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kirispiracy · 3 years

Text

It’s a Love-Hate Thing

characters: frat boy!hawks x f!reader, brief mentions of mirko and members of the LOV

genre: smut. nsfw. 18+

notes/warnings: frat!au, college!au, hate-sex, degradation, dirty talk, mentions of alcohol, mentions of political science (deffo the scariest thing in here), swearing uuuuh lmk if i forgot anything

words: 3.6k

If someone were to ask you how you ended up here, you would have bitterly pointed towards your now drunk roommate, Rumi. She had spent two hours begging you to accompany her to Lambda Omega Vi’s biggest party of the year: their post-rush celebration. As if it wasn’t bad enough that you had an avid hatred for greek life, the LOV’s ‘brothers’ were renoundedly the douchiest boys on campus.

Yet, Rumi had pleaded with you, and bargained with dish duty. If you went, she would do all of the dishes for a month. She knew as soon as your eyes narrowed and head titled that she had you. After some fluttered lashes and a sweet pout, it was a done deal. And, damn, were you pissed.

You stood in the corner of a musty, bare living room. There was something bassy and synthetic pumping through a large speaker, and sweaty bodies mingled in the middle of the room. From the sidelines, you played a little game you had made up after your first quarter on campus.

That one is Shiggy; his lips were always chapped, and skin always parched, yet there was always a gorgeous girl attached to his arm. Jin was running the game of beer pong; people around school called him Twice, but the stories always varied as to how that name originated (you heard it was ‘cuz he gave the same girl an STD twice). As your eyes flitted around the room, your face contorted in displeasure. The LOV really was the bottom of the barrel.

That’s when you saw him. The bane of your fucking existence. Keigo fuckin’ Takami. What a prick. You had the displeasure of meeting Keigo in your second quarter Intro to Political Thought class. It was a large lecture, and you sat in the back, making sure to keep at least a few seats between you and the nearest person. You were only taking this class as a GE, and had no interest in making friends with the poli sci majors. Of course, when Keigo came in, he plopped down in the seat right next to yours. His knee bumped yours and he had a sleazy smirk on his face.

He did that every lecture-bumped into you, lazily grinning and never saying a word unless it looked like you were about to get up and move. Then he would need a pencil, despite the one sitting on top of his notebook, or he’d ask for a piece of gum, or ask you to catch him up on the reading he didn’t do. Thus, you were trapped with him for a painful ten weeks. As the quarter progressed, so did his shameless fuckboy behavior. No matter how scathingly you shut him down, he was on you like a fungus.

When you had found out he was part of the LOV, it made everything click. Some girl had come up to him during one of your last lectures, batting her eyelashes, and when you heard her call him Hawks oh so sweetly, you didn’t let him live it down. Every time you saw him it was, hey Hawky, you absolute dumbass. He simply played along, calling you princess and his little dove with a dazzling smile each time. And fuck if it didn’t make you want to bash your head against a wall.

Thus, this is what your relationship became; any chance meetings across campus after that first class together consisted of his shameless flirting and your anti-fraternity war, which always inevitably turned into more bickering. Others would snicker when they witnessed the two of you, resulting in your heads whipping around to face whoever it was, sure to make a point of letting them know just how much you couldn’t stand each other.

So here you were, glaring at him from across his living room, while his arm was thrown around some wasted sorority girl. You nursed your cup of spiked punch, wincing at the cheap alcohol with every sip you took . Then, Keigo caught your gaze. Your eyes locked with his for far too long, but you weren’t going to back down first. Eyes narrowed, you worked your hardest to force all of your anger and hatred into your stare. But when he winked, you practically spit up your punch. You scoffed and flipped him off, turning away after drinking in his initial expression of shock.

Working your way into the kitchen, you smiled behind your cup. Damn, that felt good. Maybe it was petty, but fuck that guy. As you reached the chip bowl, you felt a hand curl around your wrist. You jumped in surprise, whipping around to see Rumi giggling and looking up at you.

“Hey (Y/N)! Hi. Ok, so I know I begged you to come with me, and I know you’re my ride. But um,” she glanced behind her and as your eyes followed her gaze, you understood what she was getting at. “I think I’m gonna uh, catch a ride with Dabi right now.” She was biting her lip, “I’ll still do the dishes for a month, I swear. And the good news is you can totally leave now!”

You sighed and nodded, muttering a just be safe and text me, then she was running off, jumping into who you assumed was Dabi’s arms. After watching them disappear, you went to dump the rest of the punch down the kitchen sink. No point in staying here any longer. Thankfully you had barely had anything to drink, so all that was left to do was grab your purse and get the hell out of here.

Up the stairs, second door on the left. That’s where your stuff should have been. Every time you had been to one of these parties, the hosting fraternity usually offered up a safe room for everyone to keep their belongings. This time it was someone’s bedroom, and when you walked in only to see your purse wasn’t where you had left it, panic began to rise in your throat. There was no way someone had taken it, right? Then, the door behind you shuts, the lock clicking.

“Looking for this, doll?”

Oh absolutely not. Keigo stood in front of the door, your purse dangling from his fingers, that same unbearable smirk on his face. You didn’t respond, instead crossing your arms and stalking over to where he stood. “You know, I didn’t really appreciate your little stunt earlier, (Y/N). I thought we were buds!” He was looking down at you, mock hurt across his face. The fact that he remembered your name made your pulse jump just the slightest.

“What the fuck do you want, Hawks?” You spat out the nickname, taking a step back from him so you could look him level in the eyes. He put your purse behind him and took a step closer.

“Aw, c’mon dove. You know I only like it when you use that special little nickname lovingly.” Keigo’s hand was on the back of his neck, and the display of bullshit modesty made you roll your eyes. In the back of your mind you were thinking how adorable he looked, but you shook those thoughts from your head.

“Keigo, I’m trying to go home, and I don’t understand what the fuck you think you’re doing in here, or what little game you think you’re playing, but you better get out of my way.” You were desperate to sound in control of the situation, but your voice had softened half way through. Of course he noticed, and he took another step towards you.

“I just wanted to see why you thought it would be cute to do me dirty like you did down there, dove. What could I have done to deserve being embarrassed like that in front of my guests, hm?” He imitated you, crossing his arms. His chest was puffed out a little, but he was still smirking at you

You attempted to make a snatch for your bag, but he was too quick.

“Tsk tsk tsk. C’mon now darlin’. Thought you were smarter than that.” His arms had shot out and caught hold of your shoulders. His grip was like steel, and you were starting to feel a little uneasy. He was staring down at you like he was a predator, and you were already a dead thing he had dragged into his den. “I think I’m gonna need an apology for all the trouble you’ve been causing me tonight, dove.” He was shoving you down, and your knees hit the rug on the floor with a thud.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” You were looking up at him, his hands still on your shoulders keeping you against the floor. You despised the way his surprise show of strength forced heat to rush between your legs. One of his hands left your shoulder to cup your cheek, a finger hooked under your chin.

“I’m just doing something I’ve wanted to do since I first saw you last year. Don’t you think you could behave? Don’t you think you owe me some sort of apology?” Keigo was frowning now, gazing down at you through his lashes. Fuck, he was gorgeous. “Now be a good girl.” His hand cupped your face, thumb leaving your chin to trace your lips, while the other left your shoulder and started working on his pants.

“W-what are you-” You were cut off by Keigo shoving his thumb into your mouth, and when you let out a little hum, he beamed down at you. He was unzipping his jeans, doing his best to pull them down with one hand. It was then you noticed his cock hardening under his pants.

“Look at you, already cooing for me. Thought you were gonna give me a harder time than this, dove. What a slut.” He was mocking you, you were sure of it. Yet at his words your cunt clenched. Still, he was wrong; you were gonna give him a hard time. You bit down on his thumb, and he hissed. “Fuck, you really are a brat. Better not try that when I have my cock in that smart mouth of yours.”

He pulled his cock free from his boxers, and your eyes widened just the tiniest bit. He wasn’t particularly thick, but long, with just a hint of a curve. His cock was was throbbing, and he grabbed himself with the hand that was previously pulling down his pants.

When he squeezed himself, he tensed up and shuddered. “Alright dove, open up.” He slapped the head of his cock against your cheek, leaving a trail of precum. He tapped it again against your bottom lip when you refused to take his orders, and something about the obscenity of Keigo smacking your face with his cock had your mouth dropping open involuntarily.

“Good girl, I knew you had it in you to be a good girl for me.” Both his hands wrapped into the hair at the back of your head, and without a second of hesitation, he’s fucking your face.

His hips are thrusting lazily, and his cock is hitting the back of your throat. Your gagging and whimpering only seems to egg him on, and he pushes your face forward until your nose is against his pubic bone. You’re trying to fight the heat rising in your belly, but it’s no use. Impossibly, this is the hottest thing anyone has ever done to you.

“Aw, darlin’, look at you crying over how I fuck that smart little mouth of yours. Does it hurt? Feels so good for me, dove. Love watching you cry too.” You hadn’t even realized the tears falling from your eyes, too busy focusing on your breathing. While you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t thought of Keigo in a sexual way, you definitely had never pictured anything like this. Yet, you were enjoying yourself almost as much as he was.

You glanced up at him, eyes watery and lashes heavy. His face was flushed pink, his lips parted and breath panting. He was holding you against him as if you two were glued together, practically grinding against your face, cock pulsating against your tongue. The whines falling from his lips were music to your ears; he was gasping and sputtering, hips moving a little bit more erratically. The wetness in your panties was growing, along with your frustration. There was no way he was going to cum just like that and leave you here to pick up the mess; there was no way you were gonna let him use you.

When your teeth gently grazed his cock and you started shimmying away from him, Keigo groaned, head falling and hands tugging on your hair. You pulled off of his cock with a pop, stood up, wiped your face of any tears, and pulled your fingers through your hair.

“Sorry, birdy, but I am gonna give you a hard time. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” You squirm around him while he’s trying to catch his breath to grab your purse. It’s almost in your clutches when you’re slammed against the door.

“Think I’m gonna let you leave just like that, dove?” His voice is hot in your ear, and his hands are holding yours above your head, pinning them to the wood of the door. “Think that being a brat is gonna keep me from taking what I want?” He presses his still bare, still throbbing cock against your ass.

You stifle the groan begging to be let out, instead opting to egg him further. “I think you’re a real piece of shit, Keigo. Just another no good, douchey frat boy.”

“Hm, yeah I bet you do. Doesn’t mean you’re not gonna let this douchey frat boy abuse that slutty pussy of yours though, right? Gonna let me take advantage of you even if you fuckin’ hate me, isn’t that right, dove?” He smells like body wash and faintly of beer, and his skin is burning everywhere it’s touching yours. At his filthy words you keen, and rut your ass against his cock. “Mmm, of course you are. All bark ‘nd no bite, huh?”

He puts both of your wrists in one of his hands, and lets the other wander down. His fingers graze your waist, pushing up the material of your t-shirt. Then he’s moving up, hand cupping your breasts, fingers grazing against your nipple through the thin material of your bra. You whine and continue pushing yourself against him, wanting more.

“God, you talk too much Keigo. Too scared to actually fuck me? I doubt you’d be able to make me cum. Bet most the girls you’ve been with have faked it-” You know what you’re doing is dangerous, but you’re already here so why not. Keigo lets out something akin to growl, rumbling from deep in his chest. He’s pulling your shirt over your bra, then tugging the skimpy material down under your breasts.

“Alright, now you’ve really pissed me off brat. I’m gonna make it so the only words you remember are my name and please.” He pinches a nipple, twisting the sensitive nub between his fingers, and bites down on your neck. A moan is pitching from the back of your throat when he brings his hand up from your tits, clamping it down over your mouth. “You’re not gonna make a god damn peep unless I give you permission to, dove. Now just fuckin’ behave and keep your hands up high like that for me.”

He releases the grip he had on your wrists, and you can already feel the bruises that will be covering them tomorrow. Suddenly he’s working on your jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping with minimal fumbling, and yanking your pants and panties down in one swift motion. Once they’re past your knees, and your ass is bare to him, he’s humming in approval, hand gliding over your cheeks, grabbing, kneading, pinching.

Finally, he’s running a finger across your slit, avoiding your clit, just barely fluttering past your hole, only touching your pussy enough to collect your wetness on his fingertips.

“Such a high and mighty attitude, but look at you princess. So wet, and I’ve barely touched you. All that just from sucking my cock?” You can feel yourself start to whine against his hand, wanting to shoot back some bitchy response, but when he hears your voice starting up in your throat, he shoves two fingers into your mouth. “Nuh uh, dove. Told you not a sound til’ I say so.”

Right as he says it, he pulls your hips back, giving himself the perfect angle to slam his cock into you. There was no warning, just his cock head suddenly kissing the entrance of your cunt and then the pleasurable stretch of being filled. His fingers shoved themselves backwards into your throat in time with his cock, as if to prevent you from even the littlest bit of noise at the intrusion.

The pace he sets is ruthless, and apart from his pants and whines, the only sound in the room is skin hitting skin as his hips fuck up against your ass. Your knees start to quake, and you paw at the door, relishing the cool feeling of the wood against your skin as compared to the heat of Keigo’s. Your pussy is fluttering; he’s hitting all these spots inside of you with minimal effort, and each time you clench around him he leans forward to press a kiss against your neck.

“Alright pretty girl, I’m gonna take my fingers outta that smart mouth now, and the only thing I wanna hear is how good I’m making you feel. Can tell by the way your sluttly little hole clenches around me that I’m makin’ you feel good, dove.”

As soon as his fingers leave your mouth your gasping and whimpering and making the prettiest noises Keigo’s ever heard. If only he could hear you like this more often, instead of you running your mouth at him. He let himself hold on to the musing; he would absolutely love to fuck the hatred you had for him right out of your body. Ain’t no time like the present.

He’s fucking you with more fervor now, in his mind he has a goal. Your head feels light as he eggs you on, practically begging you to use your words and tell him how good he’s making his little dove feel. God, every time he calls you that you’re practically seeing stars. Still, you don’t want to comply, to give him the satisfaction, but then his cock finds that weak spot inside of you and you’re babbling out praises.

“K-Keigo, feels so good. You’re making me feel so good. Fuck. God dammit.” You want to hate that one of your least favorite people is making you drip all over his cock, but it just feels perfect and you can’t even think anymore about all the nasty things you’ve said to each other beyond the context of now, of fucking like it’s the only thing you two should have ever been doing.

When his hand reaches down to play with your clit, you’re practically lost to the world. The only thing that matters is here and now and the feeling of it all. Your nails are scratching against the door, and you’re confident anyone walking by would get an unpleasant earful of two idiots going at it like there’s no tomorrow. You’re mumbling and whining and grinding your hips up to meet Keigo’s thrusts.

He doesn’t think he can hold himself back much longer, not with the way you're mewling and squirming and fluttering all over his cock, and he’s about ready to beg your orgasm forth. “C’mon dove, can’t have you on my cock all night. Need you to cum for me. Gotta feel you cum on my cock, darlin’.” His thrusts are sloppier, and his head is resting on your shoulder. He’s abusing your clit, rubbing harsh, tight circles, and his other hand is attached to a nipple, kneading and pinching.

“Fuckk-k, please (Y/N).” His voice is airy and needy, and hearing your name fall from his mouth like that brings your orgasm crashing down on you. Your muscles spasm as your pussy clenches down on Keigo’s cock, and he lets out a moan as he cums with you. He fucks both of you through your highs, burying his cum deep in your cunt.

Then he’s pulling out, his head still on your shoulder, when you hear the sound of a zipper being pulled up. You feel a chill as he pulls away from you, ass bare, dripping with cum.

“Well, that was fun, huh smart ass?” Keigo is looking in a small vanity mirror situated on the dresser in the bedroom, fixing his hair and adjusting his shirt. You stand up, legs wobbly, thighs sticky, head spinning. “Maybe we could do it again some time; I think I like you more when you’re fucked stupid and can’t talk shit at me.” He shoots you a wink and a smirk, and you stand there, in front of the door blinking at him.

“So uh, I have a party to get to downstairs, and it looks like you were gonna be heading out anyways. Might wanna um,” he gestures to your undressed state, then gently guides you out from in front of the door. “Well, catch ya later dumplin’.” With a grin and, was that a fucking shaka, Keigo is out the door. You hear his footsteps fading down the stairwell, and you begin to process what just happened as you fix your clothing and grab your bag.

That little son of a bitch.

#hawks x reader #mha x reader #keigo x reader #smut #mha smut #my fic #hawks smut #im nervous abt this one but aaaaaah here we gooo #ty sm clari for reading it for me first ilysm yr my number 1 kith kith #also this was inspired by a conversation w tempest n written for her hehehehehe i hope u like it bb

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magicalshitposts · 3 years

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Hyrule Pride Week 2021

Day 1 - Gender Neutral

(TW: slight swearing, slight transphobia (not under the cut))

Maybe it was a bold guess, but from the second the two royal researchers met the knight, they knew. Robbie called it instinct, Purah called it seeing Link flinch a little every time anybody referred to them as a term that did not fit.

It was the first time Robbie and Purah had met the champions (Bar the and Purah’s sister of course), so like the man normally does for both him and his boss, he talked pronouns.

They went in a line, starting with the researchers,

“I’m a cis male, go by he/him.” Robbie clicked his fingers in the direction of Purah.

“Oh, you guys can call me whatever, but I lean more to she/her! Revali?”

“This is ridiculous, I’m a man.” The bird spoke, rather harshly.

“Doesn’t answer the question feathers.” Robbie clicked his tounge, waiting for the Rito champion to say something different before Purah jumped in.

“And with an attitude like that darlin’, you’ll be ‘a man’ standing outside while the grownups work”

Robbie smiled proudly, goddess he was lucky to have a best friend like her.

Everyone looked expectantly towards him, so Revali had no choice but to soften up, “I guess that means he/him, yes?”

Mipha was next, she smiled widely, “I use she and her pronouns!”

“Urbosa, I don’t quite uh… get it.” Daruk looked to the other person in the group who might be as lost as him. She was about to answer when she saw the researchers jump at the chance to educate.

“Go on then.” She grinned towards them, “She/her please, by the way.”

“Thank you Chief.” Purah winked to be met with scolding looks by her sister, “So Daruk, pronouns are a set of words that a person -Terrako beeped- or thing uses to be referred to as. So, there are two types of pronouns, pronouns and neopronouns, and there are two type of people who use them, cisgender people and Trans folk.”

Robbie jumped in to continue, “The difference between Cis and Trans is this, I go by he/him and I was born a guy, that means I’m cisgender and I use pronouns that were assigned to me at birth, if you take my apprentice as an example one of them is Trans, means she was born male but was just a girl trapped inside a male’s body. She was born using he/him pronouns, but found out she was she/her instead.”

Purah went on to talk about neopronouns, “Lets take Terrako – She picked the little guardian up and placed it on the table – Terra? Do you like to be called him?” A small movement of the top part of its body signified a no. “What about her?” The same thing. “So when people refer to you, you like to be called it?” A happy flurry of beeps exploded from it. Purah looked back to Daruk, “Right so, Terrako uses what we call neopronouns, it uses it/its which isn’t ‘officially’ seen in the Hylian language as a pronoun, but their Terrako.”

There was a small silence as Daruk put the pieces of information together in his head, “I… think I get it.”

Robbie gave an understanding look to the Goron chief, “Hey it doesn’t matter if you don’t get it right away, the fact your trying is great.”

Daruk’s eyes crinkled under the smile he had on his face, “Thank you Robbie. So I am a cisgender man who uses he/him pronouns?” Daruk looked around expectantly for feedback.

“Perfect Daruk, well done!” Purah grinned, moving on the next champions.

“Are you kidding?” Impa spoke coldly when eyes landed on her, “You’re my sister and my nuisance, you know my pronouns.” Robbie grinned slightly, time to be even more of a nuisance.

“Tough luck sweetheart, I asked, so cough up. Pronouns?”

“You are the bane of my existence.”

“So what do you not know them? Hey if not that’s fine, everyone has to find themselves out at some point!”

“Oh my goddess, stop it!” Frustration was rising in Impa.

“Stop what? Wait you’re not being like the bird are you, think you’re ‘too good’ for pronouns, eh?”

“Robbie. Fucking stop it.” Impa looked up to the researcher, fire flooding her eye.

With an awkward lean back to Purah, Robbie whispered, “found her limit.”

Purah rolled her eyes, god was she unfortunate to have a best friend like him.

“This lil’ munchkin goes by she/her, for those of you who don’t know her.” Purah put her arms around Impa’s shoulders pushing her back next to the princess.

“Your highness-“

“Are you being serious?” Impa interrupted her sister, “The princess is clearly-“

“Impa. Please don’t. It’s my place to speak on my identity.” Zelda stood straight, preparing to talk. “I am a woman and my pronouns are she/her.”

“Thanks Princess.” Robbie winked kindly towards her then turned his head to the last one, “And you, buckaroo.”

“Oh Link goes by he/him”

Alarm bells, the smallest of signals, Robbie and Purah knew something was off. Maybe Link winced their face on purpose for them to notice, most likely it was just a natural reaction.

“Can’t they tell us?” Purah asked looking towards Link and seeing their face immediately soften in confusion.

“Link is mute, he can’t speak.” The princess stated, looking sombrely towards them.

“Oh, well I know sign language, if they could sign it to us?” Purah looked towards Link with a kind encouraging expression. They lifted their hands, hesitant on what to sign. They were scared.

“Purah,” Robbie stood behind her, hands on her arms, “Maybe we should just trust the princess.”

Purah saw the relief in Link face as she said, “Yeah you’re right. Sorry your highness.”

The meeting was over before it started. With Robbie discussing the Devine Beasts with their pilots and Purah talking about the Sheikah towers the meeting felt like a blip in a long day. Time goes fast when the researchers talk about what they love. The Champions had been gone for a while now. The workday was over and Robbie and Purah sat in their apartment above the lab. Loud music playing and a beer in their hands.

A knock at the door.

“Come in!” Purah shouted, not bothering to move. If it was a guest, they were uninvited.

Link opened the door and coughed slightly to get the residents attention. They waved when the two people looked at them.

“Link, right? Come on in.” Purah waved her arm to usher Link closer, “What can we do you for Linky?”

Link smiled ever so slightly at the nickname. They brought their hand up and signed ‘How did you know?’

Purah and Robbie smiled at the knight.

“About the whole pronoun thing?” He asked.

Link nodded.

“I don’t know man- Robbie quickly caught himself- pal, the Princess said you go by he/him and you flinched. Me and Pu have had to deal with questioning and closets before so we really just kinda realised.” Robbie shugged towards the knight, smiling, “So you’re trans? She/her or?”

‘Non-binary. You guessed right the first time.’ They signed all to apprehensively.

“Well your safe with us Hylian.” Robbie winked.

“And if you want us to call you he/him around the other champions until you’re ready we most certainly can.” Purah added, tapping on the seat beside her. Link sat down.

“We’ll wait on you Buckaroo.” Robbie got up to get another can, “For now though, wanna drink?”

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ladyideal · 3 years

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Ficmas~ Day 17

Pairing: Leonard McCoy x Gender Neutral!reader

Word Count: 1205

Warnings: Slightly suggestive in the beginning.

Summary: You and Leonard have a day off on the Enterprise.

Requested By: @night-running-echo

A/n: Smh. I enjoyed writing writing this one. Almost got derailed lol.

7:00 AM

Sounds of an alarm pierced the silence. With a groan, your boyfriend smacked the button with a spare hand. Yawning, he watched you still sleeping, undisturbed. Waking up beside you every day was something he didn't imagine two years ago.

It was a pleasant surprise.

Gently, he traced your features, careful to not wake you. From the forehead, down to the nose, and stopped at your lips. There was nothing he didn't love about you.

"Mornin', sleepyhead," He spoke against your cheek.

"Lennn," You whined quietly, squirming around in his arms and blearily opening your eyes to look crossly over at him. "It's too early to be awake. Go back to sleep. We both have a day off."

You were the one thing he did right this time. This was where he wanted to stay, forever and always beside you.

"I've missed you, darlin'," He silently agreed, laying his head back on the pillow. Only smiling to himself when you didn't answer.

9:00 AM

"Pancakes or waffles?" You asked, finally sitting up in bed and reaching for one of your boyfriend's shirt.

"Pancakes." He spoke, watching intently as you padded out the room in nothing but a thin shirt of his.

Maybe one more time.

He enjoyed watching your ass before you disappeared out of sight.

"Gonna call your mom today?" You asked, flipping a pancake as you stood in front of the stove.

"Momma would get mad if I didn't. I've seen her holler at Donna before. Not a pretty sight," The doctor emerged from the bedroom, giving you a nice once over before hugging you from behind. "Smells good in here, sweetheart."

"Leonard," You warned, sliding the pancake onto a plate.

"Hmm?"

"What did we say about keeping our hands to ourselves?" You scolded lightly, adding more batter into the pan. "We don't want breakfast to burn, do we?"

He pouted at you, giving you one of his most adoring faces. You kept your resolve firm, frowning slightly at him. Looking like a scorned child, he turned to the sink to help wash and cut the fruits that would be placed later onto the plates. Laughing mostly to yourself, you continued your work and ruffled his hair.

"Good boy."

You swore you heard a growl.

11:19 AM

Managing to finish breakfast and calling his mom and daughter, you and him scrolled through your respective PADDs. He, as the Chief Medical Officer of the ship, meant a daily review of chartings and reports. For you, as a scientist of Commander Spock's elite research team, your team was in constant communication over new findings, theories, and scientific equations.

"Enough, this is our only day off together. Who knows when the last time we get this chance again?" You placed your PADD down, and stacked the used plates and utensils together.

Breakfast tasted far better than the cardboard version from the replicators.

"What should we do on the day off?" Leonard asked, flicking you with water as he washed the dishes. It was one way to keep the relationship interesting.

You swiped back at him with the kitchen towel you used to dry the plates, sticking your tongue out playfully at him. "Maybe watch some holos or some classic hallmark Christmas ones? Haven't done that or decorating the place yet."

He grunted in response which you took as a reluctant assent. "What do you want to watch, sweetheart?"

“Iron Man 3! My favorite Christmas movie!”

“FOR THE LAST TIME. IRON MAN 3 IS NOT A CHRISTMAS MOVIE.”

You laughed at his response. "Take that back, Leonard. Iron Man 3 is perfect for any season."

3:52 PM

Laundry.

You didn't know how after so long after so many cultures and technology coming together, that no one within the Federation figured out a way to quickly fold clothes. Essentially, folding clothes were the absolute bane of your existence.

As Leonard folded the last of the cycle, you placed his away grinning at the thought. "Remember that time when you wore my uniform and you wore mine?"

He snorted. "How could I not? Even Chris didn't mention it the entire day. Said my abs looked much better than Jim's at the end of Alpha. At the end, it was Geoff that mentioned the wrong uniform. I was made a laughingstock of my own medbay."

You shook your head, chuckling. "Not making that mistake again, are we? I'm sure you were fine, doctor. The nurses must have had a wonderful day in the Medbay. Jim got a kick out of it too."

"He knows?" Leonard gasped loudly. "How the hell did the infant know about it?"

"Surely a bird told him about it."

He eyed you, the same look he'd give when his orders were being questioned. Before you could take your words, his long talented hands began tickling you.

"Stop! Ahh," You giggled, weakly trying to shove his hands away.

"Say 'Doctor McCoy looks better.' or I'm not stopping."

"Doctor McCoy looks better," You wheeze out, thankful that he relented. "You win, you win."

Smugly, he sat down beside you on the bed. "I missed this."

"I missed this too," You agreed, getting to your feet again. "But I know what else you're not going to be missing anytime soon."

Ding Dong!

"Coming," You winked at Leonard before happily prancing towards the door. Thanking your friend, you lugged the large cardboard box inside.

"Ta da!"

"What the hell is this?" Your boyfriend prodded at the decorations within, as though afraid he would catch the Christmas cheer.

"Oh this? Some tinsel, lights, some stockings, small nutcrackers, pillows for the couch," You dug through the box. "Some mistletoe somewhere here."

"Mistletoe?" He echoed.

"Afraid to be caught under one, Doctor?"

8:01 PM

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Had a very shiny nose

And if you ever saw it

You would even say it glows

"Remind me why I can't kill the carolers?" Leonard grumbled once the carolers left for their next destination.

"Because you hold an oath," You reminded, washing away the last of the plates. Dinner was wonderful as usual. Real chicken noodle soup was always delectable.

The living room was transformed in time for the holidays. Tinsel glinted from the ceiling, stockings hung beside the TV, a small tree sat at the corner decorated with its own baubles and lights, and mistletoe hung right on top of the threshold into the bedroom. Pillows on the sofa was changed out, pumpkins were changed out for plastic snowmen, and a wreath hung right beside the door.

"Come on, Mister Grinch, admit it," You admired the living room, taking out two mugs out to make chocolate. "You enjoy Christmas."

"It's a fire hazard, Y/N," He answered, pouring in a generous glug of whiskey into both.

"That's not a no I'm hearing," You dunked in some small marshmallows before handing the beverage.

"Only with you, sweetheart," Leonard clinked his mug with yours.

"Why don't we watch a holo together? Nyota mentioned the Nutcracker ballet, a true Christmas classic." You offered. "Take the rest of the night off."

He groaned good naturedly, but sneaked a kiss in with your hot chocolate ones.

"You're all I would ever love."

Eats Everything: @asraime @aspiring-ginger @bluesclues-1234 @mournthewicked @also-fangirlinsweden @keijibum @groovyfluxie @ladylizzieofdarbyshire @mysoulshideaway @fandom-imagination-ss @mayday1284 @sayanythingcreations @supergeekfangirl @your-sparklywinnercollection

Trekkies: @marvelouslytrekking @lykxzandlove @writerdee1701 @piccolaromana @mrs-l-mccoy @strange-old-worlds @april-showers-and-flowers @scraftskhu35 @worm-cant-read @fandomismymiddlename @childofthecornflakes @yueci @lgbtqcontinuum @dartheldur @goddess-of-many-fandoms @crackheadcastdirector @readingtrek

McCoy: @cobe76 @yakuzussian @space-cowboy2227 @lacychick @fxngsfogxarty @samanthasmileys @kimberlyfletcher

Urban: @justa-traaash @fandomsfeelsandfamily

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buckyshenley16 · 4 years

Text

The Tales Of The Winter Soldeir and Winter Witch

Book1, Chapter 1

3 Years before Bucky was drafted

February 5th, 1940

Ramona’s POV

Putting my stacks of paperwork on my desk ready for tomorrow as my work day comes to an end, I find myself sighing in relief after a long day of again getting nowhere with the ‘Jeweler Case.’ It seems to be a never-ending case as this is our second week trying to solve the jewelry store robbery and who did what and when, why, and so on.

“Lover boy is on the phone Ramona.” Peggy gloats with a smug grin on her face purposely making sure the speaker was not covered.

“Like I’ve told you almost a hundred times Carter, he is not my lover boy.” I exclaim emphasizing the word ‘not’ with an eye roll and taking the phone off her. “Why hello Buck, what would you be calling to ask the 3rd time today?” I ask with a slight chuckle whilst throwing a rubber at Peggy who is winking at me.

“Just checking before I leave to walk you home doll, did you bring a jacket today? It’s freezing outside and I can see your jacket still hung up, would hate for ya to catch a cold especially when you live with someone with an immune system like Steve.” Bucky says, his Brooklyn drawl being clearer than ever.

“You know, I do have more than one coat Buck?” I ask. “Just checking Mona, I didn’t walk you today so I didn’t see what you left in. Just seen what you woke up in or should I say what you didn’t wake up in.” Bucky asks with a hint of flirting and a hint of cockiness in his voice.

“Yes, and if you carry on with your Mr, big ego act that’ll be the last time you see that, Barnes.” I retort.

“Okay we both know that’s not the truth. Anyway, I’m bouta leave doll, will be there in half an hour, will wait in the usual spot.”

“Not true but okay, see you soon Buck” I say trying not to drop the phone from between my ear and shoulder whilst locking my cabinets. “See you soon, darlin'.” Bucky finishes before putting the phone down.

Bucky and I had known each other since being 6 and 9 being introduced by our friend Steve. Steve had been like a big brother growing up, Sarah being nothing but welcoming to my family when we fled to Brooklyn from Russia. Sarah and my mother would both take turns between childcare; me, my three younger sisters and brother being at the Rogers’ every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and half the day Sunday whilst mother would go to work at the laundry where Sarah also worked.

And obviously Steve would be at our house every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Every Sunday we would have dinner at the Rogers’ with our mother. Our father stayed in Russia with mother wanting to flee a situation I wasn’t told about until I was old enough to understand. Father was abusive and an alcoholic and had a job mother didn’t agree with, but we were never told what that job entailed and whilst I found myself wondering every so often, curiosity never killed the cat and I was enormously proud of that.

Bucky, Steve, and I were best friends growing up with Bucky and Steve being stupidly overprotective of me even when I became a fully trained agent and officially full time at SSR. My mother never 100% agreed with my job and whilst Bucky and Steve questioned it at first for my safety, but once they realised I could handle myself (after witnessing me defend myself against a couple of not so nice men who got a bit too close for my comfort) they were 100% supportive of my job, especially Bucky with one less person to save from the allies and one more person to help when Steve found himself on the not so nice ends of the alleys face first into the trash cans.

It was around 18 years old I'd started developing feelings for Bucky, not that I’d never admit it to him, I was far too proud and full of denial for that because he would never go for a girl like myself; at least that’s what I thought until I found myself intertwined in his sheets with his body wrapped around mine after one passionate, unexpected night a year later.

This went from happening every few weeks, to every two weeks, to maybe once a week to every few nights and I’m still in denial that he would ever want to make things official.

I question whether I want to become his girl, especially with my line of work and seeing my parent’s relationship be the bane of their lives when I was younger. All I’ve ever seen is relationships fail and that is why I refuse to put myself through the pain of one. I care about Bucky, he’s the one person who no matter how rotten the day be I’m guaranteed to have a smile on my face when I see him.

When Sarah died both mine and Bucky's families became close ensuring two big family units to support Steve and even a year and a half after she passed; me, Bucky and Steve got a shared apartment together. Sure, it was no five stars, but it was home and as long as the three of us had each other that was all that mattered. Steve was aware of mine and Bucky's “situation” but chose not to get involved.

Stuck in my own little world I'd not realised half an hour had passed and Bucky would be waiting for me so after grabbing my coat and bag I made sure to say bye to Peggy and arrange coffee and breakfast before work tomorrow morning where we could discuss some of the cases privately, seen as though we knew we were massively undermined at SSR we got a lot of thinking and solving done mostly when we were alone together where no male could underestimate or interrupt us.

Walking down out of the doors I spotted Bucky with a glowing grin on his face, it took everything to keep my footing steady. “Hello, beautiful. How would you feel about hot chocolate and dinner on me at our spot?” Bucky asked holding his arm out to me which I gladly took.

“Gee buck, almost sounds like you’re asking me on a date!” I tease earning a nudge to my side causing a fit of laughter.

“One day doll, I’ve already asked several times but one day I will get a yes out of ya.” Bucky retorted.

“I’ll hold you to that Buck, how was your day?” I asked clinging to his arm.

“The usual, woke up to a fine dame next to me, crappy coffee, got to work. Left work, pulled Steve out of an ally, nagged Steve how he’s not ten men and should think before he acts, walked the little punk back to the apartment, read the paper and now I'm here to pick up you. How bout you doll?” Bucky explains with a hint of sarcasm.

“Same old, really strugglin’ with this case I just can’t seem to understand how a whole jewelry store could be robbed without even a fingerprint left behind nor how someone could even get a hold of that damn gas. How many men was it today? Did you or Steve get hurt?” you ask with a sigh giving Bucky's arm a reassuring squeeze.

“Hey Mona, don’t worry too much about it, we both know you’ll get to the bottom of it like always and I’m sure whoever’s guilty will regret it when they have to face the bottom of your shoe. Two guys, managed to reason with them after giving one a right hook.” he winked.

“Oh, I know I will, thanks Buck I can always rely on you for some good old confidence boosting. I give up telling the jackass he’s gotta stop this, I may as well be talking to a brick wall!” I finish with a chuckle. As we walk into the bright, retro diner Bucky holds the door open for me before guiding us both to a booth. As we take our coats off a waitress comes to us.

“Well would ya look who it is, only our two favorites! Where’s Rogers tonight?” Our waitress Nancy asks.

“Probably at home bathing his black eye, sulking about his fight whilst planning his next one.” I exclaim earning a laugh from both Bucky and Nancy.

“I don’t even gotta ask, usual for you two?” Nancy asks pointing between us both with her pen.

“Of course!” Bucky says with a grin

“That’s two hot chocolates and a portion of fries coming up!” Nancy exclaims.

“Thanks, Nance!” we both call.

Me, Bucky and Steve have been coming to this diner since we were in school. Their hot chocolates were practically the glue to our friendships. As I looked up from my hands, I spotted Bucky looking at me with a smile on his face. “What’s got you all smiley?” I ask with a grin.

“Just you!” Bucky exclaims grin turning wider.

“Are you purposely trying to make me blush?” I ask with a chuckle feeling warmth go to my face praying my blusher somewhat cancels the blushing.

“Always doll, I just like to make ya blush and to know I’ve still got it.” Bucky explains with a cocky smirk. Damn you and your godly smile Barnes!

“Glad my embarrassment gives you an even bigger ego boost Buck!” I laugh before our food and drinks get set down and we start tucking in.

*An hour later, on the way home from diner*

“Thank you for that Buck, it was fun. Was nice to be sat anywhere but that office.” I explain.

“S’alright doll, anything to put a smile on your face. I wanted to actually talk to you. This, us been goin' on a little while too long now.” Bucky stopped walking and turned me to face him taking both my hands in his.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” I ask feeling my heart rip into two.

“Yeah, doll.” he grins.

“Oh okay, no I totally get it Buck we’re kinda not going anywhere and I’m really not ready to put myself into a relationship right now and you wanna move on or you’ve already found a girl. I get it, no hard feelings.” I say holding back the tears.

“Woah doll, no no! You’re completely taking it the wrong way. Mona, I like you, scratch that I’m crazy bout you. I understand you don’t wanna take this further just yet, but I can wait,” he says cupping my face in his hands looking into my eyes.

“Buck, I appreciate that so much but there’s so many better girls throwing themselves at you and you’re going to waste them just to wait for me? I could make you wait years and I wouldn’t want that.” I explain placing my hands over his.

“I don’t want them other girls, I want you. You’re the most beautiful, loyal, caring, and bad ass girl I’ve ever met. I will wait as long as you want me to if it means I can have you. Just please tell me you feel the same.” he begs his eyes searching my face for any sign of feeling the same.

“I do Buck, I have for a while.” I admit a small smile making its way to my lips. Bucky gently strokes his thumb across my bottom lip before pulling me in for a sweet, loving kiss. It was suddenly like it was just the pair of us that existed, nobody mattering in that moment but us two. Bucky pulled away keeping his hands on my face, placing his forehead against mine. “I got you, doll” he says before pulling me into his chest resting his chin on my head, wrapping his arms around my shoulders tightly; sighing contently.

“I got you too, Buck.” I reply wrapping my arms around his waist and smiling contently to myself.

“Let’s get home to the punk before he can’t help but lead himself to another alley huh.” Bucky says whilst linking our arms together and directing us both out of the park.

“We should probably check the alleys on our way back Buck.” I suggest

“Glad we're on the same page doll.” Bucky chuckles.

So, It’s the first of many chapters🤩 I’m so so excited!! Just wanted to give a shout out to @i-write-bucky and @jbarness for proof reading this for me!! Angels🤩❤️

#james buchanan bucky barnes #sebastianstan #the winter solider fanfiction #beefy bucky #bucky barnes #bucky x baby #buckybarnes x reader #seb stan imagine #avengers #bucky barnes smut #catfa #peggy carter #agent carter #buckybarnesfluff #fanfic #winter solider fanfiction

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nonsensicalobsessions · 4 years

Text

A Symphony without Strings, Chapter 6

Today’s musical program will be varied once more. So much music will be going on! I do not know how many of you are participating in the musical adventure, and which service you are using, YouTube or Spotify. Since several of the pieces I wish to use are only available on YouTube, I will use that platform exclusively this chapter. If anyone has an objection, please let me know...but there is only one chapter following this one, Symphony ticket holders, and then the coda...Like the previous chapter, I will insert the selection at the appropriate scene, and you can simply loop it until the next piece is indicated. I hope you enjoy today’s musical arrangement.

Trigger warning: Leukemia

First selection: https://youtu.be/UfWT_7dTAtI

*** *** *** ***

Kelly did not hesitate to begin. Merry was hooked up to a machine within hours to begin having her blood drawn, her T cells filtered out, and have the remaining blood returned. The process did not take long, simply a few hours. Once completed, Kelly leaned against Merry’s bed and cocked her head to the side.

“Well now darlin’, before we infuse you with the new an’ improved T cells, we’re gonna hit you with another blast of chemo, to clean out as much garbage out of your veins as we can.”

Merry did not look happy at the thought of another round of chemo, but she didn’t argue, just nodded her head as she stared out the window. Kelly leaned towards and took her hand.

“Honey, you’re gonna have to be here for a couple of weeks. I know it’s gonna be rough, and no one can get in your skin and take it for you, but I am going to work overtime to make it as easy as I can...and you have people who love you and will support you as much as you will let them. The question is, are you going to let them? I seem to have heard you giving Aiden a lot of push back in the past.”

“Aiden had Liam. Liam was all that mattered,” Merry replied, a touch of defiance in her voice.

“Maybe so, but now Tom has Merry, so now Merry is all that matters,” Tom responded, his voice gentle, but with the same touch of firmness he used with Liam. Merry’s eyes shot towards him, her expression challenging.

Tom leaned forward so their foreheads were touching. “Hello, Missouri Mule. Meet Tom Hiddleston, bane of Luke Windsor’s patience and scourge of his peace of mind.”

Merry smiled. She couldn’t resist.

Liam was unhappy to hear Mama was going to be in the hospital for almost a month at least, probably longer. He knew she would try to video call him frequently, but he also knew there would be a lot of days she would be so sick and sleepy she would barely be able to speak with him. When he stopped to think about this, his tummy felt funny, it hurt a lot and he felt like he might throw up and cry all at the same time. Both Mama and Aiden were always telling him to talk about how he felt, but it didn’t make the feelings go away.

When Papa came home without Mama, he looked tired, sad, and worried. Supper was quiet, and everyone went to bed early. Aiden read him his story, but his voices weren’t as fun as they usually were. Liam understood.

“Hey, kiddo.” Liam looked up into Aiden’s eyes. He had been looking down at his two bears, one Mama had given him, and one Papa had. “Your Mama has done this a lot, she’s a virtuosa, you could say. You shouldn’t worry about her. She’s more worried about you, did you know that?”

Liam squinted up at Aiden. “Why’s Mama worryin’ about me? You’re taking care of me like you always do, and we’re gonna do the same things we always do. We’re going to be ok...but I’m gonna miss Mama...” and his bottom lip started to tremble as his voice wobbled.

Aiden gathered him into a hug. “And it’s that, right there, that has your Mama worrying. She loves you so much, she hates to think of you being sad. She wants you to be happy, always.”

Liam pulled away, his usually cheerful countenance marred with a scowl. “Can’t be happy without Mama here, how can I be happy when Mama’s stuck in that ol’ hospital and she can’t be home with us? Stupid medicine! Stupid leuk...leuk...I hate Mama being sick all the time, I want her to get better!”

Liam burst into tears borne of grief, anger, frustration, and fear.

Aiden breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted Liam to cry it out. So much had happened, and Liam was just a little boy...he heard Tom’s door opening with a crash, and his feet, oh dear...

If Merry was a virtuosa in this wretched treatment, Tom had barely had his first few lessons.

As soon as Tom came in the door, Aiden made a calming gesture with his hand. “Softly, softly,” he mouthed, as he continued to gently soothe Liam’s impassioned sobbing.

Tom had been lying in bed, his arm flung over his eyes, remembering his conversation with Merry before he left:

“Tom, it’s going to be hard, in fact I will go so far as to say it’s going to suck. But I’ve played this concerto before, I daresay I’ve even conducted this orchestra before. I’ve got this. I have my bag of tricks, I know how to get around the worst of it. Please, please, be there for Liam. Knowing he’s well and happy will do so much for me...”

He reached out and stroked her face. “Merry, do you mean to forbid me to see you? Are you planning on going through this alone? Tell me, sweetheart, who was with you all the other times? It wasn’t Aiden, it couldn’t have been. It wasn’t your family. No one has mentioned any other friends. Did you go through chemotherapy alone, each and every time...? Merry...”

She looked at him, smiled and shrugged. “Alone, not alone...there were always nurses, and I could always close my eyes, and escape into my head, I have my headphones, my music, my imagination...come, Tom, you know how easily I can slip into my head, and how difficult it is for me to get out of it sometimes! I would practice, even if I didn’t have an instrument, I could conduct, even if I was completely alone, I could compose, even if I never remembered note from note.”

“Not this time, Meredith,” he vowed. “I will be there for Liam, but I will be there for you as well. I will talk with Aiden, and see what he advises, so you can’t fret, Mama Bear.”

She was already falling asleep, but she grinned. “We’ll see, Papa Bear, we’ll see...”

When Tom heard Liam’s crying, it was if he had been jolted with a live current. He’d never heard Liam cry before, and the boy sounded heartbroken. Tom launched from his bed, completely forgetting Aiden was two steps away, and had been with Liam since the little boy drew his first breath. His son was crying. This being a father thing was so new, he scarcely knew what he was doing moment to moment, but right now, he knew his son was crying.

Seeing Liam caught in Aiden’s arms, he froze. Tom felt superfluous, and shattered. His heart was aching so profoundly, there was a part of him that wanted to weep as openly as Liam. Aiden was advising him to calm down, and he wasn’t sure if he could.

Aiden beckoned him to sit besides him, and that is how Liam found himself transferred into another pair of arms, as he hiccuped and trembled as a child does in the aftermath of hard sobbing. Aiden was still rubbing his back, but Liam looked up and saw his Papa was now holding him close. This was new. The crying when Mama left for the hospital, that happened, but Papa being here...

“’m glad you’re here,” Liam mumbled, scrubbing his eyes with his fists.

“I’m glad I’m here, as well,” Papa answered, and kissed Liam’s hair, which was definitely curly now. Mama would have gotten him a haircut by this point.

“Papa, did you know Mama was sick?”

“No, Liam. I didn’t. It makes me so sad, knowing she was sick and I wasn’t there to help her.”

Liam looked up into Papa’s face and saw that yes, Papa’s face still looked just as sad, tired, and worried as it did when he came back earlier, maybe even more so. He reached up and touched it, shyly. Papa looked down into Liam’s eyes, and gave him a special smile...Liam was reminded of the way Mama would smile at him sometimes. It made him start to feel a little better.

“You know, Papa...we have a secret, Aiden and I. Mama doesn’t know about it.”

“Oh, is that so?” Papa looked at Aiden, his lips twitching. “And what could this secret be? If it is about licking the bowl after you make cakes...”

“You told?” Aiden teased Liam, ticking his feet lightly.

“No, just Papa...but Mama was there, uh-oh...”

“It’s fine, Liam,” Papa laughed, his voice low and warm. “If that isn’t the secret, then what could it be?”

“Aiden, can we tell Papa?”

“Oh, I think we must,” Aiden answered him seriously. “Because your Papa is going be a part of it, as well...”

Papa leaned back against Liam’s headboard to give Liam his undivided attention as Liam explained. “When Mama is away at the hospital like she is sometimes, and we miss her a lot, we watch The Secret Mama Movie.”

“The Secret Mama Movie? Your Mama never told me she was a movie star, although it’s true I did meet her...” Tom stopped himself abruptly, and cursed himself as ten different kinds of a fool. Clumsy, stupid, foolish...he had no idea if Merry had ever told Liam how they had first met, or what Tom did for a living, or anything, and Liam was far too bright to miss a thing...

Liam, true to form, lit up like a Christmas tree. “You met Mama because she was a movie star?!”

“No, no...” Tom looked to Aiden for help, but as usual, Aiden had his arms folded, and was grinning at him, clearly enjoying his discomfort. “Um, I met your mother because of a movie...but please, tell me more about The Secret Mama Movie, I am very interested.”

“Oh...” Liam looked disappointed. “That would have been neat, if Mama had been in a movie for real.” Tom shifted uneasily on the bed, while keeping Liam tucked in his arms, pressed against his chest as he did so. Liam pulled away, tears forgotten so he could look into his father’s face. “Aiden’s known Mama for a real long time, and they went to school together, and he used to see her when she would practice to have recitals...did you ever see any of Mama’s recitals?”

Tom looked at Liam, and gently cupped his son’s face. “Only one,” he whispered softly. “Only one...”

Liam didn’t understand why Papa was looking at him so tenderly, he just babbled on, “Well, he used to record her. She knew he was doing it, so that isn’t the secret. Sometimes she was even talking to him while he was doing it. Then after I was born, he would record her while she was playing lullabies for me! And then, sometimes she would learn pieces because she was tired of the pieces she had to learn for school, and she would learn them just for funsies, and he thought she was so good, he would record those too...he thought she was really good, and she didn’t, and he wanted her to see just how good she was...and then she had a big big recital right before she graduated, and the school recorded that...”

Aiden interrupted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I promise you, Tom, Merry know about these, I’m no stalker,” he spoke quickly, his face uncomfortably red. “That’s not the secret, either!”

Liam rolled his eyes as expressively as a four year old can. “Nooo, the secret is that Liam got all of these together from all the different places and put it together into one big movie. The Secret Mama Movie. She doesn’t know he did it. But we can watch it and see her and listen to her, every night she isn’t here. It isn’t the same, but...”

Tom looked at Liam, at Aiden, and at Liam again. He spoke very, very quietly. “You get to see Mama play, every night?”

“Uh huh! And she had hair sometimes, and she was wasn’t always tired, and she was laughing, and sometimes she even sings!” Liam was both reverent and thrilled to be letting Papa in on this secret. “But we can’t let Mama know. She doesn’t like to see or hear herself on TV.”

“I can understand that,” Tom muttered, laughing to himself.

“E’scuse me?” Liam cocked his head to the side. Mama was very strict about his not saying just “what,” when he didn’t understand.

“I was trying to say that I can understand, even though your mother is so talented, she would not strike me as one to wish to see herself on the television.”

“But why not, Papa?”

“I imagine it is because she would only look at her performance and see the ways she could have improved, rather than all the ways she excelled...because she always wishes to learn more. Your mother is brilliant, and she loves music, loves playing her instruments, and being the moment. Seeing it captured, though...well, that’s something else,” Tom stopped, recognizing he was getting too philosophical, no matter how intelligent his son was, he was still only four. He wanted to get lost in a memory of himself and Merry, it was at the forefront of his mind, but this was not the time...he shook his head.

“We can watch it tomorrow, Papa,” Liam promised him, snuggling into his chest again. “That way we can all enjoy it together. Just us men.”

Tom closed his eyes and grinned broadly, thankful that Liam couldn’t see his face. “Sounds splendid, son. I am so thankful to hear that Aiden has done such hard work. Thank you, Aiden.”

Aiden had been beaming as well, but it faded. “I did it for a number of reasons,” he admitted, looking at Liam. “There was a point where I thought it might be...very necessary.”

Tom looked down at the little boy who was still curled up against him, and swallowed hard. He understood all too well why such a movie might have been required...as a memorial...a retrospective of a brilliant musician...but most importantly, a way for a boy to see a mother he might not have ever remembered. Thank God that was not the case.

Aiden added, “I also have some footage of her conducting, it isn’t just of her playing instruments. I thought it was very important that Liam see her at the pinnacle of her professional achievement. We’ve all seen her play, but God, Tom...her joy when she conducts...she all but self-illuminates. I can’t believe she doesn’t levitate.”

Tom was ruffling Liam’s hair, feeling him get heavier as he was slowly losing the fight against sleep. “Aiden, how long is this movie?”

“Longer than you would think. Take a guess.”

“Before you mentioned the conducting, I would have said, half an hour? That is quite a lot of time of playing...”

“Think again. Almost two hours,” Aiden snickered, proud of himself. “Almost two solid hours of Merry playing the cello...violin...piano...conducting. You know our Merry, never content unless she was...is...making music in one way or another. That’s how it was so easy when we were still in university. It’s how she managed to keep her mind off the nausea when she was carrying that one there.” Aiden nodded at Liam, who was now asleep against Tom’s chest, mouth open, and snuffling slightly. “I did my best to encourage her, and keep her laughing. Once everyone in the department was clued into her condition, they were right there with me. For all she was so intensely private with her personal affairs, she was still so...well, she’d murder me fo saying it...merry with others. A smile, a laugh, a little pick-me-up with someone she knew was struggling. When she turned up pregnant, no one could believe it, no one had ever seen her with anyone, she had never mentioned anyone, well, there were some unkind comments about virgin births all over again.”

Tom’s eyes flashed both in anger and shame. “I never attempted to keep her from meeting up with classmates, nor did I try to keep us a great secret.”

Aiden shook his head. “I know, Tom. Merry was all about reaching out but never taking back. I’ve known her longer than you, at least by name and face. But I didn’t really know her. No one did, except that she was wildly talented, deeply focused, and so private. So once there was an ‘in,’ a way people could actually gain access to her, even if it was to encourage those impromptu recitals in the halls, a way to make her laugh a bit while I could video her on my phone...it helped. But still, she never let anyone in, not really.”

Tom took a breath, then asked, “Aiden, may I watch the movie privately, so when I see it with Liam, it isn’t the first time?”

Aiden nodded. “You know, that’s a really good idea. Let’s get this one tucked in, and I’ll get it to you.”

Aiden handed a DVD to Tom, who was surprised to see that it looked professionally marketed, instead of just something handwritten in permanent marker. “Aiden...this is incredible.”

“I told you, I wasn’t sure what it was going to be used for when I made it, and I wanted it done right,” Aiden deflected. “It helps having friends in the right places. Um, if you want, I could watch it with you, and explain some things. Or maybe you just want to watch it yourself. It’s up to you.”

Tom deliberated for a moment, then replied, his voice husky, “Aiden, I think it’s best I just see this alone. But thank you.”

“Sure, I understand. You know there’s a TV and player in your room. Good night.” Aiden gave him a half smile and wave, and left.

Tom couldn’t set up the DVD fast enough.

Second selection: https://youtu.be/12r8LCI47WU

Despite the DVD’s appearance, the opening menu was simple, and yet it still took Tom’s breath away. He was so grateful he was watching this without Liam’s alert presence by his side. His screen was filled with a lovely candid photo of his beloved Merry smiling and looking off to the side. Her long hair was loosely pulled back in an ivory ribbon that matched the cable knit sweater she was wearing (he remembered that sweater), and her cello was resting against her jean clad knee as she sat in a chair. He didn’t recognize the haunting and lovely background music, but he had no doubt it was Merry who was performing it. But the puzzling aspect was at the bottom right corner of the screen, the simple words, “The Tom Edition.” Perhaps this is what Aiden wished to explain?

The only option he had was to press “PLAY.”

Third selection: https://youtu.be/lrE5CC1up3s

It began with Merry sitting at a piano and playing, her fingers rippling across the keys smoothly. Someone called, “Skye, are you ready, can we get started?” But she did not reply, she simply kept playing, her body moving as an extension of the notes, clearly caught up in the music. Another voice sighed, “Ah, we’ve lost her again.” A third voice retorted, “We never had her in the first place, once she starts, she’s gone, you know that. You can either let her finish, go shake her, or physically move her. I’d suggest waiting if I were you. Even if you interrupt her, her mind is just going to keep playing once she commits to it.” The unseen onlookers fell silent until Merry played the last note, and she sighed and leaned back. The first voice called out, “Skye! We’re waiting on you, c’mon already!” Tom could see her come back to herself, and she called back, “Sorry! Here I come!” She rose, and walked away from the piano. Tom could see a slight swell in her abdomen, but he was looking for it. Her face was paler than usual, and she looked tired.

Fourth selection: https://youtu.be/3wzZtuo3MHU (does not require looping)

The next video had her standing in a hallway, there was a lot of laughter, and someone finally shouted, “No way, Skye, I dare you.” She had her back to the camera and challenged, “You wanna go there? Really, McIntyre? You sure about that?”

A voice, apparently McIntyre, riposted, “Skye, you’re talented on the cello, I’ll give you that, but no way can you bring that kind of heat on the violin. You just don’t have it.”

Aiden’s voice at the camera level called out, “Ten bucks, McIntyre. Put up or shut up.”

Merry turned around, and she was looking just as tired, but fuller around the waistline. “Forget the ten bucks. McIntyre, if I pull this off, you owe me some fried chicken. This kiddo is calling for some fried chicken...and some pumpkin pie.”

“Pumpkin pie? Skye, you’re crazy, there’s no pumpkin pie this time of year!”

Merry was tuning her violin and sighed, “Okay, just fried chicken then...”

Tom whispered, his eyes already filling, “Darling, I would have found some for you, I swear I would have,” as Merry launched into the brightest, fastest tune he had ever heard. It was clearly a Celtic jig, Tom couldn’t identify it, and the hall filled with hoots and laughter as her notes, triumphant and commanding, wrapped around all present, someone began beating on their instrument case to add percussion, there was clapping, and Tom found himself longing for his spoons.

Merry put her violin and bow down and grinned. “Extra crispy, McIntyre. I prefer drumsticks, thighs, and wings. Hop to, Capriccio is hungry.”

A laughing voice teased, “Only you would call your unborn child ‘Capriccio.’”

“Well, I won’t call my child ‘Bagatelle,’ because by definition that can also mean ‘unimportant’. And my child is very, very important to me,” Merry replied seriously. “And my child is certainly encouraging improvisation, among other things...McIntyre, why the devil are you still here?!”

The scene faded, and Tom found himself laughing, and he spoke, “Merry, you damned well better have gotten your fried chicken, or else I will hunt this McIntyre down and call him out...”

There were then a dizzying array of clips where Merry was playing in recitals, master classes, where her skills with the cello left Tom lost in admiration. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms. He longed to tell her, repeatedly, how awed he was by her talent, her passion, the way she immersed herself, completely, in her music. Tom would watch as the woman he loved would somehow willingly walk into another dimension, where she would speak another language with truth and honesty, and all the strength she possessed. Once she entered it, the music was all that mattered.

Fifth selection: https://youtu.be/bSWxjcAAPL8

After were the symphonies. These were clearly professionally recorded works. Tom couldn’t always see what he wanted, which was Merry’s face, but he could make out her small form. The lush curves of her figure he had loved so passionately were gone, he noted, and a sick feeling arose in his gut. Was she already ill at this point? Was she aware? But as the camera would show her face, Tom saw what Aiden had referred to: Merry was clearly transported. It was as though she was pulling the music out from each section of the orchestra, weaving the notes like tapestry on a loom only she could see, creating a masterpiece. This was what she had longed to do, this was what she had spoken of longingly when they were entwined on her small bed, as they compared their dreams and ambitions while the snow fell outside, leaving them cocooned in the warmth of blankets and each other.

Tom thought about how he felt when he performed Shakespeare, the otherworldly plane he stepped into each time he entered the stage and began to breathe life into his character, giving words and poetry action and meaning, the high he felt when the curtain closed...and knew, without a shadow of a doubt, Merry was also able to animate what others would see as mere ink on a page. It was real. It was true. It was her dream. And it was her soul. Tears were running down her face as he saw her expression when the last note sounded.

She was incandescent.

If the movie had been fiction, made in Hollywood, it would have ended there, just for the look on her face.

Sixth selection: https://youtu.be/gCCmaOMo5k8

There were the lullabies. Tom never got to see infant Liam, only occasionally hear his gurgling. Merry’s face was a portrait of tender motherhood as she would play piece after piece, sometimes singing. The setting would change, as would her clothes, but the love on her face stayed the same. But eventually her hair was gone, and her face grew thinner, her clothes larger, and her movements slower.

There were clips of her playing for Liam, then with Liam, as he picked up his violin and scratched out very basic beginner pieces, or plunked away on the piano. Both Aiden and Merry cheered him on, and praised his efforts.

Merry was now playing different styles of pieces. She would play tunes from Disney films, music that would have Liam belly laughing, giggling, dancing. But on the whole, they were growing slower, and less vigorous.

Seventh Selection: Reader’s choice--Instrumental: https://youtu.be/ZyFyapc3q9g OR original vocals by Enya: https://youtu.be/DFHaGBSyPr4

The last clip began with a darkened room. Tom heard cello music playing but could see nothing.

“Merry?” Aiden’s voice. “What are you doing?”

“Can’t sleep. Can’t think. Can’t, Aiden...so tired...I’m so tired...”

Tom’s attention was riveted before, but now all of his synapses were firing. Merry’s voice was trembling. She sounded so weak, as though she was at the end of her tether...he had never heard Merry like this, ever. This was the most intensely personal piece yet, and he understood now, why this was “The Tom Edition.” Aiden would never allow Liam to hear his mother suffering like this.

“Then put the bow down. Just put the bow down and close your eyes for a little while.”

“Aiden, when I play these pieces, I don’t have to think...I can just, just be. I fall into the music and rest, so that’s what I’m doing, okay? Please don’t nag me.”

A sigh. “All right, but I’m going to sit and be with you then. I don’t want you collapsing again.”

“No...I don’t want that either.”

There was more gentle, soft music...but then, Merry began to sing, her voice soft, and haunting:

Night has gone without my tears

Now I walk alone

You're no longer here

The days turn to years

I could never say goodbye

To the sadness in my eyes

You know you are in my heart

But the miles keep us apart

Time moves slow

In the falling rain

I still dream of you

And whisper your name

Will I see you once again?

I could never say goodbye

To the sadness in my eyes

You know you are in my heart

But the miles keep us apart

I could never say goodbye

Aiden’s voice spoke in the darkness. “Honey, when are you going to get in touch with Tom? I think you should give the guy a chance. He seems like he’s good man from what I can tell...”

Her voice was filled with tears as she said, “I promised, Aiden. I promised him, no strings.”

Aiden’s voice, filled with sympathy and reproach. “Merry...”

She sighed. “You’re right, Aiden. I’m so tired...I guess it is finally time to...” Her voice broke. “It’s time.”

Eighth selection https://youtu.be/kcMaxo0OaZo (can be looped for as long as desired)

The last clip had no video, it was simply a list of acknowledgements and thanks, while another piece played. Tom was struggling to breathe, let alone read them.

He had no idea Merry had been grieving so keenly. Tom had missed Merry, and wished she was still a part of his life. He refused to allow himself to address his pain, and went on with the business of living. He knew Merry had, as well. But the voice he had just heard, wrapping itself around the cello notes in the absence of light...it went beyond simply acknowledging loss. It spoke of deep mourning.

“I didn’t know, Mozart,” Tom spoke aloud in the empty room. “You seemed so composed when I saw you again...but why should I be surprised? You always buttoned yourself up so tightly when you felt afraid, or threatened in any way.” After her parents had callously dismissed her from their lives, Merry closed off her soft, tender heart, determined never to let herself get hurt again.

After their first kiss that had begun almost tentatively, but quickly built in passion, Tom took both of her hands and looked deeply into her eyes. “Merry, I don’t do things like this lightly...not without a great deal of caring, and commitment...but I can’t give you commitment like you deserve. I am going to leave in less than five months, probably closer to four. Once we’ve completed filming in this area, I am going to leave to complete the movie elsewhere, and from there I am going to be thrust into a huge worldwide press tour. I desperately want to be with you...but you are far too precious for me to treat you carelessly.”

Merry’s smile was bittersweet. “Tom, I care about you as well...I don’t do things like this either, hardly ever...and when I have, it was never anything but casual, because I do not let anyone close to me. At all. I’m not asking for commitment. I just want to be as close to you as I can possibly be.” Wistfully, she lightly placed her hand against his heart, tentatively curling her fingertips as though it was most she dared, the most she expected to be allowed to touch him. “...me, who never wants to be close to anyone. It’s strange, really...” She stepped away from him. “I understand if you want to leave now. No hard feelings.”

He looked at her intensely, as though he was trying to look into her past and her soul. “Who hurt you so badly, Merry? You are much too warm and giving to have closed yourself off so completely. Who hurt you, Meredith Skye?”

She looked away and replied dully, “Life did. Thank you for walking me home.”

Seeing the light extinguished in her eyes, the spirit stripped from her voice, was more than he could take. Tom closed the distance between them, wrapped his arms around her, and drew her into a fiery kiss that not only rekindled the spark within her, but started a conflagration that didn’t stop until it consumed both of them, leaving only softly flickering embers in its wake sometime later.

Holding her body against his, softly stroking her hair, her face, her neck, Tom whispered, “I am going to find it so very, very hard to leave you. I already know this.”

Merry looked into his eyes and replied steadily. “But you will, Tom. You don’t have a choice. You have to leave, and I have to stay. We will have to enjoy the time we have together, cherish it for what it is, and then let each other go...no ties to keep you here...

“No strings.”

In the faint light of the bedroom, Tom pretended not to see the pain in Merry’s eyes as he repeated, “No strings.”

In the days that passed, Tom found that Merry was actually right: Yes, chemotherapy was awful. But she handled it well enough.

She knew which days were likely to be worse than others. She deeply appreciated Tom’s presence, but on bad days she seemed to slip into another headspace. All she wanted was her headphones, and for him to hold her hand. Even then, he would watch as she seemed to play the piano on her lap even if it appeared she was asleep. If she was going to vomit (which she did often) she did so calmly, and from another plane of existence. It was almost as if she wasn’t fully there...although when she would lie back down, she would still reach for his hand, and would occasionally welcome a cool cloth for her face.

One of the nurses took pity on Tom and told him, “Don’t take it personally. She is taking a lot of chemicals into her body, and it is not unusual for them to affect a patient’s personality, speech, memory...some even hallucinate. She’s actually taking this remarkably well.”

“I just want to be there for her,” he replied stubbornly.

“And you are. Just remember to give her what she needs, not what you want, or feel the need, to give her,” the woman advised gently.

Tom had to remind himself of those words frequently in the days to come.

It was the last week of filming, and they were behind schedule, mostly due to unseasonably foul weather that kept them from adhering to the proposed shooting schedule. While part of Tom was secretly overjoyed at the delays, this last week was turning into a hellshoot. Tempers were frayed and raw on all sides, and everyone was exhausted. Over half the crew were sick, and those that weren’t either were just coming down with or just recovering from a series of vicious viruses. So far, Tom had escaped what was being called “The Pestilence” (“plague” being found too passé), but he was almost sleepwalking at one point.

He was trying to spend as much time with Merry as possible, but his schedule was demanding, constantly changing, and hectic. He could never tell from day to day when he would have free time available. He knew better than to ask Merry to come to the set location, and he didn’t have time to track her down on campus. Merry made it a point to always have food waiting for Tom, day or night, along with the fresh fruit and vegetables he craved in order to keep sickness at bay. Sometimes she even shaved hours off her precious practice, class, and sleep hours to be there during the odd hours he was awake, or needing to rest to prepare for odd hour shoots: she found a sure-fire way to lull him to sleep was a certain combination of pieces, played on the cello and violin. He was stunned that she would give her time for this, but she would smile and stroke his hair, promising he was worth it.

He would float off, warm and utterly at peace, and would be completely unawares after he fell asleep (often faintly snoring), Merry would set her instrument down, and sit beside him, running her fingers through his hair, ensuring his sleep remained deep and even. She knew sometimes his dreams would become agitated when he was stressed, and he would begin tossing fitfully, even talking and crying out in his sleep. At the first sign of any disturbance, she would speak softly to him, soothing him with her words and touch. Within moments, she would ease him back into a peaceful place, and he could rest once more.

When it was the day before he was to leave, Merry slipped out of bed, murmuring she was going to start the kettle. He tried to ignore the pain raging in his heart, and nodded. He had barely set his feet on the floor when a crashing sound sent him running for the kitchen.

There he found Merry on her hands and knees, looking dazed and picking up shards of teacups. “Tom, stop, you’ll cut yourself!”

Oblivious, he knelt besides her. “Sweetheart, are you all right? What happened?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure...I must have stood up too quickly, I just felt so light headed, the cups, I was on the floor...I must have...”

Tom felt her forehead. “Merry, you’re ice cold and clammy...are you feeling ill?”

“No. No, Tom, I’m fine, just let me have another moment. I’ll clear this mess away and start making tea and...”

Tom looked at her face, and saw how pale she was. “I think not,” he decided, and picked her up carefully, bringing her to the sofa and wrapping them both in a blanket. “I think we shall just sit here for awhile until your color gets better, and you warm up. That’s it, rest your head on my shoulder, darling. I do hope you aren’t getting sick, darling, please, please don’t be getting sick, who will take care of you?” His forehead was creased with worry.

“You precious man,” she indulgently answered him. “The same person as usual, I can recommend her personally. She’s very capable. Quite good, actually. I’ve relied on her for countless years.”

He looked down at her quizzically. She pulled away from him, sensing his confusion.

“Oh, my sweet Tom.” She patted his cheek, and snuggled in with a smile.

It took him an embarrassing amount of time to realize she meant herself.

Kelly was a constant presence, encouraging Merry, supporting Tom.

“Tom, I know it must look bad when she’s throwing her guts up so much, but truly, she’s handling this like a champ,” Kelly told him emphatically. “Her labs are very promising. I was really concerned how she was going to take this, she was so frail when she came in, but she is hanging in there. The better she does now, the more hopeful I am about the way her body will respond the the T cell infusion.” She paused and eyed the way he was pulling his hair if not rubbing the back of his neck or jaw. “Okayyy...you, good sir, look like you either don’t believe me, or are very stressed out.”

“I don’t know how to help her,” Tom burst out at last, mindful of his volume, but his tone was quite clearly agitated. “I can’t hold her. She doesn’t even want to be touched. Tell me what I can do for her, she’s so miserable, and I don’t know what I can do. I would play the guitar for her, but honestly, I don’t think I’m of the quality that would be of any help...”

Kelly thought for a moment. “When she wasn’t playing for you, what did you do for her...and keep it G-rated, please,” she teased.

Tom felt his face heat as he mumbled, “I’m afraid to even touch her...”

Kelly looked at him and asked, “May I give you a hug?”

Tom nodded, and she wrapped her arms around him, her head coming right under his chin, her hands rubbing his back slowly. “You’re being put through the wringer, big guy. All I can say is you have to be patient. Which you have been. And trust her guidance. She’s been through this before. She doesn’t want to be touched, not because she doesn’t love you anymore, but because her body just hurts. Has she asked you to pack up and go home?”

He shook his head as he and Kelly parted.

“Then she wants you here. Believe me, I’ve heard about Meredith Skye’s temper. If she has something she wants to be said, she doesn’t leave room for doubt.”

Tom frowned. “She wasn’t your patient before now...I don’t understand.”

Kelly’s laugh was nostalgic. “When she informed Dr. Roths’ staff that she was flying out to see you...? He, ah, made the classic mistake, and forbade her to go. I don’t think anyone had ever heard the dressing down the likes she gave to him. I know he certainly hadn’t...they’re probably still replacing the paint she blistered off the walls...” Kelly sighed. “Ah, it was a beautiful thing. Dr. Roths is brilliant, but his people skills definitely need some work. When our Merry was through with him, there might have even been some applause. Might, I say. In a very discreet, surreptitious fashion.”

Tom looked down and laughed.

“She’s done, you know. With the actual chemo. She just has to recover from it, and we are going to keep a very close eye on her...and by then, it will be showtime. So try and relax. And once she is feeling better?” Kelly looked at him intently. “Do not be afraid to touch her. Are we clear on that? Don’t make that mistake. Love up on her as much as you want. What are you waiting for? Don’t waste time, Tom...we all make that mistake, don’t we?”

Ninth (and today’s final) selection: https://youtu.be/2iovXlPv52s

Merry’s fingers were moving, one hand was by her shoulder, and the other in her lap. Her bed was reclined at an angle, so she didn’t have to lift either arm. Her eyes were closed, and there was a faint smile on her lips.

“Darling? It’s Tom, sweetheart...are you up for some company?”

Her eyes opened readily, and her smile widened as her fingers ceased their movements. “Tom...how lovely to see you. I’m sorry I’ve been out of it for awhile, but I’m feeling more alert today.” She reached one hand out, and elated, he took it and brought it to his lips.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear you say that,” he replied, his face aglow with genuine pleasure. “What were you playing when I came in, it looked like the cello...”

“‘Gabriel’s Oboe’...but it’s neither here nor there. Tell me everything going on at home, Papa Bear...”

Tom looked at her carefully, and saw she wasn’t tethered to a variety of apparatuses. Slowly, he lowered a side rail, asking, “May I?”

Merry blushed, and nodded, thinking he was simply going to sit besides her on the bed. She was surprised and delighted when he carefully scooped her up and lay back on the bed with her in his arms. She was even more amazed when he lightly pressed his lips to the top of her head.

No one—no one—had ever touched her bare head outside of medical personnel since she had lost her hair. The simple intimate touch of his lips caused something in her heart to crack, then shatter...an ice shelf around her heart that had formed years ago suddenly collapsed.

If Tom could have known this, he would have been insufferably pleased.

But he couldn’t tell. If he noticed anything, it was Merry seemed more inclined to touch him as he told her about the latest in the World of Liam: the ducks in the area were slightly less rude than London ducks, Tom was aggrieved to report; minor key was much more interesting sounding than major key; scales were boring but arpeggios were fun; he was reading at a frightening pace, so much so that he and Aiden found they needed to pay attention to advertisements and graffiti much more than they had in the past.

He looked down at her. Merry was so still, he was certain she had fallen asleep.

Her face peaceful and wreathed with a blissful smile...but when he fell silent, her eyelids flew open. “Why did you stop?”

Drowning in her blue eyes, he touched the tip of her nose lightly. “I thought you’d fallen asleep there.”

Merry reached up and patted his chest, over his heart, right next to where her head was resting. “Are you joking? I can hear your heart, your breathing, the vibrations of your voice as you are telling me all about our boy...I wouldn’t miss this for anything, Tom. I don’t want to miss a single word.”

Tom felt his heart actually skip a beat when Merry touched him so tenderly of her own volition, and reached up to capture her hand and press it closely to his body. “In that case, I won’t waste a single moment.”

He felt her smile as he continued, “Liam has decided that pigeons and squirrels must be mortal enemies of old, as they are clearly fighting over the same resources...the way he tells it, it sounds as though they could be Montagues against Capulets...”

“Vampires against lycans...”

“Liverpool against Manchester United...”

“First chair versus second chair. God save me.”

Tom laughed, and kissed her head again. “Just so...”

TAGGING: Lifetime Memberships @hopelessromanticspoonie @yespolkadotkitty @just-the-hiddles @vodka-and-some-sass @winterisakiller @theheartofpenelope

Symphony Season Ticket Holders: @jessiejunebug @alexakeyloveloki @scorpionchild81 @tinchentitri @theoneanna @o-sacra-virgo-laudes-tibi @blacksuitofdoom @mishaandthebrits @wegingerangelican @rjohnson1280

#tom hiddleston #a symphony without strings #tom hiddleston rpf #tom hiddleston x ofc #tom hiddleston angst #tom hiddleston x oc #look Christine I did a thing #Nonsensical Writes

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flamehairedwritings · 4 years

Text

The Fire In Your Eyes: Chapter Four

Characters: Arthur Morgan x Original Female Character

Rating: The whole series will be E, 18+ ONLY for violence, gore, character deaths, animal deaths, parent deaths, swearing, grief, sexual themes and sex.

Summary: Saved by Arthur Morgan when her town is attacked, a young woman’s past comes back to haunt her when she has no choice but to join the Van der Linde Gang.

The Fire In Your Eyes Masterlist

Please don’t copy, steal or re-post my work; credit does not count.

The Underrated Joys of Escapism

Conversation had flowed more easily after that. The girls informed her of the lack of feminine products at the general store in the nearby town of Rhodes and she learned that she should indeed stay on Miss Grimshaw’s good side. In fact, they delighted in filling her in on exactly what everyone was like in the camp.

“... Do not give Bill a compliment, he’ll think you’re in love with him...”

“... Make Charles laugh and I’ll give you fifty dollars, I swear...”

“... You’ll probably be woken up every mornin’ by Abigail yellin’ at John, who probably deserves it...”

“... Oh, Lenny’s just so sweet, I just don’t quite know what I want to do with him—”

“Karen...”

“... Arthur’s a little gruff, but a sweetheart, really.”

“Oh, yeah, he’s a real sweetheart,” Mary-Beth enthused, her smile widening. “I mean, he rescued you, didn’t he? That’s how sweet he is.”

“Yes, that was very kind of him,” Ada agreed, keeping her smile easy.

Please don’t ask me, please don’t—

“So, how’d he do it, what happened?”

Oh, Christ.

She’d hoped the personal questions would have waited at least another day or so, but, with her wide smile and big eyes, Mary-Beth was obviously sweet on Arthur, and eager to hear of his heroic deeds, a fact further proven by Karen and Tilly sharing a glance, their lips twitching.

Noted.

“Uh, he found me in a cabin. I’d escaped from my home and hidden in there. We were then pinned down by gunfire but he threw dynamite out of the window to give us a chance to escape.”

“I love a man who just happens to carry ‘round dynamite,” Karen drawled.

“Oh, is that so, darlin’?”

Ada’s head whipped up at the Irish accent, her back stiffening.

A man with shoulder-length ginger hair grinned at them, his hands in his pockets.

“Well, I guess I better start carryin’ ‘round some dynamite in me pocket. Though, that could be dangerous.”

“What would it blow off, exactly,” Karen retorted as she lifted a bottle of whisky to her lips, an eyebrow arched.

“Your favourite past-time, darlin’.”

The man laughed as she rolled her eyes and winked at her before his blue eyes settled on Ada’s own.

“Hello, we haven’t been introduced.”

“Sean, this is Annie Sawyer. Arthur rescued her from Strawberry,” Mary-Beth beamed.

“Is that right? The grumpy bastard does have a heart, then,” Sean chuckled, holding his hand out to her. “It’s nice to meet you, sweetheart.”

“You, too,” Ada smiled warmly as she accepted his hand, though her heart pounded in her chest.

What in the hell is an Irish man doing here? A former O’Driscoll? Oh, calm down, not every Irish man is an O’Driscoll.

With a flourish, Sean took her hand in a gentle grip and bent at the waist, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.

“Jesus...” Karen muttered beside her as Ada made her smile widen a little more. “Trust me, darlin’, he’s no gentleman.”

“Oh, love, I’ll be a gentleman if you want me t’ be.” Releasing Ada’s hand, his eyes had already darted to Karen. “You know I can be.”

“Mmh, I’m sure I don’t.” Karen pressed her lips together.

“We’ll see, won’t we.” Winking at her again, his attention then returned to Ada, her eyes still fixed on him. “Welcome to the camp, darlin’. Let us know if you need anythin’. And may I say, what lovely fire-y hair you have, almost as lovely as mine.”

“Oh, thank you.” She involuntarily tucked a few curls behind her ear, her stomach twisting slightly.

“Well, ladies, I shall leave ye to ye’re evenin’.”

Bowing low, the girls snorted as he backed away before straightening and turning on his heel, whistling a tune to himself.

“Well, that’s Sean,” Karen muttered, shaking her head as she took a sip of whisky. “The bane of my life.”

“Ain’t they perfect for each other,” Tilly stage-whispered to Ada, making Karen shoot a glare at her as Mary-Beth broke into laughter again.

Twenty four hours earlier, she’d been in the same position. With a couple of changes.

Lying on her back on a blanket instead of a bed, she was staring at cloth instead of a canopy.

What had remained the same, though, was that she was unable to sleep.

Rather relieved at feeling tired, she had excused herself shortly after Sean had introduced himself and found Miss Grimshaw by the girl’s wagon to politely ask her where she may be able to sleep. The older woman had gestured behind her, whereupon Ada realised she would be sharing a patch of barely covered ground with some of the other girls.

She’d done as directed, lying on her side beside Tilly who was also settling down. Karen and Mary-Beth had lain on the blanket shortly after, and they’d both soon fallen asleep.

Ada hadn’t even closed her eyes. The day had seemed endless, as if fate had been forcing her to stay locked forever in the worst day of her life. She should have fallen asleep instantaneously, gratefully fallen into an unconscious slumber from grief and exhaustion. The sounds of trees and insects and people were all too unsettling, though, too unfamiliar. The camp was quiet, a few members of the group having a murmured conversation a little way off around the fire they’d eaten at. She didn’t know who the voices belonged to, not having been introduced to anyone else.

Her mind wouldn’t quieten, either. It kept chanting at her to make a plan, but how could she when she had no control or choice?

It needled at her, making her spine prickle so she’d have to turn every few minutes. She might have dozed here and there, but it was very light, bodies and blood filling her mind, every sound making her eyes snap open, and when the sun had started to rise she’d given up completely and found herself once more sat on the fallen tree, staring out at the lake.

Maybe at noon I’ll collapse and finally get some rest. That would be nice.

“You okay?”

Good God, there are people everywhere.

Looking up, a woman she hadn’t seen before approached from down the bank, a tin cup in her hand. Her blonde hair, darker than Karen’s, was braided and twisted over her shoulder, and she had a bright mustard blouse on, tucked into brown trousers.

Ada smiled instantly, inhaling a long breath as she straightened her back. “Yes, I’m fine, thank you. Just woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep.”

The woman hummed as she sipped from the cup, and took a seat beside Ada.

“I’m Sadie.”

“Annie.”

Sadie nodded, holding the cup between both hands. “I’m sure people have been offering their condolences, and I would but... Well, I know it don’t help that much.”

Sadie gave a faint smile as Ada looked at her, not having caught her surprise in time for it not to show.

“I lost my husband recently. The O’Driscolls killed him. These guys rescued me, too. I was a mess. I didn’t want to talk to anybody. Didn’t feel much like livin’ for a little while, actually, but... you just have to keep goin’, don’t you. Find somethin’ worth livin’ for.”

A corner of Ada’s mouth lifted. “I guess that’s why I’ve not been able to sleep.”

“You just need time. You’ll figure it out.” Sadie gently nudged her with her elbow. “You seem to be doing okay though, it’s good that you’re talkin’ to people, I saw you chattin’ with the girls.”

She smiled lightly. “Well, it’s a nice distraction.”

“Yeah, I can understand that. You’ll be fine, though. From what Arthur said, it sounds like you can really handle yourself with a gun.”

Ada exhaled a laugh as her eyebrows rose. “Well, I’m no Black Belle but, yeah, I’m not too bad.”

Sadie chuckled, a husky, rich sound, and arched an eyebrow. “Maybe we can do some shootin’ together sometime. Show these boys how it’s done.”

“I’d like that.”

And Ada found that she meant it. The other women were lovely and kind to her, of course, but it was a welcome relief to be able to talk candidly with someone who understood.

“All right, then, I look forward to it.” Sadie tapped a nail against her cup and stood, rolling her shoulders back. “Hey, maybe we can do some practise shootin’ on some O’Driscolls.”

Ada watched her head up towards the camp, and the manners her mother had tried to drum into her made her feel a twinge of guilt at not offering her condolences about Sadie’s husband but, as the other woman had said, how would it help? No, it was enough that they understood one another.

Shared trauma was a strangely comforting occurrence.

Sadie passed Miss Grimshaw and they nodded at each other, that tight, sugar sweet smile on Susan’s lips.

“Mornin’, Mrs Adler.”

“Good morning, Susan.” Sadie’s overly bright tone made Ada’s lips twitch; she was very much warming to her.

She swiftly softened her expression, however, when Miss Grimshaw caught sight of her, her smile widening as she approached.

“There you are. Oh, honey, you look beat!”

Wonderful. Thank you, Susan.

“Did you get any sleep at all?”

Ada stood, unsure as to whether the older woman’s concern was genuine or she was worried about her new worker already being down for the count, and shrugged lightly.

“Oh, yes, I got a couple of hours. It’s just, I’m getting used to it, I suppose, being here.”

Susan gave what she probably thought was a sympathetic expression. “Yes, new places can be a little unsettlin’ at first. But we move a lot so you’ll have to get used to it.”

Ada’s chest tightened. Of course they’d have to move a lot, they were on the run from the law, she knew that, but there it was, the suppressed panic that she had no choice, that the routine would change before she could adapt.

“Oh, I’m sure I will. I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight, too.”

“Mhm. Well, follow me, honey,” Susan gestured for her to follow with her hand, “We got piles of washin’ to do to keep you occupied in the meantime. And I found you some boots!”

Wonderful.

Days passed without incident, and Ada settled in, much to her relief, more easily than she had anticipated, swiftly establishing a routine. She would wake early, talk with Sadie or Abigail over breakfast as they were usually awake at sunrise, too, then carry out whatever tasks Miss Grimshaw deemed important for that day. She heard snatches of information, or Karen just told her outright; currently there was something going on in the local town with two large families that despised each other.

“We’re playin’ ‘em both like a fiddle,” Karen had grinned.

Her intuition to not tell them her real name was correct, then.

She kept mainly to talking to the group of women, the men seemingly either always out on ‘business’ as they called it or sat around the camp halfheartedly carrying out various tasks, but she was gradually introduced to everyone.

Ada swiftly discovered Sean had never had any association with the O’Driscolls; there was completely and utterly no way he could have. Colm would never allow a man who talked as much as he did to be in the gang. He made her laugh, though, and gifted her, with enough flourish to make Karen sigh wearily, a small knife which she kept tucked into her belt. She apologised to Lenny the second evening she had been there and thanked him for being so generous. He’d shaken his head dismissively with a warm smile and said not to worry about it. She’d warmed to him completely as they’d eaten their stew, talking about inane things like the weather or what bread they liked best.

Charles, John, Bill, Pearson, Strauss and Javier had greeted her quietly and kept to themselves, the Reverend Swanson had stumbled past her the next morning, and Uncle had sat next to her at her third dinner and started singing loudly, to which everyone joined in. Hosea had talked with her that same evening, offering his condolences and asking her non-invasive questions about herself that she answered truthfully. After discovering she enjoyed reading and she missed her books, they had discussed their favourite novels, and then the next morning he gave her a book, a gesture so touching from the old con man that she had nearly wanted to embrace him.

As for Dutch and Arthur, she hadn’t spoken to either of them since they’d talked in Dutch’s tent and that suited her fine. Dutch kept to his tent, reading or talking with the men, and Arthur left early every morning and returned in the late evening.

She was, surprisingly yet mercifully, finding that she liked this band of outlaws and, with their seeming acceptance, felt she could breathe a little easier now.

It took Micah, the man who’d watched her as he’d leaned against the tree, to bring her back to reality.

It was the morning of her fifth day of being in the camp and she was repairing an old blouse Susan had given her to have. She was using strips of material she’d found and was trying to do her best with what was turning into quite an unusual assortment of colours and patterns, needing a new blouse to wear as dust and sweat was starting to make wearing her current one unpleasant.

This damn heat. I miss rain.

A shadow suddenly fell across her.

Blinking, Ada glanced up.

“Hello, Mr Bell.”

He smiled at her, in that vaguely unnerving way, his eyes fixed on her, and nodded.

“Good morning, Miss Sawyer. What are you up to?”

“Oh, I’m just fixing a blouse. I’m in need of a new one.” She smiled politely as he sat beside her, suppressing her lack of delight.

He rested his elbows on his knees, leaning into her space to inspect her stitching. Her jaw moved slightly as she sat back to create some distance and he huffed out a laugh of amazement as he too sat back.

“That’s fine work, Miss Sawyer, you can barely notice the stitches. You’ve got a talent for it.”

“Thank you, Mr Bell.”

His smile, having lingered, widened now as he tilted his head “Please, call me Micah.”

Her polite smile lingered too, restrained. “All right, then.”

“I hope you’ll accept my apologies for not having talked with you sooner. I didn’t want to intrude upon you at such a difficult time.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Micah.”

Now please leave.

He fell silent, just looking at her, and she resented herself for doing so but she couldn’t stop her smile from widening as she searched for something to say. Just as she was about to open her mouth to ask him about his day, his hand went to her knee, and squeezed it so lightly.

“If you need anything, Miss Sawyer, anything at all, you can come and ask me.”

She stiffened, her mind going blank for a moment or two. She could feel the heaviness of his touch on her, of his eyes on her, and she couldn’t think what to do.

There was no doubt in what he was implying.

“Take your hand off me, Micah.”

Something flashed behind his eyes at her calm, low words. She held his gaze, her body still.

Then, he laughed, dropping his hand from her as he leaned back.

“Miss Sawyer, you are a surprise, ain’t you. Not quite the pretty little meek flower I was hoping for. That’s a shame.” He smiled. “More... entertainin’, though.”

He stood then, much to her masked relief, but just as she thought he was going to turn away, he looked to her again, his tongue running along his teeth.

“You know, Arthur and I were in your pretty little town not too long ago. Gave you all quite the show. I’m very grateful you didn’t get in the middle of it.”

He then nodded at her, and walked away, whistling to himself. She stared at his back, her lips parting as a held breath rushed out of her. She felt cold sweat sliding down her back, her hands frozen.

A man had been broken out of jail only a few weeks ago by another man and they shot all who’d been in their path. Skinny and Maddy had been killed in their cabin. She used to talk with them in the store and used to help Maddy braid her hair. Maddy got excited about the spring and liked to watch out for flowers every day, she was going—

“Good mornin’, sweetheart.”

She snapped back to attention, her eyes darting up to watch Sean walk towards her, that wide, lopsided grin on his face.

It fell slightly at her expression.

“You all righ’, darlin’?”

She nodded swiftly as she dropped the blouse to the floor, wiping her damp hands on her skirt. “Yes, sorry, you just startled me.”

“Uh-huh.” He eyed her, his gaze darting over to Micah who was seating himself at a table a little way off, unsheathing a knife from his belt. “You were talkin’ wi’ Micah just now, weren’t ye?”

“Yes, he was just introducing himself.” Clearing her throat, she smiled. “What business are you getting up to today?”

Ignoring her deviation, he sat beside her, an unusually serious expression taking over his features.

“You know,” he started, lowering his voice. “If he gives you any kind o’ trouble you let me know, all righ’?”

She arched an eyebrow, her smile widening as she ignored the faint tightening in her chest. “You? And what will you be able to do about it, Sean MacGuire?”

He laughed, the easy demeanour returning. “Oh, sweetheart, there’s a reason there’s a bounty on me head.”

“Didn’t you just happen to be there as the gang robbed places?”

“Oh, you wound me, ye really do. Here I was about to invite ye on a day out.” He shook his head mock-sadly as she perked up, her mouth opening a little wider.

“A day out?”

“Aye.” He side-eyed her, sighing faux-dejectedly. “I thought ye might like to come into town wi’ me, be reminded there’s an actual world out there.”

She almost laughed at the excitement that roused within her. Yes, she felt safe and confident with her routine, but... Lord, she was growing restless. There was only so far she could wander in this camp and this invitation felt like a strange sort of permission that she did indeed have some freedom. And freedom overrode any sort of need for security.

Why, though?

Her eyes then narrowed slightly as some of the excitement ebbed away.

“... What’s the catch?”

He held his hands up, his eyebrows raising. “No catch, darlin’. Just don’t want ya goin’ crazy... ‘nd maybe ye could get a new shirt instead of... whatever the hell that is you’re makin’.”

She pressed her lips together as she weighed the pros and cons, thought about everything that could go wrong, thought about if she could take Sean in a fight, if it came to it...

No, everything was surface level with Sean. This had to be genuine and thank God for it.

“I would be delighted to join you, Sean.”

He grinned, practically nearly jumping to his feet as he held a hand out to her. Undeterred as she batted his hand aside and stood unaided, he began to stride towards the scout camp up on a small hill to the north of the main camp. Following after him, she kept her gaze straight ahead as they passed Micah, though he was too focused in his game of five finger fillet to notice them.

Striding up the hill, he gestured at the small pack of horses, flinging his arm out.

“Pick yourself a horse.”

Her eyebrows rose as she looked to him. “Any one?”

“Yep. Any one without a saddle.”

She blew out a breath as she looked back to the horses, taking a few steps closer to them. They didn’t lift their heads from their grazing, used to people moving about amongst them. She studied each one in turn, assessing their build and matching them against each and every scenario she could think of in her head.

“Jesus, get a move on will ye or you’ll be sharin’ wi’ me.”

“Oh, Lord...”

Hearing him laugh behind her, Ada’s lips twitched and she moved towards a bay horse at the back of the group, it’s head lifting, hay hanging out of it’s mouth. It watched her, it’s ears twitching as it chewed.

“Hello,” she murmured, reaching a hand out slowly and settling it on it’s neck.

The horse turned it’s head a little closer towards her, sniffing at her. She held her hand out, allowing it to sniff.

“He’s a real nice one.”

A dark haired man stood on the other side of the horse, smiling somewhat nervously at her as he stroked down the horse’s back. He spoke quickly but earnestly.

“He’s quiet and calm and ain’t too much trouble, I think you’ll like—”

“Jesus Christ, Kieran, what are ye doin’ lurkin’ amongst the horses? You been shaggin’ ‘em again?”

“I don’t shag, sleep,” Kieran corrected himself swiftly, glancing at Ada, “with the horses, Sean, you know I don’t.”

“I don’t know what the hell you do, O’Driscoll, and I don’t dare ask. Toddle off and get her a bloody saddle, would ye.”

O’Driscoll?

Ada stared at Kieran as he muttered under his breath and moved between the horses, her hand frozen on the horse. He seemed to sense her sudden agitation, his ears twitching again as he shifted slightly, his head turning towards her once more.

Sean chuckled behind her as he approached, stroking his fingers down the horse’s forehead as his muzzle nudged against her forearm.

“That’s our camp freak, he...” He trailed off as he glanced at her, noting her tight features. “You all righ’, sweetheart?”

Get a hold of yourself.

“Yeah, fine.” She smiled as she stepped back from the horse as Kieran returned, watching him settle a faded blanket over his back before placing a saddle on it.

Sean watched her watch him, and she heard him curse under his breath.

“Oh, shit, I wasn’t thinkin’,” he murmured, standing beside her. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, he was with the O’Driscolls but he saved Arthur’s life and is with us now. We give him a hard time but he’s fine.”

She just nodded, watching as Kieran tightened the straps and adjusted the stirrups. Then, she turned to Sean and smiled widely.

“Shall we get out of here?”

He grinned, tugging on a curl of her hair as he passed her. “Aye, let’s get away from these degenerates.”

After securing a bridle to the head of the horse, Kieran handed the reins to her with the same nervous smile.

“Thank you,” she said automatically, meeting his gaze for a moment, before she turned away, murmuring gently to the horse, “Come on.”

Leading him away from the group, Ada followed after Sean, very much ready to be distracted.

“What’re ye gonna call him?” he asked as he mounted his buckskin horse, gathering the reins into his hands.

“I don’t know.” Also mounting, Ada patted the horse’s neck, allowing him a moment or two to get used to the weight of her. “I don’t know his character yet.”

“Well, we’ll see what he’s like in the kind of trouble we get up to.”

She arched an eyebrow. “I’m not looking for trouble today, Sean.”

He grinned as he urged his horse into a walk, Ada doing the same. “All righ’, all righ’, just some light tomfoolery, then. Who should we be?”

“What do you mean?”

“We don’t like to use our real names often in places for obvious reasons, so who shall we be?” He nodded at Lenny, the scout for the east entrance to the camp, as they passed him, who frowned slightly and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Sean continued, raising his voice a little as he pressed his horse into a trot. “I say we could pass as brother and sister, twins even, with our gorgeous red hair ‘nd blue eyes.”

Ada laughed as her horse drew level with his, her brows raising. “You’ll have to copy my accent, then.”

Sean mock-gasped in horror. “How dare you suggest such a thing. We’re plainly Irish. Let’s hear you do the accent.”

“Sean.”

“Come on.”

“Sean—”

“Either that or you’re a mute and have to let me say what I like—”

“Oh, fer fuck’s sake, that’s the last thing we need.”

He threw his head back with a laugh as they emerged from the trees and turned onto a larger path. “Jesus Christ, a brilliant accent and a curse, are ye tryin’ to make me fall in love wi’ ye woman?”

“That would be incest, dear brother,” she grinned, maintaining the accent.

“Aye, but I think they like that down here.”

She laughed as he urged his horse into a canter, prompting her to do the same.

“How’d ye get so good at the accent anyway?”

She snorted. “Oh, you’ll just laugh.”

“Oh, now you have to tell me.”

Ada slid her gaze over to him, trying not to smile as he grinned.

“I used to practice accents I heard as a child, to entertain myself.”

Sean laughed, thoroughly delighted. “Ye didn’t have many friends, did ye.”

“What gave it away?”

It was only a short ride to the town of Rhodes and Sean talked the whole way, informing her of what little there was to do in the town, but she revelled in every moment. She felt she could breathe a little easier away from the eyes of the camp, and passing workers in a field, seeing other people, made the world feel wide and full of possibilities once more. Perhaps she could leave at some point. Perhaps she could think of a plan sometime soon. Perhaps. It was a short ride of freedom but she grasped it with both hands.

They slowed their horses as they passed a sign that read ‘Welcome to Rhodes’, and Sean led them towards a hitching post infront of the general store. Sliding down from the saddle, Ada pulled the reins over her horses’s head and tied them securely to the post before she surveyed the main street. It wasn’t long but there was the usual necessities, the general store, the Sheriff’s Office and jail, the gunsmith, an undertaker’s and a bank. People bustled about, carrying packages or buckets, wagons and horses came up and down the street and people sat and talked on porches, their voices carrying.

“Right.”

Sean’s cheerful voice pulled her from her observations and she turned to him, finding him also observing the street, a certain glint in his eye.

“Why don’ you go into the store and get yerself somethin’.”

Ada arched an eyebrow as she stroked her horses’s neck. “I don’t have any money, Sean, and I don’t fancy lookin’ at things I can’t afford.”

Shaking his head, Sean shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins, holding them out to her.

“Here, get yerself somethin’ nice.”

Staring down at his hand like he was pointing a gun to her, Ada noted they were all dollar coins.

“Sean, I can’t accept that.”

He tutted and pushed his hand closer towards her. “Ah, shut up and buy yerself somethin’ pretty.” When she didn’t move, still staring, he tutted again and took her hand with his other one, carefully dropping the coins into her palm and making her fingers close over them. “I’ve got some business to attend to, when you’re done just sit out here, I won’t be long.” He started to turn away then paused, looking back at her and lowering his voice. “Oh, and steal somethin’.”

That pulled her out of her daze.

“Excuse me?”

He smiled, holding his hands out slightly. “Ye with thieves now, darlin’. Ye’ve got to fit in.”

She placed her free hand on her hip, arching an eyebrow. “I’m not going to steal something, Sean.”

“Why?”

“Why?” she scoffed. “Because it’s not right.”

“And?”

Oh, dear Lord.

“And the shopkeeper needs to make a living.”

He laughed. Actually laughed at her. “It’s nothin’ personal, Annie. We’ve all gotta make our way in this world.”

Christ...

She’d heard that before.

He took her long, exhaled breath as a, resigned, agreement, and patted her arm. “Good. Now, don’t forget, you’re as Irish as good whisky, dear sister. Enjoy!”

She watched him stride away in the direction of the gunsmith and exhaled another breath. The weight of the coins in her hand made her look down at it again and she uncurled her fingers a little to count the coins.

Twenty dollars. Twenty.

“Jesus...” she breathed, suddenly very much aware she was just holding twenty dollars in her hand. Turning to her horse, she rooted around in the saddlebag with her free hand, hoping to find something to hold the coins in. Feeling cloth brush against her fingers, she pulled out a bandanna and clumsily fashioned a make-shift purse, carefully pouring the coins into it and tying all the corners together.

Glancing around the street, Ada then made her way up the steps and into the store. A bell tinkled as she pushed the door open, prompting the shopkeeper to lift his head, his gaze sweeping over her. After assessing her, he smiled warmly, straightening his back.

“Good afternoon, miss.”

“Good afternoon, sir,” she answered, returning his smile as she approached the counter, her accent perfect.

“Is there anythin’ in particular you’re looking for?”

“Yes, I was wonderin’ if you had any blouses?”

“We got plenty of men’s blouses, miss, but no women’s, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” she waved her hand dismissively, widening her smile. “Anythin’ will do fer me, I’m not picky.”

“Just over in that corner there, then, ma’am.”

“Thank you.”

Moving to the shelves he’d indicated, she smiled to herself as she slid her fingers over a shirt, feeling the material.

If Mama could see me now.

─

Ada watched the people and horses passing by, her hands folded on her lap, covering her coin purse, her thumb idly pushing her ring around her finger, a parcel at her side. A light breeze blew and she inhaled a long breath. She kept her mind clear, just focusing on what was around her.

It was so wonderful, to be so calm. To be so free.

She could be anyone she wanted right now, an Irish woman waiting for her brother, a nameless woman enjoying the afternoon, a person waiting for their friend or lover. She understood Sean’s joy for it now. It was intoxicating to present whatever version of yourself you wanted to to the world, to have no expectations placed upon you.

“My darlin’ sister!”

Realising she’d closed her eyes, Ada opened them to find Sean beside his horse, beaming at her.

“Come on, Ma will be expectin’ us home.”

One corner of her mouth lifting higher than the other, she gathered the coin purse and parcel into her hands and moved down the steps to her horse. Lifting the flap of the saddlebag, she placed the coins inside along with the parcel and secured it tightly. Climbing up into the saddle, Sean already atop his horse, they turned their horses onto the road, heading out of the town.

“So, what’d ye steal?”

Her eyes widening at his jovial tone, she glanced over her shoulder. “Keep your voice down, you...”

“Curse at me again, go on.”

“No.”

“Fine. What did you get?”

Tossing her curls over her shoulder, she gestured at her saddlebag. “I bought a new blouse... and stole an apple.”

The widest grin she’d seen on him yet spread across his features as his head whipped to the side to look at her. “You bloody did it?! Ha! That’s my girl! It’s not gold or jewellery but it’s a start, I s’ppose. Where is it?”

She resisted the urge to be pleased with herself, keeping control of her smile. “I didn’t think it would make you this happy. I gave it to Faithful.”

“Who the bloody hell’s Faithful?”

She patted Faithful’s neck, her lips twitching.

“The bloody horse is Faithful? Oh, Jesus...” He shook his head as he sighed. “Right, and why Faithful?”

She, unsuccessfully, tried to hide a grin. “To remind me to be faithful to my morals.”

“Jesus Christ, right, let’s get you back to bloody camp so we can make a real thief of ye.”

Her laugh carried across the fields as they kicked their horses into a canter, dust rising in their wake.

As they reentered camp, Ada found she was still smiling. She felt lighter, her situation not so impossible now. It was incredible what less than an hour of normality could do. Well, near normality.

Dismounting at the nearest posts they came to, she pulled the reins over Faithful’s head, loosely wrapping them around the pole.

“Good boy, thank you,” she murmured as he snorted, tossing his head a little.

“You are most welcome.”

“Not you, Sean.”

“I don’t get a little thank you for takin’ ye out on the town?”

A smile pulling at her lips, she turned to him. “Thank you, Sean. I mean it.”

Grinning, he inclined his head. “You’re welcome, darlin’ Annie. Oh, and, hey, I got ye this...”

Reaching into his saddlebag, he pulled out some sort of crumpled emerald green material.

“The colour of our homeland, dear sister.”

Taking it from his offered hand, it unfurled to reveal a blouse.

Beaming, her mouth dropped open as her gaze darted up to him.

“Oh, Sean, it’s beautiful. Where did you get it? I didn’t see a tailor’s.”

He just looked at her, having the good grace to look the barest amount of sheepish.

“You stole it?!”

“Why anyone would leave a pretty thing like that out to dry I’ve no clue.”

“Sean.”

“What, it’s their fault!” He held his hands out innocently, all sheepishness gone as he grinned roguishly.

Exhaling a short breath, she fought hard to not imitate his infectious smile. “There’s no point in telling you to take it back is there?”

“Absolutely no point at all.”

“Lord...” Still keeping a grip on the blouse, Ada shook her head and reached into her saddlebag, retrieving the coin purse and parcel. “Fine, I’ll keep it.”

“There’s hope! We’ll make a proper thief of ye yet, sweetheart, you just wait.” He nudged his shoulder against hers as they moved around the horses.

“I didn’t steal it.”

“Whatever makes you sleep tonight, darlin’.”

“Well, here, this will.” She held the bandanna-wrapped coins out to him.

Sean made a dismissive sound as his brow furrowed. “Ah, no, Annie, you keep it. A little ‘welcome to camp’ gift from me.”

“The blouse can be that gift. And this certainly isn’t little.” She pushed it further towards him.

“Nah, that was a ‘welcome to town’ gift.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as they came to a stop before the path. “Well, then, how about you look after it for me.”

Raising his eyebrows, he looked down at the purse, then back up at her.

“I think I can do that,” he smiled, his fingers closing around the material, and in a flash he had it in his pocket.

“Yes, I thought you might...”

Ada trailed off as the sound of hooves suddenly thundered down from the north path. Both of them taking an automatic step back, they watched as Charles and Arthur stormed into camp, pulling their horses into an abrupt halt that had them skidding in the dirt slightly.

“Miss Grimshaw, Mr Pearson, your assistance, please!” Arthur called as he swiftly dismounted before striding around his horse to Charles’s.

Ada then saw the man sat behind Charles, his head lolling to one side. Arthur helped him down as Charles supported him from his position, gripping his shoulder, and as his head rolled back she saw the bruises and blood that covered him.

“One of yours?” she murmured to Sean, continuing to watch as Miss Grimshaw and Charles took over, helping the stranger over to the table nearby.

“Aye, one of ours,” he answered, sliding his hands into his pockets. “A rather interestin’ fellow.”

“I'm learning that’s not a compliment in this camp.”

Sean laughed as her lips twitched before he quickly shushed himself as Arthur looked over to them, his lips pressing into a thin line.

“Quiet now, lass, we’re about to be bored to death,” Sean whispered to her as Arthur approached.

“So, Lenny told me you two went out of camp.”

Ada couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of betrayal from the young man she’d started to rather warm to. Surely it wasn’t that bad, was it—

“Aye, I took the lovely lady out into town to—”

“You went into Rhodes?”

His abruptness seemed to catch Sean off guard, but he swiftly recovered.

“Aye, it’s not good for anyone to be cooped up in this mad place fer too long—”

“Do I have to remind you, MacGuire,” Arthur cut him off again as he stepped closer, prompting the other man to rise to his full height, “We’re wanted men involved in two mad as hell families. We got bounty hunters lookin’ for us up and down the God damn country who ain’t afraid to take us dead or alive. We can’t afford to just go dancin’ into town like God damn idiots.”

“All righ’, Morgan, it was jus’ a bit of fun—”

“Yeah, well, people have died over ‘a bit of fun’, haven’t they?”

Sean’s mouth opened then closed as he stared at him. Ada glanced between them, but before she could speak Sean exhaled a harsh laugh and turned on his heel, striding away. Pressing her lips together, she turned on Arthur, lifting her chin to look at him.

“I don’t know what you were referring to but I gather that was incredibly unfair of you.”

“Excuse me?” He gazed down at her with more of an air of exasperation than incredulity at her challenging him and that just incensed her more.

“He was just being kind, Mr Morgan, I needed new clothing and a breath—”

“You need anythin’ like that you speak to Miss Grimshaw.” He was already looking away from her, dismissing her as his eyes searched the camp.

Pressing her lips together, she adjusted her stance, standing directly in front of him and forcing him to look at her once more. “I don’t want to take any more charity—”

“It ain’t about that.” Now his full attention was on her as he wrestled to keep his voice low. “I don’t think you quite realise the danger we’re in—”

“If there is any danger I can handle myself and you know that—”

“As far as I know you can hold a gun and point it without shakin’. Beyond that I don’t know what you can do.”

His words stung but she clenched her jaw, begrudgingly accepting he was right, and that wouldn’t do.

"Perhaps I just need the opportunity.”

He arched an eyebrow as he exhaled a humourless laugh. “Is that what you want is it? An opportunity? Oh, what, you want to go out there seekin’ danger now? Think you’re invincible now you’re runnin’ with outlaws?”

God, she wanted to wipe that patronising look off his face.

“Need I remind you it was you who brought me here, Mr Morgan.”

“Yeah, but I might need remindin’ of the reason why.”

That stung, too.

“Some horseshit about saving people who need saving, and you obviously thought I could handle myself here.”

She didn’t know whether it was her coarse language that stunned him into silence, the truth of her words or he was just holding his tongue but he didn’t answer her, his jaw moving. She didn’t look away as they stared at one another, neither wanting to back down.

He’s not agreeing.

Don’t do it─

“Give me your gun.”

“Excuse me?” Now he looked incredulous as he glanced down at her extended hand.

Arching an eyebrow, she raised her chin. “It appears I’m going to have to prove myself, Mr Morgan, to ease your apparent distress at my safety.”

Now that certainly stunned him.

“No, I ain’t givin’ you my gun.”

“Fine.” Looking to the side, she moved her hand in the same direction. “Lenny?”

Lenny, having been sat reading under a tree nearby and trying very hard to look like he wasn’t eavesdropping, raised his eyebrows in slight alarm.

“Yes, Miss Sawyer?”

“May I borrow your gun, please?”

“Uh...” He glanced at Arthur, though only briefly, as he stood, closing his book. His curiosity won out. “Sure.”

Stepping closer, he pulled his gun from its holster and held it out to her, the corners of his mouth lifting. “You’re not gonna kill anyone, are you, Annie?”

“I hope not.” Taking the gun, she lowered her arm and offered him the parcel and blouse, which he took swiftly, before she turned, glancing at Arthur as she strode away.

Lenny followed quickly behind her, not overly fond of the idea of being left with Arthur to be chastised. The older man exhaled a long breath as he watched them for a moment, before he, too, slowly followed after the woman.

Ada moved behind Arthur’s wagon and down to the bank, gripping the revolver in her hand and familiarising herself with the feel of it. It was a standard Cattleman with a black steel frame and an ebony grip.

Perfect.

Four empty bottles lay strewn across the sand, most likely from Reverend Swanson, and she came to a halt, wetting her lips.

“Lenny, please can you set those bottles on that rock?”

“Sure thing.”

Lenny apparently hadn’t been the only one listening in on their arguing as she could hear the rest of the camp forming an unsubtle audience a little way behind her, unashamedly gathering to watch as they murmured to each other.

She kept her eyes on Lenny, though, studying the angle at which he placed the bottles.

“All right, Annie, there you go.” He grinned at her as he ran past, joining the group.

Arthur stood towards the back of the audience, a little higher up on the bank, his mouth set in a thin line. He was hesitant to underestimate her due to her confidence, but then again he’d known many a confident person to make a fool of themselves. Would she really embarrass herself that way, though? Especially in front of everybody? Nah, Miss Sawyer didn’t seem that kind of fool. She was headstrong and damn stubborn, but not a fool.

He watched her closely as she stood straighter and raised her arm, drawing the hammer of the revolver back.

“Ten dollars says she does it,” Karen whispered to Tilly, who smiled.

“No deal ‘cause I think she’s gonna do it, too.”

Somewhere behind them, Micah snorted.

Ada exhaled a slow breath as she stared at the bottles, blocking out the sound of the group. Then, she squeezed the trigger.

She moved quickly.

In quick succession, the bottles blew apart one after the other, glass falling onto the sand.

“Holy shit!”

“God damn!”

The group spoke over each other as Ada lowered her arm and allowed herself a small moment of pride, a smile pulling at her lips.

“Someone get this girl a drink!”

Her smile widened as she finally turned to the group, finding most of the men drifting away back to their duties as the women grinned at her.

“I don’t drink, Uncle.”

“Well, someone get one for me, then!”

Wanting any excuse to open the whisky, the women followed after Uncle, talking over one another. Sadie, who Ada hadn’t noticed before, stood further beyond them, down on the south side of the bank. She smiled proudly and nodded at Ada before turning away and heading along the shore, returning to her post.

“Wow, that was somethin’,” Lenny beamed as he stepped closer, holding his hand out.

“Oh, thank you. And thank you for letting me borrow it.” She returned his infectious smile as they swapped, she giving him the gun, he her blouse and parcel.

He shook his head as he holstered it. “Don’t mention it. I wouldn’t mind seein’ that again.”

She watched him as he wandered away, smiling to himself as Karen could be faintly heard trying to get a rousing song going.

Ada’s smile lingered, too, as she smoothed her skirt down, before she realised that just left... Arthur.

Her smile vanished as she looked to him.

He stood only a few feet away, his arms folded, his features expressionless.

“You enjoy bein’ a child, do you?”

She sighed, her teeth grazing over her lower lip as she raised her eyebrows. “No, I don’t.”

Dropping his arms, he stepped closer, gesturing behind her. “Well, you’ve proven you can hit unmovin’ targets. You ain’t proven you can hit somethin’ that’s shootin’ back at you.”

“No, I just haven’t proven that to you.”

“Well, you obviously wanted to prove somethin’ here.”

“Yes, that I’m skilled with a gun, Arthur, and that if I feel like taking a break from camp and going out for less than an hour then I can handle myself if something comes up. I understand your concern for this camp but I believe this time it was misplaced.”

“Oh, you’ve done more than target practice, have you? You killed, have you?”

“I killed an O’Driscoll back in Strawberry before you found me, I told you that.”

“And what has that done to your conscience?”

That made her pause, and he took full advantage of it, refusing to break their gaze.

“You been thinkin’ about it at all? Sure, he deserved it but it’s a hard thing to take a life. Could you do it again?”

She didn’t respond.

He shook his head. “Well, I hope we don’t get the opportunity to find out, Miss Sawyer. It could be your life that’s taken while you’re decidin’.”

A cold smile settled on her lips “What an unburdening that would be to your conscience, Mr Morgan.”

He watched her as she walked away, his jaw set firmly.

He should’ve disagreed with that, protested vehemently, but he had the feeling only more angry words would have been exchanged. He knew he’d been hard on them, and, yeah, perhaps unfair to Sean, but the amount of bounty hunters that had taken Trelawney and how close they’d been to the camp had rattled him.

He could admit she was a good shot, could probably handle herself and was maybe as good as Sadie, but that didn’t mean she had to be put in a position to prove it. It wasn’t just her, too, they should all keep their heads down for a while, or, hell, even move on, maybe.

Arthur sighed heavily, pushing the brim of his hat up.

There’s never a quiet day.

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biting-you · 5 years

Text

*kicks down door* HELLO YA’LL GUESS WHOSE BACK!!! THIS SACK OF POO POO! I’m finally finally finally posting this commission for a lovely anon who is honestly a saint. They wanted a sort of fantasy Overwatch Au with Soldier 76′s Jack Frost skin!

You felt so cozy, wrapped up in your little cocoon of blankets while you dozed peacefully, dreaming and unperturbed by nothing. Well that is until you felt many tiny hands start to poke and prod at your face. It woke you up, obviously, but you kept your eyes shut tight hoping that your annoying house guests would get the message and leave you alone. Of course you would have no such luck as they continued their assault, continuing to pinch at your skin, giggling all the while. “Christ, jeez I’m up, I’m up!” You finally relented and sat up, opening your eyes to glare properly at the pests who decided to wake you up from your slumber. Three little winged humanoids floated in front of you, cheeky grins split across each of their faces. The fact that they were faeries was of no surprise of course. The little buggers had been the bane of your existence ever since you could remember. Still, it didn’t mean you ever got used to it, especially when they woke you up far too early. “I have in alarm set, you know?” you muttered which only caused them to laugh harder and fly out your bedroom door toward your kitchen, most certainly to make some sort of mess in there. Deciding it was easier to get up than face the wrath of the faeries again, you swung your legs out of bed and proceeded to start going about your normal getting ready for work routine. ________________________________________ After putting out a few fires that you were more than certain those little winged rats had intentionally, you finally stepped out of your home and began to make the sort walk to the bus stop. As you walked, you made sure to say good morning to your neighbors like usual. Just because you had a bad start to your day doesn’t mean you wanted others to have one too. You waved to the small family of gnomes that lived under the loose tiles of the walkway, giving a friendly pat on the head to the black shuck that guarded the local cemetery and made sure to give a lock of your hair to the pixies that lived in the old elm near the town hall. It was a simple routine, but it was your routine. Though you knew good and well how strange it must look to others that you were interacting with things that weren’t there. Well, to them at least. But at this point in your life, when you were starting to become a true adult with a job and an apartment and bills to pay, you decided that you really didn’t care if people thought you were odd anymore. You weren’t about to ignore the lovely creatures you had known all of your life just because strangers would give you side long glances and whisper to each other behind their hands. If there was one thing to learn from mythical creatures was to not give a shit. You arrived at the bus stop with plenty of time to spare, which was both a blessing and a curse as you had to distract yourself from your idle time. At this rate you could have actually stopped to have a very tiny cup of morning tea with that lovely elf family. Oh well, social media it was then. You soon were lost in the variety of memes and lovely art that your friends posted on a daily basis, so lost in fact that you didn’t even notice a familiar petite brunette slid right up to your side and peer over your shoulder. “You got games on your phone?” You nearly jumped out of your skin when you felt her voice so close to your ear, letting out short shriek that made the heads of the other bus stop patrons turn to you briefly before shrugging it off. You clutched at your chest before turning to look sharply at the mischievous faun was giving you a sharp toothed grin, obviously proud of herself for scaring you so easily. “Hana, goddamnit how many times do I have to tell you not to do that?” You hissed. She cocked her head to the side and feigned counting in her head. “Mmm about 30 million,” You scoffed at her answer and shook your head. “I’m not in the mood today, I already didn’t get enough sleep thanks to those winged pests.” “Well if those ‘winged pests’ had actually done what I told them then you wouldn’t be sitting here at all!” You gave her an odd look. “Hana what are you talking about?” For the first time ever since you’ve known her, the usually cherry face of the faun turned serious her mouth set in a straight line as her brow furrowed in worry. “Look, I’m not supposed to tell you this, let alone even really know about this but...” Her dark brown eyes flashed around nervously looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights. “Just...don’t go through any doorways okay?” “I’ve been through like two in my house alone” You answered. Was this some weird new type of prank she was trying out? You didn’t really like it at all. She was quick to shake her head, looking even more upset now. “It wouldn’t happen inside of your home, a lot of us made sure to try and lock it down from any real bad forces but...we can’t really do it anywhere else.” She grabbed tightly onto your arm. “So that’s why you have to go back home right now! I mean, you’d probably have to stay there until they lost interest, which could be awhile, but it’s better then what they want!” “You’re not making sense at all! Who’s ‘they’, Hana?” You saw the muscles in her jaw tense and you swore she looked like she wanted to cry. “Th-The Seasons!” She finally sobbed out, breaking down into an unconsolable mess, “they want to take you away!” Before you could pry more answers out of her or try to comfort her in any sense, she bounded away quickly, not looking back. As you rode the bus to your work, you took the time to mull over Hana’s words. Not that you could think of anything else. There was no way it could be some sort of joke or prank. Hana was a pie in the face type of jokester not a ‘the most powerful elemental fae want to kidnap you’ asshole. But even still, you couldn’t really make sense of it. What in the hell would they want with you? Had you done something wrong? Perhaps disrespected them in some unknown way? No, you were sure you would have been told by another fae sooner if you had done something wrong, so that couldn’t be it. You heard plenty of tales of fae snatching humans plenty of times before but they were usually babies that were replaced with changelings or people who had actually wandered into fae territory on their own, never had you heard of a fae not to mention a high ranking one, go so far out of their own way to take a human. None of them liked to work that hard, it was just in their nature! And what was all this business with doors? It wasn’t like they could just throw a net over you and drag you away as soon as you crossed a threshold without risking making a scene. You were stumped and more than a little on edge by the time you reached your stop and made another short walk to your job. However as soon as you approached the glass doors that led into the large office building you paused, much to the chagrin of those behind you, who simply pushed past and entered. You watched them as they did so, absolutely nothing happening to them. No trolls came crashing through the ceiling or goblins scurrying out of the ventilation system to snatch away any unsuspecting human. Absolutely nothing. So taking a deep enough breath to make your lungs ache, you pushed open the door, ready to hear the familiar muffled tap of your flats hitting gray carpeting. Except there wasn’t any carpeting. Just smooth polished stone that caused your footsteps to echo around the large and ornate room you were in. Gone were the cubicles, gone was the water cooler, and gone was the world you’ve always known, replaced by marble and gold leafing and four very strangely dressed men, one of whom looked like he was about to explode from excitement.

“You’re here, you’re here! We finally get to meet you after all these years!” You were almost knocked off your feet by a very fast and very strong green and white blur that wrapped you in an almost rib shattering hug. It most certainly did not help your disorientation. “Eh heh, Genji you gotta put her down. She ain’t lookin’ too hot.” A low but kind voice came to your rescue and you were reluctantly released. “What is...what...I don’t understan-I think I might pass out,” You wobbled on your feet, threatening to fall backwards only for the same hands as before grab onto your shoulders. “Don’t do that! Just sit down here and I’m sure the urge to faint will pass in a moment.” You felt your tush hit a very soft and very comfy armchair and immediately you slumped back into it, closing your eyes and placing a hand over them as you waited for the dizziness to pass. When you finally felt well enough to open them and pick your head up, you were met with the eyes with the four men from before, all starring at you intently. “Feel better?” The first one asked, dark but humorous eyes searching your face for any other sign of discomfort. “Yea, uh...I think so,” you answered stiffly, still unsure of what to make of the whole situation. “Do you think you could like...just tell me where I am?” “Well, there is no name for it in any human language, though the closest thing to it would be calling it the Fae-Wilds! Does that help any?” Oh no. Oh NO. “Ok..okay...” you replied trying to keep calm “so if I just so happen to be in the Fae-Wilds...where all the high ranking fae live...then your four must be...” “The Seasons,” A gruff voice answered for you, coming from a man clad in the most gothic looking outfit you could imagine and to top it all off his head just happened to be a flaming jack-o-lantern. “And we have been very excited to meet you in person!” The green haired man said, reiterating his statement from earlier. You could only nod dumbly at his statement, feeling you like you might really pass out this time. “Sorry darlin’, we didn’t mean to overwhelm ya none, heck we didn’t even get to greet you properly!” The second man spoke, grinning at you from under the brim of his straw beach hat. Why the hell were they dressed like this? “Name’s Jesse, that there’s Genji,” He gestured his chin to the green haired man who beamed at you, “Gabriel,” the man if the pumpkin head grunted in response “and that there is...well that’s Jack.” You could physically feel the mood of the room change as soon as Jesse spoke the last mans name. You suddenly felt chilled and frightened and the feeling only heightened as you made eye contact with the afore mentioned Jack. His eyes were a terrible and dangerous shade of blue, so sharp and piercing you felt as if they were looking right down into the depths of who you are. You didn’t care for it at all. Thankfully the tension was slightly broken by Jesse letting out an awkward cough that dragged your attention back over to him. He gave you a weak smile and for a moment sadness crossed over his brown eyes before leaving just as quickly as it appeared. “Well, now that introductions are all said and done, I’m bettin’ you’re wonderin’ just why you’re here, arentcha darlin’?” You gave a slow nod of confirmation. A chair seemed to materialize out of know where before you, Jesse quickly taking a seat and leaning forward with his hands between his knees, his face still kind but serious. “I won’t beat around the bush with ya honey suckle, you deserve to know what’s goin’ on and ya don’t need no big speech explain’ it to you so...” He took a deep breath before continuing. “We want to make a deal with you, sweet heart. Nothin’ dangerous I promise you that but you still might now care for it...” He trailed off as his eyes flickered over to Jack who was staring a bit too intensely. “All we want if for you too stay here for a month, just a month! To see if you like it...if you feel any sort of attachment here...or to any of us. Now if you don’t of course, we’ll send you back fair and square and we won’t bother you like this again.” Too say that you were stunned was an understatement, in fact you could barely speak! The only words you could choke out were “...why?” Gabriel was quick to answer, “Do you know how rare it is for a human to have your ability? One in a goddamn million chance. Makes you kind of special don’t you think? You’re like a fae magnet with this gift of yours, you have no idea how precious humans are to our kind, especially one that can already see us.” “Okay...I have a gift, so what?” It doesn’t mean you can keep me here for a whole month!” You spat out, finally through with your shock and now moving into anger. “Look we know this isn’t probably...ideal and trust me honey this wasn’t my first choice either...” His eyes trailed back nervously to Jack “but like I said before you can go back if you don’t like it here when the month is through.” You eyed him warily and you had a strange feeling you actually didn’t have much of a choice anyway, it wasn’t like you knew the way out of the Fae-Wilds on your own. “Fine...fine I’ll take your little deal...but I’m not promising anything.”

Oh God why had you taken their deal? Why hadn’t you just said ‘fuck it’ and try to run? It had only been a week and the affections (if you could call them that) from the four men were already draining you of any and all patience you had left. It was a toss up between Jesse and Genji for being the worst of your new tormentors. They were nice enough with their compliments and boyish wooing but their constant need for physical affection made you want to retch at the best of times. Jesse would whine and complain even if you so much as leaned away from him, never mind the absolute temper tantrum that would ensue if you managed to escape out of his suffocating grasp. Your hair never seemed to be without Genji’s fingers tangled through them and he had a bad habit of putting so many damn flowers in your hair that you started attracting bees. You were really starting to miss those faeries back home. Thankfully, Gabriel was a much more tolerant presence to be around (though that wasn’t saying much). You could hardly count the many time he dragged you from your room to his own quarters and demanding you spend time with him. It was always at the worst hours too, like three in the morning just to drag you to a meal he had made especially for you, slamminh you down in a chair even when you protested that you already ate. “Sit there and stare at it for all I care,” He had gruff. At least he kept his hands off you for the most part. Then there was Jack. The good old God of winter never got close to you, never demanded that you spend any time with him. No. He would just stand and stare at you, no words spoken but a tentative greeting on your part and the continuous low muttering that came from the masked man. You hated it. You hated him. That icy chill that you would receive whenever he stepped foot into the room was both from his presence and his powers. Jack made you feel so frozen, so…isolated whenever he was around, you were sure that even in a room full of people, he could make you feel like the last person on Earth. It was the middle of the tenth day of you being stuck in the Fae-wilds (you made sure to keep close track of the days until you could leave) and Jesse had managed to drag you to a small pond located inside one of the many rooms in the castle that they all reside in. Despite the fact that it was in a building, the body of water was surrounded by vegetation, something Jesse wouldn’t stop talking about as he lounged beside you. “I invented those, you know,” he drawled, pointing at the water lilies that floated calmly on the crystal clear water. You gave him a small hum of feigned interest which made him squeeze your hand with a grin, at least tnat was all he was grabbing onto at the moment, perhaps he was finally catching on that you didn’t care to be groped every waking hour of the day. “Genji likes to claim he made them first but everyone ‘round here know that I-“ Jesse cut himself off when a chill suddenly engulfed the room, quickly turning your puffs of air into dense clouds and covering the pond with a fine frost. You didn’t bother turning around at the enterloper, knowing by this point it was better to ignore him out right. Jesse on the other hand seemed more then happy to stare as Jack hovered near the entrance, face concealed behind that damned mask he never went without. You felt the man beside you already starting to fidget at the others presence, casting you a nervous look as he debated whether to leave you alone with Jack, or tough out the feeling of what was most likely a heated glare bore into the back of his skull. He chose the former.

“I’ll uh…I’ll see you later sweetheart, okay? At dinner tonight?” You only gave him a nod and another hum as he stood and gave you a sheepish grin as he brushed the imaginary dirt off his trousers. You didn’t acknowledge him further as he walked away, a wary eye trained on Jack as he slipped past him and out the door.

If there was one thing that Jack was good for it was getting the others out of your hair. They all seemed to fear him for some reason or another, even Gabe seemed to give him a wide enough berth. You couldn’t truly understand why. Wouldn’t they all be on equal ground with powers and such? You mulled this over while you pretended the pond was oh so interesting to further try and let the man behind you know that you weren’t interested in whatever stunt he was trying to pull at all. A routine silence fell over the two of you and you assumed that would be the same song and dance that usually took place during your encounters so you damn near had a heart attack when the deep rumble of his voice echoed through the room.

“Are you enjoying your time here, stardust?”

You turned your head around so fast you gave yourself minor whiplash. He hadn’t moved at all and for a brief moment you thought maybe he hadn’t spoken at all and your mind was playing some kind of strange trick on you. Still you responded.

“What do you think?” You snapped back and it made him cock his head to the side as if puzzled.

“No? You don’t seem like it. You haven’t tried to escape once or offer another deal to get yourself out sooner.” You scoffed.

“What good would that do me? It’s better to wait out this bullshit until the month is out and the four of you won’t ever pester me again,” Scowling, you turn back to the pond, set on ignoring him yet again. You were so wrapped up in your loathing that you didn’t notice his approach until you felt the icy puff of his breath on the back of your neck.

“So you don’t love them then?”

The shock of his closeness almost had you stumbling into the lake as your body lurched forward only for him to grab onto your bicept with a near crushing grip as he hauled you to your feet.

“What the hell-let go!” you spat as you tried in vain to pry his fingers from your arm.

“Answer the question, stardust,” he hissed behind his mask, tugging you closer so his face was uncomfortably near to your own.

“Of course I don’t love any of them, you creepy.” You glowerd at him as he gave a hum, satisfied by your answer enough to loosen his grip ever so slightly.

“Interesting…so who will you be choosing at the end of the month?” His reply made you scoff again.

“No one, obviously,”

He barked out a laugh that made you recoil in fear. You did not like that sound at all.

“It’s so cute that you still think you have a choice! Not to mention how funny it is that the others are still trying to con you into believeing you still have any other options at all!”

“What are you talking about?”

With a click and a hiss he removed his mask with his free hand, tossing it to the floor carelessly. His eyes were wild his expression unhinged as he grinned down at you.

“Do you really think you were going to be allowed to leave us? Leave me…” His expression softened for a fraction of a moment before twisting up with sick glee once more. “Hell, you sealed your own fate by eating foot we offered you! I was actually surprised by that. Thought you would starve to death before you fell for that old trick.” Your eyes widened. Oh Gods, he was right. How could you be so stupid! That was the first rule of interacting with any sort of fae! Jack laughed at your stunned expression.

“Aw, I know stardust, I know,” he cooed mockingly “but it’s going to be alright.” Jack leaned in closer, pressing his face into the crook of your neck and inhaling your scent, “you’re going to be with me. Forever! Won’t that be grand?”

#overwatch #yandere overwatch #yandere soldier 76 #soldier 76 #jack frost #Jack Morrison #yandere x reader #reader insert

142 notes · View notes

le-sejour · 7 years

Text

Assumptions

Words: 1,530+

Pairing: Thomas Jefferson x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, cheesy/bad flirting, kinda sexual thoughts lmao, my writing AHAHA

A/N: Just wanted to do a funny little TJeffs imagine bc I can’t seem to have enough of the imagines out there. So I decided to add my own prompt based one to the mix. :>

The prompts I used:

45 - Everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy.”

171 - “I’m sorry, what were you saying? I keep getting lost in your eyes.”

And

208 - “It must be hard with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line.”

I hope you guys like it! c’:

Being a Hamilton was a lot of work.

More specifically, being the younger sister of a protective, overachieving Hamilton was a lot of work.

The words on your book seemed to swirl together into an incoherent mess, your eyes straining to make sense of the chaos. Groaning, you shut your notebook dejectedly and reclined in your seat.

None of this made sense to you, at all, but of course you have to keep trying.

It’s what Hamiltons do.

Or at least, you did. Your brother didn’t have to try, he probably would have been done learning this chapter weeks ago. You felt the familiar pull of anxiety pressuring you into becoming at par with your older brother but you desperately pushed it down before it could come up.

Leaning further back against your seat earned you a satisfying crack. How long have you been hunched over this dumb book anyway? Checking your phone, your eyes widened at your notifications and the time.

“Christ…” You muttered, miserably staring at the “8 missed calls” seeming to taunt you. It was nearing midnight and you’ve been chilling in the coffee shop by your campus for more than 12 hours now. Alex was going to be pissed.

Not that he even had a reason to, anyway. Your apartment was just down the road from where you were. But that doesn’t deter his innate need to become both your mother and father all at once; fussing over you before scolding you for being out so late. You sighed, stuffing your things into your bag leisurely.

Well, you were already in for a treat at this rate. Might as well take your time. You just hoped the boys were there with him to somehow soften the blow, knowing only they could reign in your brother when he gets like that.

Why oh why did you even insist on taking this elective this semester, anyway? You were already juggling a full courseload and a part time gig at a campus food truck, you didn’t need any more reason to go bald. And yet, here you were.

Absentmindedly, you tossed your half empty coffee cup into your bag before the realization dawned on you that you should not have done that.

“Shit!” You quickly fished out the now empty cup from your bag, letting out another long string of expletives as you yanked your things from the now slightly damp bag in panic.

“Do you mind?”

“Go suck a fat dick, asshole.” You replied almost instantly, wiping down your laptop with already soggy tissues before groaning. Letting out a whispered “duh”, you sprinted to the counter to grab some dry ones this time.

“What are you doing?” When you returned to your table, this mass of curls and rudeness was holding your precious baby in his hands as if he owned the damn thing. With your brain already in a tizzy with just seeing a stranger holding the lifeblood of your education, all that came out of your mouth was a “That’s not yours.”

“Your welcome, darlin’.” He teased with a smirk on his face as he handed you your now dry laptop. “I suggest using whatever lives inside the space between your ears next time. Would be a shame if this happened again and the guy you told to eat a dick didn’t help you out.”

That seemed to kickstart your brain into functioning again.

“Yeah well I didn’t ask you to come here and try to play hero, did I?” You glared at the man you now recognized as Thomas Jefferson, the bane of your brother’s existence. Or so he says, anyway. You’ve had two classes with the guy, and you can kinda see what your brother was talking about. “Why are you even here, Jefferson? Shouldn’t you be off kicking puppies and making babies cry or something?”

“Now whatever gave you the idea that I spent my leisure time doing something so… unsavory?” He asked, his brows furrowing in confusion for a split second before a smug look replaced it. It had happened so fast, you weren’t sure if it even happened. “Besides, the only babe I want to hear crying tonight would be you, doll.”

“I-“ You felt your cheeks heat up from his comment, naively not expecting the man to make any lewd comments at your expense. You decided to busy yourself with wiping your bag down instead of standing there, looking like a blushing fool. “I’m not going to dignify that with a response. Besides, shouldn’t you be more… I dunno, ‘I’m not talking to the peasants’ kind of guy?”

“You seem to be making quite the assumptions about me and yet, I haven’t even had the pleasure of getting your name.” He pointed out in a charming little drawl that had your stomach flipping pancakes.

Fuck.

Okay, hey, you weren’t going to lie. The man was attractive as fuck, from the head of curls to his dark, commandeering eyes, carefully trimmed facial hair, and that body. God. Let’s not forget that voice, though, a honeyed baritone that sent your stomach postively churning with desire, and good Lord his accent just amplifyed it all. (MY VOICE KINK IS SHOWING I’M SORRY) His attitude, however, could use a little (okay a LOT of) polishing.

But what’s the harm in indulging yourself a little bit? You know you could never fall for the man, his personality alone repels your heart from that very notion (aka he’s an asshole and you’d rather not get involved with all that). Enjoying the attention, however, doesn’t necessarily involve that certain part of you.

“[Name]” You praised yourself for not stuttering, wadding up the soiled tissues into a ball before once again loading your stuff into your now coffee stained bag. “And I suppose you’re right, I am boxing you into my assumptions. Can you blame me though? Everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy on campus, and your actions don’t exactly redeem you, either.”

A meticulously groomed eyebrow rose at your words, a smirk still on his lips as he leaned against the table, “You’ve been watching me? Why Miss [Name], I must say, I didn’t expect that from you. Though I can’t say it’s entirely unwelcomed. You’re free to watch me as long as you’d like, darlin’.”

“Don’t get any ideas, Jefferson,” You rolled your eyes, slinging your coffee stained bag onto your shoulders now. “We have a couple of classes together. And really, that’s enough to see what everyone’s always going on about.”

“Oh?” Thomas looked like he was mildly interested to hear your thoughts of him. He’s never really noticed you during classes, as he opted to sit with his friend James Madison up front, but hearing you talk so candidly about who you think he is both amused him and intrigued him. If you had been anyone else, especially Alexander, he would have already put you in your place yesterday.

“You’re arrogant, abrasive, and you seem to think so little of everyone who isn’t you. You constantly intentionally get into fights with Alexander, you have this habit, or should I say hobby?, of using people like pawns on a chessboard, and-”

Now, there were a few things you need to know about Thomas. One of which is that he prides himself in always coming to classes, meetings, dates, and what have yous, in the perfect state of mind and on time. But as he stared at you going off about how he was practically one with the scum of the earth, he couldn’t seem to bring himself to focus on anything you were saying.

Instead, he noticed the way your lips moved as you formed the words that sullied his good name. He etched into memory the way your eyes blazed with passion as you continued your tirade on him, and the way your eyebrows furrowed when you-

“-ot listening anymore, are you?”

“I’m sorry, what were you saying? I keep getting lost in your eyes.” He silently applauded himself at the smooth recovery, throwing in a wink for good measure. He couldn’t seem to help it though, he’s never seen anyone talk shit about him while looking so beautiful. Not to mention, you hardly sounded like you had some personal vendetta against him. That meant you were about as much threat to him as a baby rabbit.

Aaaand there goes the pancakes in your stomach again.

Fuck.

You bit your lip, willing the flames in your cheeks to die down before they blossomed on them once more. Feeling that you were going to lose that battle, you hurried to move past him, heading for the door.

“Y’know, Jefferson? It must be hard with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line. It’s sad, really. And to think I believed the rumors about your skills.”

Oh ho! He felt his smirk stretch into a very smug, very self-satisfied grin. If that wasn’t an invitation to prove you wrong.

“Back here on Wednesday at 4pm. I’ll show you exactly why those rumors came about.”

Without answering, you walked out the door knowing one Thomas Jefferson was still lounging on that table with the most conceited, wolfish smile he could muster because he knew. Oh he knew very well that you were coming back. The bastard.

You felt your heart flutter at the thought.

F u c k.

FIN

#welp #there it is #hamilton #thomas jefferson imagine #thomas jefferson x reader #thomas jefferson #tjeffs #hamfics

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