wickedpotions:
[ setting : hill’s hunting , with : bombadills ]
ZSASZ HAD , OF COURSE , CLOCKED THAT YENNEFER WAS GORGEOUS. he was taken , not blind. In another time , before he’d promised everything he had to Oswald , he may have tried to make a pass on her. Nothing serious - just a night of fun for the both of them before heading their separate ways. The smile , catlike as it was , made her face curl up in a very appealing way. Not for the first time he wished Liz was here - though this time because it’d be fun to watch her try to get a night with the woman. If she was free , of course.
HE NODDED TO HER WORDS. he had suspected she’d understand , and he was glad he was correct in thinking so. ❝ Exactly. For example , there was this guy back at home. A pain in my ass most of the time because he had a moral superiority about him. But he picked his ground and he stood it , which I deeply respected. ❞ Jimbo was good , even if they often stood on opposite sides of the trenches. ❝ My biggest advisory (a different guy) also has rules , though stricter than mine. And I gotta respect it , ya know. Sometimes it’s fun to see if you can push someone to break their own rules. ❞
She listened intently, as she was wont to do. Yennefer learned long ago the benefits of paying attention to what people shared. It helped guide her to people who would be advantageous- or a roadblock- to her future problems. If you were good (and she was very good), you could compare it to what you didn’t know about the person, and surmise even more about them, without the subject so much as suspecting. She didn’t think she would be needing to do any of that with him, but nothing was ever certain.
“I am unattached at the moment,” she said cooly in response to a thought he had not expressed aloud. She didn’t mean to pry into his head, but it was right there. Low hanging fruit was easy to grab after all. It wasn’t an offer nor a suggestion, just a statement of fact. She wasn’t lying. She truly did love Geralt (as much as she thought herself capable, as she still thought such a word was unfitting for herself to use), but he was oblivious to her existence, and she had often found a bit of comfort in late night rendezvous. Her early days in town, confused and alone, told her it still did.
Yennefer continued as if randomly commentating on people’s thoughts was a normal thing to do. It was to her, after all.
“Isn’t everyone with a moral superiority complex a pain in the arse? I think the two terms to be synonymous,” she smiled at her own attempt at a joke. “Mmm, I would have to agree with you. Pushing people’s buttons can be quite entertaining. I’ve done my fair share of… interrogations that way.”
picturedspells:
Catra was so shocked by the woman approaching xem that xir mouth gaped open, staring. The bright orange hair and the height on her was rather alarming, especially since Catra had thought xe were alone.
And then she sat down next to xem. Catra scooted away a little, not wanting to be so close. Xe stared at her, words failing xem. Catra wasn’t fond of the forced familiarity. If xe had been thinking straight, xe might have recognized the stranger as a kindred spirit—after all, this person had been just as desperate to leave as xe were.
Catra stared harshly at her, not answering any of her questions.
“Who are you and why were you watching me?” xe finally spoke, xir voice coming out harsh. “Don’t you know spying on somebody while they’re having a breakdown is a breath of privacy?”
Midna had never been the best at words of comfort. She hadn’t had many friends growing up (mostly due to her royal status, and partly due to her lack of caring), so she didn’t have too much practice. Fiddling with the charm on one of her bracelets, Midna shrugged.
“I’m Midna,” she stated simply. “And I wasn't intending to watch you, silly, I was making my way about the forest when I heard you, and came to see what was wrong. I haven’t met someone else out here before.” Her explanation was genuine. She didn’t have much use for stalking people around the woods, especially those she had never met before.
After a moment, she continued as she smoothed down the fabric of her skirt, “I wasn't thinking how weird it is to see someone like me just melt out of the shadows and interrupt you like that. I only wanted to help, but it seems my actions were misplaced. I can leave if that would please you.”
wickedpotions:
BILL’D LAUGHED THE FIRST TIME MERLIN HAD COME IN WHEN SHE WAS AROUND . but ey had walked slowly through the shop , chattering almost as much as bill did , before picking up one locket and purchasing it . Bill hadn’t liked the locket when it’d come in and tended to stay far away from it , but the idea it was cursed seemed insane . But the guy was convinced .
❝ Oh I’ve only been here for a bit . A few months now I suppose , though it doesn’t feel that long . I knew the Doctor from before we got pulled here . We used to travel together , and they were my tutor . It was a fun time . Nardole was there too , but he hasn’t shown up here . ❞
River was intent to listen to Bill’s explanation. She was so perplexed with her own arrival in town, she often liked to try and find out if anyone else had shared her experience. She understood what Bill had meant about it not feeling like very long. For her, the short weeks she had been there felt much more like a few days.
Nodding, River ran her fingers over the pile of a particularly thick rug. It was not to her taste, but it was soft.
“Oh that sounds nice. I think I’ve always wanted to travel, but I’m not completely positive. I have, erm, memory issues? Apparently it's a common thing in this town. All I really get are inklings and flashes,” she said this without much emotion in her voice, but, if she were honest, River hated the fact that she didn’t know much about herself. She turned it a bit more lighthearted, not wanting to stew in the stress with a complete stranger just trying to sell her some antiques. “Nardole. Interesting name. Is that french?”
mushroomtheif:
Frodo breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he heard the all to familiar voice respond. He felt his face crack into a gentle smile as Sam entered the room. This spurred him into action, as he then continued to walk further into the room, moving to hang up his keys and jacket.
“It went quite well today. Most of the day was quiet, though there was a small scuffle back in the adult romance section, apparently adults can not take turns with books.”
Frodo let out a huff as turned back to face Sam letting out a noncommittal shrug before continuing on.
“On the whole though it was quite the boring day. How was your day Sam? Was work alright?”
⊱ ──────────── {⋆⌘⋆} ──────────── ⊰
As Frodo got situated, Sam turned on the two lamps on the room to combat the darkness left by the slow setting sun. He didn’t fully understand many things about the world they now lived in (electricity being one of them), but having Frodo with him made it all seem a little less frightening.
“A scuffle? Must’ve been a very good book then,” he laughed, combing a hand through his hair. “Nothing you couldn’t handle, I’d wager.” There was a little part of Sam that truly did think that Frodo could do anything. He had already done the impossible, so most other things seemed like a walk in the park comparatively.
After closing the distance between them to press a kiss to Frodo’s cheek, Sam racked his brain for a moment before minutely shaking his head. “It was alright, nothing too noteworthy, other than getting some new inventory in. The best part of the day was when someone brought their dog into the shop. Cutest thing I’ve seen in a while.”
When he glanced at the clock that hung up on the wall, an idea struck him. “What do you think about takeaway for dinner? And before you stress about it, I’d be the one to call.”
sinnersxonly:
Hearing what people did around the town was interesting, and one of the parts he liked best about working at the pub. Not that Sirius was unfamiliar with Muggle jobs, but it was always a refreshing change to hear about people being truck drivers or salespeople as opposed to aurors or Quidditch players. But clearly one thing that did not change was that work could be hard no matter what job you did.
“Oh, sorry to hear that. Good on you for owing a business, because I know I couldn’t do that. Too much responsibility.” Considering Sirius had been avoiding responsibility for much of his life, he did not think he would be cut out to be in charge of a business. “What kind of business do you own? And what can I get you to drink? You can tell me about the former while I get the latter.”
The barkeep was friendly, which was a relief. Sam didn't know if he could stand another bump in the road today. The last thing he wanted at this point was unpleasantness. His smile went a little less tired, and a little more genuine. he shrugged nonchalantly, “Aye, thanks. It certainly keeps me busy.”
“I’ll have your best ale on tap, whatever it may be,” he replied, without needing to think about it. “I run the Dwarven Nursery on Llwyn Tylwyth Teg. I sell houseplants, plants for the garden, things to be used for medicinal purposes, and the like. I also work to make sure people around here can have access to more, erm, uncommon plants, if you take my meaning, sir.”
shallowmagics:
— *•̩̩͙ c. & yennefer wilczynski •̩̩͙* —
━━━━━━━━━ *•̩̩͙ ♔ •̩̩͙* ━━━━━━━━━
“For how long?” Ciri whispered, body rigid.
She wasn’t a child anymore. Ciri didn’t need to be lied to. Protecting herself, emotionally or physically, was something she could handle! There were others more powerful than she, yes. Ciri was no Witcher nor Mage, could barely keep control of her Chaos, but she could be told upsetting things without inflicting too much damage.
She was much better at it now, having accepted that her childhood had been just a pretty lie.
Inhaling slowly, Yennefer scrubbed her face with unease. It didn't mess up her usually perfect makeup- her battle armor- as she wasn't wearing it; she didn’t need that cover in front of Ciri.
She hadn’t meant for this. Stupid, stupid, stupid, of course Ciri would find out. She was curious, often too curious for her own good. She was bound to find out sooner or later, but Yennefer was hoping it would’ve been later, giving her time to figure out what to say, how to say it. “Three days,” she paused, trying to figure out where to go next. “You spoke to him, then? You understand why I couldn’t just… say it?”
It hurt her. He had crawled under her skin and made an uncomfortable home there. As it seemed, Ciri was the only person who didn’t make her feel bad anymore. She was the only truly good thing Yennefer had. The last thing she wished was for her to turn on her too.
ofmvoonlight:
Closing her eyes when she felt his arms around her, Zelda could feel herself bit by bit relax. Comfort had always been a foreign concept to the princess of Hyrule. Her father wouldn’t give it to her and neither would her servants. The only one who ever did give her some sort of warmth and love was Link. And yes she loved him and what they had but to get comfort from someone else? That shook them to their very core.
“I just don’t want you to feel like I am taking advantage of your kindness. I am getting better, I promise. I just.. I have bad days and good days when it comes to my still healing wound and today is one of the bad ones. I am sorry for raising my voice. I never wanted to yell at you” they whispered as they shook their head.
Samwise shook his head in a firm insistence of ‘no’ to the princess. He couldn’t feel taken advantage of, not by her. If anything he felt as if he wasn’t doing enough.
“Enough of that Miss Zelda. You’re not taking advantage of nothing. You’re human, and you have human feelings. I know the road you’re on isn’t an easy one, but lucky for you this isn’t my first time helping someone along it.”
He reached for another paper towel, and handed it to them so they could wipe their face. Sam hated seeing them like this— so full of pain and frustration that it brought them to tears. Frodo had days like that, and they had always been the worst. Maybe he should tell them about that. It would pose a good distraction from their own troubles of nothing else.
“Don’t apologise to me. My Frodo was in a very similar position once, though it was his shoulder that was wounded. We were on the road, a fortnight away from the nearest help. I know the pain you’re feeling, but I also know that it’ll be a nasty memory in a little while. Nothing more than that. And as my friend Merry loved to point out: apparently scars make you cool.”
picturedspells:
Catra breathed almost a sigh of relief when Midna said she wasn’t from this world either. For some reason, it made xem feel slightly closer to home.
“Yeah, I’m from a world called Etheria,” xe said. “We’ve got magic there, with princesses ands sorcerers who wield it. I’m neither, but I’ve got plenty of my own skills to make up for it… what world are you from?”
Catra looked up at the sky when Midna mentioned it. Xe hadn’t taken the time to notice any beauty here, having been too focused on escaping. But she was right. It was a lovely night, objectively. Xe nodded.
“I guess you’re right. And I’ve faced scarier too. Random terrors in the night were my bread and butter growing up.”
Midna looked Catra over, letting her mind wander about Etheria for a moment. How different was it? What were people like there? Was it as similar to her own world as it sounded on the surface? She dispelled the thoughts quickly, no time to dwell on it.
“The place I’m from is called The Twilight Realm. We’ve got all of those things, and I am them,” she replied. “It’s a place of perpetual darkness, and it's strange to those who dwell in the light, but it's home and it's beautiful.” And I miss it. She knew better than to say that aloud at a time like this, but she felt it in her heart.
Midna kept her eyes on xer as xe looked up at the moon, before mirroring the action. “I was missing someone for a very long time. Someone who meant the world to me. He wasn't dead, but, well, we couldn't see each other. We were separated by a barrier much like this one. Him in the light, and I in the dark. I tried not to think about him too much, but… sometimes I’d liked to look at the moon and think that he would be looking at it too. Maybe that can be the same for you and your person, whoever they are.”
picturedspells:
Jenny didn’t notice River’s being slightly unsettled; she was far too excited about this opportunity. She gave her a big grin at the compliment.
“Oh yes, very. It does leave some gaps though. Given that I’ve traveled so much in the far future from this century, a lot of my knowledge is a bit out of date. Can’t exactly talk about the stuff that hasn’t happened here yet. Except with my dad and Bill. They’re time travelers too. My dad’s like, the expert time traveler. They’re called the Doctor. And Bill was their traveling companion before the two of them got stuck here.”
Jenny took a long sip of their tea. It had finally cooled to an appropriate level.
“What sort of flashes do you get?” they asked.
River was surprisingly alright hearing Jenny’s tales of time travelling. That is until they mentioned Bill and the Doctor. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat. That couldn’t be right… could it? That didn’t fit, it couldn’t fit. Then again, she didn’t know much about either of their backgrounds. She knew they tutored Bill, and that they had a strange friend named Nardole.
God, when had she become so obsessive about that stupid shop owner? It was unflattering. Beneath her. And yet she was stood like a deer caught in headlights for a moment. In an attempt to cover it, she slowly raised her mug to her lips and took a long sip.
“I, erm, I don’t know really. Gut instincts on things I like and don’t. I denied them at first, but I found them all to be right. Like enjoying this tea over that or liking waffles more than pancakes. Occasionally I see some things from my childhood, but it feels more like a dream. All confusion and people watching me,” River shrugged a little. They got a bit frightening sometimes, but she wouldn't mention that.
endlxssnights:
Giving Kotek’s head another pat, Ciri figured the cat would be good for the two. Ciri needed something she could pick up and almost squeeze the life out of and Yennefer… well, her mother needed something to parent when Ciri wasn’t around. A cat seemed perfect for that. A whatever kind of cat Kotek was. One her way to work, she’d overheard some terrifying blonde… creature talk about them and the misuse of their names. Cat-sí, she had called the little chaos gremlins.
Ciri could only hope her hands weren’t shaking as she left Kotek to his own devices, folding herself around her mother’s outstretched arms. She was weak for touch, she always had been.
She couldn’t lie to Yennefer. No, they had agreed to never lie to one another. “I went to work then the gym.” There. Normal. But a small pit of guilt was creeping at her. “I overdid it though, I think I almost caused Jesus or Ben to call the emergency services.”
Ciri’s eyes widened, realizing just how that would sound. “I didn’t pass out!”
Not quite.
Wrapping her arms tightly around Ciri, Yennefer pressed her nose into her blonde hair and held her for a moment. It didn’t take long for her to feel there was something slightly off with the girl. Despite the little weirdness, Yennefer wasn't expecting something on that scale.
“Cirilla!” Usually Yennefer refrained from using Ciri’s full name, but the statement came as such a shock it just came out of her. She pulled back a little, holding the girl by her shoulders and immediately began going full mother hen mode as her hands searched over Ciri’s head and face to identify the problem. “What were you doing? What happened? You know I take no issue with your training, but this— you have to take care of yourself first.”
Suddenly there was a glass of water on the nearest end table which Yennefer quickly picked up and gave Ciri no other option than to at the very least hold it. She was no medical professional, but usually these things stemmed from dehydration. “I should hope you didn’t pass out, gods give me strength.”
"I think you know how to love better than any of us. That’s why you find it all so painful.”꧁Sallow Hills mumu꧂Cecil Palmer & Sasha James & Sam Winchester
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