Hello again and thanks to @deathclassic's prompt, "Safe and Sound" from Night Alive. I chose the lyrics about being owned by each other. Thanks to @galladrabbles!
Word Count: 100
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"…People know I belong to you. I wear it right on my chest. Gotta remind you to wear your fucking wedding ring!"
"OMG--that was one time!"
"You flirt. Bars, groceries…don't think I don't know 'bout Mr. GymRat downstairs…"
"Mickey, I do have your name on me."
Pause.
"You don't."
"I do. Check for yourself."
Mickey smirked. This could be a fun afternoon.
---
"Holy...shit…" Ian breathed heavily.
Mickey fell forward onto him. "You're still a liar."
Ian paused. He pulled his wedding ring off revealing 'MICKEY' tattooed around his ring finger.
"I'm not lying." Pause. "I love you. And I'm yours."
Would the MCs be able to turn down immortality? And more importantly would the LGs still get into a relationship/deep friendship with them if that's the case?
Olivia should have been the one who ended things with Asher. She should have been the one screaming at him everything she did for him and how she got nothing in return and I hated how their break up just furthered him being a selfish and ungrateful dick instead of giving Olivia HER MOMENT to finally go off about how he’s a selfish and ungrateful dick. I hated how he tried to make himself the victim in their break up. Like that made any sense? Olivia is the sweetest girl on the show. She’s so understanding of what other people go through that she excuses their behavior towards her and she never says anything. But I don’t. He didn’t deserve to be with her to begin with and had the audacity to be a dick on top of it. Yelling at her when she was always just trying to help him. I fucking hated him with her. “FOOTBALL IS ALL I HAVE, LIV!”. He deserved his ass kicked but no, he just gets a you should leave from her dad because nobody knows how to defend Olivia. I had to think about it but Olivia did get Asher back. She doesn’t care to do it but she did. Olivia being with Spencer and who Spencer is to Asher is the payback.
We all know what football means to Asher. It means more to him than anything or anyone. And Spencer makes Asher feel incompetent in the sport he loves so much. It’s been like that since he came to Beverly. Spencer has no idea Asher is so insecure and bothered by him. It’s a one-sided insecurity and obsession that hasn’t reached Spencer because it’s behind Spencer’s back. Asher’s never been upfront to Spencer about how threatened he is by him. But you know who knows about that insecurity and complex better than anyone? Olivia. Spencer was all he’d talk about with her. Nobody knows about his inferiority complex with Spencer more than her. Pull up any scene with Asher and Olivia while they were dating and Spencer is the topic. “You can still be good with Spencer on the field” like there weren’t 30 other players. He was always so concerned about Spencer and only Spencer and she knew that and had to reassure him like a baby. Spencer being amazing at what Asher loves was causing Asher to constantly feel like shit. Olivia knows that first hand.
He’s always felt less than Spencer. To the detriment of his own health. Asher felt the need to take STERIOIDS in an attempt to be a fraction of how good Spencer is when Spencer quit the team and the spot was given back to him. Because like he said, Spencer left big shoes to fill and “we can’t all be Spencer James”. And even on performance enhancing drugs Asher still had to hear the spot would go back to Spencer whenever he wanted it back. Because Spencer is and will always be better than him and he couldn’t find a way around it. That insecurity with Spencer James is why he can no longer play football. The steroids he took trying to be as good as Spencer and be noticed over Spencer completely ruined his life. The steroids Olivia begged him to stop taking and he didn’t. Chasing Spencer cost him everything. Not listening to Olivia cost him everything. And where’s Olivia? With Spencer. By his side as he becomes an All American. Helping him decide which football scholarship to accept. Living the dream he will never get.
Just being with Spencer is the ultimate slap in the face because Spencer will continue to live his dream and Olivia will always be the one next to him. Forever.
After What His Captain Needs, here’s another little bit of Killian/Smee friendship, sparked and inspired by @thesschesthair. And of course be sure to check out her own Killian/Smee tale Who Is She?
summary: Mr. Smee has more or less settled into his new life in Storybrooke and hasn't seen a lot of his Captain in some time, when one evening he approaches him and seems to have something on his mind.
rating: G
word count: ~1,6k
also on: ao3 and ff.net
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“Here you go, William!” Granny puts a plate in front of him, loaded with an enormous burger and fried mozzarella sticks. Leaning a little forward, she tells him in a conspiratorial voice, “And I made that extra cheese super extra.” She has a soft spot for him since Marco has taken him under his wings, because she has a soft spot for Marco.
Smee’s eyes light up, and he beams. “Thank you! You’re too good to me!”
Granny waves him off grumpily, “I know, I know,” and leaves him to his dinner.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t get to have more than two healthy bites and one mozzarella stick, before he’s interrupted by a shadow falling on the table and a well-known voice.
“Evening, Mr. Smee.”
He puts his burger down and raises his gaze, and like always, he has to look that second longer to make sure it’s him, because even after a few weeks – and he hasn’t seen that much of him lately – he just hasn’t gotten used to the Captain’s new, modern wardrobe yet. With uncharacteristic caution, he motions his hook to the bench opposite him.
“May I?”
If he’s being honest, Smee isn’t too happy about the interruption, but decades over decades of being the First Mate to his Captain are ingrained in his brain – far would it be from him to deny him any request; so he nods immediately.
“Of course, sir.”
The Captain slides into the booth and motions between them with his ringed hand – Smee notices that, in spite of his wardrobe change, he kept the rings and the necklace and is also wearing an earring, and he’s somehow relieved about that.
“It’s been too long,” the Captain says jovially and sounds weirdly guilty at the same time.
“Well, a lot has been going on,” Smee offers, “with that Snow Queen and the Dark One’s latest schemes.”
The Captain clenches his jaw. “Luckily, his wife fixed that. He won't bother anyone ever again.” He shakes his head once, as if he's trying to clear his mind. “Anyway, I wanted to speak to you sooner.”
“About what, Cap'n?”
But instead of an answer, he wants to know, “Did you get your memories back? Of what happened in the past year?”
Ah, that's what's on his mind. “Aye,” he responds in a neutral tone.
“Then you remember we found the Jolly Roger again?” the Captain asks in a – for him – unusually tentative way.
“You took her back from Blackbeard,” Smee nods and rubs his beard. “One day, we harbored in a port, and when the crew and I returned to the docks, the ship was gone.” After the tiniest break, he adds, “And so were you.” The Captain averts his eyes, but he barely notices, because suddenly, he remembers another detail. “It happened the same day that bird had landed aboard!”
“That bird,” the Captain replies, “carried a message from Baelfire.”
“Baelfire, sir?” Smee frowns. “The Dark One’s son?”
“The very same.” He tilts his head. “The message said a new curse was coming and endangering everyone, and that I needed to find the Savior.”
“Hm.” Smee nods and briefly gazes longingly at his remaining mozzarella sticks but then looks back at the Captain when he clears his throat, obviously feeling a little uncomfortable.
“Look, I didn’t like leaving everyone behind,” he admits, “but I didn’t want to put the crew’s lives at risk.” He tilts his head. “And, well… I thought I had a better shot if I went alone.”
Smee nods again, almost solemnly. “You’re a hell of a captain.”
“I did manage to outrun the curse,” the Captain agrees almost humbly and falls silent, as if he’s contemplating how to continue, which has the surprise of his First Mate increase. He has never seen his Captain at a loss for words, and he surely never has given off the vibe that he’s trying to apologize or even just explain himself. This encounter is getting stranger by the minute, even if the Captain’s uncharacteristic behavior isn’t unpleasant at all.
“So,” Smee prompts, “the Jolly Roger is in the Land Without Magic, the town where the Savior lived during the last year?”
The Captain raises his eyebrows. “Now now, Mr. Smee, you know the ship cannot travel between realms without a magic bean or some other sort of portal.” There’s a glimpse of his old gruffness, but it’s still overlaid by that unusual hint of self-consciousness.
“Of course, sir.”
“Alas,” he continues and tilts his head, “I didn’t have my resourceful First Mate with me to procure one, so I had to…” He pauses for a moment, licks his lips and then looks him straight in the eyes. “I had to trade the ship for a magic bean.”
So that’s what’s weighing on him. Suddenly, the Captain’s odd behavior during the past year in the Enchanted Forest – he seemed restless and driven, almost haunted, all the time, didn’t seem interested in women anymore – makes sense. She’s not just a ship. I haven’t been myself since we’ve returned. It’s because I don’t have her.
His mouth curves into a smile. “Can’t say that I’m surprised.” The Captain raises his eyebrows in question, and Smee explains, “All the time in the Enchanted Forest, you weren’t missing your ship, sir. You were missing your love.”
“And since when are you a mind reader, Mr. Smee?” he snarls, but with a remarkable lack of sharpness.
Smee shrugs. “Any First Mate worth his salt should be able to understand what's going on in his Captain's mind,” he replies calmly.
“You’ve always been worth yours, Mr. Smee,” the Captain admits and briefly rubs a spot behind his ear. “But I’m afraid I don’t know when – or even if – I’ll ever get the ship back.”
Smee snorts softly. “Would that even make a difference, sir?” The Captain doesn’t look like he wants to protest, and he adds, “We both know you won’t be going anywhere.”
Without even trying to contradict Smee’s statement, the Captain runs his hand over his mouth. “All those decades we spent chasing the Dark One, my revenge…” He shakes his head and falls silent.
Smee is amazed by the guilt in his eyes and feels the mighty urge to let him know that’s absolutely not necessary. “They were not wasted,” he reassures, “they were part of the journey.” The Captain doubtfully sways his head from side to side, and Smee says firmly, “After three hundred years, a man is allowed to settle down.” And find happiness, he adds in his mind, but doesn’t dare to say it.
The blue eyes he's often seen angry, severe, sarcastic study him searchingly. “Are you trying to?” the Captain inquires, honest concern in his voice.
“Sort of, I guess,” he replies with a shrug. “The local carpenter needed help, and I–”
“You were always adroit with wood,” the Captain acknowledges with a nod, and Smee smiles at the accolade.
“He also offered me a room above the carpentry,” he goes on, the Captain’s genuine interest warming his heart; but then, he’s always been taking care of his crew, so it really shouldn’t surprise him. “It’s a start.”
“It surely is.” He leans forward, and Smee registers that the floral patterns of his shirt seem to bear some resemblance to one of his favorite vests he remembers from the past – a bright red one that the ladies seemed to like in particular. “Mr. Smee, I never planned any of this,” he tells him and waves his hand around vaguely.
“A new adventure, then,” he suggests, and the Captain huffs a little laugh, making him think again that he somehow likes this new side of the man he’s known for three centuries now.
“An awfully big one,” the Captain agrees with a serious nod, “might be the biggest one yet.”
A little touch of self-doubt clings to his words, as if he isn’t really sure yet that he’s fit for this new life, trading three hundred years of rogueish restlessness for a patch of dirt and a prickly woman who comes with her very own burdens, if what he heard around the town is true, one of them being the Savior and a hero. But then again, he very obviously loves her, and the last weeks have proven that Captain Hook, the most cutthroat pirate Captain to ever sail the Seven Seas, is on the best way to become a hero himself, and Smee feels an absurd touch of pride about that.
He grins. “We’ll surely master it, Cap’n.” The Captain smiles briefly, as if he’s somehow relieved, and Smee adds, “I’ll just occasionally miss… hanging with the crew.” He doesn’t say what he really means.
The Captain raises his eyebrows. “But Mr. Smee,” he softly reprimands, “settling down and starting over doesn’t mean you have to cut off all the ties to your former life and burn your boats.”
“It does not?”
“Why, of course not!” he affirms and elaborates, “You can give up a pirate’s life anytime you want. But friendship?” He leans forward and tilts his head in his inimitable way. “It’s forever.”
He doesn’t say what he really means either, Smee suspects. But he knows, and that’s enough for him.
