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abysskeeper · 18 days

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Mamihlapinatapei - The look between two people in which each loves the other but is too afraid. For whoever catches your fancy!

(¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ...sorry)

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“And…there,” Nox mumbled to herself as she plunged the bottom of her staff into the damp ground.

She took a step back from the last of her work and glanced around to appraise the scene she had spent crafting in the last fifteen or so minutes. Mourning Frost stood straight up like a beacon in the darkness of the lands, illuminated by the magic of her Light cantrip while cold mist bellowed off of it from its enchantments. Behind her, part of the river remained frozen from a well-placed Cone of Cold spell and glowed mystically with the floating orbs from the Dancing Lights she casted in the area. It was as good as she was going to get given her surroundings. All in all, she was satisfied, and now all she had to do was move the modified Sleet Storm over here and everything would be set to go.

Everything but her nerves, at least.

Nox sighed and dusted her hands on her robes, taking a quiet moment to gather herself before embarking back up from the riverbank and into the central courtyard of the Last Light Inn. The courtyard itself looked exactly like the winter wonderland she was attempting to create down by the river, which was no surprise. The first, magical storm she conjured was still going, thick snowflakes still gently falling from the clouds above. The light from Isobel’s shield around the inn glinted off the snow and ice on the ground, making the whole area glitter, and there was a stillness in the air that she had only ever felt in the throes of winter’s weather.

The scene was far more befitting the lands closer to the Dale than the wilting town struggling under Shar’s shadows, but then, that was the entire point. She had wanted to create one night to celebrate their small victories and set everything else aside for a few hours.

There were significantly more celebrants indulging in the magical snow when she slipped away, though. In the time it took for her to go down and back, it seemed like most everyone had dispersed to tend to the rest of their nightly duties before going to bed. Only a few remained meandering about in the courtyard, and it took her a moment before she zeroed in on her sister standing off to the side, leaning against one of the makeshift barricades as she surveyed the area.

“Hey,” Nox greeted as she beelined for the paladin. “Are we alright up here?”

Lux hummed in thought for a moment, blue eyes trailing over the courtyard before she finally nodded. “I think so. Alfira and Lakrissa shepherded the kids to bed with no complaints, so that alone is a win,” she reported.

Nox smiled, managing to tire the kids out enough that there was no backtalk was a win.

“Bex and Danis, as well as some of the Harpers, helped clean up some of the smaller things and have gone off to bed. And Rolan actually wanted to speak with you,” Lux added. She shrugged and glanced at her, answering before Nox could ask, “Don’t know about what, Cal and Lia managed to convince him to go to bed too before you got back.”

“Probably for the best,” Nox muttered. Rolan wasn’t the most contentious relationship she’d ever had with a fellow wizard; in comparison to some he was downright friendly, but after their last encounter with him drunk on both the ale and his sorrows, she wasn’t particularly looking to have another conversation with him quite so soon.

“Probably,” Lux agreed. “Otherwise, everything else is back to normal. Jaheira’s barking orders at the Harpers again to get them back to work. Those not on the nightshift are settling in for the night like everyone else.”

“Not surprising,” Nox chuckled. They hadn’t known the High Harper for long, but it didn’t take any time at all to realize the woman was a hardass. She cared, that much was obvious too, but it was hidden behind three layers of steel. “But…good.”

Content with what her sister told her, Nox nodded to herself and raised her hand. With a wave, she felt the threads of the Weave relax between her fingers. In turn, the snow stopped falling from the sky and, a moment later, what was left coating the ground started to melt away.

Her gaze slipped from the dissipating storm and her eyes fell shut. Her attention turned towards the magic resonating from Mourning Frost, still standing some hundred or so meters away where she left it stuck in the ground. Her hand flicked, the Weave answering her movement by coalescing into a misty-white orb of concentrated magic resting in her palm. “Impero tibi,” Nox whispered, and the orb flickered and burst as she casted another, gentle storm over her staff.

She inhaled through her nose and opened her eyes, turning her focus back to Lux. Her sister was staring back at her curiously and biting the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning. Nox resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “If there’s nothing else, then…?” she asked instead.

“There’s nothing else,” Lux confirmed as her smile broke containment. “Go on, go be gross with your wizard,” she said with a shooing motion.

Nox did roll her eyes at that. “I’m not going to be gross with him,” she scowled. That definitely wasn’t the point of what she was trying to do, but Lux had been misconstruing her intentions ever since she brought the idea up with her. “And he’s definitely not ‘my wizard,’” she huffed.

“Sure, sure,” Lux agreed, definitely more in an effort of appeasement than genuine agreement. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who believes that, though.” Without waiting for a reply, she pushed off the barricade and started back for the main building of the inn.

“I…”

Nox cut herself off and followed after her sister, uncertain of how to refute that. It was an argument she was growing tired of having, and she’d resigned to the fact she couldn’t sway what other people believed about her and Gale’s relationship. She also couldn’t deny the small tingle the thought sent through her chest, the kind that made her happier than she cared to admit to, and the kind she would never give Lux the satisfaction of knowing she had.

“That’s not the point,” she said finally.

“I know,” Lux shrugged, “But it’s fun to rile you up.”

Nox responded the only way she knew how and stuck her tongue out at her sister; Lux just grinned back at her and shoved her shoulder. “Besides,” Lux added after a moment, “I do hope you succeed. I’d really like for Gale to take a step back from his whole ‘blowing himself up’ plan too. We all would.”

Right.

That wasn’t quite the goal she was trying to achieve tonight either, but it was a step in the process. Ever since they had encountered Elminster and he charged Gale with Mystra’s orders to end the Absolute, Nox had been driving herself to near insanity while trying to dissuade him from that path. She outright refused to believe the only way they could succeed was by sacrificing one of their own; it was utterly cruel and such a waste of a brilliant mind and even more brilliant man and she…well, she wasn’t focusing on how upsetting it was to her. Her feelings on it didn’t matter, Gale’s did.

Unfortunately, Gale was more than willing to go along with his marching orders. Not without remorse, the way his voice wavered whenever he spoke about the possibility and the way he grew increasingly frustrated with her every time she broached the subject were more than enough proof to her that he didn’t want to die, but he was still moving forward as if it was the best plan they had. She was beginning to run out of time, and as they stepped closer and closer to the answers they sought, she was growing increasingly frantic with her measures. Regrettably, she was also running out of options, the only two left she could think of were either outright forbidding him from blowing himself up or begging him not to—both things she was fully willing to do, but she was doubtful of their efficacy.

After all, how could her words rival those of a Goddess?

But that wasn’t the point. Before she could let herself spiral any further, Nox cut that line of thought off. Tonight was not about another attempt to dissuade Gale from sacrificing himself, at least not directly. She didn’t want to even think about the Orb or Mystra or Ketheric Thorm or the worms in their brains. Tonight was a break they all desperately needed from the tragedies surrounding them, and she refused to let her mood sour. Just for tonight, she wanted to be content.

“Yeah, I hope so too,” Nox mumbled finally, following after Lux as they entered the inn proper.

She took a moment to let her eyes adjust to the change in lighting before looking around. Most of their companions had moved back into the first floor of the inn after the festivities outside had concluded. Lae’zel had her sword in her lap and looked prepared to go out to Dammon’s setup to resharpen her blade. Wyll and Astarion sat adjacent to the bar, sharing a bottle of wine and discussing something or other, while Karlach and Shadwoheart started up a passing conversation with two Harpers in between their shifts. Halsin and Jaheira were nowhere to be seen, but that was hardly a surprise—the former had barely left Thaniel’s side since they had rescued the fey child, and the latter was too busy managing her Harpers to make too many appearances.

Which just left the man she was actually looking for.

Her gaze settled on Gale sitting in a char in the back corner of the main room. Predictably, he had a book in hand and a full goblet of wine sitting on the small table next to him. Whatever he had found to read interested him greatly, and Nox stopped to simply admire the way he studied the book, his brows knit in concentration, dark brown eyes flitting across the pages as they ravenously consumed every word, and his free hand drumming an insouciant rhythm on the arm of the chair. The warm light of the candles hanging around the main room glinted off his soft brown hair—illuminating the lighter strands and a few streaks of gray—and cast shadows across his form near perfectly.

Not for the first time, she was forced to acknowledge he was a strikingly handsome man. However, for the first time, she couldn’t help but consider how gods damned unfair it was that Gale was, by all accounts, the picturesque vision almost every one of her female peers dreamed would be their future husband.

Honestly, she never really understood the appeal in her youth. Why dream of a husband when they all still had so much potential in their fingertips? It likely helped that she never had cause to fantasize either; she did not have any suitors when she was younger and never lamented over that fact, it gave her far more time to endeavor in her studies. Now though, having it all laid out in front of her, and after enduring everything she and Gale had already been through and everything they still could go through together…she was found herself much more amicable to the prospect.

“Some-body’s smit-ten!”

Immediately pulled from her thoughts, Nox jumped when her sister leaned over and sang in her ear. “I am not,” she hissed as she stepped back from Lux’s smirking face. Nox hadn’t even realized she was smiling until she felt her lips pull into a frown. “I am just…considering,” she insisted and subconsciously smoothed down her robes. “He looks…content. I don’t want to bother him if he’s settled in for the evening.”

It wasn’t a complete lie, at least.

“You, of all people, are hardly a bother to him,” Lux rolled her eyes. “Besides, we all just came in from your little snow party anyways, I doubt he’s ‘settled in’. And it’s better to interrupt him now before he’s really into whatever it is he’s reading.”

There was truth to her words, though Nox knew her twin well enough to catch what she was really saying. Lux wasn’t going to let her back out of her plan, which she had no intention of doing, never mind the way she tugged at her sleeves or felt a sharp churning in her gut at the mere thought of walking over to him and asking him to accompany her. What she intended for the evening was hardly that big of a deal, she just desperately wanted it to go well.

“Yeah…yeah, I know. You’re right,” Nox said and heaved a breath. She looked over to Lux with a shaky smile. “Wish me luck?”

“You don’t need luck, Noxy. You got this,” Lux smiled and bumped her hip. “You’ll be fine, so go,” she stressed and nudged her towards the back of the room. “I won’t wait up!” she added over her shoulder before sauntering towards Astarion and Wyll.

“Ugh,” Nox muttered under her breath, fully aware Lux didn’t hear her. Granted, she also knew Lux didn’t need to hear her to know that was her exact response; in the same way she didn’t need to hear Lux chuckling all the way to the bar for her to know that’s exactly what her sister did.

Everything else she said was correct though, Nox didn’t need luck. She was an incredibly skilled wizard with an incredibly detailed plan she had been mapping out during her downtime for the past several days. That aside, even if it weren’t the case, she was still making this attempt with the utmost sincerity, and that was all anyone could really ask for. There was nothing else she could do to ensure it went properly, aside from actually starting it and asking him to join her, which was—naturally—the most difficult part.

Blowing out one more, long breath to still her rattling nerves, she resolved herself and turned to make her way over to Gale.

As she approached, his brown eyes flickered up at her from the book, as one does when they notice movement in their periphery, before returning back to the pages in front of him. She stopped before him and watched as the realization registered in his brain of who was standing in front of him. His eyes lit up and he snapped the book shut.

“Oh, Nox! Hello,” Gale greeted cheerily. He set the book in his lap and smiled up at her. “After your celebration outside, I figured you would retire for the evening.”

“It’s tempting, believe me,” Nox answered with a nervous chuckle.

She could feel the tendrils of exhaustion starting to creep into the edges of her mind—serving more as a reminder she was still not as powerful as she once was rather than as a sign she should stop—but she was choosing to ignore them. She knew she was overexerting herself slightly, but she had already decided it was worth it. The smiles from the refugees and the Harpers were enough alone, and hopefully this would be well worth it as well.

“But…the night isn’t over for me quite yet,” she continued. Realizing that sounded a little more ominous than she intended, she wrung her hands and hastily added, “Well…for us…I guess. I was hoping to talk with you, actually. Do…do you have a moment?”

“Of course. Anything for you,” Gale agreed, and she chose not to ruminate on how easily he said it—as if the thought was second nature. He quickly leafed through the book to mark the page he was on before closing it once more and setting it on the side table next to his wine. “What can I do for you?” he asked, warm brown eyes now solely focused on her.

Gods, how had she not noticed this before? Maybe Lux was right. The only things Nox had ever witnessed him focus on as intently as her right now were his spells on the battlefield, whatever book was lucky enough to capture his complete interest, and his own research and studies. Not that he wasn’t invested in whatever he was doing at any given time, but this was…different. It was more intense, more singularly driven than he usually was, as if the rest of the world simply melted away for him. The inn could spontaneously combust right now, and she wasn’t fully convinced Gale would notice.

You wouldn’t either. Focus, Nox.

“Indulge me?” she asked in return. She pointed behind her towards the inn’s front door and added with a sheepish smile, “I…would appreciate some privacy.”

Gale’s brow rose as his gaze shifted from her towards the door behind her, and then back again. The longer he stared, the hotter she could feel the flames of embarrassment licking at the tips of her ears as she was forced to consider what she just said. She couldn’t really blame him for his silent questioning, that wasn’t the best way to ask and she knew it, but he had been through this with her enough by now to know that any potential innuendo or suggestion she just made wasn’t her intent.

“Very well,” he agreed and rose to his feet before she could clarify. “I must admit, I am intrigued about what you have in mind.”

“Probably not what I just implied,” Nox grumbled. She turned and started for the entrance of the inn, in part to lead the way down to the riverbank, and in part so he couldn’t watch her attempt to contain her blush. She sighed, mumbling, “But by now I am used to making an arse of myself in front of you.”

Gale laughed behind her. “You’re hardly an arse, Nox. I know that is not what you meant,” he reassured. “And my curiosity is genuine. You always come to me with the most fascinating problems or topics of conversation, time spent with you is always quite stimulating, and thus is always time well-spent…in my opinion.”

Instead of containing her blush, she could feel her ears growing hotter with every word he spoke. “Well, if nothing else I can assure you I’m not coming to you with a problem,” Nox answered after a moment. She brushed some hair from her face towards her ears, hoping maybe it would conceal some of the evidence of her embarrassment. “I simply have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” he echoed as he followed after her out the door. “Well, that is…” As he strode up beside her, he grimaced and sighed before inevitably accepting his words were failing him. “…Unexpected.”

Despite herself, Nox couldn’t help but to laugh, and the bundle of nerves sitting in her stomach started unraveling. He had that effect on her, even his blunders were unwittingly charming. “I should certainly hope so, given the nature of surprises,” she teased and threw a grin up at him.

“You know, I am regularly accused of grand verbosity, as most wizards are. I’ve probably had the complaint lobbed at me more than some of the greatest scholars of the realms, and I still somehow so often flounder it with you, Moon Mage,” Gale huffed lightly. “I swear I was cursed not long after making your acquaintance.”

“It’s oft said simplicity is the key to success,” she pointed out, unable to wipe the playful smile off her face. “It is hardly my fault that you do not heed such advice.”

“I suppose there is some merit to advice like that when it is so commonly proffered, and now offered again from someone as intelligent as you,” he sighed with an overexaggerated roll of his eyes. “Fine, then I’ll ask plainly: where are you taking me? What is this surprise?”

Nox tutted and shook her head. “That’s hardly the nature of surprises either,” she answered, but motioned for him to follow her through the courtyard. “You’ll find out soon enough. Come, we’re not going far.”

If Gale had any further, burning curiosities, he did not voice them. He followed after her through the courtyard of the inn and down the slope to the riverbank without another word. She only had to urge him on once, gently tugging on his forearm when he paused to assess the fact the temperature was noticeably dropping as they moved closer to the river. She finally allowed him to stop completely when the results of her magic came into view.

“Nox…?” he asked softly. His footsteps came to a halt with a crunch on the edges of the snow and ice on the ground.

She glanced towards the new, snowy winter wonderland she had created and took in the scene again. Perhaps it wasn’t as subtle as she would have liked, but it was far too late to change anything else now. It was obviously different to the snowy evening she gave the tieflings and Harpers, being a smaller area and more dimly lit. Looking at it again, it was clearly much more intimate, and with that realization she could feel panic seize her throat. It wasn’t that she minded if it was read like that—she should mind, but she didn’t—but if Gale considered it that way and it was not what he wanted, then she would suddenly have a lot of backtracking and explaining to do before she could even attempt to get him to enjoy it, which she certainly hadn’t planned for and had no idea where to even begin—

As quickly as it came, the panic subsided the moment she turned back to address him. Gale was staring up at the gentle snowfall with thinly veiled awe, the light of his smile reaching his eyes as he held out his hand to catch a few flakes on his palm. Nox felt every muscle ease at the sight, and her heart melted more as she watched him hold out his other hand to catch even more of the snow. He had a similar reaction in the courtyard earlier when he first saw the conjured snowfall with the others, but it was interrupted by everyone else also marveling and having fun. Now they were alone—uninterrupted—and the sight of his unabashed joy made all of this preparation worth it on its own.

When he turned his gaze back on her, he somehow only brightened more. “What is all this?”

“Oh, you know…” She shrugged one shoulder sheepishly and swept her eyes over the snow again. “I wanted a party for two is all, just for a little while,” she answered after a moment. “I know it’s nothing compared to Waterdhavian winters,” she added quietly, “But as I said earlier, I figured any small bit of wonder in this land of bleakness was a worthy endeavor.”

“This is no small bit of wonder, Nox,” Gale said with a small shake of his head. He brushed his hands together before resting one gently on her shoulder. “This is magnificent. Truly magical in every sense of the word.”

Something fluttered in her chest at the praise. “I’m glad you think so,” Nox said, relief and sincerity washing through her. She held his gaze with a smile, indulging the warmth blooming in her chest for a few moments, before the realization rang out in her mind that she could simply stay like this forever, but the moment was stretching for too long.

“However…” She cleared her throat and took a reluctant step away from him. “In addition to being pretty, it is also serving a purpose. Follow me.”

She walked over to the bag she left sitting by one of the rocks and knelt down to dust off the coating of snow resting on top. “You’re going to need these,” she declared, pulling a pair of boots out of the bag. She gave them a once over before holding them out for him to take.

Gale also gave them a look over, very obviously feeling the Weave emanating from them. “And these are…?” he asked, taking them from her and turning them over in his hands.

“I’m calling them the Ice Stompers.” That alone should tell him what they were, but she decided to add some context. “Do you remember how I was using the excuse of needing to train my transmuting skills in order to give you more items to consume for the Orb?” she asked and closed the bag.

“Oh, so you are admitting the Orb was the primary reason now?” he asked lightly.

Nox shrugged again and stood back up, brushing snow off of the lower parts of her robes. “I figured you were never fooled, and it is in the distant past…you can’t scold me or try to dissuade me from making the effort now,” she answered. “Also, beside the point. That endeavor did also better my transmutation skills. We…’lost’ the last pair of boots we had that worked well against difficult terrain—” ‘Lost’ was the kinder way of putting it to him, but his lips still pulled into a frown. “—So, I made a new pair. Specifically for ice, in this case.”

“Alright…” Gale said slowly, clearly trying to piece together why that was the case. Despite his confusion, he still did as she asked, dropping one of the boots to the ground and toeing out of his own before stepping into it.

“Do they fit?” Nox asked, head tilting as she examined the boot he now wore. She had gone through a lot of trouble to ensure the size of his boots without letting him onto anything, and she had a hunch the ‘unspecified favor’ she now owed Astarion was going to cost her. If the intel was correct though, then she would happily pay any price.

“They do,” he nodded before repeating the process with the other boot. “Though, I am still unclear as to why I need them.”

“Well…”

It was easier to show him. Without answering, she stepped around him and walked to the part of the river she froze. Tentatively, she placed a foot on the ice and tested its sturdiness before putting her full weight into the step. Certain it was frozen enough by now to not give away, she confidently strode fully onto the ice and slid a bit before turning around and grinning at him, hand outstretched.

Gale stared at her incredulously for several seconds, before eyeing the ice skeptically and then looking back up at her with the same, unconvinced gaze. “You are aware my knees are liable to give way at any moment, correct? Especially in a cold snap such as this?”

It was about the reaction she expected from him. “You do not get to play the old age card to an elf, Gale,” Nox teased.

“I rather think I do, given the biological differences in our aging processes.”

Despite his obvious reticence, Gale still walked over to her, though kept his feet firmly rooted to the snowy grass. “Nox, I know of your confidence on the ice, given your predilection towards the element, so surely by now you must know of my lack thereof? I am hardly as graceful as you,” he said and shot her a small, wry smile. “Might I inquire as to why you thought of this for your ‘party of two’?”

That was also about what she expected in terms of a reaction. She figured he would be reluctant—and she couldn’t entirely blame him—but she had hoped maybe he would humor her, just this once. Nox sighed, attempting not to let too much disappointment shine on her face, but before she could drop her hand, his palm slid against hers. She looked down at their hands and then up to his face, brow raised in question. Gale hadn’t moved from the grass, but one side of his mouth tipped upwards, and he shrugged.

Alright, if he wasn’t fully against the idea, then she could at least work with that. “Do you want the real answer?” she asked. “Or do you want the logical answer I knew I needed to come up with for when you looked at me like I had finally lost my mind at the mere suggestion?”

“Oh, I didn’t expect to have a choice,” Gale chuckled. After thinking it over for a second, he decided, “Let’s start with the logical answer.”

“That’s simple,” she said and held up her finger. “One, we are going to be squaring off against an allegedly immortal man who is more than likely the reason—or part of the reason—we have illithid tadpoles in our heads. Two—” She held up another finger. “—I am, among other things, a wizard predisposed towards ice magic. I am, however, not as well-trained of an evoker as you, and my spells are not always meticulously sculpted.”

She held up a third finger, and with her other hand, tugged on his to pull herself closer to him. “And three, as you’ve already implied, you, dear Wizard of Waterdeep,” she addressed him with a poke to his chest, “Are not the most graceful when it comes to keeping your balance…to put it delicately. You could use some practice before we face our foe, lest you instead wind up falling on your face from a spell I needed to cast.”

“Hm…”

He was mulling over her answer with serious consideration, but as his brown eyes narrowed in thought, she could see a familiar, playful spark igniting under the veneer of genuine deliberation. “I take some offense to that, but as they are my own words and your logic is sound, I suppose I cannot refute it,” he relented.

Given how their debates had gone in the past, that was almost too easy. Still, Nox smirked, rather pleased it hadn’t taken that much to convince him. Yet, her victory was cut short when she stepped back to pull him onto the ice, and instead he pulled her right back to stand in front of him.

“Except,” he countered, his own smile slipping through, “It does beg the question that if you are so concerned over this, why are you not training your spell sculpting in order to be more accommodating?”

Her smirk fell into a pout, and she huffed. “Of these two complications, one is much easier to remedy in the short term,” she pointed out. “I chose the quicker option for our current timeline. Unless you would rather explain to everyone else why we are stalling through the several nights it would take for me to be able to utilize spell sculpting as naturally as I do arcane warding?”

“I would gladly assist you with that, you know,” Gale offered. “You are a quick study on what few skills you do not already possess. It would hardly take any time at all.”

“And you are insufferable,” Nox muttered under her breath, though it carried no bite whatsoever. Something he acknowledged if the way his lips twitched upward was any indication. He enjoyed teasing her far too much. “Alright, how about this, then?” she asked and smiled sweetly up at him. “Step on the ice now, and I swear we will start tomorrow evening.”

Gale laughed, but finally conceded to her request. Hesitantly, he placed one foot on the ice, followed closely by the other. His grip tightened around her hand as she stepped back and he slid in front of her. Nox offered her other hand, which he took readily, before she took another step and pulled him along with her. His legs shook some with the effort to stay steady, but the magic she embedded in the boots held to its purpose of keeping him upright.

“See?” Nox giggled, delighted as they started moving—albeit slowly—around the frozen portion of the river. Her eyes trailed from watching his feet up to meet Gale’s gaze, which rested pleasantly on her. “It’s not so bad, right?”

“No, it isn’t,” he agreed quietly. “Few things are with you.”

He held her stare and she felt as though she were just caught under a Charm spell of his, incapable of glancing away from his purposeful gaze while the sweet words he offered repeated in her mind. Had her presence truly eased him that much? Before she could offer a response, or even process what to make of what he said, one of his legs wobbled again and he leaned forward, his hands pressing harder against hers to steady himself once more.

“Right…well…” Gale coughed to clear his throat. “Now that I have conceded to your wishes, may I ask what the real answer is?”

“Of course,” she agreed, though her voice was distant.

She said nothing for a few moments, instead letting them gain a bit more momentum as she took the steps to mentally shake herself from her temporary stupor. Once her shock from the moment had passed—and she quickly quelled her disappointment over the fact he was no longer gazing at her—she settled on taking her own advice regarding simplicity from earlier. She let go of one of his hands and swung around, gliding beside him.

“Gale…when was the last time you simply had fun with magic?”

“What?” Gale sputtered, nearly tripping over himself with how quickly he turned to look back at her. She put an arm around his waist to steady him, then met his gaze once he settled from his flailing. “I enjoy magic and indulging the Weave every day,” he said quickly. “I thought you would understand that better than anyone.”

“I do, obviously,” she reassured him. “I enjoy orchestrating the Weave as much as the next mage whenever it is necessary, but that isn’t what I meant.”

She let go of his waist after she was assured he was steady again, then took a few steps ahead to actually skate across the ice rather than simply sliding. When she turned around to face him, she pointed at his feet to encourage him to follow suit.

“What I meant is exactly what I asked: when was the last time you used magic for fun?” she clarified. “Not for battling purposes, not for healing or taking care of others, and not for maintaining or proving your place in society. When did you last use magic exclusively for entertainment?”

“Ah…well…”

In place of giving an answer, he mimicked her motions and took a step on the ice. When he didn’t immediately slip, he looked down at his own feet in amazement, and then took another step. He smiled up at her, pride written across his face from managing to skate without falling, only for it to slowly falter and sober as he reconsidered her question.

“I…should suppose it has been a while, under those conditions,” he admitted. “Not since I was with Mystra, I think…though I did not believe you wished to hear more about that, and honestly I would much prefer not speaking on it further now, all things considered.”

Nox sighed. He was correct in his assumptions that she did not want to hear more about his relationship with Mystra—just mention of the Goddess made her almost recoil—but he still wasn’t understanding what she was asking. “That is fair, and also not what I meant. I meant fun, Gale,” she stressed the word to impart its meaning. “Something just for you, something exclusively for your enjoyment, without trying to impress or entertain anyone else.”

Neither of them had explicitly said it, but it was obvious to her at least that during his entire relationship with the Goddess of Magic, Gale was not doing anything without the express intent of impressing her. It was understandable, with him being a mortal and her being a goddess, but the concept was…well it was why it enraged her so. It was upsetting, and the damage was clearly done. That was definitely not what she meant, that ultimately wasn’t fun.

He fell quiet again as he reconsidered her extra clarification, half-skating and half-sliding after her. She watched as his face continued to fall deeper into a frown, and she wondered if he could hear her heart cracking in response in the silence between them.

“It…has been quite a while, then.”

“As I suspected,” Nox muttered. She skated back to his side and reached out, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze before looking up at him with a small, weary smile. “If it is any consolation, it’s the same for me as well.”

“I wouldn’t call that consolatory,” he said after a moment. He grasped her hand and looked down at her with a similar, exhausted smile. “But I suppose I am glad—and relatively unsurprised—to hear I am not alone.”

They both fell silent for several minutes, skating side by side and letting the shared sentiment rest between them as they lapped the frozen part of the river a few times. Nox watched him carefully as they went, thoughts straying further from the somewhat depressing, shared reality between them. Instead, her mind turned towards the man beside her now. Gale still stumbled here and there but was beginning to get his legs under him even compared to when he first stepped onto the ice. She probably wouldn’t need to watch over him like this for much longer, and that was a shame.

Winter…suited him, she decided. Snowflakes dotted his hair and there was a light, white dusting covering his shoulders, contrasting beautifully against his lightly tanned skin and the dark violet fabric of his robes. The lights of her cantrips shone and reflected in his eyes and in the cold air around him, giving him an even greater mystical—ethereal, even—appearance. The concentration etched into his face as he focused on his balance was equal parts admirable and adorable, though it did nothing to hide the quiet joy radiating from the small, perhaps subconscious, upwards curve of his lips or the wonder as he glanced up at the gentle snowfall.

This was triumph. She was positively giddy this had worked out exactly as she wished, and it took much of her self-control to not spontaneously burst out into giggles from what felt like a thousand butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She kept it contained, mostly because she found her attention drawn in by having the chance to study him in a moment of solitude. For the second time in one night, Nox was struck yet again by the fact that he was, by all accounts, an incredibly handsome man. A fact that was accompanied by the words her sister had spoken to her earlier in the evening.

Smitten. Was that…was that truly what this was?

“Is something wrong?”

Gale’s voice pulled her from her ruminations, and she blinked up at him to find him looking back down at her, bemused.

Right, she was staring.

“No, no. No, nothing’s wrong,” she said quickly. “It’s just…uh…you’re—” Incredibly attractive and it is surprisingly distracting. “—You’re getting better,” she shrugged weakly.

“Oh! I am glad you believe so! I did not want to say anything and risk making a fool of myself if you disagreed, but I was thinking the same,” he chuckled. “The Ice Stompers are a significant help, naturally. If you told me to do this without them, I’m sure I’d still be as stumbling as a baby fawn learning to walk, but I believe I am starting to get a feel for the movements,” he smiled and squeezed her hand again. “And I will admit it is rather enjoyable to be able to accompany you.”

She grinned upon hearing that, beyond thrilled to hear him confirm her initial purpose was a success. “Excellent!” she beamed. Immediately, she registered her enthusiasm as being a little too much and she glanced away. “That’s…that is all I was looking for,” she added, schooling her voice into a calmer tone. “I am incredibly glad to hear it.”

Gale chuckled again and pulled her closer to his side, the action urging her to look back at him. He smiled down at her with warm, contemplative eyes languidly taking her in, and she was yet again mesmerized by how he appeared under the dim lights and gently falling snow. Now, she was also pulled in by how he looked at her: patient, understanding, and with a warmth she could never identify beyond how it made her stomach flip.

“It has been a while for you as well, hasn’t it?” Gale mused after a few moments of thoughtful silence.

“It…” She blinked. “…Pardon?” she fumbled, bewildered as her mind caught up with what he said.

“Apologies, I meant no insult,” he clarified quickly. “I just do not believe I have ever seen you look this…light before.” He immediately frowned and shook his head. “By which I mean, you are usually much more focused and intense with…well, just about everything you do. It is admirable and amazing to witness, mind you! But…”

His eyes softened when he dared to meet her befuddled gaze again. “I have never seen you truly smile like this before, and it is an honor to catch more than a mere glimpse of it. Your smile is a breathtaking sight—you are a breathtaking sight!—but it does put much into perspective.”

“…Oh,” Nox muttered, unable to piece together much else. Her head swam with his words, both the compliment—he liked her smile—and at the underlying implication of what he said. That he knew her enough by now to visibly see she was speaking the truth earlier.

His free hand swung out, motioning towards their surroundings and recentering her on the present moment instead of her runaway thoughts. “You said yourself that it has been a while since you have simply had fun with magic, as well,” Gale repeated softly.

“It is rather obvious when you know, isn’t it?” she asked with an awkward laugh. After a moment, a long sigh escaped her—as much of an acknowledgment of his question as it was to calm her own nerves—and she nodded. “It has been a while; I assure you I was not lying just to sympathize.”

“Then, may I pose your question back to you?” he asked tentatively.

“I…suppose that is only fair,” Nox agreed. It was probably in her best interest to have a change in subject and a topic to focus her thoughts on anyways. “Even though you technically have not yet answered. ‘A while’ is not a satisfactory answer,” she pointed out lightly.

Despite her momentary distraction throwing her completely off-kilter, she had prepared an answer for this question. She had expected he would inquire about her as well simply because, at worst, Gale was never afraid to pose her prying questions back to her, which she respected him all the more for. And at best…he cared for her the same way she cared for him. Either way, she had already figured she would need to answer this question for herself tonight as well.

“Honestly? The night we shared the Weave together was the most fun I have had with magic in a long, long while,” Nox said.

Gale snorted in response and quirked a brow. “I do not believe that night fits the criteria you placed on me. As I recall it, you were trying to upstage me for most of the evening,” he pointed out.

“Indeed I was! And that was the most fun I’ve had in ages!” When he frowned at her, she shook her head and nudged him lightly, enough to tease but not enough to send him sprawling on the ice. “I’m kidding…because you are correct,” she said, sobering. “I did spend most of that night trying to one up and impress you, mostly because I believed I still had something to prove to you. You were the first of our peers in over fifty years who, once you knew who I was, decided I didn’t have something to prove, after all.”

“And I still believe most of our peers are fools for that alone,” Gale interjected.

She flashed him an appreciative smile before continuing, “And yet…despite that, that night was also the first spark in reminding me how much I enjoyed magic on its own.” She glanced down at their still joined hands, her smile slipping with her thoughts. “It was a wake-up call for me to realize how long it had truly been since I last genuinely enjoyed magic for magic. It was also a blatant reminder for how much I used to enjoy sharing it with others, and a blatant contrast for how…”

Nox sighed, her eyes drifting towards the small expanse of snow and ice before them. “Well…for how isolating it has been since my mother passed, if I’m to be honest,” she admitted, her voice nearly cracking. It was a truth she had known for years, one she let lie dormant in the back of her mind, but not one she had ever voiced aloud before. It was high time to acknowledge it, she could acknowledge it now, because of him.

Gale’s hand squeezed around hers, but she didn’t dare look up. She had no desire to cry tonight, and she knew she could get through this small explanation without doing so, so long as she did not look up. If she saw the sympathy shining in his eyes—something she knew would be there no matter what—she wasn’t positive she would be able to hold back.

“I still have people, I know. Lux has quite literally been by my side since we were born, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for the Elturian refugees, I’ve made pleasant acquaintances all along the Sword Coast during my travels, and even now we have our little party of misfits whom I’ve grown to love. I’m not alone…but it’s not the same,” she sighed again. “Magic is the biggest part of my life, and it’s not the same when you can’t share something so instrumental to yourself with others. Or you can share it, but you know they can’t understand it in the way you need them to. I at least had Kalden for a time, but then I lost him in Avernus and…”

She gave one, sharp shake of her head and pulled back the tears pricking her eyes before they started flowing. In the back of her mind, she acknowledged this was probably the most she had spoken about herself since they had met, and the most she had spoken about all she had been through ever. It was not a topic she intended to discuss in full tonight, and not one she wanted to dwell on any longer than necessary, but one she knew she needed to explain—at least in part—in order to impart the sincerity of what she was about to admit. Vulnerability was, unfortunately, the only way she could think of to do as she needed.

Instead of continuing, she took a large breath and squared her shoulders before turning to look back up at Gale. He was watching her silently—a rarity for him—with the sympathy she knew would be there blazing in his eyes and a firm grip on her hand in reassurance.

“My point,” Nox said, forcing the shakiness from her voice. “My point is that you threw me a lifeline that night, Gale. One I didn’t even know I needed until I found myself clinging to it days later.”

“Nox.”

Gale’s hand tightened around hers as he slowed to a stop. He pulled her to stand in front of him once more and let go of her hand to gently reach out and grip both of her arms. “I had no idea that night meant that much to you,” he whispered. His eyes widened a bit with his words, and he was quick to add, “Make no mistake, I enjoyed it immensely and it has quickly become one of my fondest memories, but I never realized you regarded it as highly as you did.”

She gave him a small smile to assuage his concerns. She knew he was being genuine and not simply stating that to appease her, just as she knew that night likely did mean a great deal to him as well.

“No words could properly convey just how immeasurably flattered I am to hear that you do regard that night as you say,” he continued. His thumbs brushed over her shoulders, tracing circles into the bit of snow clinging to her robes. “And I am beyond grateful to know I was able to offer you such safety, however accidentally it was at the time.”

“How accidental it was is the beauty of it, I think,” Nox softly said. It was true they both had ulterior motives that night, but the connection they forged despite that was undeniably ironclad and had genuinely become that lifeline for her. There was something deeply poetic to it that she acknowledged but couldn’t articulate. “And it is also what ultimately led us here. It was what ultimately made me reflect, on myself of course, but also on you.”

“On me?”

She nodded and brought a hand up to lightly rest over one of his, delicately tracing down the backs of his fingers with her own. “The more you spoke of your own experiences—how few, if any, friends you had, how you were isolated away from the world you should have been a part of, the entirety of Mystra and the Orb—the more it felt…familiar. Not exactly the same, but enough. And the more it felt familiar, the more I wished to offer the same to you as you did for me.”

“Oh…” Gale breathed out. “I…” He stumbled over his words, a breathy laugh pushing past his lips instead. “I find myself rather lacking in the proper words at the moment. A year’s worth of isolation and no one, aside from Tara, ever so much as thought to do the same for me as you are now…”

“I know,” she whispered while gently threading her fingers through his. “You don’t have to say anything. Gods above, I rarely have the proper words for a moment and am often rendered silent, it is nice to have the tables turned for once,” she joked.

The corners of his eyes crinkled when he grinned at her, and she saw the twinkle of a few tears glimmering in the soft light of her magic. He said nothing further though, simply squeezed her fingers with his in silent appreciation.

“But truly, we all need a break,” Nox continued. She tilted her head to lay her cheek on their joined hands resting on her shoulder. “It has just been rather obvious that you had a higher need than the rest of us, all things considered. So, I wished to offer what I could, recognizing that I was uniquely capable amongst our friends in that regard. A wizard would know best what a wizard needs, after all.”

“It would certainly appear so,” he agreed quietly with a subtle nod.

His eyes trailed from hers down to where their hands rested under her cheek, and she moved her head back when she felt his hand shift against her shoulder. She watched, curious, as he clutched her hand and drew it towards his face. She only had a moment of recognition before his thumb traced down her palm and he leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between her hand and his lips.

“Oh.” The startled gasp escaped her without warning when he placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. Her wide eyes looked up from their hands to find a set of warm, brown eyes staring back at her, positively entranced. “Okay…”

“Your sentiment is well-received, Nox,” Gale mumbled, lips ghosting over her skin as his warm breath flitted down the back of her hand and wrist. “And I cherish it well beyond what I am able to properly voice.”

“I am more than satisfied with knowing you are enjoying yourself, though I assure you it’s—” Her lips parted with another sharp intake of breath when he moved up, pressing a kiss to the base of her middle finger. Nox bit down on her bottom lip, barely catching an overwhelmingly exuberant giggle before it bubbled out. A smile still tugged at the corners of her mouth. “—It was truly no trouble at all, hardly worthy of such gratitude.”

“That you genuinely believe it to be no trouble means it is only all the more worthy,” he refuted softly, before kissing her finger one more time and meeting her gaze again. She saw the hints of his smirk hiding behind their hands before he added, “Even if I cannot quite fathom why you believed it was a good idea to bring an old wizard with bad knees into such a cold snap.”

She was lightheaded, her heart ready to burst with the happiness from knowing she was successful and all the praises he was offering her. She couldn’t prevent herself from laughing this time at the absurdity of his teasing in comparison to everything else. “Oh, come off it! You’re hardly old, and you’ve been perfectly fine since we started,” Nox scoffed. With her hand still in his, she pulled him back into moving again as she resumed skating. “You’re truly not going to let this go, are you?”

“It is simply an interesting choice, is all I am implying,” Gale chuckled. He allowed her to guide him back on the ice, though. “And a far cry different than sharing the Weave.”

“Naturally. I had to figure out something different to sharing the Weave, you already laid claim to that,” she responded as if it were obvious. “So, I got to brainstorming and…admittedly, probably lost myself to the nostalgia of everything else.”

His fingers threaded through hers as they fell into a comfortable speed gliding around the ice once more. He appeared confident enough by now that he likely didn’t her as a safety net anymore, but she was in no spot to complain that he was still holding her hand.

“The truth is…I did this often as a child,” Nox admitted. She glanced up at him for a brief moment, and then turned her attention to the falling snow. “I was…not the most social of individuals in my youth—” That was the kinder way to put it. “—I was…different. There are not many elves in Elturel, and not many children were quite as taken with their studies as I was. So when Lux wasn’t around, I often found myself alone with nothing to do, and taken with my studies as I was, practicing what I could of my magic helped ease the boredom and loneliness.”

She smiled as her face turned upward, a few flakes landing on her nose and cheeks. After a moment, she tugged him forward, pulling him towards the center of her magical winter. “It also helped for me to create my isolation in the form of something beautiful. You have enjoyed many a Waterdhavian winters, have you not?” she asked, slowing to stand in the middle of the icy patch on the river.

“Several during my time, yes,” Gale answered.

“Then you understand what it is like to stand in a snowstorm in the middle of the night?” she asked softly, violet eyes searching his face in earnest. When he opened his mouth to answer, she held up a finger and lightly shook her head. “You know the stillness of it? To be surrounded by nothing but the darkness of the night and the white of the snow? To hear nothing but the quiet snowfall mixed with the sounds of your own breath?”

He didn’t try to speak again, and her hand slowly returned to her side. Instead, his gaze focused on hers as their breaths fell in sync. In place of their words, the slight patter of snowflakes against the ice could be heard interspersed between every quiet inhale and exhale they took. There was nothing else, no sound coming from the Last Light Inn or the ravaged, cursed lands around Moonrise Towers. No screams, no laughs, no fighting or struggling for survival.

For one, blissful moment, it was just her and Gale and the quiet snowfall.

It was the stillness she spoke of, the one she knew resided in her heart and the one she had conjured for herself a hundred times. The one she never realized until now—until her chest tightened the longer she gazed up at him in this moment—she had been aching to share with another who would understand.

And Gale did understand, given how his hand tightened around hers and given just how easily his face smoothed into a wonderful tenderness the longer he smiled down at her. Hesitantly, his other hand reached out and gently grabbed at her waist, drawing her just the slightest bit closer. When she didn’t resist—when she couldn’t resist with how erratically her heart beat at the gesture—he settled his hand on her hip and gave the slightest bit of a nod.

“Can you feel it now? How it is to be a single, solitary creature witnessing something marvelous?” she breathed out, her words catching a few times. “To witness something mystical and so tremendously beautiful you only have the opportunity to experience it in the utmost privacy away from the world around you?”

His eyes dipped, slowly trailing down her form and back up again in admiration and—if she dared believe it—longing. “I have always found winter beautiful, but never quite to this degree,” Gale said, barely above a whisper. “Though with you—” He looked over her again as he cleared his throat, presumably to remove the roughness from his voice. “—With how you speak of it, I certainly understand the appeal.”

She spared a sidelong glance towards the snow, her smile light as her face warmed. “It is likely the predisposition towards ice magic that makes me speak of winter as if I’m insane,” Nox joked, feeling an indescribable need to lessen her words for a reason she couldn’t quite place. Embarrassment hung off of her shoulders, but it was not the type she was used to feeling in the face of her own earnestness. It was softer now, and she didn’t quite mind its presence as much.

“I enjoyed it immensely when I was younger, if that isn’t obvious,” she chuckled. “I still immensely enjoy being able to conjure my own personal winter to dance and play in as I see fit. But it’s been well over fifty years since I have last indulged myself, and even then…the last time I did, it wasn’t for myself.”

The last time she had done this had been for Kalden, for his first date with his future wife. It was a fact she briefly acknowledged when the idea first struck her and then one she did not consider again. She was rather keen on avoiding it altogether, having no desire to unpack the implications of that fact, or even let on that any implications existed at all.

“So, with some reflection accidentally brought on by you, I decided it was time to try again,” Nox said instead. “And I thought that this time, perhaps I could share a little piece of my own, personal serenity. I figured, perhaps, you needed it more than I did.”

Gale didn’t respond immediately, choosing instead to study her silently with a warm, near-hypnotic gaze. She was enraptured again, unable to glance away from his penetrating, brown eyes as he stared into her own, and unable to speak on anything more. He searched her eyes as if he was looking for an answer to a question he hadn’t voiced, and she was uncertain as to what that could possibly be. When he evidently found whatever it was he sought from her gaze, he finally ducked his head and chuckled in embarrassment.

“I…suppose I should rescind my prior complaints,” he muttered. His head was still bowed, but he glanced over at her from his position and gave her an apologetic smile. “That is monumentally thoughtful, and as only you are wont to do, you have endeared me entirely to the concept.”

She blinked, caught off guard that he was even concerned about that. “You were only joking, I know,” she reassured and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I took no offense, I swear.”

His eyes slid to look at her hand, then back to her face. “Still, this is sincerely one of the most heartfelt things anyone has ever given me,” he said and straightened. “If I had understood how much it meant to you…”

“It’s fine, Gale,” Nox cut him off with a small laugh. “You didn’t have the context because I never gave it to you, and I understand how it could have been easily misconstrued.” She sighed quietly and squeezed his shoulder. “You know, I only ever intended this to be for you.”

It was Gale’s turn to be caught off guard, if how he stared down at her was any indicator. “How do you mean, exactly?”

“The stuff earlier with the refugees and the Harpers?” she asked rhetorically and then shook her head. “That wasn’t in my plan. This was only ever meant for you, but after rescuing the prisoners and reuniting everyone, the atmosphere still felt quite dour.” Understandably so, they had rescued everyone from Moonrise Towers, but that didn’t eliminate the ordeal and all the prisoners had already been through. “I felt obligated to do…well, something, and I already had most of the logistics of it worked out. It wasn’t…this…”

Nox sighed, motioning around them at the snow and lights. “It wasn’t the quiet and the solitude, it wasn’t me trying to impart the peace the snow grants me, but it was a few hours of playful mischief with some winter weather,” she shrugged, “I understand how you could have believed I was asking for the same with you.”

“You care for the refugees a great deal,” Gale said, something like realization lighting up behind his eyes.

“I…do,” she agreed with just a touch of hesitation. “I’ve never made that a secret.”

“Then…I would not be presumptuous to say you also care for me a great deal,” he added quietly. It wasn’t quite a question—if anything it was the second half to a logic puzzle—but his desire for an answer was evident.

“I…suppose,” she agreed tentatively.

She immediately regretted the words the moment they left her lips. That answer was far too hesitant, far too uncertain for a truth she had readily accepted for well over a month now. He deserved to know that truth if he was questioning it. She deserved to say it wholly.

“Yes, I do,” Nox corrected after a moment, sounding much more determined in her answer. “And if you have to question that, I suppose I’ve made that more of a secret than I’ve intended.”

“Or perhaps I was simply refusing to believe what was in front of me,” Gale mumbled, his mind obviously distantly in his thoughts. As if shaking himself, his eyes refocused on her with a sudden clarity, a renewed brightness, and a subtle hint of absolute terror. Her heart flopped over in her chest.

“I understand now, Nox,” he said softly.

After flopping over, her heart leapt into her throat as her wavering gaze snapped up to meet his, startled by his words. “Understand…what, exactly?” she forced out. What was there to understand?

“I understand…” His eyes searched hers again while he trailed off. She probably would have accosted anyone other than Gale, but with him, all she could do was stare back, mystified.

After a moment, he released a breath and shook his head. “I…understand why they call you Archmage,” he answered with a weak smile.

Disappointment dropped low in her gut, though she couldn’t quite place why. His admittance was not what she expected—she wasn’t sure what she expected—though it was enough to calm her racing heart. She swallowed back the lingering lump in her throat before daring to speak. “That’s a people’s title, Gale, nothing more,” she smiled wanly.

“It means the world to them. It matters to them,” he disagreed. His hand pressed into her hip a bit as his eager eyes sought out hers. “Just as it matters to me. It’s admirable, and worth much more than simply being gifted it.”

The sentiment was kind, but she still blew out a breath and shook her head. “Most mages would disagree with you.”

“And as we’ve already established, most of our peers are fools,” he said resolutely. “Most of our peers are quick to write off everyone they meet based on a first glance and snap judgment. The people who know you, who have spent time with you, those who have been under your protection and those who have fought by your side…they are the ones whose opinions matter, because they are the ones whose opinions are true. And the refugees?” he asked rhetorically. “They are the people who know you. They are the ones who like you, who trust you…you make them feel safe, Nox.”

“’Safe’?” she echoed, incredulous. He had a point, and though she was taken aback at how eager he was to get it across, she could admit it was there. She had not given much thought towards what most of their peers considered of her in a long while. But…safety was not where she expected him to end that proclamation.

“’Safe’ is not the word I would expect to be associated with,” Nox chuckled with no small amount of self-deprecation coloring her voice. “Irritating? Sure. Confusing? Certainly. But safe? The blunt, wandering hermit more interested in whatever book her nose found itself stuck in rather than those around her? I doubt most people come away from an interaction with me feeling safe.”

“I mean it,” he insisted. Her gaze started pulling away, uncertainty flooding her veins, but he hooked a finger under her chin and forced her attention back to him. She refused to dwell on the small, surprised breath she sucked in at his action.

“Verbosity aside, I am not one to speak words I do not believe in,” Gale said. “We are all rough around the edges. I have heard my ego likened to that of a strutting peacock, for instance. Perhaps you are brusque and blunt or uncertain and awkward, but you breed a sense of safety wherever you reside, and people can feel your sincerity. After all, who else would manage to free every individual trapped in a cult’s high security prison, and then throw them a small party in celebration to ease their nerves?”

It was hardly fair to expect her to be unaffected by his words or the closeness they now shared. The snow started falling harder above them, and her eyes turned upwards to watch the path of a few flakes as they descended from the sky and landed in the soft brown locks of his hair or the velvety purple fabric covering his shoulders and arms. When she returned her attention to him, he was still gazing down at her with a blazing sincerity that made her chest constrict and stole the breath from her lungs.

Gale’s visage staring down at her now, under the light and snow of the magic she orchestrated in the Weave for him, was an image she would carry with her for the rest of her long life.

“At the very least, I know that there is no one else in my life who would witness me struggling as I have been and decide—correctly, I might add—that I needed to have some fun with magic, and that means something. It has to mean something, it is worth so…so very much,” he whispered.

Her eyes fell shut and she bit the edge of her bottom lip. It did mean something.

“I have understood for a while now how you earned your title,” he continued, and she opened her eyes back up to watch him. “You are well-versed in the Art and undeniably talented, but over time I have realized it is so much more. Beyond power and intelligence—both you have in abundance, mind—being an Archmage is about capability and safety, strength and kindness…”

He sighed and shook his head, almost in disbelief at her. “You have earned the title twice over by those standards since I have met you alone, just as you have earned the admiration and love and camaraderie of the people around you. You…you are the promise of a better tomorrow, Nox’ani,” he said quietly, “You are the brightness of a better future, and I am a better man simply by knowing you.”

“Gale…”

She faltered in the face of such praise. What was there that she could possibly say to that? Under normal circumstances, she would mutter her gratitude, an apology, and then walk away, but this was not normal circumstance. This was Gale, and such an admittance coming from him required eloquence in response, something she lacked on a good day, let alone when he stunned her into silence.

“Gale, I…”

Nox struggled again, trailing off with a sigh. After taking a moment to regain some grip on her composure, she blew out a long breath and nodded. The only appropriate way to respond was as she had done before, with vulnerability. The best option was by speaking what she felt in her heart. “If that is all the requirements for the title, then perhaps that is why I am so willing to grant it to you, as well.”

Surprise sparked to life in his dark eyes, only to be snuffed out by a profound sadness. “I am afraid I lost all rights to that title over a year ago. Not…entirely unjustly, at that.”

“We all make mistakes—a part of a wizard’s charm, really,” she joked with a tight smile. “You are twice the man now you ever were then, I can tell. There is no reason you cannot work towards rectifying your mistake and reclaiming the title,” she said, her smile growing more sincere. “And if that is the case, then all I ask is that you allow me the honor to be the first to call you Archmage once more.”

With glassy eyes, Gale smiled down at her, and traced his thumb just under her bottom lip. “Coming from you, that carries a lot of weight,” he whispered. “It carries a grand amount of meaning, and a grand amount of hope. It…” He paused, grief briefly flickering across his eyes. “It would be nice to live up to your expectations, one day.”

“No more than it would be for me to live up to yours,” she breathed. “But you will, I believe,” Nox added, “And maybe through that, so will I.”

A small hum rumbled in his throat in agreement. He said nothing further though, his eyes instead flickering downwards, mapping a delicate path over her nose and cheeks before settling on her mouth. She waited for several seconds, not moving, not breathing as his hooded gaze rested on her lips, until his thumb moved up to trace over the curve of her bottom lip.

“Gale…?” she asked on a shuddering breath.

His eyes snapped back to hers, and she could’ve easily gotten lost in the dark, heated depths. “Nox…” he mumbled, leaning closer to her. He tilted her head up a little further and his eyes fell back down to her parted lips. “May I…”

Before either could move any further, a violet light flared between them that had them both peeling back from one another. Nox watched, flabbergasted, as the Orb flared to life in his chest, seemingly in response to one of the globes from her Dancing Lights floating too closely to them. She looked up to Gale in question, but he appeared just as shocked and harried as she felt, his frantic hands smoothing over his chest as he stared down at the Orb.

“I guess it still likes my magic,” Nox remarked, the logical part of her brain apparently ahead of the rest of her.

It made sense, Dancing Lights was the spell she fed directly to the Orb when they were bereft of all other options. Despite being calmed, the Orb still responded to magic it recognized—that was the only explanation for what just happened, and she supposed it was lucky that it only responded to the one spell she gave it directly and not all of her magic in general.

But it just had to happen now. Though, perhaps that was for the best. As her eyes locked with his, she understood the Orb was serving as a grim reminder for the realization that just tore through her with its flash.

You are in love with a dead man, Nox.

In love. For the first time, she was in love. That was the only explanation for the rush of emotion that surged through her veins once she realized they weren’t in imminent danger. The disappointment at the moment lost, the fear—not for her life, but for losing the man in front of her, and all the grief that carried, the loss itself, and the desire to go back. The overwhelming urge to hold him in her arms again, to assure him this was alright, that everything would be alright and they could—they would get through it. Gods, if nothing else, there was nothing more she wanted than to feel the hand he was using to readjust his robes back under her chin again, guiding her back to him.

She was in love, for the first time. That should have been terrifying enough on its own—and it was—but of course there had to be more. Of course it had to be with Gale. Of course, it had to be with a man slipping through her fingers as easily as the Weave did when she cast a spell, as easily as the water of the Chionthar on a hot, sunny day. A man so brilliant and breathtakingly bright who was divinely charged to burst and fade away, to dim until there was nothing left of him at all.

She was in love with a dead man walking. A man she desperately, desperately wanted to save.

“Apologies,” Gale said, a panic-tinged, embarrassed chuckle escaping him and ripping her from her thoughts. His other hand rested over his chest, covering the offending light as it slowly dimmed back into dormancy. “Leave it to me to ruin the fun, eh?”

“No!” she was quick to dispute. “No, not at all, Gale, I…”

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Before she knew what she was doing, Nox glided forward and rested her hand over his. She almost regretted it when she looked up and could see a reflection of her fear in his gaze. Reticence and awkwardness thinly masked the terror sparking behind his eyes. Fear at the sudden realization they had gotten close, closer than perhaps either one of them intended. Fear at the realization of what exactly this was buzzing between them, fear that it was much more than either of them believed, and how all of it should have been wonderful. But when mixed with the sudden, blazing reminder of what they couldn’t…what they shouldn’t have, how wonderful a thing it was blossoming between them was cast into shadow.

It was…it was why she never considered it before now, not consciously anyways. Some, subconscious part of her had kept this fact hidden from her. Now though…well, there was no way of unknowing it now. She loved him. She still couldn’t speak the words, but she loved him. Yet, judging by the way he was staring down at her, wide-eyed and silent, he didn’t want to hear those words any more than she wanted to say them.

Fear choked them both. Fear left her love gasping before it could even breathe.

“I…had a lovely time,” Nox said softly. As quickly as she went to him, she reluctantly pulled away. “I only hope you can say the same.”

“I can…I did,” he nodded. “It was wonderful, Nox.”

“I’m pleased to hear it,” she smiled, hoping it appeared genuine. She meant her words, but the act of smiling now left her stomach feeling ill. “I suppose we should end it here, then, lest the Orb decide to go back to its old ways.”

He took the cue and followed after her as she turned around and led him back to the bank of the river. Once assured he was on solid ground again, she gave him another half-hearted smile before trudging over to her staff. She only dared to look back once she reached Mourning Frost; with one hand on her staff, only then did she finally feel steady enough to glance back.

Gale still stood on the edge of the riverbank, having not moved an inch. He was watching her closely, dark eyes unreadable despite the dim light illuminating him. Her cantrips still hung around the area, casting everything in a rather romantic light and making the snow sparkle. The scene she had so carefully crafted, so lovingly put every ounce of her heart into in order to offer a few hours of peace, now left a bitter taste in her mouth. And Gale…and Gale.

The snow still fell around him, blowing slightly on the breeze blowing between them. In the center of the snowstorm, he was the stillness she was looking for, she understood that now. He was the peace. It was a sight, an indescribably powerful feeling she desperately needed to imprint onto her deepest memories. If she could have nothing else, she never wanted to lose the image of the man that stood before her now.

She never wanted to lose the man either, but that…that was not for her to decide, no matter how much she raged against that fact. All she could do…all she could control was how she remembered this moment.

She wanted it to be good. She knew it would only ever be bittersweet.

Nox always knew a little moment of serenity was never going to last forever. It never did. It was just a shame it was ending like this. There was nothing more she wanted to do than run back to him, to wrap him in her arms and kiss him like they were about to, and then never let him go. But no matter how much she desired it, she couldn’t urge her legs forward. She wouldn’t…she couldn’t do that, for the exact same reason she knew he stood several paces behind her, watching her silently and nothing more.

She loved him. There was nothing either of them could do about that.

Her hand gripped tighter around her staff, knuckles white with the effort, until she plucked it from the ground and settled it on her back. The lights began fading, and the snow slowly stopped its descent. She waved a hand and the Weave relaxed between her fingers, while a part of her mind finally sighed in relief over the concentration no longer being necessary. The magic was gone, and the sorrow that always accompanied her at the end of a time like this clung extra tightly to her heart now.

“I suppose we should all take our rest, now,” Nox muttered and turned away, uncertain if he even heard her. “Good night, Gale.”

“Good night,” Gale responded just as quietly. “And thank you for tonight, Nox’ani.”

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soobi-gyu · 1 year

Text

ITZY REACTION (when you are cold)

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Yeji

you were feeling cold as the harsh gust of winds slashed against your skin, maybe wearing shorts was not the best idea.

Yeji, noticed you shivering as you placed your arms around your waist trying to keep yourself warm.

she walked over to you placing her arms around your waist and pulling you closer into her warmth.

"Why would you wear shorts, in this weather ?" she whispered against your ear causing you to shiver even more as her breath tainted your skin.

you turned to face her as she moved you around in her arms.

"They are my favorite pair, and I thought it is warmer" you pout adorably.

Yeji pulls you even closer to herself hugging you now, as she laid her head on top of your shoulder "but now your cold Y/N, and I don't like that" she said resting on your shoulder blade.

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

Lia

you were feeling cold during a movie as the wintery frost seeped through the snow-white waffle throw you and Lia were using for warmth.

Lia felt the vibration of you shivering underneath the waffle throw.

she pulled you in for a bear hug and wrapped herself around you like a sloth for warmth.

"Oh Y/N was the cold getting to you? I am so sorry, I know the heating is not working but don't worry Y/N I'll ensure you are WARM."

As her breath landed on your shoulder, you felt the warmth pour in due to her sweet warm honey voice.

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

Ryujin

you both were sitting in the back of the group's black range rover as your manager drove you both back to the dorm.

you begin to feel quite cold as the car's heating had stopped working and was due in for an appointment the next day.

your shivering hadn't gone unnoticed as Ryujin began to ruffle her hair as she usually does when she becomes irritated.

"Y/N, you cold?" Ryujin spoke as her voice became slightly dark.

you couldn't even respond without your teeth chattering one another

Ryujin sighed as she leaned over you pulling your belt over your head and pulling you on top of her lap.

you begin to feel the blood rush towards your cheeks as the cold was not a problem now

Ryujin snaked her slender arms around you, pulling you in for warmth as her head laid upon your shoulder whispering gently but sternly "Never just sit there and be cold, just come to me".

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

Chaeryoung

you and Chaeryoung were about to seat in your private VIP restaurant room.

But your shaking hand had peaked Chaeryoung's curiosity.

she grabbed you and demanded you sit and wait. you are confused and listened

"What are you doing, Chaeryoung honey?!" you said shakingly as the coldness cracked your voice.

"Don't worry Y/N just wait and watch."

Chaeryoung walks to the corner of the room and starts to seductively strut toward you as you try and comprehend what is happening.

Out of shock, she drops it low in front of you and then grabs your face and almost licks your ear, and whispers " I know you are not cold now."

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

Yuna

You, Yuna, and her manager are walking down a snowy street toward the parked SUV that's all the way down the parking lot.

As you walk the coldness gets more and more intense until your hands feel as if they are about to go in frostbite.

But the manager noticed and did not want you to be uncomfortable so they gave you hand warmers.

" Hey, Y/N why didn't you tell me your hands were cold," said Yuna while pouting with her rosy cheeks in the cold.

All of a sudden she grabs the hand warmer and said " my hands are warmer, so use it."

so out of options, you hold hands while walking with Yuna. but to your surprise, it was warmer but you didn't want to admit it.

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

note: "Y'ALL ALREADY KNOW WHO I AM, IM TOPHERR"

< love u >

#itzy x reader #itzy imagines #itzy ff #kpop imagines #yuna x reader #yeji x reader #ryujin x reader #lia x reader #chaeryoungxreader #yeji imagines #ryujin imagines #yuna imagines #itzy #itzy reactions #reactions #kpop reactions

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liaromancewriter · 8 months

Text

Birthday Cake

Premise: Ethan Ramsey doesn’t like to celebrate his birthday. No one told his daughters that.

Book: Open Heart (post series) Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Cassie Valentine); feat. OC children Rating/Category: Teen. Fluff. Words: 875

A/N: In Lia Land, Ethan's birthday is on July 31. I forgot to mark the occasion, but better late than never. Submission for @choicesmonthlychallenge August challenge, birthday dialogue prompt (in bold). I'm also using @choicesflashfics week 46, prompt 3 (in bold).

Ethan Ramsey couldn’t remember the last time he’d celebrated his birthday with a party. Cassie knew how much he detested the fanfare around that day and respected his wishes not to make a big deal out of it.

Besides, he much preferred their private celebrations. Their sex life had always been hot, but it was downright incendiary on anniversaries and birthdays.

The special day was a week away, and he’d already made plans. Naveen had given him the keys to his cabin while he spent the summer visiting family. The nanny would look after the girls, and his dad was coming up from Providence to spend the day with them.

Ethan was already salivating in anticipation of unwrapping his birthday present.

“You look pleased with yourself,” Cassie commented from the other side of the couch, lowering the tablet in her hand, brow arched in question.

It was Saturday afternoon, and they were spending a quiet day at home. The twins were on the floor, engrossed in their coloring books. He heard them whispering and giggling mischievously every now and then. But that was a common occurrence between them, and he didn’t give it any mind.

“Just thinking,” he drawled, dropping his voice after a quick glance at the girls, “about my birthday present. And how much I will enjoy unwrapping it, inch by slow inch.”

“You have my full attention,” Cassie laughed, throwing him a sultry wink. “Two words. Black. Lace.”

“Happy Birthday to me,” he chuckled, seductively running one index finger up her shorts-clad leg, enjoying how she shivered.

At four years old (four and a half, thank you very much), Eloise and Sophie Ramsey knew birthdays meant cake. The games and presents were nice too, but really, it was all about the cake.

Eloise liked chocolate cake best, with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Lots of rainbow-colored sprinkles. Sophie didn’t mind chocolate, but she’d rather have yellow cake with cream and strawberries; the more, the better.

It was just too bad their birthday was still months and months away. Instead, they had to settle for coloring a slice of cake on the page, they thought, sharing a commiserating look with each other.

And then they heard Daddy say the magic words.

Ethan quickly dropped his hand when he heard the sound of rushing feet. Before he could react, his arms were full of two little girls, their bodies vibrating excitedly.

“Daddy, is it your birthday today?” they chorused, pulling at the front of his shirt.

“Can we have a party?” Sophie said winningly, twirling one finger around a lock of hair.

“And birthday cake,” Eloise said, smacking her lips in a gesture reminiscent of her mother.

Ignoring Cassie’s snort and “Busted!” comment, he struggled for balance as Eloise and Sophie climbed atop the couch. They surrounded him, caging him between themselves, their tiny hands patting his cheeks for attention.

“Can we? Please?”

“Please, Daddy. Please?”

“It’s not my birthday today,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over their incessant pleading.

“It’s next week,” Cassie piped in eagerly.

“Not helping, Rookie,” Ethan glared at her, using the old nickname as he did whenever she annoyed him.

The girls ignored them, talking out loud as they planned who to invite to the party. Their list seemed to include everyone they’d ever met in their life.

“Grandpa Alan, Uncle Naveen, Aunty Si and Uncle Max. And Noah and Belle and Amelia and Bailey—”

“Don’t forget Grandmother Livvy and Grandpa Robbie,” Eloise interrupted her sister impatiently. “And Uncle Bryce and Aunt Rora.”

“Daddy, can we get a clown for the party?” Sophie asked.

“I want a magician,” Eloise added, tripping over the word so that it sounded like ‘maj-shun’.

“No, we cannot,” Ethan said grumpily, his scowl designed to dampen their enthusiasm. It didn’t work as he’d intended.

“Why not?” Eloise shot back.

She lifted her chin mulishly, green eyes firing in a surprisingly adult manner. However, Sophie’s eyes pooled with tears, making Ethan feel like a heel.

“Yeah, Dr. Ramsey, why not?” Cassie teased, lifting Sophie onto her lap as she scooted beside him on the couch.

“I never liked celebrating my birthday,” he explained calmly, looking down at his daughters.

Sophie was now cuddled against her mother, her face half-hidden, but he could see the damp spot forming on Cassie’s white top. If one thing was guaranteed to make him cave despite his best intentions, it was watching his daughters cry.

“We want cake,” Eloise said stubbornly, crossing her arms.

“How about we go to the bakery and get cake?” Ethan cajoled, feeling trapped.

“But that’s not a birthday cake,” Sophie argued, voice wobbly.

“A cake is a cake,” Ethan said reasonably, throwing Cassie a pleading look, hoping she’d back him up on this.

“A birthday cake is special,” Cassie nodded sagely. “Especially when it comes with balloons and pizza. Want to help me plan the party, girls?”

Traitor, Ethan thought in annoyance, shooting Cassie a look that promised retribution.

The twins jumped in delight, their voices bubbling over with excitement. And Ethan resigned himself to the inevitable as he watched his plans to seduce his wife go up in smoke.

Looks like he was having a birthday party.

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

All Fics & Edits: @bluebelle08 @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @doriopenheart @genevievemd @headoverheelsforramsey @lucy-268 @jamespotterthefirst @jerzwriter @lady-calypso @mainstreetreader @peonierose @potionsprefect @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @socalwriterbee @takemyopenheart @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction

Submissions: @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Ethan & Cassie only: @cariantha @custaroonie @hopelessromantic1352 @youlookappropriate

#open heart #ethan ramsey #open heart choices #open heart fanfics #open heart fanfiction #choices fanfics #choices fanfiction #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #ethan ramsey x mc #writers on tumblr #ethan ramsey x cassie valentine #ramsey twins

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megraen · 1 day

Text

CREATED BY @heyneon AND EDITED FOR CANVA BY ME. ENJOY.

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ssavinggrace · 8 months

Text

@drewlover

your annabeth post about her 'having so much love to give' I kinda wrote a bit on that. and drew something- also the brownie recipe in this y'all gotta try.

page 1. one of many recepies percy loves.

sally's brownies prep time-fifteen minutes. cook time-thirty minutes. total-forty five minutes. one cup of melted butter -1/2 cups of unsweetened coco powder -2 cups of all-purpose flour -4 large eggs -4 teaspoons of vanilla extract -as much blue food dye as you want. sally said 'I usually put in twenty five drops, which is alot, but Percy loves it.' icing - 1/4 cups of softened butter - 1/4 cup of milk. sally uses 2% -1/4 cup if unsweetened coco powder - 3 cups powdered sugar Instructions Preheat oven to 350° F. -Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with foil and spray foil with non-stick spray. Set aside. - In the bowl of an electric stand-mixer, add the melted butter and cocoa powder. Using the paddle attachment, blend till smooth. Add the flour and sugar. Beat together then add eggs and vanilla. Mix just until combined. Don't over mix. The batter will be thick -Pour batter into prepared baking dish and spread out evenly. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove brownies from oven and let stand 15 minutes before frosting. -You want the brownies still warm when you frost them! -FOR CHOCOLATE FROSTING: Beat together all the frosting ingredients until smooth. Pour and spread over warm brownies. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

page 2. my beautiful boy 💙

percy has a series of scars down his back. one long one Down the middle of his back, vertical way. he has five, small thin scars across this scar. he has a a set of three scars down his left shoulder blade, clearly from a monster. some maybe from Gabe. when studying, percy let's me sit in his lap and he plays with my hair. later, i ran a hand through his hair, he relaxed. run his hands through his hair. he loves it. he hates sour candy. he refuses to eat it. today percy stayed up with estelle all night because she's sick, because he said "she might be lonely". reminder to do that when he's sick too" he scrunches up his nose when he's worried he wants to become a trauma and abuse counselor. he wants to help people that went through similar things. mortals and demigods alike. he likes when I wear his cologne. wear it often.

pg 3. lia :)

what I got her on December 22, after Mount Tam, her first birthday back. - a bow able to hold any arrow or immense pressure. ie: when Thalia uses her lightning arrows, it won't heat or break. after Gaia's defetion, shortly after Apollos first misson of redemption, what i got her on her next birthday. -a phone built by Leo with no tracking. all of our friends have one too, all to stay in contact even when she's across the world. something she got after Jason died. - Jason's journal. Jason wanted to give it to her. and the pelt he'd been given from Lupa, he gifted to Thalia. I'm glad she got left his journal too, at least one of them would get to know the other. what I'll get her this year - she keeps talking about a pair of boots. it may sound stupid, but she won't stop talking about it. I definitely want to get her something she wants. but, I dint want to give her just that. I'll meet with Piper to get her to help me to make her better boots. I'll sketch it out.

pg 5. baby girl 🩷

In the realm where love's sweet whispers reside, There walks a demigod, grace personified. Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite's grace, With a smile that could brighten the darkest space. Her soft, pretty smile, a radiant delight, Like a sunbeam breaking through the darkest night. Her hair, like tendrils of love's sweet art, Curls into little hearts, a work of the heart. In the gentlest light, her features gleam, A vision of beauty, a celestial dream. The corners of her eyes, they gently crease, When she smiles, all the world finds its peace. A demigod of love, she truly embodies, Aphrodite's daughter, in whom love resides. Piper McLean, a goddess in mortal guise, With a heart so warm, and beauty that never dies.

#pjo #hoo #toa #percy jackson #thalia grace #tsats #heros of olympus #annabeth chase #piper mclean #jason grace #Annabeth writing #she's so sweet #i love her

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lustspren · 11 months

Text

P.S.T EP. 2 | Frost ft Lia

length: 8.6k words✦

Lia & Male Reader (Special Guest: Ryujin).

genres: ass eating, anal, rimming, butt play, shower, daddy kink (ryujin), dirty talk (ryujin), creampie, blowjob, oral sex, ✧

✦✧✦✧✦✧

The night you stayed in the ITZY girls' dorm was much calmer and more enjoyable than you expected. After spending about half an hour just fooling around and making out with Yuna, you went out of the bedroom (in boxers) to go and take a shower for the second time that day. It was a long shower in which you took enough time to be able to calmly meditate on everything that had happened up to now; Definitely going out in public with an idol of that caliber was quite stressful, you had a great time with her in that changing room, but the fact of having to do everything possible to hide her and not have anyone see her was one thing that you really didn't want to repeat.

The fact that you were taking a shower at the house of JYP's second most famous group was something you couldn't quite take in either. You didn't know how to feel at that moment, with the water falling on your head, surrounded by the walls of a bathroom that, aside from not being yours, was at least three times as elegant and expensive as yours. You didn't feel entirely comfortable, but you didn't feel out of place either. Part of it was thanks to the girls and how they had welcomed you so hospitably and carefree into their house, after all you were just a stranger they knew, and you were surprised that they let you spend the night with them without any complaint or discomfort in between, Ryujin had even lent you one of the many oversized sweaters she had for you to wear.

After getting dressed, the first thing you did was go to the living room and sit on the sofa with the girls, who were already waiting for you to start watching the movie. The only one missing there was Yuna, who had come in to bathe after you and who had told you not to wait for her to start watching the movie. Chaery and Ryujin had given you a place in the middle of the two of them, where you stayed until basically the end of the movie, which had been Captain America and the Winter Soldier.

When Yuna came back she couldn't find a better place to sit than on your lap, that didn't bother you, in fact, you felt quite comfy and warm hugging her slim body over her baggy t-shirt. The ones who had been a bit annoyed by that had been the other girls, especially Ryujin, who repeatedly snorted and was dissatisfied with how affectionate she was with you. You couldn't do anything, and you didn't want to do anything about it either, you just found it funny and kinda adorable how she showed her jealousy.

The funny thing is that Yuna didn't even watch the whole movie, she had fallen asleep about 40 minutes before it ended. She hadn't even bothered to hide it, her head resting on your shoulder and her mouth ajar. Lia was also sleepy, but she did last until the end of the movie with great difficulty. When the movie ended, each of the girls went to their respective bedrooms, Yuna and Yeji left together, and then Ryujin, Chaery and Lia left.

You were left completely alone in the living room, sitting on the sofa that Yeji would later help you extend and turn it into a large bed that looked absurdly comfortable. She had also brought you a pillow and a blanket, and she said goodbye to you, saying good night with a little kiss on the cheek. The room suddenly went silent, and all you could hear was the sound of the air conditioner blowing. All the lights were off except for the one in the kitchen, and the only light that illuminated the rest of the room came from outside.

You settled the pillow against the wall, and got on the sofa to cover yourself with the blanket up to your chest. You weren't too sleepy yet, in fact, you thought you had at least 2 more hours of battery life left before going into zombie mode, so you played Brawl Stars on your phone for the next 45 minutes.

The house was incredibly quiet, and hearing a door slam shut on one of the upper floors did not do your heart any good. The scare was only momentary, since you assumed it was just one of the girls going to the bathroom, but after a few seconds, you heard footsteps coming from the hallway of the stairs. Your vision angle didn't allow you to see who it was, but you kept your eyes fixed on the corridor, only for Ryujin to come out at the end.

"For God's sake, you nearly scared me to death," you said aloud for her to hear, and then returned your gaze to the phone.

"Sorry, I swear I didn't mean to slam the door so hard," she replied from the kitchen, opening the fridge and taking out a carton of milk. She opened it, and drank directly from it before putting it back inside.

"You sure? Sounds like you did it on purpose to me," you exited the game on your phone and to open instagram.

"Maybe, so what?" she walked over to your side of the living room and crossed her arms, leaning against the wall next to the TV.

"Nothing, I'm not judging you, Shin Ryujin," you glanced at her for a second, then back to your phone.

"Are not you sleepy?" she asked.

"Nope, and you?"

"Neither. But there's a reason for that, you know?"

"Oh yeah? And what could it be?" you locked the phone and put it face down on your chest to turn to look at her.

"Are you really going to play dumb with me?" she asked with an incredulous laugh, then she pushed away from the wall and took slow steps until she stood facing the edge of the sofa.

"I don't know what you're talking about," you shook your head, looking to annoy her. She opened her mouth to say something, but then she seemed to think it over, gave a small smirk, and changed it.

"Would you share your blanket with me? It's cold in here," Ryujin raised an eyebrow. You winced in confusion at the sudden change of subject.

"Uh, yeah, sure," you grabbed the left edge of the blanket and pulled it up. Ryujin climbed on the sofa-bed, crawled towards you and got under the blanket, lying next to you, and consequently, on top of your arm. Then you pulled the blanket back down, covering both of you.

"Could you hug me, oppa?" another weird question. She turned to face you. You looked at her for a moment clearly confused, but ended up wrapping your arm around her body, pressing her against you through her long, baggy sweater. She squirmed a little, only to throw her hips back and press her ass against your crotch.

"May I know what you're doing?" By having her closer to her you lowered her voice. Despite being playing fool you played along, slightly moving your hips to rub your bulge against her ass.

"I'm just snuggling with you, I'm still cold, daddy," she said under her breath, "but I'd also like to help you warm up."

"And how do you plan to do that, baby?" you two kept moving your hips slowly, making the rub more and more sensual.

"I don't know, I think you might have the answer to that," Ryujin stopped, and lowered her hands to pull the sweater up to the middle of her abdomen, you didn't feel any other fabric against your bulge, that's when you noticed that she was pressing her bare ass against you. It didn’t surprise you at all.

"Do you sleep naked under this sweater often?" you whispered in her ear, placing a hand on her waist and slowly moving up her abdomen, passing it under her sweater and reaching one of her small tits to give it a light squeeze. Ryujin kept moving her ass against you.

"Mmm..." Ryujin moaned through pursed lips, as you pinched her nipple and massaged her tits, "not usually, but I wanted to prepare myself in case I got extremely horny tonight."

"And how are you right now?" you started giving her small kisses behind her ear, going down the nape of her neck and ending on her neck. Then you lowered your hand from her tits slowly down her abdomen, rubbing her skin with your fingertips until you reached her pussy, which you began to rub with your index and middle fingers.

"Very fucking horny..." Ryujin parted her legs slightly, giving you better access to play with her pussy, "but that's your fault for what you did a few hours ago."

"I take full responsibility for my actions, don't worry," you concentrated on playing with her clit, slowly rubbing it in circles and then occasionally moving down her slit.

"So will you let me play with your cock for a while, daddy?" Ryujin moaned, moving her hips desperate to feel more of your hard erection through the fabric of your boxers.

"Only if you tell me how much you want it," you bit her earlobe, removed your hand from her pussy, brought two fingers to your mouth to salivate them and returned it between her legs, teasing to stick a finger inside her.

"I want it so much daddy," she turned her head to meet your lips just inches away, looked at them, and then looked into your eyes, "I haven't been able to stop thinking about your cock since I sucked it clean at the spa. "

"Then come here so daddy can return the favor," you took your hand from between her legs and brought it to the edge of your boxers, lifting your hips up and bending your knees to remove them from your legs. As soon as she felt your cock press against her ass she pulled the blanket off both of you and got up to turn and lie in the opposite direction, having your cock just inches from the side of her face. You took advantage of the situation to grab her thigh and her waist to put her on top of yours, pull her from her hips and leave her ass floating above your face. You felt Ryujin's hot breath on your cock and then her fingers clinging to the base of it, she wasted no time, and brought your tip to her mouth to start sucking and swirling her tongue around it.

You gasped, and decided not to be left behind. You positioned Ryujin's thighs on either side of your face, squeezing her buttocks apart and pushing her already wet pussy into your mouth. Feeling your tongue start to move up and down her slit, Ryujin moaned against the tip of your cock and pushed a few more inches into her mouth, bobbing her head up and down as she tried to match your pace.

Your licks were combined with intense and fiery kisses between her soft folds, you let go of her buttocks, letting them suffocate you only to cling to her waist and squeeze her flesh between your fingers. Ryujin gradually moaned louder around your shaft, reaching further with her lips with each pump of her head on your cock. She didn't take you out of her mouth for a single second, knowing that her loud moans would be easily heard in every corner of the house if she didn't drown them against something.

She was making your cock all salivary and slippery, you could tell by the slurping sounds that reached your ears and made you want to keep eating her pussy like a hungry dog. You attacked her clit with the tip of your tongue, and once again brought your hands to her buttocks to squeeze them and then give them a strong spank, you didn't control the force, so it wouldn't have been weird at all if the girls in their bedrooms had listened to the impact.

You and Ryujin continued eating each other's intimacy for a few more seconds, until she pulled you out of her mouth and thrust her hips forward to separate her pussy from you.

"Stop it, I need to feel that cock inside me right now," she said, wiping traces of saliva from her mouth with the back of her hand and getting off you to get on all fours.

"You don't have to say it twice," you said, rising up next to her and then kneeling behind her ass. You spread her knees to the sides, pushed her head down so that the side of her face was against the couch, and made her arch her back. You rolled her sweater up, just enough so that you could see as much of her back as possible, and with one hand on her waist, you took your cock and pressed between her folds, slowly pushing forward to enter her pussy inch by inch.

Before she could let out a moan that would give you away to the girls, you grabbed a handful of her hair and buried her face against the couch so she moaned against it as your cock forced its way through her tight pussy.

"Holy fuck!" she screeched as low as she could while she saw you over her shoulder, as you pushed the last few inches inside her.

You didn't bother to hide how delicious the walls of her pussy felt around your cock, you moaned softly, letting your shaft rest inside her for a few more seconds until you put a hand on her waist and began to move your hips hard and deep right away. She brought her fist to her mouth to bite it, desperate to moan but finding herself repressed by the situation you were in. You didn't want her to get hurt, so you grabbed the pillow next to you, held it out to her, and she took it to prop her chin up and muffle her whimpering against it.

The hard crashes of your pelvis against her ass made her buttocks shake her like jelly, and your cock completely went in and out of her soft, warm pussy, which had you gasping with every thrust you gave. Your hips weren't moving half as fast as you could move them to drive her crazy, but you were making sure to do it hard, slamming her pussy all the way in and making her rock back and forth thanks to it.

But as much as you wanted her to feel the full length and thickness of your manhood in every fiber of her body, you were already demanding something more from each other. With both hands resting on her waist, you clung tightly with your fingers against her flesh and rested for a second to start fucking Shin Ryujin just as you knew she was asking for, fast, hard and mercilessly.

If before she was having a hard time stifling her moans against the pillow, now she was clinging to it as if her life depended on it, biting into it with such force that she could have left her teeth buried in between whimpers and grunts. The entire living room was filled with the sounds of her ass being mercilessly pounded by your pelvis, and you were sure that anyone who left their room just to go to the bathroom would have heard some trace that would lead them to suspect that something was going on down there. You thought about it, and it really did become a real concern, but you really weren't too far from reaching your pleasure peak.

Ryujin released the pillow, lifted her head and saw you over her shoulder with her mouth gaping, frowning and gasping as your cock quickly drilled into her pussy. Her body gave a first initial spasm, and then she dropped her face back into the pillow as her orgasm hit her with the force of a 10-meter wave. She raked at her throat with a loud squeal that she muffled against the pillow, and pushed her ass back from her to leave your shaft buried deep inside her as she writhed and trembled.

Feeling her pussy tighten that much around your shaft made you let out another moan. You bit your bottom lip, and leaned forward to push Ryujin's body down, leaving her onto her stomach and pinning her against the couch as you moved your hips frantically again, this time up and down. Your two clenched fists rested on either side of her head, and she looked up to meet your gaze. You locked eyes, and with a few more thrusts, you let out a loud moan as you climaxed.

You exploded inside Ryujin, and as you shot your hot load into her, you dropped down to bury your face in her neck, kissing and biting as you slowly moved your hips.

"That's it daddy… fill my slutty pussy with that delicious load," Ryujin moaned into your ear, gasping and being completely filled with cum. You kept moving very slowly, dumping the last traces of your load into her pussy until you stopped. You sighed, keeping your cock inside her as you controlled your breathing.

"Are you happy yet, Shin Ryujin?" you asked sarcastically, lifting your face slightly to look at her.

"Oh hell nah," she replied with a sexy smile, before giving you a peck on the chin, "not yet, but that will have to wait for my turn."

"As you wish, but please go to sleep, my body is already giving up."

"I would if you'd get your dick out, dork," she pushed her hips up, rocking her ass and your cock inside her. You leaned back on the couch with your hands and pulled your cock out of her pussy, which promptly ejected your thick load in a waterfall of white liquid that spilled onto the couch. You stayed watching the scene for a few seconds, until you separated from her and looked for your boxer.

"You have to clean that up, I'm not going to sleep on my own cum," you said, putting on your underwear. Ryujin tried to push herself up from the sofa, but her legs gave way to the weakness, and she nearly fell to the ground.

"Oops, can I… sleep with you daddy?" she laughed, lying on her side on the edge of the sofa.

"God," you sighed, "whatever, but hold still while I look for paper."

"Yes daddy!" she answered you innocently as you got up from the sofa to walk to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, you took a good amount of kitchen paper and returned to Ryujin. You gave her two sheets to clean herself, and you used the rest to clean the sofa. When you finished, you took the used papers and went to throw them in the trash. When you came back, Ryujin was already settled on the pillow, with the blanket covering her up to her neck and feet outside of it.

"You know that if they see you sleeping with me you'll get in trouble, right?" you asked, getting on the sofa and lying next to her, also covering yourself with the blanket.

"I'm not gonna get in trouble" she said, lying on her side facing you, and snuggling against your chest, "maybe they'll get mad for 5 minutes and then they won't care again," you lay on your side too, and you put your arm around her to keep her warm.

"I'll wake you up at 6 in the morning so you can go to your room, okay?" you took the blanket and covered both of you, snuggling with Ryujin.

"That's fair for me," Ryujin sighed, and she closed her eyes, "rest well..." she made a tiny silence, "daddy," you stared at nothing.

"Rest well, brat," you replied, until about 10 minutes later, you fell asleep.

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Said and done, you woke up at 6:10 in the morning only to wake up Ryujin and go back to sleep. It was something really hard, she was the typical person with a heavy sleep that no matter how much you bothered her to get up, she didn't listen to you. At last she was up from the couch, and she went back to her room with slow, wandering steps.

When you woke up again around 10am, there was already movement in the kitchen. In fact, you had been awakened by the sound of the dishwasher being open and the subtle clash of certain kitchen utensils against each other. You opened your eyes to see who it was, and it was Lia and Yeji, who had gotten up early to make you and the girls breakfast, a toasted Korean egg sandwich.

You had a leisurely breakfast at the dining room table, everyone was looking at her phones or talking to each other, and evidently, neither you nor Ryujin said anything about what had happened, not even a hint of suspicion.

You wanted to continue having fun with them for the rest of the day, but tomorrow was Monday, and you had things to prepare at home for your day at work and your week in general, so after noon you said goodbye to the girls, and you went back to your apartment.

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Your week went by much slower than you expected. You hadn't had almost any noteworthy sessions except for a couple, but otherwise it had all felt like a great filler chapter in your life. But when the weekend came, your spirits were high again when you received a text from Yeji the same Friday when you got home in the afternoon. You got dressed as fast as you could, and before long, you were on your way to the girls’ house.

This particular day you were more nervous than usual, and the reason for your nervousness had a first and last name: Choi Jisoo. Lia was a differentially more serious person than all the others, she was a good girl, in fact, she was careful that you didn't lack anything in your little stay at her house, but her face was terrifying, even more than Yeji's, you felt that anything badly said or anything she didn't like could be the reason for a slap right to your face.

You parked the car right in front of the gate, and already knowing the password, you went directly into the house, but finding yourself surprised that Chaery was sitting on the left edge of the pool, with only her feet in the water. She was wearing shorts and a top, both short, black and tight to her toned body.

"Oh hi," you greeted, walking in her direction, "chillin?"

"Hi oppa," she greeted, looking at you and then at the water, "sort of, I'm waiting for Yeji unnie to swim together."

"Cool," you stepped up behind her, "everything okay?" you asked, noticing that she was a little down.

"Yeah, don't worry, this week has been exhausting," she sighed, "oh, Lia unnie is waiting for you on the top floor, maybe you'll find her in the same place where I saw her."

"Gotcha, see you later!" you said goodbye to her, walking inside.

You quickly went up all the stairs, curiously not finding any of the other girls along the way, you assumed that they were all in her rooms or that perhaps Ryujin and Yuna had gone out together. You reached the third floor, and turned down a corridor to find a girl you didn't know right at the end, in front of the door of what you remembered, was the bathroom. It wasn't until you got a little closer that you realized it was Lia, but she now had dyed blonde hair, and you couldn't help but think that she looked incredibly beautiful and hot at the same time, since she was only wearing a short towel around her body.

"God, you're finally here, I'm freezing," Lia said when she saw you approach, she was idly leaning against the wall, her blonde hair up in a messy bun.

"I'm late?" you asked amused, standing in front of her.

"Not really, but I misjudged your arrival time, and I've been standing here for 15 minutes," she sighed, as she stared at you blankly.

"And you don't have your phone or something?"

"Do you think I should have my phone?" she detached herself from the wall, and took a small step forward.

"Right," you nodded, feeling like an idiot for asking that but also fearing for the physical integrity of your cheek.

"Anyway, let's go to the shower," she turned and put her hand on the doorknob.

"Oh, right now? All of a sudden?"

"Do you think I want to wait, honey?" she raised an eyebrow, opening the bathroom door. Another stupid question. Today intelligence was not exactly your strong point.

"Okay, I'll stop," you nodded again, and following her into the bathroom, which she locked.

When you entered she was silent, took a few steps towards the shower and with her back to you, she let the towel that covered her body fall to the floor around her feet. Her wide and round ass was exposed for you, as were her luscious legs and her creamy skin. You were mesmerized for a moment, until she saw you over her shoulder.

"I'll wait for you, pretty boy," she said, before sliding the glass shower door open and stepping inside.

You had rarely undressed as fast as you did at that precise moment, you could have even broken a record or something. Lia had already turned on the water, but you were naked in a matter of seconds, and you didn't waste much more time before getting into the shower with her.

The shower space was quite wide, so you and she could perfectly keep a good distance in case you needed to (of course you didn't). You approached her from behind her as she went under the water without wetting her hair, just her body. You made sure she felt more than just your presence, letting your limp cock brush against her ass.

"Blonde hair was a total hit," you said close to her ear, "reinforces your position as ice princess of the group."

"I appreciate the compliment, sweetheart, but right now I need you to wash me well," she picked up the soap in front of her and passed it to you, you took it, and wet your hands to start swirling it between them.

"I'm curious about something," you said, starting to lather Lia's shoulders and upper back, "have you showered with any of the girls before?" you asked as you slowly moved down, reaching to her lower back.

"Why do you want to know that?" she asked back, looking over her shoulder at you before you ducked behind her, her tempting ass mere inches from your face.

"I already told you, just curious," you put your hands on her ass without any kind of fear, seizing the moment to massage, squeeze and rub her buttocks.

"With Ryujin, several times," she admitted, "with no one else."

"Of course it had to be Ryujin," you chuckled, remembering your little scene with her last weekend. You moved down from Lia's ass to her meaty thighs, and then down to her calves.

"Hey, don't forget about my front, honey," she said as you continued to focus on her legs.

"I wouldn't forget," you stood up and scooted closer to her, pressing your chest and cock against her soapy body. You wrapped your arms around her body, and began lathering her arms slowly, lowkey combining it with a little massage.

Lia turned her head to look at you, you turned too, and your lips were just inches from each other. You stepped forward, and melded your lips with hers in a slow, careful, calm kiss. Your hands followed their path, this time moving to her chest, lathering and squeezing her small tits and then down her abdomen.

In the middle of the kiss she pulled her ass back, rubbing it against your increasingly hard cock. You responded by lowering one of your hands to her pussy, rubbing it with the entire palm of your hand but also lathering her thighs from time to time. Your other hand went to her neck, squeezing not too hard with your fingers and going a little deeper into the kiss while you rubbed her slit with your fingers. Lia continued to move her ass from side to side, but soon stopped.

"Don't get excited, sweetie, we're going too fast," she said in a low voice against your lips, "besides, I want to wash you too."

"It's not my fault you have such a delicious body, Julia," you teased, placing a small kiss on her lips, letting go of her body and taking a step back.

"You'll have time to enjoy it, don't worry about it.”

Lia went under the water again, washed the soap off her body, and let you pass. You took a couple of steps forward, and you only put your hand in to check the temperature. It was freezing.

"Oh hell nah," you quickly started adjusting the hot water knob.

"What?" she laughed, standing behind you.

"Didn't you say you were freezing out there?" you asked, leaving the water at a temperature hot enough not to burn yourself.

"That doesn't mean I don't like taking cold baths, now get in there you crybaby," she pushed you from behind, and you were forced to let the water run over your head and then freely down your body. You took a deep breath, brushing your hair out of your face and then stepping out from under the spray.

"That doesn't make any sense," you complained, thankful that you'd fixed the temperature before she pushed you there.

"It doesn't have to make sense, it's just the way it is," she grabbed your wrist and pulled you towards her, she took the soap from your hand and began to repeat the same process that you had done with her.

Lia lathered all over your back, shoulders and arms right away, then you felt her crouch down, but she completely ignored your ass at first, just concentrating on your legs and calves. When she finished lathering you up from behind, she stood up and pressed against your back, you felt her small nipples against your skin, and then her arms encircling your body to begin lathering your chest.

Her hands were extremely delicate as they traveled up your torso, making sure not to leave even a little spot without soap before moving on to the next area, which was one you were looking forward to. Lia took her hand to your cock, and just like you did with her pussy, she began to rub it with her palm from top to bottom, also reaching your balls. When she left your shaft slippery, she wrapped her fingers around it and began to move her hand slowly, jerking you off as she placed little kisses on your back.

"Didn't you say we were going too fast?" You gasped, letting your head fall back and closing your eyes as she continued to move her hand in a torturous rhythm.

"I'm just returning the favor, baby," she murmured, caressing your abdomen with her free hand, "but I still have something to do."

Lia let go of your cock, and you, disappointed, opened your eyes to look at her over your shoulder. She crouched down behind you once more, and this time she did start lathering up your ass with both of her hands. The double effort she was putting into it was strangely suspicious to you, she squeezed your buttocks too, but then she brought a hand between them, running the side of her hand from the space behind your cock to your ass. You flinched, feeling her finger press against your hole.

"May I know the reason for this sudden attack?" you joked, with a small giggle as it felt ticklish. Her hand moved slowly, teasing to stick a finger up your ass every time it came up to it.

"I'm just doing something I know you'll do for me later," she replied, washing your hole and buttocks well.

"I'll do that?" You raised an eyebrow, seeing her.

"For your sake, I hope so honey," she removed her hands from your ass and stood up behind you again, to once again push you into the water, and not expecting it, you almost swallowed the water, you had to close your eyes quickly and start to wash off the soap.

"Fuck, can you stop doing that?" you complained, stepping forward to get out of the water.

"I won't anymore, sorry," Lia replied, holding back a laugh.

"Yeah, whatever you say, now come here," you pulled her by her shoulders and stood her in place, crouching immediately behind her. She passed you the soap, and you began to return the favor by spreading one of her buttocks and imitating her movements, with the difference that you were making sure to reach her pussy with your fingers as well.

"You know… When Yeji told me all the services you guys provided, I was pretty worried about this," she gasped, feeling your fingers rubbing both her ass and the folds of her pussy.

"Really? Why?" you asked, eyeing her pretty ass as you washed it, squeezing and massaging her buttocks as well.

"Because I've never had my ass eaten before, genius," she sighed, "I honestly wasn't too into the idea at first, but Chaery and Ryujin called me a prude, and I took that personal."

"And you ended up liking it, didn't you?" you teased with a small giggle, pressing a finger against her ass and letting it go in just as far as your fingernail. She moaned.

"Fuck, I haven't stopped thinking about it since, I really hate you," she started to rock her hips slightly, seeking more of your fingers.

"Why exactly do you hate me?" you stood up, but still with your hand tucked between her buttocks.

"For…" before she could reply, you brought your index and middle fingers as carefully as possible into her hole, which was no longer so tight and gave way easily to your fingers, "For making me addicted to playing with my ass," she finished with a groan.

"Oh… that would explain why my fingers just slipped like butter in there," you smiled, your fingers buried up to the knuckles.

"I don't want a single word about it… fuck," Lia reached back and gripped your wrist, as you began to move your wrist at an intermediate pace, enough for her body to move from front to back.

"Don't worry sweetie, I can understand perfectly," you murmured in her ear. She had her eyes closed as she bit her lower lip, "my tongue drove you crazy."

"I said shut the fuck up," she snapped between cute little moans, your fingers moving in and out of her ass faster and faster, "Fuck… fuck, stop," she moaned, "let's go to my room, right now."

You immediately pulled your fingers out, and leaned forward to turn off the shower head. You opened the shower door and stepped outside, drying your feet on the mat and stepping forward to give Lia space. You grabbed a towel that was hanging from the tube on the side of the shower and dried your hair and body in a rather messy way, just like Lia. You didn't even wait until you were completely dry to rush out of the bathroom, she took the lead, guiding you towards her room, which was bigger than Yeji and Yuna's since there were 3 beds tucked in there. Ryujin wasn't there, which reinforced your idea that she had gone with Yuna somewhere.

As soon as you entered you closed the door and surrounded Lia's body in your arms, she encircled your neck with hers, and you melted into a kiss full of desire and intensity. She slowly pulled you back onto the middle bed, which you didn't even know if it was hers or not, but you didn't even care to think about it.

You separated from the kiss first, and you took her by the waist to turn her around and push her up on the bed. Lia fell on both of her hands, and automatically also got on her knees, with her ass perfectly raised and ready for you. You didn't bother wasting time, bending your knees and bringing your hands to her buttocks, spreading them apart and revealing her hole, something already opened by your fingers. Lia moaned loudly as soon as you buried your mouth on her ass, giving her frantic licks and kisses.

The blonde girl soon filled the room with her pretty moans, and you took it upon yourself to make her moan even louder, spitting on her hole and squeezing her buttocks hard while your tongue explored the walls of her ass as much as the length of it allowed. Wanting to drive her crazy as quickly as possible, in conjunction with your tongue, the index and middle fingers of your right hand began to quickly rub her clit, which caused Lia to start writhing in pleasure.

Her pussy started to get quite wet, you could tell by how your fingers became more slippery as you kept rubbing her pussy, filling the room with wet sounds, both from your fingers and from your mouth, spitting and collecting your saliva from her ass while you ate it savagely.

Lia was clinging to the white sheets of the bed with her fingers, crinkling them and pulling them from the edges between moans, but that wasn't enough for you. Your fingers, already slippery from her fluids, eased away from her clit, only to move up a bit and into her pussy, slowly and deep until only your knuckles were outside of her.

"Fuck yes! Eat my ass while you finger my pussy honey!" she whimpered, lifting her head to see you over her shoulder.

Not wanting to disobey her and get slapped, you started moving your wrist as fast as you could, pumping your fingers in and out of her pussy as your tongue worked her ass. Lia let her face fall against the mattress again, and after a few seconds, she exploded into loud moans. Her entire body squirmed, especially her thighs, but being a good girl, she stayed as still as possible while you went from eating her ass to scooping her pussy fluids with your tongue, with quick licks between her folds. You kept licking her pussy for a few more seconds, until her orgasm had passed and you stood up to watch her.

"Did my pretty ice princess like that?" you asked with a mischievous tone, giving her buttock a little spank.

"I told you to shut the f... agh fuck it, I loved it, I love the way you eat my ass, sweetheart," she moaned as she breathed heavily, leaning on her forearms as she watched you.

"Still, I sense that you're not satisfied, right?"

"Oh hell no, I want to play with you too, can I?" she asked, getting up to kneel on the bed facing you.

"Of course you can, I'm at your service," you stepped forward, presenting your hard, throbbing cock to her. She saw it for a second, and contrary to what you thought she was going to do, she got off the bed, stood behind you and with her two hands pushed you forward, causing you to lean over and place your hands on the mattress, "huh?" she got on her knees, and made you spread your legs to put her hands on your buttocks, spread them apart, and bring her mouth to your ass, "The fuck?! Damn Lia!" you exclaimed.

It was a very fucking weird feeling you were experiencing right now, and you still didn't know how to feel about it. At first it felt funny, like a slight tickle, but when Lia started to make the right movements with her tongue around and against your hole, you started to feel more than just tickling, you even let out a slight moan that Lia heard.

Her tongue began to move faster and deeper, and that was when you could come to understand why Lia loved it so much. You started to pant, and Lia squeezed your buttocks as she used all your techniques and moves against you. You could tell that she really wanted to do that, because she was putting all her effort into eating your ass, and that was reflected in how good it was making you feel despite it being your mere first time experiencing it.

She seemed to have read your mind, as you felt your cock was quite needy, and she quickly took action, running a hand between your legs and reaching for your cock to grip between her fingers. Lia started to move her hand up your shaft slowly at first, but she was soon picking up the rhythm of her tongue on your ass, and she started to jerk you off with quick flicks of her wrist.

That was enough for you to start letting out small moans and clenching your fists. It felt strange and unusual to be so vulnerable in front of someone, but with Lia you felt safe, and of course she was doing a fantastic job while she ate your ass and gave your cock quick strokes simultaneously.

"Julia Choi, don't you dare even stop, holy fuck!" you growled, completely at the mercy of her tongue and her hand. She had you tamed 100%, as if she had suddenly turned you into her subby slave. You were enjoying that much more than you thought, and quickly your ecstasy began to build in your body. Your words were like fuel on the fire, Lia began to move her hand faster on your cock, and her tongue moved more frantically inside your ass, licks that she combined with constant movements of her head. Soon both stimuli became too much for you, and the first tingling in your lower abdomen gave you the warning, "Fuck Lia, I'm going to cum!"

As soon as you said that, Lia separated her face from between your buttocks and pulled you so that you turned around. Your cock was floating over her face, she stuck her tongue out, and she grabbed your cock to press the tip against it and start moving her hand quickly. Seconds later, with a loud moan, your cum began to come out in thick spurts that ended up directly in her mouth and her tongue.

You pursed your lips, and left your mouth ajar as you watched as Lia took all of your load on her tongue, now moving her hand more slowly. When your orgasm passed, a thick pool of cum pooled in her mouth, which she then swallowed without even thinking. She opened her mouth again, and showed you her tongue so you could see that there was absolutely nothing left.

"I'm not even going to ask you if you liked that, because judging by what's going down my stomach, I already have the answer," she said with a teasing tone, giving you a small smile.

"Just shut your mouth, please," you sighed, slumping back and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Hey, there's still something missing, honey," she walked over to you, and climbed onto your lap, pressing her pussy against your cock.

"And what could that be?" you asked, playing fool looking into her eyes.

"I still haven't been able to know how that cock feels inside me..." she started, rubbing your shoulders, "I want you to fuck me."

"You know I would never say no to that," you grabbed her by her waist, giving her a little kiss on her lips.

"I know you wouldn't," you made to kiss her again, but she backed away, "but, we'll use one of my new little toys."

"Uh?" you frowned in confusion. She got up from your lap and walked to her nightstand, opened the bottom drawer, and took out a long, swirled buttplug with a ring on the end for better handling, at least 5 inches long, and a small bottle of lube. You raised both eyebrows in surprise.

"You're going to fuck my pussy while I play with my ass," she commanded.

"Fuck yes baby," you stood up, and when she approached you, you grabbed her face to kiss her again. She took her hand to your cock, and even though it was still a little sensitive, you didn't care that she brought it back to life between slow strokes.

When she felt your cock was hard enough, she pulled away from the kiss and went to lie on her side in the center of the bed, she flexed her legs, giving you a perfect view of her pussy and ass at the same time. You climbed on the bed too, and when you were kneeling in front of her, she pressed the lubricant dispenser to pour it all over the buttplug and then spread it with her hand. Once the buttplug was perfectly shiny and slippery, she repeated the process with your cock, leaving it slippery and well lubricated as well.

Lia stared into your eyes, and without taking her eyes off you for a single second, she took the buttplug to her ass, pressing just a little against her hole so that it began to enter inch by inch inside her ass while her mouth opened in an O between gasps. Your cock throbbed at the incredibly hot and sexy scene, you saw the toy buried deep inside, with only the ring on the outside, and you understood that it was your turn to jump into action.

You took your cock in one hand, and rubbed the tip along the length of her wet slit to line up with her pussy, and slowly thrust forward. You wanted to make it as slow and torturous as possible, but your cock was so slippery, and her pussy was so naturally lubricated, that it slid so easily that in a matter of seconds you were all the way inside her. Lia let out a long, loud moan, feeling filled in both of her holes.

You and her got in perfect harmony, you started to move your hips slowly from front to back, and she started to move her wrist in the same rhythm, pumping the entire length of the buttplug in and out of her ass, which had you mesmerized by how fucking hot it looked getting fucked.

Your moans overlapped one on top of the other, the texture of the buttplug could be felt through the walls of her pussy, so it added an extra bit of stimulation to your cock as it slid in and out of her silky pussy. As if all that amount of pleasure wasn't enough, she took the bun that was still holding her hair and let it loose, with her long blonde hair now free, you were sure that Lia couldn't look more beautiful than she was already

"Faster, honey," she demanded between moans, when you were still moving your hips a little slowly.

"Beg for it, then," you replied, she didn't expect that answer, but she didn't have time to disagree.

"I'm not going to call you daddy like a little slut like Ryujin does, just fuck me harder please, I need it!" she whimpered, moving her wrist faster, fucking herself into her ass at the exact pace she demanded. For a moment, a question about it crossed your mind: 'How the hell did you know that Ryujin called you that'?

You didn't have time to think about it right now. You put a hand on her buttock, and she let out a high-pitched squeal as you gave her a hard spank and began to move your hips much faster, imitating the pace of her wrist. You grabbed her ass in a tight grip, feeling the soft flesh between your fingers as you pumped in and out of her pussy between low grunts.

Lia began to lose her sanity in a matter of seconds, it was too much pleasure for her, being fucked fast and hard in both holes, and you soon began to feel envy of that buttplug.

"I want to fuck your ass," you growled under your breath, and she didn't hesitate to comply with your wish.

She pulled the buttplug out of her ass, and switched it to her other hand as you reached out of her pussy to make the switch. Lia took the buttplug, now turned into a dildo, deep inside her pussy, and you took your cock right deep inside her ass, which was without a doubt, a sensation that almost took you to another spiritual plane. She now started fucking herself, pumping her wrist as fast as she could, and you started slamming her ass with your pelvis, fucking her hole with the force of a machine.

The room was filled with the sounds of flesh-on-flesh smacking and intense moans, diminishing in quantity as the pleasure drove her so insane that almost no sound came out of her mouth. She was close to cumming, and you knew it. You gave her another hard spank in the same spot, then clung to her waist to pound her ass hard. Lia dropped her head, her gaze blank as you gave your last thrusts until her body went into a chain of strong spasms and tremors.

Finally a long, loud moan left her mouth as you continued to mercilessly fuck her through her orgasm. You were already very close to your own ecstasy, so it didn't cross your mind for a second to even stop or fuck her slower even though she had already stopped moving her wrist. Lia looked at you with teary eyes and a completely weak face, as if you had taken her soul out of her body. She pulled the buttplug out of her pussy and left her hand loose while you shook her body like a rag doll. And a few more thrusts were enough for you to explode inside her ass.

You grunted loudly, and then a moan escaped you as you gave her your second load of the night, just as big and thick, inside her tight hole. Lia gasped, feeling her ass being completely filled with your hot thick liquid. You gave her a few more slow thrusts, making sure to get all of your seed inside her before pulling your cock out very slowly, so that all of the cum that had been left inside her gaping hole began to cascade down her thigh and then to the mattress.

You were sweating all over, and your breathing seemed like that of an Olympic cyclist after completing a circuit, so when you finished, you dropped to the side of her and instinctively, you put an arm over her body to hug her. Lia snuggled into you, with her back pressed against your chest, and then went completely still like you. You closed your eyes, and relaxed so that, minutes later, you fell completely asleep with the pretty frozen princess.

———————————————————————

Spren Notes:

I really have nothing to say here lol. Just enjoy it! I loved writing this shit.

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merlot-and-chardonnay · 3 months

Text

A Lark Among the Wolves and Dragons: Chapter 33

Chapter 32.5

Masterlist

Mentions of torture in the dream sequence portion followed by a cannon character death in this chapter.

-------Dream Sequence-------

"Ciri...Cirilla," Aemma stirs at the sound of a deep voice. She keeps her eyes closed, determine to stay asleep.

"Zireael!"

Aemma's eyes shot open. Looking ahead, she realized she was not in her bed anymore, but standing somewhere in a field yet again. A meadow actually. Once more, Aemma was wearing the simple dress she was in during her first dream when she saw her mother running with the Wild Hunt.

"Zireael," the deep voice says again, "Must I have this conversation with you again?" A figure stands before Aemma. He was tall in appearance, stoic, with short grey-ish hair with two short braids in front of his ears and grey eyes that seemed to be older then the man before her. No, not a man, an elf, hence the pointed ears. He was dressed in a long slate grey tunic with a sash wrapped around the middle. He also sported prominent high cheek bones, which Aemma thought were more striking then his ears.

The elf stared at Aemma, giving her a paternalistic, scolding look.

"I need to save them," Another voice speaks up, passing Aemma like she was made of mist. Aemma's eyes widen as she recognized the woman who stepped through her; it was Cirilla, the woman from the Gwent card. The elf however, Aemma remembered, called her a different name.

"I need to save them, Avallac'h," Ciri insists, "they are in danger, I need to get them away from the Wild Hunt." "There fate is out of your hands," the elf, Avallac'h says, placing a hand on Ciri's shoulder. "You don't know that!" Ciri pushes the elf away, "you may be an all knowing sage, but you don't know everything. I can save Geralt and (y/n), I just need to get close enough and open a portal to bring them back to my world." Avallac'h merely gives Ciri a disappointed look, "and if you fail? Or say perhaps you succeed, but at the cost of your own life. Do you believe Eredin will spare you simply for the sake of your gift? If you interfere, if you act against him, he will act rashly in anger, he won't think twice to plunge his sword through you." "I have to try," Ciri insists once more, "Eredin and his lackeys are hurting them both as we speak, I fear most for (y/n), she's already been through enough in her life as it is." "What the Lady of Larks has been through was tragic," Avallac'h agrees, "but I will not have you put yourself at risk. Not when there is already too much at stake. Remember what I have told you about the White Frost."

"...and if I were to die," Ciri says in a whisper, "you said....that there was another."

Aemma's eyes widen at this piece of information. Who was this other? "If something happened to me, you could find her and mentor her as you have me." "I never said there was another," Avallac'h corrects, "I said she may possess a similar power as you do as a result of what occurred at Kaer Morhen. I do not know for certain, I possess no concrete evidence to go on other then what I know." "Pfft you've acted on more for a lot less then what you know, all Knowing One!" Ciri exclaims in frustration, "Need I remind you of the things I've endured at Tir Na Lia?!"

Avallac'h looked away, like he was ashamed, "I deeply regret how I acted on Tir Na Lia, Zireael," he admits, "I put you in situations you did not feel safe in, believing it was for the greater good." "And now (y/n) and Geralt are enduring worse, and will continue to do so for the 'greater good'," Ciri says in a low tone.

Aemma then heard a loud scream somewhere in the distance, one of agony. She felt herself being pulled towards the screams. The princess was suddenly in a different place. A room inside where candles were the only source of light. Only a chair and table filled the room as part of the decor.

"I grow impatient with you, dh'oine," a deep voice sneers, bringing Aemma's attention to the figure. The figure in question was dressed in the dark armor similar to what she'd seen the Wild Hunt sport. The helmet was uncovered, revealing his face; long dark raven hair, and point ears with a handsome yet terrifying face. Another elf; Aemma remembered what the elf Cedric had told her, that the Wild Hunt were elves from another world, the Aen Elle, and were referred to as the Red Riders.

The person this Red Rider was interrogating was a woman with dark hair and tan skin with a stout-ish physique. Aemma realized right away who it was despite the black eye and bruises she sported on her face and exposed skin. "I told you," (y/n) manages to breathe out, "I don't know anything about the silver blonde dragon girl's gift. I didn't know she possessed such a gift, how would I know such things?" The elf grabs (y/n) by the throat and slowly lifts her to face him. "Are you not the girl's mother? Should you not know the things?" "She was taken from me when she was still a tot," (y/n) spits, "I never had time to know. Maybe you should go and ask the girl's father, give him the same treatment you've been giving me and the others you've been bringing into your fold."

The tall elf tilted his head, bringing a finger to trace (y/n)'s cheek, "you may be telling the truth," he admits, "but then again, you may be lying." He tosses (y/n) to the floor as one would a rag doll. (Y/n) lays there before she sits up some and spits out some blood, "fuck you, Eredin," she sneers, "Even if I knew what my daughter was capable of I'll never tell you anything. Go ahead and do what you will to me. I've known worse torture by lesser hands."

The elf, Eredin, only made a smile yet wicked smile, "you say that now. But perhaps we can...loosen your tongue by other means."

Right on cue, two elves in dark armor walked into the room, helmets uncovered revealing their faces; one had a long braid that went past his waist with a tattoo on his face, and the second elf had short blonde hair that was parted in a way that covered half his face...or at least attempted to cover, but wasn't able to conceal the scars that marred his rather handsome face. Almost like scratched porcelain.

Between the two elves was a man, one Aemma realized right away; the man with white hair, gold eyes, and the silver wolf medallion. (Y/n)'s eyes widen when she recognized the man as well, who looked like he had just gone through a painful interrogation. "Tell me what you know of the girl, tell me of her gift," Eredin demands again, "or better yet, tell me where to find the Swallow instead. Or..." He gestures an order for one of his riders to sock the witcher across the jawline. "Stop! Stop it!" (y/n) shouts, "I swear, I don't know anything! She was taken from me when she was still a child, when she was barely talking, I don't know anything!"

"Mama?" Aemma calls out, "Mama, I'm right here. I'm here for you!" "Just leave Geralt alone! Leave Ciri alone!" "Mama, where are you? I'll come for you! I'll get you away from this place!" LEAVE AEMMA ALONE!!" "MAMA!!!!"

----------------end dream sequence--------------

Aemma woke screaming as she nearly rolled out of bed. Cold sweat broke out, dripping from her brow as she panted. She quickly looks around, realizing she was back in her bed chambers...in Nilfgaard. That's right, she remembers, she and her family are still being hosted by the Nilfgaardian prince, who had made an offer of betrothal between her and the prince's son. Her father had yet to make a definitive answer, but seeing as they've been staying in this place for the last several months, to the point where her stepmother was due to give birth to her next child, and seeing how Morvran has been keeping to courting the young princess, it seems Aemma may be married off after all.

Aemma looked over to the mantle and saw the smoldering embers that still burned in the fire place. She gets out of bed and wonders over to the mantle, kneeling over and placing her hands over to feel the fading warmth. She needed to feel something...anything, if only to make her forget that awful nightmare...no not a nightmare, it couldn't have been.

But maybe it was...it all felt so real. Was her mother out there in some world outside this one? Being tortured by the Wild Hunt? The leader of the Wild Hunt, the King...Eredin, that was his name, he mentioned something about a girl with a gift. It was her, Aemma knew this, and she possessed a gift. She remembered what Cedric told her, that she had a gift that was given to her by accident, and that she needed to go to the place of her birth in order to better understand this gift.

She needed to go back to Dragonstone.

"Aemma?" a soft voice brings Aemma back to reality. She looks to see her stepmother walk in, and she saw the state Aemma was in, "oh sweetling, what happened?" "Muna? What...did I wake you?" "I've been up for a while," Laena assures. "You should be resting," Aemma insists, "you are due to give birth again, you shouldn't-" "I think I know what I should be doing," Laena assures, "I'm more worried for your well-being, Aemma. You've had another nightmare, haven't you?" Aemma looks to the ground, nodding in confirmation.

Laena came closer and pulled Aemma in for a side hug; the Velaryon woman remembered full well the nightmares Aemma endured as a child, ones that plague her at night of her mother the Lady of Larks being taken away by the White Wolf, and later Laena being the one taken away. Now it looked like history was repeating itself.

"Are you worried for your family?" Laena asks, "for me? For the new life I am to bring into this world soon?" "I'm not worried," Aemma tries to assure, but Laena knew that was a lie. "No of course not," she says to her stepdaughter, "why else would make a request for your potential betrothed to bring the finest Nilfgaard physicians and midwives to employment in this place?" Aemma took one of Laena's hand and held it in hers, "I...I don't wish for my sisters to know pain I know." There was truth to this statement, but also Aemma didn't want to lose Laena either; she already lost one mother, she was not prepared to lose the only other mother figure in her life. Alicent and Rhaenyra may have made attempts to be such for Aemma, but as the girl had grown older, she felt the way both women showed their affection for her did not feel...well she wasn't sure how to describe it, apart from them way they would try to one up each other in doting on the motherless princess. But Lady Laena...her affection and love for Aemma always felt genuine as she treated the princess as she had the daughters she birthed. Aemma always found a safe place with her stepmother, and it wasn't something she wanted to lose.

Laena knew what Aemma was speaking of when she made that statement, "the birthing bed can be a brutal place," she admits, "and there is no guarantee that those involved will all make it out in one piece." "...that's not going to happen you, mother," Aemma says softly, "you'll make it through this as you have before. We'll sail back home to Dragonstone and then to Driftmark to see grandmother and grandsire. You'll see your children grow and wed, and you'll see your grandchildren as well. We'll be a family as we've always have been."

Aemma leaned further into Laena who gave her a kiss on the temple. She guides Aemma back to the bed and tucks her in, giving her a kiss on the brow. "I love you, Muna," Aemma says as she closes her eyes. "I love you too, sweetling," she hears Laena says as she drift off back to sleep.

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

The remainder of the night was uneventful, but when Aemma woke in the morning, she needed to speak to her father.

Daemon was had not been present with the rest of the family when they had gone to break their fast, so Aemma wondered hoping to look for the man. Eventually she found him in library looking over a text that she assumed was written in the Common Tongue as Daemon himself could not speak a word of Nilfgaardian despite having been here for months (worth noting Aemma as been learning to how to speak the language slowly but surely as she may need to use it in the near future should she remain in this place).

"Father," Aemma greets to which Daemon nods in acknowledgement though he seemed more preoccupied with the book. Aemma took a seat across from Daemon, hoping she could have a moment of his time. The two hadn't really spoken much after their conversation their first night in this palace, even though Daemon had promised he would talk to Aemma some more about her mother, and every time Aemma tried to bring it up, the man would merely dance around the subject or just avoid it entirely. "Father," Aemma speaks again, "I...I was wondering if you speak to me of my mother, like you promised you would." Daemon said nothing, but he stop looking at the book and faced his daughter instead. "What do you wish to know?" he asks. "I...what was she like?" Aemma asks, "how did she come to King's Landing? How...how did the two of you meet?" "Aemma, I've told you that story before," Daemon tells her, "We met in a tavern where she sang to the patrons, I invited her to court to sing for your cousin Rhaenyra's nameday and Rhaenyra welcomed your mother to sing for her indefinitely." "Yes, I've heard that story?" Aemma asks, "the same one you've told me when I was a child. I'm not a child anymore, father, what...what really happened to my mother." "It's the same story I've told you before as a child," Daemon insists, "she was abducted by the White Wolf, stolen from the Red Keep in the dead of night by that...mutant freak." "Yes but...how did the White Wolf steal into the Red Keep in the first place?" Aemma asks, "how did he sneak past the Kingsguard? How...how could he have known about the secret passageways in the Keep when very few in our family even know about it?"

Daemon looks up to Aemma, an undecipherable look in his face, "I've been thinking about the story lately," she admits, "and some of those things don't add up." "...he must've used his mutated magic to find a way in," he provides for an explanation. "Is there any proof that...his kind are capable of those kind of feats?" Aemma asks. "Does it matter?" "It matters to me!" Aemma snaps, taking her father by surprise. "I'm sorry, it's just...when I first came to the Continent, I...I met some people, who told me a different story," she decides to admit, "they say my mother left King's Landing on her own..with him...some even said she escaped. Was...was my mother a prisoner?" "Those people you've met we're clearly lying," Daemon slams the book shut. "Well, I mean it is...a possibility," Aemma admits, looking the other way from Daemon's intense and angered gaze, "but they all seemed convinced that that was the case. I...I don't-" "You would believe strangers over your own father?" Daemon lightly challenges, "Aemma, that is not like you." "I'm not saying I am," Aemma quickly shakes her head, noticing the agitated look on Daemon's face again which was accompanied by an angry look he's never given her before.

She quickly averts her gaze.

Daemon sighs, not wanting to scare his daughter away, "I...I loved your mother Aemma," Daemon says in a soft voice, coming closer to lightly hug Aemma to the side, "I would never have wished her harm. It tore me apart that I could not save her." Aemma wanted to ask if he was speaking of that night in the Red Keep, or if he was speaking of what happened to her in Rivia, but she didn't want to risk angering him again. He's never given Aemma any reason to believe he would ever strike her or hurt her, but he could still be scary as a dragon when he was angry.

"I know you loved her father," Aemma nods, "forgive me for doubting." "Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise," Daemon whispers as places a kiss on Aemma's hair.

"Prince Daemon," a servant interrupts the conversation, "your wife is looking for you, she said it was most urgent." Daemon nods and follows the servant to wherever Laena was.

Aemma sighed a bit, wondering if there really was more to this story then her father would admit, if there was more then anyone else she's met actually knew. If only she could find someone else who could set the record straight.

Right on cue, another servant came, stating that Aemma's presence was required in one of the studies by Morvran Voorhis. Aemma nods and follows.

"You called for me?" Aemma knocks on the door lightly to get Morvran's attention as he was busy writing down some letters. "Ah, yes, one moment," he finishes a letter, places the seal and has the messenger take it to wherever.

"I have some information for you, princess," Morvran tells her, "as you have requested concerning the Lady of Larks." Aemma does her best to conceal the emotions she was feeling right now, as it had been months since she made this request. "Well, you certainly took your time," Aemma says. "A necessity as our Lady in question was spotted in multiple places; one must fact check with various sources in order to discover the truth," Morvran admits.

"And what is the truth?" Aemma asks.

"The Lady of Larks was seen in many places on the Continent in the last ten years or so," Morvran explains, "Oxenfurt, Novigrad, some places in Redania and Aedirn. The last place she was officially seen before her untimely demise in Rivia was the Duchy of Toussaint." "Toussaint? I've heard of that. They say it is a magical place." "Indeed," Morvran nods, "there is...something else of interest." "Go on." "Thirteen years ago, the Lady of Larks, as you have mentioned, was seen in King's Landing, only to disappear without a trace. Months later she returned, with what witnesses describe as a babe in her arms." "She...she had a child?" Aemma feigns surprise, though there was something of a shock. The child had to been her, but Aemma had been told she was born on Dragonstone that her father had brought her mother there when she was with child; no one had ever deigned to tell Aemma the Lady of Larks had disappeared before that fateful night when the princess was still a tot.

"Is...what do these sources say of the babe?" Morvran only shakes his head, "not much. There is...no definitive answer as to where the child was born. Some even doubt the Lady Lark ever had a child at all as she was never seen with the babe again when she returned to the Continent." "What about family?" Aemma asks, "perhaps she left the child with someone she trusted be it kin or otherwise."

"The Lady of Larks is said to be of relations with a nobleman," Morvran confirms, "his true name is...not well known, despite his fame throughout the Continent, but he is the Lady of Lark's older brother." "What is his name? Or what name does he go by?" "He goes by the moniker of...Jaskier."

Aemma does her best to conceal the swirling emotions. The name of the man was the same name shown on the card of the Bard that shared a deck with her mother. Aemma suddenly flashback to the vision she had of her mother who was pregnant and walking through the snow with another man who dressed similar to the man on the Gwent card. (y/n), in her dream, called the man Julian. They really were related; the Lady (y/n) had a brother...and that meant this man was Aemma's uncle. Her uncle was somewhere on the Continent.

"I don't suppose you could tell me where this Jaskier was last seen," she says once she shakes herself of the shock. "Again, the sources vary," Morvran tells her, "but the last definitive place was Toussaint; he was said to have an...infamous affair with the Duchess Anna Henrietta."

"Sounds like all roads lead to Toussaint then," Aemma nods as she stands, "thank you, Morvran. This was helpful." "Wait," Morvran stops her, "I gave what you had requested, Aemma, now I ask you grant me one request in return." Aemma nods, not sure what to expect. "Your family has been here for several months now," Morvran explains, "and it has occurred to me that I have not once ever had the honor of meeting your dragons, at least yours. In person specifically; it is one thing to see them in the sky, I would wish to see one up close." "I...suppose I could make time on the morrow to introduce you to Cirillia," Aemma nods, "if we are indeed to be bonded in marriage as your father wishes, then perhaps it is only fitting my...intended share some kind of bond with my dragon."

Aemma walks out of the study, processing what she had learned. If anyone could actually set the record straight, apart from her mother, then it would be the next best thing which in this case is her next of kin. Question now is where could she find this long lost uncle. Perhaps she would need to start in Toussaint.

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

Later that night, Aemma tried to sleep, but her mind was still swirling with so many thoughts over what she learned today. In addition, she was afraid to sleep for fear she would experience the same nightmares she had the night before.

She heard screams from outside, forcing her to sit up in bed. Aemma, placed a hand over her mouth, realizing it was Laena; her stepmother was going into labor again. Aemma knelt by the bed in prayer at this moment; to whatever gods where up there be they the gods of Old Valyria or to the Mother from the Seven with hopes that her Muna and the child she was to bring into this world would survive the brutal battlefield that is the birthing bed.

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

Laena screamed with each push and each contraction, but still nothing had come as her labors continued. She was exhausted, close to losing consciousness both from her labors and the loss of blood, and fear starting to settle in that she may not make it out of this alive.

Daemon meanwhile stood by the door, hoping beyond hope that the physicians and midwives would be able to save his wife and deliver the babe that was fighting to come into this world. Alas, the doctor approached Daemon with a somber look in his eye, "I'm exhausted every technique I can muster," he informs the prince, "the babe...will not come." "...Oh my brave girl," Daemon mutters, knowing what this meant, "is...is there nothing that can be done?"

"There is...one technique I can try," the physician admits, "we can bring the babe out by means of the knife. Cut open the womb to save the babe." "Will the mother survive it?" Daemon asks. The physician shakes his head. Daemon shakes his own head back as answer when the physician looked to him asking permission to carry out the procedure. The prince would not put his wife through that. There was nothing that could be done.

Before anything else could be said or done, Laena got up from the bed, knowing there was nothing that could be done to save her or the child. She was not about to leave this world the same way the late Queen of Westeros had. If she was to die, it was to be on her terms. If Laena Velaryon was to leave this world and her children, then she would do so as who she was always was meant to be...a dragon rider.

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

Silence was heard in the halls, and Aemma wondered if that meant her new sibling was born, and if her mother had survived. Aemma looked out the room to see what was going on. It was quiet.

Then Aemma heard a sound from outside the castle. A low groan from one of the dragons. It sounded like Vhagar...and it sounded like she was sad.

Aemma looked outside to see the great dragon was out there lying where she always did when she wasn't flying. And below she saw a figure approaching the beast. Aemma could see the figure staggering, like they were struggling to walk. Eyes wide, Aemma knew right away who it was. She quickly rush out the room and down the halls, not sure what she was going to do, or what she could do, but she was desperate.

Alas, by the time Aemma reached the outside, it was too late.

Laena cried out the command in High Valyrian in utter agony, and Vhagar...reluctant as she was, opened her mouth and the flames that came forth surround and consume her rider, who welcomed the firey death as a great embrace.

Aemma couldn't even scream, after what she had just witnessed. She could only falter to her knees, tears spilling forth as she started to mourn for the second time in her life over the loss of a mother.

Daemon stood behind Aemma, saying nothing and silently grieving as he knelt and held Aemma in his arms while Aemma called for her Muna in tears.

Chapter 34

#hotd #the witcher #daemon targaryen #laena velaryon #rhaena targaryen #baela targaryen #morvran voorhis #avallac'h #crevan espane aep caomhan macha #ciri #eredin breacc glas #caranthir #imlerith #oc #geralt of rivia #geralt x reader #jaskier

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