Pairing: Mason/F!Detective (Lara Langford)
Prompt: Aurora/Abyss
Note: It’s really hard to get away with any sort of Mason fluff, but my excuse here is that this takes place later on, deep into the romance/relationship.
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A part of Lara is still surprised that she even manages to convince Mason to watch ‘Sleeping Beauty’ with her. She doubts he cares much for Disney films -- in fact, they seem to be just the type of cheery thing he’d hate -- but he agrees anyway, with minimal protests even by his standards, and her heart warms at the gesture.
She’s snuggled into his side as the opening credits roll around, with his arm lazily draped across her shoulders, and it’s hard not to feel giddy. The brightness of her apartment fits the mood of a Disney classic perfectly and Lara considers that maybe that whimsical Disney magic might have been a factor in her decoration choices back when she first moved into her flat. She’s been a fan of Disney for as long as she can remember and the fact that she now gets to share this thing she loves with the man she loves makes a smile grow on her lips.
“It hasn’t even started yet,” Mason points out at that and the exasperation in his voice sounds almost fond. It makes Lara’s smile widen.
“I know. But that’s got to be one of my favourite Disney films of all time.”
He sighs as if this is his own personal definition of torture and Lara gently pats his thigh; if this is his reaction to her eagerness, she can only imagine what he’ll be like when the songs roll around.
“You could’ve just said no,” she points out with another smile, this time almost teasing. “I wouldn’t have been offended.”
And it’s true. She respects the fact that she and Mason have very different likes for the most part and she would never want to force him into anything he wouldn’t enjoy; however, with how headstrong and, frankly, prickly he can be, she can’t imagine anyone could ever force him to do anything he doesn’t want to.
Mason lets out a huff but offers no other response to her words and Lara lets out a short laugh before her attention eventually shifts back to the film.
Predictably, Mason does roll his eyes and does let out a rather loud groan as they watch Aurora sing and dance in the forest, but mostly he just stays quiet throughout; Lara would think he’s not even paying attention if not for the occasional snarky comment.
However, one of the jokes does also manage to get a snort out of him (“The dress looks awful!”, “That’s because it’s on you, dear.”) and that in turn makes Lara practically beam at him. He immediately frowns again once he catches her look.
“What?”
She gives a small shrug, still smiling. “I like hearing your laugh. I like hearing you happy.”
Mason’s eyebrows furrow in an expression she would usually call confusion on anybody but him. He holds her gaze for a moment longer, as though what she said is something complex to be figured out, and when she does nothing but smile back, he eventually huffs and looks away. However, the arm he has around her shoulders tightens slightly as he pulls her in even closer.
The rest of the film goes by in silence and by the time the ending credits roll around, Lara feels like time has flown by. She opens her mouth to say something, but as she turns to look at Mason, she finds him already looking back at her. Her mouth snaps shut under his intense gaze.
A long moment passes and as he says nothing still, she finally speaks up. “What did you think?”
“Take a wild guess, sweetheart.” The expression on his face suggests he finds it incredulous she would even ask something like that and she lets out a laugh.
“Well, that’s okay, I didn’t really expect you’d enjoy it. But thanks for watching it with me anyway.”
“Why do you like it so much?”
The question catches her by surprise, mostly because she didn’t expect him to ask, but it’s a welcome surprise for sure. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know quite what to say.
“I think a big part of it is nostalgia, really,” she answers honestly. “I used to watch it all the time when I was younger. But I also just really like the whole idea of true love’s kiss.”
The second she says that she sees his expression shift as he’s seemingly torn between teasing her about her admission or letting her know just how stupid he finds it. In the end, a smirk spreads on his lips.
“I’d be happy to let you practice on me anytime,” he says and she can’t stop the laugh that bubbles up in her chest; it seems he’s found a third option too.
“Thank you for the offer. I especially hope you remember it if I prick my finger on a spinning wheel and fall into a magical slumber.”
Mason snorts dismissively. “As if I’d ever let that happen.”
It’s such a simple comment and yet it makes Lara’s chest warm at the knowledge he genuinely means it. She leans forward to kiss him, slow and deep, letting all the love she feels for him flow through the kiss, and he doesn’t try to change it into something more heated or sensual either. Instead, he just responds in kind, matching her pace beat by beat, and Lara soon loses herself in the feeling of his lips on hers.
When they do separate, she rests her forehead against his for a second, keeping her eyes closed as she tries to catch her breath and calm her racing heart. Finally, her eyes flutter open once again and as she pulls back, she’s greeted by the sight of Mason’s smirk.
“How’s that for a true love’s kiss, sweetheart?”
“You think this is true love?” she asks before she can help herself. The look she receives in response seems to imply she’s being silly for even asking at all, as if the answer is obvious. And when she thinks about it, it really is.
“Now. What do you say we see what other acts of true love there are?” Despite the sarcasm practically tangible in his voice as he says ‘acts of true love’, there’s something soft and fond in Mason’s eyes and Lara quickly finds herself swooped up in his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist on instinct as he stands up from the couch. He carries her to the bedroom as if she weighs no more than a couple of pounds and she can’t stop giggling throughout it all; if this is what her happily ever after looks like, she doesn’t mind at all.
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Aurora: a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Productions' 16th animated feature film Sleeping Beauty
Characters: Falk & F!Detective (Lara Langford)
Prompt: Guilt/Forgiveness
Note: I’m just in love with Falk and I simply gotta project. (Also this is somehow the only one of my detectives he was interested in. Fun fact?)
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Before they leave the maa-alused, Lara needs to talk to Falk one more time. She didn’t have the strength to say her piece earlier, too shaken by what he’d told her about the leader of the rogue supernaturals, but now she simply can’t leave before she properly apologises for Sanja’s death.
The hard part is convincing Unit Bravo to let her seek him out on her own; and while she understands their concern, is touched by it, truly, she knows this is a conversation she needs to have with Falk alone.
Adam frowns at her as she says this but he does eventually agree, even if he does warn her that if she isn’t back within the hour, they’ll come looking for her. Lara’s response is to beam at him.
“Thank you,” she says genuinely before throwing the team one last smile and setting off to find Falk. She thinks she catches Mason throw her an odd look as she does, but she can’t be sure it isn’t just her imagination.
In comparison to convincing Unit Bravo to do anything, locating Falk is an easy task. And while Lara might not have supernatural senses when it comes to detecting others’ thoughts and feelings, being the people person she is she’s learnt to pick up on some non-verbal cues -- Falk, if she’s reading him right, seems surprised to see her again, and so soon at that, but he also seems pleased.
“Detective,” he inclines his head in greeting. “Is something the matter?”
“Oh, no, no, nothing of the sort. Sorry to worry you.” Her smile doesn’t falter even as she takes in the curious glances the two seem to attract, but her hands go to fidget with the hem of her cardigan. “Can we talk? In private? I promise I won’t take up too much of your time.”
Falk holds her gaze for a moment longer before an almost playful smile grows on his lips. “On the contrary, detective, feel free to take up as much of my time as you desire.”
Lara isn’t sure what to make of the comment, especially since the implications it carries seem to lend themselves to a certain vibe she’s been getting from him on more than one occasion, but fortunately, he doesn’t seem to be expecting a response. He gestures for her to follow him as he leads them away from the main cave to a much more secluded spot.
“That’s really beautiful,” Lara can’t help but note as she takes in the greenery spreading out miles and miles ahead in front of them.
Falk lets out a soft sound of agreement. “That it is.”
She glances down, wiping her palms on the soft material of her skirt. The words she’s come here to say suddenly get stuck in her throat and even as she clears it, she doesn’t seem to be able to get them out. But she has to.
“I’m sorry about Sanja,” she says finally, voice quiet. The wind whistles around them, blowing strands of ginger hair around her face, but she barely even notices. “I- It’s my fault she… didn’t make it and I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am. I meant to tell you earlier, but-”
She falls quiet as she sees him reach out a hand towards her face, glancing down at her with an unreadable expression. She doesn’t move away even as a small part of her is afraid he might inflict the disease on her once again, but he merely tucks a stray hair behind her ear.
“I think I understand now,” he says finally, voice just as quiet as hers. Lara’s eyebrows furrow in confusion and he clarifies, “What you meant back at the carnival. When you said everybody feels guilt over something, but that doesn’t mean they deserve to be punished for it.”
“Oh.”
“I may not be able to read you, detective, but I don’t need to to know you carry a lot of guilt. It’s not just Sanja, is it?”
Lara looks away under the weight of the memories his question brings forward.
“No,” she admits. “A few months ago… there was a killer. He murdered two people, a young woman and a boy, and the reason he was in Wayhaven at all was because of me.”
She’s surprised and embarrassed to feel herself tear up but Falk offers no judgement, instead continuing to look at her calmly. She shakes her head.
“In any case, I just wanted to apologise. It’s my choice that got Sanja killed and I thought you needed to know.”
“I disagree,” Falk says despite the obvious pain in his eyes when Sanja is mentioned. “It is not you to blame for her passing, detective. I’m certain you did everything in your power to rescue her from these ‘Trappers’.”
Lara isn’t sure if she sees it quite this way but she’s grateful for his forgiveness. And she can’t help it, she’s always been a very tactile person -- she pulls him into a hug. It’s a little awkward, as is probably to be expected with how surprised he seems to be and how tiny she is compared to him, but it offers her some of the comfort she seeks, as hugs usually tend to do.
“You keep surprising me, detective,” Falk says once she pulls back and Lara manages a smile.
“Please, just Lara is fine.”
“Very well… Lara.” His accent seems especially thick as it wraps around her name, saying it in such a way that he almost seems to savour it. Once again, Lara isn’t sure how to react; her romantic interests, though she’s still very reluctant to call whatever Falk might feel for her as such, don’t seem to be working out too well as of late, with Mason’s disinterest in anything beyond sex and Bobby’s general attitude.
She is happy, however, that Falk is still so open to building a more friendly relationship with the Agency or at least with her. The entire time everything was going on, she held onto the hope that they could all come to a peaceful resolution and she’s beyond happy her optimism wasn’t misplaced.
“Well,” she takes a deep breath, shaking off her more morbid thoughts. Her smile softens as she once again looks up to meet Falk’s eyes. “I suppose I should be heading back now, but maybe I could stop by again sometime?”
Lara is a very happy person in general and she wants everyone to feel comfortable around her. She tends to treat everyone with kindness, even if they don’t necessarily deserve it, and often puts people’s needs above her own. But while most of the time she’s sugar and spice and all things nice, if you push her enough she becomes someone you don’t want to mess with; what she lacks in combat she makes up for with smarts.
RELATIONSHIPS
Rebecca: Lara’s always been close to her mother, despite the absences. Family is very important to her and with her father out of the picture, her mother is all she has. She’s always tried to be the best daughter she could be because she doesn’t want to make Rebecca’s life any harder than it has to be, with her job being so demanding and all.
Atfer the reveal, nothing much changed; Lara still loves her mother very much and while she appreciates the attempt of keeping her safe, she’s incredibly glad everything is out in the open.
Unit Bravo
Adam: Lara respects him very much and thinks he’s doing an admirable job as a leader. At first she was a bit frustrated with him but in time, his actions started to make sense and now she’d like to think they’re getting along much better. In the future I can see them becoming close and having private conversations in French when they don’t want to be overheard (which could probably come in handy during missions too). I also can’t help but imagine Adam – big, strong and generally pretty intimidating – helping small smiley Lara with hand-to-hand combat because he doesn’t want to see her hurt she has to learn to defend herself.
Nate: Nate was Lara’s beacon of hope when she first met Unit Bravo haha. She appreciated his help in getting the rest of the team to work with her and she’s also come to respect how optimistic he remains despite everything – mainly because she knows how hard that can be at times. In fact, she finds a lot of similarities between the two of them and so she makes sure to check on him every once in a while, just to remind him to take some time for himself as well.
Felix: Lara thinks Felix is great fun! She really likes his more easygoing attitude and his sense of humour. In retrospect she decides she could’ve figured out the whole vampire thing just going by his jokes – and she endlessly teases him about it. A cute little headcanon I have is that eventually Felix starts calling her ‘Croft’ as a pun on her name which is kind of ironic since she thinks she’s nothing like her namesake (Felix tells her that’s not true though because she’s a badass too).
Mason: Where does one even start about Mason? At first Lara was completely thrown off by his hot-and-cold attitude. She had no problems ignoring it altogether and treating him the same as the other (i.e. with kindness and tolerance) until she realised she had feelings for him. While there was a brief period during which she believed it was simply attraction, it quickly became obvious it’s more than that. So now here she is, having feelings for one of the most confusing and closed-off people she knows. She doesn’t have any intention to act upon her feelings any time soon because she knows Mason isn’t on the same page and she herself isn’t interested in being friends (colleagues?) with benefits.
Bobby: Bobby is Lara’s ex-boyfriend. In college, he’d charmed her easily and she’d been quick to fall in love with him which turned out to be enough for her to overlook his flaws for the longest time. When she did break up with him, it hit her hard. Fortunately or not, she’s never been one to hold a grudge and so currently, she doesn’t mind Bobby. What she does mind is when he bugs her office and tries to get involved in things that don’t concern him.
