#for serious though i am proud even if many of it is just sketches. like ive tweeted this before but

[cintipede]

happy yuri milestone.... some thoughts in the tags

[yosajaeofficial]

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER UPDATE

Heya everybody! We’re back for a double episode of, “The Monthly Jayce Myles Comics Updates”! The reason why August wasn’t fulfilled like normal was due to college and how busy I immediately got when entering in, which is what I figured would happen so I’m not too surprised with it to be honest. I took some time in order for me to make a fulfilling update instead of doing a rushed one to pump out yk? We’re now gonna get to the updates and bonus content I’m gonna show.

Buckle your seat belts, close your eyes and take your hands off the wheel cuz this is gonna be a ride~

THE COMIC

(OFFICIAL W.I.P: PAGES 28 & 31)

The comic’s gotten slower due to college, however, I really needed a break from it in general so I could prioritize my personal life and also refresh myself on drawing what I want to instead of rushing my age physically and turn 78 years old when I haven’t even reached 20 yet. Nothing much to say but showing the w.i.ps because of the slower progress, it’s getting there though. We got to 30 pages! Which means that the first section is sketched out (calculated to be approximately a fourth of the full chapter done, it could go lower or higher in the numbers depending on what I want/vision). I’m hella proud for getting 30 of them pages done honestly. A huge accomplishment for doing this story for a long while.

Ya’ll don’t really know, but I am indeed changing things here and there about the story where I’m shifting small details, doing redesigns, and reboots with other small things overall. I would be honest and say that’s where I’m progressing the most and not the debut chapter, I’m able to have a clearer vision of the story in my head and on paper when doing future chapters yk? I won’t go into details about redesigns or those details being changed since they’re hella spoilerish and a bit unnecessary considering that the JMC hasn’t even debuted yet. Ya’ll will get those details later when the comic functions and I will reveal more in future updates!

Also, last month Jae, no you haven’t drawn the turtles yet. However, we’re close to their debut for the chapter so keep strong! You’re doing great! :3

BONUS CONTENT: Jayce Myles Over The Years

Many of you know that Jayce Myles, whose name is in the title of the series, is our protagonist for this ROTTMNT comic! She’s my OC that I’ve had when going through my senior year of high school. We’re gonna be getting into a deep dive with her as a character and how their designs came to be during the process!

This is the first ever drawing of Jayce that I’ve done, the day I made it is so vivid in my head because I was going through it… I was in my Pre Calculus class and I had failed another test after multiple attempts through the school year. My initial idea was to cry (which I did) but then I just started doodling on my phone and I created this drawing, then from there it was history. This was in 2022, not too long ago. I became a Rise fan a couple weeks after the movie came out (which I didn’t know at the time, it was a pure coincidence) and I wanted to create a Rise OC for a while. So that day in Pre-Calc, I was able to take advantage of my mathematical suffering and create my magnum opus (exaggerated). She didn't have a name at the time so it was actually a stand in for me. Jayce got their full name until a couple days later.

EVOLUTION OF JAYCE MYLES

(October 2022- February 2024)

As you all can see, Jayce did indeed have lots of designs and ideas being sketched out while I created her as my official Rise OC. I had ideas for them to have an androgynous look from the start based off of my own self! I knew they were gonna have a Rise comic, but there were ideas for them to originally come from the 2012 TMNT universe with their "serious demeanor". It was quite interesting but there isn't much media of those ideas since they were cut a bit early on.

(Older Renders of Jayce from 2022)

Their signature color looked like it was gonna be this denim blue for quite a while but then I scrapped it cuz I thought it wasn't showing their personality like how I want it to. There was also another scrapped concept where Jayce's demeanor would be more monotone and "soft" (as in a blank slate, which doesn't give her a true personality). It was cut because it made me think that I wasn't giving her the best potential as the protagonist then I should've been giving them. Jayce was more introverted and quiet, but now they're much more expressive and full of personality. Ya'll will see in a more better light when the comic debuts, I'm not holding back with Jayce's personality anymore.

("Issue 1: Graffiti" Panels from page 1. The only page that was completed until the plot got scrapped.)

There were lots of pitches and concepts for the JMC over the years too, where lots of storyboards got drafted and one of the first of those drafts got their first page completed. However, I'm pulled a Richard Williams and kept being like "No, I don't like this" and kept going back to the drawing board. I like to look back on these old drafts especially after seeing the older interactions and how different they're gonna be in the official comics. I for sure was learning over 2023 and 2024...

Now finally, we're gonna touch on the last thing for this update~

JMC'S FINALIZED PILOT (ADDITIONAL CHARACTER)

We are going to talk just a teeny bit about the debut chapter but I'm able to become vague without spoiling too much since lots of the older pitches were scrapped. But yes, this was when I came up with the idea, "What if Jayce had a job?"

That's where the idea of Jayce working at a deli joint came from. Where she would have to get a 9-5 and possibly fired, it was pretty funny when doing the drafts since I never knew how a real deli worked and my dumbass just used my mom's experience at Denny's as referenced (she walked out and quit after almost a year).

Thus, our pilot was born.

You can go read a non canon comic I did that touched on this concept when it was fresh in development right here! [Jayce and Mikey Phone Call] & [Splinter/Randall and Jayce Interaction]

The shop itself was based off of a friend's film back in junior year. He made a FNAF parody called, "Five Nights At Fernando's" and it was such a stupid assignment but that gave me the idea of making use of the dumbass "Fernando's Shop" and make it a reality. So then Fernando's Taco Shop was created and we had the shop Jayce worked at. We already talked a bit about Archie and his deal in the first JMC Monthly Update and I can't say anymore due to spoilers but he was also involved of the creation of the pilot.

The older pitches had a cashier or a manager be like some NPC ahh character that never was gonna be brought up ever again but something in me thought it would be a cute idea to create an actual character for this manager that wasn't a stupid bossy ass hoe. It was very sweet in the drafts so I thought I could create more with that concept in mind.

Introducing: Rogelio Andazola!

(Rogelio Andazola Evolution: 2022-2023 | Still Not Showing The Finalized.)

His design is one that is the most consistent when compared to the rest of the roster, I guess that I hit the nail with his because I couldn't imagine him any different. There are only minor changes like his gray strands disappearing (bro reverse aged) and his facial expressions are much more expressive after I played around during the soft reboot. Once again (and as annoying as it is), you will all see where I'm coming from when the debut chapter releases! Rogelio as a character has also altered his personality, he's based off of my grandpa, can't wait to show you how that comes into play in the story!

Thank you all so much for sticking around for this very heavy update! I worked way too much for the photos to be sent on here and dug up lots of my old art in order for this to become a reality! It was actually insane that I kept lots of it instead of making it turn into lost media, I'm happy I got to show lots of it instead of having to make it the fuck up by memory (which I wouldn't have done in the first place and is an exaggeration). The comic is slaying in the runway and I'm working on it here and there at my own pace. Maybe next time I can finally show ya'll the turtles in the next W.I.P in the comic section. Have an amazing day/night everyone and we're on the way to victory!

[help-im-a-gay-fish]

It's A Long Road to Recovery.

(post Dark-Cream story)

"How's the water my Love? " Cross asked, dipping the tips of his fingers into the bath.

"perfect" Dream replied sinking slightly deeper into the water. The warmth wrapped around his bones and felt amazing on all the aches and pains.

"you got it just perfect"

The guard smiled wide "I'm glad to hear that, soak as long as you want, you deserve it"

The two had returned to the place they called home and Cross had drawn his beloved a bath. If Cross had it his way, he would have attempted to create a full spar treatment to pamper the bruised guardian. However, Dream had been more then happy to have something simple and the way he sighed as he relaxed in the water filled Cross with warmth.

It was so good to be home, even if it was mostly just a void with some rooms and things, it felt like home now. Though Cross wondered, with no anti sanses did that mean that him and Dream could settle down? They were engaged after all.

That thought make him smile wider. it had definitely been a long journey, but now that it was over him and Dream could finally be together. A family.

The gloopy mass had mostly washed off him now, though his joints where not completely free of it. Sadly, the lack of gloop now revealed just how damaged Dreams body was. There where huge cracks running across many of his bones and many bruised and stained areas. Then there was his eye.

Cross was trying hard not to look at it, but he didn't want Dream to know he was. Of course Dream was still beautiful, he always would be, but that didn't make it easy.

The wound was large and caused Cross to think about how it must have felt for him during the transformation. He hadn't seen the whole thing, but the sounds of Dreams bones splitting and his cries of agony became present in his mind whenever he looked at the eye.

It made him shudder to think of the pain he must have, and still was in.

"how's the" he started glancing away "the.... Eye?"

Dream sat up a bit.

"it's fine.... Mostly numb really"

He could sense his partners concern and didn't want to tell him the whole truth. It was painful and throbbed slowly, especially when touched. It threaten to hurt for a long time, not that it was a punishment he didn't deserve.

As soon as he was done in the bath he'd have to bind it.

Dream felt no shame in Cross being there while he bathed. He knew he wanted to stay in the water for a few hours, and those where hours that he wanted to spend with Cross. So therefore he'd asked Cross to join him.

The guardian stretched, wincing slightly as his back bones slid together. It ached and probably would for quite a while.

He pressed his fingers into the crook of his elbow joint, sighing in relief as more of the gloop stuck there gave way. The slime had dried and jammed up most of his joints, making him feel stiff and useless. It would take hours to clean, but it seemed like the warm water was helping it give way.

Taking a breath, he ducked his whole head and body under the water. Laying there under it for a few moments to soak, before resurfacing for air.

There was a trickle as Cross continued to flick the surface of the water with his fingers. Dream lent forward to shake the water from his skull and felt a sharp pain in his back. It didn't last very long but it was quite a surprise so it caused him to suck in air quickly through his teeth. Cross looked up straight away.

"Dream!?"

Dream took a breath and slowly moved his body back so he was lent against the bath again. The pain stopped.

"j-just moved to fast.... It will be fine, Nightmare said the first day was the most painful"

"right" Cross said, still concerned but with a slightly harder tone. "Rest...."

"I will Crossy, if Night was able to run, I'll be able to take care of myself" Dream replied, trying to sound reassuring.

He scooped up some of the bubbly foam from the waters surface in his hand and blew it in Cross' direction. Cross batted it with his hand in a playful cat-like fashion.

Dream smiled, seeing Cross acting playfully with him, it had been a long time since they'd been able to just exist as a couple. He would have continued to blow bubbles at him, but an intrusive thought ruined the momentary joy and it made him freeze.

" ¿Estaba él en este dolor?" he asked quietly. Cross glance sideways at him.

"hm?"

"Nightmare..." Dream clarified "......was he....is he in this pain?" Cross sighed.

"Dreamboat, you need to focus on your own recovery" he said, once again flicking the bath water with his fingers, though slightly more aggressively.

His tone was firm and slightly bitter "I know you worry, but he has Killer"

Shifting his legs around a bit, Dream sighed. He knew his partner was right, he shouldn't let himself worry about Nightmare to much, they would be in contact in a few days.

Yet he just couldn't help it. If he was in this bad of shape after a few months, then how bad would it be for Night after hundreds of years.

"but what if he-

-just drop it!"

Startled at Cross' tone, Dream flinched slightly. He wasn't used to Cross speaking to him like that and he didn't like it.

He narrowed his good eye at him and the soldier sheepishly looked away. Dream sensed shame from him, but also anger. His emotions were a mess.

"sorry i just meant-

-You're still thinking about what he did to you....."

Cross' shoulders tensing confirmed to Dream that he was right. His expression softened.

"Cross..."

"it's not just what he put me through" he said, still avoiding Dreams gaze "it's what he did to you... And heaven....." his voice trailed off and his eyes watered slightly.

Dream felt his soul twist as the memories flooded in. Feeling suddenly very cold, he lowered his legs deeper in the water.

Cross squeezed his eyes shut and shook the tears away. Before opening his mouth to keep speaking, but closing it again.

"oh.. Cross" Dream said, reaching forward in an effort to comfort him. But he soon lowered his arm when Cross continued to speak.

"I know he's your brother... And I know you want to reconnect with him...." he swallowed and turned back to his lover. "I'm not gonna stop you... And I'm not going to hold a grudge, I just need.....

".... time" Dream said finishing Cross' sentence. Cross nodded in response.

He felt selfish just saying it

Even if Dream seemed to understand he still felt bad.

The reality of everything was still catching up with him and it was a slightly rough reality.

He'd been on happy to see his beloved gloop free and happy, that he'd completely pushed aside any kind of confrontation he'd had in mind for Killer or Nightmare.

Both had serious partaking in his pain and he hadn't realised how much he resented them until now.

But the reality that had just hit him was that Dream was going to reconnect with with his brother and if Cross was going to be Dreams husband then Nightmare was going to be a part of his.... Family.

"........"

That thought hurt.

Dream stared at his partner for a long time, as Cross watched the water flicking under his fingers. Cross' emotions were very negative, Dream knew he needed to say something.

"it's ok Mi Soldado, you aren't the only one. .."

Cross looked up at him again.

"I may have forgiven him in my head, but I still need to forgive him in my heart". He struggled to keep his voice steady.

"I-it's been so many years"

he bent over his knees and hugged his legs tightly.

"just like my face, there are a lot of cracks to heal..." he'd sighed "it's not just you"

Cross' emotions calmed slightly and he relaxed at Dream's reassurance.

"Its going to be a long road to recovery Crossy, for all of us"

Cross gave him a soft smile, and reached forward to cup his soapy cheek.

"I'll be here every step of the way" he said in a gentle tone.

Dream melted.

He leaned over to catch Cross in a kiss and the soldier happy obliged. It was a soft and affectionate kiss. Something that they had both been needing in that moment.

After pulling away Dream sank back into the water with a sigh. For the first time in a long time, he felt that things were going to be OK.

So here I am was another little bonus Dark-Cream scene. I came up with this recently and sketched it out. I wasn't originally gonna finish it but @zu-is-here asked me to so I did. I'm not really 100% satisfied with it you know? The bubbles was horrible to draw, I'm proud of the water and the bones though. The writing was just a cute Scene I came up with. Because it can't just be all fine and dandy can it? Nightmare put them both through hell and everyone needs time to heal. Idk if that makes sense? But I hope you enjoyed.

Original cross and dream belong to jakei95 and jokublog

Original shattered dream belongs to @galacii-gallery

Based off the Dark-Cream ship by @zu-is-here and the comic by @zu-is-here

[mikrowrites]

•aaron tveit headcanons•

a/n: aight guys I’m not dead! i haven’t really had the time to write much, but aaron tveit lives in my heart rent free so here’s these dumb kinda specific really long headcanons:

so you both probably met pretty early into aaron’s career

it’s probably safe to say both of you would have the same if not similar careers, broadway and acting

and though aaron was lucky enough to get his big break, you had unfortunately not (yet) and had to wait tables for a couple years after college

(insert waitress/customer troupe here)

you worked at a restaurant close to the theatre district after undergrad and aaron was starring in Hairspray

the boy saw you and was w h i p p e d

would come to the restaurant like 4 days a week

kinda creeped you out ngl

finally got the balls to actually start a conversation and boom: instant friends

and you guys were friends for a while! dumbass and chaotic conversation was a YES

“did you know barcodes scan the white space and not the black lines”

“WAIT WHAT??”

“how many orders of fries would put me in the er?”

“uhhh... 30”

you first caught feelings when aaron invited you to see him as Fiyero in Wicked

was it his amazing talent and charm? or was it his tight pants? you’d never tell

but nevertheless, oh shit! the friends to lovers troupe!

aaron is a manly man™️ and will always say he asked you out first

which is somewhat true, but you always argue the dinner you took him to after that show was the first date

because that’s when you first kissed him

and just like that! he asks you out!

first date is literally a d r e a m

no romantic dinner, no dress and tux

there was wine tho

you and aaron watched a Yankees game and got drunk off your asses laughing and screaming at the tv and annoying aaron’s roommate

did it end with both of you passed out on his couch cuddling? maybe it did

best. first. date. ever.

the second date WAS a nicer one, going out to eat and wandering the streets of New York City

and yes, some dates were ABSOLUTELY a par 9 on a golf course

you didn’t really put a label on your relationship for a while

because aaron’s career began to take off with next to normal and you finally got your big break on a national tour!

it was pretty bittersweet, though

you and aaron had a healthy conversation about your relationship, and decided you weren’t quite dating yet, but still talking. you guys wanted to see if you could manage the whole “gone for months at a time” thing

and you could!

skype, texting, and random 1 am phone calls

one time you feel asleep during one of the calls, and aaron just smiled and watched you sleep (not in a creepy way guys)

when you came back from tour you’d think you had come home from war

he all but tackles you into a hug, and kisses you

“let’s make this work”

so lo and behold! you were dating!

takes you to meet his family on thanksgiving

they love you

attending the tonys together, which was basically the first time you two confirmed a relationship

he said “I love you” first

a couple years would go by, catch me if you can and such, and you make your broadway debut!!

you’re def a triple threat

aaron’s so gushy about it, constantly brags about you

rumor has it he cried watching the opening night, denies it every time

literally glued to you for the entire after party, he’s just seriously so proud and in love awwh

and then he books les miz and graceland

you’re unable to travel to London w him since you’re in your own show, and it hits both of you hard

so what does this mfer do?

it’s the morning he leaves for shooting and you’re dropping him off at the airport

“hey when i get back from filming wanna get married?”

“sure”

totally gave you a little prize machine plastic ring at the airport

you guys are literally SO NONCHALANT about it as everyone around you goes insane

“i’m engaged, i guess”

the internet blows up because they actually can’t figure out if you guys are serious or not

don’t worry, aaron actually proposed properly with a proper ring eventually

you still wear the plastic ring on a chain around your neck for a while tho

you both decide to get an apartment together

domestic couple things

Your neighbors probably hate you from the amount of times you both have “sing-offs”

slow dancing in the kitchen, laundry day, watching football games together gets aggressive

i firmly believe that you aren’t a Dallas Cowboys fan

the biggest fights you have honestly is about the NFL

in all seriousness there is still small conflict every once in a while, but you both are fantastic at communication

attending the oscars with aaron

“yeah but lOoK aT mY BeAuTiFuL FiAnCeE”

you’d be lying if watching the oscars performance didn’t turn you on a bit

but ANYWAYS

you guys get married!

it’s definitely not a huge fancy wedding, just friends and family

you know for a FACT he’d sing “marry me a little” at the reception he so would

you guys dance all night

it’s adorable, his hand literally never leaves yours

you end up with a sinus infection from all the cake frosting he smears on your face

aaron felt really bad for it, so like a good wife you hold it over him for eternity

“remember that time we missed our flight to Belize because we were in the ER-“

“OH MY GOD—“

went to Belize to honeymoon eventually anyways

aaron was very much like that one john mulaney sketch

“that’s my wife!”

“hey! have you met my wife yet?”

“i love my wife”

life goes on for you two, you remain hopping from broadway show to show

aaron ends up working on his acting career more

lots of time apart, but that just makes the time together more precious

adorable phone contact names

“wifey❤️” and “hubby❤️”

you were on set a lot for rehearsals of Grease Live

you actually helped assist in some of the choreography from time to time

impromptu golf cart rides

and you get to watch it live! like, you were AT the carnival on the set!

you’re just really proud of your mans :,)

family and friends keep pestering you both to have kids

so you adopt a dog (MILES BBY I LOVE YOU)

also as a side note, you love Braindead

you laughed HYSTERICALLY during the salami sex scene

aaron filmed it and posted it on twitter

fast forward, you get offered to help choreograph a new show! woah! and you’d get to swing for it!

it’s super top secret tho, and you literally cannot tell aaron

you do eventually relent the information that you’re working on a new show, and the man doesn’t pry. he’s respectful like that.

you meet the team, and boy you are IN LOVE

auditions are fun, creating the choreo is exhilarating

you don’t hear about casting much at all tho

so when aaron walks into the studio you both immediately freeze

“wait what the f—“

“I KNEW IT!”

yup. you both were working on Moulin Rouge! and had NO clue

you both share (1) braincell

the lab went great, and soon you were on your way to Boston!

you HATE aaron’s longer hair, mostly because he won’t let you mess with it >:(

he eventually relents, and you teach him the secrets of “the man bun™️”

you also braid it a lot

“ow!”

“stop being a pussy about it”

or

“your hair’s the money maker don’t make me shave it in your sleep”

performing with your husband is a dream

sneaking looks on stage

aaron calls your frustrated choreo-instruction voice “mom voice” and the rest of the cast picks up on it

“no, it’s 7, 8! Up on 3, down on 5, 6, spin 7,8!”

“ok, mom!”

“SHUT UP, AARON!”

then broadway!!

the ricky-aaron lives

you had to go on for nini one performance and ricky teased aaron ALL DAY

you were totally in on it too

but aaron isn’t really the jealous type. he knows you are so in love with him, the same way he is in love with you

so basically he knew it was all fun and games

shenanigans backstage

one time during intermission you convinced aaron to give you a piggyback ride the ENTIRE 15 MINUTES

“hey aaron nice backpack”

small talk between scenes

like aaron would be sprinting to his next cue and you’d just

“i’m ordering domino’s for dinner pepperoni or sausage?”

“PEPPERONI!”

you both drink too much iced coffee, like people are actually concerned for you both

neither of you are party-ers really, but you can GET DOWN

i am convinced aaron can cook

like if he’d have a day off, you’d come home from an evening performance with a cooked meal and two wine glasses

never candles tho

not after the valentine’s day incident

BUT TO SUM IT ALL UP

y’all are cute :,)

[saeyoungs-sunflower]

(HC) RFA + MC in Quarantine

Listen lads, this is just a silly I wrote this the other day (I may have been a little but tipsy but shh) and I thought I might as well share it. I hope this cheers some of you up during such a scary time <3

***

Yoosung:

★ okay this is gonna sound obvious

★ but bare with

★ G A M E S

★ but!!! not just LOLOL!! oh no no!

★ i’m talking board games, PC games, active games like tag and hide and seek

★ you guys basically act like children how are you surviving on your own

★ you guys also do LOADS of cooking

★ like so much

★ you’re baking like one cake a day pls slow down

★ ngl you guys are thriving staying home all the time lol

★ if Yoosung has online classes, you set up a study club!

★ he does his college work whilst you do whatever work you gotta do boo love that tEAMWORK

★ honestly you guys have never been so productive oop

Zen:

❤︎ oh boy

❤︎ be prepared to be SMOTHERED in love

❤︎ zen i love you too but pls i have stuff to do

❤︎ m o v i e  n i g h t s

❤︎ f a c e  m a s k s

❤︎ there are so many movies/tv series that you guys have been waiting to watch together but haven't had time to bc of zen’s work

❤︎ big sad :(

❤︎ BUT GUESS WHAT FAM

❤︎ WORK IS CANCELLED TIME TO SNUGGLE DOWN AND WATCH SOME DAMN CINEMA

❤︎ it usually turns into make out sessions but shh nobody has to know

❤︎ Zen kinda discovered that you guys c a n n o t cook

❤︎ so!!! you learn!!!

❤︎ it’s MESSY y’all

❤︎ “aw mc you look so cute with flour on your nose” throws flour at your face “zen i sWeaR tO GoD I just wanna make b r e ad leave me ALONE”

 ❤︎ quality couple time <3

Jaehee:

☞  lets get down to business

☞ to defeat

☞ THE H A N

☞ lol JK

☞ seriously the house has never been cleaner

☞ obvs your cafe isn't open so y’all have some time on your hands

☞ one day Jaehee suggests gardening

☞ oh man

☞ it escalated

☞ gardening has now become an OBSESSION

☞ honestly you couldn't find a prettier garden on pinterest swear down

☞ you also decided to renovate the house you’ve been meaning to do it but have never had the time

☞ your house is now a work of art wow proud of you guys <333

☞ tbh, Jaehee actually has a small fear of getting sick/you getting sick so you guys are only leaving the house if it is a b s o l u t e l y necessary

Jumin:

♚ nobody talk about the bad ending

♚ i said don’t…

♚ he’s be waiting for this moment who needs a cage when you have a national lockdown

♚ all jokes aside though this man still has to work from home

♚ poor bby

♚ let us all shed a tear for Jumin Han

♚ you love to bring him tea and homemade baked goods whilst he works and guess what??? so does he lol

♚ it is time

♚ to D A N C E

♚ this man is so extra oml

♚ insists on taking online ballroom dance lessons bc why not MC hmmm???

♚ he is actually a very good dancer

♚ once you guys get good enough it turns into spontaneous ballroom dancing in the kitchen whilst you clean up after dinner

♚ wine??? wine did you say??? W I N E???

♚ oh b o y

♚ you've seen each other tipsy before, and lemme tell ya it takes a lot to get this man drunk

♚ his tolerance is so high from all the w i n e

♚ but one night you two get absolutely HAMMERED like oh my God guys calm down pls

♚ rip your liver lmao

♚ it makes for a v e r y funny evening though you guys have literal tears in your eyes and its so nice to see the mighty Jumin Han loosen up a little aw bless

Saeyoung:

☀︎ okay

☀︎ listen

☀︎ this man is absolutely out of control i can’t

☀︎ you thought he was a prankster before???? oh man i am so sorry

☀︎ “saeyoung why is there a balloon above saeran’s door” “don’t worry bout it babe” “i am WORRYING SAEYOUNG”

☀︎ on a serious note though being stuck in the house does sometimes bring back some bad memories for him

☀︎ there are some bad days where he just n e e d s to get out

☀︎ so you sometimes go out for a quick drive in some desert place ya know let’s be sensible

☀︎ you guys have also made a habit of climbing to the roof and watching the stars aw

☀︎ you’ve also both fallen a sleep there a few times oopsy daisy

☀︎ the memes are the only thing getting you guys through at this point it’s a problem

☀︎ but you are loving the quality time with your choi boys so it’s not all bad <3

☀︎ family snuggles are a must

☀︎ a M U S T

☀︎ the desired s n u g g l e position is you sat on Saeyoung’s lap, your legs draped over Saeran’s lap and Saeran’s head resting on Saeyoung’s shoulder AW

☀︎ sometimes you hold Saeran’s hand whilst he’s asleep bc your edgy boi needs love but wont ask for it ever

V:

❁ first of all

❁ a w

❁ this man is the sweetest peach

❁ he makes so many cute things for you whilst you guys are in lockdown

❁ i mean he’s writing letters, knitting you scarves, painting you pictures the whole shebang

❁ he even made you a pyjamas

❁ he’s sewing guys he’s out of control

❁ if your working/reading/just having a quiet moment he will sketch you

❁ you wouldn't know it though bc he’s a s n e a k y bastard

❁ he’s never filled a sketchbook so fast and it’s his most treasured possession

❁ a book!!! filled with YOU!!!!! amazing!!!!!!

❁ wait, did you hear that????

❁ oh yeah

❁ ITS ARTS AND CRAFTS TIME

❁ actual children

❁ even if what you make is terrible its just so fun because you're doing it together

❁ brb just crying my eyes out i love this man so much

❁ you guys also make care packages and do the grocery shopping for the elderly/at risk people in your area and deliver it for them AND sewing scrubs/masks for doctors

❁ “I don’t want to stay inside doing nothing all the time when there are people who need help” THIS MAN IS TOO MUCH

Saeran:

☽ i hope you're ready for this grumpy motherfucker

☽ he never went outside anyway but now that he cant go out it sounds like the best thing in the world saeran pls

☽ ah yes it is time to wake up

☽ oh it’s 4pm?????

☽ HA who needs a sleep schedule anyway

☽ also Saeyoung is not the only twin with the Mischief Gene™

☽ oh no no no

☽ you two team up and absolutely destroy him

☽ i am so sorry Saeyoung but you had this coming

☽ when Saeran says that he wants to learn an instrument you are GOBSMACKED

☽ HELL Y E S

☽ he orders a keyboard and omg he’s such a fast learner

☽ probs from all the years of hacking ouch

☽ do i smell??? A FAMILY BAND?????

☽ you and Saeyoung play kazoo

☽ Saeran has left the chat

☽ seriously though his piano playing is so pretty and it calms him down so much ughhh PRECIOUS TOMATO BOI

***

This is so chaotic hahahah I hope you enjoyed though. If people liked it I’ll do some more silly things like this. It was a nice break from...the other stuff I’m writing...hint hint watch this space ;)

Masterlist

[quietmyfearswith]

perfect fit {ransom drysdale x fem!reader}

perfect fit {ransom drysdale x fem!reader} 

status — completed 

warnings — cursing, unprotected penetrative sex (pls be safe when havinf sex), mirror sex, semi-public sex, degradation (slight), oral sex (female receiving), mentions of blood and being poked (briefly and not detailed)

word count — 3,370 words

a/n — lmao i have no shame i got inspired to write this because of an something i listened to which had a similar premise. i had a sequel in mind but idk if im gonna write that since i have a lot of fics planned out. feedback is appreciated and hope u guys have a lovely day !! :> 

masterlist

It was something no one expected Ransom to do; but he did it anyway.

He was just lounging in his home one day and he took one of the many notebooks he had lying around and suddenly found himself sketching different clothing articles. By the time he was able to tear his focus and hands away from the notebook, it was already 11:45 at night, “Huh, so in the past five hours I was able to design 11 clothes,” he quietly thought to himself as he closed the notebook that contained his ideas and headed to bed.

The following day consisted mostly of doing two things; more designing and making calls. He was looking for possible suppliers who could give him the materials he needed in order to bring his designs to life. He also ordered his assistant to look for tailors who were willing to sew and stitch them to life, as he did not have any intentions on making those himself. Searching for a place to lease to station where the clothes would be made and sold was also something he did.

All of that happened almost 19 months ago; Ransom just suddenly had the idea of creating his own clothing line and he was successful in that endeavor. His brand was known for its eloquent and classy designs, while still being comfortable and affordable. It was also a bonus that the materials they used were cruelty-free and vegan; though this wasn’t really his idea, something his assistant had suggested and something he mindlessly agreed with as he was burying himself in designing a dress.

When his family found out about his current endeavor, there were various reactions in response. Joni seemed to be legitimately excited to see if Ransom’s design would match her taste and even told him how she was willing to post about his line on her Instagram. Meg and Walt finally had something in common as they both teased him and questioned his sexuality since he suddenly became interested in fashion; even his own father silently had the same thoughts and concerns. His mother, however, was somewhat proud of her son following in her footsteps and making a name for himself. While Harlan was surprised on how he was persistent in pursuing fashion, for he always thought that his first grandson would be his successor in terms of writing and in handling the publishing company.

Ransom, having had enough of their judgmental comments and half-assed support, snapped at them once he broke the news as they were enjoying dessert, “Alright, all of you, eat shit! No offense, Mom, but you had a loan from Granddad and without his money you’d be nowhere! Joni, cut the shit! We all know you rely on those brand deals you have and of course, on our family’s money. And Walt? At least I’m gonna make something of my own! Unlike you who just relies heavily on the books Granddad gives you to publish. And what the fuck does fashion have to do with one’s sexuality? If clothes make people gay then why are you wearing that sorry excuse of an outfit? Scared people might find your dick too small?” 

And with that, he left the house as a sea of screams and commotion followed him, but he chose to ignore it of course.

In the span of those 19 months, his clothing line took off. Critics spoke highly of it, consumers couldn't get enough of his designs, and he was being constantly praised for his creativity. So it made Ransom feel as if he was on top of the world.

After his designs being featured on various fashion shows and being worn by numerous celebrities, the pressure to put out equally great designs was taking a toll on Ransom. Hence why he often spends time on the main store and headquarters he had in Boston. The place was fairly spacious — it had an office for where he could have meetings or design some of his clothes, a spacious and luxurious space for the customers to try on the clothes, rows of sewing machine next to an array of cloth for the workers whom he fairly compensated for their hard work, and even a small circular platform placed in front of mirrors for alterations. 

Ransom advised his staff to go home early to enjoy the start of the weekend and he would be the one to close the store and balance what they had already sold and what was left. As he was busy in the counter checking the log and counting the money, he heard the chimes of the bell that hung above the door make a sound, directing his attention to where a lovely woman stepped into the store and it felt as if all the oxygen in his body left his body with how breathtaking the woman was.

“We’re about to close in a few minutes,” was all he managed to let out as the woman stood on the opposite side of the counter; she just smiled as she placed the gown wrapped in plastic down on the counter, “Oh? I’m so sorry but I was just wondering if I can have this gown altered? I bought it hastily last week and only got to try it on two days ago since I was incredibly busy with work and realized how loose it was on me.”

He looked down on the gown as he spoke, “Yeah well we close earlier on Fridays so,” prolonging the word so, he noticed how she moved as if she was about to exit the establishment, but he wondered, “What is the work you do that kept you busy?”

The question surprised both of them; Ransom didn’t know as to why he was curious about it, but it probably had to do with how he just wanted an excuse to talk to her and listen to her soothing voice. While Y/N didn’t realize that those were one of the requirements in order to have a dress altered, she told him anyway what kept her busy.

Nodding his head, he made an impulsive decision, “My assistants just left, but I can take care of it. It shouldn’t be a big problem” Her eyes lit up excitedly and she smiled widely and thanked him for being able to accommodate her. “Just go to one of the dressing rooms and change to the gown, and head to where the platform is — just right across, okay?” She nodded and followed to where his hands pointed to where he’d be waiting for her.

As she scurried off to the change, he found himself questioning himself as he switched off the open sign, grabbed a notebook, pen, and measuring tape, and waited for her to come out. Why the hell am I making such an effort for her? And when she did step out of the dressing room and made her way to step on the circular elevated platform, he remembered just why he was going out of his way to serve her; because she looked fucking gorgeous, especially seeing her wear a gown he designed.

Standing on the platform, she shyly looked at him to which he found adorable, “Why don’t you spin around slowly for me?” She nodded and did so, “What seems to be the problem with the gown?”

With her back facing him, she craned her neck and replied, “I found the length to be too long, I’m afraid I might trip on it,” as she faced him he noticed how he was standing dangerously close, and his facial features were dead serious, “So you just want to trim it a bit?”

She nodded, “Would it be possible to create a slit?” And just as she made that suggestion, she bunched up a bit of the gown and showed him how she wanted the slit to look like; but all it did to Ransom was make him drool with how luscious and soft her legs looked like. “Okay, yeah that’s something we can do.” 

Grabbing a small container full of sewing pins he took hold of the bunched up fabric she held in her hand and told her he got it. “You know when I designed these gowns, you were exactly the target buyers I had in mind,” she tilted her to the side, confused with what he meant so he further explained, “Gorgeous, elegant, and absolutely stunning; especially once they wear my clothes.”

Her cheeks suddenly became a dark shade of red as she tried to shrug off his compliment, “Well I don’t really wear these kinds of clothes, but when a wedding comes, you have to.” As he was placing the pins on the fabrics, he looked up from where he was sitting on the platform, him being eye level with her thigh was doing nothing to prevent him from nursing a hard on, “A wedding you say?” 

Snatching a glance from where her hands rested on her hips to get out of his way, he took note of the lack of ring and voiced out his observation, “I’m not seeing any ring on both your hands, so I’m gonna assume that you’re not the bride?” She laughed softly and shook her head, “No, I'm not the bride-to-be, my best friend is.”

“Good to know,” Ransom said softly and she didn’t hear it well and was about to question what he just said as she felt the sewing pins poke her skin. “Ow, fuck!” She yelped, which made the designer realize that instead of piercing through the dress, he accidently lightly grazed her leg. “Fuck, I’m sorry!” He apologized as he pulled the pin and wiped her upper thigh that started to bleed a little. 

Feeling his warm hand envelope her hand and the thumb swiping away the crimson liquid, made her feel tingly as she looked down on him. Inching his face closer to her thigh, he looked up at her as his lips touched the area that he unintentionally hurt her in, “I’m so sorry for hurting you,” Y/N was stunned as his lips were back on her thigh after apologizing. 

Breathlessly, she just nodded and was surprised both his hands took a hold of her ankles and were softly caressing her just like how his lips were being gentle with her flesh. As his hands were sliding up towards her shins, she could feel the goosebumps on her skin rise, and by the time they reached her thighs, that was the only time Ransom detached his lips from her skin, “You taste divine, baby girl. But I’m not done with making it up to you.”

Having a sudden surge of confidence, Y/N spoke out, “Then keep kissing me if you want to make it up to me.” Ransom too, was surprised because this meek-looking beauty demanded him to do something, “I beg your pardon?” It was her turn to be brave and brazen as she smirked down on him, “Keep on kissing my thighs or else I’ll leave a bad review of your services.”

Quickly, Ransom placed his lips back on her thigh, kissing and smooching every inch he could find; he wasn’t sure if he was threatened with how his business could be negatively affected or was he just turned out at the prospect of being told by this beautiful woman to keep on admiring her figure.

Tangling her fingers on his hair, she tugged at him and guided her where she wanted his mouth as he gave verbal directions, “Higher, baby, kiss me higher.” Though his eyes were darkened with pleasure of having to know what her skin tastes like and aroused with how he met someone who was able to tell her what she wants and bosses him around; he’s never had someone do that to him, for it was always him calling the shots.

Poking his tongue out, he traced over the outline of her lace underwear which resulted in her letting out a moan and tightening her grip on his hair — urging him to keep going. Moving from her thigh, he kissed his way until he was face to face with the center of her pussy. Inhaling her scent, he closed his eyes as he groaned and took in her addictive scent and lunged forward to kiss and lick her clothed core. Even with the fabric in its way, he was nipping on her pussy lips and licking through it, getting a faint taste of her.

“Oh, more please,” she gasped out in pleasure; and with that plea Ransom moaned as he tore his mouth from where he was making out with her clit and smirked as she heard her sigh at the sudden loss of contact. Looking up at her, he gave her a grin as he asked, “Did you honestly think you would be the one who’ll call all the shots, baby?”

Somehow, her crimson red cheeks managed to turn into an even deeper shade of it at what he said. He then moved to pull her panties down her legs, he didn’t even wait for her to kick them out of her as he immediately licked from her clit down to her opening. Moaning out, she trembled a bit and Ransom’s hands latched themselves onto her thighs to help prevent her from falling.

“Careful now baby girl,” he warned her as he looked up to see her flushed face starting to drip with sweat, his lips never fully removing themselves from her clit so with every word he spoke the vibrations was felt throughout her core, “Wouldn’t want you to injure yourself. How are you gonna turn up to the wedding then?” 

As he finished his question, his tongue pushed itself into her tight opening and swirled around inside. Feeling dainty fingers push his face further, he was able to get a better taste of her juices that began to drip down to his tongue and he hissed at how delectable they were. Pulling out his tongue from her pussy, he immediately licked his way up to her swollen clit, “You taste amazing, baby,” he moaned out as he focused his efforts into sucking her clit hard and fast, feeling her thighs began to shake — a sign that she was close to her orgasm.

But Ransom wouldn’t let her cum right away, his left hand left the warmth of her thigh and slapped her clit multiple times, she opened her eyes in shock and looked down on the designer, aroused and elated with what he did. Getting the hint that she enjoyed what he did he teased her by saying, “You like it when I slap that clit?” Seeing how she nodded and bit her lip, he went on and slapped her clit multiple times but with not a lot of force, and his tongue went on to caress her tight opening until she once again began to quiver. 

“God you’re such a filthy slut,” he stated as he stopped the movements his tongue and hand were doing, and went on to bite lightly her thigh, “I’m gonna have so much fun with you. Have to make sure my customer leaves this place satisfied with my services.” As he mentioned the double entendre, his voice was laced with desire and hunger.

Giving her thigh one last kiss, he stood up from the platform and placed his hands on her hips and lifted her so she stood on the ground just like he was. Grabbing the back of her neck, he pushed her against him so their lips met and they began to hungrily make out. Her hands were at his cheeks, softly grazing his cheeks which contradicts how their tongues were roughly dancing with each other. While Ransom’s other hand was feeling for the zipper on her back, unzipping it and pushing the dress off of her.

Moving both his hands to touch her back, he noticed the lack of bra and felt how her nipples harden against the fabric of his shirt, he separated their lips from where they were entangled and looked down to see her breasts, “Such a nasty little girl you are, aren’t you? Wearing this gown with no bra underneath, like you wanted me to see just how good your boobs are.”

She shook her head, “The gown goes well best without a bra,” she defended. Amused with her reply Ransom decided that they’ve had enough foreplay; both his hands planted on her hips and pulled her back so it was flush against his front, “And you know what would go best with your divine body? My cock and cum,” one of his hands grabbed onto his cock and rubbed the tip of it against her folds, feeling her shudder at the sensation, “So come on and take it.”

“Shit baby girl, you’re so tight for a slut,” Ransom groaned as he threw his head back with how her walls squeezed his hard dick in one smooth motion. The hand that guided his cock in repositioned itself and held onto her hair, pulling her head back and arching her back away from his chest, which contrasted the way her ass was pushing back to accommodate Ransom’s cock.

Hand in her hair and the other on her hip, Ransom was pulling her into his cock with sharp, fast, and harsh thrusts; while her moans and whines did nothing but to fuel him to drive his thick meat deeper in her. “You like this don’t you, baby? You like how I’m just ramming into you like you’re nothing but a whore?” He taunted as he let go of her hip and began to rub, twist, and pull at her nipples.

Y/N could only nod, too blissed out to give out a verbal response for the way he was deliciously torturing her nipples disabled her from forming a coherent sentence, much less a thought. Unhappy with how she responded, he let go of her hair and slapped both her ass cheeks, “Answer me! Tell me you like it!”

She went still for a moment due to the sting of his slaps, she widened her eyes and peered over her shoulder to look at him, “I love it! I love how you’re treating me, sir.” The title she had given him made him even more feral as he ordered her, “Look in the mirror slut, look at how desperate you are for me.”

Feeling shy from seeing her blissed out state on the reflection, she instead diverted her gaze on the man behind her who was mercilessly pounding into her. She found it absolutely hot how his jaw was clenched so hard and his eyebrows were furrowed; it made her clench down on him hard which led to Ransom to slam deep inside her and grab onto her shoulders, “You’re close aren’t you, baby? You’re about to cum on my cock aren’t you?” She nodded and whined, “Yes, sir, I’m so close. Please let me cum,” he chuckled in appreciation, she begged him to cum without even telling her to do so. 

Speeding up the pace of his thrusts, his one hand was now alternating with rubbing and pinching her clit, in order to get her right on the edge. His lips were resting against her ear, his pants were only turning her on even more and with a final pinch of his fingers, she was cumming hard and with a loud wail.

Feeling how her walls squeezed him too tight to the point he couldn’t move anymore, Ransom stilled inside her and wrapped his arms around her stomach, “Fuck, you feel good.” After a couple of breaths, Ransom collapsed to sit down on the platform, taking her with him. Sitting down, he took the time to steady his breaths and recover from the intensity of their intercourse and orgasm. 

Snaking his hand to her cheek, he tilted her head enough for him to plant his lips on hers and let her give a faint taste of her own juices and he pulled apart from her not without planting a small kiss, “The gown will be ready in a week, baby. And it’s on me.”

[nitannichionne]

Luna IV, Chapter 13: The Tournament (A Cavill Syverson Fan Fic)

Chapter 13: The Tournament

CHAPTER 13: The Tournament

The marketplace was in excited upheaval. It had been for the last few weeks. The Luna Women’s competition was drawing close.

Any woman could participate, though single and claimed had their own tournaments. There were ten competitions: artisanship, cooking, cleaning, beauty, hand to hand combat, intelligence, archery, athleticism, gardening and riding.

You had never heard of it before, and for that alone, you are excited. You and Helena take your usual table and watch women and merchants haggling more than usual.

“You’re really into this!” Helena smiles at you.

“I know I can win the rough stuff,” you say excitedly. “Did you see those medals?”

“Yes, but there is some serious competition,” Helena warns softly. “The outlanders, the ones who live on the outside of the cities, their women are pretty rough, too.”

You sigh, “Hopefully my practicing will earn a place, at least.” You smile at Helena. “You’re a shoe-in for beauty, by the way.”

Helena smiles at that, chuckling as she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, with the little pouch here.” She raises an eyebrow. “You should try to enter it. You’re really exotic looking.”

You laugh out loud. “No, thanks!”

“Hi!” Gabrielle smiles, clutching sheets to her breast.

You smile. You honestly have never seen such change in a woman before. Gabrielle was still afraid of most men except Lysander, but she was no longer afraid to smile, look people in the eye. She simply was not the same woman she was three months ago.

               “Where have you been?” you ask her.

               “Lysander,” she says sheepishly. “I honestly don’t understand it. You’d think he’d be tired of me.”

               “Are you?” Helena asks knowingly.

               Gabrielle leaned forward and grinned girlishly. “No!” They all laughed at that. “What did I miss?”

               “I chose my fabric,” You push swatches toward her.

               “I brought my sketches for you two,” Gabrielle smiles. “Let me know what you think, okay? I’ll get some drinks…for you, too, Kane!” She scratches his ears and goes for refreshments.

               You and Helena frown over the sketches.

               “She is good, you know that?” you nod.

               “I know. That’s why we’re going to enter our costumes into the artisan’s competition in Gabrielle’s name!” Helena whispers.

               You gasp softly, “She’s in the gardening competition already. You’re going to put her in another?”

               “She signed the sketches,” Helena taps the sheets. “See? All we have to do is wear the number on our costumes, that’s all.”

               “She might be embarrassed.”

“And Lysander will be there for her,” Helena says with no remorse. “He’s even thinking about entering his outfit for that day. She finished it yesterday.” She pauses, changing the subject. “Are you sure you don’t want to try for the beauty competition?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Zenobia nods, rolling her eyes. “The archery and athleticism events are enough, thank you.”

“Hhmph,” Helena pouts. “I thought you were doing hand to hand.”

“Your brother said no, that’s why I’m doing athleticism instead.” You roll your eyes. “He really gets on my nerves sometimes.”

Helen arches her eyebrow, her smile disbelieving. “Yeah, right.”

*****

The Luna Women’s competition came on a beautiful but hot day. Colors were posted everywhere and merchants sold cool drinks and shade. There was public shade but it was crowded.

You are grateful to find that Sy has not only reserved shade for some of his people, but got you a two room private tent with a cooling system inside. You are relieved to see it as you complete the events of the athleticism competition.

“I saw you in the footrace,” Sy smiles, handing you a drink when you come inside the tent. “I had no idea you were so fast.”

               You raise an eyebrow brow at him. “You never asked.”

               “They should be doing archery soon,” he nods. “Anything you want to tell me about that?”

“I was one of the best on my father’s property,” you beam. “I trained with his archers, but not with arrows. I trained with bullet tips.”

               “That man, rest his soul, gave you way too much advantage.”

               “Ha!” You have become used to his little ribs, but most of the time, you just liked the way his mouth went a little lopsided when he did. “You’ll be there, won’t you?” You watch him sit as if trying to decide and you pounce on him. He laughs up at you as you grab his shirt front and shake him slightly. “You will be there, right?”

“I will be there,” he chuckles, grabbing your wrists and turning your bodies so that he was over you. He brings his lips down on yours, nibbling and teasing your mouth to open to him.

“Sy…” you sigh, and then scramble to your feet when she saw the look in his eyes. “Uh-uh, I need all my strength for today!”

“Before we leave, I will have you in this tent,” he assures, his smile completely suggestive.

Your stomach does flip-flops as you smile back. “Just not now.”

He lunges for you and you duck out, hearing his laughter. Ah, that man…

“It’s true, then!”

You turn to Gabrielle’s gasp. “What?” She looked down at the number. “Oh, you like?”

Gabrielle looks upset, to the point of tears. “I’m not that good!”

“Brielle.” Lysander calls softly, catching up to her. “I told her to.”

“But, but why?!” Gabrielle shakes her head as tears well up in her eyes.

“Because we know talent when we see it,” he nods. “I have been getting compliments on this outfit since we got here.” She opens her mouth to protest and he kisses her forehead, immediately quieting and calming her. “Trust me?”

She looked up at him, nodding. “Always, but--” She sighs as he kissed her soundly.

Lysander raises his head just in time to recognize the man coming toward them. “Oh, hey, Theron!”

Theron was all smiles and a bit excited.  “Let’s go to the beauty competition,” he suggested. “Helena’s one of the finalists.”

“I can only stay a little while,” you say apologetically. “I have a few more things to do.”

“I thought the archery contest was at the end of the day,” Lysander frowns slightly.

“It is,” you nod. “But I have a few more athletic categories too.”

The group went to watch Helena compete. You can’t believe how pretty some of the women were, and how many boldly stared at Sy. It was as if you weren’t there. They smiled at Theron, but Helena was more than their equal in beauty. You look down at your form fitting halter and brown chaps with underlying shorts. You like the outfit; it hugs your curves and you can do just about anything in it, but these women floated across the floor.

Sy’s arms close around you. “What?”

“Hmmm?” you nod, picking at the beadwork on the arm braces Gabrielle made for you.  “Nothing.”

He bends down and nuzzles your ear. “Come on.”

“Nothing.”

“And the winner is…Helena Cavanaugh!”

Helena was tearful as she accepted her crown with three silver moons on it. She smiled at the crowd, and then at her husband.

“I love you,” Theron mouths the words.

“I love you,” Helena mouths back, blowing him a kiss.

It slams into you. You want Sy’s love, and to keep it, more than anything. You kiss him on the cheek and leave to complete your competition.

The rest of the afternoon wears at your nerves. You place second in athletics because you truly didn’t climb walls a lot, nor did you swim. You are thankful that running and agility helped your scores. You hope to win the archery competition.

The archery competition is grueling. You get down to the finals, and it comes down to you and last year’s winner, Gloria Crieger. It comes down to one arrow at twice the distance than before. You shoot within the bullseye but Gloria shoots dead center, leaving you with second place again.

You swallow hard. You can’t believe you lost the archery competition. You’d never lost against a woman. Your pride is crippled. You stand stiffly as you are given the medal, and step off the stand as soon as she can. You see Sy  come toward you, and you can’t look at him.

“Hey,” he lifts your chin so he can look at you. He looks surprised to find tears in your usually bright eyes. “Zen?” He pulls you into his embrace, sighing as your tears come. “Aw, sweetheart…”

“I’m sorry.” You sniff into his shirt, and manage to look at him. “I really tried, Sy. I wanted to make you proud! I wanted to bring glory to your house!”

Sy pulls you closer. He tilts your chin up and wipes your tears. “But sweetheart, I am proud of you. You lost to a woman who has won this competition for years. You just entered, and you placed second. Don’t cry, baby, don’t cry.” He rubs your back comfortingly.

“I don’t care!” How could you hope to keep him? You aren’t an exceptional beauty like Helena, or artistic and sweetly soft like Brielle. Your father once spoke of your mother’s warrior skills like she was unparallel to any other woman, that she was special. “I’m sorry, Sy. I really am. I’ll do—“

He laughs at you, and speaks to you as if you are a child. “I am proud of you—“ He rains kisses on your face as you begin to shake your head, not wanting pity. “No, no, listen to me.” He frames your face in his hands, wiping your tears with his thumbs. “I am proud of you, I am proud you are mine, with me.” He kisses you again, and holds you tightly, and you felt the tightness in your sobbing chest melt as  you begin to snuggle under his chin. He rubs your back. “You’re such a silly girl sometimes, you know that?”

“Oh!” You realize you’ve made a spectacle of herself. Some people are actually watching you, but you were too upset to pay attention. You are mortified.

He laughs down at you. “What?” You snuggle closer to him, hiding to regain the rest of your composure. “Aw, just realized some people are watching?” He laughed louder, kissing the top of your head. “Look around.” He nudges your temple. “Go on, look around.”

You peek around his bicep. You see most people barely paying attention, but some smiled at you. Gabrielle is still marveling at her medal in the artisan’s competition as Lysander holds her. Then you see Gloria with her mate. There is no holding, no kissing, no congratulations from him. He collects her winnings, and gives her a small portion of it. Then he gives her the trophy with a pat on the back. She nods her thanks. He didn’t even hold her hand as they walked away from the crowds. You lock eyes with Gloria, and see the longing and loneliness of the woman. “Sy…”

               “I know, I know. We won.”

                You snuggle closer to him, taking a deep but shaky breath. “Yes. We won.”

@fckdeusername @maan24  @rn7rocks @kaatelyyynn  @october505​ @absentmindedreader @introvertedmouse​

[vgriffindor]

aMusketeer Fanfic Master Post

Calling all Musketeers! We’re all in need of a serious dose of our favourites, amirite? I’ve seen a few queries floating around lately asking for some great Muskie fanfic recommendations. I thought I’d do 20 weekly posts, each with a different theme, and ask for your help! There are a ton of great Muskie fics out there, let’s help each other discover them.

How this works: For each theme, please give me your TOP recommendation. It can be a one-shot or multiple chapters, complete or still a WIP, your own or some one else’s, just shout about that one fic that fits the theme and you want people to READ! Reblog to spread the word, with your recommendation and tag me @vgriffindor, or DM your recommendation so that I can post it! I’ll keep each theme as a pinned post up/keep adding to it for the entire week.

Week #2: AUs

It sure is fun to place these four in a different world, and see how they react! Whether it’s the quiet heaven of a bookstore, the flirty, caffeinated vibes of a coffee shop, the perfume of a flower shop, the hard-bitten reality of a detective bureau, or just about anything else you can think of, the boys seem to handle whatever universe we throw at them with their trademark personalities and humour intact.

Midsomer Musketeers by Suzie_Shooter: Exactly what you think and want this to be, when you combine the Musketeers and Midsomer Murders. 

Fraternité et Égalité by BazinMousqueton: Clever, funny, sexy and gorgeously written modern AU in an architectural firm’s office. Slash, but not explicit, almost everyone is bi, and the whole thing is perfection.

(Below is all due to the hard work and enthusiastic response from @animanightmate! Thank you, you are awesome!)

E: yeah, you got me by cherryfeather - modern au graduation party oone-shot with a game of spin the bottle that gets angsty with forthcoming farewells and then very fulfilling indeed.

T: Chapter 10 of the collection of unrelated shorts (very short) His Smile Me Draws, His Frown Drives Me Away by akathecentimetre is entitled  In Goodly Colors Gloriously Arrayed and is a modern au where the lads are working for the Sûreté in Paris (though it’s never confirmed precisely as what) and it’s basically a series of three (the original Inseparables) character studies as they get used to being Responsible Adults. No filth... well, apart from Aramis’s feet...

G: Fancy is a very short modern au short by AnathemaDevice about the cats owned by (or owning) the various season three characters. Includes one of the most beautiful word-sketches of Sylvie I’ve yet read.

E: Mis Adventures by Doom Canary is an utterly filthy, modern British police au short featuring a trans male character that blew my mind in the best ways. If there’s a plot, I blinked and missed it.

T: born like a vapor by mellyflori is - and I can’t believe I’m typing this - a modern au where two of the Four are genies (yep, you read that correctly). It is utterly, unforgettably gorgeous, and just works. Angsty and charming, and has one of the most elegant solutions I’ve seen for “what happens with Constance?” The world-building is done so well it’s almost seamless, and I’m weak for that kind of thing.

T: Brand New Start is a short modern office au by potentiality_26 from Constance’s perspective and is melancholy, sweet, and vivid. OT3 but nothing graphic.

E: One in Ten Thousand by breathtaken is a novel-length modern soul bonds au that, as usual with her, subverts the trope and delves deep into the psyche of an intensely depressed Athos who was in no way prepared to meet his soulmate. It’s hard going at times, but utterly beautiful and very hot.

M: my heart upon my sleeve by cherryfeather is a novel-length modern Shakespearean actors au and I avoided it for ages because the synopsis was written in a deliberately tabloid style and I assumed the whole thing was like that. It is not - it is the most elegant, eloquent, literally tear-tugging bit of angst and mutual pining I’ve ever encountered, and takes in: hurt/comfort, Only One Bed, and friends-to-lovers tropes along the way. Basically, if they were a character in the first two seasons of the original, she finds a place for them in this gorgeous work.

E: The Humbling River (author unknown) is the only A/B/O fic that I will ever recommend, ever. This short is canon era, but I guess it still counts as au? I fell into it accidentally, but it was written so well that I didn’t care about the premise.

E: Une histoire de bleu by ceeturnalia is long. A 100k word modern day au where the lads are security specialists for a private firm in Paris. It is vividly stark and lushly compassionate in one go, and also explores a developing D/s relationship in great detail, so if that’s not your bag, that’s the main core of the story. And it’s handled so well that I have zero hesitation in recommending it, even though that in itself is not really my thing. It’s just so very, very good and, even at that length, still manages to be very tightly written.

M: Death in Waiting by Suzie_shooter is your actual 1920s country house murder mystery with all our favs (seasons 1 and 2 anyway) in a short-novel-length interbellum piece of Upstairs-Downstairs only of course there’s lots of forbidden sex all over the place, and a genuinely gasp-inducing (at least in me) set of reveals.

M: Still Waters by evilmaniclaugh is a modern office au with a twist. It’s porn with a plot (and a great deal of angst), and is startlingly hilarious in places (for good reasons, I promise).

M: Gentlemen of the Road by Suzie_shooter is a highwayman au set, from my vague enough understanding of the descriptions, about 100 years or so after the canon era. As usual for S_s, it’s Athos/Porthos pairing, from the perspective of Porthos, and I keep coming back to it, for the humour, the story, and the sex. Bonus points for Ninon and Rochefort showing up, and our brief glimpses of d’Artagnan being an utter little shit.

M: Mise en place by breathtaken is a short series featuring season 3 characters as chefs. And it’s stunningly beautiful, intimately told from a conflicted Constance’s perspective (something I’m utterly weak for) and I want there to be more because dammit - food and polyamory and found family and so many of my favourite things and I wish she was going to write more and aaaaah. Anyway, everyone is bi and kinky and I am so there for that...

I have so many of these, but I’m going to leave it here while I retain any shred of sanity or dignity, and finish by telling you about my own only (so far) modern au, entitled Summoned (rated M), set in modern-day Cambridge, UK, complete with references to Brexit and climate change, and a detailed depiction of the Fitzwilliam Museum. The MacGuffin is a museum anti-heist. Or is it reincarnation? Or music? Or synaesthesia? WHO KNOWS?! Anyway, it’s 75k+ words of conversations, misunderstandings, music, musings, museum architecture, poetry, stolen kisses, awkward flirting, and confusing flashbacks. There is one extended explicit sex scene and the rest is more along the lines of innuendo and a great deal of heated kissing. And I wrote it in about fives weeks and am rather proud of it, actually.

[zealouswerewolfcollector]

A Poetry Lesson

Maedhros/Ingwion because why not? This is just silly fun except for the last part, which isn’t fun at all, I have to warn.

On Ao3

At first, Ingwion paid no mind to the air of excitement in the library. It was enough to know that it wasn’t about him; he was a frequent guest here. He also knew that it wasn’t unusual for impromptu poetry discussions to take place here or for scholars to meet for debates. So the prince stayed in his corner, reading the newest poems that had been written down at his request. He wasn’t always able to visit the poetry gatherings, but he didn’t want to miss anything. When he was done, he chose several poems to show his mother and stood. 

On his way out, he glanced at the small group gathered around a desk. He knew two of the loremasters; the other three were young, possibly only apprentices. The younger ones were whispering among themselves, while the loremasters were silently watching the elf who was hunched over a scroll, writing or rather drawing something, judging by the careful movements of the quill. One of the apprentices asked a question, and when the elf raised his head to answer, Ingwion, to his surprise, recognized Nelyafinwë, King Finwë’s eldest grandson. 

The Noldo was dressed plainly, in dark green and grey; he had no adornment on his head and wore his hair in a simple style—three narrow braids going from each temple to join together on the back of his head, the rest of his hair tumbling freely down his back. Ingwion wondered if he should approach, but Nelyafinwë seemed busy. Ingwion didn’t have much time either; the hour of the mingling was nearing, and he had to be with his family to sing for the waxing of Telperion.

He came back to return the poetry collection he had taken when Laurelin was in full bloom and found Nelyafinwë there again. He was alone this time, but for reasons he didn’t understand, Ingwion still hesitated for a moment before approaching. Nelyafinwë didn’t look surprised as he greeted Ingwion formally but warmly. 

“I have seen you here before a few times,” he said when Ingwion took a seat in front of him.

“A few times? How long have you been here?”

“Long enough to have seen you a few times,” Nelyafinwë said with a slight smile.

Ingwion was thrown off for a moment by the familiarity in the Noldo’s teasing words but found out that he didn’t dislike it.  

“Why didn't you let us know?” he asked. “You could stay with us as long as you wish. Our doors are always open before Finwë’s kin.”

“Thank you, but I have to decline,” Nelyafinwë said. “As tempting as it sounds, I have found a very cozy place to stay in the city. Besides, I am not here as a prince. I have come to help your scholars draw maps of the northern lands.”

“I didn’t know you were an expert in mapmaking.”

“Oh no, I am no expert. I am sure these will get redrawn later. I have traveled quite a lot, though, so I can offer my experience.”

Ingwion looked at the scroll on the desk. “You are being modest, Nelyafinwë. These are very well-drawn.” Nelyafinwë’s smile grew a little brighter, and Ingwion felt strangely proud for causing it. “What region is this?” he asked, pointing at the map.

“This is a cave system in the northern part of the Pelóri,” Nelyafinwë said. “It is so huge that we haven’t reached the end yet. Every time that I go there, I explore a little more and come back to expand the map. It is fascinating. The entrance is hidden from view. We would not have discovered it if not for Aulë. He told my father about it, and we went to explore it. I often go there now. Imagine any cave you have seen. Now imagine it a hundred times more vast and beautiful. Wait, I will sketch it for you.” He drew an uneven line on a free corner of the scroll. “This is going to be redrawn anyway,” he said smiling. “And maybe they will appreciate my drawing.”

Ingwion watched as Nelyafinwë’s hand moved gracefully, and under his quill, various misshapen towers took form, swords hanging from the ceiling, miniature mountain chains, monster teeth, and rock icicles. 

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Nelyafinwë asked. “I have tried to do it justice.”

“It is,” Ingwion agreed. “Though I cannot imagine spending so much time in a cave, no matter how wondrous the rocks there are.”

“I don’t spend that much time there,” Nelyafinwë said. “That is why this map is still incomplete. There are so many places to go and so many wonders to see. If you go far enough into the north, the stars shine so much brighter. The light of the Trees is just a faint shimmer, and at times the sky itself is painted with many different colors. Words aren’t enough to describe its beauty. Maybe you should give traveling a try? I am sure you would enjoy it.” 

“Listening about it is much more enjoyable,” Ingwion said.

“Is it?” 

Nelyafinwë’s smile was almost smug, though still kind, and Ingwion sputtered, hurrying to save the situation. 

“I only mean that I prefer plains and woods over caves,” he said, though it wasn’t the only thing that he meant. The way Nelyafinwë’s eyes glowed radiantly when he was talking was also very enjoyable. “I would rather stay here and listen to stories about different places, than travel myself. There is no place better than Valmar, no mountain fairer than the Taniquetil.” 

“How could you know that if you have not seen the other places?” 

“There are a lot of marvelous places to see here.”

“Really?”

Ingwion decided not to take offense because he liked the smile on Nelyafinwë’s lips.

“Obviously,” he said with a smile of his own. “Have you spent all your time here drawing maps?”

“Of course not. There is time for work and time for fun.”

Ingwion didn't know why the way Nelyafinwë said the last word made him shiver.

“Speaking of work,” the Noldo said. “I am done for now.” He seemed to be thinking for a moment. “But I will be here later.”

Ingwion expected him to continue, but Nelyafinwë said nothing else. He only covered Ingwion’s hand with his and squeezed it. Ingwion barely stopped himself from looking down because he knew it would make this situation even odder. Instead, he held his breath and focused his gaze on Nelyafinwë’s face. It seemed too long before the Noldo got to his feet and said his farewells. Ingwion was surprised to find himself still smiling after Nelyafinwë left.

He waited until Telperion waxed and waned twice before he returned to the library. Nelyafinwë was there, as he had promised. 

“It looks like you have finished your work,” Ingwion said, noticing the absence of maps on the desk. 

Nelyafinwë looked up. “I will be honest. Drawing maps is not the only reason I am here,” he said. “The Library of Valmar has the largest collection of poetry. I enjoy reading it.”

“I am quite sure that you are reading Elemmírë,” Ingwion said, laughing a little. 

“Guilty,” Nelyafinwë smiled, raising a book.

“You know she is not the only great poet we have. Every second Vanya tries their hand at it, and many succeed.”

“Is that so? Do you write poetry too?”

“I...” Ingwion didn't know why he was so flustered. Maybe it was because of the intensity in Nelyafinwë's gaze or because of the barest hint of a teasing smile on his lips. “I have written several hymns to Manwë, which my mother put to music.”

“Oh, I would love to read them! Do they have them here?”

“No, no, they aren't good enough to be kept in the library.”

“I truly doubt that. If you want to prove it, you will have to sing them for me.”

Ingwion couldn't tell if the Noldo was serious or not. “Just not in the library, Nelyafinwë,” he joked. “Or the real poets will beat me up with the books.”

Nelyafinwë laughed. A clear, ringing laugh like the bells on the bay tree which grew in front of Ingwion’s window. He had put up the silver and golden bells himself, had added, removed, and replaced them until he had perfected the sound.

“I am too an avid lover of poetry,” Ingwion said before he could regret it. “I can show you works by other poets if you wish.”

He read the surprise in Nelyafinwë's eyes. The Noldo stood. “Lead the way,” he said.

In the back of his head, Ingwion knew that his offer entailed more than poetry books, but he wasn't sure what exactly, was reluctant to think of it. Maybe Nelyafinwë truly only wanted to read poetry, maybe the Noldor were just overly friendly. Yet the other day Nelyafinwë's touch on his wrist lingered for a moment too long.

He walked to a remote corner of the library, away from everyone’s eyes, preferring to ignore the perfectly good poems on closer shelves, acutely aware that Nelyafinwë was just behind him. His heart was fluttering with excitement. When they reached the shelf, he stopped in front of it, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

“Some of my favorites are here,” he said, turning to Nelyafinwë.

He drew a sharp breath. He knew the Noldo had been following him, but he hadn’t expected to find him so close. Nelyafinwë was tall for a Noldo, nearly at height with Ingwion himself, and he was beautiful in a stern, intimidating Noldorin way: high cheekbones, piercing eyes, proud nose. Ingwion felt his heart in his throat. He raised his hand slowly, without fully realizing what he was doing until his fingers were almost touching a long, dark red curl that fell over Nelyafinwë's ear. He stopped himself, feeling suddenly that he couldn’t bear it, that he would be struck by lightning if they touched. The air was as thin as on the peaks of the Taniquetil. He struggled to breathe.

“Nelyafinwë,” was all he managed to gasp.

“You may call me by my mother name,” Nelyafinwë said in a hoarse whisper. “Maitimo.”

“Maitimo,” Ingwion repeated slowly, rolling the name in his mouth, delighted by the way his lips came together and parted, his tongue touched gently the back of his teeth to form the sounds. It made him feel bolder. “Aptly named,” he said.

“Am I,” Maitimo said with the confident smile of someone who knows the answer very well.

“Yes,” Ingwion said anyway. “Thank you for allowing me to use it. Every time I said your father name, it felt like a slight against my cousin.”

Maitimo laughed, and all the tension was suddenly gone. Ingwion was once again reminded of the sound of bells as the bay tree swayed in a warm breeze. He had no idea why he had thought Maitimo's beauty intimidating just a moment ago. It wasn’t. It was gentle like the light of Laurelin after the mingling when there was still just a hint of silver in the gold. The corners of Maitimo’s eyes crinkled when he laughed. Ingwion took Maitimo's curl between his forefinger and thumb. It was soft. He felt lightheaded. He was unafraid in the relative privacy of this little corner, ready to do anything.

“You are not like how I remember you from our last visit to Tirion,” he whispered.

Maitimo tilted his head. “I am different in Tirion. There I am Nelyafinwë, son of Fëanáro, grandson of Finwë. Among the Vanyar, I am not as noticeable. I rather enjoy the anonymity. Here I can be Maitimo, an ordinary Noldo, who has come to draw maps, read poetry and kiss the crown prince.”

Ingwion looked into Maitimo's eyes, barely daring to breathe. “You are falling behind on the last part, aren't you?” 

“Then it is time to rectify the mistake, wouldn't you say?”

“I would.”

Ingwion leaned forward and did what he had wanted to do since the first moment he laid eyes on Maitimo. He felt the Noldo’s smile against his lips, his fingers in his hair, his warm breath. He pulled Maitimo closer, shivering when they were chest to chest, sighing when the other elf deepened the kiss. Ingwion forgot for a moment where they were, forgot himself. His spirit was floating, his body was non-existent except where Maitimo’s burning touch connected him to the physical world.

Maitimo broke the kiss but didn’t move away, just turned his head a little, so his lips were now brushing over the shell of Ingwion’s ear. His arms tightened around Maitimo’s back. His awareness was slowly returning, and he was already looking out for every little noise that could disrupt their moment.

“The library isn’t the best place for this,” he said regretfully.

“Not very adventurous, are you?” Maitimo laughed and made no attempt to move.

“I don’t have the luxury of anonymity, Maitimo.”

“Do you have the luxury of privacy? You promised me a song, remember?”

Ingwion didn’t remember promising him, but he still nodded. “Maybe somewhere else,” he said.

“Maybe,” Maitimo whispered. “Maybe you can pay me a visit while I am in Valmar.”

“What did I say about anonymity?” Ingwion laughed. He shifted a little and finally let go of Maitimo, sighing. “You should come to me.”

Maitimo frowned. “I am not enjoying the idea of making small talk with the entire Vanyarin court.”

“I will choose not to be insulted,” Ingwion said. “But that wasn’t what I meant. There is a hidden way to my chamber. You should come straight there.”

“You are adventurous after all,” Maitimo grinned. “I will come. I suppose your chamber is more... comfortable than my lodgings.” He took Ingwion’s hand. “Tell me how to find you,” he whispered and pressed his lips to the inside of his wrist. 

It took Ingwion a while to find his voice to answer. 

---

His wild look slid over the surrounding warriors as he slowly walked back. Ingwion expected it to linger on himself for a few moments longer, but it didn’t. There was no recognition in those eyes, no hesitation, no fear, nothing except stifling, overwhelming despair. Ingwion found it hard to believe that this was Maitimo. 

Maedhros, that was how they called him here. A harsh name in a harsh land. Gone was Maitimo, the silvery sound of the word, gone was the ringing of the bells, gone was the softness around the mouth. He was all sharp angles now, hard lines, bared teeth for a smile, smoldering embers for eyes. His only hand holding the sword wasn’t shaking, and Ingwion knew that he would fight to the death, knew that it was what he wanted. 

An image came unbidden to his mind. Maitimo opening an eye, as Ingwion turns on his side and tucks a strand of hair behind his ear; Maitimo raising a brow in amusement, as Ingwion's slightly trembling fingers outline his face, slide along his brow, his cheekbone, leave feathery touches on his soft lips; Maitimo lifting himself up on his elbows, gently pushing Ingwion down by the shoulder and leaning over him, Maitimo's hair a curtain hiding them from the world, as they kiss.

During the long, terrible war, Ingwion had seen the hardness of the people of this land. There was no other way of living under Morgoth’s shadow except turning to stone. Ingwion had gotten used to it to the point that the sweet bells of Valmar seemed a distant dream. Or so he had believed. Now everything inside of him rebelled against the thought, refused to recognize the dazzling prince he had once kissed in the library of Valmar in this ferocious, rugged creature, tempered by loss and defeat.

He wondered if he should go after them, if he should kill Maedhros; wondered if it would be more merciful than what Eonwë had done, but before he could make a decision, the brothers had disappeared, and he knew he would not see them again.

He turned back and walked to his tent. The war was over. He would soon return to gentle Valinor, to majestic Taniquetil, to golden Valmar, where people smiled, and Maiar sang, and when the zephyr blew, the silver bells on the tree in front of his window rang as in laughter. 

[alexiessan]

Never alone - Chapter Six - Soulmate AU

AO3

Previous - Here - Next

Master List

I’ve been playing Animal Crossing New Horizons non stop ever since its release. I’m completely addicted to this game.

If you want to share your Switch code or Island code (is that how it’s called in english?) with me, PM me, I would be very happy to visit your islands! I still can’t modify my island though, and I plan to destroy everything to start from zero haha.

Anyway, with this game, I have to remind myself that I have a story to write, and here is chapter 6!

They didn’t stay as late this time, and Marinette was grateful for it. As much as she wanted to spend time with Robin, she wanted to catch a little bit of sleep, but also have a talk with Tikki.

The kwami would not be pleased that her secret was out.

The designer let out a sigh after she bid goodbye to Robin. She wasn’t in the mood for one of Tikki’s lecture about her secret identity, she had enough of those for a lifetime if she were to be honest.

But she would feel guilty if she didn’t tell the tiny god about this new development, so there was no delaying it.

Taking the purse where the kwami of luck was sleeping in, she locked herself inside the bathroom, careful to not make any noise that could wake Alya up.

“Tikki, wake up!” she yell-whispered.

Tikki stirred for a little bit, blinking at her holder.

“Marinette? You’re back from your outing with Robin?” she whispered in return.

“Yeah, but something happened.”

This woke the little god at once.

“Wha-”

“Ssssh! Not so loud, you’re going to wake Alya up!”

They both looked at the bathroom’s door, as if the reporter was going to appear before them.

“Tikki, you’re not going to be happy, but Robin, along with his teammates know my identity. And Chat’s too.”

Tikki froze.

“How the hell is that possible?”

The bluenette explained what Robin had told her earlier.

“Of course, technology…” Tikki sighed. “I hate technology. Magic has not mixed well with it ever since it was invented. But for it to work, they must have one hell of a software. It’s normally easy to fool facial recognition by hiding a little bit of your face, so they must have a really powerful software.”

The god of creation looked at Marinette directly in the eyes, smiling softly.

“I’m not mad at you. I know that I’ve always been lecturing you about your identity and your duty as Ladybug, but this is not your fault. It’s not ideal, but at least it’s your soulmate and not some random people… And maybe they could help with the situation with Hawkmoth!” she concluded, excited.

“About that, they did call the JLE but were rejected…”

“So it’s only down to the two of you then…”

Speaking of Chat Noir…

“Oh no… Tikki, how is Chat Noir going to take it? That someone knows my identity and that it’s not him!”

Tikki’s face became grim.

“Are you going to tell him? I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“He’s my partner, of course I have to tell him!”

Tikki sighed.

“Look, Marinette. Chat Noir has been doing better ever since you had this serious conversation with him. He takes his job seriously, he stopped flirting and joking… But he still loves you. I’m afraid that if you tell him, he will take it hard and go back to the way he was before…”

“I get what you’re saying, but I trust Chat. I don’t think it will happen. Anyway, I won’t see him for another two weeks, it will give me time to find a way to bring it up to him.”

Marinette fell silent.

“I will also have to tell him that I found my soulmate…”

Tikki smiled sadly.

“And he’s still convinced that the two of you are soulmates.”

The Eurasian girl sighed.

“We’ll cross that bridge later. We should go to bed for now, Tikki.”

The little god flew to her holder’s cheek, placing a small kiss there.

“I’m very proud of you, Marinette. I know you were scared about talking to me, but don’t forget that I am, and always will be, proud of you.”

The teenage girl smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Tikki. That means a lot.”

The rest of the week was incredible. Gotham, while not as bright as Paris was, was a beautiful city with a lot of History. They had a lot to visit and each location gave Marinette so much inspiration.

The class has been worried about going to the city with the highest crime rate in the world, but they have been lucky so far. One of the locations they have been visiting has been attacked, but they had left twenty minutes before that.

The class caught sight of several of the vigilantes, to everyone’s delight.

“I wish I could get an interview with them…” complained Alya one day.

Adrien laughed.

“I don’t think they are as accessible as Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“I’m still optimistic that I can get one by the end of the trip!”

“Keep dreaming, Alya.” winked Kim who has been hovering behind them.

Marinette smiled, watching her friends bickering. She didn’t feel Rose coming at her side.

“You’ve been oddly happy these days, Mari.”

The blonde looked at her, a knowing look and a slight smirk on her face.

The dark-haired girl smiled, holding her sketchbook up.

“Of course! Gotham has so many Victorian and Gothic buildings, it’s beautiful! It gave me many ideas for future designs!”

The knowing look and smirk disappeared to give way to a beaming smile.

“Really?! Can I see?”

Marinette handed her her sketchbook, relieved. She swore that Rose had a radar of some sort and could feel love from miles away.

Not that she was in love with Robin yet, but she had to admit that she did like him a bit and enjoyed spending time with him.

She couldn’t wait to see him tonight.

After days of telling him things about her and vice versa, they began talking about everything and nothing.

She didn’t remember how they got to talk about seemingly bad people changing for the better.

“I don’t think it’s possible.” said Robin.

“You think a bad person will always stay bad? That they won’t ever realize that what they’ve been doing was wrong?”

The vigilante nodded.

“Well, I don’t agree with you. I think people can change, it’s just that some of them need a push.”

He looked at her, waiting for her to develop her thought.

“For example, my classmate, Lila. When she was first transferred into our class, she was always lying. Telling people what they wanted to hear to make friends. Eventually, my class realized she was lying and she stopped. See? She was really mean, and she’s still a bit mean, but she changed!”

Robin scoffed.

“You’re really naive if you think that.”

The girl frowned.

“How so?” she asked, not offended by his rudeness.

“That girl didn’t stop lying because she realized that it was wrong. She stopped lying because it wasn’t interesting for her to do so anymore. She lost her public, your classmates knew to take everything she said with a grain of salt, so why keep lying? The day she will switch class or meet new people, she will start lying again.”

Alright, she could see his point, but it was a bit pessimistic in her opinion.

“You’re right. Maybe that’s the case. But maybe not. Even if I don’t like Lila, I want to the best in her, and I really hope that she changed.”

She nudged his arm with her shoulder, smiling at him.

“I’ll let you be the pessimistic one, but be prepared for my optimism!”

She took the sketchbook that laid beside her.

“Anyway! We got our last day of touring today before we all begin our internships tomorrow, and I got really inspired for an outfit. I would like your opinion.”

She handed him the sketchbook.

“You’re doing an internship at Wayne Enterprises, right? In what sector?” he asked as he took the sketchbook from her.

“Yeah… I’m doing it in business management. I want to have my own line one day, and for that, I have to start a business, and thus, know how to run one. I’ll be shadowing the co-CEO, Timothy Drake.” she smiled.

Robin choked. Tim didn’t say anything about that.

“The co-CEO, really?”

“Yeah, I know. I was really surprised too. It seems very unusual too.”

And it was. But Robin suspected that Bruce and Tim arranged it that way because Marinette was Ladybug and they wanted to keep an eye on her, make sure that she wasn’t overwhelmed with her duty as Ladybug and her life as a civilian.

Maybe the Agreste boy was shadowing Tim too, as he was Chat Noir. Then again, maybe not. Ladybug was the obvious leader, as much as they claimed they were a team of equals.

He would have to ask Tim about that and have a serious talk with him about not being weird with Marinette.

He got along very well with her as Robin and he didn’t want his brother to ruin it for Damian.

He opened the sketchbook, stunned by the designs.

“You’re very talented.” he said as he turned the pages.

“Oh, thank you.”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. She was blushing, looking at anything but him.

She was very modest or not used to compliments, he observed.

He arrived at the last page of drawings, where a very detailed sketch of a man outfit laid.

“I really like this outfit.” he pointed to her.

The fashion designer smiled.

“Actually, I was thinking of you for this outfit.”

Robin looked at her, surprised.

“If you don’t mind, before I go back to Paris, I would like to get your measurements. I would like to make it for you.”

A small smile appeared on his face. That would be nice.

“I will give you a safe address to send it, then. I’ll give you my measurements tomorrow. Thank you, Marinette.”

His soulmate beamed and he fought the blush that was making its way on his face. He hoped she wouldn’t see how red his ears were.

“You’re welcome!”

The smile quickly disappeared though, and she now looked nervous.

“Is something wrong?”

He decided that he didn’t like seeing her like this.

“There is also something that I wanted to ask you.”

He raised an eyebrow and she looked even more nervous. Damn, wrong move.

“You can ask me anything, you know.”

He hoped that it would calm her a little. He wanted her to be at ease with him, to not be scared of asking him anything.

“Ah, two things, actually. The first one is, I would like to introduce you to Tikki.”

He began to protest.

“Ah, no! Don’t worry. She’s not a classmate or anything. She’s not even human. She’s a being that gives me my powers as Ladybug, and since you know my identity, she would like to meet you. She’s been giving us time alone until now, but she still would like to meet one of the only people knowing about my identity. And probably give you a little lecture too, knowing her.”

Robin sighed, relieved. For a second he was scared that she told one of her friends about him. He should have known better.

“Alright then, I’ll meet her. What’s the other thing?”

Marinette’s nervousness came back as she wrung her fingers.

“It’s a bit more delicate… You see, I’ve been thinking about how I will go back to Paris at the end of next week and I don’t know when we’ll see each other again… So I was wondering if… If you had a secure phone number or mail address so we can keep contact…”

The vigilante smiled fondly. In a bold move, he ruffled her hair.

“There’s no need to be so nervous. I’ve been thinking about it and my phone is one of the most secure you can find, so I don’t worry about giving you my number. I’ve been meaning to give it to you by the end of your trip.”

He, Tim and Barbara had made sure that no one would ever be able to hack their phones.

The blue-eyed girl pouted, trying to style her hair back to the way before he messed it up.

She was cute, he thought fondly.

She smiled at him after processing what she said.

“Great, then! We’ll be able to call each other then! Will video calls be ok as well?”

He nodded. “As long as you send a text beforehand to make sure I’m in costume.”

“Oh, yes, of course!”

He watched as she looked at the horizon.

“I’ll be sad though. I’ll be back in Paris and you won’t be there.”

He could feel his cheeks warming.

“We’re not there yet. And we still have a good week in each other’s company.”

After seeing Marinette every day for two weeks, Robin knew it would be difficult to readjust to life without her.

It was as if she’s been in his life for far longer.

“Come on, it’s getting late. You’ve got your first day of internship tomorrow, you want to make a good impression, right? Looking like a zombie tomorrow will have the opposite effect.”

And he wanted to catch Tim tonight to have a talk about his behavior for tomorrow.

The French girl playfully hit his arm at his zombie comment, but still smiled at him.

He swore that one day he would go blind because of her smiles.

Tag list: 

@bigpicklebananatree​ @animegirlweeb​ @crazylittlemunchkin​ @northernbluetongue​ @cutechip​ @justafanwarrior​ @iloontjeboontje​ @resignedcatservant @maribat-is-lifeblood @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @toodaloo-kangaroo @mikantsume @dast218 @amayakans @zestyzealot

[cakesunflower]

No Need Convincing Me: Maybe Elodie finally gives in to getting a tattoo from Calum, or maybe he gets Luke to do it so he can support her? I just imagine it being complete fluff. Like the whole build up to her thinking about it, Calum sketching ideas for her, then actually going and getting it? Ngl I just miss Cal and Elodie, they're one of my favourite couples in your masterlist 🥺

           Honestly, it was a moment he’d seen coming. Maybe because he knew Elodie too well, or she just wasn’t good at hiding it. But he knew her interest in one day getting a tattoo increased every time she walked into his shop. He’d see it in the way she’d peer at the many designs on the walls and in the booklets with a bit more attention than usual, how he’d catch her absently flicking through his sketchbook full of designs, tracing his tattoos more often than not.

           Calum never said anything about it though, never wanted to push her. Getting a tattoo was a big commitment, he should know, and if Elodie decided she wanted to ink her skin permanently, he wanted her to reach that decision on her own without any influence from him.

           Until one day they were having lunch in the café across the street from his shop, and after Elodie took a sip of her drink, she carefully stated, “I think I want a tattoo.”

           Calum swallowed his bite of his spinach pasta, eyebrows shooting up. He tried to quell his excitement as he wiped his mouth with a napkin before asking, “Really?”

           He apparently didn’t do too good of a job in hiding his anticipation because Elodie was chuckling in amusement. “I’m not surprised you’re more excited than I am.” Calum shot her an almost sheepish smile. “But yeah, really.” Arms folded on top of the table, she leaned forward and asked, “Know any good tattoo shops?”

           He shot her a bemused look, which only widened her pretty smile. “Do you know what you wanna get?” he asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

           Elodie nodded, running her fingers through her light brown hair. “Yeah,” she answered, her shy smile returning. She hesitated for a moment, but Calum remained quietly patient until she spoke up once more. “You did that sketch of a dove; I saw it in your book. I was thinking of getting that.”

           Calum knew what she was talking about. It had been a hasty, quick sketch he’d done absently without really thinking about it. Elodie, Calum knew, admired all of his sketches, whether they were minimalistic or greatly detailed, and Calum loved her for it. “Why a dove?” Calum asked, tilting his head. He asked his customers this often, always wondering what their reasoning behind a tattoo was, making sure he never treaded on territory that was too personal. Of course, because it was Elodie, his curiosity was both professional and personal.

           She rolled her lips into her mouth, her gaze meeting his, and she offered a gentle chuckle. “It symbolizes a fresh start, right?” she said, smiling slightly. “I feel like a new person, a better version of myself. I feel like after everything that’s happened, I got a fresh start I didn’t know I needed. I got it after leaving Nathan and having a more active role in my family’s foundation and I got it—” Her smile turned shy once more, cheeks pink, shrugging gently as she finished, “I got it with you, too.”

           Calum gazed at her, feeling his chest swell and air rush into his lungs. He’d heard similar explanations from the few people he’d tattooed various forms of doves on, but Elodie’s explanation—it resonated with him the most, for obvious reasons. He couldn’t fight the smile off his face, watching as Elodie returned the smile. “Do you wanna get it today?”

           She nodded, and soon enough, the two were back in the tattoo shop. Calum didn’t have another client for a while, and so when he told Sierra he was using his station, Dominique, who’d been sitting next to her, eyed him and Elodie suspiciously. “What’s going on?”

           As Calum shrugged off his leather jacket, he watched as Elodie shot Dominique a smile, a combination of excitement and anxiety. “I’m finally getting a tattoo.”

           Dominique’s eyes widened, immediately on her feet. “No way! Are you serious?” she asked, the thrill heavy in her voice as her gaze flickered between Elodie and Calum. Then she narrowed her eyes at the tattoo artist, pointing her finger and demanding, “You didn’t talk her into it, did you?”

           Calum shot her a look, insulted she even had to ask that, and Elodie laughed lightly. “No, no, he didn’t. It was all me.” Then, with a hopeful smile, asked Dominique, “Can you sit with me? I’m definitely gonna need a hand to hold, and obviously Calum can’t do it.”

           He fought the smirk that wanted to curl at his lips. He loved that it wasn’t even a question that he would be the one giving Elodie her first tattoo. Luke could just as easily do it, but Calum loved that from the get-go, Elodie wanted it from him. It was a big deal, getting a tattoo, and knowing she had that much trust in him—not only to give her the tattoo but to also use one of his own designs—had Calum falling a little more in love with her.

           “Hell yes,” Dominique agreed before the two women followed Calum into the station.

           He could hear their conversation as Dominique asked Elodie what she was getting, and Calum kept himself busy by getting prepared, pulling out his sketchbook and flipping to the page where he’d sketched the design. Soon enough, Elodie was on the same chair she’d been on to get her nose pierced, Dominique sitting to her left to hold her hand while Calum sat to Elodie’s right so he could tattoo the spot below the inside of her elbow.

           Calum worked meticulously, as always, gloves on before sterilizing the area. He worked almost mechanically, going through all of the steps he always went through before the act of actually inking on the tattoo, forgetting in those moments that he was working up to marking his girlfriend’s skin with tiny needles. He looked at her, voice gentler than it was with any other client, as he asked, “You ready, El?”

           Her gaze met his and although Calum saw the nervousness, he also noticed her confidence in getting the tattoo—her confidence in him. She nodded, smiling slightly, left hand holding Dominique’s as she said, “Go for it.”

           He heard Elodie let out a quiet, controlled whimper at the first touch of the needles, and despite his desire to make sure she was okay, he continued his work. Calum owed it to her to keep his focus on the job at hand, so he left the job of comforting Elodie and attempting to get her mind off the pain to Dominique, who stepped up right away by striking up conversation with Elodie.

           When it was done, Calum sat back and watched as Elodie eyed the ink on her skin, still freshly raw and red, and he was surprised at the nerves knotting his stomach. He desperately hoped she liked it, hoped it was exactly on her skin as the way she pictured it in her head. Calum was never anxious like this after tattooing someone, was more than confident in his skills. But it was different giving his own girlfriend her first tattoo. Approval from his customers was always something Calum gratefully accepted; approval from Elodie felt far greater.

           “I love it,” Elodie breathed, the awe coloring her tone as she peered at it. She let out a soft scoff of disbelief. “It’s perfect, Cal. Thank you.”

           Calum’s eyes met hers and he found himself smiling at the delight in her eyes, feeling satisfied and relieved at the same time. Dominique, who’d been eyeing the new ink as well, hummed. “Perfect first tattoo for you,” she agreed. With a smirk, she added, “Proud of you, El. You didn’t even squeeze my hand that hard!”

           Elodie laughed at that and Calum smirked as well. “That’s my girl,” he praised, before reaching for his tray, getting ready to wrap it up.

           Now that any pain inflicting on Elodie was over, Dominique left the station to give the two of them a moment. And as Calum began gently cleaning the tattooed area, he said, “I’d tell you the aftercare process but since we live together—”

           She grinned, cheeks pink. “Perks of dating a tattoo artist,” she giggled lightly.

           He smirked. He was still going to tell her how to take care of it, though, despite her having some idea of it. It was his professional duty to do so. Once Calum finished wrapping it up, he sat back on the stool, hands on his knees and grin on his face. “There you go. One new tattoo, free of charge.”

           Elodie, who was now sitting up, facing him, scoffed. “Oh, come on—I’m sure we can think of some way for me to pay you,” she hummed, the teasing tone slipping into her voice as she leaned forward, mindful of her arm.

           Calum’s smirk returned, never one to be tired of this side of her. He leaned forward too because who was he to deny Elodie’s kisses?

[mikauzoran]

Adrienette: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: Kiss Eighteen

Read it on AO3: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: ...as encouragement.

“What did I miss?” Adrien called as he trotted up to his friends waiting at the bottom of the school’s front steps.

“Marinette’s going to win this contest Hermès is holding,” Alya announced with a smirk. “You know. No big.”

“Alya,” Marinette sighed in exasperation. “I haven’t entered yet. I haven’t even come up with a design.”

Adrien gave Nino a fist bump in greeting before turning to beam at Marinette. “Yeah, but you’re going to win once you do.”

“I don’t know about that,” Marinette mumbled, looking back down at her sketchbook.

“I do,” Alya snickered. “Listen to the boy. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s a fashion thoroughbred.”

Adrien blushed, finger going to tug at his collar. “Uh, technically, I think I’m more of a nouveau riche upstart, but I definitely know a thing or two about fashion, and you’ve got talent, Marinette. What kind of contest is it?”

“Ties,” she sighed, trying to hide how red her cheeks had become at his praise. “The artistic director for the men’s line, Véronique Nichanian, is going to be judging the finals herself, so I really want something that’s going to stand out.”

Nino gave Adrien a nudge. “Didn’t you do some modeling for Hermès a year or so ago when your father was pimping you out to other fashion houses to quote-unquote ‘expand your resume and build up the foundations of your career’?”

Adrien sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Yeah. That happened.”

“Well, hook a girl up,” Alya chuckled, giving Adrien a teasing shove. “Not that I don’t think Marinette can win on her own merits, but having an edge never hurt anyone. What kind of insider knowledge do you have?”

“Nothing really,” Adrien admitted shamefacedly. “I wish I could be more helpful, but the only piece of advice I can think of is to do a fun, quirky pattern, but camouflage it so that it doesn’t look tacky. Like, Hermès does have some silly patterns. For example, there’s this one with horses and jockeys up in the clouds, and then on the reverse side it has the horses and jockeys with parachutes.”

Nino cracked up. “Seriously? And let me guess…they want, like, two hundred euros for it, yeah?”

Adrien shrugged helplessly. “It’s hand-sewn silk?”

Nino shook his head sadly. “Mec…no. Two hundred euros for a silly tie? That’s criminal.”

“Okay,” Adrien admitted. “That one’s a little…less sleek, in my opinion, but then they have this one tie I actually really like.”

“Also probably for two hundred euros,” Nino chuckled, elbowing his best friend playfully.

“It’s got a bunch of little blue fish on it,” Adrien explained, giving Nino a light shove. “From afar, it just looks like a normal tie with a small geometric pattern repeating, but when you get up close, you can tell that they’re fish, and it’s kind of funny. It looks professional at a distance, but up close it’s a quirky tie. I think that’s the kind of design the judges will be looking for.”

Marinette, who had been hanging on Adrien’s every word, nodded, making mental notes.

As if coming to an important realization, Adrien gave a start and hurriedly added, “Only if that’s what you’re inspired to do. I don’t want you thinking you have to limit yourself based on what I said. I don’t really know what I’m talking about, and you have such a sharp instinct for this kind of thing, so…just do whatever you think is best.”

“No, I really appreciate your input,” Marinette assured, stepping in across the little circle their group had formed to rest a hand on his forearm. “In the end, I’ll go with my gut, but what you said gave me some ideas, so I think I’m off in the right direction. Do you think there’s anything I should avoid doing? Any colours or patterns or subjects?”

Adrien bit his lip as he considered briefly. “A lot of their products have the H logo all over them. I think they’ve done the H in all the ways it’s possible to turn an H into a design element. I know you’re super innovative, but I think that, since it’s their signature thing, they’ve probably seen pretty much everything and have higher standards for what they want in that kind of design, so it might be really hit or miss. I’m not saying to play it safe, but maybe save tackling a new take on one of the signature elements of their branding for later.”

“Noted,” Marinette affirmed.

“Also, maybe avoid horses,” Adrien added with a grimace. “It’s another one of their things. I’m sure plenty of other people do horses, so if you do horses, you might not stand out unless your design is over and above amazing—which I’m sure it will be anyway, but—and, besides, they already have a lot of merchandise with horses on it, so I don’t know that that’s what they’d be looking for.”

“Why horses?” Nino couldn’t help but wonder aloud…though, he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to know.

“If I remember correctly, the company founder originally made luxury leather goods like saddles and stuff for English nobles for horseback riding. So, yeah. Lots of horses,” Adrien explained with a smile and a shrug.

Nino frowned. “I mean…I guess that’s legit.”

“So, do you have any ideas now?” Alya excitedly inquired of Marinette…who didn’t respond because she was already absorbed in her sketchpad, quickly drafting the beginnings of a handful of possible designs.

The squad watched in awed silence as Marinette’s pencil moved frenetically across the page.

Less than five minutes later, she had three rough sketches and half a dozen other fledgling ideas in the works.

“What do you think?” She flipped the sketchbook so that the others could see the page with her quick sketches and notes on colour.

Adrien’s eyes went wide as he observed that the designs were all Chat Noir-inspired.

The first featured green paw prints on a black ground, spaced close together and turned around anticlockwise on their axis so as to give the impression of cohesive dynamism.

The second was black cat heads on a rose-pink background that had the same effect as Adrien’s fish tie. From a distance, it would look like a respectable, grownup tie, but up close you could see the fun in the design.

The third had miniature Chat Noir batons arranged in staggered, downward diagonal lines that, again, looked like a normal tie design from farther away.

“That’s amazing,” Adrien breathed, looking up at Marinette as she stowed the sketchbook back in her satchel. “Did you seriously just come up with all these right now, in, like, five minutes?”

Marinette smiled shyly, tucking a bang behind her ear as she shrugged. “What can I say? You really inspired me.”

A surge of joy and pride and love welled up in his chest.

His girlfriend was the most talented, incredible woman, and he wanted to put her up on a pedestal so that everyone could see how awesome she was. And yet, she was so humble about her gift and her achievements, going so far as to pretend that he had anything to do with her genius.

He took her by the hands and watched as her eyes went wide, locking with his.

“You are so amazing, Princess,” he cooed, overwhelmed by her greatness and the miracle that a girl so out of his league could be interested in him. “You’re going to win this contest. I know you are. Do you even know how epic you are?”

She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off as Adrien leaned in, catching her lips in a short, sweet, bolstering kiss.

Marinette froze as her brain tried to reboot.

Alya gasped even as she mentally lamented the fact that she hadn’t been recording this momentous occasion.

Nino cursed under his breath, preparing to build his bro back up after Adrien inevitably got shot down.

“I am so proud of you,” Adrien continued obliviously as he pulled out of the kiss. “You’re going to have your own label before you graduate.”

“Adrien!” Marinette hissed as her system came back online, pulling back and turning away.

Adrien blinked, shrinking slightly at her sharp tone. “What? I think it’s true.”

“Adrien, you can’t kiss me like that,” she groaned.

“…Oh, crap,” he breathed, covering his face with his hands. “I did it again. I am so sorry, Marinette. I don’t—”

“—Back up,” Alya interrupted. “‘Again’? As in, this has happened before?”

“Al,” Nino growled warningly.

Alya didn’t seem to hear him. “How many times have you guys kissed behind my back?”

“Three now?” Adrien mumbled miserably.

“Alya, this is serious,” Marinette chided. “I have a boyfriend—a serious boyfriend.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Who I’ve never met and don’t even know the name of. Girl, you may have given up on Adrienette, but I haven’t. If my ship is sailing, I deserve to know.”

“Alya,” Nino snapped even as he put one arm around Adrien’s shoulders and rested the other hand on Adrien’s forearm. “Situational awareness much?”

To Adrien, he directed a soft, comforting, “Hey, it’s okay, Mec. It’s going to be okay.”

“This is kind of a big deal,” Alya huffed. “My bestie could easily have the man of her dreams, but, instead, she’s insisting on pretending to have some fake boyfriend she made up because she’s afraid to accept happiness and the good things the universe has sent to her. Clearly, an intervention is necessary for the good of both of our best friends.”

“He’s not fake!” Marinette retorted vehemently. “I told you, I met him online. We game together, and I only know his username, but he’s a real guy, and we’re really dating, so I can’t be making out with other blondes behind his back.”

“The good of our best friends?” Nino snorted crossly. “Right now, I think the best thing for our best friends is to keep them from getting akumatized.”

“I am so sorry,” Adrien repeated powerlessly, unsure of what else he even could say.

Nino gave him a squeeze. “It’s okay, Mec. Why don’t we head down by the river and try to calm down, yeah?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Marinette huffed, making a break for it and striding off towards the bakery. “I’m going home.”

“Marinette!” Alya called and started to chase after her.

Nino sighed, briefly watching them go before getting back on task.

“Come on, Adrien,” he gently coaxed, leading Adrien down onto the walkway along the river.

They found an empty bench and sank onto it, Adrien snuggling up against Nino’s side and dropping his head onto Nino’s shoulder while Nino wrapped an arm around his friend and gave another supportive squeeze.

“It’s okay,” he repeated like a mantra, keeping an eye out for purple butterflies. “It’s okay.”

“I think I just ruined things with the person I’m desperately in love with,” Adrien responded blandly. “I don’t think it’s okay.”

Nino was silent, contemplating for a moment before he amended, “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to make this okay for you, all right? Marinette’s still going to be friends with you, and everything’s going to be fine, yeah?”

Adrien didn’t have the energy to engage in optimism. “I royally screwed up, Nino.”

“Yeah, but what you did wasn’t unforgivable,” Nino tried to comfort. “Things can be patched up. You’ll see. Just hang in there for me right now, okay? Try to think happy thoughts.”

Adrien managed an affirmative grunt.

And then his phone chimed with an incoming text.

There on the screen was a short message that restored his strength.

Marinette had written: “I’m not mad at you. <3 Everything’s fine between us.”

Adrien tipped the screen so that Nino could see and then smiled up giddily at his friend.

“There you go,” Nino chuckled. “Everything’s fine.”

Adrien sighed, sinking back into Nino. “No, it’s not. Wanna hear a secret?”

Nino shrugged. “Sure.”

“I’m Marinette’s boyfriend.”

It felt really good to finally get it out into the air.

Nino took a deep breath, schooling his expression into a cautious neutral before responding. “…The one she plays online games with?”

“Yep. She doesn’t know it’s me, and you can’t tell her. She has her reasons, but she won’t let me reveal my identity to her, so…I keep accidentally kissing her because she’s my girlfriend, but she doesn’t know she’s my girlfriend, so…we end up having scenes like the one you just witnessed,” Adrien wearily informed.

“…Dude,” Nino replied poignantly.

“Yeah,” Adrien sighed.

“You have to tell her,” Nino insisted. “No joke.”

“Yeah,” Adrien repeated. “It’s complicated. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Nino pursed his lips, trying to process. He wanted to tell Adrien that nothing too bad had happened when Nino and Alya found out about Rena Rouge and Carapace’s secret identities. (In fact, Alya had seen through Carapace right away, so…) And nothing bad had come of Nino being ninety-nine-point-nine-repeating percent sure that Adrien was Chat Noir, so…

Nino took a deep breath and let it out, giving Adrien’s hair a distracted tussle. “Well…if…when you do want to talk about it, I’ll be here. You know you can talk to me about anything, right? Anything.”

“Yeah,” Adrien breathed, snuggling in closer, resting his head under Nino’s chin. “Yeah, I know. I want to, and I know I can trust you with anything, but…I can’t talk about it right now.”

“Okay,” Nino agreed, letting his chin rest on top of Adrien’s head. “Okay.”

“Thank you,” Adrien hummed, closing his eyes and letting himself relax.

[starkergames]

Title: Dance Me to the End of Love Artists: @still-lovelygarnet (sketch), Lighinz (Ink),  @the-mad-starker​ (Color + Writer) Notes: Lighinz: This was the first piece of starker fanart I’ve ever worked on and I’m so glad it was with my lovely teammates. They’re such inspirations! It’s been amazing seeing this all come together. ❤️❤️ Garnet: This drawing has been a journey for me, and I am so happy to see it finished! It’s a beauty and I am proud of my wonderful, stunning, hard working and stupidly talented teammates, @the-mad-starker​ & Lighinz! And let’s not forget the fic that comes with it, Mads being an absolute trouper as always. ❤️❤️ Thank you guys for having me! Mads: I had absolutely no idea how much work coloring was but my teammates were always so encouraging and supportive. QAQ I’ll never take fanart for granted again QAQ But I’m happy I gave this a shot and I’ve learned so much. Thanks to my teammates and for this event for bringing us together 💗 The social media sites and media had gone apeshit over the leak. A certain document started circulating, a marriage license. 

Tony Stark was married. 

The only problem was, whoever had done it had blurred out his spouse’s name. Fic below the cut!

February 14, 2020.

A Friday night to remember since it was not only Valentine's Day but also the Stark Valentine's Charity ball.

Every year, Stark Industries would raise thousands and this year, it would be no different. Most likely, they'd be able to raise more than any other year previously since the spotlight had been on Tony for the past week.

An important document had been leaked.

A marriage license.

It came as a shock.

The social media sites and media had gone apeshit over the leak. A certain document started circulating, a marriage license.

Tony Stark was married.

The only problem was, whoever had done it had blurred out his spouse's name.

And so the paparazzi were on the hunt for a Mrs. or Mr. Stark only to find out Tony had taken a two week business trip.

False, they had discovered. The business trip was actually a honeymoon and the trail went cold until now.

Tony had managed to avoid them once he came back, no husband or wife in sight. That caused an even bigger commotion since it piqued everyone's curiosity. It was easy enough for Tony to remain unreachable, considering the man lived in the penthouse above Stark Industries.

It wasn't as easy for Peter though since he still lived in Queens with his aunt, but no one was all too interested in him. No one, except Tony.

Tony, who, despite Peter's insistence that he didn't need to be picked up, had arrived at his aunt's 5:30 on the dot. It wasn't unusual though since Tony was just spontaneous and hard to say no to.

Peter's boss and mentor sat beside him in the limo driving them to the event. He couldn't help but let his eyes wander over the man sitting beside him.

Tony Stark was aglow from all the sun he'd been enjoying and more than that, he was genuinely happy. The smile on his face said as much, a charming and almost dopey smile that not many were accustomed to seeing. Marital bliss suited the older man even if his smiles deepened the lines on his face.

To Peter, Tony has never looked so handsome.

He fidgeted in his seat, still not used to wearing the kind of attire that's required for these things.

Tony picked out his suit though, a cream-colored piece that only seemed to accentuate his slim but fit body. In contrast, the older man had worn a navy blue suit along with a very light, almost white, pink shirt. A rose was tucked into his shirt pocket and Peter smiled at the sight.

"The polls for the identity of Mrs. Stark is pretty funny," Tony mused as he scrolled through the media sites on his phone.

"Who's winning now?" Peter asked as he leaned closer to peek at his phone.

Pepper Potts's name was nowhere in the list but only because she had adamantly denied it from the very start. The paparazzi had also proven that Ms. Potts had been attending a company business while Tony had disappeared for his honeymoon.

"Who is that even…?" Peter laughed. "Natasha Romanoff…?"

Tony bumped his knee against his and chuckled.

"They got a hold of the guest list," Tony explained, "that's why she's jumped up in the polls."

Peter hummed but leaned back.

"Too bad the only person accompanying you is your protege," Peter said, knee bouncing as he scrolled through the list.

There was a separate poll for men, too, since Tony wasn't exactly shy about his preferences. Peter's heart skipped a beat when he saw his own there, listed near the very bottom at place number twenty-one out of twenty-five.

Warmth. Tony's hand settled on top of his bouncing knee. His wedding ring glinted in the light, a simple golden band with one studded diamond embedded inside.

"Breathe, kid," Tony instructed gently. "You sure you wanna do this? I know these public things aren't your scene."

Peter was anxious and it was obvious. He took a deep breath, stopped his fidgeting, and focused his runaway thoughts.

He knew that if he had said so right now that Tony would bring him home.

That, more than anything, was what had Peter returning the smile. It was a bit strained from the upcoming event, but it was there. He settled a hand over Tony's and felt the smooth, hard metal beneath his fingers. A gentle squeeze was given to show his appreciation.

"I can do this," Peter said and then corrected himself. "I want to do this."

"That's my spunky little intern," Tony smiled back at him.

"Not an intern anymore," Peter reminded him with a fond shake of his head.

He hasn't been an intern for almost two years and was expecting to take over as the R&D department manager of Stark Industries within the next six months.

And the relationship between him and Tony...

Tony grinned at the correction.

"Of course not. How do I keep forgetting?" Tony pretended to chide himself.

Peter was about to make a quip about his age but then the limo came to a stop at the entrance.

Outside, he saw the crowd of reports just waiting to catch a glimpse of Tony's spouse who they expected had ridden with him. He wondered how they'd react when they see just little old Peter Parker trailing after his boss.

Everyone was used to seeing Peter by Tony's side since he joined SI. Tony, himself, had called Peter his protégé, his next big project, the rising star of SI… the list of affectionate nicknames go on and on and has accumulated into a big pile of endearments.

Peter cherished each one.

"Knock 'em dead," was the last thing Tony said before they went to face the crowd.

The camera flashes were blinding. Even after two years of it, Peter still forgot to expect them until it was already too late and dots were dancing in his vision.

As expected of Tony Stark, he owned the audience's attention and smiled at every camera turned his way. Peter followed behind and was careful to keep away from the reporters.

No one was really interested in him since it was Tony that they wanted to get at.

Peter watched, amused, as Tony deflected every inquiry regarding his spouse that was thrown his way. This was a charity ball, after all, and the older man turned every question into answers that promoted and brought the attention back to the event in question.

Peter didn't know how he did it but it was a superpower he'd have to learn in the future.

The event area was decorated in a beautiful mess of Valentine's Day colors. The tables were set in white with stunning displays of bouquets. The roses were in full bloom, vibrant reds that popped out when surrounded by the more gentle pinks and whites of the surrounding flowers.

Crowds of people already sat at their tables, socializing and having a good time with wine being served.

It was a very large event and just standing there, taking it all in, Peter felt he could've easily lost himself in there. But then he felt a strong and familiar presence by his side and he turned, finding Tony right there beside him.

At that moment, the room could've been filled to capacity and Peter wouldn't have noticed anyone else besides Tony.

To him, it was obvious that he was in love with his boss. To others, maybe it wasn't as obvious since they liked to think of him as Tony's mini-me.

A lot of people also felt that they knew what Tony's feelings and thoughts were. It was easy to believe that since Tony was such an outspoken and outgoing person. He could talk on and on about something, injecting his insights and thoughts on a subject, and the listener would only have a glimpse of who Tony really was.

So, everyone thought that they knew Tony Stark because of his past reputation and his easy-going personality.

Then Tony did something like secretly getting married and people suddenly realized how very little they knew about him. They hadn't even known he was dating, let alone serious enough to pop the question.

They didn't see Tony the way Peter did, didn't know him the way Peter did so how could he blame them for being so oblivious?

Every smile Tony gave to others, he gave twice as many to Peter in darted glances and quick flashes. He always pulled Peter into the conversation and Peter wondered if others recognized just how often Tony spoke about him.

Maybe they did. Maybe they brushed it off.

That would change tonight.

Many had asked about the mysterious Mr. or Mrs. Stark. Curious eyes searched for Tony's spouse by his side and seemed to slip right over Peter. It didn't upset him at all. It made him happy that he was such a well recognized figure in Tony's life.

The money came pouring in for the charity and Tony gave them his dazzling smile. Appetizers were served, the guests' chatter dropping to low murmurs as they were served finger foods that could've easily replaced dinner with how generous it was.

A short speech was made and Tony looked so handsome with the mic in his hand and a bright gleam in his eye.

Peter, from his seat at the front table, could practically feel how the guests were hoping for Tony to introduce his spouse.

And like the tease Tony was, just shortly before concluding his speech, he had the audacity to say, "I know many of you are dying to meet my sweetheart." He gave the crowd a wink, "And it is Valentine's Day so it would make sense, huh?"

A pause as the crowd waited patiently or impatiently for the big reveal.

"But this ball isn't about me or my newly beloved, but we'll see if we can get some more surprises in by the end of the night. Dinner should be coming out shortly and then, we'll get to the fun part of the evening. Dancing!"

Tony rejoined the first table, completely at ease with his selected dinner mates. He flashed Peter a quick grin before he nudged his seat closer.

"What do you think? Will they be lucky enough?" Tony leaned in to ask.

Beneath the table, a warm hand settled on his knee, a reassuring weight. Peter had to fight to keep the smile from splitting across his face.

The whole dancing part of the event made him nervous and Tony had promised him that he didn't need to. Just thinking about it made his heart pound but when he looked at the older man, he felt it melt into a mess of goo and affection.

He subtly slipped his hand beneath the table, settling it above Tony's and gave it a squeeze.

"Maybe," he said with a faint smile.

They withdrew both their hands as the waiters came out and served dinner. The dinner SI provided for their guests was almost decadent. It warmed their bellies with good food and along with the alcohol from the open bar, laughter and smiles were being exchanged with ease.

The clatter of utensils working over near and veggies filled the room and the soft quiet conversations lulled as people ate.

And just as dinner was wrapping up, a familiar tune started to play. Peter glanced and Tony and found the man staring back at him, unabashed and grinning from ear to ear.

He returned it with an exasperated shake of his head, but when Tony held his hand out… Peter took it.

He was pulled from his seat and led onto the empty dance floor. The music swirled around them and the entire hall fell into a hush as more and more people noticed the pair on the floor.

Tony led Peter in a dance and it was there that everyone's eyes were finally opened to the truth.

The person they had been looking for all evening had been by Tony's side the entire time.

There was no doubt about it now, as the audience's eyes followed the pair. Fluid, graceful movements… Hand in hand, they swept across the dance floor, perfectly in sync in body, as well as mind.

It was undeniable, the tenderness that spread across Tony's face as he looked at Peter

Undeniable, when Peter smiled so sweetly at him.

They danced and danced and to Peter, it was like the entire hall disappeared. There was no one else but them and all the anxiety, all the doubts faded away as he looked into Tony's eyes.

They had taken a long path to get where they were today. What started as a simple, professional relationship slowly transformed into a quiet, but comfortable silence as they worked.

The silence became filled with chatter and once one started talking, the other would answer. Their quiet work hours became filled with laughter and scandalized jokes then with soft teasing. The hunger for each other's company grew until it spilled out of the lab and brought them together in movie theaters then quiet little evenings in Peter's apartment.

Their first kiss was a memory that made them both grin and laugh. A moment of spontaneity as Tony babbled on and on, a flush of excitement tinting his cheeks red. Then shocked silence as Peter shut him up with a press of his lips.

Do that again, Tony had dared and Peter hadn't backed down since. He'd done it countless times until they were both breathless from it.

Countless dates and secret smiles being exchanged at the office. I love you's being exchanged softly and meaningfully. Reverently. Then the ease in which those words came, each dropping it casually in their texts and whenever they parted. It didn't make those significant words any less meaningful. In fact, it only reaffirmed, over and over, how they felt about each other.

Months fast-forwarded and then Tony was kneeling in front of him, a black box in hand and Peter staring dumbly at him like he hadn't expected it at all. The mister to my Mr. Stark, Tony had casually said once upon a time and now… Now, the ring sat on Peter's fingers, a quiet but unbreakable declaration.

All those memories whirled around them as they danced. The ease in which they trusted one another was obvious. The love they had was now glaringly obvious, as obvious as the beautiful sparkle that Peter's diamond ring gave off, a perfect mirror to Tony's wedding band.

And when the song came to an end, Tony's mic turned on. That voice that Peter has heard whispering love into his ears come on the speakers, breathless from excitement and exertion.

"I don't need to make introductions," Tony said while looking into Peter's eyes. "You all know who he is." -- Thank you to our wonderful artists and writer who participated in the first Starker Games!

[free-pool-trash]

Ghost (Part 2) - Billy/Four x Reader (6 underground)

READ GHOST FIRST

Listen- the first part is better and I'm not good at fluff 😪 please be gentle

Word count: 3.6K

Warnings: mentions of sex but like not really, swearing but that's nothing new 😪

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

"You're going to get yourself killed." You stated as he stared at you dumbly. 

"I'm not, you're just being dramatic." Billy told you, shaking his head and heaving a sigh. He'd just told you about his plans to go to Europe with some crew he'd met up with recently.

"You realize that if you get caught and try to run the police will literally shoot you on sight, right?" Again, Billy let out an exasperated sigh at your words, "I won't get caught." He told you and to be fair you knew him well enough to know that he was great at what he did, he was always careful and almost never got caught and when he did it was usually another member of his crew that dropped the ball, which was now at the top of your list of worries now that he's found this new "heavy-duty" crew. "Ok maybe you won't, but what about these new people, huh? How do you know they're not gonna screw you over?" You asked him, raising your eyebrow expectantly, arms folded tightly across your chest as you stood in front of him.

"Because they won't (Y/n)! The girl I was talking to seemed pretty legitimate." He told you, his mouth forming into a smug smile when he mentioned this girl. You'd never even met the woman but you knew she had to be trouble. Billy was too easily swayed sometimes.

"Just because she was a good shag doesn't mean you can trust her." You told him almost angrily, you definitely did not want him risking his entire life for some sexy European bird with a cute accent that he didn't even really know.

Upon seeing the look on your face, Billy's eyes softened as he stepped closer to you, smug look still playing on his lips. "Awh, love. Don't be jealous, you know I love you the most." He teased you, hands moving to hold your hips and rocking you gently.

He always did this when he wanted you to calm down or reassure you, and it usually worked but this time had been different, you didn't smile the way you usually did when he held you like that, no this time you looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows and glassy eyes, your voice was weak when you spoke up. "Billy I'm serious."

His smug smile faded away and his hands found your cheeks, his thumb moved gently across your cheek bone. "So am I." He said, "c'mere" He told you, pulling you into his chest and wrapping his arms around you, waiting to feel your arms find their usual hugging position around his shoulders before he spoke up.

"I'm not going just because of that girl, right? I'm going for me. If this job is a success I'll be able to stop all this, I know you think I'm a right idiot for this but it'll pay off. I promise." You nodded into his chest, arms tightening around his neck, "Just please don't die." You whispered, moving your chin up to look at him.

His hands moved slowly up and down your sides as he spoke again, "How could I die knowing that I've got to prove you wrong?" His voice was cheeky and you couldn't help the dry laugh that left your throat as you pushed him away slightly, arms leaving his neck to push lightly at his chest, "Wanker."

  Not liking the small distance you'd just created Billy pulled you back into him, "I'm gonna come back to you, love. Cross my heart."

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

"It's really hard for me to be cross with you when you keep kissing me like that." You moaned out between the small yet intense kisses your supposedly dead best friend kept placing on your lips.

He pulled away only for a second, "Then don't be cross with me." He told you before attempting to place another wet kiss to your lips, you stopped him though, placing your fingers to his lips and stopping them from meeting your own. "You faked your own death, Billy." You told him angrily, "I'm so fucking cross with you." 

A low whistle sounded from behind you and upon turning around you realized David and the customer who had come in earlier were watching this whole ordeal take place. "Guess that explains why you left the UK…" David breathed out, pretending to wipe down the counter.

Turning your attention back to Billy, you gave him a look and he knew straight away that he was in so much trouble, he thanked God that his mum wasn't with you right now because when the two of you got together to scold him it always made him wish that he'd never been born. And truthfully, despite the fact that he hated being chastised by his best friend who he openly harboured feelings for, and his mother, he missed it. 

"We need to talk." At your statement Billy turned to look at Seven in question, the older man only shrugged and took a sip of his coffee, "This is none of my business, bro."

Billy turned his head back to you and nodded, "Then let's talk."

Gently, you took hold of his hand and led him to the back of the cafe, you brought him into the staff room, shutting and locking the door once you were both inside.

"Alright Billy, what the fuck is going on. And don't even think about lying to me." You demanded taking a seat at one of the tables in the room, motioning him to sit down across from you, but of course, Billy proving to be the same as he always had been, didn't listen to you, opting to take the seat beside you and ignoring the chair across from you. Sighing you twisted your body on the chair so you were facing him and he wasted no time in placing both of his hands on either of your knees.

"It's actually a really great story, right so, that crew I went off with, total pricks and that bird? You were totally right- absolute cow. Anyway they stabbed me in the back after I found this really valuable necklace, dropped me off a roof basically." He told you quickly, barely giving himself a chance to breathe before he went on.

"Anyway, that was the accident you were told about. This rich bloke, we call him One, come to think of it he never actually told us his name… anyway sorry, so he runs this secret Underground organization, he scouts people with skills that he needs and then we fight evil essentially. There's 6 of us, we go by numbers as a whole protecting identity thing but it didn't really work out cause we all know each other's names now, still he calls me Four, that other guy out there is Seven."

You blinked at him slowly, trying to piece together what you'd just been told, separating the important information from the blonde boys ramblings.

"So you're telling me… that you faked your own death to join some Underground sketch team?" Your eyebrows were furrowed in a mixture of confusion and anger. Had he seriously made you mourn all for the sake of joining some weirdo crime fighting group?

Noticing your expression Billy squeezed your knees and spoke, "No, it's more than that, (Y/n). We stopped a tyrant, you ever heard of Turgistan?"

Slowly you nodded your head, Turgistan had been all over the news only a few months ago. "The coup?" He pushed and smirked as your eyes widened, "That whole vigilante group that kidnapped that guy's brother? That was you?"  He nodded again, smug grin growing wider by the second.

"Alright first of all, you're a fucking idiot, wipe that stupid grin off your face right now." You told him, pushing his hands off you and getting up, beginning to pace the room as you began to ramble, "Second of all, you just saved a country? Great! Proud of you, really, I am. But that doesn't change the fact that you just upped and fucking left. Abandoning your family is one thing Billy, but going as far as to fake your death? That's a whole new level of twisted. Did you know we buried an empty coffin? That we had a funeral for you?"

Billy looked down at the floor in guilt before looking up and scratching the back of his neck, "Yeah kinda sad only five people showed up."

You stopped dead in your tracks, slowly turning to look at Billy, your heart dropping through the floor, "How do you know how many people were there?"

Your voice was low, almost a whisper, Billy bit his lip, gaze returning to the floor, he'd really fucked this.

"You were there. You watched." You stated, voice shaking and eyes glassing over with unshed tears, Billy's heart broke looking at you, he'd never seen you look so betrayed.

"Didn't you?" You asked him, voice cracking.

When Billy didn't answer you raised your voice, "Didn't you?"

Billy stood up and made his way in front of you, blocking you from leaving as he knew you well enough to know that you had a tendency to dip once things got hard, he could only guess that's how you ended up in New York after his staged death.

Before he spoke, he placed his hands slowly on your hips, allowing you the chance to pull away if you really wanted to, when you stayed put he went on, trying to ignore how broken you looked when your eyes met his, your glare almost burning him.

"Yes! Okay, yes I was there, but please please listen to me, love." 

"Whatever you're going to say, it better be good because I can't do this any longer Billy." You told him and he knew you were serious as tears rolled down your face, it was the fact that you didn't even try to hide the salty trail from him that he knows you've reached your breaking point.

"I was there yeah, One told us we had to cut off all ties, we had to become ghosts. I had to make everyone think I was dead to do this job. I know it's not an excuse but I really tried to say goodbye, One wouldn't let me." He stopped to gage your reaction, but you stayed still.

"When I saw you and my mum at my grave, I really considered abandoning the whole thing and when you were alone at the grave it took everything in me not to run to you." His voice was soft and on the verge of cracking, a hiccup ripped from your mouth and his heart shattered as you asked, "Then why didn't you?"

"Just please give me a chance to make it up to you while I can, (Y/n), please. If One knew I was talking to you right now he'd literally kill me, but I don't care, let me make it up to you before he gets here. Please."

You only nodded, you really didn't have it in you to argue with him anymore, not right now at least.

"I've got an apartment, it's not far." Billy smiled and took your hand in his, intertwining your fingers, he brought your hand up to his mouth and kissed it softly, "Thank you."

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

You brought Billy to your apartment, it was almost 4AM when you got there and luckily your roommate had long since gone to sleep so you'd quietly brought the boy into your room and locked the door.

"This is my favorite picture of us." He told you, breaking the thick silence that had settled over the room from the second you'd gotten there.

In his hand he held the newly framed photo from the summer when you'd both crashed a pool party.

"I remember after this picture was taken. We were both hammered, you told me you were "fucking in love" with me." He laughed, making air quotes with his fingers as he retold the story of the party you'd crashed together.

You laughed too, for the first time since he'd shown up again, seemingly back from the dead. "Yeah and I remember you telling me that you were sooooo fucking in love with me." You told him, smiling softly as he bobbed his head, "Still am." He told you, his green eyes boring into yours as your lip quirked up, ever so slightly.

"Yeah so am I."

At your response he placed the frame back on your bedside table and scooted as close to you as he could on the edge of the bed where you were sitting.

You knew he definitely deserved all the anger you'd directed at him, but being with him in such a soft moment made you realize that there are worse things than your best friend coming back to life, even if he hadn't really been dead in the first place.

He watched as you fidgeted with your fingers before looking him in the eyes shyly, "I know I haven't said this yet, but I'm really, really, glad that you're alive." Billy placed his hand on your cheek, "I'm really glad you know I'm alive."

His cheeky smile was contagious and you found yourself smiling back at him, moving your own hand up to his head and rubbing it softly, your fingers tangling in his blonde curls, "Sorry I smacked you." 

He leaned his face closer to yours, slowly. "I deserved it, I'm a huge dick."

You smiled sarcastically at him, moving your face in as he did, your noses almost touching, "Yeah. You are. Absolute wanker."

He chuckled whole heartedly before pressing his lips to yours.

The kiss was different than the ones you'd shared earlier that night in the cafe, it wasn't eager and rushed, wasn't greedy. It was soft, slow, it was every feeling he'd been trying to express but couldn't.

Your free hand moved to the back on Billy's neck as you pulled away, albeit reluctantly. When you regained your breath and attempted to speak Billy beat you to it.

"I love you. I'm gonna come back. Once this mission is through I'm gonna come back to you." He told you, stroking your cheek and pecking your lips once he'd finished.

"Your mum is going to make you wish you really were dead, hope you know that." Upon mentioning his mum Billy sighed sadly, he'd been so caught up on you that he'd not even thought about his mother having the same reaction as you had.

"If you want… we could call her, you don't have to talk or anything if you don't want to, you can just listen to her voice. Been a while since you've heard it." You offered, fingers running soothingly through his hair as his eyes filled with tears.

His voice cracked as he responded to your offer, "I can't, One would kill-" you cut him off with a small chuckle, "Do you see this One guy anywhere around here? Because I don't. He won't know Billy. And if you were being honest about coming back to me, what does it matter?" Thinking about it for a few seconds, Billy gnawed at his lower lip before nodding at you frantically, "Let's do it, let's call her."

You pulled out your phone from your pocket and pressed on Billy's mum's contact which you had named "Mum 💕" since she'd been a better mother to you than your own anyway.

The phone rang, once, then twice, then three times and then finally on the fourth ring, she picked up.

"(Y/n)? It's late, love. Everything okay?" The woman asked and you looked to Billy whose lip was quivering.

"Well no, not really." You told her, the call on speaker and Billy waiting patiently for you to explain before he spoke up.

"Why what's happened?" She asked with a voice full of worry.

"Well I was working at the cafe and, um, someone came in… thought I was seeing things but…"

You paused and nodded to Billy who glanced between yourself and the phone in your shaking hand before he spoke, "Hi mum."

There was a long pause on the line, before the laughter of Billy's mum rang through.

"I knew you weren't dead you little shit." She said through joyful laughter.

"What do you mean you knew?" Billy shouted in shock, eyebrows furrowing together.

"You think I wouldn't recognize my own son all over the news? Just because you were wearing a stupid black outfit doesn't mean your invisible, Billy."

Your jaw dropped at the angry woman's words, "What? You knew he was alive? Why didn't you tell me?" You questioned as Billy began to laugh himself.

"Because you were so shook up! I didn't want you worrying about my scumbag of a son!"

"Hey!" Billy exclaimed through his laughter as you sat dumbstruck.

"I love you, mum." Billy said over the phone, his laughter dying down but not completely subsiding.

"Love you too, you little twat. Come home soon."

"Will do."

"(Y/n), love?" The woman asked, "yeah?"

"Don't let him upset you anymore and if he does you call me, okay?" You couldn't help but laugh, "will do."

After that you hung up the phone, looking at Billy with a small smile, safe to say that that phone call could've been a lot harder.

"Thanks for that, love." Billy said, kissing your cheek before pulling away, his cheeky smile back on his face.

"You're welcome." You smiled back. 

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

The rest of the night moved by slowly and at the same time far too quickly, Billy wasn't fucking around when he said he wanted to make things up to you that's for sure.

You woke up at 7AM, stretching your arms out and looking to your side you saw Billy was gone and there was a note left in his place. 

"Seven called, gone to meet One, be back soon, Billy x" 

You laughed at him, that stupid number thing was almost too funny.

Slowly you got up out of bed and wobbled toward the kitchen where your roommate, Jessica was watching you with a smug look on her face.

"So, sounds like you had a fun night, love." She mocked, wiggling her eyebrows at you on the word love.

"Maybe I did, baby." You retorted pouring yourself a cup of coffee and sitting down across from her.

"Tell me, whose this Billy?" Jessica asked, grin only growing as you blushed.

"Nobody." You told her, ghost of a smile coming onto your face.

"Billy! Fuck! Billy! Harder!" She mocked you, moaning over exaggerating the noises as she used her hand to make banging noises on the wooden kitchen table you were sitting at.

Your face blew up into a shade of bright red as you hid your face in your hands while she continued to tease you.

"Fuck, love. Just like that." She put on a fake English accent as she began laughing at her own teasing.

You groaned in embarrassment, "God, that did not happen. Nope. You're hearing things babe." You denied, shaking your head at her, still hiding behind your hands.

Jessica laughed loudly, "Tell that to your neck, love."

God, you didn't even want to look in the mirror because judging by the amount of time Billy had spent on your neck last night you could only imagine what it looked like now.

"Anyway, is he gonna be visiting some more?" Jessica asked, raising her eyebrow as a knock sounded from the door, "Hopefully." You responded on your way to answering the door.

On opening the door you saw Billy, Seven and another man who looked at you with a false smile on his face, "Hi there, I'm One, you've heard of me?" He said causing your eyes to widen, you looked at Billy confused and he met you with a nervous glance.

"One wanted to meet you." He told you as One pushed him into your apartment by the neck and let himself in too.

"Fucking right I wanna meet the girl whose stealing my Skywalker."

Before you could focus on the man you turned to Jessica, "You got school?" You asked her urgently, the slightly younger girl nodded at you, a concerned look on her face. "Leave early?" You suggested and after looking around she nodded, grabbing her bag from beside her and quickly leaving the apartment.

"Alright, what the fuck is this?" You asked the three men in front of you with your arms crossed defensively across your chest.

The so called "One" was the first to speak up, "What the fuck this is is that you're trying to take away one of the most valuable members of my team!" He told you angrily as you looked at him indifferently.

"You took him from me first, arsehole."

The man huffed at your response before continuing, "Listen I understand that you love each other, it's cute, really. But this is serious shit. I need him on my team, so tell me why he wants to leave he was fine before he ran into you." One shouted causing you to laugh, "That's quite funny actually. Before he ran into you he wasn't legally dead." You retorted, poking a finger at his chest.

The man glared at you before his face broke into a smile, a genuine one this time, "Alright, I approve, go nuts kid."

He told Billy, saying nothing more as he made his way to your door.

"Wait that's it? I can go home?" Billy asked excitedly.

"Yup. Have fun." One said, opening the door and walking out, Seven clapped a hand on Billy's shoulder, "See you around man." He made his way out of your apartment and shut the door behind him.

Billy's smile was bright as he looked at you, arms outstretched triumphantly.

"Looks like I'm all yours, love."

[pure-bakusass]

Kiribaku AU Month: Day 8: 🐲 HTTYD AU 🐲

Today I did some sketches that serve as illustrations to the drabble I wrote (killing it with the writing! 💚 they say practice makes perfect).

Basically Kirishima is Hiccup based and Bakugou is Astrid based 💙 Bakugou meets Kirishima when he's still an insecure mess, but he falls in love with him and believes in him. Together they hunt down the Night Fury, but it escapes and Kirishima finds it on his own later and tries to befriend it. Kirishima is the sunshine boy that wants to befriend dragons. Bakugou despises them and wants to kill them, but his love for Kirishima makes him slowly change his approach. There are situations I pictured with them that I couldn't include in the drabble so there they are, here:

Kiri trains the dragon in Bakugou's presence, and Bakugou is standing in the safe distance angrily like "Iook im not going to tell the rest but keep that disgusting thing away from me" while he eventually slowly grows to love the dragon as much as Kiri does.

Kirishima: Look, this is Bakugou. I know both of you started off pretty badly but Bakugou means no harm. There is no need to be afraid of Bakugou. See? Bakugou put the knife down.

One day the dragon licks Bakugou's face and it's hilarious.

Kirishima: See? He loves you!

Bakugou: *grumpily wipes his face* It's a fucking one-sided love then.

Remember the moment when Hiccup took Astrid to that wild ride on Toothless? Kirishima does the same to Bakugou to prove a point. Bakugou just stubbornly refuses to accept the concept of riding dragons and Kirishima had no other choice than to get to him like this.

Kirishima: Let me just show you something, that's all! And then I'll put you down!

Bakugou: *clinging to dragon's tail for life and screaming* Fuck no, you better put me the fuck down now!

Bakugou ends up enjoying the ride, but he's lowkey scared being this high for the first time in his life, so he clinged to Kirishima's back and held him tight.

Bakugou: *hits Kirishima* That's for forcing me to ride the fucking dragon.

Bakugou: *kisses Kirishima* And that's for...the rest.

@kiribakumonth2019

Now for the ✨drabble✨ You can read it under the cut!

"Fuck!"

Bakugou's scream suddenly broke the peaceful, calm silence of the forest. Both him and Kirishima were wandering around the place for quite a time, and while it was completely understandable for Bakugou to get frustrated, Kirishima genuinly enjoyed it. If it wasn't for the reason why they were here, he would consider it just a nice walk, a date even. But Kirishima knew that today they meant business, and he shouldn't let his thoughts get away from it too much. If he wanted Bakugou not to be angry with him, that is.

"That shitty dragon really couldn't have found itself a better place than a fucking forest to crash, huh?" Bakugou snarled as he vented his frustration by kicking the nearest rock. Kirishima smiled at him. At this point he was so used to Bakugou's outbursts that he found them amusing, in a way.

"Dude, there's hardly even anything else here apart from forests, what did you expect? Hey, c'mon. Don't worry so much about that. I'm sure we'll find it."

Bakugou didn't feel like calming down at all, although he did have to admit that Kirishima's warm smile was probably the only thing in the entire world that would ever come this near to soothing his nerves. He rolled his eyes in response, but the tone of his voice did calm significantly.

"I'm not worried, idiot. I'm sure we'll find it, because I am not leaving the damn place without a dragon. I will tear down every fucking tree if that's what it takes to bring the bastard to the village."

"Yeah, right, that's what I'm talking about! I can't wait to see their faces when we show them that we actually DID take a real Night Fury down! I'm so excited just thinking about it. Aren't you excited Katsuki?"

Bakugou laughed. He couldn't help it that Kirishima's excitement was getting through to him.

"Fuck, you bet I am. Those idiots kept laughing at me for saying I shot this stupid Night Fury bullshit down with my own hands. But now that you're going to kill it, we'll make them all choke on those words."

"Oh damn right we- wait, what? Me?"

Kirishima stopped and blinked in surprise, not quite believing what he has just heard. All of a sudden, his enthusiasm faded away, leaving him visibly nervous.

"Since when it's me who is supposed to kill the dragon, Katsuki? I mean it was you who shot it so wouldn't it be fair for you to, uh, finish the work you started?

Bakugou raised his eyebrow. Such a sudden change in Kirishima's behavior seemed suspicious and unusual for him. He didn't like it.

"What are you even saying, shithead? Of course the fuck not! We're a team. I did my part of the job which means now is your turn. That is what I call fair. Besides, I already killed my first dragon, and you didn't. If this keeps up those idiots out there in the village will eat you alive."

"Are you saying that they still talk about me behind my back...? About the not-killing-a-dragon thing?"

Bakugou sighed. Now he understood exactly what the sudden change of attitude was about. How could he not get it before? He knew too well about Kirishima's biggest insecurity and mentioning the villagers was one fast way to trigger it even more. Bakugou felt like he was the actual idiot here and he hated that. He looked Kirishima in the eyes, dead serious.

"Not when i beat the goddamn shit out of them when they do so. Listen, you don't deserve to be put down like that. You're strong and manly, and totally capable of killing dragons. I'm sure of that. And you know it too. It's just the rest that don't know. Wouldn't it be thrilling to prove them wrong?"

Kirishima didn't look convinced. In fact he looked like he was having a hard time processing the situation. Bakugou reflected on his words and tried again with different approach.

"...Look, I-

...I may have used the wrong words for it. It doesn't fucking matter at all what others think about you, as long as you yourself know your own worth. But what matters is that killing a dragon is a powerful experience. It really makes you feel like you have enormous strenght, like you're some kind of a god. I want you to be able to experience it and be as satisfied and fulfilled as me. Only a fool would reject the opportunity to kill a dragon that is basically served to him on a silver plate. Listen, if you don't want to kill the dragon for yourself, do it for me. Do it for us, Ei."

The thing was that no matter how bad Kirishima's doubts were, he couldn't deny that he was madly in love with Bakugou, and therefore extremely weak for all those moments when he spoke to him in [that] voice he was using on him right now. The soft, loving, encouraging, lower toned kind of voice Bakugou wouldn't use on anyone else except Kirishima.

"I guess you do have a point here Katsuki."

Bakugou responded with a satisfied, fierce smile, one of those that Kirishima really enjoyed seeing. He gave in completely as Bakugou pulled him closer for a nice, deep kiss.

"There you go... There's my brave, unbreakable Eijirou. I think I might have something just for the occasion."

Bakugou reached to his belt and grabbed a knife he then gave to Kirishima. But that was no ordinary knife. Kirishima's eyes went open wide as he realised what he was holding. It was Katsuki's lucky knife, the exact one he killed his first dragon with. Kirishima was still amazed everytime he remembered that fight. To take down a dragon having only a knife on you for many seemed impossible. But for Katsuki, there was no such thing as impossible. That's why he admired him so much and still found it hard to believe that someone like Bakugou would consider someone like him his equal.

"What, why so surprised? You need it more than I do. Keep it. Make a good use of it and make me proud. No, make yourself proud."

Now that Kirishima thought about it, he has never actually seen Bakugou allowing anyone to touch it, ever, let alone make any use of it. The fact he was gifted such a meaningful thing filled Kirishima's heart with sudden wave of courage and will to act. Will to be strong and to prove himself that there is no such thing he's not capable of. The big, bright smile came back to Kirishima's face.

"Thank you, Katsuki. Thank you so much."

As they continued to search through the woods, Kirishima's excitement was in the right place. Even though he still felt nervous, he decided not to let it control him. At some point he reached for another kiss but Bakugou pushed him away and pointed to the ground with visible satisfaction.

"Ei, look! You see those traces here? I bet that's where the dragon fell. It was too weak to fly away, it's most probably very near. Fuck, we've found it!"

Next thing they saw when they looked around the place was a familiar net, and under it, a big, black pile of something that was most probably their dragon. Sparks of excitement appeared in Bakugou's eyes as he gave Kirishima a push forward.

"Go get it."

"Right!"

Kirishima took a deep breath as he began carefully approaching the dragon. He could do it. He totally could. "I have Katsu's lucky knife and a taste of his lips on mine, what could possibly go wrong?" he mumbled to himself as he was getting close to the infamous Night Fury. Bakugou decided to watch him from the distance.

First thing that Kirishima did as soon as he reached the dragon was to kneel down beside it and gently place his hand on it, then move it across its smooth, black scales. For a brief second he thought that maybe the dragon was already dead? That would certainly spare him a lot of trouble. But then he felt his hand being gently lifted as the dragon inhaled. He gasped in surprise and quickly took his hand back. The dragon was very much alive. Kirishima felt absolutely terrified, yet absolutely amazed at the same time. Not only it was his first time seing a dragon this close, but also seeing a dragon that nobody has ever seen before at all. This felt like enough of a thrilling experience for Kirishima. When he remembered what he was supposed to do, it brought up a weird feeling of sadness in him. The dragon was so...beautiful. It looked so peaceful and vulnerable while it was asleep like this. Kirishima sighed heavily.

"How am I supposed to take your life away while you can't even fight me back...?"

"What the fuck is taking you so long, shitty hair?!"

Kirishima twitched. Bakugou's yelling brought him down to earth yet once again.

"Katsu, I-...I don't think I can do it!"

That was most probably the worst possible way to express what he was feeling right now. He regretted those words the moment he spoke. Bakugou approached him quickly and angrily.

"What the fuck is your problem again?! You want to back away now that we're so close? After I gave you the knife and did my fucking best to make you feel better about yourself, even though I can't comfort others for shit and you know it? Listen here, you-"

"No, no, I'm not going to back away, please let me explain!" Kirishima interrupted Bakugou halfway through his outburst, hoping it wouldn't last. "I mean just look at him. He seems so vulnerable lying helplessly like this on the ground like he's already defeated. All I'm saying is that...you know, is there really a pride to be taken in butchering an unconcious dragon? I mean, it's no effort, there's not even a fight. That's not very manly nor thrilling if you ask me."

For a second Bakugou looked like he was about to lose his shit and explode again, but as soon as Kirishima spoke, his face expression changed. Now he was smiling, and it was one of those sly, fierce grins of his that always meant trouble.

"Right, sure. Of course you want a fight. That's understandable. Should have just said exactly that, babe. Let's rile the beast up then."

Bakugou got down on his knees and started cutting the strings of the net that was tangled around the dragon's limbs.

"Wait, no, that's not what I-"

Before Kirishima could say anything more, he was interrupted with the sound of a loud hit of Bakugou's hand on the dragon's hard scaled back. The Night Fury's eyes opened up right away and its pupils narrowed in a sign of hostility.

"this is bad-"

The dragon stood up on all fours, spreading its wings and roaring loudly and terrifyingly right in Bakugou and Kirishima's face. Kirishima's heart stopped, but Bakugou? Bakugou yelled back.

"That's right, that's more like it! Bring it on, fucker! They don't call you the Night Fury for no fucking reason, do they?!"

That's when it all went down to shit.

***

what a terrible way to finish a drabble XDDDD but thats all, thank you for attention <3

[johnny-and-dora]

how sweet the taste of certainty

Finally, she doesn’t have to wonder if their love is doomed to be some quiet, fragile thing. It’s not some fickle flickering candle at all, but rather something as bright and as certain and as inevitable as the sunrise. Something beautiful and familiar that, in earnest, is only just beginning.

or, amy tells her parents the shining, golden reason why she can't marry teddy. (a missing scene of my royalty au)

read on ao3 / read the original  -

The morning after she asks Jake to marry her, Amy stops a couple steps short of the heavy dining room doors, heart in her mouth, feet suddenly and brutally rooted to the ground. The eloquent and respectful speech she spent all night planning has seemingly evaporated, leaving her less of a person and more a pile of nervous mush.

“Are you ready?” Rosa meets her gaze, her armour glinting in the summer morning sunshine.

“No.” Amy admits, smiling nervously, calculating the nearest escape route and how long she could survive in the forest based on her existing hunting and foraging skills. “Do you think this is a bad idea?”

Rosa considers it for a beat. “No. I think it’s crazy, and it might blow up in your face, but I think it’s a good thing. For everyone.”

She can’t help but feel reassured by her best friend’s trademark bluntness, smoothing down her dress and fixing her hair again almost compulsively. It’s just breakfast. A breakfast that may as well be taking place in the middle of a minefield, but still just breakfast. She can handle breakfast.

Amy takes a deep breath, nods at Rosa, and pushes the doors open.

She’s greeted by the tail-end of an idyllic Santiago family meal; her parents sit at the head of the table, looking stoic and serious as usual. Three of her brothers are also dotted around, Julian in the middle of shoving an entire croissant in his mouth as he waves at her. David is mercifully absent. Silver linings. She definitely doesn’t need the golden child around today.

“Amelia – good, we were starting to worry…” Her mom trails off, a weight behind her words that instantly sends an unpleasant lick of irritation down her spine. She clenches her fists, resisting the urge to tell her just how much she really needs to be worried about. Just how close she was to smuggling herself and Jake over the border last night and never looking back.

Amy knows this won’t work unless she’s calm, firm and collected – she needs this to go perfectly, the stakes for this particular conversation so far past the roof they’re practically up in the stratosphere (Jake’s words, not hers). So, instead of letting out all the latent anger kicking around in her chest, she takes a deep breath and smiles politely, the one usually reserved for dukes that condescendingly call her “sweetheart” and then drop their jaws when she can recite state law from memory.

“You guys said you wanted to see me?”

“Prince Theodore has been asking after you. He’s waiting at the West Wing gate.”

“Good. I need to talk to him.” Amy says, forcefully enough that her mother sharply raises an eyebrow, sucking all the air out of the room in the process. “I need to talk to you, too.”

Her mom and dad share a quick, loaded glance. Everyone falls quiet, Tony and Simon no longer squabbling over who gets the last bread roll, Julian letting a blob of jam fall on his shirt without noticing. All eyes are on her as Victor gestures for her to continue – ideally, she’d do this with as little of an audience as possible, but she confesses to Jake later that she couldn’t help but revel slightly in the drama of it all.

She’s Amy Santiago – she’s fluent in five languages, director of the royal art collection, ambassador for human rights and one of the best trade negotiators in the seven kingdoms. She is capable of anything. She can do this. She’d barely last a week in the forest anyway.

“I’m not going to marry him.”

“Amelia…” Her mother sighs disapprovingly – it drills into Amy’s soul, but she stands her ground, making peace with her portrait being one step further away from the mantel. Her father eyes her warily as if he was expecting this.

“No, I know. I know you think it’s what’s best for me. I know a marriage like that worked for you two, and I know that it would benefit the kingdom and that’s great. But I can’t marry someone I don’t love, and you can’t force me to.”

“Accepting his proposal may seem like a risk, but a one worth taking.” Her father says. “He’s good for you, Amy – his reputation, his influence, it could really help you build something. You two are perfectly matched.”

Amy chews her bottom lip, a nervous tic she just can’t shake, gathering her courage. “Maybe in a different situation, Teddy and I would have worked. I see what you see in him. But it’s more than just on principle. I physically can’t marry him.”

“Why not?”

“Because - “Amy says, voice shaking a little, but eyes alight, “-I’m engaged to someone else.”

And, well, there it is. Her whole life changed by a single sentence.

It has the intended effect, increased tenfold thanks to a truly magnificent spit take from Julian as he chokes on his orange juice. Her parents stare at her in stunned disbelief – a wide-eyed Tony pats Julian on the back as his coughing dissolves into laughter. Best of all though, Amy can see Rosa smiling wide and proud in the corner of her eye, and it’s all she needs to feel newly emboldened, heart thumping in a way that makes her feel powerful instead of helpless.

“My God, Amy. I thought I had it with the whole one-night-stand with the Prince of Arabia thing, but you officially just won most dramatic family announcement. Well played.” Julian laughs, uproarious and bright. She’s glad he’s here.

“I…don’t understand. You are…already engaged?” Her mother asks weakly.

“As of last night, yes.” Amy tries to remain as neutral and matter-of-fact as possible, but she can’t help softening at the fresh memory of Jake saying yes over and over again, punctuating each affirmation with a kiss as she laughed, buoyant and alive with unadulterated joy. It’s all still very surreal, especially considering she hasn’t slept since; but if it is all a dream, it’s one she never intends to wake up from.

“I don’t see a ring,” Julian says, a bright grin plastered on his face that Amy ever so slightly mirrors, unable to completely tamp down her happiness any longer. “Isn’t there supposed to be a ring?”

“There is, but he has it. I proposed to him.”

“Oh, of course you did.” Julian shakes his head in a perfect marriage of awe and amusement.

“How…what…who…” Tony stammers – having graciously passed the point of no return, Amy decides to throw all her caution and concern to the wind and dive headfirst into the unknown.

“His name is Jake Peralta and he is the absolute love of my life. I have never been surer about anything than I am about that fact.” She consciously pours every ounce of conviction she has into her words, and it tastes like honey on her tongue, fresh air in her lungs. “He’s a baker and he helps out in the kitchen with Charles and he is the kindest, most loyal, most wonderful person I have ever met.”

There are so many ways to describe him – completely unexpected, completely full of warmth and laughter and more love than she thought any human being was capable of containing. Loving Jake is endlessly surprising, but it’s also the easiest thing she’s ever done.

“I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d never approve of me being with someone who didn’t have ‘reputation’, but the truth is that Jake is good for me in a way that Teddy could never be. He is unconditionally supportive and thoughtful, and he sees me for me, not just as a status symbol or some idealised fairy-tale. I love him and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.”

She says her piece, affection flowing from her almost of its own accord. As she does, she’s flooded with memories – throwing grapes at each other at the picnic they shared in the wildflower meadows beyond the gates. Jake smuggling cupcakes to her to cheer her up on bad days. Him clumsily risking his life climbing through her bedroom window just to help her rehearse her big address at a formal dinner, planting a kiss on her forehead every time she got through a cue card.

Their walks around the castle grounds, laughing at stupid inside jokes. Playing cards in the kitchens with Charles, Terry and Rosa. Teaching him how to paint and sketching him in increasingly ridiculous poses. Having dinner with his mom. Stealing away moments behind the stables and on staircases. Most vividly, their countless private rendezvous in the forest, free of all façades and responsibilities and reputations to uphold.

Amy refuses to hide any of it anymore – he is, openly and unashamedly, the man she loves.

No-one speaks, for a little while; she lets her honesty sink in. Her mother is wearing a look of abject horror – her dad’s expression is stony and unreadable, and it startles her when he is the first one to break the silence, directly addressing Rosa standing guard by the door.

“Diaz. Is all of this true?” Rosa glances at Amy, who gives her an encouraging nod. She knows her father has always valued Rosa’s directness as much as Amy does.

“Yes, sir.” She pauses. “And for the record, I’ve known both of these people a long time, and this is the happiest I’ve seen either of them. It’s kind of sickening, actually.”

Her parents exchange glances, a silent conversation Amy isn’t privy too – she’s too busy feeling her heart swell with further affection, this time for her best friend. She and Jake owe so much to Rosa helping them out, relaying messages back and forth and covering for them. When this is all over, Amy’s definitely embroidering a thank you pillow for her to punch.

“I see. Will you please bring this Jake Peralta here for me?” His tone is even and calm, almost unnervingly so. Rosa nods, quickly disappearing. She knows exactly where Jake will be; in the kitchens, probably stress eating day-old pastry and getting a last-minute pep talk from Charles (which is guaranteed to be largely unhelpful and delivered through hysterical tears).

She’d warned him that they’d probably want to meet him; he’d expressed anxiety about it last night, but Amy had quickly reassured him that no-one else’s opinion mattered to her about this. They’re getting married, whether her parents approve or not.

Obviously, she wants them to like him. She’s dedicated a lot of time to making sure he knows he is loved and accepted, and she’s willing to work even harder to wax lyrical about how wonderful he is for the rest of their lives if she has to. For now, though, she just has to focus on not getting them both exiled.

Her dad calmly asks her brothers to leave the table – Julian mutters in protest as he exits, only stopping to brightly clap Amy on the shoulder and earnestly congratulate her with an enthusiastic high five.

“He sounds great, mimi. I can’t wait to meet him.” For once, her older brother is completely sincere, save perhaps for the suggestive wink he gives her, and it’s a touching gesture that eases some of the relentless anxiety building in her gut. Amy dreads to think how insufferable the pair will be when they do finally meet. She can’t wait either.

Part of her is absolutely fucking terrified to be left alone with her parents with her open defiance and violation of their wishes hanging so ominously in the air – Amy Santiago has never been a rule breaker. She’s always worn the stupid fancy dresses even when she’s dying for something more practical and let Gina give her more and more complicated and ridiculous hairstyles and politely mingled with the endless line of boring high-status bachelors as her parents watched on hopefully. She’s always played the role of the only princess to perfection.

But then she thinks of little six-year-old Amy demanding that she be taught the same combat training as her brothers and twelve-year-old Amy petitioning to allow female members into the Royal Guard and, well. They really should have seen this coming from a mile away.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take long before Rosa strides back in, a clearly nervous Jake hurrying forward in her wake. For a moment, her original plan of whisking him away to start a simple life together swims into her head, a powerful urge to protect him surging over her.

But then their eyes meet, and he waves, a small nervous smile on his face. And then she notices, as it catches the sunlight streaming in through the window and glitters as if enchanted, the engagement ring hung proudly around his neck. And she just knows, as sure as the sun will rise, that they can handle anything.

“I understand that you are engaged to my Amy.”

“Yes, sir.” Jake rocks on his heels slightly, nervously fidgeting the way he always does when he’s anxious. “I’m very lucky to know her and I love her very much.” It’s not the most eloquent speech ever performed in this great hall, but it’s by far her favourite.

“How do I know you are good enough for my only daughter?”

“Oh, there’s no way I’m good enough for Amy. She’s the most incredible person I’ve ever met and the best thing that’s happened to me.” He steps closer to her, silently taking and squeezing her hand as he speaks. “But she still chose me, and I promise you that I will spend every moment of the rest of my life trying to be someone worthy of being loved by her.”

She wants to scream from the top of her lungs that he is completely and utterly good enough, and she wants to hurt anyone who has ever made him feel otherwise. Instead, she squeezes back, and mouths I love you while her parents exchange another hushed conversation.

“Well then - it appears there’s nothing we can do to stop you. Nor do I think we should try.” It could be a trick of the light, but she swears that she sees a glimmer of pride in her father’s eye. Her mom clears her throat, clearly still struggling to comprehend the situation.

“Mija, what we want most for you is for you to be happy. Does he make you happy?” She asks – Amy glances at the man beside her and finds her best friend, her fiancé, her favourite person. Easiest solve in the world.

“More than anything.”

“Then that settles that. You two have our blessing.” Her father says, as simply as if he was commenting on the weather. Amy blinks once, then again, her grip on Jake’s hand getting tighter.

“We…we do?”

“Yes, you do. We clearly have much to discuss, but I must first inform Prince Theodore that other arrangements need to be made.”

“I…wow. Thank you. Thank you, so much, I…” Her brain appears to be malfunctioning, so she does the only thing that feels right; she hugs her parents, whispering another strangled thank you, and then hastily pulls a stunned Jake out of the room, now squeezing his hand so tightly it’s probably cutting off all the circulation. If it does hurt, he doesn’t say anything – then again, in the moment neither of them seems able to speak.

She drags him into the nearest room; Holt’s classroom which, blessedly, is currently empty. Heart pounding, she finally meets Jakes gaze. He looks like he’s just found the end of a rainbow.

“Did they just…”

“Yeah. Yes. I think they did.”

“So, we’re…”

“Getting married. Yep. That is a thing that is officially happening.”

There’s a single moment before they’re both collapsing into shocked, near-hysterical laughter, an amalgamation of relief, disbelief, exhaustion and above all else, joy. Amy practically throws herself around him, performing some kind of strangled hybrid of laughing and crying as she buries herself into his shirt.

They stay like that for a while, completely wrapped up in each other. It could be seconds or minutes or maybe even hours – she doesn’t care. Time has ruled their life together for so long; now, it’s an insignificant enemy, no longer precious, unpredictable or finite. It’s bliss.

“Hey, listen. Rosa told me, uh, what you said. To your parents. About me being the love of your life and all that.” Jake says, suddenly adorably shy.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. She said it with a disgusted look on her face, but I think she’s secretly rooting for us.”

Amy hums in contentment, making a note to call her a secret sap and then hug her the next time she sees her. Jake clears his throat nervously, calling her attention back to him, all soft and warm honey gaze.

“You’re mine too, by the way.” He says sheepishly. “Just in case…I mean I hope you that know by now, but-“ She smothers his nervous ramblings with a firm kiss, finally. Finally, the abstract brush-strokes and subtle hues of the future they could have together come into sharp focus, vivid and prismatic.

Finally, she doesn’t have to wonder if their love is doomed to be some quiet, fragile thing. It’s not some fickle flickering candle at all, but rather something as bright and as certain and as inevitable as the sunrise. Something beautiful and familiar that, in earnest, is only just beginning.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, future wife.” He grins, kissing her again. She’s sure, now, as her lips meld to his that he is the person she was always meant to come home to, to find a home in.

Amy feels a wave of exhaustion overwhelm her; now that the adrenaline is wearing off, the unfortunate side-effects of not sleeping for almost twenty-four hours rapidly take hold. She barely suppresses a yawn, scrunching up her nose as Jake looks at her fondly.

“You wanna go back to bed? I happen to know an excellent nap partner.”

“Oh, great, me too. I’ll see if Hitchcock’s available.” She says, laughing when Jake pouts in offence, draping her arms around him, leaning up so that their noses are almost touching.

“It’s our first day together as an engaged couple. I want to do something special.”

“Ames, we have the rest of our lives to do something special.” He says, gazing down at her with so much undiluted affection that her resolve completely melts away. The rest of their lives. She really likes the sound of that.

“Okay, napping sounds pretty good right now too.”

“Good, because we have about five minutes until I collapse from twelve hours straight of nervous hysteria. Would you mind carrying me to your bedroom?”

She rolls her eyes and shoves him, but also offers him her hand. They soon collapse into Amy’s four-poster bed, quickly pulling the covers over their heads, wriggling around and fighting for space while they giggle like little kids. Amy sleepily leans into him when they’re all settled in, and she’s never felt safer than she does now, being lulled to sleep by the steady rise and fall of his chest.

“We’re getting married.” She whispers reverently, eyelids heavy – she feels his lips gently ghost against the top of her head in response, perhaps subconsciously as if he were made to do it. They drift off, and the last of her anxiety ebbs and flows away as if merely a bad memory.

It’s the best sleep either of them has had for months.