#estera

[nagasriel]

On the artfight grind so doing icons for my girls yayyy !

[idontknowreallywhy]

Estera Ch 37 - Warmup

Oh hi! We’re back 🤪

Story so far

Previous chapter - 36 - Lost

(and if you’re new to this, might be worth starting from a couple earlier to figure out what on earth is going on 34 - Anniversary 35 - Ten)

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The mid-May sun radiated its cheerful warmth at the trio as they contained their journey towards the shore. Estera was oblivious, noticing only the bite of salt in the light breeze that could make your eyes water if you weren’t careful.

She led them away from the main road and its friendly ice cream coloured houses and took a winding route through a series of more generic residential streets. Less direct but space to breathe. Space to run… she’d have suggested it by now but Scott was moving unusually slowly, seemingly lost in thought and it seemed best not to interrupt for the moment.

How had everything gone so wrong, so quickly?

She’d intended a fun, stress free day - a lighthearted day to distract the both of them from darker memories and yet in the short time since he’d arrived she’d somehow led him from one disaster to another.

The prickle of cold sweat at her hairline intensified as her mind replayed the image of him leaning back so heavily over the bannister and focussed in on the magnitude of the drop behind him should it have broken or he’d overbalanced… it sent another little shockwave of horror roiling through her gut. Did she even get that right? In the moment she’d felt she’d known exactly what he needed… but… what if? What if she shouldn’t have left him. No, she shouldn’t have. Even for a second. What if? Should she have grabbed him? Pulled him away from there? No… no, shocking him would probably have made it worse. He was far stronger than she was.

She’d been foolish to let Bez go ahead though. Foolish to think that after one brief meeting she’d magically fixed that issue for him. She knew full well that wasn’t how it went and should have been far more careful.

It had taken several long moments for him to recognise her. His pupils so dilated his eyes were more black holes than blue pools. Not like the very first moment she’d looked into them, when the blue burned so brightly, more like the second when his face was strained with terror and he’d screamed at her to…

No. She had to stop this train of thought before it made her even more useless to him than she’d been already.

At least she’d got him out of range before the little voice of her pupil piped a cheery “byeee Mr Scott”. Hopefully it was unlikely they’d run after him even if the connection was belatedly made, but it was another reason to steer clear of the main road.

She hadn’t known what the younger sister’s name was. Would never have guessed his mother was one of those fans. Though the knowledge did throw a couple of the stranger remarks little Jeff had come out with into a new light.

Scott didn’t seem to be struggling with a flashback or anything now, thankfully, just walking quietly, a slight frown on his face, his gazed fixed a little above the rooftops. The only clue he was even aware of her presence was the way her elbow, looped through his own was clamped lightly but firmly to his side. Bez trotted at his other side, glancing up at his new two-legged friend almost as often as his mistress was.

“I’m so sorry, Scott.”

He seemed to shake himself. “Don’t be silly, not your fault.”

“I didn’t know…”

“Even if you had, Estera, we couldn’t have done anything different. Tracy needed help, so we helped. And it’s ok! Really. It is.”

He looked down at her and… well she wanted to believe him but… a little groan escaped her and she found herself gripping his arm slightly tighter. He patted her hand.

“It was just a little… strange! I’m glad she didn’t realise that I… well. It would have been a shame to disappoint her, you know?”

“I hardly think you’d prove a disappointment.”

Yes, there it was - the slight twitch of his jaw that somehow she knew was coming as soon as the words left her mouth. Estera felt rather the same way she did when she saw one of the children berated by a stressed-out parent for breaking or losing something again…

“I meant she’d want to know if she was right about… about Dad, wouldn’t she? I mean it’s kinda amusing to imagine him going all vigilante… but if he is… well he’s taking his sweet time about bringing the World Government down and getting home.”

“Mmm… maybe they are more robust than people think.”

He snorted derisively. Interesting, maybe she’d probe that one some other time.

“Well if he does manage it and then makes a grand reappearance, I’ll give him a hug first, then congratulate him…” the corner of his mouth quirked and his eyes glinted a little “… and then I’d kick his ass for leaving me with all the paperwork.”

She burst out laughing, partly out of surprise, partly relief. He grinned and gave her arm a squeeze. They followed a path through the last row of houses and emerged into an open field, to be greeted at last by the vast sweep of the sea in front of them. Scott took a deep breath:

“Thanks for the rescue though, you think you’ve heard them all, think you’ve got all the lines ready but…” he waved a hand in lieu of finishing the sentence.

“She was really quite keen wasn’t she? I mean do you think her husband deliberately…” Estera caught herself just in time. The distinct downside of how easy Scott was to talk to was that she sometimes really REALLY needed to stop talking.

“Deliberately what?”

“Nothing. Inappropriate thought.”

He smirked “Well now I really want to know!”

“No! Not…” Estera blushed and whacked him on the arm “… not like that!”

“Then…?”

Their pace had increased without her realising and she was needing to take three steps for every two of his. She huffed, realising that if she held out he’d be assuming even worse. “I just meant… well…” she dropped her voice in case anyone was listening out of a window “did you notice the husband’s hair? Just like… your Dad always wore his in the old documentaries.”

He looked at her for a moment before letting out a single explosive “Ha!” and shaking his head.

“The sweep and flick! I’d forgotten that. He used to say it was the most dashing style you could maintain in a space suit… kind of controlled helmet hair I guess. He wore it a lot simpler, more formal once Mom… once he started all the TI stuff, you know?”

She rather thought she did know but before she could think of how to respond he continued:

“I reckon it must be deliberate, he seemed like a smart man and whatever works… Anyway, before I think any more about people finding my dad sexy…” he pulled a revolted face “How did it go?”

“What?”

“The lunch! How did it go?”

Scott Tracy could change topic as fast as his beloved rocket could U-turn. Estera felt slightly as though she had whiplash but hastily endeavoured to catch up. She’d spent most of the previous day looking forward to sharing the details with him but given everything so far this morning they had all slithered out of her mind.

“Oh! Of course. Ok, I think?”

“Only think?”

“Well, if I don’t think about any of the awkward things I said or the names I immediately forgot after Lady Penelope introduced people… I’m usually good with names but apparently as soon as you add titles as well it seems I get scrambled. I mean I didn’t even know there WAS an Earl of Devonshire? He was alright, if a little old fashioned but some of them were so strange and rude. Others were pleasant though. I hope I didn’t show Penelope up too badly, she was very kind to invite me. And I enjoyed it! I did. Except the more I think about it in retrospect then more I am sure they all knew I didn’t belong there… and… ah, I probably got carried away going on and on when I should have just smiled and nodded, you know?”

She tailed off and cleared her throat, embarrassed at the sudden flood of badly ordered thoughts. She tried to summarise but it came out like a generic answer to an interview question:

“It was a good learning experience.”

Scott was smiling in an irritatingly knowing fashion as he slipped his arm out of hers and started fiddling with his wrist comm. Bez, apparently content that he was no longer required to prop anyone up, bounded away in hot pursuit of something small and fluffy.

“What are you looking so smug about?”

“I had a message from Penny last night.”

The sun was suddenly far too hot. “Oh. Oh no. What did I do? I upset people by ranting about controversial things didn’t I? Ah. Aaaah I knew it! I really SHOULD have smiled and nodded and just been normal I’ve always been awful at that. I just… I sometimes forget to slow down and how I’m supposed to act! I’m so sorry Scott, I messed it up! Don’t look like that! It’s not funny!”

“Shall I read it to you?”

“I don’t know that you should.”

“I do.” He cleared his throat importantly and tapped his comm before reading aloud as they walked.

“Scott darling I’m afraid you will have to spend less time with your new friend…”

Estera suddenly felt incredibly nauseous and slowed her pace. She couldn’t work out why he found this so amusing. She knew he valued Lady Penelope’s opinion and, well, in honesty Estera had begun to do so too. It was disappointing to think she had managed to lose favour so quickly.

Scott paused and waited for her to catch up. “There’s more!”

“You will have to spend less time with your new friend because I would very much like to claim a little more of hers myself. Lady Smythe-Gibbons was entirely charmed by the manner in which she set Sir Fancypants in his place on the new immigration bill. As you know, the two of them have never seen eye to eye and once she saw how put out he was about it I believe I can now count on the good Lady as an ally in that particular campaign. I do hope Estera enjoyed herself and wasn’t too put out by my commandeering her Saturday afternoon.”

“Oh.” Estera took a moment to process. “I’m fairly sure it wasn’t Smythe-Gibbons…”

“I may have taken poetic licence with some of the names she mentions here.”

“I really should remember the names…”

“You’re missing the point a little here, E. You did good! Y’are officially PCW-approved!”

Ordinarily she’d have been delighted to point out how his accent slipped when he was excited, but the satisfaction of it was tainted by the thought that this seemed to have been some kind of test and she’d only passed it on a fluke.

“Well it’s a relief but it’s also entirely by chance! I could have as easily upset the wrong dignitary and ruined all Lady Penelope’s plans.”

Scott shook his head vigorously.

“Naw, I’ve found that one of Penny’s greatest tricks is unleashing the right person on the right person at the right time.”

“How do you mean?”

“If you upset Lord Fluffington-McDoodieface it’s because she intended you to do so. She wouldn’t have let you loose anywhere you could have done any real damage. Well, any damage she doesn’t want to occur anyway.”

Once again Estera found herself not knowing quite how to feel about Lady Penelope.

“But… what if I’d…”

“The best thing is to go with it and enjoy the ride. At least you got an interesting political debate and a decent lunch. Usually I just end up distracting some oblivious executive’s wife with mindless chitchat while she extracts information from the husband and I starve to death on tiny food.”

“Don’t you feel a bit… used?”

“Nah. She does so much for us and for International Rescue. If my buying a drink for a pretty girl or… well… if I’m being entirely honest it’s more usually a septuagenerian millionaire with a terrifying glint in her eye…” Scott clutched a fist to his chest, all virtuous melodrama. “If that helps her uncover a nefarious plot or raise a ton of cash for charity, I’ll do it. Occasionally.” He chuckled and then added with a grin “When I can’t find an excuse to be elsewhere.”

“A terrifying glint, huh?” Estera couldn’t quite hide the smirk.

Scott turned to her with wide, mock horrified eyes.

“So terrifying. Honestly. Occasionally if they are standing between me and the door, leaping out the window seems the safest option. But I stand my ground for the greater good.”

“You are sooo brave.”

“I really am.”

She shoved him lightly into the hedge.

“Tell me though, which is the more terrifying - the predatory pensioners or the tiny food?”

“I think we both know the answer to that.”

“Well luckily my plans for later involve very decent portion sizes. But first, you have to earn it.”

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Next chapter

[womble1]

(Wip/disconnected scene)

Part of @idontknowreallywhy and @sofasurf Estera fics and inspired by a conversation around this post. It doesn't follow on from anything, it just needed to happen and will stand independently if you haven't read the other fics

Virgil was alerted to the incoming furry tornado by a bark loud enough to make sure that everyone in the vicinity was aware that this was now a claimed territory.

This was swiftly followed by a scrabbling of paws on hard flooring. A sound that instantly offered up the mental image of puppies skittering on clumsy new paws, something which may or may not have regularly graced Virgil's social feeds. Some days you just needed a cute baby animal video to cheer you up, and Gordon was usually all too ready to help with the supply. The absolute doggie Unit that came charging around the corner was a long way removed from the little balls of excitement that were more commonly seen. A white wolf, no - a bear, came hurtling towards him. Virgil knew he should probably have been scared, but the teddy bear fluffiness, coupled with the familiar shape of its owner trailing behind at a leashes length, overpowered any historic flight response left behind by ancestors who knew a thing or two about being pursued by bears. Without stopping to think through his actions, Virgil dropped to one knee and held his arms open to the thundering fluffball.

Virgil had seen photos of Bez, of course he had, but somehow whatever images Estera or Scott had shown him had never really given a true sense of scale. Just as Virgil always looked short when standing between John and Scott (at least that's what he told himself), Bez on an empty beach really didn’t look much bigger than your average labrador.

But there was no time to unpick this optical illusion, because Virgil's entire existence became enveloped in white fur and sloppy kisses. He was knocked off his optimistic one knee perch and he was fully clambered on as soon as his back hit the ground. A weighted blanket had nothing on what Virgil would guess at being at least 130 pounds of dog. He flung his arms around Bez’s chest, and it was like hugging a barrel, a very wriggly barrel who liked scritches. Virgil huffed to try and get some of the fur out of his face as the dog vigorously investigated Virgil's ears and shoved a cold wet nose into the side of his neck.

As much as Virgil liked Bertie, it was a relief to be presented with a dog that he wouldn’t accidentally drop kick across the room if he misjudged his step. He gave Bez a good solid pat and was given a strong shove with the wet nose when the patting didn’t continue. Laughing, Virgil raked his hands up and down the dog's sides and received a happy bark in the face and a lick to across his chin by way of positive feedback.

Somewhere outside the bubble of fur and fluff, Virgil was aware of Estera trying to call her dog to heel, but he paid it as little attention as Bez himself. Eventually a few misplaced heavy paws made Virgil reconsider if lying on the floor was really the best choice. Especially when only quick reflexes and a full body roll saved him from experiencing what a paw with 10st worth of dog behind it felt like to the groin. It was a lesson he felt sure he could do without, so he pushed himself to his feet, still patting fluffy ears the whole time with one hand, even as he tried to brush the worst of the stray dog hair from his clothes with the other.

Estera came forward, trying again to call Bez to heel now that there wasn’t such an easy target on the floor. Bez reluctantly edged to her side, possibly in the hope of a titbit for this praiseworthy act of belated obedience.

Estera tried to apologise for her dogs’ overly enthusiastic greeting, but Virgil wouldn’t hear it.

“I think I was asking for that anyway,” he reasoned, “if you get down into licking range you can’t complain if you get licked.” he wiped the edge of his sleeve over the side of his face with a slight grimace.

“That's what his dating profile says too!” Gordon chimed in. Leaning over to give Bez a good scratch behind the ear, but dodging before a reciprocal lick could land on his arm. “Ha! Too slow!” but then he held his hand out to Bez, who dutifully presented his paw to shake. “How do you do? A pleasure to meet you.” Gordon formally bowed over the paw before releasing it again in favor of giving the ears an extra scratch.

Bez was living his best life, his big head swinging from side to side as he tried to work out who he was going to bestow his attention on next. His tail was wagging at something near Mac 3 but he had already calmed down enough not to be an active risk to anyone's clothing.

[foreverneverandalways]

Probably going to do more image dumps later but currently fixating on all the minor characters in RL. Because how can you not. I love great character development 👏

SPOILERS

Haven't gone through every iteration of Angies route yet but do we ever know who killed poor Stanley? I mean I made a guess but it seems like it's just unresolved...

I would literally try to become best friends with Estera because she's so elusive. I just want to bother Bee which from most of the route interactions isn't difficult... she's just so cool lol

From Casey to the stans to MJ I would happily go to school with them easily for 4 years.

[gojou-violin]

I didn’t know u had ocs but from one oc machine to another, I’m now super curious

i have so many ocs it's actually kind of disgusting. let me list them for you guys rq so it's easier to ask about...

aot, ejrz universe - astred x reiner - elisa x jean - lizzy x eren (lizzy x connie) - siobhan x zeke

aot, ackerman trilogy - estera x kenny - daia x levi - uri x keoni (both ocs)

jjk, seena universe - seena x toji - ineka x toge - ariza x sukuna - akiko x gojou

jjk - kazuko x choso - gojou x umika x nanami

haikyuu - mitsue x sugawara - kenma x katrina x kuroo

mha, a/b/o universe - shinobu (omega) x aizawa (alpha) - not mated - bakugo (dominant alpha) x kaiya (omega) x shoto (alpha) - mated - tetsuo (alpha) x izuku (omega) - mated - miyuki (omega) x tomura (alpha) - mated - nanao (omega) x hawks (alpha) - mated - nanao (omega) x dabi (alpha) - formerly mated - masane (omega) x dabi - mated... kinda... long story...

tokyo ghoul - yukina x kaneki (tokyo ghoul) - naomi x takizawa (tokyo ghoul)

other - rikona x lawliet (death note) - hitch x zanka (gachiakuta) - mai x gabimaru (hell's paradise) - natsuki x dazai (bsd) - ji-hye x baek (pearl boy) - myung-dae x fae x chanwoo (bj alex)

[fantrollz]

whats your favorite part of being an idol :o

The fans obviously! The ones that aren't total creeps! Estera belongs to @applejuicespittake :) I stoled her...

[mur-rayy]

Tropic Gold - Bad Love

* thanks for cc: @o--b-s-c-u-r-u--s @simmeraddiction83 @remussirion @gramssims @simpliciaty-cc @pralinesims * pose @helgatisha

[ophidiasmadness]

More Geraskier Daemon AU

It got long, sorry.

*Jaskier wears his personality like a theater mask. Bright, distracting and happy with no hint as to what really goes on underneath.  The clever mind that picked up complex poetry and language with no outside help, the depth of love and kindness, the sheer breadth of feeling contained inside Jaskier; he hid it all from the world. He chose every day to be as people perceived him. A shallow, fun, silly, peacocking bard with no sense or sensibility.

*Geralt was as fooled as the rest of the world until he really paid attention the hulking Daemon that accompanied his bard.

*Lucjusz embodied the other side of Jaskier, the quiet, kind solemn part.  The tender poets heart.  The part that was happy to read and learn until school came with judicious application of a cane.  He shows the part of Jaskier that is just as happy to marvel at the stars and the flowers as he is fine jewelry and clothes.  The side that hurt and curled close when cruel words slashed at a tender belly.

*He was also really the only hint of how fucking deep Jaskier’s temper ran.  The temper that was as well-hidden as the dagger in the bards boot. The only hint that Jaskier had and would kill if he had too.  That Jaskier was always, always armed. How he could appear placid and meek until he gored you with 12 razor-sharp points or razor-sharp words or a razor-sharp knife.

*Geralt and Estera were both rather surprised when Jaskier slit the throat of one bandit and Lucjusz gored and trampled the other, both of the bandits Daemons collapsing into golden dust.

*They were less surprised when Jaskier then proceeded to vomit afterwards at the sight and scent of death.

*Jaskier was the one surprised when Geralt, stoic, taciturn, immovable Geralt, was the first of the two of them to touch the others Daemon.

*Sword roughened hands gently caressing Lucjusz velvet muzzle echoed on Jaskier’s cheek like a warm breath.  

*Estera did not wait for Jaskier to touch her, she went to him.  Rubbing her massive head against his side, imprinting her scent, Geralt’s scent on him.  

* We all accept that Geralt has a scent kink, now add Estera and her bone deep need to have Jaskier and Lucjusz smell of them.  Geralt may be uncomfortable with public affection but the shape of his soul has no fucks to give about the opinions of others.  She is constantly marking the bard and the elk with her scent, THEIR scent.

*Geralt is quiet. Estera is not.  Chuffs, rumbles, moans, growls and roars.  She has gotten even noisier since the bard joined them. Because Jaskier does not give a rats ass about the social taboo of talking to someone else’s Daemon and even if she doesn’t talk back, she will respond in sounds.  Kind of the way Roach does eventually.

*Estera is also absolutely shameless.  She’s the biggest predator around, why should she care about what morons and prey animals think?

*The first time Geralt and Jaskier made love was more or less announced to the world at large by Estera.

“And finally he’s mating with the right person!  Thank Melitele!” She looks at Yennefer “No offense, but the sexual tension was bound to attract a succubus at some point.”

*Yen just laughs her perky ass off, and is the first to lead the round of applause from the tavern when Geralt succeeds in making Jaskier scream loud enough that the town guard comes running.