominating committee itself — have no better idea than they did on March 12 about how Broadway's best work from the 2019-2020 season will be recognized.

"Not a word," says a dismayed member of the nominating committee. "There has been a total lack of communication," adds a frustrated Broadway publicist who has several horses in the race.

Without a doubt, there are far bigger problems these days than what is going on with the Tonys, even within the Broadway community, which usually employs some 87,000 people, according to the Broadway League. Now, virtually everyone is out of work as the League tries to determine if/how Broadway's theaters, with their cramped seats and tiny bathrooms packed with tourists and the elderly, can possibly reopen before a vaccine is widely available.

But, as the Emmys and Oscars proceed with plans for virtual awards ceremonies in the coming months, many who had a stake in the 2019-2020 Broadway season are wondering — in email exchanges and on phone calls with each other, and in off-the-record exchanges with this reporter — if they have been forgotten by the Tonys. After all, almost every other annual awards ceremony that celebrates theatrical achievements in New York has proceeded via a press release or virtual ceremony — the New York Drama Critics Circle (April 16), the Lucille Lortel Awards (May 3), the Outer Circle Critics Awards (May 11), the Drama Desk Awards (May 31), the Drama League Awards (June 18), etc.

So what is going on?

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that the Tony Awards Management Committee, which is comprised of representatives of the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing (which established the Tonys and owns the brand), has had a number of Zoom meetings during which various gameplans have been considered and then tabled as the severity of the pandemic became increasingly clear.

Indeed, Broadway theaters were originally to be closed for one month through April 12, then that was extended to at least June, then through Labor Day and now all that is known is that they will not reopen before the end of the year. No Tonys gameplan has been arrived at yet, although there is an expectation that a meeting later this month could bring things to a head.

The Broadway League and American Theater Wing declined to answer questions for this story.

It is understood that there are three primary options under consideration at this time, each of which comes with pros and cons...

1) Ask nom-com members to select nominees from the shows they were able to see before the shutdown and then conduct a virtual Tonys ceremony soon.

Pros

This seems to be the option that would please the greatest number of people associated with the 2019-2020 season, since shows that were seen will still be fresh in the minds of the nom-com and the larger pool of final-round voters.

Indeed, in the minds of a cross-section of the community, there was quite a bit of Tony-worthy work that was widely seen. Among the contenders repeatedly brought up: The Inheritance and Slave Play for best play; Moulin Rouge! for best musical; Betrayal or A Soldier's Play for best play revival; Danny Burstein (Moulin Rouge!), a popular vet with six nominations but no wins under his belt (and who recently overcame a brutal battle with COVID-19), for best featured actor in a musical; 33-year-old phenom Adrienne Warren (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) for best actress in a musical; 89-year-old Lois Smith (The Inheritance), who has worked steadily since her debut in 1952 and has been nominated twice but never won, and 80-year-old Jane Alexander (Grand Horizons), who made her debut in 1969 and won one competitive award 51 years ago, for best featured actress in a play; four-time Tonys bridesmaid Laura Linney (My Name Is Lucy Barton) and 2001 winner Mary Louise Parker (The Sound Inside) for best actress in a play; veterans Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins (The Height of the Storm) for best actor and actress in a play, respectively; Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Cox (Betrayal) for best actor in a play; Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill) for best featured actress in a musical; David Alan Grier (A Soldier's Play) for best actor or featured actor in a play, depending on where the nom-com placed him; and Derek McLane (Moulin Rouge!) for best scenic design. David Byrne, meanwhile, would almost certainly receive a special award for American Utopia.

Additionally, announcing Tony noms and winners could be a morale booster. "We're not doing shit that says 'Broadway is still here,'" says a publicist. "TV is still on. Movies are adapting. But our industry is in the toilet. So all goodwill gestures would be very welcome."

Cons

Because so few people ever make it to New York to see one Broadway show a year, let alone many, the Tonys are a tough sell to TV viewers in the best of times. Moreover, because of the abbreviated season, there may not be enough contenders to fill several categories (e.g. best revival of a musical and best original score).

And, setting aside the issue of shows that never even began previews, there is no question that a handful of late-breaking shows would be at a disadvantage, either because they had only recently opened (e.g. West Side Story and Girl from the North Country) or begun previews (e.g. The Minutes, Hangmen, Company, The Lehman Trilogy, Diana, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), meaning not all nom-com voters would have seen them yet.

Perhaps most significantly, some associated with shows that were widely seen and plan to reopen would prefer waiting to hold the Tonys until the ceremony could be of some value to them at the box office.

2) Employ the Tonys ceremony in 2021 (assuming one is possible) to honor the best of both the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons, each of which will have been abbreviated due to the pandemic.

Pros

By March 12, 2021, the one-year anniversary of the Broadway shutdown, theaters — and at least some of the shows that were interrupted but managed to survive thanks to business interruption exclusions in their insurance policies — will presumably have reopened, meaning that at least one full Broadway season's worth of work could be recognized at the Tonys, which itself could occur in the traditional manner with on-air performances that could help drive ticket sales.

It is possible that Broadway's top producer, Scott Rudin, now believes that this is the likeliest outcome, since a decision was announced on June 24 to postpone the opening night of his revival of The Music Man from Oct. 15, 2020 all the way to May 20, 2021, which would push it into the 2021-2022 Tonys season and thereby keep it from having to compete for best revival of a musical with another of his shows, West Side Story. (Rudin declined to comment for this piece.)

Cons

Not all shows that were interrupted by the pandemic will reopen — most plays won't, save for perhaps those mounted by nonprofit theaters, like Take Me Out and Birthday Candles, and the musicals which probably will, such as Moulin Rouge!, will be hindered by having opened so long before voting (in that case, in the summer of 2019, nearly two years prior to the would-be new Tonys date). Even those that opened later, like Jagged Little Pill and Tina, would be disadvantaged compared to any new blood in the spring.

Additionally, not all of the people who served on the nominating committee in 2019-2020 would be willing to return to Broadway theaters in 2021, making a small group even smaller. "I would withdraw from being a nominator," one older member of the 2019-2020 nom-com tells THR, citing health concerns.

3) Scrap the 2019-2020 Tonys altogether.

Pros

It would be one less headache for the Broadway League, which is first and foremost interested in reviving Broadway, as opposed to looking back at past glories.

Cons

It would deprive recognition of those who did great work on Broadway during the 2019-2020 season, and mark the first time in the 74-year history of the Tonys that a period of Broadway work was not recognized at all.

#Tony Awards #Betrayal #Tom Hiddleston #Charlie Cox

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ripley95 · 4 years

Text

Echoes of Old Embers

Chapter 4

Pairing: F!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Rating: T

Chapter length: 4.6K

Story Tags: friends to lovers, mini slow burn, angst

Story Synopsis:

After surviving the war, one of Shepard’s biggest regrets was rejecting Kaidan at Apollo’s. Fate has a way of bringing Jane and Kaidan back into each other’s lives. A misunderstanding with his family makes Kaidan and Shepard relive old history and question where they stand.

Link to Chapter 1 on AO3

Chapter Synopsis:

Kaidan and Shepard make their way to his family home on the orchard. Shepard finally meets Kaidan’s family.

Link to Chapter 4 on AO3

Tumblr Links:

Read the chapter here below the cut:

Shepard was looking out the window, admiring the view from Kaidan’s rental skycar. They were well on their way to the orchard. The sky was relatively empty heading towards the Okanagan, not much traffic getting in the way of the scenery. They passed beautiful mountainscapes still covered in snow. The whole journey into the interior was more scenic than she was expecting. BC offered a lot of Earth’s beauty, and she figured she’d try to enjoy what she could from this trip. ‘Try’ was the operative word there, still thinking this plan was a mistake. She bounced her uninjured leg nervously, contemplating how difficult this week was about to be. Something Kaidan seemed to be picking up on the closer they got to the orchard.

“You alright there, Shepard? You look like you’re getting a little restless.”

“You could say that,” she said, looking over at him with a smirk. “If you’ll recall, you forced me to drink two whole bottles of water before we left, not to mention my coffee. I think I’m ready for a pit stop.” It was the truth, but she’d be lying if that was the whole reason behind her lively leg. She was getting more and more nervous, the closer they got to their destination.

Kaidan smirked at her. “Sorry about that. Maybe I should have let you pace the water a bit, but I still think you’ll end up thanking me for it later. Think you can hold it, though? The orchard’s only a couple minutes away.”

“Already?”

“Yup. Just over that hill up there,” he said, pointing ahead of them.

“Well, in that case, I’m pretty sure I can hold it.” Her leg continued to bounce impatiently, despite what she said.

They rode in silence the rest of the way. It really wasn’t far off at this point, and the thought of it only put her more on edge. Any minute now, she’d be meeting Kaidan’s family. Yet another thing that reeked of intimacy. This was something that people who were romantically involved did, and yet again, she felt as though she was stealing someone else’s place that should have been here instead of her. Kaidan wasn’t fazed at all as she glanced back towards him. He was just steering the car with a wistful smile.

No matter how he might have felt about their relationship, he was still here for a celebration and to get to be here for his sister on her special day. He would be welcoming someone new into his family. It at least made her happy that he was getting the chance to experience this. She knew this was going to be a stressful week for herself, but seeing the look on his face made her feel better about it.

Just like that, they were already making their descent. Kaidan was right, the ride was short. They made a soft landing on a patch of grass in front of the house. She practically bounced out of the car with her nervous energy. Kaidan went to the trunk to grab the bags. As Shepard reached for hers, he quickly intercepted it, and she looked at him questioningly.

“You know I can carry my own bag, right? I’m not that debilitated.”

“Maybe not, but after what I saw this morning, I don’t want you to be adding any unnecessary weight on that leg,” he said, taking the bag and putting the strap over his shoulder.

Shepard chuckled at that. Always the caretaker. She just wasn’t used to relying on anyone else to make things easier for her. “I guess I can’t argue with that. After you,” she finally agreed as she directed her hand towards the house, still fidgeting a bit thanks to her need to go to the bathroom.

He made his way up the steps and waited for Shepard to follow after him. “Well, I hope you’re ready to meet my family. I’m warning you now, they can be a bit much,” he said with a laugh, his hand hovering over the doorbell.

“I’m sure they’re fine. Even if I wasn’t ready, though, I’m about to pee my pants if this waits any longer.”

“Right,” he said with a smirk as he rang the bell.

As they waited, Shepard examined their surroundings. This was where Kaidan was raised. His childhood home. She never had anything like that, always changing ships, or being dropped off at boarding school while her mother was on active duty. She could see the appeal of having a place to always call home, not to mention being raised close to nature. It must have been nice, not that she begrudged her own upbringing by any means. It was just different. The house was very classic looking, made out of real wood, layered in soft hues of paint with a large porch on the front of the house that they were currently standing on. The property was stunning and bigger than she expected. Well kept, too, barely any signs of the war leftover. She didn’t really know what to expect when she agreed to come out here, but she was pleasantly surprised that they already managed to have it looking so good after the end of the war.

One of the windows must have been open, because they heard some shuffling from inside, followed by someone yelling.

“Kaidan’s here!!” they heard before there was a large commotion of thumping.

That made Shepard look at Kaidan, surprised. She wasn’t expecting such a reaction from an Alenko. She had envisioned them to be reserved and quiet. Then again, her only example to go off of was him, so that wasn’t necessarily a fair assessment.

“That was Maisie. She can be… enthusiastic. Acts like a teenager, even though she’s well into her twenties already. Like I said, they can be a bit much.”

“Ah,” Shepard said with a nod, still a little surprised from the complete contrast to Kaidan.

“I’ve already got it, Maisie. Calm down,” they heard someone shout back before the door opened.

Shepard got the briefest glimpse of the woman opening the door, before a blur of colour shot right past her. Said blur of colour jumped onto Kaidan, hugging him with what looked like the force of a death-grip. Kaidan promptly dropped the bags in his hands as he staggered backwards, nearly falling down the steps.

The woman that opened the door walked outside onto the porch, looking like she was trying to greet her brother as well. She had strikingly similar features to Kaidan, the same dark hair and eyes. There wasn’t any denying that they were related, likely Raiya, the oldest, if Shepard had to guess. There was something about her serious disposition that screamed maturity. She made eye contact with Shepard, and she stopped dead in her tracks. There was an expression of shock at seeing who Kaidan brought with him as his plus one. Shepard waved awkwardly as Kaidan’s younger sister was still dramatically hugging her brother.

“Aaah, I missed you so much. You’re the only cool sibling, you know that?!”

“I’m standing right here, Maisie,” the older sister said, finally moving her attention away from Shepard.

“Oh yeah. Forget I said that,” Maisie said, finally lowering herself from the hug, not even noticing the awkward silence filling the air behind her.

“The only reason you say that is because I’m the one gone long enough for you to miss me, you know,” Kaidan said as he smiled at her. It was one of warmth that looked like he was happy to be home, seeing his family again. Shepard couldn’t help but notice how good it looked on him.

Suddenly, the sound of a dish dropping came from one of the rooms in the house, prompting everyone to turn towards the noise. Shepard had a perfect view, noticing two other women in what looked to be a dining room just past the main foyer. Both of them stood there, staring. That must have been Kaidan’s mother and Libby. All of the Alenkos shared similar features, no denying their relation. Libby was acting flustered for having just dropped the dish as she bent to pick it up. Luckily it didn’t actually break, and they were examining if anything could be salvaged. Shepard couldn’t help but think she seemed a little perturbed, too. That was terrific. She was already making a horrible first impression, causing people to drop dishes.

With the commotion drawing everyone’s attention, Maisie was the last one to finally see Shepard standing there. “Holy shit,” she muttered out. She also had that trademark Alenko black hair, but hers had streaks of bright blue and pink running through it. From what little Shepard knew of her, she could already tell it matched her colourful personality.

All eyes were on Jane now, as she stood there awkwardly, immediately prompting her to look towards Kaidan. “I guess you forgot to tell them I was coming?” she said with a nervous laugh. She was usually the picture of confidence, able to keep her cool, yet somehow having the attention of all of the Alenko women on her was enough to make her anxious.

“Uh,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I told everyone I was using my plus one last night.”

“Yeah, sure, but none of us believed you!” Maisie said, hitting Kaidan in the abdomen with the back of her hand playfully.

“You also left out who it was that you were bringing,” Raiya cut in, sounding much less enthused than her lively sister.

“I didn’t think I had to,” Kaidan said, sounding a bit confused about everyone’s reaction.

“You didn’t think we’d be interested in knowing you were dating Commander Shepard?!” Maisie cut in sharply.

That made both Kaidan and Shepard go wide-eyed at each other, their mouths agape.

“That’s not- I never-” Kaidan said, stumbling over his words.

He was interrupted by the sound of Libby sniffling, and Kaidan’s mother comforting her and bringing her back into the kitchen.

Shepard stared at Kaidan in a way that was begging for help. Somehow, everything that could have gone wrong was going wrong and then some. She had no idea what to do in this situation, and she still had to go to the bathroom.

“Uh, right, Shepard has to use the bathroom,” he said, picking up their bags, and guiding her through the doorway and down the hall, his hand resting on her lower back.

“Aww, how cute! He calls her Shepard,” Maisie squeaked from behind them.

Kaidan dropped the bags by the bathroom door and gently grasped her shoulder to get her attention.

“I am so sorry, Shepard. I have no idea what that was or how they came to that conclusion. All I said is that I was using my plus one, I swear. I’ll go clear this up.”

“It’s okay,” she said. She wasn’t sure if she was trying to reassure Kaidan or herself at that point. It was a simple misunderstanding, but it wouldn’t help her own situation and how she was already feeling about Kaidan.

Kaidan gave her a quick nod before trying to go and smooth things over with his family.

She closed the door behind her. It was made out of thin plywood. The kind that was hollow in the middle, so as she closed it, she could still hear everything that was going on.

“Commander Shepard?! Kaidan, are you kidding me?” It was said with a scolding anger that Shepard wasn’t expecting.

“Libby,” he said, already sounding exasperated. “I told you I was bringing someone.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t say it was Commander Shepard! The whole point of a wedding is to celebrate the people getting married. No one’s going to care about Derek and me with her here!”

Well, that explained the anger then. This was an issue that she hadn’t even considered. When she joined the Alliance, gaining celebrity status wasn’t exactly on the agenda, but she had gained it all the same. It was even one of the reasons she had opted to come with Kaidan instead of staying in one of the refugee camps. Libby’s concerns were warranted, considering how much of a problem her fame had become even before the end of the war. She couldn’t land on the Citadel without being stopped by a reporter or people wanting to talk to her. It was even a bit of a problem at the hospital where she was staying in London, but they at least had security. How could she have not thought of this complication when agreeing to go to a wedding of all things? The last thing she wanted to do was steal Libby’s thunder during her own wedding. This sure had turned into a colossal mess much faster than she expected. That didn’t change the fact that she was already here, though, stuck in this situation for better or worse.

Shepard heard more muffled conversation through the door, so she put her ear flush up against it to hear better.

“Libby, you are so missing the point. When has Kaidan ever brought anyone home? That means they’re serious. How could you not have told me?”

That was definitely Maisie.

“Guys, I think everyone’s gotten the wrong ide-” Kaidan tried to cut in.

“Yeah, the Savior of the Galaxy, Kaidan? I don’t think any of us were expecting that.” It was Raiya this time.

“Hey, would you be quiet, please? She doesn’t like being called that. I didn’t bring her here to be paraded around. She’s still a real person underneath all of that, you know. It would be nice if you could all treat her like one.”

“Oooh, look at that, already coming to her defense. Kaidan’s got it bad. So just how serious are you two? Is there going to be another Alenko wedding in our future?”

“Guys, you’re all reading way too m-” He said, getting cut off yet again. He certainly came from a family of strong women, all fighting to be heard.

“All right! That’s enough. I swear, the moment all of you get into the same room together, it’s like you all revert back into being a bunch of wild children again,” Kaidan’s mother cut in. “Where have your manners gone? You’re almost all in your thirties for goodness sake. Whether you like it or not, Commander Shepard is a guest in our house, and we will treat her as such,” she scolded. It sounded like it did the trick if the following silence meant anything. “Kaidan, she seems lovely. I look forward to getting to know her better, but now, will everyone help me set the table. Please.” Shepard heard her huff out in exasperation.

That lecture wasn’t effective enough to completely stop the snarky behaviour, but everyone was speaking more quietly. It was harder to hear them through the door now. Shepard took that as reason enough to stop eavesdropping and finally went to relieve herself.

As soon as she was done and washed her hands, she exited the bathroom. She was almost startled by Kaidan pacing right in front of the door.

“Shepard, I think we have a problem.”

“So I heard,” she said, not being able to contain a smile. As much as this had become a stressful situation, the sheer absurdity of it was enough to make her want to laugh.

“Well, I’m glad you find it funny,” he said, her own smile bringing one out in him. “I’m really sorry. I can’t get a word in edgewise. I tried to tell them that we’re not - you know.”

“I heard. I know,” she assured him. She wanted him to know she didn’t harbour any ill will towards him over the confusion. “It was a simple misunderstanding. I’m sure we can smooth things over when they calm down.”

“If they ever calm down,” Kaidan huffed out seriously, as his gaze drifted off in frustration. “I haven’t seen them so determined to believe something before in my life.”

That didn’t bode well.

“I guess the most we can do is just keep emphasising that we’re not actually together,” he said. The words stung more than she expected. “Hopefully, they’ll get the picture eventually.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Shepard said, not sounding very enthusiastic about it, but it was all they had.

“I’m really sorry about the confusion. I really didn’t even think to mention it was you I was bringing. I guess to them, you’re still larger than life. To me, you’re my friend, which is who I said I was bringing. They somehow made up their own narrative about it. I didn’t think it needed to be explained more at the time. In hindsight, I can definitely see where I went wrong,” he said, sounding genuinely apologetic.

“It’s okay, Kaidan. I know you wouldn’t have done something like this on purpose. Don’t worry about it. We stick to the truth enough, I’m sure they’ll follow suit eventually.”

Kaidan nodded, still upset for having caused such a misunderstanding. “Okay,” he said, not sounding entirely convinced with the idea. “I guess we should get back to them. The table’s set, and they’re waiting for us.”

Shepard nodded in agreement, so Kaidan turned to lead them towards the dining room.

When they finally got there, Libby was still scathing. Definitely off on the wrong foot with her, it would seem. Shepard figured she’d have to try extra hard to get on her good side now, already tarnishing something that was supposed to be a special time for her. Kaidan’s mother and Maisie at least greeted her with a friendly smile that helped her feel welcome. Raiya was harder to grasp, not giving up any outward judgments through appearance alone. This was going to be one hell of a week. The silence was so awkward, Shepard just offered a smile to everyone for a moment, before glancing back to Kaidan for help.

“Uh, right. Well, is everyone ready to eat, then?” he asked, looking around the room. “Mom and Libby have been working on a big meal all morning.”

“Oh,” Shepard said, finally looking at the table setting. There was a big roast prepared and plenty of fresh vegetables and potatoes. It looked like quite the feast. “Everything looks amazing. I haven’t had a good, fresh meal in a long time.”

“Oh, well, in that case, let’s dig in, shall we?” Kaidan’s mother said with a big smile, proud of her accomplishments, and happy to see that her hard work would be appreciated by someone. She was the first to sit, taking the head of the table. “No need for manners now, just grab whatever you want,” she said, pointing to the chairs to prompt everyone to follow suit.

Jane looked at Kaidan to follow his direction. She wanted to make sure she wasn’t stealing anyone’s spot or stepping on even more toes. He quickly took notice that she was waiting for his lead, and went to pull out a chair for her.

“Oooh, look at that, Kaidan’s being such a gentleman,” Maisie said as she sat at the foot of the table.

“Yeah, about that,” Kaidan spoke up. “Shepard and I are not together,” he finally managed to get out without being interrupted. It was a relief to both of them.

“Oh come on,” Maisie said with a laugh as she started dishing some food onto her plate. “With the way you’ve been acting? There’s no way that’s true. If you’re just trying to downplay whatever’s going on between the two of you to avoid breaking the regs or something, you should know that your secret’s safe with us.”

Kaidan let out a sigh, and rubbed his forehead, hardly able to believe that this was happening.

“All right. That’s enough, Maisie. Leave them alone.”

Maisie finally listened to that well enough, but something about the whole situation didn’t seem very finalized.

Kaidan quickly acted as though everything was normal and plated some pot roast before passing it on to Shepard, which is when he broke into the conversation again. “We didn’t get to do any actual introductions, so--”

“Wait, no. I think I have a pretty good idea of who everyone must be,” Shepard said as she took a piece of the pot roast before passing the plate. She figured maybe showing a genuine interest in them might put her back on their good side.

“You have to be Maisie. Awesome hair, by the way,” she said with a genuine smile.

“Thank you,” Maisie said with a smile, glancing over to her sisters with an impressed look on her face.

Continuing around the table, “You must be Libby, and uh, I just wanted to say congratulations. This must be such an exciting time for you,” she said, trying to be extra nice.

Libby said a quiet ‘thanks’ as reciprocation, clearly not happy still, but at least trying to maintain pleasantries. Shepard just nodded at that, knowing that things weren’t going to be smoothed over for her unless she was assured that her wedding day could go off smoothly. That was an issue for another time, though.

“Raiya,” she said with a smile. Raiya just nodded, smiling back. Shepard still wasn’t exactly sure how to read her yet, but she supposed it was better than Libby. Shepard glanced at Kaidan for confirmation after that. The look he gave her was even more surprised than when he learned that she remembered all of their names. It was almost as though he hadn’t expected her to pay attention all those times he discussed his family with her. Especially not to have enough detail to have determined who everyone was on her own. She gave him a warm smile as she tried to move on to the last woman in the room.

“Not together, my ass,” Maisie mumbled under her breath in a way that was still audible to everyone else in the room, and Kaidan rolled his eyes.

Shepard wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so after a bit of an awkward pause, she continued. “And that leaves you, Mrs. Alenko. I’m sorry, but I never actually got your first name.”

“That was impressive. We’re a big group to have gotten everyone right. You can call me Ada.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet all of you,” Shepard said.

Maisie just stared at Shepard blankly before looking around the table. “Oh, come on! Seriously? They’re clearly together.”

Shepard and Kaidan shared a bit of a concerned look between the two of them. Apparently, her plan to get on everyone’s good side was just making this other issue of theirs worse, and now she regretted it.

“Just ignore her,” Ada interrupted. “What about you, though. Surely the great Commander Shepard must have a first name. It’s surprisingly well hidden from the public. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard it.”

Shepard had to laugh at that. It was somehow surprisingly well-hidden. Not only from the public, but even from people she was close to in her real life. Everyone had always called her Shepard ever since she was young. Likely a side effect of growing up in the military. Come to think of it, the only people that ever really called her Jane was her own mother, and Kaidan. Kaidan had only ever used that name briefly when they were together, though, and quickly reverted back to Shepard ever since.

“I do have one. Shocking, I know. It’s Jane.”

Ada gave her a genuine smile at that. “Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Jane.”

Shepard smiled back at the sincerity of it. She figured it must be strange to meet ‘Commander Shepard’ given her service record and media coverage. Maybe ‘Jane’ would be a little easier to see the person underneath all of that. This was supposed to be shore leave after all—a personal trip with a friend on top of that. If ever there was a time to put her rank aside and be Jane, it was now.

“The feeling is mutual. Kaidan’s told me so much about all of you. It’s nice to finally put faces to the names,” Shepard said.

Ada smiled at that, and everyone took a moment to eat. It took Maisie a second longer than everyone else to start eating as she sat there looking like she was about to burst. She clearly wanted to say more but didn’t want to be yelled at by her mother.

“Well, I hope you’re okay with waiting a bit before you can settle in. Kaidan only told us last night that he’d be bringing someone.”

“Sorry about that,” Shepard cut in. “You can blame that one on me. I was actually only just released from the hospital, so it was on short notice for everyone.”

“Oh no, I didn’t realise you were still recovering. Your injuries must have been quite serious.”

“You could say that,” Shepard said, warily, not really wanting to relive the worst of it right now. “I guess the important part is that I’m doing much better now,” she said, as she glanced over to Kaidan momentarily. She was almost surprised to see a look of genuine gratitude at the statement before she looked back to Ada. “I still need to be doing the exercises they’ve been teaching me in physical therapy, but I’ve been feeling much more like myself over the last month.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear you’re doing better,” she said with a warm smile. “Anyway, I hope you don’t mind sharing a room. With all of the kids back at the house again, we’re at capacity.”

Being a soldier, sleeping in close quarters with someone was hardly an issue. Her only problem with it was remembering what it felt like to wake up in the same room as him earlier that day back in Vancouver. It did nothing but make her feel worse about her current situation and constantly being reminded of her feelings for him. Then again, it was better than being temporarily homeless.

“No, that’s fine. Don’t even worry about it. I’m just thankful for the hospitality.”

Maisie flung her arms out in frustration, before crossing them indignantly, clearly wanting to say something again. Shepard mentally chastised herself for continuously shoving her foot deeper in her mouth.

“If I have anything to say about it, you’re always welcome here, Jane,” Ada said with a cheerful smile, completely ignoring her youngest child. “I’ll have your room ready in a few hours after I get a chance to wash the sheets and everything.”

“Oh, mom, that’s okay. You don’t have to go out of your way or anything. We can set up the room,” Kaidan cut in.

“No, no, don’t be silly. Your time here is so limited, and Jane’s a guest. You should take her around the property after lunch. There’s a lot to see. The apples aren’t quite ready to bloom yet, but the leaves have all come back and are such nice shades of green. The orchard looks so pretty. You should go enjoy yourselves.”

“Are you sure?” Kaidan asked. It almost looked like it pained him to think that he had inconvenienced his mom. Shepard wouldn’t put it past him. The man never liked to feel like he was a burden.

“Of course I’m sure, now quit asking.”

Kaidan nodded at that reluctantly, accepting that his mother wasn’t going to budge on the issue.

Everyone continued with their lunch, having a passing conversation. Ada’s warm disposition was already making her feel incredibly welcome, so she figured that was at least one good thing out of this whole situation. As for everyone else, it seemed like she’d be keeping herself plenty busy trying to smooth things over.

#my fic on tumblr #f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko #f!Shepard x Kaidan Alenko #f!Shepard #Kaidan Alenko #mass effect #fanfiction #mass effect fanfiction #friends to lovers #angst #mini slow burn #my writing

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fear-before-valor · 3 years

Note

💫

Boys Will Be Bugs by Cavetown

It's getting cold down here underneath the weather I skipped class to sit with you I really like your spotty sweater

Jim had been racking up absences left and right, he knew, but considering that he was usually missing school because he was actively helping save the world, he figured he could get some kind of secret pass that he gave to himself, to stave off any guilt he'd feel for skipping. Of course, it wasn't great that his mom couldn't also give him that pass, but she'd only brought up his adding-up absences once recently, so he thought that perhaps he was getting better at balancing the whole "secret-double-life" thing.

Still, when he wasn't saving the world, he really was at school, trying to just barely stay above the passing line in his participation grades, despite the frequent, aforementioned absences. He was careful to speak up in class, pay attention, and take notes on the lessons he did attend, because while he'd never been the straight A type, he wasn't a bad student, either. Aside from trollhunting, he was just an average high school teenager.

He'd played baseball in middle school, had hobbies he loved; he rode his bike back and forth to school, and he groaned when his alarm went off in the morning. He drank soda, ate pizza, stayed out too late (trollhunting notwithstanding), and slept over at his best friend's house.

He had a crush.

He had a crush on the most extraordinary girl he'd ever met. The smartest, and the funniest, and the most talented girl who'd ever graced his presence. It hadn't been a shock to him to learn that she could do magic, because she had been magical to him long before she owned the Skathe-Hrun.

And she was his friend. She'd actually, genuinely wanted to get to know him. Before she even knew he was the Trollhunter, too. She'd seen right through him since day one-- she'd been the one to say that Grit-Shaka Jim wasn't only acting weird, but that he wasn't himself, at all. She'd been the one to admit that she knew that he hadn't thrown a party in her house because she'd put in the effort to ask around, to follow a suspicion. She'd been the one to ask if maybe, just maybe, the monsters Jim was fighting were real.

She'd wanted to know Jim Lake Jr., quiet sophomore, Dr. Lake's son, Romeo tryout. She'd wanted to help Jim Lake Jr., average teen, Toby Domzalski's best friend, the boy who sat near her in Strickler's history class.

He had always been Jim Lake Jr., classmate, friend, eventual crush, first, and Jim Lake Jr., Trollhunter, second.

Just as she had been Claire Nuñez, brilliant sophomore, the mayor's daughter, Juliet shoe-in. Just as she had always been Claire Nuñez, talented singer, friend to many, amazing elder sister.

But she wasn't above mistakes. Or hardships. Or bad days.

And Jim had immediately known it was going to be one such day, as soon as he'd walked into homeroom.

He'd seen her downcast, tired eyes, and the way she was restraining the urge to bite at her fingernails, a nervous habit he knew she'd been trying to kick. He'd seen the wrinkle in her brow, just above the bridge of her nose, as she tried to keep a neutral expression, but couldn't help but draw her face into a sullen one anyway. She didn't often try to hide how she felt from anybody, but given that the source of her upset was at home, while the one thing she sought to fix the upset was in the Darklands, a magical troll place that she wasn't allowed to talk about, it wasn't exactly easy to have people asking if she was okay, only to lie in their faces.

By the time second period had rolled around, Claire was bursting with the need to leave, or to at least, not be in class. To not have to pretend everything was fine. To not have to lie to Mary and Darci.

The moment Janeth turned her back, Claire fled their second period classroom, and Jim, ever the good friend, stared at her retreating back with concern. He glanced over to Toby, expressing his worry, yet also confirming Toby's own comfort, with his eyes, a look that Toby deciphered as easily as breathing. He nodded once. "Go. I'll be fine. I'll head off Janeth. I'll just say you felt bad, or something."

"You sure?" Toby nodded, smiling supportively. "...Alright. Thanks Tobes. I owe you one." Jim smiled back gratefully, for just a moment.

And then he got up as well, and jogged after Claire.

He found her in the courtyard, slumped on a bench, one knee pulled up for her to rest her chin on, and wrap her arms around.

She didn’t see him until he sat down beside her; she’d been utterly engulfed by her own thoughts. When she did, however, she looked at him, and for a moment, didn’t say a word.

And then, “What are you doing here?”

Jim considered his response carefully for a moment, before he shrugged and said, “Just reeeally wanted to look at the great view out here. Y’know, the lockers, the tree… the bathroom signs.”

It was a stupid joke, but it made Claire’s mouth quirk up anyway, as she mumbled, “Me too. Locker 239 has a very scenic appeal. It’s got some rust in one corner-- color contrast is important, you know.”

“Oh, I do know. The gross brown-red and our school’s shade of blue really compliment each other, I think. And the chipping paint showing spots of the old, bare steel? A great accent color.”

This got an actual giggle from Claire. “Yeah, a very tasteful choice. Like the sharpie’d curse word on the locker next to it, y’know? It really adds detail to the scene.”

It was Jim’s turn to laugh, as he nudged Claire’s shoulder with his own, “Okay, but seriously. I’m here because I saw you run out… Are you okay?”

Claire’s smile dropped slowly, as the corners of her eyes turned down. “Yeah… I guess. I just…”

“Just, what?”

“Miss him.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah…”

Jim was quiet for a bit, before he reached over and put a nervous, but comforting arm around Claire’s shoulders. “Hey…” She met his gaze, “We’re gonna get him back, okay? I mean it. I, uh…” he thought for a second, “I swear it on… oh, on Miss Janeth saying ‘one more time, from the top’.” He imitated their director-teacher, who never, ever meant one more time when she said it.

This made Claire laugh proper, “That’s a pretty big swear to make, Romeo.”

Jim’s eyes softened, and he grasped Claire’s hand in his own, before raising her knuckles to his lips, just the barest brush. “I make it willingly and readily, Juliet of House Capulet. Your brother will return safe.”

Claire stared into Jim’s eyes breathlessly for a moment, before suddenly, quickly, she uncurled and dove into his arms for a hug.

He was surprised for only a moment, but he adjusted fast, and held her close, tucking her head under his chin, and rubbing her back gently, as they simply sat there like that, not caring about anything beyond the extension of each other, and the small bubble around them that made everything feel like it would be okay again.

“...Hey, by the way, did you do something different with your hair? Is that a new hair clip? I like it.”

Claire snorted, but didn’t pull out of the hug, “Jim Lake Jr., you flatterer.”

“Only for you.” He grinned, as he turned and laid the softest of kisses on the top of her head.

“There,” he said quieter, more seriously. “Now my promise is sealed with a kiss.”

Claire’s shoulders finally, finally eased entirely, even though her heart felt a little fluttery. “...Thank you, Jim.”

“Anytime.”

#// oh my god so sorry for the delay this took FOREVER to feel confident about hskldf #// still not super confident but i hope you like this!!#// aaaaa #// lol hope it makes up for the angst train i seem to always be on xD #ask #flamekeeperbellroc #// oh my god i typed that as 'famekeeper' for a minute and my brain just went: lady gaga bellroc #// so have that image too lol

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dreaminpeaches · 4 years

Text

Daydream Diary- Homecoming Part 1

I finally finish typing up my first daydream post, I'm a little rusty, I haven't wrote a daydream in a min, so my wiriting style/voice is kind of weird in the beginning, but I'll be slowly getting back into more consistent style the more I write so...yeah

Also my dyslexia be wild so typos are prolly lurking below

Word Count: 4,817

TW: Loneliness, and Depression

_________________________________________

“And there” Vanessa said as she set down the last mini chair in the scenic outdoor cafe, set in a large old fish tank, she sat crossed legged on her greenhouse ( which was made from an old stranded ufo) floor surround by mini plant people, whose bodies were made of all types of colorful flora, and some fungi, tiny oohs and ahhs shared among them as they gazed at her creation. “Alright, everyone I declare the Sweet Alyssum Cafe to now be OPEN!” She announced. cutting mini red ribbon with regular size scissors. The succulent subjects quickly swarmed their new digs, enjoying every small detail Vanessa had put into the place, most of the stuff was made out of household objects, everything from the candle lit stove to the little chairs made out of paperclips bottle caps. She even decorated the area with some of her mini animal wood sculptures. It wasn’t long before the plant people started sitting down, taking orders, enjoying sweets and chatting amongst each other. One of the flora being who took the role of chef, invited Vanessa to join in the “grand opening” festivities by offering her a large honey (which was large to them but about the same size as half of a twinkie)

“Oh, man I would love to join you guys, but I still got some things to take care of” she took the sweet offering from the chef’s tiny hands “but I’ll be sure to hang out later, promise” she added a wink before taking a bite of the sweet cake.

This gesture brought a smile to the tiny chef’s face, and he firmly nodded before eagerly running back into the cafe to continue his job.

Vanessea took another bite of the miniature cake before standing up and dusting off her patchy paint splatter sparkly, bunny, and flower embroidered overalls, layered on top of her pastel nasa star studded tee. She exited the greenhouse and crossed the bridge that connected to her room.

She kicked off her garden boots and headed to her room. Vanessa’s room was adorned with plants hanging from the ceiling, the floor splatter with paint the amount of splatters grew closer to the creative nook the area under her loft bed a that Vanesssa use for her painting or potion making, complete with a cluderen pot, a bookcase filled with various spell books, magic ingredients, other magical nit naks, art books, paint brushes, and an easel with some canvas leaning against the wall. One side of the room had a top roll drawer desk, where her PC sat and drawers filled journaling/scrapbooking supplies. The desk was decorated with plants in jars, pots, old soda cans reused as pencil cups and pots, cute mini figures of animals and other cute creatures ( like moogels and pokemon).

Next to her desk was a small compact kitchen where she liked to make tea and other cute snacks when she was too lazy to go downstairs to the actual kitchen. There was a rack with various different types of tea packs mixed in with hot chocolate mix. There also sat her tea pot that was white and had cute little bunny ears on top. The other side of the room was a door that led to the bathroom and her large closet was in front of the room.

Vanessa climbed the ladder to her loft bed, where her furry companions were still asleep, usually Vanessa won’t mind sleeping in with her beloved buddies. But today she had to wake up early to finally finish the cafe for the plant people, so they would all have a nice place to have breakfast together.

Vanessa watched for a moment as her small long eared bunny friend, she named Flaps, slept bundled up in his scarf on top of the much larger yellow, fluffy yet shaggy haired, long ear dog/bear like creature, she named Buddy. While it was cute to watch the two sleep, she knew if she didn’t wake them up for breakfast they both would be pretty upset about it , especially Flaps despite his small size the little guy can put away a ton!

“Come on, guys it's time to wake up, you dont wanna miss breakfast, do you?” Vanessa said nudging her furry friends. Buddy slowly opened his eyes and took a big long yawn and stretched, this motion awoke Flap, who rubbed his eyes with ears and let it a smaller yawn. Buddy looked up and wagged his tail in delight to wake up to a friendly face, Flaps flutter up by his wings and sleepily nodded his head. Vanessa giggled and softly patted Flaps on the head before placing him in her overalls pocket to let him rest a bit longer, Buddy hopped on the homemade dumb waiter as she climbed down the ladder and pulled on pulley of the dumbwaiter to let buddy down and placed him on the floor. She walked downstairs to the sun lit, flower wallpapered, cozy kitchen, Buddy hopped up on a chair with some books stacked on top , patiently yet excitedly waiting for breakfast to be done.

Vanessa quickly whipped up some fluffy, yet super gooey chocolate chip pancakes, decorated extra chocolate chips, strawberries that were freshly picked from her garden, and all topped with mountains of whipped cream,with chocolate syrup.

“Breakfast’s ready” Vanessa said with a smile, holding the plates of pancakes in

Buddy chowed down on the pancakes as soon as Vanessa set the plate down, and the amora from the pancakes served as a pretty good wake up call for Flaps, who sprung right up, and started to devour the flapjack stack. Vanessa smiled and turned around to get to her own plate and she also made herself some tea, she took out a newspaper to read to see if she could find someone in need, or some big event to take part in to kickstart her new adventure, but today's news seem pretty slow today just stuff about an ongoing election in a far off land and someone found their lost cat..aww..how sweet.

"Hmm...nothing in the news today, I guess I could just chill today, maybe I could just work on some terraforming" Vanessa said looking outside at the flower flooded terrain, she had made a forest in the backyard with a lake,a cave that led to an underground lake in the center of a flower field, and a few rivers. It was a beautiful area, but more could be added, a beach, or one of those little gazebo things, or a designated area for picnics, but the backyard lake is already good for those.

While thinking about cool terraforming ideas, Vanessa heard a knock at the door. Vanessa went to investigate.

"Morning, Ms. Vanessa, you've got mail!" said her post-man, a half jackalope half elf fellow as he bowed , Jack as he pushed up his circular specs and handed her a handful letters.

"Thanks, Jack" She said as she took the mail from his hands. "You wanna come in and chat for a while, I got some tea and strawberry chocolate chip pancakes."

"Thats sounds wonderful!" Jack said as his ears perked up, the freckles on his face seemed to lit up and he got a starry excited look in his eyes, he took in deep breath, the aroma of the pancakes were strong enough he could smell them from outside, and he was almost so captaivitaed by the smell he almost fell over, but then quickly shook his head as to get rid of the idea. "B-but the last time I stuck around my boss gave me an earful..."

"Okay, but if you ever wanna hangout, my door's always opened"Vanessa said as she gave a sympathetic shrug

" That's very sweet of you, but I'll be off , uh tell Buddy and Flaps, I said 'Hello'!" Jack said as he waved goodbye to continue his route.

Letters, Vanessa always got a ton them , but never from the same people every time, since most of them were busy people, but it was a nice way to keep in touch with all people she met on her travels,since some of them didn't have phone, or sometimes didn't even know what a phone was, and she found letter to be away more personal. She flipped through the batch of letters as she walked back to the kitchen, this batch came from a friendly, cute photographer, a fashionable bewitching lady, some letters from a group of masked vigilantes, and a letter from an old friend.

“Whoa, look guys it's a letter from Del!” Vanessa said gleefully, showing the letter to Flaps and Buddy. Flaps squeaked in delight and Buddy wagged his tail with joy. Vanessa quickly opened the letter and started reading….

Hey, Vanessa

Sorry, I haven’t gotten around to talking or writing to you as much as I feel like I should.There’s just so much going on, I’ve took your advice from the last letter you sent me, and I’ve started to sell my seashell necklaces on the beach to make extra money, I’ve kind of opened a shop, well the owner of the surf shack let me set up my shop in the area where he used to sell his homemade kombucha (which no one brought well except for me, but I just did that because I felt so sorry for the guy, but I do feel relief that I don’t have to chug that stuff just to keep myself from vomiting anymore ). Christi has start her own atelier teaching people how to make clothes and dresses while making her own clothing line, she also wants the atelier to become a hip place for all the cool people in town to hang, so she’s going to start selling some of her sweets there as well, While Nikki has started her own yoga studio, where she teaches yoga (well, duh) and aerobics, with some help from Christi she also sells some athletic clothing as well (but she makes sure to tell Christi not to make the outfits too fancy and frilly) and she has been training for the town’s sports day games this year.

Naomi got a job at the Zoo taking care of the animals, her animal-talking abilities come in pretty hand, she climbed the ranks from elephant cleaner to head zookeeper pretty quickly, she loves being the camp counselor for when zoo camp starts in the summer, if we wouldn’t listen to her nerding out about animal facts, those little kids sure well, and look to her as some type of animal goddess, it so cute. While we’re still working on our dream jobs, and figuring out what we want to do with our lives, we still make time for our mayor squad tasks, things have gotten so much easier for me ever since I let the other girls help with my mayoral tasks, and thanks for pushing to make that decision by the way. At first we let citizens visit our home if they were in need of help for a task or to make a suggestion, but that got annoying real quick, you won’t believe the amount of people who would show in the middle of the night asking for help to look for their cat, so we made a separate build far way from our house, its about the size of a clubhouse but it does the job. Its there where we take people’s suggestions and at select hours of the day 5 to 8 pm because that fits in with most of our job schedules on Mon-Fri, but 10 to 6 on weekends, so we can still sleep in and have some girl time and movie night afterwards.

Its been fun sharing the town task, it always becomes a mini adventure like the type we used to have when you were around, our next big task is celebrating the town’s 13 anniversary. Naomi said that we shouldn’t because its bad luck, but I want to do it because I really like the movie 13 year, and I want to do something big to prove to myself that I can make a big event without screwing it up..so yeah...hehe. That’s gonna be a thing, I’m kind of nervous, it's times like this I wish you were here, but I KNOW I can do it! I just gotta believe, right? Sorry, if this letter is really long, its just that SOOO much stuff has happened, and I’m busy and then I feel like you’re busy. I don’t wanna slow you down or annoy you, maybe I just miss talking to you..I guess or whatever. I think that’s all I have to update you on...OH wait I forgot to mention...uh.. I maybe...kind of.. like... have a..boyfriend now. Yeah, I met him while we were delivering apples to the annual gala, I kind of bumped into him there, then I started to bump into him EVERYWHERE! I kept running from him because of how embarrassed I felt, and I thought that would make him give up on me, but then he just came to the house and asked me out, and I couldn’t say no so I said yes, of course. He’s real sweet and has the cutest little sister and-- Whoa this letter’s long enough, I guess I'll fill you in later, whenever I get time to sit down and write again. Hope I didn’t waste your time.

From, Del

(P.S I enclosed this letter with a necklace I made just for you, I added a mini jar to this which something I just start doing with my necklaces, I hope I actually remember to put it in the letter, and it actually looks good)

Vanessa shook the letter for more of the contents, the sea shell necklace fell out of the letter with a small clang as it hit the table. She picked up gingerly and looked at it, running her fingers over the textures of each and every seashell,mini starfish, appreciated every little detail in the small jar of beach sand. “Oh, Del” Vanessa said fondly. She quickly went to the hallway mirror, and it looked even lovelier in the mirror and surprisingly it matched with her outfit. Vanessa couldn’t stop grinning, she felt like she could stand and look at it for hours, but it also gave her a nostalgic feeling, she thought about all the adventures she had with Bree and the other girls, how much fun it was to set up parties, parades, and grand opening, she got that similar feeling from holding the mini grand opening for the plant people’s nature cafe. It was nice to see people enjoy what you made, this thought got Vanessa really thinking,

“Hey, since I don’t have anything big to do today, why don’t I pay a visit to Well Sun Valley?” Vanessa said, thinking out loud while looking at her furry friends, who nodded in agreement. “Yeah, wait let’s not just make it a visit I could just like you know, stay” she nodded as she headed back to the kitchen and placed the breakfast plates and cups in the sink “Yeah, I mean still have my wrap stones from all the other places I’ve visited before, so if I need to go back to those place I’m pretty set” she began quickly wash and rinsing the plates, while passively passing them to Flaps, who held up a plate, so Buddy could dry them with his tail. “Shame that I didnt make a wrap stone to Well Sun before I left, but I didn’t even how to make those back then, so its alright, I can just take the train….”

she looked at the clock “Oof, I gotta start packing” Vanessa quickly rushed out the kitchen, but then backtracked and gathered the other letters, and raced up stairs. Vanessa entered her walk-in closet and dragged out her pink and purple holographic suitcase and started to grab a few outfits, while changing her current outfit to a strawberry tee, with a plaid skirt.

She also packed her travel journal to share her adventures, some books and her laptop to keep herself entertained on the train. Once she was done pack she then went to her desk to read and sent responses to the other letters she got, she was debating if she should send a letter to Del or not, she settled on not because she was coming anyways and wanted it to be a surprise! She looked up the time for when the nearest train depart to Well Sun Valley, the nearest one was about to leave itin 45 minutes. Vanessa held out her hand and thought, and two tickets quickly manifested in her hands “Aw, man my manifest powers still need work, I thought too hard” she said, she inspected the tickets closely and she got the important train details right..

“Let’s go” Vanessa said as she placed Flaps on her shoulder and bounced out the chair, grabbed her suitcase, and headed outside with Buddy following behind, she made a stop at the mailbox to put her letters in, she bounced on the wrap portal. She was teleported into a bush and stumbled out “Oof, got to work on those teleportation skills” Vanessa shook her head to regain her equalium. She looked around to see that she landed near a train station that was a small station in a valley across from a lake, not far from a small town. She ran to get in line, but was stopped in her tracks when she saw the no animals sign. “Oof, time to hide, guys” Flaps hid in Vanessa loose curly hair, and Buddy made himself invisible. “Great”

She loaded in with the another passengers and was show by one of the workers to her room in the sleeper car, her room had two beds one on each side.

"Guess, I lucked out" Vanessa shrugged to herself. She placed her luggage under one of the seats, but not before taking out her laptop. It would take 2 days to reach Well Sun Valley, so might as well enjoy the ride. Vanessa headed to the dining car, watch some videos while she soak up the atmosphere,and to see if the cafe has any cute treats.

Vanessa found herself a nice seat near the back so she could get a good scoop of everything. She wanted to get lost in the murmurs of background conversations, the light clanking of plates, cups and utseils, the humming from the coffee machine and warm auroma that was wafing from it that mixed pleasently with savory smell coming from the kitchen

she peered up to check to see if her island was following her and it was, set up her laptop, despite the train having a rustic old times aesthetic the wifi was pretty good, and order herself a cute strawberry parfait.

Vanessa patted Buddy on the head as he snuggled up right next to her, other than the morning rush everything went pretty smoothly. Might as well just sit and enjoy the atmosphere, but just as she was about to, the back door bursted opened, Vanessa turned to see a guy coming out of the back door, he was hunched over--his knees were almost down to floor. At first his face was covered by a mount of messy almost shaggy blond hair. He shook his head vigorously revealing his bright blue eyes that contracted loudly against his ghostly pale skin his face sprinkled with freckles, he had orange headphones that hung around his neck, The blue eyes were surrounded by dark circles,he wore a black turtleneck tunic, and he looked like he was being almost swallowed whole by his baggy orange jacket that draped his shoulders. His blue orbs widened looking like they couldn't believe the scene they were witnessing.

"Oh, oh, God! P-people!? There are actual people!!Thank God!"He said falling to knees taken aback "I-I'm out,I'm out, I'm ACTUAL OUT. T-that means I can find him, I FINALLY--" He tried to run, but ended up tripping over his own feet. "Whoa, gotta sit down a sec" said to himself as he slugged into an empty booth nearby.

Vanessa was pretty confused by what she just saw, a random dude just came out of the baggage car. He didn't seem like a stowaway, he didn't seem sneaky at all, and the fact that didn't even know he was on the train til now. The other passengers were too into their own businesses to worry about what's going on at the back of the car. Vanessa was going to investigate herself, but her stream of thoughts was interruptes by a voice.

"Excuse ma'am, may I see your ticket" said the conductor with his hand out ticket ready

"Oh sure, here" Vanessa as she handed over her ticket.

The conductor punched her ticket and promptly handed it back to her "Thank you, ma'am, hope you enjoy your trip"he gave her a consumer friendly smile, and walked to back

"Hmm..I wonder if I could add his to my travel scrapbook" Vanessa said as looked at her punched ticket.

"Wait no, please let me stay on the train" said a panicked voice from the back.

"I'm sorry, sir but I cannot let you ride the ride without a ticket, I must ask to leave or I will be forced to remove you from the train myself!"

"No, please you don't understand I NEED to be on the train!" The boy said practically begging

"I will not stand for this nonsense on my train" the conductor said as he stomped his foot " You have left me with no choice"

The conductor grabbed the boy by his baggy jacket as he held onto the table for dear life! " NO PLEASE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!! I HAVE NOWHERE GO!!!

"Well then, you have no business being on this train then"

"WAIT!" Vanessa shouted, making the two stop dead in their tracks. "He's with me!" She held up her extra ticket like it was some holy item. "Sorry, I completely forgot to give you your ticket uh…" she slowly gestured toward the boy.

"Oh, uh Nick!" The boy said as he perked up "Yeah, I'm definitely with her" he pointed toward Vanessa. The conductor let go of Nick and took a closer look at the extra ticket, he looked back at Nick, who gave a sheepish smile, then punched the ticket "Sorry for the misunderstanding, sir." The scary harsh persona the conductor was replaced with a consumer friendly smile. "Enjoy your trip" The conductor returned the ticket and walked away

"Oh God, Thank you!" Nick said as he heaved a sigh "you're a lifesaver" The boy stood up straight all that slouching really did hid his almost towering height compared to Vanessa.

"My goodness, you look awful!" Vanessa said with consider in her voice as she gazed at the disshloved boy in front of her "Where did you come from?"

"It's a long story.." Nick mumbled rubbing the back of his head, just then a growling noise came from his stomach

"I wouldn't mind take some time from my two day trip, hear your origin story over some burgers and fries" Vanessa suggested gesturing towards her table

__________________________

"Hmm I never would have an old times train car to have such hardy burgers on their menu" Vanessa said looking at the posh, script-written menu and then looking at the hamburger meat that was wrapped bacon, topped with cheese that dripped slow as it melted from the heat of the hamburger, topped with cold tomatoes and lettuce all hugged up in two soft buns, served with some nuggets and fries.

Vanessa only had a small bit of the meaty mount, she was already content with her parfait from earlier, while Nick was wolfing his burger like he hadn’t seen food in forever, she never seen some eat food so fast, Nick became quite sheepish when he realized Vanessa was looking at him. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to act like a slob, I just can’t remember the last time I saw food--actually I can’t remember the last time I saw anything.” He wiped his face with a napkin thoughtfully, then timidly gazed at Vanessa’s plate.

“No, no its fine, I just never guess someone as lanky and skinny as you could put away so much” Vanessa explained then she gently pushed her plate towards Nick, “Here, you can have my plate, I had a parfait earlier so I’m pretty full”

“Oh, thank you” Nick said, accepting her offer, and took no time going ham on the beef.

“No problem, you said earlier that you were walking in the middle of nowhere?”

“Yeah, It felt like I was just walking forever, like years but I was getting nowhere, everything was so white it was almost blinding.”

“Do you remember how you got there in the first place, what was your life like before?”

“My life was pretty normal, I lived in a pretty small town, I had friends, I went to school, I used to go rollerskating alot, even I had a job kind of.” Nick said put down the sandwich, and looked out the window thoughtfully “The last thing I remember was that I finally got to talk to this cool guy, I was so happy because he really clicked. I would always see him around and we would chat here and there , but we never really got to have a real conversation, his friend was super protective of him--his friend didn’t get along with my friend, they were always at each others throats, so I rarely got to talk to the guy in a peaceful setting for long. Until one day when my best friend literally pushed me to talk to him, we just started talking and it was just so awesome, it was the last best day I remember having. I felt like I was finally getting somewhere with him and then next thing I know I woke up on the cold hard white floor all alone, with nothing for miles.” Nick started to passively rub the streaks of ketchup on his plate with a lone french fry. “I didn’t sleep or eat, I couldn’t feel anything but emptiness, not only did I lose track of time, I started to lose myself..if was terrifying”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry...” Vanessa said, she couldn’t imagine being alone like that for so long.

“Yeah, but I’m out of it now LITERALLY, I can finally find him now, I was planning to share something important with him before I woke up in the void. I don’t know where he is but I think this train might lead me to him. Where’s this train going again?”

“Just a sweet town called Well Sun Valley,” Vanessa said proudly “I used to live there a long time ago but now I’m coming back to stay.”

“You think I might find my friend there?” Nick said his eyes gleamed with hope.

“Well, Sun Valley is known for having the magical ability to bring the most interesting people together, I would say there’s a good chance”Vanessa said with a firm nod

“Oh, that’s a relief” Nick yawned his head now resting on his arms, his head slowly tiling to the left, his eyes blinking fighting back sleepiness. “I’m sorry, I think all that walking is finally catching up to me” Nick let his heavy eyes droop closed as he gave into the urge to sleep, all the nervous energy that harvested in body seem to vanish and was replaced by peaceful slow pace breathing, his face sporting rosy cheeks that seemed to have gotten redder than when he was awake.

“Aw..”Vanessa said looking at the sleeping boy, the poor guy deserve some rest after what he’s been through, but then so realized “Oh, wait I’m going to have to carry him back to the sleeping car” Vanessa was unsure if her magic would work in the area the train was currently in, plus the dining car was pretty much packed at this hour even for late lunch, and she wasn’t so sure if any of these passengers had see magic before nor how they would react to the site of a boy floating in mid air. “I guess I’m just going to have to do this the hard way” Buddy climbed up to the table to eat what was left of the sandwich Nick was eating, and Flaps emerged out of Vanessa's hair to munch on the leftover fries.

“Would you two mind helping me with this” Vanessa said nodding towards the exhausted Nick, Buddy and Flap both sighed and shrugged…

END OF PART 1

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#paraportal #id #immersive daydreaming #original wiritng #daydreaming #Homecoming #MADD #actuallymadd #daydream wiriting #Nick #Vanessa

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elopez7228 · 4 years

Text

Scenic Route 43/47

Read on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/18268208/chapters/43229774

Start over : https://elopez7228.tumblr.com/post/620919089893933056/scenic-route-0147

***

Earth Soldiers HQ, July 9th, 11 PM

Rey didn't know how to react when Leia hugged her. She didn't have time to dwell on her discomfort: BB8 ran enthusiastically into the old woman’s arms, jumping up to lick her fingers.

Leia crouched down to pet her affectionately, scratching her head and giving her a few belly rubs while cooing soft praises in her ear.

Rose made a face that didn’t escape Rey’s attention. She was obviously waiting for the right moment to speak up.

A bell rang and the blonde woman walked over to the intercom near the door. She asked for the password, pressed a button. Leia straightened and smoothed her dress. Rey held her breath; who were we waiting for?

Another ring.The door opened to reveal another woman carrying…boxes of pizza? Rey raised an eyebrow. The place felt more like a dorm room than a headquarters.

Behind the woman stood yet another person Rey didn’t recognize: a man with a sharp blue eyes that pierced his worn face. His cheeks were concealed by a greying beard, one that matched his equally drab grey clothing. Leia walked over to him and kissed his cheek gently. Then she pulled out a chair and motioned for him to sit down.

The pizza girl placed her bounty on the table, sweeping aside what looked like yesterday’s leftovers to make more room for the pile of boxes before greeting the rest of the room with familiar warmth.

Rey still stood stiffly in the middle of the room, not daring to move.

Leia Skywalke finally spoke.

“Rey, this is my brother Luke Skywalker, our lawyer Amylin Holdo, and our heads of staff, Kaydel Connix, and Rose and Paige Tico. We’re so happy you and BB8 were able to make it. I realize the trip was rough and that you were attacked by FORCE on multiple occasions. I want to sincerely apologize on behalf of the team, we endangered you in the name of our cause and we had no right to do so. But you’re safe here, and I'm so glad I trusted you.”

Rey pursed her lips. So Leia didn't know anything about her failure, about the damaged chip. She wanted to cry.

Rose had no trouble holding back her feelings, her face fuming as she walked over to her superiors.

“Leia, Rey betrayed us, she’s been sleeping with Kylo Ren this whole time! I saw them. She was late because she even spent the night with him. And the microchip is fucking broken!”

Rey blushed violently. It was all true. She had nothing to say in defense. She looked down, waiting for the tidal wave of anger, the insults and curses that they would inevitably throw at her. But she heard nothing.

Slowly, she looked up to find Leia standing in front of her. She took her hand gently, her gaze soft and her lips curling into a hidden smile.

“Rey’s mission was to bring BB8 back to Luke in San Francisco. And that's exactly what she did.”

“I don't understand,” Rose whispered, nearly flinching away.

Leia released her hand and turned to the other women. Rose, Paige, and Kaydel stood speechless, waiting for an explanation. Amylin and Luke were far more interested in the pizza.

“I owe you all an explanation, and an apology,” Leia began. “The chip in BB8’s collar was a fake. Only Luke, Amylin and I knew that. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Rose. You did a great job. Thanks for picking up Rey in Nevada.”

“You can count on me,” Rose nodded, her face pale, “but I don't understand. Where's the real microchip?”

“In a silicone capsule, implanted under BB8's skin. Our vet, Dr. Kalonia, will be making a minor incision to recover it. Rey’s job was to protect my dog with her life, and that's precisely what she did. The other chip was just a diversion—and a useful one too, if I understand correctly.”

Rose gasped, suddenly spinning on her heels to walk out of the room and making sure to slam the door behind her.

Rey understood her anger. They’d lied to Rose, had hidden the real plans from her as if she was another pawn and not a ranking leader. Rey would‘ve been shattered too. She suddenly felt a lot of empathy for the young woman, barely stopping herself from running to comfort her. She wasn't sure her company would be welcome. Paige took care of it and disappeared into the hallway behind her sister.

Leia fed BB8 a slice of pizza, watching as she swallowed it greedily.

“What am I going to do now?” Rey stammered.

“Your mission is over, you’re free. You can go wherever you want,” Leia replied calmly. “I'll pay you the other five hundred dollars.”

Rey shook her head. She wasn't an Earth Soldiers agent, Kylo Ren's mercenary, or anything like that. She didn't want their money or their drama—she wanted to go home and curl up in Ben Solo's arms.

“I don't want your money,” she bit out. “I’m not one of your toy soldiers.”

Leia raised an eyebrow, a knowing smile on her lips. “What do you want, then?” She asked demurely.

"Your son. His freedom. The end of this stupid family tragedy. Nothing you could possibly ever give me,” Rey thought.

“Stick around for dinner,” Leia suggested in return, though she wasn’t insisting. “And if you want, I can get you a hotel room in town until you leave. When’s takeoff?”

“Sunday night,” Rey answered. “And I wouldn’t mind a hotel room. I can't stand the campsites and the mattress in the car anymore.”

“Consider it done. Kaydel will find something for you,” Leia agreed, nodding at Kaydel, who wordlessly took out her tablet again.

Dinner was silent. Rey mused that Luke Skywalker looked like a man worn down by fate and bygone years. He and his sister seemed to have lived a life of endless struggle. They must’ve been exhausted. This lawsuit against FORCE would be a deliverance...or a final judgment.

“Could I take BB8 to the vet?” Rey asked, “she saved my life. I'd like to make sure she's okay.”

“Of course,” Leia nodded. “Tell me, how is he?”

“He's better,” Rey replied without thinking, biting into a slice of pepperoni, “I worry about the rest of the—

She blushed suddenly, remembering where she was. She shrank under Leia’s amused gaze. “Wh—who are you talking about?” She stammered, feigning innocence,

The old woman didn’t answer. She reached over to Rey and gently pulled a strand off her face to slip it behind her ear. A tender maternal gesture.

“Does he smile?” She asked.

Rey’s throat tightened with an unnamed emotion as she remembered all of Ben’s smiles.

The lopsided grins he gave her before hauling her off to bed, the spontaneous upturn of his lips when he was able to pet BB8 for the first time, the resigned smirk when he’d let her braid his hair, the luminous smiles when he saw her in the distance, the triumphant ones when he made her come, the timid one when she told him that she loved him, the sincere one when he asked for kisses. He would beam at her tenderly when she woke up in the morning. She even remembered the little smirks he tried to keep to himself when he made her laugh, the ones that bloomed in full when he came in her arms and buried his face in her hair.

“Yeah,” she said. “All the time.”

“That's good,” Leia said, sitting up weakly. “It's very good.”

For a moment, Rey saw her eyes glisten.

That night, Rey didn’t stay at a hotel. The underground apartment that served as the activists' headquarters had two bedrooms and a living room, all of which had been hastily transformed into workspaces with the addition of desks and computers next to the furniture and couches. Rey was offered a place on one such couch, and a blanket. She fell asleep listening to the whisper of conversations in the next room. Some of the others didn’t sleep at all.

In the morning she was awakened by loud voices and the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

Her feet dragged her into the living room where she was greeted by an enthusiastic BB8 (with tail wagging at full speed) and a brooding Rose Tico.

Rey shrugged internally. She understood the girl's resentment, but honestly there was nothing more she could do. She hadn't destroyed the real micro-SD. What was her heinous crime—loving Ben Solo? If so, she pleaded guilty with her head held high.

After giving BB8 a few belly rubs, she went to find the coffee machine.

The crew was clearly not in a good place. Their pantsuit-clad lawyer was in the middle of a hushed conversation with Leia, who in contrast wore a long flowy dress and heavy bangles.

In an unexpected turn of events, Kylo Ren had hired his own “last-minute defense attorney”, as Amilyn put it.

“At this stage, no charges will be brought against him personally. Only against FORCE, for corporate misconduct. We’re still aiming for Snoke.”

“But he will be implicated later in the proceedings, he’s not stupid enough to ignore that,” Leia said finally. I think we should accept a tête à tête.”

“Frankly, I'm not sure.That would prejudge our intentions for the trial. No matter what this Windu guy says, we should wait until the end of the hearing. For the principle alone, Leia.”

“Did you research this lawyer?” Leia asked, sipping her cup of coffee.

“Yes, he's registered with the Boston Bar. Mace Windu, he teaches at Harvard. That’s probably where Kylo met him. A prestigious lawyer, but very aggressive, with unorthodox methods. He and your son must get along. Which is precisely what worries me.”

“I want to do this.” Leia reiterated calmly.

“Leia, that’s unreasonable! The hearing is in ten days, Kylo will have plenty of time to make his own case, later. You need to stay focused on the here and now.”

Rey's heart was pounding painfully in her chest. She blushed at the very mention of Ben. She hid her cheeks behind the coffee mug that she raised to her lips.

“Hello Rey,” Leia smiled at her. “We have an appointment at ten o’clock at the vet. You’re most welcome to join.”

“Okay,” Rey nodded. “Can I take a shower?”

“There’s a bathroom at the end of the corridor, to your left. I hope you have a towel because we’re no Hilton. You walk out the same way you walked in,” she chuckled.

“It'll be fine,” Rey smiled politely.

Under the hot water, Rey washed her hair carefully. She had left the living room mostly in order to escape the conversation that clearly wasn’t intended for her to hear. She felt like a spy again. Talking about Ben—or rather, Kylo Ren— brought up feelings that she couldn't put her finger on. She was upset, she knew that.

They only referred to him by this stage name. It was dehumanizing. Was it on purpose, to tell the difference between Leia Skywalker's son and their enemy, the boogeyman they were going to send to prison? Was he Kylo Ren in the courtroom and Ben Solo in the streets?

At least he hired a lawyer, that was a good call. He was taking initiative to protect himself from the oncoming storm.

Rey instinctively crossed her fingers. As long as he got out one day...

By the time Rey returned to the living room, Leia had prepared BB8 for her trip to the vet. Amylin reached for the car keys.

No one else was coming, and Rey fancied, with mixed feelings, that she was one of the VIPs now. Amylin and Leia took their places in the front and BB8, tongue slobbering and tail wagging as usual, climbed onto her lap in the back seat.

Rey gave her playful scratches and tickles now and then. They had both experienced a ton! Confronted a bear. Defeated a killer. Tamed Ben Solo’s heart. She’d found a real ride or die, for adventures and misadventures alike, in this adorable little orange furball. Rey felt her heart sink at the thought of leaving her soon.

London would no longer have the same appeal to her, now that she knew she was leaving her love and her dog behind.

She sat patiently in the vet's waiting room. The place reeked of bleach and disinfectant. Leia sat down next to her, her hands on her knees. Rey slouched in her own chair, somewhat deflated.

“Thank you,” said Leia, and Rey wasn't immediately sure that she was being addressed.

She looked up. “For the dog? You're welcome. Sorry I couldn’t bring the car back, I know it had sentimental value.”

“Oh no, it doesn't matter. Ben is important. The rest is just...material.” Leia gave her a soft, knowing look, which touched Rey’s heart. “Thank you for making my son smile.”

She didn’t know what to say. What to say to this mother who permanently hid her broken heart under her warrior’s shield. How could anyone comfort her? Rey reached for the woman’s hand.

“I resented you. For setting me up. For putting me in danger. And then I met Ben and resented you for being responsible for him, and then…I got to know him. And I resented you for causing him so much sorrow.”

She had said these words, however harsh, in soft tones. Leia didn’t flinch.

“I know. I'm sorry that I was…such a terrible mother. I’ve spent my life leading troops in a war. Often I forget the people, under the uniforms. I’ve done a lot of harm to the people around me.”

“But I don't blame you anymore,” Rey continued. “I understand your decisions. And I love your son—exactly as he is. With all his flaws and his weaknesses. I hope one day you can forgive each other.”

“I hope you’ll be there to see it.”

Rey looked away. She was going to be out of their lives in a few days. She wasn't sure she would ever see them again, let alone if Ben would be convicted of the crimes. He would be stuck in prison if his lawyer Mace Windu wasn't phenomenal.

As she ruminated on their misfortune, the operating room doors opened. Rey stood up.

“BB8 is ready,” said Dr. Kalonia. “Here’s the chip, and here’s our good girl. Make sure to put the cone on her for a few days so that she doesn't lick her wound, which you should disinfect carefully morning and evening. My assistant will print out a prescription for you.”

Rey reached out and greeted the little dog, who was still a little groggy. She licked the girl’s face and Rey covered her with smacking kisses.

“I’ll miss you, old girl! Oh yes, I will! We've both been through a lot, haven't we?”

Leia had stood up behind her and absently read the prescription.

“Rey,” she said without even looking up from the paper. “BB8 seems very attached to you. Would you…would you like to adopt her?”

#reylo #fanfiction #scenic route #modern AU

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