#for a long time i was convinced i wanted the ends of my hair forest green

[celiaelise]

A couple days ago I had the INTENSE urge to get (part of) my hair colored, which is something I haven't considered in years, and even then not very seriously. I'm also just generally averse to even temporarily modifying the natural state of my body in any way? But, like, I even un-archived a years old Pinterest board lol.

Anyway, considering what else was happening with my body at the time, it was probably hormones. I haven't completely rejected the possibility of actually doing it, though.

#one of the big issues of course is that i am Ethnic and thus have dark hair which would require a lot of bleaching #the idea i had was...i think it'd be called under dye? #with my favorite gradient hiding under there! red/orange/yellow #or more like a gradient of different shades of orange #i started looking at other color possibilities too though #for a long time i was convinced i wanted the ends of my hair forest green #I'll probably never consider doing something that requires regular upkeep #or drastically changes the way the color of my hair relates to my face #my life #my feelings #by elise

[torukmaktoskxawng]

Hey I was wondering if you could do an imagine with Neteyam with Navi reader. As the idea I was thinking you both sneak off and end up making out in a tree. Fluff but I wouldn’t mind it being a lil smut but I definitely would love to see fluff if you don’t mind❤️

(Gif not mine)

Pairing: AgedUp!Neteyam/AgedUp!Fem!Na'vi!Reader (oof, mouthful)

Warnings: fluff, aged-up characters, make-out session, heated stares, hinted nsfw, not filthy, honestly very vanilla but its a sweet vanilla lol.

Taglist: @neteyamsl0ver @mooniequeen

A/n: I hinted at both and I am so sorry this took so long. I'm getting better, I promise.

~~~~~~~~~

Honestly, it was to be expected.

The son of the Omatikaya's tsakarem and Toruk Makto, sneaking out with the daughter of Ninat, the best singer of her clan and one of the most beautiful Na'vi women of her generation. 

Truly, their children would be a match made by Eywa herself, and this is why no one should have been surprised to learn the two young Na'vi would sneak away from their families to be alone. Off they went, the moment their families had all fallen asleep, racing each other out into the forest, prancing over the glowing flora of their beautiful world.

Neteyam made a playful grab at your tail and you whipped around, laughing out of surprise, before half-heartedly shoving him away. He doesn't let you get far, grabbing the hand that you had pressed against his chest and keeping it there, his thumb tracing your skin while you could feel his heartbeat beneath your palm. You linger there for a moment, allowing him to captivate you with those yellow eyes, constantly staring into yours, barely blinking and never looking away. You let him think he's got you under his spell before you swiftly break away, running off with your laugh trailing behind you. 

Neteyam smirks and gives chase, following you up a large tree, full of bridge-sized branches intertwining with its neighbors. He chases you up until he has you pinned against the trunk, and this time you don't even try to escape. You let him enjoy the small victory as he plants a kiss on your cheek, then your neck, then your shoulder. 

He moves to kiss the other side of your face and neck, mumbling into your skin, "Will you sing for me, ma'yawntu?"

You exhale a quiet sigh at the feel of his lips softly brushing a sensitive spot on your neck, before starting a soft tune. Like your mother, you were a spectacular singer, and it was one of the many traits Neteyam loved about you, and it showed in his enthusiasm as his kisses turned more firm and earnest. They traveled across your collar and down both of your arms before traveling down to your stomach. You begin to squirm, anxious to get him exactly where you want him, your song briefly interrupted between soft gasps and whines until you can't take it anymore.

"Neteyam..."

"Hm?" He peers up at you, pausing his ministrations but keeping his lips on your skin, just below your belly button.

"Kiss me."

"Where?"

You giggle quietly, "My mouth."

You feel his lips smirk against your skin, "But how will I hear your song if I'm kissing you there?"

Your eyes roll and you use this angle to your advantage, gently kneeing Neteyam in the chest. He's startled out of a laugh and stands back up, accepting his fate as he threads both of his hands through the hair on the back of your neck, then leans down to capture you in a slow, tender kiss. You sigh through your nose and close your eyes, satisfied until you feel the need for more. Your hands rest on either side of his hip and you try your best to pull and press his pelvis against yours for some much-needed friction. 

He pulls away, breathless, his eyes screwed shut with restraint as if it pained him to stop. He breathed deeply, in and out, slowly trying to regain his posture as he playfully growled, "Not yet, ma'yawntu. I want to do this right."

You sigh and pause your attempt, knowing you haven't been able to convince him to go any further than making out. You love how courteous and respectful he was. As the future olo'eyktan, it's a commendable and much-needed trait to have, but sometimes it could also be a curse. Neteyam had always wanted to court you properly, in front of the whole clan where everyone could see you and your love, but had wanted to wait until you had both finished your Iknimaya. He had achieved an ikran the year prior, and your own trial just happened to be tomorrow. 

Leaning up to kiss his cheek, you decided you could afford to wait a little longer if it meant having Neteyam all to yourself very soon, "Until tomorrow then."

His eyes pierce yours with the kind of heat that makes your knees tremble, a fervent promise that makes your heart race and skin prickle. One look and he's already trying to test your own restraint and patience. You definitely couldn't wait until he was all yours. 

~~~~~~~~~

MASTERLIST

REQUESTS

#neteyam x reader #neteyam imagine #neteyam #neteyam smut #neteyam x female reader #neteyam x you #atwow neteyam #neteyam x reader smut #atwow imagine #atwow smut #neteyam sully #avatar neteyam #neteyam avatar #neteyam suli x reader #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #atwow #avatar 2009 #avatar #avatar imagine #atwow fic #james cameron avatar

[justanamesstuff]

Sweeter than honey - Hozier x f!reader

A/N: sorry not sorry if this is the most cliché thing about Andy but couldn't help my self. This fic is a statement to say this man deserves more stories under his name <33 love you forest daddy (hope you never reads this haha) Warnings: FLUFF, typos Words count: 0.7 k

The short path from Andrew’s house to the –no so small — patch of his land, destined to his bees, felt like it took ages to walk down. She felt her stomach turn due to anxiety thinking about the task in hand. Y/n had been stung by a bee during her childhood, traumatizing her enough so the pain, the fear, remained for years and years. The woman damned herself for being in love with the biggest beekeeper around town. 

 Her sight fell on Andrew’s back, watching him walk with so much excitement, she couldn’t reciprocate. The man had been trying for the longest time to convince his girlfriend to meet his bees, being the offer declined time and time again. Until Y/n felt guilty enough and finally said yes. She would never forget the bright smile he gifted her when Y/n timidly asked about the process and she could join him during his next visit. 

As if he could sense her eyes on him, Andrew turned around still walking not wasting any minute, scared about Y/n changing her mind. 

“Baby?” his smile fell a little. 

“If one of them sting me…” she warned him, still scared of the situation. 

Andrew stopped in his tracks, worried about his girlfriend once more. The man grabbed her hand on his, sharing some warmth, wishing it could take away her fear. 

Searching for her eyes, he continued, “trust me, okay?”

Y/n couldn’t help to push her feet down on the earth like a little child throwing a tantrum. The act made her boyfriend laugh. 

“Baby…” she wanted to wipe his amusement away. 

“Stop making fun of me. This is serious for me, Andy.”

He moved closer and closer, rounding her with his big arms. 

Y/n felt his breath on her hair line, “I know, I know. Everything will be okay, I wouldn’t let you get hurt, baby. I promise.” Andrew ended his sentence leaving a kiss on her forehead. 

“Okay, let's do this.” she moved backwards, giving him a stronger look than before, trying to let him know she was ready.

Hand in hand, they approached the colonies. 

……………………………………..

In the end, Y/n had fun with Andrew and his bees. He showed her the day-to-day work, the progress of each colony, and even she saw a queen from up close, which excited her the most. She did fell scared during the first movements when he was worried about a box falling apart and all his attention was in transferring the colony to their new home. 

Even though after that short moment, her boyfriend was focused on making her fell comfortable around his little friends. It was even ironic how gentle the bees were, just as Andy, making her fell quickly in love with them. 

Y/n watched him too his special outfit, trying to comb his long hair, and like a little excited girl she started talking. 

“So, when do we come back?” 

Andrew chuckled.

“Someone is not scared any more, huh?” he teased her, combing his hair back into his signature bun. 

Y/n felt too seen by her boyfriend, “Well, I-” 

“We can return tomorrow, if you want…” Andrew offered, taking her face between his big hands.

“Really?”

“Yes, baby. Whatever you want.”

“I would love to!” she answered, looking into his soft eyes. 

“Me too.” he left a kick kiss on her lips, feeling her relax into his embrace. 

Y/n was the first one to push back, “I can’t wait to see them again.”

Andrew, amazed by her changed of attitude towards the bees, faked a frown. 

“I’m starting to believe you prefer them over me.” 

“Hundred percent yes!” Y/n joined the joke, whispering her answer before covering her mouth quickly with her hand. “Never, my love.”

The singer laughed at her antics, leaning down to kiss her once more. 

Without many more words, Andrew and Y/n walked in silence towards his house when an intrusive though crossed Y/n’s head. 

“Would you name a queen after me?”

Andy stayed silence.

“Andy?”

Still no answer.

“Don’t tell me…”  Y/n turned to witness a very red-faced Andrew. “Stop it! You’re too sweet to be true, honey!” she exclaimed, making her best effort to kiss his blushed cheeks. 

#hozier #hozier x reader #hozier x y/n #andrew hozier byrne

[lancermylove]

Soft Song (HC)

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Pairing: Silver, Deuce, Riddle, Ace, Jack, Trey with fem!Reader

Warning: None

Requested by: @miriamladyvoid

Prompt: Yeah! open orders I want to try to make mine Reader: Female (Romantic) Type: Headcanons Fandom: (Twst) Silver, Deuce, Riddle, Ace, Jack and Trey.

Scenario: A reader who sings soft love songs to her boyfriend, she has a beautiful voice but she only sings for her boyfriend. That she always hugs them and close to her ear she sings softly for him and at the end of each song she ends with a soft kiss.

If my order does not convince you, you can discard it without problems, but if not, take your time and without pressure, thank you<3

A/N: Hope you like it! Also, your request is so pretty and colorful.

———————————————

Silver

Silver appreciates your tender actions. While you sing, he watches you with a loving smile. His eyes have a softness that he keeps reserved only for you.

Before he met you, he always thought napping in the forest was the most peaceful thing. But now, Silver finds your soft voice and warm hug comforting.

When you sing for him, he usually ends up falling asleep with his head resting on your shoulder.

Your kiss is the last moment he remembers before drifting into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Riddle

Unlike the others, Riddle tenses up when you pull him close to you. But when you begin to sing, he starts to calm down. However, his cheeks are still red from being so close to you.

Your soothing voice is enough to calm him down completely, even if he is having one of his temper tantrums.

When the two of you started dating, Riddle would listen to your song but not let you kiss him as he was too shy. Initially, you kissed his cheek, then slowly made your way to his lips.

Once he is comfortable with your gesture, he loves getting kisses from you in the private space, of course.

Trey

He loves hearing your soft voice, no matter the time, even when he is cooking. But most of all, he loves to listen to it during your intimate time together.

Nothing beats the two of you sitting on his bed (or yours), hugging each other as you sing to him. His fingers brush through your hair as your arms wrap around him.

Trey also has a soft smile on his lips, and his eyes are closed so he can focus on your touch and voice.

Once you finish singing and give him a soft kiss, Trey likes to cuddle with you until the two of you fall asleep.

Ace

When you first start singing, Ace is taken aback. But his shock soon melts into a warm smile. There is something so magical about your voice that he feels like his heart is melting.

But when you wrap your arms around him and bring your mouth close to his ear, Ace tenses up and can't focus on anything.

It takes him a long time to get used to your touch mixed with your sweet voice. It's too much for him.

Once he gets used to your touch and voice, Ace can't get enough of it. But sometimes, he can't control himself, and your soft moment turns into something spicy.

Deuce

He loves to hear your soft voice, especially after a long, tiresome day. Though he finds it romantic, he always blushes whenever you hold him close and sing to him.

What makes your gesture even more special is that your voice and songs are for him only.

But Deuce looks forward to the kiss more than anything. The gentle feel of your lips against his makes his heart race out of control and sends shivers through his body.

Jack

Initially, Jack doesn't like you getting physically close to him, so he listens to your singing from a distance. He likes hearing your soothing and melodious voice.

Then, once the two of you have dated for months, he will let you hold him close. A few months more, and he will let you kiss him.

More than anything, he likes hearing your voice right before going to bed. It helps him sleep better.

But the one thing that Jack will not let you do is sing right in his ears. For one, his hearing is sharp, so singing close to his ear would cause him to get shocked more than anything. Second, his ears are sensitive, so if your warm breath brushes against his ear...he will have to run away to control his...urges.

———————————————

➣ Obey Me Masterlist: [1][2][3] ➣ Main Masterlist

➣ Buy me a Ko-fi? ➣ Commission: Open

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland headcanons #jack howl #jack howl x reader #twst jack #riddle rosehearts #twst riddle #riddle x reader #trey clover #twst trey #trey x reader #ace trappola #ace x reader #twst ace #deuce spade #twst deuce #deuce x reader #twst silver #silver x reader

[villain-crown]

regret | @jegulus-microfic | words: 1,255

critical care, part 4 (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 5, part 6)

a Jegulus nurse!AU

Despite his conviction, James did not end up mustering the courage to ask Regulus out that day. He almost managed to get there a few times, but then Sirius would just pop out of nowhere with some meaningless side quest for him to work on. Each time James had finished doing what was asked of him, Regulus had moved on to busy himself with something else.

The next morning, James finally accepted that he had been left with no choice.

He would have to physically visit the “dungeons” himself.

Standing in front of the doors to the Slytherin cardiovascular intensive care unit two floors below Gryffindor, James took a few slow, steadying breaths. It was his lunch break and he was determined to finally speak with Regulus without Sirius running constant interference.

Do you want to go out sometime? he rehearsed in his head, swiping his badge to gain admission through the doors. No… more assertive. Let's go out sometime. Yeah, yeah that’s good—

“Who the hell are you?”

James pulled his gaze to find a Slytherin with platinum blond hair looking him over from behind the nurses’ station counter. She was perfectly put together in designer forest-green scrubs with a matching stethoscope clipped to her waist and her badge was decorated with multiple pins outlining her various professional awards and accomplishments.

James rolled his eyes upon recognizing her. “Oh come on Narcissa, we’ve worked together for five years!”

“Fine. What do you want, Potter?”

“To talk to Regulus,” he declared bravely.

Narcissa lifted a perfectly manicured eyebrow. “He’s busy.”

“I know,” James replied quickly. “I just need like thirty seconds to—“

“Did they finish up the chest tube?” Narcissa interrupted him to address her sister, Andromeda, who had just exited the patient room right behind him.

“Yeah, Slughorn’s fellow finally gave up on the resident and just shoved it in himself. This whole river of nasty yellow pus shot out of her left lung. It was wild. Hey, James. What are you doing here?”

James blinked as the conversation suddenly twisted back around to include him. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Narcissa cut him off.

“He’s here for Regulus, apparently.”

Suddenly, both of them were sizing him up. Their critical gaze made him wish he’d thought to iron his burgundy scrubs or something. “Have you told him what happened to the last guy who was ‘here for Regulus?’”

“C’mon guys, I just want to talk to him.”

“Talk to him or sleep with him?”

James jumped as Bellatrix, the third Black sister, appeared from fucking thin air right at his elbow.

“Bloody hell, Bellatrix, where did you even come from!?”

“Excuse you, you’re the one barging onto my unit trying to filch our baby cousin.”

“You just snuck—“

“Potter,” Narcissa interrupted impatiently, tapping her wristwatch. “We have a fresh heart coming in. You’ve got till then to convince us we won’t regret this.”

“Lunch,” James replied quickly, straightening up. “I just want to take him to lunch, I swear.”

“Are you single?”

James flinched. “W-what?”

Bellatrix snapped her fingers in his face. “You’ve got sixty seconds. Don’t waste our time. Are. You. Single?”

“Yes!”

“You like our little cousin?”

“Yes… ma’am.”

“Are you fucking anyone at the moment?”

“Bella!”

“Are you?”

“No!”

Bellatrix’s dark navy eyes bored into him like she wanted to crawl into his head and take a good long look around. “Hm. To the cafeteria and back only—and keep your hands to yourself or I’ll snap them off and use them to hold pressure on room 18’s hematoma. You’d better buy his lunch.”

James had just enough time to gape at the Black sisters before the double doors to the unit opened and a procession of operating room staff came inching through, a heavily sedated heart transplant patient transported among them.

Seizing the distraction, James backed away quickly to locate Regulus, who he found resetting his workspace after a procedure, preparing an incredibly unstable older man for the next rocky hour of hanging onto life. Partially-clotted blood stained the floor, hastily covered by surgical towels from when they’d inserted an emergency dialysis line in the patient’s neck. A machine to filter his blood had been set up near the ventilator.

Regulus looked very cute in his Slytherin-green jogger scrubs and soft fleece zip-up. The loose coal curls atop his head shifted with each turn of his neck and his slight frame just made James want to scoop him up and put him on his lap.

“What, Potter?” Regulus finally asked when he’d hovered in the hallway for over a minute, depositing the last of the capped needles into the sharps container.

Let's go out sometime, he coached himself. C’mon, Potter, you’ve got this! Let’s go out some—

“Lunch!” he blurted out. “Er, Bellatrix said you can take your lunch now.”

“What?” Regulus frowned, glancing at the clock. “It’s barely noon.”

“We should go,” James said quickly. “At the same time, I mean. Together.”

Regulus quirked a dark brow, his silver eyes sizing James up in the bright hospital lighting as he paused in changing his dialysis machine’s filter. “Together?”

“To the same place.”

“I’m not a bloody idiot. I know what ‘together’ means.”

“Great! Let’s go!”

Regulus tilted his head in amusement. “Listen, Potter… you’re a bit of an idiot so I’m going to spell this out for you.”

Oh please spell out “take me, I’m yours.”

“I don’t get any nicer than this and some of my needs aren’t easily met.”

James felt his heart rate pick up. Fuuuck, he was in trouble. Sirius was going to kill him. Bellatrix was going to throw him off the roof of the critical care tower. He really did just mean to ask Regulus to lunch; maybe get to know each other a bit, make plans for the weekend.

But the mouth on him!

“I’m very good at meeting needs.”

Regulus didn’t seem to buy that. “Really?” he drawled, looking James up and down with obvious doubt, making the Gryffindor bristle.

“What makes you think I can’t?”

“You strike me as a bit too… sweet; people please-y. You’re aware that my stupid brother has forbidden everyone in this hospital from making anything resembling a pass at me?”

“It’s just lunch.”

“Is it?”

“Do you want it to be?”

Regulus smirked, taking the three slow steps necessary to close the distance between them, pushing himself up on his toes to breathe in James’s ear.

“The things I like might be a bit much for you.”

“I think you’re really underestimating the things we’ve already done in my head.”

Coming back down on his heels, Regulus ran his tongue over his teeth before biting down on his lower lip. “Hm. I’m intrigued. Fine, I’ll get Snape to cover my patients. You’d better have more to offer than that dazed look on your face, Potter.”

With that, Regulus walked away.

…Holy shit.

HOLY SHIT!

He had a lunch date with Regulus Black!

Left alone with his raging thoughts and a sedated patient, James fumbled with his phone to send a frantic text.

To ‼️📣Marlene📣‼️:

If he meets my parents on Friday, I can propose on Saturday, and spend all of Sunday absolutely railing him.

Looks like I have weekend plans ❤️❤️❤️

From ‼️📣Marlene📣‼️:

There’s no saving you anymore, Potter. You have a death wish, and at this point, you frankly deserve it.

RIP when Sirius finds out what you’re doing ☠️

#jegulus microfic #jegulus #james potter #regulus black #starchaser #james loves regulus #sunseeker #marauders nurse!au #villain-crown microfics

[fictoculus]

Hi, how are you? If it's not too much trouble, could I ask for some jealous Tighnari headcanons? please and thank you <33

౨ৎ "is everything alright, dear?"

send a request!┊masterlist┊taglist applications

FEAT... tighnari

SYNOPSIS... someone hits on you, how will he react?

A/N... hi anon, thanks so much for the request! i'm doing good tyyy, i hope you are too ^^ i sorta got carried away writing this, nd it ended up to be more of "someone hits on you" than jealousy hcs... i hope it's still enjoyable though and i apologise that it isn't reallyyy what you asked for ♡

♪ your boyfriend, tighnari, watches from afar as you engage in idle chit-chat with your fellow scholars, resisting the burning desire to pull you away from them all and keep you in his little world, in which you are the earth and he is the moon.

♪ he often tells you how his life revolves around you, how he sees you wherever he goes whether you're actually there or not, and it never fails to fluster you. of course, you tell him how yours revolves around him also, calming his anxieties as he relishes in your words.

♪ that being said, the second someone tries hitting on you, he loses it. yes, tighnari is a big softie at heart, but being a forest ranger means he has some level of authority, and he will use this to his advantage when confronting your pursuer. you were his after all, and he was equally yours.

♪ this isn't the first time someone has approached you, looking you up and down with wide eyes and shooting a smile in your direction. of course, you send one back their way, but only to be polite, not to evoke further flirting. this is where tighnari steps in.

♪ the soft tickle of his tail brings a wave of relief as your step back into his touch, your pounding heart settling at the sound of his voice

"is everything alright, dear?"

♪ it's rare that he uses pet names with you, and so you blush slightly as the endearment slips from his lips.

"y'know this guy?"

"well, this language is rather improper. what, are you trying to scare them off?"

♪ he scoffs, taking the liberty to step in front of you and hover a hand above your torso, all while holding firm eye contact with his 'opponent'.

"excuse us, my partner and i have places to be"

♪ your not-at-all-secret admirer is left dumbfounded as tighnari takes your hand in his, hastily leading you away from the hustle and bustle. the two of you swerve to the right into a quiet corridor where he takes a moment to check you over.

"are you alright?"

♪ you assure him you're unhurt, both mentally and physically, before thanking him for intervening; planting a loving kiss on the corner of his mouth and another on the tip of his nose.

♪ only when he's fully convinced that you're unscathed do the two of you head for the exit, leaving the leftover errands for tomorrow after the unexpected turn of events.

♪ even after you arrive home, tighnari refuses to let you out of his sight, whining whenever you pull away from him or leave to grab a glass of water (stay hydrated!)

"i'll only be a minute"

"that's what you said earlier, then that idiot came and harassed you!"

"he wasn't harassing me, love. archons, 'this language is rather improper'-"

smack!

♪ the plush of a cushion collides with your cheek, interrupting your teasing as tighnari scurries away; whether it was out of fear or playfulness you will never know.

♪ either way, the two of you spend the rest of the evening chasing after each other, starting with 2 plump pillows and ending with empty cases, your hair tangled and covered in fluff and feathers.

♪ it's almost comical how something that was so serious in the moment becomes somewhat of a joke, but that's just the way your relationship works, and as long as he knows you're alright, tighnari thinks it's just fine...

thanks for reading ♡ want to read more? my requests are OPEN, so please feel free to let me know what you’d like me to write next!

TAGLIST…@maopll . @nyxmainex . @avensuersa apply here

© FICTOCULUS 2024; please do not steal, translate, or repost my works as your own

#tighnari x reader #genshin x reader #tighnari hcs #tighnari fluff #tighnari angst #tighnari comfort #jealous #gn reader #tighnari x you #genshin taglist #genshin fluff #genshin hcs

[rowaelinsdaughter]

what happens in the forest stays in the forest

this is one of my favorite fics ive written so far, but i needed to write something fluff and with rowaelin. i miss them so much.

WARNINGS; none, pure fluff

you were bored

bored and tired.

since you found out you were pregnant 5 months ago, rowan and aelin didn't leave your side for a second, so you couldn't go out on the street if you weren't with them and they didn't trust the guards and fenrys couldn't be near you without that rowan growled at him.

you were in your room waiting for them to finish a meeting, but you were tired of waiting so you decided to go find them.

carefully, you go down the stairs and reach the door where the meeting is taking place and gently knock on the door, you place a hand on your belly as if you wanted to protect the baby from the people inside. the door opens and rowan appears. instinctively, a smile appears on your lips and rowan hugs you carefully, leaving a soft kiss on your hair while one of his hands rests on top of yours.

"what are you doing here? you were supposed to be in the room.”

“and like you said yourself, i was,” you joke. “but i was bored and i wanted to get out of here and spend time with you.”

you hear the sound of a chair dragging on the floor and immediately aelin appears, leaving a kiss on your lips. “come sit down you-”

“you can stand for a long time” you imitate her.

aelin sits you in her chair and the people who were there stand there not knowing what to do until…

“everyone out”

“but your majesty, you cannot do this”

“i can and i want to. now everyone out."

one by one they leave the room under aelin's gaze, promising a slow death to anyone who says otherwise or looks at you wrong. once everyone has left, aelin kneels in front of you, at the height of your belly, and rowan sits next to you.

aelin's hands caress your belly and as always she speaks softly to her. "hi little girl. i hope you are not giving mom too much trouble and let her rest.”

your hand strokes her hair gently and she gets up to sit at the table.

“i thought i heard that you were bored and wanted to spend time with us”

you sigh. “i've been stuck here for too long, i've already read all the books we have, i want to get out of the castle” you look at the two of them “why don't we go for a walk in the forest?”

there is silence and you wait for them to say yes, mentally crossing your fingers. rowan breaks the silence. “okay but we have to be here before it gets dark.”

you smile widely and rowan chuckles softly as aelin helps you up.

________

oakwald was undoubtedly your favorite place. you love the smell of wildflowers, the shade of the trees refreshes the atmosphere and the animals run back and forth.

after much insistence and many comments about why you shouldn't go barefoot, you finally convinced them to take off your shoes (which were also destroying your feet).

barefoot and holding onto their arms, you breathe deeply, letting your senses calm down.

you reach a clearing with a small waterfall and sit down to rest with rowan and aelin on either side.

“you don't have to stay with me, you know? why don’t you go take a bath?”

“i don't think it's-”

“yes, that's a good idea, come on, i'm not going to move from here.”

at the end, you watch as they take off their clothes and aelin runs to jump into the water while laughing. with rowan close to the shore, aelin takes the opportunity to grab his arm and pull him into the water with her. you notice the joy and love coming through the bond and you couldn't be happier for them and for the life you are creating together.

you feel a presence behind you and you turn to see what or who is behind you. a white shadow passes through the bushes. you are curious and carefully get up and follow a trail of white flowers from where you were sitting to an ancient tree. and in front of it,  the lord of the north in all his splendor.

your breath stops and the lord of the north approaches with slow steps until he is in front of you. being careful not to hit you with the antlers,he caress your belly with his nose. you raise your hand slowly so as not to scare him and pet his soft fur. he turns away from you and looks into your eyes, tilting his head. respect. for you and your baby. the lord of the north looks behind you and you turn to see rowan and aelin, fully clothed. a silver line decorates rowan's green eyes, while tears run down aelin's cheeks.

with a final nod to them, the lord of the north walks away into the trees. you feel arms surround your belly and aelin leaves small kisses on your neck, tickling you. rowan stands in front of you and caresses your cheeks with his hands to kiss you softly.

“don't leave again without saying anything”

you roll your eyes “it was too good to be true”

tagging; @danikamariewrites @throneofsapphics @thehighladywrites @shadowdaddies @vanserrasswife

all rights reserved to ©rowaelinsdaughter. no tranlations allowed. no copy theme. don not copy my work.

#sarah j maas #sjm books #fanfic #throne of glass #throne of glass imagine #throne of glass fanfiction #aelin galythinius #rowan whitethorn #aelin fireheart #aelin ashryver galathynius #aelin galathynius #aelin of the wildfire #aelin x f!reader #aelin x reader #rowan fanfic #rowan x you #rowan x reader #rowaelin x reader #rowaelin #rowaelin fic #tog fluff #tog x reader #tog #throne of glass fic #throne of glass x reader

[mathanlin]

// mentions of hunger, neglect, and cold, blood and injury

Fae AU where fae!Wilbur’s approached by a skinny street kid. 

More accurately, a *pickpocket,* clutching stolen gold in one shaking hand. *He’ll want luck, riches,* Wilbur thinks, amused. *Or food, if he’s stupid—*

“Can I have a hug?” 

“What?”

“A… a hug?” The kid mumbles, swallowing. “I think— you just put your arms around someone and… hold them. I saw someone do it.” 

The clumsy explanation does nothing to answer Wilbur’s real question. 

So he pushes further, intrigued.

“What do you have to give me?”

The kid straightens. “Gold. Enough for a few days of meals, or— or somewhere nice to sleep.”

It’s worthless to Wilbur. 

But it tells him exactly what the kid’s willing to give up. 

So he smiles. “I accept.”

The kid barely moves, flinching as Wilbur steps up to him. Shivering, cowering, like he expects a hit, a shove. Or even just refusal.

But yet when Wilbur slides his arms around his weak, malnourished frame…

The kid melts.

He keeps coming back.

Sunshine. That’s the nickname Wilbur gives him, after the kid (smartly) refuses to give his true name.

But that’s where his intelligence ends.

“Just… talk to me?”

The kid sets a stolen necklace outside the Fae circle, shivering. It’s freezing, his jaw chattering beneath hollow cheeks. 

Wilbur raises an eyebrow, hesitating. “Wouldn’t you rather have a blanket? Some warm food?”

It’s… just a little from the kindness of his heart.

The kid could die like this. He’s already half-starved, beat-up, and alone.

But he still shakes his head weakly. “No. Just… tell me a story.”

It gets warmer. 

The kid appears less, and though Wilbur’s sad, he’s also relieved. Maybe he’s found someone to care for him. Maybe he doesn’t have to gamble his soul for affection.

And then he stumbles into Wilbur’s forest. 

Half-dead. 

“I’ll give you my name,” is the first thing he chokes out, clutching his bloodied side. 

*To heal you?* Wilbur thinks, recoiling. *That’s not worth the cost, surely you know that—*

“Just— stay with me, please?”

“What?”

Wilbur barely whispers it, stunned. Tommy flinches, paling.

“I’m— I’m dying,” he chokes out. Honesty, like the Fae like. 

Wilbur hates it now.

“I don’t want to be alone.”

“Sunshine—”

“Tommy,” the kid says, shaking. “Tommy, my name’s Tommy, you can have it. Please, don’t leave me.”

And of course, Wilbur doesn’t.

(Despite the blood loss, Tommy still sobs with relief when Wilbur picks him up. 

At least he has someone holding him gently, even if he’s being carried into a Fae circle.

And giving his name & soul away was worth it, for this.)

.

.

.

Even after, Tommy can't accept affection. 

It's not that he doesn't want it. Wilbur can tell that each refusal is a flat-out lie.

But Tommy's telling the truth when he whispers, "I'll let you hug me if I can pay you back."

Nothing Wilbur does can convince him that the affection is free. 

And apparently saying, “You don’t have anything I *want,* Tommy,” wasn’t the right thing to say.

Tommy just shuts down further.

Fuck being a Fae. Wilbur’s desperate — and if that means making a deal with a human, even one whose name he has, so be it.

“How about you hug *me?*”

Tommy blinks, eyes half lidded from exhaustion.

“What?”

“I want a hug,” Wilbur says, trying to keep his voice light. He can’t tell lies, and Tommy knows it. 

So maybe that’s why the kid quietly, hesitantly accepts. 

It’s a sort of gentle trickery. 

Tommy will still shiver when Wilbur hugs him back, but it’s better than nothing. He’ll stay rigid when Wilbur asks to brush his hair, like he doesn’t know that Wilbur *wants* him to lean into it.

And the time he does, he panics.

One moment he’s asleep, dozing on Wilbur’s shoulder after a particularly long hug.

And then he’s jolting awake, choking out, “I’m sorry,” before his eyes are even fully open.

“Tommy—”

“I— I’ll pay you. Please, I know you— I don’t have anything you want, but—”

“—no, sunshine, you—”

“—or— or you can give me less? I don’t need blankets, or food, or—”

“Stop.”

It’s a Fae’s command. And with Tommy’s name in his possession, Wilbur shuts him right up.

“I want you to be happy,” he whispers, unable to stop himself from crying. Tommy stares at him, still trembling, but listening. “That’s it, okay?”

“But—”

“I want you to feel loved, Toms, whatever it takes. I want you to ask me when you want affection, or food, *anything.* 

Fae can tell no lies.

“So promise me, sunshine. Promise you’ll ask.”

And they can feel lies, too.

So when Tommy breathes, “I’ll try,” Wilbur finally relaxes. 

#mcyt #dsmp #dsmp au #sbi #sbi au #threadfic #tommyinnit #wilbur soot

[levia-chan]

MAKING PACT

A/N: Well, for some reason Tumblr doesn't have many works with demon!MC, so I decided to try to write my own, I hope you like it :3

- No.

- MC, please think again. I assure you, this pact will benefit both of us! - that annoying sorcerer won't leave you alone.

He's been trying to get you to make a pact with him for quite some time. You don't want that. Which, in fact, led to your current situation. You're desperately trying to get away from the sorcerer somewhere far away, and he's still following you.

- I said no. Look for some other demon to make a pact with them.

It seems suspicious to you that such a powerful sorcerer is persistently trying to make a pact with you. You don't have such a high rank and you barely match the level of the fallen brothers, so why would he do that?

Solomon already has 72 demons under his control, so what would change if you joined this list? If he wants a pact with you just because you're closely related to the seven brothers, then he won't get it.

- MC, listen, I don't just want to make a pact with you. I see great potential in you! If we combine our knowledge and abilities, we can achieve a lot! Besides, we will certainly be able to learn something new from each other! - he was hoping to convince you with that sweet talk and friendly smile.

Oh, Diavolo, this man is really testing your patience.

That's it, you've had enough.

You stop abruptly and turn to face him. "Listen, I'm flattered by your desire to make a pact with me, but I doubt we'll be able to learn anything from each other. Besides, you overestimate me. I'm not that strong, and I don't want to be overshadowed by a human."

Now that he finally had your attention, he took your hand in his and gently ran his thumb over your knuckles.

- You're being too hard on yourself. You have your strengths, and I have my weaknesses. If you're still not sure, then how about showing off our skills to each other?

You wanted to object, but first you decided to weigh the pros and cons. In the end, you decided that a show of force wouldn't hurt and would perfectly show who you'd be connected to if you did decide to make a pact.

- Okay, I'm interested. But after this show, my decision will be final. Either we make a pact or not, it's up to me. Is that clear? - you took your hands out of his hands.

Solomon nods his head. He understands your conditions perfectly and will be ready to fulfill them, even if everything turns out not in his favor.

- Great! Now it remains to decide exactly where we would like to do this.

Both of you turned your heads at the same time towards the old dark forest not far from you. There is almost no one there, except for some rarely passing animals, plus it is far from the busy city.

Just perfect.

- Huh, I think great minds think the same way, - you laugh and start moving towards the forest first.

Solomon didn't mind that you were leading him. It didn't take you long to get to the middle of the forest, where you are surrounded only by earth, rocks and some sticks. You are accompanied by a light cool wind that makes the hairs on your skin stand on end, because you were not wearing enough warm clothes.

He noticed that you were shaking a little, so he immediately took his coat and draped it over your shoulders.

- Are you cold? - he was smiling as he put his coat on your shoulders. "I wouldn't want you to freeze. You still need to demonstrate your abilities, MC."

You fell into a stupor for a while. You didn't expect such gentlemanly behavior, especially from him.

- What about you? You people are more fragile. A little breeze won't kill me. Take care of yourself, wizard - you tried to give him back his coat.

The last thing you need is for him to poke you in the face what a sissy you are for the rest of the day.

The sorcerer, also stubborn, forced you to keep his coat with you. "I want you to know that I'm not like other people. Besides, the turtleneck suits me fine," he fiddled with the fabric around his neck.

Well, if he insists, then who are you to refuse?

Now that you have reached the perfect location, you have a large empty space at your disposal.

You turned your head towards him and tilted it slightly. "So, are you starting or am I?" you're flexing your fingers in preparation for the demonstration.

Solomon laughed and rolled up his sleeves to his elbows. "Come on, please, demons go ahead."

- Wow, look at the gentleman, - you smirked.

At first, you stretched your hand out and felt the breeze passing through your fingers. You put your middle finger and thumb together and started concentrating. Magic began to crackle in the air. When a ball of magical energy formed in your hand, you turned all your attention to one object.

You looked at a large boulder and sharply reduced the sphere, after which you sent this small ball to the boulder. In just a second, a rather powerful explosion occurred. Strong air currents formed, as well as debris of different sizes, which began to fly in different directions. Some even flew in your direction.

- MC! - Solomon grabbed your arm and tried to pull you away, but you didn't even move.

You looked at the wreckage and clenched your hand into a fist. The stones stopped abruptly in the air and began to fall to the ground under the influence of gravity, forming small craters.

Since the danger has passed, the sorcerer has released your hand. He breathed out a sigh of relief and looked at you worriedly. "You could have been hurt, you know? It's good that you have a great reaction."

- I know my abilities and I wouldn't do this if I wasn't sure of my own safety. But it's nice that you're worried about me when you should be thinking about yourself.

He chuckled as it was his turn to show his strength. He will prove that he is worthy to make a pact with you.

- Let's see if you'll keep thinking I'm weak. Oh, and by the way, you're not getting seasick in the air, are you? - he asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

- No. Why-

You didn't have time to finish and understand what was going on, because you suddenly flew into the sky. The only thing that could soften your fall is the edges of the trees.

Solomon was next to you in a second, but he was much better at floating in the air than you were. Watching you awkwardly hanging in the air, he covered his mouth, trying to hide a chuckle. - Well? Are you having fun?

You stared at him, kicking your legs in the air. "What do you think? You just shot me like a projectile from a catapult! And without any warning!"

- You'll get used to it soon, but for now let me help you, - he flew up to you and took your hands. He began to guide you, and now your flight has stopped being so erratic.

It took your breath away to realize that you were so high above the ground. "You don't send everyone you meet flying, do you? Because it's a great way to make enemies."

- Don't worry, I'm not that reckless, - he smiled and gently lowered you both down. "I only do this with those who are really interesting to me and with whom I want to become closer."

You fell silent, feeling his gaze on you. "Solomon, - you haven't called him that for quite a while, - if you want to make a pact with me just because I know my brothers well, then you don't have to continue. I don't like being used."

He seemed to be taken aback by this response. "Is that why you've been rejecting the pact all this time?"

-... Well.. Why else would you sign a contract with me?..

Solomon gently took your hand. "MC.. Pacts are not something you will make with someone for no reason. What I want from you means more to me than strength or power."

Your feet finally touched the ground, and you were speechless after such a subtle confession. You can't even look at him.

- It looks like I'm making things too complicated, - he noticed your stunned state. "According to our agreement, I will accept any decision you make. Pact or not," he lowered his head and looked away, preparing to face rejection.

Before he left, you grabbed his arm and stopped him.

- The pact. I want to make a pact with you.

#obey me #obey me nightbringer #om! shall we date #obey me shall we date #omswd #obey me solomon #demon!mc #obey me mc #obey me solomon x mc

[inhuman-obey-me]

🌑 + Simeon + MC = ?

"Embrace the shadow following behind." - Simeon/MC

An angel’s fall is often painted as one of disgrace, of shame. Once a beloved creature, now a despicable monster. A being of light now immersed in the shadows.

The story of the Great Celestial War can always be found in the whispers of the Celestial Palace, in the teachings of the angels, in the way that several large portraits in the halls had been removed but how nothing ever replaced them – a constant reminder of them. Those who dared to oppose their Father, those who dared doubt him. 

Simeon is beginning to wonder if he, too, might soon become a warning tale. 

It had already been set into motion long ago, with his demotion to archangel after he refused to fight, after he covered for Lucifer. As the years passed, he often found himself wondering – Why didn’t you join them? Why didn’t you fight?

Had he been a coward? Or did he want to so desperately believe that, at the end of it all, Father did everything for a reason? His guiding light is all he had ever known, all he had ever worshipped. 

He does not have anything else.

That’s a lie. 

He struggles to silence the voice in the back of his mind, but it has become more and more difficult as time passes, a shadow constantly clinging to him. You have them, it reminds. His long lost friends in the Devildom, new friends as well – and one particular human who has ensnared him, enamored him. 

You have them.

“Simeon? Got something on your mind?” 

Snapped out of his thoughts, he turns to be greeted by the most recent subject of his musings. 

“Oh, nothing important.” He flashes that warm smile of his, trying to ease your worry – though his gaze can’t help but fall on the Ring of Light adorning your hand. The ring that now has further embroiled him in Michael’s ire, in Father’s. 

“You know, I’m always here to listen.” You aren’t convinced, and take a few slow steps towards him. Placing a hand on his arm, you look into those cerulean-sun eyes as you try to read him. He has always made that difficult. “You’ve been out on the balcony for a while.” 

“I know.” Simeon’s smile softens, as does his gaze. With a sigh, he looks back out to the quiet Devildom forest. “Just…thinking about the future.”

“That sounds important.” You tilt your head to the side, lips curved in a teasing smirk. “What future are you thinking of?”

“...Of the Three Realms. Of mine.” He runs his fingers through his hair, trying to choose his words carefully. “Trying to figure out what it is that I want.” 

“What you want, hm? Well, I was told some great advice once. Maybe it’ll help?” You bring your hands up to cup his face, earning a look of surprise. “When in doubt, have a little talk with yourself. Close your eyes, and have a heart-to-heart.” 

Simeon can’t help but laugh, shaking his head slightly in your grasp. “Using my own words against me. Very clever, dear.”

“Hey, I know you’re the type who won’t listen to his own advice.” With a grin, you lean forward and place a gentle kiss on the tip of his nose, then his lips. “So, I’m going to make sure you do, okay?” 

“Okay.” He chuckles, feeling a warmth in his chest. As you move to cover his ears, he lets his eyes close and confronts that voice he tries to keep away. The voice that has followed him from eons ago, from that first inkling of what if? What if he had joined? What if he had done something else? What if he could be with those he held so dearly without fear or repercussion?

He thought all he had was the Celestial Realm. That all he had was what Father called love.  

You know that’s not true. You have everything you need, right here. 

As your hands eventually leave his ears, he hears the distant shouts of Lucifer and his brothers, the raucous laughter of Diavolo and Solomon, the yelping of Luke, and he’s sure he can hear Barbatos too. He then slowly opens his eyes, and in that moment all the affection he felt for you threatens to overflow. 

Perhaps it's time for him to finally embrace the shadow following behind.

#yes I know I'm using stuff from nightbringer but I feel like SImeon would have given the same advice to OG timeline MC too #obey me #obey me! #obey me swd #obey me shall we date #omswd #obey me nightbringer #omnb #obey me simeon #obey me simeon x mc #obey me simeon x reader #obey me fic #obey me drabble #writings #obey me angst #4000 follower celebration #the all encompassing [mod] cosmos

[since0202]

Taking Time—Fifty Four

Home is a person

Word Count: 12,959

Trigger Warning: Mentions of Abortion (I will bracket where it starts and ends in an obvious manner so you can avoid if needed <3).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every step home has felt right so far. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been away for so long, but it feels like something has changed or shifted. And as I get closer, that feeling only gets stronger. Now, as I sink into that undeniable warmth, it’s hard to think otherwise at all. Soft, warm breath spans gently across my hair and I reach for the warm body nestled next to me. It must be Paul. How he knew I was here, I’m not sure, but in the halfway point between sleep and wake, I’m not sure of much. The soft body grunts and rolls closer to me, making soft sounds that lull me deeper into sleep. I want it always to be like this: sleepy mornings, just peace, before the sun cracks me open like an egg and burns me from the inside out. 

Maya rolled toward the low rumbling groan coupled with that hardy warmth she’d come to know so well when she was home. Paul was so soft. She ran her hands up and down his sides to a pleasant smacking sound coming from his lips. She burrowed closer for warmth, still in that holy toss between dreaming and awake and felt his warm breath flow over her hair. It almost felt wet. Maya inhaled a deep breath savoring his smell only to be met with a warm mildewy scent of dried fur and the forest. He must have only just phased back from rounds and the smell of his wolf form simply clung to him. It didn’t matter. Maya leaned her head up and was met with the his soft, warm, wet lips. Really wet. He kissed and dampened her entire face with his mouth, his tongue. 

Maya leaned back and groaned her dissent, but the onslaught kept coming, possibly even more eagerly than before, until her entire face was coated in saliva. Paul really had it coming. Maya’s face twisted into a grimace as she opened her eyes, only to be met with the towering dark frame of Leah’s german shepherd. 

“Blegh!” Maya managed before the dog continued with vigor to her dismay. She braced her arms across his chest and tried to push, but the thumping of his tail wagging only seemed to make him stronger as he continue to cover Maya’s face in fervent licks with delight that she was awake. 

Maya heard a laugh from the door before Keye said,”Yodel, that’s enough. Come here!” Yodel immediately hopped off the bed and hurtled toward Keye, standing at attention at her feet with his tongue lolling to one side. Keye dropped her hand to stroke his head affectionately, “I thought we said no more kissing dogs after that trip to Seattle when Becks convinced that forty year old bouncer she was old enough to get in by her expertise?” 

Maya rubbed her dog-drenched face on the pillow before rolling over and beginning to rub her eyes, “I remember that being you, not Becks.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Keye replied lazily as if the thought hadn’t occurred to her until now.

“Come on, Leah’s making breakfast,” Keye stated from her place leaning up against the doorframe. As she plodded away softly, Maya heard Yodel following her dutifully down the small hallway to the kitchenette.

“Okay, but you still have a lot of explaining to do,” Maya called after her as she sat up and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. She didn’t even attempt a glance at her phone. The soft, gray morning light of Seattle pulled her eyes toward the window and Maya let out a soft sigh and let the day breathe her in.

Leah’s apartment was bright and airy. The kitchen and living room sat in a lofted space with high ceilings that allowed large industrial air ducts to span it. The bright beach wood of the rafters above seemed to capture light and sprinkle it down across the warm butcher block island where she was preparing another omelet, this time for herself, after making one for Keye and Maya. They tucked in around the island on carefully crafted wooden bar stools that Maya had a sneaking suspicion were the handiwork of her boyfriend. Maya peered over shoulder to look out the floor to ceiling narrow windows covered in a gauzy, white curtain. The living room was a collection of well loved, mismatched furniture pieces, all softened by time and use. 

Maya hadn’t fully recognized the neighborhood they were in when they drove in but she wondered how close they were to Paul’s workshop. Leah was laughing at Keye as she exclaimed how she’d never thought to add spinach to an omelet, or any vegetable to any dish for that matter, when Maya zoned back into the love fest unfolding before her. 

“You need to eat more vegetables, I keep telling you, or you’ll never be able to hold up a bike at a stop light. Even a little one,” Leah’s face was all sunshine. She tore off a piece off her omelet and handed it to a waiting Yodel at her feet. 

“She’s got a thing for bikes,” Keye hummed around a bite.

“I do not,” Leah tried to bemoan, but it only came out as soft embarrassment, her neck flushing with a hint of pink. That was hard to dispute considering Leah’s apartment was stationed above a bike shop. Her bike shop in fact. 

“Crotch rockets, some call them,” Keye quipped, shooting Maya a gleeful look.  

“Stop,” Leah replied breathlessly with a laugh, “They’re not called that.”

“She rode up on one to Seth’s wedding, what was I supposed to do? Not fall in love with her?” Keye goaded, shooting a bright smile in her direction. Maya lit up at this—she wanted to know everything about how Leah and Keye met, how the imprint happened. 

“So, it was at Seth’s wedding then?” Maya leaned onto the counter, trying to quell her excitement. Leah looked down at her omelet with a soft smile as if just recalling the memory overwhelmed her with joy. Keye blushed and shoved another bite of gooey omelet in her mouth. 

“Yeah, it was at Seth’s wedding,” Leah started softly, “Gah, I still can’t believe that little twerp is married. I swear I was helping him with his homework only last week,” she shook her head, still lost in her moment of nostalgia. 

“Uh, I’m pretty sure you were helping him with his homework last week, babe. You guys were debating the merit of classic authors still being considered the classic norm in a postmodern world in this very kitchen.” Maya giggled at that and Leah looked up at Keye with such soft eyes that Maya thought she’d explode on the spot. Keye held her gaze for as long as she could before blushing and looking back down at her omelet, playing coy while continuing to eat. 

Oh, so it was that kind of imprint. 

“Yes, we met at Seth’s wedding,” Keye continued for her after a few bites as Leah started cleaning up. Keye launched into the story like it was well known and been written down for years. 

She said it was instantaneous. Much like Maya and Paul had, Leah and Keye and locked eyes and that was it. But most of the guests had been distracted and the pack was thoroughly drunk on special Quileute brewed beer so no one was really paying them any attention. No one had even really realized, except for Keye and Leah. They had sat there and stared at each other, across the dance floor for a cool minute or two. It could have been eons for all Keye knew. 

Leah’s face, which had been schooled in a cool complacency for most of the night as she muscled through her baby brother’s wedding, had shifted to something bright and surprised. Breathless, she had strode across the dance floor in her pale cream suit, sparkling under the carefully hung lights as she weaved her way through couples. Her eyes never left Keye’s and Keye had stayed glued to the spot, her heart beating wildly. Nothing would stop Leah from getting to her, and as she startled to a stop in front of her, Keye let out a loud exhale as if breathing again for the first time. 

“It’s you,” Leah had said, so surprised yet relieved, “It’s you. Y-you…you are so…you’re my—,” 

“Keye,” she interjected, relieving the stuttering Leah. She held her hand out somewhat awkwardly, but it had felt like the only thing she could do. “I’m Keye,” she said again. 

Leah slipped her hand into Keye’s, not shaking it, but just holding it there for a moment before threading her fingers purposefully through hers and nodding. “Yes, you are.” Leah’s whole face brightened into one of incandescent happiness as light tears shone in her dark eyes. Keye was on the verge of losing it and letting this wave of joy rush over her and spill from her tear ducts. 

There she was.

Shortly after, Keye skipped town that night with Leah and sealed her fate. She just disappeared. No one even realized she was gone, and her parents just thought that she went back to campus early. Leah was prone to disappearing spells, so there was no connection made there either apparently. 

Maya’s head swum up out of the story and looked over at Leah who was leaning against the sink with her hands outstretched next to her, smiling softly at Keye. 

“And after I moved in, I took this semester off—” Keye continued after a moment.

“Wait what?!” Maya snapped out of it and jerked her head toward Keye, her eyes wide with shock.  

“My, come on,” Keye groaned, “What is it with you and school? It’s not that big a deal.” Keye said half heartedly. 

Just because Maya had a vice grip on school didn’t mean everyone else needed to maintain that level of intensity to make school an important part of their lives. Just look at what it did to her and Paul. She willed her body to relax as she shook her head, glancing quickly at Leah for any back up and finding none.

“No, no,” Maya tried backpedaling, controlling the features on her face to remain impassive, “I just mean, I didn’t realize! I should have realized.” 

Keye leveled her with an expectant stare, a small smile on her face. Maya was trying to keep her lips clamped shut so she didn’t ask the question she really wanted to ask. 

After about thirty seconds though, Maya burst: “But why though?!” 

So much for self control.

Keye couldn’t help but throw her head back and laugh. Leah looked on with a bit of concern on her face. 

“Sometimes, things just work out that way, My. But don’t worry, I’ll go back and finish up,” Keye proclaimed, “Just for you.” 

Maya smiled and shook her head. That soft concerned look was still pulling at Leah’s features as she continued to watch Keye carefully. 

Maya spent the day putzing around Seattle with Leah and Keye visiting some of their favorite local haunts. They even stopped in a few local bookshops and let Maya wander for as long as she liked. She discovered some old chemistry books that she fell in love with and was thoroughly brightened despite the low hanging clouds over Seattle as they walked down hidden side streets. 

The three grabbed lunch at a little sandwich shop not far from Leah’s bike shop. When Keye got up to use the bathroom, Maya casually stayed behind to Keye’s chagrin. Leah was trying to stuff the butt end of her meatball sub fully into her mouth, sauce dripping down her chin in an endearing way as she hunched her shoulders over the low table. 

Leah had been pretty tight lipped about her estrangement from the pack but now that Maya had her alone, she wondered if without Keye’s constant frown whenever the pack was brought up, she could ask her about it. 

“What?” Leah said around her mouthful. Maya hadn’t realized she had been staring, marveling even at this intensely, wonderful woman who had captured Keye’s heart and taken care of her best friend so completely. 

“Nothing, sorry, I—” Maya stumbled and ran a hand through her shaggy hair, frizzed by the gentle rain they had walked through to get here. Maya exhaled through her nose trying to gather her thoughts about how to ask but instead, Leah spoke: 

“You’re sure you want to go back?” Leah chewed valiantly and Maya couldn’t help but let her mouth hang open a bit in surprise. That wasn’t…. “No offense, but you seem torn. And I never try to make hard decisions when I’m on the fence.”

Maya closed her mouth abruptly and shook her head to try and clear any confusion that Leah could see in her eyes, “No, I…I need to go home. It’s time to go home. Not forever, but..just for now.” 

“Tortured him enough, then?” 

Maya’s eyes shot up to meet Leah’s in shock, but that feeling quickly faded when she saw that gleam of mischief in Leah’s eyes. She hadn’t meant it the way everyone else would have. 

“I guess,” Maya shrugged. “I do miss him, though.” That was an understatement.

“Of course you do,” Leah tucked back into the table scavenging chips from Keye’s plate. “Regardless of what you know, and regardless of what you feel, the imprint should always show you true north,” the sound of crunching chips perforated Maya’s concentration, “Or so they say.” 

“What do you think then? About the imprint, I mean, now that you have it?” Maya challenged. Leah took a moment, always thoughtful, never rash in her conversation. Just clear and true and decided. 

“I think the imprint is different for everyone. So if anyone tries to tell you what to do with it, you should take that with a grain of salt. Listen to what it says to you, trust that,” Leah shrugged. 

Maya paused at that and really tried to let that sink in. Everyone had tried to tell her what the imprint was meant to do, what it was based on legend. But it had been hard between her and Paul since the beginning. Some parts were easy, when they were just together and there was nothing else, but most other things were hard—harder than the other imprints at least. So much so, that Maya and Paul had wondered for a while if there was something wrong with them. 

“I will say though,” Leah’s voice suddenly turned serious. Maya met her eyes and was taken aback by the sheer intensity at which they bored into her, “While I don’t know how your imprint works, I do know Paul.” Maya gulped, “And I can say without a doubt in my mind that he loves you with every cell in his body.” 

Maya let out a sigh. She knew that of course and so she could only say as much, “I know.” Her voice came out hoarse. 

“But he’s also a bit of an idiot. Emotionally, I mean. The guy was abandoned by everyone when he was a kid and then was swallowed by anger for most of his adult life. He’s only found his way through in maybe the past five years. That’s still no excuse for how he’s been with you, but still. That man comes with baggage and I do not envy you that task of unpacking it all,” Leah brushed her hands together to get off the excess crumbs. 

There wasn’t enough that Maya knew about Paul’s past. He’d told her the basics, but she’d gotten more information about Paul’s dad from her own mother and that was a wobbly source. 

“Speaking of members of the pack,” Maya said quickly, “do you think you’ll ever come back to the rez?”

Leah let out a gentle laugh and shook her head, “Not unless they need me.” 

“Do they not need you now?” Maya quirked an eyebrow. Leah once again leveled her with that intense stare.

“Cute girls are always too brave for their own good,” Leah leaned back and stretched her arms behind Keye’s chair just as she slid back into it. 

“You guys can stop talking about me now,” Keye said dramatically as she shook her hair away from her face. She shot Maya a knowing look to which she rolled her eyes. 

Leah leaned forward just enough to kiss Keye’s shoulder and said softly, “Never, babe.” 

------------------------------------------

—-<<Trigger warning: mentions of abortion in this next section>>---

Maya and Keye cuddled up in the guest bed that Maya was sleeping in with a laptop between them that night watching an old 90’s vampire movie. Leah had disappeared downstairs into her shop to get some work done. 

As one of the main vampires looked out over a burning city, Keye readjusted her head on Maya’s shoulder as Yodel let out a soft sigh at the end of the bed. Somehow, it had felt like no time had passed at all. 

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Keye asked softly. Maya stared at the screen as she tried to reconcile her worry into something else. 

“I think so,” she breathed in and about before continuing, “It feels like the right time to go back. I don’t know how to explain it.” 

“True north,” Keye muttered softly. 

“Jesus, you guys really are in deep, huh?” Maya joked and Keye giggled. 

“I don’t know, probably. She was there for me when everyone was either busy or gone. I don’t think that was the imprint either, she just…knew I needed her and she stayed,” Keye was quiet. Maya’s heart rate picked up as she realized her mistake in shutting everyone out. Even if Keye had said that she had understood why Maya did it, she knew she had hurt people who didn’t deserve it for the sake of her own peace. Keye, and a lot of others deserved more than that. 

“Keye, I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I should have stayed in contact, I know that. It all just felt hard and this was easier. But I shouldn’t have done the easy thing….not when it comes to you or Becks,” Maya scrunched in closer to Keye. 

“It really is okay, My. I get it. I disappeared too, you know. Just…tell us next time.” 

“I promise,” Maya breathed. “But I don’t plan on disappearing again. I didn’t even mean to fully disappear before, it was just….easier that way. But it wasn’t fair to your or Becks, so I promise.”

The vampire on screen looked wide eyed at the little girl who was drinking from an older woman. She looked so small, so innocent. Her too-young youth, eternally frozen in time. 

“I have to tell you something,” Keye breathed, her voice hitching at the end as if she was unsure. 

“What?” Maya said softly, looking down at the side of her face. Keye sat up and Maya turned toward her, realizing that her face was pulled tight with pain. “What is it?” she reached for Keye’s hands that were clasped tightly in her lap but pulled back when she flinched slightly as if being touched might be too much at the moment. “Are you okay?” 

“I am..I am. I really am. I need you to know that I am okay going into this,” Keye’s voice wobbled slightly as she sat up straight, before leaning back against the headboard. 

“You’re kind of scaring me, Keye,” Maya said slowly as she pressed pause on the movie and sat up too, crossing her legs in front of her and turning her whole body to face Keye. The looks that flitted across her face were hard to read but as Keye bit her lip, Maya knew this was something more. 

“I…” Keye began slowly, her eyes on her hands that fidgeted in her lap. Maya leaned over and covered both of her hands with her own. Keye swallowed hard, tears forming at the corner of her eyes but never falling before looking up at Maya. 

There was silence, strong and solid between them, and Maya just let it hang there to give her the space to say what it was she needed to say. 

“I left the rez because something h-happened,” Keye’s voice was quieter now and Maya listened carefully as soft rain started to patter on the windows above the bed. It was another few moments before Keye continued, “Colin and I were still dating and we were…things were going okay.” 

A cold feeling slid into Maya’s stomach, but she held her breath to keep from thinking the worst. 

“He and I were…well it doesn’t really matter, but things were going well and it was like…four days before Seth and Sadie’s wedding and I wasn’t really feeling good. Just kind of off you know?” Keye took in a breath and Maya heard the sound shudder through her, “And I…I thought that maybe I was…Fuck,” Keye wiped the tear that had escaped from the corner of her eyes and coasted down her cheek. 

“You were what?” Maya asked softly, concern laid plainly on her face. Keye tilted her head and gave Maya a knowing look as she frowned. Maya waited. 

“That I was pregnant,” Keye hiccuped softly and Maya let loose the breath. 

“Oh.” The word came out small and barely there. Just above a whisper. Keye stared down at her hands again, playing with the tips of Maya’s fingers. “Were you?” Maya prompted gently, leaning her head down to capture Keye’s eyes. 

Keye shut them tightly and the tears fiercely rolled now as she nodded. 

“Okay, okay,” Maya looked over her shoulder toward the door wondering if Leah knew…if she knew Keye was… Her gaze flitted over Keye’s body to try and discern how far along she was, but she looked entirely the same. “How far along are—”

Maya was cut off by Keye shaking her head slowly, as hot tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Maya furrowed her brow, confused. Everything was coming at her so fast and she was just trying to piece every part of the puzzle together but felt like she was missing information. When realization dawned on her, her eyes widened with sadness, “You lost it…” she breathed. “Oh, Keye—” Maya reached out to stroke her shoulder, scooting closer but Keye stopped her. 

“Not exactly.” Keye said, wetly. She swallowed hard and forced herself to sit up straight. Her eyes were harder now, and through the tears Maya thought she saw Keye watching her carefully for any reaction that would make her shutter completely. Maya’s mouth hung open again in momentary confusion before she said even softer, her breath barely a whisper, “Oh.”

She blinked rapidly as it all sank in. Of course. Maya kept her face neutral, soft, and open as she watched Keye watching her. Keye’s eyes flicked all around her face, trying to scan for any disapproval, or upset, and that made Maya worry that she had encountered some judgment from her circle. 

Maya reached out and grasped Keye’s hand softly in hers and gave her a soft nod, “It’s okay, Keye. That’s totally your decision.”

But Keye was silent, watching her as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maya let the air hang between them a moment longer before she said, “Do you want to tell me about it?” Keye grimaced. “Or tell me why?” Keye crumbled slightly at that. “Let’s start with an easier question… And you don’t have to answer anything at all if you don’t want to. But, I want you to know that any answer you do give is enough reason and enough justification for the decision you made.” Maya dipped her head to meet Keye’s eyes. Only then did she see her gaze soften with trust again. “It’s enough,” she reinforced. Maya tried to emphasize that love with her eyes as well and held Keye’s gaze. 

When Keye finally nodded, sagging with relief, Maya scooted closer so that their knees were touching, “When did you find out?” She wiped gently at Keye’s tears. 

“Just after I met Leah…Like I said, I hadn’t been feeling great up until Seth and Sadie’s wedding, but after I met Leah, it was like I needed to know, you know?” Maya nodded and just let Keye go. 

“I drove out of town to get a pregnancy test. That whole fucking tribe has eyes everywhere you know and I didn’t want to risk it getting back to…well, I bought three and I was in a fucking gas station bathroom in Beaverton with a full bottle of gatorade just…waiting for what felt like forever,” Keye stopped then and gulped down air. 

Maya was pushing her hair out of her face and stroking her thumb over her hand. “And then it was like…everything stopped you know. It was real…three times it was real. And I….I panicked,” Keye was looking around the room now, the guilt just absolutely pulling her in different directions. “I didn’t want anyone to find out. At least until I could just think for a bit you know. You know how they are about babies, if they had gotten wind that I…and it was Colin’s? No way, game over.” 

A fresh sob broke through Keye’s chest. She opened her mouth a couple of times to speak and couldn’t so Maya let her breathe through it, allowing her the space to continue or stop. But she carried on as if she needed to say it out loud, “I knew I didn’t want it, My. And I just felt….bad. I felt bad because, I don’t know…fuck I don’t know why should I feel bad, you know?” Maya just nodded. She understood guilt like that. “I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I couldn’t go back to the rez. And so I…I called Leah and she came and got me, no questions asked.” 

Thank god, Maya thought. Thank god for Leah, because Maya could just see herself so clearly mirrored in this same situation. She was so grateful that her best friend had someone like Leah to come and protect her the way she needed to be protected. 

“It took me a week to tell her. And she was just…ugh,” Keye reached for a tissue next to the bed and blew her nose before saying, “She was just perfect, you know? She knew just what to say and what to do and…” Keye’s eyes sparkled for a moment as she looked at Maya. Maya couldn’t help but give her a sad, knowing smile back. 

“Yeah, yeah, imprints are great,” she joked, rolling her eyes before squeezing her hand. Keye smiled sadly, looking down at their joined hands. 

“She told me that whatever I wanted to do, it was the right decision. And that I didn’t need to tell anyone if I didn’t want to, because it was my body. She was just…there. All the time for me. I-I don’t know if I could have done all this without her but…she held my hand through it all and I…” Keye looked up at Maya, her eyes sure and firm now, “I don’t regret it.” 

Maya shook her head, “You shouldn’t. That was your decision, and I still love you just as you are.” Keye smiled, bigger this time and nodded. 

“Still fucks with me though,” she said, resigned. 

“Yeah well, they never said being a woman would be easy,” Maya pulled her into a tight hug. Keye held on so hard, she thought her ribs popped, “I love you.” Maya breathed into her hair. 

For a while they just sat there, hugging, listening to each other breathe. Maya hoped her decisions 

— << end trigger warning>> ---

-------------------------------------------------------------

November, 1 year ago….

Go see the elders. 

Jacob’s voice echoed and roiled in Paul’s ears as he worked away at the lower deck in the back garden. The cool November air whipped round Paul as he worked at setting wood planks on his foundation. The chill did nothing to bring down his temperature though. Paul was running more than hot these days—he was constantly burning up, as if an unbreakable fever clung to him since Maya left. 

Left him. 

Paul stalled, his hands stilling on the wood as he closed his eyes tightly against his last memory of her, tear stricken and shaking her head at him. I won’t. She had said to him that she wouldn’t stay. Not for anyone, not even for him. And that tore him to pieces and set him on fire. And ever since, he’d been burning. 

Paul forced his eyes back open and worked to refocus them on that task at hand. Work on the house always gave him some temporary peace, but he could never truly escape that hollowness that deepened and ached, threatening to drive him mad before the first snow would melt. 

He couldn’t even bring himself to go on rounds at this point. But no one blamed him. No one even came looking for him. He chalked that up to Jacob, citing space, citing time, citing…whatever it was Paul was supposed to find during his time of abandonment. 

Because that’s what it was, anyway you shook it out, he was simply abandoned. Again. 

Go see the elders. 

Jacob’s voice persisted in his head, sounding firmer, angrier each time that Paul refused whether internally or externally. What would the elders do for him exactly? They got him into this mess in the first place. Setting unrealistic expectations, putting pressure on them, coaxing them along with arbitrary milestones. They wouldn’t let up with their pleading eyes and knowing conversations until Maya was pregnant. Jesus. Paul skated quickly away from that thought and continued working on the deck. 

Plus, what could the elders say to him now? Maya was gone, and all he could do was hope that she’d come back. A ripple of anger ran down Paul’s spine as he gritted his teeth. Suddenly he felt like he was six years old again, sitting on the stoop of his dad’s double wide as thunder promised rain overhead. Waiting for someone who might never return. He hated that feeling. And what he hated more was how that anger that he once thought was well and truly tempered began to roil viciously within him again. 

Go see the elders. 

Jacob’s tone turned into a rough growl in his head and Paul couldn’t stand it anymore. The hammer that had gone so still in his hand now shook and he reared back before hurling it with all his might without a care of where it landed. It connected with something far off, a tree perhaps, that shook its occupants free and had them flying off in a hurry. 

Paul let out a harsh breath as he tried to swallow the well of emotion building in him. If he was being honest, he hadn’t done so well since Maya had left. To be fair, that might actually be an understatement. As hot, unshed tears brimmed his dark eyes, he stood with his hands lightly rested on his hips. 

“Fine,” he said to no one in particular, “I’ll go see the elders.” Paul headed off in the direction of his lost hammer.

--------------------------------------------

The next morning, Maya and Keye stumbled into the kitchen together after having fallen asleep, exhausted from their conversation the night before. 

Today was the day Maya planned to return to La Push and she would be lying if she wasn’t a bit nervous. 

But, even more nerve wracking was Keye’s request to drive her into the rez. After last night, Keye had woken up feeling better, but she had told Maya sleepily that she needed to go home to fix some things too. 

It only made sense that she would come with her, but still, the thought of Keye having another conversation last night made Maya ache, especially if she wouldn’t be as accepted by the others—least of all the council. 

But Keye had assured her that Leah and her had talked about this and that she felt ready after unloading a little on Maya last night. She could do it and even more so, she felt like she needed to, to continue to heal and grow past it. 

Now, hunched over their individual bowls of cereal as Leah watched from her place leaned up against the counter, both women held an air of dread about them. 

Leah took a bite of cereal and said suddenly to Maya: “You know he’s going to know you’re there as soon as you cross the boundary, right?” 

At this, Maya couldn’t help a small shiver run through her. He’d know she was there, but what he would do about it was still up in the air. 

A few hours later, Keye pulled up the familiar, neatly paved driveway to the house. If it wasn’t for the familiar blue stone, Maya might not have even clocked that they were at her house. There’s been so much work done to it, almost as if someone frantically decided to build with unbridled purpose and determination.

“Holy shit,” Keye breathed as she looked through her windshield of Leah’s Subaru. They both sat in stunned silence for a moment, mouths slightly agape. Then Maya replied weakly, 

“Yeah.” 

The little blue house wasn’t so little anymore. 

“Did you know he was—uh,” Keye faltered to complete her sentence so Maya just answered:

“No. This is…” Maya was lost for words. 

“Yeah,” Keye breathed. Finally, she tore her eyes away from the house and looked over at Maya. “So, are you ready?” 

“Are you?” Maya said back just as hesitantly. Keye considered it for a moment and then just shrugged. 

“Yeah, why not?” She answered with a small smile. Maya exhaled a breath through her nose and nodded. Why not. 

She pushed open the door and stood slowly on the dark paved driveway that was dotted with solar lights that would guide her in at night. She grabbed her duffel bag and backpack from the backseat and shut both doors with purpose. 

Keye only pulled back up the driveway once Maya had opened the front door. But Maya stayed frozen on the threshold for a moment, marveling at what lay within. 

The quaint front entryway had been completely opened and transformed into a wide open expansive living room that wrapped around the staircase that was now exposed on either side. Off to the right of the living room where there had only been a stone wall before, Paul had put in a cozy office, the entryway was arched and held two driftwood french doors, the glass mingling perfectly with the hand carved wood. 

Maya peeked in, her eyes coasting over the back wall behind the raw edged desk that was packed books in the floor to ceiling bookshelves. An oversized, plush chair was nestled neatly next to the bookshelves and the bay window that looked out into the woods. A small iron fireplace had been installed in a free corner. It was…perfect for lack of a better word. 

Maya spun on her heel and carried on toward the back of the house. The kitchen had been further expanded, a large warm wood island stretched across the expansive green tile. New appliances had been installed, the cabinets fitted and hand carved with intricate designs to heighten the simplicity of the sleek and soft kitchen around it.

Someone had been busy. Maya wrapped her arms around herself and glanced across the space. It was all so beautiful and different. But it still somehow felt like her home. It held the exact warmth and memory as before, just opened more to welcome new memories. 

Outside the sun was beginning to sink lower in the sky into the late afternoon. She pushed aside the long sliding glass door and stepped out onto the deck. A hanging bed flocked in white gossamer curtains and shaded by a partially covered pergola hung seductively off to the side. The deck had been expanded to include three levels, each holding a different space to gather with cozy chairs, firepits, and hand carved weather-proofed wooden tables. 

The most impressive thing that she had seen thus far though was the renovated workshop. Paul had completely rebuilt it, expanded it, and settled it a little further back onto the neighboring property. It almost looked the size of his studio in Seattle now, but he had built the entire front with reclaimed antique windows so that she could easily see into the intricate workspace within.The beveled glass glittered in the winter sun and made the entire backyard sparkle. It even held a second story loft that looked out toward the ocean. 

The cold November breeze rolled over Maya and she took a deep breath. She knew the kind of frenzied state he must have been in when he started building all of this. As a distraction. To keep him from feeling that hollowing pain that she herself felt almost every day when she had left. It was heartbreaking what they’d done to each other. But there was no getting around it now. 

Still, the most surprising thing was, he wasn’t here. Maya looked over her shoulder back into the house. Maybe she could find the keys to her Jeep, now neatly tucked away in the newly built two-car garage in the adjacent lot that Paul must have purchased to make all of these renovations. 

With Paul nowhere in sight, she let out a long breath. She guessed she could go to Emily and Sam’s and look for him there. That’s what she needed to do—she needed to find him. 

------------------------------------------------

February, 9 months ago…

Paul stood on the aging and worn steps of the last elder front porch in the icy rain that was oscillating annoyingly into sleet. As he looked around the front porch, shirtless and drenched in cold rain that steamed off of him, he noticed the wood rot close to the house where the porch met and made a mental note to come back and repair it once the weather cleared. 

After a few more seconds, Elder Ti’Hal slowly pulled open the door, a wool woven shawl hanging heavy over her shoulders. Her bright white hair was braiding neatly into two plaits. 

Elder Ti’Hal was truly ancient. And Paul didn’t mean that in a negative way at all. She radiated the distilled essence and teachings of their tribe. She was an elder before Paul was even born and he’d never known her without her bright white hair framing her wrinkled, warm face. 

She still managed to move fairly quickly and with agility that wouldn’t normally be attributed to someone of her age, but that was the mystery of elder Ti’Hal. She also never attended council meetings or bonfires anymore, and instead preferred to stay in her quiet cottage in the forest that she had shared with her husband before his passing over two decades ago. 

“Paul Lahote,” she said softly. “To what do I owe this very wet appearance?” 

Paul scowled off to the side, his jaw clenching so hard he thought his teeth might crack. He hadn’t realized it, but he was breathing heavily, his shoulders rising and falling with the effort of it. When he didn’t answer she just nodded gravely. 

“Come in,” she walked back into her small, warm, wooden home and Paul only hesitated for a second in the cold rain before he ducked under the tiny threshold and entered. “Let me get you a towel,” she grumbled. 

“Don’t bother,” he said, his tone coming out harsher than he intended. 

“For my couch then,” she was already digging in the small linen closet and produced a worn, threadbare towel that she draped across her couch for gesturing to it. “Sit.” she commanded. 

Paul had forgotten how bossy the elders were. He trudged across the living room, careful not to trip on the woven Quileute rug before he slumped down onto the couch in a huff. A warm fire crackled off to his left and Elder Ti’Hal had disappeared around a corner into her tiny kitchen and was clanging around with a kettle. 

“Do you want to start or should I?” Elder Ti’Hal called from the kitchen. Paul was still breathing heavily, the ache in his stomach crescendoing to a harsh beat. He may have groaned painfully in response, but he was too distracted by the unrelenting pain the imprint was causing him. “Right,” Elder Ti’Hal came around the corner with two hand thrown mugs in her hand steaming with what Paul hoped was something stronger than tea. 

She handed him his mug and when he took a whiff, he nearly threw it begrudgingly into the fire. 

“What pains you today, Paul Lahote?” she began. Paul shook his head, trying to find the right place to start, but nothing came to him, so instead he said, 

“Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?” she sipped slowly from her mug. 

“Call me by my first and last name. It’s not like you haven’t known me before I was born. Both names seem overkill don’t you think?” 

He shifted uncomfortably on the warm, plush couch as she leveled him with her gaze and took her time answering. 

“It’s more to remind you than me,” she said cryptically. Paul scoffed: 

“Oh believe me, I know who I am.” 

“Do you?” she replied quickly. Paul glared at her full on now and leaned forward, his mug still cradled between both hands. 

“She didn’t come home for Christmas. She didn’t come home for Seth and Sadie’s wedding. Nothing. Not a fucking peep from her,” he could feel the tension in his body snap, the anger flowing through his veins freely now. He trembled slightly—this wasn’t his first time having to channel unchecked rage through himself and he doubted Ti’Hal would appreciate him exploding into a giant wolf and shredding her comfortable living room to pieces. 

Instead, Paul glued his eyes to the fire, trying to let the anger move through him and then out of him to be consumed and burned away by the fire. But every time he breathed in, it felt like ash flooding his mouth, the embers of that anger still hotter than anything else within him. 

“What does one do with so much anger?” she posed the question suddenly. Paul looked up at her wide-eyed as if shocked by the fact that she could see it on him. He was naive to think that much anger wouldn’t still be palpable to someone as attuned as her. Paul rolled his jaw and sat staring at her, waiting for the anger to ebb, but it wouldn’t. 

Fuck. 

Elder Ti’Hal settled back into her large armchair covered in different soft, worn blankets. When it was clear he wasn’t going to respond, she glanced out the window, watching the rain settle into a gentle drizzle. 

“What do you think the imprint is, Paul?” her voice was warm with a gentle thrum to it like dried maize kernels pouring into a stone bowl. Comforting, consistent. It was maddening to say the least, so Paul continued in his aggravated tone, feeling the heat rise on his skin. 

“An anchor for packmates. A promise for imprints. It’s a reason to stay.” 

“Hmm,” she breathed, her eyes still on the window watching the rain make trails to the muddied window ledge. Paul huffed, rubbing his hands against his knees with impatience. A fucking waste of time, he thought as he clenched his jaw. “But it wasn’t reason enough for her to stay?” 

When her eyes slowly drifted back toward him, Paul looked ready to burst into flames. 

“Clearly not. I can’t go get her because I’ve been ordered to stay away, but also….she doesn’t want me to come,” his voice was quiet. He waited for her to speak again but she just stared at him sadly. A deathly calm rolled over him and he thought that if Ti’Hal didn’t say something soon, he might just give up and collapse in on himself like a dying star.

“What is it then? The imprint?” Paul asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. 

Ti’Hal smiled slowly, warmth creeping into her eyes as she tilted her head to the side and surveyed Paul thoroughly. She took her time before she finally said: 

“A choice.” 

Paul tried to quiet the tremors radiating through his body. If the imprint was a choice, then Maya had clearly not chosen him. Never. Not even from the start. The thought of it made his blood boil. His face twisted in rage before he spat out. 

“What the fuck does that mean? How is it a fucking choice when it’s supposedly pre-ordained from the ancestors? That makes no fucking sense, you know that right?” Paul was on his feet without remembering when exactly he stood up. His hands were curled into fists and his chest was rising and falling quickly. He needed to calm down. If he could just calm down he could…

Ti’Hal just watched him with that serene look on her face, as if nothing fazed her anymore and the anger of a full blown werewolf couldn’t even shake her. Paul tried breathing, closing his eyes, counting to ten, but nothing could quell this desperate anger that spiraled and felt like lead dropping into the bottom of his stomach. 

Why was it always like this? This anger? It was like a tide that he couldn’t escape. Like clockwork it would just rush over him and pull him under in seconds and there was nothing he felt like he could do about it. It was an exposed wire in his veins just ticking and twitching with so much heat and sharpness that he felt his skin would burn away and leave him exposed and vulnerable. 

 “Have you given her a choice?” Ti’Hal’s voice cut through the raging quiet like a whip, but her voice still remained calm. He tried to focus on that—that there was calm to be achieved and he could reach it. He could reach the shore if he just stayed calm. He was panting, losing his breath every moment he kept himself solid and here. 

“I thought I did…but I wasn’t given one either,” he thought back to the moment the imprint had happened. Seeing her there across the fire. It was like an instant salve to a long forgotten pain. And then in the next moment, he was all resistance and rage again. Nothing felt like a choice when it came to the imprint. “We…we didn’t have time to make that choice,” Paul tried to slow his breathing. Calm, in and out, just like the waves. Not sinking but drifting.

“Some see the imprint as a gift, but that’s also just a choice wrapped up in a nice bow, in my opinion. It is a choice, Paul Lahote. You’ve made plenty in your very short life so far, but it is one that you give to her and wait until she makes it. It’s a question, and not a command and it can take many forms. You’re part is making sure you ask her the right one,” she watched his body language shift ever so slightly. “Miss Sunriviere was told that you were her imprint, told that there was to be in a relationship, and then told what her life would most likely be, in so many words.” Paul opened his mouth to retort but she continued anyway, “You are her choice. So ask the question and be patient for once. And most importantly, be vulnerable to her answer,” Ti’Hal took a moment to sip her tea. Paul tried to let those words sink in. 

He was vulnerable with her. Her absence had nearly destroyed him, was that not vulnerable enough? 

“No, not that,” Ti’Hal responded as if she could hear his thoughts. Paul’s eyes widened. 

“What’s the question, then? The one I should ask?” Paul said desperately, his voice rasping as he realized he had been holding his body tensely throughout Ti’Hal’s speech. 

“Start with the answer you want and work your way back from there,” she gave a cryptic smile and stood, disappearing behind her kitchen door and singing softly to herself, unceremoniously excusing him. 

Paul stood there for a while longer, rapidly breathing, and listening to Ti’Hal singing the songs of his childhood in her kitchen, muffled and sweet.  ------------------------------------------

The door to her Jeep shut with a sharp click as Maya shrugged on her cropped puffy jacket. Much as she had suspected, the keys to Maya’s Jeep were in the sun visor, as if waiting for her. The whole drive to Sam and Emily’s felt…calm. As if she were driving toward something rather than into something. There was no sweeping dread, no overwhelming nervousness—she just felt ready. She chocked that up to just time. The time away had made her ready for home, refreshed her.

Sam and Emily’s looked the same as it always did—warm and inviting with a steady stream of smoke coming from the chimney. It was familiar and as she took in a deep breath, the cold November air spiced with pine and fallen leaves, with a hint of the salty Pacific sent a pleasant reassuring thrum through her body. 

Maya stood by her Jeep for a moment just taking it in, before the potential chaos—whether it would be angry or joyful—would be wrought on her. Just the quiet creak of the forest, a distant river rushing toward the sea, and muffled laughter booming from within the home. 

Maya took a deep breath and took a couple of steps forward, her feet crunching on the wet gravel. She hadn’t made it more than a few steps when the screen door opened and Paul walked out slowly onto the porch, hands in the pockets of his dark jeans. Maya halted, her breath caught in her throat as her eyes met his. 

She braced herself for whatever awaited her, but still that pulsing calm spread through her. It all felt…alright. And she hadn’t felt that way in so long. She watched in for just a moment as he stood on the top step of the porch, his face neutral before it broke into an earth shattering smile. 

Maya could have sobbed at the sight of it. He sauntered down the steps toward and it took all of her self control not to break into a full on sprint to quickly close the distance between them. Somehow she managed a quick walk and nearly crashed into his body, but he held her fast, one arm coming out to wrap around her waist as his other hand cupped her jaw. He peered down at her, that warm smile still spilling sunshine in every direction and she stared up at him, eyes glittering with unshed tears. 

He shook his head lightly and smiled, as his thumb reached up to gently brush across her lower lip, parting them softly. 

“You came home,” he said gently, the emotion clearly wavering in his deep voice. Maya nearly crumbled at his touch. She was home. 

“Yes,” she said simply, her voice barely above a whisper. “I thought it was…time,” she paused when he raised his eyebrows at her, a hint of humor and warmth in his eyes then quickly clarified: “For a visit.”

But this didn’t seem to faze him. He just nodded gently, humming in acceptance with that warm, pleased look on his face as he took her all in. There was a palpable vibration happening between them, what Maya could only assume was a physical manifestation of the imprint’s tension. 

The last time she had seen him on the rez  was over a year ago. And yet, time washed away and parted to let them stand there together again as if nothing had passed, as if this was any other day. Comfortable. 

Maya’s hands shook she gripped the sides of his abdomen. She’d come all this way to say….to say what exactly? Her mouth parted softly but nothing came out. She needed to say something, anything. The silence stretched between them and Maya just couldn’t let it hang there any longer. How could she? After he had left her in that hotel room, and how it had felt coming home again—she needed to tell him everything. 

He was tall, god so tall, he towered over her really, and yet she felt like his matching pair. 

“Welcome home,” he said gently, his nose nuzzling hers gently. 

Maya looked up at him curiously, her eyes slightly narrowed as she took him in. His dark beard was closely trimmed to his face, and his hair was a bit shorter than the last time she saw it. He looked good. Well, he always looked good, but this was different. 

His eyes seemed bright, not clouded with the anger or jealousy she had seen back in the spring. No, this Paul felt solid, for once. The light was shining on his face, his color back to its warm russet, flush with heat and health. Everything felt simpler. 

And with the confusion and despair that had once clung to that hollowness in her stomach from the imprint’s ache clearing completely, she felt like she could see clearly for the first time in awhile. She was worried momentarily that maybe it was just the trick of the imprint, beckoning her in—a salve to her burning anxiety. 

But staring up at Paul, there was an openness there that hadn’t been there before. Something that she wanted to discover and ask him about. For now though, as his hand slowly threaded into her hair and pulled her close, this was all that she needed. 

Finally, after watching her with such intensity, such heat, as if trying to rememorize every part of her face he lowered his head toward hers and crashed their lips together. It was like coming up for air after swimming beneath a current for too long. His kiss pressed new life into her and she arched her body fully into his, her curve slotting into the shape of his body just so as he held her against him. 

Paul moved his mouth over hers, slow and wanting, washing the ache of their absence away. There was no succumbing this time, just an equal measure of elation at being together again, and Maya felt that familiar sensation of something clicking into place and she saw it for what it was: being in the right place at the right time. 

She sighed into his mouth and heard him give a soft groan of pleasure before the air rang with the hoots and howls of his brothers. He pulled back gently, his eyes hooded and soft as he looked at her. Paul glanced over his shoulder at his pack crowded onto the porch and gave a gentle laugh before looking back, his eyes shining with something new as he said gruffly, “I guess they missed you too.” 

Maya swallowed thickly and laughed, not willing to let go of him first. But he took her cue and said, “Come inside, I’m sure they all have a million questions.” Paul kissed her forehead before turning and slotting her neatly into his side as they walked the short distance to the porch. 

“Hey, hey Ivy League!” Jared crooned. 

“Welcome back, My,” Seth said softly. 

“We needed a little more brains around here,” Colin laughed as Brady shoved him lightly. 

“Maya?!” a soft, female voice floated out from the front door as Maya and Paul climbed the porch steps. Becks pushed her way through the pack crowded on the porch and started sobbing instantly upon seeing her. She was heavily pregnant, and Jacob wasn’t far behind her as she nearly dropped into Maya’s arms in a hug, squeezing her so tightly she thought she cracked a rib. 

“Oh my god!” she cried into her shoulder. Maya chuckled and rubbed soft circles on her back as she looked over her shoulder at Jacob who shrugged and looked lovingly at his hormonally devastated wife. Becks pulled back to look at Maya, her face puffy and tear stricken, “You absolute JERK!” Maya barked a laugh at that and tried to wipe some tears away from Becks’ cheeks. “Don’t ever disappear on me like that again. I thought— I thought—,” 

“I know. I’m sorry,” Maya said, pulling her best friend back into a hug. “I should have texted.” Becks hiccuped a sound of disapproval, “Or called.” Maya corrected. When she pulled back, Becks nodded, seemingly trying to get herself calm as Jacob settled a hand on her lower back. Maya’s eyes widened as she took in just how pregnant she was. 

“Yeah, I know,” Becks said disappointed, “He’s like a week late.” She truly looked exhausted and the size of her belly stretched to almost painful extent. Jacob rubbed her back and leaned down to kiss her temple. 

“He’ll come soon, babe,” he promised. “Plus, Maya’s here. That’s literally all the good luck we need to induce your labor. Like last time.” 

Maya laughed again and shrugged, “Just no vampire delivery this time, right?” she quipped. Jacob rolled his eyes. 

“Jesus, I hope it doesn’t come to that. But, Carlisle is on standby if the water birth stalls or we need quick intervention,” Jacob said nonchalantly. 

“What the fuck is a water birth?” Brady whispered to no one in particular. 

“Come inside, come inside,” Becks waved a hand and with Paul’s hand on her waist gently, Maya let the warm, comforting Uley home swallow her up. 

They stayed at Sam and Emily’s until late in the evening, laughing and swapping stories. Paul stayed next to her, his presence relaxed and content, which was so unlike the tense and overwhelmingly protectiveness he had always exhibited before she left. 

She glanced over at him a couple times, and each time, he caught her eye and gave her a smile. One that promised nothing but exactly what he was in that moment. And it made her…happy. 

When she started to yawn, Paul took that as an opportunity to lean over and whisper softly against her ear, “Let’s go home.” 

Maya nodded immediately and they said their quick goodbyes to those remaining there, promising to come back tomorrow for lunch and babywatch. 

When they pulled up to the house in Maya’s Jeep, she couldn’t stifle her laughter quickly enough before Paul looked toward her amused and said:

“You don’t like it?” he asked, not even a little offended. If she didn’t know any better, there might be a slight teasing tone to his voice.

“No, no! It’s beautiful, I—,” she shut her eyes tightly to quell the rising emotion in her stomach from burning behind her eyes for too long. “It’s beautiful, Paul. You’ve clearly been busy, but I’m not sure why you did all this work.” Liar, the voice inside her quipped. 

The corner of Paul’s mouth pulled up in a smug grin beneath his closely trimmed beard, “Bullshit,” he replied, maybe to that voice in her head. Maya blushed and shook her head at the soft teasing tone. 

They hopped out of the car and came around the front into each other’s sides, arms weaving effortlessly over each other’s waists like magnets pulled them together, as they walked toward the house.

“Well, why else would you feel the need to renovate our entire house? It’s not like we needed to. The house was…fine, before,” she swallowed a gasp on the last two words as Paul confidently reached for her hip and tugged her closer, pulling her body flush with his. He stopped her, his other hand came up to rest on the side of her neck and threaded through her hair at the  nape of her neck.

He chuckled and Maya felt the warm rumbling vibration of it stumble through her body and land in her belly. “Shut up,” he said with a gentle smile. Maya couldn’t help her returning grin before she quickly wiped it from her face. 

“Seriously, if this is what happens every time I leave, I’m going to have to have someone confiscate your power tools,” his warm breath fanned across her face as he sighed, his eyes dancing around taking her all in in this light. How did he do that? Look at her like he was seeing the most incredible thing he’d ever laid eyes upon for the first time, and yet, the familiarity of his gaze said he’d known her forever, lifetimes before even. She let her hands rest on his chest now as she looked up at him. 

“I forgot how much of a little shit you are,” he teased.

“Me?! Really, you're a menace to homes everywhere—” Maya was cut off as she shrieked with delight as Paul growled, squeezing her hip and biting her neck, his rough stubble tickling beneath her chin as he backed her over the threshold of the house and kicked the door shut behind him. 

Once inside, he grabbed her under her thighs and carried her effortlessly up the stairs toward their bedroom, his mouth never leaving hers. Maya wrapped her arms around his neck, letting herself sink deeper into the kiss. Nothing was hurried—for once. 

When he lowered her gently onto the bed, his hands coasted across her thighs and unbuttoned her jeans. He peeled them off her slowly, kissing down her body and pausing to press an open mouthed kiss to delicate V between her thighs. Maya watched him, her eyes hooded with desire as he took his time kissing back up her bare legs once her jeans were discarded, pulling her shirt up now and peppering the expanse of her belly with warm pecks. 

Maya sighed, a small moan escaping as made his way up between her breasts, swiftly pulling her shirt up over her head and burying his face in her neck, the stubble scraping against the soft skin and making goosebumps rise across her breasts. 

Paul was slow and methodical in how he worshiped her, his hands touching every part of her, pausing to measure just how well she fit in his hands. Maya felt it too and an overwhelming sense of contentment rushed through her. The imprint bond that normally rang so clear through her during a time like this was completely silent. She didn’t pay it much mind though as Paul quickly unsnapped her bra and pulled back the delicate lace before encasing her nipple in his mouth. Maya’s back arched off the bed and Paul’s hand traced the shape of it. 

His thigh nestled neatly between her legs and Maya couldn’t help but seek friction desperately there, grinding down on him and rolling her hips as he tugged gently at her nipple with his teeth, biting softly across the swell of her chest to her other breast. 

Maya was panting with desire, rolling her hips as her eyes flutter shut to simply exist in this moment with him. She heard the soft swish of his t-shirt coming off and the familiar hum of his zipper. When she opened her eyes, he was standing and discarding his clothes, fully naked at the end of the bed and he simply looked—gorgeous. Maya’s breath caught in her throat as she leaned up to look at him. His throat bobbed in equal adoration as he leaned over her, his fingers ghosting across her hips and slowly slipping her panties down her thighs. He kissed her bent knee as he slipped the lacy garment over it and when she was fully naked beneath him, he let out a well deserved sigh. His eyes raked in every inch of her as if drinking her in. Maya was propped up on her elbows, her eyes softened as she slowly let her knees drop to either side, baring herself to him. 

She was already dripping—she knew that. Paul licked his lips and kneeled between her, not wasting anymore time as he bit gently on her thigh before leaning in to devour her. His tongue, flat and warm, seemed to touch every part between her thighs and Maya threw her head back, letting out a sharp moan. He let her settle on his tongue, tasting her, relishing her scent, as he held her there, his hands anchored firmly on her hips. His mouth sucked and pulled at her clit, his tongue darting into her opening, as a groan rumbled from his throat and through her body. 

Maya was cresting, light bursting behind her eyes as she whimpered through her release. She twitched against his tongue and only then did he lean up, his eyes glazed with lust and love so intertwined that she thought she’d melt into the mattress. 

Paul ran his hands over her body again, reverently, as if to prove something to himself and Maya shivered. The ache growing inside of her was present, persistent, but he leaned down slowly, taking her mouth over his and she sighed into it. Their breath mingled, mixing, and Maya felt like she was coming home all over again. 

He wrapped his arm down around her back and shifted her up the bed, but before she could settle onto the pillows, he whipped her over him and Maya straddled his abdomen. Her eyes sparkled, and she couldn’t help but smile. Paul almost always preferred to have her beneath him when he claimed her, but in this moment, his eyes shone with a desire to see her claim every part of him. 

Maya let her hands run down his chest, memorizing the hard expanse, the ripples and lines that made him strong and immovable. His chest rose and fell in quick breaths as if her fingertips were tracing some new pattern of love into his skin. Maya slowly traced over each dip and line of muscle, her eyes trained to each small freckle or scar, taking him all in. 

His hands gripped her hips tightly, kneading the soft flesh that creased between her hip and thigh and she smiled. “You are torturing me,” he rasped, his eyes dark and desperate. Maya glanced up at his face and just smiled softly. 

“I’m just remembering,” she replied barely above a whisper. Paul pressed his thumbs into that delicate crease where her hips met each of her thighs and pressed. A shot of lightning struck between her legs and a soft gasp fell from her lips. 

“Remembering what?” he asked, so soft, so gentle. A sweet juxtaposition to the hard bodied, giant man that lay wanting and ready beneath her. Maya’s fingers paused over where his heart lay thumping wildly in his chest. 

“What it feels like to come home,” she replied, as she lifted her hips and pressed him against her center. She slid down onto him slowly, feeling the warm stretch of him. A feral groan ripped from Paul as she sank onto his hilt, her hips neatly connected to his. She feel his hands flex as they gripped and loosened on her thighs. Maya braced herself on his stomach, taking in deep, stuttering breaths as she tried to get used to the sheer size of him again. As he twitched inside of her, she let out a soft “Ah!” as she clenched around him. She was so sensitive. Being fully in control had set her body alight and Paul waited for her to move, groaning each time she inadvertently squeezed him inside of her. 

When she lifted slightly, Paul braced her between his hands, helping to raise her hips. His eyes were glued to where they connected as the sheen of her slick coated every exposed inch of him. Maya raised herself halfway up his shaft before slowly settling back down onto him working herself into a slow and languid pace. 

Maya watched his eyes, sharp and dark as they took in every bit of movement. He was in absolute awe, completely taken by the shape of her and Maya felt completely in control. 

Her mouth hung open in unadulterated want as she quickened her pace on top of him. Rolling and sliding her hips against him. Paul’s hands tightened and loosened of their own accord as if he had to remind himself to let go a little so he wouldn’t bruise her. 

With each roll of her hips, that ache was replaced with warm relief and she felt a whole body shiver rush through her as Paul started chanting her name. She needed him closer, as she felt her tits swell and ache from her impending release. As if he heard her, Paul leaned up, connecting their bodies. His chest pressed flush against hers, but Maya didn’t stop bucking her hips against his. Paul wrapped his arms around her body, nipping along her collarbone, his moans echoing across the room as Maya threw her head back, panting and cursing. 

She felt him release first, and it took her over the edge. Paul’s eyes were closed tightly as he shuddered through his release and Maya curved in on herself as she let go, her body clenching to him tightly with wave after wave of pleasure as if she was trying to rinse herself through. 

Finally, she collapsed on top of him, breathing heavily into the crook of his neck. He placed a hand behind her head and stroked gently, kissing her temple as he tried to slow his breathing. 

Still, the imprint was silent. Maya wasn’t complaining, it was just…strange. 

“Welcome home,” he breathed. Maya chuckled and buried her head in his neck as she let sleep overtake her in one fell swoop

The next morning, Maya awoke slowly. She was keenly aware of Paul’s body behind hers, his arms wrapped lightly around her waist. Rain pattered gently on the windows and she had to admit that she hadn’t felt this content waking up in a long while. 

Paul stirred gently behind her, kissing her shoulder as Maya rubbed her hand over his forearm. They stretched into one another, Paul groaning sleepily as she turned in his arms. 

“Good morning,” he said gently, his eyes barely open. Maya bit her lower lip and smiled. 

“Morning.” 

“Do you have plans today?” he asked nonchalantly. Maya quirked an eyebrow and stifled a laugh. 

“No, I don’t think so. These are my plans, what about you?” she said in only a slightly teasing tone. 

“Yeah, I want to show you something,” he opened his eyes fully now, looking down at her and Maya looked at him carefully. Not a bit of hesitation in those eyes, she noticed. “Will you come?” 

“Sure,” Maya breathed. She didn’t know why but her stomach erupted with butterflies. He gave her a warm smile and closed his eyes again pulling her closer as he settled back into sleep. 

Later that afternoon, once the rain had stopped and Maya was bundled in her heavy winter coat and rain weathered hiking boots. Paul was dressed simply in jeans and a black t-shirt, his hair neatly coiffed to the side as if he had tried to tidy it up just a little bit. 

Paul drove them into the woods and parked in a clearing. He led her through the forest and they walked for nearly an hour along sloping pathways and fern covered earth. Paul carried her over fallen trees and helped her down rain slicked slopes until the pathways went decidedly up and up. 

“Where are we going?” Maya laughed as she breathed in the briney air, her cheeks flushed red with heat and exertion. Paul looked back at her over his shoulder and squeezed her hand. 

“Almost there,” he reassured her. 

Once they broke through the treeline, Maya knew where they were headed and her heart began to race. 

It was the cliff from her dream all those years ago. Where the wolf had beckoned her forward. 

“Paul what are we—” she began as they started up the slope of the cliff. 

“When you were gone, I went and saw the elders,” he began not looking at her. Maya stopped and her hand fell from his. 

“Oh?” she couldn’t say that that filled her with the reassurance she was hoping for. The elders had been incredibly intrusive throughout their relationship. “What for?” she probed. 

Paul took a few more steps forward toward the jutting edge of the cliff that pulled out over the water. “I was looking for advice and they didn’t really offer me much…until I saw Ti’Hal,” Maya’s eyes widened at that and she followed him a couple steps onto the cliff. 

“Ti’Hal?” She was shivering, not from the cold but from something else. Nerves? She couldn’t place it. No one ever went to Ti’Hal. She was the tribe’s oldest advisor, never came to council meetings anymore, and was a recluse for lack of a better term. Still, she was revered within her community and if you did seek her out, there needed to be a very good reason. She didn’t give away her time easily. 

Paul looked out over the cliffs, the wind whipping around him as he put a hand in his pocket. “I was trying to figure out what to do about us.” Maya’s stomach dropped at that. Paul still didn’t look at her and she felt like she was waiting for other shoe to drop, “I was miserable without you Maya, I think you know that.” 

“Paul—” Maya tried again. 

“No. Let me get this out,” he breathed harshly, turning to look at her finally, his eyes were burning. “Let me, please.” He nearly begged. Maya swallowed hard and nodded. He looked out again for a couple of heartbeats before he continued, turning to look back at her but staying close to the cliffs edge. 

“I was miserable without you. I had no idea what to do about the imprint, how to get you back. It was driving me insane. Actually insane. I didn’t phase back for a few months because I couldn’t handle being without you and lending myself to that animal side was simpler. But that started to make everything worse….I felt like..I was dying without you. And that terrified me.” 

Indeed his eyes were pained and dark and Maya thought the pain of it would reach out and shatter her. That the imprint would begin to tug her closer. But it didn’t. It was odd. 

“I just wanted it all to stop. If you wanted to stay away, be without me, I wanted you to have that and for me not to feel this way anymore. So, I tried to figure out the bond the imprint made. At one point I even asked…I even considered…trying to break it,” his voice was so defeated and Maya couldn’t help a soft sob from escaping her throat at the thought of it. “I was in so much pain, I just…” 

Maya took another small step forward and he continued, determined. “Still, the elders had no advice. The imprint would pull you back to me. There would be no other option but that. And then I saw Ti’Hal. I realized after talking with her that I got the imprint all wrong. I got us all wrong,” his eyes were hard now as they looked past her, through her. 

Was this some sort of sick joke? Fear shot through Maya as she thought the absolute worst. 

“Paul, wait,” Maya said, holding her hand out. 

“No, My,” he shook his head, “Let me finish.” 

“I don’t want you to,” she nearly had to yell over the wind, “Please, let’s just go home.” 

Paul shook his head, a smile now bursting over his face and Maya had to swallow her tears to keep from letting the panic sink in. 

“You have no idea how much I love you,” he said gently. Maya’s eyes widened and she took a step forward. Please don’t let it be bad. “I realized that because of the imprint and because of what everyone thought it meant, you were never given a choice in all this. I was never given a choice in all this.” Maya started to shake her head to stop him, to make him listen, he couldn’t leave her like this. It wasn’t fair. 

“Please,” she choked. 

“I decided I wanted to make a choice in all this. And you deserve one too,” his eyes on her were hard. And he took one step forward but then, he shrank from her eyeline getting onto both of his knees. He was actually kneeling before her, his hand now out of his pocket holding something. “I want you to choose me because it’s what you want. I want a life with you and I want us to create that together. Not because of the imprint or because of what is expected. But because you love me and I love you. I want…I want so bad to marry you, My. Will you marry me?” 

The shiny glimmer of tears caught in the corners of his eyes as he stared up at her. Maya took the last few steps toward him slowly, her mouth open in shock as tears flowed freely over her cheeks now. The ring glittered in his hands, a large oval shaped diamond set in a delicate gold band. Maya was crying completely now, the tears beginning to blur her vision and she couldn't quite catch her breath.

“Will you—” he tried again but Maya cut him off quickly. 

“Yes, yes I will! Yes, Paul. Yes,!” she sank to her knees before him and he tugged her forward, kissing her through her tears as the waves crashed and roiled below them. 

Next > >

#twilight fanfiction #taking time #paul lahote pairing #paul lahote #paul lahote x oc #twilight fanfic #the twilight saga #twilight wolf pack #trigger warning #maya and paul #chapter fifty four #jacob black #leah clearwater #twilight

[strawberrymilk-sunshine]

Halloween ask even though Halloween ended. Imagine Vil being someone important for the vampire such as a king or something like that and he fell in love with a human! So he send Rook to capture them, buy obviously reader fight back and Rook has no other choice but to break both of their legs. While going back to Vil, Rook realize something, it's not fair that Vil will be the only one to enjoy this beautiful human so Rook decides to convince Vil to share reader ><

YES YES YES I CAN ABSOLUTELY DO THAT

(sadly, this didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it... sorry if it disappoints you)

Warning(s): kidnapping, you get both your legs broken, they're both yandere but moreso Rook

"Rook, come here... I need something." Vil was feeling very conflicted recently.

There's a town near the mansion in the forest. Vil sometimes walks through the town to scope out potential... sacrifices. With an umbrella in his hand, he'll walk through the town, searching for beautiful humans to drain the blood of once night falls. Beauty is wasted on humans, before long they'll decay... it's almost cruel to give them such beauty.

Though, one day, as he was searching for humans to drain, one bumped into him. They apologized immediately, multiple times... and Vil saw their face, it was... beautiful, almost in an ethereal way, almost as if they were a vampire, but they were clearly walking in the daylight, unharmed.

"Oui? Whatever could you need, Vil?" Rook asked, bowing before Vil.

"I met a human a while ago- (Y/N), I believe their name was. I want you to bring them to me."

"If you allow me to, may I ask why?"

"...I've fallen in love with them."

Someone knocked on your door.

You didn't want to stop reading your book, but you're a... shall we say, polite person. You reluctantly put your book down, and walked to the door.

The man standing there... he was wearing a floral pattern suit, a black hat with a black feather, and a cape... his hair was short and blonde, and his eyes were a bright green.

"Greetings, ma chéri. May I come in?" He asked.

"What? N-no! Who are you?" You asked, not wanting to let a complete stranger in your home.

"Ah, of course, my apologies for not introducing myself to you... my name is Rook Hunt, and I have some... important business to speak to you about~"

"...what kind of business...?" You cautiously asked.

"May I come inside?"

"I already said no! Just tell me what's going on here!" You demanded.

"Goodness, such defensiveness!" Rook looked surprised. "I assure you there's no reason to be frightened, chéri! As I said, I simply wish to talk with you, is that so much to ask?"

"W-we can talk like this." You told him. "You don't have to come inside."

"In that case, perhaps you would like to come outside." Rook suggested. You shook your head to tell him 'no way am I doing that'. "Ah... well, I suppose it is what it i-" Rook stopped for a moment. "Is that a ring?"

"Hm? Oh! Um, yes, it is." You said, looking at the ring on your finger.

"May I see the ring closer?"

"Oh, sure." You said, not seeing any harm in it.

Rook grabbed your hand, closely examining the blood-red ruby gemstone that adorned it.

And then he pulled you outside.

"You see, my dear, he has quite the liking to you as of late." Rook explained. "He personally asked me to bring you to him."

You immediately knew something was wrong, so you tried to get away, but Rook's grip on you was... inhuman.

"My my, what's wrong?" He asked. "You have no reason to be scared. In fact, you should be delighted! Vil Schoenheit, prince of vampires, has fallen in love with a human such as yourself! You should feel lucky..."

You couldn't believe what you were hearing. Vampires?! No, that can't be true! Your town has many legends of them, and people do disappear under mysterious circumstances often, but... vampires can't be real...! Right?

"Ah, poor human, dazed, confused, not understanding their situation..." Rook lamented. "You struggle, even though a being higher than yourself has fallen in love with you... I wish I could understand the mind of a human..."

Rook tried to drag you away. He tried to bring you to what is certainly your death. You fought back despite the fact that you knew he was much stronger than you, you tried to get away from him, you tried to survive.

"Quelle bêtise..." Rook sighed. "Why do you continue resisting?" He pushed you to the ground and grabbed your legs. "Believe me, I would much rather not use violence, but... I suppose it is necessary..."

The pain was almost unbearable.

Both of your legs were broken, Rook was dragging you along with him as if he didn't even care about the pain you were in.

He had a tight grip on your ankle, you were lying on the ground as he pulled you along. You felt every bump in the ground, every tiny stick, every little seed, bugs were for sure biting you, what an awful night.

Your legs smelled of blood.

Rook found it increasingly hard to ignore. No vampire could truly ignore the scent of blood, no matter how strong their willpower is... so every now and again, Rook would look back at you to remind himself that this human was for Vil and Vil alone.

But eventually... he saw something in you. He realized you were exactly as beautiful as Vil had said. You were an enigmatically beautiful human...

It's unfair that Vil gets to have you all to himself.

"Vil, I have brought you your human." Rook bowed. "They are in the guest room. Unfortunately, they resisted quite a lot, and I regrettably had to break both of their legs. I'm very sorry."

"Well... I suppose the important part is that they're here now." Vil said. "You said they're in the guest room? I'm going to go see them."

"Ah! Before you do, may I suggest something?"

"...what is it?" Vil asked, glaring at Rook.

"Perhaps we can share the human?" Rook said. "While bringing them here to you, I realized that I felt the same way about them as you described." He explained. "A feeling I can only describe as love."

"And your solution is to... share them?" Vil asked.

"Yes. It's better than the alternative of them being oh so horribly lonely all day when you have important businesses to attend to, isn't it? And wouldn't it be better to have them be watched over every day? If not, then they could attempt escape! Though, I'm not sure why they would... they should realize they're in quite the lucky position!"

"I guess I'll take you up on your offer. I know if I don't you'll just keep whining about it..."

With a pair of broken legs, you were completely at their mercy. Whatever they do to you, you'll just have to bare with it.

Whatever they choose to do to you, you can't do anything about it.

You're theirs, now and forever.

#vil schoenheit #rook hunt #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twst #yandere #yandere twst #yandere twisted wonderland #yandere twisted wonderland x reader #yandere twst x reader #yandere rook hunt #yandere vil schoenheit #yandere rook hunt x reader #yandere vil schoenheit x reader #yandere rook x reader #yandere vil x reader #yandere rook #yandere vil

[doe-writes-stuff]

Rick finds reader camping in the woods and, over time, convinces her to join Alexandria. Happy, lovey (optional smutty) ending please!

A/N - Thank you very much for the request! ^_^ Your comments and reblogs always touch my heart <3 I'm glad you're enjoying my stuff.

WARNINGS: Canon-typical violence, blood, injury, strong language. Reader has trust issues. Set during the time-jump between seasons 8 and 9. This will likely have a second part with smut to come >.>

The first time you meet him, he scares you.

You hadn't anticipated meeting anyone out here in the wilderness, let alone someone who didn't intend to kill you. But there he was, stumbling out from the thicket of trees you'd camped within, gun held loosely in his hand, seeming just as startled as you that he'd found someone out here. The pure shock of it had left you both silent, staring

There were so few of you left, and often the people you did have the misfortune of encountering were something less than human nowadays. It was better--safer--to assume he was no different. But rather than lift the weapon to shoot you then and there, he held up his hands in a placating gesture, backing away when you'd stood to prepare yourself for a fight.

"Hey, hey...'m not gonna hurt you. Let's not do anythin' we can't take back, now." He reassured, one palm facing you and the other slowly lowering his gun back into his holster to show he meant the words. Your eyes are riveted on the weapon, your hand grasping the hilt of your knife with a white-knuckle grip.

There's little it could do for you at range against his gun, but still, holding onto it made you feel better.

"My name is Rick Grimes." He watches you carefully, his hand still stretched out to try calming you. "And I ain't lookin' for violence. Just out scavengin'."

You say nothing at the introduction, not trusting anything he had to say. You shift uneasily on your feet, eyes flicking away to the surrounding tree line to look for anyone else hidden from your view. Surely a man like this wasn't alone-

"It's just me out here." He seems to understand what's on your mind, settling into a more relaxed standing position in an effort to get you to do the same. "Just us."

Still, you say nothing. Whatever his true motivation for being out here, you know better than to believe what people tell you at face value. It was a big factor as to why you'd lived this long.

"Can I ask your name?" Perhaps discouraged that you still hadn't responded to his words, his head tilts in a reassuring way, and he takes a step forward, hesitantly.

"Got nothing to say." You gripe, throat tight with anxiety. You match his step back, taking care not to stumble over the log you'd been sitting on mere moments before he'd arrived. "Just wanna be left alone. Best be on your way."

"Maybe we can help each other-"

"Leave."

It's so obvious that he wants to say more, wants to try convincing you he was harmless, but the hair on the back of your neck is standing straight up and you can't bring yourself to care. Your hand takes a better grip of your knife meaningfully, and Rick seems to get the message, once more holding his hands up and slowly backing away the direction he'd come from.

"I'll leave you be, then."

You stay standing, waiting, for at least 20 minutes after he disappears and the sound of his footsteps fade away in the sounds of the forest. You can't trust that he won't turn around and try killing you when your guard was most lowered.

Eventually, your hackles lower. And with a somber glance around at the cozy little campsite you'd occupied for the past couple months, you sigh. You supposed it was time to move on.

The second time you meet, you nearly kill him.

The little cabin in the woods you'd discovered after packing up camp had clearly seen better days, but over the course of the few weeks you'd been staying there, it felt a little more like a home. Some reinforcing wood planks to keep the door from caving in case the infected got wind of you, and a bit of cleaning to get the worst of the bloodstains off from the floor saw the inside looking downright cosy.

It wasn't exactly your apartment from back in the day, but hey, one couldn't be picky.

The sound of shuffling feet outside has you glancing up from your book and sighing, annoyed that an infected or two had wandered their way close to your shelter. It was strange that they so frequently seemed to wander by this deep into the woods. You hadn't seen that pattern at your old campsite, but here it was almost routine.

You dog-ear the page you were on and set it on the side table, next to the burning candle providing you with the light. Grabbing your improvised spear leaning in the corner of the main living space, you rise and peer out the window to out into the darkening evening.

You freeze, pulling yourself out of the window's sight. A stuttered breath escapes you.

Two men. Not infected. Shit.

Backing away and crouching down below the sill of the window, you scramble as quietly as you can towards where you kept your small bag of weapons on the nearby counter. One hand reaches up into it, ears perked up for any sign that the men had reached your doorstep, and blindly closes around the handle of your 9mm pistol.

Thank fuck you always kept it loaded.

You catch snippets of the two talking outside, the distance and the walls in between you making the words indistinguishable, but their closeness had your heart pounding a little faster in your chest. Your eyes scan the room, looking for a hiding spot or a vantage point that would protect you from possible harm. And suddenly the cabin doesn't seem all that great anymore, seeing nothing to aid you and nowhere to hide.

With a snarl, you curse your own shitty luck. This might get ugly.

Drawing the knife from your hip into your other hand, you crouch to the right of the front doorway, back to the wall. At least it should shield you when they initially entered your little home. Maybe it would buy you a little time, but you didn't hold out hope you could hide from them completely. Not with two of them...

Heavy boots on the steps to your cabin alert you to their impending entrance. With a moment to close your eyes and focus, you adjust the gun's grip in your hand, opening them again when you hear mumbling and hesitation from the two intruders. Their voices are low, gruff.

A spike shoots through your heart when the door bursts open, swinging towards you on its squeaking hinges. Just as planned, it shields you from their initial entrance. They step inside, systematically checking the room. You get ready on your toes, prepared to spring out at a moment's notice.

You get your chance as the door begins to close, the man doing so with their back to you, talking to their companion in a hushed tone. And while the crossbow-wielding companion widens his eyes as he spots you, the other that you'd set your sights on is too late to react as you gun is held to his temple and the knife rests upon his neck. He tenses with a curse under his breath, and smartly doesn't try to resist.

"Hey!" Your captive's companion shouts, eyes hard. "Let 'im go."

"Hell if I'm gonna just let you bastards walk in and take what you want." You say with as much steadiness as you can manage in your voice. "Y'all're trespassing in my home. I got every right to defend myself."

He practically growls back. "Ain't gonna be anyone's if you don't get those outta his face."

The crossbowman shifts on his feet, trying to figure out what to do, given his friends is currently in such a precarious spot between your weapons. It surely doesn't help your own nerves seeing him so antsy. You find yourself pressing the knife just a little bit more against your hostage's skin, not enough to actually cut, but at least so he doesn't get any stupid ideas while you have control.

"Tell your friend to put the crossbow down." You mutter into the man's ear, ignoring the feeling that you somehow...recognized him. You hadn't gotten a great look at his face before holding him captive, but something about him felt...familiar.

"Daryl, easy." The man in front of you says, one hand coming up to try placating the other. "Put it down. We'll talk."

One of the crossbow bolts is leveled straight at you, but you're careful to keep most of your body hidden behind the man you were currently holding hostage. If he was smart, he wouldn't try taking his chances with shooting the small portion of you that was visible. Besides, even if he got a shot off, there was no telling if you'd accidentally pull the trigger or slice his neck on the way down. And that doubt was exactly what you needed.

You can see him--Daryl, supposedly-- glancing between you and his friend, but eventually the crossbow is lowered to a more non-threatening state. Wasn't all that happy about it, either. He still hadn't put it onto his back, ready to bring it up and shoot you at a moment's notice, but at least you weren't staring down the business end of an arrow.

"Say your piece." Daryl spits.

"All I want is to be left alone." You demand, keeping the knife to your captive's neck, but pointing the gun at Daryl. You flick it quickly towards the open door behind you. "Leave, and I'll send your friend a few minutes after when I'm satisfied you're not nearby."

Clearly unhappy with that demand, Daryl takes a step forward, but your gun returns to his companion's head for emphasis. "Don't have to like it, but if you don't want him hurt, then do as I ask."

"Like hell I'll-"

"Do what she says."

Daryl's jaw sets. "Rick, I ain't leavin' you with-"

"Like she said, it's her home."

Before you can fully mask it, your brows twitch upwards in recognition. That name...

"Askin' me to trust her..." Chewing on his bottle lip with worry, Daryl looks back to you with a glare. "What's to say you won't kill him the moment I walk out that door?"

"All you got is my word that I won't." You admit, knowing that promises meant so little nowadays. Your answer doesn't inspire any reassurance in the bowman, who scoffs and shakes his head. "I just want you away from me, and I'd prefer not to kill anyone to do it. But I will if you make me."

Rick nods as much as your knife allows him to towards the open door. "Go on. I'll catch up with you."

It takes several seconds, and no doubt some unspoken conversation between Rick and Daryl, but eventually the crossbowman takes one step and then another towards the door. You shift and lead Rick so that your back is never to Daryl as he goes, the gun and knife staying right where they are just in case he tries anything stupid.

You watch, adrenaline quickening your breath, as Daryl does as he's told and steps down onto the grass, finally disappearing into the trees beyond after some minutes. And even still, it takes another minute before you're completely comfortable that he's left.

Now, to deal with your hostage...

You release the knife and push him away from you harshly, gun leveled squarely on his head. Rick recovers, turning to see that while he was no longer in your hostile grip, he wasn't fully in the clear either.

"Told you once already Rick." You say, immediately recognizing the man and his scruffy facial hair. From the scrunch of his eyes and furrowed brow, clearly he'd also been wondering why you sounded so familiar too. "I just wanna be left alone."

"Didn't know it was you." He says, reaching up to rub at his neck, checking for cuts. But there was nothing. "Far as I knew, you were still campin' somewhere in the woods. If I'da known, wouldn't have come out here."

"Well..." You give a sigh, feeling a sudden sensation of fatigue. All this had thoroughly exhausted you. "Doesn't matter now. What's done is done."

He looks at you silently, appearing very relaxed for still having the gun aimed at him. Perhaps he didn't believe you'd really shoot. And unfortunately for you, it was growing more and more likely you wouldn't.

With a glance towards the door--there was no sign of Daryl, still--you gesture to it with your knife. "Go on. Don't come back. I'll be gone by the time you might come looking anyway."

Rick gives one last look, before slowly walking to the open door. But, he stops just as he gets to the threshold, turning back to you again with a thoughtful expression.

"You don't have to be alone." His voice is soft, gentle, and yet still holds onto that confidence and certainty you'd heard when you'd first met. "Daryl and I...we come from a community. Dozens of people. Good people."

You only stare, making it clear what your answer was with the hardness of your expression. Even still, it doesn't stop him from trying one more time.

"It ain't safe out here on your own anymore. People have always needed each other, even before, but that's more true now than it ever was. Can't you see that?"

At the very least, you spare him a few moments of thought, before you gesture towards the door with your gun without a word. Rick looks down, accepting that he hadn't convinced you. Then, you see a little amused smile lift the corners of his mouth, head shaking slightly.

"I still don't even know your name."

You match his smile, though it lacks the amusement.

"It's better that way."

Hmm, well, they say the third time's the charm.

Out of breath, heart beating the drums of adrenaline and survival instinct through you, your eyes whipped around the forest for any sign of your pursuers. The rain wasn't making it easy at all, pouring down through the canopy of leaves above and making everything much too noisy to hear if anyone was closing in.

You'd lost a lot of blood, and you'd no doubt lose a lot more unless you managed to get a decent bandage on your wound. The first had already fallen off, sopping wet from the rain and doing nothing whatsoever to staunch the blood from seeping out of your side. Whatever caliber round the person with the rifle was using was terrifying, and you doubted another shot would miss its mark quite like the first did.

Fatigue was dangerously close to descending on your muscles and limbs, and already you could feel the impending weakness from not enough blood pumping through your veins. You didn't have much time. But your only option was to run.

Blindly. Frantically. No destination in mind, and no one to help you. Was this how you died? Were all those years making ends meet, killing and scavenging and surviving just to bleed out like this? Like a wounded animal in the middle of nowhere? It all felt so unbelievably unfair.

Teeth grit against both the searing pain of your wound and the tired muscles in your legs, you rise from against the tree with a gasp and limp as fast as you were able through the dark grey forest.

Paranoia had you hearing the crunch of leaves behind you every few feet, but no matter how many times you'd whip your head around to face the incoming threat, there was no one there. The rain deafened everything else, and it was then that you realized you needed to have a better sense of the direction you were running. All of this wouldn't be helped by running face-first into the jaws of a hungry infected.

Wiping the rain from your eyes as best you can, squinting into the gloom, you make your way in one set direction. The forest all looked the same, no matter where you swept your gaze. For all you knew, you could be running in circles-

The distant bang somewhere behind you wasn't what caused your body to jolt painfully in place, but the splintering of the tree trunk from the bullet's impact right beside you certainly did. With a yelp of surprise and fear, you take off with renewed vigor, pushing past your already screaming lungs and shaking limbs.

You would not die out here. You swore it.

Now making a zig-zagging path through the forest, hopeful that the unpredictable path would discourage further shots from your would-be killer, you keep going. Your own sense of dread rises the more you feel yourself becoming dizzy. Whether it was from pushing yourself too hard, running for too long, or simply the loss of blood, you can't be sure.

And suddenly you're breaking through the trees and onto an empty road. And while you're surprised by the unexpected change of scenery, you don't have time to properly stop and process it.

That's why, seeing something that looked manmade at the end of the road up ahead--too far to make out properly, but clearly a construction of some kind--you immediately make your way towards it. The thought that someone might be inside didn't even cross your mind. Perhaps it would give you the shelter or place to hide that you needed. That was the plan, anyway.

Black dots edge at your vision, and you slow, chest heaving with the need for oxygen. Which, in turn, only further worsens your body's need for blood to distribute it.

No, no, no no no!

You'd reached your limit, and barely 100 meters from the walls you'd been running towards, you collapse in a heap in the rain. The impact upon the pavement doesn't register until moments later, and by then you swear you're hearing things because...over the sound of the pounding rain, you swear you hear voices.

Stay with me.

Don't close your eyes.

Self-preservation tells you that something is nearby, and a figure takes up the small window of vision you still have left, but everything is much too blurry to make out. The disorientation of being on the brink of passing out is terrifying.

This is the end, you think, cursing everything and everyone you can think of in your last moments, quickly losing the ability to even care as blood loss seeps you of strength. How completely unfair.

Consciousness eludes you, and everything goes black.

No matter how many days you heard it, some part of you believed you'd never get used to the sound; the laughter of children. Sing-songy voices as they played chalk games and tag in some nearby yard. When was the last time you'd heard such...such joy?

You'd cried when you realized you could no longer remember. The doctor attending to you--Siddiq as you'd learned his name to be later on--was quite concerned upon seeing you with red, watery eyes when he'd returned. It had taken quite a lot to convince him you were fine. It had taken all afternoon to truly accept the fact that you weren't dreaming and this was indeed real life. Without even having to explain your feelings, he'd seemed to just know, and understand.

There was little else to do but sleep and think when stuck in an infirmary bed for days on end. It had only taken you until that first afternoon to inspect your room with suspicion. The decorative trinkets and knick-knacks almost felt offensive. You'd nearly just died, and they'd stuck your ass in a room that looked right at home in one of those interior design magazines from way back when.

Rick had visited you that first evening. Came to check on you and see if you were recovering ok. Past the basic small talk, and the most superficial of answers to deeper questions, the conversation had been brief. And then he'd left, promising to come back another time when you were feeling more up to talking.

After that, there'd been more hours of staring up at a ceiling. More bouts of short naps that, admittedly, were very much needed. You hadn't slept as long or so comfortably in...hell, you couldn't recall. Unable to lift yourself from the bed, there was little else to do but wait, bide your time and recover.

And it unfortunately wouldn't be quick.

For the most part, you were left alone. From what you had surmised, they'd stuck you in a room separate to the rest of the infirmary, perhaps for safety. You didn't mind the distance. It gave you plenty of time to listen, to observe, to get an idea of what Rick had talked about in that cabins all those weeks ago. His words had meant so little back then, but now...?

Rick and his people truly had it lucky. All this...normality. People forgetting about the world out there, if even for a moment. Such luxury you'd never been able to afford. Slipping up for even a moment could very literally be a death sentence--hell, it nearly had been, even when you'd stayed vigilant--but these people...they didn't live every waking moment wondering if the next would be their last. They didn't sleep with a knife in their hands, ready to strike against anything that felt out of place. They didn't need walls around their hearts and minds because they'd built them from metal to protects their homes and their families. Large sheets, tall and sturdy.

These people...they laughed, they loved, they danced and sang. They ate dinners together around a table as a family. They gossiped with their neighbors, worried about if you were comfortable or if you needed another pillow behind your head. They cared, damnit. They felt safe.

They lived, so fully and freely.

Could you say the same for yourself?

If asked, you didn't think you'd be able to describe the feelings being in a place like this was invoking. Some mix between disbelief and...hope, perhaps. Something once thought unattainable, or lost forever, was right here in front of your eyes. And suddenly you thought you understood the difference between living and just surviving. Or, at the very least, began to grasp at the concept.

Your wound was still tender. It would be for another week still. But after several days of bed rest you could finally stand and walk around without much difficulty now. You wouldn't be running marathons anytime soon, but it was better than being confined. Although, Siddiq kept you from leaving the infirmary and getting some fresh air, which indicated that someone had put you on some sort of house arrest.

Made sense. You weren't much more than a stranger to any of these people. No one would let someone like that run amuck in their home.

You heard the footsteps leading up to your door before it actually opened. Turning away from the window you'd been looking out of, Rick enters almost cautiously. You meet his gaze, searching for any hint of deception, or bad intentions, but find none. He was comfortable in his surroundings.

He even felt safe enough to offer you a smile.

"Good to see you on your feet." He says evenly, leaning one elbow against a shelf on the opposite end of the room. His thumb slots into his jean pockets with the other. "Siddiq wasn't sure if you'd pull through that first night."

"Yeah, well..." You shrug, not sure what else to say, arms crossing over your chest. "Tougher than I look, I guess."

"That you are."

There's a lull, neither of you really sure what to say. Your gaze returned out the window of your infirmary room, tracking a group of children running after one another playing some sort of game. You couldn't tell exactly what the objective was, watching from afar.

After several moments of watching them, your lip twitches upwards a little. "This all...still feels a bit like a dream. Like I'll wake up at any second and be hit with reality."

You hear him huff an amused breath, steps coming closer. And while you once might have tensed and put more distance between the two of you, it seems illogical that he'd drag you into his home to save your life just to take it now. The reassurance that Rick didn't mean you harm meant you didn't flinch when he came up beside you to peer out the window as well.

"Felt that way for us, too, when we first came." He says with an understanding nod. "Feelin' like the floor's 'bout to give way from underneath you, somethin' like that?"

You nod, then something he'd said makes your brow raise. "You weren't here from the start?"

"My people came later. Much later, actually. We spent weeks on the road just...survivin.' Searchin' for somethin' we didn't know was there or not. And this,'" he gestures out the window, "is what we find at the end of it all. All I could tell myself is 'there must be somethin'. There had to be somethin'...wrong about it. Nothin's that easy. Not anymore."

"And was there? Something wrong?" You can't help but ask, unable to help but get invested in his little story.

"Nothing a harsh wake-up call couldn't fix. They weren't prepared for it, what's out there. Didn't realize how bad it could actually be." Another gesture, this time to the wall you could see in between the gaps of two houses further down. "But they're still here, and that's gotta say something about this place."

You look to him with a side eye. "That they're lucky?"

"That they're capable." Rick's head shakes, meeting your gaze. "See, that's what I missed the first time. I didn't see what they could make themselves to be. It may look like the old world, might have a few fancy amenities, but they've been through more than you think to still be here. And we did it together. For one another."

It's silent as you take in what he'd told you, eyes flicking back to the kids outside. "Tryin' to convince me to stay?" You ask, the humor evident in your tone.

Rick chuckles, that same smile gracing his expression. It still amazed you how at ease he could be in a stranger's presence. "Is it workin'?"

"Not sure yet." You say honestly, a lot of things on your mind.

"I'll take 'not sure' over 'hell no.'" Rick surmises with an accepting nod, not pushing it any further than that. "Siddiq expects you to need awhile longer to recover, so...gives you plenty of time to think on it."

"Maybe..." A thought suddenly comes to mind, and your own smile comes out. "I doubt your friend would appreciate me stayin'."

"Who, Daryl?" Rick's hand dismisses it with a wave. "He'll come around. We were the ones breakin' into your home, after all. Can't blame how you went about defendin' it."

You only shake your head, not truly believing him. Daryl, as you recall, had been ready to skewer you with one of his crossbow bolts. You weren't altogether convinced he still wouldn't the next time you met face to face.

"I'll let you rest." Rick says, pushing away from the window and laying his hand on your shoulder briefly, before turning to leave. "And if you do come to a decision, let me know."

Chewing on your bottom lip in thought, you nod, and he takes his leave of your room, the door closing shut behind him. Your stare remains on the wood for several minutes after, before eventually returning to the window. The children had disappeared from sight, perhaps off to get something to eat. It felt around lunch time anyway.

You had a lot to think about...

#rick grimes #rick Grimes x reader #fem reader #the walking dead #twd #the walking dead x reader #scenario

[the-daiz]

Where I stand | Kaeya

Genre: hurt/comfort, angst

Pairing: Kaeya x sibling!reader

Younger sibling reader

Warning(s): Diluc backstory spoilers, um, running away?

Side note: inspired by: In a house, Not a home. I rushed this ☹️ hope y'all enjoy

Posted on: 2/ August/ 2022 (oh my god its already August????)

Day 3. Today marks the third day of your escape. Your escape from the shackles of the warm abode you once called 'home'. Dawn winery, the house you lived in with your family, your caring father, and your two much older brothers, who both adored you more than anything else. That house is the chamber of your childhood memories, holding the most sacred and secular reminisces of the joyful past with your dear spouses.

Now that place was no longer home, it didn't feel like home anymore, only a lavish prison where all you did was cry in your lonesome bed. There was no loving father there to console you anymore. Oh, how you wished he'd suddenly appear out of thin air and offer solace. Pull you into his chest and hug you tightly while his gentle hand combed through your hair. Hushing you and whispering words of reassurance in your ear, not letting you out of his embrace until you've finally calmed down. Like he always did, like he always used to do.

It wasn't only your father who had disappeared. But your brothers as well. As you wept and wailed in his bed after witnessing his death, Diluc and Kaeya were out in the rain, surrounded by the gloomy forest and a suffocating atmosphere. The menacing glares they exchanged radiated a call for battle, urging them to draw their blades and end this fateful night with a signature occasion of despair and sheer regret.

It was only Diluc who returned back home that night. You hadn't the slightest clue where Kaeya went, however, you knew he was gone, you knew he had left, and you knew that you weren't going to see him for a good, long while.

Then it was Diluc's turn to walk out the door, to seemingly vanish from your home. From your life. You didn't even get the chance to exchange a brief glance with each other, and he had already bid his farewells to Mondstate. Leaving you. Alone.

You had practically lost your whole family that dreading night, a night where you all were supposed to be celebrating Diluc's coming of age together.

Elzer, Adeline, and the staff were much too busy taking care of the work Crepus had left behind and had little to no time to comfort you. Though, they did feel immense pity for you, having your life fall to shambles at such a young age... They couldn't even hope to imagine how you felt. So they tried to shower you with gifts instead, but it did nothing, all the gifts were left untouched at the foot of your bed, long forgotten.

You had spent most of your time in your father's room, sleeping on his bed and sobbing into his pillows, trying to convince yourself that he wasn't dead, that it was all but a long night terror. Alas, no matter how hard you tried to fool yourself, the fact still stood that he was gone.

You wanted to leave your house, it felt suffocating, it reminded you of the old days, when everything was fine. When you all lived happily together. It felt agonizing. But you weren't allowed to, Adeline had made it painfully clear. She was scared you might get hurt all on your own, and there was no one to accompany you. You tried to stifle your desire to leave by walking around the city of Mondstate, but it only made the ache in your heart worsen, with the way everyone glanced at you with sorrow flashing in their gaze, murmuring and Whispering words of pity amongst themselves. What made you shutter, however, was Kaeya's obvious and desperate attempts to avoid you. You really had lost everything.

That was the day you decided to put an end to your drowning. The day you decided to run away.

Now you sat down on the moist grass, your back against a sturdy tree as you examined the forest beyond the cliff. Capturing virtual images of every detail you eyed. The pigeon huddled with its children on a branch. How one of the branches on a tree was twisted unusually, resembling a heart. A group of three knights with oil lamps clutched in their probably cold hands, using the illuminating light as a guide to look for something someone.

You leaned your head back against the tree and smiled to yourself, relishing in the soft breeze brushing against your face. Those three tranquil days you spent venturing around the layouts of your home region, running around freely, and sleeping under the watchful gaze of the moon, were the best three days you've ever experienced in your life.

You couldn't feel the invisible hands squeezing your throat anymore. You felt like you could breathe again. You finally felt free.

"Excuse me?" A bright light shined from behind you, inching closer, in sync with the loud footsteps. You knew who it was, and you didn't mind. It was time for you to return anyway, you'll get another chance like this soon, you were certain.

"Yes?" You murmured, peering up at the tall Knight who now stood beside you, raising his lamp high, hence to get a clear look at your features.

"Are you (Y/n) Ragnvindr, by any chance?" He asked. After a few moments of wordless staring, you spoke, tearing your eyes away from the Knight's curious stare to look across the luscious green field one last time.

"Yes."

--

It was quiet. Eerily quiet. You're not sure what you had expected from the residence of the knights of Favonius, but you hadn't thought it would be so void of sound, especially these troublesome days where monsters were at every corner of the land.

You let out a soft exhale as you waited for something to happen. The same tall knight that found you earlier was now sitting before you, glancing at you from time to time.

"Um... when do I get to leave?" You muttered, wrapping the blanket tighter around you.

"A carriage is coming to escort you back home, soon." He replied, sending you a curt nod. You hesitantly nodded back, peering over at the office's window. 

You both snapped your head in the direction of the door when you heard the sound of the main doors slam open, followed by frantic footsteps approaching master Jean's office, the one you currently sat in. The knight stood up with his hand clutching the heft of his sword.

The door slammed open, revealing a panic-looked Kaeya, panting heavily with lines of sweat tainting his face. Once he locked eyes with you, he leaped forward and wrapped his arms around you, securing you in a captivating hug. Your eyes dilated as he squeezed you tight.

"Oh my god. You're ok. You're ok. Thank Barbatos you're ok." He whispered, cradling your head with one of his hands. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Your arms slowly raised to reciprocate the gesture, your eyes now brimming with tears.

"I'm sorry I worried you." Your voice wavered.

"Don't apologize, please don't apologize." He inhaled sharply. "Just... don't scare me like that again."

#daisy loves platonic love #i love sibling dynamics #daisy loves kaeya #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #kaeya x reader #platonic kaeya x reader #kaeya x reader platonic #kaeya x sibling reader #kaeya and reader #ITS ONLY YOUUUU AND MEEEEEE ALWAYSSSS AND FOR-EV-ER #hurt/comfort #kaeya fanfic #kaeya genshin impact #ragnvindr reader #L-H/C #diluc #Crepus #diluc ragnvindr

[separatist-apologist]

The Fire Won't Burn Me

All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life

for @elucienweekofficial

Summary: Princess Elain Archeron wants nothing more than to be reunited with her missing youngest sister and to see her father finally emerge from the fog of grief he's been living under since her mother died. When her step mother arranges for her older sister to fetch her youngest to celebrate Elain's impending engagement to a neighboring prince, it seems like she'll get her wish. That is, until her father's fearsome huntsman steps in and wrecks it all. Now she's on the run, hiding in the forest to keep herself- and her heart- intact.

In her quest to understand why someone would want her heart carved from her chest, Elain will have to reconcile what it means to truly be the fairest of them all

Read on AO3 | Chapter 1

Elain had never run so hard in her life. Tricked by the huntsman, lured out in the woods only to be spared at the last minute. Elain didn’t know if she should be grateful or furious. Fear overrode every other emotion as she tore blindly through the trees, terrified he’d change his mind and come after her. 

The skies opened as Elain tried to figure out a path to follow that would get her far, far away from her stepmother. Maybe, she thought wildly, she’d follow Nesta. Go to the wall, vanish into the Illyrian Mountains. Assuming she managed to survive the night.

The rain was cold, mingling with her tears. The only benefit was the thunder and the wind drowned out her loud, uncontrollable sobbing. All Elain could imagine was her stepmother ordering the huntsman to kill her—and how stupid she’d been to trust him. He’d let her go, though. 

Elain clung to that as she ran blindly, slipping through mud until her dress was torn at the hem. Her hair caught on branches that seemed like vicious, grabbing hands, ripping it from her head until she screamed.

In the end, Elain found a large enough knoll in a tree to climb inside, shielding her from the worst of the elements. Knees drawn to her chest, the best she could do was sob into the fabric of her gown. Sure, she and her stepmother had never been friends but to want her dead?

“Why?” she whispered, as if the trees might answer her. There was only silence and the rustling of animals that convinced her Lucien was coming back to finish what he’d started. She couldn’t sleep, even when the rain died down and dawn broke against the horizon. 

Elain’s legs ached when she unfurled them, stumbling to her feet blindly. She had no idea where she was and the rain had washed away any semblance of a path. That was both a blessing and a curse. Lucien wouldn’t be able to track her down but she now had to keep moving and hope she didn’t die before she found safety.

“You can do this,” she whispered to herself. Pretty words that were functionally useless, and yet it convinced her to take that first step into this terrifying new life. She couldn’t go home—Lucien had promised to kill her if she did. How would he explain her death? What would Nesta think? Nesta.

Dread solidified like ice in her gut. Feyre was probably dead, then—and Nesta sent on some far flung mission where no one would be surprised if she died, too. All three daughters easily eliminated…though for what purpose, Elain couldn’t begin to guess. It wasn’t like her father would be giving another woman children, and as long as there was a whisper of hope that Nesta was alive, her throne would be safe.

Assuming that was even what was happening. Maybe Elain had done something to deserve this. Had shared some secret with Graysen she wasn’t supposed to, or otherwise undermined her fathers regime. For hours, Elain racked her brain for any hint of wrongdoing, certain she must be missing something.

She simply refused to believe Lucien’s assertion that it had been her looks that had caused this. That was crazy. And yet…and yet as Elain continued her miserable hike, she thought of Amarantha’s laughter every time Graysen spoke. How she’d felt like they were in a competition for his attention. Those nails on her shoulder when Elain had said beauty couldn’t run in their family because they weren’t related. Her beauty was a result of her parents—but that slight surely wasn’t enough to sign her death warrant.

What did Elain know? Not enough, she decided. She’d been too complacent for too long and now she was lost in the sprawling forest hoping she’d find a village or a person who wouldn’t recognize her. Someone who would whisk her away to safety. 

Elain wanted to sleep. She wanted to eat something, wanted a bath and a warm bed. For hours, all Elain had was her stiff dress, ruined from the rain the night before and her aching feet. Convincing herself to just give up and go back—to run to her father and tell him everything and pray that was the thing that finally woke him up—Elain didn’t notice the cottage sitting silent and dark in front of her until she tripped over a loose stone. 

It was clear no one lived here from the built up weeds and the window pushed ajar. Someone had broken in at least once and had the decency not to destroy anything. Elain tried the door handle and when that didn’t budge, hiked up her dress, and climbed through the window, too.

It was small. A kitchen, a living room, and a loft overhead where she assumed someone might sleep. All of it was covered in a thick, near suffocating layer of dust. Elain made her way to the kitchen where she found several jars of pickled vegetables and canned fruit. She opened one and, after tasting it, ate an entire can of sweetened peaches hoping they were still edible. 

Her stomach momentarily full, Elain found the little bitty bathroom, complete with a toilet that flushed and a bathtub filled with spiders. A table in the main room held two chairs with two equally broken legs. The stairs that led to the loft creaked when she put her weight on them, but otherwise held.

She’d been right about the bed. A moth eaten blanket covered a springy mattress, all of it smelling faintly of mildew. Still, a bed was a bed, and shelter was shelter. She’d take what she could get. At least she was alive. That was what Elain told herself when she collapsed atop that blanket. She’d been spared by the huntsman and once she figured out what was going on, Elain swore she’d figure out some plan to return. 

Or, that was what Elain told herself as she drifted into sleep.

She woke to the sound of the stairs creaking and then a voice, dark and masculine, asking, “How did you get in here?”

Elain sat up, heart hammering in her chest. Light flooded the downstairs, illuminating the features of the person staring her down.

“Is…is this your house?”

“Technically,” he replied gruffly, looking at the threadbare blanket she was curled beneath. “Did you break in?”

Elain was going to break down. Tears gathered behind her lids, Elain tried—and failed—to come up with a reasonable explanation.

“Don’t…don’t fucking cry,” the man ordered, brown eyes wide with unmistakable fear. “You ah…you got a name?”

She should have lied. “Elain,” she whispered, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Okay, look. Don’t go around telling’ everyone I’m out here doing favors, alright? People will start asking me for shit. But if you ah…clean this place up, I might be willing to look the other way for now. You’re gonna need to get a job!” he added when a smile bloomed over her face. “I’ll be expecting rent from you!”

“Okay,” she agreed. “When?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Spring? Give you some time to ah…get on your feet. And work on this place. I mean it. I want to see real improvements or you can crawl back to wherever you came from!”

“I will,” Elain promised, creeping a little closer. “What’s your name?” 

“Jurian,” he said with a deep frown. “That’s all you need to know. I’ll be getting locks for those windows…you’re the last person crawling through them, do you understand me?”

“I understand,” she whispered, offering him another smile. Jurian merely blinked, as if no one had ever done such a thing and he didn’t know what to make of it. He was rather grumpy, but Elain decided right then that she liked him. 

“I ah…” he rubbed the back of his neck again. “I’ll be back. Don’t open that door for strangers.”

He didn’t have to worry about that. How long before Amarantha wasn’t a looming threat, she wondered? A few days? A month? Elain watched Jurian climb back down the steps, flinging the musty blanket from her body to follow him down. 

“I could use some other things—”

“Does it look like I’m running a charity here?” Jurian demanded, taking stock of the rather pathetic living area. Elain could fix that easily with just a little water and soap. And a rag, if she could hunt one down. Jurian, too, seemed to realize it would be a tough sell asking her to clean up his dilapidated cottage with only the things she had on hand. 

“I’ll see what I can do,” he finally grumbled, turning in a half circle again. “Remember what I said about letting in strangers.”

She nodded. “I promise. No strangers.”

That didn’t seem to appease him. In fact, Jurian seemed all the more disturbed by the events unfolding. But Elain was thinking, trying to figure out an escape route. For now, staying in the cottage made sense but she’d have to leave eventually. She couldn’t risk someone recognizing her while she was still within her fathers borders. 

“How far are we from Avalon?” she asked. She’d heard stories of Beron Vanserra, the King of Avalon and his seven sons. The rumors were each was more handsome than the last, making his youngest so beautiful it hurt to look upon him. Whether that was true or merely a myth meant to make his sons seem more marriageable, Elain didn’t know. What she did know was a man with seven sons would need wives and after the first, he was likely hoping for just any advantageous match to benefit his kingdom.

Elain could barter for an alliance with her sister. Perhaps she could marry one of the younger ones, someone of no consequence bound for the universities or priesthood. Or maybe Beron would merely trade her safety for information—that was better than another marriage.

She merely wanted to be prepared.

“Two weeks walk,” Jurian told her gruffly. “Through rough terrain. Are you from there?”

“I have a friend who lives that way. I was thinking I might pay them a visit when winter is gone?”

Jurian leveled a long, unreadable stare at her. “Well. I’m not helping you with that.”

Elain offered him a sunny smile. “I wouldn’t dream of asking you for anything else. This is far too kind already.”

“It is too kind,” he grumbled. “Don’t forget what I said. Do not open this door to strangers.”

“I swear,” she agreed, waving as Jurian made his way out. If she could scrounge up enough fruit and sugar, maybe she’d make Jurian a pie to thank him. But for the moment, she was as safe as she could get. She had four walls and a roof.

And somehow, it felt like paradise.

LUCIEN:

“Well?” Amarantha demanded when he strode back into her bed chamber. She was dressed obscenely in a black, lacy thing that threatened to overturn his stomach. He betrayed none of his hatred, setting a wooden box atop her vanity. She strolled forward, leaning forward so he could have looked straight down the front of her dress if he’d wanted.

Lucien averted his eyes. 

“Did she suffer?”

“I carved out her heart,” he replied dryly, refusing to imagine what that would have been like. Elain was safe and alive somewhere in the forest and just as soon as he finished here, Lucien meant to go track her down. “What do you think?”

“Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have seen her face. Do you think she realized it was me who ordered it?” Amarantha asked, pulling that heart from its tomb to hold it in her hand. Lucien fought back the urge to vomit, waiting until she set it back in that cedar box and closed the lid.

“She knew.”

“Good. You’re dismissed,” Armantha added, waving a hand at him.

Lucien turned from the dark bed chamber, listening to the howling sounds of wind and rain from just outside. And as he went, he swore he heard Amarantha speak.

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who is the fairest of them all?”

Lucien didn’t stick around to see if the mirror could talk back. He wanted to go straight back into the woods and find her and knew he was probably being watched. Lucien didn’t like Amrantha’s black guards—soldiers loyal only to her, paid with whatever money she’d brought with her. They did all her bidding and Lucien didn’t doubt that if he slipped out in the middle of a storm, Amarantha would hear about it.

He was tempted to check in on the party happening in one of the halls and didn’t think he could look at the prince who was supposed to be marrying Princess Elain knowing he’d sent her far, far away. In the end, Lucien went to the small room he was allotted in the palace for the night, if only to bathe and sleep. 

Lucien’s nightmares were plagued by visions of those trusting brown eyes. A whispered please, and the way Elain flung herself away from him, running as fast as she could to escape him. Lucien woke a little before dawn, bathing himself in an attempt to shake off the memories.

He’d saved her life. One of the black guards would have drawn it out, making sure she suffered before finally killing her.

The problem, outside of his own desire to see her again, was the fear that she’d turn right back around and come home. That she didn’t believe him or thought she could change the ending. Maybe she’d buy herself time—but Amarantha would know she’d been thwarted and no matter how far Elain ran, she’d always be looking for her.

Better for the princess to vanish entirely. Lucien could put her on a boat for Rask by the end of the week. He could get new papers drawn up for her, a new identity, a new life. She’d never be a princess, but she’d be alive.

And maybe he’d sleep again. 

Lucien dressed himself after his bath, grabbed his usual breakfast, and was out the door without a second glance. That was hardly unusual. Lucien loathed spending time in the palace, preferring to be outdoors and in the woods minding for poachers and keeping the local wolf population from getting too out of hand. 

Lucien made his way to the forest with ease, hand on the hilt of his sword. He traced the path where he’d left Elain and then, with nothing else to do, guessed the route she would have taken. Thinking of her like a frightened doe, Lucien imagined she would have run in a straight line, veering only when something in her path forced her away. 

The tell-tale traces were there. Strands of her hair tangled in low-hanging branches and pieces of her dress buried against the mud. Lucien collected them all, erasing the evidence without a second thought. Relief filled his veins at the knowledge that she had heeded his warning.

Where had she gone, though? She didn’t seem the sort to rough it, but after walking well into the afternoon with no hint as to where she’d ended up, Lucien was beginning to suspect Elain Archeron was dead. 

Lucien told himself that was for the best. One way or the other, his lie was safe and Amarantha had gotten what she wanted. Still, it seemed a shame to lose a person like Elain. Lucien trudged forward, still thinking about her bouncy step and her big eyes. He’d see Jurian about all that meat he’d asked to be dried. If nothing else, Lucien could hole up in the forest with jerky and try and ease his wounded conscience.

Jurian was waiting in his home, a frown on his face. Lucien stepped through the door, noting his meat was tried and neatly packed up in brown paper. 

“What do I owe you?”

Jurian rattled off double the usual price, the lines between his eyes creased. Lucien crossed his arms over his chest.

“Are you trying to cheat me?”

“No,” Jurian replied gruffly, “but I’ve got new expenses.”

“Finally knocked up one of the barmaids, huh?” he teased, fishing out the coins despite the markup. 

“I fucking wish,” Jurian replied, snatching the gold coins from the rough wood table. Lucien gathered up his meat, surprised to see a basket of unusual items sitting just beside the fireplace. Blankets and cookware were mingled alongside a set of pretty yellow and red dresses. He saw soap and rags and a few gardening supplies peeking from the bottom, which likely housed more things he could only imagine.

“Are you bringing home a wife?”

Jurian’s cheeks darkened. “No, nothing like that. I ah…you know, don’t worry about it.”

Lucien narrowed his eyes.

“Did you, by any chance, pick up a new tenant?”

Jurian was the most crotchety man Lucien had ever met. There was no one and nothing in this world that could convince him to go out on a limb or do something that didn’t directly benefit him. If he was gathering supplies for a woman he didn’t intend to make his wife, Lucien could guess who might make such an act of kindness possible.

“Why are you asking so many questions?” Jurian demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Because I’m on my way to visit Elain,” he lied, mentally running down every little cottage Jurian owned in the village. “And I know what she’s like.”

“She’s not…this isn’t manipulation—”

“Trust me,” Lucien said, clapping a hand on Jurian’s shoulder. “I know.”

Jurian blew out a relieved breath. “She seems like a nice kid. I want to help her out.”

Lucien nodded. “I can take this to her if you want.”

“Yeah. Every time I look at her, I…” Jurian ran a hand through his closely cropped brown hair. “She’s just…you know?”

“Yeah,” Lucien agreed, unwilling to admit he felt immense relief that not only was Elain alive, but she’d managed to engender more than enough good will. Hell, Jurian was trying to keep her safe. That was good and bad. With that kind of charm, Amarantha would know he’d lied before the week was out. He needed to warn her to be careful, to dial down whatever magic seemed to shimmer around her.

Just long enough for Lucien to get her out.

“Remind her of what I said,” Jurian said absently, turning toward a pig's carcass hanging from a hook just over a large tub shaped sink. 

“You got it,” Lucien replied, wondering if he was supposed to know what that warning was. Jurian told Lucien where Elain was—tucked away in the woods just outside the village in the cottage the healer had lived in before she died. That was better than Lucien had been imagining. No one else would know she was there so long as someone brought her supplies. He could do that until he got her out.

Lucien made his way to Elain—a short walk from Jurian’s workshop built against two ancient oak trees. Her cottage was tucked against a hill and judging from the ruined front garden and the peeling paint on the door, it had seen better days.

He rapped his knuckles against the door. Elain flung it open, her smile shifting to horror when she saw him. She tried, to her credit, to slam the door on him, but Lucien wedged his boot against the frame and pushed in.

“You—you can’t be here,” she breathed, arms wrapped around her body. “I did what you said—”

“I’m not here to kill you,” Lucien interrupted, ignoring the twang of disappointment he felt. Of course she wouldn’t be happy to see him. Why should she be? Lucien was happy to see her, though. 

He set the basket on the floor between them, noting that she was still in the clothes from the night before. She looked exhausted and a little too pale for his liking, but otherwise unharmed and alive. “This is from Jurian.”

“Oh,” she said, some of the light returning to her eyes. “He sent so much.”

“You made quite the impression,” Lucien teased, closing the door quietly behind him. Elain had already sunk to the floor, rifling through the items with delight. 

“Why are you here, huntsman?”

Ouch. He supposed he deserved that. “I came to warn you to lay low. I can get you to the continent–”

“I’m not going to the continent,” she scoffed, pulling one of the yellow dresses from the basket. “Not that it's any of your business, but I’m going to Avalon.”

She was joking. “Why…why would you ever go there?”

“I heard the king has sons,” Elain told him, unable to hide her earnestness. “Seven, to be precise.”

There was an unspoken question beneath her assertion, so Lucien, crossing his arms, nodded his head. “He does.”

“Surely some of them need wives. I’m suitable enough, maybe for his youngest.”

Lucien nearly choked on the air he was breathing. “You want to marry King Beron’s youngest son?” he asked her. Did she…did she really not know? But Elain only nodded her head before rushing to explain the rest of her plan.

“I’m still a princess, and my sister is going to be queen. I think that’s an incredibly good match for someone likely destined for the universities, right? And my stepmother can’t kill me if I’m under another king's protection. He could…he could help me put Nesta on the throne, even.”

Unlikely. Lucien didn’t bother to tell her all the things wrong with her plan. Namely, she was standing in front of Beron’s youngest son and though he had been destined for a university, she was a prize worthy of Eris or Cadmus. Not him. Beron wouldn’t have wasted a princess, even one who’d fled in disgrace, on Lucien.

“When?” he asked instead. If Elain was planning to go to Avalon, he’d at least see her to the border. He’d have to flee again, too—Amarantha would likely be demanding his heart next.

“Once winter has faded,” she said. Lucien wondered why she wanted to wait three months, and Elain answered. “Nesta should be back with Feyre by then. She will be back by then.”

Nesta was likely dead, as was Feyre. And he could see on her face that she was calculating that possibility, too. Elain was living in delusion and Lucien figured if she was plotting to marry him, the least he could do was help her out.

“Alright,” he said, looking around. “You’ll probably need some chairs, then?”

“What are you doing?”

“I didn’t risk everything just so you could sit on the floor while you ate,” he replied.

“When the snow clears, I’ll take you to the border.” Where he’d tell her who he was, assuming she didn’t put it together first. Vanserra

wasn’t exactly a common last name. 

“Why risk anything for me at all?” she asked, clutching that dress to her chest.

Lucien made his way toward the door, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know. What I do know is our fates are tied together, now. So do me a favor, princess?”

She looked at him with those eyes that haunted him.

“Don’t open this door for strangers.”

And then he was gone, grateful to be out of her presence.

And somehow missing her all the same.

#elucien #pro elucien #elain x lucien

[kayla-crazy-stuffs]

Spiderweb

Here I come with another fic :D (A bit short tho)

Hope you enjoy :]

tw: Safe/soft vore, fearplay, fear of dying, death mention

"It's not my fault, you know!?" said a fly hybrid as he flew really fast with his friend. “Yeah, yeah, shut up and keep flying! The stupid bird is about to catch up with us! I don't want to end up being bird food!” said the other.

They were both hovering around the forest they were in, trying to lose sight of the bird that was chasing them.

"Is it still behind us?!" “Yeah, it looks like it's not going to get tired anytime soon! We have to find a place to take shelter!” he answers back, flying faster.

The black-haired man let out a sigh. "I don't think I'm going to make it… My wings hurt…" The other looks at him with concern. “What nonsense are you talking about Sapnap?! Of course you're going to make it! I'm not going to let you die, much less at the hands of a stupid bird!"

Dream quickly approaches his friend and grabs his arm, dragging him along at the same speed. He quickly scanned the surroundings as they flew, his eyes fixing on a hole.

"There! There we can hide from the bird and you can rest your wings!” Sapnap nods as Dream continues to drag him. They quickly head into the hole, when Sapnap's eyes widen in fear. "Wait! Dream stop!” Dream was going to ask him what was wrong, when his eyes also widened in fear and he tried to brake suddenly.

Both hybrids collided with a spider web. “S-Shit…! How could I not see it?!” he yelled trying to get away from it, but it was impossible. The black-haired man next to him sighed deeply.

"Now we are going to die..." Dream looked at him sadly. "Nonono... We'll get out of this Sap-" "No Dream... Not this time..." he interrupted him. He went to try to convince him when a ‘loud’ laugh echoed around them.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here…?” said a voice. Dream and Sapnap looked up, both wide-eyed in terror. "Apparently two small snacks got trapped on my web, huh?"

The voice continued, which turned out to be the voice of a spider hybrid. "Let us go!" Dream yelled at him, being a hybrid, they might have a chance to make it out alive. Or so he thought until the spider spoke again.

"And why should I? You two look really delicious.” He responds with a smirk as he reaches for Sapnap, pulling him out of the web. The raven only squirms in the grip of the larger hybrid.

“Sapnap! Let him go!" Dream yelled, watching helplessly from the web. The spider just looked at him with a smirk, putting the hybrid in his hold, inside his mouth, closing it with an audible click of his teeth.

It wasn't long before the spider swallowed, sending the hybrid down his throat. “SAPNAP!” Dream watched in horror as the bulge, which was Sapnap, made its way down the larger hybrid's throat until it disappeared below the collarbone.

He licked his lips, now looking at the green fly, pulling him out of the web and bringing him closer to his lips. Dream squirmed as hard as he could, but that didn't stop the spider from shoving him into his mouth.

Immediately the tongue began to lick him,covering him in saliva. Dream tried to move away from the muscle in vain. Soon the spider got tired and pushed him to the back of his mouth,swallowing him without any effort.

Dream wriggled his way down until he entered a more open space. He looked around for a moment though he could barely see, someone hugging him from behind. Sapnap.

"Sapnap..." he said softly, looking at the Raven and hugging him back. "I’m sorry..." They both sat up, leaning against the spider’s stomach wall, as Sapnap let out a sob.

He wasn't the type of person who would show his feelings like that, but they were about to die so he really didn't care at that moment.

Meanwhile, the spider just rolled his eyes, they were crying for nothing. They would soon find out about it. So he closed his eyes and with a hand over them, he fell asleep.

#mcyt g/t #mcyt gt #mcyt vore #dsmp g/t #dsmp gt #dsmp vore #tw vore #tiny!dream #tiny!sapnap #giant!??? #safe vore #soft vore #they don't know that #fearplay #fear of dying