Emily (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2018-02-10 10:26 am
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2018-02-10 10:26 am
Entry tags:
- bones: lance sweets,
- canon: bones,
- canon: dctv,
- canon: from dusk til dawn,
- canon: librarians,
- canon: newsflesh,
- canon: original,
- canon: teen wolf,
- canon: the blacklist,
- canon: vampire diaries universe,
- dctv: laurel lance,
- dctv: mick rory,
- dctv: nate heywood,
- dctv: sara lance,
- dctv: zari tomaz,
- fdtd: kisa,
- fdtd: seth gecko,
- newsflesh: maggie grace garcia,
- original: aaron wilkinson,
- original: rosalina frostward,
- prompts: get your words out,
- ship: cora/stiles,
- ship: freya/stefan,
- ship: kate/peter,
- ship: kisa/seth,
- ship: maggie/sweets,
- teen wolf: cora hale,
- teen wolf: derek hale,
- teen wolf: kate argent,
- teen wolf: peter hale,
- teen wolf: stiles stilinski,
- the blacklist: donald ressler,
- the librarians: cassandra killian,
- the librarians: ezekiel jones,
- the librarians: jacob stone,
- the librarians: jenkins,
- tvdverse: freya mikaelson,
- tvdverse: stefan salvatore
i do the dumbest things for you | original (paladinverse) | 2,000 | round 1, set 1
Yes, a duck that’s invisible.
See, the thing about being the crowned prince of all magic, is that eventually you have to start courting the current magical elders and gain their trust and blessing. This is easier with some of them than others. For one, some of them are younger, and are more willing to give a chance to a young, twenty one year old kid from New York City and trust him to make decisions for the new era. Some of them are like Morgan LeFay, who’s been with his family since he was a child and had seen him grow up. Some of them were gods who just didn’t really give a shit so long as the world kept turning and their patrons kept finding them.
And then, in the midst of all of that, there’s Baba Evgenia.
When she strode to the Pentaghasts’ front door, looking like something out of a Grimm’s fairy tale (for all he knows she’s why Grimm’s fairy tales exist), holding a real live duck under one arm, she already seems like she disapproves of whatever Walter’s about to do, but he has to try to be polite anyway.
“Baba Evgenia. Thank you for coming.”
“Bah.” She pushes her way past him, looking around the interior of the apartment, looking around with a disapproving eye. “Too modern.”
“I’m … sorry?”
“When are we leaving for dinner?”
Walter falters again, confused for a moment. Most of these meals have taken place in his own home, giving the elders’ different idiosyncrasies. He hadn’t expected that they would be leaving. “Sorry?”
“I would like to have Shake Shack.”
“Shake Shack. Right, of course. Would you like me to order it?” He’s starts to reach for his cell phone and she reaches forward with her stick and smacks the meat of his hand.
“I do not want no ‘delivery’.” She says the word as though it’s an affront to the human language, and her duck quacks loudly in agreement, forcing Walter to stumble back even further. “By the time the burgers arrive they taste like soggy dog meat. We eat at restaurant.”
“Of course. No problem. Good deal. Would you like to leave your duck here?”
There’s another smack of her walking stick. “Why would I leave Dmitri all alone in unfamiliar apartment? He loves Shake Shack.”
“Well, it’s just that the restaurant might not appreciate it if we have a duck in their restaurant – ”
“That of no matter.” She reaches forward, taps her fingers against the top of the duck’s head and Walter watches as the duck vanishes from view, suddenly invisible to even the magical eye. Walter blinks again, before he nods his agreement in return.
“Great. Well, then. That settles that. I’ll just … instruct the help to eat the large meal of Russian delicacies I painstakingly prepared and we’ll go to Shake Shack.”
“Good. It is what the help deserve. Russian delicacies taste like garbage waste.”
Walter tips his head back as they leave the apartment and offers a quick prayer to the ceiling in his wake. He hopes that this will be the end of things, but he also knows he’s going to be wrong. That’s the way things with magic usually work.
To Walter’s credit, things were fine for a while. He manages to eventually get a conversation going with the old witch woman that manages to go fairly pleasantly for a bit until they start to leave in search of what Baba calls “ice cream big as Dmirtri.” Walter is all for ice cream and is willing to show her to one of his favorite places, this all goes awry when they get to their feet and lets out a forlorn wail.
“DMITRI!”
“What? What is it? What about Dmitri?”
“He’s gone!” And then the fearsome witch turns on him with a steadfast glare. “You lost him!”
“I what?”
“You lost him! You lost my precious beautiful Dmitri.” She then starts moaning forlornly in Russian, and Walter’s eyes widen as he starts to look around as though that’s going to help him find the very invisible duck and he tries to stammer his response.
“Can lift the invisibility? Then we’ll be able to see him?”
That very sensible excuse is only met with more moaning, and Walter is convinced that this is all going to end incredibly badly for him when a familiar voice steps up behind him, and a hand taps him on he shoulder.
“Walter?”
He spins violently in response, arms flailing everywhere, but when he sees who it is, he stops. Officer Aaron Wilkinson, the man who saved his life not all that long ago, is standing there, confused, a pretty redheaded girl at his side. He’s dressed down for the occasion, and it’s possible he looks even better than he did in the bulky, awkward policeman’s uniform that he’s used to encountering him in.
“Aaron. Hi.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine, I just happen to have lost an invisible duck.”
“DMITRI,” wails the witch from behind him.
Walter takes a deep breath and gives Aaron a very pleading look. “Help me.”
There’s a small twitch at the corner of Aaron’s mouth, fighting back a smirk at Walter’s predicament, and he glances back at the bemused redhead over his shoulder. “Bess?”
“I got Baba Evgenia. She loves me.” She then steps forward, pats Walter on the shoulder lightly. “You better find that duck.”
Water turns and watches her go, blinking in confusion for a moment, before turning back to Aaron. The other man shakes his head, before gesturing for Walter to follow him. “C’mon. I’ve got a good idea of where to start.”
“So. Baby Evgenia.”
They’ve grid searched their way through several blocks, calling for that stupid duck, and Aaron waits until he finds a nice pocket of silence to exercise judgement. Walter sighs sheepishly as he rubs the back of his neck, before nodding his agreement.
“Yeah. We’ve started the whole ritual courting allies thing. It’s … ”
“Terrifying?”
“Oh, shit yeah.” A laugh bubbles up out of him, unaware how much tension he’s been holding in without being able to talk about things as they are. “It’s just … I want to make a good impression, you know? I don’t want any of them to murder me in my sleep.”
“Want some unsolicited advice? Not that I have much experience but at least from my perspective?” Walter nods and he continues. “Don’t worry about impressing them. You don’t want them to have to see you as a kid. All of these delegates you’re meeting with are old as balls, and they don’t really give a shit about what you’ve done to be impressive. They want to make sure that as an ally, you’ll be worthy of their trust. Best way to do that is to put yourself on their level.”
“How the hell do I do that?”
“Have a little confidence.” Aaron reaches over to take his arm before turning him to face him. “You took out Merlin. You can take out them too, and they know it. Show a little more confidence and they’ll be ready to follow your lead.” He squeezes his arm gently. “Then you’ll be chasing a lot less ducks.”
“Point.” He sighs before turning back to the alleyway at hand. “Speaking of – DMITRI!”
This time, however, instead of silence, they heard a loud quack from the direction of one of the garbage cans. This is then followed by some rustling and some garbage spilling into the alleyway. The two men glance at each other for a moment and raise eyebrows at each other.
“Think that’s our duck?”
“Let’s find out.” Aaron’s hand reaches into his shirt for a moment, before fishing out the silver cross that usually hangs around his neck. He pauses for a moment, focusing his power, and it’s not long before a ring of white magic washes out over the alleyway, eventually fizzling out some spell lingering in the area. Just as the magic fizzles from view, there is an ornate duck lingering in the alleyway.
Walter gives a whoop of victory. Dmitri turns and begins to flee away from them. “Oh shit,” he mutters before flailing and taking off after the duck in question and preparing to catch it. “A little help here!?” he calls back over his shoulder, and he catches a glimpse of Aaron shaking his head and taking off after him.
Eventually they return to the Shake Shack, covered in feathers and dirt but holding Dmitri in hand. Bess and Baba Evgenia are waiting outside the restaurant for them, and the minute the duck comes into view, the old witch lets out a squeal of glee and takes it into her arms, murmuring sweet nothings in Russian. Bess smiles in return, before reaching up and clapping Walter on the shoulder.
“Nice job, Your Majesty.” Then she turns to Aaron and holds out a bag that smells like burgers. “I figured when you got back you’d want a shower and then food in that order, so I got our burgers to go.”
“You are awesome,” Aaron sighs as he takes the bag, popping it open and inhaling a deep breath with a happy sigh. “Thank God for red meat.”
Walter nods a bit as Bess goes to hail a cab, before offering Aaron a small smile. “Thanks, by the way. For the help. You didn’t have to.”
Aaron glances over at him with a small smile in return. “Let’s just say you owe me one.”
“Well, feel free to call in that one any time.” A beat. “Literally, any time, I have zero social life beyond royal appointments.”
Aaron laughs a bit, before eyeing him for a moment and taking another step closer. “That doesn’t sound so much like a favor – more like a date.”
Walter’s eyes widen and he swallows, eyes glancing tentatively over to the redhead. “But –?”
“We’re not dating. We’re just friends.”
“Occasionally with benefits,” Bess adds helpfully, and Aaron shoots her a look, before turning back to Walter.
“Though if this is the kind of fare that you usually save for dates...”
“God, no. There is a hundred percent less chance of ducks for our next date.” A beat. “First date. As we’re establishing that this is clearly not a –”
Walter is cut off by the other man stepping forward, moving one hand to rest against the side of his neck gently and leaning in for a warm kiss. Walter isn’t expecting it, and it takes him a moment to melt into it, but eventually he does, hands moving to rest against Aaron’s waist as he just relaxes and enjoys it. It’s probably the first time all evening that he actually feels like himself, so he’ll take it.
Eventually Aaron pulls back with a smirk, before nodding. “I’ll call you.”
“That sounds great,” Walter nods as the two of them get in the cab and he waves them off. He stands there, watching the cab go, when Baba Evgenia steps up next to him.
“I like him. Strong back. He’ll be a good lover.”
Walter is then shocked back to reality, and he turns to the older woman with a nod. “I will keep that in mind.”
“Come. We still have ice cream to get.”
Walter huffs a laugh, before shaking his head and falling into step next to her. “Of course, Baba Evgenia. Lead the way.”
Thankfully, the rest of the evening went without any greater incident. But all in all, he has to admit – that wasn’t a terrible first date. Though next time, he made sure that there were absolutely no ducks involved in any subsequent dates with Aaron.