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ericsonclan · 3 years

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Evening ASMR

Summary: James records a video for his ASMR channel and settles in for the evening.

Word Count: 1702

Read on AO3:

“Evening, everyone,” James’ soft voice whispered, his mouth hovering over the mic. “Groggy and I hope you all had a good day,” His fingers lightly drummed against his rubber frog nightlight, the pleasant rhythm creating the exact sort of calming bliss that was James’ signature when recording for his channel. “My day wasn’t very eventful, but it was calm, pleasant. I’ve been drinking a new blend of tea today from Sarita’s Teashop - Evening Breeze,” James took a sip of hot tea then placed the mug on the table between both of his mics, his painted black fingernails continuing their steady, soothing rhythm, this time along the outside of the mug. “The offer from my last video still stands by the way: use the code Tranquilitime15 at checkout online for a 15 percent discount on your order from Sarita’s Teashop. Now let’s get to the main part of our video. It’s Tuesday so you know what that means. It’s time for Weekly Walk,”

Leaning back in his chair, James reached behind himself to pick something from his bag of finds. “Jesse and I went for a walk along the lake. Along the way I picked a few strands of grass since the texture intrigued me. Jesse told me it’s common reed grass. It makes quite a lovely sound. Let’s listen,” Lifting up the grass, James softly ran it along his mic, letting the equipment pick up the faint rustling sounds the grass made as it ran along the mic’s surface. James continued this motion for about five minutes, letting the moment last as he too became entranced by the sound the reed grass made. Finally he pulled his hand back, ready to share his next find.

“I also spotted another rock to add to our collection. The lines of white quartz running through it are really lovely,” James held the stone up close to the camera so his viewers could see the details themselves. “Into the rock bucket it goes,” With his free hand, James lifted up a small pale blue pail full of rocks and dropped his latest one in, running his fingers through the collection of stones in silence. There was no sound round him, only the soft rumble of the stones tumbling against once another. James was grateful there were no parties going on in the dorms tonight. Sometimes, even with the padding and soundproofing he’d done to his room, it was still difficult to find recording times where his surroundings were quiet enough to properly do ASMR.

Several minutes passed before James set aside his rock bucket and picked up his next find: a curved piece of driftwood from the lake. Holding the piece up to the camera, James turned it slowly so his audience could have time to admire it properly. “This was right along the shore near the end of our walk. I love the depth of color in it. Such a rich brown,” James’ fingers trailed along the branch, inadvertently tapping against it. It had become second nature for James to tap any object of interest he came across, always on the search for new sounds that he could bring to the channel that might give his audience the tingles.

As he tapped along the wood, James hummed softly, transitioning to another segment his viewers were especially fond of. The tune he chose this time was one Jesse had taught him, a Cherokee lullaby. Though James hadn’t been able to learn the words yet the tune was still fresh in his mind. Switching back to the reed grass, James softly hummed the lullaby, closing his eyes and getting lost in the moment. He could almost imagine that Jesse was here with him, sitting upon the floor and letting James brush his hair. The sound of Jesse’s hair would make great ASMR. James didn’t want to push him into anything he was uncomfortable though. He knew how much Jesse hated feeling as though he was performing for others. Perhaps that was a sound that was reserved for James then, one only he got to hear.

Finishing the tune, James picked up Groggy once more. Turning on the nightlight, James drummed his fingers along the little frog’s back, enjoying the bounce of the rubber under his fingertips. His ASMR wasn’t only for his audience. It calmed him as well. He looked toward the camera. “I went on a hike a few days ago with a couple friends of mine. My friend Clem brought her little brother. He was really curious to learn about what ASMR was exactly. He picked out some items on our walk for me to share as well. He wanted to be here himself, but it’s past his bedtime. Hi, AJ,” James waved at the camera, knowing Clementine would show the video to AJ as soon as it was posted.

Picking up the pinecones AJ had given him, James began to run his fingernails along them. The light scratching sound that produced sent a tingle up his spine. James smiled softly to himself as he continued, rolling the pinecones slowly in his hands then against one another. He then picked up a few of the countless leaves AJ had scavenged from him. These were drier and produced a hollow sound as James tapped upon them. He alternated between tapping and running his fingerpads along the leaves’ surface.

As he did, the memories of that day reached the surface of his mind. AJ had been so excited that day, running ahead of them on the trail despite Clementine’s warnings to stay nearby. He’d simply been too excited to remember to keep his word though whenever his promise did reach his mind AJ would freeze and look back guiltily. On the times when he didn’t remember, Clementine would have to barrel ahead to catch up with him, leaving James and Brody alone to chat. Brody would sometimes pause to grab a flower or other plant to press when she got home. She and James also kept their eyes open for interesting leaves that Clementine could use for leaf rubbing though AJ by far gave her the most finds.

Finally, James drew back. Setting aside the pinecones and leaves, he brought out Groggy once more. As his fingers tattooed a calming rhythm upon the little frog, James smiled warmly at his audience. “Thank you for staying with me tonight and hearing my stories. I hope you all sleep well and have a beautiful day tomorrow. Till next time, like, share and subscribe and I’ll see you next time for Tranquilitime,” With that James ended the recording. Cleaning up his workspace first, James then settled in to get the video uploaded. It was a bit of a process but one he was familiar with.

While the video uploaded, James poured another cup of Evening Breeze for himself and took a thoughtful sip. The tea had a clarity to it, a freshness that reminded him of being by the lake. He’d have to pick up some more next time he dropped by the teashop. He hoped the promotion was going well for Sarita. He’d only recently gotten his channel big enough to merit sponsorship and he’d wanted to start with a brand he trusted. Perhaps if this went well he could reach out to Tripp as well and promote his sweet shop.

His phone lit up and James glanced over to check the notification. It was a text from Louis. Hey hey! Just checking if we’re still on for this Saturday.

James set down his tea and texted back. Wouldn’t miss it. A few weeks ago on a visit to Ericson’s Diner when Louis had dropped by the table to strike up a conversation with James and Jesse, he and James had somehow gotten onto a tangent about Tokyo Ghoul. Louis had been wanting to watch it but was a self-professed wimp when it came to anything horror so he’d asked if James could be his watching buddy. Since then they’d VCed on Discord each Saturday afternoon to watch another episode. Louis had been loving the series so far though there had been several moments that had made him scream and James had enjoyed revisiting the series. Maybe if Louis had the patience for it James could suggest they buddy read some of the manga together next.

With some time left to kill while he waited for the upload to finish, James opened up a new tab to peruse Picrew. Maybe he’d make another chibi version of Jesse. His boyfriend was easy to make in most Picrews with his dark eyes and long, black hair. Finding a picrew he liked, James settled in to look through the different options. He hoped Jesse never stumbled across the Picrew folder on his computer. Though he’d sent Jesse a few that he’d made, the sheer amount of picrews of his boyfriend James had saved to his computer was downright embarrassing.

Finally the upload was complete. Powering down his computer for the night, James set it aside and headed over to his bed. He immediately faceplanted upon it before rolling up in the covers and letting out a content sigh. His phone lit up again – another message. James checked it and found it was a notification from Prisha this time. She’d finished her turn in Scrabble Go and now it was his. Opening the app, James pondered his options. He didn’t have a great selection of letters but he could make something of them if he found the right opportunity. After a few minutes he’d made his selection.

Sending it off, James closed the app then opened his music library. His selection was habitual by now. Nature sounds filled the room: the gentle rush of wind, the subtle flow of water and the faint call of birds as the grass rustled gently. James set his phone upon its charging pad and reached up to turn off the light. As he closed his eyes, he could almost picture that he was there on the walk with Jesse once more. Everything was calm, peaceful. Serene. A faint smile stayed on James’ lips as he started to drift off to sleep, walking once more in his dreams.

#twdg #twdg james #twdg jesse #twdg clementine #twdg aj #twdg brody #twdg prisha #clem james brotp #james brody brotp #james prisha brotp #twdg messe #fanfic #ericson's diner au

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iyatsumu · 4 years

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Unlike Any Other; Tooru Oikawa

Genre: Fluff, Schoolmates AU

Word Count: 2.4K

Author’s Note: Hey hey hey!! I was feeling restless so I wrote this fanfic earlier this morning and just finished it, so I’m hoping ya’ll enjoy it. Please continue to support my oneshots as there are more to come! Stay safe everyone and here’s to falling for Tooru.

The soft creak of the metal door of the school's locker rung in your ears as you grabbed a few books and stashed it into your backpack. It was free period before all your classes were over so you decided to stay in the library for the time being. The library was the only quiet place during the afternoon, it's either most of the students are in their club rooms or are waiting by the cafeteria for the gates to open so that they could leave the school premises. It was just like any day in Aoba Johsai. You made your way through the busy hallway towards the school's library. At least by staying there, you could also catch up on your readings for classes and study ahead for the next lesson for each class. Or so you thought. "Oikawa, I'm giving you the last warning. If you don't remain silent, I have no choice but to have you exit the library." The librarian spoke through the intercom, her message directed towards a certain Tooru Oikawa who was probably somewhere behind rows of bookshelves.

Just when you thought you could be at peace, the school's pretty boy happened to be at the same place as you were. Technically, Oikawa was not that annoying, it was his fangirls. The guy is gorgeous and talented, especially in volleyball, thus gaining a huge fanbase, not only in the prefecture but all over Japan. Wherever Oikawa went, a swarm of his fans would surround him and the guy was too soft to say no to their persistent pleas of wanting to take pictures or give him gifts. By the end of the day, he would have a few paper bags of food in his hand and a bunch of letters in his bag. You sighed and simply headed to the isolated parts of the library which was behind a few rows of dusty old books that were nearly torn and worn out. However, you were not the only one who liked this specific spot. As you walked closer to the table, your eyes fixated on a tall, lean figure who was surrounded by a bunch of girls. You immediately knew that it was Oikawa. Pursing your lips, you settled at a different table which was not too far from them but also enough distance to not eavesdrop on their conversations. ___ As you were writing down a bunch of notes for the lessons, you couldn't help but notice the awkward tension in the air. You couldn't put your finger on it, but you were sure that someone, somewhere must've been feeling very uncomfortable for a while now. You shrugged off the feeling and stood up, heading towards one of the bookshelves close to Oikawa. The aisles in the backrows usually had the best books for classes, and they help you a lot when you were studying. Not everyone knew about most of the teacher's textbooks being stored in the library so not much people head to the backrows for it. Dust coated the tip of your finger as you ran it along the spines of the books, searching for a specific textbook for your class tomorrow. You could hear Oikawa's voice, it seemed uneasy as he was trying to get the girls around him to leave him alone for a while. "U-uhm, I have to study." "Don't you have any lessons you need to catch up on?" "Let me finish this chapter in the textbook then maybe I can come with you girls?" It sounded like he was having a hard time for the girls to get off his back. Feeling sorry for the guy, you head back to your table and grabbed your things. You walked back towards the row of dusty books and grabbed the ones that you needed and headed for Oikawa's table. You dropped the old books on the table, all the dust flying out which made the girls sneeze and itch their noses. You then settled your things beside Oikawa and took a seat beside him. "Hey babe." You said and Oikawa stared at you in confusion. The guy was pretty smart, but when it came to finding ways to fend off his fangirls, he was dumb as a brick. You raised your eyebrows in a threatening way and he must've got the signal. Oikawa snakes his arm behind you and pulls you closer, placing a soft kiss on your temple. His fangirls were shocked at the scenario that played out in front of them, and finally deciding to leave the poor guy. As soon as they were out of sight, you pushed him away and moved your chair to the side, creating a safe distance from Oikawa. "Why did you do that?" He asked as you flipped through the pages of the book. "I could feel your uneasiness from my table, so I figured I'd help a poor soul." You answered, your gaze still focusing on the learning materials in front of you. A soft smirk crept up Oikawa's lips. "Well, thanks for that. But, are you sure that's all that was behind your little heroic gesture?" He teases and you furrowed your eyebrows. Placing your pen on the table, you snap your head to face the obnoxious guy beside you, a stupid smirk on plastered on his face. "For someone who can't even keep his fans in control, you sure have a huge ego." You spat and Oikawa laughed at your retort. He never knew someone could resist his teasing. All his life, girls turned their heads to appreciate his radiating beauty, but you were something else. He liked challenges, and you definitely seemed like one. ___ It's been a week since your encounter with Oikawa and his fangirls, and you've been avoiding every way possible of bumping into him. The guy was everywhere, and that made it hard to stay clear from him. There were times that you could hear his voice from the hallways since you were in the same year as Kyotani, however he was in a lower class than you. You would often hear him share a conversation with Kyotani as they were teammates in the volleyball club, and when during those times, you would bury your face in a book. You didn't want him to see you because he would pester you again especially with that stupid kiss that he placed on your temple. However, Oikawa had already acknowledged your presence. He's been looking for ways to talk with you again but, he needed the perfect time to do so. Knowing his massive fanbase, some of them were too obsessed, and if they found out about you, they'd probably find ways to eliminate you. Packing your things, you slung your bag over your shoulder and walked out the classroom. You were a part of Aoba Johsai's dance team and with the annual 'Miyagi Prefecture High School Sports Festival' taking place in the school, your team was assigned to perform for an opening ceremony. As you were on your way to the practice spot, Haruto, who was one of your fellow dancers walked up to you and initiated a conversation. Haruto was a good friend of yours, and he was a really good dancer too. "Hey Y/N, are you ready for our practice? You're in charge of the choreography today right? Akari won't be with us for a week so she said she'll catch up with us once she's back." Haruto said and you nodded. Akira was another one of your teammates, usually both of you were the people in charge of the choreography, but without her, it would probably be tougher to work on. Akira was a very talented dancer and choreographer, she always had great ideas for the most creative and powerful dance routines. "Yeah, it's going to be tricky but I could always ask you guy for ideas." You said and entered the gym. The gym had the biggest stage in the school and the group needed as much space for the routine you had in mind. "Are you sure we'll be able to work on our choreography while avoiding balls?" Haruto teases and confusion washed over your system. Avoiding balls? Why'd you have to avoid balls? "Oh, I see you're here darling." Oikawa. It was Oikawa Tooru. How could you forget that the boys' volleyball club occupies the gym after school hours? Just when you thought you've been doing well to avoid him; he shows up in the exact place you didn't want him to be at. "You know, I thought you were pretty bold when you helped me with my fans, but I never thought you'd also be at my practices." He messes and you facepalmed. Damn, how could you have let it slip your mind. "I wanted to see you get smacked by Iwaizumi when you messed up." You answered and smiled at him; the coldest one you could pull off. Iwaizumi, who was beside him laughed, clearly amused at how you were able to counter Oikawa. "Don't worry, we'll try our best to avoid spiking towards you guys." Iwaizumi said and pulls Oikawa away. The two boys headed over to the club room, probably to get changed as you and Haruto got up on the stage. Both of you settled your bags on the floor and you grabbed a black hoodie and a matching black jogging pants. You headed towards backstage to change into your dance practice outfit. Afterwards, you walked back out and stuffed your uniform into a separate compartment. Grabbing the pair of Adidas superstars in your bag, you slipped it on and tucked your school shoes under your bag. "Hey Y/N, you look good." Lucy said as the other members started arriving. From the other side of the gym, you could see that the team was already having a meeting with their coach. You shook your head and diverted your attention towards your own group. ___ "Okay, cue the music." You instructed and a few seconds later, the music echoed throughout the gym. Everyone moved to the beat, formations changing here and there as everyone tried their best not to mess up the routine. Sweat trickled from your forehead as you tried to control your breathing to match the music. You've practiced the routine for roughly 2 hours and it was slowly getting darker outside. Everyone was tired but that was no excuse. The school's dance team had been representing the Miyagi Prefecture in dance competitions around Japan for years, and it was because each member worked so hard each time. So today was no exemption. From the corner of your eyes, you noticed how the volleyball team's pace slowed down. It was as if the game was slowing down, but you had no idea why. Focusing on your dance, your body matched every beat of the music and a smile crept up your lips. Deep breaths echoed through the gym as the music came to an end. You were able to finish the choreography within two hours and another hour for actual memorization of the routine. Everyone was exhausted and you were proud of the effort that everyone displayed today. You dismissed the group and headed to change your outfit, the hoodie was all sweaty and it reeked of sweat too. After changing, you started packing up, your shoes were tucked into your clip-on mini shoe bag and the rest of your clothes were stuffed into your bag.

As you got down from the elevated stage, Oikawa approached you, his signature smirk playing on his lips. You rolled your eyes at him and attempted to walk away from the charming guy that stood in front of you. Despite how much you would deny it, you were attracted to Oikawa. However, you would never let yourself fall on your knees for him, Oikawa possessed the visuals of a radiating young deity, but he was no god. You could never imagine chasing after him, because you knew you never stood a chance, especially with his huge fanbase. "You looked really good up there darling." He said and a tinge of pink colored your cheeks. Oikawa Tooru complimented you, tis was beyond imagination. Who knew this narcissistic jerk was capable of compliments? "Did you enjoy staring? Liked what you saw?" You teased and continued walking, Oikawa adjusting his pace to keep up with you. Oikawa would admit it, he liked you since that day you encountered in the library. He admired your badass personality and comfortable vibes. It was as if he could act however he wanted to be when he was with you. He didn't have to be afraid of showing you his playfulness, he didn't have to hide his deepest thoughts, he was comfortable with you and he could let himself feel vulnerable when you were around. "In all honesty, I think I did. Expect me to be waiting for you after your performance with a bottle of water darling." Oikawa said and you laughed at his words. "You know Oikawa, I'm not like your fangirls. I will not be easily swooned by your words." You said and Oikawa placed his hands on his hips, his head falling backwards. "I know darling. You're unlike any other. That's why I like you." He said and at that moment your heart exploded into tiny pieces. Oikawa and his dumb words always found a way to make you feel jittery. But you would never give in that easily to him. "You know, you should stop flirting so much Oikawa. It makes you seem like a heartbreaker, even if it's unintentional." You pointed out and Oikawa snorted at your comment. "You're the only one I flirt with darling." Oikawa said, grabbing your hand and intertwining your fingers with his. You sighed and didn't bother untangling it because he would just grab it again. "Stop messing with me Oikawa." You said and grabbed your phone to check on your messages. "I'm not, and for a second year, you're pretty confident in calling me without a senpai at the end." He says and you smiled, facing him and flicking his forehead with your index. "And for a senior, you're stooping on low levels to flirt with a junior." You countered and all he could do was laugh. You were unbelievable in his eyes; no girl could ever resist him the way you do. It riled him up and it made him want you even more. "I like you a lot Y/N. Just know that, you want to grab some dinner before heading home?" He offers and you smiled at him once again. Oikawa Tooru had your heart, but you would still play hard to get for a little while. Besides, free dinner was always good. So, both of you walked towards a nearby restaurant to enjoy some food, Oikawa's fingers still intertwined with yours. --The End--

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paperbagpetrichor · 4 years

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I have a bit of a silly request if that's okay with you! 💕 Kakyoin learning to dance with his s/o? I imagine him being a bit clumsy and cute ❤🍒

[ You guys and your Kak requests keep me alive, ohmygoodness~ cx ]

Slight spoiler warning for the end of Stardust Crusaders!

It had been a week or so since you and your boyfriend had received the great news from your friend. Of course, not that either of you would’ve expected anything different, as journeying with Polnareff for fifty days had proven him capable of describing anything elegantly, even toilets (which was something neither of you would ever let him live down). But this wasn’t like his usual contact methods. He hadn’t rang you, nor left a message, at least not at home, for awhile. You knew he hadn’t tried calling you through your company, too, and from what you’d gathered from Kakyoin, he hadn’t either, so needless to say it was a bit of a surprise when the two of you received a letter one peaceful spring afternoon. The two of you had shared a quick glance before opening it. A - wedding invitation? All the way in France?

If someone had told you or your boyfriend that a few years after venturing for fifty years to kill a vampire god who had stolen someone else’s body, that one day you’d all be alright, all settle down, manage to get by after it all and still enjoy life after the losses of your friends, you would’ve laughed in their face. And yet, here you were. Living with the man of your dreams, who had just narrowly avoided death himself, but healing, and Polnareff tying the knot with someone he’d known for a shorter time period than you or Kakyoin had ever known each other, it all felt insane. It was insane. And as of today, it was precisely a week before the two of you would pack up for your visitation to France.

You couldn’t stop smiling for days. After facing everything he had - losing his sister, confronting her killer, fighting, quite literally, The World - he was able to find some shred of happiness and normality back into his life, and it had bloomed into something lovely. Knowing that he would be able to move on was a great reassurance to you. And now, knowing that he’d have someone to spend his life with, to share in his joys and sorrows, only made it so much better.

Initially Kakyoin had been as excited as you, laughing and joking at the thought that some poor girl would genuinely fall for Polnareff’s cheeky pick-up lines and cheesy flirtations, those extravagant displays of affection that seemed to come at any time for any reason, almost a scary sense of devotion and determination to win her approval. But as of late he’d seemed a bit odd. You noticed him re-reading the letter countless times, and before too long you decided to confront him about it. Which put you at your present situation.

Your boyfriend was in what would’ve probably been a dining room, had you not transformed it into an art studio, staring pensively at his near-blank canvas, only a few brushstrokes and colors dotting the media despite the fact that he’d been holed up in there for hours. With a small knock and no response you eventually let yourself in. The moment he noticed you, he jumped.

“Hi,” the both of you began pensively, at precisely the same time. You weren’t sure who was blushing deeper but managed to stay focused on the issue at hand.

You grabbed a spare chair and pulled it up next to him, taking a seat beside him and folding your hands in your lap as you inquired softly, “What’s going on?” Your eyes searched his, and for a few moments it genuinely appeared he wouldn’t provide an answer, but dammit, he couldn’t withstand your gorgeous face and how concerned you were for him, coupled up with those big doe eyes and soft lashes.

He knew you well enough to be sure that if he said something along the lines of nothing much, you weren’t going to believe him for a second. You’d just as easily catch him in a lie - not that he’d ever do that with malicious intent, but every now and then a little white I’m fine came out when he wasn’t, and you would always spot it like a sore thumb. But the real reason? God, it was stupid. So, so, so stupid. Hell - you would think of him as an idiot if he told you. Nevertheless he knew it’d come out somehow, and in the end he thought his best shot was to just be straightforward about it. “You’ll laugh at me,” he prefaced.

“No, I won’t,” you retorted, crossing your arms and leaning against him, resting your head against his arm. “I just want to help. I don’t like it when you’re sad...you know you can tell me anything, right?”

You felt him tense against you. He bit his lip and averted his gaze from you, blazing shame firing through his body and only growing hotter with every passing second, until he ran his spare hand through his cherry hair and took a deep breath. “I - can’t dance.”

Despite it all you couldn’t help a small giggle escaping from your lips as you gave him a hug, even as he stammered that you promised you wouldn’t laugh, only for you to clarify with another bout of laughter, through his arm as you pulled him closer, that you weren’t laughing at him. “You’re so precious,” you doted, grinning from ear to ear, “you know that? I love you.”

Kakyoin was extremely confused. Why were you laughing? Well, that one was easy enough to answer. You thought he was some uneducated child who’d never so much as been through one dance in his life, doubting his true artistic ability if he couldn’t so much as fall into step with a beat (if that was how dancing worked at all, he didn’t know). Why were you hugging him? Why did you tell him you loved him - rather, how? He’d just admitted that he couldn’t do perhaps one of the most important things in romance, surely he was a disappointment? “[Y...y/n]?”

“You shouldn’t have been so worried,” you murmured, playfully giving him a kiss on his cheek only to withdraw after seeing the forlorn expression on his face and reconsidering. It didn’t take you too long to propose a theory as to his thoughts and their processes of originating, and your heart squeezed as you imagined what he was thinking, knowing that he always made a big deal of the smallest things, constantly in fear that you’d love him less for it. “Hey, look at me, Nori,” you continued, tucking a stray strand of his unruly hair back behind his ear as he slowly turned to face you, face flushed. “First of all - nothing is ever going to make me love you any less, okay? I love you because you’re you, and you’re Noriaki Kakyoin, the most amazing person I’ve ever met. Nothing is going to change that, least of all because you can’t dance.” He seemed to relax at least a little, and so you dipped your head in a small movement of affirmation and gratefulness before finishing up, “Second of all - we can fix that. Come on, I’ll show you - you’ll have it in no time.”

And thus, soon enough, the two of you were outside on the backyard patio, both because you’d insisted it’d be an unnecessary pain to rearrange the furniture in the house and because you were pretty sure he’d be too nervous to try anything in the front yard in plain sight to anyone who may have been walking by. You set your walkman down on the handrail leading down to the grassy floor beneath the wooden patio with a soft and slow song playing. There wasn’t any purpose in overcomplicating things, so you’d decided a simple Waltz would suffice, as it was fairly easy to remember the steps to but also appeared elegant enough to prevent you both from being scorned at such a fancy event.

You turned back to Kakyoin, who was watching with a flush of unease lighting his face in a rosy hue, and took his hand. “Alright. So the first thing is to just remember the beat,” you began, casting a glance over at your music player. “See how it sort of goes one, two, three, one, two, three?” He nodded reluctantly. “That’s the way we’re going to pace it out. Just count it in your head, and keep repeating. Depending on how fast the song is, that might have to speed up or slow down, but it’s always going to be a one, two, three with an equal amount of time between the numbers and the repeats. Does...that make sense?”

He raised his spare hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it nervously. “I think so…”

With a proud smile, you gave his hand a squeeze of approval and proceeded to take the other until the both of you were hand in hand, gently guiding his left up and out, intertwined with your own. “The arm part is really easy. We’re always just going to be holding hands here,” you giggled, enjoying the feeling of his warmth against your small hand. “And then your other hand - you can put it here -” you continued, guiding it to just below your arm, wrapping around your shoulder blade, “- or here, if you like.” This time you placed his arm around your waist, cupping your body across the small of your back.

“Is it alright if I do this one?” he inquired, slightly relaxing his tense muscles and keeping his arm around your torso, holding you close.

You nodded. “That’s perfect. So now, I’m going to put my hand here -” you rested it across the back of his shoulderblades, “- and that’s all you have to do with your arms. Easy, right?”

“So I just keep them here?” he mouthed, half a question and half a statement, as though trying to repeat your instructions to ensure he’d heard them correctly. You gave him an encouraging grin.

“Yes, right there,” you affirmed, “and now onto the legs.”

He visibly gulped, and you shook your head, reassuring him gently, “You’re going to get it, okay? So usually the guy would lead, but I’ve got no problem leading you, if that’d make you more comfortable.”

“I - I want to lead,” he interjected, tightening his grip on you. If he was going to do this, he wanted to do it properly. You were already teaching him, he wasn’t about to let you do all the work, especially not because he was too much of a chicken to rise to the task.

With a small nod you approved, cheeks tinted red at his determination. He was serious about this - everything had to be the way it was supposed to, and nothing else, and you knew that no matter how hard you’d try to convince him otherwise, he’d be too stubborn to listen. Well, it wasn’t exactly a negative. You would enjoy his gentle movements swaying your body back and forth, even if he was uncertain, guiding you side to side and holding you tightly. This part was arguably the most complicated. Firstly you talked him through it, then demonstrated your steps, then his, running down the bulleted list of motions again until he seemed to come out of his shell a bit more, quietly confirming that he was ready to try.

You didn’t get very far before his foot ended up atop yours and he retreated quickly, red in the face. “I’m sorry - are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

“Nope, that’s normal, love. It’s your first try - you’re not supposed to be perfect,” you informed after planting a gentle kiss on his cheek, ultimately pulling him in for a hug when he didn’t respond. “Hey, you’re doing really good, okay? You’re not going to hurt me, I promise. If you need a break, just let me know, yeah? We’ll take this at your pace.”

He sighed into you, ultimately embracing you back, holding your head to his chest as he thought it over. This was supposed to be easy, wasn’t it? Why wasn’t he getting it? But your words, your reassuring your voice, your kiss...it gave him a glimmer of hope. “Let’s try again.”

You pulled away with a grin and positioned the both of you properly before starting over. Every now and then his foot would bump into yours and he’d shoot you a worried glance, but you simply rolled with it, because unless someone was staring intently at your feet it’d look fine, so long as neither of you stepped on the other. There were moments where he lost the beat, but you pulled him back in, talking him through it, comforting him with compliments and affirmation. The two of you managed to get about halfway through the song without too obvious of any blunders before Kakyoin tripped, falling against you as you moved to catch him in your arms, forming a sort of awkward hug.

“Ah...I’m sorry, sweetheart, are you -” but he cut himself off as he regained his balance and remembered your earlier words, instead redirecting his train of thought entirely. He was making a fool of himself. Not only was he incapable of getting through the song, but he’d crash into your feet, trip into you, lose track of the beat, failing at basically everything you’d helped him try to learn. He blinked slowly and averted his gaze from you. “I’m not really cut out for this, am I?”

Your heart broke a little at the self-deprecating laugh that escaped him as he ran a hand through his hair, refusing to look at you. Stepping closer to him, you brushed his hair out of his face, tilting his chin down until your eyes met. “Hey, Nori, you’re doing great,” you murmured, running a hand along his jawbone and offering him an encouraging smile. “You’ll be an expert at this in no time. You want to know a secret? When I was first learning how to do this, I couldn’t get past the first three moves until five tries in.” A giggle escaped you. “You don’t have anything to be worried about. I’m really proud of you.” Of course you wouldn’t say it, because it’d probably make him feel bad, but with how apologetic he was, how self-conscious he seemed to be, the way he seemed to worry about everything, especially you...it was sweet. You didn’t mind if he messed up. But he did, so you vowed to help him as much as you could. You knew he would succeed.

The two of you slowly fell back in, and much to Noriaki’s amazement, he didn’t step on you, or fall, or lose the beat too much. Sure, he would forget himself every now and then, and his foot would graze you, but he wasn’t tripping, he didn’t think he looked as idiotic as before, and he was beginning to regain some faith in himself. The instant the song flickered off you were on him, hugging him to you and smothering him with kisses.

“See? See? What did I tell you, hmm?” you laughed between kisses. You smiled into his shirt as you felt his chest rumble with relieved laughter of his own, returning your affection with a kiss of his own and an arm around you. That smile of yours, that laugh - he would do anything to see it. It was his life force, sometimes the only thing that kept him going, the only thing that could always make him happy, no matter what.

Still, he wasn’t entirely satisfied. He did still forget a few steps now and then, and his footwork wasn’t too precise. He was determined to get it right. And so he asked to go again. Once more, all the way through the song - he didn’t fall out of beat, or anything else, except for almost slipping as the inside of his sole hit yours rather harshly. Again. There, that was better, just a few slight moments where he’d step too quickly and brush his shoe against yours. Again. Again. Again. And then, at last - no trips. No falling. No losing the beat. No stepping on you, no slipping, no delayed movements, no grazing your feet, no hesitation. A massive weight felt like it had been lifted off him, and as he finished perfectly in line with you, he pulled you to him, practically lifting you off the ground as he laughed with accomplishment. “[Y/n], I did it!”

“I know!” you grinned back, throwing your arms over his shoulders and giggling gleefully. See? No time, none at all. He was a quick learner, no doubt about it, and the elation he seemed to exude flooded you, filling you not only with your happiness, but his, too, and you embraced him tighter, the two of you one congealed mess of limbs and laughter. “See, nothing to worry about! You’ve got it, Nori.”

“All thanks to you,” he replied, gently setting you down with a kiss on your forehead, but not letting you go nonetheless. “So as thanks, maybe I should teach you something too…?”

Before you had a chance to respond, he’d spun you around in circles, tilting you back in his arms and catching you with your back arched, your breathless form savoring the moment with peace. He pulled you back in, laughing, the biggest grin you’d seen yet illuminating his face. “What did you think? Should we add that in at the end?”

“I’d say yes, but I think you’re going to put Polnareff to shame,” you chuckled, smiling from ear to ear at the suddenness of it all, the sheer enjoyment of it all washing over you in unprecedented waves.

“I wouldn’t consider that a negative. You’ll put everyone else to shame regardless, [y/n].”

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yeet-or-be-hawed · 5 years

Text

“Happy Ending” Healthy!Arthur Morgan x Reader

I will always be upset about the fact that Arthur doesn’t get a happy ending, because he deserves it more than any other character in the game so here’s the happy ending I wrote for him! Fluff

With your help, Arthur escapes gang life with the money that had been promised to him for so long. Now the two of you can live out the rest of your lives on the open plains of the West.

Your heart was pounding as the adrenaline rushed through your veins. You were running through the caves behind Arthur who had the big sack of cash thrown across his shoulder. “What’s the plan?” You called to him.

“The plan is,” he called over his shoulder.” To get the hell outta here alive.” He had just passed the threshold of the cave and out into the night. His head was turned towards you and he didn’t see Micah until he was on top of him.

“You couldn’t keep away could ya, cow polk?” Micah sneered down at Arthur as he began to strangle him. “You made a big mistake comin’ back here all alone.”

Arthur struggled under him and clawed at Micah’s filthy hands. “I ain’t alone.” He coughed.

“Hey asshole.”

Micah looked up at you just in time to catch your bullet right between his eyes. He fell limp on top of Arthur. He pushed the corpse off him in disgust and you helped him up. You looked down at Micah’s bloody face and spat right in it. “Been lookin’ forward to doin’ that for a long time, cow polk.”

Arthur picked up the sack and squeezed your shoulder. “Let’s go.”

There was the small click of a pistol behind you, “Not so fast.” You drew your pistol as you turned.

“Dutch.” Your voice was seething in hatred. He had a gun in each hand, one pointed at you and the other at Arthur.

Arthur drew his pistol reluctantly, and the three of you stood there in silence, a dead standoff. Dutch was the first to speak. “Give me the money boy, you’re makin’ a big mistake.”

“All them years, Dutch for what? For you to throw us away like trash for some rat?” Arthur’s voice was angry, his heart was breaking from the betrayal of the man he called a father for so many years. He tried to deny it for so long, tried to tell himself Dutch ain’t like that, but now with Dutch’s pistol facing him and his eyes cold as ice the evidence was irrefutable.

Dutch aimed his gun right at Arthur’s head. His voice was cold and threatening. “I’ll only say it one more time. Bring me the money, now.”

“Not a chance in hell!” Arthur shouted.

In that moment, Dutch’s gaze shifted completely towards Arthur and he pointed both guns toward him. Time slowed around you as you lined up your shot, your bullets riddled through him before he could pull the trigger.

Guilt and self hatred ran through you like ice water. You approached the man that you once considered a father figure. Even though you knew the man who raised you wasn’t the same as the man who laid dead in front of you, tears still welled in your eyes as you looked down at his bleeding body. You cursed the tears as they ran down your cheeks, Dutch would not shed the same tears for you had you been in the same position and you knew that. Arthur pulled his arms around you and stroked your hair softly. “Shhh, it’s okay.” He whispered in your ear. “You had to do what you had to do.” He gripped your arms and looked you in the eye. “We have to go now before the others find us. Can you ride?”

You wiped the tears from your eyes and sniffled. “Yes.”

Arthur gave you a quick reassuring kiss. “Come on.”

You nodded and followed him towards your horses. He loaded the sack of money onto his horse and bolted off into the night. You followed close behind him. The night was pitch black, all you could see was the white sheen off Arthur’s horse. It reminded you of the Count. Memories flooded back of riding behind Dutch, always behind Dutch and beside Arthur. In a matter of months your family had been shot, tortured, and torn apart in front of your very eyes. Men you considered to be brothers turned on you quicker than leaves turn in the fall. You felt the tears come back and you blinked them away. You had to stay sharp and focused if you were going to make it out of here alive, you had to keep pushing.

A year later, and you and Arthur had completely different lives. Finally, he was back west where he longed to be for so long, and to make it better, he was living a normal life. After you escaped that night, you rode west and stayed far away from the public eye. Using a chunk of your fortune you paid off both of your bounties, allowing the two of you to live freely without the fear of being hunted by lawmen and bounty hunters. The next thing you did was purchase a large piece of property, just between Armadillo and Tumbleweed. Together you built a beautiful cabin atop a plateau that overlooked the valley where the main road cut through the desert. Arthur forgot how beautiful the deep reds and rich browns of the west were and now he could enjoy them with you by his side.

Arthur woke early one morning, before the sun had rose. He looked your large bedroom; the fireplace was dimly lit only the embers remaining, they illuminated the big bear rug that was sprawled on the floor in front of the fire. It seemed like a lifetime ago when he and Hosea hunted that bear. He wondered what Hosea thought of the events that had unfolded since his death. He thought about Hosea watching them from heaven, making his sassy remarks and snorting at Dutch’s haywire plans. With a smile, he also thought of what Hosea would think of him now. He knew Hosea would be proud, he always wanted this life for Arthur. Hosea’s voice whispered in the back of Arthur’s head. “She’s gonna make one hell of a wife one day.”

Arthur looked over at you, curled up in his side with your head resting on his chest. Your face was peaceful, deep in sleep. Your hair was wild, strands sticking out in every direction, Arthur found it painfully cute. He shifted out from under you carefully and pulled on his clothes for the day quietly. You were a heavy sleeper, so you weren’t disturbed in the slightest by his movements. He went down the stairs to the kitchen and began making his morning coffee over the stove. He looked out the window and sighed in content. He never thought in his wildest dreams he would have this. A woman in his bed who loved him and treasured him dearly, a roof over his head to keep them safe, and the security of knowing you won’t be hunted down in the night. He finally felt like a real man, the man you deserved. He put a roof over your head, he could make you breakfast in the mornings, discuss your dreams and your daily plans at the breakfast table. He finally felt like he could make a good husband. He poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed his journal. He ripped out a piece of paper and began to write:

Y/N,

I stepped out to make a trip to town. You were fast asleep and I didn’t want to disturb you. I may be back before you wake, but if I don’t I wanted you to know I was safe and will be returning to you soon. As always, I’ll carry you with me in my heart through my travels. I look forward to coming home to see your shining face.

Yours always, Arthur

He folded the piece of paper and climbed back up the steps. He opened the bedroom door slowly and placed the piece of paper on your night stand. He placed a small kiss on your forehead before turning and leaving.

You woke slowly and reached for Arthur. Your eyes flew open when your hands felt nothing but the cold sheets beside you. Anxiety bubbled in your stomach as you shot up. “Arthur?” You called. “Arthur!”

Before you could stop it your brain began throwing images at you. Arthur, returning to camp half dead after being kidnapped. Arthur, lying where Lenny lied cold and dead in the streets of Saint Denis blood pooling around him. Arthur’s body grossly beheaded, his head sitting in his hands as his body is brought to camp on his horse just like Kieran. With a deep breath you calm yourself and look around the empty room. Your nerves ease as you spot the small piece of paper folded on your night stand. You picked it up and read it, your heart growing fuller with each word. Arthur’s beautiful handwriting scrolled across the paper, and your fingers grazes where it said, “yours always.”

With a smile, you opened the bottom drawer of your night stand and pulled out a tin box. Inside was every love letter, drawing, and little side note like this one Arthur had ever given you. This box held the story of your relationship, and it was your dearest treasure. You slipped the note into the box and returned it to its home in the drawer. With a yawn, you put on your clothes and got ready for the day.

It was afternoon when you saw Arthur coming up the dusty trail towards your home together. It still filled your heart with joy to be reunited with him, even if it was only for a few hours. You ran outside to meet him as he hitched his horse.

“Welcome home, my love.” You whispered as you threw your arms around him.

He gripped you tightly, “Thanks darlin’.” He released you and took your hand. You looked so happy as you led him in the house, it made his heart feel like it was about to burst.

“I want to take you out today.” He announced as you entered the house together.

You smiled up at him. “Really? Whatcha thinkin’?”

“It’s a surprise. But its a fancy surprise, so I want ya to go put on somethin’ nice.”

“What I got on ain’t nice enough?” You joked.

He smiled down at you, his eyes were full of affection. “You always look nice, but I want this to be special.”

The love in his voice made you melt, you nodded and ran upstairs to your room. You dug through your wardrobe until you found the perfect dress. It was powder blue with small white flowers. It was Arthur’s favorite, which in turn made it your favorite as well.

Arthur changed quickly while you did your hair and makeup. Before your new life, you never primped yourself like this, and even though Arthur still found you breathtaking in your natural beauty, he still couldn’t get over the way you looked when you got all dolled up. It still made a lump rise into his throat and made him feel flustered when you looked at him, hair pulled into a beautiful updo and your makeup done with flawless precision. He couldn’t help the knots turning in his stomach as he waited anxiously for you to finish getting ready, he tried to fight them off as not to make you suspicious.

When you finished, Arthur took you by the arm and led you to his horse. He helped you up carefully, trying to keep you as clean as possible. He sat behind you and wrapped his arms around you tightly as the horse took off.

The ride was long, he headed east and the warm reds and browns turned into cool greens and grays.

Your curiosity got the better of you. “Where are we goin’ Arthur?”

“I told you, it’s a surprise.”

You groaned in impatience and he laughed. “Don’t worry darlin’ we’re almost there.”

After a few minutes of silence, Arthur led his horse off the trail and into a thicket. This confused you, but you knew Arthur wouldn’t give up his secrets until they were there. The trees opened up to reveal a small meadow with a stream cutting right through it. Wild flowers littered the ground in every color. The sunlight cut through the trees and drenched the meadow in a golden light. Arthur took your hand and gently pulled you off the horse. He kept your hand and led you to the center of the meadow, right beside the stream. You looked around in awe. “Oh Arthur,” you whispered. “This is beautiful.”

He smiled down at you, “not as beautiful as you.” He cleared his throat and you caught the nervous look in his eye. He took both hands in his and turned towards you. His eyes darted quickly to the side then back to you. “Meetin’ you was the best thing to ever happen to me. Before you, I never thought I would find love, because I never really thought I deserved it. You showed me how to love again, and how to love myself. I don’t feel like a miserable ugly wretch anymore, I feel like a man, a man who can take your love and give it back to you with my whole heart.” His eyes darted back to the side one more time before he knelt down and picked up a mahogany box that had been hidden in the tall grass behind him. “I know this isn’t as traditional as a ring but,” your hand came to your mouth as you realized what was happening. He propped himself up on one knee and opened the box to reveal two beautiful Mauser pistols; one was black with white engravings and a stag on the handle. The other was white with black engravings, a doe in the same spot. You recognized them immediately, they were just like Arthur’s. “I figured these would be more your style. Y/N, would you do me the honor of being my wife?” His eyes were swimming with nervousness and anticipation. You nodded your head yes as tears of happiness ran down your cheeks. “Yes,” you croaked as you threw yourself into his arms, knocking him backwards into the grass. His own tears of happiness began to fall as he wrapped his arms around you tightly, laughing and kissing your shoulder as he buried his face into you.

“Perfect, absolutely stunning!” You looked up in surprise to see no other than Albert Mason poking his head out of a bush in the direction Arthur kept glancing. Arthur wiped the tears from his face and helped you to your feet. As you approached, you saw the lens of his camera just barely poking out from the bush. You looked up at Arthur stunned, “Did you know he was going to be here?”

“Of course! He asked me to be here, my dear. He wanted me to capture this very special moment for him.” Albert said as he clumsily pulled himself from the bushes. He stumbled clumsily, but Arthur caught him and put an arm around his shoulder. “Thank you, my old friend. I can’t thank you enough for bein’ here today.”

Albert patted him on the back, “Why it was my pleasure!” He turned to you, “this fine man has saved my sorry skin more times than I can count. I owe him my life.”

You beamed at the funny man, “I can say the same thing.”

Albert set up his camera, “I may not be able to pay you for saving my life, but I can do a lovely engagement photoshoot for the lovely couple! It’ll be my treat, an engagement gift as you will.”

Arthur tried to argue, he wanted to pay his friend for his services but he wouldn’t have it. “Go stand with your lovely fiance and let me photograph you before something tries to eat us all!” Albert joked.

“Alright, alright.” Arthur joined you beside the stream, he never had his photos taken before and it was much funner than he anticipated.

The day of your wedding came quickly, and it was a small ceremony. You were able to contact a few remaining old friends; John and his family attended along with Charles and Sadie. Charles stood in front of you and Arthur, he was more than happy to wed you and neither you nor Arthur could think of anyone better to do it. Arthur was a sight to behold in his suit, his beard trimmed neatly and his hair slicked back with pomade. He would’ve said the same about you, a vision of white and hair pinned back with the veil draping your face. Arthur could barely wait for Charles to say “you may kiss the bride” before he pushed the veil back and kissed you with the most passion he could muster. This was the happiest day of your life.

Years passed blissfully, married life suited the two of you, and calling you his wife sent Arthur over the moon. You were sitting across the table from one another on a summer afternoon, Arthur drew in a new journal as you sorted through the mail. You smiled as you looked down at the parchment in front of you. It was from Abigail and John; you opened it to reveal a wedding invitation. “Oh my God, it looks like John finally got the nerve to ask Abigail to marry him.” You said.

Arthur looked up at you, “I thought they was already married?”

You shook your head. “She took his name a coupla years ago but they never made it official. Who woulda thought, John a family man.”

Arthur laughed. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

You took his hand, “You musta rubbed off on him.”

The Marston’s ranch wasn’t far from your own home which made the travel on you easier. Uncle and Charles had been staying with the Marston family, and you were happy to see Sadie again. Abigail was beaming through the entire ceremony, and she reminded you of how happy you were the day you married Arthur. Likes yours, the ceremony was small and short. As the sun began to set, John brought out a huge crate of whiskey. Everyone cheersed to him and Abigail, and you hated having to practice self discipline as you looked longingly at the whiskey. It didn’t take long for Abigail to notice you weren’t drinking. She stumbled to you holding a bottle. “Y/N, you haven’t even had a drink yet!”

You laughed nervously, “Yeah, I guess my stomach just can’t handle liquor anymore.” You hoped she didn’t see through your lie, but she was already quite inebriated. She just eyed you suspiciously, “Okay, then.” And with that she turned and headed back to John’s side.

Arthur had hit the whiskey hard, as usual, and it made for an entertaining show. Arthur was always a funny drunk, but when he was reunited with his old friends, it made your heart happy to see him so carefree. The party went on late into the night, and you and Arthur stayed the night at the ranch.

Morning came early and your stomach churned uneasily. You got up quietly as to not wake Arthur and headed straight for the door. You leaned over the railing of the porch and vomited violently. You prayed no one heard you, you weren’t quite ready to tell anyone yet and you certainly didn’t want to steal Abigail’s thunder. You wiped the bile from the corners of your mouth and snuck back into the house undetected. To your relief, Arthur was still fast asleep on the floor and you curled up next to him.

He woke a few hours later, and the two of you had breakfast with the family before heading back to your own home. The ride back was quiet, but it was a nice quiet. You and Arthur were close enough that the silences between you didn’t feel heavy or awkward.

When you finally made it back, you flopped down on the bed, your body was exhausted from the travel. Arthur followed behind you, still quiet. You closed your eyes and crawled back into your bed. When Arthur didn’t join, you opened your eyes and looked up at him. He was looking at you wearily from across the room. You opened your arms and beckoned him. “What’s wrong, Arthur?”

He finally moved towards you and sat on the edge of the bed beside you. His eyes were full of concern. “Are you okay?”

You looked up at him confused, “I’m fine, why do you ask?”

He rubbed his neck nervously, “I noticed you didn’t drink last night. I’ve never known you to turn down whiskey. And this morning, I heard you getting sick. I need to know if something’s wrong, I want to take care of you.” He put a hand on your forehead, feeling for a fever. You grabbed his hand and held it in yours.

“I wasn’t plannin’ on tellin’ you yet, but I ain’t sick.”

“What is it?”

You placed his hand on your belly and smiled. “I’m with child.”

He looked at you in disbelief and sputtered, “You, you mean-are you sure?”

You nodded, “I went to the doctor last week, I’m sure.” You hand cupped his cheek. “You’re going to be a father, Arthur.”

He smiled and he felt tears of happiness well up in his eyes. No words ever put more excitement and joy in his heart. He kissed your stomach and then kissed you on the lips. “This is the best day of my life!” He almost shouted.

He was full of excitement, and you knew he would make a wonderful father. Before Arthur, you never even wanted kids, but watching him with Jack throughout the years, and hearing him talk about his desires for family changed your mind, and this was the moment everything led up to. Arthur joined you in the bed and pulled you into his arms tightly.

This was it, this was pure happiness. Arthur had everything he had ever dreamed of, for the first time in his life, he felt whole.

#arthur morgan x reader #arthur x reader #arthur morgan #red dead redemption 2 #reader insert #rdr2 #rdr fanfic #fluff #healthy arthur

217 notes · View notes

the-canary · 5 years

Text

Heartbeat, Heartbreak - B.B (8/8)

Summary: Three musketeers until you started to fall in love. But, have you been living since then? (Modern!Reader/Bucky Barnes).

Prompt: “That’s disgusting. You’re lucky you’re cute.”

A/N: This for @notimetoblog‘s writing challenge. tbh, i really did think that all three would come back together in some earlier version of the story, but this story just ran with me and we ended up here.

i honestly didn’t expect so much support and emotion from everyone that read this story, but i am glad that you all enjoyed the ride -- and hopefully these two get a happy ending! thank you so much of reading <3

Feedback is always appreciated.

“Maybe, this is for the best,” Sharon admits as she turns to look at the letter laying on the coffee table, “It’s only for a while and you need a break, sweetheart.”

Green eyes met Sharon’s blue ones, as she gives her a shaky smile. The invitation to teach in D.C for a semester from an old college professor was not an unwelcome thing, but it still felt odd to leave New York -- to let this chord go after so many years of hanging onto it. She thought one day, with Bucky reaching out to you first, that you could all be friends again --- that you could champion and care for one another once more, but she had come to realize that the three of you hurt each other too much, that you bleed over fears and insecurities even when you weren’t in high school anymore.

Friendship couldn’t be built off of that, and as sleepless nights follow her last meeting with Bucky... Nat was slowly starting to realize that. ‘

“Maybe, a change of scenery would be nice,” Nat admits, as Sharon smiles at her small acceptance of things as the blond moves forward with moving everything for the three of them -- a new place might be exactly what they all need.

Deep down, Natasha knows that she could never be forgiven, especially if you ever found out the truth, but she hopes deep down...that both you and Bucky can finally find peace and happiness, even if it’s not with each other. She looks at her wife and then her little girl jumping on her knee -- she gurgles and gives her a gummy smile.

Rose has the middle name of the one person that Natasha had hurt more than anyone in all this, and she could only hope to teach and love her little girl enough that she didn’t make the same mistakes with the people she loved.

It takes eight months of careful dancing and fruiative glances for something to finally bloom again.

January.

It’s the end of the month, two weeks after he had first been introduced to you all over again when James finally decides to reach out in a professional way. There are questions he has about the previous patents held by Barnes Pharmaceuticals and how they can work in his current research with Dr. Banner, and whether he could do that at all.

It’s the early afternoon when his meeting with you is supposed to begin and once more he finds himself in one of those big glass rooms in the lawyers’ section of Stark Industries. He fidgets, remembering that this is where it had all started for you and him once more -- so many things had changed and they were still changing, but James tried to take it as best he could.

Things had broken and reformed in such a short time within James’ life that all he could do was accept the change and learn to grow from it -- to find what he had been missing for such a long time.

“Dr. Barnes,” your voice breaks his thoughts and while your voice is still as professional as ever (and it hurts every now and then), there is a small smile on your face as you take a seat across from him, “How can I help you today?”

However, James can’t help but smile at the sight of all the folders and books you had brought in. You were still learning so much about your new position and he just couldn’t help how sweet the sight was, though he would never tell you that -- this wasn’t the time for such things.

“I was wondering--”

You end up sitting there for hours and while it might not be anything that he had dreamed up as a teenager, James was surely happy to have you in his life again.

Feb. - March

Sam realizes early on that he is stuck with a bunch of workaholics that tend to work straight through lunch if someone doesn’t stop them. So, he decides that at least once a week you, Bruce, and James need to go out for lunch together. Most of the times it is somewhere cheap for a short break, but he can tell that from time to time one of you needs it. He also tends to notice some other things as well, along with Steve who joins in when he can when he isn’t busy as a new stay-at-home dad.

“I never said I would say no to dating,” you fight back as Sam laughs. Bruce watches from behind his drink as James tries his hardest not to choke on his food right then and there, “I’m just always busy.”

Bucky isn’t sure how the four of you reached this -- may be, it was due to his most recent failure of a date being the topic of this lunch, which lead to Sam asking you when was your last date. You frown at the ask before the older man had taunted you about your obvious streak, but maybe he was doing it for a different reason as brown eyes glanced at the tightening jaw of a certain doctor.

“There’s always something new to learn and catch up on,” you explain, more heated on defending yourself than looking at the twinkle in James’ eye, “There just isn’t time for it --finding people, going on dates, maybe falling in love or not. It’s too much of a hassle for me.”

“So,” Sam stops for a dramatic pause, “If I or anybody else wanted to set you up, would you be a willing participant?”

“Sure,” you shrug like it’s the easiest thing to say in the world and effectively ending the discussion as you take another bite of your meal.

You don’t seem to notice the shit-eating grin Sam sends James’ way, as Bruce gets stuck in the crossroads of his glare.

March.

Bucky can’t help but notice that on the tenth of the month there is a small gift placed on his usually cluttered desk. He pauses trying to stop his heart from getting ahead of himself because he isn’t really close enough to anyone that they would know his birthday just yet unless Mr. Stark did this for all his employees.

He lets out a shake breathe with a speeding heart at the sight of Oppy --a miniature of the Mars rover.

You don’t say anything about the item or just what day it is, but he just can’t help but hope that your eyes are twinkling at the sight of it on his desk whenever you come into the labs.

April.

It’s this month when James decides to tell you what Nat had told him all those months back. You guys have stabilized into a normal coworker relationship, well as much as it can be when one half was still in love with the other -- not that you needed to know that though. However, just as he needed to know the truth to move on, he felt that you deserved the whole truth as well. Not, that you needed to move on -- you were already doing that so well, but for you to stop being kept out of the dark -- you, in his opinion, needed all that.

It’s a little weird to ask you to spend a day with him, so he decides to block the rest of the day off after lunch --between just the two of you-- so that he could go through this with as much time possible and if you didn’t want to talk with him after that -- well, James understood that as well now.

“James,” you never call him Bucky, don’t allow yourself to, “What exactly is this about?”

“Natasha,” he replies, which causes you to frown as he can tell that there are already a million ideas running through that pretty head of yours, “There are some things she told me before we stopped talking and I felt like you had the right to know.”

“I--” you freeze for a moment. The wounds still soft and pliant no matter how hard you tried to be strong about the whole situation. Nevertheless, you steel yourself and nod, “All right, what do you have to say?”

Bucky starts off nervously telling you about the whole situation as Nat had told him some months ago. Your face shows no change and you stay quiet the entire time -- it isn’t until you guys are walking back and close to the bridge that you ask him to turn around for a moment. Blue eyes stare at you in confusion for a second as you finally give him that watery smile that he remembers a much younger you have when you were trying to hold back the pain.

He turns around, but James swears his heart breaks the moment he hears that first heart-wrenching sob escape you. The both of you stand there, you crying and James holding back with all his might from turning around and cradling you in his arms as you mourn something that will never be able to come back from your shared childhood.

May.

“So, how did this one go?” James can’t help but overhear as you and Sam walk the hallway and one man is speaking a little louder than usual. Bucky knows what Sam is talking about -- he and some other close friends of yours had been trying to set you up since you had declared that you were open for any blind date.

He tried to ignore as his own steady stream of dates began to slow down, as he started to spend more time with you, even if it was just through lunch and some meetings here and there, though he always made sure that he said hello or saw you at least once throughout the day.

“It wasn’t a 5-star date,” you explain with a shrug as you both walk into the labs, “I just think that I should take a break for now.”

James can’t help the stupid smile he has on his face throughout the entire meeting -- much to your confusion and Sam’s annoyance.

June.

It’s by mistake that the two of you meet Central Park -- Bucky is coming out of his favorite bookstore for a quick lunch and you had gotten lost in shopping for something for Sam’s little girl and Steve’s little boy since they were so close in age. You didn’t mean to get sidetracked with all the baby books that the bookstore was displaying outside -- it was just that time of the year it seemed.

“Did something catch your interest?” a familiar voice asks, as you turn around to meet curious blue eyes and a crooked smile. You try to stop your heart from freezing at the sight.

“Just looking,” you state your intentions vaguely as Bucky nods, though you can’t help but wonder about James’ personal thoughts when it came to the subject of children -- you had known he had always wanted to get married and have the family the potential size of a baseball team, but that didn’t seem to be on his list anymore. Maybe, he had given up?

“Do you,” his hesitant voice breaks your thoughts, “wanna go have lunch...maybe?”

You blink once then twice, trying to put two and two together that James had just sort of asked you out, though maybe just as friends as he gives you a shy grin -- almost ready that you are going to reject the offer.

“Yeah, sure,” you state with a small nod as his eyes widen for a second as he walks to your side on the busy sidewalk and begins your way to what James tells you is the best bistro this side of Central Park.

You aren’t sure why you are doing this, but at the leap and the sight of James’ smile -- you can’t help but think that this might be a good thing.

July.

It starts off with lunch during the weekend and then a thank you text for helping pick out something for Riley and Michael.

It slowly turns into how are you doing, are you eating lunch, does this place seem okay to you? It’s nervous energy running up and down his spine at the first picture he decides to send -- because that flower field during his morning run just reminds him of you so much and he can’t help it.

It’s you sending a smile back and one of your own whenever you see a cute dog or have read an interesting article about anything science related, though he already had it bookmarked.

It’s him saying goodnight with a heart and you answering back with a star. However, there is one thing that causes him to rethink everything, to let the flame of love that has never gone out keep burning and it’s all over a picture of him stuffing his face with pizza that Sam sends “by accident” when they are all hanging out together.

“That’s disgusting. You’re lucky you’re cute. :)”

Bucky hopes deep down that it’s okay to start hoping like his teenaged self once more.

August.

However, Bucky should have known better than to dream of stupid things, than getting ahead of himself when you had shown nothing but friendly feelings towards him -- there could be no romantic love in your actions for someone that had broken your heart so cruelly once. And perhaps, you are doing the same when you deny going with him to the Stark Summer Gala ( as friends , he had added for extra measure), but you just gave him a dim smile and states no -- that you were going with someone else.

James tells himself that he is ready to see you with your date for the night, to see the one that might hold your heart in ways he only dreamed of. It’s a lie when he sees you coming into the room in a dark colored dress that accents the best parts of your body with a tall, dark-haired man that has his arm around your waist.

The man whispers something in your ear, you shake your head with a smile and Bucky orders another whiskey on the rocks.

“Just put him out of his misery already before I have to see those pathetic puppy eyes thrown this way again.”

It’s what Loki tells you halfway through the night, though you are sure he wants you out of the way now that he has caught sight of that Moroccan sugar daddy that he had realized was going to be at the gala. The other part of him being here was for the lack of a better word was moral support. You had known it was going to he hard to be around James once you realized you were going to be working together, but that only seems to get harder as the months moved forward.

You had been apprehensive and distant at best when it all began, but in the past two months something had changed (maybe since he had told you the truth of what Nat had done when he didn’t have to) and you were falling for him all over again. However, it wasn’t fast with your whole future planned ahead, but soft and slowly -- hoping that you could have just one more day with him, one more phone call or silly chat over something that caught your interest for the day.

Once again, you were willing to have your heart ruined if it was James Buchanan Barnes, but maybe he was the only one that held it in the first place -- since elementary and beyond that, you were just hoping that it was finally the right time for the two of you.

You search around once then twice, as Jane gives you a hopeful smile before Sam moves his head to motion towards one of the closed balconies. You take a deep breath and play with the straps of your dress for a bit before heading over to where he is supposed to be, Sam grinning behind his drink the entire time.

“I think I should just go, Stevie,” you hear Bucky complain about the phone as you stand near the doors of the balcony. Though, you can’t help but note that even frantic he still looks handsome in his dark suit and slicked back hair that he is slowly messing up as he runs his hand through it.

“--I just don’t think I can keep seeing her with that greasy guy when I..I--”

“When you what, James?”

The sound of your voice causes him to freeze as he turns slowly to look at you. His mouth is set to a thin line as he tells Steve that he’ll call him later. Bucky hangs up and pockets the cell phone before fighting between staring at his fidgeting hands and looking at you. You take slow steps into the balcony as James moves to step back until he is next to the railing. You almost want to laugh that you have cornered him, but his silence has you a bit more concerned.

“James,” you state softly, but he stays the same -- that’s when you bringing out the big guns, “ Bucky .”

“Don’t do that,” he lets out pathetically at the sound of his nickname coming out of your lips for the first time since the ice cream parlor meeting.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” you tease as you lean in and cup his cheek so his blue, blue eyes are staring at yours, “You should explain -- maybe starting off with what you were talking to Steve about.”

“You don’t wanna know, sweetheart,” he laments as the sound of his voice almost breaks your heart right then and there, “Not while you’re with someone else. I just want your happiness, always have.”

You can’t help but smile at the thought, knowing now that it was the truth --Bucky cared too much about everyone in his life-- even if it had been shown in the worst ways in the past, but you were trying to change that now.

“I never said I was romantically with someone else, James,” you state as he keeps staring at you with that disbelieving stare, as your grin grows like a cat who had eaten the canary without getting caught, “There’s only one person that really has my heart -- always has.”

Bucky leans into your hand and gives you that kicked puppy dog stare as finally admits what he has been so bad in hiding from the whole world, except maybe you.

“ Shit , I love you,” he says those magical words that have you beaming, “I don’t think I ever stopped and if you’ll have me, I’ll never make you regret that choice for as long as you call me yours, darlin’.”

You hum softly, noting that you hear his words but seem to be thinking about the notion -- at least just to get his heart racing before closing in once more so that your bodies are as close together as possible. The whole world seems to disappear at the sight of him looking at you so ardently.

“I’m putting my heart in your hands, Bucky Barnes,” you admit just above a whisper as his blue eyes shine in the dim lighting, “ So, don’t you dare break i t.”

“I promise,” he states as he starts kissing the sides of your mouth and your cheeks -- clearly ignoring his intended target to tease you back, “Never in a million years, never again.”

“Good,” is all you can say before grabbing both sides of his face and dragging his lips to meet yours as he arms encircle your waist.

Your lips meet once then twice, longer than the first and until the need for air breaks the two of you apart. Your foreheads touch as he goes on and on about all the places he wants to take you and all the words he never got to say once before, as you answer back with your own declarations and pilant kisses. And this isn’t about making up for a lost time, but rather seeing who the other has become and welcoming it as a whole new adventure together and to see where this could go.

And for as long as your two hearts were beating and truthful to one another -- well, you were sure that could conquer anything that came your way.

#notimetoblog550 #james buchanan barnes #Bucky Barnes #james barnes #james bucky barnes x reader #james buchanan barnes x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes ceo #bucky barnes childhood friends au #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes modern au #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes fan fic #series: beat and break #fabiola trying to write

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monstaxscenario · 6 years

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SHOWNU- I’ll Be There

“There is expected to be rain from late morning to mid afternoon. If any of you are planning to go out during this time, we do advise to take an umbrella with you. Stay safe everyone and have a happy weekend.”

‘Yeah right, it’s been dry for days now and i doubt it’ll rain today. And besides….nobody really listens to the weather reports these days anyway’, you say to yourself as you’re getting ready for a job interview at a small bakery/cafe that you visited a lot during a lot during your senior years at high school. Even though it was small and didn’t have a lot going on, it was a nice quiet and calm and environment for you, it was the perfect place for you to just get some peace and quiet do to any assignments or homework that you had to do.

You check the time on your wrist watch: 9:30a.m. Shoot, I should get going now!’, you say dashing out of your apartment.

As you’re on your way to the cafe, you start to feel a pitter patter of drops on your head, you look up and see that it’s starting to rain. 'Oh shit!! I guess it really was going to rain today….and i didn’t bring my umbrella….crap! I have to find some shelter, and fast. I ain’t getting my clothes wet, especially not right now!!’.

After running around, in some very uncomfortable high heels, you finally find some shelter to keep yourself dry from the rain. You look at yourself at the nearest window, and you think to yourself, 'Geez…how the hell am i going to explain myself to the interviewer…i guess i should move the interview to another day…’, you say in disappointment.

As your typing in the number of the interviewer, a mysterious person walks up to and hands you an umbrella. You looked up and noticed it was your neighbour, Shownu. You didn’t really know a lot about him because whenever you ran into him, he always looked cold and never really replied to you if you said hello, the most you got from him as an answer would be a mumble. 'You should really start listening to the news next time, especially the weather reports’, then walks away without giving you a chance to thank him. 'Oh, so he can talk…well that was a first’, you said to yourself in a bit of disbelief. You thought to yourself that what you needed for what just happened was to head home and just have a nice soothing bath and watch whatever is on TV.

It’s been at least a few months now and over time you’ve noticed that the same sort of scenarios have been going on that would involve you running into Shownu or him walking up to you, giving you something or saying something to you and suddenly walking away. And also overtime, you’ve noticed that you’ve been starting to have some sort of feeling towards him, even though on the outside he seemed like a pretty cold person, you could tell that he was actually a very caring person that just doesn’t really know how to express his feelings properly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One afternoon after coming home from work, you noticed a letter from your landlord sticking out from the bottom of the door; it was an invitation for an annual Christmas party for all residents to attend. Since you’ve been working hard at work, you’ve been looking for an opportunity to take some time off of work and this was the perfect way to take some time off to have some time for yourself.

On the night of the party, you arrive and it’s….well it’s not really was you expected for a Christmas party. As you walk around to try to find a 'secluded’ area of the room to call your boyfriend to hopefully save you from a party that if you stayed any longer, you’d probably start getting grey hairs. As you opened your phone to dial his number, you notice that he left you a message saying that he didn’t want to be in a relationship with you anymore and that he feels like he has lost feelings for you. When you read that message, your heart shattered into a million pieces; He was someone that you always thought would have your back, if your night could any worse…well…it just did.

You walked to the nearest balcony to separate yourself from the party and to just re-evaluate what just happened. Just the thought of reading the message that your now, ex-boyfriend, sent you just made you start crying like there’s no tomorrow. After what felt like you’ve been crying for who knows how long, you notice a somewhat, familiar presence, standing next to you, handing out a handkerchief to you. 'Oh, thank you Shownu’, you said in a mess of tears. 'Hey’, he says as he slowly lifts his hand to put it on your cheek, ’ a pretty woman like you shouldn’t be crying over someone that obviously doesn’t deserve you for who you are’ he said with a sweet smile. 'Now, don’t be crying anymore, okay? It hurts my heart to see your sweet, gorgeous face, covered in tears’, you start to get emotional again from his sweet words.

'If you were with me’, he continues, 'I would never let anything or anyone hurt you, you’d be too precious to me to have anything happen to you’, he says in a sincere voice as he pulls you into his embrace to comfort you.

'R-Really Shownu…you mean that?’. 'Yes, I do. I know I’ve always seemed cold to you whenever you would run into me, i just didn’t know how to talk to you. You would make my heart beat so fast that I wasn’t able to speak, so i just mumbled and walked away because i was to afraid to talk to you. I guess what i’m trying to say is…I like you, and i was hoping that you’d give me a chance to show you and give you all of the love that you deserve and have someone that will ALWAYS be there for you’, he finished with a flushed face.

Before you gave him an answer, you tiped-toed up to him and kissed him right on his lips, you too having a flushed face. 'Okay Shownu, I’ll give you chance’, you tell him before kissing him again, not wanting this moment to end. Lets just say this was probably the best thing that could happen to you right now, making a friend that you know that will be with you through whatever comes your way.

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Yay~! I finally finished my first fanfic! What did you guys think? Did you guys like it? This is my first time writing again in a long time and i think it turned out pretty good^^.

Well i hope you guys enjoy reading this and feel free to let me know what you thought or if you want to request anything for me to write :)

Have a good day/night everyone!!

#monsta x #shownu #wonho #minhyuk #kihyun #hyungwon #jooheon #changkyun #monsta x scenarios #monsta x imagines

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180abroad · 5 years

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Day 122: Edinburgh, Part 1 (Castles, Whisky, and Football)

Today we discovered one of my favorite capital cities in all of Europe. The historic core of Edinburgh is divided into two halves--the elegant Georgian New Town, built in the Georgian style and reminiscent of Bath, and the brooding cobblestoned Old Town. The Old Town is perched on a sloping, mile-long mound of volcanic rock jutting dramatically up out of the ground. And at the peak of the rock is Edinburgh Castle--our first stop of the day.

We started the day slowly, enjoying our complimentary breakfast and trying not to spill absolutely everything. At least, I was having to try.

We took an Uber up to Castle Hill and walked up to the Edinburgh Castle. It was cool to finally see Edinburgh as I was expecting: dark, brooding, and charmingly magical.

The view was only mildly spoiled by the large stands being erected outside the castle for the annual Royal Military Tattoo--a massive series of drum corps performances held throughout the month of August as part of the larger Edinburgh Festival.

The castle was crowded, but not nearly as crowded as some other places Jessica and I have been to (*cough* Versailles). The line moved quickly, and soon enough we were through the main portcullis gate and into a large courtyard overlooking the New Town.

We took the free half-hour tour that introduces visitors to the main sites of the castle as well as some of the most important events in its history.

We learned that nearly all of the castle dates from the 1500s or later, which is why it looks fancier and more like a fairytale castle than the older, more utilitarian Norman castles we saw in England. The castle complex is much older than that, but it was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt during the wars between England and Scotland. For example, when Scottish freedom fighters lead by Robert the Bruce retook the castle from the English in the 1300s, they razed it to the ground rather than risk letting it fall back into English hands.

The only building that predates this destruction is St. Margaret’s Chapel, which dates back to the 12th century and is actually the oldest building in all of Edinburgh. Whenever the rest of the castle was destroyed, the chapel was always respectfully spared.

The chapel is named after St. Margaret, an Anglo-Saxon princess who fled England after the Norman invasion. She ended up marrying King Malcolm III of Scotland and teaching him Christianity. The chapel holds some beautiful–if small–stained glass windows, including one of William Wallace attacking an English flag.

Outside the chapel is Mons Meg, the largest cannon of the medieval world. It could fire a 330-pound shot over two miles. Edinburgh Castle is actually famous for its collection of cannons. It was one of the first castles in Britain to be heavily fortified with cannons.

Another, much more modern cannon is the One O'Clock Gun, which we could see looking down from Mons Meg. The One O'Clock Gun is fired every day at--you guessed it--one o'clock in the afternoon. This was originally done to help ships docked in the harbor keep accurate time. In other ports, time would be noted by a signal flag, but the Firth of Forth gets so foggy that ships wouldn't be able to see flags from shore.

The reason the gun is fired at one o'clock instead of the more usual noon is a perfect example of stereotypical Scottish frugality. It's so that they only have pay for one shot every day instead of twelve.

From our vantage, we could also see a special cemetery just for soldiers' dogs, perched on a small ledge below Mons Meg.

At the peak of the castle complex is a beautiful crown of three magnificent buildings: the Royal Palace, the Great Hall, and the Scottish War Memorial.

Inside the palace, we got to see the Scottish crown jewels as well as the legendary Stone of Scone, upon which the British coronation chair is placed every time a new monarch is crowned.

The palace was started in the mid-1400s under James IV, and it was extensively expanded and remodeled over the following centuries.

We got to see the small dark room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI--who would also grow up to become James I of England, paving the way toward the official formation of the United Kingdom one hundred years later.

The castle's Great Hall dates back to 1511 and was also built for James IV, who was killed just two years later in battle against Henry VIII of England. It is famous for its beautiful wooden roof and currently holds a modest but well-presented collection of medieval arms and armor.

The National War Memorial is much newer than the other two buildings. It was built after World War I in the style of a Gothic chapel. It honors every Scottish regiment that has seen combat since the outbreak of WWI, and the names of every fallen Scottish soldier are penned in the monument's rolls of honor.

Inside the central chapel, a verse from the Book of Wisdom carved in large letters across the walls:

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. There shall no evil happen to them. They are in peace.

Even after all of the memorials we've seen so far, I still got a little choked up reading that.

We also saw the remains of my dad’s tower.

His tower isn't very good. It's mostly in ruins now, but at its peak it stood a hundred feet tall--taller than the Tower of London. The original tower was one of the buildings destroyed by Robert the Bruce in the 1300s. In the 1400s, it hosted a Game of Thrones-esque gathering called the Black Dinner, where two nobles were denounced as traitors by being symbolically served a black bull's head for dinner. The ruined foundations of the tower were rediscovered in 1912, and during WWII it was used as a hiding place for the Scottish Crown Jewels.

After a quick lunch at the castle cafeteria, we visited the undercroft, which features a museum on how the castle's lower levels have been used for military prisoners over the centuries.

We learned that these vaults were used to hold American sailors captured during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The jailors recorded them as pirates instead of POWs, which meant that they didn't have to be given as much food.

We also learned that prisoners would earn money by making handcrafted goods. They would start by carving the bones from their meat, then trade up to wood that they could craft into decorative boxes.

Finally, we toured through the Scottish National Military Museum. It briefly but enjoyably covers the military history of Scotland from the late middle ages up through the 20th century. We saw traditional weapons and uniforms–including kilts, of course–from throughout these different time periods.

Scottish culture has an interesting place in British military history. Scotland and England were bitter enemies throughout much of the medieval period, and after the Jacobite rebellions of the 1700s, Scottish culture--and Highland culture in particular--was ruthlessly suppressed. Young Scottish boys were pressed into military service to prove their loyalty in the thickest fighting that the English officers could find for them. And they did so well that over time, the Scottish regiments became some of the most feared and respected in the world.

We enjoyed Edinburgh Castle so much that we ran out of time to see the rest of Old Town and the Royal Mile that runs down its spine. Luckily, this was only the first day of our week in Edinburgh, so we'd still have plenty of time to explore this magical city. And we did have time for one more stop.

Right outside the castle is the much-hyped Scotch Whisky Experience. My dad I and were a little hesitant at first, since it is extremely touristy. But after mulling it over in the gift shop we decided that it was just something we had to do. Jessica–a dedicated wine and cider girl–was just along for the ride. And we are so glad that we did.

What we really wanted was a chance to sample some good, representative whiskies from the different whisky regions of Scotland. I’m fairly familiar with Islay whiskies (the smokiest, most “challenging” of the Scotch whiskies), but I wasn’t as familiar with the other varieties. I only knew for certain that I don’t like Glenfiddich, a mass-produced single-malt from the Speyside region.

I had arrived in Edinburgh with just two goals to achieve before we left: to have tried at least one whisky from all the other regions of Scotland, and to find a whisky that Jessica actually likes. The tour–while just as touristy as we expected–was also surprisingly informative, and I’m happy to say that we accomplished both of my goals.

The tour starts with a “barrel ride,” much like the ride in the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, which takes you through a multi-media presentation of how Scotch whisky is made. Next, a guide gives a succinct and helpful lecture on the different Scotch whisky regions and what their distinctive characteristics are:

Lowlands–Light, grassy, and citrusy.

Highlands–Floral, spices, and possibly peat smoke.

Speyside–Fruit, nuts, and spices.

Islay–Strong peat smoke and sea salt.

Campbeltown–Moderate peat smoke, sea salt, and spices--like a milder hybrid between a Highlands and an Islay whisky.

The lecture didn’t cover it, but many experts also define an Islands region, which covers all of the Hebridean distilleries not on Islay. They tend to have a fiery, smokey, salty flavor--similar to Islay whiskies but less peaty.

Next came the tasting. Almost. We entered a room with a large tasting table and were given a short presentation on blended whisky. Blended whiskies used to be classier than single-malts, and the quality of modern single-malts is largely due to the technological innovations driven by whisky blenders.

The lectures finally over, we were given the chance to taste one of six whiskies–a single malt from any of the regions or a blended whisky. My dad and I are already familiar with Islay whisky, so we wanted to try as many of the others as possible. I chose Campbeltown, my dad chose Highlands, and Jessica chose Speyside. The only one left out was the Lowlands (not including Islay, which we were already well acquainted with).

And as it turned out, each of us chose our favorite. I loved the Campbeltown (though not quite as much my favorite Islays), I liked the Highlands, and I disliked the Speyside. Jessica liked the Speyside (yay!), didn’t mind the Highlands, and hated the Campbeltown. My dad liked all of them, but he liked the Highlands best of all.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Our drams poured, we entered the next room to have the tasting itself. And it wasn’t just any room–it holds the largest collection of unopened Scotch whisky bottles in the world.

Our guide gave us a quick demonstration on how to taste whisky, then let us to it. Unlike wine, there’s no wrong way to drink Scotch.

And we got to keep our glasses--the first of many during our stay in Scotland.

After the tour, we were able to go to the tasting bar and buy a sample of Lowlands whisky to finish the checklist. I got a dram of Glenkinchie, Edinburgh's local distillery. It was tasty, but I didn’t like it as much as the Campbeltown or Highlands. My dad ordered Jura Seven Wood, which was surprisingly sweet–we dubbed it "flaming cotton candy." I liked it more than my dad or Jessica, who aren’t the keenest on sweet drinks.

Down in the gift shop, we were able to see the Scotch whisky tasting wheel that my dad had found an image of years ago. All of Scotland's single-malt distilleries are listed on the wheel according to their signature flavor profile. Appropriately, the shop also has a stunning selection whiskies to purchase.

Looking back, by far the most impressive part of the collection is the number of sample-sized mini-bottles you can get. Back in the States, you can usually find mini bottles of the biggest brand, but not much more. You can find a lot more in a typical Scottish gift shop. But in the whisky experience, you could get a mini bottle of almost any whisky they had on the shelf.

We gathered up a good haul of bottles to try later. The most notable pick proved to be Auchentoshan 12, a Lowlands whisky made near Glasgow using triple distillation, like Irish whiskey. When we first heard that from our bartender, Jessica’s interest was immediately piqued. Much like we were hoping for, it combined the rich flavor profile of Scotch whisky with the smooth, light body of Irish whiskey.

Finally, we had found a Scotch that Jessica loved!

Another notable pick was Glenfarclas 105, a cask-strength whisky made by the same distillery that made Jessica’s sample dram. Our bartender had recommended it to me after I mentioned that I didn’t like any of the Speysides I’d tried so far.

Glenfarclas 105 is apparently very highly regarded in the whisky world, but to the three of us it tasted like flaming battery acid. Even cutting it in half with water made it only barely tolerable.

The World Cup semifinal between England and Croatia was starting in a little less than an hour, so we went looking for a pub to have dinner and watch the game. It turned out to be surprisingly difficult. We went to three places before we found one that had TVs, seating, and food.

At least the view was good while we walked around like idiots. Seriously, though, Edinburgh's Old Town is spectacular. With levels up on levels of buildings towering above and winding away below, I felt like I had fallen into a storybook.

We ended up at a gastropub called the Last Drop. And if you’re thinking the name is about drinking, you’d be wrong. Apparently, the place is located on the site of the old city gallows, where convicts would get the last drop of their lives, so to speak. The walls gleefully illustrate the point.

The food was good, the drinks were good, and the game was good. Croatia ended up beating England, which was fine by us and better than fine by the Scottish patrons.

After admiring the sunset illuminating the castle, we caught a bus back home and headed pretty much straight to bed. Tomorrow would be an early morning for a bus tour of Loch Lomond and Stirling.

Next Post: Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle

Last Post: To Scotland

#180abroad #edinburgh #scotland #britain #travel #castles #medieval #war memoria #whisky #soccer #world cup #good to the last drop

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