#chapter 1 is obviously well. it's the opening chapter it has to be the hook. and i really could make it better

[sonofcelluloid]

Sonofcelluloid’s Top 30(ish) Favorite Devil’s Minion Fics:

In no particular order, this list only includes finished works that are relatively canon compliant (I’ll be making separate lists for AUs and fics in progress.) Anything in italics is a direct quote from the fic or its description. Please remember to check tags and ratings before reading.

You’ll Always Be My Favorite Ghost by lestatslestits: Tales of Armand’s turbo autism as Daniel gets to know and love him. This one is so sweet and had me laughing my ass off.

outcast of all this night by gaypiratedivorce: Modern Devil’s Minion fic of all time. Rewired my brain. "I mean, I don't know how you guys did it in Renaissance Italy, but most people this century get to at least second base before wearing each other's blood around our necks." There’s a part 2: my aid against the boredom of the eternal where they finally hook up. And honestly every fic from this author is a banger.

I’d Break the Back of Love for You by kurow: 70s Armandaniel. A rescue and a sick fic wrapped in one, and I’m a sucker for both.

Like That by GrayGiantess: Fluffy 70s Armandaniel. A tooth achingly sweet first kiss fic, featuring Twinkie’s. Again, every fic from this author is a banger.

The Beginning is the End is the Beginning by trinityofone: Daniel sees a wild vision during his turning. “I deserve this,” Armand said. His hold on Daniel’s throat was almost a caress. “After what I’ve been through, I deserve something of my own, don’t I?”

make a home from a rented house by sleepdeprivedsurgeon: Daniel realizes Armand has never really had a room of his own before. Armand slowly builds his own safe place. Super fluffy autistic Armand stuff. Domestic vampire polycule bonus.

the spiral is unspooling by reedroad: Armand helps Daniel recover their Devil’s Minion years via old video tapes they filmed of their meetings. Absolutely heart wrenching and wonderful and charming and had some of the most jaw dropping plot twists I’ve ever experienced in a DM fic. The last chapter absolutely floored me and rewired my brain forever. May be my #1 fav.

forever’s gonna start tonight by trinityofone: Hate fucking with a happy ending:) Sort of a soulmate fic as well. “I fucking hate you. And you hate me. So something is making us do this.” “I don’t hate you,” Armand pants. “You mean nothing to me. Don't stop.”

care and keeping by katplanet: A surprisingly tender guide for how to step on your boyfriend. Bonus Danlou. Smutty and fluffy and freakayyy. GREAT dialogue. Very funny as well.

hell is: by cannibalenthusiast: Another turning fic. Post Dubai blowout, Armand and Daniel bond over martinis, breakups, and a Survivor marathon. They bang about it. Great ending.

5 Times Daniel Molloy Imagined Killing Marius de Romanus (+1 Time He Actually Did It) by platoapproved: This one is genuinely a masterpiece. Probably my #2 fav. Lots of protective Daniel, some really cool and original vampire-lore stuff, Louis and Lestat being beautifully supportive along with other new side characters. Armand finally gets to process his abuse among allies. A really touching Lestat subplot as well. HEAVY trigger warnings for all Marius related assaults, but obviously we get to watch him die horribly to make up for it:) Absolute banger of an ending, totally sticks the landing.

lesson three: parasitic infections by kanxie: 70s Armandaniel. Armand picks out Alice as a third and does NOT like the way the night progresses. What unfolds is some of the CRAZIEST psychosexual (emphasis on psycho) gremlin Armand shit I’ve ever seen in a fic. So perfectly Armand. Short and sweet, sad ending.

open up your skull, i’ll be there by Anonymous: First time fic. Armand dipped after Daniel’s turning and when he shows up again Daniel ain’t letting him leave. “Your blood is my blood,” Daniel says, and Armand does not flinch. “It’s your blood getting me hard. Your blood that’s pumping through me.” Armand licks his lips, and still doesn’t move. “Please. Armand, Armand, please.” “Beg for it.” “I am begging for it, this is what begging looks like —”

Disintegration by lilacaisle: Daniel goes crazy when Armand locks him in the apartment and tries to burn himself with a cigarette so it will feel like being bitten🙈 Armand does BDSM about it. This one’s actually book Armandaniel but I didn’t notice it until like the third read because it fits show Armandaniel so perfectly.

baby, cry baby by Babeblox: Daniel seeks out Lestat for an interview after Louis’ attack, but he’s being haunted by someone else. Canon divergence. This one legit made me cry. Dark but very sweet. Wild ending.

get in my mind (do you see my heart?) by Marenke: 70s Armandaniel, Armand character study. Armand is pretty sure he and Daniel have never had a problem a little brainwashing couldn’t fix. SICK AND TWISTEDDDDD (affectionate).

The Importance of Being Armand by Siria: Daniel and Armand talk about the power of naming. "If you can imagine a different set of possibilities for me as a vampire, ever think of what you could come up with for yourself, if you put your mind to it?"

Bumpin' That (Bumpin' That Bumpin' That Bumpin' That) by TheAngelsAreWatching: Daniel and Lestat are fuck buddies. They are on a tour bus a la Word Tour. They do coke. They try to bang. And then Armand stops time and walks in. Armandaniel fuck crazy style. Pure filth (affectionate).

Run, Arun! by TheNightColors: Autistic Armand, character study. Daniel learns it was considered a “crime” to turn Armand due to his “mental retardation”. Armand explains what it was like to be an autistic child in the sixteenth century, and an autistic adult for 500 years after. Heavy stuff. Trigger warning for all things relating to Amadeo’s past and for the internalized ableism instilled in Armand by his upbringing.

a haunting just for company by valkyrisms: Post Dubai blowout but pre Daniel’s turning, Armand crashes on Daniel’s couch. A modern Devil’s Minion fic for the ages. These weirdos love each other so bad. Some really memorable tender scenes. This one’s a fan favorite. “You’re fond of me.” “You’re a nuisance.”

The Company of Monsters by ruiqi: A full deconstruction of Marius’ abuse from Armand’s pov as he struggles to keep old patterns from repeating with Daniel. Overall I think this is the most realistic depiction of what it would be like for Armand to come to terms with his abuse in the modern day, especially regarding Daniel’s involvement. He’s totally out of his depth but wants so badly to help. This one made me SOB. It’s honestly a really tough read, but beautifully done. “You said, last night, that he wanted an angel,” says Daniel, “but no one's an angel, Armand. That wasn't fair to you. Besides, who would want an angel when they could have you?” “No,” Armand says. “No, you can’t say that.” “You can’t fucking stop me,” says Daniel. And it isn’t tagged, but this one is incredible autistic Armand representation. Probably my #3 fav.

Smart Boy by heliza24: Just a really good 70s Devil’s Minion era explanation of the events leading up to Armand’s decision to take Daniel’s memories away. Quite a bit of infidelity stuff in this one. Also delves a lot into Daniel’s family history, and an emotional affair is established between them long before they actually hook up. Very emotional. Heartbreaking last chapter.

We Dared Eternity and Won by faerywhimsy: A 70s Devil’s Minion era telling of the four good years they had before everything imploded. Louis has somewhat of a distant obsession with Daniel in this and so is very involved in Armand’s decisions regarding him. Favorite scene is when Armand saves Daniel from a hotel fire and the near loss devastates him because it makes him realize he’s in love with Daniel.

reprise. by SheOfBadIdeas: In Dubai, Daniel demands Armand show him the memories he stole. Armand relays the tale of their romance, but Daniel is begrudged to give Armand the satisfaction of giving in to it. That doesn’t last long;)

Waiting by bandedbulbussnarfblat: 70s fic. Daniel is living with Alice and hasn’t seen Armand in two months. He gets a call from Armand, who just got a proposal from Marius asking him to be his companion again. “I told him I couldn't go back. That I was waiting for you.” Daniel sucks in a sharp breath. Fuck. Armand's voice sounds almost wet, strained and raspy. He finally sounds as vulnerable as Daniel always wanted to see him be. “Should I keep waiting for you, Daniel?” (It’s just banger after banger with this author too.)

The Monster of my Memories by GrayGiantess: In Dubai, Daniel has just remembered his relationship with Armand and he’s PISSED. Armand gladly reminds him he’s waited 40 years for Daniel, he doesn’t mind waiting a little while more, and he’s not so sure Daniel has the same conviction🙈 Phenomenal subby old man Daniel material.

Delicate Machinery by Lilac Tinsel: An in depth look at the 70s love affair that neither man ever saw coming, in all its complicated glory. Really dives into the psychological consequences of Armand’s constant rejections. Amazing take on what the actual memory alteration would look like. The part that broke me: “I’m sorry for– for all of it. I didn’t realize how much I took. I just… wanted to stop thinking for a moment.” Armand blinks slowly and his eyebrows knit together. His voice is small but steady. “Did you take the drugs so you wouldn’t feel me anymore?”

You Taste Like Suburbia by CannibalGender: This is the only unfinished work I’m putting on this list because it’s so fucking good as is and gave me chills when I read it. It’s the 80s, Armand, famously normal about his partners' families, haunts the Molloys. I absolutely love Alice in this. Paints such an intriguing picture of what these years might have looked like from an “outside” pov.

Two parter I’ll chew you up and I’ll spit you out and Oh dear diary, I met a boy by weathermood: Loumandaniel in Dubai, set just after the season 1 finale. Asks, what if Daniel doesn’t want to remember? An exploration of identity while Louis and Armand try to persuade Daniel to allow his memories of their past relationship to be restored. Explores dreams and memories beautifully and with delightful humor. Classic unhinged Armand.

138 lbs, for the metrically challenged by hummingbeeoOo: Fluffy and funny. After Daniel’s turning and subsequent hunting down of his maker, they’re shacked up and happier than ever, but a little something from the interview has kept nagging at Daniel. Or: there is exactly zero way a beanpole like Armand weighed a measly 62.5 kilograms a day in his adult life. The end of this fic had me kicking my feet and giggling. This whole series is great tbh.

This list is my pride and joy. Thank you to the anon who asked for recs<3 Feel free to share your own favorites in the reblogs:)

[tf-es-unbreakable-au]

Starscream's fight glossary.

Basically, it's a way for me to give you guys some explanation to some terminology and techniques that I'll be using and describing.

The twist is that this is my attempt at making it in-universe as well. I hope to one day accompany these with drawings breaking it down but I'm nowhere near skilled enough for that just yet.

Not only that, but I'll be updating it as our boy picks up some new tricks, and when it gets updated, I'll hyper-link it under the chapter.

Entry #1

A place to document my findings after studying the fleshlings' pitiful techniques.

I'll begin with the basics, the right and left servo'd stances.

The "Orthodox" or right-servo'd stance involves the left pede positioned forwards with the right pede behind you, facing 45 degrees to the right. The left servo is the "lead" or front servo, while the right is the "power servo."

The left-servo'd, or "southpaw" stance is the exact opposite; the right pede is in front with the left pede behind facing the left. The right servo now serving as the lead and the left as the power servo.

There's several benefits to each I've been able to gather after viewing footage...here and there.

One thing true about fleshlings and cybertronians is the preference towards a dominant servo. If a southpaw were to face an orthodox, their lead servos and pedes would be perfectly aligned.

One tactic widely used by southpaws is to get their lead pedal "outside" of their opponents' lead pedal, aligning their power servo directly down the middle.

Another tactic used by both orthodox and southpaw fighters against one another is to arc their lead hook over their opponents' lead servo or shoulder plating. This is especially effective as it comes at an unconventional angle and is difficult to see coming. It also serves as a way to "take away" an opponents jab.

The main focus of a Southpaw vs. Orthodox fight is to "take away" or consistently counter an opponents jab. Either that shut their activity down entirely.

A tactic used by orthodox fighters against southpaws is the lead (left) hook to the chasis. Humans obviously have less plating and armor than cybertronians, but the right side of the chasis is (generally) more likely to contain more vital components such as the tank and transmission. With the southpaws lead servo and pede forward, this also makes their entire right side vulnerable to an orthodox fighters left servo.

...

Well, that was long-winded.

A good tactic ivs also seen from southpaws is the use of the straight-left servo to the body. As stepping out doesn't just align their left with their opponents' helm, it also aligns it perfectly to the center of the chasis, even where the spark chamber is!

...

I'm getting bored of this, let's move on to something else.

Despite what I thought I knew about servo-to-servo combat, there is a science behind it... quite a bit of it, in fact.

The jab is the most basic tool in a fighters' arsenal. It is a punch of many uses, both offensively and defensively.

It's a simple, straight, quick punch with the lead servo. It can be thrown at great distance with relative safety, it can also be doubled into a "double-jab"

It also usually involves a quick step with the lead servo forwards, though they can switch this up by instead moving backwards with their rear pede first. This is to either create distance or to close distance.

Examples of using it offensively include using it to clear an opponents guard for a rear (power) servo, throwing it to the chasis to entice an opponent to drop the guard slightly, a perfect opening, and using it to heard opponents around.

The rear straight is different from the jab in that it has much more force and momentum behind it as it involves a twist of the pelvis and rear pede. The straight is usually preceeded by a jab, this is simply referred to by the humans as a (hilariously) simple "1-2" with the "1" being the jab and the '2" being the straight.

I wonder if the fleshlings are so good at simplifying things because trying to retain all the knowledge would make their squishy little helms explode... the thought brings a chuckle out of me.

The humans have a different variation of the rear straight. They call it the "overhand"... typical humans.

From this point forward, I will be referring to it as a "cross" due to it crossing over the opponents lead servo. It's the most simple, yet one of the most effective counters to the jab.

The counter usually goes slipping (the act of darting the helm to one side to barely evade an attack) an opponents jab and coming over with a cross as they're returning it to their faceplate.

A "hook" is a punch thay thrown from the side as opposed to coming out straight. It also involves a deep twist of the pelvis while throwing and can generate an incredible amount of force in a short amount of time over a short distance.

A lead hook is a hook thrown with the lead servo. It is a useful attack because it can be thrown with all the weight planted on the lead servo for extra weight behind it, or it can be "snapped" out quickly and if done right, will have practically no telegraph.

I'm not going to go over why the left hook to the chasis is useful because I already did earlier, but simplifying it, it's because the right side of the chasis is more likely to contain vital components.

The rear hook has an immense amount of power momentum behind it and involves the rear pede. Same general principle as the lead hook.

And "uppercut" is a very... unconventional attack.

It involves dropping one's weight down as well as their respective servo, before launching it upwards.

One benefit of this punch is that it's very quick to bring your servo back to a guarding position. It can also be utilized at point-blank range, either to the chasis or helm.

The lead uppercut can be thrown underneath an adversaries jab to set up other strikes but the rear uppercut is where the explosive force is.

I must admit, this was quite fun to write out... maybe I'll keep studying the humans, after all one must know their enemy.

[mayajadewrites]

Almost: Levi Ackerman x Reader

Modern AU Levi Ackerman x Reader fanfic I've been dying to write! Levi is my latest hyper fixation so this was bound to happen. There will be other AOT characters in the mix, but remember this is a modern AU!

Chapter 4 - Tequila

Chapter Summary: Levi has to tend to some work things, which leads you to turn to your second favorite drink to coffee: tequila.

ao3 link

☕︎⋆˙⟡♡☕ LEVI ☕︎⋆˙⟡♡☕

Fucking Erwin. He never bothers me, but when my dick is hard and I'm making out with a beautiful woman, he decided to call.

"What." I say through my teeth, turning towards the wall.

"Why are you so grumpy?" Erwin asked with a slight giggle.

"It's Saturday, my day off, and you're calling me."

"You never care if you have to take work calls on weekends. Unless -"

"If you finish that sentence I will punch you right into next week."

"Jesus, Levi." I could tell Erwin was shaking his head on the other side of the phone. "We need you to come to the office. One of the stakeholders has dropped out of the latest project and the team is in shambles."

I sucked my teeth, leaning my head back. "I'll be there soon."

The last thing I wanted to do was leave you because 1. I enjoy spending my time with you. 2. My dick is hard as fuck and now I'm gonna have to jerk off later tonight to relieve myself.

When I turn around, you're already up and grabbing my coat for me. Your eyes have a slight sheen to them, almost like you're about to cry.

"I had fun." Your smile is kind, which makes leaving that much harder.

"I'm sorry." I grab my coat from your hands, a sigh leaving my lips.

"We'll talk soon."

☕︎⋆˙⟡♡☕ BRATTY BARISTA ☕︎⋆˙⟡♡☕

"We'll talk soon." Levi kissed your forehead, leaving your apartment.

What the fuck does that mean? Levi is so elusive, you think you know what he's thinking when in reality you have no idea. You couldn't believe he just... left. You knew it was work related, but still.

But what the hell do you know about being a CEO.

You slid your phone out of your back pocket and typed in Nina's name.

You: Let's go out tonight.

Nina: You've never asked for a girls night out... what's up?

You: Can't I be spontaneous?

Nina: Nope.

You: Well I wanna go out tonight. Are you in or no?

Nina: Duh. I'll be at your place at 8.

Did you want to go out because you wanted to be 'spontaneous' or did you want to go out to get your mind off Levi?

The latter. Obviously.

☕︎⋆˙⟡♡☕

Staring at yourself in the full length mirror, you glide your hands over your curves that Levi was touching before. You swear you could still feel his firey touch.

You turned your body to the side, nodding in approval of how your ass looked in your dress. Your heels twist as you take one last look in the mirror before hearing knocking at your door.

Your dress is a black, high neck, ripped dress with a slit to show off your thigh. You paired it with black strappy heels and small gold hoops. Your makeup is different from the usual - still glowy but more dramatic and your hair was in loose waves.

Truth be told, you didn’t want to let yourself fall to fast for Levi. You had 2 dates with him - that didn’t mean he was yours. Not that you even knew what you were, the dating climate is so fucked up that it seems like everyone just wants to hook up but never have a mental and emotional connection.

You’ve hooked up with plenty of guys before, but they’ve never made you cum. How sad is that? With the amount of dicks that have been inside you, not one actually pleasured you.

“Knock knock!” Nina interrupted your thoughts. “Can you let me in?”

The sound of your heels against the hardwood floor echoed. “Sorry!” You open the door with a smile. Nina greets you with a hug and a bottle of tequila.

“I brought your favorite so we can pregame! The club won’t be actually fun until like 11.”

“Give me that.” You swipe the bottle, unscrewing the cap and pouring a shot in your mouth.

“Damn, bad date?”

“Not bad, but he left when we were getting hot and heavy.”

“Um what?” Nina’s eyes were in disbelief.

“Yeah. Let’s not talk about it.” Your mind wanders to your phone. You put it on do not disturb and haven’t checked it since you asked Nina if she wanted to go out.

Nina could talk for hours. She told you about her latest flings, some work gossip, and how she thinks she’s now lactose intolerant.

4 shots later, you and Nina were buzzed. Nina called the Uber, and you both were off.

The club was about a 15 minute drive away. It’s a newer club that everyone was at every weekend.

You felt your phone buzz in your purse, but did nothing. The Uber pulled up to the club around 10:30. You could faintly hear the music from the building, bodies flooding into the doors.

☕︎⋆˙⟡♡☕

“Tequila pineapple, please.” You ask the bartender, handing him a $10.

“There’s so many cute guys here!” Nina wiggled her hips to the music, sipping her drink.

Nina is right, there are a lot of cute guys here.

None of them come close to Levi Ackerman.

But that man is not yours.

Bzzzzzz.

You ignore your phone again, swaying to the beat. You feel a body crash into yours, slightly spilling your drink.

“I am so sorry.” A taller man said, grabbing napkins from the bar behind him. “I should look where I’m going.”

The man had light brown hair that matched his eyes. His body towered over yours as he handed you napkins. “My name is Jean.”

You tell Jean your name, shaking his hand softly. “It’s okay, no big deal.” You sipped your drink, feeling your anxiety fade away. “You owe me another drink though.”

“Honestly, I wanted to get you one anyways. You look gorgeous.”

A blush graced your cheeks as you walked to the bar, ordering another tequila pineapple.

Bzzzz.

Bzzzz.

Bzzzz.

Nina found you and brought 3 new friends: Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. Eren had longish hair with green eyes, Armin sported blonde locks with stunning blue eyes, and Mikasa was one of the most gorgeous women you’ve ever seen. Dark and sharp features. You might also be scared of her.

“You found Jean!” Eren laughed, punching his shoulder lightly. “We’ve been looking for you!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jean placed his hand on your waist swaying slowly to the beat of the music.

Bzzzzz. Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Bzzzzz.

“Ugh, one second.” You pulled away from Jean, taking your phone out of your purse.

Levi: 10 unread texts

Levi: 11 missed calls

As you were putting your phone in your purse, a call popped up.

Levi is calling…📞

“Hello?” You covered one of your ears, trying to hear him over the music.

“Where the fuck are you?” Levi’s tone was filled with anger. “I’ve been calling you for hours.”

“I’m out. Is that okay?” The sarcasm jumped from your tongue.

“Where.”

“Where what?”

“Where are you?”

“Ummmm. The club is called Vibe. I’m not sure where though.”

“Why haven’t you been -“

“Gotta go!” You pressed the big red button, throwing your phone in your purse.

Jean dances with you for a few more songs, asking about your life as much as he could since it’s so loud in the club.

Then you feel a familiar hand on your waist, forcefully pulling you into him.

[theserpentsadvocate]

Aaaaah, I love stuff like this, thank you!

Tagged by: @copperarsenite

Tagging: @feeisamarshmallow @allonsymiddleearth @iceberg-hootenanny (and basically anyone who wants to, honestly)

rules: post the first lines of up to 10 of your last fics/chapters posted on ao3 or your wips and try to draw some conclusions.

I'm going with fics in general, not chapters (because otherwise it would be entirely Satisfaction), and probably sticking to VM fic because all the Tolkien stuff I've posted recently has been crossposting. So last five posted and last five WIPs worked on. :)

(Also, warning that the second-last sentence has a racial slur (used by a character.))

Satisfaction

Veronica’s dad was the sheriff, so she was usually pretty scrupulous about not breaking the law. 

Flipping the Script

All Jade wanted was to get her mother’s car and drop it off with enough time to get to the library before it closed, and since the library was open late on Thursdays and she’d stopped to pick it up at 4 PM, it hadn’t seemed that difficult.

Unexpected Dividends

It was probably weird to run a to-do list for your boss in your head, but Eli had been doing it since his second month on the job, because Fred was competent, and reasonably organized, and obviously he was a hell of a mechanic, but his ability to prioritize was a little bit whacked out.

The Most Important Part

“Hot date?”

The Art of Starting Over

It turned out that calling your sort-of boyfriend after a whole week and a half of radio silence was daunting.

Choices (upcoming post S4 oneshot)

Jade grew up in San Diego.

Hunger Games AU for 'X universes Veronica didn't grow up in'

I didn’t sleep well, the night before the Reaping.

untitled WIP (zombie non-AU, post-S4)

Veronica made it home for the end of the world.

Carmen for 'Would've, Could've, Should've' (pending oneshot series)

Yesterday, Carter Phelps shoved Carmen into the stair railing and called her a wetback, like her parents swam all the way here from Venezuela.

Circle of Magic AU for 'X universes Veronica didn't grow up in'

The first time the Guard caught Weevil breaking into a rich man’s house, they tattooed an X on the web of skin between his thumb and first finger and threw him into a cell for the night.

*

So for the obvious – I favour third person (which I knew), and I’m a bit heavier on female POVs than I anticipated (which I’m pleased with, actually). Also Jade's very prominent, and since I’m already 50% of the Jade/Eli tag on AO3, that doesn’t exactly shock me.

(It’s not immediately obvious for all of them, but every single one of these is Weevil-heavy, which is the most unshocking thing possible. I think I have exactly one VM fic in progress where he’s not central to the entire premise, and even there he’s still majorly present.)

Other than that, the closest thing to a trend that I can pick up is that apparently I like opening sentences that feel either dynamic or relatable? Satisfaction and the post-canon zombie fic both have the more classic hook of raising questions about what’s going on, and most of the JEC fics as well as Carmen’s WCS entry are an attempt to jump you right into the characters’ heads or at least their social reality. Whereas the fusion AUs seem to establish their crossover-fandom immediately (THG with an immediate reference to a well known part of that universe, and COM by heavily echoing Briar’s introductory sentence). I don’t know if I did it on purpose, but I like it, so I’ll have to see how much/if that holds true for the other ones in the series. (The BTVS and Animorphs ones are harder, because they involve discovering something, but the summary of the latter will definitely start with My name is Veronica…, and the 1-800-WHERE-R-U one starts with a direct shout-out.)

Anyway! I’d be interested to know if there’s anything that strikes you. :)

[etrosgate]

when i initially read the manga (+watched the anime), it was something i liked, but felt like there was just something lacking that prevented me from truly loving it. then i started reading the novel and it filled in all those lacking spots as well as fixing some issues i had and now it's easily my favorite version (even without having read all of it) and i really really love shiki in general.

EDIT: i forgot to link to the fantranslation!! it's incomplete, but they've gotten a good way into the book. (~78%) start reading from here, and make sure to read the cultural/translation notes between chapters! they're pretty important for this particular narrative

for shiki fans who don't know anything about the novel, here's some interesting differences.

most of them stem largely from the shift in target demographic. the original novel is pretty obviously for an adult audience, while the shiki manga was published in a shonen magazine. to facilitate that, they upgraded natsuno's role from a side character to protagonist.

while also being for age reasons, i'm pretty sure it was a decision also made to narrow the scope (for at least the beginning of the story). the novel is Very much an ensemble piece, with the first chapter alone having 8 different pov characters. it's to the point where singling out a protagonist is more of a matter of figuring out"who has the most pov chapters" and "who is most central to the narrative" than an obvious answer. i'd be most confident in saying that seishin is the protagonist (with toshio as the next closest to it).

it's a lot easier to get teens hooked on the smaller but more active natsuno+other kids drama plot, as opposed to in-his-30's seishin and 1 million various other normal people who live in the town gossiping about how so-and-so saw a car coming towards sotoba suddenly stop and turn back around before it got there lmao.

if you couldn't tell already, the novel is extremely slow-paced and mundane. up until page 545 (out of 1,271) when toshio has that conversation with natsuno and first begins to consider the possibilities of vampires, there is no overt signal to the reader that anything supernatural is occurring. it's largely a medical mystery, with some overall ominous feeling and the occasional character feeling like someone's watching them, natsuno realizing someone picked up some of the fragments of the letter he shredded.

for context, that same scene where the doctor realizes its vampires occurs about 43% into the book, while in the anime it's 20%. people who found the anime/manga too slow paced would NOT be able to handle the novel haha

and let me be clear, i fucking love that about it. the extremely grounded tone (and lack of those crazy character designs) suits the story sooooo well, and it benefits from taking all that time getting to know the village (even if it was really difficult to keep track of who was who). everyone feels very... real. people you can easily see being your neighbors irl, in the best ways and the worst. while still being clearly sympathetic, it also establishes how the cruelty that ensues from the humans in the ending came from flaws they had long before the shiki ever came.

i ended up just talking about shiki so i forgot the fun facts lmao

natsuno never becomes a shiki, he just dies.

akira also dies, as there is no natsuno to save him.

the novel opens with a prologue showing the ending, the pov of a fire fighter driving to deal with the fire consuming sotoba, who sees a man (seishin) driving away from the town with a coffin in his car's truck bed

tohru's a bit older, more firmly an adult and cool older brother kind of best friend

the kirishiki mansion itself has more of a presence (makes sense, considering the novel is intended to be a play on stephen king's salem's lot)

i don't htink this bit has been translated yet, but i do know the lore explanation for werewolves: if you have parents who are both genetically predisposed to rising as shiki, their child would be genetically predisposed to rising as a werewolf

when seishin arrives at the hospital and finds out about toshio's experimentation+killing of kyoko, he doesn't immediately leave. he initially helps him clean up, and only starts objecting once the conversation uncovers the fact that toshio doesn't view what he did as murder. in fact, it didn't even occur to him. they have an argument about it, with seishin unable to accept toshio's desire to kill the shiki when it is done with the intent of exterminating an existence because it's "unnatural", and toshio unable to accept seishin's inaction, as his refusal to fight the shiki means condemning the village to its death. and so they part, unable to deny the truth in the others' accusations.

[j-a-smiths-blog]

1126 8July24: Chapter 190

Day 295 away from #murica.

I mark today as day 1 of the struggle bus.

Why the struggle bus?

This is why. No expensive equipment. A second hand Stationary bike so I can start burning calories. There is no statistic kept on this bike as it's strictly a time thing. There obviously was some type of electronics hooked up to it at one point but... its second hand of course I don't get the screen. I'm fine with that. It means I really gotta feel the workout and push myself.

Of course, I am going to buy an odometer eventually because I'd like to see how many miles or kilometers I am riding to keep track of, but it's not exactly important.

So this morning I ate some rice, egg and chicken Vienna sausage along with drinking one "energy drink" which is not like one of those big name brand things... my wife had bought some powdered drink mixes that are slightly carbonated... I don't know how to really describe it but I drank 32 ounces of berry before and during my bike ride. Now I am going to get ready for a shower and then I need to get my laptop out and review my MRI scans to make sure I can view them before Thursday when I go back to this doctor in Angeles City.

I need to talk to the wife about leaving out early so we can hit up medical city as well to look into these other items the doctor has requested. If they have the open MRI machine, I have to see if the VA will cover that cost or I'll have to go to Manila to St. Luke's.

Well I have to stay on the positive side of things so... I'll leave yall for now!

[shiinata-library]

Photography lessons [2/3]

&lt; Chapter 1

Relationships: Ray Levine x fem!Reader

Summary: You ask Ray to teach you how to develop an old camera film because you have a crush on you.

Chapter 2

Second lesson: how to turn a film to a negative? 

A few weeks pass before you plan a new lesson with Ray. Taking good photos takes time and it was something you haven't had for a while, but you released you enjoyed it very much. Maybe it could be your new hobby! So, once you took the 24 shots, you called Ray and he agreed to a new lesson on the Friday following your call. 

Like the last time, you come to his home after work. It’s night and humid since it’s the end of autumn. The coat you choose is just enough to keep you warm, and you almost slipped on wet leaves on the way. What an idea to want to be pretty and wear heels! 

When Ray opens his front door, his smile has nothing to do with the one that does when you come to pick up your nephew. He lets you enter, taking your coat like the last time. After offering you a warm drink, you sit on the same chair from the last time with the old camera in your hands.

 “How did it go?” he asks as he starts making your warm drink. “I was beginning to worry since I hadn't heard from you.”

 “Oh sorry. It’s just, taking good photos was hard. I didn’t want to waste the film,” you say, embarrassed.

 “I already told you not to worry about it. Out of 24, it's impossible not to have one or two good ones,” he jokes. “Ready to turn the film into negatives?”

When he joins you, you both chat about what you took in the photo while you drink. Ray looks interested in what your subjects are. City? Nature? Family? Friends? Boyfriend?

No boyfriend, it seems. Then, Ray explains to you how to recover the film correctly. 

To take the film out of the camera, it has to be in the dark, but it's not like in the films where the character is in a room with a red-light. Ray takes out some equipment and spreads it out on his desk, explaining that you will have to take the film out of the camera without seeing it. You will have to use several tools in a kind of big bag that is totally opaque to light.

After a long but clear explanation, and a test on a non-usable film, you try. It works the second time, and your film is now in a round box as he asked for.

After that, you have to change the film to a negative. Ray explains to you the process, which requires patience and chemistry. You have to use the right volume of chemical products to change the film to negative, and for that, you have to remove your pullover and put gloves on. As Ray removes his red and black shirt to be in a t-shirt, you notice all his tattoos. Obviously, you can’t help but observe them. 

 “Cassie?” you read on his arm in a playful tone. “Lucky girl!”

As you see him avoiding your eyes and focusing on the material, you understand you made a blunder.

 “Not anymore. Hm, put 350mL on that in the beaker,” he says as he gives you a small can of chemical liquid. 

After that, you only talk to say something intelligent or useful. No more personal questions. 

It takes you more than half-hour to finish it, and when you can get out the now called negative, you are so proud of you! You can see all the photos you took on it, one after the other in a long succession of negatives. Ray hooks it on the top of a shelf so that it falls straight down.

 “It’s great! So great! I was worried I didn’t do it correctly! It’s so small but I can see my photos even so. Look, it’s my nephew and my sister!”

Beaming at him, you point him some negatives without touching it. He walks closer to you, laughing at your exaggerated reaction. 

 “Yes, I can see them. I hope they won't be blurry,” he laughed.

 “It’s almost impossible for him to be motionless, so it’s very possible it’s blurry. It won’t be my fault, I paid attention not to move like you told me,” you say, shrugging as you are still looking at the negatives.

Ray looks at it as well, interested in what you photographed. His eyes watch seriously every negative, one by one.

 “Are you looking for something in particular?” you ask with a worried smile. “Or did I do something wrong?”

 “No. It’s perfect,” Ray says with a smile. “It looks interesting. I’m only eager to develop them.”

 “And so am I!” you exclaim. “What is the next step?”

 “The next step is not for tonight. Sadly,” he laughed at your disappointed face. “It’s already after eight, so we will continue next time.”

 “Oh you’re right,” you say, embarrassed as you look at his clock and take your pullover. “I didn't realise how late it was. Do you have something planned? I’m sorry if I made you late?”

Your embarrassed behaviour troubles Ray as well. He didn’t want you to think he wanted you to leave. It’s the opposite, in truth, but he won’t tell you. He hurries to walk to you with his hand raised before him. 

 “No, I have nothing planned. Don’t worry about it. I just wanted to say the next step will be long too, so we should do it another time.”

If you can see him privately once again, you won’t refuse, right?

You try to hide your excessive happiness inside of you, and confirm him with a nod.

After you fix the day for the next lesson, Ray walks with you to the exit door, putting his shirt on. Can you tell him you want to stay a little longer because you enjoy being with him? Of course not, who could say such a thing to a handsome man like him? Maybe his girlfriend – not wife since he doesn’t have a ring – is waiting to join him.

When you see Ray is looking at you attentively, you understand he talked to you but you didn’t listen to him.

 “I’m sorry, what did you say?” you ask him given that you were lost in your thoughts.

 “I was asking if you were hungry. I know a small pub where we can eat something. It’s very simple but the burgers are good and the boss is my friend.”

 “Oh, I’m starving!” you smile, impossible to hide your joy to stay with him longer than you expected.

The way to his friend’s pub is short and you are glad it doesn’t rain. Ray barely steps inside the pub that a voice calls him. A man behind the counter smiles at him as you both walk towards him. His smile grows as he notices you.

 “Who knew that Ray knew such a lovely lady?” he kindly asks.

 “Good evening to you too, Fester,” he laughs. “This is Y/n. She’s my student. Y/n, this is my friend, Fester.”

 “Nice to meet you,” you start, laughing at Ray's introduction. “‘Student’ makes me young again. Ray only teaches me how to use old cameras, and he told me you make good burgers.”

 “The best of the town! Well, nice to meet you Y/n. Sit wherever you want, I will come to you later,” he winks at you while Ray sighs with a smile.

Ray leads you in a quiet corner and you sit on a quite comfortable chair. The place is, as he told you, simple but you are glad to be here with him. It's better than a restaurant where you would have been uncomfortable, right? 

Now sitting in front of you, Ray holds you the menu, a double-sided laminated page. His smile is too big for a place like this, so you can’t help but laugh as you take the menu and look at it.

 “Is it the idea of a burger that makes you smile so much?” you laugh, hidden behind the menu.

With no response from him, you pull your head out of the menu to look at him. He continues to smile and doesn't seem to have heard you. Not wanting to stop him from smiling, you finally stay quiet and look back at the menu.

At some point, Fester joins you with two drinks: a beer and a cocktail. Only with your eyes, he understands your surprise.

 “I don’t know your taste, but I’m sure you will like this one,” Fester says as he puts the drinks on the table. “And the same beer as usual for you, Ray.”

You didn’t want to drink alcohol tonight to enjoy the evening, but now it’s on the table, you can’t refuse it. You smile and thank Fester before he takes your order.

.

It's easier than you might have thought to talk to Ray. Of course, you started talking about photography, and then the topics changed quickly.

Like they said to you, the burger is very good, and you don't feel the dinner pass. Another thing you didn’t pay attention to was Fester serving you the same cocktail several times; you don’t even know how many times he gave you. You think everything is fine until you have to stand up to leave the place. A little wobble and a laugh are enough for Ray to understand that you have drunk too much. He too has had several beers but he seems to be holding his liquor rather well, at least better than you. It’s always too late when you realise you drank too much, and you can’t help but be embarrassed even though Ray helps you with a hand on your back. Oh, and your heels don’t help either.

As you both walk to the counter, you search for your credit card in your bag. Once you find it after a quite long rummage, you hear Fester thanking Ray for his payment. Then, Ray put his hand on your back like earlier, leading you to the exit.

 “Wait, I didn’t pay,” you laugh at Ray’s hurried behaviour. “Even if Fester is your friend, I’m sure he wants to be paid.”

 “He already paid for you both,” Fester says with a smile. “Thank you for coming here, I hope you’ll have a good night!”

 “W-what? You didn’t have to pay for me!” you turn to Ray as he is shyly smiling.

Ray remains silent until you both leave the place. The weather is much colder than earlier and it’s even raining. Outside, you are protected by a small roof but without it, you would be soaked in two seconds.

 “I wanted to invite you to thank you for the lessons,” you sigh. 

 “No need to pay me dinner for that. You already pay me again for that,” he laughs. “You’ll pay next time if you really want to pay.”

Next time? Will there be a next time? Oh, that’s good. Very good!

Lost in your thought, you take a step and if Ray didn’t catch your arm, you would end up on the wet, dirty floor. Tsk. You really drank too much. And those damn heels!

 “I didn’t think that I had drunk so much,” you sigh. “I must look ridiculous.”

Even if you’re embarrassed, you raise your eyes to Ray while he still holds your arm. Oh, he is close! Enough close to notice his eyes are still beautiful. And his lips. Oh, they’re looking so delicious. Are you looking at them for too long? Maybe…

 “I’m sorry. Fester shouldn’t give you as many cocktails. Are you ok?” he asks, honestly worried about you as your eyes come back from his lips to his eyes.

 “Yeah, maybe not tomorrow, but now I’m fine,” you joke, shrugging. “I just have to find a way to go home. And that will be a challenge!”

As you take your arm back, you look at your phone and notice it’s too late for public transport. It almost made you sober. So the only solution is an Uber, and it will cost you an arm and a leg.

You really shouldn't have been drinking…

As you open Uber’s app, Ray clears his throat and looks away, in his flat’s direction.

 “You can stay at my place if you want. I’m used to sleeping on my couch anyway,” he says in an uncertain voice as he looks back at you. “If we walk fast, we shouldn’t be too wet. Or I can pay for your Uber, I feel like it's my fault that you can't go home.”

 “No, it’s me. I'm a grown woman, I should have stopped drinking on my own.”

Frustrated by your own state, you ran your hand in your hair. Of course you can’t accept his offer. You can’t sleep in his home drunk as you were. 

Ray lets you have a moment to decide what you will choose. You don’t see it but he feels very bad about all the cocktails. Of course he hopes you will stay at his place, despite all the mess upstairs because he didn't expect the evening to end like this.

 “Thank you for your offer, but I should go home,” you say as you are ordering an Uber. “Oh, it's more expensive than I thought but it’s ok, I guess! “

Your laugh isn’t enough to stop Ray from blaming himself. He would have paid for the Uber too if you didn’t order it so fast. 

As you finish your order, you notice Ray’s hand on your back. He surely understands that you hardly stand up alone. It’s pathetic…

 ”Do you want to wait for the car at my place?” he tries with a smile. 

 ”Thank you, but the car should be here in 5 minutes. And while I'm thinking about it, thank you again for the lesson and the dinner.”

The quantity of “thank you” you told him makes you laugh. You still feel silly about the end of the night, and you try to hide it by tucking a lock behind your ear. Ray’s hand that you had forgotten again tenses on your back. Afraid you said something wrong, you look up at him.

Oh the darkness of the night looks so good on him…

Ray silently looks at you, his hair falling forward. He knows he shouldn't take advantage of you when you have drunk too much. He knows he should let you go, but you look so cute with your pink cheeks, your pretty outfit, and above all your lovely smile. How could he resist?

Is he leaning towards you or have you had too much to drink? Of course it’s the second option. Oh, wait. Maybe it’s both because he is really close. Close enough to smell his perfume and his hair touch your face!

The vibration of your phone startles you and you look at the screen immediately. Your Uber is here. What is that damn timing?

 ”You should go,” Ray says as he releases you gently.

Still troubled by what could have happened and his now distant behaviour, you only nod and wish him a good night before walking to the Uber under the rain. 

Ray looks at you and leaves only when he is sure you are in the car. Now you aren’t with him, he can’t help but feel empty. Your presence always makes him warmer no matter what the weather is. Then, he remembers the state you were in and he can’t help but feel guilty about it. Everything could be different if… Could anything really have been different? It's not as if you would have agreed to stay with him when you hardly know him anyway.

Due to all his thoughts, Ray enters home soaked. Maybe a shower will do him good, or a drink. Or both.

Chapter 3 >

[excaliburssword]

Crack theory on Aric's dad (obviously contains spoilers) (part 1??)

Like said in the title, this I gonna be absolute chaos, and literally some of it (maybe all of it) might not make any literal sense.

As the SGE bookworms out there know, in book 6 when Sophie, Bettina, etc. were walking in that one wizard tree scene with all of those "flowers", one of them had urged Sophie to open it up, and as a reward, it would reveal who Aric's father was.

From that moment on, something automatically clicked that his father may actually be a big part in the plot of the series, since Soman can't possibly be stupid enough to just throw that question in out of no where.

It'll probably be revealed who it actually is further on in the Rise series, but I'm trying to collaborate why out of all people, Soman chose Hook to be one of the main character(ish) in the book.

It could be because it was later revealed that he was Hort's father, or it was just because Soman wanted some angsty tension between Rafal and Rhian.

I really don't know why yet, (it's 1am and I haven't read the series in a while, so feel free to cringe behind your scenes if I state something wrong all of a sudden), but he's obviously going to be developed as a character further on in Rise.

Aric's appearance and background

It was stated that Aric's eyes are (were *wink, wink*) a lethal violent tint, and he has spiky "raven-black" hair along with pale skin, all in reference to Lady Lesso's appearance too, so he obviously adapted her looks.

It's also explained how he grew up in Bloodbrook, which may I remind you, where Hort grew up in (is that where some pirates were too, or was that just Neverland? Cause if there were some pirates in Bloodbrook, that can also be more proof that Hook was Aric's father too *sorry, again I haven't read it in a long time*) 😅

I'm not saying that just because he grew up in Bloodbrook, it automatically turns him into Hort's step-sibling, because that's literally like saying Anadil and Hort can be SibLIngS too.

(Totally irrelevant, but Hort also had "Raven-black" hair. Prob one of the least important points that link back to Aric, but oh well, it's better than nothing).

Ever-never handbook hints

In the "frequently asked questions" chapter, there's literally a question of Dovey answering to literally "who was Aric's father?"

She answered with "a hulking, well-muscled man" had apparently come to the School's gates, asking for Lady Lesso, to which the Dean had refused to see him right after Dovey explained his appearance.

At the end, it said something like "he's out there in the Woods alive, just waiting," or something similar.

Seriously, Soman, how obvious are you willing to make it for the readers that we all already know his dad as a character, just not who he exactly is yet?...

Aric's relationship with Rafal

Sometimes I wonder how the hell these two came to be BudDiEs fOrevEr during book 3.

Was it because Rafal liked watching Aric pick on his mother as "revenge", or because he knew who his father was, and they had an unstable-but-okayish-sort-of-friendship in the past. (Maybe it did refer to why Rafal gave Aric the becoming the second dean, and I just don't remember lmao).

And besides, apparently those two even conspired to create uniforms together according to the Ever Never Hand Book💀

How on Earth can Rafal be "close" to the son of a woman we all saw he was annoyed at?

Linking back to my two points above, it was either because they bonded over the love of talking sh about Aric's poor mother, or Rafal knew who Aric's dad was all along.

And thus brings an end to this exceedingly long theory (remember, it's supposed to be chaotic, and I'm probably 90% wrong, but you never know...)

I'm tired asf right now, and it's exactly 1:39am now, (it really took me 39 minutes to write all of this, and it probably has errors everywhere, but oh well).

[lokischocolatefountain]

Happily Divorced

Chapter 3- How to Ruin a Tie

Chapter Warnings: spanking, face slapping, humiliation, crying, face-fucking, moneyshot, lot of other extreme kinky shit

Navigation: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6

Fandom: Squid Game

Pairing: Cho Sang-Woo x Reader

Rating: Explicit (obviously very 18+ but has some fluff towards the end)

Word count: 4.5k

Summary: You and Cho Sang-woo have been going through life one milestone at a time. Go to university- check, graduate- check, get a job- check, get married- check, stay married- well, that was more complicated. But, if you can’t be happily married, the two of you are determined to be Happily Divorced.

A/N: Ho, ho, ho! Is it Santa? No, it me. I’m the ho. The ho who wrote this very very horny chapter. Read the warnings above before you proceed. Merry Christmas and enjoy this smutty Christmas present🎄

Oh and I loved hearing from so many people about this fic <3 Truly what keeps me writing more :) Please keep saying hi to me 

Word meanings:

Yeobo – “Darling” / “Honey” (for married couples)

Jagiya – “Honey” / “Darling”

Gong-ju-nim- “Princess”

Nae sarang – “My love”

Sesang-e- “Oh My God”

Once I was back from work, I called her and invited her to my apartment under the guise of writing her a new cheque just in case I knocked her up when I fucked her on her kitchen counter day before yesterday.

“Do I have to be there in person to collect the cheque?” She asked.

“Yes, that would be…ideal.” I said, suddenly afraid that I’d gotten the wrong impression. Maybe the day we spent together on her bed was just a one-off thing.

“Mhmm. Is there a dress code for this?”

I sighed in relief as I heard the sultriness of her voice.

“Oh, just the usual. Wear nothing.”

An hour later, I sat on my couch, all dressed up and awaiting her with bated breath. I had a bottle of her favorite wine and two glasses on the coffee table. I never made so much effort when we were married, if you could even call this effort.

I sat up straight when I heard shuffling outside my door. The key turned in the lock and I knew it was her. I turned around, eager to see her, but she hid behind the door as soon as she saw me.

“Turn back! Don’t look at me,” came her voice.

“Okay?” I said, frowning.

I heard the door open again and I sat still, fighting the temptation to turn around. There was more shuffling of clothes and her bag (I think) dropped on the floor with a thud.

“Don’t turn around,” she said, sternly.

“I won’t,” I said, smiling as I caught her reflection on the glass door of my cabinet across the room. Her skirt was pooled around her legs and the matching jacket lied next to it as she unbuttoned her shirt.

“What are you doing?” I asked innocently.

“Sesang-e!” she exclaimed, struggling with the hooks of her bra. “Have some patience.”

“I mean, this looks great but I’d much rather you strip in front of me,” I laughed, unable to control myself.

“Wait— how?”

“Look at the glass cabinet.”

I heard her groan when she looked up to realize that I’d been spectator to her little show all along. Catching me still watching her, she stuck her tongue out at the cabinet.

“Can I turn around now, Jagiya?”

“No, I’m just gonna put my clothes back on and leave.”

“Aww why? You don’t want your cheque? What if you’re pregnant.”

“Whatever. I’ll just pay for it myself. I was trying to be sexy and enter your apartment naked but then I remembered there’s security cameras everywhere so I did it inside and now I’m just embarrassing myself in front of my ex-husband.”

“Hey, come on… There’s no need to be embarrassed. It’s just me. I think you’re sexy no matter what.” I turned around to find her in nothing but her panties and high heels. She looked quite nervous, which I found incredibly cute. “Come here,” I said, beckoning her to me. She took her shoes off and slid her panties down her legs before walking to me.

“Want some wine?” I asked, gesturing to the bottle.

“Yes, please,” she said, sitting down in front of me. She squirmed in her seat under my gaze. She was fully naked and I was fully dressed in a suit. Her faux pas in an attempt to be sexy had unintentionally set up a particular dynamic. While my body was hidden from her eyes, she was on display for me to look at and enjoy. I felt a surge of power in her vulnerability.

I felt a slight pressure on my chest as I uncorked the wine and poured a little in each glass. She leaned over and took her glass and we clinked them against each other before withdrawing. She crossed one leg over the other and took the glass to her lips. She looked down and caressed her thigh uncomfortably as I let my gaze wander all over her body.

“How was your day?” I asked.

“It was fine. Just the usual. Meetings and shit. What about your day?”

“Oh, it’s just getting good,” I said, taking a sip. “You’re a much better ex-wife than you were a wife. Much more obedient. You didn’t even ask questions when I asked you to show up naked to my apartment.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked away from me.

“You’ll look at me when I’m speaking to you,” I commanded.

Herhead shot up and she swallowed audibly.

“Uncross your legs, spread them so that I can see you.”

She opened her legs and looked at me expectantly for my approval.

“Such a good girl, following my orders. Who knows? If you keep being so good, I might even decide to keep you around.”

“Thank you, Sir,” she said, putting her empty glass back down on the coffee table, her hand shaking.

I refilled her glass and leaned back comfortably on my sofa. After she’d taken a sip or two of her wine, I said, “Go, get me a cigarette and lighter.”

She got up and walked to my bedroom, giving me a great view of her backside. I did enjoy seeing her face as I pushed her over the brink, but I also loved seeing the line down her back when I took her from behind. I wanted to ask her to forget about the cigarettes and come back to me just so I could run my index finger down her spine. And once I got to the bottom, I’d inch towards her ass and grab a nice handful.

My mouth suddenly went dry and my stomach tightened at the thought. I took a sip of the wine and wet my lips with my tongue.

She returned with a cigarette, my lighter and something I didn’t remember asking her for— a condom. She sat next to me and remembered to keep her legs open.

“I didn’t ask for a condom. Are you that desperate for me to fuck you?”

“Why else did you ask me to come here naked?” She asked, lighting the cigarette with the lighter she gifted me for my birthday a few years ago.

“Hmm… I might just like humiliating my ex-wife. Have a laugh at your expense,” I said, accepting the lit cigarette from her.

“Mission failed successfully, Sang-Woo. I don’t find any of this humiliating.”

“Oh, you don’t? I think it’s quite humiliating for a woman to keep going back to her ex-husband she claimed to hate when she asked for a divorce. It’s humiliating that you called me drunk, begging That you’d do anything to fuck me again. It’s humiliating that I wrote you a cheque before I fucked you. It makes you quite an expensive fuck, but expensive or not, you are a whore.”

The dazed expression on her face told me I was on the right track. That, and her finger inching towards her cunt.

“And here you are, desperate for me to fuck you for the second time this week. And you’ll certainly find yourself embarrassingly wet if you touch yourself right now.”

In the silence of the apartment, I heard her breath catch in her throat and the wet sound of her cunt as she slipped a finger inside. There was a lot I wanted to say, but I stayed silent for a moment, relishing in the sounds.

“Have you been sleeping with other men?” I asked.

“Yeah, I have.”

“Why do you keep coming back to me, then?”

“Because I miss you,” she said, adjusting her position a little as she touched herself. “They don’t know me, they don’t know how to fuck me like you do.”

“Do you think of me when you’re with them?”

She nodded frantically in agreement. It was good to know I wasn’t alone.

“I— I make them leave right after and touch myself to your pictures,” she said, her eyes squeezed shut.

I adjusted my pants, my cock uncomfortably hard at the sight of her.

Since the divorce, I’d slept with every woman who’d shown even a little interest in me in an attempt to get her out of my system. I failed each time. I knew it was because I didn’t communicate well with them and because I never gave any of them a second chance, they didn’t have the time to know my preferences. I was also just lazy. It took us years to get to know each other as well as we did and I simply didn’t want to do that again with someone else. What was even the point when the person who knew you the best was willing to continue sleeping with you?

“I think of you, too,” I confessed. “All the time. No one else comes close to you, nae sarang.” It wasn’t the sexiest thing to say, but it was definitely worth it for the smile on her lips.

I kissed her on the lips and she kissed me back, sending tingles all over my body. Her hand found the lapels of my suit jacket and held on tightly, wrinkling the fabric. But, I didn’t even mind. No one kissed me like she did. The way she touched me and pulled me closer even when there was no distance between us made me feel…loved. I knew it was just my own imagination. Maybe it was just a relic of our once happy marriage, but as our lips danced together, it was like speaking a language only she and I understood. Like we had found each other after trying and failing to be understood by the world. I cupped her cheek and she leaned into my touch so readily that my heart clenched.

I felt a prickle of tears as I realized how much I still loved her. It was pathetic, really. There was a sudden burst of self-hatred at my lingering feelings for her. I should be angry at her for rejecting me, for the way she treated me after everything we’d been through. But here I was, falling in love with her all over again.

I pulled her onto my lap and assisted her with a finger on her clit, brushing against it lightly at first and progressing to a more firm but gentle touch.

Her kiss grew sloppy the longer I touched her, crying into my lips when I did something especially good. Her other hand left my suit and ended up on my lap. She stroked my cock through my pants and I grabbed her wrist.

“I didn’t call you here so that I can come in my pants,” I said, pinning her hand behind her.

She smiled at me through labored breaths, said, “Oh? I thought you called me here to humiliate me.”

“I did, but it turns out that humiliating you turns me on very much.”

“What a coincidence… I am also,” she shrieked when I bit her neck. “I am very turned on when you humiliate me.”

“Glad it works out so well for both of us, then.”

She could only moan in response as her head fell on the sofa’s backrest. I let go of her hand and placed it between her head and wall to keep her from hurting herself. She lifted her legs off the floor and placed her feet on the coffee table, accidentally pushing my hand out of the way. She whined when she felt the loss of my finger and I took it as a command and returned it to its original position.

“You look so beautiful like this, nae sarang… The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” And I’m so grateful that you’re still mine. I licked a stripe up her neck, making her tremble and moan. She held on to my shoulder, her grip on me tightening by the second.

I let my lips travel down her shaking body, stopping to wrap around her nipple. She pushed into my mouth eagerly as I grazed her nipple lightly with my teeth, guiding me with a rough hand tugging on my hair.

“Sang-Woo, please!” She moaned. I maintained the pressure on her clit and sucked on the sensitive spot on her neck. Her cries became more animalistic and her hand gripped my suit so hard I was afraid she’d rip it. In seconds, she came, trembling and crying my name.

“That was so good,” she said, panting. “Thank you for inviting me over.” Her hand that was just tugging painfully on my hair was now gently caressing it.

“Do you think I asked you here just to make you feel good?” I asked, rubbing the spot on her neck that bore the marks of my teeth. I wanted to hold her down and mark her everywhere, leaving signatures of my presence on every inch of her skin to let the next man know she was still mine.

“No… You called me to give me a cheque for an abortion just in case you knocked me up yesterday. Is that not why you called?” She asked, feigning a look of innocence.

“Stop acting smart and get on your knees,” I said sternly.

“Will you at least take your clothes off?” she asked as she wriggled on my cock and fiddled with the buttons of my shirt. “It’s a little unfair that I’m fully naked and you’re in a suit.”

I pried her hand off my shirt and said, “Is it? I don’t see anything unfair about it.” I picked her up from my lap, making her yelp and kick her legs as I dropped her on her knees in front of me.

“Fine, I’m going to put my clothes on then,” she said, trying to get up. I hooked my leg around her, trapping her in place between my legs, but she continued to struggle.

“It seems I was too quick to call you obedient. You can’t even follow simple commands, you’re giving me orders… Thinking back, your disobedience started when you didn’t listen to my order to show up wearing nothing.”

“I did–” I cut her off with a slap to her face, making her hiss. She bit down on her lip, but I still caught her excited smile.

“Sajangnim, that was not because of my disobedience,” she said, nuzzling up to my thighs and palming my cock through my pants. “I just didn’t want to take my clothes off in the corridor because I didn’t want anyone else to see what’s yours.”

“Oh? That is very kind of you, but it was not your decision to make. Maybe I want people to see just how far you’ll go for me. Maybe I want to show off my pretty whore of a wife to everyone in the building. No matter my motivation, you are not in a place to oppose it or question it. I think it’s time that I gave you a reminder of your place. Don’t you think so, too?” I asked, looking for her consent.

She smiled coyly and nodded before saying, “Yes, please…”

“Get on the coffee table,” I said as I stood up and unbuttoned my jacket. She positioned herself on the table on her hands and knees as she had done several times before. Her eyes roamed my body as I shrugged my jacket off and unbuttoned the cuffs of my white shirt. I took my time putting up a show for her as I rolled my sleeves up, knowing how much she loved to see it. I was satisfied when she parted her lips and stared vacantly at my display.

I loosened my tie and undid the collar button, giving myself breathing space before taking my tie off entirely. She watched in anticipation as I approached with the tie. I wrapped the dark blue silk over her eyes and tied it tight behind her head.

I took her face in my hands and bent down to kiss her. She stretched her neck up when I brushed my lips against hers, eager to kiss me. Our lips connected, gentle at first, but quickly growing desperate and hungry. There was nothing graceful or sweet about the kiss. We’d both been overtaken by a kind of hunger that left us fighting for control like wild beasts. I pulled out of the kiss to bite her lower lip, making her hiss. She craned her neck up, trying to find my lips again but I held her in place, admiring how swollen her lips had become.

I loved blindfolding her. Unable to see me, she was completely at my mercy. The knowledge that she trusted me to not take advantage of her in such a vulnerable state was more arousing to me than the power she handed to me with the act. It still excited me to know that even though I wasn’t the first man she’d slept with, I was still the only man who knew and accepted her dark sexual desires.

“Please,” she begged, her desperation evident on her features even with her eyes hidden away from me.

“Shhh!”

In the silence, I unbuckled the belt, the metal buckle’s sharp metallic clinks making her freeze in place. I pulled at my belt hard, the leather zipping through my belt loops in a swoosh. I caught her biting down on her lower lip before swallowing audibly. I folded the belt in half, wrapping my fingers a little above the belt, leaving the buckle out of my grip to allow it to make noise when I took swings at her.

I whipped it against the sofa cushion first and then moved to my arm, the sounds making her flinch. Instead of using the belt on her immediately, I slapped her ass with my hand. She groaned, turned back to me and in a mocking tone, said, “Are you going to start or what?”

I smiled as I landed another slap to her bottom. She flinched, so I knew she felt it. But she put on an unimpressed look on her face. “Have you begun? I can’t tell.”

She bit down on her lip for the next hit, letting no sound escape from her lips. Before she could open her mouth for another quick-witted insult, I hit her again, leaving her no time to breathe. As I struck her mercilessly, she finally broke, letting out a cry.

“Do you still have doubts about whether I’ve started?” I asked, still not stopping.

She smiled a mischievous smile before saying, “I don’t know, I still can’t— aaaaaah! Fuck!”

“How about now?”

Before she could respond, I swung my belt at her, finally giving her what she wanted. She cried, both from the pain and surprised that I’d finally used the belt on her.

“Now?” I asked, stringing her again.

“Aah!”

“Do you feel that?” I asked as I landed the third hit.

“Yes, yes please! I want— aaah!”

THWACK!

“Sang-Woo!”

In my head, I counted her spanks and decided I would stop at twenty. I knew from experience that she could definitely handle more, but my cock grew harder and harder and I was sure that I wouldn’t last long if I didn’t fuck her soon.

I landed six spanks in quick succession, alternating between her cheeks, enjoying how her cries of my name devolved into incoherent noises under my expert hand. It gave to a power rush– a beautiful, intelligent woman who would one day run a business empire, reduced to pathetic cries and mewls under my hands. She struggled to hold her position on the table as her knees trembled under my assault.

My tie, wet from her tears, had grown a shade darker over her eyes. Her cheeks were stained with tears and her pretty lips were trembling. It was truly a glorious sight. I could feel my heart beating in my chest and a sudden animalistic desire to tie her down and force myself upon her. I loosened my grip on the belt, letting it fall to the ground with a clang. I needed a moment to come back to my senses. She trusted me to keep her safe in her vulnerability and I wouldn’t be able to do that when I was lost in my own primal instincts.

“Nae sarang?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Hmm…”

“You should speak up for me, Jagiya. I need to know what you want.”

“I want more,” she spoke softly.

“What do you want more of?” I asked, letting her lean into my body.

“I want you to hit me more,” she said between her tears. “I want you to take your anger and frustration out on me. I want you to use me and make it hurt so good and make me cry. I want you to use my body however you want, take your pleasure from me. Please, Sangwoo. Please, I need this,” she begged, her voice shaking.

“Gonjunim, you’re such a good girl. You’re doing so well for me,” I praised, cupping her face and placing quick kisses on her tear-stained face. I picked up my belt again, letting her know with the rattling of the buckle that she would be struck again.

She moaned, screamed and cried as my belt landed on her repeatedly. Between her sobs, she managed to make promises of good behavior in the future. “I’ll be good next time, I promise. I’ll listen to you. Aaaahh! Sang-Woo please,” she cried.

“Shall we stop?” I asked and she shook her head frantically.

“Keep going, I need this. Please.”

THWACK!

“Aaah! I’ll be a better wife, I promise! I’ll obey.”

THWACK!

“OH GOD! Please stop, it hurts so much.”

I froze in place, stopping myself before I delivered the next blow. I took her shaking, crying form into my arms, feeling guilty for hurting the woman I loved. She hadn’t used her safeword, but I did not want to take a risk.

“Yeobo, I’m so sorry,” I said, peppering kisses on her face.

“Why did you stop?” she cried and attempted to wriggle out of my arms.

“What?” I asked, confused. “You told me to stop.”

“So? I didn’t use my safeword, did I? You are so fucking stupid!”

“What did you say?” I barked, making her flinch.

“You’re fucking stupid!” she screamed, an arrogant smile decorating her lips. She turned her cheek to me like she always did when she wanted to be slapped.

“Fucking bitch,” I said through gritted teeth, threading my fingers through her hair and tugging hard. She cried an apology, but I ignored it all. Holding her steady, I slapped her on the cheek. She gripped my chest for comfort but I pried her hand off of me. I wasn’t going to let her off that easily after such a blatant display of disrespect.

She tried to free herself from my grasp, but I held her firmly. “Stay still,” I ordered, making her stop moving around. If she moved around too much, I might accidentally hit her somewhere I shouldn’t and cause real damage.

I hit her a few more times, my palm wet with her tears.

I felt like I was on a rollercoaster that kept going higher and higher, with no intention to drop.

It was just the two of us in my world now.

“Thank you!” She managed to squeak out as I landed another slap. I felt an intoxicating sense of power, a high, as I struck her a few more times, stopping when she told me she was satisfied. I placed her back on the table on her hands and knees and unzipped my pants. I gathered her hair between my fingers, held her in place and pushed my cock into her warm, wet mouth. I felt her expert tongue swirl around my cock, making me groan at the sensation.

Having no patience for the tentative strokes of her tongue, I took matters into my own hands and thrust into her mouth rough and hard like I would push into her cunt. She held onto my thigh with one hand for support as I thrusted in and out.

I pulled out when I heard her gag, allowing her time to breathe. I undid her blindfold and took in the sheer beauty of her in her state of submission. There was no sign of her intelligence in her eyes. They were glazed over from the pain and pleasure I’d given her. Her lips were swollen and her lipstick was smudged, giving her the appearance of being thoroughly-fucked. I licked a strip up her tear-stained cheeks, relishing in the taste of her salty tears. I felt fucking crazy, I felt like a God. She was mine to use as I liked. She was mine to slap and hurt, mine to kiss and love. And I was hers to insult, hers to command her pleasure from, hers to call whenever she needed a quick release.

I would still do anything for her. Anything.

I cried her name as she wrapped her lips around my cock. All it took was two minutes of her hand fondling my balls and her expert mouth sucking on my cock for me to come all over her already debauched face.

I picked her up and cradled her on my lap, using my discarded tie to clean her sullied face. It was one of my favorite ties and it could only be dry cleaned. Now, I’d never be able to wear it again but I was not concerned about that.

She leaned up and took my lips between hers and I yielded, parting my lips for her tongue, little whimpers escaping us as we tasted each other. I felt weak at the knees as her soft lips coaxed my heart out for her. It sang her name and danced to her tune, yearning for more and more no matter how much she gave.

This wasn’t healthy. I shouldn’t be pining for a woman who hated me so much that she could no longer stand being married to me. But I knew when I felt her bury her face into my chest and saw her smile up at me so sweetly that I would keep coming back to her no matter how much it hurt.

“Yeobo…” she said, her voice strained from how rough I was on her.

“Hmm?”

“I love you,” she said softly, giving me a dazed smile. My heart melted at that. I was the first to tell her I loved her. Since it was on the night of our divorce when I first confessed and emotions were running high, I didn’t quite believe it when she said she loved me too. Now, I did.

“And I love you,” I said, placing a kiss on her forehead.

“I guess we also hate each other. Since we’re divorced and all…”

No, that’s just you.

You couldn’t love someone if you hated them. She didn’t love me. She was just confused.

“Yeah, I do hate you.”

[naughtyneganjdm]

Caught in the Middle - Chapter 1

Summary: Daryl Dixon finds himself head over heels for the new teacher at the local high school that he works at, but she has eyes for Negan.

Characters: Negan, the reader (OC), Daryl Dixon, etc.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33634642/chapters/83581864

Warnings: Swearing, etc.

Notes: This is going to be another short story. I'm going to attempt to keep the chapters shorter so I can get through this story pretty fast. I was talking to a friend about something and this idea kind of came to me. I know it's kind of different, but I plan on switching POVs frequently so Daryl is not the main character of this story. There are three main characters. Negan, Daryl and Y/N. Hopefully you guys like it!

Y/N means your name or whatever name you want to put in there!

There weren’t a lot of things in the world that caught Daryl Dixon’s attention. For the most part, he had closed himself off in general. After the life he had growing up, he had become cold to things in the world. He’d get up, go to work, head home, sleep and then repeat. So, for someone to really catch his attention was a pretty big deal. Especially since Daryl wasn’t one for relationships or being attracted to people. Relationships were too much work and he just didn’t have the patience for them. Well, that was until someone new arrived at work. After that, it kind of changed everything for him. Which surprised the hell out of him, but he looked forward to every minute he got to spend with this new person.

Daryl was the auto shop teacher at the local high school. Was it a cool job? Fuck no. Was he good at it? Probably not as good as he could have been, but he was good at fixing things. When he was younger teaching was not something he would have ever pictured himself doing. Hell, he wasn’t exactly the most social person, so to say it was a struggle sometimes would be a massive understatement.  

When a friend offered him a job after an I owe you situation, Daryl quickly snagged that shit up. He would have been stupid to not take this job. With his background, he was lucky to have a job as it was. Every day, he would go to work and just do what he had to in order to get through the day. He never really got close to the other teachers, but he observed from afar. Watching people and learning things without being a part of them was something Daryl had become good at. The students liked him well enough, but it wasn’t like he was trying to make friends or be everyone’s favorite. He just did what he had to do and that was it. Going above and beyond was not Daryl’s style.  

A few months ago, a new teacher had transferred to their school and Daryl felt like they kind of immediately hit it off. They had literally run into each other in the hallway on her first day when she was lost. Daryl was coming out of his classroom looking at his phone and nearly knocked her over onto the floor. When he caught her, there was something about her smile that had caught his attention. When she had asked him for a tour of the school, he was eager to do it. Not that he was very good at it. Daryl was never a man of many words, but around Y/N he found himself opening up more and more. That was the nice thing about this girl. She made him step out of the box and be something more than he usually was.

Every day the two of them would find time to talk to each other and he relished in every moment of it. It became something where he started looking forward to going to work. He was excited to wake up every day. It was all because of her and the weekends were the worst because he didn’t actually get to see her. They texted each other, but the weekdays had become his favorite thing.

An overwhelmed breath fell from his throat when he looked over his shoulder after hearing the group of loud, boisterous laughter filling the bar that he was in. This was new for him. A lot of the teachers would get together some nights at the local bar to hang out. Of course, there were certain groups that liked to hang out more often than not. The source of the laughter stemmed from the staff favorite, Negan Smith. For some reason, every person seemed to love Negan. He always drew the attention of people and people found him hilarious. Daryl found him to be juvenile and somewhat annoying himself, but somehow, Negan was always the person people drifted to. Even being an asshole, all the students loved him as well as the teachers. Negan was the life of the party and very much the opposite of Daryl. Hell, Daryl didn’t even want to be here, but he was because he wanted to see Y/N. That’s really why he was there. It was the one time they would get together outside of work and Daryl loved being around her outside of a work setting.

Turning back toward the bar, Daryl reached out for the neck of his beer bottle and slid the bottle in front of him. It made him wonder if Y/N was actually coming tonight. Usually she would be here by now. When the laughter seemed to get louder, Daryl grumbled to himself and lowered his head. This wasn’t Daryl’s kind of scene and each moment he spent there proved that more and more.  

“Forget this,” Daryl got up from the stool and started pushing into his pockets to look for his money until he felt the sensation of someone nudging him.

“You leaving this early?” Y/N muttered when Daryl looked to her with his big blue eyes. A tiny grin expanded over his features and he immediately shook his head. Was he getting up to leave? Yes, but with her here he would reconsider that. Pulling out the stool beside him for her, Daryl felt his heart skip a beat in his chest when she moved in beside him. “Sorry I took so long. I got caught up at school checking some papers. I would have gotten it done earlier, but someone came to talk to me for a while so that kept there a little longer than I would have liked to have been there.”

“You finish everything then?” Daryl confirmed and she gave a nod before ordering herself a drink. Truthfully, he didn’t care why she was late. He was just happy to see her. “Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah, it was pretty nice,” she answered with a simple shrug. “What about yourself?”

“Oh yeah, it was great,” Daryl lied and her eyebrows arched in curiosity when he said that. A nervous laugh fell from his throat and he shrugged.

“Oh really?” she chuckled, thanking the bartender when he came back with her drink.

“Okay, so it was just like every other day. Until now,” Daryl reached for his beer and swallowed down the last bit that was left in there. “Now that you’re here, it’s pretty great. You could brighten any mundane day for me Y/N. You know that.”

“You are so sweet,” she reached out to hook her arm around his shoulders to give him a hug and his face flushed over when she pulled away. “That was smooth. That was real smooth.”

“Well, that’s me. Mr. Smooth,” Daryl brushed his fingers through his hair to straighten it out. “But you are pretty cool. You’re the most interesting thing in this town. I tell you that.”

“And that’s why you’re my best friend here. Even if it’s not true, you are always saying things to make me smile,” she reached out to place her hand over his and she gave it a firm squeeze. “You’ve been the best to me since I transferred here. You’re the greatest. You know that?”

“Yeah?” Daryl was happy to hear that. At some point he was genuinely hoping the best friend label would progress into more, but right now he was okay with settling with that title. Just getting to be with her was more than enough right now. He didn’t want to push too hard or too fast. “I’m only saying what I believe Y/N.”

“We know I am so far from being the most interesting thing here,” she denied his statement while she took a sip of her drink that she had gotten. When the noise from the group in the back filled the bar again, they both looked back. The other teachers at the school were surrounding a pool table and Negan was obviously playing against one of the others. “You know, we should do that one day. Play a round of pool. I’m actually really good at it. We should do teams. You and I could go up against Simon and Negan.”

“Oh, yeah,” Daryl rolled his eyes, turning himself back toward the bar while she kept her eyes on the game that they were playing. “That’s really not my thing. Putting myself into the thick of that. I have no interest in being part of that group.”

“They aren’t so bad,” she suggested and Daryl looked to see to see that her focus was still locked on them. Looking over his shoulder, Daryl noticed that Negan had lifted his head and his eyes connected with hers. With an arrogant bob of his head and a bright smile, Negan gave Y/N a wink. Looking to Y/N after Negan did it, Daryl could see that it made her smile and her face flushed over. “I think you would enjoy yourself at times if you opened yourself up to it. The people at the school would really like you.”

“No one had interest in me before you were here and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t now either,” Daryl retorted with a snort when he looked back again to notice that Negan and Y/N were still staring at each other. Someone grabbed a hold of Negan to get his attention and Daryl felt his body tensing up over the moment he just witnessed. “They really aren’t that interesting Y/N. Plus, I’m not all that good at pool.”

“Well, I have a table at my home. One day you can come over and I could teach you some tricks,” she offered up, her eyes finally meeting his again. The air around them was cool and Daryl didn’t know if the chill filling his body was that or the jealousy of that stare between her and Negan.  

“That would be really cool. I’ve yet to be at your house yet you know,” Daryl reminded her and Y/N gave him a shifty look. “Well, I’ve dropped you off…”

“And I’ve asked you if you wanted to come in multiple times to hang out. Every time you turn me down,” she pointed out and he knew that he didn’t want to come in because he was afraid that he would do something stupid. It had been a long time since he was interested in someone. He didn’t want to make a mistake that made this girl leave his life forever. “You know you are welcome at my place any day. You at least know where I live. I don’t even know where you live.”

“Well, it’s not a nice place where I live,” Daryl explained with a frown knowing that he lived with his deadbeat brother. Most of the time Merle wasn’t there, but he didn’t want the one day she would come over to be one of the few times Merle came over. With his mouth, Daryl was sure that Merle would scare Y/N away forever. “It’s kind of a mess. You deserve to be in places better than that.”

“I don’t care what your place looks like. You’re my friend and I would like to spend time with you other than being here sometimes. You know that,” she professed with a shake of her head, reaching out to place her hand over his arm. “I’m not the kind of person that cares what your place looks like. I like you for you.”

“I think you’re the only person in the world that has ever said something like that to me,” Daryl confessed and he watched her roll her eyes. Obviously, she thought he was joking, but he wasn’t. That’s what was sad. No one had ever been as nice to him as she had been. How couldn’t he like this girl? She was one of the only people he had ever met that didn’t make him feel like a deadbeat or a waste of space. “You think I’m kidding?”

“Who wouldn’t like you Daryl?” she gave him a confused expression and he didn’t know how to answer that. “There is a lot of good to you.”

“The world never made me feel that way,” Daryl informed her with a weak smile before waving to order himself another drink.

“Well then the world needs to take another look. You need to throw yourself out there Daryl. You don’t have to be this loner for the rest of your life, you know?” she insisted with a shake of her head. “You deserve to be happy, just like everyone else.”

“Where did you come from?” Daryl sighed wishing like hell this girl would have dropped into his life sooner.

“You know where I came from,” she hesitantly laughed and then turned in her seat to look back at the rest of the group behind them again. “Truth be told Daryl; I like it here a lot more than I did at the old school I worked at. People here are more like family. They are friendlier. They don’t always seem like they are out to stab you in the back. People are willing to help and make you feel at home.”

“You must be talking to people I don’t know,” Daryl explained with a groan, turning on his seat to look at the crowded bar behind him.

“You don’t talk to people Daryl,” she replied with a silly glance and Daryl grunted while taking a sip of his beer. “You wouldn’t have even talked to me if I wouldn’t have run right into you on my first day here. It took me almost breaking something for you to actually talk to me.”

“Regardless,” Daryl knew what these people were like and he had no interest. No one really caught his attention or made it seem like they deserved his respect. In his opinion, most of the people at the school just liked the attention they could get. That was it. Noticing the way that Negan looked over his shoulder at stole another glance at Y/N made Daryl bite into his bottom lip. “Who did you talk to today after work?”

“What?” she muttered and Daryl could see that her attention was somewhere else and he frowned. Daryl reached out to nudge her arm and it took a second before she shook off to look over at him. “It was Negan. He’s funny. The two of us have been talking a bit over the last few weeks. The guy really likes to cook and he was bragging about his food about a month ago. Offered me some and every few days he is always bringing in things for me to try that he made. Today it was a raspberry danish that he made.”

“Oh, the guy is a good cook too, huh?” Daryl snorted, his eyes rolling when he thought about Negan and how everyone found the guy pretty much fucking perfect. Then again, he found himself super jealous at the idea of the two of them talking. Why had Y/N never mentioned the fact that her and Negan had been talking? “You know, you shouldn’t be taking food from strangers.”

“Oh come on,” she laughed, her eyebrows creasing with amusement when she gave her attention fully to Daryl. “Negan is not a stranger. I work with him and if something bad happened to me from the food, I’m not the only one he gives his food too.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re not,” Daryl scoffed at the idea, turning away in disgust from the rest of the people from work.

“What is it with you and Negan?” she pondered, sliding in beside Daryl elbowing him playfully while Daryl kept his head down.

“What is it with you and Negan?” Daryl repeated her question with an emphasis on the word you. His eyes narrowed and she stole another glance back over her shoulder at Negan.

“Okay, fine,” she let out a long exhale of air, lowering her head. It took a minute and she reached for her drink to quickly finish it off as if to gain courage to tell him what she wanted to say. “Since you’re you…I won’t lie to you, but you have to keep your mouth shut about it.”

Instead of saying anything, Daryl stared out at her with his confused blue eyes while her right hand spun in the air trying to come up with the right words to say, “I kind of have a crush on Negan. I know it’s silly since we’re adults and using that word is so juvenile, but I don’t know. I just find him so charming and he makes me laugh. When he smiles, I just find myself smiling, you know? Those dimples are gorgeous and he’s got a wicked sense of humor.”

“You are crushing on him?” Daryl restated what she had just said and she hushed him. Disappointment filled his entire body and his face felt exceedingly hot. An ache developed at the center of his chest and he had to pull his eyes away from her. It hurt way too much to even hear that from her. Especially since he had the biggest crush on her and yearned for more. Flicking his bar napkin aside, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Of course you like Negan. Everyone likes Negan.”

“What do you mean?” she tilted her head to the side noticing that Daryl no longer seemed to want to look at her. It made things a little uncomfortable because that wasn’t the reaction she thought she would get for being honest with her friend.

“I mean it makes sense that you would be like everyone else. Negan is the cool guy. The jock. The person that everyone drifts toward,” Daryl stated with a scoff hating that of all the people she liked, it was Negan. “I just thought you were a little more interesting than that.”

“Ouch,” she reached up to place her hand over the center of her chest, feigning like he hurt her with her words. “Where did that come from?”

“I just thought you were different than most people. Everyone sees Negan and their eyes just light up. He eats the attention up and people just attract to him like flies to bug zapper,” Daryl ranted hating that his jealousy was getting the better of him, but it was. “When I met you, I just thought you were someone who was attracted to something different. Like you said, you like people for who they are.”

“Just because I have a silly crush on someone doesn’t mean I’m not the same person that is your friend. You and I have gotten super close over the last few months. I think you know me better than anyone else does here,” she pointed out, hating to hear him saying the things that he was. “I just like the way that he makes me feel, you know?”

“And you’re attracted to him,” Daryl snorted knowing that there was no doubt that she was attracted to his looks by all the times he had caught her staring at Negan with heart eyes tonight. “You’re right…I know you better than anyone else here and I can promise you that you deserve better than Negan. No matter how much you love the fucking dimples.”

“Negan would never even look twice at me Daryl,” she talked down on herself and Daryl found himself upset that she would even do that. Talking illy of herself to bring up Negan made him just pissed off. “Look at him, he’s just so good looking and then there is me.”

“What was in this drink?” Daryl reached for her glass to look it over and he gave her a disgusted face when she said that. “You are fucking beautiful. I can’t believe you said that because you are absolutely gorgeous. Not only that, but you are super cool. Why wouldn’t someone like you? There is nothing wrong with you. You’re perfect.”

“Except for the fact that I crush on Negan which makes me just like everyone else,” she proclaimed, stating what he had said previously and it made him bite down on his bottom lip. Clearly it upset her that he compared her to everyone else just because she liked Negan.

“I’m just saying, with what I know about you I don’t think Negan would be your type. You take work seriously and Negan…I don’t think serious is even a word in his vocabulary,” Daryl complained about Negan knowing that he still was so upset that she was crushing on what he would consider the popular guy. God, life was still so much like high school and he hated it. He felt like a teenager instead of being a teacher that actually worked at a high school. “Like, he totally got fucking fired from this job a while back. You know that?”

“How?” her face wrinkled up in surprise when Daryl said that.

“It was like a year before his wife died,” Daryl clarified and he could see the sadness that flooded in over Y/N’s features when she heard him say that. “You didn’t know that his wife died?”

“No. No one ever mentioned that to me,” she answered honestly knowing that it wasn’t something a lot of people would open with so it made sense that she didn’t know about Negan’s late wife.  “What did she die from?”

“She got pancreatic cancer,” Daryl responded with frustration hating the way that she was looking at Negan now. Visibly it made her like Negan more and he damned himself for even saying it. “Him and his wife were at this bar one day. They got into an argument with a guy and Negan beat the fuck out of a guy here. The guy said something nasty to his wife, but he beat the guy almost to death. It was one of the student’s parents, so he ended up getting fired. Was on probation and everything. Then they found out about his wife being sick and dying. They felt bad for him and the community kind of got together to get him his job back to help take care of his wife. Who gets that fucking lucky, huh? Most people that almost beat someone to death don’t usually get people helping them like that. I can promise you when most people make mistakes, it follows them around for the rest of their lives.”

“Damn, he’s been through a lot then, hasn’t he?” she turned further in her chair to look back at Negan who was still playing a game of pool. “You wonder how he continues to be so positive and outgoing when he went through all of that.”

“You have to be fucking kidding me,” Daryl groaned upon hearing her say that and he could see that the story upset her. Empathizing with Negan over that story made him so angry to hear that. That wasn’t the kind of response he was expecting her. When he told her that he almost beat a guy to death, he thought she would look down on Negan. “He beat the hell out of some guy Y/N.”

“You said the guy he beat said something nasty to his wife. He was defending his wife’s honor,” she filled in the details and Daryl let out a frustrated exhale. “If someone said something bad about someone that you cared about, wouldn’t you do the same?”

“That’s beside the point,” Daryl reached to grab a hold of Y/N’s wrists to get her to look at him. “When I was a kid I lived with my older brother and my dad. My dad was always so drunk that he never got up. We didn’t have food. My brother was always gone and I was starving. People knew what my family was like, but they saw trash when they looked at me. I stole food in order to survive because I had nothing. Do you know what happened to me? I didn’t get a slap on the wrists and told to be a good boy. That stuff stuck with me my whole life. I wasn’t that poor kid that lived in a bad situation, I was that awful little boy that was a thief. No one felt bad for me.”

“Well that makes those people terrible Daryl. You were a little boy that needed help and instead they turned their head away,” she reached out to wrap her fingers around his to give them a firm squeeze. “I think…we all have our own stories. You know? There are things that I’ve…gone through. Horrible things and we all wish there was someone there that could have saved us. You know?”

“What does that mean?” Daryl saw the way she swallowed down hard and he tried to reach out to touch her, but she held her hand up to keep him from doing so in that moment. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing, I’m just saying,” she reflected the question and waved for the bartender to get her something else to drink. “Sometimes it’s nice to hear that people did what they did for Negan. I don’t usually have a lot of faith in the world, so when you hear that a community came together to help a man to help him care for his dying wife it makes you feel better about things.”

“Right,” Daryl stammered knowing that what she had just blown off made him think there were things about her that she didn’t tell him about. Now she wasn’t so much an open book, but someone who evidently had their secrets they kept to themselves. Daryl watched her toss back the drink she had gotten and he could see that their discussion had changed her a bit. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m going to go use the restroom,” she pointed over Daryl’s shoulder toward the ladies’ room and Daryl felt like he should say something to comfort her when she stood up. Something had changed in her beautiful features and he was just never very good at this stuff. With her getting ready to leave, he felt himself choking up at the idea of trying to make her feel better. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be here,” Daryl didn’t know what the hell to say as she moved around him toward the bathroom. Tapping his hands against the top of the bar again, he tried to gather in his mind what he was going to say to her when she came back.

“Daryl!” a loud voice boomed in beside him as he felt the warmth of a body moving near him. Turning his head unhurriedly, he saw that Negan had slid in beside him and Negan’s bright smile ate up most of his face. “You are just the man I wanted to talk to.”

“Why?” Daryl scowled hating to hear a statement like that.

“How are you doing today buddy? Can I buy you a drink or something?” Negan offered attempting to call out to the bartender.

“I have a beer,” Daryl nodded toward his drink and Negan’s right eyebrow raised. Having Negan coming over to him and act like he wanted to speak to him felt weird. It certainly felt out of place. “What do you want Negan?”

“Wow. You’re a man that gets straight to the point, huh?” Negan snickered before calling over the bartender to get himself a drink. When he was done, Daryl cocked his head to the side almost waiting for Negan to speak up.

“Well, considering you’ve never had an interest in talking to me before you undoubtedly want something,” Daryl suggested making Negan’s eyes narrow out at him and Negan bit at his bottom lip. “So, what is it?”

“That’s kind of bullshit Daryl,” Negan retorted with a grunt, his eyes still hooked on Daryl’s when he reached for his drink that the bartender brought. “I’ve asked you plenty of times if you wanted to join us in a round of drinks back there or if you wanted to play some pool. You’re the one that always says no. I just assumed you wanted to stick to yourself and shit after about the fifth time of asking you.”

“Well that was a smart deduction. I’m surprised you came up with it,” Daryl snorted making Negan laugh in response after Daryl said that.

“Wow, look at the smartassery on you,” Negan seemed impressed with Daryl instead of being offended by what Daryl actually said. “Here I was thinking you were this quiet guy, but you’ve got some bite to you. I fucking like it Daryl. You should use that spicy ass attitude more often. Good for you man.”

There was nothing Daryl could say to respond to that, so instead Daryl found himself laughing as Negan reached out to pat Daryl on the back in delight, “Here I was thinking you would get fucking offended and leave me alone.”

“It takes a lot to offend me since I really don’t give a flying fuck what people think about me,” Negan assured Daryl with a wiggle of his brow. Reaching for his drink, Negan swallowed it down before slamming the glass down on top of the bar with a wince. “I actually wanted to talk to you about the new girl. I saw that the two of you were close. Are you dating? Or are you just like really good buds? Because honestly, I’m really fucking interested in her. I was thinking of letting her know I was interested, but if you two are together I don’t want to fuck that up. So I figured I would ask.”

All of Daryl wanted to tell Negan that he was dating her so that way that Daryl could have Y/N to himself. Turning away from Negan to reach for his beer, Daryl debated on what to say. God, he like Y/N so much, but at the same time he knew how much he cared about her. With her just admitting to Daryl that she had huge crush on Negan, Daryl found his heart tangled with what it should do. Taking a minute, Daryl’s eyes lifted toward the ladies’ restroom and he shook his head.

“We’re not dating,” Daryl was honest with Negan while shifting on the seat so he could look at Negan with his intense blue eyes. There was an excitement that flooded Negan’s face when Daryl said that and Daryl was damning himself for even attempting to be a good person in this situation. He wanted to be greedy. He wanted to be an asshole, but he knew that he really liked Y/N and her being happy was worth more than his own happiness. “In fact, I think if you were honest with her, she would be fucking thrilled.”

“Why is that?” Negan inquired with an arch of his thick eyebrow.

“Because she has the biggest crush on you,” Daryl told her secret, but he knew by telling Negan that would help her get something that made her happy in the end. The amusement that flooded Negan’s features made Daryl feel like the biggest loser on the planet. Instead of telling the woman he was in love with that he cared about her, he was telling the guy that she had a crush on that she liked him. Who the fuck did that? “I found that out tonight. So, there you go.”

“So, you’re okay with this?” Negan stammered with a bob of his head while speaking with a big, pearly white smile. When Daryl nodded he knew that Negan was pleased with his answer. Cussing to himself, Daryl hated him himself. So much. Why would he do that? A moment later he heard Negan let out an enthusiastic breath. “Well speak of the devil, look who it is! We were just talking about you.”

“Negan!” Daryl closed his eyes hearing the way that Y/N said Negan’s name. It was the sound of someone that was pleasantly surprised with their guest being there. “I hope it was only good things that you were talking about.”

“Is there any other way to talk about you?” Negan flirted and Daryl silently groaned to himself when Negan moved over to make room for Y/N back at the bar. Glancing beside him, Daryl could see that Negan was still rather close to her while they sat next to each other. “I was happy to see you walk in here. I thought you weren’t coming tonight.”

“Well, someone made me late to checking my tests,” she reminded Negan and Negan snorted upon hearing her say that. “If it wasn’t for that person, I may have been here sooner rather than later.”

“My fault,” Negan placed his hand over the center of his chest and their eyes were hooked on each other. “I was worried that maybe my danish made you feel sick.”

“Quite the opposite actually, I think it put me in a better mood today,” she complimented Negan and Daryl found himself irritated that he had now become the third wheel. Before Negan was there, she actually acknowledged his existence, but with Negan sitting beside her Daryl realized that he may as well had been invisible. “I was hoping you would be bringing me more tomorrow.”

“See, now you’re getting greedy,” Negan teased with a cock of his head and a big, goofy smile. Daryl watched Negan while he interacted with Y/N and Daryl wished he had half of the confidence along with charisma that Negan did. “I bring you something out of the kindness of my heart and now you’re going to start expecting it.”

“It’s a compliment really,” she smiled, caressing her fingers over the back of her neck in a nervous swipe while her and Negan went back and forth. “It says you did a really good job making it and I think you’re a fantastic baker slash cook.”

“Well thank you,” Negan chuckled while he looked her over with his hazel eyes. “If it means getting to see you smile if even for a few minutes every day, I will happily bring you anything that I make.”

“Since you’re so big on sharing you should let me try it someday,” Daryl finally spoke up when they both had seemed to forget that he was there. Negan’s smile slowly faded when his eyes pulled to Daryl’s. “I mean she was gushing about your cooking skills earlier today.”

“Absolutely Daryl, I’d loved for you to try my danish,” Negan replied with a smirk and in the moment Daryl realized how awkward the whole statement actually sounded. Y/N’s laughter filled the air and Negan looked to Y/N with an amused expression. “You’re a fucking perv missy.”

“I’m sorry, the way you just said that at him felt so suggestive,” she waved her hand in the air trying to get herself to stop laughing. Daryl was embarrassed, Negan was entertained. “You can’t tell me you didn’t say it like that to not be…suggestive as hell.”

“Daryl’s a decent looking fella, I wouldn’t be embarrassed to being suggestive with him,” Negan threw his hand up in the air and she laughed harder, her hand reaching out to place over Negan’s chest. God, she even wanted to touch Negan. When Daryl would make her laugh, she was nothing like this. “You think I’m joking? I’m not. I’m not embarrassed.”

“Well at least you’re bold and honest,” she claimed before finally looking to Daryl who seemed less than enthusiastic with everything that was going on. “Without being perverted, I think you would really like his actual danish. I was surprised it wasn’t store bought.”

“Hey now, it tastes better than the store stuff,” Negan grumbled under his breath and once again before Daryl could respond Negan had her full attention again. “You can’t compare my freshly baked goods to something you would buy at a supermarket that has been sitting there for days.”

“Oh, my mistake,” she giggled and Negan reached for her to give her a big hug in his arms after they had their playful little bickering match. God, Negan was so brave. It was something that Daryl would have never done, but she didn’t seem to hate it at all.

“Do y’all want to come over and play a game with us?” Negan pointed over toward the pool table and she looked to Daryl with big eyes. It was obvious she wanted to play, but Daryl was still at a point where he had no interest. Negan was already so much better than him at pretty much everything, he didn’t want Negan to outdo him in pool too. “We’d love to have you over there.”

“Go ahead, I’ll watch from here,” Daryl offered to her seeing that she seemed upset that Daryl didn’t want to come. “I’m kind of tired and I’m not much of a pool player. So I wouldn’t be that much fun anyways.”

“Well, why don’t you just come over there and talk with a few of the other teachers? You can be near the table while I absolutely destroy Y/N,” Negan urged Daryl to still join them and almost immediately Daryl shook his head. He didn’t want to be included in something where he would have to be up close watching the girl that he was head over heels for swooning over Negan.

“Daryl, come on,” she reached for his hands and Daryl shook his head once more. “You might actually have some fun.”

“I’m tired Y/N, you go ahead and have fun,” Daryl kept up with his answer knowing that she was disappointed, but he didn’t care. There was no changing his answer. Part of Daryl wished she would have just stayed, but when she got up from the seat, he knew that spending time with Negan was going to win out over spending time with him. “Just enjoy yourself.”

“Well you should come over there when you want,” she reached out to squeeze his shoulder before walking toward the pool table with Negan.

When they reached the other side of the bar Daryl could see the other teachers eager to talk and laugh with Y/N. For a while they just all stood around talking and Daryl knew that he was staring, but he didn’t care. Biting down on his bottom lip when Negan’s arm wrapped around Y/N’s shoulders, he let out an upset breath and knew he should have just left.

After a while of talking, Negan tugged Y/N toward the pool table and they started playing together. Daryl was full of jealousy watching their interaction. It was obvious the two of them had a fuck ton of chemistry together. She was having a lot of fun and it was so easy for Negan to make her laugh.

Even knowing that Negan was her type made it so much more obvious to Daryl that he would never be her type. Negan was the opposite of him and he knew that. Which hurt all the more. It was best for him to just leave at his point, he wouldn’t have even been missed if he left now.

Finishing up his last drink, Daryl went to leave until he watched Y/N throw her arms up in celebration when she clearly beat Negan. Watching closely, Daryl saw the look of disappointment over Negan’s features as he moved around the pool table toward her. How close Negan got to Y/N made Daryl’s heart start to hammer inside of his chest.

Daryl’s mind was telling him to go over there and stop the interaction, but his body was frozen while Negan’s eyes were hooked on hers. Negan’s fingers stroked over the side of her face, brushing her hair behind her ear while they talked. Negan whispered something and she nodded before Negan lowered down. Tensing up, Daryl watched Negan’s lips descend over hers after he cupped her face in his hands in a tender stroke and this shit hurt more than Daryl would have thought it would.

When they parted, Negan���s head pressed up against hers and Daryl could see that it took her breath away. Negan whispered something to her while his right hand lifted with his thumb tracing over her cheek. With a smile like that, Daryl knew that Negan was sweeping her off her feet.

Daryl stepped forward when Negan grabbed a hold of her hand and led her toward the back of the bar. The rest of the group was distracted with their own discussions so the two of them were able to sneak out. Following the direction they headed, Daryl went to the backdoor and pushed it slightly open to see that they were at the back of the building.

“You are so fucking beautiful,” Negan slurred, while he had her back pressed up against the brick wall. His large hands were cupping her face as they kissed over and over again. Daryl watched the two of them through the small crack in the door that he had opened. It was enough not to draw attention to him while the two made out behind the bar. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long.”

“Negan,” she breathed out while his kisses pressed down over the side of her face and down toward her neck. Grabbing a firm hold of his thick hair, she tugged at it and made Negan stare out at her with desperation while he panted. Daryl wished that she would turn him down. “Do you…do you want to go to my place?”

“Right now?” Negan breathed against her lips and she nodded slowly. The smile that Negan gave her made an angry chill run down Daryl’s spine. “I’d love to.”

Y/N reached for Negan’s hand and led him away from the bar making Daryl want to chase after them, but he knew better. She made her choice and she wanted Negan. Badly, obviously.

Slamming the door shut behind him, Daryl went back to the bar and took his seat again where he was previously. Ordering something a little stronger, he wanted to drink away his pain knowing that he was super hurt to see how eager Y/N was to take Negan home with her.

“Where did the big man go?” a voice made Daryl grunt when Simon slid in beside him and Daryl muttered a slew of silent, angry words to himself. Suddenly so many people he had no interest in speaking to were coming up to him to talk. It irritated Daryl to say the least. When Daryl immediately took back the drink he ordered, Simon let out a long drawn out laugh. “It’s only Thursday Dixon, you might want to hold back. There is one more day of work.”

“I don’t care,” Daryl grumbled with a scowl, his blue eyes glaring at Simon. “I assume you’re talking about Negan and you’re too late. He just left with Y/N.”

“Like, they left together?” Simon was eager to get details and Daryl nodded, waving on to get another drink brought to him. “Son of a bitch! I didn’t think she would give it up that fucking fast. I got more of an innocent vibe from her.”

“What are you trying to say?” Daryl’s face scrunched up and Simon ordered a drink for himself.

“I’m saying Negan is going to win the fucking bet, that’s what I’m saying,” Simon sneered when he got the beer that he ordered. “Goddamn it.”

“What bet?” Daryl immediately questioned seeing Simon dramatically throw his head around. There was a pressure in Daryl’s head and it felt like the world stopped all together when he heard Simon say that. “What bet?”

“I made a bet with Negan that he wouldn’t be able to sleep with the new girl,” Simon informed Daryl with a long, drawn out sigh. “And evidently, I’m fucking losing which fucking sucks.”

“You guys made a bet about Negan sleeping with Y/N?” Daryl snapped, standing up from the stool that he was seated at. “What the fuck? That’s an actual person you are talking about? Someone who likes Negan…”

“Every girl likes Negan,” Simon snorted, his face scrunched up in amusement when Daryl seemed so upset. “Like I’m supposed to be surprised by that. I just thought she was your girl so it was the one time I thought I would win the bet.”

“Negan told me that he was crushing on her,” Daryl repeated what Negan had said and Simon laughed with an entertained expression when he reached for his beer again. “What?”

“You think Negan would crush on her? After losing his wife, that guy would pretty much sleep with anyone to forget the pain of losing her,” Simon cleared his throat noticing how uncomfortable that Daryl was with all of this. “There is no way that he has something for this girl other than the bet. He’s out to win it and undoubtedly, he is going to nail it. I guess I should say be saying he’s going to be nailing her.”

“Fucking asshole,” Daryl knocked into Simon as he headed for the door to leave. He didn’t know what to do with this information, but he had to stop it. Someway. He couldn’t just let Y/N get hurt like this. Why did he have to be so stupid? He should have never told Negan that it would be okay. He should have tried harder to keep them apart. This was just as much his fault for pushing the two of them together and Daryl hated himself for that.

----

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[messedupfan]

Infinity & Beyond (Wanda Maximoff x Reader) Chapter 6

Summary: Something strange has happened

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update this story. I planned on posting it on August 23rd but I've never been good with deadlines. Also writer's block is frustrating so another apology for the length. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh

A secretly wed couple just moved to town

An irregular bride and bride

Who left the big city

To find a quiet life

WandaY/n!

She’s a magical gal

In a small town locale

She’s a wifey who can't be beat

How will this duo fit in and pull through?

Oh, by sharing a love

Like you’ve never seen

WandaY/n!

You enter the kitchen with a bright smile as your wife is putting away the dishes with her magic. One almost hits you in the head but you are able to duck. "My wife and her flying saucers."

"My wife and her impeccable instincts." Wanda retorts, placing her hands on her hips with a mirrored expression.

"Aren't we a fine pair?" You walk over and peck her cheek while fiddling with a newspaper. Then you became aware of the disembodied laughter. A laugh track. Was that normal?

"What do you say to silver dollar pancakes, crispy hash browns, bacon, eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice, and black coffee?" She talks as she walks to the refrigerator.

"Oh I say we just moved in and neither of us has had a chance to brave the supermarket."

"Well, that explains the empty refrigerator!" The laughter happens again and you want to question it again but something is stopping you from thinking too much. You don't like it. Relax.

"Wanda?" You call out. What's happening? You want to ask but instead you're focused on the marked date on the calendar. "Is there something special about today?" No, there is nothing special about August twenty-third!

"Well, I know the dress is a little much but I'm trying my best to blend in." She makes her way over to you.

"No, not that. See right there? There's a little heart over today's date." Wanda stands in front of you and you place your hands on her shoulders and rest your chin on the top of her head while the two of you stare at the calendar.

"Oh yes the heart! Well don't tell me you have forgotten Y/n/n," she turns around and you lean against the counter.

"Forgotten? I believe I'm the one incapable of forgetting anything important. In fact, your brother used to tease me about my sharp memory. If I'm not mistaken, so did you." That's true, they called me a memory machine. Or would point out that was a trait I'd earned from my birth father. Which I did, Tony had an amazing mind, but at the time I would have preferred to be taunted with a harsh slur over the comparison.

"Well, then tell me what is so important about today's date," she challenges with a wide grin.

You're left stumped, unable to come up with a clue as to why there is a heart over the date on the calendar. "What was the question again?" You push off the island to move around the kitchen. "Oh, well, perhaps, you've forgotten yourself."

"Me? Heavens no! I've been so looking forward to this day."

"As have I." No I haven't! Relax. "Today we are celebrating…"

"You bet we are." You move back to the island to stand in front of Wanda as she stalls. "It's the first time we…"

"Mhmm…"

"...have ever celebrated this occasion before!" She vaguely concludes.

Is today special? Why can't I remember? "It's a special day!" You offer.

"Perhaps an evening…"

"Of great significance…"

"To us both!"

"Naturally."

"Obviously." Wanda shakes her head slightly while scrunching her nose. Gosh, she is adorable.

"Exactly," the two of you lean in for a sweet peck on the lips. "Well done, us. All right. Well, that's me off to work then." Work? What could I possibly do in times like this? I was barely employable in our decade.

You walk over to the kitchen exit, remove a thin adjustable shoulder strap handbag from a hook and place it on your right shoulder and open the door ready to wave your wife goodbye.

"Don't forget—"

"I haven't!" You say defensively. Wanda points at a stack of files on a small table by the door. "Right, thank you. Have a good day, dear." You blow her a comically large kiss and walk out the door. Halfway through your walk the curiosity of what you do gets the best of you and you stop to open the top file. Every page is blank. You frown and fear that you forgot to fill them out last night. What was I doing last night? Why can't I remember? Relax.

You shake your head and carry on to work.

––––

“Hello, dear. I’m Agnes, your neighbor to the right.” A woman enters with a plant that she hands to Wanda. She speaks fast and moves further into the house and Wanda follows after shutting the door. “So, what’s your name? Where are you from? And most importantly, how’s your bridge game, hon?” Wanda rushes over to the woman to properly introduce herself to her nosy neighbor. “Golly you settled in fast! Did you use a moving company?”

Wanda moves to set the plant down as she answers. “I sure did. Those boxes don’t move themselves.” Agatha laughs at the irony.

“So, what’s a single gal like you doing rattling around this big house?”

“Oh no, I’m not single.”

“No? I don’t see a ring.”

Wanda glances down at her, for once, ringless fingers. “Oh, what I meant to say is, I don’t live alone. See, I…” She stalls to come up with a better explanation. “Have a roommate! You just missed her, she went off to work.”

“Oh my, a working girl? How inspiring. Say, she must be a really good friend to let you live with her rent free.”

“Oh, well, we have a special arrangement. She works and pays the bills and I do all of the house work. Cooking and cleaning and such.”

“Wow, do you think she’ll let me move in? It certainly sounds like a better deal than the one I have with my husband Ralph!” The two laugh. “So, when do I get to meet this roommate of yours? She sounds wonderful!”

“Oh she’ll be home later this evening but we have a special occasion planned for the two of us.”

“A special occasion? What is it? A birthday?”

“No, definitely not a birthday.”

“Hmm, today isn’t a holiday is it?”

“No, it’s not a holiday…”

“An anniversary then!”

“No, it’s not our anniversary,” Wanda mutters to herself as she contemplates what the special occasion could be.

Agnes wasn’t clear on what Wanda had said, “I’m sorry, what was that dear?”

“Oh, my apologies, my memory isn't the best sometimes. Y/n, my roommate, knows what we’re supposed to do tonight. That girl has a memory like an elephant.”

“Well don’t you have to get things ready for the occasion?”

“I do have to go shopping…”

“Oh good! Let’s go!”

----

"Wanda! Thank goodness you picked up the phone," the second you realized that the heart on the calendar meant that you were hosting Mr. and Mrs. Heart for dinner you have been trying to get a hold of Wanda. But up until now, there hadn’t been an answer. I miss cell phones.

"Well, hello dear, is everything okay?"

"Yes, it's about tonight," you start.

"Not to worry, I have everything under control."

"Oh, perfect then! I do hope we are on the same page about this. Tonight is a very important night. In fact I'm a little nervous," you wrap your finger in the cord of the phone.

"Y/n, still? After all these years? What is there to worry about?"

"Well, yeah. You know how I can get in these situations. All rambly and jittery. I’m afraid if things don’t go well tonight, it could be the end."

“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think? Besides, I’ve always found that charming about you. Trust me, dear, everything will run smoothly tonight. I promise.”

“Thank you, Wanda. I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon!”

----

After Mr. and Mrs. Heart survive the antics of the night they leave just as Mr. Heart promises you a promotion. For what, you don’t know, but you happily accept. You and Wanda collapse onto the couch once they are gone. You huff in relief. “I think we pulled it off.”

“I agree. I think we make quite the team.”

“Ah yes, it’s almost as if we’re married,” you place your arm over her shoulder and Wanda snuggles into your side. The disembodied laughter returns and you want to ask her what is happening but that voice tells you to relax and you do. It’s odd the way that continues to happen but every time it does you lose control over your thoughts and you can’t question it any further.

“We do make an odd couple though,” Wanda states, looking at you. Her eyes still have an effect on you, even in black and white and all you want to do is gaze into them and imagine the green. But you can’t.

“What makes you say that?” You frown, “Other than the obvious?” You gesture at each other's chests making her and the audience laugh.

“Oh you’re so naughty!” You snicker as you kiss her forehead and wait for her to answer your question. “I don’t know. Our neighbor Agnes was asking me all of these questions at the store and then with the Hearts–”

“To be fair, we have known each other a relatively long time. I highly doubt they could have answered those questions about themselves,” you interrupt.

“I suppose you’re right. But… Do we even have a song?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, darling of course we have a song. It’s…” You struggle to remember and it hurts your head to fight against whatever is preventing you from thinking for yourself. “Wanda, why can’t I remember our song?” You’re finally able to ask. Wanda’s eyes narrow in confusion.

“What?”

“Wanda, what is happening? What is all of this?” Your head and chest begin to hurt and the pain is powerful but it also triggers a memory. One that is unclear and makes no sense. It’s suddenly hard to breathe.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, dear.” Wanda’s tone is stern with a subtle layer of panic.

Relax

Everything goes blurry for a moment. “Do we even have a song?”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll find one that suits us eventually. There’s nothing to worry about darling.”

“And rings?”

“I can fix that,” you stand from the sofa and walk over to a decoration where you had apparently hidden the rings for Wanda. Once you hold them in your hand there is a flash of light that burns your eyes and you drop the rings and the decoration, shattering the glass. The blurry vision returns and the glass is cleared from the floor and the rings sit neatly in the palm of your hand. You don’t question it and take your place next to Wanda. “What do you think?”

Wanda makes a surprised but delighted expression and happily accepts the jewelry that represents commitment. “I do,” she said as she laced her fingers with yours, holding your gaze with hers. Then she frowns, “But I don’t have a ring for you.”

“It’s alright, dollface. We wouldn’t want to cause suspicion, would we?” She continues to frown and an idea pops into your head which will hopefully lift her spirits. “How about you fashion me one!” Wanda’s face lights up when you release your hand from hers and hold it out in front of her. She waves her hand and wiggles her fingers causing a subtle ring to appear on your finger. “I do,” you grin and the two of you kiss.

Chapter 7

Taglist: @alwaysgoodnight @drpepperobsessed @itscryptic @i1ovewanda @cristin-rjd @when-wolves-howl @brokeandconfuse @olsensnpm @yeetus-thyself @franfineashell @liver-casserole @evenbeingcrazy1998 @obsessed-with-wandamaximoff

[legendarywizarddetective]

On Set - Chapter 1

Soooo.... after all these lovely comments of you, here is Part 1 of my story for you. I hope you like it. A special thanks again to @nashibirne who always supports me no matter what and kicks my butt if I struggle with writing...Love you hunnybunny <3

Pairing: Henry Cavill x reader (f)

Summary: You start your work as Henrys new PA and things turn out completely diffrent than you thought...

Word count: 1309

Warnings: rpf, implied smut, insecurity

Please note also that english is not my mother tongue and that the story is not beta read, so all the mistakes are mine.

tag list: @nashibirne @sillyrabbit81 @lunedelorient @littlefreya @fanficlover91 @omgkatinka @aaescritora @finney13s @lumiousmoon @sharonisantisocial @marantha @supermamabear123 @lharrietg @red42985 @summersong69

Chapter one: Never in a million years I would have thought that I would be Henry Cavill's personal assistant but now here we are. After the short greeting in Lauren's trailer we headed to Henry's to sort out what my tasks would be. It was just half an hour that I was officially his PA now and I already was nearly breaking down. This man could definitely not be human, his broad back and his muscular body... his curls and his ridiculously handsome face and the worst of all, his ocean blue eyes that stared right into my soul every time he looked at me... Well yes Henry Cavill was certainly the lead role in all my thirsty fantasies and to be honest not just once in my mind while I pleasured myself late at night. And now I felt like a boneless puddle just because of his sole presence in the same room. I wasn’t sure how I should manage to be the professional assistant Lauren had promised him. Well there was just one solution to this problem. I had to face reality... He was way out of my league. ah what did I think...way out of my universe, there wouldn’t ever be the possibility that he would see me as a woman and not just as his employee. I didn’t need to trick me and think that there would be the tiniest chance... I mean come on, we all knew his ex-girlfriends, one prettier than the other, all super sexy, super fit and super gorgeous, nothing ordinary and average like me. That’s it Y/N just face the truth and be happy about the job. "Earth to Y/N" Henry pulled me out of my thoughts as I stood awkwardly and lost in the middle of his trailer. "Oh, sorry what did you say?" I mumbled slightly embarrassed by my lack of attention. "I just asked if we want to sit down and talk about our arrangement" he smiled at me. "Oh of course". I simply replied and followed him to the small couch in the Living room. We sat down on opposite sites and looked at each other, our knees touching because of the lack of space but Henry didn’t even realize. For me on the other hand, just that tiny bit of bodily contact made me tingle with excitement. His soul reading blue eyes stared at me and I swore I saw a light grin on his face as if he knew exactly what he was doing to me. I shook my head and looked down on my lap "Well OK Henry please tell me what you expect from me as your personal assistant." I looked at him again Be professional, be professional. I thought to myself while his smile never disappeared and he obviously was confident enough to hold eye contact the whole time, I mean why wouldn’t he, HE was definitely not distracted by pure beauty like I was. "OK there are several things that you as my personal assistant need to do, I mean obviously you did a lot of these things for Lauren too but it wouldn’t hurt to repeat them doesn’t it darling?" his smirk grew bigger with each of his words "Of course not Mr. Cavill... I mean Henry" Oh gosh he was so fucking intimidating and some kind of demanding, but I wouldn’t mind at all if he would have pounded my chores deep inside me, right here on the carpet in front of the couch now. Fuck fuck fuck stay professional. The heat started already to grew up in my spine but I tried to remained focused and to not look down in embarrassment again. "The most important thing is that everything I tell you stays between you and me, I mean obviously you signed an NDA anyway but I want to have a trustworthy relationship with you. because you will get to know a lot of personal things during our time together." His words were strict but his smile was bright and warm. "That’s absolutely clear Henry I would never talk about the things you trust me with to anyone... I bet you already made enough bad experiences with that" I rumbled but then it stroke me "Oh sorry that was a bit too forward maybe" I scolded myself for letting my words go so far but I knew enough about him and his past to know, that his privacy was very important to him. "That wasn’t too forward... That’s exactly why I told you that. I really want to trust you and I want you to trust me as well. Yes, I had some people around me before that abused my trust

and I will not let that happen ever again" as he said that his smile faltered and for the first time in our conversation I saw the real Henry, the one that was just a human being with emotions and doubts, not Henry Cavill the actor. But he composed himself very quickly. "Your main task is to watch my schedule and remind me of meetings and appointments I have. Here on set you will get my timeline from Lauren and I already have a complete schedule for the next two weeks with appointments like interviews and training sessions that I need to attend in addition to filming. You have to watch the clock so that I don’t mix anything up, but I don’t think that this will be a problem for you. Lauren said that you are a fantastic organizer." He gave me the most reassuring smile and I blushed instantly which didn’t go unnoticed to Henry. "Ah and there is one more thing I’d like to ask you right before we start... because our schedule is very packed I thought it would be the best, if you could skip your drives in the morning and evening and therefore move in with me into my rental house at Berkshire." He beamed at me. "I am sorry what?" I couldn’t believe my ears. Did Henry really ask me if I wanted to share a house with him...heaven help that could not be real. "Yeah well it´s just effective isn’t it?" He scratched his head and seemed to be somewhat unsure of himself for a moment. "But you don’t need to if you are not comfortable with it" he tried to ease up the situation, certainly not used to female hesitance. "No no its OK. It’s totally fine for me and I bet that your house has a guest room and we don’t need to share a bed." I tried to answer as cockily as possible. "Well this darling, depends totally on you" Henry grinned at me with a smug smile. OK now ladies and gentleman I am dead. Was that a serious invitation for a hook up?I sat there speechless, bright red and left with an open mouth. "No worries princess I am just kidding" he winked at me ahh ooh OK it would have been too good to be true anyway.. but wait did he just called me princess? "Of course, I have a guest room. If you want to, we can head over to your apartment and catch your belongings now" with that he stood up and held out his hand to me. As I took it and he helped me to stand up, some sort of electricity stroke me. Henry pulled me towards him and now just a few inches separated us as he looked down to me, right into my eyes with that earth-shattering stare of his bright eyes. Henry leaned down to my ear and whispered " And princess just one more thing...I am sure in no time you will beg me to let me sleep you in my bed" Oh holy mother...what the fuck was going on here....

Tbc

[kjmsupremacist]

maps and constellations (chan/felix)

After their senior year of high school, Chan and his closest friends decide to go on a road trip together to close out their time as children before they move on to college. Though Chan's excited for the trip, he knows the pressure of the next stage of their lives looms bigger on the horizon every day, and he's not sure how well they're all going to handle the transition, especially because they'll be scattered across the country in the fall. Even more pressing, however, are the feelings he's developing for his best friend, Felix.

Chapter 1   |   next   mlist

Characters: Felix, Chan, the rest of skz

Genre: romance, fluff, angst, friends to lovers, coming of age, growing pains, getting together

Pairing: Chan/Felix

Warnings: swearing? idk dude by my standards this is rather tame. we get into the smut later lol

Rating: Teen & Up

Length: 3.9k

Just a note at the top, it's a little confusing because I had to manipulate their ages, so for ease, here are their ages at the start of the fic. I tried to preserve their current age hierarchy as best as I could, but obviously there are a couple of unavoidable differences. There's some brief explanation as to how this happened near the start of this chapter. Not super important, but I'd rather have a little clarity here so we don't get mixed up down the road, especially because Changbin's birthday will be occurring during the time period that this fic covers:

Chan: 19, almost 20 Minho: 19, almost 20 Changbin: Will turn 19 about a week into the trip Hyunjin: 18, will be 19 in the following spring Han: 18, almost 19 Felix: 18, almost 19 Seungmin: 18, almost 19 I.N: 17, will be 18 in the following February

official playlist incoming, stay tuned!

Something’s definitely up. Chan can tell the instant he opens his front door; there’s something about the air in the house that tells him he’s not alone, even though his whole family is out. 

So he tries his next best guess. “Lix?” he calls, closing the door behind him and hanging his keys on the hook. 

The intruder pokes his head around the corner, smiling sheepishly. “I forgot you had work,” Felix says. “How did you know?”

Chan shrugs, grinning at him. Really, it was the way the door was locked—Chan always locks both locks, and he knew he did this morning, but just now it was only the top one. Felix has his own set of keys to Chan’s house, just like Chan has to his—their parents made that decision years ago. Still, Felix always forgets to lock the doorknob. “I dunno,” he says instead of explaining. “I could just tell.” He ruffles Felix’s hair as he passes, heading to the kitchen. “Want a snack? I’m starving.”

“Yes, please.” Felix takes a seat at the breakfast bar, brushing his hair back into place as he watches Chan survey the contents of the fridge. Chan can feel his eyes on his back even though he can’t see him. 

“You could’ve grabbed something, you know,” Chan says as he pulls out a couple of cans of Coca-Cola. He slides one across the counter to Felix, and then closes the fridge, going for the cupboard instead. “Like, the only thing in this kitchen that’s off-limits is the meat my mom’s marinating.”

“I wanted to eat with you,” Felix says, and Chan shoots him a half-fond, half-exasperated look over his shoulder. Felix just sticks out his tongue as he pops the can open.

It’s always been like this, almost as long as Chan can remember. He moved to the States with his parents when he was three, so he has very little recollection of anything before. He had one friend already—Han Jisung, the son of his parents’ college friends. But he lived in a different neighborhood, and it wasn’t always convenient for their parents to arrange times for them to see each other.

The house they moved into, the house that Chan and his family still live in now, fifteen years later, ended up being across the street from Felix’s house. Felix was two at the time, but they were fast friends. Chan’s little sister, Hannah, wasn’t born until he was seven, so for a few years it was mostly just Felix keeping him company. They went to the same preschool, were constantly over at each other’s houses for playdates. Chan, unlike Felix, was born in Korea, so he was held back for ESL reasons even though his English was perfect (racist, really, but unfortunately unavoidable). The upside was that this put Chan and Felix in the same grade.

Throughout their first few years in school, they began gathering a friend group. Some members were immediate—Chan made friends with a boy named Minho who had been held back just like Chan had; Felix appeared at lunch one day with a boy at his side. His name was Changbin and his parents had decided to wait an extra year before sending him to school, even though he just barely made the September 1st cutoff, unlike Felix, who’d missed it by a couple weeks. Age is a big deal when you’re little, so they all bonded over being on the older end of their grade (Changbin and Felix freshly six and Chan and Minho nearly seven to their classmates’ five years old). Soon their parents were arranging playdates every week.

In first grade, Jisung ended up in their school district when his family moved, so he was brought into the fold. They met Seungmin that year, too; he’d been in the other kindergarten class the year before. Suddenly, they had three September birthdays to celebrate. That year, they also met Hyunjin. He and Jisung bickered bitterly all throughout that year, and the year after too. Though they got better as they got older, it wasn’t until high school, when they realized a lot of that animosity was misplaced attraction, that they actually settled down. 

Last to join their group was Jeongin, who showed up on the first day of fifth grade. They found out that he was actually a year younger, and had been bumped up a grade after playing a little catch-up over the summer. And with that, their group was complete. Though they made other friends throughout middle and high school, the core remained unchanged.

Now, they’re one month off of high school graduation, and have only the summer before they and their friends head off to college. It’s bittersweet, certainly, but at least Chan and Felix are going to school in the same state. Sure, Vassar is a few hours on the train away from NYU, but that’s something Chan thinks he can manage. It’s not like he and Felix couldn’t survive without each other, but the comfort of a childhood best friend when he’s moving to the other side of the country is definitely welcome.

“Tteokbokki ok?” Chan knows the answer; he takes down a cup of prepackaged tteokbokki and goes searching for a small saucepan to boil some water in.

“Yeah,” Felix says anyway.

“So,” Chan says as he sets the pot of water on the stove and lights the burner, “why are you here? I mean, I can’t imagine our snack selection is better than yours.”

“First of all,” Felix says. “Your siblings are younger than mine, so obviously your snack selection is better. But I’m also here because I need help packing.”

“I see.” Chan covers the pot and leans over the counter, popping his soda open.

They’re all going on a big roadtrip in a couple of days, Chan, Felix, and all their friends. They’re going to start where they are, in San Diego, and then work their way up the west coast of California, then come back down more inland. The trip is gonna take just about three weeks, and they’ve been planning it since the start of their senior year. Chan knows he’s going to be exhausted and probably depressed once they get home, but right now he’s just excited. His brain is also too full of thoughts of preparation to have room for any sadness about how his whole friend group is going to be scattered across the country when fall comes around.

Some of them are luckier than others—he and Felix among them. Seungmin and Jeongin are the luckiest; they’re both shipping off to the University of Washington, and they’re going to be roommates. Minho will be at Brown, so Chan will at least be able to see him once or twice during the school year. Changbin’s going to be in the middle of nowhere, also known as the University of Chicago. Chan shivers, thinking of the winters there; he knows New York isn’t much better, but at least it’s New York, you know? 

Unluckiest of all is their resident couple, Hyunjin and Jisung. Hyunjin will be going to school at nearby USC. Jisung, on the other hand, will be going to Boston University. Chan knows they’ve been worrying about it ever since their acceptance letters arrived. He has to imagine it’ll come up on this trip, and he knows that just like when they used to fight as kids, it’ll be his job to facilitate. 

But at least he doesn’t have anything to worry about himself. He lets Felix complain about the dangers of overpacking while he adds the rice cakes to the boiling water, watching him pout over the stove and resisting the urge to suffocate him in a hug. 

“We’re gonna stop at a laundromat at least twice, you know,” Chan says when Felix lapses into silence.

“I know,” Felix says.

“And we still have a couple of days,” Chan adds.

“I know,” Felix says. “But I haven’t started packing at all.”

“Ah. Well, if you want to pack four pairs of shoes, we can just stack them in their boxes in the trunk.” Chan strains the rice cakes and then mixes the sauce powder with some of the leftover water, stirring everything around in the cup and turning off the stove. He grabs a pair of chopsticks and passes one to Felix, keeping the other half of the pair for himself, and opens the packet of toppings.

“I just don’t want to take up too much space,” Felix says. “I know Minho has a soccer mom car, but we do still have to fit eight people’s luggage in two vehicles.”

Chan sits down next to him at the breakfast bar and reaches out to brush some hair off of Felix’s forehead, smiling. “Stop fretting,” he says. “We’ll make it work. Eat, and then I’ll come over and help you.”

Felix rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling. He looks up at Chan as he stabs a rice cake. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” Chan blows on a rice cake before sticking it in his mouth. It’s still too hot and Felix laughs at him while he tries not to choke.

Chan does their dishes really fast—good to avoid his mother’s wrath, now more than ever—and then he and Felix head across the street to Felix’s house.

Olivia is in the living room; she waves hi to Chan and sticks her tongue out at Felix. Chan waves back, then follows Felix up the stairs to his room. 

“Dude,” Chan says when they step through the threshold. “You look like you got robbed.”

“Yeah,” Felix laments, flopping down onto his bed—on top of the piles of clothes littering the surface, Chan would like to add. “Robbed of my sanity.”

There’s shit everywhere. It’s not like Felix is the neatest person in the world, but he never lets his room get too bad, so this—this is almost worrying. Chan is pretty sure every single article of clothing that Felix owns is either on his bed, on his desk, or on the floor. There’s a suitcase open and empty in the center of the room, and toiletries strewn about every available surface. It’s just a road trip with their best friends, so Chan doesn’t really get why Felix is having such a hard time packing. Chan himself just packed a bunch of t-shirts and shorts, plus some longer pants and a couple light jackets for cooler nights. It’s simple enough on its own… which means this is about something else.

He shifts a stack of jeans to the side and sits down next to Felix. “Hey,” he says softly, reaching out and placing a hand on one of Felix’s shoulders. “What’s going on?”

Felix doesn’t answer him for a second, staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know how to explain,” he says eventually.

Chan brings his hand up to Felix’s forehead instead, tracing the lines there. “It’s me,” Chan says. “I’ll understand. Talk to me, hm?”

Finally, Felix flicks his gaze to Chan. When their eyes meet, his eyebrows crumple. “I just,” he whispers, tiny and sad, and Chan’s heart aches. “I just want it to be perfect. Since it’s probably the last time all eight of us are going to be able to hang out like this. For a really, really long time.”

“It’ll be perfect because we’re together,” Chan says quietly. “So what if you bring a pair of shoes you don’t use, or forget toothpaste? Do you know how many stores we’ll pass? Anything you forget, we can buy. Or one of us will be able to lend you something.” He squeezes Felix’s shoulder. “It’ll be perfect no matter what. And any little bumps we run into, we’ll solve it. Together, all eight of us. Just like always. Both on this trip, and in the future. Okay?”

Felix nods, but he still looks upset. Chan searches his face for a second, hesitating, but then he bends over him, smothering him in a hug and nuzzling into his neck, making ridiculous cooing noises. It works; they’re both giggling when he pulls away, and Felix’s eyes are brighter. 

“Don’t worry too much, yeah?” Chan says, standing and offering Felix a hand up. “That’s my job.”

Felix takes Chan’s hand, pulling and letting the momentum bring him crashing into Chan’s chest. He wraps his arms around him and squeezes until Chan squeaks in protest. “Thank you,” he says. “Really.”

“Anytime,” Chan replies, rubbing his back. “Let’s clean this up before your mom sees, huh?”

Felix laughs, releasing him and looking over the room. “Yeah, she’d lose her mind.”

Together, they put all of Felix’s things away—either back in his closet or dresser where they belong, or shoved into his suitcase for the trip. By the time Felix’s parents get home, they’re zipping up his bag (Felix sitting on top, of course, while Chan struggles). 

“Ah, Chan.” Felix’s mother has popped her head into the room. “I thought it was a little quiet up here. Thank you for helping him pack, I know he’s been putting it off for a couple of days.” She arches an eyebrow at her son, who just makes a face. “Would you like to stay for dinner?” she adds to Chan.

“If it’s not too much trouble,” Chan says. “I’d love that. Do you need any help?”

Mrs. Lee shakes her head. “No, Olivia’s gotten interested in cooking recently, so I’m all set.” She smiles. “Tell your mom, though, so she doesn’t worry.”

She heads back down the hall. Felix slips off his suitcase and onto the floor next to Chan, watching him pull out his phone. “I know it’s silly since we’ll be sleeping in the same room like every night for the next three weeks,” Felix says, “but—will you stay over tonight? I’m just, um. I dunno, anxious, I guess.”

Chan smiles at him. Felix used to be his shadow, always tugging at his sleeve, always grabbing one of Chan’s fingers to hold onto when they waited for the bus. He grew out of it, mostly—once they got older and made more friends, Felix blossomed into the sweet, sunny social butterfly that he is, always cheery and at ease. But sometimes—less and less frequently as time marches on, but sometimes—he still turns to Chan for comfort. Chan, softhearted as ever when it comes to his best friend, is always happy to provide it. “Sure,” he says evenly. “Lemme just tell my mom.”

Chan ends up running home to get a change of clothes and his toothbrush, and then he and Felix play games together while they wait for dinner. Felix’s father manages to rope them into some yard work, which ends when Felix decides Chan needs watering, too. A fast and vicious water fight later sees them toweling off on the back porch while Felix’s mother watches on, warning them not to drip all over her nice hardwood.

After a mom-mandated shower and dinner, Chan, Felix, and Olivia commandeer the living room to watch a movie together. There’s a little bickering, but eventually they settle on Princess Mononoke. Felix leans on Chan’s shoulder; Chan swings one of his legs over one of Felix’s. It’s just like when they were little and Chan would come over for a movie and a sleepover, and they’d both end up falling asleep on the couch and Felix’s parents would have to wake them up and put them to bed. 

They’re too old for that now, but Chan thinks some part of his body must remember, because while it’s not late, he finds himself unusually drowsy by the time the movie is over. They say goodnight to Felix’s family and then crawl into Felix’s bed. Felix’s blackout curtains work wonders, but his nightlight is just bright enough that Chan can make out the vague contours of his face when he rolls over to face him.

“What’s gonna happen after?” Felix whispers. “After we get back, after we all go off to school?”

Chan smiles. “We’ll all stay in touch,” he says. “And we’ll get back together for holidays and breaks.”

“What if we grow apart?” Felix asks.

“All of us care too much to grow so far apart that we won’t still be close,” Chan replies.

“But what if someone does?” Felix asks. “What if someone stops caring? What if someone gives up?”

“I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” Chan says. He reaches out and smoothes over the crease that’s appeared on Felix’s forehead with his thumb. “It’ll be different, but not different-bad. Just different. And later, when we’re all grown up and out of college and real adults, we’ll go on big vacations together, and that’ll be different, too, but that’ll be different-good. We’ll make it there. It’ll be faster than we think.”

“You sound old,” Felix says, but at least he’s smiling.

Chan smacks him very gently on the shoulder. “Then maybe you should listen to me,” he says. Felix only giggles. It draws laughter out of Chan, too. “Go to sleep, little one.”

The childhood nickname works, too; Felix salutes, still giggling, letting his eyes flutter shut. “Okay,” he says. “Night, Chan.”

“Night, Felix,” Chan murmurs. 

And just like when they were little, Chan watches him as he slips into sleep, waiting for his breath to lengthen, his face to relax. Just like when they were little, Chan waits until he’s sure Felix is sleeping peacefully before he lets himself succumb to his own exhaustion.

* * *

The day they leave is just as hectic as Chan expected it to be. It’s just as well—their destination for day one is LA, mostly because there’s nothing for any of them to see there, so they can get the jitters out of their system and get used to being on the road before they go somewhere actually worthwhile. They will be swinging by USC just for Hyunjin’s sake, to kind of take a peek, but beyond that they’ll just be relaxing.

So Chan gets up late, spends the morning making breakfast for his family and hanging out with his siblings and letting his parents nag him about safety. It’s not until around eleven that the others start showing up. They agreed to meet at Chan’s since he’s the one who did most of the heavy-lifting when it came to planning. Chan watches from the front door as his friends spill out of their cars, hauling overstuffed duffle bags and backpacks. Minho pulls his mom’s minivan up, back seats already lying flat so there’s plenty of space for everyone’s luggage.

The parents chat while the kids play Tetris with their bags. By noon, everything is packed away and there are more snacks than Chan thinks they could possibly need stashed in every available space, courtesy of all eight sets of parents. 

“Send check-in texts whenever you stop someplace,” Felix’s mom insists. “I’m not just talking to Felix, I’m talking to all of you. Keep us updated, or you’re all grounded until college when you get back.”

“We will!” Chan promises while the others giggle. “Thanks for all the food! We’ll be safe!” 

“Speak for yourself,” Jisung mutters. “Minho said when we get out on the open highway, he’s going ninety at a minimum.”

“Shh!” Minho hisses.

Though they made no plans beforehand, the car seating arrangements go as Chan expected. Jisung, Hyunjin, and Changbin decide to go with Minho (Chan has a feeling the promise of doing ninety mph has something to do with it); Seungmin, Jeongin, and of course Felix will be in Chan’s car. Felix claims the front seat because he wants aux, and soon they’re all buckled in and waving out the windows as they pull onto the street.

“Play something happy,” Seungmin says before Felix has even opened up Spotify. “This is a happy trip.”

Felix makes a mocking face and proceeds to play Taylor Swift’s Picture To Burn, which obviously all of them scream along to, before settling into some Spotify-made roadtrip playlist. Chan nods along to the beat as he signals out onto the main road and towards the highway, keeping Minho’s taillights in view.

Minho makes good on his promise to go ninety; Chan loses him within the first five minutes. It’s not like Chan’s not speeding, it’s just that he usually likes to keep it at a cool seventy-five, whereas Minho seems to be interested in seeing if pushing a hundred will make the minivan combust on the spot. 

At least Chan’s car roars with laughter when he says this, proving that they can have fun without nearly killing themselves. Chan files it away in his Very Good Memories box, trying to catch his breath and pass an exceptionally slow Tesla at the same time.

“I bet Hyunjin is screaming right now,” Felix comments mildly once they’ve calmed down.

“Oh, absolutely,” Seungmin agrees, laughing. “He’s probably on the verge of crushing Jisung’s fingers.”

Jeongin does a spectacular impersonation, though he keeps his volume low for Chan’s sake. Seungmin yelps as Jeongin grabs his hands to demonstrate; Felix laughs brightly and Chan watches out of the corner of his eye, smiling faintly to himself. This is a happy trip, Seungmin had said. Chan hopes it’ll be true. For all his bravado in front of Felix, he knows trips like these can often go awry. Everyone will be a little low on sleep and vaguely uncomfortable at times, and some things are bound to go wrong. On top of it all, their futures loom near on the horizon, which will only add to the stress. 

The good news, he thinks to himself wryly, is that if we survive this trip with our friendships intact, we’ll probably survive anything. 

They meet up with the other car at USC. Hyunjin’s already taking pictures in front of landmarks around campus, Jisung playing the patient photographer. 

“You guys are so slow,” Minho says when he sees the other four ambling up the street. 

“When you get a ticket for speeding and the cops search the car, then we’ll see who’s slow,” Chan replies somewhat wearily, knocking his shoulder into Minho’s.

Chan watches the others take pictures for a while, eventually corralling all his kids together so he can take a group photo. 

“Now with you!” Jisung calls.

“We’ll have to find someone—” Chan looks around, but sees no one.

“Oh my god, how old are you?” Seungmin groans. “Put it on self-timer and run!”

Chan does just that; Changbin holds out his hand to stop his momentum and pull him in. Chan grins so big he can barely see, laughing once they lose their pose and trip over each other trying to gather themselves again. The pictures come out great—bright and sunny, the perfect start to a great trip. 

Though it’s silly, Chan really can’t imagine anything going wrong. Here, at the start of their trip, free from their parents and all the weight of their future, sun-drunk and full on love and excitement, everything seems perfect. They wander back to their cars, double-check the address of their hotel, search for good restaurants nearby. In the backseat, Seungmin and Jeongin lean their heads so close their hair brushes, scrolling Google Reviews on Jeongin’s phone. Felix leans on the console, twisting around in his seat to give his opinion. Eventually, he twists far enough that it’s comfortable for him to lean his head on Chan’s shoulder. Chan smiles to himself, quiet, keeping his eyes on Google Maps or on the road, joy so big in his chest he doesn’t think he could speak if he wanted to.

He shouldn’t worry, he decides as they pull into their hotel parking lot. Everything will be just fine.

[dinogoose]

something is off, i can’t explain

buddie | chapter 1/5 | 1361 words

An accident at work leaves Buck in a coma. It also leaves his soul outside of his body.

(or, a ridiculous ‘ghost’ buck story with a twist)

Fire.

Fire is where it all begins, and where it seemingly ends for Buck and his life. If you asked him, he would tell you he became human the day he joined the 118. It was his entire life. His team is his family, and even with everything they’d been through, they were always going to be. While the entirety of the 118 are Buck’s family, his people are Eddie and Chris. Eddie and Chris are tethered to his soul. They complete him, and he would be nothing without them. He loves them.

So in a strange sense, he had fire to thank for all of these things, but with all the good, comes the bad.

-

The call was routine, ask anyone, they will tell you it was completely normal. Everything should’ve been fine. Bobby tells them it’s a fire at an office building, two people are still inside. The 118 arrives on scene, Bobby assigns Hen and Chimney to triage, and has Eddie and Buck go in to search for anyone still inside.

Things are still perfectly standard as Eddie and Buck go inside. The fire roars, but it hasn’t spread enough for them to be worried. Buck hears the victims first, calling out to Eddie. He finds both of them hunched under a desk, but uninjured. Eddie rounds the corner and they both help the victims up.

It should’ve been so simple. Get up and get out. They found the missing people, and could see the exit. So why did everything go wrong so quickly?

Just as they approach the exit, Eddie in front, aiding one of the victims, with Buck behind him helping the other, Bobby’s voice comes in over the radio.

Get out now, the building’s unstable!

This causes both men to walk a little faster, Buck sees Eddie cross the threshold, making it safely. Then he hears an ominous creek he knows too well. He shoves the second victim so she can make it out before the inevitable happens. Just as he watches her stumble out, watches Eddie staring at him eyes wide and filled with fear, he sees the roof fall. Collapsing right onto him.

Pain, so much pain, then,

Nothing.

-

Beep, beep, beep.

God, waking up in hospitals is Buck’s least favorite thing, the annoying beeping, the sterile smell, the overall sadness of it all, and the pain he feels every time. Except, as he’s coming to, he doesn’t feel anything. Like zero pain, zero discomfort, he doesn’t even feel hungry. Which okay… maybe they gave him really good drugs, but something feels off.

He hears soft cries that he would recognize anywhere. Peeling his eyes open he looks around. It’s his sister, who he’s hurting by being here. He reaches out to comfort her, let her know he’s fine, everything’s going to be okay, but once he reaches her, his hand passes right through.

What?

He does it again for good measure. Nothing. It just goes right through her, like he’s a ghost. Oh my god, is he a ghost?

“Maddie?” He calls out. She doesn’t react, she just keeps quietly sobbing into the hospital bed.

He decides to get off the bed, sitting up he swings his legs off and lands on steady feet. He spins around and immediately sees… himself?

It’s him obviously, he knows what he looks like, but he’s him and he’s standing up. But this Buck is hooked up to machines, lying down. Covered in bruises and scratches. He looks dead. But he’s not dead, he’s right here. He reaches out to touch himself, but again it passes right through.

Okay so he’s a ghost. Or maybe not a ghost because his body is still technically alive. Come ghost? Coma ghost. He begins pacing back and forth. How can he come back? Is he just his soul? How could he do this to his family?

He’s feeling an overwhelming amount of things at once, but mostly he feels guilty. Guilt, for causing his family to go through this, just because he’s a reckless idiot. Even though this time was just an accident, he swears he wasn’t trying to play hero. God what does he even do-

His spiral is interrupted by Chimney walking in.

He looks awful, his eyes are red-rimmed, shoulders hunched, and he just looks tired. Chimney places a hand on Maddie’s shoulder, whispering something Buck can’t quite make out. She turns facing him and he wraps his arms around her, letting her cry onto him.

Buck turns away, feeling like he’s intruding on this personal moment. Eventually Maddie’s cries die down and she turns back to Coma-Buck. She kisses his forehead and says,

“I love you. I’ll see you soon Evan.” This springs tears into Ghost-Buck’s eyes. He hates that he’s causing her pain, especially since he’s right here! At least his essence is. He watches her and Chimney leave.

He searches the room for a clock, just so he can try and figure out how long it’s been since the accident. Finally he finds one, it reads, 12:01 pm.

Nearly 12 hours since the accident. He hasn’t woken up, and his physical body is on a ventilator. This sends him into a spiral. He tries to look around the room for more information, desperately attempting to find out what happened, what went wrong. It should’ve been so simple.

Eventually he tires out. Or not tires; because he’s a ghost, but he just wants to give up. He plops down onto one of the chairs in the corner of the room, and just stares at himself.

Twenty minutes later (he knows because he’s been looking at the clock obsessively) an exhausted looking Bobby walks in. He occupies the chair Maddie was in no too long ago, and takes Buck’s hand. Ghost-Buck feels his own hand tingle at the sensation.

“I’m so sorry, kid. I should’ve done more- called out sooner- seen something was wrong. I’m sorry.” Bobby tells him, his voice trembling, sending Buck years back to Bobby’s old apartment.

Bobby is blaming himself for Buck’s accident. Which is completely absurd. No one could’ve stopped the roof collapsing. They needed to get the victims out, so either way someone would’ve been inside rescuing them. None of this is anyone’s fault but especially not Bobby’s. Buck wishes he could tell him that.

“The two victims made it out safely. Only injuries were smoke inhalation. God Buck, I wish you weren’t always here. Always getting hurt” Bobby scrubs a hand over his face, and takes a few deep breaths.

“I’ve got a shift, but I’ll be back afterwards. We love you Buck, please wake up for us.” Bobby stands and walks out, casting one glance back before he’s gone.

Buck is fully crying, these strange phantom tears. He feels horrible for making Bobby feel like this. For making them all feel like this. He just wants to wake up, be in his own body, and be there for his team. His family.

Just a few moments later someone new enters. Someone Buck is connected to on every level. Who is with him in his brain, soul and heart every moment. Eddie.

If Buck thought Bobby looked bad, then Eddie looks devastating. His hair is a mess, he’s covered in soot and blood. He’s still in his uniform twelve hours later, clearly showing he hasn’t left the hospital. Buck can’t see his face because he’s looking directly at the ground, even as he approaches the bed.

Sitting down, he still doesn’t say a single word. Buck feels completely on edge, just watching this man who he loves. Eddie grips the bed, takes a shuddering breath, and cries. Unlike Maddie’s cries, his are more of a silent sob. One you could only see if you were watching him. Buck wishes he could do something to comfort him. He shouldn’t be crying over Buck, Buck doesn’t deserve that.

“I’m so sorry Eddie.” Buck says. He knows Eddie can’t hear him but he needs to do something, say something, because this is killing him. Instead of not reacting like Maddie did earlier, Eddie turns to face Ghost-Buck and says,

“Buck?”

(hope you enjoyed. let me know what you think so far!)

[purrincess-chat]

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Spite Playlist: Remix CH21

We’ve done it! We’re caught up to AO3! As such, I will be taking the next month off from posting to get AO3 updated and take a short break. I will resume posting on AO3 first, then tumblr right after starting on July 2, 2021! Can’t wait for you all to see the rest of this story! I have a lot of changes coming.

Previous    First    Next      AO3

------------------------------

Chapter 21: Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince

The next morning, Adrien’s stomach churned on the way to school. Chloe sat beside him adjusting her makeup while Gorilla was stopped at a red light. Everyone would know about their interview now. He expected backlash, but not like this. Pulling out his phone, he opened the article again.

Ladybug’s #1 Fan Deletes Blog After Scathing Final Video

“It’s like I don’t even know who she is anymore. I thought she was this amazing, genuine person, but in reality, she doesn’t care about any of us,” Alya said in the clip.

“Sources speculate this video was posted in response to the interview Ladybug did prior yesterday afternoon with the daughter of Paris’s own Mayor Bourgeois and the son of famous fashion mogul, Gabriel Agreste. In the interview, Ladybug denounced clout-chasers using her name to get attention, stating that such actions are “dangerous” and “need to stop.” The blogger behind the popular Ladyblog seemed to find fault with these comments and was akumatized shortly after the interview. It seems that bad blood has brewed between the blogger and the heroine even after the day was saved. The Ladyblogger posted one final video lashing out at the superheroine before deleting her blog altogether.”

“Ugh, stop reading that. Who cares?” Chloe groaned, swiping Adrien’s phone from his hands. “That brat doesn’t have brain cells if she believes a nobody like Lila over a superhero.”

“Alya devoted a lot of time to that blog, and she really looked up to Ladybug. She’s probably crushed right now,” Adrien said.

Chloe rolled her eyes and pulled out her lip gloss. “So let her be. She did this to herself by siding with that wannabe. If any of these losers have a brain, then Lila’s going to be finished today. I’ll be shocked if she’s even here.”

“Uh, I think we have other things to worry about.” Adrien pointed to the crowd waiting at the bottom of the stairs as their car rolled up to the curb. Their classmates had formed a wall between them and the inside of the school like a group of knights defending their queen. Lila was waiting safely inside, no doubt. She never liked getting her hands dirty unless she had to.

“You don’t think she’ll get away with this and make everyone hate us, do you?” Adrien asked.

“Everyone already hates me, Adrikins. I have nothing to lose.” Chloe snapped her compact shut and dropped it into her purse. “But it looks like we’ll have to finish the job ourselves. I’m going to need a spa day after working so hard.”

A pit tangled in Adrien’s stomach as they climbed from the car, the angry expressions of their classmates sending a chill up his spine. When they’d done the interview, Adrien expected everyone to be mad at Lila, not him. How did she weasel her way out of this one?

“Oh, look who decided to show up,” Alya said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Where’s your bff Ladybug?”

“She’s got better things to do than worry about you losers,” Chloe said without missing a beat, completely undeterred by the mob in front of them. “Now, move, you’re blocking the stairs.”

“Ya know, I’ve always known you were evil, but this is really low, even for you.” Alya shook her head.

“Yeah! Tricking Ladybug is way uncool, Chloe,” Nino said.

“Yeah!” Several classmates echoed their agreement.

“Ladybug spoke the honest truth. All I did was ask the questions.” Chloe examined her nails.

“Stop pretending to be innocent. I overheard you and Adrien plotting to trick Ladybug into saying incriminating things about Lila, so don’t even lie to us.” Alya shot Adrien a glare that cut through his chest like a knife. “And what do you have to say for yourself? Teaming up with the wicked witch. We all thought you denounced Chloe’s actions, but I guess the silver spoon doesn’t fall far from the table.”

“Ugh, she’s delusional. Come on, Adrikins.” Chloe tugged his arm, but he remained rooted in place.

“No, she’s right. Chloe and I did conspire to trick Ladybug into admitting she and Lila were never friends,” Adrien said, and Chloe shot him a warning glare. “But that’s not actually what happened.”

“Really? So you two didn’t do a live interview where Ladybug said she doesn’t have any non-superhero friends?” Alya quirked a brow.

“Chloe and I originally planned to trick Ladybug, yes, but I didn’t feel right about it, so before the interview, I told Ladybug the truth. She went into that interviewing knowing what we were going to ask her, and she agreed,” Adrien said.

“What?” Chloe gasped.

“What Ladybug said was her choice. Lila’s lies have gotten out of hand, and she knows that better than anyone,” Adrien said.

“Why should we believe you?” Nathaniel grunted. “You teamed up with Chloe, so obviously you’re not the innocent sunshine boy everyone thinks you are.”

“Yeah, Chloe’s the worst!” Sabrina shouted, and Chloe’s gaze locked on her.

“How dare you! You’re not allowed to side with those losers. Get over here!” Chloe demanded, but Alya draped an arm around Sabrina’s shoulders.

“She’s done putting up with your crud, Chloe. We all are,” Alya said. “Lila hasn’t done anything to deserve all the hate from you or Marinette or Ladybug or anybody!”

“So, you losers are really going to believe some random girl who walked in off the street and started telling all of these amazing stories without evidence to back them up over a superhero?” Chloe cocked a hip. “You’re all more pathetic than I thought.”

“You’re the pathetic one! You two and Marinette have been plotting against Lila for weeks, haven’t you?” Alya shot back.

“Whoa, Marinette has nothing to do with any of this,” Adrien said. “This was all me and Chloe.”

“I heard you two talking. You said you were doing it for Marinette, or did I hear you incorrectly?” Alya challenged.

Adrien sighed. “No, we did say that, and I did do it for Marinette.”

“Ha!”

“But not because she told me to.” Adrien took a deep breath and turned to his classmates. “All of you, don’t you miss Marinette? Rose, don’t you miss when she would bring you extra fabric for your scrapbook projects? And Nathaniel, don’t you miss when she’d offer suggestions for your comic books?”

When they remained quiet, he continued, “Marinette left this school feeling hurt and empty. She felt like all of her friends turned their backs on her for a new girl. She poured her heart and soul into everything she did here, and Lila drove her away. Marinette knew the truth, so Lila threatened to take everything away from her. And she did which is why I teamed up with Chloe to stop her. Marinette doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. Not after everything she’s done.”

Everyone was quiet. Even Alya’s resolve seemed shaken, but she squared her shoulders.

“I can’t believe you when you’re standing next to her.” She nodded at Chloe.

Kim pursed his lips, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I dunno, it doesn’t make sense. Marinette would never do something like that. Adrien can be protective of people he cares about, but that doesn’t make him a bad guy.”

“Yeah, Marinette is like the nicest person in the world. She’d never go against someone without a reason, especially if it involves teaming up with Chloe,” Alix agreed.

“And Marinette was always looking out for everyone before Lila showed up,” Ivan said.

They moved to stand beside Adrien, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, I’m not siding with Chloe, even if Marinette was nice to me sometimes.” Nathaniel crossed his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, I’m done being your bff. You’ll have to get someone else to do your homework from now on,” Sabrina said with a humph.

Myléne flicked her gaze between the forming groups, curling her shoulders. “Sorry, but they’re right. Chloe is always being mean. I don’t really think Marinette is involved, but this seems very typical for Chloe.”

Max tapped his chin with one finger. “It’s true that this type of behavior is very typical of Chloe, but senseless cruelty is atypical of Adrien. However, acting in defense of a dear friend is a trait Adrien and Marinette have demonstrated on numerous occasions, and Lila’s stories can be outlandish at times. Then there’s the issue of the interview with Ladybu-”

“Oh, just pick a side!” Chloe groaned.

“I-” Max glanced between his friends. “I am choosing to abstain from taking sides until I have further evidence. Both Lila and Marinette are my friends.”

“Ugh, whatever. What about you two?” Chloe turned to Juleka and Rose.

Juleka mumbled something no one understood but moved to stand by Alix. Rose cupped a hand over her mouth, shifting between Alya and Adrien.

“Rose?” Adrien prompted.

Her shoulders curled, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t want to pick! I don’t want anyone to fight anymore.” She covered her face with a whimper, and Nino placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s gonna be alright,” he said.

“Nino?” Adrien asked hopefully, but his best bud lowered his head, red cap covering his eyes.

“Sorry, bro. I know you and Chloe have always been tight, but that doesn’t mean she and I have to be,” Nino said, taking a purposeful step toward Alya.

“Well, looks like more people are on my side than yours.” Chloe gloated.

“Hold up,” Alix said. “No one on this side picked you. We just believe Marinette is innocent, and Adrien was acting to protect her.”

“Yeah, you’re still the worst. We’re on Marinette’s team,” Ivan added. Chloe scowled but didn’t argue further.

A cold anger burned behind Alya’s eyes, the hurt she was feeling bubbling just beneath the surface. Adrien shivered. This wasn’t what he wanted when they did the interview. He wanted everyone to be free from Lila’s influence, especially Alya, but Lila’s hooks were in too deep. He never should have let things get this bad. If he’d acted sooner, then Marinette never would have left. Their classmates would be free, and no one would have to feel torn.

When the bell rang, their classmates dispersed, filing into the school one-by-one. Chloe fell into step beside Adrien.

“Now what?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I need time to forget about the fact that I’m Team Marinette.” Chloe shuddered.

“We’ve got enough people who at least believe Marinette is innocent, but we can’t get too cocky. That’s not the same thing as believing Lila is guilty,” Adrien said.

“We’ll figure something out. We just need time and a little precision,” Chloe said.

Adrien gulped, gripping the strap on his bag tighter. For their sake, he hoped they thought of something soon.

♪♫♪ Learn to Let Go ♪♫♪

“Take a deep breath in,” Macy said.

Marinette sat cross-legged on a bright blue yoga mat. Sunlight streaming in from the skylights warmed Marinette’s bare shoulders while soothing music played softly in the background. After the past few days, Marinette’s anxiety was at an all-time high, so a meditation session was in order. She followed Macy’s instructions, but it did little to relax her.

“Now, breathe out all of that negative energy. Let it all leave your body,” Macy continued. “Think of all the things in your life that make you happy and push out the things that don’t.”

Marinette took another breath, but the events of the last two days flashed vividly in her mind. The interview, Ladyblogger, the hurt look in Alya’s eyes when Ladybug captured her akuma, the video… Marinette breathed out.

Alya deleted the Ladyblog. Lila had done the impossible and turned Ladybug’s biggest fan into one of her biggest detractors. Granted, Ladybug might have helped by replacing Rena Rouge, but what was Marinette supposed to do? Working with Alya wasn’t an option after everything—it would have been too painful. Even still, Marinette would be lying if she said watching Alya lose faith in Ladybug didn’t rip another hole in her chest. Despite ending their friendship, Marinette still wished Alya the best, even if she was running with Lila.

“You’re not letting go of the negative energy,” Macy said.

Marinette blinked her eyes open and sighed, letting her posture fall. “Sorry, it’s been a rough few days.”

Macy turned to face Marinette with a smile. “Why don’t we talk about it instead? Maybe it will help if you get it all off your chest.”

“Maybe…” Marinette picked at a loose thread on her pants. She shifted to face Macy, chest tight. “It’s just…my old school. When I left, I didn’t want to look back, but it feels like no matter what I do, I can’t leave it behind.”

“Well, you had a lot of friends at your old school, right? It’s not easy to walk away from people you care about,” Macy said. “Especially when you know someone is using them.”

“I guess.” Marinette hugged her knees to her chest. “I thought I’d been gone long enough to not care anymore, but when Alya got akumatized, I just felt so sad.”

“Of course, you did! She was your best friend.” Macy pulled the tea table closer and prepared a cup. “It’s not easy to see someone you love in that much pain. You’re not a robot, Marinette. It’s okay to care.”

Macy pushed a cup toward her, but when she made no move to accept it, Macy changed the subject. “What about Adrien? Have you heard from him?”

Marinette flicked her gaze to her phone and shook her head. “No. Not since yesterday. I think he’s avoiding me.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I dunno.” Marinette shrugged. “He’s been texting me all the time lately, but now all of a sudden, he just stopped.”

“Boys are flaky like that sometimes. Give him time. I’m sure he’ll come around,” Macy assured her.

“I know, and I know it’s probably because of the interview he did with Ladybug.” Marinette sighed. “He probably thinks I’m mad at him.”

“How do you know?” Macy asked.

Marinette shifted to tuck her legs under the table and pulled her cup closer. She stared at her reflection in the tea and shrugged. “Because I thought the same thing when I changed schools behind his back. I thought he’d be disappointed.”

“Was he?” Macy asked.

“No, but I didn’t know that until he talked to me.” Marinette took a long sip. “I just feel bad that he did all of that for me. He shouldn’t have to deal with my problems.”

Macy surveyed her with a frown. “That’s something I’ve noticed about you, ya know,” she said thoughtfully. “You’re quick to shoulder everyone’s burdens when you think they need help, but you never expect anyone to do it for you.”

“I just want to be there for my friends, that’s all.” Marinette deflected as if it were no big deal, but Macy shot her a chiding look.

“Marinette, that’s very noble and sweet, but the same is true for you, ya know,” Macy said. “Everyone else’s burdens aren’t yours to bear. You’re going to break your back carrying so much weight around.” When Marinette remained quiet, Macy sighed. “Well, then I guess I have no choice.”

“What do you mean?” Marinette blinked up at her.

“If you’re running head-first into everyone’s problems, then I’m coming too,” Macy said. “I’m not going to let you do it all alone, and I don’t think Martin and Eliott will either. Adrien certainly isn’t.”

“But-”

“Marinette!” Macy threw her head back with a groan. “What I’m trying to say is… Your friends have your back, okay? So don’t worry about anything. We’re right behind you all the way.”

Macy’s smile was soft and genuine, and Marinette shivered, the fear and uncertainty floating to the surface. She leaned against Macy’s chest as fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, and her friend patted her hair, whispering encouragement while Marinette sobbed. The dull ache that had plagued her all month lightened as each tear carried away her pain.

Macy didn’t let go until her whimpers quieted, and when Marinette sat up, the weight on her shoulders felt lighter. She took a deep breath and exhaled all of her worry just like Macy said. Even if she didn’t have her old friends anymore, she had new ones, and she had to admit—they were pretty hard to beat.

♪♫♪ Daylight ♪♫♪

Adrien faced his mother’s statue in the garden with a sigh. Things were messier now than they had been a few days ago, and he didn’t know what to do anymore. No matter what they threw at Lila, she always managed to wiggle out of it. Would they ever be rid of Lila Rossi? At least some of their classmates still believed in Marinette. She’d be happy to hear that she didn’t lose everyone at Francoise-Dupont.

He flicked his gaze down to his phone with a sigh. They hadn’t spoken since before the interview. Adrien couldn’t bring himself to after everything that happened with Alya. She was bound to know the truth now—that he’d teamed up with Chloe to stop Lila, despite how she’d refused. How much more pain had he caused her by trying to fix her problems? He was afraid to know. He’d betrayed her wishes, but hopefully she’d understand that his heart was in the right place. She was all his heart ever talked about these days. Avoiding her was agony, and his heart ached every time he looked at his phone.

“I don’t know what to do, Mom,” he murmured. He shifted to press his back to the statue, resting his cheek against her lap. “No matter how hard I try, it’s never enough. Sometimes I wish you were still here to tell me everything will be alright.”

He closed his eyes, listening to the birds chirping and the hum of the city beyond the walls. When had life gotten so complicated? He longed for freedom for so long, but he never imagined what it would cost. The pain he would endure. But he’d take this pain over isolation. He never wanted to be locked up again. One day he’d be free from his father’s control, then he and Marinette could be together whenever they wanted. One day…

“Adrien?”

He sat up, cheek sore from resting against the stone. When had he fallen asleep? Red and black spots filled his vision, awakening his heart with a jolt.

“Ladybug?” He blinked, rubbing his eyes as if expecting her to be a dream.

“Sorry, I was just passing overhead, and I saw you sitting down here. I didn’t mean to intrude,” she said.

“No, no, it’s fine,” he insisted. “Stay. I could use the company.”

“That makes two of us,” she said, taking a seat beside him with a sigh. “We really made a mess of things.”

“Yeah…” Adrien rested his chin on his fist. “I don’t know how she gets away with it every time.”

Ladybug leaned her head back with a sigh. “Lila is crafty. She targeted Alya specifically because she knew she’d be her most powerful ally.”

“I just feel so bad. I was hoping we could finally make everyone see the truth, but it looks like we just made things worse. Marinette was right, I shouldn’t have gotten involved,” he said, “but I couldn’t help it. Not after everything Lila has done to her.”

“You really care about this girl, don’t you?” Ladybug smiled.

His cheeks warmed, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, more than anything. But I feel like all I ever do is cause her trouble. She’s probably furious with me.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ladybug said. “From what I know of her, a gesture like that would mean the world to her, and I’ll bet she’s not as angry as you think.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because you wouldn’t go out of your way to help her if you didn’t share a special bond. You’re probably just as important to her as she is to you,” Ladybug said. “Talk to her. I think it will make you both feel better.”

Adrien pulled up his messages, thumb hovering over her name. Ladybug was right. The longer he avoided her, the longer they’d both feel this pain. Marinette would understand. He loved her, and he believed that she loved him too. Everything would be alright in the end so long as they had each other.

“Thanks, Ladybug,” he murmured.

“I’ll leave you alone now.” She palmed her yoyo but hesitated, turning over her shoulder. “That girl is really lucky to have someone like you watching over her.”

With a flick of her wrist, she tossed her yoyo and shot off into the rooftops. Adrien drummed his fingers on his thigh, then stood up and headed into the house. Gorilla was playing a game on his tablet in the foyer when Adrien found him.

“There’s somewhere I need to go.”

♪♫♪ Death of a Bachelor ♪♫♪

Marinette hummed to herself while waiting for the kettle to boil. She stole glances at her phone, but it stayed quiet. Maybe he was just trying to figure out what to say. He was bound to call sooner or later.

When the doorbell rang, her heart jumped up to her throat. She raced to the front door, hoping her clumsy footsteps didn’t betray her eagerness. Taking a composing breath, she opened the door.

His head was low, one hand shoved in his pocket, and he looked up at her through timid eyelashes. He opened his mouth, but no words came out, his fear written all over his face. Marinette smiled, gesturing him inside, but he remained rooted in place.

“Marinette, I-”

“I know,” she said.

“You’re not mad?” he asked.

“Adrien,” Marinette sighed, giving him a gentle, scolding look. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You are the sweetest boy I know. How could I ever be mad at you?”

Adrien stood stiffly in silence before his shoulders began to shake. He gripped fistfuls of her shirt, wetting her shoulder and nuzzling into her neck. Marinette held him, letting all of his worry wash between them like rain flowing down a roof. When clouds grew too heavy, they unloaded their burdens on everyone below, so Marinette stood under Adrien and let him rain.

“I’m sorry!” he cried. “I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay. I forgive you,” Marinette whispered, trailing her fingers through his soft hair. “I forgive you, Adrien.”

His sobs quieted, and he sat up, rubbing a hand across his red nose. The kettle on the stove screeched, and Marinette gestured him in again.

“Come on. I’ll make us some tea,” she said.

Adrien sat at the table, combing his fingers through his hair. She passed him a cup with a smile and took a seat beside him.

“I take it things didn’t go as planned with the interview?” Marinette asked.

“Not exactly,” Adrien grunted as if that were an understatement and took a sip. “Alya and some others still believe Lila is innocent, but there are a lot of us who think you are too.”

“Adrien.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have gotten involved.” He swirled his finger around the rim of the cup. “But I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. You mean the world to me, Marinette.”

Marinette’s heart fluttered, and she took a sip to hide her blush. The chamomile wasn’t strong enough to calm her nerves when he said things like that to her. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to pass out.

Setting her cup down, she cupped his cheek, tilting his chin to face her. “Thank you for looking out for me. It’s really sweet, but you don’t have to solve all of my problems. Sometimes it’s okay to just let things go.”

“Yeah…” Adrien sighed.

“Promise me you won’t get involved anymore. Lila will dig her own grave eventually. It’s better if we just let it go and move on,” Marinette said.

Adrien leaned into her touch, pressing a soft kiss to her palm.

“I promise,” he murmured.

Her pulse quickened when those gorgeous green eyes softened on her. The air hung heavy around them, warming her skin from her cheeks to the very fingertips touching his skin. Goosebumps tickled the tiny hairs of her arms, Adrien’s magnetic pull drawing her in.

Marinette slipped her fingers behind his neck and tugged ever-so-gently. Adrien leaned forward, eyelids hooding. His lips parted, warm breath swirling against her own. Marinette closed her eyes, tilting her head to finally give respite to the tension that had been building between them for weeks.

But relief never came.

Her father threw open the front door, and the sparks between them crackled. They jolted away from each other, clumsily grasping for their cups as her dad waltzed in with a fresh loaf of bread. He read the tension between them, and undoubtedly, noticed their rosy cheeks.

“Am I interrupting something?” His eyes narrowed.

“No, Papa!”

“No, sir. No way.” Adrien took a long sip and cleared his throat.

“Are you sure? I was just bringing up some fresh bread to go with dinner. I can leave if you two are-”

“Papa!” Marinette growled.

“Actually, I should get going. My father will want me home soon.” Adrien stood up. “Thanks for the tea.”

“Yeah, no biggie,” Marinette insisted.

Adrien hesitated, flicking a quick glance at her dad, then lifting her hand to his lips. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

He pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles before fleeing out the front door. Marinette sat back, letting out a ragged breath.

“I ruined a moment, didn’t I?” Her dad winced.

Marinette offered him a smile, jumping up to place a kiss on his cheek. “It’s not the first time.”

“Is everything alright?” Marinette’s mother came through the door. “I passed Adrien on the stairs, he was redder than the strawberries on the cake we baked for Manon’s birthday.”

“I interrupted a moment,” her dad confessed.

“They were having a moment?” her mom gasped excitedly.

“Maman!” Marinette groaned.

“My little girl’s growing up so fast. She’s already got her first boyfriend. Before we know it, they’ll be bringing their kids over for Sunday brunch.” Her dad rubbed the tears forming in his eyes.

Marinette covered her face, willing this all to be a dream, but alas, she couldn’t fly away.

“Do you think Adrien would ever take an interest in baking?” her dad asked, and Marinette let out a moan.

“I’m going to my room. Call me when dinner’s ready,” she said.

“Next time Adrien comes over, we promise not to interrupt!” her mom called as she made her way up the stairs.

“That’s enough!”

“Should we invite him to dinner?” her dad asked.

“Good night!”

Marinette slammed her trap door shut and flopped against it with a sigh. She’d almost kissed Adrien—again! And after confessing how important they were to each other. Did this mean they were dating? Neither of them said the l-word, but maybe sometime soon…

She covered her face and giggled. Her boyfriend Adrien. She could get used to that.