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fatalitysficbakery · 1 year

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Nelson’s Sparrow (Gideon’s Song) Spencer Reid x Black Fem!Y/N

Genre: Angst/Fluff.

Warnings: singer!reader, morgan’s sister!reader, tear jerker, grief, learning to deal with grief

Synopsis: Reid takes Gideon’s death hard and it puts an obvious strain on your relationship - one you didn’t know how to fix. Until you did.

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↳ ❝Grief clouds the vision until you push away those that in your heart you know you need need now more than ever.❞⁣ -Unknown

He never could win a chess match against Jason Gideon. With those dark fatherly eyes and a heart all too big for his chest, the organ scarred and marred till it’d grown black and gnarly with the wounds of the things he’d seen.

It didn’t feel to Reid as if his death was real, all the way from the wake to the funeral Spencer drifted through it all as if watching a film. You had never seen your boyfriend so out of it.

He could never win a chess match with Jason Gideon, and even in his absence he still played the game against the ghost of the last father figure he’d ever known. You’d awaken to find him asleep at his desk in the home library; An unfinished chess match on the table.

Your heart clenched each time, a helpless exhausted smile on your face as you wake him up again only for a cold greeting and an even colder goodbye.

“Spencer, you fell asleep again. It’s 8:39. You have work soon”.

With sunken eyes and pale skin, he would wave you off and go to get ready for work during which you still made him breakfast and brewed him coffee. No matter what, you knew you needed to stick by him. You wanted to.

“Spence? You off”?

“Yeah, bye”.

No hugs or kisses had been shared between the two of you in 4 months and yet you never once blamed him. He’d been dragged through hell and back and he still stood tall. You admired your boyfriend more than anyone; His biggest supporter, through and through.

It was too bad Spencer couldn’t see it yet. He didn’t think he deserved the support. In that big ole brain of his, the doctors only idiocies lied in that of emotions.

He could be book smart all he liked. His brain still lacked the sense to know he deserved love. He deserved love and so, so much more.

[❦]

You sit down with Garcia and JJ at a nearby cafe whilst Spencer got much needed rest at home on a rare day off.

You looked worn and tired beyond your years. You nearly wanted to break down when Garcia pointed out how sad you looked.

You voice cracks when you speak.

“I love him. More than the world itself but I, I don’t know what to do. He doesn’t deserve this”.

The cold crisp air hits your sickly pale caramel skin, exposing your cracked lips and dark under eye circles to both JJ and Garcia. They looked on in pity.

You’d always been the bubbly social type, everytime they’d ever seen you at an event? You were the life of the party. The most lively there.

Now you seemed…dull. As if you only saw in hues of grey and off white.

“Have you been taking care of yourself? That’s the first thing you need to do, darlin’. You can’t help Spencer if you haven’t helped yourself”.

JJ squeezes your hand from across the table; Your eyes glaze over tearfully.

“I-I hadn’t thought about it, Jaje. I’ve been so worried about him, I just… haven’t”.

You look down at the now stale bagel on your plate that had been left relatively untouched. You hadn’t much of an appetite lately let alone much worry in your own self care or appearance.

“Tell ya what, Hun. Come to mine for the day! We’ll do a spa day. Ooh! and I’ll make vegan lasagna”!

You laugh through your tears at Penelope’s natural gift of whimsy, her ability to make everything feel okay for a moment.

You smile.

“I’m in”.

••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]••

Your day with JJ and Penelope ended with invitations being texted to the entire team. Keep it lowkey, don’t tell Spencer.

You gripped your purse handle tightly; A home that used to comfort turned into one that brought dread, you felt…lighter when spending the day with Penelope and Jennifer, now you’d have to walk back into a home where love had been paused. A sanctuary that turned into an asylum for the mentally insane. You and Spencer barely speak, both depressed and not nearly in a state to converse with each other let alone the world.

The only comfort you got was that Spencer would most likely be tucked away in his office, playing chess with a ghost or working himself to the bone with little regard for his physical and mental health. Except, that’s not how you found Spencer.

You were sure it was your boyfriend, with the dirty blonde locks and tired eyes, thin from a lack of caring for himself and remembering to eat but…His eyes are sorrowful and they cry. His shoulders bounced with the weight of the wet sobs he let out. You hadn’t seen him cry since the day he’d come back after catching Gideon’s killer, collapsing in your arms and crying himself to sleep. You were his safe space, a home within a home but Spencer knew loss all too well- He hid. Disgusted with himself for pulling you into a dangerous lifestyle, but now… He needed you. You weren’t to abandon a love so beautiful.

“Spencer”? You called out, sighing and dropping your purse down to the couch, kicking your shoes off and walking over to him with the caution of an animal rescuer to a wounded dog. When your hand touched his shoulder, as expected, he flinched away from your touch, you sucked air through your teeth and shook your head, you knew pride wasn’t something either of you needed to fight against right now; sitting in your boys' lap, you wrap your around him and rest his head on your chest, allowing him to let everything out.

“Just let me comfort you, Spence. We’re both tired, don’t fight me”.

He’d been hiding his emotions for so long that his tears drenched the fabric of your sweater, turning the grey colour black.

“Just let me comfort you…”

That’s how the two of you fell asleep, within one another’s arms for the first time in a long time and you wouldn’t lie and say you didn’t miss it. That the feel of his arms around you made your heartbeat in your chest when he’d finally stopped crying; his arms wrapping and tightening around you, exhausted from crying for so long. Not a word was spoken between the two of you but you could tell the air felt lighter, if only for just a moment.

The next day when you woke up you were in bed under the duvet and Spencer was gone. The residue of the feeling of his arms saddened you, you missed him.

↳

“Why are you up so late”? Spencer asked when he came home later that night, his voice, gruff in your ear startled you from your present task, you put down your pen and smile awkwardly, hiding the words under your arm, “No reason, just couldn’t sleep”.

“What’s that”? He asked, pointing to the journal underneath your arm, a grimace settles on your face as you think of an excuse, hoping he doesn’t ask anymore questions.

“Grocery l-list”?

Shit. You were a bad liar, it was your downfall in childhood and adulthood it seemed. You could never lie with a straight face and as Spencer examined you with curiosity you could feel yourself stop breathing, waiting for him to go all profiler on you. A trait you heavily disliked in your boyfriend. Spencer, however, takes note of how desperate you were to avoid this and nods his head, eyes sweeping over your figure once more, the grip on his coffee mug strong, he clears his throat and turns around toward the door, taking one last long look at you, “Get some sleep, Petal”.

The word he left in his wake left you stunned.

Your lean back into your chair, your head was thrown back with, silence and a grin. Petal. He once compared you to the vibrance of a petal just come into bloom, he then pronounced you Petal and it’d been your nickname ever since then. A reminder that in his eyes? You bloom. You were his Petal. You were still his Petal.

[❦]

“Hey, Spence. Um, there’s this thing with the team tonight, just a little dinner…If you wanted to go”.

He looked up and now the good doctor was stunned. You adorn a backless black dress with a jewel chain just over the dip of your back, resting just above your crack, with a black pair of red bottoms on your feet. He notes your full face of glam, your hair which was in its natural dark midnight afro - His favorite hairstyle on you. He wanted to say no, but he recognized something; he recognized your willingness to try, your persistence to save your relationship lest grief draw the two of you apart.

And the one person Spencer Reid loved most was you.

You exhale in relief when he speaks.

“Let me get dressed. I’m a little underdressed, aren’t I? You look…beautiful”.

Your heart swells, smiling softly, “I’ll go start the car, yeah”?

••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]••

At the party, comfortably situated in one of David Rossi’s summer homes was the start of a break-through for you and the doctor, who noted a stage when he came in. The party was for him. He looked over to you with the raise of his brow, you smile guiltily.

“You have people who love you, Doctor. Unconditionally so, and now we’re going to show you that you’re not alone. Hold this for me”?

With a second of handing him your purse, you disappear to the stage and sit in front of a piano; your chosen instrument since you were 16.

“Spencer Reid, Gideon’s Song. Sparrow in a treetop, eyes dark as night, he sings and it don’t stop, he’s got to send a letter…”

When the song starts, Spencer is enthralled, he immediately realizes why you acted so weird that night when he saw your alleged “grocery list”, his eyes are trapped on you with eyes closed and lips just barely touching the microphone; The song sings a story of a Sparrow atop a tree who sings to send a message, a letter to a boy it once mentored in its human life, a boy it thought of as a son; a boy it respected dearly. At the end of the song, it finally reaches the Sparrows boy. The Sparrow's chosen son.

“What’s that”? He asked, pointing to the journal underneath your arm, a grimace settles on your face as you think of an excuse, hoping he doesn’t ask anymore questions.

“Grocery list?

“It reaches his ears, it quiets his fears…The Sparrow’s song…For the Sparrow’s son”. The note is drawn out and high, angelic to the doctors ears as a tear falls from his eyes. He’s surrounded by the people that love him and at the end of the song - His mom is brought in, in a wheelchair, she sits listening to Y/n’s song with her eyes closed, content and adoring the music being brought to her ears. She brought him his mama. God, he didn’t think it was possible to love you more than he did in that moment.

Later that night when it was just he and Morgan talking outside, Morgan smiles at his little brother, patting the younger male on the back.

“You chose a good one, kid. My sister loves you and I know you love her, and you know what”?

“What”? Spencer quirked his eyebrows in curiosity, his hands both in the pockets of his slacks.

“Gideon’s proud of you. We all are, especially Y/n”.

Squeezing his shoulder, Morgan leaves Spencer with something to think about; you come in after him grinning brightly at your boyfriend, “You ready to go”?

Spencer is tall, lanky, within like two steps of a stride he’s in front of you, his lips passionately mingling with yours to your shock but delight. You smile into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck and nearly melting into a puddle in his arms.

[❦]

With your legs to your chest, your body drowned in Spencer’s t-shirt, you look at your boyfriend with love and gratitude in your eyes, “Did you like it”?

“Like it would be a bit of an understatement”.

You nod contently, choosing your next words very carefully. You’d lost your sister to lukemia in 2014, she was the one who raised you her entire life, you took care of her up until her eventual death so you knew something of the grief Reid was feeling. You knew it was hard to move forward when losing someone so special to you.

“Do you wanna talk about it”?

“Yeah, yeah I would like that” His adams apple bobs with the knot that appears in his throat thinking of all the emotions he felt. You touch his hand and smile reassuringly, allowing him to speak at his own pace.

“He was the only father figure I knew, he and Hotch trained me, t-taught me”.

“I know, Darlin” You whisper, squeezing his hand.

“It feels suffocating. I’m used to facts and science. Emotions are something I know nothing about and I’ve read book after book on them, articles… This is n-not what I d-”

You move so you’re hugging him, cutting him off as he speaks. He gasps but invites you into his arms without hesitation, the air feels lighter, breathable.

He knows what it means without you speaking. He sighs. One of relief, a weight lifted from his shoulder.

“Thank you. I love you too”.

••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]•••[❦❦]••[❦]••

A/N: why couldn’t they just let my mans live off screen in his lil cabin bro? 😀

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arpiii · 4 years

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The BAU High School Teacher AU

Let’s start with teaching positions:

“Mr. Hotch” - English, History

“Mr. Rossi” - Film, Psychology

“Emily” - French, Arabic, Gym coach

“Morgan” - Woodwork, Weight room & Gym Coach

“Dr. Reid” - Math, Science, Music theory

"JJ” - Spanish, Art

“Garcia” - Drama, Computer Science/Tech classes

“Principal Strauss” - no one likes her

“Gideon” - School counselor

“Officer Elle” - School security

Now about the staff:

Mr. Hotch is the strict teacher. No late work, he doesn’t curve grades, and can tell if you bullshit your tardy. But he’s still supportive towards the students that need it and helps any way he can. He barely smiles and is never absent from class. The only jokes he cracks are really cheesy dad jokes that make the class cringe and groan and snicker because he says them so seriously. If a student is having trouble in the class but it’s because of their parents, Hotch makes sure to meet with them and lecture the parents and defend his student as much as he can. But all his students know, one day each year, he plans a prank on Mr. Rossi, his rival. This is what the class looks forward to every year. A couple times he brings his son Jack to class and the class loves him. They’re also surprised to see Hotch smiling all day and going soft when he talks to Jack. When he has something important to teach he lets Jack hang out with Garcia.

Mr. Rossi is the strict, yet chill teacher. He disciplines his kids and gives them extra credit when they deserve it. He likes to joke with the class and brag about him being a best selling author, the class roll their eyes but enjoy it. He’s also extremely sarcastic and has dry and slightly dark humor. He throws a pizza party at the end of each quarter/term and every time he goes over to Hotch’s class to offer some. Hotch always declines but Rossi leaves it on the desk anyway. The only time Hotch breaks his no emotion streak is when Rossi visits and teases him. The class is told at the beginning of the year that it’s a feud but they all know they secretly have a thing for each other and are too stubborn to admit it.

Emily is the laid back Gym teacher. She and Morgan are constantly one-upping each other and they brag to each other who’s picked up the most girls at bars to entertain the class. She’s the only teacher that know’s how to piss off Morgan and her class loves that. She also teaches French and Arabic. JJ, the Spanish teacher, visits her class and her students notice every time that JJ is the only teacher Emily is sweet with, but JJ doesn’t seem to notice.

Morgan is the cocky gym teacher and weight-room coach, and also teaches woodwork. He’s super chill but strict when he needs to be, and is constantly motivating kids. If a kid is in trouble or scared, Morgan makes sure to resolve the problem or defend the kid with his whole chest. He likes to compete against Emily’s class in sport games during class. But most of his free time he visits Dr. Reid. His main purpose is to embarrass Reid with innuendoes and flirting, which he’s always successful at. Reid’s class enjoys the shit out of it. Emily is annoyed at both of them and is the only teacher that calls Morgan Reid’s “boyfriend” just to mess with both of them. When Morgan can’t visit Reid’s class he sends Emily as a messenger who rolls her eyes every time.

Dr. Reid is that really smart teacher. He teaches up to the advanced math and science classes and also music theory. Reid tells the class to let him know if he’s talking too fast or rambling so he can slow down. He cares about all his students and although the students are annoyed with all the work they get, they enjoy having Reid as their teacher. They love the fact that he loves Dr. Who and give him Dr. Who and nerd themed gifts on his birthday. When the class is doing individual work Reid puts on classical music. The students also teach him about pop culture things like Tik Tok dances and iconic vines. Reid isn’t very social but they see his personality come out when Morgan visits. His face goes red every time Morgan drops an innuendo and threatens Morgan to leave the class. Some ways he’s done that is by throwing a white board eraser at him, threatening to splash a beaker of acid on him, and holding his guitar as a weapon. They know he’s not serious though because Reid fails to hide his smile. Garcia visits the class a lot and she’s like the mom of the class, she sometimes brings treats and likes to chat with the students. Every time she visits, she ad Reid are quietly gossiping in the corner, and although the class can’t hear them, they can tell it’s about Morgan (especially the one time they caught Reid blush during a conversation).

JJ is the Spanish and Art teacher. She is extremely sweet and checks in with her class constantly if they’re doing ok or if they need help. No one is scared to ask questions because she always answers them without making the student feel bad. Her students notice Emily visits a lot, and they can tell they have a thing for each other. Whenever they ask JJ about it, she neither confirms nor denies it so a huge conspiracy starts. She also teaches art and Garcia likes to visit a lot. The two gossip about all the other teachers, JJ fills Garcia in about Emily and Garcia fills JJ about Reid and Morgan. Sometimes, when Reid is out, JJ substitutes his music class. She likes to fool with Morgan when that happens.

Garcia is the mom of the school. Everyone loves her. She teaches drama and comp sci so she is loved by the gays and the nerds. She’s always enthusiastic and supportive and treats her kids. She’s very colorful and gives her kids candy or stickers if they get a question right or do something really cool in their assignment. When she visits Reid, if Morgan shows up she guards the door and keeps him out of the class. Morgan tries to charm her but she charms him back and doesn’t break. Once in a while she fails to keep him out and the class goes nuts watching the show. She’s also called a lot by Hotch because he needs help with technology constantly. Rossi needs help too once in a while but he just relies on his students or eventually figures it out.

Principal Strauss is only seen in the halls once in a while. She monitors classes twice a year and all the students AND the teachers behave their best that day. Even Hotch seems relieved when she leaves the class. She makes announcements at the most inconvenient times. She is also the only one who enforces the dress code on students. Once in a while she asks what Morgan’s doing in Reid’s class and Morgan tries to cover it up and the class backs him up. Rossi’s class finds it hilarious when she’s talking to the class and he’s mocking her from behind, rolling his eyes and making faces. The students clearly know the teachers don’t like Strauss as they constantly complain about her. She calls Garcia’s games and prizes “distractions” and thinks JJ gets off track too much because she checks in with her class to much. The students that hate her the most though are Reid’s students, because she’s the hardest on him for no reason. They can tell by his behavior and can tell he’s drained every time she leaves the class. They tell Morgan and Morgan decides to start a yoga club for students and teachers to destress once a week. He personally invites Reid and that’s the only time the students see Morgan doesn’t mess with Reid. Garcia also offers free hugs to any student who needs one during the school day.

Gideon is everyones favorite staff member. Everyone loves him. His door to the counselor’s office is always open and he always knows what to say to students that have trouble. He’s just very relaxing to talk to. Everyone respects him and even all of the teachers get along with him. He checks in with classes once in a while just to see how everyone’s doing, and sometimes sits in lessons to learn with the students. Sometimes he participates in group assignments. He’s also the only one who stands up to Strauss. He never get’s mad, he’s always calm and manages to talk sense into her. Because of this, she’s never mad at him. When she is, he doesn’t take it personally. He doesn’t go to the yoga classes, but makes sure student’s know about them. He starts the chess club and during the whole year it’s a competition between Gideon’s team and Reid’s team. The students keep track of the bracket thats displayed in the cafeteria and take sides, creating a large yet fun divide in the school. The students ask all the teacher’s who’s side they’re on each year and create flyers to root for each team. It’s also partially a fund raiser for the school to have extracurricular activities. The teachers give extra credit to any of their students who’s rooting for the same team they are if that team wins. Gideon also attends all of the sports games and musical performances.

Officer Elle is school security and most of the students are nice to her. She makes sure to break shit up if a fight breaks out and firmly advises kids to not drink or do drugs. She has PSA assemblies twice a year about security and health. She’s chill and likes to chat with students. She’s basically a badass and makes sure to put kids in their place who deserve it. She also teases Morgan because they have a history in working in security together.

Assemblies:

There are four assemblies every semester. Three out the eight for the entire year, Strauss forces Reid to present. She’s totally unaware that he has the worst anxiety out of all of them (and if he told her she probably couldn’t have cared less and given bullshit excuses). The students eventually catch on that Reid din’t ask to present based off his shaking hands and wavering voice. They also see the looks the other teachers are giving Strauss, who is unaware. Reid bears through it though and Morgan comforts him afterwards as Strauss is giving the closing statement. The student’s support Reid as he’s talking and try to make him feel better. Morgan makes jokes at him to distract him and the class plays along with it. Two of the other assemblies are given by Elle, two others are given by Strauss, and one is given by Gideon. However there’s one unofficial assembly held every year by the students (teachers are invited except for Strauss). At the end of the year the students compile a video of pictures or videos of funny or iconic moments of things that happened to the students or teachers throughout the school year. This usually includes crackhead moments during free time in classes, a kid secretly recording Hotch as he’s trying to tell a dad joke, Morgan flirting with Reid in front of the whole class, Reid’s students dancing in a Tik Tok with Reid (followed by someone recording them creating the Tik Tok), the hype for the end of year chess tournament, the massive pranks pulled by the teachers and students on April Fools Day, everyone’s costumes during Halloween, and so much more. One student brings a popcorn machine. Garcia brings candy.

Specific events:

Morgan crashes Reid’s class multiple times a week. The students look forward to it, because all Morgan does is flirt. He’d spit out innuendos that are somehow related to what he’s teaching. It’s the worst in music class.

“You’re doing well with that fingering” “I’M PLAYING THE GUITAR”

“Hey Dr. Reid, how’s the blowing going?” Reid’s face burns red

“You really stroke the G well-” “GET OUT”

“For a drummer you don’t bang very well” *dodges drumstick*

One time Reid threw a white board eraser at him only to receive “damn you trying to rub me out?” which causes the class to roar.

The class goes crazy every time and someone is bound to be recording every time Morgan steps into the classroom. Morgan would also call Reid “pretty boy” on occasion and ruffle his hair, which Reid would fix right after. (Everyone knows he secretly loves it).

One day Reid gets his hair cut short with curls on top, but Morgan doesn’t find out till the next day. He also wore his glasses that day (which he does wear occasionally). The class started to silently freak as they filed in before the bell rang. When Morgan entered mid class his greeting of “Hey pretty boy” was cut short when he saw him. Morgan stood frozen for a good 30 seconds before Reid approached him (WAY too close) and says lowly “What we’re you saying?” Theres no response from Morgan, the class is trying to stay silent while going ape shit, everyones phones are out, it looks like their noses are about to touch when finally Reid steps away and asks the class “So, who can tell me the answer to number 6?” and just leaves Morgan there. The class tries to recover and when five minutes pass Reid looks back at Morgan (who hasn’t moved) and asks, “Hey Morgan, don’t you have a class to teach?” Finally Morgan snaps out of it and stutters “Uh.. yeah- I gotta... go,,” and leaves the classroom.

Spirit week is a riot.

It starts with Tropical day. Everyone dressed in a hawaiian shirt and wore a fake lei, even Hotch. Garcia gives out lei’s to everyone that doesn’t have one and Rossi gives extra credit to whoever dresses up that week.

Next is 50′s/Grease themed. Morgan went all out with his outfit, leather jacket and sunglasses included. Reid did not own a leather jacket, but he did grease his hair back and wore a white t-shirt which entertained his students. Hotch, along with his outfit, brought a comb and constantly combed through his hair throughout class. Garcia and JJ wore poodle skirts and JJ wore her hair in a high ponytail. Emily wore black leather pants, a polkadot shirt, and a red bandana in her hair with bright red lipstick. Rossi just wore his helmet from the Vietnam war, and when someone called him out, his excuse was the war started in the 50′s so it counts.

Next was Lazy Wednesday, and the students (and Morgan) didn’t know how much Reid in a hoodie could affect them. It got to the point where one of the students had to call out to Morgan “You’re drooling” which followed by laughter from the class. Emily wore her snuggie and JJ and Garcia wore matching Pokemon onesies. Half of the students were distracted because Hotch was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants.

Thursday was Disney themed. Morgan was, of course, Prince Charming. Every time he entered a classroom he overacted dramatically. Garcia decided to match by being his Cinderella and had her hand kissed by Morgan every time they passed each other. Rossi’s students had a field day with his costume. He dressed up as the toy seller from Toy Story 2. He got Woody and Jessie toys from Hotch’s son, Jack, and he was constantly eating cheese puffs. Hotch melted everyones hearts by dressing as Kristoff and bringing in Jack who was dressed as Sven. Every girl and gay almost had a heart attack from Reid, who was dressed as Milo from Atlantis. But the winners in the students book were Emily, who dressed up as Flynn Rider, and JJ, who dressed up as Rapunzel. They hung out in the halls in between classes, Emily winking at everyone who walked by.

With the good days come the bad. One year, Reid started getting these horrible migraines. He wouldn’t tell anyone, however, and kept teaching. Even Morgan asked a couple times if he was okay. This lasted almost two weeks, and then Reid had to lead an assembly that Friday. The migraines on top of his rising panic attack while he spoke to the students made him feel worse. He started to stutter and feel lightheaded, but Strauss said nothing. Morgan managed to hold on to him and finally told Garcia to take him into the hall. Thankfully Hotch stepped in and continued the assembly like he was presenting the whole time. After it was over, Morgan chewed out Strauss to the point where Emily had to hold him back. The students were confused as to what happened and theories started to spread as school let out. Morgan went straight to Reid who was sitting in a dark empty classroom with Garcia. Reid finally told him about his migraines and Morgan insisted taking him to the ER. The speculations grew when students saw Morgan leading Reid to his car with their arms around each other for support as they walked, Morgan comforting him on the way to the car.

One day, Reid had a doctors appointment for the latter half of the day, so he asked JJ to sub his music theory class. Only, Morgan didn’t know. There was a small hall that led into the big music room, so when Morgan entered, he couldn’t see JJ from where he was. He thought he was sneaking up on Reid, putting his finger to his mouth at the students who saw him sneaking. Finally he walked out to greet who he thought was Reid with “Is that something in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” He froze when he saw JJ staring back with her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. He saw the class was recording him and shook his head while saying “I will get you back for this.” As he walked out defeated, JJ called after him, “I’m guessing he didn’t tell you about his doctor’s appointment.” which earned a middle finger from Morgan which JJ couldn’t see from where she was standing. This definitely ended up in the end of year slideshow and it was the first time Reid saw the video. He counted that as a victory.

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inventors-fair · 3 years

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I Know I Am But What Are You?

Congratulations, you’re playing yourself. How do you win? What is the card that you can have that would make the difference? Let’s look at some examples of deck archetypes and see what could break the mirror, in theory.

Aggro

Let’s start off with the easy one. Aggro deals a bunch of damage, usually with hastey small creatures. Normally, the way to beat that is by killing creatures cheaply, playing bigger creatures to block the smaller ones, or gaining life. The first one can be tough because pointing burn at creatures slows your clock, and playing bigger creatures is tough to do in a deck low to the ground. Gaining life is nice if you’re not in mono-red, and a lot of modern burn decks play Lightning Helix to help keep them alive. There’s also cards like Searing Blood and Searing Blaze that are able to hit creatures AND players, but at the cost of being dead in hand against creatureless decks. Try thinking of what can keep you dealing damage while removing your opponent’s ability to do so.

Combo

Your and your opponent are both trying to pull off the same combo, so what can you do to mess with them while keeping you safe? This is perhaps the time where asymmetric effects are most important. Nevermore would be awful, but Gideon’s Intervention might work. However, these hate cards still need to do something in your deck. Depending on the combo, simply being the right type of card or having an otherwise unimportant keyword. A Pithing Needle works well in an artifact-centric Urza combo deck, and the mere mention of dredge makes any card at least feasible in a graveyard-focused deck. When in doubt, though, deck manipulation is always a way to make a card more viable in a combo deck. The thing about combo decks, though, is they all work slightly differently, so I think this has some great design space. For example, a variation of Hunt the Weak might work great in the Heliod combo deck, since it plays off the counters theme, but also removes a creature.

Control

Control mirrors: the bane of coverage and chess clocks alike. When both of you are playing lands and passing, what can you do to make sure you do it best? The obvious is just putting “can’t be countered” on anything. But what’s worth not being countered in a control deck? Well, counters themselves, but also creatures that can close out the game, card draw, or anything that circumvents any of those things. Another way to get around counters is cards with activated abilities; ways to leave up mana and get use out of it if you don’t need to counter things. Preferably on a land (which you could main-deck easily), but if it’s on a cheap but hard to get rid of permanent that could be nice, too.

Synergy

Some decks just try and do one thing really well. Sometimes mill decks are in this section, tribal decks are almost always this section, and “set mechanic: the deck” are in this section, too. This might be one of the most direct mirror-breaker types you can do. Plague Engineer is going to be useful in your elf deck even if it’s not an elf. You could also aim big with cards like Psychic Spiral, which are amazing in the mirror but could also be used in less fair ways. You’ll probably have to be very precise about your phrasing to make sure it doesn’t affect your own stuff, but if you can get around that I’ll be impressed. Try and pinpoint what the critical mass for your synergies are and see if you can get closer to it while pushing theirs away. Cling to Dust is great in the current standard’s Rogue mirror, since it can keep your graveyard clear of the 7 card threshold they need while keeping your hand full.

Those are all of the archetypes I could come up with off the top of my head. If you need any more help thinking of how a deck can beat itself up, don’t hesitate to check out our Discord >>HERE<<! Or, if you’re all done, submit it >>HERE<<.

-Mod Mr. ShinyObject

#mtg #mirror-breaker #custom magic card #inventor's fair #magic the gathering #monday blog

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nabrizoya · 4 years

Text

This was the original reply/draft to prompt sent by @zvko way back in may (ily bro). this draft didn’t seem to suit well for the prompt, i thought. now though, i’ll let you decide. partly-edited. or just plain unedited lol.

54: One reaching for the others hand to comfort them, to provide support. A thumb brushing lightly against skin. + Jesse and Lucie.

Lucie was aware of the Tower bell chiming at midnight as she stared steadfastly at the barren windowsill. She preened her ears to hear the ghost of his laughter, all to no avail. The night looked unfazed by the atrocities her mind imposed on her. She sighed, restless and wide awake in her bed, and continued to stare at the ceiling.

She missed him. She craned her neck to the windowsill yet again and closed her eyes, thinking about the nights they had spent awake, talking and laughing until dawn drew them apart. She remembered the games of chess they played, the way he gestured for the pieces for her to move and would win. She reminisced the nights they had spent outside, in the rain and fog and snow, venturing on midnight voyages. And her stealthy pursuits for books on necromancy right under his nose and getting away with her plans? Successful.

She missed him. Terribly.

It had only been a few weeks that they had been apart. Jesse was back to life, still sick and weak and mentally worse than he was before. She didn’t have to see him to know how his nightmares plagued him- they haunted her too. They were fantastical in their graphics, elaborate and daunting. She could project her torment into her writings, her own sense of twisted terror and trepidation. She wondered what Poe’s thoughts would be if he ever read her works; would he be just as fascinated, terrorized and amazed as she was when she read his works?

Lucie couldn’t bear it any longer. She pushed the duvet off her and sat up. The windows were empty of his presence and the clouds behind them carried their gossips, barely sparing a glance at her as she changed into her gear. She fastened a rope and a grappling hook around her waist and drew the cloak around her. Then marched noiselessly into the night towards Gideon Lightwood’s house.

Once she reached the premises, she observed the windows were barely lit and darkness spilled through most of them. Lucie wondered which of them led to Jesse’s room. She was conscious of the panic that began to bubble within her. Jesse wasn’t a ghost anymore; he was human and breathing. She could not risk being found, especially not after what had happened to Eugenia and how Daisy had handled hers. She wasn’t panicking at getting caught; she couldn’t fathom what excuse she could provide for her unannounced arrival.

Jesse was sent to Basilias for three weeks following the utter destruction that Belial had ensued. Lucie had heard, er, eavesdropped on her parents and collected that Jesse Blackthorn was back in London only that evening and that Gideon had proposed to take him under his care for the while.

And there she was, under the window from which the barest of candlelight was spilling through, hoping it was Jesse’s room. She threw the hook and fixed it around the metal that held the pipelines in place and climbed. And to her utter horror, in the littlest of light, she could see the figures of two people entwined in a rather intimate embrace, their faces barely visible.

Lucie was never the best to reciprocate shock; her hands let go of the rope of their own accord, and she gasped as she fell backwards. She held onto the rope as quickly as she let go, but chafed her palms throughout her futile attempt at a safe landing. She tumbled to the ground with a thump and bit down her lip to prevent the scream that was beginning to erupt.

She whimpered as she sat up and looked at her hands, scratched and slightly bloodied. She tried to fish for her stele but could hear the sound of window panes opening. Lucie struggled to free the hook and it came off in an instant, much to her surprise. She covered herself just as Thomas’ voice floated with confusion in the air. “’Think that was a burglar?”

“No,” the other voice said. “I should think not.” Lucie smiled despite the raging pain in her limbs. She could see Alastair help Thomas secure the window and disappear behind them. The iratze was quick to draw; the pain vanished as swiftly as it had come, her hands looking as good as they ever were. She looked at the windows in desperation, her momentary sense of joy now gone. Where was Jesse Blackthorn?

She critically examined the windows. Jesse liked keeping his windows open; his room in Chiswick -when she had spied for necromantic books, a perfectly reasonable adventure- had revealed as much. There used to be plants around the sill and the room usually overlooked a scenic sight ‘ten times worth the painter’s imagination’, as Jesse had once claimed. She trudged through the backyard towards the other end of the house and looked for the one set of windows that would set her heart in a frenzy.

Lo and behold, there it was: two sets of them open as curtains balled close by one set of windows. She watched the cherry blossom sway its flowers to sleep, the wind mumbling a mellow lullaby to it. Her heart lurched; she was so close to him. She drew another rune of stealth at her throat and fastened the hook. She climbed up the rope nervously.

When she reached the window, she tapped at the pane and fixed her foot on the metal around the pipe. Jesse was next to the window in no time. It was a blurry few moments until he reeled back in shock and then come to his senses. Jesse guided her in gently, though Lucie knew better; the moment was gone before she knew, replaced by Jesse’s anger. With Jesse promptly reprimanding her for her impetuousness.

“You can’t possibly be here-” he thundered. But Lucie paid him no heed. She was smiling, her attention wholly captured by the beauty of him. He looked healthier than he was when he had left London. His face was less pale, though there were shadows under his eyes. He wasn’t as thin; there was flesh to him when she touched his shoulder in a daze. His words ceased when she held his scarred hand, in awe with the utter humanness of him. He didn’t look strong, not as strong in the sense of shadowhunters, but at least as strong as any human could be. He had been sick for his entire life, and then dead, but he was better in just three weeks and he would be better even more. Lucie was proud of him.

She stepped back, still lost and removed her hand from his. But he reached forward and held hers, tightening both his hands around hers and holding them close to his heart. “You could be ruined, Lucie. Why are you here?” he asked her softly.

She shook her head. “You look all right,” she said. “But I know you are not.”

He dropped his gaze to the floor just as he let her palm loose. Lucie only stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck comfortingly. She hugged him tight and heard his heart hammer, feeling the joy of his life tear at her heart. Jesse froze for a moment before he wrapped her in his embrace, burying his head in the nook of her shoulder. She stroked his hair, knowing the glint of sadness in his eyes very well. “I’ve missed you, Jesse,” she mumbled. “How are you?”

Jesse said nothing. They stayed in the embrace for Angel knows how long. Neither of them dreamed of pulling away. The breeze from his open windows swayed them in their song, whistling through the curtains and swooshing them out and away. The two of them were knit into one another, their embraces tight and safe and reassuring. As slow as the night, Lucie’s shoulder grew wet with Jesse’s tears, his shoulders shaking with the pent up agony and pain he bore voicelessly for so long. Lucie felt the overwhelming need to shut the windows and keep him close, cut him away and protect him from every thorn that would dare to come closer. His knees buckled away and he pulled her to the ground; Lucie didn’t mind the pain. She held him in silence, and when his sobs grew louder, she murmured gentle reassurances to him. She held him for hours, suddenly remembering the time Cordelia had held her for hours, preventing her from falling off the cliff. The urge to protect someone so fiercely could never be cultivated. It just came without a question and you protected them without a doubt. She patted his back, the young traces of his muscles reassuring her about his onward health. She cursed the universe for damning him for the sins of his parents.

At some point, she found herself murmuring a lullaby into his hair. Her eyes were thick with tears she hadn't shed when she’d heard that Jesse was gone without a goodbye. Four weeks, the first one having been taken away for questioning by the Clave and the rest at his stay in Alicante. She blubbered, her own sobs mixing with his as she thought of all the people she had lost, of the sacrifices Jesse had made and the pain he had endured. She cried of her mother’s and her brother’s agony when they were tortured by Belial. Of the people who had died and the chaos that each one of her friends had borne, of heartbreak and crumpled wishes. Jesse swayed her this time, letting her cry and complain on his shoulder.

The two of them were a mess. But they were there for each other.

When their sobs stopped, they still held one another. Lucie clutched at him for dear life and Jesse caressed her now unbound hair. “Don’t leave,” she mumbled as she pulled back, wiping the tears on his cheekbones. She sat up on her knees, pulling him closer, and pressed her lips to his burning forehead. Jesse tightened his arms around her waist and held her tight. “You are all right. And you will be all right,” she whispered and drew back, staring down into his eyes that were so open and vulnerable. Jesse reached for her hand in his and linked their fingers together, his fingers caressing the scars on her hand. Their gazes never left one another’s. They stared and stared until the moon shied away from the fierceness in their eyes. Their promise on the light with which they loved each other.

“I won’t,” Jesse promised. He kissed the back of her hand.

Yeah, um. Dunno why the world had to read this, but this was The (TM) first ever time I wrote after a really long time. Kinda like how this one turned out, the direction it took, though er, the writing...; thanks for reading, either way!

#meh #good idea or not?#idek lol #jesse blackthorn #lucie herondale #the last hours #tlh #mine*

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avenging-fandoms · 4 years

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i would love to play a game of chess of cards with spencer and actually win against him bc he'd be all :o and amazed that you beat him 🥺

“i’m a genius. i mean, i beat gideon once” spencer laughed and you rolled your eyes, sitting across from him.

“yeah, but you’ve never played me before. plus,” you move your first piece. “i’ve beaten gideon twice” you smile and he looks over at jason, who just smirks and goes back to reading.

“now this is a genius battle i’m willing to watch” derek sat next to you and put his arm around your shoulders. you kept smirking ever piece of reid’s you took. you had 4 of his, while he had one 1.

“impossible. you’re cheating!” he exclaimed and you moved you piece, smiling at him.

“check and mate” derek celebrates and shakes your shoulders, wiggling his fingers in spencer’s face.

“she just whooped your ass, genius” spencer smacked his hand away, crossing his arms.

“you definitely cheated. i don’t know how, but you did” you laugh, resetting the board.

“just because someone can beat you at chess, doesn’t mean they’re cheating. you always have to look 3 moves ahead” jason chuckled, and you smirked at reid, who bit back a smile.

“fine. if you win.. i’ll give you.. a..”

“kiss!” jj chimed in and you laugh, blushing.

“sure. a.. a kiss” you smile, shaking his hand. he goes first, just so he can’t claim you cheated by starting first. you would giggle as he thought about his neck move, and morgan slowly fell asleep on your shoulder.

“i win! morgan, i won!” he smiled and opened his eyes, spencer scratching the back of his neck and blushing. “wait, jj, what does this mean i get?”

she bends over behind reid. “a kiss”

“alright, i know”

“truly, this is a win for me and you, no?” derek moved out of the way and spencer sat next to you. he licked his lips, not really knowing what to do. you shook your head and grabbed his cheeks, pulling him in and kissing him.

the plane erupts in ‘ooo’s, mainly from derek, emily, penelope and jj. you pull away and smile, patting his cheek softly and scooting over his lap, laying down on the couch. spencer smiles, morgan shakin his shoulders. “you’re welcome for that” jj winks and turns back around in her chair, spencer looking over at you, who was already asleep.

“she beat me.. twice!” he laughed in disbelief.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid imagines #spencer reid blurb #spencer reid blurbs #criminal minds #mathew gray gubler

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lilacmoon83 · 5 years

Text

Dreaming Out Loud

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 117: The Tower

"Wait...so you were looking for this golden flower, which can trap someone in a place, and encountered a princess in a tower with long hair?" Emma asked, as they ate, while Killian explained how Alice came to be. It was pretty obvious to all of them that Hook had definitely changed, though it wasn't too surprising. Parenthood was the one thing that could create such drastic change in a person. It was one of the few things that could become more important than anything, even revenge.

"Aye...why is that amusing?" he asked.

"It's just...was her name Rapunzel?" Emma asked. He looked surprised.

"Yes...or at least that's what she told me. How did you know that name?" he asked.

"Rapunzel...it's a pretty well known fairy tale," she replied.

"Ah that...well, somehow I doubt they got this one right either, because the next morning, Rapunzel was no more. In her place was a witch named Gothel and my child in her arms," he explained.

"That's quite an acceleration in pregnancy, but I guess we all know that magic can do just about anything," Persephone mentioned.

"Gothel is dangerous...I'm not sure I like the idea that she might come here after you. We have enough trouble with Queen Ravenna and her vendetta against our daughter," Hades said sternly.

"Papa Hades...we can't turn him away, especially if his child is in danger," Snow chided. He sighed.

"And I don't intend to, snowdrop...but Gothel is powerful and she hates humanity," Hades said.

"Wait...are you saying she isn't human?" David asked.

"She appears human, but she is really a part of a dead race of tree nymphs that were the first children of Mother Earth herself, Gaia," Persephone replied.

"Gaia was once benevolent and they lived in peace, secretly concealed away from an early race of humans. But she became very dissatisfied with humans and their mistreatment of the Earth. She and her eldest daughter, Gothel, grew very angry and bitter," he explained, as he paused for a beat.

She wanted them to pay, so with her husband Uranus...the Titans were born. But while the Titans raged against humans and nearly drove them to extinction, the Earth suffered their wrath as well. So when Uranus refused to stop his onslaught upon the Earth, Gaia implored her son Cronus to slay his father, which he did. In the process, Cronus and Rhea gave birth to the Olympians. I was their oldest son," Hades stated.

"Then you much of the rest of the story," Persephone added. He nodded.

"Yes...Zeus killed Cronus with Rhea's help to preserve humanity, but in the process, this world was stripped of its magic, thanks to Gothel. She fought us and nearly even toppled Zeus for control of Olympus. But he banished her to another realm. Before she was swept away, she cursed this land and took the magic with her," Hades explained. Realization dawned in Snow's eyes.

"That's why this land became the Land Without Magic," she said, putting it together. He nodded.

"Yes...exactly. Once Gothel was gone...Gaia was distraught and faded into the wind to become apart of the earth she once loved. The Olympians sealed the Titans away in Tartarus. Zeus was awarded control of the skies, Poseidon the seas, and me the Underworld," he continued.

"And now that the realms are United...this Mother Gothel is back?" David asked.

"My suspicion is that she resides in that magical forest that we don't know much about, as confirmed by the Captain," Persephone answered.

"I guess I did not realize the threat she was or that she could be that powerful. I had no idea she was descended from Mother Earth herself," Killian said.

"It's okay...we will not turn you and your daughter away from a better life. If Gothel is here, then it would not have mattered if you came here or not. In fact, it's better that we know of her now than let her lurk in the shadows and catch us by surprise," Persephone assured.

"I just can't believe she had a child for the soul purpose of getting free and just abandoned her," Snow said, as she cuddled her baby daughter close.

"Unfortunately...Gothel has no humanity. But if she comes here...she will meet an opposition unlike what she has faced in the past," Hades said, as he looked at Persephone.

"He's right...and I won't just banish her like Zeus did. That was the answer to problems he couldn't defeat or destroy," she added, as they watched Alice playing with Alexander nearby, while Tallie, Gideon, and Iris sat with their respective mothers.

"We wouldn't have known Gothel was free if not for you, Killian...so we owe you that. We can now make sure she doesn't get away with whatever she may be plotting," Persephone said.

"Now that she is free...you think she may try something?" Snow asked her mother.

"It wouldn't surprise me. But we'll be ready for her now that we know," Persephone answered, as the hour grew late and they soon returned home to their respective castles for the evening.

~*~

Queen Ravenna huffed in annoyance, as they disembarked from the small ocean liner. She hadn't dared to take one of the royal ships, as all those vessels had to formally log and record their voyages and she wanted this trip strictly off the books.

"I can't believe I had to be subjected to that...how disgusting," she complained, referring to the conditions on board the modest ship.

"It was a perfectly modernized cruise ship, Your Majesty," Frollo reminded.

"The silverware wasn't even real silver!" she complained and he rolled his eyes. The woman was beyond spoiled and ridiculous. He hated that he was enslaved to her and constantly had to put up with this kind of nonsense.

It wasn't hard to hire a carriage to take them from there. It seemed that this land, since they had not made contact with other realms, was still not modernized. It was all perfectly mysterious and though the driver had no inkling about the object they were seeking, Frollo's research told him it was east of the Harbor.

"It will be a few hours until we come to the place you described," the coachman called to them. Ravenna growled, as she looked out the window in boredom.

"You better be right about this," she hissed, as the carriage continued on its journey.

~*~

David opened the door to the loft and showed Hook in, as he carried one meager bag and his daughter in his arms.

"Are you sure, mate?" he asked. He nodded.

"The loft was and is a special place for us. It was our first home together with Emma, besides the dreamscape," he replied. They had struggled with the decision on whether or not to sell it in the last three years and decided not to. They had kept it furnished and hired someone to keep it clean until they could let go of it. But now that Hook had come back with his own family to raise, they knew why they had hung onto it for so long and Snow felt this exactly what the reformed pirate and his little girl needed.

"That's what I mean...this place has a lot of memories for you and your lot," Hook mentioned.

"It does...and we have been reluctant to let it go. I think we've been waiting for the right person and tonight, he came along," David said. Hook looked truly touched by that.

"This will be a good start for you and Alice," he said, as he handed him the keys.

"We'll take care of it and enjoy it, I promise you that," Killian assured. David nodded.

"Oh and since I'm sure you need a job, come by the castle tomorrow. I'm sure I have something," he said. Hook nodded.

"And Alice?" he asked. David smiled.

"I'm sure my parents will happily watch one more," David said, as he left them.

"Well starfish...welcome home," he said, as he ventured upstairs, only to find that the loft was ready for a little girl to live in and he was touched again. It seemed that Snow had arranged it all in a very short amount of time, though she was Queen and had the power to do such now.

"Papa look!" Alice called, as she pointed to the chess set on the table.

"Well, I suppose we have time for a game before bedtime," he said, as he carried her into the room.

~*~

Flashback

Three Years Ago

"Magic…" she growled, as they suddenly watched the entire palace disappear. Next, the clock tower disappeared, then Granny's, and everything on Main Street. The magic swept around them and when it was gone, there was nothing but woods around them, like there had never been a town there in the first place.

"What the hell just happened?" Channing asked. But even Circe had no answers. Storybrooke was gone, without a trace or explanation to offer. And with it, gone was her revenge, leaving her with nothing.

Strangely, just as quickly as the town had disappeared, it started to reappear again.

"What's happening now?" Channing asked, even more confused now, as they watched a bright cloud of magic sweep around them again. This time though, the clock tower reappeared, then Granny's, and everything on Main Street. The magic continued to rebuild the town with the Sheriff's station, the school, and the Toll bridge. Storybrooke was back.

"They're back," Circe observed, as Cronus' palace reappeared. It was as if they had never been gone, but she knew better. She had a feeling whatever had happened was going to have serious ramifications; to what extent, she did not know.

"Madam Circe...something is very different…" Channing called, as she saw what he was looking at. In her very long life, she had seen many things and not much surprised her anymore. But this did.

"By the Gods...what have they done?" she uttered, as there was a poof of magic and her father, Mushu, stood before her.

"Father…" she greeted evenly.

"You must leave here, my daughter," he implored.

"I'm not going anywhere...not until they pay and I destroy magic. If I can't have it...then neither can they," she hissed.

"You cannot win this. Zeus is dead and Persephone reigns supreme. Not even Cronus or the Chernabog will openly and directly challenge her," the dragon warned.

"It figures you would want me to run...it is what you do best," she snapped.

"Please, my dear daughter...they will imprison you if you do not leave and your mother has refused to help me hide you. I do not know how long I can keep them off your trail," Mushu warned.

"We will take our chances," Circe refuted.

~*~

It was the next day and business as usual resumed in the United Realms, which meant Emma and Neal resumed their daily duties at the Storybrooke Sheriff's station. But today, they were sequestered in the bug on a stakeout, because of a tip about suspicious activity at the cannery.

Emma sighed in boredom, as they were six hours in already and Neal returned with a tray of coffee and cocoa.

"Are you sure about that tip?" she asked, as she sipped at her cocoa.

"Yes...I'm sure. This is the hotspot, which makes sense. The cannery is close to the harbor," he replied. She sighed.

"I just...magical smuggling? Really?" she asked skeptically.

"Merida swears that there is a witch in her Kingdom that's fond out that selling her magical goods and items in the United Realms is even more profitable than when she was limited to Dunbroch," he replied.

"Yeah I get that...but why is she so hung up on finding this helm? And if we know this witch has it, then why don't we just go all swat team on her hovel in Dunbroch?" Emma asked. He looked at her skeptically.

"Because she's a witch and invading her turf just means we'd be dodging a bunch of magical traps I'm sure she has bugged all over the woods around her hut," he reminded. She couldn't argue with that.

"As for the helm...no idea what's so special about it other than it once belonged to her dad," he replied, as they saw movement out back of the building.

"Oh...here we go. There's the old hag now," Emma said, as they witnessed the old witch appear in a puff of smoke. But to their surprise, her customer was wearing the armor of a Knight and not just any armor.

"That's Camelot armor," Neal said.

"You think his King sent him?" Emma asked.

"My father does get quiet when Arthur is mentioned," Neal replied, which they both found peculiar.

"There it is...the helm!" Emma hissed, as they slowly got out of the car.

"Yeah...there's something else in her hand too," Neal replied, as he used his binoculars.

"Can you tell what?" she asked.

"No...it's a vial of some sort," he replied.

"Well, the helm is stolen so that's good enough. Let's move in," she said, as he pulled his sword and she moved in with her gun.

~*~

"Just give them to me, you old hag," Sir Percival hissed.

"Mind your tongue boy...or I'll relieve you of," the witch warned in her thick accent.

"Listen...you will get your payment when I get the items I require," he said.

"You mean that your King requires," she said, as she held them up.

"The magical helm of King Fergus and this…" she hissed, as she held up the vial of glittery red sand.

"Say those words, witch and I will cut out your tongue," he warned.

"No one is cutting out anyone's tongues. Hands up," Emma ordered.

"This is none of your concern, Sheriff," Percival hissed.

"This is Storybrooke, so it's exactly our business. Hands up," she ordered. But Percival lashed out with his blade and Neal stepped in to duel him.

"Hands up witch," Emma warned, but the old hag smirked and launched a blast of magic at her. Emma dodged and countered with her own.

"Ahh...the magic of the Savior. How exhilarating! But I have been practicing magic long before you were born...long before your parents were born even," she boasted, as she volleyed magical blasts at her. But Emma countered with one big one and broke through her defenses.

"Give the advantage to youth then," she quipped, as she placed a pair of magical dampening cuffs on her and picked up the helm, along with the small vial of red, glittering dust.

"What is this?" she asked, as Neal brought back a cuffed and disarmed Percival, who gave the witch a hard glare.

"I have no idea," the witch feigned ignorance.

"Yeah right...but it doesn't matter. I'm pretty sure my grandmother and step-grandfather will know what it is," she said.

"And if for some reason they don't, my dad probably will," Neal added, as they put their prisoners in the back of the bug, before getting in and taking back to the station.

~*~

After several hours, they finally came upon the garden that Frollo was looking for and it happened to be at the foot of an old tower.

"This is it...this is where the map the cauldron provided showed," he said, as they got out of the carriage.

"It better be...I'm tired of waiting!" Ravenna complained, as she stomped into the garden.

"You have about as much finesse as a raging bull," Frollo commented. She turned and glared at him, as she extracted a pouched from her dress pocket. It glowed red, reminding him once again that she held the only object that could control him. Not that he needed reminding.

"Watch your tongue and find this flower you keep telling me about," she ordered.

"May I ask how you plan to use it against your enemy?" he requested. She smirked.

"Shouldn't that be obvious? I plan to use it to trap Snow White in some incredibly horrible place. I don't know where yet...perhaps Bald Mountain. Wouldn't that be poetic? I could trap her in the place her parents created to trap you," Ravenna answered.

"An interesting plan, but you don't think the heroes will find someone less desirable to take Snow White's place and rescue her from your captivity?" he questioned.

"You're going to figure that part out for me," she snapped and he rolled his eyes.

"Of course I am…" he muttered, as he didn't notice the vine slither out and wrap around his leg. He cried out and quickly took his monstrous form and snapped the vine. Ravenna watched with trepidation, as the vines slowly gathered and formed a cocoon of sorts. It glowed briefly and became the shape of a woman that soon revealed herself.

"Easy there beastie…" the woman with blonde matted hair cooed.

"Who are you?" Ravenna demanded to know. The woman smirked.

"I am the answer to your revenge…" she said softly.

"Are you the keeper of this garden?" Ravenna questioned.

"I am…" she answered.

"Then you have the golden flower I need," the Queen said.

"I do...but the flower isn't what you want," she responded. Ravenna frowned.

"And why not?" she demanded to know.

"The flower will hold your enemies for a time, but inevitably she will escape. However, I can offer you a solution to your Snow White problem if you help me," she tempted.

"And just who are you?" Frollo questioned, as he took his human form again.

"Mmm...you have been bonded to the black God and you possess Prometheus' flame," the woman surmised.

"How do you know that?" Ravenna questioned.

"Because I was there when the Titans were born. In a way, we are related, Chernabog. We have the same mother," she revealed.

"Gaia was your mother?" Frollo asked. She nodded.

"I was her first born, during the times of peace on this planet, long before she had the need to breed the Titans. But we all fell to those deceitful, treacherous Olympians," she replied.

"I am Gothel…" she revealed.

"You would help me get revenge on Snow White?" Ravenna questioned. She nodded.

"If you free me from the confines of this place. I cannot go beyond this tower or this garden thanks to those golden flowers you seek," she responded.

"Then we need someone to take your place," Frollo surmised.

"Correct," Gothel confirmed.

"But why help us? What could you have against my wretched former step-daughter?" Ravenna questioned.

"You mean what do I have against Demeter's beloved granddaughter? Hades' adored step-daughter? Persephone's perfect little snowdrop?" Gothel questioned. Frollo smirked.

"Of course...Persephone sits on the Throne that should be rightfully yours as Gaia's first born," he said.

"What is your plan for her?" Ravenna asked eagerly. Gothel smirked and a vial of potion appeared in her hand.

"If Snow White ingests this poison...it will cripple her heart. It will ruin it beyond repair. Not even her mother can revive her from this," Gothel revealed. Ravenna's eyes gleamed with an evil glint and desire.

"You're sure?" she asked with bated breath.

"Quite," Gothel replied.

"And true love's kiss? It cannot save her either?" Ravenna questioned.

"Not even true love's kiss can overcome this poison. It's the last of my mother's own concoction. She planned to use it on Zeus...but she died before she could. Then I was saving it for a pirate...but I feel it is better used on that demi-Goddess spawn," Gothel responded.

"And any soul to take your place in that tower will do?" Ravenna questioned. Gothel smirked.

"Absolutely," she replied. Ravenna looked at Frollo and the Promethean flame glowed.

"Find me some little waif to trap in that tower," she ordered. He sighed and transformed back into his monster form, as he flew off to do her bidding.

"So, as soon as you are free...I can have that potion?" she questioned. Gothel smirked.

"I cannot reveal my presence too soon. Persephone and Hades will suspect me now that a certain pirate has absconded to Storybrooke. But the potion is yours if I can hide...or rather grow in your garden," Gothel answered.

"Done," Ravenna agreed, as their devious deal was made...

~*~

Flashback

Three years ago

Circe ran toward the Harbor at Longbourne. Her father had been right and in the weeks that followed the reappearance of Storybrooke and subsequently, the United Realms, newly minted Supreme Sheriff and King David made it his personal mission to arrest her and all her followers. She had hoped for sanctuary in Cronus' Kingdom, but he had chosen to shun her in an attempt to make it seem like he was conforming to Persephone's rule. She knew better, but for whatever reason, she no longer fit into his plans and she was on her own. Not even her traitor of a mother, Hecate, would support her and she soon realized, begrudgingly, that she should have listened to her father.

"End of the line, Circe…" David called, as he and his Knights, including Lancelot, cornered her.

"You really think I'm letting some insignificant mortal like yourself take me down?" she challenged, as she fired several plasma blasts at his Knights. One was hit, while the others dodged. She cackled, as the Knight that had been hit was now struggling to stay alive and she fired her blasts at David. But she became truly shocked when he swatted her blasts away harmlessly, as the steel of his blade blocked and absorbed her blasts effortlessly.

"How...is that possible?" she questioned in disbelief. David smirked.

"Hephaestus reforged my blade. It has a few added advantages and strengths now. Hades was specific in the modifications and your weapons are useless against mine," David replied. She seethed. So that was how he and his Knights had easily captured and arrested all her followers. She growled and fired at him wildly, as he advanced on her, blocking every blast, until she was unwillingly disarmed. Lancelot cuffed her and Hades appeared, looking at her with a smug smirk.

"You really think this is over?" she questioned.

"All your lackeys, including Calypso and your blind sheep are behind bars and you're about to join them. I'd say over is an understatement," he retorted.

"If you think that we're all that there is to this...you're sadly mistaken. This isn't over...not by a long shot," Circe warned. But Hades didn't seem concerned.

"Whoever you still have out in the Land Without Magic can't get to us here and we have no plans to venture out there," he said. But Circe's face was marred with a smirk.

"I've waited centuries for my revenge...a few more years is nothing. You'll soon know how wrong you are," she hissed under her breath.

~*~

The United Realms prison was actually a very humane place. They had three meals a day, visitation twice a week, and even a bit of free time outside. But Circe and her followers didn't really get visitors these days, with the exception of an occasional call from her father. Upon her capture, Mushu had escaped the United Realms and faded into the obscurity of the Land Without Magic. And only Circe truly knew the reason why.

Her father, dissatisfied with the rule of the Gods, had taken up her leadership of what remained of the Home Office. Unfortunately, there was some opposition they were facing outside Storybrooke and he had not been able to regain access to the United Realms as a result. But Circe continued to wait patiently. She and her father both were very good at playing the long game and she wholeheartedly believed that someday, she would be free and wage war on Olympus, as well as all the Kingdoms. She would rule or she vowed to die trying.

#Snowing #SnowxCharming #Charming family #Swanfire #Rumbelle #KnightRook #HadesXPersephone #Greek Mythology meets fairy tales #The United Realms #romance #adventure #family #dreaming out loud

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eideticreid · 6 years

Text

Chess » Spencer Reid

Pairing: Reader x Spencer Reid

Word Count: 1,463

Warnings: None

Summary: After a four day case, instead of catching up on sleep like the rest of your team, Spencer teaches you how to play chess up in the sky.

You were sat at the back of the private jet by yourself, completely unaware of your surroundings as your mind was sucked into the world of the book you were reading.

Your legs were brought up to your chest at an angle; your head was resting on your hand as you leaned against the arm rest, and The Collector was placed in your lap as a small dim light helped you to read.

You and the team were heading back to Virginia after a long case, and unlike most of your team mates who were sleeping soundly in their seats, you were wide awake.

J.J was laid out on the sofa seat beside you, a blanket wrapped around her for comfort; Derek and Elle were sat opposite each other at the table seats both in a peaceful slumber, and Hotch was sat by himself as he slept sitting up.

Oh, how you envied your co-workers being able to sleep on a plane.

You weren’t the only agent who was awake though. Down at the front of the jet sat Spencer and Gideon, both drawn to their game of chess that was swiftly coming to an end.

You often found these two playing a game of chess after a case, sometimes even before and during, and both of them equally came out on top. Although you were sure Spencer was just that little bit better than his opponent.

Five minutes later, you were so drawn into your book that you hadn’t realised the chess game was over, and Gideon was now sitting by himself reading a case file.

Spencer had risen from his seat to grab himself a coffee, walking past you and noticing your deep concentration on your book, and he couldn’t help but smile that you were enjoying one of his recommendations.

“What do you think so far?” The sudden sound of his voice in the quiet jet made you jump, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jump.”

You looked up at him and chuckled, “It’s fine, I was in a world of my own.” You paused, “But to answer your question, I love this book. John Fowles is an incredible writer. It’s so creepy and haunting, but yet I’m hooked.”

He smiled wide, “I thought the same. I won’t ruin anything for you but I’m sure you’ll love the ending.”

“Don’t say that, I’m already fighting the urges to read the last page.” You giggled, “I wish I had your reading skills right now.”

He chuckled and took a sip of his coffee, “I’m glad you’re enjoying it though. No one ever likes the books I read. But then again no one ever asks for my recommendations either.”

You were so fascinated with Spencer’s soul and with his mind. You couldn’t understand why people would find him weird. The more you bonded with the doctor, the more you felt like you understood him.

Of course you’d never fully experience what it was like to have a mind like his, but if you could get inside it just a little and enjoy the stuff he did, that’s all you wanted.

You smiled and looked over at the abandoned chess board, “So, who won?”

He followed where you were looking, “Me.” He looked pleased with himself, “Did you um, did you want a game?”

“Oh,” You blushed, “I actually don’t uh, know how to play.” You said sheepishly.

He smiled his cute smile, “I can teach you.” He looked at his watch, “We have two hours, thirty-three minutes and twenty seconds until we land, and I’m certain I can make a pro out of you by then.”

You giggled, “You seem very confident on your teaching skills, Reid.”

You rose from your seat and followed Spencer over to where he was previously sat with Gideon, and watched as he reset the chess board.

“Okay,” He started, “So these are your rooks; your knights; your bishops; your queen; your king, and these are your pawns.”

You nodded, “And how does each one work?”

Spencer went into great detail of how each chess piece works and how you can use them. You wasn’t sure everything was going in, and you knew it was probably going to take some time before you got the hang of it, but you could still learn along the way.

“Do you think you’re ready to play?” He asked, giving you an excited smile.

“I think so. It might take me a while to get the hang of this, so go easy on me.” You smirked.

He gave you a mischievous smile, “Since you have the white pieces, you make the first move.”

You hesitantly and nervously moved one of your pawns to another square, which was followed by Spencer confidently moving one of his. Every move you made correctly, he did a little whisper cheer to encourage you.

This went on for about two minutes, before you reached a point where you didn’t know which piece to move next.

“Um, I’m stuck.” You looked over all your white pieces, “Can I move this bishop here?”

“I’m afraid not. Remember bishops can only move in a diagonal direction.”

“Ugh, right.” You scanned your pieces again and found a pawn you could move. “So how exactly did you learn to play chess?”

“I didn’t,” He spoke, “I just started playing in school and realised I could play.”

You giggled, “Of course you did.”

It was your turn again as Spencer took barely a second to make a move, and you found yourself stumped once again. In your mind you were trying to remember which piece could move where.

Spencer watched the concentration on your face and the way it changed as information poured into your mind.

The way your forehead crinkled and your eyebrows furrowed; the way your curious eyes danced over the board, and the way you pouted your lips as you wrapped your head around the game.

Spencer couldn’t have found you any more adorable in that moment if he tried.

“Here, let me help you.” He picked up one of your bishops and moved it so that it took out one of his pieces.

“Wait. Spence, that’s cheating!” You exclaimed quietly, careful not to wake anyone.

He chuckled, “A little cheating never hurt anyone.” He faked surrender, “Besides, are you really going to complain that I’m cheating when I let you take out one of my pieces?”

You giggled, “I guess not. But don’t do it again,” You pointed at him playfully, “I know you’ll win but I wanna see if I can do this alone.”

He nodded, “Alright (Y/L/N). No more cheating. You’re by yourself now.” He smirked.

Spencer took his turn and sat back in his chair, waiting for you to make your next move, his hands clasped together. You didn’t have any confidence but you grabbed one of your pieces and attempted to move it, when your opponent mumbled a noise.

You looked over at him quizzically, “I can’t move that there, can I?”

He shook his head and scrunched up his lips in a smile, “You can’t. Rooks can only move horizontally and vertically.”

“Right,” You paused, “I knew that, I was just making sure you did too.” You both chuckled at how stupid that sounded.

It was about fifteen minutes later when the game had come to a close. It probably would have ended a lot quicker, but you took your sweet time each turn.

Of course Spencer won.

“If you were playing with another person who was just as good, and just as quick as you, roughly how long does the game last?”

“Depends on my opponent. If they’re focused and just as good as me, then it could take an hour, or more.” You raised your eyebrows, “Simply because we know how to manoeuvre our pieces right.” He explained.

“Wow, that’s crazy.”

He agreed, “I once had a game with this guy back in my college days, and it lasted an hour. It was my longest chess game to date.” He gathered all the pieces up, “Wanna play another game?”

“You wanna play another game with me? I’m probably the slowest opponent you’ve ever played, Spence.”

He smirked, “True. But if you haven’t noticed, I have a lot of patience.”

“Spencer Reid.” You gasped at his playful jab towards you, “That’s some fighting talk you’ve got there.” You paused, “Alright, doctor, lets go again.”

He chuckled as he set up the board, ready for game number two.

Spencer hadn’t felt this comfortable with somebody since he met Derek. You were the first girl that he felt comfortable with, the first girl he felt like he could truly be himself with, and that made his heart go crazy.

#Spencer Reid #Spencer Reid imagine #Spencer Reid fic #Criminal Minds #Criminal Minds imagine #Criminal Minds fic #Reader x Spencer Reid #Jason Gideon #Derek Morgan #Jennifer Jareau #Elle Greenaway #Aaron Hotchner

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imgilmoregirl · 6 years

Text

Blonde Bond (Chapter 3)

AO3 Link

Notes: @nropay prompted: Weaver have a bad dream about this situation. (Like, Alice choose to go with Rogers and don’t want to talk to him or Gothel choose to do something and stole the custody.) Bonus points if he got Alice’s hug.

Nightmare

He had seen Eloise Garden only once. Weaver wasn’t proud to say that he let his curiosity win and called her into the investigation room and kept watching her from the TV screen in his room, trying to find any similarity between her and Tilly, until he got tired and told one of the other detectives to put her back into her cell. It was hard to admit, but he had seen his sweet daughter in that crazy woman.

She had been accused of Victoria Belfrey’s murder weeks ago and should remain in there until her judgment. There was enough proof to get her in jail for many years, Weaver knew because he had read all the files about her case. Eloise was a disgusting, heartless woman and still, she had Tilly’s hair, chin and ears. Thinking about that made him grit his teeth. Things shouldn’t be like this.

Weaver had relucted in accepting adoption, but each passing year without a child seemed to dim Belle’s light a bit. She had always dreamed to have a family with him and not being able to have it made her hate herself, so he had agreed, they had entered the system and Tilly was given to them. It had been one of the happiest days of his life, nothing could ever pay the sight of Belle happily cradling the beautiful toddler in her arms, whispering how much she would be loved and cared for. It was meant to be her dream coming true, but now Belle was gone and he was all alone, facing a nightmare.

A part of him wished he could see something of her and him in Tilly like he was slowly starting to see in little Gideon, so he could make sure nobody was ever going to take her away. His poor girl didn’t deserve to have Eloise Gardner’s blood and he didn’t want her to ever know who her birthmother was. Weaver didn’t have any problems with Rogers though, despite of the fact he feared once Tilly knew him she could like him best than she ever liked him.

Those twisted thoughts lulled him to sleep that night after he pulled Gideon down for the second time and he finally drowned into sleep. Weaver was tired. He hadn’t slept a full night ever since his wife died and most days he really wanted to seek refuge in his dreams, because Belle was always there, being that sweet angel who would say all the right words and do all the right things. But tonight, she wasn’t there.

He was in the precinct, sitting by his desk with Tilly by his side. They played chess, her favourite game and she had a glowing smile on her lips, so sweet and innocent that Weaver thought he hadn’t being paying the right attention to it lately, she was light, like Belle used to say. Tilly made a movement and then a shadow came above them and Tilly was pulled up by the arm.

At first, she screamed, fighting against the hand that gripped her, but then Eloise’s face came into focus and Tilly’s expression softened. She smiled at her and then threw her arms around the woman, who hugged her back, laughing the kind of laugh he swore Eloise wasn’t capable of, because it was a soft, girlish giggle that no murderer could do.

Weaver tried to pull his daughter away from her yelling how she couldn’t trust in that woman and how she was going to hurt her, however Tilly wasn’t hearing him, she took some steps back and tripped, being caught in time by Rogers, who pulled his hands possessively around her shoulders, smiling as Eloise joined them at the precinct’s door.

“Tilly,” Weaver murmured, impotent. “Please, you can’t go with them.”

She shook her head, gripping each of her real parent’s hands in hers.

“I’ve already made my choice.”

He woke up with a loud scream, panting for breath, looking around to find himself in his living room, with the file about the dead doctor’s case open in his lap and a cold cup of tea placed on the tiny table beside him. Weaver took a deep breath, rubbing at his eyes and checking the digital clock to see that Gideon miraculously was sleeping for about four hours now, which was a record. Steps echoed in the hallway and he saw that it was Tilly who came rushing from her bedroom, startled and sleepy.

“Papa, are you alright?” She asked. “I’ve heard you screaming.”

“I’m fine, sweetheart, it was just a bad dream.”

Tilly nodded, passing a hand through her messy blonde hair and walking towards him, curling herself up on the couch next to him. She was wearing stripy blue pyjamas that made him remember about the endless nights he had tucked her into bed and read stories to her; she didn’t need them anymore, but he was glad to know that he and Belle had been the ones to raise her not Eloise and Rogers.

Suddenly, Weaver pulled her close, hugging Tilly as tight as he could and pressing a kiss to her forehead. She was there and she had no idea of who her biological parents were. She wasn’t going away and his dream was never going to come true. Well, at least that was what he was trying to convince himself of.

“What is happening, papa?” Tilly questioned, looking up at him. “Was your dream about mama?”

“No, dearest,” he answered. “It was about you.”

She blinked, parting from him so she could look into his warm brown eyes that were currently marked with dark circles.

“About me? And was it bad?”

“Yeah,” Weaver nodded. “Someone had taken you away from me.”

A little smile spread on her lips as she moved forward to throw her arms around his neck and smack a kiss on his cheek. One of the things Tilly liked the most was to feel loved and Belle had always been the one to reassure her every single day of how much she was cared for, but Tilly knew very well that her grumpy papa liked her as much as she did.

“Don’t worry, papa,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

There was a loud wail and Weaver knew his resting time was over, he should tend for Gideon now and prepare him a bottle of formula, then when the babe fell asleep, he could try take a chance of sleeping a bit more again, this time without nightmares, if he was lucky enough.

“Well, apparently I am,” he chuckled, standing up and tapping Tilly’s shoulder one last time. “Go back to bed, sweetheart. I’ll take care of him.”

He made his way to the nursery but stopped in front of Belle’s photograph in the hallway, silently asking her to help him to decide what was the right thing to do, because he couldn’t make the decision all alone. Tilly was still theirs.

#wovenknightrook #golden wonder #detective weaver #rumplestiltskin #mine #writing #tilly rogers #alice jones #detective rogers #nook #ao3 #fanfic #gift fic #rumbelle #background rumbelle

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thechessnerd · 5 years

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GIDEON STAHLBERG | Last Place (15th) after 15 rounds 3 ½ /14 (+2 =3 -9) is Gideon Stahlberg’s 🇸🇪 score after 15 rounds ... deceiving to say the least. OVERVIEW: Gideon Stahlberg is born in Surte (near Gothenburg), Sweden 🇸🇪 on January 28th 1908. Stählberg qualified for Zürich 1953 by equalizing the score of Yuri Averbakh at Saltsjobaden Interzonal 1952 (along with Szabó and Gligorić). FIRST PICTURE: BEST WIN! One of his only 2 wins so far in this tournament, Stahlberg won this game against Alexander Kotov 🇷🇺 (USSR) in the 2nd Round landing himself with a good start (1.5/2) after the game. He won the game with the black pieces after he pished 41...a5-a4 freezing and squeezing a win out of White’s incapable position. SECOND PICTURE: Gideon Stahlberg 🇸🇪 in action! THIRD PICTURE: COULD’VE HAPPENED! Yes, the bishop on e4 is a white bishop (making it checkmate on the black king). This could’ve been the most beautiful game of the tournament if Stahlberg hadn’t resigned too early before potentially playing till this position a few moves later (It would’ve been 49. h4, and if black plays the blunder 49...h6?? then 50.Qxc5!!, Qxc5 and Be4# (see the position)). 4TH PICTURE: MISSED WIN If Stahlberg would’ve played 45.h4 (earlier in the same game as the third position), White would be winning (Ne8+, Kg8, Nf6+ is a real threat because the black king now can’t go to g6 (Qg5# )). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #surte #gothenburg #sweden #stahlberg #chesspeople #chessplayers #chessmaster #chessgame #chesswin #chessboard #chesspieces #chesstactics #chessset #chesslovers #chessmoves #gideonståhlberg #zurich #1953 #chess #chesshistory #chessmatch #chesstravel #croatialandscape #croatiaviews #vista (at Surte, Sweden) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0B49yXhypa/?igshid=1uset73wl9rq7

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smartgirlsaremean · 7 years

Text

Stiltskin Family Bonding - Chapter 7

Fandom: OUAT

Relationships: Papafire, Henry & Rumplestiltskin, Henry & Nealfire, Rumbelle, Swanfire

Rating: N/R

Summary: The Stiltskin boys bond in a variety of ways. Sometimes it goes well, other times...not so much.

AO3

Chapter 7 - The Games We Play

@sagesequoia prompted: Stiltskin Family Bonding Prompt: perhaps the Stiltskins play a board game/have a game night together?

“King me!” Henry crowed.

Rumplestiltskin groaned and placed one black checker on top of the other.

“You suck at this,” Neal said mildly from behind him.

“Bloody ridiculous game,” the sorcerer muttered.

“You’re a chess master, how can you be so bad at checkers?”

“Chess requires deep thought, an intimate knowledge of strategies and the movements of the pieces. This - it’s just jumping about.”

“He’s not very good at Scrabble, either,” Belle offered from the couch where she was entertaining Gideon.

Rumplestiltskin turned and gave his wife a wounded look. “Thank you, dear.”

She shrugged and grinned. “You like to build the longest words - that doesn’t always mean they’re the highest-scoring.”

“I thought you were all about the strategy, Pops.”

“Scrabble should be a game of vocabulary, not strategy!”

Neal rubbed a hand over his mouth to hide a smile. When Henry had thoroughly trounced his grandfather, he went to the games shelf and started rifling through the boxes there. All Henry had had to do was mention that the Charmings held weekly game nights, and Rumple had gone to the toy store and purchased one of every game in stock. From Candyland to Cards Against Humanity, the Golds had it all, and Neal thought it was hilarious.

“There’s gotta be something in here Grandpa’s good at,” Henry said. Rumplestiltskin ground his teeth and put the board and checkers in their box with exaggerated care. Henry shifted boxes around in the cabinet. “Chess...boring. Twister...too many old people…��

“Excuse me?” Belle gasped.

“Got it!” Henry pulled out a box and showed it to the room, grinning triumphantly.

Neal laughed. “Yeah, that’s perfect for your grandpa.”

“Guesstures?” Rumplestiltskin looked confused.

“If anyone has a flair for the dramatic it’s you, Rumple,” Belle pointed out.

“But Dad and Grandpa can’t be on the same team,” Henry said.

“What? Why not?” Neal asked.

“Because you’re pretty dramatic too.”

“Am not!”

“Yeah, okay. I guess it was someone else’s idea to hang an engagement ring from a dreamcatcher and hang it from Mom’s rearview mirror.”

“I was trying to be romantic.”

“And that’s not dramatic how?”

“Fine, whatever. I’ll be on Belle and Gid’s team.” Neal flopped on the couch and crossed his arms, drawing a giggle from his baby brother.

“Okay with me,” Henry shrugged. He pulled the game out of its box and began to study the rules. “We’re going first.”

An hour later, Emma climbed the front steps of the pink Victorian and paused before knocking on the door. There were strange sounds coming from inside the house - well, in most other circumstances laughter wouldn’t necessarily be strange, but this was the Golds’ house. She knocked, but either no one heard or no one cared, so she pushed the door open and peered inside.

Belle, Gideon, Neal, and Henry were on the couch, Belle and Neal leaning on each other and breathless with laughter. Rumplestiltskin stood in front of them, his face red with either exertion or embarrassment, waving his arms and legs in what Emma thought might be some kind of weird dance.

“Karate!” Henry shouted, and the sorcerer lunged for a small box on the coffee table, plucking a white card out of the top.

“That was not karate,” Neal wheezed from beside his stepmother. “That was...I have no idea what that was.”

“Doesn’t matter. I guessed it, so we win!” Henry said.

“Is this exercise in humiliation quite finished?” Rumplestiltskin asked from the center of the room, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

“Yeah, looks like Mom’s here,” Henry said, waving an arm at Emma. She waved and tried not to smirk as Rumplestiltskin flushed more deeply.

“You guys ready to go yet?” she asked Neal and Henry.

“Yeah, just about.” Neal sat up and straightened his hair and shirt. “All quiet on the Storybrooke front?”

“Not even a noise complaint today,” Emma said. She moved to stand beside Belle and smile at the baby. “I guess it’s a good thing you don’t have any close neighbors.”

“Thanks for having us, Pops, Belle.” Neal rose and pulled his father into an awkward one-armed hug.

“Of course,” Belle beamed.

“Bye, Grandpa.” Henry hugged his grandfather tightly and Emma was torn between being touched and amused - no matter how many times Henry hugged him, the sorcerer always looked as if he wasn’t quite sure what was happening or whether he was allowed to reciprocate. When Henry had hugged Belle and shaken Gideon’s chubby little hand, the three of them turned to leave.

“Miss Swan,” Rumplestiltksin said suddenly. Emma turned, raising her eyebrows, and saw that he was standing stiffly, hands clasped before him. “You are, of course, welcome to join us at any time.”

Emma blinked. “Oh. Uh. Thanks. I’ll...think about it.”

“Do. You are family, after all.”

“Right.” Emma shook her head slightly. “Uh...see ya around.” He nodded, and she turned again to walk away. Family. She grinned to herself. She wondered if he realized that he was getting soft.

#papafire #neal cassidy #rumbelle #swanfire #henry mills #rumplestiltskin

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