Myra

Aemond Targaryen-

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

In the Flat Field

Visenya Targaryen-

Let's Have a Satanic Orgy!

Helaena Targaryen-

It's the Everything for Me

Masterlist Future!Aemond x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Gore, traumatic c-section, spooky shit, death, gun usage

Summary: Aemond and Y/N have entered an ancient Library at their own peril. Galaxies away from home with no possibility for communication with people they know, they are stranded in an ever-worsening situation.

Word Count: 3.9K

Camera eye flick shudder within

The smell of mildew and maple syrup clung heavily to the air as you and Aemond idled through the library. In this section old books sweetly scented the air despite their rough state. But it was silent and that gave you a minute amount of comfort. “It was like, bottled books but they snitch you out to the Lords if you open them.” You explained, half wondering why you were adopting the terminology of a madman. You flipped through the pages of the journal as you continued onwards, keeping your steps light. 

“And what was the… Lord like?” Aemond questioned, his eye boring into the left side of your face. He lowered his gaze to glance at the page you were skimming. After you finish a half-coherent line you purse your lips in consideration for a moment. 

“You know how when you’re a child you want to pet a dinosaur so badly?” You questioned. “But then you get to Jurassia III and realize that you’re actually good staying behind the plexiglass? Sort of like that.”

“I meant what did it look like” He stated, amusement pulling at the corner of his lips.

“Oh.” You considered for a moment. “Well it changes color, sort of like those octopuses off the coast of Myr.” You considered for another moment, almost wishing you had a cybernetic implant yourself. “Maybe a little under 3 meters tall, but it puts off this weird sort of energy.” You tensed at the memory. 

“What, like bad vibes?” He teased.

“No.” You shook your head, slipping the journal back into your bag before Aemond zipped up the pocket for you. “Thanks. It’s like a… you just get a general feeling of what the Lord is feeling as well. Directly in your brain whether you want it or not.” 

“Do you think it could be pheromone based?”

“I don’t think so, I know it sounds silly but it felt how psychic abilities are described.” Aemond paused to consider for a moment, implant flashing yellow as he glanced at you. 

“They must be a social species then.” You hummed in agreement.

“I’m not sure if their vocal cords are as developed as ours are though. It just kind of wheezed and clicked at me. Sounded like your Dad on a bad day.” Aemond smirked at that for a moment before shaking his head. 

“Is there anything interesting in the journal?” You shrugged in response to his question, lifting one hand in a 50/50 motion. 

“What is actually decipherable is still kinda crazy. The dude thought parts of this library would eat him.” 

“Mmm,” Aemond responded, a wry chuckle following. “With everything that’s happened so far, I’m not so sure we can count out being eaten by some books.” He pointed out. You rolled your eyes playfully in response before reaching to grab one off a shelf, opening it to mimic the snapping of jaws and guiding it closer to an unamused Aemond. 

“No,” You giggled. “A row that eats you, apparently. Much better, isn’t it?”

“Mmm.” He responded with raised brows, gently grabbing the book from your hands as the two of you stopped momentarily. He flipped open the pages and you leaned in close to him, following the same path his eyes were. As the two of you stared down at the book the letters shifted from an alien script into recognizable letters. The common tongue. Unease filled you for a moment and apparently, Aemond took notice of it, as he gently brushed a lock of hair behind your ear. You hoped you weren’t blushing. “If you aren’t shedding all over Vhagar, you’re blocking my view.” He teased, his fingers lingering where your neck met your jaw for a few more moments. You shifted your weight on your feet before he snapped out of it and started reading. 

“Jungfrau?”

“Jungfrau.” Aemond corrected, a yellow light blinking onto the pages briefly. You gave him a pointed look, raising a brow. “Another word for virgin.” You hummed curiously, taking a closer look at the page. An androgynous man rippled across the page, shining chestnut curls seeming to radiate their own light as his features shifted. You chalked it up to the book and looked at the glimmering aura around him. It shone with every color of the rainbow and some you weren’t even sure you could comprehend. For the hundredth time, you questioned whether you were on some sort of psychoactive substance before pulling your eyes away from the man’s aura to look at the text. “Apparently he’s the Dreamweaver,” Aemond said softly, turning the page to read more. For your part, you were grateful there were no more portraits of him. As beautiful as he was, it weirded you out. “But he can also bestow magical swords upon people.” You pulled your lips back approvingly before nodding. 

“Be nice if he bestowed one on us.” Aemond let out a dry laugh in response. 

“And what good would we do with a sword against a 3-meter tall shapeshifting monster.” 

“Well, it’s a magic sword, Aemond.” You said, leaning into the ridiculousness. “Maybe you hold it up and say some magic password then you get, like, an outfit change and your hair gets even more fabulous..” 

“Ha ha.” Aemond cut you off before you could finish, gesturing to the pistol that still sat on his hip. “This will be more useful than any magic sword.” 

“Oh, speaking of.” You murmured before grabbing yours, releasing it so the clip fell out. “Do you need any more ammo?” Aemond hummed approvingly before you pulled out a few bullets from the magazine, passing them to him so he could load them into the pistol. “Is it like shooting a phaser?” You asked, Aemond looked at you for a moment before smirking. 

“Yes, which is why the thought of you holding one is terrifying.” You let out a mock gasp, playfully hitting his arm. 

“Your implant has what, a gazillion terabytes of data but apparently no manners in the default program.” 

“Oh, no, it did,” Aemond responded, a wolfish grin splitting across his face. “I deleted them so I could save room for more important things, such as the time you shook a Whituan’s knee.” You let out a dry laugh, rolling your eyes. 

“Worst damn part about that thing, you’ll never let either of us forget any time I embarrass myself.” Aemond chuckled in good humor, putting an arm around your shoulders to pull you closer, giving you a light squeeze. 

“It’s adorable that you think I’d need the implant to do that.” You flipped him off in response and he stared at you for a moment before a red light flashed out of his implant. Concern twisted across your face as you reached to touch it. Aemond pulled back. “We ought to keep moving.” He said abruptly. 

“Uhh..” You let the silence hang in the air for a moment. “Are we going to talk about this?” Aemond shot you a weary look as he started walking towards a new row. “I wasn’t born yesterday, you know. Your implant’s usually got a green light.” 

“It’s just the distress beacon.” He responded curtly. “My implant keeps trying to send it out but it’s unsuccessful so now it’s doing this. I plan to recalibrate it when we get back to the room.” A lie. You pursed your lips in response, figuring it was better to let it be for now. You could grill him later. You absentmindedly wondered if he knew you knew he was lying, but judging from the speed he kept up it was likely. You decide to let him squirm a little longer, figuring that if he could lie to your face he could enjoy the nervousness. You put your hand up to Aemond’s chest suddenly, pausing where the two of you were. A rhythmic thudding could be heard in the distance and you knit your brows in confusion. It was different from the Lord’s footfalls, at least the one that you encountered. Either way you figured caution was best. You and Aemond ducked behind a row as you moved to peek your head out in the direction of the noise. Aemond tutted disapprovingly and placed an arm around your waist, swapping places with you. You shot him a look before he shot you one in turn. Rolling your eyes, you acquiesced. 

“Can your eye pick up on anything from this distance?” Keeping your voice in a low whisper, you rested a hand on his left shoulder blade. He nodded, looking for a few more seconds. Your watch pulsed quietly against your wrist as the transmitted image popped up. Okay, so it was too small to be a Lord. But that didn’t necessarily bode well either. “Should we check it out?” Aemond set his jaw for a moment before nodding. He reached to grab his pistol and you reached for yours in turn. The two of you shared a brief look and Aemond moved to step into the row before you paused. Gesturing for him to wait a second you holstered the pistol once more then pulled out the map of the library from your backpack and grabbed the journal, making quick work of scanning them into your watch. Imposing the madman’s notes on the map, you saved the complete version before transmitting the data to Aemond. You figured he already had a download of the map but the former resident’s notes may be useful. With that done the two of you stepped out from behind the row, grabbing your pistol once more and keeping it pointed at the floor. The Archaeologist’s Guild leaned on weaponry only for self-defense but the two of you figured a creepy library with shapeshifting monsters in it justified staying armed. Stopping behind each row to scope out the humanoid you were shocked after a few more rows to find… a human man. It almost took you off guard more than a miniature Lord would. What was even worse was the Guild uniform he wore. You shot an unsure look at Aemond before he tilted his head to keep going. When you checked through the logs before heading out into Juliet Quadrant only a few Archaeologists had actually been there. A few had gone missing. The two of you figured it was the usual and that they had found a planet to settle down on or died due to catastrophic ship failure but the idea that one of them ended up here was even worse. 

“Y/N.” Aemond whispered, his right eye widening. You looked over towards him before your watch pulsed against your wrist. The two of you knew him. Not well, but you had bumped into each other at a few fundraisers that required you to kiss sponsor ass. You swallowed hard before running your lips over your teeth, praying he had some answers for whatever the hell was going on here. As the two of you approached your colleague he seemed ignorant of your presence, picking books up off the shelf, flipping through the pages, and dropping them into what remained of the sack on his shoulder. Without fail they fell out of the large hole in the bottom and onto the ground, resulting in the heavy thudding you heard earlier. Aemond held an arm out in front of you when you were a few paces away, hesitantly holstering his pistol. Following suit, you lowered Aemonds arm but held onto his hand. 

“Tommen?” You questioned. He looked worse for wear but was still recognizable. Gray, matted curls hung around his face before he turned to look at the two of you. You let out a gasp of horror. An unnaturally wide grin split his face as he glanced at the two of you momentarily before he turned back to the shelf, grabbing the next book to drop it on the floor. 

“Tommen,” Aemond stated more firmly, but the man in question continued in his movements. The two of you shared a look at each other as the automaton dropped another book. “Do you know where you are?” 

“Library” He didn’t stop his actions, the Cheshire grin looking painful across his face. “Lords.” You couldn’t honestly say that you had enjoyed too much of your time in the library but this pushed it to a whole new level of unsettling. 

“Do you know how you got here?” You questioned lightly, running your eyes up and down his emaciated frame. Gods, what in the seven hells had this place done to him? And what would it do to us? Tommen’s movements slowed briefly, yet did not stop. His face contorted slightly around the unnatural grin that split his features, looking unable to properly form the words needed.

“Found.” He rasped out, voice gravelly from what seemed to be years of disuse. You shot a worried look at Aemond, who seemed much more collected than you. Was this your fate if you stayed in the library too long? He wasn’t even blinking. Just dropping another book with another ominous thud. “Crrrhhhhhhh” He wheezed out, mouth unable to move to form whatever word he was thinking of. 

“Tommen.” Aemond said, his voice having a dangerous edge to it. You glanced over at him and saw unease flickering in the back of his eye. “We need to leave this place. You need to leave this place.” Tommen ignored him, making a few more wheezing sounds before Aemond lost his patience and closed the distance between them, grabbing him by the arm. “It’s dangerous here.” Distress flickered across the shriveled man’s face despite the unsettling smile carved into it and he tried to reach for another book to no avail. “Walk.” Aemond commanded and for his part, Tommen did, though it was with an unnatural gait. His steps didn’t match the rhythm of your footfalls, adding to the tension. You knew the two of you couldn’t leave him behind but you were wondering how much of Tommen was still in there. “Do you know anything about the Lords?” Aemond questioned, ignoring the look you shot him. 

“Lords.” He responded with a low wheeze, apparently unable or willing to answer Aemond’s questions. His uniform was raggedy, but the tatters of it that did cling to him reeked to high heaven. BO and something else that you couldn’t quite place. 

“Did you leave the box back in the room?” Aemond prodded as you shook your head. Tommen shuffled along, not answering. “Did you see the map?” His tone was growing more irritated with the old man. 

“Aemond. Maybe that’s enough questions for now.” You suggested, keeping your tone gentle with a slight edge to it. 

“Keeeeepp” The man wheezed out between cracked, rotting teeth “eeeeerrrrrr” Aemond was clearly trying to refrain from shooting you a smug look. The three of you continued onward as the man went back to silence. But thankfully he seemed to stink less as you progressed. That or you were becoming nose-blind to it. If you didn’t know better you would almost say it was starting to smell like maple syrup more, but with a slightly herbier edge to it. You looked over to Aemond wondering if he smelled that too, apparently so as he sniffed the air before shooting a wary look at you. Tommen started to let out more wheezes as the scent of maple hung heavier in the air. You shot a look back to Aemond, a deep pit of anxiety forming in your gut. You stopped for a moment, grabbing Tommen as he let out an excited warble. Between his wheezes, you heard the heavy footfalls that sent primordial terror through you. Looking at Aemond, you mouthed what you could tell he was starting to fear too. A Lord. 

“Creation!” Tommen explained, his mouth struggling to form the words as his cloudy, unblinking green eyes lit up. “The Keeper knew!” He started laughing as loud as possible, the sound barely being muffled when you clapped your hand over his mouth. With madness in his eyes Tommen started to scream about whatever incoherent thoughts he could muster, you looked to Aemond before the two of you nodded at each other. Letting go of Tommen, you pushed him back only for him to start screaming ecstatically. The two of you drew your pistols before you booked it in the other direction. Heavy footsteps grew closer as Tommen stumbled towards you two, still shrieking. Aemond moved to raise the barrel of the weapon in Tommen’s direction before you put a hand over his wrist, shaking your head. Tommen still stumbled after you two as quickly as was possible for him, cackling and shrieking simultaneously. As much as you were against the idea of killing a fellow Guild member, you wished you had a gag on hand to at least shut him the hells up. Thankfully you and Aemond had speed on your side and at least with Tommen’s screaming it provided a cover for your footfalls. You ducked behind a row momentarily to catch your breath, peeking back behind you to see Tommen stumbling as the Lord gained after him. It didn’t appear to be the same one you initially encountered but was around the same height as the other, the same clicking noises emerging as deep blues and reds bled into the all-consuming grayness of its body. An overwhelming sense of thrill wriggled its way into your mind as the creature advanced, catching up with Tommen. You and Aemond looked at each other for a moment, and you clicked your safety off. No sooner than you could do that had the Lord slapped the old man into a bookshelf, unable to restrain the gasp of horror as he knocked his head on the edge. Tommen’s jaw barely clung on and it did little to stop his shrieks, just interrupted them with gurgles of quickly coagulating blood. The Guild member tried in vain to lift the ruined left side of his jaw back to where it had been attached. Despite that, he dropped and the light began to fade from his crusted eyes. Apparently having heard your gasp, the Lord looked over in your direction. Shakingly raising a hand you cleared your mind and pulled the trigger three times.

 Miss

 Miss

Miss. 

Okay, maybe Aemond did have a point about your phaser skills. Thankfully he wasn’t going to gloat about it, and he did not miss. Yet despite hitting the being in what you assumed to be the eyeholes it continued on as if nothing happened. You put your pistol back into the holster as you started to run in the opposite direction. Without Tommen to cause a distraction there was no doubt it would have an easier time chasing the two of you down now. You ran until every muscle in your body burned and Aemond pulled you into one of the spots that Tommen had emptied with his antics earlier. He gestured to your wrist, having pinged onto the spot where the madman had marked the man-eating row. It would require a lot more running but given bullets seemed little more than an annoyance to the being it was your best bet. You nodded as you started running in that direction, refusing to look back as you pushed your body beyond its natural limits. You knew exhaustion would hit hard later but for now if you tired you would die. After what felt like an hour you were approaching the area and banked suddenly to the right as Aemond shifted to follow in your path. You took the row next to it as heavy footsteps gained on the two of you but you simply pumped your arms faster and refused to look back. When you finally got to the far end of the man-eating row you took a second to catch your breath before yelling. Whatever you could do to draw it into the row, you simply had to. Putting two fingers in your mouth you remembered a whistle your Dad had taught you as a little girl. You grew up on a planet that was mostly covered in water, and the landmasses that were there were covered in thousands of turquoise lakes. Ionic clouds interfered with radio signals so whistles were used by fishermen to communicate across the lakes. You blew as hard as you could, your heart dropping as the Lord looked to be following the path the two of you had taken there. Looking at Aemond, you glanced back over at the heavy wooden shelves. 

“We have to climb.” You panted out, reaching to pop a foot on the lowest shelf available before getting a handhold and hoisting yourself up. Aemond simply looked at you like you were insane. “It said not to step foot in the row.” You argued, and at the very least it hadn’t eaten you yet. You moved further upward, your arms burning as you hauled yourself up. Aemond followed suit as you moved closer to the middle of the row. When the Lord emerged where the two of you had been, it looked around in confusion momentarily and your heart dropped further. If the madman was wrong about this you were at perfect grabbing height for the creature. It would be like a shopper picking their preferred snack off the grocery shelf. As you moved right and up you stopped for a second to grab a book and throw it down onto the floor. An overwhelming sense of delight filled you as the Lord bounded two paces into the row. But when it did it let out a piercing shriek. Aemond pulled you into a crevice he had cleared for the two of you and you watched the Lord struggle against whatever had it. But the predator of your predator wasn’t so keen on letting up and a surprisingly hollow crack filled the air as the creature's leg was snapped clean off. Going into a frenzy, you acutely felt the Lord’s fear and rage as it slammed into the shelf opposite yours with enough force to send it wobbling. As the creature thrashed continually the other leg met the same fate. Aemond put an arm around you and pulled you as far into himself as he possibly could, pressing your backs flat against the wall of the shelving. The shelves on the other side wobbled again and toppled over in the opposite direction as the massive creature fell, an otherworldly shrieking filling the air. As the torso started to tear open a bright image was cast above the being. A woman with hair as silver as the moon was being cut open by a dagger, the rippled metal seeming to swallow the light. The creature screamed and you clapped your hands over your ears, Aemond moved to cover your eyes but you shook your head before he could. He moved to gently rub between your shoulder blades. A man dressed in dark green and red reached into the woman’s bulging belly and pulled out a slimy, scaly thing. The creature and the woman seemed to wail in unison, oil spill and red blood pouring out as they grew softer in volume. The man cleared the slime away from the little creature and you watched as it spread its wings. Shrieks softened until there was little more than gurgling with intermittent clicks, but up until the bitter end, you felt every depth of emotion the Lord did. Whatever cosmic abomination had brought forth that scene had disappeared with the dead creature. When you lowered your hands from your ears they shook before Aemond gathered them in his own. You lay your head on his shoulder, happy that at least the sea of emotions within you now were yours.

Chapter 1:

Chapter 2:

Masterlist

[Modern!Aemond x Fem!Reader]

[Warnings: Aftermath of death, nonconsensual drugging, grief, sort of sexual content? dubious consent to it.]

[Summary: Florence and the Machine on darkmode]

Word Count: 5.1K

Chapter 9

Rocks clattered against each other as you took each individual footstep. In the distance, a fire shone and joy rang clear through the twilight. Low chanting danced on the breeze as you moved closer towards the firelight. The closer you got, the stranger the chanting grew. The tone had a phlegmy quality, and the beat of the music was supplemented with intermittent squelching. You restrained the shudder that wracked your body at the sound of it. Ducking behind a rock, you spied over towards the group dancing merrily around a bonfire. Behind them stood a menacing statue. It seemed to absorb every drop of light the fire put out, greedily awaiting more as the people before it contorted before the monstrosity. Unable to make out the statue, your gaze shifted to the people who danced before it. Each group member was short in stature and every single one of them bore a large, bald head. All concept of stealth was forgotten as you took a closer look. Standing up without command, each foot moved in front of the other. One of the men in the group waved you over, firelight bleeding through the translucent webbing between his fingers. Rapturous joy overtook you as you entered the circle, throwing your arms up before spinning in tandem with the others. Your feet ached with each rock you stepped over, but you were too caught up in your trance to notice. 

You opened your eyes slowly, releasing a long sigh as you did so. Another day here. The leaves were starting to shift in what few deciduous trees there were. Chill permeated the morning air now and nights grew longer. Emerson loved autumn. Would she be foraging by now? A lazy smile crept across your face at the thought of her gushing over mushrooms, a stray line of dirt smeared across her freckles. Did you haunt her the same way she did you? Did the thought of you make her days bearable the same way they did yours? It seemed the only comfort you could find these days was only reachable in your memories. Your jaw clenched as a single tear rolled down your right eye. You wiped it away before sitting up. There was work to be done.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aemond had gotten home from work, especially late that day but he wasn’t shocked to see a light on in the house. You had been a night owl since moving in with him. Opening the door, he was greeted with indignant meows from Vhagar and the sound of a heavy sigh. Aemond knelt down to pet his cranky old cat and smiled as she butted her head into his palm hard enough that her tooth was dragging against the padding at the base of his thumb. After Vhagar’s demands were met he made his way towards the lit dining room. You sat at the table, study materials consuming half of the surface. One hand rested up against your face and you looked ready to cry. Despite himself, Aemond actually felt bad and stared at you for a second. That exact moment was when you seemed to notice him and you shook your head, staring down at the sheet of paper in front of you. “Aemond. I have a lot to do right now.” You said, sighing before lowering your pencil to write. 

“You look burnt out.” He stated simply, placing one hand on the back of a chair. 

“Yeah, I’m really stressed right now.” While your earlier tone had practically been dripping with go away this was a more raw look at you. 

Discomfort twisted within Aemond. He had never been good with comforting people, but he wanted to at least try. Pulling his lips into a tight line, he swallowed his awkwardness. “You’ll figure it out.” He said in what he hoped was an encouraging tone. 

Every day was a loop of the same thing. The memories changed, but each tormented him all the same. But it was a fair punishment. It was Aemond’s fault that you were stranded out there. Four months of nothing. Search teams seemed more than content to keep cashing Targaryen checks, but produced no results. The Neck had turned up nothing and after the third fruitless month support was starting to dwindle. More and more people were beginning to believe that the plane had gone down in the Narrow Sea. Aemond refused to believe it, he couldn’t. You weren’t dead until a body was presented to him. The Baratheons were decidedly less sure, having placed a ceremonial grave in Floris’s name. For all his half-sister’s flaws, she was throwing herself as hard into the search and rescue as he was. Though he supposed she had lost the majority of her family to the disappearance. Aegon on the other hand seemed as indifferent as could be, but where he slacked his Mother came through. When he couldn’t meet with rescuers, she would. She matched his fervor and Aemond thanked the Gods once more that his Mother threw herself into this so hard. She barely even knew you and openly disliked Sara but was running herself ragged. How he got so lucky to have a mother like his, he didn't know. Helaena was getting busier with her classes starting back up, but she was still invaluable. But worry was starting to grow in him. Helaena’s words still nagged at him. Their last known location was Hornwood and she had said they were looking too far south. It only got colder as the days marched on and winter was coming. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The grubs popped into your mouth as you chewed dejectedly. Bon appetit. The taste wasn’t awful but the juice leaking out was. Practicality was paramount out here but the modern side of you still resented having to eat bugs. But if the alternative was starving it wasn’t like you had much choice. Silence hung over the cabin as everybody chewed. “Sar,” Floris said suddenly. “You have to eat.” She insisted, bringing one hand to lift the blonde’s bowl towards her. 

“Why?” She asked with a wry chuckle. “What does it matter, at this point?” 

Myri shook her head, bracing her hands on the side of her bowl. “Okay.” She said with another shake of her head. “I can’t do this anymore.” She then set her bowl down and rose to her feet, walking off and returning with a jar of…liquid surprise. 

“What is that?” Criston questioned, peeking his head up to look at the maroon jar. 

“It was some berries I was trying to save.” She answered, twisting the lid on the jar. “But I think it might’ve turned into booze?” She questioned, shooting him a tentative smile. “I don’t know about the rest of you but I could use a drink.” 

“Do we think it’s safe?” Aly questioned, her brows knit together as her lips pulled into a line. 

“Do we care?” Criston retorted with a small shrug. 

“I have a few more.” Myri offered. 

Sara looked at the jar for a few seconds, the gears in her head visibly turning. “If we have booze, let’s have a party.” 

“Yeah.” Aly let out a dry laugh. “‘Cuz we’ve got so much to celebrate.” 

“Do we need a reason?” Sara asked, her nose scrunched. “We’re gonna be dead in a few weeks.” She said as casually as possible. You could scarcely believe it. When did Sara stop being an optimist?  

“There’s a full moon tomorrow.” Rhaena offered, her hands clasped in front of her. 

“And it’s almost homecoming.” Nettles pitched in. You had forgotten she was younger than you and had another year before she got her bachelor's. 

“We packed dresses, right?” You asked. At least you had. Maybe you had packed four or so, but at least somebody could borrow one if they needed to. “Clothes to go out?” 

“There we go!” Sara piped in. “We have outfits, we have booze. We can decorate.” She offered, raising her brows as she continued. “Have a sort of...Moon homecoming.” 

“More like a doom homecoming.” Aly chewed on a grub, wiggling her brows as she joked. Sabitha got up and walked away. 

“A doomcoming.” You joked, popping another grub in your mouth and trying to ignore the juice. 

“Now that’s a party idea.” Baela laughed, raising a hand to gesture towards Sara. 

“Alright.” Sara mused. “Doomcoming.” She glanced around the room and you met her hollow eyes for a second before she smirked. “We’ll drink rotten berries and celebrate our impending death.” 

Everybody busied themselves with the macabre arts and crafts. Your hands twisted fur over a deer's skull, trying to fasten a pendant to it unsuccessfully. Sighing and setting it down for a moment, you caught sight of Rhaena who was scampering off towards the opposite end of the cabin with a makeshift boutonniere. Poor Criston. Turning back to your work, you cut holes in the fur to stick the horns through and pulled it down over the skull. When that was done you looked at it, one finger placed against your bottom lip. It was still missing something. Walking into the cabin, you beelined for your bag and pulled out a silvery crochet shawl. Nodding approvingly, you laced it through the horns how you wanted it and began to search for plants to ornament it. What was your Mom doing right now? You mused while snapping off a section of vines for your headdress. The two of you had a strained relationship but you had never wanted to hug her more. She was a wreck for over a year after your Dad died. You fed pine twigs through the holes in the shawl, fluffing them. If you didn’t make it out of the woods she would have lost her entire family. Dread filled your gut at the thought of her being all alone. Shaking hands weaved the last of the leaves into the piece. You set the headdress down on the porch and walked into the cabin. Your makeup proved to be an easier endeavor. Thankfully Sara had a compact mirror. It wasn’t ideal, but you didn’t want to waste your phone time on eyeliner. The naive side of you was still hoping that one of these times a signal would pop up in the corner but you saved your minutes regardless. You continued on with your makeup routine, letting your mascara dry. Although there wasn’t enough concealer in the world to hide what the last few months had done to you, you felt better. A bit more human. You smiled at your reflection. Your dress fit looser than it should have and you frowned after zipping it up. But you supposed that’s what was to be expected when you were stranded in the woods. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aemond shot his sister a tight smile. Helaena set her bag down and pushed her silver hair off her face. “Sorry, I’m late. The King’s line was down.” 

Aemond shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.” Unsure of how to broach his next question, he glanced down at his menu for a moment despite the fact that he ordered the same thing every time. Helaena had always been unique. Aegon called it weird, but his Mother avoided any mention of it. 

“Is… everything alright?” Helaena asked, squeezing the juice from a lemon wedge into her water and stirring it before taking a sip. 

“Yeah.” He answered after a second. The look on Helaena’s face told him she knew he was lying. “How are you?” 

Helaena shook her head, taking another sip of her water. “I’ve been having awful nightmares.” She muttered. Helaena always had… interesting dreams. She had a few right answers in the past but you always figured they were lucky guesses. Helaena had always been good at recognizing patterns others couldn’t. “A… stone prison.” She continued, running the pad of her finger around the rim of her glass. “A lot of really weird stuff.” She finished, offering a tired smile. Aemond nodded, wanting to be supportive. Besides, it’s not like he was getting the best sleep either. Helaena grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil from her school bag, drawing on it quickly before turning the paper towards him. “I keep seeing this thing.” She stated. 

As Aemond glanced at it, all he could offer was a shrug. It was some triangular symbol with a circle and lines. He shook his head after glancing at it another moment. “Doesn’t ring any bells.” He answered. “Looks like a weird stick figure.” 

Helaena’s face twisted in resignation, and she then neatly returned the paper and pencil to their spots in her bag. “Worth a try.” Taking another sip of her water, she glanced at Aemond for a second. “Do you want to talk about something?” She asked gently, concern plastered onto her face. 

Aemond chewed at the inside of his cheek for a second before regaining his composure. “You said they’re searching too far south.” Helaena looked skeptical at the mention. Aemond only supposed it was fair, she had been dismissed for months now. “Where do you think we should search?” He finished. 

Helaena’s brows knit together as she pulled her lips into a nervous smile. “It doesn’t work like a GPS.” She laughed nervously. What precisely ‘it’ was could be worried about another time. It’s not like many others were coming up with new ideas. And unlike the others, Helaena wasn’t in it for a paycheck. She actually cared. “All I know is it’s north. Deep into the north.” 

Aemond’s fist clenched under the table. Well, that sure was helpful. Guilt panged at Aemond as he counted to five in his head. Helaena was just trying to help. “Further north than Winterfell?” 

“I think so.” 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You placed the candle into the centerpiece of the broken log. Smiling and adjusting your dress, you turned towards the rest of the group. “Let the Doomcoming begin.” You exclaimed with raised arms. Luke banged a smaller piece of shrapnel against a larger one in imitation of a gong. Candlelights flickered but you couldn’t bring yourself to care about conserving them. Luke continued to bang the gong as Sara and Floris stepped through the makeshift archway. They brushed tattered cloth out of their faces as they stepped through, Sara strutting in and Floris moving slower. The swell of her stomach was visible against the dress and she glowed. Nettles and Myri followed them, arm in arm. Criston crutched in after, a long-suffering look on his face as Rhaena beamed beside him. Sabitha and Aly entered next, with the former staring down at the ground. Aly grabbed her hand gently, guiding her towards the center of the clearing and kissing her. The lot of you cheered and clapped, and what little you could see of Sab’s face was flushed. You made your way over to the jar and poured yourself a mug of berry wine. Sniffing at it for a moment, you winced and made your way over towards the pot of stew. You decided to take a swig of the wine in the meantime, your face twisting at the intense bitterness. Despite the awful taste, the pleasant burn in your mouth told you it would get the job done. Rhaena glanced over towards you nervously. You raised a brow in her direction before Myri passed you your bowl and you thanked her, making your way over to the log near Baela. Jacaerys approached her and a small smile broke out across your best friend’s face. 

“You look nice.” He stated simply, an awkward smile on his face as one hand came to rest in his hair. 

“Jace,” Sara called. “C’mon. Get over here.” Fury twisted in your gut as he glanced back at Baela once more before turning towards Sara. An annoyed look came across Baela’s face as he walked off, and she nodded before turning towards you. You patted the spot next to you but Baela shook her head. You nodded at her. Baela talked about things at her own pace. Taking a bite of your stew, you chewed on the mushroom for a minute. Relishing the taste, you washed it down with a swig of terrible wine and cringed. Your heels dug into the dirt as you ate. The empty spot at the bench weighed heavily on you. If Baela wasn’t there, Barba always sat beside you. You still saw her death in your sleep, the ball of fire that consumed her entirely. She had put her faith in gods who used her as a firework show. You turned your mug to take another sip of wine before stopping to glance at it for a moment. Shaking the liquid in your cup, you rose to your feet. 

“We should have a moment of silence for Barba.” You stated, voice cracking as you glanced down at your cup. 

“Yeah.” Ser Criston nodded, and you pulled your lips back over your teeth. It felt like the light went out after she died. The camp seemed so much more somber without her unrelenting optimism. 

“To Barba,” Aly said, raising her mug. 

“Hear, hear,” Jace said. 

“Barba.” Echoed before everybody took a drink. You brought the bitter wine to your lips again and tried to swallow as much as you could stand. You sat back down on the log. Barba’s parents wouldn’t even get a body to bury. 

“So, what now?” Baela asked, shooting a smile in your direction. 

“Oh, now we just need a DJ to pump up the volume.” Sara quipped.

“What we need is a slow dance.” Rhaena insisted, staring at Criston with a wide grin as she did so. 

You hummed a tune softly, Baela’s face lighting up in recognition. “Shared my body and my mind with you. That’s all over now.” 

More voices piped in. “Did what I had to do, ‘cuz you’re so far past me now.” You got up and danced with Myri and Nettles. Your leg still protested at too much movement, but it was doomcoming after all. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Sara dancing with Jace. Baela watched from behind them, resolution drawing across her face as she stepped away. You knew to give her space when she was upset like this as she was 100% Daemon Targaryen’s daughter. She stopped to talk to Ser Criston for a moment and you furrowed your brow. Well, he was older than everybody else. Maybe he would have some advice for her in regard to Jace. “Get a little bit of bourbon in ya.” You raised your arm so Myrielle could spin under it. You grew happier as time went on. The brush of Myri’s hand against yours felt insane as if it was the first time you had ever touched a person. You giggled as you glanced at her, a warm feeling filling you as the two of you continued to spin around. 

Eventually, you grew tired of dancing, fascinated by the swirling lines in the dirt. You had your head propped against a tree, a goofy grin on your face as laughter rang out. Sabitha was gripping her sides, joy lighting up her face. “Oh my gods, what?” Aly asked, rubbing one eye and looking over at her girlfriend. 

“No, no.” Sabitha guffawed, her face red. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She giggled again, raising one arm. “You look like a tree.” She mumbled dreamily. Aly giggled as she raised one arm, posing momentarily. “Like a really hot tree.” The more you looked at her, the more you could see it. The shifting pattern on her skin was fascinating, her tall frame stretched out like a statue. “Guys, doesn’t Alysanne look like a tree right now?” She asked, one hand gesturing towards her. 

“She kind of does.” Nettles agreed, her tone dreamy.

 “Or do the trees look like Aly?” Myri asked, gazing around the forest. You giggled as you curled back into your nest, feeling the comfiest you had ever felt. The bark felt amazing against your skin and you giggled stupidly as you brushed your hand over it repetitively. 

“I feel weird,” Luke moaned. You glanced over where he lay between two gnarled roots. 

Rhaena glanced around at the camp, berry wine staining her lips and chin as she muttered “Criston.” She grunted as she rose to her feet, wandering off. 

The sound of Rhaena’s footsteps was far too loud and you shot a disapproving glance in her direction. “Shh!” You exclaimed, pressing both of your hands against the forest floor. “Do you feel that?” You asked. The earth pulsed beneath your fingers, and it felt warm. Living. Loving, almost. 

“I think I do,” Nettles said, on her hands and knees as she ran her hand along the brush. “Like, energy…” She mused. “Coming up from the ground.” 

“Something’s coming.” Erupted before the conscious thought fully formed in your head. You closed your eyes and inhaled the autumn air deeply. Floris gasped and grabbed her belly.

“What’s wrong?” Aly asked, rushing to her side confusedly. 

“It…” Floris held a hand at the top of her belly. “It moved.” 

Aly pressed the side of her face to Floris’s belly. “You guys, something’s happening.” Her other hand came up to caress the swell. 

“No.” You shook your head. “Something’s coming.” Pacing towards the gnarled stump of a long fallen tree, you came to kneel before it. Staring into the moss-covered bark, a sense of ease overtook you. “We won’t be hungry much longer.” You glanced back at it, running your hands along the rough wood. Emerson would love this kind of tree. She loved all trees. But this one in particular would be her favorite. You had never seen a tree with swirling, multicolored bark. Making your way back to your feet, you curled back into the tree you had been sitting at, drawing little symbols in the dirt with your finger. 

“Where is everyone?” Myri asked, sitting up and looking around. You replied with a dopey grin and a shrug. 

“Bae and Ser Criston are friends?” Nettles asked, glancing in your direction. You shrugged in response. You figured she went to him for advice on men the same way you went to Sabitha and Aly when you missed Emerson.  “Rhaena won’t like that,” Nettles responded, leaning her head against Myrielle’s shoulder. 

“But she’s gone,” Myri responded, one hand petting Nettles’ arm. “And what about Sara? Or Jacaerys?” She questioned. 

“They left,” Luke said dreamily. 

“Together?” Aly asked, indignation in her tone as she sat up. “That’s so Sara.” 

“That’s very Sara.” Sabitha agreed. 

“She’s not doing anything wrong.” Floris defended, black hair tangling in her pine crown. 

“But what are they doing?” Luke asked, staring up at the sky. 

You sat up against the tree, lifting your gaze towards Aly and Sab. “We should find them.” You immediately rose to your feet, relishing the stretch in your legs. R’hllor, you couldn’t remember the last time it felt this good to move. 

“Wait, why?” Floris asked, sitting up. 

You continued on your path, not sparing a glance towards her. The rage from earlier boiled in your gut. “He doesn’t belong to her.” You quipped, walking off. 

“Wait, Y/N,” Sabitha called out. One after one people began to follow you as you paced through the dark forest. You laughed as you continued on, weaving through the underbrush as your friends joined at your side. Wolves howled off in the distance and the group came to a halt. Terror seized you as the angry pink scar on your thigh twinged. 

“Listen,” Alysanne said, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. Seconds later Sabitha yelled out into the night, followed by caws from Myri. Soon enough all of you were shouting into the mountainside, the forest echoing with your voices. Now you all began to run through the woods, your leg burned in protest but you ignored it, honed in on your goal. The cabin shone in the distance, looming ever closer as the lot of you sprinted through the darkened woods, guided by familiarity. With your thigh aching you were the last to reach it and Myri had already burst through the door when you walked in. Her gaze was wild, planted on Sara. The blonde shot a bewildered glance at everybody, her gaze locking on you. Her sapphire eye caught the glint of light before you blinked and looked at her again, her eyes now gray. 

“What were you guys doing up there?” Myrielle demanded, expression feral. 

“None of your business.” Sara retorted. Her silver hair shone, patterns rippling through it. “What did you tell them, Floris?” She asked accusatorily. 

“Nothing.” Floris insisted. 

Alysanne stepped forward to grab Sara’s arm. “Why would you do this to Baela?” She asked, gaze focused. 

“We didn’t… I um…” Jace stuttered, looking half out of it. 

You shot a weary look at Jacaerys, nobody here was born yesterday. “They did.” You shot back flatly, Jace backing down. 

“It’s nobody’s business.” Sara insisted. You grabbed Sara’s arm, holding her in place. “Jace, do something.” She insisted while gesturing towards you. 

“None of us are here though, are we?” He asked, his gaze distant. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Sara shot back, looking increasingly unnerved. Your hand came to brush against Jacaerys’ and you raised your hand to trace his. Leaning in, you pulled your husband’s nephew in for a kiss. Your other hand came to rest against his jawline, tracing along it as you enjoyed the sensation of his skin on yours. Though the kiss was pleasant, it didn’t do much for you. The sensation was amazing, but Jacaerys himself couldn’t be further from your type. 

“What, you’re just gonna stand there?” Sara asked from beside you. Suddenly Jace was pulled away from you and Floris kissed him next, her hand coming to rest on his cheek. You smiled and chuckled as Floris deepened the kiss, Sara seething. 

“Floris.” She cried out. “Hey! Stop!” She said, pulling at her best friend’s arms. “Stop it!” She commanded. 

You shoved her back in defense of Floris. “You don’t belong anymore.” Silver hair flashed in the candlelight as you stepped towards Sara. 

“Oh, what?” She asked, rolling her eyes. “Because I don’t commune with the spirits?” Sara asked with a roll of her eyes. 

“This has nothing to do with that.” You insisted, your tone darkening as you closed the gap between you two. You began to push her then, herding her back towards the cupboard. 

“Okay. Hey, Get off me you fucking psycho.” Sara insisted, offering a futile resistance. Your gaze hardened in his direction, and you glared into his violet eye. 

Sara’s gray eyes glanced back at you as you smirked for a brief moment. “Don’t you understand?” You asked. “You don’t matter anymore.” With that you shoved Sara into the cupboard and slammed the door in her face, making sure to latch it. 

“What? Hey!” Sara cried out, banging on the door. You returned to the living room where Jacaerys sat on a chair. Myri tore at his shirt and Floris kissed him. You glanced off into the corner where Sabitha and Aly were making out. Good for them. You glanced back over to where Nettles leaned in to kiss Jace, caressing his face while you kissed his shoulder. Myrielle pulled him in next, grasping his face with both hands and pulling back to bite at his lower lip. 

“Wait,” Jacaerys said, Nettles’ hands reaching towards his belt. You reached into where his shoulder was barely covered by the soft black material of his shirt. You bit onto the fabric and pulled back, relishing the tearing sound of the fabric. The mood shifted, primal madness filling the air as the group of you giggled. Floris pulled at his ear. “Stop.” Jacaerys insisted, shifting in his chair. Floris laughed and Myri tried to put him in a headlock. Jace escaped from it and rose to his feet, glancing back towards everybody. As quickly as he could, he ran out of the open door and stumbled onto his feet. You laughed as you stood up and glanced towards the rest of the girls, ignoring the banging from the pantry door. 

“The stag!” You said, a wide grin splitting your face. “We have to catch it.” You insisted, shooting off after him. The group of you bounded off back into the night, laughing as you chased the stag. Floris led the pack, butcher’s knife in hand. Jace looked back at you and you grinned madly, ecstasy filling your veins. That’s when Jacaerys fell. While Myrielle and Nettles tied him, you pulled your antler headpiece on. The skull sat awkwardly and had to be adjusted multiple times before it would properly stay on your head. Finally, it sat right and you strut over to where Jace stood, tied against a tree. You smiled before bringing your hands down. Staring Jacaerys dead in the eye, you let the smile fall from your face. “Stop fighting.” You commanded. 

“Y/N?” He asked, eyes wide.

You hushed him as soothingly as you could muster, grabbing a pinecone and grabbing his cheeks so his mouth would open. When it did you shoved the pinecone in and glanced back towards Floris. “You know what to do.” Floris held the dagger to the stag’s neck, pausing for a moment before she looked back at you. You smiled reassuringly, a warm buzzing filling your ears as chanting rang off in the distance. “It’s okay.” You murmured lovingly. “It wants us to.” Floris nodded, turning back towards Jacaerys and pressing the blade to his throat. 

“What the fuck?” Baela yelled out. “Stop!” She commanded, reaching towards Floris and trying to grab the knife. “Move.” She pushed you back, and your headpiece fell. Floris dropped the knife while you and Baela both made a dive for it. Baela reached it before you did, stepping back but holding the knife in your general direction. She turned and walked over towards Jace, who had wrenched the pinecone out of his mouth. “Are you okay?” 

Jace stepped away from her, nodding. “Yeah.” He muttered. “I’m fine.” He continued, walking back in the direction of the cabin. 

You moved next, slamming into Baela’s side and grabbing for the knife. “It’s in all of us, you know.” You muttered, your gaze feral as you stared into Baela’s lilac eyes. “Even him. Even you.” You said with a wide grin. 

Baela pulled the knife away from you and shoved you back. “That is enough of your weird fucking bullshit Y/N.” You laughed in response, rapturous joy overtaking you. “Haven’t you done enough?” She questioned. You just sat in the dirt and continued to laugh as she stormed off. Baela didn’t know, but she would with time. It was a part of all of them now. This place. The people and things that had lived here before. It was twisted into all of them irrevocably.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Future!Aemond x Fem!Reader]

[Warnings: Limited sexual content, violence, car crash, implied death]

[Summary: The Reader and Aemond find themselves in unfamiliar territory, with limited knowledge and a healthy amount of angst.]

Word Count: 9K

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Mirrors multi-reflecting this

Blistering waves of heat rose from white pavement. A yellow star shone high in the sky, oriented in the northeast. It was still morning, yet sunlight scorched every exposed surface of your body. Cars barreled down pothole-filled streets, errant honks filling the air. Across the block a dead cactus sagged under its own weight. Curses and screeching of brakes filled the sweltering air, but it was a comfort to know that everybody seemed to feel as cranky as you did right now. Aemond stood beside you, looking annoyed. He panned his gaze out to the street, while you turned around. Behind you, a large building stood. Panels of metal and glass reflected the light, with a symbol resting at the upper right corner of the building. ‘ASU’ It read, with no other indication. “What do you think it is?” You took a step back, your hand coming to rest against a large metal pole before recoiling at the heat. People appeared to be in the buildings, walking around, congregating in rooms. They were mostly younger looking. “An academy?” You questioned out loud. Raising your wrist, you scanned the structure quickly. With any luck your watch would be able to send an emergency beacon to the Guild with the coordinates of this planet. You let out a sigh when the error ping sounded. “No dice on the distress signal.” It was then he grabbed your arm, turning you so that you faced what had captured his attention so thoroughly. You turned to see Aemond’s face. Except that it wasn’t his face. The man on the billboard had short, quaffed hair and a reptilian smile. An immediate unease gripped you as you looked at Aemond– your Aemond– in shock. “Uhh…” You sucked air in through your teeth before shaking your head. “Yeah no, sorry I got nothing. The academy did not prepare us for this level of mindfucking.” 

Aemond snorted, shooting you a terse glance. “You say that like it’s your face up there.” He shook his head distastefully, his fingers coming to brush up against the Valyrian steel melded into his face. Your gaze shifted back to the Aemond on the poster, a black eyepatch rested on his left eye. You laced your fingers into his, squeezing his hand gently. When you first met him you– like most other people– assumed that he got his cybernetic implant as an upgrade. A rich boy who wanted a permanent status symbol stitched into his body. The truth was much darker, but he had only told you once when he was so drunk he couldn’t walk. Unsure if he remembered telling you, or would be horrified you found out you pretended it didn’t happen. Pretended that you knew he got the implant when he was ten, but not that it was because his nephew shot him with a phaser. 

You wondered what happened to the billboard Aemond, and brought your thumb to rub against his hand. Aemond for the most part looked uneasy, a sneer pulled across his aquiline features. “Hey, at least you know that haircut wouldn't suit you.” Your tone was unsteady as you joked but Aemond’s expression didn’t shift and he kept staring at the billboard. Targaryen: To keep us on track for a brighter tomorrow #Reelect2028. A strange flash of light emerged from your peripheral vision, and you instinctively put your hand up to shield your face from it. Some person held a small rectangle in their hands, pointing it at you while they talked adamantly. When Aemond noticed the same thing you did, he turned on his heels and stormed away. You were dragged along beside him, awkwardly working to meet his lengthy stride. “Okay I understand we need to get out of eyesight.” You half jogged to keep up with him. “Please try to remember that you’re a fuck of a lot taller than me.” 

“Sorry.” His pace slowed to a much more manageable level and you shot him a small smile. “We need to find something to cover my face.” His tone was flat, dark. What was a convenience in your world, could be a scarlet letter here. Nodding, the two of you stepped into a building for a moment and pulled your backpacks off. Aemond peeled the leather jacket off himself and replaced it with a simple black hoodie, pulling the hood as far over his face as he could. You on the other hand stripped off a few layers, grateful for your tank top amidst the blistering heat. Folding the items of discarded clothing and shoving them into the bag, you dug around for the small red box. After pulling it out, you held it up towards Aemond. He nodded and the two of you made your way down the hallway. A chemical smell filled the air of the hallway as the two of you continued on. Between the smell of exhaust, tile cleaner, and the brutal heat your head was starting to throb. The two of you stepped foot into the library, fluorescent lights cast boorishly across the room. Despite the situation, a smile was pulled across your face as your eyelids shut. The scent of old books hung sweetly in the air, the wooden rows stacked from one vast wall to the next. “You’re adorable.” Aemond chuckled, pulling you out of your memories. 

Your eyes rolled in response, smile refusing to budge from your face as you neared a door. You raised your hands over your brow to block out the glare and tutted approvingly when you saw it was empty. “This looks like the perfect one.” Your hands fell and the reflection of Aemond’s face greeted you in the glass. 

You reached for the knob but Aemond beat you to it, opening it before inserting his body between yourself and the doorway. “Not on your life.” He insisted, giggles erupting from you as Aemond held the door open.

“I love when you maliciously do nice things for me.” Aemond chuckled as you stepped towards the table propped off to one wall. Setting your bag on top of it, you pulled out the currency generator and hesitated over the controls. The star on this planet rose from the east, the natives appeared human, and you had yet to see any magic. Your hand rose to rest against your chin, knuckles brushing against the crease of your lips. Bringing your gaze up to meet Aemond’s, you glanced back down at the machine. “Earth?” 

Aemond considered for a second, a blue light flashing from the left side of his face before it blinked yellow twice. “Print out some of Meutian bills as well.” He concluded. While you leaned over the table inputting the data into the generator Aemond’s footsteps shuffled off behind you. “You alright?” When you glanced back at the blonde his hand dropped from his face suddenly. Clearly having witnessed something better left alone, you let out a dry chuckle. “Seven hells, Aem, still picking your nose?” 

You were met with a weary look in response, Aemond coming to lean against the wall. “I’m trying to think of how to get the hell out of here.” His gaze landed on the wall to your right, feigning indifference. Ah. The billboard. 

You shot him a reassuring smile, lifting yourself onto the table to sit and crossing one leg under yourself. “Well, if things keep going how they have been we won’t need to worry about finding a way out of here.” 

“I don’t think that’s as reassuring as you think it is, Y/N.” 

“No, but it is the only thing we really have to go on.” Your head shook for a moment, your hand raising. “I mean, yeah. Shit is really scary right now. But where’s your sense of adventure? Nobody else that we know of has had the oppor-” 

“We don’t know if that’s a good thing, Y/N.” Aemond barked out, a guilty look immediately softening his face afterwards. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.” His right hand came to rub against his temple.

You shook your head. “No, it’s alright.” Your eyes met as you offered a small smile. “I’m sorry if I made you feel like I was dismissing you.” As hard as you were trying to find the silver lining, you could barely make sense of your ass from your elbow. “Is it him?” You blurted out before being able to stop yourself. 

“No.” Aemond’s flat response whipped out as soon as you had finished speaking. A lie, but you knew Aemond was as academically intelligent as he was emotionally unintelligent. You nodded, considering for a second before a ping interrupted the silence between you two. You made quick work of pocketing the bills before refolding the generator and placing it back into your backpack. Zipping up the rucksack, you tossed it over one shoulder and smiled at Aemond. 

Aemond shut the door behind the two of you and you ventured back out into the library. You stuck to the walls of the cavernous room, passing through rows of books before the two of you came to rows with a bunch of boxes in it. You immediately diverted from your path, beelining towards it. Picking up one of the boxes, you turned it over in your hands. It was made of plastic, with a portrait of a dancer covered in blood on it. “What do you think it is?” 

“Something we can worry about after we get out of here.” 

You rolled your eyes in response, glancing over it a second longer. “Suspira? Suspiria? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book like this.” Aemond audibly sighed and you placed the box back onto the shelf before putting both hands up in a ‘fine’ gesture and following him. The two of you walked throughout the silence of the library, before intermittent gurgling from Aemond’s stomach interrupted. 

After the third straight grumble, you couldn’t help but giggle. Aemond shot you another bored look, and a man paging through a book shot the two of you a dirty look. Now past the boxes, the two of you came to your personal paradise. Rows of vinyl records were stacked taller than Aemond, and a smile pulled across your face at the sight of it. 

“Really?” Aemond grumbled while plodding behind you towards the rows. 

“D…D…D… Can you help me find the D’s?” You were met with silence before turning back towards Aemond. One silver brow was raised, an amused smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. 

“All you had to do was ask.” 

“Shut up.” You chuckled, shaking your head as you glanced at the ground. 

“I think it’s the next row down.” He murmured. You nodded before stepping into the next row, tracing your finger along the rows until finally getting to the D section. 

“Da, Da, c’mon Da pull through for me.” You muttered out loud. Aemond chuckled softly and leaned over you to grab a record off the shelf. A wide grin split across your face at the sight of the record. STATIONTOSTATION was printed across the top in red, and you dropped to your knees. Unzipping your backpack, you snatched the record from Aemond’s hand and put it into the bag. 

“Really?” His eyebrow quirked.

“Fuck you, you got a sextant.” 

“Fair enough.” His stomach grumbled yet again as you smirked at him. 

“Let’s stop and get something to eat.” 

Aemond shot you a hard look. “I can wait until we’re back.” 

“Back where?” The silence hung between you two for a moment. Another reminder of the clusterfuck you’d been thrown into. The only sounds in the library were your boots shuffling on the carpet, and the errant clicking of computer keys. Your knuckles brushed against Aemond’s for a moment before he moved them. Swallowing your disappointment, you raised a hand to fiddle with your watch. You set it to analyze the data you had gathered about the building. Your finger hovered over the file you had recorded in the creepy room, unease rising in you before you submitted it to be run through the translator. Lowering it back down, you kept your gaze planted solely ahead of you, not wanting to give any indication that you cared about him brushing your hand off. It was stupid anyways, you had wasted over a decade of your life pining after somebody who just didn’t feel the same way about you. No matter how hard you had tried to move on, how much distance you tried to put between your platonic and romantic life, he hung over it. Over you. A bloodless form of self harm, but self harm all the same. The brick walls opened up into a little cafe, a single student waiting for their order at the counter. You glanced back towards Aemond, who sighed as he gave in to the grumbling of his stomach. 

After the two of you ordered you sat down at a little table next to the window. Rust-colored mountains rolled off into the distance, palm trees lining streets that were shimmering with lines of heat. Aemond waited at the counter for your guys’ order and you pulled up the screen on your watch. Glancing around quickly to make sure there was nobody else at the tables, you pulled up the hologram before leaning over the table so as to hide it. Taking a deep breath, you pressed play on the dreaded file. ‘Advances are not made by gradation, such as can be represented by motion in a straight line; but rather by ascension of state…’ Well that was… strange. But there were certainly more ominous things to hear from a creepy mist filled bottle than somebody’s soapbox about physics. You glanced up to see Aemond arriving with the food, and you shot a grateful smile up towards him. “Ugh, you’re a star.” You lifted your coffee towards him in a cheers gesture, taking a sip. It tasted burnt but that was of little importance to you. It was a chance to catch your breath. After the two of you had eaten a little, you set your croissant down on the paper wrapper. “How should we get out of here?” 

Aemond had been looking out the window, lost in thought before he snapped to meet your gaze. “Everywhere it’s…changed… there hasn’t been anybody but us.” His jaw set briefly, before he continued. “If we get away from all the people we might at least go back to the house. From there we can get back to Vhagar.” You nodded. It relied on a lot of what-if’s, but it wasn’t like you had anything better to suggest. His implant flickered yellow twice. Aemond’s gaze shifted over towards the tail end of the cafe, where the barista was following a customer. Your gaze lingered on the implant for a second before he looked back at you and you shrugged in response. 

“Sounds like a solid plan to me.” A lie, but one that he needed to hear. You took a bite of your croissant, savoring it for a moment before swallowing. This planet’s coffee sucked, but at least they knew their way around a pastry. Aemond smiled at you and you tried unsuccessfully to shove down the fluttering in your stomach. Over a decade and you still couldn’t grow up and accept his feelings for you were solely platonic. 

Avoiding the rising discomfort within you, words erupted before you could think. “Do you think there’s another Y/N here?” You shot Aemond a nervous smile but to your comfort he let out a small chuckle. 

“Yes, you’re probably my VP.” 

“Oh, right.” You let out a dry laugh. “That’s how we know this isn’t our world.” You teased, taking another sip of your coffee. Behind you glass shattered, panning across the tables and onto the floors. Your arms instinctively shot up to cover your head before you looked over at Aemond, who returned your look of shock. You glanced over at the object that had been thrown through the window and brought your tank top to cover your mouth and nose at the sight of the gas released from it. Every instinct screamed at you to run but you found your body growing heavier by the second. Within moments lifting your eyelids became a herculean gesture and the last thing you registered was the sensation of the croissant against your cheek. 

Harsh yellow lights peeked in through your eyelids as they sleepily fluttered open. Your stomach was turning and you felt as if your eyeballs were going to burst out of your head. Wincing, you reached to rub your eyes before finding yourself blocked from the measure. Looking down, you groggily shook at the restraint on your wrist before squeezing your eyes shut a few seconds longer. “Are you feeling alright, love?” Aemond’s voice cooed out from in front of you. 

You shook your head no, eyes still shut as you tried to will away the pounding in your head. “‘Headache from the hells.” You croaked out, voice hoarse as you started to blink. “Where are we? Who restrained us?” You mumbled, pulling your right hand against the restraint as you looked down at the leather cuff holding your wrist in place. 

“We uhm.” Aemond gathered himself as you hazily tried the left hand. “We know this is probably all very confusing and wanted to make sure that you didn’t hurt yourself.” 

“What?” You muttered, your gaze rising to meet Aemond’s, your stomach dropping when your line of sight came to rest on a black eyepatch sitting over his left eye. You leaned back in your seat, unsuccessfully putting distance between yourself and the strangely familiar man who stood before you. “Where’s Aemond?” You questioned, eyebrows knit together as you tried willed yourself to disappear through the seat cushion. If there was ever a time for shit to shift. 

The Aemond before you let out a soft chuckle, a loving smile etched onto his face as he reached a hand out to cup your cheek. You flinched away from his touch but were unable to move far in the chair. Aemond tutted and brought his hand to your cheek once more. “I’m here, love.” 

Okay. He had some weird… affection for you. You could work with that. “Where’s the other Aemond?” You mumbled, coming to your senses more but feigning confusion. You didn’t shy away from his touch now, but didn’t lean into it either, simply did your best to shoot him sleepy doe eyes. 

“You don’t need to worry about him love.” Aemond cooed, leaning down to press a soft kiss onto your forehead. He inhaled sharply, lingering for a moment. “You have no idea how hard I’ve prayed to see you.” His voice cracked as he spoke, lips hovering inches over your forehead. 

Your heart pounded against your ribcage as you froze. You waited a moment to collect yourself. “Thank the Gods.” You pulled your lips back over your teeth, looking away before looking at every corner of the room. “He was a bounty hunter.” Make him feel like he’s saving you. 

Aemond’s fist clenched as he took a step back, a hard expression drawn across his face as he shook his head. “I saw the livestream from that boy.” He spat. “I saw the way he was dragging you into the college.” Huh, so that’s what that was. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he inhaled deeply before looking away. “I don’t know how or why you’re here, but there’s no chance I’m letting you go again.” His voice cracked, and though you couldn’t see his face, you could hear the tears in his voice. “I need you. We need you.” 

“We?” You asked, your brows knit together but a pleasant expression still glued onto your face. Aemond turned back to face you, eye brimmed red but his expression turned back to neutrality. 

“It’s better if I show you.” Aemond leaned over to unlock the restraint, following it up with the next. He gingerly examined your wrists, pressing a gentle kiss to it before reaching out a hand to help you to your feet. After doing so, he placed a hand on your waist gently, guiding you towards the door. Of course. You mused. Just my luck that the Aemond who wants me is the one who takes me fucking captive. The two of you were guided through a large building, guards stopping to give Aemond an intermittent “Mr. President.” Shocked glances landed in your direction enough to make you feel uneasy. 

“What happened to me?” You blurted out. Everybody’s reaction so far could only mean one thing. His crying, the looks. 

“Car crash.” He said, swallowing hard as he looked down at his feet momentarily. “Your brother had just gotten divorced from Maya.” My brother is gay as the day is long. “The two of you were taking your niece and nephews sledding but a pickup spun out into you.” Alex hates children. 

“I’m sorry.” You said, placing a reassuring hand on his arm. “That had to have been horrible for you.” Not a reason to take me hostage, but that does sound awful. 

“The girls took it a lot harder.” You stopped in the hall for a moment, unsure if you heard him right. 

“Girls?” 

“We have two daughters.” So that’s what this was. You were here to be the replacement wife and mother. Even in the world where Aemond loved you, you were the silver medal. 

“Uhh…” You laughed nervously, still trying to keep a polite smile on your face. “I’ve never had any children.” 

“Their names are Lyra and Daella.” 

“Aemond I think I would remember splitting my vagina open spawning a human being two separate times.” Aemond looked down for a moment before chuckling and shaking his head. 

“Yet you still have such a way with words.” This time it was your turn to chuckle, and Aemond resumed walking. The halls were lined with portraits of what you could only assume were previous presidents, with Aemond’s father being visible down the hall. 

“Ew what the fuck you guys elected him?” Aemond laughed as soon as you finished your sentence. “Well at least there are some constants.” You mused out loud. “It seems your Dad is an asshole in all worlds.” 

“Not much better can be said for your Dad though.” He mused as you raised a brow. 

“Maybe this version of my Dad was, but my Dad is fucking awesome. We threw potassium in a retention pond before I left for Juliet Quadrant.” Aemond paused for a moment before shaking his head and saying nothing in response. 

The cherry wood clicked under your boots, and the two of you came to stop before a large burgundy door. Aemond stopped and looked at you before reaching for the knob. “Are you ready?” 

You paused a moment, taking a deep breath in through your nose before nodding. When the door opened you were greeted by the sight of one blonde little girl playing with a tablet on the couch. Another sat at a table at the other side of the room, head buried in a book. The one at the table seemed entirely uninterested in the door opening, flipping the page of her book. Yup. That was definitely Aemond’s daughter. The little girl on the couch took notice of you first, her eyes wide as she dropped her ipad. “Mommy?” She yelled out. The little girl tossed the tablet carelessly off to the side and you winced as it clattered against a snowglobe. The girl rushed towards you, wrapping her arms around your legs as tightly as her little arms could. The girl at the table snapped her head to you as soon as the younger one rushed over but she regarded you with a warier eye. She was the spitting image of Aemond, with her long silver hair and piercing gaze. 

“How are you our Mom?” She asked, picking at her thumbs as she shifted back in her chair. “Our Mom died.” 

The little girl clutching onto your legs giggled. “It was my birthday wish.” She insisted. “My birthday was three months ago…” The little girl lifted three fingers. “That’s this many.” While you nodded and beamed at her. “And I wished that you would come back.” She rambled, her little arms coming to wrap back around your legs. “And Daddy said that if I didn’t tell anybody my wish would come true.” The little girl looked up at you, her lilac eyes massive in her skull. Her face was framed by a halo of soft curls, a cherubic sweetness etched into her pudgy cheeks. “And so I didn’t tell Lyra even though I really wanted to.” She insisted. You idly brushed curls out of her face before Aemond cleared his throat. 

“Girls, I’m sure your mother is very tired.” He stated, giving them the Dad tone. The little girl– Daella– squeezed your legs once more before she grabbed her tablet and followed her older sister out of the room. Lyra shot a furtive glance at you before they shut the door and you were alone once more with Aemond. Your hand came to rest on your neck as you held onto your elbow with the other. “What’s wrong?” Aemond asked. Oh, nothing aside from you casually holding me hostage.

“It’s the bounty hunter.” You lied. “I’m just scared he’ll get out…” 

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Aemond insisted, “We have him locked up.” 

“He’s a cyborg, how do you know he won’t escape?” 

Aemond sighed as he shook his head. “He’s locked up in our basement level, there’s extra security, and next to nobody has access to the room.” He stepped behind you and pulled you flush against his chest, his arm wrapping around you. “Stop worrying about it.” He murmured into your hair, pulling his arms tighter across you. “Just enjoy the moment.” He muttered, his hand dropping to lightly graze over your torso. He paused at your navel, watching to gauge your reaction. You inhaled deeply. The only way out was through, and you had to get his guard down. You nodded as you leaned into his touch. Aemond brought his other hand to undo the button on your jeans and pulled the zipper down. Your heart raced but your gut twisted with guilt. 

“Wait.” You muttered as he cupped you over your panties, applying just enough pressure to make you second guess your decision. “I want you now.” You covered, shooting him a lustful gaze. “The couch, please.” 

Aemond snickered but pulled his hand away and started moving towards the sofa. “Patience has never been a strong suit of yours.” 

“Not when it comes to you.” You said with a sultry grin, moving to straddle him on the couch. Your lips clashed seconds afterwards, the taste of bourbon and cigarettes on Aemond’s lips. His teeth bit into your bottom lip and you moaned, pulling back to undo his belt. After it was unlatched and you undid the button Aemond closed his eye and leaned his head back. As soon as he did that you grabbed the snowglobe and cracked it as hard as you could against Aemond’s head. 

Once he was out you checked his pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when it was still going steady. Standing up, you redid your zipper and searched Aemond’s pockets. Upon finding them you picked the globe back up before walking to the door and taking a deep breath. Exhaling, you pressed the button on the intercom. “He said he needs to see you, like. Right now.” You waited for the rattling of the doorknob. When the guard stepped just into the room you brought the globe down onto the back of his head. As soon as he went down you grabbed the gun from his holster. Standing back up, you watched for the rising and falling of his chest before setting the globe down on the ground, grabbing your backpack and shutting the door behind you. You walked down the hall as casually as possible, acting as if you were any other person on a tour. As you neared an elevator you were grateful for the lack of people boarding with you. When it finally dinged, a decrepit old man stepped off and shot you a leer that made your skin crawl. Stepping onto it, you selected the button for the basement before the elevator made an error noise. Trying it once more, you cursed before pulling the keys out. Finding one that looked small enough, you inserted it into an unmarked keyhole and tried pressing the B button again. This time the light around the button lit up blue and you descended to the basement level. You held your breath after the doors opened, almost expecting to be greeted by armed guards. When none were immediately visible you let a breath out. You weren’t out of the woods yet though. Harsh fluorescent lighting cast the hall in a strange yellow glow, and you followed the left hand path towards the cells. Footsteps rang out from across the hall and you immediately ducked behind an alcove, waiting until the footsteps were well out of earshot and ducking your head out to check if it was all clear. Seeing that it was, you smiled softly before heading back towards the cells. You sped down the hall, analyzing the face of every prisoner. It seemed every type of person was in here, except the one that you were actually looking for. Two voices rang out in the distance and you cursed. Pulling a wad of bills out of your pocket, you shoved it into the hand of the prisoner closest to you. Pressing a finger up to your lips, you ducked into the supply closet. Your heart pounded in your ears as the footsteps grew ever closer and you clapped a hand over your mouth and nose to try and cover as much sound as humanly possible. You waited for the prisoner to shout out, fearing the betrayal was inevitable. To your shock the sound of voices started to grow more distant, until it was out of range. Listening for another few seconds, you gingerly opened the door and crept out. “Thank you.” You nodded to the prisoner you had bribed, who smiled before pulling the wad of bills out and flipping through them. 

“I wouldn’t have told either way.” He stated. “Fuck these people.” 

“Oh, well, uhm.” One hand came to rub against your neck. “That’s understandable. I hope you get some good uh.. Contraband with that.” You shot the prisoner a polite wave and he responded with a grin, light bouncing off a gold tooth. With that you continued on further down the maze of cells, thankful that they weren’t heavily patrolled. A few prisoners made comments you brushed off, quickening your pace to search for Aemond and then get the hell out of there. Eventually you came to a new wing of cells, LEDs illuminating the dirty tiles. Ducking behind a corner, you peeked your head around and saw guards practically crawling up the walls. You cursed for a moment before pulling your lips back over your teeth. Only way out was through. Taking a deep breath, you stepped out of your corner and held your head high. You walked down the hall as casually as possible, gaze still fixed on the cells. 

“Ma’am?” A young man stepped forward, both hands on his hips. “I-” 

“Oh, an escort. Thank you.” You said with a warm smile, quashing down the rising anxiety in your gut. “Aem has always been thoughtful like that.” The guard paused for a moment, gears visibly turning in his head. “I always get lost trying to navigate around here.” You laughed off, waving your hand. The guard still stood tense, hesitance painted across his face. Suspicion rested in the back of his chocolate brown eyes as his hands came to rest on your hips. “What’s your name?” You prompted, cocking your head to one side and shooting him a small smile. 

“Brenning, Mrs. Targaryen.” The guard paused for a moment, still shooting you a reticent glance. “Why are you down here?” 

“Well,” you began, “I’m sure everybody down here has heard about what happened by now.” You explained, letting your smile drop for a second as if upset. “I have business with the prisoner.” You stated simply.

“I don’t think I can let you do that.” He said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. 

“Right.” Passive aggression seeped out into your words. “Well we could go ask my husband right now if you want?” You said, gesturing back the way you came. “I’m sure he won’t mind being disturbed.” The guard stiffened after that. 

“Ma’am I don’t think tha-” He ran a hand through his straight brown hair, and despite his massive size he looked more like a scolded kindergartener.

“No, let’s go. We can go ask him right now.” You took a step back in the direction you came, an indignant look on your face as you prayed he wouldn’t call your bluff. To your relief the guard relented and started walking in the opposite direction. 

“Right this way, Mrs. Targaryen.” Why would I inherit his last name? This planet is weird. 

“Thank you, Brenning.” The man shot a nervous smile at the ground, and pangs of guilt hit you. Aemond was the one who had been holding you here, he was just caught in the cogs like the rest of you. “What got you into this job?” You asked, offering an apologetic smile to him. 

“Well, originally I wanted to be an FBI agent but my son’s mother got pregnant.” He said, his face softening at the mention. “And he’s a little bit older now.” The man continued as you nodded. “But you know that’s out in Quantico…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I can’t move out of the state because of our custody agreement but I can’t afford to have it renegotiated in front of a judge, you know?” He asked. 

You nodded as you listened. “It’s crazy how expensive it is.” You covered, musing once more on how strange the customs of this planet were. “I think you would be a good FBI agent though.” You smiled. “I’ll see if I can talk to Aemond about working something out.” 

Brenning beamed at that before he caught himself and looked flat ahead of him. “I would appreciate that, Ma’am.” The two of you came to a door where Brenning scanned his badge, and a green light flashed before it opened. “If you don’t mind me asking Ma’am, what are you going to do when you’re in the cell with him?” 

The smile dropped from your face as you considered your words. “We’re going to have some choice words.” You replied flatly, with Brenning raising his eyebrows before looking back off towards the wall. 

“It’s right this way, Ma’am.” The brunette continued, placing his security badge over the scanner once more before waving you in. “I’ll be waiting out here.” He said with a polite smile, leaning his weight back on his heels as he crossed one hand over his wrist. 

“Thank you, Brenning.” You replied with a wide smile, mentally cursing. You needed to draw him into the cell so Aemond could get his gun and you could get his badge. Aemond looked over from the other side of the room, caught mid-pace. Shooting a wide smile at you, he pulled you in for a hug. 

“How?” He questioned, pulling back for a minute to look at you, hands gripping your arms. 

“Knocked the other Aemond out. Listen. I have one of the guard’s guns, I want to lure the other one in here so you can get his.” 

Aemond nodded, a thoughtful look on his face before his implant flashed. “Shoot the gun.” He commanded, closing the gap between you in seconds before coming to stand at your side. You looked at him in bewilderment, but it did have some merit. Brenning was bound to come in. Nodding, you aimed for the opposite end of the cell. You turned the safety switch off before racking a bullet and firing. Looking at Aemond, he moved to the blind corner of the cell while you stood in the middle. Your heart raced in your chest and your hands shook, but sure enough Brenning bounded into the cell. Aemond struck as soon as he entered the cell, punching him and knocking him down in one fell swoop. Aemond lowered himself methodically, undoing the strap and removing the Brenning’s pistol from the holster. 

“Sorry, Brenning.” You whispered, Aemond raised his eyebrows in your direction. He then waved his arm, gesturing you to fall in behind him. You followed as he peeked his head out, nodding as he stepped through. You breathed out a sigh of relief upon sight of the empty hall, but the nagging worry of other Aemond ate at you. You didn’t have much more time before he was awake and alerted the guards. Rounding the hall, your face lit up with a smile and you bounded towards it.

Aemond lunged forward to grab your arm. “What are you doing? The elevators are the first place they’ll look, and after they shut them all down we’re sitting ducks. We’re basically sitting ducks here anyways, it’s a prison.” 

Wrenching your arm from his grasp, you pressed the button before stepping in. “I have no plans to ride the elevator. Besides, the point of a prison isn’t to be impenetrable. That’s impossible.” You stated. “It’s centered around stopping you until you can be detained and returned to your cell.” Pressing the button for the main floor, you stepped out of the elevator before the doors could close and pursed your lips. “Oh ye of little faith.” 

“Rȳ issa quba.” You rolled your eyes in response as the two of you stood in front of the elevator. You pulled up your watch, scanning the map on the wall into it and overlaying the schematic over your pin. Seconds later, a klaxon sounded and the lights on the walls blinked red. You locked eyes with Aemond before the two of you stole off towards the direction of the maintenance stairways. Hearing the pounding of boots on tile, the two of you ducked behind a wall. 

“The elevators were accessed, Charlie team is meeting us there.” You smirked at Aemond. Once they had passed the two of you continued on your way until you reached the stairwell. Taking a few steps up, you peeked up the winding path, relieved to see nobody was there. You and Aemond bounded up the stairs, getting to the third floor before you stopped, raising your arms above your head for a moment. 

“What are you doing?” 

“What does it look like?” You panted out. “I’m out of shape.” 

“Then we’ll walk, it’s a better way to recover anyways.” You rolled your eyes but acquiesced, plodding one foot in front of another as your calves burned. As the two of you reached the fourth level the door opened, and a surprised janitor walked out. His eyes widened in horror for a moment before he started to reach for a small radio on his hip. 

“Wait!” You exclaimed as you raised your pistol. “If you try to call them I will shoot but I don’t want to do that.” You paused for a moment, trying to remember Earth history. “Do they give you dental insurance?” You asked. The janitor looked taken aback, and you looked at his nametag. “Brandon. Do they? He shook his head no, his hand still hovering over the object. “Don’t die for an employer who won’t cover a root canal, Brandon.” He nodded before walking towards you, taking care to squeeze past on the opposite end of the small platform with raised hands and a pale face. You breathed out a sigh of relief before looking at Aemond and running back up the stairs. When you reached the sixth level, the two of you grinned. The parking garage. 

Aemond pushed open the door and the two of you bounded inside, Aemond raised his gun and pointed it at a valet driver sitting inside a car. “Get out of the car.” He commanded, pistol trained on the valet driver’s face. 

The man laughed, puffing his chest up with fear in the back of his eyes. “You don’t scare me, man.” Aemond aimed the pistol at a nearby column and fired. The man’s expression dropped and with his bravado out the window, he obediently stepped out of the car. 

You and Aemond moved for the driver’s seat at the same time and you shot him a look. “You have enhanced aim, in case we need it you should be the one to shoot at people out the window.” Aemond considered for a second before nodding, moving to the other side of the car. As soon as he got in you buckled your seatbelt and shot him a pointed look when he didn’t follow suit. Aemond shot you a weary look. “Okay but cybernetic implants won’t stop you from smearing all over the asphalt.” You pointed out as he rolled his eyes and buckled. As soon as he did, you peeled out of the garage and onto the street. “Alright this can’t be harder than flying Vhagar.” You muttered to yourself, the car lurching forward unevenly as your foot pressed on the accelerator. 

“Well now I see your point about the seatbelt.” Aemond quipped before you shot him a glare. You pulled out of the garage onto the street, checking the mirrors that seemed to serve as guides for the blind spots. 

Pressing on the pedal, you cursed at the cars ahead of you and slapped the wheel. “By the Seven get out of the wayyy.” You whined as Aemond snickered. Merging into the furthest left lane, you sped up before weaving through traffic. 

“Y/N. We have admirers.” 

You cursed as you sped up, merging across two lanes and cringing as a loud honk sounded behind you. “Sorry.” You mumbled. Before the large black cars could merge behind you, you swerved off onto a separate road. This one led to a larger road with four separate lanes, and you pressed the pedal all the way down, weaving and speeding through the traffic to avoid the cars. Despite this they started to gain on you, and you breathed a sigh of relief as you shifted into the left hand lane in front of a car that was approaching a massive truck with a huge box on the back. Your car was smaller and you sped around the curve of the treacherous mountain road. Looking in the rear view mirror, your heart raced as you saw three of the black cars riding behind the car further behind you. Slowing slightly, you pulled along another curve and sped up as soon as it straightened. In the rear view mirror the black cars had passed the gray one behind you and sped around the curve. The larger car on the left spun out on the narrow path, slamming into the one in the right lane as the two bounded over the metal fence on the edge. Metal crumpled and ground with a screech as it reeled off the cliffside, and you gasped. Staring back ahead of you at the road, you gripped the steering wheel with shaking hands. “Do you think they’re okay?” You whispered out after a second. 

Aemond paused for a moment, contemplating. “No.” He answered, staring at the road ahead of you before clenching his fist. You drove along the road, foot still flooring the accelerator as your attention flickered between the road and the cars behind you. You took an exit onto another road, breathing out a sigh of relief at the empty road. Continuing on, something approached off in the distance. Metal shone in the harsh sunlight, and you two drove further into the red desert. Cactuses passed along the side of the road as you two approached the fence, but Aemond froze in his seat. 

“Do you see that?” He pointed at a spot further past the fence you were approaching. An opalescent borealis danced in the sky, and you slowed, approaching the gate before speeding up and driving past it. Looking in the rear view mirror, you winced at the sight of three more black cars behind you. They gained speed as the two of you drove and you shot a look at Aemond who pulled out his gun and lowered the window. Aiming behind him, you cringed at the deafening firing close to your ears and checked the rear view mirror. Behind you, the deflated tire of the car popped, leading the vehicle into a tailspin as it slammed into the other one. You took a deep breath as the other car accelerated and the gun fired two more times. The car came to a halt behind you, the blood splattered on the shattered windshield. You paled and drove in the direction of the patina. A cave approached in the distance and you slowed as you approached it, another car gained speed in the distance as you finally came to a halt and the two of you sprinted into the cave. Tires screeched behind you as nausea pulled at your gut and suddenly you two were in the hall of the house again. 

Bricks morphed into concrete before your eyes as you braced yourself against the wall, clapping a hand over your mouth as your stomach turned. “I don’t think that will ever get more pleasant.” You groaned before dropping your hand. “But I’m glad we’re out of there.” Aemond nodded, his lips pulled into a tight line before he reached a hand out to rub against your arm. You smiled at him as you took a step towards the room, pushing the ajar door further open and entering. Feeling Aemond’s annoyed glare boring into the back of your skull, you rolled your eyes. “Be quicker.” You walked towards the bed and sat down before laying back on the bed with your legs dangling over the sides. “I’m just gonna say it.” You stated, staring up at the ceiling. “Other you is the fucking worst.” 

Aemond chuckled at that, and you sat up to see him shaking his head. “I don’t like him either. I hated that world.” He said with a shaking head. 

You patted the spot next to you on the cot. “Pop a squat, tell me about it.” 

Aemond stiffened for a moment before closing the space between you two and coming to sit on the bed. “After the accident they tried to regrow my eye but my body rejected the new one.” He admitted. You reached out to hold his hand. “It was worse than losing the eye… and I was a freak without one.” You nodded for a moment. With medical technology where it was, perceived deformities were more anomalous than ever. “Then we were back in that world and everybody was staring at my implant.” Dejection laced his tone as he continued, “And I was a freak again.” He finished. 

You squeezed his hand, reaching the other out to turn his chin towards you. “You have never been a freak.” You stated, eyebrows wrinkling as you stared into his eyes, real and robotic. “I have loved getting to know every season of you… and anybody who’s too shallow to want the same is the real freak.” Aemond wrenched his face away from your hand, staring off into the corner with a sober expression. Your heart dropped as you pulled your hand away, shifting further to the left of the bed before covering your eyes. A sunbeam shone through the window, reflecting off a mirror right into your eyes. You winced before raising a hand to cover your eyes. After a minute of heavy silence, you finally spoke. “Fuck that mirror.” You whined, glancing at it for a moment. A hinge? You stood up, approaching the mirror with a furrowed brow. 

“What is it?” Aemond asked. 

You didn’t reply, glancing across the room where another was positioned slightly lower. “Do you remember that ancient civilizations course we took in our third year?” 

This time it was Aemond’s turn to furrow his eyebrow. “Yes, why?” 

You stepped closer to the mirror, adjusting it so the sunbeam shone into the other mirror, which directed it to the floor. “Remember Egypt? The Earth civilization? Those mirrors in the pyramids?” 

Realization dawned on Aemond’s face as he nodded, one finger pointed as he glanced around the room to another mirror. You walked across the room to adjust the second one so it shone into the third, which shone onto a vent near the top of the room. You and Aemond shot each other a confused look before Aemond grabbed a chair and grabbed the cover of the grate. Pulling it off, he reached inside, pulling out a small, weathered box. You shot him a curious look as he set it on the table, opening it to see a journal. You pulled it out, flipping through it idly to see scrawled handwriting. The seventh page held a rough map of the room, with a few X’s marked. You made a mental note to check them out later. You shot a confused look at Aemond, who was holding a large piece of paper. “Keplan March 24th. The Lords haunt me day and night. To see the wonders of the universe unfolded, creation itself wrought into view for infinitesimal beings such as ourselves. This room is a prison, a cell keeping me here until I can return to the embrace of the library once more.” You whistled after reading it raising your brows with a chuckle, Aemond shot you an amused look as he glanced up from his piece of paper. Flipping through the pages, you glanced through more crude maps of a large room and more. “Avoid the whistler at all costs.” You continued, adding a spooky lilt to your voice as you mock shuddered. “They reform.” The handwriting started to trail off into indistinguishable scribbles, nonsensical loops bleeding out of the margins. “Maiden. Stay mine. ” 

“Fascinating.” Aemond said flatly, staring back down at the piece of paper he was holding. 

“What’s that?” You dug through the box, brushing aside some pencils. 

“A map.” You moved closer to him, peeking over his arm to look at it. The Library of the Lords was printed across the top in flowing cursive, and you gave it a quick once over before shifting your attention back to the box. 

“Wait.” A few gemstones lay scattered across the bottom of the box. Pulling one out, you held it up to the light. 

“Madeira citrine.” Aemond echoed, his implant pinging yellow. 

“Arcturus.” The script was neatly engraved into the bottom, and you furrowed your brow. Gems relating to stars? “What the hells is it for?” You mumbled. 

Aemond picked up another stone. A sapphire glittered in his hand and he turned it over in his large hand. “Vega.” He stated, before walking across the room. The blonde’s gaze panned across the room to the walls. After that he looked towards the ceiling, pointing one digit at it. Pockmarks lined the ceiling, and you turned back towards the box in confusion. Twenty-three gems of varying colors were scattered throughout the box, and you rummaged through them. All correlated with stars. 

“I think we figure out the rest of the constellations.” Aemond nodded, grabbing a chair and stepping up to place the gem marked Polaris in the northernmost spot. You nodded, grabbing a chair and helping him to make the map reflect the sky from Earth’s sky. Nothing happened. You stood with arms on your hips as you glanced at the ceiling. “Maybe we did it wrong?” You asked.

Aemond nodded, pacing back and forth. “Ancient civilizations.” He mused. “If the mirrors are Egyptian, maybe the constellations are too.” You nodded eagerly, pointing at him with a smile. 

“Then Thuban needs to go there.” You pointed at the spot Polaris sat at. “Earth’s north pole shifts location over time. The Egyptian’s north star was Thuban, their architects based the design of the pyramids off it.” Aemond nodded before complying, placing the gem into the spot before arranging the others into the Draco constellation around it. You worked on recreating the female hippopotamus as Aemond worked on the last one. When the two of you finished, a sucking sound filled the air as you turned towards the source of the noise. At the opposite wall, a void opened into an oil spill darkness. The two of you looked at each other hesitantly before you opened the journal again. “I think we found the entrance to the library.” 

Aemond nodded silently, reaching out to reassuringly stroke your back. “Yeah.” He mumbled, staring at the portal in biblical awe. The two of you looked at each other hesitantly before you crossed the room to empty the contents of the box into your backpack and threw it over your shoulder, Aemond shooting you an annoyed glance. 

“I can take that.” He quipped. 

“It’s my backpack.” You said with a dry laugh. “Come on.” Aemond started to move forward, reaching out for your hand. You smiled as you laced your fingers into his and the two of you stepped into the portal. Your heart dropped as soon as you smelled it. A dank, musty odor overpowered your senses. When your eyes adjusted to the darkness they were met with rows as tall as skyscrapers, old books lining each of the shelves. “I was here.” You whispered, terror gripping you as you looked at Aemond. He squeezed your hand. The mist in the bottle. It hadn’t been a random soapbox about physics, it was a recording of a lecture. You took a deep breath as you stepped into the Library of the Lords, primordial terror steeped into your bones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys! Didn’t mean to pop off the radar for so long. I’m working on chapter 2 of ITFF right now but it’s going a bit slower since I’m already ~1K ahead of Ch1’s word count and I’m not halfway done with this chapter yet 😅. I haven’t started the next chapter of Sic Transit Gloria Mundi because I prefer tackling the harder chapter first but that shouldn’t be more than a few days after chapter two of In the Flat Field comes out.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi Masterlist

[Future!Aemond x Fem!Reader]

[Warnings: Spooky shit]

[Summary: The year is 2864, and mankind has spread to the stars. You and your partner are a part of the Exoarchaeologist's Guild, exploring the known universe on the USS Vhagar. When the two of you enter a new frontier you make a discovery that will either make or destroy both of your careers at the Guild. If you can make your way back to it, that is.]

Word Count: 4.3K

Chapter One

A gut pull drag on me

Into the chasm gaping, we.

Vhagar’s engines thrummed softly in the background while you set the plates down on the little table in the dining room. After they were arranged and the replicator was shut off, you expanded the hologram that sat confined in your watch. Pulling up the menu, you clicked on the ship’s comms and sent your best friend a ping that the food was ready. A few minutes later Aemond arrived in the kitchen, sweat coating his brow from where he had been overhauling the backup wiring in the lateral thrusters. “Hey, love.” A wide grin pulled across his face, his eyes widening at the Arrysian stir-fry before him. “This is why we’re partners.” His face softened for a second, and your heartbeat quickened in your chest. He went to the wash station, dipping his hands into the electrostatic fog before settling down at the table. 

“The reports on the Milner vase came back, it’s from approximately 2146, sometime in the spring but the carbon atoms aren’t stable enough to tell precisely when it was made.” Aemond nodded as you briefed him. The two of you had been hoping it was made in the 2060s when the Carythian empire had been in its golden era. Nonetheless, the guild would want it when you two returned to Valyretos so into the storage lockers it would go. “I was thinking maybe we could push further into Juliet Quadrant, I looked through the Guild database and couldn’t find many records of archaeologists coming here.” 

“I couldn’t agree more, Hotel Quadrant has been overrun since they found that temple.” Aemond had always leaned towards misanthropy, which was pretty funny considering he devoted his life to rummaging through dead peoples’ shit. As the two of you talked about your plans and input the vectors into Vhagar’s nav system, Aemond grabbed your plates and placed them back into the replicator, where it dematerialized them. 

You two fell into a comfortable silence as you thinned out the scrubbers. The plants had been growing a bit too thick, and it posed a risk of clogging up the dioxide filters. The pair of you dictated the report on the Milner vase together, bickering like an old married couple as to whether it portrayed Nienna or Valeich. Despite your back-and-forths, you two had always been two peas in a pod. You remembered when you first met Aemond back at the Academy. Long, silver hair draped over a handsome face. On the left side of it, a cybernetic implant sat. Valyrian steel laced into his cheek, a crystalline transceiver sitting where an eye normally would. His demeanor intimidated you back then, and you had the same classes for months before Aemond finally approached you and asked if you would study for the preliminaries with him. The more you got to know him the more shocked you became, as you had assumed his family pulled strings to get him into the academy. You had friends at Telmar IV and none of them had any good stories about his older brother, and even less about his father. Studying his face for a moment, you reflected on how the years had changed it. The minuscule amount of baby fat that had clung to his face as a fifteen-year-old had faded, and you couldn’t deny he was quite the handsome man. But Aemond was… well, Aemond. You couldn’t think of any time he seemed more interested in any one person over his work. That being said, it seemed it was the reason you two fit so well together. Both of you refused to ever stop pushing, and it led to you being valedictorian, and Aemond the salutatorian. It was a miracle you beat him out, but the final exam tripped him up just enough that you edged in a victory. To your surprise, he didn’t seem jealous at all. When your final GPAs were announced he just pulled you into a hug and tentatively asked if you two could be partners after graduation. Eight years later, the two of you were sailing off into Juliet Quadrant on the USS Vhagar. It was Aemond’s pride and joy, a smile dancing across your face at the memory of the hours spent in his hangar. He had never grown out of tinkering with her, you supposed.

“Something on your mind?” Aemond’s right eyebrow was quirked, amusement glimmering in his violet eyes. 

“Remember when you were building her?” 

An easy grin pulled across Aemond’s face as he pulled another plant from the wall. You swore you saw a blush on his cheeks for a second before he turned towards the compost bin. “I remember warbling on about her engine schematics for hours.” He turned back to you, something unidentifiable in the back of his eye. “I don’t think anybody had ever really sat and listened to me like that before.” There was a comfort to the admission, an easiness that only came with eleven years of companionship. When the two of you finished, the plant matter was deconstructed by the bin before being spread over the mycelium racks in a fine mist. 

Nebulas of magenta and sea-foam green spread out before your eyes, the viewscreen set to record the star system as you two settled into the cockpit. Aemond sunk into his crash couch with a groan, pausing for a moment before he followed your line of sight. “Gods that’s beautiful,” he muttered. 

“You’re beautiful.” When Aemond turned to look at you, he was met with your raised middle finger. 

He chuckled before shaking his head, looking down at the controls. “It remains a great mystery as to why you’re single.” 

“A great tragedy.” You teased, clasping your hands for dramatic effect. 

“Mmm,” Aemond replied, something shifting in his gaze as he leaned closer toward you. You smiled at him coyly, one leg crossed over the other. 

Suddenly the proximity klaxon sounded, the view screen flashing red. Vhagar’s point defense cannons were locked onto an asteroid 437 kilometers in diameter. You looked to Aemond, engaging the railguns and cutting minor paths through it before Aemond finally launched a PDC round into the asteroid that sent it shattering out into the frontier. The two of you breathed a sigh of relief. No pieces of the asteroid were large enough to cause actual damage to Vhagar. As soon as the two of you started to relax, the ship was hit by a small rumble. You looked to Aemond in confusion, and he looked to you in worry. Whatever jostled Vhagar had to be something particularly nasty, and it would be better to get the hell out of dodge time now. Sensors were reading that a nearby star had started a coronal mass ejection registering off the Gerardys Scale. As you engaged the joysticks, the ship was hit by a wave that sent it tumbling through the vacuum. Aemond’s arm snapped across your chest as if he was going to hold you in, and you shot him a strange look. You were both literally strapped into your couches. Despite the futility of the gesture, your heart rate increased. Another wave wracked the ship, and it froze suddenly. The system had entirely changed. Literally. You and Aemond looked at each other in confusion for a moment, pulling up your vitals. Both of you were sober and all was were clear, which only left the impossible. You two were somewhere else, in a dimensional freefall before your surroundings shifted again. 

The ship solidified in the goldilocks atmosphere of a thus unidentified planet. You braced yourself for another few minutes, expecting to find yourself in yet another strange new system. When no shift happened, you and Aemond stared at each other. “What the fuck?” You whispered as he let out an ‘Mmm’ of agreement. “Should we land?” 

Aemond’s brow furrowed for a minute, and you saw the light on the side of his implant flicker. Another thing you loved about Aemond, he ran almost every major decision through that implant of his. “Yes.” He stated simply, as you nodded. While Aemond had always been able to destroy you in engineering, you were the pilot. Autopilot was engaged until the stratosphere was breached, from there you set the controls to manual and landed Vhagar in a vegetated field. The two of you opened the comms before sending out an emergency message to the guild. When the ping sounded your heart dropped into your stomach. For the first time ever, Vhagar was unable to transmit. Your wary gaze met Aemonds again, and you shot him a smile you hoped was comforting. He had designed Vhagar so she synchronized with his implant, and the expression on his face told you he was just as lost. Environmental sensors showed nothing of note, while cobalt-blue vines spread out as far as the eye could see. No signs of sentient life read from the field, but the two of you had another hope in mind. Two klicks off into the distance stood the only artificially constructed building you had seen in this hemisphere. You and Aemond took another glance at each other. Periwinkle stucco rippled into basalt before it shifted to plastic siding. Wherever the two of you had landed, it was a far cry from anything you ever had seen before. Really read, heard, or thought about even. In short summary, you guys were up shit creek with no paddle. 

“Well,” Aemond said flatly, his voice revealing the slightest waver. “We’ve definitely found something new.” You nodded as your boots crunched into the vines beneath your feet. 

You let the silence hang for a second longer before it dawned on you. “The asteroid.” When your gaze turned to Aemond, his brow was knit together with the steel implant. You stopped for a moment, Aemond following in tandem. Pulling up the hologram screen from your watch, you expanded it into view mode. Aemond’s hand came to rest on your waist as he stepped closer towards you, eyes fixed on the screen. Clicking on the recording of the flight data, you pull the asteroid’s hologram out, setting it into a field of its own before programming Vhagar to run a simulation of its flight path. 

“What in the seven hells?” Aemond whispered, your mouth going dry as the two of you watched the path of the asteroid. It was moving as if on a track, with a constant velocity. The vector was straight, clear-cut, and too mathematically neat to be natural. Aemond reached into the hologram as well, overlaying the simulation onto the schematic of the system. When he pressed play, you brought your thumbnail to your mouth, resting it on your teeth for a moment. That was it, this was something nobody in the guild had ever discovered before. Your heart sank at the realization that the two of you had unknowingly destroyed a priceless artifact. 

“It’s a…” Aemond looked at you for a second, his lilac eye narrowing at you as he tried to follow your train of thought. “Aem, I think it’s a cosmic-scale Rube Goldberg machine.” 

“Who could have built it?” He murmured, talking more to himself than you. “And why?” His right fist clenched as the light flashed in Valyrian steel. “Implant’s got nothing.” He finally concluded. Nothing of this scale had ever been done before, though to be fair this was just a theory as of right now. Maybe there was some psychoactive chemical in the atmosphere that Vhagar’s sensors didn’t pick up. It would certainly make more sense than either a machine spanning an entire solar system or an asteroid that seemed to move in the weirdest orbit you had ever seen. 

“After we destroyed it, the ion storm started.” You reflected out loud, your finger tracing over the light blue flashes of the hologram as the world shifted around the two of you. Cerulean skies melted into emerald and rose, but the two of you quickly found the bigger mystery. “After that is when things started getting… weird.” You said simply, wishing there was a word that more accurately described stumbling across a space oddity.

“Before we were thrown into the singularity…” Aemond picked up. You nodded, fidgeting with your hands. Aemond’s thumb rubbed little circles into your waist before he gently massaged the spot that always bothered you. Worry dissipated, as your gaze shifted to your best friend. If nothing else, you were relieved he was here. You leaned into him, inhaling the scent of leather and pine. Aemond pressed a kiss to the top of your head. “It’s going to be alright, love.” He murmured. As he said that, your boots sank into bubblegum-colored sand. You pulled away and shot each other a look of mutual understanding. The environment was changing rapidly, but a building still stood. A queer patina shimmered over the roof tiles as they morphed into thatch, less than half a kilometer away now. You pulled your boot out of the sand, going to place it before you until a patch of ice rippled beneath your foot and you lost your balance. Aemond, thankfully, had quicker reflexes than most humans due to his implant. His arm snaked out to grab you before steadying you on your feet. 

“Thanks.” You prayed that you weren’t blushing. Aemond just wasn’t interested in you like that. Aemond wasn’t really interested in anybody like that. 

After a quarter-kilometer trek that thrust you into six different biomes, the two of you finally came to the ever-changing sight of the house before you. Grand French doors were adorned with stained glass that seemed to produce its own light. The images danced across the panes, but when Aemond scanned it he found no power source. Glass figurines revelled, read, and leaped as the glass changed colors. “I know this is probably a stupid question,” Aemond furrowed his brow, a gentle look in his eye as he glanced toward you. “But you’re recording all of this, right?”

Aemond smiled at you, ruffling your hair suddenly as you batted his hands away. “You don’t ask stupid questions, that’s why we’ve been together for so long.” Been together. Sometimes you wondered if he did it on purpose. If he knew and was just rubbing salt into the wound. But his eye held no indication of mockery, and an easy look rested across his chiseled features. Like when you two first met. The years had hardened his face, but the remnants of the dorky teenager reemerged. Your dork. After a moment, he reached to open the door, the knob shifting to a beautiful ivory as he opened it. While the house seemed to be more fixed than the outside was, a foyer flashed in and out of existence, staircases moving throughout the belly of the beast. Hair raised on your neck, animal instincts screaming at the uncanny nature of the morphing environment. The two of you stepped through doorways into rooms that flashed in and out of existence, often finding yourself in new parts of the house. Decor flashed in and out of different cultures, times, and places. One minute Veltruvian lamps cast their plum glow across the walls. Others, class candles burned into your retinas. Walls of ebony stretched out across the basement the two of you had stepped into, and you traced your fingers along it, taking in the sight. Aemond beelined towards a desk, his gaze focused. Picking up the piece of metal, he turned it over in his hands before his gaze panned over to you. Holding it up, he laughed. “A sextant!” Blue light flickered out of the implant as he ran his fingers over the bronze. “18th century Earth.” A happy grin overtook his features as he unzipped his backpack, placing it in. Technically it was supposed to go to the guild, but you could pretend you didn’t see it in his room. Ebony walls shifted into cherry as you two stepped into a bedroom. A large, soft bed took up most of the space, but your gaze flickered to the closet. 

“Jackpot.” You said, throwing the doors open before tutting disappointedly. All men’s clothes, and way too large for you from the looks of it. You flipped through the hangers, finding a long black trench coat. Pulling it off the rack, you held it up to Aemond’s shoulders, giving him a look. Aemond humored you, shrugging off his coat and tossing it onto the bed before pulling the trench coat over himself. The sleeves were a touch too short, but Aemond cut quite the strapping figure in it. You pulled your fingers up to your mouth and let out a wolf whistle. Raising your finger to spin it, Aemond shook his head as he chuckled. “C’mon CoverGirl.” You cheered. He pulled the coat off before tossing it over his shoulder and strutting across the room. When he reached you, he paused for a second, his face twisting as if he was thinking. When it continued on for another second, a nervous smile flashed across your face. “I’m starting to smell smoke.” You teased, taking the coat and putting it back on the hanger. You paused for a second after placing it back on the rack, shoving the coats off to one side and dropping to your knees. Before you, a small door stayed in place, the trim melting between shades of eggshell. You turned back to Aemond, and the blue light flickered before he nodded. Taking a deep breath, you opened the latch to Pandora’s door. The tiny door opened up to a full-length hallway and you started to poke your head in before Aemond lunged to grab you. 

His leather jacket was back on him, expression serious as he turned the light in his implant on. Brick and stone flashed across the walls, an oil spill of different materials swirling before your eyes. Stepping into it, he gestured for you to follow before putting an arm out in front of you protectively. While his arm unfortunately was not singularity-proof, the sweetness of the gesture was appreciated. Exposed pipes of different metals lined the ceiling, the ripples easing the further along you traveled. The two of you came to a halt before the large iron door and you swallowed harshly. There was no sign of a spindle on the door, but it was cracked. A glimpse of light peeked out. You wracked your brain trying to remember any time that you had seen a safe that didn’t close from the outside. “Stay behind me,” Aemond muttered, with you nodding and moving to the opposite side of the frame. Aemond pressed the door open, ancient hinges creaking in protest. You peeked in to see Aemond staring at the room in shock. Light shone in through a bowed window, dust floating through the sunbeams as it bounced off one of the mirrors and right into your eyes. Flinching and holding a hand up, you came to Aemond’s side. “There can’t be a window here.” He muttered. “There’s solid brick around the entire room.” His head shook in disbelief, staring out into the yellow sky. “We’re in the basement.” 

“Aemond.” He was pulled out of his train of thought before you gestured to the rest of the room. Dust stirred in the air, tickling at the back of your nostrils. Sunlight shone onto a neatly made, though clearly neglected bed. The walls were a solid beige color, with an armoire and a little kitchenette stacked into the small space. 

“Did you hear me? There cannot be a window here.” 

“I heard you.” You snapped. On the table, an old journal disappeared, and a radio appeared in its place. Aside from that, the room was still. The walls remained as they were, and whatever plagued the rest of the house seemed mitigated here. The eye of the singularity. Realization dawned on Aemond as he shot you a look. The emotion was unreadable for a second before you finally recognized it. Fear. You couldn’t remember the last time you had seen Aemond truly scared. You wondered if you ever had. Aemond paced around the room, stalking about with an anxious expression on his face. “I’m going to get a reading on that door.” Pulling at the straps of your backpack, you stepped out of the iron door, and into the largest room you had ever seen. 

Columns of shelves reached as high as you could see, the musk of the ancient room pervasive. Stepping down a row, you pressed yourself against a shelf and took a deep breath in. Okay. You and Aemond had been separated. It would be alright, you told yourself. Thus far you returned back to the same general area within the singularity itself. Your position in spacetime seemed fixed, but it shifted around you like a kaleidoscope. After you regained your head, you continued to creep down the rows. Strange bottles lined the walls, filled with different colored mists. You couldn’t articulate what it was, but every instinct screamed at you.

In the presence of something that was ancient when man was still fish, something stirred off in the distance. That’s when it sounded again. Heavy footfalls grew closer while you skirted around the wooden shelves, taking advantage of every blind spot around the bottles. A myriad of swirling colors spun within the glass, hypnotizing. You edged along the row slowly, checking your surroundings before making a dash to the next one. Upon getting there, you pinched your nose and exhaled through your mouth silently. When your heart rate slowed and your mind cleared, you snapped back to the task at hand. Escape. That’s when you caught sight of it through the reflection on the bottle. Ducking back behind the panel of wood, you looked at the bottles on the opposite shelf through the corner of your eye. Whatever it was, it was large. Stretched abnormally tall, the creature was broad, visual static flickering through the body. Ink seemed to stretch over the skin in a shifting calico pattern, blinking in and out as the creature let out a low wheeze. Two massive, gray pits swirling in what you could only assume were its eyes. A clicking rang out through the silent rows, and you took extra care to maintain your cover. Thuds fell onto stone floors at an uneasy tempo. Inhuman. An uncharacteristically long pause between one footfall and the next. Purples and greens spilled into the shifting skin pattern, your eyes intermittently flicking to the bottles. Something between a gurgle and a click emerged as the creature stalked about, dragging its spindly fingers along the dusty shelves. Suddenly it came to a pause, the colors in it shifting as it stopped to examine the shelf. The spot where you had braced yourself after first seeing the thing. Fuck. The speed of the clicking increased, and you felt a strange sort of joy radiating off of the being. It canvassed the room carefully, prowling towards the row you had previously been at. Your heart pounded in your chest as you pressed yourself against a new row, eyes trained on the bottles. Keeping your hands at your side so as to not leave another breadcrumb for whatever the fuck that thing was, you continued down the row. The creature ambled around as if it had all the time in the world, happy gurgles emerging from its abdomen. A soft peach glow shone around it, your eyes drawn in. It was strangely beautiful in contrast to the grotesque nature of the being. Something pure and celestial, mesmerizing. A dreamy smile passed across your face as you stumbled onto the shelf closest to you. Fuck. If the thud from your contact wasn’t enough, a bottle fell off the shelf and shattered before you had the chance to grab it. A flat voice emerged from the shattered glass as an ancient recitation sounded in a language you couldn’t identify. You slapped your watch, having it record a sample of the language to analyze later. A much, much bigger fish to fry had clambered over to the end of the row. The ecstatic clicking picked up in tempo, and your eyes widened in horror before you scrambled onto your feet to sprint as fast as humanly possible. The eerie gurgling emerged as the creature stalked behind you. You didn’t spare a look behind you, propelling your legs under you as quickly as you could. The dank room seemed to expand ever larger around you, but you weren’t sure if it was moving or whether it had always been this large. Rows tall as skyscrapers flickered in your field of vision for a second before bricks flashed through. Clicking sounded behind you until you were stumbling over smooth concrete on the outside of the bedroom. You fell to your knees and vomited on the cement. Your vision blurred and your head pounded. Each individual cell of your body felt as if it had been individually beaten, and you dry heaved after everything was out of your stomach. 

Aemond came to pull your hair back, worry pulled across his face as one arm patted you gently on the back. When you finally finished, you turned your bloodshot gaze to meet his. The fear was still palpable in Aemond’s eyes, but you could see relief dawning in them too as he pulled you in for a hug. “Nice to see you too, Y/N.” He teased. Your arms shook as you wrapped them around his midsection, inhaling the scent of leather and soap.

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Masterlist

[Modern!Aemond x Fem!Reader]

[Warnings: Death, gore, aftermath of animal attacks]

[Summary: Let's gather 'round the campfire and sing our campfire song. Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song!]

Word Count: 4.6K

Chapter 8

Small cursive lettering filled the pages of the journal, and intermittent doodles marked the page, words overflowing around all of it. A discordant look at your inner thoughts, Aemond mused. 

Dear Dad,

I met my fiance today and he is the absolute fucking worst. You would have kicked his ass. I wasn’t expecting him to sweep me off my feet but the first fucking thing he did was shove a prenup in my face. Nice to meet you too, asshole. 

He couldn’t have been that callous, could he? He had to have given you some form of acknowledgment. Was his first impression that bad? Aemond frowned as he skimmed over the pages, looking for mentions of his name until landing on the next passage.

Dear Dad,

Today has been the worst birthday I’ve ever had. Aemond started my day off by barging into my room at five in the goddamn morning to interrogate me about Sunspear. He apparently saw my post and demanded to know why I was spending “his” money taking vacations. He literally just stood there bitching until I walked into the bathroom. I don’t think it ever occurred to him that I have my own fucking money and my own means of travel. After that the Kazoo preacher was back on the subway screaming about 'the children', and if all that wasn’t enough fucking Jaydee didn’t put the boiling chip into the test tube and it blew up on my goddamn arm. I wanted to take Vaeryx for a quick flight but the wheels were too chewed up after my last landing. Your jacket doesn’t smell like you anymore. I really wish you were here. 

Aemond swallowed suddenly. He didn’t even remember doing these things, but the pen marks dug into the page afterward. Another wave of guilt hit him at the realization that he didn’t know when your birthday even was. The journal hadn’t been dated, and he never asked.

Dad, 

I got accepted for a summer workshop at Storm’s End Tech!!! If that isn’t exciting enough we’re studying bacteria at the thermal vents off the coast of Cape Wrath!!! Professor Webber really pulled through for me, she was saying that this will really help me when I apply for grad school. Do you remember the house we lived in when you were stationed at Qaehrys? The one with the big window that led onto the roof? I really miss laying there and looking at the constellations with you. I took your telescope out tonight and searched the moon until I found Vaegon’s Crater. Dr. Lee said that’s the most likely spot they’d put a base and it’s apparently less than a decade away. When it goes up I’m going to be there, and I’m bringing your telescope.

Wait, what? Aemond knew that you were a student, but he always assumed you were pursuing business or something. Guilt crashed over him at the realization he had never taken the time to ask you what you were studying. He had never taken the time to ask you anything about yourself, really. He never really had much interest in microbiology, but maybe you were like Helaena and her entomology. Beyond that, never in a million years would he have guessed that you were planning to become an astronaut. You? Did they even send microbiologists to space? Aemond sighed as he put the journal down. He told himself that he was doing this to get to know you better. To support you. But he felt like he knew even less than before and at the cost of your privacy. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trilling of insects was the only source of noise, save for the torch. A melancholy silence was cast over the circle surrounding the pyre. Aly held the torch, dried blood and tear tracks staining her face. Silent sobs started to erupt from her as the kindling beneath Sabitha’s feet sparked. She next lowered the torch towards her girlfriend’s knees, following it with her shoulders. Aly wiped globs of snot off her face with one hand, using the other to cast the torch into the burning base of the pyre. Tears fell as you squeezed Nettles’ shoulder. She turned her gaze towards you, her massive brown eyes brimmed with tears. Your gazes shifted back to Sabitha, and the sight of teeth peeking through her torn cheek. “Mother above,” Myri exclaimed, her gaze fixed on Sabitha’s twitching hand. “She’s alive.” Panicked looks shot out across the group. “She’s alive! She’s-” 

Aly ran towards the pyre, repeated “No’s” being exclaimed as she wrenched Sab off the pyre by her belt loops. Sabitha fell with a heavy grunt, and Aly immediately set out to put out the flames that had cropped up on Sabitha’s jeans. The redhead just lay there, intermittent grunts and gurgles emerging. You lowered yourself to the ground as quickly as you were able, lifting her head so that Myri could rest a blanket under it. “I got you,” Aly whispered, grasping her girlfriend’s hand.

“Really?” Sabitha groaned, “Fire?” The gurgle couldn’t suppress the sarcasm in her tone. She let out the smallest chuckle she could manage. The rest of you were still too keyed up from adrenaline to do anything but pant and stare. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just one more, Aemond told himself. He stared at the journal ahead of him and pulled it back onto his lap. One more, and that was it. He would put the journal back and he would leave it this time. His fingers brushed over the indents in the page, smudges bleeding out to the right. 

Dad!!

 I think I met somebody recently. 

Happy doodles filled the margins of the journal, little flowers crammed into each individual corner. 

She’s in my lab. She’s Westerosi, but I think you would really like her. R’hllor, what do I even say? She’s so fucking smart, Dad. She’s kind of shy but it’s actually really adorable. She’s just… a ray of sunshine. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say something mean about anybody else. Just really, really uplifting. Gods, it feels so good getting on the train knowing I’ll see her dorking out over S. aureus with that adorable ass grin on her face. I don’t know if her being so different from Aemond is what makes me like her, but it’s such a breath of fresh air. 

Aemond stopped reading the entry after the last mention of his name. While his stomach turned at your Hallmark-worthy descriptions of Emerson, he was grateful it provided a natural stopping point for him. He felt a small pang of pity. Here you had written a dissertation about how much you liked her, only to have it repaid with a whole two months of devotion. No more. Aemond put the journal back into the nightstand and shut the door behind him.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your teeth grit as your foot hits the ground. Rhaena shot you a comforting smile, and you responded with a brief one before putting one foot in front of the other. Sabitha grunted from behind you, leaning against Aly. The two of you paused for a moment so the pair could catch up to you. “When we get back we’re gonna need clean water and thread to stitch them up.” Aly nodded while you shifted your weight onto your left leg. 

“Leave me.” Blood was soaking through the bandage Rhaena had wrapped around Sabitha’s face, her voice coming out muffled. Between that, and the eerie sound of her sucking air in through the hole in her face it was a wonder anybody could understand her. 

“Sab, stop it.” 

“It’s-” Sabitha’s head lolled into Aly’s cheek, her auburn hair stiff with dried blood. “Not… Safe.” 

“Don’t say that! We’re almost there!” Aly looked like she was about to start crying again, her powder blue jacket darkened with brown stains. 

“Let them go,” Sabitha said, one hand coming up to weakly clutch at the vertebra around her neck. “Let them go.” She turned her gaze towards the rest of you then, grunting quietly before Aly acquiesced. 

“Go back to the cabin as fast as you can.” She turned towards you, Nettles, Rhaena, and Myrielle. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but you had kept a decent pace so far. Thankfully it seemed like the wolf didn’t fuck up your muscles. There was still a mottled wreck beneath the cloth bandages, but it was superficial. It would heal. You would be fine. 

“Aly?” Nettles whispered, worry furrowing her brow. 

“Go.” Aly ordered. 

The four of you got back to the cabin after what felt like an entire day, pain slicing through you with each step you took. For your part, all you could really do was be grateful that you could walk. This godsforsaken place put a lot of things into perspective. The four of you finally stumbled onto the porch, as panicked gazes took in the massive bloodied bandage on your thigh. “By the seven.” Sara got up off the porch as you moved to sit. “What happened?” Looking around the group, the blonde’s eyebrows wrinkled. “Where are Aly and Sabitha?” 

“She… she told us to leave them.” Rhaena panted out. Floris took her hand and Baela scrambled to your side, tears brimming in her eyes. 

“We were attacked by wolves.” But with how big they were, they might just be direwolves. Who knows, maybe a snark would cuntpunt you next. Anything was possible in this shit-ass forest. Fuck this country. Barba rushed out of the cabin, her icy eyes widening in panic. A hand clapped over her mouth as she looked at you, her jaw trembling for a moment. Gathering herself, she grabbed Rhaena by the arms. “Show us where to go.” 

You grunted as the hot needle punched through your skin. Exposed to the open air was a horrifying sight. The flesh of your right thigh was mottled with black bruises, puncture marks on multiple spots. The cherry on top of it was the massive chunk of skin that had been wrenched from your leg when you kicked the wolf off you. Clenching your jaw, you hummed through your grit teeth. Seasick Sarah, had a golden nose. Hobnail boots, wrapped around her toes. The needle pierced through each layer of gored skin, fiery pain erupting as it happened. The parts of the wound that could be sewn up were. The chunk of skin that had been torn off could not be sewn shut. So as of right now, you were biting down on Floris’s belt, preparing for Nettles to press the heated knife onto your wound. You looked away, staring off into the darkness outside the window. The first burn lasted for a few seconds, and you bit into the belt hard enough that your jaw ached. After that, the next session started. You started to feel hazy about what seemed to be halfway through, and when she was done you were drifting in and out of consciousness. Sara sat at your side, stroking your hand. You pulled the blanket up more tightly over yourself, shivers wracking you. “You hanging in there?” She questioned, her tone soft. “Need another blanket?” You nodded abruptly. 

“I thought it’d be warmer.” You murmured as her face drifted in and out of your field of vision. Her silvery hair flickered in the light, darkened roots showing at the crown of her head. When she placed the blanket over you, you curled into it. Turning away from her, you sank into the warmth of the cot and the blackness of sleep. 

Muffled screams roused you, and you turned to the source of the noise. Disorientation clouded your mind until you caught sight of Sabitha lying on the table. The same hooked needle that went into your thigh was currently being plunged into her face. Baela’s expression wavered as she held Sabitha down. Please pass out. Sabitha continued to writhe in pain, thrashing against Baela. Please just let her pass out. Muffled shouts echoed through the cabin, and you found yourself covering your ears. Barba stared at Sabitha, a conflicted expression on her face as she grasped the weirwood pendant around her neck. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aegon sat across the table from Aemond, one arm on the back of the booth and the other dipping a fry into ketchup. He ate that, chewing for a moment while grabbing the massive, greasy burger and dunking that into the pile of ketchup afterward. Aemond held back the urge to physically cringe. His brother’s disgusting eating habits had always irritated him, and Aegon weaponized that. “So.” Half-chewed burger rolled around in Aegon’s mouth, and Aemond clenched his fist under the table for five counts before releasing it. “Moat Cailin?” He grinned, taking another slobbering bite of the dripping burger. 

Aemond rolled his eyes. He cut into his chicken vesuvius carefully, picking up a piece of chicken and potato before properly chewing it, placing his silverware down, and staring Aegon in the eye while doing so. When he finished chewing he finally spoke. “I’m going out on one of the search rafts.” He said flatly, cutting another piece of chicken. “Maybe you should come.” A pointed stare was shot Aegon’s way, and he shrank back at the retort. It was no secret that he moved on from Sara a while back, but something shifted in Aegon’s gaze. His brother fidgeted in his seat. Aemond narrowed his eye as he ate, what was he hiding? 

“What do you think they’re doing right now?” Aegon asked suddenly, taking another bite of his burger. 

Aemond sighed. What would you be doing right now? He hoped you were dipping your feet in the Greywater, laughing with your friends. “I don’t know, trying to culture swamp bacteria,” Aemond said with a shrug, spearing a potato. “Whatever microbiologists do.” He finished.

“What?” Aegon said, his head quirked to the side like a puppy. 

“Microbiologist. Somebody who studies ba-” 

Aemond was cut off by barking laughter from Aegon. His brother set the burger down with a gross slap. Aegon leaned back in the booth, one arm cocked over the top of it. “She’s not a microbiologist.” He let out another guffaw. 

Fury rose in Aemond as he clenched his fist. “She’s not an astronaut yet ei-” Another round of laughter cut Aemond off as he slammed his fist down onto the table, a couple across the restaurant shooting them a nervous look. 

The action did nothing to faze Aegon, who continued laughing as he popped another fry into his mouth. “You’re guilting me about not going to Moat Cailin and you don’t even know your wife is an astrobiologist. Oh fuck, I knew it.” He lifted the burger back up to his mouth and took a messy bite, smacking it around. “I knew your marriage was bullshit.” He cackled, shaking his head before swallowing. 

Aemond paled, looking around suddenly, grateful that nobody seemed to be paying attention to anything other than their own meals. His eye narrowed as he took in Aegon’s smug face, his fist aching as he clenched it. “You don’t know anything.” He hissed.

“Aemond.” His brother sat up for a moment, setting his burger down. “I’m a fuck up, but I know people.” His usual candor came back to him again a moment later, taking a loud slurp of his milkshake. Aemond stared off to the side, angrily following the insipid breathing exercises Dr. Greenwood had given him. “Is that what this is about? You feel guilty because you were a dick to her?” 

“I just want her to be happy once she gets back home.” He stated flatly, hoping his idiot brother would finally drop the question. 

“So when are you moving out?” Aegon needled. “Seriously, what makes you think she’d want anything to do with you when she gets back? You don’t even know what she's getting her Master's in.” When Aemond tensed to get up he paused. “Wait. I shouldn’t have said that.” He admitted. “Hey.” Aegon made eye contact with him, an uncharacteristically serious look flashing over his face briefly. “I have a secret too.” Aemond stared back at him, nodding at him to continue. “Me and Floris have been fucking for the past year or so.” 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I have an announcement.” Said announcement fell on deaf ears, with most people turning over. Barba grabbed a metal ladle, clanking it on the wooden table. “Hello!” She banged it repeatedly, and you groaned as you sat up. “Hi! Excuse me!” Rubbing your eyes, you looked around the cabin. “Thank you,” Barba said quietly. “In light of the expedition having ended how it did, I’m going to take the dead guy’s plane and fly south. I’m going to find us help and I’m going to get us out of here.” She nodded as if hyping herself up. 

Fuck. “You’re gonna fly that thing?” Barba nodded at you, and you shook your head. When you talked back in your clearing you didn’t think the expedition would end this way. This shit was still crazy. No. There is no fucking way. “You don’t know if that plane is operable.” 

“I’ve been looking over it for weeks, and the gas tank is full.” She threw her hands up suddenly. “I’m a pilot, I grew up watching my Grandpa fly. I have two-hundred flight hours. I know that I can do this.” Your heart sank, throat clenched tight as you stared at her pleadingly. “You can’t deny that Sabitha doesn’t need serious medical attention.” 

“She’s not the only one.” Sara piped up, her gaze flickering over to her best friend emotionlessly. “Floris, tell them.” 

“I- I really don’t.” You shot a glare at Sara, in disbelief that she really just derailed this so she could force Floris into telling everybody. 

“Tell them.” 

“What is it?” Luke asked, his doe eyes confused. 

“Yeah, what is it?” 

You gave Floris the most supportive look you could muster, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m pregnant.” 

Rhaena immediately stood up, bounding over to Floris. “How far along are you?” 

“Wait, did you get knocked up out here?” Myrielle asked, an eyebrow quirked in Jace’s direction. Baela’s eyes bored holes into the back of Myri’s skull.

“No, I…”

“It doesn’t matter when it happened,” Sara said, a sanctimonious look on her face. “Okay? It just matters that we get them both help.” 

Rhaena tried to grab at Floris’s stomach, and she swatted her hands away. “Rhaena, not right now.” She snapped. 

“Alright, can everybody just.” Ser Criston ran a hand through his hair, sighing. “Barba, you can’t do this.” He commanded. “No. It’s not even close to safe.” 

“There is no ‘safe’ anymore, Ser Cole.” Barba retorted. Her face was hard, different. “It’s going to be winter soon. If I don’t do this, we’re…” She paused for a moment, shaking her head. “We’re all gonna fucking starve.” You fidgeted with your hands, holding back tears that pricked at your eyes. It didn’t feel right. There was something you were missing.

“Alright, well, I’m still the oldest here, so, no.” He flatly responded, gesticulating with his one free hand as he leaned on his crutch. “I’m not gonna let you do it.”

Barba’s face hardened even further. You barely recognized this person, icy eyes narrowed to a point. She took a step forward. And another. “What are you gonna do to stop me, Ser?” Her face twisted into a sneer as she gave him a once-over. Tension filled the cabin as the two of them stared off. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aemond thought that he should feel more nervous. He sent you on a plane that crashed, it seemed only right that he should be subjected to the same fate. But he didn’t and he wasn't. Shockingly enough he felt freer than he had in months. He told Dr. Greenwood everything. Everything that Aegon told him, everything he himself had done, everything he could think of in the session came directly out of his mouth. He thought that another person knowing his sins would destroy him, but Dr. Greenwood hadn’t judged him. All she did was give him a plan to avoid the urge to do those things again. The only thing that weighed on him were Helaena’s words. ‘What if you’re looking too far south?’ When he told Dr. Greenwood about it, she had simply stated that everybody was bound to have their own theories and that he should trust the experts. Logically he knew she was right, but he still couldn’t shake the lingering worry that Helaena was. What if they were wasting their time down here and you were up near Winterfell? The plane ride was uneventful, and Aemond spent the entire time catching up with some work. He technically had until Tuesday off, but today was only Thursday and he wanted less to catch up on. The ride to his hotel was… interesting given that it was essentially a private hut floating on the water. The boat sailed through choppy gray water, and insects flew at Aemond from every direction. When he finally got to his hut, he was relieved to find that his secretary hadn’t booked a hovel. Setting his things down, he moved to enter the shower. When he got out he set about his usual routine. He opened his laptop to get some more work done before shutting it and turning the TV on before eventually settling on a documentary series about Valyria. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You set about helping the best as you could with your leg still in the condition it was. Mauling or not, work still needed to be done if Barba was going to fly the plane out of there. You tore up another plant as you watched Sara and Floris talk. There was obvious tension there, but Sara played coy and watched while Floris yanked roots out. Eventually, Floris walked off in a huff, and you set your gaze back downward. You would find her later tonight. 

When a runway was cleared and all vines were taken off you all stood in front of the plane as Barba arrived. You crossed your arms over your chest and tried to suppress the feeling of dread that grabbed hold of you. She had her backpack on, tugging on the straps as she smiled nervously at Jace. Jace in response pulled her in for a hug. They stayed for a minute before she embraced Nettles, and then Sara. “Be safe, okay?” Barba nodded at Sara’s request. She smiled as she pulled Floris in for a hug, and a few more crowded around her in a group hug. All you could do was watch, a sense of foreboding stirring off in the distance. 

When she reached you, you pulled her in as tight as humanly possible. You tried to burn everything about her into your memory, down to the scraggly feeling of her black hair against your face. Squeezing her for a moment more, you pulled your lips over your teeth. “Stay.” You whispered pleadingly. It didn’t feel right, and Barba was the one who had encouraged you to follow your gut. 

“Remember your vision,” Barba murmured in response, “Fire and light, it’s a blessing from the Gods.” When she pulled away an austerity had passed over her. You recoiled, increasingly uneasy as you pulled your arms back over your chest. Barba stepped back and opened the door to the Cessna, climbing in and unzipping her backpack. 

As soon as she sat down, Criston wrenched the door back open. “By the Gods, Barba. Please, don’t do this.” You hadn’t seen this side of Ser Cole before. Desperate. The last ditch effort of a man who knew his days of authority was behind him. 

Barba shot him a nervous smile, swallowing before she spoke. “Thanks for worrying about me, Ser, but…” The sternness flashed back over her face like a mask, her icy gaze flattening. “This is my purpose.” She reached a hand out to pat him on the shoulder before she pulled it back and shut the door with a heavy clang. Barba ran her fingers over the weirwood pendant, her gaze emotionless as she placed her stuffed bear into the copilot's seat. Her gaze passed over to you quickly, before she locked eyes with you and smiled. Discomfort arose in you, as you watched something stir in the very back of her eyes. She held your gaze long enough to make you squirm before the propeller started to spin. Wheels squeaked through the dirt as cheers rang out, you stepped forward and prayed to whatever Gods there were above that your vision was a blessing. The plane was flying as it should, and Barba successfully lifted off. A relieved smile broke out across your face, but you knew she wasn’t out of the woods yet, quite literally. The landing was the hardest part of a flight, and you didn’t entirely trust the brakes on it. The Cessna soared clear over the lake, and you ran forward with eyes pointed to the sky. 

“Oh my Gods, she’s doing it!!!” Laughter sounded, Sara clapping as you all ran to the lakefront. She shifted the plane to face due south, and you let out a sigh of relief. It had been a blessing from the Gods. Tears brimmed your eyes as you silently thanked them for seeing her through this. The plane grew smaller as she flew further away, shrinking in the mountains off into the distance. You began to cheer with the others, turning to grab Baela’s hand in excitement.

“Is that smoke?” Sara asked suddenly. Your gaze snapped skyward, and your heart dropped into your stomach. The fuel line. Angry fumes shot out of the bottom of the plane, and it started to shake. A bright flash of flame balled out as the explosion shook the treetops. A halo of light shone, a second sun in the bright sky. Sara screamed and clapped her hands over her mouth. Your body moved automatically, tears streaming down your face as you sank into the water of the lake. Rhaena tried to pull you up, saying something about your leg. Your body went limp as the sobs wracked your body. That fucking vision. And you had been stupid enough to trust it. A banshee’s wail rang out, but it didn’t register as being yours. You stared off into the distance, where sunrays broke through dustclouds and smoke. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fuck, this chapter was really really hard to write. I had no idea I would become so attached to Barba when I started writing this wtf. R.I.P Barba.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

[Visenya Targaryen x Fem!Reader]

[Warnings: Degradation, spit, slapping, spanking, lots of sacrilege, general blanket warning for lots and lots of sacrilege, choking, implied gore]

[Summary: A heteronormative, Gods-fearing Westerosi family navigates life in a world rife with temptation and sin!]

(Tbh I think this is the most fun thing I've written so far this might turn into a series idk. Title comes from this song, please support the band they’re both super cool)

Word Count: 2.9K

Maegor & the Meaning of Friendship

Raising children is hard. Raising your lover’s child is harder, especially when he’s an unholy, incestuous abomination borne of a lesbian’s blood magic. And that leads to predicaments such as the one you found yourself in right now. Little Maegor was napping happy as a lamb while he levitated two feet above his crib. You had just got him back down. Sighing before tiptoeing your way around the defense glyphs on the floor, you reached your hands under the sleeping child as gently as you could before lowering him to the bed. That was the exact moment violet eyes snapped open and demonic wails rang through one of the few completed towers. Sighing, you shushed him as you bounced Maegor on one hip, grabbing his favorite ceremonial toy dagger. When the toy did little to appease him, you cleared your throat. 

“Hush little darling,

Dream of pain.

Screaming, brimstone, blood in rain.

But if those Riverlands don’t burn, 

Momma’s gonna turn them into an urn.” 

The child smiled as his head lolled back onto your shoulder. He dropped the dagger, but you bid a shadow to catch it before the clatter woke him again. He was growing by the day, and it was apparently starting to become an issue for his wet nurses. You regenerated two pairs of nipples this week alone. And that was nothing compared to the first time Maegor discovered what teeth could do and you spent a week trying to revive his Septa until giving up and binding her soul to a child’s doll that now sat untouched in the corner of his room. Sighing, you made a mental note to go through which bound souls he did and didn’t play with so you could release the ones he ignored. As you tiptoed back over the sigils in the floor, you grabbed a pouch of hangman’s ash from the interior of your dress and sprinkled it over the line you had broken upon entering the room. Closing the door after you, you crept along the shadows through the keep until arriving at the yard. Empty. She’s running herself too thin. Visenya hadn’t been arriving at your shared chambers until after the hour of the owl most nights. But you didn’t mind, the night had always been to your liking, and nights with her were nothing short of perfect. Lateness be damned. When her last haunt turned up empty, you frowned. The only other finished parts of the castle were the kitchens and the Sept. It was decidedly…unlike her to be there but worst case scenario she wouldn’t be there and you could just make another Septon piss himself. To your surprise, Visenya stood before the altar and took in the effigies of six gods. “I’ve always found it strange that they never worship the only God of theirs that’s actually real.” 

Visenya turned around at the purr of your voice, a dark chuckle escaping her lips. “And yet the farce drones on. But appearances must be maintained.” Gliding to meet her at the altar, you smiled when your love pulled you in for a kiss. With a flick of your hand, the heavy wooden doors slammed shut, and you bit into Visenya’s lip hard enough to draw blood. She moaned when your tongue probed at the cut, and you pulled away for a brief second. 

“Do you know what our son has been up to?” Your arms came to rest on the blonde’s broad shoulders, pressing the curve of your chest into her. 

Visenya grunted as she pivoted so the back of your thighs was flush with the altar. “There are other things on my mind.” A wicked grin split your lover’s face as her rough hands dropped to your thighs, pulling your weight out from under you as she pushed you back onto the altar. 

You let out a small chuckle, raising an eyebrow at her as you stumbled back. “Like maintaining appearances?” 

A dark look flashed across Visenya’s face, and she tenderly lifted your arms from her shoulders. She took care to press gentle kisses along your wrists, locking eye contact with you before she pulled her belt off and bound your wrists with it. A single finger tilted your chin up, a predatory look on the Queen’s face. “Appearances will be kept, in public.” Her thumb stroked softly at your jaw as your gaze came back to focus on the dribble of blood from Visenya’s lower lip. “But since there isn’t an audience here,” She almost sounded disappointed, even if her better instincts told her otherwise. “You are going to be a good girl and help me defile this.” The words were spoken in a soft coo, with a razor’s edge beneath it. Visenya placed a kiss on the tip of your nose before she shoved you onto your back. “Hands above your head. Don’t move them.” She didn’t wait for you to adjust yourself, her hands rising to the neckline of your dress and promptly tearing the lace. 

“Hey!” You let out an indignant huff.

“Shut up.” When you opened your mouth to retort, she brought a hand down to slap at your exposed breast, the peak stiffening. “If you complain again, you’ll be returning to our chambers naked.” Your lover's hand wandered over your torso, and you arched your back into her touch. A smug look pulled across Visenya’s features as she rolled your nipple between her fingers, her mouth pulling the other in. A bolt of heat jolted to your core as her tongue stroked your nipple, clenching around nothing as you let a breathy moan escape you. Teeth pulled gently at the peak, as her fingers pinched at the other. Her moan vibrated against your flesh, lavishing your breast before slapping the other once more. Satisfied, she released your nipple with a wet pop and flicked her feral gaze up to you. Methodically, her hand rose until two fingers rested against your bottom lip. Opening your mouth, you flicked your tongue across her fingers, wetting the digits thoroughly before pressing a kiss on her fingertips. Visenya’s fingers dug into your thigh hard enough to leave bruises, while she brought the other to brush against your lower lips. Light as a feather, her touch never lingered against your skin for longer than a few moments. You clenched your jaw shut, knowing that she would only prolong the teasing if you complained about it. Fingertips grazed closer and closer to your center, and when you started bucking your hips to try and meet them, her other hand pressed your hips down flat into the altar. 

You finally shot her a pleading look, stilling your movements. “Please, my Queen.” 

A wild grin pulled across Visenya’s features, her fingertips circling your bud as you moaned. “All you had to do was ask.” She cooed again, her tone condescending. By now you should be used to begging her for what you wanted, but it wasn’t something that came naturally. Your abdominal muscles tensed as she continued the lazy pace on your bud. Hooded eyes opened to meet her fiery gaze, and her left hand traversed up your torso, coming to rest under your jaw. “Open.” When your lips parted you were rewarded with the pace on your bud quickening, a soft whine escaping you before Visenya spat into your mouth. Pushing your mouth closed and watching you swallow, her thumb tenderly brushed against your lip for a moment before her expression stilled. Her hand was pulled away from your face, and you mourned the loss of contact before the sting bloomed across your cheek. Visenya waited for you to look back at her before her hand cracked across your face again. “Never talk back to me.” She cooed, lowering her fingers to prod at your entrance, but refusing to give you what you need. “I thought by now you would know your place.” She continued as the hand that struck you came to rest on your throat. “And what is that, precisely?” Before you could answer, her fingers squeezed against the sides of your throat. Visenya chuckled darkly as you clenched uselessly around her digits. 

“Your whore.” The wheeze was barely audible, and your lover squeezed your throat harder. 

Visenya knit her eyebrows together in false concern. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite hear that.” She murmured. You tried again, but the words were muffled once more. Heat shot to your core as you writhed uselessly against the queen, tears pricking at your eyes. “Nope, still nothing, I’m afraid.” She said with a mocking sigh, finally releasing her grip. 

“Your whore.” You gasped out with the first breath you could suck in, a pleased smile tugging at Visenya’s sculpted face. Two fingers pushed into you suddenly, and you moaned at the fullness. Visenya didn’t give you a chance to adjust, her pace punishing as she curved her fingers into the rough spot that made your vision go blurry. Your teeth dug into your lower lip as you strained against the leather binding your hands. Heat was building in your lower abdomen, your muscles being pulled ever tenser at her continued ministrations. “May I cum?” Visenya quickened her pace, and your hips rolled to meet her actions. Bringing her thumb up to stroke your bud, tension built ever higher in your gut.

“No.” The reply came lovingly whispered, and you knit your eyebrows together, closing your eyes. 

“Please.” You begged, opening your eyes once more to lock with hers as you desperately tried to hold in the wave of pleasure that was about to break within you. 

Visenya looked annoyed, and pulled her fingers out of you at once, slapping your core before shooting you a hard glare. She wrenched you to your feet before promptly bending you over the altar and tearing the remains of your dress off your body. Her fingers laced into your hair and she pulled back until you were looking at her. “Five.” She said simply, untangling her fingers from your hair and pushing your hips into the marble before her hand cracked against your exposed ass. A second later a second one came to the other cheek. 

“One.” You moaned out, slick leaking out onto the altar as your lover gently rubbed the reddened flesh. 

Visenya’s hand cracked out against your skin two more times. “Two.” 

The blonde tutted approvingly behind you, the hand on your hip rubbing gentle circles as she rained the next few blows onto you. Visenya breathed raggedly, while you savored the feeling of her hot skin against yours. When the last blow fell, you took a second to catch your breath. “Five.” Pressing into her touch, you let the silence hang between you two for a second longer. “Thank you, my Queen.” 

Visenya pulled back, taking a step back from the altar. Her deft hands moved to undo the laces of her breeches. “Is a little gratitude so difficult?” She mused, her pants dropping before she carefully stepped out of them. “On your knees.” You dropped immediately, holding your hands up so that Visenya could undo the belt. Afterward, your hands raised to your lover’s smallclothes and you waited for an approving nod before pulling them down. Visenya stepped out of them and promptly hooked her thigh over your shoulder. Pressing a soft kiss to her bundle, you relished the way her fingers tightened in your hair. Your tongue darted out to taste her, and she let out a low moan. Swirling your tongue around her bud, you dropped your face so that your nose ground into her clit while your tongue pressed into her entrance. You moaned at her taste, and Visenya tensed against you at the vibrations, her hips rolling against your face. Slick coated your chin as you continued to tonguefuck your Queen, her moans heady as she ground against your face. “Fingers.” Visenya commanded, and you nodded before coating two in her slick and pushing them into her. “Fuck.” The blonde groaned as she clenched around your fingers. "Such a good little whore for me." You merely started thrusting them into her, drunken off the sound of her building moans and harsh words. When you prodded the rough spot behind her pelvis, Visenya’s movements grew erratic. She rode your face without abandon, her fingers white-knuckling your hair as she squeezed yours. You didn’t stop after her moans hit a crescendo, your fingers continuing at the bruising pace she loved. You lapped up every drop of her cum, licking it off your lips when she finally pulled you away from her core. Visenya looked so fucking beautiful like this, her silver hair frizzing around her face and her heavy-lidded eyes staring down at you lovingly. She closed her violet irises for a few moments longer, lips parted as she caught her breath. When her eyes opened again, they were once more darkened with lust. She pulled you to your feet before pushing you back against the altar. This time she turned you so you lay along the length of the marble, and she crawled up after you, coming to settle between your parted legs. Her hot breath teased against your throbbing core, slick coating your thighs as she pressed her lips to them. Her tongue darted out to taste your essence, looking up at you with a dark look in her eyes before she bit into your thigh. You grunted in pain, another wave of arousal shooting through you as Visenya released you. Pressing a kiss to the burning flesh, she finally swiped her tongue across you, spreading your slick around with a deft tongue. She didn’t wait a moment longer before feasting on you like a starved woman, her lips pressing around your button before she sucked on it and slipped a finger into you. Your heels dug into the marble as you writhed against her touch, wild moans filling the sept. In response, she slid another finger into you and increased the pace, her eyes wild as she drove herself into you. 

When the heat started to build in your gut once more you reached out to hold the hand that she had rested on your hip, and squeezed it lightly. “May I please cum?” You whimpered, arched against the cool marble. Visenya hummed approvingly against you, her fingers quickening as your orgasm came crashing over you. Every muscle in your body tensed as you clenched impossibly tight around your lover’s fingers, hips rolling as you moaned out Visenya’s name incoherently. She didn’t let up until you had started to whimper and push her away, pulling back to rest her head against your thigh.  A haughty grin spread across her face at the sight of you, but her hands were gentle as they stroked your thigh. 

She came to sit up on the altar, pulling your head into her lap. “I wasn’t too rough, was I?” Guilt tinged at her tone, and you squeezed her arm reassuringly as you shook your head no. She nodded and tutted, brushing a strand of hair out of your face. “And you know I love you?” You smiled and pushed yourself up, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. 

“I love you too.” Having the power to clothe yourself in shadows was entirely useless until it wasn’t. Since meeting Visenya you have become well practiced in it. The tatters of nightshade fabric fell back over your body as if it had been poured there, and the two of you left the sept hand in hand as you returned to the royal apartments.

When the two of you arrived, you were both shocked to see Maegor tearing the heads off of the soul dolls while Aenys watched horrified a few feet away. “Maegor!” You exclaimed. Honestly, you didn’t know where he got his atrocious manners from some days. You would say his father if Aegon had anything to do with his birth because he certainly wasn’t around to teach him afterward. Shaking your head, you gathered a few of the dolls before passing them to Aenys. “We’ve talked about this.” You said gently, kneeling down to look Maegor in the eyes. He stared glumly down at his feet, and you looked back to see Visenya leaning against the doorway with an amused smile on her face. Turning back, you waited for him to raise his gaze to yours, and when he did you gave him a gentle smile. “It’s impolite to not share with your brother.” You explained, gesturing over at Aenys, who was cradling the doll holding the Septa’s soul. “How would you feel if he was tearing the heads off of his toys and didn’t offer any to you?” The boy’s lower lip trembled for a second as he nodded. 

“I’m sorry, Aenys.” You kissed Maegor on the forehead after he said it, and rose back to your feet. Taking a few steps back, you rejoined Visenya where she was watching the two boys. Aenys tentatively tugged at the doll’s head while Maegor beamed at him, when it wrenched loose a howling wail filled the tower. Maegor giggled excitedly, and Aenys was so excited from all of it that he started sobbing. You looked at Visenya lovingly and laced your fingers into hers. “We did a good thing.” You said, resting your head on her muscular shoulder. 

[Modern!Helaena x Fem!Reader]

[Warnings: Sapphic yearning]

(Needed something a little bit lighter before cracking into the next chapter of Sic Transit Gloria Mundi so here's my first one-shot. Let me know if y'all want more Helaena.)

Word Count: 2.9K

Love the way you teach me,

Love the way you listen.

You glanced over to the corner of the room where Jaehaerys sat at the pottery wheel, a concentrated expression pulling at his cherubic face. A smile pulled across your face as your heart warmed at the sight, to the right of him Jaehaera was snuggled up securely in a sensory swing. The clock on the back of the classroom read 4:35 in angry red lettering. Normally you would be irritated at a parent being so late to pick up their children, but this time anticipation tugged at you. The twins had been an absolute dream since you had the pleasure of meeting them back in August. The first-day jitters hit you before every school year, and you had been setting up the last of your science posters when an ethereal voice broke the silence. Botticelli’s Venus stood before you, her silver hair aloft with light and a shy look on her face. From that day onward her soft lilac gaze flashed behind your closed eyes, the smell of her perfume haunting the classroom after she had left. She had come to talk with you about Jaehaera who was diagnosed with autism but left to fend for herself last year after her teacher gave up. The sadness on Helaena’s face broke your heart, the silent admission at how often her daughter had been othered by the people who were supposed to nurture her. You made sure to meet Jaehaera’s every need, and you loved the twins as if they were your own. This was the first time Helaena had been late, though you secretly hoped she would make a habit of it. The twins kept at their respective tasks until the blonde burst into the door, an apologetic look drawn across her angelic face. “I’m so sorry!” She made direct eye contact with you, her cheeks flushed and breath heavy, clearly having run from the lot. 

“Oh, it’s no worry.” You smiled at her before looking back down at the stack of spelling assignments you were grading. “They’re always a dream, they’re so well-behaved I barely noticed they were here.” You teased, though it was half true. There was an ease about them that you found soothing. 

“Either way, we should get out of your hair.” Helaena’s hands tugged at the sleeves of her powder blue cardigan. Please don’t go. She walked towards Jaehaerys and unsuccessfully attempted to pry him from the wheel. 

“Please Mom, I'm almost done!” Your throat dried as you tried to think of any reason to spend just a second more with her. 

Suddenly, your salvation dawned on you. You stood from your desk far too quickly, and Helaena looked back at you in shock as your chair rattled against the floor. “Well we have the tomb, maybe your Mom would like to see that?” You looked from the twins to their mother, holding your breath for a second. 

Helaena looked back at the boy on the pottery wheel, his glasses crooked on a chubby little face smeared with clay. The most beautiful smile you’ve ever seen pulled across her soft pink lips, and she nodded at you. “I’ve heard about this…” She brought a finger up to her lips, face twisted in concentration. “A Valyrian tomb, right?” You looked back at Jaehaerys and winked at him before looking back to the blonde and gesturing for her to follow you. 

“Yeah, we asked the janitors if it would be okay to clear out the closet while we have our unit on Valyrian history.” You gestured to a wall of Valyrian burial veils in the hallway, pointing out the two the twins had made. “Every student contributes two things, and the day after our test we’re going to have a Valyria party and explore the tomb.” Waving your fingers and adding a spooky lilt to your voice, your heart raced as the giggle broke out from the woman next to you. You smiled before looking down at the waxed tiles. When you two finally arrived at the tomb, you opened it and led her in, leaving the door propped open behind you. Maroon and gold tapestries soaked up the light, and different art pieces and knickknacks placed around the makeshift tomb cast an ethereal glow to the janitor's closet. 

“Wow.” Your palms began to sweat. Good wow or bad wow???? You smiled anxiously at her as her gaze panned back over the shelves you lined with miniature towers. “This is amazing.” Your heart pounded against your ribcage as you beamed at her, shifting your gaze to the art as if proud. 

“It’s the kids that do all of it.” Your hand came up to awkwardly rest at the nape of your neck, praying you didn’t look like an idiot in front of her. Thankfully and heart-wrenchingly, she didn’t seem to notice you at all as she glanced back over at the artwork. Helaena doesn’t say anything else, and you guide her back to the classroom where Jaehaerys had finished his vase and put it on the cart destined for the kiln. You sent the twins off with a hug, and Jaehaera squeezed you for an extra second. Helaena locked eyes with you for a second, and something unidentifiable stirred in her lavender irises. When you let go of Jaehaera her mother looked as if she was thinking about something for a second before she gave you an awkward wave and left the classroom. 

The snow had been piling up high around the classroom, and you found yourself grateful that Christmas break was starting. Cinnamon pine cones had been stacked on your desk and a wax burner filled the air with the scent of gingerbread. You were ladling out a cup of hot cocoa for yourself when her voice broke the silence. “I come bearing gifts.” The blonde held up a green gift bag, and ecstasy poured through your veins. 

“Well, I can get you a cup of hot cocoa and some cookies and we can call that a fair trade.” You suddenly thanked God that Baela brought you a glass of spiked eggnog after the students left. Helaena nodded, and you pulled out the prettiest mug you had available and filled it with painstaking care. Once it was suitably full, you added some whipped cream and peppermint crumbles. Grabbing her the few gingerbread men that were still intact, you brought the bounty to your desk, where she had pulled up a chair. The two of you spent the next hour talking about everything and nothing and were only disturbed by the darkness that fell dimly over the classroom. 

“Well,” Helaena said, looking at the unopened bag before you. She nodded to it, and you reached for it. Pulling out the crimson tissue paper, you gasped as you lifted the black bust out of the bag. It looked like it was an authentic Valyrian piece, the stone having clearly been tempered by flame. 

Your eyes widened in shock as you looked back up at her. Holy fuck she’s trying to kill me. Your mouth moved aimlessly before the words could come to you, and you cursed yourself once again for looking like a moron in front of this absolute goddess. “I can’t accept this.” You said finally, moving to hand it back to her. “This is so kind, really, but th-” Your train of thought derailed when Helaena’s soft hand was placed on yours. 

“Merry Christmas.” She squeezed your hand lightly before finishing the last bite of her cookie and grabbing her purse. When you got home you put the bust on the mantle of your gas fireplace and grinned stupidly at it for far too long. 

In the spring your unit on bugs had started. To give the children a hands-on experience you got a Praying Mantis as a class pet, and every child had been given a caterpillar that would grow into their own butterfly. You were tending to the habitats when her footsteps stopped beside you. The blonde sat and watched you for a few moments, and you tried to will the blood from rushing to your cheeks. “So pretty.” Your head snapped over towards her when she broke the silence, and you looked back at the enclosure, laughing awkwardly. 

“Yeah, they are.” The blonde took another step closer, and you prayed she wouldn’t be able to hear your heart pounding through your ribcage. Helaena reached into the habitat, ever so gently tilting a chrysalis so that she could look at it, letting out a small tut. 

The blonde turned to look at you, her face tantalizingly too close. “What kind of plants do you have?” You smiled at her, fidgeting with your hands as you shifted your gaze to the cocoon. 

“Milkweed, borage.” When the blonde nodded approvingly and turned her gaze back to the habitat you let out a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding. 

“Really, really beautiful.” She said one more time, your gaze still fixed on the array of chrysalises within the fabric cage. You had never really taken a hard glance at them, but you could start to see what she meant. When you turned to look back at Helaena, she quickly looked away. 

Over spring break you tried to enjoy the brief respite. The days were warmer now, and you ached to leave your house. Pulling on a sundress and grabbing your purse, you headed out to the Lyseni Market. The aroma of roasting cherries greeted you as you walked away from your favorite stall. Carrie had put out a whole new line of bath bombs that smelled as sweet as the spring breeze, and you made sure to pick a few up for yourself. You were underneath the blossoming cherry trees when she spotted you, holding a wicker basket full of produce. “Ms. L/N!” She exclaimed, a happy smile on her face as she held her basket. “May I?” She asked as she gestured to the open spot on the stone wall next to you. Helaena sat after you eagerly nodded, moving your purse to your other shoulder so she could sit closer to you. 

“We’re not at school right now.” You shot her a small smile as you bit into your crepe, savoring the taste of strawberries and Nutella. “You can call me Y/N.” Helaena smiled at you and leaned back slightly. 

“Where did you get that?” She asked, glancing back towards the crepe in your hand. “I’m famished.” 

You looked back down at the crepe, an apologetic expression drawing across your face. “Suze made them, but she closed up her stall a few minutes ago.” When the blonde’s smile dropped, your skin crawled. “Wanna split this?” You glanced back towards her, holding the crepe out. “I’m not that hungry.” You lied. 

The small wave of guilt abated in you when her face lit up and she took the crepe from you, taking a bite of it before moaning.  “I need to come out here more often, this is amazing.” 

“You should try her pumpkin cheesecake crepes in the fall.” Your tone was almost warning, and Helaena nodded. 

“Nope. That’s dangerous.” Chuckles broke out as you leaned into her and batted at her arm playfully. 

“You have twins, you can definitely handle a crepe.” You teased. 

“Speaking of them.” Helaena groaned, rubbing at her temples tiredly. “I could really use a cup of coffee. Any vendors here good?” 

You shook your head with a frown, “No dice. But…” Your heart fluttered when she snapped to meet your gaze. “There’s a really good coffee shop a few blocks away.” 

A grin pulled across the blonde’s face as she stood, offering a hand out to you. “Alright, I’m paying then.” She winked at you. “Since you got the crepe.” She held the wrapper up before tossing it in the nearest recycling bin. The walk to the cafe was filled with perhaps the easiest conversation you ever had. Helaena remembered things about you that you had never even told her, apparently having gleaned from the twins. Your knuckles brushed against each other as the two of you walked, and you both looked away. A cherry-red blush burned across your reflection’s face, but you swore for a fraction of a second you saw a similar one painting Helaena’s features. Telling yourself you were just reading into this, you held the door open for her and walked in. After the two of you ordered you settled into a little nook away from the view of the street. The black forest latte you ordered was as perfect as the cafe always made it, and you watched Helaena’s eyes widen after she tasted it. A few more hours of eager conversation passed, and as the rays started to wane into late afternoon, you glanced back toward the blonde. She looked uncomfortable for a few moments. “We should probably get outta here.” She admitted, one hand coming to play with a lock of silver hair. “But I know this uh…” She gestured idly, her face thoughtful. “Place,” Helaena said finally, her lilac gaze locking onto yours. “You interested?” 

You have no fucking clue. “It sounds great.” Helaena left a tip on the table and the two of you got up, to yet another destination. It was a bit longer of a walk, but the late afternoon sun cast a comfortable warmth onto your exposed skin. When your knuckles brushed against Helaena’s again, you let them linger for a moment. A large park stood before the two of you, but it didn’t seem designed for children. Large abstract sculptures were carved into the ground, with steps too high to be a playground. You looked at her in wonder for a moment before stepping onto a roundabout. “Can you push me?” You asked, and you held a careful hand down as the skirt of your dress waved in the breeze. You kept your eyes locked on her silver hair for as long as you could, but eventually stumbled off the roundabout giggling. Helaena reached to steady you, and your hand rested on her shoulder. The two of you looked at each other for a few seconds longer, and your heartbeat raced. When your lips locked you brought your other hand to rest gently against her face. She tasted like cafe mocha, and her lips were as soft as an angel’s. Electricity crackled wherever your exposed skin met. She tilted her head, and the two of you deepened the kiss, only drawn out of it by the sound of somebody settling onto the swings near you two. I hope that motherfucker gets audited by the IRS. 

“Shit.” Helaena cursed as she pulled away, your heart dropping as she did so. She licked her lips before turning her gaze to the ground. “I should probably get going…” She trailed off. “The twins.” You nodded and smiled politely. Your heart felt empty the entire walk back to your apartment, and you cried into your cat’s belly that night. 

After April 6th Helaena was formulaic. Methodical. She would drop the twins off with a wave before shooting you a terse smile and walking away. She waited in her car for the twins when school was over. Each day you mused might be the one the earth swallowed you whole, and time passed achingly slower. When the end of the school year came you felt some relief. If nothing else, the twins wouldn’t be in your class next year and the space would help you finally get over your stupid little crush. You were standing on a chair peeling sticky tack off the wall when she walked in. “Bae?” You called out. “I’ll catch up with you guys when I’m done.” You focused on your task, and Helaena let the silence hang for a second longer before you turned to face her. You turned back to peel another wad of blue tack off the wall, poker face engaged. “It’s great to see you.” You said politely. 

“I uhm…” Helaena held a wrapper up towards you. “I got you a crepe.” She offered meekly. You stared ahead at the wall, reminding yourself that you wouldn’t see her again after this. Desperately as you tried, you just couldn’t convince yourself it was for the better. 

“That’s very nice. Thank you.” Gathering the last wad, you took a step down from the chair before she had the chance to offer her hand. Helaena outstretched her hand and you took the crepe. The worst side of you told you to ice her out, turn away, and refuse to look to see if it affected her as much as it did you. But you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it. 

“I wanted to ask you something.” You turned to look at Helaena, taking a bite of the crepe and looking at her as if to continue. “Now that you're not my kids’ teacher anymore…” She trailed off, and you bitterly swallowed the crepe. Here it is. She was going to ask why you kissed her, and you couldn’t think of any proper excuse.  “Would you want to go out sometime?”