#interlude fydelia

[likethetailofacomet]

Sunday Six 3/24/19: The Broken Bits- Interlude 3

Fydelia, 22 years ago

Annabelle reentered the ballroom, her cheeks warm from the whiskey and the wonder of the evening. She’d just run into Drake and Liam, sneaking back downstairs to steal more desserts. The two boys had frozen in their tracks when they realized that they’d been spotted, but Annabelle winked at them, her lips quirking up into a grin. “Your secret’s safe with me, trouble makers,” she whispered, ruffling both of their hair. Liam laughed and Drake even caved in and gave her a smile from beneath his messy dark locks. She caught Drake watching, mesmerized by his parents twirling on the dance floor as she looked over her shoulder. Before she could turn back around, Bastien’s arms came around her, his lips by her ear.

“There you are,” he said, his fingers trailing down her bare back. “I’ve been looking for you,” his eyes narrowed as his lips turned upwards. “Dance with me, Belle,” his voice was low and primal, his breath warm against her skin. Goosebumps erupted up and down her spine as her arms came around his shoulders. He was wearing a sleek, dark suit, different from the more casual gray one he wore when he was on duty. She tucked her fingers beneath the collar of his shirt, running them against the back of his neck, knowing that when she touched him there he’d close his eyes, a breathy hiss coming from the back of his throat at the light contact. She pressed her lips to his while his eyes were still closed, felt his palms press against her back, pulling her into him and towards the dance floor.

Later, a melancholy jazzy tune played as couples swayed slowly, bodies pressed close together. Annabelle rested her cheek against Bastien’s lapel, her fingers clasped in his big, strong hand. This is what I want, she’d thought, listening to the gentle thrum of his heart. Just this, just him, without all the rest. “Bas,” she picked her head up as fireworks burst in the sky outside. Partygoers streamed out onto the balcony to watch as red, gold and purple sparks lit the night to welcome in the new year. “Bastien, would you leave it all behind? All of this... the guard... the palace... would you leave it behind... for us?”

Bastien looked around and realized they were alone on the dance floor. He brought his eyes back to hers and she thought she saw something there, something like disappointment, but it was gone in a flash. “The guard is my life, Belle. It’s all I’ve ever wanted... what I’ve worked for... look at Jackson and Bianca. Look how happy they are. We could have that, Belle, and I wouldn’t have to leave the guard.”

“You’d never be safe,” she burrowed back into his chest. “And i’d always have to worry... and what if we had children Bas... children who could lose their father...” she thought of Drake and Savannah and took a shuddering breath. “Cordonia isn’t as safe as it used to be anymore. I love it here, Bastien. And I love you. And I want a life, a family with you. But I can’t do it while you’re in the guard. I can’t marry you to become your widow.” I don’t want the glitz or the honor or the fairytale. I just want him.

“I’ll think about it,” he said after a long pause where he’d pressed her closer, running his hand up and down her spine. He lifted her chin with the fingers that had been tracing her face and found her lips, kissing her with every ounce of Love he had, hoping it was enough to keep her. They’d gone home that night and he’d fallen asleep quickly, leaving her to fold his discarded suit before it turned into a mess of wrinkles. As she picked it up off the floor, something fell from an inner pocket and clattered to the hardwood with a tingling sound. A glint caught her eye as she bent to retrieve a stunning diamond ring, her eyes darting to the sleeping man on the bed, her breath sticking in her throat as her heart swelled painfully with love and sorrow and hope. He was going to propose, and she’d given him the ultimatum so he hadn’t. He was ready to give his heart to her, just not ready to give up the guard. She suddenly felt guilty for asking. Annabelle tucked the ring back into his jacket and tried to forget it existed as she curled her body around his in the bed, gently kissing the spot between his shoulders. Just this. Just him. It’s all I want. A tear slipped down her cheek as she slipped into sleep.

Tagging: @ooo-barff-ooo @sleepwalkingelite @zaffrenotes @brightpinkpeppercorn @mind-reader1 @jovialyouthmusic @endlessly-searching-for-you @notoriouscs @endlesstaylormckenzie @agent-bossypants @andy-loves-corgis @akrenich @nekkidmolerat @indiacater @thequeenofcronuts @the-everlasting-dream @the-whiskeywife @roonarific @stopforamoment @mfackenthal @mkatschoicesblog @drakewalkerisreal @jlouise88 @drakesensworld @gibbles82 @iplaydrake @speedyoperarascalparty @bobasheebaby @carabeth

[likethetailofacomet]

Sunday Six 3/31/19: The Broken Bits- Interlude 4

A/N: Sorry kids, not a full chapter, but please enjoy this interlude from Bastien’s perspective! (hoping to have the thursday/sunday posting schedule back on track this week!) 

Fydelia, 22 years ago

“Captain Walker?” Bastien sat across from Jackson in the older man's study, a glass of bourbon in front of him. He'd had something on his mind for days, turning over and tumbling, scratching at his every thought, but he wanted to wait for the right time to bring it up. Their ritualistic Friday night meeting in Jackson's study seemed like the only time.

Jackson raised one eyebrow and looked up at his protege as he finished folding up the cuffs of his sleeves. He deposited his cuff links on  the desk, and pushed them away from the edge, toward a framed photo of Drake and Savannah by the lake behind their home. “You see the time, Bas?” he tilted his head toward the clock on the wall. It was ten past midnight. “You see the sleeves?” He rolled his shoulders foreward, exposing his forearms. “I'm Jackson, now, got it?” He sat back in his chair, sinking into the leather with a sigh as he reached for his glass. “Now, what's got your gears turning over there?” He made a circular motion with one hand as he raised his glass to his lips.

Annabelle's face flashed behind Bastien's eyes as he blinked, grabbing for his own glass and an excuse to stall. She'd been insistent that things in Cordonia were becoming more and more dangerous, the general unrest growing from a hush to a whisper to a loud discourse over the course of King Constantine's reign. When she'd arrived, she believed what the tourism industry wanted to- that Cordonia was a picturesque fairy tale, a place so beautiful that nothing bad could ever happen. She'd let herself believe that Bastien's job couldn't be all that dangerous- afterall, when they'd met, he hadn't even been required to carry a firearm. That had changed, as had the frequency and variation of the training drills the King's Guard had been running. Bastien knew it worried Annabelle, knew that she had exactly one fear. She'd made that clear on New Year's Eve when she'd asked him if he'd leave the guard, and he saw how that fear changed the color of her eyes, heard how it altered the pitch of her voice in ways he'd never seen. He'd noticed little things, leading up to that night, now that he could look back with perspective- little things like the way she'd held him tighter in her sleep, like he might evaporate before she woke up; like the way her sketchbook was changing from a portfolio of blossoms and vines, to one of severe birds of prey in grays- Little things that added up to quite a sum. “Jackson,” he took a breath, broaching the topic. For Annabelle. “I...I want to propose to Annabelle.” Bastien held up a finger, sitting forward quickly to stop Jackson from reacting. There was more to be said. Jackson took note and sat back, letting him continue. “But she's made it clear that she won't marry me while I'm in the guard...while I'm as highly ranked as I am...She thinks Cordonia's gotten dangerous and...” he sighed and shook his head, running his hands through his hair. “Well, I've told you about her brother, and...she'd scared. I just... was Bianca ever scared? Did she ever...ask you to leave? To...quit?” He leaned his elbows on his knees, eyes fixed on the man before him, hoping he had all the answers.

Jackson took a long pull from his glass before setting in on  a cork coaster. He laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles before he steepled his hands, palms together, pointer fingers extended toward the bottle of amber liquid on the shelf. “You know why I drink Bourbon, Bastien? Why I drink American Whiskey and not Scotch or anything else for that matter?” It was a rhetorical question, but Bastien shook his head anyway, eyes on the bottle. “It's because that's what Bianca's father drinks, and he gave me permission to marry his daughter, so he must be right about everything, right?” he winked. “Bianca had no idea what to get me for my birthday, the first year we were together. We'd only been seeing one another for a few weeks, and I insisted that she didn't need to do anything, that my birthday wasn't that important and that we still had to get to know one another. She of course, protested, and ended up getting me a bottle of this,” he gestured again towards the bottle. “Now, I was always a gin guy, myself, until Bianca forced a birthday gift on me.” he laughed, seeming to recall some memory of him and his wife before she held that title. “You're probably wondering where I'm going with this.” He took another sip of his bourbon. “Truth is, I'd do anything for Bianca. She shaped my life, she gave me my family. She's my partner in this world, she's my other half. If she asked me to? Yes. I'd leave the guard. But I know she'd never ask me to. That woman,” he smirked, blowing out a breath through his nose. “Is stubborn.” He set his glass back down. “But I couldn't live without her.” A serious flash flicked across Jackson's face. “Could you live without her, Bas?”

“No.” The answer was out of his mouth before the question was completely asked. “No,” he said again with a shake of his head from behind his glass. A hot wave rushed through him that had nothing to do with the alcohol and everything to do with the way that Annabelle was the rhythm of his heart. “She's everything, Jackson...she's...she's my world.” He thought of the way she smiled, of the way it felt when she kissed his shoulders, his back, of the way she looked with paint on her hands and in her hair. “But...the guard...” he shook his head again, brows knit close together. “You'd really walk away? From the promises you made?”Jackson had simply raised a brow and nodded and Bastien knew he was serious. 

He thought for a few beats, weighing Jackson's words; both said and unsaid. His mind wandered to her, picturing her lying in their bed, clutching his pillow, her long legs taking up as mush space as possible, long orange hair spread out in swirls across the sheets and her face. He wanted her, like that, every day and every night and every moment in between. “Maybe if we catch the Sons of Earth...maybe if we get Eamon Krass...things will die down again...and she'll see...it'll be safe again....” Jackson hadn't responded, and Bastien cleared his throat before checking his watch. It was nearly one am, and suddenly he wanted only to be where Belle was, with this arms around her, holding her close while he had her to hold. He stood, abruptly, drawing Jackson's attention. “I've got to get home...” He said absently, sticking his hands in his pockets. “I...Thanks, Jackson...for listening, for...thanks...” Jackson tipped his glass to Bastien as the younger man headed for the door, his feet unable to catch up the beat of his heart.

Tagging: @ooo-barff-ooo @sleepwalkingelite @zaffrenotes @brightpinkpeppercorn @mind-reader1 @jovialyouthmusic @endlessly-searching-for-you @notoriouscs @endlesstaylormckenzie @agent-bossypants @andy-loves-corgis @akrenich @nekkidmolerat @indiacater @thequeenofcronuts @the-everlasting-dream @the-whiskeywife @roonarific @stopforamoment@mfackenthal @mkatschoicesblog @drakewalkerisreal @drakesensworld @gibbles82 @iplaydrake @speedyoperarascalparty @bobasheebaby @carabeth

[likethetailofacomet]

Sunday Six 4/7/19: The Broken Bits- Interlude 5

A/N: this week’s Interlude answers a request from @bobasheebaby for :

Fydelia, 22 1/2 years ago

Annabelle paced the pavement outside the hospital, arms hugging her chest for warmth as the day turned to night, the air temperature dropping with each new star that blinked into view. She kicked at the curb, scuffing the white soles of her canvas sneakers. She’d been waiting inside with Bianca and the kids, but once they got the news that everyone was going to be fine, Bianca had taken off. Annabelle couldn’t blame her; Savannah had fallen asleep in her lap an hour ago, and Drake was fighting sleep with all he had, only making him crankier. It had been a long day for all of them, made longer by the trip to the E.R. She sighed and wiped at her exhausted eyes before combing her fingers through her hair, curls made wilder by the salt water and sun. The day had started out so differently than how it had ended.

She’d been thrilled to attend the Regatta that year, having missed the previous year’s due to her R.A.A. fellowship schedule. This year, she’d be seated in the stands with Bianca and the Walker children. She’d come to see the Walkers as family, and was excited to be spending the day with them in the fresh air and sunshine. She much preferred these types of events to the more elegant affairs, feeling more herself in denim than dresses. She’d brought her sketchbook with her, eager to capture the colorful flags, billowing sails, and crystal clear, rippling water. Balancing her book on her knee, she let Savannah lean in close to watch as boats appeared with a few swipes of her pencil.

As the races went on, she’d intermittently caught glimpses of Bastien and Jackson as they scanned the crowd and kept close to the royal family. She’d winked and waved at Bas as he stood behind the little princes, Liam and Leo waving excitedly back thinking she’d been waving at them. She’d pulled her lips into a grin at their happy little faces, at the wink that Bastien had sent back to her with a twitch of his own lips. Cloudless sky. Golden sun. Good company and a heart bursting with love.

It had all been dashed when suddenly, in the break between the last race and the award ceremony, she’d watched as Bastien’s metallic eyes locked on to a man carving through the crowd and heading towards the King. He’d shouted something to Jackson, and in a flash they’d sprang into action at once coordinating the evacuation of the royal family- Jackson barking an order to another nearby King’s guard member- and tackling the would be aggressor. Annabelle’s breathing stopped and her heart beat in her throat as she watched the man she loved engage with the attacker- watched him take the man down, landing painfully on his shoulder. A flash of silver caught the sunlight as Jackson expertly stripped the man of his gun, all as the crowd gasped and screamed and fled- all but she and Bianca, too rooted by anxious fear to move or even breathe. She felt Bianca’s white knuckled grip on one hand, felt a frightened Drake tugging on the other, but her eyes were stuck on Bas. Even as she watched him and Jackson subdue the attacker with ease, her head swam with what could have happened, her stomach dropped. It had been a whirlwind from there on out as she and Bianca were lead by other members of the guard to the hospital where Jackson and Bastien would be taken to be treated for the injuries incurred in the incident.

Annabelle leaned against the concrete pillar outside the emergency room door and sighed. She’d run through the gamut of emotions from terror and anger to sadness and finally, relief. Bastien had suffered a dislocated shoulder and cracked humerus- nothing requiring surgery or stitches, but he’d be in a sling for a few weeks as the bones reset. She couldn’t help but think of how things could have gone, but the rush of relief was almost just as hard to handle, wiping her out with how her emotions had swung so drastically. When the door to her left opened, she lifted her eyes to the stars, silently wishing that this would be the one and only time she had to wait for him like this.

“Belle,” he approached her slowly, knowing that she’d been worried and scared. “Belle I-“ they had a lot to talk about, but she could t hear it now. She cut his words off with two fingers against his lips, with her eyes holding his. She felt his breath catch as he swallowed what he was going to say, and she licked her lips before they crashed to his. Her hands came to his face as she whimpered into the kiss, his uninjured hand resting on her hip. Whatever he had to say, whatever there was to talk about, it all could wait for the sun to come up in the morning. For now, for the day they’d had, she needed this; needed his lips on hers under the stars, needed to feel his heart beating close to hers, needed the relief of this moment and the hope that it would never happen again.

Tagging: @ooo-barff-ooo @sleepwalkingelite @zaffrenotes @brightpinkpeppercorn @mind-reader1 @jovialyouthmusic @endlessly-searching-for-you @notoriouscs @endlesstaylormckenzie @agent-bossypants @andy-loves-corgis @akrenich @nekkidmolerat @indiacater @thequeenofcronuts @gardeningourmet @the-everlasting-dream @the-whiskeywife @roonarific @stopforamoment @mfackenthal @mkatschoicesblog @drakewalkerisreal @drakesensworld @rainbowsinthestorm @gibbles82 @iplaydrake @speedyoperarascalparty @bobasheebaby @carabeth