#will croft

[ausaplenty]

Happy with her in his arms

 Lily of the Valley - Return to happiness

Will Croft. Kiara Croft. Post Lindsay.

Kiara was late.

Will stared at the television screen, not comprehending the images just flashing across the screen – it was just noise in the hollow apartment.

It shouldn’t feel hollow. Kiara literally filled the apartment – the walls were galleries of her paintings and photographs, the shelves pedestals to her sculptures of every shape and material – but the sounds seemed to reverberate off the empty spaces, emphasizing his solitude.

Kiara was late, but he’d given up expecting her to be home at all.

His fingers itched to grab his phone and text her, ask her when she was coming home. But the bitter voice inside his head told him that she wouldn’t answer him. Or worse. She’d tell him she wouldn’t.

Because LiLi needed her.

The shadows hissed, his ire feeding them. Kiara was his and yet he was less because of Lilian. And nothing he did could make his love recognize how poisonous the telepath’s presence was. The dark bags under her eyes. The way her clothes were starting to hang off her body. The barren studio.

He’d seen her try. To sit at her wheel and shape the clay only for it to warp into a grotesque mask, a gaping mouth twisting in a silent wail. To stand at her easel and cover her canvas in sapphire and cobalt and black and then see crimson and scarlet and blood red pool on the darkness unthinkingly.

He’d pulled her away. Turned her back to the violent visions and held her together as she buckled against him and quaked with sobs.

The same bitter voice hissed that he craved those moments. When she was the most broken. Because she didn’t dare go to Lilian then. And she was his. Completely.

It spoke to how far the telepath was lost that he knew those thoughts wouldn’t held against him. Where they’d once been thrown in his face to prove how undeserving he was of Kiara, now Lilian would use them against her best friend, as evidence of why she should be abandoned.

“He wishes I was dead,” Lilian hissed, straining against the obsidian coil that wrenched her hand away from bloodied wrist as another shadow tethered her injured arm and stymied the blood. The small, drenched shard of porcelain flung to the side. Wild sapphire eyes drilled into him, screaming for him to confirm it. “He thinks I’m killing you and he’s right! Let. Me. DIE!”

Kiara was home less after that.

Will sighed and turned off the television. The only light in the room was his cellphone screen as he tapped out a message.

<Going to bed. See you when you get home> He wrote. <Love you>

The phone sat silently on the counter as he brushed his teeth and it remained dark while he set it on the nightstand. He didn’t wait for a response, just climbed into bed and settled into his rhythm.

Breathe in. One. Two. Three. Four. Exhale. Focus on the muffled music from the upstairs apartment. Repeat.

He drifted off in the middle of the pattern.

Blearily, he was aware of somebody sinking onto the mattress beside him and the tickle of cold air as the blankets lifted off him. He grabbed the edges of the blankets and wrapped his arms around Kiara, tucking the fabric around them.

“What time is it?” he murmured as Kiara pressed against him.

“Around 5:45, closer to six,” she answered. “I have a doctor’s appointment at noon.”

The words jarred him awake.

“What’s wrong?”

Kiara hated doctors. Hated the lights. Hated the sterility. Hated the memories from before Lilian and after –

Her hand covered his heart and he was sure she could feel its frantic rhythm under her fingers. “Shhhh,” she urged gently as he bent his head to rest his forehead against the top of hers. “It’s OK, I just need to take a blood test.”

“Given our history with hospitals in blood, I’m not convinced,” he told her.

She sighed against him, curling inward as she entwined their bodies (intimate, seeking a connection and comfort). “LiLi thinks I’m pregnant. She felt something –“

“Kiara –“

“The home pregnancy test was positive. I can’t remember when my last period was but that’s because of stress and honestly, the days blur together –“ the words ran together and Will contorted his body to cover her lips with a kiss.

She laughed nervously as they parted.

“We’re having a baby,” he murmured, elated.

“We need to be sure,” the blonde stated, her voice shaky. “Will, I don’t want to get my hopes up. Things have been so fucking terrible for so long and I can’t – I can’t think about this until I know for certain. So, until the doctor says it, we’re not anything.”

“Alright,” he concedes reluctantly.

“I replied to your text earlier, but I’m guessing you didn’t see it.” Kiara tucked her head in the crook of his shoulder, her breath warm on his bare skin. “Love you too.”

“Go to sleep,” Will ordered softly, happy to have her in his arms.

[ausaplenty]

Who would have thought

Ryan Cooper, Will Croft - Crieve AU

Ivy - Fidelity, attachment

Ryan watched his daughter closely – the way she pulled Cricket closer, lacing their fingers together, in the middle of an argument between the Croft siblings that had started as playful bickering and was boiling into something more; the way she leaned against the blonde, reminding Cricket of her presence as the shadow manipulator grew more aggravated; the way her girlfriend glanced over at her and visibly relaxed against the empath, still arguing but reigning in the anger.

“So your kid is dating my little girl,” Will drawled as he offered a cold bottle of beer that was still wet from ice. He grinned at the brunet, transporting the man back to meetings at bars before children had taken priority. “I don’t know if I should be happy or terrified.”

Ryan laughed, accepting the beverage with a small nod. “Please. If anybody should be worried, it’s me – you shadow types have a reputation.”

“Pot, meet kettle,” the man retorted with a grin. “I think half of our former colleagues at SPSRA would faint if they were to discover the legendary Ryan Cooper was tied down.”

The lighter looked over at his wife, who had grown even more gorgeous with age – She was still voluptuous, her generous curves softened with healthy weight, and her sapphire eyes shone with contentment and happiness. Picking up his thoughts, the telepath made eye contact with a playfully disappointed scowl.

“Please, this is on brand for me – I married the hottest girl around,” Ryan grinned, popping the bottle cap off. “If anything was shocking, it’d be that you’d manage to satisfy Kiara Scuro for so long.”

The shadow manipulator chuckled, lifting his beer in a toast. Ryan knocked his bottle against it.

“To monogamy,” Will grinned. They took a swig in unison, savoring the flavor and moment of quiet. “But seriously Cooper, if your kid breaks Cricket’s heart, I’m coming after you.”

“Scared my princess would beat your ass?” Ryan shot back.

“Do I look like a man who would fight a girl?”

The lighter gave him a mocking once-over, taking in the peppered hair and lanky frame. And they both dissolved into laughter.

“So what is Cricket like?” he probed when his chuckles subsided, his eyes on the young blonde.

The threat of a family argument had subsided and Cricket and Evie had separated from the group, heading toward the barn on the edge of the woods. The shadow manipulator had her arm slung over Evie’s shoulder, paralleling the empath’s arm on her waist.

Will laughed. “You’ve met Kiara – Cricket is her clone, though both of them would bite your head off if you said as much to them. She’s stubborn and she’s determined to prove she’s every bit as strong as her siblings.”

“And if she can’t?” Ryan asked.

“I’ve met a lot of shadow folk, Ryan – I’m not modest enough to pretend like I don’t share a name with some of the most powerful of them,” the raven-haired father explained proudly. “Cricket might not be able to walk through them like Inali and Balin can, but she’s got enough heart that she’d make ‘em sweat.”

“Well, I suppose I should return the favor and warn you that if Cricket hurts Evie, I will make her regret it,” Ryan drawled, taking a slow sip.

“Cooper, if Cricket hurts Evie, I guarantee she’ll hate herself before you even get to her,” Will scoffed. “Like I said, she’s Kiara’s daughter.”

“Good to know,” the lighter replied.

Will propped his feet up on the deck rail, leaning back in the Adirondack chair. “Besides, I’d be more scared of your wife than you.”

Lily looked up, a brow arched in his direction, from where she and Kiara were playing with Iliana.

“Damn straight.”

[ausaplenty]

Mamma Mia!

Phoebe Scuro. Ryan Cooper. Will Croft. Lilian Moros. A completely crack AU

“Welcome to the Villa Kiara,” the blonde greeted, a congenial smile on her lips. “Checking in?”

Kiara’s daughter.

There was no mistaking the connection, not when they shared the same steel gray eyes and stubborn chin. But the child’s bare shoulders were sun kissed, healthily tanned from the Mediterranean sun, and her shoulder-length hair was tousled, teased by the ocean breeze.

Kiara’s daughter could embrace the sun, in a way her mother was banished from.

“Yes, Ryan Cooper,” the green-eyed charmer affirmed with a roguish smile. “Here for the wedding.”

The raven-haired man waved. “Will Croft.”

The blonde – Phoebe, Lilian remembered from the invitation – stilled at the computer, her eyes wide as her gaze flicked between the two men.

They’re here! Omigod I can’t believe this – I’m finally going to meet him. I’m finally going to meet my dad.

Phoebe’s excitement was palpable, and Lilian had to bite back the urge to laugh giddily at the wave of emotion that radiated from the blonde. This was as familiar as her looks, the unbridled emotions that Kiara used to exude at any moment.

And then confusion hit, just as strong as the elation, if not more powerful.

She was looking for a connection. Something that linked her to one of them but seeing nothing.

Its fine. Li isn’t here yet. It’s probably him.

The telepath couldn’t stop the laugh this time, the noise echoing with astonishment and bitterness.

Kiara glared at her from the bed, the leather-bound journal clutched to her chest. “I’m not hiding you,” the blonde defended. “Every night, I scribble down the moments we’ve spent together, because I never want to forget them –“

“You have them with Li,” Lilian said, grabbing her clothes from the ground. From the drawers and crannies they’d found homes in, migrating there slowly as the lovers had begun to inhabit each other’s spaces.

“You’re Li!”

Kiara knew where she was wrong. But she refused to admit it, to acknowledge that she – a self-professed free spirit who lived her truth – was wearing a mask to shield herself. And the façade was a brick wall between them.

“And if your parents were to arrive tomorrow? Would I still be Li?” the brunette responded coolly. She slid her feet into her sandals, the last things that kept her in the tiny room. “I understand hiding part of yourself, Kiara, I really do, but I’ve left before because I deserved to be free.”

She closed the door behind her, closing her eyes as something heavy was thrown to the floor.

Phoebe had found the journal.

The gentlemen glanced at her, Ryan’s gaze wandering interestedly over her curves and breasts.

“Where is Kiara? It’d be nice to catch up before the ceremony, you know, to reminisce,” Will asked, looking around the lobby. His eyes landed on the courtyard and the fountain at the center of it.

“She’ll be here shortly. She had to go pick up my aunts from the ferry,” Phoebe explained, trying to be nonchalant. “So you two are old friends of my mother’s? That’s so interesting. I don’t know too many of my mom’s friends before she moved to the Island. Just my aunts Ren and Charlie.”

“Yeah, I know your mom – I was still surprised to get the invite from her, but it doesn’t shock me that she’d want to show off how beautiful her daughter was,” Ryan said easily. “I picked Will here up on my boat when he missed the ferry.”

“Oh, I was wondering how you got here before she did,” the blonde realized, hurriedly typing on the computer.

I’ve got to hurry. I need to get them out of sight before Mom gets back.

Lilian almost groaned as the pieces fell into place. A young woman looking for her father. A journal documenting at least one summer fling. And a mother completely unaware of her daughter’s plot.

She needed to find a bar.

“Just let me check this last guest in and I’ll show you to your room,” Phoebe informed them with a nervous smile before turning to Lilian. “Sorry about the wait. Name?”

“Lilian Moros,” the telepath supplied. “But the invite was under Li.”

Phoebe froze, lifting her gaze up to assess the woman in front of her as her mind went into a tailspin.

Li is Lilian. Oh god. My mom – oh god, Mom is bi. Mom had self-described mind-blowing sex with a woman.

“Sorry,” Phoebe said, with an apologetic smile. “You’re just nothing like I was expecting.”

Well, at least I know she’s not my dad.

“I can imagine,” LiLi said with a smile, stepping aside to let the young woman out from behind the counter.

[ausaplenty]

Get over him

Kiara Scuro. Lilian Moros. Will Croft. Break Up.

LiLi got up from the couch, irked by the blonde’s diatribe, and headed to the cabinet where Kiara stored her liquor. As much as she loved hearing all of Will’s flaws and contributing where her friend had failed to notice things, she needed something to numb it all.

The day Kiara had broken up with him, LiLi had all but crowed from her balcony, glad her best friend was finally free of the leech who had latched onto her. Except the weeks that followed were overwhelming, filled with Kiara’s shifts between hurt, anger and depression.

She pulled down a bottle of vodka, cringing at the cheap label, but poured herself a shot. The liquid burned as it slid down her throat and the brunette winced.

“Fuck, do you use that shit as paint thinner?” she asked, interrupting Kiara’s rant about Will’s tendency to hog the covers.

The comment elicited a snort of laughter.

“Sorry, been too busy wallowing to go out and buy the good stuff,” Kiara retorted. A small smile tugged at her lips before it disappeared. “You don’t normally spend this much time at my place.”

LiLi sighed. She grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses before she returned to the couch.

“It’s fine. I don’t trust your taste anyways,” she teased as she set the glasses down on the coffee table and filled them.

“So you’ve said,” the blonde joked. “Often.”

“And in both alcohol and men, I am correct.” She handed a glass to her friend and clinked her own against it. “To better things in liquor and love.”

Kiara didn’t laugh, just drank. A lot.

The telepath sipped as she waited for the blonde to stop, listening to the thoughts mulling in her mind.

“It’s stupid. I know I broke it off with him, but …” Kiara trailed off, pulling her knees up to her chest.

LiLi knew. Half of the chemistry between Will and Kiara had been familiarity – Kiara didn’t feel the need to hide because here was somebody she thought innately understood her problems. Who didn’t think she was a monster because of her powers.

But the blonde had been blind to the problems. How the pair had been too similar – Will had validated and urged Kiara’s half baked plans and impulses without any regard to the consequences of them. He didn’t consider anything beyond his own needs. And he was jealous.

The resentment wasn’t new. It’d been there before LiLi’s switch from SPSRA to Vance, festering during their schism and Kiara’s stubborn refusal to accept the betrayal. She bet he’d been practically gleeful when his own bumbling gambit had almost been fatal to Kiara, because it meant he’d won.

He didn’t know how she felt about Kiara, but he was aware of something between them. Something Lilian had decided never to pursue. Something Kiara was oblivious to.

“I miss him,” Kiara finished with a sigh.

The telepath matched it before drinking some of her wine.

“You need to get drunk,” she supplied. “And laid. In that order.”

Kiara laughed. “Get me the vodka and we’ll be halfway there.”

Lilian felt a small rush with the way she said “we’ll” – an unintended offer that the telepath quickly pushed out of her mind. It was futile. Kiara would never classify their connection as what the brunette knew it was.

“Let’s go out tomorrow night, then,” she offered, playfully nudging Kiara’s feet out of her space on the blonde’s too small sofa. “We can go shopping in the morning, get you an outfit so tight guys completely miss the fact you’ve got no boobs and get plastered.”

“Where have you been hiding this magical shop?” the blonde laughed.

~*~

LiLi felt the jealousy and irritation seeping into the drunken rush of Kiara and the bar, too small to really make a difference in mind but enough to be an annoyance. She could hear the bitter monologue in his mind and she gulped her vivid blue drink to drown him out.

“Yes!” Kiara cheered her on, too drunk and too caught up in her movements to the music’s rapid beat to notice her ex.

Fuck Will Croft.

She could only hope he would stay away from their corner of the bar, the dark booth a deterrent for most people – and their occupation of it enough to scare off anybody who might want it – but she doubted he would.

Controlling her expression before Kiara noticed, Lilian poured two more shots of tequila and slid one toward the blonde. “You aren’t drunk enough. Drink more,” she ordered, her voice raised to be heard over the music.

“Yes ma’am,” the blonde retorted as she tried to keep a straight face, lifting the glass in a drunken salute. A giggle escaped her lips as the alcohol sloshed and some splashed over the rim of the glass. “Oops, don’t wanna waste that.”

“Damn straight,” Lilian agreed before downing her own shot. The nectar burned pleasurably as it hit her throat.

As of yet, they’d only been drinking – copiously – but LiLi was itching to start dancing and get lost in the music.

“C’mon, let’s dance.” She started to pull Kiara out of the booth, her fingers twined with the blonde’s silky gloves.

Kiara laughed, a wide grin on her face, and then froze.

Fucking Will Croft.

“Jesus fuck,” the blonde hissed as she half-sat, half-fell back on to the seat. “Why the fuck is he here? He hated coming here.”

No.

He hated coming here because Kiara only wanted to come when Lilian was here.

“Shit, he’s coming over,” the blonde muttered, starting to panic. She didn’t want to talk to him. She was having a good time. He was going to ruin it. She surged to her feet, forcing LiLi back as she wavered drunkenly. Her hands flew to the brunette’s waist to steady herself. “We should leave. I don’t want to deal with him right now –“

A solution permeated Lilian’s intoxicated haze, born out tequila and long-denied feelings. She wrapped her arms around Kiara’s neck, slightly on tiptoes to reach. “Trust me,” she demanded.

“LiLi, what-“

She was silenced by the telepath’s lips against hers.

Kiara’s grip – once light - was now tight, instinctively pulling the woman closer. Her lips parted in a small gasp and Lilian melted against her, caught in the addictive thrall of the moment. The shadows seemed to crow, egging her on as the blonde’s shock began to fade and evolve into something more.

Pleasure.

Emboldened, Lilian’s tongue swept along Kiara’s bottom lip, coaxing them further apart as she hungrily explored. The shadow walker’s thoughts were lightning, barely coherent as they shifted, lost in the new sensations.

That bitch

The telepath pulled away quickly before Will’s hand fell where her shoulder would have been, too slow. He glared at her, brown eyes murderous as he reached for her.

A dark tendril wrapped around his arm a split second before Kiara’s hand latched around his wrist, stilling it in a way that looked more natural to any onlookers.

The steely eyes were wide, confused, but quickly becoming hard as she met her ex’s gaze.

“Go away,” she growled, shifting slightly to put herself between the raven-haired man and Lilian.

“You said you were –“

“I said,” Kiara snapped, her hand tightening. Lilian could see Will’s slight wince of pain as the feeling rose inside him, the shadowy tentacle dug into his skin, growing sharper. “Go.”

The couple may have bonded because of their shared abilities, but there had never been any doubt over who was stronger. Who the shadows would listen to if there were a choice.

Lilian knew why they’d split, though Kiara had never said it. Their possessiveness clashed – Will’s over Kiara and Kiara’s over Lilian’s friendship.

The past several seconds caught up to her and Lilian turned on her heel and fled, weaving between the dancers as she hurried to the exit.

“LiLi!” Kiara shouted, shoving Will away as she followed.

The telepath ignored her and the few people who protested as she pushed past them into the street. She walked quickly, in the opposite direction of her apartment. Kiara would go there. Kiara would be waiting for her.

Lilian flagged down a cab, ignoring the blonde’s calls as she ducked inside and gave the driver Markus’ address.

[ausaplenty]

Not your responsibility

Kiara Croft. Will Croft. Canonverse, if we can consider anything to be that anymore lol

“I’ll be back,” Kiara promised Skye quietly, glancing at LiLi as if she was afraid the telepath would hear.

It was stupid.

LiLi didn’t look away from the spot on the wall she’d been staring at for hours.

“Go, everything will be fine,” Skye urged with a gentle nudge toward the door. “We’ll be fine.”

Kiara smiled shakily at her, her mind supplying all the way things couldn’t be fine.

Part of her wanted to call Reed and Kristin and say she couldn’t go. Something had come up. She’d make it up to Ivy somehow.

“Kiara … Go,” the technopath coaxed.

She’d promised Ivy she’d be at her party. She didn’t have to stay the entire time.

“Call me if you need me,” Kiara pleaded. “for anything. I swear I’ll be here in an instant.”

She waited for Skye to agree before she disappeared in the shadows.

Will was sitting on the couch when she stumbled into their apartment, watching some game or something on the TV with a beer in his hand.

“Hey, I’m almost ready, I just need to change and – you wrapped Ivy’s present right?” The words spilled out of her mouth as she shed her layers, leaving a trail of clothes to the bedroom.

“No, I didn’t,” he answered before taking another sip of his drink. “I thought we’d canceled, like every other event we’ve planned for the last year.”

“We’re going. I promised Ivy we would be there but I want to leave by five, so LiLi is –“

A sharp bark of bitter laughter interrupted her train of thought as she put on clothes that weren’t as rumpled and wrinkled.

“We wouldn’t want to leave Lilian alone too long, would we?” Will called, something ugly twisting his voice. “Never mind there are other people who could be with her. Like they could have been for our anniversary, or your birthday or mine.”

Kiara moved to the door of their bedroom to stare at the back of her husband’s head, her ire rising. “LiLi needs me, Will.”

Will snorted, never looking away from the television. “Yeah, she needs you more than your husband does.”

“What do you need me for? Will you die if you don’t have it?” Her lips twisted into a snarl. “Because if I’m not there, LiLi could die.”

The room was alive with her shadows, encroaching on the lighted areas with a vigor matching Kiara’s anger.

Her husband finally turned to meet her gaze, his hazel eyes hard. “Because she’s not responsible for any sort of pain in our life, Kiara.”

Kiara’s gut clenched. “That was different. She –“

“Was it different when you tried to kill her?”

She recoiled, her eyes wide as she stared at Will. “I didn’t mean to –“

“So how do you go from wanting her dead to feeling like the one solely responsible for her life?” he pushed as he stood, folding his arms over his chest. The shadows inched toward him, feeding off of his rage.

“Because I thought she let Skye die! I would never have tried – I didn’t mean to,” Kiara faltered.

“She almost let you die. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

“She had a plan. She told me I wasn’t in danger until you threatened her.”

Will snorted. “Oh yes, Alexa’s master plan. She always has everything under control and who are we mere mortals to question her plan? Why don’t you just let her die?!”

The words broke Kiara’s confusion. In an instant, the shadows broke past Will’s control, shattering the television until only the flickering candles remained in a pitch black room. She stalked forward, the shadows shading her face into something practically feral.

“Don’t ever say that to me again,” she spat. “LiLi is my best friend and the fact that you would be so … dismissive of what she means to me is astounding.”

“I’m your husband –“

“That doesn’t excuse you,” the blonde hissed, pushing against him. “Especially when you just said that I should let somebody die because I’m not spending enough time with you.”

“She isn’t your responsibility, Kiara.”

“You aren’t my responsibility either!” Kiara snarled. A dark wave roiled the room, cracking the wall and sending a painting crashing off the wall.

The room stilled, the couple glaring at each other.

“How did I become the second most important person in your life,” Will asked quietly. “Am I even that high when you’re worried about breaking a promise to a six year old but not to me?”

Kiara sucked in a breath. “I’m leaving. I’m going to Ivy’s party and then I’m going to LiLi’s. Let me know if you grow up enough to apologize.”

She stalked back to the bedroom to grab her cloak and Ivy’s present, still unwrapped, before she left Will in the darkness.

[ausaplenty]

What if

Kiara Scuro. Will Croft. Enchanted AU.

“Kiara, we can’t.“ Will reasoned, sounding slightly alarmed.

“Why not?” Kiara demanded, frustrated. He had practically told her Alexa in his land and now he was keeping her from her best friend. Briefly, she thought of dragging him into the darkness, but something warned her to keep the extent of her powers hidden.

“The Red Man would not –“

“Are you not a noble? Do you not have command of the people you brought with you?” She pressed against him, gazing up at him through lowered lashes. She may not be the most adept at seduction, but refusing suitors had taught her the important things – Men craved power as much as sex and doubting their prowess was practically a guarantee. “Or have I been deceived?”

Will faltered for a moment. “We can’t leave right now.”

Kiara sighed lightly and started to pull away before Will grabbed her shoulders to still her and pressed his forehead against hers. The shadows swirled around them, whispering joyously at the power of their union.

“I swore I would not leave without your hand in marriage,” he murmured huskily.

“You also promised to find my friend and I have had no guarantee,” she retorted. “Men such as yourself are cunning. This could be a ploy, meant to gain my trust.”

“Beloved, if I were truly that desperate, I would have lain with you and told your parents of our affair,” the raven-haired man assured her. “But I long for your respect as much as your love.”

“What if …” Kiara mused. “What if I was considering it?”

“Don’t tease me so,” Will warned gently. “I could not bear to get my hopes up.”

“You have told me that I would have freedom, that I would not be forced to hide myself as I do here. If I could be reunited with my friend and share my life with you.” She hummed contentedly, her eyes closed as she imagined it. “It could be perfection. But I have seen nothing of your home, and only glimpses of happiness when I am with you.”

She was careful not to outright say it, wanting him to feel as if the notion was his own.

“What if I arranged for you to visit first?” he offered. “As your family was drawing up a nuptial agreement, you could visit and see how great your life with me could be.”

She met his gaze with a wide smile. “It’d be perfect.”

“We can tell your family in the morning and they can choose an escort.”

Kiara pressed a kiss to his lips, moaning breathlessly as his hands glided down her arms, to her waist and then to cup her ass through her gown. “I cannot wait.”

“Soon,” he promised, partially to himself. He parted before he surrendered to his urges.

[ausaplenty]

Anything you want

Alexa Myers. Vance Elliot. Canon Divergent where Will’s actions led to Kiara’s death while Vance had her.)

The worst part of it all was that she couldn’t grieve.

“Tell me what you want, sweetling,” Vance murmured, his breath warm on the nape of her neck as he massaged her shoulders. His honeyed words promised pleasure, satisfaction – the opposite of what the telepath wanted right now.

Vance could not be happier. He had her loyalty, her power and the guarantee that she was by his side. Because if she was willing to let Kiara die, what more of a sign could he ask for that Alexa Myers was his?

The telepath hadn’t been willing to let Kiara die. Let her go, maybe, but die?

The emptiness she felt wouldn’t be soothed by alcohol, but damn if Alexa wasn’t going to drink until the abyss was filled with it.

Kiara would still be here if that fool hadn’t intervened, if he hadn’t been too stupid to recognize the trail of bread crumbs she’d laid for them to follow. All because he wanted to be the hero, to prove how strong he was.

He’d never been good enough for the artist.

“I want Croft,” she demanded, a hint of poison in her words. She drowned the acrid words with wine, dry and just bitter enough as it slid down her throat.

Vance didn’t bother to hide the thrill he felt at words, eager for his own revenge. Alexa’s vindication was a new mystery for him to explore, now that she wasn’t limited by her unwillingness to hurt her old team.

“Whatever you want,” the blond promised as he lifted his hand to caress her cheek. His fingers lingered where, hours ago, Will had pressed a gun against her temple.

“I want to watch him suffer while he realizes his mistake,” she told him coldly. She could see the glee in his emerald green eyes. “I want him to pay for what he did to me.”

Kiara wouldn’t have wanted this, but Kiara would have wanted to keep living.

[ausaplenty]

Mistletoe Kisses

Kiara Croft. Lilian Moros. Will Croft. Future verse.

“Babe, look,” Will called as he reached out to snag Kiara’s wrist and pull her against him. They collided with an ‘oof,’ Kiara’s hands splayed across his chest, and Will steadied her with a gentle grip on her waist. “Mistletoe.”

The green sprig swayed gently in the breeze created by the ceiling fan.

“That’s so cliché,” Kiara giggled before she tipped her head back to meet his lips. She meant for it to be a quick kiss, but Will was having none of it. He deepened it, pressing her against the door frame.

Her eyes closed and Will glanced over at Lilian from the corner of his eye. The brunette rolled her eyes.

Their friends might assume Kiara was the more passionate one – always seeking physical contact, a fire in her grey eyes and a kiss on her lips – but Will … Will was there to meet her, every time.

And if he could use that passion against Lilian, then he was not above doing so.

Kiara let out a small moan of pleasure and sagged against the door frame, letting Will support her.

He could see Lilian nonchalantly surveying the room and he smirked against Kiara’s lips when she realized his plan.

“Kiara, there’s a spider on your hood,” the telepath announced nonchalantly as she grabbed a paper towel.

His wife’s eyes flew open and she shoved him away so she could frantically pat her head. Lilian nudged him aside to crouch beside Kiara, acting as if she were picking a spider up in the towel and killing it there.

Will would bet his year’s pay he wouldn’t find any spider guts in there if he looked.

“It probably came in on the mistletoe,” Lilian mused as she threw out the evidence. “Will, you might want to be careful in the future. You could cause an infestation.”

The carpenter’s jaw clenched as Kiara sighed.

“It was a sweet gesture anyways,” the blonde told him. “Come on though, we’ve got to get this place ready for Inali’s party before my parents bring the kids back.”

"Remind me, why is she here so early?” Will grumbled, raking his hand through his hair.

“The delivery crew will be here in five minutes and I wanted to put it together before the party, since I’m not sure you could follow the complicated instructions involved,” Lilian answered with a shrug.

Will narrowed his eyes. “What did you get her?”

“That’d ruin the surprise, Will.”

“Guyssss,” Kiara groaned, “the party.”

The knock at the door punctuated her point.

“It’s the delivery crew. I’ll stay out of your way,” Lilian informed them with a challenging gleam in her eyes as her gaze met Will’s. “I want to make sure Inali’s gift is perfect.”

“If she’s here, she’s in the way,” the shadow manipulator grumbled while the telepath left the room.

“I need you to push the furniture to the edge of the media room and get the projector ready,” Kiara instructed. “And start bringing in the snacks from the van.”

“You trust me to do so little?” he complained jokingly.

“I’m trusting you to make sure ALL the food gets out.”

“Try not to screw that up, Will,” the telepath called from beside the stairwell.

The man frowned when he noticed the two men maneuvering a heavy box to the second floor.

Kiara nudged him. “Don’t worry about it. Just go.”

~*~

Lilian was making it hard to forget she was here. The delivery crew kept carrying boxes up the stairs or coming down to ask Kiara questions.

He finished arranging the snacks on the bar and headed out to the kitchen to find his wife putting the final touches on the cupcakes, molding the frosting to look like popcorn.

“OK, movie theater is set up. What do you need me to do now?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck.

A dark tendril snaked into his pocket and pulled out the mistletoe he’d tucked in there. It stretched upward, sticking the plant on the ceiling. “Look up.”

She twisted against him, craning her neck to look over his shoulder. “How much mistletoe did you buy?”

“Not enough.” His hands slid lower, cupping her ass, and he pulled her closer. “We’re ahead of schedule. We could go upstairs before the party …”

He kissed her gently, enjoying the way she leaned into his embrace. “…Maybe make another baby?”

“LiLi is up there,” she breathed huskily, her hands curling in his shirt.

“So we do it down here,” he proposed. He kissed her again, deeper, as he squeezed her ass.

Kiara’s fists clenched, pulling him tighter as he explored her mouth.

Something dropped in Inali’s bedroom above them with a resounding thud and Kiara tore herself away.

“Later,” she promised as she shot a concerned glance at the ceiling.

“Nothing to worry about,” Lilian called from the top of the stairs. “Just trying to get this done before the guests arrive.”

Will ground his teeth as he glared in her direction.

He sprinkled mistletoe kisses through the day, stealing seconds between welcoming guests and bringing out food. Skye caught them once and she shook her head bemusedly. Lilian rolled her eyes after every kiss she saw, muttering something about “lusty imbeciles.”

He took his chance when Kiara ushered all the party down to the theater area. The adults and Ivy found seats on the edges while the kids rushed to the beanbags tossed into the center.

He snagged Kiara as she walked by, pulling him down beside her and wrapping his arms around her waist. “You were going to sit by me, right?”

“You’re my favorite movie date,” she promised him.

He smirked at Lilian and cuddled against her as the movie started.

He waited 30 minutes before he made his move, nudging Kiara’s shoulder and nodding to the mistletoe above them.

Kiara closed her eyes as he kissed her, holding himself back from anything further. He glanced triumphantly over at Lilian, savoring the annoyed look she gave him.

His wife pulled away and Will saw the flash of anger in her grey eyes.

“Kitchen. Now,” she hissed, standing up.

Will sheepishly followed her up from the basement.

“You were just trying to piss LiLi off!” she accused as she folded her arms over her chest.

“That … wasn’t the sole goal,” he admitted.

“It is your daughter’s ninth birthday and you’re – God, Will.”

“You enjoyed it!”

“Of course I enjoyed it, Will!” the blonde snapped. “That doesn’t make it better. I don’t want to be used for your petty games. I don’t want to be used at all.”

“Isn’t that how we ended up with Inali in the first place?” The shadow manipulator retorted angrily. “You were upset. You said you needed a distraction. From Lilian.”

The second the words were out of his mouth, Will knew his mistake.

“I didn’t –“

“You did,” Kiara hissed. “You compared that to your childish jealousy.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, cowed.

At one point, Kiara would have yelled. There would have been thunder and hell to pay. But now … She inhaled sharply, silently counting. It was worse. Because the look in her eyes told him this wouldn’t fade. “We’re going to get through our daughter’s birthday – because today is about her and not you and not me – and then I’ll deal with you after they’re in bed.”

She turned her back on him, her shoulders stiff and her spine ramrod straight.