Swan Queen Fake Dating Fanfics Masterlist
Canon-compliant*:
Temporary Distractions by amycarey (12/12 chapters)
Not So Fake Relationship (version 1) by edean13 (one shot)
Not So Fake Relationship (version 2) by edean13 (one shot)
Showtime by mustdefine (one shot)
One date by PhoenixTat (one shot)
Fauxlationship by CarrotLucky13 (one shot)
I Wear the Pants by inkheart9459 (one shot)
Look Who Came To Dinner by brokenmimir (one shot)
SwanQueen Week Summer 2014 (Ch. 2) by EmmaShalforever (one shot)
I Can Almost Hear Your Harmony by swansaloft (one shot)
See I Look For You In The Morning by BrokenEvilRegal (one shot)
Operation Albatross (or something like that) by perfection_located (6/6 chapters)
Milk Bottles and Misunderstandings by boxxybrown506 (one shot)
our tiktok remix is both atrocious and catchy by coalitiongirl (one shot)
Love Triangles Are For Losers by seriousfic (one shot)
See l Look For You In The Morning by BrokenEvilRegal (one shot)
Pretend We Used To Be Lesbian Lovers! Do It For The Children! by seriousfic (2/2 chapters)
Girlfriendy Displays by TheOnlySPL (one shot)
The Door to the Heart Is Open and Shut by undergroundlegends (one shot)
I thought love was only true in fairy-tales by OceanAndARock (one shot)
The Truth Always Comes Out by angstbot (16/16 chapters)
Fake Relationship by EmmaShalforever (one shot)
Fake Relationship by imaginecreatebefall (one shot)
My Girlfriend, Regina by giftofamber (one shot)
Not a Bad Thing by ofendlesswonder (one shot)
The Long Con by lostlilsnail (one shot)
AU:
The Story of It All by Sage1982 (14/14 chapters)
Date in the Name of the Law by apples-a-day (one shot)
For Love or Money by starsthatburn (38/38 chapters)
I'll Be Home For Christmas (With My Fake Girlfriend) by nakedrednailpolish (14/14 chapters)
Wedding Crasher by misscanteloupe (one shot)
Marry Me (Because I'd Like to Date You) by starsthatburn (10/10 chapters)
Faking It by YoungTruthLP (one shot)
Gonna Go Down in Flames by amycarey (one shot)
Let’s Play Pretend by shopfront (one shot)
Suitor in the garden by Sparring Woodpecker (one shot)
Right Kind of Wrong by cynarabueno (20/28 chapters, in progress)
This Baby is Not an Excuse by AlexRyzlinGold (one shot)
where dwell the brave at heart by coalitiongirl (one shot)
A bed of roses by sunofthemoon (10/10 chapters)
All I want for Christmas is you by FadedRiddler (one shot)
Complex Relations by MoonlitRamblings (11/11 chapters)
A Christmas Game by BlueHoneyBee (long one shot)
First Comes Marriage by Alternate8reality (7/7 chapters)
We haven't mended by HelveticaBrown (8/8 chapters)
Christmas at the Mills' by Swen and Chill (anotherouatwriter) (one shot)
Make Me Dance (I Want To Surrender) by glowswen (one shot)
*By "canon-compliant" I just mean that the story takes place in the universe of the show, it may still diverge drastically from the canon storylines at one point or have slight changes to canon.
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RWBY Fanfic Recommendation List
Fics that have really struck me, vaguely organized by ship and/or topic.
Bumbleby (Blake x Yang)
first off, basically anything by pugoata. She's the goddess-empress of the Bees. I'm gonna give particular props to Banshee, as it was the first longer fic and AU that I read, and it really opened up my mind to what fanfic could be.
You're a Mountain, Full of Glory - a ski/snowboard with amazing characterization and a closing scene that will live rent-free in my head forever, in a good way.
They Can't Steal the Love You're Born to Find - childhood soulmates repeatedly torn apart and reconnecting, with courtroom drama. One of the most angst-ridden Bee fics I've ever read.
Fucking In Love - pornstar AU that gets right to the sex and slow burns the romance. Hot as hell while also full of tenderness and pining.
Midnight Menagerie - exotic dancer, kinda-cyberpunk dystopia AU. Edges you forever with the sex, earns all the angst tags, and we are majorly trusting @kaelidascope when she promises an amazing happy ending.
Bite Me Like You Love Me - one of the hottest Bee smutfics I've ever read.
You and Me - Blake discovers she's pregnant the day Yang goes MIA on a mission and struggles through being a single mother teaching their child about her amazing other mom. Short, happy ending, amazingly sweet.
WhiteRose (Ruby x Weiss)
The Foxtrot - Ruby and Weiss repair their broken lives after the war. It's one of the most popular RWBY fics of all time for a reason.
Can You See My Strings?/Deja Vu - premium mentally ill Weiss escapes from child abuse angst, with a happy ending if you read the sequel.
But Your Voice Used to Be Mine - Weiss escapes abuse to join RBY's punk band whose smash hit she inspired.
Just One Cigarette - Ruby and Weiss have a little meetup roleplay and it's really good.
Faunus Weiss (generally major themes of struggling with internal and external racism)
Craving the Sky - Weiss has painfully concealed her faunus heritage while she tries to earn her father's love. The support of her team, and the love of Blake and Yang (BeesSchnees) help her soar on her own.
Black Swan Theory - faunus Weiss struggles to recover from child abuse and navigate a deeply racist society while building a relationship with Pyrrha (Schneekos).
Clipped Wings - secret faunus Weiss, dealing with racism and abuse from Jacques, this time slow burning towards Pollination.
Villainesses
Melting Glace - Cinder and Neo find love, and no redemption, in the trauma of failing to destroy Beacon. Will make you cheer for them to win by the end.
Rise from the Ashes - Cinder has a Vader moment and saves Ruby from Salem, and Ruby's pure heart helps her heal, and their adversarial relationship turn to affection. Peak RWBY enemies-to-lovers.
Odds & Ends
The Bermuda Triangle - great modern AU BeesSchnees that gets filthy hot at the end.
Midnight Rose - Summer rescues and adopts Cinder out of Atlas. Their relationship, and Cinder coming to love the Xiao Long-Rose family, is beautifully depicted. Still very much ongoing (no ships as of yet).
Fallen Maiden - Jaune dies protecting Pyrrha at Beacon, and the Fall Maiden power remains split. Will Pyrrha's bloody crusade of vengeance consume her? Or, 'Pyrrha goes full Magneto and fucks Cinder up'.
What's In A Name? - Winter and May grow up together, struggling to cope with their feelings for each other against the background of the Atlas aristocracy.
Linked In Life and Love - I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this one. I really, really love the first act, where Team RWBY sees Blake suffering terribly through a surprise heat cycle and decides that they will all "help" her with it. It's sweet and tender and feels legit for them. I'm not a huge fan of where all the series has gone since, but I would invite anyone to judge that for themselves.
(As I see this getting a decent amount of traffic, I'll just point out that, if it's convinced you [correctly] of my impeccable taste in fanfic, you might want to check out my own RWBY writings)
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✨ Forget Me Not || Ch. 1✨
Chapter 2 || Chapter 3
Summary: Y/N spends her summer working at her Aunt’s flower shop. There, she meets Jake Seresin for the first time, naval pilot and single dad. — Or how a flower girl will try to heal a broken heart beyond repair. (Nickname: Poppy)
Tags: Cuteness overload, tooth-rotting fluff, Dad!Jake, Reader is younger than Jake and no proof reading
Words: 1.8k
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Psss, don’t forget to reblog 💚
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The pale blue petals of myosotis dance at the wind’s discretion. A peaceful smile stretches your delicate lips, lighting up your entire face with joy. You bury your nose in the beautiful bouquet of blue flowers and close your eyes. In fact, myosotis does not have a specific fragrance but the simple smell of fresh soil and leaves is enough to relieve you from the stress of the day.
Tonight, your Aunt had to leave earlier so she asked you to close the shop for her, which you agreed to do without the slightest protest. It has been only two weeks since you arrived in town, but you learned the job very quickly, for you found it captivating. The way people would use flowers to replace words was fascinating. You quickly started to guess what your clients wanted to express when buying a flower bouquet. Roses for romance, sunflowers for happiness, wreaths for the passing of a loved one… You had a gift for helping people trade words for flowers, which made your aunt very proud.
You take a quick glance through the shop’s windows to look at the vintage clock on the wall: it is time to clean the workshop. A faint chuckle escapes from your lips, for you had just realized you were daydreaming for five solid minutes. You had just grabbed a second flowerpot when something, or rather someone, plowed into you with the power of a cannonball. Utterly confused and out of balance, you fall. As your butt painfully collapses against the concrete, one of the flowerpots and its myosotis shatters on the ground while the other spills water and soil all over your sweater.
“Aouch…” Your lips move but no sound comes out.
“I’m sorry Ma’m,” says an utterly sorry little voice, but you do not see its owner, your eyes are too busy looking at the mess you just made.
“I’m- I’m really sorry, are you okay?” She repeats. You finally raise your gaze to discover the source of such a mess and your eyes are welcomed by the sight of a young blonde girl. The kid is probably eight years old and wears a pair of shorts with a football jersey. Her adorable green eyes shift from the broken flower pot to your face before falling to the ground: she does not dare look at you.
“Oh my God Amber! Look what you did!” Cries out an older second voice. A man appears in front of you before you have the time to properly understand what just happened. He is a tall blonde man, clean-shaven, with a hell of a sharp jaw and dazzling green eyes. He was a pilot — you noticed the flight jacket he was carrying under his right arm. You blink several times, coming back to your senses at the sight of Mister handsome, “I am so sorry, my daughter was looking behind while she was running. Let me help you. Are you okay?”
“Hm, yes? I guess?” You stutter, still a bit bewildered by the violence of the impact. The man steps towards you and wraps one of his muscular arms around your waist to help you get up. He lifts your body as if it is a feather, and soon you are back on your feet. A long exhale escapes from your mouth and you shake your head with a little smile on your face.
“What a fall! Your daughter is so strong I thought I would land on Mars before Elon Musk would.” You joke, chuckling. The pilot’s face, first dressed with a panicked expression, relaxes at your adorable laugh. He cracks a smile, his eyes squinting when he does so. For a few seconds, he is completely hypnotized by your splendid grin and your lovely laughter. Girls with a sense of humor never fail to attract him. Then, he shakes his head and looks at his daughter.
“I told you to be careful. Look at the mess you did. Now, we’re going to help that charming lady alright?” He says, one brow raised.
“Yes, dad…” The little girl makes a sorry pout, already leaning over to grab one big piece of broken ceramic.
“No, don’t worry. I can take care of that myself,” You gently put your warm hand on one of Amber’s shoulders to prevent her from touching the sharp shard, “I’m going to clean, I don’t want you to cut your finger with that. If you want to help me maybe you could go inside the shop and grab some cherry lollipops I hide behind the counter. Can you do that for me, sweety?”
The little girl’s face lightens up at the word ‘lollipop’, her smile cheerful and displaying her pearly white teeth, but she first looks at her dad to ask for his authorization. The pilot snorts, amused, and nods. It was all it took for the child to run inside the shop.
“Thank you. This is really nice, I am not sure she deserves it after what she did.” He says, helping you to pick up the ceramic shards.
“That’s okay, I was worst when I was her age. She straight up apologized, that’s all matters. Don’t be too harsh with her.” You simply say with a soft tone.
“This is very nice, thank you again,” While helping you, Jake cannot help but take discreet looks at you. Your charming trait, your gorgeous smile, and your graceful movements… You were a treat for his eyes. It has been since his awful divorce that he did not look at a woman the way he looks at you now, and to be honest, it kind of unsettles him. Jake shakes his head and throws the sharp bits in the trash bin that was next to the retail table full of flowers, “I’m feeling sorry for the blue flowers you were holding, they were beautiful.”
“The myosotis? That’s their name. But I prefer to call them Forget-me-not.” You lean against an empty stand, looking at the good-looking pilot with an everlasting captivating smile that made his cold heart gently tingle.
“Forget-me-not?” He asks, slightly surprised.
“That’s another way to call them, and I think it’s really poetic.” Your voice is a sweet and soothing melody to Jake’s ear. He chuckles again at such a weird name.
“And why do people call them Forget-me-not?” He tilts his head to the side, his smile widening so much that he showcases his perfect teeth. You wink as if you are about to tell him a very significant secret.
“A legend says that a knight died trying to get these flowers for the woman of his life. And in his last dying breath, he told her “forget me not”, that’s why it became their name.” You tell him, your gaze shifting to the magnificent sunset behind the pilot. Yellow and orange lights enhancing your beauty, Jake is too busy observing your seductive lips to pay attention to the landscape. You are far more breathtaking than any other sight.
“This is such a beautiful story, I didn’t know that. Oh, wait —” He notices your sweater is full of soil and entirely soaked with muddy water. Without thinking further, Jake takes his own sweater off, his shirt lifting above his shredded abs as he does so. You blush and look away, for you are shy by nature. “Here,” He says, giving you his warm sweater.
“Oh no, that’s-”
“Please, take it. It’s the least I can do.”
“Thank you, Mister.”
“Jake. Call me Jake.”
“Thank you, Jake, you can call me Y/N. But my friends call me Poppy.” You say, gently tightening the warm sweater in your hands. Amber comes back from inside the shop with three lollipops. She buries two of them in her pockets and offers you one with a genuine smile.
“Here! Your lollipop, Ma’m!”
“Oh thank you, sweety, is the third one for your dad?” You asked, taking the candy. You unwrap it and put the red sugar ball in your mouth. Pushing the candy with your tongue, you place it inside your cheek to still be able to talk.
“Nope, that’s for Shark! She likes lollipops so so much!” She answers, proud.
“Well, thanks Amber.” Jake retorted, one brow raised.
You cannot help but laugh at her adorable facial expressions. Now that you can compare the two blonde heads in front of you, you notice how much she looks like her dad… You open your mouth to say something but the loud ringing of the shop’s phone snatches you from your attempt.
"Oh sorry I should pick up the phone!" You say, with a bit of reluctance. You have completely forgotten to call the shop's supplier, it is probably him calling you. Even though you would have loved to stay there talking with the Jake and Amber, you could not miss the phonecall otherwise your aunt would have to wait one full month to order new flowers and seeds.
"Yeah, no problem. Once again sorry for the mess Poppy, and thank you for being so sweet with my daughter. She's nice, isn't she?" He says, looking at his little girl who had just took his father's hand in her while the other is firmily holding her cherry lollipop. Both of them seem like two partners in crime.
"Yuuup, Miss Poppy is super nice! Thanks for the candies!" She giggle, bubbly. She is truly adorable, and finding kids cute is not such a common thing for you. You nod and go back to the shop with a heavy heart. After all, the man was particularly handsome... You shake your head. What are you thinking? He is a father, he is older and probably married anyway. You pick up the phone.
"Hello Mr. Hawk."
The whole conversation has been relatively short. Less than ten minutes. As soon as Mr. Hawk hangs up, you scamper to the shopwindow to see if Jake and Amber are still there... But of course they are not. Why would they wait? Disappointed but not surprised, you let out a long sigh. Oh well! At least you had a pleasant and entertaining encounter. You go outside to put the last flowerpots inside the shop. Moving one of them, you noticed a white piece of paper someone had slipped under. Curious, you take a closer look to it.
A phone number is written on the piece of paper, right besides the myosotis the mysterious messenger had placed on it. And just below the phone number three words are in capital letters.
Forget Me Not.
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Could I request any romantic headcanons for the Hades nobles? They just been stuck in my brain since Ch.5 and the current event, especially Glas and Foras 💜
They infect our brains like a plague and I have no intention of getting rid of them. Hades propaganda let's go! I like to write thematically, so how about spending some time with them before and during the ball at Hades?
Orias not included, because I have no idea how he will behave towards MC.
꧁:・ ✡ ・:꧂
Together with Barbatos, you are to prepare the decorations. And no, you can't open all the windows and cover everything with roses. After a lively discussion, you came to the conclusion that rose petals, bouquets of flowers on columns and long ribbons would be decorative enough, but not extravagant. You stood on the ladder, pinning the folds of fabric under the silver flowers.
"None of this matters anyway." Barbatos spoke too melancholy for him.
"Why?"
"When you appear at the door, beautiful as the sun itself, all the decorations will fade in your light anyway. And since everything takes place in the evening, you will replace the real sun for us."
You fell off the ladder when you heard him. Literally. Luckily, the demon caught you with a wide smile as you covered your face with your hands with a groan. He smelled like a fresh meadow on a summer morning, and was just as radiant.
"You don't say things like that out of surprise!"
"If you keep falling into my arms like that, that's exactly what I'll be doing."
Even if you wanted to, you couldn't get mad at him.
꧁:・ ✡ ・:꧂
Glasyalabolas is responsible for drinks and snacks. You had some bad feelings at first, but when you walked over the buffet, they all evaporated. You reached for the beautifully smelling punch. Before you grabbed the ladle, a large hand covered yours.
"It's not for you."
You turned on your heel, ready to be outraged, but then a mountain of a man placed a beautifully decorated glass of sweet-smelling wine in your hand.
"My queen should not drink the same as her subjects."
You raised your eyebrows in amusement. The wine was indeed surprisingly sweet, yet with a dry note.
"So what will your queen eat and drink at the party?"
"Let me present." He took you to a small table where the snacks looked surprisingly earthy. Emotion rose in your throat.
"Is this for me?"
"Only."
You took one of the macaroons and stood on your tiptoes to put it in the huge demon's mouth.
"So I'd like you to try them with me."
Only after the ball did you learn that everyone who drank the punch complained of an almond taste and stomach pain. The only thing that didn't taste suspicious was the snacks from the small table in the corner of the room...
꧁:・ ✡ ・:꧂
The maids who were sent to help you get ready to go were finishing pinning up your hair and fixing your makeup when you heard a knock on the door. They mingled at your dressing table and left through the back door, whispering among themselves. They were nice, but you were a bit tired of all the preparations. Was all this really necessary?
"Please come in."
You saw the reflection of Foras entering in the mirror. Even though there's no loop around your neck, you've forgotten how to breathe. Instead of his usual uniform, he wore a formal suit, with a noose instead of a tie. You stood up to get a better look. And you saw there was delight on his face to rival yours.
"You look..." He couldn't find the words. He blinked, took your hand and leaned in to kiss it. "Perfect is too weak a word to describe you."
You no longer regret the time spent at the dressing table.
"You also."
"And lovely, too." He brushed a stray strand of hair from your forehead. "It's an honor to accompany you."
"Charmer."
You took his arm. His eyes said that he would rather stay here, keep you to himself and admire your beautiful appearance piece by piece, taking off your pins, jewelry, and finally your clothes, slowly, one by one, savoring each step. You felt the same way.
"I spent too much time getting ready to spoil it now. But once I show myself to the others, we can come back..."
"They don't deserve to look at you." It slipped out before he could stop himself.
You gripped his arm tighter, ran your fingers down his palm, along his long fingers and veins, and intertwined your hands. Even though you were both waiting for this ball, it suddenly started bothering you. All you needed was each other. But you both knew your responsibilities too well not to go.
[Pspsps, if you would like to see the continuation… ]
꧁:・ ✡ ・:꧂
Leviathan is perfect, as is the entire celebration. But he only appeared for a moment, at the beginning, and you never saw him again. It took a while for you to slip out and find him in the tower of the palace, looking out the window at the feast in the market square. He liked this place. He saw everything that was happening around him, and at the same time he was not surrounded by people. With you, the slow music from the ballroom came through the open door.
"The King of Hades is perfect, right?"
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but at least he finally noticed you.
"There should be no doubt about it."
"I wondered if he could dance perfectly too."
He pulled away and stood straight, one hand on his back and the other outstretched towards you. "What a cheap move. If you wanted to dance, all you had to do was say so."
But despite his perfect posture, you saw that he couldn't help himself and looked you up and down. You accepted his hand, placing the other on his shoulder. The silk shirt was as soft to the touch as the muscles you felt beneath it.
"In a perfect scenario, the prince should be the one to ask the princess to dance, you know?"
"This is life, not a fairy tale. I am the king. And you are not allowed to dance with any of the princes."
You giggled, but then he pulled your waist tighter to him. The music, the darkness of the room, the laughter coming from the market square and, above all, the charming man who guided your steps made you have to disagree with him.
"That's right. It's not a fairy tale." You whispered, dancing so close that you rested your head on his chest. "That's much better."
And even though you couldn't see it, or that's why, Leviathan lifted the corners of his mouth as he held you in his arms.
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Lavender - Ch. 48
You, Joel and Ellie make a home for yourselves in Jackson. A continuation of Lavender Ch. 1-47 found on Tumblr here.
Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader
Warnings: Smut. No use of Y/N. Minors DNI 18+ only
Length: 4.2K
Summer, 2024
“You swear I’m not going to sink,” Ellie looked skeptical, waist deep in the lake.
“I promise you’re not gonna sink,” Joel said, smiling a little. “I’ll be right here, not gonna let you drown, Kiddo.”
“So I just, what, fall and the water catches me or what?” She asked. “Because that sounds like bullshit.”
“Come out a little deeper,” Joel stepped back a bit and Ellie hesitated before she obeyed. He arranged himself beside her, one arm behind her back and the other low in the water to help bring her legs up. “Alright, stick one leg straight out and lean back….” She winced as she did it. “Right, now the other one, too. Don’t worry, not gonna let you drown.”
You watched as she rose to floating on her back, her face scrunched tight for a moment before she smiled, eyes opening.
“I’m doing it!” She yelled. “Doc, look!”
“I’m looking!” You shaded your eyes with the book you’d been reading, watching from the shore. “You’re doing great!”
“See?” Joel smiled, standing up straight again, hands on his hips. “Don’t need me out here at all.”
You watched as he showed her how to move her arms and legs while on her back, then helped her move to her front, sweeping her arms forward and pulling herself through the water.
“I can swim!” She called to you. “I can fucking swim!”
You smiled at Joel and he smiled back at you, both of you loving the chance to have Ellie be a child for a change.
Jackson had been good for her. You were all still settling into it in a way. It was strange to think that, a year ago, Ellie hadn’t met Joel and you and Joel were avoiding each other like the plague. Now, you all lived under one roof, together as a family.
You’d overhauled Ellie’s room first. It was girlie, far too girlie for a girl like Ellie. She thought about what she wanted and sheepishly came into the living room one afternoon with a notebook in her hands when you were reading, your head on Joel’s lap.
“Is this dumb?” She asked, holding the notebook out.
“Almost definitely not but let me look,” you said, setting your book on your stomach and taking the notebook from her. It was a mural of the stars, an astronaut floating in space with the Earth a swirl behind them and the long neck of a giraffe reaching into the stars. “In what universe is this dumb? This is awesome!”
“Yeah?” She smiled, leaning over the notebook. “See, I did the astronaut with the kind of space suit that Sally Ride used…”
“Brilliant,” you said. “Let’s do it!”
“Fuck yeah,” she smiled.
Joel made it a point to look for paint when out on patrol and it didn’t take long before you had everything you needed to make it happen. You showed Ellie how to work with the larger space, sketching out the mural in quadrants at first and then starting to paint. It took a few days to finish, the two of you working together on it. She painted the last star, you holding the step stool so she could reach high enough. She came back down and looked up at it, proud, before yelling through the house.
“Joel!” She called. “It’s done! You gotta come see!”
He came in, a dish towel over his shoulder, soap suds still on his wrists.
“Well this is damn impressive,” he said.
“Right?” Ellie said. “It’s like I’m a real artist!”
“You are a real artist,” you smiled at her. “You made something. It’s art. You’re an artist, kid.”
“Hell yeah I am,” she smiled up at the mural. Joel pressed a kiss into your forehead and smiled. When your eyes met his, you knew you were thinking the same thing: Any sacrifice was worth this.
She was a little prickly about school at first. You waited more than a week to start her there, spending most of the time with the three of you piled together on the couch, either watching movies on the TV and VCR in the living room that - miraculously - still worked or playing board games. The family who lived in this house before had a decent stash in the basement - Clue, Monopoly, Scrabble, even something called Settlers of Catan that neither you or Joel had ever heard of but quickly became Ellie’s favorite.
The three of you seemed to do best when you were close together. It reminded you, again, of what it was like coming to the QZ with Andrew. You’d thought you were better prepared for it this time - and maybe you were - but it did little to ease the worry that rose in you when Joel left the house to pick up food or Ellie went to shower and was out of your sight for more than a few minutes. The nauseating, hot ball of anxiety seemed constantly primed and ready to fill your stomach. You saw it in them, too. In the tension of Ellie’s jaw when Joel left the house, the relief on both of their faces when you came back into the room after taking a shower.
But you needed to integrate yourselves into life here. Your leg was already doing better, Joel’s side was healing well. The two of you needed to start contributing and Ellie needed to start school again. The teacher in you was vaguely horrified at the kind of learning loss she must have had over the past few months on the road. And she needed to spend time with kids her own age, not the two middle-aged adults who had been her only real human contact for months.
“But you’re a teacher!” Ellie protested when you sat her down to talk about it. “If I really need to learn shit that bad, why can’t you just teach me?”
“Because I’m not the person who should teach you things like English or history,” you replied. “And you need to spend time with kids your own age.”
“Fuck kids my own age!” She crossed her arms and flopped herself back in her chair at the kitchen table, staring daggers out the window panes in the back door.
“Ellie,” Joel scolded lightly. “C’mon. You know she’s right. You need to have a life…”
“I do,” she said. “There’s plenty of shit to do in the house and if I run out of shit in here, I can go in the yard.”
“We can ease into it,” you ignored her protests. “Tomorrow, we can go to the mess hall for meals, talk a bit with some other people…”
“I don’t trust other people,” Ellie’s eyes darted to you and Joel before looking back outside.
“Baby girl,” Joel said gently, leaning onto the table. “You really think we’d send you somewhere that was bad for you? Somewhere you’d get hurt?”
She glared at you both for a second before she sighed.
“No.”
“We’re here for a reason,” he said. “You can have a normal life here. School here ain’t like what it is in the QZ. Give it a shot.”
“Besides,” you said when she was quiet for a moment. “We’re going to start working soon and you’ll just be in here, by yourself all day. That’s not good for you.”
She looked at both of you for a moment, her jaw set firm.
“Fine,” she muttered eventually. “But if it’s stupid as fuck I’m blaming you.”
It only took her a week and a half to admit she liked school. She’d made friends, including a girl named Dina she seemed particularly excited about. She liked her teachers (“Way better than in the fuckin’ QZ - no offense, Doc.”) and seemed to be excited about what she was learning.
“Thank fuck we got a kid who’s excited about school,” Joel sighed one morning after Ellie all but ran out the front door with barely a “good morning” on the way past. “Really wasn’t lookin’ forward to her fightin’ us on it every step of the way.”
“She’ll find something else to fight us on, I’m sure,” you smiled at him over your cup of tea. He smiled a little back and kissed your temple before going to get dressed for the day. You savored it for a moment, the small signs of a quiet, domestic life. You hadn’t realized just how badly you wanted that life. It was like you’d been afraid of wishing for anything quite that much because, in the QZ, when you thought Joel hated you, it was so far out of reach it would only bring you pain to want it.
You had it here.
After a few weeks of working at the clinic, your leg was healed but you were feeling restless. You’d never been able to get a call out to Andrew to tell him that you made it here. Every little kid you saw in town reminded you of Elizabeth and Jonah and how much you wished they could grow up in a place like this. There wasn’t a day that went by in the clinic where you almost talked to Andrew out of sheer force of habit. You were providing medical care, Andrew should be there. That’s how it worked.
“I need to make a trip to the radio tower.”
You said it simply one evening, when Tommy and Maria were over for dinner.
“Absolutely not,” Joel said immediately.
“For a change, I agree with Joel,” Maria said. “We have a strict policy here for a reason…”
“Why d’you need to go?” Tommy frowned. You smiled a little at him. Of course he’d be the only one here who was maybe on your side.
“I just need to make one call,” you said. “To Andrew, let him know we made it OK.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Maria shook her head. “We can’t afford giving away our location…”
“I won’t say anything about where we are,” you said. “He knew we were heading out west, anyway. And it’s Andrew, he’d never say anything to anybody about where we were. He’s completely trustworthy, ask Tommy.”
Maria looked to her husband. He shrugged.
“She’s right,” he said. “Knew the guy for years, I’d trust him with my life. And I know damn well he wouldn’t do a damn thing to hurt her.”
Maria sighed.
“Just the one call,” she said. “That’s all?”
“That’s all,” you said. “I swear.”
“Fine,” she said. “But that’s it. You can’t share where we are, nothing like that.”
“Of course,” you said.
“Don’t I get a say in this?” Joel snapped.
“Nope,” you smiled. “It’s cute that you think you do, though.”
He quirked his jaw and glared at you but was quiet until the two of you went to bed that night.
“I ain’t takin’ you out there,” his accent was thick. He was pissed. “After everythin’ we did to get this far and you wanna risk it to call back to fuckin’ Boston…”
“I’m not asking you to take me,” you shrugged as you climbed into bed. “You need to stay here with Ellie, we can’t both leave her and we’re not taking her back outside right now.”
He stared at you for a moment.
“Who the fuck is takin’ you then?” He demanded. “I know you ain’t stupid enough try to go out there on your own…”
“Tommy will,” you said. “He already said he would…”
He got into bed next to you.
“Am I supposed to be happy ‘bout that?” He asked.
“No,” you said. “But you should feel good about Tommy taking me since you know he’ll get us there and back in one piece.”
“Can’t say I’m thrilled about the prospect of you traipsin’ through the wilderness with your ex-boyfriend,” he muttered.
“So you don’t trust me because I was fucking him eight years ago?” You asked, brows raised.
“Course I trust you…” He frowned. “Wait, eight years ago?”
“Yeah?” You said. “That’s when he left, right? So, eight years.”
“No,” he shook his head. “No, you split up…”
“Well yeah,” you laughed a little. “But then we kept… well, you know. Did you really not know about this?”
He was deathly silent for a moment. You could practically feel the rage building in him.
“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill ‘im.”
Joel threw back the blankets and started getting dressed.
“You can’t be serious!” You got up, too, putting yourself between him and the bedroom door. “You are not going to pick a fight with your brother over ancient history…”
“It ain’t ancient history if he was fuckin’ my goddamn wife for four years longer’n I thought,” he was seething. “Fuckin’ hid it from me for years!”
“OK let’s take a breath,” you said, putting your hands gently on his bare chest. “One, you’re going to freak out Ellie. Two, if you go storming over there, you’re going to get us kicked out of town. I had to convince Maria that I wasn’t a succubus who had come to town to steal her husband, she actually likes me now, please don’t ruin that because you’re pissed off over something that happened almost a decade ago.”
“He lied to me,” Joel snapped. “For years. Goddamn years because he knew, he fuckin’ knew he was doin’ something shitty…”
“Joel,” you cut him off. “You hated me then…”
“No,” he shook his head. “Never hated you…”
“You were acting like you hated me which, for anyone watching, is the same damn thing,” you said, crossing your arms. “Did you expect me to sit at home, never sleeping with anyone, waiting for you to come around?”
“No,” his jaw tensed. “I expect my brother to keep his hands off my girl, especially if he’s just gonna be fucking her and not treatin’ her right…”
“We broke up because I couldn’t get over you, you idiot!” You had to try to keep your voice down, which was rare for you. You weren’t much of a yeller. “Not that I’m some kind of prize but you’d already won that one! So no, you’re not going to beat up your damn brother because he was sleeping with me when you wanted nothing to do with me. That’s bullshit. You know that’s bullshit.”
He looked at you, his brown eyes a bit softer.
“You really break up because of me?” He asked, hint of a smile playing on his lips.
“See, I guess Tommy didn’t tell you that either,” you rolled your eyes. “But yeah. I warned him when we got together that I didn’t think I could love anyone who wasn’t you. And I was right. So we split up.”
“Well…” he cupped the back of his neck awkwardly. “That… makes it a bit better…”
You rolled your eyes. Men.
“So can we go to bed instead of having you mess up our entire life because you’re trying to be an asshole?” You asked, brows raised. “Because I’m tired. I’d like to go to bed.”
“Let’s go to bed,” he sighed, pulling you against his broad chest and kissing your forehead.
The two of you got back under the covers and you burrowed into him once he turned out the lights.
“Feeling better?” You asked, your nose buried in his throat.
“Still pissed my brother thought he could get away with fuckin’ my wife for years,” he muttered.
“I’m not your wife,” you said, teasing a little.
“Hm?” He pulled back to look at what he could see of you in the dark.
“I’m not your wife,” you said again. “You keep calling me that but, last time I checked, we weren’t married.”
“Right,” he pulled you back against him. “Just… feel like my wife…”
“Well you feel like my husband,” you yawned into him and pressed closer. “But ball’s in your court on that one, Miller.”
It took him less than two weeks. You’d just finished getting Ellie out the door for school, Joel coming in from an overnight patrol at the same time she was leaving.
“Hey Hon,” you called out to him, taking a sip of tea before starting to wash the pan you’d made hashbrowns in. “I can make you eggs or something if you want, I’m not due at the clinic for another two hours…”
You turned around and there he was, down on one knee. It surprised you so much you jumped. He smiled a little at that.
“I had different plans for this 20 years ago,” he said. “Something involving you’n me at that coffee shop where I first saw you and you ordered one of those lavender lattes you like so much. Then I’d take you to a hotel room with a real big tub we could take full advantage of.”
You had to lean back against the counter to keep from falling over, happy tears already catching on your lashes.
“This ain’t that,” he said. “But it is what you’n me have made and you make it everything, Baby. You do. Wouldn’t be here without you - wouldn’t want to be here without you. Seems like everything good I’ve got I can trace back to you, you’re the best of all of it.”
He reached into a pocket and pulled out a necklace, a purple gemstone with a small diamond above it where the pendant met the delicate gold chain.
“It ain’t a ring,” he said. “But I figure a ring’d be in the way at the clinic, anyway…”
You damn near tackled him, almost falling over in your rush to throw your arms around his neck.
“Didn’t even ask you yet,” you could hear him smiling as you buried your face in his shoulder.
“Sorry,” you said voice thick, still holding onto him. “Ask, I’m listening!”
He laughed.
“Baby, I love you more than I knew it was possible to love another person,” his breath was warm against your neck as he spoke. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” You were still clinging to him. He wrapped his arms around your waist and let himself fall backwards so he was sitting on the kitchen floor instead of kneeling. He pulled back from you enough to kiss you.
“Good,” he smiled a little. “Because I’m too old to be on my knees that damn long…”
You got married a few weeks later. It was a small affair, just you and Joel with Ellie and Tommy. Maria officiated and you exchanged matching rings Joel made out of scrap metal that he’d polished to shining. You’d never been happier.
You toyed with the pendant, watching your husband and daughter swim, smiling a little. This was all you wanted in Jackson. All you’d ever wanted, really. A life with Joel, one that was quiet and happy, one where there was no specter of death and pain. You sometimes couldn’t believe that you’d found it, in the face of everything, you’d finally gotten here.
“Y’all headin’ back soon?” You turned to see Tommy on horseback, heading back toward Jackson.
“Time is it?” Joel yelled.
“Pushin’ four.”
“Oh shit,” Ellie clumsily maneuvered herself to standing. “I’m supposed to be going to the mess hall with my friends at like 5:30…”
“Mind taking Ellie back?” You asked.
“Course not,” he said, waiting patiently as Ellie dried off and pulled on her sneakers.
“I’ll probably be home late!” She called over her shoulder as she climbed on the back of Tommy’s horse.
“Have fun!” You watched the two of them ride off back toward town, so distracted you didn’t even notice your husband coming out of the lake until he dripped water on your bare leg.
“Should put that book down, Baby,” he said, a look that almost dared you disobey.
“No,” you shook your head, trying not to smile. “Absolutely not, that water has got to be fucking freezing…”
“I’ll keep you warm,” he said, scooping you up off the blanket you were laying on. You shrieked and dropped your book before it got wet, Joel carrying you into the cold water.
“See?” You said, teeth nearly chattering as you wrapped your arms around your waist. “Fucking freezing!”
He tugged you against him and you could feel his hard length through his swim trunks. You wrapped your arms around his neck and his went around your waist.
“I’ll keep you warm,” he said again, voice low and wanting this time. You smiled a little at that.
“Oh will you, Mr. Miller?” You asked, the teasing edge to your voice picking up the the needy ache that was rapidly building in you.
“I will, Mrs. Miller,” he traced his fingers along your arm before he kissed you, his wet curls dripping on your wrists.
His kiss deepened, his tongue slipping into your mouth, curving around your own. He moved his hands lower until they were cupping your ass and he lifted you so you could wrap your legs around him. Once you were secure, he brought a hand around to your front, running his fingers over your aching slit through your swimsuit, pressing the pad of his thumb against your swollen clit.
You moaned and he reached down, freeing his cock and nudging your suit to the side, his thick head against your entrance. He pressed into you and you clung to him as he stretched you open, the feel of him easing the painful neediness that burned inside you.
“Fuck Baby,” he kissed the top of your shoulder. “Somethin’ about havin’ you in the water…”
You dug your nails into his skin, not able to help yourself, your breasts pressed flush against him.
“Probably because that’s how you first had me,” you panted, holding him deep inside yourself. “Really wasn’t fair, you making me lose my virginity to the best sex I’d ever have… Ruined me for anyone else, never had a shot.”
“Good,” he said, his fingers sinking into the flesh of your ass and leveraging you up his cock before bringing you back down on him with a satisfied grunt. “Like you ruined for me…”
He moved you up and down his thick length, starting easy and shifting to hard and fast, each thrust forcing your aching walls apart as he made room for himself inside you, his head meeting the place inside you he’d marked as his own that day in the pool almost 25 years before. Your body was clinging to him, your core so tight that it was bordering on pain and you couldn’t stand to have him pull away from you again. You tightened your legs around his waist when he thrust into you, forcing him to stay deep inside as you started to cum around him.
“Shit, Baby…” he moved his hands from your ass to your lower back, pressing your hips closer so he could push somehow deeper inside you. “Going to…”
You were too lost in your own orgasm to fully understand the implications of what he said. You’d run out of your birth control stash about two months earlier. The two of you had been practicing the pull out method and keeping your fingers crossed. Now, he was emptying himself into you, his cock throbbing as he filled you with his thick, hot spend.
You groaned, savoring the feeling of him coming apart inside you. You’d missed it, missed how close to him you felt when he lost control while part of him was a part of you. It took until both of your orgasms had faded for you to realize what just happened.
“Shit,” you breathed, pulling back from him enough to see his face, his cock still sheathed within you. “Joel, you didn’t pull out…”
“I know,” he was still catching his breath. “Fuck, I didn’t even think about it…”
You pressed your forehead to his, acutely aware of where your bodies were joined. You could feel his spend inside of you, his head right at the mouth of your womb when he came.
“I guess we just keep our fingers crossed,” you sighed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have held onto you like that…”
“Never apologize for doin’ that,” he said, giving you a squeeze. “Felt fuckin’ amazing.”
You laughed once. He was quiet for a minute.
“But would it be that bad if I got you pregnant?” He asked softly.
“Joel,” you almost laughed before you realized he wasn’t joking.
“You’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to have kids with,” he said. “Life is good here, people have babies here and they’re happy’n healthy. They have a life. It’d be worth it, here.”
“I’m turning 46 in a few months,” you said. “You’re going to be sixty in a few years…”
“Yeah,” he said. “But our kid - your kid - would be worth it.”
You kissed him, soft and gentle, your heart full.
“Yeah,” you said, your lips brushing his. “Yeah, they would be…”
He trailed his mouth along your jaw as he brought a hand back around to your front, pressing two fingers to your sensitive clit, his softening cock still inside you.
“Fuck, Joel,” you panted. “What…”
“Tryin’ to make you cum again,” he said, voice thick. “Think it takes better if you cum after I leave myself inside you…”
You moaned and pressed your face into his neck, rocking your hips against him, falling apart in the water at your husband’s touch.
A/N: One chapter left to tie up a few more loose ends. I hope everyone is enjoying some lovely Miller family time!
Thank you all so much for being here. I truly can't believe this fic is almost done. It's going to kill me a little to end it (I'm still going to, I don't think I can keep writing without a story to serve) and it feels like I just started writing it a few days ago.
For anyone who enjoys my work in general and not just the characters of Joel and Doc, I did start a new TLOU fic today. It's called Yearling and can be found here. I hope you can find something about it to love!
Thank you for spending your time with me and with Doc and Joel. I can't imagine sharing this story without you all. Love you, truly!
Taglist: @paleidiot@ayamenimthiriel@ginger-swag-rapunzel@drewharrisonwriter@flugazi @pedropascalsbbg@taoyuji@starstruckmusiciansartghost@splendsay@bigboiseason123@jpbplvr @ashleyandring @mrsyixingunicorn10@sloanexx@ninaminaromina @lady-bellyn @hufflepuffriver @sarap-77 @storyarcscribe @mellymbee @jasminedragoon @lemonmeli @reds-ramblings@arizonadaydreamer@mumma-moonchild@blackroseguzzi@candypeaches16@kittenlittle24@wrappedinfiction@oatmeaiboy@pedritosdarling@winchestergypsy90@imnotdatboii @lalalalemonade11 @maknimuk1@mrsdarcyinlovewithbuckybarnes@pedrosaidsheispunk@commanderawkward@n7cje@elliesgirlll@tsunamistorm123@spookyxsam@leeeesahhh @anoverwhelmingdin @untamedheart81 @pedropascalfan221 @pedr0swh0r3 @pedrobae@fifia-writes@fatima-marisa @acf2023 @1soff@encephalitiskat @ashleymsnodgrass @karlinspace
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My Secret Demon - Ch 1
The Haunted House
In the summer of 2023 you, your boyfriend, and some friends decided as a celebration of graduating high school and all getting into the same college to go to a haunted house in the woods and try to talk to spirits and see if they can see any paranormal activity. Maybe they can catch it on camera too.
You all arrive at the house and go inside with your things and explore to see if one of you can find the scariest room and get set up to try and talk to spirits. You accidentally stumble upon a room when you were leaning against a wall that just happened to lead to a secret room. There was a creaking sound, and you felt yourself about to fall. You turned around and saw a dark room that looked like it had a spiral staircase leading somewhere. You call them down, and they all come running.
“It's so dark down there,” Amanda says, holding on to her boyfriend, Mark. “Oh, don't be such a scaredy cat,” Tom, your boyfriend, says. Josh grabs a flashlight for all of you and you all turn them on. “Who's gonna lead the way?” Rose asks, looking at all of you. “I'll lead,” you say heading down the stairway. You reach the end and the walls are scratched and painted blood red with a drawing of a red carved pentagram in the middle of the floor of the room that's down a short hallway. You venture down the hallway and put your things down by the door of the room and the others copy. You all help to set up and sit down in a circle. You all place your hand on the triangle of the Ouija board.
“There are some rules we must never break. 1. Never play alone. 2. Never play in a graveyard. 3. Never move your hand off of the planchette 4. Always say goodbye.” Rose explains. “I'll ask the first question. If there is a spirit here, make yourself known.” There was an old candle on a table and it fell down and rolled over to Josh. “Well, I guess that means something is here.” Josh says shrugging. “What is your name?” Amanda asks and the planchette starts moving towards the letters spelling ‘Ryan’. “Did anyone get brutally murdered here in this room?” Tom asks. “What the hell, Tom?” You ask, slapping his shoulder with your free hand. “Guys, uh, it's on yes.” Mark says. “Ok. I think that's enough for now. We should stop.” Amanda says scared. “Really? You can't handle a little question? Such a scared bitch.” Tom scoffs. “Ok that's enough! Let's just say goodbye and Tom, we need to talk while they set up the next game.” You all circle the board and say goodbye and remove the triangle and put up the game. You grab Tom and take him to the hall talking. The rest set up the next game. “You can't just say that to her.” You say, and Tom rolls his eyes and crosses his arms leaning on the wall. “She can’t handle a small question. So yeah I called her a bitch. Cause that's what she is, a scared little bitch.” Tom says scoffing. “No she is not! She is my best friend and if you can't respect me and my friends, then we have a problem.” You say defending her. “I’m done with this conversation.” He says walking back to the room. “Hey! We will talk later!” You shout back to him, sighing putting your hands on your face then back down to your side. You walk back to the room.
“We should leave after the next game.” You say to them sitting down. The game you all are now going to play is Dry Bones. You all have done this together before at Josh's house but failed. Now you guys are trying again. Here are the rules.
You’re summoning or trying to summon a demon. The summoning process for this one is extremely simple. You begin by turning off all your lights, lighting your candle, and going into your bathroom (or any room with a mirror) at 12:01am. You’re going to stare at your reflection until you can feel a presence in the mirror. Once you know there’s something other than yourself in that mirror, you’re going to do the dumbest thing known to mankind. You’re going to tell the demon “I acknowledge your presence, I welcome you into my home. Come in now”. After that last word has been spoken, you should have a demon in your house.
There is a door leading to the next room. Rose opens the door and it's a bedroom that has a mirror. You all stand in front of it and light the candle after shutting the door. You all stare at yourselves in the mirror for what feels like an hour when in reality has only been 5 minutes.
“I dont think it's working.” Mark says backing up. “Come on, let's go. I'll start packing up.” Rose says going with Mark and motioning for you, Amanda, and Tom to go. “I'll stay for a bit. You guys start packing up and I'll be there shortly. I just wanna stay here for a minute and think.” You say smiling softly to them. They go back to the room and start packing up while you stay staring at yourself in the mirror, lit candle still in hand. You look at your phone and it reads 12:01am. “It's time.” You whisper to yourself and put your phone in your pocket and continue to stare at your reflection.
A few seconds later you feel a presence standing behind you, then a hand on your shoulder, and breath tickling down your neck. “I've finally been set free. Thank you.” The voice says.
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Thank you to our creators who have submitted their Top 5 fics of 2023! I know this is a terribly difficult task. After all, I did it myself! But I've always felt this list was the more important of the two - it's not about the numbers; it's about the works that nourished their creator's souls and brought them joy. So, thanks to each of you for sharing with us! Links to all stories can be found below the break!
@aallotarenunelma ✒️
Moonlit Hearts (IL/ID Crossover/AU) - Original Characters
Childhood Memories (ILW) - Lincoln McQuoid x NB!MC
Close to the Flame (ILW) - Lincoln McQuoid x NB!MC
Another Sun Will Rise (ILITW) - Dan Pierce x MC
Indigo Blood (ID) - Cas Harlow x MC
@angelasscribbles ✒️
The DeFacto Queen (TRR) Ⓜ️ - Drake x MC, Liam x MC
A Fervid Fixation (TRR) Ⓜ️ - Drake Walker x MC
The Dark Kingdom (TRR) Ⓜ️ - Drake x MC, Liam x MC
In Your Room Masterlist (TRR) Ⓜ️ - Drake Walker x Leo Rys
Laws End (TRR) Ⓜ️- Drake Walker x MC, Liam Rys x MC
@baldwinboy5ive 🎨and ✒️
Aerin Prison Visit (BOLAS) 🎨- Aerin Valleros x F!MC
The Right Path (BOLAS) ✒️- Aerin Valleros x F!MC
Name on the Wall (BOLAS) ✒️- Aerin Valleros x F!MC
Bye-Bye Baldur (BOLAS) 🎨- Aerin Valleros
Aerin x Raine Fanart (BOLAS) 🎨- Aerin Valeros x MC
@cariantha ✒️
All He Wanted (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
Hey Stranger (OH) Ⓜ️ - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
For You, I Will (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
War & Peace (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
A Solid Strategy (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
@coffeeheartaddict2 ✒️
Everybody Hurts Sometimes, Ch. 7 Ⓜ️(OH) - Ethan Ramsey, MC
Love in all Forms (OH) - Ethan Ramsey, F!OC, Tobias Carrick
Power to Overcome (OH) - F!MC, Aurora Emery
Everybody Hurts Sometimes, Ch. 15 Ⓜ️(OH) - Ethan Ramsey, etc.
Desire Ⓜ️(OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
@inlocusmads ✒️
Past Lives (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
Music for the Lost (and Found) (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
The Feverish Itch (Guinevere) - Guinevere, Queen Artura, F!Lancelot
Cross Your Heart and Set it Ablaze (COP) Trystan Thorne x F~!MC
The Bow That Burned Bright (BOLAS) - F!Elf!MC, Kade
@jerzwriter ✒️
A Mother's Journal Ⓜ️(WTD) - Eli Sipes
What's Forever For Ⓜ️(OH/AU) - Tobias Carrick, F!MC
Breathe Again (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
A Bit Dark (OH) - F!MC x F!OC
I Do, Me Too (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
@ladylamrian ✒️
Welcome to the World of Night (NB) - NB Side Characters
A Meeting in Wyoming (NB) - Nik Ryder x F!MC
Towards the Future (NB) - Nik Ryder x F!MC
Duty & Pleasure (NB) - Nik Ryder x F!MC
Sweet & Tender Hearts (NB) - Original Characters
@liaromancewriter ✒️
La Vie Avec Toi (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC, Sienna Trinh x M!OC
Late Shift (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
The Reluctant Valentine (OH) - Sienna Trinh x M!OC
When the Clock Strikes Twelve (OH/AU) - Sienna Trinh x M!OC
Breaking News (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
@moominofthevalley ✒️
The Haunting, Part 1 (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
Turpentine (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
The Girl With the Glass (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
I Will (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
Future Days (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
@peonierose ✒️
Wildflower (OH) - Keiki Lahela x M!OC
Kintsugi (OH) - Original Characters
Summer's Kiss (OH) - Bryce Lahela x F!OC
I'm a Sucker for You (OH) - Bryce Lahela x F!OC
Rose All Day (OH) - Bryce Lahela, Keiki Lahela, OCs
@stars-are-within-me ✒️
The Rain (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
Reflections (BOLAS) - Aerin Valleros
A Day Off (COP) - Trystan Thorne x MC
In the Gray (COP) - Eveline Goncharov, Maksim Thorne, etc.
The Lonely Prince (BOLAS) - Aerin Valleros x MC
@storyofmychoices ✒️
Shadows & Deceptions: A Royal Murder Mystery (Crossover/AU)
Can I Have This Dance? (OH) - Bryce Lahela x F!OC
Shadows of Hope (BOLAS) - Mal Volari x F!MC
The Quest for Daenarya (BOLAS) - Mal Volari x F!MC
Dealing with a Narcissist (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
@tessa-liam ✒️
Smoke & Mirrors, Ch. 11 Ⓜ️(TRR) - Liam Rys x MC
Cappadocia Ⓜ️ (TRR) - Liam Rys x MC
Marabelle, Ch. 2 Ⓜ️ (TRR) - Liam Rys x F!OC
Turning the Page, Ch. 5 Ⓜ️ (TRR) - Liam Rys x F!OC
Ti Amo Molto Ⓜ️ (TRR) - Liam Rys x MC
@trappedinfanfiction ✒️
Fast Break, Epilogue (OH/AU) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
What's in a Name? (COP) - Trystan Thorne
Crossroads Ⓜ️(OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
By Your Side (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
A New Neighbor (COP) - Trystan Thorne x F!MC
@zealouscanonindeer ✒️
Dangerous Games Ⓜ️ (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
Naughty & Nice (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
Like Whom? (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
Roots (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
Drunken Nights (OH) - Ethan Ramsey x F!MC
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after the flowers wilt
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summary: what happens after you leave? what if both of you were meant to meet, no matter which world? the new student in your class seems so oddly familiar. What memory are you trying to revive?
A/n: this is basically self indulgence for me after twst is over after watching the ch 7 trailer and realizing the main story will end soon </3 this is also inspired by like. the intro page of twst where they ask u to choose someones hand n grab it tight. i thoroughly believe its connected to the ending so yargh. reader basically picked Vil in this one. can u guys guess who my bias is.
Words: about 2.7k, this is a one-shot <3
Content warnings and Labels: Vil x reader (reader is gn), Angst, reader has amnesia, mentions of being in a long term coma, feelings of nostalgia and melancholy, mentions of grief. you get the gist, I hope.
Suggested: listen to this mbira video while reading. The only thing i was listening to while writing this. hope it captured the mood well.
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The headmaster chose to spare everyone of the grief.
It was a few weeks, you'd been in a coma apparently. Your family rejoiced when you finally woke up. You swore you weren’t here before, but you couldn’t remember anything else. You didn’t know where else you could have been. You chose to push it to the back of your mind, after enough brushing off from your family and friends.
You recovered in no time, and started going back to school. You climbed the same stairs as you always did, your locker remained in the same place. You found out your place had been changed and you sat beside someone else now, your friends at a faraway corner.
You half expected them to snicker and throw a paper ball at you and..
Wait, why would they do that?
You kept looking at the back of their heads. They were focused on what your teacher was saying.
Why wouldn’t they?
A tiny voice. Brushed aside.
The ceiling of your room looked so familiar and so distant. A tiny glow in the dark sticker painted over with the color of your walls. A vase full of roses and a small stack of "Get well soon!" Cards on your bedside. The open window blew in slight dust and a small dandelion seed. You wanted to catch it, but couldnt find the energy to get up. You watched it slowly trickle down onto your bedside and stay motionless.
Don’t forget us, idiot.
You shot up.
You remembered.
No, wait.. you didn’t.
A flash of a memory.
Was it really yours?
The flash went by as quickly as it came. What were you trying to remember?
Your eyes zoned in on your desk. A small perfume bottle and a neatly written letter from a distant relative. You could smell the faint, sweet smell of apples and a forgone summer.
Why did you feel so.. lonely?
What are you trying to remember in the first place?
What did you lose in the first place, that you are so desperately trying to remember?
You fell back on your bed with a soft thump.
Your phone cast beside you started to buzz. It was your friend. They asked you about the homework assigned.
You got to work.
–
Riddle was not the best at suppressing emotions, but where did they come from?
He stared at the tea in the cup, and let the warmth dissipate in his hands. The party was perfect. All the roses were red, there was no chestnut tart, and the only cat allowed was Grim.
Even Ace, Deuce and Grim were not quite snarky, and seemed much more tame than how they usually were.
.
Leona was smart. He knew something was missing long ago. He didn’t know where this came from, but he didn’t bother. Another order for Ruggie, a different sandwich and another day in his passing life with a predetermined fate. What should he worry about?
Ruggie stood under a tree, and contemplated an empty feeling, without a word. A few moments off from his rushed, ever so busy life. He listened to the silent bristling of the leaves and glanced at silver, who also seemed to be confused about this feeling. No words were shared. The rustling sound of a plastic bag and distanced footsteps were heard.
-
The lounge was much more empty than Azul would have liked. A sign of less profit was of less noise, and less noise meant he was alone with his thoughts. The paperwork was drab today aswell, which did not help much. It kept him busy, though.
Jade and Floyd didn’t seem too ecstatic about working either. Floyd was especially slumped, but didn’t whine or complain. Jade was similar, the only difference being he would do whatever was required (at a more lethargic rate, but it was work nonetheless).
-
The ever so cheerful Kalim, for the first time, seemed calmer than usual. Smiling brightly at his dormmates and the repeated, "its a slow day today!" With a smile. It was starting to get easy to tell he was getting tired of it. A followed laugh that trailed off and a smile that stopped reaching the eyes.
Jamil was harder to figure on the surface. Ever so cool and composed. His hood seemed to cover his face further than usual. A thoughtful and foggy look in his eyes. Someone always sat beside him, but it wasn’t any of the dormmates. The hot air gently blew in. The smell of a water fountain and something that waited to be remembered.
-
Vil was an actor, a model, and a professional at both. He knew how to keep mild troubles buried. He's used to it.
There’s that photoshoot he has to prepare for, and the new makeup kit he has to try. He needs to help the Special Effects team in his club and there’s also a new skin serum he has to try, and then..
He swore there was a perfume bottle on his vanity, and he could still faintly smell it. But he couldn’t remember how it looked like. What brand was it, really? He scolded himself for not remembering. The mirror reflected his face. The reflection felt unfulfilling.
Rook knew deep and well that Vil was troubled. But it was something he couldn’t quite help him with. And if anything, he might make it worse. He knew when to be honest and when to keep quiet. Even as a confident figure, he seemed to be quieter than usual.
Epel wasn’t an idiot. So he kept quiet. Rook didn’t have to tell him anything. He spent enough time around him to understand from a single glance at one another. No words were exchanged, but understanding was universal between the three, and a nonverbal agreement to keep quiet. The faint smell of dust, despite the halls being cleaned spotless almost everyday.
-
Idia swore the character Ortho's been mentioning doesn’t exist in any of the fandoms he knew. He found foreign things in his memory card, but it was all corrupted. It wasn’t anything important, and easy to delete.
Why was he hesitating? Its not important.
Although.. maybe he should keep it. Ortho insisted the character was there, and was so adamant until he asked him to describe the character. Maybe he’s hoping something will happen. He left ortho to his own devices for a while.
-
Malleus was familiar to this feeling of loneliness. But the smell of dust, a blurred memory of a night walk, and discarded tickets, all seemed like something just within his reach. But when he reached out, his fingers felt the fog of an unknown memory. Were the years starting to strain on him?
Lilia was very aware of what malleus felt, but not about what he felt about. He simply smiled and continued on, assuring the dorm students.
Sebek was not bothered, and accompanied Malleus just as frequently. He seemed to go about his own more easily, however. Silent bouts became uncommon but not rare anymore. Silent training and a faraway expectation.
-----
{real world - pov}
You took your usual place in class, and 2 acquaintances came around your desk, simply discussing what happened in the last class and lightly joking. You wanted to join in, but hesitated, simply opting to smile politely. They mentioned someone wouldn't be coming today, and one of them claimed another desk was newly added. You blinked in confusion for a while. It was evident you were the last one to know.
You opened your textbook and spun a pencil in your hand, your eyes drifting to the empty desk across the class.
He never gave back your pencil.
You blinked.
Another memory. It wasnt yours. You brushed it off.
Everyone settled in and the atmosphere turned quiet. There was slight mumbling outside the door, before the teacher came in and asked for everyone's attention.
A new student was joining the class. As far as the teacher told the class, he was supposed to be here last year but due to issues, he had to join a different year.
The door opened and a tall blonde boy came in. You swear you’ve seen him before, and you slightly gaped as you kept looking at him. His eyes simply wandered and lingered around the class until he looked at you. His gaze fitted you for only a while longer before he blinked and introduced himself.
His name felt familiar.
He took the empty seat across the class, and the person sitting there would be moved next to you. You watched him settle into his newly assigned desk and other classmates around him welcome him.
You were able to pay more attention to your lessons nowadays, and some kind of fog started to lift. But from time to time you'd look up at the teacher ,when she turned to the black board and flit your eyes to him, where you'd catch him looking back at you. You shifted and quickly averted your gaze back to your notebook. You felt his stare linger on you for a while before he turned around.
Vil was certain this feeling was nothing but a simple bump in the road. His conscience felt clear (or rather, he got better at ignoring and tucking this feeling away for good), and he was able to get back into rhythm again. Rook and Epel took notice, and didn't comment as he subtly expected. He was lively again.
–
[other world]
And it was disappointing for him to see his neighbor was absent, leaving an empty desk to his right.
His mornings had started to feel lighter and better. The club had finally started to make better progress on the project they'd been working on, Epel finally got over a learning curve and Rook had been as praising as usual. His schedule was set and he made enough time for himself to relax for an hour, after roughly a solid month of feeling disconnected and still pushing through.
Oh, and there's that one student.
They became the hottest topic at NRC, even Epel couldn't help but mention it during his lessons and Rook even chittered with delight about them.
Due to.. complications, their entrance into NRC as a student was delayed a year, and had finally returned. They hadn't been sorted into any of the dorms as their arrival had been very recent.
Vil didn't quite care more or less about it, but still bothered to listen to the information.
Getting into NRC was one thing, and having your entrance delayed was another.
-
[other world]
You were anxious to say the least. Happy or sad, you couldn't decide. But anxious? Almost all the time with the new developments in place. Well, most of the time.
Your friends cheered upon hearing the news, and encouraged you greatly despite the fact you'd have to wait another year and continue in a different school for the time being. You decided it was better to wait. Good things come to people who wait, you suppose.
And it was strange enough as-is, having to put on the dark grey-ish black vest, with the uniform the school had provided. The headmaster assured you it could be replaced in no time with the dorm you'd be assigned to later that day, and you saw multiple students simply choosing not to wear one. It was still weird.
You walked into class just as the professor was about to introduce you to the class and explain tiny, small details in a summarized form. He asked you to sit down in the front row.
You didn’t notice before, slightly fretting over taking out your materials and keeping up with the professor, but midway during the lesson you glanced at your sides. A window to your left, and a blonde man to your side.
You knew who he was of course; but you couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity off.
You kept glancing to your right, trying to figure out just why he seemed so familiar. It wasn’t because you’d seen him on that commercial before, but it felt like something else. You couldn’t name it. And everytime you glanced, it seemed he decided to glance at you too. Both of you made accidental eye contact a few times before you pushed down the urge to look and focused on the lesson. You felt him looking at you and, maybe his gaze lingered longer than usual.
Your last class ended, and as the teacher left, most people started packing up and leaving for the day. Some started chatting with the new blonde boy, while you jotted down some extra notes and started packing things yourself.
–
{real world}
You weren’t far off from the class in the corridors when he called out for you.
"Excuse me", he tapped your shoulder. He caught up to you quite easily.
"Hm?" You stopped in your tracks and turned to face him.
He took a hesitant moment, before he asked you, "have we met before? You seem familiar."
You took a few seconds of pondering before saying, "I thought so too but er, I don’t think we have. You seem very familiar too."
You swear you’ve seen him somewhere before. The faint smell of lavender and apples felt so nostalgic, but what memory were you trying to remember?
Both of you started talking, and surprisingly there was smooth conversation. Both of you seemed to get along well, and it was evidently shocking to some of your other classmates who caught glimpses of you in the hallway.
He introduced himself and you did too. He decided to switch seats in the back so he sat next to you, and people even started texting you.
"Getting cozy huh?" Or something similar were the usual messages. Some of them made you laugh, but you brushed it off. The feeling of nostalgia remained, but it felt as though there was no more of a need to remember something. As if everything was fondly in place.
Sometimes both of you would talk about vague nostalgia once again. It confused both of you greatly, but the topic started to be forgotten the more he made newer memories with you.
You’ll hold onto the strange feeling, but you’ll start living once again, you suppose.
He smiled. Soft and rare. The smell of crackers and blurred sounds of celebration in the background, the beginning of a new year.
Vil wasn’t quite sure how to start conversation with you. You most likely knew who he was, but both of you didn’t know anything about each other personally.
–
[other world]
Vil asked you for an eraser, which helped him start something. It wasn’t what he exactly wanted, but it was something.
He started conversation there. He asked you simple questions, and started to ease into a conversation. Before both of you knew it ー something clicked and both of you started talking as though you’d known each other long before even having come to NRC.
Vil himself was quite surprised with such an outcome; he didn’t expect such a smooth conversation at all. He made up his mind about inviting you over to Pomefiore if you were free, and approached after class.
That’s when you mentioned, he seemed so familiar. He knew you meant as though both of you had known each other personally, and not simply as having seen him on billboards and magazines.
It wasn't long before you started coming over much more frequently to Pomefiore. Rook welcomed you graciously and even Epel seemed happier around you. It was as though something fell into place; a distant memory clicked.
He knew what you meant, but decided not to tell you.
"I see. Do you mind telling me more?”
There you were, so what else did he have to worry about?
He took your hand gently and applied the nail polish.
"I keep messing up", you’d laugh.
The revived memory of a distant summer. He might never get sick of your laugh. He smiled to himself.
"Of course you did. Let me help.”
—-----
To make the grief easier for everyone to handle, headmaster Crowley was able to erase their memories of you. Or at the very least, blur them to an extreme degree, so no one would grieve of your absence. He promised you would be exempt from this pain aswell. "You will remember when you need to", he told you.
"Farewell, then."
A hand reached out, and you grabbed it tightly. "Don't let go", a distant voice told you.
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A Night for Hunting Ch.5- Obsession isn't Love
T/W: Alucard (Ultimate) x F!Reader, yandere, jealous vampire, centipedes, alcohol consumption & intoxication. Please take the Uber or stay over with your host after a night out and don’t try to walk home alone when you’re almost blackout drunk.
Btw I believe vampires like Alucard are extremely smell-driven. I hope the wait for this chapter was worth it! Happy long weekend Canadian and American readers!
Words: 5029
On AO3
A rustle of cloth, a merging with the outer brick walls. With the grace of a summer breeze, the mass of blackness was inside, brushing past the quaint decor of a modest apartment. The vampire was one with the darkness, crawling along the walls, skimming the surfaces of your home to survey his territory. His findings were immediately apparent. He scented the elaborate floral arrangement upon phasing through the walls and making his entrance and approached to inspect it. It was a lovely display of blossoms, dense clusters of blue hyacinths in full bloom threw off their sweet, earthy smells, mixed with orangey-pink roses and dramatic peonies. The arrangement sent a gentle fragrance, which was quite pleasant, wafting throughout your home. The only issue was it also carried the hint of an unfamiliar male's scent. The vampire frowned.
You weren't there, unexpectedly. Alucard spent several minutes poking around, checking the windows and locks as he did the very first time he invited himself in to ensure they were secure. Everything else was as they should be. He glanced once more at the neatly arranged bundle of cut flowers in a vase.
With a swish of his duster tails, the vampire vanished from your home without a word, setting out to haunt the streets and look for his human.
---------------------
“Cheers!” You laughed heartily as you and your family clanged your glasses together. Dinner unfurled over the course of hours, where you noisily exchanged recent amusing stories to catch up. One of them retold the story of their nurse colleague telling the unit administration of a patient’s family complaining about wanting reimbursement for the deceased patient’s bursted breast implants after CPR, only for the admin to find out it was a joke the nurse made up when they were finally ready to go talk to the family. You were howling in laughter because they couldn’t not take such a complaint seriously! In retaliation, the admin arranged for one of the most serious attending physicians to inform that nurse they were being reported to Legal, freaking the nurse out, only to find out immediately that that was also a prank. It was brilliant. You nearly snorted your drink in laughter. The restaurant atmosphere was raucous and electric, but alas, all good things came to an end.
Finally, you had to bid your family a bittersweet goodbye with numerous embraces. Everyone was too drunk to drive home, which was to be expected after not seeing each other in so long. It was a splendid gathering, but maybe you overdid the drinks despite having eaten so much. You waved off their suggestions to book an Uber, stating it was still much earlier in the night than when you normally headed home after work. They were worrying for nothing. The walk will help you clear the alcohol.
You exited at the bus stop nearest your home. For once, there were people around. They chattered with the same excited buzz that mirrored your own earlier. The local shops remained open at this hour to serve the nighttime crowd, yet you couldn’t place what it was that felt off. Brushing the vague feeling of apprehension aside, you rode the high off the fantastic get-together with a feverish spirit and a spring to your steps.
It was now warm day and night. The streets were pleasantly calm despite the occasional clamour. It was nice to see signs of life as you headed home earlier for once. Even if that irritating vampire came to stalk you, so what? You felt as if nothing could dampen your glow tonight.
You were only tipsy, which was the best state of alcohol consumption to be in, in your opinion. Your steps remained steady as you thought about a multitude of things –what activities to pass the time with tomorrow, what to eat, whether you should work extra shifts this week.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, you felt the blanket of inebriation fall over you. Your thoughts wandered and seemed less your own. Your gait grew unsteady with more stumbling and weaving as you continued the journey.
You swore you were only tipsy not too long ago. It was an interesting sensation when your mind was still aware of the body not entirely obeying. Luckily, you were able to place one foot in front of the other to take the nearly automated path home, which you knew like the back of your hand, even with the mind becoming clouded and not operating completely voluntarily.
The excitement of the day finally caught up and you were spent. You wanted nothing more than to take off your makeup and fall naked into the welcoming softness of your bed. Closing your eyes briefly felt great, but you abandoned that after a few attempts. You were so much more nauseous with your closed eyes. Uh oh.
Step. Step. Placing a hand on the wall to steady yourself, you looked around. Good, there was the supermarket, followed by the stop sign with an ad for a dog walker nailed to it, as you expected. You were almost home.
It was so quiet now that you reached this part of the neighbourhood. Normally, you were hyper-aware of your surroundings during your nighttime commutes, especially after that vampire started following you around last year, but tonight, you didn’t even hear the leaves rustling or the typical sounds of wildlife and cars. Were you just too drunk tonight to notice the things you should?
How much did you drink? When was the last time you found yourself in this sorry state? Now that you focused on it, you felt the wind blowing and finally rustling the thick foliage of the trees overhead, only gently, yet it fed the nausea. You shoved it down and kept stumbling. Almost there.
--------------------
Alucard drifted through the skies, occasionally landing to survey your usual commute routes before alighting once more. It was too soon for you to be coming home on a work night, yet he hadn’t detected your scent at all along your preferred routes to work earlier. It seemed you were free tonight, but weren’t home either.
Twice his supernatural senses identified the signs of ghouls in the vicinity and he made a detour to dispose of them. Several shots to the head each, before he continued his search silently. In truth, only one bullet was required to end either of the ghouls, but Alucard was never one to be frugal with his silver. His jaw tightened. Where there were ghouls, there were usually more, maybe even a vampire.
As he circled restlessly back into your neighbourhood, he happened upon your scent in the air after too long and closed in on his little one, only to be overcome by the sweet smell of alcohol and the stench of vomit. He crept up to examine the sad sight of you hunched over and heaving to dispel the poison in your body. It seemed you were empty, so you stood to continue shuffling along as if nothing had happened after a swipe of the mouth. He was strangely irritated. Were you even aware of the risks you took tonight?
“How pitiful. And utterly stupid of you.”
Oh. You felt so ill. Did someone say something? Very belatedly, you turned to address the noise. Something huge and red was approaching from behind and you tensed up, fearing the worst. Oh. You tried to focus. It was only Alucard. A confusing feeling of relief washed over you, which was almost comical. Since when did seeing your stalker feel reassuring?
The vampire caught the passing sentiment before his attention snapped back as you started giggling. “I can see your eyes in the shadows. You don’t scare me anymore.” Your palm pressed against your lips as you kept laughing to yourself.
Crimson eyes narrowed slightly as he loomed near. “You were not home tonight,” he murmured.
"No really? You aren’t my dad. I don't have to justify where I am to you," you slurred and wagged a finger at him, then turned and sashayed away like a queen with the vampire following a few paces behind.
Step, step, step.
Perhaps you weren’t as close to home as you thought. Did you remember the path wrong? No, the supermarket, the stop sign. You sighed. So tired. It felt like your mind was wrapped in cotton candy. Squinting, you sat down gingerly on the curb to think about where you were.
“I’m only taking a short break,” you garbled to your companion.
You fell asleep sitting on the curb, leaving the nightwalker staring incredulously, even if it wasn’t apparent on his face. Now that you were away from the pool of vomit, he detected the scent of other men on you. He frowned again. He didn’t like waiting, and the irritation grew stronger with each whiff.
You eventually came to and started to walk again, only to sit down with crossed legs in the middle of the street for another break not long after as you wondered why this was taking so long.
This was ridiculous. Alucard stood over you, bent down, and plucked you off the ground, swinging you smoothly into a bridal carry. You were already blacked out. Distaste that even the vomit didn’t elicit nipped at his consciousness, but with your comfortable weight in his arms and his scent rubbing off on your body, everything became more tolerable.
Your eyes were shut and being off your feet was comfortable, but the repetitive up and down movement was jarring. Why were you sloshing around up and down? Overcome with nausea, you couldn’t hold it anymore. “!!!” You threw up against a velvety, solid surface and felt instant relief before fading away.
Having arrived at your building, Alucard huffed at the odor and the inconvenience of your vomit on his chest. He gently placed you on the ground and turned immaterial so that the emesis puddled at the ground before he reformed a few paces away and picked you back up.
A silver vehicle slowed as it passed him. What a bother. He seemed to be quick to aggravate tonight. Alucard slipped off his orange-tinted sunglasses with an extra hand and held the driver captive with his bewitching gaze when they ignorantly made direct eye contact.
There is nothing wrong.
T-there is…n-nothing wrong. A small voice repeated.
The vehicle drove off, leaving the two of you alone once more. He stared at your delicate features. Disregarding the show you put on earlier, you looked peaceful now. The handsome vampire sauntered to the side of the building and casually strolled up the wall under the cover of darkness before stepping onto the balcony. With just a thought, it unlocked itself and he brought his cargo inside to carefully unload onto the couch.
He was on the other couch as he watched the gentle rise and fall of your chest and listened to your rhythmic breathing. Somehow you managed to spare your clothing a bath in your own stomach contents. His eyes narrowed, his lips a thin line as the stench of foreign males on your body invaded his senses again. The flowers only annoyed him now. His fingers tapped along the armrest as he kept taking in your features.
--------------------
It must have been only around a quarter hour later when you stirred. You were dazed and jumpy when you made out the glowing crimson orbs fixed on you. With a nervous glance back at Alucard's inhuman gaze, you stumbled through the dark, making your way to the washroom for a quick shower and to remove the makeup. You experienced an episode of dry-heaving, but thankfully, there was nothing left to hurl. You brushed your teeth.
You were indeed less intoxicated now. How humiliating to be seen the way you were. Still…Alucard helped keep you safe tonight while you floundered about the streets like a proper drunkard. You glimpsed yourself in the mirror and acknowledged how you looked as terrible as you felt. Some food would help settle your stomach right now.
As you made your way down the hall, the lights came on for you. Alucard’s doing. There he was, staring imperiously at you with his legs crossed. The hat and jacket were still on.
“I…um…”
“...”
“Would you like anything to drink? Coffee? Tea? Um, I don’t want to look at alcohol right now haha,” you stated sheepishly.
“...” His eyes were so very red and luminous. Did he look displeased?
Unsure of how to act right now, you broke eye contact first and looked everywhere except in his direction. “How about something to eat?” You awkwardly stuck a hashbrown and some frozen nuggets into the small countertop convection oven and waited for him to say something.
“Attempting to come home alone in your state was unwise, human.”
Part of you wanted to argue, only because that was how you were used to interacting with him, but he was right. You’ve made better life decisions before.
“It was…” Your head hung low. “Thank you for bringing me home tonight,” you mumbled.
Alucard’s gaze softened, even if the tingle of vexation remained at the back of his mind. His eyes closed as he exhaled. “Coffee. Just black.” Crimson irises spun into a lovely sunset hue.
Your brows lifted at his sudden change in demeanor as you looked back at him before rushing to prepare his beverage. French press was your preferred method. Soon enough, you had a steaming cup of black in front of him.
You sat by yourself at the table while nibbling on your small portion of greasy comfort food. It was stranger than ever tonight when you didn’t feel like snapping at your guest. Was this creature worried about you? Why did he help you? Was it so that only he got to have you? All he ever did was torment you, but tonight, through the fog of the fragmented pieces you remembered, he was almost…kind.
The coffee smelled a blend of smoky and nutty, a heavenly mixture nearly as good as what Walter served. The taste…Alucard smiled bitterly. It must be delicious, but it was nothing more than piss water to his vampiric taste buds. The joys of food consumption were a distant memory from lifetimes ago and one of the few things he missed about his human life. Watching the effort you put into preparing each meal, studying your eating habits and your enjoyment of your meals truly made him nostalgic.
“How is the coffee?” You ventured a question.
“Excellent.” Alucard finished the glass without a hint of betraying his true thoughts on your first demonstration of hospitality towards him.
So vampires can drink coffee. You wondered what else he consumed besides the obvious. Chewing lightly on the corner of your lower lip, you crossed your ankles, then uncrossed them immediately when it didn't feel as comfortable as expected. There was a spider crawling across the corner of the ceiling. You brought your gaze back down from the arachnid to stare at the cuticles of your nails.
It was so quiet tonight, you realized as you shifted your weight again. Was there no one else at home on the floor? As always, he was staring so intently, like he was trying to bore holes through your head. You swallowed before getting up and going over to your new flowers, missing your guest's deep frown.
His human was anxious. You were, as was often the case, intensely uncomfortable in his presence. Not only did the sour tang waft off your pores, you wouldn't stop fidgeting in your seat, although he wasn't even attempting the things he usually did to distress you. Alucard's frown grew as he watched you put your nose in the blooms to sniff and then sigh.
How nauseating. "Lovely blooms, little one."
"Yes they were a gift from a friend." Your expression was soft.
You were recalling another man fondly, one you were barely acquaintances with. A friend. His eyes hardened into slits, nostrils flaring at the scent he was forced to inhale a thousand times more powerfully than you ever could, even from a distance.
His satisfaction about your new hospitality was gradually fading away, only to be replaced with inexplicable agitation. Gloved fingers drummed restlessly against the plush armrest.
"Human courtship is such a delicate ritual, entirely lacking in creativity or passion," he commented.
You tensed. "It was a sweet gesture. Not everyone is as uncouth as some."
A challenge? A devilish grin painted his lips and he chuckled in anticipation. He loved when you fought.
"Your florals, the prized jewels cut from their mother plants at the height of their prime? Doomed to perish within the week. Elegant as they are, they're a fleeting beauty, nothing more than the living dead clinging pathetically to a semblance of life," he stated wryly.
There it was, the vampire's freaky smile. Reminding yourself that nothing had changed between you, that he was still an infuriating ass, you retorted, "Human courtship should be slow. Morbid as your comparison was, flowers are a symbol of romance and love, not that someone like you would know about those things, even if you were human at some point."
"Love?” He cocked his head. "I do know of that emotion." His eyes flashed dangerously as he rose from the couch to stalk closer with his fangs bared, causing you to stagger backwards from your spot in alarm. The chair you sat in earlier fell over with a clatter, and for several seconds, you stared at each other silently. You didn't dare blink in those moments as your breath hitched, your pupils were dilated and veins coursing with adrenaline, the entirety of your attention focused on the supernatural creature who stood like a reaper in your living room.
The truce was over, you realized, and you fought to blink back tears. Alucard didn't do more to threaten you, but the situation took a nosedive for the worse during the last few minutes of exchange. Feeling like you were backed into a corner with no way to turn the conversation around, you excused yourself meekly and headed for bed, exhausted, the vampire luckily not pressing you more for now, though he tracked your movement with predatory precision as you brushed past him.
Alucard watched the bedroom door shut, followed by the distinctive click of the lock turning, as if that would keep a monster out. But you knew as well as he did that the locked door was merely symbolic. He was unwelcome in the inner haven of your refuge. He tasted the salt of your tears as clearly as he heard the sobs from beyond that door. The trail of fear you left in your wake annoyed him right now, with this revelation only serving to annoy him even further in a cyclical loop. What was this feeling? For him, your fear was normally a reliable source of arousal and delight.
He redirected his thoughts away from the troublesome emotion and replayed tonight’s events. You unknowingly put yourself in danger, not only from the undead. The night streets were not a place for a naive little human such as yourself. There were plenty of unsavoury outcomes he listed to himself when he was combing the streets for signs of your presence, only to finally find you delirious from drink and vulnerable. It was a relief no one else got to you first.
After the shower, you were thankfully cleansed of the filth of another male's touch, yet you also removed his scent from your skin. He couldn’t find the word to describe the feeling, but he was malcontent with tonight's turn of events.
Historically, he was not averse to sharing his human companions. Man, woman, something else, it mattered little to him. There was a hedonistic gluttony to enjoying the flesh of multiple humans simultaneously. It wasn't completely true when he said he didn't eat human flesh. Through lidded eyes, he imagined the taste of your skin and salivated. How sweet would the slick of your flower be? What did your petals look like? Yet the idea of another’s touch on your skin was simply distasteful. He growled in a low, threatening pitch that was nearly imperceptible to human ears.
He was a king. But he could be an uncouth savage as well.
---------------------
You woke up in the middle of the night feeling parched. Despite the snack earlier, you still felt the hangover developing. There was a pounding headache in your temples and persistent nausea that made it feel like your stomach was going to devour itself. The clock read 0440. Even if your room was pitch black thanks to the blackout curtains, it was almost sunrise during these warm summer months and the vampire surely must be gone. You needed some water.
It was still dark outside when you emerged from slumber and felt around along the wall for where you expected the light switch to be, only to have something hairy rush across your fingers. You pulled back in shock. What was that? Something small and fuzzy brushed against your foot and you shot backwards, crushing another little thing underfoot with a quiet crunch.
Then you heard it, the eerie scuttering of legs…like millions of tiny taps that coalesced into a symphony of rustling noise. You stood frozen in the middle of the hallway, trying to make sense of what was going on to cause such a disturbance when the lights suddenly came back on by themselves.
You stayed frozen as you blinked blindly in the garish light before letting out a soundless gasp at the disgusting sight that greeted you. Unable to process it, you only trembled in horrified disbelief. They were everywhere, thousands, no, possibly hundreds of thousands or more, of centipedes scampering freely, covering every surface in your home. They formed a writhing, undulating mass of scurrying legs that made the walls come alive with movement. More daring specimens ran across your feet and you madly kicked your feet to keep them clear.
It was revolting, truly a thing of nightmares.
Finally, you screamed.
“A-ah…AHH. AHHHHH. AHHHHHHHH.” With your lips tremoring, you caught your breath as the realization of what you were looking at settled in. Centipedes. Why centipedes?! You hated the nasty critters –the more legs, the more harrowing they were. Several leggy abominations tried to scurry up your legs.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”
If this was a joke, he went way too far. You screamed and screamed and screamed, until the damned beast stole your voice to silence you, and still you tried to scream.
Thousands of eyes opened on the walls and floor of your home, and he appeared in the middle of it all, surrounded by an ominous crimson aura and a gigantic eye on his chest, his pet centipedes crawling up his torso.
You clenched your eyes to protect yourself from the sickening sight, your revulsion rolling off of you in waves as your throat finally gave in. You were coughing and hyperventilating as he approached with a frown and furrowed brows while you batted wildly at the air to keep him at bay. At last you found your voice again and you shrieked for him to leave with a hoarse voice.
“What is wrong with you?! Nevermind, just get out! I don’t want to see you!” Your eyes snapped open and you stared at him with a frenzied look. “I’m not yours or your toy! You’re just this thing that follows me around and won’t let me be!” You sobbed, your hands flapping in the air as you gestured to make your point clearer.
When the monster didn’t say anything, you continued. "I don't want you! You can have anyone you want, just leave me alone!" Your voice broke and you trailed off with a whimper as you buried your face in your hands and wept in despair.
The centipedes dissolved into nothing like they were never there. The eyes disappeared. Alucard took another step towards you awkwardly, intending to provide comfort, only to realize he didn’t know how. Your tears bothered him, confused him, and he was stung by the rejection. He somehow didn’t like how he upset you this time.
“Why can’t you just find another toy to play with? I don’t want to be part of your twisted games anymore.” Your face must be so swollen from the crying. Your vision was blurred from the tears and you could hardly breathe through the snot and the hiccups.
There was banging on your door. “Is everything okay in there?” It must be the friendly neighbour down the hall coming to check in on the commotion. You gasped and turned to Alucard with a distraught expression as you swiped at your eyes, hoping against all odds he wasn’t going to retaliate against the good Samaritan for the disturbance.
His face was shadowed. All these disruptions tonight. All is well. Leave us. He directed the thought towards the nosy human outside in the hall.
The neighbour knocked again, albeit more hesitantly while calling out your name. Alucard’s lips curled. He strode to the entrance, shocking you out of your stupor and you rushed after him in dread, grabbing his hand to stop him from…you weren’t sure. Was he going to kill your friend on the other side of the door? All you knew was that Alucard was extremely dangerous right now, but your weight did nothing to slow him.
He ripped open the door and glared at your neighbour while you dangled off his arm. The smell hit him. This…was the same man who gave you those fucking flowers, who you thought of fondly earlier. He hissed and the man lurched back from the towering menace in front of him. The hiss warped into a growl and the vampire took another step forward, sadistic pleasure filling his mind as the scent of absolute fear from the craven piece of rubbish permeated the hall.
“Alucard! Alucard!” A familiar voice called him with urgency. It was a voice he dreamt of when his dreams weren’t filled with violence, pain, and humiliation. It was you.
Alucard came back to himself and saw you. He glanced at the man outside, who had fallen over on his ass and urinated himself, before looking back at you. You were still tugging at his gangly arm, staring at him with huge frightened eyes, an imploring look in your face that begged him to stop. He composed himself. His human was begging him for something only he could provide, even if it was something as simple as ‘not ending the life of the other man in front of him.’ You even used his name.
He nearly laughed, the crimson in his eyes were molten. “There is nothing wrong here. Forget everything that happened,” he ordered the beleaguered human man sitting in rank piss, who gawped at the profane beast in a trance before the door shut on his face.
Inside the condo, Alucard turned his attention back to you with a sideways glance. You thought he didn't want you, Alucard realized. You assumed he was still only toying with you, that you were just a quarry animal for him to trifle with in his spare time. What was this feeling? This unpalatable feeling of distress at the thought of you by another’s side without him?
“...You…are not a mere toy.”
You remained petrified after just narrowly averting one disaster. Your puffy red eyes met his. “Then what am I, if not a toy? What is this?” You asked with a whisper and released his arm.
His gaze flickered briefly to the floral arrangement, but you caught it. Realization dawned as you suddenly understood what just happened tonight with clarity. All this, because of some bloody flowers? He was silently looking at you with his hands at his side, his head at a slight tilt.
You went rigid. It was with trepidation regarding any more confrontation when you started speaking again, trying desperately to put your rambling thoughts into coherent sentences. “No, no, no, no, no, don’t say it. What you’re feeling, it’s just possessiveness and jealousy. You don’t actually care about human life. A selfish monster with no obligations or morals, as if something like you would ever understand what love is. You can pretend, but in the end, your obsession is nothing but a poor imitation."
The creature’s expression fell the tiniest fraction. It was indiscernible if you weren't already looking at him through glassy eyes. You would feel guilty about it if you weren't so incensed by his idea of a joke and drained by all that transpired.
He brushed away the disappointment from your rejection. Possession. Yes, it was what the vampire King wanted, to have you. He needed to show you. Pushing down the discomfort, he reacted aggressively to your words, a gloved hand shooting out to scruff you by the front of your shirt and pull you roughly to him.
“You are mine.”
Cold lips slammed against yours with a growl. You slapped him and staggered away, the sharp sound of the impact cutting through the muted background noises of your home.
"Get out," you ground out. His three simple words confirmed everything you said moments ago.
The vampire stalked towards you and you felt the chill down your spine. Hellfire. Those were the eyes of a remorseless murderer, but you didn’t back down from the threat.
“What? Are you going to kill me?”
He snorted and caged you against the wall with his arms. “As if you are worth killing. Treat your life with more reverence, foolish human.”
Wearing an aggrieved smile, his gaze ran slowly down the contours of your face. The rising sun casted a rosy hue across the sky, his body backlit by the gentle golden rays of promise. You couldn’t help but stare. The vampire looked nearly ethereal in this light.
Alucard closed his eyes and withdrew. There was nothing more to be said and he should be returning. A new day was dawning. Sparing one last look back at you, he disappeared and left you alone, as you had wished.
~To be Continued~
Next chapter: The Living Dead
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Basic Training Ch 2
This is a new Elvis Fan Fic set during his basic training at Fort Hood WIP I am playing around with for the summer. Comment, reblog , tag and let me know what you think or if you would like to be added to the taglist.
Thanks to my ever alpha @whositmcwhatsit who read the rough draft and made it so much better. Thanks Jader Gator. I love you and I think you know that I go between being so in awe of your writing that it is paralyzing to being inspired to write just to get close to what you create.
There are so many good writers in our fandom, and I am lucky to be friends with a little group of horny elvis witches who put up with me, answer my random questions and help me figure out narrative roadblocks, so thanks, as ever, to my sister wives @be-my-ally @vintageshanny @missmaywemeetagain @ellie-24 @from-memphis-with-love @powerofelvis for helping me write. You guys are so talented I feel lucky to breathe your air, you teach me everything.
Summary: Elvis surprises Bess at her office to thank her and gets to know some of the other women on post.
Word Count: 4.9 K
Warnings: None. Swear words? Handsy charming naughty Elvis?
I have formulas, tropes, motifs that I always go back to consciously or unconsciously.... whatever... as I was naming this chapter I realized how chapter two is always about the nicknames..... Here we go...
If you need to catch up, read Chapter 1: I Don't Date Soldiers here
Basic Training Chapter 2: Lil Moo Moo & Tupelo
Wednesday, April 2, 1958
1715 Hours (5:15 p.m.)
Fort Hood Front Office
“Oh, give me Burt Lancaster any day over Elvis Presley.”
Mabel’s eyes didn’t leave her work as she said this, not even when she placed her cigarette in the ashtray on her desk, the keys on her typewriter plunking up and down in her glasses’ reflection as she typed. Unflappable and wry, Mabel was a career civil servant with the commemorative lapel pins to match each milestone from her twenty six years and counting career at Fort Hood. Her light green metal desk was set in the center of the large outer room in the base’s front office, right in front of the CO’s door. Bess’s desk was to the right, across from the XO’s secretary Rose, who left everyday right at five o’clock on the dot.
The other two women Bess shared an office with were almost polar opposites. Rose worked punctually from eight to five every day, while Mabel was always the first to arrive between 6:45 and 7, and often the last to leave, determined to stay on post until the CO left.
Bess fell somewhere in-between, arriving most days with her father at 8 a.m. and then pushing him to leave as early as possible. But with her father out of town, Bess was mistress of her own destiny; a mistress who apparently couldn’t bear to leave until the final details for an awards ceremony tomorrow afternoon were hammered out.
Which is why she was perched on the corner of Mabel’s desk at 5:15, or at least it had been before Dori arrived. Waiting for her father, the CO, to return from inspections, Dori had turned the conversation to her favorite topic of late: her quest to meet Elvis Presley. Tonight she was specifically wondering if he would come to the MWR dance that weekend. This had prompted Mabel's unsolicited preference for the tall, athletic physique of Burt Lancaster.
Dori giggled. “How many times did you see From Here to Eternity when it was in theaters, huh Mabel?”
“More than I’d care to admit, Ms. Crenshaw.” Mabel lowered her bifocals as she hit her typewriter keys slowly, looking down every few seconds at some hand written notes. “And every time they play it on TV or show it here.”
“And how many times did you see Jailhouse Rock, huh, Bess?” Dori teased.
Bess blushed. “Only once.”
Mabel paused her typing and picked up her cigarette again. “I have the feeling Bess has turned sour on those Presley pictures. You should have seen her last week, damn near punched a dent in her desk after a reporter ran her off the road.”
“Ah, no, Bess loves Elvis.” Dori checked her lipstick before putting her compact back into her purse. “She’s lying too. I remember seeing Jailhouse Rock with you and the soldier on duty said you’d been to our sweet 'lil ol base theater every night that week.”
Bess fixed Dori with a grimace, mumbling defensively. “That was Loving You, and I only saw it three times. People were talking through it the first two times.” She shifted, rolling her thigh over Mabel’s desk as she balanced herself. “I didn’t care for Jailhouse Rock, though, kinda thought the main character was a jerk.“
“Oh honey, that’s what made it so good.” Dori’s high voice vaulted up the ceiling “Don’t you just find him scrum-diddly-umptious actin’ all tough and mean, but then being hung up on his lil ole manager the whole time?”
Bess straightened the stack of files on her lap.
“No, Dori, I don’t care for quiet, mean, brooding types who can’t just be a man and tell me how they feel, playin' mind games instead. And, as for Elvis, honestly I can take him or leave him. There are twenty thousand men on this base.” Bess straightened her ponytail, balancing her files on her lap as she spoke. “Why, I could find you ten Mississippi tall boys who can play gee- tar and yodel at you before mail call is done…”
Bess’ voice trailed off when she noticed Dori gasp and cover her mouth with her hand, eyes wide with shock as she smacked Bess’ knee. Mabel whistled low, her eyes quickly fixing on her typewriter as Bess shifted around on the big desk.
“What? What is it….” Bess’ jaw fell open and dropped her files to the ground. She felt them slip over her skirt on their way, unable to stop them, it was as if she had forgotten how to use her hands. No, all she could do was cringe with embarrassment at Elvis’ downward smirk as his eyes flitted up to look at her.
“Oh cluck a fuck, I mean fuck a duck - I mean, oh cluck!” Bess heard herself cry out reflexively, then remembering how to move, she scrambled to pick up her papers. She was grateful for Dori’s unflappable poise as the blonde hopped over Bess’ hunched body on the ground and introduced herself to Elvis, adding:
“Please excuse my friend there, she flunked outta finishin’ school.”
Bess watched Elvis kiss Dori’s extended hand with mild amusement as she squealed and smiled and unleashed her excitement onto him, her hand already on his chest.
“I been prayin’ every day to run into you, Elvis - Oh, may I call you Elvis?”
“Yessum, I -”
“Oh good! See, I knew we’d be great friends, I just knew we would! I have been all over this base hopin’ to run into you. Why, we’re all just pleased as punch ta have ya round here, aren’t we?”
She turned to see Bess still on all fours, curly brown hair half loose from her ponytail, while behind her Mabel looked up and grunted softly in salutation before continuing to type.
Mabel’s cranky glare and Bess’ antics on the floor did not create the mood Dori had envisioned for her first meeting with Elvis Presley. She looked down and her broad smile wavered for a moment as she realized the top button of Bess’ shirt was undone, revealing her bra completely. Dori’s painted pink lips popped as she nudged Bess with the tip of her heel and whispered through her teeth.
“Stand up, Bess honey, fo-ar gawd’s sake, ya shirt!”
Bess jumped up, fixing herself as a big red blush grew over her face, made worse as Elvis caught her eye with a wink. Mabel stopped typing for a moment and motioned for Bess to come and look at something while Dori kept right on talking to Elvis with her hand now firmly around his bicep.
“Now, don’t pay no mind to Bessie’s talk about you and your pictures, why, we’re all big Elvis fans round here, the biggest fans ya ever met.”
Elvis cocked his eyebrows up at Bess’ simmering glare from where she now stood behind Mabel’s chair.
“Huh, yeah, that’s sweet of ya, ma’am -”
Dori put her finger to Elvis' lip. “Dori, honey, puhleeze!”
“ - Uh, Dori.” Elvis’ spoke carefully, as if forming every word in the back of his throat before speaking out, his voice was soft and shy. “I don't s’pect everyone to like all my pictures. After all, I didn’t write them, it’s just a job to me.” He winked again at Bess. “S’pose I mind even less if they like some of my other movies. Like ‘em enough to see ‘em every night a tha week.”
Bess felt her cheeks redden even more, but before she could think of a clever reply, Mabel elbowed her and pointed at the XO’s handwriting.
“Can you read that? It looks like repercussion, but it could be reprimand as well.”
Bess picked up the legal pad for closer inspection and turned to the others, motioning for Dori to come take a look. She hadn’t expected Elvis to follow, but he did, making himself right at home and angling his tall body behind the women.
He snuck his hand around Bess’ waist as he looked at the writing Dori held up for him, eyes forward and completely detached from the movements of his fingers rubbing along the waistband of Bess’ skirt until she pulled them off. This made her stumble to the side and gave Elvis an excuse to openly grab her waist and steady her, She frowned, flustered by the way his long fingers navigated the crease right where her waist met her ribs, his thumbs squeezing tightly and then rubbing gently over her as he asked if she was ok.
Pushing Elvis’ hands away, Bess whispered that she was fine, trying to slow her pulse and still the shivers that ran up her spine. Her whole body trembled, aware of his proximity to her, and she refused to meet Dori’s now extremely curious eyes over Elvis’ shoulder. Nodding, he turned back to the others and helped himself to the paper, declaring that it was repercussion as he introduced himself to Mabel, kissing her hand, and asking her about the tiny, porcelain figurines on her desk as she giggled.
“That’s Lady and Lola, my brother brought them back to me from Japan. Are you a dog person, Private?”
Bess made her way back to her desk, taking in the youthful bloom of Mabel’s beaming face and girlish laughter. She had never seen her co-worker this cheerful and open before. Dori’s face was aghast as Elvis ignored her and made himself comfortable on Mabel’s desk, asking her for a cigarette and then turning with a conspiratorial whisper as he asked them not to tell anyone.
Dori began tapping her fingers along her crossed arms harder as she watched Elvis put his hand on Mabel’s shoulder, while the older woman batted his thigh and chuckled at his jokes about dogs. Bess smiled to herself at the way Dori tried to wrest the conversation back by talking about how she used to have the sweetest lil ol’ poodle in the world when she was a girl. But it was an uphill battle, because now Mabel was pulling out her secret tin of homemade shortbread and asking Elvis what he thought. He had to try five pieces before he could adequately decide his verdict, and he moaned as if he had never had shortbread before. His voice was low as he stuttered “Mmm hmmm mmm hmm mmm” in a hum, and Bess dropped her pen when he caught her eye and licked his lips, proclaiming through crumbly mouthfuls that it was “the best doggone cookie he’d had in a long while.”
Bess shook her head at Elvis’ transformation from the shy soldier who had walked into the office to the confident, cocky rascal he was now, only minutes later. Elvis was masterful, she mused, and it was down to the attentive way he looked at each person he spoke with, talking to you as if you were the most important person in the world and responding to everything you said and did with his eyes. No, with his whole body really, she thought. He had a magnetic energy that had drawn her in the moment they met Friday. Now that same magnetic energy was doing its work on Dori and Mabel before her very eyes, as he engaged with them in a way that was humble, considerate and disarming. Some soldiers were stiff and uncomfortable here in the front office where there were often three to five women bustling about. Elvis on the other hand, seemed to be in his element amidst a group of women vying for his attention.
Bess found, to her own chagrin, that this included herself and was disappointed by her own desire to get his attention. She held out until she could no longer help it and interrupted their conversation with a loud, authoritative cough.
“I’m sure you didn’t come to our building to talk about puppy dogs and shortbread, Private, we don’t want to keep you from your tasks or the mess hall.”
Elvis turned to look at her from where he sat on Mabel’s desk and began throwing his olive patrol cap from hand to hand as he gulped.
“Uh, well ma’am, actually, I came up here hoping to get a word with you, Bessie. Uh, I mean Miss Schwartz.”
Now it was Bess’ turn to swallow and once again avoid Dori’s questioning eyes. Mabel’s eyes snapped down to her typing, her face back to being an expressionless stone wall.
“Sure thing, um, walk me to my car? I just, I was just about to leave, I just, uh, need to put these in the Commander’s office.”
As she walked back to her father’s desk, she heard Dori’s voice ring out behind her.
“I didn’t know you were acquaintances with Bessie. That busy bee, she really gets around this base, huh? I reckon she knows more soldiers than the rest of us combined.” Bess smiled to herself at Dori’s insinuation. “ Are you here to ask her to the dance?”
“Uh, no ma’am, Dori, Miss. I, uh, reckon it's better for me to keep a low profile this weekend, let the boys enjoy their night.”
“Well, you know, that attitude might give our boys the wrong impression, like. Make the guys think you fancy yourself too good for our simple, lil ole MWR dance.”
“Uh - well- “ Elvis’ face lit up when Bess rejoined them and they shared a lingering smile that Dori vowed to interrogate Bess about later.
“Oh let him be, Doreen,” Bess murmured, her voice breathy as her heart fluttered once more at the depth of Elvis’ knowing, penetrative gaze. “Uh, he, uh, the boy, man, the man clearly doesn’t want to go. And he already knows that I don’t go on dates with soldiers.”
Mabel had stopped working again and was now chewing the edge of her glasses, leaning forward on her chin as if she was watching a soap opera unfold in front of her desk.
Dori pursed her lips and placed her right hand on her hip energetically. “Oh he does now?” She said playfully, flouncing up the bottom of her blonde bob. ”Well, Private, you’re in luck, because I do date soldiers. I’ll pick you up at 8.”
Elvis looked to Dori, then back at Bess, his confused expression transforming into a smirking wide smile as he registered Bess’ frown. Bess looked down, picking at a chipped piece of her thumb nail until it came off, as if it was the most important thing in the world and needed her attention immediately.
“Huh, well, whoo boy.” Elvis eyed Bess again, then his lips screwed up into a wider grin as he chuckled mischievously. “I don’t hardly know ya, but I can’t say as that’s ever stopped me before.”
Bess’ heart did a series of flip flops as she watched Elvis laugh with Dori. She wasn’t sure what she disliked more, the fact that her friend had just maneuvered herself into a date with Elvis, or that she was jealous. Bess decided it was the later and that she would will herself not to care.
Elvis' eyes flickered over her for a second and Bess suddenly had a sense that he could tell exactly what she was thinking and feeling in that moment, and she returned to picking at her thumb nail. She was vaguely paying attention as she heard Dori tell Elvis that she’d meet him up at his barracks Saturday night, but she thought Elvis smirked wider as he took in the smile that she forced her lips into.
“You’ll be there, won’t you, Bess. Even though you don’t date soldiers?” Dori looked at her, adding another few fluffs to her hair for absolutely no good reason.
“Hmmmm. Well, I usually do, since the CO encourages all the single female employees to go, but I did have some research st—”
“Don’t be silly, of course you’ll come, it’s gonna be so much fun. I can already tell. There’s gonna be a live rhythm and blues band we hired in from Houston. They are just the bee’s knees, and I’m on the MWR committee. My theme for this dance is Spring Fling, cuz it’s spring! The decorations we got are so adorable, floral Chinese lanterns y’all. I cannot wait.” Dori squeezed her hands into fists and did a little dance in place.
Elvis turned back to Mabel. “You comin’ Saturday night, Miss Maybelline?”
Mabel giggled like a school girl instead of the fifty year old woman she was.
“Every one I can make it to, CO’s memo encourages all single women on base to attend.”
Elvis took Mabel’s hand in his, softly trailing over the top as he kissed her knuckles and smiled devilishly as she giggled again.
“Well, be sure ta save a few dances for me, mmkay, honey?”
Mabel nodded with a giggle and a wink.
Elvis’ cocky smiled followed Bess' curt nod out of the office and into the back stairs of the building where her voice echoed down the concrete stairwell.
“You know Private, I really wish you wouldn’t come to my office unannounced.” She paused two steps below him and turned around so he had to stop himself from slamming into her finger as it pointed back at him.
“Hold on a minute there, baby, now, what’s wrong with being friendly?” He grabbed her finger. “Careful where you point that thing, woman. First lesson of basic training is safety. Thought you’d a know by now.” He grasped her hand and softened it into his fist. She seemed to lose her train of thought looking up into his eyes. “What’s got your panties in a twist, Bessie Boo, you ain’t jealous, are you?”
Elvis was decidedly less polite when they were alone, Bess realized. She wasn’t sure she liked it, or the way it made her feel as she pulled her finger away and kept descending down the stairs in front of him, her voice a little shaky.
“Of Dori? No, no, not at all. In fact, that all seems to have worked out the way it should.” She shoved the door at the bottom open and headed toward her car as Elvis’ long legs made easy work of striding next to her.
“Why’s that?”
Bess turned as she got to her car.
“Cuz, well, you seem like a good match.” She smiled, trying to really mean it, trying to keep her voice cool and nonchalant. “Dori, is, well, she seems to have the sort of, um. Well, that is, she’s very glamorous. And popular. And attractive. She’s a lot like the girls you’re always with in the fan magazines. I think you’ll have a lot of fun.”
Elvis stepped closer, fixing his work cap back on his head. “So you read the fan magazines, huh? Thought you could take or leave Elvis Presley.”
Bess didn’t know if her cheeks could take the constant flushing she was experiencing. She leaned into the hood of her car, changing the topic as she spoke to the blue paint.
“Look, why did you come by my office?”
Bess leaned her back into the car, and he reached out for her waist, rubbing his hands along the sides for a moment, before taking the handle next to it and pulling it open, tilting his head to get in.
“I uh, I came by because I wanted to thank you. Think we could just talk for a spell?"
Bess swallowed and nodded. After a few moments searching, she discovered her tongue where she had left it on the roof of her mouth and did her best to eke out intelligible words. They scooted along the white vinyl car bench until Elvis got to the other side and leaned back, stretching out his arms and looking at her.
“I know'd it was you that talked to Sergeant Norwood.”
Bess looked down. “I, ugh, actually. That would be highly inappropriate of me to talk to a senior instructor in your company and ask for any special treatment.” She looked back up at him. “But, um, how’s it going?”
Elvis grinned wide. “He’s, uh, well, he’s instruction’ alright, instructed me to come over to his house here on post after dinner most nights. He, uh, well, I uh, he lets me use his phone to call home and get a few hours of shut eye at their place. Though I preferred the bed at your house, Bessie bug. Cushioning there was better.”
Bess let out a snort as Elvis slid down to put his head in her lap, just as it had been that first night in her guest room. He pulled her right hand in his over her chest, threading his fingers through hers as he looked up into her face with apt admiration.
“Ya are the first real friend I’ve made here.”
“Hmmm. Seemed like you were doing all right making new friends upstairs.”
Elvis smirked, his squeezed his fingers between hers.
“You are jealous a Dori. Jus say tha word and I’ll take you to the dance too, baby. I could take both of you as my dates, ya know, nuff a me ta go ‘round.”
Bess tried to take her fingers back, but it was a half-hearted attempt and his hand was so much bigger than hers. Resigned, she squeezed back and sighed, looking out the window.
“Ha, I’m sure. But, no, I’m not jealous, I’m just giving you a hard time, Presley. You sure seem like a fast operator.” Bess felt an aching warmth blossom in her belly as his thumb rubbed the inside of her palm.
“Honey, I didn’t operate nothing, I’m just an innocent bystander caught in the eye of Hurricane Dori. If anyone is operatin’ fast, it’s your friend back there.”
“Yeah, well, you have to forgive her, she had a lot more going on in Savannah than she does here. We are sorely lacking in ladies’ charities and fancy galas for her to host. So Dori gets all pent up, all that energy and nothing to do with it. Maybe you can help wear her out. " Bess arched her eyebrows suggestively, her voice was light and teasing. "By dancing, I mean, of course.”
“Huh, sure. How ‘bout you? Will you have any pent up energy ya wanna dance off with an ol’ friend?”
“Ha, I’m about as old a friend to you as Dori is.”
“Nah, honey, you’re different, we go way back now. I don’t know anyone who’d risk their job to take a po’ boy like me home an feed me an’ take care a me so good.”
Elvis' eyes welled up and Bess softened, thinking he might cry. She found herself soothing the top of his forehead with her left knuckles.
“Hey, ssshhh, hey. You would have done the same for me, right? If our roles were reversed and I was a new recruit being trained for combat?”
The left side of Elvis’ face lifted into a crooked grin. Bess was transfixed watching the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
“Course, course I would. You know, I’ve spent the last two years running from women chasing me, I reckon the Army’d be in better shape if they’d put ya girls into combat. Ain’t nothing more terrifying than a hoard of twenty thousand screaming girls coming for ya.”
“Ha, yeah, probably makes basic training seem like a breeze.”
Bess smiled down at Elvis, and made her fist into a fake microphone, affecting a serious, transatlantic accent like the reporters at his press conference last week.
“So, Private Presley, what do you think, is basic training harder or easier than running from women for a living?”
Elvis chuckled. His right hand let go of Bess’ fingers and snaked around her waist. “Well, ain’t nothing like getting clobbered by a swarm of women. I s’pose the main difference between those girls and the Russians is, they don’t mean to hurtcha. They’re just tryin’ to get themselves a piece of ya for a souvenir.”
Bess’ raised one eyebrow, her reporter microphone hand still at attention.
“Oh? Please tell us, the American people want to know, which piece of you are these girls trying to get their hands on?”
Elvis burst out laughing. “Uh, no comment, though I could show you later if you want.”
Bess blushed at the glint in his eyes, and kept talking. “Hmm, fresh. Next question, how devastating was it to get your haircut?”
“Well, now, that didn’t bother me none at all. You know what they say, hair today, gone tomarra."
He paused, grinning at her tepid "Ha. ha. ha."
"But no, I ain't sore. Now, if it weren’t never gonna grow back, yeah, sure, maybe I’d be sore, but I don’t mind following the rules and cutting my hair like all the other boys here. I’m actually starting to like it.”
Bess combed her fingers through his crew cut.
“MMhmmm. I liked it better long, but you know me, I hate soldiers.”
“Picked a weird place to work then, Bessie, ain’t nothing but soldiers here.”
“This is just temporary, till I figure out what’s next for me.”
Elvis looked down towards his knees, speaking softly. “Yeah, jus temporary. That’s what my manager keeps sayin’, but man oh man, I think it’s all over for me. Ain’t no one gonna remember me in two years.”
“That’s not true. Trust me, it just feels that way. How many records you sold?”
Elvis leaned his face into her fingers as they cupped his cheek, he could feel Bess’ thighs tremble slightly underneath her skirt and it made him smile. He looked up at her big brown eyes sheepishly.
“Oh, I don’t know, ‘bout 25 million I s’pose.” His voice was casual and aloof til he cried out at the smack of Bess’ hand hitting his shoulder.
“Ha, I would have guessed 4 or 5 million. 25? I can’t even picture a stack that high. It would go all the way to the moon, probably. You’re thick, you know that? Like we could forget you with all those records out there, spinning 'round in people’s homes, on the radio. No, I think the Russians would have to bomb us to kingdom come before we forget about you, what with 25 million records playing all over. ”
“You’re sweet, Bess, you know that? My uncle used to have a cow named Bess.” He grinned up at her and made a moo sound. “Lil' Bessie Moo Moo, she was sweet, just like you… Moo Moo.” His voice tapered off as Elvis' hand began to trail up the side of Bess’ body. His voice became low and earnest. “She had the sweetest milk.”
Bess shivered at the touch of his fingers before pulling her head toward him. Just as she was an inch away from his lips, she stopped him, and tilted back up, fake microphone fist in her hand again between their faces.
“And, I know our listeners will want to know this important detail, where exactly was this cow, Private, Memphis?” She was the reporter again, and her heart thumped with a beat of regret as she took in the split second of disparagement that played across his face as she lifted her lips away from his. But then it was gone and he was back to playing cool with a grin.
“Nah, back in Tupelo where I was borned and raised.”
“Tupelo, huh? Well, tell us Presley, why does all the good rock and roll music come from that part of the country, places like Mississippi, Tennessee?”
Elvis nestled his head back into Bess’ thighs, scrunching up his lips as he thought.
“Don’t know, I guess we jus have a history of it, it's a place where ya got Black rhythm and blues and country and western, spiritual music. It's in the air we breathe down there, I guess, gets all jumbled up and out comes rock ‘n’ roll.”
“Well, Private, is rock n’ roll the secret weapon we’ve all been waiting for to take down communism and restore civilization to Eastern Europe and Russia? And if so, when are you being sent over enemy lines?”
“Now, maybe you’re on ta something there, pretty sure it’s already destroyed civilization state side.”
“Oh, definitely, the very fabric of our society is crumbling, just ask any parent and they’ll tell you that their teenager hates school and wants to have sex, all because of rock ’n’ roll. No teenager ever felt that way before they heard your music.”
“Huh, you’re a smart ass, you know that?”
“I’ve been a smart ass since you met me. Try to keep up, Tupelo.”
“Huh, yeah, ya a piece of work, lil' Moo Moo. And ya asking for it talkin’ to a man like that.”
Elvis pinched her soft, springy sides as he chuckled. Anyone walking by the blue Ford would have only seen Bess’ silhouette sitting up, head tilted back in a deep, guttural laugh for the first time in almost a year, as Elvis lay back in her lap, tickling and pinching her. They sat in her car for another hour, as Bess fussed over a cluster of razor burn below his ear, and he asked her about her life, getting to know as much about her as she was willing to reveal until she had to push him off her lap to go meet Sargeant Norwood, dismissing his offer to come back to her house and show her that souvenir all the gals were chasing after
************************************************************************
Read Chapter Three Here
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Ch. 1 Ch. 2
You loved the cool breeze after the summer. The gentle breeze also coaxing a calm psithurism that had the power to lull you to sleep on the sharp but flimsy tails of grass your towel sat above. You could feel it through the small holes in the towel. Behind your home stood a thick tree with beautiful baby pink blossoms that were stuck to the branches of the tree until they were ready to fall to the ground through the wind. There was a swing on a bigger branch that stuck further out from the tree. So peaceful you thought to yourself whilst looking forward at the calming sight in front of you. The view of the sunset above the large body of water that was just below the hill you sat atop of was just enough to make you shed a tear. This was a time for you, for them.
The breeze danced againt your glistening cocoa skin and combed through your small faux locs. You felt the hair tickling at the smalls of your exposed back, just above your red panties and passing by your matching red bra.
In clothes, you felt almost suffocated, but that never meant you would wear small clothes and walk in pantie sized denim shorts. When you thought of that, you meant nothing to the women who did, at least they knew how amazing they looked in them. With the right sense of style you could make literally everything look like it's part of a fashion trend.
But in the privacy of your own backyard, since you didn't have neighbors so close by, you loved to lay down a towel in a specific spot behind the swing, and once you were sat on the towel, you rested you arms on it, along with your head laying above your arms while you gazed lovingly at the sunset or sunrise.
It made you feel more at peace than you ever were. While you looked at the sunset above the wooden swing you rested your head on, the twins you carried looked below. And with every second that passed watching the sun set, she felt more and more down to earth.
You were always told by your mother that your kids will always be your future, the reason you can live in peace knowing that they would unconditionally love you, and even more after your mistakes, they learn what to avoid as they grow. Your mother was one for beautiful speeches, a woman who was also down to earth but equally delusional. Other than, your mother was calm, loving, precious, greatful, and more. Overall, you'd describe her as a charming and warm person.
These thoughts were running wild through your head, and you hadn't noticed you'd began to fall asleep until you peeled open your eyes slowly, your lashes fluttering in the air. The breeze, the sound of the blossoms and the green white rose bushes as the flowers and leaves rustled together, the waves of the body of water in front of you crashing and splashing gently against the rocks below. This helped you to sleep. The live sounds of nature were so calming to you, you often left your bedroom door open before you fell into a deep sleep.
You felt a cold fluid slowly sliding down the back of your thumb, where your mouth had been slightly open at. Spit.
You'd been drooling while you slept. Something you sometimes found yourself smiling a small smile at. Guess I should head inside... You thought as you stood up and stepped off of the towel that was sprawled out beneath you, taking it up in your hands and folding it neatly. You were going to miss staring at this scenery behind such a small but gorgeous house. You were going to miss the cool gusts of wind that blow through your hair and made goosebumps rise on your skin. But you thought it was for the better. Your landlord was a bit of a creep, staring you down whenever you opened the door to him, making comments on your body that made you super uncomfortable. You weren't going to stay in this house and take any of what the man was doing to you.
So you've been looking for bigger houses, not too big, with a similar view to the one before you now.
You turned your back to the water and started forward to the backdoor, waddling over with a hand on your back.
I really like the thought of pregnant and sweet reader..a lot
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And the Universe Said I Love You (Ch. 1)
Summary: Late one summer night, a half fairy being hunted for their magical blood stumbled into the temple of the gods and claimed sanctuary. Years later, Hyrule is still living in the temple, working to keep it tidy and operating smoothly.
And for some reason, the gods have taken a keen interest in them.
AN: I put a list of all the gods and their domains at the end. This was inspired by this prompt
(Read on AO3 )
~~~
“Hail, great mother of the gods, great mistress of the skies. In all ways, I honor your name. I come bearing offerings, in hopes that you will hear my plea...”
Hyrule hummed a pleasant tune as they listened to the prayers of the young boy, who looked to be only eleven or twelve. The boy was across the room from Hyrule, kneeling in front of a statue of the god he was praying to. He was praying to Sky, the god who ruled over divinity, the sky, sleep, and- most importantly in this case- children, among other things.
From what Hyrule could overhear from where they swept the floor in the back of the room, the boy was praying to Sky for the health of his sick younger brother.
It was very sweet, and it was always nice to see younger children come to worship the gods. Usually, it was only the older folks who came to the temple on days that weren’t specifically designated for worship. Hyrule hoped the Sky would grant the boy a blessing, and aid in his brother’s recovery.
“Hear my prayer, oh mother god, and answer. Amen.” The boy dipped his fingers into the bowl of water that sat at the feet of Sky’s statue, and brought his wet fingers to his forehead, one shoulder, the other shoulder, and then back to his forehead. His movements were clumsy and unpracticed, but they served their purpose to form a triangle to symbolize the mark of the triforce. The gesture was a sign of respect toward the gods, and also signaled that his prayers were finished.
The boy rose to his feet, taking one last look at the serene face of the god. The artist who’d carved the statue had depicted Sky kneeling, hands clasped piously in his lap. His eyes were closed and he had a small smile on his face as if he were two seconds away from nodding off.
As the boy turned and walked out, Hyrule finished up their sweeping, following him out of the mother god’s shrine room.
Hylians called Sky the mother god, and they weren’t entirely wrong. Sky had been the first god and had existed long before all the others. Eventually, he’d grown lonely. He’d been tired of the endless sky and storms surrounding him and had started to wish for companionship.
So Sky had created Four, the god of earth and the forges. Four had been the God who had tended the fires at the beginning. He was the one who had forged the world that Hylians lived in today.
And after that, when Sky had gotten bored of time standing still and become tired of nothing growing or changing, he’d created Time, the god of time and the seasons. Time had started the clock ticking, and it had been his hands that induced the turning of the seasons, fall into winter, winter into spring.
And so it went, for most of the gods. When Sky saw a need, he made a new god. Twice, Sky had instead blessed a mortal with divinity, gifting them with godhood. This was how the god of the ocean, Wind, and the god of hearth and hunting, Wild, had risen to power
No one knew why Sky had chosen to bless mortals to create the gods of the wild and the ocean. Usually, Sky crafted the gods from nothing.
Sky didn’t create life like a Hylian would create life. Hyrule didn’t know exactly how it worked, but they imagined that the knowledge was far beyond their comprehension.
Regardless Hyrule thought it was a stretch to call Sky a mother, but the god didn’t seem to mind it. In fact, most of the gods seemed to find the concept of Sky being their mother rather funny. (Hyrule wouldn’t want to be too presumptuous and ask, however. Just because the gods liked him for some unknown reason didn’t mean that he could ask them about things that likely weren't for mortal ears.)
Sky didn’t seem to mind being referred to with feminine terms, either. Gender was a Hylian concept that gods played with occasionally, but never took very seriously. Even the few statues in the temple that portrayed Sky as a woman didn’t seem to bother the god, even though he usually chose a male form when appearing to Hylians.
Of course, most of the general public didn’t know all this information.
Hyrule was just a bit of a special case.
Hyrule and the boy left Sky’s shrine room, pushing aside the fine white silk draped over the doorway to do so. The boy turned left, towards the temple’s exit. Hyrule turned right, toward Warriors’ shrine room. As they walked, they passed an old man and a young mother with an infant strapped to her chest. Standing near the doorway. The old man, seeing that the boy was done with his prayer, entered the room to do his own business there.
The young mother remained hovering nervously by the doorway, not daring to enter while the old man was inside. It was rude to enter a shrine room when someone else was praying. Whatever business they had with the gods was their own.
Again, Hyrule was a special exception to this. As the temple’s keeper, they had to enter the rooms to clean and take care of offerings, so they were exempt from such etiquette.
As they passed the mother and child, Hyrule could see that the mother was very nervous, and seemed to be holding a package wrapped with brown paper and tied with string. A red feather was tucked under the string.
Ah.
She was a new mother, then, coming with an offering to ask for blessings for her baby and future family.
As much as Hyrule wanted to stop and say hello, try to ease the mother’s nerves, and greet the baby, they had work to do. So instead they simply nodded as they passed her, and continued on.
Warriors’ shrine didn’t have anyone waiting outside of it. Secretly, Hyrule hoped that meant it would be empty. Not because they didn’t want Warriors to have worshippers!
It was just… There had been issues recently with some of Warriors’ worshippers.
Instead of silk covering the doorway making the room more open and inviting like Sky’s was, there was a heavy stone door. It had always reminded Hyrule of the gates to the castle in the middle of the city. The door took some effort to open, but Hyrule managed eventually. They slowly entered the dark room, shutting the door behind them.
Instead of the large skylight, silks draped across the walls, and the delicate offerings like feathers and wood carvings that decorated Sky’s shrine, Warrior’s shrine room was dark and almost gloomy. The air inside was still and felt warmer than it should have. The only source of light was the large stained glass window directly behind Wariror’s statues, and a few flickering torches and candles.
The air smelled like smoke from the torches, but underneath that, there was a metallic tang to the air. Some might argue the scent was from the weapons that hung on the walls, but if anyone asked Hyrule- though no one ever did- they would say that it smelled like blood.
It wasn’t the kind of place Hyrule would usually find comfort in. It was too reminiscent of the dark summer nights they’d spent being hunted for their fae blood. The darkness and the scent of blood reminded them too viscerally of the night they’d ran into this temple for the first time.
It had been a last-ditch attempt to find safety. They had asked for sanctuary from the gods, and Hyrule had fully expected the temple doors to remain barred against them. They’d expected to be slain on the temple steps as the uncaring gods looked on.
Hyrule thanked the gods every day that that didn’t happen. Thanked them for letting the doors open and allowing him inside where the hunter wouldn’t dare follow. The gods had granted Hyrule clemency and even allowed them to stay in the temple permanently.
So even though the dark room brought back unpleasant memories, it had never felt oppressive to Hyrule. In fact, it was quite the opposite. There was a protective feeling in the air that made Hyrule relax, knowing no one would hurt them here.
Hyrule was sure that if they sat down in this room, it wouldn't be long before they started nodding off. They wondered if that was the doing of Warriors xemself, trying to make them feel welcome.
Recently though, Hyrule had started to dread coming in to clean Warriors’ shrine during the day. Worshipers were only allowed into the temple to pray during the day, and that was usually when Hyrule cleaned. Recently they had started to think they should clean Warriors’ shrine after hours.
Warriors usually didn’t get as many visitors as the other gods, as was expected for a god of war and battle. But recently, there had been one worshiper who was coming in much more frequently than Hyrule liked.
Specifically because she didn’t bring any offerings…. Besides herself.
Hyrule exhaled heavily when they saw that said worshiper was indeed in the shrine room. She was kneeling at the base of Warriors’ statue, wearing a dress that left very little to the imagination. She didn’t even look away from the god’s statue when Hyrule entered the room. Hyrule turned away, beginning to sweep the floor with their back to her. She, meanwhile, completely ignored them.
Cia… irritated Hyrule. They couldn’t exactly say why besides the fact that she conducted herself with no shame in the temple.
She was a beautiful woman, perhaps even the most beautiful in the city. At least that’s what people said. Hyrule wouldn’t know. They’d never held any love for physical beauty, anyways.
But Cia knew how beautiful she was. Maybe that was why she was willing to keep offering herself to the god even after it became clear xe was rejecting her.
Perhaps that was what irritated Hyrule. She just kept trying. Over and over, even though she must know it wouldn’t work. Either Cia didn’t understand her offering wasn’t pleasing to Warriors, or she simply didn’t care.
Hyrule didn’t know what Cia wanted so badly, but whatever it was, it was ultimately a fool's errand. No matter what she did, she wasn’t going to tempt Warriors into taking her as xyr wife.
The commonly held belief that the gods would take a mortal bride if the person were beautiful enough was only rooted in the stories of liars.
The myth of how Malanya had risen to godhood probably also played a role. But the truth was that she had never been a mortal.
Malon was beautiful, yes, but she had not been a mortal, even before she had become Time’s wife and the goddess of horses. She had been a wood nymph, already an immortal being. That part of the story was lost to time though, so most mortals thought Malon had been mortal and had managed to catch the eye of the god of time.
Hyrule knew this was false. They also knew that gods usually didn’t often interact directly with mortals. Much less take them as brides.
Hyrule pulled a face when they heard a rather breathy sigh from Cia as she finished her first prayer. In any other situation, Hyrule might have been flustered, but now they were just embarrassed for her. Perhaps they should say something. It would save them the ordeal of having to deal with her, and save her the ordeal of coming to the temple so often on a fruitless endeavor.
When Cia paused in between prayers, gathering herself up to start another one, that was when Hyrule spoke. “You should stop trying to gain the god’s favor like that. Stop trying to give yourself as an offering, I mean.”
The sweet smile that had been on Cia’s face the entire time she had been praying turned into an irritated scowl in the blink of an eye. She shot to her feet, turning away from Warriors’ statue to face Hyrule, who only calmly continued with their sweeping.
She sneered “Why? It’s worked for others before-”
It hadn’t, but Cia continued, not giving Hyrule a chance to correct her. Not that they would have, anyway. “Why do you care so much? You aren’t supposed to interfere with the prayers of people who come to the shrines!”
Again, she was incorrect but had no way of knowing that.
The gods had never taken a mortal to tend to any of their temples before. Usually, they employed the help of wood nymphs and forest spirits. Those types of immortals didn’t like to be seen by mortals. They cleaned the temples and dealt with offerings during the night when no one was around to see them. However, being adverse to being seen by mortals meant that they had no recourse to correct inappropriate behaviors from the worshipers.
Hyrule had no such restrictions.
How Hyrule had gained so much favor from the gods that they had offered them protection and a job at the temple was beyond them. But they’d managed it somehow. So now Hyrule kept the temple clean and took care of the offerings the gods didn’t accept. They gave shelter, healing, and protection to those who sought sanctuary at the temple. Along with all of that, though, they were also here to make sure that the actions of the temple-goers were proper.
Prostrating herself in front of the shrines was not proper. Hyrule felt quite certain that Warriors would only feel relief if xe didn’t have to watch Cia do it anymore. Hyrule certainly would. Cia was no doubt a beautiful woman, but it got embarrassing after a point.
Cia huffed when she got no response from Hyrule- who wasn’t even looking at her- and stalked closer. She stepped close enough that Hyrule had to stop sweeping to avoid smacking her ankles with the broom.
“Or you just don't want the gods’ attention on anyone but you? I bet that's the reason they keep you here. Not good enough to take as a wife, but pretty enough to keep around all the same.”
Hyrule ignored the hurtful words and the implications that came with them. They were more than used to such things being insinuated about them by now.
Most people who heard of the gods taking on a mortal to tend to their temple were confused by it.
Hyrule themself was confused about why it had happened, so they didn’t blame other people for their assumptions. Though it did confuse Hyrule that people thought the gods had chosen them because they thought Hyrule was pretty. Hyrule knew they weren’t considered that attractive, so they didn’t know how that line of thinking held up.
Speaking of…
Hyrule wasn’t phased by Cia’s insult, but they did blink in confusion at Cia’s backhanded compliment. No one had ever called them attractive before, let alone pretty. Usually, people called them unique-looking and left it at that. Their fairy blood influenced their appearance a bit too strongly for most people's tastes. They’d been told that their innumerous golden freckles were particularly unnatural and off-putting.
Regardless of her odd compliment, Hyrule was getting sick of Cia. “No. I’m not trying to keep the gods all to myself. I’m trying to warn you before Warriors’ patience wears out and xe curses you.”
An exaggeration- Hyrule doubted Warriors would curse her- but Cia didn’t need to know that.
Cia puffed up at that, her face flushing. Hyrule was honestly kind of impressed. Even angry and looking like she was two seconds away from hitting them, she still managed to look composed and well put together. “How dare you call a god by their true name! They choose you to sweep the dirt out of their temple, so you think you're special?” She hissed venomously. “You need to learn to respect those who are better than you.”
For some funny reason, Hyrule didn’t think that Cia was talking about the gods anymore. Especially not when she raised her hand in the air, open-palmed and ready to strike them.
Her fingers glittered prettily as she swung her hand down. Hyrule let themself get distracted for a split second by the twinkling of the rings that adorned her fingers. They couldn't help themself. Fairies loved sparkly things.
Their distraction lasted only a moment, though. As her hand swung down to strike them, Hyrule’s hand shot up to meet it, grasping her wrist firmly but not harshly.
Hyrule only sighed, exhausted already. Part of this was their fault. They really needed to start referring to the gods by their proper titles while in public. Most of this situation was entirely Cia’s fault, though.
“Cia, I think you should leave.”
“What? No!” She protested, yanking her hand back away from their grasp. They let her. “How dare you! You can’t kick me out, I have every right to be here.”
“You tried to attack me.” Their protest falls on deaf ears. They see her hand raise once more, and they prepare themself to catch it a second time.
Gods, couldn’t they catch a break?
Perhaps invoking the gods- even in just their head- while also being in one of their shrine rooms was a bit of a mistake. Before Cia could even start to bring her hand down again, her wrist was caught, but this time it wasn’t Hyrule who grabbed her.
Both of them were startled, and Cia spun around to face the newcomer who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
The stranger was difficult to look at. Neither one of them had noticed that Warriors’ statue had started glowing over the course of their argument, but it was indeed glowing. Golden light played along the statue’s features, lighting up the room much better than the stained glass window did. It had become so bright that it was difficult to make out the features of the person who was haloed by the light.
But Hyrule already knew who it was.
It took Cia a few moments, but as her eyes darted from the person’s face- a perfect mimic of the war god’s statue- to the statue itself, and then back again, and Hyrule was sure she had figured it out.
Hyrule was more than accustomed to seeing such a glow, but Cia remained silent and trembling. Hyrule could tell she was terrified. Not that they really blamed her. Warriors could be terrifying when xe wanted to.
When xe spoke, xyr voice rolled through the room like the distant sounds of an approaching thunderstorm. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It wouldn’t end well for you if you try to assault one so favored by the gods.” Distantly, Hyrule could feel the deadly pressure building in the room, but it wasn’t meant for them. They knew that Cia could feel it much more directly.
Cia wavered for a moment, before yanking her hand out of Warriors' grip. Xe let her go easily. She ran from the room, looking very frazzled and more than a little afraid.
The figure in front of Hyrule paused for a moment to insure she was really gone, then the light slowly faded away. Soon the figure- looking less godly but still exactly like xyr statue- stood in front of them without an unnatural backlight.
“Hello, Warriors.” Hyrule greeted politely, hoping that the god wouldn’t make a big deal out of the incident. Thankfully, Warriors didn’t seem to think that one mortal was that big of a deal, even if she had tried to hit Hyrule.
Xe smiled, greeting Hyrule, then turned to look at their altar. Cia hadn’t brought anything with her, as per usual, but there were a few offerings from earlier in the day. A small knife with a wooden handle, a gleaming golden apple, and an unfortunate scrap of fabric that looked like it was stained with blood.
An offering like the fabric usually meant that the worshiper had a loved one who was off at war or had died in battle. Someone had been here, praying either for their loved one’s safe return, or for their safe passage to the god of the ocean. Wind was the one who guided souls into the afterlife.
Hyrule couldn’t make heads or tails of the other offerings, but Warriors would know what the worshippers had asked for.
Warriors frowned as xe leaned over the table, fingers fluttering over the offerings. The knife and the scrap of fabric disappeared, while the golden apple remained untouched. That offering had been rejected, and the worshiper’s prayer would not be answered. Hyrule would have to clear the shrine of the rejected offering, but they could do that later. It would be a little rude to take the offering from Warriors’ shrine when xe was standing right there.
When Warriors turned back to them, Hyrule asked, “Are you sure you should be here?”
Warriors waved away their concern. “Relax, It’s getting late and it’s almost time for the temple to close. No one will see us. And if anyone does,” Here, xe paused and grinned, xyr features twisting and warping slightly as xe did so. Xyr formal clothes also melted away, turning into a more normal-looking outfit, although xe did keep the scarf.
Xe was still recognizably Warriors, especially to Hyrule who spent a lot of time around xem and knew xyr appearance. But anyone else who saw the god wouldn’t be able to match xyr features to the statue that loomed behind xem.
It was always disconcerting to Hyrule when they were reminded that their friends didn’t truly look the way Hyrule thought they did, but they brushed it off. Hyrule would never be able to witness the gods’ true forms. Hyrule was mortal. Witnessing the gods’ divinity in its pure form would burn their eyes out, and they would rather avoid that fate.
“See? No one will recognize me.” Xe continued, satisfied. “It’s the same as we usually do, yes?”
“Hmmm, yes,” Hyrule agreed. “Sorry, I was just worried about Cia.”
Warriors snorted in derision but sounded more amused than anything. “You shouldn’t worry about her. It’s not like she can do any true harm.”
Hyrule rolled their eyes. “No true harm except to me,” they complained. “What if she says something? Her family is rich, you know. If she decides she wants retribution for her embarrassment, she can easily come after me.”
Warriors waved off their concern. “I doubt she’ll be back anytime soon, and I doubt she’ll say anything. No one would dare touch you. You're under our protection. We wouldn’t let you tend to our temple if you weren’t.”
This was true enough.
For all that people were baffled that the gods had chosen a mortal to tend to their temples, most people left Hyrule alone. People were fearful of the gods’ wrath if they messed with Hyrule.
Hyrule was glad. They liked living in the peace and quiet of the temple, and they loved not being bothered. It was a stark contrast from the time when Hyrule would constantly be harassed and even hunted because of their obviously fairy features.
But just because Hyrule loved peace and quiet, that didn’t mean they didn’t have room for some chaos in their life, and the gods were more than adept at providing that.
~~~
Hyrule sighed deeply from where they were standing in the doorway of their small room, their hands on their hips.
This room- which more than likely had originally been a storage closet- had been theirs for the past several years. It was small, yes, but it was home. A bed tucked into the corner, a chest to store their clothing sitting at the foot of it, and a small personal shrine was all the furniture in the room.
And currently there was one more addition to the room: a wolf laying in their bed like it belonged there.
“If this is why I keep getting dog hair in my sheets?” Hyrule tries to keep a stern expression on their face as they scold the wolf. Given the way the wolf lifted his head to look at them and then promptly started wagging his tail, Hyrule wasn’t successful.
“Twilight.” Hyrule stresses, which only causes the wolf to roll over on his back and show his tummy. He was doing an excellent imitation of a shit-eating grin as he stared at Hyrule, even though he was currently a wolf and wolves could not grin.
A wolf, and laying in Hyrule’s bed.
If Hyrule wasn’t so acutely familiar with the god, they would be terrified out of their wits. As it was, they were more than used to situations like this. The gods usually took up Hylian forms, but some of them liked to take the forms of animals sometimes. Twilight, as the god of animals, was one of those, and he was particularly fond of canine forms.
Hyrule had gotten more than used to random dogs in the temple.
After another few seconds of silence from Hyrule, the wolf raised his head to look at them. It made no move to get off their bed. Hyrule contemplated him, but eventually decided trying to get Twilight off the bed was too much work. They were tired from the day, and wanted rest.
They flopped down onto the bed and partially on top of the wolf. Twilight chuffed at them, but still made no move to leave. Hyrule took it as a sign Twilight wasn’t actually uncomfortable with Hyrule laying on top of him. They buried their face in his fur, and closed their eyes.
In no time at all, Hyrule was asleep, curled up next to the divine beast.
~~~
“Will you take me to the festival? Please?” Wind’s eyes were big and watery as he begged Hyrule to bring him with them.
It was late autumn, which meant it was time for the harvest festival, when people gathered together to celebrate a successful summer and a bountiful harvest. The past few years- ever since Hyrule had come to stay at the temple actually- had seen particularly generous harvests. This year had only continued the trend.
Once the harvest was finished, the farmers and craftspeople from surrounding towns would gather in the city to sell their wares. They also came to give thanks to the gods at the temple. For some, it was the only time of the year they managed to make it into the city, and the only time they were able to pay respect to the gods.
As the god of the seasons and by extension, the harvest, worship for Time skyrocketed during harvest festivals. Twilight, although he was mainly the god of the night, day, and the moon and sun, was also the god of animals which meant he was worshiped more during this time as well.
So the temple was busy at this time of year. Time and Twilight got plenty of attention, but the other gods got their fair share as well. Because of the influx of worshipers, Hyrule always has more work than usual to do. That meant they hadn’t had much time to enjoy the festival itself in the last few years. It always felt like a waste to go galavanting off to have fun when they had a job to do.
This year though, the gods seemed to think that Hyrule was overworking themself. Legend had visited last night, needling Hyrule until they begrudgingly agreed to take a break from their duties. He had even slipped a small purse of rupees into Hyrule’s hands. They had tried to return the purse, but Legend had glared at them into submission.
Hyrule had to admit that there was little chance that anything would go wrong in their absence. The temple had always run smoothly without a mortal attendant before Hyrule had arrived, even during festivals. It would survive without them for a few hours.
That was why Hyrule was preparing to go to the festival now. They had no doubt that Legend had sent Wind to insure Hyrule was actually taking a break and annoy them into doing so if it were necessary.
“Uh, are you sure going into the city is the best idea?” Hyrule asked the young god. Not that Hyrule was opposed to Wind’s company! The young god could be strange at times, like all the gods, but he was still fun to be around. It was just… Well, most of the gods weren’t the best at pretending to be mortals.
Wind seemed to understand exactly what Hyrule was getting at, and he scoffed. “Oh, please! I used to be mortal before I was a god, you know. I’m a lot better at blending in than the others are. You don’t have to worry about me.”
When he saw that Hyrule was still reluctant but had started to soften their resolve, Wind grabbed their hand. He looked up at them with big watery eyes and went for the kill. “Please?” His voice was softer now as he pleaded. ”I kinda miss it. Festivals like this remind me of my mortal family. And the other gods don't want me wandering around without supervision,” An irritated look flickered over Wind’s face, “Which is dumb because I’m literally a god. I can handle myself!”
And yep, Hyrule couldn’t say no to that face. It just wasn’t possible. (They also didn’t want to start the argument that, yes, Wind was a god and could take care of himself, but most of the time he looked like a thirteen year old. That put a target on his back, especially when he was wandering alone. It was better to let the older gods try and convince Wind of that. It wasn’t really Hyrule’s place.)
“Fine,” Hyrule allowed. They continued before Wind could celebrate too much. “If you do anything weird, I’m telling Time. No stealing either.” That caused Wind to deflate a little, but he still looked more than pleased with being allowed to tag along.
Hyrule turned away to get themself ready. They pulled on their cloak to hide their features and not draw attention to themself, and grabbed a basket to carry their purchases. Meanwhile, Wind sat nearby, swinging their legs back and forth absently.
After ensuring that their money pouch was tied securely to their belt, they turned to Wind. “Okay,” Hyrule said. “I’m all set. Are you ready to go?”
“Yep!” Wind replied, hopping down from his chair.
As he did so, he changed.
His form shifted and warped until instead of a blonde teenage boy in front of them, it was a young girl- probably eight or nine- with curly chocolate brown hair that fell untamed down their back. Bright green eyes shone up at Hyrule from under their curly bangs. They even had a smattering of golden freckles across their nose. In short, they looked like a spitting image of Hyrule themself, when they had been younger.
Wind skipped forward, grabbing Hyrule’s hand. He looked like a perfect example of innocence. “There! We look like sisters! Now no one will look twice at us.” Wind sounded proud of himself for the disguise.
Hyrule felt their breath stutter involuntarily, feeling like they’d just been punched in the chest. All of Hyrule’s sisters in real life had been immortal, having taken after their fairy mother. Hyrule had been the only one who’d taken after their mortal father.
Was this what it would have looked like if they had a little sister? If they had had some small piece of their family they could have clung to? All of Hyrule’s sisters had stayed with their mother when Hyrule had to set out from home. Hyrule’s eyes started to mist over as they looked into Wind’s big green eyes. Was this what it would have been like if they had a little sister they could’ve held onto during those long lonely nights?
Wind looked regretful when he saw Hyrule was close to crying. “If you want, I can turn back!” He exclaims worriedly, tugging on where he was hanging on to Hyrule’s hand.
“No,” Hyrule denied. “You’re fine. You don’t have to turn back.” Their voice sounded a little fragile. Wind didn't protest. He didn’t try to herd Hyrule towards the temple’s door either, letting Hyrule continue to hold him. Hyrule also didn’t try to get the two of them moving, despite the fact they were losing daylight.
The two of them stayed where they were for a while, standing together. Wind continued to hold onto Hyrule’s hand and lean into their legs. Hyrule hesitantly put their free hand into Wind’s hair. When Wind didn’t protest, they ran their fingers through Wind’s curls gently.
Hyrule eventually sniffled, shifting away from Wind. “Alright. I guess we should head out if we want to get to the market before it gets too busy.”
No one glanced twice at the pair of them as they walked down the steps of the temple and into the market square, which set Hyrule’s heart at ease. They must really look like siblings.
Although it wasn’t even noon, the market was already decently busy, and Hyrule knew it would only get busier as the day wore on. Most of the square was taken up by stalls, some of which were already open to serve the early morning crowd. One small section was taken up by vendors selling hot food made to order, and one corner of the square was dominated by festival games.
Wind didn’t seem to have any preference on where to go, although he made some not-so-subtle hints about visiting the confectioner’s stall at some point. Hyrule decided it would be best to visit the stalls first, before it got too crowded, and they could go find something to eat later in the morning.
It was nice to just blend into the crowd and browse what goods were on sale. No one looked twice at the two of them, and even if they had wanted to, the crowd ensured anyone who caught sight of the pair's golden freckles and took issue with it would quickly lose sight of the two of them.
The pair passed by a leather worker’s stall with only a cursory glance. Hyrule didn’t need any leather goods today. And if they did need to buy something, they could buy it at a lower price at a later date. Merchants always upped the price of their goods at festival time. With demand being so high, Hyrule couldn’t blame them, but some things just weren’t worth it.
The next stall they passed smelled heavenly, and Hyrule didn’t use that word lightly. The temple was nearly always filled with the scent of incense and flowers, so Hyrule was more than used to smelling good. At this point, the scent of incense had seeped into their clothing and hung around Hyrule even when they left the temple.
But the smell from this stall gave them pause anyway. It was a warm scent, like spiced cider on a cold winter evening. It was nothing like the incense that burned inside the temple.
The stall was selling bottles of shampoo and conditioner, bars of soap, and even some bottles of perfume. Hyrule paused at the stall, eyeing the soap bars consideringly. The bar Hyrule was currently using was getting kind of small, so they did need to buy a new one sometime soon.
It was festival time, after all. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to spend a little on a new one. And whatever scent they were smelling was worth splurging a little on.
It didn’t take long for Hyrule to flag down the merchant and get their hands on one of the bars of soap. It took a bit of haggling to get the price down to a more reasonable level. The merchant wrapped the soap up in paper, thanking them for their purchase. Hyrule smiled at him, turned around to find Wind so they could move on, and their smile slid off their face
When they turned around, Wind was nowhere to be seen. Hyrule choked down their initial panic. Just because Wind was no longer clinging to them didn’t mean the god had somehow managed to get himself into trouble in the five minutes Hyrule was distracted. Not that Wind wasn’t capable of finding trouble in that amount of time, but hopefully he hadn’t.
Hyrule almost missed the small blue-clad figure as their eyes skimmed over the crowd. They did a double take when they spotted Wind- still in the form of a young child- making very rude gestures that a child as young as Wind appeared to be should not know.
Hyrule choked, hurrying over to Wind. They caught his hands in theirs and yanked them down. “What are you doing? Are you trying to cause a scene?” Hyrule hissed quietly at Wind, who seemed completely unapologetic. Hyrule turned to try and see who Wind had been flipping off.
But when they turned around, they saw no one Wind could have been gesturing at. There was a throng of people surrounding them, but none of them were paying any attention to Wind.
Looking back at Wind, Hyrule saw he wasn’t even looking at any of the people in the crowd around them, but glaring upwards. Following his gaze, they saw a little red bird, probably a cardinal, perched on top of a nearby noticeboard.
Hyrule blinked in confusion, looking back down at Wind. They almost opened their mouth to ask why Wind was flipping off a bird, but then their head whipped back around to stare at the creature.
It was a red bird, it was staring at Wind and Hyrule in particular, and it was a bird that Wind seemed to be intimately familiar with.
With those facts in mind, Hyrule squeezed Wind’s hand and tugged him away in the direction of the rest of the stalls. Their lips were pressed tightly together to keep themself from laughing.
“You know,” Hyrule started casually after a moment of silent walking, “You probably shouldn’t be flipping off the god of divinity himself.” They didn’t worry about anyone overhearing them. The crowd was thick, and a stranger’s odd conversation wouldn’t draw any attention. Even if it did draw attention, they were moving through the crowd and would be gone before anyone tried to listen in.
Wind pouted, stomping his feet a little. He looked exactly like a grumpy little kid throwing a tantrum, and Hyrule had to suppress another laugh. “That’s not even Sky! It’s just his stupid messenger bird.”
Hyrule hummed understandingly, and pulled them to a stop so they could inspect a display containing a rainbow of different yarns and threads. Their spare tunic had gotten a hole in it, and Hyrule was out of thread. They should buy some more. “I thought you liked Crimson? I’ve met her and she seems nice.”
Wind grew quiet, almost sulking. “It’s not that I don’t like her- especially not when she’s in a smaller form like that. Her bigger forms kind of freak me out, it's not natural- But Legend asked me to come to the festival with you-”
I knew it, Hyrule thought, locating some shades of green thread that were pretty similar to his tunic color. The tunic that had a hole in it was the same shade as the one they were wearing now, so they used it to compare colors.
Wind kept talking. “-And it feels like Sky won’t even trust me with this one thing! I can take care of you! I don’t need my own babysitter!”
“Hey now,” Hyrule protested. “I don’t need a babysitter either. I’d be just fine on my own.”
Wind huffed. “It’s not the same. You’re so fragile. I’m a literal-”
Hyrule’s heart skipped a beat in dread, and they acted quickly. Before Wind could continue, Hyrule shoved the two spools of thread they’d been contemplating into Wind’s face and asked, “Which shade of green do you think matches my tunic the best?”
Wind shot him a nasty look for the interruption, but Hyrule only lifted an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. Wind rolled his eyes and pointed to the one on the left.
”Careful what you say.” Hyrule whispered warningly. People might not listen in on the conversation of others here, but that wasn’t any reason for Wind to go around declaring to all and sundry that he was a god.
“Whatever.” Wind said, rolling his eyes. “You know what I mean. You’re not even two decades old yet. You’re young.” Wind stressed his last word, and Hyrule tried not to feel a little insulted. What Wind was saying was true, from his point of view. Hyrule wasn’t even twenty yet, although at nineteen, they were close. To a god such as Wind, who’d lived for millennia, they would be incredibly young.
Instead, Hyrule only said, “You’re young too, you know.” They waved over the merchant and paid for their thread, tucking it into their basket with the soap.
“I’m not even the youngest!” Wind protested hotly as they moved away from the stall. He was flushed in anger that, frankly, just looked adorable in his current form. If this was how Hyrule looked when they were angry when they were hung, they don’t know how their mother ever took them seriously. “Wild and Wars are both younger than me!”
Hyrule lets the conversation trail off after that, as Wind starts telling stories about how adorable Wild and Wars had been as new gods, back when they were unsure of themselves and unused to their powers. Wind was right- he’d been made into a god before Sky had needed to create Warriors, and long before Wild had even been born a mortal.
Hyrule didn’t know exactly why Wind was considered to be the youngest of the gods. The way gods aged was strange though, sometimes not even following a linear pattern. It was further complicated by the fact that they could appear to be whatever age they wanted to be.
Hyrule thinks they might have heard Warriors mention that Wind was the youngest because he had still been a child when he’d been turned into a god. He hadn’t had the chance to grow normally. Hyrule could understand that dying and becoming a god might stunt that sort of development.
Wind had to grow up as a god, which took a lot longer. Sky had created the other gods in the form of teenagers, and Wild had at least been of age when he’d been given godhood.
So while Wind might have been alive longer than Warriors and Wild, he was still mentally the youngest, and treated as such by mortals and gods alike.
Hyrule was pulled out of their thoughts by tugging on their hand, which slowly led them away from the direction they’d been walking. Wind was steering the two of them slowly but surely over towards the confectioner’s stall.
Hyrule snorted when they realized what he was doing, and dragged Wind back on course. In his current form, there was no way Wind could overpower Hyrule, so he resorted to pouting at them. Hyrule chuckle at that.
“Come on. We have to at least get lunch first before we have dessert.”
The pair wandered the festival until they found a nice stall that was selling meat pies. Hyrule paid, despite Wind’s protests. “What are people going to think when they see me making my little sister pay for her own food?” Hyrule said. Wind opened his mouth to protest but shut it again, seemingly not having a response to that.
If Hyrule’s money pouch somehow suddenly felt as heavy as it had before they paid for the food, they said nothing. They had told Wind not to steal, but they didn’t think reverse pickpocketing Hyrule themself counted. Hyrule would just have to pay Wind back somehow. Maybe a nice offering tonight in the temple after the crowds left.
The two of them ate as they walked and people watched. This time, when Wind subtly tried to steer their direction to the sweets stall, Hyrule let him.
The stall was already being browsed by a family with three young children when they reach it, and Wind and Hyrule join them in looking at the selection. Wind only had eyes for the honey candy, but Hyrule took a bit more time sorting through what was available. Being part fairy, they had more of a sweet tooth than most, and they couldn’t help but spend more of Legend’s rupees on candy than they’d intended.
They managed to buy a small package of sea salt taffy without Wind noticing. They hid it beneath the package of soap in their basket. Tonight, they could place it on Wind’s altar to repay the god for the food Wind had refused to let them pay for. Honey candies flavored with blueberry syrup joined the taffy, to be tucked away for a rainy day. To munch on now, Hyrule ends up buying a bag of chocolate-coated nuts.
The chocolate was sweet on their tongue as they and Wind wander through the rest of the fair. It's well past noon by now, and things were starting to get busy. People throng tightly around them. Hyrule would feel crowded, but every time they started to feel anxious, Wind squeezed their hand tightly, as if he could sense their turmoil.
He probably could.
The reminder of the protection the god offered soothed Hyrule a great deal, and they managed to push away their anxieties.
Eventually, the two end up wandering around the second of the market set aside for
There’s a dunk tank set up nearby. Wind pays for three tries to hit the target. He doesn’t succeed, and that alone told Hyrule that he wasn’t really trying. But his gleeful giggles make Hyrule’s heart squeeze, and they smile at the god’s joy. It’s more than infectious.
They don’t see any games they're interested in paying themself. Most of these games Hyrule can guarantee are rigged, and the prizes usually aren’t of interest to them.
That was until something sparkled in the sun out of the corner of their eyes.
It was a small necklace. A small blue stone was set in the center of it, glittering attractively in the sunlight. Silver filigree filled with green-tinted glass created tiny wings surrounding the stone, mimicking fairies wings.
That. Hyrule wanted that. They know it was their fairy blood that made them want it so badly. (The irony of the necklace being in the shape of a fairy was not lost on them.) Everyone knew that fairies were attracted to shiny objects. Even half-fae like Hyrule were affected by that particular biological quirk.
The necklace hung on a peg inside one of the many game booths, a prize for one of the shooting games where you were given a small bow and three arrows, and targets popped up that you had to attempt to hit.
Hyrule didn’t even wear jewelry, most of the time. But the necklace sparkled so prettily in the sunlight they couldn’t take their eyes off it. They tried to caution themself. The game was probably rigged, and they're not that great a marksman anyways.
But Hyrule wanted that sparkly necklace, and by the gods, they were going to try to get it.
It took them three tries before they finally gave up. They eyed the necklace with longing, but their purse was starting to feel a little bit too light for their liking, and Wind was starting to look impatient.
The man running the stall offered the bow back to Hyrule for them to try again, but they gave a polite smile and shook their head.
A sudden voice coming from behind them made them startle. Wind remained nonplussed. “Here, let me try.” The voice was familiar, and Hyrule was both surprised and not to turn around and see Four standing behind them. They are a bit surprised to see Time, though. The god wasn’t really the kind of person that liked festivals.
But on the other hand, this festival was dedicated to Time. If there was a festival dedicated to Hyrule, they’d want to go out and see it, even if they didn’t like crowds. So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise to see the older god out and about.
He looked much less stressed than the last time Hyrule saw him. The harvest was over, and Time could return to his usual duties until next year. Hyrule was glad. Time always seemed like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders during harvest season.
The game master was more than happy to take Four’s rupees. Only once the man disappeared behind the back of the booth to operate the targets did Four turn to Hyrule with a wink.
As Hyrule expected, Four was able to hit a target on their first try. Wind rolled his eyes. “Show off,” he complained but didn’t look all that bothered. Time, who seemed unimpressed and uninterested in watching Four demonstrate their archery skills, clapped Hyrule on the back with a nod, and then wandered off in the direction of the Temple.
“That’s hardly showing off.” Four insisted. Suddenly, their eyes flickered, a deep blue color flooding their irises. Their hair color shifted ever-so-slightly to become more of a strawberry blonde than true golden as it’d been before, and Hyrule swore the god was an inch or two shorter than they were before.
Hyrule twitched, but after spending a certain amount of time around the god of the four elemental spirits, you start to get used to sudden appearance changes. This time the change wasn’t even as dramatic as it usually was. Four had kept the change rather subtle compared to what they usually did when one of the elemental spirits decided to surface.
Four’s eyes had gained a competitive glint. “This is showing off.” Their next arrow not only hit the same target they had struck before, but it split the previous arrow they’d landed on that target. The last arrow once again landed on the same target, splitting the second arrow.
Four turned to Wind with a smirk. “How about that, then?”
Wind rolled his eyes. “Anyone could do that.” Hyrule resisted telling him that not everyone could do that. Not everyone was an immortal god who had eons to hone their skills.
When the game master returned from behind the curtain, his mouth dropped open at the sight of the perfect bullseye and the two split arrows.
“O- oh,” He stammered, eyeing Four- who still had a slightly dangerously competitive gleam in their eye- warily. “That’s very impressive, kid. Well, I suppose you can choose any prize you like.”
Four turned to Hyrule, waving an offering hand. Hyrule, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, gestured towards the necklace.
The gamemaster, still looking a bit baffled, shook his head in disbelief, but pulled down the necklace from where it hung on its peg, and handed it over to Hyrule. They wasted no time clipping it around their neck. They grinned stupidly at the necklace, flicking it back and forth across their chest to make the light dance along the glass of the wings.
When they looked back up, Four had already vanished. Maybe literally, or perhaps they’d simply wandered away in the crowd. Wind, inpatient, wasted no time in dragging Hyrule away from the still gawking game master.
Later that night, after giving an offering to both Wind and Four’s shrines, Hyrule lay curled up in his bed. Maybe it hadn’t been a waste to go to the festival after all.
~~~
The temple of the gods that Hyrule served was located in Castle Town, the capital city of Hyrule. Castle Town was notoriously hard to invade. As far as Hyrule knew, no one who tried to lay siege on the city had ever been successful.
The Great Sea lay to the east of the city, allowing the city to get supplies during a siege. Sprawling docks and beaches made up the eastern side of the city. Under the tutelage of the ocean god, Hyruleans had become masters of the sea, both above and below the waves, in the case of the Zora (Worship for Wind was, unsurprisingly, more popular in that part of the city.)
To the south the land became more arid, the landscape past the city slowly shifting from forest to a large desert. It was impossible to traverse unless you knew the right routes to travel and had the correct supplies. Invading countries who tried to cross the desert had to carry their own supplies and bring enough water for a whole army. They very rarely made it very far.
Out west, a mountainous landscape gave shelter from potential invaders. Death mountain oozed lava across the southern half of the mountain range. The lava and heat made it impossible to cross to everyone except the Gorons.
In short, Castle Town was an impenetrable fortress of a city. It offered safety to those who lived there. The citizens of Hyrule were more than used to the natural barriers that offered them protection and knew how to harness them. They knew the dangers and how to minimize them.
That was, besides the Lost Woods. The Lost Woods was kind to no one who carried pure mortal blood, Hyrulean or not. The nymphs and other forest spirits that lived there didn’t like to be seen by mortals.
Those who entered the woods brought with them thick fog that confused their senses. The Skullkids would dance through the mist, giggling and disorienting the mortals. If they were lucky, mortals would stumble out a few days later, exhausted and starving but ultimately fine. Those who weren’t so lucky never came out at all, remaining in the woods forever, becoming a wandering lost soul.
Those who’d survived the woods told tales of it being a dark and haunted place, unwelcoming and horrifying.
To Hyrule, the woods were home. They were technically mortal, yes, but their fairy blood gave them a bit of a pass. They might not have inherited their mother’s immortality or fairy form, but they had still been born in these woods. The forest recognized them as one of its own, even if they were mortal. To Hyrule, the forest was never hostile. The nymphs and spirits were shy but didn’t hide away from Hyrule as they did from other mortals. The Skullchildren left them alone besides trying to goad them into an occasional game of hide and seek.
Hyrule’s mother’s fairy fountain lay safe, deep within the trees. She still resided there with their immortal sisters. Hyrule visited sometimes, but the visits were almost always brief and strained. The chasm that had been created when their mother realized Hyrule was mortal had only grown since Hyrule had left the safety of the fountain to strike out on their own.
But even if they could never truly go back to how it was when they were a child, the forest still welcomed them with open arms, magic reaching out and twinging around them. They had grown up here, and the forest knew that.
Their ability to enter the forest made them popular with the apothecaries in Castle Town. Usually, the doctors and potion brewers who wanted to harvest magical plants had to creep along the outer edges of the forest to do so, all while remaining cautious of the ever-present fog.
If the mist started to creep in too much or the whispers of the skullkids became too loud, they knew they’d wandered too far in. It was a delicate balance between getting the plants they need, and not becoming trapped
Hyrule’s fairy blood allowed them to freely pass through the woods and collect as many of the needed plants as they wanted, and they were more than happy to do so, and sell them to the apothecary shops. For a price, of course. This was how they got most of their money. Their jobs at the temple were paid in room, board, and protection from the gods.
That was what they were doing today. It was a sunny day, but the sun’s warmth was cut by a brisk wind that blew between the trees. It was getting a little late in the afternoon, but they still had plenty of time before they had to start heading back.
Hyrule shivered and drew their cloak tighter around them to block out the chill. They were crouched at the base of a gnarled old apple tree, picking a few stems off of a cluster of warm safflina. They were careful not to take too much of it, leaving enough of the blooms for the plant to thrive. They had to be cautious not to over-harvest if they wanted the safflina to continue to flourish in this part of the forest. They tucked the safflina into their foraging pouch, standing up to move on to find another plant.
A sudden rustling from the tree above made them startle slightly, but they dismissed it as a bird or squirrel, or maybe even a curious skullkid. They hadn’t even taken two steps before they were proven wrong. A louder rustle this time followed by a gloopy-sounding thud sounding from behind them, and they whirled around to see what had fallen from the tree.
It was an electric chuchu, glowing a sickly yellow in the shadow of the trees. The creature gurgled for a moment, bugling green eyes locked onto Hyrule. Instinctively, Hyrule took a few stumbling steps backwards to get out of its immediate shock range.
If it had been a regular chu, Hyrule would have probably dealt with it themself. Chuchus, as a general rule, weren't that dangerous. Anyone with a knife could deal with them, as long as they were quick enough to avoid getting trapped in their acidic ooze.
Electric chuchus, on the other hand, were much more dangerous to the average Hylian. Their shocks were the real danger, making them able to paralyze their victims. Those who got caught by the electricity remained conscious but unable to move. By the time the chuchu’s victims regained movement in their limbs, they were usually halfway dissolved and well on their way to becoming the slime’s dinner.
Hyrule shuddered. The forest might love them, but there were still dangers in the woods, who didn’t care if Hyrule had fairy blood in them or not. Personally, they thought that was one of the worst ways to go. Forced to watch in terror as you were sucked into a chuchu’s slime, but unable to so much as scream for help.
It was somewhat easier to deal with electric chuchus if you had a ranged weapon like a spear or bow. Unfortunately, all Hyrule had brought with them was a small metal knife. Even if they managed to land a hit on the chuchu, the electricity coursing through the metal would cause them to drop their weapon, which would be the last thing they wanted.
Hyrule turned to run, a bolt of pure fear shooting through them. Chuchus were slow, but when they were close to their prey they could put on terrifying bursts of speed. And for eclectic chuchus, those bursts of speed came with waves of paralyzing electricity coursing through the ground. They could hear the gurgling sound of the chuchu getting ready to spring them before they had made it more than a few steps.
Hyrule eyes squeezed shut. Was this how they were going to die? Alone out in the forest, destined to become a skeleton stripped clean by a chuchu’s acid. Hysterically, they thought that at least their remains would be returned to nature when they died, and not burned like Hylians tended to do with their dead.
Just as the sizzling behind them grew to a crescendo and Hyrule was expecting to get hit with a wave of electricity, there was another sound of rustling above them.
Another chuchu in the trees? Oh gods, no-
But what followed wasn’t the wet sound of another chuchu landing on the floor. There was a whoosh of something falling from the tree, a loud pained gurgle, and then silence. When they had run a good distance away, and no electricity overcame them, Hyule slowed down cautiously, taking a quick look behind them.
It hadn't, in fact, been another chuchu. It had been Wild.
Hyrule slowed to a complete stop, staring in shock at the god. He was crouched in the middle of the remains of the chuchu. His back was to Hyrule, so they couldn't see what Wild was doing, but that long blonde hair and scarred ear peeking out of it was unmistakable.
A sword- still dripping with sparking goo- was slung on his back. The blade seemed unaffected by the acid, leaving it as clean as ever when it dripped off. Hyrule didn’t have to ask to know who forged that blade. No mortal smith could have made a blade like that. At least not without the blessing of the god of forges.
Hyrule pressed a hand to their chest, feeling their racing heart. They let out a slow and steady breath as they tried to calm themself. Their legs felt weak. They offered a silent but honest prayer to Wild for the protection given to them.
That seemed to catch Wild’s attention from whatever they were doing with the chuchu jelly. He looked up, sending a mischievous smile at Hyrule. “No need to thank me. It wasn’t a big deal, it was just a chuchu.”
“Well, still,” Hyrule protested, walking back over towards the god. “I’m pretty sure you just saved my life. So thank you.”
Wild didn’t respond to that. His attention had wandered away, as it often did. He seemed distracted by something up in the tree above, pulling himself upward by a low-hanging branch. Hyrule left him to it. Worrying over the wild god never got anyone anywhere. He would do what he wanted to, and it's not like falling out of the tree would actually hurt him.
Hyrule took a seat below the tree. They were more than rattled by their encounter with the chuchu, and not willing to wander too far away from Wild just yet. They would wait until WIld came back down again.
After a few moments of Wild moving about in the leaves, he called down to Hyrule, His voice sounded slightly wistful. “I wish your fairy blood had won out over your mortal parentage.”
Hyrule blinked at the seeming non sequitur but didn’t bother about it too much. Wild was scatterbrained on the best of days. One could never know how a conversation with him would go. If you wanted to keep up with him, you had to be ready to change topics at a moment's notice.
When Wild saw Hyrule had stopped to sit, he dropped out of the tree. When he landed, he was crouched on all fours like a lithe cat. For a moment, Hyrule swore Wild’s eyes glowed a bright teal as he looked up at them.
Then they blinked and the moment was gone. Wild flopped dramatically over Hyrule’s lap, handing them an apple he had picked from the tree. Hyrule, more than used to Wild’s lack of respect for the concept of personal space, simply hummed.
“I would’ve liked to have your company when I go out hunting,” Wild admitted. “You’re fun to hang out with. A lot more fun than some of the old nymphs can be. They’re always complaining about Hylians encroaching on their territory. It’s not like I can actually do anything about it, though! Forest spirits already have the Lost Woods, I can’t claim any more land in their name.”
It was commonly said among the gods that Hyrule should have been born a fairy, not a mortal. Hyrule couldn’t bring themself to be offended by it. They couldn't even say they disagreed, necessarily. They especially couldn’t disagree with what Wild had said. Being a part of the Wild Hunt sounded fun.
They didn’t often get to hang out with Wild. He was the god that Hyrule saw the least of. He was somewhat willing to enter the city, and therefore didn’t come to visit the temple often.
Maybe they could convince Wild to let them join the Hunt, just for a few hours. They probably wouldn't be able to keep up, not without the wings that true immortal fairies were blessed with, but it would be enjoyable all the same.
For now though, they could settle for relaxing under the tree with Wild, happily munching on the apples he had picked.
~~~
The Pantheon:
Sky: God of the sky, divinity, sleep, and children (The first god, Mother of the gods)
Four: (They/Them) God of the four elemental spirits, and the forge. (They created the world out of the endless cloudy void Sky had been living in. The void is now the realm of the gods, the world is now the realm of the mortals)
Time: God of time, the seasons, the harvest/farming (He began the turning of the seasons)
Twilight: God of the night/day, animals, and the sun/moon/stars (He created the stars, planets, moon, and sun, and helped populate the world with animals)
Legend: God of myths, adventure, and music (He worked together with Twilight to create mortals. He also helped create the constellations)
Wind: God of the ocean and the dead (He helped deal with the overpopulation of mortals. Psychopomp. Started out as a mortal)
Warriors: (Xe/Xem/Xyr) God of war, strategy, and battle, (Also a psychopomp, but only to the effect that xe delivers souls of those who die in battle to Wind. “Battle” is very widely defined. Lots of things can be battles Ie: childbirth, battle with sickness)
Wild: God of the hearth, hunting, and the wilds (He moderates how much Hyians encroach on nature. Started out as a mortal)
Malon: Minor god of horses. Used to be a forest nymph before marrying Time
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Cruel Summer Ch. 3
Donations | Thoughts & Feelings | Cruel Summer Series (Coming Soon) | Chapter 2
You threw the paper on the coffee table, as you grabbed your cup of coffee and walked toward the windows to look out over the city. You thought about Chris and Ali…how could you continue to talk to them? Nice headline of ‘Old Friends or New Flame? Is Chris Evans Who Y/F/N Y/L/N keeps singing about?’ You played old memories over in your mind, taking a drink of the hot coffee, you didn’t hear the door open.’ “Cute photo…funny enough when you two were fucking the media never got a glimpse of you….but now he’s engaged to this bimbo and you’re all over Page Six.” You whipped around at the sound of her voice. “Scar?!” You gawked at her as she stood by the door with her arms crossed.
You practically threw the coffee cup down on the table and rushed over, embracing her in a big hug. “Oh my god, it’s so good to see you!!” Tears brimmed your eyes as you whispered against her shoulder. “Of course kid, I wasn’t gonna sit around waiting for a call when these photos dropped online last night.” Scarlet said as you groaned, rolling your eyes. “I warned her of this happening, just FYI.” Megan said, taking a drink of her coffee. Scarlet raised an eyebrow looking back at you. “You’re supposed to listen to your management team…not ignore their advice.” she said with a smirk, “I know, I realized it was a mistake when I was sitting there at dinner.” you checked the time and stretched. “I gotta head out to the stadium, wanna come with me?” you smiled as she grinned. “Of course, think I flew halfway across the United States to just see you for two minutes? What’s wrong with you?” you both laughed as you headed out for your final show in Boston.
As the Show started and you sang, danced around, just having the time of your life as usual, you spotted Scarlet, Chris and Ali all in the VIP tent smiling and dancing along to the song. You were having the time of your life honestly, you were laughing with the back up dancers and in a very good mood. Scar watched before hearing Ali tell Chris she would be back. “So, what are you really doing here Chris?” Scar asked as he looked at her. “She was happy with you gone…her life has skyrocketed since everything happened” He sighed looking back at the stage as you were changing. “I thought we could be friends, we had a great dinner last night.” he said as Scar held back a laugh. “Friends? Are you fucking stupid?” She snapped, keeping an eye on the fans around the VIP tent. “You leave her alone, you knew she was in love with you. Are you deaf? Listen to the fucking music your teenage girlfriend loves so much. Wonder what she’d say if she knew you used to fuck Y/N when you were lonely,” Scar whispered to him.
She might have been angry with Chris, but she’d be damned if she let your secret spill, the media would have a field day with it.
Chris went to speak when Ali gripped his arm, “Thank God I didn’t miss the surprise songs!!” She squealed as you stood at the Mic watching everyone cheer. You wore a blue glittery outfit with a blue dress on over it and blue sparkly boots. Chris smirked to himself, blue had always been a good color on you. He remembered when you used to spend the night, the large blue crew neck of his you’d throw on when you got cold. He still had that sweatshirt…and it still smelt like you, but that smell was fading, he kept the shirt in a box, hidden away in his closet. He’d put it there when Ali had tried to wear it once.
You were talking to the crowd, admitting that you were having the best time tonight, laughing softly as the crowd cheered louder. “Oh, well tonight I have two very special surprise songs!” you grinned as the crowd cheered. You walked over sitting down at the piano and began to play, as the melody flowed the crowd screamed and clapped. You looked up from the keys and began to sing into the mic.
Once the flight had flown
With the wilt of the rose
I slept all alone
You still wouldn't go
Let's fast forward to three hundred takeout coffees later
I see your profile and your smile on unsuspecting waiters
You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor
You search in every maiden's bed for something greater
Baby, was it over
When she laid down on your couch?
Was it over when he unbuttoned my blouse?
"Come here, " I whispered in your ear
In your dream as you passed out, baby
Was it over then?
And is it over now?
Chris stared in wonderment at the stage, at you. You were asking him if the two of you were really over now. You sang with such emotion, he wondered..in that moment, if for you, did you think you two were truly over?
When you lost control
Red blood, white snow
Blue dress on a boat
Your new girl is my clone
And did you think I didn't see you?
There were flashing lights
At least I had the decency
To keep my nights out of sight
Only rumors 'bout my hips and thighs
And my whispered sighs
Oh, Lord, I think about
Jumping off of very tall somethings
Just to see you come running
And say the one thing I've been wanting
But no
Let's fast forward to three hundred awkward blind dates later
If she's got blue eyes, I will surmise that you'll probably date her
You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor
You search in every model's bed for something greater
Scar watched you, her heart breaking for you, you’d never truly get over him would you? What was it about him that drew you in? She glanced at Chris, the color draining from her face. “No,” she whispered loud enough for him to hear. He glanced at her, his eyes saying everything he felt. “This song is so sad,” Ali yelled out to the two of them over the music and crowd, “It's not my favorite, let’s take some pictures!” She pushed her way between the two of them, to start taking photos, but Chris looked back at the stage, seeing you looking directly at the Tent, or at him, he wasn’t sure.
Baby, was it over
When she laid down on your couch?
Was it over when he unbuttoned my blouse?
"Come here, " I whispered in your ear
In your dream as you passed out, baby
Was it over then?
And is it over now?
Think I didn't see you?
There were flashing lights
At least I had the decency
To keep my nights out of sight
Only rumors 'bout my hips and thighs
And my whispered sighs
Oh, Lord, I think about
Jumping off of very tall somethings
Just to see you come running
And say the one thing I've been wanting
But no
Let's fast forward to three hundred takeout coffees later
(Flashing lights) I was hoping you'd be there
And say the one thing (oh, Lord) I've been wanting (oh, Lord)
But no
Ali turned away from Scar and smiled at Chris, “Don't let me forget, I have a wedding invitation for Y/N!” she grinned as Scarlet whipped her head in his direction glaring, but Chris was staring at you, watching as you smiled and waved to everyone, he glanced back at Ali before looking back at you again, taking a swig of beer he smiled softly, “Wouldn't dream of letting you forget that,”
You grinned at the crowd drawing a heart with your hands at them before getting up and grabbing your guitar, moving over to the microphone. You strummed a few notes on the guitar before the crowd cried out with excitement.
It only hurts this much right now
Was what I was thinking the whole time
Breathe in, breathe through
Breathe deep, breathe out
I'll be getting over you my whole life
You know how scared I am of elevators
Never trust it if it rises fast
It can't last
Uh oh, I'm falling in love
Oh no, I'm falling in love again
Oh, I'm falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How'd you turn it right around
Chris glanced at Ali who was chatting with another guest in the VIP tent, he was starting to realize that maybe she wasn’t the one he should be with, but he couldn’t let his image be damaged by dumping the sweet, innocent girl next door for the old co-star he reconnected with while she rose to be the top selling popstar of the world. He wanted to reconnect with you though. He had to.
“You’re not inviting her to your wedding. Do you hear me?” Scarlett grabbed his arm and said into his ear. “You’re never speaking to her again after tonight. Or Ill tell Ali everything.” she threatened him. Chris squared his shoulders at the threat, “the fuck you will. You don’t control Y/N, or me, or Ali. If I want to rekindle mine and Y/N friendship, I will, and that business is between me and Y/N, no one else.” he said back.
It only feels this raw right now
Lost in the labyrinth of my mind
Break up, break free, break through, break down
You would break your back to make me break a smile
You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back
Just like that
Uh oh, I'm falling in love
Oh no, I'm falling in love again
Oh, I'm falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How'd you turn it right around
Scarlet glared down at him, “She’s in a good place, she doesn’t need you fucking that up for her. You only bring her heartbreak and pain. Why can’t you just be happy with your little girlfriend over there?” Scar asked as Chris pulled his arm away. “I’m perfectly fine navigating my life Scarlett and I don't need you telling me who I can and cannot associate with!” he snapped. It happened in a second, the flash, turning to see a fan staring at them, their cell phone just below their face, another flash going off, before she disappeared into the crowd.
Uh oh, I'm falling in love
Oh no, I'm falling in love again
Oh, I'm falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How'd you turn it right around
Uh oh, I'm falling in love
Oh no, I'm falling in love again
Oh, I'm falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How'd you turn it right around
Uh oh, I'm falling in love
Oh no, I'm falling in love again
Oh, I'm falling in love
I thought the plane was going down
How'd you turn it right around
You ended the song smiling as everyone clapped, looking over at the VIP Tent, Chris was smiling at you clapping and whistling, Scarlett was looking at you with disappointment, and Ali was off taking selfies with someone in the back. You set your guitar down and did a small bow, before turning and diving into the stage.
“Security couldn’t find the girl who snapped the photos of us,” Scarlett said walking back over to Chris. “I’ve already texted my manager to warn her what's going to be coming out” he sighed, running a hand over his face before walking away to talk to Ali.
The final event of the show left you grinning and laughing with friends on stage, Chris was talking to Ali and keeping his distance from Scarlett. She knew he was pissed at her, but she planned on telling you the same thing the moment she saw you backstage. Do not engage with him anymore and just let them get married and do not go to the wedding.
You laughed at something a dancer did, before bringing the mic back up to your lips.
“Sapphire tears on my face
Sadness became my whole sky
But some guy said my aura's moonstone
Just 'cause he was high
And we're dancin' all night
And you can try to change my mind
But you might have to wait in line
What's a girl gonna do?
A diamond's gotta shine
Best believe I'm still bejeweled
When I walk in the room
I can still make the whole place shimmer (shimmer)
And when I meet the band
They ask, "Do you have a man?"
I can still say, "I don't remember"
Familiarity breeds contempt
Don't put me in the basement
When I want the penthouse of your heart
Diamonds in my eyes
I polish up real (nice), I polish up real nice
And we're dancin' all night
And you can try to change my mind
But you might have to wait in line
What's a girl gonna do? What's a girl gonna do?
I polish up nice
Best believe I'm still bejeweled
When I walk in the room
I can still make the whole place shimmer”
You grin as the song comes to a close, bowing to the crowd, Scarlett texted your manager that she was going to head back to your hotel room so you two could talk. What a mistake that would end up being.
You went backstage getting ready to go back to the hotel room, when a squeal surprised you. Ali grinned rushing up to you again, “oh my god the show was amazing tonight. Ugh! I'm loving this for you!!” she grinned, motioning to your outfit. You smiled nodding, “Thanks Ali, I’m glad you were able to make it to the final show tonight!” you faked excitement, which Chris could clearly see, as Ali reached in her purse. “Of course! But we have a gift for you! We wanted to invite you to our wedding next month!” She held out the white and gold envelope, your smile dropping as you glanced at him before smiling at Ali. It felt like everything moved in slow motion, but it took less than a second for it all to happen. “Oh! Wow, thank you so much, I’ll definitely have to check my schedule though because with the tou-” you were interrupted by Ali, “Nope! You’re not touring next month, in fact….Chris and I would LOVE it if you’d come spend the week and a half leading up to the wedding with us in our Beach house! Please! We can’t take no for an answer.” She gave you the worst case of puppy dog eyes you’d ever seen.
Chris gave you a small, soft smile. “It’d mean a lot to me as well as to Ali…” You looked between the two of them, eyes darting back and forth, “Um, I definitely need to check on a few things, but if I can’t spend that week and a half with you guys, I’ll try my hardest to be at the wedding okay?” you smiled before Megan walked up to you.
“Y/N, we gotta go. Schedule to keep and all." She kept it short and to the point, not making eye contact with Ali or Chris. You smiled, “Guys, I gotta go but I’ll see you around! Thanks so much for coming out and seeing me!” you put both hands up to your mouth and blew them kisses before turning and darting off with Megan as two of your guards followed close behind you.
When you closed the door to your hotel suite, you leaned back against it, finally letting everything just roll off, the exhaustion that took over made you want to go limp but you knew better. You still needed to eat dinner, shower, and unwind.
You rehearsed your vocals while showering, harmonizing and just going over your surprise songs for the next weekend shows, standing in the steaming hot shower trying to clear your head, praying you could forget about Chris again one day. When you got out, you threw on your black silk pajama pants with a short sleeved button down silk top. Lined in white with white buttons. Your phone chimed as you walked over to the couch, your dinner being delivered shortly, chinese, your favorite.
Glancing down at it, the name on the screen caused you to stop in your tracks.
Hems Worthy <3 : “Hey popstar, you able to talk? I need a friend.
Tag List:
@notebooks-of-nonsense @fdl305 @bval-1 @calimoi @syntheticavenger @forgetmenotsexy @mrsjenniferwinchester @chaneajoyyy @mommad @wolfieeebbbyyy @dontbescaredtosingalong @ellen-reincarnated1967 @adriellej @coffeebooksandfandom @patzammit @posiemax @auriel187 @ladybug05 @stoneyggirl2 @fallenoutofrose @mrspeacem1nusone @teamfreewill-imagine @inlovewith3 @auvisanspeur @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @leaveitbythewave @sleutherclaw @sandlee44 @aqua-tofana @nohumanswereharmed @msgrandma49 @seraph-ulysses @traceyaudette
(Thank you everyone who wants to be tagged and if you want to be tagged send me a message!!! I am seeing a few of you that I can't tag, So make sure you're following me, as always send me messages if you don't see the new chapter posted too!)
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WOW!!!!!! Can you believe it? We're done and it's time for the CSSNS23 Roundup!!!
Before we get started, I need to recognize and thank my team of mods, @winterbaby89 @jrob64 @stahlop and @ultraluckycatnd, without whom this event wouldn't have happened this summer! Please join me in giving them all the long distance internet group hugs!!!!
And NOWWWWWWWW... Here we GOOOOO!!!!! Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.
@hufflepuffinstorybrooke opened us up this year on July 1 with a wonderful soulmates OS called If You're Lucky, Love Leaves Scars, that I was privileged to make artwork for. The fic left me in tears and melting at the same time!
On July 3, @teamhook posted the first chapter of her fic The Last Witch Hunter, inspired by the Vin Diesel movie of the same name. Only one ch so far, but I'm absolutely captivated and eagerly awaiting more! Very intriguing artwork by herself.
@spartanguard dropped her Killian's evil twin MC on July 5, Sons of Love and Death, with artwork by herself. That artwork, of two incredibly handsome guys shouldn't be as chilling as it is, but IT IS... The fic is completely written and she's been updating weekly, so we're on ch9 of 13. Just sayin, but I'm about ready to use a certain dagger on a certain evil twin.
July 7 @goforlaunchcee posted Smoke and Mirrors, a HOOT of a ghost story, with such lovely artwork by @piinfeathers that perfectly captures CS in this fic. Three chapters are up so far, and I can't wait for more!!!
July 10, @killiansprincss posted her OS A Court of Vines and Shadow inspired by A Court of Thorns and Roses, with absolutely gorgeous artwork by @hollyethecurious. I was not familiar with the source material, so I was completely surprised and delighted with this fic!!!
@athenascarlet posted her merman Killian OS on July 13, The Merman with a wonderful visual on Tumblr 😏 Just a regular night between a sheriff and her merman pirate... Would love to see more of this, but it's staying a OS... for now, she says...
Also on July 13, @anmylica posted the first chapter of Fly With the Black Swan with amazing artwork by @zaharadessert. We have two chs of ten up so far, and I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for more!!!!
On July 15, @whatevenisthisbloganymore posted the first chapter of Forest View Apartments, a ghost story that has the questions swirling through my mind and eagerly awaiting the next installment! Amazing artwork by @undercaffinatednightmare!
Speaking of @undercaffinatednightmare, real life has been very rude lately and has left her unable to post her two planned fics for this summer, but she has managed to make the artwork for them both that you can find here and here! I love her writing so much and I know whenever RL lets up, both these fics are going to be wonderful!!! *EDITED* The first of her fics, A Charming Curse, has now posted and it promises to be FUN!!!
July 19, @deckerstarblanche posted An Offer She Can't Refuse, with more lovely artwork by @undercaffinatednightmare. Emily only planned two chs for this very hot and sexy Omegaverse fic, but she took it in a very angsty direction in the final scene of ch2, and so has now promised that she'll come back and add one more ch to give us all the happy ending we deserve!
July 22, @zaharadessert posted a very hot demon Killian OS, Sacrificial Lamb that made bloodthirsty Krystal VERY happy. I was once again privileged to make artwork for the fic, with an assist by @motherkatereloyshipper who was responsible for the Emma edit I used.
July 23, @mie779 posted the first chapter of Finding Caldera: The Hidden World of Dragons, with just lovely artwork by @undercaffinatednightmare. The adventure of this fic is just wonderful! We're on ch9 and nearing the end!
On July 25, it was my turn to post for the event! Into the Light was inspired by the 1987 movie The Lost Boys, my very first introduction to vampires and it has never left me! Incredible artwork was created by @motherkatereloyshipper that still just leaves me staring at it slack jawed!
@hollyethecurious posted the first chapter of The Law of Surprise on July 28. Now complete in three parts, this beautiful BEAUTIFUL but also heartbreaking fic was inspired by the law of surprise from The Witcher. Breathtaking artwork was provided by @eastwesthomeisbest and can be found here, here, and here.
@xarandomdreamx posted her CS Practical Magic AU A Crystalline Knowledge of Love and Magic on July 30. Beautiful artwork by @hollyethecurious. Only one chapter so far and my heart is so broken for Emma and Elsa but also completely in love with the story!!!!
Rounding out July, @caught-in-the-filter posted original artwork featuring ghost Emma and vampire Killian that was absolutely CHILLING!!!!
@snowbellewells started Aug off on the 2nd with an incredible one shot, Deluge! Gorgeous artwork by @eastwesthomeisbest. I am so hopeful that Marta will eventually write more of this wonderfully intriguing fic!!!
Then, @eastwesthomeisbest was so inspired by Marta's fic, she made her own original art in the same vein as the art she made for the fic. Absolutely breathtaking!!!
On Aug 8, @booksteaandtoomuchtv posted the Prologue and ch1 of Witchy Woman. I have sooooo been waiting for this fic and so far, four chs in, it is hitting ALL my buttons! Artwork coming soon from @cocohook38.
On Aug 10, @cs-rylie posted The Journal, a seriously SCARY fic, only 3 chs in, inspired by Native American legend. Artwork by me, again with a much needed assist from @motherkatereloyshipper who was responsible for Milah and the journal itself.
@iamstartraveller776 posted her new fic, To Cleave Destiny on Aug 13. Featuring Demon Killian, just this Prologue has me on the edge of my seat!!! Artwork coming soon from @cocohook38.
@exhaustedpirate posted Parent for Hire on Aug 14. A Mandalorian inspired fic, Caro has melted my Captain Cobra heart so many times already, only four chs in. She also did moodboards to accompany each ch that you can find on each of the Tumblr ch posts x x x and I was also privileged to make a banner for the fic.
On Aug 16, @grimmswan posted the first chs of TWO fabulous fics!!! Dracula in Storybrooke comes from the woefully underutilized Land of Untold Stories arc, and Love Bites (But So Do I) is a supernatural adventure of vampire Emma and werewolf Killian. Artwork coming soon from @cocohook38.
On Aug 18, @snowbellewells posted her second fic of the event, Carolina Moon. A fic inspired by the Nora Roberts novel of the same name, my heart is already, only two chs in, broken for Emma and on the edge of my seat waiting for more! Beautiful artwork again done by @eastwesthomeisbest!
@jrob64 posted Saying Goodbye and Moving On on Aug 20, a DESPERATELY NEEDED and ABSOLUTELY PERFECT fix-it fic from the Underworld arc. I was again privileged to make artwork for it, and I'm just gonna have to accept that I almost can't make picsets anymore without the aid of @motherkatereloyshipper. For this one, she was again responsible for ghost Milah.
Aug 22, @padfootprongslet posted the Prologue for Like Our Love (Falling Down and Over Again). A Mr. and Mrs. Smith inspired fic, my heart was absolutely SHATTERED in this first ch and I can't wait for more! I was again privileged to make a picset for this with @motherkatereloyshipper coming in the clutch entwining the rings.
On Aug 24, @jonesfandomfanatic posted Stolen From Time. Now complete in three parts, this fic was absolutely BRILLIANT!!! @motherkatereloyshipper made a beautiful video to accompany it.
Our final fic by @wyntereyez will post in the next few days. She’s dealing with a hurricane at the moment, so she’s excused! Artwork by spartanguard. Can't wait! *EDITED* the fic and art are both now posted!!! I melted at Kait’s artwork, and I cackled and melted repeatedly reading the fic!!!! AND I am BEYOND EXCITED that Jamie has more to come in this universe, because I NEEEEEEEEEEEED it!!!!!
That's it everyone! Please enjoy all these FABULOUS fics and artworks and be sure to give the authors and artists all the love they deserve!!!
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I don't wanna live forever
In the video Zayn arrives in a classic convertible, similar to Blank Space. She 'called out' Harry's cars in KoMH "'Cause all the boys and their expensive cars / With their Range Rovers and their Jaguars"
Then the hotel looks a lot like the Bowery Hotel where Harry stays in NY. Also, not to sound flippant... but it's Zayn and Taylor.
Harry and Taylor refer to Hallways in 10 songs and in the Perfect MV.
There are white roses throughout which Taylor pulls apart. Since Red, TS Roses have been about Harry, he has a rose tattoo. On their May anniversary in 2013, she posted roses saying she thought something would grow. She threw white roses in the Blank Space MV.
The people in the background are dressed like Harry and Taylor at the Victoria Secret show, which is also the subject of So it Goes.
They trash the hotel room, which mocks Perfect's MV. 1D's made a mess, Taylor and Zayn smash a mirror and a lamp.
i don't wanna live forever came together very quickly. wrote it with taylor and sam dew and produced it at home mostly on paper sounds. recorded taylor at my house. zayn sent parts from LA – we did it in a week basically. i've never had something come out that quick — jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) December 9, 2016
Zayn said that Jack approached him, then Zayn spoke to Taylor who already knew the track. I think given the importance of Jack and Taylor's relationship it's more likely Taylor choose Zayn and Jack was an intermediary than Jack raising it.
The collaboration itself is enough to confirm who it is about and caused a directioner-swiftie Twitter fandom storm. Many viewed it as a way for them both to mess with Harry, I think in part it is a response to Perfect. To suggest it's not about Harry for either is... a choice.
When was it written
Jack and Taylor were in the studio recording the bulk of Reputation in September 2016, Zayn was was in LA then, so maybe. But Fifty shades wrapped in April 2016 and it was likely wanted then.
Live performances
Taylor performed it 7 times in promotional events and then only twice in concert, interestingly both times was it the first week of June:
June 9, 2018, Manchester's Reputation Surprise Song. They were in a good (and maybe more) place then. Also Harry's hometown (he was in Florida)
June 3, 2023, Chicago Eras surprise song. It is sadder that above, the MH split announcement was 2 days later so maybe related. Haylor relations seemed warm before and after that.
Taylors split from CH and Harry left to shoot Dunkirk in June 2016. From I did something bad / High Infidelity / Ole we know CH was over earlier and they had spent some time together in February and April 2016. Playing this in June, when Harry left for Dunkirk and his IG going colour after the 2016 Met Gala has me side eyeing the end.
Lyrics
[Verse 1: ZAYN]
Been sittin' eyes wide open
Behind these four walls, hopin' you'd call
It's just a cruel existence
Like there's no point hopin' at all
Eyes wide open is a reference to Eyes wide Shut, the Stanley Kubrick erotic psychological drama. Like Fifty shades is features a masquerade party.
Harry and Taylor refer to waiting for calls in: AYHTDWS "Here you are now, calling me up, but I don't know what to say" August "Cancel plans just in case you'd call". Maroon "the rust that grew between telephones" FTDT "Even my phone misses your call, by the way"
Cruel existence is a theme of referring to their relationship as something they are trapped in. Cruel Summer "It's a cruel summer with you", MMIH "Cause once you go without it / Nothing else will do" and others. Taylor also had no hope in Treacherous "This hope is treacherous"
[Pre-Chorus: ZAYN]
Baby, baby, I feel crazy
Up all night, all night and every day
Give me somethin', oh, but you say nothin'
What is happening to me?
Taylors pre-chorus is the same but "I gave you somethin', but you gave me nothin'"
IWYW has a similar line "You always knew how to push my buttons / You give me everything and nothing" and Say "don't go" "I said, "I love you" (I said, "I love you") / You say nothin' back"
[Chorus: ZAYN]
I don't wanna live forever
'Cause I know I'll be living in vain
And I don't wanna fit wherever
I just wanna keep calling your name
Until you come back home x2
Taylor has referred to not wanting a life without Harry in Is it over now? "Oh, Lord, I think about / Jumping off of very tall somethings" Hoax " Stood on the cliffside / Screaming, "Give me a reason"" This is me trying "Pulled the car off the road to the lookout / Could've followed my fears all the way down"
In Where do broken hearts go "Now I'm searching every lonely place / Every corner calling out your name / Tryna find you but I just don't know / Where do broken hearts go?"
I don't want to fit wherever seems a response to Perfect "Or the arms that hold you any time you want them / But that don't mean that we can't live here in the moment / 'Cause I can be the one you love from time to time". HS had not been available because of the band, but wasn't in 2016 when Taylor wanted someone there for her but I expect was focused on his solo career and Dunkirk so not in the band or available. To me this line could be why it still didn't work out.
[Verse 2: Taylor Swift]
I'm sittin' eyes wide open
And I got one thing stuck in my mind
Wonderin' if I dodged a bullet
Or just lost the love of my life, oh
In second Verse Taylor has let it go, dodged a bullet/lost the love of her life is pretty straight forward - but it's an interesting link to Love of my Life on Harry's House which was still 6 years away. (yes I know his only 13th track on the album he released on their 10th anniversary is about England.... ....)
[Bridge: Taylor Swift, ZAYN, Both]
I've been looking sad in all the nicest places
Baby, baby, I feel crazy
I see you around in all these empty faces
Up all night, all night and every day
I've been looking sad in all the nicest places
Give me somethin', oh, but you say nothin'
Now I'm in a cab, I tell 'em where your place is
What is happening to me?
Looking sad in all the nicest places reminds me of:
This is me trying: "And it's hard to be at a party / When I feel like an open wound/ It's hard to be anywhere these days / When all I want is you"
Hit's different "Freedom felt like summer then on the coast / Now the sun burns my heart and the sand hurts my feelings"
Take the cab to his place is also similar to other times they go to each others house:
DBATC: "I Take the long way home"
Wish You Would. "It's 2 A.M. in your car / Windows down, you pass my street / The memories start" and "It's 2 A.M. in your car / Windows down, I pass my street / The memories start"
[Outro: Taylor Swift, ZAYN]
I just wanna keep callin' your name
Until you come back home
Until you come back home
Finally, home is an important concept to them. Generally, they refer to each other as home. However in this song and Sweet Creature, "Wherever I go, you bring me home Sweet creature, sweet creature When I run out of road, you bring me home"
Sweet Creature and IDWLF were both written in 2016 they refer to HS coming home to her.
The lyric 'And I don't wanna fit wherever / I just wanna keep calling your name / Until you come back home". Is a hope that eventually they will be together, but accepting not yet. This idea is in several songs:
HYGTG "Broke your heart, I'll put it back together / I would wait for ever and ever (I want you for ever and ever)"
Suburban Legends " When you told me we'd get back together / And you kissed me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever"
Someday "Someday maybe when we're old and gray / We could be in love once more / Till then I won't give my love away / Darling, I'm forever only yours"
Something Great: "One day, I'll come into your world and get it right / I'll say we're better off together here tonight"
Happily "We were meant to be but a twist of fate / Made it so you had to walk away."
Satellite "Spinning out, waiting for ya to pull me in / I can see you're lonely down there"
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Lavender No Outbreak AU - Ch. 4
You and Joel balance home and professional life. A continuation of Lavender No Outbreak AU Ch. 1-3 found on Tumblr here.
Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader
Warnings: Smut :) Minors DNI 18+ Only, no use of Y/N.
Length: 2.1K
Saturday, May 16, 2009
“OK, Mom’s next,” Joel said, Evie on his hip. She’d been squirming most of the graduation ceremony, desperately trying to drag her dad or her sister to the stairs so she could run up and down them. But Joel knew she had to be here, you had to know she was here. That you’d been able to do exactly what you wanted to do, that you’d done it with him and your daughters.
Sarah screamed and whooped when they called your name and you walked the stage. You found them in the crowd immediately, waving on your way to get your diploma.
“I might have underestimated you, Joel,” your grandmother said as she sat back down once you were across the stage. “I thought you’d ruined her life. But what you two have built here…”
“I thought I’d ruined her life, too,” he said, still watching you as you made your way back to your seat. “But she didn’t let that happen.”
“No,” she smiled a little. “I suppose she didn’t.”
You’d matched to a surgical residency program in Austin in March and you’d been giddy, jumping on the couch with glee. One less thing to have to work through. Joel had smiled as he watched you twirl in the living room that night, Evie on your hip and an album in French on the record player.
It had been a hard four years. You were immensely busy. Sarah was practically an adult for most of it and was a fully fledged one now, moving out the fall before to go to A&M - you and his oldest daughter trading jabs about being a house divided during football season - and living on just his income. But you’d found a way to stretch every dollar while doing well enough in school to graduate with honors, all but ensuring that you’d end up matched to whatever residency program you wanted.
Every second of it was worth it when he watched you smiling at your daughter, when he held you at night, when you closed your eyes in the lounge chair by the pool and listened to Joel play guitar on quiet summer evenings. He wouldn’t trade an ounce of it for anything.
“Dr. Miller,” he smiled when he closed the bedroom door behind you that night. You smiled back.
“Yes, Mr. Miller?” You teased. “Have a growth that needs examining?”
“Something like that,” he laughed, tugging you against him and kissing you. “Always had a thing for doctors.”
“Really?”
“Mmm.”
“Good thing you’re married to one then.”
“Lucky me.”
He kissed you and pulled your clothes off quickly, almost as quickly as you undressed him. He tugged you back toward the bed but you turned and sat him down on it instead, straddling him, taking him inside of you slowly, your body tight around him. He held your hips in his hands, guiding you down onto him, pulling you closer until he was fully within you. He kissed down your jaw, your throat, looking down to where the two of you were joined, where he disappeared into you. He wanted nothing more than to live inside you, have you be a part of him and he a part of you, be this close to you all the time.
You started moving over him, slowly at first, your channel gripping him like a velvet vise as you rose and fell. He slipped one hand around to the front of you, pressing into your clit, making you moan and your motions stutter.
“Distracted, Doctor?” He breathed.
“Feels too good,” you moaned, your head falling to his shoulder, trying to keep the steady motion of your hips. He kissed your neck and pressed harder into your clit as you tightened around him, working your hips down harder against him until you came around him, whimpering as you did.
He took advantage of your orgasm, moving you so you were on your back and he could drive into you, holding your body against his own as he did, your back arching into him as your pussy fluttered around him.
“Fuck, Joel,” you panted as he adjusted your hips so he was working your clit with every stroke, his head pressing into the spot inside you that he knew made you melt. “I…”
He drove into that spot harder, making you stutter.
“Yes Baby,” he knotted his fingers in your hair, making your eyes meet his.
“I love you,” you gasped. “Need to feel you cum, please…”
He groaned, your body already tightening around him again. He moved harder, faster, clutching you closer, biting your neck until he felt you start to shatter over him again and he finally let himself go, emptying himself into you.
“Love you, Baby,” he panted. “Love you so goddamn much.”
***
Saturday, May 16, 2015
“Still feel like she’s young for this,” Joel muttered as you straightened his tie.
“She’s 25,” you said. “Same age I was when we got married.”
“Different with her,” he ground his teeth. “Doesn’t feel like she’s lived enough life yet.”
You stepped back and examined your handiwork before grabbing the pocket square from the side table in the hotel room. You tucked it in his suit coat pocket and adjusted it.
“You like Brandon,” you reminded him, going to pull the curlers out of your hair.
“I do like Brandon,” he replied. “Besides the fact that he’s fucking my daughter, he seems great.”
You leaned out of the bathroom to glare at him before going back to fixing your hair.
“What?” He said. “I’m allowed to be mad about that.”
“Such a puritanical view that you really don’t hold about anyone else’s daughters,” you said, leaning out of the bathroom again. “Namely me.”
“You’re different.”
“Joel,” you sighed, pinning some curls back from your face so they wouldn’t get in your way all night. “She’s a grown woman. She has a career and a life, you can’t expect her to be a nun. She’s found someone she loves, someone who makes her happy. Isn’t that what you want for her?”
“‘Course it is,” he said.
“And have you ever known Sarah to not do what she wants and what she thinks is best?” You asked, coming out of the bathroom and resting your hand against his chest.
“No,” he sighed. You kissed him.
“Should listen to your wife more,” you said, patting his chest before going to find your shoes. “I hear she’s smart.”
“Smartest damn woman I’ve ever met,” he replied, watching you. “Hottest mother of the bride on the fuckin’ planet, too.”
“Yeah, that’s because I’m 36,” you teased, pulling on your heels. “You cradle robber.”
You’d finished your residency program the year before and were just ending your first year as an attending physician. You’d had to beg, borrow and steal to get the whole wedding weekend off but, luckily, you’d made everyone you worked with love you immediately and no one wanted to deny you a favor.
You missed spending as much time with Joel and your kids. Evie was 11 now and she reminded you so much of Sarah at that age. It was hard, thinking about how you’d spent more time with her older sister than with her during her summer vacations as a girl.
But Joel always found a way to make things better. On particularly bad days, you could text him and he’d bring Evie to the hospital for dinner, the three of you sitting in the cafeteria, eating shitty hospital food and laughing about something one of Evie’s friends said at school that day. You’d kiss them both goodbye before going back to work, always whispering a quick “Thank you” to your husband who would whisper back “Anything for you.”
You cried a little, watching Joel walk Sarah down the aisle, kissing her cheek as he handed her to her husband. Evie took the bouquet from her sister, smiling proudly in her bridesmaid’s dress. Joel came to his place beside you, tears in his eyes and you put your hand in the middle of his back, resting your head against his shoulder. He put his arm around you, holding you close for a moment, watching as your oldest daughter got ready to say her vows.
Thursday, July 4, 2019
“Whose BBQ are we going to again?” Joel asked.
“That new social worker who works a lot of the peds cases?” You replied. “Her name is Jess, her and her husband Andrew are throwing it but they haven’t lived here all that long, they moved from Boston I think. Anyway, I said we’d go. She’s really sweet and they’ve got an adorable little girl…”
“Just a reminder that I’m supposed to go to the fireworks with Jeremy tonight,” Evie looked up from her phone for just a second before going back to it. “He’s picking me up at eight.”
Joel ground his teeth and you patted his leg.
“We’ll get you there in time,” you replied.
“OK cool,” she said. “And Dad. You can’t embarrass me. He’s actually cool.”
“Oh well since he’s cool,” Joel muttered. You snorted and Joel smiled a little at you. You caught a glimpse of Evie rolling her eyes in the rear view mirror.
“Your sister’s coming home this weekend,” he reminded her. “So make sure that Jeremy knows he has to respect family time…”
“Dad, I’m NOT going to tell him about family time,” she said. “But… I’ll be there. I miss Sarah.”
Sarah had been especially busy lately. Her and Brandon had a one-year-old little boy, Carson, and Sarah had gone back to work only a few months after he was born. Between a career, a marriage and a child, she didn’t make it home nearly as often as she used to.
But the three of them were coming to spend the weekend. Joel had already gone to the store to pick out meat to grill and you’d stocked up on Sarah’s favorite wines, looking forward to a chance to get tipsy around the pool with your oldest daughter when you weren’t on call.
“We miss her too,” Joel said, turning into the subdivision as the GPS instructed.
You headed around to the back of a house with a sweeping yard, carrying your strawberry cupcakes with red, white and blue frosting.
“You made it!” Jess jogged over to you, pulling you in for a quick hug when she took the cupcakes. “I’m so relieved, so far everyone who’s shown up are Andrew’s work buddies…”
“Well it is July 4th,” you shrugged. “Everyone’s blowing off their fingers so everyone at work is busy getting their yearly dose of weird trauma cases.”
She laughed and flagged down her husband, who came over carrying a toddler on his hip.
“Andrew, this is Dr. Miller, she’s the head of pediatric surgery at the hospital,” she smiled. “And this is Andrew and Elizabeth!”
“Nice to meet you, Doc,” Andrew smiled. The little girl in his arms clapped her hands and you introduced Joel and Evie. Elizabeth squirmed and reached for Joel and you laughed. “Sorry, she’s not usually like that…” Andrew said quickly, trying to get a grip on her.
“I don’t mind,” Joel said, hands out. Andrew shrugged and dropped the girl into his arms. “Hey there cutie, are you just causin’ all kinds of trouble?”
“Joel is a girl dad through and through,” you smiled proudly.
“Yeah, two girls will do that to ya,” Joel said, letting Elizabeth grab at his nose. “She’s not much bigger than our grandson, he does the same thing…”
“Grandson?” Andrew looked at you. “How old are you?”
You laughed.
“I’m 40,” you replied. “Sarah’s our oldest, from a previous relationship of Joel’s, she’s got a one-year-old now.”
“OK because I thought I was losing my mind for a second,” Andrew laughed. “C’mon, let me get you a drink.”
It didn’t take long to figure out that you and Andrew got on like a house on fire. Same sense of humor, same taste in movies. It was like meeting a brother you never knew you had. He worked writing software at a local company and the only thing you didn’t immediately love about him was his taste in music.
“I will not stand for Phoebe Bridgers slander,” you said. “She is the Joni Mitchell of our time. Your generation just doesn’t appreciate good music…”
“I’m only seven years younger than you, we’re the same shitty generation!” He laughed. “I’m just saying, true appreciation for rock is going down the drain…”
“Alright,” Joel kissed your temple. “We need to get Evie home before she doesn’t have enough time to primp for Jeremy, we don’t have time for you to go down that rabbit hole.”
You snorted.
“We’ll do this again,” Jess smiled. “Soon!”
“Definitely,” you smiled.
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