just a quick cherelle jay appreciation post because she's really out there covering for six most nights, teaching at and running her own company, making inspirational videos AND being the love of my life
note: short lil drabble based off of this post by @politics-notmything
warnings: (not graphic) tw nudity & tw hints of past sex.Â
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âAre you nervous?â
âYes.â
âIs this your first time?â
âNo, Iâve been nervous before.â
Anne snorted as she walked into the bathroom. It was lit by flickering candles, the warmth of both their soft flames and their softer light wrapping Anne in an embrace of comfort. Lavender was in the air, also, rising from the full bath in tendrils of steam. Catherine looked into a mirror, fussing with her tied up hair in a way that indicated sheâd had some previous issues with it.
âYou know thatâs not what I was talking about.â
She pressed herself against Cathyâs back and pulled them closer together with arms around her waist. Cathy abandoned her curls, holding onto an arm with one hand and bringing the other up to cup the cheek hovering over her shoulder. Anne was relieved to see a small smile on her face.
âWe donât have to do this, Cathy,â she spoke softly. She squeezed her arms as if to emphasise this; Cathy turned in them to face her. She returned her hand to Anneâs rapidly heating cheek and used it to pull her lips into an innocent kiss.
âWant to,â was Cathyâs breath of a reply. She slipped out of Anneâs arms and walked up to the bath. âYou deserve it, too- you havenât had a day of rest this week.â
And by God, if the ache in Anneâs feet was anything to go by, Cathy was right.
âNot like itâs anything youâve not seen before, anyway.â
This was said even softer and Anne felt her cheeks blaze at the thought of it. She brushed the memories away- this wasnât the time. The blush deepened, however, as she watched Catherine pull her jumper off and then move onto the button on her jeans. She glanced up as she tugged on the zip and laughed at the undoubtedly stupified look on Anneâs face. Anne set about pulling her own clothes off quickly at that, with Cathyâs melodic chuckle playing in her ears all the while.
She looked up as her last piece of clothing hit the floor to see Catherine delicately climbing into the bath. Anne supposed she could spend years writing poetry about the curve of her back or the flawless brown of her skin, but it would all end in one word anyway- perfect.
Cathy sat down, back pressed against the end of the bath, and turned a heartstopping (and slightly nervous) smile onto Anne.
Anne didnât miss the way her eyes quickly roved over her body. Her gaze left curling toes and goosebumps in its wake and she felt a shaky inhale shudder through her before she moved to the bath. She climbed into the hot water, her feet and legs disturbing the bubbles, before sitting with her back to Cathy. She scooched back slightly until she saw wet legs bracketing her.
An amused huff sounded behind her. Suddenly, hands were on her shoulders, pulling her backwards until her back was flush with Cathyâs chest. She felt like crying at the sheer intimacy of it as Cathy circled her arms loosely around her waist. She leaned backwards into her, seeking to be impossibly closer, and tipped her head back so that it rested on Cathyâs shoulder.
Cathy turned her own head and placed a single delicate kiss on the underside of her jaw before calling out to Alexa to play a playlist. A dopey smile slipped onto Anneâs face.
âThought you didnât like Alexas?â
She felt Cathyâs exhale of a chuckle fan out against her skin, somehow hotter than the water they sat in just as a song began playing.
And Anne felt her eyes sting and heart squeeze when she realised the song. It was what they had been listening to while they had their first kiss.
Cathy nuzzled into her neck, muttering âthe need for music outweighed my prejudices.â
Anne laughed- a shaky, damp sound through her oncoming tears as she remembered their first night together. She put a hand on Cathyâs raised knee, needing to touch her as the song progressed. Catherine raised one of her own to interlock their fingers there.
âCuddled up with a heart condemned,â Catherine sang softly against her. Anne could feel it reverberate in Cathyâs chest and then in her own, her heart pounding in time with the gentle music. She closed her eyes against the upcoming lyric and felt tears roll down her cheeks.
I think powarrd is a thing? Iâve seen like one (1) aragon/jane fic, and thereâs some jane/parr content running around
thatâs interesting! i can see why parrlyn, aralyn & howard/cleves are the main ships however- the three here sound difficult to write or just kinda strange. iâll definitely have a look into them though, especially powarrd. thank you!!
The other day someone asked for the best Parrlyn writers, I couldnât really answer. Reblog this with your favorite writers and I will reblog it back. It might not be a lot because this is a small acc, but itâs still a little help!
I want to make this place for everyone to come and look for fanfics, not all fanfic work for all people, so help me with this! â€
a truly unappreciated aspect of aywd is that even if youâve never gone out with a man u can still cry to the song bc chances are youâve been let down by one multiple times anyway
summary: in which kat has to leave the stage after a performance of âall you wanna doâ and annaâs there to help herÂ
note: wrote this in the notes app on my phone at 3am bc i was craving some hurt/comfort. please know the title and last three pieces of dialogue are not mine! itâs a quote from âAn Oresteiaâ- just search the quote in google and itâll show up. this can 1000% be read as kat/anna; it was intended to be that anyway, but i couldnât really find a way to include it outright that didnât feel out of place. also if u havent seen a clip of aywd performed live or havenât listened to an audio of the end of it itâs heartbreaking
warnings: panic attack, hints of past sexual abuse, flashbacks (please be safe & let me know if iâve forgotten to tag something <3)
words: 2266
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It was Annaâs day off.
Annaâs long awaited, much anticipated, day off. Finally.
Illness among most of the queens had meant that all the alternates were on every show and they couldnât spare Anna having a night off. She was happy, of course, to go on and perform, but sheâd had a deep ache in her feet for the past three days and her skin seemed to constantly be indented with lines from her costume.
So when the other five prepared to leave the house for a show, Anna was firmly in bed. In fact, she was in bed, comfortably swimming in that half-asleep, post-nap state of warmth (not dissimilar to the state sheâd been in for most of the day) when Anne opened the door and slipped in quietly.
She looked relieved to see Anna awake and she sat by her feet on the bed so that Anna might see her easily. She cast a quick glance at the door as if someone would come bursting in. Even in her drowsy state, Anna felt concern flare in her at the very obvious worry on Anneâs face.
âKat isnât doing well.â
The warmth promptly flooded away. Anna sat up.
âWhatâs wrong?â
She already knew, of course. Katherine had been especially anxious for the past couple weeks- her symptoms had steadily been getting worse, building up until it reached the point that she was hardly even sleeping. She wasnât talking to anyone about what was bothering her, either- that was especially worrying, as she had been quite open before about how much comfort she found in having a conversation with one of them after a particularly trying day.
âSheâs, um,â Anne averted her gaze for a second as she took a deep breath to collect herself.
âShe had another nightmare. The worst Iâve seen since we came back.â
Anna frowned, sitting up even more.
She frowned harder at the thought that Katherine didnât come to her room after the nightmare like she usually did, but didnât raise this comparatively trivial question to an Anne in this state.
Anne spoke again after a minute of anxious silence.
âI was wondering if you wouldnât mind coming to the Theatre? Just in case she... yâknow,â
Anne paused for a second to wipe at her eyes.
âHas to go off. Jane and I would like for someone to be there with her.â
Anna reached out to squeeze the wet hand that dropped back to Anneâs lap.
âOf course,â she said softly.
Anne nodded, sniffling, and stood up after returning the gesture. She paused with her hand wrapped around the door handle; she looked back over at Anna and spoke again.
âMaybe donât get to the Theatre until weâre onstage. Kat already threw a fit over us telling her to stay home- donât think sheâd appreciate us making you come out on your day off.â She gave a rueful little chuckle but Anna shook her head.
âNot making me do anything.â
Anne gave one last watery, grateful smile, before opening the door and exiting.
âââââââ
Anna was true to her word. She didnât leave the house until half an hour before they were due to go on stage, and didnât actually enter the building until she could hear âEx-Wivesâ playing. Though hours had passed between that conversation and Anna actually leaving the house, she found that her day of relaxation was effectively over the second Boleyn had entered her room. She had spent those hours in a sort of concerned purgatory, nervous and unable to focus much- her thoughts always returned back to Kat.
It was with Kat in mind that she shouldered through the entrance and made her way to the back of the building. She dumped her backpack and coat in a dressing room before making a bee-line to backstage where she could watch the show, being sure to make herself hard to be seen so she wouldnât distract anyone.
She noticed that something was off with Katherine. She wasnât dancing with her usual passion, the moves looking more robotic than anything, and when she yelled a line it was bordering on shrill. She covered it up well, however- so well that it kind of made Anna want to cry if she thought too hard about it. She sat and watched with dread building low in her stomach the closer the show progressed to Katâs song.
Also beside Anna was an alternate already in costume and some basic makeup. The emergency alts usually didnât do this but she knew without even asking it was by request of Anne or Jane.
And then, far too suddenly, Katherineâs song was playing.
It begun with Kat acting bubbly and mostly progressed in the same way. Anna saw her eyes flash anxiously at the mention of Mannox or Dereham, saw the way she tensed slightly when the queens placed their hands on her, but she upheld the persona. She noticed it start to slip at the mention of Henry, her voice edging away from the happier tones swiftly. Her voice broke on the final word of âhe cares so much, he calls me âloveââ, but she continued the song anyway. Anna saw Anne shoot Cathy a terrified look.
She recounted her time with Henry slightly shakily. The shakiness worsened at the introduction of Thomas, and Anna felt like running on the stage then and there and pulling Kat off of it.
But she couldnât do that, so she instead watched fearfully.
She could see visible tears run down Katherineâs face at the âI thought this time was differentâ verse. She seemed to be almost heave the following chorus, the way she threw off the queensâ grabbing hands seeming too realistic and the way she outright flinched and cringed away from them not being a part of the show at all. Her voice only got more hysterical, screaming at most parts and merely breathing at others. She didnât sing anything after the first âplaytimeâs overâ, instead sinking to her knees and just sobbing.
Anna shifted in her seat, glancing between the alternate and the stage. She herself looked unsure and was staring at Anne for guidance.
Anne dropped beside her cousin when the lights turned off. Her rapid whispers could be heard faintly through the microphones, and Katherineâs whimper at something could be heard, too. Anne had managed to get Katherine up somehow and send her to the edge of the stage. The alt ran on immediately and took the microphone off of Anne. Anna couldnât see the Boleynâs face in the low light, but the show continued the second the alternate was in postition.
Anna now focussed on Katherine. She ran to her immediately, reaching to embrace her sobbing form, but she flinched so violently that Anna thought sheâd fall over.
She didnât have time to analyse that but thought faintly that a similar attempt was probably what Katâs whimper had been because of.
She kept her hands away from the girl. The technicians were looking at them, more concerned and scared than anything, and Anna realised the audience would probably be able to hear Katherineâs crying. She hoped the others were speaking loudly enough.
She turned her attention back to where she had backed herself into a wall, head bowed and arms wrapped around her middle. Anna approached her slowly with her hands close to herself but raised up slightly so Katherine could see them if she looked.
âKat-â
Her head whipped up, eyes wild and panicked behind their wall of tears, and she darted away from Anna as soon as she saw how close sheâd approached.
She stumbled more than anything, but she somehow found her way to a dressing room, throwing open the door and falling into it. Anna followed closely behind and entered to see Katherine in a similar pose to how she had been earlier, but now sitting on the floor in a corner, her knees brought up to her chest and her head buried into them.
âPlease, please, please, please,â
Anna could hear her sobbing as she approached.
âPlease, donât- I donât want to, please.â
Anna sat on the floor a couple feet away from her, her heart squeezing painfully in her chest at seeing Kat like this all the while.
âKat?â She said firmly. She felt like just crying, honestly- Katherine hadnât had a flashback in so long.
Katherine didnât hear her.
âKat?â she said it firmer now, careful not to be too loud. Katherine raised her head from her knees slowly and flinched, pressing herself closer to the wall when she saw Anna.
âKat, itâs Anna. Weâre in the 21st-century, sweetheart,â familiarity flashed in Katherineâs eyes; her chest still heaved and shook, however, and tears rolled down her face.
âYeah, itâs Anna, honey. Youâre alright, youâre in the dressing room with me. No one else is here.â
Katherine looked around the room slowly, fearfullyïżŒ, before her eyes landed on Anna. They softened, recognition flooding them, and Anna felt her own tears begin to fall. She was struck by the overhwelming need to hug Kat but stayed in her position.
It felt like torture as she was forced to watch Katâs face crumble, her sobs returning fully as she buried her face in her hands.
âYouâre okay, Kitty,â Anna whispered around the lump in her throat. She only rarely used that nickname, leaving it to Anne mostly. It was instinctive.
âCan I touch you?â
Katherine gasped out a âyesâ into her palms. Anna moved slowly and only placed a hand onto Katâs shoulder. This touch lasted all of four seconds before Katherine threw herself into Anna, forcing her back to fall against the wall. Kat was in between her legs with her head buried in Annaâs shoulder; Annaâs hands came up to hug her immediately.
She held her tightly as though it would be enough to still her shaking. A foolâs errand, she knew, but at that point it couldâve been for her own comfort. Katâs hands clawed at her, grabbing her arm, then waist, then shirt and jacket with no real organisation, as though she were trying to hide in Anna.
âKat, youâre alright,â she said. It made her hands still and simply cling to her jacket, but now she was sobbing into her clavicle, barely giving herself time for painful-sounding gasps of air in between them. All Anna could do was hold her closer. She rocked them both slightly as she stroked Katâs hair, and she muttered soothing words into the crown of her head.
Sobs turned into hiccups after a while. Anna encouraged the girl to copy her breathing- it took a bit to get it right, but then the scary heaving and gasping was just shaky inhales and exhales.
âDoing so well.â She pressed a long kiss to her head. It made Katherine release the vice grip on her jacket to instead wrap her arms around Anna. She pressed herself into her body deeper, trembling softening, and her breaths slowly evened out.
She was making little snuffling sounds by the time the show ended that quite clearly signified sleep. Anna just sat sentinel there and waited for the girls to come in.
And come in the girls did. Anne threw open the door and then threw herself inside the room; her head whipped about wildly as she looked for them, and she breathed a deep sigh when she found them. Anna raised a single finger to her lips in a request for silence.
Anne leaned against the door frame in her relief before sticking her head round the wall and motioning that they were in the dressing room. Jane came rushing in first. Her pace didnât even slow when she saw them; she just walked towards them, kneeling and placing a shaky hand on Katâs back to feel her breaths. She bowed her head slightly, and her chest rose and fell in a way that made it look like this was the first time she had truly breathed.
âWe were so worried,â she whispered. A tear rolled down her face. âThank you, Anna. So much.â
Anna nodded, unable to do much else, before letting her head fall back against the wall. Cathy and Catherine had entered as well, and each came to say their own piece and touch Katherine as if she were a holy relic. Anna thought that comparison wasnât too far off.
She woke Kat up eventually. The girl was half asleep the whole time she helped her out of the pink costume, though she did see her smile when Anna put her own hoodie and jogging bottoms on her. She snuggled into the oversized pieces of fabric while the other wiped makeup off her face carefully.
Anna was sliding a cotton pad over an eyelid when Katherine spoke softly,
âThank you.â
Anna removed her hand so that Kat could look at her. She smiled.
ââCourse, babes. Iâm just glad youâre alright.â
Katherine smiled, too, a small, tired thing, but a smile nonetheless. She closed her eyes again to let Anna continue.
âIâm sorry to bother you on your day off, though,â
Anna shook her head despite Katherine not being able to see it.
âYouâre never a bother, Kat. Iâll always take care of you.â
Katherineâs face somehow softened. She opened her eyes again, looking straight into Annaâs, once the cotton pad was removed.
âItâs rotten work.â
Anna shook her head again. A small smile played on her lips, and she let it show while she brushed a stray baby hair off of Katherineâs face.
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