#eiriniko

[semifinaldraw]

do you happen to have some xhakas around... xhakagaard perhaps even.... maybe....

maybe so...

[midwrites]

for @eiriniko

There’s thunder rumbling in the distance. Lightning flashes over the road, once, then twice before the car shakes along with the incoming storm. Sihtric wonders if this all could have been avoided if they had stopped in that gas station three or four miles ago, when the sky was still clear and Finan kept jabbering about how full the tank was, and how they would only stop for ice-cream before Essex came into view. Golden hills extend as far as his eyes can see, the dark clouds muting their glow.

Finan ducks to peek through the window, his arm surely slung over the roof of Father Beocca’s beat up Ford Fiesta. “We ain’t gonna make it to see the baby monk graduate, are we?”

“He forgot to replace the spare tire, didn’t he?”

“Yup.”

“And you still have no reception?”

“Nope.” Finan pops the p in that characteristic way that oscillates in between comical and desperate which makes Sihtric unable to be mad at him. Laughing about the whole situation is the best thing they can do before they start getting wet.

The sun nips against his skin when he leaves the car, his eyes adjusting to the light before he puts his sunglasses on and tries to catch a glint of some car of other that could be coming down the snaking country road—to no avail. “We could wait out the storm inside the car,” Sihtric offers half-heartedly, his dead phone in one pocket, the sliotar that was rolling over the dashboard ten minutes ago getting passed from one of his hands to another. Something to busy his hands with, his mind.

Finan furrows his brow. “That gas station cannot be more than an hour away.”

“Think that we can outrun the rain?”

“Oh, I’m sure of it,” Finan replies with one of those smirks that always mean trouble. One of those smirks that could lead Sihtric anywhere.

The keys get stuck in his back pocket along with his wallet, the ball they pass down as they walk by the side of the road, both of them oddly quiet, listening to the rumbling of thunder following them along with the rustling of wheat, the hissing of the wind against the trees.

“D’you think he’ll be very angry about it?” Finan asks, throwing the ball high before he tosses it back to Sihtric.

“If we tell him that Uhtred forgot about the tire…” And off to Finan it goes.

“He’ll probably blame us for not having checked the trunk before we left.”

The sliotar flies back to him. Sihtric doesn’t catch it in time, too entranced with how the sun shines in between the thick strands of Finan’s hair, turning dark brown into syrupy gold.

“Touché,” Sihtric acquiesces, watching the ball tumble down and roll, just as the first thick raindrops hit the road.

[hisbelfastboy]

I don't remember if I've sent an ask for this but "with pride in your eyes" ^^

Nose throbbing, Paddy shakes his head firmly to dislodge a few strands of hair that have fallen into his eyes, hoping to clear his vision. Sweat rolls down his temples and neck, and his arms ache with the satisfying burn of exercise; a wild grin on his face, Paddy raises his arms in front of his face again, prepared to block Reg's punch.

Boxing has always been one of his preferred past times, an outlet for the rage inside of him that forces him to focus on controlling it to turn his wrath into cold calculations and adrenaline. He's found his match in Reg, brute strength and endurance cornering Paddy many a times. Yet, for all they both bruise afterwards, Paddy always leaves the ring with his heart feeling light, his mind quiet. The more they box together, the more Paddy enjoys it; he's come to know all of Reg's tells, and Reg expects all of Paddy's moves too. It makes it all the more challenging to catch Reg by surprise, and Paddy's blood sings with it.

Yet all these thoughts die when he catches sight of a tall figure weaving its way through the crowd, towering over most of the men assembled but still approaching the made-up ring. Eoin doesn't participate in the yelling, looking at odds with the enthusiastic crowd; hands lazily hidden in his pockets, he rolls on the balls of his feet like a child waiting on a swing. But his eyes twinkle with mischief when he catches Paddy's, the barest of wink sending Paddy's heart stuttering as he lowers his guard, twisting to better see Eoin.

He's rewarded for his troubles by a swift punch to the jaw and blood pooling in his mouth as he staggers, ears ringing.

Right.

Blinking away the sweat, Paddy forces himself to put Eoin's amused expression out of his mind. It's not often Eoin comes to witness Paddy's boxing match, not since Squatter and the subsequent migraines he suffers through—if light could bring one forth, a rowdy crowd could birth a headache that would sneakily turn into a pounding migraine Eoin can only grit his teeth against. Determined to make this match a quick one for Eoin's sake, and a victory for his own pride, Paddy puts himself in position again, keeping his legs light.

Reg's undeniably stronger than him, and though they are of similar height, it means Paddy has the benefit of being lighter. If he's quick enough, he can get Reg in the side then the jaw.

Breathing deeply, Paddy widens his stance, crouching just slightly before he pounces, fist finding a home in Reg's left ribs. The man doubles over, trying to step out of Paddy's range while blocking low with his arms but Paddy's already moved to the side, effectively swinging his arm up so his fist meets Reg's chin. His boxing partner staggers backwards with a curse and Paddy relents, stepping back. The match is over.

Adrenaline still pumping in his blood, a manic grin spreads his lips as he jerks his head.

"Alright, Reggie?"

The man grunts but he straightens up, wiping his face with his hand.

"That was a good one, Paddy."

Body thrumming, Paddy nods, already feeling his limbs relax. His jaw still tingles hotly from Reg's punch, no matter how Paddy rubs at the tender skin before he decides to leave it be, gaze wandering to find Eoin. He finds him exactly where he left him, the sun shining auburn in his dark curls so that it forms a halo around his face. Paddy's breath catches in his throat, not just at the ethereal beauty of his love but at the pride shining bright in his eyes, unabashed and delighted. Though he doesn't join in the cheers, Eoin still claps for him, the elegant curve of his fingers pretty like an archer's bow, a smile stretching his lips so wide his eyes crinkle.

Swallowing difficultly, Paddy goes to meet him on autopilot, as though Eoin was the only man in the crowd—as far as Paddy is concerned, he might be.

"That was a good match," Eoin smiles as soon as he is in reach, arm going around Paddy's shoulders like it belongs there, guiding him through and away from the small gathering of men. Pride shines off of Eoin like sunlight glinting off water, and it envelops Paddy as he lets himself lean into Eoin for a second.

"Did something distract you toward the end?" Mischief colours Eoin's voice, the lilt of his accent teasing as Paddy feels his ears burn. Softer than anyone would believe, he elbows Eoin in the side, finding his reward in the warm chuckle the action provokes.

"Fuck off," he grumbles without heat, a crooked smile twitching on his lips.

"I hope it was a nice distraction, at least."

Rolling his eyes, Paddy doesn't grace that with an answer, choosing instead to back Eoin up against the wall of an abandoned house, far from prying eyes. The smile he kisses off Eoin's lips tastes of sunshine and home, a combination Paddy's only ever been able to find in the circle of Eoin's arms.

As a weekend treat, have Paddy being completely smitten and Eoin enjoying it very much <3

[miggleverse]

"tucked in heaven" for the made up fic title 🥰🫶🏻

@eiriniko, thank you for this!! Had a lot of fun writing this little snippet :)

Maybe because it had been Eoin’s birthday last week – 35 years old, or maybe it was because when Paddy toasted him that year, the grief still weighed as heavy as it did when it first found a home in his heart.

Maybe because it was ten years since the war ended, and Paddy was still sitting up and howling at night.

Maybe it was because of all those reasons or none, that caused him to ignore his friend’s plea that he drank too much, get in his car and start the drive back to Newtownards. It was definitely the reason he felt a detached sort of apathy when he swerved to miss a lorry parked on the roadside and lost control of his car, the wheel jerking out from under his hands. The only thought when he saw the telephone pole coming out of the dark to greet him was a quick ‘fuck’ before everything went black.

~

It was like blinking, and when Paddy opened his eyes again, he was still in a car. Accept this time, the bright glare of the sun was bouncing off the bonnet, and vast sandy plains surrounded him.

And he wasn’t the one driving.

Feeling more sober than he ever felt in a long, long time, Paddy slowly turned his head, the sight before him feeling like a punch in the gut.

It was Eoin, his beautiful boy, as alive and bright as he was in Paddy’s memory. Long hands stretched out on the wheel before him, dark curls rustling in the breeze. They were both back in their army uniforms. Paddy could smell the sweat, gun oil, and the pomade Eoin always insisted on using permeating the air. Embarrassingly, he began to feel a lump form in his throat and rapidly started blinking. Paddy refused to ruin whatever this was with his own emotions, not after keeping them hidden during Eoin’s lifetime.

Eoin briefly took his eyes off the road to glance at him, directing a familiar and heart-aching grin in his direction, reaching down to gently squeeze his thigh. His hands feeling real and warm around him.

No words were ever needed between them, but, as they drove across the sandy landscape, Paddy reckoned that certain ones would be nice to hear.

[eoinmcgonigall]

"First" for the ask game? 🥰

ty! <3 something sweet instead of more angst!

He's glad that Eoin had liked the flowers, and that he hadn't thought it strange that he'd brought them for him in the first place. Besides, he really had just been trying to cheer Eoin up a little, it hadn't been an attempt too.. woo him, or anything like that.

Send me a word, if it’s in my wip document I’ll answer your ask with the sentence that it appears in

[hisbelfastboy]

end of the year fic asks 🫶🏻

11. fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year

15. something you learned this year

17. fics you'll continue next year

24. favorite fic you read this year

11. Fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year

SAS:RH, 10000% !!!

15. Something you learned this year

I think that keeping the Werewolf Paddy fic under wraps and writing it in my corner for so long, only talking about it/sharing it with elliot really helped me kind of. Not quite not being attached to fics but caring less about how it's received once I post it. When you write more than 40k in your corner only showing it to one person, you really get the "write for yourself" thing 😂 And then with you being so supportive and kind even when you only had lil snippets of the fic, it really helped me understand that if you, the author, like what you're writing, you only really need one other person to be hyped about it with you (for me at least, everyone works differently <3), so I don't care as much as I would have months ago that I don't get many comments compared to the amount of hits/kudos

17. Fics you'll continue this year

Ooh that's a tough one!! I want to finish all the wips that are half-written in my drafts that's for sure, and then maybe focus on a follow-up to the Burma fic or the werewolf Paddy fic if people are interested <3 And obviously we need to grow the Sacred Scripts collection so 👀

24. Favorite fic you read this year

Oooh this is so hard to pick only one 😭😭 I will say, the one that has stayed with me most and that I think about at least once a day is washed a dozen times, still pink by @captain-cornwall Powerful, gorgeous, heartwrenching, hopeful stuff. It's the fic that I can't bring myself to re-read because it would cause too many feelings but at the same time I can probably quote everything that happens in perfect order because it was so good

Thank you for the ask 🫶🏻

[hisbelfastboy]

For the word game: eyes

Tyy <3

“Are we done here, then?” “Aye,” Paddy grits out, marching back into the village though he barely sees the path in front of him. Red anger pulses through him, a burning behind his eyes that refuses to go away. Anywhere he looks he finds something that would have made him laugh or think of a smart quip, and anytime he closes his eyes all he can is his face, soft and bright and so beloved Paddy aches like one giant wound to see him again.

Some Cat!Eoin WIP even though I'm 2k in and there's no Eoin in sight lmao

Send me a word and if it's in one of my WIPs I'll post a snippet <3

[hisbelfastboy]

🏅 also for the fic ask game because the question is really nice 😂

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

I think!! I'm getting better at writing Paddy's dialogue 😌↕️ Getting into his head for almost 20k has allowed me to unlock his weird ways of phrasing <33

Thank you <3

From these Fanfic Asks ❤️