#cecily’s got the right idea

[stabbydragon]

*clears throat* Can we just talk about how unfair it was that Cordelia was the one who got to kill Tatiana? Like there were a million other people who were way more qualified.

I’m pretty sure most people, like me, were rooting for Grace. After all, she was the one that Tatiana hurt most by physically abusing her, making her into a weapon, forcing her to brainwash James which made everyone she cares about mad at her, etc. Not to mention that Christopher, one of her only friends, the only person who defended her, and the one who encouraged her to pursue her passion for science, had just been MURDERED by Tatiana! And like, Grace was RIGHT THERE with a knife to Tatiana’s throat! Then CORDELIA had to come and ruin everything by summoning Lillith! WTF!?

Jesse was another person who had been hurt by Tatiana. This bitch, who he thought cared about him despite her flaws, as a mother should, SOLD HIM TO BELIAL so he could be possessed and forced to murder people which he would never do under any circumstances of his own free will! The guilt the poor boy must have gone through because of this bitch! Although personally, I don’t think he would be capable of murder, but it would have been better than fucking CORDELIA.

Also, the idea of either Jesse or Grace doing it to avenge their sibling? 😭

My second choice after Grace would be Lucie, who would be furious both because of Jesse being possessed, and because she had just found out that Tatiana had been the one to ruin James and Cordelia’s marriage, causing both her brother and parabatai a lot of pain. It would have set the scene for a fascinating conversation between her and Jesse regarding how they both felt about Tatiana’s death (the same is true for Grace) because I need more Ghostwriter scenes. Also, if she killed her partially on Grace’s behalf, it would better showcase what could have been a beautiful dynamic that desperately needs to be explored further. I need these too to become besties immediately! Lucie, unlike her boyfriend, totally deserved to be a morally ambiguous character. She had so much potential for stabbiness, so where’s all the stabbiness? It’s so unfair that she never gets to stab someone ONCE because she’s a main character and therefore needs to be morally perfect even though people who grew as rich as she did are the ones most likely to be evil. Besides, she could have ordered a ghost to do it while Lucie herself was far away, giving her an alibi, and any witnesses would not have seen the ghost. Honestly my preference would be if Lucie and Grace teamed up to do it together in Jesse’s name.

EVEN FUCKING JAMES a would have been a better option, not that I would like it much. He was the one who was brainwashed since he was fourteen after all. He was the one who kept on accidentally breaking his wife’s heart because of the gracelet.

While Cordelia was still hurt by Tatiana’s actions, she was farther removed from the situation. But because sHe’S tHe PrOtAgOnIsT, she had to be the one to do it. Not even of her own volition, but because she was being manipulated by a greater demon. Imagine all of your protagonists being so heroic and morally sound that they can’t even neutralize someone as twisted and dangerous and inhumane and this bitch without being physically magically controlled by Lillith herself. Is there anything more boring?

And what really makes me angry is that she finally gave in due to the death of one Christopher Lightwood, a character with whom she had no established dynamic. If this was CC’s plan all along, she could have made it so they had at least one single fucking conversation alone??? If the main catalyst for Tatiana’s death was Kit’s murder, then practically ANY OTHER CHARACTER a would have been better. Cecily and Gabriel and the others were in Idris but, once again, there’s Grace, Lucie, James, Thomas, Anna, Matthew, etc. Hell, even Rosamund Wentworth, who arrives pretty soon after Kit’s death, knew him longer than Cordelia!

*Ahem* Thank you for listening to my PSA

#chain of thorns #chot spoilers #tsc #the shadowhunter chronicles #the last hours #tlh #tatiana blackthorn #grace blackthorn #jesse blackthorn #lucie herondale #christopher lightwood #james herondale #anti Cordelia Carstairs

[dreamwritesimagines]

Enamored [29] - Confessions

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback my loves, you’re amazing!❤ I hope you’ll like this chapter as well, and please let me know what you think, thank you! ❤ And as always, thank you @theskytraveler for helping me with the chapter and the story❤

Summary: Midnight leads to whispered confessions. 

Warnings: Regency era society and social rules, mentions of sickness and death.

Word Count: 5000

Series Masterlist

Now that your best friend was back from her honeymoon, you couldn’t wait to actually enjoy living in the same house with her. You had been looking forward to it ever since she had got engaged to your brother, and now that they were married, you were going to have so much fun together.

Well, at least that had been the plan.

Your brother, on the other hand, seemed to have different plans.

You could barely see Cecily for almost a week after they had returned from Stormview. Anytime Elias was in the house, they were both busy, most of the time missing the breakfast or dinner. You had attempted to go upstairs to remind them of the time but for some reason, both the Duke and Aunt Lavinia had stopped you, telling you to leave them be.

So when Elias went outside to meet with Anthony and Simon at the gentlemen’s club, you had all but rushed upstairs to spend some time with Cecily.

It was the norm for a husband and wife to have separate bedrooms connected with a private door so that they could go to each other’s rooms if needed, though you weren’t sure why. Yet, Cecily’s room remained completely untouched, and apparently her and Elias had decided to spend their nights in Elias’s room, using Cecily’s for her wardrobe and her belongings.

“You sleep in the same bed then?” you asked Cecily with a frown on your face and she lowered her head to hide her smile as she made herself busy with the earrings she was trying to choose from the jewelry box in her lap.

“Um—yes.”

Your frown deepened. “But why? You have your own bed here.”

Cecily shifted her weight, trying to repress her smile and you sat up straighter.

“Cece, you must tell me what happens after one gets married!”

She pressed the back of her hands on her cheeks, shaking her head.

“I cannot!”

“But why not?” you whined, “I would’ve told you if it were me!”

“I will tell you right before your wedding,” she promised you. “And I will do a better job than my mama did.”

“What did she say?”

“Something completely different.”

“But what happens, really?” you insisted. “I will never get married, I told you. I’ve decided to become a spinster.”

She tilted her head to shoot you a look. “You’re being nonsense.”

“I’m not!” you said. “So you might as well tell me now. Is it that scandalous?”

“Oh more scandalous than you could ever think.”

“Cece!”

“I swear to you I will tell you before your wedding—you’re not going to become a spinster,” she cut you off when she saw you open your mouth. “Speaking of weddings, how is everything with you and Anthony?”

You pulled back slightly. “What do you mean?”

“How’s your…” she trailed off and smiled slightly. “Friendship?”

“Why do you sound so sarcastic about my friendship with him?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about—what do you think about these earrings for the Buxton Ball? With that gown over there?”

You thought for a second, then shook your head.

“Not those but,” you said, reaching into the jewelry box to pull out a pair of diamond earrings. “These would go well with—”

You never got to finish your sentence when a resounding thud reached upstairs and a sharp scream made you and Cecily both leap out of the bed to get out of the room.

“My lord!” you heard a maid’s voice right before you reached the stairs and as soon as you saw what was happening at the bottom of the stairs, your blood ran cold.

The Duke was lying on the floor unconscious, two maids and the butler were checking whether he was alright while the rest of the staff rushed to the foyer. You could almost feel your whole mind freeze in panic and you just stood there, pinned to your spot, unable to look away from him. Cecily ran past you to hurry downstairs as she got on her knees to check whether he was still breathing, then turned to the head valet.

“Send word to the doctor and Lord Westcliff,” she said. “Now!”

                                                            *

The footmen carried the Duke to his bedroom as soon as the doctor got there. You and Cecily were basically the only members of the family in the house at the moment, Elias was outside, Kenneth was with Hugh probably at the park and Iona had gone to the modiste with Aunt Lavinia, so all decisions were to be made by you or Cecily—

Well.

Made by Cecily, because you couldn’t even think through the panic, let alone decide on anything or speak.

You kept your eyes on your father who was lying on the bed unconscious as the doctor talked to Cecily while you just leaned back to the wall by the corner of the room, trying your hardest to focus but before you could pull yourself together, the door opened and Elias walked in, breathing hard as if he had just run there.

“Elias!” Cecily rushed to him to hug him and he wrapped his arms around her for a moment as Anthony stepped into the room as well, making you turn your head.

Somehow, his mere presence was enough to soothe this horror that had taken control of you. He kept your gaze in his for a moment, but before he could do anything, Elias walked past him to pull you into a hug.

“Are you alright?” he asked and you nodded slowly.

“I am,” you murmured and he pressed a kiss on top of your head before walking back to the doctor. You bit inside your cheek, leaning back to the wall as your eyes followed him until they fell on the Duke. Anthony stepped closer to you to stand beside you, his hand close to yours, almost touching.

“What happened?” Elias asked the doctor and he took a deep breath.

“My lord, it seems that Duke Avon has had a problem with his heart,” he said. “Small issues such as these are not ideal, but can occur from time to time. That’s not the threat at this point, but…”

You held your breath and Elias swallowed thickly.

“But?” he asked and the doctor took a deep breath.

“The marchioness says he fell down the stairs?”

“He did,” Cecily said and the doctor looked at the Duke.

“A head injury such as this may cause fever.”

And just like that, blood rushed to your ears, muffling your hearing. You could swear you were pinned to your spot as you stared at the doctor, completely frozen.

“These couple of hours are crucial, and we cannot do nothing else but wait.”

Out.

You need to get out.

“Excuse me,” you heard yourself murmur before you walked out of the room as fast as you could as if someone was chasing you. You had no idea where you were going, you just knew you couldn’t stay there any longer, not when—

No.

You couldn’t think about that, not now.

You went through the first door you got to and found yourself in the library, but you could barely pay any attention. You went to open the nearest window, then sat down on the floor before you lied on your back, sniffling.

Fever.

It was fever.

Like before, like what happened with your mother, like those last days.

You shut your eyes tight, willing to stop the thoughts from making their way to your mind and tried to focus on something else, anything else.

The footsteps coming closer made you open your eyes and Anthony entered your sight. It wasn’t logical at all, yet you couldn’t help but feel as if everything would be fine just because he was there. Though panic was pulsing through your veins, him being with you offered more relief than you thought was possible.

“That looks uncomfortable,” he commented. “Do you mind if I join you?”

You kept your eyes on him before you turned your head to fix your gaze on the highest point of the shelf.

“Why not? It’s a funeral after all.”

“It’s not a funeral.”

“It’s fever.”

“Exactly.”

“I don’t think you understand,” you insisted. “It’s fever, Anthony.”

A look of realization dawned on his face before he took a deep breath, then came to lay beside you.

“I’m sorry about your mother,” he said slowly. “I really am, but it doesn’t have to be the same for your father. Sometimes a fever is just fever.”

“And sometimes it’s not,” you murmured. “And before you say anything, I’m not going back there, I can’t. I already saw one parent die and I’d say that’s enough for one year, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Even if you’re right,” he said. “I’m not saying you are, but even if you are, trust me. You would regret it until the rest of your days if you weren’t there for him when the…when the time came.”

You pulled your brows together and turned to look at him better, guilt crashing down on you before you sniffled again.

“Can we just stay here for a little while?”

He smiled softly as held out his hand for you, and you hesitated for a moment, then entwined your fingers with his. A warmth spread from your hand, spreading through your whole system as his thumb caressed your skin, distracting you for a moment before you heaved a trembling sigh.

“I told him he was a disappointment,” the confession left your lips in a whisper and he frowned.

“Hm?”

“He didn’t allow me to marry Pierre,” you said, his grip tightening on your hand only for a moment as if he feared you would leave before it loosened again. “And I saw red, and I told him he was a disappointment to my mother, just to hurt him.”

“Y/N.”

“And the funny part is, she never said anything like that about him,” you said. “She never called him a disappointment, and I said it to hurt him, I said it to—”

“You’re his daughter, and he loves you, no matter what you told him.”

A bitter laughter escaped from your lips.

“I never wanted his love,” you said almost automatically. “My mother did. He should’ve given it to her instead.”

“You and I both know that’s not true.”

You clicked your tongue.

“I’m supposed to be angry at him,” you said through your teeth. “I promised myself I wouldn’t even go to his funeral, I shouldn’t be feeling like this.”

“It’s okay to not want to lose him,” Anthony said. “You’re not betraying anyone by feeling such, least of all your mother.”

A silence fell upon you and you bit inside your cheek, then squeezed at his hand.

“Anthony?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you,” you murmured. “For being here.”

A soft light crossed his gaze.

“I will always be here,” he said, his voice low. “No matter what.”

You could feel the tears rushing to your eyes but you managed to blink them back, swallowing thickly.

“Good,” you said inaudibly. “I like the sound of that.”

                                         *

By the night time, the house was more crowded than usual. Aunt Lavinia was back, so were Kenneth and Iona, and Lady Bridgerton had arrived to help with—

Well, anything really.

There was a completely different world going on outside the room, but inside the room, it was just you and Elias and the Duke. The doctor hadn’t said when the Duke would wake up, or whether he would or not for that matter, so the only thing to do was wait.

Which you were used to.

“I’ve heard one of the maids say…” Elias croaked out, “Say that I walked in here a marquess and I will walk out a duke.”

You shook your head even if you were thinking exactly the same. “You don’t know that. No one does.”

“Don’t we?”

“Elias.”

“I can’t lose him too,” Elias murmured. “I’ve already lost mom and I can’t…”

“The doctor said he might wake up.”

“Y/N, I’m not ready,” he said. “I’m not ready for any of this, least of all being a duke—”

“If it happens,” you said. “You have me, and Cecily, and Anthony. Trust me you will be fine, we will all help you. You won’t be alone in this.”

He nibbled on his lip and stole a look at you.

“How do you feel?”

“That’s not important.”

“Y/N—”

“It’s not the first time I sit beside a parent’s bed not knowing whether they will make it to the morning,” you forced yourself to say. “I’m fine.”

He wrapped an arm around you and pressed a kiss on top of your head.

“He loves you, you know that right?”

You blinked back the tears and scrunched up your nose, a bitter smile curling your lips.

“Eh, it’s not like I gave him any reason to.”

“That’s not true.”

“Elias, I’m fine,” you lied through your teeth. “I’m more worried about you right now.”

Elias opened his mouth, but then turned his head when the door opened. Aunt Lavinia sniffled, her eyes bloodshot.

“Elias, we need you outside for a moment,” she said. “There are things that need to be signed and Percy is…”

She couldn’t finish the sentence, and Elias’s jaw clenched, then he nodded before standing up.

“Y/N—”

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” you said and Elias took a deep breath, then walked out of the room, leaving you alone with the Duke. You heaved a sigh and reached for the wet cloth in the bowl of cold water, then wrung it before pressing it on his forehead.

“Mom never said that about you,” the confession left your lips in a whisper. “To be honest, she would probably ground me if she heard I called you such.”

The only thing that could be heard in the room was his stable breathing.

“And I’ve seen the room at the Stormview Park,” you said. “It’s clear there are things I do not know about my mother, or about you for that matter. Perhaps it’s because no one tells me anything. You and my mother have that in common.”

You dropped the cloth into the water before you wrung it again.

“I asked her numerous times, you know?” you said. “What really happened between you two, what your marriage was like… She always said, “the past will drown you if you let it ma chérie, best not give it the power” but I’ve always wondered whether she was in love with you, deep down. But you were, weren’t you? You were in love with her.”

He moved his head just a little and you pulled back the cloth, still holding it tight before the foreign word spilled from your lips.

“…Father?”

His eyes fluttered but didn’t open, and you let out the breath you were holding, shaking your head at yourself.

“Right,�� you muttered. “Didn’t work with mom, wouldn’t work with—”

“Cassie?”

Your head shot up and you stared at the Duke whose eyes closed again even though he seemed to be fighting to open them, and goosebumps rose on your arms while your whole body froze.

“I’m sorry,” he managed to mumble and you blinked back the tears, letting out a shaky breath as he opened his eyes again, “Cassie I’m so sorry, I never should’ve believed him, please forgive me…”

“It’s okay,” you said through frozen lips, “Just save your strength, alright? Rest, I’ll be here.”

His eyes closed again and you clenched your teeth, commanding yourself to be calm as you repressed the sob climbing up your throat.

You were alright.

You weren’t going to burst into tears just because he was dreaming of your mother on his death bed just like she had dreamed of him—

The door opened and Aunt Lavinia stepped inside, wiping at her eyes.

“You should rest a little Y/N.”

“He is in an out of consciousness,” you said. “It’s better if I’m here I think.”

“I’ll be here,” she assured you, “Go and try to get some sleep.”

“I won’t be able to sleep, Aunt Lavinia.”

“Try anyway,” she offered you a small smile. “I mean it, I will get you dragged out of this room if need be. Go and get some rest.”

You sighed and nodded your head, then pushed your seat back and walked out of the room as if someone was chasing you.

You made your way to the main drawing room and by some miracle, it was empty. You figured it made sense, Lady Bridgerton was probably helping Cecily run the household upon such an emergency and Anthony had to be with Elias, so they were probably both in the study. Kenneth had taken Iona outside for some fresh air because she had been crying since she heard what had happened, so—

You were alone.

You walked to the sofa by the corner of the room, walking past the fireplace that was warming up the room and sat down before you curled up on the sofa, pulling the pillow under your head, blinking back the tears.

Fever made people see things, that wasn’t unusual.

You wiped at your eyes, gritting your teeth at yourself and closed your eyes, exhaustion making its way to your head, making all the thoughts fuzzy. You could feel the peaceful numbness of sleep surrounding you and soon enough, you felt yourself being pulled into darkness.

You didn’t know how long you had slept, but someone saying your name along with the pleasant scent made you open your eyes and you blinked groggily, taking in your surroundings. Anthony’s coat was on you, no doubt to keep you warm while you slept and he and Lady Bridgerton were sitting on the armchairs by the fireplace. The sofa you were lying on was in the darkest corner of the room unlike the light of the fire making it easier for you to see them, and you stole a look at the clock on the wall.

4:30.

“Not yet,” Anthony said, “I don’t want to disturb her, let her sleep some more.”

Lady Bridgerton smiled at him.

“You two have been spending more time together as I’ve noticed.”

Anthony looked down at the drink in his hand.

“She no longer walks on air,” Lady Bridgerton said, “But the last time I saw her, she looked happier than…before.”

Anthony sipped his drink and nodded.

“That’s my fault,” he rasped out and offered her a sad smile. “I took that from her and I don’t—I don’t know if it’ll ever come back, mother.”

She heaved a sigh.

“Anthony, you must talk about it with someone,” she said. “You don’t have to give me all the details, just…tell me. I swear it’ll make you feel better.”

Anthony let out a bitter chuckle. “Jesus, where do I even start?”

“From the beginning.”

You held your breath, keeping your gaze on his handsome face as he took a look around the room.

“I first met her right here,” he muttered. “The day after she arrived, and I thought…” He paused for a moment, then took a deep breath,

“I have never seen another person who is happier to be just alive,” he ended up saying. “It was strange, really. Even when I first saw her when she arrived in London—it’s the type of happiness that takes everyone around her under its own spell.”

You swallowed thickly as Lady Bridgerton’s smile widened.

“My dear, that wasn’t the first time you saw her.”

You frowned at the same time Anthony did.

“What do you mean?” he asked and Lady Bridgerton tilted her head.

“You don’t remember?” she asked. “I mean you were just a little boy but you did see her. Before Cassie left, I took you to Stormview and you and Elias sneaked into her room to look at her.”

Anthony pulled back. “Really?”

“Oh yes,” she said. “And apparently –I have no idea how you two did it— but you climbed to the crib to look inside and you ran back to me, exclaiming; she smiled at me!”

You felt a smile curl your lips and Anthony let out a small chuckle.

“Well, then nothing changed,” he said. “Years and years later, she arrived here and she smiled at me and…that was it. That was enough.”

Lady Bridgerton reached out to squeeze his hand. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Anthony said. “The funny thing is, she thinks she was the first to realize her feelings for me.”

“It was you?”

“It was me,” Anthony nodded. “I knew my feelings for her long before she did, I was just trying to ignore it. Took me a while to understand it wouldn’t work.”

“When did you know?” Lady Bridgerton asked and you held your breath.

“Do you remember that picnic we went to, the day after you invited her for tea? Simon and Daphne made me go with all of you?”

“Yes and you two were seen talking by the bridge? Daphne all but ran to ask me about you two that day.”

Anthony pointed at her with his glass, then took a sip.

“It was then,” he said. “Right on that bridge. We were talking and that whole time, I didn’t want it to end, like I could spend an eternity there, just being with her, talking to her. And then Eloise and Penelope came to take her to the garden, and I was watching her leave, and I remember thinking to myself that…”

Lady Bridgerton stayed quiet and Anthony turned to look at her.

“Sunlight shifts as she walks,” he said, making your heart beat in your ears. “I couldn’t look away— I can’t look away. Ever.”

A silence fell upon the room, and Lady Bridgerton took a deep breath.

“I could tell,” she said. “You were so happy. Happier than I’ve seen you in years and then…”

“Then I ruined it.” Anthony finished her sentence for her before downing his drink and reached out to pour himself another while you bit on your lip, watching them.

“I will not ask what happened, it’s clear that it pains you, just like it pains her,” Lady Bridgerton said. “But I know that she loves you, Anthony. Anyone can see that.”

Anthony’s voice was a mere whisper: “I don’t know if that will be enough for her to forgive me.”

“Do you want to be with her?”

“More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

“Then it will be enough,” she said. “You two might not see it yet, but it will be.”

A tear escaped from your eye and you bit inside your cheek, commanding yourself to be quiet in your head.

“Heartbreak does not last forever,” Lady Bridgerton said. “Especially if love is still there.”

“It lasted a lifetime with her parents.”

Lady Bridgerton shook her head. “That was different.”

“It might not be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember what Avon said to me?” he asked. “How I was living his cautionary tale? How there were parallels?”

The Duke had talked to Anthony?

Oh—

That had to have been when he sent you back into the ballroom, at the first ball you had attended after your heartbreak.

“Cassie and Percival…” Lady Bridgerton trailed off and scoffed a humorless laugh. “They burned very bright just like you two, I admit. There are some similarities between you and them but Percival is wrong. It’s not the same.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’ve seen them, and I’ve seen you two together,” she said gently as you gawked at her. “Cassie was one of the sharpest people I’ve ever seen, she was passionate, hypnotizing even, but she could also be ruthless when she wanted to, just like Percival. They found the perfect reflection of their own chaos in each other but towards the end of it their marriage was nothing but an emotional boxing match. They both knew exactly where to hit to make it hurt.”

You tried to swallow the lump in your throat.

“They didn’t teach that kind of malice, that kind of hostility to their children,” she said. “They raised them better than that, and that’s how it’s different, they made it right with them. Neither her, nor Elias will ever make the mistakes their parents did.”

“But her and I...”

“You two don’t have it in you to hurt each other like that,” Lady Bridgerton said. “It’s obvious even in the way you look at each other, Anthony.”

“I didn’t understand Avon before,” he admitted after a beat, “After the divorce he’s never been with anyone else, never recovered, never moved on, but I understand it now. It’s because once you…once you have that person and you lose her because of your own mistake, because of your own doing, you can’t even consider anyone else. Even the thought of it feels impossible.”

“You’re saying if she never forgives you—”

“It’s either her or no one,” Anthony cut her off, making your heart skip a beat. “I told you before. There will be no one else for me. I don’t care how long I have to wait.”

“And if she marries someone else?”

Even under the dim light you could see the flicker of pain on his face.

“Even if she marries someone else,” he said. “When she forgives me, when she no longer has a husband, when…you name it. Even if it’s just one day with her, it’ll be worth it.”

“You’re willing to wait for your whole life with the hopes that one day she might be with you?”

Anthony nodded and sniffled before heaving a shaky sigh.

“The hope of maybe being with her one day is better than the lifelong torment of knowing I cannot be with her,” he said. “If I have to spend my whole life waiting for it, then so be it. At least it will be spent on something worthy.”

“Anthony…”

He cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes before rolling his shoulders back, sitting up straighter and it was only when you realized tears were freely falling from your eyes. A silence fell upon the room but before anyone could say anything, you heard footsteps approaching and you closed your eyes to pretend to be asleep.

Soon enough, Cecily’s voice carried into the room.

“Your room is ready Lady Bridgerton,” she said. “Anthony, yours too.”

“How’s Elias?”

“Aunt Lavinia all but kicked him out of the Duke’s room so that he could sleep but…” Cecily trailed off, making you feel as if something was squeezing at your heart. “He just dozed off, I don’t know for how long.”

“You should try to get some rest as well Cecily.”

“I will soon. Once I make sure everyone is comfortable—Y/N is still sleeping here?”

“I can carry her to her room,” Anthony said and there was the sound of shuffling before you felt him lifting you up into his arms. You wrapped an arm around his neck, burying your face into his chest, his scent filling your nostrils, disbelief still making you feel dizzy.  

“I’m awake,” you mumbled, your voice way too weak but neither of them listened to you.

“Where’s…?”

“I’ll take you there, follow me.” Cecily said and Anthony followed her into the hallway before he reached the door to your room. Cecily opened it for him, and he gently placed you on the bed before pulling the covers over you, and you rubbed your eyes and looked up at him.

“You should try to get some sleep,” Anthony said, caressing your cheekbone with his knuckles, awakening fire underneath your skin as you tried to keep yourself from entwining your fingers with his.

“Cece, could we have a moment?” you rasped out and Cecily’s eyes darted between you two.

“I’m right outside,” she said and closed the door behind her, and you pulled yourself upright to sit on the bed.

“He’s not awake yet, is he?”

“Your father?” Anthony asked. “No, but your aunt is with him. You need to get some rest.”

“Will you stay?”

Anthony paused for a moment, then licked his lips.

“I wish I could,” he admitted. “But if anyone saw me leaving your room...”

“It’d be a scandal,” you finished his sentence for him and he took a deep breath.

“I’ll be in the house,” he said. “I’m not leaving, I promise. Send for me when you wake up, I’ll be here in seconds.”

You nodded slowly and wiped at your eyes again before sniffling and he reached into his waistcoat to pull out a handkerchief to offer it to you—

The handkerchief that you had embroidered. You stared at the stitching of your handwriting, then looked up at him.

“You kept it.”

Anthony frowned as if the thought of not keeping it was out of question.

“It’s the only thing I have of you,” he said. “Of course I kept it.”

You wiped your eyes with the handkerchief before you lowered it to fiddle with it, the guilt crashing down on you all of a sudden.

“I don’t have anything of you,” you confessed. “I burned them all and now there’s nothing.”

Anthony stared at you for a moment before he shot you a soft smile.

“That’s not exactly true,” he said, his voice low. “You have my heart in your grasp.”

A small smile curled your lips as well.

“Spoils of war,” you murmured. “You said it yourself. It hurt me so it’s my right to claim it.”

A fond light crossed his eyes before he nodded.

“It’s yours,” he said. “Completely. To do as you wish with it.”

You swallowed thickly and looked up at him as he leaned in to press a kiss on top of your head, his hand cradling your cheek.

“Good night, Y/N.”

“Good night,” you whispered and watched him walk out of the room before he closed the door behind him.

Then you lifted the handkerchief to press it on your lips and slipped under the covers, closing your eyes.

Chapter 30

#anthony bridgerton #anthony bridgerton x reader #Bridgerton #bridgerton x reader #regency fic

[ququb444hm]

thanks a lot, cupid

part 02 / surrounded by homosexuals ☆

masterlist

warning(s): possible typos, profanity

let’s give a little context, shall we? currently, we are set a few months prior to the present timeline– yn’s sophomore year, nearing the end of sophomore year to be specific. she and keiji have been dating for 5 months, and today is the annual art exhibition of yūgen university, a day where all the art students gather their most prized and successful art pieces for the public to view and even buy off during the auction portion of the event. as joyous as this day should be, yn’s mind clouded with thoughts regarding her boyfriend.

keiji was great! he was sweet, thoughtful, evidently handsome, and universally, an ideal boyfriend. but… recently the spark seemed to die out. with promised dates being frequently forgotten and feelings bottled within the two individuals, until they decide to burst and drench the couple with a bitter taste, yn was beginning to think it would be a good idea to break up.

this takes us to a gloomy yn who just finished getting ready for tonight's event, waiting for her brother and his girlfriend to make their way from the downstairs flower shop to the apartment above. identifiable voices followed familiar footsteps up the building’s stairs. “you ready, picasso?” tetsurou chimed, head peeking through the rails.

cecily followed suit, giggling about, “ohh, you got the name right this time!”

“what can I say, I support the art community.”

“yeah, I'm ready.” yn answered, walking over to the two.

“oh wow,” cecily awed, staring at the younger girl. “you look great, peach. let me go freshen up, I’ll meet the two of you in the car. give me five minutes!” in a hurry, the oldest of the three swept over to her bedroom to get dressed as the kuroo siblings grabbed their belongings before exiting the premises.

“keiji texted me,” tetsurou mumbled, opening the car door for his sister. “said he can’t make it to the exhibition.” the second half of the sentence was almost inaudible if not for yn’s perked ears.

“for some reason that doesn’t surprise me.”

“tried to see if it was a surprise and he was just saying that to catch me off guard, but apparently he forgot about today and accidentally scheduled something else that he can't reschedule.”

“how romantic. well, that adds more reasons why we should break up.” yn murmured, picking up her phone to check if keiji decided to text her the news himself, “did he say anything as to why he couldn’t tell me any of this himself? or was it the usual use tetsurou as my personal messenger?”

as a response, tetsurou passed his phone over to yn with the screen showing his conversation with keiji.

please tell yn for me I don’t think I have enough courage to do so myself. I’m sorry.

the car ride to the university was quiet despite cecily’s attempts to try and get the siblings into a conversation. once parked, the three made their way to the art building to transfer yn’s paintings to the place the exhibition was being held where a crowd of friends and family of other art students awaited to enter.

“holy shit. the crowd seems bigger than it was in freshmen year.” mori gasped, fingers fidgeting with his nametag.

ignoring the whole relationship situation, yn couldn’t help the growing feeling of excitement for tonight's event. her art occupied a huge chunk of her heart and soul. she spent laborious days, weeks, and months on her paintings. sure her boyfriend who she was going to break up with couldn’t make it and somehow talk her into not breaking up but! her friends, her brother, and proud administrators who have actually supported and encouraged her passion were with her, and that’s all that mattered.

the event itself went smoothly. various compliments and pictures with admirable professionals struck yn’s heart with pure serotonin, “If I died right at this moment, I swear I would die with no regrets.”

“that’s a lie. you’d die a virgin which is lame.” rin interjected,

“nothing wrong with that.” koushi said matter of factly.

“says the non-virgin.” tooru smirked, earning multiple gags from the group.

rin rolled his eyes at the couple, “first of all, ew. second, the auction is starting in fifteen minutes, mr. vanderaz said to start putting the things you wanna auction off into the stage room.”

“oh! I need help moving my things then,” mori exclaimed, “see you there, yn!” he gave his best friend a quick hug before dragging rintarou, tooru, and koushi over to help him.

“alright! which pretty paintings do you want moved over to the stage room?” koutarou beamed, ruffling the girl’s hair.

“oh, these three please!” yn answered, pointing over to the three beside her, “also, I really gotta make a quick phone call, I’ll meet you guys there?”

cecily, who yn informed about her thoughts regarding breaking up with keiji, quickly understood what was happening. “meet you there, peaches.” she gave a reassuring kiss on the girl’s cheek before going over to tetsurou and koutarou to help carry the canvases.

quickly making her way outside the building to a secluded bench, yn dialed keiji’s number half hoping for him to pick up, half hoping that maybe she wouldn’t have to hear his voice and cry because she hated ending things, especially a 5 month relationship. A few seconds passed before the overfamiliar calming voice of keiji akaashi was heard on the other side of the line,

“yn?”

“hey, uhm are you busy right now?”

“…kind of? not really, why what's wrong? how’s the art exhibition? I’m sorry I couldn’t make it…”

“It’s fine…I mean no it's not fine-”

“what do you mean? did you get hurt?”

“no, no that’s not what I meant. I was referring to you not coming…I actually called because I wanted to talk about us.”

“oh.”

“keiji… you’re a great guy but these few months have been really emotionally draining for me and I just don’t think I can do this anymore. you haven't been keeping your promises and with all the small arguments we’ve had recently, I just…I think it would be best if we…if we broke up.”

“…”

“keiji? keiji please respond. this is really hard for me too and I just really need you to say something. anything. please.”

“I’m sorry for all the hurt I’ve caused you yn…I’m sorry.”

the sound signaling the call ended echoed throughout the empty night, drowning out the bustling noise from the inside of the building and it wasn’t until the soft pitter patter of rain that yn realized she had been holding in bulky tears that now streamed down her face, warming her cold cheeks.

a few minutes passed until someone noticed yn’s absence and went to look for her. finding the crying girl outside and alone made the heart of the individual ache. slow, quiet footsteps made their way to the bench, stopping in front of the girl. no words were exchanged, just pitying eyes and a warm embrace.

“thank you, kozu.”

part 01 ugly and bitchless <- | masterlist | -> part 03 stuck w me

note(s): none of the pictures used are mine!!

#🐈.thanksalotcupid #kozume kenma #kenma kozume #kozume kenma x reader #kozume kenma x fem!reader #kenma kozume x reader #kenma kozume x fem!reader #kenma x reader #kozume x reader #smau #kenma smau #haikyuu #haikyuu smau #haikyuu!! #haikyuu!! smau

[kitkatt0430]

Spike for character ask game

one aspect about them i love

He's really such a disaster. For every badass thing he achieves, he also just completely screws something up. Kills Slayers, but also gets smacked with an axe by a Slayer's mom and it messes up his day. Makes dramatic speeches and gets immediately captured by the Initiative. Tries to kill Buffy, falls in love with her instead. Makes these impressive plans, gets bored halfway through the execution.

He would absolutely, unintentionally, re-enact Scotty claiming to know the Enterprise like the back of his hand and then immediately knocking himself unconscious from lack of spacial awareness from Star Trek. Just smack his head right into something - probably in the sewers - right after claiming to know the terrain well. That's just Spike's vibe sometimes. :D

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

Spike doesn't actually like himself much. He talks a good game, but even before he got his soul he saw himself as lovable because Dru loved him and when she cheated on him and broke up with him he spiraled because... if Drusilla didn't love him then who would?

Spike wanted someone who would love him when he was vulnerable as well as strong, who could love the poet, not just the monster. Who'd see something worthwhile in him even when he struggled to see it himself.

So if Spike isn't struggling with his feelings of self worth - soul or no soul - then is it really Spike?

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

He still writes his poetry. After what happened with Cecily, he's always been very careful to make sure no one - not even Drusilla - found it. Though clearly Angelous/Angel did at some point, given that Angel said he liked it. Darla and Drusilla never saw any of it.

one character i love seeing them interact with

Joyce. I think to some degree Spike saw some of his own mother in her. But also he just respected her a great deal. Quite the lady who would go after a vampire with an ax and no training. But would still give him relationship advice along with hot cocoa and marshmallows to cheer him up.

They both needed an adult friend with common interests and found that in each other.

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

Darla. I don't think we ever saw Spike with Darla outside of flashbacks and it would have been interesting if Darla had gone to Spike for help when she'd realized she was pregnant. I don't think Darla liked Spike much on a personal level, but she saw how he was with Drusilla. I could see her wanting to put that kind of protective focus onto her own child, especially as she came to realize that she wouldn't survive giving birth and was afraid of seeking out Angel for help.

Future fanfic idea? Maybe. :D

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

The first anniversary of Joyce's death after Sunnydale became a sinkhole, Spike went back to the edge of what remained of the town to leave flowers and pay his respects.

#kitkatt0430 answers #kitkatt0430 rambles #buffy the vampire slayer #spike (btvs) #fandom meta #btvs meta

[do-it-for-the-fandom]

Pls ramble for hours about your thought about season 3 caskett!!

Okay, just remember… you asked for this 🤣 Just to keep it clear in my mind I’ll go through episode by episode (thanks to Wikipedia for their handy dandy episodes lists that I refer to almost daily at this point, I swear).

I’ve been going through season 2 and 3 with a very critical eye in regards to Castle/Beckett interactions while in relationships with other people for a fic I’m working on so you might think some of this is very nitpicking (and tbh it probably is) but this is all based on a conversation I had with a friend where we discussed “if our significant other did these things, would be be okay with that?” and - spoiler alert - I’d like my partners goo-goo eyes to be aimed at me not the pretty ladies he works with 🤣

Anyway, here it is: my rambling about the ‘blurred lines’ and slightly questionable behaviour (most of which would be fine if it weren’t for the “they’re madly in love with one another but deeply in denial” of it all, you know?)

I know I said season 3 Caskett but we need to take a quick journey back to season 2 just for some background information. There is an important scene in season 2 that set us up for season 3 (in my opinion). It was like a little sprinkling that softened the “bad behaviour” of our favourites.

In 2x22 Food to Die For, Cecily (the victim’s ‘friend’) says “You have no idea how hard it is to love someone knowing they’re gonna break your heart.” and there is a look of understanding on Beckett’s face as she processes these words, as if she does know how hard it is.

Later, Beckett and Castle have a conversation about Wolf (the victim) and Cecily. It goes a little like this:

Castle: You ask me... she should've followed her heart-- left David, gone with Wolf.

Beckett: You know, I can see the virtue in staying. I mean, guys like Wolf, they come in, they upset the apple cart. Of course he makes you feel alive, but eventually, you know he's just gonna let you down. So why risk it?

Castle: Because the heart wants what it wants.

We learn two things from this conversation.

1. Beckett obviously relates to Cecily’s situation and - given what we can see from her interactions with Castle throughout this season vs her interactions with Demming (her boyfriend at the time) - it’s safe to say Demming isn’t her Wolf, Castle is.

2. Castle is a ‘hopeless romantic’. He can (and will) justify anything if it is in the name of love.

In the season 2 finale, Beckett was willing to take the risk, though. She left her David, her safe option, to pursue what the heart wants and it backfired before she even got that far! Beckett is guarded; she won’t let herself make that mistake again.

Then we get to season 3 and the red flags start popping up left, right and centre.

Beckett is still upset at Castle - but mostly at herself because she’s the one that allowed herself to think Castle wouldn’t break her heart. Castle makes his way back onto the team under the promise that it’s just one case, then a bet is made that if he solves the case first he can come back more permanently. In the end we find out (or, at least, it’s heavily implied - I cant 100% recall) that Beckett purposely lets Castle win so that he can come back.

Mistake number 1. If she really intended on ‘moving on’, she never should have let Castle back. Obviously she’s under the impression that they can be friends but she’s already lying to herself 🚩and that is a slippery slope. It also doesn’t take her very long to fall back into the habit of teasing and flirting with him which I’m also torn about. It can’t really be classed as harmless flirting, right, when there’s underlying feelings? But given that this has always been their ‘thing’, I do tend to overlook that.

My first major issue comes with episode 3x03 Under The Gun when we are introduced to Royce. There’s history there, a lot of great memories, I get it: she’s happy to see her training officer again!

Then things get a little personal; she had a crush on him, maybe he had feelings for her back in the day too, they have a moment.

And then he betrays her.

I’m feeling sorry for her right now, like… girl, do you need a hug?

Anyways, my 🚩🚩🚩 is that Josh is introduced to us (and the team) in literally the next episode. And not just mentioned in passing - he comes to the precinct! That doesn’t seem very “we’ve only been dating for a week” of him.

Throwback to before Ryan introduced Jenny to the team, Beckett said “I wouldn’t bring my boyfriend here.” and although Josh’s visit wasn’t planned, she also didn’t seem too bothered by his presence there.

My theory is she met Josh over the summer (while Castle was away), probably introduced by a mutual friend and it may have been a slow start/super casual thing at first that became more once Castle was back at the precinct. Maybe Josh wanted more from the beginning, but Beckett held back? Maybe Royce’s betrayal was the push she needed?

Because she’s been burned twice in such a short time; and here is this man - a young, handsome doctor who keeps just busy enough to not demand too much of her in her vulnerable state - that is into her and she’s into him. He’s interesting, he’s ambitious and passionate and there is definite potential for this to be love so, why not? He can be her safe option.

But, I don’t know, Josh’s “Kate hasn’t told you about me, has she?” just makes me feel like the relationship isn’t all that new, you know? So the Josh/Royce timeline does make me wonder.

Also, Castle went home that night and even Alexis said he was ‘distracted’ and seemed down. Like, you’re with Gina dude, why does Beckett having a boyfriend bother you? 🚩

In 3x05 Anatomy of a Murder, things seem to be fine again. Josh apparently is an effective distraction, Castle has his little fight with Gina but they make up and everything is all fairly neutral until Beckett and Castle are going through the love letters and Castle reads out the “I love you” line. They both have a very guilty kind of reaction to that. Why? Because they both obviously feel something, otherwise it would be a laughable moment.

And then Castle is all goo-goo eyes when Beckett says she’d get him out of prison, because his mother said that’s a sign of true love? Tell me you’re not in love with the person you’re dating without telling me you’re not in love with the person you’re dating. #poorGina. Now, I’m not saying you have to be in love right away… but when you’re going for shot #2 with your ex-wife you’d think after several months (or however long it’s been at this point) you’d be a little more committed. Idk, maybe that’s just me.

They have that moment after Jerry Tyson gets away but I really think that’s just a genuine moment of comfort and friendship. I think it’s really sweet.

I think that while Beckett’s relationship with Josh is going well, everything stays fairly neutral. Nothing else really flags for me until 3x11 Nikki Heat. Beckett really struggles with her jealousy but I think that’s just her realising that those feelings are still there, which she obviously has to process and deal with. Also I don’t think we can deny that watching someone ‘become you’ would be hella weird.

Castle, however, doesn’t even try to hide how much he is enjoying Nikki Heat coming to life and the more Natalie tries to be Kate, the more Castle likes her. It’s a little… odd.

And when Natalie kisses him, it’s not rushed. He has plenty of time to stop it but he doesn’t. His little “Natalie, I…” isn’t good enough in my opinion. Like, poor Gina… again.

Even the next morning when Beckett is pissed because she thinks that Castle slept with Natalie, no one is thinking about HIS GIRLFRIEND in all of this. Beckett even asks him why he didn’t sleep with her and was the answer “because I’m in a relationship”? No. No it was not. *sigh*

3x12 Poof! You’re Dead is where the cracks really show between Castle and Gina; the fight, the ignored calls and eventually the break up. Good riddance, I say. Anyways… I just wanted to mention one little moment that sticks with me: when Beckett pickpockets Castle’s phone and is holding it up, then Gina calls and Castle hangs up - you can see that she’s like ‘wtf was that about’ but she doesn’t ask. Now either this is absolutely killing her but she’s setting boundaries OR she’s genuinely starting to move on (not as likely). Even when Lanie brings up Gina, Beckett is playful but as soon as the fight is mentioned she looks super uncomfortable. Kind of like she knows this might be the end for Castle and Gina, and she isn’t sure how to feel about that.

Side note: getting Edmund to dress up as dead Zalman is completely unhinged like who thought that was okay? Effective, yes. But so unhinged. Surely that had to be traumatising haha.

I won’t rehash my thoughts on the 3x13 kiss; if you need refreshing on my take here’s the post.

I will say that Castle in this episode - specifically during Vulcan Simmons’ interrogation - was so 😍😍. The way he was so fiercely protective of Beckett omg. And then admitting to Martha that “this isn’t about the books anymore” I squee like a 12-year-old girl.

every. damn. time.

In Beckett’s apartment when she asks “so why do you keep coming back, Rick?” like omg 😱 the tension, the hesitation, THE USE OF HIS FIRST NAME, the intensity in their eye contact.

He 100% should have told her then and there that he loved her.

She was practically begging him to, right?

Josh was in Africa, she was emotionally vulnerable, her life in danger… she wasn’t thinking straight. Not sure if she was testing herself or Castle, but his answer (aka his avoidance of confessing his feelings and instead just insisting that he is there for her) obviously passed the test.

Which is probably for the best. Because even if he had confessed his feelings, even if something had happened between them; it would have been too messy of a beginning for it to end well. It more than likely would have ruined everything so…

Anyways, I’m getting sidetracked.

The next case in 3x14 Lucky Stiff gives us yet another undercover side mission - aka, this iconic Caskett moment:

Like, girl 🥵 I can’t breathe why are you doing this? She is looking at him with pure lust in her eyes. It is sooooo unnecessary.

But I don’t mind this little flirty dance too much, I just brought it up because I wanted to use the GIFs 🤭

3x16 Setup and 3x17 Countdown Beckett is distracted and she is struggling, very obviously. Josh is leaving again, she doesn’t want him to go; it’s obvious that she sees this might be the beginning of the end for them. But it’s not because she doesn’t love him (I do believe that by this point she has very real feelings for him) but because I think she’s starting to recognise the same problems she has had in previous relationships - *cough* Sorensen *cough* - she doesn’t feel like a priority; once again she’s taken a back seat to the guys career.

Which does confuse me a little bit. I mean, Beckett wouldn’t put a man ahead of her career (and she doesn’t, we see that later on in the series) so I really don’t see her expecting someone to put her ahead of their career. Which makes me think that this wasn’t the real issue. My question is: does Beckett know that this wasn’t the real issue?

Maybe she just senses that something isn’t right and assumes that it is his leaving again? Or maybe she knows exactly why she is feeling this way - *cough* Castle *cough* - but doesn’t want to admit that to herself so she finds another excuse? Like, this is obviously an issue but is it the issue?

But omg was Beckett going to say “I love you” to Castle? I do find this totally plausible. Her relationship is on the rocks and she thinks that she is just moments from certain death; what has she got to lose?

Anyways, Josh chooses to stay and apparently that’s all Beckett needs to be reassured 🚩🚩🚩

Like, surely if she had gotten that close to saying those three words to Castle (which, I guess we don’t actually know if that’s what she was going to say, right?) she would see that her relationship with Josh wasn’t going to work.

Now, my friend and I actually disagreed on Beckett and Castle going to see a movie together at the end of 3x19 Law and Murder. I figured it was harmless enough, but he reminded me of my original point: can any of this be harmless when there’s underlying feelings? Where is the line between innocent and careless? Idk, I’m not sold either way on this one. Beckett is a nerd and was excited to let that inner nerd free; she probably didn’t tear her eyes away from the screen the entire time. Or, conversely, maybe she watched Castle the whole time, waiting to see if he shared her appreciation of the movie, heart filling with joy as she realised he loved the movie as much as she did.

Most importantly, I wonder; when Josh asked her how her night was, how much did she tell him?

Next, we have the Alex Conrad situation of 3x21 The Dead Pool. Castle was so mean to him and I felt bad for the poor guy; he was just trying to be like his favourite author! 😂 But we see Castle being quite possessive over Beckett which probably should be a red flag 🚩 but I loved it, I won’t lie.

The “I’m a one-writer girl” spiel started out fine, too but the long, yearning looks just really take the innocence out of it like just admit that you’re in love already, seriously.

And then we have LA…

Like, Beckett is distraught, right? She puts up a good front but she is reeling from Royce’s death. I don’t even want to think about how Royce being left to die in an alley would bring up so many memories of her mother’s murder, too! Montgomery gets it, he does what he needs to do.

And I fully understand that Castle - as a friend - wants to be there for her. He wants her to know that she’s not alone, that she has support. I’m not saying that he did anything wrong!

However… you could clearly see that he was all for crossing lines that night! He sat there waiting, hoping that she would change her mind!

She was vulnerable, he forced his way into her ‘vacation’ (that wasn’t fooling anyone) and insisted she stay with him. I just… idk. I believe that he should have been the one putting a stop to things here, you know? Like, now is not the time to make a move.

And our girl spent entirely too long standing on the other side of that door contemplating “do I or don’t I?”. And even if “think of Josh”, “you love Josh” or any sort of consideration for her boyfriend had crossed her mind - SHE OPENED THE DAMN DOOR!

What if Castle was still there? What would have happened? This was 120% too close a call.

Yes, I was there with literally every other Caskett fan when we were crying, screaming, pleading with our TV sets; “just do it!”. I can still hear the collective “noooooo!” when Castle’s door clicked shut, the millions of hearts that broke in the very moment.

But that doesn’t make their behaviour any less sketchy, just saying.

And then we have Beckett reading (for possibly the hundredth time) Royce’s letter. Refresher: in the letter, Royce comments on Beckett’s relationship with Castle and how it’s ‘real’ and she shouldn’t run from it (or fight it, I don’t remember exactly what he says). And you can see that she is taking these words to heart, really giving them a lot of consideration. And this is the letter that she read at the crime scene, so this ‘revelation’ (that she’s actually known for close to a year now) has been in the back of her mind this whole trip. Like, she’s so conflicted!

Call me crazy but I feel like that’s a pretty good sign that you should stop stringing along your boyfriend. I don’t know, just a thought. Anyways…

3x24 Knockout. The fight. The fight. Finally, they’re addressing the elephant in the room. Or, at least, they aren’t completely ignoring its existence.

“And what about you, Rick?”

“Is that what we are?”

“I don’t know what we are. We kiss, and then we never talk about it. We nearly die frozen in each other’s arms but we never talk about it. So, no, I got no clue what we are!”

“We’ve been madly in love but so deeply in denial that neither one of us knows what’s real anymore.”

Okay, so that last one wasn’t actually said but it’s still the truth.

At this point, I think Beckett realises that she can’t ‘have her cake and eat it too’. As long as Castle is in her life, she’s not going to be able to get past her feelings for him.

But she’s still not ready to take that risk again. She’s determined that her ‘safe choice’ is the only choice. That’s why she pushes him away. In the heat of the moment, she tells him they are done. But even once she cools down… she tells Montgomery she wants him gone, she ignores TWENTY THREE of Castle’s calls.

She’s finally made the decision she should have made months ago.

And if Montgomery didn’t bring Castle to the hangar, maybe she would have stuck to it. But, she also would have died either that night or at his funeral.

Anyways, this has accidentally turned into me convincing myself that their love for one another and their questionable decisions ultimately saved her. Every decision they made, every blurry line and questionable moment led them to that moment standing together at Montgomery’s funeral.

If that isn’t fate…

Anywho… for anyone who actually read this; let me know your thoughts! I’d love to hear other opinions.

Thank you to all the wonderful GIF makers for all the great GIFs. Appreciate your work!

#rant and ramble #castle season 3 #kate beckett #richard castle #my rambles

[fimproda]

Night-blooming Jasmine

@gracetopher-week

Day 3, Fic Day

Rated R, still unfinished, set in the The Last Flowers universe after Chrisanthemum

The point is, Grace doesn’t actually know how to have sex.

Giving her history, she should. She really should. But she’s never been an active participant: in the past, with her... clients―she has to stop calling them that―she just... lay there, closed her eyes, and thought of England. Occasionally, which meant nine times out of ten, she also suffered like a dog.

Nothing more.

By now, though, she’s come to understand that her firsthand knowledge of sex has nothing to do with how sex is usually experienced; even less, with how sex should be experienced. She was too young, for starters, which is something Cecily, and Cordelia, and Anna, and everyone worth their salt never seem to stop blabbering about; moreover, she’s been sold, trafficked, stripped of her every right. She’s never had a choice.

And, maybe most importantly, she’s never truly wanted it.

Well, not until this moment, at least.

She wants it. She does, she really does, she’s ready to swear it on the Angel if need be.

She’s just not sure what she wants, exactly.

Which is why they’ve ended up here. She and Kit, that is. Sprawled on the bed in her room at the Institute, laying on their sides, kissing.

The kissing is... good. Nice. They’ve done it before, of course; as a matter of fact, they’ve never done more than that. It’s been a couple of months since Kit kissed her for the first time, and that was a good ten days after her trial, when she’d been cleared of all involvement with the whole Belial-and-Tatiana-related mess and could finally start making her peace with it―start making her amends to those she’d hurt, either willingly or not.

Kit liking her, kissing her, opening his heart up to her, hasn’t been much of a surprise.

Everything that’s happened since...

Yeah.

She should stop overthinking it. She should just do what Kit told her to, last week, and get this over with already.

Problem is, that’s a thing she has no idea how to do. To tell the truth, it’s the very reason why they’re on this bed and Kit’s hand is slowly, so slowly, making its way between her legs.

Listen...

She tried, alright?

If anything, she knows what it’s supposed to feel like. It isn’t as though she’s never come before: statistically speaking, it just had to happen, sooner or later. Mere physical stimulation can, and sometimes will, be enough. And some of her cl―abusers prided themselves on being able to bring their women to orgasm, and had a penchant for rubbing her like they were hacking at a particularly persistent stain on their fancy church clothes.

So, she has experienced climax.

And she’s never failed to hate herself for it.

She’s perfectly aware that that’s the problem. And, as she’s told Kit half an hour ago, the only solution is for him to―quite literally, as it turns out―take the matter into his own hands.

She knows he’s an overthinker, just like her. She knows there’s a fat chance neither of them is going to get anything out of this. But she’s used to yielding control, she’s done it all her life, and she isn’t―yet―able to function in any other way.

The silver lining is that Kit has already had her remove her undergarments, which is a step further than where she’s taken this when she made her failed attempt. She’s still got her dress on: he doesn’t want her to be naked in front of him, not when it could be uncomfortable for her. Besides, with the fire having wilted down to embers hours ago, the room is chilly.

The goosebumps starting to show on her skin have nothing to do with the chill.

Kit’s lips are a kiss away from hers. His eyes are half-closed, as though he’s squinting to be able to look at her. (He doesn’t have his glasses on; she removed them as soon as he came into her room. But he’s near-sighted, so his vision should be good).

He’s staring at his hand on her inner thigh, she realizes. She’s willing to bet he’s as tense as she is over what they are about to do. What he is about to do.

“Kit,” she whispers, not even knowing why she spoke in the first place. Maybe it’s because she wants to reassure him. Or maybe it’s because she wants to reassure herself.

“Grace,” Kit echoes, the tips of his fingers drawing circles on her skin, his free arm sliding underneath the pillow on which both their heads are resting. “What do you want me to do to you?”

She lets out another, “Kit,” and it’s halfway between a scoff and a plea. “If I knew that, I would have succeeded in doing this myself.”

They make eye contact. Kit’s pupils are dilated, the violet of his irises reduced to little more than a ring around ever-growing black. He wets his lips, opens his mouth, inhales... and stays silent.

He’s at a loss for words.

Her third, “Kit,” is barely a breath. Soft. Acknowledging his worry, his unease, his feeling of being inadequate. “Whatever you do, I’m going to like it.”

She wants to eat her words the very second they leave her mouth. It was the wrong thing to say.

And indeed, a shadow falling on his handsome, boyish face, Kit replies, “How can you be so sure?”

“Kit.” She can’t get enough of saying his name, tonight. It grounds her, reminds her of who she’s with. “I chose this. I chose you.”

The title, Night-blooming Jasmine, refers to a work of the same name by Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli, which you can find here in the original Italian and a pretty good English translation. Pascoli wrote it for the wedding of a good friend of his, and it's obvious from the text that the poet thinks of sex as something violent, not gentle, something that crushes the petals of the flower ("si chiudono i petali un poco gualciti").

My co-author @zoyalannister learned to hate this poem in school (it's taught, at the very least, during the last year of high school), but I think it's a perfect metaphor for Grace's past and her journey in The Last Flowers.

Come check out the series if you hate yourself and want to suffer!

#gracetopher week #gracetopher #grace blackthorn #christopher lightwood #kit lightwood #ao3 #read on ao3 #ao3 writer #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #writing #writeblr #writers on tumblr #my writing

[spacehero-23]

in this pokemon au Im curious about the Lightwoods, what are Anna and Kit doing?

hii, omg thank you so much for the ask 🩷

ok SO

Benedict Lightwood was a gym leader (I’m thinking poison type) and Gabriel wanted to follow into his father’s footsteps. But then Benedict was involved in a major scandal and the Lightwoods lost the gym. They got it back eventually and Gabriel and Cecily are gym leaders together. 

Gideon never wanted to be a gym leader, he liked being a trainer and he loves pokemon, but he never saw himself going for the champion title. Sophie became a Champion at 21 and she married Gideon right after that.  

Anna wanted to travel the world (and become a champion like her aunt) with Ari, but her father forbade her from going, Ari stayed in their hometown and Anna left to become a champion. She got to the finale but lost to another trainer. The loss motivated her to train harder so she decided to come back home to train for a year and then try again. During that time her and Ari reconnected and while Anna refused to take Ari back she asked her to join her on her journey. Ari said yes. 

As for Kit, I’m not gonna lie, I'm still not sure. I feel like he wouldn’t be all that interested in becoming a trainer. He’d only fight to help his friends with finding a strategy, or casually with Thomas. He’d spent most of his time trying to invent/update items that would help other trainers. I was thinking he might want to be a professor, but the school system in the pokemon world is so confusing I have no idea how you become one. 

And Thomas would be a pokemon Doctor of course. And that’s how he and Alastair reconnect. 

enjoy some messy doodles i drew on the train 💖

#pokemon au #tsc pokemon au #shadowhunters #cassandra clare #tsc #the last hours #the infernal devices #tid #tlh #the shadowhunter chronicles #thomas lightwood #anna lightwood #christopher lightwood #pokemon #tsc fanart #fanart #artists on tumblr #digital art #digital drawing #gideon lightwood #gabriel lightwood #sophie collins

[saintlygames]

How It Was

1862

When Sing asked if I wanted to go to Japan or the Congo after I finished with the cinchona plantations in Ceylon, it was the easiest choice I made in months.

Peru had been more than a year ago now, and everything was familiar but also not. Sing and Minna were at the plantation, and so was Cecily, who Minna brought everywhere by herself.

Some days were good, and I tended to the cinchona and worked on the whitewood after that. Sometimes I babysat for Minna, carrying Cecily around and showing her the little trees. It was easy to breathe on those days, and the thought of Raphael didn’t make my chest ache too badly. Other days were worse.

I thought of that morning still, camped in front of the lake in a pitched tent away from Martel's men. Raphael laying over me and the cross of his rosary pressing into my anchor tattoo. Everything had been so still that not even the pollen stirred.

I was counting down with every memory of him. Raphael would still be there when I got back. In the meantime, though, I just had to wait, and live. I would have to bring him back stories, and I hoped they will be good ones.

But for now, there was someone else I needed to see.

Keita had made a trip almost like this, from Canton to Japan all alone. Just a boy then, yet not at all.

The trip to Japan made me feel alive, and I rolled a rosary bead between my fingers as I leaned against the rail of the steamship. It was morning and overcast. The air on this side of the world was always thicker, but clean. After breathing it for so long the moisture stopped catching in my lungs.

I wondered if he stood on the deck like I was, or if he hid away in the cabins with his clockwork and if there had been someone waiting for him when he got home.

I tried not to think of him for years lest it hurt too much. Before Peru, the idea of going to find Keita stung because I would never make the journey in my condition, but the whitewood band around my leg chipped away at that old helplessness.

It’s been five years. Keita would be grown up; the little boy who found me in Canton. With a fortnight's travel left of the journey, I remembered him from back then.

—

India, 1857

Keita sighed, deep and adult.

I smiled and nudged his shoulder. ‘Now what do you have to sigh about?’

Unchildishness well established, he crossed his arms. 'I was just thinking about the malaria outbreaks. It's a disease from antiquity but only got worse when colonists started to trot around South America and then realized they were getting sick, borrowed ideas from local healers and then came up with the cure only to make colonists healthy enough to get more land. Some recrudescence that was for the South Americans.'

I paused, not having expected something that complicated. One might think that I would have been used to this by now, and still.

'But malaria isn't that bad right now. There's no outbreak. It's manageable, so people are saying.'

Our day had just started and we were making the walk to the plantations. I was going to teach the field workers how to store the seeds for next season, but I had a meeting to attend first.

'It's not bad yet ,' Keita said. His jar of clockwork parts was in one hand, hanging from his fingers like a lantern. 'What's the plant that has quinine?'

I put my hands in my pockets. 'Cinchona trees. Do you think it's going to be important?'

'Definitely, yes.'

'Should we tell Sing?'

He pursed his lips and considered, then shook his head. 'No. He'll figure it out if he hasn't caught the smell of a business opportunity already.'

I laughed. 'Alright, I'll keep it in mind. Hey, do you mind doing the order tallies for me? I've got a meeting with an English fellow about EIC shares.'

He nodded. 'Let him talk and don't make any offers. He wants more than what Sing will be happy with.'

'Sing is never happy, you know.'

He snorted, and I patted his back and sent him off with the papers. He went to one of the small empty houses by the plantation where the workers took their breaks.

The meeting was dull and Keita, as usual, was right. No deal was made and the poor man would have to correspond with Sing himself.

I'd been rolling a pocket watch Keita made for me around in my palm. He asked me if I wanted anything engraved on the filigree and after some thought, I asked for candle ivy.

He nodded towards my watch. 'That's a fine piece. Mine broke last week. Time isn't right no matter how much I wind it, and my three-year-old dropped it off a balcony and the glass has broken.'

He showed me, and it was a wreck of a thing. ‘Poor watch,’ I said.

Feeling a little bad for having come to no agreement, I made an offer. 'My translator is good with watches. I could ask him to take a look while you're still in town.'

He looked pleased and nodded. 'Please, if it's no trouble.'

After, I went to the break house to ask if he minded fixing the fellow's watch. The watch glass was broken, and I worried that the smallest shards were jamming the cogs.

When I let myself in, Keita was sitting at a table doing the tallies for the opium spheres and copying the numbers into the accounts.

He didn't look up. 'No, I don't mind.'

'What?'

He brought his eyes up from the tallies and frowned. 'The—pocket watch? Didn't you just say?'

I shook my head. 'I didn't. Yet. Here, have a look anyways.'

His mouth thinned but he took it in both hands and cradled it. His jar of cogs rattled when he fished through the metal pieces and pulled out a thin steel stick to pop the back open. Tiny glass shards rained out like crystal sugar.

I took a seat while he prodded through the guts of the pocket watch and wondered idly about his affliction. He knew the future, I was nearly sure of it. He knew what I'm going to say and his predictions are right almost every time. Just yesterday, he was right about a package being late because the postman had been too deep in his cups the previous night and tripped.

I wasn't sure how it worked, but I didn't need to. It wasn't hurting anyone. I'd watched him pick up a tortoise in Canton and put it safely out of the way under a cart because a water buffalo had shucked off its harness and gone on a rampage, right where the tortoise had been walking.

I'd punch anyone who said that he deserved a straight jacket for being peculiar like that. Throw them in the sea, too.

'It's not the glass,' said Keita, after he tipped all of it out. 'It's these springs. They aren't alloys and shrunk with the colder weather. It shouldn't have been a problem, not in India's climate.'

'What do alloys do?'

He had a magnifying glass out and showed me the tiny springs. I had to squint to see, even with the glass. 'Metal contracts and expands with changing temperatures, and mixing different metals together changes their properties and prevents that. Stops watches and clocks from losing time and being inaccurate.'

There was a hole in my understanding of machinery. Could never get it straight. Marine chronometers were a mystery to me, even though I had to learn about them in the Navy.

'I understand that only vaguely,' I confessed. 'But I trust you know quite well. Can you fix it?'

He tipped his head this way and that. 'Depends. How much is he paying me?'

I snorted. 'Look at you, already trying to exploit a poor man at only twelve years old. You're going to be Sing's golden boy in no time.'

'I'll become a businessman while you keep smuggling drugs for a living.'

'You help.'

'Not for long, if watchmaking works out.'

I prodded him instead of ruffling his hair, which he would have hated and poked me with a screwdriver for. He didn’t bother dodging even though he must have known what I’d do.

'Get to work, and I'll help you barter later.'

He grinned and poked me anyway.

Read the rest: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43268499#kudos

#the bedlam stacks #the watchmaker of filigree street #keita mori #merrick tremayne #raphael #ao3 #fanfic

[livia-dovehallow]

Just wanting to send something for your birthday celebration if you have space :) can you write something with Will and Cecily? Anything you want, I don't have prompts. Headcanons about them would be nice too, if you don't have time for a drabble 🥹

Anything for you, Tweety, and I am sorry about the delay D:

This little drabble is based on a headcanon, so double-whammy for you! I have this headcanon that for a few weeks after the battle at Cadair Idris, Will and Cecily wore Familias runes to make sure they knew the other was all right. No idea if the way I'm going to portray the Familias rune is accurate or not (I know it's fairly well-covered in TDA but I like to think it has this following purpose, too). (Other fun fact, I wrote this piece AGES ago and your request reminded me of it. Welcome to the Maggie Archives).

A sudden, tugging pain shot through Will’s arm. With a surprised gasp, he ripped the sleeve of his shirt to find his Familias rune swelling. “Cecily,” Will breathed, the deep concern clear in his voice even to himself. He tumbled out of his seat, ignoring the stack of books that collapsed beside him, and rushed out into the hall toward Cecily’s bedroom.

As they frequently did, not only in the last few months but in the years since Ella’s death, countless scenarios of what was happening to Cecily ran through Will’s mind. Was she hurt? Is someone in her room? He was not quite expecting what he would find.

Will threw Cecily’s bedroom door open to find it still dark and empty inside, save for her small, sleeping figure in her bed, tucked underneath her sheets. The Familias rune on his arm still throbbed. “Cecy?” Will whispered, inching closer to her bed. “Are you awake?”

There was no response. As he got closer to his sister, Will heard the unfamiliar yet distinct sound of her whimpers. It had been years since he’d seen Cecily cry—when she had fallen off her horse’s saddle and scraped up her knee when she was six. The presence of tears rolling down her cheeks sent a fresh wave of worry through Will’s body. He kneeled beside her bed and carefully shook her shoulder. “Cecy,” he said a bit louder. “I’m here. It’s Will. You’re all right.”

Cecily’s eyes shot open. He expected her to react violently, to shove him away and threaten to kill him. Instead, her bright blue eyes shone with tears, making her appear like that young girl he remembered who always toddled after him. “Gwilym?” 

Will swallowed his surprise. Her voice was soft and hopeful; so unlike the tone she took with him regularly. “Yes, I’m here,” he said. 

“Am I awake?”

He squeezed her arm. “Yes, you’re awake. What were you dreaming that’s made you so upset?”

Cecily sat up and inhaled deeply. “Just a nightmare. I’m all right.”

“It was not just a nightmare,” Will replied, his eyebrows furrowed. “You do not cry easily, Cecily, and I felt it.”

Her eyes flickered to her arm, where her own Familias rune was drawn. Her shoulders fell, defeated. “I’m all right, Will. I’ve had this nightmares many times before.”

Will saw himself in his sister then; the way she attempted to hide the fear she had felt only moments before, the resistance to sharing what it was that kept her awake at night. Even the Marks on her skin had been a part of his own nightmares only a year before, and yet she wore them now with pride, as if they had been made especially for her. “How many times?” he asked. Cecily turned to him with a questioning glance. “How many times have you had these nightmares?”

Cecily visibly hesitated. Then, “Often.”

“For how long?”

“Five years.”

Will paused. This is my fault, he thought. Five years ago, Ella died. Five years ago, he left her in Wales without any goodbye or explanation. Five years ago, their father descended into alcohol and gambling. Five years ago, Cecily Herondale went from having two siblings to zero. “About Ella?” Will choked out after a long moment. 

“Ella,” Cecily answered quietly, curling her arms around her knees pulled against her chest. “And you. And Mam and Dad.” Cecily sniffed, crying again, to Will’s further surprise. “I know you did everything you did for us,” she continued, “to keep us safe. I don’t blame you now. But for years I did, and I wondered what it was I did that made you want to leave. I did not even learn what really happened to Ella until after Mam and Dad returned from London to bring you home.”

“Without me,” Will whispered.

Cecily nodded. “Mam cried nearly all the time. Dad turned to the drinks. What did I have? Two empty rooms that once belonged to my brother and sister and no one to talk to. I was scared and alone. That’s when the nightmares began.”

Will stood from the ground and lowered himself instead in the open space of Cecily’s bed at her feet. His heart was full of pain and regret, but he reminded himself that everything he has ever done was for the people he loved. That fact would never stop being his truth. “And now? Why are you still having them now?”

“I don’t know,” Cecily said, then sniffed again. “I miss Mam and Dad. Perhaps that is why.”

“I miss them, too,” Will agreed. “But I am glad you are here.”

It was Cecily’s turn to look surprised. “You are?”

Will smiled sadly. “I am. I know I was not when you first arrived, but I had forgotten what it felt like to have my family with me.”

“You said the Institute was your family now.”

“They are,” Will said, and leaned forward to squeeze Cecily’s hand. “But you said it yourself. You are my sister by blood. That is the feeling I had forgotten. I am glad you are here, Cecy, because no one else here knows the memories I have of Wales. No one else here speaks Welsh. No one here knew Ella.”

Fresh tears fell down Cecily’s pale cheeks, illuminated by the dim glow of the witchlights from the hallway. “I miss her, too.”

Will felt a tear fall from his own cheek, dripping onto his exposed forearm. “You look just like her and Mam,” he forced out. “Sometimes, when I’m missing them especially hard, I look at you and feel that familiarity. So, yes, I am glad you are here with me because not only do I have my little sister by my side everyday, but I have my elder sister and my mother as well.”

Cecily smiled. “I do believe that is the nicest thing you have ever said to me.”

Will grinned devilishly. “Don’t get used to it.” She squeezed his hand back.

“Will you stay with me until I fall back asleep?” Cecily asked. “Like Dad used to do.”

Without a word, Will crawled forward next to Cecily, laid back against the pillows, and opened his arms. Cecily bundled up her blankets and curled up, her head tucked into the curve of his shoulder. “I won’t leave you again, Cecy. I promise.”

“Well, I do hope you will leave a bit when I marry Gabriel,” Cecily mumbled.

“Never say those words to me again.”

…

“Will?”

Will blinked, the flickering of a candle in the doorway slowly coming into focus. Once the blur of color turned into a person, Will smiled. Tessa stood in her evening robe, her brown hair braided neatly over her shoulder. “Is Cecily all right?” she whispered. 

He glanced down at the sleeping figure of his sister curled into his side, fast asleep. The tears had long since dried on her cheeks, and she breathed evenly with no sign of agitation. He looked back up at Tessa and nodded. Nightmare, he mouthed to her. 

Tessa nodded. “Are you going to go to bed soon? You look exhausted.”

Cecily stirred, burrowing further into her blankets, before relaxing again, her mouth hanging slightly open. Will shook his head. “I’ll stay here tonight,” he whispered. “You know, make sure Cecy stays asleep and all.”

Tessa smiled. “All right, then. Goodnight, you two.” 

#maggie answers #luciehercndale #cecily herondale #will herondale #tsc fic request #tid era herondale siblings #reading this back i'm quite proud of it #maggie's birthday celebration

[beantothemax]

The song is Cecily Smith by Peter Friedman, but I personally prefer the Will Connolly version cause his voice sounds better. Peter Friedman instruments are better though. Just listen to both versions before reading the rest of this ask.

Let's go through why this is Agkari together.

Opening line is "the war was over, I was living with my folks" so this is a post canon au, at least after Hikari's story.

"to see a brunette" Agnea has brown hair.

"and I hope you like music, 'cause I've got two tickets for La Traviata""

She WOULD bring him to a performance for their first date.

"A girl of nineteen, with a nervous marine" 18 is close enough to 19 and Hikari IS a nervous war vet. Basically.

I'm aware these are all silly reasons but PLEASE let me have this bc I love this song so much. Also just the Will Connolly version is so lovely and it fits so well with post game bitter sweet feelings (yeah I haven't finished journey for the dawn but you get what I mean). Idk. Just. If the stars align (I become mentally ill about a ship) then I will force this song onto it bc I LOVE Cecily Smith so so much.

JUST LISTENED TO THEM AND!!!!!YOU’RE SO RIGHT!!!!!! THIS IS A VERY HIKAGNEA SONG

THE LYRICS ARE. JUST. I AM PICTURING AN AMINATIC WITH THESE TWO TO THIS SONG IN MY BRAIN SO HARD YOU HAVE NO IDEA

ALSO THE SONG’S JUST GOOD IN GENERAL

#asks #pie-knight

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

In the mood for some Marion fluff, can we have a fic of Marion and her grandchild(ren) if you're feeling up to it?

Marion recognizes the exhausted new parent look on Fjord and Jester's faces. In Fjord's arms he holds a screaming baby with teal skin and a shock of black hair swaddled into a yellow blanket. Holding her mother's hand is Cecily, the aarakocra, looking up at her grandma with bright eyes.

"Mama," Jester says softly. "I'm sorry, I know you're super busy, but could you please watch Cecily and Ayo, we-"

"Say no more, sapphire. I would gladly spend a day with my granddaughters." She takes the baby from Fjord and reaches out a hand to Cecily who takes it immediately. "Take care of yourselves, okay? I've got this."

"You're the best, mama," Jester says with an exhausted smile. "We'll be back in a few hours."

"Take your time." Marion kisses both of their heads before they leave, taking Ayo and Cecily upstairs. Ayo screams the whole time, making Cecily make soft coos in hopes of calming her baby sister, it doesn't work in the slightest.

In the bedroom, Cecily immediately runs over to the couch and jumps up, flapping her wings a little to get all the way up there. Marion focuses all her attention on the baby, humming softly as she rocks her.

Ayo screams and cries, straining her little lungs as hard as she can. But Jester wasn't exactly a perfect baby, she was fussy and screamy too. So Marion uses something that never failed to work on Jester. Starting from between the baby's eyebrows, Marion drags her pinking down to the tip of her nose before repeating the nose. It makes her instinctively close her eyes. And so with that and the humming, in little more than a minute, the baby is sleeping.

She looks up to see Cecily rocking back and forth on the couch, looking up at the sparkly chandelier. Marion smiles and walks over, sitting down beside her, "You like that, little one?"

Cecily nods, "Shiny!"

"Mmmhmm, your mama loved that chandelier too. When she was your size she used to try to jump from the couch to hit it. But-" Marion says when Cecily starts to stand up, "that is very dangerous and you could get hurt."

Cecily pouts, "I have wings."

Marion chuckles, "That you do, but your parents have told me you're still learning how to use them. It probably isn't a good idea to test them right now. Soon enough."

The next few hours pass quickly, Ayo thankfully sleeping the whole time. Marion plays games with Cecily, lets her try on her fancy jewelry, and ends with a nap, Marion singing her to sleep.

When Fjord and Jester return a few hours later, looking much more rested, Fjord sighs blissfully, "It's quiet in here, how is it quiet?"

Marion chuckles, "I managed to get them both to sleep." She strokes Cecily's feathers where she is fast asleep on her lap.

"You're going to have to teach us your parenting magic," Fjord chuckles as he gently takes Ayo from Marion's arms.

"I'd be happy to," Marion smiles as Jester gently picks up Cecily without waking her up. "Are we still on for dinner this weekend?"

"Of course, mama," Jester says with a smile. "We'll see you in a few days. Thank you so much for watching them."

"You're truly a lifesaver," Fjord tells her. "We can't thank you enough."

She shakes her head, "No thanks is needed, I love them very dearly. Please, allow me to take them off your hands more often."

Fjord chuckles, "We'll take you up on that." He leans forward and kisses her cheek, Jester giving her a quick hug before leaving.

Marion watches them with a soft smile, her family truly is the most wonderful thing in her life.

#look I KNOW ayo isn't their kid but come on man she really looks like it #so shush it's my fic #my fic #critical role #mighty nein

[what-the-fic]

14 February 1961

Cecily stared into the void around her as she racked her mind for any possible inkling of soft feelings. She hadn’t made a habit of allowing such tenderness to cross her mind since the death of her sister, it was a hard lesson but one she considered herself fortunate to have learned young. People, no matter how much you love them, will always leave you.

“Uh, oh,” Todd grinned, taking his seat next to her. “What’s got you bothered? Can’t you find anything that rhymes with saxophone?”

That was weeks ago, “Are you upset?”

“No, waking up and finding you two cuddled together, watching me, making sure I was ok… it felt like having loving parents or something. You should call him.”

“I don’t know.”

“I think you do.”

“I don’t know what I’m feeling. New Year’s Eve was too much. It doesn’t feel real.”

“I think we’re about to learn that too much can still be real,” Todd assured her as Professor Keating whistled through the door. He was dressed, of course, in oversized heart-shaped glasses and carried with him a quiver of Cupid’s Arrows. Cecily cringed in her seat at the idea of what a poetry class on Valentine’s Day would entail. Though she had grown to admire the professor and his passion for poetry and life, love didn’t feel like something deserving of his sweeping odes.

Several tragic and saccharine poems later, Cecily suppressed a yawn and glanced at the clock above the door. Then, noting her desperate calculation as she counted the minutes to the end of class, just hoping she would have one more day to complete her own assignment, Professor Keating stood over Cecily’s desk and offered her a wide grin. “It appears you’re eager to beat the clock, Miss Thomas. An anxious mind can be a writer’s best friend,” he stopped to raise an eyebrow in Todd’s direction. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Anderson?”

Todd nodded, more to Cecily than to Keating. Knowing she had his confidence caused her to rise to her feet and stuff the folded assignment into her back pocket. Cecily took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, Professor, I had something written, but it has fallen flat. I’d like to share More.”

“Share more? You must share something, Miss Thomas, before you can share MORE,” the professor mused.

“More. It’s the name of the poem I just wrote. Just now. If I may,” she drew in a deep breath.

Keating nodded and gestured to the front of the lecture hall. “I’d love to hear more.”

“More - by Cecily Thomas,” those were the last words she recalled saying as the room faded around her, and she found herself back in Todd’s room on that snowing December night. She could almost feel the frigid dormitory tiles beneath her as the fire raged within her with each kiss she and Charlie shared. The two had spent hours entangled as he sought the comfort of her kiss between his rueful lamentations of how he might have done more for his friend in a time of need, how he should have been more as a son and not caused a rift with his own father after his expulsion from Welton, how Charlie was never enough, and would never be enough for anyone or anything until he was more. Though, to Cecily, as she realized only then, he was enough. Just enough. Not too much. Not too much at all. The theatrics, antics, and grand gestures were not false in the sense that they were insincere. They were all he knew to do to get the attention and love he had always been denied.

The next thing to come into her focus was the reddening of Todd’s cheeks as a tear rolled down each side; she bounded up the stairs to her seat, unsure if she had even finished speaking, and ran her thumb along the bridge of Todd's nose, dragging his tears into a smile. “You alright?”

“I’m proud of you. Finally, you found something that rhymed with saxophone,” Todd nodded as he took a deep breath to settle his nerves.

“I did?”

“Have fun on your date. I’ll be by your place later,” he added, slipping her a note with Charlie’s number written hastily.

Cecily winked at her friend with a teary hitch in her giggle. “I know. I won’t be there. Have fun on yours.”

“Love you,” Todd nodded as he studied his own poem, the one he had written in preparation for his Valentine’s date.

“Love you, too. Be safe. Hurt her, and they’ll never find your body. Or… they’ll never stop finding your body,” she narrowed her eyes at her best friend, knowing his intentions with her dear roommate were nothing aside from the adoration they both deserved.

Cecily glanced at the clock before turning her attention to the professor. “I’m sorry, excuse me. I realized - well, I have somewhere else to be.”

“I suspected as much. Send Mr. Dalton my love. A+. Go.”

Though not a Frankie story, and Claudie is only mentioned in a cryptic way, it feels wrong not to tag @hystericalqween and @farrradays in the latest installment of YoungAwkwardWordyPeople. A project that wouldn't be the same, or even exist, without these lovely girls.

#yawp #young awkward wordy people #post dps #cecily thomas

[dreamwritesimagines]

Enamored Extra Scene - 10

[Set in: Between chapters 28-29]

“Does he know?”

Anthony heaved a sigh, sipping his whiskey. The gentlemen’s club was crowded today, multiple conversations happening at the same time, creating a muffled chatter under the heavy smoke and occasional clinking of glasses. Simon leaned in so that he could lower his voice.

“Anthony,” he said. “Does Elias know—”

“That I’m in love with his sister?”

“That your intentions are sincere?”

“He does,” Anthony said. “She doesn’t, though.”

Simon shot him a glare.

“Can you blame her?” he asked. “I mean you did rip her heart out.”

Anthony bit inside his cheek and stole a look at him, making him pull back.

“Oh no,” Simon said. “I know that look. What the fuck did you do?”

“I’m trying to fix—”

“Anthony, what did you do?” Simon cut him off and Anthony downed his drink, then filled it again.

“I asked her to marry me.”

A silence fell upon them and Simon blinked a couple of times, gawking at him.

“I’m sorry?”

“And I’ve been told it was a terrible proposal because I said…it doesn’t matter, just know that it was not romantic and she rejected it.”

“You proposed!?”

“In hindsight it was not the best speech—”

“Jesus Christ, if even you are saying that, that speech must have been a disaster.”

“I’m trying to fix it.”

Simon threw his hands up. “How?”

“Cecily is helping me.”

“...Cecily?” Simon repeated after a beat. “You’ve managed to win over Cecily?”

Anthony shot him a bright smile and nodded fervently.

“Apparently I need to give her space to think instead of rushing and I’m making progress. The other day she said we might be friends, so at least she no longer hates me,” Anthony hesitated for a moment. “I think.”

“When exactly did you propose?”

“Back in Stormview.”

“I’m guessing Elias has no idea?”

Anthony sipped his drink and shook his head.

“I’m not going behind his back,” he said. “Elias knows I’m in love with her, and don’t get me wrong, he’s my best friend but her opinion and decision comes before Eli’s, or her father’s for that matter. If she says yes, that’s when I’ll go and talk to them. Otherwise she…she won’t like it, she said that when Elias was about to propose to Cecily. I’m going to ask her first.”

“Avon hates you,” Simon said and Anthony raised his glass as if making a toast.

“Oh yeah, he hates my guts.”

“How are you planning on convincing him?”

“I have a feeling that convincing him won’t be half as challenging as convincing her,” Anthony pointed out and Simon thought for a second, then shrugged his shoulders.

“You might be right about that.”

Anthony’s head shot up as the thought hit him.

“Simon,” he said. “You’re not telling anyone about this, including Daphne. Especially Daphne.”

“Oh come on!”

“No, if Daphne finds out, somehow my whole family will, and my mother will ask a thousand questions and everyone will try to get involved—”

“Good afternoon gentlemen!” Elias’s voice reached them and he plopped down on the leather seat across from Anthony’s, a huge smile lighting up his face. “How are you on this fine day?”

“Finally Eli, I was starting to think you wouldn’t show up.”

“I’ve lost myself in marital bliss, what can I say?” he said. “I don’t expect you to understand Anthony. You’re unmarried after all.”

Anthony rolled his eyes and Simon chuckled before he checked the time and stood up.

“You’re leaving already?” Elias asked and he shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d be this late and I have plans with my wife,” he shot Anthony a grin. “I don’t expect you to understand Anthony, you’re unmarried.”

“Jesus Christ…”

“It was good to see you Elias.”

“You too, tell Daph I said hi!” Elias said and Simon nodded, then walked out of the club. Anthony shook his head slightly and took a sip of his drink while Elias filled his own glass.

“Am I that late?”

“Only by an hour and a half.”

“Marital bliss, my friend.” Elias said with a grin and Anthony opened his mouth to retort, but then got distracted by Lord Gillingham approaching them.

Oh God damn it.

“Lord Westcliff?”

Elias looked up from his glass and heaved a sigh.

“Lord Gillingham.”

“I was wondering if I could have a word with you?”

Elias exchanged glances with Anthony before turning to Gillingham again while Anthony drummed his fingertips on the armchair, frowning at Gillingham.

“I think I know what this is about,” Elias said. “Lord Gillingham, I’m sure my sister would be honored to hear about your intentions but I’m afraid my father says no.”

A look of disappointment crossed Gillingham’s face and Anthony tried to stop himself from smirking.

“Oh,” Gillingham said and Elias nodded solemnly.

“Yeah.”

“What is his reason?”

“Hm?”

“I’m sure he gave a reason for saying no, I’d like to know if it’s something I can fix.”

Elias pursed his lips, “Uh—yeah, of course he gave a reason.”

“What is it?”

Elias blinked a couple of times and turned to Anthony.

“Anthony, surely you can tell Lord Gillingham of my father’s reasons, you were there.”

Anthony stared at him in disbelief. “What?”

“You’re my best man, it’s your responsibility.”

“Your wedding is over, Eli.”

Elias shrugged. “You still owe me. Gillingham, Anthony will enlighten you about the reasons.”

Anthony gritted his teeth. As much as he wanted to say that Gillingham couldn’t marry her because he was the one who was going to marry her, he knew it would be unacceptable.

Also, Cecily would kill him and throw him into Thames.

“Duke Avon respects his daughter’s choices,” he said. “She um…she wants to become a spinster I’m afraid.”

Gillingham’s jaw dropped.

“Such a great beauty swore off matrimony?” he said and shook his head as the fury spread through Anthony upon him commenting on her beauty. “But that cannot be. I’m sure if I talked to her I could convince her.”

“That’s not going to happen,” he managed to sound calm even if he wanted to punch him. “Right Eli?”

Elias nodded and reached out to grab a fistful of dried fruits from the small bowl on the table before popping one into his mouth, watching them.

“What he said.”

“Yeah, and Duke Avon looked very convinced of it,” Anthony said. “Nothing to be done about it.”

“But I may make the lady change her mind when we dance at the next ball—”

“She’s not going to change her mind,” Anthony cut him off, glaring at him. “No matter how many times you dance, and if you ask me you two shouldn’t dance at any ball.”

Gillingham looked confused. “Why not?”

“Well, she’s…” Anthony cleared his throat. “She’s accustomed to a certain life style and Duke Avon isn’t certain you would be able to maintain it after the marriage, and there’s no reason for you to dance with her or court her if you’re not going to marry her. Which you’re not. You’re not going to marry her.”

“But I don’t understand, I could maintain her life style.”

“I doubt— the Duke doubts it,” Anthony corrected himself. “She has had what, Elias? One hundred gowns for this season only?”

“I stopped counting.”

“Yeah, nearly one hundred gowns,” Anthony said. “I’m not even including her accessories and such into it, and her father wants to make sure if she changes her mind and gets married, it will be to someone who can maintain her current life style.”

Gillingham heaved a sigh. “I’m certain I could, but if the Duke disagrees…”

“He disagrees vehemently.” Anthony stated. “Especially considering your gambling habit.”

Gillingham stared at him for a couple of seconds and cleared his throat. “I see,” he said, “Thank you for your time and your honesty, gentlemen. Please give my regards to Duke Avon.”

With that, he walked away from them and Elias turned to grin at Anthony.

“Well handled, I’m so proud of you.”

Anthony shot Elias a glare. “Yeah thanks for the help, Eli.”

“You had it under control,” Elias said, chewing on the fruit. “I didn’t know he had a gambling problem.”

“I asked around when Whistledown said—” Anthony paused for a moment, “Uh…I heard things. Lots of lords are talking about it.”

“Interesting,” Elias said, “Well, I’m sure my father would also use those reasons if he knew about Gillingham’s intentions. Or his existence for that matter.”

“He doesn’t know?”

“Nah, I didn’t ask him,” Elias said. “It’s easier to pin the responsibility on him. She just told me to reject Gillingham, I didn’t think the guy would ask for a reason.”

“Did she say why she rejected him?” Anthony asked and Elias narrowed his eyes, and put the rest of the dried fruits into the bowl and dusted off his hands.

“She did, now that you mention it.”

Anthony sat up straighter. “What—what did she say?”

Elias thought for a moment before he grabbed his glass to sip his drink, then tilted the glass in Anthony’s direction.

“Well, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you the reason,” he said, “She knows it, I know it…It’s only fair if you do as well. She rejected him because of you.”

Anthony pulled back, holding his breath. “…What?”

“We’ve had a long conversation after I came back,” Elias said with a sigh. “And I’m glad we did, because now I understand everything better. She said she would reject every single suitor for you because apparently she cannot see herself marrying anyone else but you.”

Anthony stared at him, a ray of hope warming his insides. “Are you serious?”

Elias pulled his brows together, then snorted out a laugh.

“No you goddamn rake, of course I’m not serious!” he exclaimed. “Keep your arrogance under control, will you? She said no such thing, I’m jesting!”

Anthony let out a breath and kicked at Elias’s boot. “Fucking prick.”

“Aw, is that the way to talk to the brother of the lady whom you’re hopelessly in love with?”

“Probably not, but it’s the way to talk to my best friend who also happens to be a fucking prick.”

Elias chuckled and reached out to clink his glass with his.

“Fair enough. But hey,” he said. “I don’t think she’s planning on marrying anyone anytime soon, and I’m completely serious. You said it yourself, she wants to be a spinster nowadays.”

Anthony’s heart skipped a beat. “Do you think she means it?”

“My sister, a spinster?” Elias repeated and scoffed a laugh. “That would be the day.”

Anthony leaned back and swirled the drink in his glass.

“She seemed determined.”

“The same way she was determined to become a nun?”

“…You do have a point.”

“The odds of her becoming a spinster are about the same as her becoming a nun,” Elias assured him. “That being said, I doubt her claiming to want to become a spinster is going to stop any of these proposals.”

Anthony tried to focus on the conversation instead of the jealousy boiling his blood.

“I heard your father forbid her suitors from entering your house.”

“Thankfully,” Elias said. “Can you imagine if he didn’t? It’s enough that I’m being ambushed here and at the balls, I don’t want to deal with at home either. I don’t even want to join the next ball because of it.”

Anthony frowned. “What do you mean?”

“If none of her suitors can talk to her in our drawing room, they will be climbing over each other to get a dance or have a conversation with her at the balls,” Elias reminded him, making him clench his jaw. “That’s their only chance of talking to her and convincing her of matrimony after all.”

Anthony gritted his teeth but Elias didn’t even notice.

“I mean you know how they all are,” Elias whined. “These idiots will think they can propose to her just because they talked to her once, and I will have to reject all of them and give them reasons. After every ball or every social outing. Should be fun.”

Jealousy spread through Anthony’s system like poison, making him let out a breath.

“Watching all these idiots try to court her?” he muttered as a bitter taste appeared at the back of his throat before he downed his drink in one go. “Right. Should be fun.”

#enamored extra scene #anthony bridgerton x reader

[ququb444hm]

thanks a lot, cupid

part 03 / stuck w me ☆

masterlist

warning(s): possible typos

“I finished school!” yn chimed, entering the all too familiar shinrinyoku flower shop. sweet scents of various flowers swallowed her whole as she whispered a few greetings to the blooming friends– cecily is a strong believer that talking to plants encourages them to grow faster. 

“hey there peaches,” cecily smiled, walking over to the university student to give her a tight squeeze. “I’ve been so lonely the whole day without you!” she whined, “do you really have to go back to that torturous establishment tomorrow!?”

“for a whole year!” yn groaned, “if I could, I would just stay here with you all day, but then you’ll get sick of me.”

“who’s to say I’m not already sick of you,” cecily joked, “so tell me, how was your first day as a junior? did you get into a fight? argue with a teacher? omg…did kozume finally confess his undeniable feelings for you that he’s been harboring since forever!? are the two of you married with three kids yet!?”

yn slumped onto a nearby chair, “oh you’re terrible for feeding me with delusions. but no nothing like that…well! actually,” a lovesick smile etched its way on yn’s face, her feelings for the blonde painting her cheeks with a rich red hue, “kozu and I have the same chemistry class! and we sit right next to each other!” yn groaned, legs kicking the air to exert all the built-up energy inside her body, “I just can’t wrap my head around him. he plays volleyball, guitar, and has a cat! but he’s not a hot loser with no friends! he’s a hot loser with friends! this is so bad, cece!”

“even worse,” a new voice chirps, the bell of the glass door chiming to signal a new person’s presence, “he’s friends with your ex and your brother!”

“oh shut up tetsu!” yn wailed, rolling her eyes at her brother, “go fall in a ditch!”

“and miss all your little girl talk about kozume? as if.”

“you secretly like being part of our ‘girl talk’, don’t you?” cecily smirked.

“what can I say, I’m a feminist.”

yn and cecily choked up a laugh, entering a fit of laughter that could be heard from the outside of the flower shop.

“what’s got the two of you squawking like dying birds?”

“oh shut up atsumu,” tetsurou slapped the back of the blonde’s head, earning an annoyed groan from the victim.

the two alongside koutarou and shoyou entered the flower shop, beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads and slightly raspy voices indicating they just raced their way from the university campus to the nearby store. “hi nn! hi cece!” shoyou greeted, his usual bright smile slightly blinding the two.

“hi shoyou, you’re even cuter since the last time I saw you!” cecily gushed, squeezing the sophomore’s cheeks. “I haven’t seen you all summer!” shoyou giggled at the woman’s antics, secretly liking when people compliment how cute he was.

“what about me! aren’t I cute today?” tetsurou whined, pushing the shorter boy aside.

“aw, you’re such a bit baby tetsu!” cecily laughed, giving her boyfriend his much-needed attention.

“oh barf!” yn gagged, averting her eyes from the couple’s pda. “save me, kou! they’re so sweet it’s giving me a cavity, it’ll ruin my pretty smile!” 

the boisterous upperclassman grinned, an idea popping into his mind. “let’s meet your friends at flour men! I saw them on my run here!” flour men, a bakery down the street, was a usual hangout spot for the group of friends, besides the flower shop which was starting to get busy due to students flooding in.

saying casual goodbyes to tetsurou and cecily, the remaining three made their way over to the neighboring bakery. “I spot mori!” shoyou giggled, pointing at the libero.

entering the bakery, the trio made their way to mori, rintarou, and koushi. “hello, pretties!” yn beamed, sliding into the booth that the friends were already seated in. 

“you had a good first day?” koushi questioned, sliding the donuts he just paid for over to the new company, “we were looking for you once class ended but it everything was getting crowded so we thought to just meet you here as usual.”

yn grabbed a donut out of the bag, melting once the familiar tastes met her tongue, “so good~” she moaned, taking another bite before answering her friend, “super, super! tiring, but it was okay! I like my morning classes and I have two night classes at seven and eight which is nice.”

the group conversed about their first day back and recent summer events, laughing at how atsumu’s swimshorts got torn up by koutarou’s great dane, drax the destroyer, or how yn traveled with mori and rin to france for an art internship or how the current seniors (tetsurou, koutarou, atsumu, koushi, tooru + cecily) all had a bonfire the weekend before school started again and koutarou had to fart so bad that he literally blew the fire out.

all in all, memorable occasions before a poorly, yet hopefully comedy filled kozume kenma x fem!reader <3

key: nn - nickname

part 02 surrounded by homosexuals <- | masterlist | -> part 04 fnaf

note(s): none of the pictures used are mine!!

#🐈.thanksalotcupid #kozume kenma #kenma kozume #kozume kenma x reader #kozume kenma x fem!reader #kenma kozume x reader #kenma kozume x fem!reader #kenma x reader #kozume x reader #smau #kenma smau #haikyuu #haikyuu smau #haikyuu!! #haikyuu!! smau

[infernal-crows]

This has been in the drafts since That Happened. I'm still right. Major ChoT spoilers.

The one Lightwood death per series should have been Alexander. Tatiana killing the baby serves a narrative purpose; it, like the book says, carries out the "eye for an eye" mentality she has (even shows how skewed her perception is, because she never lost Jesse the way she would have made Cecily and Gabriel lose Alexander), and shows her depravity and cruelty in making a point. If there was no breathing room to mourn a main, or even side, character? Don't kill them at all. Alexander as a presence in the books, at that point, was an idea rather than a character. That's assuming, though, that we would have been shown Cecily and Gabriel nearly losing their minds with grief over the death of their son, because . . . well we didn't get that the first time, but oh well. Bonus points for Alec, then, carrying on the name of the Lightwood that never got to live.

#tlh #tsc #chain of thorns #i have feelings about this book and oh lord are they mixed #the last hours #the shadowhunter chronicles #s rambles #the temptation to write this fic is insane #maybe not in the events of TLH because that'd be too big a project for me #but maybe something set in the modern eras of the books #tbd

[bisexualbumblebee-writes]

Bully- Draco Malfoy x OC

Draco Malfoy x Cecily Sadler

Description: Even love has its limits. Cecily’s limit is Draco constantly teasing Harry mercilessly about the Dementors now guarding the school while Sirius Black is out of Azkaban. When Draco finally strikes her last nerve, she puts him in his place, even though it meant breaking up with him. Draco wants redemption.

Word Count: 2.3k

She had no idea what had gotten into Draco. Of course she knew that he was a bully, but he had been getting better slowly. With Sirius Black having escaped from Azkaban, everyone was on edge. Cecily was no exception, she was a bit scared about the fact that the ex prisoner was potentially after her friend. 

When she found out that Dementors, the Azkaban guards, were being brought in to guard the school, she was even more scared. She ran into one on the Hogwarts Express and it was the worst thing she’d ever experienced. If it hadn’t been for the new DADA teacher, Professor Lupin, hadn’t been there to intervene, Cecily had the feeling that she would have felt a lot worse than just cold. The next morning at breakfast, everyone had heard about what happened to Harry on the train, and Draco was not about to let the chance slip by. 

“Potter. Potter!” He snapped, successfully grabbing the attention of Harry, Ron and Hermione. “You fainted, Potter? Is Longbottom telling the truth? You actually fainted!” He asked amusedly. 

“Shut up Malfoy,” Ron warned. Draco didn’t seem affected. 

“Did you faint as well, Weasley?’ said Malfoy loudly. ‘Did the scary old Dementors frighten you, too, Weasley?” Ron looked like he was ready to hit the boy, but stopped when Cecily walked over to them. 

“Draco knock it off,” she scolded gently. The boy in question frowned like a child caught with his hand caught in the cookie jar then turned around once more.

“I was just coming over to see if you were okay,” Cecily continued, looking at Harry. “I heard what happened.” The boy looked a bit embarrassed, but nodded. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks Cec,” he responded. The girl nodded and ruffled his hair jokingly, making the boy chuckle. 

“Well, if you want to talk about it, I’m always here for you,” she offered before taking a seat beside her boyfriend, who didn’t exactly look happy.

The Care for Magical Creatures class was filled with a mix of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin students. Cecily had to admit she was excited and nervous for the class since it was Hagrid’s first ever class. She wanted it to be perfect for him since he had been so nervous before.

The man in question was waiting for his class at the door of his hut with Fang by his side. He called for everyone to get a move on as the class approached. The Slytherin students were already there when the remaining two houses got there. 

“Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin’ up! Everyone here? Right, follow me,” Hagrid instructed, beginning to walk to the edge of the trees. Cecily made her way to stand beside Draco, who took her hand before walking with everyone else. The class followed obediently and just five minutes later they found themselves outside a kind of paddock.

“Everyone gather ‘round the fence here,” Hagrid called. “That’s it- make sure yeh can see. Now, firs’ thing you'll want ter do is open yer books,” he started, but was cut off by Draco. 

“How?” Draco asked coldly, making Cecily smack his arm in a scold. 

“Eh?” Hagrid asked, facing him. Draco didn’t seem to learn his lesson from Cecily’s hit because he continued in the same tone.

“How do we open our books?”He repeated, holding up his copy of “The Monster Book of Monsters.” It had been tied shut with a length of rope. The others took out their books as well, all of which was also bound with rope or a belt, including Cecily’s. She was stumped herself.

“Has- hasn’ anyone been able ter open their books?” Hagrid asked, sounding disappointed and looking it as well. The class shook their heads. 

“Yeh’ve got ter stroke ‘em,” he explained, taking Cecily’s book as an example. The teacher removed the belt from around it and ran his forefinger down the spine. The book shivered before falling open and laying quiet in his hand. Looking at it now, Cecily felt a bit stupid. It seemed obvious to her now. 

“Oh, how silly we’ve all been!” Draco sneered. “We should have stroked them! Why didn’t we guess?” Hagrid looked at Cecily with uncertainty.

“I...I thought they were funny,” he muttered softly. Cecily’s heart broke at his now downcast demeanor. 

“Oh tremendously funny!” Draco said. “Really witty, giving us books that try to rip our hands off-” Harry cut him off.

“Shut up Malfoy,” he snapped, facing him. Draco was about to say something, but Cecily also came to Hagrid’s defense.

“Seriously Draco. Hagrid didn’t know that we didn’t know what to do, and he just wanted to make the class fun. You can’t fault him for that,” she stated. Her hair turned red with anger as she talked. That was an indicator to her boyfriend that he should shut up, so he did. 

Cecily still hadn’t settled down after class ended. Normally a girlfriend would be worried when her boyfriend got hurt, but that was not the case for her. Not only was she still angry about Draco mocking Hagrid for his chosen textbooks, but Buckbeak attacking him was his own fault. Hagrid specifically told them that Hippogriffs were extremely proud creatures and they’re aggressive when threatened. 

It made Cecily so mad that Draco couldn’t stand to not being in the spotlight while Harry and Buckbeak got comfortable with each other. That resulted in her not talking to him while he milked all the attention from his arm sling. When they did start talking, Cecily was still a bit upset. 

Just when she was ready to forgive him, she heard about Buckbeak’s hearing. His case wasn’t looking so good, not even with Hermione and Cecily helping Hagrid. Lucius Malfoy’s hold on the Ministry was just too strong. More than likely, Buckbeak would have to be executed. Cecily found herself not talking to him once again. 

The quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw came about not long after that. Cecily of course cheered for her friends on the Gryffindor team and sat with Hermione and Ron. Out of nowhere dark figures appeared near Harry as he tried to grab the Golden Snitch. Everyone thought they were Dementors, coming back onto the field again. Cecily gasped when Harry pulled out his wand, yelling out a spell that made a bright white and blue light emitted from it. That successfully knocked the dark figures away, and everyone was shocked to realize it was Draco in his crew. 

"An unworthy trick! A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake!" She heard Professor McGonagall yell as she, along with the rest of the students, ran onto the field. Once she stormed away, Draco finally noticed his girlfriend standing in front of them.

“Cec-” he started as he stood up, but stopped when Cecily stepped forward and slapped his cheek as hard as she could. Draco’s eyes widened and he held his cheek, staring at her confusedly. He didn’t have time to say anything before she did.

“How dare you!” She yelled, tearing up. “What is the matter with you, Malfoy!? You torment people constantly, and for what? Because you’re too damn insecure? Because of you, Buckbeak is going to die! All because you were too selfish to share the spotlight that didn’t even exist to Harry. And the Dementors are serious creatures and they’re absolutely terrifying! Harry is right to get defensive when he sees something that looks remotely close to one of them, what they do to people is absolutely awful and scary. I bet you didn’t even realize that I was almost attacked by a Dementor as well, huh?” She asked, making his shoulder drop. That was all the answer she needed. 

“No,” she answered for him verbally. “Of course you didn’t. Because you only care about yourself. You’re nothing but a cruel and selfish bully.” 

“Cecily,” he breathed out, not knowing what to say. The girl only shook her head and took off a necklace he’d given her for Christmas. 

“Here, take this and call me when you get your head out of your arse,” she snapped, beginning to push through the crowd to get away from him. She couldn’t stand to be around him anymore at the moment. Draco only watched her, defeated. His love just broke up with him.

No one saw Cecily much after their public breakup. She couldn’t really bring herself to do much else other than go to classes. Yes, she had been the one to call it quits, but she really did love him. But even love had its limits. Draco’s bullying was incessant and cruel to others and she couldn’t stay with him if he continued. 

That seemed to finally make him realize that he actually was in the wrong. People began noticing that he wasn’t bullying other students (or teachers, Hagrid specifically) anymore and he was a lot kinder to others. Harry nearly had a heart attack when he saw Draco helping a first year Gryffindor with their Potions work. Of course this didn’t go unnoticed by Cecily. However, she needed to see that he actually changed before she could forgive him.

The day of Buckbeak’s execution came around, and Cecily made sure to be by Hagrid’s side for it. He tried to convince her to leave before McNair, Fudge and Dumbledore arrived, but she wouldn’t budge. Even Fudge attempted to get the girl to leave so she wouldn’t have to witness it. 

“Hagrid deserves to have someone by his side while his pet is unfairly executed,” Cecily stated firmly, taking a step closer to Hagrid. Fudge looked hesitant, but Dumbledore only gave her a small smile. 

“That’s very brave, Miss Sadler. I’m sure Hagrid appreciates it, don’t you?” He asked, giving the man a pointed look. Hagrid nodded quickly and patted Cecily’s shoulder, almost making her fall over from the force of it. 

She stood between Dumbledore and Hagrid as McNair got ready. Hagrid was already crying and blowing his nose into a handkerchief Cecily offered him. She took his free hand in hers then looked at Fudge. 

“There’s really nothing we can do, Mr. Fudge?” She asked helplessly, attempting to hold back tears. Fudge gave her a sympathetic look and sighed. 

“Unfortunately, no-” he began only to be cut off by another voice. 

“Wait!” The person called, making everyone turn to the source. It was Draco, much to everyone’s surprise. He was running downhill, looking a bit dishevelled. Cecily’s eyes widened when he got to the bottom of the hill by Hagrid’s hut, clutching a folded piece of paper in his hand tightly. 

“I...I have a pardon,” he spoke breathlessly, holding up the paper. “I have a pardon for Buckbeak,” he repeated after finally catching his breath. Fudge stared at him incredulously then took the letter from Draco, reading it aloud. 

“We hereby pardon the Hippogriff “Buckbeak” from his execution on June 6, 1994. Reason for pardon: the victim, Draco Malfoy, has recanted his account of what happened and has dropped the charges. Signed members of the Ministry of Magic- Kingsley Shacklebolt, John Dawlish, Ludovic Bagman, Rufus Scrimgeour and Pius Thicknesse,” he concluded to fold the paper and look at Hagrid, Dumbledore and Cecily. Hagrid and Cecily stared at him hopefully, and he hummed thoughtfully.

“Well, the rules are that at least five Ministry of Magic members must endorse a statement or pardon. Since there were five signatures, who am I to contest it?” He asked with a small smile. “I hereby state that the Hippogriff, Buckbeak, is free of all charges and will not be executed,” he announced formally. Cecilly let out an excited cry and hugged Hagrid, who picked her up and spun her in a hug. She was too excited to care that it felt like her back was about to break. McNair looked upset that he didn’t get to go through with the execution, but no one seemed to care. Fudge simply looked at Dumbledore and Hagrid. 

“Come along, we have to sign the form as well,” he instructed. Hagrid nodded and gave Cecily one last beaming smile before leading everyone back into his home. Cecily was still smiling brightly when she looked at Draco. Without warning she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. 

“Oh, thank you Draco. You have no idea what this means to me,” she muttered into his ear. The boy smiled and returned the hug, staring down at her.

“Listen Cecily,” he started quietly. “I’ve been an arse this year, I won’t deny it. Every single thing I did to Potter was awful and uncalled for, especially with the Dementors. They truly are terrifying, and I didn't know you had to deal with one at some point. Just saying that I’m sorry wouldn’t even begin to cover all that I’ve said and done but-” Cecily cut him off.

“I forgive you.” He was just about to get annoyed with her for interrupting him when he processed what she said.

“Wait what?” He asked, not believing his ears. She giggled at his appalled stare.

“I said I forgive you. What you did just now doesn’t cover all that you’ve done, but it’s a promising start,” she stated simply.

“Does that mean you’d want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?” He asked. Cecily smiled brightly and nodded, kissing his cheek. 

“I would love to.” A lazy smile settled on his face after she finished speaking and his arms slid down to her waist. 

“You missed,” he informed her. She was confused for a moment, but Draco answered her unanswered question by kissing her. She responded immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck. Once they pulled away, Cecily rested her forehead against his with a playful smile tugging at her lips.

“Better?” She teased, making Draco chuckle.

“Much better.”

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