#immy yelps

[grimforks]

so so sorry to the venus doll i almost bought but put back for a draculaura refresh i just couldnt betray my girl like that

#immy yelps #lala started my g1 collection and she will start my g3 collection #i WILL fucking acquire a venus though her body sculpt is SO gorgeous #abby too #g3 is growing on me rapidly #lol my only g2 doll is a lala too. she's my bbg <3 #monster high

[marmolady]

New Horizons

Main Pairings: Estela x (f)MC, Graleister

Summary: Endless Ending. Liv and Reggie are starting school in San Trobida. Notes at the end!

Word Count: 9695

Chronology: After 'Growing Pains', before 'How the time escapes me...'

Tagging: @saivilo, @edgydepressedchoicesthot, @sceptilemasterr, @greengroove @mauvecatfic​

Thanks for reading!

San Trobida, July 2035

“Hey, Auntie Grace!”

Reggie looked up from his book at the sound of his cousin’s voice, and hastily placed aside his shiny new copy of ‘A Guide to San Trobidan History’ so he could rush out into the hallway.

Grace was already wrapping Liv in a hug. “Hello, sweetheart.” She kissed the side of her niece’s head, before her eyes wandered down to a bloodied knee. “Did you have a mishap on your bike on the way here?”

“Yeah… I clipped the kerb and crashed,” Liv said, offering her aunt a better view of her wound. As she heard Reggie’s footsteps, she looked up to meet his eye and smiled.

“Youch!” Reggie offered sympathetically as he came close enough to peer over Liv’s grazed knee.

Liv shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”

Grace, though, was more concerned. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head when you fell?”

“No, just scraped my knee. It does actually sting a bit.”

“Hmm. Well, I think we’d better put some anti-septic that knee just to be safe.”

The new house was a mess. Boxes and misplaced furniture filled every room, and the twins-- six years old-- had been making forts with the packing boxes that had been emptied so far. The family had been in the house for just over a day, and some good progress had already been made. There had been a lot that had been left behind. Neither Aleister nor Grace put too much value on material possessions, so most of what had come with them and the children to their new home in San Trobida had been essential furniture, and the mountains of photo albums and memorabilia from a life with the kids.

Grace sat Liv down on a wooden ottoman, and, after a little bit of rummaging, found the first aid kit.

“Okay, this might hurt just a little,” she said gently, and she carefully dabbed Liv’s graze.

Liv yelped, “Fuck!”, causing Reggie to gasp, looking to his mother for a reaction, and Erin and Immy to burst out giggling from inside their box-fort.

Grace raised an eyebrow, but her warm smile didn’t shift. “It stings that much?”

“Yeah…,” Liv said, flushing a little. “Sorry about the language.”

“I’m sure I didn’t hear a thing.”

There was the usual bustling around as Aleister got the girls into their shoes; Immy and Erin had decided that swapping one shoe with one another was the peak of humour, but eventually, their father managed to get them each into a left and a right-- even if they didn’t match. Six-and-a-half-year-old sisters, Reggie had come to realise, made just about everything more of a headache than necessary.

Eventually, though, they were on their way. His mom and dad, walking beside the twins as they pootled along on their bicycles, had the address, but Reggie rode ahead with Liv, taking her lead as she zig-zagged through the streets of Valle Brava. Having only set foot on San Trobidan soil as a new resident some twenty-four hours ago, everything aspect of his environment set his senses alight. This wasn’t like being back in America. Perhaps it was the tropical climate, but he was reminded much more of La Huerta-- of home. Liv certainly seemed right at home here. She and her mothers had settled a few weeks before, and Liv had been coming here pretty much all her life. There were just a few blocks between their respective houses, and the wide cycle paths along the bitumen roads made for an easy journey. This, Reggie had been told, was a newly developed area; much had been re-built since the war he knew his Tia Estela had been involved in. The cycle paths ended as they came nearer to Liv’s place, a little way out of the main township. The foliage on either side of the road became thicker, and there was less street noise, more birdsong.

“Beat you!” Liv announced as she planted her feet into the ground, forcing her bicycle to a stop.

Reggie grumbled, pulling up beside his cousin in front of a humble bungalow-style house with outer walls a vibrant azure blue against yellow accents. The sound of a dog barking-- unmistakably Liv’s Robin, was further confirmation they’d arrived. “You didn’t beat me, Livia. I was following you. I didn’t even know where we were going.”

“Jeez, dude. No one likes a sore loser….”

“I am not a--!”

The door swung open.

“Reggie!” Taylor wasted no time in sweeping her nephew into a hug. “It’s so good to see you! I can’t believe you still have the energy for cycling over here-- didn’t you move house, like, yesterday?”

Reggie laughed. “Hi, Auntie Taylor!” There was something about seeing a familiar face in this new environment that made the pieces seem to click into place. Family made it home. “I’m a little bit tired but mostly just excited. I did sleep in today, so I guess I won’t crash until later.” His sisters on the other hand… there was no way they’d last the evening without overtiredness rearing its ugly head.

“I’m guessing your mom and dad are on their way with the girls?”

“Yeah,” said Liv, “but they’re pretty slow. I don’t have to wait to give Reggie the grand tour, do I?”

“Knock yourself out, kid. Hang on, Liv? Walk your bike through the house, please.”

“I was gonna!”

Reggie could only smirk. Like hell you were….

“Aaaand,” Liv finished off with a flourish, “this is my room!” She opened the door to a good-sized bedroom. It seemed to Reggie that what floor-space wasn’t taken up by the bed was piled up with boxes.

“I mean, I can’t say the mess wasn’t a clue.”

Liv gave her cousin a look as she flopped into her bed. “Hey-- moving house is hard. You’ll see soon enough. You get started all excited, but once you start living your life, you kinda get… stuck. Mama Taylor says we’re going to just blitz it all next weekend, and throw ourselves a pizza party as a reward.”

Reggie got up onto the bed and crossed his legs. “Do you like it here?”

“I love it here! I always liked coming here when I was little, so I guess it doesn’t feel like something completely different. I reckon my tio abuelo is over the moon that we’re here for good; it’s like I’ve got a grandparent now.” Liv’s cheeks flushed pink, and she glanced away.

Understanding, Reggie nodded. Together, they’d grown up in a family that didn’t take the traditional shape. There were some things that simply couldn’t be explained to other friends; like why Reggie’s grandma could help him with his homework, but could never come in for grandparents’ day, and why Liv had a whole side of the family with no grandparents at all-- not even dead ones.

“And,” Liv continued, “people don’t really look at my Mama Estela funny. I noticed that years ago. I guess ‘cause of the war, people don’t look twice at someone who’s maybe a little bit banged-up. I got so sick of it back in America. Every time we met someone new, they’d put on that ‘God, what happened?’ face. Maybe Mom doesn’t want to explain the whole ‘revolutionary in a civil war’ thing to every random person who can’t mind their own business. Some people have scars-- big freaking deal. It’s better here.”

“Yeah, that would be a nice change. The amount of times I’ve seen you and Auntie Taylor look at a nosy idiot like you want to deck ‘em--”

Liv burst out laughing. “True, that.”

The sound of excited barking rang out from the backyard. It seemed pretty likely to Reggie that his parents and sisters had just arrived. When he and Liv arrived in the backyard, Erin had already joined Estela at the barbecue, desperate to be involved, while Immy was passionately talking to Nicolas about goodness-knows-what. Reggie made a mental note to rescue him in a few minutes; that kid could be intense, and the poor old guy had come out here for a relaxing lunch with his niece.

Nicely, but firmly, Reggie nudged the wriggling, writhing form of Robin the dog to the side so he could join his mother and Auntie Taylor at the large alfresco table under the porch. And Robin returned to his favoured position at the feet of the barbecue-- Erin was just a kid, surely, she’d drop something….

“Do you need a hand with the salads?” Reggie asked as he greeted his mother with a hug. He’d been seeking a lot of those. With so much changing, familial comfort meant a lot, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

Perhaps more than anything, though, he was grateful to have Liv by his side. It was the way it had always been; from their toddler days on La Huerta, through elementary school, to their adventures in home-schooling. Some things might change-- some things might change immeasurably-- but he always had his cousin.

___________________________

La Huerta, 2028

Liv yelled out as she splashed down into the shallow surf. “Reggie!”

“I got her, Xiraana!” Reggie cried, and soon he was joined by a young Vaanti girl, who helped restrain their victim.

“No, no!” Liv squealed as she struggled. Vaanti kids, she’d long ago realised, were strong. “You’ll never take me alive!”

“Five-- four--- three….” Xiraana counted down, not letting Liv out of her grasp.

“Two-- one!” Reggie finished triumphantly, and he let his cousin fall unceremoniously back into the water. “The klaawyi ate all the meat off your bones. You’re one of us now!”

Liv pouted, but admitted defeat. It wasn’t the worst thing that could happen; she was pretty good on Team Klaawyi anyway. Or, she would have been… had she not seen the figure of her favourite uncle descending onto the beach from the great tree of Elyys’tel.

“Tio Diegoooooo! Hiiiii!” Liv ran across the sand, almost tripping in her desperation to reach him.

“Hey, Livia!” Reggie cried out, indignant at being suddenly abandoned. “You’re meant to help us catch them!”

But Diego had crouched down to wrap Liv in a hug, and Reggie might as well be talking to a pile of rocks for all that was being absorbed.

“Tio, they got me! Reggie and Xiraana got me, and now I’m a klaawyi!”

“You?” Diego laughed. “You’re no klaawyi-- I’ve never seen a klaawyi that was ticklish!”

“Wha--?” Oh no. Once again, Liv was shrieking with mirth, this time dodging the tickling hands of her tio.

Still standing in the shallows, Reggie stomped his foot, which achieved little but splashing himself in the face. The game went on without them; games of Klaawyi Chase didn’t stop for anyone. The usual fun on the beaches outside Elyys’tel would go on like this every day… whether Reggie and Liv were there to join in or not. And Reggie didn’t want to miss out now.

“Come on, Livia!”

She just shook her head, not letting her adoring gaze up at Diego slip for so much as a heartbeat. “Nah,” she said. “I’m done.”

Torn, knowing that whichever direction he ran in, he’d lose out on precious time with friends, Reggie admitted defeat and rushed back to Liv’s side on the shore. He looked back over his shoulder and waved goodbye-- for what he’d been told would likely be a long, long time. Engrossed in their game, his friends gave just the most fleeting of farewells before continuing to race through the small waves that lapped the beach.

Liv, in contrast, had eyes only for her tio. She clasped his hand tightly; if she held on tight enough, perhaps he’d have no choice but to come with her to wherever her mothers were taking her in the big aeroplane.

Where exactly she was going, Liv didn’t quite understand. It was away from La Huerta, but they weren’t going back to live with Tio Nicolas, they were going… someplace else. Someplace with no Tio Diego and Varyyn, where all the other kids would be boring shades of pink and brown rather than blue and green, and where no one knew about the yeti-bear, or the magic crystal alien that made her mom, or about The Story of the Year the World Stopped.

“I want you to come, Tio Diego…,” Liv softly beseeched.

Diego’s eyes grew misty, her earnest words having tipped him over the edge after what had been a long period of emotional build-up. Goodbyes were never easy, and Liv’s family was his family. He squeezed her little hand gently.

“I’ll visit you, Livi-- I promise. Cross my heart. And your mommies will bring you over to visit us here too; you are going to learn so many new games at school that you can teach Xiraana and the other kids.”

“But I’ll miss you…”

Having rejoined Liv, Reggie peered up at Diego’s teary face with concern. “Diego, you’re making your glasses all foggy.”

“Ha. I know, I know!” Diego wiped his eyes. “You might have a point there, Reggie; I want to spend this last night with you guys actually being able to see you!”

Liv giggled and wrapped her arms around her uncle’s legs, only to be peeled off and hoisted into the air. “We can still have fun until bedtime, can’t we? Will you tell us a story?”

On the ground, Reggie danced around, his arms waving. Diego-time was the best story-time.

In the arms of her tio, her playmate since she was a baby bouncing on his knee, Liv was a mess of emotions; of fear and excitement, of merriment that competed with the looming sorrow. It was more than her little self had a clue what to do with. She was only five.

Sensing his cousin’s turmoil, Reggie reached up a hand and took hold of Liv’s, hanging down by Diego’s side. “Don’t worry, Livia! If you worry, you won’t enjoy story-time.”

Liv stuck out her bottom lip. That little nerd-face could be pretty smart sometimes. Tomorrow night, there would be no goodnight story from Tio Diego, but tomorrow night was not now-- now, everything was as it should be. Her wavering grin returned, and to her delight, it brought matching smiles to the faces of her companions.

“Do you think Varyyn, and my mommies, and Auntie Grace and Uncle Alli, and Auntie Grace’s tummy babies want to listen to the story too?”

“Yeah,” Diego said, letting Liv back down to the ground, where she immediately found another hug in Reggie’s arms, “I think everyone would really like that.”

_____________________________

San Trobida, August 2035

“I don’t get it,” Liv said thoughtfully, as the car rolled right on past the turn for her Auntie Grace and Uncle Al’s place. “It’s right on the way; wouldn’t it have been easier for us to pick up Reggie?”

“Hon,” Taylor replied, “I think Reggie wanted his mom and dad to take him to orientation. They’ll probably be better at helping with his jitters than we would be.”

“I guess.” Liv looked out the window, watching the surrounding vegetation thicken once more as the car followed the road up out of the valley. “Orientation Day shouldn’t be too bad, right? Just, like, meeting our teachers, learning where stuff is, that kinda thing?” And you’ll have to try and make friends. That would be a laugh.

By the time they pulled up at the Las Selvas Secondary School, however, Liv fully understood her cousin’s nerves, and realised that was probably why she’d been so disappointed that he didn’t share a car with her. Through every big change in their young lives, his presence had been a reassuring constant.

“Uggghh,” she groaned. “Can I change my mind? Home-schooling was all right; more of that, please.”

Estela leaned from the front seat and gave Liv’s knee a squeeze. “You know, I don’t think he’d ever say it, but I’m pretty sure Reggie would be really scared if he had to walk into this without you. Besides, you were so excited about starting here; you owe it to yourself to at least giving it a shot.”

Again, Liv groaned, this time even louder. “It’s so annoying when you’re right.”

“Story of my life,” Taylor laughed, while Estela smirked.

When they pulled up at the school, Reggie was already waiting, standing beside the car-park while his parents fussed over him.

“You have your phone?” Grace quizzed, checking for the fourth time since they’d set off.

“I told you, yes!” Reggie replied, and he pulled his phone out of his pocket to wave around for good measure. “I’ll send you a message when I’m ready to be picked up, I promise.”

“In that case, you just have a wonderful time, darling.” She wrapped him in a hug-- already Reggie was easily as tall as her. “Go well, and have fun.”

Liv rushed over, all smiles. Her own nerves were a whole lot less bothersome when she had the distraction of friendly faces.

There were a few more rounds of hugs exchanged-- and then, suddenly, Liv and Reggie were on their own.

“You wanna head over? Looks like people are already crowding around-- it’s probably gonna start soon.”

Reggie’s expression brightened, as if he’d been just waiting for a little push for his confidence to surge back forth. “Well, it will hardly be an auspicious start here if we miss the principal’s address. Get a move on, Livia!”

The morning passed relatively quickly. Liv placed herself next to Reggie at all times-- they’d been put in the same Grade Seven home room as requested, making him one of the eldest in the class, and her one of the youngest. The whole set-up wasn’t entirely different to the school they were accustomed to, other than the bilingual approach. They were given a small pile of boring paperwork, and outlines of what to expect in their new classes; as English was their first language, they’d be taking ‘Spanish as a Second Language’, and Liv was also excited about ‘Nature Studies’, a subject she’d never been offered in America.

As far as Liv was concerned, the most traumatic part of the session was being expected to stand up in front of a room of strangers and give a short spiel about themselves. The perfect opportunity to officially balls-up any chance they might have of making new friends, or at least that was how she saw it. She mumbled down into her chest; something about enjoying hiking and gymnastics, something about liking Batman, and animals, and then she hurriedly sat right back down with flaming cheeks. Reggie, she observed, handled the brief foray into public speaking with rather more poise. Even though he was shy-- perhaps even more than she was-- he seemed able to go into ‘school presentation’ mode, and breeze through. When he sat back down, though, his hands were shaking-- but that was for the eyes of his trusted friend only.

When the lunch break came along, Liv was ravenous; a new and challenging social situation could do that to a person. While Reggie sloped off to the bathrooms, she tested out the school canteen, emerging a little while later with a hot empanada. It wasn’t quite as good as her Mama Estela’s, but it was definitely a step up from what was on offer at her old school. Maybe she could get used to this place….

Liv watched this new world go by all around her as she ate, cross-legged beneath the tree she’d told her cousin to meet her by. Kids moved in their little circles, talking loudly, laughing. Most of them coming into Grade Seven had come from the local primary school, and many knew each-other. Liv and Reggie would be starting out on the outside… and that was daunting. She could not be more grateful that she wasn’t taking this on alone.

Or… at least, she shouldn’t be. The lunchtime queue moved on, the gaggles of kids spread out, and still Reggie hadn’t returned.

Damn, constipated on your first day. Sucks to be you, Reggie.

Tentatively, Liv approached the boys’ bathroom and, having ascertained that no one was watching, slipped in. Her footsteps were unheard, drowned out by the loud, frantic breathing of young Reggie, slumped over the sink. Alarmed, Liv rushed over. Tears were spilling down his cheeks.

“Reggie… it’s okay,” she said gently. A little unsure, she reached out a hand to rub his back, and to her surprise, he didn’t flinch away. Slowly, he seemed to regain control of himself.

“Liv…,” Reggie panted. “You know you’re not meant to be in here; this is the guys’ room.”

“Hey! Like it’s my fault you didn’t take your anxiety attack into the unisex bathroom. That’s on you.” Hmph. Ungrateful, much?

Reggie scowled, and dragged his cousin out of the toilet block by her arm. He slumped down by the wall, and scooched over to encourage her to join him.

“You’re a pain in the arse.” He was still shaking.

“It’s been said, yeah.” Liv huddled a little closer. “You don’t need to worry, okay? You’re not going to have any trouble making friends. Did you see they’ve got a chess club, and a photography club as well? At least that’ll get you talking to people.”

“That’s,” Reggie said quietly, “not exactly what I’m worried about.” When Liv looked at him expectantly, he continued. “When I was in a room with all those kids, my head just went back to being at our old school… and what happened. I know this place is meant to be progressive and all that, but that doesn’t mean that everyone’s okay. What if I think I’ve made friends with someone, and they find out about Erin, and they make it a big thing, and then some arsehole finds out….”

“Man, you’re really spiraling,” Liv observed, not especially helpfully. She wasn’t exactly surprised by what was troubling her cousin; getting into a fight in defense of his young transgender sister had completely unseated Reggie from the comfortable life he’d had at the last school. It had changed everything.

“You would too, if she was your sister!”

“Probably. But I think you should at least give people a go. It sounds like they’re really strict on any kind of bullying against minorities. Swinging back hard in the opposite direction after that fascist dictatorship.”

“Those are some awfully big words for you to be throwing around there, Livia; watch you don’t hurt yourself….”

“Hey! I know my stuff!” Liv demanded. “Do you think my tio abuelo would have it any other way? But anyway, I’m right. All the people who didn’t fit in before have come to this part of the country. Probably a lot of the kids have parents who saw really horrible things in the war; they wouldn’t want to send them somewhere that was bad like before. My Mama ‘Stel gave the principal the grilling of her life, and I bet she hasn’t been the only one. People are gonna want to make sure their kids are being looked after.”

A smile quirked on Reggie’s face as he imagined his aunt on a school tour. “I bet Tia Estela left Principal Sanchez quivering under the desk.”

“Yeah… after what happened in the last school, there’s no way they’d let us go anywhere unless they were sure it was a place that treated people right.”

Reggie knew that much. But his parents, and even his fierce aunt, could not shield himself, his sisters and his cousin, from everything. He contemplated silently, grateful for the patient companionship.

“I guess,” he said at last, “if no one gave anyone else a chance to be anything but the worst, then we’d be pretty lonely.”

“Yup. We should at least give it a shot. And if it all goes in the crapper, I’ll sic my moms on the fools that mess with us. And the freaking yeti.”

Reggie couldn’t help but roll his eyes. That had always been Liv’s answer to everything. “Livia, I hate to break it to you, but if you go around threatening people with yetis, everyone’s gonna think you’ve got a screw loose. Except me; I know you’ve got a screw loose.”

“So damn rude,” Liv growled. “Anyway, you really should eat something. It probably won’t help you feeling crap and light-headed if you’ve got an empty stomach. They’ve got arepas!”

“...I could eat an arepa,” Reggie admitted. There was only so much a young boy of thirteen could control; he couldn’t wave a magic wand and guarantee that his little sister would never be hurt by cruel, ignorant words, but he could look after himself, so that he was the best him he could be-- and the best brother.

_____________________________

USA, 2028

“You did a great job, sweetheart,” Taylor said kindly as Reggie delicately placed his knife and fork atop his small plastic plate, signaling that he’d finished. Immediately afterwards, the little boy’s small hand had dropped to his side to get a reassuring touch of his teddy’s scruffy fur. “It was nice of Big Bear to join us for dinner. Does he like lasagna as much as you do?”

Reggie yawned widely as he nodded to his aunt. He hadn’t known it was possible for a kid to be so full of yawns, but living with newborn twins had shown him just how big a tired feeling could be. “Big Bear likes to watch from the floor.”

“That’s nice of him to let you have the whole plate for yourself. We’re gonna have plenty to bring over to your mommy and daddy for them to eat tomorrow.”

Lasagna had been Reggie’s choice. This whole sleepover was to be all about him; giving him a welcome break from the stresses of being a new big brother to two babies at once. He’d been on many, many sleepovers at Tia Estela and Auntie Taylor’s place before, but this time felt different. Reggie knew that at home, his parents were busy with their other children… and in his sensitive state, it took no time at all for him to miss them.

Twins, Reggie had come to realise, were very hard work. They cried a lot… and his mommy cried a lot, and his daddy cried a lot, and he cried a lot. All crying and no sleeping was not a whole lot of fun. Reggie wanted so badly to get away from the babies, but at the same time he longed to be with his parents. However much fun it was to take a break at his aunts’ place, the worry in him just wouldn’t go away.

Side-by-side, he and Liv changed into their pyjamas. Five-year-old Liv, true to form, nattered away to him the whole time. Babies, of course, were the subject of choice.

“My moms say we’re probably not gonna get another baby. Maybe ‘cos you have two I can borrow one if I get lonely. Do you have one that you like best?”

Reggie shrugged.

“Maybe next time your mom and dad will have three. You could have all these babies like a baby army, and if someone’s ever mean to you, you will have like a hundred poopy diapers you can throw at them. No one likes poop.”

“I don’t want lots more babies,” Reggie said softly. I want no more.

“If you don’t like babies, you can come and live with us forever!” Liv suggested brightly, oblivious the the wobble of her cousin’s bottom lip.

When Estela popped her head around the corner to check on the kids, Reggie was in tears and Liv looked totally bewildered.

“Mommy, Reggie’s crying…,” she pointed out, rather unnecessarily, for her mother had already scooped the little boy into a cuddle.

“It’s okay, mijo,” Estela soothed as she gently rocked her nephew in her arms. “It’s okay to cry. This has been really hard. You know what? You have been such a good boy for Mommy and Daddy.”

Liv, not quite sure what to do, but nothing if not well-meaning, draped herself over Reggie and patted him on the back. “There, there. It’s okay.”

Estela took Reggie into the lounge room for some cheer-up time, and Liv took Big Bear. Taylor quickly joined them, and pulled Reggie into her lap for a cuddle.

“Are you feeling a bit sad, sweetpea?”

Reggie nodded. “Uh-huh. I liked it better how things were before. Everything’s different.”

Taylor gently rubbed the little boy’s arms. “Change can be really tough. It’s like you’ve got to figure out how life works all over again!”

“Yeah, it’s not nice.”

“So, it’s okay to have a good cry. We will give you as many hugs and cuddles as you need.”

“Reggie,” Liv piped up, “do you wanna play a game? That could make you feel happy?”

Reggie sniffed and nodded again. Pleased-- she had this cheering-up business down-- Liv plonked herself in Estela’s lap and leaned forward to her cousin.

“Do you wanna play… ‘Klaawyi Chase’?”

Estela intervened quickly. “Maybe something with a little less running around. It’s nearly bedtime, Livi.”

“Okay. Ummmm…. ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’?”

“Livita.”

Well, you’re no fun. Liv gave a soft huff and pondered. By her best guess, ‘Hide and Seek’ would be a ‘no’ too… especially as last time she’d hid, no one managed to find her for a full hour.

“How about,” Taylor suggested, “we have a game of ‘Fortunately-Unfortunately’?”

“I wanna play that one!” Reggie said enthusiastically. “Can I start? Fortunately, we all had ice cream for dessert.”

Liv bounced in her mother’s lap. “Unfortunately, the ice cream was smelly-feet flavour!”

“Livi!” Taylor exclaimed, rolling her eyes. Why was everything smelly-feet with that kid? “Okay, then-- fortunately, Robin Dog likes smelly-feet, so he ate all the ice cream for us.”

“Oh!” Liv cried. “I’ve got a really good one!” Hehe, Robin with smelly-feet farts….

“Unfortunately,” said Estela. “It was Mama Estela’s turn, and Miss Livita just had to wait.”

Liv turned and poked her tongue out at her mom, making Reggie giggle. He snuggled in against his Auntie Taylor’s chest, his mind far away from worries about his new role as big brother to a pair of very needy twins.

“Fortunately,” he said, smiling, “Furball was visiting, and he made us some new ice cream with no yucky flavours in it.”

“Unfortunately….”

_________________________

San Trobida, September 2035

It was the last weekend before school started, and a lazy warm day at the Montoya house. Estela was up a tree, hammering boards into what would soon be a playhouse for the kids. She’d already finished up a two-storey-high climbing wall on the other side of the yard, which, at Liv’s request, would eventually be connected to the new tree-house by a zipline. Then, there’d be a slide, and monkey bars, and a tyre swing, and a fire pole. Basically, Estela had made it her mission to put together the best backyard playground on the Costa Libertad. Taylor, meanwhile, had been busying herself with a vegetable garden, with the help of a fascinated Erin and her parents, who turned out to be quite clever when it came to soil chemistry.

Liv had been up and down her new climbing wall like a yo-yo, leaving her dog, Robin, running rings around the base and all but tripping Reggie up as he tentatively took his first steps towards ascending.

“Are you coming?”

“I’m trying! Your dog’s getting in the way.”

Eventually, Reggie managed to clamber his way up, with a little help from Liv who hauled him over the top.

“See; piece of cake.”

Reggie couldn’t quite agree, and now that he was up twenty feet, he was already dreading his descent back to solid ground. Keen to distract himself from the dizzying height, he passed Liv the rope that he’d carried slung across his shoulders.

“What do you want me to do with it?” she demanded. “You’re meant to drop one end back down….”

“I’m not going near the edge!”

“Fine. Immy! You down there still?”

On the ground, and trying to wrestle a squeaky toy giraffe from Robin’s mouth, Immy craned her neck up.

“Yeah-- but you’re lucky I am, Reggie was so slow.”

“Careful. I was careful. You should bloody well try it sometime.”

Immy rolled her eyes dramatically, but nonetheless took the rope end that Liv had lowered to her, and ran it over to Estela so the distance could be measured.

“There we go,” Liv said, after having marked the rope at the edge of the platform. “Done. Reggie, if you’re just going to look down, you might as well be on the ground. Come on-- check out the view!”

Begrudgingly, Reggie sat up properly and looked around.

“Woah.” Maybe he could see the appeal of being up so high, even if he was immensely grateful for the safety rails around the platform. “You really can see everything up here.”

“Isn’t it cool?” Liv beamed as she pointed her cousin towards the paddock behind the yard. “You wanted to see our horse? Right in there at the side of the sheltery-shed thing….”

“Oh, wow! Okay, fine, I believe you now. I guess she was just hiding earlier.”

“That’s Miel. She’s like, older than dirt; Mama Estela used to ride her when she was a teenager.”

“And she’s still alive?”

“Just about. I think she’s uh… nearly thirty? Pretty ancient. Mom found out she was all on her own after her friend died, and she bought her so she could retire here with us. She’s kind of a bitey asshole. Uh, the horse-- not Mom.” Liv quickly amended, glancing to the in-progress tree-house. “So, we’re keeping her, and if she wants to make friends with the new horses we’re getting, she can, otherwise at least she can, like, neigh rude horse words at them from over the fence.”

Reggie snorted. Weirdo.

“I’m super excited. I know Mama ‘Stel was kind of nervous about us moving over here because of how things were when she was a kid-- but it actually… feels nice. I love our new house. I love cranky Miel. I love that we’re gonna get chickens, and maybe a new friend for Robin. Even the school seems pretty good.”

Swallowing his fear, Reggie joined Liv at the railing, dangling his legs over the side of the platform.

“Yeah, I think I like it here, too. Mom and Dad seem really happy; Dad says he can make more of a good difference in the world here than in America. So, I guess that’s got to be good. Did I tell you we’re going to put a pool in?”

“You might have mentioned it. When you’ve been whining about the heat, for the hundredth time.”

“It’s so humid!”

Liv giggled. It was like being back in the tropics of La Huerta, and to her, that felt right. Granted, it might have been nicer if they could just pop on over into a neighbouring alpine region that was inexplicably right next to the hot, sticky jungle, but she really loved it.

“Well,” Reggie said, “it’s going to be great. And it should be done by the time Quinn and Michelle come to visit.”

“Do we even know whose house they’re staying at yet?”

“It should be my place.” Reggie puffed out his chest, as if to emphasise the rightness of his point. “You’re definitely getting Jake and Sean and Mikey. You can’t take all the visitors. And besides… we’ll have a pool.”

That was hard to argue with. “It’s up to the adults anyway,” Liv conceded. In the end, it didn’t matter; she was going to make the most of having her La Huerta family around even if it meant camping out in Reggie’s back yard. “But, I will be a much better San Trobida tour guide than you. I’m still showing you around.”

Reggie hmphed, and Liv laughed.

“Come on, Reggie,” she said, dropping gracefully down the side of the wall and taking up hand-holds. “I’m getting hungry.”

It was at that point that Reggie made the sobering discovery that going down, was rather more intimidating than going up a sheer vertical surface.

“Um, Liv…,” he said quietly. “I, uh, don’t think I can do that.”

“Oh!” Liv responded. “Sorry, I forgot you’re new to this. Maybe you should’ve started smaller. But don’t worry, I’ll get you down….”

“Okay…,” he murmured, clearly not remotely convinced.

“Mom!” Liv hollered, all but making her poor cousin topple over the edge in surprise. “Reggie’s stuck!”

Reggie felt heat rise in his cheeks as his sisters, hanging out on the grass below the wall at the worst possible time, burst out laughing. Like they could even get up this high to begin with.

Up in the tree-house, Estela looked up and wiped off the paint from her hands. Rescuing kids from scrapes had pretty much become her specialty at this point; twelve years with Liv had seen to that. “I’m coming,” she called back.

“I’m not exactly stuck,” Reggie muttered defensively, as his Tia Estela easily scaled the climbing wall to join him and Liv, who’d already rejoined him to offer moral support. “If I really wanted to, I could climb down; I just feel I should practice climbing up a few more times before I try that.”

“You’ll get there,” Estela said kindly. As far as she was concerned, the fact that her nephew had a realistic view of his own capabilities was only a good thing. “I’ll have that zipline going in no time anyway, so you’ll have no hurry to work it out.”

With his aunt’s back offered to him, Reggie took the cue and wrapped his long arms around her neck, and his legs around her middle. Getting rescued by one of the team of protective grown-ups? Basically, the story of both his and Liv’s lives.

“Hang on, Regito,” Estela laughed.

____________________________

La Huerta, 2034

The frigid wind howled against the cabin door, and it took all of Liv and Reggie’s combined might to wrestle it closed. Both kids were panting heavily-- and shaking like leaves-- as they nervously stepped away.

“Thank god this little hut was here, really,” Liv heaved. “I dunno about you, but I’d rather be stranded in a snowstorm with walls around me.”

Reggie said nothing, and just shivered, wrapping his arms around his own torso. He’d wrapped up-- as if his parents would let him go wandering into the colder pockets of the island without a heap of layers-- but the snow had wet his gloves through, and a chill was now spreading through his body.

“Hey,” Liv said, “we should… we should get a fire going. You look like you’re halfway turned into a popsicle right now.”

As his cousin busied herself at the fireplace-- thank goodness there was some firewood left-- Reggie fiddled with his emergency phone. His heart sank. No signal. His mom and dad were going to be so worried when he and Liv never came home….

“Uh, Liv… I think the storm’s screwed up the reception here. It won’t let me phone Mom and Dad.”

Liv looked up, and for the first time, she looked truly fearful, her usual intrepid spirit extinguished in a flash. “They’re really gonna panic,” she said softly. She shuddered. If their parents came out looking for them, it meant walking out into a blizzard, and all the danger that came with it. If she could just tell her mothers that she was safe, that she and Reggie had shelter… they could wait out the storm. Anything could happen, anything….

“Are you okay, Livia?” Reggie asked, and he handed her a heavy blanket as he sat down cross-legged in front of her feebly burning fire. “You look kind of spaced-out.”

“Hng?”

“They’ll find us; it’ll be okay.”

“I don’t want them to come and find us,” Liv snapped. “I want them to stay where it’s safe. They could get hurt or, or worse because we were stupid enough not to turn around when the weather changed.” She placed a stick too roughly, and her firewood tower collapsed, extinguishing the flame. “For fuck’s sake!”

Reggie, wisely, stayed quiet, letting his cousin fix up the mess and get a new fire started without interference. He watched her with concern as her eyes welled. “Livia…?”

She huddled close to him, but for a long while, didn’t speak.

“Reggie,” she murmured at last, “something really horrible happened a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t want to talk about it with you, ‘cause… ‘cause I didn’t even want to think about it…. It just made me feel too bad. But, uh.... I was… I was playing in the sea with Mama Estela. Just like we always do. We were just goofing off. Then, um, I got all tangled up in those freaking weeds. They grabbed me and held me under.”

“That must have been so scary….”

“Of course, Mom got me out of there. B-but there was a sea-snake in there. It bit her. It happened so fast… I hardly even saw what happened, but she suddenly just... could hardly even get out of the water. I somehow managed to haul her up out the water, but she was all limp and… and I gave her the anti-venom, and she just started having some kind of fit.. Like her body was jerking around, and her mouth was all frothy.” She gasped through a sob. “Then she… she stopped breathing, completely.” Liv shuddered as the memory filled her mind, vivid as if it were yesterday. She could feel Reggie’s wide, horrified eyes upon her. “I screamed. I screamed for help. Mama Taylor was up the beach, she couldn’t hear me. S-so I did CPR. My hands were shaking so-- so bad. And all I could think was ‘I’m gonna screw this up. I’m gonna screw this up and my mom’s gonna die’.” Her voice cracked and she sputtered through hot tears that she wiped away with her arm. Before she knew it, Reggie had his arms around her and was holding her tight. “I don’t know how long it was,” she said. “It felt like forever, but it was probably only a few minutes. Then she started breathing and I just… I cried, and cried, and cried.”

Reggie gently rubbed Liv’s back, and it soothed her.

“I, uh, I guess I always thought Mama Estela was invincible. To me, she always was. There was nothing I couldn't do either, because she would always be there to protect me. It was so close, Reggie… it looked like she was gone.”

“I… didn’t know it was as bad as that. My dad told me she’d been bitten but…,” Reggie mumbled. “You must have been so scared. Have you… have you talked to your moms about it much?”

Liv sniffed, and wiped her face again. “Yeah. You know what my Mama Taylor is like; we’ve talked it through lots, I’ve told them how I’m feeling. But I haven’t… like… had a big cry since it happened.” Until now. Now, she just couldn’t seem to stop the tears from coming. Reggie didn’t seem to mind; he just sat with her, and rubbed her back, and told her it was okay.

After what seemed like an age, her tears slowed.

“It is going to be okay, you know?” Reggie said gently. “Obviously, they’re going to come out looking for us, but they’re smart. They’ll be prepared; just like your Mama Estela was with the anti-venom.”

“Yeah…,” Liv said, her voice small. You could be as prepared as you wanted, but sometimes the world managed to stay one step ahead. The storm outside was wild and furious, battering on the roof and walls… and it was frightening. Liv could only snuggle under her cousin’s arm, and trust that whatever search and rescue party was out there would come through.

The two kids huddled together beneath their blanket, speaking little, but making their mutual support known without words. Just the squeeze of a hand through the most blood-curdling howls of the wind, and the simple offer of presence.

Somehow, the creak of the door shoved open cut through the dull roar.

“Oh, thank goodness!”

“Dad!” Reggie leapt forward and flung his arms around his father, his face lighting up further when Grace followed in behind. “Mom!”

Grace put her shaking hands to her son’s face, gently sweeping hair from his eyes. “Darling, are you all right?” Then she pulled Liv into a fierce hug, and in a moment Aleister had his arms around all three of them. “We were so worried!”

Liv whimpered against Grace’s shoulder. “Are my moms out in the storm?” She knew the answer already.

“Yes, honey. They’re out searching for you. Don’t you stress, okay? We’ve got a flare to set off so they’ll know we found you here-- and Varyyn and Diego too.”

“Woah,” Liv murmured, “you got a whole search party out.”

There was a buzzing, and the flickering of blue light, then Iris materialised.

Reggie beamed. “Hey, Grandma! So, a ‘whole search party’ is pretty much correct.”

“I will say, being able to scan for nearby lifeforms is quite handy in situations like these.”

So, find my moms and Tio Diego. Liv hugged tighter to her Auntie Grace, with no words pleading for help.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Grace said gently, stroking Liv’s face, while Aleister saw to setting off the flare. “It’s going to be just fine. We’re not far from Elyys’tel; we all fanned out from there, so no one is going to be too deep into the mountains.”

That… actually made sense. It was enough, just enough to keep Liv a step above panic-mode. She headed back to the fireplace, but as her backside hit the floor, a guttural roar rocked the cabin, and she leapt back to her feet.

“What the--?”

“You two stay back!” Aleister ordered, his voice shaking. Why, oh why, did the children want to go gallivanting out in the frozen wilderness when there was a perfectly serviceable tropical paradise right outside their front door? He was going to be old before his time at this rate….

Grace, though, was already hauling open the door, to reveal the hulking figure of the Mountain Guardian.

A growl rumbling in her throat, Arktos loomed in the doorway, looking down at Grace with a questioning gaze.

“Hello…?” she said cautiously. The gigantic bear-like creature was generally reasonably friendly…. “Did we… did we disturb you with the flare?”

Arktos grumbled, her furry ears flicking with curiosity.

“Our friends are out there in the storm,” Grace continued, certain that the yeti would understand; her past experiences had only supported the fact that this creature was incredibly intelligent-- and benevolent. “The flare was to bring them to this cabin.”

With a soft huff, Arktos shuffled backwards, and all of a sudden, it seemed as though she was surrounded by a force-field… a bubble that the wind and blinding snow couldn’t penetrate.

Understanding, Grace turned to Iris. “I think we’re going hiking again-- with a little extra help this time. Al, you’ll stay and watch the kids?”

“I--I--” Aleister stuttered. “Well, of course. Stay close to the… the bear thing.” Scrambling a little, he pulled off his outer layer and offered it to her. “I won’t have you catching hypothermia.”

And Grace stepped into the snow, Iris hovering behind her, and found shelter in the yeti’s protective shield. She looked up at the beast, now rearing up onto colossal hind legs to scout for signs of nearby human activity. “Thank you, Arktos. I guess… I guess, you choose the direction, and we’ll start the search.”

The unusual trio headed out into the storm, and within moments, they were invisible for the wind thick with snow. Aleister, a look of dumbfoundment upon his face, closed the door, and again, the cabin was quiet.

“Damn. Auntie Grace is a fricking badass,” Liv breathed, face alight in awe.

Aleister, recovering from his wife’s shock exit quickly-- he’d seen her steely courage in action enough times to just about take it in his stride, nodded. “Indeed.” He brushed the last flakes of snow from his coat, and looked around the room. “Well, I don’t suppose the wait will pass any faster with us standing around here. Reggie, did we leave any board-games here last time?”

“Uh, looks like we’ve got ‘Scrabble’?”

Well, Liv thought, I don’t have a hope in hell against these people. Should’ve left ‘Twister’ here….

Reggie sat himself down in front of the crackling fire and started unpacking the box. “Hey, Livia-- team up with me?”

He was clearly still a little worried about her. If there was an opportunity to thrash her at something, Mr Pedantic-Always-Right would take it without fail. Or so Liv had believed.

She plonked down cross-legged beside him. “Yeah? Yeah, all right.”

The two kids exchanged a high five, and Liv couldn’t help but grin. You are going down, Uncle Al.

___________________________

San Trobida, September 2035

As the car pulled up the neatly paved pathway to Aleister and Grace’s house, Liv excitedly rolled down the window.

“Reginaaaaald!!!” she hollered.

“How,” Aleister wondered aloud, “can such a small person-- and the offspring of Estela and Diego of all people-- sound so eerily like a bloody foghorn?”

A beaming Reggie followed his father out the front door. He exchanged hugs with both his parents-- and his two little sisters-- and then rushed to join his cousin on the back seat.

“Are you ready to go, mijo?” Estela checked in, suppressing a laugh as Taylor all but did a contortion act to give her nephew a hug from the front seat.

He had Liv, didn’t he? So, basically, he was ready for anything.

The short drive to the school saw the return of those pesky jitters, and Reggie knew from the way his cousin jiggled her leg the whole way there that he was definitely not alone in that. The school ground, filled only with kids their own age when they’d been there for orientation, was swarming with adolescents of all sizes-- and just about all of them were bigger than Reggie and Liv.

With an awkward hug and a kiss to her mothers in the front of the car, Liv bit the bullet and, bulging backpack in hand, stepped out into a brave new world. There was only one thing for it; Reggie would just have to take the plunge. He swung his backpack over his shoulder, and followed after his cousin.

“Welp,” said Liv, “here goes nothing!”

Reggie gave a nervous laugh and playfully bashed Liv with his backpack, putting a reassuringly silly grin on her face.

We’ve got this.

_______________________

NOTES

Little Xiraana is @mauvecatfic's baby. Check out her stories; you won't regret it!

If you read 'A Ride to Remember', you might remember Miel. She's the very same horse.

Aaaaand, the incident Liv is recounting during the snowstorm is the one you can read from Estela's perspective in 'Teething Problems: Part Two'.

#endless summer #playchoices #liv montoya #reggie hall #graleister #estela x mc #estela montoya #grace hall #aleister rourke #diego soto

[definitely-not-black-cat]

Kissing Frogs

Hey! Summer manages to post something that isn’t TR&S for once!!! YAAAY!! Someone be proud of me, DAMN IT! Just kidding. Anyway, this (short, sorry) little number is for @thelazypangolin and @lovelyspidey February Writing Challenge. I’m actually really proud of it, especially considering I’m a bitter ass single chick AGAIN this year.

Also doubling this as an entry for Wickedly Soft Wednesdays, which I haven’t done in SO long.

Word count - 787 (almost as short as me)

Warnings - Mentions of throwing up (literally once), Enough fluff to ACTUALLY make you throw up (okay, maybe twice)

HUGE thank you to Immy ( @fratboievans ) for making this moodboard. She didn’t make it for me directly, and I hope you don’t mind that I used it.

“Harrison, how come I’m still single?” You asked quietly, absentmindedly, while laying on the couch, your feet were strewn about his lap. There was a documentary on the tv, but it had lost your attention a long time ago. Valentine's day was coming soon, and you couldn’t help but hate the feeling that no one wanted you.

“What do you mean, darling?” He asked, shifting uncomfortably beneath your legs, as they suddenly felt very heavy.

“Like...why doesn’t anyone want to date me? I’ve been single forever and my last boyfriend broke up with me. What’s wrong with me?” You found the words hard to say, your insecurities getting the better of you. Harrison let out a hefty sigh before pausing the movie, offering you a hand to grab onto as he helped you sit up.

“What’s going on? What’s got you thinking this way?” He asked, shifting his body so that he was facing you, rubbing your shins, still rested in his lap, as his light blue eyes bore through you.

“I don’t know…” Your lip pouted out, and Harrison hooked his finger under your chin, forcing you to look into his eyes. Though you tried to fight them, tears spilled out of your eyes and down your cheeks. “It’s not like I don’t have self-love. I do, it’s just...I don’t want to be alone forever...and I just…” You were silenced by Harrison putting his finger on your lips.

“Now that’s enough of that, darling. What are you on about? There’s no way you’ll be alone forever. Someday, you’ll find someone who loves you so much it’ll make you want to throw up.” He nodded, and you laughed at his wording, scrunching your face up at the mention of being sick.

“You don’t know that.” You retort. “I’ll probably be alone forever and the last kiss I had was awful! Ugh! I don’t want that to be my last ki-” You were cut off by the feeling of Harrison’s lips on your own. You let out a surprised yelp, and Harrison lifted a hand to cup your cheek tenderly in an effort to relax you. After much more time than it should have taken, you finally could feel yourself relaxing into the kiss, moving your lips in sync with his.

Letting out a breath of what you assumed was relief through his nose, putting his other hand on your hip to pull you closer. As he pulled, you leaned into him, eventually scooting close enough that you could throw your legs over his lap to straddle him, so that’s exactly what you did. The hand that had been holding your cheek now moved to the other hip as he squeezed both sides firmly. Your weight was on your knees, afraid to sit directly on his lap, as you curled your fingers into his hair. Harrison’s hands left your hips, pulling your knees towards him in one fluid movement, resulting in another squeak from you and you landing directly in his lap. He pulled away, mischief and glee doing the tango in his eyes.

“There. Now your last kiss wasn’t awful.” He teased confidently, and you made your best attempt at catching your breath.

“Wha-why did you do that?” You asked, your eyes trained on a string hanging from his shirt. You played with it, wrapping it around your finger in order to avoid his intense gaze. He sighed, leaning his head back against the couch.

“Because I like you, darling. Like...a lot. And you were complaining about your last kiss being awful and that no one wants you…” He paused, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand before resting it on your knee. “Look, I’ve liked you for a long time now. You were just too busy kissing frogs to see me.”

“Are you implying that you’re a prince?” You giggled softly, peering up through your lashes to look at him.

“Maybe,” he wore a sheepish grin, “And maybe for you, I’m just another frog, but I figured you’d have to kiss me to find out. So, what’s your verdict?” He seemed uneasy, taking his swollen bottom lip between his teeth as his eyes searched your face.

“I mean, you’re definitely not a frog,” You giggled, lifting your fingers in a weak attempt to hide your smile, but he laced his fingers through yours, smiling gently and lovingly at you, “but, why me?”

“Why not you? You’re a fucking catch, my love.” He informed before pulling your lips back to his in a chaste kiss. You smiled, wrapping your arms around him and laying down on the couch, pulling him on top of you. Maybe you wouldn’t be single forever, after all.

Let me know what you think?

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@bbk8lin //

#Harrison Osterfield #Harrison Osterfield fic #Harrison Osterfield one shot #Harrison Osterfield x Reader #Valentine's day #Valentine's day fic #friends to lovers #I thought it was cute #Summer writes #Februarywc #February writing challenge #wickedly soft wednesdays

[fantasticworksandwheretofindthem]

Softball Struggles

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: In which [Name] climbs into Peter’s window, as per usual, after a softball game, but this night is a little bit different. ;)

Warnings: swearing, slight smut

Notes: This is a extremely based off my experiences with softball, so if you don’t understand the sport at all or don’t like the idea of playing it, don’t read. | Also, message me if you’d like to be added to my taglist!

[ peter parker masterlist ]

“Are you coming to my game today?” you asked Peter, pushing yourself off the tree and starting the walk home.

“I should probably watch the streets tonight,” Peter answered with a frown.

You were upset, but you had expected as much. It was a Friday, and he’d only patrolled two days this week; he probably would’ve done it all week, but you’d convinced him to stay and help you study for your tests.

“I’ll try to swing by, though.” Peter nudged your shoulder with his elbow. You could feel the smugness radiating off of him; you didn’t need to look at him to know he wore a smirk.

“All these spidey powers, and your puns still suck,” you laughed, shaking your head. “I’ll see you tomorrow, P.”

“Good luck, [Name]!”

--

“Hey, [Name], you wanna come in with me?” you looked over at Imogen, one of the only softball girls you got along with (mostly). She was already walking up to the white painted foul line.

“Yeah, sure,” you said, jogging up with her, picking up softballs as you went. “Do you know how many balls we’re supposed to have?”

“Eighteen and nineteen,” called one of the girls who were heading into the dugout. You watched as she sat down with a couple of her friends and rolled your eyes. For whatever reason, they thought they were so much better than everyone else and felt like they didn’t have to field during pre-game.

“You ready?” Imogen asked, bringing your attention back to what was most important - warming up.

“Yeah,” you muttered, picking up the bat you always used. You gripped the taped handle and positioned yourself.

“Don’t choke up on the bat, [Name].”

You turned your head to see Venus Wallage, one of Royce’s best friends, also known as one of the girls who thought her shit didn’t stink, pretty much. “Choking up on the bat helps me.”

“If you didn’t choke up,” Venus began, tugging on her batting gloves, “you’d hit the ball better.”

You bit your lip, gripping the handle so hard your fingers began to sting. “It just feels weird with my hands all the way at the bottom.”

“Whatever,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I’m just trying to help you.”

“Yeah, because you know so much about choking,” you mumbled as Venus started to walk away.

Imogen attempted to stifle her laughs, but came up short when a snort escaped.

“What?” you asked defensively. “It’s true!”

“Trust me, I never said it wasn’t.”

--

“Hey, who’s up?” you asked not anyone in particular; there were plenty of people crowded around the dugout entrance where the lineup hung. One of the girls called out that it was her; you recognized the voice as Imogen’s and starting making your way to the front of the dugout since you were after her. Out at the plate, Ta’Nia hit a line drive that sent her to first and advanced Aline to third. Imogen stepped up to the box, and on the third pitch, she was walked due to a dead ball.

“That’s okay, Immie, shake it off!” you called, though you knew damn well how much that ball must’ve stung.

“Don’t choke up on the bat, [Name]!” one of your teammates called as you began walking up to the plate. You had every intention of letting the comment go in one ear and out the other until you heard Royce.

“Y’all, it don’t matter, it’s not like she’s gonna hit the ball anyways.”

This made you stop in your tracks and your whole body tense up. You gripped the bat as hard as your hands would allow, giving one last aggressive warm-up swing before stepping up. “I’ll show them,” you muttered, and after you hit the ball, you would say to Royce, Now tell me again I won’t hit it.

You stood in position, bringing the bat up the way you preferred. The pitcher wound her arm and through the air the yellow sphere flew. As pretty as the pitcher’s process looked, the ball wasn’t; it was all the way on the outside edge, and you knew she was getting tired. The next pitch that came through, though, was a strike, according to the umpire. However, you would’ve liked to have some words with that call as you felt the ball was way too close to your abdomen to be anything but another ball. The next ball came, and you swung as hard as you could, sure as hell you had earned at least a double.

As soon as you heard the clash of the ball meeting metal and felt the good vibrations (sorry, sorry, I’m lame, I know, lmao), you dropped the bat and took off running. You were about three inches shy of the base when a deep voice called, “Foul ball!”

You groaned and discreetly kicked the dirt before turning around and jogging back to home.

“That’s a good cut, [Name]!” your coach called. “Let’s do it again, just make it fair!”

“Don’t choke up on the bat this time!”

You growled under your breath, grabbing the bat from the ground and tightening your fingers around it.

“Guys, it’s okay that she chokes up,” your coach told your teammates. “I do it, too, it’s okay.”

You felt a little better after your coach sticking up for you, but it still didn’t soothe your rage.

“1-2!” the umpire reminded the pitcher. One of the girls in the field encouraged the pitcher to throw one more strike. Knowing you would be the third out for this inning just added pressure to your rage.

So, the ball came and call it what you want - poor judgement, pressure from everyone else, a bad call, whatever - but that was your third strike. You sighed and stalked off back to the dugout, Royce bumping your shoulder mighty hard as she walked out to the field. You fought back tears of frustration as you tore off your helmet and threw it onto your bag.

Part of you was glad this was the last game of the season. At least you wouldn’t have to deal with everyone’s sore loser attitudes anymore.

--

“Siri, call Momma.”

“Calling Momma.”

You had to admit, hearing a male, British Siri pronounce Momma as “Mumma” was one of the funniest damn things you’d ever heard.

Your mom answered on the second ring. “Hey, baby. Is the game over?”

“Yes, ma’am,” you answered as you crossed the street. “But you don’t have to worry about picking me up. I’m just gonna crash at Peter’s.”

“Are you not gonna stop by the house first?” your mom asked. There was a loud crash like ceramic breaking in the background, followed by a whispered curse from your mom.

“Nah, I’m just gonna snitch some of his clothes to sleep in,” you said, beginning the climb up the fire escape of Peter’s apartment. “I love you.”

Your mom muttered an “I love you, too” before ending the call. You slid your phone into the front pocket of your softball bag. Peter’s window was already cracked open for you, as it always was, so you slid it open all the way, dropping your bag in first. You jumped in and started, “P, lemme tell you--” You cut yourself off with a yelp and an, “Oh, my God!” You turned your back and shielded your eyes, the image of what you’d just witnessed burned in your mind.

“Shit, [Name], what are you-- what are you doing here??”

“My game ended, and the girls were being extra bitchy tonight, so I wanted to come and rant to you!” Your face was red and your neck was flushed with color. Part of this was, you had to admit, because you thought it was kinda hot, Peter “taking care of himself” like that. You couldn’t help but fantasize about helping him, or hell, even taking care of your needs with him.

“You couldn’t have knocked?” Peter’s voice was unusually high and cracked at the end.

“How was I supposed to know what you were up to?” you exclaimed, tugging on your jersey. You couldn’t figure out what emotion you felt more: arousal or embarrassment.

Peter was breathing heavily. You turned your head just slightly to see his arm resting against his forehead and his eyes closed. He was biting his lip, and his bare chest rose and fell with each pant. In the back of your mind, you pictured this would be how he’d look after you’d blown him.

After a few more minutes of awkward, silent tension, you strutted over to Peter’s dresser and opened the drawer where you knew he kept his sweatpants. As if you hadn’t just walked in on Peter in such a vulnerable state, you slipped off your pants and socks and pulled on a pair of his gray sweatpants.

Peter looked up about the time you had bent to take off your socks and immediately shielded his eyes again. It was one thing to think about you while jerking off; it was completely another to actually see you half-naked. “[Name]! What are you doing??”

“Your sweats are more comfortable than these softball ones!” you exclaimed, hopping to pull up the soft material onto your hips.

“You could’ve given a guy a heads-up!”

“Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist,” you dismissed with a wave of your hand. “Now, let me tell you about this fucking bitches.”

And off you went on your heated and curse-loaded rant, only fueling Peter’s desire for you even more.

#peter parker #spiderman: homecoming #spider-man: homecoming #spiderman: hoco #spider-man: hoco #sm: hoco #s-m: hoco #spiderman: hc #spider-man: hc #sm: hc #slight smut #reader insert #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #your name #self insert

[avalindin]

To Hell and back

Loki fic

Chapter 6: The hardest part is over

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Previous Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5

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*A/N: Trigger warning for suicidal thoughts and some domestic violence

Hell was a funny thing but in a strange way. Neither her or Loki was hungry or thirsty. She was however tired from all the tears she shed. After she thought she was done, fresher tears would take their place.

Loki didn’t care; he would stay completely still for her. Not once did her try to kiss her or whisper hopeful things to her. They would have all been lies.

They were the last two people standing and nothing was going to be alright. As her sobs disappeared again, Loki reached up and ran his finger through her hair.

Imogen flinched for a moment, feeling his fingers run through her disheveled hair. She tried to ignore the waterfalls outside the cave or the death that lingered outside. She only turned her head into Loki’s tunic and closed her eyes.

For as long as she cried, she was slowly starting to lose her purpose to get to her feet and carry on without August. She wanted, she needed to die...

-

At was all hers. She almost didn’t care that the Asgardians escaped.

Hela drew her arm back and flung every sword she had under her arm into the entity that towered powerfully over her. The tall blackened lava creature began to crash down over her and still, she didn’t retreat in the slightest. She roared until her ending breath. In her moments of agonizing pain and suffering, Surtur took the time to admire her.

In the face of death, she was fierce with her blistering knuckles still wrapped around her sword. She burned, her leather boiled and her skin set on fire. Her eyes burned brighter than Asgard itself as his flames did their work for Ragnarok.

Then...

She was finally still. Her limbs stop fighting. Her charred hand let go of her sword as it drifted on by him. He eased his true image and watched her dying body float on in Asgard’s remains. In light of the past day, he was nearly overwhelmed by the raw, screaming souls of the Asgardian army. Thousands of souls, all laying at his feet to power his realm and she drifted into his hold as he lifted her and turned for his gate home.

With the touch of his burning hand and the final decision of his rule, he pushed his nail into her heart and let her live again.

She struggled and roared as she pulled at her bonds. He watched from across his grand table and watched his Hela did was she could to get free. He almost pitied saving her from the waterfalls. It was now his time to shine as a proper ruler.

He pushed back his hood and smiled as plainly as a mortal would. Hela stopped and looked up to his chosen face. Weak chuckles fell from her throat as she put the pieces of her failed journey together.

“Of course, it all makes sense now. All that aid just for them to die.”

The shadow sat across from her and folded his hands. She would never be a danger to him.

“They were not supposed to be here in the first place. Flesh and blood and I am surprised the hounds hadn’t found them. They were truly powerful if they had gotten so far.”

“I have the gold of their powers in my pocket. I was only able to break one ring. How is that the others were broken? Gods cannot break their own gold and that less-than-Grandmaster is well always from these depths.”

He reached into his own pocket and let Charon’s pay roll through his fingers.

“They broke it of their own free will. It is amusing how you think this a realm. The powers of the first one taken; she made it so to protect them. You all have lingered here well after death without it or have you not figured it out for yourself yet? Believe me. Even I was surprised.”

He left Hela confused as he turned from the table and down the corridors of his darkened palace. Once he was away far enough, he nearly collapsed from a broken heart that would have been there. His hand clutched at his chest at the ripped pieces of the broken heart belonging to the only woman to survive his domain. Soon, he would meet the young man to match both of their features but now he prayed to whatever deity that was stronger than him that she would survive long enough to know the truth.

-

Imogen could feel her whole face red from the tears. Any moment, she was hoping, praying that August would walk through the portal but then again she wanted the same thing for Emmilette. Unlike Nalek and Roysce, they didn’t deserve to die the way they did.

Loki could feel her arm tighten around his waist. He lifted his head and could see the freckles in her cheeks from the sobbing in the glow of the gate.

“I’m not ready yet...”

He turned fully to his back and made sure that Imogen was comfortable no matter the harsh dig of the rocks into his skin. As long as she would need it, he would do what she said.

“No! Let me go!”

But he wouldn’t put her in danger. He would have told her the truth but he remembered Sakaar and by her brother’s word, he would not hurt her more than she already was.

“Immie...”

As she slept, she could here his voice as if he were still there.

“Gussy?”

“Stop this now. Get up before she finds you. There’s not much time.”

“No.”

She was dreaming; she knew. He appeared in front of her as a mist. His hand would have struck her face in anger but he was dead. There was no more denying it but she would try. He sighed as if he needed the breath.

“Immie. You can’t stay here. I’m sorry. You need to forgive yourself or you won’t survive.”

Imogen woke. She was still for the longest time as she heard Loki sleeping underneath her. They were what was left. She didn’t want to admit that there was a way to get out. She propped herself and looked to the small space. In the glow of the gate, she saw Loki sleeping peacefully. His arm slid down to her waist with him being in a deeper sleep than she had been.

She brushed a few hairs from his face and slowly traced the side of his cheek. She felt bad for scolding him for feeling something about her when she’d felt the same way. He wasn’t a distraction but...

Something had happened that August didn’t get a chance to say. Now it was only her. Her and Loki. She flinched as Loki’s hand touched her face.

It was only them now.

She looked up to the portal. August was right, she couldn’t stay. Imogen got to her feet and straightened out her leather armor.

“Imogen?”

She walked to the portal, leaving him behind. As she disappeared through the light, Loki shot to his feet and raced for her so she wouldn’t jump from the rocks.

He was blinded at first, stopped by the impossible scene around him.

The rocks were gone and a city spread out in each direction. He knew the landscape all too well and from the shocked look of Imogen, she did too. They heard the snarling around their shoulders of the Chitauri as they landed on the smashed concrete behind them. Loki pushed Imogen behind him as more began to circle them.

“Be ready to run.”

“Too late!”

Imogen set off sprinting down the destroyed streets of New York with Loki and the Chitauri behind them. She was lucky and quick enough to dodge their guns and knives. Her heart pumped wildly as people screamed and ran in every direction. With each step, she knew how to avoid getting hit and how high to jump over the crashed cars. Loki followed in her every step, running as fast as he could as blast of blue smashed the side of buildings to rain down on them.

He was distracted, keeping his eye on a growing agile Imogen, enough to not see the extended arm that clotheslined him to the pavement. Loki felt the air pushed from his lungs as he was held to the ground by a blue foot to his chest. He followed the blue skin up to the red furious eyes of Laufey.

“It’s about time,” he chuckled in one breath.

“No!”

Imogen grabbed a piece of debris and pitched it into the frost giants face. Laufey cried out in pain as it broke apart on his face, allowing Loki to get to his feet and run. Imogen grabbed him by the hand and turned for an alley. Loki took a single leap over a high fence, leaving Imogen to climb her way up trash bins. She flipped herself over the fence and landed perfectly to her feet as the snaring grew closer.

“How far are supposed to fucking run?!”

“You’re the one with the ability to find the gate! You tell me!”

“Oh, really? You can’t a spell and get us the hell out of he...”

Imogen yelped out in surprise as she slipped on a bit of ice and landed on her side. She felt a hand grab her and pull her to her feet but was surprise when it didn’t belong to Loki. Imogen looked into the eye of Roysce with skin paler than it already was and a bit of bone sticking out of his neck.

“Hey, there good looking.”

His hands wrapped around her neck, tighter than she remembered. Loki was pulled back again by Laufey’s hand.

“I think I would like to watch this. Wouldn’t you, Asgardian?”

Loki found Laufey’s grip on his neck to be too powerful.

Imogen kicked at Roysce with some success but still had some difficulty to knock him away. He only laughed.

“Why aren’t you scared of me anymore? Maybe you need a more familiar face.”

Roysce’s eyes rolled to the back of his head. His dead skin rippled, making his skin change its appearance before her eyes. She didn’t know how he was supposed to be at first with freckled skin and short red hair and a deep voice that made her weak with fear for a moment.

Loki tried to break free as Roysce brought up his fist, ready to strike at Imogen.

There was a pain in her chest. It was her heart but something had changed in her. In the wild look of his icy blue eyes, something snapped in her.

“Why are you leaving?”

Imogen had backed into a corner but it was no use. He always found her. Abe twined his fingers into her hair and jerked her away. Imogen screamed and cried for help but the hell outside masked them out beautifully.

“What the hell?”

Imogen was turned away from the window as it shattered to broken glass and wood. The power of the blast knocked them both from their feet. Imogen was already on her feet and ran for the door without her satchel or her cane. She didn’t know why Abe didn’t believe her but now was a chance as good as any and she would have rather died than escape. It was now everyone for themselves.

Her hand fumbled with the locks many locks and not one of them turning from her panicked fingers. She fear grew as she heard the shuffle of feet in the broken glass in the living room behind her. Imogen jumped as a fist pounded the door from the other side.

“Immie!”

“August! I can’t open the door,” she sobbed.

“Get down now.”

Imogen didn’t have be told twice as she dropped to the floor and covered her ears. She held her ears tight enough to hear a small ripple of sound and a gust of wind on her back. She was jerked from the carpet and quickly led from growing snarls and Abe’s scream for help.

“August! What the fuck is going on?”

“Just don’t let go of my hand. Don’t let go!”

She held onto her brother with both hands and ran as fast as her feet would allow her.

He had the same voice but not the same grip of anger in his hand. Abe’s was sure but Roysce’s was weak.

Thump, thump.

Her hands moved from her neck to the brick wall behind her.

Thump, thump.

Imogen calmed herself and could feel her skin harden.

“Maybe I just need to kill you again,” she chuckled.

Her eyes faded into a blue deeper than Laufey’s skin or that of any Jotun. Her body expanded in every which as Roysce let go out of fear.

“No!”

Faster than he could turn around and Imogen grew a long horn on her nose and large thick skin. Her mouth opened and she roared, setting her to charge and knock Roysce’s body high into the body across from them. Loki smiled at the large animal Imogen had turned into as she turned and set her sights on Laufey.

He trembled for the briefest moment and it allowed Loki to move freely. Imogen charged and smashed her way to the giant. Laufey turned his arm to ice, thinking he could injure her. Loki jumped out of her way and watched as she trampled over the frost giant like a rag doll. Loki followed her back down the alley as she stopped and changed back. Imogen gasped for breath as Loki tried to comfort her.

“You did so well,” he laughed.

He left a quick kiss to her lips, fast enough for her to not realize it.

“I-I can’t have you waiting back for me. You’re all that I have left.”

She cupped the side of his face and kiss him back.

“No,” he snapped as he formed his hand to her jaw, “I am not leaving you behind! I gave my word.”

Imogen giggled, prying Loki fingers away. He was struck with some confusion at first but her glowing eyes made him easy.

“Who said anything about leaving me behind,” she asked as her eyes began to slit back, “Try and keep up, old man.”

Imogen leapt from the edge of the sidewalk and ran down the street on all four feet as a wolf. Loki smiled, running behind her at a pace slower for his anatomy. They weaved and dodged obstacles as the ran from street to street and he remember how far only the Chitauri were kept by the Avengers.

“Is that the best you can do,” he laughed as Imogen sniffed around, “Perhaps tracking isn’t your best suit.”

Imogen grinned out the corner of her eye. She howled to the sky and turned the corner through the chaos. Loki ran faster as she jumped from her wolf form for a single moment. As a human, Imogen ran a single foot and laughed in Loki’s direction as her hair flew behind her.

“Catch me if you can...”

She jumped from the ground and turned into a full grown cheetah as she sped off without him. Loki sped up himself, hearing the animalistic growl of her voice. In the distance, Loki could see a void on the edge of the battle. He forced himself to ignore the people screaming, the Chitauri as they slaughtered those whom fought back. All were memories to haunt him and he knew it was and wasn’t real; the poor souls to spend eternity frozen in the same Hell. It was the past now and all that mattered was getting across the next gate. With Imogen speeding well in front of him, Loki closed both of his eyes and ran into the shimmer of light.

His first step through, Loki stumbled with Imogen. Her eyes were pulled forward to the white void in front of them but she was bale to reach back with her hand and grasp the life from Loki’s.

“I-I don’t think that was the gate.”

“As long as we didn’t stay in there,” he sighed.

Loki wanted to look at her but her focus was glued to the white.

“I don’t get it. Is it still the same level?”

“I’m not sure.”

Imogen went through her head and tried to remember. She counted on her fingers to be sure.

“Limbo, gluttony, the hell hounds, the rocks...”

“The rivers.”

“The cave and this shit. Loki, that didn’t feel like a gate we went through back there.”

“So...”

“Seven. The seventh level of Hell. What was that supposed to be?”

“I’m not sure,” he lied.

He couldn’t tell her.

“I’m not sure if I was surprised that Roysce found us. The dead go here to die, I guess.”

Something echoed, something small to her right as Imogen turned to hear it.

“What?”

“I think...”

She heard it again, a faint drop of water. She let go of Loki’s but stayed at his side. The drops grew closer but it was impossible to see when all she could see was white.

“Maybe we sho...”

She turned back, seeing Loki had vanished and was well out of her eyesight. Loki felt a chill run up his spine. He turned back, seeing Imogen fade away.

“Imogen?”

He turned, ready to find her but was met with a sudden heaviness in his heart. His feet dangled underneath him. He swayed as the feeling of defeat coursed his veins. He looked up to see Odin holding onto Thor as he held onto Gungnir tightly.

“Father?”

“I love you, my sons.”

“This isn’t real...”

Tears welled in the sides of his eyes.

“No, Loki.”

“No...”

Just let go.

He wanted to let go, he wanted to die at the words of his father. He wanted to make him pay. He felt he had nothing else in the world to live for.

Imogen felt the white turn to darkness as she remembered through her other senses. She could taste the vodka on her breath. The city under her was strangely quiet from the day before. She didn’t want it to feel real until she reached down and picked up the broken bottle she’d just finished off.

“Go ahead. See if I care.”

She cried as she raised the broken edge to her forearm. She didn’t know if Abe would let her follow through or if he would toy with her and make her pay for it later. Her hand shook a single time, nicking her skin as she refused to bite back her cry.

Loki almost let go as he heard something from the broken edge of the Bifrost. Behind Odin was a woman. Her eyes were white and red from her tears as she had something to her arm. She sobbed in pain as he saw the blood trickle from her arm and stained her white dress.

“No.”

Loki climbed up the vanishing images of his brother and his father, grasping the edge at the last second so he would not fall into the void.

“Imogen!”

Something made her stop as she pulled the bottle away from her skin. Hot breath raced to her neck as Imogen was jerked back by her hair. She cried out as she fell to her knees. She let the bottle fall from her hand as what was left of it shattered to pieces. Loki saw as she was pulled to her knees. He fought his fatigue and pulled himself to the surface of the bridge. With the glow of his hand, he met the eyes of a spirit-like creature and snapped his neck wtih a spell.

Imogen gasped for breath as she tried to find her footing. She was disoriented, grasping the only memory that found her. She was never filled with so much shame as Loki held her and cradled her. He kissed the side of her head, glad that he didn’t give in to his pride over the side of the planet.

“Imogen. Please wake up. Wake up for me.”

She tired to look up but was still met with darkness. The voice of the man holding her was familiar but she could remember him. Loki looked into her eyes void of the deep color he remembered. Despite her natural lack of sight, he cupped both sides of her face and passionately kissed her lips. She was taken back to the whiteness of the level of Hell and knew nothing around her but him was real.

“Loki?”

Tears streamed from his eyes as he laughed and kissed her again.

“Yes, yes. It’s me. I’m here.”

“It was real.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Yes, it was because,” she choked on every word, “I has happened before.”

“No,” he whispered as he held the side of her neck, “You’ll never get away from me.”

A flash blinded her as Loki stood over her with a look of wickedness to him.

“...for as long as I breathe, you quim.”

Imogen choked as she pushed Loki away. He was surprised as Imogen knocked him away. She clawed at her neck for breath but the memory wouldn’t let her as she backed away from him and closer to the edge of the bridge.

Hela opened her eyes and laughed. Her cackles made the shadow stop for a brief moment.

“Why was I so blind to see it? All the magic and premonitions and I still didn’t see it. It was never fate.”

She turned her face up to his hand over a single ring that he was repairing with his magic.

“What are you up to,” she asked leaning forward so her smile could distract him from the shadows working on her bonds.

“She is not ready.”

“Ready for what. From what I know now, I thought you would want her to know the truth.”

“Once she is close enough, I will make sure she knows all. He used her for so long and now I will make sure he is used tenfold, no matter if he lives or dies.”

“But all this trouble for one. Little. Mortal,” she hissed so that it would hurt him.

No matter her words, he knew she was right but it was his duty to make sure Imogen was in the right place and the right time before the last of her undeserved tragedy unfolded.

“I pray your death will be quick, witch.”

“And as yours as well,” she smiled as she looked over the shadow’s shoulder.

“As my wife wishes.”

He turned to follow her gaze and was met with the large hand belonging to his brother. The shadow was knocked to the ground. He looked up to Surtur, smiling to his brother as he made his way to Hela. She snapped a single bond with her own magic as the other was broken by Surtur. Hela ran her fingers through her hair and mounted her favorite crown.

“Never in my year would I have imagined that I would slay a god.”

“He is yours, my love.”

She ignored Surtur and strutted across the great hall. The shadow wasn’t sure if he would survive.

“You will not win.”

“My Pluto,” she whispered softly as she drew her long blade from her thigh, “You will regret no letting me die as your brother did. Any last words?”

He pushed himself up and smiled.

“You must not know the meaning of a bitch until you’ve been devoured by one.”

With the snap of his fingers, he summoned his hell hounds from the shadows to attack Surtur and Hela. They both fought and slaughtered the endless sea of creatures. Pluto jumped over the dead dogs and the blood to reach the gold on his table.

He rushed his powers to repair the walls holding her memories.

“Please hold. Please hold...”

Surtur raked his nails across his brother’s back. He screamed out in pain as they crashed into the table to make the realm shift.

Imogen and Loki stumbled from their feet. Loki fell but Imogen was steady even without her eyes. She reached out and tried to find Loki with no success.

“What was that? Loki?”

He stood up and saw the edge of Asgard crumbling around them. He reached out, finally about to pull her into his hold, holding her tightly as they both fell over the side of the bridge and into the foaming sea.

Pluto lifted his palm and wrapped the shadows of his powers around his brother’s neck. Surtur kicked at the table to make it tumble and crack the edge as a terrible noise filled the room. The ground spilt open as the dogs, Surtur and Hela fell through. Pluto felt his brother’s hand wrap around his ankle and pulled him through as well.

Loki wrapped his arms around Imogen and held her tightly as he turned his back to the sea so that he would take the most of the impact. There was a faint sensation of water at his back. In the second moment, the sea would have swallowed them whole and after that they would have tumbled over the side together and he would have died happy with her in his arms but the second moment never came.

He landed on his side, shaking the both of them from their illusions. The white returned as Imogen to see again. They turned to darker objects falling from above. The smell of the dead hell hounds at their feet nearly made Imogen sick as she backed away.

Pluto was the first to his feet as he almost stumbled into Imogen. He stopped and looked into her brown eyes. He was stunned, seeing her alive, the only one that now mattered to him. Loki slipped in the blood growing under the snarling beasts that ignored him. He was at the ready, willing to kill anything that charged at him. He was stunned to see his sister Hela slaughtering numerous hell hounds around her with Surtur, the demon that helped destroy his only home.

He turned back to Imogen, only to see another presence reach for her hand. Loki lunged for them, only for Pluto to suspend him in the air. Imogen was petrified as Loki froze in place.

“I will not harm you, child.”

She matched the shadow’s voice to the man’s plain face.

“Trust me. Here.”

He place a large golden ring in her hand and closed her fingers around it.

“Break it when you reach the end. You need to survive.”

His cold fingers turned warm for a moment. They traced the edge of her hand as he pulled his away.

Hela gasped as she tried to catch her breath. She looked up to her bastard brother frozen in the air. Her hand summoned a rather small blade in her hand but really any blade would have done the trick. She only had a moment to fling the metal to his heart before more hounds set their sights on her. A separate blade swung and chopped off another hounds head and she set her sights on the beasts surrounding her weak husband’s. She would mock her brother’s corpse when they were done.

Imogen could see a flash of light. She reached for Loki and pulled him out of the air in time for the blade to only slice through his tunic and nick his side. The pain was bearable but his veins filled with fear as a few hell hounds sniffed the air. They turned at the smell of his blood.

“Run. I cannot stop them when they sense fresh blood.”

Imogen jerked Loki by the sleeve and ran from the Hell behind them. She didn’t know why she didn’t turn into something overpowering like an elephant or a buffalo but her only instinct was the run for her life. Pluto turned back around and couldn’t stop the growing sea of hounds that charged for Imogen but he could turn a few around and kill the rest.

Hela stopped and watched her brother and the woman run off in the opposite direction. Surtur cried out in pain as the hounds dug their teeth into his leg. He tried to grow to his natural form but they attacked like bugs. The swarm of darkness grew up his legs until he fell to his back. The hounds bit every part of skin on him. Only a few perished by his fires but it wasn’t enough to fight his brother’s stronger powers. He looked up to Hela as she backed away.

“Please! Help me!”

Hela smiled reaching safely past his hand and ripped the scolding crown from his brow. Surtur disappeared under the starving hell hounds and his blood as she turned and sprinted away for the nearest shadow that wasn’t her own. Pluto secured victory for this time but with the crown in her hand, she would make sure he paid starting with the dead of his remaining flesh and blood.

Loki ran with Imogen’s hand in his. With the other, he summoned endless versions of himself for the hounds to attack but it could only slow them down a fraction. Imogen’s heart beat deeply in her chest and the hounds knew to follow it. She didn’t dare look back. Loki could feel his side heal and the cold patch of blood staining his shirt. He stripped it away and wiped off his side the best he could.

The dark tunic fell behind them. The remaining hounds stopped and fought for the fabric, finally giving them a chance to run. Imogen was too focused on running that she almost rolled on her ankle and dropped her golden ring. She caught herself and watched as the ring rolled back. Loki reached for her and tried to pull her away.

“Leave it!”

“No,” she shouted as she slipped away.

She dove for the ring and caught it before it could roll any further. A single hound caught her scent and turned with its tongue licking its lips in her direction. Imogen was frozen as she tried to turn and run. More of the hounds turned for her. Loki ran, almost not seeing the large metal vehicle screech to a stop in front of them. Hounds were either killed or hit as blood landed at their feet.

Imogen backed away into Loki as he helped her to her feet. The door to the vehicle opened and Imogen almost lost her mind as Emmilette’s white hand was extended out to her.

“Come, child. It is not your time to die here.”

Loki didn’t wait for her to respond as he scooped Imogen up from the ground and hauled her onto the rusted bus. Imogen fell into the nearest seat and looked out the windows behind her as great distance was put between them and what was left of the hell hounds. Loki’s eyes were glued to the controls of the vehicle being operated and steered all on their own. He didn’t meet Emmilette’s eye as she ran to the back and returned with a smiling guest.

“Hey, you made it.”

Imogen’s head turned around to August, paler than she remembered. Her eyes watered with tears that spilled down her cheeks. August only wrapped his arms around his sister. When she finished crying, he helped her back to her seat and sat next to her. There were so many questions and no willpower to push the words out of her mouth.

“I remember it hurting. The water was actually warmer than it looked.”

“Are you...”

“Yeah, sorry, Im.”

She could feel her tears again. She looked to his arm and saw the glowing words.

The dead cannot leave.

“It isn’t fair.”

“No shit, Sherlock. I’m sure that counts in life and death.”

“Did you know Nalek was going to do that?”

“Im...”

“Did you know?!”

Loki and Emmilette had no choice but to listen to the grief in Imogen’s voice.

“Yeah.”

“Motherfucker,” she cursed under her breath.

“Imogen, you’ve looked after me all these years and now that I’m gone, I need to tell you that Abe is my fault and I should have gone for you when I had the chance. Now it was my turn to protect you.”

Imogen didn’t want to accept that he really was gone. She laced her fingers tightly to his and didn’t want to let go.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do without you, Gussy?”

“Live. Kick Abe’s ass if he ever comes back. Go back to the symphony. Be Auntie Mame.”

“I can’t,” she choked.

“Hey, hey. Whether you like it or not, I’m not going with you. Learn to be lonely if you have to. It is going to hurt, I know.”

“If you’re not going with me then why are you here? It this come fucked up practical joke?”

“It is only a detour,” interrupted Emmilette as she smiled with her eyes, “Our souls are not darkened enough to stay here.”

“You’re getting out of Hell?”

“Yes, Pluto said we were granted passage and told us to find you.”

“Who?”

“The shadow,” said August.

“That thing’s got a name?”

“Yeah but we don’t know anymore. Just that your stop is soon. You made it through this level and all you have to do is find the next gate.”

“What was this one?”

“Violence but this one was tricky. First to others, then to yourself.”

Loki could understand why Laufey appeared but he wondered if the look of revenge could be mimicked. The scene on the Bifrost didn’t need to be explained or relived for the time she had left with August.

August looked up to Loki and lowered his head so only Imogen could head him.

“I know you can get out of here, ok? You only have two more to go.”

“What are they?”

“Freud and treachery. I need you to promise me that if you have the chance to run, you’ll leave Loki behind and get out. I don’t have the time to explain but he isn’t who you think he is.”

“Abe was your friend. I remembered, asshole.”

August rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. His hand went to hold hers again but stopped.

“What is that?”

August slipped his hand into Imogen’s pocket and pulled out the golden ring.

“The sh- Pluto gave it to me. He told me to break it at the end. Does that mean anything?”

“It’s not for me to say. Those are your memories to do with what you want. I can’t help you anymore than that and neither can he. You’re on your own.”

The bus began to slow as Imogen’s fingers dug into the seats around her. Her breath started to pick up and her arms flung around August. He rocked her enough to keep her from latching onto him.

“Immie? Imogen, look at me.”

“No.”

“God dammit, Immie. You need to let me go.”

“No, no. Please...”

She began to sob again as her arms shook. August was able to break himself away and kiss her cheek one final time.

“Hey, be a big girl and say goodbye.”

“I can’t.”

“This isn’t the end of the world, Immie, but I’m sure you can see it from here. I’m going to a better place and I’m going to be happy. I’ve lived life as far as I could. Did I die under fucked circumstances? Yeah but I’ll be okay. I’ll have Nana and Emmilette to keep me company.”

Imogen had no more words to say as her fingers slowly and painfully uncurled, letting her brother go.

“I will be sure that he goes where he needs to be, child.”

She shook her head to Emmilette, still so pale and beautiful as she took August’s other hand.

“Be good, Immie. I’ll look back on you from time to time.”

Imogen forced herself in her seat as Emmilette and August walked to the front steps of the bus. August looked to Loki from the steps.

“I forgive you, man. Just keep her safe.”

“I swear I will.”

The bus stopped and the doors creaked open as they both departed. The door shut and the bus slowly started to move again. Imogen could barely breathe as she looked through the window to her brother and Emmilette waving them off.

Imogen got to her feet and walked to the back, not wasting a moment in remembering every bit of August before he disappeared. Her eyes were kept wide open to not blink or wipe away the tears. She sank to her knees and watched until he and his companion vanished in the beautiful light that appeared. Loki knelt behind Imogen as they both saw the light vanish.

Imogen pushed herself into one of the last seats as Loki sat across from her. They didn’t know how much time had passed but as her tears slowed, she wiped them away and tried to clear her head. Loki waited until he was absolutely sure she wanted to be bothered. The bus continued on for some time as it rocked them back and forth.

The white seemed to go on forever. Imogen didn’t feel like talking. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the hard seat beside her. Loki wasn’t sure what to do with himself. The controls and the wheel of the bus was still operating by itself but he didn’t know how far it would be until they reached the next gate or if the bus was even going in the right direction.

He only closed his eyes and rested as Imogen did.

She tried not to dream of August but it was no use. She could see him, plain as day but dressed rather odd. Imogen could tell it was still him but his clothes were like nothing he’d seen before.

He sat at a square bright desk and counted strange looking metal chips. His dark hair wasn’t combed over as it normally was but stood up stylishly on end. Yellow parallel lines ran down his face and the robes. God, the robes were different story. He donned a dazzling grey robe that spilled over his seat and almost touched the ground.

He looked over his shoulder to her and smiled with a single wave.

“Imogen...”

She woke, almost curled up in a ball as Loki stood over her.

“What happened?”

“The bus stopped.”

“What?”

“I just woke up and the bus stopped running. Look.”

He pointed past the windows and the open bus doors. The bus had stopped just shy of a cliff edge. Imogen was out of her seat and off the bus as she stepped closer to the edge.

“Wait,” yelled Loki as he leapt after her.

“Look over.”

Loki was cautious as he leaned over and saw the gate, normally small enough to step through, was now spanned in every direction from the edge. He kicked a bit of the ground and watched it disappear in the light.

“What do we do now?”

“We get the fuck out of here.”

Imogen grabbed Loki’s hand and closed her fingers to his. He smiled as they both took a single step forward. Imogen paused and looked to Loki.

“Second thoughts,” he shrugged to her.

He wouldn’t be surprised if she need more time or if she didn’t want to step through the gate altogether. Imogen grabbed Loki by the neck and jerked him down for a kiss. He was surprised by the act but he was glad that Imogen returned his affection if only for a moment. He held her face as she broke the kiss. He looked into her eyes; the color would be gone with her sight so he would remember the life they’d been filled with. His thumb ran across her cheek freckled from her cries. He smiled as he turned them to the edge.

“Not anymore.”

She held his hand tighter and leaned forward so she couldn’t change her mind at the last minute. Imogen closed her eyes as she was Loki fell over the edge and straight through the lighted gate.

 @808-anon @angelus80 @angryschnauzer @antyc67 @atinyfangirl @audasia25 @cerys1212 @clairelovexo @damageditem @echantedbytwh @eve1978 @hallotom @inkededucatednnerdy @itsjustelen @jennphoenix @justahopeless-dreamer @lokilockedcougar @lovehiddles4everme @marvelousmissfit @mazda098 @missdibley @mrshiddelston @mypreciousmind1 @nicole-stewart-loves-cookies @osb1anon @ourladybinxthings @peskipixi @prplprincez @quoting-shakespeare-to-ducks @ririsutty @roamingbadger @sarabeth72 @servent-alearika @sevanya @shamvictoria11 @starrynight35 @siyoteodiara @startingtoenjoylife @the-lady-mischief @tinaferraldo @tomkurbikston @vdcster @wolfsmom1

#marvel #loki #angst #trigger warning #teasing #fanfic #hela

[star-valo]

Better by Markiplier- Day Seventy

I went out with Mum today. She had some dental work done and I went as moral support.

I ran out of time so I didn’t do my makeup properly though, but I did buy myself a little sketchbook, so I can start that up again.

I’m gonna be home alone for a fair chunk of tomorrow, so I’m planning on recording a YouTube video. I’m thinking something like 25 weird facts about me? Cos it’d be somewhat interesting? And my friends on the manor Discord are up for giving me feedback. I was gonna do 50 items in my room, but half my room is in boxes.

I’ve been talking about dachshunds today. I have a mighty need. On the subject of pets, Immy has been yelping a lot lately, so I’m wondering if she needs a check up at the vets again... she’s not gonna like it, but if something’s wrong, she needs looking at.

Feels update. After a long conversation last night, I believe my feelings are back to a supressable level. I mean, he could probably fuck that right up if he wanted to, but for now, I’m good. He’s not aware of my feelings, and even if he was, I don’t think he’d even want to bring them back. Shit happens dude, and I’m just glad I can get back to enjoying his videos without my heart getting in the way.

Jeans are much easier to get on now. I’m proud of myself. Still not perfect, but a vast improvement from the crying heap I used to be when I attempted to put my jeans on.

I also need to go shopping for funeral attire, because it’s in two weeks... I don’t know what to wear to a funeral, the last one I went to was 8 years ago. Hopefully I can sort something in time.

#better by markiplier #star’s talking shit again

[mer-birdman]

Mweheheheh angsty otp prompt meme. “Seven fucking years, and that’s all you have to say!” For 7kpp ;)

Oh god. You do like the suffering, don’t you? You do realize this is going to involve Irina, right? One because she’s angst bucket child, and two because she has a potty mouth and would definitely say that.

Well, without further ado.

She’d remained in her quarters for most of the trip, so none of the delegates on her ship had known just who their captain was as they made their way to the Summit. She’d have never heard the end of it otherwise — even now, a full cycle after her own fateful Summit, Irina still turned heads in the streets of every port she docked at, every manor and holding she visited. It didn’t help that she was far too recognizable — most of her ilk were intriguing to the eye but not overly memorable, since it benefitted a pirate to be able to hide in a crowd.

But the description of ‘pale skin, dark hair, red eyes, and burn scars like vines and foliage’ had spread like wildfire following her return from her Summit seven years ago, and now anybody who paid attention to international politics in the seven kingdoms knew her name, her face, and what she’d done.

A lot had happened since the end of that Summit. She and the friends she’d made there had all gone their separate ways, back to homes and back to the lives that trapped them there. Much like she’d fostered peace on the Isle, now Irina had fostered friendship from her ship on the seas, sailing from nation to nation and carrying communication, gifts, messages, and sometimes passengers from one to the next. It was her ship now, the Amor Almar, and after seven years many outside of Hise had forgotten that it had once belonged to the famed pirate Blackthorn.

At the negotiations seven years ago, Irina had fought her way tooth and nail (metaphorically speaking) to bartering a diplomatic release of her mother, and when she’d arrived in Hise she’d immediately reassembled the crew of the Amor Almar to sail for Corval and bring Catherine home. She’d been weak, and shaky, and her hair had been shorn off at the nape of her neck, but to Irina the sight of her mother alive and awake had been a drink of cool water after months without rain.

Catherine had taken one look at her daughter and crew, waiting on the dock for her like an honor parade, and burst into tears. She’d broken away from the Corvali guards who’d escorted her out and run down the walkway, bare feet smacking against the wooden planks, to throw her arms around her daughter like Irina had been the one presumed dead for five years. The guards had looked on in astonishment, watching the woman who had refused to submit for five years break down at the sight of a tiny girl with scars across half her face, but Zarad (who’d visited to facilitate the exchange, like the good diplomatic friend he was) had worn a kind expression.

Irina had captained the ship home, standing with a strength to her spine and resolve in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, and when they’d finally docked in Hise once again her mother had stood at the helm beside her and smiled.

“I think my time here has come to a true end, now. This ship loves you, my little peacemaker, so please take good care of her.”

They’d shared a small, secret smile then, before disembarking to meet Piotr on the pier. He wept harder than both of them had, falling to his knees as he reached his wife and wrapping his arms tight around her waist, all propriety thrown to the wind at the sight of his girls safe and sound and home at last.

Her family whole once again, Irina had done her best to forget the other empty place inside her heart, where something else had been left behind.

And yet here she was, again, docking at the Isle’s pier and wrapping a scarf tight around her hair and face to shield her from prying eyes as she leapt off of her ship with ease to tie it tight to the wooden poles of the walkway and indicate her crew to lower the bridge from the deck. This year’s Hisean delegates were a rowdy, joyous bunch, two young men and three women and two absolutely lovely individuals of an entirely undefined gender, and all together they were rather a force of nature as they disembarked and made their way down the pier in a storm of chatter and laughter and brightly-colored cloth.

It eased her heart, to see them. They, hopefully, wouldn’t have to face the trials and tension she had endured in her time as a delegate. Instead, it would be best if their seven weeks here were nothing but joy and laughter and young love blossoming like the Maiden’s Vigil flower Emmett had shown her so long ago. (He’d gifted her with seeds the first time she’d visited him after the Summit, but she’d never really gotten around to planting them. After all, she’d already been freed from her tower, so there was no point letting her tears fall for an escape now).

Irina turned, raising her hand to signal Callum to start unloading all of the goods and supplies they’d transported as well, and failed to stop herself from gasping out loud when an all-too-familiar voice sounded above her ear.

“The Isle staff can assist you with the supplies, Captain.”Did he recognize her? He had to, she had waved with her scarred hand after all and he’d seen that hand many times over, but it had been seven years and not a word. Irina found herself at a loss for words, spine frozen and lungs suddenly empty as she tried to force herself to turn around and face him, look into those eyes she’d seen in her dreams for seven years and ask where have you been. Instead, she nodded curtly and flashed a quick series of sailor’s signs to her first mate, who saluted and set about passing on the instructions to the rest of the crew. She caught hold of a rope and swung herself back onto the deck, where Callum raised his scarred eyebrow at her curiously.

“Would that happen to be the fellow you’ve been dreaming about, little miss?”Irina frowned. “I don’t want to talk about it, Callum. Now get your ass in gear, we promised Lairde Eirian and Captain Franjelica we’d transport their things personally.”

Her first mate sighed dramatically. “Ah, would that we were still pirates, and could just steal their things away! Joking, joking, little miss,” He raised his hands in defense at her pointed stare, laughing easily, “You know we’re all happy with whatever you want us to be, right?”

“…” Against her will, a small smile curled at the corners of her lips. “Of course, Cal. Now, you and Peggy should take Frankie’s things up to her room, and I’ll grab some of the staff here to help me with Eirian’s. Be back here by suppertime, we’ll eat while docked and sail in the morning.”

Callum laughed and saluted her sharply, sunlight glinting off the gray hairs starting to appear at his temples and the edges of his bushy eyebrows. “Aye-aye, Captain.”

“Oh, stuff it.” She ducked inside to retrieve Eirian’s belongings — Cordelia would never forgive her if she let her sibling’s things be ruined, which is likely why Eirian had cheekily requested that she herself deliver them — and hauled them onto the deck, waving over a young woman with red hair and a few young men to help her carry the load.

She was already well inside the castle itself when she realized that the long red braid in front of her was almost eerily familiar. Skies above, this was just one walk down memory lane after another, wasn’t it? It probably wasn’t a good idea to speak up, but Irina couldn’t help it — the girl had been one of her first and dearest friends on the Isle. “Great crested waves, Ria, that isn’t you, is it?”

“Wha—” True to form, Ria yelped in surprise, but her grip on the smaller case she was carrying didn’t even falter, and she only turned briefly to glance at Irina with wide grey eyes. Her face was more mature but still round and open, freckles sprinkled liberally across her nose and cheekbones like flecks of sunlight. “—goodness, Lady Irina! I had no idea! It’s been ever so long, how are you?”

Supposing that she may as well bare her face, Irina tugged off the scarf around her head with one hand and draped it over her shoulder, smiling back at her once-time maid in what almost felt like genuine delight. “I’ve been well. Sailing, mostly — would you know, a good group of us from the last Summit have all but become pen-pals, and I’ve ended up as the courier for all of them. And since Mom gave me her ship, well —” She laughed, a little sheepish, “—I just haven’t really left it. But how are you, Ria? And everyone else — Imogen, Sayra, even that fusspot head butler!”

Ria giggled, nudging open the door to Eirian’s assigned room with one rounded hip and directing their small procession inside. “Oh, things have been wonderful here! Sayra and I are on different assignments this year, but she’s been quite happy. Started helping in the gardens a lot, which I think she likes a good deal more than being a lady’s maid. And Immie’s just lovely — would you know, she’s found herself a suitor?”

“No! Really?” Irina couldn’t help but gasp appropriately in response. “That’s wonderful news!”

Smile dimpling her cheeks, Ria nodded and set about bustling around the room, taking dresses and suits from the largest chest and brushing them out carefully before hanging them in the armoire with a grace she hadn’t possessed seven years earlier. “It is, isn’t it? And they’ll all want to see you, of course — I don’t suppose you could stay for dinner, Lady Irina?”

“Oh, just Irina now, none of those titles and whatnot.” She’d left that behind the moment she returned from the Summit. Politics were important, but she had found her own calling now, and it didn’t require that old title any longer. Besides, her mother had taken surprisingly adeptly to being ‘the Lady of Ravenskeep’, and was more than skilled enough at talking for both of them (it was amazing how well piracy and captainship could lend themselves to politics). “If you must, call me Captain, but really my name is more than enough.”

A gentle laugh escaped her friend, who was attempting to puzzle out the correct way to hang one of Eirian’s more elaborate outfits. “Irina, then. Would you have time to join us for dinner?”

“I suppose.” The crew would survive a night without her — hell, they’d probably celebrate it. “Just let me tell my first mate, yeah? And you’ll have to give me directions — it’s been seven years since I was here, and I’m pretty sure your dinner won’t be where mine often was.”

Ria smiled. “I’ll send someone to find you. Oh, I’ve missed you, La— Irina.”“And I you, Ria.”They shared a small, warm moment, before the maid pursed her lips together and held out the garment in her hands towards Irina with a petulant look. “Now, how in the world am I supposed to hang this? You know the Lairde, you must know how their clothes are meant to look, right?”

Irina laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Ria, Irina decided, had gotten all together too sly and quick-witted in the years since she’d seen her last.

After all, there had to be a deeper reason for why it was Jasper, of all people, that the apple-haired maid sent to tap her shoulder and drag her out of her reveries as she sat beside the post her ship was tethered to. He was just as tall as she remembered, with the same sort of ethereal beauty as he’d possessed seven years earlier (and probably, she suspected, for a good while before that). His hair had grown longer, and now instead of just brushing his shoulders it fell past them, pulled back and fastened with a tidy violet band so dark it was almost black (he still wore his bangs in a braid, which amused her for no particular reason).

And just like in her memories, his eyes continued to captivate her. They were the first thing about him she’d really noticed, the first part of him that made her start to think he might not be a danger to her and the first thing about him she’d found beautiful. Now, painted with the multihued glow of the sunset behind them, she remembered those feelings all over again.

She was going to strangle Ria with her own braid when they got the castle, for making her heart go through this obscene gymnastics routine yet again.

“Ria told me you’ll be joining us for dinner.”

It took a great deal of willpower for her to not flinch, nor gasp, nor lunge forward to wrap herself around him so they’d never part again— “That’s correct. She said Sayra and Imogen would like to see me before I set sail again, and one dinner without me won’t kill my crew.”

The corner of his lip twitched. “So this was your ship. I had wondered.”“Had you?”One eyebrow tilted delicately upwards as he offered her a hand up and they made their way to the castle. “I’d heard that Blackthorn’s daughter had taken up her mantle, and a fair number of military fleets seemed quite happy for it.” His eyes, usually a crystalline lilac, were amaranthine in the light of the setting sun and gentle. “I’m glad to see it’s true.”

That just wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair of him to fall back into that, those kind words and kind thoughts for her sake even though she still didn’t really deserve them, after so many years of absence. How come he could just assume to know what the past seven years had been like for her?

But she didn’t say that. Instead, she responded with a polite, “Yes, they’re certainly relieved that my pirate days seem to be over, though I do believe I’ve put a shipping vessel or two out of business.”

“I find myself entirely unsurprised.”

“Yes, well,” What was she going to say here? It’s been a while since she’d been like this, mentally tongue-tied by an individual person’s presence, “It earns my crew a living, and I do have quite a few friends to visit.”

Jasper nodded, expression thoughtful beneath the neutrality (she’d learned to read past his composure many years ago, and the time she’d spent remembering every face she’d seen him make had only helped). “Indeed.”

They fell silent after that, continuing together into the castle and through the hallways to a part of the staff quarters she’d never entered before, not even when she’d been investigating that storm-forsaken murder. She can hear the laughter and talk from the main hall upstairs, where the delegates are milling about and meeting each other (many for the first time) and possibly even falling in love. But down here, as Jasper leads her towards a different echo of voices, it feels warm in an entirely different way.

The welcome feast, in her slightly faded memories, had felt warm like everyone within was a small sun and doing their best to shine brightly. The room he lead her into, full of bodies and happy chatter and delicious (if simpler) smells, was warm in the way a cozy evening by a hearth-fire was warm. Rather than the glow of stars, it had the glow of family.

Ria spotted them as they entered and waved brightly, beckoning them over to a couple of empty seats she had clearly saved for them, and Irina found she didn’t have any energy to be irritated with the redhead for sending Jasper to guide her after all. She was seated at one of the many tables, with Sayra, Imogen, and a young man Irina didn’t recognize but assumed to be Imogen’s new paramour, and they all quickly scooted around to make room for Irina and Jasper to sit down.

“Lad— oh, I mean, Miss Irina!” Imogen was, as ever, unfailing polite and soft-spoken, though her hair was now tied up in a fluffy bun with a few strands falling free to frame her face. She leaned over to give Irina a quick hug before pulling back with cheeks flushed pink and twining her fingers with those of the man beside her. “Ria said she’d told you, and— well, this is Oliver.”

Irina eyed him sternly. She was only perhaps a year older than Imogen, but after having defending the other girl’s life in an official trial, there were definitely some protective feelings stirring up in her chest. “Well, Oliver, I hope you know that if you break Imogen’s heart, I’ll be making another visit back here to break a few other things of yours. Understood?”Commendably, Oliver didn’t flinch or raise a confused eyebrow despite being outright threatened with bodily harm by a tiny woman who still looked young enough to be his little sister (Irina had always looked young for her age, but adulthood seemed to have reached its peak in her twentieth or twenty-first year, and she hadn’t grown a lick since then). As Ria stifled laughter and Sayra patted a beet-red Imogen on the back, he responded, “I wouldn’t dream of it, ma’am.”“Good.”

Looking up from Imogen, Sayra smiled across the table at her. “It is good to see you again, Irina.” The dark-haired maid wore the same hairstyle as she had so many years before, but her bangs were clipped back across the top of her head now and her clothes were of a practical cut in rich greens and browns. Irina had always been fond of, if a little intimidated by, her tall maid, and seeing Sayra now in a less formal manner just reminded her of why she had grown to like the older woman anyways.

“Likewise. Ria said you’re working in the gardens now?”

Sayra’s usually composed face lit up, and she launched into a calm but clearly enthusiastic description of the work she was now doing, caring for the hedges and flowers and plotting out different garden arrangements that would both keep the soil healthy and make the area look nice and interesting. Irina leaned forward to listen as she ate, and almost managed to entirely distract herself from Jasper’s quiet presence beside her for the remainder of the meal.

Unlike meals with the delegates and with nobility in general, the staff dinner was short and practical, as they dined in shifts and had work to return to afterwards. Thankfully, Irina was by now in the practice of eating quickly (she did have a ship to captain, after all), and didn’t have any trouble finishing her portion by the time everything was done. They all cleaned up together, washing their own dishes and setting them in tidy stacks to dry, and she endured cheerful conversation and greetings and questions from what seemed to be every servant who had been working there when she was a delegate (and a few who definitely hadn’t).

Clearly, ripples had been made.

Ria hurried off to help her new assigned delegate prepare for bed (not Eirian, sadly, but a sweet girl from Arland whom she’d described over dinner as ‘a precious thing, much too kind for a world like hers’), and Imogen and Oliver excused themselves to go do a bit more work in the linens room before retiring for bed together.

For a moment, Sayra looked as though she was going to offer to walk Irina back to her ship, but then her eyes flickered around the room for a bit and lit up with a sly sort of light. “I don’t suppose you’d like to stay the night, would you?”

“The night?” Oh, Irina knew where this was going, and a small part of her sorely wished she had an excuse to accept. “It’s nice of you to offer, but my crew’ll be waiting for me, and I’m rather fond of my quarters on the ship. I’ve painted constellations on the ceiling, you see,” She explained enthusiastically, covering up her moment of apprehension at the realization that Sayra had probably been planning to leave her in Jasper’s room overnight, and why had all her friends turned out to be sly buggers? “So I look up each night and I can count the stars even when the sky’s bound to rumble up a storm.”

The once-maid only looks slightly chagrined. “I see. That does sound like a lovely sight, don’t you think, Jasper?”

“Irina’s paintings often are, yes.”

Oh, blast him to the furthest sea and into a coral reef. It was absolutely unfair of him to sound so matter-of-fact like that. 

Sayra raised a slim eyebrow thoughtfully, before yawning wide and stretching. “Well, I’ve an early morning tomorrow. Since you’re not staying the night, perhaps Jasper could escort you back to your ship? It wouldn’t do for you to get lost in here, after all.”

Damn it. Irina definitely couldn’t refuse that one.

They made it out of the castle and onto the winding stone pathway that lead to the dock in silence, surrounding by the whisper of the breeze and the quiet chirping of a few birds who hadn’t yet gone to sleep. Night had fallen around them, and the stars were starting to peek out and glitter in the sky above. The moon was just a thin sliver, but even the faint light it cast managed to turn Jasper’s hair into spun silver, and Irina found herself looking at it before she could consciously remind herself not to.

“I’ve missed this.”

He broke the silence first, and continued on his way for a few steps before realizing that she’d stopped walking and turning back to look at her with an ever-so-slightly curious expression. She stared up at him, brows furrowed tight and eyes dark in the dim light. It felt like there was a simmering volcano buried under her ribcage, rumbling and hammering and threatening to explode out of her, and eventually it did.

She clenched her fingers tight in the fabric of the half-skirt she wore over her work trousers. “You’ve missed this. That’s— that’s all you can say?” Her voice shook in a way it hadn’t for many years, and damn this all for reminding her of just who she had been then. Just how broken she’d been, and how he’d helped her put herself back together and then vanished from her life like sunlight on the sea. “That’s all— just— you’ve missed this.”

“Irina.”

Jasper’s tone was mild and soothing, and if she’d still been eighteen years old and trying to find a new way to kill herself it would have calmed her, pulled her back down the edge she was leaning over with every intent of leaping. But she wasn’t that girl now — she was a whole person, she’d had time to grow and learn and bloom within herself, and the knot of emotions in her chest couldn’t be eased just by the tender way he still said her name.

Instead, it tugged tight and poured over with the snap and crackle of flames. “Seven fucking years, Jasper, and that’s all you have to say? I fell apart when I left, and it’s only thanks to my mother and my friends that I’m here right now. I— I tried to write to you, but nobody could deliver the letters.” Her voice cracked with emotion, and he took a step towards her but paused as though restraining himself, expression distinctly tight. “Seven years without even so much as a word, nothing to reassure me that any of it had even been real, and all you can say now that we’re standing in front of each other is that you’ve missed it?”

Something in her chest crumbled, a wall she didn’t realize she’d built up to protect all of these still-vulnerable feelings, and a traitorous tear rolled down her cheek. Immediately, there were arms around her shoulders, fingers burning their shape into the muscle of her back and carding through her hair, and she buried her face in the fabric of his jacket. He even smelled the same, and she wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or a little disturbed that she still remembered that sort of detail.

“Jasper, I started to think it had just been a lovely dream that I made up for myself. Something to make me feel less lonely, less dirtied.” Her voice broke again, and she pressed her cheek against his chest so the steady beat of his heart was just under her ear. “I was scared that one day I might forget the sound of your voice.”

He hummed gently, the sound low and mellow and sending vibrations through his chest. “I had wished to write. There were… there are a number of letters, on my desk, that I was never able to send. I wish it were another way, but… you know how it is here, Irina.”

“… Yeah.” She knew.

Irina pulled back, drying her eyes briskly with one hand, and Jasper’s fingers stopped running through her hair in favor of cupping her cheek. His eyes, now glowing a pale violet in the moonlight, were concerned. “There are still many here who oppose this— us. They’ve eased over time, but in the years after your Summit… it would have been too dangerous, for both of us.”

She leaned into his touch, silently reveling in the feeling of warmth against her cheekbone and the side of her brow. “And now, Jasper? Is it still too much to risk?”

“Now…” A conflicted look crossed his face. “Letters may be safe now, though only… only occasionally. Anything further than that… here on this Isle, we are often slow to change our ways.” His voice was soft as he spoke, and Irina had to fight not to be completely enthralled. “Our memory is long, and most of my people still remember what happened the last time one of us fell in love with a woman from one of the kingdoms.”

Now, that just didn’t seem fair to Irina. She covered his fingers with her own and sighed heavily. “But I’m not Katyia, and you’re not your ancestor.”

“And yet you cannot argue the parallels.”

“I know.” Somehow, she managed to pull her lips into a smile, and saw him resignedly do the same. It was amazing how that simple change to his expression caused his entire face to soften and grow warm, carefully controlled emotion glowing from behind his proper butler mask, and to Irina in that moment there was nothing more beautiful. She leaned up, pushing onto her toes and whispering against his lips in the bare seconds before they connected. His arms wrapped around her once more, one hand at her waist and the other carefully bracing the back of her head, and she draped her arms around his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair.

“As long as I know you’re still here, I can wait.”

So I may have gotten a little too invested in this… while I should have been doing homework… oh well >_

I imagine this taking place in the same semi-alternate universe as my day 2 sacrifice piece, but four years later.

Thanks for asking, quilleth!

Crossposted to AO3!

#my writing #fanfiction #7kpp #jasper #hise mc #post-canon

[grimforks]

boy they werent lying that pain can really chronic

#immy yelps #pls help #my back hurts so bad

[grimforks]

had the most EXQUISITE thrift trip today i bought a gorgeous 90s dress that was NEW WITH TAGS and found my dream shorts im so happyyyy

#immy yelps #the thrift i go to always has amazing scores tbh i love that place #not going to say where it is im not doxxing myself like that

[grimforks]

feeling a little sad and lonely today 😔

#immy yelps #i am seeing my sister 2morrow though

[grimforks]

it fucks me up so bad how closely covid symptoms mimic allergies for me legit the only differences are how stuffed up i am and the fact that i'll run a slight temp w/ covid. but every time my allergies act up i get nervous i have covid 💀

#immy yelps #i JUST got over my second time with covid and i feel yucky again but no fever so far so im prob fine #my teeth hurt sooooo bad my eyes feel itchy and swollen and they will not stop watering #i already took a 24 hr allegra too 🤧 #hell. im in hell.

[grimforks]

i love talking loud as shit about being gay in public it makes me nervous sometimes but who the hell at target is gonna fuck with me about it

#immy yelps #was talking to my sister uesterday abt some shit my mom said to me abt how *she* feels about me being a lesbian #and i have no volume control so i hope everyone else walking into target at the time enjoyed hearing the beef #i have with my mother lmao

[grimforks]

moms will inflict the most horrendous emotional wounds on their daughters and then wonder why they seem so distant as if they didnt hollow you out into a shell of the girl you could have been with their own hands

#immy yelps #sorry the mommy issues have been beating my ass #and this is a HORRID time for it good heavens #girlhood #i think the girlies in that tag will find this relatable

[grimforks]

the chronic pain is really chronicing

#immy yelps #i did a bunch of cleaning yesterday and i am paying for it 🤧 #it's a solid 6 when im usually sitting around 3 or 4. dying.

[grimforks]

spilled a full cup of coffee on my keyboard :|

#immy yelps

[grimforks]

OOOOUUUGHH got my pre op scheduled today!!! im so excited and nervous

#immy yelps