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the-really-lonely-mountain · 6 months

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Along for The Ride - Part 1

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Summary: Transported to Middle Earth, you must Join Thorin Oakenshield's Company as they travel to reclaim Erebor! OR: My take on the classic 'modern girl in Middle Earth' troupe. With this first installment, we are following the first movie of The Hobbit trilogy, and falling in love with Kili on the way! Slow burn with this one y'all, nothing spicy till the next work I'm afraid.

Tags: Kili / Reader, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Modern Character in Middle Earth, During The Hobbit, How Do I Tag, Canon-Typical Violence, Kíli Is a Little Shit (Tolkien), wrote this while I had covid, in like 4 days lol, implied soulmates, Dwarf Culture & Customs, Freeform, Holding Hands, Cuddling & Snuggling, Sleepy Cuddles, Protective Thorin Oakenshield Company Members, Dwalin & Thorin Oakenshield Friendship, Fluff and Humor, Domestic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Where In Middle-Earth Is Gandalf?, Hair Braiding, Dwarf Courting, My First Tumblr Fic, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fíli & Kíli & Thorin Live, Thorin Oakenshield Lives, Fíli Lives (Tolkien), Kíli Lives (Tolkien)

Word Count: 6,292

A/N: I was utterly appalled by the lack of Kili writers on here and Ao3. Y'all who write for Kili, I've been eating your crumbs like it's the shit (cause it is) for weeks, but one can't be sustained on crumbs alone so I've prepared a feast!! This is the first fic I've ever wanted to post, please be gentle. Comments, Likes, and Reblogs are loved and treasured!!

Tagging the amazing Kili writers I've been living off of for the past few weeks and who have inspired me so they might share in the feast as well lol go check out their stuff too: @mikathemonster, @cowboybeepboop, @littleenglishfangirl, @ethereal-inquisitor, @sweetpeakili

Photo credit: @immawriteyouthings

Divider credit: @cafekitsune

You were having one of those days that made you want to run away from everything. Instead, you walked on the golf course behind your house after hours; no phone, no umbrella, no bag this time, just you. You had what you could fit from your hands in your jean pockets as you walked the grassy field. Something twinkled and caught your eye on the far side of the fairway, there was a sparkle in the ferns. You walked over and began looking through the underbrush. Your hand grazed a smooth stick with a mangled end that encased a gem. You picked it up hoping for a better look but were transported to another world instead!

You appeared in the new world holding the staff. You were standing beside an older fellow with a pointy hat and long grey beard. You looked around and saw many other gruff, burly-looking men sitting in an encampment. They looked as confused as you. You did the only thing you could think of doing at that moment.

You turned around and took off running as fast as you could.

The wizard whose staff you were running away with asked the younger dwarves in his company to fetch you for him. They ran after you as quick as the wind. You dodged trees and hurdled bushes, making an all-around great effort. You were slowing down though. You stopped for a moment to catch your breath and plan. A twig snapped in the distance; quick footsteps closed in on you. You took off again. You needed a place to hide, a moment to think for God's sake. You were afforded no such luxuries. They were gaining, you were tiring. In your drained haste, you tripped on a bush which sent you stumbling and struggling to regain your footing given your momentum. You finally fell and scampered to take cover behind the roots of a great tree. Their footfalls grew slower and drew nearer. They were so close you could hear their words now.

“…She’s hiding, Fili,” one said much closer than you expected them to be.

You tried your best to steady your breathing. Your heartbeat was so loud you knew they could hear it.

“Stop scaring her Kili,” The other chastised. “You know she’s got to be scared half to death”. He walked past you, studying the ground. The other came up the other side of the tree doing the same.

You gripped the staff preparing yourself to be found. They turned in unison following the same tracks and looked up at you simultaneously. They were both panting but not as hard as you. Fili, the elder and more experienced of the two knelt where he stood a few yards from your curled trembling form.

“My name is Fili” He put his hand on his chest and motioned to the man next to him, “This is my brother Kili. We mean no harm to you.” He kept his distance and showed his empty hands. You stayed firmly pressed against the tree trunk, your chest heaving rapidly and your eyes as large as saucers. They could have tackled you, beaten you, or done any number of terrible violating things, but they kept their distance and spoke softly.

“What’s your name?” Kili asked, with a charming smile as he crouched beside his brother.

“Y/N,” you said in a shaky freaked-out tone.

“Y/N, that’s our friend wizard’s staff,” Fili said, “If anyone can figure out how you got here, he can.”

“But you gotta come back to camp with us,” Kili said reaching out his hand as a peace offering. So many horrible things could happen to you in the wild of this new world, but even more on top of that could if you didn’t go with them.

“How can I trust you?” You asked them. They looked at each other.

“How can we trust you?” Kili threw back at you with a suspicious look and recoiled his hand.

“Touche” you nodded returning his look.

“Seems we are at an impasse then,” Fili huffed at his brother, “You want to get home, and our wizard can do that. The only way that can happen is if you come with us back to our camp. We can only offer you our word and promise on our honor as dwarven princes that you will not be harmed by any in our company.”

You thought for a moment and nibbled at your lip, “You promise?” you looked up at Kili this time.

Kili looked you deep in the eyes, and very seriously said: “No harm will ever come to you, on my honor as a prince.”

You nodded at this, “Very well”, and tried to stand up but were stuck against the tree. The 2 men easily lifted you back to your feet. You followed them back to the camp.

You tried your best to hide behind Kili as you approached the wizard smoking a pipe. You peeked from around his shoulder at the other men in the camp. They were looking at you.

“Please sit, my dear,” The wizard said to you, motioning to the rest of the long log beside him “We have much to discuss.”

Your legs wouldn’t move you from behind the dwarf. You were still quite afraid.

“She seems to have taken a liking to you Kili,” the wizard said to him. The rest of the company let out a soft chuckle of agreement. You couldn’t see it from your angle, but Kili smiled and nodded.

“Sit down child, we aren’t going to hurt you,” One of the dwarves sitting across the fire said. You took a deep breath to gather your courage. One false move by any of the others would have you bolting again.

You moved from behind Kili and sat beside the wizard still clutching the staff.

“May I take that from you?” the wizard politely asked. You handed it to him. He explained how this type of thing had happened to a couple of his wizard friends before, but he didn’t know the remedy or spell to undo it or how to prevent it from happening again. You sat quietly listening and nodding. He explained to you and the rest of the company that he was leaving to travel to his friend and inquire about your predicament. In the meantime, he convinced the company and its leader, Thorin you came to know, to keep you in the company as an innocent bystander to help around the camp and whatnot till Gandalf (the wizard) could figure out what to do with you. Gandalf gave you a small sack of coins, instructing you to get a bag, a bedroll, clothes, and any other necessities you’ll need at the next town.

As the fire died down so did the company. They got out their bedrolls and sleeping gear like a synchronized unit and as quickly as they started, they were all asleep snoring softly. Kili had first watch and was sitting on the ground next to you leaning against the log you were on. You slid onto the ground next to him curled with your knees to your chest. He looked over at you. You looked over at him.

“I don’t know what to do now,” you said not hiding the waver in your voice very well, “I’m so scared.” You couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. You cried into your hands as quietly as possible, so you didn’t disturb and anger the others. If you had looked at Kili, you would have seen him in a slight panic and at a loss for what to do, he didn’t know how to console crying women. You sobbed into your hands knowing you just needed to let it all out then you’d be fine. Kili looked at the fire and put his hand on your back. Physical contact of any kind back home was next to nonexistent, it felt nice to know he was trying his best to comfort you. After a few minutes of uncontrollable sobbing and hiccups wracking through you, you began calming down. When you were able to breathe properly, you wiped your face even though tears kept falling. You sniffled and rested your chin on your knees letting the tears fall silently now.

“Do you feel better?” Kili guessed in a soft tone and rubbed his hand on your back.

You nodded at him, “Yes” You took a deep breath and wiped the tears from your eyes as best you could, “Thank you” You looked at him and smiled a little. He smiled and nodded too, still concerned but returned his hand to his lap. You sniffled and looked at the fire.

“Really though I don’t know what I’m doing,” you said. “I’ve never been camping before,” you paused to think. “I don’t know how to fight or use a sword or make a fire or hunt or-or—” You were working yourself up and starting to cry again. Kili cut you off before you could start sobbing hysterically again.

“WOAH! Woah!!” alarmed, he put his hand on your back again, “It’s ok. Calm down.” he said harshly, “Take a deep breath, that seemed to help last time,” He mumbled the last part under his breath. That made you smile despite yourself.

“You don’t know how to console someone, do you?” You took a deep breath and wiped your eyes. He shook his head and took his hand from you. “Seems we’re both out of our depth then,” you said making the mood a bit lighter.

“In my defense, I was raised in a pack of manly men,” He smiled fondly “It’s a wonder my mother got through to me at all.”

“So, you do have a mother,” you said, making him look at you quizzically “I assumed you were raised by wolves,” You shrugged. He laughed and you couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re not completely wrong about that,” He smiled, looking over at the men across the fire. There was a momentary silence. “We’ll teach you those things, how to fight, how to make a fire, all that,” He looked over at you, “I mean who knows how long Gandalf will be, and you’d have to be pretty stupid not to pick up a thing or two even from this bunch.” You smiled and nodded; this calmed your nerves a little. A moment of silence fell between you again.

“Is it ok if I stay up with you?” you innocently asked, “I’m not very tired.”

“Sure,” he said casually, “May I ask about your life back in your world?”

“OK,” You nodded.

“What do you do?” he asked, you gave him a weird look. “Like for a living, how do you make money, how do you spend your days?”

“I’m a student at university at the moment.” He looked at you confused this time. “I spend my days studying at a desk, it’s boring and dull” You quickly summed up.

“Ooohh,” He said, “No wonder you couldn’t run for shit,” He laughed.

You scoffed, “So rude,” You huffed, failing to hide your smile. He was glad you were cheering up a bit.

“If it’s so boring and dull, why don’t you do something else?” He asked, naive to your world and its ways.

“It’s…complicated” you sighed “I have to study to do what I want to do for work even though I don’t want to work or study or do any of that, but I have to make money somehow because I need money to do stuff and buy things because the world I live in is shitty that way and it’s so frustrating sometimes,” you gritted your teeth to make your point.

“Well, what do you want to do then?” he asked, trying to understand your strange world.

“Sit on the beach,” You said without hesitation “…Listen to the waves…sleep on a blanket in the sun,” you sighed wistfully. “Die happy and rich.”

“That does sound nice” He agreed “I’ve never seen a tropical ocean before, the seas near the Blue Mountains are all frozen over.”

“Surely there’s a beach somewhere in this world,” You refused to believe the universe sent you to a world without a beach.

“There is! I’ve heard stories of Southern Gondor, where the sun makes the sand hotter than forges, and the water falls over the horizon in every direction.”

“That sounds like the beaches from back home,” You felt a little bad for him. You’d been practically raised at the beach because it was the only free thing to do in your hometown.

“May I ask a question?” you asked this time.

“Of course,” He shifted to lean against the log and face you.

“What are you guys doing?” you gestured to the camp around you.

“We are on a quest!” He said proudly, “A quest to take back our ancestral home from the dread dragon Smaug,” he said in a sinister voice. He explained about Erebor and the dragon and Thorin to catch you up. You listened, nodded, and took it all in, asking questions and giggling at his jokes. He was a decent storyteller.

“And I’m just along for the ride I guess,” you said deflated about your role in all this.

“If it’s any consolation, you’re quite good company,” He indulged; Kili always got so lonely on watch.

“Yay!” you said over a yawn, “I’d hate to bore any of you,” you replied, genuinely fearing your stories may never measure up to theirs. You leaned over and laid on the soft grass, curled in a ball with your arm as a pillow. You tried not to shiver from the cool evening breeze. You heard some shuffling of fabric, and then a blanket fluttered on top of you. You looked at Kili who smiled and said: “I’m quite the furnace at night, I’ll be fine without it,” he reassured.

“Thank you,” you said over another yawn. You didn’t expect to fall asleep but the next thing you knew it was early morning and you were awoken by the clanging of pots and spoons. You sat up and looked around to get your bearings.

‘Still in the same strange world’ you thought not fully awake. Kili appeared, greeted you good morning, and handed you a bowl of white goo he called porridge. You thanked him and ate your breakfast in silence like the rest of the company. While the men packed up the camp you were tasked with washing the dishes in a nearby stream. You were struck by the beauty of the incredible woods around you even in the dim morning light. You returned to camp and put the dishes in their bag, which was taken by one of your new companions. You felt out of place without a task among everyone who knew what to do. Balin saw you standing in the middle of the camp looking lost. He asked Thorin what they were to do about their lack of an extra pony for you. They decided you could ride with Kili seeing as he was the lightest (next to Bilbo) and his pony could take the weight and because you seemed the most comfortable with him. The old dwarf with a white-grey beard curled up at the ends approached you with as much of a nonthreatening air as he could muster.

“Good morning, my dear!” He greeted you with a chipper smile. “My name is Balin”

“Good morning,” you replied. “I don't quite know what I’m to be doing,” you said sheepishly.

“That’s ok lass, it’ll come with time,” he reassured, “For now, you’ll ride with Kili so you can see if he needs help getting ready.”

“Ok,” You nodded and started walking in Kili’s direction. You stopped in front of his pony and petted its nose and down its neck. “I’ve been told that I’m to ride with you,” you said timidly looking at him adjust his saddle. Kili looked at you and nodded.

“I’ll be happy to have a lovely conversation again” He smiled and looked back at his saddle, making the final arrangements.

He turned to you and said, “I’ll give you a leg up,” And jabbed a thumb at his pony. You nodded and approached the animal. You put your hands on the ponies back and bent your leg waiting for him to help. He leaned forward so he could whisper in your ear: “Wrong leg”. You blushed quite profusely at that and switched legs. He heaved you with such strength he nearly threw you over the other side of the pony. You made yourself comfortable behind the saddle before he hooked his foot in the stirrup and carefully mounted so he didn’t knock you off.

“You ok?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Yep!” you smiled. He nodded. You were excited to see new lands even though you feared what they harbored.

“If you need to hold on to me when we get going you can,” he said, making you both blush despite yourselves.

A few moments later Thorin called out: “Company ready?” in a deep booming voice, “Aye!” They all replied in unison. “Company, move out!” He bellowed and urged his pony forward. The rest followed behind him one by one. When your animal lurched forward you grabbed Kili's waist for dear life. The company was silent till they got to the end of the forest. You had your cheek pressed against Kili’s shoulder and your chest against his back. The fur of his coat was very soft against your face as you turned your head to look over his other shoulder. You yawned but didn’t realize you did it right next to his ear and breathed down his neck. He determinedly kept his eyes on the pony ahead of him to keep the blush rising in his chest at bay.

“You can take a nap if you need to,” he said over his shoulder in a soft voice for only you to hear.

“That sounds like a good idea,” You yawned again. You buried your face in the soft spare fabric of the hood on his back and cuddled closer to him to rest your head on his shoulder. You closed your eyes and sleep swiftly took you. He knew this because he could feel your breathing slow on the back of his neck. He was happy you could sleep and couldn’t help his smile. You shifted now and then, turning your head one way then a while later turning it the other. Kili tried not to talk or move too much in fear of waking your delicate slumber. By midday, you felt very well rested. You took a deep breath and released your grasp on Kili to stretch your arms above your head, arching your back to wake yourself up. You quickly slipped your arms around him again, so you didn’t fall.

“Good morning!” He chirped, “Well afternoon really,” he corrected with a smile, “Sleep well?”

“Mhm,” You hummed against his shoulder “I haven’t slept that well in a long time,” you said thinking back on the restless weeks before your arrival in Middle Earth.

“Good,” He nodded. “Happy I could be of service.”

“Yes, you make quite the comfortable bed,” you replied.

An easy silence settled between you for a while. You contentedly watched the landscape pass by while he kept the pony on the path.

“What’s a good weapon for a beginner?” You asked knowing you needed to start wrapping your head around the fact that you could be stuck here forever and needed to protect yourself. He thought about that for a few moments.

“I’d have to say a bow,” He shrugged, “I don’t know honestly, lemme ask Fili,” he kicked up his pony to walk faster to be next to his brother. “What is the best weapon for a beginner?” He asked him. Fili glanced at you and thought for a moment.

“Hmm I think a sword would be easiest,” He replied, contradicting his brother.

“A sword?!” Kili said incredulously “No that’s one of the harder ones,” He swatted his hand as if to swipe the words from the air.

Fili scoffed “For you maybe,” he said barely keeping his teasing smile under control “But not to the rest of us, my weapon-challenged brother.” That made you giggle. Kili huffed and pulled his horse back, so he wasn’t beside his brother anymore.

“Are you that bad with a sword?” you asked, trying not to laugh too much.

“No!” he exclaimed, “I’m just better with a bow and arrows,” he pouted.

‘Awe he’s so cute when he pouts’ Your thought took you by surprise.

“Perhaps you can teach me, Archer,” Your voice was lower than you intended, making you both blush. Your breath ghosted over his ear making him shiver just a little. He turned his head to look at you over his shoulder, his face so close to yours. He looked at your lips then deep into your eyes holding eye contact.

“Maybe I will,” he said in a deep gruff whisper that made you gasp and goosebumps rush over your skin. He turned back and smiled; proud he could get a rise out of you. You huffed and distanced yourself from him by leaning back, needing the space to calm down.

As night drew closer, Thorin led the company to the edge of a forest and found a shallow cave, more like a cliff overhang to make camp for the night. He told Fili and Kili to take care of the ponies and Oin and Gloin to make the fire. After the meals had been handed out Thorin told you to take Fili and Kili a bowl. You walked through the forest and found them looking at a downed tree in panicked awe.

“Something took 4 of the ponies,” Fili said to you, hoping you’d have the answer to their predicament.

“Yes, and…” you nodded at them trying not to panic yourself “What are you going to do about it since it’s your problem?”

The brothers decided to see what took the ponies and if they could handle it themselves, no need to worry Thorin, right? You followed them as they tracked the pony-nappers. Kili hid behind a tree and peeked around, you hid behind him and peeked over his shoulder. 3 large trolls were something to worry about, and a sight that made that dreadful feeling drop from your chest into your stomach. Your grip on Kili’s coat tightened.

He turned to you and said in barely a whisper, “Go back to camp and tell Thorin”.

Fili was immediately against it, huffing and puffing from behind his tree. Kili shrugged and motioned with hands as if to say, ‘What else would you have us do?!’ Fili huffed again and snuck around the tree. He tried to cut the rope fence with his sword, but he took too long. The trolls caught him. They were deciding ways to eat him when Kili looked at you in alarm and told you to go back to camp. You ran as fast as you could.

“Ponies! Big grey troll things took the ponies!” You said out of breath pointing the way you just came “Fili…in…danger”. Thorin cursed in dwarfish and rallied the company. Balin told you to keep your distance, so you didn’t get caught in the fight.

The dwarves fought bravely but were captured. Bilbo bid for more time while you thought of a plan. You heard the trolls complain about daylight coming and that gave you an idea. You saw the trolls had made camp in the shade cast by a large boulder. You wedged a branch under the rock and used the leverage to try to roll it. It was very heavy, and you were not. It took everything in your power to push the branch to roll the boulder down the ditch edge it rested on. The trolls were washed in sunlight, turning them to stone and freeing the company. They cheered when you stepped over the branch and into the clearing. You helped them from their confines and smiled and blushed when they praised your good job.

Back at camp the company gathered their things and discussed what to do now. Fili suddenly hushed the company.

“Warg howls in the distance,” He whispered to Thorin “They are coming!”

“RUN!” Thorin yelled at the company. Following Thorin everyone started running. You all ran as fast as you could onto a hilly plane sprinkled with trees and boulders. You ran and ran till the Wargs finally caught up. They began to encircle you. The company fought the beasts, taking them down as still more came at them. You went to hide behind the rock formation but fell into it instead. You climbed out as the Wargs were closing in.

“Down here!” you called “There’s a passage this way!” you slid down to make room for the others. Thorin was the last one, as he slid down a horn was blown near the entrance to the passage.

“I can’t see where it leads, do we follow?” One of the dwarves asked.

“Yes! We follow!” Thorin barged through the dwarves and led the company through the narrow pass. You all walked for a few minutes, but then Thorin rounded a corner and slowed as he realized where he’d unwittingly led the company. The rest kept walking around him, but Bilbo stopped and said in admiration: “Rivendell”. You stopped as well to take in the view before you. It was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen. A small town on the side of a mountain with water flowing from beneath some of the glittering structures.

As Thorin led the company over a bridge, you grabbed Kili’s arm to steady yourself as you looked around and took in the ornate statues and architecture of the front steps of a large building. A man much taller than you or the dwarves approached the group.

“We would like to speak to Lord Elrond,” Thorin said through gritted teeth. He was swallowing his pride for the betterment of the quest, that much was clear through his clenched fists and tense shoulders.

“Lord Elrond isn’t here,” The elf said regretfully.

“Then where is he?” Thorin’s patience was growing thin. A horn was sounded on the other side of the bridge you’d just crossed. Everyone turned to see a group of horses galloping towards them. The dwarves began shouting in dwarfish and closing ranks with their weapons ready for battle. You were pushed into the very center of the circle as tall horses and riders circled you. They stopped suddenly and the one on a black horse dismounted.

“My Lord Elrond,” The elf who first approached you said with a bow.

“Lindir” Elrond bowed his head at him then turned to the leader of your group, “Welcome Thorin son of Thrain,” He looked over the dwarf “You have your grandfather's bearings.”

“I’m afraid I know you only from the stories my grandfather told me,” Thorin was doing his best to be polite. (You were later informed that the stories were mostly about him being a ninny.)

“I’d like to offer you and your company a taste of our elfish hospitality,” Elrond said with a warm smile.

“Does that mean we’ll eat?!” Bombur called from the back. The company chuckled at him.

“Yes Bombur, that means we’ll eat” Dori replied. The company cheered at the prospect of a full belly and a warm hearth.

Not long after, you were sat next to Bilbo and Kili at a large table. The salad appetizers were very good despite the dwarves not liking green food very much. You giggled at their jokes about how bad the music was or how they wanted chips and meat. Thorin was sat at another table across from Elrond discussing something you couldn’t hear, but you could tell it pained Thorin to be in the other man's presence.

You turned to Kili beside you. “Thorin looks constipated,” you said in a low voice barely containing your laughter “He can’t even pretend to be enjoying this”. Kili looked over at his uncle and laughed with you.

When the meals were served there was boisterous laughter and general dwarfish shenanigans, the usual at any merry dwarfish gathering. Bilbo looked like he was having PTSD from when they were doing the same at his house at the beginning of the quest. At the end of the meal, Thorin and Balin disappeared with Elrond to discuss a map. You asked Kili if he would escort you to the markets with as much innocent girlish need as you could muster to solidify your security. He agreed and walked with you through the corridors and to the market. He helped you get a fair price on a bag, a blanket, and a bedroll. The next thing you needed was clothes to blend in.

“What do the women around here wear exactly?” You asked him. He shrugged.

“It depends, I guess” He had his hands shoved in his pockets as he followed you around the clothing stalls like a puppy.

“Gee, that’s a big help.” You teased.

After some more wandering you found a stall selling clothes that looked your size. You purchased a dark blue form-fitting tunic that stopped above your knees and had slits on the sides that went up to your hips. It paired very nicely with the brown pants and brown coat with dark blue highlights you bought as well. Kili helped barter with the merchants since you didn’t know the fair price of things here. In another section of the market, you bought spools of black, blue, and pink thread. You put your belongings in your new bag.

“Are we done?” Kili asked, sounding slightly annoyed. He was ready to go back to the others and be away from so many elves. You sighed and rolled your eyes playfully and nodded. He led you through the busy crowded markets by holding your hand. You were thankful he was in front of you so he couldn’t see your blush. You made it back to the group, who had set up camp in a courtyard garden at the end of a hallway. Just as you arrived two female and two male elves came down the hallway.

One of the males stepped forward, “The bathhouse is ready for you now” he said to the group.

“Bath?! We don’t need no stinkin’ bath!” Exclaimed a dwarf from behind the fire. The rest heartily agreed, not ready to drop their pants on elvish soil it seemed.

“I’d like a bath” you timidly said, not wanting to make a fuss but very much wanting to be clean.

“Very good mistress dwarf, if you’ll follow us,” one of the female elves said. You were tense as you followed the four elves down the corridor, not sure what you were doing.

“You best go with her lad,” Dori said to Kili, “You never know what an elf might try to pull.” He glared at the back of the elves as they walked away. Kili nodded and ran after you.

“Y/N!” He called making you and the elves stop.

“Oh, change your mind, Kili?” You asked with an innocent smile, happy to have his company.

“Yeah, I guess so.” He smiled too.

You were led to a large door that opened into a covered hot spring that flowed over the balcony to create an assumably gorgeous waterfall. Columns lined the outer edge of the room which was split down the middle by a cloth partition. The male elves walked to one side of the divider with Kili in tow, while the females walked to the other. The elves asked that you wash under the heated shower of water off to the side before entering the hot springs. They left you to your own devices.

“I’ve never seen anything like this have you?” You asked Kili across the large room.

“No” He smiled at the wonder in your voice from seeing new things and making discoveries. He thought it was very cute.

You placed your bag and new clothes on the vanity in the corner. You undressed and stepped under the warm shower. You used the bar of soap you found to wash your hair and body. It was the best-smelling soap you’d ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

“Hey, Kee?�� You hollered.

“Yeah?” He yelled back.

“Do you plan on keeping your soap?”

“No…Why?”

“I’ll take it then. I’ll need extra anyway,” And you were so happy you did. That soap made your hair silky smooth and stronger than ever. You rinsed the suds away then stepped into the hot springs.

It felt luxurious. You couldn’t help but moan a little as the heat pulled every knot and tense muscle from you. Relaxed, you floated in the steamy water.

“You still there Kili?” you asked suddenly nervous he’d left you.

“Yeah, I’m here” He replied, “We shouldn’t take too much longer though, Thorin could be back any minute and who knows what kind of a mood he’ll be in.”

That made you enjoy the bath a little faster. Not long after you began drying off and getting dressed. You took the hairbrush and beads and other miscellaneous hair trinkets that were on the vanity. You looked in the mirror at your new outfit. It fit as you thought, though a little snugger in some places than others, hugging your curves to allow for movement yet still baggy for breathability and insulation. Overall, a nice ensemble.

“Ready Y/N?” Kili asked from across the partition.

“Yeah, you can come over, I’m just packing my things.” You replied, folding your old clothes, and putting them in your bag with the rest of your things.

“Here’s the soap” He handed it to you.

“Thanks!” You smiled at him; you simply wrote his flushed cheeks off to the hot water. When you stood, he was able to get a much better look at you in your new clothes.

“A perfect fit I see” He smiled, looking you up and down. He couldn’t help but imagine what you’d look like wearing nothing but his tunic. A line of thought he blushed at and quickly willed away.

“Does it look alright? I don’t know how it’s supposed to fit” You fussed with the hems and the folds trying to make them lay better. He grabbed your hand to make you stop fidgeting.

“You look great,” he said with a genuine smile. You smiled and nodded your appreciation.

You walked back to camp, making moneyless bets on what mood Thorin would be in when he returned.

As you approached Fili saw you in your new outfit and said, “Well look at this…” Making the rest of the company look at you too, “Our wee lass looks like a bona fide middle earther now!” They cheered at your near-complete indoctrination.

“Now she just needs to learn how to fight like one.” Bofur quipped from beside the fire.

“Then I wouldn’t need any of you to protect me!” You put the back of your hand to your forehead feigning a damsel in distress, making the company laugh. You sat on the ground beside the long chair Kili was now examining his weapons in and leaned against it. You held out a stone fish figurine to him.

“As a thank you for helping me” you cleared your throat “…And for being my friend.” You couldn’t meet his eyes, but you knew he was smiling a little around his reed pipe. He took it from your open hands. You know it wasn’t much but it’s all you could offer.

“Maybe one day you can return it to the ocean,” you said, referring to your previous conversation.

“Maybe I will,” he smiled down at you with genuine fondness.

“Bombur!” Bofur called before throwing a sausage to his cousin. The table, which took skilled elfin craftsman months, even years to craft and carve out of solid wood, collapsed under the massive weight of Bombur. Everyone erupted in laughter, it was nice to be part of the group and share in the merriment.

Thorin stopped Balin on their way back to the camp, “We should leave her here,” He said, “She is a liability.”

Balin had a terrible sinking feeling in his round tummy when he thought of splitting you up.

“So what if she is, Thorin?” Balin said near pleading. “Have you ever seen your nephew that happy or open with a girl that quick before? I’ve never seen the lad so engaged in a conversation that didn’t have to do with weapons before last night. So what if she dies on our quest, at least we gave them a chance to happen, and if fate finds their pairing favorable it will all work out!” Balin was desperate to keep you and the young prince together if only to keep the sinking feeling at bay.

Thorin huffed, “Very well, but her blood is not on my hands,” He walked away and into the camp.

Thorin and Balin returned, and the tone became slightly more serious—slightly. The company settled and laid their bedrolls in the grassy parts of the garden. You laid yours out as well and prepped for sleep by removing your shoes and coat. The night was warm enough that your blanket would suffice. You looked up at the stars wondering if any of the constellations were the same as back home. You cuddled your coat to your chest relishing the feel of the soft fabric. The low conversation between Fili and Kili, while they sat on watch across the fire, lulled you to sleep.

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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werewolves-and-winchesters · 6 months

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Summary:

Gojo Satoru decides to spend the summer working as a lifeguard with his best friend Ieiri Shoko at a popular beach in Okinawa. He falls in love with a beautiful surfer. Based on artwork by Blargberries Lifeguard!Gojo and Surfer!Geto

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darkimpala1897 · 1 year

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"Morning."

Gareth, Eddie, Jeff all wake up together very confused luckily everyone was clothed. They all looked at each other confused.

"Honeymoon breakfast for the newly weds."

Gareth getting up shaking his head because he's pretty sure nobody got married.

Gareth: "Um, sorry dude. You've got the wrong room. No one here got married."

"Really? That one should check his finger."

He points to Eddie was trying to remember the night before. He realizes he's wearing a wedding ring.

Eddie: "Why am I wearing a ring? Did I marry Chrissy, Robin or Nancy? I married Chrissy didn't I? God I have a problem saying no to beautiful women!"

Steve coming out of the bathroom because he woke up in the bathtub for some reason.

Steve: "Hey. Does anyone know why I'm wearing a wedding ring?"

Eddie absolutely going wided eye to the point his eyes looked about ready to pop out of his head.

"You married that guy."

Steve and Eddie looking towards each other in shock.

Steve: "I married Dustin best friend."

Eddie: "I married the babysitter."

Jeff trying to make the situation better.

Jeff: "Okay, okay. This still doesn't explain Jason and the dolphin in the hot tub."

"The babysitter really? That's oddly a new one, and this is Vegas. I'm gonna go enjoy your breakfast."

Everyone just stares at each other so confused, because where was everyone else and how the hell did Steve and Eddie get married?

#stranger things #stranger things season 4 #eddie munson #stranger things au #alternate universe #steddie #steve stranger things #steve harrington #incorrect quotes #post canon #gareth emerson #jeff stranger things #everyone lives/nobody dies

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askthekraliekrew · 1 year

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alex and his bbgs tazerig tim (the tool man taylor) wright

___ Tim : Uh. I’m gonna... go. And forget I ever heard that.

Alex : ...

Alex : Well, on the bright side, that’s the first time he’s talked to me without trying to knock my teeth out since we started living here.

Alex : ...I think he’d kick me out if Jay wasn’t here.

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eyitzme · 27 days

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ᵗʰᵉ ʳᵒᵃᵈ ⁱⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ⁿⁱᵍʰᵗ ; ˣᵃⁿʳᵉⁱ ⁽ᵈʳᵈᵗ⁾

Summary: Xander Matthews and Arei Nageishi are trying to get home after spending the day with their classmates. Traffic, rain, and construction go against their wishes, and they're not making it home until a few more hours. Xander can deal with it, but when Arei's phone dies and she can't listen to music anymore, a conversation starts between them. It's not that bad. Word Count: 3,401 A/N: If I had a nickel for every Xanrei fic I made that happened during the night, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but isn't it weird how it happened twice? So, this fic was supposed to be Xanrei driving to some place, sitting on top of the car, looking at the night sky, and talking. (I have three nickels if you include ideas.) The moment I started writing this, my brain wondered about traffic, and the whole direction of the fic shifted before I even knew it. Writing is so weird. Faint traces remain, but you couldn't even tell what the original plan was unless I told you. I'm still proud of writing this entire one shot in one day, though, since the Xanrei fic I posted the other day did, in fact, give me motivation to write more Xanrei. Applaud me! (I'm imagining you, the reader, as a genderless being vaguely shaped like a human applauding for me right now.)

it isn't so bad being out here with you.

Xander Matthews enjoyed car rides. They were, most of the time, a nice experience that helped you get along with those around you. There were plenty of things you could do in the car, and the small stops through the trip, if it was a long one, gave you a short break from the others if you needed it. The question of where you were going was great as well! The possibilities were endless!

Today wasn't "most of the time."

Xander and his classmate, Arei Nageishi, were trying to go home after a long day of taking a break from school at a park five hours away from campus with the rest of their classmates. According to some of them—half, actually—Arei wasn't allowed to drive or even be in a car alone. Xander wasn't sure what the big deal was, but it wasn't like he spoke to Arei much. Whatever the case was, he found himself in his car willing to drive her home. It didn't seem like that bad of an idea, especially since Arei was busy with whatever music was playing in her headphones. The silence was a bit unnerving for Xander, especially considering who he was in the car with, but he was fine with it.

But then they got onto the highway and were stuck in traffic thanks to some construction. It was already getting late, and it just had to start raining too. They were barely moving a centimetre about every few minutes, and with how it was already nearing 11 P.M., he wasn't sure they were making it back home before midnight.

Xander's car was one of the more silent ones. He wasn't honking his horn obnoxiously like the other cars, and there wasn't any conversation going on either. The conversation part changed the moment Arei declared from the backseat, "This is the worst day ever!"

"It isn't that bad," Xander told her.

"Yes, it is. My phone died, and we're not even home yet, right?"

"You didn't realize we're stuck in traffic?"

"We're stuck in traffic?" From the rearview mirror, he could see Arei putting her headphones on her shoulders and looking out the windows. Her backpack rested on the ground in front of her. "Oh, we are. That sucks."

With his eyes still on the rearview mirror, Xander asked, "You actually didn't notice?"

"No," she answered. "I was going to listen to music until we got home so I wouldn't have to talk to you, but now my phone's dead."

"What's so bad about talking to me?"

"You're British."

Xander sighed. "You're not funny..."

"You're not funny," Arei repeated in a horrible attempt at a British accent.

Xander wasn't sure why he even attempted to talk to her. Arei pushed everyone's buttons almost too easily, and he was no exception. He wasn't sure what her deal was, but she could so annoying at times!

"How long until we're back home?" Arei asked.

"We're probably not getting back until after midnight," Xander answered.

"What time is it now?"

"11:48 P.M."

"I bet all the others are already home by now. I should've went with one of them instead of you."

"Too late now." In his mind, Xander repeated, Don't get annoyed. She's trying to make you annoyed, so giving her a reaction would be giving her what she wants. Don't get annoyed.

"It's Friday, right?" Arei leaned back against the backseat. "Nothing to do tomorrow. I'd be upset about the traffic if I had something important."

"You're not the one driving," Xander said.

"Hu Jing doesn't let me drive," she scoffed. "She says I'm not allowed to after what happened last time."

"What happened last time?"

"I don't feel like hearing a speech about being a good citizen or whatever you talk about, so I'll keep that a secret."

"I wasn't going to give you any speeches..."

"Better safe than sorry. By the way, you should really stop giving people speeches. David is right there. He gives better speeches than you. Stop."

The mention of his idol and classmate, David Chiem, put a smile on Xander's face. "Of course David can give better speeches than I can! He's amazing! You should've heard his speech the other day at—"

"Fanboy." Arei rolled her blue eyes. "Just get used to him already."

"I am used to him—"

"Doesn't look like it." She lowered her voice and put on her fake and terrible British accent. "Oh, David, be my partner for this project, love! David, look at these fish and chips I made for you! It'd be great if David could see me right now, innit? I need to give this bottle of water to David right now! David, David, David, David!"

All the reminders Xander had been giving himself to not get annoyed were immediately forgotten. "First, I don't sound like that! Second, your excuse of a British accent is just you not pronouncing the T's. Third, you know I've never said anything you think I say. I swear, you're the most annoying and selfish prick I've ever—"

A sniff interrupted his dialogue. Small teardrops started to flow from her eyes as Arei rubbed them away. "Y-You're so mean..."

Xander's heart shuddered. Her tears were fake. She always did that to get what she wanted. He knew that, but he still wanted her to stop. It was how he felt with everyone, but it was different with Arei. Instead of just the general "stop-crying", he had a more specific want. He wanted to comfort her, take back what he said in a hopefully more meaningful way—that probably wouldn't be the case, though—and possibly putting in some physical contact. He couldn't place why it was so different with her.

As usual, he had to ignore that want, mainly because his brain always went into panic-mode the second someone had tears start to show. "Arei, I didn't mean that..."

"Yes, you did. I get it. I'm the most annoying, selfish, pathetic, and ugly prick you've ever met. You never wanted to deal with me, but everyone else forced you to...!" She rubbed her nose against her sleeve, her blue nail polish looking darker than normal.

The car in front of them moved forward a couple of centimetres. Xander moved his car as far as he could, but the car behind them honked anyway. That made the other cars around them to start honking. Xander really couldn't deal with this plus Arei crying in the middle of the night.

He turned around in his seat to look at her from the front. He had to use the only card he had. "Arei, I promise I don't think of you like that. I won't ever call you that ever again. I won't even think about you like that."

She sniffed. Their eyes met in the rearview mirror. Something about the rain, the streetlights, and the surrounding headlights made her blue eyes with fake tears look bigger than normal. "Promise...?"

"I promise." His voice came out quieter than he expected it to. He figured it had to do with how quiet and soft her voice was. That, at the end of the day, was just another part of her tricks.

He turned back to the road as Arei immediately stopped crying and said, "Good. I'll remember this, Xander. If you break it—"

She was interrupted by a car near them honking their horn loud and long enough to probably be heard throughout the country.

She sighed. "Stupid drivers... We get it, it's late, you want to go home, now stop honking your horns and annoying everyone else! It's not doing anything to speed this up!"

Taking a peek at the rearview mirror, he noticed she was scowling. Normally, he didn't think people scowling was good as it showed they were annoyed at something that maybe they shouldn't be annoyed. True to it, he didn't like seeing her scowl, but a small part of him thought the flash of emotion in her eyes and the way her nose scrunched up was adorable.

He was probably tired. That was probably what it was.

Putting his eyes on anything else as the cars inches forward again, Xander asked, "Arei, do you get road rage?"

"Only when I'm the one driving," Arei answered. "Why?"

"You seem like someone who would."

"I'm taking that as an insult."

"It wasn't meant to be an insult."

"It sounded like one."

"Did your road rage make Hu Jing and everyone else decide you can't drive?" Xander asked to make her think about something else.

"I'm not telling you. What happened last time is a secret, Alexander." Arei pronounced his full name slowly like she was trying to make every letter of stick into his brain. He never told her what his full name was, and he always wondered if Teruko Tawaki had something to do with it. She was the only one in their class who knew his full name.

Xander turned his head to the window. Rain splattered onto it as he looked through the darkened windows to the car next to it. A man was asleep in the passenger seat as a woman drove the car. He wondered where they were going, where they came from, and why they were out so late. They, or at least the woman, could be wondering the same thing about him.

"What music do you listen to?" Xander almost jumped at the sound of Arei's voice. She had released herself out of her seatbelt's hold without turning on the sound of the alarm and was leaning over from the back. Her head was near his, her hair falling over the side her face as she searched through his glove box.

"Stop looking through my stuff!" Xander swatted her hand away. He was a second too late from her opening one and finding a charger.

She grabbed it before he could stop her and inspected it. "This one won't charge my phone. Useless." She dropped it in the passenger seat.

"You could at least put it back..." His grumbles went ignored, so he had to put it back.

"Where's your phone?" Arei asked. "Do you have, like, any streaming services? I wanna listen to something. Play some British song."

"I left my phone at home—"

"Who leaves their phone at home? What is this, the 2000's?"

"We're not listening to music," Xander said. "Sit down before someone sees you."

"We're going at one metre per hour. No one cares." As if she was trying to prove her point, she straightened her back while still sitting in between the passenger and driver seat. He had to tilt his head up to talk to her.

"What if we get into a car crash?"

"How bad are you at driving that we get in a car crash when we're barely moving? At that point, I'd take my chances with Ace driving while Levi does his scary stuff sitting in the passenger seat, Arturo sitting next to J in the backseat taking about J's mom, and Teruko's in the trunk here for her bad luck."

"Why is Teruko in the boot?"

"'Boot?'"

"Trunk," he quickly corrected. "Why is she in the trunk?"

"British people." Her nose scrunched to show disgust, but he knew she didn't actually feel that way. Maybe that knowledge was the reason why that simple act tugged on his heart. "There's no more room in the backseat, and Teruko has to be somewhere if I'd rather risk being in a car with her than you. Oh, yeah, if Arturo and J sit in the backseat with me, I don't have enough room to stretch my legs..."

"I was wondering why you sat in the backseat instead of the front."

He expected Arei to say something about her choices in car seating arrangements, but instead, she asked, "You have a tongue piercing?"

Xander was confused for a second before realizing she didn't know he had one. "Oh, yeah, I do. My old school had a strict rule that didn't allow any piercings, so I pierced my tongue. If a teacher walked by, all I have to do is close my mouth."

He stuck out his tongue so she could see his lip piercing better. The actual lip piercing wasn't anything special, but it was the act of getting one that was. To him, it was an act to fight against the rules that didn't make sense. That was his job! He pulled his tongue back into his mouth so he could explain what he was thinking back then when he noticed Arei expression.

It was oddly unreadable. She always kept the emotions she wanted others to see on the surface, so having a blank face was weird. Her eyes were trained onto his lips, and for a few seconds, silence took over. Then, her eyes lifted off his lips to his eye. He wasn't sure if it was just him or if she truly did stiffen ever so slightly, but he wasn't going to ask. The atmosphere between them felt...different. Like a blink alone could ruin whatever was going on between them. Not like he knew what was going on between them.

Xander wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. It felt like hours. It was probably no more than a few minutes, though, especially when the car behind them honked their horn. He turned to the road and realized he could move forward.

Arei slipped into the passenger seat when the car honked. After he moved the car as far as he could, he forced himself to expand the suddenly uncomfortable silence for a second to try to get used to it. He couldn't, so he asked, "I thought you didn't like sitting there."

She shrugged. "I like it. It's just that I like stretching my legs out more. There's not enough room here, and I can't even lay down."

"If you're sitting here now, put your seatbelt on."

Surprisingly, she listened. His surprise could only be held for a few seconds before she started rummaging around in his glove box again.

"I told you to stop looking through my stuff!" He swatted at her hands again.

"Why? Do you have something to hide, Xander Matthews? Do you have drugs in here? Porn magazines? Condoms? Were you planning—"

"I don't have any of those, and I wasn't planning anything!" Even though the streetlights and the headlights made it relatively easy to see, he hoped it was too hard for her to see how red his cheeks were.

"That's what they all say." She took a five-second break before going back to it.

To focus on something that wouldn't give him a headache, Xander looked out the window to see if he could see the man and the woman who were in the car next to them, but they were gone. A new car was there was two new people. They were a different man and woman. From what it looked like, they were having a lively conversation with each other, one filled with laughter and smiles. He couldn't make out what they were talking about, but they looked like they were enjoying each other's presence.

"Xander, say, 'Cheese!'"

"Huh?"

When Xander turned his head towards Arei, he found her holding his phone towards his face, unlocking it with facial I.D. Before he could stop her, she went back to the backseat and went through his phone, keeping it out of his reach. She readjusted her seatbelt to be around her again as she said, "Liar, liar, liar," each "liar" getting a shake of her head. "You said you kept your phone at home, but it's right here? I knew no one kept their phone at home nowadays! What kind of things are you hiding in here?"

"Nothing, now give me my phone back!" He tried to reach for it from the driver seat, but his seatbelt stopped him from getting too far.

"I'm only checking what music you listen to." She showed him the phone screen briefly as proof. When she turned it back to herself, she stayed silent as she scrolled through. He wasn't sure why he felt nervous about her knowing what he listened to, but he did. After a minute, she smiled and said, "You would listen to this."

The smile on her face and her voice were different than everything he got used to with her. It was small and gentle, and her voice was soft with no hint of teasing. They worked together to give her a look of sweet understanding. It was unusual, considering who it was coming from, but she looked so pretty that he couldn't look away.

He wished he had the photographic memory of their classmate, Rose Lacroix. Just remembering that look on her face would be enough, but if he also received her artistic skills, then it would be even better. Being able to paint how to the light from their surroundings hit her, how the screen reflected on her eyes, how her being in his car like it was the most natural thing in the world would be a dream. He could even frame it somewhere and show off the moment he realized—

No, he didn't realize anything.

Arei leaned down and opened her backpack. She shuffled through it until she pulled out earbuds. Despite already having headphones still resting on her shoulders, she plugged the earbuds into his phone and said, "I'm listening to your playlist now. How much time do we have left until we get home?"

Xander forced his eyes back to the road. The car in front of him moved farther than before, and even with the rain, he could see that there was less traffic not that far up ahead. "Once we make it past here, we should be home in around two and a half hours."

"That's enough time to listen to your playlist. I'm telling you my opinions on it tomorrow—and you better care about them." She put her earbuds in, leaned back against the car seat, and closed her eyes. Even though he couldn't tell what she was thinking, she looked more peaceful than normal.

The construction site was coming to an end. In less than half an hour, he should be able to drive more freely. The rain would be a little bit of a bother, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He already had Arei inside his car. But then again, his mind went back to the sweet smile on her face every time he thought of her. He would happily deal with her if it meant he got to see that smile more.

As time went on, their car made it further through traffic. They just about reached the end when Xander felt someone nudge his shoulder. He looked over and saw Arei sitting in between in the driver seat and the passenger seat and holding out one of her earbuds.

He hesitated, but he took it. Once he did, she sat on the passenger seat and put the seatbelt on wordlessly. He still hadn't put the earbud in his ear yet.

"You need to stop moving so much," he said.

"I'll stop now," she replied. "We're actually moving, so you can get into a car crash now."

"I don't want to get into one."

"Good, I don't either. If you do and I die but you live, I'm haunting you." Her eyes flashed as she looked at him. "And if you try to haunt me if I'm alive but your dead, I'm exorcising you in the most painful way possible."

"I don't want to kill us both, so I guess we both have to live."

"Good thing we agree on that."

Xander realized he still hadn't put the earbud in. When he did, he realized his playlist was playing. His phone sat between them as music went through to both of them. Arei was looking out the window with that unreadable expression she had when she found out he had a lip piercing.

Xander wasn't sure what to think of it, but he had to drive right now. He wasn't risking any haunting from Arei. She could push anyone's buttons, but she would make for a cute ghost.

#danganronpa #danganronpa fangan #danganronpa fangame #danganronpadespairtime #danganronpa despair time #danganronpa: despair time #drdt #fanfic #fanfiction #drdt fanfic #xanrei #arei nageishi #xander matthews #alternate universe #everyone lives/nobody dies #late at night #late night conversations

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green-fifteen · 1 year

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Author: LinguisticJubilee

Fandom: The Hobbit

Relationship: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield

Summary:

Balin blinks, shifting backwards. “Laddie, it’s—it’s been a year. Bilbo has returned home, to the Shire.” He looks at Thorin, then says more gently, “I did not realize you counted the hobbit among your treasures.”

Tags:

Angsty Schmoop, Tropes, Cheesy, The amount of cheesy in this is not to be believed, Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies

Podfic length: 0:1:02:29

Streaming, MP3, and MB4 available.

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asoiafzambi · 11 months

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Chapters: 9/12 Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, House of the Dragon (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Daemon Targaryen/Rhaenyra Targaryen, Aegon II Targaryen/Rhaenyra Targaryen, Aemond "One-Eye" Targaryen/Helaena Targaryen, Aemond "One-Eye" Targaryen/Lucerys Velaryon (Son of Rhaenyra), Baela Targaryen/Alyn Velaryon, Sara Snow/Jacaerys Velaryon, Criston Cole/Alicent Hightower, Garmund Hightower/Rhaena Targaryen (Daughter of Daemon), Daemon Targaryen/Leanor Velaryon|Addam of Hull Characters: Daemon Targaryen, Laenor Velaryon|Addam of Hull, Alyn Velaryon, Rhaenys Targaryen Velaryon, Rhaenyra Targaryen, Aegon II Targaryen, Lucerys Velaryon (Son of Rhaenyra), Aemond "One-Eye" Targaryen, Helaena Targaryen, Alicent Hightower, Criston Cole, Otto Hightower, Garmund Hightower, Rhaena Targaryen (Daughter of Daemon), Baela Targaryen, Daeron Targaryen (Son of Viserys I), Aegon Targaryen (The Younger), Viserys II Targaryen, Cassandra Baratheon Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Everyone Is Alive, Angst, Seperation, Reconciliation, Aging, Polyamory, Crack Treated Seriously, Work In Progress, POV Alternating, Targcest | Targaryen Incest (A Song of Ice and Fire)

Summary: A different time. A different king.

A/N: Chapters 6 to 9 are up now. Sorry it took so long.

#alternate universe #nobody dies/everyone lives #crack treated seriously #rhaegon #daemyra #daemon x laenor #lucemond #helaemond #alicent x criston #rhaena x garmund

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the-greatlibrary · 1 year

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Finding Your Place by lvmehtme - E, One-shot

Bilbo is meant to return to the Shire at the start of spring, but he's conflicted when things develop between him and Thorin. Tauriel is a good friend and helps him think through the pros and cons of staying in Erebor, until, finally he comes to his decision. Also, Dwarves are odd when it comes to age differences between the races and Bilbo has had it up to here with their coddling!

#the hobbit #thilbo #thilbo bagginshield #thorin oakenshield #bilbo baggins #explict #one shot #ao3 #alternate universe #alternate universe - everyone lives/nobody dies #angst #fluff

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quinn-fucks-shit-up · 1 year

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people who only go on ao3 for smut and people who think fanfic is just porn are seriously limiting their horizons, cause fix-it fics and aus are actually so good and honestly are what make ao3 the best thing on the internet

#be better #fanfic #ao3 #fanfiction #writing #fix it fic #au #alternate universe #everyone lives/nobody dies #pls #best au #my word #i just want eveyone to be happy :(((#smut

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julianbutnotliketheking · 2 months

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Overview

Chapter 1: Inverted Things

Word Count: 2, 709

Everything felt loud. All Sal could hear was a sound of all kinds. Chatter, things dropping, the scraping of rubber soles, everything.

It was the last day of the year. Well, at least for Sal and Ash. Larry had graduated a year ago, and Todd was a year behind them. Everybody else in their year was excited, yelling, talking to one another. Sal wished that he felt happy for them all. He wished he was just as excited as them. Instead, he had backed himself into a corner with his hands pressing hard against his ears. Instead, he was shaking as every tiny noise overwhelmed him. It made him feel nauseated. He couldn't stand it.

Every time Sal thought he might be able to try and relax, he tried to pull his hands down. The noise only got louder when he did. It got louder and louder, and louder, and he could not handle it anymore. Tears pricked in his eyes and his legs started to feel weak.

"S..."

There was finally something distinct in the noise that had practically static. Sal couldn't quite figure out what it was saying, though. It blurred into all the background noise.

"Sa..."

The voice spoke again, and now it sounded warped. It sounded like when you flick through radio stations and hear small snippets of each one.

"Sally."

Everything fell silent. There was no more noise, and now all Sal could hear was the overbearing silence and the strange voice. It called out to him, and he cracked open his eyes. In front of him was a man, and he lit up the darkness that now surrounded him. He was illuminated with a dull pink light, and there were large pipes that came from his hunched-over body. They were bright, so bright that it hurt Sally's eyes to look at. A bright blue was now burned into his retinas, and he could see it even when he closed his eyes again.

"Sal, there's something you need to do."

The deep voice rang out into the void surrounding him and Sal, but it hurt Sal's head to listen to. He had to cover his ears again and try to silence it out. Nothing helped, though. The voice was loud as ever, reverberating through Sal's ears. It hurt. His whole body hurt.

The man craned his neck up and looked at Sal dead in the eye, and his mouth started to move again.

"Sal, I need you to listen to me."

Then it all ended. The static was back, and Sal's head pounded. His eyes shut again, and he held his head tightly in his hands in a desperate attempt to ease his pain, but to no avail. He felt so sick because of it, and he swore that the pain threatened to spread over his whole body. He started to ache, but as quickly as it started it had stopped.

The noise had passed again, and this time when Sal opened his eyes he was greeted with the sight of the nurse's office. He wasn't quite sure how he got there, but at least he knew that he was safe during whatever that episode was.

Sal looked around the room groggily, still feeling like his skull was about to split in half. He sat very still, other than trying to take in his surroundings, and he noticed there was a figure in the room with him.

Travis sat opposite him, but he didn't move. He didn't speak. It was freaky.

"Travis?" Sal spoke up, his voice quiet and barely piercing the silence that hung between them. He got no reply.

"Trav?" Sal tried again, and now he was trying to see if he had any reason to be in the nurse's office. Usually, he would have been in a fight of sorts, but there was no evidence of one anywhere visible.

There was still no reply, so Sal began to stand up. Only then did Travis seem to notice him.

"What are you doing?" Travis asked, and he spoke as if he hadn't just been staring blankly at nothing in particular. He stayed freakishly still like some kind of cryptid.

"Uhm, I was leaving?" Sal answered a tad nervously. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on, and honestly, he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to.

"Are you okay, you were just staring... blankly. At nothing."

Travis looked at him as if he was stupid. As if he was making stuff up.

"What're you talking about, Sally Face?" Travis asked, clearly unimpressed by Sal.

"Nothing,," Sal mumbled, uncomfortably shifting his weight on his feet. He edged his way towards the door, then lifted his calloused hand to the handle.

"Cya, Travis."

Sal didn't wait for a reply before he left, because he didn't know if he wanted one. When he got out into the linoleum-lined halls he felt far more uneasy that he did before. Travis's weird behaviour was one thing, but the pure silence everywhere else was worse. It wasn't a normal kind of quiet where you could still hear the buzzing of the electricity, though. There was <i>nothing</i>. Absolutely nothing.

Sal walked through the halls, and he swore the layout had changed mildly. He walked down the math hall but instead saw science classes. He walked to where he remembered the main exit being, and found himself in the courtyard. It was weird, but he tried to ignore it and shake off the funny feeling he felt in his stomach.

Each step he took after finding the courtyard seemed to grow louder and louder. Sal swore to whatever Gods there were, if any, that sometimes he would hear a second set too. Anytime he looked around, though, he saw nothing. Nobody.

Finally, he found the exit, and he hadn't ever left a building quicker. He shoved the heavy door open with whatever strength he had and stepped out into the cold air outside. It was raining, but there was no smell of rain. There was barely any noise of it either. And here Sal thought he would be able to feel a bit more normal again if he got out to go home. He didn't even know if school had ended, but he could only assume it must have because of how empty the building was. Other than Travis... Alone, in the nurse's office.

Sal continued his walk, making his way down a long road. He looked around and saw nothing out of place. He must have just gotten lost in the school. He must of, somehow. Maybe he was disoriented from the migraines he had earlier. That was the only explanation he could think of. Maybe that's what was making him feel so strange right now. Maybe he was just out of it.

Praying that the only reason everything felt off was because of the strange episode he had earlier, Sal continued his way home. The road was empty, but that was nothing strange. Nockfell was a small place with very few people. Most of the students came in from the other towns around the place.

Sal's unease didn't go away at all as he walked home, but he tried so desperately to ignore it. It was probably his anxiety playing up. He hadn't taken his meds, probably. He probably forgot them this morning, as well as the other meds he had to take. That must be why he felt so off. Maybe. He wasn't sure, in all honesty. How long had he been off them?

Finally, though, he approached the apartments. They were the only thing so far that everything seemed normal about. It stood where it always did. There were a few windows with the lights on, and the paint on the walls outside was spray painted over or chipping. It looked like a horrid place to live, just like it always had. Just like it should.

Sal pulled out a key that he needed to get into the front door of the complex, stuck it into the keyhole and twisted. He stepped inside, the small water build up on his soles leaving footprints as he walked along the hall. He walked through the hall, and then stopped at 102. Perhaps speaking to Terrence could make him feel a bit better. He was always sweet enough.

Knock knock knock.

The letterbox opened, and Sal could see two little eyes peering through the gap.

"Good evening, Sal," Terrence greeted cheerfully as ever. It relieved him to hear that voice. He would usually greet Terrence on his way to or back from school. Or just whenever he felt like saying hi before or after going somewhere. The two had become rather acquainted.

"Good heavens, isn't it a bit late for you to coming home from school?" The tone that Terrence spoke in changed instantly when he realised the time, and that only made Sal wonder just how late it was morekm. The sky was no good tell, it was mid summer.

"Oh,,," Sal mumbled, fiddling with his hands as he tried to think up some kind of excuse, "I had detention."

That was the best thing that he could think of. It seemed to work, though, because Terrence let out a small understanding hum.

"Oh dear," Terrence said softly, and Sal could see him shaking his head through the letterbox. "That's the first you've ever had, isn't it?"

Thankfully for Sal, Terrence didn't sound annoyed or disappointed at all. Despite never having seen him properly, he felt close to Terrence. He honestly spoke to him more than he spoke to his own father at this point.

"Well, it was bound to happen some day. I trust it was the fault of somebody else, and you were just dragged into their trouble?"

Sal just nodded, and hummed out a soft 'mhmm'.

"Did Larry come and see you when he came home?" Sal asked curiously. He assumed that he would have just gone down to the basement, but maybe he spoke to Terrence too. The two of them usually did that. They felt quite bad for the man, really. Always feeling like he should hole himself away in his apartment. Sal understood how he felt, given it was something he did because of insecurities.

"Larry?" Terrence hadn't ever sounded so perplexed before. Had he somehow forgotten who Larry was, or was he just playing some kind of joke on him?

"Yeah, Larry. Johnson? He's Lisa's son?"

Terrence started muttering to himself, but none of it sounded very sure of anything. Sal hadn't ever been more confused in his life.

"They live... Down in the basement?"

Sal tried desperately to give more of an explanation, but nothing seemed to help at all. Sal didn't understand why Terrence couldn't remember Larry or Lisa.

"Don't worry about it, Terrence," Sal finally said, putting a pause in the mans thoughts. "I should be getting home, Gizmo will be needing fed."

"Of course," Terrence said gently, "Fare well, Sal."

Then he closed his little letterbox and disappeared back into his bedroom. Sal took a few slow steps away from the door, and then he made his way to the elevator at the end of the hall. With unsteady hands, which was nothing unusual, he pressed the button to call the elevator to him.

The doors opened to beckon Sal into the small space, and he stepped in. Raising his hand to the number pad, he realised that something was wrong about it. All the buttons were there for each floor, but there was no card slot for the basement. It just,,, didn't exist. He stared for a few seconds, then slowly pressed the button for the fourth floor. The pad beeped as he did.

The doors closed behind him, locking him into the elevator until it reached where it wanted to go. It beeped as it passed each floor, and then gave a louder beep as it got to the fourth floor. The doors opened, and Sal stepped out. The paint on the walls was still chipping, especially near the top where moisture from the upstairs came through.

He walked towards door 402, and then pulled his keys out of his pocket again so he could unlock the door. He stepped inside, and locked the door behind him.

"Gizmo!" Sal called out, expecting to hear a soft 'murr' and a thud from him jumping down off something. He didn't hear that, though.

"Dad?" This time he spoke more confused sounding. He wasn't particularly calling out for the man, but more wondering if he was there. Seeing another person could help ground him back to reality, and whatever was going on now would stop. Henry of all people would make sure that he knows that he's acting crazy.

He got no reply, though. The silence rung out around him as he walked further into the livingroom.

"Daaddd?" Sal called out again, hoping that maybe the man wasn't listening. Or maybe he was at work? Sal prayed that was the case. When he still got no reply, he made his way through the house to his room. Gizmo was nowhere to be seen.

Sal kicked off his shoes as he entered his room, and it was only now that he realised he wasn't carrying a bag or anything. He hadn't taken anything home from school.

"Shit,,," He muttered quietly to himself, and then walked over to his bed. On his bedside was his walkie talkie, which he stared at for a couple minutes before deciding to pick it up.

He pressed the button, "Larry?" And let go. Static buzzed out. There was no reply. "Larry, this isn't funny."

Sal had no clue what was going on, or how Larry might have managed to pull off some kind of joke like this. He was certain, though, that <i>had</i> to be what was going on. Larry has to have coordinated all this, because who else would? Who else would put this much effort into something just to fuck about with him?

Sal put his walkie talkie down, hoping that Larry was finding whatever kind of joke this was funny, and he sat on his bed silently. A couple of minutes passed, and the talkie started to make weird sputtering noises, which Sal swore made him jump out of his skin.

"S.... S.... S," The talkie hissed out sounds that Sal couldn't understand, but he picked it up anyways to try and listen better.

"Sal," He finally understood something, but it wasn't Larry talking to him. No, it was the same voice from earlier. The one attached to the strange man hooked up to the oversized life support.

"I need you to listen to me." That was the first coherant sentence Sal could understand. His hands shook a bit, but he didn't quite know why. He wasn't scared. He didn't feel scared. He felt almost like he had experienced this before.

His head started to ache again as the voice spoke to him, but nothing made sense. All the sentenced were jumbled or static-y. None of it made any sense, and at this point it was just stressing Sal out that he couldn't understand the man that was desperately trying to reach him.

Nothing eligible came out of the man again. The attempt at speaking came to an end, and Sal could feel his head pounding. Despite the silence, Sal swore that he could still hear the sounds of the gargled voice. It echoed throughout his walls and infected his brain. He couldn't stop hearing it.

Sal felt strange, but he put his walkie talkie back down on his bedside and stared at it for a few more minutes, waiting in case anything else happened. It stayed silent.

With the day that Sal had, he decided that he just wanted to sleep. He didn't care what the time was, whether it was strangely late or strangely early, he just wanted it all to be over with. His head hurt, and his eyes felt heavy, and his legs felt weak. He began to strip himself of his clothes until he only wore his boxers, then placed his prosthetic onto the bedside too.

tips

#sally face #sally face fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #everyone lives/nobody dies #alternate universe #sal fisher #jim johnson #travis phelps

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hellcheerficdatabase · 10 months

Text

Go See Baby Now

Author: JohnnyNoGood

Rating/Warning: Explicit

Chapter Count: 6/?

Description:

The last anyone had heard of Eddie Munson, he was making a big to-do about leaving for LA to kick off a glittering music career. Some career it was, because no news had come from LA in the four years since. Not until now. And it certainly wasn’t anything to do with music.

It was the talk of the town when word caught on. How could it not be? You mean him? Doing what? It’s how big?

Chrissy had to see it, of course. Had to see him.

Tags: Alternate universe- canon divergence, alternate universe-everyone lives/nobody dies, future fic, P*rnstar!Eddie, good girl gone bad...., possessive Eddie, Chrissy has a CRUSH on Eddie, smut, so much smut, fluff, hurt/comfort, teasing, dirty talk, Alternating POV, mostly Chrissy, multiple chapters, status: WIP

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the-really-lonely-mountain · 2 months

Text

Along for the ride, to Erebor - Part 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Summary: Transported to Middle Earth, you must Join Thorin Oakenshield's Company as they travel to reclaim Erebor! OR: My take on the classic 'modern girl in Middle Earth' troupe. This is the second installment, so we are following the second movie of The Hobbit trilogy, and falling deeper in love with Kili on the way! This is the first part for the second movie.

Tags: Kili / Reader, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Modern Character in Middle Earth, During The Hobbit, How Do I Tag, Canon-Typical Violence, Kíli Is a Little Shit (Tolkien), implied soulmates, Dwarf Culture & Customs, Freeform, light smut, it's really just a brief description nothing too detailed, Holding Hands, Cuddling & Snuggling, Sleepy Cuddles, Protective Thorin Oakenshield Company Members, Dwalin & Thorin Oakenshield Friendship, Fluff and Humor, Domestic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Where In Middle-Earth Is Gandalf?, Hair Braiding, Dwarf Courting, My First Tumblr Fic, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fíli & Kíli & Thorin Live, Thorin Oakenshield Lives, Fíli Lives (Tolkien), Kíli Lives (Tolkien), this chapter is domestic as hell, sword fight training, kili is a big ole softy and i love him so much for it

Word Count: 4,977

A/N: Hey y'all!! It's been a crazy couple of months let me tell ya! good god! I've decided to finally post the next part of the story to tumblr despite it not having been beta read. I'll use you guys as my guinea pigs lol so if you see anything that doesn't make sense or is spelled wrong, I'm begging you to please tell me. I can't wait to hear what you think about my pride and joy! <3

Image credit: @iamjaynaemarie

Divider credit: @cafekitsune

The company climbed down the tall rock into the forest below. Having rested on the long flight over, everyone was prepared for a day of walking. Nothing notable happened except innocent conversation to pass the time and the forging of grapes with Bilbo for a snack.

The sun dipped closer to the horizon, casting long shadows through the trees. Thorin found a small river to make camp nearby. Gloin made the fire then Bombur started cooking the food. While the stew was being made, Fili and Kili practiced their swordsmanship under the watchful eyes of Thorin and Dwalin to provide guidance. The dwarves had found a log and brought it over beside the fire. You knelt in the grass on the fire’s side parallel to the log. The others were leaning against it on the opposite side, smoking pipes and making jokes and commentary about the training. You pulled out your thread spools and measured out the first color. You realized you didn’t have scissors and asked the merry gathering in front of you if they did.

“Nah lass,” Dori said, “Our weapons aren’t sharp enough to cut thread, they’ll only fray it” He kicked Nori to quiet him when he started to protest the quality of his weapons, “You’ll want to ask Thorin to borrow his sword.”

You swallowed thickly and looked over at the man in question where he stood with his arms crossed next to Dwalin. He always intimated you but approaching him alone to ask a favor made anxiety spike straight through you.

They were several feet away, but the clanging of metal was still quite loud. The brothers had removed their shirts, as men often did, to escape the insulated heat it provided. Not that you were complaining, eye candy is always welcome in a world of forests and furs.

You timidly approached the taller man as he instructed the brothers. You waited till they started fighting again to say in a shy voice: “Um Thorin?”

He glanced at you to acknowledge your inquisition, “Yes, what is it?” He sounded impatient.

“May I please borrow your sword?” You pointed to the weapon strapped to his side, “I need it to cut some thread” You tried not to sound as scared and skittish as you felt. He looked at you blankly for a moment, surprised by your question.

Kili threw his brother back several feet, allowing him a few seconds to turn to you with a confident smile.

“Hey Y/N,” Kili said, making you and Thorin look at him. You couldn’t help but smile and sheepishly blush as you tried not to ogle his ripped upper body dripping in sweat.

“Hi Kili” you swayed back and forth a little without realizing it. Thorin took note of your fond reaction to his nephew.

Fili let out a mighty roar as he jumped on the back of his brother, taking advantage of his distraction. The dwarves on the log laughed and you giggled at them as they goaded each other on.

“I’ve got you now brother!” Fili triumphantly exclaimed.

“I think not!” Kili replied with a strong thrusting attack.

Thorin sighed, “Very well” He untied his sheathed sword from his belt and handed it to you. You thanked him and began walking back to your previous spot. He looked at the line of dwarves who were still chuckling lightly against the log, “Make sure she doesn’t kill herself” he said to them. They all nodded, including Balin who found this ironic remembering their conversation about leaving you in Rivendell. It would seem the dwarf king was taking a liking to you.

You kneeled, unsheathed the great Goblin Cleaver a few inches, and positioned the hilt between your knees, so it stayed standing on its spine. You measured 7 lengths of thread at about three feet and rubbed them against the fine elfin blade which cut them in one pass to make makeshift embroidery thread. You repeated that 5 times to end up with two groups of pink, two groups of blue, and one group of black thread. You did your best to keep them separated as you bunched them together to fold them in half and tie a loop at the end that you could hook onto a button of your coat. You sheathed the sword and returned it to Thorin knowing he wouldn’t like being without his weapon. You sat on the side of the log with everyone else and secured your coat in your lap so you could pull taught against the threads. You separated the threads and began knotting them over and across each other like how you learned to make friendship bracelets at summer camp. It gave your hands something to do as you sat idly watching the boys trash talk then turn serious and start fighting again.

“What are ya makin’ Y/N?” Ori asked as he watched you.

“I’m making a bracelet” You replied, pleased to see the others taking an interest in your crafting.

“Why’s that lass?” Bifur leaned over to see what you were doing exactly.

“So I can eventually make one for everyone else” You explained how it’s a tradition of sorts in your world to make bracelets for those you care about as a show of kinship and the enduring strength of your friendship and bond. “Since I can’t fight beside you all on the battlefield yet, I thought this could be another way I show my commitment to the company” You smiled at the group. You’d grown very fond of them during your travels and hoped they enjoyed your company as much as you did theirs.

“That’s a very sweet tradition, Y/N,” Balin said, “We look forward to receiving your gifts” The rest of the dwarves confirmed it with ‘Aye’s and a strong nod of the head.

“Supper!” Bombur called while stirring the pot. Everyone got in line except the training group who was going one last round. You all sat down in your previous spots along the log to see the finale of the night’s training.

You finished your dinner quickly so you could take advantage of the distracted troublemakers as well as the river on the other side of the hill. You grabbed your bag and told Gandalf you were going to the river to wash up. You knew he’d keep an eye on the dwarf who often followed you like a puppy and missed you when you weren’t by his side.

You see, Kili had to share most of his things with his brother; toys, motherly attention, food, and this included the women he was interested in. They usually fell for Fili because he was more mature, older, and looked more dwarfish than Kili who had very fine features for a dwarf and was five years younger than his brother. He initially assumed it would happen again with you, so when you didn’t show any interest in his brother, only in him, he couldn’t put into words how happy it made him.

At the river’s edge, you placed your bag and makeshift towel (your shirt from your old world) on a rock and took off your clothes. The water was chilly but nothing a sit by the fire couldn’t fix. You washed your hair and body with the elfish soap you got in Rivendell. As you rinsed in the steady current of the water your thoughts began to wander to what Gandalf said about your predicament.

You felt pulled to Kili, he brought comfort and calmness to a feeling you didn’t even know was in need. His smile and his laugh, every memory and moment you made and shared with the handsome prince of Erebor begged you to stay in Middle Earth.

It was decided then.

When you stood to squeeze the water from your hair you noticed the sun was beginning to set. The others would want to bathe too, or at the very least wash their hands. You dried off and dressed and took a deep breath to enjoy the welcomed privacy one last time.

You reappeared beside the wizard, “Thank you, Gandalf, that was very much needed” You sat next to him on the ground in front of the fire to warm up. “I may be traveling with brutes, but I needn’t smell like one” You joked. He chuckled over his pipe at this.

“I’ve decided to stay here Gandalf.” You informed him. “Something about this place is calling me to stay.” You needn’t tell him about the intense pull to Kili, right?

“Splendid my dear,” He smiled fondly at your decision. “I’m sure you’ll find Middle earth rather agreeable.”

You smiled up at him, happy to have his support.

The boys were still going at it. Kili was making a great effort, but Fili got the upper hand, making Kili’s sword fly out of his hand and sail through the air to stick in the ground. Kili kept fighting though, trying to get Fili’s sword from him. Fili had to force him to the ground with his arms pinned before Kili surrendered.

“Good job lads, good work,” Thorin said as he helped them up. Coins were exchanged against the log from the bets the company members made. The boys started walking towards their bags, but Kili swerved at the last moment to approach you. Your hair was still slightly damp from the river, so it was obvious you’d just bathed. Being the mischievous sweaty dirt-covered mess he was, Kili held his arms out to you for a hug. You watched him in horror as he continued to walk towards you.

“Ew, no Kili stop!” You held your hand up to stop him but to no avail.

“Awe Y/N, just one hug?” Kili pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

You quickly stood and laugh a little at his persistence, “Don’t you fucking dare!” you said and dashed away.

“Come on Y/N, no need to play hard to get!” Kili strained as he chased you around the log and back toward your bags.

“Aaahh!” You made a sharp turn to narrowly avoid a grimy Fili, who stepped in your path, the little shit. This closed the gap so Kili could grab your arm and pull you toward him.

“Nonononononono!” you pleaded as he wrapped his beefy arms around your shoulders, making sure to rub his sweaty dirty face against your hair and pet the side of your face with his equally dirty hand. “Kili!” you drew out the last syllable in complaint.

“You smell so good” He had the nerve to say.

“You smell like Ori’s unwashed socks!” You pushed at his chest still trying to get away. Everyone chuckled at this. “Get off me, ya big olaf” you managed to wriggle out of his grasp, “I’m not coming anywhere near you till you bathe,” you said dead serious, and pointed to the river.

“As you wish” Kili bowed with a smirk, he grabbed his bag on his way to the river to join his brother. You sat in your by the fire with a small smile that seemed permanent whenever you were around him.

You were working on your bracelet when the brothers returned. The sun had dipped below the horizon making darkness seep into the crevasses of the world. Kili sat behind you on the same long stone Gandalf was perched on and touched the ends of your miraculously dry hair (the elvish soap is magic idk). You stiffened at the unexpected but not necessarily unwelcome contact.

“Can I braid your hair Y/N?” he asked innocently as pink dusted his cheeks. You whipped around aggressively, pulling your hair out of his hand in the process.

“No cause you’re just going to get it all tangled and I’m going to have to spend all night brushing it out!” You weren’t looking forward to that, you thought he was just trying to prank you. Kili’s pout was as cute as ever.

“My dear,” Gandalf budded in before Kili could sulk away, “Braiding hair in dwarfish culture is similar to your tradition of making bracelets for friends, but they take it much more seriously.”

“How much more seriously?” You asked, intrigued about the nature of Kili proposition.

“It’s like…” The wizard took a draw from his pipe while he thought of the words to properly explain it to you, “asking someone to dance, it’s special and a more intimate way of getting to know someone.”

“So, like a date?” You tilted your head in question. You understood his analogy; braiding allows both people to show their level of craftsmanship and commitment, with the added benefit of practicality and looking very nice in the end when done with love and care.

“A bit” Gandalf smiled at your naiveite, “Just know our dear Kili is not trying to prank you when he asks to braid your hair, quite the opposite” He took another draw from his pipe and looked back at the fire.

“In that case, you may braid my hair Kee” You flipped your hair back over your shoulder. You couldn’t see the beaming smile that grew on his handsome face. You dug through your bag to find the hairbrush and other trinkets from Rivendell which you handed to Kili. He kept them in his lap while he brushed your hair. If he came across a knot, he was sure to be incredibly gentle. You enjoyed the physical contact and attention very much.

“Any requests?” He asked sounding confident in his abilities.

“Whatever you think would look best” You couldn’t help but smile a little.

He used your brush to part your hair down the middle. He started braiding at your nape closest to the part. After that you didn’t pay very much attention to what he was doing, instead just relished the experience.

He finished one side and secured it with a bead from your stash, “How’s that feel, too tight?”, he asked and adjusted pieces here and there to make it lay perfectly.

“It feels great!” You chirped happily. You reached a hand to feel what he’d done so far but he shooed it away.

“Not yet, you’ll ruin the surprise!” He started working on the other side.

By the time he was done, you were so relaxed you’d almost fallen asleep on his leg.

“Done!” he said, you could tell he was very pleased with his work, “How do you like it?” He sounded a bit nervous.

You ran your fingers over the braids, feeling how they turned and curved at certain points and went straight in others.

“Kili this is amazing!” You said, very happy with the state of your hair. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Thank you!” You looked back at him with a smile that was as big as his.

“I’m afraid I can't properly reciprocate though, I don’t know how to braid hair like this, I can only do normal braids.” You regretted never having learned how to French braid now more than ever. “If that’s how this works” You quickly corrected in a slight panic.

He was elated you wanted to return his deed at all, “That’s fine!” He tried not to sound too excited and be cool about it, “I can teach you if you want” he offered.

“I’d appreciate that!” You smiled.

You switched places, so he was sitting between your legs facing the fire. The position was innocent, but his thoughts were anything but. Images of your face beautifully contorted in pleasure from his tongue exploring your most private and intimate parts were most welcomed.

“May I take this out?” you lightly touched the silver clip that held his hair out of his face.

“Sure” He happily shrugged. You dug through his brown hair where the clasp was supposed to be, but your trembling hands couldn’t find it in all his hair.

After he heard you huffing and puffing and hadn’t felt his hair fall from the clip he asked in a soft voice, “Do you need help?”

“Yes,” you sighed, embarrassed you couldn’t even get a damn clip undone. He reached back, and struggled for a few seconds but undid the clasp, and handed it to you.

While you brushed his hair you thought of what you should do to it, or more what you could do with his hair given your limited abilities. You brushed through a few knots if any.

“I think I know what I want to try to do,” You touched the sides of his head just above his temple, “I want to do two small braids on the sides of your head, but I want the topmost part of your hair not to be braided.”

“Let’s try it!” He explained how you needed to part the hair and how to get started. You had his head lying against your thigh in an admittedly awkward and uncomfortable position, but he was quite the trooper. You had to restart the first braid three times but, in the end, he talked you through it and you tied it off with a bead.

“How did you learn to braid so well” you asked, struggling to grip all the pieces of the second braid properly and not pull the strands out of his head.

“My mother was insistent I learned. She knew my brother would have no trouble learning this facet of courting, but she feared I would spend all my time shooting arrows and never learn how to properly court girls.” He talked fondly of the memories, “So one summer when I was about to come of age, I came home from running amuck every day and she’d sit me down at her tapestry’s and make me braid the tassels that ran around the border.”

“Were you any good?” You asked curiously.

“Oh yes, I was very good! For a while, I was even better than Fili!” He was very proud of that.

“Why did he get better than you? Lean forward please,” you politely asked.

“He’s quite the lady’s man, so he had plenty of girls to practice on,” Kili sounded like that brought up memories that weren’t very pleasant. You finished the second braid with a bead like the first.

“Lay your head down for me again” You softly asked, gingerly guiding his head to lay against your other thigh, “Awe, baby Kili didn’t get any coochie did he” You fake pouted to tease him, gently scratching his scalp absentmindedly while you rested your neck for a moment. He liked it, more than he’d care to admit. “I’m in the same boat I’m afraid” You parted the other side of his hair.

“Oh? How so?” He was very surprised by this, “I’d have thought men were practically throwing themselves at you.” This made you laugh and blush.

“I’m awfully flattered you think that highly of me…” You took a moment to focus on a particularly difficult part, “But men from my world didn’t talk to me.”

“I find that completely unbelievable.” He was floored by this.

“I’m serious! I was never asked out on a date and the few times I asked for someone’s number they turned out to be self-centered losers with a ton of issues” You hated how much time you’d wasted on them. He couldn’t wrap his head around that and had to hold his tongue from proclaiming his thoughts of your perfection.

He turned to look at you despite your protests, “Then they are truly blind,” He couldn’t have been more sincere. His eyes blazed in the firelight with a mix of ferocity and sadness on your behalf.

“Thank you, Kee,” You smiled at him. He assumed his previous position so you could end the braid with a bead like the two before and then started on the last one, “And those silly girls are truly blind as well.” You wanted to kiss his slightly flushed cheek.

You were both in your own little world, where the troubles of the outside couldn’t get to you…or the onlookers and peanut gallery for that matter. Gandalf had moved to sit with the company who had been watching from across the fire on the other side of the log since Kili finished your first braid. They couldn’t quite hear your conversation, but they knew their beloved Kili was having the time of his life.

Fili was very proud of his brother. He talked about you all the time, was looking at you all the time; the man was whipped. Fili had to hear about you the entire time he was bathing, poor thing, and he finally got fed up with his brother not making a move.

“Kili, just ask to braid her hair for god’s sake” Fili huffed while he waited for his brother to finish in the river. Kili’s eyes lit up like a forge with the breath from bellows, and his face flushed like he did when he hammered out a new blade.

“I think I will,” Kili nodded, distracted by thoughts of engaging in such an informal and somewhat intimate act.

Thorin was very pleased you were trying to repay his nephew’s advances in equal measure. He’d seen the poor boy flounder with crushes in the past as he tended to be immature, and girls mistook that for uncaring and unable to provide. Something about you brought out the best in his nephew though, he’d never seen him act so mature, for this Thorin was willing to stay some of his distrust and pessimistic opinions about outsiders, at the very least about you.

By the time you finished the last braid, Kili had made himself very comfortable against your leg, with his arm wrapped around your calf, fidgeting with the laces of your boot. He looked so tranquil you hesitated to tell him you’d finished, not ready to leave the sanctuary you were in. You leaned back against your hand while you stared into the fire and gently scratched the nape of his neck.

He hummed half asleep, “Mmm that feels good,” His words were a little slurred, but it made him all the cuter.

You stayed like that till your bottom began to protest the hard rock beneath you. He was right on the cusp of sleep when you shook your leg beneath him, gentle with guilt.

“Kili, I gotta get up,” You softly tried to rouse him. He hummed in protest. “Besides, don’t you want to know how the braids turned out?” You admired your work with pride.

He sat up and stretched to wake his muscles then ran a hand over his new braids, “Wow Y/N! These are so good!” He looked back at you impressed, “You picked up on that fast!”

“Thanks, Kee!” You blushed as you ran a hand over the intricate lines in your hair, “They aren’t half as good as yours, but I think I did great for my first time” You smiled, pleased with yourself.

“Come show us!” someone from the log called, followed by various iterations of the same thing from others. Ever supportive, they were eager to see what you’d both made.

Kili stood and you followed him to the log. You turned so he could show off his creation. The dwarves were very impressed, a few coming up to inspect closer. When Kili turned to show your work, the company was even more impressed given it was your first time.

“Next time you’ll have to make beads for her, Kee” Fili teased making him and Bofur laugh at how Kili blushed.

“Make beads? What does that mean?” You asked the group in confusion.

“You’ll understand when the time comes,” Thorin said in an uncharacteristically happy tone. “For now, we shall rest” With that everyone began prepping their bedding for the night.

You laid your bed roll beside Kili’s like usual, but Bombur reminded you to clean the dishes before they were put away. Gandalf accompanied you so you could see with the light of his staff. Everyone was asleep when you returned to camp, except Thorin who was on watch.

When you sat on your bedroll, which was naturally next to Kili’s, he looked up at you, barely awake with a dopey smile.

“You look so pretty,” he said quietly, drawing out the last syllable of pretty. Red bloomed over your cheeks and down your neck. He loved your hair like that, he loved it even more that he was the one who did it.

“Go to sleep, Kee,” You whispered so you didn’t wake the others, but couldn’t help but smile as you lay on your bedroll next to him.

“But then I can’t look at you” He pouted, quite distraught about this revelation in his sleepy daze.

“Well, no, I suppose you can’t…” You nibbled your bottom lip as you thought of a solution, “Would holding hands appease you, sleepy prince?” you asked and held out the hand that wasn’t cuddling your coat to your chest. He was too out of it to catch your nickname for him. He nodded and held your hand in his, making both your hearts beat just a little faster.

You closed your eyes and rubbed your face against your coat to find a comfortable position. You could feel his eyes on you.

You opened your eyes to see him staring directly at you, “Good night, Kili” you said in a strong nonnegotiable tone.

He hummed and smiled and closed his eyes, “Good night, Y/N.”

~~~

Kili felt your hand grow tighter around his, drawing him from sleep. Then he felt you pulling against it like you were trying to alert him to danger in the camp without making a sound. He opened his eyes ready for war and saw no danger. He looked at you confused but realized you weren’t awake. You were whimpering and mumbling as your head thrashed from side to side.

‘She’s having a nightmare’ he quickly thought. He squeezed your hand and gently shook it.

“Y/N” He tried not to let his worry raise the volume of his voice, “Wake up.”

You didn’t respond, your mumbles turned into clear pleas for help, making him fret even more.

“Y/N!” He shook your shoulder vehemently, “You need to wake up” He had an urgency in his voice. You feebly fought against his hold on your shoulder.

“Please!” you gasped, still breaking from the nightmare when you opened your eyes, “No, please let go!” You begged and continued to push against his hand with tears in your eyes, not knowing who he was while sleep still clouded your vision and mind.

“Y/N, Y/N look at me” he moved his hand from your shoulder to the side of your neck and cheek to call your attention to him, “It was just a dream, you’re safe now.” When you met his eyes, he recognized just how rattled you were.

You were breathing rapidly, and tears were making your eyelashes sparkle in the firelight. He could feel your rapid heartbeat where his hand laid over your pulse point. He could tell you were beginning to wake up because you softly uttered his name and the hand that was fighting his on your neck gently wrapped around his wrist.

“You’re safe, I promise,” His eyebrows were pinched together in worry. You nodded and took a deep breath to try to keep the tears away. It’d been a very long time since you’d had a nightmare that bad.

Kili pulled your bedroll closer to his, “Come here,” He gave you a hug to comfort you, “Do you want to tell me about it?” he asked when you pulled back from the hug too look at him. You laid your head on his upper arm and kept your cuddle coat close to your chest.

“I-I was in a forest at night and there were goblins and orcs and Wargs coming to attack me and-” You were talking quickly, the bad dream still too real, “and I was all alone and I couldn’t defend myself…” You trailed off, the waver in your voice making it hard to talk. “I was so scared, Kili,” You tried to curl into yourself.

“Hey hey hey, look at me” He held the side of your face again, “You’re safe,” he said. You took a deep breath and nodded. “I’d never let anything happen to you, aye?” He promoted you to get you out of your head. You took another deep breath and nodded.

“I’m ok” you repeated “I’m ok.”

“Yes, there ya go!” He nodded, relieved you were coming around. His thumb swept over your cheek to wipe a tear. You took a few minutes to calm down. Kili was falling asleep, but he needed to know you were going to be ok.

“Thank you, Kee,” you said, your whispered voice no longer shaking with fear, he gave a hearty nod in reply before he yawned. His arm was going numb where your head was lying on it, but it was worth it when you rubbed your face against it to get comfortable as you did in that way, which he found utterly adorable. You appreciated the physical comfort you would have never had in your world.

“I’ll teach you how to fight tomorrow” he whispered over a yawn, his eyelids getting heavy again. He moved his hand from your neck to hang over your waist. He wanted to pull you into him, so you’d feel protected on all sides, not for any other selfish deeply personal reasons of course, but he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.

“I’d like that very much,” you smiled and watched as he fell back asleep, not snoring but breathing heavily in that way which you found so adorable. You felt safe with his hand on your waist and fell asleep not long after him with thoughts of training together dancing behind your eyes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Taglist: @letmelickyoureyeballs

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niaswish · 9 months

Text

For Want of Common Sense

Chapter Summary:

Wato meets some detectives, is frustrated by the general lack of common sense and faces an old nightmare.

Chapter 2

Wato stared at Ideal Detective, who had just explained that she was responsible for asking Senior Detective to bring him here. He was glad that she had apologized about the whole kidnapping thing, even if that had been Senior's decision and his alone.

Passing a hand over his face, Wato confirmed that he understood the situation properly. "So the DA has gathered a bunch of detectives," Some of which were mere kids for some reason? "to try and solve the Quartering Duke case." Ideal nodded with a smile.

"And you specifically asked Senior Detective to bring me here to help?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Wato didn't understand. He was just an apprentice detective. Inexperienced as shown by his failure in stalking Senior. Why would anyone even know him, much less think he could help in solving such a big case?

Ideal chuckled, "I have my reasons. You are a much better detective than you think."

"Alright." Obviously, she had no intention of telling him the truth. Very well then, Wato would help in this endeavor, if only to get a chance to learn from the more experienced members of their group and figure out how this place was involved in Seika's a. "What do you need me to do?"

Ideal seemed surprised by Wato's easy acceptance, her expression becoming confused for a brief moment before smoothing back into a smile. "Well then, why don't you help me coordinate the investigation? Here, I'll show you how."

The next few hours are spent stuck with Ideal, investigating different areas and providing instructions through the dPad in her name. They stopped by Senior's room a few times to check up on the resting detective, whose injuries were thankfully non-life threatening.

Throughout it all, Wato took stock of the various things that were spread throughout the manor. He had seen most of it while looking for a first aid kit earlier, having grabbed a bunch of useful stuff during his initial search, but watching as the detectives pointed out small details was impressive.

After a while, Ideal decided that the investigation was over and called for everyone to gather together. Wato followed Ideal to the living room where everyone, including Senior, had gathered. As Senior recounted what he remembered happening after he had left Wato in the forest, Wato found himself paying more attention to how people were reacting.

Renegade was watching him like a hawk, an almost hungry glint in his eyes. One that had appeared after he'd managed to side step the man's earlier pounce attempt. Wato had still gotten shoved against a wall right after, but Ideal had quickly dealt with the issue with some kind of threat.

Workaholic wasn't outright watching him yet Wato had noticed that the man had taken a position that put him between Wato and the rest of the group. It was clear Workaholic didn't trust him despite Ideal vouching for him.

The rest of them seemed unconcerned by his sudden presence among them despite his general incompetence. It wasn't the detective name he would have liked to have, but he couldn't say he could deny his inexperience.

He straightened, ignoring the glance Ideal gave him, as he pointed at the blood and asked, "Did someone get injured while investigating?" His words interrupted Posh mid-explanation, drawing her ire, not that Wato cared as he moved to grab the first aid kit still in the room.

"Is that blood not from Senior Detective?" Snarked Posh.

Wato shook his head. "The drops are too far from the couch or door for it to be from him. Not to mention I did try to clean up the blood stains after I was done bandaging him up." He turned back to the group. "So? Who got hurt?"

"Um..." Doleful hesitantly stepped forward. "I cut myself on the wires. Sorry..."

Wato shrugged, "An easy fix at least. I'll clean it up and bandage it quickly. Sorry for interrupting the discussion, everyone." With that he had Doleful sit on the edge of the couch so he could take care of the cut. It wasn't very deep so some ointment quickly put a stop to the bleeding.

The discussion concerning the situation about the lab, which was apparently filled with dead laboratory staff due to some poison, continued for a small time until they all came to an agreement concerning the trap and the Quartering Duke's involvement.

Since he had dismantled the traps, the only new information was concerning the Duke's involvement and presence among them. The possibility was disturbing but it made sense as well.

Everyone here had some kind of link to the Duke or the Dayless Night incident. He wasn't sure what his own involvement was, but maybe it was whatever had happened to him and Seika before her death?

Wato shook his head to clear his thoughts. This wasn't the time to worry about it. The detectives were all discussing what to do, the proposed options all rubbed him the wrong way.

Passing a hand through his hair, Wato interrupted. "Shouldn't we be getting Senior Detective to a hospital first? His injuries may not be fatal but an infection might be."

They all looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "And allow the Quartering Duke to escape? How foolish though I supposed I can expect nothing else from an incompetent peasant." Posh declared.

"Minus 10 points." Senior said. "A detective should prioritize solving a case in times like these. To do otherwise is to put countless other lives in danger."

The others seemed to agree with the decision so Wato raised his hands in defeat. "Alright. I get it. I'll follow your lead on this then." Why was he the only one with any common sense here?

Was it some kind of prerequisite for being a great detective? To have no common sense? If so, then he might have to reconsider trying to become one.

Or maybe he'd just become the first detective to have any common sense.

=-=-=-

Lights at the helipad. Wato remembered passing by it when he made his way to the manor and just as the others said, it had been empty. As they brought up the idea that it might be the Duke, Wato chimed in, "Is there any chance it might be some kind of motion sensor that got triggered by an animal?"

Doleful shook his head, shaking like a leaf for the last few minutes. "N...no! I'm.. I'm sensing a lot of danger so it has to be something big." Wato wasn't sure he believed the whole danger spider sense Doleful seemed to have, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful nonetheless.

Holmes took it in stride as she gave her orders, leaving several detectives at the manor while taking the stronger members with her. Doleful's insistence in coming with them was admirable but Wato wasn't sure how useful the thin and terrified boy would be.

When Holmes turned to him and asked what he wanted to do, Wato hesitated. Going running into a likely dangerous situation was stupid but on the other hand, staying back might be an even bigger mistake.

"I'll come with you." He finally said, a hand going to touch his belt and the small bag hanging from it. The Duke seemed to like setting up traps, so it was likely another one. If he went with them, Wato might be able to dismantle it.

As they descended the mountain towards the helipad, Wato was glad to see they were being somewhat careful, not running towards the danger but rather taking a more cautious approach. When Wato heard Rowdy describe the source of the light, something about it seemed somewhat familiar.

"Rowdy Detective," Wato called out. "Is the light approaching us or staying at the helipad?"

Rowdy seemed surprised by his sudden question. She peered into the darkness for a moment before replying. "It's comin' towards us. Why are ya asking?"

Wato knew Holmes had figured out why he had asked as she suddenly straightened and ordered, "Back to the manor, now!"

"Ideal?" Gourmet asked even as she turned back towards the manor just as ordered.

"If the light was the Duke trying to get away, Rowdy would have seen it stay at the helipad, not come towards us! Whatever that thing is, we should confront it on our own terms, not his."

Hearing that, no one hesitated any longer as they all hurried back towards the manor. Workaholic and Mystic were waiting by the doors, both straightening in surprise as their group rounded the bend into view. Workaholic exclaimed, "Ideal? What happened?"

"The Duke prepared a weapon for us." Ideal declared, as she came to a stop beside them. "It is on its way and I will not risk fighting it unprepared. Let us face it on our own terms once we have had the time to observe it." She motioned for everyone to get into the manor, though she stayed where she was.

They all found themselves within the manor but still within view of the path. The atmosphere was tense with expectations as everyone waited to see what the Duke had prepared for them. Wato glanced over at the pile of sharp wires still by the door, and considered trying to get the detectives to install them into the trees.

Before he could bring the idea up with the others, the thing appeared. Wato's breath froze in his chest as he got a good look at it. That was??? How could it be possible for that machine to be here?

That was the thing that killed Seika!

Wato's gaze jerked towards Holmes, her tense frame at the center of the doorway, standing right in the path of the machine. "Close the doors!" She ordered as the machine came closer, Workaholic and Armor jumping forward to do just that.

The doors slammed shut with a thud, silence filling the air for only a few moments before something slammed against it. The door rattled against its hinges as the slamming continued without a pause.

The door would hold. It had too.

A/N: A reminder that anything not specifically discussed/shown here happens like in the game with minor adjustments for the people who should have died but lived.

#process of elimination #tantei bokumetsu #alternate universe #Wato has common sense #everyone lives/nobody dies

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