#i might as well be a madwoman with people in her head doing their thing

[crown-ov-horns]

Who's causing me problems?

This bastard of course.

I already had him with two love interests (in seperate stories). No, he demands a third.

There are the two Millory storylines.

There's the Michael Langdon x Archangel Michael. I need to hurry up with this one it's already a trip to crazy town in Ch 1, and I'm convinced she's more insane than he is.

Now, there's also the Michael x Cordelia idea which sent me into a fever today. Not kidding. I might as well have ingested drugs. What's the ship name, by the way? Because, if he wants it, I'll try to write it, but I'm not making up a ship name.

#diary pages #writing journal #ahs fandom #ahs fanfiction #michael langdon #writer problems #fanfiction writer #yes of course I speak of characters as though they're alive #they might as well be if you get it you get it #i might as well be a madwoman with people in her head doing their thing #or an ancient oracle trying to put unintelligible whispers from gods into a coherent text #only i'm on less substances #no kidding i've even been sent fanfiction plots in dreams #millory #mr and mrs michael langdon #archangel michael x the antichrist #michael langdon x cordelia goode #like i didn't have twenty wips #four of them ahs #i guess i can use the stephen kind method #i need to remind myself this is a hobby and if I wish I can publish however many unfinished wips I wish #i have no idea what sent me that michael x cordelia thing #i saw some beautiful fanarts besides maybe it was the interaction between him and venable

[presidenthades]

I know this may be going into spoiler territory but you've mentioned before that Aemond and Lucera are Odysseus and Penelope coded. And one of the things Penelope is most famous for is tricking her suitors by weaving a tapestry and in weaving it each night. And Lucera does love to knit which you can still undo...

Either way I can totally see lucera pulling a stunt similar to that which might not work as well as the myth but still doing the attempt like:

lucera: im knitting this blanket for my grandfather Corlys, he's old you know and I refuse to get married while he's suffering from the chills

Annoying suitor who has never touched knitting needles in his life: pssh how long can that take, I'll surely be married to Princess lucera by next week as soon as she finishes that blanket

lucera painstakingly undoing the blanket and repeating the process at least a dozen more times until the suitors catch on:....

Corlys, sad because he really does want that blanket from his favorite granddaughter and also to run into viserys face next time he sees him because he doesn't get any gifts from his granddaughter now does he

alternatively lucera could just say she's making a blanket for a dragon but never says which dragon and it turns out it's for vhagar so by the time Aemond comes back to chop off heads- I mean scare off - all her suitors not only does he end up with his bride but vhagar also ends up with a blanket the size of drift mark and there also may or may not be a yarn shortage in Westeros for a bit.

They are indeed Odysseus and Penelope-coded, although in this case, Penelope has a dragon and nowhere near enough patience to wait twenty years for her man to come home.

As a knitter, the idea of a bunch of non-knitters thinking it only takes a week to knit a blanket is tragically accurate. 😭 Historical fun fact: because knitting could take so long, it was usually reserved for small items like socks, hats, and gloves, until more recently. People would think Luce is insane for trying to knit a giant blanket…which might be exactly why she does it. Nobody wants to marry a madwoman. 🤔

Lucera WOULD make matching His and Hers blankets for Arrax and Vhagar. 😂 I really, really love the vision of bedraggled Aemond heroically stumbling home after years at sea. I’m just not sure their big reunion will happen exactly like that. But now I want to write a oneshot collection of Greek mythology-inspired scenes. 👀

#my writing #ask me anything #compromise and being compromised

[jdtrashman]

Febhyurary Prompt 4: Food

"I'm hungry."

Allie was in the middle of sharpening Shadowbringer when Ryne's words reached her ears. They were all in the Ocular, waiting for G'raha, Ophianne, and Beloch to return from some business the Exarch had to take care of in town. She wasn't her mother, she had no business stepping in, yet she...wanted to.

Thancred stood up from inspecting his cartridges. "Alright, I'll see what I can whip up."

SHINK

Thancred perked up towards Allie as she stabbed Shadowbringer into the ground to get his attention. "You have reservations, I take it?"

"After sampling your bread," Allie said, moving to undo the straps of her breastplate. "I find myself with reservations, yes, with letting a Sharlayan anywhere near a kitchen. Especially when a child is involved."

"I'm 17," interjected Ryne with a pout.

"And I'm old enough to drink, what's your point?"

"So what, you mean to bar me from the kitchen?" Thancred shot back, crossing his arms.

"Until Ophianne gets back yes." Allie set her breastplate down against Shadowbringer and tied her hair back into a ponytail. "In the meantime, I will cook for Ryne."

"You can cook?" asked Ryne and her father simultaneously, one with curiosity, the other with disbelief. The others had looked up from what they were doing to watch the exchange by now. Urianger reading Alisae's fortune, Alphinaud quietly reading with Zana - words Allie never thought she would ever find strung together like that - and Q'ihnn talking with Y'shtola.

In short, almost all of her friends' eyes were upon her, and Allie just knew her face had gone as red as her hair. thank the twelve Beloch isn't here... if her fiance had been there for this declaration, Allie would surely have leapt from the nearest balcony. "Is that so strange?"

"Yes" replied everyone in the room.

Now it was Allie's turn to pout. "ya know what, never mind, if you're gonna be like that." She went to turn away, but Ryne caught her hand before she could.

"No! I'm sorry. Please, I would love for you to cook me something." Ryne looked up at her with those big fucking eyes. God, how did she even do that??? It's like they inflate.

"Glad to hear it," Allie said with a smile. "Now, sit tight kid, I'll be right back."

One Hour Later...

"And she returns," Thancred said as Allie opened the door with her back, her arms laden with plates of food. "have trouble finding the kitchen?"

"No! ....yes," Allie replied sheepishly.

Q'ihnn chuckled before helping her with the dishes, bringing them to a table that had appeared in the middle of the room. Whatever the occupant of the Ocular needed, the Ocular had a way of providing. 'This smells delicious," Q'ihnn said, taking a nice long sniff of the curry on his plate. "You cooked for all of us?"

Allie sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Well I mean, might as well, ya know?" She took her place at the end of the table with her food, and watched as her friends ate. She watched, and wondered why it had taken her so long to show them that she could cook. Honestly, such a small thing, being able to cook. Why had she always been so hesitant to let them in on even that? Well, she knew why, actually. Gods help her, she knew why. "I haven't cooked for anyone since...since my family."

"You cooked for your father?" asked Thancred. "and your brothers? You, cooking for a household of six?"

"My people were oppressed, Thancred, not perfect. But, yes, I did. And...I actually really enjoyed it." Her eyes fell on Ryne as she ate. Her opinion, to be honest, mattered the most to her. Ryne only knew her as the warrior of darkness. Not "the madwoman of Cronera", "Shepard of the All-Black" or any of the other fear-mongering names the Garleans gave her. She just saw a hero. Maybe that's why...

Ryne looked up from her first bite, smiling the same way her little brother would when he had her cooking. "It's delicious!" she said.

And like that, a small, barely noticeable part of her sprung back to life, like a plant finally getting the water it needed. It didn't mend anything. But something once dead, however small, was alive again.

And Allie smiled, and set to her own food.

#febhyurary prompt #ffxiv oc prompt #allienea shepard #ffxiv #final fantasy 14

[blossomingbooks]

"There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will."

🌼

I don't usually review short stories but this one shook me to the core... I feel like Charlotte Perkins Gilman has been living in the back of my mind forever; I always knew I had to come around to read "The Yellow Wallpaper", although I had no idea what it was about. Now that I did... this might be one of my favorite short stories I've ever read. Written in a first-person journaling style, we follow the mental workings of a young mother who is taken by her husband to an old mansion for the summer in order to restore her "temporary nervous depression — a sightly hysterical tendency". What the reader gradually realizes is postpartum depression (which Gilman herself had dealt with) is dismissed — as the physical and mental health of women usually is — for hysterics. Here the "madwoman in the attic" trope used by Charlotte Bronte and popularized by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar comes to play in an extremely self-aware fashion. The reader accompanies the protagonist through her growing obsession with the horrid yellow wallpaper of the room to which she is confined, representing the maddening patriarchal restriction of women. One must read between the lines while watching her plunge into madness first-hand. This becomes harder to do by the ending, where her voice becomes intrinsecally merged with that of another entity, to a point where we no longer know who she is nor what exactly is going on. To quote our protagonist herself: "You think you have mastered it, but just as you get well underway in following, it turns a back-somersault and there you are. It slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you. It is like a bad dream" — reading this story feels exactly like what unravelling the wallpaper feels to her.

There's a delicious atmospheric eerieness to this story which made me think of its cinematographic potential, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the following short story on this small anthology, "The Rocking Chair", had it too. This one turns more towards a ghostly theme, but keeps the feminist undertones. Also in first-person, this time of a man, the story follows two young journalists who rent a place where they see a golden-haired woman in a rocking chair on the balcony. The woman is only ever seen far-away, disappearing whenever they enter the house. They consequently become more and more obsessed with this mysterious unreachable being, to a point where they start to turn on each other: "Better a nightmare than a contradiction; a vampire than a quarrel!".

The last one of this three-story compilation, "Old Water", doesn't carry a supernatural theme or a horror atmosphere unlike its precedents, being mainly a satyrical take on blind male ideation. A male poet becomes fascinated with a very practical, sporty and cynical young woman, who is very much his opposite: "I don't like those foolish old stories about people who never did anything useful, and hadn't an idea in their heads except being in love and killing somebody! They had no sense, and no courage, and no decency!". Seeing her as a dumb little fool who hasn't been "awakened" to the beautiful things in life, he makes it his goal to do that himself, to the point of it becoming a dangerous obsession (just like with the journalists in the previous story). The way Gilman satyrizes the patriarchal behavior disguised by poetic sensitivity found in most narratives of the time is something that feels almost contemporary. One thing I very much appreciated in all of these stories is that she never puts her female characters in positions of defeat; each ending is a different kind of triumph over male disregard, condescendence or possessive desire.

All in all, Gilman might have just become one of my favorite writers. If only her progressive feminist ideas informed her very much racist views on eugenics...

#bookstagram #books and flowers #flowers and books #books #book #flowers #literature #blossoming books #american lit #american literature

[sleepyowlwrites]

Can you tell me anything (and by that i meant ALL THE THINGS) about your guild story?

I will tell you all of the things I know so far.

this world takes much more inspiration from cdramas than it does from western fantasy, but I've read so much western fantasy that it probably has plenty of those hallmarks too, like, say, GUILDS.

noble families are split into houses, but no house is large enough to fill a whole area. it's just a family, maybe an extended one, but there are a few dozen members of one house at the most.

the family are houses with a small h. "house" is just a common descriptor. the name of the house is the important bit. in this world, "house" stands for collective just as much as for "building where people live."

there are other kinds of guilds for smiths or painters or bakers or what have you. those are small g guilds.

the Three Guild Houses are the main focus of the story. they operate mostly independently of house loyalties, economy, and government. they're commonly referred to as "the rat houses" or the "elthrun houses" which are references to how they are not beholden to any allegiance and they're full of magic-users.

the House of Favors is run by the immortal sorceress. every other person in the house in an apprentice, able to use magic by means of a conduit created and gifted by the immortal sorceress. the apprentices are sent out to make contracts with various noble houses in exchange for favors, or to fulfill a favor, or to collect. all apprentices are taught to use magic, a practice which takes a lifetime to master and some consider to be not worth the trouble.

the House of Breath/Blood (I can't decide which) is a place of healing, magical healing but also the regular kind. magical healing is even more difficult to learn than magic in general, so all apprentices choose a specialty and then learns it over decades. the two divisions are bonesmiths - magic used on a wider scale - and skinstitches - magic used on a smaller, more precise scale. a bonesmith will not do a skinstitch's job because they're not equipped for it. both learn and practice non-magic physicianship as well.

the House of Swords in a mercenary guild, kind of. the soldiers who belong to the guild often have outside loyalties, and until they officially renounce their birth house (the process involves blood and paperwork) their allegiance is always to their family, not the guild. it is neither encouraged nor scorned for the members to do so, unless they're stupid enough to accept contracts that will negatively affect their old house. (for instance, Idrian still hasn't appointed his younger brother as the head of the family after his parents died so he's split between managing his family house and working at the guild.)

the immortal sorceress has many names, and she gives out different ones to different people. apprentices might be having a conversation about her and use three different names but they're talking about the same person. most people don't have any name for her at all. they just call her "mor diahd" which is an older language term for "madwoman" but also "powerful woman" aka magic-using woman, and it's simultaneously derogatory and deferential. the immortal sorceress has never discouraged the use of this term, to describe herself, at least.

the closest thing to someone like the immortal sorceress in the realm is Arkenji, a trader, fortune teller, dealer and long-lived person rumored to be the lover of the immortal sorceress. literally no one ever sees them cross paths but Arkenji's been alive for way too long, so if they're both immortal they must be lovers! Arkenji is both an absolute darling and hauntingly terrifying, depending on how you treat him.

the characters I've come up with so far are: Idrian, from house Sarendor and the House of Swords, a young man who is far too serious for his own good, Marz and Mareye from house Abisos, brother and sister that I can't decide if they're twins or not. Marz becomes an apprentice at the House of Favors and Mareye is an apprentice at the House of Breath. Yashel is an officer and a training master at the House of Swords, is very fond of Idrian and is so, so good with a sword. Ondo, Nari, and Pellor, from the House of Favors. Pellor is the one who picks up Marz after he's saved by the immortal sorceress.

typically, the immortal sorceress takes in orphans as her apprentices, but not always. every single apprentice nearly died, though. she saved them and gave them a conduit and then they joined the House.

that's everything, I think. that's all I know. some of this information might change as I write more actual scenes, but this is what I've got so far.

oh, and the immortal sorceress has purple hair.

thanks for asking, I think.

#sleepy answers #wip: guild story

[supercorpkid]

Mind Controlled – The Series.

Part 3 – Make it stop, please.

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader, Alex Danvers x Niece!Reader, Lex Luthor x Niece!Reader, Lillian Luthor x Granddaughter!Reader.

Word count: 2340.

Warning: Injuries, violence, pain, angst. Very graphic.

Previously on the series - part 1, part 2

You don’t know for how long you’re shut out from the world. Probably a few hours, but there’s no way to know for sure. Your body aches for destruction. Lex asked you to show National City your worst side, but you haven’t shown them all. You only showed your family, so you can’t calm down.

There’s a relentless inhumane feeling cursing through your veins. You keep hearing Lex’s voice saying ‘my bösewicht’, like he is calling you back to the world. You don’t know how it’s possible, but it is.

The glass turns back to translucent again, and you look at Alex on the other side. You tilt your head at her, trying to look scary. She laughs.

“You can stop the madwoman act.” Alex types something on the screen next to the door, and goes inside, putting you back in the handcuffs that strips you off of your powers. “Don’t try anything funny, I’m very low on patience when it comes to you, dear niece.”

“I can tell you the same.” You sass back.

“Oh.” Alex takes something from her pocket. “That reminds me.” She puts a metal thing over your mouth, that immediately turns into a gag, covering half of your face. “No more talking back. We’re full of your shit.”

Alex places her hand on your arm, cuffed in front of your body, gripping strongly and guiding you through a few corridors and rooms. You finally arrive at where Lena and Brainy are, and she sits you on a chair, tying you in it with leather strips over your ribcage. A red sun lamp is quickly turned on, and if you weren’t gagged you would laugh. That’s a lot of precaution for someone she claims not being scared of.

Lena comes closer and studies you for a second. She cups your face and gives you a soft smile. It makes you sick.

“This is for your own good, babygirl.” She connects some wires to your head. Looks back at Brainy with an affirmative nod. He presses a few buttons, types some things, you feel an electric current cursing through your veins and you’re out.

When you wake up, you’re still tied to the chair. Same wires on your head, no more gag on. It takes you a while to focus your eyes back, but you look at Lena in front of you.

“Who’s behind this?” She asks and you blink twice slowly. “We know you’re being mind controlled, tell us by whom.”

“Never.” You growl. “I’m not being controlled, I’m free from your leash. Why can’t you accept that?”

“Because it’s simply not true.” Lena mutters. “It doesn’t matter who did it, we know how to stop it.” She says looking at Brainy, Alex and Kara on the other side of the room. “But if you tell us who did it, Supergirl can go pay them a visit.”

“You say you love me every night, mom.” You look at Kara right after, daring her to come closer. “You too, momma.”

“We love you, baby.” Kara answers, coming closer, and you give a side smile at that.

“How can you love me, when you only love the good side of me?” You look at them both, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. “How can you claim this is true love when you can’t love my bad side?”

“This isn’t your bad side, my love.” Is Kara’s hand that goes to your shoulder first, but Lena’s hand follows right after, on the other side.

“Do you actually believe none of this is me?” You scoff when they agree with their head. “You’re very naïve to believe this is all Lex.”

“Lex!” Kara barks, and you bite your tongue angry with yourself. Oh no, things are actually starting to look bad for you.

“Do it, Alex.” Lena turns back to your aunt. “NOW!”

There’s a stronger shock wave hitting your brain this time. Everything becomes loud, and confusing and painful. It’s excruciating.

“MOMMY, THIS IS HURTING ME. PLEASE STOP. PLEASE!” You yell, trying to get out from your cuffs. Struggling out of the chair with all the strength left in you. Why are they doing this? “Mommy, make it stop.”

It does. The pain and the noise stop. All messy thoughts overpowered by someone else.

“Kid, can you hear me?” Kara asks, holding your face with both hands. You whimper snapping your eyes wide open.

“Get your hands off me, Supergirl.” You add a scorn to her name. She lets go of your face.

“Alex, one more time.” Lena says again, and your eyes widen at the thought of that.

“I’ve always known you hated me.” You yell at her, and before there’s any answer another shock wave hits your brain again.

And if you thought the first one was bad, this one makes your eyes roll back into your skull, tears fall from your face without your control. Your scream is so loud, the entire DEO probably heard you.

“YOU’RE KILLING ME! WHY ARE YOU KILLING ME?” You yell, with whatever voice you have left. Fully sobbing, twisting and turning in your seat, neck veins about to explode.

“STOP! STOP!” Kara yells for Alex behind her. “You’re gonna kill her!”

The pain stops. You grunt, and growl, saliva dripping from your mouth like an angry dog. Your palms are full of blood again, nails digging in the same open cuts from hours ago. You gasp for air, eyes unable to focus on anything.

“Mommy, they’re hurting me.” You manage to say, throat hurting from all the scream. Black spots are consuming your sight and it feels like you’re going to pass out. You feel light-headed from the blinding pain. “Make it stop, please.”

“You’re ok, baby. Mommy is here. I’ve got you.” You hear Kara’s words, and you feel the leather strips easing up from your raw flesh.

“Kara, wait.” Lena asks, and you close your eyes. Vision goes dark, and the pain goes away.

“NO, NO, NO!” You yell more to yourself than to anyone else.

All messy thoughts overpowered by someone else.

“GO ON.” You try to yell, but your voice doesn’t get loud anymore. It’s just a very high-pitched whisper. “Give in, Lena. Kill a kryptonian. Give in to your Luthor side, we’ve always known you would.”

“Shit!” Lena slaps her hands on her tights and stands up.

“Go ahead, kill me.” You raise an eyebrow defiant.

“One more time.” She looks at Alex and Brainy.

“LENA!” Kara yells, and you see Alex getting away from the lever she was pulling.

“I can’t, Lena. I won’t.” Alex raises her hands, and shakes her head in denial. “It’s too much, we don’t know the possible outcome.”

“I know!” Lena screams. “It will bring my daughter back! You saw her, she was here. I need to get her back!”

“I won’t do it.” Alex walks out of the room, Brainy leaving right behind her.

“Fine! I’ll do it myself!” Lena walks to where they were, but Kara yells before she pulls the lever.

“You're hurting her!” Kara studies your expression. You might have a bitchy grin on your face, but you know you probably look like a wreck. “You’re not hurting Lex! You’re hurting my daughter.”

“She’s my daughter too!” Lena yells back.

“I can’t let you do that again.” Kara pulls the wires connected to your head, all at once. And that leaves a sting everywhere. “I can’t let you pull that lever again.”

“Kara, I know what I’m doing.”

Kara turns off the red sun lamp, she looks at Lena.

“That might be true, but I can’t risk my daughter’s life while you fight your brother and your old demons.” Kara pulls the chair off the floor, picking it and you up, and walking towards the direction of your cell. “I can’t let you near her, Lena. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“You can’t do that!” Lena growls following you both. You grin, satisfied with them tearing each other apart without you having to say a word. “I didn’t do that when you hurt her, or did you forget?”

“I will never forget that!” Kara yells, her voice stronger than you’ve ever heard. Like thunder shaking the whole place. “But I was exposed to red kryptonite! What is your excuse for this destructive behavior?”

“Kara.” Lena uses her most serious tone. “I know what I’m doing. I would never hurt my child. If you can’t believe me, then we have a serious problem.”

“I believe your judgment is clouded by the anger you’re feeling towards your brother.” Kara breathes deep, still walking. “I believe you want to do good. But it’s my daughter’s life and I’m sorry, but I can’t risk it. We have to find another way.”

“Stop saying she is your daughter! She’s my daughter too!” Lena’s voice also rumbles throughout the place. “You have no right to do this.”

“I’m sorry.” Kara repeats carrying you away.

“If you keep me away from her-” Lena stops walking, falling a little behind. Kara stops moving and she looks behind to where Lena is. “You’re keeping me away from you too.”

There’s no answer. At least not a verbal one. But when your chair keeps moving farther away from Lena, you know what Kara’s answer is. And Lena knows it too.

And you can’t help but feel like you’ve won.

You’re back at your cell, but they haven’t shut you off again. You hear Kara and Alex talking on the other side. You feel a shiver down your spine when you hear Lex’s name, and that Lena and Lillian are paying him a visit.

And paying a visit to you, is J’onn J’onzz himself. Examining you from the other side of the glass.

“Kara, I can’t confirm to you this won’t erase all of her memories from this episode.” You hear his strong voice. “If she’s being controlled, none of the thoughts were hers in the first place. Which means she can’t retain them.”

“Let it.” Kara crosses her arms and looks at Alex nodding once, like telling her to open the cell. “I rather have her forget all the pain she has lived today, anyway.”

“Very well.” He sits in front of you. You’re still cuffed, tied to the chair Kara so gently broke off from the floor. “Excuse me, Superkid.”

It feels strange having two people fighting for space inside your mind. Actually, three. Because you’re still there somewhere. But you’re not fighting them. You’re just letting them do whatever they want, as a weak-minded person would.

You open your eyes and you don’t see the DEO cell you were in, but rather a prison cell. Lena and Lillian on the other side, two guns pointed at your head.

“Mother, you rather defend an alien than your son?” You hear words, like they’ve left your mouth, but it isn’t your voice, it’s Lex’s.

“She is family, Lex.”

“She is kryptonian.” You/Lex spits with disgust in his voice.

“She is my granddaughter!” Lillian speaks louder, the closest thing to a scream you’ve ever heard leaving her mouth. “Stop this nonsense, or I’ll put a bullet through your head. And if you come back to life, I’ll do it again. I’ll pull the trigger as many times as I have to, to protect her.”

“You’ve fallen for her charm too.” You/Lex hisses. “Pathetic.”

“Stop this now!” It’s Lena’s voice that comes louder. “Let her go, or I’ll kill you again with no regrets.”

And then nothing. Not a single thought. No voice. Nothing aside from an empty void in your head.

You blink your eyes slowly, raising your head, that falls back to the chair behind you without your control. You try to scratch your eyes, but you can’t move. You whimper and finally open your eyes.

“What is going on?” You look down on yourself and around to where you are. J’onn is in front of you, Kara and Alex on your left side. There’s a strong feeling that something is wrong, when you realize you’re in a DEO cell, but you don’t know what’s going on. “Mommy, what did I do?”

“Baby.” Kara unties the strips that were holding you still in the chair. Your body collapses forward, no strength left in you to stop it. Kara holds you before you fall face first on the floor, and Alex lets you out of your cuffs. “You’re ok.”

“Why was I tied up?” You ask, scratching your eyes, like you wanted so much, to help you focus, but all you see is red, so you look at your hands and see blood everywhere. “Oh no, please tell me this is mine. Please tell me this is my blood!”

“It’s yours, it’s yours, baby.” Kara rushes to reassure you. She sits on the floor and pulls you into her lap, holding you gently. Alex and J’onn quickly disappear, and you’re left alone with her. She cleans your face; her hand becomes bloody after it. She kisses your forehead and whispers. “It’s over, it’s over baby. Mommy is here.”

“I’m sorry.” You beg, eyes full of tears. “Whatever I’ve done, I’m sorry.”

“I know, my baby. I know.” Kara keeps kissing your head. You look at the cuts on your wrist where the handcuff was, and the blood staining your super suit, still leaving from the open cuts you feel on your ribcage. You look around, at the blood marks on the glass, and you weep.

“Mommy, please tell me I didn’t-Did I-Did I kill someone?” You stutter, scared of her answer.

“You didn’t kill anyone, little one.” She kisses your forehead. “It’s over. Stop thinking about it, ok? Let’s get you home so you can clean up, and rest a little.” She sighs, like she’s painfully tired. “It’s been a really long night.”

You don’t remember anything from your night, but your body aches so hard and your heart feels so heavy in your chest; you believe her. It was a long night, indeed.

#supergirl #kara danvers #lena luthor #supercorp #kara x lena #kara x reader #supercorp daughter #supercorp fanfic #supercorpfamily #lena x reader #reader insert

[naralanis]

little bumps in the road (pt. 14)

Previously on LBitR...

Lena can’t remember ever running so fast in her life.

Her boots splash loudly on the wet pavement, and her lungs burn painfully as she sprints full-tilt down the street, heart hammering a frantic rhythm in her ribcage. She nearly skids as she turns the corner to where the RV is parked – looking exactly like she had left it, and her hands are clammy, trembling uncontrollably as she yanks the door open.

Her gasps for air seem to fill the empty space of the RV, and Lena thinks her heart will just beat right out of her chest at the sight of the empty cot. She can’t breathe, her head is swimming from the effort of running here like a madwoman, and her ribs hurt. She might just puke right here.

And she almost does, too, when she feels a heavy hand landing on her shoulder. Lena’s so wired, so afraid and panicked, she does the first thing she can think of—she twists on her heel to level the most violent punch she can throw at her attacker.

Her hand collides with concrete with a sickening crunch.

“Lena!”

Kara’s eyes are as wide as saucers, worried and understandably confused. Lena, for her part, can’t decide whether to be ecstatic or worried, so she settles on a strangely hysterical mix of both, cradling the hand that is undoubtedly broken to her chest.

“I see your powers are back,” she hisses through gritted teeth. The pain radiates from her knuckles, down her wrist, and all the way to her elbow, and she can already see her fingers are starting to swell.

“They’re not 100% yet, but I think some sun will do the trick,” Kara says, brows furrowed as she moves to cradle Lena’s hands between hers as gently as she possibly can. She narrows her eyes, looking over the rapidly purpling skin of Lena’s knuckles. “Definitely broken,” she mutters unhappily. “What were you thinking??”

“We need to get out of here,” Lena barks, pulling her hand away and rushing to one of the cabinets—Kara seems to pick up on what she’s scrambling for, and steps in to get gauze and other materials to fashion a splint.

“What happened?” she asks, delicately righting Lena’s hands and tenderly wrapping it up, tight and secure. “What’s got you so spooked?”

Lena groans in pain despite Kara’s care. “The man—the man I saw in Texas, he’s here—he’s definitely following us, and Alex” she yelps when Kara touches a particularly tender spot, “shit, it wasn’t Alex on the phone.”

Kara freezes, gauze dangling from her grip as she stops wrapping. When she speaks, her voice is tight, gripped by fear. “What did she—what did they say on the phone?”

Lena takes up the rest of the wrapping herself; Kara’s clearly too stunned to anything but gape in panic. “They said hello, this is Danvers.” She sighed. “She said that anything other than the two options…”

“Wouldn’t be her on the phone,” Kara completes. “OK, yeah, we—we gotta get out of here, we gotta…”

She keeps on mumbling as she rushes to the driver’s seat; Lena barely has the time to scramble after her, grabbing a bottle of painkillers from the first aid kit as Kara starts the vehicle and proceeds to speed out of the car-park, earning a honk or two as she cuts people off in her panic.

“Where do we go?” Lena asks as Kara swerves into the freeway. Her hand throbs painfully, but she manages to open the painkillers with her teeth, downing a handful.

“I don’t know, I don’t know.” Kara’s incredibly tense; the veins of her neck stand out, and her hands—Lena can see it clearly now—the grip she has on the steering wheel is beginning to dent the thing, and if it goes any further, she’ll mangle it with her fingers.

Lena reaches over with her good hand and rests it on Kara’s arm—the blonde is so startled by it they almost swerve into another lane, but within the next second, she calms down a little, as if just noticing the force of her grip on the wheel.

“We’ll figure it out, we’ll—we’ll figure it out, OK? Just—just give me a moment to think. We can… we can go South, maybe—the opposite of the route Alex had planned for us, maybe—”

Kara shakes her head vigorously, jaw clenched. “The only place we’re going is National City.”

“Kara—we can’t—”

“The hell we can’t!” Kara practically yelps. She looks anguished, gritting her teeth, with tears pooling at her lids. “Lex has my sister, Lena—I have to go back. I have to.”

“We don’t know if Lex knows you’re alive,” Lena starts, but the thought sounds ridiculous even to her own ears—Kara sends one look her way that plainly says are you kidding me. “OK, fine, he most definitely knows you’re alive, but that doesn’t mean we can just go rushing back to National City with no plan!”

“Well, do you have any ideas??” Kara shouts. Her voice is harsh, angry, and though Lena can’t blame her, it makes her flinch in her seat.

It takes Lena a few moments—a few breaths timed with the painful, dulled throbbing of her broken hand—to get her thoughts in order. “He must be tracking us, somehow,” she mutters, mostly to herself, though she can see Kara can hear her just fine—maybe her super-hearing has returned. “How are your powers?”

Kara sighs, deeply, looking a little guiltily at the deep grooves her fingers had carved onto the steering. “Super-strength is back; not all the way, but it’s here,” she says, then her gaze briefly locks onto Lena’s injured hand, cradled on her lap. “X-ray vision, too. I haven’t tried flight, but it feels like it’s back.”

Lena wants to ask how she can tell without testing, but trusts Kara’s knowledge of her own body—her curiosity can wait. “How about laser-vision? Freeze-breath?”

Kara shrugs, then concentrates for a moment, furrowing her brows. Her eyes begin to glow very faintly, and the visual is a little bizarre, like she has a an old, dying flashlight in her retinas. “Laser-vision is a no go,” she mutters, before puffing her cheeks for a moment and blowing a gust of air. There’s a faint mist of cold, but it evaporates quickly.

“I guess that answers your question,” she says unhappily. Lena closes her eyes, doing the math in her head—she had worked out earlier the maximum concentration of Kryptonite Kara’s blood could have and repel with only sunlight. Her head hurts too much for her to think very clearly, but she hopes to God they’ve reached it, or things will be much more complicated than they already are.

“OK, OK, so—so we have to—we have to think clearly, here. Let’s say your powers will come back with more sun exposure—”

“Then we have to get out of this cloudy place,” Kara interjects unhappily.

“—shut it, but yes—and we have to… We have to get rid of this RV.”

“What—why? How would we get around?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know—I guess you could fly—you said you think you might be able to, right?”

Kara looks skeptical, brows raised almost all the way to her hairline.

“I guess I could carry you, yes, but then…”

“No,” Lena interrupts, gritting her teeth. She’s almost certain she knows how they’ve been tracked—it’s a long shot, but she wouldn’t put anything past Lex at this point. It’s a lesson she feels like she’s learning way too late in life. “I said you could fly.”

Kara’s eyes narrow, and her lips tug downward into a deep frown. She slams her fist onto the hazard lights button—it leaves a dent on the dashboard—and abruptly stops in the shoulder of the freeway. Her breathing deeps, but it’s erratic, like she is trying and failing to keep it under control.

“Lena. What are you saying?”

Lena groans, closing her eyes so she doesn’t have to look at the expression in Kara’s face—she can already picture it in her mind; the outrage, the helplessness, the disappointment… But Lena is certain—she is absolutely certain it is the only chance they have of getting out of this mess alive. At least one of them.

“I’m saying we have to split up.”

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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#nara's word vomit #LBitR #supercorp #supergirl #kara danvers #lena luthor #femslash #ficwriting #i sort of kind of have an idea of where/how this will end #might be 20 parts #maybe 22 #we'll see #either way #WE'RE GETTING THERE #also #CANON WHOMST #i'm just yeeting loose ideas and hoping they stick together #does it work? #who tf knows #not me #never me #ps: sorry I keep hurting lena

[amarimaryllis]

I Like You So Much, You’ll Know It (Iwazumi x Reader)

Pairing: Iwaizumi/Reader  Prompt/Summary: You’re so in love with Iwaizumi Hajime that only the most oblivious person wouldn’t see your feelings for him. (Spoiler: he is the most oblivious person) Tags: Fluff Note: Use of she/her pronouns, Inspired by Ysabelle’s “I Like You So Much, You’ll Know It” Warnings: Mild Swearing

Almost everyone in Aoba Johsai who knew of your existence knew about the fact that you had the biggest crush on the volleyball team’s ace. Sometimes they didn’t even know your name, they just referred to you as “the girl who’s so into Iwaizumi-san”. You were that whipped, and you were that obvious. 

At first, you tried to hide your feelings. You made sure that no one would think you even liked Iwaizumi because you didn’t want the said boy to find out. So when almost the entire school found out about your crush on the ace, you were ready to dig your own grave. Fortunately—and quite, unfortunately—for you, Iwaizumi Hajime is dense. His perception of other people’s romantic feelings for him was as dense as the arm muscles he used to spike volleyballs. In short, he was extremely dense. Hell, you guys were in the same circle of friends, but for some reason, he still didn’t realize just how irrevocably whipped you are for him.

At least not until one day when the rest of your so-called friends decided to ditch both of you. 

It was a Monday, meaning your entire circle of friends would be walking home together because the boys didn’t have volleyball practice. However, it seemed like everyone but you and Iwaizumi had plans after class. Hanamaki and Matsukawa were going to some sort of arcade, Oikawa was going to pick up Takeru, and your two other best friends, Asano and Yamamoto were going to check out the new cafe that opened, and said cafe was conveniently on the direction opposite to your way home.

Which leaves you with Iwaizumi.

You were excited, but you two barely talked, and you didn’t know why it was like that. You guys were fine during the first year, comfortably talking from time to time, hell you were probably Iwaizumi’s number one cheerleader then, but in your second year, things got a little rocky for some reason, and it just got awkward all of a sudden. However, it was probably your fault for shying away from him due to your crush on the ace. Iwaizumi would make the effort to start small conversations with you, and he always seemed confident, but you on the other hand, wouldn’t even dare try to strike up small talk with the strong, reliable ace because you did not want to embarrass yourself in front of him. 

The tension in the air was palpable in the first few seconds that passed after your amazing friends decided to leave you both at the school’s gate. However, Iwaizumi is the first to break the silence.

“Guess I’m the only one walking you home today.” Iwaizumi has a sheepish grin on his face as he rubs the back of his neck. “I hope you don’t mind.”

You just wanted to pounce on him then and there and pepper his face with tiny kisses because, one, you did not mind at all, and two, he looked so cute at that moment that your heart felt like it was gonna combust.

“I don’t mind at all.” You can feel a blush creeping into your cheeks. “But your house is closer though, so technically it’s me who’s walking you home.”

Iwaizumi raises a brow before he ruffles your hair. “As if I’d ever let you walk home alone.”

The blush that was creeping into your cheeks was no longer creeping, it was sprinting through the surface of your skin so quickly that you were sure that the warmth that your face emitted was enough to get you through winter without a heater.

Iwaizumi seems to have realized the fact that his hand was still on your head, and he also seems to have realized what he just said. He immediately retracts his hand away, clearing his throat before he speaks, “Sorry.”

“I don’t mind.” You look at your shoes, the black surface suddenly looking like the most interesting thing on the planet. “But we should go already, it looks like it’s about to rain.”

Iwaizumi turns his gaze to the sky and sees the signs of a storm brewing. “You’re right, let’s go.”

The walk is as awkward as your conversation at the gates of the school. No words were shared, and a heavy layer of tension seemed to rest in the air. However, it didn’t seem like Iwaizumi felt the heaviness in the atmosphere at all. Either that or he’s doing a great job at looking calm and composed.

A few more seconds of silence pass and you can feel the tendrils of recklessness starting to tug at your body, urging you to do and say something stupid. You were pretty fed up with Iwaizumi being so dense that you almost didn’t care about the rejection. You just wanted him to know how much he means to you. Sure, a rejected confession would make things awkward, but both of you were already pretty damn awkward even without the confession. Surely nothing can be worse than this, right?

The words exit your mouth faster than your brain can evaluate them. “Hey Iwaizumi-san, do you not… like me?”

From the corner of your eye, you can see the corner of Iwaizumi’s lips tilt down into a frown, his eyebrows furrowing as he contemplates on what to say. “I do, though. Did Oikawa not tell you?”

“What?” It’s your turn to look confused. “What do you mean?”

“Huh?” Iwaizumi stops walking and turns to look at you. “Isn’t that why you don’t talk to me that often?”

“I’m not following.” You tilt your head in confusion, unable to decipher the words coming out from the ace’s mouth. 

Iwaizumi is gaping at you, a million thoughts seemingly running through his head as he blinks repeatedly. “Did Oikawa not tell you last year that I like you?”

You blink once. Twice. It takes three blinks before you can reply, and the best you can say is, “What?”

Your heart is beating quickly. The words are sinking in, but at the same time, they aren’t. The hopeful part of you says that Iwaizumi liked you, while the part that doesn’t want to get hurt from expectations refuses to believe the words coming out of the ace’s mouth.

Before Iwaizumi can reply, it starts raining.

“Shit, it’s raining.” Iwaizumi clicks his tongue before he shrugs his uniform jacket off and drapes it over your head. “Come on, there’s a convenience store just around the corner.”

Iwaizumi grabs your wrist, and you can only follow him because you were still too stunned to form any coherent thoughts. If you tried to reply now, you feel like the only thing that would come out of your mouth is ‘I love you’, and the world was not yet ready for that.

When you reach the convenience store, there are tiny droplets dripping from Iwaizumi’s hair, making you feel guilty because his jacket shielded you from the droplets of rain that decided to skydive at the worst time.

You’re both seated on one of the benches in the convenience store, thankfully, the one behind the register knew your circle of friends well, and she didn’t mind the fact that you were getting the floor wet.

You hand Iwaizumi his jacket, and he takes it, but instead of wearing it, he wraps it around your shoulders. “It’s cold, you might get sick.”

You frown. “I’m not the one who’s dripping wet from the rain. If anyone here has a chance of getting sick, it’s you. Take your damned jacket before you get sick.”

“Continue scolding me like that and I might just think you like me back.” You see the blush on Iwaizumi’s cheeks before he looks away from you.

“Stop that.” You grip at his jacket to wrap it tighter around your form. You were honestly just confused. Did this dense idiot really not know? And did this dense idiot actually feel the same? 

“Stop what?” Iwaizumi turns to look at you again, worry etched into every inch of his face. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Stop saying you like me when you don’t.” Your brain has reached the conclusion that maybe Iwaizumi finally realized that you did like him and was now leading you on. Deep in your heart, you knew that Iwaizumi was such a kind person that doing such a thing would never cross his mind, but you were still in denial because how the hell is someone like him, into someone like you? “It’s true that I like you but you don’t have to play with my feelings like that.”

“What?” Iwaizumi’s mouth is gaping open. “Are you saying that you… Do you like me?”

You blink at him in disbelief. A few beats pass and suddenly you’re laughing like a madwoman. You were ready to doubt him again, but the pure shock on his face was too genuine to be questioned. “You are dense! Oh my—“

Your sentence is cut off by your laughter, unable to hold it in. You couldn’t believe it.

Iwaizumi is still confused, but he looks a little embarrassed. There’s a blush on his cheeks, but there’s something in his eyes as he looks at you. A tiny glint of happiness shining in his eyes as he adores the way your eyes crinkle when you laugh.

When you calm down from your laughing, you decide to give Iwaizumi an explanation. “Yes, I do like you, you dense idiot. Probably since our second year? I’m pretty sure you’re the only one in the entire school who isn’t aware.”

There’s a blush on Iwaizumi’s cheeks as he searches your face for any sign of deception, but he finds none. The embarrassed look on his face is immediately replaced with a confident smirk as he brings his face closer to yours.

Instinctively you scoot back, but Iwaizumi’s reflexes are quick so one of his hands is immediately behind your neck to keep you where you are. “Bold of you to call me a dense idiot when I’ve been in love with you for three years and you never even noticed.”

It’s your turn to be embarrassed, your cheeks warming as you attempt to look down to avoid Iwaizumi’s intense gaze. 

“Oh no, you’re gonna look at me while I confess.” Iwaizumi teases as he removes his hand from your neck to tilt your chin upward. “I really like you, Y/N. Your smile, your eyes, the way you laugh… Just everything about you. You’re just so… Amazing.”

You can’t reply, too touched and overwhelmed to form any words.

“It sounds stupid, but I’m pretty sure I’ve imagined a hundred different futures with you the moment you cheered for me in that one Dateko game where I kept getting blocked.” Iwaizumi whispers, gazing into your soul in hopes that the other feelings he couldn’t put into words would be conveyed through his eyes. “You probably don’t remember, but that day, I realized that I’m gonna do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

“I got pretty bummed out when you got distant in our second year, I thought you disliked me so I kept our conversations short just so I don’t inconvenience you.” Iwaizumi grows as he recalls the moment you guys got awkward before it’s replaced with a smile as he speaks. “What a surprise that you like me too, huh?” 

Iwaizumi chuckles lightly before he gently brushes a stray strand of hair from your forehead, and the feeling of the tip of his calloused fingers grazing your skin was enough to send your heart into a frenzy. “Can I…”

“Can you what?” You whisper, not wanting to ruin the moment by making your voice too loud.

“Can I kiss you?” Iwaizumi looks into your eyes, waiting for permission. Waiting for a sign, a word.

You don’t reply, instead, you grab him by his tie and tenderly press your lips against his. Your heart feels like it’s about to escape the confines of your chest as you move your lips against Iwaizumi’s. Years of chasing after Iwaizumi finally concluded, and damn did it conclude pretty damn well.

You’re the first to pull away. Leaning away as you looked to the side to hide the blush on your face.

There’s a stupid grin on Iwaizumi’s face, his wide eyes accompanied by a bright smile as he breathes deeply. “Shit, I’m in love.”

Your face practically bursts into flames at how happy Iwaizumi looked at that moment, but you compose yourself and muster a quick reply. “I mean, this situation would be pretty awkward if you aren’t.”

Iwaizumi raises a brow as he smirks teasingly—boy did that simple action do things to your heart—before he grabs your wrist, making you faceplant right into his sturdy chest. He proceeds to cup your cheeks with his hands, pressing his forehead on yours. “I’m not gonna ask you to be my girlfriend yet.”

You can feel your heart drop a bit as you look into Iwaizumi’s eyes.

“I’m gonna give you the first date that you deserve then I’ll ask you.” Iwaizumi grins as the worry on your face is replaced by a small pout. “I hope you say yes.”

“Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.” You answer a little too quickly, which makes Iwaizumi chuckle before squishing your cheeks.

“I haven’t even taken you out on a date yet.” Iwaizumi reasons out, continuing to absentmindedly squish your cheeks with his large hands.

“If you’re not asking me then I’m asking you.” You grin teasingly. “I’ve been pretty whipped for a long time now and I’m not about to let this opportunity slip.”

Your heart leaps into somersaults at the sound of Iwaizumi’s laughter. 

“Fine, you win.” Iwaizumi pinches your cheek. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

You nod enthusiastically.

Iwaizumi smiles before he places a hand on the back of your neck and pulls you in for another kiss. His other hand pulls you by your waist to bring you closer to him, and when you’re close enough, the hand on your neck moves your waist as well. Iwaizumi continues to kiss you, gently, sweetly, too afraid to hurt you in any way even if it was unintentional.

That day, you tell yourself, was probably the best day of your life. The rain added to the beauty of that moment because it gave you an excuse to snuggle into Iwaizumi’s side as he pressed small kisses on the side of your head from time to time.

A/N: I hope you guys liked it! This one was a piece I made a while back, so if it’s familiar then it’s probably from my old account before I deactivated it. I made a new account cause I realized I was more stressed when I wasn’t writing. Thank you for reading!

#iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi hajime #haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #genre.fluff #tw mild swearing

[mmvalentine]

The Pianist pt 4 | Jurdan

Modern AU. Part 1 part 2 part 3 part 5

Jude woke up with a bad taste in her mouth and cotton wool in her brain. She groaned, groped around on the night stand for her phone and had to look at the screen through one eye because the light hurt her.

Does Cardan wake up like this every day? Jude wondered. And if so, how was he not dead?

Cardan. Shit.

Jude had a vague memory of kissing Cardan at Locke's party, but she was not entirely sure that she hadn't dreamt it. Fuck it. Cardan had been with so many girls she very much doubted one drunk kiss at a party would even register for him. Jude refused to be embarrassed.

In fact she was pretty sure that what she was actually feeling was annoyance, since he a) had managed to get under her skin even though she absolutely didn’t want him there and hadn’t invited him and b) was now striking up some exercises on the piano that sounded like he was playing them on the inside of her skull. Since when did Cardan start anything before lunch?

Jude tried to roll over and go back to sleep. Luckily for her, this was her one day a week off from all three of her jobs. Unluckily for her, Cardan was only just getting started.

Twenty minutes later, there was a pause. Jude sighed her relief as the infernal exercises finally stopped- only for a furious Baroque piece to begin. “No no no no,” Jude yelled. She flung back her covers, still dressed in the black dress from the night before, with bed hair and yesterday’s makeup, and stalked out the door barefoot.

Through the fire door, up one flight of steps, and down the hall to Cardan’s flat. She hammered her fist on his front door.

"Cardan!" she barked. "Cardan you insufferable ass!"

The piano stopped, and before he could get to her she yanked the door handle. It was unlocked, and Jude opened the door to a very surprised Cardan who was himself just reaching for the knob.

"Jude?"

"Yes Jude, hello it’s me your downstairs fucking neighbour who cannot sleep through this racket!"

Cardan just stood and stared at her. Some quiet part of Jude’s mind was sure she looked like a madwoman, but the louder part ignored it and continued the tirade.

"I mean for fuck’s sake Cardan what do you have against sleep?" She flung the words at him. “You keep me up all through the night because you refuse to operate during daylight hours like a normal person, and then the one time I want to sleep in, the one time- Cardan do you know I never ever ever sleep in? And then this one time I think maybe I’ll just relax a little, here you are like you’ve got some kind of personal vendetta against me getting a full eight hours!"

She paused to draw breath, and still Cardan just stood there. It was infuriating.

"Well?" She demanded.

And then Cardan put both his hands around her face, and pulled her mouth to his.

The heat was instant. Jude burned up under it in for a second, then realised what was happening and cut the kiss off.

But Cardan was having none of that. He pulled her right back to him, and Jude did not have enough willpower to break away a second time. The shocking fever of it wiped out all logical thought and the next thing she knew she was folding her arms around his neck. Cardan wrapped his own around her waist, stooping a little to reach her and then pulling her up against his body. He took a step back and Jude let him lead her into his apartment, the door closing softly behind them.

Cardan moved his mouth against hers and when his tongue lashed out she was only too eager to meet it. She scraped her nails against his neck as his hands slid into the tangle of her hair.

Jude took another step forward, and Cardan backed into a lamp. It toppled over noisily, but he didn’t let her stop the kiss. Just moved them to the side, where Jude’s back hit a shelf and two books fell out. Cardan didn‘t seem to care at all. Pushed her further into the wall while his teeth found her bottom lip, and knocked a frame down as his hand hit the plaster behind her.

Jude tugged him closer at the waist, and returned every one of his kisses. She might have kept kissing him all day, he tasted so good, but then in between one breath and the next he whispered her name, and she realised.

She was making out with Cardan.

Jude shoved him away, hard, and stormed out the door without a word.

////

Cardan didn't see Jude for a week after that.

It was strange, they had been in each other's proximity for a long time now and not had a lot to do with each other but now, somehow, he was quite sure she was avoiding him.

He didn't know quite what to feel about that kiss.

In his defence, she had started it. That night of Locke's party- no, before that. The night she started singing him to sleep through the air vents. She had floated into his life through his ears and now her absence chafed like a burr in his shoe. Of course, in the past days there was no singing. Not even when Cardan lay there for an hour, waiting to hear her voice.

Locke had seen her.

In spite of the mess that had been that party, and the morning after, it seemed that Jude had taken on Cardan's advice and agreed to meet with Locke for the play.

And according to Locke, things were going very well. He raved about Jude's voice, which irritated Cardan to no end. He had put his ear to the carpet just to hear her, and now he had to share her with Locke? Prick.

Locke, as always, had an easy time of assembling the rest of his cast. Cardan did not think him a bad writer, but he did suspect the queues for his casting call had more to do with who his father was than with his skills as a playwright.

He had been auditioning for a couple of weeks now, and with Jude in place, he was ready to call his first cast meeting. Cardan, Nicasia and Valerian were expected to attend too- Nicasia and Valerian never missed a chance to be on stage, and Cardan was invited for his "musical ear."

So there they all were, on a Friday evening, in the old theatre Locke's dad let him use. Waiting for the last few people to arrive. When Jude walked through the door she nodded to Locke, but avoided Cardan's gaze.

Fine, he thought. If she didn't want to talk to him, he certainly wasn't going to force her. He thought of the rant she had loosed on him that morning last week, and figured it was probably better this way.

Finally, Locke called them all to attention, and Cardan sat in the back row with Nicasia and Valerian as Locke addressed them all from the stage. Cardan put his feet up on the chair in front of him, and let Nicasia doze on his shoulder while Valerian picked things out of the soles of his boots with a pocket knife.

"So without further ado,' Locke was saying, may I present to you our stunning leading lady, Taryn."

Cardan looked up. The small group were politely clapping as a tall, thin woman stood and nodded at them all. She was all blonde hair and heroin chic, just Locke's type. But what about-

"And of course our vocalist, discovered by yours truly and pulled from the bowels of the subway tunnels, Jude!"

The group applauded mildly again, but Jude did not stand up. Locke continued. "Jude is going to provide the singing voice for Taryn, although I haven't decided whether we're going to pre-record or get her to sing live backstage."

What?

"What?" Jude demanded. The cast went quiet. "You want me to sing for Taryn?"

"Yes, of course," Locke said. "You've got a lovely voice, Jude, but Tarym looks more the part, don't you think?"

"Well you didn't fucking tell me that when I agreed to do this, Locke."

"Jude," Locke held up his hands. "Please stay calm. I'm sorry if you misunderstood."

"If I misunderstood? You lied to me. Why in the hell would I want to stand around behind a curtain so that someone prettier than me can get the credit?"

"Aw come on, Jude. It's not like that. This is a very common practice in show business," Locke insisted.

Now that the drama was amping up, Nicasia and Valerian were suddenly paying attention.

"Yeah come on, Jude," Valerian called down. "It's a compliment, you have a great face for recording!"

"Darling, these are all Juilliard trained performers," Nicasia added. "You didn't actually think you were going to be on stage did you?"

"I didn't ask to be here," Jude said, picking up her bag. "Fuck this, and fuck you guys slowly with a fork."

She strode out the door, right past their row.

"Jude, wait," Cardan said, scrambling out of his seat.

"You stay the hell away from me," Jude hissed, then the door slammed behind her and Nicasia burst into hysterical laughter. Cardan looked back down toward Locke, who was shaking his head tragically.

"This is why you never hire amateurs," he said sadly, and in that moment, Cardan hated them all.

****

Hooo boy okay a lot happened in this chapter! We are in a two week lockdown after a COVID break out so I guess you get lots of writing this weekend. Someone please hug them for meee

JURDAN MASTERLIST

TAGLIST: @asteria-of-mars @swankii-art-teacher @loosingdreams @feysand-loml @cityofbookish @story-scribbler

#jurdan #jurdan fic #tfota #mine

[astriefer]

Please have this messy, badly written scenario as a humble gift to you, because I wanted to do something since I reached 200 followers!

Bits of Truth

They stood in front of the Carstairs' townhouse in Cornwall Gardens. Christopher seemed mildly confused about what they were doing there as if he had not been paying attention. James shared one last glance with Thomas before he knocked on the door.

A few bits of silence flew by, in which they had held their breaths. Then footsteps tapped on the floor, and the door cracked open.

A wave of relief passed through James that not Sona nor Risa or any other maid came to open the door. Then he thought what a peculiar thought it was for him to be relieved by. Alastair looked at them, frozen in place, blinking a few times as if he didn't believe they were truly there. He rejoined his composure hastily. He didn't let them in - he stood in the front door and his eyes searched theirs for an explanation. It was like a weird staring contest. Eventually, Alastair spoke first. "Cordelia is not here. You know it fairly well."

He moved to close the door. "We haven't come for Cordelia," he said quickly, which received another incredulous glance from Alastair. "Well, we have. But not because we thought she'd show up here. We came to talk to you."

Alastair narrowed his eyes, expressionless, and considered James. Then he glanced at Christopher and Thomas, noting their desperate eyes. "About my sister?"

"We won't take long," promised James, despite he wasn't sure it's true. Alastair studied him, and James felt himself going rigid. He leveled Alastair with his indecipherable gaze.

Then Alastair had stepped back from the door and ushered them in. "My mother is in her bedroom, resting, and Risa went shopping for supper. So, you have to be quiet. Make it quick.'

~~~~

Alastair took their coats and tilted his head towered the parlor. A kettle whiselted in the kitchen. As he gestured them inside he turned the other way. A fire burned in the chimney, and a book rested peacefully on the armchair. When James examined closer he discovered it was written in Persian. Thomas mumbled something about Persian poetry.

Alastair came inside with a tray and James thought he was, for a change, being hospitable, but he ignored them and disappeared up the stairs. When he got back, empty-handed, James assumed the tea was for his mother. Alastair placed the book on the table as he sat down in front of them. Thomas and Christopher set on a love sofa and James set stoned on another armchair. He didn't waste time being the kind host, James presumed. "What it is about my sister?"

The golden-eyed boy decided the best tactic was started from what he knew. That wasn't much, but it was the most important thing, and he was certain about it, at the very least. "I love your sister."

Alastair raised his eyebrows, amused. "Yes, that's something that tends to happen between married couples, I've been told."

James shook his head. "This marriage, of Cordelia and I," just saying her name on his lips made a treacherous skip of his heartbeat, full of hurt and love. "It was a sham marriage."

Alastair pools of dark marble were fixed on James when he explained, rather awkwardly, the events that led to their marriage. And then events that led to Cordelia leaving the country. He prospected Alastair would be outraged, throw spears at them, maybe even recite some very angry poetry phrases in Persian. Instead, Alastair was very still for very long. When he did speak, the words weren't the James expected them to be. "I knew the marriage wasn't out of love," Alastair said calmly. "But I didn't expect you to tell all that rubbish."

James blinked. "It's the truth."

"Oh, I know," Alastair returned with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I doubt you would come up with such a ludicrous idea on your own, even if just to spite me. and I also know Cordelia wouldn't have slept with you unwedded, no matter how much she loved you."

All the thieves caught their breath when Alastair leaned forward, his month curving in an odd angle. "I also know being married to you was a wish she never thought would come true, and that you cared for her. You claimed her as yours and you defended her. It was good for Cordelia, and so I said nothing."

James snorted, although he hadn't found the conversation funny. Not the least. "I thought I loved Grace at that time. I felt bad when the thought of living with Cordelia was more appealing than I expected." The thought of Grace made his features harden. "And because of Grace, for years I've been blind. Manipulated. I lost my wife and Parabatai. She played with me like a doll; messed with my feelings, messed with my life. This is unforgivable."

He did not notice Christopher who tensed up and fixed his spectacles on his nose. "She did some bad things," he said, surprising them all. "But I don't think she's evil."

James furrowed his brow. "She's like a siren: beautiful and compelling, but going after her will only end in you being drowned."

"I see," Alastair said, turning back to James. "But why? Why did she do it?"

"Does it matter?" James asked. "She hurt so many people. She doesn't even deserve to apologize. It won't matter anyhow - the damage is done. After all she has done...sorry will never be enough. Nothing will."

"It matters," Alastair said. "Because you don't know her side of the tale. You don't know what she thinks. What she feels. You don't know if she had to do what she did."

He was tempted to say Grace has no feelings at all. "I believe I'm allowed to be angry."

"I do agree that what she had done to you is far above a jest or a play with hearts," there was a strange flame burning in the deep ponds of Alastair's dark eyes. "And you have no obligation to forgive her. But why not hear what she has to say? You are the one with the power. You know the truth. She can not affect you any longer."

James shook his head. "You don't know Grace," he said coldly, gravely. "She will try to use me. She will try and make me do as she wishes. I will not be a pawn in her game again. She controlled my life long enough."

Alastair glanced away, pondering over something. Thomas turned his head nervously between James and Alastair. For the first time since the beginning of their conversation, Thomas inquired, "Why do you insist James will hear her out?"

"You have no idea of her motives," Alastair retorted. "What she's done - she must know it's wrong. And she will have to live with this knowledge for the rest of her days. You are allowed to be angry, James, and rightfully so. But don't let it blind you. That you have been kept from certain kinds of evil doesn't mean everyone else had. You have no clue what led her to those decisions." Alastair looked distanced. James managed to guess he's not been talking only about Grace. "You should talk to her. You may not forgive her, but you deserve to understand, to know why to hear the plain truth. And you should let her mourn what she could have had and lost."

James wasn't sure he fully comprehended. "I wouldn't have loved her. Even without the bracelet issue - my heart belongs to Cordelia."

"What do you mean?" Christopher asked. "That not everyone had been kept from evil."

Alastair shrugged. "I met Tatiana Blackthorn only once. She's a madwoman. She doesn't seem like the kind of caring, kind mother to pet her daughter's shoulder. Besides, Grace seemed to be controlled by Tatiana, rather than working alone or alongside her."

"She took the love of my life away from me," James growled. "Nothing can atone for that."

"The love of your life is my sister," he reminded James. "I can hardly find the idea of her being heartbroken a good thing. And the one who caused this pain is not much liked, as well. But you shouldn't think that just because you would've done it otherwise, it was an option for her. You can't know what are the options in front of people. You can't know how they feel unless you talk to them. So talk to Grace, James. Then seek out my sister. If you love her like you claim you do, will you give up on her so easily?"

"No," James stood up, "I will not."

Alastair nodded. "why did you come and tell me about your little schemes? Why now?"

Now, after so much time of lying, why tell the truth? Why not keep it in its cage of delicately made lies?

James cut his gaze to the book on the table. Thomas answered instead in a quiet voice. "She is your sister. You must have been worried about her. We wanted to tell you because - because you deserve to know the truth and understand why things happened the way they did."

What Thomas did not say was what none of them wanted to admit. Cordelia ran away to Paris with Matthew. Even if she'll be back in only two weeks - they all were worried sick. James couldn't blame her, he was awful and blind. All of this was a mess. If she needed time to calm down in Paris, he couldn't deny it of her, even if he had a say in this choice.

Alastair studied Thomas, and James felt the half-Persian hadn't quite believed them. It was true - they needed his help in the future. But it was a start. "Anything else? A ghost friend? Another evil aunt?"

"No," Christopher affirmed.

"Good," Alastair said. James might have imagined it but he thought he saw Alastair sneak a glance at Thomas before standing up. "Now get out of my house. Risa will be here any minute."

~~~~

I- how?? Thank you so much, everyone!! 🙈 Thank you, you can't understand how much it means to me. 🥺

This is mind-blowing. Truly. For whatever reason you follow me, know that I love you <3

Tagging some of my mutuals, you are all wonderful and make my time here so much better (not all of them because my brain is all wonky, but I mean all of you): @kit-12 @littlx-songbxrd @pink-party-dino @shadowhuntertrash @gummybears-4u @itsdaughterofthemoon @mcrrythievcs @fictionally-fantastic @reyna-herondale I'll tag more but I don't want to bother anyone so... thank you!! I don't know what people find in my blog, but I am grateful, and I appreciate all of you endlessly.

#alastair carstairs #the last hours #tlh #chain of gold #tsc #chain of iron #the shadowhunter chronicles #thomas lightwood #chog #cordelia carstairs #james herondale #christopher lighwood #the merry thieves #merry theives #post coi #choi spoilers #coi spoilers #chain of iron spoilers #grace blackthorn #tlh fanfic #the last hours tlh #200 celebration #my writing #my fics #fanfiction #writing #mine #my posts #my fanfic #styx's fanfics

[crimefightingspiderguy]

i remember thinking i had you

Summary: Based on the request sent in by @peter-maximoffsbitch “Hey! I saw your requests were opened and I wanted to ask if you could write a Peter x reader on a lazy Sunday morning? Ya know just some sweet domestic bliss ♡ Thank you!”. I started off doing the domestic bliss/lazy Sunday thing, then I ended up getting carried away because I couldn’t help myself. So this has that sweet domestic bliss side, but it also has a touch of angst and then back to happy bliss. 

Warnings: Spoilers for WandaVision

Pairing: Evan Peters!Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver x Reader

Word count: roughly 4,537

A/N: Was I totally listening to August by Taylor Swift while writing this first half? Yes. Yes I was. Also, your powers in this are supposed to be like Rouges, but it was sort of hard for me to describe them without saying her name as an example lol. Also this is my first time writing for Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver, so sorry if it is a little rough in some places. I hope this is what you’re looking for and a little more! Let me know what you think, feedback is always welcome!

Peter woke up laying almost exactly how he’d fallen asleep. His head resting on you, arms tucking behind your back. Only this time, instead of singing a soft melody in his ear as you brushed your fingers through his hair, you sat reading a book. Peter rolled over so he could look up at you,

“Morning.” He said through a yawn.

“Morning.” You smiled down at him, peaking past your book, only briefly. Putting your free hand back into his hair, causing him to melt into your hand and let out a content hum.

“I love it when you do that.”

“Oh, trust me, I know.” You let out a small giggle. He reacted the same way every time you went to touch his hair. A simple sigh of relaxation, a content hum, and a visible relaxation in his body.

“Whatcha reading?” He asked, eyes closed so he could fully appreciate your presence.

“A Tale of Two Cities. It’s for the literature class I’m taking.”

“Is it any good?”

“I think so. It’s pretty interesting, especially considering it’s partially based on real events.”

“Will you read it out loud?” He requests, you nod and pick-up where you left off. He lays patiently while you somewhat stumble your way through the book. It’s written with some older slang terms, making some of it hard for you to read quickly through, but Peter didn’t care. He cared about listening to the fluctuation in your voice telling him how you were reacting to a certain event, cared about your breath going in and out, cared about your steady heartbeat under his head. These were the only moments he could be completely still when awake. When you grounded him, allowing him to take things slow and appreciate every single moment of life. The sun was shining in on your skin, lighting you up in a way that seemed almost angelic. It was pure bliss.

 The warm memory of that delicate August morning helped you wake with a smile on your face. The first time you’d genuinely smiled in weeks. It has been too long since you felt the warmth Peter brought to you, too long since you woke to his snoring vibrating through your chest, too long since you got to run your hands through his hair and hear his sigh of content. It’s been about three weeks since he disappeared. No one knows where he is still and how to get in contact with him. The last time you saw him you were sitting out in the front lawn of the school with his head in your lap as he listens to his music through his headphones while you worked on homework. You’d taken a break to stare at a nearby bumble bee landing on a flower. It was calming.

“I’ll be right back” Peter said, getting up with a confused look on his face.

“Where are you going?” You started to ask but was cut off by him zooming away. You shrugged and went back to looking at the bee, he wouldn’t be gone long. You were wrong though; he was gone long. He never came back.

 You wiped away the tears forming on the brim of your eyes. You thought you had all the time in the world with Peter. You never thought he would leave you, especially not like this.

“Y/N”

You jumped, scared out of your mind. Sitting up and looking around like a madwoman. It was his voice.

“Peter?” You called out to him. “Jean? Is this some sick prank? Because I can tell you it’s not funny.”

“Y/N help me.” Peter called out to you.

“How? Where are you?” You asked quietly, realizing the voice was definitely not Jean, she could get into your head, but not like this.

“Come to me. I need your help.” Peter’s voice started to fade.

“No… Come back, tell me how to find you!” You start panicking. But just as quickly as the voice came, it was gone. You frustratingly fell back onto your pillow, almost trying to slam yourself into unconsciousness. At least there you would be with Peter. But what was that voice? You ran through the obvious thoughts, ‘I’m going crazy. It couldn’t have been him. Simply me imagining things because I was dreaming about him.’ But something about those excuses didn’t sit right with you. ‘Maybe Peter was reaching out? Maybe he found a way to contact me, like cerebro? Maybe that’s the key!’ You quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the long hallway where the device is kept. Your powers were confusing, in the way that you had no idea what the limit was. You were able to “absorb” other abilities. You wouldn’t take them from them, but you were able to use them if you touched the person and concentrated. At this point you were able to do a lot of the basics that could help you get to Peter. You had Jean’s telepathy, Kurt’s teleportation, Peter’s super speed, and your own strength and skill from training, you could get to him and save him. In your rush, you hadn’t even realized you bumped into Beast.

“Hey kid, what’s the hurry?” He asked you, startled.

“I have to find Peter.” You said, a wild look had over-come you, in your right-out-of-bed look.

He began to question you further, but you just began running. With Peter’s speed, you got there in a matter of seconds. Students weren’t really allowed in this area unless with Charles, but you could care less right now. You were getting Peter back. You broke into the room and quickly put on the helmet, homing in on his voice in your memory. You searched and searched when finally, it became clear again. He was calling out to you again.

“Come on Pete you gotta give me something to work with.” You searched his distant and fuzzy mind for anything that could give you a location. You saw that he was currently talking to a woman named Agnes. You couldn’t hear what she was saying but based on the worry pressing in on you from his mind, you figured it wasn’t too good. “Pete, I need you to look around the room for me. I have to be able to clearly visualize where I’m going.” Through Peter’s eyes you saw the room as he quickly looked away from the woman. It wasn’t much, but it might just be enough. You took cerebro off and clearly visualized Peter, that woman, and the room they were in.

 You landed with a cloud of blue hanging in the air. Right in front of you was Peter and the woman you assumed was holding Peter hostage in some way.

“Peter!” You ran to hug him, but he just stumbled backwards.

“Woah there toots. You don’t waste any time, do you?”

“Who are you?” The woman Agnes asked, grabbing your arm.

“My name is Y/N and I’m here to take my boyfriend home, even if it means I have to kill you.”

She began cackling, “Kill me? Honey I’m hundreds of years old. You couldn’t kill me in your dizziest daydreams.” She still held your arm, you began concentrating, seeping her power into your body. Allowing you to feel how powerful she was. But at least now the fight would be even.

“So, what are we gonna do with you? I can’t have you running around telling people who he is. No, I need him to play his part well.”

“What did you do to him? What do you mean play his part?”

“Well, you see honey, I need your little boy toy here to be my eyes and ears.”

“He’s under your control? So, he doesn’t remember me?” Your heart cracked a little at the thought. You didn’t even need her to confirm this, you could see into his mind and see the haze over his memories from home.

“Mhmmm, how about this. I could use you both if we go about this the right way. So, Pietro dear,” Peter’s eyes flickered away from you to her. “Stick to the plan, introduce yourself on the show tonight. And you little lady are going to be the new neighbor in town, introducing yourself tomorrow, so you can keep a watch from a distance, and if Pietro here were to fail, you could swoop in and take over.”

“What am I supposed to be watching for?” You asked.

“I need some information out of his sister Wanda, and you two are going to help me get it, or you’re never going home.”

 The next day you woke up in an unfamiliar bed. Looking around, you saw Halloween decorations everywhere, and in your closet a single costume. You were going to dress up as a cowgirl. You rolled your eyes, “how original” you muttered to yourself. While Agnes thought she had put you under the same spell as Peter, she was very wrong. You were able to block her out but played the part of brain-washed zombie well enough she let you and Peter go. You didn’t dare say anything other than a good night to Peter as he went to this Wanda’s house and you went a house over from Agnes’s. You got ready and went down to the first floor of your new home to find a snoring Peter laying sprawled out on your couch. ‘This is it’ You thought, my chance to take him and never look back. But what would stop Agnes from following you? She found Peter once. You knew if you planned on making it out of here, you had to make it through today like she planned. Then you might be able to bargain yours and Peter’s freedom or even just make a break for it. You walked around to the front of the couch and sat cross-legged in front of Peter. You missed him so much, but it seems he’s been unable to even think about you other than the subconscious plea he called to you with. You ran your hand through his hair and saw a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth. He released a soft sigh and you saw his visibly tense shoulders relax.

“You found me” He muttered.

“Peter?” You gasped; does he remember?

“Who else would it be? Jesus?” He laughed at his own joke and you let out a sob that you’d been holding in for way too long. His eyes shot open and before you knew it, he was up and pulling you into his lap on the couch, holding you close. He began drawing shapes on your back, trying to calm you. “Shhh… it’s okay. I’m here now, and I’m not leaving your side until we get out of this hell on earth.” Your shoulders shook with the force of your crying. After a couple minutes, you were able to calm yourself and wipe your eyes dry. “Better?” He asks, pushing your hair back from your face. You nod your head, “Good, because we have a big day ahead of us. Playing along with Agnes’s little game, then getting the hell out of dodge.”

 You and Peter headed over to Wanda’s house together. On the way, he caught you up on the things he was supposed to do, pretending to be Wanda’s brother and convincing her to tell him how she created this fake little world. You were holding his hand up to the point of Wanda’s front door. Peter dropped your hand and you felt he warmth slowly seeping out of you again as he turned around and said “showtime” to you.

He rang the doorbell, and it was answered by a small child, probably the age of 10. “Uncle P!”

Peter ran into the house, throwing the boy and the other one nearby over his shoulders. He ran them round and round in circles as they playfully screamed and laughed their heads off.

“Someone better be bleeding or dying.” A woman came down the stairs dressed in a red costume. She stopped when she saw you awkwardly standing in the doorway. You could feel her trying to get inside your head, so you gave her slight access. Enough to see you were new in town and Peter was helping you meet new people after he bumped into you on the street.

“And who is this?” Wanda referenced you, as if she didn’t know.

“Oh, this lovely lady here is Y/N. I met her on my way to your house this morning and she’s new, so I thought why not introduce her to some neighbors.” Peter said as he put the boys down and zoomed next to you, putting a hand on your back to slightly push you forward to greet Wanda.

You felt a blush rise to your cheeks at the ‘lovely lady’ comment, ‘good, she’ll believe our story of being strangers’ you thought in the back of your mind, somewhere you weren’t letting her gain access to. You held you hand out to her and she took it with slight hesitation, but when you showed her you meant no harm, she relaxed slightly. In that brief moment though, you were able to gain even the slightest access to her powers, and you took the oppourtunity.

“Wanda” She told you.

“It’s nice to meet you Wanda. I just live two houses down actually, so we were bound to bump into each other at some point.” You let out a small innocent giggle, “But Pietro here was just bursting with energy at the chance of bringing me to meet you.” Wanda gave a smile to Peter and quickly noticed his hand still resting on your back. You could see in her mind that she was picking up the idea that Peter thought you were cute and wanted to impress you.

“Why don’t you join us for trick-or-treating tonight? You could meet more people around town, and by the looks of it you’re already dressed for the occasion.” She waved at your cowgirl get-up.

“Yeah, I was hoping I wouldn’t be the only one dressing up all day. Love that costume by the way, so cute on you!” You complemented her.

“What are you supposed to be mom?” One of the boys asked,

“Old red riding hood?” The other one seemed to finish the thought.

Peter snickered, “I’m actually a Sakovian fortune teller.” She said forming an invisible crystal ball with her hands.

“That’s so cool!” One of the boys said at the same time that Peter seemed to say “Lame”, the boy quickly fixing his previous statement, and copying the “lame”.

“It���s worse than the costumes mom made for us the year we got typhus.” Then the strangest thing happened. It was a flashback, that all of you could see, playing in your head. Peter did mention that we were on some sort of TV show Wanda created, so maybe it was supposed to be a character flash back?

“That’s not exactly how I remember it.”

“You probably suppressed a lot of the trauma”

Just then the boys grabbed your hands and pulled you away from Peter and Wanda.

“Wanna see our new game?” They asked, even though their determined pulling you away was more like “Come see our new game, now.” But, of all the people you’ve met so far, these two boys had the purest minds. They weren’t clouded by anything or anyone, they weren’t being controlled, so you knew their question wasn’t scripted or forced, just them being kids.

They pulled you to sit down on the ground with them on either side as they showed you how to play with them. You kept an eye on Peter’s mind, and you saw that he was smiling at you and the boys. Wanda’s mind was slightly louder than the clouded Peter, and she was now looking between you and Peter curiously. You looked a little bit deeper into her mind and realized she was suspicious of Peter. He didn’t look like her actual brother, or even act like him. But she was starting to put that aside, since he had given her no real reason to not trust him yet. She was now fascinated though, with his reaction to you. She could tell he acted different when he turned his attention to you.

You quickly left Wanda’s mind, sensing that she was starting to feel someone in her head. Peter zoomed over to you, sitting on the coffee table, resting his legs on either side of your torso. He wrapped his arms around you and helped you play the game by putting his hands over yours.

“Hey! No cheating Uncle P!” The boy who introduced himself as Billy said.

“It’s not cheating, just teaching!” He put his hands up in self-defense. But quickly replaced them over yours to help you get ahead of the boys again.

Just then, you heard someone else come down the stairs. You heard his conversation with Wanda, and gathered he was her husband and the twins’ father. Wanda told him about you being new in town, and you saw in her mind her leaning closer to his ear and saying, “I think Pietro has a crush on her.” And pulling back from him with a smirk on her face. The man named Vision gave a soft “ahh” and nodded in understanding. As soon as Peter had rushed behind you, he was gone.

“Sweet costume bro-ham-in-law. Let me guess, traffic light? Half-shucked corn? A booger!”

“Yes…” Vision said, clearly over Peter, but you couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

Peter pumped his fist in the air and came back behind you and continued to help you play the game, but that was after he handed all three of you sodas and showed them how to shotgun it. “One, two, three, go!” Peter exclaimed as you all tried to down it as fast as you could. You actually finished first and turned around to smash the can into Peter’s head. You were able to do it fairly easy, and you heard the thought run through Wanda’s mind, ‘Wow, she’s pretty strong… I wonder… No. I would see it in her head’. You turned back around making sure to go at a normal speed. The last thing you needed was for her to find out you were a mutant and hiding something from her.

Later on in the day, you, Wanda, Peter, Tommy and Billy began walking through the streets, on the hunt for candy. Peter was running around with the boys, leaving you and Wanda alone to talk. It was then that you felt the presence of Agnes in your mind. You made sure to keep the conversation light, to not make Wanda suspicious, but to maybe hint towards the information you needed.

“So, what made you come to Westview?” Wanda asked.

“I started thinking about moving about a month ago, this was close to the city, but not too close, and it had some good property up for sale. So, I took a leap of faith and ended up here.” You smiled at her, “What about you? How long have you been here?”

“Oh, not long, just came here to start a family and live sort of mundane suburban lives you always hear are so great and perfect.” She laughed lightly to herself.

“How’d you meet Vision?” You could feel Agnes approving of your questions in your head, encouraging you to go on.

“Oh, ummm… We were friends before we got together, so I’ve known him for a while.” Agnes was getting frustrated at how vague Wanda’s answers were. “Pietro seems to have his eye on you.” Wanda pointed out Peter standing behind the kids as they were grabbing candy from a couple, watching you and Wanda closely.

“Quite literally” You chuckled.

“I’ve never seen him act the way he does with you. You… slow him down. Not in a bad way of course, but you can tell from the way he’s been acting around you, it’s like he’s scared to let you go. Like you’ll disappear. Are you sure you just met this morning?”

“Yeah, but he did talk a million miles an hour before he brought me over to your house, so I feel like I got his whole life story” You laughed, feeling Wanda’s suspiciousness suppressing for the time being.

 You took over walking with the boys for a bit while Peter tried taking a shot at getting some information out of Wanda.

“You’re very confusing.” Billy said to you.

“Why’s that?” You asked, looking down to the boy staring at you confused.

“You have a bunch of different voices in your head.”

You raised your eyebrows in surprise, “You can read minds like your mom?”. Great one more person you had to block your thoughts from.

Billy nodded his head in hesitation, “I think, I’m not sure. It didn’t start until just now. It’s like all of the sudden I can hear everything and it’s a lot. It kind of hurts.”

“Here, let me show you a trick” You got down to his eye level and said, “close your eyes, take a deep breath in, then out. Focus on the sound of one voice, my voice. I know you said I have a couple but pick the loudest one and stick with it. Follow it like a string. Open your eyes.” Billy did as you said, “Better?” He nodded and smiled.

“How did you know how to do that?”

“Well between you and me, I have a few tricks up my sleeve too.” You put a shushing finger over your mouth and then cut your thoughts off from him.

“I can’t hear you anymore.”

“I know, because I’m not letting you. If you want to focus on someone else you can, if it helps. Or the voice you focus on is your own. Tune the others out and just think about your own thoughts. It can be hard when you have loud thoughts around you, like your Uncle P. His thoughts are the loudest in the area. But after some practice, you’ll be a pro just like your mom.”

Billy smiled up at you as he realized just how loud Peters thoughts actually were.

 The trick-or-treating was going by pretty quick especially with Peter eventually taking over permanently and zooming around the town with the boys. You were walking with Wanda again.

“I heard you helped Billy.” Wanda said to you, “How did you know how to control the mind reading?”

“Oh, just a trick I picked up from a friend of mine.”

Wanda narrowed her eyes at you a little, “You’re lying. You’re blocking me out and hiding something. I can feel it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Really. I have a friend who can read minds and she told me how she controls it and how she focuses.”

“Then why are you shutting me out?”

“Because I don’t like people being in my head. I’ve got too much going on as it is.”

“Who are you?” Wanda stopped you and held you still with her magic.

“My name is Y/N and I’m new in town. I can promise you, I mean you and your family no harm.”

“Then show me your mind. Completely.”

You sighed and let Wanda in your mind. She saw everything, from when you got here, to your life back with the XMen, your life with Peter. The only thing she didn’t get access to were your memories of Agnes. You assumed Agnes herself put a lock and key on them in case this exact thing happened.

“So, you’re here for Pietro or Peter as you call him. I knew there was something off about you two.”

“Please, we will leave with no fuss. Just let me take him home.” You pleaded with her.

“Fine, but I doubt your teleporting power will work to get you out of here. It’s not strong enough.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be able to get out. I also possess some of your magic. The exact type of magic that will let me and Peter through safely.”

“Leave.” Wanda gave you a threatening stare, not too happy with the idea of your magic matching hers. You used Peter’s superspeed to get to him as quick as you could.

“Hey Pietro, can I interest you in a late-night stroll through the park?” You asked him, trying to stay casual.

“Why of course m’lady.” Peter stuck his elbow out for you to grab. “Why don’t you two demons catch up with your mom.”

“Ahhh, really?” Tommy whined.

“Hey, stay cool. When a pretty lady wants to take you somewhere, you follow suit.” He winked at them.

“Dad?” Billy randomly burst out in a confused tone, “Dad!” He started to panic.

“What’s wrong Billy, what do you see?” You asked him.

“I can’t tell, he’s too far away.” By now Wanda had made her way over to her freaking out child.

“Focus. Follow the string. Follow his voice.” You told him

“He’s hurt. There are a bunch of soldiers around him.”

Wanda tensed up and her eyes started glowing red.

“Relax sis, it’s not like your dead husband could die twice.” Peter said, trying to diffuse the situation, only it did the exact opposite. Wanda whipped around and shot a red blast his way.

“I said leave!” She yelled at you. You nodded your head and zoomed over to where Peter landed. He was unconscious, but you pulled him in your arms and using the combined magic of Wanda and Agnes, and your teleportation, you thought of home and pulled the two of you out of there. You were worried at first that Agnes might try to stop you since you weren’t successful in your mission to get information out of Wanda, but she didn’t stop you. You assumed it was because Wanda knew you two were not who you said you were, so you wouldn’t be helpful anyways.

 You woke up lying in your own bed at home again. For the first time, in a long time, Peter was lying next to you. He was awake already and was watching you carefully.

“How are you feeling?” He asked as he push your hair off your forehead.

“Better now that we’re home. How did I get in bed?” You specifically remember teleporting you and Peter to Charles’ office so you could tell him what happened.

“When we got back you collapsed from the effort. Charles said your mind was awake, but tired and you used too much magic and power for what you’re used to. I was so scared you killed yourself.”

You shook your head, trying to remember anything after you left Westview, but you just couldn’t, “How long have I been out?”

“About two days. I’ve been so restless, just waiting for you to open your eyes. Poor Jean, I kept finding her to read your mind and make sure you hadn’t died. You were scary still.”

“Well, I’m awake now, and you’re home with me. That’s all that matters.” You pulled his head onto your chest and started to play with his hair. He hummed in content and relaxed into your body.

“I know I just slept for two days, but do you mind if we just stay in today?” You asked him.

“We can do whatever you want.” You could feel a smile forming on his face, against your skin.

“What I want to do first though, is pee.” You rushed to the bathroom, letting Peter’s face flop into the bed as you shut the door behind you. You heard him laughing. It was so good to hear his laugh again. To feel his warmth linger on your skin, and knowing when you returned he would still be there. That’s all you’ve wanted for the past three weeks.

Find more of my work here. 

My work is exclusively posted on Tumblr by me, on this blog. If you see my work posted elsewhere, please reach out to me.

Thank you, xx.

#peter maximoff #peter maximof x reader #quicksilver #quicksilver x you #quicksilver xmen #quicksilver x reader #quicksilver x y/n #marvel #mcu #mcu x reader #wandavision #wanda maximoff #wandavison spoilers #the vision #billy maximoff #tommy maximoff #evan peters #xmen

[meandmyechoes]

part 4 feels like an attempt to cater both the dudebros and the girlies and it fell short on both sides. As soon as he got out of the bacta a minute in I’m like, okay I can relax now (because there’s not going to be flashbacks).

I like Obi-wan is dressing, and fighting more like a Jedi now. But I have a feeling that’s not going to be enough for dudebros looking for The General, despite how cool that lights out scene is.

In general I am just not really into its look with the prop lightsabers being actual glowsticks now. They are thicker and not pointy-ended, most importantly you can’t hit as hard as you could like with steel. The slashes feel raw - and practical, but you can see some of his showiness (and confidence) returning with the twirls. They might not be the greatest fight you’ve ever seen, but they are fitting for where Obi-wan is now, and I do appreciate that.

I become nervous again when they take Leia to to the torture room and when Obi-wan discovers the Jedi tomb. But my logic was long gone before he even got into the base.

Still indifferent towards Reva but I’m more accepting with the revelation she really is a madwoman. I salute that she is very committed to her ruthlessness, despite it takes 2/3 of the series to be revealed. Her acting is not as bad as people say for sure, it’s just the script doesn’t require her to do much but an angry or impassive face? I’ll continue to say the script is against Moses’ flavour assigning her a hot-headed debut. This trope for new characters is a guarantee eyebrow-raise for most, particularly in this impatient fandom. It’s also kind of annoying that promo materials and even the blocking of the first episode props her up to ‘main character’ status that you know she can’t die even if Vader threatens her. It circles back to Star Wars being a ‘destined’ story. How do you make the process interesting if everyone alreday know how it’s going to end? The Inquitsitor infighting made me curious last time, if only they would develop #4 and #5 more to make it seem like a fair game. The other thing is assigning Reva a lower number would clear up her motivation to move up instantly? Or they could’ve all been fighting to fill Trilla’s role and leave the Grand Inquisitor unshakable? And with both of them out of the picture, if Reva being #3 is not next in line, then what’s the point of the number system? Do you even have a chain of command?

And Vader’s decision to let Reva live. I don’t have a problem with it save for his line, ‘I underestimated you’. Would’ve been better if he just say ‘You earned another day’ instead of, you know, turning a 180 as if it was some genius move to plant a tracker. It was a fatal mistake just two seconds ago, and by no means is Reva’s words a guaratee they will re-capture Kenobi. Even if you factor in Vader could tell she’s not lying, it rather underplays Vader’s threat to have him sounds like he respects a subordinate or admitted that he was wrong.

Every episode I judge it by ‘Does it have enough Obi-wan (vs. other characters /media)?’ So far it’s quite well-proportioned. There isn’t much thought process or reflection shown on Ewan tonight, so I suppose we are supposed to fill that in with how much meeting Vader (and perhaps meeting the Path) last time changed/reaffrimed him? It feels like, something really important happened and thaey brush it aside. But maybe it’s just episode 4 being the middle episode and they will cover it on the journey home next week. 

I predicted ‘finding Leia’ would be the big plot for the series. Can’t say I’m not a little concerned when I thought that might stray towards action-oriented and too large-scale. So far their interactions paid off, but you do wonder if a lower-stake villain could give these two, who we really came to watch a show for, even more focus. If you’re working on a Mando S1 rehash, might make it a cameo-filled road trip not unlike TBB S1 I suppose. (When they say Florrum I’m begging for Hondo Ohnaka cameo)

I would say ep 4 pales in comparision with the three that came before. It also borderline doesn’t have a cameo. There’s no correlation between the two. But I was suddenly begging for one, either a Hondo mention or since last time in the safehouse, an Ashla. I don’t know. I obtained enjoyment from the show, I am not unwilling to forgo logic to do that. It is enough pleasing to the eye. Honestly don’t care about any comments besides for Obi-wan, Anakin and Leia.

In the end, I hope we get more Hayden out of it. Feels like the chess pieces are pretty much set now and I don’t know how much more ‘surprises’ we can get with the two episodes left. The Grand Inquisitor will come back, Reva will die either because of him or Vader, Bail and Leia reunited and Ben looks over Luke forlornly as twin suns rise, fanfare. I was really hoping it to surpass by next to none expectation even though it was a long shot, by so far it has been... a ‘Pass’ show, like a B/B+, at best. so I don’t dislike it, but definitely not what I expect it to be.

#kenobi tv #yuki watches kenobi #kenobi series

[jaefluenza]

My Fate Blooms | J.Jaehyun

“We can’t happen..”

Genre: royal!au, angst, fluff

Pairing: fisherman!jaehyun x princess!reader

Word count: 14,4k words (oop- and that’s a long ass ride)

Summary: You never imagine meeting your own prince charming, but somehow, you did. He’s not a royal, nor a conglomerate, but you found yourself falling deeper into him. But of course, nothing works easily for you, the next queen of the northern kingdom.

playlist; Give You My Heart - IU; I Miss You - Soyou; Sweet Night - V; Sunny days, Summer nights - Sam Kim; Like You - So Soobin, SOHEE; Let Us Go - Crush; But It’s Destiny - 10cm, etc.

“How much do I have to tell you, mother? I don’t want to marry that guy!” You throw away your royal necklace, pissed off by the routine of your mom always lecturing about how to be a graceful soon-to-be-married princess.

“He’s not just a guy. Watch your mouth, he’s the rightful future king of the southern nation.” Your mom put her hands on her waist, utterly shocked by how you behaved tonight. “Oh, you told me that as if I’m so clueless about it! As stubborn as it might sounds, mother, I don’t care!”

gasp! “How dare you speak like that to me.” She said coldly. How dare you slap your own daughter like that?

“Now, listen. Want it or not, you’re gonna marry the prince. I am doing this only to save the kingdom, the place where you get to enjoy every royalty and comfort even in your sleep. So, bare with it, princess. Do I have to remind you that every single day?” The queen raised her voice before leaving your room, stomping the floor with anger.

You let yourself fall, leaning your arms on the edge of your queen-sized bed. “This is not what I wanted.” You wipe your tears harshly, trying not to look weak even though no one could see your worse condition right now. “I just don’t want to marry an evil guy who will torture me in his dungeon, what is so wrong about that?”

The next day, you prepare your mental state that you have to wear a fake smile again as usual for the rest of the day. It’s an engagement dinner between two kingdoms, where you’d meet the person you don’t want to marry. You hate formal dinners and meetings like this, it’s boring and it’s just not you. You prefer eating alone in your room with your cats, or maybe enjoying dinner at the maid’s kitchen with Olly, your personal maid, rather than joining dinner with people you don’t even know. They aren’t even interested to know you, as what they care about is only about the kingdom and politics.

You feel one of your cats scratches your leg, making you wince in pain. “Shirley, as much as I want to play with you, I want to leave this goddamn room too. I know you’re bored, please hold on for a few minutes before I-” You turn your head up at a nudge in your left arm. “Are you crazy? Why are you talking to the floor?” Prince Han glares at you as if you’re a madwoman.

You rolled your eyes, “I’m talking to my cat. I’m glad that I’m not the only person here who thinks that this whole thing is boring.”

“So talking about me and the marriage is boring huh? I think you’re too idiot to realize that thousands of princesses of nations would kill to marry me.” Prince Han lifts his head proudly, making you cringe and you were glad he lifts his head high enough that he probably won’t see you making a face.

“Then, maybe you should marry those stupid blind princesses.” You rolled your eyes over and over again before you stand up and excuse yourself in front of all the higher-ups and leave the grand meeting room. Prince Han was not untrue at all. He has the look enough for the girls to melt by his graceful presence, and that was one of the reasons why your mother was so elated to choose him as the marriage candidate. But even though you know the girls would kill to be in your position, you’re sure that they would think twice after knowing what is the prince like in real life.

You got lost in your deep thoughts before someone interrupted you by taking hold of your arm. “Wait, princess.” You sigh when you heard the familiar voice, wondering why would he follow you out of the room. “What?” You turned at him, hands on your waist, and waiting for him to say what’s on his mind.

“I know that you despise this marriage, and as much as you do, I do too. But if this thing works we’ll get so many benefits. Just bear with it and be a good princess for once.” He looks down on your eyes, threatening them intensely as if there are fire coming from his eyes. “The benefit is for you, not me. Why would I trap myself in a relationship that I don’t wish to be in?”

He gets back to his former position, standing highly like a crown prince should be. “Oh, Y/n. I really hate to say this, but you don’t want me to take over, right? Once I take over the whole situation, you’re doomed. For now, I’ll stay put. So don’t get on my nerves, or I won’t take it well.” You stutter upon hearing the threat he sent you. This is what you hate about him, and the whole arranged marriage thingy. He’s a crude and abusive person. He knows how to put pressure on someone, especially you. You blinked in fear before he takes your silence as a yes and walks away.

“Just bear with it? Now he sounds like my mom as well.” You rant.

You put on your bathrobe, preparing for a warm bath after a rough day. “Finally, my lone time.” You dip your leg on the tub, feeling the warmth slowly surfacing your leg before sitting your whole body with a sigh in relief. “So warm.” Raised in the northern kingdom, you’re used to the coldness of the nation. Snow falls every two months and spring comes only when it wants to. You wear warm fluffy coats almost every day, as if the coldness of the people around you was never enough. You wonder if there’s a place meant for you to live in. You wonder if there is somebody out there who actually care for you, as a human and not a princess.

“This is crazy, this is pure madness.” You claimed to yourself as you start thinking of something crazy. An escape? A runaway? Sounds like life. Your marriage is coming in two weeks, you definitely have enough time to leave the cold palace and free yourself to smell the flowers, the life outside the dungeon you called home. And as if your thoughts weren’t crazy enough, now you start to think of the way to start the important mission to save yourself. 

If there is not any charming prince who can save you, then you can save yourself, you thought.

“Ella, not now. I need to do some spying activities tonight. I can’t rub your neck at the moment.” You whine when your cat keeps following you around while letting out some meowing sounds which echoed around the hallway walls.

Ella walked away as if she understood your rejection to play with her. You shake your head as you witness her walking sassily with a seemingly visible scoff. “Dude, even my cats are breaking the rules. I’m a proud cat mom.”

You continue to spy around the palace, looking for some information that may help you leave the palace and all the terrifying things in it. You were walking around the hallway towards the palace kitchen when you heard the cooks and some assistants gossiping. You use the echoes of the grand wall of the hallway to catch what they are talking about.

“I heard the queen will be attending a party held in the southern nation. Of course, the princess will be forced to attend too. I pity her, most of her life spent on this kingdom, with no freedom or chance to find her own happiness. She never eats well like she’s supposed to in her age, because of her royalty image diet.”

You couldn’t hold your tears not to come when you heard how much the palace workers care for you. You pity yourself too, after all, the painful truth is instead of your mother, the only people unrelated to you were the only people who care.

So, the queen will bring you to the southern kingdom? That will be good timing! All you need to do is just pulling a good act in front of your mother so she might believe that you’ll come along with her, just in a different little carriage. And you officially do the plan.

“Mother, what kind of party would they hold there? I think I’m getting excited.”

Your mother gives you a look. “Why are you excited?” You tried to avoid looking so awkward like you have something to do which is actually true. “Oh! Are you finally getting closer to him?”

You sighed in relief mentally, before nodding excitedly at your mother. “Yeah! I hang out with Prince Han the last time he visited us. He is actually a funny person.” Duh.

“Okay, that’s a good thing! Thank god you finally make me happy!” Haven’t I?

“Well, they will be holding a garden party since it’s summer in the southern nation. I’ll prepare a beautiful summer dress for you, oh, I’ll have to make sure that my daughter, the fiancé of the prince, will be the most beautiful girl at the party!” Okay, this is great.

The party night comes, and the crazy idea of escaping your royal prison has been a big burden on both of your shoulders. You put an exciting act in front of your mothers and also other people. You can’t even feel your face after all the bold makeup they put on your face. The big luxurious dress tightly hugging your body makes you hard to breathe, you wonder if it will be able for you to run in this kind of dress. After all the servants leave your room, you go to speak to your cats.

“Sergei, my royal king. Please take care of the others while I’m gone. And you, Shirley, my royal queen. You should not wander off the palace because you will get hurt. Wait, I’m the one who’s gonna do that. Alright, whatever. Oh, and my baby princess, Ella. You’re the cutest baby of all the demons we got here. You can’t just come to people and ask for belly rubs cause... I’m the only one who can do that to you. If I’m able to come back, I’ll give you thousands of belly rubs and treats!”

All of the royal cats give you their unamused look as if they know that you won’t be able to escape this prison. “You guys think so too? Thought that I couldn’t make it out of here? At least, let me try.”

Your mother knocked on your door before entering the room. You quickly fix your gown and your hair, as if you are ready to leave for the party. “Hey, mother.” She smiled sweetly upon seeing your graceful appearance. “The prince will absolutely love you. Let him brag about his wonderful fiancé to the world tonight.”

“Well, there’s this thing that I would like to request for tonight, mother...” You started. “What is it? Tell me, honey.”

“Since I will be the most beautiful woman in that party, I want Prince Han to pick my hand himself as soon as I step out of the carriage. Which means, that I have to be in a different carriage from you. Can I ride in the diamond one, tonight?” You asked her nicely. Please say yes...

“That’s a great idea. Yeah, you should ride in a different carriage from me. Maybe you won’t be able to get back at the same time as me, right? You got to have a blast tonight! Sure, I’ll tell them to prepare the diamond carriage. My sweet daughter, I’m so proud of you!” She holds your chin gently, praising you for your wonderful idea. Little did she knows...

So you ended up in the diamond carriage alone, waiting anxiously for the right time to kick your horseman away. You glance over the window, looking at how far you’ve let the northern kingdom. Will you be ready for this? Will you be ready for whatever happens if you leave the palace, and the royal engagement? Are you ready for a new chapter in your life? Will you be happy? You don’t know, but something inside your heart says that it’ll worth for every single psychological torture you received in the palace. You take a deep sigh before opening the front door to the footman sitting behind the horses.

“Where are we now?” You whisper to the footman. “We’re about to reach the south side. In fifteen minutes, we’ll be able to spot the southern sea.” Great, we’re getting further from the kingdom.

“I’m so sorry, but... goodbye.” The footman gives you a disoriented look before losing his balance following your hard kick on his ass. He screamed loudly as he fell into the ground, rolling asides before losing his consciousness.

“That was a great ass-kick.” You praised yourself before taking over the handle ungainly. You stare at the horses in front of you with tactless eyes, realizing something. “I may have learned how to ride a horse, but now... I have four horses to handle?! Oh shit!” You notice the horses start to move like they’re mad. There was when you realized something, you don’t have any control over those carriage horses, and now they have no signal or tasks to do, and now they’re mad. The carriage starts to wobble, there’s no indication that it’s slowing down, even though the road in front of you is getting rocky and uneven.

You feel the wheels start to wobble out of place and when one of the wheels hit a quite big rock, the carriage was broken off from the horses. You watched the horses run away in agony before the huge carriage toppled over into a hole and you lost your consciousness.

You woke up with a lightheaded feeling as the warm sun rays stream right into your face. You glance around the room, this was definitely not your room. Not at the small windows across your bed, and not at how there’s a warm sunshine filling up the room. This is not the northern kingdom. So where are you?

The door opened before you know it, which makes you flinch at whoever coming into the room. “Oh, you’re awake?” Said a grown-up man with a tray of redolent food which you assumed is a bowl of eggplant and ginger chicken soup. You were left speechless, not because you don’t want to speak, but you don’t know what to ask first. There’s a lot of questions you have in your head, but you were blown away by the fine visual of this man.

“Uh... are you okay?” He asked with an awkward smile as he went closer to the bed you slept on. You blink as you stare right into his sharp eyes, and his pointy nose and his plump lips. Screw those girls who screamed about how much of an art Prince Han is like, they must have yet to see this man in their whole life before.

You watch him in awe as he puts the tray on the nightstand beside you. “Have some breakfast, you must’ve felt terrible last night.” He smiled, and oh, that smile would’ve killed thousands of women.

“Thank you very much. May I ask... where am I right now? And, what happened last night?”

He nods, and immediately sits down on the edge of the bed. “Let me introduce myself, I am Jung Jaehyun. I am a fisherman and so does my family. Last night, I was walking back home from the harbor when I saw a broken carriage in a pit of water near the northern kingdom gate. I saw a person on the edge of the hollow and that was you, so I brought you home and my family took care of you.”

You watched him as he spoke, focusing on his visual instead of listening. You were glad that someone this fine would save you last night. Sometimes, life is full of surprises. “Oh, I see. Thank you for saving my life. So, am I in the southern kingdom?”

He shakes his head, “No. Me and my family live in between the southern and northern kingdoms. Well, it’s safe to say that you’re in the middle of an unknown village. The people here live independently without a king. We keep our lives by being a fisherman or farmer and selling our yields at the market in the middle of the village.” He smiles as he explains where you are right now.

“Ah, I see. I never knew that there’s a little village between the northern and southern kingdom. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Y/n, the prince- uhm I mean, daughter of Madame Yoon from the northern kingdom.”

You raise your hand for a handshake and he immediately shakes your hand. “Nice to meet you, Y/n of the northern.” It seems like he doesn’t know anything about the northern’s ruler, which is your mother. It’s great, he doesn’t have to know that you’re a princess of the kingdom. He probably won’t be your friend if you tell him that.

“The food smells nice. I’ll dig them in now..” you smiled before grabbing the tray and taste the food. He nodded before leaving the room, saying that he needs to prepare the toils for his work.

You quickly dig the food in, shrieking in awe as if you’re tasting the best food cooked by a world-class chef in all kingdoms. “Oh my god, who the hell cook this best quality food..” You finished the bowl within ten minutes, before rubbing your belly with satisfaction. “Ah, right. I have to wash the dishes, I can’t be a troublesome in this house.”

You grab the tray and the dirty bowls as you keep them steady on your hands. You were about to open the door when something catches your attention. “Oh, wow.”

You’ve never seen yourself in a simple dress like this. The outfit you wear right now is like the ones that your maids in the palace would wear. But you never knew that it feels really comfortable rather than the overwhelming dresses in your closet. Also, you feel so fresh that you finally feel some heat surrounding your body, for you’ve always been wrapped in coats since the northern kingdom is either snowy or stormy. “This is all new.”

What you saw first when you stepped out of the door was a little stairs. You use them slowly, balancing yourself as you kept the tray steady on your hands, when suddenly a voice greets you merrily. “Good morning, lady.”

You glance at the person and it turns out to be an older with a stick in his hands. You bow yourself like you used to greet older people in the palace. “Good morning, sir.” He laughed upon seeing you bow, gathering another reaction from everyone in the small house. You look around you, there’s a grandma in the living room, possibly the grandpa’s wife, and there’s a middle-aged woman in the kitchen who’s seemingly the mother of Jung Jaehyun, and finally, a little boy, who seems so excited upon seeing you.

“Ooh! She’s awake! Hi! I’m Yuno! Are you feeling better?” He waved after running in your direction, greeting you excitedly. You greet him enthusiastically, feeling warm that finally someone is actually excited to see you. “Hi! Yeah, I’m more than better! Thank you for asking,” you smiled. “Let me take care of the dish,” Yuno gives you his cute eye smile, which makes you pinch his cheek, thanking him in advance.

“Hello. Welcome to our family house. Though, our house is not as comfortable as the ones you live in.” The middle-aged woman approached you gently, smiling with visible wrinkles around her face. You shake your head in panic, “No! This is more than enough, madam. Thank you very much for saving me, I owe your family so much. Please tell me if there’s something I can help today..”

That afternoon, the family gathered around in the strait dining room. You sit next to Yuno, playing rock-paper-scissor. You laugh at how serious he was, tongue sticking out as he concentrates to guess what you’d pull out. After Jaehyun helps his mother, he goes to sit next to you, watching how you play well with his brother. “Hey, you two, do you want to go to the market this evening?”

Yuno looks at his brother, “Really? Sure! We have to bring Y/n to the market, I heard that they are selling some summer candies! You have to try it, Y/n.” Jaehyun looks at you, waiting for your reaction.

“Ooh! Candy? Yeah, let’s go!” You replied enthusiastically. Jaehyun tries hard not smile, even though your reaction makes him blush so hard.

As much as excitement fulfilled your whole body, you also worry about how people might recognize you at the market. Both kingdoms must be in great chaos now that you’re disappeared. Should you disguise yourself? But they will be suspicious of you. Well, since Jaehyun told you that this village is in the middle of an unknown area, you probably shouldn’t worry about your identity. You only pray that they don’t have any idea about the southern nor the northern kingdom.

“Hey, Y/n. Are you ready to go?” Jaehyun tilts his head upon seeing you daydreaming. You flinch when you see him right before you. “Yeah, I am. Let’s go..”

You watch the two boys messing around with each other as the three of you walked through the small patches with tall trees around. You smile in amusement, for there are no such things in the palace. Everything is fake, manipulative, and political. You can’t believe you finally found a simple life outside the palace, and now you feel happy because you left that place.

“Hey, we’re leaving Y/n behind... Y/n, let’s walk together!” Yuno goes behind to walk alongside with you. You smile and nod. Jaehyun also goes behind to your side and walks along with you. “So, that night when I saved you from the pit, I noticed that the carriage has diamonds in it. It was actually beautiful. Perhaps, are you coming from a wealthy family?”

You glance nervously at Jaehyun, confused on how to reply. “I..uh.. I was going to attend a party at the southern kingdom, before the accident. So, my mother gave me a beautiful carriage to go as a gift.”

He nods, and as soon as you see him about to open his mouth, you point at the shining market. “Oh, we’re here!” Yuno grabs your hand, practically dragging you to run with him into the market.

“Let’s try all the candies!”

That night goes perfectly for the three of you, after you discovered the little festival they held at the market. You spent the night playing happily with Yuno and Jaehyun. And now, it’s time to go back home. Yuno falls asleep on his brother’s back while all of you walked back home. He must be so tired after playing with you all day.

“Aren’t you tired?” Jaehyun asked you who’s walking excitedly beside him. “Not really, tonight was spent really well. I really enjoyed hanging out with Yuno. He’s a bright kid.”He smiled before he keeps his glances at you. “Y/n.. for a lost person in here, you look like you’re not planning to find your way back home.”

You look elsewhere, surprised by how he gives you such a strong point. “Well, I.. I want to go back home,” No, I don’t. “But not now.” Maybe forever. “I might’ve been here for only a day, even so, I enjoy being here. I’d like to stay longer, I promise in two days, I will get myself a place to stay.” Jaehyun narrows his eyes, “Why would you get yourself a home? Just stay in our place, if you’re comfortable with it.”

Your eyes lit up in delight, “Really? If that so,” You nodded. “I’ll stay and become your family member. But, won’t I be a burden or something? I mean, I eat quite well, hehe.” He chuckles upon your frank remarks. “Well, who said you can live in our place for free? There’s a fee for that.” You widen your eyes, already panicking inside for you don’t have anything with me except your wrecked party gown and the accessories.

“Assist me in the ocean and help my mother with farming. That’s what you have to do.”

You sighed in relief, “Oh, thank god it wasn’t money. I thought I’d have to remove all the diamonds on the carriage to pay my rent fees.” He laughed upon seeing your face, which makes you feel like butterflies are flying around in your belly.

The next day, you found yourself trailing behind Jaehyun as he prepares the toils. You feel unfamiliar with all the equipment around him, and you don’t know what to do to help. “Uh, Jaehyun.” You called him timidly. “Yeah?”

“Is it gonna be rough when we sail? Well, I’ve never been in a fishing boat before...” You told him timidly, folding your hands anxiously in front of him. He stands up from his spot, his hands on his waist. Is he judging me?

“Don’t be scared, I’ll protect you... I’ll make sure that you’re safe.” Oh, the smile that gets you every time. At the moment, you feel like it’s a deep promise coming out from him, as if he will always protect you from all the chaos you’re surrounded in. Jaehyun pats you gently, before signaling you to come with him and you only trail behind him, smiling like a stupid girl.

You stare at the man, his arm muscles appeared strong and prominent from bringing the fishing equipment in both of his hands. You spot the most easy thing to bring in his left hand, the fishing bucket with a few tools in it. You grab the bucket from his hand, smiling coyly. “Let me take care of this one. I want to help with whatever you need.”

He smiled sweetly, “Thank you. You know what, this is my first time having someone other than my father on the boat.” You give him a disoriented look, “Oh, is that so? Well, have you bring Yuno before?”

“Nuh-uh.. he’s a scaredy-cat.” Jaehyun shakes his head quickly and you just laugh.

Fifteen minutes later, you found yourself shaking in fear as he turned on the boat engine. He takes both of you to the fishing spot between the limitless ocean and the shore. “There we are.. let’s make sure that we catch a lot of fish today!” He shakes in excitement.

You asked him to teach him and as soon as you spread out the fishing rod, the hook starts to shake. “Ooh, ooh!”

“Pull that in! Roll it, roll it.” You tried to do it, but you were too scared to pull it properly. “I.. can’t!” That was when Jaehyun thought he could help, but...

gasp! He got the fish, which is a good thing, but the position of both of you right now.. is not quite right. His hands are around you as he was hugging you from behind, previously because he was in a hurry to catch your first fish, and he had no time to check what to do with the position. His body was so close to you that you could smell his manly smell.

Jaehyun moves his body away from you, blushing madly while showing his innocent dimples. “I’m sorry...” No words are coming out from you, as you still processing what just happened, until he speaks up again, “Here’s your first fish..” You happily look at the first fish you have ever in your whole lifebefore you frown in disappointment. “Awe, I killed it.”

He laughed at your expression. “Cute... it’s okay, can you hold it?” You glance at the poor fish, trying to hold it until it jumps in front of you, while you gasp in shock. He once again laughed upon seeing you shake in fear. “It’s only a fish, it won’t hurt you.”

You tried once again to be brave in front of him, reaching out your hand to grab the breathless fish, when it stayed and you finally grab it with your own hands. “Hey! I did it!” You happily put the fish into the bucket and gives him an ear-to-ear smile. “Good job, you got your first fish.” Jaehyun only watched you being happy with catching a regular fish for the first time, but what he’s feeling is extraordinary. It’s like there are a lot of things going on in his stomach, and he’s just praying that you won’t hear the loud beating sounds coming from his chest. He doesn’t even understand why his heart is beating so fast like this.

Night comes, and you found yourself sitting at the front porch of the small house, gazing at the stars. Even though you love being here, you can’t help but worry about what you should do onwards. You sigh, not knowing what to do, and feeling unsure of life. You’re scared that he and his family will find out about who you are, and you’re gonna lose all the happiness you feel throughout this little new journey. You feel like, everything will get back to where your life used to be, and that everything will be temporary.

“What are you doing?” Someone taps your shoulder, making you flinch at the sudden contact. “Oh, hey. Nothing, just stargazing.” Jaehyun sits behind you, looking at your face instead of the pretty view of the sky. “What are you worrying about?” He asked once again. You turn your head from the sky to him. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yeah, you know.. you’ve become a part of this home. We, especially Yuno, love your presence here. You make him very happy, you know. So, I- uhm I mean we, want to help you keep your smile too,” He explained. “Honestly, do you know who I am?” You asked. He tilted his head, thinking hard, before he answers, “Uh, Y/n, the daughter of Madam Yoon, from the northern?”

You laugh wholeheartedly. “Yeah, that is right, though. But the truth was more than that. Are you sure you want to know?”

Jaehyun realizes that this matter has become serious and he decided to appreciate whatever you might want to tell him.

“Even though I am so embarrassed to say this, I still think that you have to know the truth. I..” you paused with hesitation. You were so scared that he might turn against you after knowing that you’re someone he was not wishing to be. “Hey... it’s okay. Whoever you are, and whatever happened about you, I will give my support.” He smiled as he put his hand on top of yours, somehow soothing your worries away.

“I.. actually, am a princess. I am the true heir of the northern kingdom, the daughter of Queen Yoon, Y/n.” You confessed with a glassy eyes, staring right at his eyes, looking for a certain reaction. He says nothing, but his eyes widen in shock. And you knew what he’s going to do, which makes you prevent him from doing so. “Don’t bow! Do not.. bow to me... I don’t like that!” He blink in nervousness, but then sit back to his earlier position. “But, you’re a royal family member.”

“No, as long as I’m here, I’m not a royal family member. I’m your friend, your family. See, as soon as I told you about it, it gets awkward between us..” You sigh in advance, not knowing what to do with the situation. Jaehyun kept his mouth shut, before using the opportunity to get to know you more. You immediately tell him everything, about your engagement with the southern prince, and your political mother, and your life as the only princess in the southern kingdom. You also told him about how the carriage accident wasn’t an accident.

Jaehyun sighs, “What should I do? N-no, now that you’re here, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna hide here forever? I am pretty sure that they must have been searching for you everywhere. It can be dangerous for you,” He said with worries in his eyes.

You feel so grateful that even though you’re the only one being a burden in his own house, he still is worried about your safety. So, this is how it feels when someone actually cares about you, without any personal needs in between. “Jaehyun, I don’t think you should worry about me now. The only thing matters right now is your family. The fact that I’m here, is dangerous for all your family members. They are not playing when they come to seek what they want,” you explained.

Once again, he gives you his soothing smile, showing you his deep gummy dimples. “It’s alright, Y/n. I just want you to know that you’re not alone, and you’re more than worthy to be cared of, I’m here for you.”

The next very morning, you help madam Jung in the field to grind the rice under the shiny and warm sun rays. “The view here is so beautiful. I love staying here.” You uttered. Madam Jung smiled at you, admiring your beautiful figure even though it has been an hour and you still look like you’re fresh out of the shower.

“I’m glad if you’re happy being here. I’ve never had a daughter, and you make me feel like I have one. Thank you so much for coming into our household, Y/n.” If heart eyes are real, you’d say you saw them in her eyes. That makes you feel appreciated and accepted. All this time one of the things you have been looking for in life is validation. And started by how Yuno greeted you that day, you found out what validation feels like. “No, the one who should say thank you is me. Thank you so much for accepting me in your house, and because of your son, I can make it out alive. I owe your family so much. One day, I will pay it off to all of you.”

The tall trees line up around you, and at the edge of the cliff, you can spot the limitless blue ocean. There was one time when you went to the ocean, and the very next thing happened was you were drowned in the sea, slowly getting dragged by the alluring waves. That is why you always feel so nervous every time Jaehyun takes you to the sea, but with him, you can sense the protection and calmness he gives you. You know that you’ll be alright when you’re near him.

So, now that he walks beside you to the shore, you no longer feel nervous or jittery like you used to feel. You walk happily beside him, swinging the fishing bucket playfully as the wind gently blows your hair. “The weather is so nice today! It’s the best day to go to the ocean.” You fling out your hand, feeling the warm summer breeze. “So, are you not afraid anymore? Last week when we sailed, you were shaking so bad I thought you wanted to pee or something.” He teased.

You let out a mischievous smile, as you look at him from behind. You were about to tickle him when suddenly a bunch of girls surrendered him with flowers in their hands. “Good morning, Jaehyun! Perhaps, did you have breakfast? I brought you breadsticks and milk!” The most charming girl in the group greeted Jaehyun with a tone that makes you cringe. “I brought you flowers! It’s Bougainvillea... do you like it?”

As the girls surrounded Jaehyun and bombarded him with lunchboxes and flowers, you feel yourself get kicked out of the crowd. You quickly pout, looking at him giving his smiles to the girls, so you decide to walk ahead of him to the shore. “Hey, Y/n! Wait for me,” he shouted at your direction before jogging into your side, and the girls following him after.

“Jaehyun, who’s this? Perhaps, your cousin?” One of the girls asked. Jaehyun looks at you awkwardly, not knowing how to answer. “She’s... she’s my..”

You cut his words, “Girlfriend. Yeah, I am his girlfriend.” You give them a mischievous smirk, as they gasp in shock. “No way, there’s no way he has a girlfriend!” You look at Jaehyun, whose eyes are wide awake at your remark. “I-i.. uh... yeah, she is.” Your smile only gets wider when you thought that you won in front of the girls.

After the girls disappeared, both of you continued the walk to the shore, and here you both now, in front of the boat. “Uh, actually, I.. I said that I’m your.. girlfriend, to make them get away from you. Is that okay?” You asked him because the rest of the walk was filled with awkward silence and you hate awkward situations. “Yeah, uhm, it’s okay. Thank you for saving me, I guess...” He gives you a little smile.

As you both head to the fishing spot, you try to think of something to start a conversation. “I didn’t know you are that famous in this village.” Jaehyun looks at you, shaking his head in advance. “No.. I’m not.” Before silence takes over the small boat.

You sighed, “Why did you become so quiet? Are you upset about what I did earlier?” You asked frankly. He looks at you with an unpredictable expression, which makes you feel so anxious. He also sighed, before shifting himself closer to you. “Honestly, I was so shocked, when you said those words... I..I might’ve imagined if what you said was real.”

This time, it’s your turn to widen your eyes in shock. “What do you mean?” You asked with a tiny voice. “I might’ve hoped that it was real, too. But.. you are too far for me to reach. You actually are.. someone who I can’t just go and walk with, you are too far above me, Y/n.”

You look at him with disbelief, “What makes you think so? I am also a human, Jaehyun. The thing is, if we share something in common, we can be something more than this. What you imagined can be real, because I’ve been feeling the same too.”

“Really?” He asked, before you nodded and pull him into a delicate kiss. His hand slid behind you, holding you closer to his body. He loves the way you feel so sweet in his lips. The innocent kiss continues under the blazing sun, as the both of you close your eyes and forget everything at the moment.

That day becomes the happiest day in your whole life as you walk hand-in-hand with him, smiling as you both start to count the days as lovers.

It has been a month since you live with the Jungs and you’ve become pretty close with few people in the small village. Jaehyun introduced you to the villagers, and they loved you, except the girls who were in love with the most charming man in the village. He taught you a lot of life lessons, which made you want to stay near him longer.

You knew that both kingdoms of Southern and Northern are holding a big search for you around the domain, as not too long ago, Jaehyun and Yuno found a newspaper with you on the cover. That was how the family found out who you actually are, and to your surprise, they support you and want to protect you. They helped you put a disguise on yourself and let the villagers know you as a different person.

Sometimes, the southern guards and armies come to the village to check, but it’s quite hard for them to inspect the whole village because the villagers loathe them, since they became an independent village.

“We have to get in and check the whole area, you can’t forbid us when you don’t have any authority around here.” The chief withstand the higher-up when they stand against the village gate, resisting the armies to enter. “Have you forget? This area is not under the authority of the Southern, so why should we open the gate for your people? We had an agreement.”

You watched bitterly behind a big oak tree, curiously trying to find out what has been going in your kingdom. When you were about to leave the scene, you heard a familiar voice from the crowd. “Good afternoon, gentlemen.” You gasp, Prince Han?

You quickly run towards the Jung’s house, hurriedly looking for Jaehyun who turns out fishing in the ocean at the moment. You ignored Yuno’s concerned holler before locking yourself in your room. You feel your tears fall like a waterfall as your body shakes in fear. The trauma of him pulling your hand harshly, frequent shouting at your face, and threats over the kingdom are taking over your mental state.

Madam Jung knocks on your door, concerned by your weird act, presumably told by her youngest son. “Y/n, is everything alright? I’m here to help you, sweety.” When you heard her soothing voice, you moved to open the door. Madam Jung was startled when she saw you crying like a mess, but she remained calm as she makes the both of you sit on the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong? Will you tell me?”

“He’s here... he’s here.” You repeat the same words as they are the only thing in your head right now. Madam Jung doesn’t fully understand what you’re saying but she only hugs you to calm you down. A few moments later, Jaehyun rushes into the room, panting loudly like he just ran in the marathon. “Yuno told me something bad happened, what’s wrong?” He looks at his mother, and then you who’s crying loudly. Madam Jung shakes her head, having no clue about what happened that makes you shake in fear.

Jaehyun goes to take over you to his body, hugging you closer as you lean your whole weight on him, still trembling in fear. “Hey, it’s alright... I’m here for you, we’re here for you.” Jaehyun helps you breathe properly and you gain your calmness right away. You let out a big sigh, before looking up and trying to speak.

“Prince Han... he’s here. I saw him trying to convince the villagers to agree to the inspection. What if he found me, Jae? I’m scared.” He sighed, knowing that this kind of thing will happen as he knows that Prince Han is the most capable person in the country. “It’s alright, we’ll find a way. Do you believe in me?” You nod right away, for you believe that when you’re near him, everything will be alright.

Meanwhile, in front of the gate, the prince spotted you running away from the crowd. He actually saw you hiding behind the tall oak tree. It’s not Prince Han if he doesn’t have a pair of eagle eyes. He calculated every path you left while trying to convince the higher-ups to allow him to inspect the area.. “I’m not here with my men to wreck this beautiful independent village. I’m here to bring you fortunes. Would you like to have something in exchange? Come on, I know that this beautiful village will be happier if you get a little bit of power to your economy. Isn’t that right?”

After an exchange of advantages, the higher-ups let the armies enter the village. Prince Han and his horse immediately go towards the route you took that leads to the forest.

After discussing an alternative plan, Jaehyun decided to hide you in his boat, and sail you to a deserted island that he frequently visited during the fishing season. But Yuno informed him that the armies are getting near, so he decided to put you in the small basement of his house, which used to be a small boat workshop. He told Yuno to hide with you. So there you are, with Yuno under the darkness. You knew Yuno is not a quite brave kid, so you hugged him tightly, making sure that he feels safe.

After a while, Prince Han found the house in the middle of the woods. The first thing he saw was an elderly woman sitting on the front porch. He greeted the woman as he climbed down his horse. “What a good day, ma’am.”

Grandma Jung knows what to do, this is not something she unexpected. She greeted the prince warmly, like she used to receive a guest. “Hello, young man. What can I help you?”

“We’re having an inspection around this area, and allow me to introduce myself. I am Prince Han from the southern. I’m looking for a young woman who probably has come here, seeking for help. For she was poorly lost by an accident that happened around here a month ago. That woman is my lovely fiancé. May I perhaps, look around your house?”

Grandma Jung tries to act like she has no idea about it, “Oh, what a poor young man. We never had a guest nor someone seeking for help these past few months, but you can go inside.” Prince Han entered the house as soon as he got the permission. He checked through the house, but he found nothing. There were no traces of you that he could find, until he entered the last room upstairs. The room was filled with nothing but a shabby interior that he was about to close back the door until he spotted something shiny in the drawer.

He furrowed his eyebrows while approaching the old cupboard. He opened it and smiled in satisfaction. He found your tiara. He quickly excused himself out of the house before calling all of his men to leave the village, promising the higher-ups of the villagers to make his promise as soon as possible.

A week later, there is no army of the southern looking for you anymore, and your days become calmer than before. But being a protective lover ever, Jaehyun never brings you out of the house ever again, and madam Jung never brings you along with her to the field either. You spent your time playing with Yuno and doing housework.

Today, you were cleaning the front porch when Jaehyun prepared himself to go to the shore. “Be careful, alright?” You smiled as you put your hands around his waist, feeling his warmth against your body. “Yeah, I’ll take care of myself well. And you too, shall stay in the house and don’t go anywhere. Wait for me to come home, alright?”

You nod, “Alright, my prince.” He rubbed your nose against yours, before cupping your cheeks gently, and gives your forehead a peck. After he left the house, You get inside to play with Yuno as usual. You love your routine now for you used to live a dull life as in learning how to walk like a royal princess, and taking political lessons almost every day. But now, all you got to is doing fun activities, as in playing cards with Yuno, cleaning the house, and having a good deep talk with the grandparents.

You were about to take a nap upstairs when Yuno excused himself to go outside to play with his friends until you heard Yuno’s yells at the front door. You vaguely hear him scream, “No! Don’t enter the house, you bad guy! Ouch!” You immediately went to the noise until you freeze in your spot. The guy you feared the most is in front of you. “How’s life outside the palace? Fun? In this miserable place? Are you happy?”

You stutter upon seeing the mess in front of you. You look at Yuno on the floor as he cries in pain, possibly pushed down by the monster in front of you. “You don’t know what kind of mess you put into both of the kingdom, princess.” You ignored the threatening sounds coming out from his mouth. You think of what possibly happens if you keep insisting on being here. The possibility of this family getting hurt because of you, oh, you don’t want that.

You look at the prince’s eyes, begging him to give you mercy, but it looks like he won’t give you what you want. “T..take me with you.”

Yuno stops his crying, “No. Y/n! You shouldn’t go!” You look at Yuno with a sad smile, “No, Yuno. This is my time to go. Please tell your brother my goodbye. I’ll visit if I have time.” No, there will be no time. This is my end.

You surrender yourself to the prince’s hand as he takes you on his carriage. You glance at Yuno and the house for the last time. Maybe happiness and freedom was not meant for you. But the short moment you had there was a gift for you, and you couldn’t forget that forever. Your moments with Jaehyun, all the sweet kisses, and love you received from his warm family, there’s no way you could forget them.

Prince Han takes you straight away to the palace of the northern. The cold breezes blow against you as soon as you stepped out of the carriage, reminding you of how cold and dull your life used to be. You quiver in the cold, as the only thing you wear right now is only the summer dress madam Jung made for you. Prince Han noticed your trembling figure and decided to put a little stunt in front of the people who surrounded the place to see your arrival back to the kingdom.

He puts his coat around you, putting a fake smile as the people cheer for you both. Little did they know, the words he spat on you while he’s on his little sweet act, “Behave, little princess. Or I’ll show you what happened to bad girls since I’m the one who takes over the whole situation now.”

You tried to fake a smile in front of the people as they cheer loudly for you. You only watch bitterly as the spokesman announced your arrival loudly for everyone to hear. “The lost princess is brought safely by her fiancé, the prince of the southern!”

You were brought to the queen’s room, still trembling from the cold and also fear. You stare ahead as the guards open the door for you and you step into the room, timidly presenting yourself. “Mother...” you quietly uttered.

The queen turned herself quietly, while you expect a harsh slap on your cheeks. You close your eyes tightly, head hanging low to the ground, waiting for words spat in your face. But instead, you were wrapped in a big hug. You feel your mother’s tears on your shoulder as she starts to sob on your shoulder. You open your eyes slowly, trying to absorb the surprising moment.

“My daughter, my child.. oh my sweet daughter. I’m so sorry for what happened to you. You’re the only family I have in this huge palace. Don’t ever get lost again... please.” You start crying as soon as you listen to her wailing. “Mother.. I’m back..”

“Thank you for coming back alive, my dear...” The queen mumbled. You nod, feeling relieved that finally, your mother accepted you for who you are. “I’m sorry, mother. I’m sorry...” You cried harder in her arms like a little baby. You feel your mother shakes her head lightly, slowly turning your head to face her directly.

“No, don’t say sorry. While you’re gone, I have reflected on what I’ve been doing to my own daughter, and I was really terrible.” She paused before crying again, “From now on, Let it be your own happiness that happens, dear. Let’s pursue it together, that’s the most important part. I will love you with my whole life as a mother.”

“I will not lose you again, my dear.” Your mother finished the heartwarming reunion with a tight hug, and that day, you finally eternally full.

Meanwhile, outside the door, Prince Han was listening to the whole conversation and he felt like something bad will happen. He was not going to let that happen.

The first week of coming back as the royal princess was great, you start doing what you like to do. The queen lets you learn things that she used to strictly forbid you to do. However, even though you’re doing what makes you happy, you still feel somehow empty. Yeah, you’ve been missing him. Jung Jaehyun, and also the little warm family. You never separated officially from him, so you wonder how he’s been doing and if he misses you too.

It has been bothering you so much that you start to space out during breakfast and dinner. The queen clear her throat to wake you up, and you flinch from that. “What makes you look so bothered? You’ve been out of place lately.” You pucker your lips in response, sighing loudly. “I really want to tell you this, but please don’t get angry.”

The queen nods in agreement, she smiled widely at how you’re eager to tell her something. “Whatever it is, I’m listening.” You fold your hands on the table, preparing the words to say to your mother. “So, when the carriage toppled over and I lost my consciousness, someone saved me and brought me to his house.” Your mother cuts you off, “His? As in, a man?” You pouted once again, “Yeah, but hear me out first.”

“So, his name is Jung Jaehyun, and he was a little bit older than me. His family welcomed me very well, and I got close to his little brother as well. I helped the family as in fishing in the ocean and grinding the rice in the field. Amazing, right? For the first time, I lost my trauma in the ocean, and I also know how to fish!” You tell her excitedly.

She nods as she gently caresses your head, admiring your experience while you were out of the palace. “You were what? Fishing in the ocean and.. grinding the rice in the field? Terrific!”

“Yeah, mother. But the thing is, after knowing him for almost a month, we shared romantic feelings towards each other...” you uttered.

“You what?” The queen tries to get a hold of herself when she heard your shocking story. “Uh, so... did you date him?” You nod slowly. “Mother, he was the man I’ve been looking for. I love him. And every time he’s near me, I feel like my heart is about to burst. Even talking about him now makes my heart race like crazy.”

The queen adores your happy smile, witnessing how you fall in love reminds her that you’re no longer her baby, but an adult. An adult who can find her own true love. “Do you really love him?”

You blinked after hearing the question. What does this mean? “Yeah, mother. I love him so much. But if marrying the southern prince brings you happiness then I will-” The queen cuts you off. “No, let’s reverse that sentence, shall we? If being with that lovely young man brings you happiness, then I will let you be with him.”

Your jaw drops as if it falls and start touching the ground. You hold the neck of your fur coat tightly, while looking at your mother in disbelief. “Is that true, mother?” To your surprise, you didn’t hear it wrong as the queen nods in admission. “Oh, thank you mother, thank you very much! I love you!” You went to hug her while both of you laugh in happiness.

Two days passed and today is probably the best day for you, for the queen has decided to grant your wish to visit the independent village. You decided to bring the Jungs some gifts. You brought Yuno a cute royal summer outfit and your hand-baked pie. You brought Jaehyun a new and modern fishing kit, even though you went through a hard time looking for them, as the northern kingdom rarely fish in the ocean.

You excitedly step into the carriage, along with the queen. You hold her hand tightly, thanking her for granting your biggest wish. As the horses are running along with the carriage, you feel your heart beating very quickly. Finally, we’ll meet.

The carriage stops in front of the small house. You look around as the tall trees bring you a lot of memories. “Finally...” you mumbled. The horseman opened the door for you and seconds after you stepped out of the carriage excitedly. “It’s kinda hot in here..” The queen mumbled. She takes off her fur coat to adjust well in the semi-tropical weather. “Trust me, mother. The weather is so refreshing! We can feel the sun every day here!”

Yuno goes outside after hearing all the noise. His eyes widen upon seeing your arrival. “Y/n!!!!” He came running to you like he used to do every time you woke up in the morning. “Yuno! Oh, you don’t know how much I miss you!” Yuno hugs you tightly, as if he doesn’t want to lose you again. The queen smiled upon seeing your interaction with the little boy. “Oh, Yuno. Allow me to introduce the graceful woman we have right here, my mother.”

“Oh my god, the queen of the northern!” Both Yuno and his mother scream in delight. You didn’t even notice her standing in front of the door with shocks drawn all over her face. “Oh my god, Yuno. We shall bow to the queen.” Your mother holds madam Jung’s hands to prevent her from bowing, just like what you did to Jaehyun when you told him that you’re a princess. “No, don’t bow to us, for we don’t deserve it. Please take my gratitude for saving and taking care of my daughter while she was out of the palace. Here’s a little gift from us.”

Your mother ordered the horseman to take out every present you brought for the family, as madam Jung starts thanking the queen in advance. While the two are chatting like they already know each other for a long time, you feel yourself blushing hard even though Jaehyun is still not on your sight. You turn to Yuno, “Where is he?”

“Oh, he’s fishing like usual. He might be back in half an hour.”

And half an hour later, You feel his presence even before he reached the front porch. You run towards him, your smile only gets wider when you saw his startled expression. “Jung Jaehyun!” You shouted happily. But as strange as it might look like, but there is no sign that he looks happy to see you. The expression on his face remains flat. But you set aside the negative thoughts, maybe he was just tired, or maybe he just couldn’t believe that you’re here.

You immediately wrapped your arms around him, hugging him tightly that he feels like he can’t breathe. “I miss you...” you mumbled against his chest. You feel his hands wrapping themselves around you as well, before he pulls you out of his body. “Hey, I.. I, uh, didn’t expect you to be here.” You were taken back by the fact that he pushed you off, but the need to tell him everything takes over all of your questions as you smile widely at him.

“So, that was how my mother agreed to us being together. She also agreed to come here to meet you and your family. Oh, you don’t know how happy I am!” You told him excitedly.

He gives you a small smile, nodding lightly. “I see. But, hear me out, Y/n. On the day you disappeared, when I found out that you surrendered yourself to safe my brother, I did a lot of thinking.” There are thousands of expressions in his face which you couldn’t identify, but you decided to listen first. “What did you think of?”

“I think of how you’d live without me, you can be happy without me on your side. I realized that you’re no longer a person I can reach out as I please. Besides, you already have a perfect life in the palace, your mother finally loves you for who you are, and accepted you no matter what kind of person you are. I can’t protect you, Y/n. That gives me more reason for why I can’t get near you.”

As he explained, your tears fall along with your quivering lips. “Jae, I thought we talked about this. I said we can happen.” You shake your head vigorously, feeling broken that he wasn’t that excited after seeing you. “Please don’t tell me that kind of words, Jae. That is not right, cause I love you! I know that you-”

“No, Y/n. Don’t let me repeat myself. We can’t be together. I’m so sorry, Y/n, but maybe we just weren’t meant to be.”

Jaehyun gets up from the seat, ready to leave you. You get up as well, “You said we’ll find a way, and you told me to believe in you.” You cried hard for him to hear you. He turns his head to you, “That won’t work anymore.” He said coldly before leaving you alone.

That day, you went back home sobbing in the arms of your mother. Telling your mother that the love of your life no longer needs you, hurts the hell out of you. But even though the chapter of Jung Jaehyun just ended in the way that you don’t like it, the memories remain fresh in your mind. He remains beautiful in your heart.

Meanwhile, after leaving you alone to go further into the woods, Jaehyun gives himself time to break down. Holding out his emotions absorbed a lot of his energy, especially when he saw you crying. He really held himself for not hugging you right away, and tell you he was only lying. But he couldn’t do that. He’s more than nothing to even be allowed to touch you. His heart craves for you, but reality makes a great wall between himself and you, and there’s nothing he can do about it.

A month after visiting the independent village, your life has never been the same. Every day, minute, and second reminds you of him. But now, you have your own fight. A fight against the southern’s crown prince. You recently called off the engagement and he was so angry. The whole parliament of the kingdom agreed that a future queen doesn’t have to marry another kingdom’s heir. So, it’s safe to say the southern prince had a big grudge against you.

Today, another big news come to your ears like you were hit by a baseball bat. “What?” You stand up from your seat. “Did I hear it wrong, mother? You hired what?”

Your mother cringe in nervousness, “I think it might be a good decision to bring him close to you. Besides, he’s the one who agreed. I only asked once, and he answered yes right away. And it’s a good thing too because he’s the right person to be your personal guard.”

“Mother, he literally said that we can’t be together, why would he want to be near me. This is weird.” You put your finger on your chin, thinking hard even though you can’t help but get excited. “I probably should prepare for his arrival, don’t you think?” You leave the dining room running excitedly as your mother laughs at your silliness.

The reason why he accepted the offer to be your personal guard was because of the help of the queen when his mother fell sick. He can’t go to the ocean anymore, the cost to bring his mother to the healer was more than what he’d achieve in a year. The second reason was because he wants to be near you. Keeping you safe may not be a regular job for him, it was like his dream. So, to accept the offer was an easy thing for him.

After telling Yuno what to do to take care of their little family, he goes to the northern kingdom with a hidden excitement. Nevertheless, he knows that he should hide his lingering feelings towards you. He should keep being aware of the difference between himself and you, and that the reality wall will never disappear even though he’s being close to you.

Arrived at the palace, he stared at how huge and majestic the palace is. He was welcomed by the head of the palace security guards and immediately escorted to know what to do with his important job. “Your job is to keep the princess’ safety 24/7. You have to stay near her even at night, and follow her everywhere to keep her safe. The queen didn’t officially tell us the details, but maybe you can get the detail from the princess or the queen. That’s all.”

So he ended up in the queen’s office, standing nervously as the queen smiled at him. “Well, your job is to keep my daughter safe of all time. That’s easy. But what I want for you to do was actually to be her companion. Is that even easier?”

Jaehyun promised with all his life that he would keep you safe and also, be a good companion for you. It’s an easy job for him cause he would eventually do it without getting paid. 

“Jung Jaehyun...” His name was the first thing out of your mouth the moment he came to see you in the quiet garden. Jaehyun gives you a smile you couldn’t identify, because the last time you saw him, he looked like he doesn’t want to catch a look on you. And now, he’s waving to you beautifully, and as he walks closer in your direction, everything feels like a dream.

“You’re really here,” you muttered as he now stands in front of you. You tried so hard not to wrap your arms around his built body, scared that if you do that, he’ll run away again from you.

“Yeah, I’m really here, princess. I’m here to guard you, protecting you from whatever that could possibly hurt you.” He keeps smiling at you, which makes your lips curved up into a smile as well. Jaehyun leans onto you until he reach the side of your ear. “Even roaches and insects, I’ll protect you from them, princess.” He whispered before laughing softly.

He looks at your glassy eyes, a frown starts to grow on his face. “Y/n, I’m sorry about what I said to you. Would you... forgive me?”

You ignored his apology, but instead, “You said we can’t work. You said you can’t get near me. I think you owe me an explanation.”

Jaehyun’s eyelids stutter as he tried to look away from you. “I don’t think I can tell you, Y/n.”

“You do know that I’m quite the person ruling both kingdoms. While you here, is nothing but a powerless piece of trash. So, clean all your dreams to be with the princess. You might’ve saved her life, but nothing do you have to be with her, to even get near her. Don’t ever dream about it. As you already know, I can crush anybody who restrain my will, even her.”

You frown, “Another rejection, I see.”

He takes your hand in his, “Forgive me, your highness.”

You look at him with doe eyes, trying hard not to smile while you feel his delicate touch on the back of your palm. “How can I stay mad at you? I eventually prepared something for your arrival.”

Jaehyun squeezes your hands as a smile grows on his face, “Thank goodness. Now, may I embrace you, your highness?” You smile widely as you voluntarily wrap your arms tightly around his waist, face pressed against his chest as he wraps his arms around you as well, giggling softly. “I’ve been missing you, princess.”

“I don’t care about whatever you said to me that day, Jae. All is well now that you’re in my arms. Don’t ever leave me again, my guardian.”

“I’ll keep you safe, princess.”

“Then all is well, indeed.”

You woke up with a smile on your face. Stretching your body to erase all the stiffness of your body, for you slept in the same position. “Good morning, Shirley, Sergei, and my love, Ella.” You went forward to your cats, and they gladly accepted your presence in the peaceful morning.

“You know what, babies, my prince charming is here. Oh, no, not that boring and abusive prince. My true prince, Jung Jaehyun, in case you all want to remember his name.”

After changing into your usual warm fluffy coat, you immediately walk to your door. As soon as you stepped out of your room, you were greeted by a luscious smile. “Good morning, your highness.”  You smile upon seeing him, and then you were instantly reminded of what you want to do while he’s here. “Come in, before anyone sees,” you muttered before pulling him into your room and close your door.

“Uh, your highness, I don’t think I can enter this room as I please.”

“It’s alright, you always have my permission. So, I need you to wear this.” You hand him the beautiful coat you’ve prepared for him. “You’ll have to wear more coats from now on. Oh, my poor baby, you’re gonna miss the beautiful weather back in your hometown.” You cup his cheek with one hand, brushing your hand gently on it.

“Thank you, although you’ll always be my warmth.” He paused as he pulls you closer to his body and embrace you in a warm hug, making the fancy fireplace in your room lose it’s point to Jaehyun’s own warmth. “Did you sleep well?”

You nod softly as your head leans comfortably on his shoulder.

The first week with Jaehyun being at the palace brings you all the happiness you never knew you needed. The queen herself was very well aware of this. She regrets nothing by recruiting the most important person for her daughter to be her own guard. It’s all for you, as the queen said. 

You attended every royal lesson with Jaehyun, and he keeps company with you in your other classes too. And with him always by your side, means that attending political meetings with your mother is also fun. Like when you both sneaked out of the party, hands tangled to each other, running towards a little private balcony you discovered earlier. 

“The meeting was so utterly boring,” you muttered. Jaehyun only smiles, “Well, I couldn’t agree more, Y/n. At this point, I might as well say that I’m quite glad that I’m not a royal.” 

“I know right,” you replied as you rest your head in your hand boringly.

“Well, you’re gonna bear with it more when you become a queen.” 

You give him a look, before agreeing in advance. “Well, you’re not wrong. But you’ll bear it along with me though, future king.”

“Future king?” He stuttered. You nod as you hum, “Will be you be my king?”

Jaehyun lets out a small laugh, “Really? Though it should be me asking you that, I would. I would, my princess.” He took your delicate hand and brought it up exactly under his chin, before pressing a tender kiss on it.

You flash a smile upon his acceptance, before step ahead to embrace him lovingly. “Please stay with me, jae.”

Well, as if a month of happiness couldn’t be enough for you, the prince of the south returns to the palace, equipped with his dreary winter coat, and a few of his men trailing behind him. You stopped him in the hallway, with Jaehyun staying right behind to you to prevent unwanted things to happen before you speak up, “Why are you here? I thought our business was done.” 

Prince Han scoffs as he gives Jaehyun an unacquainted look. “Don’t worry, princess. This is not something that goes between you and me. This matter goes between the kingdoms.”

You could sense anything bad from his return, and it’s not gonna be about you. “Having a new companion, I see..” He muttered and you blink in nervousness. It turns out that your fear of the abusive prince still exists as sweats start coming out around the surface of your palms.

Prince Han left with his men straight to the conference room, where the queen already expected him. Jaehyun immediately goes next to you, “Princess, are you alright?” He brings your vision to him only, making sure that you’re aware that you’re safe. Your eyes quiver at the thought of something bad happening to either you or Jaehyun. “He’s back...” you mumbled.

Jaehyun tries to soothe you back while giving supports through his eyes. He closes the distance between you both to make your breathing steady again. “Hey, listen to me. Everything will be alright. Do you believe in me?” He asked slowly.

You listen to his voice, eyes glued to his, before you breathe normally again. “Yeah, Jaehyun, I believe in you.” He hugs you tightly without crushing your delicate figure. “Everything will be alright,” he whispered gently.

After the conference ended, you went straight to your mother, who had a blue expression on her face. You sit next to her, gulping your saliva anxiously. “Mother, may I know what acquires a conference between you and the southern kingdom?” You asked carefully. The queen gives you a look, and then a sudden dread smile. “Mother?”

“I have both great and bad news for you, my daughter,” she uttered.

“Tell me the great one first.” you replied.

“Our kingdom has been struggling with armies and territories. Now that we ended our marriage agreement, we lost a lot of things as benefits to the kingdom. But the southern king has just informed me, that they needed our help as well. The agreement will no longer be a marriage, but additions of men and machines.” 

“That’s good, mother. That means no one’s getting hurt, right? By no one, I mean-”

The queen cuts you right away with a frown. “And here comes the bad news, my dear.” You flashed her a look before proceeding to listen.

“I told the crown prince that we’re fine by adding some of our best men and also recruiting as many people as possible from our country. But then, I realized, one of our best men is..”

“Jaehyun, is it? No, mother. I won’t allow it to happen. He just got trained within a month, how is he supposed to go into the war?” You argued. “I know, dear, I’m very well aware that he was only recruited to keep you safe. But, we’re in a crisis, honey, and you know his capability. Becoming the number one between those senior guards only in a month, isn’t that amazing? You should consider letting him go, my dear.” The queen paused. “I asked nothing from you, my daughter, but only to put your trust in him.”

You shook your head in denial, before a familiar voice bursts into the room. “The queen’s right, your highness.” Jaehyun bowed at the queen before turning himself to you. “But, Jaehyun..”

“She’s right, all you need to do is to trust me. You said you believe in me, didn’t you? He gives you a glazed look and you waver at the thought of letting him go into the war with the southern prince. You immediately head to his side, “I trust you, but.. you should never get hurt, jae. I don’t want to lose you.” you muttered against his chest.

He pats your back gently, while feeling a little bit embarrassed to hug the princess in front of her royal family. “Remember what I said, sweetheart, everything will be alright.”

As Jaehyun won the argument that day, you eventually prepare for his departure. You provide him with food, self-care, even some comfortable clothes. You still pack some of the things he would need, when Jaehyun plays with your cats. “At this rate of care, you will see that my fellow troops will get jealous at me.” He scoffed. “Quiet down, young man. As I said, it’s either you’d leave this place with these, or you stay safe here with me, my future king.”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

You smiled after making sure he has the things packed well before you let him depart with the men. You walk towards the end of the bed, and Jaehyun immediately goes next to you as you sit with a particular pose. “You’re going to leave me for months, don’t you think you should leave something important in me?” you uttered.

Jaehyun tilts his head, puzzled at your suggestion. “What should I leave in you?”

“Marks. Claim me as yours tonight, my future king. Tell me that this will not be our first and last, jae.” You leans closer to him, and a coy smile draws upon his face. “As you wish, my princess.”

At dawn, you awakened with the touch of him putting the blanket on your bare figure. You blinked in drowsiness, before coming into a realization that he has to leave in a moment. You quickly rise from your bed and grab your night rope. “Jae,” you called his name with a raspy voice before wrapping your arms around him tightly. “Ouch, I..I can’t breathe, princess.” He cackled as he hugs you back delicately. 

“Please return safely. We’re all waiting for you here. I love you,” you uttered.

Jaehyun nods against the nape of your head. “I’ll come back to you, my home. I love you too.” A tear slips out of his tears, as he feels somehow fearful and worried, like any other human being. “I believe in you, Jae.”

With that, he left with your kisses in his cheeks, and you only look anxiously from your balcony, praying so hard to whoever up there to let him make it out alive.

“Raise up your appetite, dear. You shouldn’t live like this.” The queen uttered. You heave a sigh, putting down your spoon to stop playing with your food. “I’m sick of waiting, mother. I need to know if he’s safe, and.. alive.” You lowered your voice while mentioning the word ‘alive’, a word that you apparently despise these days. 

“Don’t worry, my child. Jaehyun is a strong warrior, he’s not the number one for nothing.” The queen goes to your side as you sob miserably at the thought of missing him. “I miss him, mother.” “I know, dear. I know,” the queen kissed the top of your head while muttering words to soothe your restless figure.

As the time passes on quickly, you distract yourself from the thought of Jaehyun by taking care of some of the royal cases. You attended every boring conferences you told Jaehyun about, and ended up reminiscing how he would bring you water and roses to help you relax. You also attended every archery classes, and would end up getting reminded of how he would help you straighten your back while aiming the target, about how his hands linger on you.

You’re very well aware that you’re gonna be pretty much insane if you don’t hear about him in less than a month, but you kept your patience, and so, two months passed along with your struggle.

You run past every man who just came back from the war field, looking for one particular man between all of them. “Jaehyun.. Jae?” You call out his name, but no one answers. You kept looking for his figure until the person you didn’t wish to see stopped in front of you. You narrow your eyes at the sight of him, but you know that he actually can give you the information you needed. 

“Prince Han, w-where’s he? Is he coming late or? Tell me, please.”

He dragged you to somewhere quiet until you brushed him aside. “Just get straight to the point. Why can’t I find him anywhere?”

Prince Han looked at you with a sorrowful look, before he opens his mouth. “I’m sorry for you, princess. But, he’s not coming back.”

Your entire world seems to collapse the moment he uttered those words. Your head starts to spin like you were hit by a dangerous storm. “Impossible,” you mumbled. 

“No, there’s no way he couldn’t survive- I..he-” you stuttered as words can’t seem to get into your head. Prince Han holds you closer to his frame, as he watched in agony. “Jae.. my jae,” you mumbled against his chest while sobs flowing throughout your eyes. 

He pats your back gently as guilt start to surround his guts. Now that he watched you mourn to someone who’s not him, he knows that you truly love that person.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. You never imagined that you would pass any more weeks than you’ve expected. Everything felt unreal for you, it’s like you’re living in a nightmare. You crave for him every night, yearning for his touch, just like when you said that night. Was that really your last time with him? You can’t even conceive it anymore. 

The day when you and the queen went to his family’s house was the worst. You fell down to your knees, begging for the family’s forgiveness. You swore you’d kill yourself when you saw Yuno crying over his brother. You couldn’t even look at her in the eyes when his mother told you to get up, saying that all of these was his choice, and that Jaehyun would be sad if he saw all of you cry over him.

You took the whole family to live at the palace, as an act of apology. Day by day passed as you’d watch over Yuno, your new companion, every day. A little version of him, you would say. You hang around Yuno at the library every night, the both of you would end up crying whenever Yuno told you stories of his brother’s little habit.

Today is the day when you have to truly let go of him, as you built a warrior statue of him, as a mark of remembrance, that he would always live in your heart. You bring the whole family behind you to put some beautiful flowers over the statue. You walk ahead with Yuno, him holding a bucket of fresh white Lilies.

After a small mourning event, you kindly requested everyone to leave you alone near the statue. You immediately fall to your knees when everyone departed away. “You said you’d come back. You broke your promise again, you fool.” You smile through all the tears that flow like a waterfall on your cheeks. 

You put the last flower on top of the other flowers. “You’ll forever live in my heart, Jae.” Your shoulders shake as loud sobs start to be heard. 

“I’m sorry.” A familiar raspy voice appeared like a fantasy. You scoff, “Even now you sound real too, I should be imagining things, right?” You look at the flowers as you wipe your tears harshly.

“Y/n,” he called again. “No, don’t be like this, Y/n. He’s not here and you’re just imagining things-” 

Before you know it, a pair of hands wrapped you in hug tight. Your eyes widen in shock, as you recognize his scent. “J-jaehyun?” you muttered slowly. 

He let go, before looking straight at your round orbs. “Yeah, I’m here. I’m alive, my darling.” A tear rolled out of his eyes, and you swear that everything around you stops in a moment. You keep your eyes still in his disheveled look, afraid that the moment you blink, he’ll disappear. “How? Are you... are you real?” You asked.

Jaehyun nods gently. “I’m here, baby. I came home. I’m sorry I arrived late.”

You break into a loud sobs, as if a hundred kilo of weights are being lifted from your back. You hug him tightly, afraid of him leaving again. “You, evil little thing! You made us all worried. Please don’t ever scare me like this again.” You sob while hitting him lightly, throwing all of your sorrow to him. He stayed still while receiving his little ‘punishment’, before stopping you by pressing his lips into you.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Oh my god, look at your arms, there are bruises everywhere,” you babbled when you check out his disheveled figure. “Let’s get you treated,” you uttered.

Jaehyun gives you a small look as he wraps his arms around you once again, “You don’t even know how happy I am to come back to you, my home.”

After getting him treated, the queen held a fest to celebrate his return. You also held a little celebration with him and Yuno. And that night where you dressed up as the white queen swan and him as your white king swan, as always, the both of you sneak out of the party, bringing a lot of snacks and drinks to enjoy the night alone, away from the crowds. 

He told you everything about how he ended up in a puddle of mud, and how his life flashed before him when he was dying. He also explained how some people found him and helped him until he was ready to go back.

“I miss those times when we’d stare at the starry sky. I miss your hometown, the village was so lovely.”

Jaehyun nods, “I miss wearing my loose shirt and carrying my toil and sail through the ocean.” You give him a look, “Do you want to go back? Let’s go to the small island you told me.” 

He cups your cheeks delicately, “Anywhere with you sounds right, baby.”

You peck his tempting plump lips, and you both spend the night filling all the moments he was away from you. Now that he’s back in your arms, which is his home, he gladly told you that this is not going to be your last.

Years later, you both vowed after the preacher with a long-lasting marriage kiss, before the queen crowned you as her heir, as the next queen, alongside with Jaehyun as your king. He’ll be by your side forever, no matter what happens, as a part of your happily ever after.

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[thedumpsterqueen]

Standards of Performance, Chapter 5: Thai Food and Realizations

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

AO3 Link

I got this one out QUICK because I'm moving this week and packing is taking up 94% of my brainpower but!! It's out on time!! If I ever have to delay a chapter, I’ll post an update here on my blog. Also, I don’t usually do taglists, but I have had a few people ask - so if you want to be added to a taglist for new chapters, just shoot me a message! I love you all so much, thank you for the continued support and comments!!! <3

Summary:  You’re the BAU’s newest intern, desperate to prove yourself amongst an established team of much more experienced profilers. Agent Hotchner, the seemingly infallible team leader, sets strict expectations for your performance. He commands your respect without even trying, but is there something more to your relationship than a simple desire to impress your stony-faced boss?

Chapter: 5, Thai Food and Realizations

Chapter Summary: You decide to talk to Hotch after the Matthews incident, and wind up discovering a lot more about both of you than you bargained for.

Words: 2616

Rating: Explicit, 18+ 

Pairings: Hotch x Reader, Hotch x You

You weren’t prepared with the immense boredom that came with actually having free time.

The rest of the team had closed the case and flown back (at least you assumed they had; you hadn’t checked), and Hotch had texted you not to bother coming back in until they got a new assignment. You were grateful for the courtesy - a little time to decompress after almost being murdered was nice - but after months of having almost no life outside of the internship, you weren’t entirely sure what to do with yourself.

By the time day four rolled around, you had caught up on the reading you’d been meaning to get to, deep cleaned twice, tried and failed to get into running, and sought out at least a dozen other forms of mindless entertainment. You tried not to think about the fact that this would be the perfect time to catch up with friends if you actually had any, but your college and post-college life spent studying like a madwoman to land a position with the BAU hadn’t exactly lent itself to a healthy social life. There were acquaintances, of course, people you’d spent time with, college boys you’d dated briefly, but none of them had ever lasted. Gotten close.

None of them had ever killed a man for you.

That was the core of it, right? The reason you couldn’t get him out of your head? He’d only known you for a few months, not like the rest of his team that he’d dedicated years to, and yet he didn’t hesitate to end someone’s life in brutal fashion to save yours. You were grateful, of course, given the alternative, but a part of you felt bad. Given his history, he was already encumbered with enough trauma - the last thing he’d needed was another death on his conscience.

That was his decision to make.

That’s what you told yourself, at least. Or tried to. But after four days of the guilt eating at you and failing to distract yourself from it, that thought stopped being reassuring. That evening, after a couple glasses of wine, you finally worked up the courage to acknowledge the idea that had been tossing around in the periphery of your mind for a while.

Committing to action before you convinced yourself this was a dumb idea - and it was, of course, but the slight buzz and four days of isolation said otherwise - you called in an order to the Thai place down the street and heaved yourself off the couch. You tried not to care about how you looked, but changed your outfit an embarrassing number of times before you got the text that your order was ready.

When you first started at the BAU, Garcia had sent you a directory of all the team members’ information. You remembered asking her why their home addresses were on the list - that’s kind of unnecessary, isn’t that, like, personal?  you’d said - and you remembered the sad look she’d given you by way of an answer. Turns out the job had followed them all home at one point or another, usually in a way that required rescuing. As you checked the directory for Hotch’s address, you considered that this information was probably only intended to be used if you needed to save him from an unhinged serial killer breaking into his home, but you figured “thanking your boss for snapping a man’s neck to save your life” was a satisfactory enough purpose.

Turns out, Hotch lived in an apartment only a few blocks away from yours. After picking up the takeout order, you started to make the trek. The closer you got, however, the more your confidence started to waver, and not just because you started to realize how weird you were about to look. Even in the dimming light of the evening, you could tell from the building facades that you were entering a much more well-to-do part of downtown. The storefronts and restaurants occupying the bottom floor of brick condos looked more high-class, the cars parked along the sidewalk more expensive and well-maintained. It made sense given his status in the FBI that Hotch could afford to live in an area like this, but still, you hadn’t imagined it. You hadn’t imagined him living outside of work at all, actually - like an elementary school teacher, it was strange to think that he had a life outside of his job.

You stopped outside of the address on your cell phone, a greystone, ivy-covered apartment building. The doorman saw you pause at the threshold and opened the door from the inside.

“Visiting, I assume?” he asked, as you stepped inside.

Still in shock at the fact that you were in the sort of area that had doormen, you nodded. “Um, yes, Agent Hotchner? I mean, Aaron Hotchner? I work with him. For him, actually. He doesn’t know I’m coming.”

The doorman gracefully ignored your verbal fumbling. “Do you have a badge?”

It made sense that Hotch would use that as a barrier to entry. Smart. You nodded again and produced it from your bag. He waved you on to the stairwell, where you made the climb to the fourth and topmost floor.

You stuttered to a stop outside his door at the very end of the hall. Suddenly overcome with nerves, you took a mental stock of yourself: slightly winded from the four-floor climb, dressed in an oversized sweater and leggings, hair less-than-artfully windswept, hands slightly shaking with adrenaline, clutching a bag of takeout. Not the image you wanted to present to your boss.

God, this was such a fucking stupid idea.

You started to turn away, intending to leave the way you came, when the door in front of you flew open. You yelped, dropping the bag, and turned back to see Hotch standing in the doorway. He was in his work pants, still, but a plain black t-shirt replaced his usual button-up. His left hand was on the half-open door, right hand behind his back, no doubt holding his gun. You put your hands up sheepishly in surrender.

“Hey, Agent Hotchner. Sorry. I just wanted to-”

“What are you doing here?” he interrupted, eyebrows screwed up in confusion.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to, um, thank you. For saving me, the other day. I brought you dinner.”

He continued to look at you like you’d just grown two heads.

You leaned down and picked up the bag of food, holding it out towards him lamely. He looked down at it and finally seemed to relax, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry. I don’t get many- I wasn’t expecting a visitor. Please, come in.”

It hadn’t occurred to you that he might invite you in, but you weren’t about to pass up the opportunity to see Aaron Hotchner’s apartment. You stepped in, and he replaced the gun he was holding back in a drawer by the entryway, locking the door behind you. You were suddenly overcome with sorrow, knowing his life had progressed in such a way that hearing footsteps outside his door was a cause for alarm.

The apartment was nearly as intimidating as the man himself. Tall, industrial ceilings loomed over the open, warehouse-style floorplan, populated by neutral furnishings. An exposed brick wall on the left housed a stainless-steel kitchen, while a king-sized bed on the far right wall was placed near the only closed portion of the space, which you guessed was the bathroom. The windows were numerous - multi-paned and massive, but curtains were drawn over most of them. It was all a reflection of Hotch - impressive and somewhat cold.

There was a single photo, from what you could see, in the entire apartment - a small frame on the otherwise file-covered coffee table between the couch and flatscreen. It was a photo of Hotch, a woman, and a young child. You found yourself drawn towards it, as Hotch took the bag from you to set it on the kitchen island, and you walked over to pick it up. He was smiling in the photo - a genuine smile, not the tight-lipped imitations you caught a few times at the office - and the sight filled you with emotion. Who was he before you met him? A father, a husband, of course, but what was he like?  Did he laugh at Prentiss and Morgan’s off-color jokes instead of chiding them, did he go out to social gatherings with the team? Did he spare emotion when speaking to a victim’s family, as he so rarely did now? Would he have broken a man’s neck without thought like he did to Matthews?

“You’ll stay for dinner?”

You quickly set the frame back down.

“Oh, no, I wasn’t planning on it. Like I said, I just wanted to thank you. I’ve been thinking about it the last few days and I just feel… bad. I guess. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Why would you feel bad?”

You hesitated, trying to avoid the truth - that he didn’t need another body on his conscience. He waited for an answer, and when he didn't receive one, he stepped closer and scanned your face. "What aren't you telling me?"

You weren't keeping anything from him, not really, you just didn't want it to sound like you were calling his mental state into question like you did at the hotel. It didn't matter though, because he had apparently pulled the answer from your expression already.

“You think I’m damaged. And that killing Matthews somehow added to that.”

There was no point in even attempting to lie to him, so you stayed silent.

Hotch sighed and pulled out a seat at the kitchen island. You took it and watched him distribute the takeout containers between the two of you, noticing that despite insisting you weren’t intending to stay for dinner, you’d ordered plenty of food for two people.

Profiling yourself is the worst.

“When Haley and I were married,” Hotch began, picking at his curry, “I took her for granted. I spent more late nights at work than I can count, and I always assumed she would be there when I got home. She was, at first, and then she wasn’t.”

You nodded, afraid to speak, trying not to disturb the moment you’d somehow stumbled upon.

“She had an affair. I never confronted her about it, but I knew. I didn’t hate her for it, but when she asked for a divorce, I let her go without a fight. I wanted the best chance to keep Jack in my life and I didn’t want things to get ugly between us. It worked - I got to see Jack; we were amicable.”

He paused before continuing, “They were killed a few years later by George Foyet. We mismanaged that case. He was ahead of us the entire time; we couldn’t catch up. When we finally caught him, after Haley and Jack-” His voice finally broke, and he set down his fork, staring at the counter.

“He surrendered. I didn't care.”

“You beat him to death,” you whispered. You’d looked up the case file, after JJ had told you what happened.

He nodded, seemingly unsurprised you were familiar with the details. “I was never charged, hardly investigated. No one blamed me. I took some time off, and I came back. I thought about going back to law, but I didn’t.”

He looked up at you, meeting your gaze. “Why didn’t I?”

You blinked away the tears that were forming, confused.”I-I’m sorry?”

“Why didn’t I go back to law? Leave the BAU? You should know the answer.”

“Are you asking me to profile you?”

He nodded in confirmation. “You’re not going to offend me, don’t worry.”

Hotch was the last person you wanted to profile, especially to his face, but you knew better than to try to refuse.

“You... wanted a sense of purpose. If you could keep the same thing from happening to other people, it would make up for what happened to your family,” you responded quietly. It was an easy answer, but it still felt wrong to put Hotch on display like that, especially after he’d already revealed more to you than you’d ever seen him do with anyone.

“Correct,” he said, without a hint of the bitterness you’d have expected to accompany that statement.

“And did it? Help, I mean?”

He studied your face, as if trying to decide whether to grant you the answer. You were suddenly aware of the strangeness of the situation - sitting feet away from your boss in his own apartment talking about the darkest moments of his life. This was insight you doubted he’d ever given before, and as you glanced over his mussed hair, the black t-shirt, caught a whiff of his cologne, you tried not to think about the implications of that statement.

Clearing his throat and raising his eyebrows, he turned back to his food. “It did. It does, most of the time. The rest of the team has been exceptionally understanding, perhaps more so than I deserve.”

“You deserve everything they can give you,” you said with a small smile. “From what they’ve told me, you’ve done the same for each of them several times over.”

“It’s my job,” Hotch said, but you could tell he softened at hearing how his team regarded him.

You both went back to your food, finishing the meal in relative silence - the kind that was comfortable, where you both knew that everything that needed to be said for now, had been. At least, the silence probably felt comfortable to him. Your mind was in overdrive.

Everything Hotch had said and done the last few months that had caused you to falter - the way he shook your hand when you first signed onto the BAU internship, the innocuous moments of praise, that goddamn tie - they were circling your mind like a vulture waiting for the kill. You had tried to brush those moments off, but hearing him open up like this, bare his soul, was too much. It was the next look you stole, watching him eat in quiet contemplation, faint remnants of the blush from the compliment you paid him still gracing his cheeks, that did you in.

You were pretty sure you were in love with Aaron Hotchner.

You were so, so unbelievably fucked.

____________

When Hotch bid you goodbye that night, after you helped clean up his kitchen (which allowing you to do had been a debate in itself), you had the brief, stupid thought that you should just be honest with him. How long, truly, were you going to be able to hide the fact that you were infatuated with your boss? Especially when your boss was in the business of reading people like books?

That idea went out the window, however, when he leaned against the doorway with his signature half-smile and said, “Thank you for everything tonight. I’m glad you’re on the team,” because you know where you wouldn't be, if you confessed your sudden realization? On the team. Hotch made it clear when he hired you, and every day since, that clear judgement was paramount to the team's success. There was no way he'd trust you to be unbiased in a situation that required it if he knew how you felt. And this position was too much to think about giving up, not after the years of studying and social isolation that allowed you to make the cut.

So, you can do this, you decided. You can lie to Aaron Hotchner.

Right?

#hotch x reader #hotch x you #aaron hotchner x y/n #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner #thomas gibson #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds smut #hotch fanfiction #mgg #spencer reid #jennifer jareau #emily prentiss #david rossi #sub!reader #dom!hotch #d/s #fanfiction #ao3 #writing #criminal minds #criminal minds headcanons #hotch #agent hotchner #standards of performance #slow burn #daddy hotch

[conaionaru]

The drowned girl

Little Menace

Synopsis: What if Siggy never died and was raised by loving parents that cared for her and taught her the way of the Gods? What if the little Völva was raised by Floki and Helga (because fuck Bjorn!)

Warnings: canon divergence (duh), violence, past child neglect, child abandonment, bad parenting

I don’t own the gifs.

Bjorn looked at Floki and Helga, waiting for the good news to be said. If the boatbuilder kept his promise and built him the means to leave, Bjorn Ironside could sail to an unknown land and discover what no one had dreamt of.

"What do you say, Helga? What shall we tell him?" Floki mocked his tone, teasing, trying to drag the pretense on.

Bjorn looked at the kind blonde. "We think that it won't be long until you have boats ready and able to take you to the Mediterranean Sea!"

The Ragnarsson lit up at the information until Floki scoffed at the Viking's excitement. "If it exists."

"Of course, it exists!"

"It's just a map, Bjorn. Marks on a paper. A child could have drawn it." Floki cut him off, causing the younger boy to frown. "How can we know if it's real?"

"I learned from my father. The only way to tell if something is real..." He laid a small boat on in the water and pushed it away from the shore. "Is to sail there. I hope you'll come with me, Floki."

"Are you joking? The lure of an imaginary land. Traveling somewhere that doesn't exist?" Floki laughed in his mad way and grinned happily. "Of course, I am coming."

"And I hope you will come too, Helga." The blonde healer smiled at them, amused.

"Well, if Floki is mad enough to go, then I guess I will follow."

Bjorn cheered up at the answer, happy to know that his father's friends would be there to see him achieve his dream. What bothered him, though, was the silence. Something was off. "Where is she?" The tall Ragnarsson looked around them and up the trees, looking for a familiar face or shape. But he saw nothing.

"Went to collect some herbs a while ago," Helga explained, frowning at the relieved sigh the boy let out in return.

A girl in a long scarf sat by the shore, the dark teal fabric hiding her hair from the gentle breeze that swept by. Her bare feet were burrowed in the sand, while her hands held the scarf in a death grip.

The waves mercilessly hit the shore, washing away any imperfections from the sand. But the girl sat there, unmoving. If it wasn't for the rise and fall of her chest, she might have seemed dead. Her lips are in a thin line, a vertical stripe drawn down her chin, with another symbol between her eyes, strands of blonde hair sway in the wind around her face.

But the most shocking feature of this girl are her kohl-lined eyes, as white as milk, unblinking and unseeing. She appears to be in a trance, the world passing by her as she sits there—the calm before the storm.

Despite her ears being deaf to the world, she still heard voices, painful screams, and the hissing of snakes sounded in her head. She saw a snake curled around an arrow, drowning in a river of blood. She could feel the red liquid against her bare feet, wetting her dress.

A raven croaked over her head, drawing her from her state. With the blink of an eye, her white pupils changed to blue, the same shade as the waters before her. She looked up at the position of the sun and sighed in annoyance. With some difficulty, she rose to her feet with a bunch of flowers in one of her hands.

The blonde girl walked up a hill, pulling down the scarf from her head, her wild hair flying behind her in a fury. She sat upon the mountain, putting a bouquet of wildflowers on a small grave, pulling the weeds out, and tossing it away.

The painted girl patted the child's grave, lovingly, and sighed. "I would sing to you, but you have suffered enough, no? I am sailing away soon to Bjorn's imaginary sea. Don't miss me too much."

She left the hill, passing by some playing children and fishers who run around in excitement or got ready to work. She ignored the noise around her, striding towards her goal—the forge. The people around her gossiped with each other, the name of Ragnar Lothbrok falling from their lips. Apparently, the king returned to Kattegat after years of absence; she could care less.

An older woman glared at the young blonde, pulling her child behind her as if to protect it from a rabid animal. "Freak." She spat under her breath, glaring at the unbothered teen.

People avoided her like the plague as if she was no better than the thralls and cattle. Goats were more loved than her around the town. But she didn't care for their feelings, or them for the matter.

"Sigurd." She greeted the man who stood out the forge strumming his oud, humming a cheerful tune with a scowl on his face, trying to distract himself from his thoughts.

"Siggy." The Ragnarsson nodded at her, the lines on his forehead relaxing as he looked the blonde over. She carried herself in the usual swagger, her feet bare and eyes crazy. "Did you hear what happened?"

She snorted and plopped down next to him, taking the oud out of his hands and plucking at the strings with no talent or intention to play. It annoyed him when she used his things, so of course, she did it as often as possible. "Ragnar's back. I heard people curse his name. But do tell what he did."

Sigurd spat on the ground and glared at the dirt, making her stop messing around and look at him in question. "The settlement in Wessex was destroyed right after he left, which he knew of but did nothing! And now he came back, not to reunite with his family or apologize to his people. He wants to sail to England instead."

Siggy giggled at the explanation and jumped up, twirling around the support beam before dropping the music instrument in his lap and continuing her twirls. "He wants revenge like everyone does. People died because of him in every fight, so why are you angry that he wants people to die again? Tis nothing new, Sigurd."

He shook his head angrily before dismissing the issue and talking to her about more pleasant things. "I caught a fox. Do you want the pelt?"

Siggy shook her head, snagging an apple from a merchant's cart and then another one from another food stand. "Keep your lame pelts. I told you I want a bearskin!"

The Ragnarsson rolled his eyes at her and strummed his instrument as his niece stole another apple and juggled them cheerily, ignoring his stern look. "You shouldn't steal, Siggy! You have money!"

"You are the rich one, not me. And I am hungry." She snorted, catching the apple in her mouth midair, wiggling her thin eyebrows at him in a mocking manner.

It felt nice to be around each other without the pressure of Sigurd's bloodline around them. People avoided him when he was around Siggy, the girl too wild and violent for anyone to spend time with her. All but Sigurd were cautious about their words around her.

The Viking with the serpent in his eye was not afraid of her at all. In his eyes, she was the same as when they were children, his lonely friend. Siggy used to be too scared to leave the Great Hall, dirty and neglected by everybody.

"You should be nicer to me, anyway. I am leaving soon, you know? What if I never return? Would you miss me?" She joked dramatically, skipping around the dirty ground with her bare feet

"I suppose I would miss your shrill voice. The silence will be haunting." Sigurd said sarcastically, earning a punch on the shoulder from his niece.

Siggy giggled delightedly, the sound the same as the cackles Floki let out when happy. So much has changed since she was a child; the little blonde wasn't a child anymore; she was now a young woman hungry for adventure.

She was so happy when Bjorn announced that he is leaving to find the place on his map that she didn't even care that it meant going with him. Siggy wanted to see the world; she was an explorer, far too nosy and curious for her own good. But Sigurd supposed it was a family trait; she was just like Ragnar and Bjorn.

"Try not to kill him, Siggy."

"No promises, Sig." Throwing away the last apple core, she spoke to him in a serious tone, her hatred for her biological father obvious. Ragnar's eldest son was far too mouthy towards her, considering he is to blame for all her shortcomings. After all, Siggy wouldn't be an outcast and madwoman if he had been a better father to her.

Truth to be told, Siggy was happy with how her life turned out; she had Helga and Floki, she was sure they were far better parents than Bjorn could have ever been. She pitied his children with Torvi, the poor children were probably neglected, and their mother had to raise them independently. Otherwise, where was the fault if not in him as a father? He couldn't just hate her and love the rest of his children.

Helga and Floki loved her and treated her like their own, so she can't be the issue. Bjorn never cared to explain himself, and they avoided each other like the plague. Whenever he came to visit Floki, she left for the woods or to annoy the Ragnarsons.

Siggy parted ways from Sigurd, who left to train with his brothers. She needed to return home before Helga started to worry; the poor woman would go gray at this rate. Floki already said he was bald because of her and Ivar, which was a lie; it was all Ivar's fault; he was more annoying in her opinion.

"Siggy, there you are! Come help me stitch this sail." Helga called out to her adoptive daughter, smiling when she saw the girl safe and sound. She knew that Siggy could take care of herself, but ever since she lost Angrboða, she was worried about her. After all, the gods tried to take her once before, trying to drown her in the river when she was barely four years old.

Siggy was Helga's second chance at motherhood, maybe Floki didn't want a child anymore, but in the end, they got one anyway. Perhaps not of their blood, but Siggy was their daughter, even if not by name.

"Tighten it better and take your time; a good sail is not made in a day." She reminded the younger girl, watching her thin fingers work carefully. Siggy was skilled with sharp things, no matter if blade or needle. But she was always too restless for needlework; everytime, she started a piece and then ran off.

The two worked side by side in silence, while Floki carved details into the prow. It's supposed to be a bear head, meant to honor Bjorn. Siggy hoped it looked just a stupid as him, but knowing the boat builders' work, it would be beautiful.

"Did you pack your things?"

"Yes, Helga."

"All of them? Even the furs?"

"It's gonna be hot there. I don't need furs."

"You don't know that. Pack some just to be sure."

Siggy sighed and looked at her adoptive mother with a begging face. "Yes, Helga." The older blonde ignored the mocking tone and smiled in satisfaction.

Floki snickered behind them and dropped a bow and arrow in Siggy's lap. "Catch something big. We will sacrifice it to Thor later."

"Isn't Aslaug making a sacrifice?"

Floki shook his head and tapped her forehead with a pout on his lips. "This one is to give you more wits. I can't have you dying stupidly. Helga would kill me."

With a scoff, she slapped his hand away, ignoring his giggles as she went out into the woods. Hunting was always her favorite pastime, other than annoying people. The woods were silent; the gods guided her hands as she became a predator and came back covered in blood. What was there not to love?

Walking barefoot over the grass, Siggy enjoyed the serenity and quiet. It was nice to be surrounded by the woods where she grew up. Ever since she was four, the forest was a part of her home. Climbing the trees like a squirrel and gathering herbs with Helga or Aslaug was when she was happiest.

Despite her indifference to the Queen, she was thankful for her company. Aslaug taught her about her gift and how to use it, teaching her the bits that Floki lacked when it came to Völvas. The woman also gave birth to Sigurd, so that was a good thing too. It was also easier to forget that Aslaug left her to the thralls instead of raising her herself. With four children of her own and her husband away, Siggy was too much of a burden on her.

Sometimes when she was young and bored, she wondered what it would have been like living with the Ragnarssons and being raised in Kattegat instead of here. What she might have been like as Aslaug's granddaughter instead of her ward. But those were childish fantasies and a waste of time.

The snapping of a twig broke her train of thought. Siggy stopped in her track and sharpened her ears to any other sounds. Another noise followed, and a deer walked out behind a tree. The animal didn't notice her yet and happily ate, unaware of its upcoming doom.

Siggy drew her arrow and carefully aimed the weapon at the deer. A crow flew from the tree the moment the animal dropped to the ground. Siggy walked to the still twitching deer on the floor; an arrow ebbed in his chest.

"The gods will be happy; you are a pretty one." She grinned in victory and kneeled before the animal to pick it up. "Come on, don't be difficult." Narrowly missing a flailing antler taking out her eye, she threw the animal over her shoulder and carried it home. Humming a song tune Helga sang to her as a child, Siggy returned home only to hear a foreign voice talking to Floki.

Slowly she let the animal to the ground and climbed up a tree to watch the visitor from afar. He was bald with a beard and dressed in rags. But by the way, he talked to Floki and Helga; he must be an old friend.

A crow sat down on the branch next to her and croaked into her ear. "Shut up." The bird continued the persistent noise, only tilting his head as if to mock her. "Gods, you are more annoying the Ivar. Shoo. Shoo." The crow inched closer to her and cawed louder, right in front of her face. "Fuck off!"

"Stop bullying the birds and come down!" Floki's voice carried out from under the tree, causing the blonde teen to scoff. Leaping off the tall tree, Siggy landed in a crouch and picked herself up from the sandy ground. Making her way to Helga, Floki, and the stranger, Siggy sprinted to her seat by the fire. "What did you catch?"

"Deer."

Plopping down next to the stranger, Siggy leaned into his personal space to stare at his aged face that was pulled in a grimace. The blue eyes and quirky smirk were somewhat familiar to her but still a little bit foreign. "Nice to meet you."

"Stop harassing Ragnar. He is a visitor. Play nice for once, huh." Siggy frowned at the name that Floki spoke and leaned away from the once Greatest man alive.

"I imagined you taller. With more hair." She exclaimed, shrugging her shoulders and reaching for the plate with soup, ignoring the man who chuckled at her nonchalant statement.

Helga ruffled Siggy's hair affectionately and filled a bowl of soup for Ragnar as well. The older man thanked her and watched the young blonde female waiting for a name from her. "Don't mind Siggy; she isn't that fond of people."

Ragnar's eyes widened in slight shock at the name reveal. There was only one blonde Siggy, the girl's age that he knew. Bjorn's daughter Siggy - his granddaughter. He looked at Helga for her to confirm his suspicions, so the woman nodded in agreement.

He opened his mouth to tell her something, but the girl cut him off. "Don't bother. I don't care:"

"Siggy." Scolded Helga.

The younger female rolled her eyes and waved her hand while talking. "You told me not to tell lies. I am simply honest. I don't care what he has to say. Sigurd told me he is back and what he did. I could care less for either."

Floki snickered at her indifferent speech and smirked at Ragnar proudly. No matter if she was of Ragnar's blood, Siggy was more like Floki himself. Crazy with the touches of Helga in between.

"But if you touch any of my stuff, you will pay for it with your life, old man." Ragnar snickered at her statement and looked at her with a challenging glint in his eyes.

"What makes you think you could beat me?"

Siggy scoffed and counted on her fingers. "You are old, in pain from your wound. Meanwhile, I am young, fast, and know your weaknesses from Floki."

"Also stupidly brave and possibly suicidal."

Smirking at his remark, Siggy leaned into his face again and chuckled darkly. "Maybe. Or maybe I am certain that if I stabbed you in a dark corner, no one would come to your aid. Especially not your oldest son."

Ragnar grimaced at her truthful words and looked down at his hands that still held the bowl with soup. "You don't like Bjorn."

"For someone who has been away for a long time, you catch up quickly." She stood up from her seat and walked to the water to play with Floki's mini boats. "He is a lot like you, you know? A shit father just like you. You must be very proud."

"Siggy!" Helga scolded, apologizing for her daughter's behavior and running after her. "What happened today. You are being awfully mean today, Siggy."

The blonde snorted and pushed the model ship around the water.

The water created soft waves around the small boat, calming her earlier anger. "We will sail with Bjorn."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. You could stay with Sigurd. I am sure he won't mind. Or I can stay as well. We could have some time alone and make some new dresses for us. I think yellow would suit you well."

Her reflection in the water looked pissed off. The tangled blonde hair and bright blue eyes of her biological father were a permanent reminder of who she really was. No face paint or mannerism could cover-up whose daughter she was. "I don't want a dress, Helga. I want to fight and have an adventure." Siggy hissed in anger and slapped the water, destroying her reflection. Helga jumped in surprise but calmed down when she saw Siggy's concerned look.

"Then what is the problem? You will be with Floki and me. You can talk to Hvitserk and other warriors. You don't have to talk or look at Bjorn at all." Helga whispered softly, stroking Siggy's dirty cheek tenderly. Closing her tormented eyes, Siggy sighed as if a weight was lifted from her shoulders.

"What matters is the adventure and the glory, not Bjorn. What matters is you, not them—none of them or their whispers." Siggy nodded and stood up to take a stroll.

"I will go for a walk. Meet you at the Hall for the celebration."

Helga watched the teen walk away solemnly. "Be careful!" Siggy waved her hand at her and left without looking back.

Running through the woods barefoot at dawn felt great. The birds were up and chipper while the rest of the world slowly woke up around her. Her blonde hair flowed behind her as she jumped into a puddle of mud and enjoyed the squishy feeling in between her toes.

"Come, the best trees are up here!" Called Floki hiking up the hill before them, passing other tall trees on the way.

Siggy runs behind him, touching every tree and remembering the textures of every bark. "Why not this one? It feels good."

Floki turned on his heel and circled around the tree in a weird dance before shaking his head. "No, no. Not good enough. This one needs more time. But when it gets older. I will make a pretty boat out of it."

Siggy pouted and hugged the tree in protest, pushing her face against the bark. "I like this one! Do something out of it, Floki! Pleaseeeee!"

The boatbuilder rolled his eyes and pried her from the tree. He held her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes for a bit before chuckling in his peculiar way. "Both you and the tree will grow, and when you are both older, this tree will be the first plank for your very own boat."

Her blue eyes practically sparkled at the thought, and she grinned in excitement. All her earlier sadness and frustration were forgotten. "You will make me a boat? A real big one?"

Floki chuckled and continued his way uphill, Siggy climbing behind him. "Of course! Every voyager needs a ship."

"How do you know I will be a voyager?"

"I can see it in your eyes. You will sail all over the world and see many exciting things." Siggy grinned in victory and sprinted up the hill to a tall oak tree.

She hugged it and smirked down at Floki, who nodded in agreement and let her mark the tree with a knife. He would cut it down later when she was further away. First, they will need to find more trees. "Will people love me when I am older?"

He looked down at the hopeful eyes of his adoptive daughter and sighed. "People don't always love great men and women. They envy them as they envy the gods. Be true to the gods and yourself, and they will reward you."

Siggy opened her eyes, the milky white color fading from them. She sighed in annoyance and watched the waves move in the moonlight. The Great Hall was alive with drunken cheers and brawls, but she felt content by the shore.

When she returned home from her walk, Helga and Floki already left to join the celebrations, so she got ready alone. The pink dress that Helga made for her, especially for tonight, felt too delicate on her. How were those battle-hardened men supposed to fear her if she looked like a soft flower?

Siggy was anything but soft. Sigurd always said she was a hurricane with skin. Easy on the eyes but secretly dangerous. Men will still underestimate women; that was an unspoken rule that always pissed her off. They would respect her skinny mad genius of an adoptive father before they even thought about not treating her like an object. Of course, they will lose an eye or hand for that, but the audacity was still annoying.

Let them look at her and think her small, and then they will shit their pants when they see her beheading enemies. The day Siggy the Drowned settled for a peaceful life, Ragnarok would come. She is Viking and Vikings aren't to be disrespected or underestimated.  

With one last sigh, Siggy turned on her hell and discarded her fur cloak to show off her bare arms to the horny eyes of the drunk people. Sigurd sat on a table near Aslaug, his brothers all around him. Floki and Helga talked to some foreigners on the other side of the Hall.

Merrily skipping towards them made the younger of the two foreigners look at her in curiosity. "You disappoint me, Floki. I wanted to butcher the deer myself."

"You snooze, you lose, Little Menace." The boatbuilder snickered and pulled her closer to show her off to his friends. "This is our daughter Siggy. These are King Harald and his brother Halfdan."

"Ah, yes. The conqueror and his shadow. I am a huge fan of how you take over one kingdom after another—the reason why is disappointing, though."

Harald and Halfdan both frowned in anger but said nothing back to her. Not even an hour here, and she already pissed off two people. At this rate, she would hit her personal record of how many people she can bug in a day.  

"Be nice, Siggy. We are to sail with them to the Mediterranean." Helga softly scolded and shot Floki a glare when she saw him enjoying the exchange too much.

"You have a very unique daughter. I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Floki." Halfdan finally broke the silence looking the young teen over. Slightly unruly blonde hair, face paint, blue eyes with a crazy glint, and a pretty figure. The girl was the perfect mix of Helga and Floki.

"Have you ever raided before, Siggy?" Harald questioned her, causing her to shake her head in denial. "A first raid is a great way to prove yourself. I wish you luck in your battles, then. Let your first kill be easy."

"Who says I haven't killed before?"

Halfdan chuckled at the darkness in her gaze. The voyage won't be boring at all. "And how many did you kill then?"

"A few. People tend to anger me very easily and bleed out too fast."

"I like you, Siggy."

"A shame I don't like people."

#history vikings #vikings imagine #vikings #sigurd snake in the eye #sigurd ragnarsson #sigurd lothbrok #bjorn ironside #bjorn lothbrok #bjorn ragnarsson #siggy #siggy bjornsdottir #helg #floki #siggy lives

[imjustthemechanic]

The Price of a Soul

Part 1/? - Agent Russel Part 2/? - The Letter Part 3/? - Miss Lake Part 4/? - The Stewardess Part 5/? - An Assassination Part 6/? - Fallout Part 7/? - Face to Face Part 8/? - Deals, Details, and Other Devils Part 9/? - Baggage Part 10/? - Private Funding Part 11/? - Just Passing Through Part 12/? - Party of Four Part 13/? - Resolute Part 14/? - The Wreck Part 15/? - Body Snatchers Part 16/? - Out of the Frying Pan Part 17/? - A Miracle Part 18/? - A Matter of Circumstance Part 19/? - Nome Part 20/? - The Future Part 21/? - A Hero’s Welcome Part 22/? - Up to Speed Part 23/? - Expect Further Delays Part 24/? - The Welcome Wagon Part 25/? - Fugitives Part 26/? - A Reluctant Accomplice Part 27/? - Deja Vu Part 28/? - Interview with a Madwoman

Hey, check it out, I’m still alive.

-

Peggy knew she couldn’t spend all her time moaning over the romantic dilemma life had presented her with.  She let herself dwell on it for a moment, then forced her mind on to more practical matters.  By the time they returned to the farmhouse, she’d decided how she wanted to approach this interrogation.

“I think you should talk to her first,” she told Kay.  “While I’m out of sight.”

“You’re the one who knows her,” Kay protested.

“Yes, but she’s expecting me,” Peggy reminded her.  “If we start with you, it’ll catch her off guard.”  She did not want Dottie to think she was in a position to make demands.

Kay nodded slowly.  “All right, you go down by the hood.  I’ll open the back.”

The back boot opened with a creak.  Peggy could immediately smell ammonia.  At some point during the night, Dottie had needed to relieve herself and had been either unwilling or unable to hold it in.  Peggy probably ought to have felt sorry for her, but after all Dottie had put her through, it was hard.

There was a silence that was just a bit too long to be the moment in which Kay pulled the tape off Dottie’s mouth, and Peggy found it rather reassuring that the woman could still be taken by surprise.

“Dobroye utro,” said Kay.  That meant good morning.  “Olga Barynova.”

“Kto ty?” asked Dottie.  Who are you?  Her voice was level and measured, deliberately toneless.

“I’m you, but smarter,” Kay replied in English.  “You didn’t read the message.  You didn’t think you needed to, because you already know everything. Surprise!”

There was another silence, as Dottie re-assessed the situation.  Peggy wondered what was going on in her head.

“You won’t take me back,” Dottie said.  “You’ll have to kill me.”

“You didn’t read the message,” Kay repeated.  “Do you want to know what it said, or are you just going to lie there in a puddle of your own piss trying to pretend you know what you’re talking about?”

Peggy really did rather wish she could see the expression on Dottie’s face. It was probably well worth seeing.

“What did the message say?” asked Dottie.

“That I have no intention of turning you back over to them,” Kay reassured her. “I want you and I to go back together, and we’re gonna burn the place down.”

Dottie laughed.  “That’s exactly what you would say if you were here to drag me back, because it’s exactly what I would say to you if our positions were reversed.”

“You don’t trust me?” asked Kay.  “You sure do seem to trust Peggy Carter, and I’m pretty sure she wants to see you rot in jail for the rest of your life.”

“Peggy thinks she’s one of the good guys,” Dottie snorted.  “She keeps her promises even when they’re stupid.  If you’re anything like me, you don’t know what a promise is.”

Peggy decided that was her cue.  She came and stepped into Dottie’s field of view.  It had clearly been a rough night for Dottie in the trunk of the car. She’d evidently struggled quite a bit, trying to loosen the tape, and had not succeeded.  There were red marks on the visible skin of her arms and legs where it had dug into her flesh.  Her hair was in disarray.  She did look momentarily surprised when Peggy came into view, but hid it quickly.

“Peggy, Peggy, Peggy,” she said, clucking her tongue  “You of all people should know better than to partner up with one of us.  We’re bad news.”

“I decided I needed some expert advice,” Peggy replied.  “Despite what Chief Thompson thinks, I am not nearly deranged enough to think like you do.”

“I’m not deranged,” said Dottie.  “I know exactly what I’m doing.  You just can’t believe that because it doesn’t align with your goals.”

“You want revenge,” said Kay.  “You want to get back into the USSR un-noticed and destroy the people who made you. You don’t want another little girl to ever become what you are.”

“I’m not that altruistic,” Dottie replied.  “I was seven years old when they put me and my best friend in a ring together and told us that only one could leave.  I just want them to suffer.”  She smiled tranquilly.

“So do I,” Kay promised.

“I don’t believe you,” Dottie told her flatly.  “What’s in this for you, Peggy?  Or are you the altruistic one?”

Peggy decided on the truth.  “Kay has informed me that one of Captain America’s men is a prisoner in the USSR,” she said.  “I want to help rescue him.”

“Aw, you’re doing it for love,” said Dottie.  “That’s cute.  So what makes you think I have any idea where to find him?”

“Because the same place that made us is also working on him,” said Kay.  “He’s part of the Winter Soldier program.”

“And you don’t know where to find that?” Dottie asked suspiciously.

“My information is out of date,” Kay replied.

“I promise,” said Peggy.  “I will not return you to your masters.  I’m not sure what I am going to do with you, but I know to give you back to them would mean your death.”

“Oh, no,” Dottie shook her head.  “It would be way worse than that.”

“I will rescue Sergeant Barnes, and you two may do what you wish with this Red Room and the people in it,” Peggy said.  “But I promise that when I leave Russia again, I will take you with me.”

“What happens if I refuse?” asked Dottie.  “Are you going to send me back to jail to have you hanged for treason, Peggy? I know you’re not going to kill me… that’s not your style.”

“No, but it’s mine,” said Kay.  “And I doubt she’ll shed a single tear.”  She took out a pocket knife.  “I know you’re thinking of how you’re going to run away, or how you’re going to betray us both, but keep in mind.  I know all your moves.  I know all your hiding places.  There is nothing you can do, and nowhere you can go, that I cannot anticipate.  Do you understand?”

“Oh, yes,” Dottie said.  “I understand perfectly.”

“Do you agree, then?  You will help Peggy to find Sergeant Barnes, and in return I will help you to destroy the Red Room?”

“Absolutely,” said Dottie.

Peggy knew they couldn’t trust her, and realized she was counting on Kay to make sure they could keep Dottie under control.  Kay had asked Peggy to trust her, hadn’t she?  Now there was no choice.  Was there a chance this still might turn around?  That Kay might turn out to be the enemy after all?

It didn’t matter.  Peggy was already in this too deep.  Sunk Cost might have been a fallacy, but when the cost involved was one’s freedom and reputation, there wasn’t much to be done.

“It’s a deal, then,” said Kay, and started cutting the tape off Dottie.

“So,” said Dottie, entirely too casual.  “It’s Kay, is it?”

“It is,” said Kay.  “And what are you calling yourself these days, Olga?”

“Not Olga,” Dottie replied.  “Olga Barynova died years ago.  I like the name Peggy uses for me.  After all, I am quite dotty, and I tend to do things under the table.”  She looked at Peggy and smiled.

Peggy did not smile back.

“Then that’s what we’ll call you,” said Kay.  She finished cutting the tape, and began peeling it off.  “You’re hungry and dehydrated after being in that trunk all night.  Come inside and we’ll give you something to eat.”  They’d saved some of their own breakfast for her.  “And you can tell us everything you know about the Winter Soldiers.”

“Ah-ah-ah,” Dottie wagged a finger.  “I’m not stupid.  I’m not telling you anything until you’ve held up your end of the bargain. When we’re in Russia and haven’t been caught, then I’ll tell you where we’re going.”

Peggy would have protested, but Kay just shrugged.  “That sounds fair,” she said.

“And how are we supposed to know what part of Russia we’re going to?” asked Peggy.

“That I can tell you after breakfast,” Dottie said.  “Don’t worry about money, I’ve got some stashed away for the occasion.  Now where’s that food.  I’m starving.”

The two women sat and watched Dottie eat her breakfast, and Peggy’s misgivings only increased.  Talking to Dottie had reminded her rather sharply that Kay was a master manipulator… she’d manipulated Peggy when Kay had been the one in prison, and now she’d managed to play Dottie, too, something Peggy would have thought was next to impossible.  Now it was her, of all people, whom Peggy had to trust with her life, because the only alternatives were jail or Dottie.

Somewhere along the line she’d made a terrible mistake.  In fact, the longer this went on, the more Peggy was sure the whole thing had been a series of terrible mistakes, right back to…

… well, no.  Not staying in New York wasn’t a mistake, because if she’d done that, Steve would still be frozen in the arctic ice right now.  And anything she’d done after that… no, there was really no point at which she could have extracted herself from this and not gotten in trouble for it. Not unless she was willing to admit that getting Steve back at all was a mistake, and she couldn’t possibly say that. Or could she?  When Kay had told her outright that this wasn’t how history was ‘supposed’ to go, maybe it was a mistake.

It didn’t matter now, did it?  The future was already changed, and they couldn’t go back and fix it.

Dottie devoured the breakfast they’d set out for her without the slightest thought of table manners, stuffing so much in her mouth that Peggy was afraid she’d choke.  Once she’d satisfied her hunger, she asked for some twigs from the woods.  Peggy sat with her while Kay brought back an armful they’d already gathered up, intending to use them as kindling.  Dottie selected the ones she liked the shapes of, and arranged them into a map of the USSR.

“We won’t get in from the west,” she said.  “They watch that too closely.  To go from the east, we’d have to pass over Chinese airspace and that’s just as risky. From the south we’ve got the Himalayas blocking the way, and I don’t think any of us are crazy enough to try to go from the north.  Not even me.” Dottie glanced up at her companions and smiled as if this were a very funny joke.

Peggy did not smile back, but Kay chuckled a little.

“The way in,” Dottie went on, “is through Turkey.  The area is mountainous and difficult to patrol, but the locals know their way around I have some things prepared.  It’ll be a long hike, but we can take the train from Tbilisi to Stalingrad…”

“Volgograd,” said Kay under her breath.

“… and from there, I’ll tell you where we’re going next,” said Dottie.

“Mm-hm,” said Peggy.  It seemed straightforward enough, though Dottie was right – it would be a very long walk through some hostile terrain.  “You said we’ll need that money you mentioned… where have you got that squirreled away?”

“Nevada,” said Dottie.  “Joseph’s hanging on to it for me.”

The first Joseph Peggy thought of who might have anything to do with Dottie Underwood was Josef Stalin, but that could not possibly be right.  “Who is Joseph?”

“Joseph Strieber.”

It took a moment for Peggy to remember who that was, and then it seemed almost as unlikely as Stalin – perhaps more so.  “The Governor of Nevada?” she asked.  “He’s the one who wants you caught!  The mafia is breathing down his neck after you robbed the Toucan Hotel!”

“Plausible deniability,” said Dottie.  “If he’s the one shouting that I need to be in prison, the mob won’t realize that he’s the one who let me into the Toucan at their grand opening.  I was his date for the evening.”  She smiled.  “And now I can make him do anything I want.”

“So we’re going to Carson City,” said Kay.

Peggy thought she’d better make sure Governor Strieber didn’t get a look at her during this visit… she had enough problems right now without a desperate politician getting any leverage over her.  “Then we need to catch up with Steve,” she added.

“Steve?”  Dottie cocked her head and smiled.  “We’re taking Captain America with us?”

“It’s his friend we’re rescuing,” said Peggy.

“Well, if you’d told me that from the beginning, I might have agreed to help without all the threats!” said Dottie, delighted.  “He’s a dish, isn’t he?”

“So people say,” Peggy said.  People who’d never met Steve, and didn’t realize that he was so much more than that.  But she had another worry now, she realized… Dottie liked to know people’s weaknesses, and now she already knew what Peggy’s was.

#fanfic #captain america #agent carter #peggy carter #steve rogers #steggy #fix it fic