#hopefully if she didn't put the pieces together before she will now | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thebiggerbear · 28 days

Text

The Ghosts Are Coming For You Chapter 2 - Beau Arlen x Reader

Pairing: Beau x Female!Reader; Beau x Female!Detective!Reader

A/N: Sorry this took so long but I'm a pita sometimes when it comes to the mapping out process and setups. A huge thank you to my beta, Em, for all of the brainstorming sessions we had where she would listen to me rant and rave about this chapter as I beat it into shape like a pillow under your head that won't cooperate. She unfortunately didn't have time to do the final process of beta'ing this time around but she did spend a lot of time helping me mold this into what it is so I want to thank her for that. Again, apologies for another long chapter. I did contemplate splitting this into two shorter chapters but in the end, it felt right to keep it altogether for the setup's sake. Future chapters will not nearly be this long. Thanks for sticking with me on this ride. Hope this came out okay.

Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.

Songs mentioned in the chapter: Knockin' Boots by Luke Bryan; I'd Love To Lay You Down by Conway Twitty

Disclaimer: Let me just say up front, I have never worked in law enforcement so I tried to piece together things I’ve seen and heard in true crime documentaries and podcasts alongside with movies/tv and books. I apologize for any inconsistencies, incorrect information, exaggerations, or complete fallacies. Also, this story is going to take place over a few months. Some things might be delayed or appear illogical to not have been thought of before they take place in the timeline, but it’s purely for story purposes.

Tl;dr: I made shit up.

Warnings: mentions of deaths/murders; mentions of abusive relationship; mentions of emotional/psychological, physical, and verbal abuse; angst; a little sexual tension; a little flirting/teasing

Word Count: 16k+

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Series Masterlist

Series Taglist: @deans-spinster-witch; @superrey; @fromcaintodean; @stoneyggirl2; @lacilou; @zepskies; @perpetualabsurdity; @deansbbyx; @syrma-sensei; @globetrotter28; @roseblue373; @angelbabyyy99; @hobby27

Beau Taglist: @heartlessdelusions; @nancymcl; @birdiellie; @illicithallways; @muhahaha303

You glanced at yourself one more time in the mirror of the bathroom at the precinct, smoothing down your dress and checking your make-up one last time. You and Jack had just pulled up to the station no more than half an hour ago.

You’d been called out on another case earlier in the day. Thankfully, this one didn’t appear to be connected to the one from this morning. Instead, it had been a home invasion that had gone badly and the homeowners had been found shot to death, by their college-aged daughter who had been returning home from a late night out. You tried to put the traumatized girl and the victims out of your mind, but you knew the former’s heart-wrenching sobs were just as likely to haunt you as much as the images of her dead parents would. You silently promised her exactly what you promised every other loved one in the cases you worked: you’d do everything you could to find the ones responsible and put them away for good. You just hoped you could deliver in this case, and that it hopefully might bring some small measure of peace for the young girl whose parents were now gone and who she had to make funeral arrangements for. Thankfully, her aunt lived nearby so the woman had been on the scene almost as soon as the responding officer had been. You were relieved that the daughter wouldn’t have to face all of this alone.

You took a deep breath and stared at your reflection, forcing yourself to change thought tracks and focus on your upcoming date with the County’s sheriff. Your nerves were slightly on edge; you hadn’t been on a date since you had been living in New York. Not a real date, anyway. Jack’s girlfriend, Cecilia, had kindly tried to set you up a couple of times with single guys she knew in the first couple of months you’d been here, but both blind dates had been full blown disasters. Your heart hadn’t really been in it, anyway, and you were convinced that you just weren’t destined for love or family or any of those white picket fence dreams everyone else had. You were married to your job, could even get obsessive with it at times, and that would just have to be enough to sustain you. Besides, after your last relationship, you almost tended to prefer it that way.

You just hoped this dinner went well, even if it didn’t end up really going anywhere. You could do with a friend around here, someone other than Jack, who you could maybe meet up and have a beer with every now and then. Someone who understood the job and wouldn’t take it personally if you had to cancel last minute because you got a call you had to respond to. Someone who could help distract you from the daily horrors that plagued your mind and maybe lighten up your darker times. Plus, you could now have a contact in the Sheriff’s department if you ever needed to reach out for anything relating to a case.

And even if things got awkward, at least you could have a drink and you had a very handsome sheriff to feast your eyes on. You’d never admit it to him but the cowboy thing really worked for him and it did do it for you a little. Though you sincerely hoped he left the Stetson at home this time.

There were many reasons to look forward to this dinner, and barely any to dread it. You swore to yourself that you would have a good time, no matter what, and you would relax for the evening.

You did some last minute adjustments to your hair, blew out a breath, and left the bathroom. When you stepped into the squad room, you heard a wolf whistle coming from the corner desk. “Fuck off, Taylor.” You flipped the younger man the bird, ignored his commentary, and braced yourself when Jack turned around in his chair to face you.

“Nice.” Jack gave you an approving nod, taking in the soft waves of your hair, your simple floral-patterned dress, your light-handed make-up, and your appropriate length heels. “You got a hot date or something?” He teased.

“Shut up,” you muttered, making your way to your desk.

Your partner laughed, knowing from your response that he was right. “Cecilia is going to love this. Who’s the lucky guy?”

You bit your lip, packing your things into the purse you’d grabbed from your car earlier. You always kept an emergency bag of clothes and necessary items in your car; you had learned that a spare change of clothes and a toothbrush were good to keep on hand for those long nights you worked or for the occasional damage that was done to clothes you were wearing while on the job. This may be a smaller town and it may have a smaller budget, but thank God they had showers. They had saved you more than once, especially when it came to mud or…other things.

You glanced around the room and mumbled, “Sheriff Arlen.”

You knew Jack had heard you because his dark eyes were as wide as saucers. “Come again?”

“The sheriff.”

“But I thought he and Jenny Hoyt were—”

You glared over at him. “Well, apparently they’re not. He said as much when he asked me to dinner.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“So he asked you out at a murder scene,” Jack teased. “Sounds about right.”

The scowl that plastered itself onto your face would have terrified any other man. You reminded yourself that while you could probably kill him and make it look like an accident, that would be hard to do in a room full of seasoned homicide detectives who were sitting only a few feet from you. Not to mention, you’d need to find a new partner and there was no way in hell you were sharing a car with someone like Taylor every day. You’d go to prison first.

He held his hands up. “Kidding, kidding. I was kidding, Y/N. Come on.”

“Not funny.”

“It was. A little bit. Seeing as you’re always working. How else would he be able to ask?” When your glare didn’t let up any, he decided to ease up on you and cleared his throat. “You know, I was wondering why he was so chatty with you all of a sudden. Can’t say I blame him, though.” Jack inclined his head towards you. “When you clean up, you clean up nice.”

You gave him a look. “Thanks ever so much, Jack.” Whatever little confidence you’d managed to scrounge up in the bathroom before was now completely deflated. You knew you looked nice, but the little joke he’d made had taken the wind right out of your sails. Jack was just being Jack, you knew that; he meant no harm. He had no idea how close to home his words had actually hit. He was just ribbing you like always, no more than any of the other guys here did on a daily basis.

“Hey, I was trying to compliment you,” he laughed. “So where is he taking you?”

“A steakhouse in town. He said they serve the best ribeye in the county.”

He nodded in approval. “Nice. So this is like a real date, huh?”

“Think so.”

“You and the sheriff. Who would’ve thought?”

“Shh,” you hissed. “Keep your voice down.” At his questioning look, you added, “I don’t want anyone else knowing about this. If Taylor found out, he’d never shut up.” You could immediately see the flaw to your plan having Beau pick you up at your job. Guaranteed many people would see you and your coworkers, including Taylor, were bound to find out anyway.

“Well, I’m flattered you told me, I guess.”

“You should be,” you insisted, glancing towards the clock and seeing it was 7:30 on the dot. You grabbed your purse and started to make your way to the door, hating the way your heels clacked loudly against the floor.

“Have fun,” Jack called. “If you need me to pick you up, let me know.”

“Thanks,” you called back, flipping Taylor off again for good measure. The guy was now making actual barking sounds. You supposed you should be grateful that he hadn’t actually made his way over to you to try his cheap come-ons on you like usual.

“Oh, a word of advice.”

You stopped and turned back to Jack, who leaned a little closer in his chair towards you, keeping his voice low.

“If the handcuffs come out at some point, and knowing you they most likely will, make sure to keep the key nearby. You don’t want to have to call 911 because you left it on the dresser. That would be one embarrassing emergency call to make.” He smirked, shooting you a wink.

You placed a hand on your hip, glaring at your partner. “Darcy, how you continue to get laid on a regular basis is beyond me. Cecilia is a damn saint and someone should thank her for her service.”

The bastard had the nerve to laugh. “I do. Every single time.” His grin widened and you felt ill to your stomach.

Making a face, you waved a hand to dismiss him and turned back around. “Bye.”

“Remember,” Jack called. “Keep it nearby!”

You shook your head but didn’t respond, instead continuing your trek out to the parking lot.

Once you stepped outside, you did a quick scan of the area and found the man you were looking for. He was in a different car this time, a rust-colored truck that had definitely seen better days.

He had just turned to look at the entrance when he spotted you, eyes widening slightly. He hurried to get out of his car and began to approach you. You decided to meet him halfway, thankful there wasn’t really anyone milling around at that moment.

Before he could get a word out, you noticed the new look right away.

“You changed,” you accused.

“So did you,” he pointed out, his eyes roving over you.

You nervously smoothed down the skirt of your dress with your fingers. “I wasn’t sure if there was a dress code where we were going. I should have asked. Is this okay?”

He nodded, a slow smile forming on his face. “More than okay. You look amazing,” he breathed.

You couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, you look great, too.” You took him in and definitely liked what you saw. No hat, a button-down that hugged him in all the right places, jeans, short brown wavy hair that looked to be the right length for you to run your fingers through (among other things), a touched up beard from earlier, and a warm grin. “So you put the cowboy away.”

He chuckled and you could swear you could see a faint pink color dusting his cheeks, though it wasn’t easy to tell in this light. “A little bit.” He gestured towards his cowboy boots, making you let out a quiet laugh.

“I like it.” You gave him a kind smile; you truly did like what you saw.

His smile grew and he held out an arm in invitation. “Shall we, little lady?”

“Oh no, you didn’t.”

Chuckling once more, he lowered his arm and moved closer. “Too much?”

“Way too much.”

This time, he held out his hand to you in offering, and tried again, giving you his most charming smile. “Ready, Beautiful?”

Choosing to ignore the way your heart skipped a beat, you placed your hand in his and gave him a nod of approval. “Better. Still needs work, but better.” You could feel the warmth of his skin seeping into yours and you almost wanted to intertwine your fingers with his to feel more of it, but that would be too forward of you and might make things awkward. You hadn’t even gone on the date yet. So instead, you smiled when you felt the strength of his grip and let him lead you wherever he intended to go.

He started towards the truck. “Already, you are one tough woman to please. I hope this isn’t a sign of how the rest of our night will go,” he quipped.

“Depends on how hard you work to please me.”

His eyes snapped to yours and seeing your teasing grin, he shook his head, looking away, clearly amused. “I really got myself into something here, didn't I?”

“You did,” you laughed.

“You know, they say you East Coast girls can be difficult to satisfy.” You noticed the twang purposely deepen as he teased you back.

Once you reached the car, he opened your door for you. “You know, they say you Texan cowboys never met a challenge you didn’t like.” You moved past him, not missing the smirk on his face and the shake of his head, and slipped into the passenger seat. He closed your door for you and you rearranged the skirt of your dress by the time he joined you inside.

He turned a smile on you. “Ready?”

You returned it and gave him a nod after having buckled your seat belt. “Ready.”

You watched as his smile broadened and he started up the car, thinking this date was already going better than the other two you’d had since coming here.

It should have hit you that you’d allowed him to pick you up rather than insisting on meeting him at the restaurant. This way in case things turned out as they had both previous times, you had an easy escape should it be needed. But there was something about the sheriff that had you throwing most of your caution to the wind for the evening. Something just so inviting, as if he were the sun and you wanted to be in his orbit, no matter how temporary it might be.

Beau turned the radio on and Luke Bryan’s voice carried from the speakers and echoed throughout the car. “Boots need knockin’, knockin’ boots, knockin’ boots, me and you, oh” You saw his cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink as he quickly changed the station, clearing his throat quietly. When Conway Twitty’s voice floated through with “But I won’t talk of starry skies or moonlight on the ground I’ll come right out and tell you I’d just love to lay you down”, he immediately turned to another station, his shoulders relaxing slightly when it was apparent a commercial was playing. You bit into your lip, trying to hide a smile underneath your hand as best you could until he turned to look at you.

He let out a nervous chuckle. “Maybe you should pick the music.”

You leaned forward, never taking your eyes off of him, and switched the radio off.

“Good choice,” he laughed. “Though I warn you, I’ve been known to be a bit of a talker. Silences and I don’t get along too well, or so I’ve been told.” He gave you a sheepish grin.

“Good.” You smiled and got comfortable. “I want to hear all about the cowboy from Texas who ended up as a sheriff in Montana,” you teased.

He watched you for a moment, his grin softening into a smile, and then he laughed and nodded, turning back to the road. “Copy that.” You hadn’t even pulled away from the curb before he launched into his first story of the night.

“What made you want to become a homicide detective?” Beau asked.

There it was. One of the three questions you hated being asked, especially on a date. True, when you go on a date, you’re supposed to talk and get to know one another, but sometimes you wished you could skip this part of the conversation altogether. That and anything about your personal and professional life back East. But you supposed that wasn’t feasible and it was unfair to the person asking, so you usually found yourself answering, and by answering you typically meant that you evaded the questions at all costs.

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about work.” You took a sip of your wine, quickly glancing around. The steakhouse he had taken you to was nice. It was a little more packed than you anticipated for a Thursday night, in these parts anyway, but the ambience was perfect and you had to admit that the sheriff had chosen well. He had insisted on pulling your chair out for you, which was a nice touch. He had even opened the car door for you, too, upon your arrival, holding a hand up to stop the parking attendant from approaching you while thanking him.

By the time you both had gotten to the restaurant, you had learned that Beau had a younger brother who he was very fond of, and that he had initially retired from law enforcement but then had been pulled out of it by one phone call from his injured predecessor. Beau hadn’t been lying; he was a talker. Surprisingly, you enjoyed that fact about him. He could switch gears and talk about any topic, regale you with stories that were entertaining and helped you learn more about him. Some might think he enjoyed going on about himself but you could see that wasn’t the case. He used his affinity for talking to try to connect to those around him. He was always looking for common ground and a way to make you feel comfortable. He was open and gregarious, almost warm you would say, so the person he was talking to would feel at ease. You instantly liked that about him.

Once you were led to your table, you both quickly put in an order for drinks: a beer for him and a glass of red wine for you. You kind of liked it when he admitted he wasn’t much of a wine drinker and you might have joined him for that beer if you hadn’t been nervous. Beau had then asked if it was okay if he could order for both of you, swearing by his choice of entree and that you would love it, and you had happily agreed, more than impressed that he had asked first.

It didn’t take too long for Beau to start up more conversation between you and your nerves began to ease, with you realizing you really liked this guy. Sure, you were attracted to him — who wouldn’t be? But you also could see yourself with him outside of the bedroom, possibly taking in a movie, having more dinners like this one, and just spending time together. While you knew you still needed to get to know him better before thinking of anything like that, and you hadn’t been looking to start up an actual relationship anytime soon, your instincts told you to hold onto this one and not just casually throw him away for a roll in the sheets or two.

Plus, the man had been right; your food was delicious. All in all, this was definitely the best date you’d been on since being in Montana, no contest.

Now here you were, over drinks and a half eaten dinner, enjoying said meal when Beau decided to turn the tables on you. You supposed it was only fair; he had been doing a lot of the talking thus far and it was a date after all. You just wished he hadn’t started out the gate with that.

“We aren’t,” he confirmed, giving you a broad smile. “I’m just asking about your background because I want to know more about you.”

Well, damn, when he put it like that… “Fair enough,” you agreed.

“So, homicide. How’d that come about?”

You shrugged. “Seemed like a good move to make at the time.”

“And you don’t think it is anymore?”

You thought over for a moment how best to answer that one. Should you be honest and let him know where your head was at? Or should you keep it to yourself as you had been for the past year? One brief glance into his warm green eyes had your lips loosening. You got the feeling that whatever you told him about this subject would stay between you two. “You have to be made for the job.” You bit your lip and trailed your fingers over the rim of your wine glass. “I’m not sure that I am,” you admitted quietly.

“Seems like you are.”

You looked up to find him smiling kindly at you. “You saw me at one crime scene and you think I’m a natural?”

“Well, no, I mean, you were great. But uh,” You noticed a faint tinge of pink rising in his cheeks and he gave you a sheepish smile alongside a nervous chuckle. “I may have looked you up earlier.”

Ah, you had expected as much. You gave him an approving nod before taking a sip of wine. “A man who does his homework.”

“It’s just that you said you’d only been here for four months and with the department not having heard anything about the string of cases your precinct’s had in all that time…I felt I should look into it a little,” he attempted to explain, guilt beginning to line his expression. “It’s more about the case from this morning than you. After the last time, I just…”

You could see he was trying to figure out how to finish that sentence but he didn’t need to. “It’s fine.” You waved your hand dismissively and sat back in your chair with wine in hand. “I looked into you, too,” you admitted. Something you usually did before a date anyway, but the sheriff had particularly piqued your curiosity.

His brows arched in surprise. “And?”

“You need to update your department photo on your website.”

“Never,” he swore, making you tilt your head and smile in amusement. After a moment, his grin faded and he glanced back down at his plate. “That can’t be the only thing you saw in your search.”

You debated on whether to tell him what you’d found. It obviously hadn��t affected your decision to go out with him tonight. There wasn’t a single officer in law enforcement that didn’t have a case in their past that haunted them, whether it had gone awry or it was that truly terrible. You knew that better than most. While you were curious about what you had seen, you didn’t need answers, not until he was ready to give them.

You carefully chose your words before responding. “I may have seen something about a case down in Houston that perhaps didn’t go as planned.”

Stiffly nodding, he began to cut into his meat. “Didn’t go as planned is a real nice way of putting it,” he mumbled before taking a bite.

You studied him as he chewed, noting the tension in his jaw that wasn’t just due to the action. You could understand that this appeared to be a topic that he didn’t like discussing. Once he swallowed, he took a sip of his beer, his eyes meeting yours. “You had no problem answering my question. I suppose it’s only fair that I should answer yours.”

Your brows furrowed as you pretended to be confused. “I don’t think I’ve gotten to ask a question yet.”

His features relaxed slightly and his smile started to return. You mirrored it and he let out a quiet chuckle as he self-consciously scratched at his eyebrow. “Yeah, I, uh…I do that a lot. Sorry. Hoyt always says I can be a real chatty one.”

Your jaw was the one tensing this time, at the mention of Hoyt, but you worked to cover it well by finishing the tiny amount of wine left in your glass. You had zero desire to be reminded of that pushy blonde from this morning. You signaled to your server for another glass and sat back, smiling. “I don’t mind it all that much.”

And that was the truth, you didn’t. Which was odd because most times after a long day like this one, you just wanted peace and quiet. And that’s what you had always looked for in someone, besides the other desired qualities someone had in a life partner — someone who could let you have that quiet, let it be comfortable between you and empty of expectations, even give your mind time to process everything from the day’s events. Someone who understood and didn’t take it personally, who didn’t cop an attitude if you didn’t want to rush right back out the door for a dinner hosted by your friends or to go to a family gathering or to a sporting event or concert down at Madison Square Garden. Someone who could just let you be during some of the tougher days in your career. As you had already observed, Beau’s conversation flowed freely but the best part was that it didn’t carry any requirements of your constant participation. You actually enjoyed some of the stories he’d regaled you with already and you liked how the banter between you was natural and easygoing. Even if you weren’t here on a date, you had a feeling that had you met him in another social setting, you would have enjoyed talking with him anyway. He just had this warm, light-hearted, and charismatic way about him that just invited you in and you had no choice but to want to be around him.

“It doesn’t annoy you?” Beau asked, dubious. “It’s annoyed every other woman in my life so far.”

You shook your head and shrugged. “Sounds like that’s their loss then.” You gave an appreciative smile to the server who delivered your new glass of wine and held it out to Beau. “And their loss is my gain.”

Beau’s gaze was intent on you and his grin melted into the smirk that had first made an appearance when he’d asked you out. “Both our gain,” he murmured, lifting his pint glass to meet your glass in a soft clink. Neither of you looked away as you both drank and that familiar flip feeling was back in your stomach.

“So.” You quietly cleared your throat after placing your glass down, forcing your gaze back on the steak you were trying to cut into while also attempting to rein yourself back in. If you weren’t careful, you might just ask him to skip dinner altogether and get straight to dessert…at your place. “You looked into me. Any questions?” You braced yourself, expecting the other two questions you dreaded: about the infamous serial killer case you’d been involved in back East that he had obviously read up on, or worse, your romantic history.

“Just one.” Your eyes flicked to his and you found him giving you that charming smile once more. “Are you religious?”

Your brows furrowed slightly, wondering where that had come from. A little part of you was dismayed at the question, hoping he wasn’t one of those guys. There was nothing wrong with being religious of course, but it wasn’t your thing. Back in New York when you had been patrolling the streets in uniform, you had gone on a date with a friend of a friend. By the end of said date, you were fielding questions about your sexual history, if you were willing to turn away from sin, and what you would be willing to do to avoid eternal damnation of your soul because you were a woman and a whore (his words, not yours). He had even tried to slip a pocket Bible into your purse without your knowledge before you hurried out of the building, telling yourself that you were done with blind dates forevermore. And you had been, though Cecilia had managed to talk you back into them once you got here (but you’d made your ‘absolutely no exceptions’ rule known before she did). But then of course, the two she’d set you up on pretty much closed out that option for you permanently.

With Beau, you hadn’t gotten that religious vibe from him but you also hadn’t known him all that long. Disappointment radiated throughout your chest. Perhaps you would be calling Jack for a ride after all. “No. Why?”

He gestured towards your neck and you glanced down, realizing what he was focused on. The immediate relief swept through you and you discreetly let out a breath. “It’s pretty,” he reassured. “I just thought…maybe…”

You maneuvered the cross pendant between your fingers and smiled down at it. You always wore it and it hadn’t even entered your mind that it might come up in conversation. When you had checked yourself over in the mirror earlier at the station, you didn’t even give it a second thought when you saw it, sitting around your neck, shining brightly for all to see. It was just a part of you at this point, like another limb, that you barely paid any notice to. Unless you sought it out like you had at your first crime scene of the day this morning. “It was a gift.”

You glanced up to find Beau nodding. “Oh. So, not religious then?”

“Not religious,” you confirmed. “More…spiritual.” You turned your smile onto him. “Maybe,” you added as a quick afterthought.

His eyes were focused on you, warm as could be, and his smile echoed that warmth. “Same, actually.”

More relief flooded through you as you folded your arms on the table, pushing your plate away slightly. You were still eating but you needed your stomach to settle a little first from the flip-flopping it just did before you continued. “Sometimes with this job, it’s hard to be a believer, you know?”

“Yeah,” he agreed quietly. “Sure is sometimes.” He began to cut another piece of his steak. “A gift, huh? Who from?” He swallowed and then his eyes widened slightly. “I mean, only if it’s okay for me to ask that. Shit, sorry,” he laughed nervously at himself. “I am really bad at this. It’s, uh…it’s been a while.”

“Me too,” you reassured him with a smile, relieved to hear it. “I’m not that much better but I’m pretty sure this is what we’re supposed to be doing. Asking questions, getting to know one another…”

“Good point. Well, in getting to know one another,” He appeared serious all of a sudden and you noticed a little apprehension that hadn’t been there before. “I should tell you that I’ve been married before.”

That slightly surprised you, more from the topics being changed so quickly than the revelation. It was something you already knew thanks to your look into him earlier, but it had been a brief mention in everything you read. You were waiting for him to bring it up and now that he had, you were curious as to what heralded the end of his marriage and just how long ago it had been considering the Houston case had only been a few years ago and he had still been married then. You also wondered just how long he had been married.

“And I also have a teenage daughter.”

You kept your expression even and gave him a slow nod. So, that long then.

Beau cleared his throat nervously. “Her mom and I split up a few years back. They came up here and I followed them. I didn’t want to be too far from my little girl. But, some months back, she and her mom moved back down to Houston.” His expression darkened for a moment before it cleared and he gave you a nervous smile.

Your brows drew together. You could understand his moving up here to be close to his daughter; that was admirable even. Though when they moved back to Texas, Beau didn’t follow them this time? There was definitely a story there.

He was studying you, most likely trying to ascertain if this was a dealbreaker for you. You lifted a bite of steak on your fork and asked, “How old is your daughter?” When you placed the meat inside your mouth and began to chew, you noticed the relief sweeping through his expression.

“Seventeen.” He gave you a wide smile, pride shining in his green eyes.

“Wow. She’s almost out of high school.”

That smile grew even bigger if it were possible. You couldn’t help but mirror it; it was nice to see a father be proud of his daughter. It wasn’t exactly something you experienced yourself growing up.

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Hard to believe. Em told me today that she and her mom are going to look at the University of Houston this weekend. My little girl is talking about going to college.” He shook his head. “Where the hell did the time go?” He murmured sadly, dropping his gaze to his glass in thought.

You gave him a moment to collect his thoughts. You imagined it must be hard not to be present for these important moments in his daughter’s life, especially considering what they’d been through. The serial killer case Jack, Anderson, and your Chief kept referring to turned out to be the same one you found out Beau and his department had been involved in. While one of the kidnapping victim’s names had not been disclosed to the media, the internal reports confirmed it for you: Beau’s daughter had been taken by the suspect. Thankfully, there had been a happy ending for all involved minus the killer. However, you still wondered why he hadn’t followed his family back home, especially after all of that. There had to be a reason he stayed (which you were currently grateful for) but you didn’t think it could be the job. It had to be something else but what that something else could be, you had no idea. You didn’t know his daughter obviously but seeing the sadness currently residing in his expression, you felt for him; you felt for them both.

Beau seemed to realize he had spaced out for a moment and quietly cleared his throat. He gave you a tiny smile but you could tell some of the light had gone out of it from before and his eyes weren’t as bright when they settled back on you. “Sorry. It just…” He made an explosion sound and gestured towards his head. “It still catches me off guard sometimes.”

“You don’t need to apologize.” You gave him a reassuring smile. You could see the gratitude staring back at you and you took another bite of your steak to give him another moment. He appeared to take your cue and did the same. When you were done chewing, you lifted up your glass to take another sip of wine. “It’s from a family.”

His brows furrowed slightly in confusion.

You gestured to your necklace. “It was given to me by the family of a victim. After I worked their case.”

You could see surprise and interest light up his eyes, but you appreciated that he didn’t immediately begin peppering you with questions. Instead, he smiled at you. “I’m sure they were grateful for everything you did for them.”

You affected a slow nod, your fingers immediately clasping onto your cross pendant as memories a part of you would rather forget began to play on a loop in your mind. You glanced out across the restaurant and Beau mercifully gave you a minute to get yourself together.

Eventually, you brought your attention back to the man sitting across from you, moving back into his chair and sighing in satisfaction. He had finished his dinner while you had been working to push certain images in your mind back into the box you locked everything from your job away in. “Best steak in the whole county. That with a beer at the end of a long day…never fails.”

“It is pretty good.” You had to agree; it was definitely the best steak you’d had since moving here.

He seemed pleased at that. “Though, I may need to get some steps in before we leave.” He gestured towards his body. “I have a figure to maintain.”

You could see the teasing in his gaze and you decided to tease him back. “From what I can see, you don’t have all that much that you need to maintain. But, if you really want to work the calories off.” You gave him your best seductive smirk. “I can think of a few ways to help with that.”

As you expected, the shade of his eyes darkened slightly and his smile melted into that familiar smirk. “Do you now?”

You kept your gaze locked on his as you picked up your wine, finishing it in one long swallow, before placing the glass back down and licking the last remnants from your lips. When your tongue made an appearance, his eyes were laser focused on it, before lifting back to yours. All traces of the teasing from before were gone now. “I do,” you confirmed.

Images filled your mind once more, but this time they were of a more carnal nature, starring the attractive man sitting across from you, who very much appeared to be hungry again, and not for food this time. That expression of his promised deliciously dark and sinful things should you decide to make good on your implied offer. You were seriously considering throwing every rule you had right out the window and asking him to drive you back to your place, your car be damned. You’d call Jack for a ride to the station in the morning, not caring in the least about any jokes he might make at your expense on the way. With the way Beau was looking at you now, you were pretty sure you’d be too blissfully tired to care much anyway.

“How is everything?”

The server’s question interrupted your little staring contest and Beau turned an amiable smile up at the man. “Great. Another ribeye grilled to perfection.” You took the opportunity to breathe and get your thoughts back in order.

The younger man grinned, pleased. “Glad to hear it. Is there anything else I can get you?”

Beau glanced over at you as did the server, both waiting for your answer. You knew your reply would determine how you would spend the rest of your evening: sleeping alone or not sleeping at all.

After a moment of desire and logic warring within you, the former ended up winning out. You turned a polite smile onto the server. “Can I get some coffee, please? Decaf?”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Beau’s gaze drop to his plate but you also could see the hint of a smile forming on his handsome face.

“Absolutely. Sir, would you like anything else?”

Beau beamed up at the man. “I’ll take some coffee as well. Also decaf. Thank you.”

The server nodded, grabbing your plates, and hurried off to get said coffee.

When Beau’s eyes met yours, you gave him an apologetic smile. You hadn’t meant to be a tease. You really did want to take him back to your place, but you also liked him and surprising yourself, you wanted to see where this could possibly go. You weren’t looking for a serious relationship right now (or possibly ever again) but you also didn’t want whatever this was with Beau only ending up as a one night stand. As much as you were attracted to him and as badly as you wanted to find out just what was stirring deep within those eyes when he looked at you like that, you wanted this to last just a little bit longer. That was what had the rational part of your mind winning the battle from a few moments ago, much to the chagrin of other parts of you.

Beau gave you a subtle nod and his returning smile was understanding and almost appeared a little relieved. You weren’t exactly sure what to think about that but he didn’t give you much time to ponder it before he hit you with the third question you despised. “So, how about you? Ever been married? Any kids?”

You could feel a familiar tension happening in your face when you forced a wan smile. “Never on both counts.”

“Never as in never happened? Or never as in you never plan to?”

You wondered why you had been stupid enough to finish your wine and not get a refill before ordering the coffee. You truly hated this part of dating, which was one of the reasons why you didn’t do it too often. Beau wasn’t asking anything outside of the box that would be expected from a first date, but God did you hate this question.

“Never as in I’ve never been married and no, I don’t have kids.” You glanced around, looking for the server but not finding him. When you looked at Beau again, you found him studying you intently. He seemed to sense that this wasn’t a topic you really wanted to delve into and decided to leave well enough alone. He slowly nodded at your response and finished the remains of his beer.

The playful banter from before, the comfortable conversation, the teasing — all of it seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving a very awkward silence between you for the first time all evening. You mentally cursed yourself, knowing you were the one responsible for it. But you also reminded yourself, This is why you don’t date.

“So, I told you why I moved to Montana. What made you decide to transfer to Big Sky Country?”

You hadn’t expected him to ask that question and when you glanced up at him, you could see the kindness that was beginning to become his trademark staring back at you. He was swerving away from the previous topic and throwing you a lifeline.

“I just needed a change,” you admitted.

Mercifully, he didn’t immediately follow up with “A change from what?” and just nodded. “You like it so far? Outside of things like today I mean?”

You thought it over for a moment. “Yeah. Outside of things like today, I think I do.” You surprised yourself with that statement. You hadn’t really thought about it too much since transferring here. You had only really focused on the job part. You had just been so desperate to get out of New York, to try something different, that you hadn’t really looked before you jumped. And now that you were here and he was asking, it hit you that you hadn’t really taken a moment and thought it over in the four months you’d been here. Montana was certainly different to New York, in many aspects, and you thought the change in the pace of living would drive you nuts. Especially being used to big city life. But truthfully, you found that you much preferred your lifestyle out here compared to what it had been back East. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, Manhattan hadn’t been either, but there was no such thing as perfect — only close to perfect. And right now, studying the man sitting across from you, you knew he fell under that category and despite the heavy weight from work you carried, you felt a little lighter and had a little something resembling hope for the first time since you’d crossed state lines.

Beau crossed his arms and leaned on his elbows. “I feel the same. Took me a little bit, though. Quite the change from Texas, especially in temperature.” He chuckled and your smile widened. “But it’s beautiful up here, the fishing’s great, folks are nice…I had no complaints. And eventually, it started to feel like home.”

You slowly nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” you murmured.

The server appeared then with your coffee. Once you were set up, he left again, giving you both your space.

Beau picked up his cup, getting ready to take a sip. “So, uh, about that case from this morning…”

You placed your cup down and shook your head, chuckling but without any real mirth. “I should’ve known you’d try to pump me for information I can’t give you. No wonder you asked me to dinner then and there. My partner implied as much when I told him.” You were such an idiot. You knew he was attracted to you but you should have known this was going too well to actually be anything more than that and an attempt at getting you to soften up to give him information at the same time. You immediately thought of another reminder for yourself, This is why you don’t date cops.

“What? No.” He gently laid his hand over yours, causing you to look up at him. “That’s not why I asked you to dinner and I’m not asking you for any information. I know you can’t give me more than you already have and I’m not trying to push that.”

“Then why bring it up?”

He went to answer you but then stopped, studying you intently. You weren’t exactly sure what he saw but it had him removing his hand and sitting back, seemingly guarded all of a sudden. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” He appeared like he wanted to say more but instead, he smiled apologetically. “I told you I’m no good at this,” he quietly chuckled.

“It’s okay,” you reassured, though it felt like anything but. “Let’s just forget it.” You gave him a small smile before sipping your coffee.

His eyes were trained on you and he let out a quiet sigh. “Hoyt was right. I talk too much.”

You involuntarily tensed at the mention of his undersheriff again. That was twice now. Your instincts were screaming at you. “Maybe she’s not a fan but I don’t mind it.” You compulsively swallowed and then asked the question you hadn’t planned on asking for at least a few more dinners, and that was only if you both somehow managed to become serious about this dating thing and he made the impossible happen: changing your mind. “You asked me about my past so it’s only fair I ask about yours.” He nodded in encouragement. “Was there anyone after your divorce?”

He seemed a little surprised but didn’t hold back from answering. “I had some casual dates here and there. None of it really went anywhere, though. If I’m being honest, I was too focused on Em and the move up here to think about getting into anything.”

You nodded, giving it a beat, before you asked the real question you needed an answer to. “So there wasn’t anyone serious? At all?”

Discomfort quickly flitted across his expression and nervousness radiated off of him, answering your question before he verbally could. Disappointment surged within your chest. You should have known. “Just one. After I had settled in.”

You forced your tone to be as neutral as possible, relying on your training. “And?”

“It didn’t work out.”

You shot him a look of disbelief. Obviously, it hadn’t or you both wouldn’t be sitting here right now.

Beau let out a sigh. “Things just got…complicated.”

You nodded, not bothering to ask how or even who he was referring to. You already had a pretty good idea on both.

Staring at you, Beau seemed to contemplate something before elaborating, “Me and Hoyt…we dated for a bit.” And there it was.

You felt as if a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped over you. Your heart fell into the pit of your stomach. You should have known. Rumors, no matter how exaggerated, didn’t start up without some sort of catalyst. Not to mention, her watching you like a hawk while talking to Beau that morning now made sense. You were all cops; if Beau had checked you out at all, no matter how discreetly, Hoyt would have seen it and been less than pleased. Especially, since she appeared to still carry a torch for him; that was more than obvious to you now.

It was a shame. The date had been going mostly well until he dropped that little nugget or harsh truth. While you appreciated his honesty and willingness to be up front with you, and answer your probing questions, you now knew this would never work. The sadness that engulfed you at the thought should not have cut as deeply as it did depending on how little you actually knew this man who you had only met this morning.

“Oh,” you forced out.

“Yeah, but that was some time ago. It’s been done for a while. Like I told you this morning, she’s my undersheriff and a friend, that’s all. Us trying for anything more than that just didn’t end up working out.”

“Obviously.” You gestured at the table, indicating the date you were on.

He laughed, his body relaxing. “Yeah.” He then graced you with a warm smile. “Well, maybe it did in a way.” At your furrowed brows, his smile melted into a smirk and he covered your hand with his once more. “You’re sitting here with me, now.” His thumb began to tenderly stroke your skin and you ignored the chain reaction it set off within you feeling his touch. “So maybe it ended up working out after all,” he murmured.

You gave him a thin-lipped smile. “Yeah,” you whispered, the sadness blooming within your chest. You knew at that moment that if you gave him the greenlight right now, your earlier hesitation before being damned, you could have him in your bed by the night’s end. There was definitely a mutual attraction between you that you definitely could have explored, even if it was just casual fun. But now… Now, the possibility of you and Beau, something fun that wasn’t just a one time thing or something more, had immediately been swiped off the table for you.

And just when you thought things in Montana might work out for you after all.

Beau had just pulled his car to a stop, right behind your parking spot at the station. He turned a smile on you. “There we go.”

You had asked him to bring you back to your car though he offered to drive you home, concern marring his brow when you’d insisted you were sober enough to drive yourself. He didn’t argue but you noticed he purposely took a longer route back to your precinct, which was just agonizing for you. Being in close proximity to the man you were highly attracted to but wanted as far away from as possible at the same time was complete torture. You considered telling him to pull over somewhere you wouldn’t be seen by anyone on the main road and working out the tension you both had along with your frustration, but despite your disappointment at how things had worked out, you couldn’t do that to him. From the little time you’d spent with him, Beau appeared to be a good man and he wouldn’t deserve you doing that to him. You knew he’d enjoy himself as well, sure, but then you insisting things stay professional between you afterwards, insinuating you were just there for one round of casual sex and that you had basically used him — well, he wouldn’t deserve that. Had this been someone like Taylor, you could have easily done that with a clear conscience, but not to Beau. So you kept your hands to yourself, stayed quiet, and stared out the window at the passing dark landscape.

Beau had tried to make conversation a few times and you answered him, but it was the bare minimum. He had even tried to start up the teasing banter again once or twice but you never took the bait. You felt bad but it was best to close this up now rather than let the man have hope for something that could never be.

So once Beau stopped the car, you had to keep yourself from vaulting out of it and getting as far away as you could. Instead, you undid your seat belt, desperate to end this quickly but as kindly and respectfully as possible. “Thank you for dinner. You were right. That was the best steak I’ve had in a long time. You sure know your beef.”

“Us Texas cowboys always do,” he teased. His smile grew and you could see the hope coming to life behind it. You hated to see it, knowing you would soon be crushing it. Your heart cracked slightly when he picked up your hand, kissing the back of it in a manner that you’d only seen in movies. The feel of his lips on your skin sent an involuntary shiver down your spine.

You felt him smile against your hand. “Cold?” He murmured.

“A little,” you lied. “Still not used to the temperature, I guess.”

“I know that feeling all too well.” He released your hand and turned on the heat, adjusting the vents in your direction. He then picked up both of your hands, bringing them up to his face and gently blew hot air into your palms, causing another shiver. This time, thankfully, he didn’t remark on it and there was no smug smirk. Instead, he began to rub your hands in between his, trying to warm you up. “I should’ve brought a jacket,” he muttered. “Or insisted you grab yours.”

“It’s fine,” you whispered. “I have to adjust to the Montana weather at some point, I guess.”

Beau chuckled. “Yeah but not like this.”

“I’ll be fine. The heat in my car was working this morning and I’m a straight shot across town where I’ll be stepping into a warm house.”

He continued rubbing your hands, his eyes meeting yours. “You live across town?”

You nodded.

“Sweetheart, why didn’t you mention that? I could have dropped you right off and given you a ride back here in the morning.”

You softened at the nickname before your eyes narrowed. “What, you thought you’d be spending the night? Wow, presumptuous much?” You didn’t mention how you had been afraid the entire date that that very thing might happen if you invited him back to your place.

He gave you his winning smile. “Not what I meant, darlin’.”

You rolled your eyes and gently pulled your hands out of his, rubbing at your left one and focusing on it. “You’ve got all sorts of nicknames for the ladies, don’t you?” You muttered.

You felt him tenderly cup your chin and he brought your eyes back over to his. You could feel yourself falling into the depths of those green orbs that studied you so intently. “I’d really like to see you again,” he murmured. “Y/N,” he added for good measure with the hint of a teasing smirk.

You gave him a sad smile and gently moved his hand away from you. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

His smirk dropped and his brows began to furrow. “I'm not sure I understand. I thought—”

You scrambled for a way to explain that wouldn’t invite too many questions. “I’m just not looking for anything serious right now. And honestly, I think you are.”

The confusion on his bearded face intensified. “Then why did you say yes to the date?”

You shrugged. “Truthfully, I was hoping we could have something casual and I thought maybe that’s what you’d want as well, just to have some fun without any strings, something light, but now…”

He watched you, his eyes moving back and forth over your features, trying to assess what exactly had gone wrong here. You kept your poker face on, thankful for that one part of your job you had been able to hone over the years. Sure enough, disappointment began to spread over his expression. “I thought we had a really nice time. That we were on the same page.”

“So did I,” you admitted sadly. Until we weren’t. “But we just aren’t.” You pretended you didn’t see his face fall at that or the wall he immediately put back up after until a stony expression was all that looked back at you. “Look, I did have a nice time. A really nice time. Thank you for showing me some of what Helena has to offer.” You gave him a kind smile at the callback to your conversation from that morning and you weren’t surprised when he didn’t smile back. Not this time. Possibly not ever again. Another part of you was saddened that you had pretty much ruined any chance of you becoming friends, never mind lovers. But you just couldn’t do that to yourself again. You wouldn’t, even for a great guy like Beau.

You knew you shouldn’t do it but you couldn’t resist; this would be your only chance. You leaned in and quickly kissed him on the cheek. You felt his arms start to move, almost as if to circle around you and pull you in closer, but you hurriedly moved back into your seat before he could. “I guess I’ll see you around. Good night, Beau.”

His eyes stayed trained on you. “Get home safe,” he gruffed out.

Your smile widened at his kindness. “You, too.”

You stepped out of the car, noting that he didn’t rush to get out to open your door for you like he had earlier in the evening. That might have to do with the stone cold expression he still wore that faded into shock and disappointment when he thought you could no longer see him. You got into your car and started it, giving him a wave when he didn’t immediately move. A moment later, his car pulled away from yours and you watched as he slowly rolled out of the parking lot onto the main road. Once he disappeared out of sight, you let out a heavy breath and dropped your face into your hands.

You liked Beau, he seemed like a good man and he even seemed good for you. But the past relationship with Hoyt that he had admitted to you had you hitting the eject button as fast as you could. No matter how easy and promising things had seemed between you before that little bomb dropped. Had he owned up to it this morning when he asked you out, you would have never said yes to him. You’d been there before and you had no interest in going through any of that again. That particular scar still stung even though it had been quite a while since that pain had been inflicted on you.

Speaking of which, Beau had been right; you should have said no when he asked you out. You took a deep breath, silently cursing yourself for being so stupid as to accept the date. What had you been thinking? That you’d get a friends with benefits situation going with the man? Or that you’d somehow magically be willing to enter into something serious when you knew deep down you couldn’t? Not only that, but you should have known from the way Hoyt looked at Beau at the crime scene this morning that there was something between them. You should have immediately known the second her possessive attitude appeared. He may have claimed that they were done and it was in the past for him, but that didn’t mean it was for Hoyt. And if she wanted to resume things between them, pick up where they left off before it got too complicated, it would only be a matter of time… You shook the thought from your mind and took another deep breath, blowing it out past your lips in a steady stream of air.

Once you felt centered enough to be able to focus, you put the car in reverse and started the drive home, intent on putting Beau Arlen and another date that ended in disaster behind you.

You watched as Jack leaned forward, placing his hands on the table, staring down the man currently sitting across from you both.

“So, you’re telling me that you were nowhere near the Hartmans’ the night before last?”

“No, sir,” the young man insisted.

Your jaw tensed but you kept your face carefully blank. Sure enough, the kid’s coffee-colored eyes briefly flickered in your direction before settling back on your partner.

Earlier this morning, not too long after you had arrived for your shift, Ava Russell, Amelia Hartman’s sister, had marched into the precinct, towing along Madison, the couple’s daughter. You hadn’t seen either of them since you had spoken to them at the Hartmans’ home yesterday, after the latter had discovered the grisly scene of her parents’ deaths as a result of what appeared to be a home invasion gone badly. The older woman demanded to speak to you and Jack right then and there.

Your heart went out to the young girl almost immediately when you spotted her bloodshot eyes surrounded by puffy and blotchy-red skin. Even as she looked at you, her eyes were brimming once more with unshed tears.

“Ms. Russell, how can we help?” Jack asked kindly.

Before he could finish getting the words out, Ava turned to Madison and said sternly, “You need to tell them.”

Madison’s eyes overflowed once more and she sniffled, wiping her cheeks. “Aunt Ava, I don’t know if I should,” she whimpered. “What if I’m wrong?”

“Then he’ll be cleared,” Ava snapped. “But you need to tell them.”

Madison let out a sob and dropped her face into her hands. Ava looked as if she was about to bark at the girl again, so you quickly stepped in, laying a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder. It wasn’t uncommon to see something happening like this after such a case as this one. Emotions were running high, they’d barely had time to process the two unexpected deaths, their thoughts most likely were turning over and over with memories of Everett and Amelia, wanting to know who had taken them from this world and so brutally — all of it. Ava loved her niece, that much was evident from what you’d seen the day before, but both women were most likely near their breaking points, even if they might be on different ends of the emotional spectrum at the moment. The best thing you could do to help was to listen to what needed to be said, to placate Ava and let her know you were absolutely taking her sister and brother-in-law’s case seriously, and to soothe Madison who had been through more than enough in the last twenty four hours. Not to mention, any investigator worth their salt would be willing to hear whatever Maddie had to say, even if she herself thought she was wrong, whatever it might be. You never know what form a break in the case might show up in.

“Hey, Maddie,” you spoke softly. “How about you and I find a quiet place to sit down and talk? Would that be alright?”

She sniffled again and turned to glance up at you.

“I’ll come with you,” Ava insisted, ready to march her niece down the hallway towards the interrogation rooms herself.

“Actually,” Jack smoothly intervened. “Ms Russell, if you don’t mind, maybe you can stay here with me and answer a few more questions. Maddie will be fine with Detective Y/L/N. She’s in good hands.”

Ava had a knowing expression on her face and her eyes landed on your encouraging nod, making her sigh. “Sure. But, Maddie, you need to tell them everything,” she ordered, this time with a gentler but still firm tone.

Maddie gave her aunt a subtle nod, wiping her cheeks again, and you turned a kind smile on her. “Let’s go see if we can find a quiet room, okay?”

“Okay,” Maddie choked out.

You had led the strawberry blonde-haired teenager down the hall and into one of the free rooms. You made sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed before you sat down to hear what she had to tell you. And by the end of it, you had a feeling you might be thanking Ava for pushing her niece to come in if this was indeed the break in the case you and Jack had been looking for.

Maddie had a boyfriend, Dylan Carter, who she met last semester and who happened to be a few years older than her — something she hadn’t shared the day before with you or Jack when you’d asked. It turned out that he wasn’t a student at the university she attended but he lived locally off-campus. They had met at a party one night and things took off from there. She had been seeing him pretty steadily since then and they had gotten serious. So serious in fact that Maddie had brought Dylan home for a bit once classes let out for the summer. To say Everett and Amelia Hartman were unimpressed was an understatement.

After observing the two lovebirds up close and personal, both parents wanted Maddie to move on from the relationship and focus on the path ahead of her. They reminded her she was young and had so many opportunities at her fingertips, just waiting to be taken. Maddie hadn’t been happy about their opinions and it had caused arguments between her and her parents, but when you pushed a little further, you eventually got the whole story behind the Hartmans’ immediate dislike of her boyfriend.

They were convinced that Dylan was controlling and manipulative towards her, and they wanted him out of her life. He could be a sly charmer in public, very charismatic even, but privately, it was a whole other matter. He didn’t want her going anywhere or seeing anyone without him present. He had become possessive, overly jealous, and demanding. He even would put her down and call her names, tell her how stupid she was or how ugly she looked, and advised her that she should feel lucky that he chose to be with her, that he loved her that much.

Classic emotionally abusive behavior: suss out their vulnerabilities, strip them down until they’re nothing and easily controlled, and you’ll be in control of them. Sadly, it was no surprise to you that Maddie had kept her relationship with Dylan a secret from you and Jack. You’d seen it several times before in cases you worked, even back when you’d been working the beat as a patrol officer. Just like you discovered in Homicide, there were way too many methods that people could employ to hurt others, way too many ways that innocents could be preyed upon by predators of various natures, all of them having diverse motives. It was something that you (and all cops truthfully) learned early on in your career. It was even why some of you joined the force, yourself included. To protect and serve — it wasn’t just a motto painted on the side of a patrol car to you.

You had paused the writing on your notepad when Maddie told you about an incident that had taken place only a few weeks ago. She and Dylan had gotten into another heated argument, this time over her disobeying him by going out to dinner with a girlfriend while he had been working. The argument escalated to Dylan wrapping his hand around her throat and pushing her into the wall. He had tightened his grip when she clawed at his hand and she had been terrified. He threatened her and let her go but not before he promised that if she ever did something like that again, she’d be sorry. That incident had frightened her so badly that she had snuck a phone call to her mom after he had fallen asleep. All she had running through her mind was what if he hadn’t let go of her? What if she’d never see her parents again, or her friends? What if he had squeezed too hard? What if he’d done worse? What if he killed her, even just accidentally? He regularly grabbed her, left bruises around her wrists and forearms, even squeezed her thighs and knees in death grips when he would drive, but never had he gone this far before.

Naturally, Amelia panicked and woke Everett. They immediately made the three hour drive to pick up their daughter, not caring in the least about what could be done for classes. She could transfer for all they cared but they wanted their daughter safely away from the abusive asshole who’d had the nerve to put his hands on her, with the intent to harm her. Something Everett told Dylan when they’d faced off while Amelia rushed Maddie out of his apartment and down to the car. The older man hadn’t missed the light marks forming on Maddie’s neck even though he’d already known what happened since Maddie had told Amelia. Her parents had wanted to contact law enforcement, take out a restraining order, but she pleaded with them not to. Eventually, she was able to persuade them, promising she’d stay away from Dylan for good.

That promise didn’t last that long. She had returned home with her parents as they’d requested, luckily being able to take some classes online, while Amelia kept posing the possibility of a transfer to somewhere closer to home at the end of the semester. Everything seemed to be settling into place though things had been terrifying that one night, and she was doing her best to cope with the new changes in her life. And of course, Dylan kept sending her apology texts, lonesome Snapchats, and left her tearful and pleading voicemails. He claimed he truly loved her, loved her so much that it drove him crazy. He never meant to hurt her, he just got jealous and he lost his head, but he would never really hurt her, yada, yada, yada. You’d heard all of those excuses before and you began to see what direction this story was about to take.

Sure enough, Maddie had started to sneak out to meet with him when he told her he was in town and desperately needed to see her. She lied to her parents about catching up with a friend who was taking a gap year and still living at home. Amelia seemed nervous to let her out the door but eventually, she gave in and just asked that Maddie stay safe, keep in touch — easy enough to agree to at her nineteen years of age. Everett had told her to call him if she needed him to pick her up or for anything at all. The two were none the wiser. And Ava hadn’t known about the scary incident with Dylan or anything after that whatsoever; not until Maddie had told her the night prior and then the older woman insisted she come in this morning to tell you everything.

One night about a week ago, Maddie met up with Dylan, and of course, he had been in a sour mood. He wanted her to move back, to move in with him, but she said she couldn’t. When he got angry, pressing her and then insisting she must not really love him, she panicked and said she couldn’t because of her parents. Maddie began to cry, recounting this moment to you, and her regret was palpable. It was obvious she believed she might be responsible for what happened to her parents even though she still couldn’t accept that Dylan would ever hurt them. He loved her after all, and to hurt them like that would hurt her. Surely, he understood that.

You pressed your lips together for a moment, choosing not to respond to that thought, and gently prompted her to tell you what happened next.

“He said ‘So, it’s your parents then? That’s why we can’t be together?’ Not really thinking and just wanting to end the argument, I told him yeah, that was why.”

“And what did he say to that?” You asked her.

Her eyes began to brim with additional tears, spilling over onto her cheeks. “He asked me,” she choked out. “‘If your parents weren’t a problem, would you be with me then?’” She began to sob, placing her face into her hands. “I told him yes but only because I wanted him to stop. I never meant to—” Her crying increased and you felt horrible for her but you still needed to do your job. The only thing you could offer in that moment was quiet kindness, silent support, and a box of tissues.

She took the box from you and sobbed out a thank you. You gave her a minute or so to collect herself but you had to prompt her to get the rest of the information.

“Maddie, where is Dylan now?”

Her wet eyes snapped up to you in alarm, almost looking fearful, and she rushed out, “You’re not going to arrest him, are you?”

You had answered that as diplomatically yet vaguely as you could. It took some coaxing on your part, but eventually she told you where he was staying. Here in town still. Of course. There was no way he was going to leave the object of his dangerous obsession, the toy he liked to exert his control over. Obviously, you kept those thoughts to yourself.

“Have you spoken to him since yesterday?”

She nodded, wiping a tissue under her nose. “Yeah.”

“So you told him about what happened to your parents?”

“Yeah,” she whimpered.

“And what was his response?”

Maddie’s eyes watered again but she managed to get out, “He told me he was really sorry, that he hated that I had found them like that, and he wanted to be there for me.” You got the sense there was more to it than that so you pushed.

“And?”

“And,” she whispered brokenly. “He said ‘I know how sad you are but just think, we can be together now. No one’s standing in our way.’” She burst into tears once more and you let out a quiet breath, writing down what she’d said. Not a confession by any means, but it certainly now made Dylan Carter a person of interest in your eyes. It was something you and Jack definitely needed to look into and pronto. And somehow you had to convince Maddie to take out a restraining order, something you hoped you could have Ava assist you with. She had listened to her aunt about coming in, maybe she’d listen about safeguarding her safety as well. You wanted nothing more than to comfort the girl but you had to do what you’d been brought onto this case to do and see through this investigation. You had gotten too personal, too caught up in emotions once before, and you couldn’t— You briefly closed your eyes in pain, feeling the weight of the necklace around your neck, but you forced yourself to focus. You had a job to do and that was to get justice for the Hartmans and by extension, their daughter, while also protecting her. You had a new lead, a possible motive — time to get cracking.

So here you and Jack were, sitting in another interrogation room with Dylan across from you, giving you both a mix of a bright smile and a cocky smirk. You knew without a doubt that you had your guy but you had to see the process through to make sure no stone was left unturned.

Dylan had been exactly where Maddie said he’d be and he didn’t appear to be worried by Jack’s pounding on his door or your request that he accompany you to the station to be questioned. Nor did he seem fazed by the presence of two Helena PD officers behind you, at the ready and each having one hand near their handcuffs in case the word lawyer was used, the other near their holster in case he made a move. He could try to refuse but there was really no room for refusal. And now that he had denied being anywhere near the victims’ home the other night, locking himself into his story, you were going to show him why there wasn’t.

“Are you sure that you weren’t anywhere near the Hartman home the other night? Say around 11:30?” You asked.

“Yes, ma’am. Like I told you, I was at my friend’s. We watched the hockey game, drank a few beers, then I crashed on his couch. I was a little too drunk to drive if I’m being honest.” He tried to give you his most charming smile but you weren’t buying a single shred of the act.

“So not at all?” You repeated.

“No, ma’am,” he insisted.

You glanced over to Jack who gave you a subtle nod. “Well then, we have a problem, Mr. Carter.” You picked up your phone, pulled up the file Stephens had sent you, hit the play button, and turned it around to show the son of a bitch.

He watched the scene unfold that you and Jack had watched before heading out to pick him up. A dark Toyota Corolla pulled up in front of a house two spots away from the Hartman house, coming to a slow stop. When the engine was turned off, it was a good minute before he got out and closed his door; you chalked that up to him checking the area before getting out. You then watched as he made his way down the sidewalk of the quiet street, stopping in front of the Hartman property, turned, and approached the house, slipping out of sight of the camera. Dylan had only put his hoodie up and had never looked around to see if the neighbors had any doorbell cameras, and like an overly confident jackass, he had pulled right in front of the house that not only had a doorbell camera but also a garage one, and his image was all too clear for anyone to see, plain as day.

You could see his jaw tensing but he kept his face tightly controlled. You stopped the video and placed your phone down. Jack had his arms crossed and his stare at Dylan never wavered. “That’s you, Mr. Carter.” You pointed to the device. “Pulling up to a neighbor’s house close to the timeframe that the Medical Examiner has estimated that the victims were killed. You then got out of your vehicle and approached the Hartman home. You were not seen leaving until approximately an hour later. You were there the night they died. So as I said, we have a problem.”

“That proves nothing,” he ground out.

“Nothing?” You turned to look at Jack in feigned shock before turning back to the younger man. “You lied about being at the scene the night of the murders. You are on camera arriving on scene. How does that prove nothing?”

“That’s not me,” he snapped. “You can’t tell who that is.”

You watched him for a moment. “It is you, Mr. Carter. And I’m willing to bet that if we find that hoodie, the victims’ blood will be all over it, won’t it?” You challenged.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

You arched a brow over at him but remained quiet, allowing your partner to attempt to seal the deal, to push him off of the edge of that bubble he was currently riding on. You didn’t see a confession coming, not from this sadistic prick, but you had to take the chance that he might fold in the face of some of the evidence already gathered against him.

“Here’s your chance to come clean, man,” Jack offered. “To tell us what really happened that night. Maybe you only meant to scare them, talk to them, convince them why their daughter should give you another chance. Maybe something went horribly wrong and you reacted. And maybe after that, you panicked.”

Dylan’s eyes snapped up and you could see the angry edge to his now darker brown gaze. You had him and he knew it. “I’d like to talk to that lawyer now.” The good old L word. You wished you could say you were surprised that he would have opted for that instead of admitting what he had done, but you weren’t. Not much surprised you anymore when it came to these types of cases, especially with these types of perps. There was no remorse in those eyes.

You gathered up your papers, phone, and got to your feet along with Jack. “Sure thing,” you said sweetly, giving him a strained smile and turning to leave the room. You opened the door and indicated to Officer Morris who had been standing sentry nearby, waiting. He gave you a nod and he made his way past you into the room. He ordered Dylan to stand up and put his hands behind his back, causing the latter to scoff and demand a lawyer even more firmly, saying he was being falsely accused and that he didn’t do anything. Morris asked him again to stand up and this time, Officer Lewis had also stepped into the room. Lewis reminded you of a wrestler you’d once seen on TV years ago, some guy named Austin or something; he was that big and intimidating looking, not that Morris was any slouch himself. Dylan wisely got to his feet and did as requested.

“You’re under arrest for the murders of Everett Hartman and Amelia Hartman,” Jack began as Morris cuffed Dylan. He read him his Miranda rights and once he was finished, Morris led Dylan out the door.

You watched as he passed you by, not looking away once even when he glared at you. Just as he was about to cross the threshold, he stopped and got a sick-looking smile on his face, whispering to you, “She’s mine, you know? We’re going to be together. Nothing is going to keep us apart now. She’s mine.”

You wanted to punch him, to tell him that Maddie or any other person on this planet would never be his, that he was going to rot in jail for the rest of his life and you’d personally see to it — but you kept your cool, your training kicking in, and you kept your features carefully schooled into a neutral expression. Plus, you refused to give him any of the reaction he was looking for. He had already taken too much from Maddie and her parents, Ava and their loved ones, and from what you’d found out about the victims during your investigation, the community. He had shattered Maddie’s world and it would be a very difficult road ahead for her but at least she was now safe from this monster.

“Let’s go.” Morris pushed Dylan forward and Lewis was right there to give him a hand. You continued staring after them as they made their way down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

“You okay?” Jack asked, next to you.

You turned to look at him, your brows furrowed. “Yeah, why?”

He inclined his head towards your chest and you only just realized that you had pulled your necklace out and been moving the pendant back and forth on the chain. You had no idea when or why you’d done that; you only hoped that you hadn’t done that in front of Dylan and the officers.

You cleared your throat and placed the pendant back inside your shirt. “I’m fine, thanks though.”

Jack nodded. “Bit of a rough case.”

You huffed out a breath. “Bit of an understatement.”

“True.” Jack gestured for you to walk down the hall to your squad room first. “But the important thing is she’s now safe.”

“As long as he doesn’t get bail,” you muttered.

Jack shook his head. “You think you could stop being the Bad News Bears for one minute? Take the win, Y/L/N.” He passed you and entered the room, plopping his notepad onto his desk. “Besides, I doubt he’s going to get bail. We’ve got him on video. The DA will use it and make a good argument.”

Jack had a point but so did you. “The girl’s parents are dead. She believes she’s the one that caused their deaths. How is that a win? For anyone?” You placed your things on your desk and turned around to lean against it, crossing your arms.

Jack gave you a look but sat down in his chair. “We just closed up a case literally before we hit the forty eight hour mark. We’ve got him on the Ring camera footage from the neighbor, we’ve got him on traffic cams driving to and from the house near the approximate time of death, he’s got the motive, he flat out lied about being at the scene, he’s obviously got a screw loose from what he just said in there to you that’s on camera. We’re getting warrants for his friend’s place and for the tracking of the friend’s car. The sister was able to convince the daughter to take out a restraining order so it’s on record — it’s an open and shut case. A win, Y/N. What more do you want?”

For the bastard to pay. Immediately dismissing that thought and masterfully keeping a tight lid on your emotions, you mulled over it. What more did you want? You couldn’t be quite sure other than that you wished this hadn’t happened in the first place, like with every single case as of late. Every single case since… You briefly fingered at the fabric covering the pendant around your neck. Jack was right; this was pretty much an open and shut case, and Maddie was now safe. Ava was even taking your suggestion to get the girl into therapy as soon as possible. You should take the win. You gave him a nod and turned to sit down at your desk.

“Well, well, well,” Taylor began as he walked in, making your eyes roll as soon as you heard his voice. “If it isn’t my favorite lady detective.”

“Well, well, well,” you echoed. “If it isn’t the pain in my dick coming back. Could’ve sworn the doc gave me something for it but here you are, again. Gonna have to tell her that the creams aren’t working so I need something stronger.”

Jack hissed out a laugh and Stephens rolled his eyes, passing by you both to get to his desk. “Can’t you two play nice for one damn day?” He grumbled.

Riley Taylor was a few years younger than you, had just moved into Homicide two years before you transferred here, and was a perpetual pain in your ass. What he lacked in tact he more than made up for in his pursuit to drive you up a wall on the daily. The blond-haired detective thought he was slick, charismatic, and overall wanted by every single female in a ten foot radius. Guess who was the only female that worked within a ten foot radius of him during the week? Yep, you got that honor…though you knew it was more of a curse.

Sure, he had pursued you the first few weeks you’d been out here, probably just happy at the prospect of having a woman to talk at instead of the wall since Jack and Stephens mostly ignored him. You’d politely declined, trying to be professional, civil, compassionate — and then you’d flat out turned him down when he took your response as a green flag to continue his pursuit. Suffice to say, things had turned downright ugly between you two and the animosity was at an all-time high. He wasn’t a bad guy per se, and you could work together if you had to, but he definitely got on your nerves pretty often. If there was a bane of your existence in this precinct, it was most assuredly him.

Mark Stephens was his partner, a middle-aged man with mostly gray hair and a bushy mustache to boot. He had been in Homicide longer than you, Jack, and Taylor put together though for some reason he had been passed over for Captain in favor of Anderson. The rumor was that it was due to his age while others claimed it was because the Chief couldn’t stand him. Stephens took a very no-nonsense approach to everything he did, even outside of the job. Jack told you that the last time a smile had been spotted on Stephens’ face was back in 1993 when the Toronto Blue Jays had won the World Series for the second time. By the time the World Series was supposed to roll around again the following year, the smile had all but slipped into legend. Jack also warned you that you’d have a better chance of finding the Holy Grail than ever hearing Stephens laugh.

You could almost understand why Taylor enjoyed provoking you rather than dealing with Stephens all the time…almost. You didn’t think Stephens was that bad and you respected his experience and how he handled himself on the job. You also couldn’t help but feel some compassion for the man. He’d been around for how many years, seeing how many murders? You thought your squad and the whole damn precinct needed to cut him some slack.

“Oh, I’d like to get along with her, alright,” Taylor teased, wiggling his eyebrows at you as he continued to his desk.

“And just like that, I feel the sudden impulse to trade waxes for cement.”

Taylor halted in his tracks, frozen mid-air above his chair, his eyes wide. “You get waxed? Are we talking bikini waxes or…?”

“Alright, alright,” Jack interrupted, flashing a look between you both. “Let’s keep it PG in here for Christ’s sake.”

“Amen,” Stephens mumbled, already clicking away at his mouse.

“She brought it up,” Taylor argued. “Listen, I’m a simple man and I can only take so much.”

“You’re simple, alright,” you muttered, turning to open your drawer on the left side of your desk.

“You wish you had a piece of this, Y/L/N,” Taylor threw out there.

You whipped your head around so fast, you were surprised you hadn’t hurt your neck with the action. “Oh, you mean like a super tiny bite-sized piece?”

“I mean, if you want to bite…I’m game.”

You scoffed in disgust and turned back to your computer. You had work to do; the asshole could go into the men’s bathroom and play with himself if he was that hard up for some entertainment. The way you’d heard it, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time.

A throat clearing nearby broke into your thoughts. “Hi.”

Your eyes shot up in disbelief, having heard a familiar voice in front of you that you hadn’t thought you would hear anytime soon, if ever again. Sure enough, there stood Sheriff Beau Arlen, hat in hand, facing your desk, his eyes intent on you. You hadn’t heard or seen him come in. “Hi,” you breathed out in surprise.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed your fellow detectives turning to watch the scene happening in front of them. Except Stephens; the older man could care less.

You marveled at how good Beau looked. Once again, you felt the pangs of disappointment when you remembered why you couldn’t go there, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t enjoy the feast your eyes were currently being served. You stared a little too long and Beau smiled to himself, his gaze dropping to the ground before meeting yours again, the unabashed desire deep within those green orbs while at the same time, his cheeks appeared to be a single shade darker. Somehow, the contradicting reactions made him look even more appealing to the naked eye. Naked. You tilted your head slightly as that word rolled around in your head, causing your teeth to subconsciously dig into your bottom lip. You bet he’d look just as good as he did with his clothes on, perhaps even better…

Jack loudly cleared his throat and it thankfully shook you out of your very unprofessional thought track. You got your mind out of the gutter and you snapped back into professional mode immediately, ignoring your partner’s quiet sniggering. “What are you doing here?” You asked the man in front of you.

Beau gave you one of his infamous smiles. “Well, Detective Y/L/N, I was hoping we could have a quick word.” He quickly glanced around the room, taking in all of the eyes on both of you, before elaborating, “About the case from yesterday.”

Your heart immediately sunk in your chest. Of course. You weren’t allowed to be disappointed, though. You were the one who had insisted on things remaining professional between you and nothing more.

Jack’s head snapped up and he turned narrow eyes on the sheriff, glancing back and forth between you two with immediate suspicion. Even though Jack had asked you how the date went the night before, you had simply told him it hadn’t worked out but didn’t give any details. Before he could ask why, Maddie and her aunt had arrived. So you weren’t surprised when Jack watched you both like a hawk in this moment, especially with Beau mentioning that case and so openly.

Before you could answer him, a knock on the open door had you all looking over to find Officer Hutchinson standing there, his gaze trained on you and Jack. “Anderson wants you to see you two in his office,” he gestured to you both. “Right now.” The man vanished before you could say a word in response.

Your brows furrowed as you exchanged a look with Jack, hoping like hell it wasn’t any bad news, or worse: the string of murders from your serial continuing.

You glanced over at Beau as you got to your feet, noticing a fleeting look of guilt as he slipped his hat back onto his head. Your heart sunk even further. Maybe last night had really been an attempt to get information out of you all along. How could you have been so blind?

“Called to the boss’ office,” Taylor teased from his desk. “Wonder what that could be about. Maybe he’s finally going to partner us up, Y/L/N. About damn time, wouldn’t you say?”

You rolled your eyes and grabbed a notepad and pen, resisting the urge to flip him off. He certainly gave your middle finger a daily workout, that’s one thing you could say for him. “The day that happens is the day I will happily go back to traffic duty.”

“No need for that. Not when I’ve got something you can check on the regular instead.”

You clenched your fingers around your pen and your jaw tensed as you fought not to say something smart back. You couldn’t believe he had said something like that in front of someone who wasn’t in this unit or even this precinct. What a dickhead. Well, if anything, Taylor was building his own sexual harassment lawsuit against him. The one bright spot in the everyday torture he inflicted on you daily.

“More like break and then remove, but whatever,” you muttered. You ignored Taylor’s guffaw and walked around your desk, coming to a stop in front of Beau.

Beau looked unhappy and that guilt was back again in full force. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk first. Maybe we can have a quick word after the meeting.” At your tensing due to hearing him knowing about the meeting, your suspicions confirmed, he laid a gentle hand on your upper arm. “I’ll see you in there and we’ll talk after,” he assured you in a quiet murmur, squeezing your arm before dropping his hand. It surprised you when Beau then turned a blatant glare in Taylor’s direction before heading out the door. You had never seen that glare on his face before and from the look of it, you hoped you never did, especially directed at you.

Taylor snorted and sneered over at you. “Your boyfriend get jealous or something, Y/L/N? He should be.”

This time, you didn’t fight the urge and promptly flipped him off. Jack gestured for you to join him and you ignored Taylor’s resounding laughter as you two left the room.

In the hallway, Jack muttered to you, “I thought last night was just a date.”

Your jaw tensed. “I thought so, too.”

“Did you talk about the case at all?”

You stopped in your tracks and turned a scowl on him. “Let’s get one thing straight here, Darcy. I know we’ve only been partners for four months but I am a goddamn professional. What? You think some good looking guy makes eyes at me and my brain turns to mush and I forget everything I have worked for? That I’m that fucking stupid? Think again,” you snarled.

Jack held up his hands placatingly. “Relax. That’s not what I’m saying. I only meant, did he bring up the case?”

You let out a breath. “Yeah. Once.” You raised your chin a little, daring him to challenge you on this next part. “But I shut it right down.”

Your partner nodded and held out his arm in front of you, gesturing for you to continue your trek. You did but only after eyeing him severely, giving him the most withering look you could.

“Is that why it didn’t work out?”

“Among other things,” you snapped, not wanting to talk about any of that right now.

Jack gave you another nod and remained quiet the rest of the short walk to your captain’s office. Once you reached the door with the frosted pane of glass bearing the name “Captain James Anderson” in gold letters, Jack gently touched your elbow to stop your progress. “Alright, listen. When we’re in there, let me do the talking.” At your fresh glare, he hurried to add, “Whether you like it or not, I’ve known Anderson longer and whatever firing squad we’re possibly facing in there, I can grab his ear and get him to listen. Especially with Sheriff Loverboy in there now.”

Your eyes widened. Was Darcy trying to push you over the edge? Or get you arrested for homicide? “Are you suggesting that I—”

“No,” he rushed out. “Of course not. I’m saying you need to keep an eye out. You got a good look at his body language last night.” At the fury filling your eyes, Jack assured, “Professionally speaking. You got a pretty good read on him so you know what to look for. Y/N, we need to have each other’s backs in there, alright? We don’t want to lose this case. Not when we’ve fought so hard to keep it.”

He gave you a meaningful look and you unclenched your jaw, sighing, and gave him a curt nod. Jack was right. Not only did you need to be sharp in there but you both had been on this case from the very beginning. You’d be damned if you’d let anyone take you off of it or try to push you out.

After a moment, Jack knocked on the door. “Come in,” Anderson called out.

You took a deep breath and smoothed out your features, giving Jack another nod to let him know you were ready. He returned it and opened the door, allowing you to walk through first. You froze at the threshold. Your body tensed and it took everything you had to keep the shock and ensuing anger off of your face.

Sitting in front of Anderson’s desk was Hoyt, smirking up at you, and the sheriff who had taken you out last night, who had asked to talk to you just a few minutes ago. Beau’s eyes sought yours but you refused to meet his gaze. Instead, you kept your eyes on the smug blonde seated next to him.

If you had any doubts about your decision from the night before, they had all but evaporated into thin air after spotting the woman in front of you. You remembered Beau’s words from last night. “Things just got…complicated.” Seeing Hoyt’s smirk grow the longer you stood there and noticing Beau fidgeting next to her out of your peripherals, you actually found yourself agreeing with his sentiments. Complicated sure was a nice way of putting it.

#beau arlen x reader #beau arlen x female reader #beau arlen x you #beau arlen x y/n #beau x reader #beau x female reader #beau x you #beau x y/n #beau arlen #big sky fanfiction #beau arlen fanfiction #the ghosts are coming for you chapter 2 #thebiggerbear

34 notes · View notes

alexdelray1 · 5 months

Note

since you asked, can i get some mizu x reader hurt-comfort? anything will do LMAO 🫶

Mizu x F! Reader.

I want to add Reader as a woman to this order because it somehow fits the story.

-Listen, Reader. This will be best, he told me.

-I'm not going to build my city based on some old pedophile. I will do it myself. And you have no say in it. - I argued with my advisor. Mizu was hiding behind my bed listening to the conversation.

-And how? Who will listen to a twenty-year-old brat? - he asked with contempt in his voice.

-They. Because I was the one who saved them from prostitution, death, rape and slavery. Now we will extend my village. Your job is to bring the poorest and disadvantaged people here. Not some pedophile! You still want me to be hurt, too. - I scolded him and crossed my arms.

-You will gain the respect of other villages and cities not only by being good, but also by being married.- he said and took a few steps towards me.

-Then I will find a husband, but alone. I don't need help finding someone to be with for the rest of my life. - I replied stubbornly and he sighed.

-Okay, Mrs. Reader. Choose a husband. Preferably a warrior. Bad people are waiting for our weak moment. Goodbye.- he said and left. Mizu stood up, walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder.

-I feel sorry for you.- she said with a serious expression.

-There's no need to. Most women have it worse. At least I have a choice. - I said and looked down.

-You'll definitely find someone good.- She wanted to comfort me.

-Thank you… Wait. Mizu, you're pretending to be a man, aren't you? - I asked hopefully.

-Yes, what? Wait… You're not saying that…? - she asked me with shock.

-That's what I'm saying. Would you pretend to be a man and become my husband? - I announced happily.

-Shhh! Someone may hear you. And you know I won't stay here for long. I have a revenge to fulfill.- she said.

-Okay, but listen. Now we will get married, you will go on a 'mission' and when you finish it, you will come back here and we will both be rich and have peace of mind. - I explained my idea to her.

-Reader, I may not return from this mission. And it may take years.- she said seriously.

-So what? I'll miss you, but this is the only way you can help me.- I wanted to convince her.

-Okay, but don't ask for much. Does it fit?- she asked and crossed her arms.

-It fits.- I replied happily.

-And now I have something to do so…- she took me in her arms and threw me on the bed.

-I have to go. Bye- she finished the sentence and jumped out the window.

-Bye…-

The following days were a very busy and exciting time for me. I used my advisors to gather the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people from the poorest regions and bring them to my village. My goal was to provide them with a safe and caring place to live and find their purpose in life. I also recruited capable men and women to serve as guards and defenders of the village, creating a strong and organized defense. I also married Mizu.

Meanwhile, Mizu went to fulfill her revenge. I never asked her what it was about.

As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, our village began to grow. We transformed a barren piece of land into a thriving community where everyone had a role to play and a purpose to fulfill. We worked together to build homes, farm the land, and create a thriving economy.

One day, when I was inspecting the construction of a new part of the village, a group of armed men approached me. They demanded that we hand over our resources and submit to their authority.

I refused and the men surrounded me. But before they could do any harm, they lay dead on the grass.

It didn't take long to realize that Mizu had come back to me…

The end.

#x reader #fem reader #mizu blue eye samurai #mizu x reader #blue eye samurai

113 notes · View notes

lawbin-archive · 2 months

Note

Hi, in your opinioni why Oda gave Robin and Law the same Dream?

Hi, first question hehe! :D

With my delulu mind, of course I will say is to let them develop feelings while pursuing their dream, get married after finding one piece and live happily forever the end.

Ok let's be more rational lol.

I read a theory that Law will sacrifice his life for Robin and let her fulfill their dream. To be honest, if I really think logically, there is a chance this might happen but I think is under one condition - Law & Robin be canon romantically before the sacrifice happen.

Even they have the same dream now, they are at most - friends and Law has declared that "They are enemies next time they meet" so if Law sacrifice for Robin, the reasoning is really thin to me. Like why would he do that for "his enemy"? Just because they have the same dream? Do Law trust Robin so much now he can put his life and dream on her? Just because she can read poneglyph? Is he going to sacrifice for Pudding or Sukiyaki too? I just think their bonding *as shown on screen now*, is not enough for him to sacrifice himself. So to be more impactful or to strengthen his will to sacrifice, I can only think of that because they love each other and he is willing to risk his life for her. Of course there are a few example that the character sacrifice without much deep bonding but most of them didn't really die, and I just think if it's Law and with his personality, the reasoning of his sacrifice wouldn't be that thin.

Plus, Robin already faced a lot of sacrifices - the entire Ohara and the scholars, Saul and her mother. Oda please don't be so cruel to her... and please don't be so cruel to Law too... He already lost his country, his family, Corazon and... *please hopefully his crew still alive*. That's just too sad :(

Another theory is that Law is going to sacrifice for Luffy, that actually makes more sense because they saved each other multiple times, Luffy is a D and well - he is Luffy aka nika the sun god LOL but I'm 100% sure that Luffy wouldn't want that. And he wouldn’t want to be immortal. It’s never his goal. I think if Liffy become immortal would be a very off character thing and kind of against Oda’s message in one piece so imo I don’t think Law will use his immortal abilities to Luffy ever.

So to be honest, I don't want them to be canon now lol because I have a feeling they won't have a happy ending after. They can go investigate or flirt as much as they want until the end :P

Back to the question - Then why Oda gave the same dream to Robin and Law? Maybe the answer is simple. Maybe just because it makes sense. Maybe it's because Robin and Law's journey is too lonely, Oda felt there should be someone to pursue with her/him.

Because most of the straw hats have people in their homeland or have friends that can understand their dream: Luffy: Sabo & Ace & his whole crew Zoro: Kuina, Koushirou(his teacher) & Mihawk Nami: Nojiko, Genzo and Bellemere Sanji: Chef Zeff & Baratie Usopp: Kaya, the kids, Broggy & Dorry Chopper: Dr. Kureha & Hiriluk Franky: Iceberg & Galleyla company Brook: Laboon & Crocus Jimbei: Sun pirates & most of the fish-men

Robin: Saul, her mom, Professor Clover & other scholars (which most of them passed away when she was 8)

Only Robin carrying the dream from Ohara and is working toward her goal by herself for a long time, and before egghead she thought Saul was dead too. Law is also similar, he carry his goal (defeat Doflamingo) for 13 years by himself. He even left Heart Pirates in Zou so that it won't hurt them while he is achieving his goal.

So why not let two people that have been chasing their dream alone for a long time, can share their goals and work together now?

Although I delulu a lot, it also might be Oda is planning a romantic relationship between them. I know he said that he won't be focusing on romantic relationship but It's final saga, it makes sense characters developing feelings with each other during adventures and he probably changed his mind throughout the years. Law & Robin are somewhat popular in japan and Asia too. So that's actually possible!

Hopefully that answer your question! I talk a lot lol but I can't really think a strong reason that why he did that. I will keep this in mind and maybe I will come up another reason once I re-read the chapters. Thank you so much for your question!!

#lawbin #one piece #law #robin #I talk too much #hopefully that make sense

31 notes · View notes

crookedcrow5 · 3 months

Text

Hand in Hand

She knew they were there because the sky was blue. No grayish hue or light pollution, just the purest of blues that they had to manufacture on television shows. 'The sky is blue' was a symbol of the past humanity longed for. Even with all its noticable flaws, the world wasn't as dull.

In the era where children no longer smiled, Maribel Hearn was born. And in the place of fantasy and wonder, sat Merry.

"During the day?" She muttered to herself as she looked around the open field. "Odd."

The wind blew gently, waving flowers at her. The care of the world impossible, technically. Then again, she was a relative psychology major, and anthropomorphism was something she wasn't immune to. Just aware of.

"In a place like this, though? Perhaps I'm not far off..." She stood, having realized she was just sitting there on the ground, and took a moment to pat herself down. "The dirt itself, too moist for our world. Too real to be a dream." She sighed and shook her head. "Though she'd say something about how impossible that is."

She, Usami Renko. An impossible person to describe, even with all the time Merry spent with her. She was an enigma compared to others, and maybe even a little insane.

Of course, one could argue Maribel was the same, but that was besides the point.

"Hopefully this isn't too bad... I'd like not to relive a nightmare as she questions."

Renko loved to hear about Merry's "dreams", and sometimes didn't even realize when those dreams were nightmares. Getting chased by yokai, nearly dying, fire or lightning storms, things hard to imagine unless you were Merry.

But Renko looked at those things like most people in their time, analytically. She'd break down every piece just so she could put it back together. Or maybe she did it to help Merry realize that she was fine now, that the danger was away, until she next slept.

It was definitely the former, but Merry had one particular weakness. Perhaps it was the fantastical nature of the dying culture but romanticism dogged her pages.

And unfortunately, her favorite book happened to be Usami Renko. The most oblivious person ever.

"... This place is beautiful... almost hard to imagine the horrors." She sighed. "I'm almost tempted to wonder what it would be like if Renko were here... But I know how that turned out."

Sure, her delight and spirit was infectious, but TORIFUNE taught her that life was unfair and Merry was the unlucky one.

Still, that didn't stop her own curious nature from leading her forward, down the hill of flowers.

She wasn't sure how long she walked, lost in her own mind and the melancholy of lost beauty, only blinking back to that reality as she heard a noise other than the wind.

"Merry?"

Merry looked towards the voice and found a woman, dressed in black and white. Immediately, her heart soared before fluttering back down.

"Renko?"

Renko beamed at her from across the field and ran over. The wind almost caught her favorite hat, but she grabbed it before it could even attempt to escape.

"There you are, Merry! I knew you'd be here!"

"Really?"

"Yes!" She threw up her arms and gestured around them. "This! This is Gensokyo, right?"

"Seems like it. Unless there's another world to visit." She hummed. "It doesn't look like the moon."

"I'll take your word for that." Renko nodded and adjusted her hat. Her hair underneath must have been a mess as always. "Mind giving me a tour?"

"I've never been here before, but I can try."

Renko gave her a smile that made her forget about any possible danger. All that mattered was the inane chatter Renko filled the air with.

And her hand in Merry's.

#my writing #drabble #touhou #maribel hearn #renko usami #renmerry #whenever i feel too much i write renmerry #dunno why #theyre just like *that*

33 notes · View notes

d1xonss · 5 months

Text

Desert Rose

Chapter 11 ~ The Farm

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 2

✧ Word Count : 3.3k

In this chapter ~ When Rose gets shot in the stomach by a complete stranger in the forest, he becomes frantic as he pieced together what he had done. In an act of guilt and sorrow, he leads the few men back to an older white farmhouse, where they meet a few new faces who could hopefully save her life as it continued to slowly slip away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ THIRD PERSON POV *~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The minute Rose fell to the ground, everyone quickly began to panic. It all happened so fast Rick didn't even know what happened upon first glance, until he saw a man with a shotgun coming out of the bushes looking frantic and fearful all at once as he stared at them with widened eyes.

Without missing a beat Rick rushed over to her and got down to her level seeing she was unconscious, blood gushing out of somewhere near her stomach and he immediately put pressure on the wound. Carl stood frozen in place as he cried, calling her name hoping she would wake up. But she didn't. She laid perfectly still, so still they even questioned for a moment if she was even alive.

Shane's eyes panned from her body, to the man still hovering by the trees, making his way over towards the stranger in a split second, "What the hell was that?! What the hell?! You just shot her!" he yelled.

"I- I'm so sorry!" the man stuttered, "I was trying to shoot the deer, I didn't even see her until it was too late and just-" he stopped himself and thought for a moment, breathless and panicked. "We have a house not far from here, there's people there that can help your girl."

Upon hearing this, Rick wasted no time picking Rose up and following the man through the forest, with Shane and Carl running close behind. With the adrenaline flowing through his veins, it felt as if she weighed nothing in his arms as he pushed himself to run as fast as he could. He almost didn't even feel the way his lungs burned and her blood now soaking through his clothes. He could've sworn he could feel her heartbeat right by his chest, slowing down drastically with each passing second. Even if he pushed himself to run faster, it still didn't feel fast enough.

It seemed like they were running for days before a large white farmhouse started to come into view. The man could hardly keep up with them at this point and started slowing down, but Rick kept moving, pushing himself to the limits as he heaved.

"When you get there, talk to Hershel! I'm so sorry!" the man yelled from behind them, knowing he couldn't move as fast as they wished, watching them all take off in front of him.

Cutting through the large fields, nearly tripping over his own feet a handful of times, Rick finally made it close enough to the house where he caught a glimpse of a few people who watched them from the porch. It looked to be an older man with white hair, a younger girl with short brown hair and green eyes, and a woman with blonde curly hair wearing a long white apron. All three of them watching in anticipation as the strangers approached quickly.

Rick breathed a sigh of relief once he hit the porch steps, "Was she bit?" the man asked him with furrowed brows.

"Shot by your man." Rick replied with bitterness, slightly out of breath.

"Otis?" the blonde woman asked with wide eyes.

But Rick only ignored her as he adjusted Rose in his grasp, "He said to find Hershel, is- is that you? Please help me- help my friend." he pleaded.

"Bring her inside!" the old man instructed, and everyone followed behind quickly inside the house, "Patricia, I need my full kit. Maggie-"

"Yeah?" the young girl asked.

"Grab everything. Clean towels, sheets, alcohol. In here." Hershel directed as he pointed towards a room next to the staircase.

Rick hurried over and set her down gently on the bed, this time really getting a better look at her than he did before. All of the color was drained from her face and there was blood all over her, pooling around her stomach as she continued to bleed out.

His eyes then traveled down to his hands and finally noticed how much was on him as well, staining his skin along with his entire shirt. He seemed almost lost in his own world until he heard heavy footsteps coming through the door, looking in time to see Shane and Carl in the threshold. Carl was still left tearful as he looked past his father and towards the bed she laid on, while Shane was just rendered speechless.

"Is- is she alive?" Rick asked the older man, trying to ignore the ringing in his ears.

Hershel ignored him, "Hand me the pillowcase, quick!"

Rick hesitantly followed the man's instructions, glancing between the material in his hands and the man working frantically, "Is she alive?" he asked more urgently.

He ignored him again, "Fold it, make a pad. Put pressure on the wound." he instructed before pulling out a stethoscope and holding it up to her chest for a few seconds as he listened, "I've got a heartbeat but it's faint." he informed.

Patricia then pushed past everyone as she entered the room, "I got it, step back." she spoke gently as she maneuvered around them.

Rick did as he was told and stepped away slightly, never taking his eyes off of her. He only prayed that she would be okay, that she would somehow push through this unexpected turn. He didn't want to lose anyone else, as the guilt of everything was starting to build beyond control, weighing him down even further enough to feel like he was drowning.

"What's your name?" Hershel suddenly asked him.

"Uh- Rick I'm Rick." he muttered before looking over to his son and his best friend still standing in the doorway, "And this is Shane and my son Carl." he finished.

"Alright, we're going to do everything we can, okay? For now, you need to give us some space." he advised.

Rick nodded slowly and backtracked out of the room, making his way out onto the porch, overthinking everything that just happened too quickly. This was the first time he felt like he was able to breathe since everything unleashed, now knowing that she was getting help she needed. He then saw Otis coming up towards the house, his shotgun hung loosely in his grip and his breathing heavy.

"Is she alive?" he asked frantically.

Rick just nodded his head and Otis made a beeline inside the house; the same time Shane trailed back out. Rick wiped the sweat from his forehead, realizing only seconds later that he was still coated with her blood.

"You got blood man." Shane said, trying to wipe the metallic liquid off of his friend's forehead, knowing the guilty look he had in his eye before he even uttered a word.

Rick shook his head, "It's all my fault." he muttered to himself.

"Hey no, no, don't think like that okay?" Shane tried to argue, "This was all just a giant accident."

"I'm the one who asked her to come with, she wouldn't be in there if- if-"

"It ain't your fault." Shane interrupted sternly.

Before Rick even had a chance to argue further, Hershel came outside rather quickly, "Do either of you know her blood type?"

Rick and Shane just stood there blankly, not knowing what to say. Neither of them had known her long enough to know her favorite song, let alone her blood type. Hershel took their silence as a no, frowning as he tried to think of another solution.

"Do you have anyone else? A group?" he asked as both men nodded their heads urgently, "Do you know if any of them are a universal donor?" Hershel asked.

"Man, no we don't know! We're too busy out there trying to survive to know what everyone's blood type is." Shane was quick to snap.

"No, no, we do have someone, my wife Lori...she's O negative." Rick informed shakily.

"Where is she?" Hershel asked immediately.

"They're uh...around somewhere in the woods by the nearest highway, they could be anywhere at this point." Rick stated.

"Alright we need to get her here, and fast." Hershel said before rushing back inside the house.

Rick and Shane both followed slowly behind the man, heading back into the room to see him checking her pulse again, while Patricia was setting up an IV for her. Carl was just on the other side of the bed, holding her hand as he gazed at her face. Rick's heart somehow broke further upon seeing this, noticing how much this was effecting his son.

"Is she going to be okay?" Carl asked nervously.

"Hopefully, yes." Hershel responded.

He then turned back to the two men and explained that the deer had slowed the bullet down drastically, saving her life. But the bullet broke up into many pieces inside her and he needed to get them out as soon as possible, otherwise she could suffer from severe blood poisoning. He counted six fragments that he needed to remove, but he didn't trust himself to do it unless she had a blood transfusion and the right equipment.

Hearing all of this, all at once, Rick could only think about saving her, knowing they would both do just about anything they could to keep her breathing. They just needed to get Lori back here. And soon.

Miles away in the forest, Daryl was leading the smaller group who were still looking for Sophia, but so far they haven't found a single thing. He was getting tired from being out in the harsh sun all day, tired of hearing the others whine and complain, and though he wouldn't admit it out loud, he missed having Rose here with the rest. He wasn't happy to see her go along with Rick and Shane, but they did have a good reason to take her. Her tracking skills were impressive.

"Are you still worrying about it?" Andrea suddenly asked Lori.

The woman only sighed, "It was a gunshot." she responded as she turned around to look back in the direction it came from for about the fiftieth time.

Oh yeah, that. Daryl had to admit he too was a little worried ever since they heard it so suddenly from just a few miles away. But he tried not to think about it too much, otherwise that would cause the others to panic more, and what they needed to do was keep moving.

"We all heard it." Daryl responded with a roll of his eyes.

"Why one, why just one gunshot?" Lori asked.

Daryl's eyes widened in annoyance, "I dunno, maybe they took down a walker."

"Please don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a bullet to put down one walker and neither would Rose, they would do it quietly." Lori snapped.

His heart dropped when hearing the mention of her name. He had to admit Lori was right, they weren't stupid. But he couldn't do anything about it when he was leading half the group back towards the highway.

He told himself that if they didn't meet back with them soon, he would go off and look for her. Wait no, them... look for them.

"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV." Andrea reassured Lori.

And with that they all kept moving, trying not to think about the sound that left a ringing in their ears, and worry in their hearts.

Back at the farmhouse the realization of the situation set in for Rick and he started blaming himself even more than he was before if that were possible. He ranted to Shane about how he never should've let her come with, even if they needed her useful skills she should've stayed behind with Daryl and helped him instead.

He didn't want her to die, he couldn't let her die. He felt so torn up about everything. From the CDC, to losing Sophia, to now potentially losing Rose. It was all too much.

But their words were cut off by an ear-piercing scream coming from the bedroom she was staying in, causing them both to freeze. With the way it sounded, someone could easily mistake her cries as if someone was torturing her, causing everything else around them to be still for a moment.

Both men quickly jumped up to their feet and ran into the room to see Rose screaming and thrashing around on the bed, with tears running down her face.

"I'm getting one of the pieces out." Hershel informed the men that just entered the room.

Carl was still holding her hand tightly as she pushed through, though beginning to cry all over again seeing her in so much excruciating pain. Her screams were deafening, almost making the rest of them feel her pain too.

She then began squirming around too much, unable to take the burning sensation and Hershel called Rick over to help hold her down, the man hesitating momentarily before rushing over to her side. Carl stepped out of the way quickly so he could get to her, standing off to the side as he couldn't pull his wide eyes away. But Shane forcefully turned him around, getting down to his level to command him not to watch any further.

Rick started holding her down in place by her shoulders as she continued to cry, ducking his head down as he could no longer look at her like this. He couldn't take it anymore.

"What the fuck are you doing to me?!" she managed to get out through screams.

Rick shook his head aggressively in frustration, "Stop! Stop- you're killing her!" he yelled.

"Rick, do you want her to live?!" Hershel yelled back, still trying to get the piece out of her with one of his tools.

Rick just stayed silent as he watched the man fish out the piece from her body, hoping that it would be over with soon. Her body then seemed to not be able to endure it any longer as she passed out cold again, while Hershel finished picking out one of the fragments.

"One down, five to go," the man breathed, "She'll need more blood soon, we need to get your wife here as soon as possible."

Rick nodded his head absentmindedly as he racked his brain to figure out how to get to them. Walking would take too long and she needed to get here fast.

"I'll take a horse and go get her." Maggie said as she entered the room, "Just tell me where they are."

Rick nodded in appreciation before telling her where they last saw them, and she quickly left in a flash after that to head to the stables. Hershel then began talking about how he needed to perform surgery to get the rest of the fragments out of her. He needed more medical supplies that he didn't currently have, and without them she may not live through this.

Otis seemed to quickly step up and volunteered to go out and get anything he needed from a high school nearby that hadn't been overrun yet. As they talked about it further, Shane stepped up as well and offered to go with him so he didn't have to handle all of this on his own.

"We should thank you." Rick said to Otis.

"Wait until she's up and moving, then we'll talk," he said with a small smile, "I'll gather some things."

The man then loaded up a truck with everything they would need to head off the land and into town. Knowing that they would probably run into some walkers, he gathered plenty of weapons into the back, Shane helping him as he did so before saying their goodbyes and rushing through the metal gates.

Rick watched the two men drive off until he couldn't see them anymore from where he stood on the porch. He slowly sat down on the steps with one of his legs shaking anxiously, waiting for his wife and Maggie to come back as quick as they could. He almost couldn't help himself as he turned around every few seconds to look in the window, glancing back in the room that Rose was staying in and saw his son right by her side.

It warmed his heart to see Carl caring so much for her, as he held her hand again from the right side of her bed. Rick knew that she looked out for him more times than she needed to, and he was very grateful for that.

As Carl sat in her room watching over her, all he could do was hope. He felt so terrible that she got shot just inches away from where he was, practically taking the hit for the both of them.

He liked Rose a lot, noticing how she was always checking in on him and he loved having her around. In a way, she was like the cool aunt that he never had, and the last thing he wanted was to lose her too.

"How much farther?" Lori asked.

"Not much...maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies." Daryl responded as he glanced back at her from the front of the line they created.

Andrea huffed, "Too bad we're not crows." she said bitterly as she trudged through the tall grass.

But only seconds seemed to pass before the woman yelped in slight panic of the weight suddenly crashing down on her.

Everyone turned back on instinct to see a walker had somehow landed on top of her, with her struggling to keep its face away from her underneath it. Glenn rushed over towards towards the scene in an instant, taking out his weapon with the intention to crack it down on the walkers' head, but then heard a sound that made him stop completely.

He turned to look just in time to see a horse coming directly towards them, the woman riding on the back taking a baseball bat in her grasp and smacking the walker off of Andrea before it had the chance to bite her.

The woman then circled back as quickly as she arrived, glancing at every member of the group somewhat frantically, "Lori? Lori Grimes?" she asked.

"I'm Lori." Lori replied slightly confused.

"There's been an accident, your blood type is O negative right?" the woman asked.

She nodded slowly, "Yes, O negative that's right. What's going on?"

"Rose was shot and she needs a blood transfusion, you need to come with me quickly." the woman said vaguely.

That sentence made everyone freeze right where they were standing. It didn't take a genius to tell that all of these people had grown to care for the girl and were now frantic to hear this news about her, and genuinely confused as to how the hell it happened.

Glenn stood there with wide eyes as he received the news about one of his closest friends. His mind quickly began to spiral, thinking about a thousand different things, but he picked his jaw up off the floor and pulled himself together fast. She was still okay; she was going to be just fine.

Daryl on the other hand wasn't thinking nearly as clearly as his blood seemed to run cold. The gunshot... it all made sense now. He needed to get to her. He needed to be there for her. The one time he wasn't, she got so seriously hurt that her life was now in danger. He couldn't help but kick himself for letting her go to begin with, but then stopped his mind all together when he realized something. Shit, he really liked her. He liked her so much that all he was able to think about now was the fastest way to get to her.

Lori didn't ask any other questions after the brief explanation. As far as she knew she was the only universal donor in the group. She quickly took her backpack off, leaving it on the floor as she climbed on top of the horse a bit clumsily as she hurried.

"Woah, we don't know this girl! How do you know she's telling the truth?" Andrea asked.

"How could she be lying?! She knows Rose's name!" Glenn snapped.

Daryl then shook his head slowly, "Wait, wait, I gotta go too." he said.

The woman only paused momentarily, helping Lori up onto the back before shaking her head, "No, I'm sorry I can only take one person, and she needs blood it has to be her." she responded.

"No, no, no there's gotta be a way I can come with ya."

"I'm sorry, there's no room. Once you get back to the highway, backtrack to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm, you'll see the mailbox, the name is Greene." she said.

But Daryl went to protest again, "I don't have time to argue!" she yelled at him before he could utter another word, and then kicked the horse with her heel, racing back towards the farm.

Daryl stood there rigid, processing the fact that the woman just screamed in his face, but also the fact that he couldn't go along with them. But his attention was drawn back towards the walker that the woman took down, slowly rising back up again to face them. "Shut up." he snapped as he shot a bolt through its head.

He then turned whipped back around to everyone else, "Come on, we gotta get back to that highway, let's move!" he yelled as he swiped the bolt from the walkers head before taking off.

He knew as soon as the group was back on the highway, safe, he would take his motorcycle and race towards the farm as fast as he could.

The group wasted no time jogging to keep up with Daryl through the woods, seeing that he wasn't stopping for anyone. Although everyone was still blown away at everything that they were just told, Daryl's concern for Rose obviously didn't go unnoticed.

~ Thanks for reading!

41 notes · View notes

butterflydm · 1 year

Text

wot reread: the gathering storm (chap 43-end)

spoilers through the gathering storm

Egwene spends some time internally processing her feelings on being rescued from the Tower, trying to figure out if her feelings of anger and failure are legit, even if the 'failure' was pushed on her by others, and how she could have done things differently to prevent the rescue from happening.

2. Egwene then works on coming to terms with the idea that being the leader of a group of people does not actually mean being in charge of your own destiny. Another tie to Rand and what he's been struggling with for the whole book series! Egwene thinking about the illusion of control here really ties into the struggle we've seen Rand deal with as Dragon Reborn and what Mat dealt with as ta'veren in books 3-9. It's interesting to me that we've never really seen Elayne struggle with this on page -- maybe because she's always had the background/training on it?

3. Ultimately, Egwene decides that her only choice is to assault the White Tower before Elaida has the opportunity to heal the Sisters injured in the raid and to regain her power in the Tower. She and Gawyn have a brief conversation where she thinks about how it isn't a bad thing for Gawyn to argue with her in private, but that he must never disobey her in public. Which, for the lover of a ruler, I don't necessarily disagree with, but they don't have any kind of actual arrangement at this point. She wasn't his boss, and he waited for Siuan before actually moving to action. In the grander scheme of things, it doesn't really matter if Egwene is here or in the White Tower right now (because she already Won By Default when Elaida was taken in the raid), but I agree that it's important that they have conversations about their expectations in a relationship. And actually HAVING a conversation about their relationship would put them ahead of the majority of the relationships in series, which mostly happen either by accident or by trying to jam puzzle pieces together according to the words of a prophecy, lol.

4. Back in the White Tower, the five heads of the Ajahs who are still around are talking about how badly things are going. We do finally get the mystery of the ~young Sitters~ solved here -- deliberately sent by the heads of the Ajahs in order to make a smooth transition back to a reunited White Tower when that hopefully happened. Right now they're talking about how their plans have failed because: a. they didn't take the Tower split seriously enough (they assumed the rebels would come crawling back for forgiveness); b. Elaida was a disaster (allowing her to disband the Blue Ajah made the rebels caving much less likely); c. they were too obvious about their collusion, in times when normal Sisters were avoiding spending time with anyone outside their own Ajahs.

5. So now they talk through (and reject) a number of women as candidates to replace Elaida, who they know was taken by the Seanchan. It is Adelorna (head of the Green Ajah) who first mentions Egwene as their potential new Amyrlin. Because of how bravely she took the novices under her wing and protected them and any Sisters she found from the Seanchan. She also points out there is no better way to bring the rebels back into the fold than raising up their Amyrlin as the Amyrlin of the Tower as a whole. I really enjoyed this whole discussion. We finally get answers on the young Sitters mystery that was bothering Siuan for so long, and the five heads of the Ajahs here (everyone but Red and Blue, essentially) all agree that Egwene makes sense as a choice. They even approve of Egwene clearly NOT being puppet material, because they've seen how badly that can go with what they tried to do with Elaida. And I like the contrast between Egwene thinking of herself as a COMPLETE FAILURE for disappearing after the raid vs that literally not even coming up as a point against her when the Ajah heads are talking her over as a possibility because they are all busy talking about what she actually did DURING the raid.

6. Though Siuan worries that what she did may have lost Egwene's trust, she absolutely believes she made the right choice to disobey. Siuan says that she believes the rebels were very close to losing heart and giving up on the cause, with their leader gone for so long. And thinking back to what happened with Siuan herself in TSR, she knows this from personal experience! Anyway, I still don't care much about Siuan/Bryne but this scene between them isn't bad. Their relationship has been a LOT more grown-up since Sanderson took over. Instead of throwing things at Bryne, she's actually talking to him.

...huh, I'm making some connections about Jordan's ideas of romance again. Siuan throwing things at Bryne. Tuon throwing pottery at Mat in her first scene in CoT. I'm wondering now... was the reason that Tuon was such a pre-teen bratty version of herself in CoT & KoD because Jordan saw brattiness as inherently a 'sexy woman' thing, and so Tuon being a brat to Mat was meant to show off how ~desirable~ she was? I'm gonna give that some more thought. But it is interesting that there's no more tantrum-throwing from the women ~being courted~ anymore, at least not so far.

7. Oooh, Egwene stole the Oath Rod from the White Tower. Good looking out. Anyway, she's called the Sitters together in a private meeting of the Hall because it is time to call out the Black Ajah. Step one: she takes the Three Oaths and then announces that she is not a Darkfriend. When Egwene announces her intentions for every woman in the Hall to unswear and then reswear, to likewise prove that they are not Black Ajah, Sheriam embraces the Source -- Egwene was expecting this, of course, because of Verin, so she promptly shields her. She manages to trick Sheriam into lying by building up a series of high-stakes questions that Sheriam instinctively says "no" to and then hits her with "do you have red hair?" and Sheriam is amped up enough that she says "no" to that too. Which reveals she is not currently under the Oath against lying, because it would have stopped her tongue.

8. When Egwene continues to press the others about swearing, Moria leaps up to try to run away, revealing herself and getting caught. But after that, of the Sitters currently present, all the rest are able to reswear the Oaths and declare themselves not to be Darkfriends, so Egwene now has certainty about who she can trust, which is very useful! Everyone present here knows that everyone else present is not a Darkfriend (twelve people total).

9. I do think it's really funny that Egwene... Traveled to the Tower to fetch Verin's books, and Traveled back AGAIN to the rebel camp. Anyway, she also lets them know that they're going to assault the White Tower tonight, after they've cleansed the rebels of all the Black Ajah Sisters but since we already know that the Tower is leaning towards Egwene as Amrylin, I feel safe to say that this will not actually be happening.

10. Shifting back over to Rand's plotline, he and Nynaeve are arguing over the best place to enter the Blight, with Nynaeve voting for Tarwin's Gap, but Rand is feeling like that would be a waste of resources, since Lan can provide a useful distraction there while Rand Travels his army directly to Shayol Ghul. Obviously, this is very upsetting to Nynaeve. She also notes here that Rand seems ~particularly determined~ to assert his independence from ~Aes Sedai~. It's so weird to me that Nynaeve doesn't seem capable of processing that Rand is deeply traumatized? (though I guess she didn't get Min's overshare about Rand's traumas; that was reserved for the Aes Sedai that he trusts the least of those around him, lol)

11. Oh, here we have Rand definitely embracing that Lews Therin death wish -- when Nynaeve protests that Rand's plan is going to get Lan killed, Rand says, "Then who am I to deny him that? We all deserve the chance to find peace."

12. The interesting thing to me about Nynaeve's argument here - that the people of the Borderlands wouldn't be particularly grateful that the world has been saved from the Dark One if they are cooking in Trolloc cookpots -- is how easily it can get turned around on the "we must ally with the Seanchan" argument. How grateful will the Seanchan slaves be that the world has been saved, when the world being saved only means that they continue to be trapped into slavery with no hope of escape? Right now, Nynaeve is mourning that the people of the continent are going to be crushed between the Trollocs coming from the north and east, and the Seanchan coming from the south and west, and tries to think of any way to convince Rand to find a new strategy.

13. Trying to figure out how to meet Cadsuane's ~task~ for her (find Perrin), Nynaeve resorts to asking Rand (actual communication being the hardest task of all, lol), saying that her reason for asking is worry over Perrin and Mat. In response, Rand tells her that she's still not a very good liar. (lol yikes). Also, Rand saying about Perrin, "He has tasks set before him and performs them." lol, if only you knew how completely untrue that statement is, Rand. Perrin has done anything BUT try to perform the tasks set before him, lol.

14. Oh, I really like this conversation between Nynaeve and Narishma (they are talking about the Borderlands delegation that Rand is meeting). This sentence from Narishma hits particularly hard: "I want to trust them. I know them for good people. But good people can do the wrong things. Particularly when men who can channel are involved." Nynaeve also notes here how clearly loyal to Rand Narishma is. It really is a shame that Rand avoided the Black Tower as much as possible because the (non-Darkfriend) Asha'man that he pulled away from the Black Tower have all been A+ people and very loyal and goodhearted. Narishma, poor Eben, Damer Flinn, Karldin, Jur Grady, etc. And it's especially a shame that Rand didn't let himself become friends with any of the Asha'man traveling with him, feeling like he had to treat them as weapons instead, because it's clear that several of them do care about Rand a lot. So it's just really a shame that the Black Tower couldn't serve as a support group for all these men who are all going through similar traumas.

15. The "delegation" that the Borderlanders sent to meet Rand consists of a single person -- Hurin, the sniffer from TGH. Rand is very distrusting of this and assumes that the reason that they sent Hurin in particular was to try to take down Rand's guard. Hurin tells Rand that the Borderlanders want to meet with Rand inside the Guarding of Far Madding (where he will not be able to channel). No one is ever willing to meet Rand on neutral ground anymore. It always has to be in a place/situation where they feel they have an overwhelming advantage over him. First ~slaver empress~ and now the Borderlanders. Rand Travels with Hurin, Nynaeve & the others to just outside Far Madding. They look over the army that is assembled here and Rand gets some pretty rough ptsd, thinking of his time trapped in Far Madding. I wonder if Rand believes that he's only thinking most of the things that he says here -- we've seen in his PoV that he thinks he's being stoic always, but in other PoVs, there's mention of him talking to himself. As far back as TFoH, iirc.

16. Right now, Rand is pondering the notion of ~teaching the Borderlanders a lesson~ about trying to cage him. Yeah, when Nynaeve tells him that he can't attack the city because it's full of innocent people, he's surprised that she's responding to his words. He definitely thought that was a private conversation with LTT in his head. As soon as he realizes that Nynaeve can hear him, he goes emotionless and cold in affect. He tells her that he has no plans to attack the city. Then he tells Hurin to go back to the Borderlanders to tell that that he is willing to transport them to the Blight and, if that isn't acceptable to them, then they can explain to future generations why they shirked their duty.

17. Rand Travels with Nynaeve to Tear, and tells her that Perrin is camping by a statue, though he can't tell her where exactly (he's mentioned that he, Perrin, and Mat are ~connected~). He does describe what the statue looks like and says that scholars might have a good guess where it's located.

18. Nynaeve, I love you, but it is so WILDLY hypocritical for you to be thinking about how RAND likes to hoard information away from other people. Please, consider yourself and your own choices. I am asking you to please do this. Physician, heal thyself.

19. Nynaeve thinks here that some part of her feels like she abandoned Mat when the Seanchan attacked Ebou Dar, but then she dismisses the idea that he might be doing anything other than drinking it up at an inn. Despite. Literally finding out that he was just traveling with the HEAD of the SEANCHAN EMPIRE. Nynaeve, do you hear yourself when you think? Even a little, do you hear the things that you think? Anyway, Sanderson doesn't give us a reason here why Nynaeve never told Rand about Mat being left behind in Ebou Dar, because there never WAS a reason apart from "Mat's plot is in Ebou Dar" and she can't exactly say, "The author wouldn't let me tell you". The bizarre mental contortions that everyone took in WH to not tell Rand about Mat being left behind in Ebou Dar still give me a headache if I think about them for too long lol, because that really is the most blatant Hand of the Author situation in the entire series. It MUST happen for the plot and therefore it DOES happen, no matter how little sense it makes.

20. "All this would be much harsher on the one who shared his heart." The ONE? You were there for the group love confessions, Nynaeve! You were Team Elayne back in the Stone of Tear. What is this bullshit about Min being ~the one~ who shares Rand's heart? Anyway, Nynaeve is making excuses for why Min is spending all her time with Cadsuane, the woman in the city that Rand probably trusts the LEAST, lol. Though, hey, once again, I'm gonna appreciate that this means that I've been getting a lot of Min-less Rand scenes. I will take that for the win that it is. Still, I can't believe that Nynaeve is literally not even thinking about Elayne or Aviendha here! Especially Elayne, her hijinks bestie.

21. Nynaeve says that she wants to know WHY Cadsuane is looking for Perrin before she shares the information, because she wants to make certain it doesn't lead to Rand getting hurt further. Cadsuane scoffs at the idea that she'd hurt Rand. I stare off into the middle distance, reliving my, and Rand's, Terrible Times With Cadsuane.

22. Anyway, Min "claims that she hates sharing her viewings" Farshaw has been obediently telling all her viewings to Cadsuane, because she actually loves telling her viewings to literally anyone who will listen. Cadsuane uses Min's viewings as a way to scare Nynaeve into telling her the info about Perrin without needing to give up anything in exchange. RIP, Nynaeve's spine. You held strong for, like, a solid minute there. Anyway, after Nynaeve caves and tells Cadsuane about Perrin, she gets rewarded with a crumb of information for being a good girl. It's not Perrin himself who matters; the person who really matters is one of Perrin's companions. ...I know Cadsuane doesn't mean it that way, but that really does feel like Perrin's story overall. Perrin is mostly useless, but he has helpful people around him who Get Things Done and then he gets the credit, lol.

23. For the battle (that isn't going to happen), Egwene is wearing crimson, as a reminder that she does not plan to disband the Red Ajah the way that Elaida disbanded the Blue. We learn that "over fifty" Black Ajah Sisters have been stilled and executed, including Sheriam of course. And Egwene has now gone through another of the trials that we saw leader!Rand go through -- needing to order the execution of people that she genuinely liked. Egwene thinks of how holding and then losing Moghedien has taught her that it is much wiser to kill Darkfriends & Forsaken outright, rather than try to use them for information, out of 'greed' for knowledge. We also learn that Verin only missed three Black Ajah Sisters among the rebels. Good job, Verin! And I really love the note here that the Warders of the Sisters who were found to be Darkfriends are under guard for now, not killed. We know from some Black Ajah PoVs that not all Warders to Black Ajah Sisters are Darkfriends too, and I'm glad that Egwene realizes that this could be the case.

24. We learn that there has been no word sent back by the envoy of Sisters that were sent as an embassy to the Black Tower, which is naturally very disturbing news. also, just to note: I don't have any issue with Egwene's thoughts here on the Black Tower needing to be 'dealt with', though that's partly informed by my own outside knowledge that Rand has been ignoring a festering problem for months. SOMEONE needs to deal with the Black Tower, and Rand has shown himself to be entirely unwilling. This is the same issue that Egwene is dealing with right now: she's cleaning up her own house. That's something that Rand has just been refusing to do. His houses kinda stink right now.

25. As they are on the edge of the assault, a group of Sisters come to the bridge from the White Tower, to speak with Egwene. She's told that they plan to raise her as Amyrlin and that Elaida was taken in the raid last night. When Siuan (who doesn't know the Seanchan and how damane are treated) mutters that it's what Elaida deserves, Egwene (who DOES know) corrects her: "No woman deserves that. Better she had died." As I've been saying! We are in absolute agreement, Egwene. And Egwene now feels hope that the seeds that she planted in the Tower already WERE enough. <3

26. After she is officially raised as Amyrlin by the Hall, Egwene gives them a blistering setdown on letting things get so bad in the first place. The Hall was meant to be a check on the Amrylin's power and instead they allowed Elaida to do... well, everything that happened in the past books. And she names the previous Mistress of Novices, Silviana, as her Keeper, because that's one person that she can say stood up to Elaida purely out of principle, when she felt that Elaida was abusing her power as Amrylin. She addresses the rebels for their part in the Tower division as well, to help mend the breach between the two, and declares her intention to have a reforged White Tower to face the Last Battle. Overall, a pretty satisfying climax for Egwene's part of the story! Honestly, the only issue I have is Elaida getting taken off by the Seanchan -- though I'm guessing that was largely for timing reasons, since doing a proper reckoning with Elaida (who is not a Darkfriend) would definitely have added a lot of pages, plus this way the Seanchan (boo) get Traveling and any advantage that the Westlanders would have over them in that regard has been neutralized (sigh).

27. Rand is in a real bad place, emotionally and mentally, wondering if he even counts as human anymore. I just... okay, we all know my feelings on Rand and Min at this point but it really is baffling to me that she gets so much credit for ~helping Rand~ when she dips out when things get to their worst and is spending all her time conspiring with Rand's worstie Cadsuane. Anyway, Rand is feeling particularly troubled because seeing Hurin is making him feel doubt about his acceptance of his fate (his death). And wow, it's fascinating how thinking about Hurin sends him right back to thinking of Mat and Egwene (and now I'M thinking about how the show made a point of including a mention of Mat in show!Rand's perfect world) and about the boy he used to be (and honestly it kinda sounds like LTT's persona has become dominant? I think the quiet voice is probably RAND trying to be heard past LTT). He thinks about how that younger Rand had thought there was nothing more complicated than worrying over his friends hating him.

28. He gets a brief flash of Perrin, and then Mat in Caemlyn, and seeing Mat there in Caemlyn gives him that same kind of "this is not fair" feeling that Aviendha had, chapters ago, when she was thinking about how Min got to cuddle up with Rand every night while Aviendha had nothing but punishments. He thinks here about how he MUST remain far away from Elayne (just like he thought it was good that Aviendha left) because longing and nostalgia makes him weak, and he needs to be strong. And LEWS THERIN thinks "better to run from the past than to face it". Rand's raw longing here over how much he misses Elayne is getting to me. Seeing Hurin really opened the emotional floodgates for Rand in a way that neither Min nor Nynaeve have done, which is kinda fascinating to me, because it seems so closely connected to the journey that he undertook to get the dagger and save Mat. We've had a couple of mentions of Perrin in Rand's various memories so far this book, but a lot more of Mat -- it's Mat he thinks about when he's in Falme, and it's Mat he focuses on more here as well, returning to him a couple of times in his thoughts. It's Mat who Nynaeve throws in his face, and it's Mat who he needs to defend against an outsider (Tuon).

I do wonder what the show might do to trigger that kind of moment if Hurin a. gets cut from the show and b. would likely have been in Perrin's storyline and not Rand's anyway, given the setup.

29. lol, Rand thinking that he hopes Cadsuane hasn't lost Callandor the way that she lost the male a'dam. Standing in the Heart of the Stone of Tear, Rand thinks over the prophecies and tries to figure out why Callandor is at the heart of one of them, when it isn't the most powerful sa'angreal that he has at his command. Rand does come to the conclusion here that the prophecies were a more effective box than the Aes Sedai and... hmm, I think the only major difference here between what we'd seen Jordan write in this sort of situation and what Sanderson writes here, is that Jordan tended to use the 'leash' metaphor a lot when it came to Rand's fears of being trapped by the Aes Sedai or his destiny, while Sanderson is using 'box' metaphor more. Leashes and boxes are not the same, of course, but both metaphors are things that ARE literal threats in the series as well, plus they are both caging/trapping symbology, so I don't think they're so terribly different.

30. Oh, and Rand realizes that he's standing in the same hallway now as when he failed to bring the little girl back to life, back when the Stone was attacked in TSR. He misses Moiraine, and then makes up his mind that it's time to take the access key and drive the Seanchan back into the sea. And he goes to his room and... there's his dad. It shakes him hard, seeing Tam. Like... REALLY hard. Rand was already struggling with the bounds between who he was and who he feels that he has to be, and seeing Tam makes those worlds painfully collide. "He hadn't truly had a home since he'd left the Two Rivers." My HEART.

31. Rand's aside about how Min as the ~Dragon's lover~ is an exploitable weakness but not as bad as him having a father because ~lovers are expected~ but fathers made a person real and not mythic is... very jarring when set against the genuine heartache and longing we literally JUST had when he was thinking about Elayne. Sorry, he doesn't even think that Tam being here is a weakness worse than having Min as his lover, but "a woman like Min" which is somehow so much weirder and colder. It really makes it feel like Min is there to fulfill a role rather than there because Rand loves her. Has Sanderson ever said anything about his own personal feelings about Rand and Min? Because their relationship has ping-ponged a lot in this book -- sometimes it's treated as The Only Rand Relationship That Matters (especially by Nynaeve, for whatever reason) and at other times, it's treated as the throwaway relationship that DOESN'T matter and doesn't need to be protected the way that the relationships that are important need to be protected.

32. At first, it seems like this conversation is helping Rand. He's shocked, but this is his dad, and he loves him. And then the magic word comes out -- Cadsuane. And it does make me really sad because... if this had been a genuine gesture from Nynaeve because she was worried about him, Rand wouldn't have snapped the way that he does here. Because instead, this just feels like he's been betrayed by someone that he deeply trusted. His FATHER is taking marching orders from CADSUANE! Rand is not in a receptive mindset for hearing this information! So he snaps, nearly kills his dad, and is horrified at himself for... you know, repeating the past and almost becoming a kinslayer like LTT was. I mean... don't get me wrong. Rand was still very very close to the edge. But it's clearly the feelings of betrayal that make him fall off that edge.

33. He didn't have this reaction to nearly killing Min. Despite him explicitly comparing her ~near-death beautiful agony~ to Ilyena back when it happened, not only did that not make him snap, he then continued to share a bed with the woman that he'd almost killed, literally while she still had the bruises from his fingers around her neck. *pokes at the Min-Rand relationship with a stick, willing it to make sense* Anyway, I'm guessing that the reason is because he knew it wasn't his choice, and this was but... Min still being in Rand's bed after he almost kills her is just... such a weird vibe. Anyway, after Rand snaps back to himself and realizes that he almost balefired his father, he flees through a gateway to Ebou Dar.

34. Min's relationship with Cadsuane seems to mirror her relationship with her viewings and with fate itself: "Regret had come and gone. Min had moved on to resignation, tinged with a hint of frustration." Min has a tendency of getting swept up and essentially 'owned' by the most powerful force of will in her presence -- first Moiraine, then Siuan, then Rand, and now Cadsuane. It does seem... and this is something that I do disagree with Jordan on philosophically, lol, but it kinda feels like Min is his ~model citizen~ when it comes to dealing with fate -- resign yourself to it and make up your mind to enjoy it whether or not it's what you wanted, because it's gonna happen anyway so you might as well make your peace with the fact that you have no choice. That's what he's had Rand struggling against for books, and that's the conclusion that he has Mat (very abruptly) come to at the end of Winter's Heart.

35. Tam bursts into Cadsuane's room, pissed off as fuck. Oh, hey, when Tam talks about Rand almost killing him, Min has an actual emotional reaction to flashing back to her LOVER nearly STRANGLING her with his own hands. !!! Cadsuane tries to chide Tam for going off-script and chides him for his manners, and he just straight-out calls her a bully which, yes, I found cathartic because I have been calling her a bully ever since she first appeared! Anyway, Min does feel regret now for teaming up with Cadsuane, but it's too late.

36. Rand walks the streets of Ebou Dar. I am frustrated that the da'covale have been entirely forgotten, as Rand thinks here that people who can't channel are ~safe~ under the Seanchan.

a. No, they are not safe. Especially not if they're pretty.

b. People who can't channel can have kids who can channel.

c. The Seanchan literally invaded the continent and have murdered or enslaved anyone who fought back, like the ENTIRE headquarters of the Illuminators in Tanchico. Aludra says at one point that she basically IS all that remains of the Illuminators and she is probably exaggerating to a certain extent, but not entirely.

d. The Seanchan not only have slavery, they have multi-generational chattel slavery (Selucia is a slave because she comes from a slave family and was owned by Tuon even when she was a tiny baby who was not yet mentally a slave-owner; many of the slaves of the Deathwatch guard were also born into slavery).

e. Any society that un-persons people this easily can use that as a weapon on anyone that they dislike, with only the individual 'honor' of the slave-owner mattering, because there are no rules to police them. Egeanin mentions that it's ~socially frowned upon~ to cut off your slaves' feet after they've tried to escape, but people still do it. Both physical abuse and rape will flourish in that kind of system (and Tuon is aware that sexual abuse of damane exists and she finds it kinda icky because ~ew you're having sex with an animal~ but she still thinks the damane system that permits that abuse is a-ok -- we learn this from a conversation she has with Mat in Winter's Heart).

f. If you are the slave of a High Blood, you are expected to kill yourself if the High Blood dies.

g. We know that their system does NOT lead to actual peace and prosperity (except for the Blood), because we know there have been countless uprisings in various districts back in the homeland.

h. Their system of Listeners is pretty much designed to foster a community based around betrayal and paranoia. You can't trust ANYONE because anyone could be a secret spy for the government. Your mom could be spying on you for the government.

37. That being said, obviously Rand couldn't drive the Seanchan back into the sea at this point, for narrative reasons. I would have preferred he be given different reasons for holding off his attack though. "It's great to live under the Seanchan as long as you can't channel" is just straight-up not true. Like, all the "the people are grateful for the stability" just... is not actually true about what we've seen of the Seanchan either in Winter's Heart, or in Falme, or back in their homeland. otoh, idk if I feel like CoT/KoD Jordan would have handled this any better than Sanderson did. I am just... honestly, not happy with the treatment of the Seanchan storyline overall ever since Crossroad of Twilight began. It remains frustrating because it really did seem like it was going to quite intriguing places even through the end of Winter's Heart. CoT remains the point when the disappointment in how the storyline was being executed began but... yeah, not fond of this beat here either. It's especially jarring coming right after their brutal assault on the White Tower, too.

38. So I'd have preferred a slant of "these people have been through enough already; I don't want to be yet another disaster for them" rather than the spin that it's being given where we're supposed to think "sure, slavery sucks for the few but it makes life better for the many, so I guess we should just suck it up and accept it" viewpoint. But, regardless, Rand decides that he cannot destroy the Seanchan today, and he leaves Ebou Dar.

39. On the hilarious side of things, ~the tiny Seanchan empress~ has not been in charge for THAT long yet (given that Rand and Egwene are synced up, time-line wise, and Tuon had only recently taken control when she was told about the meeting with Rand, due to needing to travel back to Ebou Dar from where the Band was), so most of the progress that Rand is currently admiring was likely done under the direction of Suroth (a Darkfriend). Obviously, this means that the Dark One is just a bro who means well and we need to stop giving him such a hard time. Look how great Ebou Dar is doing! Isn't that proof that the Dark One isn't so bad?

40. Rand flees Ebou Dar, first going to the place where he last failed against the Seanchan, and then going to Dragonmount.

I do enjoy Rand’s epiphany, which apparently is semi-controversial, lol. I think it’s sweet and heartfelt and that it makes sense as a “breaking point” epiphany because of how it mirrors LTT’s original “breaking point” into despair and self-hatred. On the place where he created Dragonmount, Lews Therin chose to die, because he felt hopeless. He’d destroyed everything that he loved. On the place where he created Dragonmount, Rand chooses to live, because he’s realized that it’s NOT hopeless. Everything was not destroyed. The Wheel continued to turn. He was able to have a peaceful childhood. He was able to fall in love. And Rand can accept LTT’s losses without letting them define him. That’s what it meant to me, anyway.

41. What if the Dark One is right? Rand asks himself, asks the Pattern. What is the point of all of this if there is so much suffering?

Because there is not ONLY suffering. Because there is also love, and hope, and good things. Not always now, but it continues to exist, and it is worth fighting for (to reference another fantasy series that has some similar themes). And, to get a little personal here, as someone who has struggled with (clinical) depression in my past, including several years of self-harm when I was late teens/early twenties... this epiphany meant a lot to me. So I'm not even sure if it's possible for me to look at it with jaded eyes. Because this is something that I had to learn for myself too, in order to make it through some sad and lonely nights. Suffering exists, but it is not the only thing that exists. And I really love that Rand lets himself be angry here, too, before he finds his reason to live. For all that Rand's molten, unpredictable temper has been a huge plot element for books, it's always been right alongside his deep REPRESSION of his anger, of constantly feeding it into the flame so that he wouldn't allow himself to feel it. Because he felt like he couldn't do what needed to be done if he allowed himself to genuinely FEEL the rage that he felt over his destiny. But he needed to allow that anger to truly fill him so that he could begin (and I do see the epiphany here as a beginning and not an ending) to process it.

42. Also, to sing the show's praises for a moment, but they have already set up this moment so well! Both in Tam's speech in episode 1 but also with Ila's talk with Perrin. And we have the nihilistic counterpoint already laid out too, from Dana's speech to Rand. Those elements for Rand's internal fight and his final epiphany have already been laid out in the show so that, if they need to, as long as they know ahead of time that they're entering the final season, they'll be able to wrap up in an effective way. Very clever.

43. So instead of using the Choden Kal access key to destroy the world and the Wheel of Time, Rand uses that power to destroy the Choden Kal itself instead. He takes that massive power boost out of the equation.

44. In Egwene's epilogue, she's settling in as the Amyrlin. We learn that she plans to have the damane that they captured during the raid trained as Aes Sedai. She doesn't think about the sul'dam here. We learn that roughly sixty Black Ajah Sisters from the Tower were able to escape, off to join the Dark One for the Last Battle, I will assume.

45. Forty women were taken in the slaving raid. "Those women would be beaten, confined, and turned into nothing more than tools." I'm sure that's nowhere near as many as Tuon wanted, but it's still awful. Egwene has to push past another flashback here, of the collar around her neck. So, yeah, literally right after that whole chapter about how the Seanchan are just wonderful for the ~average folk~, we get a reminder of how horrifically awful they are to the ones that they un-person (this is also why Tuon ~petting the dog~ in her interactions with Olver meant nothing to me in CoT & KoD, because he's not someone that she instinctively un-persons, so her being civil to him doesn't really mean much).

For those keeping track at home, Tuon got FORTY women in this slaving raid, which means that Perrin is, I guess, the more successful slaver of the two of them at the moment, since he sold TWO HUNDRED women to Tylee in exchange for helping save Faile during KoD.

46. Egwene thinks here that the Forsaken in the Tower had probably known about the raid in advance but that is actually likely NOT the case -- Semirhage and Suroth were both gone by the time Tuon gave the order for the raid. It was entirely Tuon's choice, made out of fear and hatred, and not influenced by Darkfriend involvement. Egwene worries that Mesaasa is still in the Tower, having found a way to defeat the Oath Rod (all the women of the White Tower have now removed and resworn their Oaths and said that they are not Darkfriends). Even so, that's only one woman to worry about instead of many Black Ajah Sisters so things are looking up!

47. The light of Rand's epiphany has been spotted coming from Dragonmount and when Egwene sees it, it gives her a feeling of peace and comfort. Aw.

Okay, new thing I’m doing for this book and the next one: how close did we get to being ready for the Last Battle?

Rand: Sanderson pushes Rand to his breaking point so that we have a turn-around with Rand in the next two books. So... yes? Rand’s basically ready by the end of the book, having hit rock-bottom and bounced up again. Honestly? I felt like we didn’t get to spend long enough with rock-bottom Rand. I enjoyed rock-bottom Rand, who had as little patience for the bullies in this book as I do when I’m reading it. Rock-bottom Rand was cathartic. So I wish we'd held off on Rand's epiphany until the next book. I don't have any issue with Veins of Gold itself, but I wish that it had waited until the end of ToM (oh, if they'd done that, then the book itself could have been named Veins of Gold, instead of Towers of Midnight which, if I recall correctly, is a bafflingly irrelevant title). I understand why Sanderson probably felt like he needed to put Rand's turning point in this point (he needed to hook the fans who were feeling iffy about him finishing out the series, so he would have to put something big, so he did the one-two of Egwene & Rand's big turning points) but overall... I kinda wish it had happened in the next book and that we'd ended on Egwene reuniting the White Tower.

Egwene: I hate that Egwene Wins By Default here, with Elaida being hauled off to a Fate Worse Than Death (I don’t care HOW BAD any specific character is -- absolutely zero (0) of them deserve to be enslaved by the Seanchan). But Egwene now is roughly where Elayne was at by the end of KoD, in terms of having consolidated her power, and I liked the majority of the build-up towards the ending. Just wish that Elaida hadn’t been captured by the Seanchan.

Mat: ...spent the book doing a side quest? wtf? THIS should have been the book where he did the Tower of Ghenjei plotline, since we spent so much page time on him anyway. Like, if he didn’t appear in this book, I would understand that plot being held off, but he has a LOT of page time. It was just spent dithering around, like he’s Perrin or something. I didn’t even dislike his sidequest but... it should not be happening. He should be in Andor right now. (I know Hinderstap is not actually a side quest ...I think) (but it FELT like a side quest). That being said, I actually did find this Mat more enjoyable than CoT/KoD Mat, even when I take into account the terrible sexist speech he gave at the opening of his first chapter. He starts out full-on pod!Mat from CoT & KoD but gets progressively better over the course of the book, and he's the most enjoyable that he's been in ages by the time we get to his conversation with Verin. And I also loved the return of the Cauthor crumbs. They actually think and talk about each other like the emotionally constipated best friends that they are. Poor Perrin is definitely still The Third Friend at this point.

Nynaeve: she actually DID have a little investigative side plot in this book, which is more than she did in CoT or KoD. Roughly on par with Nynaeve in Winter's Heart, I would say. She's definitely in secondary character territory now though, along with Cadsuane and Min, and not actually a plot-driver herself. She's essentially ready for the Last Battle, though.

Perrin: now that Faile has been rescued, Perrin can care about other things, so we’re kinda back to LoC!Perrin. Not ready for the Last Battle yet, but he’s been reset to before his character downslide of The Slog (TM) books.

Elayne: didn’t show up. :-( But she’s pretty much ready for the Last Battle already. Elayne has already done her work AND her extra-credit.

So, overall, Mat and Perrin have TONS of work left to do to be ready for the Last Battle, but everyone else is in a much better position. Rand needs to clean up his house, though, like Egwene cleaned up hers.

Though I have some complaints about this book, wow, it is a VAST improvement on Crossroads of Twilight and Knife of Dreams, and I liked it better than the mid-tier books too, and it breaks just past Lord of Chaos for me. Overall, I think Mat and Rand were better than KoD; Egwene is pretty great though I wish that Elaida had stayed at the White Tower for trial; and the majority of my irritations that do happen with this book are carryover from things that were either already happening or had already been set-up in KoD.

The two biggest things that I feel like Jordan would have ‘done better’: I think we wouldn’t have lost the secondary characters’ plotlines in Mat’s PoV & I think Jordan would have done something (anything lol) with Rand and Aviendha in Rand’s storyline. But nothing in this book is as jarring as Mat's characterization change from Winter's Heart to Crossroads of Twilight. Like, if you'd told me that CoT was when a new author took over (and I didn't know the truth), I would probably believe you! And dislike that new author a lot for what they'd done to Mat! But it was, in fact, the same author who also wrote all the stuff I liked in the earlier books, lol.

Series ranking:

The Fires of Heaven (😍)

The Shadow Rising (😘)

The Dragon Reborn (😘)

The Path of Daggers (😘)

New Spring (😘)

The Great Hunt (😄)

The Gathering Storm (😄)

Lord of Chaos (😄)

...

A Crown of Swords (🙂)

The Eye of the World (🙂)

Winter’s Heart (🙂)

...

Crossroads of Twilight (😒)

Knife of Dreams (😞)

#wot reread #the gathering storm #wot #wheel of time #the wheel of time #wot book spoilers #wot spoilers #egwene al'vere #rand al'thor #seanchan warning

105 notes · View notes

thiaquiche · 2 months

Text

Feedback Fest 2024

Since the @transformativeworks is holding a Feedback Fest in honour of International Fanworks Day, I figured I’d join in the fun and put together my own reclist for the occasion! So, in no particular order, here’s ten fics I love and why you should read them! I’ve got a wide spread of fandoms here, so hopefully you’ll find something interesting. I have all of these fics downloaded, so if you’re seeing this in the future and a link to something you’re interested in ends up broken, just let me know and I’ll gladly send you a pdf.

Something’s Wrong with Danny Fenton Vol. I by Perfectly_Inconspicuous

Danny Phantom. Mature, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Gen. 55 065 words.

Danny Fenton.

The enigma of Casper High.

It's the first day of the winter semester when she notices him.

She notices him for what feels like the first time. Maybe because at this point he's the only alternative kid other than her.

Or maybe because boom, there he is: the locker next to hers.

A No One Knows AU where Danny transfers from a different school to Casper during Junior year and ends up befriending Sam and Tucker. Written for Invisobang 2021!

Why you should read it: This fic packs a wonderfully creepy, unsettling atmosphere that really makes this horror!Danny premise come alive (ba dum tss), and makes the development of his friendship with Sam and Tucker feel all the warmer by comparison. It’s incredibly gripping.

Soldier, Poet, King by Stargaze_Sunflower

Ducktales 2017. Teen and Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Gen. 104 510 words.

Dewey has always felt like something was missing from his life. Something big. And really, it's just like him to get caught up in a kidnapping plot and stumble across the puzzle of his life on complete accident, and now he's got more pieces than he knows what to do with. Luckily, he's got help in the form of new friends, his moderate skills with a sword, and the determination to believe in the impossible.

This gives a whole new meaning to 'Found Family'.

Why you should read it: This fic is an awesome medieval fantasy romp, and it’s just plain fun.

Friendship Games by WhiteBAG

Milo Murphy’s Law. Teen and Up Audiences, Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings, Gen. 42 662 words.

Milo and his friends enter the Friendship Games. Dakota and Cavendish time travel to fight the monster.

Why you should read it: Without saying too much, the way the time travel plot winds back on itself is just so much fun. Even now that I’ve left the fandom, and haven’t read this fic in a long time, I still find myself thinking about it.

More Than Legacy by PanellaDePonce

Pokémon. General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Gen. 11 637 words.

It was time at last for the 150th Annual Convention of Pokémon Sciences to begin. Every year, the brightest minds in the field would gather together to present their findings to an eager audience of burgeoning scientists and casual enthusiasts alike. 150 years ago it started in Jubilife Village, and today, the conference is held in Jubilife City.

Before the conference begins, however, many of the leading researchers gather together to argue and debate, verbally slap fighting and throwing around their theories and ideas. Lucas found this tradition tiring, annoying, and most of all, incredibly boring.

Little does he know, something very interesting is set to happen at the meeting. Something he wouldn't want to miss.

Why you should read it: This thing made me BAWL. I was fucking SOBBING. Waaaaaughhhhhhhhhhh

Give Me Healthy Coping, or Give Me Death by Prince_Enby

OMORI. General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, F/M (past Hero/Mari) and Gen. 5420 words.

There was something weird about how Kel was acting, Hero thought. Hero's thoughts were all over the place these days, though, so that observation probably didn't mean anything.

Still, though, he was curious about that glint in his brother's eyes. It was the look of a man on a warpath - and all over a bowl of soup.

Weird indeed.

Why you should read it: This fic is chicken soup when I’m sad, and I wanna share the comfort, plain and simple.

Mari Suzuki’s Overly Busy Afterlife by ShardOfHope

OMORI. Teen and Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, M/M (Basil/Kel/Sunny), F/F (Aubrey/Kim), and F/M (Hero/Mari). 127 480 words.

Mari never left Sunny after the accident. She forgave him and promised she would stay until he was ready to tell the truth. Until he was strong enough.

Four years of staying with her gremlin shut in brother has made her slightly regret that promise. Well, more then slightly.

A retelling with a ghost, and a brother with no survival instinct.

Why you should read it: This fic is riotously funny. Like, wheezing on the floor funny. Rolling around, falling down the stairs and breaking your neck funny. (Yes I did have to force a stairs joke in there. Sue me, but sue me after you read this fic.)

Coming to Light by Candyland1030 [DeviantArt]

Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. PG. 2819 words.

What goes around comes around. Sooner or later, everyone has to pay the piper.

Why you should read it: This is my favourite fic for seeing Bill Hawks get his comeuppance. A delicious dose of justice for a guy who got off far too easily in canon.

Theo’s Surreal Mountain-Climbing Adventure by CelestialHorizons (TerminalMiraculosis)

Celeste. Teen and Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Gen. 5519 words.

Madeline has been able to dash her whole life. She thinks this is rather mundane. Theo disagrees.

Why you should read it: Extremely funny depiction of speedrunning, also Theo is simply best boy. You agree. Read it.

An Empire of Ice by TimeCloneMike

Frostpunk. Mature, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Gen. 4621 words.

The Great Frost has come and gone. That was the easy part. Rebuilding human civilization? That's when things start to get difficult, even with automatons to do all the heavy lifting.

Why you should read it: Both oneshots are great, but I especially recommend the second chapter. The story of Project Legacy saving New Manchester in the actual game has always been touching to me, and this fic’s depiction of the rescue of New Manchester’s last scout gives me warm fuzzies every time. Both parts of this fic add a human element to the game’s more zoomed-out storytelling that I deeply appreciate.

Marital Bed, by MadameReveuse

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. Mature, No Archive Warnings, Multi (Randall Ascot/Angela Ledore/Henry Ledore). 3526 words.

A comedy in two parts.

The Masked Gentleman imagines all the ways in which Henry and Angela Ledore might have backstabbed him. Later, Randall sees it all with clearer eyes. Maybe his fantasy can still come true - in an altogether better, lovelier way. With himself included.

Why you should read it: I don’t normally talk about, let alone recommend, sexually explicit fics, but I read this one recently and just fell in love with the characterization. Considering sex in the context of Randall’s misguided hatred and Angela and Henry’s deceptive marriage adds an interesting layer to their whole *gestures* everything, and I found all of the headcanon ideas presented very plausible. However, warning for Azran Legacy spoilers offhandedly mentioned right at the beginning.

Bonus:

This awesome Miracle Mask AMV that has been so stuck in my head lately, lol. Editing’s great, song’s great, all around great. (Don’t watch unless you’ve finished Miracle Mask though, it’s spoilers.)

#ifd2024 #feedback fest #international fanworks day #fic recs #thia posts

19 notes · View notes

bandaged-writer · 2 years

Note

Heyy, how are You?? Since the requests are open, I wanted to ask for a scenario. Dazai Is in love with the new waitress at the ADA cafè, but this girl keeps on turning down his offers, because She doesnt trust him (hes a womanizer and a suicidal maniac). Also because Shes very sick and doesnt know if Shell be alive in the future (spoiler She Will). Hope the requests isnt top specific. Have a Nice day 💜💜💜

i changed some bits of your requests; hopefully you don't mind, dear nonnie 🧎🏻‍♀️

genre. fluff, a hint of angst

words. 1k

warnings. reader fearing death

summary. "When the time comes for you to die, I will gladly accompany you to the other side. Until then, let us enjoy a cup of coffee."

To Dazai, you were an enigma. Although your eyes were as kind as the latte in his hands, your words choked him much like Kunikida's bony fingers occasionally crushed his windpipe. Open to a chat with him, you'd let him hold your hand, play with your fingers and a smile would appear on your pretty features. But said smile was always accompanied by a string of words that shattered his hopes like glass:

"I can't go out with customers, Dazai."

Where you got such a sharp tongue from, Dazai didn't know, but he liked that about you. A little unpredictable, but still an open book that he'd like to flip open and read until he could quote it from the very top to the very end.

The sun was setting, the Agency was closed for the day when Dazai trudged into Uzumaki's and the bell above him sang a tune. As always, you were quick to greet him with a saccharine smile on your lips and a kind tone in your voice. "It's nice to see you, Dazai. The regular?"

"Yes, please," he said and took a seat at the counter.

With patience, you let boiled water drip into the coffee powder which was steadily dripping into the cup you had whipped out for your favorite customer. "Tell me, how was work?"

"It was such a pain!," Dazai exclaimed with dramatic gestures and ranted about Kunikida forcing him to do paperwork for the latest case which involved a murder with a surprising twist. "But now I'm all better. A face like yours is like balm to the soul, belladonna!"

At that, you sighed and served Dazai his usual cup of coffee with milk, sugar and a shot of something that made this coffee uniquely yours. "You know I can't go out with you, Dazai."

As he gazed at you over his cup of coffee, he knew you were lying. For the longest time, he believed your little trick until the day he asked the owner of Uzumaki's about this imaginary rule you had come up with. As it turned out, your words were nothing but a string of pretty lies. "We both know such a rule doesn't exist."

Your eyes widened in surprise before they morphed into a guilty gaze.

"Tell me. Why are you lying to me when you obviously enjoy my advances towards you?" Dazai put his coffee down with a dull thud and watched the internal conflict within you unfold. Uncertainty swam in your fingertips that nervously fiddled with the hem of your uniform or picked at the skin along your fingernails. "You always say you can't, but you never explicitly said no."

A sigh of defeat slipped your rosy lips. You should've given Dazai more credit for his ability to read between the lines like no one ever could. Yosano had warned you that Dazai wouldn't buy the blatant lie forever and would someday question you about the infamous question of why. And so, you found yourself struggling in front of Dazai who loved your coffee, liked a good book and genuinely appreciated your company.

Your throat bobbed as you finally decided to spill the beans.

"I don't have a lot of time left to live," you admitted with a hand placed on your chest and the ghost of a smile upon your lips. "My heart is weak, Dazai. Sooner or later, I will.." Painfully, you avoided the brunette's gaze and your own fell to the tips of your shoes.

You didn't have to finish the sentence for Dazai to piece the shards of you together. So that was why you'd occasionally be missing, why he'd sometimes see you leaving the hospital, why you'd claw at the fabric covering your chest. Dazai took your free hand in his and gifted you with a smile so genuine that you could finally put some faith in him.

"When the time comes for you to die, I will gladly accompany you to the other side. Until then, let us enjoy a cup of coffee."

Tears brimmed your eyes and rolled down the apple of your cheeks. Bringing his palm to your cheek, you nuzzle into his touch and gaze at him through a lens of love, impending doom and curiosity. It was stupid to cry over a mere cup of coffee, but for you, it was so much more than that. Whenever Dazai ordered his regular coffee, you knew you'd get to chat with him and gain a piece of the space that was his mind; so mysterious, endlessly deep, and yet so beautiful.

Over a cup of coffee, he'd flirt with you, hold your hand and tell you a few jokes in hopes of wooing you with his humor which was, unarguably, questionable at times. Over a cup of coffee, he'd bring you one of his books, decorated with sticky notes and his thoughts on a certain paragraph.

But Dazai didn't know about the shelf of medication in your home. He didn't know about the amount of pills you had to swallow within a day nor did he know about all the nights you spent crying in a hospital bed. You were a wreck, but you had no clue that Dazai was just as miserable as you were. Things about him, about you, were merely waiting to be discovered.

"Dazai, please.. Don't say things you don't mean."

Dazai was gentle when he bumped his forehead against your own. The warmth of your breath fanned across his cheeks, tears dampened his skin, but he didn't mind drowning in the sea that was your constellation. Unlike the cold waters of Yokohama, you always welcomed him with a warm cup of coffee that was as sweet as the honey dripping from your words.

"I don't lie about things like that."

And he didn't. Dazai made sure you took your meds. He visited you in the hospital after every surgery you had to go through and he watched you get better bit by bit.

Until the day you could enjoy a cup of coffee together.

#bungou stray dogs #dazai osamu #bungou stray dogs x reader #dazai x reader #dazai osamu x reader

208 notes · View notes

daydreamgoddess14 · 8 months

Text

Aspirations pt.1

Hopefully you can look past the rubbish title and summary enough to give this a go!

It started as me coming up with a 'one bed situation' but I've expanded it a little to probably 3-4 chapters in total.

I've only done a couple of very short pieces for this fandom so far so I'd love to know your thoughts! Be kind! 😘

Sydcarmy Masterlist

Full Masterlist

Sydney Adamu / Carmy Berzatto

Syd is 12 months deep in a crush, Carmy is 6 months into a relationship he doesn't want, The Bear is 4 months open and Nat is 2 months into motherhood....

~~~~~~~

Syd didn't know why she'd said yes. Nat had asked, and while her brain went to say 'no thanks', her heart saw the look of desperation on Natalie's face, and a 'yes, of course' popped out instead. Nat even had her minor guilt trip lined up.

"... I mean, I haven't had any real adult company since the baby was born, and I just -"

"Nat, I said yes."

"For real?"

"Sure, why not. Wait - is Claire invited?"

"Oh god, no. Just us and Tiff."

"Richie's ex?" Nat nodded.

"Yep. Just some drinks at home, so I'm around if I'm needed. Maybe a couple slices of Marcus's cake?"

"I'll bring you some food."

"You're an angel. Does Carm know you've been keeping my fridge stocked for the last 3 months?" Syd shrugged,

"If he does, he hasn't said anything." They sat in the closed restaurant, Nat feeding baby Mikey while Syd went through the books with her. Carmy was… late. "Where the fuck is he anyway?" Nat clipped her bra back into place and lifted the baby to her shoulder. Every Friday between lunch and dinner service, they did the books together.

"Good question." Syd murmured, eyes on her calculator. "We need to start putting some money aside for Thanksgiving and Christmas promos."

"On it. I need you guys to confirm the festive menu by the 15th, please. We go to print on the 19th, delivery by the end of the month ready to take bookings throughout October."

"Wow, you are still, like, smashing it." Syd says, impressed.

"I gotta do something during those 3 am feeds other than shopping." She reasoned, heaving the baby over to her other shoulder.

"Here," Syd stood and held out her hands so Nat could gratefully pass him over. She'd not been around too many babies and was terrified the first time she'd held him. Richie had ribbed her about it in the weeks prior - so much so that she hadn't actually held the baby in company other than Natalie. She rocked gently from side to side, hearing little Mikey's snores in her ear. Nat read through the books and the notes left by Syd and/or Carmy.

"Hey, did I tell you what Uncle Jimmy did?" Syd didn't stop her gentle movement but turned to face Natalie better,

"No?"

"So we each own 33%, right, and Jimmy had the 1% leftover? Well he's gifted it to Mikey. The baby bear is already earning."

"That's dope, I'm still gonna make him do the dishes as soon as he's old enough though. He's gotta earn that paycheck." Syd smiled down as Mikey's eyes drifted shut.

"Hey, fuck, sorry I'm late." He pushed through the swing doors, stopping at the sight of Syd swaying with the baby in her arms.

"Too late, Carm, we're fucking done now." Nat teased, "good job someone is pulling their weight around here. And giving my arms a break."

"He's asleep, where'd you want him?"

"You've got the magic touch." Nat took him carefully and transferred him to the car seat. Carmy squatted down for a closer look,

"I missed out."

"Shoulda been here in time," Nat warned, "I've got a night shift going if you're -"

"No. No thanks sis, I don't get enough sleep as it is."

"Makes two of us."

"Makes three of us." Syd laughed. Carmy kissed Mikey's forehead and stood to pull his sister into a hug while Syd knelt down to tuck the blanket around Mikey and brush a finger over his milk drunk cheeks.

"I'll let you know when's good?" Nat confirmed to Syd with a hug before letting Carmy lift the heavy car seat and take it out to her car. "Bye Uncle Bear, bye Auntie Syd!" She singsongs. By the time Carmy has returned, Syd is making sure the paperwork is filed correctly and clearing the table they've used.

"Coffee? Probably too cold now."

"Unlikely, no such thing." He takes the mug and finishes most of it in one go making her grimace.

"That's gross."

"You ate doughnut off the floor." He counters, she has no argument. "You and Nat planning something?"

"Just Thanksgiving and Christmas."

"We need a menu."

"We do. I have some potential dishes down but I gotta link them with the theme or some shit." He raises an eyebrow, "Nat's idea. I'm not naming dishes after reindeer or any bullshit like that."

"Got it. Wanna work on it Monday?"

"You got time?"

"Always." This time, Syd looked incredulous. "I mean it." She nodded slowly,

"Heard, Chef."

"What'd you make for them this week?" He asked, holding out his hands for the paperwork folder. Syd froze, "C’mon Syd, you think I don't know you've been batch cooking for Nat and Pete for months?" She breaks into a smile,

"Just easy stuff, chilli, casserole."

"Let me know when you're makin' more and I'll do some as well."

"Oh, I got it under control. You're busy with… like, Claire and this place. I only have this place so…" She trailed off with a limp shrug.

"Well, you don't have to do it either -" He tried to interject.

"Nat's been good to me. She's the only other voice of sanity around here." At that, Carmy feigned a look of hurt which made Syd snort with laughter. "Do not - do not - try and claim otherwise!"

"And here I thought we were partners."

"We are. Which is why I can't complain to you about you." She grinned and Carmy returned it with ease. Over a year of working together, 4 months since The Bear had opened, and she'd finally gotten to a point where she only felt awkward approximately 60% of the time, which was a solid win. With time, communication between them had significantly improved. The only downsides currently were his time management when it came to Claire and the raging crush Sydney had developed on Carmy over the course of the last year. The crush was the main/only reason her awkwardness level remained so high.

"You can, y'know. I want to know if there's something I need to do better. I told you, you gotta let me know if I'm fucking up." She caught her lower lip in her teeth. He was doing that thing again, standing frustratingly close and looking at her with those ocean eyes.

"You need to stop being late. That's the second time Nat and I have had to go through the books alone, and there's stuff in there that you're closer to than us. I'm the shit, Carm, but I can't read your mind. No matter how hard I try." She jokes. He nods sincerely.

"Heard. I'll do better, I promise." He paused, "when'd you start holding the baby anyway?"

"Literally the first time I didn't have you and Richie watching me like a hawk." She laughed, "If you'd been around, you'd know that I am his number one Auntie."

"That so?"

"I get all the smiles, all the giggles. Me and baby Mikey are like that -" she holds up her crossed fingers, "you can't compete with a love like ours." She teases.

"Nat likes you better too, s'ok maybe the Fak's will take me in. Or T."

"Dude, T would mother the shit outta you!" She exclaimed.

"Already does. You two gonna be OK tomorrow?"

"So you and Richie can play fucking hooky? Yeah, yeah, I remembered. We all good."

"Sure?"

"Yes, Chef."

"Syd?"

"Carm, babe, Tina and I will be fine. We have everyone else here, I got Nat on front of house, we're gonna smash it." He was about to call her out on calling him babe, but they'd finished clearing up just as everyone else started arriving for dinner service and chaos soon descended. The rest of the day passed without incident. The following morning, Syd and Tina had the crew prepping for a busy lunch service while Richie and Carmy flitted in and out of the kitchen, filling up the car for their catering event. Syd took her break outside while they finished off,

"I'm gonna get some smokes." Richie called out, already halfway down the alley. Carmy moved towards Syd,

"If you ask one more time if I'm sure, I'm gonna give you a black eye." She warned. He held his hands up,

"Just checking in."

"You've already done that. We'll be fine."

"I'll keep my phone on. You need anything, you'll call?"

"What're you gonna do from across town?"

"Yo, cousin!" Richie shouted from the sidewalk, "bring the car down."

"Call me."

"Just fucking go, we're good." She hopped down from the pallets with the intention of pushing him as he continued to hesitate.

"Carmen!" Richie bellowed again, turning to talk to Natalie who'd just arrived out front.

"Festive menus Monday?" He asked,

"Yes, Chef. Go!" He nodded once, took half a step closer and kissed her gently on the lips before turning and running to the car. He was pulling out onto the street before she'd had time to register the kiss at all.

Two miles down the road, Carmy stopped at a red light and his brain reactivated.

"Holy fucking shit." He muttered, staring straight ahead.

"What'dya forget?" Richie asked, looking up from his phone. Carmy thought fast,

"Uhh napkins." Richie tsked,

"I picked em up you fucking dipshit." He laughed, shoving Carmy's shoulder. "Good job one of us knows what the fuck is goin on cuz. You gotta stop thinkin bout Clairebear all the time, man." Carmy barked a short laugh,

"Yeah, Claire." He agreed, still thinking about Syd's easy smile and soft lips.

~~~~~~

#the bear fx #the bear #the bear fanfiction #the bear fanfic #syd x carmy #sydcarmy #sydney x carmy #carmy x sydney #carmen x sydney #syd adamu #carmy x syd #syd x carmen #sydney adamu #sydney x carmen #carmy berzatto #carmen berzatto

45 notes · View notes

heart-gamer · 1 year

Text

ONE OF THE BEST CARDIOPHILE STORIES

You've been trying your best not to let the woman sitting next to you on the plane affect you, but she's far too stunning to let that happen. From the moment her lush, round bottom rubbed up against you on the way to her window seat (her thank you in response to you politely standing up to let her go by sounding as sensual as silk) your blood has been on fire.

You piece together the rest of her appearance by the (hopefully) sly, sneak peeks you've been taking to the right of you: wild ebony curls surrounding a flawless caramel complexion; almond-shaped eyes with a tigress-like tilt at the corners; an upturned nose, and a broad, full lower lip paired with a cupid's bow shaped upper lip. The voluptuous breasts (jiggling at the scooped neckline of her jersey shirt) generous hips, and thick thighs that perfectly complemented that gorgeous fat ass of hers, has you lying your jacket across your lap as though you're a pre-teen instead of a grown man on his way back from a transatlantic business conference. If you were actually able to stand, you'd try to move to the empty aisle seat beside you, or settle yourself with a quick jerk-off in the lavatory.

Except jerking off was getting old. It's all you've been doing to quell your sexual frustration, and alleviate the stress that came from your recent promotion at work, the latter leaving you little time for a social life to take care of the former. For the first time since you'd lost your virginity, you were in a drought. All your friends used to be jealous of how frequently you got laid. But now it's been months since you have, and it's been driving you crazy. All that pent up energy within you was easy to ignore when you were distracted with work, but once you got into bed, the hot blood that seared throughout your veins fueled your pounding heart; you could feel it against your chest, see it pushing against your shirt, hear it in your ears. The sensation of it all always got you horny, because of your heartbeat fetish; thanks to PornHub, you discovered that this is called cardiophilia, and that there's plenty of videos in that category. Before then, you'd just been using a cheap stethoscope you'd purchased on Amazon and used it to listen to your own heart as you masturbated (but never used during your sexual encounters, because you worried it'd weird out the women you were with). At first, those videos gave you more than enough material to satiate all that unleashed lust, but it didn't come close to replacing the touch of a woman.

And the one next to you is exactly what you need.

Shortly after take off, the woman puts in earbuds - and falls asleep in minutes with her head propped against the window. The posture exposes her long, graceful throat, and the vein that throbs there rapidly. Even more tantalizing is the sight of her heartbeat moving very visibly beneath her skin, thrusting through the thin fabric of her shirt, making the tops of her breasts tremble. It's like one of your fetish videos brought to life, right before you, a fantasy practically at your fingertips, yet one you can't quite touch. Or ignore.

The wild pounding of your own heart increases with each second even as you try to keep your breathing under control, stifling a moan as your cock begins thumping and straining against your jeans. You force your eyes closed, hoping to will away your latent arousal, but it's too late - the image of the woman's pulse pumping away in her throat is burned into your memory. And despite yourself, you begin to imagine what it would be like to lay her down, slowly removing her top to reveal the rest of her gorgeous breasts, watching her heart beating between them, then taking your stethoscope and pressing it right to that sweet spot, the cold diaphragm raising goose bumps on her smooth skin, causing her nipples to harden...you'd feel the diaphragm moving up and down between your fingers...then you'd slip in the earpieces of the stethoscope and listen to her heart pound away, deep and loud and thumpy and fast...and then you'd slide your fingers inside her where she'd be moist and creamy and ready...the faster your fingers moved, the faster her heart would pound...thump thump thump thump thump thump...you'd feel her heart pushing hard against that diaphragm as your fingers went deeper inside her, thrusting in and out, in and out...thump thump thump thump thump thump...she'd arch her back and start to moan, coating your fingers with the sweet honey inside her...thump thump thump thump thump thump...you'd hear her heart start to go out of control, hear her getting closer and closer to the brink as the sound of her heartbeat became deafening...

Your eyes pop open just when the orgasm tears through you; you grit your teeth, both hands clinging to the armrests, biting your lower lip to stifle a shout, squeezing your knees together as you cum hard in your pants, for what seems like ages.

Spent, you slump back into your seat, waiting for your breathing to normalize and the insane hammering of your heart to slow down. Once you're much calmer, you risk yet another glance at the woman beside you. She's still asleep, except you can swear - if you're not mistaken - that there's a hint of a smile on her lips.

72 notes · View notes

maybeimamuppet · 2 months

Text

picking teams- chapter 14: cady

hello everyone!! boo surprise sunday post!! because!! TODAY IS MY THIRD WRITING BIRTHDAY WOOOOOO!

today three years ago i posted my first ever oneshot (i think technically it was on the 4 bc it was late at night but the intention was to be today so i’m sticking with the 3). i can honestly say i was expecting NOBODY to read anything of mine and that this would be something i did for maybe a few months and then dropped like all my other hobbies.

and here we are three years later! so i’d just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s supported me through this little journey over the last three years. i feel like i really have a community and a little family here. i appreciate every single pair of eyeballs that has ever laid eyes on a fic of mine, whether you comment and i get to know who you are or you’re just a lurker. whether you’re new or you’ve been here the whole time. thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here for and with me <3

anyhoo! mushy stuff over for now lol please enjoy this chapter :)

tw for

broken bones

and as always if i missed something please let me know so i can add it in!

——————

Cady goes back to school that Wednesday.

Her parents let her have one more day off to recover and finish the homework she had been putting off. Cady's still not feeling 100% after her episode, as Janis put it, but she can't afford to miss any more school. Or cheer practice. She's gotten more than a few threatening texts from Regina.

She runs into Janis briefly going into homeroom, since it's in the same classroom as Janis' first period. She smiles, mostly at the ground, and Janis surreptitiously brushes her hand against Cady's and gently links their fingers together before walking off like nothing happened.

Cady blushes furiously and heads to her seat. She hunches in on herself to scribble something on a piece of notebook paper she rips off and folds up. She's so focused on making sure nobody sees what she's writing that she almost misses Ms. Norbury trying to take attendance.

"Cady. Caaaady. Heron. Hello."

"Wh- oh, uh, here," she stutters. Ms. Norbury arches an eyebrow and ticks her off on her computer. Cady trills her lips and tucks the paper into her pocket.

"Glad to have you back, Cady," she says once the bell rings.

"Thanks! Uh, see you this afternoon!" Cady says, rushing out the door. They already don't have much time to get from class to class, and she has a stop to make this time.

She tries to act like she's just leaning casually against the wall and she doesn't have to be across the building in two minutes. Once she looks around to double check nobody is watching, she carefully slips the note between the slats in Janis' locker and rushes off to her class.

Hopefully she gets it.

—-

Cady looks up from her phone in fright when she hears a murmured, "Hey, sweet thing."

Janis is peeking around the corner of the bleachers, lunch in hand and a confused look on her face. Cady spotted this during a rainy-day indoor practice last week. The bleachers are completely solid, so nobody can see in. "Did anyone follow you? See you?"

"Nobody important," Janis shrugs as she puts her food down. "Whatcha doing?"

Cady sighs in relief upon hearing confirmation that nobody will see them together. She leans in for a kiss and gets a sweet little peck. "I want to have lunch with you! It's like our own little place!"

"That it is," Janis agrees with a chuckle. "How's your day been?"

"Good! I got a hundred on my math test," Cady says happily.

"Of course you did," Janis laughs. "What'd you tell Regina?"

"About what?"

"Where you are," Janis says as she takes a bite of her... probably turkey sandwich. Cady's eyes widen. Shit.

"I... didn't tell her anything," she says quietly.

Janis quirks an eyebrow. "Better come up with something quick."

"Why?"

"She's gonna grill you like a war interrogator," Janis snorts.

Shit. She's right. "Uh... um..."

"Just tell her you skipped lunch," Janis shrugs.

"Skipped it?" Cady asks.

Janis shrugs again. "I dunno. That'd probably work."

"I'll think of something," Cady hums, pursing her lips and taking an exasperated bite out of her celery stick. Janis smiles at her like she's some cute little animal.

"So... any particular reason you're slipping notes into my locker and sneaking around with me behind the bleachers?" Janis says with a smirk as she scoots a little closer to Cady.

Cady groans as she's suddenly reminded why she had done this. "I have to go to Regina's after school. We're having a costume fitting for the holiday parade."

Janis looks at her oddly. "You're in the parade?"

Cady nods eagerly. "Mmhmm! I get to be an acro elf!"

"A what?" Janis giggles.

"I get to dress as an elf and do tumbling and acrobatic stuff next to Santa's float!"

"Oh," Janis says. "Stevie loves that one. I didn't know it was us."

"They choose the best cheer team in the region to do it. Apparently this is the first time in, like, ten years that it's been North Shore," Cady explains.

Janis snorts. "That makes more sense."

"I'm really excited. But I have to spend a lot of time with the Plastics, I won't have as much time free after school," Cady says apologetically.

Janis shrugs. "It's just a parade. Once it's done your schedule will calm down a bit and we can spend more time together again. Not like we're breaking up."

Cady giggles. "I still have my knight in shining armor to come save me from the Plastics if I beckon her."

"Damn right you do," Janis smirks, leaning in for a kiss.

Cady happily leans in too, smiling to herself as their lips touch. She's suddenly very glad she totally ate it at their last practice and spied this hideout behind the bleachers from the ground.

"Might need to save you already," Janis hums as they pull apart, looking Cady up and down with a small grimace.

Cady sheepishly looks down at her bright pink crop top she'd decided to wear today. She tugs at her collar, suddenly self-conscious. "You don't like it?"

"No, no, you look cute," Janis says. Something in her tone tells Cady it's a half-truth at best. Oh well.

“Thanks," she says. Janis takes another bite of her sandwich and sprawls on the hard floor of the gym with her head on Cady's lap.

"Oh, get this- my math class this morning," she says. Cady tunes out almost immediately, stroking some stray hairs away from Janis' forehead and just watching her mouth move. It's probably nothing important. God, she's gorgeous.

What is she going to tell Regina?

I got sick- ew, no.

I had to talk to a teacher- too easy to mess up if she comes from the wrong direction. They'd get suspicious too easily.

I- oh, fuck it, I'll think of something.

She continues munching on her lunch and half-listening to Janis speak. Janis doesn't seem to notice or care one way or the other. Cady smiles and pulls out her phone to check her messages. She thinks of something then.

"And then-"

"Have you... told anyone about us?"

Janis pauses mid-sentence. "No."

"Not even Damian?" Cady asks shyly.

Janis shakes her head. "I kinda still don't believe it myself. I wanted to keep it to myself for a while."

"You don't wanna tell people?" Cady asks with a frown.

"No! No, I do. Some people," Janis says. "I just wanted it to stay between us for a little bit. And I figured I should check with you before I told anyone. But I'd be fine telling a few people now."

"Oh," Cady says.

"Do you want to?" Janis asks, sitting up and brushing her hair out of her face. Cady thinks for a moment before she nods.

"We should probably tell Damian, at least. He'll find out sooner or later anyway."

Janis sighs. "True."

"You don't want to?"

"No, I'm just preparing myself," Janis says, looking at Cady out of the corner of her eye with a small grin. "Might as well get it over with, I guess. C'mere."

Cady frowns in confusion and scoots closer. Janis pulls out her phone, opens the camera, and leans in. Cady catches on and gently rests a hand on Janis' cheek, smiling into a sweet kiss. She can feel Janis smiling too as she hears the camera shutter snap and they break apart. Janis sneaks a quick peck to Cady's nose, making her blink in shock and giggle quietly.

Janis opens her text conversation with Damian and types out a message. Cady hugs her arm and leans in over her shoulder to read it.

snarkisian: hey babe

cupboard: whaaaaaat do you want

snarkisian: Sent a photo: things have developed

Janis' phone starts ringing almost immediately. Janis frowns at it as Damian's contact photo fills the screen and it buzzes in her hand, but she hits the green button and the speaker so they can both hear.

As soon as she does, a piercing shriek rings out from the speakers. It's loud enough that Cady practically feels her brain dislodge and start rattling around in her head. She thinks she might've heard him all the way from the cafeteria, too.

As soon as that happens, he hangs up. Janis and Cady both blink at the screen for a moment before bursting into hysterical laughter.

"I don't know what I was expecting," Janis sighs affectionately as she slips her phone back into her pocket. Cady feels her own buzz against her leg and pulls it out to see several incoming texts from Damian that mainly consist of ABSKEOWIWHWJWJABDHWOWOA.

She clocks the time, then, and jumps. "Oh, shit!"

Janis startles. "What?"

"I have to go, lunch is almost over," Cady says, frantically packing up her things. "Bye babe. See you later."

Janis blinks in surprise, but returns the quick kiss Cady gives her before Cady goes rushing off. She has to find Regina before the bell rings. Not that Regina has ever felt much urge to listen to the bell.

She tries to think of an excuse as she hurries through the halls towards the cafeteria. Nothing really comes to her. She skids to a halt next to some sort of booth when she sees Regina and Aaron standing close to it.

"Hey!" she greets brightly after smoothing down her hair and adjusting her shirt. They both look at her. Aaron quirks his head when he sees what she's wearing, but he gets a faint smile.

Regina checks her nails and says, "Hey. Where have you been?"

"Oh, um..." Cady says. Shit. She wracks her brain trying to think of something. What did Janis say? "I skipped lunch."

Regina cocks an eyebrow. "Why?"

Cady smiles as she puts the pieces together. "I'm... trying to lose weight. So I look more like you guys. I just had one of these diet bars."

"Diet bars?" Regina questions. "Let me see."

Cady happily hands over the whole box of Kälteens. Regina holds it between her hands to try to read. Aaron peeks over her shoulder to try to see too.

"It's all in Norwegian or something," Regina says, looking at Cady in confusion.

"Swedish," Cady corrects before she can stop herself. "There's... um... this ingredient in them that you can't get here yet. My mom used to use them to lose weight in Kenya."

"Hm," Regina nods. "Can I keep these?"

"Sure!" Cady says brightly. She has a feeling Regina would've kept them even if she said no. Works for me.

"Now, are you getting me my candy cane?" Regina hums. Cady frowns in confusion before she realizes she's talking to Aaron.

"What happened to losing weight, those things are pure sugar," Aaron chuckles. Regina brushes his hair off his forehead and runs her fingers through it so it stays out of his face.

"But it's such a nice thing to do for your girlfriend," she pouts. "And stop pulling your hair down, you look so hot with it pushed back. Don't you think so, Cady?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, way hotter," Cady says. Two months ago that would've made Cady want to go for the jugular. Now? She couldn't care less.

Aaron sighs and begrudgingly leaves his hair the way Regina sort of styled it. "Alright, move over, since you so desperately need this candy cane."

He leans over the booth selling them to fill out one of the paper slips that'll eventually get tied to a candy cane and passed out in class. Cady giggles into her hand when she realizes Damian is the one in the budget Santa Claus costume behind the booth.

"Cady, remember, student parking lot after school," Regina says as she laces her pink-taloned fingers through Aaron's and leads him off to... wherever they're going. Most definitely not class.

"Got it! Bye," she says. She can feel her face relax as soon as they're turned around and can't see her anymore. Cady goes to the booth and leans across it. "Hi Dame."

"Ho ho ho, happy holidays! Would you like a candy cane?" 'Santa' replies. Cady laughs again.

"Hey, does Regina ever send any of these things?" she asks.

"Nah, she only gets them," Damian replies in his normal voice. "You want any?"

"One please," Cady replies, taking a pen with a smirk on her face.

—————

Cady sighs a little to herself as she follows Regina and the others into her house. Gretchen and Karen chat with Regina's mom. Regina huffs and rolls her eyes, straight off to her bedroom. Cady says a quick and polite hello and takes a handful of the offered snacks. She nibbles on the sunflower seeds while she mulls over what to do next.

Regina took the bars. As long as nobody recognizes them, she should be in the clear there. How can she make them work faster? Kälteens do work quickly, but Cady wants results as soon as possible. For Janis.

What makes you gain weight quickly? Cholesterol, but Cady doesn't want to do anything permanent. This is just to teach Regina a lesson, then she can lose the weight again. Sugar? Yeah. Carbs.

Cady smiles to herself as she puts a plan in place.

"Alright, you girls go find Regina. You'll do great," Mrs. George says after however long. Cady jumps when she remembers where she is.

"Thank you, Mrs. George," she calls as she goes running after Gretchen and Karen up to Regina's room.

"You're welcome!" the woman calls after them.

Regina tosses a hanger at her as soon as Cady walks into the room. "Here. I know, the costumes are fugly."

"I think they're kinda cute," Cady says, holding the outfit out so she can see it all.

"The hat has fucking jingle bells on the top, Cady," Regina huffs, handing Cady hers. She shakes it a little bit, and sure enough, there's a quiet jingling. "Go make sure it fits, but we really just need to work on making sure the hat doesn't hit the ground or fall off while you tumble."

"Okay," Cady says. Gretchen and Karen just changed in front of each other, but Cady sneaks off to the en-suite and locks the door behind her. She looks at herself in the mirror and takes a deep breath.

Janis was right, I do look Plastic, she thinks. Cute, though. Her loss.

She carefully takes off her clothes and tugs on the red-and-white striped tights. She has to jump to get the super stretchy material all the way up, but she manages with only one faceplant. Then comes the green dress, with gold buttons down the bodice, short sleeves with puffed shoulders, a belt at her waist, and red and gold trim around the hem with a collar to match.

It's not a great fit. Hesitantly, she unlocks the door and steps back into Regina's room with an, "Um."

Regina looks at her and laughs. "I kinda thought that would happen, these costumes are all huge. I swear they think we're all fat cows or something. My mom will tailor it for you."

Cady looks down at the very strangely fitting dress. There's a lot of space in between her belly and the dress, and not a lot in between it and her boobs. The skirt hits about mid-thigh, which is entirely too long, if Gretchen and Karen's are anything to go by. The sleeves are both uncomfortably tight in her armpits and loose everywhere else.

Other than that, it's great. At least the tights fit.

"Go change again, she'll get your measurements before you leave."

Cady nods and slips gratefully back into the restroom. She snaps a quick picture before she changes and sends it to Janis.

She's stuck with the dress over her head when she hears her phone go off, presumably with Janis' answer. She wriggles more in a ditch attempt to free herself, which gets her nowhere even faster.

Eventually, she escapes, heaving for breath and her hair all frizzy. She peels off the tights and puts on her non-elf clothes. Regina takes the hanger as she passes her on her way into her bathroom while Cady is occupied checking her phone.

jayjay: cutie

cadygirl: You like it?

jayjay: ofc i do

jayjay: my dorky little elf

cadygirl: Hey!

jayjay: do u get ears and shit

cadygirl: Yeah

cadygirl: Regina's really mad about it

jayjay: holy shit that's amazing

jayjay: reginald in elf ears

cadygirl: I don't get it I think they're cute

jayjay: i think ur cute

"Who are you texting?" Karen asks. Cady leaps a solid foot in the air as she materializes over her shoulder. "Not enough emojis."

"Um..." Cady stutters. Her immediate instinct was to blush and press her phone to her chest so they can't see. Now Gretchen and Karen are both looking at her suspiciously. "Uh... my... g- boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?!" Gretchen squeals sharply. "You can't get a boyfriend without telling us!"

"I can't?"

"Not without your best friends' approval! You wouldn't buy a skirt without asking your friends if it looks good on you," Gretchen hums.

"I wouldn't?" Cady replies in confusion.

"Exactly!"

Cady just blinks.

"So who is it?" Karen asks eagerly.

"Oh, you don't know him," Cady says immediately. Because it's not a him. It's not technically a lie. Right?

"He's not, like, thirty, right?" Gretchen asks in concern, the furrow in her brow deepening the longer Cady goes without answering.

"No! No, ew," Cady replies with a grimace. "Uh... he... goes to another school."

"Which one?"

"Um... do you remember that school we played right before Thanksgiving break? The away game when we stayed at the hotel?"

"Roosevelt?" Gretchen asks. Sure.

"Yeah. He goes there," Cady replies. "His name is... Jasin. With... an I."

"Ooh, unique!" Gretchen coos. "Is he cute? You have to introduce us soon!"

"Well, I don't think he's... everyone's type, but I think he's cute," Cady replies sheepishly.

"Aww, you're blushing!" Karen says. Cady blushes harder.

"Shut up," she scoffs. Karen's face falls. "No, wait, I didn't mean it like that-"

"It's okay," Karen says quietly.

"I'm really sorry, Kare," Cady says. Karen gives her a look Cady can't read. Not that Karen is ever easy to read.

"Don't worry about it."

Cady gently squeezes her arm. Karen smiles faintly at her.

"Do you have pictures of him?" Gretchen asks eagerly.

"No," Cady says immediately. "Uh... he's really shy, we don't, like, send pictures of ourselves much. We just like to see each other in person and text and stuff."

"Aww," they both coo. Gretchen continues, "Well, get one soon! We gotta make sure he's hot enough for you."

"I'll try," Cady giggles. "Oh, could we like... not tell Regina right away? It's all new, still, I don't want her to freak out about our image if we break up or whatever. We've only been together for, like, two weeks."

"Our lips are sealed," Gretchen replies immediately.

"But I'm not using SuperGlue as Chapstick again," Karen adds.

"No, that's okay, K, don't do that," Cady says immediately. "Thanks guys."

"Alright sluts, put on these... eugh. I can't even call them hats," Regina says as she parades back into the room. She chucks one at each of them rather aggressively. Cady's ends up hitting her full force in the face when she's too slow to react.

Regina watches as the three of them carefully push all her very expensive furniture out of the way so they have enough room to flip without fear of crashing into anything. Cady asks why they're not just practicing outside, and Regina goes on a solid ten minute rant about being seen in those costumes more than they have to. Cady doesn't speak for the rest of the evening.

—————

"Did Regina's boobs get bigger?" Cady hears the boy behind her in chemistry class ask about two weeks later, apparently as a conversation opener with his equally-jock-douchebag lab partner.

"Dude, totally," jock-douchebag replies. "Aaron's a lucky guy."

"Isn't she still dogging Shane?" bro number one asks. Cady tries to hide a shudder at the mention of his name.

Bro the second shrugs. "Probably."

Dammit, we made her hotter, Cady huffs to herself as she slides her goggles down over her eyes and turns on the bunsen burner. She looks over and sees Janis with a similarly disgruntled look on her face.

She gestures subtly for Cady to focus. Cady snaps back into the real world, this time before she can set herself on fire. She risks one glance back and sees Janis chuckle to herself, biting her lips to stop before anyone can see and ask what she's laughing about. Cady smiles to herself and buckles down to set some Doritos on fire. Not myself, thank you very much.

—————

Cady is laser focused in calculus another two weeks later. Not on calculus, but... she's there, it's fine.

She jumps and bangs her knee against her desk when Santa Claus slams the door open with a bellowed, "HHHHHOOOOO!"

"Jesus Christ," Ms. Norbury sighs, picking up her shattered chalk bits after she dropped it in shock. "Make it quick."

"One candy cane gram for Shane Oman," Damian says, adjusting his very poor quality fake beard as he hands Shane his candy cane.

He holds it between his first and index fingers like a pair of dirty underpants and leaves Shane to snatch it. Damian wipes his hand on his red velvet Santa coat like Shane has some sort of hetero cooties he might catch.

"Four for Glenn Coco!" Damian continues. "Hohoho, you go, Glenn Coco. Two for Caddy Heron!"

Cady frowns in confusion. Two? She only bought one. She takes them with a smile as Damian wiggles his way between the rows to deliver them. "Thanks, D."

Damian winks at her and moves on to deliver the next few candy canes to the lucky recipients.

Cady checks the tags on hers. There's the fake one, the one she wrote herself. She smiles to herself as she reads the little red slip of paper on the second one.

Merry Christmas my little elf

<3, J

ps ur short lolololol

She rolls her eyes as she reads the very loving message from her girlfriend and unwraps the end of the candy cane. She sucks on it as she continues pretending to pay attention when Damian leaves and Ms. Norbury can resume her lesson.

——

"Sorry I'm late!" she pretend-puffs as she stumbles her way into the gym. Regina just glares at her from across the room, but Gretchen comes scrambling over to join her as she plops her still-open bag on the ground. "God, I was in the middle of a problem when the bell rang, I didn't even have time to get packed up-"

"You got a candy cane?" Gretchen asks softly. She picks it up and unfolds the tag to read.

"Oh, yeah, Regina sent me one! Isn't she just the best friend?"

"R-Regina?" Gretchen squeaks. "Thanks for being such a great best friend. ...Cute."

"She didn't give you one?" Cady asks with faux-sympathy. She's heard it from the mouth of the lioness herself. There's no way Gretchen got any.

Gretchen shakes her head frantically. "She never sends them."

"Oh. Weird," Cady replies. "Well, you can have that one if you want. I had another one."

"I have to go," Gretchen chokes around floods of tears. Shit. Maybe Gretchen is a little more fragile than she thought.

"Gretchen," she says pleadingly, running after her friend to the bathroom.

"Well, i-if you and Regina are best friends now... then you can be in charge of keeping all her secrets," Gretchen says as soon as the door closes behind Cady.

Cady just nods. She can tell Gretchen is about to ramble, she doesn't dare interrupt her.

"Like, for example, she bought you those shoes just to make fun of you! Be-because she knew you wouldn't be able to walk in them. And she's not really blonde!"

Cady's eyes widen. She's not? Her eyes flick to the door as she hears a shocked gasp come from the other side. Was that... Damian?

"Her natural color is dark blonde. Also she totally cheats on Aaron!"

Cady almost chokes.

"Every Thursday she says she has a cheer intensive but she totally just stays behind to hook up with Shane Oman in the lion costume!"

"She makes him wear the costume?" Cady asks in disgusted horror.

"No! They're both in the costume!" Gretchen bellows, snapping the candy cane in half and dropping the pieces to the floor. Cady's jaw drops.

"Oh my god."

"And I never told anyone because I am such a good friend! I-I'm gonna go fill up my water bottle. Cover for me?" Gretchen sniffles. Cady nods.

Gretchen ducks out of the room. Damian enters before the door even closes, and Janis slams her way out of the stall. Damian hysterically whimpers, "I wear that costume!"

"Cads, that was amazing! What did you do?!" Janis says with an adorably delighted smile on her face. She rushes up and grabs Cady by the arms, spinning her around before she leans in for a kiss.

"Just a little Christmas magic," Cady responds with a grin of her own as soon as they break apart. "I sent myself a candy cane but I signed it as being from Regina."

"Clever girl," Janis coos in a horrible accent. Cady giggles.

"Okay, I gotta go! Love you guys." Janis gets another kiss and Damian gets a quick hug before Cady runs back to the gym to start their last parade practice.

————-

Cady grumbles as she wakes up the next morning. It's barely morning, the sun hasn't even risen yet. She has to be in the city, an hour away, two hours before the parade starts at 8:00. And she has to be there with her hair and makeup already done.

She does consider herself a morning person, but four in the morning is a bit much for anyone.

She grumbles as she hauls herself out of bed and stumbles to the restroom. She turns on the light and resists the urge to wince and close her eyes. How am I meant to be a jolly elf on five hours of sleep?

Cady opens her eyes extra wide, looking a little past unhinged when she sees herself in the mirror, to let the light in and hopefully wake her up.

By the time she's done brushing her teeth, she doesn't squint in the light anymore. She still grumbles sleepily as she washes her face, though.

She brings up the photo Regina sent (accompanied by many profanities) of what her makeup should look like so she can copy it. It's honestly not very different from her usual cheer makeup. Foundation, lots of gold eyeshadow, black mascara, red lipstick. Pretty much the only difference is the bright pink blush that she leaves in neat little circles on the apples of her cheeks instead of blending it up her cheekbones to look more natural. It's a little more rag doll than elf, but maybe it'll work better with the costume on.

She does her hair in two french braids, parted as close to even as she can get down the middle of her head and twisted intricately so they won't fall out after a morning of being mostly upside-down. She gives up on each braid a bit before the end, and ties the bands around halfway down instead of at the ends. Kind of a cute look, she thinks, as she fluffs out her curls at the end of each braid.

"You ready, binti? Have a Kälteen bar," her mother says when she trudges her way downstairs. Cady grabs the bar and takes a disgruntled bite out of it. She nods.

"You're sure this Regina friend can bring you home? We have to leave right from-"

"Right from the parade, I know, Dad," Cady says. "I quadruple checked, I'll make it home fine. Have fun at the vet conference."

"Oh, we will," her mother promises. "There's a keynote speaker on upgrades in euthanasia technology."

"...Cool," Cady replies.

"Right?! Alright, go get in the car. You sure you have everything?"

"Yeah. Regina has my outfit, I'll get changed there," Cady says. She looks down and brushes some wrinkles out of her Christmas jammies that Janis bought her. She smiles at the memory. My little dork.

"Time to hit the road, then!" her dad says. Cady shrieks as he hoists her off the ground and marches out towards the car.

"Dad!"

Her dad just starts bellowing the chorus to I Love a Parade, probably really irritating their poor neighbors. Cady gets affectionately tossed in the backseat, and her dad continues singing as her parents get into their spots up front and start the drive to Chicago.

————-

"Binti, we're here," her mother says. Cady jumps and snorts, bashing her head against the window she had fallen asleep against. "Ooh, be careful."

"Shit," Cady hisses under her breath, rubbing her new sore spot.

"Language," her dad chides, only half-serious.

"Sorry daddy. Have fun in Peoria. I love you," Cady says, bending at a weird angle to hug her parents goodbye. They can only stay long enough to see the beginning of the parade, so she has to get her goodbyes in now.

"We will. Be safe, have fun. No boys," her mother says, gently patting her back.

"I know, I know. You don't have to worry about that," Cady chuckles. Really. You have no idea.

"Atta girl. Go get em, tiger," her dad says, opening the door for her and sending her out. "Love you!"

"Yeah, love you too," Cady says, briefly walking backwards to talk to them. She gives them a final wave before she turns around and starts running to her team's meeting spot. "Yeesh. I'm sixteen."

Regina, once again, chucks her costume at her as soon as she's within sight. Cady manages to catch it this time, and looks around for somewhere private to change. The only place is behind some trees, so she heads that way.

Regina's mom is a talented seamstress and tailored Cady's costume to fit her perfectly. Almost too perfectly. It's so tight against her chest and her belly that she can barely breathe, and the skirt juuuuust barely passes her bum. The candy cane-esque tights are all she has left to protect her modesty.

The shoes with pointy toes and jingle bells are a recent addition, and she jangles her way back over to her friends. "Hey."

"Hey!" Karen greets, too brightly for six in the morning.

"Are your costumes, like, really tight?" Regina huffs, shifting her arms around to try to stretch the fabric a little. "They were huge, my mom can't have fucked up the tailoring this bad."

"Mine's okay," Cady shrugs. Her hat jingles for emphasis.

"Ugh, I'm gonna go see if she has any safety pins," Regina grumbles. Cady's phone pings as she stomps off through the frost-covered grass.

jayjay: good mornin buttercup

cadygirl: >:|

jayjay: what ?

jayjay: not a good morning??

cadygirl: Sent a picture: It's 6 in the morning and I look like this

cadygirl: And I'm cold >:|

jayjay: aww

jayjay: someone's grumpy

cadygirl: Yeah >:||||

jayjay: steve and i will be there to see you

cadygirl: Yaaaaay 🥰🥰

jayjay: that easy to cheer you up huh

cadygirl: It'd be even easier if you bring me food

jayjay: little conwoman

cadygirl: Whaaaat nooooo

jayjay: i'll take you to breakfast after

jayjay: hobbit

cadygirl: Hey!!

jayjay: not because you're short

jayjay: this time

jayjay: bc they're hungry all the time

cadygirl: Oh

cadygirl: Still v rude of you

jayjay: if i take you to get a happy meal will that make up for it

cadygirl: Yes <333

jayjay: done

jayjay: see you soon peanut

cadygirl: See you soon gorgeous 😘

Cady suddenly feels much warmer as she puts her phone back into her bag. She and Gretchen glue each other's ears on and the whole team does a warmup and stretch routine together. Cady rolls out her wrists and finally smiles as she gets into her spot.

——

The parade is more fun than she was expecting. It's less intense than what she has to do at games, more walkovers and limbers than tucks and punches. She gets a little dizzy, and it's hard not to get run over by the float on the rare occasions she fumbles a landing, but it's still fun. For once, the smile on her face is genuine the whole time.

She waves dorkily when she passes her parents. They both have their phones held up to film and proud smiles beaming across their faces. They wave back just as dorkily before they duck out and are off to their seminar.

Cady doesn't get to do much in the way of the more limber skills anymore. It's fun. She kind of misses doing skills just for fun, for herself. As long as she stays in her spot she can do whatever she wants to. She does all sorts of front walkovers, back walkovers, aerials, the occasional handspring. It's refreshing.

Whenever they come to a stop is when things get interesting. Nobody wants to see a parade stuck in place, so they practiced lots of choreography for that. One of the floats ahead of them gets stuck on a corner, and Cady does a vaulted flip off of Regina's crouched form like a really, really elaborate game of leapfrog. Regina acts like she's dancing with her and whirls her back around so they're in their right spots before they get going again.

Towards the end of the parade, Cady hears a, "Hi Cady!"

She's not supposed to, but she looks over. Stevie is waving eagerly to her, her arm linked with one of her friends. Janis is behind her with a cute grin on her face as she sees Cady in all her elvish glory. Cady wiggles her fingers back in greeting, and kisses the tips of her fingers twice before blowing the kisses in their direction. Janis smiles wider and sneakily blows one back. Stevie just squeals and dances around with her friend. Cady adds a little more flair to her skills than she needs to just for them.

Things stop and start a lot more as the first floats get to the end of the parade route and have to navigate pulling off to the sides of the road or getting where they need to be. Cady and Regina do their series of tricks at least six times. They start adding little bits of flourish to it when it begins to feel boring and repetitive.

Apparently a little too much flourish. Regina does a dramatic turn before she crouches to be Cady's vault.

Cady's already running.

She has no time to stop as Regina's safety pin breaks.

And her costume comes off.

Regina screams and bends down to try to grab it. Cady slips on the fabric and goes head over heels the wrong way. Cameras are already out, pictures and videos being recorded. Apparently more people from North Shore make the trip out to see the parade than they thought.

But Cady can't hear the shutters clicking or the agitated murmuring over the pop her ankle makes as she lands, and the roaring of blood in her ears as a horrific pain radiates up her leg. No, no, no no no nononono.

One of the coaches was walking alongside the float in between them and the crowd to make sure it all went smoothly. She rushes up and helps Regina get herself situated. "You alright, Heron?"

Cady can only sob. My ankle is broken. My ankle is broken and it really hurts. My ankle is broken and I may never be able to tumble again. My ankle-

"Whoa, kid, hey," her coach says. "Can ya walk? Right flank, fall in! You're down a man!"

Cady hops and hobbles her way to the end of the route and sits down on the curb, cradling her ankle and sobbing.

"Are your folks around?"

Cady shakes her head. "Re-Regina's take-taking me home."

Her coach hums and nods. "She ran off. Hope she's okay, too. Dang, kid, that looks gnarly."

That only makes Cady cry harder. What if I just did my last flip?

"I'll uh... go keep an eye out for George," her coach says. She does have the decency to bring Cady her bag. Cady debates texting her parents to let them know, but they're probably already halfway to Peoria. And they were so excited about the keynote, she can't drag them away from that. She'll just have to suck it up.

The pain is... almost bearable. It's not, but she doesn't exactly have much choice. Her sobs slow, and before too long she's just sniffling on the side of the road and holding her sore leg.

She about jumps out of her skin when she hears a, "Caddy!"

"Jesus Christ, Janis! There's people around here!" Cady hisses. Janis' face falls a little.

"Sorry."

"What are you doing here?" Cady asks more gently.

"There's already like, seventy different people sharing videos of you and Regina falling, what the hell happened?"

"I think the Kälteen bars backfired," Cady sniffs, shutting one eye as a wave of pain radiates from her ankle.

Janis frowns. "What do you mean?"

"She's gained so much weight her costume didn't fit," Cady explains through half-grit teeth.

Janis snorts. Cady glares at her. "Sorry."

"She safety pinned it on and it broke and I slipped on the costume," Cady continues. "And I fucked up my landing and I think my ankle is broken."

"Yikes," Janis says in concern.

"She was supposed to take me home," Cady says, trying to stretch out her leg and wincing in pain. Janis winces too.

"Damian and I will take you to the hospital, don't worry about it," Janis says immediately.

"Don't- ow- don't you have Stevie with you?" Cady asks in concern.

"Nah, she wanted to go to her friend's house, I'm free of the child until tonight," Janis replies. "Can I see?"

Cady looks at her hesitantly. Janis looks back. She doesn't push. There are a lot of people around. But Cady needs the comfort of her girlfriend right now. She nods.

Janis carefully eases her stupid jingly boot off her foot, pausing whenever Cady makes a pained noise. By the end Cady has her bottom lip so firmly between her teeth she can taste blood and her eyes screwed shut. It's still not enough to stop a few pained tears slipping out and down her face.

It becomes quickly apparent that Janis has absolutely no idea what she's doing. She gives Cady's foot a gentle, inquisitive poke and pulls back like she's been burned when Cady squeaks in pain. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Cady says, looking at her through squinted eyes and trying to remember how to breathe.

"It's pretty swollen," Janis says in concern. "And bruising already."

Cady sniffs again, looking down at her stupid candy-cane patterned lap. Janis gently tips her chin up.

"It'll be okay, Cads," she murmurs.

"But what if it's not?" Cady hiccups. "What if I never walk on it again? What if I can never do another flip?"

"And what if it's totally fine? What if it turns out to just be a bad sprain and you're back on your feet in a week?" Janis retaliates.

Cady feels her lip tremble. Janis might be right.

But they both know she's not.

"They're coming, hide," Cady says when she hears the cheers coming down the road. Thank god Damian's almost here.

Janis looks at her oddly, sadly, but she obediently ducks behind the tree line to wait for the crowd of people they actually know to clear out.

"Cads! Hey, coach told me you fell, what the hell, babe?!" Damian says as soon as he sees her, sprinting full tilt over to her. "Oh, yikes."

"Is it bad?" Cady asks, feeling tears brimming behind her eyes yet again.

"It's not... great," Damian replies hesitantly. "Can you move it?"

Cady sniffles. "I don't know, I haven't tried."

"Can I?"

Cady nods. Damian carefully braces her ankle with his large, warm hand and gives her foot a gentle wiggle. Several people look in their direction at the noise Cady makes in response.

"Alright, well," Damian says in a voice a solid three octaves higher than normal.

"I'm sorry," Cady sobs.

"Babe, shh," Damian soothes. "I will donate you one of my feet if I have to. We'll go get you patched up and all that, don't worry about it."

"But how will you be a big Broadway star someday if you only have one foot?" Cady giggles wetly.

"I'll manage. Is that Janis peeping at me through the bushes over there?"

"Probably," Cady replies with another giggle. She turns around and sees a familiar pair of blue eyes poked out from behind a gnarled old tree trunk. Janis ducks back behind it when she sees she's been spotted, and Cady smiles. "Yeah. Dork."

Damian smiles too. "She really loves you. Let me text her so she doesn't get picked up for stalking or some shit."

"She does?" Cady sniffles.

"Girl, are you kidding? We haven't had a conversation where you haven't come up at least once since September," Damian says absently as he taps out a message to Janis.

Janis is close enough that they hear her phone ping and her muffled, "Shit!" Cady can't help but laugh.

"Alright, she'll meet us at the car and we'll take you to the hospital."

"Thanks, papa elf," Cady grins. Damian laughs and tosses Cady onto his back to carry her the half-mile back to the parking lot. "These bells are infuriating."

"I think they're fun," Damian replies, a hand over his heart. He wiggles his head to make his hat jingle for emphasis. Cady giggles.

"Thanks for taking me home. I dunno what happened to Regina," Cady says quietly.

"Nobody does, she disappeared after the... incident," Damian replies. Cady frowns.

"Weird."

"I took over on your side so it was still balanced, but apparently she just ran off naked through the woods. Guess you can cross that off your list," Damian says. Cady laughs.

"You make a great elf," she replies. "Your ear keeps poking me, though."

"Sorry," Damian chuckles. "Alright, madam, we have arrived at your chariot."

"'Sup nerds," Janis greets, pushing herself off Damian's mom's car with a small salute.

"Caddy gets front seat privileges, she's broken."

"Ugh!" Janis groans sarcastically. Cady giggles.

"Um, actually... can I sit in the back with you?" she mumbles shyly.

Janis smirks. "We gonna make out?"

Cady rolls her eyes. "Corndog."

"What?!" Damian giggles.

"Is that not right?" Cady replies shyly.

"Did you just call me a corndog?!" Janis cackles.

"Someone tell me what I meant to say!" Cady insists.

Damian barely manages to put her down safely before he almost collapses to the ground in laughter. "Did-did you mean horndog?"

"Yes!" Cady says. "Stop laughing, it's not funny!"

"Yes it is!" Janis chokes through her laughter.

"People are staring, shut up!" Cady hisses. "Stop laughing!"

"Okay, okay," Damian says, wiping tears from his eyes. "Get in, sluts and slurs."

As soon as the doors close, Janis and Damian burst into laughter again. Damian can barely turn the key to start the car, he's laughing so hard. "I didn't mean to say corndog, stop laughing."

"You're so cute," Janis hums, still giggling to herself. "How's the ankle doing?"

"Hurts," Cady sighs.

Janis pouts and pulls Cady into a cuddle. Cady leans into her shoulder with a wince as another burst of pain radiates up her leg. "Poor baby."

—-

After an interesting drive to the nearest urgent care, Janis scoops Cady out and carries her baby-style into the waiting room. The pain is starting to get to Cady again, and she winces and cries quietly as Janis cradles her in her lap.

Luckily, people are so focused on their own injuries or other ailments that two Christmas elves and their art freak barely catch their eye. There's a mother there with a clearly sick little boy snuffling into her shoulder, a duo of frat bros who are clearly drunk and each cradling one arm close to their chest, and an old man in the corner filling out a crossword puzzle from 2011.

"How did your hat survive that whole thing?" Janis asks as Damian plops into the seat next to them with Cady's paperwork.

"I glued it to my head," Cady sniffs. Damian drops his pen in shock.

"You what?!"

"Only in the front, I used clips in the back," Cady replies. Damian sighs and rests his hand on his chest.

"Do not scare me like that," he replies. "Cads, when's your birthday?"

"July thirtieth," Cady says softly.

"Hey, my birthday's in July too!" Damian says. "Twinsies."

Cady can't help but giggle at his desperate attempt to cheer her up. "When's yours?"

"The thirteenth," Damian says.

"Man, I'm still the baby!" Cady huffs. "Miss January over here."

"Not my fault my parents know how to celebrate Easter," Janis shrugs. Cady gasps.

"Janis Sarkisian, we are in public!"

"Whatcha gonna do about it, tiny?" Janis retaliates. "Since we are in public."

"Hmph," Cady grumbles. She cuddles closer into her girlfriend's warm neck.

"You okay?" Janis whispers against her forehead.

"Hurts," Cady whispers back. "Are they gonna see us soon?"

"Probably not," Janis sighs.

Damian goes to hand in her paperwork at the front desk. Beyond that, all they can do is wait.

And wait they do. But, eventually, a nurse calls Cady's name and Janis stands to carry her back. Damian follows quickly, running after them through the winding halls.

"Alright, what seems to be the problem?" the nurse says. She does a double take when she sees the elf with one shoe on sitting on the exam table. She snorts a quick laugh but bites her lip to stop herself.

"I think I broke my ankle," Cady says softly. The doctor looks down at her one exposed foot and winces.

"It looks like that might be the case, hon. What happened?" the nurse asks, taking Cady's vitals. "Cross your arm over your chest."

Cady does when she fastens a blood pressure cuff around her wrist. "Um, I was in the parade this morning and I slipped on... something. I fumbled a flip and landed on it weird."

"Did you hear a pop when you landed or was it just a feeling?"

"I heard something pop, and I can't put any weight on it," Cady says anxiously. "And it's a little numb, and kinda... tingly, I guess."

"Mm," the nurse hums. "I'm gonna try and move it a bit, you let me know if anything hurts, alright?" Cady nods and braces as the mere brush of her fingertips against her ankle sends more waves of pain flooding up her whole leg and out her toes. "That hurt?"

"Mmhmm," Cady squeaks.

"Hm," the nurse hums again. "I'm gonna get the doctor to get you an x-ray, alright?

"Thank you," Cady says. She looks down at her lap with a quiet sniffle. She shakes her other foot and humphs at the jingle she gets in response.

"You okay, Peanut?" Janis asks quietly.

"What if it is actually broken?" Cady asks desperately. "I'm the head flyer, broken bones take so long to heal! It'll be weeks before I'm back in, what are they gonna-"

"We have protocols for this kinda thing, Cads, it'll be okay," Damian says. "We get injured all the time. I broke my wrist cheering in middle school and everything was fine. You just gotta take your time to heal."

"But-"

"If it is broken and you try to do anything you could hurt yourself permanently," Janis says. "Repetitive fractures? You have to rest. And we don't know for sure that it's broken yet, it might just be a bad sprain."

Cady sighs and nods. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Anytime, babe," Damian says, gently wrapping an arm around her shoulders and resting his head against hers. Cady blinks as his elf ear almost pokes her in the eye. Janis joins in too, and gets a jingle bell up the nose.

Her little crew gets left behind as Cady hops after the doctor towards the x-ray room. She holds as still as she can on the uncomfortable table and listens to the deafening clunks of the machine as it whirls around her foot. It's so loud she's a little worried it'll explode, but the doctor eventually returns from behind the lead partition and leads her back to her room to wait for the results.

It's a very quick wait.

"Your ankle is broken," the doctor says as soon as she walks into the room.

Cady feels her face crumple, and Janis wraps her in a tight hug as Cady lets out a quiet sob. "It's okay, Peanut, shh."

"It'll heal fine, no surgery needed. We call it a nondisplaced fracture, so none of your bones have actually moved out of where they're meant to be. You just need a cast for a little bit and you should be back to normal."

"So-so I'll still-still be able to-to cheer?"

"Not for six to eight weeks, but yes," the doctor replies with a smile. Janis squeezes her tighter as Cady releases a sob of relief.

"I told you," she murmurs, kissing Cady's cheek. Cady sniffles and leans into her shoulder. She needs Janis right now.

"Technically you broke your leg, the bottom part of your fibula here, and there's a hairline fracture in part of your tibia. But they're not displaced enough for you to need surgery, just a cast and no weight bearing for a good while."

"O-okay," Cady sniffs.

"You might wanna... de-elf yourself before we get the cast on, though. Unless you want to keep those tights for a few weeks."

Cady takes the wheel of possible cast colors and the pajamas Damian hands her from her bag. "These are cute! Where'd they come from?"

"Janis got them for me," Cady says with a sniffle as the doctor leaves and Janis and Damian both turn around to give her some privacy to change.

"Oh, did she now? How very soft of her," Damian hums. Janis shoves him. Damian sticks his tongue out in her general direction, unable to tell quite where she is with his hands firmly over his eyes.

"Shut up," Janis responds.

"Stop fighting, you can turn around now," Cady says once she's back in her comfy pajamas. "Which color cast should I get?"

"What's your favorite color?" Damian asks.

"Yellow," Cady replies.

"The purple is cool too," Janis says, tapping the little swatch of it. Cady nods.

Damian leans in close to see all the options. "I like the green."

"I like green," Cady acknowledges. "The Plastics will kill me if I get anything except pink, though."

"Pfft, who cares about them? Regina did this to you," Janis scoffs.

"Because we made her gain weight," Cady retaliates. "This light pink is cute."

"Do whatever you want, Cupcake."

"Cupcake?" Damian responds immediately, accompanied with a gag.

"Look at this little faaaaace," Janis coos, leaning harder into it and squishing Cady's cheeks rather than trying to fend off her friend. Cady goes along with it too, batting her eyelashes coquettishly at him. "Isn't she just the cutest widdle thing?"

"You two are gonna ruin my life together, aren't you?"

“Mm-hmm!" Cady hums happily, her cheeks still smushed in her girlfriend's hand. Damian rolls his eyes. Janis gives Cady's squished-out lips a kiss before she lets her go and smirks at her friend.

"You're the one who was literally speechless for four hours after we told you we were dating," she responds.

"I was in shock, shut up."

"Because your matchmaking never works?"

Damian huffs. "Whatever, it does."

"Name one time."

"This!" Damian insists, gesturing frantically between the two of them. Janis rolls her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Princess," she replies. Damian smiles.

"Thank you."

The doctor returns towards the tail end of that argument and shoots Cady a confused look. Cady just shrugs a little. She hands back all the cast swatches and goes with the light pink she had liked. She does really like it, and the Plastics won't crucify her for it. Well, they might anyway for what happened at the parade, and for needing a clunky, bulky cast in the first place. But at least this'll show she has decent taste and the ability to match.

Janis and Damian each take and squeeze one of her hands as her bones are painfully squished back where they need to be and wrapped in layers upon layers of fabric. The pink shell finishes the job, and Janis asks the doctor for a Sharpie so she and Damian can be the first to sign it.

"Do it small," Cady insists. Damian shoots her a strange look, but they both sign their names in the smallest letters they can right by her toes. Janis adds a little heart by hers for good measure. "Thanks, guys."

Cady gets fit for a set of crutches. It takes a while and she ends up with kids size ones, but eventually she's clicking slowly across the parking lot and finally on her way home.

"Jan, you wanna come over?" Damian asks. Cady pouts a little. She knows he and Janis are best friends, and that they definitely hang out without her sometimes, but it's not like Damian to ask with Cady right there.

"Nah, I gotta go get Stevie," Janis replies. Damian nods. Cady is confused when they pull into Janis' driveway. She should've been dropped off first. Her house is much further out of the way. "Bye Peanut."

Cady returns the kiss she gives. "Bye, baby."

Damian gags in the front seat. "Bye, dumbass."

"Bye, slut," Janis replies, blowing him a kiss as she climbs out of the car in the most complicated way she can and runs into her house.

Damian puts the car back in gear and keeps driving. Cady is more confused when they pull into his driveway. He turns the car off and gets out, leaving Cady alone in the backseat.

"You coming?" he asks, knocking on her window upon noticing she hasn't moved. Cady jumps.

“You're not taking me home?"

"I am not leaving you alone to navigate that house with one foot. But I'll take you home if you'd rather be there," Damian responds.

Cady shakes her head. "No. No, uh... thanks."

"Of course," Damian replies. "Now come on, cripple, my mom'll make us milkshakes."

"Your mom?" Cady asks with a smile.

"Oh, shit, you haven't met her yet! Uh, be ready for like, a lot of hugs. And she might cry. She's a big empath."

"Okay," Cady giggles. "She sounds great."

"She is," Damian says with a small smile. He unlocks the door and drops their stuff in the small area for shoes and coats and bags. "Ma, I'm home! And I brought Cady!"

Stanley comes running down the hall as soon as she hears the door. Damian protectively stands in front of Cady so the excited pup doesn't knock her over, but Cady smiles and rests her crutches against the wall so she can give the sweet little thing some scritches. "Hi, Stanley! How are you, baby girl?! Oh, yes, hi! I missed you too!"

"Stanley, gentle, Caddy's broken," Damian says. Stanley actually does calm a little bit, sniffing curiously at Cady and wagging her entire rear end instead of jumping on her like she did last time.

"Hey, baby girl!" Damian's mother greets, coming down the hallway in such a blaze of glory that it's immediately apparent where Damian gets his showmanship from. Cady looks up and smiles as she wraps him in a hug.

"Hi Ma," Damian responds, hugging his mom back and handing Cady her crutches again.

"How was the parade?" his mom asks, leading the two of them down the hall. She clocks Cady hobbling after them, then. "Ah."

"Yeah, she broke her ankle," Damian responds.

"At the parade?! Oh, honey!" his mom says immediately, wrapping Cady in such a tight hug she thinks she hears a few of her ribs pop. "You poor thing! Oh, come in, come in, sit down. Damian, help her to the living room, come on now."

"Can we go to my room instead?" Damian asks. His mom rolls her eyes.

"Yes, go ahead. It's on this floor, Cady, don't worry baby."

"Thanks, Ms. Hubbard," Cady replies with a smile. She gets another tight hug and actually has to cough a little when she's released to get her breathing back in a normal rhythm.

"Of course, baby! What kind of milkshakes do y'all want?"

"Oreo?" Damian suggests. Ms. Hubbard looks to Cady, and she nods eagerly. "Please."

"Coming right up."

"Thank you," Cady says as she's off back to the kitchen.

"Don't mention it, baby!" she calls back.

"Your mom is great," Cady says. Damian nods. Cady squeaks in surprise as he hauls her onto his back and starts carrying her down the hall towards his bedroom next to the garage.

"She is."

"She's very comforting," Cady continues. Damian nods again. "I see where you get it from."

"D'aww, thanks," Damian coos. He's actually blushing a little bit, and Cady smiles as he rests her down on his cushy bed. He fusses over her like a worried mother, helping her take her makeup and ears off as Cady looks around his bedroom for the first time. She's been here before for movie nights, but only ever in the basement.

None of the actual drywall is visible; completely plastered over with posters of drag queens and black-and-white photos of old Broadway stars. Cady can barely breathe for Judy Garland and Cher and RuPaul. There's fairy lights of all colors hanging from the crown molding, illuminating and twinkling over a full wall of Playbills in protective clear plastic sleeves. The furniture is a bit plain by comparison, but it all just feels like Damian's spirit has exploded into the room. It's amazing.

"Your room is so cool," Cady says.

"Thanks!"

"You have a lot of Playbills," Cady continues. "Have you actually seen that many shows?"

"God, no," Damian chuckles. "The top row there are the only ones I've seen in person, the rest are from eBay."

"Cool," Cady replies.

"Has Janis taught you about musicals yet?"

Cady shakes her head with a smile. "She said she wouldn't be able to do it justice."

Damian snorts. "Yeah, right. She just doesn't want to sit through them."

"She doesn't like them?"

"She only watches them once a year on my birthday and if I sing a lyric that could even approach being from a musical she'll punch me in the jugular."

"Really?"

Damian nods, fiddling with the mouse to wake up the computer and typing in his pin. "You've brought a lot of her walls down. So... thanks for that."

"I'm glad," Cady replies softly. "She deserves it."

"She does," Damian agrees. He shrugs suddenly. "Anyway, what do you want to watch?"

"You pick. I don't know anything," Cady giggles. Damian nods and opens a folder full of bootlegs. He murmurs the titles under his breath until he lands on a good first musical for her.

"Ooh! Okay, here, you'll love this one. The movie is good too, but the stage production is amazing."

Cady cuddles into his arm and peeks at the file name. She squeals, "Lions?!"

"Lions is an understatement for The Lion King," Damian says. Cady wiggles excitedly as he opens it and makes it full screen. "Can you see?"

"Mmhmm. Thanks, D."

"Anytime, Little Slice."

His mom pops in with their milkshakes a few minutes in and seems completely unphased seeing her son cuddled up with a girl she's known for fifteen minutes. Apparently this is normal for him. "Thank you, Ms. Hubbard."

"You're welcome, sweet girl. Y'all just holler if you need anything, alright? Ooh, Lion King. That's a good one," she replies as she leaves again.

"Cady's from Kenya," Damian explains.

"No shit?" his mom replies, making Cady choke on her milkshake in shock.

"Um, yeah, I just moved here this summer," she says.

"Ain't that something. Alright, have fun, you two."

"Thanks, Ma," Damian says as she shuts the door behind her.

They sip at their tasty milkshakes while they watch. Cady might be in love. She's immediately bopping along to all the musical numbers and oohing and aahing over the special effects.

Damian looks at her expectantly when the curtain call is over.

"That was so cool!" she squeals. "Can we watch it again?"

Damian laughs. "I'm glad you liked it. You like musicals now?"

Cady nods eagerly. "Yeah."

"Good," Damian says with a victorious smirk. He takes a picture of them cuddled up together and sends it to Janis with a caption reading, I win Caddy likes musicals. He gets an eye roll emoji in response and clicks off his phone with a smug grin. "Let's try something else, but we'll come back if you want to after."

"Okaaaaay," Cady huffs jokingly.

They watch about four more, occasionally shifting positions to keep comfy on Damian's plush bed. The milkshakes are long gone, but neither of them care.

"Thanks for taking care of me," Cady murmurs after the last one. Damian gently bumps into her.

"Anytime. Sorry Janis was busy, I know she wanted to be the one to kidnap you."

"No, it's okay," Cady says immediately. "I love her, but she'd be so worried she'd barely let me move. Not that that's bad, she's just... a lot, sometimes."

"You love her, eh?" Damian teases. Cady blushes. "Oh, shit, do you?"

"I mean... we've only been dating for a month," Cady begins hesitantly. "But... I might... already love her, like, a lot."

"D'aaawww, my little gaybies," Damian squeals.

"Shut up," Cady scoffs.

"She loves you too," Damian says matter-of-factly.

Cady looks at him. "She does?"

"I told you earlier. This bitch will not shut up about you. I've never seen her like this. It's kind of freaky," Damian chuckles. "Always, have you seen Caddy's eyes up close? They're such a pretty green. And she's sooooo tiiiiny, she just fits in my arms like a puzzle."

"She did not say that."

"On RuPaul she did."

Cady blinks. "Did I break her?"

"Honestly? Maybe. But I like it. She's annoying sometimes, but this Janis seems... healthier."

"Good," Cady replies.

"You, on the other hand," Damian replies, looking pointedly at her left foot. Cady giggles.

"It's fixed, I'll be okay," she replies.

"You got lucky there, kid. I really thought you were gonna need surgery," Damian says.

"I did too, honestly," Cady admits.

"...And now I think about it, Regina is a little chubbier."

"Right? It totally worked!" Cady squeals. Damian laughs. "Now we just have to get people to stop treating her like the queen bee and get Aaron out of her clutches."

"Godspeed, soldier. Doing the lord's work," Damian says with a salute. Cady giggles. "Do you, like, wanna go home?"

Cady sighs. "I should."

"Bitch, is that what I asked? Do you want to or not?" Damian insists.

"I mean... it's always weird there without my parents," Cady mumbles, fidgeting with her fingers. "But I don't wanna impose."

"Hold on," Damian says. Cady jumps when he turns his head to the side and hollers, "Ma!"

"What?!" his mother yells back.

"Can Cady sleep over?!"

"Her folks okay with it?!"

"Your folks okay with it?" Damian asks Cady in a much, much softer tone. Cady nods in confusion. Damian yells back, "Yeah!"

"Then she's always welcome! Dinner's in half an hour!" his mom replies.

"Thank you!" Cady yells.

"You're welcome, baby!"

"See? Problem solved," Damian says. Cady giggles.

"You're the best, D."

"And don't you forget it."

————-

thank you for reading!!

i have a oneshot coming for y'all on wednesday that i'm very (cautiously) excited about and am working myself to the bone trying to get the next chapter of this and another oneshot done per my usual "schedule" if you can call it that lol.

i apologize for not being more prepared but i spent most of february auditioning for the tour!! so that took a lot of my focus but it's done now and i am back in as full of a swing as i can get lol.

so fingers crossed! and if i don't get it done in time you'll just get three of each with my next round of fics :)

thank you all so much again for being here. i love every little one of you muppets so dearly.

lots of love,

ezzy

#mean girls #mean girls 2004 #mean girls musical #mean girls the musical #mean girls broadway #mean girls on broadway #mean girls 2024 #cadnis #paint by numbers #space safari #cady heron x janis sarkisian #cady x janis #cady heron #janis sarkisian #janis ian #janis ‘imi’ike #picking teams

9 notes · View notes

peachymilkandcream · 2 months

Text

Break Me Slowly|Part 30 (Finale)|Yandere Levi x Evelyn

(A/N: We've made it to the end of the series. Thank you so much to everyone who's supported this it means so much to me. It's probably going to be a short chapter but you'll see why at the end. This was once just a silly little idea rattling around in my head but now it's been fully written out and hopefully you guys enjoyed it. I'm still taking requests for oneshots, questions, and headcanons though, so please please feel free to request more. For example, maybe some oneshots of after the series ends with his older kids? I don't know the choice is up to you. I hope you loved these two as much as I do. (Also if you know the artist of this please dm me with their name and socials and I'll edit it to put in credit!) Thank you so much for reading <3)

WARNINGS: noncon, dubcon, manipulation, domestic abuse, yandere themes, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, stockholm syndrome, violence, mind breaking, misogyny, etc.

============================================

Hange's arrival was the last piece to the the puzzle of Levi's perfect life. He was better off now than he had ever been with countless allies and supporters backing him up once more, reinstating his untouchable reputation that had kept him safe from all suspicions thus far. His wife had come around to his advances and gave him the son he had always wanted. Truly he was king of the world.

==============================================

"King of the world." Evelyn repeated softly to herself, slowly moving her eyes from the manuscript in her lap to the fire's glow.

She had written down everything that had happened to her over the past few years, in the spare moments when Levi was gone. Her intent back then was to write everything down to portray just what kind of a character he was, that he wasn't this great hero that women swooned over. He was a monster through and through that shouldn't be celebrated. Levi is just a handsome face and a reputation used to hide his heinous actions since no one would touch him.

Her plan had been to expose him once she wrote everything down, when the behavior started, who it effected, and most importantly what it had come to.

Life had gotten in the way, a tragedy of events leading up to their current state of the world, so finishing what had happened was put on delay. She didn't have the time she once had now that her son was becoming a toddler and her stomach was already swelling with another child, this time they both hoped for a daughter.

The world was on her side, Evelyn could have exposed Levi before Erwin gained a position in the new world government and before Hange returned so that Levi had no supporters. If she played her cards right Levi could have been in a prison cell for the rest of his life or executed. As the surviving spouse all of his money and assets would have gone to her, her excuse of needing him for the sake of Furlan would have been out the window. Even now if she pulled away support the same outcome of Levi's fate would happen even with Erwin and Hange's support, she could be rid of him with enough money to live for the rest of her life.

So why didn't she?

That was the question that still burned in her mind. The one that had planted itself in her head from the moment she left him to the mercy of Eren and Zeke. The first time she questioned her hatred of him. Back then it had been a shock but now it was a part of her everyday life.

What had she become? What had she allowed herself to do? Willingly becoming the plaything of a horrible man and she was just giving him what she wanted? He was getting his happy ending. Because she had let him.

"But the records of your crimes, he has you trapped, remember?" Spoke her mind.

"No, he doesn't." Her voice replied. "All Levi said was as long as it exists we're stuck together, but if it's destroyed I'm free, but he's free to come after me."

For the first time in a long time a sense of rebellion burned bright in her heart. That flame had been kicked down over and over, trampled until she thought it had gone out.

But here it was, burning bright in her chest.

What was she after all? Evelyn had asked that question to Levi before and been met with the answer that she existed for him and him alone. But before all of this that's not what she was. She was a Scout, a soldier, a person. Not a possession.

After all this time it dawned on her that this silly tell all book of hers would do nothing. People would still applaud him as a hero, or even say that his possession of her was hot. That they wished to have a man so obsessed with them. How lucky was she?

There was nothing lucky about this. Nothing lucky about being a slave to the whims of a madman.

Eren had wanted freedom for all Eldia, she wasn't free. She was just like her ancestor Ymir, the one who's soul burned bright in her. A prisoner of a man who had more power than she. Levi was her King Fritz, and she his Ymir. She would never be free under him. Furlan would become a prisoner of him.

"What of the child? How can you take the child and leave? All those failed attempts, how would this be different?"

It would be, back then no one would come and save her. She waited for someone to help her out of this, but nobody came.

She had to save herself.

The fire burned hot as she fed it those papers, come and find her if he dared.

Evelyn Ackerman would be free.

============================================

Levi returned home to a quiet house, this second pregnancy was hitting his wife hard, and she required more rest. And with the state of training up a toddler from hell a nap didn't sound too bad for him either. Perhaps he would join her.

The door opened but his wife was not their, neither was she in the bathroom.

"Odd." He voiced.

For some reason the house felt slightly colder and empty. A bead of sweat trickled down his neck as he got a bad feeling about this.

Each room he found empty made him more frantic, shouting her name over and over. Combing the woods, the towns, everything. She had done this before, so why couldn't he find her?

Then it hit him like a bucket of water dumped on him.

"Allies." He pondered. "Who helped her... Someone helped...And hardly any staff to watch her- I gave her too much- too much!"

He kicked a chair over in the sitting room, watching it topple over. Anything he could get his hands on her broke, the last time he'd been this out of control was when Evelyn tried to kill him.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He seethed. "You're a damn fool Levi! How could you be so fucking blind- she's just the same as she's always been. Plotting, scheming little bitch!"

The room was thrown into absolute chaos as he let out his fury, not only was his only true happiness gone but she took his child with him.

"She can't get away with this. Who does she think she is? Thinking she can run from me and take my son with her? I'll show her, that little whore will pay!"

With his temper spent he broke down into a sob, running his hands through his hair as the anger and fear of losing her forever sunk in. He had done everything, everything for her. Making sure to go t o the best physicians in the country so that he could walk as well as he could again. Even going so far as to get metal replacements for his fingers. Just to be able to remain as much the same as he always had. And this is how she repaid him? Oh she didn't want to see his face when he found her.

A scrap of slightly burnt paper brushed against his foot, making him look down.

Picking it up, the words he caught before it faded into burnt edges told him it was the file of his crimes, the only thing that had kept them both tied to the island.

So she had burned it? Interesting.

It was a challenge, a dare. Levi had warned her that burning the file meant he had the freedom to come after her, and she'd done it regardless. Evelyn was challenging him to come after her, the thought brought a smirk to his face.

"Ready or not wife, here I come."

(A/N: I know I know! It's a very unsatisfying ending! Which is why I'm going to announce a little mini series coming out after this chapter posts which will be Levi's hunt for Evelyn and his child. It will be a very short series (maybe 10 chapters at the most) but I went into this thinking this would be the end of the end, but it just felt like it needed something that wasn't another few chapters but something all on its own. There will be a bit more of Evelyn and Levi to come!)

#break me slowly #levi x oc #attack on titan #levi ackerman #levi aot #levi x reader #shingeki no kyojin #yandere levi #yandere levi ackerman #yandere levi x reader

13 notes · View notes

ellissay-morningstar · 2 months

Text

DWC-Day 5 - Altruistic

Continued from Day 3 & Day 4 ... TW: Blood & Death mentions

Ellissay wasn't sure how long she had been out, long enough, she would suppose. She could feel something heavy on her and realized she was pinned down by the large man who had attacked her. He wasn't moving, so she tried to push him off with a hard shove, which forced him marginally from her. The second time, she uses her body as leverage, and with a grunt and another hard shove, she manages to push him off to the side and roll out from under him.

She just lay there trying to piece together what had happened for a moment. She breathes heavily from the exertion, dragging large amounts of air into her lungs. She tries to sit up and winces, her hand reaching for the back of her head. She winces again as she touches the area. Her head is throbbing; she furrows her brow and slightly groans. She can feel the swelling beneath her fingertips and feel the pain radiating out from it. Already, she has a headache and is light-headed.

Suddenly, her eyes go wide. The gun! It had gone off during the struggle. She looks over to the very still, large man, and it hits her he must have taken the shot. She still pats herself down to make sure that she is okay even though she only feels pain in her head. When satisfied she has no other wounds, she moves to locate her weapons, crawling across to the man who still hasn't moved. She puts her hands underneath his side and, with a few grunts and attempts, manages to push him over onto his back. She winces slightly as his hood falls back, revealing his endless staring eyes. She wasn't sure where he had been shot; blood had pooled on the floor and wet a good portion of the chest area of his shirt, and she honestly couldn't tell where the bullet had entered his chest. She looks down at her clothing and realizes it is also soaked in blood from where he had landed on top of her. It is on her hands as well, between her touching her clothing and moving his body. She wipes them as best she can on his pants before searching for the gun she had dropped.

Ellissay finds the gun, picks it up, and holsters it. She looks around, locating her dagger and also holsters it as well. Both would be easy to access should she need them, but hopefully, she wouldn't. She sways slightly on her feet as she stands, the room spinning just enough to make her reach toward the wall to steady herself. She breathes in a few times through her nose and back out. She still has a job to do and is determined to do it.

She gets her bearings and moves toward the cell block. Each door is closed only by an outside latching mechanism, which she assumed kept it locked from the inside but gave easier access from the outside. It didn't take her long to figure out how to open it. Inside was a scene that was one of horror. The woman looked like skin and bones, and her hair was matted and so dirty she wasn't even sure what the color was. She hears footsteps behind her and immediately turns, dagger suddenly in hand, ready to fight again.

Shiloh holds up his hands. "Hey, it's me, Shy. I thought you could use a hand. Fighting is all but done out there. Those alive ran, but we will ensure the law knows where this place is now. They will be caught soon enough." Shiloh nods at her and looks over her shoulder at the woman. He shakes his head, his usual smile a grimace. You can see the look of horror in his eyes. "Let's get her out of her. I will take her to medical, and you can finish opening the doors. I will return as soon as I make sure she is in good hands."

Ellissay begins to protest that this is her job, although she knows he is just being his usual generous self. She felt she was letting the team down by not finishing her part. However, another bought of dizziness threatens to overtake her, and she nods at him, sighing heavily. "Okay, okay."

Shiloh moves to pick up the frail woman, who instantly pulls back away from him. She couldn't hear what he said, but suddenly, he had the woman in his arms and hurried back down the hallway. Hopefully, he had a better sense of direction than she had.

…to be continued

@daily-writing-challenge

#februarydwc2024 #februaryday52024 #dwc2024 #day 5 #altruistic #ellissay morningstar.tumblr.com #tw: blood #tw: death

7 notes · View notes

ladylooch · 2 months

Text

Our Little Family [Miles Wood] Chapter 17- The Wedding

A/N from 👢 anon: Hi guys, the moment is finally here. The night of the I do !! There is smut for sure. I hope you guys enjoy it. This journey has been amazing for me. And hopefully for you guys, too.

You take a big breath, watching yourself in the mirror. Your makeup and hair are done, and Cheryl is helping close your wedding dress. The one Miles said for you to get.

It doesn't look like you. It's another person. Cheryl smiles when your eyes lock eyes in the mirror.

This morning was chaotic, just like the man you're going to marry. Lily was in bed with you. So you basically woke up with her on top of you. Even during breakfast, you didn't see miles. His parents came in to get Lily to give you time and space to get ready.

You were alone with the makeup artist and hairdresser for a long time. The photographer was there to capture every moment. An easy lunch came for you. But you couldn't eat.

You saw Lily when Cheryl brought her in her little dress, looking like a princess. Before she went for a first look with Miles, that's something you wanted to see.

Cheryl came in after that. She had the most proud smile on her face.

“Don't be nervous, sweetheart, he's going to be there waiting for you.” She tells you as she pulls your zipper up.

“I know, but it's still crazy that he wants me.”

“He's nervous, too. You're the one he wants. I've never seen my son like this.” You smile softly at her, Cheryl moves to grab something, and you watch her. She gives you a small box.

“Something new, something blue.” She tells you as you open the box.

A gorgeous pair of blue earrings are in the box. You look at her in such disbelief. You can't believe she bought you these. You thank her by giving her a big hug.

She helps you put the earrings on. And it totally makes you look better. You think she's done, but she's not. She gives you a bracelet, something borrowed. She's making it very hard on you right now. You don't want to cry.

Cheryl helps you to finish getting ready. She gives you one final hug before going to her place downstairs and taking care of Lily.

You and Miles found the perfect place to get married. A house close to the mountains, with the most killer view of the Rockys, and has the perfect path to make an aisle. The photographer took pictures of you and Cheryl, and now they're taking a few more of you alone.

You take the final deep breath before picking up your bouquet to go downstairs. Miles is going to be there, you know that, but you're still nervous.

Miles is waiting for you at the end of the aisle, playing with his fingers. He's nervous, too. Cheryl is getting her workout in trying to keep Lily sitting.

Seeing you at the beginning of the aisle makes Miles all smiley and giggly. You smile, matching his smile. Your song starts. That's your queue to walk towards the love of your life.

It's a short path, and yet it feels so far away. When you finally get to him, the world feels right again. Miles kisses your hand, smiling ear to ear.

Cheryl comes with Lily to pick up your bouquet. You squat to give it to Lily, smiling at her when she gets giggly. You kiss her cheek as she says the softest 'mama' ever. You turn your attention to the man of your life.

“You look gorgeous, babe.” He says, holding your hand.

“Thanks, you look handsome.”

Miles has his beard trimmed. His hair is in the perfect length that you enjoy. And he's in a blue, three piece suit. It does things to you, Miles knows the way to your heart.

“Are you ready ?” He asks, squeezing your hands.

“Yeah, I am.”

Miles smiles, turning to the officiant to start this. He is anxious to get this going.

You are not hearing one word that the officiant is saying. Your focus is totally on Miles. Miles squeezes your hand calling for you. You look at the officiant. They smile at you, and you nod.

“Do you, (y/f/n), take Miles William Wood to be your wedded husband, to live together in matrimony, to love him, to honor him, to comfort him, and to keep him in sickness and in health. Forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live ?” They ask you.

That's the moment you've been waiting for so long.

“I do.”

Miles smiles, hearing the words. You didn't realize that Lily got a basket. Cheryl brings her to you. You squat to be eye level with your baby. You look inside the basket, and your eyes go wide seeing Miles' wedding band. Blue with a diamond band in the middle. You look at him as you pick the band, he's very happy with his work.

You kiss Lily again, and then you slide the band on his finger. Tears start to stream down your cheeks. It's really happening. You kiss his ring.

Now it's Miles turn. The officiant turns to him.

“Do you, Miles William wood, take (y/f/n) to be your wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, to honor her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health. Forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live ?” They ask Miles.

“I do.” He says with his full body, biggest grin ever.

He does the same thing you did with Lily. He kisses her before he picks up your band. Cheryl takes Lily to sit again. Miles slides the band on your finger. He kisses your band lingering a little bit.

“By the power invested in me by the state of Colorado. I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.” The officiant says.

Miles doesn't need to be told twice. He pulls you by the waist, locking his lips on yours. Leaning you back. His parents and Lily cheer for you guys as you kiss.

You rest your forehead on his. Miles has his huge grin as he looks at you. You look to your side. And the most gorgeous sunset is behind the mountains. You show Miles.

“So gorgeous.” You say softly, Miles agrees, but he's looking at you.

Miles moves to pick up Lily. She rests her head on his shoulder as you brush your thumb over her cheek. She's a little grumpy because she's hungry.

You lace your fingers with Miles, and the three of you walk together back to the house. After his parents, now, as a married couple, as a family that will always be together and full of love.

You guys take a bunch of pictures, family ones, just you and Lily because you don't have those, you and Miles. Lily was too grumpy, so Cheryl came to get her so she could eat something. Then, each one of you has the time to shine. Miles hypes you big time. It's the most adorable thing. You love it.

Miles looks at you, and you're pouting a little. He comes close, cupping your cheeks with his big hands.

“Why are you pouting, my wife ?” Miles asks you.

Hearing him call you wife, it makes you smile.

“I'm hungry, hubby.”

Miles pecks your lips. He needs to fix this, and he will for sure. He laces your fingers together and leads you to the house. You stop him at the door, Miles looks a little confused at you. Your lost puppy.

“I love you, Miles, today, tomorrow, and in the future.” You say to him.

“I love you until the day that I die.”

You lean to peck his lips. Now it's time to eat. When you guys get to the dining room, Cheryl comes to hug you, and Randy does the same with Miles. Then you guys switch.

You look at Miles, and he knows what you mean. You're going to dance before dinner. Lily will be asleep before you guys can get there.

You say hi to Lily, and she replies with an excited 'mama'. You know you have your golden retriever back. She had food, so she's happy again.

You smile at your baby. Miles reaches for your hand, and you take his gladly. He pulls you close to his body. You rest your head on his chest. And the first thing he does is kiss the top of your head.

You sigh, feeling his hand on your back. This is what you wanted all along. He gave you this moment and so much more.

“You look amazing, babe. I'm so glad you listened to me and mom about getting this dress.” Miles tells you.

“Thanks, I had to look good. I'm trying to match you.” You say with a chuckle.

Miles giggles, it's not fair how good he looks. You guys sway for a couple of minutes before you tell him to go get your daughter. He kisses you, and then he gets Lily to dance with him.

You move aside to watch them, it's the most adorable thing ever. She's a mini Miles and it makes your heart so warm.

Lily giggles as he spin them around. She's so happy. Cheryl comes close to you. She gives you a side hug. Having her there today meant so much to you.

Miles calls for you, and you move to them. He hugs both of you, and as a family, you sway to the song. You're trying very hard not to cry. This is your family. You're going to do everything in your power for a close family.

Miles places Lily in her high chair, and then you and him dance with Randy and Cheryl.

You thank Randy for coming, being there for you guys. Especially Miles. You know that it wasn't the best start between you guys. He had his doubts about you and your reasons with Miles.

He assures you that everything is okay and that you make miles happy. At the end of the day, as a parent, that's all that matters.

You know what he means. That's what you want for Lily, too.

Lily is sitting on her high chair, enjoying some fruits that they cut for her. After the dance. Miles pulls your chair for you to sit. You thank him. Miles reaches for your hand, feeling the cold from his ring against your hand. It's a very nice reminder to you. That man is yours.

The chef comes out, saying what the entree is and goes from there. Miles hired a chef to cook for you guys today.

While you wait for the first course, you learn to whisper into Miles' ear.

“Your wedding band is so gorgeous. You did a good job, husband.” You say to him.

“Thanks babe.”

He's so giggly and proud. He's so adorable. You're so in love with him. After lots of chatting during dinner, Lily starts to get sleepy, so you pick her up for her to be more comfortable.

She's a tired little girl, for sure. It was a fun day for her and a long one. Miles asks if you want him to hold her, and you say that it's okay. You kiss her head as she settles further into your body.

It's a chill and calm dinner, the food was amazing. Then it's cake time, it's not a big cake. It's enough for everybody to eat today and tomorrow too. You cut the cake while holding Lily, and Miles feeds you a bite. You don't know how you managed, but you feed him a bite too. It's the perfect moment. Lily started your family, and she's always going to be included.

The staff and photographers start to leave. Then it's just you and your family there. You keep glancing at Miles as he talks to his dad. The huge grin on his face, the glancing at his ring, makes you go feral, as soon you guys are alone. He's in trouble.

Cheryl gets Lily from you. She says that you guys have the night alone. Tomorrow, Lily is yours again. She winks at you as you thank her. Lily stirs a little but continues sleeping.

Randy gets the message and says goodnight to you and Miles before leaving you guys alone. Miles comes closer to you as you stretch. He pulls you into his body, and you slide your hand up his chest before lacing your fingers on his neck.

Finally, being alone with him.

“Besides you being on the road, I don't want to ever again have to sleep without you.” You say resting your chin on his chest.

“I know, babe. That wasn't a good feeling.”

“Yeah, it wasn't and waking up with your daughter on top of me. Wasn't fun either.”

Miles laughs so hard at that. You act offended, but he continues smiling. He leans to kiss the pout of your lips. You sigh against the kiss.

You smile as you pull back from the kiss, resting your forehead on his.

“You know, I like this suit very much but I feel that your birthday suit would be a better look now.” You say, licking your lips.

“I have the same feelings about this dress, wife.” Miles calling you his wife does things to you.

“Lead the way, husband.”

Miles smiles, and you bring your hand for him to hold. Both of you rush upstairs to your room. Miles stops at the door. He lifts you, making you squeal a little bit. He opens the door and carries you inside.

“I know it's not our home, but it's the right way to start.” He says as you stroke his beard.

He places you by the edge of the bed. He spins you, to open your dress. Miles slowly pulls the zipper down, his fingers touch your skin gently. You start to feel goosebumps. Miles kisses your exposed skin, sending shivers down your spine.

You say his name gently. But Miles is focused on you. He slides the sleeves of your dress, making a dress pool around your feet.

“So pretty.” He murmurs as he helps you slide out of the dress pool. Miles picks the dress and folds it, putting it on the chair.

That's definitely not what you were expecting from him today. He's really taking his time with you. Miles comes closer. He brings you against his body.

There is something about feeling his suit against your body. Miles places you on the bed, and he smiles at you as he leans for a kiss. He settles between your legs.

You reach for his vest, needing to feel his skin on yours. Miles helps you with his vest and shirt. You place your left palm on his abs, and both of you sigh. You for feeling his skin and him for feeling your wedding band.

“Husband…” you say, contemplating him and his body.

“Wife..” Miles grins as he leans to kiss you. The kiss at first is slow, exploring each other's mouths. It's the first time you guys are kissing. You know that you're married to him, but it still doesn't feel true. It's hard to believe. He wants to spend the rest of his life with you.

Miles bites your lower lip, bringing you back to this moment right here, right now. Your hands start to explore his body, every possible inch you're touching him. His muscles react to your touch, and you love it.

You reach for his pants and belt. You work on his belt, but Miles stop you. He strips from his pants before going back to his favorite place: being on top of you. You sigh, welcoming his comforting weight. Miles brushes the hair from your eyes with a big, toothless smile. This feels new and so good.

He kisses you, and both of you wander over each other's body. Soft, gentle touches. Miles pulls from the kiss. He kisses your jaw, neck, with open mouth kisses. He spends time on your boobs. One nipple he gets on his mouth, and the other he pinches with his hand.

You whine his name because you need more than this.

“Be patient, my love, we have all the time in the world.” Miles says softly.

You roll your eyes at him, Miles chuckles and nibbles at your nipple making you moan. He has you exactly where he wants you. After making sure both your boobs and nipples are taken care of. Miles leaves open mouth kisses on his way down.

He taps your hips, and you move your hips up for him to take your underwear off. Miles hooks your leg over his shoulder. He scratches your inner thigh with his beard, making you moan and pull his hair. That's where you need him.

Miles chuckles before scratching your inner thigh. He licks you and uses his fingers to spread your folds, giving him better access and, of course, a view. You watch him lick his lips as he leans to attack your clit.

Miles starts slowly, enjoying the way that you taste. He missed your taste. He alternated between kitten licks, sucking your clit and slow licks. You're a mess under him, pulling his hair, getting him as close as possible. Miles groans when you pull his hair. It gives you a different stimulation. You moan at the sensation.

Miles decides to slide a finger inside of you. You mumble his name a few times. You're close, and he knows that. He continues doing what he knows you love.

You know your orgasm is going to hit hard, so you cover your mouth to not scream. It muffles the sound a little, Miles works you through your orgasm. When you look down, he's staring at you with that big smile.

You wiggle your finger for him to come close. He does exactly that. You lock your lips, humming at your taste on his lips. You guys continue kissing, you reach for his cock, jerking him gently. You lick his lips as you pull back.

“Babe, I want to ride you…please.” You almost plead to him.

“Hell yeah, wife.”

You smile at his reply, and you pull him close again before spinning both of you, so Miles has his back on the mattress. He smirks at you.

You move to take Miles' underwear off as he settles against the headboard. You both lock eyes with this huge silly grin on your lips.

You climb back to be on top of him. You reach for his cock to line him with your entrance using his pec as support, you slowly start sliding down. You can't help but close your eyes at the feeling of his cock moving inside you.

Miles squeezes your arm, and you open your eyes to look at him.

“Babe, keep your eyes open. I want to look into your eyes as my cock slides inside you as my wife for the first time.” He tells you what he wants.

“I'm going to try, but it just feels so good. I can't help it.”

He knows that, but he also wants to look into your eyes. You nod, and you look into his eyes as you slowly slide down his pole.

Miles praises you for being a good girl doing what he asked you. Once Miles is completely inside you. You sigh, adjusting to his size. You start moving your hips slowly, taking a long moan from him. He looks at your face, catching every reaction from you as his cock makes you feel that good. As you get more comfortable, you speed the pace a little, change angles, all the good things.

Miles looks at your face and boobs. He decides to attack them again, putting them into his mouth. You moan his name because it feels so good. Miles massages your breasts, looking at you on top of him like that, the way you looked today, plus this new feeling of your rings against his pecs.

He mumbles a few times that he’s going to cum, and he does. It catches you off guard because Miles normally lasts longer. You kiss his neck as he has his head thrown onto the pillow. You assure him that it’s okay. You move to climb off of him.

“Nope, you’re cumming on your husband cock.” Miles says as he moves your hips with his hands.

You moan, throwing your body forward, hiding your face on Miles' neck. Miles starts slowly to build up again. He’s sensitive, so he can’t go crazy right now. He spins you guys. He wants to look at your pretty face while he makes love to you.

The sound of your wet pussy- Miles balls hitting your ass, his praises to you and heavy breathing are filling the room. Miles shifts your leg to hook over his shoulder, the new angle hits the perfect spot inside you, over and over. But there is something about seeing his wedding band that drives you insane.

“Babe, I'm close. Please cum with me.” You plead to Miles.

Miles nods, as he speeds up the pace a little to get himself there too, he feels his balls starting to tighten, he moves his hand to your clit to bring you over the edge with him. Feeling Miles' seed inside you, triggers your own orgasm, and you milk Miles until his last drop. He collapses on top of you. His weight is very welcome.

Miles humms, feeling you play with his hair. You guys cuddle a little before Miles pulls off and lays beside you. As much as you want to just lay beside him right now, you need to use the bathroom.

You come back with a rag to clean him. Miles thanks you as you clean him and put his underwear back. He smiles, making grabby hands at you, and you chuckle, telling him to wait a little. After you put some clothes on, you slide back in bed with him. Miles basically brings you to lay on top of him.

You run your fingers over his chest, his body starts to go limp, and his breathing even out. You know he’s going to sleep pretty soon. He’s yours now, and that’s crazy for you.

Miles hand grips on your side, holding you close to his body. Hearing his heartbeat is so calming to you.

You're right where you belong, and accepting his proposal wasn't a mistake. It was the best decision you've ever made.

#miles wood x reader #our little family #👢 anon #miles wood imagine #blog submission #LILY AND MILES FIRST LOOK 😭#He is so giddy omg!#dancing early so lily can participate! look at those loving parents!#hiring a chef for the night would be my love language #Damn Randy GTFO we tryna bang #be patient? nah. not when you're a SNACK #the beard on the inner thigh 😵‍💫#THE. EYE. CONTACT. HOLY. F #FINALLY WIFING UP LILYS MOM GOOD LORD IT TOOK HIM LONG ENOUGH

7 notes · View notes