#sOMEone give me a little recap of what i’ve missed

[huanzhuyulu]

While procrastinating on fic writing, as one does, I stumbled on this short but hilarious recap of HZGG2, which led me to more hilarious recaps of HZGG1 that you should read if you want a laugh: here

Some choice excerpts that made me laugh, mostly for the ON POINT observations on Er Kang’s drama queen tendencies:

Now, all the hiking and mountain climbing is too much for Ziwei after a while, so she gives up halfway and tells Xiaoyanzi to go ahead without her because she is just slowing them down.

By the way, those dangling hairs on either side of Ziwei’s head — not a good look. In fact, maybe that’s what’s slowing her down.

--

The Fu family gather again to decide what to do. For a head guard and an older brother, Er’kang is pretty hot-headed. He considers taking the matter to light without much reservation. Er’tai has a better idea, why don’t they bring the Yongqi (5th Prince) here and tell him the truth? The chance of people getting beheaded is lower that way.

--  

Yongqi and Er’tai come to see Xiaoyanzi again; this time, she admits to lying to the emperor.

Yongqi is like, OH MY GOD What were you thinking? Pack your thing, we’re getting you outta here.

And Er’tai is like, how are we gonna explain to people if they find a princess missing, calm the freak down, you two.

Xiaoyanzi wonders in tears whether the emperor would really execute her if he found out the truth.

YONGQI & ER’TAI: *nod in unison* Yep, girl, he would.

  --

Ziwei is shocked to learn NOW that Xiaoyanzi was shot by an arrow and mortally wounded. She breaks into tears and asks why no one bothered to tell her.

YONGQI: Really? You didn’t know?

ER’TAI: I thought Er’kang told you.

ER’KANG: I thought Er’tai told you.

Yep, so Ziwei beat herself up with worry and torment about Xiaoyanzi for days because these guys forgot to give her the one crucial piece of information in this mystery. By the way, I can understand why Er’tai thought Er’kang already told her, but why would Er’kang think that Er’tai told Ziwei anything at all? When has Er’tai ever hung out with Ziwei?

  --

But even with his panicky earnest confession, Ziwei still says no. Er’kang is a nobleman, and he is not free to arrange his own marriage. It doesn’t matter if he likes her. I’ve got to say that for a fragile and sheltered girl with little life experience, Ziwei is incredibly clear-headed, a lot more than the guys and Xiaoyanzi combined.

  --

He storms away and to Xiaoyanzi, who is throwing a tantrum. She’s angry and still in shock that the emperor could be that scary. After some explanation and feeble reprimanding, the emperor throws in the towel and says Xiaoyanzi can quit her manners classes. This must be his first attempt at any kind of parenting at all. Although, if the teacher is Nanny Rong, I’d say having no education is better.

  --

By the way, I should point out that whenever Ziwei and Erkang talk, above is their favorite position: Ziwei standing in the front looking like someone is dying and Er’kang in the back ready to unleash some passionate declaration no one is ready for.

  --

Er’kang says he is willing to leave everything and run away with her. Ziwei turns that down, saying that it would be irresponsible. Maybe men who abandon duty for romance turn her off. She is her mother’s daughter, after all.

--

When Ziwei is sure she has got the emperor hooked, she throws out one of the things her mother used to say: My mother spent all her life waiting for something that never happened, but she was grateful for it nonetheless; without it, her life would have been meaningless.

EMPEROR: *Why do orphan girls whose moms died tragically keep finding me?*

--

Xiaoyanzi takes this chance to bash unfaithful men. And the emperor is like, yeah yeah you’re still mad about your mom, I said I’m sorry already, what else do you want from me, kid?

--

The emperor adds that since Xiaoyanzi likes the Fu family so much, he can let her have Er’kang. Xiaoyanzi trips and falls at this, and I’m pretty sure Er’kang’s soul gets sucked out of his body for a second.

--

At night, they watch the emperor and Ziwei play chess, which, I guess, is the equivalence of Netflix at this time.

--

Xiaoyanzi still prioritizes shouting at Yongqi and Yongqi kisses her to shut her up. She pushes him aside and hops away. That is the most hilarious attempt to be romantic I’ve ever seen from a male lead. The whole thing is so funny I can’t even fault Yongqi for jumping in like that.

--

The next day, Er’kang is bitter about the fact that the emperor has been tending to Ziwei. You see, he thinks it should be him who sits next to Ziwei right now. Er’kang is like that one drama viewer who refuses to accept that this is a lot more than a romance.

#还珠格格 #huan zhu ge ge #hzgg #cdrama #princess pearl #princess returning pearl

[jq37]

Twice Upon a Time - Neverafter Eps 4+5

Once Upon a Time and Down Came the Rain

Hey Y’all!

Happy New Year!

As I noted in a post about a week ago, I was home for the holidays with very little access to wifi so I missed a week–a very lore heavy and trippy week–and I am butting up against the drop of a new episode so, as promised at the start of this batch of recaps, I’m gonna do my best to catch us up without burning myself out and hopefully we’ll be back to normal recaps next episode.

So, first up, let’s quickly run through what everyone went through during their resurrections in episode 4: Once Upon a Time.

Pinocchio has perhaps the most harrowing time. After a quick chat with his ghost cricket conscience (bc in the OG tale, he straight up murders him, as one does) he is summoned by his very disappointed “mother”. When he sees her, there is a crack of light in the doorway from where he stole the doorknob but he caves and tells her that he found her house and gives her all the loot he took (knob, photo, knife). He’s really worried about his dad and even MORE worried when the stepmother uses Geppetto's blood to give him more power so maybe he’ll do better protecting Roz this time around (she seems to be on a diff plane with Gepetto, making Gepetto her only source of blood). Pinocchio is now a little more fucked up and he has a crow familiar that he’s not very fond of. Then he’s sent back to life but not *his* life. His stepmother throws him into a different version of the Neverafter (a darker one, which is the running theme of these resurrections) and he fully takes the place of the Pinocchio in this world. Yikes!

Puss in Boots gets a very meta sequence where he meets up with two other tricksters–Fox and Rabbit. They seem to be, in a very literal sense, the archetypal trickers you see in stories like Brer Rabbit or the Fox in Pinocchio (and it’s implied that in other versions of Pinocchio–Puss or really “Cat” is also the cat that leads Pinocchio astray with the Fox). At one point the Rabbit says “We have to work together for the rest of storytelling,” which is super meta. The Fox thinks he’s gotten a little too deep in his attachments to the people he’s messing with (which is maybe proven a bit true when he shows he’s still protective over Tomas) while the Rabbit seems a bit more on his side. Before he’s sent back, he gets some new gear (including wolf tooth daggers called “The Fangs of Isengrim”) and also sees a giant spider web which screams Anansi to me (especially now that I’ve seen ep 5 and know how many cultures Brennan is pulling from here).

Roz gets my fave sequence in which she meets Cinderella (Lou Voice: Another secret Black woman?) who gives this wild info dump. Basically, she says that because of the nature of the Neverafter, princesses tend to have special abilities–most relevant here, the ability to live more “once upon a times” than other people. Cindy and Snow have been looking for Roz for a while and it’s been hard because she spends 100 years of her story asleep and it’s hard to find a window to get to her. Cindy says that the Neverafter began when the Times of Shadow did and the powers that be don’t necessarily like this crossover thing that’s happening. She says that as she died over and over she began to become aware of her past lives and she realized that someone–namely the fairies–had been bending events so that things would always go a certain way. For instance, her mother would always die. So, she’s team free will. Roz is a little naive to all this talk, still hoping for a prince and a happily ever after (with Cindy very endearingly trying to be patient with her) when Roz (with a nat 20 Insight) starts getting flashes of her past lives–good and bad–and it all starts to click with her. Cindy tells her that she should meet up back with her friends. She says that witches can be helpful but she thinks in the end they’ll side with the fairies. She also tells her to look for a dancing mute girl near a beach (the Little Mermaid I’m sure) if she can. Oh and she also warns Roz that there are MANY Once Upon a Times but not UNLIMITED ones and they’re running out. She leaves Roz with some encouraging words about love being real even if their lives have been manipulated and then Roz wakes up covered in briars again. But, this time, she’s way more skilled because she got 7 fairy gifts in this version instead of 3 and she busts her way out via a combo of brute strength and calling swarms of animals to do her bidding. 

Red awakens in a nice sunny forest with the Wolf and we learn that apparently, the Wolf told her to kill him before she got her curse, which is interesting. Anyway, the Wolf seems to be just like, an honestly kind of chill representation of The End. Like, he’s not killing you cause he hates you. He’s killing you cause It’s Your Time. He takes Red to a crossroads and to one path is a story where the woodsman comes and kills the wolf and it’s happier for her (though, she’d still be her in her current state it seems) and to the other path is an even more fucked up version of the story. It’s very Red Pill, Blue Bill. She asks to speak with her Grandma to help decide and the wolf leaves and her Grandma appears. With her Grandma there, she attempts to make a break for it, but when her Grandma starts down the darker path, Red notices her ears are a bit too long and suspects she’s being manipulated by the wolf. This doesn’t seem to quite be the case though. It’s like her Grandma just also has a bit of wolf in her. Or maybe they’re kind of the same person? It’s very trippy. Anyway, her Grandma tells her that her real friends will see the wolf in her and still love her and that she’s not a monster. Red chooses the darker path, of course, and finds herself at the edge of the cliff with a forest below. The Wolf is there again and begins violently dying–he has to die for Red’s story to start (a more violent version of the story btw, where she kills the woodsman which is not great for her psyche lemme tell you). Before he dies, he helps buff Red a bit and also says that there is something/one else connected to him in this version of the story (implied to be the 3 Little Pigs because Red hears snorting and also the Wolf is getting burned, like he does at the end of that story). Red demands answers from whoever is doing this and she wakes up in Pottingham in a stronger version of her body.

Gerrard wakes up floating in water with the shard still stuck in chest cause the narrative hates him. He is found by Turquina (aka the Fairy with the Turquoise hair, aka the fairy that brought Pinocchio to life). He fails horribly to pull it out (Nat 1) and Turq tells him to be careful, treating him with lots of princely deference. She is very helpful on the surface but seems to demonstrate what Cindy was saying about fairies being very manipulative of their narratives. She’s all, “It’s a good thing you were frogged the FIRST time but the SECOND time it shouldn’t have happened, that’s off script and we need to get it right”. Ger is basically on board–except for when she mentions changing Elody back. Then he’s like, “The problem isn’t Elody, the problem is everything else.” Also, when he offhandedly mentions Tim’s book, she seems a bit too eager to know more and he tries to cover it up. Anyway, Turq says the fairies are working really hard to put things right and she needs his shard but she can’t actually touch it so she needs him to take it out then leave it in a moonlit glade and a fairy will come pick it up. Also, she needs to bring him back to life but he’ll come back kinda more fucked up. But that’s OK! she says. It just needs to get worse before it gets better. Turq also says that they need to be careful because Roz may have been in contact with some troublemakers (aka Cindy and co). She says that if Ger helps her with this, the fairies will make helping him and Elody their top priority. He then wakes up in a darker world in a more froglike body with memories of Elody on a totally bloodied horse on the battlefield and knowledge that in this version of the story, instead of kissing him to turn him back to prince, Elody threw his froggy body against a wall. Fairy tales are wild y’all. And the shard is STILL in him because, again, the narrative hates him.

Finally, we come to Tim who is riding on the back of a kind golden goose. She’s strikingly similar to the gander, but…you know..not horrific. She tells him that he’s kind of like her brother and the yin to her yang. She can’t be where he is and visa versa. Good things follow her and bad things follow him. Tim still has his book as everyone else had their key items. The Goose tells him a bunch of info including that some fairies, all witches, and some princesses know what’s going on here. And I’m gonna break out the bullets here just so we can finish off these flashbacks:

The Goose says that the people in the book are happy but it’s not like a permanent solution. 

In the world they’re going to, Jack isn’t his son. It is also the version where Jack does the beanstalk and giant killing thing. 

The book is connected to the Goose and has more power than he can imagine.

Things can be brought out of the book.

Jack has way more stories than most people.

(Question: If Tim had no Jack in this version, I wonder what his first wish was.)

Once their conversation is done, Tim is dropped into his new story. He sees an illustration in his book of 8 fairies, and he knows all his friends are in this world.

Oh, and we never learn about what the red gems are about! Hate that! 

And that’s the quick and dirty rundown of this ep. An important thing I wanna make clear in case it wasn’t. Every character except for Pinocchio is now running around with two sets of memories. Their past life and their new one. Got it? Cool. So now we can jump into episode 5: Down Came the Rain.

This is mostly a setup ep, so we’re gonna do bullet points again.

Everyone meets up in their new forms at a tavern called The Cock and Toad. 

Roz is now followed around by a bunch of woodland creatures in a cloak as her body guard. 

Red’s breath is a lot more big and bad now (she took 2 levels of druid because, as I always say, Emily NEEDS spell slots or she will DIE). 

When Ger comes in, Red takes out the shard with a Nat 20.

Oh, also, everyone is level 3 now!

Everyone kind of catches each other up about what they saw in their visions more or less. Ger is a little cagey about Turq telling him to give her the shard but he’s too sweaty to hide his lie by omission for long and everyone is like nah we gotta put the shard in the book.

When Pinnochio describes the fairy that visited him when he had to lie–the shadowy one–Roz realizes it sounds a lot like the fairy who cursed her. Fairy overlap! I knew it!

Also there is a talking and very sad dish here w/ relationship drama (as in The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon) because this is Brennan and he can’t resist making something very silly very serious. 

Tim gets the Dish to tell him his whole sob story in a corner of the bar and he disappears into the book in motes of golden light. In his book, the words “The Dish Ran Away With the Spoon” appear. Tim also feels like he’s reached the limit of what he can do with the book without giving it the shard. 

At the same time, Pib is outside. One of the items he got from the tricksters is a spider ring that can lead him to any spider. It leads him outside to the Itsy Bitsy Spider. When he helps the little guy out, the spider tells him about a spider queen in the heart of the Lullaby Lands who is martialing her forces and cooking up some kind of dark spell that might be causing the lousy weather. She also seems connected to the gander. Also, he mentions she has magical artifacts (which seems significant considering their quest).

(There’s a mention of Hamelin which means the Pied Piper is liable to make an appearance). 

Speaking of artifacts, everyone gathers in the barn near the tavern to get some privacy to put the shard in the book. 

Roz finds some bear scat in the barn and it’s implied it might be from one of the Goldilocks bears. 

The cow that jumped over the moon is also in this barn because sure. 

Tim puts the shard into the book and the whole Cinderella story appears. Strangely, after the traditional end of the story, there are a couple of blank pages and then a picture of the shard. It’s like something more happened in the story that the book isn’t showing the text for but is showing the image (presumably where she stabs her fairy god mom). It’s also weird because it’s like the safe book is censoring the gruesome true end of the story but the carving of toes and stuff is still fully in there. 

OK, so remember when they were told that once the book had the first thing it needed, they’d have allies? Well here we are at a VERY cool plot twist.

Tim hears scratching in the book like someone else is writing in it and sees the writing of someone who is trapped in a cave and seems to have their own book which they are trying to use to communicate. 

Tim is able to write back to them and realizes that it’s Scheherazade from 1001 Nights!

If you’ve never heard of her, Scher is part of the frame story of the Arabic fairy tale collection 1001 Nights. She basically tells these stories to a king night after night to keep from being killed and at the end they get married. This story collection is where famous Arabic stories like Sinbad and Aladdin come from. I was SO pumped to get to this revelation because it’s so fun and meta. 

Anyway, back to the actual story. 

They exchange names and Scher (who doesn’t recognize Tim and vice versa) says she is trapped in a cave with some friends who include Sinbad (great fighter, annoying companion). They were supposed to meet a guardian who isn’t there. She seems to be in a similar situation to Tim where she’s in a world where things have gone wrong and she recently realized things about the true nature of the world. 

But when Tim asks where she is, plot twist #2! She doesn’t know what the Neverafter is. She’s in a land called The Endless Nights. 

This is ALSO super cool! Ever After to Neverfter and 1001 Nights to Endless Nights? Gosh, Brennan is really doing the coolest things with this narrative this season. This is really healing all my Once Upon a Time trauma AND my multiverse burnout at the same time.

Scher and Tim send each other images of what they look like (Tim’s is super buff because of Ally shenanigans) and Scher is like cool, we can send each other magic. She also sends a pic of the guardian that was supposed to be at the cave and it’s like a stone spider glyph. Pib is like, “Oh, hey I might have some info here,” and fills them in on his spider side quest.

Scher says she’d really appreciate the help and will help them as well once she’s out of the cave. She even mentions wishes and I love me a genie in the mix. Oh and she mentions there’s a dude named Aesop who also might have a book! (Aesop as in Aesop’s fables. Think Tortoise and the Hare and City Mouse/Country Mouse).

Before they head back, Tim (aided by Roz’s Speak with Animals) gets the cow’s life story and he goes into the book. Still no picture but the words “the cow jumped over the moon” appear in the appropriate spot. 

En route, Red gets some Goodberries for everyone. Smart move since they’re heading towards a fight. Each is one HP.

Point of Order–Jubilee doesn’t exist in this version of the Neverafter which is concerning to me. Is the map just gonna keep getting smaller each time they die/fail or is it replaced with something else? Also, even though Jubilee doesn’t exist here, Cole (and Senator the ram) are still in the book.

They reach a crossroads and realize that they’re going to Tuffeton. (Tuffeton as in “Little miss Muffet she sat on her tuffet, eating her curds eating and whey Along came a spider who sat down beside her And frightened miss Muffet away.”)

Crow scouts ahead and sees a grim village with this huge hill. And at the base of the hill is a mine entrance with cobwebs.

Note: Via Cole in the book, Tim can always have Lesser Restoration Prepped. He does so when Pib is the only one to fail a Con check from traveling in the rain and Brennan says it prevents him from getting a red gem (but it wouldn’t have helped after the fact)

They follow Pib’s ring to the center of the mine.

As they’re traveling in the dark, Ylfa inadvertently mentally connects to the mind of a tusked boar. She feels fire and asks if he killed the Big Bad Wolf. The board says, “Friend.” A tear runs down his cheek. He says, “I am trying to–” then she loses the connection. Hmmmm.

This is a little out of order but Tim messages Scher again and she says that (1) the spider guardian she mentioned is someone she was supposed to talk to not fight so I’m wondering if actually is the same spider they’re presumably going to have to fight or maybe more of a good guy spider like Anansi or maybe a spider I’ve never heard of because I’m not as familiar with 1001 Nights. She also says that (2) in the cave she’s in there was a tapestry of a princess with a golden mace which sounds like Elody. That’s interesting because it sounds like multiverse bleedthrough. 

They find a massive spider web in this mine but between Pib’s feline grace and roguish tricks, Red being shapeshifted into a spider, Crow being shapeshifted into a spider, and everyone else being very very careful, they are able to navigate to the center without getting caught! They have the advantage going into the next fight! Let’s hope they can keep it this time because it seems like every time they die, things are gonna get much worse. 

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #twice upon a time #neverafter #neverafter spoilers #phew just in time #like I said I am gonna do my best to keep up #but I get super busy sometimes #so sometimes you get a quick a dirty recap #hope it's still helpful!

[austenpoppy]

Ron's return, or what Ron wouldn't have done to find Harry and Hermione again ?

Alternative title: if you hate Ron Weasley you're wrong.

We all know what I'm talking about, but I feel like none of us have really discussed what Ron did before saving Harry's life in the frozen pond. Even I had not realized the lengths Ron went to in order to find Harry and Hermione again before I really looked into the situation. So let's compile the excerpts that give clues as to what happened.

It was snowing by the time Hermione took over the watch at midnight. Harry’s dreams were confused and disturbing: Nagini wove in and out of them, first through a wreath of Christmas roses. He woke repeatedly, panicky, convinced that somebody had called out to him in the distance, imagining that the wind whipping around the tent was footsteps or voices.

[...]

Here too snow lay on the trees all around and it was bitterly cold, but they were at least protected from the wind. They spent most of the day inside the tent, huddled for warmth around the useful bright blue flames that Hermione was adept at producing, and which could be scooped up and carried in a jar. Harry felt as though he was recuperating from some brief but severe illness, an impression reinforced by Hermione’s solicitousness. That afternoon fresh flakes drifted down upon them, so that even their sheltered clearing had a fresh dusting of powdery snow.

[...]

“Long story,” said Ron. “I’ve been looking for you for hours, it’s a big forest, isn’t it? And I was just thinking I’d have to go kip under a tree and wait for morning when I saw that dear coming and you following.”

[...]

“It doesn’t just turn the lights on and off,” said Ron. “I don’t know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because I’ve been wanting to come back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio really early on Christmas morning and I heard… I heard you.”

[...]

“It sort of floated toward me,” said Ron, illustrating the movement with his free index finger, “right to my chest, and then - it just went straight through. It was here,” he touched a point close to his heart, “I could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me, I knew what I was supposed to do. I knew it would take me where I needed to go. So I Disapparated and came out on the side of a hill. There was snow everywhere…” “We were there,” said Harry. “We spent two nights there, and the second night I kept thinking I could hear someone moving around in the dark and calling out!” “Yeah, well, that would’ve been me,” said Ron. “Your protective spells work, anyway, because I couldn’t see you and I couldn’t hear you. I was sure you were around, though, so in the end I got in my sleeping bag and waited for one of you to appear. I thought you’d have to show yourselves when you packed up the tent.” “No, actually,” said Hermione. “We’ve been Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak as an extra precaution. And we left really early, because as Harry says, we’d heard somebody blundering around.” “Well, I stayed on that hill all day,” said Ron. “I kept hoping you’d appear. But when it started to get dark I knew I must have missed you, so I clicked the Deluminator again, the blue light came out and went inside me, and I Disapparated and arrived here in these woods. I still couldn’t see you, so I just had to hope one of you would show yourselves in the end - and Harry did. Well, I saw the doe first, obviously.”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K.Rowling

Now let's recap:

Very early on Christmas morning, Ron was listening to the radio. At some point, Ron heard Hermione talk about him inside the Deluminator. He activated the device, followed the blue light inside the garden and behind Bill and Fleur's shed before Disapparating and coming out on the side of the hill where there was snow everywhere.

We actually have very little information as to what Ron did that night and the day that followed, because Ron doesn't tell us what happened to him. It's very possible he tried to search for Harry and Hermione, calling out to them, but he might also have hidden himself to observe his surroundings and see where they might be. We also don't know whether he slept, that night - if he did then it was in the snow.

We do know that the second night, he completely disregarded his own safety, moving around what he supposed was Harry and Hermione's tent and calling out to them. At some point he realized that their protective spells were too strong, and that what he was doing was pointless. Probably exhausted, he retrieved a sleeping bag from his rucksack and either slept in the snow, or kept watching the area without sleeping. He had no tent, no survival gear, and was definitely inexperienced. But he disregarded the severe risks to his own health and remained (possibly slept) in the biting cold anyway.

And keep this in mind: if Ron wanted Harry and/or Hermione to notice him the way he did, then it means that he couldn't cast protective spells around him...which means that he couldn't light up a fire or do anything that might attract too much attention.

On December 26th, he remained on the hill for most of the day, and once it started getting dark (so around 4 pm, because sunset time on December 26th, 1997 was at 4.05 pm), Ron used the Deluminator again and appeared in the Forest of Dean, where it was "bitterly cold", windy, and where snow had fallen during the day. He looked for Harry and Hermione for hours again, and once he considered he'd have to wait for morning he decided he might "take a kip under a tree"...in the snow...again.

So Ron spent two entire days and almost three nights without anything to really warm him up, in the snow. He probably slept in the snow without a tent and without anything truly useful - if he didn't then he actually didn't sleep at all for two days. He also disregarded his own safety, calling out Harry and Hermione just to find them, which means, I repeat it, that he didn't cast protective spells around himself.

If you wanted more evidence that Ron downplays his own suffering and experiences, there you go.

I mean, the guy literally slept in the snow two nights on end and was ready to do it a third time, without any complaint, just to find Harry and Hermione again, and you Ron-basher dare tell me he's selfish ??

#hp #ron weasley #the idea that ron is selfish needs to die

[frodo-with-glasses]

More Reading Thoughts: Minas Tirith

(So I would like to start this off by saying that I’m writing this from the perspective of having already finished the chapter a while ago and had a couple days to chew on it. This is not a live-blog; this is a recap. The reason for this disclaimer will become clear below. ;-P)

I want to say something about these portions of Pippin’s ride with Gandalf, but nothing I say will really do it justice. There’s just something dreamlike, spell-binding, nostalgic, melancholy, and longing about it. The whole world whirling by under Shadowfax’s hooves while Pippin slips in and out of sleep.

People talk about the strange, extraordinary feeling that the scene at the Grey Havens gives them, but I can actually kind of identify that feeling, because I’ve thought about it a lot. This, though? I can’t even identify what emotion this is giving me. It’s like waking up and yearning for a dream you can remember less by the second. Wow.

“Sleep again, and do not be afraid! For you are not going like Frodo to Mordor, but to Minas Tirith, and there you will be as safe as you can be anywhere in these days. If Gondor falls, or if the Ring is taken, then the Shire will be no refuge.” “You do not comfort me.” Hahahaha there’s Tolkien’s bathos!

“He wondered where Frodo was, and if he was already in Mordor, or if he was dead; and he did not know that Frodo from far away looked on that same moon as it said beyond Gondor ere the coming of the day.” Hnnnngg my heart TT-TT

Hahaha the way that Pippin takes offense to being called a man AND being called brave X’-D

Bruh I dunno how people can read the description of Minas Tirith and actually picture in their heads what it looks like. I can see it now, because I’ve seen it in the movie, but it’s no wonder that this description made Little Me’s head spin.

I’m glad the movies took the comedy route here because Gandalf giving Pippin a long list of Things You’re Not Allowed to Talk About is very funny

Broooo Denethor’s face reminds Pippin more of Aragorn than it does Boromir 8-O Something something noble lineage and dramatic parallels…

Pippin immediately stuttering as soon as Denethor asks him a question is a huge mood

Movie!Denethor when you meet him: Grumpy. Grieving. A few crayons missing from the box. Easily not somebody you’d ever want to be around on purpose. Book!Denethor when you meet him: Serious. Level-headed. Shrewd. Asks intelligent and uncomfortably probing questions. A little bit manipulative. Still not somebody you’d want to have over for lunch, but someone you have to respect even if you don’t like him.

“[Denethor] turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them, almost as if he saw a line of smoldering fire, drawn from eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame.” This is literally the same comic book effect that I used in these comics what

Speaking as a normie who also doesn’t have this stuff memorized, I find Pippin wondering about Gandalf’s age to be absolutely hilarious. “Well, my boy, to understand that, you’ll have to read this little thing called the Silmarillion—”

“Was it so, or had he only imagined it, that as he spoke of the Stones a sudden gleam of his eye had glanced upon Pippin’s face?” Ohohoho, foreshadowing??

(This is brilliant because at this point you could just write it off as Pippin’s overactive guilt from looking into the Palantir a couple days ago, but I’m also fairly certain we’re gonna find out later that Denethor has one of the Stones too, so?? Maybe he saw Pippin too?? Who knows???)

Denethor calls Pippin “my liege”, “half kindly, half mockingly”. I don’t really have a comment on this except that I find it fascinating he’d refer to Pippin as a superior, even sarcastically.

I can’t even paraphrase Denethor and Gandalf’s rap battle without making it less concise and biting than it actually is. Denethor says “let your wrath at an old man’s folly run off, and then if you’re going to come back, let it be to my comfort” and Gandalf says “BOI don’t even start with me, you can’t use your grief to hide, I see your game and we both know you’re no old man yet; when you’re a dotard, you will die!” SAVAGE—

“I am also a steward. Did you not know?” I’m sure Gandalf is just talking about the free peoples of Middle Earth being under his care, but my first thought went to, “I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Arnor…”

“Yet in the wizard’s face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, where it to gush forth.” Bro there is something INCREDIBLY Biblical about that, I can’t even. The utterly overwhelming wellsprings of joy in a being powerful enough to see beyond the present grim circumstances into a bright and glorious future. “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God…”

“Indeed you did your best, and I hope that it may be long before you find yourself in such a tight corner again between two such terrible old men.” Gandalf’s self-depreciation is genuinely making me feel better. Pippin isn’t even full-grown yet, and I’ve been a kid before, so I know getting stuck between the grown-ups when they’re arguing is TERRIFYING. This little bit of encouragement is badly needed.

“Well, there is no need to brood on what tomorrow may bring. For one thing, tomorrow will be certain to being worse than today, for many days to come.” First of all, mood. Secondly, I think that’s a good role model for how to deal with times like these. “This is gonna suck! Now let’s get out there and do what we have to do.”

Pippin’s first concern, the instant he’s left alone: “I want breakfast :-(”

(Okay so here’s where the recap disclaimer comes in. I’ve had a couple of days to think about it, and after much careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that Beregond is my new husbando.)

(NONONONO LISTEN. SHUT UP, STOP HECKLING ME, LISTEN. Look, I didn’t REMEMBER about Beregond until rereading this, okay?? I’m fairly certain I skipped through the Gondor and Rohan bits pretty quickly—because kingdoms of Men looked a LOT the same to Little Kid Me—and Beregond is NOT in the movies, so there was nothing to make him stick in my mind. BUT. HOLY COW. HE IS THE BEST(TM). So I’m gonna be keeping a counter of Beregond Being A Dreamboat for the rest of this post. Ready? Ready. Okay.)

Pippin has been left alone. Gandalf left on business, and now he’s stuck in an unfamiliar place with no idea of what to do. He sees a man coming up the street and makes up his mind to say hello because he’s lonely. He doesn’t need to! That man comes right up, introduces himself, welcomes Pippin to Gondor, and offers his hand to shake. He doesn’t gawk at Pippin. He doesn’t spend too much time interrogating him about who and what he is. He’s just like, “Hi :-D You’re the Halfling, right? I’ve been sent to show you around.” He’s so friendly and laid-back and easy-going I love him <3 DING!

Gandalf is gone for all of two seconds before Pippin almost blabs about Aragorn to somebody. Can’t take this fool of a Took anywhere.

Beregond asks good questions. He asks for clarification of terms, like “who is Aragorn?” and “what is a Hobbit?”. That proves he’s paying attention, and that he’s intelligent and curious and attentive and genuinely interested in what Pippin has to say. DING!

Beregond: “Is there anything you would like to know?” Pippin, hesitantly: “B b break fast? ? 🥺”

Beregond laughs so easily. I freakin’ love him. He asks Pippin “you haven’t eaten anything today?” and Pippin says “I had some wine and a white cake or two, but I had to answer questions for an hour and I’m hungry >_<” and Beregond laughs and jokes “at the table small men may do the greater deeds, we say”, clearly thinking of children—OF WHICH HE HAS ONE, so he’d know! DING!

And THEN he says “sounds like you’ve had as good a breakfast as any of us soldiers get around here” and when Pippin’s face does a “D-8 !!!” he laughs AGAIN like “nonono it’s okay I’ll find you some food, don’t you worry!” He’s kind and understanding AND he’s got snacks!! DING!

And then! When Pippin says “wait, Gandalf asked me to check on Shadowfax,” Beregond says: “But come! You shall make me acquainted with this good horse. I love beasts, and we see them seldom in this stony city…” LIKE HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THIS MAN, HE LOVES ANIMALS, HE’S SO EXCITED TO SEE A HORSE, I’M— DING!

I love that Pippin talks to Shadowfax like you’d talk to another person—and even better, that Shadowfax seems to understand, and lets Beregond pet him.

Shadowfax can neigh loud enough to shake a stable. Noted.

“Then they took their leave, seeing that the manger was well filled. ‘And now for our manger,’ said Beregond.” DAD JOKE DAD JOKE DAD JOKE— DING!

The way Beregond vouches for Pippin to Targon the Food Guy is the funniest thing. “He has had sore labor this morning,” not “he was sitting and talking for an hour”. Love it. DING!

Beregond learns a lot about the Shire and Pippin’s adventures, and apologizes for assuming Pippin was just a kid that Denethor took on “as a whim”. But there are two factors here: 1) he apologized proactively, before Pippin even had any reason to feel offense, and 2) he treated Pippin so well that there was no need to feel offense in the first place. I imagine his thought process must have been, “The lord has taken on a page, and I’m supposed to teach him the passwords? Sure, I’ll take this as seriously as I take any other duty I’m given.” No talking down to Pippin, nothing to make him feel any less than welcome.

Why is this important? 1) Because anyone who is quick to apologize is a person of humility and integrity. DING!

2) Because it says good things about his personality that he’s willing to accept what seems like a ridiculous situation with good humor and complete sincerity. DING!

And 3) Because if that’s how he treats someone he thinks is a kid, that means he treats kids really, really well. DING!

“And there were always too few children in the city; but now there are none—save some young lads that will not depart, and may find some task to do: my own son is one of them.” And it was at this moment —at this exact moment—that everything made sense.

You wanna know why Beregond immediately knew to treat Pippin the way he did? ‘Cause it’s ingrained. Him’s a DadTM. He saw Pippin and the paternal instinct in him immediately went—

—and now, even despite knowing that Pippin is nearly full-grown, he can’t shake it. Mans is warm and nurturing and attentive and an excellent teacher because he’s had practice and I absolutely love him. DING!

Also ohhhh he has so much reason to be invested in how this battle turns out. He’s gotta make sure his kid has a future that isn’t in death or slavery to the Dark Lord. That’ll motivate ya.

“It is but the deep breath before the plunge.” Duuuude. That was Beregond’s line at first! I can definitely see why they gave it to Gandalf tho.

“It is over-late to send for aid when you are already besieged.” That’s…actually really good advice. Both militarily, and also in a lot of other circumstances. Cf. why I’m taking steps to avoid the clinical depression that runs in my family BEFORE it gets to the point that I need medication.

The way just witnessing a Black Rider immediately makes Beregond and Pippin become overwhelmed with despair until it leaves. That thing deals psychic damage just by existing.

And then, as soon as it’s gone, the mood passes, and both of them declare “nope, actually, I’m gonna hold on to hope, thanks”.

“‘Rightly said!’ cried Beregond, rising and striding to and fro. ‘Nay, though all things must come utterly to an end in time, Gondor shall not perish yet. Not though the walls be taken by a reckless foe that will build a hill of carrion before them. There are still other fastnesses, and secret ways of escape into the mountains. Hope and memory shall live still in some hidden valley where the grass is green.’” I just. I. Hjzzzg.

First of all, standing up and walking around to shake off the unwanted foul mood. I can see that in my mind, it’s so clear. Second, practical speech mixed with utter poetry. “Hope and memory shall live in some hidden valley where the grass is green”?? That’s just. Get out, that’s brilliantly evocative. And third: holding on to hope bare-knuckled, despite KNOWING the odds are stacked against you; despite realizing you might very well lose the fight, lose everything, even lose your life; despite having a family, and so much more reason to worry about what the world will look like on the other side of the storm; but stubbornly choosing to believe that light and song and goodness will endure, even if it’s after you’re gone. I just. I. HHHHNG. DING!

“I am no warrior at all and dislike the thought of any battle; but waiting on the edge of one that I can’t escape is the worst of all.” It’s interesting to see how much of this conversation was given to the conversation with Gandalf in the movies instead.

Beregond laughs again at the mere notion that he might be a captain. But he’s not the least bit bitter about his lower rank, and actually seems very proud of it. Humility and quiet confidence and still a good sense of humor. DING!

A rumor has already gone through the Citadel Guard that all the Riders of Rohan “each would bring behind him a halfling warrior, small maybe, but doughty”. They’re not right, and they’re not entirely wrong, because Merry, at least, is going to be riding behind Eowyn.

Pippin gets all the food and drink he wants and his only problem is keeping his mouth shut. Seems about right!

Aaaaand the final point in Beregond’s favor before we leave him for the day: Man loves his son. “But if you are lonely, as you say, maybe you would like a merry guide around the City. My son would go with you gladly. A good lad, I may say.” Can you imagine the twinkle in his eye when he says that?? Ugh, it’s too cute. DING!

I’m just imagining the thought process here. He’s getting to know Pippin and he’s like “Bergil would absolutely love this guy, he’s a hoot, he’d get a kick out of it”, and as soon as he knows Pippin pretty well he’s like “I’ll betcha he’ll like Bergil too, and I think he’d be a good influence”, and then he puts those two pieces together and sets up a playdate for his son and the hobbit he just adopted. Adorable.

People really do come out to stare at Pippin, don’t they?

Bergil is just. Written perfectly. His vernacular is much more polished than that of a kid nowadays, but the things he wants to talk about are EXACTLY what kids always want to talk about. “Hi! Who are you? How old are you? I’m ten, and almost five feet tall, and very grown up. Have I told you about my dad? He has the greatest job ever! Wow, you’re a grown-up already?? That’s so weird. Wanna wrestle?”

Also. One more point in Beregond’s favor. I love the fact that Bergil introduces himself with the name and occupation of his father. Is this likely a standard way to identify oneself in a culture without surnames? Yes, probably. Are kids usually proud of their parents’ occupations by default? Yes, if they’re allowed to keep that enthusiasm. Is it still very telling that Bergil draws himself up and puffs out his chest to proclaim whose son he is? Yes, yes it is. Beregond is a dad worth being proud of. DING!

I have nothing to say about the procession of reinforcements from the Outlands pouring into Minas Tirith, except that it’s a brilliant show of the diverse cultures Tolkien dreamt up for Gondor, and also FORLONG THE FAT

Also Beregond wants to hear all about his son when Pippin gets back. They’re so darn cute.

The lights are being dimmed in Minas Tirith. Somebody lived through the bomb raids in Britain….

“The Darkness has begun. There will be no dawn.” Dun dun dunn…

Final Dreamboat Points: 15

Results: Husbando

#peregrin took #pippin #gandalf #denethor #shadowfax #beregond #bergil #mention of: #frodo baggins #aragorn #boromir #lord of the rings #lotr #my writing #assorted thoughts #if beregond dies i am going to be. very upset. #please let the good dad live tolkien i beg you

[sapphire-wine]

January 2023 Fic Recap

Hello everyone, each year I try to incorporate something new in my writing process (last year was a tracking excel sheet) to motivate me to write more. This year I’ll be trying to make a recap at the end of the month for the fics I’ve written complete with the title, summary, and some extra little thoughts on it. Since these might end up being long, they’ll be under the cut separated by rating.

Monkey brain: need to write each month so have more on list

Fics written Somewhere the Culture's Clever (G) Vocal Exercises (G) Got drunk on you and now I'm wasted (I'm gonna dream of how you tasted) (E)

General

Somewhere the Culture's Clever

“Kristoph asked me to marry him.” Phoenix reaches up to put a dried plate into the cabinet. He keeps his tone light, like he’s talking about the mail that came in that day. “About two weeks ago.” Miles doesn’t falter from his spot in front of the sink, sleeves pushed up to wash the dishes. He responds with casual curiosity. “Oh? And what did you say to him?” “‘What’s in it for me?’”

This was a fun little proposal fic that I used to get a lot of banter out of my system, Phoenix is a little shit! I had the idea for that dialogue exchange as an opener for a while so I was happy to finally get the rest of the fic written. You can tell where it just kept extending past what I originally thought the end would be because there were just so many more quips to write they wanted to keep talking. This fic actually did way better than I thought it was going to I wouldn’t be surprised if it stayed my most kudos’d for this year.

As per the endnote: if you didn’t know where the fic title was from, it’s from Paris from the 3am version of the Midnights tracks and the line before this is ‘I want to brainwash you into loving me forever’ which is a Very Feenie-Phoenix sentiment to me but I didn’t want to give the wrong impression of this fic by titling it that

Vocal Exercises

“That’s you. That’s what you sound like.” Phoenix dropped his tone and sighed. “‘Honestly Wright, do you truly expect me to believe this absolute drivel?’" Miles glared at him. “And who is that supposed to be?” “You! It sounds just like you!” “No, it doesn’t.” “You just don’t know what you sound like then.” “I can assure you I have the utmost knowledge of my diction.” “Those are just words. You’re just saying words right now hoping I’ll agree with you. But I won’t, because that sounded exactly like you.” What an idiot. ~~ In which Miles tries to navigate the fact that he is having feelings at work, Phoenix's "hidden talent", and almost breaking the man's nose, all before 1 pm.

A fic I had in my WIPs for over a year (I started it in December 2021) that I left alone for months because I could not figure out the beginning of it. This is another fic I used to just have a lot of back and forth between Narumitsu that is them at their most powerful to me. In the very first version of this idea it was a getting together fic, where all of their awkward interactions would have been a pining version instead of seeing how they are going to fit together as a couple. I think this version is much more fun to work with and people seemed to like the take on the early stage of their relationship (though I’ll admit I was not really thinking of that when I was writing it). I like seeing what people pick up on in my writing that I haven’t paid much attention to as I’m doing it. I will eventually finish chapter two.

Explicit

Got drunk on you and now I'm wasted (I'm gonna dream of how you tasted)

"Welcome home." He murmurs. Phoenix looks up at him and smiles. "I should be saying that to you, when did you get back?" "Around three." "You should have told me. I would have come home." "You were in a trial, if I recall correctly." "I could have found someone to cover for me. I missed you." ~~ When Miles gets back from a trip abroad, Phoenix takes the opportunity to ask for something new. He gets exactly what he bargained for, perhaps a little more.

Not much to say about this one, don’t look at me…

This was a gift for the lovely Samioli, because one of the things that fuels my writing is love for my friends (and also spite but that wasn’t involved here). I did in fact feel out of my element writing this but that’s how you improve. Thank you to all the people who said it was hot, I hope you followed Phoenix’s example.

And if you’ve gotten this far, a little WIP preview (from another fic that’s been in my WIPs for almost a year - a sequel even):

So, he didn’t make it home the night before. That much he could gather. He also had clothes, if the dulled rub against the sheets was anything to go by. Well… win some, lose some I guess. He was alone, judging from the lack of body heat in any direction next to him. In these conclusions, he was fairly confident he could take whatever came next. It was when he opened his eyes and saw Miles Edgeworth standing by the open curtains that all of that shakily built confidence left him.

#saph slappin the keyboard #saphs monthly fic recap #this is the new thing im trying out that i was talking about (bear with me)

[bakarinaknowsbest]

Sarah’s father, who could he be?

Hey everyone, I’ve got a theory about who might be Sarah's father.

(Spoiler Alert)

Let’s do a little recap on what we know about Sarah.

Until volume 10, we only knew that she was one of the children held by the Dieke family for dark magic experiments, that she has powerful dark magic and that now she was being used by someone with a high station in society for unknown reasons.

In Volume 10 we get to see more into Sarah's past: about a childhood friend she had made and her family’s situation.

Volume 10, Sarah’s POV: « My father, who was so busy with work that he rarely came back home, disappeared altogether, and I was left alone with my mother.»

In the next volume, in Sarah’s POV, we get to know more about her family.

« Before my father had stopped coming back home, my mother would give me that same calm look as she caressed my head. And when my father disappeared and my mother started ignoring me, that one boy would smile kindly at me. And even before that, my father... ».

The way Sarah seems to recount her past seems like she and her family had a closer relationship than we thought. I think maybe Sarah’s father didn’t abandon his family after all. I think maybe something happened to him.

During this volume we also find out more about how she was kidnapped, «  It had been a very long day... “Mom, I’m ba—” I opened the door to find unfamiliar men inside my house. Scared by that sight, I looked around for my mother, before finally seeing her lying down on the floor beyond the strange intruders. One glance was enough to understand that she had no life left in her. I let out a scream that cannot be described with words, and I felt something explode inside of me. My whole body was taken over by a burst of heat. “Hey, this kid’s got magic! We’re supposed to kill her too, but... What should we do?” “Magic kids can come in handy. Let’s take her back with us for now.” “And what about the body?” “Orders are to just make sure she doesn’t get found.”».

Now Sarah’s family didn’t look important enough to be targeted by assassins. They didn’t know Sarah had magic power, so it must have been for something else. But what? The assassins were tasked to kill her and her mother and make them disappear. After this Sarah was taken by the Dieke family because she had magic. This doesn’t answer anything. Then what about her father? Did he have anything to do with the Dieke family? That would explain why he went missing and why his family was targeted.

My theory is that we have already met Sarah's dad.

Volume 2 Raphael’s POV «“...Well then, madam. My work here is done. Could I please return with my family to our homeland, now...?” the man in black asked, somewhat fearfully. “Yes... you have done well. Thanks to you, my Sirius has finally obtained a healthy body.” “...Well then, can I please return to my family?” “Oh, of course. I’ll let you see them now. Men.” The woman gestured to the men who had restrained me earlier, who had been standing in the corner of the room this entire time. The man in black seemed to have a look of peace about him. The burly men approached him, and... pierced him with their swords. “...Why...?” he asked, blood flowing freely from his body as he reached out with his hand. “You said you wanted to return to where your family was, right? Well, your family is already in the afterworld... waiting for you.” The woman smiled elegantly. “...I only worked for you... because you promised me that you would... let me return to my family. After we... did all this... You... You lied to me...!” »

I believe Sarah’s father is the man that sacrificed Raphael's mom to obtain dark magic to transplant Sirius’s soul into Raphael’s body. If he were her father it could explain, why he went missing and why Sarah and her mom were targeted by assassins. (This could also explain how Sarah ended up in the Dieke family and how she was born with magic.)

#bakarina #catarina claes #katarina claes #raphael wolt #hamefura #hamefura x #my next life as a villainess #my next life as a villainess: all routes leads to doom

[diariesof-kg]

Recap - Last Thoughts.

Before I go into exciting things.  I wanted to recap on this friend situation.  I was trying to figure out why a person would feel such a way to this extent.  I remember, when I took my girlfriend to Disneyland for Vday, I sent the photo of us to my ex-friend and she said, “it looks like you are more into her than she than she is into you....”  There are a lot of things that were said as I begin to process things.  Maybe I am thinking too deep into it?  We did post each other on snapchat a lot as friends enjoying life and I remember this one chick, who still has a crush one me, was like “that’s your gf...?” and I sent her the screenshot, maybe I fed into her desires without knowing?  I am always blamed for everything really.  I think my mistake is oversharing?  Hiding your happiness is detrimental to your mind.  Honestly, I am unsure why I suffer so much from things I have no control.  I remember posting, “I love you....” and the pictures from Disneyland Vday, night and my sister DMs me and was like, “why are you saying that, you aren’t together.”  I don’t know why things get to me, honestly.  Everything bothers me.  I did a whole decorative room and my sister was like, “that’s doing a lot for someone you arent with.”  These are things my partner has no knowledge and can’t comprehend why I just cry everyday.  No one’s opinions should matter, but it still hurts.  And then I have the other side of my friends that tell me, they wish someone did what I do.  But yall in 5 year relationships and I can’t even reach one year.  

My marriage is going to end up at the courthouse at this point.  I feel like I am removing myself out of people’s lives faster than I thought.  I thought after my mom’s passing I’d want to hold everyone closer, but that’s not the case.  I feel like ill be lonely forsure.  I miss who I was before my mom passed.  A lot of things I am speaking about, I wouldn’t even be giving it that kind of energy, because it wouldn’t bother me.  She died and a chunk of my heart went missing.  And no one cares how I feel at this point.  The numbness is getting worse I think?  Maybe I should fake it and be happy?  Do what Robin Williams had done majority of his life until the very end.  I can mask the negative energy temporarily.  I am sensitive when it comes to words.  I am not sure why.  Maybe I’ll never understand it.  But I do wish people would be more gentle about how others feel, maybe people would less likely feel the way they feel.  Maybe I’ve grown to be more optimistic about things despite what is present.  When I read messages questioning what I am doing or why I feel the way I feel, it bothers me I assume.  Just let me post, my happiness and I love yous without making me feel like I shouldn’t.  It’s strange how I can post other things and my Dms are dry but I post love and pictures and it’s “huh? you love who?”  But then people are wishing me to find someone and wishing happiness for me, but when I get it, it’s negative.  I’d have to prepare myself for having no friends if thats the direction, the candlework guides me.  I told my partner, she’d be my only friend, and it felt weird but calming to say it.  

----- 05_06_23

Might I say the least, I don’t think anyone wants me to be happy.  It’s better when I am like this, I suppose.  Sad, weak, vulnerable.  Gosh I miss my mom so much!!  I legit have no one to ask advice to anymore.  My mom always gave her unbiased opinions and never made me feel guilty for the choices I made.  Everyone I feel a way towards has died down a little.  I’m slightly feeling better.  I’m scared to interact with people again.  Kind of weird saying that.  I know I am a disease walking, and it sucks but I just want to stay inside my house and wither away.  I know people suggest going outside for a walk, but even then I’m infecting people around me with my energy.  I kind of don’t want to speak to my sister again; kind of don’t want to speak to others either.  Kind of just want to be with my girlfriend in peace.  Not sure if that makes sense.  If I decide to come back, maybe I will create a new IG that no one knows about and I can post, without feeling like I am wrong?  It’s weird how this world thrives on negativity.  Dies with negativity.  It’s sad.  I guess parts of me wish we really followed the cliche "don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you; It is vitally important to treat others as we want others to treat us.” I mean, I’d never do the things people have done to me.  It doesn’t make me a saint, but it does display my character as pure and truthful.  I love when I see love.  I love when others post themselves and their significant other.  

I’d never do what my ex-friend has done, lie and/or speak ill about her.  Whatever we have going on is between me and her, I wouldn’t have said shit to the other girls.  As for everyone else, I wouldn’t of said things whether it was jokes or not.  I wouldn’t have made yall feel hurt either.  I’d be excited for your new love life and wouldn’t care if you spent thousands of dollars on your person, I’d be celebrating with you, not questioning why you are doing something and if it is too soon.  Unless yall know something that I don’t, than tell me the truth in that aspects instead of being passive aggressive about it.  I’ve never emotionally, physically cheated on anyone in my entire life and I don’t judge what yall be doing.  I’m not speaking to exs behind my partners back and meeting up and shit. *sorry for this rant* Ke’Anna doesn’t do hurtful shit period.  So please stop the commentary.  If I propose at six months, I’m sure yall would have something to say about that, but you wouldn’t know, because we don’t speak anymore.  Should I start posting screenshots?  I’m already the bad guy so I mean, call me the joker, because I am about to make everyone smile.

[dailyaudiobiblechronological]

3/25/2023 DAB Chronological Transcription

Joshua 9-11

Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible Chronological, I'm China. Today is the 25th day of March. Welcome. It is so great to be here with you today. So excited to get to finish off this week, this weekend with you. We are continuing in the book of Joshua with chapters nine through eleven, finishing off with a New English translation for this week.

Commentary:

So again we read Joshua being this fulfillment of what the Lord spoke through Moses and where he's giving them this land and there to drive out everyone before it. And the Lord's going to be with them. And going all the way back to the beginning of what we read today is so interesting to me where scripture reveals that. So we read this, but just a little recap. The Gibeonites deceive Israel, so they make this treaty, but they failed to ask the Lord. The men examined some of their provisions, but they failed to ask the Lord's advice. I wonder how I'm like, okay, so if someone like Joshua can struggle with this, then we for sure can struggle with this. But goodness, how many of us can relate to that struggle of, oh man, I didn't ask the Lord, I failed to ask the Lord's advice, what he thought about this. And we are kind of in this situation where it's like, oh man, I wonder if this would have happened this way if I would have consulted the Lord. And maybe not because he probably would have told me. But I'm not going to beat myself up. I'm just going to repent here and then make sure that I consult the Lord in everything that I do from now on. And so I think this is a great reminder that the Lord wants to be invited into the things that we do and our decisions, the big ones and the little ones, and this one feels like a big one. And I know that he also would want to be invited into those little ones as well. So I just think that's a great reminder for today is to consult the Lord in all that we do- all that we do.

Prayer:

And so Father, I thank you for your word that reminds us this, that shows us, not only reminds us, but shows us what happens when we don't. And God, I pray that we would be a people who just care about your opinion and what you have to say and what your advice is. And so I pray that we would have that wisdom and discernment and that you would continually speak to us and that we would hear you. I thank you for your word and we pray. Amen.

Announcements:

So this is where I leave you for this week. Next week, as you know, as you've fallen into this rhythm before. Starting tomorrow, my mom will be reading with you and then I will be back here the week after that and we will start Holy Week. And I am thrilled. It's like my favorite for so many reasons and also not my favorite. It's just a culmination of emotions and we'll talk about it. We got some time, but I love you. This is all for today. I'll be waiting for you here next week.

Community Prayer Line:

Hi DABC family. This is His Life from Tennessee. I was just listening to Chastity from Kansas about losing your job and missing time at work and you're getting sick. And praise God that your son is much better, but that's why you lost your job, so much time taken off. I'm praying for you that the Lord is going to give you a better job than what you've had. I know a lot of times when we lose a job and we have bills piling up or we've got that feeling, oh my goodness, I've got to get something soon. I've got to get something here that's going to pay the bills. I am praying that the reason that you're not getting anywhere is because the right job is not there just yet. I pray that the job that you get is going to be a job that you're going to love going into every day, that you're going to love learning that it's going to be a job where people are not just looking at you going you need a couple of days off because you're sick or your son is sick. They're going to look at it and go, you know what? You just do what you need to do, take care of your family. And I hope and pray everything's fine, come on back. Because that's the kind of job that the Lord gave me. I am praying that for you and Father God, you know from the beginning, from the end, father God, you know what Chastity means. You know the type of situation that she's in, the bills that she has to pay. But you are her father, you are her provider, you are there with her. Father God, please show her, guide her, direct her straightforward to the one job that you have open for her, Father. God bless you.

Good morning, Daily Audio Bible community. This is Diane Olive and Jeff Brown, and I'm reading March 9, 2023 with China. This is her week. I'm in the chronological and I've been catching up and asking the Lord, why am I still giving in to some of these things that I had self control over? And he brought me to the reading today for March 9 that the children of Israel didn't cast out all of the people that brought them temptation. And he said, you've allowed some things to linger in your thought life. And so I had to repent of that. So I praised the Lord that he showed me why I was not overcoming like I had been before. I thought that might help you. And please pray for me. And I'm praying for all of you all. And I know that you're struggling with temptation. And maybe that's the reason that I'm struggling, is I'm allowing those things I haven't completely repented completely so that I've dealt with it and it no longer is a part of my life. So praise the Lord. Continue to pray for me, and I'll continue to pray for you. And I really believe that I will get the victory.

Hey, family, it's Pam, His Ransom Soul in New Jersey, calling in to pray for some dear sisters, good and gracious God, I come before you today and I ask in the mighty name of Jesus for complete healing of the various severe eye disorders that Felicia in Florida has been diagnosed with. Lord, you are a way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, and a light in the darkness. So I am asking on Felicia's behalf that you would make a way for her husband's job to become permanent so he can get the health insurance necessary to cover the eye treatments for Felicia, or that you would just perform a miracle and heal Felicia's eyes supernaturally. Lord, please be her light in this darkness right now, and please give Felicia and her husband hope and peace as they wait for and trust in your faithful promises. And as you work in these situations that look so impossible to us. I also want to lift up our dear, sweet China Brown. And thank you, Lord, for this precious new life that is growing within her. I ask for relief for China from the morning sickness she's experiencing. And Lord, I'm asking for a healthy pregnancy and uneventful labor and delivery and a healthy, happy child for China and Ben this coming fall. And, Lord, for the young woman who called in on her 34th birthday and has been unable to have children. She's been trying now for six years. Lord, in your great mercy and compassion, would you please open up her womb and breathe new life into it, making it possible for her to bear the children she so deeply desires to have. Lord God, your will be done in each situation here in the precious and powerful name of your son Jesus. Amen.

Good morning, family. It's Inge from Denmark. Today I'm calling in to congratulate Ben and China and the rest of the tribe on this new little nugget, this little brownie that's baking away in the oven that's going to be arriving this fall. Massive heartfelt congratulations. I'm so glad that God granted you your wish that you're going to become parents of two and Reagan is going to be a big sister. I don't know how you feel in China, but I could imagine that maybe it's a little bit difficult to just focus on the positive because you had a rough ride when you had to deliver Reagan and then the postpartum afterwards. They just want to pray God's protection over you. So, God, I just want to thank you for this daughter of yours, this woman of God. Thank you for China. Thank you for everything that she is in your ministry. She is somebody special to so many of us around the globe. Thank you for using her. And thank you for her saying yes. I want to thank you that you're blessing her and then with another child, we can never take that for granted. So I'm just thankful on their behalf that you are granting them another life. I pray that you will protect the baby throughout these months of pregnancy and that you will put your angels around China in a special way. Protect her from anxiety and worry. Just let her be consumed with your peace. Bring her safely through the birth and the afterbirth and the pregnancy. Amen.

[eleanorblue]

EleanorBlue’s Five-Part 2022 Midterm Recap; Part Two, Section B: The Deep Red States

It has come to my attention that my source for ballot initiatives may not have been complete. That's a yikes. Forgive me if I miss anything--if I find important ballot initiatives I didn’t cover, I’ll add them in post-publication. 

Don't come at me if you don’t think some of these states are deep red, please. They’re all red! And, as this part of the recap will show, even the most Republican states can vote for Democrats and Democrat policies.

Let’s go get this over with.

Florida

Guys. Florida is not a swing state. I’m sick of pretending it is. Sure, it went blue for Obama in 2008 AND 2012, but things changed fast. Incumbent Governor Ron DeSantis (R), who passed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill severely restricting any mention of LGBTQ topics in school, declared war on Disney after Disney spoke out against the aforementioned bill, banned abortion at 15 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest, essentially banned any discussion of discrimination or racism in public schools, used Florida tax dollars to fly legal Venezuelan asylum seekers from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard to own the libs...

Where was I going with this?

Oh, right. Incumbent Governor Ron DeSantis (R), who did all those horribly shitty things and many more, beat Congressional Rep. Charlie Crist (D) by 20 points (59.4% to 40%). Republicans held their trifecta in Florida. Florida is no longer a swing state!

Ron DeSantis had a fantastic night, which sucks for all of us because he's a fascist nematode in a suit, but it’s also kind of funny because it made someone else really, really unhappy.

And really, really nervous.

But we’ll talk about him later.

That’s all I have to say about state government elections in Florida, I think. Let’s go north a bit.

North Carolina

Yeah, I know. This is what I meant with the “don’t come at me’ bit. Look, I love North Carolina! I have family from North Carolina! But ever since 2012, it’s had kind of a hard time.

North Carolina is kind of like Wisconsin in regards to the party makeup of its state government. It’s gerrymandered like nothing imaginable, but has a Democrat for a governor. In fact, it’s so gerrymandered that in 2016, the Electoral Integrity Project said it was no longer a democracy. Governor Roy Cooper wasn’t up for reelection this cycle, but the state legislatures were. Republicans had a chance to obtain a supermajority in the House and the Senate. What happened?

Well, they got the Senate, but they fell one seat short of the House. This is...good? I mean, it means that they still won’t be able to pass abortion bans through Roy Cooper. But it’s SO close. It’s uncomfortably close. I don’t really like that. Unfortunately, Republicans ALSO flipped the state supreme court, giving them control for the first time since 2016. That eliminates one more check on the very red legislature.

I don’t know. It could have been worse. It could have been a hell of a lot better. We could really help ourselves--and a hell of a lot of people in North Carolina--if we did something to straighten out that anti-democratic state.

Texas

Beto tries, and clearly he resonates with people. Greg Abbott is phenomenally terrible in a way that is hard to match. But the demographics of that state are just too much right now. Incumbent Governor Greg Abbott (R) won over former Congressional Representative/2018 Senate candidate/2020 presidential primary candidate Beto O’Rourke (D) by 11 points, 54.8% to 43.8%, and the state legislature remained red. For context, Biden only lost the state by six points, 52.1% to 46.5%.

I’m really not surprised by this result (maybe a little by the size of the split given Beto’s performance against Cruz in 2018). I just wanted to take a moment to talk about Texas because I can’t stop thinking about the families of the children of Uvalde. I’ve seen some of their statements on Twitter. Those poor people are going through hell. I cannot imagine what it it’s like to lose a child to a gunman in school, where they were supposed to be safe, while officers twiddled their thumbs outside the door. I cannot imagine going through that and then hearing the governor say “It could have been worse.” I cannot imagine having to live in a community that then reelected that asshole.

I don’t have any more words about Texas.

Kentucky

Let’s talk about Kentucky, a deep red state with a Democrat governor! Make no mistake--unlike North Carolina, Kentucky really is deep red, voting for Trump in 2020 by 25 points (62.0% to 36.6%). Governor Andy Beshear was not up for reelection this cycle, and both chambers of the the state legislature remained red, but there was an interesting ballot measure. Kentuckians voted on Amendment 2, which would have added language to the State Constitution stating that citizens do not have the right to abortion in Kentucky and the government is not required to provide funding for an abortion.

And how did Amendment 2 do in very red Kentucky?

It failed, 52.3% to 47.7%, even as the state legislature remained under Republican control.

Hmm. I wonder if Roe v. Wade may have galvanized some parts of the electorate. Seems as if people aren’t too happy about losing the right to choose.

Montana

Montana no longer has a Democrat governor and is pretty red (Trump won by 16 points, 40.5% to 56.9%). State legislature stayed red, because of course, and there was no gubernatorial race, but again I want to talk about a ballot measure. This one is also about abortion, but in a sneakier way. The measure, called the “Born Alive Infant Protection Act” was claimed by its proponents to be necessary to protect the lives of fetuses that survive abortion (which is something that totally happens all the time and is definitely not outrage fodder for the right). It required medical providers to essentially do whatever they could to save the lives of infants born prematurely, or face $50,000 in fines and up to 20 years in prison. Opponents of the bill said that it would rob families of the opportunity to spend the last moments of their infants’ life with their dying child and it would force practitioners to perform painful and unnecessary procedures to avoid prison time.

Are you noticing a trend here? The measure failed, 52.6% to 47.4%.

Missouri

Missouri is yet another state without a gubernatorial race and an unchanged red state legislature that I wanted to talk about. Missouri had a ballot measure not about abortion this time, but about marijuana legalization.

That’s definitely not part of the Republican platform, and make no mistake, Missouri is very red, going 58.6% to 41.4% for Trump in 2020. And what happened?

Ballot measure passed, 53.1% to 46.9%.

Sometimes I think people like Democrat policies but just not Democrats.

Kansas

Kansas is a pretty red state, going 56.1%-41.5% for Trump in 2020, so this definitely won't be a competitive governor’s race, right? There’s no way it’ll break blue, I mean--

*record scratch*

Admittedly, I know very little about the Kansas state government. I didn’t even realize Governor Laura Kelly (D) was an incumbent. But still. How did she hold on in such a red state against state Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R)?

“[Schmidt] pledged to ban abortion across the state...”

Ah. Okay.

Let’s not forget: earlier this year, Kansas held a referendum on an abortion amendment that, if it had passed, would have added language to the state constitution stating that citizens do not have the right to an abortion in Kansas. It failed by eighteen percent. Now, as I’ve said previously, I am not a political analyst. I just follow politics closely and have a tumblr. But it seems to me, that if my state had just resoundingly turned out in a special election to vote decisively against an abortion ban, I would not come out in favor of said ban.

So Governor Laura Kelly won by two points, 49.4% to 47.4%. It is worth pointing out that in the Secretary of State race, incumbent Scott Schwab (R) beat businesswoman Jeanna Repass 58.5% to 38.7%, and the state House remained red (the state Senate was not up this cycle), so it’s not like Kansas is suddenly a swing state.

But still. Don’t come for abortion.

Wrap-Up

Is that it for the deep red states? Please, let that be it for the deep red states. I think I’ve covered the big surprises and key races, at least. I’ll just run through the non-surprises really quickly.

Gubernatorial Races: Incumbent Kay Ivey (R) won by 38 points in Alabama, Incumbent Mike Dunleavey (R) obtained a majority in the first round of Alaska’s ranked-choice election, former Trump Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) won by 28 points in Arkansas, incumbent Brad Little (R) won by 40 points in Idaho, incumbent Kim Reynolds (R) won by 19 points in Iowa, Jim Pillen (R) won by 24 points in Nebraska, incumbent Mike DeWine (R) won by 26 points in Ohio, incumbent Kevin Stitt (R) won by 13.7 points in Oklahoma, incumbent Henry McMaster (R) won by 17 points in South Carolina, incumbent Kristi Noem (R) won by 27 points in South Dakota, and incumbent Mark Gordon (R) won by 62 points in Wyoming.

Secretary of State Races: Wes Allen (R) won by 35 points in Alabama, incumbent John Thurston (R) won by 34 points in Arkansas, Phil McGrane (R) won by 45 points in Idaho, Diego Morales (R) won by 13.9 points in Indiana, incumbent Paul Pate (R) won by 20.2 points in Iowa, incumbent Bob Evnen (R) won an uncontested race in Nebraska, Michael Howe (R) won by 36 points in North Dakota, incumbent Frank LaRose (R) won by 20.1 points in Ohio, incumbent Mark Hammond (R) won by 26.8 points in South Carolina, Monae Jackson (R) won by 27.8 points in South Dakota, and Chuck Gray (R) won an uncontested race in Wyoming.

State legislatures: The Alabama state legislature remained red, we don’t really know what happened in Alaska yet but it looks like both chambers might be controlled by a bipartisan coalition, the Arkansas state legislature remained red, the Idaho state legislature remained red, the Indiana state legislature remained red, the Iowa state legislature remained red, the single-chamber Nebraska state legislature remained red, the North Dakota state legislature remained red, the Ohio state legislature remained red, the Oklahoma state legislature remained red, the South Carolina House remained red and the Senate was not up for election, the Tennessee state legislature remained red, the Utah state legislature remained red, the West Virginia state legislature remained red, and the Wyoming state legislature remained red. 

Ballot Initiatives: Ohio passed a ballot initiative requiring citizens to have been registered to vote for 30 days to be eligible to vote in an election. Super democratic, guys. Iowa added language to the state constitution enshrining the right to bear arms. (Friends: this one is in the federal Constitution. You know, the big one. That’s why you guys yell about the second amendment all the time. Not sure why you needed it here, too.) Arkansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota failed to legalize marijuana. (Very cool, very chill.) And...that’s it. 

Whew! That was fun. Next up, we have state government races in blue states. See you all tomorrow, and thanks for reading this far. 

#surviving the american political hellscape #2022 midterm elections #2022 midterms #eleanorblue does politics

[dokidokitsuna]

Spoiler-Free Reactions to the RWBY:IQ Premiere! (Part 3)

Overall grade: B. Not as infuriating as Ep. 2, but still making a lot of the same mistakes...HOWEVER, they made some good writing decisions that have given me some faith in what this show could become.

First let me start with something positive and also completely shallow: Sun Wukong looks INCREDIBLE. Just traffic-stopping gorgeous in every single frame he appears in; consistently better than anyone else in the whole cast. ♡_♡ ...He’s gotta be someone on the production staff’s favorite character and/or fictional crush~. ^^ This can’t be a coincidence.

I also thought Penny was adorable, as she tends to remain in every incarnation of RWBY. ^^ I like that they took the opportunity to give her a special little speech-thing that she does now, and I sincerely hope the translators don’t butcher it when it comes time to dub this show. ^^; It can probably still work in English if they actually try.

Pedaling back to the beginning of the episode...it’s very spoilery territory, so I can’t say much about it (most of the mechanics it introduces will probably be used throughout the rest of the show). But I will say that it was not done very well, despite being the one part of this premiere that wasn’t recap, and thus ACTUALLY IMPORTANT TO THE PLOT. My biggest criticism is ‘show don’t tell’. And I RARELY see anime that have this problem; it’s like somehow canon RWBY’s writing issues are being sustained here, just in different ways...o_O *cough* maybe if we hadn’t wasted precious minutes on animations of string, we would have had time for an actual fight scene... *cough*

Speaking of fight scenes...there was a certain fight scene that was completely omitted (in a very crude and noticeable something-cool-just-happened-but-you-don’t-get-to-see-it way). I’m not going to say which one, but I will say that people are probably going to be very mad about it. ^^;;;

Time for some more positives! Yang’s dialogue has been stepped up in a BIG way, and I love it. ^^ Her lines are definitely more frank and more meaningful in this anime. In fact, there is a certain line she says that, dare I say it, REVOLUTIONIZES Weiss’ character. And I don’t think it’s just a misunderstanding, either; I think Yang was right and the writers are going with that interpretation. And I am very excited to see how it turns out~

Blake’s little Faunus-reveal arc was actually...nice. ‘_’ I liked how it was done; I think it’s the first story beat that the anime actually managed to improve significantly, despite how fast they sped through it. Notably, this story beat was (almost) completely an interpersonal, emotional conflict, and if this is where the anime manages to deliver, I can honestly live with everything I’ve complained about thus far. Good character interactions and motivations can make or break a story, as canon RWBY has shown.

This is a little random, but...I was on the fence about Awake (the ED song), and its placement in this episode convinced me that I just don’t like it. No offense to Saori Hayami, but it really just sounds like she’s very loudly and obnoxiously missing notes. I don’t think a slow, soulful ballad is the place to sing off-key to try to convey emotion...I assume that’s what she’s trying to do? In any case, it ain’t working. :/

Side note: why wasn’t OK Goodnight commissioned to do a song for this anime? ^^ I think their style and the kind of lyrics they tend to write would probably be a really good fit for it...maybe Casey hadn’t started the band yet when production began, idk. It’s a shame...

Overall grade for the entire premiere: B- Strengths: Character dialogue, character animation, voice acting, individual action scenes Weaknesses: Group action scenes, pacing, scene transitions, plot structure/progression

In all honesty, the premiere probably deserves a lower grade (those weaknesses are BIG ones) but I’ve decided to be lenient, under the assumption that when it comes time for the new story Ice Queendom actually wants to tell, a lot of those weaknesses will disappear. I just wish I could be more sure of that. ^^;;; It’s really hard to tell what kind of quality we can expect with a start like this. There are a lot of ways do a recap arc, and this is the most bizarre, dysfunctional way I’ve ever seen anyone attempt. 8|

One thing I hope for in particular is that Weiss completely takes over this anime, the way we’ve all been expecting. With the mechanics we’ve been shown, the only other option we’re likely to get is a monster-of-the-week type plot, and if this episode is supposed to be an example of how that might go, I don’t want one. ^^; Just focus on the Ice Queendom, please.

#rwby #rwby ice queendom

[gulflaren]

missing youuu fatima! hope everything is alright

mwah!!!!! thank you for being concerned. it’s really sweet and made me smile <3333 everything is not alright which is why i disappeared but it’s whatever… WE MOVE

#i’ve missed this place so much #what’s been happening #i feel like i’ve probably missed so many gates #i was just not feeling it mentally #i’m still not #but i’m officially back and ready to yell about cars #aNYWAY my crippling mental health aside WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING HERE #i feel so lost #fatima answers #sOMEone give me a little recap of what i’ve missed

[havethetimeofyourstyles]

in which you’re prince harry’s personal bodyguard.

a/n: hi angels! i’m SO EXCITED to be finally sharing this story, and i’m really proud of this piece! like it’s genuinely one of my favorites i’ve ever written and one of my babies, so i can’t wait to hear what you all think! this story is inspired by gold rush by taylor swift, and this story immediately came to me once i heard the song. so, enjoy and please reblog and leave feedback! 

thank you to my best beta and friend tina @sunflowers-styles​ and miss zoey @serendipitystyles​ who screamed with me when i just started writing it, ily both! 

WORD COUNT: 24.7k of prince!harry x guard!yn (it’s gonna be a rollercoaster <3) 

WARNINGS: ANGST (genuinely a lot of it), smut, mentions of death and disease 

COME INTO MY INBOX AND LETS TALK ABOUT ‘SINKING SHIPS’ i’d love to know your thoughts! 

pls rb to share! <3

.・。.・゜

‘Eyes like sinking ships

On waters so inviting

I almost jump in.’ 

With a slight groan, you were taken out of your slumber by the sunlight that was seeping through your curtains. The birds were chirping away quite loudly this morning—acting like there weren’t people who were sleeping at seven in the morning, but early birds get the worm, right?

You sat up, stretching your arms towards the ceiling as you let out an inhumane sound that was very ‘unladylike’ before freshening up in the restroom. After putting on your regular and daily uniform: black slacks, white crisp shirt with a black tie, and black formal shoes—you opted out on wearing a blazer since you were going to be out for most of the day—before you headed towards the kitchen that felt like miles away because the Royal House was huge. 

The chefs were already up, bright and early, ready to feed the Royal family. The aroma of French toast and sautéed vegetables filled your senses, making your mouth water. 

“Morning, everyone!” You greeted happily once you entered the kitchen. 

“Goodmorning, Y/N!” The chefs welcomed you into their kitchen in sync. You softly smiled, walking over to the fruit basket at the edge of the marble counter, grabbing a banana and orange before walking over to the island and leaning your elbows on it as you watched the chefs cook. 

You always loved watching them work on their art, it was quite mesmerizing—the way they sautéed the vegetables, tossing the contents into the air was always something you loved ever since you were young. They were always so proud and humble about their work, presenting it with a satisfied smile as satiated empty stomachs. 

Suddenly, the side door opened, revealing Maria tugging on the wagon that carried basketfuls of fresh vegetables and fruits. You quickly walked towards her, grabbing the basket from the wagon to set it down on the counter. The baskets were always quite heavy, and you always made sure to help her out every morning since she wakes up at sunrise to pick out and wash the produce for the day. 

“Thank you, my dear,” Maria said, smiling. 

“Of course, Maria. These are beautiful.” You handpicked vegetables and fruits. “One day, I’ll wake up earlier to help you out in the morning, so you’re not all by yourself,” you suggested. Maria was like a mother to you, and you truly looked up to her ever since you started to remember things. You never really knew who your real mom was because she had passed away when you were just a year old, so you saw Maria as a motherly figure. 

You remembered when you first visited the Royal House; your father, Josiah, used to be a stableman and would bring you to work with him every day, occasionally letting you ride on the horses with him if it was allowed. Josiah and Maria had a mutual liking towards one another, but neither of them had acted upon it. They had just simply acknowledged the fact they had feelings for one another. So, you were around Maria a lot, and it wasn’t forced because you genuinely took a liking towards her and she started becoming a female figure in your life that you never really had. 

“Oh, you’re so sweet, but that’s not needed. I know how exhausting your day is, so get those few extra hours of sleep, okay?” She raised her brows at you, and you chuckled, nodding your head at her. “And besides, I’ve actually got some help…” she trailed off in suspense. 

It was your turn to raise your brows at her. “Really? And who might that be?” A tint of pinkness hit Maria’s cheeks as she looked down, occupying herself by taking the produce out of the basket. 

“Just…Nathaniel.” 

“Nathaniel, really?” 

“Yeah, he’s nice, yeah? Handsome. Funny. Kind,” she started to sound like she was convincing you, but you really didn’t need all that much convincing because you actually knew him.

“I know Nathaniel, but thanks for the little recap,” you joked, chuckling as Maria blushed. “So, do you like him?” You asked. 

“I mean…I don’t know. Maybe,” she admitted shyly. You gave her an encouraging smile because you knew that she was only shy to confess the truth because she had been in love with your father. 

“Good—that’s good. Well, if you are taking a liking towards him, don’t run away from your feelings,” you told her sternly as if you were the mother now. “You deserve to be happy and in love!” 

“Suppose you’re right. I just feel…bad.” 

“Don’t be. He would want you to be happy, I promise,” you reminded Maria. 

You could definitely understand why she felt bad about the fact that she was interested in Nathaniel. Maria and Josiah were in love, once upon a time, but ever since your father passed away two years ago, due to his heart condition, it was difficult for Maria to move on from the love of her life. With regret wilting down on her face, she asked herself why she didn’t bother to do anything about her love for him, and she didn’t know if it was the right thing to do to be interested in someone else. However, you constantly reminded her that Josiah wanted you two to have a great life, containing a lot of love and laughter. 

Looking at the wall clock above the chocolate brown cabinets, you realized that it was a bit past seven, so duties for the day were calling. You kissed Maria on the cheek, telling her that you’ll see her during lunch before bidding the rest of the staff goodbye as you headed out of the kitchen

Your clad black shoes clicked against the shiny and polished tiled floor, echoing the corridor of the Royal House as you walked towards the West Wing of the house; the staff and employees all lived on the East Wing, and it was quite a walk from one end to the other. 

Knocking on the tall and heavy door, you heard absolute silence on the other side, which wasn’t abnormal. So, you knocked once more, hearing no movement before you allowed yourself inside of the bedroom of the Prince. 

As you expected, he was sprawled out onto his large bed, too large for one person, with his curls covering his forehead. His mouth was slightly agape with puffs of breaths coming out as he was in deep sleep. You opened the long curtains, letting the sunshine enter his room before walking over to the side of his bed, placing the two fruits on his bedside table so he could fuel himself as he’s getting ready; you gently tapped him on the shoulder. 

“Your Highness, It’s time to wake up,” you softly said. With no response, you shook his shoulder a bit harder to get him out of his deep slumber. “Your Highness, it’s past seven.” 

The Prince groaned, eyes still closed as he began to writhe around the bed. You took a step back from the bed, waiting for him to wake up fully before greeting him. He buried his face into the pillow, refusing to budge, as an exhausted muffled groan came out of his mouth. 

Once his eyes were fully open and he was aware of his surroundings and consciousness, he turned his head towards you, giving you a look as if to momentarily remember who you were; you gave him a smile to start off his day. 

“Good Morning—agh!” You let out an unexpected squeal, cut off by the Prince’s large arms wrapped around your waist, bringing you down onto the bed with him. His lips immediately attacked your neck and face, peppering your skin with his affection. You laughed softly, trying to keep your voice down in case anyone heard you, but you couldn’t help it because it tickled. “Your Highness!” You pushed his body away from yours, and you knew he only pulled back because of the name you had called him. 

He pouted, looking at you with puppy eyes. “I told you to stop calling me that, Princess,” he joked slightly. 

You raised your brows, mouth slightly open as you playfully patted his chest. “And I told you to stop calling me that, Harry.” 

“Then I’ll stop calling you that once you stop calling me ‘Your Highness,’” he said in a mocking tone before he raised his brows to see what you were going to respond with because he knew that you loved being called ‘Princess’ even if you were far from actually becoming one. You two would have these playful arguments on which nicknames to call one another, and ��Princess’ and ‘Your Highness’ were both a bit of an inside joke now. 

You simply just rolled your eyes. “Not fit to be a Princess.” Harry’s arms wrapped tighter around your waist as both of your heads rested against the same pillow. You loved mornings like these, and although it was unusual to be sleeping in different rooms, it had to happen under certain circumstances. 

“You definitely are fit enough to be a Princess because you’ll be mine…soon…one day,” he lightened up the air, pressing a kiss to your cheek and forehead. “Perfect for me, I swear.” You smiled admiringly at the Prince, feeling incredibly grateful for him and his presence. 

For five years, your love for him had only increased when you thought that your heart couldn’t get any bigger. But Harry somehow made it happen; he filled your beating organ with so much love and devotion, making you feel so overwhelmed with happiness that you felt like you could burst any minute. You’ve known Harry since you were a little girl, but you didn’t play with him much since you had to stay close to Josiah. But when you did, you two would always go riding together; it was an innocent and pure friendship, and even when you were younger, you would find yourself missing your friend, who just so happened to be the Prince of the country. 

Five-year-old Y/N simply understood that he was a Prince, but you understood it just like the Disney movies. So, you and seven-year-old Harry would play Prince and Princess for fun. Every morning you would tell Josiah to dress you up in a pretty dress because your “Prince was waiting on the West Wing,” as you said. 

As the years went by and you two played less of Prince and Princess, but you and Harry were still inseparable. He was your best friend—still is, and you couldn’t be more happy that you two had never drifted off into the fog that vanishes every afternoon. 

With how close you were to Prince Harry, you realized you had feelings for him when you were thirteen, and it wasn’t until you were twenty when you two got together. Harry had told you that he’s liked you since he was seven, and fifteen years later, he finally had the balls to tell you. Typically for some, it wouldn’t be the most ideal relationship since your blood didn’t bleed royalty, but you’d rather have him in private rather than displaying your relationship to the entire world, especially his family. 

The bubble that was his room, was your hideout. The sanctuary where you felt most comfortable because it was where he slept in, as his scent roamed around the room, making it feel like home. You loved how you immediately felt safe and calm when you opened his bedroom room door, especially when you saw him peacefully sleeping; it was your favorite thing to do. 

Harry didn’t mind, either. He knew how brutal his family could be if they ever found out about your relationship with him, and no matter how much he wanted to shout his love for you from the top of his lungs to the world, they truly didn’t need that because the only people who were the most important in this relationship were you and Harry. As long as the two of you knew that you were in love with one another, that’s all that mattered. 

He was there for you for most of your life, and with a clueless mind, you didn’t know where you would be without him when your father had died. Since Josiah was working for the Royal Family with your occasional help, you had thought the Queen and King were going to kick you out because you had no place or purpose staying in the Royal House. But luckily, Harry quickly proposed the idea of you being his personal bodyguard. Someone who just followed him around while making him seem less lonely because the other men that were his guards before rarely said a word to him when he was out. 

The Dutch and Duchess, and especially the Queen, were a bit skeptical, but let him have his way to avoid any sort of resentment in the future. You were ecstatic and thanked him profusely for letting you stay at the Royal House, but he brushed it off, telling you that he would’ve asked a million times more until they said yes.

 So, for two years now, you’d been Harry’s personal bodyguard, and you thought it was the easiest job. One, because even if you weren’t his bodyguard, you’d protect him with your life, putting yourself in front of him when chaos would come his way. Two, he made the job seem fun and it didn’t even seem like a job because you two laughed and messed around from time to time, not actually doing work. And three, who doesn’t love working with their partner?

“Is that a promise?” You tested him, seeing if he was willing to promise you that he was going to marry you. It didn’t seem possible if you were honest. Either he would have to run away from home or you two wouldn’t get married at all, and just stay together, which you wouldn’t mind either. 

“That’s definitely a promise. You know me—don’t say shit just to say it,” he said, a smug smile on his face. 

“Okay, well. Whenever that day comes, I’ll be waiting to become Mrs. Styles.” 

“Princess Styles,” he corrected, and you breathed out a chuckle, shaking your head a tad bit as you surrendered your argument on him calling you that. 

You snuggled closer to him, enjoying his presence and warmth; and for a moment, you had forgotten yours and Harry’s responsibilities for the day; you just enjoyed this small and quiet moment you two had together that only usually happened in the mornings. But you cherished them nonetheless. 

Nearly drifting off to sleep, you jolted to stay awake. You looked at Harry to see him looking at you with a small but fond smile on his face, eyes gleaming ever so brightly as the sun gently cast its light through his window from above his bed. 

You gave him a quick kiss to his lips and nose before getting out of his hold, earning a groan from him. You stood beside the bed, smoothing out any wrinkles that creased on your clothing. 

“C’mon, we have so much to do today! Plus, we’ve already exceeded morning bedtime hours.” You grabbed his arm, tugging him towards the edge of the bed. He sighed, resisting as he pulled back. 

“Don’t wanna do anything today. Just wanna lay in bed all day with my Princess.” His words came out muffled as he spoke into the pillow. Your cheeks heated up as you held his arm; you wished that you’d get the chance to spend the entire day with him, doing nothing instead of keeping a distance from him throughout the day. But alas, being with him for most of the day was still what you considered a wonderful day. 

“Let’s go,” you softly insisted. You kneeled down onto the floor beside him, pecking his face all over. The left side of his face was smashed against the mattress, but you could see the smile forming onto his face as you kissed his cheeks. “Get up, dreamy.” You used your nickname on him, and you realized that was a bad idea since you were trying to get him out of bed. 

Harry suddenly perked up, smirking before he turned around to lay on his back. He pulled your arm, hauling you to lay on top of him; you giggled once you landed on him, and he connected his lips with yours, kissing you passionately and sensually. Your legs were straddling him, and you unconsciously ground against his sleep pants, feeling his bulge grow harder and bigger. Harry softly moaned into your mouth, slightly bucking his hips upward towards your center. 

You pulled away, about to tell him that you couldn’t do this right now, but once you saw his flushed face and swollen pink lips, not to mention his aching hard-on that was rubbing against your thigh, you decided against it. 

And Harry knew you all too well to know that you were going to say something but held back. So, instead, he grimaced and wrapped his arms around your waist before trailing them down to your ass, giving it a squeeze over your pants. 

“Think we got time for this?” He raised his brows teasingly at you, and you bit your lip. 

Grinding your hips against him was your way of giving him your answer, your mouth met his ear as you whispered, “All the time in the world for you to fuck me.” You nibbled on his earlobe before moving your lips down to the spot under his ear, resulting in a moan slipping out of his mouth. 

He flipped you two over, now his turn to hover over you. The Prince gave you a certain look that you knew all too well; it was a look of certainty like he had all the time in the world to have his way with you, and he definitely wasn’t going to shy away from it. 

“Wanna feel me? Think you could handle me?” He challenged teasingly. His voice was low, raspy, and deep—much deeper now since it was morning and he’d just woken up. But the way he spoke sent a shiver down your neck, making you jerk, causing a mess in your panties. 

“Know I could handle you. I’ve been handling you for years now,” you smirked. A flushed tint rose onto Harry’s cheeks; he always seemed to feel himself get giddy over the fact that you two had been together for years, and hearing it come out of your mouth made it much better. 

“Let’s see about that.” He began to kiss down your neck and body as you relaxed into the pillow, completely enjoying his lips and body on you. 

And just like all the other days, it was going to be a long morning. But the early birds get the worm, right? 

Harry headed towards the dining room where his family was eating breakfast. They all looked up at him suspiciously, like they knew about his morning escapade with his Princess, and he was nearly gutted because they had gotten caught, but they simply just looked at him and continued eating. 

“Morning everyone,” he relaxed, clearing his throat as he took his seat, unbuttoning his black suit jacket; a light pink button-down shirt clad on his tattooed torso. The servers that had been serving them for decades, Mariah and Deborah, poured him a tall glass of water and set down his mug of coffee. He thanked them, and they gave him a smile, always surprised to receive a ‘thank you’ in the Royal House. But Harry wasn’t snobby or arrogant, he had manners and was polite. 

“A bit late to breakfast, Harry, and you didn’t show for morning tea,” the Queen herself had pointed out. Elaine hadn’t even made eye contact with him, she just continued eating as she sat at the head of the table. 

Harry froze for a moment to look at his sister to see if she’ll help, but Gemma just raised her brows, not knowing how to back him up. 

“Sorry, Nan. Couldn’t sleep last night, so I slept in a little bit,” Harry lied. 

“Hmm, and where was that bodyguard of yours to wake you up? Isn’t she supposed to wake you?” She wondered, but by her tone, it was like she knew already; and Harry really hoped that wasn’t the case. 

“Uh, yeah. She did, actually, and I told her to give me a moment. Guess that turned into forty-five…” he curled his lips in, containing the smirk that was begging to show through. His cheeks formed a tint, and he quickly grabbed his glass of water to cool down and to cover his flustered face. 

The two of you had stayed in bed longer than anticipated, and when it was only supposed to be a quickie, Harry took his time with you the first round but decided to go two more rounds, fucking you hard until your teeth were biting the sheets and screaming into the pillow. You had to cover all of the marks that littered his neck, but the others that only you were able to see were casually resting under his clothes. 

Harry shifted in his seat, remembering how your eyes looked up at him as you kissed down his body to wrap your lips around his cock. His mind was spiraling, immediately thinking filthy things your mouth and body could do to him; that was until Gemma had kicked his foot under the table that got him out of his head. 

He looked at her, flicked his head at her, a way to ask ‘what was that for?’ She tilted her head towards the Queen as Elaine was still talking to Harry. 

“Okay, just wanted to make sure she’s doing something right. If not, you let me know, and we’ll have her removed from the House,” she advised quite sternly. 

“There’s no need for that, Nan. There hasn’t been a problem for the last two years she’s been my guard, so there certainly won’t be,” Harry explained quickly. He didn’t know if his eagerness sold his disagreement, or if it helped his case with his secret relationship with you. But he didn’t want you to leave his side, let alone, leave the House. He wanted you here, and if having you in private was the only way, where you two had to sneak around and kiss behind closed doors, then he didn’t mind that.

Elaine nodded, letting go of the subject before talking to the Dutch, Harry’s father, about some of the duties that needed to be completed today. Harry let out a sigh of relief once the Queen’s attention wasn’t on him anymore. He ate his breakfast in silence, thankful that the conversation he had with his grandmother didn’t go any further than a bit of scolding; he would say it was going to be a good day if they went a morning without Harry marching off early from breakfast. 

Breakfast went on quickly after that, thankfully. Mariah and Deborah began to clean the table before setting up a few cups of coffee for his mother, father, and the Queen. Harry and Gemma excused themselves, saying they had a few things to do for the day before they quickly walked out of the kitchen. 

The siblings rounded the corner and walked until they were far enough before Gemma spoke, not wanting their family to hear their conversation from the echo because of how large their home was. 

“You really need to be careful, H—the both of you, I mean it. Staying in with Y/N can’t happen consistently—I feel like she’s starting to get suspicious. ” Gemma started. She had a concerned expression as the part in between her brows creased. 

Harry sighed, nodding his head. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. We’ll try to be more careful. It’s just hard, y’know.” 

“I understand. I get it, I really do,” Gemma sighed before chuckling as if a realization had popped into her head. “Hell, I’m doing the same thing, but I’m just better at hiding it,” she chuckled.” It was true; Gemma was in a relationship with one of the servers—Sebastian. 

They’d been together for seven years, ever since she was twenty-three. She kept it a secret for three years until she decided to tell Harry, which of course, Harry was ecstatic to hear the news—only because he had just told his sister about his own relationship, which you two had only been together for a year at that time. 

Gemma and Harry were supportive of one another, looking out and covering up for each other because at the end of the day, they were on the same side and in the same situation; neither of them wanted the other to get caught because there would be worse consequences coming from the Queen, and the two tried to avoid those said consequences as much as possible. 

Naturally, Gemma loved you. You’d grown closer to her and seen her as a best friend, someone you could always go to and count on. The appreciation you had for her was vast, and you thanked her almost every day for how grateful you were that she was so supportive in your relationship with Harry. 

“Thanks for kicking me back there, though. Didn’t need another morning where Nan flames my ass,” he scoffed, shaking his head slightly. 

Gemma laughed. “Yeah, don’t know why she’s picking fights with you. She used to love you, wonder what changed,” she wondered, genuinely thinking what the cause may be. 

“Don’t know what it is, but if you know, tell me because I can’t always eat my meals stressed because she’s always onto me.” Gemma giggled. “Anyways, gotta go. I’ll be at the charity event until late afternoon, and I gotta find my girl. I’ll see you later?” 

“Yeah, I’ll see you. I’ll wait for you to eat dinner, so you’re not alone. Have a good day, little brother, be safe.” The Styles siblings hugged, a nice and warm embrace that showed much appreciation and respect they had for the other. 

“You as well, big sister.” 

Harry walked in the opposite direction as Gemma, smiling to himself as his heart felt so full. He was lucky to have a sister that was so encouraging and caring, and he always made sure to give the same love back to her because she needed it. Their parents were always a bit strict on them, but he was sure they had to have gotten that attitude from the Queen—well, at least his father. His mother, Anne, was a sweetheart. For some odd reason, she didn’t show much love to her kids because of Elaine. When they were kids, Nan would always get on Anne’s case about how she shouldn’t show them much affection or treat them like babies because they needed to learn discipline and from their own mistakes. 

Walking over to the East Wing and past the kitchen, Harry headed towards the living area, where some of the staff, including you, were hanging out, waiting for the Royal Family to finish their breakfast. One of his father’s guards immediately stood up, making the rest hastily stand up to greet the Prince. 

“Your Highness…” The staff greeted in sync; the men bowed as the women curtsied as Harry stood in the doorway of the living room. His eyes found yours, watching you curtsy; and on your way up, your head perked up, shyly smirking at him. Harry’s heart flipped as he puckered his lips to the side, containing his smile; you two would always laugh about these kinds of greetings, and sometimes Harry would greet you the same way because after all, were his Princess. He wasn’t one to be formal with greetings, and if it were up to him, he would tell the entire staff to stop greeting him like that, but he didn’t make the rules around here. 

“Goodmorning, everyone,” he greeted back. “Hope everyone has a great day. I should get going, though. Y/N?” He looked at you and slightly raised his brows. You walked across the living room and past him, standing before him before making sure to give him a smile. He bid everyone goodbye before you two walked alongside one another. 

The two of you headed towards the large front door in silence. You occasionally glanced up, but quickly averted your eyes towards the path, and Harry was also looking at you through his peripheral vision, smiling to himself as he saw how many times you glanced up at him. The silver Rolls Royce was waiting for the both of you at the end of the steps with the back door open with his driver, Benjamin, holding the door open. Harry gestured for you to get into the car first like the gentleman that he was. 

“Hi, Benjamin,” you greeted the middle-aged man with a smile. 

“Hello, Y/N,” he responded, tilting his hat down. 

“Thank you, Benjamin,” Harry shook his hand appreciatively. Benjamin had been Harry’s driver for the past ten years. He used to be his father’s driver, but when Harry grew older and was able to go to events and out on his own, they assigned Benjamin to be Harry’s driver. 

“You’re welcome, Prince Harry,” he slightly bowed before closing the door after Harry slipped into the car. 

Benjamin drove to the facility where the charity event was held. The privacy compartment screen between the driver and back seat was up; the fancy car seemed more like a movie theater with so much leg space and a middle console between the seats with a blank privacy screen in front of you. It screamed expensive, and Rolls Royce was the company that helped the Royal Family get from point A to point B as their entire underground garage was filled with these types of vehicles. 

You and Harry had about half an hour to chat and touch one another, so you unclicked your seatbelt, quickly moving towards his seat. He smiled, unclicked his seatbelt before letting you half-sit on his lap, your legs rested on his thighs, and he pulled the seatbelt over the both of you and clicked the metal buckle before pulling the seat belt strap behind him so it wouldn’t get in your way. 

A sigh came out of both of your mouths, enjoying this moment that felt short, but was cherished. You cuddle into his side, resting your head against his shoulder as his arms were tightly wrapped around you. You could feel his heart pounding through his chest, and you enjoyed the sound, knowing it was maintaining a steady heartbeat for you. 

Harry kissed your forehead, lips delicately brushing across your skin, making you flustered. You looked up at him as he smiled down at you, the two of you smiling like idiots before he took his lips in with yours. 

“What’s it like to grow up always being so beautiful?” He suddenly asked, very charmingly, might you add. He couldn’t get enough of you and how stunning you looked every single day; no matter how much you disagreed with him, he always thought you were the most gorgeous person on this Earth.

You smiled, looking, and studying his face. Some strands of his hair had fallen into place against his forehead; you pushed them back, softly kissing his forehead. 

“Could say the same for you. You always have a beautiful heart and a lovely face.” You grazed his jaw with your thumb, his stubble scratching against your finger. 

A breathy chuckle fell from his lips. “Love you, my Princess. Dream girl, I swear.”

“And I love you, Your Highness. Love you like crazy,” you softly giggled, kissing his jaw. “How was breakfast, by the way?” 

“The usual. Gemma said Nan is starting to get suspicious, so we have to be careful, can’t have too many mornings in,” he explained sadly. You slightly pouted, but quickly covered up your sad expression with a neutral face, not wanting to make him feel bad because he had no control over his grandmother. 

“Okay…” you agreed, nodding your head. 

“Hey, I’m sorry,” he said genuinely. “Know this is hard, but we’ll figure it out, alright?” His hand cupped your cheek, gently caressing your soft skin as he looked deeply into your eyes. His green eyes held an immense amount of care and love, just like his heart, and just being in his view of vision was an honor enough. 

You nodded, blinking back the tears that had quickly formed. “I know we will. Don’t mind having you to myself, though,” you chuckled. The corners of his lips turned up as his dimple popped out. You took your finger and poked his dimple, something you had been doing ever since you were younger. 

“I don’t mind it either, but sometimes the sneaking around sucks, doesn’t it?” His brows slightly furrowed, clear frustration expressed on his face. You took your thumb and smoothed out his stressed and wrinkled forehead, and he immediately relaxed. 

“It does, but if that’s what it takes for me to be with you, then that’s how it’s gonna be.”

Harry deeply sighed, resting his head against your neck. You lifted your head up, so he had more room to perfectly fit against you as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders. Butterflies soared in your stomach once you felt his lips against your neck, pressing soft and gentle kisses to your skin. After all these years, his touch still made you giddy while goosebumps rose on your skin. His kisses didn’t lead to anything more as they simply spoke the words of admiration and gratitude. 

“Hmm, don’t deserve you,” he mumbled against your skin. 

“Yeah, you do. Deserve love and happiness more than anything, and if I’m the one to provide it to you, then that’s all I need in life.” He pulled his head back, coming face-to-face with you now as your words had really meant something. Your hand grazed his cheek, feeling his soft but yet somewhat stubbled skin. 

“I love you so much. Genuinely think my heart is going to explode full with my love for you.” He took your hand that was on his face in his, giving the back of your hand a kiss before placing your palm against his heart. You felt his heart beating fast, hard, and it was all for you. “You have my heart in the palm of your hand.” His actions were literal, and you loved how he always had a way with his words. “Full of love for and from you.” 

You smiled, leaning forward to kiss him as your hand was still against his chest. For the rest of the car ride, you two relished in one another’s touch; it felt nice to be with one another outside of the Royal House where you didn’t have to hide behind corners or in secret passageways. 

When the car came to a smooth stop, you quickly unclicked the seat belt and got off of Harry, giving him a peck to his lips before situating yourself in your own seat. Benjamin opened Harry’s door and you let yourself out on your own side, quickly jogging around the car to stand next to Harry. 

A line of Rolls Royces were parked behind the vehicle you were in previously, and five guards, including you, were surrounding Harry as you all walked inside of the banquet room. You were standing in front of Harry, between two guards, while the other two were slightly behind the Prince, making sure he was safely boxed in between you all. 

Quite a few gasps were let out once people saw who had just walked in, and the volume in the room had increased. People were starting to walk towards you all, bowing and curtsying to the Prince as he said his hellos to everyone. Straight ahead, you noticed a woman running towards you, and you knew that wasn’t safe at all, considering this was a children’s charity event and you had the Prince right behind you. 

“Prince Harry-” her arms reached forward and she gained a little air, jumping a tad bit, but you had immediately stopped her, making sure she did no harm to the royalty. 

“Ma’am, please step back,” you stood in front of her like a brick wall, pushing her slightly as she stumbled back a bit. Her face had gone red, stepping aside; Harry softly smiled at her, waving his hand. You turned around briefly to see if Harry was okay, and a small smile appeared on his face, nodding at you to proceed. 

The group of guards walked Harry to one of the tables a group of kids were sat at. Harry told the guards that he was okay and that they could stand back until he was ready to leave. The four guards, including you, separated along the wall behind the Prince. 

You observed the room, noticing that there were a few photographers, clicking away at the charity event, making sure they get Prince Harry in their shot, along with volunteer workers and some parents at the event with their phones out, snapping pictures of him. You watched Harry interact with the children, helping them build legos with an enthusiastic smile on his face; he would high-five them, telling them that they did an amazing job building the ship before taking his phone out and snapping a picture of the wonderful sets the kids had built. 

Your heart warmed at the sight, and you couldn’t help but think about Harry being the father of your children because he would be the best dad; he would treat them so sweetly, spoil them rotten, and support them in letting them be whoever they’d like to be. A sudden warmth hit your face as you curled your lips into your mouth, hiding your smile—you suddenly thought about being pregnant and how Harry would be so gentle with you as he touched and kissed your stomach. 

With your leg shaking as you stood, you were getting jitters as you daydreamed. One of the guards noticed that you couldn’t stand still, so he slightly nudged your shoulder with his, bringing you out of your pleasant daydream. You looked up at Earl, raising your brows before he asked if you were okay. You nodded your head, standing straighter and placing your arms behind your back, interlocking your hands as you continued to watch how Harry’s smile brightened up while playing with the children. 

Harry absolutely loved charity events, not because they gave him good press but because every time he had gone to one, he would forget that there were cameras around him. Being and spending time with the kids had made him so happy, and the children seemed to enjoy their time with him as well, so that’s all that mattered to him. 

The charity event was being hosted by a foundation that helped kids who lacked a certain connection with their youthfulness because their parents didn’t have the money to get their kids toys or bring them to amusement parks. The foundation was a non-profit organization that simply organized donations to be used towards the children. They hosted toy drives every month, picnics every other Saturday, and sometimes Disney trips every six months if they reached their donation goal. 

Harry was all for donating to them, and this foundation was one of the five organizations for children that he was a member of and was very active with them throughout. He was very passionate about helping the children out, and he wanted them to have a nice childhood, helping them outweigh the good from the bad. His natural liking towards kids in general very much helped him easily bond with them. 

After a few hours, making sure every child got his attention, he was ready to leave. He didn’t leave without saying a small speech because it was expected; thanking everyone for donating and supporting this foundation, and he also thanked the kids for playing with him, which he earned many cheers from the young ones. 

Once he got off stage, he made eye contact with you, telling you that he was ready, and you headed towards him, the other guards followed after you. Just like you arrived, the guards boxed Harry in safely as he bid everyone goodbye. Everyone waved as a series of farewells were scattered across the room, sad to see the Prince go. Once you all were outside the venue, Benjamin was waiting by the passenger door. From the three hours Harry had been at the event, news had spread out like wildfire that the Prince was attending the event, so there was a swarm of paparazzi waiting outside the venue. 

The box of guards that were surrounding Harry closed in tighter since you had to get through the crowds. Harry, being the polite prince that he was, said hi to everyone as they reached out to hold his hand. But he rarely let anyone touch him because of an incident he had six months ago when he had reached over to shake someone’s hand, but they had taken advantage of the opportunity and harshly yanked him forward, making him stumble. Being frightened by that, he informed his guards to not let anyone touch him after that. He wasn’t being obnoxious or a typical ‘no one can touch me because I’m the Prince’ kind of guy, it was simply for his safety. You absolutely hated that someone was out to hurt him, and it pained you to see how shaken up he was that day. If the Prince had actually gotten hurt that day, there would be massive consequences for that person, but anyone would risk their lives to feel his touch. 

Once you were close to Benjamin, Harry let you get into the car first, but Benjamin stopped you. With a confused look on your face, you asked if everything was okay while Harry asked if there was something wrong. Benjamin leaned down to whisper in Harry’s ear, and you furrowed your brows, suddenly becoming suspicious as you watched them. Benjamin pulled back and Harry deeply sighed, shaking his head. 

“Y/N is my personal guard, though,” Harry mentioned. 

“Yes, but this was a direct message from the Queen herself. I’m only delivering the message, Your Highness. I don’t want to lose my job if I don’t comply,” Benjamin explains sadly. There was clear stress on his face, saddening him that he has to go against the Prince’s orders, but he couldn’t afford to lose his job when he has a family. And besides, it’s the Queen—everyone follows her orders. 

“Okay. Thank you, Benjamin,” Harry said, and Benjamin bowed. 

Harry turned towards you, leaning down to whisper into your ear just as Benjamin did to him. “Nan said that I have to take one of the other guards to ride back to the House with me. Specifically said, ‘Have the other guard come back with Harry, don’t care who it is.’ She told Benjamin that she wouldn’t be happy if he’d let us ride together. Fuckin’ ridiculous.” Harry pulled back, rolling his eyes. You simply nodded, knowing you couldn’t comfort him in any way since you were still in public, so you moved out of the way and stepped aside. 

Harry gave you a quick smile before turning his head to one of the guards, asking if he could join him. They quickly said yes, and safely got into the car. The rest of the guards waited until the car door was closed before walking towards the cars they arrived in. You slipped into the car, the one you didn’t arrive in, as you watched the one with your Prince inside drive away and towards the Royal House. 

Sighing, you looked out the window and watched the road and houses pass by. The Queen had never really taken a liking to you—never really made the effort to talk to you. You were the closest person to Harry, physically, since you were his bodyguard, but all she had ever done was question your actions when you’d been doing your job correctly, according to the instructions and demands from Prince Harry. 

But the worry and anxieties had increased because Elaine had become more suspicious than she was last year. Had she found out about your relationship with the Prince? You two had been doing well at hiding it besides this morning. And you had been good, denying Harry’s wishes to stay in up until this morning. But every day, it got more difficult hiding your love and affection towards the Prince. The word ‘no’ coming from his beautiful mouth as he would stare at you with those captivating emerald green eyes as he would plead to spend more time with him in his comfortable bed; the word completely vanished from your head. 

You wished the situation was different, but for now, you only hoped that things would get better from here. 

Once the car was parked in front of the large cemented steps that led up to the front door of the Royal House, Harry sighed, thanking Benjamin for driving him as well as Nico for accompanying him on the ride back. They both bowed, saying ‘you’re welcome’ before Harry let himself out and up those steps. Benjamin quickly reminded him that the Queen would like to see him when he arrived home, making Harry dread the conversation. 

He walked slowly towards the front door that was opened by two of the front gate guards. Saying a quick ‘hello’ to them, he walked towards the Queen’s lair, where she always prevailed when she said she needed to have a conversation with someone. 

The hallway leading to the double doors always made Harry anxious, ever since he was a little boy. He hated how dimly lit the hallway always was, and he never understood why she never wanted to put lights in this hallway. Probably to match her heart, Harry thought, but immediately took back the thought because he shouldn’t think that way about his grandmother, better yet, the Queen. 

Taking a deep breath, his shaky hand knocked on the door, hearing ‘Enter’ from the Queen from inside, and Harry opened the door. His grandmother was sitting at her large desk chair that was lined like a gold antique frame and was drinking tea out of her teacup that was passed down from generations. 

“Your Majesty,” Harry bowed, greeting his Nan. She placed her teacup down onto the small plate, placing her hand out to indicate him to sit down in the chair on the other side of the desk. There were no greetings, not a word out of her when he had entered, and now, she was staring at her grandson with snake eyes, ready to attack. 

Harry gulped, hands fidgeting in his lap as he sat straight up so she didn’t point out any more of the things he was doing wrong. 

“How was the charity event, Harry?” She suddenly asked, breaking her silence. 

“Uh, good. Had a lot of fun with the children.”

“Good, good. Anyways, I should get to the point with this, hmm?” She raised her brows as she asked her question as a genuine one. Harry’s face remained neutral, slightly nodding. “I called you in here because I wanted to tell you a bit of news that I found out earlier this week…” she trailed, taking a deep breath before she revealed her news. “I found out that I’m dying. I have a tumor in my brain, and the doctors have found it too late. They gave me the option to have surgery where they would try to take it out, but that would lead to very risky complications that I can’t afford. So, I told them that I would hold out.” 

Harry was shocked. His mouth was open, eyes wide, and speechless. Not knowing how to process this new information, he couldn’t believe how casual her tone was when she told him, even her face remained calm like she expected this to happen. 

“I, uh…Nan…” 

“I’ve been preparing for this—I’m getting older, so this was bound to happen already. I’m making sure the kingdom and our country are safe, and I’m making sure your parents are ready for the job they are about to accept.” 

Harry nodded, eyes welling up. “H-How much longer do you have?” 

She shrugged her shoulders. “Doctors said six months to a year, but that could change anytime. We just don’t know.” Harry exhaled deeply, looking down at his lap. He felt as if his heart was heavy as he listened to her talk about her disease—how okay she was with dying. Sure, now, he and Nan don’t get along very well, but once upon a time, they were closer than ever. The Queen absolutely loved her grandson and was always so sweet and gentle with him, but things quickly changed when he turned twenty-two. The older you get, the more distant they become, he thinks. He sighed, wishing it wasn’t like that. 

“I do have a wish from you…before I go.” 

“Anything,” he answered immediately, and he had wished he hadn’t answered so soon because the words that came out of her mouth next was his worst nightmare. 

“I would like to see you get married while I’m still alive. I’m arranging a gala this weekend and I’d like you to meet some people, you know, you can take your pick or whatnot,” she said with an emotionless face. He always disliked how much she lacked enthusiasm or emotion, and how she talked about things so casually. 

Elaine picked up her pen, writing out Thank You cards that she was sending to some people in the village. 

“I…what?” 

“Might I need to repeat that again?” She raised her brows annoyingly, hating when she needed to repeat herself. 

“I can’t do that…” 

“And why not?” She asked sternly, her change of voice had surprised Harry as she slapped her pen down onto the wooden desk. 

“Because…” This was it; he could easily out his relationship with you, tell her the truth, and it would be over with, but he didn’t because he knew that you weren’t ready for what was to happen after. Besides, you would have to know if he was going to tell her the truth, so Harry couldn’t go behind your back. “I don’t wanna meet someone at the gala just to get married right away. What happened to falling in love?” He questioned. 

Elaine scoffed, waving her hand. “Falling in love, that’ll happen when? Never? I’m gonna be gone, Harry. You’d rather fall in love in a year’s time rather than fulfill your grandmother’s wish?” Her voice started to increase, echoing, and bouncing off the walls of her office. Harry started to shake his legs anxiously from the volume of her voice and the idea that she proposed, absolutely hating it. 

The Queen had guilt-tripped him into marrying someone; she had used her disease and lifetime time limit so she could get what she wanted. Elaine knew full well he was going to obey her wishes because that’s how Harry was—he didn’t want anyone to feel bad and he certainly didn’t want it to come from him. She would ask Gemma, but she had much thicker skin than her brother, so she would turn the idea down faster than Elaine would be able to get it out. But Harry, on the other hand, was much easier to get to. 

“Harry, I’m only asking for one thing. When have I ever asked you for anything major?” She crossed her arms, resting them down on the desk. “This is my dying wish. Wouldn’t you want your wish to be-”

“Okay,” he interrupted. His voice was soft as he didn’t dare to look her in the eye as he spoke. 

“Great, it’s settled. Make sure to get your fittings done before the weekend. You have to look your best.” Harry didn’t have to look at her to know that she was absolutely beaming, knowing that she got what she wanted and didn't try hiding her excitement. “Please close the door on your way out.” 

Harry stood up slowly as he was in disbelief. Walking out of her office and closing the door, he started to breathe heavily. Tears were in his eyes and his chest felt heavy as his hands started to shake. He picked at his fingers to calm the shakiness down, but it didn’t work. Walking down the hallway, he rushed towards his room, not even checking to see if you had arrived yet, but he couldn’t face you, not yet. He had just agreed to marry someone that wasn’t you, and you were bound to be upset—he would be suspicious if you weren’t. How was he going to break this news to you? Hell, he didn’t even know how to process this himself. 

All he knew was that this was not going to end well. 

Hours later, you were wandering around the house, wondering where your Prince could be. You hadn’t seen him since you left the banquet hall earlier this afternoon; and Benjamin had told you he was to meet with the Queen once he had gotten home, but as the hours went by, you hadn’t heard or seen him. 

Quickly walking over to the West Wing, you headed towards his room because that was the last place you hadn’t checked. You walked by some of the guards and maids, saying a quick ‘hello’ to them as you passed by; it wasn’t odd for any of the staff to see you heading towards the Prince’s room because you had done it many times and Harry had instructed you, in front of the staff, that if you ever needed to see him, you could knock on his door. 

So, that’s what you did; you knocked on his door, waiting for a word from the other side, but you heard no movement whatsoever. You had checked the entire Royal House from top to bottom, but he was nowhere to be found, so he had to be in his room. You took a look around if anyone was near and once you saw the second floor was empty, you slowly opened the bedroom door of the Prince’s room. And what you saw was as if a tornado had hit his room; a mess was what described his room perfectly as objects were thrown all across the floor, the bed was unmade, chairs and sofa were flipped upside down, and the mirror was cracked in half, leaving shards of glasses on the dresser. 

You slowly walked in, afraid that someone other than Harry might be in his room, and had purposefully trashed it. There was light coming from his bathroom, so you walked towards the light, slowing your steps so your shoes wouldn’t squeak against the polished and shiny tiles. 

“Harry?” You softly called out. By now, he would have come out because you were the only one allowed in his room without permission, so you were starting to get worried. 

Once you were close to the restroom, you started to hear sobs echoing the bathroom, filling the room with soft and quiet heartbreaking sounds, making your heart drop because you knew those cries and you knew exactly who they came from. When you were inside the bathroom, you saw Harry sitting against the wall, arms leaning on his knees as his face was resting on his arms as Harry cried and sobbed. 

Seeing the love of your life in pain and in such anguish, it genuinely felt as if your heart was tearing into pieces or if someone had ripped your heart out and stomped on it. The pain that Harry endured was also felt through your heart as well because he was your soulmate, you both felt everything the other felt. 

You kneeled beside him, gently calling out for his name once more so he knew that you were right beside him before you placed your hand on his shoulder. Harry didn’t have to look up to know that it was you—your touch, your voice, and your presence before leaning to the side and into your arms, sobbing into your chest uncontrollably. You quickly wrapped your arms around his shoulders, comforting him in the best way that you knew how, and that was to simply hold him. 

He liked being held and it made him feel at ease, made his mind shut out the noise. You would simply hold him for the rest of your life if your life depended on it, and if that meant keeping him calm and at peace, then you didn’t mind. 

You ran your hand through the locks of his hair, scratching his scalp and pushing his hair out of his face. You kissed his forehead, giving him many pecks in a way to comfort him. Harry roughly coughed and sniffled; you could feel his heart beating radically, so you smoothed your hand down his back, somewhat rocking him in your arms. You knew he wasn’t a baby, you knew that, but if it worked with crying babies, then it must work with adults too. And besides, who didn’t like to be held while crying? 

To your credit, it had worked; Harry was calming down and his heartbeat wasn’t out of control. He looked up at you through his glassy eyes, sniffling; he looked defeated, and you hated that you weren’t there when he was breaking down because it must have gone on for hours.  There were visible tears that stopped against the crevice of his nose, so you took your hand and wiped his tears away before kissing his nose. 

Harry sat up, sitting against the wall as he was before you came in. Propping his knees up, you moved to sit in front of him, in between his legs, so he could know that you were there for him and that he had your full attention. He grabbed your hands, sadly kissing them but in a way, saying ‘thank you’ for comforting him and making him feel better just by your hold. You rubbed his hands with your thumb, gently caressing his skin as you patiently waited for him to talk to you. 

He took a very deep breath as if it physically pained him to breathe before he spoke, wishing the words that came out of his mouth were a sick joke, but it wasn’t—nothing that came out of the Queen’s mouth was a joke. 

“I spoke with my grandmother earlier…” he began to tell you that she had brain cancer and that she wasn’t going to do anything about it, just live the rest of her life until she couldn’t anymore. Your face saddened as Harry explained, simply just listening to him as he spoke. You placed one of your hands around his neck, playing with the curls that sat on the back of his neck. 

“Bub, I’m so sorry to hear that.” You leaned forward, kissing his cheek before giving you a hug. He wrapped his arms tightly around you, taking in your scent and comfort; he felt better for the time being—before he had to tell you the other part. A new set of tears streamed down his face, unable to hide his emotion now. 

Once you pulled away, you softly wiped his face with your hand before he spoke again. “Sadly, that’s not the news that I’m crying over.” 

Raising your brows, you looked at Harry with a surprised expression, wondering what got him so sad to trash his room and breakdown in the corner of the bathroom. 

“Oh…W-What is it?” You hesitated. 

You listened, watching his mouth as he spoke. Every ounce of hope had disappeared from your body as Harry explained the situation that he was in, that you were in. He cried, unable to be coherent as possible as his sobs won over his ability to speak a full and proper sentence. It genuinely felt like you were asleep like this was a dream, more of a nightmare. As if all of the plans and dreams you had patiently waited for was thrown out the window in a world record time of a minute, maybe less. The color from your face had completely drained, leaving you shocked, appalled, and hurt. Every word was just another twist of the knife that went straight to your heart as you wished his words would get better to relieve the strong and harsh ache in your chest, but they didn’t. 

Wake up, please, wake up, you told yourself, but this was reality. It was real.  

Silence had washed over you two after Harry was done explaining the horrible news. The silence was louder than glass shattering, loud and pitchy. Contrasting to the silence outside of your head that laid between you and Harry, the inside of your mind, your world, was similar to the glass, breaking and crumbling into pieces with one hard hit of the enemy.

“I-I’m sorry, baby. I should’ve said something, anything. But instead, I said yes,” Harry bawled through his words. 

“Are we…over?” You asked nervously. The lack of eye contact you were giving him only pained him, but he knew how difficult it was to say that. He took your face into his hands, tenderly cradling your sad but beautiful face. 

“No,” he immediately disagreed. “I mean, not if you don’t want it to be. I understand why you would, though—didn’t even fight for you. Please, let me fix this. I’ll talk to her, tell her everything. She can’t make me do this, I have a right to my own words and decisions, right?” You stayed silent. Harry understood why you were quiet as you were still taking in this information and how to process that your boyfriend was to be married in the next few months, but he really needed to hear your voice. He needed the reassurance from you because you always seemed to know the right words, but he knew you needed him more. “Princess, please look at me.” His voice was shaky, and you glanced up at him through your lashes. “I’m gonna fix this, okay? Not gonna let her walk all over me again. I love you, and it’s time for her to know that.” 

You nodded briefly, not able to get the right words out. Harry didn’t mind; he took you into his arms, wrapping his strong and tattooed arms around your shaking and frightful body. 

He held you tight as you both sat on the floor of his bathroom, pretending that everything was going to be okay. But in reality, neither of you knew if it really would be. 

The weekend had come by too quickly for Harry’s liking. He didn’t get the chance to have a moment with the Queen because she was busy with handling errands for the gala; from talking to event coordinators, caterers, and floral arrangements, so she hadn’t gotten a moment to sit down unless it was nighttime. Harry practically felt her negligence towards him, always telling him she’d talk to him later, which left Harry feeling defeated because the more she ignored him, the quicker the days had gone by—closer to the gala. 

And to his dislike, it was the morning of the gala, something he had been dreading ever since Elaine had told him she was hosting one. It felt like his world was crumbling; he noticed your demeanor change—how could it not. Things weren’t the same, and they weren’t going to be the same again until he got himself out of the unwanted arranged marriage that the Queen was putting him upon. 

You didn’t mean to act differently around Harry, your boyfriend, or whatever this meant for your relationship, but it was difficult to act like your normal self. You sought comfort from Maria as she told you that this wouldn’t be the last of you two; she had a gut feeling it wouldn’t be. 

You had always imagined getting married to him as you two would excitedly talk about marriage and how life would be when you were husband and wife. But Harry was soon to be meeting his wife, and you had to be in the same room as him, possibly feet away from him when he did so. Your heart ached, dropping to your stomach as you felt sick to your gut every time you thought about it.

You were wearing your usual attire but you added a black corset over your white shirt and a black blazer since the gala was a more formal event. Standing in front of the large bedroom doors, you closed your eyes for a mere second, taking a deep breath before knocking, entering right after. 

Upon your eyes was Harry standing on the block square step in front of the mirror that was placed in the corner of his bedroom. His seamstress sewing the crystals that were loose on his embellished jacket that he paired with white trousers. The gold buttons on the front of his jacket were engraved with his initials, adding a touch of personalization to his attire; along with his white lace gloves, white pearl necklace, and cross pendant. 

He looked absolutely marvelous, rightfully so, and you couldn’t take your eyes off him no matter how heartbroken you were. 

His eyes caught yours in the mirror, widening before turning around to face the seamstress. “Jaylin, I think we’re good, yeah?” He asked, hoping she wouldn’t find any more flaws in his suit. 

“Yes, we are. Have a great time at the gala, Your Highness,” she curtsied, grabbing her supplies before heading out the door. You greeted her on her way out, and you earned a smile from her. 

The click of the door was heard, indicating that it was just the two of you in his room. Usually, you would take advantage of being alone with him, but again, things were different this time around. 

Harry stepped off the step, slowly walking towards you. His eyes never left yours, piercing through you like fire, and you were going to melt. 

“Hi, beautiful,” he greeted softly, looking you up and down. You slightly grinned, looking down at your feet. 

“Hi, Your Highness.” 

He placed two fingers under your chin, lifting your head up. You looked at him with doe eyes, and he couldn’t help but fall in love with you even more with just your stare. 

“You look gorgeous,” he complimented. Leaning forward, he was about to place a kiss on your lips, but you felt his hesitancy as he pulled away. He hadn’t felt your touch, your lips in what seemed like years; completely deprived of your touch, but it’d only been a few days. 

“Thank you. You look wonderful as always.” You grabbed the edge of his jacket, tugging on it to straighten out the material before smoothing your hand over his shoulder and down his arms. Harry sucked in a breath; that was the most you’d ever touched him in days, and he was cherishing every second of it because reality had hit him, and this could possibly be the last time you were ever going to touch him. 

You sighed, pulling back as you crossed your arms behind you. Harry could tell that you had a million thoughts racing in your head and you were wary of saying them, but nothing you could say would scare him; he was already faced with his biggest nightmare. 

He walked towards you, taking your hands in his. The softness of your hands juxtaposed to the slight roughness of his that carried multiple heavy rings on his slender fingers. 

“Hey, I’m gonna fix this, alright? I’m telling her tonight, and I promise that I’m gonna be yours forever, no matter what happens,” he reassured, looking ever so deeply into your eyes so you would get the message. His eyes had captured yours, putting you under his spell, so you nodded and believed him. Harry sighed in relief, thankful that you trusted him. “I actually got you something.” He let go of your hands, walking over to his dresser before pulling out a square box from the drawers. 

Harry was always one to give, always the giver and he loved giving without expecting anything in return. Throughout your relationship, he would always buy you random but sentimental things that he saw at the shop simply because it reminded them of you. The thought was incredibly sweet and you loved the fact that even when you weren’t around him, he was still thinking of you. 

He opened the box, revealing a pearl necklace that had a gold anchor in the middle. It was a necklace that you had thought of getting to match the tattoo that was inked next to your right breast. You and Harry had gotten complimentary tattoos the second year of your relationship, and he proudly got a ship tattoo on his left arm as well as an anchor on his wrist to match with you. Harry was your anchor; he kept you upright. He was the backbone of your ship, helping you slow down whenever you needed a break. 

“You were secretly eyeing this when we visited that farmer’s market a few months ago. And since I couldn’t go and get this by myself since you’re always with me, I asked Gemma if she could get it for me. Hope this was the one you were talking about,” he explained shyly as he held the box open for you. 

You were speechless as your heart fluttered. “Harry…” Your fingers delicately grazed the necklace, studying and feeling his gold chain; it was the exact same one you saw at the market. 

“Do you like it?” 

“Yes, I do—I love it.” You softly smiled up at him. “D-Do you mind putting it on me?” He immediately nodded, taking the necklace out of his case, and you turned around, slowly pulling your hair to the side. 

Harry unclasped the necklace; the small skin on the back of your neck was exposed to him, so he leaned down, placing a small kiss on your skin. The action sent shivers down your spine, but you took the touch that you’d been starved of. He put the necklace on as it sat perfectly against your collarbone; and Harry wrapped his arms around your waist, taking in your delicious scent. You felt extremely warm as if you were standing in the courtyard and the sun was casting its light right down your spine, providing you warmth. You placed your arms on top of his, hugging him to yourself as he rested his face against the crook of your neck, tenderly kissing your skin. 

A deep sigh of relief was released from your lips as you let loose in his hold. His arms were a place you wanted to be in forever; it was a place where you found security and comfort, and the thought of leaving, a chance to never be in his arms, had never once crossed your mind. 

You turned around in his arms, facing him as you wrapped your arms around his neck, mindlessly playing with the small curls that sat so effortlessly on his neck. 

“Thank you for the necklace, I truly love it,” you sincerely said, reaching up to place a small chaste kiss on his lips. Your lips against his had made Harry’s stomach flip, and he couldn’t bear to hide the smile that made you fall so hard for him. 

“You’re welcome, my love.” 

“Do you mind…fixing my corset? It’s a bit loose.” You offered him a smile, and he nodded. You took off your blazer before he reached behind you to untie the knot that you had tried to make look decent. 

“I love you, you know that, right?” You suddenly asked as Harry pulled the strings tighter, making you take a big breath in before he started to tie them smoothly without the need to look if he’s doing it correctly; he’s tied your corset for you so many times already that it was all muscle memory. 

“Yeah, I do know that,” he nodded, looking deeply into your eyes. You had practically felt Harry’s doubts and insecurities of your love deep through because of the news that he broke to you the other day. And you figured you weren’t being a good enough girlfriend to him and failing to remind him that you loved him and it wasn’t his fault for everything that’s happening. “You know I love you as well, yes?” 

You raised your brows at him, nodding. “Mhm. Just wanted to see if you knew.”

He chuckled, finishing up the knot. “Yeah, I know.” 

He placed his hands on your hips, and you leaned to give him a kiss to thank him as well as just to kiss him lovingly, something you two hadn’t done in days. Giving you a smile, he was going to go in for another one, but a knock was heard on the door, making you two pull away quickly. 

That knock on the door only meant that the car was ready and that Harry should be heading to the gala now. That knock only meant that it was time to face his future—the future that was going to fight for, the one that he wanted and not the Queen. 

That knock only indicated that it would be determined if he was to live with or without you, and there’s no way in hell he was living without you. 

Elaine had definitely gone all out with this gala, Harry thought. It was held in a museum that was closed due to the Queen’s personal favors and demands. 

When a guest entered the gala, they were immediately caught with the gold antique lining on every end of the wall; the high crystal chandeliers reflected off the gold and illuminated the room even further, bouncing off the shiny and polished floors. Long champagne color curtains were draped in front of each window with a historical gold statue pushed up against the window. The dome-shaped ceiling was high, painted to tell the story of the Renaissance. When a guest entered the gala, they were welcomed with elegance, grace, and exquisiteness, prepared to have a gold evening that would only end in secret affairs and tragic events. 

You led Harry through the room, many guests greeting him with such poise as they tried to get his very best impression. With suits looking sharp and dresses were extra flowy, they bowed and curtsied as Harry politely said his greetings to them. 

Many of the guests had been mentally and physically prepared to have a proper conversation with Prince Harry, and hopefully get a chance with him on the dance floor, if he allowed it. Everybody wondered what it would be like to walk into the building with Prince Harry on their arm, how they would flaunt and brag about how they arrived with him. 

During galas and balls like these, the guards were instructed to be present, to be aware, so they didn’t need to always be close to the Royal Family. Once you got an approving nod and smile from Harry, you left him be; guests surrounded him, the men were shaking his hand as the women gave him a kiss on the cheek. He was completely soaked up in the attention, everyone praising him for the recent work that he’s done for different foundations and events that he attended recently. He’d been offered too many invites to grab a drink, or to the dance floor later in the evening, or even to their bedroom when everyone was asleep. 

Politely and respectfully, he told all of them that he’d see where the night would take him, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be able to reject them fully because the only one he wanted to have a drink with was you. The only one he wanted to invite and take on the dance floor, dancing and spinning the night away to classical and soft music was you. The only one he wanted to go to bed with, to make love under the sheets, and wake up in the early hours of the morning to admire how you slept was you. 

The Queen was sitting on her throne, crown sitting perfectly on her head as she watched Harry for over an hour, interacting with her guests. She could practically hear the conversations that the many women whispered to in his ear, inviting him for a night in their presence, but she noticed how uninterested Harry was—the look on his face said it all and how he would politely brush off their question without giving them an answer. She observed how he, quite often, looked over at you, standing against the wall, watching him as well. 

You were nervously watching him, observing the way he acted around the guests, seeing if his demeanor would suddenly change since you weren’t right by his side anymore. It wasn’t as if you were jealous—you were never one to be jealous; it was your own insecurities that made you constantly worry about how Harry could just pack up and find someone else that was much better for him. Everyone always wondered what it would be like to love Prince Harry, and you were the lucky one to know what his love felt like, and you would hold onto that love for as long as you possibly could. 

Elaine had made her rounds and chatted with several people who were eager to talk to her, and they were lucky enough to get a chuckle out of her. It was difficult impressing the Queen, her own family even struggled to get her approval, so it was a rare sight to see Elaine walk up to someone and initiate a conversation. 

But that person wasn’t just ‘anyone,’ they were that person the Queen had specifically picked out to wed her grandson, someone who was worthy of hers and the Prince’s time. Elaine had asked the woman to follow her, which she immediately complied as Elaine walked through the room, nodding her head at everyone who greeted her, for what seemed like the hundredth time. 

Harry was in conversation with one of the Dukes when his grandmother had walked up to him, the first time tonight, with someone, who he had never met before, trailing behind her. 

“Harry,” The Queen made herself known. 

“Your Majesty.” Harry bowed. 

“I would like you to meet Venus. She’s the daughter of one of the board members for the Water and Power Organization,” Elaine introduced the dark-haired girl. 

Venus curtsied. “Your Highness.” She smiled, flashing him her gorgeous smile. Venus was pretty, anyone knew that from just a glance. She wore a champagne silk dress that had crystals embedded on her waist, cinching her figure. She added white silk gloves and diamond earrings to top off the look. 

“Pleasure,” Harry simply said behind a smile, masking his anxious and nervous attitude. He knew this was the moment where the Queen would tell him who Venus was and what he was to do while you were standing in the back watching the entire interaction, holding in your tears as your heart broke a little more. 

“My dear, Harry,” Elaine started. Harry looked at his grandmother weirdly; she hadn’t called him that since he was younger. “Shall you accompany her to the dance floor? Get to know each other, hmm?” She suggested, brows raised. 

Harry was all too polite to reject the poor girl as Venus looked at him with hopeful eyes. He simply cleared his throat and nodded, hesitantly offering her hand to the dance floor. Venus gladly took his hand, and Harry led them under the high crystal chandelier before she put her hand on his shoulder while the other still held his hand. Harry respectfully placed his hand on the small of her back--his actions unsure. Sure, he had danced with many people throughout the years, even while being with you, but this was completely different; this was the woman who he was to be wedded to, and he was sure Venus knew that as well. 

“The Queen is very kind. I thought she disliked a lot of people, so I was shocked when she started up a conversation with me.” Venus made conversation to fill the void of silence between her and the Prince as they swayed to the classical music. 

Harry lightly scoffed to himself. “She’s the Queen, could do anything she wants.” 

“She told me the plan, and I will happily be your wife, Your Highness, an honor really.” Her voice was light and hopeful. Harry knew that she was a kind woman and anyone would jump at the chance to marry into royalty, but he couldn’t deal with this, not right now. Not when you’re standing feet away, containing your pain. Harry pulled away swiftly from Venus’ hold, leaving her confused. “Your Highness?” 

“I’m sorry, I-I can’t do this,” he told her before walking away and leaving her on the dance floor. 

The Queen had watched the entire interaction, anger, and disappointment present on her face as she watched Harry walk away and out of the main ballroom. You were about to follow him out once you saw him frantically walk out, but you noticed the Queen quickly trailing behind him. Holding tightly onto your thumbs to contain the shakiness, you stayed put as your mind had begun to wonder if your boyfriend was okay or not. 

You understood why he seemed upset and stormed off; dancing with someone who wasn’t your partner hurt just the same as watching it right in front of you. All you wanted to do was hide away with him, in each other’s arms forever, but that wasn’t reality. 

Harry’s footsteps clicked against the tiled floor, walking in pure frustration as he tugged on his hair. Tears threatened to spill out of his eyes, a groan slipped from his mouth. He heard footsteps following behind him, and he already knew who those particular steps belonged to. Turning around to face what seemed like the devil itself, he inhaled deeply, holding his breath. 

“What in God’s name are you doing? You left the poor girl hanging!” Elaine scolded, eyes piercing through him. 

“Nan, I can’t do this. You can’t make me do this.” His eyes and voice pleaded, begged for mercy as he was asking for a favor as her grandson, not the Prince. 

“And why may that be?” She tested. Harry’s mouth opened but quickly closed, refraining himself to say anything. The words were right at the tip of his tongue and he had told you that he would tell her everything, but when it came to the moment, anxiety and nerves got in the way. But it seemed like the Queen knew exactly what he was going to say because she spoke for him, saying, “Is it because of that girl out there who happens to be your personal guard? Y/N, is it?” Her voice had a hint of sarcasm, and that’s when Harry knew. 

She knows, she knows everything. 

“H-How did-” 

“Oh, for god sake, Harry. Do you think I’m naive? Oblivious? It’s painfully obvious--the way you two look at each other, how you walk so closely next to each other, not to mention, the mornings in. You can’t tell me that every time you sleep in, she’s nowhere to be found too? Hmm?” Crossing her arms, she knew she defeated Harry. There was no way around it and no room for lying because she knew everything.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“I thought it was a one time thing, the first time I noticed it--that it wouldn’t last long. But I’ve watched it happen for five years, and now that I’ve had limited time on this Earth, I didn’t want to see it anymore.” She shook her head in disappointment. “So, you will marry Venus,” she instructed sternly. 

“I will not,” Harry bit back, holding his ground. 

“You will do as I say-” 

“Your Majesty!” Harry interrupted, his lip wobbling involuntarily. For a moment, Elaine had seen the seven-year-old Prince as he gave her big puppy eyes, pushing his bottom lip out as he begged. For a moment, she was about to give in to his wishes, disagreeing to be wedded to a woman he had never met before tonight. If it were twenty years ago, she would have, but twenty-seven-year-old Harry didn’t have the same effect on her as he did two decades ago. 

She loved her grandson, she did. As cruel and heartless as it was, her love for him had begun to slowly dissipate ever since he started dating you, making her a bit more harsh with him as it was a complete switch up from how she acted around him when he was younger. 

“You are to be married to Venus next Saturday, and that is final,” she said in an unrelenting tone before she walked away, heading back into the main room without another look back at her heartbroken grandson. 

Harry was left in the empty hallway on the verge of a full breakdown. His knees felt weak, about to give out from holding him up. Luckily, you entered the hallway, quickly walking towards Harry who looked completely stunned. The bottom of your shoes clicked loudly against the quiet hallway. 

You placed your hands on the side of his face, frantically worrying. “Harry, baby? What’s wrong? What happened?” 

He finally exhaled the deep and big breath that he had been holding in since his conversation with the Queen. The absence of your presence had made his breath shudder as he quite frankly couldn’t breathe properly when you weren’t around. 

His legs gave out as he couldn’t properly stand, and without warning, he collapsed, but you had caught him as you quickly placed your arms under his underarms, trying your best to pull him up. But his deadweight had won, bringing you both to the floor. You caught his fall, somehow maneuvering yourself to be placed behind him, so he wouldn’t completely fall on his back. Sitting in between your legs, he turned himself in your hold, burying his head in your neck as he began to sob. Tears soaked your skin as they slid smoothly down to your shirt, dampening the piece of clothing. His hot breath hit your skin as he bawled his eyes out, holding your top tightly between his fist, wrinkling your perfectly ironed white shirt. 

His wails broke your heart, and you had no clue as to what happened prior to getting this reaction out of him, but it must have been something horrible; something the Queen had said to him as you saw her walk into the ballroom just before you walked out. You only assumed it had something to do with the arranged marriage that she mentioned earlier this week. 

“Baby…please, you’re scaring me,” your voice was shaky, anxious as to what the reasoning for his breakdown was. Your fingers threaded through his chestnut curls, comforting him in a way you only knew how to do. 

Harry’s breath stuttered as he sniffled, catching his breath as he calmed down a bit before he spoke. “S-She knows.” Your breath had hitched in your throat, heart dropping to your stomach. The Queen knows everything, constantly replayed over in your mind like a broken record. “She knew from the very start of o-our relationship that’s why she started to become so harsh and short with me.” Your heart broke for Harry as he spoke about his grandmother, and you couldn’t help but think that you were the one that caused the Queen’s unpleasant tone with the Prince. “But I am to still be married to the woman in the ballroom. She scheduled it for next Saturday,” he added as his voice cracked towards the end. 

His words were echoing in your head, and it only added fuel to your terrible nightmare. You thought you had time, time to convince Elaine that your relationship with Harry was serious and that you loved him. But you’re starting to think that Elaine didn’t care if he was happy or in love, that she was doing this completely out of spite. 

“W-What are we gonna do, Y/N?” Harry needed your words—he needed your console, your reassurance that everything was going to be alright. 

But this time, you didn’t have an answer. 

Your footsteps were the only thing that were heard as you walked through the dark and quiet hallway, leading up to the Queen’s office. She had asked one of her guards to tell you that she requested to see you after breakfast, and your thoughts had been running ever since. This had been the first time the Queen would speak a word to you; the other times had been full of her ignoring your greetings as you curtsied politely. 

You asked Harry if she knew if he knew what she was going to say to him, but he just shook his head no. Rightfully so, he’s been in quite a gloomy mood, but he’d been more clingy than ever since this was most likely your last week together. You tried not to think about how Harry was to be married to another woman at the end of the week, and that only led to crying into your pillow until the early hours of the morning; Harry’s been the same, maybe even worse. 

With a shaky hand, you knocked on the door; not too hard but not too soft either. You gulped as you heard Elaine say ‘Enter’ from the other side of the door. Nervously opening the door, you were faced with the Queen sitting in her chair with her hands linked together as she rested them against her desk. 

“Your Majesty.” You curtsied, anxiously looking at her for some sort of approval, but all she did was gesture for you to sit down. 

Once you were sitting rather uncomfortably on the edge of the seat, she stared at you for a moment, looking at you up and down as her glare was rather deadly. You tried not to fidget or anxiously bounce your leg, but her eyes were probing into your soul, and you were afraid of how she may react if you disconnected your eyes from her. 

“I assume you know why you’re here?” She started. You nodded lightly, not saying a word. “I don’t appreciate you and my grandson going behind my back to have this…affair of yours, especially for years. First, did you think nobody would find out? You’re in the Royal House, everyone reports things back to me when they see something suspicious, so don’t think you were all that sneaky. Second, Harry’s a Prince, you’re a…guard.” She said with much emphasis on your title. “Did you think it was going to work out? I mean, he’s a Prince.” She added a bit of a scoff at the end, but her tone was stern. 

“My apologies for going behind your back, Your Majesty.” You hadn’t a clue on what to say to her other than to apologize because there was no reason for lying only to make the situation worse. 

“Hmm. You see, Prince Harry is to be married in four days. That means you are no longer in relations with him, and since you’ve disrespected me and my family, you are no longer needed in the Royal House. You are to be packed by Saturday, and you’ll never go close to my family ever again—more importantly, the Prince. Understood?” She instructed unsympathetically. 

Your breath was stuck in your throat, your stomach in knots, and your heart didn’t feel like it was beating anymore. You were absolutely crushed. The thought of not seeing Harry anymore frightened you; you didn’t want to do life without him. You needed him, and unknowing to the Queen, he needed you too. 

“I asked if you understood,” she said, wanting a vocal answer to seal the deal. 

Slowly, you nodded your head. “Yes, I understand, Your Majesty.” 

Elaine leaned back in her chair. “Very well. You may leave now.” 

You got up, making your way out of her office, closing the heavy door before you let out a wracking sob, chest heaving up and down. You quickly made your way to your room, covering your mouth to contain the volume of your cries. The fee staff that you passed by had called out for you, asking what was wrong, but you ignored their calls, heading straight to your room where you locked the door and cried into your pillow, just as you had for the past few days. Your heart broke into a million pieces for yourself and for Harry, and you didn’t know how you would ever recover. 

As you were talking with the Queen. The Duchess had found Harry lingering around Elaine’s office, pacing back and forth as well as pressing his ear up against the door. 

“Harry? What are you doing?” Anne asked worriedly. 

“Mum, please. I need you.” Tears streamed down his face, and Anne’s heart broke as she saw her son so heartbroken. All of the rules Elaine had instructed Anne to do on how to raise her children, like completely stop showing her kids affection, had completely torn in half. And just like that, her child needed her.

Anne quickly took Harry into her arms, and Harry sobbed into her shoulder, hugging her tightly. “There, there, my darling. You’re alright.” She rubbed his back soothingly. “What’s wrong?” 

Harry pulled back. “Uh, Y/N—she's in there with Nan. Mum, she knows everything.” Anne’s eyes widened. “We’ve kept it in for so long, why now?” Harry choked in between his words as his cries had heightened. 

Anne looked at Harry with a defeated face. She’s always known about his relationship with you ever since the beginning. A quite fresh six months into the relationship, Anne had caught you two running around in the courtyard under the moonlight, past curfew hours. Harry suggested sneaking out because that was the only time you two had alone, so you hesitantly said yes without thinking about getting caught. Sure enough, you two did get caught by the Duchess. You relentlessly apologized to his mum, saying you won’t pass curfew hours anymore, but Anne simply just smiled, telling you two to be more careful next time because it could’ve been the Queen who had caught you. 

As Harry’s mother, she understood the importance of wanting him to live his life the way he wanted to. She always encouraged that he could be whoever he wanted to be, and she would always be there to support it. She didn’t want to tell him who to love or who to marry because that decision should be completely up to him. And throughout the years, she’d seen how much love he has for you while that same love was also being reciprocated. That’s all she wanted for him—someone who would love and cherish him. 

“I don’t know what to say, darling. Maybe you could talk to her?” Anne suggested, caressing Harry’s arms. 

“I-I tried before, but she just brushed past me. I don’t know what I’m gonna do.” Frustration was clearly going through Harry’s body as he pulled on his hair, something he does when he’s anxious and frustrated because he was somewhat in control over it. 

“C’mon, let’s go into the living room.” She grabbed his arm, leading him out of the hallway, but he pulled back. 

“But…” 

“She’ll go to you when she needs to. The last thing you need is getting caught lingering around when I’m sure the Queen doesn’t want you two being around one another.” 

Anne was right; a mother does know best. Following her wishes, he nodded, trailing behind his mother and out of the hallway, away from his poor girl who was being confronted by the Queen. 

It was Friday night, and you had just zipped up the last of your luggage. Your room was empty, and it pained your heart that it was your last night at the Royal House, the last time you would ever see Harry. 

You were due to be out of the Royal House by seven a.m and off Royal grounds at nine in the morning; there was a boat scheduled for everyone visiting the grounds to departure at nine, and you would be on your way to God knows where, but far away from the one person who had your heart. 

Harry’s wedding was to be scheduled quite early in the morning, around eight-thirty, or so you’d heard from the staff. The entire staff had no clue of your leave, except a few of the guards that were going to escort you out of the Royal House and to the docks. The Queen had bumped into you in the hallways and specifically instructed you to not tell anyone that you were leaving because she was going to tell them that you resigned if they asked. You simply had no energy to argue, to disagree with her choice, so you nodded, not saying a word. 

You sat on the edge of your bed, completely drained physically and emotionally, and the one thing on your mind was to go to sleep—sleep and Harry, your dearest Harry who you hoped was okay. You got ready for bed mindlessly as a numbness fell throughout your body. You couldn’t feel anything but pain, and the suffering you’d endured for the past week had overwhelmed your mind and body, leaving you dazed. 

Your heart pounded through your ears with every movement as it started to make you feel dizzy, so you laid down on your side, facing the wall while you hugged your pillow tightly while your hand was wrapped around your gold necklace Harry had gifted you. Shutting your eyes, you forced your mind to go to sleep. 

A few moments passed by, and due to your ears ringing, you didn’t hear your bedroom door open and close. But you did feel the edge of your twin bed dip down, making you open your eyes in startelement as the figure behind you engulfed you into their arms, and you immediately relaxed. 

Sighing deeply, a few tears shed from your eyes, feeling relief from the pair of arms around you; you hadn’t felt his arms around you since Tuesday, the day you talked to the Queen. You also hadn’t seen him since Tuesday because after your meeting with Elaine, she had found Harry, telling him to stay away from you. Many arguments had come out of his mouth, but Elaine immediately shut him down after that, sternly telling him that he was to never speak to her that way again. Knowing that Harry would break the rule of not seeing you, Elaine ordered for you to not cross the boundary of the West and East Wing as she knew you wouldn’t break her rules. 

The feeling of being this close to one another after three days was such a relief, and it almost felt wrong because of the Queen’s wishes, but you simply couldn’t care less because you were in the arms of the person you adored. 

Turning around to face him, you were immediately greeted with a loving ‘I missed you so damn much’ kiss. His lips glided over yours smoothly, but rushed, desperate to feel your touch as his arms never loosened around your frame, needing your body close. 

“Hi, Princess,” he said breathlessly once he pulled away. 

You kissed the tip of his nose, making him blush. “Your Highness, how are you?” You asked concerningly. 

“Was doing horrible without you, but right now, I’m just happy to see you, happy to be in your bed.” You softly smiled, pecking his lips. 

You were also happy to have him in your bed. He’d only snuck out of his room to sleep in your bed a handful of times, but he could easily say that it’s the best bed he’s ever slept on because your scent was all over the sheets as well as your body being pressed up against his due to the lack of space you two had. You’d tease him, saying that you were baffled he would rather leave his king-size bed for your small one, but he would charm your pants off and come back with how he liked your small bed better because that meant you would be closer to him the entire night. A charmer, he is. 

A silence fell over you both, simply just looking and taking one another’s presence in. You had both memorized every inch of each other’s face throughout the entirety of your friendship and relationship—every mark, mole, crease, and wrinkle was ingrained into your mind as it was your fear that you would forget how your handsome Prince looked like—but this time, it was different. You two were looking at one another, so neither of you would actually forget what the other looked liked because you wouldn’t be able to see him again. 

You lowered your eyes to your neck, stopping yourself from crying, but it seemed like your tears and emotion for the best of you. A small sniffle came out of you and Harry pouted, bringing you into his chest and holding you tightly. 

“I’m gonna miss you,” you said against his skin. 

“C’mon…” Harry said with slight annoyance, lightly scoffing as he was in disbelief of what you were saying. 

“I mean it, I’m really gonna miss you.” You pulled your head out of his chest, looking up at him. 

He shook his head as tears formed in his eyes. His heart was breaking more than it already had, and it upset him how much you were letting all of this happen—accepting it, more like. 

“Don’t do this.” He looked deeply into your eyes, brows furrowed; you could tell that he looked frustrated and offended, but you didn’t know what you could do to make your situation better, so you shrugged your shoulders in defeat. 

“There’s nothing else for me to do, Harry. I don’t know what you want me to do. I don’t want you to resent me for not being close to your grandmother when she’s practically on her deathbed.” He pulled away from you, laying on his back as he looked up at the ceiling fan, hoping if he looked long enough, he would be hypnotized into another life—a life where it involved just the two of you. But he was still in your room and his realities were still coming true. “I don’t know what you want me to do,” you added. 

“Don’t accept the fact that we’re not gonna see each other again!” He whisper-yelled, trying to keep his voice down, still not making eye contact with you. How could he ever resent you? For most of his life, you’d made him the happiest—ever since you two were kids, you would always find a reason to put a smile on his face and get out of bed in the morning. 

You sighed deeply, closing your eyes. This wasn’t how you wanted your last night to go, and you could understand why he was frustrated, but you really didn’t know what he wanted you to do because there wasn’t anything you could do. 

He turned his head towards you, seeing that you were closing your eyes, exhaling through your nose deeply. He turned his whole body to lay on his side, facing you before bringing his hand to your cheek, caressing your skin with his thumb. You opened your eyes once you felt his cold touch, chills rose onto your skin as you looked at him through your glassy and sad eyes; a look that broke his heart. 

“I’m sorry for raising my voice, my Princess. I’m just…angry and sad.” He lowered his eyes, feeling subdued. 

“It’s okay, I understand. I just don’t know what to do to make this situation any better, but we have to accept that this is our ending. And it may not be ‘happily ever after’ for the two of us, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop loving you.” He nodded as he took in your words. 

“Just…hold me, yeah? Until you have to l-leave.” His voice cracked at the end of his sentence, finding it rather difficult to accept the fact that you won’t be on the same grounds as him anymore. 

You nodded, closing the inch of space, and wrapping your arms around him. As your face was pressed against his chest, Harry’s chin rested on the top of your head as you two held one another. It was a surreal but heartbreaking moment, but the two of you cherished the last several hours you had with one another. 

You lifted your head up, only to be met with his chin, and you pressed a kiss along with the sharpness of his stubble jaw; Harry sighed in relief. You hooked your leg around his waist, pulling him closer than he already was, and trailed your lips to his neck, sucking and licking his soft skin. Harry groaned, involuntarily bucking his hips into yours as the feel of your lips had that much of an effect on him. 

Shifting upwards so you were face-to-face, you looked in his eyes momentarily, taken back by his beauty. He was so immensely beautiful that he quite literally took your breath away. He almost didn’t seem real, so tangible, but he was definitely a sight. You’ve had a crush on him for more than a decade, and not once had it minimized into something frivolous or vanished; you hadn’t doubted your love for him and you never would. You were always going to have a crush on the Prince until the day you took your last breath when you would think about giving him one last kiss goodbye. 

Connecting your lips together, you felt like you were home. The peace his lips provided made you melt with every kiss, every single time his tongue glided over yours, or when he bit your bottom lip and pulled back a bit—just being connected to Harry physically and emotionally made you feel secure, and you couldn’t ask for anything more in life because you would be too greedy. 

In the midst of moving your lips in sync with his, he traced his tongue against your bottom lip, making you open your mouth, a moan leaving your lips. His tongue met yours, swirling and tasting one another as the grip you had on one another had stiffened, pulling each other closer. With your hips slightly grinding against his, the breathy moans that left his mouth, and Harry’s lips perfectly and gracefully kissing yours, the electrifying feeling was more powerful than ever. The spark ran down your back, making you want more as chills ran down the course of your body. You would always want more when it came to Harry; he had that appeal where he would leave everyone wanting for more, but luckily, you were the only one he would be giving it to. 

You pulled away, completely breathless by his soft and pink lips before you whispered, “Want you, please.” Your eyes were pleading with him to do anything to your body as you just wanted to feel his touch, his body against yours. 

“Sure?” He asked as he always did before you two ever had sex, and you appreciated the thought because it really showed how true of a gentleman that he was before he fucked you relentlessly into the mattress. 

“Mhm. Give it to me…one last time,” you sighed, curling your lips into your mouth as your fingers pushed away the curl that fell onto his forehead. 

He shook his head softly, disapproving of your choice of words. “Okay,” he responded, brushing off your statement as he gave you another kiss, unable to get enough of your sweet, cherry-flavored lips. 

Soft kisses were pressed against your cheek, trailing down your neck as he gave you a love bite; you threw your head back into the pillow, allowing him more access to your neck. His hands found the hem of your baby pink silk nightgown, bunching the soft fabric up to your waist as he held your thigh up to his waist, softly grinding his pelvis into yours. 

You sat up and raised your arms straight up before Harry took the chance to peel your nightgown off of your body and on the floor. You laid back down, completely naked, besides the necklace that rested perfectly on your skin, as his eyes bored into you, admiring your figure and being quite mesmerized by you as he always was. Your room was dark besides the soft glow of the moonlight that peeked through the window and casted down at your body, giving Harry a clear and beautiful vision of you. 

“So beautiful, my love. Take my breath away every single time I look at you,” he said softly. You shyly smiled under his state, finding it quite intimidating for a moment. 

Harry raised his arms and reached behind his head to take off his shirt, showcasing his tattoos that you’ve traced, counted, and kissed plenty of times throughout the years. His inked skin was something you loved most about him because despite being Royal blood, he still wanted to be himself—not someone people assumed he was as if they’d figured out his entire life and personality. Just Harry.

He was outright the most stunning man you’d ever laid your eyes on. You were sure there would be no one like him because there was only one Harry that you loved, only one person that you loved. 

You reached your hands out for him, and Harry slowly placed his weight on you. His lips sucked and licked the swell of your breasts and nipples, giving each the same amount of attention. You grabbed his face, bringing it up to your lips as you missed them. 

He molded his lips with yours for a few moments, enjoying your touch before you briskly flipped the two of you over so you were on top now. 

Harry smirked, hands immediately finding their way to your waist. “My girl wants to be on top, hmm?” You nodded as you began to take his striped pajama pants off; his cock was hard, sitting against his lower abdomen. You leaned down, licking one long stripe from the base to the tip, earning a raspy moan from your Prince before kissing up his body, making sure to leave a few love bites so he had something to remember you by in the morning on his wedding day. Call it petty if his new wife would see them tomorrow on their night as newlyweds, but rightfully so, he was yours and you had his heart first. 

You reached his neck, littering his skin as you sucked and licked. “Wanna feel you deep. Can you sit up, please?” 

“Always so polite. Of course, I can.” He sat up against the headboard, and you pressed your body against his as his cock laid perfectly between your folds. You could practically feel your arousal dripping onto his hard-on, so you slowly started to grind against his hard length as you feverishly kissed him. 

A throaty moan came out of both of you as your hands desperately held onto one another, grabbing whatever you both can to really feel each other. 

“Please,” he whimpered. “Need to feel you.” 

“Look who’s being so polite now, huh,” you teased, and Harry giggled. He loved being able to giggle and tease one another during the intimate times you two had together; it made things fun and less serious as you two were able to be yourselves around each other. 

You sat on your knees to raise your hips before you licked your hand and grabbed a hold of his cock, giving him a few pumps before you lined him up with your entrance. Slowly sinking down on him, your walls hugged him tightly as he graciously filled you up. After five years, he still filled your walls and stretched you out as his thick and long size was something you still had to adjust to. A soft moan left both of your lips once you were fully on him, keeping yourself there for a moment. 

“Fuck, you feel so good. Could stay like this for as long as possible,” he breathed out. 

You softly smiled. “Give me a moment. Always gonna need to adjust to you, just so big.” You praised him for endeavors, knowing he liked being praised; and he smirked. 

“All for you,” he breathed out, making you smile. 

After a minute or two, you started to move up and down on him, raising your hips until only his tip was inside of you before sinking back down, taking him in fully. He always hit that special spot in this position; with just one thrust, it had you moaning his name out like there was no tomorrow. 

You squeezed around him, making him throw his head back onto the headboard as he started to guide your hips that were working on grinding and bouncing onto him. Your movements began to pick up, finding a rhythm as you swiveled and grinded on his cock, feeling on edge already. 

His mouth attacked your tits as his hands squeezed and slapped your ass, leaving a red mark onto your skin, but you loved it, you always did. You wrapped your arms around your neck, hugging his face to your chest as he hugged your waist, keeping you close while kissing the valley of your breasts. 

His hands gripped your hips, pushing you down so you would stop your movements. You looked down in confusion as big doe eyes looked up at you. Pushing his hair back and scratching his scalp, you gave him a small smile, kissing his lips fully. 

“W-What’s wrong?” You asked once you pulled back from his lips, your voice soft and tender. 

“Just…wanna make this last longer.” 

You nodded, agreeing. “Okay.” You didn’t continue your movements after that, just simply staying seated on him, keeping him warm as he was tucked in away with your softness and warmth of your velvety walls. 

“I’ll love you forever, y’know that, right? Not gonna love another soul again,” he confessed sadly. 

“I know that, and I love you more than life itself. But baby, you’re getting married—spending the rest of your life with someone. You’ve ought to love her someday.” As hard as it was for you to tell him that he could love someone else, you knew that it was inevitable for him to catch feelings, especially for his new wife. 

He shook his head in disagreement. “No, no. I can’t do that, even if you’re telling me to love someone else, I physically and emotionally cannot open up my heart to someone who isn’t you.” His eyes were glassy; the moonlight still made his gorgeous green eyes sparkle. 

“I know, I know.” You lovingly placed a kiss onto his forehead, lingering your lips onto his skin for a moment as his fingers trailed down your spine. “Just know that I’m gonna love you forever, too.” 

“Yeah?” He asked, smiling slightly; you nodded. “Please do. Need your love,” he sniffled, a tear slowly streaming down the side of his face. 

You wiped it away, leaning down to kiss his nose and lips. “Need your love too. Can you feel mine? Can you feel my love?” You asked as you began to start moving your hips. 

A throaty moan left Harry’s lips as he nodded. “Yeah, I can feel it all over. Feel it everywhere—never want to not feel it.” He gripped your hips hard, squeezing the flesh as you whimpered. 

Slowly bouncing on him, you started to revive your orgasm as you started to whine and mewl, desperate to get there. Your thighs were shaking and burning from being on top and grinding on him for so long, and Harry started to see that as your movements slowed down and you had to take a few breaks. 

“Tired?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Okay, I got you, baby. Let me love you.” He shifted down so he was on his back and your body was pressed up against his. “Let me take care of you.” You nodded softly, burying your face into his neck, hiding away from him as you whispered from the movement. 

Harry planted his feet on the bed, bucking his hips and fucking up into you; it wasn’t fast, no, it was slow but his thrusts were hard. He was so deep that you felt the electrifying shock run down to your toes, making you curl them in. Hot breath hit his skin as you moaned out his name before he felt your lips continuously kissing, sucking, and licking his neck. 

“My Princess. My dream girl. Gonna love you forever. Gonna miss you, gonna miss this.” His voice cracked, hugging you tightly to his chest as he continued to thrust up into you. “Please, let me feel you,” he pleaded for your release. 

His cock was hitting your special spot as you were very close. After a few more thrusts, a few more moans, and a few more words that effortlessly slipped out of Harry’s mouth as he encouraged you to find your pleasure, you let go. Your beautiful sounds were muffled from the pillow and the way you buried your face into the crook of his neck. You were quite overwhelmed as you began to sob, a quarter of your distress was because of how powerful your orgasm was, but most of it was because of how empty you would feel when you had left the Royal Grounds tomorrow morning, and how you wouldn’t see Harry anymore. 

Harry continued to fuck you, riding your high out before he spilled into you, loud and raspy moans slipped filled your ear as he moaned your name and how much he loved you. 

Once he calmed down, the room was in absolute silence beside the sounds of the gut-wrenching sobs that came from you. You were incredibly sensitive and emotional as you held onto him tight, Harry still inside of you. His heart was breaking as he started to quietly cry with you, which caught your attention, so you lifted your head up to face him. Witnessing Harry crying wasn’t your favorite sight to see; it pained you to see him so upset, and you wanted to take his pain away and keep it to yourself so he would be happy. 

“No matter what…” you started, stroking his cheek tenderly. “I’m gonna love you. And even though I’m not going to be physically next to you, you’re still gonna have my heart and you’ll feel how much I love you. Just…remember that, please?” 

Harry nodded. “And you’ll have my heart,” he reciprocated. 

“Mhm, and I’ll guard your heart for the rest of my life.” 

He pecked your lips sweetly. “I know you know this, but you’re my ship. You’re the thing that brings me home safely and securely while I lay out in the sun for hours and be completely content and happy with life. And no matter what storm you, or we, encounter, you’re always able to guide us to a brighter part of the Earth. And for that, I will love you forever. Got you inked on my skin permanently and I will cherish the memories and the love you have given me for the past twenty years.” 

His proclamations had you in tears, sniffling throughout his words. You knew how difficult it was for him to say those words because it meant that he was accepting his reality. 

You captured his lips in with yours, sobbing and shaking against them as you cried, holding onto one another for dear life as you two only existed in each other’s arms—forgetting about the outside world. Your heart had sunk so far into your stomach, making your insides feel like they were in knots. Harry had been your safety net for so long, your source of happiness and love. But now, he was going to be added to the list of people that you had lost; the first two being your parents. 

The three most important people in your life had sailed a ship far away from you and you weren’t able to see them anymore. Maybe in another lifetime, but right now, you needed them.

It was quite ironic how Harry thought you were his ship, something that kept him afloat and content when all you felt was the numbness, the pain, and the sinking of your heart, making the depth of the ocean feel so inviting. 

A shake on his shoulder had woken an exhausted Harry up. Inhaling deeply before letting out a groan, he opened his eyes to be met with the day ahead of him. If it were any other day, he would be met with his love, looking at him so lovingly and sweetly as you would beg him to get out of bed, but he would pull you to get in the covers with him before spending half an hour of making giggly and sweet love in the morning. 

But today wasn’t any other ordinary day…it was his wedding day, and the person waking him was Anne, sadly smiling down at him as she wore a rather beautiful lilac gown. He looked at her confusingly before taking a look around the room; he was in your room and that’s when he recalled the night prior. You two fell asleep holding onto one another, whispering lovely words into one each other’s ear, pretending that the next wasn’t happening so you two could be Y/N and Harry. 

“Morning, darling. I see you’ve made your way in here last night.” 

Harry sat up, looking down at his body; he was fully clothed, and he smiled to himself at how thoughtful you were to put his clothes back on. But his smile quickly disappeared when he took a clear look around the room. Your belongings were gone and the luggage that was packed wasn’t there anymore. A piece of him felt like it was ripped out of his chest, leaving him to suffer and sleep through the nightmare. 

He sighed deeply, chin meeting his chest. “She’s really gone, Mum.” 

Anne didn’t say anything but nod. She rubbed Harry back comfortingly as she kissed his forehead. She’s never seen her son so heartbroken before; sure, she’s had to distance herself from him, but she was always observant of Harry. She noticed that whenever he walked into every room, he had a smile on his face and that was because he was laughing at something you had said or blew him a kiss that made him flustered. So, Harry being so sad and heartbroken was a new kind of Harry that she will have to encounter because for most of his life, he was always happy, never had a complaint in his life, and that was because he had you. 

“She left you this.” Anne presented a white envelope, which made his eyes widen, but he immediately took it from her hands. The front of the envelope wrote Your Highness with a heart at the end, making his heart flutter. He looked up at his mother and she smiled at him, caressing his face before planting a kiss on his cheek. “Be quick to read that. The Queen is still expecting you to be married today,” she sighed. “You have to be ready soon—the ceremony starts in an hour. Be out of this room before anyone else catches you.” Anne walked towards the door, and before she walked out, she called out for him, making Harry lift his head up. “Everything’s going to be fine. Trust me.” 

With that being said, she left your empty room, leaving him with the letter in his hands and your scent that swirled around the room, making him miss your presence even more. 

His hands shook as he carefully opened the envelope—you even spritzed some of your perfume that he loves so much as he brought the paper to his nose. Unfolding it, the letter was quite long—the entire page—and Harry could feel himself already getting emotional over it, but he read it anyway. 

My sweetest Harry, 

I am writing this in the early hours of the morning as you’re sleeping peacefully in my bed, hugging my pillow. You look so peaceful when you sleep, did you know that? Besides the occasional snoring, which I don’t mind because you know that I’m a snorer myself, you have this sense of calmness to you when you sleep. It makes me not want to wake you up in the mornings sometimes because you look like you’re at complete peace. But then I miss you too much and want your kisses so eventually, I do wake you up. 

I’m going to miss that, waking you up, and having a morning to ourselves where we get to be us. But I’m also going to miss all the other times we get to spend together. In the car on our way to events, in the courtyard running around like we’re kids, midnight strolls under the moonlight, and sneaky makeout sessions when you would pull me into a random room in the Royal House. 

I’m going to miss every single moment. 

It pains me that I am no longer by your side and we had to part this way. I’ve never felt so heartbroken in my life before, and I thought I wouldn’t ever get to feel this type of agony because I was with you. And we promised to not hurt each other, no matter what. But I’m proud of us because we kept our promise until the very end. We never hurt each other—we always talked it out and never left one another to fight one’s own battles. We were such a great team. The best team. 

You’re everything to me, Harry. My whole entire heart belongs to you, and it will always be yours as long as you hold onto it and keep it safe. Thank you for protecting my heart since we were kids. Thank you for always being there for me in a blink of an eye. You’ve truly helped me get me back on my feet when my father passed, and for that, I don’t know how to thank you enough. I felt like I'd lost the fight when he passed and I didn’t know what I was going to do, but then you reminded me that you were by my side, and for that, we won. 

It has truly been an honor to know you. To be in your presence. But to be in your heart is the greatest gift that I’ve ever received because you love like no other. There will be no other that’ll compete against you. It will always be you. 

My lips will remember the way you love, the way you taste. Your lips are my favorite, and I smile every single time I feel your touch because it’s quite unforgettable. 

You are my heart, my sun, my lover, my best friend, my dream boy, and my forever Prince that I will love for the rest of eternity. 

Thank you for loving me. Thank you for letting me into your heart, Your Highness. 

Yours forever, 

Y/N. 

With his face slightly damped from the tears that streamed down his cheeks while his eyes were swollen and red, he cried into his hands once he finished reading your letter a third time in a row. The feeling in his chest felt like it was physically tearing him apart as it was difficult to catch his breath, gasping for air through his sobs. 

All he wanted to do was to hug you, hold onto you for the rest of his life, and he would be completely satisfied with everything. But you were soon to be on a boat, sailing away from Royal Grounds, further away from him. 

He looked down at the piece of paper, making sure to not wrinkle the last physical piece he had of you. You signed your name off with a heart at the end, admiring your handwriting that he never failed to compliment every time you would handwrite him a note. Bringing the paper to his lips, he kissed your name briefly, exhaling heavy breaths through his nose before pulling away and safely putting it back into the envelope. 

His heart grieved for you two because neither of you deserved this consequential punishment that broke you two apart. 

Standing at the altar in front of hundreds of people wasn’t something Harry imagined his wedding to be like. He pictured his guest list to be quite small, only the people he truly loved and appreciated. It definitely wouldn’t have been in a large venue that held six figures worth of art. And it wouldn’t have been Venus walking down the aisle, meeting him in a white long gown with a veil covering her face. 

He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply as he felt slightly guilty. Harry knew it wasn’t his fault as to why he’s standing here, but he would have never thought he would ever be standing at the altar without you walking towards him. You two had talked about getting married and the wedding itself so many times that, naturally, it was the norm. Neither of you were scared of getting married to one another, so there was no need to worry about the other running away from the idea or the relationship. 

You always talked about wanting to get married in a garden where there would be bushes of flowers surrounding the area, giving the scene a pop of color. You two agreed on only wanting about fifteen to twenty people, most of the guests would come from Harry’s family and friends, and you would invite some of the staff that you had gotten quite close to throughout your life of living in the Royal House. You would ask Maria to walk you down the aisle as you wore a light champagne dress with hints of gold embedded into the dress; you always told Harry you didn’t want to wear a traditional white wedding dress because you would be too afraid to stain it, especially if you were going to walk on the grass. Harry didn’t mind one bit as long as you were the one walking down the aisle towards him; he would be the happiest man on Earth. 

But now as he watched Venus make her way towards him, this wasn’t the magical night he dreamed of ever since you two got together, and he wished this was a dream so you could wake him up as soon as possible. But you didn’t because it wasn’t a dream, and he realized that when he shook Venus’ father’s hand, giving her daughter away to marry the Prince as she was soon to become a Princess.

Harry and Venus stood in front of each other as she held his hands tightly, feeling that she needed to hold up his hands because he wasn’t holding onto her at all. Venus nervously gulped as she looked at the Prince; he wasn’t making eye contact with her nor the Priest. He was looking down at his shoes and the doors that she had entered as if he was impatiently waiting for someone to burst through those doors as he didn’t listen to a word of what the Priest had said. 

“Harry, do you take thee, Venus, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, til death do you part?” 

The moment was finally here as Harry blinked his tears away, knowing two words were going to change his whole entire life. 

Your heart was beating fast as you struggled to hold onto your belongings with your two arms. You rolled two suitcases that sunk their wheels through every crack of the wooden and old dock as you walked; your duffel bags took every other bump, struggling to remain on your luggage, making you stop once again to place it back in its rightful spot. Towards the side of the dock was a schedule on what time the faerie was arriving for departure, and you had about twenty minutes to spare if there were no delays. 

It was a quite gloomy day—unfortunate that Harry had to have this kind of weather on his wedding day, but maybe that was Mother Nature’s way of expressing her sadness with you. 

You looked at your small gold watch on your left wrist—an accessory your father had given you when you turned eighteen as he told you it was your mother’s and that she used to wear it all the time. The small watch made her feel powerful, independent, and a grown woman who had grown up from the beaded bracelets she used to make when she was younger. It was a piece of your mother that you got to keep with you wherever you went, so you cherished it with your whole heart. 

When it was nearing T-minus 5 minutes, you gathered your bags and headed towards the boat where every passenger crowded around. There were quite a few people and you hoped that the boat ride off the Royal Grounds was a quiet and smooth sailing ride because with the headache you’re enduring from crying and your heartbreak, you needed silence. 

One of the members of the faerie stood on the edge of the boat with a megaphone raised to his lips. “Attention! People who are boarding for the nine o’clock departure heading West of the Royal Grounds. We seem to have noticed a last-minute complication with the engine, which will delay us for about another thirty minutes. We will update you all if we need to switch boats, but for now, hang tight and hang around. Visit the Royal gift shop and get yourself a crown!” He finished his announcement as everyone groaned as you chuckled at everyone’s reaction. You didn’t mind the delay because it meant that you got to stay on the same ground as Harry for a bit longer, even though you weren’t able to see him. 

You headed towards a bench that overlooked the ocean and set your bags close by you as you grabbed an apple from your tote that you snatched from the kitchen on your way out of the Royal House. There were little kids running around with balloons in their hands while their parents tried to chase them, telling them to be careful or they’ll fall off the dock. 

Suddenly, a little boy jogged towards you, nearly startling you. “Hello, are you Y/N?” 

You raised your brows, leaning your arms on your thighs as you wondered how he knew your name. “Why, yes, I am. And who might you be?” You asked in a friendly tone. 

“I’m Russell. This is for you.” He handed you a bouquet of a gorgeous arrangement of daisies. 

“These are lovely, thank you! Did you pick these out yourself?” 

“No, I didn’t. I was told to give them to you. Your husband wanted me to give it to you!” He exclaimed excitedly. 

“Really? And who might my husband be?” You amused him, not thinking seriously about his statement. But he suddenly pointed behind you, making you turn around in suspense. 

There he was, your Prince, smiling down at you as you looked up at him in pure disbelief. He looked dashingly handsome in a silk hot pink blouse and a floral embroidered black suit that suited him very well. You took a moment to observe him, trailing your eyes down to his hands, only to find his left ring finger bare. His face looked too happy to be married to someone who wasn’t you, but his smile looked as if it was relieved as if his worst nightmare had come to an end. He was relaxed, the complete opposite of the trepidation that he held for weeks. 

Your observation was coming to a conclusion, and once you realized what was happening, you matched his smile as you stood up. 

“Your Highness,” you curtsied, making him giggle. 

Before he could explain to you why he was standing in front of you with no security, he turned to the little boy who had helped him. “Russell, thank you for delivering the flowers to my wife.” 

“Your welcome, Prince Harry!” The little boy bowed excitedly before running off to his mother who was waiting and watching on the sidelines. 

Once Russell was safe with his mother, you turned back towards Harry. “Your wife, huh?” You raised your brows, teasing him as you masked your giddiness. You intertwined your hands behind yourself, containing yourself from reaching out and grabbing him. 

“Yeah, my actual wife—someday—not the one that was walking towards me earlier.” 

You smiled softly, still lost on why he’s in front of you. “What are you doing here?” 

“I left. I ran away from the altar. I couldn’t do it, Princess. No matter how mad the Queen would be, I couldn’t marry that woman,” he explained. You exhaled in relief, tears pricking your eyes. “I felt guilty, y’know? Never have I imagined standing at the altar without you. It was…weird and I didn’t like it.” 

“How did you even manage to do that? To run away?” 

Harry slightly chuckled. “Mum helped me.” 

“Really?” Your eyes widened as you were in shock. 

“Yeah,” he answered, explaining to you what happened thirty minutes prior to him racing to the dock to find you. 

When the Priest was reciting the vows, he waited on Harry’s promise to marry Venus. But Harry had turned his head to look at his mum before earning a nod of approval. He turned his head back to Venus, and she had some sort of look of understanding like she knew Harry clearly hadn’t signed up for this wedding—to marry her. Harry gave Venus a small smile that apologized for what he was about to do before turning to the Priest and telling him that he couldn’t do any of what he had said. The guests’ chatter had increased, some softly gasping as they wondered why the Prince wasn’t complying with the marriage. 

He let go of Venus’ hands, heading towards Anne to give her a kiss on the cheek. Anne had sneakily handed him a pair of keys to one of the Rolls Royce cars, and he smiled in appreciation. He glanced at Elaine, not even bothering to say goodbye to his Nan, but Elaine had a few words herself, so she grabbed Harry’s wrists before he walked down the aisle. 

“Walk out those doors, and you wouldn’t even be considered a Prince anymore, you are not allowed back on Royal Grounds if you walk out, and you are no longer going to be part of this family,” she warned, eyes piercing with such disappointment.

He gave Elaine one last look before yanking his arm out of her hold, which earned a loud gasp from the guests. Elaine looked around at the people who had watched the two, and she felt embarrassment heat up in her cheeks. 

Once Harry walked out the doors, he jogged to the front of the Royal House where Gemma had closed the trunk. He took his sister into his arms, hugging her tightly and gratefully. 

“Thank you, Gemma. For everything,” he said, giving her an extra squeeze. She patted his back before pulling away, giving him a smile. 

“I’m proud of you, H. Now, go and get her. I’ve already flagged down the captain and told him to delay the boat for thirty minutes, so you should hurry before the other passengers start to fret. And the boat you two are going on should be ready by the time you’re there.” 

He smiled. “Thank you, again. I’ll see you soon? I’ll call you from wherever I am.” She nodded, telling him to reach out soon. “You take care of yourself, alright? Don’t take shit from her. You and Sebastian deserve to be with each other.” 

“I will. I won’t. And yes, we do,” she answered in the order Harry said, making him chuckle. “Now, go. You’re making her wait.” She patted his back once more before he got into the car. 

With one last wave, he was off to the docks where the love of his life was waiting for him. 

“So, here I am,” Harry said with a smile, arms opening as he presented himself. You smiled widely, giggling. You were still in shock how he simply gave up his family and his position to once rule the country for you. You knew he would do anything for you, but this was more than anything—this was leaving his family for good, walking away from being connected to royalty. And he left it all behind. For you. 

“Here you are,” you breathed out a chuckle. “I can't believe you’re here. That you didn’t marry that woman.” 

“You know I couldn’t do that. You’re the only one I want to marry, the only one I wanna see walk down the aisle, wearing a beautiful champagne gown.” You were slightly taken back, tears glazing your eyes; he remembered the small detail you had told him about not wanting to wear a traditional white dress to your wedding. “So, you’re not the Prince anymore, hmm?” 

Harry shook his head. “Nope. Not gonna leave me to find another Prince, are you?” He joked, raising his brows. You playfully slapped his chest, but he caught your hand, bringing it up to his lips as he placed a chaste kiss on the back of your hand. 

“Course not. I’ve had a Prince of my own for the past five years.” You unconsciously reached towards him to straighten his jacket. He pulled you forward by the hand that he was already holding, and your chest was pressed together against his with your faces inches away from one another as you looked up at him. 

“Our six-year anniversary is coming up soon. How should we celebrate?” 

“Hmm, now that we have all the time in the world, wanna go on vacation? I’ve been dying to go to Italy,” you suggested, and Harry’s eyes lightened up as if you had suggested the greatest idea ever. 

“I would love that. Where in Italy are you thinking about? Because I’ve been thinking of the Amalfi Coast. Think about it…driving along the coast, cliff diving, swimming in the ocean. Sounds nice, huh?” You nodded your head at his plans. 

“Sounds amazing. Maybe we could…get married there?” You suggested another plan hesitantly, testing the waters to see how he felt about it. 

“You wanna get married? Next month?” You nodded your head. “Are you proposing?” 

“Only if you say yes.” You wrapped your arms around his waist, kissing his chin. 

“You know I will.” A tint of pink hit his cheeks as he smiled down at you. 

He leaned down to place a tender kiss on the tip of your nose, and when he pulled back, your eyes sparkled with such love and happiness—a gleam that he’s missed seeing in your eyes, and a gleam he would make sure was always there as long as you two were together. 

“Well, in that case…Your Highness, my love, will you do the honor of becoming my husband in one month?” You asked with a hopeful and playful tone as you couldn’t contain your smile. 

“Of course, my Princess. Wouldn't wanna be by anyone else,” he answered as you softly squealed. 

Harry placed his hands on your jaw, gently bringing your face to his. His forehead rested against you as the tip of your noses touched, giving one another an Eskimo kiss. Your lips merely brushed together so delicately as you smiled once you felt his touch. With one last small touch, Harry kissed you with such passion and devotion as you two moved your lips in sync. The kiss spoke every beautiful and exquisite word in the dictionary that it wouldn’t be enough to describe how tenderly and passionate he kissed you, and how much love your heart held for him. 

 Neither of you cared if there were bystanders, wondering why the Prince was kissing someone in the middle of the Royal Grounds, in public. But there was not one hint of care because you two were together, and this kiss indicated what’s to come for the rest of your lifetime. 

He pulled away, and you were so caught up in the sensation and the feeling that you didn’t realize that he had stopped kissing you. When you opened your eyes, you were met by your favorite green eyes that stared at you with a big smile on his face, dimple indenting his face. 

“I love you so much, Princess, you have no idea.” His words were slow, hoping to engrave them into your mind so you wouldn’t forget it. 

“And I love you, too, Your Highness.” He smiled, pressing a quick kiss to your lips, too quick for your liking. 

“Now, c’mon, we have a ship to catch.” Harry grabbed one of your bags as he held one of the duffle bags on his shoulder. He informed you that you two were going to take the family ship and that his belongings were already loaded on the ship. 

You nodded, grabbing the other luggage and duffle bag. You turned around, taking a look back at the Royal House that peeked behind many buildings and trees. This was the end of the story, and it was time to start a new one. You were able to close the book and set it down while you reflect on the memories you had made in one house with the one person who had your heart. 

Sure, you don’t know where you and Harry would be settling down; maybe you two would constantly move around and travel the world since neither of you got the chance to do so, but whatever the universe had in store for you both, you were glad to do it with Harry by your side. 

“Hey, are you coming with or what?” Harry called out, making you turn around. A smile that was brighter than the sun was plastered on his face as his arm reached out in front of him, palm facing up, telling you that it was time to leave. That it was time to start a new life together. 

You smiled, walking towards him as your eyes were glossy. Taking his hand and intertwining your fingers with his, he held your hand tight as you two crossed the ramp that was securely resting on the edge of the dock and the edge of the boat. 

You leaned against the railing of the boat, looking out at the deep ocean that you once felt like you were drowning in. But once Harry’s arms wrapped around your waist, chest pressed up against your back while his lips attached to the skin behind your ear, you no longer felt like your ship was sinking. It was smooth sailing and immensely happy. 

please come into my inbox and tell me all of your thoughts, feelings, and favorite moments! thank you for reading <3

#harry styles angst #harry styles smut #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles au #prince!harry #harry styles ff #harry styles one shot #harry styles writing #royal au #harry styles prince #boyfriend!harry #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader #harry styles x yn #harry styles x y/n #harry #harry styles #solo harry

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (May 5/2021) -              He’s Back

Now that Wilbur’s returned, it’s about time he got a look around the server to see what he’s missed since he’s been gone. Tommy gives him a tour.

---

VOD LINKS:

Ponk

Foolish

Philza

Tommyinnit

Wilbur Soot

Skeppy

Captain Puffy

Foolish

---

- Ponk continues work on the supreme fridge in the desert

- Sam logs on to call Ponk handsome. Ponk replies that Punz isn’t online.

- Foolish logs on. 

Sam: Don’t ignore my messages ponk

Ponk: Hey, Foolish qt pie

Foolish: Oohhh ponk :)

Sam: He isn’t as cute as me :)

- Sam lands in front of Ponk as he’s watering the concrete. 

Ponk: “Oh, he’s gonna take my other arm!”

- Sam calls Ponk handsome again and hands him steak. Ponk tosses Sam the picture of Coraline’s mother

- Sam tells Ponk that he’s been doing squats and starts twerking to demonstrate

- Ponk shoves Sam off the fridge. When Sam survives, Ponk figures his booty helped save him from the fall, as Sam comments that the weight sent him falling too fast for him to MLG

- Ponk compliments Sam, saying his eyes are glowing like the stars in the ocean

Sam: It’s because I looked at you

Sam: :)

- Ponk and Sam watch the sunrise together. 

- They talk about Coraline’s mother. Ponk says that she is attractive...but not as attractive as Foolish. Sam immediately jumps off the fridge and runs away

Sam: you don’t got me atm. So it does matter.

Sam: I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

- Sam logs off

- Ranboo hires a mercenary Enderman to kill KSI

- Tommy meets with Wilbur at L’manhole

- Wilbur tells Tommy that all his memories are coming back. He remembers that Friend isn’t Tommy’s sheep but his own. 

- Wilbur wants Tommy to show him around to see what he’s missed. He takes Friend along despite Tommy worrying that Friend could die (”Who cares about a sheep, man? It’s just a sheep.”)

- Wilbur’s made some plans, debated with himself what to do now, and tells Tommy that he’s sorry. It may be hard to believe, but Wilbur’s turned over a new leaf! He feels great now and wants to apologize to people.

- Wilbur is in his forties now and asks how old Tommy is -- twenties, thirties? 

- First off, Tommy shows Wilbur Schlatt’s grave. Wilbur asks to see his own grave to see what people said about him. Tommy shows him L’manhole. Wilbur didn’t get a grave, only what he left behind.

- Wilbur sees Karl’s house (which he remembers), the Big Innit Hotel (which he doesn’t) and says he does remember a bit about the prison from Ghostbur’s memories of it.

- Skeppy comes walking past and they speak with him. Wilbur apologizes to Skeppy for not appreciating his trolling. Skeppy kills Friend by accident. He skepped all over Friend. 

- Skeppy runs away and asks Bad if tridents are like swords in terms of damage. Bad asks what he killed and learns that it was a blue sheep. Skeppy puts the trident in an Ender Chest. Bad warns Skeppy that he may have inadvertently started the next war, and Skeppy ends stream

- Wilbur comes across the invisible staircase and Tommy shows him the McPuffy’s. He asks about Karl. Last Wilbur remembered, Karl was an enemy of his, but has he changed? Tommy says he hasn’t seen Karl around much.

- They reach the hotel and Jack Manifold is standing at the desk. He and Tommy get into a shouting match but Wilbur is excited to see Jack. Jack welcomes him inside and Wilbur waits in one of the suites as Tommy and Jack argue in another room, listening in.

- Tommy takes him up to the roof. There, Tommy tells him about coming up with the plan there to murder Dream in the prison. 

Wilbur: “I’ve seen it all, you’ve had your little strifes -- this isn’t the first, right, Tommy. Tommy, do you remember when you got sent into exile? Yeah, I remember. I was there, Tommy. I was there. I was there -- I was in the cage of that little ghost’s fucking head. Every single step you and me took -- look at me, Tommy, look me in the eyes -- every single step me and you took, I was there -- I was there! I had no control of what was happening, I’ve no idea what was being said, but Tommy -- I’ll tell you what -- if I was there, and it wasn’t that stupid shell of a ghost instead of me...I would’ve struck down Dream right where he stood. We would’ve disemboweled him. We would’ve disemboweled him together.”

“Tommy, I’m not -- I wasn’t blind, I saw what he was doing to you, Tommy. I saw. I saw what he was doing to Tubbo -- I saw what he was doing to me. But you know what, Tommy? I wasn’t there. I wasn’t there, was I. We had Ghostbur. Ghostbur was there instead, right. And you know what the issue is, you know what the issue is? After seeing Ghostbur interact with Dream, I realized that no, Dream is not the enemy -- Dream is not the enemy!”

“This world was not supposed to be inhabited by a people of this caliber -- Dream is the hero! Dream needs to be let out of here! Dream’s not in prison for being a horrible person, Dream’s in prison because he dared to try and stop you all. He dared to try and stop you all from gaining all this power, because the minute I was gone, there was a vacuum, there was opening, and everyone just seeked to get in there! And Dream was the only one who stood up to them and told them not to, Dream was the only one who held my seat for me. He held my -- he kept it warm! He kept my throne warm, and you guys didn’t like that, so you threw him in prison! And if Dream died instead of me, I would be in there right now.”

“So Tommy, you should thank that I wasn’t alive to attack Dream when we got exiled! You should be glad we had little, passive Ghostbur, because now Dream’s in there, and I’m out here, baby.”

- Wilbur heads back down to speak with Jack Manifold. He tells Jack that he’s sorry that he didn’t grant freedom to Manifoldland, sorry that he led Jack into war, sorry that he denied Jack access to the election, sorry that he left Jack behind. Jack is a little surprised, but he thanks him and Wilbur and Tommy leave the hotel. 

Tommy: “Wil, just look at me for a second. The reason we started L’manburg, and everything here, was because we knew -- together, me and you, the duo -- together we knew that Dream was the villain. He was the one holding this server down. He was the dictator! ‘Cause you’re telling me even then, you think...you think Dream was the hero?”

Wilbur: “Tommy, I’ve made an oath of not lying now that I’m alive again. So I’m gonna come clean to you with the truth. Uh...one thing, I didn’t actually care about L’manburg, I just cared about -- you know, sticking it to the man. Actually, I cared about L’manburg for the sole reason that I could use it to stick it to the man. You ever sticked it to the man, Tommy?”

“L’manburg was a tool. It was a great tool, it worked, you know. It divided so many people, man. Listen, Tommy, and in my oath of not lying I’m gonna tell you know -- Tommy, I’m sorry for a couple things, to each of these people on the server. I’m sorry to a lot of them -- except for Phil, I’ve nothing to apologize to Phil for. Phil’s done nothing wrong. But to the rest of them, I’m sorry for a lot of things -- but Tommy, that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna try again.”

- Tommy is confused. L’manburg was Wilbur’s unfinished symphony, how could he not care about it? Wilbur says maybe it wasn’t the right wording, he did care about L’manburg, but for the “wrong reasons.” 

- Wilbur asks to see the museum (though Tommy was going to take him to the Egg). They make it to the museum and Wilbur is excited to see the hto dog van as Tommy continues to protest.

Tommy: “It was like we were a family! You can’t just say that!”

Wilbur: “We were family, Tommy! ...We were. But you know what? You just -- you just didn’t -- I guess you didn’t have the balls to follow along with me. When I pressed the button, you were always against -- we’re leaving it behind, Tommy. It’s in the past--”

Tommy: “You blew up our fucking home!”

Wilbur: “We’re friends now. We’re friends.”

Tommy: “I don’t want to be your friend! You’re annoying and I hate you and you’re ugly and you have a gray hair and I bet you twirl it round and use the dog filter--”

Wilbur: “You’re following me an awful lot for someone who doesn’t care.”

- Wilbur notices the Ranboo My Beloved poster on the wall. He remembers Ranboo as a good man. Tommy says he is, and that he sees potential in him.

- They call Ranboo so that Wilbur can properly meet him. Wilbur says he’s sorry to him. He wanted to get to know Ranboo better, ‘pick his brain.’ Ranboo never met Wilbur in person.

- What nation is Ranboo a part of, who does he align himself with? Ranboo says all of them -- he chooses people, not nations.

Wilbur: “Okay, so -- let’s go an say, so there must be someone bad on the server right, there’s gotta be a bad guy on the server and who --”

Ranboo: “Yeah. Dream, yeah.”

- Wilbur goes quiet for a moment. He then asks what Ranboo stands for. Ranboo says people.

Wilbur: “What ‘people?’ What people? You can’t just stand for people! People are good and bad!”

- Ranboo lists the people he sides with. There are quite a few.

Wilbur: “Everyone? Everyone but Dream, everyone but the one bad guy everyone’s supposed to hate.”

- Wilbur accuses Ranboo of being a “schmoozer.” Ranboo's philosophy is, if someone hasn’t wronged him or the people he cares about, he has no quarrel with them.

- Wilbur says that’s fine in a perfect world, but there are wars that get fought. Ranboo says the server’s been quiet ever since Dream was put in prison and there have been fewer wars since Wilbur died -- to which Wilbur asks if Ranboo is against him in the same way he’s against Dream.

- Wilbur says goodbye to Ranboo, saying that they might get to know each other better in time. Wilbur leaves with Tommy to continue the tour, telling him that Ranboo’s just a follower. 

- Tommy gets angry and tells Wilbur off for being a nuisance, for making him feel like a ghost when Wilbur should be the ghost. They decide to fight, with weapons but no armor. 

- They fight in the Holy Land and Tommy defeats him. Wilbur says, though, that he’s already won no matter what. No matter what happens next, he won when he pressed the button.

- He asks to see Phil. Phil sent him a whole backlog of letters, including ones about things Tommy can’t know about. 

- They arrive at the Arctic and Wilbur remembers this place, remembers finding Friend here. Wilbur reunites with Phil and Wilbur is thrilled by the cottages.

- Wilbur thanks Phil for killing him and tells him the whole bit of what would’ve happened if he’d been there instead of Ghostbur.

- Tommy tells Wilbur that what led to him getting exiled was griefing George’s house with Ranboo. Ranboo didn’t get exiled because Tommy stood up for him -- to which Wilbur asks if Ranboo didn’t stand up for Tommy, letting Tommy get thrown under the bus.

- Phil asks about the lies in the letters. Wilbur tells him that he’s not lying anymore, and he lied in the letters because it’s like writing back from a summer camp -- he didn’t want to tell Phil that everything was going horribly. 

- Wilbur’s made plans, and when they’re ready, Phil will be the first to know. He also asks Phil if he can stay with him for a bit, as he has no house. He also needs a shower.

- Phil agrees to let Wilbur stay despite Tommy protesting, and Wilbur and Tommy leave.

- Ranboo comes over to ask Phil how it went. Phil was skeptical, but it seems like Wilbur’s changed for the better, and that Wilbur spoke highly of Ranboo. As for Ranboo, he says it seems like Wilbur isn’t as bad as people said he was. 

- Phil talks about killing Wilbur and what Wilbur said about it.

- For Wilbur’s plan, he needs lots of stone. Wilbur leaves Tommy at the Nether Portal to go get stone and speak with Phil.

- Phil gives Tommy several stacks of stone. 

- Wilbur says he’ll be “back in the saddle” soon, that he can rebuild. He still doesn’t know how he was revived, but the first thing he saw when he got back was a chest.

- At the shrine, Wilbur opens the chest and reads the “PROJECT NEVADAS” book Quackity left for him. His old rival, his kinsman. 

Wilbur: “Chat, power isn’t won through diplomacy. Power isn’t won through waiting, patiently, floating courthouses in the sky, blah blah blah...it’s won through blades. Swords. Iron...”

“And I was right all along.”

- Tommy leaves Phil and Ranboo for a bit and they continue to talk about Wilbur, whether he’s changed, whether he’s even telling the truth about the afterlife and if even Dream can change.

- When Ranboo mentions that he may have to keep some secrets, Phil asks about the experiments. Ranboo reiterates that they’re just to build resistance, like when a wound heals over stronger. He assures Phil that he’ll be careful.

- Ranboo then leaves to go stand in a corner somewhere for a bit. He doesn’t sleep much, and if Phil ever sees him walking around staring at random things, it’s nothing to worry about

- Tommy goes mining for stone with Mediashare

- Captain Puffy works on the graveyard. She reads the Wiki page for Sally the Salmon and makes some horrible discoveries. She later finds out the Samsung Refrigerator has its own page as well and spends some time learning about the canon family tree.

- She then makes the gravestones and fills out the history books for each of the dead members, including a spot for Ghostbur behind Wilbur’s headstone with his final words.

---

Upcoming events remain the same.

#dream smp #dream smp recaps #long posts

[mystery-star]

Waiting for you - Spock

Pairing: Spock x reader (gender neutral)

Warnings: mentions of injury and death

Words: 1838

Star Trek universe: AOS

A/N: Just a lil thing I wrote because I haven’t written (at least for Spocko) in ages. And didn’t feel like writing on a series.

-

“She’s here. She’s here” you heard someone shouting beside you and looked around and finally you could see the Enterprise approaching in one of many tunnels above you. You smiled and stepped forward a little and waited for the crew to dismount. When you saw the first of them, your smile got broader and you got onto your tiptoes to look out for your husband. Not many people of the Enterprise had someone waiting for them and those who did seemed overjoyed. It made you look down for moment because you had a feeling that Spock wouldn’t greet you like others greeted their loved ones. Finally, you could see him and slightly raised your hand, hoping he’d see you. When he did, he came straight towards you, stopping half a meter in front of you

“(Y/N)” he said “What brings you to Yorktown?”

“I’ll give you three guesses” you replied and just threw yourself around his neck “I’ve missed you, Spock” you breathed against his skin and he hugged you back slightly.

“Am I therefore right to conclude that you came here in order to see me during my shore leave?”

“Right” you let go of him but only that you could kiss him. He cupped your face and kissed you back. At some point his hand found yours, slowly stroking his first two fingers against yours. But then he pulled away from you all of a sudden, just holding your hand. You turned around and saw two older Vulcans behind you.

“Commander, might we have a word? Alone?” you wanted to ask why you couldn’t come when Spock threw a glance at you and squeezed your hand

“Do you mind?”

“Just be quick” you pecked his cheek “I’ll be waiting for you, okay?” you handed him a keycard of the hotel where you had booked a room for you both. He gave a nod, then let go of your hand and followed the two men. With a sigh you looked after him and returned to the hotel, knowing he would be clever enough to find it when he was done.

But he only came when it was dark and you were already in bed, reading a magazine on your PADD.

“Have you been waiting with sleeping until I return?”

“Well, you got some days of shore leave, then I won’t see you for another two years. I want to use every minute with you that I can” he gave a nod and sat down on the bed, placing a device on the nightstand. “What did they want?”

“I will tell you in the morning”

“Alright” you put the PADD aside and stretched yourself a little before sitting up, crawling closer to him and wrapping your arms around him again, kissing him. “We now have better things to do, don’t you think?” he kissed you back and placed one of his hands in the small of your back, pulling you closer while he ran his other hand over the side of your face. After the kiss he leaned his forehead to yours and you bumped his nose with yours. “Did you have fun out there on the mission?”

“I have written and called you three times per week, as we have agreed on, and informed you about what you call ‘adventures’ and have also answered each question concerning them I was allowed to answer”

“Well yes but your last message was two days ago. I need a recap of the past two days. Or retell me your favorite mission. Doing it face-to-face is much better” you pecked his lips. He gave a nod, pulled you into his lap and started telling you how the Captain had attempted to make peace between two species that didn’t work out as planned. Then he went on to their arrival to Yorktown and suddenly his communicator beeped “Tell me that’s your private comm”

“It is not” he leaned forward to get it and you just wanted to stop him but let it happen with a sigh. Placing you back on the bed, he gave your hand a squeeze, took the comm, opened it and left the room. With a sigh you fell back on the bed, glancing to the PADD and considering if you should continue reading but then looked at the ceiling, repeating everything you had planned to do with Spock in the following days in your mind. Soon Spock returned and you sat up with a smile but his words ruined it “I must go”

“Go? Go where? Aren’t you on shore leave?”

“I am. However, there is a matter that requires my assistance”

“What is it?”

“I cannot tell you much but I must leave Yorktown”

“You’re shitting me”

“I do not joke”

“But… but… will you at least get that time off later on? How long will you be gone?”

“I suppose it should not take longer than 36 hours”

“Oh well…. Then you owe me yet another debriefing upon your return” he gave a nod, came closer to put his comm on his nightstand and pecking your forehead.

“Please make yourself a pleasant day tomorrow”

“Okay. And then I’ll be waiting here for you… again”

-

But Spock didn’t come home the evening or morning after he had left, so you decided to make yourself another nice day exploring another area of Yorktown. In the late afternoon, you suddenly heard how the station went on alert and after looking around you saw that a swarm of tiny ships tried attacking Yorktown. Around you everyone was in panic, screaming, rallying kids and running away while you stood there frozen, staring at the many little ships on the other side of Yorktown.

“We have to leave. Come. Now” someone next to you shouted, pulling on your arm

“Can we go somewhere safe? Like a… bunker?”

“A bunker on a Starbase?” the man started laughing slightly and shook his head.

“Or can we do something? Something to help? Is there a defense station or militia? Or help evacuate people?”

“That’s Starfleet’s business” as if on cue, there was an announcement, informing the public that there was an attack and that you should not panic. You let out a snort and watched how the people around you seemed to panic even more. You looked around and finally saw a security, officer, going over to him.

“Excuse me, Sir?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll all be safe, just stay calm and…”

“No, I wanted to ask if I can help something.”

“Help?”

“Yeah. Weapons, evacuate people or something” he looked at you, considered it a while then said he’d have to check it out. But before he could return, they managed to somehow blow up all the small ships. Somehow you couldn’t believe that this was everything and sure enough, there was another announcement informing the public that a great part of the ship had been destroyed but that three of them had gotten into Yorktown but that they still had the situation under control and would do everything to stop them. For some reason, you found that three ships hand entered Yorktown almost worse than the initial attack. Because you knew there probably wasn’t much you could do unless the ships came to that part of Yorktown, you sat down in a café, ordered a drink and watched the news on the big screen that gave a permanent update on the situation at the other end of Yorktown. Not even 15 minutes later, you heard that everyone was out of danger and the intruders had been rendered harmless. After a sigh, you finished your drink and then returned to the scene of the action, maybe there now was something you could help, like tidying up damage or helping the wounded. You stayed there and helped until it was dark and the volunteers were sent home, so you returned to the hotel. But you didn’t get far and the receptionist called you over.

“You are (Y/N) (Y/L/N), right?”

“That’s me, yeah”

“I have message for you, from a doctor Leonard McCoy”

“I know him. He’s the doctor on the Enterprise. What is this message about?”

“He lets you know, that your husband… Commander Spock will spend the night in Yorktown hospital”

“Ho-hospital? They’re back? What does he have? Is it bad? Can I visit him? When did they get back?”

“He only told me that so you know where your husband is and in case you wish to see him. I don’t know anything else” you nodded and with a thank-you you ran out of the hotel, to the hospital, where you had brought a few people earlier today. You went to a visitor station to register your visit and once you knew where your husband was and that he currently could be visited, you rushed to the elevator and then to his room. When you saw Spock lying in bed awake, you let out a deep breath and moved closer.

“Spock” you breathed, not sure what to say and having a hundred questions at the tip of your tongue. "How are you?” was the first you asked

“I am well, (Y/N). The doctors insisted I stayed the night to ensure that my condition does not become worse” you nodded and came closer, taking his hand, pressing a kiss to it as you sat down on the edge of the bed. To your delight, he squeezed your hand.

“What happened? To you, I mean?” he explained how on the mission his side was impaled by a piece of metal and that McCoy didn’t have the correct equipment to properly treat him. “At least you’re safe” you ran your free hand through his hair. “When did you even get back?”

“4.2 hours ago”

“That was… that was when the attack happened” he agreed and said it was them who played a great role in stopping them. “Oh so that big ship that destroyed the central plaza was you, the Franklin?”

“Indeed”

“And what about the Enterprise?”

“She has been destroyed”

“Oh no. What about the crew? Are they safe?”

“We have not yet been able to ascertain who has survived the attack on the Enterprise and who lost their life, however, I am certain that at least 350 people have survived”

“Out of 428 that’s still a lot that could have died”

“Besides, I also know of at least 16 casualties from the crew” you gave a nod

“And what now? I mean is your mission over? The Enterprise is gone”

“We do not know yet but it is certain that we will remain her for longer than the originally scheduled 12 days of shore leave”

“Well, then we got more time to do something as long as we’re here. And I get to see you longer. Ha that visit was worth it” you leant down to kiss his forehead. “Now we just gotta make sure you’ll be on your feet as soon as possible because I have lot planned for the next days”

-

Taglist: @softsapphicideals

#spock #spock x reader #spock x you #spock imagine #aos spock #imagine

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Fairy Tales Recaps: “The Grimm Child”

Happy November, everyone! Considering that this is normally the time when we’d be gearing up for RWBY Volume 9 — and when I would normally be preparing to recap it — I thought I’d pass this unprecedented hiatus by recapping RWBY: Fairy Tales instead. Originally, I had no intention of watching, let alone reacting to, these shorts, but after I sat down to “The Grimm Child” on a whim last night and found that I had a surprising amount to say about a five minute episode, I figured what the hell. Let’s give it a go.

What’s the purpose of this project, then? To recap these shorts as they stand. Meaning, to analyze precisely what’s delivered to the viewer without (much) input from the original novel, tumblr posts, friends’ explanations, wiki articles, etc. What stood out to me while watching this episode was how confused I was about certain aspects, a confusion that was cleared up by interacting with the above resources. Problem is, “The Grimm Child” should be able to stand on its own. Reading the novel should not be a requirement for watching the adaptation of that novel — that, in many ways, defeats the very purpose of an adaptation. So I want to take a look at how well (or not) RWBY has created a show free of that, “Well, it makes sense if you just engage with these other texts, games, interviews, and assumptions,” something the franchise has struggled greatly with in the past. Though I very much welcome explanations to further conversation, if your response to this post is some version of, “It’s actually fine because the book says — ” then you’ve missed the point of the project. As someone who is a long-term RWBY fan, but who hasn’t yet snagged RWBY: Fairy Tales, I should be able to sit down with the adaptation and follow along without a small mountain of questions piling up. Sadly, that wasn’t the case for our first episode.

But, as always, let’s start at the beginning.

Many stories explore innocence as a blessing and a curse. A blessing to not understand evil and a curse not to recognize it. However, all good stories do share one thing in common. They are not what you expect.

As pleased as I am to hear Ozpin’s voice again, the actual meaning of the narration is a little lacking. Admittedly, the start of this introduction holds up very well post-viewing. It is an innocence that drives Poppy to both enter the forest and dare her brother to do the same; it is her inability to recognize the real danger she was in that results in tragedy. Great start. “They are not what you expect” though? I’m not even sure I agree with that philosophy in a general sense — many genre-dependent stories thrive on meeting expectations — but, more importantly, the episode essentially toots its own horn before failing to live up to that standard. The message is that the viewer should expect the unexpected, good stories surprise you... and then it completely failed to surprise me. From the setup of a dare going wrong, to everyone in the town meeting a horrific end, “The Grimm Child” is filled with a dime a dozen ideas. Which isn’t a bad thing. As just said, people tend to love new stories filled with old, familiar concepts. Rather, the problem lies in the episode implying that these fairy tales will be #different — innovative and shocking — and then not living up to that. By the story’s own criteria, it’s not good.

As a franchise, RWBY thrives on delivering senseless, but inspiring sounding messages (just look at most of Ruby’s speeches nowadays), so, like many others, I’ve grown used to the feeling of getting swept up in a confidently delivered statement only to later go, “Wait... that doesn’t make sense.” Luckily, we leave philosophy behind and open on a beautiful shot of Poppy in the forest:

I’ll admit that on the whole this animation does little for me, but I quite liked a few environmental shots, these included. I also like the designs of Poppy and Oak, specifically that they’re given different shades of red hair. Also, it’s worth noting that Poppy is voiced by Kdin Jenzen, the actress for May Marigold in the main webseries. For whatever other faults the franchise has in regards to queer representation, I personally believe it’s an important step that we not only have trans characters voiced by trans individuals, but that their work opportunities aren’t limited to trans characters either. Having Kdin voice May and Poppy back-to-back is a good move within a company that, too often lately, has been making mistakes. So that’s a plus.��

The animation of the forest might be pretty, but the staging leaves something to be desired. The distance makes it appear that Oak is just a few feet away; he should be able to see Poppy. Poppy looks back, seemingly right at her brother, implying that she can see him too. So why is he shouting to know where she is? This is the start of an episode’s worth of confusing animation choices, things that, frankly, have very easy fixes. For example, here you can just show us Poppy in the forest and have a voiceover of Oak yelling for her. We don’t need to see him in this shot because we’ll see him in just a moment when Poppy runs back out. We can wait ten extra seconds to introduce his design. Though this scene, on its own, just creates a, “That’s a little weird” reaction, these choices will become more of a problem when the episode is actively trying to convey something to the audience. 

Just as Poppy is criticizing Oak for being a coward, a darkness appears that she's terrified of. She makes a run for it with that darkness licking at her heels, only just managing to make it back out into the sunshine.

From here, we get a pretty believable exchange between the siblings. I like that Poppy moved from terror to confident dismissal almost instantly. Who hasn’t seen, say, a friend get freaked out down in the basement, only to brush that panic off the second they’re safe upstairs? What scares you is easily rationalized in the light of day — “a curse to not recognize [evil]” — and no one wants to look like a scaredy cat in front of friends — or worse, siblings. So I absolutely buy this switch, as well as their banter. Poppy’s insistence that being Oak’s friend is not the same thing as being his sister? Relatable. The voice acting and animation does a good job of selling that balance between teasing and cruelty. Oak is nearly crying as he’s pushed into the forest, but we also know Poppy doesn’t really mean anything by it. She’s just fooling around. I went into the creepy forest alone, so now you do too. Otherwise, I get bragging and teasing rights for the rest of time.

So Oak goes in alone and doesn’t return for... a really long time, far as I can tell. Poppy waits until it’s dark out to start calling for him, which is weird given the implication that she was only in there a few minutes herself and could hear him calling her. It’s one of those stylistic choices that I understand — can’t have the bad stuff happen until it’s nighttime! — but in-world it raises questions about what Poppy was thinking. Am I supposed to take away something about her character because she waited this long? Who knows.

Poppy does venture back into the forest though, braving her fear because her brother might be in danger. Which, you know, he is. Poppy finds him splayed out — in an interestingly supplicant position — and unresponsive. He’s white as bone, covered in grimm veins,  and sporting void eyes.

Here’s where the animation really starts to fail in terms of clarity. I thought Oak was dead. He’s not. Or maybe he is and the grimm is just controlling his body? It’s never made clear. There’s obviously something wrong with him though, yet Poppy only reacts to how cold he feels, not any of the significant changes in his looks. I’ve heard second-hand that, in the book, Ozpin added these physical features in order to warn future generations against Salem: white skin, black veins, and creepy eyes are her distinctive style. Is that worked into the story proper though? Meaning, I love the idea of him changing details to achieve this goal, but within the adaptation it’s unclear whether other characters can see what Oak looks like, or if that’s just for the audience’s benefit. A sort of non-diegetic visual. Because as Poppy leads Oak back to the village, two others ask whether he’s feeling alright. He no longer has eyes. Of COURSE he’s not alright! Maybe my immersion is just easily broken, but it’s weird to have such a striking change and no one properly reacting to that. And again, this could be an easy fix. If Oak actually looks like this within the story world, have Poppy comment on it. Let her pull his cloak hood low over his face so no one else can see him. There are quick, minute changes to smooth all this over.

I’ve also heard that this grimm, the Chill, is fairly intelligent. Little of that makes its ways into the story though. Neither does its name, outside of Poppy saying Oak caught a chill. If the Chill needs a body to leave the forest — which I now doubt considering we hear it flying around later on — why did it just have Oak laying there for hours, rather than heading back? Why does Oak act as if he’s comatose, with Poppy literally leading him along? None of this implies that he’s possessed by something sinister. From what I’ve gathered, there’s a moment in the story where the grimm recognizes the word “home” and follows Poppy in order to get access to more victims. Again, that’s a thing you can animate. Rather than making him appear comatose, let Oak approach Poppy menacingly, he’s coming for her, she’s scared and blurts that they need to get home... and Oak stops. Tilts his head. Nods or smiles. There are ways to tell the audience, “Oh shit, this kid is possessed and Poppy is making a mistake bringing something intelligent back to her village.” Instead, the implication is that Oak is still himself, but sick with some grimm disease? Had his soul stolen and is now an empty husk?? It’s all just ambiguously creepy.

A side detail I really like though: it starts to snow when Poppy gets Oak back to town, whereas before it was a summer or spring day. Now that’s a great visual to convey that she has indeed brought something unnatural into their midst.

So Poppy gets Oak back in bed where he sits hyperventilating with a blanket over his shoulders, again implying that he’s got some sort of grimm sickness that will sweep through the town, not an intelligent, malevolent entity. She apologizes before going to sleep — “Sorry. Love you” — and is woken up hours later by something crashing through her window.

The implication, based on later information, is that the grimm escaped at that moment. This is Oak, fully possessed, leaving the bedroom via window to attack the rest of the town. Except he’s clearly already killed everyone? Her parents are already dead downstairs, for example, and Oak’s footprints lead from the front door to the next house, not the window. Poppy also, oddly, goes looking for Oak in the house despite her busted window being the very obvious way of leaving the premises. Or, at the very least, something wrong I’d expect her to check out. It’s another one of those details that makes a first watch far more confusing than it needs to be. Just let Poppy hear a scream as someone is attacked. That wakes her up, she sees Oak is gone, goes to find her parents, etc. Having the window smash and Poppy ignore it is a very strange choice.

So she goes downstairs and finds her parents dead, with the image being about as creepy as this animation style can manage. She finds Oak’s footprints leading to the next house. As Poppy tracks her brother, we get a shot of her own feet and they look... bad.

I mean, I kind of want to give them a pass here. I once spent hours trying to draw a hand. Not a good hand, just a passable, human appendage. So I get that this is some challenging anatomy, but on the other hand (haha), I’m not a professional artist employed by a major corporation. We can’t do any better than a vague, foot-shaped slab?

Back to the plot though, Poppy finds her neighbors dead and Oak in the upstairs bedroom. There’s no visual indication that he’s dead this time because he looks exactly like he did when she found him in the forest: open mouth, blank stare, white skin, grimm veins. 

This is what I mean about the animation failing to convey some basic takeaways. All we have to go on is Poppy crying this time and not leading his otherwise unresponsive body back out of the house, so he must be dead. It’s just too bad the visuals couldn’t convey that when we first see him, and that, frankly, I can’t even be sure he’s not going to pop back up and find someone else to kill. He looks exactly as Poppy does at the end of the episode, still walking and, presumably, plotting where next to go. So where does danger end and tragedy begin here? 

Originally, I formed the theory that whoever the grimm was possessing was identifiable by Oak’s looks. Since all the bodies we see are uniformly shadowy and made up of a single color, you only get the white skin and veins if the grimm is currently inside you. Except, Oak still has those looks post-death. If you want your audience to understand that this creatures is now on the loose, give us the original looking Oak, or a dead body looking Oak, to inform us that something has left his body and is now on the prowl. Instead, three characters will have the white, vein-y, void eye look, whereas everyone else won’t. Three characters will be able to move around post-contact with the grimm, whereas everyone else won’t. The visuals do nothing to help the viewer understand what’s going on here, beyond the generic, “It’s something bad.” And, importantly, I don’t get the sense that RT is being deliberately ambiguous. Some stories are meant to generate confusion in its audience. I don’t think a five-minute fairy tale is. 

Poppy moves to the next house and we get a jump scare of a villager suddenly moving around with blue eyes. What does this mean? Why is it important? I suppose we’re meant to understand that this is the grimm, finally coming for her? Indeed, Poppy is consumed by darkness as she runs back to her house, the same sort of darkness that ran at her in the woods...

... but she’s totally fine once she locks the door. It’s only when she touches a body beneath Oak’s bed that she becomes infected, leading me to originally believe that the grimm-ness is transferred by touch. Beyond the fact that this is, apparently, wrong — the Chill, as said, is meant to be intelligent and deliberately leaving her for last — upon second viewing I realized that Poppy continually touched Oak before bedtime: his shoulder in the woods, holding his hand when they entered the village (skin-to-skin contact, what I originally thought might be the catalyst for death/possession), and his shoulders again when leading him away from the questioning neighbors. You all get what I mean about the visuals doing nothing to clarify the plot then, right? Mistakenly grabbing a grimmified arm doesn’t have much of an impact when she’s been touching her grimmified brother this whole time, living us wondering why she turned. 

Poppy pulls that villager out from underneath the bed and there’s no emotion attached, outside of the generic horror of finding a body, any body. We don’t know how he got there. We don’t know who he is. We don’t know why, this time, Poppy became grimmified. She asks the empty room, “Why not me?” so of course the audience expects an answer to that. Yet based on the visuals we get, we’re left as confused as Poppy herself. You can’t terrify your audience — or even just tell a solid story — if the audience can’t follow the basic series of events. 

As another example, Poppy looks at a pair of glasses on the side table when in one of the houses. It’s clearly meant to be a shocking moment for her, yet I had no idea what it meant the first time I watched the episode. It took me a second viewing to realize that the villager who asks after Oak is the owner of those glasses. So, given the supplemental knowledge that the Chill is supposed to be intelligent and taunting Poppy, were those left in one neighbor’s house to imply that the other neighbors, those boys, are dead too? But how do we know she’s not just in glasses guy’s house and that’s his room? The quick cuts and generic setting means we’re unsure of where Poppy is at any time. I didn’t realize she’d run back to her own house until she entered her room. The generic dead bodies, deliberately erasing features for the creep factor, means I have no idea who any individual character is. We only know two villagers besides Oak and Poppy, but I couldn’t tell you which of the bodies we see were them. Maybe by taking the time to look at some stills, but not as the episode airs. So whatever horror the glasses and subsequent bodies were meant to invoke in me is lost.

Adding on to those themes lost, I’ve heard that the grimm specifically moves within the children, leading Poppy through the village and, as said, saving her for last. That’s wonderfully spooky. Too bad it’s not in the adaptation. Is this guy meant to be a kid? 

We saw this animation problem in Volume 8 of RWBY where Cinder, meant to be this very young child, comes across as a young adult, if not older. Now, we have this story centered around children, yet you can’t tell at a glace who’s a kid. Oak is the only one whose design accurately conveys his age and that’s partly because we spend the most time with him, watchin him cry, comparing him to the taller, older looking Poppy. The two kids they pass in the village? The ones we see for only a second? It’s primarily one holding a ball that gives their ages away, not their design. If the opening’s lines about innocence were meant to continue through the tale’s plot, if the story is saying something about children and how evil moves through them... I didn’t catch any of that here. 

So Poppy is grimmified in the end. Her staring blankly into the broken window is one of the shots I loved this episode —

— but like everything else, it’s undermined by the lack of clarity in the storytelling. I don’t really understand what’s happened to her and, thus, I’m unable to revel in the expected grief of that. I’m too busy trying to piece the events together to fall into the story’s horror. Post-the siblings banter, there’s a persistent confusion that carries over into Ozpin’s final lines:

We all have a certain, natural inclination. We expect that evil should be easy to recognize rather than accepting it can lurk behind any face, and yet we are often the slowest to see the darkness within ourselves.

What happened to innocence? The danger of ignorance? The evil discussed here can’t just be the literal grimm now possessing Poppy. The meaning of a moral like this is that evil hides in plain sight and anyone can succumb to it. It looks like Lionheart. Or Raven. Or even Ironwood. Yet this story wasn’t about a good person led astray by nice-sounding promises, or the betrayer putting on an ally’s face. Am I supposed to understand that “the darkness within ourselves” also includes Poppy? But she didn’t give in to any intrinsic darkness within her. She just made a stupid mistake! Is darkness now siblings ignorantly daring one another to take foolish risks? Because if so, the world of Remnant really is doomed. How about we get a moral about listening to the wisdom of elders — don’t go into the forest — or seeking help — tell your parents you messed up and that Oak is hurt — or even just an acknowledgment that sometimes simple mistakes can lead to horrific consequences. This moral about darkness lurking within anyone and our inability to recognize it within ourselves, while a great message on its own and literal to a certain extent here, otherwise doesn’t fit the story about two siblings conducting a dare that goes horribly, horribly wrong. To say nothing of how, visually, this evil was easy to recognize. Super easy! It really defeats the wisdom of the message when evil is represented by dead-white skin, missing eyes, and creepy veins snaking around a person’s body. That is, quite literally, the exact opposite of what Ozpin is trying to teach here.

So all in all, not a stellar episode in my opinion. A strong start and fun ideas that fell apart as we went on, which is par the course for RWBY. But it’s particularly disappointing in this case given that they had an excellent template to work from. Everything I’ve heard about the Fairy Tales book tells me that I’ll love it (I do intend to snag a copy someday), but it sounds like little, if any of that excellence transferred to the adaptation. Which is a failure of Rooster Teeth, not Myers. It’s one thing to eliminate so much of what made the original tale engaging, quite another to replace it with choices that don’t easily allow the show to stand as its own, unique art. To be clear, “The Grimm Child” isn’t a complicated tale. I’m not so dull that I didn’t catch the basic premise of “Evil thing in woods hitchhikes through this kid and decimates a village,��� nor am I unaware of the ambiguous, even nonsensical vibe that fairy tales often embrace. But RWBY isn’t a franchise that can get away with a flimsy addition to its corpus on the justification that everything else is well written (it’s not), nor does it have the excuse of being an entirely original product where they can just do whatever it wants, clarity be damned. If this is the level of confusion and inconsistency generated from a five minute, self-contained story based on an already published tale... is it any surprise the ongoing, eight volume webseries is a total mess?

I’m hoping that the rest of the Fairy Tales collection is stronger. Despite my nitpicking about the animation (it is, apparently, Nitpick November lol), I’m fine with a downgrade in visual quality provided the animation is otherwise still benefiting the story. Does it look bad when Ruby’s cookies disappear while approaching her mouth? Yes. But does that animation tell us a lot about her and Ozpin? Yes. Does it look good when Poppy pulls a grimmified body out from under her bed? Arguably yes. But does that animation help us understand the situation and her ultimate fate? ...No. It just muddies things and this series isn’t so gorgeous that it can get by on spectacle alone.

I’ve seen a lot of people expressing excitement and praise for the show. Is that because they’ve already read the book, or don’t notice/care about these problems? I can’t say. However, it feels like RWBY: Fairy Tales is, thus far, banking hard on the RWBY approach to watching webseries: turn your brain off and fill in gaps with supplemental information/headcanons. “The Grimm Child” will make a lot more sense if you’re familiar with its original story, the same way Ironwood’s actions might make a lot more sense if you’re familiar with his semblance. The problem lies in neither publication putting that information in the story. So I’ll be interested to see if, moving forward, the other adaptations likewise lean heavily on the audience doing that work for the script, or if RT just needs a little time figuring out how to best translate prose into a visual medium. 

So, here’s hoping. See you all for “The Hunter’s Children”! 💜

#rwde #rwby #rwby: fairy tales #mymetas

[luckysevenwrites]

Who’s your bias?

Haechan finds himself in the hospital waiting to get an x-ray after hurting himself during a warm up. While his mind is filled with worries about his leg, he’s able to find some distraction in you, the x-ray tech who is an intern. Haechan didn’t think he would find anything to smile about while getting an x-ray but you prove him wrong.

Part of the long term couples series

Sitting in the waiting room waiting to be taken back to get his x-ray Haechan couldn’t believe that he was here. Who would have thought warming up to perform would lead to him twisting his leg wrong and not being able to walk. Glaring down at his traitorous leg he hoped that nothing was broken. He didn’t want to miss any more performances than the one he is already missing. He feels like he is letting the group down. Even though all of them assured him that it was fine and that they were more concerned with him being okay.

           Still, he couldn’t stop the guilt from forming. Leaning his head back he closes his eyes and lets out a sigh. His manager next to him glances over at him and assures him that it won’t be long now. That they’ll know the results soon and he’ll be back with the rest of his members. He wants that to be, his gut though is telling him that its more serious than what everyone is hoping for. Eventually a nurse comes in and wheels him into a room to get his x-ray done.

           “Hi there Haechan, I’m Dr. Kim and this is my intern Y/n, Y/l/n do you mind if they join us today,” Haechan shakes his head no. He could care less who is performing the x-ray he just wants to know how bad it is and how long he isn’t going to be able to perform.

           “Okay let’s get you onto the table.” Dr. Kim nods for the nurse to push him towards the table. You follow behind her and together you help Haechan onto the table and get him in the correct position. It’s as you’re placing a pillow under his head that you first talk to him.

           “Try not to stress too much about it. Even if something is broken, you’re young and you’ll heal fast.” Haechan gives you a weak smile. He appreciates that you are trying to make him feel better.

           “For my line of work, it would be better if I didn’t have a broken bone.” He admits to you as you continue to adjust him until he is just right.

           You pause by his hip and lean against the table. Studying him Haechan wonders what you are thinking and why you are looking at him like that. Like you want to scold him but also comfort him. He’s not sure how he feels about you looking at him like that.

           “If your fans are true fans, they’ll still be there after you heal and the ones who aren’t then they weren’t real fans at all. And from what I’ve heard your members will be there to support you through all of this.”

           “You know who I am?” Haechan sits up a little causing you to huff at him because you now have to readjust him. You gently push him back down.

           “Of course, I do. They told us who was coming in and we had to sign a bunch of paperwork saying that we wouldn’t say anything to anyone about you being here. Also, I’m a fan of all of you,” Haechan notices how you won’t meet his eye while you admit that part and he wants to tease you but you disappear behind the door, and he hears Dr. Kim over the intercom telling him what they are going to for x-rays.

           Closing his eyes Haechan tries to think positive. He can hear clicking every once and a while from the machine and before he knows it you are walking back out and having him sit up so you can help him back into the wheelchair. Placing your one arm around his waist, the other holding onto his bicep Haechan cannot stop his mischievous mind and he turns towards you bringing your faces within an inch of one another.

           “Tell me Dr. Y/l/n who is your bias,” Haechan almost loses it with how wide your eyes get. He somehow manages to keep a straight face while he waits for your answer.

           “Let’s get you into your wheelchair so you can find out your results,” you tell him instead and start to pull on him. Reluctantly he lets you move him into the chair but before you can get behind him to push him back to his exam room he grabs onto your hand and looks up at you with what he hopes is his best puppy dog eyes.

           “Please tell me. It would make me happy to know,” he whines hoping that you’ll give into him and for a moment he thinks your about when you start to lean in towards him.

           “My bias,” you whisper, and he nods his head encouraging you on, “is someone in NCT 127.”

           With that you straighten up and move behind him to start pushing him back to his exam room. Haechan throws his head back and whines.  Calling you unfair and that it’s wrong to torture patients that are already in pain. You just ignore him but he’s almost positive that you laugh at one point during his rambling.

           Rolling him into the exam room you turn him around in his chair, so he is facing the door. You lock his wheels in place and give a nod to his manager who has been sitting in one of the chairs waiting for Haechan to return. Haechan continues to pout, and his manager raises an eyebrow at him, but he just ignores him. He really doesn’t care who you bias but now that you won’t tell him he has to know. It’s like those do not touch signs, once he sees them, he just has to touch the thing he’s not supposed to. Now he needs to know who you bias.

           “Is it Johnny Hyung?” Haechan says before you have a chance to leave. You look over your shoulder at him and laugh.

           “I’m not telling you,” With that you turn around and walk out of the room. Haechan crosses his arms over his chest and starts to make a mental list in his head of who you could bias. You give off more of a vocal vibe than a rapper vibe when it comes to having a bias. Then again maybe you are more of a visual person. Haechan isn’t sure how long he has been analyzing who you could possibly bias, but you and Dr. Kim are walking in with his results.

           “I have good news and bad news,” Dr. Kim announces. Haechan looks over at you and you give him a reassuring smile.

           “The good news is that it is only a fracture. The bad news is, you have to stay off your leg and give yourself time to heal. That means no performance,” Haechan really wasn’t sure how it only being a fracture was good news, but he wasn’t about to argue with the doctor.

           He let Dr. Kim continue to go on and on about how long he would be out when he should come back for a checkup, and a bunch of other things that Haechan was not paying attention to. All he could think about was that he was out for now, he couldn’t perform and would basically have to lay around all day. And he wasn’t sure if he could do that. If he could just sit around for hours on end, he was going to go insane, especially since everyone else would be off doing things and he would be stuck at the dorm.

           Dr. Kim had his manager follow him out so they could get some paperwork taken care of and talk about in more detail what the fracture could mean for his future. You had stayed behind and once the two men had left the room your eyes turn to him, and you walked over, squatted down in front of him and placed your hand on his knee.

           “It’ll be okay,” you tell him, “Like I said you are young and healthy. Your bone will heal quickly, and you’ll be back performing before you know it.”

           Haechan looks down at the hand you have placed on his knee then back up at you. You quickly remove your hand from his knee and stand up. You look away from him and clear your throat before you look back at him. Haechan can’t stop the smirk that spread across his face. He likes you and he likes seeing you flustered.

           “Anyway, you’ll get a cast any special request on colors?” You ask and Haechan considers teasing you, just to see how much he get you riled up. But he figures that you probably are embarrassed enough as it is and instead answers your question.

           “I’m thinking red,” he tells you then can’t help himself with his next question, “will you be the first to sign my cast?”

           Your eyes widen for a second and again you can’t make eye contact with him. Then your eyes take on a mischievous look and Haechan is rethinking his question. Before he has the chance to take it back a nurse has come in and is wheeling him out to get his cast on. He looks back at you and you give him a wave of your fingers and Haechan has a feeling you are up to no good.

           When he returns to his exam room, he has a red cast on his leg, and he finds you sitting in a chair waiting for him with a sharpie in hand. He didn’t think that you would stick around and sign his cast he was only teasing.

           “Don’t you have work to do?” Haechan questions.

           “I’m off the clock,” you tell him as you stand and make your way over to his cast, “Still want me to sign it?”

           “Sure,” Haechan watches as you look over the cast before you settle for a spot on the side of his cast. You lean in and start to write, and he wonders what exactly you are writing because it should take that long to write your name.

           When you stand you recap the marker and give Haechan a triumphant smile, “You are all set. We’ll see you in a few weeks. Rest up well Haechan. I’m looking forward to your return.”

           With those parting words you walk out as his manager walks in. He gives you a nod as the two of you pass one another. Haechan’s manager then looks at the cast and then burst out into laughter. Haechan furrow his brow wondering what could possibly be so funny.

           “Why are you laughing?” Haechan demands as he tries to see what you wrote on his cast, but you put it in a spot that he can’t easily see.

           “She wrote ‘my bias is Doyoung’,” his manager chokes out and Haechan groans. He’s going to get you back and now he has something to think about while he’s on bed rest. He’s not going to let you have the last laugh that’s for sure.

#nct imagines #nct reactions #nct scenarios #nct fluff #nct oneshot #nct drabbles #nct fanfic #haechan x you #haechan x y/n #haechan x reader #haechan oneshot #haechan drabbles #haechan fluff #haechan imagines #haechan reactions #haechan reaction