#givemeunicorns

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Lucanis Dellamorte/Aldric LaPointe Word Count: 899

Summary: Aldric didn't remember telling Lucanis how he liked his coffee in the mornings, yet he found it brewed to perfection.

Written as a treat for @givemeunicorns as part of the @aromanceforthedragonages exchange!

Aldric liked waking up early. He treasured his lazy breakfasts by himself, where he could ease into consciousness without the demands of other people around and no one to ask why he was up at strange hours of the morning… not that his fellow Grey Wardens often needed to ask.

Lucanis clearly had the same ideas about mornings, considering how frequently he was awake before even Aldric. Under other circumstances, with another person, Aldric would feel put-out by this, but over the months he’d spent in the Lighthouse, he’d grown to find these lazy breakfasts with Lucanis a comforting addition, rather than intrusion, to his routine. Most mornings, they didn’t say much; the companionable silence was broken only by the clink of coffee mugs and silverware or the sizzle of a frying pan. It was nice. Peaceful.

This morning, Aldric woke later than usual after an unusually dreamless night, which left him feeling uneasy for the day to come. He wandered into the kitchen, still bleary with sleep, and was hit with the welcoming aroma of coffee, and hazelnut, and chocolate.

“Ah, you’re awake,” Lucanis said from the stove.

Aldric hummed in lieu of a proper greeting. It was far too early for him to form sentences yet without his coffee… his hazelnut-and-chocolate coffee. Antivan roast, heavy on the frothed milk, heavier on the sugar, in his extra-large mug.

He blinked the sleep from his eyes and looked around the kitchen worktop with a puzzled frown. The sack of his favorite hazelnut-infused coffee beans was already sitting open next to the coffee pot. The jar of milk and a whisk were already next to the stove, alongside a greatly-diminished block of baking chocolate. And a gorgeous Antivan man was standing in front of him, holding out Aldric’s extra-large mug for him to take.

“Oh,” Aldric said eloquently.

As Lucanis passed it to Aldric, wrapping their hands around the steaming mug, their fingers brushed for a moment longer than necessary. A warmth blossomed in Aldric’s chest that had very little to do with the heat from the coffee.

“I don’t remember telling you how I take my coffee,” Aldric said, smiling softly. He breathed the scent of it in deep and let out a happy sigh.

“You make it the same way every morning. It was easy enough to remember,” Lucanis said with a shrug, as if this was nothing. “Besides, you’re the only one who came to the Lighthouse knowing how to properly brew Antivan coffee already. I was bound to take notice.”

“Funnily enough, I learned it from another Crow,” Aldric said. “The Hero of Ferelden’s—”

Lucanis drowned out the rest of his sentence with a loud groan. “Don’t tell me.”

Aldric laughed. “He brought some with him once when he visited the Keep. Before long, the entire Fereldan Order was addicted. Solona had to import whole tons of it every month.”

Predictably, Lucanis furrowed his brow in that adorably grumpy way he always did when Aldric mentioned his acquaintance with Zevran Arainai, but instead of muttering a few choice words in Antivan as expected, he continued to stare at the coffee in Aldric’s hands. Lucanis’ tongue darted out and licked nervously at his lips. Aldric, with his self-restraint eroded by sleep, couldn't help but stare dreamily at him, imagining those lips wrapped around his—

“You, ah, haven’t tried the coffee yet,” Lucanis said, shaking Aldric from his reverie.

“What? Oh. If you wanted me to tell you it turned out well, you could just ask,” he teased lightly.

He brought the mug up to his own lips, conscious of Lucanis’ eyes on him, and took a small sip. He immediately took a larger sip. An almost obscene moan escaped his lips.

“Oh, Maker’s mercy, that’s perfect.”

“Good. Though, you may want to quiet down, or Davrin may get jealous,” Lucanis said with a jittery chuckle.

Aldric looked up, bewildered. “Why would he be jealous? Davrin and I aren’t together.”

“Right, I know. I wasn’t sure… You and he are both wardens; you share a bond. You…”

“We flirt,” Aldric laughed. “It’s fun, nothing more. It isn’t…” His laughter quieted, and his grin faded into something softer. He looked into his steaming mug, and he looked into Lucanis’ wide, chocolate-brown eyes, lit by the dancing fire and flickering hope. Aldric’s heart ached in the most wonderful way. “It isn’t coffee in the morning, brewed to perfection,” he said quietly, his own eyes twinkling with understanding.

Lucanis let out his held breath, a big, relieved smile lighting up his face. “I didn't know if you would still be… interested, after…” He gestured to the pantry and the night he left Aldric hanging after Spite took over. “I’m sorry.”

“Lucanis… Don’t be.” Aldric shook his head fondly. He reached behind him and set the coffee down on the counter, then took a slow, deliberate step forward, watching Lucanis’ eyes track the curve of his mouth. “I’m still here. I’ll always be here, whenever you’re ready.”

Lucanis swayed closer. His breath hitched. “You really like the coffee?” he whispered.

“I love the coffee.”

He leaned in, slowly, then all the way. His lips were soft against Aldric’s. They tasted like coffee, brewed to perfection. He brushed his hands up Aldric’s sides, feather-light and searching, and something in Aldric’s throat swelled with emotion.

“I love you, too,” Aldric murmured into his lips.

yesss I immediately heard this in Fenris’ voice <3

This takes place during DAI, basically at the end of Here Lies the Abyss. In my canon, Fenris comes to Skyhold with Gemma & participates in the same quests as she does. Despite being at Adamant Fortress together, they get separated during the battle just enough for Fenris to watch from as Gemma and the others plummet into the Fade.

For @dadrunkwriting

———

Audience: Teen | Pairing: Fenris/Gemma Hawke | WC: ~560 | CW: near-death experience referenced

———

She’s exhausted, both mentally and physically, and yet Fenris’ voice in her ear still sends a shiver down her spine.

“That was far too long to be apart from you.”

Gemma leans against him a little - partly for comfort and partly as a response - while they listen to the Inquisitor finish speaking. When she banishes the Grey Wardens, Gemma tenses, and Fenris’ hand is on her shoulder before she can speak up.

“It’s only the Orlesians.”

I was tagged by @qqueenofhades mwah dear!

When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love. ❤

I know what I would pick for the five if I was being fully honest - it's the same five I've repeatedly picked before (Reincarnation AU, Hades!Buck AU, Zombie Apocalypse AU, Ghost!Buck AU, and Hades!Eddie AU). But I wanted to challenge myself and pick five fics from this year, 2024, since it is the end of the year and it would be nice to look back on it.

I wrote far more fanfic than I planned (728,600 words), including a threesome collection and a rarepair (77k words for a Midsomer Murders fic what is wrong with me). I had hoped to surprise post my big Xedgin fic as a new year's gift but that ended up not happening, alas. I haven't forgotten it though and while I am now 100% focused on my original novels I promise to find time to post it.

Anyway enough navel-gazing, here are my five favorite fics from this year!

Racing with the Brakes Cut

My Fast & Furious AU that I wrote in a burst of inspiration after I was made to marathon the series with friends. I had a lot of fun writing it. There's a very particular feel to the first F&F film - a vibe of Los Angeles in the dog days of summer, a sense of desperate people living in the beautiful grit of the city, a feeling of messy found family, and a particular brand of homoeroticism, that I wanted to capture. I like to think I succeeded.

Held Up a Lightning Rod (Wonder Why I'm Struck)

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO JUST BE A FUN SUGAR BABY AU. I predicted it would be around 60k words and it turned out double that number. But I'm really proud of how I wove seasons one through four into this canon and ended up incorporating Buck and Eddie's alternate relationship into the canon. This is also a fic I posted chapter by chapter and the responses I got from everyone along the way were delightful. I think this might be one of my most popular fics, actually. I just had a blast writing it and responding to everyone's comments, it really felt like a community, and that's what fic and fandom are all about.

Connected the Dots in Reverse (But Still Completed the Picture)

This is a Ghost Files/Unsolved AU and that proved to be a challenge. How do you capture the feeling of watching a video in a written work? How do you replicate the banter and the humorous editing? I also had to watch the entire two series over again to pick what locations and quotes I wanted to incorporate into the fic, so that was a lot. But I had a lot of fun writing it. It was especially fun to get to lean into Eddie's sassy, goofy, Buck-enabling side.

The Blood Between My Teeth is My Own

I am so proud of myself that this was only 32k. YAY, ME! I love the 118 as werewolves, and it was great to finally dive into that with a fic that had a proper plot. It was fun to explore Eddie's personal issues through the lens of lycanthropy, and I enjoyed depicting werewolves as properly monstrous rather than just big wolves or slightly-transformed humans. I wrote this in the span of about 72 hours and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I’m Not Breathing Unless I’m Giving You CPR

YES I KNOW THIS IS FROM 2023 BUT BEAR WITH ME. I wrote this fic as an experiment and was extremely nervous about its reception. I didn't think most people would read it or enjoy it. But if you look at my stats page for 2023, it has the most hits, second-most kudos, second-most bookmarks, and second-most comments. I'm floored, absolutely floored. Over the last year I've repeatedly gotten really lovely comments from people talking about how this fic has affected them, and it's really meant more than I can say. Especially as I dive into my novels which feature characters who are various levels of disaster and do often mess up, or are hard to love, or who make wrong or bad choices, or are mentally unwell, it's so encouraging to know that this darker fic that I really was nervous about has been so loved.

I hope you enjoy!

******

Summary: Vegas returns from the safe house. After meeting Porsche and seeing Pete at the bar, he hides at an acquaintance’s place. Macau finds him. Set in episode 13. 

*****

Before the Storm

By the time Macau found him, it hadn’t even crossed Vegas’ mind that his brother would go looking. He had tried to be careful and to cover his tracks after leaving the safe house. But his world had been titled on its axis and he could only focus on one thing which must have resulted in a trail of mistakes. His thoughts were completely occupied with Pete. The sound of Pete’s cries were an endless echo in his head, and he could still feel the touch of Pete’s trembling hand on his cheek.

this accidentally wound up being post-canon bow-verse so! that’s a thing

prompt list

“Absolutely not,” Jiang Cheng snaps. “Wei Wuxian is Yunmeng Jiang’s Head Disciple and talisman master. Why should we send him to the Cloud Recesses for so long?” Technically, Wei Wuxian is pretty sure he’s just the resident rogue cultivator of Yunmeng Jiang; as much as he’s enjoyed teaching the older students during this last year, Bujue is still handling all the real work of administration and assisting Jiang Cheng. Still, even if it’s only to irritate Lan Qiren, that stubborn proclamation makes his heart squeeze funny in his chest. It’s probably a symptom of qi deviation. “Lan Wangji is the second young master of Gusu Lan,” Lan Qiren replies, “and a primary teacher of our junior disciples. Surely Yunmeng Jiang does not expect us to relinquish such an important figure of the clan.” Tucked neatly in one corner, Wei Wuxian steals a look across the room to find Lan Zhan already watching him. His own posture is impeccable, of course, but the angle of his mouth implies a general exasperation with the ongoing discussions. It’s the second time that their families have met to discuss their wedding, and still, the same topics circle around and around like a boat caught in a whirlpool.

The air is heavy, still, the storm nothing but dark hounds lurking at the edge of the sky when you lead Fish to the cliffs, her long white mane dancing in the wind. Her leg has long since healed, and only you can tell where she favors it, ever so slightly.

You can smell the storm in the air, taste lightening on your tongue. Beside you, Fish drinks the wind, her nostrils flared so that you can see the delicate red insides. How strange, to stand beside a monster and know she could turn those gently quivering nostrils to you, with teeth and hooves to follow, but that she won’t. She won’t, because she loves you.

There was a young man in your unit who was a student of science before he went to the front, and he despised when anyone attributed emotion to animals. Said they couldn’t love. You told him you could tell he’d never had a dog before. He didn’t like that much either.

But what else can it be, when a wild thing chooses you?

You reach out and wrap your hand around her crested neck, your calloused fingers soft in her wiry white mane and silver dapples, and she turns to you, dark eyes wide and wild and wall-eyed.

Your father was taken by the sea when you were only a boy. Taken, not drowned. It’s a deliberate word. You remember the first time your mother said it, in relation to your father’s death, and it brought with it several rapid realizations:

   1. He may not have drowned at all. He may have been eaten. Which death was better: breathing in the sea or being devoured by the capaill? The slow, relentless burn of drowning, water and salt weighing your lungs down, or the fast, violent end of teeth and blood? To sink, or to be swallowed?

   2. It sounded like he had been chosen, like the sea was a lover who had finally made your father her husband. And wasn’t it true? Wasn’t a fisherman always a little sea drunk? Weren’t you?

   3.    It sounded like your father was sacrificed, and you could recall no other deaths at sea after him that season. You are proud. What better death? You wish Rory’s death had meant half as much, but he’s just another boy in a shallow grave in a foreign country, dead for reasons neither of you ever understood, for reasons that only mattered for a heartbeat, and then that heart stopped.

It seemed, and seems still, a perfect balance. Epona demands her sacrifices in blood and ceremony, and mac Lir takes his in the secrecy and the silence. Everyone remembers Epona, though they don’t always believe in her, as a goddess. Most have forgotten mac Lir.

You remember though.

Someone has to.

“Féadfaidh tú dul má dteastaíonn é uait,” you tell Fish. You don’t want her to go. But she’s a wild thing, no matter how you’ve tried to tame her.

You love her. How can you ask her to stay? A life with a muddy field and your mam’s chickens, when she was born to the sea?

You squeeze her neck and let go, running your hand down her neck until they hit open air.

The mada doininne race across the sky, pouring rain over the sea. Fish looks at you, and then looks at that line of hard rain. She screams, a high and lonely sound that you can feel deep in your ribs, her tail a raised white banner into the coming storm. Far below, the churning dark surface of the ocean is pockmarked from the rain drops. Her hooves remain in place in the dried grass and soil, still as standing stones.

You stand there together as the storm reaches you, soaking you both into sleek, dark shapes in an instant, the rain driving into your skin and eyes like icy rocks hurled by unforgiving heavens. You laugh, even though it hurts. Fish screams again, and pulls at the lead—not forward though. Not to the sea. Instead she steps back, away from the cliffs, away from the storm. Away from the sea.

Back to home.

This--is a tough one, and I’m a Fandom Old, so let’s break it down into my main non-LotR fandoms.

Though oblig ALL the fandoms crossover mention of Journeys ‘verse.

If it’s HBO War crossover, I’m sending you to the Gone Are All The Days ‘verse. If it’s JUST The Pacific, I’ll say The Holy Vow of a Teenage Kiss. If it’s just Band of Brothers, If You Sing These Words We’ll Never Die.

For Spartacus fandom, even though I have like 10 different ‘verses there, my favorite fic of them all is Life Is Too Short To Live Without Poetry. My favorite canon-based AU HAS to be Memento Vivere. It’s been years now and I’m still amazed over @steorie‘s art for that fic. And of course I have to give a special shout-out to Moose ‘verse.

I didn’t write much for MCU, but the samstevebucky ot3 ‘verse remains my darling.

I’ve only written one fic for The Umbrella Academy so far, but people seem to like Such Unimaginable Things and it still feels kind of like a fever-dream when I think back to writing it.