Ephemoria

Charlie x Knox’s sister Ch. 2

Charlie woke up to the sound of bells echoing in the belfry. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, glancing at his desk where his homework he had thankfully finished the night before with the other boys lay in a neat stack.

He turned his head to look at Richard who was already awake and reading out of his Latin textbook.

Charlie rolled his eyes. It wasn’t that he had any problem with studious people; on the contrary, Meeks had a very special place in his heart. But Meeks read textbooks because he was passionate, Richard read textbooks to make himself look smarter than he was.

“You know we aren’t supposed to hang anything.” Richard said plainly without looking up at him.

Charlie looked up at the painting he had hung on the wall next to his bed. He had fallen asleep looking up at it.

“I think you would do well among the Soviets, Richard.”

Richard shot him a look, “what’s that supposed to mean?”

Charlie smiled at him, “Nothing at all, Rich. You hungry?”

He turned to his closet and took out a white t-shirt and the first pair of pants he saw that wasn’t their dress pants required on weekdays.

He changed quickly and heard Richard get up to do the same. He figured it would be too outwardly rude to leave without him so he lingered by his desk, fiddling with his pens. He looked back up at the painting and smiled a little. The night before he had studied every brushstroke, every color choice and its placement, how everything came together so perfectly. He knew next to nothing about art, but he knew that looking at the painting felt like admiring a piece of Y/N’s soul. He thought about how the painting might reflect how she sees the world in general, in technicolor and a peaceful cohabitating existence.

He was ripped from his thoughts when he heard the door close. Richard had left without him.

Once at the dining hall Charlie sat between Knox and Meeks. He said his good mornings and his hellos and began to pile food onto his plate. He heard Richard laugh and glanced over at him just as he was nudging a tired looking Neil.

“He’s late cause he was too busy gawking at his contraband.”

Neil smiled and gave Charlie a knowing look.

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain Overstreet’s painting now would it?”

Charlie felt Knox’s eyes on him and forced a scoff, “shove it, Perry.”

Neil shook his head, a smile still plastered on his face. He knew all about his childhood friend’s infatuation with their dear Knox’s sister.

Charlie watched Neil, his all knowing demeanor made him nervous but he knew Neil wouldn’t make a deal out of the information he knew. But he kept his eyes on him nonetheless as his gaze turned away from Charlie and he ducked towards their new friend Todd who was seemingly hiding his face in a book. Neil muttered something to Todd who nodded and smiled softly.

Charlie sighed and turned to Knox who was still looking at him.

“How do you feel about Keating?” Knox asked awkwardly.

Charlie relaxed slightly, “I love the guy, he’s the best thing to happen to this hell hole.”

“I think he’s kind of cracked.” Butted in Richard

Meeks shook his head, “He appreciates scholar differently than all the other teachers here.”

“I think YOU’RE cracked.” Knox said pointing at Richard who rolled his eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong with the way the other teachers do their jobs.”

“Maybe not,” began Charlie, looking at his roommate, “if you ignore the mind numbing part”

Pitts nodded, “And the constant feeling of inadequacy.” He mumbled as he stole a sausage from Meek’s plate.

In which the princess falls ill

Princess Y/N picked at her breakfast, she was very sure it was lovely but she didn’t feel as if she could stomach it. She had woken up feeling under the weather but didn’t make a mention of it, brushing it off as a seasonal affliction. But here she sat trying desperately to make her stomach stop churning. Though her corset made this very hard.

She took as deep a breath as she could and tried to roll her shoulders.

“Are you alright?” Came the gentle voice of her lady’s maid, Ynes.

Y/N turned in her seat to look at Ynes who was now at her side and resting a delicate hand on her shoulder.

“I’m not entirely sure.” She admitted “I think I need something fresh air.”

Ynes nodded and picked up her plate as much of the dining staff had gone with the king and queen to their expedition to a neighboring kingdom.

“I will clean up here, don’t go too far now.”

Y/N nodded and slowly stood from her chair, glancing back at her knight, Sir Theodoric, and his glistening armor. She knew he would follow her as per his oath of casting his protection over her. This fact had long since stopped annoying her and began to comfort her, especially today.

As she slowly glided towards the large wooden doors that lead to the side of the castle grounds where much of the gardens were, she thought about the man carefully following her. He wore a silk band of rich purple around his right arm, signifying his service to the princess as she had not been a fan of the surcoat he had been given at first. She believed this surcoat set him apart from the other knights too much. It made her knight seem like an outsider among his own, like he wasn’t fit for battle like the others but to simply follow the Princess around and repeat fealties till she or the king and queen, were satisfied. She knew the truth, however, she was very well aware that her knight had seen battle, she had seen the man’s shield and markings of a hero. There was no doubt in her mind he would leap back into the fight at a moments notice, either for the kingdom, or for her as his oath required.

She didn’t realize how lost in her thoughts she was or that her knight had moved ahead of her until she was walking through the doors he held open before her.

She stepped out onto the path that cut its winding way through the grass, flowers, stone benches, and small statues. She could just see the beginnings of the royal gardens in the distance and she knew that the sweet perfume that wafted around her was coming from the orchards beyond the main gardens.

She heard the sound of sparring coming from the lower grounds, the metal on metal of swords where she knew her older brother was being allowed to win. She knew, also that her younger brother and younger sister were in the castle being taught military history and etiquette respectively.

Y/N hiked her skirt up and took a slow breath of fresh air. Standing still as she willed herself to relax.

“Are you alright my lady?” Came the voice of her knight through his visor.

Y/N hummed and spoke over her shoulder, “Yes, I’m fine, thank you.”

Her knight stayed quiet and followed her as she walked farther onto the grounds towards the gardens.

However, as she went, she realized the sun had begun to be more punishing than when she had first came out of the castle, the light breeze had stopped, ending her brief remedy.

She continued to walk however, determined to find herself under the shade of the royal orchards.

She didn’t quite make it. She made it to the edge of the gardens when she began to feel faint. She breathed shakily and felt her body suddenly turn cold.

“My lady?” Asked Sir Theodoric, hurrying to her side.

She tugged on the back of her corset trying to fill her lungs with fresh air, hoping that it would help.

“Princess Y/N please, sit, you need to rest.”

She felt the metal of the knights armor, warmed by the sun, on her arm right before she fainted.

Sir Theodoric immediately dropped his sword and scooped the princess into his arms, turning back towards the castle and rushing as fast as he could to the doors.

Once inside the castle he didn’t stop, he heard Ynes scamper behind him.

“What happened? Is she alright?”

“She fainted, I’m taking her to her chamber, get a nun and maids she needs medical attention.”

Ynes hurried away and Sir Theodoric turned down a vast hall and began to quickly climb a winding stone staircase, being careful not to jostle the princess.

He stopped in front of her chamber door and pushed it open as he walked in. He laid her down on her four poster bed and carefully folded back the silk that closed off the bed for the rest of the room so the maids could attend to her when they arrived.

He stood there looking at her, observing her face and her ragged breathing. He hated it, he hated that his oath didn’t give him the power to will away what afflicted her.

His thoughts were interrupted when the maids came rushing in with the nun who carried a large case of her medical equipment.

“Thank you Sir Theodoric, please if you would step out. We can take it from here.”

The knight looked at her and nodded stiffly, “Thank you sister.”

Anyone have any ideas of what I can sew out of this blanket?

The reader character has a very specific backstory, personality, traits etc. I was wondering if y’all would rather it be an OC as opposed to a Reader because of that? Let me know!!!

If his daughter struggled with anxiety

- At first he thought he understood to a certain degree, the stress of hunting and the life of a hunter was all stress all the time, he understood that.

- but the shaking, the freezing hands, the tears, the panic attacks or anxiety attacks or ruminating thoughts he didn’t fully know how to help.

- All he had to go off of was what he would do when Sam was upset or scared when they were growing up. He’d go out and get you hot cocoa from the bare breakfast bar at motels and a candy bar from the vending machine. Then turn the tv on and try to find something lighthearted or mindless and laugh a little too loudly in sync with the laugh track. He was trying his best.

- for the most part it helped, but when he saw you have a panic attack for the first time he didn’t know what to do. He was so caught off guard he acted purely out of instinct and wrapped his arms around you, holding you tight and telling you you were safe until it passed.

- deep down he wishes that the thing harming you was physical, something he could kill. Because truth be told he didn’t have a great track record with mental health. So he enlisted the help of Sam.

- Sam had told him that he probably wasn’t much better in that area but also admitted he was probably more experienced with healthy coping mechanisms.

- Sam focused more on the preventative measures while your dad took the treatment route, he’d brew you a cup of herbal tea every night and read with you before bed, he would make sure he fully explained the details of the day with you, especially if he knew it was going to be a high-stress day, he made sure you drank enough water and didn’t have coffee past 3pm, he checked up on you periodically and made sure to tell you his door was always open if you needed to talk or go blow off some energy with a run in the mornings or something like that.

- meanwhile your dad was stocking his travel bags with anything he could think of that could help you when you got anxious, a blanket he stole from a motel after you said it was soft and slept with it for a week, a small bottle of lavender oil that was given to him by a girl he didn’t know at the time was an Etsy witch, various fidget toys he himself found amusing, CDs of bands he knows you like, and a journal he debated on giving you.

- He even made Sam read books titled “Worried Parents of Anxious Teens” and “You and Your Teen’s Anxiety” and the like