#ic ;; { Why did you break up our happy family ? You were like a father to me: Styx}

[shygirl4991]

Meme Swap

Summary: SMG4 and 3 decide to practice their meme powers and attempt doing their fusion spell but when Eggdog and Beeg SMG4 distract the men their spell ends up failing causing everyone to swap bodies. Now SMG4 and 3 need to figure out how to swap themselves back before their sons get into mischief in their bodies. 

Idea from @rabbitdemonlol and the one that gave me the push to write it @alianarepasa Tags: Comedy, Body Swap, Family fluff SMG4 called out Three to get more practice on their fusion spell, last time they used it they got lucky that what they summoned worked. They might not be so lucky a second time, SMG3 steps out of his cafe with Eggdog following right behind him. Four gives a gentle pat on Eggdog’s head “Your friend Beeg is over there playing go join him why your dad and i work?”

With a bark he runs off to go play, SMG3 does a few stretches to help the flow of meme energy in his body, something SMG 1 and Two loved to nag the two of them to always do. SMG4 followed SMG3 lead, once done stretching they got in position, Eggdog was hopping around Beeg excited to see his friend again. Beeg patted his happy friend to then notice what their fathers were doing, curious he started to go over to them. Not wanting to be alone, Eggdog starts running after Beeg, the two men move forward touching fingertips feeling the meme energy flow.

“Eugh!” was all Four heard before losing his focus on the spell “Wait no stay away you two!” SMG4 moves causing the energy to break free. SMG3 runs to tackle Four down and cover the two kids as the energy explodes. SMG3 groans and blinks a few times looking around, he attempts to rub his eyes only to notice the lack of arms. He panics looking around to see his body, for a moment he thought he died until his body started to move. He stares in shock as he watches his body stumble a bit, his body looks down and gasps “I'm so tall!”

“Eggdog?!” he couldn't help yelling, that excitable energy could only belong to one meme he knows very well. If that's the case then that only means Beeg must be in Fours body, Three could feel himself panic. The spell failed causing them to swap bodies, is this permanent?

Eggdog slowly walks up to his father and smiles “Dad!” he lifts up SMG3 and giggles giving his father a hug “I can hug you now like you do to me!” SMG3 couldn't help chuckle at his son's excitement.

They hear a groan and see SMG4 body stand up, Eggdog smiles putting his father down “Beeg! Look, we are grown ups!” he blinks before looking at himself then at Eggdog. As the gears turn for Beeg, SMG4 finally wakes up. SMG4 looks around in shock “Oh god not again!” Three turns to Four confused “What do you mean again?!” Four looks away frowning at the memory. After an impatient bark from Three, SMG4 decides to let his fellow guardian know “Well..a few years back Mario angered an old man and he may have cursed me and Mario to swap bodies.” Three stayed silent staring at Four as he processed the information. The thought of switching bodies with their avatar sounded like a nightmare.

Shaking his head to focus on the matter at hand “We need to swap back, only issue i can't feel meme energy which means,” he turns to look at their sons. Four sighs understand what Three was talking about, Eggdog noticing them looking does a small wave. SMG3 walks up to the kids and smiles softly at them “Could you guys copy what we did?” Eggdog nods all for helping his father. Beeg gets up and smirks, he gently grabs Eggsdogs arm and pulls him away from their parents “Egg think about it, if we help our dads now then we won't be able to do cool things! Picture all the ice cream we can eat!”

Eggdogs eyes light up at the thought of being able to eat ice cream, he frowns looking at his dad then at Beeg. To the shock of Three he watches as Eggdog agrees and runs off with Beeg, this was bad news as Three and Four exchange looks.

The two giggle and run to the kitchen of the castle where they take out ice cream cones, they do a small cheer and go outside to eat the ice cream. Since they were in their parents' body they could do all kinds of things, he licks his ice cream thinking of everything he and Eggdog can do. Maybe he should do a video. It didn't look too hard after watching his father do it for a while, he notices Eggdog bouncing on his feet making Beeg turn to see Meggy approach them.

Meggy smiles and waves at Beeg “Hey SMG4 how ya doing?” Beeg smirks, finally his time to play the role. Doing his best to impersonate his father “Oh you know, doing adult stuff, uploading wacky videos, trying to plan my marriage with SMG3..ya know the usual things i do!” Meggy blinks at him confused “What?” Beeg tilts his head “What?”

Confused by the conversation, Meggy walks away while Eggdog leans close to Beeg “Wait, your dad wants to marry my dad?!” Beeg shrugs, “Well they technically know each other for a decade, I'm sure they should be in the works to be married.”

Eggdog jumps with joy “That would be so cool we will end up being brothers!” Beeg smiled seeing Eggdog so excited. He wouldn't mind being brothers with the pup over time they have grown close,he would do anything to protect him after all he is the cooler and stronger brother. They smile at each other as they finish their ice cream ready to go on a new adventure acting as their fathers.

Four panicked, who knows what is going on with their kids and their bodies. He looks at the sky and sees the sun setting and frowns worried over Beeg and Eggdog. Three was frustrated by how Beeg was able to tempt his son to run off and do who knows what, when they fix this body issue he is going to make sure they both get a good grounding. He hears giggling and turns to see Tari and Meggy outside of the castle.

SMG3 gets an idea “Hey SMG4, maybe if we make enough noise we can get the squid’s attention!” Four agrees as they both walk up to the group making all the sounds they could get. Tari looks at the pair concerned “Uh..is Four and Three’s pets okay? They seem to be more noisy than usual.”

Meggy smiles at the pair “Maybe they're hungry, come on Tari lets get them food!”

SMG4 panics seeing them walk away “Meggy don't leave us here MEGGY HELP US!!!” he falls to the floor and frowns. No one could understand them, making this situation much worse. Three sighs looking around and seeing their bodies walking to Luigi's shop, Three head butts Four to get his attention ”Look there they are come on!” annoyed from the hit he follows after three glaring at him.

Eggdog bounces around the flower shop excited as he sniffs all the flowers, he was tempted to eat the roses before remembering what his father told him. In this world you have to pay for things before eating them. Unlike back home, he pats his pockets trying to find his fathers magic money card. Smiling, he pulls out his credit card catching Beeg's attention. He gets close to Eggdog as they both notice a photo in the wallet, Eggdog frowns looking at it. Seeing the pup upset he looked around to see if anyone was looking before pulling him close “You okay Egg?”

Eggdog nods, smiling at Beeg “Thanks I'm okay,this is just a photo of my brother. Never got to meet him but I have heard funny stories about him, his name is Terrence.”

He grabs a bouquet of tulips and smiles “These flowers brought him to mind so I'm going to use dads card!” hearing this Beeg comes up with an idea. He smirks, with that card they can have fun. Eggdog throws the card at Luigi surprising the plumber as he struggles to catch the card, the moment he grabs it he smiles at Eggdog “Didn't take you as a flower guy SMG3!”

Eggdog panics trying to think how his father would act “Uh I don't pifft that be gay! It’s for….SMG4? Yeah! Cause we are getting married, look can we wrap this up?”

“Oh yes! Congrats!” Luigi was surprised by the announcement of the wedding, as he charges the card he thinks to himself when the pair even got together. As he hands the bouquet to Eggdog and watches him run to Beeg side super close it clicks for him, how could he be blind that's why they always fought but still worked well together. He then stood there wondering how long the two had been together.

Beeg takes off his fathers hat and starts to shake it, Eggdog watches confused until a table, laptop and a camera flies out of it. He stands watching in awe as Beeg starts setting things up “Since we have our fathers bodies, why not make a youtube video.” He chuckles while picking up the camera, Eggdog tilts his head thinking “Should i do my dance?”

Beeg shakes his head “uh no that's okay egg, i was thinking we have your dads credit card why not have fun shopping?” He turns on the camera and puts on his best act “Hey everyone! SMG3 and I are going on a shopping trip to do a candy eating challenge!”

Eggdogs eyes light up grabbing onto Beeg arm, the others around them stare at the pair confused and surprised by the display. The kids, not noticing the looks and photos being taken giggled as they ran off to buy all the candy they could. Beeg handed the camera to Eggdog as he collected the candy, hearing chuckles he turned his head to see two men laughing at Beeg excitedly grabbing candy. He glares and walks up to them “What's funny?” the men look at each other and roll their eyes “At you and your lame boyfriend, aren't you boys too old to run around like kids just for candy?” Eggdog looks behind himself to see Beeg is still distracted, seeing that he is Eggdog grabs the man's collar “Aren't you too old to be insulting others, grr if you want to pick a fight i will gladly give you one!”

Beeg hears someone yelling behind him, turning he sees two men running out of the shop. One of them pushes Beeg causing him to trip and hit the button on his father's shoes that activates skate mode. His eyes go wide struggling to keep his balance as he starts to slide out of the store “HOW DOES HE TURN IT OFF!”

Beeg was starting to panic. He closed his eyes ready to crash into the weapon shop, but the crash didn't happen. He was familiar with this feeling, he was being carried, he opened his eyes to see Eggdog smiling at him with the camera taped to his hat. “Sorry I cut that close Beeg, you okay?”

Beeg pouts as he looks around, the two men that pushed him were knocked out. He groans knowing what it meant, he tilts his hat down to hide his face “Yeah Egg…im good, can we not tell anyone you saved me?”

Eggdog laughs putting Beeg down “Sure, don't know why you would be embarrassed after all when our dads marry i will be your big brother and protecting you is my job! Not that you can't take care of yourself!”

Beeg looks at the hat and points to it, Eggdog touches his hat and giggles “Oh! Well it would be bad to break our dads camera so I taped it to the hat! It's still recording.” He hands the camera over to a now smirking Beeg. This video could be something fun. Instead of a candy challenge they could turn it into something else, he grabs Eggdogs hand and starts running back to the house.

SMG4 and 3 see their kids and start running faster after them, seeing eggdog protect beeg made him smile “Aw they are such good friends!

Three on the other hand was annoyed at the close contact the two were doing, people looking outside will start thinking the two are dating. Focus on the kids; they dont notice Karen walking out of a shop and bump into her. She looks down and sees them, she smiles picking them both up. Three struggles in the hold while Four panics “Are we being kidnapped?” Three giving up in his struggles looks at Four “Yep.” They both panic about being taken away.

She takes them to the park near the showgrounds, they assume she did it so SMG3 and four can have an easier time finding their kids. Bad news for her is that she is currently putting SMG4 in a dress while Three laughs, Four glares at three still trying to figure how they would make a break for it. Four grumpily walks up to Three ignoring how awkward the dress fits him “Stop laughing we need a plan! How do we catch up with our kids!” SMG3 rubs his chin thinking, they don't have their meme powers so they need to learn how to channel what eggdog and Beeg can do. Suddenly he feels a familiar weight on his head, frowning at Four now laughing at him Karen placed a barbie hat on his head. He rolled his eyes ignoring the idiot next to him, after all he knew he was slaying the hat.

His eyes go wide as he starts to bark, confusing Karen “SMG1!! SMG2!! PLEASE TELL ME YOU CAN HEAR US!”

The pair turn around and notice Three screaming, SMG1 walks closer staring at Three “It can't be…SMG3? How on earth did this happen?” Karen steps in front of SMG3 to protect him from the stranger that approached. Seeing this, Two grabs One's hand and uses their powers to make copies of Eggdog and Beeg running away, making her panic and chase after the kids to make sure they stay safe. SMG4 walks up to them close to crying “Thank god someone can understand us! We lost control of a spell and ended up swapping with our pets. We need help finding them and swapping back but no one could understand our meme talk.”

“Of course not that is a skill set we Guardians have, normal people would have to study years to understand just one meme.” SMG1 sighs “Seeing as you two got yourselves in this jam Two and I can undo this spell, we just need to get closer to your meme energy lucky for you it feels close by.” With that One picks up Three and four and starts to run toward the energy.

Beeg was in the kitchen cooking after the pair finished their hard work of editing and drawing for their big surprise, Eggdog watches concern over Beeg adding random items in the pot. Seeing the concern he rolls his eyes “Come on, I always wanted to try uncle Mario's legendary spaghetti! I'm sure it's not that hard to make, I mean you know how uncle Mario is.” Eggdog nods as he slowly takes out another pot and starts making actual spaghetti and not the strange purple slime his brother seemed to be making.

Once done cooking Eggdog waited for Beeg to turn away to pick up the new entity that he created and throw it out the window, then replacing the pot with the food he made. Beeg smiles while taking out his portion “See egg you worry too much, it looks great!” Eggdog gives him a bright smile and nods. Seeing Beeg enjoy the spaghetti made him extremely happy, then the front door busted open making the two jump

SMG3 slides on the floor pointing at the kids “GET THEM!” Beeg grabs Eggdog trying to run not wanting to lose the fun they have been having yet. Eggdog looks into his fathers eyes “You are going to love this!” then runs off with Beeg.

SMG1 and two start doing the spell as Three and Four run after the kids, they run behind the showgrounds when a flash of light hits them. Blinking SMG4 jumps with joy “My body is back oh i'm so happy!” he starts to kiss his arms. SMG3 wasn't as excited as he looked around confused. Once everything caught up he starts to freak out “WHY ARE WE AT A WEDDING!? AND WHY AM I THE BRIDE!!” SMG4 looks around then at himself to see he is in a suit “ You do jump into my arms a lot, not the point i think i know whose wedding this is.”

Three and Four exchange looks then remembered what Eggdog said, SMG4 takes out his phone going pale “They did an announcement video on my channel….that we are getting married.”

SMG3 looks through his phone shaking “They spent over two grand!? AT A SHROOMY’S CANDY SHOP!?”

Before the two can scold their kids the wedding guest arrives stopping them in their tracks, Three was handed a tulip bouquet and got so many congratulations his mind fried. SMG4 was pretty sure the white dress the man was wearing made his red face stand out so much more, cleaning his blue suit he gave awkward smiles to those that congratulated him. The music started making the situation much worse as the two looked at each other, Mario walked up with his usual goofy grin “Mario is-a so happy to finally wed you two!”

SMG3 wanted to dig the deepest hole and live in it so he wouldn't have to be here, SMG1 and Two stepped outside giggling with the kids next to them. They stood there looking at each other in panic unsure what to do as Mario pulled out the rings. Whatever the pair decide to do they are definitely going to get their pay back on their children.

#shygirl4991 #smg4 #smg3 #smg34 #eggdog #beeg smg4 #comedy #body swap #family fluff #SMG1 #SMG2

[rieadiary]

GET DOWN | l.jn

bottom!jeno x top!reader

summary ; wherein you were sure that your boyfriend was going to be on time this christmas but he wasn’t, and had a pay a price

warnings ; pegging, subby jeno, begging, strap-ons, toxic families

a/n ; MERRY CHRISTMAS!! my lovelies i’m feeling sm better and i wanted to put this out today because i went on a break for my health, decided to do a bottom male fic bc WHY NOT? edit: okay so this did not come out on christmas SORRY, I had writers block and I wanna apologize about that… hope you guys still enjoy this since it won on the poll!

You finished the icing on the cake as your sister and your mother walked over to you, concerned frowns on your face, “christmas dinner is almost starting and.. jeno’s not here?” Your sister questioned slightly and you sighed, a smile still present on your face, “he said he was on his way” you tried not to grit your teeth as they were only asking in concern.

“This is why I don’t make promises with your father, he never keeps them” your mother tried to joke but it only pissed you off further.

Your sister laughed as the three of you walked over to the table, “but dads here, guess that’s just your boyfriend” now both of them were laughing, spewing slick comments every now and then.

The dinner went just as you assumed, spiteful. Everyone chatted amongst themselves and recalled memories of when they were children and lived together. You even tried to butt in the conversations until your family brought up that you couldn’t keep a man and you always glued your mouth shut, whilst jeno not being here only made their jokes keep coming.

You couldn’t stomach your food and the gifting process wasn’t any better, your eldest brother thought it was funny to by you a strap on since he claimed, “you’ll be needing that since your boyfriend isn’t here for Christmas”

It annoyed you how none of your family considered your feelings, they always joked about how they assumed jeno was catfishing you or was never real and it hurt your feelings but expressing your hurt by crying or yelling would only make it worse.

The dinner ended and everyone went home, nothing but silence now filling your home. You were going to make Jeno practically beg in tears for the embarrassment you were feeling.

You heard the door unlock and the jeno slipped in your home, a big gift in hand and a dressed exceptionally nicely though it was for nothing.

“Baby, I’m so sorry I’m lat— where’s everyone?” He asked looking around and turning on the kitchen lights. You eyed him angrily, sipping on your hot chocolate silently.

“Baby,” jeno sat the gift down, “there was traffic you know I would’ve gotten here earlier if—”

“If what jeno?” You argued, setting your mug down “the jokes, the laughter, the embarrassment, and all because of traffic?” You stated in anger, watching jeno bat his eyes at you in confusion. “What? They made fun of you? Baby you know I live three hours away, I even tried waking up early, I’m sorry”

“That’s how my family is, they make fun of my pain. You’d know that if you showed up to our dinners”

Jeno sheared off his jacket, sitting down near you setting a kiss on your cheek. “I know I’m late like this all the time by there’s nothing more I can do.. baby please, I’m truly sorry” you stared in jeno’s eyes, he was obviously sorry for being late and you understood that he did indeed live three long, far hours away.

“I’m sorry they made fun again, I really wish I could’ve gotten here earlier. Maybe next time I’ll spend the night?”

The idea sparked a light inside of you, that was the perfect idea. That way, he’d already be here and neither one of you had to worry about traffic or embarrassment, though the embarrassment was only a you thing.

“Really? You’d stay with me?” You sat up with a smile, jeno nodded, “of course, I love you and I’d do anything to make you happy”

You hugged him after his affirmative words, pulling back for a quick moment “well, I’d still need something to prove that you’re sorry” you say crossing your arms, glaring at him again.

Jeno frowned, giving you the gift. “I bought you a gift!” He said and you shook your head, “I was supposed to open that awhile ago, I need something else”

“You want head?” Jeno offered, and the offer was tempting but you eyed the strap-on and another tempting idea popped into your mind.

“Nah, I got something else”

“You want to what?” Jeno asked in wide eyes, his mouth ajar.

“I want you to be my little slut, I want you to do whatever I say”

Jeno blinked, leaning back in the couch in contemplation. “Will that really make you feel better cause I could just make you cu—”

“Nope, I want you to beg for me, that will make me feel so much better” you edged closer to jeno, running your hands through his hair, “and you can’t touch me”

“Baby, where is all this coming from?” He asked feeling nervous about the idea, being out of control was not her forte. He liked seeing you beg under him, being rough but gentle in the right places. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust you, it’s just he didn’t know what exactly was going to happen next.

“Don’t know. Just wanted to try being dominant for once, try new things you know?”

No. Jeno did not know, but for you he considered trying just for you.

Jeno was laid out on the bed and seeing his nerves being frantic made you feel great, a feeling you’ve never felt before.

You crawled on top of him and jeno reached for you but you stopped him, glancing at him. “I’m sorry just— just please be gentle” he pleaded, retreating his arms back to the side of him.

“Don’t worry Jen” you placed a kiss on his lips, “I won’t hurt you, just relax” you reassured with a small smile, Jeno avoided your eyes and you bent down to kiss jeno, the kiss slow and loving, as your hands wandered down his body.

You moved down his body with kisses as he fidgeted, his hands threatening to touch you. You eyed his cock, pre-cum leaking from just you kissing his body, leaving marks was just enough to make him feel good.

“On your stomach” you ordered and jeno hesitated at first, moving onto his stomach nonetheless. “Cmon’ arch up for me” you wanted to chuckle but this wasn’t a funny moment for him, as he immediately did as told you found yourself pulling his cheeks apart, a smirk on your face as you immediately stuck your tongue inside him,

“Baby wait- oh my—” jeno moaned feeling your tongue inside him, his fingers gripping the sheet as pleasure struck inside him. You slowed your tongue down as per jeno’s request, moaning against his hole.

Jeno found himself hiding his noises by hissing and letting out small groans, his eyes closed tightly.

As you worked your tongue inside of him jeno sang praises towards you, groans that slowly mixed into moans quickly but he tried to hide them, suppress them by biting his lips.

“Baby- please, if you keep doing that I-I’ll cum” jeno pleaded in need, and you pulled away from him smirking sinisterly. You fixed yourself as you grabbed lube, spilling up your ‘cock’ as excitement sparked in you knowing this experience was purely under your control.

“Jen, you wanna be on your stomach or back?” You asked sweetly and jeno pulled his head out of the pillow, surprised that you were starting now, that this was happening now. “What? No waiting?” He breathed, his eyes watery from shutting them tightly.

“Waiting for what? You don’t exactly wait when it’s me”

“Baby i— what if it hurts?”

You titled your head at his concern, “want me to finger you? Will that help you feel better?”

“No” he shook his head, “just- slow, do it slow” he said turning on his back to face you. You nodded squirting lube on the strap on again, this time a little less. You aligned yourself with his hole and stuck it in, biting your lip when jeno made a noise of pain and pleasure.

“You okay? Want me to stop?”

Jeno shook his head no. Grabbing at the sheets again. “Move..” he approved softly, his voice weak and soft. You pushed yourself further inside of him and jeno finally let himself go as a loud moan erupt out of his mouth, his back already arching.

“Hmm? Speak to me baby, want me to stop?”

“Move baby please just move..” jeno whimpered out, bucking up accidentally when you followed his requests, filling him up all the way. You slowly started thrusting inside of him, holding his thighs tightly. Jeno’s moans quickly filled the room, his moans slowly becoming more needy and high pitched, “f-faster baby please, I need more” he begged and you smirked, speeding up rather harshly.

This whole idea had been in your mind for years now. The two of you had been in a relationship for three years now and jeno always dominated the relationship most of the time. From the way he pounded you mercifully every time y’all had sex to soft moments like him making you breakfast and buying you promise rings,

But seeing him moan so needy, begging for more and itching to grab at you made something awake inside of you. You wanted to see him like this again, you wanted to make him all messy from his cum like the good boy he was.

“Baby i—” jeno panted, tilting his head up to look at you inside of him, “baby i-i I’m cumming, I’m fu- I’m cumming please, let me please” he begged as a single tear streamed down his face, other tears pooling at his eyes.

“Cum jen, cum all over yourself, make a mess baby” you whispered to jeno who fell back on the bed with a painful moan, tugging on the sheets so roughly they tugged off the bed, as cum spiraled out of his cock onto his stomach he let out loud moans, spewing incoherent words as his climax finish.

For moment after he had finished and you pulled out it was silent, nothing but the sounds of his breathing and the sheets falling off the other sides of the bed. Jeno picked his head up to look at you and felt dizzy, overstimulated by the new experience. “I’m sorry, I can’t- I don’t have any energy” he squeezed out,

You eyed him softly, pondering what he meant. “Hm? What do you mean?” You questioned as he opened his eyes again, staring blissfully at the ceiling, “I can’t please you, I’m too tired” he further explained and you almost laughed at the statement, unsure why he would even think of returning the favor.

“Jen,” you pulled the strap-on off, walking over to him “today was only to punish you, trust me you pleased me enough by seeing you like that”

“Are you sure? We can wait like thirty minutes and I’ll—”

“No. End of discussion, now cmon, I’m gonna start you a bath” you protested as jeno nodded trying to get up but stumbling.

xoxo, riea!

TAGS :

#kpop smut #smut #nct x y/n #nct jeno #nct x reader #lee jeno #jeno x reader #bottomjeno #nct dream #nct smut #nct

[moonfruito]

my running theory is that ava and lizzie were girlfriends and then ava defected from the navy to become a pirate or was a spy in the navy for the pirates' rebellion and in the fight that ensued after her position was revealed she was killed. the navy blame the pirates and the pirates blame the navy and that's why lizzie fucking hates the navy and jayson fucking hates pirates. this is based less on what i think is canon and more on what i think will cause the most problems because i like the drama. however, i am not one to deviate too far from canon, so here is a very not chronological list of the evidence that i have collected that i will edit and update because more is sure to arise and i am for sure forgetting something.

The Tides Between Us #58 [1:11:25] "You just look so much like your sister, so I thought there was like no way... I wasn't actually gonna shoot you or anything." : lizzie knows who ava is, knows what she looks like well enough to recognise her and her family, but nonetheless had no intention to hurt jay despite her deep hatred of the navy. ava and jay seem to have had a good relationship, so lizzie would likely have heard good things about jay, and therefore hesitated to hurt her.

lizzie is the only person we have encountered so far that immediately recognised jay not from her wanted poster but from her looking like a ferin. it seems likely that she has had much more prolonged contact with ava than most others, including the navy soldiers they've met.

GRIZZCORD Questions Channel [22/11/22] "Ava was a brat! She was a troublemaker growing up. She was headstrong, very brave, very confident, and very reliable. And she kicked ass. She had a great smile, she had a great heart. She was very carefree, and a bit mischievous even. She'd be serious when it came to her job. She could be impulsive. She could be wrong a lot, and irresponsible. She stood up to her father often, she did not join RAFT to make him happy, she had her own reasons." : ava was a rebellious character, and one that seems likely to have pushed back against the navy's oppressive structure and defected. it's also possible that she joined raft to learn information about the navy to assist a rebellion, and fed that information to lizzie. in that case, it would make sense that lizzie is so fixated on starting this war against the navy - she wants to finish what ava started and lost her life for.

Breaking The Ice #32 [32:57] "I don't want to be with the navy because I'd rather be free. I don't want to live by their strict and rigid structure... I wanted to sail the sea, see the world." : the first part of the argument that jay uses to convince lizzie she is no longer navy. it's possible that lizzie recognised similarities between jay and ava's carefree attitude and hatred of navy structure in this statement.

Breaking The Ice #32 [33:13] "L: So you expect me to believe that you've run away from your family's line? // C: Is it that hard to believe? // J: Have you seen how the Ferins operate? It sucks. [Grizzly DM-Smiles] G: Roll a persuasion check, Jay, with advantage." : grizzly does a little sneaky smile when jay asks if lizzie has seen what the ferins are like, implying that lizzie is in fact more than familiar with the ferin family. he asks for the roll right after jay says this, implying that she has hit the mark with that line. lizzie tests jay's feelings about her family specifically, wanting to see whether she rejects her family's structure the same way ava did.

Breaking the Ice #32 [35:16] "...the reason why I'm, uh... so defensive over seeing a... a Ferin. Not too long ago... // I saw the fucking navy come on to the outlaws. They raided our soil. They killed... They killed some of their own." : ava died about a year before this moment, so it was recent enough that it's plausible that the battle lizzie speaks of is the one where the navy attacked as a result of ava's rebellion and she was killed. the difficulty with which lizzie speaks with the deaths of the navy soldiers suggests how personal this was to her, especially given her usual distate for the navy. she says the ferin name with a similar difficulty. she implies that jayson or other ferin family members were involved with this battle and she sees them as responsible for those deaths, including ava's, explaining her initial distrust of jay.

GRIZZCORD Questions Channel [17/9/22] grizzly confirms lizzie is "either lesbian or bi".

@/GrizzlyPlays on Twitter [17/9/22] "oh ur gonna love her backstory bro": grizzly responds to someone tweeting about lizzie being canonically sapphic, heavily implying that there is a key female love interest in lizzie's backstory.

The Tides Between Us #58 [1:19:31] lizzie has a tattoo of "an amalgamation of birds and other things that fly up [her] arm.": the tattoo of the birds could be a memorial to ava, as we know that the ferins are associated with birds.

Not Ferin Well #53 [38:36] "I have already lost one daughter. I do not even consider that man my brother. If this is how you really feel, I do not wish to lose another.": jayson speaks of ava, drey and jay with the same grief. the two living characters have simply defected from the navy and the family, but he speaks of them as if they had died just like ava. the loss that jayson feels about ava may heavily be in part that same sense of betrayal and family division over the same issue of leaving the navy to become a pirate. he feels that in combination with the grief over her death, which outweighs the betrayal enough that he doesn't disown the same way that he does with drey. ava's defection also would've happened towards the end of her life not long before her death so that impression of her is not what lingers for jayson in comparison to his relationship with drey.

Not Ferin Well [39:04] "I won't hurt these pirates, but you [addressing Drey] will stay in here. And you Jay, Jay you will come home. I will see to it that you are back with your mother, away from this delinquency, whatever this rebellious phase might be.": jayson may recognise ava's rebelliousness in jay's actions. the reason that he's so overbearing with her is because he's scared that she will go down the same path that her sister and uncle did. he denied her the freedom that piracy would offer because he's always been afraid that she would like that better than life in the navy.

#jrwi #just roll with it #jrwi riptide #jrwi jay #jay ferin #jrwi jayson #jayson ferin #jrwi ava #ava ferin #my textpost #jrwi lizzie #captain lizzie #elizabeth lafayette #jrwi pistolwhip #pistolwhip

[fumikomiyasaki]

‘ there’s no way this bed is big enough for you and me. ’ with Barry and Steven ‘ the innkeeper said this is the last room. ’ with Regina, Inessa and Francine ‘ shh, it’s okay. i’m here. ’ with Tenera and Baliin or ‘ i sleep commando, just so you know. ’ with James and Julian

Only one bed

The plan was actually to secretly go to a convention together, in Barrys eyes as friends given Steven was one of the few who shared such nerdy interests even if it was in a cringe way... but after the convention Barry noticed a horror that happened at the checkin... his own ego made him forget to book two rooms for them and instead they had to share a room... and a bed.

‘ There’s no way this bed is big enough for you and me. ’

"Barry-san, I know one way!"

"What do you me- Ack."

To his surprise the tall blond man hugged him tight and let himself fall onto the bed... leaving him squeezed on top of his chest red af... Barry just was flabbergasted putting his hands on it and just look down at him with a tomato red face.

"DUDE THIS IS NOT WHAT FRIENDS DO!"

"But why not... its a sugoi solution."

"L-listen... you get the bed cause you are taller, I take the couch... this will be far better for me..."

"Honto ni? You are a sweetheart for lending me the bed."

"Yeah yeah whatever... just please don't do something like this again."

The Hero boy settled down his back, took a shower and then took his blanket to sleep on the couch. Still he could hear Steven murmur in his sleep.

"Hnn... Barry-san... can we... please hug..."

He hid even more under the blanket... not only did this idiot drive him mad... no he liked him as much as he did... why did he have to feel that way... why was he tempted to join him in bed... he tried to slightly hide in his blanket hope these thoughts would vanish but they kept him up all night.

Among a luxus Winter trip Regina organized, Francine and Inessa were happy to take a break from all the work they did daily... it being quite necessary for the both of them... it was a nice day in the snow... one where the three could ice skate together and enjoy the mountains... but the inn had bad news for them as Francine talked to them.

‘ The innkeeper said this is the last room. ’

"I see.... what a shame."

Inessa gave a nod to Regina who sighed.

"I have an air matress with me we can handle it with the space."

The three ladies headed up the stairs drawing many eyes to them before going to their room and settling bags and suitcases down... Francine leaning back against the couch.

"Finally one week of freedom from that whining Hero... I know I will come back to stress again."

Regina sat down next to her crossing her legs.

"You deserve better than to associate with him."

Francine sighed as Inessa prepared them both an Ice tea.

"He does provide my family however... at least his dad does... this is worth the annoyance."

"And If I would assist you."

"Regina please... I don't want you to spend your money on me really."

Glass blue eyes looked at the heroine in sincerity as she put one hand on hers.

"I rather have you at my side and happier than with this fool."

Inessa settled down the glasses.

"You already pay for this vacation first we need to pay you back. We will find a way to all be free of our responsibilities right. And..."

Inessa blushed a little.

"I still need to thank you two for healing my heart after Dragiselle."

The three shared a small hug before looking back at that bed...

"Regina... you take it... Nessa and I can-"

"No you two join me here... I don't mind it."

The three huddled together... peacefull at once... closing their eyes without any strain or stress to bother them this time.

Although Tenera was happy that Baalin took her to a trip to his homeland... at night when she heard she was sharing a room with him... despite that happy feeling it didn't carry over into her dreams... nightmares plagued her... memories of her fathers rejecting her... of those bullies who were the cause of her legs.... it all itched in her brain as she in her sleep clinged onto Baalins back before suddenly flinching up... her eyes wet as if she cried.

Baalin noticed how panicked she was and pulled her in a hug.

‘ Shh, it’s okay. i’m here. ’

"I... thank you... Even if ... I grew up in the darkness... sometimes... I think I still fear it."

He got shortly up to open the curtains of the window again before joining her back in bed and pulling her close between his arms.

"If anyone tries to harm you, I will keep you save, alright?"

"Hmm-mmhh.. Thank you Bal...I do feel save near your heartbeat."

"What did you dream about?"

She grew silent before asking a question.

"What would you do.... if I never was able to walk again?"

"Not much would change... I would love you all the same."

A soft hum escaped her mouth as she clinged onto him closer.

"I love you so much... and.. I know you don't know me differently but... I still had hope to one day play tennis like normal... but with you... I think I am fine to live with another dream."

"And that be."

The Cat ears twitched.

"To marry you and have a family one day?"

James escaped a groan as he figured out who had to share a room with for this interschool trip... of course it had to be him... but worse... the room they were staying at had only one bed in the middle. And Julian didn't make the situation any better.

‘ I sleep commando, just so you know. ’

"W-what?!"

"Just kidding <3 But your eyes looked curious."

"Oh shut up."

He tried to calm himself down... put down his things, load out his clothes in the closet but then he noticed in his mirror how Julian dressed up in the back... avoiding his eyes to not spy quickly... why did this demon had to get him so nervous.

"Given we are roomies you wouldn't mind going to a party with me tonight right?"

"We are supposed to get up early, Julian?"

"No biggy, its done before midnight but-"

The Demon leaned over James shoulder still shirtless... making the situation not easier for him.

"I wanted to see if I could convince you with my dance move to share the bed later~"

"We are going to share it anyways."

"I know but... You need to loosen up a little. You are always so stiff... a handsome knight like you deserves a break. <3"

He turned around and gave him a wink.

"Be carefull... being in a bed with me might let you wake up with some bite marks-"

"Can you stop that?"

It was a nightmarish day of tease he was unsure how to take... but at least he did get a bit of rest later... at least a little bit.

#twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland ocs #twst #disney twst #twst ocs #twistedwonderland #twistedwonderlandoc #barry parton #barry x steven #francine dalton #inessa winter #francine x inessa x regina #tenera brawzer #tenera x baalin #julian richter #julian x james

[coco-loco-nut]

The Captain’s Daughter (Alternate Ending)

Pairing: Bob Floyd x Reader/OC

Warnings: depression, sibling fluff, sadness, shitty version of an afterlife

Summary: Maverick adopted Goose and Carole’s daughter, she’s one hell of a pilot, and Bob is smitten

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | alternate ending | part 4

masterlist

_________________

     The heart monitor starts crashing, Jake and Bob rushing out of the room, Jake to go find a doctor, and Bob to find Maverick and Rooster who left moments ago to get food. Jake stands beside his best friend, willing her to wake up. Bob stands beside her head, looking down at the girl he's come to love, tears threatening to leak from his eyes. Maverick and Rooster are crying at the foot of the bed, begging her to stay alive. They just lost Ice, it's too soon.

     "I'm sorry," the ghost of Nicky stands beside Jake, although he can't hear or see her. "Thank you for getting them back safely, I forgive you for everything. You've always been my best friend."

    She knows her choice was selfish, that if she stayed, there was so much more to her life. But she's saved her family once now, and the pain she went through at the thought of losing them was something she could never feel again, even if it meant them going through that very pain. Selfish, yes, but she didn’t care. She died saving the ones she loved, which was more important to her than anything. Her life was complete. Plus, she just got her birth parents back, why would she lose them again? Maverick was a great father, and he would've done the same for her, but it was about time she got to know the ones she spent her whole life trying to make proud.

    "I love you Bob, take care of them for me," she whispers to the WSO who made her want to break every rule of dating her father ever made. She'll miss looking at him, talking to him, and flying with the shy lieutenant. They never officially became a couple, so it wasn't like she was losing much in that relationship, but she will never know what would've become. He deserves more than her, she will do her best make sure he gets his forever.

     "Dad, thank you for everything. I'll always be with you. I couldn't have asked for a better father, I love you," Maverick looks to where she's standing beside him, tears running down his cheeks. He heard her.

     "I'll always love you, sweetheart. You were the best thing to ever happen to me," he whispers only for the girl he raised as his own to hear. She feels bad knowing how much this must be hurting him, but he knows she's going to be with her parents and with Ice. That's enough for Pete. He knew she always wanted to know her parents like he did, it brings him peace to know she was happy.

     The hardest goodbye is saying goodbye to Bradley. The last Bradshaw, something she caused. Wrapping her arms around her older brother, no longer feeling the comforting warmth, she offers her apology. "I'm so sorry, Bradley, but I'll be with Mom, Dad, and Uncle Ice now. Make us proud and take care of everyone for me. But let them take care of you too, it's okay to reach out for help. I love you so much."

     A shiver is sent down Bradley's back as he feels something touch his shoulder, but no one is there. At the same time, the heart monitor attached to his sister flatlines. He knows what he felt was his sister, he knows she's gone. Silent tears stream down his face. The four men in the room come together, watching the girl they loved in their own unique way lose the week-long fight to stay alive. A lover, best friend, daughter, and sister.

     "Welcome home, kid," Tom says, hugging his bright-eyed niece as she returns. Her, Nick, and him all in their flight suits.

     "Thanks, I'm happy to be here and be with you, Mom, and Dad," she says as her parents join the two of them.

     "Why did you choose to stay?" Dad asks as we make our way to the volleyball pit. Him teaming with Mom and me with Ice.

    "I saw my future, and it was nice, perfect even, but I didn't want it. My life was fulfilling and perfect the way it was. I knew the risks when I chose to save Dad, Bradley, and Jake, and I accepted them. The only thing missing from my life was my birth parents. Dad told stories, but I want to get to know you myself. Plus, I'll see everyone again, and I can't wait to hear their stories when I do. In the meantime, I finally get to spend time with you and annoy everyone as a ghost," Nicole explains. Everyone here has their own base, with the exception of her family, who made one mega base. Nicole couldn’t wait to explore it all while her mom explained how the afterlife worked. 

    Her funeral and wake were somber, sadder than Iceman's. Rooster was the one to give her her final wings. There wasn't a dry eye for a couple rows. She had made the ultimate sacrifice in a show of love, it was moving. Against Goose's protests, she watched and comforted her friends. Her presence scared Payback, he's afraid of ghosts, he didn't appreciate the ghost touches and shivers.

    Mav kept her flight helmet right beside his, eventually gifting them to Rooster. The pair helped Bob and Jake get out of their depressions, they didn’t have anyone to lean on like Mav and Rooster had each other.

    She watched over their lives, helping when missions turned dire. She wasn't ready to add any more volleyball teams. She made sure they had someone to love them and to love back. She listened as Rooster told stories about her, and she listened about how some sailors thought the ship was haunted by her ghost as she tries to complete the mission. When her friends swore she was there protecting their back, she would purposefully mess with them, only conforming it to them. That was the kind of shit she would do alive.

     Bob was the first one of the group to join them at 50 years old -Mav passed a few years ago shortly after Penny- and she had been the one to greet him. He died peacefully, a car accident gone wrong. He never married, opting to be a dog dad his whole life.

     "Hi Bob," the ghost of his love smiles. She's in her bomber jacket full of patches, a white tee, and jean shorts.

    "Nicole," he kisses her, something he wished he had done his whole life.

    "I missed you. We have a lot to catch up on," she smiles, leading him through a door and away from the flowers.

    Catch up they did. Goose took a bit to warm up to Bob, but Mav and Gatsby had told him so many stories about Bob, it was hard to dislike the kid. Bob was instantly welcomed to flights with everyone, and Carole took him on as a volleyball partner. Bob joined Goose and Gatsby when they went to do their pranking shenanigans on the physical plane. Phoenix and Rooster had never been more scared in their old age.

     One by one more bases were established in the afterlife as their friends joined them. However, the Kazansky/Mitchell/Bradshaw base was by far the most popular due to beach volleyball, routine flights, and Penny’s afterlife version of the Hard Deck. 

#robert bob floyd #bob floyd #bob top gun #robert bob floyd x oc #bob floyd x oc #captain pete maverick mitchell #rooster #tom iceman kazansky #nick goose bradshaw

[sunnyrosewritesstuff]

This is my favorite review segment! These are self-chosen and I swear every year it gets harder!

Top 5 Writings of 2023

5. Temporarily in Different Worlds

Thorin pulled him in close and held him tightly as he shut his eyes against the place where he would be forced to watch Bilbo leave him. Thorin pulled back only far enough to meet Bilbo’s lips, pressing and sucking as if he could drink the ocean straight from Bilbo’s mouth. Bilbo was the one to break their kiss, but only leaning far enough away for their foreheads to still be pressed together.

“I love you, Thorin.” He murmured.

“I love you, too. Promise me you’ll be safe?” 

“I promise.”

“Promise me you’ll come back?”

Bilbo’s lips quirked in a small smile. “Now that I’ve found you, nothing but ice could keep me away.”

4. The Twelve Transformations of Bilbo Baggins

“So this quest…it’s to get back the part that makes you feel incomplete?” Bilbo questioned.

“Yes, but not in the way I thought.” Thorin grumbled.

Bilbo watched as he seemed to be trying to pick through his words. He had to wonder how much harder it was for him to have this conversation in Westron instead of his native language of Khuzdul.

“You see, my father’s was Family. He always knew he was going to find that in another person. But my mother’s was Creating. So she threw herself into her work as a smith and no one, not even the Crown Prince, was going to distract her. But there’s a feeling you get when you know you’ve found ‘a right path’. It’s a warmth that consumes your entire being, and therefore, if you’re ever in danger of losing it…it’s coldness that nearly robs you of all your senses. It was this feeling my mother felt when my father was injured in an orc attack that made her realize, he was her path. And she ended up with her greatest creations, or so she said, my siblings and me.”

Bilbo smiled, thinking of his own mom at that point. She always called him her ‘greatest adventure’. 

“Did you feel the coldness when Smaug came?” He asked, curious about this One business.

“Yes.” Thorin admitted slowly. “But there was another time I felt it.”

“When?”

Thorin’s gaze, which had drifted, immediately snapped back to connect with Bilbo. Holding him in his earnesty that had Bilbo’s toes curling at the foreign sensation.

“With you. When you were being held by two trolls, threatened to be ripped apart."

3. Ambassador to Madness

Bilbo thought about the sheer sleeves again, and felt like his entire face would catch fire at any moment as he realized the level of unrespectability he had been enduring.

“Thorin, have I been appearing…prurient?”

What could only be described as a whine came from Thorin taking Bilbo’s embarrassment to mortification.

“Sweet Yavanna! I can’t do this now. Just what was Bifur thinking?!”

“It is very tastefully handled! Everyone here is just going to think that you’re…”

“Promiscuous?” Bilbo growled.

“...exotic.”

“Why did Bifur do this to me?” Bilbo groaned.

“Because he’s a very good tailor.” Thorin mumbled under his breath.

2. Just to See You Happy

“Balin.” Bilbo’s voice wobbled. “Why are you doing this? Is it…because of him?”

Frodo had so many questions. Who were they talking about? And why did it make them so sad? After a long moment, Balin released a sigh.

“Much like Erebor, the loss of Khazad-dum is an injustice that we can finally correct. Are you asking if our previous adventure still affects me? Well, lad, doesn’t it us all?”

And 1! A Light in the Dark

Thorin immediately ducked his head, and if Bilbo wasn’t so sure it was an emotion he deemed beyond Thorin Oakenshield, he would almost say that he reacted shyly. 

“I also don’t like the dark.” He claimed in a soft, near whisper. “I wasn’t afraid of it, but…mountain caves are darker than dark. I mean, look at this.” 

Thorin’s arms swept out over the view before them.

“The stars, the moon, even your insects. Even when it’s dark you can still see. The mountain isn’t like that. You’re just…trapped and blind. And the pressure! There is nothing like the pressure of having an entire mountain looming above you, and you’re the one who has to shoulder the responsibility, you’re the one who has to rise to meet their expectations…”

Of course, there were some that I couldn't throw away when I was making my list so here's my honorable mention list! If there's a scene or line that I wrote this year that didn't make it on this list but you felt like it should...feel free to add on!

To Spoon Feed You Comfort (New WIP)

He continued his thought though in that low, deep drawl of his. “I had you pegged five seconds into our meeting.”

Bilbo swallowed around the tight lump forming in his throat. 

“Please, enlighten me.” Bilbo challenged.

Thorin held eye contact for a long moment, before his shoulders squared back, as if in effort to pull himself up taller. Bilbo refused to be cowed though, which seemed to be noticed by the twitch in Thorin’s eyebrow and the quirk of his lips.

“You have the biggest burrow in the town. I noticed as I passed by…twice, thinking it had to be an inn or a palace.”

Bilbo opened his mouth to interrupt, but Thorin continued.

“So you are a hobbit lord which means you probably have too much time and too much money on your hands. You are polite, kind-hearted, considering you haven’t thrown us out yet, but you don’t go out of your way to help people if tonight has been any indicator. You thirst for adventure, as noted by the sheer volume of maps on your walls, but you fear danger. Because why else would you still be here?

And that’s what can’t be overlooked. I can handle spoiled, pompous, inexperience, but your fear would doom us. All I’ve asked of my kin is loyalty, honor, and a willing heart. I can afford to accept no less from you. And if that is something you can’t give, stay here.”

Bilbo swallowed and swallowed again after Thorin had finished, his eyes having fallen to his toes long before Thorin had finished. It was perhaps the third time that he tried to speak that he realized he absolutely hated how close to the truth Thorin actually managed to land. The only part Bilbo felt he could argue was he wasn’t kind-hearted. He hasn’t felt anything but cold and numb in that cavity for a very long time.

Seeing Stars

“I don’t hate you.”

Bilbo honestly didn’t know what to say to that. Thank you? It certainly didn’t help Bilbo’s current predicament any as his body already began to mistake Thorin’s assurance as a confession. Before Bilbo could even breath a word though, Thorin gave a pained cry before crumpling to the ground. Gollum stood behind him with an oversized rock looking rather proud of himself before scrambling away.

Webcam

 “Not the butter, you brute!”

Oakenshield: Prince or Thief? (New WIP)

“Well you are proving to be a very accommodating captive. Do you do this often?”

“You’d be the first who dare attempt it.” Thorin responded.

“Ah.” The hobbit grinned before leaning in to whisper in Thorin’s ear. “I’ll be sure to take it nice and slow then.”

#sunny says stuff #year in review #top 5 writings #were any of these you guys favorites? #tell me more!

[missvifdor]

Tsfgae : Tome 2

I recently bought and finished volume 2 of the school of Good and Evil.  And loved it and can't wait to get book 3!  Like last time, I'm going to give my general opinion and on the characters, trying not to spoil the plot!  I'm going to start with our heroines, ending with the new character that we were given to discover.  So:

SOPHIE : At the beginning of my reading, I was able to find the Sophie that I had discovered in volume 1. Egocentric, Her funny and annoying personality, her contempt for her father and her love of the spotlight. But we also feel that her experience at school has also changed her and we feel her fear of becoming the horrible witch she once was, which is why she clings so much to Agatha that she now considers no only as her saviour, her anchor, but also now really her friend in a much less superficial way. We FEEL that she needs Agatha by her side to convince herself that she will never again become the horrible thing she turned into. Of course she remains quite despicable towards the other villagers of Galvadon but now she is trying on a deeper level to be better. She wants to convince herself that she is capable of doing good and I feel her struggle with it throughout the book. And then when things start to heat up, I think she really matures and is a much better friend here than she was in book 1. The ending broke my heart and because of the fears and from the suspicions of those she called the people who matter to her, she actually ended up becoming what they feared she would become again. And it's all their fault. From my point of view, Sophie really tried and, I think, swapped roles with Agatha in this volume 2. She has so much faith in Agatha and their friendship, it was overwhelming. Also, her search for true love (now that I know the deeper meaning) makes her an even more interesting character to me, I really enjoyed Sophie in this read and she goes back to the top of my list of my favorite characters by Tsfgae.

AGATHA : I loved Agatha in volume 1. In this one, I think she goes down to second place of my favorite characters in the series at the moment. Her fears and suspicions are valid, after what she endured at school before returning to Galvadon I think she has a right to feel the way she does. However, now it is she who refuses to see the truth about her deepest desires, as was the case with Sophie in volume 1, which is what led them into the disastrous situation in which everyone is at school (although of course, Sophie has her fair share of responsibility). What breaks my heart is that the Agatha in volume 1 would never have doubted Sophie despite his actions, but it's very different in volume 2. She also wants her "True Happy Ending" so badly. Agatha forces herself so much to believe that she trusts her friend (trust that she doesn't feel at all) that it's almost sad. And also breaking my heart, she broke Sophie's with mine in the process. I think if Agatha hadn't been so scared of the witch's return, they might have had a chance.

TEDROS: First of all... TEDROS WHAT DID YOU MAKE SO FUCKS?! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR SPIRIT?! Tedros was already on a thin layer of ice in Book 1 but boy...I get he's from a place where he's instilled that to get to his happy ending you obviously have to kill the "bad guy" but man... think with your brain! Didn't his meeting with Agatha teach him anything?! And then he goes from bad to worse (and okay, it was a misunderstanding) but what happened with the Grand Master should have taught him a lesson! But noooo, sir prefers to think with his ego! In the end, he is almost better and then... he becomes a fool again! Someone give this boy a working brain and rid him of his Mommy Issues, please! I feel like taking my sandal, throwing it in his face and insulting him with the worst French insults I know! Anyway welcome to the BI family, Tedros, even if irritating and stupid you are on some level, I'm glad you discovered yourself on a deeper level.

HESTER: She is in my top 3 characters that I will defend body and soul! This girl is awesome and even though she sucks at being Dot's friend, she's still one of my favorites!

ANADIL: Same thing for Anadil as for Hester.

DOT: I was so happy and sad for Dot, she finally felt accepted and loved school. Anadil and Hester are not tender with her, despite everything she remains their friend. I just think she deserves better.

HORT: My poor darling! Not only is he heartbroken but they don't even treat him well in his school when he does everything to make himself useful 😭 I was hoping he would be better in Volume 2 but obviously he continues to be everyone's punching bag, he doesn't deserve that! Volume 3 better give him the happiness he deserves!

BEATRIX : Our number 1 bootlicker didn't change much in the end, trying to be the favorite of the new character from book 2! Besides, I will add that many of the Ever girls were still as much of a hypocrite as possible. Maybe Kiko was the least hypocritical of them all.

TRISTAN : MY HEART IS BROKEN ! THIS ENTIRE BOOK WAS INTENDED TO BREAK MY HEART AND CRUSH IT INTO A THOUSAND PIECES!

LADY LESSO: In Volume 2 we got a lot more insight into our favorite Dean for Evil and I'm so glad! His secret didn't really surprise me because I was spoiled before reading this volume, however, I think it adds a little depth to his character and I'm waiting to know more about his background.

PROFESSOR DOVEY: Much less present but still nice to see anyway. And I always hear about his interactions with Lady Lesso 🤭

EVELYN SADER: Here she is, the new face of faculty and characters. Suffice to say that from the start of its appearance in the book, I was intrigued. Her physique, her personality, her intriguing insects following her everywhere (her outfit is pretty cool, it made me want to draw her for later). His powers are as intriguing as they are cool and dangerous, in my opinion. I loved and hated her in a common measure, especially when she had this "discussion" with Lady Lesso and what she did to Sophie. Very happy with her fate at the end, hoping that she will not make an appearance again in the next volumes. There's some new stuff she brought to school for girls that I can appreciate, however the rest is really stereotypical (even if it's less than what Evergirls was asking for in Volume 1, the rest seems incredibly ridiculous and dangerous).

#school for good and evil #sge #sge agatha #Sge Agatha #sge movie #sge netflix #sge spoilers #professor dovey #lady lesso #Tsfgae #tsfgae sophie #Tsfgae Agatha #sophie of woods beyond #sophie of gavaldon #agatha of gavaldon #agatha of woods beyond #Tsfgae Book

[trustmeifyoudare]

The Wonder Twins (Chapter 1: Make a Wish)

Allegra and Felix had been best friends for as long as they could remember. It was just how things were. Their parents said that they were acting as all children do when they finally meet someone their age: form a friendship because there is nothing else better to do. That once they grew up and went to school they wouldn’t even remember each other. But the pair didn’t care what their parents thought. To them it was real.

Despite their parents’ best efforts to keep them apart so they could “grow out of childhood illusions”, they were put into the same class, year after year. It was almost like the universe had other plans for them. Everyday after school they would meet up to do their homework together. The would sneak into their parents’ wine cellars and steal bottles just to say that they could. They would stay up all night, watching the stars in Allegra’s backyard where there wasn’t that much light pollution. When they were together it was like they could forget the increasing pressure put on them from society and their parents and just be themselves.

One warm summer night, Allegra and Felix laid down on a hill, looking up into the stars They were quiet, something that did not happen often. Allegra looked over at Felix, who was ripping apart a blade of grass. There was obviously something wrong.

“How long is forever?” Felix asked, breaking the silence.

“Well, it’s forever. It never ends, I guess. It just keeps going on and on.”

“We- we are going to be best friends forever, right?”

Why did Felix feel like he had to ask that? “Of course we are, Fe. Nothing could ever separate us.” She smiled at him and he gave her a little one back.

Felix pointed up at the sky, where a shooting star was flying past. “Make a wish.”

Allegra wished for the normal things that a child wished for. An ice cream cone, a pony, that her parents would love her.

“What did you wish for?” Felix asked.

Allegra paused. Thought. “That everything could stay like this forever.”

Forever. 

They fell quiet again. It wasn’t until what felt like hours later that Felix said, “I’m moving.” It was so quiet that Allegra almost didn’t hear it. She froze. Looked over at Felix. Who was crying.

Some people think that the universe is kind and benevolent, giving us friends and family out of the goodness of its heart. But in that moment Allegra knew the truth. The universe is cruel. It gives so it can take away.

She shook her head. “No. You can’t be.”

“Mummy wants us to be closer to my uncle because of some business deal that they have, so we are moving to Paris.

No. This couldn’t be happening.

“We are still going to use the mansion, but it will just be a vacation home. It’s not like we will never see each other again.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile but it came out as more of a grimace.

The universe is greedy. It takes what it can: our memories, our lives, our happiness. It gives us a false sense of security and then crushes it before our eyes.

They stayed there until the sun was well over the horizon. A week later Felix was gone. He never came back. After his father died a few months later, his mother couldn’t stand the thought of going back to the empty house, so she sold it. Forgot about it. Like the family that lived there never existed.

Allegra and Felix moved on. Pretended to forget about each other. About the friendship they used to have.

Eventually you will forget the promises you make, whispered in the times you thought anything was possible. You won’t remember the birthdays and the times you snuck out of the house. The memories will fade until its like they never really happened.

It turns out that forever does have an end, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

#THIS IS NOT A HAPPY STORY #IF YOU WANT A HAPPY STORY THIS IS NOT IT #miraculous ladybug #miraculous pv #allegra baudelaire #felix graham de vanily #felix fathom #the wonder twins #fanfiction #fanfic

[midwintermasque]

Storyline: Tea at Heliotrope - Part One

Part One TIme is a slippery thing. One minute, Heliotrope was preparing for the Masque, and the next it was the beginning of winter, another Masque looming in the distance. Mena wondered where the time went and why it went so quickly. One look at the mountain of paperwork on her desk and she knew where. ‘I really need to finalize my Second,’ she thought as she dragged another pile of paperwork over. RIght now—much to the scandal of anyone who mentioned it to her—she had delegated the work of the Second (and a bit of the Dowayne’s, if she was honest) out to three different people: One handled incoming novices and fosterlings; one managed the household staff; the other did the Day Errands, as they were called, the things that the Dowayne couldn’t be seen to be handling in the decent hours after dark. That left Mena handling everything else, and that was still a lot. Many of her duties from before she had yet to let go of, but as it was, she was drowning in work. She needed a break so she could get her own head right. As if summoned, there was a knock on her open office door, and Mena looked up to see Vouloir, one of the older novices, standing in the doorway holding a tray. Mena smiled, pushing her paperwork aside. “Loir, come in, my sweet.” Vouloir smiled like the sun itself, approaching the desk and setting down a tray laden with a pot of tea, a small stack of cups, a dish of shaved ice, fruit, and sweetened milk, and, most surprisingly, a crisp ivory envelope. Her training kicked in, and Mena smiled in return, gesturing towards the empty chair, “Please, please, sit down, child. Have a cup of tea and a bite of this with me.” “Lady Dowayne, I don’t want to intrude,” Vouloir replied, her hand lingering on the arm of the indicated chair. “Mena. You may call me Mena in this part of the House. Especially since you’ll be making your offering to Namaah next week. As for interrupting me, I am in desperate need of a distraction.” Vouloir nodded, a small smile on her face. “As you wish, Mena. It would be nice to sit for a moment.” She filled two cups with tea and handed one to Mena along with a spoon. As she pulled her chair closer to the desk, she asked, “Aren’t you curious about the envelope?” Mena didn’t even spare it a glance, “Not at the moment. I am sure it just brings me more work. Indulge me, tell me about the preparations for your dedication.” Vouloir beamed. “Well, Mother and Father are coming into town, her old House is putting them up for the week. And grandmother and two of my aunts are coming up from Jebe-Barkal to do our traditional ceremony of womanhood. We considered having them stay here, but I ended up trading favors with Jasmine so they’ll be well treated and can go home with something to brag about. They’ve never been to the Night Court before.” Mena smiled. “I am glad to see you so happy to have your family witness your dedication and to honor your father’s homeland as well. I would, of course, love to host them any time they come, but I can see why you’d want some space between your House and them, particularly since it’s their first visit.” Vouloir nodded, “Next time they can stay here and know that the sun warms as well in Terre D’Ange as it does in the deserts. Now, my Lady, the envelope. I feel as though I might perish with excitement! What if it’s a love letter?” She gestured with her spoon at the envelope. Mena laughed. “Loir, my sweetest child, I doubt that. I have no regular patrons, so it could not be a love letter. It has been many summers since I received a love letter. Besides, this new tea and even newer dessert are so much more interesting than a letter that’s probably just some artisan or another wanting our aid to show their goods to the Mont.” She waved her own spoon. “I am not going to tell my own adepts how to dress, why would I agree to tell the whole Court? Besides, I am not Cereus.” Vouloir picked up the envelope and studied it. “Yes, Mena, the roasted grain tea is so well matched with the dessert the cook just learned of. I think it suits better than most of the leaf teas we have in the House. Now this envelope.” She brought it near her face and inhaled, her eyes closed. “It smells like old books, wine, and candles. And the paper is too fine to be from an artisan, plus the ink is such a deep dark blue; it had to have cost a pretty penny. This has to be from someone important! You have to open it!” Mena sighed and waved her hand. “Go ahead, Loir, open it for me.” Vouloir froze. “Pardon? My Lady? You want me, not even an adept, to open mail addressed directly to the Dowayne by name?” Mena considered the words and then nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Open it. I am sure it’s nothing. And if it’s something, you’ll be able to tell everyone you knew first because your Dowayne let you into her confidence. Vouloir snorted. “I would never. What happens here, stays here, you taught me that.” The young woman carefully opened the envelope, setting aside the wax seal, and pulling out the heavy paper within. As she read, her eyes widened. “Mena, it is from a Lord of the Shahrizai, requesting a meeting!” Mena made a face of confusion. “What on Earth is a Shahrizai doing asking to come to Heliotrope?” She took the letter from Vouloir’s shaking hands and read it through calmly. “Ah, Count Niklos. I have met him before at other events. This makes sense now. He wants to come to discuss the current state of affairs with me.” Vouloir gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Will you do it? Will you meet with him?” Mena nodded, setting the letter aside and returning her attention to the dessert. “Of course. Not only is he a Peer of the Realm, but he’s asking so politely. When we finish, have one of the runners head over to his estate, and indicate that he is welcome to come in three days' time.” Vouloir nodded but still asked, “Me? Me dispatch a runner?” Mena nodded and smiled at the girl. “Yes, like I said, we’re in confidence now Vouloir, my sweet.” *** Niklos was not surprised by Jacob informing him that a runner had stopped by, wearing the colors of Heliotrope. Nor was he surprised at the invitation provided. Jacob looked at him slightly askance, but he allowed it. The man had been instrumental in the situation with the Dahlia, and he was quickly affirming both Niklos’s personal trust and the trust of the family. Niklos was certain that the man had been placed as a spy for someone in the family, but nothing he had planned went against the family stipulations. “Three days?” He asked, looking at Jacob, who nodded. “Very well then. make certain the family coach is prepared. Once I get to the Mont, it won’t particularly matter, but I want the statement of the coach moving through the City. I want the people to know that the Shahrizai haven’t wholly vacated the City.” Read the full article

#characters #fanfic #fantasy #heliotrope #mena #nightcourt #niklos #roleplay #Shahrizai #storyline

[anniebrainrots]

Family

In which you reflect upon yours and Technoblade’s shared past. 

=============

warnings: mentions of violence (nothing too graphic), slight gore, angst, SBI family dynamic, no y/n 

wc: 3.2k 

notes: i’m sorry if there are any grammatical errors, i really tried my best :,) 

===========

You can’t remember a time when you and Technoblade actually fought. You had always been attached at the hip, you had watched him grow up from a young boy full of ambition and fire to an accomplished man with strong ideals and a fierce personality. That’s one of the things that you had prided yourself in, well, that and your impeccable ability to calm the pink-haired piglin. 

You remember the first time the voices had appeared; he had come to you after he had gone hunting with Phil for the first time. He had mentioned his first kill, how it had awoken something in him, how it almost felt like he had been running on autopilot when he shot the arrow. You hadn’t known how to talk to him through his episodes then, though with years you had learned what to say to not set him off. 

The first time he had killed a man hadn’t been that long after his first hunt. A bandit had come to your small camp in the forest in the middle of the night. You couldn’t have been older than twelve at the time, Techno being thirteen. You had been held at knifepoint, held in front of Phil and Wilbur while the hybrid had gone out to get more firewood when your campfire dwindled. You remember seeing horror cross the two faces in front of you before the grip on your neck had loosened and a man had dropped right to the floor. You had tried your best to erase traces of that night from your memory, but the thin scar on your neck always made a point to remind you of it. 

He had changed since then, an insatiable thirst for bloodlust had festered deep within him, unable to be satisfied. He hadn’t been too good at controlling the voices at that time, and the first time he had lost control in your presence he couldn’t bear to look at you for a week out of shame. It had taken the help of Phil, Wilbur, and even Tommy to talk him out of separating himself from you. After that, your bond with him had only grown stronger. When you had left the family to pursue your own adventure with Techno, you had learned how to talk to him, to ease the voices that always screamed at him. 

The second time he had lost control around you it hadn’t been directed at you. The both of you had entered a tournament for money, and the result had been devastating for you. Techno had gotten his long hair cut short while your wings had ended up getting chopped off. It had been a foul play, ambushed from the back while you had fought another in front of you. Techno had seen nothing but red, finishing off both people before consoling you the best he could. You had mourned the loss of your flight and your precious wings for weeks, not eating and barely alive, according to Techno. He had half the mind to send you back to Phil, doubting his abilities to protect you but you had insisted to stay with him, that you would simply be too ashamed to look your father in the eyes and tell him why your wings had no longer been on your back. 

Years later, even though you still held the loss of your wings close to your heart, you had learned to move on with the help of your companion, finding solace in causing chaos and taking down unjust governments. Naturally, when Wilbur and Tommy had called upon you both to help them with their revolution against a tyrant who had taken charge of their old country, you had been more than happy to come. 

The first few weeks had been spent catching up with your brothers, and you had exchanges of your adventures and their experiences running their country. You couldn’t help but notice darkness festering deep within Wilbur’s eyes, and one night he broke, asking Tommy if they had been the bad guys all along. You couldn’t bring yourself to tell them you had followed them that night, eavesdropping on their conversation. You had confided in Technoblade, the piglin merely dismissing your concerns for your brother as he urged you to start preparing for the war. You had tried to ignore it, the way Wilbur’s tongue dripped with acid every time he had spoken of L’manburg, the way Tommy had flinched when Wilbur would walk into the same room, the way Wilbur constantly disappeared in the dead of the night when he had thought no one was watching. But you had been, you had always been watching him. 

The day he hid behind Dream, the man that had nearly killed Tommy twice in their war against the Dream SMP, you had nearly taken it upon yourself to incapacitate Wilbur. Technoblade, as war-hungry as he always had been, paid no attention to this, which had angered you greatly. Once you had learned of Wilbur’s planting of hundreds of TNT underneath L’manburg, you had tried to talk him out of it. 

“L’manburg is a fallen nation, birdie. It’s done nothing but cause pain for everyone, so why does it have to exist? You wouldn’t understand, you weren’t there when we built it, so stay out of our fucking business or leave.” The nickname that Wilbur had given you in your youth sounded like nothing but pure venom and ice, and his words had stung you far more than anything else. 

That night, you had approached Technoblade; you couldn’t help but notice how you had been falling apart due to how busy he had become with his preparations.  It had been obvious to you how stressed he was, spacing out more frequently while you had conversed. When you brought up your concern over Wilbur’s plans, he lashed out. 

“God, you’re so annoyin’, always havin’ concern over what Wilbur wants to do or not. The man ran the country way before we even got here so why do you care so much?” 

“I’m worried because everyone’s life is on the line here, Techno. You’re telling me you’d let your brothers fight in a war that will end up in explosions? What about Tommy, you’re gonna let him go through with this? Why can’t you see that Wilbur’s gone crazy, and he needs to be stopped?” 

“I can’t let you do that. No matter what you want, I promised to help Wilbur and if you don’t agree with his ideals, then just leave. We don’t want you here.” For the second time that night alone, you had been told to leave by some of the most important people in your lives. You choked back the rising sob in your throat, letting your sadness dissipate and anger take over. You had marched right out of his base, not a single call of your name from the man you had just spoken with, and you had concluded that that would be the last time you would talk to him. 

You had gone deep into the forest into your small cottage, taking all of your valuables and putting them in your ender chest, stuffing food and all of your weapons into your bags where they had fit. You had taken a few pieces of TNT, no one needed the rest of these items anyways. You had been deep enough in the forest that the explosion would not be heard from anywhere near PogTopia, so you had quickly ignited the TNT and watched as your house exploded onto tiny remnants. A small crater had been left in its place, small enough to pass off as a creeper explosion in the night. 

Your second stop had been to Tommy’s quarters, where you had found him sitting by his bed. 

He had looked up at you in slight confusion, noting your packed bags and outdoor attire. He had wondered if you were going to go scouting in L’manburg and almost wanted to ask if he could come, but you had cut him off before he could. 

You handed him a sword, the first one you had ever made with your own hands when you were barely his age. 

“What’s this for? And why are you dressed like that?” 

You gave him a watery smile, “this sword helped me survive all this time, so I hope it serves you well in the war. And I can’t fight alongside you anymore, Tommy. Technoblade and Wilbur had made that very clear tonight.” 

“What? Wilbur? I’ll go speak to him right now if he’s makin’ you leave. You can’t leave, you just can’t!” Tommy stood to his full height, arms wrapping themselves around your smaller form. You patted his back, offering words of comfort. 

That night, you had left with a heavy heart, and despite your rather unpleasant last experiences with Will and Techno, you couldn’t help but to think of them fondly from time to time. 

That led to where you are now, in the Tundra, in a humble cottage in the middle of a clearing. There’s a village nearby, with wonderful farmers offering you discounted golden carrots for all the help you provided for them in the past 6 months. 

You never did find out the outcome of that war, and something tells you that it didn’t end in celebrations. You traveled far enough that even news from L’manburg would be unlikely to reach all the way here. Still, though, you can’t help but wonder where Technoblade is, if he’s been taking care of himself, if he’s even still alive. You snort at that, of course he’s still alive; Technoblade never dies. 

One day, you wake up with a slightly more cheery attitude than most other mornings. You prance around your house, humming songs to yourself while you clean and cook. It’s quiet, like it always is, and sometimes you find yourself wishing you’re back to the old days, when everything was loud, chaotic, and bloody. The silence, however, is a luxury you never knew you needed. 

Your black cape and golden crown (one that Techno gave you in order to match with him), hangs in your closet, unused. 

You make sure to polish the crown once a week, it being a gift from a man you harbored feelings for since your youth, you couldn’t bear to leave it to collect dust. You sigh wistfully, placing the newly polished crown on your head while looking at your reflection in the mirror. 

You can’t help but notice the way your features have softened, given your lifestyle with Techno over the years, you were almost never given a break from all of the bloodshed. Your eyes are brighter, and your face gleamed with a newfound glow, one that had always been stained by dirt and grime from the battlefield. You note faint scars running down your arms, a brief moment of insecurity passing through you as you remember the perfectly clean complexion the village women had. 

You’re cut off by your thoughts by a rapid and harsh knock on your front door, and you rush to take off the crown and place it back in your closet and head back downstairs. It’s odd, almost no one visits the Tundra, so the very idea that someone is knocking on your door is already incredibly bizarre. You figure it’s probably a wandering trader, a very impatient one sounding from the hurried knocks. 

You open the door roughly and step back slightly in shock. Phil stares back at you with equal emotion in his eyes, he obviously wasn’t expecting you to answer the door. Your gaze shifts to the man by his shoulders, hanging limply with his head down. 

“Help,” is all Phil’s able to say before you quickly wrap your arms around Techno’s midsection and lead him to lay down on your couch. Blood pools around his waist staining your cushions, but you can’t even acknowledge that. He’s passed out and pale, so you make quick work to tend to his injuries, finding him improperly wrapped in loose bandages. 

After cleaning his injuries, the worst of which being a stab wound on his midsection and a large gash on the arm, you wrap him with bandages and give him healing potions to speed up the recovery. With the help of your adopted father, you move Techno to your bed, closing the door before joining Phil on the floor near the fireplace. 

Phil watches you sit down next to him, eyeing your bloody hands before blinking away to stare at the flickering flame. He also notices your wings, or lack thereof, but chooses to stay silent. 

“What happened? Why is Techno like that?” 

He’s silent for a moment before answering, “after the big battle, they reclaimed L’manburg but reinstituted Tubbo as the new president. Techno didn’t like that, so he fought back. It was him against everyone else. After that he fled to escape but someone was able to shoot him down with an arrow and stab him. I knocked the guy out and tried to fix Techno, but I couldn’t do that with everyone chasing us down. So, I took him on a boat and ended up here. Gave him enough healing potions to not die, but I barely had enough. Thank god we found you.” 

You go quiet at that, a question annoying you at the back of your mind. 

“Did he do it?” From your tone, the man realizes you’re referring to Wilbur, and his heart clenches at the fresh memory. 

“He did. I barely got there in time, mate. I tried to talk him out of it but…” he trails off, shoving his face into his hands to hide his tears, “I killed him.” 

Your shoulders slump in sympathy, about to comfort him, “Phil, it’s not your faul—” 

“No. I literally killed him. When he pressed the button, he gave me his sword and…” this time he lets out a weak laugh, “did I do the right thing, birdie? Was I right to kill my own son?” 

You can’t wrap your head around that. “Wilbur’s dead?” 

Phil cries quietly to himself, nodding his head to affirm your thoughts, making you let out a small ‘oh’. 

You’re at a loss for words. Sure, Wilbur had been nothing but toxic to you the last time you had seen him, but that didn’t overshadow the years of love and affection he had given you in your childhood. Deep down, you knew the Wilbur you had seen last had been nothing but the shell of the person that gave you piggy back rides when you were learning to fly so you can experience being off your feet, of the person that bandaged your knee when you had tripped and had been too scared to tell Phil you had gotten hurt, of the person that sang you songs on his guitar whenever you felt restless at night because he knew they helped you sleep. Wilbur is—was—your brother. 

“He went crazy, Phil. Too clouded by his emotions to think straight. He endangered the lives of everyone around him. He wasn’t Wilbur anymore at that time, Phil. He was just a man that had lost everything, too scared to rebuild from scratch that he just destroyed his work so no one else could have it. It was like watching a child who lost their favorite toy. Jesus, Phil, if you’d seen him then…” You watch the crackling fire, words caught in your throat, unable to finish the sentence, silence lying heavily in the air. “He needed to be stopped.” 

The man you saw as your father goes quiet, and from the corner of your eyes you see just how this man aged. Despite being immortal, Phil always had what you called ‘sleepy eyes’ referring to the way he seems to constantly have bags underneath his eyes that made him look sleep deprived despite being well-rested; a trait that Wilbur inherited, and Techno had purely because of his lack of a proper sleep schedule. Tommy used to tease them about it, despite having developed it slightly after his staying up with you, Wilbur, and Techno in the dead of the night to sneak out when Philza was asleep. 

“Guess we’re both flightless now, huh?” You ask after a moment, studying his burned feathers that would surely never heal properly enough for him to take flight. He let out a humorless chuckle, dull eyes closing for a moment. 

“I tried to shield him from the explosion but it resulted in quite some irreversible damage.” He stretches his wings out, barely even a quarter of its original length, black feathers singed and unrecognizable. He gives you a glance from the side, “you never told me about yours.” 

You hum, and your back burns with phantom pain. “I lost them in an arena. A couple years after we left, Techno and I participated in this free-for-all arena and some guy ambushed me from behind and cut them off.” Your left hand grips your sleeve, images of red and withering feathers flashing before your eyes. You feel a gentle hand on your back, and all of it stops. 

You and Phil sit together in well-appreciated silence, basking in each other’s presence after so many years of no contact. A shuffle from the other room catches your attention, you turn and see Techno stepping out of the room, one hand supporting himself on the wall and the other wrapped around his midsection, tight against his fresh wound. You and him make eye contact for a split second before you turn away and he redirects his gaze to Phil. 

From the corner of your eyes you see them staring at each other, having what seems to be a silent conversation before the older man sighs and gets up. He pats you on the head once and gives Techno a nod before stepping outside. Uh oh. You know what’s coming next and you don’t know if you’re ready for it. You say nothing when you hear approaching footsteps from behind you, staring at the dwindling flame in the fireplace. You say nothing when he sits behind you on the couch, unable to sit on the floor because of his injuries. You say nothing when you turn around from your sitting position on the floor to look up at him. 

Despite only being apart for 6 months, Techno sure looks older. Maybe it had been the effects of war, but both you and him have gone through countless battles before and you had never seen his face like this. Grim, serious, unapproachable. Something in his eyes flicker when he stares at you; pity, remorse. 

“I’m sorry.” Techno says after a moment, looking guilty as his facade slowly breaks. 

You don’t know what to say. The Blood God, infamous for his unyielding wrath and immeasurable power, for his countless victories in war, for his presence made to induce fear upon people, bowing his head to you in remorse. Was this the same Blood God that you hear countless stories of? No, this is Techno. Your best friend, your partner in crime, your person. 

“I know.” 

#techno x reader #mcyt x reader #mcyt fanfiction #c!techno #dream smp techno #sbi family dynamic #sleepy bois x reader #sbi x reader #technoblade

[xreaderxo]

My Moon

Zuko x reader

Soulmate AU

genre: angst but with a good ending 

warning: death, sickness

summary: Every Fire Nation citizen gets a tattoo on their wrist when they turn sixteen. This tattoo shows the first words your soulmate will say to you. Some people find this person immediately, and spend the rest of their lives together. Some people never get the chance.

_

"Why do you keep that ribbon on your wrist?"

Zuko clenched his fists by his sides, exhaling a breath of fire in frustration. Sozin's Comet was in three days, and this was the fourth time Aang has stopped training to ask a question that had nothing to do with firebending.

"Aang," Zuko said impatiently, "Stop avoiding training."

"But I want to know!" Aang clasped his hands together. "That's where your soulmate's first words are, right? Why are they covered?"

Zuko groaned. "Because I don't have time for a soulmate. I was too focused on finding you, and now I need to focus on defeating my father."

"So you've never looked at it!?" Aang's eyes widened before he lunged forward. "Let me see! Let me see!"

"Wha- Aang!" Zuko yelled, trying to pry the airbender off of him as he stretched his right arm out of his reach. "Get off!"

"I want to know what your words are!"

"Why are you interested in my love life!?"

"Because I would kill to have what you have and you don't appreciate it!"

"Don't appreciate what?" Sokka asked, popping a grape into his mouth as he walked up to the hill where the two were sparring.

"Sokka!" Aang shouted. "Take Zuko's ribbon off!"

"Ooh, I love annoying Zuko!" Sokka said gleefully, grabbing Zuko's wrist and ripping the black fabric off. "Uh, why am I annoying Zuko?"

"Because Zuko's never looked at his soulmate tattoo!" Aang snatched a frozen Zuko's wrist and read it. "I want the last thing I see to be the moon," he read.

"Poetic." Sokka nodded approvingly. "I like them already, they like staring at my first girlfriend!"

Zuko blinked. "Wait, hold on- your first girlfriend actually turned into the moon? Like literally?"

That was a year ago. Zuko was Fire Lord now. Currently, he was headed to a secluded cliff he had found the day before to meditate. There was a sickness going around, and although it wasn't contagious, Iroh hadn't wanted him to be in a populated area. So, he was going to be alone away from other people.

Or so he thought.

He halted as he entered the clearing to the cliff. There was a person- you -lying down in the grass, staring at the moon. Remembering his tattoo, a spark of hope lit in his chest. He was Fire Lord. The war was over. It would be safe to fall in love. Maybe this was his soul mate.

His hope quickly turned to dread as he got closer. They had the sickness. Judging from their skin and frailty, they probably didn't even have an hour left.

Still, even if they aren't his soulmate, Zuko wasn't about to let anybody die alone.

"Uh, it's pretty cold out," he said as he got closer, and visibly winced. It wasn't cold. It was the middle of summer in the Fire Nation.

You shrugged, not having the strength to sit up to see who your soulmate was.. "I want the last thing I see to be the moon."

Zuko's breath hitched. "No," he whispered.

You chuckled bitterly. "We finally meet, and I'll be dead by morning. Sounds about right." you paused. "You can go, if you want. I don't want you to have to see this."

"I'm not letting my soulmate die alone," Zuko said determinedly, his legs shaking, and laid down beside you. You looked at him, and raised your eyebrows in shock as you recognized him.

"Well, look at that! If I hadn't gotten this cough, I would've been the queen!" you joked. "Nice to meet you, Fire Lord. I'm Y/N."

Y/N. It was the most beautiful word Zuko had ever heard.

"Just call me Zuko," he replied, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. You two laid there for a few minutes, drinking in each other's appearances. You knew he was handsome, as you'd seen his face plastered all over the Fire Nation for years. First listed as a traitor and most recently, Fire Lord. He was even more handsome up close. His amber eyes had flecks of fire orange in them. And his scar? You thought that it was the most handsome part of all. It showed he'd been through something terrible, and overcame it.

Zuko couldn't believe someone so beautiful could exist. You were gorgeous. Stunning. Even in your frail state, your complexion blemished from the sickness, your cheekbones jutting out sharply, Zuko had never seen anything so divine.

"Y/N?" he whispered, his eyes locked with yours.

"Yes, Zuko?"

He gulped, bringing his other hand to cup your cheek and resting his forehead on yours. "Tell me everything about you."

And so you did.

You told him your childhood. You told him about the first time you broke a bone. You told him how you felt when your father died. You told him that your favorite food is Roast Duck. You told him that you always planned on naming your daughter Izumi. You told him how you donated everything you owned to the Ursa Medical Center that Zuko had recently set up. You told him how excited you were whenever you heard that the Avatar had returned, because finally there would be peace.

"I was so happy that it was you who became Fire Lord and not somebody else." You had your head on his chest at this point, his legs tangled with yours.

"Why?" Zuko's fingers were running through your sweat-soaked hair, the wetness not registering.

"Because," you hummed, "You betrayed the Fire Nation to help the Avatar. You were willing to leave everything you'd ever known to bring peace." you paused, tilting your chin so you could look at him. "Plus, you're pretty cute, too."

Zuko blushed as the corners of his mouth turned upwards. "You think I'm cute? Have you seen yourself?"

You chuckled weakly. "Yeah, I'm a real dime piece right now." Zuko's hand stilled. He leaned up on one elbow so he could look down on you.

"Y/N," he said seriously, "You are incandescently beautiful. You are oh so pulchritudinous. You are the most stunning of all of God's creations."

You smiled at him. If your body could produce enough water for it, tears would be running down your face. "Thank you," you whispered. As Zuko laid back down, you spoke again. "Now, tell me everything about you."

So he did. He told you about his mother. He told you about being banished. He told you how it was trying to capture the Avatar. He told you about his time in Ba Sing Se. He told you about his uncle. He told you about being friends with the Avatar, and joining their group. He told you what it was like to face Azula. He told you about how Aang and Sokka had ripped off the ribbon, which you both shared a laugh at.

He sighed. "I wish we had more time," he choked out. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know I just met you, but I can't imagine living without you."

"Well, that's the thing about soulmates," you replied, running your hand through his hair and bringing his head down to yours until your lips were centimetres apart. "We'll never truly be apart."

And then Zuko was kissing you. He was kissing your lips and your nose and your cheeks and your forehead and your eyebrows and back to your lips. He was kissing you as though he thought that if he kissed you enough, he could save you. He was kissing you as if it would be the last kiss you would ever share, which was likely.

You were the one to break the kiss, as you were losing breath. You could feel it coming, and Zuko could, too. "I- I don't know what to do," he whimpered, holding you closer. "We've only known each other for an hour. We should be able to have a life together, to grow old together. It isn't fair!"

"Shh, Zuko," you hummed into the hollow of his neck. "We'll see each other again, my love. And whenever you miss me, just look at the moon. This," you pulled back and gestured to the moon above, "Is our moon. Forever." You laid your head back on his chest, and your voice was barely above a whisper when you next spoke. "Can you sing me to sleep?"

Zuko's heart was breaking, but he couldn't say no. "Of course," he hiccuped, choking back a sob, before he began singing a song his mother used to sing him.

“Deep in the meadow, under the willow A bed of grass, a soft green pillow Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes And when again they open, the sun will rise.

Here it's safe, here it's warm Here the daisies guard you from every harm Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true Here is the place where I love you.

Deep in the meadow, hidden far away A cloak of leaves, A moonbeam ray, Forget your woes and let your troubles lay And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.

Here it's safe, here it's warm Here the daisies guard you from every harm Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true Here is the place where I love you.”

As he finished the song, his heart stopped. You weren't breathing. Agony, the worst pain he’d ever felt, ripped through his chest. An inhuman scream erupted from his throat as he pulled your body into him, his tears falling. He'd just met you, and yet you had become his world. And you were gone.

He stayed there the entire night until Iroh found him the next morning, still clutching your ice-cold corpse. Iroh's heart snapped, immediately knowing what must have happened. It took hours to pry Zuko away from you. He spent the next week crying into Iroh's shoulder. "I don't think she heard me tell her I love her, Uncle," he sputtered before another sob wracked his shoulders.

"She knew," Iroh assured him. "I promise. She knew."

He arranged a funeral for you that was fit for a Fire Queen, and had you buried on the cliff where you had met.

_

Fire Lord Zuko's reign lasted sixty-seven years. After much pressure from his advisors about an heir, he did end up taking a wife. Her name was Mikoto, from a noble Fire Nation family. Her soulmate had died as well, so it was a perfect fit. They both knew they could never love another, but they were best friends.

They had a daughter, who Zuko named Izumi. He was still alive whenever she took over as Fire Lord, and he'd never been more proud of anything or anyone.

And yet, he still missed you. He thought about you every day, and every night he would sit and stare at the moon. Sometimes he would cry, thinking about what could have been. Other times he would be happy, telling you about Izumi's accomplishments. He would always sleep with the window open, so that the last thing he saw before he went to sleep was your moon.

He died at the age of one hundred in his sleep, his face still turned towards the moon.

_

Zuko's eyes opened to find himself in the Spirit World face to face with Iroh himself.

"Uncle!" he cried, wrapping him into a hug.

"Hello, Zuko!" Iroh said with a smile. "It's nice to see you again!"

"Hey Sifu Hotman, you better give me a hug, too!" Zuko whirled around to see Aang, and his smile widened as he jumped into the Avatar's arms. Stepping back, Zuko noticed that Aang was a lot older than he was.

"Why am I seventeen again?" he asked.

"For the same reason that I am twenty-five," Iroh explained, "The age I was when my son was born. Here, you remain the age you were when you were at your happiest."

"I was happiest when I was twenty-one, when Katara and I got married," Aang explained. "You're seventeen because that's how old you were when you met them."

Zuko froze as he heard footsteps behind him, before whirling around.

"Hello, My Love," you said. You were healthy and in a beautiful red gown. Zuko's breath hitched, his eyes filling with tears. He ran forward to envelop you in a hug.

"I've missed you, too," you chuckled as he peppered your face with kisses. The two of you stared at one another, soaking in each other's appearances yet again. He rested his forehead against yours.

"We can finally spend forever together," he said in what was meant to be a whisper, but he was so elated that it came out as a yell.

"I can't wait," you replied in the same tone.

"I love you." The words Zuko had been wanting to tell you finally left his lips.

"I know," you answered, cupping his cheeks with your hands. "I love you, too."

As the two of you shared another kiss, the full moon above seemed to shine a little brighter.

#zuko x reader #zuko #prince zuko #zuko imagine #soulmate au #fire lord zuko #atla #a:tla #atla imagine #sokka #iroh #aang #soulmate zuko

[enhyupn]

start of it!

pairing: jungwon x fem!read (ft a little sunghoon)

disclaimer: there might be a few mistakes here and there since it’s not fully proof read. swear words are mentioned too!

word count: 7.1k+

genre: fluff, angst if you squint, best friends to lovers!au, rich kids!au, slow burn kinda?

a/n this took a while to write but i like how it came out :) i think i got a little carried away but it’s fine i suppose!! i hope you enjoy this longer than necessary fic :]

jungwon and you were always together, then and now. maybe being the children of two most influential families korea helped that, the constant underlying jealousy between the two families made for some interesting dinners. you two were the stereotypical rich kids, top of the class, class president and extremely involved in school. your image was the type other chaebol families would use to compare their children to. maybe that’s why every time you stand at the top of your class to make announcements, all you get are sneers from your classmates as they not so subtly laugh at you. it was inventible nonetheless, if you were in their situation you’d do exactly the same. it didn’t help that you were strict and blunt with your classmates, staying true to the cold and distant chaebol child stereotype.

jungwon the next class over however, was incredibly popular with the people in his class and even yours. you didn’t know how he did it, balancing his studies, taekwondo and still maintaining a good relationship with his class? you looked up to him immensely, even with your parents constantly reminding you that jungwon wasn’t your friend but a pawn from his family to get information on the company. obviously you never believed them, how could jungwon get information from you when all you talk about normal things. normal things like tv shows, books and his taekowndo matches. you wouldn’t know what to do with jungwon, he was your other half and you’d never be able to function properly without him.

dinner was never comfortable at your house, the silence only being broken up by the clattering of utensils and chewing didn’t even help the gloomy and dark aura your father always seemed to radiate. you were the only child and the heir in training to take over the family company. everyone around you had high expectations for you, being number one in everything you ever did allowed people to believe that you were going to skyrocket your family’s company to the number one spot.

“y/n, how was school” your mother always tried so hard to make conversation with you and your father every day. as much as you wished to be close to her, you couldn’t help but feel forced and awkward whenever you replied to her.

“it was good, we got our ranks today” you slowly chewed on the piece of duck you were served, not having the heart or energy to tell anyone that you never really liked the taste of it.

“i’m assuming it’s first place” your father butts in, the serious look in his face never fails to make you flinch in your seat.

“yes father, first place in my class and in school” you couldn’t help but gulp at the mood of the dinner table.

it was always like this after exam season, tension so tight that it was suffocating to be around. even the maids and butlers around the place hated being around your family every time results were announced, the thought of what would happened if you ever got anything lower than first place was terrifying.

“wonderful” a nod from your father was enough for your maids to stop holding in their breaths.

not even a good job? you had grown to learn that your father wasn’t someone that praised others easily. sadly, you had to learn it the hard way. countless memories from your past of you desperately wanting your father’s attention and praise flashed through your eyes. even so, it still hurt every time he wouldn’t acknowledge your achievements.

the ice rink was your special place, second to jungwon undoubtedly. still, you loved being there. it made you feel so free and happy, like all your worries had disappeared whenever you skated. you weren’t the only one that loved the rink, jungwon adored the moments when you would show off a new move you had finally nailed. the look of you being so carefree made him feel overjoyed, knowing he was the only one that could see you like this.

“jungwon did you see that?” a radiant smile appearing on your face after you landed an axel. the sound of your slightly hitting the rink’s barrier slightly scared you before looking up again at the boy.

“yes, and i’ve also seen the other five times you’ve done it” the pout formed on your face from his teasing only brought a larger smile on his face. jungwon’s face suddenly twisted into a confused look as he suddenly remembered a conversation you two had the previous week. “weren’t you struggling on that last week? i remember you telling me that”.

“oh i was!” the pink tinge from your cheeks due to the cold temperature in the air added to your cheerful chatter. “but sunghoon helped me with it”.

“sunghoon?” the name sending an unsettling feeling throughout jungwon’s body. the boy shook it off when he had made eye contact with you once again, your eyes wide with spirit. it was a shame that your classmates couldn’t see this side of you, the cold and scary y/n unironically melting when on the ice.

“sunghoon’s a really talented figure skater in my class!” the admiration in your voice and eyes churned things in jungwon’s stomach. “his triple axel is the most beautiful thing jungwon, you should really see him in action. he gave me some tips and they really worked!”.

“that’s great” jungwon couldn’t understand why he couldn’t feel as elated as you were. shouldn’t he be happy? his best friend perfectly landed something they were working on for a while and he couldn’t even be sincere with his praise? no, it was that boy sunghoon. that’s what was getting him annoyed and bothered, was it jealousy?

“look there he is!” you showed jungwon. the boy had proportions that were perfect, he towered over you and had undeniably incredible looks. jungwon watched as sunghoon’s eyes shined in delight when noticing you. the boy skated over quickly to you in excitement, anyone could tell that he was over the moon to see you.

the jealous feeling jungwon had in him only grew more watching you two. when sunghoon’s skates accidentally took him at a too fast of a pace, you lightly bumped into you. the countless apologies he spit out while you laughed loud and glowing at his ridiculous accident only made jungwon chew his cheek in spite. the unnecessary skin ship you two made didn’t help too, you were holding onto sunghoon’s shoulders in an attempt to stop him from falling again. that’s when jungwon had enough.

“y/n” he called out, catching the attention of the both of you. you turned around holding the same smile you gave sunghoon.

“jungwon?”

“i’ll get going now, dad wants me back home” a pretend smile placed nicely on his lips for you to not suspect something was wrong with him.

“sure!” the corner of your eyes crinkled, you lifted up your hand to wave him off. he was incredibly thankful that you weren’t observant enough to catch his cheerful facade. “tell him my father wants to have dinner with him again too!”.

“i promise”

standing from his seat he lifted his hand to wave you off. the disappointment in his eyes becoming more visible when he realised that you had already turned around. the dejected frown on his face showing up when he caught a glimpse of the boy beside you, laughing and chatting with you with a wide grin. you too having the exact same grin.

you were always the same at school, a blank face while in class and during after school activities. your parents always told you that school was never the time to make friends or have fun, it was for preparing yourself in the future. they drilled into you that everything you did in school would only add to you in the future. if you were to ever fail or do anything that was the opposite of what you were meant to be doing, you would inevitably ruin your future. the unimaginable amount of pressure your parents had given you slowly turned you from crying silently at night in your room to dealing with it with a blank stare on your face.

the only thing that made everything the slightest bit bearable was jungwon, you met him during breaks and lunch and even walked with him to your after school programmes. the feeling of being isolated by your class could only be ignored when you were with him.

“i don’t get how you do it” you stared at him in admiration. jungwon was practicing his taekwondo as you watched him, it was a routine you had every morning before school started. the boy chuckled as he continues doing his warm up.

“says you, you’re number one in our school plus you skate pretty too. everyone would love to be you”.

“no! that’s different” a growing blush tinted your cheeks, the small compliment makes you shy due to the fact jungwon never compliments you. “i don’t get how you balance taekwondo, your social life and still get good grades? plus have a good relationship with your family”.

“oh” jungwon’s smile faltered at the mention your parents. he always has felt guilty knowing the fact he can’t do anything to help you besides distract you from your parent’s extreme expectations. “i don’t know, maybe i’m just lucky” he tries a joke to keep the mood up.

“so it’s luck?” your laugh giving enough confirmation to jungwon that you weren’t affected by his comment.

your phone ringing distracts you from the conversation you and jungwon were having, even scaring you a little in the process. the bright expression coming from your face made jungwon notice that it definitely wasn’t a call from any of your family members. letting himself breathe again with the positive mood in the air, he decides that he needs to stretch before testing out any moves.

“sunghoon!” suddenly maybe the mood wasn’t so positive for jungwon. you turned to jungwon mouthing it’s sunghoon! happily as he tried to share the same excitement you had. “no i’m not busy”, you looked over at jungwon sending him an apologetic look as you stood up from your seat. “i’ll just be outside jungwon!” you covered the microphone as you told him before quickly walking outside.

what was that about? jealousy was creeping up behind him even if he didn’t notice. he never wanted to feel possessive when it came to you. truthfully, he was waiting for this day. the day that someone saw past your shy personality disguised with a cold and blunt front and saw you. he couldn’t stop the lingering feeling in his stomach, he hated it. but who was he to think about your relationships with other people?

that’s when he remembered the smile on your face when you mentioned him, the glee in your voice and expression when you were around him. you two were even close enough to call each other out of nowhere? maybe that’s when it clicked in jungwon’s head, did you like sunghoon? you were entitled to like anyone you wanted to, it shouldn’t be jungwon’s problem if that person just so happened to be sunghoon.

but why did the thought bother jungwon so much?

from the way you were dressed people would think that you were attending some special dinner with the president. however, your prettily styled hair and your best outfit and shoes seemed to only be reserved for the yang family. there always seemed to be an unwritten rule between the two families that you had to go all out when visiting each other, however you and jungwon just suspected if it was just a way to show off all the newest jewellery and clothes subtly.

there you two were, standing by the side of your parents in the hallways of your house. the size of it was unimaginable, maybe even being the length of an average apartment in a middle class area. the hallways was adorned with expensive paintings and sculptures being used to write off taxes, a large rug that might of costed more than your high school tuition placed right in the middle of it all. it was visible proof that your family was disgustingly rich, just how your parents wanted it to look.

there wasn’t an answer to why the two families stood in the hallways to speak when you had an equally, if not larger living room a door away, the room also being adorned with expensive paintings with a large tv nobody in the house used. jungwon and you always had trouble staying serious while your parents spoke to one another. you two would usually mouth things to each other, not even understanding what was being said. the small grins you two held were enough that if one of you let out a laugh, the two of you would be on the ground laughing your heads off.

“the food’s ready” your cook interrupted your father’s reply to jungwon’s parents. your father sent him a small grin and a nod as he signalled everyone with a extended arm to the dining room.

the dining room gave a view to the kitchen, it was like a performance for everyone in the kitchen whenever you had guests over. your favourite activity to not bore yourself besides talking to jungwon, was watching your cook plate everything while your parents conversed about business or what type of wine they were having that night.

“steak again” jungwon joked quietly at your side. you two always sat beside each other, while the parents talked the whole night you two would try and not cause a huge mess. it usually ended up a mess, remembering the time you two dropped roast potatoes all over the ground in an attempt to entertain to each other. now when you two are finished eating you are excused to go back to your room where you two can actually talk.

“be thankful it isn’t salmon” you giggled quietly. the memory of jungwon’s parents scolding him at the dinner table for not eating his salmon reappears back into your heads, the thought of it making you laugh a little louder than you were. “sorry” you politely said, noticing the silent glare your father had sent you for making a ruckus at the dinner table.

“i would of answered properly if you weren’t laughing silently about it in the corner of my eye” the main reason why the memory was so funny for the two of you was the fact that the reason he was scolded was due to the fact he couldn’t even attempt to pick up the piece of fish without you two laughing. you two were incredibly easy to make laugh as there is nothing more entertaining than your best friend doing absolutely nothing.

in the corner of your eye you noticed your father staring at you and jungwon, while at the same time participating in the conversation the adults were having. it was unsettling, knowing that in the next five or so minutes he’d ask you a question regarding anything to seem like his family is better than anything the yangs do.

“y/n” an automatic faux smile was placed on your lips when you heard his voice. placing down your cutlery before turning to him you captured the sickly sweet smile on your parents smiles, a sign they were trying to milk your achievements out one by one.

“yes father” the pitch in your voice going a little higher than what jungwon usually hears, but was used to it due to the many times he’s heard you talk to your parents.

“we were just talking about the fact that you’re starting out figure skating!” the tone in your fathers sudden cheery voice was so obviously fake to you, he never liked the fact you took precious time off to practice figure skating rather than studying to get into a seoul university.

“i am” you turned to the yang parents with the innocent well put child facade. “i started six months ago, my trainer told me that i was improving at a great speed!”.

“how beautiful” jungwon’s mom commented, “i’m sure jungwon’s watched you skate before, right sweetheart?”.

“they’re very graceful on the ice mom” the flattery turned your cheeks a soft rose colour. you turned to him to give a thankful smile, not noticing the growing red on the boy’s ears.

you turned around to glance back once again at your father, the look of his smug grin made you want to get up and leave. you hated feeling like just a trophy to show off to others, you longed for the feeling of being praised for the person you were.

“i’m sure jungwon’s doing excellent in school” your mother continued, looks like they’re about to hit them where it hurts.

“not as well as your daughter i’m afraid” a bitter smile was obviously placed on his father’s face, teeth gritting as he let it out. “jungwon’s told us quite a lot about y/n’s rank in school, number one right? a terrific achievement”.

“yes, it’s a shame that jungwon can’t seem to reach the same” jungwon’s mother continued. your father took a sip from his glass of wine. what was it and using your children as weapons to bring down one another? in the corner of your eye you could tell jungwon didn’t feel comfortable with any of this at all, he stiffened his body as you chewed slowly on his steak.

“he’ll get there some day” your mother was simply just adding fuel to the fire, it made you feel terrible for your best friend. you looked over to see the boy’s blank stare, the small frown on his face made it seem that it was almost begging you to go comfort him.

“can jungwon and i be excused?” you knew that you two needed to get out of there immediately, you weren’t going to let your parents excuse any of this. “i feel a bit queasy from the steak, jungwon can keep me company”.

“do what you wish dear” your father let out quite bitterly. you bowed in response before standing up, placing your hand on jungwon’s hand. you shook it a little as a way to signal him that you two were about to leave.

the oh he let out was all you needed to know that jungwon was going to follow you up to your room. you watched as he bowed for everyone in the room, before silently following you as you gripped onto his hand. the mood you two were letting out was unreadable, was he thankful for you? or was he completely and utterly embarrassed at the fact you did that.

“thank you” he whispered behind you, the warmth in his hand was all you needed to feel the comfort you were longing for at the dinner table.

“don’t sweat it jungwon” a smile forming on your face as you turned towards him. “it was suffocating being in there anyways”. he laughed to himself, understanding what you were saying as you dragged him forwards once you reached your room.

your room was unnecessary big, like every other room in your house. your bed was double the size you actually needed and you had a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. your ceiling also had hand painted flowers decorating it, simply adding to the beautiful chandelier. there wasn’t any expensive paintings or rugs in your room however, just a large vanity as well as a desk and a huge bookshelf with every book imaginable. you also had framed pictures of you and jungwon as children dotted around your room.

“look” jungwon picked up a picture of you two when you were in first grade. you were crying while jungwon was right beside you laughing, beneath you two was a broken sandcastle who you could distinctly tell who it belonged to. “i was so evil as a kid”.

“tell me about it” you looked at the picture in admiration. “i swore to myself that day i would hate you for a million million trillion hundred years” a chuckle left your mouth at the loving memory. memories with jungwon always left you happy, even the ones that weren’t as nice to experience firsthand.

“and this one” he picked up another picture. this time it was you and him maybe around three years ago at your family’s lake house. “you ignored me for the rest of the trip after i did this”. the two of you were on the balcony as he lifted you from the legs up, the scared look in your eyes made it obvious that the whole thing was a surprise. you were fond of that memory, you realised something that day about jungwon you never realised before. the thought of dating your best friend popped up in your head for the first time when that picture was taken. the thought horrified you so much that you ignored him for days on end after, making up the excuse that you were mad at him for scaring you that.

“look at my face oh god” the pink tint coming back to your cheeks remembering the story behind that picture. “that day i started—”. you shut yourself up quicker than expected.

“started what?” jungwon looked at you confused. you start curse yourself in your head for your mistake.

never in your many years of friendship could of prepared you for this. the you three years ago was exactly the same, except the fact that three years ago you found out you had feelings for jungwon and now you were about to accidentally spill the beans about those exact same feelings.

“it’s nothing” you shook your head dismissively . trying to distract yourself, you looked at the corner of your eye and noticed a picture of you two at your middle school graduation. your features softened at the happy grins on your faces, both holding a pretty bouquet of flowers the two of you gave each other. “i love this day so much, look we’re so happy”.

“our graduation?” jungwon moved closer to you to get a good look of the photo. “we look so cute”.

turning around to jungwon with a grin of being reminded of the special, you stopped abruptly. noticing how close he was you stepped back quickly, in a quite panicked manner. his eyes widened noticing your frantic moves, unsure why his stomach was churning at your panicked face.

“sorry” you play with the hem of your sleeve, embarrassed at the fact you were so close to him. you feel you face heating up and you weren’t so sure if you were blushing at the fact his face was almost touching yours or embarrassed by the way you staggered away from him. “you were really close to me”.

“sorry did it make you uncomfortable?” jungwon asked you with a concern expression on his face. you couldn’t tell him the reason you were so panicked was because your crush was so close to you. “i’ll be more careful next time”.

“no! you’re fine” a reassuring smile spread across your face in an attempt to calm him down.

the awkwardness following that incident was undeniable. you sat on your bed unsure what to say to make conversation with him, the problem was that you two usually had a lot to say. the situation right now was not how the two of you usually acted, the voices in your head silently yelling at you for being dramatic at the fact jungwon was so close to you.

jungwon on the other hand couldn’t stop replaying the image of you being so close to him. an unfamiliar feeling kept reappearing in his stomach, he’s never looked at you in this way ever. maybe the feeling sunghoon gave him was similar but at the same, it was far different.

“i don’t think— be careful” in rich kids fashion, jungwon was playing tennis with his equally as rich friend ni-ki, a transfer student in his class studying in korea until he graduates from a seoul university. a big emphasis on seoul due to the fact every rich child in korea have parents almost begging them to get into a seoul university or an ivy league.

the ball accidentally almost hitting jungwon rolls behind the boy, he could feel the exhaustion finally catching up on him from the non-stop moving he had done. he holds a hand up with a drained expression signalling his friend that he was done for maybe another thirty minutes or so.

“as i was saying...” ni-ki walked towards the tired boy holding out a water bottle. he quickly grabbed the drink from him before taking a large gulp, wiping off the excess water from the sides of his mouth. “hey! don’t drink all of that”.

“sorry” an exasperated gasp escaped jungwon’s mouth as he tried to catch up with his breathing. “carry on”.

“i don’t think you have the right to be jealous on who y/n likes” ni-ki takes a sip from the water bottle he took back. “isn’t kinda weird too? that you’re jealous about all of this”.

“i’m not jealous” he corrected him. “i don’t know, that sunghoon guy gives me a bad feeling”.

“that’s definitely jealousy” ni-ki let out a laugh looking at him. jungwon sent him a scowl before taking back the bottle from him. “anyways i thought you always had a thing for them” he starts to say as jungwon takes yet another sip, the boy looks at him in a confused way before pulling the bottle away from his lips.

“what are you trying to say ni-ki?”

“what i’m saying is that you can never go a day without mentioning y/n” he raised his eyebrow to try and convince him further. “plus you look at them with hearts in your eyes, and the fact you’re so bummed out about this sunghoon thing just confirms my suspicions”.

“i’m not following” jungwon looks back at ni-ki with a blank stare. the younger rolls his eyes before lightly hitting him on the shoulder. “no, seriously”. the boy sent him a glare before sighing.

“are you genuinely this oblivious or you just don’t want to tell me you like y/n?”.

“what do you mean like?” the word like seemed so unfamiliar to him at that moment. of course he liked you, you were his best friend. although from how ni-ki was speaking, he understood that he wasn’t talking about the best friend sort of like.

“you romantically like them” ni-ki said it casually, “here, i’ll ask you a question and you, silently, in your mind answer it. i want you to do it silently so you can have a realisation of some sort”.

“what do we need questions for—” he was quickly shut off by ni-ki’s shhhh as he continued his conversation. rolling his eyes at his friends antics, he quickly shuts up before listening to what he was trying to say.

“do you think about y/n when they aren’t around?”

yes? isn’t this normal though

“do you miss them when you aren’t with them?”

yes? again, isn’t this a normal thing?

“do you get happy when they achieve things? like you want to hug them or like... that thing people do why they lift someone up and spin them around”

yes?

“do you get jealous when other people get more attention than you?”

yes...?

“when you see them do you get butterflies?”

sometimes, i do definitely get nervous though

“i feel like all of those should more or less answer your question on if you like y/n or not” ni-ki finished off his short quiz. jungwon gave him a puzzled look, he thought everything he had mentioned was a normal thing that every feels with their best friend.

“aren’t these just normal things?”

“i mean they’re just the basics jungwon” he started out saying, “everyone’s different when they have a crush”.

“so that could mean i have a crush on you?” the joking smile placed on jungwon’s lips only made ni-ki roll his eyes at the corny joke.

“i’m flattered honestly but i’m sadly not y/n”

the sunset was a pretty shade of pink and orange, it made you feel light and at a sense of peace watching it. the thought of taking a picture suddenly appeared in your head, quickly reaching for your phone in a frantic action before the sky changes in colour. you felt embarrassed at the fact you were standing at the end of the sidewalk patting the sides of your coat in an attempt to find your phone, a confused expression spread across your face.

“aha!” you felt a familiar shape in the back pocket of your jeans. lifting up the object, you felt it slipping slightly. your eyes widened noticing a small thud behind you on the ground. turning around to reach your phone in hopes it wasn’t broken in any way, you noticed a familiar figure hovering above you holding out your phone in his hands.

“you dropped this” a playful tone rolled off sunghoon’s tongue. you happily take it off his hands before looking back up at him.

“sunghoon!” you beamed gleefully at him, “i thought you went home already?”.

“no” he rubbed the back of his neck, “i missed my bus so i had to wait here for a while. turns out there was an accident twenty minutes away so everything’s delayed”.

“oh no” you frowned at his words. your brain scanned through all the possibilities you could do to help the boy, your eyes lit up having the realisation on the perfect solution. “do you wanna walk with me? where do you live? i can just tell my friend that he doesn’t need to pick me up”.

“no no it’s fine y/n” sunghoon waves his hands dismissively. “you don’t have to do that, plus i bet you’d rather walk with your friend”.

“don’t be silly” you chuckle as you unlocked your phone, pressing jungwon’s contact you typed in many apologies telling him that you can’t walk with him since you’re walking with sunghoon. “i already told him”. your phone lights up again, a notification showing a reply from jungwon saying a simple okay.

“he doesn’t seem very happy” sunghoon stares at the notification. he looks back at you with seriousness in his eyes, “isn’t this the jungwon you and i were talking about?”.

“well yeah” you avoided eye contact with him, embarrassed that you were probably about to get scolded. not only does sunghoon help you with training but he also helps you in your love life. you two have probably talked more about jungwon than actual figure skating, sunghoon always sighing at you for once again not being able to tell him your feelings. “he’s been like that ever since last week, i thought this was normal. don’t boys also have puberty mood swings?”.

“what happened last week?” you two started to walk towards your destinations. sunghoon luckily lived quite near your house, well if you count just twenty minutes away from the gate of your gated community. you two have walked home together before, the action usually having a romantic undertone but you two never felt that way. you always have seen sunghoon as a friend, understanding that he’s never really given you the same feeling jungwon does. it goes the same for him, he sees you more as a younger sibling than anything.

“well, he started acting a little weird when you called me that morning”

“the morning i asked you how you and jungwon were doing?” sunghoon raises an eyebrow.

“yeah” you nod, confirming his guess. you let out a sigh before moving on to your next point, “and you know when i told you about that thing that happened when his face was really close to mine?”.

“the one where it was really awkward?”

“you didn’t need to mention it was awkward” you shiver in embarrassment remembering that night. “and yeah, after that he wasn’t really the same. plus do you know the weirdest part?”.

“what happened” sunghoon chuckled at your embarrassed pout silently to himself. you turned to him with your eyes wide and hands in the air about to animate your following words.

“his friend messaged me, his friend! the transfer student nishimura riki” your nose scrunched in confusion and frustration. your arms too also expressing your frustration. “his message was so weird too!”.

“what did it say?”

“i know who likes you” your frustrated expression was even more prominent. “it was so childish! i even replied with a question mark and he just sent me a sticker of a cartoon animal giggling!”.

“maybe he does know who likes you” sunghoon raises an eyebrow.

“he wouldn’t, nobody likes me” you frown at your own words. “he’s probably just messing with me like everyone else at school”. sunghoon stops in his tracks when he realised your miserable mood.

“hey—” sunghoon bent down a little to get a look at your face. “what’s wrong?”.

“it’s— it’s silly” you wipe your tears away. you weren’t expecting yourself to cry on an evening like this, especially not on the day you were walking home with sunghoon on.

“no y/n it’s okay” sunghoon looked around the area to see if there was anywhere to sit down at. noticing a bench near the two of you, he held onto your wrist bringing you to sit on it. “you can tell me anything y/n, i hope you know this”.

“i know” you sniffled, sadly smiling at the situation at that moment. “it’s just that i’m so tired of everything. jungwon acting weird with me was just the tip of the iceberg. i can’t help but think if i did anything to make him act like this”. sunghoon listened in silence, nodding at your words as he watched you in pity while tears streamed down your face.

“the fact that my classmates still ostracise me even though i try so hard to get to know them hurts so much. even though my parents tell me school isn’t for making friends, i desperately want to. i mean jungwon was there to help but like what i said before, he’s being really distant” the pace of your tears slowing down. “plus what his friend said didn’t help, it just felt like i was just the pit of a joke i wasn’t even aware of”.

“y/n i don’t know if i should say this but i think jungwon really—”

“y/n?” a familiar voice cut off sunghoon’s words. “are you okay? why are you crying?” you look behind sunghoon and realised it was jungwon saying all those things. you watched as his concerned expression warped into a furious one, his focus on sunghoon’s hand still on your wrist. you felt your eyes widen as you quickly shook off his grasp, standing up from the bench as you wipe the excess tears on your face.

“what did he do to you?” his words directed at you but his glaring eyes didn’t leave sunghoon. the realisation that jungwon misunderstood the whole situation dawned over you. taking a step forward you tried to open your mouth in an attempt to calm him down, only to be stopped by sunghoon who had his arm extended out, blocking your path to jungwon.

“i didn’t do anything” sunghoon explained calmly. he turned to you before looking back at the enraged boy. “i understand why would think that but honestly, it’s you two who need to have a talk, a long talk” he chuckles silently to himself before standing up.

“i wasn’t done talking to you—”

sunghoon gave him a smile before patting his shoulder, “just listen to what they have to say”. you watched as he waved you two off as made his way home. you stared at sunghoon’s walking figure in shock, not sure if you were entirely thankful he left you with an angry jungwon.

“did he do something to you y/n?” he made his way to you in a panic, his eyes scanning you to see if there was anything wrong with you. “i swear to god, i knew there was something wrong with him” he tried to look at your face, your head facing the ground blocking his view. “hey, look at me” his voice softening as he tried once again to get your attention.

“i’m sorry” tears welled up in your eyes again as you made eye contact with him. you couldn’t understand why you were crying, maybe it was all the emotions building up to this moment. even so, you were incredibly happy that jungwon was so concerned and even came to look for you. “sunghoon didn’t do anything, i was just venting to him”.

“y/n... did something happen?” his worried eyes looking hard into yours.

you played with you fingers as you tried to think hard on what to say next, is this the right time? i mean, in all honesty you had nothing to lose. in fact it was the perfect moment to confess your feelings, well after you explain everything to him.

“no” you sniffled, wiping away more tears you turned to him with a small smile. “let’s get home, shall we?”. he looked at you with bothered feeling, noticing it you frowned. “maybe i should tell you” you quietly let out, a silent chuckle following it.

“please tell me why you were crying y/n” his soft voice had hints of distressed tones in it, he was so visibly concerned about you. it’s possible that’s when you were reminded why you love jungwon, he cared about you so much that it felt like he could do anything for you. you gulp before opening your mouth, instantly closing it when words couldn’t come out. “hey... y/n?”.

“i can’t explain” that’s when you opted out of telling him how you felt. you thought that he already cared about you as a best friend, if he didn’t like you back. it was break down everything you had. you sigh before facing him once again. “we should really get going—”

“when— when you sent me that message, telling me you didn’t need me to walk you home because of sunghoon, it made me so upset and mad” he laughed to himself, the stutter in his words making him realise how nervous he was. you jump a little in shock when you realised his hand found its way to yours. the warmth of it soothed you, a pink tinge finding its way to your cheeks, an occurrence that always seems to happen whenever you were with jungwon.

“i stayed home sulking about it, messaged ni-ki about it and he was so mad at me” his eyes looked sincere, the pink tinge suddenly growing into a red one. “he told me if i didn’t, and i quote, get my ass there and walk you myself, he’d tackle me onto the ground”.

“i don’t get why you’re telling me this—”

“so i did” he continued, not stopping to explain anything to you but his own story. “i got up from bed and started travelling on the street you usually walked home on. i don’t know what i was expecting, but seeing you cry on that bench with that sunghoon guy beside you made me incredibly upset. i thought he did something to you! i can tell that i misread that completely”.

“jungwon” you speak up. you had no idea why he was reciting any of this, what was this even leading up to? a grin lights up on his face, the feeling his hand squeeze yours lovingly confusing you even more. “please tell me what your telling me-”

“i like you y/n” a sudden serious tone appearing. “not even like, i’m probably in love with you”. the shocked look on your face made him laugh endearingly, he pulled your hand lightly to bring you closer to him. “i mean it, honestly. it took three days of me thinking about what ni-ki had told me to even realise it”.

“so he wasn’t lying” you let out, still not recovering from the shock. you slowly move your head up to catch a glimpse of jungwon’s face, who quite literally snapped you back into reality. ��wait, you like me really?”.

“yes!” he laughed as he pulled you into a hug, sending butterflies to your stomach. “why? do you not like me back?”.

“no!” you look at him in surprise. “wait! i do like you, it might be love too. i figured it out three years ago, when we were at my lake house”.

“three years ago?” the surprised look on his face slowly morphed into an endeared one once he caught you looking up at him with a cheesy smile. “you win with that one i guess”. the smiles on you both of your faces didn’t seem to falter while looking into each other’s eyes, the warm-cold breeze and the lightly tinted pink on both your cheeks adding to the scene.

“are we dating now?” he jokes as he takes out leaf from your hair.

“when did that get there” you place your hand on the spot the leaf was on. laughing it off, you look back up at him. the feeling of you in his arms still made your stomach flip, in a good way of course. “and yes, i suppose so?”.

“so now i can tell my parents i’m dating the smartest person in the country, as well as the prettiest?” he squeezes you tighter in a loving hug.

“so you’re just with me for my brains and looks?” sarcasm dripping from your words as you let out a loud laugh. “i’m kidding jungwon, yes you can tell them if you want to”.

“what are you gonna tell your parents?” a curious grin placed on his face.

“i’m dating my three year long crush”.

“as if they’d believe i’d be their precious child’s crush” he laughed as he loosened the grip on you. holding out his hand, you realised quickly that he wants you to hold it. “let’s get you back home before your parents send the police to look for you”.

“sure” you take his hand as you two walked down the street. both your sides looking as if you two were glued together from how the space was closed between the two of you, leaving no gap in between.

you always dreamt about your high school love story, even with your hectic schedule crushing you down everyday.

what you never expected was that your best friend was the start of it all.

#enhypen angst #enhypen scenarios #enhypen imagines #enhypen x reader #enhypen fluff #kpop angst #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop fluff #kpop x reader

[pillage-and-lute]

(For next time you’re looking for prompts) I really like your writing, and when I thought of this I wondered what you’d do with it: Geralt and Jaskier are together, but agree to pretend not to be for their next stop. Maybe one of them wants to win an old bet, or Jaskier’s not 100% sure his betrothal to a local noble has been officially dissolved, whatever, (not homophobia), fluff and high jinx ensue. Anyway I hope something unexpectedly nice happens to you today.

Hi Dahliavandare! Thanks for the blessing in my inbox  🥰

This ran away from me, tons of backstory about Jaskier’s family. Just, way too much.

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“Geralt, darling,” Jaskier said hesitantly. “I have an errand we need to run, and I’m not sure you’ll like it.”

Geralt hummed noncommittally. They were resting at their camp outside of Hagge and the warm summer air and the feeling of Jaskier curled against him had lulled him into a warm, fuzzy stupor.

“You see,” Jaskier continued, fiddling with the buttons at his cuffs. “I’m a noble, and you know that of course.” He laughed awkwardly. “And I’ve been lucky enough to pawn most of those responsibilities off onto my much savvier sister, but there are certain niceties that landed families observe that--”

“Spit it out,” Geralt grumbled, although not bad naturedly. 

“I’m betrothed,” Jaskier said. “And we need to go to Gwendeith to break it off.”

Geralt turned to look at his beloved. “You’re engaged?”

“Betrothed!” Jaskier yelped, then saw Geralt’s expression. “Oh, dear heart, there’s a slight difference in meaning, especially to nobles. Engaged implies an intent to marry--”

“And betrothed doesn’t?”

“Well, sort of, but I’ve been betrothed practically since I was born, engaged would imply I’m sort of planning the wedding. It’s a contract, a social contract. My family and my betrothed’s are pretty minor nobles, so really it’s just a way of saying ‘maybe someday our kids could marry’. It isn’t the hard and fast marriage it might be if I were, say, a prince.”

“Then why do it?” Geralt asked. Most of the time he was happy to understand as little of the lives of the gentry as possible, but Jaskier was important.

“Honestly,” Jaskier sighed. “I think Papa arranged it because he cared for me, Mama too.”

“It takes away your choice,” Geralt began.

“It doesn’t. A betrothal like mine and... Iliana, that’s her name, only met her twice, it’s sort of social insurance. Especially for her, but for me as well. Nobles are supposed to marry, so, if at some point neither of us had found love we could marry one another. For Iliana there’s the security of having a husband, although from what I’ve heard she can handle herself fine, and for me its assurance of heirs if that sort of thing concerned me, and companionship for us both.”

It sounded...mostly sort of logical to Geralt.

“But I love you,” Jaskier said. “And I don’t want to be betrothed to anyone because I love you and, someday, whenever you get over you allergy to the concept of commitment, I’m going to put a ring on you.”

Geralt hummed gruffly but said nothing. There was a slim golden band hidden away in his bags and he be damned if Jaskier got to propose first.

“I will. Anyway, I need to tell Iliana. I’m sure she won’t mind. I met her once when I was seven and again when I was nineteen.”

“Nineteen, when?” Geralt asked. Most of Jaskier’s nineteenth year had been spent at Geralt’s side. Most of every year after that too.

“Just before I met you. I had travelled east to meet her originally, and was going back west when we met.”

“Tell me about her?”

“Illiana? Oh, well, she told me that she was fine leaving the betrothal in place because it’s standard, but that she doesn’t care for men in that way so she’d never give me heirs and would have my balls nailed above her door if I ever told her she had to.”

“Sounds like she’d get along with Yen.”

“I fear they’d take over the world,” Jaskier said. “Anyway, I told her no worries since, honestly, heirs just aren’t important to me. Then we agreed that when either of us found love we’d break the betrothal and that would be that.”

“Hmmm.”

“No, Geralt, tell me what that means. Is that a ‘okay, let’s go to Gwendeith’ hum? A ‘I’m angry that you’re betrothed’ hum?”

Geralt shifted to poke the fire. “It’s a ‘I think there’s more you need to tell me’ hum.”

“Ah,” Jaskier rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s the thing. We have to go in person because a letter would be rude, but also...we have to pretend not to be together, while we’re in Gwedeith.”

“Why?”

“It’s politics, dear heart. It would be shaming to Iliana, socially. Personally, I don’t think she’d care, but it’s a courtesy thing.”

“I don’t do a lot of lovey stuff anyway,” Geralt said. 

“You think you don’t,” Jaskier said. He began to unroll their bedroll.

“What do you mean, Jaskier?”

Jaskier turned to him, smiling indulgently and gilded in the firelight. “Our lives have molded around one another, my love. When I stand beside you your hand goes to my back or my shoulder. You order dinner for me because you know just what food I like. When I’m tired you don’t have to ask what’s wrong, you just lift me onto Roach behind you.”

Geralt hadn’t even realized he did, but he knew it was true. Jaskier leaned over and pressed a kiss to Geralt’s slightly furrowed brow.

“When my boots are wearing thin you buy me new ones before I even notice. When I’m cold you give me your cloak. If I fall asleep with my head on your shoulder you’d rather sit like that all night than disturb me.”

Geralt shrugged awkwardly. “You buy me beeswax,” he said. It seemed a fair retort. Jaskier bought him beeswax to put in his ears when cities or sometimes monsters were too loud for Geralt’s senses. “You only buy light scents, even though I know you like bolder perfumes.”

“Yes,” Jaskier said, taking one of Geralt’s large, scarred hands. “We love eachother very much, and it’s obvious to people who care to look.”

“That could be dangerous,” Geralt began, his head spiralling towards worry for Jaskier’s safety, but Jaskier cut him off.

“No, dear heart. It’s obvious to those who care to look. The sort of people who would hurt me for loving you, well, most of them think you can’t love, so they don’t look for love, and they don’t see.” 

Geralt sat back. People saw what they expected to see, it was true. 

“We’ll travel to Gwendeith,” he said. “And unbetroth you.”

Jaskier kissed him and his lips tasted like the jerky they’d eaten for supper.

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

The trip to Gwendeith was long. It was at the very edge of any map, past Posada to the east, tucked into the Blue mountains.  They traveled along the Dyfne river, taking the occasional contract but making good time. This far from anything, there were few people to be troubled by monsters. 

They stopped in Posada one night, eating dinner in the corner of a familiar tavern. This time, however, Jaskier was much better received and the bread ended up on the table rather than down his trousers.

Past Posada, and almost to the end of the Dyfne river, Geralt asked, “Why did your parents pick Iliana? How did they know of her?” Lettenhove was entirely the other side of the continent, a tiny island off the coast of Poviss with two villages and a couple flocks of sheep. 

Geralt only knew of it from Jaskier’s descriptions, which were mostly stories of the ice cold sea and rocky cliffs. He tended toward calling it ‘idyllic’ and ‘picturesque’ altough occassionally ‘the arse end of the world’ and ‘colder than an ice giant’s ballsack.’ The first time Geralt had taken Jaskier to Kaer Morhen he’d feared for his bard’s safety in the cold of the mountains, but Jaskier hadn’t even blinked an eye, merely bundling up in a hugely wooly cloak and mittens. 

“Ah, well,” Jaskier said. “Long story, but Papa was in Temeria, see, since nothing ever happens in Lettenhove, because we have more people than sheep, he get’s sent on diplomatic missions a lot. He’s good at it, and he can be spared. He loves it too, even though he’s sort of retired he still does them. Takes Ma, calls the trips his little “sunshine vacations”. 

“You get your personality from your father, then?” Geralt asked. Jaskier didn’t talk about his family much, and Geralt got the sense that, rather than this being because they were horrible, Jaskier simply missed them too much. 

“Definitely. Ma’s lovely, and brilliant with just everything to do with her hands, but she’s not good with people. I got her looks, though.”

“I should thank her, then,” Geralt said, smiling. 

Jaskier chuckled. “Yes, she’s the reason for the long lives, too, fantastic story.”

“Finish the one about your father and Gwendeith first.”

“Right, so Papa was in Temeria, and so was Iliana’s father, sort of the mayor of Gwendeith, as I understand, although not back then. He’d gotten robbed, though, and Papa had won a horse and quite a lot of gold in a card game. It might have been Gwent, I can’t remember. If you ever meet Papa you should ask him. Anyway, he gave the extra horse and gold to Iliana’s father.”

“So your betrothal was a debt?”

“Goodness, no. This was years before I was born, Papa hadn’t even met Ma yet. No, they struck up a friendship, because when Iliana’s father got home he had a mage send a message to Papa to thank him and they struck up a friendship.”

“Sending messages by mage? That’s expensive for a penpal.”

“Ah well, that actually ties in to the story about Ma. Ma’s got magic, just a little, she’s a hedge witch of a sort. The issue is, hedge witches mostly use plants, and Ma couldn’t grow grass, so she mostly works with wood. Anyway, she has a friend, her very best friend, is a mage. They grew up together, and my Auntie Szarlotta sent my Papa’s first few messages back to Iliana’s father.”

Geralt smiled atop Roach. Jaskier’s storytelling pace was as familiar as Roach’s saddle, and it was calming in a way. 

“So, Auntie was sending Papa’s message when Ma came in to visit. That’s how she met Papa, because she’d only just moved to Lettenhove. Auntie says it was love at first sight, but Papa insists that Ma turned up her nose and ignored him for months.”

“Which one is it?”

“Knowing Ma, probably both. She’s a little like you, so the second she realized she liked Papa she ignored him so she wouldn’t have to deal with it.”

Geralt huffed good-naturedly.

“Anyway, Auntie Szarlotta agreed to send Papa’s messages for free, and she even included a way for Iliana’s father to send them back, so long as he wrote his response on the back of the same paper. She always timed it though, so that Ma was over when Papa was there. And I guess the rest is history.”

“Except the immortality.”

“Right, well, Ma got really sick when she was pregnant with my sister, I was little so I barely remember but Papa was so worried, and Ma looked really pale. Well, Auntie got really worried, freaked out a little, and she found all these old spells to try to make Ma well again. I remeber the light, she was working in a room of the old lighthouse and I could see the light of her spells from my window. Anyway, eventually she tries some on Ma, but they don’t work, and she just keeps trying.”

Geralt had an image of a frantic sorceress being watched by a young Jaskier through a crack in a door. 

“But I suppose some of those old spells need a little time to work because nothing at all worked and then they all sort of worked at once. There was this big, bright light and then Ma was well, and she and Papa haven’t aged a day since then.”

Geralt glanced at his lover, who looked the same at fifty as he had at twenty. “And you don’t age? What about your sister?”

“Ksenia hasn’t aged either. She looks like Papa, just so you know, grey eyes, blonde hair. She’s got two kids, now, but I haven’t met them.”

“Do the kids age?”

“Right now they’re very young,” Jaskier said. “I didn’t stop aging until nineteen or twenty, so I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.”

“How do you know she has kids?”

“Oh, well, Auntie Szarlotta sends letters to me, but we travel and it’s hard to send them right to me, so I just pick them up at Oxenfurt.”

“Hmmm,” Geralt said. He needed to go to Lettenhove. Jaskier had met his sort-of-family, he should meet Jaskier’s. 

“I’d love to go see them...” Jaskier said, wistfully. 

“Who?”

“My niece and nephew, they’re almost two and three years old now.”

Geralt picked Jaskier up by the collar of his doublet and placed him onto the back of Roach. 

“We’ll spend the winter in Lettenhove this year,” he said as Jaskier wrapped his arms around Geralt’s waist.

“Really?”

“Hmmm.”

Geralt needed to ask Jaskier’s father for his hand in marriage, anyway.

-- -- -- -- -- -- 

They made it to Gwendeith just after mid summer, riding into the little town at noon. Despite the season, the little mountain valley was shaded and cool. Jaskier shivered slightly and Geralt had to resist the urge to pull his cloak from his pack. From that point forth, they weren’t supposed to be in love.

Fuck.

They had to request a meeting with the mayor, which didn’t surprise Geralt. In a town such as this, logging and mining were the main industries. Trading for food to last over the winter began early and was of the utmost importance. That left Geralt and Jaskier, unfortunately, sitting with a man who introduced himself as Sir Boris.

Apparently he was a retired knight who acted as a sort of captain of the guard, except there wasn’t much of a guard. His wife Lady Olenka joined them and the two of them talked about their grandchildren until Geralt could feel his eyes rolling back in his head. 

At any other time, Jaskier would have placed one gentle hand on his wrist, which would have fortified Geralt, but they couldn’t. 

“But you’re here for Iliana,” Sir Boris was saying. “Dreadfully sorry you can’t see her today, I’m afraid there’s been an issue with the lumber trade to sort out. You’ll just have to have my darling Lenka and I as company until that’s done.”

He sent a huge wink to his wife, a slim, elegant woman, who chuckled and playfully hit him on the shoulder, to which Sir Boris pretended to be wounded before throwing back his head and laughing hugely. Everything the old knight did was huge, he was a large man with a round, red face and large belly and a laugh that could shake walls. 

“It’s no trouble,” Jaskier said. “I’m sure preparing for winter is a year round project here.”

“Oh of course,” Lady Olenka said. “But once it’s here we can all relax, and spend time with family.” She leaned forward as if imparting a delightful secret and said in a stage-whisper, “Boris has been our town’s Father Winter for the last four years.”

Jaskier made impressed ‘ooh’ noises and Geralt tried to at least look like he understood that. 

Boris laughed again. “It’s this lot,” he said, slapping his round stomach. “Better than some old geezer with a pillow down his shirt, eh?”

Geralt hummed in agreement. 

“And you must make a lovely Mother Winter, Lady Olenka,” Jaskier said politely.

She smiled, lines crinkling around her eyes as if drawing a road map. “It’s not as important as Father Winter, of course, but I rather pride myself that I plan a very good Midwinter festival.” Geralt got the sense that behind the modesty she was quite proud, and, he suspected, with good reason.

“But, you must tell me,” she said, modestly changing the subject. “Is there to be a missus Pankratz, now that you’ve come to see Lady Iliana?”

“I am a man in love,” Jaskier said. “And I am hopeful that an engagement will come soon, yes.”

“Oh dearie that’s just lovely,” Lady Olenka said, patting Jaskier’s cheek. “And you’re such a nice boy too, little young looking to be betrothed to our Lady Iliana anyway, although she’s a very dear woman.”

“We just love her,” Sir Boris said. “She’s a great mayor, not keen on marriage, but nobody minds, she just seems to have adopted the whole town as family.”

Lady Olenka patted her husband’s broad shoulder. “It was smart of you not to bring your love here, though. There’s some nobles here from Lyria, that’s who she’s been trading with, and I think they’d like any excuse to disparage here.” She lowered her voice again. “You know how those lot are about having women in charge.”

“I can’t relate,” Sir Boris laughed. “Lenka’s the ruler in our house.” That got a laugh because it had to, and because Sir Boris’s laugh was surprisingly infectious. 

“Good on you bringing a bodyguard too,” he said once the laughter had abated. He slapped Geralt companionably on the back, which was like being hit by a friendly battering ram. “Witcher too, don’t get many up here, but I bet you’re the safest man in a hundred miles.”

“Oh, dear, don’t you know?” Lady Olenka said. “Lord Julian here is a bard as well, he goes by Jaskier and sings all about witchers.”

“Really?” Sir Boris said, looking at Jaskier. “Blimey, imagine that. Good on you, finding a niche in the market.”

Geralt’s ears were beginning to ache. Friendly though Sir Boris might be, he didn’t seem to have a volume level below ‘deafening’. He was tired and overwrought and he just wanted to cuddle up with Jaskier in a bed. It wasn’t even suppertime, though.

They sat through another hour of hearing about Boris and Olenka’s eighteen grandchildren. 

“And three great-grandchildren,” Boris added proudly.

Geralt was thankful Jaskier could carry the conversation. He longed for a kiss, though. Now that he knew he couldn’t have one, his lips fairly ached for one.

Supper was a large affair, with one of Boris and Olenka’s children’s family over for dinner as well. Geralt was seated across from Jaskier between two small children who, apparently, needed to be separated at dinertimes to prevent bickering. They contented themselves instead by asking Geralt every question they could think of, often making him wrack his brain for child appropriate answers.

It wasn’t just witchering questions, either. He answered such questions as “Why is the sky blue?” (Because it’s Melitele’s favorite color). Immediately before answering “How big are dragon scales?” (The small ones are like pebbles and the big ones are like shields.)

Jaskier smiled at him over his bowl of stew, eyes sparkling. Geralt loved children, and Jaskier loved seeing them adore Geralt.

“So, Lord Julian,” Boris and Olenka’s daughter began. “Your lady love, tell us about her?” She smiled Lady Olenka’s warm smile and Jaskier did a good show of seeming bashful. 

“My love is unlike any other,” he began. “And if you’ll pardon my saying so, I’m a poet, and so must wax poetic.”

“Wouldn’t settle for anything less, lad!” Boris bellowed cheefully.

“My darling has fair hair, like moonlight,” Jaskier said, and the table oohed appreciatively. Geralt felt his ears get hot.

“And eyes like summer,” the bard continued. “I could get lost in them. No eyes could compare.” Geralt kicked him under the table, but Olenka was sighing sympathetically.

“But of course,” Jaskier said slyly, my heart is best held by my love’s lips.”

Boris chuckled knowingly. “I’ll bet it is, my boy,” he said, winking. Olenka slapped his arm, but she was smiling. Geralt felt hot.

“I’m afraid, however that my lover is quite modest, and won’t appreciate me extolling too many virtues,” Jaskier finished. “So I must finish with, I love them very much, and it is for them alone that my heart beats.”

Therewith leaving every person at the table (those above the age of twelve, at least) with misty eyes, Jaskier helped Lady Olenka clean up supper. Geralt helped put the dishes away.

After dinner they were led back to the mayor’s house. “I’m afraid the negotiations don’t seem to be finished,” Lady Olenka said. “I had hoped they would be quick, but it seems not. If the issue wasn’t resolved today, I wouldn’t bet on them being resolved too early tomorrow, either. You two don’t have pressing business elsewhere?”

“No, my lady,” Jaskier said, although if they lingered too long they wouldn’t make it to Lettenhove for the winter, as it was, it would be close.

“I’m sure she’ll be able to see you soon,” the lady said. “Here’s your room, and Master Witcher, your room is just at the far end of the hall.”

She said goodnight and Geralt hoped she couldn’t see the slump of his shoulders.

Separate rooms.

Jaskier smiled ruefully at him and they parted for the night. Geralt’s bed was large and comfortable, with clean linens and feather pillows, but he barely got a wink of sleep.

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

The next morning found Jaskier and Geralt breakfasting in the tavern, owned, apparently, by another of Boris and Olenka’s grown children.

“Did you sleep well?” Jaskier whispered over a plate of sausage and eggs.

“Fine,” Geralt grunted.

“I couldn’t sleep a wink,” Jaskier said. “Want my last piece of bacon? I’m stuffed.”

Geralt took it gratefully, slipping Jaskier his fried slice as a trade. No matter how Jaskier protested that he was stuffed, he always had room for a fried slice.”

“Terrible woman,” said a nasal voice at the next table. “Just impossible to do business with.”

“I agree, overemotional, you know how they get,” agreed another voice. Jaskier made eye contact with Geralt. The accent was Lyrian.

“Not even married,” said the first speaker. “What a disgrace. If my daughter got to her age without children I’d just die of shame.”

Geralt pitied his daughter.

“Oh of course,” said the second man. “Attractive, though, for an old maid.”

The first man snickered cruelly. “Thinking a little wooing might soften her up?”

“It always does, women like that, they’re just angry because they haven’t found a man.”

“Won’t your wife mind?”

“Are you going to tell her?” Both men laughed unpleasantly.

A serving girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen, came around the tables, presumably one of Sir Boris’ many granddaughters. She took their plates onto a tray and smiled when Jaskier slipped a few coins onto the tray as a tip.

At the next table  one of the Lyrian’s snapped their fingers impatiently. The girl rolled her eyes. Geralt was pleased to see that, although she served him professionally, as she walked away she ‘accidentally’ tread on his foot.

“What pathetic pieces of shit, the pair of them,” Jaskier said as they stepped out into the sunlight. 

“Hmmm,” Geralt agreed. Then he looked around quickly and pulled Jaskier into an alleyway, urging the bard deeper into the shadows. 

“What? Geralt di-”

Geralt smushed his lips gracelessly to Jaskier’s, crowding him up against the wall. Jaskier’s hair between his fingers was so familiar and comforting, as was the little sigh Jaskier let out.

They pulled apart and Geralt rested his forehead against Jaskier’s. “That’ll tide me over for a while,” he whispered. Jaskier smiled.

“Are you master Julian?”

The pair sprang apart, looking in alarm at the red headed boy at the far end of the alley. 

“Yes...?” Jaskier said.

“Only, Pa said to come find you, and he said you’d be with a big man dressed all in black.”

“And you found us here?” Jaskier asked.

“Didn’t know you’d be here, did I?” Said the boy, stuffing his hands into his trouser pockets. “It’s the shortcut through to the tavern, but then, I figured he’s the only big man in black around.”

Geralt inclined his head, feeling his ears go hot.

“Lady Iliana has time to see you now,” the boy continued, oblivious to the awkwardness. 

“By all means...lead the way,” said Jaskier.

They were led out of the alley and back to the mayor’s house by the messenger boy.

“Out of curiosity,” Jaskier asked. “Is your grandad Sir Boris?” 

“Yeah, that’s him,” said the lad. “He made me a toy sword for my tenth birthday too.” He pointed proudly to the wooden sword tied at his hip with some string.

“It makes you look a proper hero,” Jaskier said. Then he pulled out his coin purse. “A copper for bringing us the message and...another to not tell anyone what you saw.”

The boy looked between the two of them shrewdly.

“Not even my best friend? I tell Mikhail everything.”

“Not until Geralt and I have left.”

“Three coppers total,” the boy said promptly. Jaskier handed them over good naturedly and the boy flashed a gap toothed grin before taking off.

Geralt and Jaskier shrugged at each other, before finding their way to the main room of the mayor’s house. A broad shouldered woman of about fifty poked her head out of a door.

“Julian?”

Geralt and Jaskier went inside.

“You look well,” Iliana said, sitting behind a large desk and gesturing to a couple chairs. “You havent’ aged a day.”

“And you look as lovely as I remember,” Jaskier said.

“Flirt. Come to ask me for heirs?”

Jaskier shuddered. “No, my lady. I remember your threat well. I think you know why I’m here.”

The two Lyrians barged through the door. 

“Did I ask you to enter?” Iliana said, coldly. Geralt felt an unusual curl of fear set up in his stomach, she was a distinctly fearsome woman.

“Well,” said the first Lyrian.

“You were so beautiful, I couldn’t wait on seeing you again,” said the second, slimily.

“Oh I say!,” Iliana said, standing. She placed her hand over her chest in a delicately offended way, which was ill suited to her. “You sir are too bold, and in front of my betrothed too!”

The Lyrians looked, panicked, at the people sat in the chairs. As Geralt was seated in the chair nearest the door, and therefore nearest them, they came to the wrong conclusion. The blood drained from both their faces.

“What an insult!” Iliana continued. “You should be ashamed! What a lack of diplomacy!” 

Beside Geralt, Jaskier snickered. She was laying it on a little thick. 

“Why,” she continued. “I ought to write to your king! I’ve never been so insulted. And I’m sure my beloved will want to sort out this insult too.” She fluttered her lashes at Geralt. 

Geralt nearly jumped out of his seat, but thankfully his brain caught up. He stood, growling a little theatrically and placed one hand on the hilt of his steel sword.

“Our apologies my lady,” the first man said hurriedly.

“Our mistake, we’ll just--” they dissappeared out the door.

“What a fearsome couple,” Geralt heard whispered as the door swung shut.

Iliana sighed satisfactedly and kicked her feet up on her desk. “It seems I should thank you,” she said. “That is going to make negotiations much easier.”

“I’m sure you always get good deals,” Jaskier said.

“Yes. I get the deals I want.”

“You know why I’m here,” Jaskier said.

“Yes.”

“Do you agree?”

“To disolve the betrothal? Of course. Never found a lover for myself so I never bothered but, well, I just don’t do romance.”

“Some people don’t,” Geralt said, thinking of Eskel.”

“Indeed,” Iliana said, smiling warmly at him. “Not all of us have a soulmate to sing us songs.” She laughed at their surprised faces. 

“Oh you fooled them, and you may have fooled Boris and Olenka, but I’ve heard your songs, Julian. It’s written right into everything you do.”

She began rummaging in one of the drawers in the desk. “I don’t mind, of course. So few people know we’re actually betrothed...there it is.” She pulled out an old piece of paper. “I’ll just rip it up if that’s fine by you. You’ll have to do the same to yours of course.”

“We’re going to Lettenhove this winter,” Jaskier said. “I’ll do it as soon as I find it.”

Iliana smiled again. “Father always did say that your dad had a horrible filing system.”

“He filed all his papers on the floor, yes, although I imagine my sister is neater.”

Iliana tore the paper in half without ceremony and placed the contract in the waste paper bin. “Lettenhove is very far away, Julian, will you get there in time?”

Jaskier glanced at Geralt. 

“I don’t know,” Geralt said.

“No matter,” said Iliana. She began writing something on a new sheet of paper. “Our logging teams float lumber all down the Dyfne and Pontar rivers. Show this to the dockmaster at the tip of the Dyfne and our riverboat captains can get you to Novigrad.” 

She pulled out another sheet of paper. “Once you’re in Novigrad, show this to the harbormaster and he’ll get you to Lettenhove.” She looked at their shocked faces and smiled. “Our lumber is the best, and it’s used in everything, including ships. I’m willing to cash in a favor in order to get rid of a useless betrothal.”

“Thank you, my lady,” Jaskier said bowing deeply. “I’ll have my Aunt Szarlotta send a message once our betrothal is fully extant.”

Iliana stood and shook his hand. “I’d appreciate that.”

“Our fathers were penpals,” Jaskier said. “Perhaps we should keep up the tradition?” 

The mayor inclined her head. “I’d like that. I may be too busy to write often.”

Jaskier waved a hand. “I can only pick up messages when I pass through Oxenfurt, but I like to make friends with powerful people.” 

The two of them shared a smile.

“Not to rush you out my door,” Iliana said. “But I do have a lot to do, winter comes early up here, and I know it does as well in Lettenhove. even with my help, you two should leave soon.”

Geralt and Jaskier left that afternoon, just after a hearty meal at the tavern.

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

Across the continent and some weeks later, Jaskier and Geralt stepped onto the docks in Novigrad.

“I don’t think Roach liked the river boats,” Jaskier said as Geralt led her off. Roach whinnied and shook her mane emphatically.

“Sorry, girl,” Geralt said. “You’ll have another long boat journey, and this time I doubt we’ll stop so you can run about on land.”

“Nah,” Jaskier said, as they walked toward a tavern for supper. “Boats from Novigrad to Lettenhove stop around the coast on the way, she’ll get plenty of exercise. It’s something to do with the currents.”

He petted Roach’s muzzle softly as they stabled her at the inn beside the tavern and Geralt felt his heart go out to his bard. Jaskier cared so much for Roach. Geralt thought again of the gold band in his pack.

“C’mon,” he said. “Let’s eat.”

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

Slightly more than a month later, after a slow, coastal boat journey, and then another between Inis Porhoest and Lettenhove, Geralt, Jaskier, and their faithful horse, stepped off the final boat.

“Welcome home, Master Julian,” said a fisherman on the dock.

“Does everyone here know you?” Geralt asked.

“Pretty much, there’s only about three hundred people here.”

News spread fast among three hundred people and Jaskier and Geralt were greeted enthusiastically at the door to the very small castle. A blonde woman who could only be Ksenia, Jaskier’s sister, flung her arms around him, and withing a moment Geralt was being gathered into the hug by a slightly older looking couple.

“Julek,” said the blonde man, pulling back. “My boy, you’re home, and you brought this stunning man, wow, what a looker.” 

“Papa, don’t be embarrassing,” Jaskier said. Geralt flushed clear to the roots of his hair. Apparently when Jaskier said he had his father’s personality he meant all of his father’s personality.

They had dinner as a family, including Jaskier’s niece and nephew, Cecylia and Prot. They had questions for Geralt, and he was grateful for the practice he’d had in Gwendeith. It was an enjoyable meal over all, and afterward Jaskier was distracted by his Aunt Szarlotta while Geralt slipped away to ask Mr. Pankratz a very important question.

The two of them returned to the main hall to see Jaskier pretending to be a dragon, while Cecylia and Prot bravely fought him with butterknives, but he straightened up when he saw the look on Geralt’s face.

Geralt took his hand and Jaskier squeezed it three times, it was their code, asking if Geralt needed to go somewhere that wasn’t so hard on his senses. Geralt smiled and shook his head, swallowing nervously around the lump in his throat.

He got down on one knee and pulled out the gold band. “I’m...I’m not good with words.” Geralt swallowed again, wishing he could borrow Jaskier’s eloquence for five minutes or so. “Marry me?”

The words were barely out from his mouth before Jaskier was tackling him to the ground, pressing kisses all over his face.

“Oh Geralt!” he said. “Wait--”

Jaskier looked up at his mother, who smiled and was handed a paper by his Aunt Szarlotta. Mrs. Pankratz ripped the betrothal contract in half.

“Yes,” Jaskier said, laughing. “I will marry you!”

Then they kissed on the chilly stone floor.

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

Dear Lady Iliana, Mayor of Gwendeith

The former contract has been voided. 

Szarlotta of Lettenhove

P.S. Geralt and Jaskier are engaged and send their love.

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

Holy Cow. 5603 words. I...I don’t even know what to say. I hope you like it.

#the witcher #geraskier #reverse fake dating #fluff #geralt #jaskier #ask box answers

[ncssian]

A Favor: Part Twenty-Three

Nessian Modern AU

Masterlist

a/n: so yeah this isn’t my best work bc i havent been feeling great lately but i hope you guys can stay patient with me until i get my shit together. we’re almost to the end🤞

***

Sitting crammed between Elain and Feyre on the gray couch in Lana’s office, Nesta has to cross her legs prettily and pretend she doesn’t want to peel out of her skin right there. She doesn’t know what she was thinking when she invited her sisters to one of her therapy sessions, but she’s assuming it would be considered rude to kick them out now.

“Who wants to speak first?” Lana’s bob swings as she looks at each of them. The office is ice cold today, and Feyre and Elain’s presence doesn’t help the chill in the air.

Nesta crosses her arms before she can be asked to speak. “No, thank you,” she says. She knows everyone probably expects better from her, but no way in hell is she going to be the first to open up in front of this crowd. “Feyre,” she turns to her youngest sister instead, “why don’t you say something?”

“Actually, why don’t you set the example, Nesta?” Lana gives her a look, making her cheeks redden with irritation.

“Fine,” Nesta grumbles. She clears her throat. “As you can see, I have made moves to reconnect with my sisters. I invited them here because I hoped that therapy would bring us closer and also make them more… tolerable.”

Elain coughs, “Bitch.”

Nesta smiles tightly. “Elain could especially use this, I think.”

Lana is already frowning. She never frowns this early into a session. “We’ll start with an easy question, then. What’s been on your mind lately, Nesta?”

Nesta purses her lips, pretending to think. “Nothing important. I’m looking at jobs for the summer. I think Azriel keeps sneaking money into my purse, and it’s starting to become more than a little condescending. I caught up with some friends from school, and I was polite enough to pay for lunch.” She mentions off to the side to Elain, “Lucien was there, too.”

“Why would I care?” Elain sneers. She spies Lana’s disapproving look and lowers her head demurely. “Sorry,” she murmurs.

“That’s alright,” Lana says. “Why don’t you go next?”

“Me?” Elain’s head snaps up, and Nesta holds in her snicker.

“Start by describing your relationship with Nesta. I heard you two used to be very close.” Lana uncaps her pen, preparing to write.

Elain flushes lightly and folds her hands. “That was when we were children. The only thing keeping us together was that we shared a home. When we stopped living in the same place, some of us had no problem leaving others in the dust.”

“You can use my name,” Nesta rolls her eyes, “I’m right here.”

From the corner of her vision, Feyre cringes.

“Are you saying you feel abandoned by Nesta?” Lana continues probing.

Elain’s answering silence tells more than enough. Therapy must actually be paying off, though, because Nesta only thinks about interrupting and defending herself for a second before shaking it off. Her mind focuses on the word abandonment instead.

Lana is focusing on the same thing, because she leans closer and says, “Being abandoned bothers you?”

“I never said that,” Elain says indignantly.

“It would bother most people.”

Nesta watches Elain sigh and blink her big doe eyes at Lana. She’s always been able to use those eyes on anybody for anything. “I just don’t understand why I’m the villain for expecting a little loyalty,” Elain says sweetly. “Especially when you take a look at this face.” She cups her round cheeks. “You know psychology. How could you abandon this face?”

Nesta’s jaw hangs open. “Are we still talking about me?” She remembers Cassian telling her the story behind Azriel ghosting Elain, and a pang of guilt and pity hits her. She still hasn’t talked with Elain about why Azriel left Velaris, and she knows she won’t be able to decide whether to spare Az or not until she does.

“So that’s my turn,” Elain finishes up. “Feyre can go next.”

Lana is writing something sharply on her notepad, but she nods coolly. “Feyre, how would you describe your relationship with your sisters?”

“Oh, we don’t have time for all of that,” Feyre laughs awkwardly and waves a hand.

Nesta agrees, but the look Lana gives Feyre tells her that yes, they do have time.

Gulping, Feyre glances around. “Well, I was born last, so I guess that made me the outsider of the family. I never had much in common with my sisters, but now that we’re older I… hoped that we would grow past that.”

Translation: she hoped that once she found her happy ending in Rhysand’s arms, poor little Nesta and Elain would happily assimilate into her new community of wealthy friends, putting the cherry on top of her perfect life. And while Elain did that exact thing, it’s always bothered Feyre that Nesta won’t do the same.

Feyre continues, “I admit I’m not the best at understanding Nesta. Elain and I get along fine now, but Nesta…” Feyre meets her eyes. “It’s like nothing we do is enough for her, but for some reason I can’t stop trying.”

“Whose fault is that?” Nesta mutters.

“You want her approval,” Lana hums, taking notes.

“Is that what it is?” Feyre looks away.

Nesta refrains from saying yes, that’s exactly what it is, and it’s not my problem if you keep looking for something I can’t give.

“What are your feelings about that, Nesta?” Lana turns her focus to her. “Remember that this is a safe space.”

It really isn’t, not with two siblings holding long term grudges against Nesta. But once and for all, she’s going to set the record straight. “I spent most of my life being a bad sister.” Nesta’s voice is apathetic, straightforward. “I let Feyre take the burden of providing for us even though I was the oldest, and I didn’t know how to be anything other than cruel to my family. So once I had the means to do so, I cut everyone off for all of our sakes. I still don’t regret it, because being a stranger is better than being a bad sister.”

In that way, Nesta is a bit like her mother. Nesta was angry after her death, but she knows she would have been even angrier if Magdalene Archeron had lived and continued to be a disappointing parent. In that way, both of them are wise for leaving their families when they did.

“Or you could just be a good sister,” Elain interrupts with a drawl.

Nesta smirks bitterly at her. “I’d rather die.”

Feyre takes in a breath. “Why? Why are you like that with us?” She blinks furiously, and Nesta can see the simmer of her emotions. “It was okay when we thought you hated everybody, but you don’t. You only hate me and Elain.”

Nesta looks to Lana for help, but her therapist is sitting this one out. She sighs through her nose. “I don’t hate you,” she says, even though they might never understand. The next line comes with great difficulty. “I’ve loved you since before I even knew what love was. But I don’t like you very much, Feyre, and you don’t like me, either. Please stop trying to change that.”

When she finally meets Feyre’s eyes, though, they’re glimmering with tears. “How can I stop trying to change that?” Feyre whispers. “How can I give up on us like that?”

For Nesta to give Feyre and Elain the relationship they want from her would require nothing but lies on her part. And as much as she wishes she was capable of lying about this, she can’t do it.

Looking away and down at her hands, Nesta mutters, “It’s not fun for me either, but it’s how I am. I can’t be easy or friendly with you. I hate watching you try to make me be easy or friendly.”

Nobody says anything to that, but when Nesta looks up again Lana gives her a remote nod that Feyre and Elain don’t catch. Thank you for your vulnerability, it says.

“You said something interesting, Nesta,” Lana breaks the silence. “Did you see your sisters as your responsibility to raise?”

Nesta shrugs. “I was the oldest,” she repeats.

“Your father was the oldest.”

“He wouldn’t do shit even if you held a gun to his head, so I was up next.” Though Nesta hadn’t done shit either. Neither had Elain, but the rules have always been different for her. Elain redeems herself to others by handing out sunny smiles and pretending to have the intelligence of a fawn.

Lana stares at Nesta until Nesta’s skin starts to heat. “What?” she says defensively.

Ignoring the other two women in the room, Lana leans forward. “You told me once early into our relationship that part of the reason you left Tennessee was to get away from your sisters. You said you were heartbroken when they ended up following you here.”

Nesta doesn’t breathe or look to see her sisters’ reactions.

“Now I’m going to ask: did you really want to get away from your sisters, or did you want to escape the feeling of failing them?”

Nesta doesn’t know how to answer, because to her they might as well be the same thing. Having Feyre and Elain around is like having a weight tied to her chest. The lingering guilt every time Feyre is in a room, her existence screaming I’m the reason you’re still alive. Elain’s constant expectations of unconditional support and loyalty, whether it’s reciprocated or not. It’s all so heavy. And it all goes back to the fact that the three of them were once just helpless children.

If she couldn’t take care of her sisters, how is she supposed to take care of any child, ever?

Nesta releases a weary sigh. “You’re going to bring this up the next time we have the baby talk, aren’t you?”

Lana’s eyes sparkle. “Don’t get ahead of yourself just yet.” But Nesta can see from where she sits that her therapist’s notepad is covered in bullet points.

***

“I need to use the bathroom.” Feyre is hopping back and forth on her feet once the session is over. “You guys head down to the parking lot without me.” She exits in a rush, leaving the two sisters alone. Nesta hisses in frustration, nearly chasing after Feyre so she won’t have to face the inevitable awkward conversation with Elain.

By the end of the session, it was Elain that broke and pleaded with Nesta, “Don’t do everything we want, then. Just keep doing better, the way you’ve already been doing. I’ll be happy with just that.”

Nesta was surprised that Elain had even noticed her efforts, but she retorted, “And how do you plan to do better?”

To which Elain twirled her hair and murmured something halfheartedly about, “I might be more open to taking criticism or whatever.”

Though it was the absolute bare minimum, it was still a relief for Nesta to hear Elain admit that she has flaws worth criticizing.

Now, Nesta clutches the straps of her purse and turns for the stairwell leading to the parking lot. Elain follows without comment.

Inside the stairwell, Nesta asks, “Have you spoken to Azriel since he left Velaris?”

Elain looks surprised at the sudden question, and doesn’t remember to be guarded when she answers, “No. Why?”

Nesta shrugs, her heels thumping loudly on the linoleum stairs. “Because I know what happened between you two. I know why he left.”

Elain halts midstep, grabbing Nesta’s arm and turning to face her with wide eyes. “What do you mean, you know? He told you?”

“He told Cassian, and Cassian told me.” Nesta hardly cares that she’s being a poor friend to Azriel by spilling all this to Elain, and continues, “If I had known he was such a coward, I would have kicked him out of our place a long time ago… but I figured I would get your input on it first.”

She’s never seen Elain look so genuinely pleading before. “Get my input on what?” Elain breathes. “What did he say about me? Was it something I did?”

At that torn face that borders on heartbroken, Nesta decides that she’ll do more than kick Azriel out of the cabin. She’ll kick him off the whole mountain.

She shoves Elain’s back to get Elain detached from her and moving down the stairs again, and as they walk, Nesta spills everything she knows. She tells Elain about Rhysand’s talent of shoving his nose into places it doesn’t belong, and how one conversation with him managed to convince Azriel to ditch Elain for good. She tells her about how instead of having a straightforward conversation with Elain, Azriel chose to leave the city and hide out in the mountains like a pussy. She might sound blunt, but Elain needs blunt. She needs to know the unfiltered truth of things.

By the time they reach the floor where their cars are parked, Elain is silent. “Did he really say that?” she finally asks quietly. “He said he wants me to hate him?”

“That’s what I heard.” After a moment, Nesta feels the need to add, “You should hate him, though. He fucked up bad.”

When Elain continues strolling for their cars without replying, concern bites at Nesta. “You are mad at him, right? And mad at Rhysand? You’re not going to forgive them, right?”

“I’m not a total pushover,” Elain snaps. She stares at the cement ground as they walk. “I’m just… more disappointed than anything else. He gave up so easily.” She chuckles without humor. “It sounds like he was looking for an excuse to get away from me.”

Nesta frowns. “I don’t think he would’ve spent so long moping around our house if he wanted to leave you.” Though they can never truly know what Azriel was thinking or feeling until he grows a pair and talks to Elain. Still, she shudders at having to defend him.

“I take it he doesn’t mope anymore?” Elain says.

Nesta doesn’t know how to answer that truthfully. She knows there’s more to Azriel than he lets her and Cassian see, and she knows he’s gotten better at keeping his feelings to himself. So she says, “It looks like he’s doing better, but I really don’t know.” They reach Elain’s car.

“Were you in love with him?” Nesta suddenly asks. Or worse, is she still in love with him?

Elain digs around for her keys in her purse. “You know how I am. Of course I was.”

“Not anymore, though?”

Elain looks up, keys now in hand. “It’s hard to still feel love for someone I haven’t talked to in two months.”

Then it wasn’t real love. Nesta is relieved, even though it doesn’t change the fact that Elain is hurting either way.

Elain jabs her keys at Nesta and says sharply, “Don’t you dare punish him for what he did. That’s for me to decide on.”

Nesta’s brow creases in refusal. “I’ll do what I need to do, and you do you.” She’ll have to be careful with her plotting, though, considering Azriel is Cassian’s brother.

“No.” Elain surprises Nesta with the force in her tone. “He’s your roommate and your friend. Keep treating him like it.”

Elain makes it sound easier than it is, and Nesta wants to argue until she sees Feyre heading down the parking lot toward them. “Fine,” she grumbles halfheartedly.

Elain gives her one final long look, not of threat but something else. “Thank you—for inviting us today.” That’s all she says before getting in the driver’s seat of her little red car. At the same time, Feyre catches up to them.

“Where are you parked?” Feyre pants as she approaches Nesta. She sounds a bit out of breath, like she ran to get here before Nesta could drive off alone.

Nesta points down the lot to where her scrappy old car is waiting for her, and Feyre straightens up with a grim smile. “I’ll walk you.”

Nesta knows that arguing isn’t worth it, so she allows Feyre to trail her the rest of the way to her car. Once they reach the old thing, Nesta gives a curt goodbye and heads straight for the driver’s door. Before she can touch the handle, Feyre attacks her from behind with a hug.

“Get off me, freak!” Nesta tries to jostle her way out of Feyre’s arms. She tries being nice to her sisters one time and this is what she gets—

Feyre only squeezes her tighter. “You don’t have to hug back. Just let me love you my way.”

Nesta squirms for another second before stilling. Swallowing tightly, she stares at the reflection of herself and Feyre in the car door window. One of her hands goes to where Feyre’s hands are clasped around her stomach, and she stands there without moving. She can’t remember the last time she shared affection with a family member like this, but it must have been before their mother died.

The warmth at Nesta’s back doesn’t leave, like Feyre is trying to pour all her understanding into the hug. Silently saying, I’m finally starting to get it.

In a way, Nesta is starting to get it, too. After all, how do sisters with such a complicated history begin to forgive each other?

Not by apologizing, but by doing better in the future.

***

On her way home, Nesta remembers at the last minute to stop by Gwyn’s apartment to pick up one of her sweaters. She doesn’t know when Gwyn started raiding her closet like it was a free mall, but she has a school event next week and doesn’t plan on letting her nicest clothes rot at Gwyn’s forever.

Nesta enters using the key beneath the doormat, knowing Gwyn is at work and won’t mind her stopping by. She scans the living and dining areas for a glimpse of brown cashmere, but only finds scattered books and a disorganized mess. Her fingers twitch with the urge to stop and tidy up the place, but she continues hunting for the sweater. Gwyn promised it would be waiting in plain sight for her.

Realizing the scatter-brained girl probably forgot to put the sweater out for her, Nesta pauses in the hallway leading to Gwyn’s bedroom and bites her lip. She doesn’t know if bedrooms are off limits or not, considering how often Gwyn and Emerie have barged into hers, but she knows she doesn’t want to make a second trip here just for a sweater.

Without giving it further thought, she strides into Gwyn’s room—

And yelps to find Gwyn on the bed.

Except she isn’t alone, and there’s definitely another body under the dark green blanket with her, and whoever it is definitely has their head between her legs.

Nesta spins away at the same time she hears Gwyn’s cry of surprise. She braces one hand against the doorjamb and presses the other to her freezing cold face, not having any words for what she just saw.

“Nesta?” Gwyn calls from behind her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Um, have you seen my sweater? It’s the expensive one.” She’ll just grab it and leave. Or maybe she’ll just leave—yes, that sounds like a good idea.

“Nesta?” a new, deeper voice repeats.

Gwyn hisses, and Nesta freezes because she recognizes that voice. She wants to be wrong so badly, but she has to whirl back around to confirm for herself.

“Azriel?”

***

a/n: i decided to cut this chapter short and add an extra one to flesh out my silly little gwynriel subplot. so if there’s anything specific or random you wanna see happen in the next chapter tell me bc i might have space for prompts!!

tagging: @hellasblessed @sjm-things @thewayshedreamed @drielecarla @valkyriewarriors @superspiritfestival @aliveahaahahafuck @cupcakey00 @sayosdreams @rainbowcheetah512 @claralady @thebluemartini @nessiantho @missing-merlin @duskandstarlight @lucy617 @sleeping-and-books @everything-that-i-love @cassianscool @swankii-art-teacher @wannawriteyouabook a favor: @awesomelena555 @julemmaes @wickedqueenoffantasy @poisonous-bloom @observationanxioustheorist @gisellefigue08 @courtofjurdan @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @wolfiixxx @cass-nes @seashade @royaltykxx @illyrianundercover @queenestarcheron @monstrousloves-explodinggalaxies @humanexile @that-golden-lyre @agentsofsheilds @mercy-is-alive @cassiansbigwingspan @laylaameer01 @verypaleninja @maastrash @bow-dawn @perseusannabeth @dead-on-the-inside666 @jlinez @hungryreadingaddict @anidealiveson @planet-faerie @shallowhighwaters @ghostlyrose2 @chosenfamily-valkyriequeens @rarephloxes @readiajin @nessiantrashh @live-the-fangirl-life @ifinallygavein @xoblivisci @sjmships @jungtaekwoonie-is-life @lysandra-tiara @lanyjoy-13 @frosted-crackers @post-it-notes33 @loosingdreams @fromthelibraryofemilyj @18moneytoad @dontgetsalmonella @champanheandluxxury @togreblog @arinbelle @ladygabrielli1997 @meridainthedisneyland @moodymelanist @pixieelea

#ncssianwrites #a favor #nesta archeron #nessian #cassian #nessian fic #nessian au

[whimsicallyreading]

For Day 29 of Rowaelin Month

“A song fic-“

The song- “Always Been You” by Quinn XCII

CW- Mentions of miscarriage and divorce

"I can't believe you right now."

Rowan looks at his wife in frustration. She's sitting at the end of their bed, staring listlessly at the wall. The skirt of the red dress she's wearing is wrinkled, and his heart aches when he notices the mascara marks on her cheeks.

"Aelin," Rowan tries again to reach for her, but she leans away from his grasp.

"No, Rowan. I'm done."

Rowan takes a long swing from the beer in front of him. The time on his phone alerts him that he's spent most of the evening sulking at his bar.

The guys had invited him to dinner, but Rowan hadn't felt like going in light of his current situation. Instead, choosing to meander to the shady little pub they'd passed by coming from the airport.

His lawyer had sent him numerous emails. Documents to sign, agreements to approve, and papers he needed to read through before sending them to the judge.

Divorce was a pain, and Aelin wasn't making it easy.

"Hey, bud. I thought I might find you here." Fenrys slides onto the barstool next to his.

Rowan sighs and rubs the lines forming on his forehead. "Well, I thought it was obvious I didn't want company."

"Too bad. Drinking alone isn't a good look on you." Fenrys raises a hand and motions for another round of beers. "How are things going with ya know?"

"Shitty. She's never paid a dime of rent on that apartment, but she wants the lease signed into her name and for me to front the first four months of rent." Rowan cracks a peanut between his finger. He has no intent to eat the growing pile in front of him. He just craved the satisfaction of breaking something.

"Well, have you talked to her about that?" Fenrys frowns in sympathy, knowing how equally attached both parties were to the little rental.

Rowan laughs mirthlessly. "No, she said that it was better if our conversations were mediated. I always knew Aelin was catty, but she's acting like such a-"

"Don't." Fenrys gives Rowan a severe look. "I know you are upset, but don't start saying shit you'll regret."

Rowan pauses and reluctantly nods his agreement. It's the alcohol talking. He knew the problems that had festered his marriage were predominantly his responsibility.

He takes a deep breath, but a heaviness seems to keep the air from reaching his lungs fully. The weight was slowly becoming too familiar, starting the day Aelin had presented him with the papers.

Rowan wishes he'd done more. Wishes he'd paid more attention and seen the signs of Aelin's unhappiness.

The day Aelin had broken down in their bedroom had been a cold wake-up call but by then? It was already too late.

"You missed our anniversary Rowan." Aelin shouts and pulls her heels off angrily.

Rowan picks up a shoe and tries to hand it back to her. "I know. I'm sorry. It's not too late, though. We can still go out? There's still time to salvage-"

Aelin turns away from him and seems to fold in on herself. Rowan wants to reach out. He wants to hold her, but something dark is building in the air.

"I don't want your leftovers, Rowan," Aelin whispers. "That's all I get anymore—your leftover time. Your leftover attention. Whatever leftover resentment you bring home from work."

"Aelin-" he tries to cut off her depressive spiral, but she's not finished.

"You used to call me during the day." Aelin's voice cracks, and he realizes she's crying. "Every day, you would call me on your break. Now you don't even call when you leave town."

"Baby, just listen to me." He puts his hands on her shoulders, but Aelin breaks his grasp to turn around and look at him.

"Is there someone else?" Her eyes are wide and vulnerable. So unlike his regular Aelin."

"What?" His brain is struggling even to formulate a reply. Rowan's lack of response only causes Aelin to worry more.

Something in her cracks. There's a quiver to her lips, and her face drains of color. "Oh. Oh no."

"Aelin. I swear there is no one else." Rowan finally says, but it's too late.

"Is," Aelin presses the heels of her hands against her eyes. "Is it because I lost the baby?" She sucks in a hiccupping breath. "You've always wanted kids. So did I, but my fucking body doesn't work."

Aelin closes her eyes, and Rowan knows she's speaking more to herself than him, but her words gut him just the same. "My body doesn't work right. I keep giving us false hopes and wasting money on pregnancy tests. Of course, you would look for a woman who can give you what you want."

He's surprised by the sudden flare of anger in him. "Don't put words in my mouth. That will never be your fault."

They'd known right from the start their journey to parenthood would be a long one. Aelin had a family history of complicated fertility. It had seemed so trivial when they got married. Yet even knowing there could be issues, nothing quite prepared them for the pain of a miscarriage.

Aelin sniffles, unable to force back her grief, "But you resent me. Don't you?"

Rowan doesn't reply.

"It's rough," Rowan admits out loud. "I let a lot get left unsaid. I was hurt and pushed her away. Now she won't even speak to me without a lawyer present."

Fenrys nods, "It's all probably for the best. Once this is over, you guys can put this drama behind you."

"I wish it were that easy," Rowan knocks back the rest of his beer. He grimaces at the drink. It's not taking hold quickly enough.

Fenrys raises an eyebrow. "You both will be able to shut the book on this chapter of your lives and move on? Considering how bloody you two have been fighting, it sounds ideal."

They sit in silence. Fenrys takes the peanut basket away from Rowan and picks at the shells. The bartender comes by, and disgruntledly eyes Rowan's pile of crumbs as he orders a whiskey neat.

Fen was like his little brother, but Rowan found it hard to admit his real problem to him aloud. "I still love her."

The basket goes flying over the side of the counter, and Fenrys chokes on his beer. "What?"

Rowan can't look him in the eye, "We lost a baby. It was early. Aelin didn't want to tell everyone. Three years we tried to get pregnant, and finally, a test comes back positive. She was so happy."

"Shit," Fenrys says quietly. "I'm so sorry."

"It was there, and then it was gone. I thought Aelin was fine. She cried for a week, but then it was like a switch flipped, and she was back to normal." Rowan clenches a napkin in his fist. "I was devastated. It hurt like hell, but I didn't want to send her back into a depression." Rowan shakes his head at how stupid he'd been. "So I put some distance between us. I didn't want her to think I was upset with her."

"I didn't feel better," Rowan sips the whiskey, relishing the warmth. "It made me mad that she got over it so quickly, and I couldn't. I didn't realize that I was growing that space between us. I didn't understand how much guilt she harbored and that she tried to be strong for me. Not until she broke."

"We fought. I said all the wrong things. Aelin couldn't take it anymore, she left, and I didn't stop her." Rowan leans his head on his hands and elbows against the counter. "She's the love of my life, and I watched her walk out the door."

Fenrys sucks in a breath and sighs. "You are my best friend, and I mean this in the most loving way possible. Why the hell are you here?"

"What?" Rowan looks at Fenrys annoyed face.

"Get out of here. Go. I'll tell the boss you have ebola or some shit." Fenrys fishes his wallet out and throws cash on the bar. "I'll even cover the tab. Just leave. Now."

"What? I don't understand?"

Fenrys looks at Rowan like he's stupid. "No offense, but you are about as interesting as a brick wall. The fact you caught a girl like Aelin is astonishing. If you love her, are you honestly going to let her go on being miserable?"

"She's not miserable," Rowan scoffs.

Fenrys laughs bitterly. "You forget I'm pals with Aedion too? Aelin winds up at his house almost every evening crying her eyes out. You two are still hopelessly in love. You're just dumb and badly in need of a good conversation."

"Aelin is upset?" A sense of disbelief washes over him.

"Yes! She misses you, but she's under the impression you are off sleeping around." His face saddens. "I told Aedion you weren't. He knows I go on all of these trips with you. Aelin's just upset you're gone and needs to believe in something that can help her let go."

Rowan stands up, swaying. "I have to go."

"Hell yeah, you do. Give Aelin my love," Fenrys waves as Rowan vates the bar like a hawk out of hell.

Aelin sets the stack of papers in front of him.

Rowan had been camping out in his office ever since there disaster of an anniversary. He'd texted a few times, but every time they talked, it was like relighting a fuze. Things weren't getting better.

"What are these?" Rowan asks without looking up from his screen.

"Your ticket to freedom," Aelin sits in the chair across from him.

She looks thin, thinner than she did when Arobynn was her foster father. It physically hurts Rowan that he's causing her that kind of stress. Glancing at the papers, she slapped in front of him. His blood becomes like an ice river through his body. "Aelin-"

"I'm not the one for you. That's apparent now. I won't hold you hostage in a marriage that you aren't happy in." Aelin blinks, and a tear slides down her face. He wants to wipe it away, but he's beyond angry. She was giving up on them.

"If this is what you want," Rowan slides the papers towards him and pulls out a pen.

Rowan is racing the familiar paths to their apartment. He doesn't care that it's almost four in the morning. The plane ride between Perranth and Ornyth is mercifully short, but he can't force himself to wait another minute.

"Aelin," he yells through their door. "Baby, answer me. Open the door."

Rowan's fists tap a consistent rhythm on the door, and his heart skips a beat when a bedraggled Aelin finally appears. "Rowan, do you know what time it is?"

She's in a pair of grey flannel pajamas, not one of her usual silky numbers. Aelin's eyes are red around the edges, and her face is still dewy from the excessive amount of lotion he knows she loves to put on. Rowan knows all of her routines. All of her favorite outfits, comfort movies, and best memories. He knows the scar she has on her left hand from an abusive foster father. Rowan remembers how the bridge of her nose wrinkles when she's upset in the same spot her cousin's does.

He knows everything about her, because not only were they husband and wife, they were best friends.

How could he have let that go?

Before Aelin can ask any more questions, Rowan has swept her into his arms. "I missed you so damn much."

"Rowan, have you been drinking?" Aelin asks in a voice cracked with emotion.

His hands are running up her back, and his knows burrows into her hair. He's always loved the smell of her jasmine shampoo. "Fireheart, I never resented you for losing the baby."

"Rowan, I don't want to talk about this," Aelin tries to push him away, but he squeezes her into his chest, and she melts.

That had been his mistake. He should have held Aelik like this and never let her go on pretending to be happy. How could he know everything about this woman and not have seen past her facade? She'd suffered. His own pain had blinded him.

"Aelin, I've made so many mistakes lately." Rowan rubs the back of Aelin's neck the way she likes, and he can feel the sobs starting to build up inside of her. "But the greatest shame of my life is not being there for you when you needed me. I was stupid, Fireheart. I'm not going to be stupid any longer. This separation can't go on, we aren't any happier for it, and I can't live knowing I'm away from the other half of my soul."

Aelin cracks, and he can feel the tears wetting the front of his shoulder. "You were never home. I thought there was someone else, someone who could give you the things you wanted because I can't."

Her whole form is shuddering his arms, and Rowan squeezes tighter as if he can hold her broken pieces together. "It's always been you. I don't care if we adopt or never have any kids at all. All I need is you, baby. You are all I've ever needed."

Suddenly, hands are in Rowan's hair as Aelin crushes their lips together. The kiss is frantic, a relief of the stress they'd carried upon their shoulders.

"I missed you too," Aelin whispers in between kisses. “Gods I mussed you so much.”

The rest of their night is filled with soothing words, frantic kissing, and murmured apologies. Rowan kisses the tears from her cheeks and Aelin looks into his eyes like she’s home. Nail dig into skin as they promise never to be apart again.

For the first time in months they sleep in the same bed. Rowan sinks into a deep restful sleep with his wife in his arms once more. He loves the way her cold toes search out his heat. How Aelin fits so perfectly against his chest. When he wakes up and she’s still there, his heart nearly features from relief.

After months of pain, it's the beginning of their walk towards healing.

The days after aren't perfect. They had legal issues to sort back out, more problems to lay bare to the sunlight. There was arguing, but it lacked actual heat, and they didn't walk away feeling unloved at the end. No longer did they fight to land barbs. Their bickering now served to work towards solutions and to express needs.

Between struggles, the love began to grow back. Rowan kept his job at work, and when he was home, it was about them. He started calling her on his breaks again, and it always astonished him how much he missed the sound of her voice. They both strived to communicate their feelings better and actually listen instead of reacting.

Aelin surprised him with romantic dates, and Rowan read pages of her favorite books to her at night. They danced in the kitchen and laughed at their favorite shows.

Fixing their marriage was hard work, but Rowan and Aelin didn't mind. The separation proved that neither of them wanted a life without the other. It was to whatever end, and they wouldn't accept anything less for them.

On one Sunday morning, Rowan opens his eyes and realizes that Aelin isn't on her side of the bed. Panic surges in him, and he looks around to make sure her things are still there.

They are, and the tension eases from his shoulders until he hears soft crying from the bathroom. Darting out of bed, he grabs Aelin's bathrobe and knocks on their bathroom door. "Aelin, what's wrong?"

Had he screwed something up? Was she sick?

The lock clicks, granting him silent permission for him to come inside. Rowan pushes the door open and finds Aelin crying on the side of the tup. With gentle hands, he wraps her robe around her and throws an arm over her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

Aelin looks up at him, a radiant smile on her face. "Look."

Rowan glances down to her clenched fists and-

He blinks, once, twice. Aelin laughs at his dumbfounded face, and it breaks his paralysis. Rowan grabs her around the waist and spins her around the cramped bathroom, the positive pregnancy test clattering to the floor.

Aelin's arms wrap around his neck. The emotion in the room is raw and bittersweet, but there's a hopefulness that can't be denied. Rowan holds her tight as they process the news. When they break apart, the love between them is palpable. They had another shot at this, a fresh start.

Hards times would come and go, but good days were never far behind for them. Because for Aelin and Rowan, it's always been them.

And that's all they needed.

#throne of glass #rowaelin #fanfic #rowan whitethorn #aelin galathynius #rowaelinmonth #angst #tog #sjmaas #throne of glass fanfiction #song fic #rowan x aelin #fenrys #day 29

[artzychic27]

In honor of the glorious pride month (Coming up soon), please enjoy these Miraculous Pride Headcanons!

Inspired by this post by @transvoltronhc

You a TERF? Fuck off, beeyatch!

Marinette- The Pan Trans Queen we all Need 🏳️‍⚧️

She/Her- Pansexual/Polyamorous

Every time Marinette inhales, a terf gets punched

Every time Marinette exhales, a trans kid gets a flag

She and Nathaniel supply the face paint

She’s very vocal at pride and gets super violent with protesters

Marinette: *Punching protester while her friends cheer* I don’t wanna see your disgusting face here ever again, you filthy pig! Same goes for the rest of you!

Terfs go to protest, walk away covered in bruises and with a tiny crush on the bluenette

Got into a muscle-flexing contest and won first

Dyed her hair the colors of the pan flag and walks around with a brightly colored, bedazzled trans flag cape

Supplies juice boxes and cookies for the pride kids

She and Marc pass out colorful binders, flower crowns, and starter makeup kits

Drag Queens and Kings LOVE her and are always giving her hugs whenever she walks by / She’s even been commissioned by them to make outfits for their next shows. The audience loved them

Alya- The Badass Pansexual Pirate 🏴‍☠️

She/Her but is not opposed to They/Them

Actually has dressed like a pirate with a sword the colors of her flag. Anarka was so proud

Will punch TERFs with their Pan bestie any day

Ships random people

Leaves many girls swooning as she walks by in her thigh high leather boots

Alya: Sorry ladies, I’m spoken for. *Kisses Nino*

No one dares to flirt with her because she’s out of everyone’s league

One protester made a transphobic comment about Nino, and Alya immediately hit em with a frying Pan

The chaotic aunt of pride

Death drops are flawless!

Hands out phone cases they painted the colors of different pride flags

Born This Way is her anthem

Has many pride-themed superhero tank-tops ‘Super Gay 4 Super Girl’ ‘I’m Bi Man’ ‘Deadpool was at Stonewall’

Nino- The Insanely Cool Bi Trans Guy 😎🏳️‍⚧️

He/Him

Marinette made him a bedazzled cape so they could match

Mari and Kim’s brother in Transness

Dresses in hoodies no matter how hot it is

One of the mom friends. / Everyone wants to be adopted by him. / He once put everyone on baby leashes so they wouldn’t wander off

Everyone refers to him as “Trans DJ Jesus” because he wore sandals with a long curly wig one time. (To this day, no one knows why he did it)

Takes a five-minute break to Vogue with the drag queens

Supplies the music while skateboarding. He blasts every gay national anthem known to humankind

Alya, Adrien, Marinette, and Kim are very protective of him. Once, a TERF pushed him to the ground. Alya, Marinette, and Kim beat up the TERF while Adrien treated his friend to some ice cream

Adrien- Shit! We lost the baby! 🏳️‍🌈😱

He/Him & She/Her- Bigender/Bisexual/Polyamorous

Can’t stop, won’t stop wandering off because he’s never been to a Pride parade before

He was surprised at how accepting his father was. Although, it probably had something to do with Nathalie and Gorilla threatening to expose him as Hawkmoth if he didn’t let Adrien go

The class goes ballistic whenever she goes missing and will interrogate anyone

Myléne: *Interrogating a drag queen* Are you hiding him in your wig?! / Marinette: Get her out! She’s so frail! Her dad doesn’t feed her! / Nino: Found him! He was getting ice cream. / Myléne: ... You are free to go.

Nino has to put him on a baby leash every time

Drinks the most juice boxes and eats the most ice cream

Can’t tell when he’s being flirted with / Rando: Hey, cutie. / Adrien: ... My name is Adrien.

Bigender legwarmers, bracelets, and headbands

Dresses in pastels every year, and people just wanna hug him / He's happy to oblige and will hug anyone / Vows to hug the hate out of protesters

Every time Adrien smiles or laughs, a transgender child is accepted by friends and family and then gets a flower crown

Keeps getting asked if she and Marinette are dating. / Adrien: No, we’re just shopping buddies. (Secretly wishes for more)

A girl once asked if he was Cinderella when he wore a blue headband, and he immediately said yes. Now every week for Pride month, she dresses as a different Disney Princess

Nearly fainted when Marinette and Luka entered a flexing contest and Luka’s sleeves tore

Kim- Mari and Nino’s Bi brother in Trans Pride🏳️‍⚧️

He/Him & They/Them- Gender nonconforming

Kim: I’m a guy, I like blouses and heels, deal with it, people!

Kim/Mari/Nino: Bedazzled Cape Squad!

Muscle shirts and converse sneakers / Has a tank top that reads, ‘I flexed so hard the sleeves came off’

Got into a muscle-flexing contest against Luka and Marinette and got third place (No one beats Marinette)

Also can’t tell when they’re being flirted with

Alix and Max convinced him to dress in drag, and he went all out. Now he has the respect of many drag queens. And every pride parade, he wears heels and a huge wig

Gives everyone (Mainly Max) piggyback rides

Asked Max to be his boyfriend at one pride parade, and people thought it was so cute! They named that day, ‘Kimax Day’

Max- Not a Robot, I’m Agender 🤖

They/Them

Has many pride tank-tops and pins with puns / ‘Error 404 Gender Not Found’ ‘I Don’t Speak Binary Code’ ‘2/3 of the Invisible Trio’

Has Marinette paint their cheeks the colors of the agender and asexual flags

Has one of those digital backpacks with pixelated images on the front

Downloads Pride songs for Markov to blasts from their speakers

When they and Alix convinced Kim to dress in drag, Max may or may not have drooled a bit

Progress Pride Flag cape, socks, and nails

When protestors attack, Max goes all LGBT scientist on their butts, explaining the difference between gender and sex, what hormone blockers actually do, and how not every gay person has AIDS

Once beat up a sleazy protester for... Feeling Kim down there / Max: *Hitting protester with a baseball bat* If you ever do that again, I will fit Markov with a laser and have them slice your rotten dick off!

Marinette and Nathaniel helped them make pride bracelets with the sexualities and gender identities written in binary code. The pride nerds LOVED them

Nathaniel: Our Beautiful BiRomantic Son 🎨

He/Him

He and Marinette paint everyone’s faces before every pride parade

Painted an asexual heart on his Bi flag and wore it as a cape

Cuffed jeans, boots, tucked-in shirt, beanie, pride buttons / Paints pride flags on his denim jacket and shorts

Marc does his makeup, and he looks fabulous

His grandma teaches him how to fight in case of violent Christian protesters / Grandma: Sweetie, you’re Jewish and Bisexual, the world is gonna tear you apart. Learn how to give a mean left hook.

Once took over a face painting booth, now he does it every Pride Month

Enters the 'Crush a watermelon between your thighs' contest every time and always wins first

Saw couples cosplaying as Mightillustrator and Inverser, and cried tears of joy

He and Marc cosplay as couples at every pride parade. The fan favorites are Keith and Lance, Tweek and Craig, and Michael and Rich

CANNOT have too much sugar or he goes crazy and wakes up with no memories of what he did

The next day after an intense sugar high, people were saluting as he walked by and calling him ‘General of the Bisexual Battalion’ / He’s not complaining or questioning it / He has an army now and will one day take over all of Europe. Then the world.

Marc: The Rainbow Flag has Taken a Human Form🏳️‍🌈

Nonbinary- He/Him & They/Them

A True Pride Legend

Born on June 1st at a pride parade.

A singer helped deliver him, his cord was cut by a sword Lesbian, he was swaddled in a drag queen’s glitter cape, and their name was thought of by a drag king

This moment was so beautiful that many protesters cried and decided to join the parade

Everyone will literally stop what they’re doing just to get a picture with them / Everyone loves Marc!

Got into a splits contest and won

Makes flower crowns and knits rainbow flag scarves to pass out to everyone

Certified Mom Friend

Does everyone's makeup

Loses his shit when his shorter friends get lost in crowds

Hugs pride kids who were forced to sneak out or were kicked out of their homes then buys them ice cream / He and Nathaniel have adopted over fifty Pride kids who were kicked out of their homes

Joins Adrien in dressing like a Disney Princess. He SLAYED as Snow White

It may not seem like it, but Marc can throw a punch and fight with one hand right behind their back

Beat up a transphobic asshole for trying to “correct” a trans boy by forcing himself onto him. / They never did find the man’s body. In fact, all of his personal information was gone. Almost like he had never even existed... / Marc looks cute, but he can be terrifying when he needs to be

Alix: Two Out of 3 💚💜🖤🤍

She/Her & They/Them

Leaves many girls swooning as they skate by

Devious little shit

She doesn’t beat up protesters like her classmates. She pranks them until they cry / One year, they all ended up covered in rainbow glitter and pink feathers / Adrien and Rose help them make glitter bombs to throw at protesters, then they run away giggling

Wears sarcastic Pride shirts and black shorts with her roller skates

She and Jalil come out to their father every June

Alix: Father. I am AroAce! / Jalil: Also, I am gay! / Alim: Kids, I know. You’ve been doing this every year. / Jalil: Well... Thank you for being an ally!

This is the only time she’ll wear makeup / She wears it like war paint. Only it’s rainbow

Drinks the most juice out of everyone

Ships people with Alya. SHIPPING BUDS!

Myléne: Smol Asexual Bean ♠️

She/Her

Goes all out for Pride Month / Rolls around in glitter with Rose and Sabrina before every parade

Dyes her hair all rainbow / Wears a ‘Shakespeare was Here’ shirt with her asexual flag skirt

Has also beaten up homophobes and transphobes

Is the most vocal when it comes to putting those assholes in their place. Ivan has to hold her back sometimes

After an acephobe after they made certain comments (You ace folk know what I’m talkin ‘bout) She roundhouse kicked them / Every protester knows not to mess with the bohemian girl

Will blast The PROM soundtrack at max volume from her phone

Cosplays as musical characters. Veronica Sawyer was a fan favorite

Part of the “Where the Hell is Adrien?” Squad

Ivan: My Girlfriend is Stronger than Me, and it’s So Hot 💪😍

Prefers He/Him but is cool with other pronouns - Questioning his gender so isn’t using any labels right now

The responsible auncle

Mari and Alya’s partner in Pansexuality/ He can’t help if everyone is attractive, he just can’t!

Looks like he can kill you, but is actually a cinnamon role. Myléne on the other hand...

Has let Marc do their makeup and nails, and looks gorgeous!

Did drag. Slayed. Rocks those three-inch heels.

Tank tops and shorts club

Like Marinette, no one dares to flirt with him. Not because he’s out of their league, but because they’re scared of his girlfriend

Dyes his blonde tuft pastel pink every year

More pacifistic than her friends are when it comes to protesters, but if the right buttons are pressed, hell shall be raised

They join Alya and Alix in shipping random people

Rose: The Lovely Lipstick Lesbian💄

She/Her- Breaking lesbian stereotypes est. 2004

The kind aunt who supports all of her niblings

Has been going to pride with her dads since she was born/ One of her dads is a retired drag queen

Wears her rainbow fairy wings every year

Has a lesbian flag with dozens of girls' phone numbers written on it. / Doesn’t wear it anymore now that she has Juleka

Throws fistfuls of glitter at protesters and yells at them, “LIGHTEN UP!”

Sprinkles glitter on pride kids and tells them to sparkle

Marinette helps her make rainbow unicorn plushies to hand out to children every year

Dresses as Disney Princesses with Adrien and Marc. Princess Squad!

Bakes cookies to pass around

Drag Kings and Queens love this girl! She’s cute, loud, and carries glitter everywhere

Butch lesbians learn not to flirt with her after their encounter with Juleka

To piss of protesters, she dipped Juleka and kissed her for ten whole seconds / Rose: I bet your husbands don’t love you like that. / Drag Queens: BUUUUUURN!

Juleka: The Gay Witch 🖤🏳️‍🌈

She/Her & They/Them - Total lesbian

Was there when Marc was born, and will never forget that day. (She has an impressive memory, even as a baby)

They swore they saw a rainbow when he was born

Dresses as a witch and wears red eye contacts to every pride event so she freaks out protesters

Has actually cursed them / They just bought the spellbook off of Amazon

Carries around a rainbow parasol

Carries Rose under every threshold she comes across

Is a lot louder at pride events than on regular days

She actually sang Girls Like Girls up on stage, and everyone went wild

Sometimes wears suits

When they saw Rose being flirted with by some butch lesbians, they went ballistic / Now the butch lesbians are terrified of her forever

She and Luka help out with painting her friends’ nails and dying their hair

Dyes her hair rainbow every pride month

Luka: The Responsible Hot & Chaotic Auncle 💖💚💙

Agender- They/Them, He/Him, She/Her - Polysexual/Polyamorous

“For me, gender is like silence... I’m just not into it.”

Doesn’t really care what pronouns people use for him

Wears dresses to every pride parade. Anarka and Juleka have never been so proud

Is always doing drag cosplay. Marc and Nathaniel have never been so proud / They had people gawking when they did Jessica Rabbit cosplay

Purposely bends over in front of people, while wearing leggings, skirts, skinny jeans, or short shorts. Marinette, Kagami, and Adrien got nosebleeds

Marinette/Kagami/Adrien: Luka's ass in those shorts is a Godsend.

Dyes her hair rainbow every pride parade

The minute June starts, they’ll get up in the morning, grab their Polysexual flag, and just run around the city

Has been coming up with Pride songs to sing at protesters. Many of the songs insult them. / Luka: Okay! This one goes out to the trash behind barriers, it’s called, “Please shut the fuck up, you homophobic dildos!”

Got into a flexing contest and won second, but at the cost of their sequined sleeves

Asked Adrien, Marinette, and Kagami to be his significant others at a pride event. They all said yes

Has carried Adrien and Marinette on her biceps, and Kagami on her shoulders

Adrien: ... I marrying them first. / Marinette: Get in the back of the line, blonde wonder! / Kagami: Both of you move to the back.

Kagami: While You Were Busy Being Hetero, I Studied the Blade 🗡

She/Her - PanRomantic/Polyamorous

Surprisingly, her mother was very supportive. She even bought Kagami a rainbow sword / Turns out, Tamoe had a few flings herself. 😉

Kagami came out to the whole fencing team by wearing a pansexual-flag print fencing mask. Adrien squealed all through practice

She didn’t quite understand what polyamory meant and was confused as to why she had crushes on Adrien, Marinette, and Luka at the same time

After a bit of explaining and reassuring her that it was totally normal and not being disloyal to a partner, Kagami came to terms with being polyamorous

Tamoe allowed Kagami to go to her first Pride Parade. On the condition that she take her sword to ward off protesters

She was so overwhelmed and wasn’t entirely sure what to do until she found Marinette, Luka, and Adrien in the crowd with their friends

The four of them hung out together and got closer

Believes Adrien in pastels is one of the purest things on Earth

When Marinette and Luka entered the flexing contest, Kagami had to keep Adrien and herself from fainting

When Luka asked her, Marinette, and Adrien to be his significant others she tried to resist the urge to jump and squeal, but couldn’t hold it in

Likes it when Marinette wraps her trans flag around her. It’s so warm

Chased off a protester and TERF with her sword. They said some shit about Marinette being ‘fake’, Luka being ‘greedy’, and Adrien being a ‘pansy’, and she just snapped / While screaming in rapid Japanese, she chased about fifty protesters away. Her SOs were so proud.

Sabrina: The Ginger Gent 👑🏳️‍🌈

She/Her, He/Him in Drag- PanRomantic

Rolls around in glitter, as is a Drag tradition

Dresses in drag. / The Ginger Gent is her drag king name and she’s got like a glam rocker theme going on

Sequined leather jacket, coiffed toupee, glitter makeup

Started doing drag when she was twelve. Her dad supported her wholeheartedly and even entered her in junior drag contests. She took first place three times

Sometimes puts on private drag shows for Chloé. (Nothing weird!)

Marinette helps makes most of her costumes

Luka’s partner in Drag / Together, they kick ass and still look glamorous

A makeup expert (Next to Marc)

Roger taught her self defense / If you're going to Pride, learn to fight

Has taken down thirty protesters, his hair still looks awesome, and there's not a sequin out of place.

Chloé: The Badass Polysexual Demigirl 💖💚💙

She/Her and They/Them

Not really that attracted to guys

Best dressed. / Marc/Luka/Sabrina: She wishes!

Only allows Marc to do their makeup, no one else!

She has her own float in the parade / She passes out rainbow boas

Taking names and kicking butt

Has actually choked a protester with their flag and they don't do a thing about it since they're the mayor's child

Chloe: It pays to have political power. / Marinette: In this situation.

Doesn't tell people, but they came to Marinette, Nino, and Kim about gender stuff when they were questioning their identity

The day was spent teaching Chloe about the trans spectrum until she found the gender that felt right to her

Whenever Chloe gets excited, she makes out with the first girl she comes across. / Many young female protesters started questioning things when the blonde's lips grazed against theirs'

#miraculous ladybug #lgbt headcanons #everyone is gay #happy pride 🌈 #love is love #nathaniel x marc #rose x juleka #marinette x adrien x luka x kagami #kim x max #trans Kim #trans Nino #trans Marinette #brotp #lukadrinette #lukadrigaminette #lgbt pride #lgbtq #lesbian #gay #bisexual #transgender #pansexual #asexual #nonbinary #Aromantic #akuma class #polyamory