theoldguardkinkmeme | Fills Post #2

Fills Post #2

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WOW that was incredible!! I love dark!Nicky especially in roleplay, and you wrote him brilliantly!

OP here who somehow missed this for six months- oh my god this is wonderful, I love Yusuf getting it all out at once and how genuinely baffled Nicolò is, and I love how Yusuf just wakes up a few years later like « alright, let’s do this now ». I adore it!!!

Prompt: https://theoldguardkinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/10703.html?thread=3733455#cmt3733455

Fill here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34481971

Hello, author here! The story will continue updating on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35085703/chapters/87397072

A chilly sea breeze blew through Nicholas’ hair, and he sighed and leaned close to Joseph, wrapping his arms around him. Joseph smiled, and Nicholas let him wrap his coat around both of them.

For the past few weeks, Nicholas, Joseph, Andrea, and Sébastien had been on the Scottish isle of Skye helping people who had been affected by a recent flood that had devastated the area. It had been raining and the wind had blown into a tempest for many weeks, and they’d missed the last boat that was supposed to take them to mainland Europe; until the weather calmed down completely, no other ships were planned to come through Skye’s harbors, and it would likely be several more days until that happened.

Read the rest on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28694625/chapters/84977971#main

Also, changed the chapter order!

A/N: ....so, uh, hi! I unexpectedly moved during the panini, and it messed up my writing groove, but I'm still working on this! and yes, the chapter count went up. We're now half-way through this fic! This chapter contains spoilers for Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow.

*

3. Nicky

“‘You can’t steal love,’ she told him. ‘You can only earn it. And I want to be the kind of person who can still believe, after all this time, that I will deserve it.’”
--Courtney Milan’s After the Wedding

Booker hits send on his drafted text to Nicky: would you like to read a book together?

As in a bedtime story?

Booker rolls his eyes. like a book club

yes. What did you have in mind?

Booker did not expect such a speedy reply, so he hadn’t decided which of his books to suggest. He scans the pile of books on the TV tray near him, and finds a romance – Nicky’s always loved a good romance. He takes a picture, along with the name of the book and author.

Nicky’s reply is a mere 👍.

The socializing ball now out of his court, he sets his phone aside and cracks the book open. He doesn’t want to fall behind – the last time they had done this was by letter, and Nicky had spoiled that the Admiral was the murderer.

It takes Nicky a few days to start live texting him, but when he does, he wakes up to a slew of fourteen text messages ranging from ah yes, the classic marriage of convenience; Malta 1649 to I am glad to see historicals about bisexuals 🏳‍🌈. It certainly motivates Booker to keep reading ahead of Nicky.

“I like watching you race each other,” Quỳnh notes with bemusement, as Booker tries to live text his own reading experience. Something he struggles with, since he gets swept up in the book entirely. Quỳnh has to remind him the tea kettle is ready, so would he set the book down so he can stop the kettle’s shrieking?

When at last they both finish the book (Booker first, likely because he has nothing else going on in his life), they text more. Nicky types, I would call, but that’s not an option right now. Why did you pick this book? Ah, so Nicky’s probably up to trouble with everyone else; Booker’s surprised by how he both by how he misses being part of a group doesn’t miss feeling alone within it.

Booker is honest. It was next to me and you like romances.

Can we read this one next? I can visit you for IRL book club 😊 Nicky sends a photo of a green and gold book cover comes in.

Booker replies, yes, of course! 😁

😊 then I will save all my comments for then

In reality, Booker feels a prickle of sweat. He wants to make a good impression on Nicky. And … shit, that means he’ll need to cook something spectacular.

Gods of Jade and Shadow is not what Booker expects, and yet he devours the thing in one go. When he closes the book at last, he stares at the wall, still under its spell. Quỳnh slinks into the kitchen for a midnight snack, and says through a mouthful of expensive cheese, “That good?”

“Yeah,” Booker says, “yeah.”

“Can I read it?”

Booker wordlessly hands it to her, and she settles in against his side, beginning. They fall asleep pressed against one another, the half-finished book still open in Quỳnh’s lap.

The day Nicky is set to arrive, Quỳnh decides to help Booker cook.

“You’re not worried he’ll see you?”

“Nicolò would find it rude to show up eight hours early, even if he did likely arrive last night just in case of unforeseen circumstance.” She’s right, of course. “And he once cooked me a marvelous loaf of bread. We ate it with honey… My memories are not all that they were, the order of them especially, but I remember the taste of it, and laughing with him. He gave me the leftover honey – for Andromache, he said, with a wink.”

Booker likes hearing Quỳnh reminisce. Andy didn’t do it much because it hurt, and Nicky and Joe’s memories of her and Quỳnh only go so far back. Quỳnh remembers Andy unsuccessfully trying to ride a water buffalo along with the requisite embarrassingly bawdy sex tales (“She claimed she was sore from riding the shepherd, but I knew it was the water buffalo”). It’s a side of Andy no one’s seen for many years. He hopes, if he’s lucky, he’ll see it for himself.

They work together, Quỳnh on her bread and Booker on minestrone soup he decides to throw vegan Parmesan in, just to see if Nicky will notice. Then he makes a galette; rolling out the filo dough keeps his mind off of how nervous he is. He still has a little time before Quỳnh’s bread is done in the oven, so he also makes garlic and herb butter.

Eventually, there’s a full spread of food, more than just he and Nicky can eat, and Quỳnh’s loaf of bread comes out of the oven. The whole apartment smells delicious and lived-in, like someone with a life worth living lives here.

Quỳnh takes her leave, and half an hour later, Nicky knocks on their door.

Over an early dinner, they talk about Gods of Jade and Shadow. “I thought this was going to be a romance,” Booker admits sheepishly.

Nicky smiles. “The back of the book fooled you, saying it was a fairy tale?” Booker nods. “Why do you think I love it?”

“It’s… mythic?”

“Because Casiopea does what she must to set the world back in tune,” he corrects. “She’s just an ordinary young woman trying to find her way and do the right thing. And isn’t that what we’re doing?”

Booker feels awkward assuming Nicky would be defined only by his love for Joe, but Nicky is gracious. “And it does make me grateful my star crossed lover and I get to be together. Not all are so fortunate. The right thing isn’t always about what we want to do, although I have been lucky the two have been the same in my life.” He sips his soup. “It’s our responsibility to make a life worth living for ourselves and everyone else too.”

Booker sighs. “I don’t know if I have that much heart left in me.”

“That’s why you’re here,” Nicky says, placing his hand on Booker’s shoulder. Booker feels grateful for the touch. “To take the time to figure out how to live. Watching me and Joe wasn’t helping.”

“That’s a polite way of putting it.”

“Ratting us out didn’t help, either.”

“Are you trying to make me feel better or worse?”

“The truth will set you free,” Nicky nods very sagely.

Booker laughs, a short thing, but a laugh nonetheless. “You little shit.”

“You wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, what is the secret ingredient you put in the soup? I can’t tell what it is.”

“Vegan Parmesan.”

Nicky sets his spoon down. “I am glad people have options, but a good wheel of Parmesan is an art, Booker.”

Booker’s heard this line of thought before, so he quickly exclaims, “Dessert!” They’d been so wrapped up in talking with one another, he’d forgotten to serve Quỳnh’s bread with the soup. He’d promised her he’d give Nicky a slice, so he grabs the loaf along with the honey Quỳnh casually left out. Nicky roots through drawers until he finds fresh plates and utensils.

Nicky raises his eye at the loaf. “You didn’t oversalt it did you?”

Booker chuckles. “No.”

“Well, let’s see.”

They cut into it, and after the first bite, Nicky says pensively, “Pass the honey.”

As they munch once more, Booker thinks to himself Quỳnh must’ve done this deliberately, and Nicky confirms it when he murmurs, “I know the taste of these hands.” He stares at the bite of bread left in his hands, shoves it in his mouth, eyes growing wet, but reaches for a second slice anyway.

At the end of their night, Nicky pulls Booker into a long embrace, wool-coat scratchy against him. “Tell her I miss her,” Nicky says, “and pass the hug along.” Booker merely nods, unsure how much he should say. Nicky lets him go, but then hugs him once more.

“Am I passing this one along too?”

Nicky chuckles. “No, that one’s for you.” Booker’s eyes water, but Nicky says nothing of it.

"She was but a girl from nowhere. Let the heroes save the world, save kings who must regain their crowns. Live, live, she wanted to live, and there was a way. […]
Instead, she remembered what she’d told Hun-Kamé at the hotel: that she wanted everything to live.”
--Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow

Prompt here

Located here

Edited 2021-12-05 17:57 (UTC)

Fill is here

Prompt is here

Prompt is here

Fill is here

Prompt: “Love God accidentally pricks self with his own arrow”

Fill on ao3: Cupid’s Arrow

Happy reading, hope you like it 💖

Prompt is here

Fill is here

4. Joe

“Love is certainly never safe, but it’s absolutely worth it.”
--Talia Hibbert’s Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Joe shows up six months later with a bag of Vietnamese takeout. To his surprise, Booker already has the relevant condiments in his pantry. Booker shrugs; Quỳnh always is absent whenever one of the family visits. He’s not going to push it.

“I wasn’t sure I’d see you,” Booker says.

“I wasn’t either.”

And they both say, “Nicky was,” and laugh.

“He got me to come by betting me it’d take me nine months to work up the nerve,” Joe admits.

“So you’re visiting me just to win?”

“Absolutely,” Joe agrees amiably. Booker thinks he’ll have to thank Nicky somehow. Maybe a knitted scarf? He picked up the hobby a century ago and hasn’t touched a set of knitting needles in years, but Nicky had sent a photo of a knit sweater with a goose on it recently saying he loved how whimsical knitting had become. “So I hear you have a book club going.”

“Uh, yes?”

“Great, here’s your next book.” Joe plops a book on the kitchen counter, a romance judging by the illustrated cover. “I’ll be back in three weeks! I’ve sent you a calendar invite. Gotta go!” And then he’s gone.

It’s a bit of a whirlwind, but Booker doesn’t mind the brevity of Joe’s visit. Joe was probably gauging how much he still wanted to punch him.

After Joe’s impromptu visit, Booker asks Quỳnh what exactly her plans are on seeing the rest of the group. “I know you’re taking it slow,” he says, “but if they’re going to drop by unannounced…?”

She waves her hand. “James already knows about me. We’ve talked.”

“You talked,” he repeats faintly. He imagines Quỳnh shocking the poor man, and once she leaves, Copley researching all the seeds of goodwill Quỳnh sewed long before photographs were in use.

“We’ve an arrangement, just like you and I. I will introduce myself when I am ready. Don’t worry, I can stay ahead of them; I was always the best at hide and seek.” Booker isn’t sure if that’s a joke or not, but she takes mercy on him and winks. “If they already know and mention me, it’s alright, but…” she details what she’s comfortable with him mentioning. Not much more than that she’s here, alive, and will come back when she’s ready. “They know this already,” she says. “So, let me read this book of Joe’s, since I know you’re going to wait until the last week…”

With two weeks until his phone call with Joe, Booker tears through the romance novel, and immediately suspects the book is a message for him. “A woman with a bucket list of things to make her life worthwhile?” he asks when Joe appears on his computer screen. “A little heavy handed don’t you think?”

Joe chuckles. “Since when did you do subtle? Andy all but fell onto your dick before you…”

Booker covers his face. “Enough, enough, you’ve made your point!”

Joe shakes his head. “Mostly I just wanted to know what you thought of the book. The additional life coaching was a bonus.” He leans back in his chair, and then adds, “Andy and Nicky told me they each did a second book as a getting to know you thing. So I brought another book.” He holds up his copy to the camera. This book has a pink cover, also illustrated, although the characters look decidedly young.

Booker takes it. “Three weeks again?”

“Sure, but I don’t think you’ll need that much. I’m here for another two days.”

When Booker grabs a copy from the bookstore, he realizes he won’t even need a full day; it’s a comic book.

When Quỳnh comes home from the gym (“I have a lot of conditioning to catch up on,” she says primly, “although being kept in salt water was great for my skin”), Booker asks her a long overdue question. “Does it bother you that Andy and I have slept together?”

“No.” She putters into the kitchen with bare feet, deciding what to eat from the fridge. “She is not a painting to be possessed. She’s had a long list of lovers over the years, but it is I she returns to in the end.” She shrugs. “Are you worried I’m jealous?”

“A bit?”

She looks at him out the side of her eye. “If I slept with you, would it even the score?”

Booker turns red. “Uh…”

“Men aren’t normally who I seek out, but we used to joke sex was part of the welcome to being immortal package,” she notes nonchalantly. “It wouldn’t be romantic love between us; it would be an activity between friends.” She plucks the smoothie he made this morning out.

He remembers the affront on Andy’s face when he turned her down the first time, so he tries to strike the right tone in his careful reply. “Thank you, but no.”

Quỳnh laughs. “If you could see your face!”

When Joe arrives for their in person book club, the first thing he says is, “So, did you cry?” before he’s even removed his sunglasses.

“I gave a manly sniffle.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not the one wearing sunglasses to hide their red eyes.”

“It’s from jet lag!”

“Uh-huh…”

They settle onto the couch, and work their way through the charcuterie board. Joe demolishes the brie while Booker starts with the salami. They rally back and forth about teenage awkwardness, the use of empty space, and monkhood as a time-honored method of avoiding one’s problems.

Booker also asks a question for Quỳnh, “What did you think of the fashion?” Joe’s gives him a meaningful look, rubbing a hand over his beard. “If only we could all be that daring in our fashion choices. Quỳnh would love a dress that made her look like the devil’s wench, or to make people faint with her provocative choices.”

Booker has a reply on the tip of his tongue about the extremely expensive lingerie and atelier catalogs she’s looked through, one of which is titled Riot! Designs. But he bites another bullet instead. “I assumed Nicky and you would pick romances. But neither of you picked romances. Where’d I go wrong?”

Joe leans into the couch, arms spread across the back. With the city behind him, he looks like he belongs in one of Quỳnh’s fashion magazines. “I do love a good romance,” Joe says, “but what could compare to real life with Nicky? Besides, with the work we do, we see the cruelty of the world.” He taps the book against his knee. “This book is a good reminder that no matter how much the world changes, there is sweetness and kindness, and that is worthwhile.”

Booker nods, throat thick.

“Please tell Quỳnh that too, ok?” Hearing her name at last from one of the others still takes Book by surprise. “When Nicky came back from visiting you and started baking that bread he always talked about with Quỳnh, but only when Andy wasn’t around, I knew. So I asked Nile. I know Quỳnh’s gotta do her own thing, but tell her that for me, okay?” Joe’s voice is insistent, a bit of a quaver sneaking in.

“I will,” he promises. “Can I also ask you… how did you believe there would be good things, not just with Quỳnh, but everything?”

Joe gives a deep sigh. “It took practice. To see the good in small things, then in the long scheme of things. And honestly, sometimes it is only bearable because I believe no matter how terrible it gets, there will always be honey.” He takes a deep breath. “And no matter the mistakes our family makes, they’re still family.”

“I’m sorry,” Booker says, knowing it’s not enough, and won’t be for many years. But perhaps, one day in another century, they’ll find a way to laugh about this, even if it seems impossible now.

“Love is never safe, but it is worth it,” Joe says calling back to their first book. “We’ve had plenty of good times too, and there will be in the future if I let you and let myself. And I want that, I just need some time to work through my own anger, and I think you need time to work through your shit too.”

Booker nods. “Therapy is a lot easier these days with the Internet.”

“No shit.” They spend a moment in silence.

“Speaking of family, she wanted me to give you this.” Booker hands Joe a beautifully wrapped chartreuse package, topped with a red bow. He’d helped her tie it just so, so it looked like the kind in commercials.

Joe carefully unwraps it, pocketing the ribbon too, and shakes out a silk scarf the color of the sea off of Malta. “For my hair! I always complained how hard all the travel we did was on it.” He presses it to his face, as if he can smell her. “Tell her thank you, and that I miss her, and I understand. And I’ll be waiting with a great big hug when she is ready. I’ll even do fishtail braids for her like I used to.”

Booker tells Quỳnh this later, and she replies, “Soon enough, we will.”

Frances: Why are you doing all this for us?

King: Look around. In a world where department stores exist, where do kings and princes even fit in anymore? When I first learned the truth, I thought Sebastian’s life would be ruined. But seeing you, I realized everything would be fine.

Because someone still loved him.

--Jen Wang’s The Prince and the Dressmaker

Prompt

Fill here

Oh sweet!! That was my prompt!! Thank you for writing it!! 😍😍

I hope you enjoy!

Based on this prompt

Fill: here

Edited 2022-01-08 22:54 (UTC)

This now has a sequel, posted here

Prompt here

I hope this suits here

booker's arc ends with the next chapter, and then we get to the epilogue.

Links/credit:
• if i can find the macaron recipe i like, i will post it when this goes on ao3
• Alyssa Cole’s Don’t Call Princess Stories "Frivolous" – for Women and Femmes of Color, They’re Crucial (https://www.bustle.com/p/dont-call-princess-stories-frivolous-for-women-femmes-of-color-theyre-crucial-8704409)
• I think I first heard about bulletproof black superheros in conversations about the Luke Cage Netflix show
• Credit to nevermindirah for pointing out Booker and Nile’s parallels in dying in imperialistic wars (https://nevermindirah.tumblr.com/post/629627160953552896/ive-been-drafting-and-redrafting-this-meta-post)
• Listened to Utada Hikaru’s Somewhere Near Marseilles while writing this
• Thanks to the BoN Discord server for taking a look at a section I was waffling about. :)

*

5. Nile

“People focused so much on the prince slipping on Cinderella’s lost shoe that they didn’t realize the real happily ever after was the moment she realized she was brave enough to go to the damned ball alone in the first place. “I’m not waiting around for some fuckboy to bring me a shoe. I’m here, working for you. I’m finding my own shoe.”
--Alyssa Cole’s A Duke By Default

I heard you have a book club, Nile texts. Sounds like you saved the best for last. She includes her available dates and a link to the book of her choice.

“A woman who takes charge,” Quỳnh says peering over his shoulder, “I like it.”

“Maybe she’ll be more amenable to the welcome-to-immortality-fuck,” he grumbles. Quỳnh merely hums.

“What do you think she likes?” Quỳnh muses. Booker’s cheeks go hot, and Quỳnh pinches them.

Nile comes in person. I’ve always wanted to see Paris, do the whole sit at a cafe and people watch thing, she writes. He makes her passionfruit and salted caramel macarons, and then Quỳnh wants to learn as well, so he shows her a vegan chocolate raspberry one. He also makes sure to get a large charcuterie board. He sets it all out near the windows overlooking the block. He’s given her enough trouble, he might as well try to give her a better memory of being up high in a building.

Oh yeah, she’ll tell the future new immortal, Book made me jump out a building! But then he made sure I stayed inside the building the next time.

The small effort is worth her wide eyes when she takes a brief look out the window. She doesn’t comment on it, and instead settles in for book club business. He wonders if she’s saving the awe for when she’s in private; still, he insists she take the seat that gives her a better view.

“So,” Booker starts, “which one of us is Sword Bae?”

Nile chuckles. “Unless one of y’all is secretly a Duke, I think none of you.”

“Where there was that one time in Beaune…”

“Seriously!”

“Technically a Baron, but close enough...”

“Barely a Baron would make a good title,” Nile muses. “Or Bearly a Baron.”

“A werebear Baron?”

“You get what I mean!” Her smile is wide, and he’s seen it so rarely it feels like a treasure.

He gives a small grin in return, and they talk about the first book in the series Booker skipped, being hot messes, and weapon forges. Eventually Booker admits, “I’m pleasantly surprised this book isn’t a didactic lesson for me.”

Nile scoops up more of the triple cream brie with her cracker. “You’ve had centuries to perfect your self-shame game; you don’t need me for that. I have other things to do.”

He lifts his glass in concession. “Like finally see Paris.” She mentions some of her plans, and he makes suggestions on how to make the best of her trip.

They do circle back to the book when they start nibbling on the macarons. “I have to admit I was relieved you picked a romance. I tried that with Nicky and Joe, but I got it wrong. So I’m not going to assume I know why you picked this one.”

“I’ll send you Alyssa’s article about Black girls getting to be princesses, but I also love that in Cinderella – the one with Brandy, the best Cinderella – by the time the Prince finds her, she’s already decided to seize her happiness. And Portia’s the same way; even before she and Tavish fall in love, she’s determined to seize her life. I reread it after I became immortal and it reminded me –

“Immortality is great, but long before Andy found me, I had already decided I was going to live. And now I’m going to outlive all the small-minded racists. I’m literally bullet-proof – if we didn’t have to be a secret, can you imagine what that would be like, for my family, for other Black kids? You think it’s a curse, I think it’s a reparation of time. When these racists are long dead, I will still be laughing and loving, and living beneath this sun, on this earth. And until my time comes, I’m going to do everything I can to live and live well, and make sure it’s better for those coming after me.”

Booker thinks of the war that took his life, the new war that took Nile’s life; there will be years to discuss things like what each of them think of empires. But for now, her faith that this is a gift, not just given but owed to her?

“I feel I see you better now.”

“See that you do.”

When their lunch is at last through, Booker presses a container of leftovers into her hands, Nile says, “Please tell your friend I hope to meet her when she’s ready.”

Ah, of course she knew. “Have you been playing matchmaker?”

“No. I just asked Joe because I wasn’t sure if I should tell Andy or not.”

“What did he say?”

“To do what I thought was right, which was to let Quỳnh tell her when she’s ready. The dreams I have of her now are nice… cozy even. The two of you cooking, sitting in the tub watching the water drain away and smiling, her sunbathing, trying new food… I’m glad neither of you are alone.” Nile reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out a roll of Sixlets candy. “I wasn’t sure what to get her. This was my favorite candy as a kid. I thought she’d want to know about me too, and she can’t see my past.”

Later, as Quỳnh lets the candy melt in her mouth, she closes her eyes and sways to the music thumping from the speaker. She slides her way over to Booker, and taps out some candy into his palm.

“I want to get to know her,” she says. “Don’t you?”

He nods. She pats his head, and they sway to the beat, sugar in their mouths.

The day after visits, Booker putters around the house, a social hangover of sorts from missing one’s family. This time though, Quỳnh triumphantly returns home, drops her many shopping bags on the floor, and declares, “Quit your moping, I brought company.”

Quỳnh has people she regularly sees, like the Auntie on the metro who’s always knitting, but no one she’s brought home, so he makes an inquisitive noise.

“Look who I found, Booker!” Quỳnh exclaims with the bravado of a stage actor, holding Nile’s shoulders.

“Hey, Book,” Nile says with raised hand.

Booker raises his hand mutely, and then Quỳnh and Nile start speaking in a language he doesn’t know. He watches in fascination as Nile stumbles along, and Quỳnh patiently corrects her. Quỳnh eventually looks at him and says, “I guess I’ll have to teach you too.”

Nile says something in reply, and the two of them laugh.

“I was going to do some sightseeing while I was here, and she just swept me up,” Nile says.

“I know the feeling,” he says dryly.

“I hope you don’t mind me coming by again.”

“Not at all.”

Quỳnh keeps glancing between the two of them, then tells Booker, “Going shopping with a girlfriend was on my bucket list. I decided I needed one after that Get a Life, Chloe Brown!”

“What else did you put in it?” She must keep track of it in the notebooks she keeps on her side of the bed.

Quỳnh gives a small, private smile. “This and that.”

Nile says something in that language again, and Quỳnh playfully shoves at her shoulder.

“Did you ladies want to help me finish this puzzle?” He’s working on one of three cats riding a tricycle with a puppy in the basket.

Nile turns out to have a competitive streak with puzzles, and is determined to see it finished. By the time the picture’s complete, it’s time for dinner. And when that’s done, Quỳnh persuades Nile to stay the night so they can do a sleepover full of girltalk, another of her bucket list items.

Booker offers to sleep on the couch so they can have the bed. (When Quỳnh showed Nile her wardrobe, Nile must’ve noticed she and Booker share a bedroom, but Nile politely doesn’t comment on it.) But Nile insists he stay, so they move the coffee table in the living room and camp out there. Booker digs out his old makeup, Nile makes a quick run for nail polish, and Quỳnh picks a movie.

Quỳnh is the first to fall asleep. “She usually does with movies,” Booker says quietly.

“She has a lot of sleep to catch up on,” Nile replies. “This was nice,” she continues. “I haven’t done this since… well, before I was deployed.

“Hey, Quỳnh was saying she wants to see what the world is like now, and I haven’t done much international travel. So, do you wanna go with us sometime? You already know you get along with Quỳnh, and we could get to know each other better.”

“I would like that. If you’re sure?”

“I have all the time in the world,” she says, and he believes it may be a good thing after all. There will be plenty of time to make better memories, to learn new things, to see the world and himself anew.

In the morning, Nile leaves, but a duffle bag of her clothes stays in their closet. It’s a reminder of the trust she has in them, that this is a place she can turn to for safety. Booker lets himself remember that he too, has a home to return to.

Author here, this fic is now finished on AO3!

PROMPT
(is long, but is basically what the fill line says)
https://theoldguardkinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/8523.html?thread=3141195#cmt3141195

FILL
tell me how all this, and love too, will ruin us
https://archiveofourown.org/works/36984979
Rated E for attempted sex (in that they make moves toward having consensual sex but feel guilty and stop) and mutual masturbation.

Prompt is here

Fill here

Fill: https://theoldguardkinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/11918.html?thread=4138638#cmt4138638

I feel like this chapter’s missing something, hopefully I'll figure it out when I do edits.

The fluffy book Booker reads is Ilona Andrews’ Clean Sweep, and Quỳnh N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Nile’s shirt from Harriett’s Bookshop (https://conversationswithharriett.bigcartel.com/)

*

6. Booker

“A gift of God / May sear unready fingers”
“Drowning people / Sometimes die / Fighting their rescuers”
--Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower

“She left a sticky note pointing at two quotes,” Booker says, baffled. A package had arrived in today’s mail, with a sticker saying Black Girls Read that could only be from Nile.

He flips back and forth between the two bookmarked pages. Quỳnh taps her finger against the quote about drowning. “It could be for me,” she notes.

“I don’t think so.”

“Me, too.” He shoots her a dirty look, and she chuckles. “The gift of God one is you though. It’s like that conversation you had with Andy.”

“Maybe it’s for both of us.”

“Can we read it together then?”

“That sounds good to me.” Booker feels a soft fondness in his heart when she smiles at his reply.

“We could read it out loud to each other. Oh, should we send her something in return?”

“Are you going to send her a book now?”

“No. The book club’s your thing. She and I will travel.” A devilish smile graces her face. “Although I could send her a collar for you, as a gift from her Auntie Quỳnh.”

Booker really can’t tell if Quỳnh is fucking with him or not. To be on the safe side, when he texts his thanks to Nile, he also asks her to ignore any strange gifts she may receive from any of his friends.

To which she replies, Oh, I know about asshole friends lol. You love them anyway right?

Booker looks over at Quỳnh, napping in the sun.

yeah, he says. I’m glad the two of you finally met.

Me, too. Then, Just tell me when, and I’ll make plans to come by. Or you can come visit me.

Quỳnh reads out loud while Booker does the household chores, Booker when Quỳnh’s in the bathtub, and they alternate when cooking. He can’t remember the last time he read a book aloud, and there’s something intimate about it – sometimes, it’s even frightening given the near future the book describes. They each take to having a lighter book to read; Booker a book with magical inns, alien despots, and werewolves;, and Quỳnh another N.K. Jemisin book. “This one’s from a much less bleak series,” she says, “plus the reviews says it has cosmic sex. I could use some pointers on that.”

“Go with God,” he replies straight-faced.

The meaning of the quotes Nile chose becomes clear as he reads. He texts her, I think Lauren calls Earthseed the books of the “Living” for a reason. Andy was right, I’ve been doing a shit job of living. I’m trying to do better.

He sees her typing for a long time. Then nothing. He tells himself she’s busy doing something else that’s important. I’m proud of you Book.

Quỳnh peaks at the texts over his shoulder. “Awww, she thinks you’re a good boy.” She pats his head.

He playfully swats her hand away, but doesn’t stop her when she tries practicing braiding it.

He texts Andy next, Nile has me reading this book. It made me think of our conversation about the Fifth Season and living. Have you read it?

Late at night, Andy replies, I have a copy on my phone. Sounds like she’s planning a group book club. ?

Do you think everyone would come?

🤷🏻‍♂️ Only way to find out is to ask.

You’re no help.

Maybe a vid call if you’re worried a brawl will break out.

“If I did a video call with everyone, would you like to be in it?” Booker asks.

Quỳnh continues practicing walking in high heels across the living room, touching the sofa every now and then for balance. “Thank you, but not yet. Can I be off screen though, listening?”

“If you promise not to make me laugh too much. They’ll ask who’s with me.”

“Why your pet cat of course.”

“I don’t have a cat.”

“Yet.”

She carefully walks to him. “You can use me as support you know,” he murmurs, offering his arm.

She places her hand on top of his forearm. “I know. Do you?” He makes a quizzical noise. “These books, these conversations, are all a lifeline to you Sébastien. You can hold on, and let them pull you to shore.”

Ah, the other quote Nile had highlighted about drowning people. “What if it’s all different though?”

Quỳnh huffs. “That’s also in the book too: the only lasting truth is Change. I’ve learned that too. No matter how slow, time wears away every structure men have tried to cage me in. You can break free of your cage too; we can let them pull us to shore.”

The next time we meet, I want my hands to be ready, he writes Nile. He and Quỳnh are at the beach again, watching the waves roll in.

Speaking of hands, I don’t want the only thing in my hand to be a gun for a milennium. I’m trying to think of other ways I can make change, she replies. What’s a good hobby for an immortal n00b? He gives a couple of suggestions, ranging from knitting to moonshine. What if I learn to fly? I mean, I can’t die, so I can do wild shit like hangglide, parachute, base jump…

I haven’t tried base jumping. Let me know if you do, or if you want to learn to fly a plane.

You got it. 👍

After they finish reading the novel, Booker feels emotionally hungover. Meanwhile, Quỳnh immediately starts the sequel. As Booker knits a mermaid themed shawl for Quỳnh, he says, “You didn’t have to be as kind to me as you did. I did shoot Andy once she was mortal.”

“And you didn’t have to let me stay with you. We’re together in this, and I’ve found…” Her gaze goes distant, and she falls out of the handstand she was practicing against the wall. “When someone hands me my metro pass I dropped, or pays for my coffee, when someone meets my gaze and smiles. Those small things; those small, kind things; they help.”

“It’s hard to remember them,” Booker admits. “Maybe if I wrote them down I could look back at them when things are hard.”

“I like that idea.” She tries for another handstand, following along with the video on her phone.

Their kitchen fridge is unadorned, no photos or flyer clippings. Booker gets a small whiteboard for it, and he writes one good thing on it at the end of the week, a blessing of sort for the coming one. Quỳnh adds hers underneath. It’s a small touch, but it feels homey.

It takes three months to get everyone together, due to logistics and an impassioned request from Andy to include the sequel in the book club. But they’re all on the video call, and while it’s not the same as being physically together, but it’s so much better than being apart. Andy and Nile are together on one screen, Joe and Nicky on separate ones, Booker on the couch, and Quỳnh out of sight and listening in from the kitchen.

“Thanks for coming,” Booker says.

“Of course we were gonna come,” Joe retorts. Nicky nods.

“I did not expect a group book club when I sent Booker Parable of the Sower,” Nile says bemused. “So, had you guys read Octavia before?” She’s wearing a shirt reading ZORA OCTAVIA ALICE TONI.

It’s a good night. There is eye-rolling, long-standing jokes along with the occasional backstory for Nile, a debate about the usefulness of religion, and even new jokes (“I said cargo cults, not cargo pants!”).

“So, since this was Nile’s idea,” Andy declares, “can I pick a movie next? I’ve always wanted to watch The Fast and the Furious.”

“That dumb movie?” Booker says dumb-founded.

“It’s not dumb!” Nicky cuts in. “It’s a masterpiece!”

“The whole Rock and Vin Diesel thing is pretty funny…” Nile tells Andy.

“What about a documentary?” Joe offers.

In the end, Andy wins, as she always does.

The next morning, as Booker and Quỳnh make crêpes, he says, “After the movie night, I’m thinking I could invite everyone to lunch.” Dinner seems too big an ask right now.

“That sounds good.”

“Will you be there?”

She kisses his scruffy cheek. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. But I have one thing to do first; would you mind letting me have the house to myself for two days?”

“Of course, just let me know.” He’s curious what she wants it for, but he’ll find out eventually. Time is on his side.

“I will.”

He sends Nile his copy of Parable of the Talents, scribbled through with his notes. On a lime green sticky note, he writes, this one is my favorite, and places it beside the one about kindness and love.

Andy, Joe, and Nicky; and now Quỳnh and Nile too; theirs is a love worth fighting for. There are still days he wonders if this long life of his a curse, but it would be even more of one if he had no one to share it with. One day soon, he will invite them all to dinner, and together they will eat and laugh, and tell stories. They will do this in other places he can’t even imagine yet, maybe even in outer space and under new suns one day, but they will do it together until they can no more. And even then – outliving them all, still keeping them together – there will still be the stories.

“Kindness eases Change
Love quiets fear.”
--Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents

*

This concludes Booker's story! The epilogue will tie up some loose ends with Quynh. :)

I love this story so much. I can't even explain the brilliance of the book choices and the slow progression to a full reunion and Nile learning how to deal with immortality along with him.

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Page 51 of 53

Fills Post #2

Re: FILL: Joe/Nicky, Kidnapping, 2/2

Re: Joe/Nicky: Nicky's murderous heart eyes

FILL: Booker/Joe, soft sex, rimming

Re: Booker/Nile, A/B/O, exile pregnancy (6/?) Cont.

Re: FILL: Team, 5 normal people helped/saved them through the centuries (5/7)

Books for Booker 4/8

Fill: Joe/Nicky Barebacking

Blood Ties, Joe/Nicky, Nicky is a vampire

I Wanna Try, Joe/Nicky, Nicky's first time topping

FILL: Joe/Nicky - love god accidentally pricks self with his own arrow

Marriage Bed, Joe/Nicky, Nicky has to leave the monastery to marry to support his family

Books for Booker 5/8

Joe/Nicky, They are dumbasses, blowjobs, intercrural

Re: Joe/Nicky, They are dumbasses, blowjobs, intercrural

Re: Joe/Nicky, They are dumbasses, blowjobs, intercrural

Joe/Nicky, kidfic, Agnes

Re: Marriage Bed, Joe/Nicky, Nicky has to leave the monastery to marry to support his family

Joe/Nicky, A/B/O, Nicky presents as an Omega for the first time

Books for Booker 6/8

Re: Booker/Nile, A/B/O, exile pregnancy (6/?) Cont.

Joe/Nicky - Modern AU - in the mood for love AU

Joe/Nicky, Gridnr is terrible, Anal sex, mistaken ideas about topping and bottoming

Nicky/Joe, d/s universe, consensual public spanking, mild humiliation

Books for Booker 7/8

Re: Books for Booker 7/8