Sanctuary Drabbles Project Week 11

This week’s prompts are:

Remember to tag all fics with #sanctuarydrabbles. Happy writing!!

Its autumn here, and reading conquer as a prompt inspired this. Ashley focused, but based in a family moment, set pre-series. Enjoy. :)

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Ashley held up her knotted lace proudly, grinning as her mother took a quick photo of her. They were stood in a patch of trees, the leaves orange and golden in the fall light, the sunlight glinting on her mother’s golden hair. Henry was standing to one side with uncle James, holding his own lace, trying to figure out how she’d won.

“She’s a Magnus, dear boy. It runs in the family,” she heard him explain.

“Ashley!” her mother called, smiling.

Smiling back, Ashley posed again, lace aloft. At its end, perched on the knot, was a shiny, all-conquering conker.

For the Sanctuary Drabble Project week 6 prompt - Yellow

Takes place during that brief duration that Nikola was a mere mortal like the rest of us…

Helen taps her knuckle against the wood softly before walking into the closed off bedroom. She wrinkles her nose when she smells the must and staleness that had taken over before rolling her eyes as she steps through to the other side of the room.

“I’m dying.”

She pushes back the curtains to let some light in before opening up one of the windows to cycle the air, “You have a cold, Nikola. You’re not dying.”

“I feel like I’m dying,” The former vampire wheezes from the bed, laid up dramatically in navy satin sheets and light blue pajamas with his night shirt gaping at the chest to reveal the amount of Vick’s VapoRub he’d slathered across his skin.

“It’s called congestion,” Helen tells him as she walks over to the bed and sits on the edge, “I brought you something.”

“Wine?”

“No, not wine,” She shakes her head with a huff of a laugh and digs in the grocery bag dangling from her fingers. She pulls out a light yellow, stuffed bat and wiggles it in his face, the wings flapping loosely. He wrinkles his nose and swipes at it before snatching it out of her hand.

“Really?” He gives her a droll look, his tone extremely nasal and stuffy. She grins and winks at him before pulling out two boxes and putting them on his bedside table along with a bottle of yellow Gatorade.

“I stopped at the store while I was out and got you some medicine. Follow the instructions, finish the sports drink, it’ll help. You need to stay hydrated.”

“You’re just tired of my whining.”

“I am very tired of your whining,” Helen agrees as she reaches out to brush his hair from his face, checking his temperature as her fingers touch his skin, “But I am also sympathetic to your plight considering it has been over a century since the last time you’ve had well…anything.”

“You got me yellow,” He points out after a moment of her fussing, holding the bat back up.

“It would be rude to get you a gift and not get it in your favorite color,” She smiles softly before patting him on the arm and standing up, “Get some rest.”

Nothing for ages then boom - I post a drabble. For @sanctuarydrabbles, the prompt space, Teslen, pre-Source Blood, poss AU? Meh. Oxford!Teslen ftw.

–

In the darkness all they could do, as the realisation of their situation sunk in, was breathe.

Then complain, audibly.

“Move your–”

“– There’s no–”

“That’s my nose!”

“That’s my–” A gasp. Then, strangled, “Not. My. Nose. Helen. Don’t squee–” Another gasp, suspiciously close to a moan. The sound of flesh on fabric filled the air. “Temptress.”

“Just curious…” Breathy.

Fingers find her waist, trail upwards over her corseted bodice. “Nikola?”

“Just curious.”

More fumbling. “Not enough room.” Hands on his cheeks, lips on his, a flat surface suddenly behind her.

Everyone gave the rattling cupboard a wide berth that afternoon.

Sanctuary Drabbles Project

Prompt: Wartime  Type: 100-1K AU  Nikola crouched in the trench, his gun loaded and his helmet fastened. The dirt that smeared his face was beginning to itch and his clothes were barely rags now. How he longed to be home with Helen, holding her close by a fire, his dandy little inventions and her vast collection of books scattered about the room. Glancing down at the picture in his hand only made his determination clearer. The woman smiling back at him reminding him of why he was fighting this war, and of who he needed to return to. He kissed the picture before tucking it back into his uniform. “Ready, boys?” He cries out, rallying the soldiers under his command. “Let’s end this godforsaken war.”

For the Sanctuary Drabble Project week 5 prompt - Candle

Helen bites her lip as she carefully presses the drill downward, not wanting the bit to go too deep and into the bottle, but needing it to penetrate deep enough into the cork for her project. Once she has a satisfactory hole she turns the drill off and sets it to the side before gently blowing to get rid of the tiny bits of cork left over. She sticks a single candle into the hole and smiles when it fits perfectly but also stays upright. Grabbing the bottle, two glasses, and a lighter she makes her way upstairs to the library.

Nikola looks up from the book he was reading when he hears her footsteps. He offers her a smile as he closes the cover before his brow furrows when he sees what she has in her hands.

“What are you…” He starts to ask as she sets the bottle and glasses down before igniting the lighter and lighting the wick of the blue birthday candle she’d stuck into the cork of the bottle of wine.

“I’d sing but you’ve told me before I sound like a strangled cat so…” She laughs and holds the bottle out to him, “Happy birthday, Nikola.”

Sanctuary Drabbles Prompt-  Yellow

Prompt: Yellow Fandom: Sanctuary  Characters: Helen Magnus & Nikola Tesla

“Oh, Nikola,” Helen gasped, taking the lid off the box and placing it to the side of her. She ran her fingers over the intricate design of the gift which lay inside, neatly wrapped in white tissue paper. Lifting the shimmering gown out, she stood and held it against herself.

The fitted bodice was strewn with tiny rhinestones which sparkled as they hit the morning light seeping through the drapes. The skirt flared out from underneath, layer upon layer of pale yellow satin and chiffon bleeding through the final layer of sheer lace. “It is beautiful. Thank you,” she whispered.

For the Sanctuary Drabble Project week 4 - Quick

This is an insert for Stay, a fic I initially started as part of Teslen Appreciation Week.

It wasn’t really fair was it? You spend nine whole months waiting for the thing. Which, by the way, is supposed to make an appearance around some arbitrary date that doesn’t mean squat. And then you decide to pitch in and help out for a change and bing, bang, boom, it’s all over and done with and that’s that.

Regardless of his presence, nothing stops Nikola from smiling a goofy grin as he holds Ellie in the crook of his arm, taking in the long eyelashes and button nose before looking up at Helen, who was holding Alexi.

“They’re fantastic.”

For the Sanctuary Drabble Project week 5 prompt - Hope

I really just needed to do this, ok? Ok. This takes place during S4, most likely before Helen rejoins the timeline.

“It is nice to see that you can wear something other than black, Helen,” A voice speaks from behind her. Helen turns on her heel and dips into a well-honed curtsey before straightening up.

“I was warned last time, ma’am,” A smile flits across Helen’s lips as she brushes her hands over the tartan skirt she was wearing, paired casually with a cream cardigan and a pair of riding boots. It definitely wasn’t her usual outfit. Extra effort had been taken to uniformly curl her hair and pull it away from her face and her makeup was much more understated than normal, “I thought this might fit in a little better.”

“It does, but your arrival has been so very cloak and dagger one of your previous outfits may have been fitting this time,” The Queen comments as Helen pours them each a cup of tea before they sit in the arm chairs situated in front of the fireplace. Normally Helen would have waited until the monarch was back in London, but instead ventured to Scotland and requested an audience on extremely short notice. She’d arrived at Balmoral shortly after dinner had ended, “Now, why have you come all the way to Scotland?”

“Would you believe me if I told you things are not as they seem?” Helen asks after taking a sip out of the fine china.

“Nothing involving you ever has,” The Queen replies, thinking back to when she’d been introduced to the never aging doctor when she was thirteen years old, “Would you like to tell me the long version or the short one?”

“I think the short will suffice this time,” Helen replies, giving the extremely short and brief version of her situation before setting her almost empty cup down, “I need to know that my family’s home will be safe, ma’am.”

“The Sanctuary in London has always had amnesty in its operations…”

“I know,” Helen interrupts, “It’s not about the operations this time. In the original agreement signed, the house would transfer to crown ownership should the Sanctuary collapse. As we built out the network the agreement was revised…”

“Are you planning for that to happen?”

Helen bites her lip and turns her head to look into the flames burning only a few feet away. After a few moments she looks back at the woman across from her, her eyes guarded and dark, “Planning for it, no, but the writing is on the walls. I was hoping that the house could be preserved, as long as it can be.”

“Of course.”

“That’s it?”

“Helen, the amount of work that you’ve done for England alone is enough to leave us indebted to you for another lifetime. As long as the crown stands it will do everything it can to protect what you’ve built, including your father’s home.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Now, if that’s all for business, there might be a bit of pudding left over with your name on it.”

“I couldn’t imp…”

“Helen. I get the feeling this is the last that we might see of each other for a while. I think we can indulge in a little impropriety for an evening.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Helen nods with a small smile before getting to her feet, helping the older woman up before following her out of the sitting room.

A kind of silly drabble today for @sanctuarydrabbles. Henry centric with Nikola making an appearance, for the prompt: Threshold. Set anytime after Nikola and Henry become vaguely close enough to talk about things other than work. XD

–

It was on as background noise, something to distract Henry’s conscious mind as he tried to untangle the hows of making new tech for Magnus. Why she needed it he’d find out later, but seriously? It was a headache.

“What is that?”

He groaned, headache multiplied. “Star Trek,” he answered, not turning to face Tesla.

“Where’s Kirk?”

“… Voyager.”

“And the catfish with legs?”

Henry scrunched up his nose. “Catfi–? Oh!” He shook his head, fumbling with the remote. “We don’t talk about this episode.”

“Why?”

“Very bad science…” Grimacing, sadness tingeing his words, he added, “And they abandon the babies.”

Sanctuary Drabbles: Week 5 Prompt- Sand

Nikola looked up at the sound of a vehicle approaching, he squinted as the wind blew sand into his face. Helen turned the ignition off and stepped out of the car, her blonde hair pulled back into a loose braid. She glanced around before spotting Nikola waiting at the top of the entrance. She reached into the car, grabbing her satchel before running over to him.

“Are you ready, darling?” Helen grinned, leaning in and kissing his cheek.

“Of course.” Nikola nodded with a smile as he took her hand and lead her down the steps into the infamous pyramid.

Sanctuary Drabbles Project: Week 5 Prompt- Candle

In the dark of the night, Helen crept through the hallways of her home, her only source of light was the candle she was holding. Her skirts swished around her ankles as she tiptoed down the stairs to the sealed room her father had shown her only days earlier.

Turning the key, the door squeaked open, exposing the sounds of sleeping Abnormals. She had been fascinated with a particular one, a young mermaid who had reached out to her when her father had walked her through the hallways.

Helen sat down by the tank, placing the candle holder on the floor, she touched the glass and smiled as the mermaid swam towards her and mimicked her actions.

They spent the next few months doing this, Helen sneaking out of her room to spend time with the mermaid, telling her all of her fears and dreams. Until one day her father approached her, a grim look on his face. He couldn’t save her, the disease that had taken so many merfolk had taken Helen’s closest friend.

The news came as a sharp pain in her chest, she had been speaking to the mermaid only hours before and she realised she had never asked about why the mermaid was there.

Thus began her resolve to find and care for any other Abnormals that came into her life, she knew now what her father’s mission was and why it was so important.