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heliads · 3 years

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Lucky Number 6

Based on this request: “5 times Luke almost admitted his feelings to the reader (Julie’s BFF) and one time he actually does?”

masterlist

#1: The one time Alex and Reggie interrupt him

Luke’s heading over to Julie’s studio. It’s been a long day, and a pretty boring one at that. With Julie at school all day, he and the boys can’t really play as a band until the afternoon when she comes home. They had been distracting themselves outside the house, but Luke left to return back to Julie’s house because Willie showed up and he’s not really in the mood to watch Alex flirt with the skateboarder any longer. Reggie stayed behind, claiming that he was going to be a chaperone, but even that doesn’t really tempt Luke to stay.

When he shows up at the house, he notices that Julie is already inside the studio, talking to a girl who’s got her back turned to him. When Julie glances up and sees him, she gestures for Luke to join the two of them. “Luke! Good to see you! This is my best friend Y/N!” The girl- Y/N- turns around to face him, and in that moment Luke swears that time stops.

She’s beautiful. No, more than that. Gorgeous. Her eyes are warmer than a sparking fire, and they draw Luke in like the opening notes of a guitar riff that he’s been dying to play. Her smile is infectious, and he feels himself start to smile in return. He barely manages to stammer out a sentence. “I’m Luke. You’re-” He’s cut off as Reggie and Alex poof into existence, and the two boys instantly start talking over him in their rush to speak to Y/N. The words die on his tongue. You’re really pretty.

Luke feels a slight pang of annoyance that his friends would interrupt him at this moment, but as he watches Y/N talking excitedly with them, he realizes that it might have been for the best. What was Luke going to do, anyway? Ask Y/N out on a date when she’s the only one in the world who can see him? Y/N’s turned back to him, now, and the intensity of her gaze makes Luke feel like he’s caught in a strobe light. “Luke, weren’t you saying something?” Luke just shakes his head. “Nah, forgot. Nothing important.” Nothing important indeed. This isn’t going to go very well.

#2: The one time Julie interrupts him

The setting is a fairly large jazz club, home to throngs of people milling about and listening to the music of Julie and the Phantoms. Julie’s killing it on the vocals, of course, and Luke feels like he’s coasting on the clouds as he plays along on his guitar. The entire club is full of people, but yet Luke’s gaze keeps returning to one person and one person alone: Y/N. Before he knows it, the song is over, and he’s bowing in unison with the rest of his bandmates before poofing out of existence along with his guitar.

Luke notices that Y/N’s heading backstage, and so he poofs a few feet in front of her. She jumps, startled, then flashes him a grin. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.” Luke winces. “Sorry! Keep forgetting that randomly appearing out of nowhere isn’t normal.” Y/N laughs, and the sound makes Luke want to make a thousand more jokes just to hear it again. “No worries. By the way, you were amazing out there! You guys sound terrific.” Luke can’t help but smile at her words. “Us guys?” She nods. “You.”

Maybe it’s the pounding of the music overhead, or the adrenaline of performing, but Luke takes a step closer to Y/N. He watches as she tilts her head up at him, not backing away and maybe even intrigued. His heart feels like it’s pounding a million times per minute. “You know, Y/N, I-” There’s the sound of running footsteps behind him, and Julie jogs up next to the two of them. “There you are! I was looking for you guys everywhere!”

Luke realizes how this looks, the two of them inches away from each other, and he backs away quickly before Julie can realize what he was going to say to Y/N. What he’s been trying to say, but never got the chance. He scratches the back of his head awkwardly. “Well, we’re, uh, over here. Good work out there!” Y/N nods at this, congratulating Julie on the performance. Julie starts to lead her best friend away, but Y/N glances back one last time as if to apologize for not finishing the conversation. Luke can only stand there. How can he tell Y/N how he feels if he keeps getting interrupted?

#3: The one time when she’s into music too

Luke’s bored. School’s technically still in session, but he doesn’t have anything to do and so he shows up to Los Feliz High School anyway. Julie’s in the middle of a test, so he can’t bother her. Instead, Luke just wanders down the halls, idly making lockers open and close when he’s sure nobody can see it. As he rounds a corner, he hears something. It’s faint, coming from further down the hall. Curious, he follows it, and ends up finding himself in front of a closed door to a music room. It’s empty, except for one person seated at a piano. Y/N.

He can’t help himself, and Luke walks through the door to come to a stop in the room. Y/N’s bent over the piano, focusing on the piece at hand. It’s simple, certainly far less advanced than anything Julie’s been working on, but it’s beautiful and makes Luke stand still, watching with a slight smile on his face. A few seconds later, Y/N looks up, her hands falling silent at the keys.

Luke walks over, smiling. “I didn’t know you could play. You sound amazing.” Y/N grins, nervously straightening the sheet music in front of her. “I can’t, or at least not very well. Julie’s teaching me so I can accompany her if she needs anything. She says she wants me to learn because if I play her pieces, she can listen and find mistakes more easily. I’m not sure how much that really works, but I’ve been meaning to learn for a while so I figured I might as well go with it.”

Luke nods, heading over to the piano bench. Y/N scoots a few inches over, and Luke takes a seat next to her. He considers the sheet music propped up on the piano. “To be honest, I’m not that good at piano either. I was always more of a guitar kind of guy, but I’ll learn if you’re there with me.” Y/N beams up at him. “Sounds like a plan. There’s this one line, right here, that I’m having some trouble with.”

Luke nods, scanning the notes. He positions his hands on the keys, skimming just a few millimeters away from Y/N’s fingers. “I think it goes like this.” He plays a few chords, and she nods, brow furrowed in concentration as she tries it herself. Their hands move in tandem, his guiding hers to the proper places on the keys in a quiet dance to the music she’s playing. Luke realizes that Y/N understands the piece now, but he can’t quite convince himself to move his hands away. His arm is neatly wrapped around her shoulders, just a hair away from touching her.

The room is silent, and Luke realizes that she has finished playing the piece. He looks up at her, at the way her chin is tilted up just a few inches away from his own. He wants to say something, anything, but his mouth feels dry and he finds he can’t do anything but stay silent. Y/N blushes slightly, looking away. Just then, her phone rings, and Luke notices the caller ID displays her mother’s name. He unwraps his arms from around her. “I think you had better answer that. It looks important.” She nods, reaching for her phone. Is it just his imagination, or does she look just as reluctant as he does to end this moment?

#4: The one time he realizes he won’t be enough

Luke’s feeling determined. He has to say something to Y/N, to tell her he loves her. He’s been dancing around it for a while now, but he thinks at last he has the confidence to speak up. How is it that he can play with the band in front of massive crowds, but yet talking to a pretty girl makes his heart pound like a drum in his chest?

Y/N’s back at Julie’s house again, and they’re getting ready for another garage show. They hadn’t planned on doing any more performances at Julie’s house, considering that the Phantoms were so well-known that they could afford to play at larger venues, but Ray had asked and so the band would deliver. Y/N’s helping them set up, and Luke’s about to tell her how he feels. For real this time, no interruptions.

He rounds the corner of his house and sees her, the confidence in her stature and the smile in her eyes. It takes him a second longer to realize that she’s talking to somebody. Nick, that boy from school who’d had a crush on Julie. Guess he’d moved on. Luke hangs back, realizing that Y/N can’t see him from this angle. As he watches, Y/N laughs, hitting Nick playfully with the palm of her hand. They look so happy together, and get along so well.

There’s some difference here in the way she acts with Nick than with him, and it hits Luke like a ton of bricks. Nick’s right there, and he can be a regular, ordinary person with her. She can hit him playfully, can tap him on the shoulder, can take his hand and never let it go. Luke feels his ghostliness keenly in this moment, in a way he’s never felt it before. Will it always be like this, with him an undying outsider? Will he have to watch as she grows up and moves on from him, even when he can’t move on from her?

Y/N is starting to turn around now, and Luke quickly moves away before she can see him. So much for that conversation happening- he can’t see a future where she would ever want to be with him. Why would she, when no one else can even look at him?

#5- The one time there’s a miscommunication

There’s a crowded afterparty at Flynn’s house. Flynn had been proud of Julie and the band, and, not wanting Carrie to take advantage of the crowd’s high spirits, had hosted the party herself. Luke is here, although he’s not quite sure why. Nobody can see him anyway. In fact, the only reason he showed up at all is because Y/N had asked him to. He’d do anything for that girl, he knows that now. He doesn’t even know where she is, and he’s still here. Luke’s head is starting to pound from all of the noise, and he heads out to a quiet room out back to let his thoughts settle.

There’s a quiet noise behind him, and he turns to see Y/N standing next to the door. She smiles at him. “Not quite enjoying yourself?” Luke shrugs. “It’s kind of hard to appreciate the party when you’re not really there to everyone else.” Y/N smiles. “You’re here to me, Julie, and your bandmates. You can still hear the music. Isn’t that enough to make it different than most nights?” Luke smiles slightly in spite of himself. “You’re right. I apologize.” He looks at Y/N with an obviously feigned pout that makes her giggle.

Y/N considers the red plastic cup in her hands, then looks at Luke through eyes that have suddenly turned serious. “Luke, I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while now about something.” Luke nods slowly. “Shoot.” Y/N sighs, letting her words spill out in a flood as if letting them churn inside her head for a second longer would’ve drowned her. “I love you, Luke. I think I have for a while now.”

All Luke can do is stand there. Is this really happening? He wants to look around for the distraction, for the inevitable interruption that always seems to happen whenever he tries to confess his feelings to her. This can’t be real. Why would she ever feel the same way about him? Luke comes back to reality when he realizes that Y/N isn’t looking at him with the same expression. In fact, she seems far sadder than normal. Her voice is barely above a whisper. “Do you not have anything to say?”

Luke’s eyes widen. “What? No, that’s not- not what I meant.” The door to the room opens, and Alex and Reggie bound inside, laughing. Y/N flinches when she hears them come in. “I guess I know how you feel. I think I’m going to go.” Luke reaches out his arm to her, panicked. “Wait! I-” She’s not listening anymore, already turning to leave.

#6: The one time he actually does

Reggie and Alex glance at her, then turn their attention back to him. Reggie throws an arm around his shoulders, and Alex does the same. “Hey, guess what! Flynn thinks we should perform again. Come on, we’ve got everything set up.” Luke shakes his head, trying in vain to see where Y/N went. “I can’t, I’ve got to talk to Y/N. I think I really messed up.”

Reggie rolls his eyes, grinning. “You can talk to her later. Come on! We have to go. Are you really going to give up a chance to play with the band?” Luke looks at his friend apologetically. “Yeah, I think I am. Sorry, but I have to go.” With that, he shrugs off his friend’s arms, diving out of the room.

It takes him a while to find Y/N. He poofs in and out of different rooms, searching for the girl he loves. After a minute or two, he finds her. She’s standing alone in the garden out back, staring at the flowers with an expression that looks all shades of blue. She glances up when she sees Luke poof into existence next to her.

“Look, you don’t have to say anything. I shouldn’t have told you that, we should have stayed friends. You don’t have to come cheer me up, Luke.” Luke shakes his head. “I don’t want us to be friends.” Y/N looks taken aback. “What?” Luke just grins. “I love you, Y/N. I don’t want to be friends because I love you. I’ve been trying to confess for ages now but people keep interrupting me.” Y/N stares. “What? Then why didn’t you say anything when I told you?”

Luke grimaces. “Honestly, I’m not quite sure why. I think I was just so surprised that I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t realize how it would look until you left.” Y/N laughs, slight incredulity starting to tint her smile. “You’re serious? You really do love me?” Luke flashes her a grin. “Really do. Have since the moment I met you. I’m just glad that you love me back, or I would have been trying to confess many, many more times.” Is this really working out? Luke’s not sure what kind of cosmic luck he must have, but Y/N actually likes him back. Well, maybe the sixth time’s the charm for telling someone you love them.

#luke patterson #luke patterson imagine #luke patterson x reader #luke patterson imagines #jatp #jatp imagine #jatp x reader #jatp imagines #luke jatp #luke jatp imagine #luke jatp x reader #luke jatp imagines #julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms imagines #julie and the phantoms x reader #julie and the phantoms imagine #julie and the phantoms luke

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ritz-hell-hotel · 3 years

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Retail Therapy - Luke Patterson

Julie and the Phantoms

Request?: Nope.

Word Count: 4.8K+

Summary: Alive!Luke x Alive!Reader/ Alive!JATP x Reader. After a fight with your parents, you go out for a little retail therapy and meet a certain Rockstar. I think I will prolly do a part 2 or more let me know if you want one, btw this is not proofread or edited. Luke sings to you in this chapter and he sings ‘Can’t take my eyes off you’ by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, so you can listen to that if you want.

Warnings: I don’t think there’s any.

“Julie please, my parents and I just got into another huge fight about my art and I need moral support.”

“But my dad wants me to watch Carlos and I can’t bail again.”

“Please just get here! I need you, Jules,” Y/N radiated distress and it was clear to all the people in the Claire’s she was currently in.

“Fine, I can call my tía. I’ll be there in an hour, but you owe me an ice cream cone!” Julie said laughing, Julie had been Y/N’s best friend since they met in the seventh grade when they both accidentally wore the same shirt three days in a row and became friends, they often would laugh about it. Y/N told her where to meet and thanked her friend quickly hanging up the phone. She heaved all her shopping bags up and looked around.

“Why am I even in this store?!” She hmphed loudly drawing the attention of the other shoppers once again. She marched out of the store towards the food court where she was meeting Julie. A new store caught her eye and she stopped for a minute debating if she had enough room for more bags. She quickly made her mind up deciding that she could make room, after all, she had her dad’s Platinum Amex and she was not going to waste this opportunity. Y/N walked quickly to the entrance of the quaint book store. She turned into the book store slamming into something, it was just her luck to run into a wall today and I mean why not seeing as the rest of her life was falling to pieces around her. She fell onto her back looking at the ceiling her bags scattered around her.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” A boy came into her sight. He had shaggy brown hair and was wearing a light yellow apron with a name tag. Guess she didn’t run into a wall after all, but again that was just her luck. Her eyes began to water as all the emotion crashed upon her like a tsunami. She gritted her teeth pulling herself together.

“I’m fine,” Y/N looked at his name tag. “Luke.”

“Woah how’d you know my name?” Luke stepped back and Y/N let out a breath of laughter.

“Nametag,” She said as the tears began to pool in her eyes.

“What? Oh my god, why are you crying?” Luke looked at her panicked, he didn’t do the best around crying girls. She held up a thumbs up.

“I said I’m- I’m,” She coughed lightly trying her best to get out the words.

“Here let me help you up,” Luke stuck out his hand to her nervously. She grabbed it and using her other hand tried to wipe the onslaught of tears off her face. Luke kept a hold of her hand pulling her to the back section of the store.

“Um you can stay back here as long as you’d like,” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and accidentally running into the desk behind him knocking a book off the desk he looked at it quickly.

“Here you can read this maybe it’ll make you feel better,” he picked the book up shoving the book into her arms. He ran out of the room quickly.

“Oh? I- Thank you!” Y/N called out into the store. Luke ran back into the room his arms heaving all the girl’s bags.

“How were you carrying this much?” He wheezed dropping the bags by her. She laughed wiping more tears away and smearing her mascara. Luke backed up again.

“I have to get back to work but just leave when you want and if you need anything I’ll be up at the front counter,” he nodded at the girl giving her a thumbs up, and walked out again. She sat at the back of the store composing herself. She picked up the book looking at the title. It was ‘The Outsiders’ and a pretty beaten up copy at that the book was filled up with loose pages, she flipped through it and set it down on the table next to her. She turned to grab her bags. She didn’t notice but the book slipped off the table into one of her bags. She also didn’t notice her journal/ sketchbook drop from her purse as she grabbed everything trying to flee as quickly as she could. She collected the rest going out into the main store and heading to the counter.

“Thanks again for the help,” She leaned on the counter gazing at the boy in front of her.

“No problem, um you can come back anytime, that is if you want to of course no pressure,” Luke stumbled over his words.

“Of course, yeah,” She nodded, but she was not going to come back, not after that humiliating experience. He smiled dopily at her.

“Can’t wait,” he leaned on the counter as well.

“Um yeah,” she felt a twinge of guilt at the totally sweet look he was giving her. Her phone chimed loudly and she pulled it out.

“That would be my cue to leave,” She turned quickly dashing out of the store making her great escape.

“Bye then,” he waved confused. Y/N pulled out her phone checking the text.

‘Where are you? I got here 10 minutes ago.’ - From Julie. Y/N sighed speeding up her strides to get to the food court quicker. She spied Julie sitting at a table in the middle of the court. She made her way through the throng of people and sat down at the table setting her bags down under it.

“What happened?” Julie asked eyeing the girl.

“I had a bit of a break down in a store, but a nice employee helped me out so I’m good,” Y/N laughed quickly.

“Are you okay, your eyes are really puffy. Do you need eye drops?” Julie stuck her hand in her purse and Y/N stopped her laughing again.

“I don’t need anything I’m good I promise, I just want to spend time with my best friend,” Y/N laid her hands down on the table in front of her. Julie rested her hands on top of the girls.

“If it’s any consolation I am supportive of your art,” Julie smiled sweetly. Y/N’s heart melted at the girl’s words, it did mean a lot to her.

“Thanks, Julie, now if you could convince my parents to do the same then that would be a dream come true,” a weak smile crept its way onto Y/N’s face. Julie squeezed her hand.

“How about we go get that ice cream and we can talk a bit and walk around, I think we both need it,” Julie stood up interlocking her hand with Y/N’s and pulling her towards the creamy treat.

It’d been a few weeks since the mall incident and things were not getting any easier for Y/N. Fights seemed to be on the daily now and the yelling was beginning to drive the girl insane. So she spent as little time as possible at her house only going over to sleep and do school work, other than that she was at the park painting or reading through the book that had slipped into her bag. She had planned on returning it to the booking clerk after she had read it, but now it had been three weeks and she had yet to. She would have hung out with Julie, but she was busy with her new band and nonstop rehearsals, they were set to debut at a spirit rally at school next week and they needed to be perfect. She still hadn’t met the band, but she had permission from Julie to crash anytime she wanted and she was planning on taking full advantage of this pass soon.

Her favorite pass time though was reading the book though so she had kept it, she loved to just read and look at the little notes and doodles in the margins, it really gave her a view of what was going on in Luke’s head. Although sometimes it was hard to decipher the hieroglyphics that was Luke’s handwriting.

She had discovered that the writings of S.E. Hinton were not the only thing hidden away in the eggshell-colored pages, there were journal entries and songs. She didn’t feel comfortable reading through the entries but she sure did love reading the works of musical genius, Luke’s, songs. They were so well written and heartfelt it helped her understand this boy that she barely knew, this boy so full of passion, feeling, emotions, and kindness.

And that’s where she was now reading a song of loss and regret under the cloudy sky. One that she related to personally, it reminded her of her parents and that even if she was having a hard time with them she would always love them even if they weren’t in the picture.

“If you could only know I never let you go,” she hummed along to the words, and sure she didn’t know the tune the words were initially meant for but she could sure try and make her own melody. But her phone interrupted her startling her out of her own little world within the words. She hurriedly wiped at her tear-stained cheeks and took the device out. It was 4:30, Julie and the Phantoms were at rehearsals right now and this was the perfect opportunity to infiltrate the jam session, so Y/N hopped on her bike and sped towards the Molina residence.

Y/N stopped on the cobblestone path leading to the studio loft and set her bike against the stone wall. She could already hear the music drifting from the open window of the studio. She crept to the porcelain white door and stood on her tiptoes looking through the long windows. Y/N could see Julie on the piano and three boys surrounding her. There was a tall lanky one wearing a pink shirt and had a fanny pack slung across his chest, he had blond hair and was on the drum, there was a raven-haired one clad in flannel and leather he was on bass guitar and another one that wasn’t facing Y/N, from what she could see he was a brunet and was wearing jeans and a blue sleeveless hoodie, and he was on a guitar she thought. Julie looked up and jumped a little but she just laughed it off stopping the music and gesturing for Y/N to come inside. Just as Y/N was about to move away from the door the brunet turned around her her heart stopped she could hear all the blood rushing and it was deafening.

It was Luke from the bookstore. Y/N felt herself pale and she quickly hid from view she slid down to sit against the door and the pavement, her eyes darted around looking for a place to hide, any place at all. But before she could move the door gave way and she fell onto her back. Julie had opened the door at the whole band formed a circle around the starfishes girl. Luke broke out into a fit of giggles.

“We have got to stop meeting like this,” he managed to get out through the laughter. Y/N deadpanned and scoffed.

“Tell me about it,” she sighed. Luke came to a stop and offered her a hand. She did not grab the hand though instead opting to roll onto her stomach and push herself up. Luke lowered his hand awkwardly and Alex snickered.

“You two know each other?” Julie asked looking between the pair.

“Kind of,” Y/N shrugged looking at the dopey grinned boy. “We met at the mall a few weeks ago, you remember Julie we had an ice cream cone that day.

Julie nodded and looked at Luke.

“Oh, so this is the guy you stole a book from!” Julie laughed at the panicked face you made. Luke sent Y/N a confused look.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry I’ve been meaning to return it,” Y/N dug through her backpack and pulled out the book victorious. She handed the book to Luke quickly and added a quick explanation and a sorry.

“Hey it’s okay, you kind of left something too, I had been wondering where it had disappeared to though,” he laughed and snatched Y/N’s journal from his bag handing it to her. Throughout their exchange Julie, Alex, and Reggie just stood awkwardly shuffling their feet.

“Oh! I thought my dad took this... Oh My god wait please tell me you didn’t look,” Y/N paled again. Luke and Y/N stared at each other for a minute silently.

“Um only a little,” Luke looked down to the ground guiltily. Julie coughed and clasped her hands together.

“Why don’t we play something for Y/N while she’s here!” She said sitting down at the piano. The rest of the boys picked up their instruments, Alex sitting at the drums, Reggie standing with his bass next to Alex and the door, and Luke standing next to the piano and the couch. Y/N took a seat on the couch farthest away from Luke, she was feeling a bit awkward.

“So this is Bright,” Julie said to Y/N as well as making the boys aware of what they’d be playing for her. Julie played the first notes on the piano taking a breath and smiling, she was really in her element right now and it showed.

“Sometimes I think I’m falling down. I wanna cry, I’m calling out,” Julie sang out hitting each note with perfection. Y/N got goosebumps on her arms while listening to Julie’s voice, it was really breathtaking.

“For one more try, to feel alive.” The boys still hadn’t played their instruments and Y/N looked at each of them confused. Luke sent her a wink and threw his guitar over his shoulder with finesse. Y/N smiled brightly and gave him thumbs up. She reached into her bag pulling out a paper and a pen. She wrote a 9.5

“What?! I deserve a 10,” Luke frowned strumming a note as Julie sang, “Life is a risk but I will take it, close my eyes, and jump.”

“It’s because you’re a show-off,” Y/N held out the f sound. Luke laughed and threw his head back.

“I’ll you show you what showing off really looks like,” he grinned at her. Just ask he said that Julie sang, “Come on let’s run!”

And that's when the boys hopped into action the music hitting Y/N like a wave. Luke played the guitar his hands moving effortlessly on the frets, he had so much passion in his eyes and Y/N couldn’t tear hers away. Luke looked at her holding her gaze intently.

“Life is a risk but we will take it, close my eyes and jump,” Luke’s voice came out gravely and husky, giving Y/N goosebumps once again. Reggie sang along with him dancing around the middle of the loft. Y/N felt like the breath was knocked out of her, the band was, to put it simply, dazzling. She had so many thoughts for them but she knew she it’d be impossible to tell them how amazing they were in words. Luke walked closer to Y/N kneeling in front of her while still playing his instrument.

“Come on let’s run!” Luke sang to her, the rest of the band along with him. He hit the high note with ease and Y/N breathed in deeply. Luke continued to sing, but he pulled her up quickly and they danced together, it was a mess of rocking together and lots of spinning on Y/N’s part while Luke jumped up and down still having to play. Reggie came in and joined them, and he and Alex shared a look. They all jumped around in a circle and Y/N jumped onto the couch singing along with the chorus.

“Shine together bright forever!” Y/N picked up her water bottle using it as a mic. Luke couldn’t keep his eyes off her, she was electric.

“In times that I doubted myself, I feel like I needed some help,” Luke sang and the only instrument playing was coming from the piano. Luke walked up to the couch below Y/N and they stared at each other.

“Stuck in my head, with nothing left,” Luke sang to her. Julie shot Y/N a look telling her to sing with him.

“And when I feel lost and alone, I know that I can make it home,” Y/N sang nervously fearing she’d mess up the words, but Luke just smiled at her and Y/N instantly felt at ease. Y/N looked away from Luke for a minute nodding at Julie and they sang together.

“Fight through the dark, and find the spark!!” Julie raising her voice and held out the note. Luke still couldn’t pull his gaze away and he lifted Y/N off the couch spinning her and making her squeal, she was set on the ground and she started dancing again.

“We will fight to shine together! Bright forever!” They all sang out and the song ended. Y/N laughed with glee and jumped up and down.

“You guys are amazing!” She smiled at Alex and hit Reggie’s shoulder, feeling at home with the guys already, even if they only met a few minutes ago.

“I’m gonna run inside the house and grab some snacks and we can hang out!” Luke ran to the door and exited. Y/N laughed, he didn’t even ask if she was free, she was but still. She enveloped Julie in a hug and they laughed together. Y/N’s phone rang in her pocket and she pulled it out and looked at the screen, her mom was calling. A deep frown set into her face and she clutched the phone.

“I’m gonna take this,” She said and made her way out sitting against the stone wall and taking a deep breath trying to prepare herself. She hit the answer button and held the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” She whispered.

“Y/N Y/L/N, you need to get home right now, you have been gone long enough. Get over yourself, you will not become an artist and you will do what we say we are your parents,” Y/N’s mom and dad said, not even letting Y/N get a word in. She breathed in deeply and shut her eyes tight willing herself not to cry.

“Mom, Dad, I’m not coming home,” Y/N got out her voice faltering. Her dad scoffed.

“Don’t be ridiculous you will come home immediately,” Her mom sighed. Y/N shook her head even though her parents couldn’t see.

“I’m not coming home not again and not ever, not until you support me,” she almost lost herself there but she shut her eyes again keeping the tears at bay, she wouldn’t cry for something she needed to do.

“I’m gonna be staying somewhere else from now on, I’ve already got all the stuff that I need and you won’t see me again until I prove you wrong.”

“People will like my art and even if they don’t I like my art and it’s what I’m passionate about and I won’t stop, I won’t give up, I can’t,” Y/N hung up the phone not even giving them a chance to respond, she clicked into her settings turning off her location and stuck her phone next to her. She brought her knees to her chest and she breathed deeply, she heard someone taking a seat next to her, she didn’t look assuming it was Julie.

“I know what it’s like,” Luke laid his head against the wall and put his hands at his sides. Y/N’s head shoots towards Luke.

“It’s you! I thought you were Julie,” Y/N said. Luke started to get up.

“I’m so sorry I’ll go,” he stood up all the way. Y/N grabbed his hand and pull him back down they were now sitting shoulder to shoulder and looking at each other. Y/N breathed in deeply again the tears finally going away.

“Stay.”

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop drop, by the way,” Luke laid his hand on top of her hesitantly. She laughed shaking her head.

“It’s okay, can you tell me about it?” She asked him referring to what he said earlier. He nodded slowly trying to articulate what he was thinking.

“Okay, but bear with me I’m gonna start at the beginning,” he stated and Y/N intertwined their finger hoping to make him more comfortable.

“My mom and dad bought me my first guitar when I was about 8,” he started squeezing her hand.

“When you said beginning I didn’t think it’d be beginning, beginning,” she laughed. He sent her an annoyed look and she giggled laying her head on his shoulder.

“They didn’t get me into lessons but my neighbor ended up teaching me, I knew immediately that music was what I wanted to do and my parents didn’t quite feel the same but they let me continue playing regardless, but then I started a band called Sunset Curve when I was fifteen, that’s when they tried to take my guitar away,” he deflated slightly and Y/N nestled into him a bit more.

“Of course I hid it where we were practicing and didn’t tell them where, but the fights got so bad that I ran away, on Christmas Eve.”

“Now I’m staying here, but I get how it feels to not be supported by the ones who matter most, so if you need someone who knows what you’re going through you can come to me if you want,” he said facing her as she took her head off his shoulder. They were centimeters apart at this point, they were practically breathing in each other’s air.

“You’re staying at Julie’s?” She asked their noses almost touching.

“Yeah in the loft with Alex, he’s not living at home either, his parents weren’t cool after he came out to them,” he said sadly his eyes fluttering shut. She studied his face, he had freckles that you could only see close up, and there was a small scar just on the bridge of his nose.

“It’s cool that you guys have each other,” Y/N interlocked both their hands.

“You could have us too,” he whispered. “If you want us.”

“I’d really like that I think,” she moved in closer, her lips ghosting over his as he whispered, “I’m glad you want me, us.” They knew each other better than anyone, sure they hadn’t been together long but they’d seen into each other's world through music and writing and art, they saw the most intimate parts of each other. A crash from the garage and Alex fell through the crack in the door and he shot up looking like a deer in headlights. Luke and Y/N jumped away from each other and Y/N hit her bike knocking it over and the contents of her other bag on it spilled out, a mess of clothes and tampons came out and Luke looked horrified. His eyes fell upon a single bra and he stumbled back covering his eyes. Alex ran back into the studio slamming the door behind him. Y/N quickly scooped up her stuff putting it back into her bag making sure to zip it up this time. Luke still was on the ground covering his eyes.

“You can look now,” Y/N let out an airy laugh. Luke shook his head.

“I’m too embarrassed,” he sat up still covering his eyes. Y/N scooted over to him so that she was sitting in front of him on her knees, she brought her hands up to his slowly moving them away. She and Luke looking into one another’s eyes for the millionth time that night. She slowly tore her gaze away and stood up.

“I should probably go find a hotel to stay at,” she whispered picking up her bike. Luke jumped up grabbing her wrist.

“You can stay here! I mean if it’s okay with Julie, we’ll have to ask,” he said holding onto her hands and grinning at her.

“It’s okay with me!” They heard Julie’s voice from inside the studio. Y/N laughed pulling Luke into a tender hug, he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her hips. She rested her head in the crook of his neck and whispered, “Thank you for everything Luke.”

“You’re welcome,” he kissed the top of her head lightly pulling her in tighter. Drops of rain began to dribble into them until it was a downpour. Luke tried to pull her inside but Y/N pulled him back and they spun together in the rain. Y/N let out a joyful and bubbly laugh that had Luke laughing along with her.

“Sing to me music man,” Y/N spun Luke around and dipped him. He grinned at her and began to sing.

“You’re just too good to be true,” they spun together again.

“Can’t take my eyes off of you, you’d be like heaven to touch, I wanna hold you so much,” Luke spun Y/N in and they rocked together. Y/N slid her arms up around Luke’s shoulders and they smiled at each other.

“At long last has arrived and I thank God I’m alive,” he smiled to himself at the line. Y/N spun away and jumped in the rain and a puddle of water exploded under her baby blue converse.

“You’re just too good to be true, Can’t take my eyes off of you,” and the lyrics were true for Luke he could pull his gaze from the magnetic girl in front of him. She held out her hand and Luke grasped it as she spun in her back hitting Luke’s chest. Luke sang more to her and he was almost to the chorus now.

“There are no words left to speak. But if you feel what I feel, please let me know that it’s real.”

“You’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of you,” Luke hummed and Y/N got ready to sing the chorus with him.

“I love you, baby!” They both sang out at the top of their lungs.

“And if it’s quite alright, I need you baby! To warm a lonely night!” Y/N sang out Luke practically had heart eyes. This wasn’t like before in the studio during Bright, Y/N wasn’t hesitant at all she had the aura of a thousand burning stars and the confidence to show it.

“I love you, baby! Trust in me when I sayyy!” Y/N sang again and Luke continued this time.

“Oh, pretty baby! Don’t bring me down I pray,” Luke spun down onto his knees and held his hands out to Y/N.

“Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay! And let me love you, baby!” Luke sang pulling Y/N in they were once again close, chest to chest the rain streaming down their faces and their foreheads pressed together.

“Let me love you,” Luke sang in a whisper. Y/N hooked her arms around his neck and their lips were close, but not close enough to connect.

“You’re just too good to be true...” He closed in, their lips connecting for half a second but once again they were interrupted by a car beeping from in front of the house. Y/N pulled away quickly and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“That’s probably Julie’s dad with the pizza,” Luke said sadly knocking on the white door for the rest of the teens to come out.

“That was quite the show you two put on,” Reggie said as they came out. Y/N blushed which is something she didn’t normally didn't do so you knew she was very embarrassed.

“Shut up, dude,” Luke punched Reggie’s shoulder. They all began walking to the house, the rest of the teens holding umbrellas but Luke and Y/N were still exposed to the weather. They lagged behind a bit and Y/N took Luke’s hand into hers. They got to the door and they were the only ones out there. The rain pitter-pattered against the covering of the porch. Y/N and Luke faced each other and Y/N smiled at him.

“Thanks again for everything, Luke.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Luke stepped up to her.

“How did you know that was my favorite song?” She grinned at him.

“I have my ways, star,” he cooed and Y/N smiled at the nickname. She stood on her toes and pecked him on the cheek and she dashed inside. Luke stood there alone and touched his cheek softly and grinned, she’d be the death of him, but he was ready to do anything for her. He was falling, and falling hard for that matter.

Thank you for reading and let me know if you want a part two, and feel free to enter my taglist link in bio!

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25centsoda · 3 years

Text

An Unintended Side Effect, Part 2/?

This time when Luke woke up his mind was clear and the Force came readily when he called. He breathed deeply, savoring the clear connection to the energy of the universe for a moment before drawing shields tight around himself, ensuring Vader couldn’t reach him. He sat up, scrubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands, and sighed, looking out over the room.

He really was stuck on the Executor with his father, wasn’t he?

Well. Nothing for it. He would have to find a way to escape, as soon as possible. He had friends and a Rebellion to get back to, after all, and he would not turn to the dark side.

Luke stood and stretched, again noting the lush carpet and wondering just how out of it he’d been the previous day to not have noticed where he was immediately. Now able to actually process things, he took in the room properly. Deep red carpet, grey durasteel walls, no closet that he could see but three doors broke up the monotony of the walls, along with...was that…

Luke crossed the room in wonder, staring open-mouthed at the view of the stars outside his viewport. A viewport, in starship quarters!

After admiring the view for an indeterminate amount of time, Luke mentally shook himself and went to explore the rest of the room. On a small nightstand by the bed he hadn’t noticed before was a chrono, brightly declaring the time and date on its face. Luke grimaced. Two days since he’d seen his friends, what they must be thinking about his disappearance… Had they seen Vader take him? Or did they think something else happened to him?

One of the doors led to ‘fresher, fully stocked with anything he could need, plus water settings in the shower. He looked critically at the long handle on the shower door; could he rip that off and use it as a weapon? Something to come back to later. Maybe the mirror shards would make good improvised weapons as well, if it came to that.

The second door led to the closet he’d been looking for yesterday, but of course instead of Rebel fatigues it was filled with black outfits, both with and without the Imperial cog stitched to a sleeve or breast pocket. From here Luke took a pair of boots - new ones were hard to come by, in the Rebellion, best to take them whenever you can - and a belt with weapons holsters.

The third led into a hallway, which ended in another door. Luke looked back to the door he came from; looked like it could be locked from the outside. Lovely. He tucked that piece of information away, resolving to escape the ship before it became something he had to work around.

The door at the end of the hallway opened as he approached, into a larger room containing a couch and desk, lots of open floor space, and another door with a large keypad next to it, the small light on top glowing firmly red. He couldn’t quite get that open on his own, it was too complex a mechanism to tease open with the Force without knowing anything about how it was supposed to work - likely Vader had deeply considered the place he was going to stash his son - but he could sense the energy of two Stormtroopers just outside it.

Banging on the door, using the Force to make each blow as loud as possible, Luke shouted, “Hey! Please, I need help!”

“Quiet in there,” came the reply.

“Please!”

Luke could only hope Vader had given them instructions to keep him not just alive but well, otherwise this wouldn’t work and he’d have to try something else.

His suspicions were confirmed moments later when the door slid open to show two Stormtroopers as expected. He smiled.

Perfect.

---------

Vader kneeled before a hologram of the Emperor in his private chambers.

“And the boy is cooperative?” the Emperor asked.

“Yes, master. At the very least, he has not yet opposed me.”

“Hmm. Ensure that he does not. Remember that you have already failed to bring him to heel once; I will not be so forgiving of another failure. Next time, the boy will come straight to me, and I will put him to rights.”

Vader strengthened his shields and held himself still, even as Palpatine’s words brought a most unwelcome image to his mind. His anger blazed, and he fed the flames behind his shields, vowing to never let Luke near Palpatine if he could help it. In this the son would not follow the father; he wouldn’t allow it.

“I understand, my master.”

“Good. I’ve allowed you to keep the boy, but you must not neglect your duty to wipe out the rest of that pathetic rebellion.”

“They shall not be a plague on our galaxy for much longer, master.”

“See that they aren’t, Lord Vader. Dismissed.”

The hologram winked out and Vader stood, wincing at the strain holding such a position for long periods of time caused his prosthetics. He ached for the day he could give the empire he’d built to his son, but they were in no position to attack Palpatine yet. That day would have to wait until he could find a way to train his son without the Emperor finding out, for he had no doubt that as soon as they began Palpatine would find an excuse to spirit Luke away from him, preventing them from joining together to defeat him.

Stalking out of his rooms into the hallways of the Executor proper, Vader found Piett and said, “Admiral, report.”

Admiral Piett snapped a salute and fell into step with his commander. “My lord, we will be arriving at Tarra soon to refuel. All aspects of the ship are running smoothly, and after refueling we should be en-route to Coruscant within the cycle.”

“And what of my...guest?”

“The last report I saw some fifteen minutes ago said all was quiet on that front, my lord. He’s not been an issue.”

As soon as Piett finished speaking, the hum of stun shots echoed down the corridor along with aborted screams. Vader threw his awareness out in the Force, seeking his son’s bright energy, but it was like looking at the surface of a lake in the sunlight; the image shimmered and flickered away from him, impossible to make out. He cursed and began moving quickly - not running, Sith Lords did not run - towards the quarters his son was housed in. The boy could hardly have been awake much longer than an hour, how could he already be causing trouble?

By the time Vader arrived at the door outside his son’s quarters, the boy was already gone, leaving both troopers who had been posted outside collapsed on the floor in his wake, presumably the recipients of the stun shots he’d heard. He growled low, the vocoder in his suit picking it up as crackling static, and tried to reach for his son again. This time, he was able to pick up a sense of the boy in the vague direction of the hangars. Of course he would immediately try to reach the ships.

Suddenly Vader remembered the ship was about to dock at a planet, and his heart seized in fear. If Luke was still loose when that happened, he would actually stand a chance of getting off the ship.

“Lock down all hangars, no one will leave this ship until I give the order,” Vader said into his comlink, moving to follow the faint light of his son’s Force signature.

There is no escape, my son, he sent along their fledgling bond. He felt Luke flinch in response, and smiled in satisfaction under his mask. The boy’s shields had slipped just enough in that flinch to give him a better location.

“Send a detachment of troops to Hangar Bay Three, and have them set their weapons to stun. A prisoner is loose; he cannot be allowed to escape.”

Vader strolled into the aforementioned hangar bay, casting his awareness out, scanning the room for his wayward son. The boy’s shields deflected his senses, but it was that refraction of light that gave him away, a distortion in the Force in a corner of the hangar.

“It is no use hiding, young one,” he boomed. “Come out before I am forced to stun you.”

The spot of refracted light in the weave of the Force shifted, drawing tighter about itself, but it was no use. Vader had already located it.

He motioned to a small group of troopers, directing them to surround the crate that Luke was hidden behind, and they took up positions in a loose semi-circle, guns aimed at the crate.

After a moment, Luke emerged, scowling, his hands behind his head. Without a word, two troopers surged forward and none too gently dragged his hands down behind his back, clasping his wrists in binders. He purposefully avoided his father’s gaze as he was marched back to his quarters. Vader watched him go.

----

Luke broke out of his quarters twice more, managing to disable the lock on his door, and after the sickening way the boy’s head hit the durasteel floor collapsing from a stun shot the second time, Vader decided he couldn’t take any more risks.

His son was a lot quieter and easy to contain with a drug tailor-designed for Jedi coursing through his veins, living in Vader’s quarters.

-------

Luke was falling asleep again, leaning against his father on the couch as various Imperial servants flitted about the room taking his measurements, proposing outfit and fabric ideas. He tuned them out. Vader was just going to choose what he felt was best anyway, and Palpatine got final say. Luke had picked out several of the main fabrics. That was enough.

Without realizing it, he had fallen completely asleep. When he woke, it was to Vader gently pulling him into a sitting position and beginning to apply a thick white powder to his face. Luke blearily looked down at the table filled with cosmetics, then tried to lean his head on one hand, but he was prevented from doing so by Vader pushing him back up.

“You’ll smear the Nubian makeup, Luke,” he chided.

Luke made a face at him. “I wouldn’t be so tired if you didn’t keep drugging me, father. Either let me sleep or let me think clearly.”

“It’s this or giving you to Palpatine for training, my son, and neither of us want that for you. Especially in light of your many failed escape attempts.”

Luke made another face, then an effort to sit up straight and stay awake. At least being paraded around as the Imperial Prince sounded like a cushy job…

“Why am I being styled after the Naboo, anyway?” he asked, hoping a conversation would help him stay awake. Vader paused, frozen, and Luke could just pick up the edge of a maelstrom of emotion from his father before the Force slipped from his grasp again and he sighed quietly.

“It was your...mother’s home planet.” Vader said carefully. “As well as Palpatine’s. He believes using the style will serve to endear him to the galaxy, and use you to evoke his own image.”

Luke hummed, closing his eyes for a minute. Vader prodded him gently with a tendril of the Force and as he opened his eyes again Luke thought longingly of being able to do more than passively sense it, himself. He would throw all this finery about the room and steal a ship, return to Han and Leia and Chewie, R2 and 3PO.

Deciding he definitely needed something to focus on to keep himself awake, Luke tried to reach out to the Force himself, clumsily brushing against his father’s signature. He felt the edge of his father’s amusement and Vader reaching back to him in response, like holding their hands up to opposite sides of glass.

“My Lord, you are needed in a meeting about introducing the Imperial Prince,” Piett said, shattering Luke’s meager focus. He sighed and gave up, leaning his head on a hand while Vader too distracted to tell him not to.

“Why?” Vader demanded, standing. “He is to be announced in a few hours, what more is there to discuss?”

“There are some last minute security concerns they want to go over, my Lord.”

Vader scoffed, then looked down at his son for a long moment, thinking. Looking back at Piett, he said, “I leave you in charge of the boy, Admiral. Stay here with him and ensure he does not attempt another escape.” Piett seemed like he very much doubted that would be a concern, but nodded anyway. To Luke, Vader said “I will return as soon as I can and help you finish getting ready, my son.”

“Whatever,” Luke said.

With a sigh, Vader swept out of the room.

#my writing star wars fanfic fanfiction luke skywalker darth vader admiral piett palpatine #an unintended side effect #no beta we die like men

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takingcourage · 3 years

Text

A Stroke of Serendipity

Pairing: Luke Harper x MC

Word Count: 1,850

Rating/Warnings: General; no warnings

Summary: During her first term at university, Helena discovers that there’s more to her housemate than meets the eye.

Note: I'm not usually one to write AUs, but @choicesficwriterscreations ’s post about Silly Love Stories crossed my dash and I couldn’t resist trying a few. This story was written to fulfill the the prompt of "Roommates/Neighbor,” and takes place in a modern setting.

Despite the chill in the air, it was unseasonably warm for November. For the first day in weeks, the lawn was cluttered with students choosing to linger in the sunlight for just a bit longer than necessary before heading inside for their lectures.

Making her way past the crowds, Helena unlocked her bike and mounted, finding equilibrium easily. She felt a tinge of shame with the memory of how daunting the task had seemed just weeks before. Keeping her coat out of the spokes and her backpack balanced had presented an unexpected challenge at the start of the term, and it had earned her more than one pitying glance from passersby.

Pumping the pedals, she picked up enough speed to glide over several lengths of sidewalk. Fellow students blurred as she moved past, their forms merging with her thoughts before they faded altogether, consumed by her ever-growing list of assignments.

When her estranged father had insisted on paying her way through university, she’d jumped at the opportunity -- goodness knew she didn’t want to work the till at Morrisons forever. At first, Vincent’s offer had seemed too good to be true. Nearing the end of her first term, however, reality was stripping away much of the mystique.

She gripped the handlebars a little tighter.

Being a student again was hard. Sharing a house with her brother and his roommates meant that the transition had been a little smoother, but being a first-year student in her twenties was complicated. Life away from Grovershire was complicated. Life without her mother was complicated...

How she wished sometimes that life could be simple again.

Helena pushed herself through the next turn, traveling quickly enough for the wind to leave a pleasant sting behind on her rosy cheeks.

At this time of the afternoon, their street was still quiet. Students weren’t back from classes, and most everyone else wouldn’t return home from work until evening. Helena coasted up to the curb, taking a quick glance at their windows in an effort to determine who might be home this early in the day. For all appearances, she had the house to herself.

With a sigh that had more to do with relief than exertion, she put her bike away and unlocked the side door. Time alone would be welcome.

As the doorknob clicked open, the strains of a violin floating through dispelled any notion of solitude, though her momentary disappointment was soon replaced by curiosity. Was someone playing Tosca?

She halted briefly, shaking off her deja vu to find eager curiosity in its wake. Slipping her shoes onto the mat, she proceeded up the stairs toward the lounge. In spite of her quiet footfalls, the music ceased as soon as she hit the first creak.

“Don’t stop!” she called out, dismay lending her a boldness she rarely showed.

After a pause, the aria resumed with steady conviction.

It wasn't her stepbrother or Annabelle, of that she was certain. She might not have learned everything there was to know about Edmund in the past year, but she did know that guitar was the only instrument he dabbled in. She was equally sure that the closet she and Annabelle shared didn’t house a violin case either. Ernest had rushed home the night before to deal with family matters, which left her with only one possible conclusion: Luke.

He was the roommate she knew the least, always so busy between his studies and his time in the lab that no one in the house saw very much of him. With a quirk of her lips, she decided it was entirely possible he could be a proficient musician without her knowing.

Her suspicions were confirmed as soon as she crested the stairs.

Violin still snug beneath his chin, he turned to face her slowly. Light streamed in from the window behind him, and Helena couldn’t help feeling that she’d stumbled upon something almost divine. Somewhere between the quality of the music and the intensity in his brow, she found herself enchanted.

She’d known he was attractive: that much had been obvious since the day she’d met him at her father’s home some months before. He was tall and broad shouldered, and his eyes were a mystery she’d been trying to puzzle out since their first meeting. Sometimes, they were honeyed gold; others, they seemed impossibly green. As she watched him now, they fell closed in concentration.

Helena’s breath caught before the final strains had begun to fade.

"I must have lost track of the time,” he started, lowering the instrument to his side as he addressed her. “I apologize."

"I'm back early.” She tucked a loose curl behind her ear. “The fire alarm went off in our building, and after twenty minutes on the lawn they decided to send us all home." She tried not to draw attention to the fact that her eyes kept drifting toward his long, elegant fingers as he worked to secure the violin in its case.

It had been months since they’d met: why wasn’t she used to the sight of him yet?

“I imagine you’ll be grateful for the time to study.”

Raising her eyes from the floor, she met his tentative smile with one of her own. “I am,” she agreed, shrugging her bag into the nearest chair. Though her studies were nothing rigorous compared to his own, she found herself grateful that he recognized her kindred spirit.

The click of the case snapped her back to reality. “Well, I won’t bother you."

With an accommodating nod, she turned away from him and toward the hall, but her mind lagged behind. Somehow, going upstairs to study wasn’t quite as appealing a prospect as it had been mere minutes before. "Actually, I think I’m going to make some coffee first,” she rushed before she could lose her nerve. “Would you want any if I did?"

"I'd like that."

"So," she began, attempting to stoke the conversation as she measured out the scoops of grounds. Somewhere between the second and third spoonful, she started to feel a little mischievous. "Do you always perform your concerts solo, or is that right reserved for Puccini?"

"You know Tosca?" he inquired, following her into the kitchen.

She smirked at the incredulity in his tone. “Not what you’d expect from a shopgirl from Grovershire, hmm?”

His face froze, and she immediately regretted the jest. “I didn’t mean to offend--”

“I'm joking. My mother loved listening to operas. I think I'd heard more arias by the time I started primary school than most of my classmates did by Year 10. There was always music playing somewhere in our flat."

“Ours too.”

They shared another small smile that left her feeling like the roof had opened and the sun was shining into their modest kitchen with full force.

“To answer your question...” he continued. “No, others suffered through my performances for years. Growing up, I think my family was sometimes sick of how much I played, though I always wondered if they hadn’t brought it on themselves by putting me in lessons. No one here signed on to hear it at all hours, so I mostly play when I’m alone.”

“I’m sorry I intruded, then.”

“I don’t mind. It was rather nice to have someone listen for a while.”

“Maybe you’ll play again for me sometime?”

“I’d like that very much.” He gave a quiet laugh, and she felt heat rush over the fullness of her cheeks.

Hiding her blush, she put the cabinet door between them and began peering onto the shelf for her favorite mug. Though she’d lived in this house for several weeks, this was the first time she’d spent more than a couple of minutes alone with Luke.

Not the first time you’ve wanted to, her conscience reminded, and she could feel the warmth returning to her cheeks with further thoughts of him. The man was driven and intelligent, studying biology on scholarship with the intent of becoming a veterinary surgeon. He was quiet, but had shown himself to be exceptionally generous and kind. If she wasn’t careful, the intrigue that had been building since they’d met could easily develop into full-blown infatuation.

“Do you play any instruments?” he broke in, handing her one of the spoons he'd withdrawn from a nearby drawer.

“Piano, but not in a very long time. Father doesn't have one, and we sold mum's a few years ago to pay for treatments."

As the reservoir bubbled noisily, she darted instinctively to the fridge, arm extended to retrieve the sugar bowl from the top. Luke beat her there, his height making short work of the task. Again, her attention was drawn to the way his long fingers splayed over the object. They were unmistakably musician’s hands: it was a wonder she’d never noticed it before.

“Thank you,” she intoned, wishing that her voice didn't sound quite so breathless.

“You’re welcome.” He placed the sugar on the countertop before stepping aside. “I’m sorry; I'm sure you must miss it.”

It took a moment for her to realize that he was still talking about playing piano.

“I wouldn't have much time for it now," she told him with a shrug, moving back to the coffee machine to pour them each a mug of the steaming liquid.

“My brother used to play. Mother keeps the piano in the front room in case he comes round, but he hasn't done anything with it in years.” He fell quiet for a moment, considering. “If I asked, I think she'd be willing to part with it for the next four years. There'd be room for it on that wall, next to the bookshelf." He indicated the space with his free hand.

Helena took a sip of coffee to disguise the fact that his offer had rendered her speechless. Fortunately, the shock of caffeine was just enough to restore her senses. “You’re very accommodating, Luke Harper. Quite the gentleman.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Not to me.” Hoping to prove her sincerity, she met his eyes, green with a vibrance that made her forget it was the middle of autumn. “I’m not planning to hold you to it, but I appreciate the offer.”

"It's no bother. Besides, I think she'd be glad to know it was being used." His voice lowered as he studied her face. “Would you play if if I brought it over?”

Helena's throat thickened. Much as she'd craved that next taste of coffee, it would be impossible to swallow now. As it was, she could barely manage a nod in response to his question.

Luke beamed, a wide, guileless smile that left her feeling as if her insides had been scooped out and replaced by the contents of her mug. "I'll ask when I talk to her Sunday.”

She was still fighting back the threat of tears when Edmund burst through the door, shattering the stillness that had descended between them. Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to mind the interruption overmuch.

Somehow, the last twenty minutes had felt more like home than anything since she’d moved in. As she exchanged one final smile with Luke before her brother joined them, she knew it wouldn’t be a foreign feeling for long.

#playchoices #playchoices fanfiction #cfwc silly love stories #desire and decorum #sir luke harper #luke harper x mc

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phantom-sunset · 3 years

Audio

Thank yo so much to @screwunsaidemily for putting this gift exchange together.

This one is for @penguin-writes-books and is inspired by the above song

Titled: Polaroid

Rated: T

Ship: Willex

Alex has been distant recently, It wasn’t anything they had done. It was his family. His parents, to be more specific. He had finally come out to them and well...it didn’t go well. They’d stopped speaking to him completely and when he was home, pretended he wasn’t even there. His mother looked through him and his father never stayed in the same room if he was there. Alex could feel it was only a matter of time until they kicked him out completely.

Julie hadn’t joined in the anxiety party Luke and Reggie were throwing for Alex but instead patiently waited. She had an idea, she always knew when one of her boys wasn’t okay. She never pushed though, and instead waited for them to be ready to come to her.

Ray was waiting as well. Both he and Julie, and maybe Carlos too, had an idea of what was going on. Ray had already gotten their second guest room ready for Alex, for when he was ready to open up to them. When he was ready to live his life completely out in the open. Ray had hung a rainbow flag off of the porch, just a little outward sign that Alex was safe and welcome in his home, that all of them were.

Reggie had come to move in with them when he had come over with cuts and bruises littering his body. That time Julie did not wait. She went to Ray and together they went to Reggie’s house, packed his things and brought him back to his new home. That was four years ago, when Reg was only thirteen.

Luke was a different story all together. When he began to get quiet and his energy seemed to diminish, they all noticed. Reggie and Alex had bothered him until he spilled everything. Julie had waited instead. She sat next to him quietly, worked on music to distract him. Held his hand when he cried on her shoulder. Played big spoon to his little when all he wanted was to feel loved and safe.

When Luke had finally let her in, she walked right up to his parents house the next day after school and refused to leave until they sat down and watched the entire video history of Julie and the Phantoms YouTube page. She sat there for hours until they admitted that their son was full of talent and that instead of forcing him into an engineering degree that would absolutely destroy his spirit, they should support his music major.

They had agreed when Julie sat quietly on their couch and simply stared at them expectantly without blinking. She might only be seventeen but she was scary when she needed to be, Rose had made sure of it.

___________________________

Alex really wants to stay home tonight. He’s not really in the mood to see anyone but none of his friends would allow it. He was pretty sure that the moment he came home today, his parents would kick him out. It was getting pretty blatant. If they didn’t do it, he was going to at least.

Julie hadn’t joined in the anxiety surrounding Alex like the boys had. Instead she convinced him that one night out wouldn’t kill him, adding on that if he got too anxious they’d leave straight away.

Julie knew that Alex definitely wasn’t ok but she knew it was a matter of time before he spilled his soul to her. It’s just how they’d always been, since they were kids.

Carrie is having her annual Valentines Day party tonight. Flynn’s cousin is in town touring UCLA for the week. He’s planning on starting in September. He is super cute and extremely Alex’s type.

So Julie is planning a secret set up. Alex has no idea but she’d let Flynn, Reggie, and Luke in on the plan. She was still shocked no one had told him about it but counted it as a win. One fourth of her best friends deserved a distraction and boy was Willie the perfect one.

“Are you guys ready?” Julie said as she walked into the studio that had somehow unofficially become the boys home. Even though Ray had made sure they all had their own space in his house.

Reggie was pulling a bright red shirt over his head, his black ripped jeans and combat boots already on, his leather jacket hanging lovingly over the back of a chair.

Luke was pulling on a white tee with “My Bloody Valentine” printed across it, a butcher knife dripping blood cut through the print. “Cute” she says to him as she takes in the shirt. She isn’t just talking about the shirt and he knows it but he smirks at her and winks. She rolls her eyes and turns to Alex.

He’s wearing a baby pink t-shirt and light colored blue jeans. His black and pink air maxes complete the look.

“No. But I doubt you’ll let me sit this one out.” Alex answers her question.

“You’re right. Let’s go, the Uber's here.” Julie puts her arm through his, pulls him towards Reggie where she loops her other arm and waits for Reggie to thread his arm through Luke’s. They skip down the driveway, Luke’s humming ‘We’re off to see the Wizard’ as they go.

When they pull up to Carrie’s it’s jam packed. Parents dropping their kids off, Uber’s dropping off their riders, and a lone skateboarder, weaving between bodies like he’s made of air. Julie smiles because she’d recognize that long brown hair anywhere. The guy hasn’t cut his hair since elementary school.

As they walk in, there’s staff dressed in red and white handing out brand new polaroid cameras to each guest as they come in. “To save the memories being made here.” He says to them.

“Obnoxious, isn’t it? All that money and we get outdated cameras” Flynn says from Alex’s side. He jumps up, startled at her sudden appearance.

“Fucking hell, Flynn. Stop doing that!” Alex hisses.

“Why? It’s so much more fun when you react like that.” She answers. Julie, Luke and Reggie snicker from behind him.

“Anyway. This is my cousin Willie. Willie This is Luke, Reggie, and Alex. You already know Julie.” She says, pointing them out individually.

“Nice to meet you.” Luke says as he holds his hand out. Reggie echoes him and Julie smiles and goes in for a hug.

Alex hasn’t moved yet. He’s just standing there, eyes wide and cheeks flushed as he takes in Willie. He’s cute as hell and taller than Alex which was saying something. His cheekbones reach for the sky, and a jawline that should be illegal. He’s smiling at Alex, holding out his hand to shake and oh god, this was embarrassing. How long has he been waiting for Alex to move? How long has Alex been staring at him like a deer in headlights?

“The malfunctioning one is Alex. Give him a minute, he’ll be right with you.” Reggie said as he tears open his Poloroid camera. He turns to Luke who has his arm around Julie and is busy whispering her ear and snaps a picture.

“Shut up, Reg.” Alex clears his throat and offers up his hand, finally. He’s willing the blush on his cheeks to retreat, it doesn’t.

“So, I’m thirsty. Let’s go get some drinks?” Flynn says, grabbing Reggie’s hand and pulling him. He grabs on to Luke’s shirt who grabs onto Julie’s arm and their little chain disappears into the crowd at the speed of light.

“So, they’re not nearly as sneaky as they think they are.” Willie says. A wide smile stretching over his face.

God, he’s teeth are so nice. White and straight. He probably never even needed braces. Alex shakes his head to clear his thoughts and realises Willie is speaking to him.

“Huh?” God, he probably sounds like an idiot. Way to make an impression.

“Your friends, my cousin. They’re setting us up.” Alex chokes on his own spit. Were they?

He turns towards the bar where his friends are standing. All four of them are watching him and he narrows his eyes. Reggie salutes him. Luke gives him a bouncy thumbs up. Julie and Flynn are batting their eyes and drawing little hearts in the air in front of them, their lips puckered in exaggerated kisses.

Alex rolls his eyes and turns back to Willie who had followed his line of sight and promptly burst out laughing.

“Wanna head outside? It’s super noisy in here and something tells me they won’t come back until we’ve gotten to know each other properly.” Willie suggests and Alex nods his agreement.

They end up spending an hour together. Alex lets Willie go first and everything he learns makes him like Willie more. He’s about to start college, UCLA is his first choice and he’s already been accepted. He’s going to be moving in with his uncle Robert (Flynn’s dad). The tour was an excuse to come to LA in order to see his family.

He’s from San Francisco, and is majoring in art. He’s sold his work in different galleries since he was fifteen. His mom calls him a prodigy but he just thinks he sees the beauty in things others don’t. He paints, sculpts, and does photography mostly but otherwise dabbles in everything.

Alex tells him about himself. He’s in a band. All four of them have also applied to UCLA for music majors. They’re going on tour over the summer, down the pacific coast. He tells Willie about the time Reggie and Luke convinced him to eat engine hotdogs and they all ended up in the hospital with food poisoning. Willie found that story hysterical.

It’s as Willie searches up the Julie and the Phantoms YouTube page to watch clips of their performances that he notices something and interrupts Alex’s story about how annoying Julie and Luke are in their mutual stupidity when it comes to their feelings for each other.

“Hey, do you mind if I take a picture of you?” Willie asks as he pulls the camera up to his eye.

“Only if I can take one of you.” Alex answers. It came out faster than his brain could process. Braver and flirtier than he intended but he let the question hang.

“Sure, hotdog! As many as you want.” He winks and smiles at Alex and snaps the picture.

The little rectangle comes out of the side of the camera and Willie is shaking it and still smiling at Alex as he snaps his picture. They're both shaking the film to let it develop and laughing at the thought of people only ever having to do this for their pictures.

“God, how did people survive in the 90s?” Willie asks.

“Right? Like they had to carry around separate things for everything. Music, cameras, phones, planners. The bags must have been huge!” Alex answers and they laugh again.

Willie reaches into his pocket and pulls out a sharpie, he grabs the picture of him from Alex’s hand and writes something on the white border. When he hands it back, Alex’s face turns red yet again.

Willie C. - 2.14.2021 🖤

Alex decides to do the same and grabs his own picture from Willie's hand, writing his own down too before handing it back.

Alex M. - 2.14.2021 🖤

They end up staying outside and completely missing Dirty Candi’s performance along with the rest of the party. Neither one is sure exactly how long it's been but Willie’s phone chimes and he looks down at it, startled.

“It’s Flynn. Wow, it’s midnight already? Looks like we gotta go. This was perfect, thanks for hanging out with me all night.” Willie says and Alex smiles at him.

“Yeah, I had a great time.” Alex answers as they both stand up. Willie turns to walk away but only makes it a few steps before he turns back to Alex.

“Can I kiss you?” Willie asks when he’s in front of Alex again. Alex freezes in response. He can’t do anything but nod because Fuck, he’s wanted to kiss him all night.

Willie laughs softly and puts both of his hands on Alex’s face and pulls him forward. It’s soft and sweet. Willie’s lips feel like cashmere and he smells like pine trees and coconut. The scent makes Alex light headed but he refuses to pull away until Willie makes the move to. Unfortunately it’s way too soon when he does.

“Thanks.” Willie turns and starts walking away again, leaving Alex to try and stop his brain leaking out of his ears since it’s now turned to mush.

“Wait! Can I have your number?” Alex shouts to him as he leaves. Willie turns, walking backwards as he shakes his head. The wide smile is still plastered on his face.

“Nah. It’s more fun this way, hotdog.” Willie answers, holding up the picture he’d taken of Alex.

“I hate that name! It’s how I almost died!” Alex shouts to him. Willie’s loud laugh lingers in the air around Alex long after he’s gone.

“Well well well, if it isn’t Alex C. Mercer. The boy who hasn’t been seen all night.” Reggie says as he throws himself down in the lounger next to him.

“Well, as setups go, I’d call this one a success.” Luke says from his other side.

“I definitely saw some flirting there.” Julie says as she sits down between Luke’s legs.

“How would you know? It’s not like either of you knows what flirting is.” Alex smirks at the two of them.

Reggie’s snickers come from behind Alex and makes it difficult to keep a straight face. Luke rolls his eyes and leans his head back, pulling Julie back with him so that her back rests against his chest. Julie punches Alex in the shoulder and sticks her tongue out at him.

_________________________________

It’s a week before classes start at UCLA and Julie, Luke Alex, and Reggie are enjoying being back. In their own homes, in their own beds (Alex’s happens to be at Julie’s house now). They decide to go to the beach and invite Flynn along.

Alex hasn’t mentioned Willie since valentines day and no ones brought it up. After all, he’s six hours away and had never given Alex his phone number. Sure, Alex had gone full FBI and found his Instagram page but it was private and Alex had never worked up the nerve to request him.

He thinks about him a lot though. Looks at the picture in his wallet more than he’d ever admit. He doesn’t have to come out and say it to anyone though because they’ve all caught him with it. Julie just smiled sweetly and left it alone. Unfortunately, Luke and Reggie are assholes so they bring it up all the time.

So here they are, spread out on the beach and Alex is getting thirsty. They’ve been here for a few hours and whatever supplies they’ve brought have been depleted.

“Hey, I’m gonna go grab some drinks. If you freeloaders want anything you’re going to have to come with.” Alex says as he stands up and slips his flip flops on.

“Rude.” Reggie says and stands up to go with him. Julie goes too and the three of them make it to the cement. Luke stays behind with Flynn to discuss album art concepts.

They stop to make sure someone actually had the money and when Reggie pulls out a soggy twenty that he had accidentally went swimming with, Julie laughs at him. Alex pulls out his own thankfully dry wallet.

“Watch out!” The voice comes from behind Alex but he doesn’t have time to move out of the way before something solid and strong slams into his back sending him sprawling face first into the sand.

“What the fuck?!” He yells as he spits sand out of his mouth and brushes it off of his body where it stuck painfully.

“Oh man, You dinged my board.” The voice comes from behind him again and he turns, fury burning in his veins.

“I dinged your board? You almost killed me!” Alex yells back. He doesn’t look up, examining his skinned knee.

“Yeah, I did pancake you, huh?” he’s laughing now and Alex stands up to give this guy a piece of his mind but his thoughts are cut off abruptly.

He can see Julie and Reggie out of the corner of his eye, smiling widely and snickering to each other. God, he hates them so much.

“Hotdog! Wow, long time.” He says. Alex’s brain has shut off though because wow he looks better than he did on valentines day.

His skin is sunkissed, his hair lightened by the sun, and he’s wearing a crop top that shows off his toned stomach. Alex traces the V as it disappears under his waistband. Someone pinches his elbow and he snaps out of it. Thank you, Julie.

“Willie, hi! How have you been?” When had his voice gotten so squeaky?

“I’ve been good! Starting school next week. Just finished moving in yesterday. How about you?” He answers. Julie and Reggie have walked away to the beach bar.

“Just got back from touring last night. Now we’re here. Relaxing before school starts.” Alex waves his hand out, encompassing the beach and the general area where Flynn and Luke are bent over her phone.

“You know, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since that party. Kind of the best kiss I’ve had.” Willie chuckles and bumps his shoulder against Alex’s.

“Tell me about it.” Alex pulls his wallet out as he speaks. Pulling out the picture from his wallet and showing it to Willie.

“No way!” That smile that Alex hasn’t stopped staring at is back as he pulls out his own wallet and shows Alex the picture. The ink is faded, as if he’d been running his fingers over the signed name. The corners are crinkled and Alex beams because his looks just as well loved.

“Wanna join us?” Alex asks and Willie nods and smiles in response.

“Hell yeah!” He takes off his helmet and picks up his skateboard, following Alex back to their spot. The thirst that had been drying his throat moments before is completely forgotten when Willie laces his fingers with Alex’s.

#Julie and the phantoms #jatp fanfic #willex #Alex mercer #jatp willie #Julie molina #luke patterson #reggie peters #jatp flynn

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grimoire-of-seven · 4 years

Note

Because I’m an angsty bitch, could you do a head cannons from the seven with a terminally ill MC? Or at least really, really sick. Thanks! Love your writing 💕

PROMPT: “If Only We Could Have More Time…”

Rating: SFWWords: 600-700Characters: Demon Boys + MC / Gender-Neutral ReaderNotes: Hi! I tried not to make the situation all much worse by means of pressing too hard with the subject in a sense, but to end it with something both parties could cherish. I hope you will all enjoy it!~Oh! And this is written in their perspective.~

Lucifer

Shit..Shit..Shit..

F*ck..

Screwsaving face, the Avatar of Pride himself soon began sprinting through the palehallway, missing to register himself by the lobby as his eyes were fixated bythe red beaming light under the sign; emergency room.

It was imprudentto put his phone to silent at his meeting with the prince of Devildom. Heshould have known better not to… otherwise, he would have read your messagehalf an hour ago, their voice replaying in his mind as his feet quicken itspace.

“Heyumm.. Luci? I know itis a bad time to call you.. but umm.. I’ll be having my operation again in anhour according to the doctor. I hope you’ll take it easy with those meetings and take care!”

“I’msorry sir but you could not enter from this point on. I’m afraid you have towait at the waiting area.”

“But Ineed to see them! Are they already there?” The light-bringer tried to reasonwith the man in a white coat but to no avail. His fears only heightened whenthe doctor reminded him of the day’s operation and how it could grave it couldgo further..

“They do tend to get worse every cycle..”“Why?”“Because each infusion gets harder and the doctors say that Ishould expect that I’ll get weaker every moment.”“Then why place yourself in that situation..?”

Thosebitter words clung into the air as the embodiment of Pride could no longer holdhis composure as one of the nurses by the station assisted him to take a seat.With his fingers entwined together, letting his chin rest on it, his feetclearly indicate how uneased his spirit was as the sole continues to move upand down as though it were to pounce to the emergency room.

Lookingthrough his surroundings, there were also people under his shoes. Hands claspedtogether with their forehead close to it, mumbling under their breath as thoughthey are talking to…

God?

Prayingat every second spared before the judgment on the other door. And…

Should he do the same?

“Ma’amChase?”“Yes?”“Yourdaughter is doing fine now. The operation was a success thanks to Dr. Pomatter.”“Oh thankGod! Can I go see her now?”“Yes, ma’am!This way.”

Thank God?They are thanking… Father?

He hadresented any forms of communications within the Celestial Realm, only forming aprofessional relation to Simeon and Luke under Diavolo’s rule yet… why are histhoughts claiming otherwise?

No.Why should he ask for mercy?He is Lucifer.The eldest and the leader of his pack.A fallen angel to whom prowess never left, despite his glorytainted by the burning sulfur.Yet here he was, incapable to put Death far back on his drawingboard for picking his human for its next kill.Unable to take his human out of it…

Takinghis focus away from the mortals that surrounded the waiting area, thetelevision played a soap opera and with no remote to control its channels, itwas projecting a tragic scene with the woman dead on her lover’s arms.

What if their life would be cut shorter than it already is becauseof this operation?

Could he ever digest the thought that within those times they weretogether, he did not spend it wisely because…Because he let his pride in between? Because he considered hisreputation more than..

Closinghis eyes once more, taking in a series of deep breaths, he, the Avatar ofPride, has always seen the display of empathy as a visage of helplessness andit was their little exchange student that demonstrated it to him otherwise.

Nonetheless,with his human weak.. why should he too, present himself in the same conditionjust because of his worries?

It wouldnot be right.He doesnot want to see his human frown just so his face is.

Maybe there is something he could do.. He thought to himself. Ifhe could not bail his human out of the cold-lighted room, perhaps he could maketheir stay un-cold. Something that could make him see them smile again.

Lookingthrough the window as the room itself has proven itself unable to distract thedemon on his own thoughts drowning his own rationality, there was a signagebeaming with fluorescent lights that made him stand and read;

“Seven..Eleven..”“I wonderif there have any ice cream there..”

Mammon

For being the Avatar of Greed, he sure do brag about bein’ their little human’s first to ever make a pact with. He ain’t letting it pass on as just that.

Just to see his brothers sneer and hiss from mentioning it.

It’s like this bullet that could penetrate even to the thickest skull out there.

An accomplishment and for once, it was a pact he felt that wasn’t a curse. The witches should def. take down some notes from his human~

Yet…

He thought to himself…

There’s no one like his human.

Recalling how his human would ride along to every trouble he creates, every idea he makes, it was this exchange student who was only staying a year that somehow, taught him companionship. And…

He couldn’t take it out of his chest, that he, the Great Mammon, had failed them.He was their first demon to ever make a pact with yet he didn’t do much being one.Perhaps, thinking now, most of them did more than he.Showed more care. Provided more care.And all he did was to get himself out of troubles and the consequences of his actions.Correction: It’s his human that would bail him out… like a mom.

But then, was there anything he could do to being with?

“Dang.. How much am I going to pay you now?”

His human has never even once mentioned of this illness resulting to Death..Well, all diseases would lead to Death but not with this higher rate of going to Death.It‘s like a parade to Death with his human the star of the show.

“I knew I should have bought Boardwalk the moment I landed on it the first time round!”

Maybe he should be the one to blame here.Maybe he didn’t ask more. Known them better.To think even money could betray him because there’s no known cure yet for them.Just like what the doctor said.

“Rent revenue of 50 dollars plus a three houses, umm..”

“Mammon?”

…

“Mammoney?”

…

“MonMon!”

“Ya?” Clearing his headspace, the Great Demon of hell went straight to his Boardwalk card. Sure thing that the visit was expensive. He’s getting all the money from this human plus his property, that’s… for sure..

“Is there something wrong?” they asked, their eyes piercing and hoisting only the truth on the sea of lies, he had come up of saying; “For you not to be interested with mone–“

“I wish I could have known this sooner..”

“Mammon..”

“I could have not wasted your time too much with tossing you from one chaos to another.. and—“

“Mammon…” taking his hand with theirs to entwine with, their little cash-based board game folded in half as they inched closer;

“Why didn’t you ask me to make it go away?”

Did his voice just crack?

“Mammon..”

“I’m the first demon ya got to make a pact with. I got some witches and we might have been able to conjure some potion to get ya ou—“

“Because I just want to spend my time with you..

I do not want our time to be spent on looking for a cure when we could have so much more fun alone.”

Pause.

“Before meeting you, for a while, I was in your shoes too. Looking for a cure that was not there and I am glad that I snapped out of it meeting you.”

“Ummm…” the Avatar of Greed gulped down.

Did he just screw up?

“Because if it were not for you, I would not have enjoyed living. Having fun. Making troubles. I felt alive.”

For someone whose lifeline is in the near end… a demon, a particular avatar of Greed demon could only comprehend so little. Here was a human, frail and like the money he knows would soon be gone out of his pocket, talking of living life to the fullest with him..

Because of him…

“So.. are we still playin’ Monopoly or we’ll just snuggle ‘til the nurse bails you out of visitation hours?”

Leviathan

“What do you think we should play next?” Looking to his rightside, his little human was watching intently at the monitor of his laptop,completely ecstatic as he was able to defeat the final boss of the game. He wasable to manage to get through the final boss because of the UR armour pieceshis human was able to pick whenever he has to decide which crate he should openafter completing another level.

“Shall we go for.. Ruri-Chan Idol or A!3?”

“Whatever you decide on, Levi! As long as I’ll get to watch you.”

His eyes tried not to leave theirs but with his eyes inevitablytracing the cord from the IV down to their hands, injected for how long theycould have been admitted, playing video games became much more of a distractionfor him than it was for his human.

“Levi?”

“Y-y-yes?”

Making his eyes return to the person staring back at them, hecould definitely see a glistening spark as their lips curled, reaching theirears.

“Are you afraid of needles?”

Needles?Afraid of needles?Why would he be afraid of needles?

“Me? Afraid of needles? ROFL LMAO. The only thing I’m afraid of isnot having enough diamonds to purchase another UR Ruri-chan for the next event.”

It wasnot the needle that he was afraid of..But rather, on how swollen their hands are.It must have taken a lot from them..

“Then why are you looking at it like it’s some boss level at oneof your video games?”

Just as there were no room left to insert an excuse from hisinventory, he shifted his attention back to his folder of video-games that hewas able to install for offline playing purposes when he heard them laugh oncemore.

“Look at my hand, Levi! It looks like a balloon. I can’t move it..”

“Let me get the nurse then.”

“Why aren’t you saying ‘lol’ or ‘lmao’?”

Leviathan dead-panned looked at his human for quite some time, hiseyes fixated on theirs going to their hand and back again;

“You want me to lol when your hand looks like it weighs a ton?! Ifthis were an otome game, your intimacy with me would go down!”

“I am just kidding.. hahaha”

That laugh. That silly laugh that even a shut-in could not helpbut be flustered every time his ears are graced with it.

“I already rung the nurse station. Someone would come assist meanytime soo-“

“Good day, how could I be of assistance, sir?”

A woman dressed in all white looked at him before it was able todetect the cause of her call.

Her hands soon untangled the weave by his patient’s left hand, askingto keep their hand still as a ball of cotton soon veiled how the needle wasejected from…

And that was when he turned away from the scene and gave the nursesome space as he went through once more to his file of games..

Whichgame would best distract me?

He could always trust his video games.Video games has always shut him out of facing the outside world.Had always been his comfort blanket.But with him always in this comfort blanket, could he be truly there to supporthis human?

“You could look now, Levi!”

Why arethey smiling? What is there to smile? One hand told to be careful and anotherstuck on a board so it would not bend and have the needl—Maybe he is, sort of, afraid of the needle…Because of how it could be dangerous to them!

“How could you be so chill in all of this?”

“Because, I’m used to it?”

“But you see me with every boss level. Yes, I am used to gameshaving boss level but it is still different..”

“Well.. it was quite painful..”

Then whyare you so chill about it?Is this perhaps.. jealousy with how their human could handle things that ademon couldn’t?Him shutting in and them.. facing it?

“But today, I feel fine today.~”

“How come?” the Avatar of Envy looked once more to their hands,knowing how their left hand would soon be swollen too after a couple of IVs anddays..

“Because I have you.~”

Thishuman..

Sensing his cheeks go crimson red in heat, he tried concealing hisface with one hand, hearing once more that silly laugh, making him moreflustered. “Warn me next time when you’ll go cheesy, human.”

“How about this.. I’ll play a game and you will watch whileresting on my shoulders.”

“What will you be playing?”

“Do you have that game where the owner of a fast-food restaurantof chickens in a dating simulator?”

Satan

“Sorry, I’m late.”

Watching his human finish the last spoonful of their supper andpausing a video from their phone, it was prominent to his tone how angry he wasto himself. Mixed with frustration as his efforts of spending more time at thelibrary, looking at every bookcase for a book with a solution to theircondition, wasted as he found none.

Of all the spells and ancient writings, Devildom is provided with,none could enlighten the Avatar of Wrath on how he could just make theirillness non-existent which only added fuel to the fire considering how there isa book that could swap two entities to the other’s bodies but none about makinga mortal’s terminal illness gone.

“What were you listening to?”

Trying to put the subject or reason of his tardiness to rest bymeans of bringing up another conversation, right now, what the devil wants, isto turn his brain from overthinking off, and more on thinking about them.

“Oh! I was listening to a podcast with a holographic fanatic.”They beamed as though they had spent their time fruitful compared to his. “Youlook a bit tired..”

“A bit tired?”

Are hiseyebags prominent once more? He most definitely would not like to put his humanin worries or to even look tired.That he took from Lucifer.

“But still pretty charming.~”

“Now that is cheesy.”

Putting the food tray and the food container that looks similar tothose at the cafeteria away and near to the door, he saw his human shiftingmore towards their left, a clear invitation for him to be nearer, resulting toSatan putting his coat by the sofa readily available for a visitor.

“What was the podcast about?” He asked as he kept on shifting toattain that perfect and comfortable position to lie down next to them. The bedwas not relatively bad, much to his surprise.

“Just mundane stories that I just missed while being in here.”

If only asickness could tremble and run with his wrath, he would have done it in a snap.Why does sickness have to constrict someone from living?Especially them?

“I’d rather hear about you.~”

Surprised, his features were much more of confusion, somethingthat made his little human laugh and smile as though they were not in such confinedsituations.

“About me?”

“Mhmm!”

There itis again. Those kitty-like eyes.Those eyes that would make him fall for them once more.And make his cheeks flustered and in heat.

“What about me?”

“Anything. Childhood, fondest memories, life as a student..anything! I just want to hear more about you.”

“There is nothing to tell.”

“Eh?”

“Well, there is nothing interesting about me, darling.”

“Don’t say that!”

Hethought he was the Avatar of Wrath..But with his human angry at his reply..He could be dethroned with that title and just be the VP of being the Avatar ofGreed.

“You are interesting!”

“Darli—“

“You truly are! You are interesting to me.”

Interestingto me.

Sensing his ears getting hotter and hotter, he looked up by thepale ceiling, the fan spinning round and round when he felt an arm wrap aroundhis abdomen, warmth coursing through; “Pleeeeaase?”

“All right, all right. Maybe I could tell you how Asmodeus taughtme how to lie to save a kitty.”

“Yay!”

Asmodeus

“Asmo?”

Sensing his fingersentwined further to theirs, the Avatar of Lust fluttered his eyes open, seeingtheirs holding a reflection of himself making his body jerked itself to functionand boost up at once.

“You’re awake!”

How long was he asleep?

“Good morning, beautiful.~”

Beauty?Now now, little human..Let the Avatar of Lust handle the flirting.Although hearing their compliment was definitely more boosting than any reserved slot or timefor spas and saunas.

“How are you feeling,dear?”

Looking through his phone,it was already 4am by his lockscreen, garnering how the Beauty himself wouldalready have underbags on his eyes. But that is something a cold slice ofcucumber and sleep would cure. Unlike theirs, where the operation was rather concerning in regards of how their body would take it. How the body will heal and take in the changes..

“How long have you beenhere, Asmo?”

This human..When will they ever learn to answer before asking?

“Just an hour ago. Then Ifell asleep instantly.~”

Lies.He had been there for hours and perhaps a day?It had been so long since he moved from his seat from their operation and truthbe told..His buns.. his “ass”ets are kinda flat by now.Nevertheless..He would not miss being the first demon his human would see when they wake up.Never.

And to think he was out-waken by his human.

“Was there a nurse thatcame to visit me?”

“There was one that replacedyour IV and checked pressure while ago.”

Both eyes were soon by theIV with its fluid contents were nearly empty, something his lies however, couldnot cover.

“Wow.. Only a while ago withmy IV already up to be replaced? Asmodeus..”

Oops?

“Fine..I have been here formore than a while..”

Pouting their lips with theireyes gazing afar from his to the round décor by the wall, it was evident how hehad spent overnight beside them without any flinch or reconsidering even tomove from his seat before he could see his reflection once more on their eyes.

“You have dark circlesunder your eyes already.. Do you want to switch places? I will take a seat andyou will lie down on my bed?”

“You are not yet advised toeven sit up, darling.” The demon argued. “Dark circles could be remediedeasily.”

This human just woke up and their first concern is him?Or more specifically, his looks..Truth be told, the same could be said with him but They now come in second.His main priority is them.

“But..”

“No buts now, dear.”

Smiling seeing theirfeatures an upside down reaction to his, he nudged his seat closer to them, hesoon let his pressed his lips against their forehead before stroking a fewstrands of their hair that were, unfortunately, bit too sleek to his liking;

“Darling?”

“Hmm?”

“Want me to help you.. wash?”

“Asmo!”

Blushing at his suggestion,it was more of a concern rather than his usual evocative invitationsconsidering how several cords would hinder the progress, not to mention how thenurse would dutifully remind him of how their hand where it is injected to,should remain unmoved otherwise, blood will come out and ascend to the tube;

“I am quite serious.”

“Eh?!”

“I could wash my darlingbefore breakfast. What do you say?”

“Asmo…”

Finding this all amusing,it was quite difficult to put the talk into a more serious tone but with thenurse coming in an hour or two for their breakfast, it seems the Avatar of Lusthas to surrender it all;

“I could get a towel and abowl so you could work clean yourself while I will be in charge of cleaning anddrying it What were you thinking, silly?.”

“Oh..”

“It looks like someone ishaving a different idea. We could always do that.~”

“Asmo!”

Oh it is good to have them back.

Beelzebub

“Is this what they have inthe cafeteria?”

It was then, that even theAvatar of Gluttony found food unappetizing. They were looking rather bland andfrom the faces of the people eating, they seem to care more about filling inthe void there is at their guts rather than actually enjoying the food.

He would most certainly beable to tolerate it, especially when he sensed his tummy rumble when his palmrested on it but, for his human to also have the same experience?

It was a big no-no.

With an hour and a halfbefore the nurse or staff would give their meal for the noon, the Avatar ofGluttony followed his second brain to scout and find stores that sells betterfood.

Tastier food.

Just the thought of it hadhis stomach grumble as his nose then sniffed out, making several stops near thehospital’s vicinity, surprised with what mortals could do with simple and fewingredients that the demon presumes to be readily available.

Perhaps he should come around and know their delicacies more?He had always heard stories from them about some food that are spoken not tohis language despite being Gluttony himself.

With goodies in a largebag, truth be told, he was not accustomed to what his person would call “terminalillness”. It was a shock and the thought of it became overwhelming. His pacewere gradually slower as his mind could not erase their confession of theirailment, how they warned him, but did he listen?

He did.But he did not want to let it hinder them.And he will never let it be.

…

“That’s all for you?!”

At this point..

His eyes were fixated ontheirs, breaking its trance with the sound of the door shutting, making hiseyes travel lower down to their figure. They have been getting thinner thanthey were when they were introduced, having his rear colored with dark blues.

Perhaps, it reminded himtoo much of famine.. Seeing it onto the privileged’s eyes as they take what is supposed to be shared to others.

Taking the moment to settlewhat he had brought over by a small bedtable, his lips subconsciously drew asmile, refraining himself from making a comment or two about it.

“Why is that what you wouldalways say..”

With a giggle or two, therewas already a feast laid out on the table, making no room for the food providedby the facility, something he would just have to eat all to himself to trickthe staff, his eyes reflecting how swell they looked from sensing the newvarieties offered on their plate.

“Didn’t I mention we would have lunch together?”

“Yup. And I always get myusual hospital food.. But not anymore!~”

“Now hold on before diggingin..”

Munching the food away toreplenish the sense of famine within him, diverse yet complimenting flavors overwhelminghis tongue, it was obvious the Avatar of Gluttony could not help either to moanto compliment the divine food he just purchased or continue munching as thoughthey were alive and would run away.

“Umm.. Beel?”

“..Yes?”

Hearing them laugh ascrumbs went onto his shirt like a waterfall, his eyes fell too onto theirplate.

They have not even touched their plate..

“Could you help me slice upthis chicken?”

Is this why they are so thin?Because the food is rather inaccessible for a one-hand person?

“Of course.”

It took quite a while forBeelzebub to settle his fourth hamburger and mince to their favored sizes.

If that is the problem..Maybe he could offer them a solution instead.Him.

“Now say ahh..~”

“Beel!”

“Hmm?”

“I could do it on my own..”

“Not when I am holding yourfork, you couldn’t.~”

Belphegor

Violently shaking what heheld dearest onto his arms, not even a flinch or any movement came about totheir chest, making himself tremble, holding them closer to him.

It couldn’t be true.This is just a dream..He needs to wake up.

Belphegor could take on anyhardships there is, burden there is, but not facing the inevitable yet.. He wasnot ready yet.

And probably never will.

To an Avatar of Sloth,wasting time had been his forte, and to spend it efficiently.. is this what hisdream is communicating him with?

“Nnnn…”

“No.. no..no…”

“Nooo…”

Sensing his consciousnessseeping through, his body felt like being electrocuted by the door creaking anda stranger’s voice entering.

How long has he been passed out?

Usually, he could care lessabout such trivial matters but feeling like sleeping schedules and body clocksbut with someone’s life given with a countdown…

…

“Good evening. Is he your guardian?”

Turning his head to facethe voice, his vision soon could interpret the man as the hospital’s securitywith his record book at hand and a pen, his eyes for a moment, on Belphegor’sstate.

“Yes he is.”

There they are, sitting onthe sole chair provided for the guest with the metal rod or pole accompanying them,assisting the flow of the IV through their veins.

“Will he be stayingovernight?”

“He will be.”

“On it. Seems like he’s thepatient rather than you are. Ta-ta!”

“That’s not true…” Hemuttered, dark hues reappearing on his rear just as they were visible in hisdreams.

“Are you okay, Belphie? Youwere sleeptalking again..”

“I was?”

Shit.

“Just a random dream, Isuppose.”

By the looks of theirfeatures, it did not take too long for Belphegor to know how his response wasunpleasant.

So much for someone who just woke up..

“I just had a nightmare.The curse of sleeping too much.”

He dare not bring up hisown troubles. That would be insensitive nor does he wish to press an issueregarding their limited lifeline.. Truth be told, humans are mortal beings butwith an illness pressing them down towards the inevitable further…

“Would you like to tell meabout it?”

Tell them about it?

“It is just nothing..”

“You’re not really a goodliar, Belphie. How about we get to talk to it with a cup of coffee?”

Though the mattress wasrelatively comfortable and the pillows plump with the scent of theirs, like acertain paradise created for him, his body voluntarily get up and made them coffee.

“Don’t you think my habitsis just wasting your time?”

Crap.. What was he thinking?This is why he should have coffee first before even saying anything..Caffeine before making a mess out of himself.

“What do you mean?”

Too late. He dug himself deeper into this.

“Well..” his back facingthem as the kettle was settled down to two mugs, the powdered mix adding hue tothe pouring hot water; “I am the Avatar of Sloth and I tend to take naps moreoften.. sleep, you know… waste ti—“

“No.”

“No?”

“Because any time with youaround is time spent worthwhile.~”

Bewildered with howcheerful a mortal could be despite their lifeline drawing thinner by everyshift there is on the hands of their own clock?

“I do not understand..”

Parting his lips to gentlysway the heat away from the cup, their hands touch as they reached out for thecup, something with their heat warmer than a hot cup of coffee could provide…and it is rushing towards his cheeks;

“Because I get to hear yousnore.~”

Excuse me??Snore..Have his human mistaken him for Beelzebub?

“I do not snore!”

“You do! And yousleeptalk.~”

“That’s another thing!”

Giggles turning tolaughter, made it all the more embarrassing should he, indeed, does snore. Hishuman was someone who could not lie convincingly, at least for someone who istrained efficiently to sniff the BS out of his brothers;

“I do not snore..”

“Yes you do!” And theyproceeded to imitate it.. or make it looklike he does..?

“Okay, that’s enough..otherwise, I would make sure you get to sleep first before I do.”

“Noooooooo” and theyproceeded to sip their cold coffee, preparing themselves for the battle on ‘who gets to stay awake longer to witness the other fall asleep’.

_________________________________________________Updated masterlist here.

#obey me game #obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me headcanons #anon ask #lucifer #mammon #leviathan #satan #asmodeus #beelzebub #belphegor #mod shin-seul

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athingthatwantsvirginia · 4 years

Text

Not Joyce or Monet

PART THIRTY-NINE OF THE DO YOU SEE HER FACE? SERIES

Pairing: Jess Mariano x Original Character (Ella Stevens)

Warnings: major discussions of parent death/death in general, smoking, drinking, plentiful pop culture references

Word Count: 6.3K

Summary: Jess publishes his second book and Ella receives a troubling call from Stars Hollow.

Flopping face-first down onto the bed, Ella breathed a sigh of relief. It would have felt strange not to have a little champagne at Jess’s book launch party. But, she was a lightweight. She was floating somewhere between tipsy, buzzed, and drunk. At least she was still capable of slipping off her shoes before making her way to the bedroom. She’d even managed to change into pajamas, brush her teeth, and wash her face. A far cry from the screwdriver incident at Liz’s baby shower. A heavy winter snow fell outside the windows and a touch of cold air seeped into the draughty apartment. Goosebumps rose lightly on her skin. In her state, they felt nice instead of uncomfortable. She was already dozing when Jess came in, having taken a quick shower. His hair was still damp as he climbed into bed next to her, the movement shaking her from her haze.

“Did you like your party?” she murmured, watching as he shut off the lamp and rolled over to face her.

His face was aglow with the bluish light of the snowy Saturday evening. “Mhm.”

She snickered a bit at his nonchalance. “I know you hate parties, but Chris insisted it was the best way to drum up business. And you do like surprises, Mr. Spontaneity. Matthew and I made it as lowkey as we could.”

“It wasn’t so bad, Eleanor. Really,” he said, shrugging. “You’re remembering that you whispered lines from Catch-22 in my ear all night, right?”

“I figured you’d need some Joseph Heller to make it through,” she explained, slightly sheepish.

Jess smiled. “Of course. And watching Chris and Leo get so drunk they do their acapella version of ‘Under Pressure’ could never be bad.”

“Leo does do a damn good Freddie Mercury,” Ella agreed, chuckling. “I didn’t realize the publishing agents would all go blackout level, too.”

“Oh, yeah. You should’ve seen what Chris did for the Subsect launch. It was like that scene where E.T. gets drunk. But if there were fifty aliens in the movie instead of just one,” Jess said flatly, begrudgingly.

“You must be a little drunk if you’re letting a cheesy eighties movie slip. Or have I finally converted you?” she teased, snuggling deeper into the pillow.

Jess smirked. “Not yet. Chris made me try his Manhattans to see if they ‘tasted too much like gasoline.’”

“I have a sneaking suspicion that they did,” Ella said.

“Someone give the lady a prize,” Jess shot back tiredly. “Good thing we walked there.”

“Yeah. And good thing I got to watch you catch a snowflake with your tongue on the way back.”

“Shut up.”

“Hey, don’t be embarrassed, cutie,” she said, forcing her laughter down. “I’ll be eating my words when you watch me fall on my ass while we’re ice-skating with April.”

She knew if he’d been entirely sober, he wouldn’t have gotten so caught up in his wonderment at the storm. But Ella had also seen him sticking out his tongue awaiting a snowflake in an old, yellowing photo album Liz had shown off during her baby shower. In it, Jess had been no more than three. Dressed in a raggedy winter jacket on some grimy corner of New York City. He and Liz were sticking their tongues out together. Seeing the photo had given Ella’s mouth a bittersweet taste. It was hard to imagine Jess ever feeling so relaxed around his mother. She saw the same rare awe from him on the walk home. Most of the time, he was so weighed down by the world he could barely come up for air. She thought she had never seen him look so young at heart before.

“Can’t wait,” Jess hummed, mocking. It was nearly time for April’s winter break, and Anna had somehow agreed to let her spend it with Luke, Lorelai, and Rory. Ella and Jess had opted to return to Stars Hollow for Christmas, after the bumps in the road on Thanksgiving. Two more days, and they’d be braving the icy roads on their way up to Connecticut. April had already called them to schedule a time for ice-skating. The proper, analytical way the little girl spoke never failed to amuse Ella.

“Me neither,” Ella quipped as her eyelids began to droop again. She could smell the minty scent of Jess’s shampoo.

As he watched her begin to drift off, he leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. From what Matthew had said, Ella had essentially been put in charge of the party when Chris’s trademark irresponsibility made an appearance. Matthew had jury duty and couldn’t assume his usual role of organizer in the wake of Chris’s chaotic decision-making. What she’d managed to throw together, though, was one of the better parties Jess had ever been to. The publishers they knew usually sent younger employees to the underground press launches, and Chris had ended up making friends with most of the usual suspects at the launch for Jess’s first book. Ella had made sure the guest list only included familiar faces. If they just had to throw him a surprise party, which Chris demanded (normally, she wouldn’t have listened, but if it was a matter of getting his book better exposure, she was willing to risk it), she’d try to make it as comfortable for him as possible. Or, at the very least, bearable.

And she’d just gotten done with finals two days earlier. He could see how tired she was. Her nerves over the possibility of seeing her father during the winter holidays hadn’t helped her sleeping recently either. Though Jess wasn’t sure how it would actually pan out, she claimed she wanted an attempt at apologizing for what she’d said at Adam’s graduation. She was sick of family nonsense, she said. Maybe if she levelled the playing field, they could begin to understand each other again. Ella herself wasn’t sure exactly what had sparked her desire to try again with her family, but suspected it might have been Thanksgiving. Jess, simply put, was someone she admired. Seeing him trying to mend his relationships (even though he didn’t have to, even though it was difficult), made her feel just a little more confident. Maybe not everything turned out bad, after all.

Shutting his own eyes, Jess slipped his hand beneath Ella’s shirt, his fingertips ghosting over her back. She smiled softly at his touch, feather-light. A pleasant shiver rolled through her.

“Thank you for the party,” he said, barely above a whisper.

“Well, thanks for writing my new favorite book,” she answered instantly, sleepy and sincere. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”

. . .

There were still a couple hours left until lunchtime when Ella slipped through the door at Truncheon, but it wasn’t entirely uncommon for her to show up and work a little. Especially when she was on break from school and got antsy. Jess had debated giving her the easel he’d bought her for Christmas early, so she would have something new to focus on while he tied up the odds and ends at the book press. But, ultimately, he wanted to wait until the morning after they returned to Philadelphia. It would be far more surprising to wake up and find a Christmas present wrapped up in the living room on the morning of New Year’s Day than on the actual gift-giving holiday.

When he’d left for his last day of work prior to their trip to Connecticut, she’d still been half asleep. Her sketchbook was open on her bedside table, a pencil drawing of a child with hollow eyes having yet to be shaded. She’d been up late working on it the night before, on a roll. He hadn’t even shut the door to the apartment before she was out cold again. He’d been anxious to get back home, to pack and prepare for the trip. In his opinion, there was no use in only opening for a Monday and then closing for the holidays the rest of the week, but Matthew’s stickler spirit won out. Jess wasn’t going to be skipping around the store in merriment as the rest of the world took a vacation, but he also wasn’t moping around like Chris. He was in the midst of diffusing an argument between his two coworkers when Ella arrived.

He wanted to smile when he saw her, and almost did. But then he got a good look at her hazel eyes, and immediately he could tell something was wrong. It wasn’t that she was sleepy, though she looked a bit haggard in with her peacoat tied around her haphazardly and her hair wild, dotted with the snowflakes falling steadily outside. Instead, she looked almost unreachable. His Eleanor who was always so present and vivid and alive, even in the midst of drudgery. And she wasn’t daydreaming, either. She wasn’t off in her own thoughts, thinking of Emily Dickinson or James Joyce or Claude Monet. No; she was simply not there. Not really.

“Hey, honey. You’re early,” he began as she approached him, where he stood in between Matthew and Chris. The two of them didn’t even notice she’d come in until Jess addressed her, still too caught up in their argument over where to place the new books of free-form poetry.

Swallowing harshly, Ella gave a weak smile and raked her fingers through her hair. She walked up to them, wringing her hands together. Jess didn’t need to see her hands to know she had already bitten her nails down to the quick. At the interruption, Chris gave a frustrated huff and turned to Ella.

“Ella, please tell Matthew it makes zero sense to put the free-form poetry anywhere near the sonnets! They should be on opposite ends of the store, as far as I’m concerned,” he exclaimed in exasperation.

Matthew rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as his jaw clenched. “I’m glad you’re here, Ella. Please tell Chris that we don’t only sell poetry, and free-form or not, it has no business anywhere near science fiction!”

Furrowing her brows, distracted, Ella shook her head. “Um...I don’t know...but I….”

“What?” Jess asked as she gestured slightly with her hands. Her face was pale, and she almost seemed confused, at a loss for words. It didn’t happen to her often, to say the least.

Blowing out a breath, she tried again, jerking her thumb back over her shoulder. “Back at the apartment...I just got a call from my brother. My dad’s dead.”

Jess’s heart dropped into his stomach. “What?”

“Yeah,” Ella said, nodding. As she continued, she took a hair elastic from her wrist and began pulling her locks into a ponytail. “Adam said he was in a car accident this morning. Driving home from some bar in Maryland. If I had to guess, he was still a little drunk from last night. No one else got hurt, which is good. He hit a patch of black ice, and he was going too fast, and I guess he just went right off the road. Into a tree. And he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt.”

Her speech became more urgent with every word, as they heard it sink in for her in real time. But she was never frantic, only determined and stern. The spacey fog was fading from her demeanor, though it remained in her eyes. Only in her eyes. She didn’t give them time to respond, just kept thinking out loud.

“Noah’s already on a plane from Oregon, but I don’t think he’s gonna be any help. And Adam said Fiona’s freaking out, so I’m almost definitely going to have to make the arrangements. I know you guys have work and stuff, but we need to pack up and get there before the rest of the family does, or everything will probably just explode on principle. Fuck! This is just like him. To die a week before Christmas!”

“Whoa, hey, Eleanor, just slow down for a second, okay?” Jess began, taking a hesitant step towards her and grabbing her hand. He squeezed once, hard, hoping to calm her down at least a little.

“Jesus, Ella-” Chris began.

“I’m so sorry,” Matthew said.

Ella shook her head, her face stoic. “Don’t, okay? Don’t be sorry. No one needs to be sorry. He was a fucking drunk, and it finally caught up with him. I just need to get back to Stars Hollow to take care of this, and then maybe Christmas won’t be completely ruined. Sound good?”

“Elle, just hold on. You should sit down and-” Jess said, but she cut him off.

“No, Jess. Seriously, I’m fine. Let’s just go and get it over with, and then it’ll be done,” she said, her hand never leaving his though she didn’t squeeze back. Her tone was tight, clipped, but she didn’t sound angry. He recognized it from the night on the bridge when she’d told him about the days following her mother’s death. The way she held it all together, and blocked it all out. Numb and headstrong.

“Do you want us to come with?” Matthew asked, watching with uncertainty as Ella began to tug Jess towards the door, grabbing his bag for him and handing him his coat.

“What? Of course not,” Ella said, insistent, as though it were obvious. “All I need to do is steal Jess for a few days. You need to do whatever it is you’re gonna do with Mabel. And Chris needs to do whatever it is he’s gonna do with Leo, and you need to tell me about it when we get back. I can pretty much guarantee your stories will be more fun than mine.”

“Are you sure?” Chris chimed in, brow heavy with worry. Her iciness surprised him. He had never heard someone react to a parent’s death quite so flippantly before.

“Yes. Jesus, Chris, keep up,” she replied, in a way which would have spurred a playful argument on a normal day. Again, her nonchalance unnerved all three of them.

Jess interlocked their fingers again instantly once he had his bag and his coat, almost heading out the door already. She was moving too fast for him to process much of anything, only reacting. He hadn’t seen her in such a frenzy in a very long time. “Eleanor, wait. Stop.”

“I can’t stop, Jess. I told you, we’ve gotta get there before my uncle has time to hit on Fiona and before Noah has time to piss off Adam. It’s fine. I promise. I’m fine.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but she pulled him out the front door instead. As they went, she shouted over her shoulder to Matthew and Chris: “Happy holidays! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

And then, she and Jess were gone. Chris and Matthew exchanged concerned, flabbergasted glances.

. . .

Flashback was the word that came to the forefront of her mind, as she stared up at the ceiling in the Gilmore living room. Luke and Lorelai were trying, and she appreciated it. They could both tell she didn’t want to talk about it, only wanted a bit of normalcy after the long day. And they’d obliged. After all, they’d had practice. Lorelai knew exactly what to do. She’d had Luke bring dinner home from the diner: turkey sandwiches and sodas. She’d suggested they watch a movie after dinner, something campy horror. Finally, they had settled on The Lost Boys. Ella knew how much Jess hated the movie, especially Kiefer Sutherland’s mullet, but he never complained once. A large part of her wished he would. She wanted it to be the way it was supposed to be. She wanted to have Christmas in Stars Hollow with the people who felt more like her family than her father did. Adam celebrating with one of his school friends in Boston, Fiona with her sister, Noah with his finacée in Oregon. But, of course, things never went as planned. Not in Ella’s experience at least.

At some point during the movie, she’d fallen asleep on the couch. No matter how much she wanted to stay awake until the end, she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Dealing with Fiona’s blubbering and Adam’s silence and Noah’s anger had pretty well exhausted her. Not to mention the business setting up the funeral at the church. She’d spent nearly two hours with the pastor, but the service was only halfway planned. She wished Aunt Julie could arrive sooner, but the girls were in school until Tuesday. Erin had some big recital she was pitching a fit about missing. Ella couldn’t blame her. She wouldn’t want to be there if she didn’t have to be. No, they would arrive on Wednesday morning. Two hours before the funeral, set for noon. At some point before then, Ella would have to sort out the flower arrangements and the music and the programs. At least Luke was providing the food. She assumed he would before he even offered. And she would have to write the eulogy. But she wasn’t even thinking about it yet. Every time the idea of writing it entered her mind, she would start humming a Stevie Nicks song and pointedly ignore it.

It was all too familiar. The planning, the writing, the consoling. Since they’d arrived in Stars Hollow that afternoon, it had been a non stop barrage of tasks and tears. None of it was surprising. And it almost made her want to laugh. The minute she heard that her mother was dead, she had burst out laughing, a nervous reaction she couldn’t control. Granted, the laughter came from deep inside her, and probably resembled a pained shriek more than an actual giggle. But it was laughter nonetheless, and her father had recognized it as such. He’d yelled at her until his voice became hoarse. She knew it wouldn’t happen again. He was the dead one now, after all. But still, she didn’t let the anxious laughter escape. She didn’t let anything escape. After the punishment she’d received for letting go last time, she knew not to do it again. No one was there to smack her, to scream, but she just couldn’t bring herself to forget how it had felt. Like she couldn’t even grieve right. And the best way to grieve became to not grieve at all.

She laid with one hand on her stomach and the other behind her head, analyzing the popcorn ceiling. She’d awoken with the room dim and the TV shut off. A quilt which she hadn’t fallen asleep under was draped over her, and there were hushed whispers in the direction of the kitchen. She hadn’t planned to wake up until morning, but she hadn’t planned to fall asleep there either. They were supposed to be sleeping in the apartment above the diner for the vacation, while Rory and April took the spare beds in the Gilmore house. But neither girl had yet to arrive, and Lorelai insisted Ella and Jess stay over after dinner. It was no use driving over in the snow, even if Luke’s was only about a minute away. Ella couldn’t believe how similar it all was to before. Sleeping alone on the Gilmore couch as others worried over her a few feet away.

She listened, in spite of herself. It was too tempting not to eavesdrop when she’d already heard her name so many times. Luke was concerned about her forgetting to eat. Lorelai was concerned about her shutting everyone out and being overwhelmed by the funeral preparations. And both of them were concerned about her coming to blows with Fiona at some point in the next few days.

Sighing, Ella ran her tongue over her teeth and remembered she hadn’t brushed them. She debated not doing so, but decided to just bite the bullet. With everything else on her mind, she thought it best to eliminate all the outward elements which might impede her from getting back to sleep. She rolled over on her side, preparing to sit up, when she saw Jess. She thought he’d be in the kitchen, talking with Luke and Lorelai. Instead, he sat on the floor with his back against the sofa. His head was near hers, leaned back. His eyes were closed, but he wasn’t snoring. She doubted he was fully asleep, but nonetheless attempted to get past him and rummage through the bag on the armchair to find her toothbrush. Her stealth proved lacking, however, when he began to stir as soon as she reached the bag.

“Hey,” he said quietly, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands and doing his best to seem lively. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she replied, fishing her toothbrush out from the sea of clothes she’d thrown into the duffel before they sped away from the apartment in Philadelphia. “I just forgot to brush my teeth.”

“Oh,” he said, nodding and hoisting himself up. His neck was already sore from the position he’d dozed off in, unwilling to follow Luke and Lorelai into the kitchen with Ella asleep on the couch. “Me too. I’ll come with.”

She nodded back, grabbing his toothbrush as well. The whispers didn’t cease until they made their way into the kitchen, Luke and Lorelai looking up at their entrance. Ella debated using the upstairs bathroom, not disturbing the two of them. But she didn’t have the energy to climb the stairs, and it would be the first time she could get a good look at the new half-bathroom they added next to Rory’s room. The smell of the diner food lingered, and it made Ella’s chest feel just a touch less tight. Lorelai broke out into a small smile at the sight of the two of them.

“You need anything, sweetie?” she asked, speaking only to Ella.

Though she felt a bit uncomfortable under everyone’s gaze, Ella smiled back. There was a warmth in her stomach at Lorelai’s voice. She focused on that feeling, and only that feeling. “No, we’re fine. Just brushing our teeth. The dentist would be pissed at me if I broke the pattern after over twenty years.”

“That’s true. Always best to avoid the Sweeney Todd dentistry possibility,” Lorelai agreed, nodding. Then, she yawned theatrically and looked at Luke, who only rolled his eyes at the dramatics. “I think we’re gonna head upstairs. It’s past our bedtime.”

“Still got those four o’clock deliveries, huh?” Jess asked sullenly, eyeing Luke. Many a morning when he was a teenager, he’d been awoken at half past three by the sound of Luke’s alarm.

Luke sighed. “For the business that housed and fed you for two years? Yeah, I do.”

Ella snorted a laugh, and nudged Jess playfully in the ribs. “Like you’re not always up before the sun, even on Saturday.”

“Where do you think that started?” Jess shot back, pointing an accusatory finger at Luke. “He screwed with my internal clock for life!”

“I think that’s enough fuel for future therapy sessions for tonight,” Lorelai announced, rising from the table, Luke following.

“Agreed,” Luke grumbled.

As they exchanged goodnights, Lorelai gave Ella a kiss on the cheek. Immediately after, she scrunched up her nose and smudged the lipstick from Ella’s freckled skin with her thumb. To Ella’s shock, Lorelai also gave Jess a short hug before making for the stairs. Luke hugged Jess, too. The two of them still had trouble showing physical affection for each other, as they probably always would. Ella had to stifle a laugh at the awkwardness between them.

When Luke hugged Ella, though, she felt tears prick at her eyes for the first time all day. She recognized his familiar smell, the soft feeling of his flannel, his strong arms around her. Somewhere in her mind, it occurred to her that the way it felt for Luke to hug her was what she had always wanted it to feel like when her own father hugged her. And she knew for sure she would never get it from him. She could finally be certain there was nothing left to do to repair her relationship with him. There was no time left for Jake to make her feel as safe as Luke made her feel. As he never had, even in her childhood. But by the time she and Luke broke apart, she had gathered herself enough. She cleared her throat and blinked away the glassy sheen in her eyes.

Luke ruffled her hair as he stepped back from her. If he saw that she was upset, he didn’t acknowledge it. “Don’t worry, kid. We’ll get everything figured out tomorrow.”

“I know, boss,” she replied.

. . .

The cigarette smoke made her a bit nauseous, but it was also comforting in a way she was slightly ashamed of. The winter air was crisp and biting, and her cheeks were frosted roses. Embers glowed orange in the darkness as she took a long drag, burning her lungs. She was already regretting it, but she simply felt too tired to think out the actual consequences of what she was doing. She had tried. She really had. But falling asleep, with Jess snoring softly beneath her as they lay on the couch, was absolutely impossible. Fatigue was weighing down her bones, and there was a perpetual ache throbbing behind her eyes. But each time she got close to sleep, the thought of her father would flash across her mind, and she would be wide awake once more.

Once she gave up, she had managed to sneak outside unnoticed. The wind whispered past her, hollow and haunting. But maybe everything was feeling spookier because death was at the forefront of her mind. Then again, when wasn’t it? Though the shock had certainly hit her with full force when she heard the news, she couldn’t bring herself to be surprised. The other shoe had dropped. She knew it would, just when she let her guard down. The moment she forgot to worry, the universe had knocked her down again. She flicked her cigarette and watched the excess ash melt a small spot in the snow below the steps.

At the sound of the front door creaking open, she startled only a little. For a wild moment, she wanted to put her cigarette out and hide it behind her back, pretending to be innocent. Especially if it was Luke. But she had to remember she was a grown up. And the feeling disappeared entirely when she saw only a disheveled Jess wrapping himself up in his jacket as he came out onto the porch and sat down next to her.

“You’re gonna catch a cold out here,” he remarked, holding her peacoat out to her.

She took it with a trembling hand.

“Thank you,” she said solemnly, breathing out a long stream of smoke as she spoke. The coat was old and cheap, and did little to help a Connecticut winter, but she shrugged it on anyway.

He nodded, chewing on his bottom lip. “Don’t mention it.”

They sat in silence, an owl hooting somewhere in the trees beyond the house. Ella didn’t put the cigarette out until it got so small it began to burn her fingers. After she’d discarded it, her breath still puffed out, along with Jess’s, in frigid white clouds. Flurries of snow fell in scattered sprays, but the night was mostly quiet and overcast. Jess crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.

She spoke, as he knew she eventually would, after a few more minutes. Gesturing down to the crushed cigarette, her tired eyes met his. “Do you want one?”

“No, thanks,” he said, shaking his head. “Where’d you get those in the middle of the night in Stars Hollow, anyway?”

A thin smirk ghosted over her lips. “Snatched ‘em off Bootsy’s newsstand.”

“Really?” he asked, laughing slightly, with eyebrows raised.

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Don’t act so surprised, Mariano. I was sneaking out of my bedroom window long before you got here.”

“Touché.” His eyes lingered on her, hair glistening golden in the soft light and eyes still far off somewhere miles away. He hesitated before he continued. “Did you walk all the way to Bootsy’s without a coat?”

She shrugged, glancing down at the Doc Martens on her feet. “I’m fine. I had my good shoes on. Besides, it’s only like a minute away.”

“Alright.”

“Seriously, Jess. I’m fine,” she snapped after a moment.

“Okay. I get it,” he said instantly. “You’re fine. You’re not cold.”

Ella ran her hands through her hair. Her body shook as she yawned.

“You wanna go back to bed?” he asked.

“No,” she said with a heavy sigh.

“Are you sure?”

“Jesus, Jess! Stop trying to take care of me! Stop asking me questions! Just let me fucking sit here!” Ella exclaimed, huffing in frustration.

Jess recoiled slightly, and he nodded at her again. He ran a hand over his mouth and swallowed down the million other questions which were rising in his throat. The ones she’d refused to ask on the drive up, and the ones she apparently still wanted to avoid. “Sorry.”

She rolled her eyes, mostly at herself. “No, I’m...I’m sorry. I’m just tired. I couldn’t fall asleep.”

“We don’t have to sleep if you don’t want to. We could watch one of Lorelai’s cassettes in there,” Jess suggested, fighting hard to keep his tone light, bracing for whatever reaction she was going to have.

“I love that she still has cassettes,” Ella said wistfully, though not smiling. Her voice was low and raspy as she stared out ahead of her into the darkness and the lightly falling snow.

He nodded a little. “I know you do.”

Ella’s hands were itching to hold another cigarette, but she fought the urge. The pack which sat on the porch steps next to her would almost certainly be crumpled up and thrown in the trash the moment she reentered the house. Along with the lighter. But it was nice to have them there. If she wanted. They sat wordlessly, listening to the rustle of the wind in the evergreen trees. Jess didn’t make a sound. He was just far away enough not to touch her, almost in silent askance of whether she wanted space. She did. And she didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to talk almost as much as she didn’t want to write the eulogy. She wanted to be able to push down the sorrow and the rage until they just dissolved and she was as happy as she had been just a day earlier. Yesterday, she may have even been hopeful. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt hopeful about her family. But, now, she had to stop herself from reaching for a cigarette yet again. And she felt herself wanting a drink. A drink stronger than champagne at a book launch. And then the words started flowing before she could overthink them, before she could lock them away in her heart forever.

She swallowed thickly, looking down into her lap at her nail-bitten hands. “This is just like it was the last time.”

“Oh yeah?” he whispered, shifting a bit closer to her.

“Yeah,” she echoed, so quiet he almost couldn’t hear. She sniffed. “I mean, last time my dad was the devastated one instead of Fiona. But Adam still got pissed at Noah, and Noah only got more pissed because Adam was mad at him.”

Noah had only made it to town an hour before Ella left to go back to the Gilmore residence for the night, but he and Adam were at each other’s throats pretty much as soon as they saw each other. Upset that his Christmas vacation was being disrupted, Noah had insisted on staying at a motel instead of at the little blue house in which they had grown up. Adam wasn’t happy about it, accusing Noah of acting as though he was too good for them. In turn, Noah asked Adam why he wasn’t mad at Ella for staying with Lorelai. Adam had shot back immediately, saying Noah had abandoned the entire family the minute he could, while Ella stayed behind. At that point, Ella knew there was no way to diffuse the situation. She’d only offered to walk back with Noah to the motel, leaving Adam to sleep in his old room. Luckily, Fiona’s sister was already in town for the holiday. So, it didn’t wholly fall to any of the three of them to console her.

Jess and Luke had both offered to go over to the house with her after helping with the arrangements, but she’d insisted on meeting her brothers there alone. The surreality of the moment didn’t dawn on her until she saw Adam’s teary eyes and Noah’s flushed face. It was like she had stepped into the past. She’d come back to the Gilmore house to find Jess sitting in the living room, halfway through the Russian novel he’d brought with. In the face of his questions, she’d only given him the liner notes and then fallen mostly silent for the rest of the evening.

“And Lorelai and Luke won’t let me brush my teeth without asking me if I need anything,” Ella continued, with a scoff in her words. “And, I love them. I do. And I’m so fucking grateful that it hurts. But, I’m fine. I’m totally fucking fine.”

“So I’ve heard,” he quipped.

“You’re hilarious.”

“I’ve heard that, too,” he said.

She laughed breathily, lifting her head to look up at the sky. “Shut up.”

“Will do.”

Then, after a moment: “I just wish...I wish it wasn’t like this. I mean, he was a shitty dad. But he was still my dad.”

He watched as she chose her words, carefully. Her voice had more emotion than he’d heard all day. Bringing his arm around her shoulders, he hoped to lessen the trembling of her hands just a little. She leaned into him, letting herself feel his warmth but fighting the wateriness in her voice. Of all the things she didn’t want to do, crying was at the top of the list.

“And now...I don’t have parents. I don’t even have a dad who hates me and never calls,” she continued.

“He didn’t hate you,” Jess interjected.

She shook her head. “Yeah, he did, Jess. He fucking hated me. Because I looked like my mom and I didn’t like Fiona and I wouldn’t quit talking back at the dinner table. But it doesn’t bother me. I hated him most of the time, too.”

He hummed in response, listening.

Her face crumpled for only a moment. But, again, she regained her composure. A couple silent tears threatened to slip over. “But at least I had someone to hate, y’know? Now, it’s just...no one.”

She took in a shaky breath, and Jess began to rub circles over her back. He recognized that her shivering was no longer due to the cold but from the sobs she wouldn’t let loose. Ella’s stomach did a flip, as she clenched her hands into fists. But she just couldn’t hold it in any longer. She let a single wimper pass her lips. And then, the levee broke. She put her head in her hands and finally began to weep, cries from deep within her escaping at last.

“I just...I don’t have p-parents anymore,” she spoke through sobs, trying to get her voice under control but failing miserably. “I’m not anyone’s daughter anymore. I don’t belong to anyone anymore.”

Jess shut his eyes for a moment, feeling a crack in his heart as he heard her anguish. But a part of him was relieved she was finally letting it out. He knew not all of her tears were for her father, but for her mother as well. He’d never seen her cry so hard before, so hard she couldn’t catch her breath and she was beginning to feel sick to her stomach. She stopped being able to talk after a while, only crying, folding in on herself.

“I...I don’t...belong to anyone anymore,” she repeated.

Gnawing on his bottom lip again, Jess smoothed an affectionate hand over her hair. He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. Though he couldn’t see her face, Ella felt her cheeks heat up at his seeing her sob so openly. Jess spoke in a clear, strong tone.

“Listen, Eleanor, I know it feels like you’re alone without them, but that’s not true, okay?” he said.

She let out a tearful scoff.

“Hey, hey, hey, I’m serious,” Jess continued, placing a hand on her damp cheek and turning her face gently so she would look at him.

She wanted to avoid his eyes, embarrassed, but simply couldn’t bring herself to look anywhere else. The sight of him almost made her physically relax.

An earnest crease stood out between his eyebrows when he spoke again. “You belong to me, and I belong to you. That’s how it’s always been, hasn’t it?”

She stared at him for a moment, stunned at his words, as tears kept rolling steadily down her cheeks. But then, her lip began to quiver and she closed her eyes. Jess was worried she was about to get angry again. But instead, she slumped weakly against him. He could feel her tears begin to wet the neckline of his t-shirt as she rested her head on his chest. Breathing out long and slow, Jess wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t know whether his words had helped, but he was doubtful. No amount of talking was going to make her feel any better. He couldn’t crack a joke or start a playful argument or do a magic trick. He could only be there. He simply sat and held her against the wind.

#gilmore girls #gilmore girls au #gilmore girls fanfiction #gilmore girls oc #jess mariano #jess mariano x oc #jess mariano oc fanfiction #jess mariano au #jess mariano x original character #oc fanfiction #luke danes #lorelai gilmore

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indiavolowetrust · 4 years

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The Obey Me Boys as RPG Bosses: Frostheart

CHAPTERS: Prologue + Beelzebub and Belphegor, Asmodeus (YOU ARE HERE), Satan, Leviathan, Mammon, Lucifer, ???, ???, Endings

You are one of many hunters in a land cursed with everlasting winter. You yourself have become rime-touched after an attack by your fellow corrupted hunter, an incident that left you traumatized and lame. Even your hunter’s guild has resigned you to a life of mere cleaning and upkeep duties, and you have spent the last seven years in the depths of your guild’s archives.

Then the White Witch spirits your little brother away into her castle, taking with her the only family you have ever known. Armed with your trusty hunting knife and bow -- and aided by your senior hunter, Simeon -- you set off into the rime-cursed lands to find Luke and end the White Witch’s reign once and for all.

**Very loosely based on The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen.

Word Count: 1,092 words

TW: Blood, Violence, Gore

[ASMODEUS, HER LADYSHIP’S ROSE-KEEPER]

There’s no need to call you a hunter, really, because you aren’t one. Not anymore, at least. It is only after the third day that the guilt truly begins to settle in. A hunter should be able to bound through the forest with the grace of an elk. A hunter should be able to shoot and cut down their own prey. A hunter should have the capacity to handle the physical strain of travel. A hunter should be able to do all this and more, and so you are not a hunter.

Yet Simeon only gives you that half-quirk of a smile when you say as much to him, as if the point you’d just made was completely unfounded.

“I see the Frost Blades have gotten to your head.” A sigh escapes his mouth when you gesture for him to continue. “The physical part of it -- mastering that is all good and well, but it won’t save you in an ambush. Might not save you in a usual hunt either, if you’re unlucky enough. If you ask me, you’re more useful than a dozen recruits put together.”

Maybe, but he was the one who defeated the golems in the end. You limp across a stretch of especially harsh permafrost, your walking cane finding purchase in the ice, but Simeon steadies you all the same. While you two have managed to make it out of the boreal forest largely unscathed, Simeon appears to be no less vigilant when it comes to your safety. If anything, his caution has heightened: every step of yours draws his gaze, he does all the hunting and trapping for the both of you, and he takes it upon himself to check the state of your lame leg. He’s merely ensuring that the curse of the rime hasn’t spread, he insists, but somehow you don’t believe that.

He doesn’t mean any of it, a harsh part of you whispers, making you flinch inwardly. You’re a burden, and you know it. He knows it. Stop lying to yourself.

“And I wouldn’t have known how to do that if I didn’t have you with me,” he says, all but lifting you over a patch of manicured roses. “Honestly, just because you’re --”

Roses?

“-- not that I don’t see you as --”

The permafrost has been wholly replaced by alabaster paving stones, each one more perfect than the last. Gone is the boreal forest; in its place stands a massive crystalline garden. The rows of unnatural orchids and roses dance in the wind, nary a petal out of place, and even from a single glance you can discern the artistry and care put into the garden. Were it not for the eerie nature of the situation, you would have found it beautiful. Were it not for the young man -- no, rime-cursed dryad -- a mere distance from you, you would have been wholly enraptured by the sight.

You freeze in place. You feel Simeon urging you along, but you are unwilling to come any closer than you already have to the creature. What had appeared to be a rather pretty face unfurls slowly, painstakingly, until all you see are rows of thorn-like teeth within. A smile, you think. He’s smiling at you.

“Is something the matter?” Simeon’s voice is a distant echo. “I can carry you again if your legs hurt.”

No, no, that’s not it. You can barely force the words out, your mouth nearly frozen shut. Every inch of your body screams at you not to turn to him, not to look, but you must. You must, or else --

A pair of thorny fingers gently tip your chin upwards, forcing you to stare into his eyeless face. “Oh, pretty thing, I knew you would come!” he cries, the petals of his visage ruffling in delight. “And what a sight you are -- why, the doll-maker will have an absolute field day with you! Bit unfinished, but he’ll fix that soon enough. I was so worried those two would take you apart before I could.”

Simeon, you rasp. Simeon, there’s --

A barbed vine spears you through and through. You don’t have enough time to scream; you can only watch in horror as bright crimson begins to blossom around the wound. The rime-touched dryad flings you across the garden with ease. Your flesh slices open against the flowers when you crash into one of the many beds, a cry of pain leaving your mouth. In the few seconds it takes for you to land, you process approximately three things.

First, there is no trace of Simeon. There is no one but you and this horrible creature in the garden. The sky has long turned into an eldritch shade of bright pink, masking whatever else may lie beyond the garden.

Second, the excruciating pain that should be there is but a dull ache. A strangely warm, needful one, but a mere ache no less. While it fails to give you comfort, you know more than anyone that you should have no feeling in your legs at the moment. That blow should have rendered you completely paralyzed.

Third, the floral scent caught in your throat is thick and sickening. The air is unnaturally stagnant.

This isn’t real.

“But for how long? You may be touched by the rime, pretty thing, but that human certainly isn’t.” He twirls the thorned whip in his hands as he steps towards you, his smile as cloying as his flowers. “There’s no harm in having a little fun with that, is there?”

Tip: The illusion has rendered you temporarily invulnerable. Shatter the illusion before the buff’s timer runs out.

[NEXT: SATAN, THE SHACKLED HOUND]

#obey me #obey me!#obey me shall we date #obey me simeon #obey me mc #obey me asmo #obey me asmodeus #om asmo #om asmodeus #blood tw #gore tw #violence tw #fanfic #frostheart

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jasontoddiefor · 4 years

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Title: the kind that was burned first [chapter 5 & 6] Summary: The last two characters wondering about what secrets time travelling Obi-Wan and Anakin are hiding. AN: And this little 6 chapter project is finished. It was fun!

Read on AO3

#5 Shmi Skywalker

The last time Shmi Skywalker saw her son, he was walking into the desert at night. He’d been hurt all over and decided that he would not survive another day under their Master’s hand. Their Master wouldn’t dare to blow him up, so hopefully Anakin would make it through the night and off this awful planet quickly enough. Shmi had kissed him goodbye, filled his pockets with everything useful and sellable they had and saw him off.

She hadn’t been able to fall asleep after, too worried for him, and yet forcing herself to prepare for the beating that would await her in the morning. Their Master would be upset and Shmi would have to bear it, but at least her son would be free.

She held onto that thought come morning when their Master came to demand their service and began shouting at her, his face turned red. It almost made Shmi miss Watto. The Toydarian had hurt them as well, but he had never raised his voice so much. She’d been able to ignore him then, focus on the pain and lullabies she hummed beneath her cries.

“Where is he!?” Their Master had screamed into her face.

“Here.”

Shmi looked up from the ground and stared at the entrance to their small home where Anakin stood. He looked so much older than he had last night and much more exhausted too. But there was also something else lingering just beneath the surface that she couldn’t name. It reminded her of the hours before a sandstorm when the wind chimes still played their songs but the air was already becoming hard to breathe.

“Leave her alone,” Anakin said, voice flat.

He didn’t sound like her son, Shmi realized. That was what disturbed her. His intonation was off, his body language strange. He stood straight like he wanted to draw attention to himself. No slave stood so proudly, so sure of themselves.

This wasn’t her child anymore.

Their Master’s face twisted into an angry growl. “How dare you, boy!? Where have you been? Answer your Master!”

He hated Anakin, always had, and used every opportunity to ruin her dear son. Every day Shmi had always been forced to watch, to ask Anakin to please bear it so he might survive another day. Their Master only kept Anakin around because his worth as a mechanic outweighed his costs.

The spirit who had taken hold of her son was more powerful than her child. Anakin would fall on his knees, apologies and beg as he swallowed his rage, but the spirit did no such thing.

“You are not my Master,” The spirit snarled.

Their owner took a step forward and then he suddenly stopped. His hands went to his throat and he began choking. His eyes were wide in shock, drool ran out of his mouth and Shmi watched as their tormenter dropped to his knee and died painfully. It was just like in the stories of slaves disappearing into the desert, returning with the storms to wage war on all the Masters.

The spirit’s breathing calmed and cold blue eyes stared at the body on the ground.

“Have you come to free us?” Shmi asked the spirit.

He turned to look at her again, all coolness suddenly disappearing from his face. As if thunder had struck him, he took a step back, helplessness overcoming him.

“I-“

Whatever he wanted to say was interrupted by two piercing cries. He jumped up and rushed outside only to return with two crying bundles. Almost panicked, he began to rock them, but the cries wouldn’t subside.

“Please,” he begged. “I know you didn’t ask for this, please stop crying.”

But the children, newborns if Shmi were to guess, wouldn’t calm.

“May I?” She asked.

The spirit wearing her son’s face observed her, then, hesitantly, gave her one of the children. Dark brown hair covered the babe’s head and their scream was as loud as that of the krayt dragon. Softly Shmi began rocking the child, singing and walking around the small room until they stopped. The other child calmed as well, though the spirit’s attempts at caring for them were by far not as eased as hers. He was like a japor tree, too stiff and harsh, like he was standing only because he was still forcing himself to.

“I used to do the same with my son,” she told the spirit. “Is he still in there?”

The spirit froze, but it was all the answer she needed. Her dear Anakin was gone then, had disappeared into the dunes and left a shifter his body so he may do what Anakin couldn’t.

“Someday, again, maybe,” the spirit answered. “I don’t know. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, I just wanted to erase my mistakes and myself, not this.”

He looked at the child in his arms. The babe was wide awake now, but silent. Their eyes were as blue as her son’s had been, as the spirit’s still were.

“What are their names?” Shmi asked instead of lingering on the spirit’s distress.

“Luke and Leia, they were my children once.”

Their names were beautiful, strong too. The spirit had chosen well for them, they would survive even the harshest of droughts.

“And now they are not anymore?”

The spirit looked lost. His expression reminded Shmi painfully of Anakin. He’d lost that openness as he’d grown older, but as a young boy he hadn’t been shy to show what he was thinking. He had been so bright then already, his being much too big for his small frame.

“They shouldn’t exist,” the spirit said, his voice full of hope despite, or perhaps exactly to contrast his spoken words.

He loved his children, that much was clear to Shmi. She didn’t want to imagine what he’d do to the person who would dare to come in-between him and these two young souls. He had killed their old Master with ease, she doubted he’d afford the same mercy to whoever chose to hurt them.

“My son shouldn’t have either,” Shmi said. It was a common story in the slave quarters, but for Shmi it held true in a way it didn’t for most. “He doesn’t have a father. You’ll find a lot of impossible things in this galaxy.”

“I know,” the spirit replied. “But I stole their rightful parents in my selfishness. I wanted them to grow up happy and safe, nothing more, and yet here they are again, suffering for my mistakes.”

Her Anakin would probably smack the spirit upside the head now. Slaves couldn’t afford to pity themselves or wallow in regret. It was a lesson they learned early on, the spirit must have forgotten it.

“Then perhaps this is what you are here for, to make up for your mistakes.”

The spirit laughed bitterly. “I can’t fix the whole galaxy.”

Shmi thought of her son flying through Beggar’s Canyon and counting the stars at night, even when his lungs ached and his feet were bleeding.

“My Anakin wanted to.”

“I know,” the spirit repeated once more. “He was a fool.”

Anger rushed through Shmi and the spirit, as if sensing the suns burning his flesh, startled, tearing his eyes away from Luke to look at Shmi instead. Shmi could tolerate a lot, her life had been nothing if not a lesson in patience and endurance, but the shifter in her son’s skin wouldn’t talk badly about the gift he’d been given at the cost of another.

“But he has something worth living for. Can you say the same of yourself?”

“I’ve lived four more years for my son and I wanted to erase time for my daughter,” the spirit said slowly. “I don’t know how to do anything but live for others.”

“You ought to learn it then, and when you have, return my Anakin to me.”

The spirit’s lips twitched upwards, an echo of a smile shining through. “Are you bargaining with me?”

The storms settled. The colors slowly disappeared from the sky and left behind the vibrant blue of a new day.

“You spirits made the rules of this desert, I am merely following them. Accept what you have been given to do your work, return when you are finished.”

“I don’t know how to finish, I’ve never known where to start or stop.”

The spirit was being difficult on purpose. Shmi huffed and handed him his daughter back, helped him adjust his hold on her. He needed some sort of carrier bag or perhaps a scarf so he could wrap both children to his chest.

“It seems to me like you are I need of a teacher then. I cannot teach you freedom.”

Shmi looked at her dead owner lying on the ground. She would take her tracker from him, cut it out of herself be free. She could hardly recall what freedom was, she’d been too young when she was captured to understand what luxury she’d been living in. She had to figure that out for herself first before she could show another.

“Do you know someone who can show you?”

“I-“ The spirit’s eyes clouded over and then he closed them. “He’s alive.”

“You know where to go then?” Shmi asked him.

“Yes,” the spirit answered. “Yes, I know where to go. Shmi Skywalker, I promise you, you will see your son again.”

“I will hold you to that promise then.”

Her son returned to her almost two years later. He couldn’t stay, but Shmi had always known he was meant for something greater than the dunes of Tatooine. He was still holding onto the spirit’s children, walking and talking chubby toddlers by now, but he also brought a stranger with him. The man that was introduced to her as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight, had the same old eyes as her son.

Spirits, Shmi learned as she watched the two interact, left their marks.

+1 Count Dooku

Isn’t the most tragic love story

the one that never had the chance to become? The kind that was burned first, Came crashing down after, And finally bled to death in the cold ocean deep Before even one word could be exchanged?

- Thoughts about Icarus & Apollo

Dooku had spent three miserable years imprisoned, wondering when and where it had all gone wrong. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn’t oblivious to his own flaws. He was well aware that he could be arrogant at times, a trait not even Master Yoda’s many meditations had been able to get rid of, but his solitary confinement did force him to occupy his thoughts somehow. With the control he’d learned from birth, he forced himself to go through his every memory, examining even the moments he loathed to remember. Dooku knew now that he never should have let Sidious influence him for so long, Fall for his manipulations instead of Falling for his own beliefs. Created darksiders were never quite as mentally sound as those who had come to the dark on their own. Ventress had been a good example of the latter. Never a true Sith, no, she wasn’t worthy of that title, but her darkness had left her sane where many others of Sidious’s acolytes had submitted to madness.

Now that even the last cracks Sidious had left in his mind had healed, Dooku was beginning to reevaluate his situation and found that he had significantly more power within the safety of his prison than he has assumed. He easily could have been sentenced to death, but the Republic’s new and so Palpatine-distant leadership had spoken against it. Too much death had marred their space, or so they claimed, and Dooku would be a good source of information, should he decide to speak. He hadn’t so far as there was nothing to gain from it. He had been promised a lot, certainly, but while he had enjoyed the riches that came with being the Count of Serenno, he had been brought up as a Jedi. He didn’t need life’s comforts to keep thriving. Nowadays, with his mind clearer and sharper than it had been since before his Fall, Dooku knew that there was something he wanted enough to break his silence. He was plagued by a never-changing vision he was forced to relive in his every nightmare for years now. He wanted answers so he could finally put it to rest.

“I’ll be taking my leave then, Dooku,” Qui-Gon announced.

Like a clockwork, his former Padawan showed up once a month, first asking whether Dooku was willing to give up any final Separatist and Sith secrets, then continuing to speak about their lineage. The news he brought of Obi-Wan were truly fascinating. Dooku had regretted being unable to secure the young man as his apprentice. He was clever, but now Dooku was aware that Obi-Wan was much smarter than he had given him credit for during the war. Truly, he was a master negotiator now walking the fine line between debate and manipulation.

He was certainly a credit to their lineage.

“Bring your Padawan and his partner with you the next time you come,” Dooku told Qui-Gon. The Jedi, ever the diplomat Dooku had raised him to be, didn’t show even a hint of surprise. “I might feel inclined to share some details.”

Qui-Gon only nodded shortly, then left the room, his brown robes flaring behind him. Such dramatics for a man so keen to claim he only sought peace and calm.

Satisfied, Dooku bid Qui-Gon farewell. Neither the Senate nor the Council would let Dooku wait for long. Back in his cell, he fell into a light meditation and waited.

He had become very patient in the last years, the days passed so quickly they were hardly worth counting.

It took barely a month for his request to be fulfilled. Dooku wasn’t surprised to see that his own Master had come along, likely he was there to attempt to get a read on Dooku’s reactions. He didn’t particularly care about hiding his own intentions. In fact, if it became clear that he wasn’t here to lie and spread dissent, it would only work in his favor. Dooku wanted honest answers and Kenobi and the supernova called Skywalker would be able to provide them, at their own expense.

The two of them were a sight to behold as they entered his humble cell. They moved in total synchronicity, something you hardly saw these days anymore. It took years to master such control and affinity. He would have enjoyed dueling the two of them at least once. Obi-Wan was already a terror on his own, but with the backing of Skywalker’s endless power, they could have been the content of legends.

Yoda had accompanied them as well but waited outside. His former Master had only visited him once during the beginning of his imprisonment and their discussion likely would have ended with them crossing blades if not for the fact that neither had been holding onto their ‘sabers. Yoda had to hand his own over and Dooku was certain his own was back in a holding cell in the temple. Obi-Wan and Skywalker both sat down at the table.

“I welcome you to my humble abode,” Dooku said. “How are the two of you?”

Skywalker was the impatience to Obi-Wan’s serenity. He hid it well, let Obi-Wan speak for him and hardly contributed to the small talk, no matter how many questions Dooku directed at him.

“Count,” Obi-Wan finally gave in. Skywalker’s annoyance must have been wearing him down as well. “What do you want? You’ve been refused to speak for years, what changed?”

“I’ve grown annoyed with Qui-gin’s visits and ramblings about your children. Really, Obi-Wan, I’d never have taken you for a revolutionary.”

Skywalker’s eyes narrowed as soon as Dooku mentioned the twins. Truthfully, Qui-Gon hadn’t said much about them, but the way he spoke about them said enough.

“What do you want?” Skywalker hissed.

Dooku leaned back in his chair. Their chit-chat was over, Skywalker was agitated and would misstep if Dooku just played his cards right.

“You see, when my Master died, I was allowed a glimpse into his mind,” Dooku began to speak. This time, Skywalker wasn’t quick enough. He tensed and straightened his posture. “I saw so much shock, not a surprise considering his visions of grandeur, but also a lot of hatred and anger, the latter largely not his own.”

It had overwhelmed Dooku in that moment, sent him to his knees and left him wondering if that was the true darkness. Depths so horrid he wouldn’t ever be able to reach them, no matter how furious he was at the state of the galaxy. It had been so deeply personal, the hatred that stemmed from being entirely unmade.

“I’ve been puzzling about that moment for three years now, hoping it would become more clear-sighted. The longer I’ve been left here on my own, with only my thoughts and Qui-Gon’s incessant ramblings, the more did the vision take shape. I saw a man standing above Sidious. He was young, eyes burning, flickering like the colors of the skies. His words were the most confusing though.”

Skywalker and Obi-Wan had paled considerably. Happy with himself, Dooku smiled in content as he quoted the words that used to sound like white noise back at them.

“‘You will not enslave the galaxy again.’ Tell me, does the Order know it’s been harboring a Sith all these years?”

Skywalker flinched and Obi-Wan rose quickly as if they were in a duel and not seated at a table. So the Order wasn't aware of Skywalker’s nature. Curious, Dooku would have thought it was a reason they let Obi-Wan get away with so many transgressions when it came to Skywalker while the rest of the Order was still so slow to change and accept its own amendments.

“Anakin is not a Sith,” Obi-Wan replied fiercely in defense of the other. The argument would have been more convincing had he kept his calm.

“I have been wondering why Qui-Gon has been so insistent on visiting me all these years, and I believe I have found the answer.”

The Jedi were taught from birth that there was no returning from the dark side of the Force and yet Qui-Gon had been entertaining him when he really should have just let go of Dooku, washed his hands clean of him as Yoda had. Instead, they had talked more civilly with each other lately than they had when Dooku was still a Jedi.

Qui-Gon hadn’t just begun tugging at a non-existent bond for no reason, he had been hoping for a change. It had been this thought that tipped Dooku off. Someone must have planted the thought that Dooku needed to be saved in his mind. Unfortunately, he couldn’t even claim that his former student was wrong. Dooku couldn’t reach for the light, not yet perhaps, it still knocked the air out of his lungs, but the dark wasn’t exactly comfortable still either.

“You might not be a Sith anymore, but your once were,” Dooku told Skywalker. “The taint of the dark never really leaves. Somewhere in between killing Sidious, finding Obi-Wa and returning to the Temple with him, you crawled out of the deepest pit of the dark side, breaking centuries of Jedi teachings while you were at it.”

Skywalker’s hands were clenched to fists. Dooku didn’t need to hear him say it, he had his answer already. No matter how much Obi-Wan would attempt to deny it now, perhaps even attempt to skillfully manipulate the situation in his favor, Dooku knew the truth now.

“Were you Sidious’s other apprentice? I assumed he would have a back-up in case I decided to betray him. He was not much of a banite Sith unlike his own Master,” Dooku continued. “I wondered about your words as well. Was it a vision of the future that forced you to destroy him? Or something more? His thoughts were a mess, but his confusion at your appearance clear. I just can’t tell whether he was shocked you were there at all or because he couldn’t recognize you.”

Skywalker kept silent as Obi-Wan once more started speaking. “Do you have anything concrete you’d actually like to say-”

“Vader.”

The word echoed through the otherwise silent room.

Obi-Wan looked at Skywalker with great concern, but Skywalker was staring at his hands.

“He named me Darth Vader.”

Skywalker looked up and there it was, all that righteous fury, that anger Dooku recognized.

“And I executed you at his behest.”

Obi-Wan took one of Skywalker’s hands. “Anakin-“

Skywalker shook his head. “You want the truth?” He asked, unnecessarily.

“Be my guest.”

“He told me to kill you and I did. I razed the Jedi to the ground. The old, the sick, the young, all of them slain by my blade. I didn’t stop, I hunted them all down to the last member. I killed my wife, I attacked my Master and for over two decades I did every cruelty my Emperor demanded from me. I watched as entire worlds were annihilated, I tortured my daughter, I injured my son because Sidious ordered his apprentice, his slave, to do so. I did it all and worse, nightmares you can’t imagine that make the Clone Wars look like the joke it was.”

Obi-Wan was visibly struggling to keep his breathing under control the longer Skywalker talked, revealing every cruelty he had committed with so much honesty that Dooku believed it even when he knew it couldn’t possibly be the truth. And yet, the Force was not protesting. No, it was weeping with every word, crying for all the souls lost. It sounded like madness, like a horrible vision, a nightmare come alive-

“Time travel,” Dooku finally breathed. “Are you seriously suggesting you and Obi-Wan what- traveled through time? Ripped half the galaxy and its flow to shreds so you could right your wrongdoings?”

Skywalker shrugged, the gesture entirely too boyish for how his hard gaze was fixating Dooku, pinning him to his chair and this gruesome conversation.

“I was dying and begged the Force to take me. I never should have existed in the first place, a child created from nothing. It seemed reasonable to me at the time that something as grand as the power that binds the galaxy together should also be unable to unravel it like threads of yarn.”

“But you’re here.”

“Because of a shatterpoint, maybe. In one timeline Qui-Gon found me on Naboo, in another he didn’t. I didn’t ask for Obi-Wan to come with me, nor did I deserve my children’s presence, but here they are, keeping me tethered to the light. I’ve never been able to hold onto causes for long, I need people around me. You were right when you said that the taint of the darkness will always cling to me. When I faced Sidious, I was so ready to Fall again, return as Vader and ruin myself once more for others.”

Dooku turned to Obi-Wan. “You interfered. I thought I had heard a second voice call out, but I believed I had imagined it.”

Obi-Wan only frowned. “Yes. As soon as I felt Anakin arrive on Coruscant, I knew what he’d do.”

“So you stopped him.”

The conclusion was easy to reach, but Dooku suspected that it hid a thousand more declarations. Obi-Wan would have left the Order for Anakin, perhaps even would have stayed with him had he Fallen again.

“So I did,” Obi-Wan agreed.

Their gazes rested heavily on Dooku’s shoulders. Who would believe him, should he ever reveal the truth that had just been laid bare in front of him? And what more, what would he gain from it? Nothing, Dooku realized. All he’d earn would be Skywalker’s fury, which was so immense it compelled the Force to fulfill his wish, even if not in the way he had wanted it to.

“Why tell me?” Dooku asked once he found his voice again. “You had no reason to.”

“You would have gone digging anyway,” Skywalker replied. “And you’re the only one who figured it out despite being locked away. The others in the temple just got too used to us acting oddly I suppose. I hardly recall what the code actually is and Obi-Wan has been taught better by my son.”

“And you can’t necessarily do anything with this information,” Obi-Wan added. “All you know now is what awaits you when you side-step.”

Yes, Dooku could see that with stunning clarity now. Perhaps this confrontation had been of use for him after all. He didn’t think Skywalker would let anyone who was a threat to his family stay within his reach for long. Dooku would have to reevaluate his plans for the future. He wasn’t a hopeless fool who fought battles he couldn’t win.

“If you were Sidious’s apprentice, I assume you know about his Sith secrets?”

Skywalker snorted. “Yes, but only those he ever saw fit to show me.”

“I am relieved to hear his teaching methods didn’t change then. I shall tell you what I know, you may add whatever intel you have to present to the Council and the Senate.”

Obi-Wan actually looked surprised. “Why?”

“Insurance,” Dooku replied. “And I promised I’d share information with you if you showed up, didn’t I?”

Dooku had made no such promises, but Obi-Wan and Skywalker were kind enough not to call him out on it.

“And I have some knowledge of Separatist groups within the Senate still that might prove useful if you are willing to listen.”

Obi-Wan and Skywalker let him talk for almost an hour, interrupting only a few times to ask questions. At the end of their interrogation, they left the room with an abrupt goodbye. Dooku didn’t think he’d see them again, he was fairly sure he also didn’t want to meet with them again. The burden they were carrying was so heavy it threatened to crush him. There were kinder conversations he could be having.

“Impressionable, they are, hm?” Yoda asked him.

Dooku would have laughed if the knowledge he’d gained wasn’t still twisting his thoughts.

“Very much so,” he replied instead. “Tell me, have they spoken to you about returning from the dark side? I believe their theories have merit. I shall attempt to test them out.”

Yoda smacked his stick against the ground. “A troublesome student you were, troublesome you still are.”

“If you say so, Master. What has Qui-Gon been up to? He has spoken with much enthusiasm about the Order’s more recent reforms. How well are those actually going? He has always had a tendency to embellish his tales.”

Though, with Obi-Wan and Skywalker around, perhaps Qui-Gon’s impossible claims were more truthful than not.

#star wars #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #shmi skywalker #obikin #count dooku #fanfic #aaand this story is finished

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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04/28/2021 DAB Transcript

Judges 8:18-9:21, Luke 23:44-24:12, Psalms 99:1-9, Proverbs 14:9-10

Today is the 28th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian still pretty much floating on cloud nine and enjoying that there's a new little princess in our family. So, China and Reagan are doing well and recovering. And sweet little Reagan, she is adjusting to a whole new way of being as she spends her second day, her second day with us outside of the womb. So, thank you for your continued prayers over China and ben and baby Reagan. Those of…of us who have experienced the coming, the arrival of children, then we understand that it's…it's a game changer, right? The page turns so quickly and all the sudden there's a whole new reality before us and it’s such a glorious beautiful, meaningful, purposeful time. And, so, thank you for your prayers over this little family as they begin to make these adjustments. And ss for all of us, we've gathered around this Global Campfire to take the next step forward in the Scriptures. I could just go off on many, many tangents just gushing. My heart is full right now with this arrival, but my heart is also full that we have gathered around this Global Campfire to take the next step forward in the Scriptures. For the last couple of days, we have been reading the story of the judge Gideon from the book of Judges. And we will continue with Gideon's story today from the book of Judges. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. Judges 8 verse 18 through nine verse 21.

Commentary:

Okay. So, it's pretty striking, jarring even, the magnitude of what we read in the Bible today. It’s like we’re reading this, and we read it and maybe some of these stories we know, or we’ve heard them many times. And, so, we read them but it's earth-shattering stuff, earthmoving stuff that we read about today. So, in the book of Judges we kinda reached the conclusion of the Gideon story. So, Gideon did lead the people to overcome the Midianites and brought peace to the land and they tried to make him king and he wouldn’t be King. And he was a judge for another 40 years and there was peace and then he dies. And then the level of injustice that follows this is staggering. So, Gideon has 70 sons. So, that's a lot of kids and probably they don't even all know each other but one of his sons, his name’s Abimelech and he's from a concubine that lives in Shechem. So, he would've definitely been considered kind of an outsider in the family, not really a true heir in the family. That’s how his other brothers would've looked at him. But once Gideon is dead he goes to his relatives in Shechem and is like, “do you want Gideon's sons ruling over you or do you want me?” Which…which eventually comes to the execution of the 70 other sons. Very tribal, very violent. I mean we can read it through our modern lenses and see the barbarity of it. And it's no less barbaric in a tribal time, but it is more common to attempt to completely and utterly wipe out your enemies by killing them and killing all of their heirs so that the very memory of them is lost so that somebody somewhere along the line can’t grow up and come kill you. But one of the sons escaped, Jotham, and eventually went up on Mount Gerizim. This is the amount of blessing by the way, the one that Moses spoke about, “go to mount Gerizim and recite the blessings of the covenant on Mount Ebal and recite the curses of the covenant…covenant. There…there like two mountains, to giant hills. I mean they’re mountains in that region, but they're not the kind of mountains we would consider the high mountains of the earth. But they’re two mountains and they sit between…well…Shechem is in the middle of them until this very day. Shechem, biblical Shechem, is called Nablus now but Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim are still there. So, Jotham confronts and then he runs for his life and as the story kinda draws to a close, we just see that the people after the judge Gideon dies they just go back and just slide away and go back to worshiping the baals, go back to doing what they think is right in their own eyes. This is the time that there in.

If we turn into the gospel of Luke, I mean the level of injustice at the execution of Jesus is like supreme over all because this is humanity putting God to death. I mean I know that's a jarring thing to think about, but that's what's happening. And, so, we see in the Old and the New Testaments supreme, like just how far humanity can go toward the way of injustice. Like, this is the outcome of just how deeply dark people can go. So, in both of those stories we could say like, there’s…these…this is the level of injustice that is hard to even fathom, but in the same reading today Jesus didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead. That's earthmoving stuff. Like, that's…that's what has landed our lives here today to be hearing this. This is the victory over the darkness. Jesus rising from the dead is essentially a rebirth into life. In fact, that’s not like a metaphor that I'm using, this is something that the apostle Paul will say, that Jesus is the first born into a new thing that God is doing upon the earth and Jesus is the first born into that new thing among many brethren to follow, which is us. I mean the resurrection is overwhelming to think about in the Bible, and we can see in the news, like when the new starts to spread among Jesus followers it…it's…it's unsettling, like this is impossible. Even though Jesus said this would happen, this is impossible. And yet, they very soon find out it's very possible and that affects their lives so profoundly that, although nobody wants to die, they have…they have lost…they’ve seen what's going to happen and they don't fear this and they're willing to give their lives for it, which they eventually do. So, as I was saying to us when we entered into like the garden of Gethsemane and the Last Supper and the arrest and we were moving into this territory gospel of Luke, I mentioned like, let's not blow by this. This is…this is that story. This is the story that changes everything. This is the story that has catapulted our lives to this moment. And, so, we certainly blow by the resurrection, we…we want to contemplate that and meditate upon it today and understand the implications of it in our faith today. This changes everything forever. That's not small. That's big.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank You for Your life and for the example, for Your heart and Your compassion and Your kindness, Your willingness to rescue we who You love, even though we don't deserve Your love, even though we can't earn Your love. Even while we were Your enemies You still came for us. And it's…it’s just that kind of love, that kind of love is what reveals Your kingdom. And we confess that what we want to participate in that. We’re just not capable of that kind of selfless love without Your spirit within. So, come Holy Spirit and lead us on the pathways of love. Love conquers all, even death we are learning. And we learn from song of Solomon that love is stronger than death. And in our reading from the gospel of Luke You were dead and then You were alive. And we are invited into that story. So, come Holy Spirit Awaken us, that this might settle in the profoundness of it we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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And…well…what’s going on around you right now is the arrival of a new member of the family a new Daily Audio baby in our family. And, so, we are certainly thrilled and ecstatic about it and just that this is kind of our prayer request right now, is just the adjustment period and settling in and just all of the transition that goes into bringing a baby into the into the world and into a brand-new family. And, so, that's what's going on around here but everything else you can find out at dailyaudiobible.com.

The Community section, as I say often, is where the Prayer Wall lives and that is an always on and never off place to go. If…if you…if you want to pray or if you're in need of prayer, that's…that's the place to go. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if…if the mission here to…to keep reading God's word fresh every day and offering it to anyone who will listen to it, if that has landed in your life and has made a difference than thank you humbly, deeply, truly for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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And that's it for today on Brian. I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

This message is for Alivia of New Mexico. I heard you say you wanted to hear from the community regarding how you might consider responding to a marriage proposal from a person you've been with for about three years. You mentioned being confused and having a hard time bringing yourself to break up. I hope you will recognize that confusion is a red flag. The enemy of your soul is the source of your confusion and he's come to steal, kill, and destroy. Being unequally yoked is about two in connection who have separate destinations. One honestly wants to go in one direction and the other honestly wants to go in a different direction. When they are yoked together at best they go in a compromised direction, neither going in the direction they wanted to go. That results in regret and mourning the loss of true life purpose. I encourage you to show your man respect and honor by allowing him to go in the direction of his choice. If he truly loves you, he will want you to live in your calling. I encourage you Alyvia, do not compromise truthfulness. Trust God's perfect plan for your life. His plans are always better than we know, and we will never regret trusting the one true God and savior. There is so much we don't know. Maybe your man will come to accept Jesus as a savior and Lord. Regardless of that, it is best not to foolishly rush in but rather wait on the Lord. God is truly good. Father I pray you give Alivia faith to believe your word and courage to follow your direction trusting your love for her and your most excellent perfect plans for her life in place of any other focus. Thank you for seeing us through Jesus loving us and receiving our prayers. We are your children saved and sanctified through Jesus alone. Amen.

Hello daily audio Bible family from London this is Sarah from London and I'm here with my nephews. What's your name? Malachi. And how old are you? 6 years old. And what's your name? Simeon. And how old are you? 3. Yes. And I’ve…they’ve just listened to Ezekiel on the Daily Audio Bible family and they want to say hello to Ezekiel. Say hello to Ezekiel. Hello Ezekiel. How are you? How are you? And what do you think of the…his reading? It was really good and lovely. Yeah, Malachi really enjoys it…really enjoyed listening to the reading today. And, yeah, so…gonna say bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. I hope you're all doing well Daily Audio Bible family and stay blessed. Take care. Sarah from London.

Hey DABbers, this is Retaining Honor, and I am calling in this morning with prayers for Alavia from New Mexico. And your message just so touched my heart because that is…that is my story, and I am unequally yoked with my husband and it is the number one thing that I pray about because I am now raising our child and I feel like I am alone in my spiritual journey. And dear sister that choice is yours to make. You can have a good life with this man that you have chosen and that you described but if it is anything like my situation your entire life you may feel like you are having to choose between the man that you love and the God that you love and the God that you serve. And I…I have not always put my savior first. And I urge you to look at your eternity and to look at your heavenly Father and to put Him first in your life and to think about, that…that this will impact your future family. So, I am praying for you as you are deliberating on this decision. And I love you sister. And also, so many people prayed this morning for Ramona from California. And Ramona I am a 32-year-old with a 7-year-old son and your testimony, your prayer request so touched my heart that I am praying for you dear sister. I can see my son also telling me that it would be OK and giving that same advice. He and I are so very close. So, sister I am praying for healing for you, and I am believing in healing for you and...

Hi Alana from New Mexico. Hey this is also my first time calling __ and I'm in Germany. So, I understand what you're going through. I also myself just got out from a two-year relationship that was really confusing. And one thing that I will share with you is once you're confused, God is not an author of confusion. Even if you do not have the strength to do it, ask the Holy Spirit for help and trust me He will help you to make the very best decision and as a believer that’s a woman only a man that really loves God can love a believing woman. And, so, you have peace, so you are no longer in a state of confusion where you do not have peace of mind ask the Holy Spirit for help. And I go to God. Father, please help Your daughter make the right decision and help her to see what You are protecting her from and please give her peace of mind that passes all human understanding. I love you all this is also my first-time calling in. I really appreciate this program. You all have a beautiful day. Bye.

Hello everybody. Hey this is Anette Allison from Oklahoma City. It is so good to hear you guys. Let you know surgery on my foot went good. Not sure if I have more surgeries or buy more motorcycles the numbers are quite similar. So, anyways thank you all for…for your many thoughts and prayers from most people and Daysha and Sally. I love you two so much. Thank you. Getting ready to go on the 29th to go pick up my son Alex from Durango Colorado and I'm going to haul him from there to my house. I'm gonna clean up his legal work but he's doing super good, and he saved up all the money I mean in like record time to get all the legal stuff handled and he'll be free and clear real soon and I am so thrilled to have him home here just for even a little while. So, pray that everything goes well, the trip is non- eventful. And we're gonna bring our dog and we had to put a big dog down and it was just rough. So, anyways have a wonderful day everyone. Take care. Bye.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family I am about 3 1/2- or 4-year listener calling in from Chicago and requesting prayer. I…for two things. One, I'm faced with a pretty important and quite honestly really tough career decision and I could just use some prayer for clarity and guidance and…and faith and just again a really clear vision on the path that the…the Lord wants me to go as I make this decision. Secondly, just prayers for my son. He continues…he's 25 and continues grow into adulthood and is also being faced with some pretty important adult decisions and I just pray that he will also seek the guidance and confidence and…and clarity to make the best decisions for now and into his future. I really appreciate it and love you all and love this community. Thank you.

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threadsketchier · 5 years

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Whumptober #28 - Beaten

I’m taking some major liberties here and using this as an opportunity to post a fic from like a year and a half ago (or probably more, I only know the date of the last edit on the doc) that’s sat in my Goog drive and doesn’t even have a real title yet. The reference to today’s theme is only a minor part of the story, but I feel like the whole thing should be posted in order for it to read better. I mean, everybody’s emotionally beat up in this, tbh.

Since it’s a bit lengthy I’ll use a Read More cut again.

@onwardintolight @culturevulture73 maybe you might like? I’ll leave some additional notes for you after the end of the story behind the cut.

A familiar and blessed roar thundered through the ship as it bucked in response, catching the occupants of the cockpit off guard and tossing them back. The stars flared and stretched to infinity, pointing the way to freedom.

Incredulous relief rushed through Leia Organa despite the cacophony of electronic shrieking, Wookiee howls, and the histrionics of a spurned protocol droid exploding through the open hatch. Blowing out a harsh breath beside her, Lando cursed softly and muttered, “No, that was too close.”

Leia could only stare out the viewport for a moment, still not quite believing the last-second, well-nigh miraculous jump to hyperspace, half expecting it to be nothing more than a delusion. But the distant steady purr of the hyperdrive reassured her they'd truly made it. Against all odds. Again.

Anguish knifed through her heart at the absence of the one person who would have been crowing the loudest at this latest cheat of fate. She winced as the background din began to grate on her still-raw nerves and looked up at Calrissian.

“I'm on it,” he replied, obviously grateful to have something that could use his immediate attention—away from her. But he paused before exiting, casting a concerned glance at the third figure in the cockpit who hadn't yet moved or made a sound. Leia gave a small shake of her head. Go. I'll see to him, it said. With a hesitant nod Lando departed and mercifully shut the hatch behind him. Everyone's shouts and oaths and noises were still audible but muffled, easier to ignore.

Leia sighed quietly and turned to sit sideways. In the seat behind her Luke was motionless, his face rigid in a blank, glassy stare directed at the deck. She reached out with a light touch and murmured his name to draw him back to awareness.

He flinched at the mild intrusion, blinking and finally focusing on the hypnotic swirl of hyperspace. Insensible from shock, he'd taken no notice of what had happened in the previous few minutes. His wide eyes flicked back toward hers with the same disbelief she'd just felt.

“Yes, Luke, we made it. We're on our way back to the fleet now.”

Inwardly Leia fretted, If it's still there. Enough time had passed that concern about the location of the main Alliance fleet wasn't unfounded. Their last appointed rendezvous above the galactic plane should have been relatively secure, but if anything had caused them to scatter again while she and Han had been out lost and limping between systems...she didn't want to consider the consequences right then.

She and Han.

Not now. Luke needs me.

“I told you I'd be back,” she chided him gently. In their haste to flee Vader's encroaching flagship, she hadn't even had a chance to finish analyzing and treating him; his amputation had taken nearly all of her attention. The auto-tourniquet should have anesthetized the wound, but he was still cradling his arm protectively. Sorrowfully.

Barring an unforeseen shortage, Alliance medics would likely have a suitable prosthetic available in their inventory. Some short-term physical therapy and he'd be back in service. It was easy to consider things in such prosaic terms. But no amount of care was going to lessen or erase the trauma of what he'd gone through to suffer that loss. The damage she could read in his haunted demeanor was etched in as permanently as a tattoo, as irrevocable as the night terrors that lingered from her torment at Vader's hands. What psychotropic drugs had largely wiped from her conscious memory remained to emerge in the darkness between days. This was a kinship she would have never wished for Luke to share.

Alongside her worry and empathy for him bloomed a quiet amazement as well. Luke had faced Darth Vader in personal combat and survived. Less a hand and possibly his sanity, clinging to the literal edge of the bowels of Cloud City, torn and battered and bruised to a pulp—but he had survived. As distant as the hope now seemed, Leia could understand in greater depth the inspiration he posed to the Alliance as the resurrection of the Jedi Order. Destroying the Death Star had been an incredible feat, and his skill in flight for a man his age was exceptional, but this...this was going to make him a legend among the ranks, for better or for worse.

She didn't know much about his father beyond the rare and inflated talk that she heard whispered from time to time. But perhaps those tales about General Skywalker weren't all aggrandized vapor. In hindsight, Leia was somewhat surprised that her own father had never spoken of him when telling her the history of the Jedi. Those who were old enough to recall him in more detail had commented that Luke shared his looks, if not his height—as well as his recklessness and ingenuity. This day had proven that he carried more than a familial resemblance and fleeting, propaganda-fueled dreams of lost power.

Smiling faintly, she cupped his unmarred cheek in her palm to beckon him. “Come on.”

He seemed to gather himself a bit, drawing strength from the silent reassurance she tried to project to him. As she rose he stood shakily to follow her, and she draped his left arm across her shoulders. He leaned into her, his breathing labored with pain she had yet to address. A twinge of anxiety wrung her stomach at the possibility that he might have more extensive internal injuries.

Outside of the cockpit, they were met with a disgruntled Chewbacca nursing a sore head and an even sorer mood. Lando was down on one knee beside R2-D2, his attention fixed on the still-one-legged and precariously balanced C-3PO. “He said, sir, that the hyperdrive has indeed been fully repaired and is operating at peak functionality. It had merely been deactivated.”

Hearing them approach, Lando quickly glanced up at Leia. “Princess, I swear to you, my techs did as they were instructed. I had no idea—“

Gods, she just wanted to punch him. To break those perfect rows of teeth and the jaw that held them, make him bleed the way her soul was bleeding out from the gaping hole torn in her heart. In that moment she didn't care that the weight of an entire city must have pressed down upon him far more than the memory of a dubious friendship, just as she had tried to hold Alderaan fast while offering up Dantooine as a sacrifice. Every muscle in her body and razor shard of her spirit wanted to hurt him as terribly as he'd hurt her—

“Thank you.”

Her thoughts of violence jolted to a halt at the sudden, ragged whisper by her ear. Lando stopped and stared back at Luke, no doubt wondering about his state of mind when he was breaking into a conversation he wasn't even a part of.

“Thanks for bringing me in,” Luke said softly. He had no idea. All he knew of this man was that he was another ally, one who had aided in their escape and been willing to climb aboard the Falcon's windswept hull to pull a total stranger to safety.

Looking profoundly uncomfortable, Lando averted his eyes for a moment before waving away the gratitude. “It was nothing,” he mumbled.

Leia relinquished her anger in a long, slow breath. For Luke's sake she would cover it for now, like a dormant volcano beneath a glacier. Shielding herself in ice once more, she fixed Calrissian with a regal glare of dismissal and addressed Chewbacca instead. “Chewie, would you plot our next course?”

Deep-set blue eyes mirrored her own tension and grief, conveying the silent understanding between them that the former baron was not to be allowed near the controls for the rest of their journey. With a low whuff he set aside his tools and headed for the cockpit, to exit hyperspace and take several more randomized jumps before finally setting route toward the fleet.

As she passed by the droids, R2 gave a mournful little hoot at the sight of Luke's condition. Precocious astromech that he was, Leia still mouthed down at him, Keep an eye on Lando. His photoreceptor swiveled and winked at her and he replied with an affirmative chirp. Far less discreet, C-3PO exclaimed loudly while brandishing his detached leg, “Oh, poor Master Luke, you're in nearly as dreadful a state as I am! Did those horrid stormtroopers dismantle you as well?”

Leia turned her head back and shot him a look that threatened to smelt him where he stood, but to her surprise Luke coughed out a small, brittle laugh. “No,” he croaked, more to himself than the droid. “Not them.”

“Well, sir, rest assured, you'll soon be in excellent care, which is far more than I can say of this negligent, insensitive little swillpot...” His rattling and R2's ear-splitting retorts echoed down the passageway to the medical cabin.

A thorough scan with the medisensor revealed no other serious injuries beyond some bruised ribs, a couple of mild sprains, and dehydration, though he was practically one massive contusion from head to toe. Before going any further, Leia loaded an ampoule of painkiller into a hypospray and prepared to clean a spot on his exposed shoulder to deliver the dose, but paused when Luke leaned away from her, eyes flashing in fear.

It took only a moment for her to comprehend. “It's non-narcotic,” she reassured him, and he slowly dropped his gaze.

No, she knew all too well, she thought grimly. Sleep was the enemy, although his body would desperately need it. Later, between bacta treatments and surgeries, he would have no choice. But she would not force him into it now.

With a pair of shears, she carefully cut away the tattered and filthy remnants of his jacket and singlet to undress him without causing his arm any further discomfort. In the cool air of the ship, and at the icy bite of antiseptic solution and bacta salve, he began to shiver and curl in on himself. “I'll be done soon,” Leia whispered, trying to soothe him. He shut his eyes tightly as she dabbed at the scrape on his cheekbone, but she suspected it had nothing to do with the sting of her ministrations. She could tell he wanted to cry but was holding it back fiercely.

His last words to her on Hoth emerged from her memory. I have to go away for a while. Still simmering from her argument with Han, and not expecting to hear that both of the men she'd grown to care for so deeply were leaving her, she'd been too upset to let him continue. It hadn't been the first time Luke had stepped away from the Alliance for his own reasons either; not long after Yavin he had told her, Until I'm something more than I am now, I shouldn't even be here.

He had considered himself a danger, a liability, to both their tightly-knit group and the Alliance at large, as an untrained Jedi. The truth was that they were all hazards to each other, made vulnerable by the bonds they had allowed to form in spite of the risks they faced each day. The moment that Lando had revealed Vader's true motive for their seemingly senseless torture, everything had fallen into place with a terrible clarity. With his strong connection to both the Force and them, Luke had to have felt their pain; it was the only way he could have known exactly where to find them when their location was completely unknown to him.

Leia wondered where he had been all this time, where he'd managed to discover another place to learn the Jedi ways. Beneath ozone, sweat, and blood, the musky and mineral scents of wet earth and rotting vegetation clung to his fatigues. It had to have been a verdant, swampy place. She longed to ask him all about his experiences, but now was not the time. Perhaps never. While a limb could be replaced, his father's lightsaber could not, and this time there would be no retrieving it. Although he had been rescued, it was as if his soul had fallen away into the depths of Bespin's clouds, and only the shell of his body remained with them.

“There.” Disposing of the small pile of wrappers and gauze she'd made beside him, Leia stood and draped the blanket around his shoulders. “I'll be back in a few minutes.” She needed to bring him water and some clean clothes and extra bedding to make him at least a bit more comfortable while she finished treating him. But as she turned away his hand abruptly darted out and caught hers, stopping her.

“We'll get him back, Leia.” His voice was raw and thin, but held an edge of durasteel. “I swear.” Despair and determination fought against one another in his bloodshot gaze, and she realized he was clutching at the words as a lifeline, a promise not only to her but to himself. The sense of failure threatened to devour him just as it nipped at her heels and breathed down her neck daily, and if Han was lost forever, they would both be swallowed up.

If it would save him, she would stand in the path of the ravager and let it consume her first. She was well acquainted with her hunter. But now that they ran this road together, she knew he would never leave her side, and would only do the same for her.

Perhaps together, they might no longer be prey.

Leia nodded solemnly and squeezed his cold fingers in return, and kissed his cheek. Slowly, reluctantly, he released her hand, as if letting her out of his sight for even a moment would shatter the illusion that he was safe, that she and everything else around him was real.

Yes, they would get Han back, because they had to. Because it was the right thing to do. Because she didn’t know how she would survive otherwise, not after she’d finally bared her heart and soul to him, too late. But she wanted Luke to understand that even if they didn’t—even if they had to face a future alone, bereft of a lover and a brother—he would not be worth any less to her. He had not failed them. It was not his fault. To convince him of this, however, would be futile now, and for a long time to come. All she could do for now was to help mend his broken body, and hope she could eventually reach the broken spirit within.

***A/N: We all know Lando Did Nothing Wrong™. He made the most ethical choices he could on the fly when faced with Imperial subjugation, and went above and beyond to help both The Squad and his own citizens. The intention of this fic was to cover the time period between their escape from Bespin to the closing scene of the movie where we can see them all recovering and with an obviously repaired bond with Lando. Leia was meant to have an arc in which she comes to empathetic terms with Lando’s actions and realizes she doesn’t need to “forgive” him, as he really has nothing to apologize for, though he does, because he’s an upstanding and thoughtful guy. But here, she’s like a wounded animal, raw and furious and hurting, and she’s human. Leia should be just as vulnerable to her own personal dark side as much as her brother, and I prefer not to shy away from showing that.

#where everything is terrible & everything hurts #whumptober2019 #no.28 #my fics #star wars #leia organa #lando calrissian #luke skywalker #chewbacca #c-3po #r2d2 #ESB

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dhufflebee · 5 years

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binary sunset (a mileven fanfiction)

One-shot Fandom: Stranger Things Rating: Teen and Up Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: El Hopper x Mike Wheeler Characters: Mike Wheeler, El Hopper Additional Tags: Fluff; Mike is an awkward angsty boy; El is an emotional ball of cuteness; Characters Watching Star Wars; rated T for some swearing; set between seasons 2 and 3

read on: AO3 | ff.net Summary: Mike shows the first Star Wars movie to El, and she is so enraptured by the binary sunset scene that Mike kinda forgets about the movie and just stares at her. A lot of thoughts and tears and softness are involved, too.

(Based on a tumblr promt I sent to someone... before resolving to write the fic myself. Who knew this couple of awkward teens would be the thing that brought me back to writing fanfiction - hopefully I did them justice.)

Mike didn’t think El’s eyes could get brighter than they already were.

He had been planning the day for a while, and he had been more and more nervous as it approached. What if she laughed at him? Rolled her eyes at him? What if she didn’t like one of his favorite movies ever? Mike knew such a train of thought was stupid, that El would never be mean to him and mock his passions, but deep down he was afraid the tiniest thing might drive her away.

She had been back for so little time that, every so often, Mike still found himself catching his breath when she appeared in his line of sight while he was distracted. He had felt so desolate and angry while El was gone, reaching out into the void every single day hoping to catch a glimpse of her spirit, hoping to find support in those hardest months, that when she had finally reappeared and he had looked at her and smiled at her and hugged her, he had felt like something (no, everything) was cracking and being put back together at the same time. And the rebuilding part wasn’t over yet: every time El laughed, or scrunched her nose, or tucked her hair behind her ear, Mike could feel a spark, like a little part of his soul was going back into the right spot inside of him.

But at the same time, the previous year had left a scar on his heart (on both of their hearts), and he feared that the slightest incomprehension, the smallest silly thing could open the wound back again, throwing him into that dark hollow place where he had suffered so much.

At that moment, though, Mike’s head was in a whirlwind, all these thoughts progressively silenced by one distinct feeling: how on heart can El be so beautiful? And how are her eyes so much brighter than ever? He caught himself staring at her sitting beside him, her knees up to her chest and her feet bare on the couch. He tried to avert his eyes, and he managed to for maybe ten seconds, during which he dazedly looked at the tv screen. The way El’s hands were resting on her ankles and the way she had draped the cotton blanket on her shoulders as if it was a cloak, though, kept drawing Mike’s attention away from the movie. Not that he cared much about Star Wars, that afternoon.

No, scratch that: Mike cared. Not really about the movie per se, but about what El would think of it. He longed to share his passions with her, to introduce her to all the things he loved (and hopefully to be introduced to what she loved, as well), and he had decided Star Wars was maybe the best place to start. The story was compelling, the characters well-rounded, and the sceneries? He could gush for hours about those three movies, and he really hoped El would be willing to listen to him after that day.

The only problem was, Mike couldn’t remember a damn thing about Star Wars. Not while he was looking at El’s hair, at the way her curls were kind of disappearing now that she was letting her hair grow, but were still visible in the loose strands that would fall around her face. And neither while he was musing on the adorableness of her nose, perfectly shaped at the center of her profile, just above those cute pink lips of hers, whose smile and shape and warmth he had missed so much and was looking forward to never miss again.

Maybe he would need to ask El for a refresh about Star Wars, all things considered. For all of Mike’s staring, she had never looked away from the screen, so focused on what was going on that she was barely breathing. Most of all, Mike was in awe of the brightness of her eyes – and it wasn’t merely a reflection of the screen, but a light that he knew was coming from inside her, a fire they were trying to rekindle together and that was slowly getting stronger with each passing day. Maybe his eyes were that bright too, when he watched Star Wars… or maybe they were at that moment, while he was contemplating El. Had the circumstances been different (hadn’t he felt so damn awkward), he would have asked El about his own eyes (jesus), but he really didn’t want to disturb her (sure Mike, that’s the reason).

The minutes were passing by, and Mike’s brain was subconsciously registering the scenes of the movie as they were unwinding. He half-heard a dialogue about a farm, a harvest, and an academy, and he knew exactly which moment was approaching. Those few notes were enough to give him goosebumps, even though this time he suspected his emotional response to the Force Theme might be enhanced by watching El being enraptured by it. There it was, a binary sunset he could recognize without the need to see it, the music swelling, and— (holy shit, are those tears? why is El crying? shit shit shit shit shit shit shit)

Mike froze on the couch. Damn, those weren’t the kind of tears he sometimes saw mom or Nancy shed in front of the tv – El was bawling. She was shaking, water falling down her cheeks and dropping from her chin, her bright eyes getting redder and redder.

“El? W-what’s happening?” Mike’s voice was as shaky as El’s shoulder, and in the back of his mind he hated that he wasn’t able to project calmness and safety for her sake, even more so in such a mundane moment.

“Oh, Mike”, El answered in a tiny voice, with her face half-buried between her knees and tears still dampening her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to cry like this, but I really can’t help it!”

(Ah shit damn it, I’m so stupid, I should have never made her watch Star Wars without checking beforehand somehow, and now I made her relieve god knows which awful moment and she hates it and she hates me and—)

“It’s just… It’s so beautiful!” El almost yelled that last word, but her voice cracked, and a new bout of tears pooled under her eyes.

“What?” Mike was taken aback, unable to properly process El’s words while his own internal monologue was still berating him. “What?” He must have been looking silly, eyes wide open and expression dumbfounded, because El smiled a little and reached for Mike’s hand, grasping it with her own and gently tugging his arm.

Mike shook his head and looked at El’s face: her eyes weren’t actually sad nor angry nor distraught… if possible, they were shining ever more than before. He could feel himself frowning for a second, but then something clicked. “Were those happy tears? Like, that many?” He asked her, eager for an affirmative answer, hoping he hadn’t fucked up completely.

Instead of answering directly, though, El laughed, and Mike inhaled sharply, before realizing that she wasn’t laughing at him, but that it was a genuinely joyous sound. Maybe he hadn’t ruined it all, maybe he’d been stupid for doubting himself so much – and El, too.

Her fingers still entangled with his, El scooted closer to Mike on the couch, reaching with her other hand towards his forehead to smooth the lines between his brows. “Mike, hey. Those were emotional tears, but from a good emotion… I’m not really sure how to explain it but, I don’t know, that sunset, and Luke looked so lost, and that music! It really spoke to me, I loved it, but it seems like the only way I could express it was by crying?” El was fumbling with the hem of the blanket and she wasn’t looking at Mike anymore, a shade of uncertainty in her expression.

While El tried her best to explain her tears, Mike felt something warm and soft grow in his chest, something similar what he had felt the very first time he had managed to make her laugh. He smiled fondly looking at her small hands and at the spots on her jeans still wet with tears, and reached tentatively with his hand to brush El’s cheek. As soon as she felt the light touch of his fingers, she turned her head towards him and smiled, gently pressing her face on his hand. Mike loved it when El did that, feeling (hoping) she was so eager for contact as he was while his own hand cupped her cheek, her hair all over her temple and his fingers.

“Thank you for showing me that, Mike. I’m happy I saw that scene with you.”

Mike thought about telling her that he hadn’t been actually watching the movie, but he figured it would sound silly, given how much he had insisted on them seeing it together. Instead, he leaned on the backrest of the couch a bit more, positioning himself so that El could rest comfortably on him. Mike would have gladly spent the rest of the afternoon, or of the week, or of his life (woah there, okay) in that exact position, with El’s head on his shoulder and him absentmindedly playing with her hair. “Thank you for being here with me”, Mike answered, and he felt El smile against his polo shirt.

A few minutes passed, aliens and spaceships and lasers still filling the screens, but Mike wasn’t paying attention, being focused more on El than on anything else, on how good it felt to be able to hug her and touch her and talk to her. On how at home he felt with her beside him.

“Mike?” El asked suddenly, her voice a bit muffled. “Do you think we can go back with the movie a bit? We missed some scenes and I’m not sure I’m understanding everything… And I really want to watch this properly because it’s your favorite movie and I want to know every part of you and I want to love this as much as you do.” El propped herself on her arm and turned towards Mike, blushing a bit and looking him in the eyes.

Mike smiled so fondly he felt he might start to cry, the warm bubble in his chest growing even more. “Of course,” he said, before kissing her softly on the forehead (oh, this is a first, it feels nice… why have I never done this before?). He grabbed the remote and rewind the movie until just before the binary sunset scene, so that they could watch it – again, properly – together. Hopefully El wouldn’t cry again, or maybe she would and he would as well, and honestly it wouldn’t even matter, because that scene had just become his favorite one in Star Wars, and maybe some wonderful music would be the perfect cover for the tears of joy and hope and dedicated affection he felt the need to shed.

#mileven #el x mike #mike x eleven #stranger things #st fanfiction #mike wheeler #el hopper #my fics #fanfiction #me #well here we are #in the end i actually wrote it!#who knew these two would bring me back to writing fanfiction

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dxlansfxck · 5 years

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Saints & Sins [G.D] Part 08

Even days later, Y/N still couldn’t decide between Grayson and Luke, she even tried to avoid both of them. She saw Luke during their classes but didn’t respond to his longing glances. Grayson’s and her room kept quiet until midnight, when Grayson decided to come home to sleep. Both were trying to catch her attention with loving gestures, she got flowers from Luke and each morning a lovely joint from Grayson.

She knew she couldn’t avoid her decision much longer – neither to hurt her lovers nor hurt herself. It strained her nerves to stand between two fronts. Sure, she liked Luke, he was nice and thoughtful, always listened to her problems and distracted her from Grayson, but he was kind of boring. Grayson on the other hand was the spirit that burnt her insides. She loved him and she knew that, but he was a dangerous person. But what was it she was looking for? Harmony and a daily routine or rather the charm of danger? Something that kept her alive but didn’t excite her or something that gave her life sense, but could end it decades earlier?

She saw Grayson and Luke wherever she went, everyone in the smoker’s corner looked like Gray, her gym class was full of boys like Luke, wearing tight shirts that show off their biceps. But neither were really them. And Y/N was still lonely like she was before. But this time, she didn’t enjoy it at all.

___

Days came and went by. Days where she wanted to be hold, wanted affection but didn’t want to cheat on either of them. When she wanted to cuddle Luke, she would want to kiss Grayson. When she wanted to kiss Luke, she would want to make out with Grayson. When she wanted to make out with Luke, she wanted Grayson to fuck her.

She compared her possibilities with them, a future would be easier with Luke, she could finish college and move in with him, marry him and have his children. She wouldn’t have this opportunity with Grayson, she didn’t even know if he’d be still alive after college. They wouldn’t be able to afford a house if they’d keep taking drugs. Of course, she thought about making Grayson to take part in a drug withdrawal. Cold Turkey. No medicine, just pure pain. He could do that for her. For their future. He promised her. He loved her. Luke wouldn’t take any risk for her, his life was perfect. He didn’t need anything to hold on to survive. Grayson did in fact need her. She was his anchor, his lifesaver. He needed her. And Y/N decided against Luke, for Grayson, for their future, for their love.

Luke,

I can’t talk to you face to face, that’s why I’m writing this letter for which you’re maybe going to hate me. But I’m promising you, I won’t let you suffer. I know, you might be right. I might regret my decision, but I had to make it. I think we both knew it from the beginning. All three of us knew. I’m sorry. It’s breaking my heart to tell you that I chose Gray. Can I even call it a decision if both ways break my heart?

Luke, I’ve never had so much fun before, you made the last weeks such a pleasure for me. I think you brought up feelings I’ve never felt. Maybe even love. But nevertheless, Grayson needs me. I know you’ll find someone else quickly, you’re such an amazing person. Your future girl won’t destroy you like I would, you’ll have the perfect future together which I may not even have. You’ll be happy, Luke.

Don’t cry after me, don’t be sad, you’ve earned someone better. Don’t think I didn’t love you, somewhere deep inside me is a spot just for you. But it’s too small to change anything.

Do something with your life. For me. For yourself.

Y/N

Y/N didn’t hand Luke the letter herself. She was way too scared of him changing her mind. But after she knew he received it, he never talked to her again. She waited on top of her bed, drawing and listening to music until the door opened. She got quite anxious while Grayson walked into the room and let himself fall into his own bed, not giving her any attention. “Hey.” Y/N didn’t know what else to say, but he didn’t mind to answer anyways. “How are you? Don’t you wanna come back to our classes?” Damn, what kind of bullshit was she actually talking about? “Okay, mom.” Stubborn and dismissive like always. “Call me mom once again and I won’t be able to hold myself back, baby”, she tried to loosen up the mood, but he didn’t even laugh. “Okay, sorry”, then he stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Y/N alone and she was close to giving him up.

____

One night, Grayson came back quite early and didn’t seem to be as high as he used to be. Without hesitating, Y/N tried to take her chance, slipping under his blanket and hugged his body. “I chose you, you know that, right?“ He didn’t look at her, but didn’t remove her arms either. “Grayson, I told Luke that I love you. I want to be there for you, want to be your anchor.” Grayson just snorts.

“Can you just shut up, Y/L/N? I’m so tired of your crying. I know you chose me, but you did because you felt guilty. Do you understand that I don’t need your help? God, just go to Luke and live the life you want, I don’t even have a future, I’m letting myself live for another year then I’m gonna die anyways”, she was about to say something, but he just shakes his head, “Just let it be, angel. I’m fine, really.”

Their door opened and Y/N automatically skids, turning her head to the new arrival in their doorframe. She thought it was Luke, but she couldn’t remember that face at all. “Y/N, that’s Jaidon, but everyone calls him Jai. Hey, Babe”, he stands up and walks over to Jai, kissing him in front of her. She was either going to cry or to vomit, but smiled for them. “I’m glad you found someone and completed our relationship. Good luck you two”, she claps Grayson’s shoulder before heading out, leaving the campus and walking straight into some corner of the city she came to every single day a few weeks ago. She bought some of the pills she used to take and swallows a few of them on her way home. Her eyes were already closing as she comes back into her room, so she just lets herself fall under her blankets without even taking her pants off. She didn’t care about them. But what she actually did care about were those noises coming from Grayson’s bed. She turns her head once again, just to see Grayson and Jai. Jai on top of him, his tattooed arms next to Gray’s head, a thin layer of sweat on both of their foreheads. “Fuck, Gray”, Jai moans. Grayson didn’t respond, his mouth hung open and his eyes were closed. They didn’t even realize they weren’t alone anymore. Y/N on the other hand decided not to disturb them, swallowing two more pills before dozing off in a deep sleep.

___

“Fuck, babe, keep on going”, muscular arms were wrapped around Y/N’s tiny waist while she moves her hips I a steady rhythm. Deep growls and moans leave the mouth under hers, sweat dripping from her forehead on his chest while his nails were dragging lines across her body. Soon enough she collapsed on top of him while gasping for air. She laid her head on his muscular chest, long fingers were brushing through her hair. Soon enough she was under the shower to wash off the typical sex smell, just to head back to class, to sit next to Grayson, to ignore him and to keep on flirting with his affairs twin. She really gave up on Grayson, was living her own life and shares her bed with Shawn. He was currently winking in Y/Ns direction while biting his lip to hide a smile. Laughing, Y/N shakes her head and flips him off, making Grayson groan in annoyance. “Jealous?”, she smiles. “Dream on, I’ve got the hotter twin.”

Even though they weren’t really a couple, Shawn and Y/N spent most of their free time together. She couldn’t help it, once he opened his mouth she was lost in his accent. Shawn and Jai were from Canada, their mom sent them to this college because they hat a similar past to Grayson’s. Even if she wasn’t spending time with him, she was ongoing high. Shawn had the best connections to get the best drugs in here, Dope, Weed and even Shore. Y/N was happy with trips and weed, but Gray didn’t seem to mind Jai’s stash of opiates. He changed, resembles a corpse more and more each day. Pale, skinny and no expression left in his eyes. She was somehow regretting breaking up with Luke for him, because the only thing she had left for Grayson was hate.

Back in her room she saw Grayson and Jai with a rolled banknote in their hands and blood dripping noses. She just snorts while sitting down at her desk to learn, trying to get done with everything as fast as possible to get out of this hell, to move away from the person that destroyed her. Away from Grayson Dolan.

___

“C’mon, don’t act that dumb! It’s just maths, how can you not understand anything from that? I even understand that stoned!” Jai shakes his head while fanning the math book in front of her face. Shawn sits next to him and rolls his eyes. “Not everyone can be a math pro like you, brother. Be patient with my girl or I’m telling mom that you’re on H again”, Shawn smiles at his twin whose face got directly softer. “Sorry, Shawny. Okay, again. What haven’t you understood so far, Y/N? Do you know how to get to the scalar product?” Y/N nods while thinking about this awkward situation. Jai was trying to help her with her math problem, while his twin was sitting next to them, sometimes stealing a kiss from her. Shawn made her ask Jai to tutor her, just to spend more time with him and to get to know him better. Even though she’d prefer Shawn teaching her, Jai wasn’t too bad. If he wouldn’t be with Gray, she could maybe even like him.

____

"Good luck, Y/N. It’s gonna be the last exam, after that we’re getting wasted!”

4 ½ hours later they were sitting at the lakeside, beer in their hands and smiles on their faces. “Fuck, we made it”, Shawn laughed while taking a deep sip. “Not yet, babe. Exams, yes. Results, no. But for now, that’s it, you’re right”, he kissed her cheek while emptying his bottle. “Thank you too, Jai. I thought I had to hate you ‘cause of Gray, but you really helped me. If I didn’t have Shawn, I’d maybe hook up with you”, Y/N laughed while checking him out. Jai smirks. “Don’t worry about Grayson, he doesn’t give a fuck about relationships. We’re just fucking, but I wouldn’t want to love him.” She raises her eyebrow, almost feeling like she had to defend Grayson. But right in that moment, he was weaving in their direction and letting himself fall next to Jai which rolls his eyes and smirks at me before pressing his lips onto Grayson’s.

#Grayson dolan #graysondolan #Dolan twins #Grayson Dolan fanfiction #fanfiction #blurb #smut #Dolan twins fanfiction

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whillsofstars · 5 years

Text

Chapter 14

REY-----------------------------------------------------

It seemed like barely any time had passed since Rey took her first steps on the craggy island where she had first begun her journey as a Jedi. Back then, there were so many questions, so many details of her life left unknown, and while she had come farther than she imagined at the time, there was still so much left unanswered.

The thundering crash of the ocean’s waves upon the enduring rock of the island - Luke’s island - brought her mind back to the present. She had come for a reason, and that reason was to find Kylo Ren. Still, she wasn’t entirely sure what would happen when she found him.

Taking one quick look back at the Falcon and making sure she had closed the landing pad (preventing another infestation of porgs), she began her ascent up the ancient steps cut into the rugged terrain.

The imposing rock of the island was carpeted with the same, lush greenery she remembered from her last visit. Could it have really been over a year since she last stepped foot on Ahch-To? Time was funny that way. A year had passed before her and she hardly felt as if much had changed since she first made contact with the legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. And yet, so much was different. She was different.

Her mind moved to the memory of Luke’s first lesson about the living Force. Out of instinct, she placed her hand firmly into the plush greens covering the island and closed her eyes, giving into the interconnected world of the Force. Warm and cold. Life. Death. Peace and violence. The balance. She could still feel it all at once. Everything existed together, even the light and the dark.

But there was a difference in the dualities of the island that didn’t exist before. Now, she could feel him - Kylo - and with him, a tumultuous energy, almost like a battle waging itself across time and space between both of the life forces that resided within his soul. I’ve seen raw strength like this only once before, a voice whispered in her memory.

A slow breath escaped her lips. She needed to recenter herself. Kylo’s wild Force signature threatened to overcome her calm, meditative state.

When peace settled back into her mind, she pushed her energy outwards trying to pinpoint his exact location.

Almost instantly, surprise overtook her emotions and her eyes snapped open to meet the gaze of those standing just before her. A gasp escaped her lips as she struggled to maintain her footing, preventing herself from falling backwards.

The source of the shock stood just mere inches away from where she stopped to meditate. While still struggling to regain her balance, Rey’s eyes rose to meet the gaze of the one before her, Alcida-Auka, the matron of Ahch-To’s caretakers.

“Alcida!” Rey gasped. “Where did you come from?”

Alcida-Auka continued to stare searchingly, as if trying to stitch together the meaning behind Rey’s return. Rey didn’t know much about Alcida-Auka, other than how highly intelligent she was...and that she was one of the caretakers who was almost crushed by the boulder Rey split in two with her saber...and that she was one of the first to respond to the damage Rey had caused to her hut. Come to think of it, Rey was almost certain that Alcida-Auka must have been thankful to see Rey leave. Admittedly, Rey always felt bad about that.

Alcida-Auka continued to stare at her, arms crossed. Her gray lips pursed into a fine line.

When it seemed that neither of them would be the first to break the silence, Rey let out a long sigh. She had some apologies to make. “Alcida, I ask for your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the other caretakers,” she began, casting her eyes down before continuing. “I left a lot of damage the last time I stayed with you.”

She paused at the memory of her first visit, so eager was she to begin training with Luke Skywalker. Being back on the island and knowing that he wouldn’t be here reopened the wound that she had believed had been healed. A lump began rising in her throat, threatening to bring tears to her eyes.

Seeing Rey’s distress, Alcida-Auka shed her icy demeanor and gently placed a weathered hand on her shoulder, offering what little comfort she could. “No one’s ever really gone, child,” she said in her gentle, motherly tone.

Rey’s head snapped up so that she had a better look at Alcida-Auka. “You speak Basic?” she asked in complete surprise. Being from a planet as remote as Ahch-To without modern technology, Rey had assumed that Basic had missed the Lanai. In fact, not a single one of the caretakers had spoken to her the last time she was here.

“We’ve had visitors like yourself come and go since the beginning of the Lanai,” she clarified. “At some point, one of them shared this language with us so that we could better assist future visitors.”

Now she understood. The caretakers had been giving her the cold shoulder as punishment for the damage she caused.

“There’s been more visitors to Ahch-To?” Rey had assumed that no one had known about this little planet.

“Jedi Skywalker was not the first, no,” Alcida-Auka confirmed. “The temple has called to a handful of others since its birth. All of them took this knowledge to their deaths.”

“Were they all Jedi?”

“No. Some were children of the Dark. Others did not possess the gift,” she said casually.

Rey paused a moment to consider this.

Sensing her opening, Alcida-Auka posed a question of her own. “Why have you returned to us?” she demanded. “You left in such a hurry the last time, the Lanai believed that to be the last we would ever see of you.”

“Oh.” Yes it was true. She did leave in quite the rush. After discovering the truth about Ben Solo and Luke’s betrayal, Rey rushed straight to Kylo Ren naively believing what her vision had shown her when they touched hands.

It would appear as though not much had changed, for she found herself yet again chasing after Kylo Ren.

“Alcida, I’m actually here because I’m looking for someone,” she began. “Is there a man visiting Ahch-To now? He’s quite large - tall, that is - taller than me. His skin is pale. Dark hair. Deep brown eyes.”

Alcida-Auka said nothing as if considering whether or not to help Rey in her search.

“Please Alcida, it’s very important that I find him,” she practically begged.

“He’s here,” she said curtly. “But let me make this clear young one. Bloodshed is forbidden on the home of the temple,” she warned waving one small, gray finger in Rey’s direction.

“Alcida, I’m not -”

“Is that understood?” Alcida-Auka said cutting her off.

“Yes, of course,” she said, surprised at her sternness.

“Good,” she said with a nod before turning around and making her way back up the side of the island. “I’ll take you to him, but first I will show you where you shall stay,” she called not bothering to address Rey, who was now trailing behind her.

“Why is it that the children of the light and dark never get along?” she mused more to herself than to Rey.

Together, they climbed the steep steps carved into the side of the island. All around them porgs were fluttering about, minding their own business. While she didn’t want another family to take up residence in the Falcon, Rey had to admit there birds were a little cute in their own way. There was something about their round, sad faces that seemed to soften her heart.

They were about half way between the Falcon’s landing pad and the ancient huts when tiny droplets made contact with her cheek announcing the fast approaching downpour.

Rey quickly withdrew a poncho from her satchel and draped it over her head and shoulders. It was just in time, for the second she threw it on, the rain grew harder. Alcida-Auka had nothing to shield herself against the pelting rain, though it didn’t seem as though she minded. Not too long ago, Rey would have been elated to let the water fall upon her skin, forming small rivers across her body if the rain was heavy enough. Water was such a precious commodity on Jakku, but here, there was an abundance of it. Its coolness against her skin refreshed her mind, body, and spirit. To think she spent years in the desert without experiencing the true healing effects of water. But now, she was all too quick to shield herself from the small, glass-like droplets that she once welcomed with joy.

Well, maybe a few things have changed, she mused.

Soon enough, they reached the cluster of stone huts nested on the side of second highest peak on the island, which provided a spectacular view of the ocean below them.

Alcida-Auka led Rey to the hut settled slightly higher than the rest. Rey secretly cursed Alcida’s choice. It was Luke’s hut. The metal door still hung ascue after Chewbacca had ripped it off entirely. Inside, the small space appeared seemingly undisturbed with what little possessions he kept arranged neatly in crevices around the perimeter. Old blankets were settled, neatly folded on a stone slab that barely passed for a bed. Next to it, an old wooden chest rested on the floor.

Rey paused a moment, considering the chest. A pull like two magnets was drawing her closer and closer to the chest. She had felt this same pull once before on Takodana.

“Be careful what you find,” she warned as Rey bent down, pulling back the lid with a creak in protest.

With the exceptions of one bundled mass of fabric she was surprised to find it empty. Rey retrieved the bundle, which was heavier than she expected and slowly began to unwrap the layers of cloth. When she finally removed the last piece, the silver hilt of a lightsaber lay resting in her hands.

Rey turned it over, admiring the craftsmanship of the hilt. This blade, despite its apparent age, was in near-perfect condition, as if the time that overtook Luke’s features had completely passed over the saber entirely. It was beautiful, a true work of art that concealed the purpose of the blade.

And now it calls to you, a voice from a distant memory insisted.

Rey had an urge to ignite Skywalker’s blade and take in the full beauty of this elegant weapon, but decided against it, remembering that Alcida-Auka was still with her. The last thing Rey needed was to accidentally cause more damage to the property the Lanai were charged to maintain, so she wrapped it back up and returned it to the chest.

Rey turned to Alcida-Auka and asked, “The man who came here earlier, was he not interested in the lightsaber?”

Alcida-Auka almost chuckled at her question. Rey’s brows furrowed in puzzlement.

The eldest caretaker looked up at her then. “When I was about to offer him this hut, he stopped dead in his tracks,” she recalled. “And then he told me that he ‘would never share the same space as Skywalker.’”

At the memory Alcida-Auka released a small laugh before continuing, “His face, pale as it already was, turned even whiter as if he encountered a spirit. I gave him one of the huts at the farthest end of the colony.”

“Oh,” was all Rey managed to say. It dawned on her then that Kylo was still scarred by his uncle’s attempted murder. How sad, she thought.

“He made his way to the Jedi temple earlier this morning. There is where you will find him.”

“Thank you Alcida,” she said quietly.

Alcida-Auka gave a silent nod and shuffled toward the door, but paused before opening it and turned to address Rey. “Remember what I said,” she warned, waving a finger in her direction. “Bloodshed is forbidden here.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

Alcida-Auka gave her a hard look, weighing the truth of her words. When Rey remained silent, Alcida-Auka seemed to accept her promise, and with a final, curt nod, exited Luke’s hut, leaving Rey alone.

Now that she was removed from the scrutinizing eyes of Alcida-Auka, Rey returned to the chest and hurriedly retrieved the saber. She didn’t want to admit it then, but she was secretly thrilled to find another saber, and in such good condition. She turned the weapon gingerly over in her hands. There was something about this saber, much like the one she carried, that called to her deep down in her spirit. Why this family’s swords drew her in so much, she didn’t know.

She glanced behind her at the door, as if she could feel Alcida-Auka’s glare penetrate the thin metal. But for now, she was truly alone. She had to know what this blade looked like alive.

Rey cast her worries aside. The saber ignited with a dull hiss, casting a green glow on the objects around the hut. The hum of it seemed to mingle with the energy of the Force within her - within all things. Like the first time she practiced with her saber, when she held it ignited in her hand, it was as if nothing else mattered. There was just her, the blade, and the embrace of the Force around them. Rey felt alive, as the adrenaline rushed through her veins.

“Wow,” was all she managed to say before flipping the switch and returned it to the chest, making a mental note to come back for it later. She had her own ideas in mind for a new construction, one that would better fit her fighting style. Rey wondered if Kylo would help her with it like he had when she was repairing the one they split in two. She couldn’t be certain of his motives. Which begged the question: could he really be persuaded to come back to the light?

There’s someone who still could, the same voice as before echoed in her memory.

Maybe she’s right. Rey had sensed something different about him when the bond opened again. This time, there may be a chance.

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

Time seemed to move slowly as Rey continued the trek up the unforgiving terrain of Ahch-To. A few of the ancient steps crumbled beneath her feet, the mix of salt, wind, and time had worn them down to their now fragile state. The higher she climbed, the faster the wind raced around her, sending chills to her bones. After adjusting to the more temperate climate of the Kashyyyk forests, Rey had almost forgotten about Ahch-To’s harsh conditions.

How did Luke live - no, survive - here for so long? she questioned before another more timely thought passed through her mind. How long would it take to convince Kylo to come with her to the Resistance?

In truth, she had barely an idea of what she was going to say, let alone what she would do when she finally saw him in person. Nerves slowly began building in her stomach, but she tried her best to ignore them. Worrying never helped her on Jakku, and it wouldn’t help her now.

By the time she finally reached the entrance to the Jedi temple, Ahch-To’s binary suns were making their way towards the horizon, flooding the craggy island and the ocean below with a warm, golden light.

She stepped through the entry and made her way towards the tiled mosaic, where a faint tickle of water collected in the stone basin below it. Rey moved to gaze at the figure crafted in the basin meant to show the duality of the Force. If only for a few seconds, she was content to soak in the tranquility it seemed to project.

Liquid gold washed over the water’s surface which served to illuminate the figure resting at the bottom of the pool, thanks to a slit in the temple’s side facing the horizon over with Ahch-To’s suns would set. Upon taking a closer look, Rey noticed a dark outline casting a shadow marking the water black.

She glanced up, and her breath hitched upon finding the source of the shadow. It belonged to Kylo Ren.

But he wasn’t facing her. Instead, he was gazing out at the horizon, his cape billowing gracefully around him as the wind from the sea rushed into the temple.

He must have heard her gasp because he whirled around to face her, though he remained silent. Rey could feel his Force signature tense slightly as if he was shaping it around himself to serve as armour.

Both of them remained rooted to the spot in which they stood, neither entirely sure of the other’s intentions. Finally, Rey mustered the nerve to break the tension in the growing chasm of unknowns that lay between them, and made her way to stand at his side. With every step closer, his eyes, now a deep chocolate brown in the golden light, continued to trail her until they were face to face, just a mere foot apart.

Hazel eyes met brown, each filled with more questions than answers, as the two continued to contemplate each other. His eyes quickly darted from hers to the temple’s entrance and back again. The turning emotion behind his eyes created an intensity that would have intimidated anyone else in the galaxy, but not Rey. Despite this man’s meticulous efforts to block people out, she saw pain, worry, anger, distrust, and confusion reflected in them.

Without having to ask, Rey answered the question nested in Kylo’s thoughts. “There’s only me,” she said quietly, meeting his gaze with as much softness as she could give.

A gust of wind blew against them as Kylo silently considered the truth of her words. He seemed to relax just a little before his lips parted slightly, allowing a long, deep breath to fill his lungs.

“We’ll see,” he said, just before Kylo closed his eyes, slowly exhaling. As he did so, Rey felt a wave of energy pulse through the Force, touching everything on the island, searching for life.

Kylo appeared so peaceful and Rey couldn’t help but think of how unconventionally handsome he looked. His dark hair, like his eyes, now shown as deep brown in the sunset. His skin, which was usually so pale, actually looked healthy with a little bit of color. Rey’s heart tightened when she examined his scar - a permanent reminder of their opposition. Then there were those full lips of his. The way they parted ever so slightly as he took a breath. They looked so soft.

Rey felt heat rise in her cheeks at the thought, quickly casting it away as Kylo’s eyes opened ending his search.

Confirming the truth of Rey’s words, he visibly relaxed, letting his shoulders set naturally while releasing a sigh. It was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Not only that, but his Force signature, which had been so tightly wound eased until it was no more of a hum of energy filling the space around them. If she could feel this, there was no doubt left in her mind about the power that the man before her possessed. But she wasn’t afraid of it.

At that moment, a new question seemed to flash across those chocolate eyes of his. She didn’t know how - the bond maybe - but Rey instinctively knew what he was thinking before he came out and addressed her. “What does this mean? Why are you here?” he said, voice soft and even.

She swallowed, not entirely sure that she had an answer. When she looked down in thought, she was surprised to find that Kylo’s hands were without his gloves, bare to the world. It almost seemed to be an invitation or a reminder of the last time she was on Ahch-To, when they had first realized the extent of their strange bond. Would those same hands be any different now?

Giving in to her curiosity, she slowly reach a quaking hand out to take his and welcomed the unexpected warmth of them. She smiled at the size difference, his being so massive compared to her smaller, slender ones.

Kylo tensed immediately at her actions, clearly not expecting this. A small chuckle escaped her lips at seeing his unease and she turned to watch the binary suns descend towards the ocean’s horizon. Darkness was beginning to overtake the light.

“You’re not alone,” she assured him after several moments of silence, finally answering his questions.

Though he said nothing, Rey knew the importance of those words between them. He gave her hand a small squeeze and took a step closer. Both of them were content enough to linger in this moment, two lonely people sharing in the comfort of each other’s presence with the knowledge that neither faced isolation for the time being. For in this moment, they had the support of one another, where time and the war and their troubles meant nothing and felt galaxies away.

Light and dark remained in silently entwined in one another until the last sliver of gold faded into the black of the night, and the brilliance of a million stars danced above them.

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