#quite well as a busy bee) so I felt the need to pretend to have human connection without actually breaking my self-imposed isolation lmao

[boomerang109]

what if capitalism is making the one job i thought was possible for me feel unattainable not because i haven’t literally been doing it since age 13 but because it’s not well paid enough so until you get into a higher position you have to work multiple jobs and i knew that i always knew that but. fuck. why is adulting going to be so exhausting. what if this really is the best time of my life? being a depressed college student? what if it’s downhill from here?

[megismorallysunny]

26/09/23

ok so an okay day, i think writing a blog has unexpectedly made me feel worse about myself. i remember more, but i feel like shit more than usual, but i like writing so im not sure what to do. it sucks. i had history first "the sub" was in today he wanted us to acc learn shit, sooooo boring. Carmite, Emerald and "sapphire" all sat together. i cant remember if i mentioned sapphire but hes one of the boys.

they played a roblox obby in class and they kept getting caught so they decided to take out their calculators and PRETEND, it was so embarassing the sub told them not to go on their phones after 10 minutes of them fake playing on their calculators just for carmite to say "hehe not a phone its a calculator, gottem" it was SO EMBARRASSING. HE SPENT 10 MINS. anyways, granite is gone to tenerife so its just me and diorite for a while.

french was good. yknow that girl bluebird that i talked about yesterday, well she got in trouble for not doing her hw again and like she was talking to the teacher and the teacher had to ask her what three times because she was so quite. some other things but i cant remember. for pe we did badminton because the pitch flooded, me and diorite were partners and we bet 1 other team. i was pretty shit tbh. for lunch diorite bought me a chocolate bar and stole some kinder bars. she talked about how she started feeling guilty last night cuz she stole some stuff from a shop and then she found out that there was only one of them (not family owned but not a corporation). i said i also felt guilty when i did that because i have the resources to pay i just dont like spending money. i dont steal, it was a once off chance and just felt like shitty of me.

for business a bunch of 2nd years were in our seats eating lunch and chatting, they musnt have gotten the message to leave when i thre my bag over them to reach my fucking seat. i had to get the guy in crutches to help me out because i just dont like talking to 2nd years because idk they have a weird vibe. also at lunch coming from the shop me and diorite got swarmed by 1st years we didnt know, and asked us for stuff, they asked me for popcorn and i kinda just ignored them and walked through them, maybe i should have been nicer and given them the rest but also im a hungry hungry hippo. they also knew my friends name?? my friend stopped and gave them kinder bars, on the way to business another first year asked for a kinder bar and she gave it to him, "they really took the worst you can get is a no to heart". it was really funny and sweet though the way they flew to food like bees to pollen. anyways the teacher didnt show up for the first 15 mins in class and it got REAL silent, so a girl in my class decides we need to d icebreakers (the only new person in the class is bluebird, and weve all known each other for a little over 2 years). we have to say our full name then our hobby, im 2nd and i CRUSHED it. i did amazing, we got to every1 and out of like 28 only 4 people didnt do it. in geography i felt rly lonely, sure i got a back seat but at what cost, i didnt have anything to do, i felt like shit, and a group of people played among us and i kinda wanted to aswell but i dindt have it downloaded and i just felt awkward, the worst they can say is no but, they remember that no, it was kinda nice seeing them play but i didnt want them to see me smiling so i did it every rarely. diorite wasnt there becasue they had a music thing, i dont do music cuz i sound like a drowned rat. i then walked to my dads work, stayed in his van for an hour so he could finish work and then went home.

i forgot to mention but 1st class ended 10 minutes early for some reason, and no teachers were told so it was rly confusing, my mom got home 4 hours late from work, her top boss is visiting her work and shes one of the managers so she has to do lots of things, we didnt get dinner till 9 cuz dad had to drive my brother to basketball which he just started. i could have just made dinner myself but also yknow, your supposed to eat the food people cook for you and they were going to cook it was really a matter of when. ive decided to learn portuguese which is really stupid but of well, i can try. i hope i shift tonight, wish me luck xoxo

[totromanticfool]

HC – How the guys confess to mc. Part 2 – Vyn Richter

I am back again. The writing and internet gods probably took pity on me, and gave me both the fastest internet on the block, as well as a ton of writing energy. Also, I started experimenting with putting in thoughts, these will be cursive. (oh and, I have no idea when roses bloom, so just pretend they do in the spring, lol) But, without further ado, part 2. Enjoy!

Vyn Richter – Subtle but strong

Vyn Richter was the embodiment of elegance. So, when he decided it was time for him to finally confess his true feelings, it would be elegant.  

Vyn knew Rosa could be a little (my apologies, a lot) dense when it came to any type of romantic gesture or advance, so he had to thread light but strong, making sure there were no misinterpretations.

His little sanctuary, the backyard with the overflowing rose bushes, would seem to be a perfect spot.

Afternoon Jasmin tea with various baked sweets, Vyn made sure she would feel cherished before his words would reach her.

It wasn't long after Vyn started his weekly check up with Rosa, that he invited her over for some well-deserved tea. The moment she walked into his mansion he felt her tense and tired atmosphere. He should have known she worked too much again; she always worked too much.

Without any words he took her hand and led her into his garden, red roses in full bloom. The spring sun hanging low, illuminating the cosy terrace with a golden glow. ''Dr. Richter, I hope I am not troubling you this short notice, I just...'' Rosa stopped mid-sentence, noticing the delicious treats on the table next to Vyn's favourite tea pot.

He seated her on one of the lounge chairs, took the other one himself and smiled gently. ''No need to explain, I am happy you decided to spend your precious time with me, outside your busy work schedule.'' He poured her a cup of tea and presented her a plate filled with macaroons. ''You can always come to me to unwind.'' Rosa only nodded, grabbing a treat hesitantly. Vyn realised he had to make her feel comfortable and free her from her current issues before he could play his cards. 

''Have you been sleeping well, Rosa?'' He looked at her expectantly, knowing the effect his gentle golden eyes had on her. She stumbled over her words, gave up talking quickly after that, and settled on sighing, averting her eyes in the process. Vyn decided he would probe a little more, she was on the edge of blurting out her issues. ''Has Attorney Wing making you work overtime often?'' ''Yes, but...'' Almost there ''Has he been treating you poorly?'' Her eyes darted to his in shock, as if he read her mind. Is he now? He saw the pain in her eyes, and a glistening started to form in them.  

''Dear Rosa, my apologies; I do not mean to pry, but I wish for you to feel good and well rested.'' grabbing a tissue from his pocket, he carefully wrapped his hands around hers, squeezing gently, placing the tissue in hers. The one that makes my Rosa cry, will meet my wrath. He had to remain calm, she would speak of her issues first.

''I just...'' Rosa started in between shaky breaths. She took a big gulp of air. ''We were on a high-profile case, and the client accused us of leaking. Mister Wing knew I worked on cases at home a lot, so he questioned me, quite ruthless. I started second guessing myself and made mistakes because of it.'' her words were spoken at high speed, and only after finishing her explanation, she dared to take another breath. Vyn was getting agitated, hearing about the manner in which the senior attorney treated his junior. I will have Artem climb down from his high horse. He gave Rosa a few minutes to calm down, staying silent while tenderly wiping her tears.  

''I'm sorry Dr. Richter, I didn’t mean to...'' Vyn reached out and placed a finger on her lips. ''Do not apologize, dear Rosa.'' His words were like honey, and she felt like the starving bee, wanting more. He moved in closer. ''As one of your closest friends, I am here to help you lift the heavy burden from your shoulders. '' Her eyes were wide in astonishment, not knowing what to think of his sudden bold touch, but it felt... natural. His finger moved from her lips to her chin, urging her to look in his golden orbs.

''If you let me, that is.'' his voice was now only a whisper, and his smile send a shiver down her spine. She nodded again and took another breath. ''I feel much better already. Thank you, Dr. Richter.'' He smiled still, and kept holding her hand with his left. She started blushing, but didn’t avert her eyes. He knew it was now his turn to show vulnerability, to bare his soul.  

''Will you call me Vyn?'' His first request was simple, but establishing a deeper connection if she would agree. ''Uhm, sure? Vyn.'' Her eyes sparkled. He had to restrain himself from kissing her right then and there, he did not want to frighten her before he even confessed anything. He composed himself, kept his smile gentle.

''My dear Rosa, I do not wish for any misunderstandings between us. Please allow me to clearly state my deepest feelings. '' Before proceeding, he searched her eyes for any distress or discomfort. When he saw none, he continued, slowly. '' I am infatuated with you, my Rosa. Utterly and irrevocably in love. My world regained its colour after meeting you, and I wish for nothing more than to be by your side.'' He had to stop himself from rambling. It was not only out of character, but he needed to make his point, not confuse her.

He dropped his gaze to grab both her hands in his, heat radiating between them. He didn’t expect her to loosen one of hers, but felt it on his cheek seconds later. When he felt confident enough to look up again, he saw those big green emeralds shining back at him. ''Vyn...'' was all she could whisper before locking her lips with his, answering his feelings with her own.

~

 I might need to extinguish this fire! Lol

See you in the next drabble!

Love, Hann ❤

[obito76]

[Closet Fun]

Chapter 28 : Bumblebee

Pairing : Dick Grayson/Raven, Dick Grayson/Karen Beecher/Bumblebee.

Synopsis: It's time for bumblebee to be in action with Raven and Dick

---

Dick groaned as he rammed himself harder into Raven’s passage. She screamed as he hit her G-spot over and over again, grabbing anything and everything her hands can touch. One hand on her trembling hips while the other kneaded her butt, seeking release. He sighed into her neck as he thrusted harder and harder into her.

God, how he needed this. He just…couldn’t stay away from this. This feeling of satisfaction and pleasure. The feeling of being close to her; comfort – pleasure and comfort.

Raven moaned loudly his name as she approached her climax, turning him on more. He thrusted harder, desperately trying to get him to that ultimate high he needed. She curled up; her knees tight at his hips, her toes curled, and her fingers dug into his back. She, violently, shook as she reached the peak of her orgasm, letting out a rather loud shrill of pleasure. He let out a mighty groan as he felt her release, causing him too, as well. He thrusted a few more times before he finally stopped and rested for a moment.

Their bodies glistened with sweat as they panted heavily. They laid there, trying to recover from the ecstasy they had shared. After awhile, Dick slid out of her and lied on his back, next to her. He looked at her; not once but again and again. She looked satisfied and utterly used.

“That was…amazing,” she panted smiling, “No wonder why they call you Boy Wonder.”

“Mm-hmm,” he replied shortly. He really liked it when she talks about how good he felt; though almost every girl would always say the same damn thing. He felt her move over towards him, in attempt to cuddle, when he heard his phone pinged. He moved to the edge of the bed and sat up when he felt her arms wrap around him loosely. He smiled as picked up his boxers and put them on.

“What’s wrong?” Raven asked, grabbing his shirt, she sniffed a little before handing to him.

He put on his shirt, “Starfire is asking me if i would like to go out.”

“Oh, can’t you skip it?” she asked.

“No,” he said quickly as he picked up his pants.

“Why not?” she pouted. Getting up she wrapped her hands around his neck, bringing their bodies closer.

Horny girl, he thought as he rolled his eyes.

“Because if Starfire find out about us the we won't be able to meet like this and I’m already in enough trouble as it is because of Bumblebee,” he explained, zipping up his pants.

Raven whined a little more but he ignored her. He, honestly, didn’t care whether Bumblebee wanted to rat him out or not but he certainly didn't fancy getting caught. He got the last bits of clothing on and pecked her on the lips; grabbing her tits he gave a tight squeeze.

“I’ll call,” he murmured as she moaned into his mouth before he turned to leave.

---

Dick smirked as he looked at his phone, no matter how many times it buzzed. He had to focus on ignoring her if he wanted her to beg.

Every time he looked at his paper work, his phone would buzz. He wanted to pretend he was busy, so she will get impatient. Dick and Bumblebee or Karen had been taking to eachother for few weeks now. They were at the point where sending eachother texts and photos of themselves was a common thing now, and Dick really loved the photos of her sexy body she sent him almost everyday.

“Bee, how impatient.” He smirked, finally giving in and checking his phone.

He had unread messages, all from her.

Looking through them, he realized she definitely was getting impatient. She probably thought he was ignoring her.

'Hey.'

He knew she has a boyfriend and he didn’t like her talking to him. But the way she was responding he knew she was interested in him. And man he would love to have a taste of her.

'not responding?'

She sent a cute picture of herself sitting in front of the mirror.

'I got that top you said would look good on me, How busy are you?'

Dick smiled and responded 'Quite a little, been busy doing some paperwork.'

'Yeah?'

Dick decided to start the play, if she responds positively there was no dought he was going to fuck her next time they visit Titans East.

'What are you wearing?'

He could sense she was willing to play along from the next text he got from her.

'Just sports bra and shorts.'

'its hard to imagine.' Dick smirked, he knew she was going to give in the way he wanted.

'Are you saying you want me to send a picture?'

Dick replied with a simple 'yeah' and knew, it was enough to push her.

'Wait.'

The next picture she sent was a bit more revealing. It was one of the ways he knew she was alone and was in mood.

It was her in a bra and shorts, her chest was pushed forward and her nipples were erected he could tell by the two peaks formed in front of her bra and he knew she had deliberately sent him that.

'What do you think?'

Dick smiled he knew how to respond 'You look gorgeous.'

'Well a picture for picture, what are you wearing?'

Dick smiled and got up, posing in front of his full size mirror he send her a picture. 'Nothing much a t-shirt and jogger'

'lift your shirt a bit.'

It was a plain command. Dick sat his phone on table before pulling his t-shirt off, grabbing his mobile he sent her a pic of his half naked form. 'There you go'

'You look so hot.'

There was a pause, bubbles formed on his text screen and after a solid ten seconds her message appeared.

'Would You like too see what's underneath my bra?'

Perfect. Dick smiled. 'I would love too'

'Wait.'

Followed by a picture after of her after a minute, she was still wearing her shorts but her one hand was was lightly pinching it's waistband and other was holding her phone. Her gorgeous tits were exposed. Perfectly round tits with chocolate coloured nipples on display. She was biting her bottom lip, which made her even hotter.

'Do you like it?'

He almost couldn’t look away from the last thing she sent. The picture of her sitting in the mirror, showing her breasts. He could almost sense the excitement radiating of her.

It wasn’t like anyone was there to judge him for looking. but there was one last thing he wanted to be clear before playing his trump card.

'Karen, you look absolutely hot and beautiful.'

'Why thank you, I'm glad you liked it ;)'

She responded almost immediately. She wanted to play further and Dick was more than happy to play. but first..

'But is this okay i mean you’ve got a boyfriend right'

'So what?

Dick smirked. 'Okay then, do you want some more?'

'Yes'

'Video call me, now'

She didn’t text him asking why her and not him. Instead she just called him, something he never thought she hardly ever do for anyone. He answered, fully realizing it was a video call, was ready to make her beg.

“Wow!” He hadn’t heard her like that. No wonder that boyfriend of hers was always trying to keep her away from him. “You look even hotter now I'm looking directly.”

“Thank you.” He looked down and saw her in bra again. “Your bra.. i thought you tossed it aside.”

“It's little cold.” She shrugged. “Why? Do you want to see them again?”

“Show me again-” A noise, the one in the background of the video call they were doing, cut him off. “Bee? karen?”

The camera was pointing at her ceiling. He saw the plain ceiling before she picked up her phone again.

“Sorry, it was speedy. He won't bother us again.” She said, setting up her phone property so Dick could see her clearly.

“Good-“ He propped his phone against the wall as well. “Now, i would like to see your tits.”

“Why?” She teased. “Are you hard now?”

“Yes.” He mumbled, trying not to look so desperate. He was lying tough. No matter how hard he tried to ignore her, he just couldn’t. She was hot as fuck.

“Don’t your boyfriend normally asks you to stay away from me.” He said tilting his camera down to show her how much he was turned on because of her.

“He does, a lot.” She moaned quietly. Grabbing her own breast and gave it a squeeze, making her nipple push harder on the fabric. “Now i know why.”

“Do you like it?” He knew he was being a jerk, but it was important for her to believe him if he wanted to fuck her next time they meet. “Want me to show my cock?”

“Yes!, Please.” Bee moaned and continued to fondle her gorgeous breast, rubbing her nipple over her bra.

“Im so hard Karen-” He showed her his pretty much big bulge, rubbing himself through his joggers. “Show me your tits and i will show you my cock.”

“Are you hard because of-” She cut herself off and moaned as she grabbed her both tits before finishing. “Me?”

“Yes, Karen.”

“Fuck babe, wait.” She picked up her phone again and adjusted the camera down at her chest, so he could see her breasts. settling it down she smirked before she grabbed her bra and pulled upward, dropping her tits free. Rubbing her tits a little she leaned forward.

Her chocolate nipples laid across his screen, along with the delicious swell of her chest.

“There, are you happy now?”

He rubbed himself faster. Fuck, she was so hot.

“Dick,” She cut him off. “Show me, what are you doing.”

“I will say you’re pretty eager to see my dick.”

“I am, What do you want now?”

He didn’t have to say anything. He already knew the answer. She couldn’t stand it anymore. He reached for his phone, and titled upward towards his face. She saw him what he was doing and tried to stop him.

“Wait!” She called out. “I was enjoying that.”

“You can see more, if you slap your tits.”

There was a pause and she bit her bottom lip her hand already travelled towards her breasts. She looked at him.

“If i do that, will you jerk off in front of me?”

“Only if you do that.”

“You are so demanding.” She chuckled and aimed the camera down further, letting him see her beautiful tits again. “And i love it.”

“I really want to suck on them.”

“Please..” She begged. “Stop teasing me.”

Dick smirked. “What you wanna stop?”

“I wanna see you do it.” She whined and gave a sharp slap upwards on her right breast, making it jiggle as she moaned his name.

Dick smirked at his victory, she was begging and there was no one stopping him from getting into her pants.

It was late but it was worth it. He pulled out his dick and slowly started to jerk off.

“Mm…” She moaned, slapping her breasts against, encouraging him. “Show me! Dick!”

He moved his phone down and moved his hand faster. She gasped quietly when she saw him. He was so big. She’d wanted Dick for so long but her boyfriend wouldn’t even let her look at him.

“Fuck!” She said, removing her shorts quickly.

“Show me your pussy, babe” He said through heavy breathes.

“Fuck, Dick” She groaned as she spread her legs completely, giving him an amazing view of her pussy. “I really wish to be there. I really want you to fuck me.” She confessed, rubbing her hand faster on her clit.

He moved his hand faster, picturing her mouth around his dick. He would admit this picture was hot, pulling her on bed, spreading her legs and then fucking her brains out. God she was hot.

“Move your hand faster for me, Dick.” He listened to her as he did what she asked. “Mhm… fuck!”

She came, moaning his name loudly.

“Fuck!” He closed his eyes and leaned back.

There was cum all over his hand. He opened his eyes and stared at his phone. He heard Bee whimper as she took her fingers out of her. She looked like she forgot he could see her when she moaned his name again.

“Was that good?”

She shrugged and giggled quietly, before picking up her phone.

“It was amazing.” She looked at him, grinning “Maybe you should do it for me sometime.”

“Are you suggesting?”

“I want you-” The phone tilted downward and she brought her hand under her tits before focusing her camera on her face again. “I'm really looking forward for the next time we meet.”

They talked for a while before she hung up, but not before sending him another picture of her pussy, Dick smirked.

“I'm really looking forward to fuck you too.”

[ellana-ravenwood]

Can the Batman get flustered ? - Bruce Wayne x Fem!Reader

Synopsis : Batman has a reputation of always being impassive. Of being very in control of his emotions. But of course, you being his wife, you know his secrets and weak spots... And apparently, sending him dirty texts while you guys are in public definitely works very well to fluster him /Drabble-Minific.

You know that Tik Tok trend where people send a dirty text to their s/o while they’re in public ? I don’t know why I find it so funny and all, but today during my lunch break I was scrolling through the app and fell on a few of those and...boom. This story was born haha. Written in half an hour while I was eating pasta, I hope you’ll like it nonetheless :

TW : SLIGHTLY Nsfw. I mean. The subject itself is “dirty texts” so ya know haha. No actual texts will be shown, but insinuation will. 

My master list : @ella-ravenwood-archives​

__________________________________________________

                                                    ******

Not amused. 

One. Two. Three. Fo-

Here it goes. 

He hears the little “beep” of his phone, notifying him that he just received a text.

Not any text though. 

A text from a family member. It was a very specific “beep”, for when one of his kids, you, or Alfred were sending him a text. 

You’re a little disappointed he changed the alert sound back to that boring “beep” it has always been.

You rather liked, when Jason pranked him and instead put a recording of himself saying “dingityding motherfucker, ya got a message from one of us”. 

It wasn’t very tasteful for sure, and yeah, you probably shouldn’t’ve found it so funny...But solely for the face your husband and the people he was talking to made, it was all worth it. 

So what if you were nodding along to Bruce’s sermon as he was scolding your son, while simultaneously, when your husband wasn’t looking, giving two thumbs up to Jason ? 

Anyway. Here was the family “beep”. And here it goes.

A smile to the people he was talking to meaning : “Apologies, I have to take this.” as he takes his phone out of his pocket. 

Not that it surprised anyone. He was Bruce Wayne, a busy billionaire who owned multiple enterprises and who was constantly on the move to something new. His phone ringing wasn’t exactly something special. 

Him answering during a conversation wasn’t either. 

Not only did he have the reputation of being a rather busy bee, but he was also  known as quite a protective father. His children were not present at the gala that night, meaning any calls or texts could be an emergency from them. 

Of course, nobody even suspected himbo Bruce Wayne to be the scary Batman, so no one could quite understand how worried Bruce could get about his kids. Yet Bruce Wayne has been a family man long enough by then for everyone to know he was a “doting father”. 

The fact he always protected them from too much media coverage, or how angry he would get when someone would be a little too chummy with them purely by interest...

You always found it sweet. 

That he cared so much about his family that even those not knowing him at all, even those only seeing his “Brucie Wayne” persona (minus the Playboy side he gave up long ago when deciding to make it official with you) noticed.

Of course, you knew he wasn’t always the perfect father. Or husband. But the fact he always tried so hard, and no matter what, always cared so much (maybe even too much ?) made everything worth it. 

Ah, but today wasn’t about how sometimes, it was a little difficult to be Batman’s wife. 

Today, it was about how fun it could actually be. 

Like right now, as he excused himself and took his phone out to see what the text he just received said. 

He was reading it now. And suddenly...

His eyes widened, his face turned a light shade of red, he hurriedly hid his phone’s screen, and cough a little to hide how hot he suddenly felt. 

“Are you alright, Bruce ?” 

One of the man he was talking to asked, and with an awkward smile (very unlike him), he answered : 

“Yes, yes everything is ok. Haha. The um, the children.” 

The man nods, and says something like : “Aaah children, never cease to worry us right ?” and Bruce chuckles. Of this utterly fake chuckle only you knew was fake. 

His real laugh sounded nothing like that. 

A few more seconds pass, before Bruce excuses himself, saying he has to go check something, and...Finally. 

Finally, his eyes are searching for you. 

Finding you easily amongst everyone else. 

His slight frown, his rosy cheeks who would stay this color for a little while still, and the way he walked towards you with incredible resolve...How adorable. 

“I bet you find this funny, mm ?” 

“No idea what you’re talking about, dear.” 

Your small smile is infuriating. And oh, oh how Bruce wished he didn’t love it as much as he did. Oh how he wished he could actually be mad at you for sending him such a thing, in such a public place.

“You need to stop doing that.” 

“Doing what, exactly ?” 

“Sending me -he lowers his voice and continues- sending me those, things.” 

“Things ?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” 

You smile at him, coyly. But he can see the mischievous spark in your eyes. And he scoffs, frustrated that you always seem to easily get to him. 

Nobody does that. Only you. 

Sure, his kids will sometimes get under his skin just for the sake of it. Or could have rather hurtful words if they weren’t feeling well. But he was always able to control his emotions in those cases. 

The Batman was always so impassive. He always looked so in control of his emotions. And Bruce worked for years and years to achieve this. To be able to hide it all deep within him, to pretend he’s not feeling anything, and stay neutral. 

But you...You always burned through his very being. Wether it was because you smiled at him, or send him a rather dirty text in the middle of a crowded charity ball, as he was talking to some of the most powerful people in Gotham. 

Oh. Oh this was a treat. A flustered Bruce. It wasn’t often, you could get him like that. And it was such a treat. 

He can see you’re enjoying this. And passed the initial shock of you telling him such dirty things in your texts, he can see how funny and rather sexy this entire thing could be. 

If only, if only he could control his emotions when around you. 

But he can’t. He can’t because he loves you too much. And because you know exactly how to play him (to be fair, he also knew exactly how to play you, and could drive YOU crazy if he wanted to, too...each had a turn, you guess). 

He bites the inside of his lips, as he usually does when he’s slightly amused, yet a bit annoyed. Yes. That was a mood that was fairly frequent with Bruce. Especially when it came to you. 

You always knew exactly which buttons to push to rile him up, to fluster him, to exasperate him to no end, too. 

And when he bit the inside of his lips, it was when he felt a mix of amusement, and annoyance. 

To be honest, that was exactly what you were looking for to get out of him. 

And sending him a dirty text in public always worked. You loved, the flustered way he reacted. The flushed cheeks, the blabbering and how it took him a little bit to regain countenance while usually it’d only take him a few seconds to hide his feelings. 

You smile at him again, happy you still have any effect on him and...

Ah. And there it was. Passed the initial shock of receiving such a text, and the slight annoyance at you trying to fluster him...the smile. A genuine and soft smile. One only always directed at you. One that showed you, and everyone around, just how much Bruce Wayne loved you. 

He throws an arm around your waist, and says : 

“So. Should we get out of here ?” 

“I thought you’d never ask.” 

Another smile. Genuine. Making everything worth it. 

The hardships, but also this sort of simple moments. 

When Bruce Wayne could act like a “normal” man, and get flustered as his wife send him sexy texts while they were in public, and very crowded places. 

Bruce smiles at you. Genuinely. Yes. You could always get to him. And, frankly, even if he loved to complain about it...He wouldn’t have it any other way. 

And now ? Now he was definitely ready to go try out what you suggested in that god forsaken text. 

Why do you chose such moment do to this ?! 

One. Two. Three. Fo-

Like clockwork.

He was in an important business meeting, but everyone here recognized that special “beep”, the one Jason oh so loved to change up to ridiculous things. 

It was even worst lately, as he started a “game” with his siblings : “Whoever can get their hands on dad’s phone and replace all his notification sounds with something stupid, wins”. Needless to say, your children’s competitive side was driving your husband crazy. 

It was rather funny, to watch him, each mornings as he was getting ready to leave for work, getting slightly unnerved as he made sure his alarms hadn’t been changed (your children could be sooooo sneaky).  

Tim won, when he slyly and sneakily replaced the “beep” with...that same “beep” a few times, as to not make his father suspicious, only for, after the third “beep”, the phone screaming the main theme from the “Barbie : Thumbelina” movie. Damn.

Your kids were geniuses. 

It was hilarious, to see your husband’s face suddenly turning pale. 

Ah but your children, all genius that they were, were still amateurs. 

They couldn’t get him to feel as mortified as you could, when you pulled this particular little trick on him...

Annoying him ? Making him feel embarrassed for a few seconds ? Exasperating him to no end ? That, they were always good at. But he would always regain his countenance fast. 

But what you did ? Haha. Aaah it would stay on his mind for long after the event, and would most definitely...Fluster him. 

Flustered. 

Not a state the great Bruce Wayne was in often. 

And most of the time, you were the source of the “flustering”. 

Like right now, as he was in an important meeting, and heard his phone “beep”. 

The “family beep”. 

Unfortunately for him, it was one of “those texts”. That you just send because well, maybe you were a little evil ? Maybe you liked, to fluster him when he was in public ? To show people he was actually human ? 

He looked at his phone, straightened up in his chair and...Of course, he guessed that you must be around. 

And there you were indeed. Right outside the room.

He quickly glanced at you through the glass walls of the conference room. 

You saw him readjust his pants, and you knew you definitely got to him today. But his reaction wasn’t that grand. Maybe he had um...A little “pants being too tight” problem, but it was clear he could easily hide it. And he got hold of his face rather fast. 

Still, it was very entertaining, how clearly bothered he was. How unable to focus on the meeting he was. Only you though, who knew him better than anyone else, would notice the shift in his behavior. 

It wasn’t enough, though. And he wasn’t looking at you anymore. That wouldn’t do. 

You decided to give him the coup de grace and slipped to the restroom to um...Take a nice picture of yourself, let’s say that. 

You went back to wait outside the conference room, where you’d have a GREAT view of him. And of his reaction. That was certainly going to be...Something. 

“Beep”. The family “beep”. 

It’s uncanny, how Bruce never suspects you’re going to trick him TWICE in a row. He should though. You often do it. 

Ah but his fatherly instincts always get the best of him, and when he hears that specific “beep”, he can’t stop but look. In case anyone needs him. 

He should really find a “beep” just for you, shouldn’t he ? Then again, even then, even with the knowledge that you LOVE to send him dirty text while he’s in public, he’d still jump on the notification. Just in case something happened, you know ? 

Nothing happened today. Well. Except for your little restroom trip. 

He barely takes a look at the photo you send him, that his eyes widen, he spits the drink he was taking all over the papers in front of him, and he slams his phone screen first on the table (shattering it in the process).

“Um...are you okay, mister Wayne ?” 

His associates and employees are concerned. For good reasons. And Bruce hastily tries to dry his paperwork, and apologize saying it’s nothing, that they’re all doing a great job and to continue, please. 

They do. Writing this incident off as yet another one of their boss’ eccentricities (as far as they were concerned, there were lots of them). 

And you are LIVING. It’s always nice, you can get such reaction out of him. 

He looks at you again. And as the meeting went on, for ten more excruciating minutes, he kept looking at you, although he tried really hard to focus on what was being said. 

Oh well. He’d ask Lucious for a recap. 

His eyes also kept going to his shattered phone, playing that photo over and over in his head...Finally, the meeting was over, and he rushed out. 

No one was surprised, they all saw you waiting patiently (haha) outside. They all liked “Mrs. Wayne”, you were nice, and always lifted their boss’ spirit. 

And they knew that when you were around, it was usually to pick him up. So yes. It wasn’t a surprised when he hastily said goodbye, and went to you. 

“You need to stop doing that !” 

You don’t even bother answering, smiling at him in a mischievous almost evil way. And you kiss him on the lips. A simple, very chaste peck. That light his heart on fire. 

It’s crazy, the effect you have on him. No matter how much he tries to keep himself in check. Of course, he has the same effect on you. And to be honest, he flusters you much more than you fluster him. 

After all, rare are the perfect occasions to send him dirty texts in moments that will fluster him. If you did it in any other time, he’d just smile and immediately go to you. Or answer with an equally heated text (when he was away, sexting was totally a thing). 

More often than not, he was the one in control. Oh but when you could get to him...When you could get to him, you REALLY got to him. And if anyone else would notice how truly flustered he got, they wouldn’t recognize him. 

But you knew him. You knew how sweet and soft he could be. How many people had the wrong ideas of him. And how adorable it was, when you got him all hot and bothered in that way. 

How, no matter how much he tried, you always got to him, during those moments. And how much it meant. 

How much it meant. 

It meant that you were his only one. That nobody understood him more than you. And that honestly, no matter how annoyed, flustered and such he would get...he was just always feeling a little happy nonetheless. 

Yes. 

It meant a lot, that you knew him that well. And that only you, with a few well placed words, could fluster him so. 

In the Watchtower.

This was rather dangerous. 

Which added even more spices to everything. 

Not that usually, it wasn’t “dangerous”. So far, you did it to him while he was in a meeting, at a gala, not far from many paparazzis...

There had always been a sort of danger, to you sending this kind of texts to him while in public. 

But today...Ah today there was even more. 

Because today, you guys were in the Justice League’s watchtower. 

And there were MANY people, in that place, that could easily take a peak at what Bruce had on his phone. And that would NEVER leave it down that the Batman was receiving such filth from his wife. 

That’s why you did it. And also because that very same morning, Bruce had been a little too grumpy and unpleasant, and you wanted to take a little revenge on him. 

It was rare, really, that he would be a jerk to you or his kids nowadays. But sometimes. Just sometimes...Well. He wasn’t a perfect being. He had many flaws. And he could be a bit of a dick, at times. Even to you and your children. 

Hence, the well deserved little revenge you were about to get (not that you really needed a reason to want him flustered...but here, with all your superhero friends, it was a particular treat). 

One. Two. Three. Fo-

“Beep”. The specific family one. 

Batman was sitting at the tip of the meeting table. You were sitting a few seat from him, a wide evil grin already plastered on your face. And all your best friends were around the table, discussing plans to secure Earth a little more from intergalactic attack. 

“Excuse me for a minute.” 

Your husband says. And no one is surprised. They all recognize the “family beep”. And despite the reputation he dragged for years, they also all know what his family means to him... 

Clark is right there, slowly leaning towards Bruce, and you know he’s about to ask if the kiddos are alright. Turns out, Clark Kent is an amazing uncle. And friend. He worries a lot about “y’all”, very often. 

And oh, oh this was going to be fun. 

At the very moment Bruce’s eyes see your name on his phone, and what is the content of your text, his eyes widen, turn to Clark and...

“What the hell Bruce ?” 

Your husband, by pure instinct, shoved Clark’s face away, while at the same time hiding his phone in his pocket again.

Clark could’ve avoided it easily, you knew. But he probably wasn’t really expecting the Batman to get weirdly panicky and shove him away like that ? 

“You were-...Too close.” 

Bruce says a bit abruptly, trying really hard to hide how worked up he feels after he read what you send him. He avoids your look like the plague, and pretends as if this little incident didn’t happen, returning to discussing plans. 

The incident passed fast, and although Clark was a bit sour about it, he didn’t ask further. He guessed yes, he was a little too close ? He just wanted to be sure whoever send the text was alright. 

And oh. Oh that whoever was definitely alright. 

Because it was you. And this entire scene unfolded to your utter delight. Bruce abruptness and such was very much like him to all his friends. But you...You saw beyond that. 

You saw how rosy his cheeks got under his mask. And how his eyes kept wandering to you, even as he was working on something very important. 

You saw how truly flustered he got. So flustered in fact, that he couldn’t think of a clever way out of why he shoved his friends away, but that he was “too close”. 

A little unlike Bruce. 

Or was it really ? Was it truly unlike him, or just unlike the idea so many people had of him ? Because you...

You knew the real Bruce. And sometimes, he could be clumsy and shy and stumble on his words. He could be awkward and cute, all flustered and blushy. 

He could be...He was so many things. 

And so many sides of him were absolute secrets. Secrets only you and your children knew. 

You were privy to the most secret parts of him. 

The adorable ones that would get flustered by a dirty text send in public. 

But also the very sexy one that would later act upon it...

He could act annoyed, embarrassed and like he was mad at you all he wanted. You knew he secretly LOVED it, when you took this kind of risk. 

And oh. Oh how you knew. 

Really ?! In front OF MY SALAD ?!

It was a “family and friends” barbecue. One of those occurrences that happen very rarely, when your entire circle of close friends and family is free. 

One of those very rare occurrences where you could all meet up, and have a relaxing time. Today, a barbecue. 

The summer heat was heavy, and you couldn’t help but smile as you looked at your kids and Clark’s son, Jon, playing in the pool. 

Jason and Jon were having a fight against Tim and Damian, and you weren’t sure it was a very fair one...Up until Tim kicked his brother in the nuts, and Jason fell in the water, cursing him. 

You probably should’ve told them to “play nice”, but then Jason emerged from the water and grabbed both his little brothers and...It was clearly all in good fun. Jon was bursting in laughter, cheering along with Duke and Cass for whoever they were siding with to win. 

Ah. Ah you lived for days like this. When you could all pretend to be normal. Then again, you would change your lifestyle for no others. 

The vigilante thing, making Gotham (and by extension the World) a better place...this was what you chose. What you all chose. 

You turned away from your children playing in the pool, screaming (you were pretty sure they could be heard all the way in Downtown Gotham) and having fun, to look for your husband. 

And there he was. Flipping some burgers on the barbecue. Looking hella fine in his polo shirt and cargo shorts. Then again, that man could wear a burlap sack that he would still look good. 

You were shamelessly staring at him when he turned to look at you, giving you the smuggest look you’ve seen on his face in a while. 

Oh. Oh the bastard. He knew the effect he had on you. And he loved it. 

Mmm. 

That sort of called for a little lesson, right ? Punishment, perhaps ?

And the environment was perfect. Here he was, taking care of the barbecue, while surrounded by friends asking for burgers...The perfect setting to fluster Bruce Wayne. 

You took your phone out, and wrote everything you wanted to do to him. The way that polo shirt was clinging to his muscles definitely fueled your imagination. 

You pressed send, and sat back in your chair, sipping on your non-alcoholic cocktail. You smiled at Lois and Dinah as they came to sit next to you, and took part in their conversation (they were talking about how annoying Oliver and Clark could be, yet how great they were too, and ah you could relate to this haha). But you kept a lookout for Bruce. 

His phone rang. The infamous “family beep”. But he didn’t immediately react. Probably because his entire family was reunited here, and he could see none of them were in trouble. 

He was probably thinking it was you sending him a text about how well you wanted your burger. Or something like that. And that’s when...

Your oldest son was coming with a plate full of uncooked food for the barbecue, and was about to settle it on the table next to his dad, but his phone was in the way. So he took it in his hand, and as he settled the plate Bruce’s phone rung again. 

You stood up, and called out, a little panicked : 

“No no no wait Dick ! Hey ! Don’t look at-”

Too late. You could see, as your son turned very pale, eyes widening and looking very ill, that he saw what you send your husband...

Damn it. And it was a very imaginative one at that, today...You sighed, knowing what was about to happen.

“WHAT THE FUCK ?!” 

Dick turned towards his father, looking as if he had just been betrayed. And Bruce has no idea what’s happening. 

“WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE YOUR PHONE OUT LIKE THAT IF THIS IS WHAT YOU’RE GONNA RECEIVE ?!” 

And suddenly, your husband understands. And he’s not sure if he’s amused or if he wants to frown at you. He gives you a quick glance, and you shrug. You definitely didn’t intend on traumatizing your son with this... 

Dick takes hold of his salad bowl, looks at his father straight in the eyes and says : 

“You disgust me.” Oh, but it was said in such an overdramatic, over the top way. It was impossible for you not to grin. 

And on that note, absolutely outraged and rather grossed out, Dick leaves to go grumpily eat his salad, alone at one of the outside table. Slowly, his siblings go to him, wondering what happened and why he screamed like that. 

But as they see you slowly laugh your ass off, as they see their father who’s not sure if he should be flustered, ashamed or amused, and as they see Dick’s face...They all understand the subject of it all. They don’t know the exact things that happened. But they know their parents enough, and particularly the way you sometimes couldn’t get your hands off of each others, to know what this all was about. 

Cue a bunch of “oh no ewwwww”, and a few “in front of your salad ?!” doubled with “this is a family event...”, and you definitely can’t stop laughing. 

You feel a little bad, because you really didn’t intend on your son seeing what you had to say. And this was definitely one of the worst thing that happened on the spectrum of “my parents are gross...ly in love”. But you can’t help it. Your kids’ faces are just too funny. 

And the way Bruce tries to resist looking at his phone to see what you said, while obviously being very curious (and feeling a little hot, the heat outside not being the reason)...it was just the icing on the cake. 

So what if you were a little evil, and liked to tease him a bit too much ? And what if there were some little collateral damages along the way ? 

As you always said, nobody was perfect. 

Sometimes, it is welcomed.

Oh but there are days. Harder than others. Where you do it, not to fluster or annoy him, but to take his mind off of his troubles.

Like right now.

You could see him, in the middle of this sea of people. Not feeling like he belongs. And dwelling on painful past events.

You went to get him a drink, for once. You left him alone for a few minutes, as you made your way to the bar and ordered the usual non-alcoholic drinks you two got. But when you turned around...

Here he was. 

Lost. In a place he did not want to be in, but had to so he could keep the “Brucie” facade he put up all those years. So the suspicion about him being Batman could never even start. And so he could put his money to good use. 

Charity, rebuilding the city, funding schools, hospitals...All of this required his presence. 

But oh. Oh he really didn’t want to be there. If it was up to him, he would probably be home, with his kids, in front of a movie they chose. Bonus point if you were snuggled up to him. 

This was his “one night a week” he HAD to not go out as Batman. And it killed you, that this night was too often used for such events... 

But alas, choosing the life you both chose required certain sacrifices. Including a few hours mingling with people you don’t even like, to try and make your city a better place. 

There was, however, something you could do for him. Something that would cheer him up, in this moment of “I wish I was somewhere else”. 

The “dirty texting to fluster Bruce” tactic wasn’t only used in mischievous way, to make him fluster and blush and such. 

No. No sometimes, sometimes it was used to cheer him up. 

Like now. 

Bruce’s mind was elsewhere, drowning in this sea of people he couldn’t even remember the names of. 

Until a familiar “beep” resounded in his pocket. 

The family “beep”. 

Without a second thought, he takes his phone out and...

Yes. There are certain moments, in which you sending him the dirtiest text he ever read (and being the “most eligible bachelor” for quite a while, he already received quite the saucy sexte), while you are in public, instead of flustering him would...

He finds you in the crowd easily. 

He always found it easy, to single you out. Even while amongst this many people. It’s because to him, you shine. Almost quite literally. 

He never had any difficulties finding his way back to you, even in the most crowded places...Sometimes, he joked that it’s because he could feel his love for you guide him. When he feels extra sappy, he says it with a serious tone. 

And he means it. 

He does. 

It’s easy, to find you. Because he knows where to look. As if instinct linked you to him all those years ago. And he knows. He knows it’s because he never loved anyone like he loves you. 

And right now, as you sent him a particularly graphic text in the hope to take his mind off of whatever dark thoughts he was getting lost in, he definitely finds it extra easy to find your face. 

There you are. 

And he smiles at you. Widely. So pure. Rare, for a man like him. 

Because he knows. He knows this time, you didn’t send this to him to fluster him in front of people, but to distract him. 

And it works. Oh damn it works. 

His smile turns “sexy”, as anyone would say, and he looks very smug, as you walk towards him. 

In truth, whenever you send him such a text, he always feel a little rush. Wether you’re trying to fluster him, or just cheer him up. 

That man was as in love with you as if it was the first day, forever stuck in the honeymoon phase...Why wouldn’t he appreciate receiving hot texts from you ?

Even when you were purposefully trying to make him blush, there was a little part of him, although it was infuriating how satisfied you look that you ALWAYS succeeded, that just loved those texts. 

You’re right next to him now, handing him his drink. He takes it smoothly from your hand, 

“Thank you, my love.” 

You wink at him, reveling in his warmth, snuggling a little closer albeit staying rather discreet, as this was an official event, after all. 

His hand squeeze your waist a little, and you know what he’s about to do. He bends down to your ear and whispers, all suave and smug : 

“What was this about needing um, a little disciplining ?” 

You smile, knowing your mission was a frank success as he’s definitely not thinking about not wanting to be there anymore. Well. He most likely does. But he’s not dwelling on pain and misery for sure. And he’s not thinking those dark thoughts he can have sometimes...

You give him a coy look, and then you say : 

“When we get out of here, I’ll show you.” 

Oh you make him melt. Unable to hide his bedroom eyes, he gives your forehead a chaste kiss in the hope to regain countenance. 

But it’s too late. You successful diverged his thoughts from any darkness...But now all he can think about is you. 

And what you told him you wanted him to do to you. 

Yes. Sometimes...Sometimes, you sending him absolutely dirty texts in public was everything he needed to come back to life. 

As ridiculous as this sounded. 

You were his lifeline so many times...He had no idea, at this point, what he would do without you. He couldn’t go back to the way he lived before you. No. He couldn’t. 

And you wouldn’t let him anyway. Because no matter what, you were here for him. Your unconditional love, and self-admittedly cheekiness was here for him. 

Ah. How good it felt, to be the only one in the world that could show off about being able to “fluster” the Batman himself. 

_________________________________________________

I think I haven’t written something that short in like...ever haha. I haven’t re-read myself, this is just a quick bonus story :).  It’s really just a little fun thing to write, nothing too serious or detailed or with too much feels ^^'. A quick drabble written for the sake of writing haha. I hope you liked it anyway, and aren’t disappointed or something ? 

Just wanted to show an unknown almost “evil” side to Batmom ? Hahahaha. Anyway : Any comments and reblogs are always greatly appreciated ^^. Thanks in advance, and see you soon with an actual story ! There’s one coming just this week-end ;).

[bokettochild]

Fic request! Legend and Ravio being best buds and being there for each other? Or like just them getting along. Platonic cuddling? I love them both.

Slight self projection on this one, but oh well!

I really like writing the dynamic for these two! But i would like to clarify that I write it as being strictly platonic.

Yes, Ravio does kiss Legend on occasion. But Ravio is a toucher, and that's just how he loves! For him, that's normal, that's something you do to those you love, not just in couples :)

Legend isn't great about physical touch, mostly because he's unaccustomed to it. He loves it, he just doesn't know how to ask for it or receive it most of the time.

And with that cleared up, on to the fic!!!

Mr. Hero was acting weird again.

His family had come back to visit again, and while many of them were wrapped in bandages and sporting some rather nasty wound, Mr. Hero seemed to be relatively well off from the fight. He wasn’t untouched, this was Mr. Hero after all, but he wasn’t as poorly as some of the others, which is why it was so odd for Ravio to find him curled up on the couch in their living room when he’d thought that everyone had gone to visit the local village.

They’d talked about it over breakfast. They’d arrived yesterday and hadn’t had time to restock in a while. The worse injuries were a broken arm on Mr. Smithy’s part, and that in no way hampered them from being able to do a run to the village, and it seemed many of Mr. Hero’s family saw visiting towns and villages as something of a treat.

They had been so eager over breakfast, talking over each other while Mr. Hero had rolled his eyes and pushed Tune- Wind back into his seat, scolding the champion for chewing with his mouth open and generally just correcting table manners and keeping people under control during the meal. Typical Mr. Hero, fussing over everything being right but pretending not to care, Ravio wouldn’t be surprised if the next time he sees them all they all eat like they’re in a castle, Mr. Hero’s just the kind of person to subtly train them all to behave lest they be faces with his flashing indigo gaze.

But he really would have thought, what with how everyone had chattered, that Mr. Hero would be with them all, leading them through the village and haggling with shopkeepers on the prices of potions and food. Yet here he sits, curled on their couch with that bulky quilt he likes so much thrown over his shoulders. Mr. Hero hasn’t bothered to fix his hair or tuck it under his cap, and it tumbles down his shoulders in a messy tangle as the Hylian stares unseeing at the far wall.

Ravio pauses in the entryway to the living room, his cup of cider still on one hand, and the book he’d been hoping to read in the other, heart torn over walking back into the kitchen and asking why Mr. Hero isn’t with his family. The slight shudder that runs across Mr. Hero's shoulders is all he needs as an answer and it’s without a second thought that the merchant strides across the room to settle on the couch beside his housemate, eyes bright and smile disarming as he looks over to Mr. Hero.

Dull violet meets his own green as Mr. Hero pauses and sighs, gaze shifting back down to the ground.

Oh. Oh, this is bad.

No snark, no dismissal, no ‘Ravio, I’m not in the mood’. Mr. Hero is at a stage where he is simply accepting things, and that’s never good!

“Why the long face?” He prods gently, settling himself on the couch as Mr. Hero moves slightly to accommodate him.

Okay, that’s even worse. Mr. Hero is being accommodating.

Oh Lolia, is he dying?

“Enervated.” Mr. Hero drawls, and Ravio is now officially freaking out. The big words have come out, the big words that he doesn’t know the definition of. His gaze trails back over to his book.

Most people don’t consider reading a thesaurus a past-time, and Ravio never would have considered it before moving in with Mr. Hero, but if he wants to understand the hero than he needs to know all the words that will crop up in his vocabulary anytime he is especially tired or bored.”

“E-enerv-”

“Tired.” Mr. Hero clarifies, shifting in place and drawing the blanket tighter around is shoulders.

Sharp green eyes watch his movements. It’s autumn and a slight chill has pervaded the air, but there really isn’t any need for the heavy blanket in this weather. Maybe a shawl or afghan of some sort, but the thickest and heaviest blanket in the entire house? That’s just plain overkill!

“Just tired?” He doesn’t even bother pretending to respect Mr. Hero’s space as he reaches out to rest his hand on his housemate’s forehead, gently shifting to touch the vet’s cheek. Rather than shake him off, Mr. Hero gently leans into the touch, eyes fluttering closed gently as a breath whistle from his lips. Ravio frowns as he pulls back.

Mr. Hero is warm, but not unhealthily so, and it can probably be blamed on the heavy quilt he’s got throw over his shoulders.

The merchant quirks a brow. “Are you cold?”

Mr. Hero’s face twitches oddly, eyes darting up to meet Ravio’s before drifting back down; blank and tired in a way they often are after a long day. But today has not been a long day, he reminds himself, and Mr. Hero must have been in here since finishing dishes with him this morning.

“Yes.” Mr. Hero murmurs softly, more at the folds of his blanket then at Ravio. “But not...outside?”

And that is... that is confusing.

“I don’t understand.” He half wishes for his hood and robe, but he’d only just finished cleaning and he hasn’t put them on again, so he plucks instead at the edge of his scarf, similar to what Mr. Captain Hero Sir does when he’s anxious.

Mr. Hero huffs a breath. “I wouldn’t expect you to. Glad you don’t.”

He doesn’t like the blankness of Mr. Hero's face or the heaviness of his words. “Can you explain it to me?”

If there’s one thing that brings light into his friend’s eyes, it’s teaching. Mr. Hero loves to share his knowledge, and Ravio has sat contentedly through a dozen lectures on bee-keeping and orchard work or weapons care and traveling precautions and any number of other things. All he ever needs is a cup of cider and a warm nook to bundle himself away while Mr. Hero talks. Goodness knows he chatters quite a bit himself; Mr. Hero deserves to have an audience on occasion too, and he always has such interesting things to say that Ravio never minds listening.

But Mr. Hero’s eyes don’t light up with that glint of passion and his fingers don’t tap with barely contained energy. Quite the opposite. He curls in closer around himself, eyes clouded as he breaths heavily. “It’s like there’s somethin’ ‘side you that’s cold an’ empty. Like you swallowed ice or somethin’ cold like an’ it won’t melt. You can be toasty warm on the outside and it ne’er goes away, it’s jist-” The pink-haired Hylian’s ears flick as his nose twitches with pent up irritation. “It’s like you’re empty and no matter how much you eat or sleep or keep busy, it ne’er goes away.”

Understanding dawns with a heavy heart and tears pricking in his eyes. “I think that's called loneliness, Mr. Hero.”

Mr. Hero’s eyes glisten as he turns away. “’m not lonely. There’s eight people on my tail on the day to day an’ I can’t lose ‘em even if I tried.”

The tight ball Mr. Hero is curled into could be defensive or self-comforting, and he can’t tell which, but Mr. Hero's grip on his blanket laden shoulders is too tight to be anything short of strained.

“Being with people doesn’t mean you aren’t lonely.” Ravio’s voice comes softer than he means it too.

Mr. Hero once complained that his own voice was trapped in the stage of squeaking and breaking, but Ravio’s could drop low ‘till it was nothing but a deep vibration. He’s teased Mr. Hero about it more than once, but he finds that it’s also effective at making the other boy calm. Mr. Hero loosens so now, eyes still blank as Ravio stares at them, hoping that they’ll turn to meet his gaze. “You can feel lonely in the middle of a full kingdom.”

He knows. He remembers hiding in his big room in the castle and wishing that it wasn’t so cold and empty and that someone would look at him and see something other than a cowardly advisor. He'd wanted someone to look at him and see a friend, or a brother or a loved one. He’d wanted to matter and be safe in the warmth that was a real home.

Mr. Hero gave him that. Mr. Hero’s house, with its big apple tree and buzzing bees, it’s pokey little kitchen and creaky staircase, the blasted rocker and the freaky masks on the wall, all of it makes this house a home that is so distinctly Mr. Hero's, yet somehow also his own.

He can see it in the knitting needles stashed in their basket by the couch. In the mugs that he’s left empty on bookshelves and table tops. He sees himself in the drawing of the curtains to let in sunlight, and the organization of the items on the shelves and the wall.

This is their home, something that is both of them, and it’s always felt warm and fulfilling to him.

He’d never realized that Mr. Hero might not feel the same...

It’s on impulse, and the fact that Mr. Hero doesn’t push him away speaks volumes, but Ravio scoots forwards and pulls the veteran hero over to rest against his chest, his arms wrapping tight around his friend as heavy breaths escape from them both.

“Is this better?” He whispers softly against the pink that curls beneath his chin and the fluttering breath of Mr. Hero.

There’s only a faint grunt from the hero in his arms, non-committal, but Mr. Hero isn’t complaining or pushing him away, so he doesn’t let him go either. Never mind that he’s almost pulled his friend on top of him, Mr. Hero needs a hug, and Lolia danggit! Ravio is going to give him the best one he’s capable of!

Mr. Hero’s breath evens out as he adjusts a few times, shifting but never pulling away, and Ravio takes that as a cue to make himself comfortable.

Short, pale fingers trail up to weave through curling pink locks that are still unbrushed from the night before. It’s silky under his touch, a testament to his friend’s alternate form, and he takes no small amount of pleasure in winding his fingers through it and gently tugging out the tangles. Mr. Hero only sighs under his ministrations.

“It’s okay to ask for hugs you know.” He teases softly, almost disappointed that he can’t see how his housemate blushes and stiffens, but Mr. Hero's ears give him away, red as they are, and a smile tugs across his face when he sees it. “I'm sure Mr. Chosen Hero would love to hug you, he seems like that kind of person. And Mr. Smithy always seems fond of that sort of thing. Why, even-”

“Shup.” Mr. Hero huffs, and Ravio grins as his eyes fall down to where his friend’s arms have wrapped around his waist, a messy head of pink lying against his chest and the full weight of hero and blanket pressing down on him.

He doesn’t respond, but he does go back to running his hands through Mr. Hero’s hair.

A tune comes to mind as he sits there, and he lets the melody drift through the room as he absently strokes Mr. Hero’s long pink hair, the book in his hands capturing his attention until soft squeaking snores begin to sound from the hero on his chest.

No one’s there to see the kiss he presses to the mess of petal pink, and when the others return from their trip, neither of the two bunnies is awake to say anything at all.

The heroes stop in the doorway, surprise and fondness taking over their faces at the sight of both of their hosts stretched out over the couch, Legend lying over the top of Ravio, one of the merchant’s hands still resting on Legend’s head while the other hangs down towards the floor, barely grasping the book he'd been reading (Wind makes a comment about reading a thesaurus being strange, but no one really questions it too much). Legend’s arms are still wrapped tight around Ravio’s waist, his cheek pressed against the merchant's chest as squeaking snores escape through parted lips.

They’ve never seen the veteran so peaceful, Time muses as he removed the book from Ravio’s hand and tucks the quilt tighter around the two, noting with surprise it’s weight. Neither hero nor merchant wake, although Ravio does shift in his sleep at the disturbance, but the two are out cold.

There’s the snap of a shutter and a faint coo as he looks up, single blue eye meeting Wild’s own, the champion smiling sheepishly from behind the slate, the image on the screen of him knelt beside the two boys, tucking them in on the couch. Time smiles at his cub. “I want a copy of that picture, you hear?”

“Yes sir.” The champion whispers in return.

[forever-rogue]

Hot Chocolate Kisses

A/N: It’s nothing much, but it is something so tender and soft. I love Frankie and fluff! Why not have both? Tis a little thank/happy holiday gift from me to you. Enjoy 💕

Pairing: Frankie Morales x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: pregnant reader, references to sex, sweet sweet fluff!

FRANKIE MORALES MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

»»————-　♡　————-««

"Good morning," the sound of his soft voice accompanied by the feel of his arms around your midsection was enough to make your heart flutter. He placed a soft kiss to your shoulder before resting his head there and humming in content, "how are you, honey bee?"

"Good morning, mi amor," you replied softly, taking one of his hands that had been resting on the gentle swell of your belly and bringing to your lips, pressing a kiss to his knuckles, "I'm perfect. What about you, Frankie? Did you rest well?"

"Like a dream," he pressed a kiss to the crown of your head before reluctantly letting go and moving towards the coffee pot. Once he poured a cup and made it to his liking, he came over, and followed your line of sight out into the yard.

There was nothing but mountains of glittering snow coating the entire neighborhood as far as the eye could see. Small children were already playing outside, all bundled up in thick snow jackets and woolen hats, while dogs ran around their yards barking and biting at soft, fat flakes that were gently drifting down from the heavens.

"Record snowfalls," you looked at him with excited eyes, "which means we are snowed in and work is canceled. Do I even try to pretend to be upset?"

"Hell no," his smile was infectious as his singular dimple appeared and his soft eyes crinkled in the corners the way you adored, "I get to spend the say being lazy at home with my girl? I'm not going to argue with that."

"You know what today calls for," your eyes were wide and bright as the two of you knew exactly what a snow day meant. You'd come up with your own little traditions a long time ago and always pulled them out on days like this.

"You just want an excuse for hot chocolate!" Frankie's tone was lovingly accusing as he crossed his arms over his chest as he took a sip from his mug.

"No!" you insisted firmly, offering him a small little pout, "your daughter is craving some. Ever since you knocked me up that's all I've been wanting! And I don't need any excuse for hot chocolate. Hot chocolate isn't a crime!"

"First of all, this -" he pointed tenderly to the small bump just visible under your sweater, "was a team effort. Secondly, you've always loved my hot chocolate, long before any of this. She had nothing to do with this!”

"Obviously," you stuck your tongue out at him, "but you make it all fancy and gourmet. How can I say no? She's not helping though! I swear it's a craving."

“Your mamá is already using you as an excuse,” he laughed as he rested his hand on your belly. You instantly felt her move and flutter under his touch; she always seemed to be more active when he was around. Even though you were trying to have a seriously teasing conversation, the moment was enough to make your heart melt, “can you believe it, mija? She just doesn’t want to admit she’s addicted to the world’s best hot chocolate.”

“I can quit it any time I want,” you snorted with laughter at his silly antics, “I just choose not to. Now, don’t deny your pregnant wife what she wants!”

“What does she want?” there was a wicked little glint in his eye as you raised a brow at him.

“Well for starters,” you pointed at the cabinet, “some hot chocolate later. But how about breakfast for now? And a warm bath after that? I swear I’m getting as bad as you old man, my back is killing me.”

“Hey now,” he warned with a small boop to your nose, “you’re getting awfully cheeky for someone who wants my hot chocolate. You’re on very thin ice, honey bee.”

“You know I’m only kidding, Francisco,” you gave him a quick kiss as you went to the refrigerator to start gathering ingredients for breakfast, “besides, you’re my favorite DILF.”

“Oh no,” his laughter was a loud, beautiful thing as it sounded throughout the kitchen. You turned to him and shot him a cheeky little wink, “not you too! Everyone’s calling me that lately, I swear.”

“They can look but they can’t touch. I mean, have you seen yourself Frankie? You’re handsome as hell, you’re amazing, wonderful, kind. Everything,” you insisted as you rejoined his side, You could already see the light flush of color in his cheeks as he relished your words, “and you’re all mine. Besides, I’m half the reason you’re a DILF. Where is my recognition in all of this?”

“I love you, honey bee,” he stared at you in awe for a moment before turning so he could kiss you properly. It took you by surprise but it took even less to respond back; kissing him was such saccharine bliss, “you are everything to me.”

“Good,” you beamed at him, “now let’s get this ultimate lazy day started!”

»»————-　♡　————-««

“Those might have been our best pancakes ever,” you wolfed down the last syrupy bite before pushing away your empty plate, “I feel as stuffed as a damn turkey.”

“You’re the most beautiful and radiant turkey I have ever laid eyes on,” he joked as you lovingly groaned at his silly words, “I’ll clean up and you can start the bath. Plan?”

“Plan,” you agreed as you slid off the bar stool and started padding towards the kitchen. As Frankie busied himself with gathering up the empty dishes, you turned around and watched him for a moment, nothing but a gentle warmth radiating throughout your body, “Frankie? You’re going to join me, right?”

He turned to you and offered you his megawatt smile as he slowly nodded, a rogue curl bouncing around and falling onto his forehead. Gods, he was so effortlessly handsome and sweet. You couldn’t stop yourself from rushing over to him, delicately grabbing his face as you pressed a kiss to his lips, still tasting the faint sweetness of the syrup, “what was that for?”

“Nothing,” you grinned breathlessly, “I just love you is all.”

“Oh,” a flush of pink tinged his cheeks as he brought his hands to your face, delicately tracing over your features before pressing the softest kiss to your lips, “I love you too.”

“I know,” you beamed, “now hurry up so we can take a bath!”

»»————-　♡　————-««

You were humming under your breath, sitting at the edge of the large tub as you watched it fill up with warm water. There weren’t very many requirements you had when the two of you had been house hunting before deciding to expand your family - but a large bathtub was one of them. Moments like this made you glad for it; you loved being able to slip into the tub, often dragging along Frankie with you, not that he had any complaints of course. It was perfect for the two of you, and now that you seemed to be growing by the day, it was even better. 

Pulling your favorite bottle of bubble bath off the shelf, you poured some in, inhaling deeply at the relaxing scent. All the stress and worries you had were already dissolving away with each passing second. Once you were satisfied with the copious amounts of soft bubbles, you threw in some Epsom salt for good measure, hoping it would help your aching body. Deciding to make it even more festive, you grabbed the speaker from your bedroom, and turned it on, opting to play some soft Christmas music in the background. It wasn’t like you were going to be paying much attention to it anyway; your conversations with Frankie always seemed endless, no matter how long the two of you had been together. 

“Close your eyes,” Frankie came into the bathroom just as you were finishing getting everything ready. You closed your eyes, making a show of putting your hands over your eyes as you heard him shuffling in, “okay, pick a hand - left or right.”

“Hmmm…” you mused for a moment, “how about left?”

“Lucky guess,” he chuckled as he pulled your hands from your eyes. A little grin spread across your features when you saw what he was holding in his hands, “surprise!”

“Frankie,” his name was but a mere soft sigh as you reached for the soft, cozy pajamas he was holding out to you. You could spy a matching pair for him on the counter, your heart fluttering in delight. It had become a sort of little tradition for the two of you to get new matching holiday pajamas every year. It was just some silly thing, but it still meant the world to you, “I love them. Thank you so much - you remembered.”

“Of course,” he held out his hands to you, slowly hoisting you to your feet, “I wouldn’t ever forget.”

He slowly reached for the hem of your sweater, gently pulling up and over your head and outstretched arms before tossing it on the floor. He followed suit with your bra, unclasping it before letting it join your sweater and doing the same to your leggings and underwear. It was such a small intimate thing, the way his eyes looked over you was nothing short of adoration and reverence. 

“Your turn,” you whispered before starting to unbutton his flannel, taking your time to undo it one by one. Shrugging it off his shoulders, you pressed a few kisses to the soft, golden skin of his shoulder before moving onto his jeans, wicking them down his legs along with his boxers. He made a small sound in his throat before stepping out of his jeans and pulling you into his arms. The gentle coolness of his wedding band on your back was wonderful; a delicate reminder of just how much he loved you.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered as he trailed kisses along your jaw and down your neck, a hand running down your side as he rested it on your waist, taking solace in the gentle swell of your belly. He still couldn’t believe your daughter - his daughter, one that came as a small surprise and blessing was in there. One he had never known he wanted so much until you told him you were pregnant and he broke down crying, as emotional as you were. You, the two of you, were everything for him. 

“Hmm,” you mused, “you’re not so bad yourself. I guess we both got pretty lucky, huh? I love you so much, Francisco. More than you will ever know.” 

He looked back at you with those brown eyes you adored so much, and you could see that they were glossy, close to spilling over with tears. You reached up and touched his cheek before brushing away a stray curl. 

“Come on,” he held your hand as you motioned towards the tub. He got in first, settling down before holding his arms out to you. Carefully, you settled in next to him surprising him for a moment as you occupied the other side. Before he could say anything, you gathered up a handful of bubbles, and blew them at him, watching as they stuck in his dark mop of hair, “playing dirty are we?”

“Maybe,” you splashed him with the warm water, “you have to play nice, I’m pregnant!”

“You started it!” he splashed you back as you squealed in delight, “don’t start what you can’t finish!”

“Oh, it’s on! It’s so on,” you laughed as you tried to move the bubbles closer to your half of the tub, “you’re going down!”

»»————-　♡　————-««

“Do you have enough blankets, honey?” Frankie walked back into the living room, arms filled with a few more big, fuzzy blankets. You looked up from the comfy couch, during the numerous blankets you’d already secured and gave him a big grin. You were already feeling so toasty and warm in your new pajamas after your bath, and this just made it so much better. He snorted with laughter at the sight of only your head poking out, “oh.”

“It’s freezing!” you insisted, digging your arm out and pointing at your feet, “pile them on! The only thing I’m missing is your body.”

“I have a few more things to do first,” he put the blankets down and wrapped them around your feet, “gonna start a fire and then go and make the hot chocolate. You, my little bee, are in charge of finding our first movie. Think you’re up to the challenge?”

“As if that’s a question,” you joked as you reached for the remote, as he went over to the fireplace, “you just need to hurry up!”

"You are getting so demanding," he laughed as he kneeled next to the fireplace and started to pile some of the logs in. He started to hum softly under his breath as you watched him, absolutely in awe of the man you were able to call your husband. The sight of him in the same pajamas as you was endearing and caused you a moment of pause as you pictured doing this next year with him and your daughter. 

You often wondered what she would like, although you both knew that the only thing that mattered was that she was healthy and sound. But a small part of you hoped she'd take after Frankie, to have those gentle chocolate eyes and dark curls. Maybe she'd take after you, or maybe -

"Everything alright?" Frankie turned and caught your distant gaze on him as she started to light the fire. You hadn't realized you'd gotten so lost in your little daydream. 

"Yes," you smiled at him, "just thinking..."

"Thinking about...."

"Its silly..."

"If it matters to you then it's not silly," he insisted, making a small sound of satisfaction when the fire started to crackle away merrily.

"I was just thinking about next year," you admitted shyly, "you know how we do the matching pjs every year? I think it would be fun to do that with the bean next year."

"I love the sound of that," he agreed, "that'll make a great Christmas card!"

"Yeah," you agreed as he brought you a pillow to rest your head on, "you really do think of everything, don't you?"

"Only for my bee," he promised with a wink and a kiss, "I'll go and make the hot chocolate. Classic for you today?"

"Surprise me!"

"Be back," he promised as pointed at the television, "now pick something good out!"

»»————-　♡　————-««

It seemed like it had been a small eternity since Frankie had left to go on his little adventure of hot chocolate making, and you'd long since found a suitable movie. You started it but kept it paused as you waited. But soon you felt a flutter in your belly. A contented sigh escaped your lips as you put your hand on your tummy where you felt her moving around.

"I know baby bean," you told her gently, "I miss him too. Even when he's gone only for a few minutes. You're gonna love him so much, just like me. He's going to be the best papá. We already love you so much. We can't wait to meet you."

"Talking to yourself?" just in time your knight in cozy pajamas came striding back in with two delicious steaming mugs of hot chocolate. 

"I am never alone anymore," you reminded him as he came and cozied up next to you, "I've always got the bean. And we were having a private conversation, thank you very much."

"Please don't let me interrupt," he passed your mug over before pulling blankets over his form and you curled up in his side. You grinned at the full mug, admiring how perfectly he had made it. It was a classic, a layer of mini marshmallows followed by a layer of whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate and caramel syrup.

"Thank you, Frankie," you beamed as you took a long sip, savoring the creamy sweetness on your tongue. You heard a soft chuckle before Frankie reached over and wiped off the whipped cream from your nose, "oops!"

"Good?" he asked as you nodded eagerly. Before he could stop himself, he leaned over and gave you a soft, saccharine little kiss. He lingered against your lips and you could taste the sweetness of the hot chocolate that was clinging onto him. He grinned before giving you a few more pecks, each sweeter than the last, "even better. Now, start this movie and let's get this marathon on the road!"

You clutched your mug to your chest as Frankie brought an arm over your shoulders and you pressed play on your first cheesy holiday movie.

»»————-　♡　————-««

It wasn't long before you felt your eyes start to get heavy as you finished your mug of hot chocolate. You were about to move it to the coffee table, but Frankie beat you to the punch, grabbing it from your hands and setting down before pulling you into his lap.

He wrapped his arms around you as you laid against his chest and let the soft rise and fall of his chest relax and lull you.

Soon enough your eyes closed and everything seemed distant. You didn't even try to fight it as Frankie pressed a kiss to your cheek. One hand was holding yours, your fingers laced together and the other was resting on your belly. It wasn't long before you were completely under the siren spell of sleep and snoring quietly in his arms.

"I love you, honey bee," he whispered ever so gently as he relaxed too, growing more tired by the second, "and you too, baby bee. You two are everything."

»»————-　♡　————-««

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[moonchildsaurora]

Darling, Dance for Me?

✤ sniper!San x female exotic dancer!reader ✤ genre: Mafia AU // 30% fluff, 60% spice, 10% platonic flirting with Woo  ✤ t/w: mentions of guns/shooting, mentions of alcohol, mature clubbing themes, highly suggestive in the second half (but not smut), rated M  ✤ count: 2k+

a/n - this was suppose to be for Valentine’s Day but, oh well! Enjoy some spice with one pink haired Sannie, coz we all know even though he looks soft. . . .he’s just a devil in disguise. This is probs my most suggestive writing till date as well, it was fun and am looking forward to writing more spice in the future hehet 💙

✛ play these vibes: BOBBY - ‘DeViL’, Sunmi - ‘Black Pearl’, Kai - ‘Mmmh’ ✛

“Mother told me, never to dance with the devil, So I danced for him instead.”

Cherry rouge.

Not your usual go-to, but a special occasion calls for some special exceptions. And damn did you look like fine wine tonight. Giving your styled curls another spritz of hair spray, you took one last inspection in your vanity mirror.  

Work was throwing a Valentine’s event and thus you found yourself having to dig through the back of your wardrobe to find a suitable outfit for tonight. Bold burgundy lace hugged tightly around your body replacing the mellower neutral tones you’d wear on any other night. Your roommate had even shoved a pair of thigh highs and heels on you to match the garter.

And cherry lips to bring the whole look together.

“You’ll thank me later! Hell everyone in the club would, for presenting god’s gift to them!”

You had laughed at her supportive enthusiasm, waving her away with embarrassment though you greatly appreciated the pre-shift hype.

When you headed for the kitchen, you could hear the TV in the lounge and glanced to see your roommate watching the evening news. She turned to call out for you but stopped mid-way upon realising you were already out of your room.

“Damn girl…you’ll sure be breaking hearts tonight with that fit!!” she yelled-gasped, brows waggling for a cheeky added effect.

“Well that’s no good. Dancers are supposed to be Cupids of the night, maybe they should’ve given me Aphrodite instead.”

A smile tugged on your lips as you saw your roommate falling back on the sofa snickering. Grabbing the bottle of Ten to One from what you both named ‘The Life Juice’ shelf, you started to fill your rose gold hip flask with the white rum. The debonair bartender at the club would usually be more than happy to concoct you a cup of much-needed poison to get you through the night. However, on such a busy event, you might not even have time to swing by the bar – so plan B was in order.

Also, whoever thought to invent garter pouches was a genius in your eyes. The amount of times you had snuck in a sip or two up on the podium without missing a beat or being noticed had to be one of your greatest feat till date.

Except maybe for the one who bought said pouch and flask for you. Seeing the shadow of their pleased smirk whenever you donned on something from them never failed to coax the goosebumps across your skin. Perhaps that garnet embellished choker would be the icing on the cake then. You made a mental note to put that on before you headed out.

“Hey honey…”

The tone of your roommate turned a little more serious.

“On the news just then, another one of those random sniper attacks happened along Soleil Street. Shit, that’s only two streets away from the club.”

The city has gotten used to such news every now and then. All leads of the serial sniper always went cold, not that they left behind any substantial traces for the authorities to begin with.

The law wasn’t the only ruling force in the area. Everyone knew that.

So long as one didn’t attract the wrong attention, they’d be free to go about their business.

“I’m dropping you off, are you ready to go?”

“Wait! It’s alright, I don’t want to trouble you.”

Your roommate gave you a look before swiping her car keys from the counter. “What would trouble me is not knowing whether you’ve made it to work and back safely. Now c’mon, the night is awaiting that cute booty of yours!”

“Yes mum.”

How lucky were you to have an angel for a roommate?

“Give me a heads up if you intend to bring anyone home tonight yeah? I’ll be sure to vacate the apartment before any sinning begins here.”

Or not.

A euphoric buzz filled every corner of the club tonight. Whether it was due to the special occasion or not, everyone was getting drunk off the atmosphere. The bar was a never-ending fountain of liquid luck and smoke veiled corners of the venue where patrons dealt cards and wits. A sea of bodies dominated the dancefloor, curling around one another in ecstasy as the thumping bass set the rhythm for them.

The centre podium was where the real magic unfurled.

Up on there, you felt powerful. Up on there, was your domain to rule.

Long have you enticed all those who returned back to ‘The Blue Butterfly’. So close, yet so far, for most could only have the visual satisfaction. Of watching you, along with your fellow dancers weave around golden poles and offer hands to those who sat in plush velvet chairs closest to the podium. Only to sashay away the last minute.

How bees are drawn to nectar and moths to light, the people keep coming back.

Tonight the club was decked out in a more sensual feel to fit the Valentine’s vibe. Long drapes of rose silk hung around the podium and you used those to accentuate the flow and movement of your body curves. The silks caressed the bare skin not hidden underneath your outfit and you pretended to take shy peeks around the fabrics at the audience. Sending a lucky wink or flying kiss their way.

In the middle of a mid-air twirl, you saw a familiar figure heading towards your side of the podium. You slowly lowered yourself back down to the floor, using your legs to wrap around the silks as leverage. Not missing the opportunity to be playful – you mimed shooting an arrow towards the club’s top croupier.

Wooyoung instantly clutched his heart with his hand that wasn’t occupied with holding one of Mingi’s own cocktail infusion. Letting out a hearty giggle, you slid over the podium floors to the edge where Wooyoung had propped himself up on.

“Don’t you look simply irresistible?” he crooned at you.

You could’ve said the exact same for him. All fitted to a tee in Givenchy with a classic choker that demanded attention for prominent collarbones.

“Now, how may I be of service to you tonight handsome?” you spoke over the music.

The youthful charmer leaned in towards you, shaking dark wavy strands out of his eyes. Eyeing his cotton candy pink drink, you ducked your head and took a few sips from the straw before Wooyoung drew it away. It tasted vaguely like pink lemonade with hints of vodka and vanilla.

“Ah ah, this isn’t for you poppet. Besides…” he tipped your chin back up with two fingers, “…wouldn’t want to waste your appetite before your main course tonight, would we?”

That made you perk right up.

“V.I.P Room Aurora has kindly requested for you. Drinks have already been sent up and the room’s been booked for the whole night.”

Not that booking was really needed since it was your room. It was just for formality.  

Wooyoung helped you off the podium and smoothly guided you through the crowd, placing you in front of him so as to avoid being grabbed by uninvited hands from behind. You both stopped at the foot of the polished glass stairs that led up to the V.I.P guest rooms.

“Off you go now! Oh and try not to make too much of a mess for our cleaners, they really ought to get a pay rise from some of the things they’ve witnessed in those rooms.”

You would’ve kicked Wooyoung for his brazen tongue, but you did well to remind yourself that would be rather impudent on your part. Whilst you have a jovial bond with him, it still doesn’t erase his high-standing status within the inner circle. You knew better than to cross that line of respect.

“Won’t make any promises I can’t keep, Jung!”

You left him with a soft pat on his cheek and ascended towards your utopia that awaited.

Swinging the golden embossed doors open, sultry melodious tune of a saxophone greeted you. Like molten dark chocolate, it was rich and tantalizing. The crystalline blue hue of the room’s lighting was fitting for the slow jazzy blues.

A spacious circular sofa curved around a glass table in the centre, providing a perfect view of the bejewelled podium. The wide one-way windows were especially designed for privacy. You could spectate over almost the whole club below, something you quite enjoyed during your breaks. The countless types of people that you observed stepping into your world; from the timid newcomers to the seasoned hedonists and the stories they brought with them of their journey to ‘The Blue Butterfly’.

But there was no time for that tonight. Not when you see broad sculptured shoulders that your hands have meticulously memorised the planes of – right in front of you.  

Still clad in his all-black incognito leather fit, you couldn’t help but stay by the door to appreciate his form. A huge bouquet of ivory and deep red roses sat on the glass table with an open box of what you suspected were chocolates inside. A loud pop of the champagne bottle went off. You bit your lips when you saw his toned arms flex as he gripped the bottle in one hand and tipped a stream of golden bubbles into two flute glasses in the other.

As the music picked up, you decided it was time to make your presence known. Walking with confident steps over the velveteen carpet you went to wrap your arms around his cinched waist. Resting your cheek on the cool leather vest of his back, you took his scent in.

Smoke and city musk lingered around.

You figured he must’ve come straight from his assignment. What better reason to use than to spoil him extra as post-work relaxation? His hand came up to wrap around yours and you felt the dancing of lips leaving petal kisses across your knuckles.

“You stink…” you mumbled lightly against his back.

San let out a low chuckle before setting the champagne bottle down and turning around to snake both arms around you. Calloused hands from the years of gripping guns instead of supple flesh imprinted their warm touch into your skin.

“Oh? Then I’m sure you won’t mind helping me freshen up, right Princess?”

“San!” you squealed when you felt him deliberately rub sweat against your neck before attacking it with more love bites.

“You taste like sweet temptation.”

You arched your neck out of habit when you felt his tongue swipe across it. Teeth bit down lightly around the garnet choker San bought for you for Christmas.

When you felt hands travelling down west towards your garter, you gave San a light shove backwards to the sofa.

“Not so fast, Choi.”

His predatory feline eyes took its time to rake down your body, committing every inch to memory. You made a show of bending over to grab the two champagne flutes off the table, the sharp intake of breath behind you made you preen with pride. You took your seat on your throne, not at all surprised to feel how much pent-up tension San had through the tight leather.

Clink. A toast made for the love of two.

“Happy Valentine’s, darling.”

“Thank you, San. You sure know how to spoil a lady don’t you?”

“Only the one who’s sniped right through my heart.”

Oh the irony.

You smiled when he pulled you close and claimed a proper kiss, whispering a, “You sap,” against his wind-chapped lips. Tasting the fruit acidity from the golden bubbles as you both exchanged kitten licks.

San’s rouge-stained lips chased after yours when you broke off from the kiss to place your champagne flute back down on the table. Hands anchoring your hips in place as you reached to pluck a couverture chocolate-covered strawberry from the box. Turning back round to San, your lips formed a small pout noticing that his freshly dyed hair was still hidden underneath his cap.

He let you discard it behind the sofa and you could’ve sworn he purred with satisfaction when you ran your hands through his cotton candy pink strands. Hands gave your bottom a firm squeeze and San begun to run his fingers along the hem of your lace. The husky vocals from the record player drifted back, interlacing with the saxophone.

That was your cue.

“Eyes on me.”

You held San’s gaze, fire reflecting fire. The strawberry gets slipped past the seams of his lips and all the while San chews intently, his eyes never wavered. He’s got his precious pearl all to himself, just the way he loves it. And you have the city’s most lethal hitman watching your back from dawn to dusk. San was the dangerous game you played, only to win the safest love.    

“Darling, won’t you please dance for me?”

“With pleasure, Sir.”

[justapurrcat]

A/n: ... there’s still a lot to do, but yeah... here’s a small teaser, hope you like it 💜

You stood there in front of the door, nervously pulling at your clothes, trying to look busy. Like you were actually there for a good reason. The best part of it was that you were. The worst part was that maybe you just needed a bit more time to convince yourself about it.

When your manager Cindy first broke the news to you, it didn’t feel real. You could still remember every single detail of that exact moment like it just happened a few seconds ago.

The way she burst into your room as soon as you opened the door, scaring Lady Yuna to death, and gaining a loud hiss of protest from what was possibly the most peaceful and quiet cat in the whole World. How she had to help you get up from the floor before she could tell you what was going on. The look of excitement on her face and the fact that you just couldn’t believe that the sentences coming out of her mouth were correct and true, and that it wasn’t only your mind playing tricks on you.

But it was real.

A new play, a completely original one, and a role waiting just for you to be brought to life for the very first time. In eighteen years of treading the boards, you’d had the occasion to play many different roles on many different stages all over the Country. Some bigger, some smaller. Some quite important, some barely known.

However, even after all those years, even after literally growing up in that World, the excitement, the sense of wonder, were still there with you, as strong as they had been on that very first day. That was the reason why this was total dream come true.

That, and the fact that you had the chance to forever link your name to a new character, taking the responsibility to lead the way for many other future actresses, maybe even becoming their reference point.

“y/n?”

… assuming things went in the best of ways, of course.

Sure, being associated with a success is a huge responsibility… but success doesn’t hold a candle to failure. Especially when your name is not a big one.

It wasn’t like no one knew who you were – after being in the business for so long, it was objectively impossible –, in fact, you had discovered that you had a quite strong and adorable fan base, and you couldn’t have been more grateful for that. You had never left theatre, though, and this was a double-edged sword.

You had been lucky enough to live your dream, while still getting to lead a private and somehow still grounded life, but your World was much smaller, much more fragile, than the one many of your colleagues – could you call them ‘colleagues’? – lived in.

You were easier to break. Easier to destroy. Easier to forget.

And if I fail, if I’m not good enough, it’ll be entirely my fault…

“You okay?”, a voice, accompanied by a snap of fingers, finally dared to interrupt your train of thoughts.

Your head snapped towards Cindy, who was standing right next to you. She was tall. Much taller than you. Always had been, ever since you could remember. Despite the fact that you were both wearing heels – very high heels, in your case –, you still didn’t even reach her cheekbones. Those beautifully high cheekbones, caressed by those incredibly long lashes.

Remind me again who’s the actress and who’s the manager…

Knowing you like the back of her hand, she wasn’t offended by your answer. Or rather, lack of. “Daydreaming again?”, she simply asked.

“I feel like a fraud”, you blurted out, your voice threatening to break on the last word.

Cindy arched an eyebrow, a sceptical look in her eyes. “Doesn’t sound like daydreaming to me.”

You shook your head, ignoring her teasing. “It’s not too late”, you tried again, your fingers wrapping themselves around her wrist. “We can still leave.”

“Stop it.” She freed her arm with a roll of her eyes. “They’re gonna love you.”

“Or maybe they’re gonna take a look at me, see that I look like a child wearing adult clothes, and kick me out faster than the speed of light as soon as I open my mouth”, you deadpanned, staring down at your restless hands, but immediately raising your head – and voice – when you felt a light pinch on your arm.

“Ouch!” You rubbed the skin through the fabric. “What was that for?”

“First of all”, Cindy began, pointing a finger at you. “You’re twenty-four and that dress looks great on you.” She lowered her hand and narrowed her eyes, a knowing smirk appearing on her face. “Second of all, it would be their loss, not yours.”

You were grateful for her words. But no matter how nice they were, your doubts remained stronger. “I mean it, Cin…”, you replied. “I’m not sure I’m the right person for this.”

“What makes you say that?”

“What makes you not say that?”, you countered, frustration and insecurity clear behind your apparently calm and relaxed tone. “I don’t even know what the script is about”, you started listing, your fingers keeping the count, but your gaze getting more and more lost with every passing word. “I don’t know how many characters the play has. Or the name of the main characters. Are there even main characters? Or is it a one-person-show? Or–”

Cindy simply cut you off with what had become her usual answer. “It’s top secret. They told me I couldn’t tell you anything.”

“Yeah. I know”, you huffed, biting the inside of your cheek. “Because they want to be the ones to introduce me to the story. I get it.”

You knew all too well that there was no point in trying to get any sort of information from her. Cindy was the type of person you could trust to keep a secret even under torture. By no doubt, an amazing and loyal friend. And an absolute nightmare of a manager when you were the one she had to keep things from.

She leaned her head towards yours a bit, as her voice was reduced to a whisper. “If it makes you feel better, I know a couple of things.”

“Please”, you scoffed. “Every time you say that, it means you already know life, death and miracles of every single character that’s gonna appear in the story.”

That sentence caused her to chuckle. “And that is why you should trust me when I tell you that this role is already yours”, she said, matter-of-factly, making it clear that nothing you could say or do would change her mind. “So, stop questioning my abilities.”

“I’m not questioning your abilities, Cin”, you sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. You hated this. To sound like an ungrateful, untrusting brat was the last thing you wanted, and yet, there you were, doing just that because, hey, God forbid you might actually formulate some positive thoughts about you and your situation…

This time, you didn’t receive a pinch on your arm, but a gentle, yet firm squeeze on your elbow. “Just trust me, kid.”

“Don’t call me ‘kid’.”

“Don’t call me ‘baby’.”

Of course. She knew exactly where and how to hit.

“Don’t you dare use Taylor against me.” You stopped your lips from curling up into a smile, and instead forced them into a pout, pretending to look offended.

Cindy let go of your elbow, not even attempting to mask her satisfaction. “Then stop being a pain in the ass and be the actress I know you are.”

You were about to reply when you heard noises coming from the other side of the door. Your heart jumped into your throat, but you managed to stay still and to keep your face neutral. To an outside eye, you would’ve looked like someone with no worries, who was simply waiting to be received. Yes, you were dying on the inside, but you were an actress, after all.

And Cindy was right, it was the moment to show it.

Then, a sudden feeling appeared inside of you. One that you knew very well. It started in your chest, buzzing like a swarm of bees, getting stronger by the second, spreading from your stomach to your toes, from your knees to the back of your head. It was the same feeling you got every time you were about to hold a script in your hands, every time you were about to get into character, every time you were about to walk on stage.

And, just like that, fear vanished, getting lost like a distant memory, completely replaced by that excitement. That sense of wonder.

“There you are”, Cindy smirked, immediately sensing the change in you.

You raised your chin and straightened your back, finally putting an end to your nervous fidgeting as you watched the door open.

Easier to break. Easier to destroy. Easier to forget.

Well, y/n l/n, do your absolute best to make sure none of that happens.

Tagging: @isory @spideyspeaches @onewithnomightypowers

[cornholio4]

Scarlet Lady Au: Two Halves of Marinette’s Heart

Author’s Note: Based on Zoe-Oneesama's Tumblr comic Scarlet Lady which is my fave Ladybug fan content or tied along with LadyBugOut. Only there and the amnesiac Adrien in the episode Oblivion do I ship Adrienette. Also happy birthday to Zoe.

@zoe-oneesama

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was smiling as he was riding on the back of one of her boyfriends Luka Couffaine's bike as he had insisted on giving her a ride to school. He and Adrien Agreste had recently revealed their feelings to her and she was torn between them: the cute and nice Adrien and the cool but also dorky like her Luka. It was tough to think it through even after they had both assured her that they don't want to hurt their friendship with her no matter what she choose. It was Alya who stepped in after healing her dilemma had said that she can just date them both since she had two hands for the each of them. Luka and Adrien were fine with this as long as Marinette was happy and it was then their relationship happened over the weekend.

They had let their family know and they accepted it well: Anarka was quite over the top in her excitement, Marinette's parents and embarrassed her by saying that she had got them 2 sons in law; Juleka had likewise already claimed Marinette as her sister in law and Adrien's father... Marinette and Luka looked at him in sympathy when he just shook his head saying that he was too busy to get a chance to tell him. Marinette comforted him with a hug not really liking how her favourite designer was so cold to his own son. Pollen was more than happy about his Miraculous' owner's new relationship and said his queen deserved all the love that she gets.

Marinette kissed Luka on the cheek after she got off and Adrien was there to greet them as they posed together for a picture smiling which Juleka took with Adrien's photo. Luka and Adrien showed off their custom necklaces around their necks made by Marinette of two halves of a heart with "Marinette's heart" inscribed on them.

"Are you sure that you are ready for everyone to know about you three?" Juleka asked giving Adrien back his phone and they nodded without hesitation.

"I don't really care as much for father's opinion but he seems to like Marinette as an up and coming designer so I think he will give approval." Adrien said with a huffed voice which had them silent.

"I wouldn't want to hide being with Marinette at all; I would sing it with my soul." Luka said Adrien posted the picture on social media with the caption:

Me with Luka Couffaine and our amazing new girlfriend Marinette Dupain-Cheng!

They got in and as students saw the notice they began crowding Marinette and Adrien as they came in holding hands as they went to their classroom. There were students wanting to get a look at 2 3rds of the new couple as they heard the comments:

"Marinette scored herself with 2 cute guys!"

"Are you going to be modelling Marinette's designs now Adrien?"

"So are you going to be Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Agreste-Couffaine in the future?"

They ignored them and walked into class with Juleka not far behind them to see their excited classmates wanting to know the details.

"So Adrien, will you and Luka be fighting eachother to get the most out of Marinette's time?" Alix asked as Marinette glared at her while Rose was squealing about how romantic it was. Marinette was taken aback when she noticed Lila and Sabrina glaring at their direction while looking quite jealous.

She was shocked by this thinking that she was getting along with Lila and Sabrina was forming a good friendship with her while helping her start over from her toxic so called 'friendship' that she had with Chloe. Marinette's eyes widened when she noticed that Adrien went to get to his seat and their looks were going to his direction, so it was Adrien they were angry at?

"Can I please ask if Adrien has done something to anger you?" Marinette asked as they both shook their heads and there were laughter.

"Marinette, they are just jealous that Adrien and Luka got to you first!" Alya told her grinning as they ended up nodding slightly a bit embarrassed.

"You helped me be more truthful about myself and I still remember how in love that I felt when I heard you badmouth that terrible Scarlet Lady!" Lila said as Marinette was open mouthed wondering just could she possibly remember that since she was Volpina at the time. Marinette did remember that while she was telling the love struck Volpina that she hated Hawk Moth more than Scarlet Lady, that she a bit scared that Volpina was going to kidnap her as a bride for her comment alone.

"You've always been so nice to me Marinette and never held what I did for Chloe against me, even when I tried to steal your diary for her and lied my way into your room. You've been more of a friend to me than Chloe ever was and you are so amazing." Sabrina told her as Marinette didn't know what to say.

"I bet Luka and Adrien wouldn't mind if you wanted to date Marinette as well, if Marc is alright with Nathaniel wanting to go after Marinette as well." Rose suggested as Marinette, Sabrina, Lila and Nathaniel were now red in the face.

"Dupain-Cheng!" screamed an unwelcome voice as the entire class groaned in unison as they should have dreaded this reaction as Chloe came in looking angrier than they had ever saw her which was quite an accomplishment for her. "How dare you steal my Adrikins away from me! I could care less if you wanted to waste your time with that loser with the guitar as losers belong together, that do you think that I was going to sit back and let you keep them both for yourself when Adrien is mine!" Chloe thundered as the class glared at her.

"Watch what you say about Marinette or my brother!" Juleka said speaking up using courage that almost never comes to her.

"Adrien is not a prize to be won or yours to claim Chloe; it's his choice who he wants to be with!" Marinette told her as Chloe smirked getting out her phone.

"Managed to get a picture of your little notebook when you had it open and wasn't looking Dupain-Cheng." Chloe said showing off a drawing of a love heart around Chat Noir as Marinette was open mouthed at that picture being shown to the class and red in her face but while angry at Chloe, Adrien couldn't help but smile a bit at the picture. "So do you want to claim the mangy cat as well Dupain-Cheng with how pathetic you are?" Chloe snarked looking victorious but Adrien spoke up.

"Nothing wrong with having a celebrity crush Chloe, I have one on Marigold myself." Adrien said taking out his notebook and showing that it had a photo of the Bee heroine Marigold with a heart drawing around it as Marinette was redder in the face while Chloe was open mouthed.

"Nothing wrong with that dude, she is pretty much the best hero that Paris has now!" Nino said with everyone smiling and nodding in agreement besides Chloe and Marinette. Marigold has with her fighting tenacity, warm comforting words to Akuma victims after they were being freed and happy to help civilians in need made her a more popular hero. She had given interviews and how valued Chat Noir was as a partner and helped Paris realise how hard he had to fight against the Akumas.

"Excuse me but Scarlet Lady is by far Paris' best hero!" Chloe retorted by Alya got out her phone and showed the poll that the news station had made asking Paris citizens who they liked the best.

Marigold was in the lead followed by Chat Noir, Maotif the one time temporary Chat Noir was in 3rd place and in a very distant 4th place with barely 1% vote was Scarlet Lady. "Paris disagrees Chloe." Alya told her and Chloe was furious. People were being interviewed and the stories of people's interactions with Scarlet Lady were now circulating.

"Adrien, you can't seriously be okay with this! I'm your friend and we would be much better than stupid Dupain-Cheng!" Chloe told Adrien but he shook his head.

"'Were' your friend Chloe, 'were' as in we used to be and haven't really been friends for a long time but I am just making it official!" Adrien thundered and Chloe was open mouthed and this surprised the class. "Sorry Chloe, I have tried to give you some time to better yourself but you keep pulling these stunts while being a cruel bully to our classmates and treating me like a possession of yours. Calling my girlfriend and my new bro losers was me losing all patience and I can't pretend anymore. I am sorry Chloe but I can't be friends with you anymore, you are different from the friend that I used to have." Adrien said and Chloe furiously charged at Marinette.

Adrien caught her hand and glared at her hard before letting go, Chloe began ranting and shouting on the spot while kicking the desk and Ms Bustier had to tell her off and send her to the principal's office.

"Sorry about that Adrien..." Marinette said since as much bad blood as there was between her and Chloe, the bully did used to be a friend to Adrien.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, just keep being the girl that I love." Adrien told her and she smiled back.

Later in the week, after school they were at a park bench as Marinette was at Luka's lap and Adrien was in Marinette's as the three relaxed together. However they heard screaming and saw an Akuma attacking people in the streets.

Marinette jumped out of Luka's lap and helped Adrien up who was in a similar panic as her's. "Sorry guys, I hate to break up a perfect moment but... I have to get a cake to Nadja and I don't want to be earlier than I was last time since it didn't go so well..." Marinette said thinking on the spot.

"Don't worry... I just remembered an event that my dad would want me to be at..." Adrien said as they both ran off in separate directions.

Luka smiled as she dusted himself off and went home chuckling at them, after a few days of this did they really think that he would not pierce it together? No matter, this means that he could talk to Adrien about Marigold and bond over them crushing on her.

[terrifictomholland]

hii I couldn’t find the prompt list sorry!! but I was wondering if you can do something where Tom and the reader are the best man/maid of honour for their friends’ wedding, and they’ve kind of had a crush on one another ever since the wedding planning began, and on wedding night they finally hookup

I have no excuse for the amount of time it’s taken me to write this and I can only apologise for that - but I do hope you enjoy this. I’m quite pleased at the level of softness this is. 

THIS CONTAINS SMUT! +18 PLEASE It was mayhem. Utter and complete mayhem.

Your childhood best friend was getting married and you were of course, the maid of honour. 

So that meant you had it up to your neck with numerous responsibilities. Luckily, or unluckily - depending on how you viewed it, you got to share those responsibilities with the man of honour.

Tom.

There he stood in all his glory. 

Holding a hand over his stomach as he laughed with Harrison and the sound was music to your ears. It sounded so hearty and infectious that you couldn’t help your own smile. 

“Alright, let’s call it for tonight!” The bride-to-be Anna said, clapping her hands together to get everyone's attention. You let out a sigh of relief at the prospect of getting to put your feet up and enjoy a glass of wine in your hotel room by yourself. Maybe watch some series on your laptop. 

“What are your plans?” Tom sidled up next to you. 

The close proximity of his body was making you short circuit. Your heart started to beat loudly in your chest, hot flashes broke out all over your body and your throat went dry.

Being close to Tom was making you react in a way you’d never experienced before. 

“My plans?” You repeated seeing his megawatt smile take over his face giving you a nod. “Oh uhm, probably go back to my hotel room and have a cheeky glass of wine, catch up on some series. Why?” 

He made a ‘pft’ noise at that, “Have a glass of wine with me instead.” The moment he said those words your heart nearly leapt out of your chest. 

“Huh?” 

“Have a drink with me,” He repeated once more for you, this time slower. 

“As in a date?” Tom’s cheeks darkened when you asked that and he opened his mouth and closed it a few times. 

“I uh, I mean - I, sure!” He stuttered and you bit your bottom lip feeling your chest tighten and a bunch of butterflies erupted in your stomach. 

“Alright,” You spoke softly, giving him a timid and shy smile. 

“For real?” His voice pitched higher making you giggle. He cleared his throat in embarrassment.

“Wanna head out now?” 

“Lead the way Holland,” 

++++

Instead of going to your hotel room, the two of you wound up at an empty beach, a cheap wine bottle going back and forth between you both as you sat in the lifeguard tower, both of you sitting right next to each other.  Overlooking the sea as the sun set, making the sea look as though it sparkled against the fading sun. It was magical.

“It’s breathtaking,” You breathed, staring at the sunset completely transfixed at all of the different colours and hues that was painted across the sky. 

“It really is,” What you didn’t notice was Tom looking at you while he uttered those words. At least, not until you felt his fingers brush aside a piece of your hair from your face. You swallowed thickly, turning to look at him seeing the shy smile on his face. His cheeks were dusted in pink as he tucked your hair behind your ear, fingers gently caressing your cheek and you melted to the touch, eyes falling shut.

“You are so beautiful,” He spoke the words so softly, so sincerely it made it hard for you to breathe properly as your eyes opened again. You felt intoxicated and it had nothing to do with the wine, it was all Tom and the effect he had on you.

“Can I kiss you?” 

All you could do was smile and place your hand on his cheek moving even closer to him. Your eyes moving down to his lips seeing him lick them and you did the same before he grabbed your face in his hands. His breath falling over your face making shivers run up your spine.

What happened next felt like something out of a fairytale. 

His thin, chapped lips pressed against yours hesitantly before you kissed him back. He got his confidence back and began kissing you more insistently - his hand moving from your face to your waist to pull you in closer and you threaded a hand in his hair keeping him close. 

His tongue swiped across your lower lip and you parted them, feeling him capture your lip and suck on it. Which was enough to make you let out a sigh against his lips and you felt your stomach clench. 

Your tongues met and you let out a quiet whimper tasting the wine and spearmint on his tongue, sucking on it gently hearing him let out a noise from the back of his throat and it was addictive to hear him. You two stayed like that for a good twenty minutes, just exploring and familiarizing each other's mouths.

Eventually, you both pulled away, sharing a few pecks and keeping your foreheads together. You giggled at the sight of his swollen lips and glazed eyes and mussed up hair. He had never looked more stunning.

“Thanks,” He grinned bashfully, cheeks tinting.

“Did I say that out loud?” You whined, making him laugh as he nodded.

He placed a gentle kiss on your forehead, “For the record, you’re just as stunning too,” 

++++

Following the date by the lifeguard tower, you and Tom spent as much time as you could during the rest of the wedding rehearsals and all of the planning. Dividing and sharing the responsibilities equal so that it didn’t get too overwhelming for the other. You were after all, the maid of honour and best man so you had similar tasks. 

Today however, you were busy as a bee seeing as how it was the wedding and everything needed to go as smoothly as possible. And up until now, it had - you were next in line to walk down the aisle before the bride was due to walk down. 

You felt butterflies dancing in your belly because you knew that at the end of the aisle would be where Tom stood. And on a slightly selfish train of thought - you were pretending it was yours and Tom’s wedding and you couldn’t wait to see his reaction when you came down. 

It was your turn and you took a deep breath before you walked down, smiling at the guests and taking care not to stumble - you were very much prone to trip over your own feet. You didn’t need that humiliation today, so each step was carefully planned. 

You looked up when you got close enough and your breath got caught in your throat seeing Tom standing there in his tux and hair gelled back looking like a dream come true. 

In true fashion to yourself, you winked at him and his shoulders shook with silent laughter when he saw you do that. He winked right back making you grin as you took your place opposite of him, holding your bouquet. 

As soon as the music started playing and Harrison saw Anna come walking down the aisle, everything turned to a blur for you. Tears welling up in your eyes at the beautiful and loving ceremony between two people so perfect for each other. Everything was like a fairytale, the vows, the rings, the kiss. Later on at the reception, it was just as immaculate and beautiful and perfect. 

“May I have this dance?” Tom snuck up behind you with his hand extended to you and you beamed, taking it. He twirled you once before bringing you in, his hand on your waist and the other holding your hand as you leaned your head on his shoulder. Feeling so safe and content in his arms to let him lead.

“What a day,” He murmured in your ear and you grinned feeling the soft kiss he placed on your temple.

“It’s been one of the best days of my life - just look at them, they’re so happy,” You gushed glancing at the happy couple who also shared a dance together. Laughing and kissing, it filled you with so much happiness to see the way they looked at each other so in love. 

“I’m so happy they found each other,” Tom agreed and you looked up at him, seeing him watch his best friend with nothing but joy and warmth.

“I am too,” You smiled, reaching up to place a kiss on his cheek. Tom turned to you and leaned down giving you a proper kiss. 

“Missed you today,” He mumbled between pecks,

“God you’re a sweet talker,” You flushed and he grinned, “It’s working in other words,”

“Oh it most certainly is,” 

“Enough for you to want to sneak out of here with me?” He left the question open-ended and you felt your stomach clench at what he was prompting. 

“Can we go now?” Your face was burning at how eager you sounded and he picked up on it. His hands rubbed your waist and he let out a laugh nodding.

“I think we can get out of here rather unnoticed, but we probably should tell Haz and Anna,” He suggested. 

It was an easy conversation to have, wishing them the best on their honeymoon before the two of you ducked out. 

Once in Tom’s hotel suite you lost a bit of your nerve. You both felt the energy crackle in the dimmed room. Tom took a seat on the edge of the bed and you toed off your heels before walking over so that you stood between his legs. 

His hands came to rest on your hips and you ran a hand through his soft hair, messing up the carefully made hairstyle he had for the entirety of the wedding.

You smiled seeing his eyes close when you raked your fingers through his hair. He ran his fingers up and down the sides of your dress, lifting it up higher and higher, exposing more skin.

“Take it off,” You whispered. He smiled stripping you out of the dress leaving you in your strapless bra and lace thong.

 “Lay down on the bed,” He murmured and you gulped, getting on the bed, laying down on your back and feeling yourself melt against the soft mattress that shaped itself to you. You watched Tom lift your leg up, caressing it and trailed kisses from your ankle all the way up to your thigh and then giving your other leg the same treatment. 

“Oh Tom,” You breathed feeling your heart trying to escape from the tenderness of his touches and caresses. 

“You deserve to feel worshipped,” Was all he said and you felt tears prickle in your eyes at the sweet words and how genuine he sounded. Like you were his everything, that nothing but you mattered. 

“Come here, let me kiss you,” You choked out sitting up slightly and he crawled up beside you, immediately kissing you and pouring all of himself into that kiss. 

You wrapped both of your arms around his neck bringing him down on you, needing to feel his body against your own. You had no idea how much time passed but after a while, you wanted more. 

“Take your clothes off,” You murmured once his lips were attached to your neck and you let out a moan feeling him suck on the skin there. He sat up and removed his clothes in a hurry and you flushed seeing his chiseled body and his beautiful cock curving up toward his tummy.

You reached out and touched him, wrapping a hand around him and he let out a groan.

“You’re so beautiful,” You told him, looking into his eyes and you saw his lips part and he gave you an emotional smile.

“You are too,” He breathed sucking his lip between his teeth as you worked him up even more, hearing the curses and grunts tumble out of his mouth.

“I just want you to feel good,” You smiled seeing his head fall back in pleasure, “Fuck, you do,” His breath getting caught in his throat.

“Can I touch you too?” He cracked his eyes open and you nodded, spreading your legs and he smiled stroking your inner thighs at first and your eyes never left him as you jerked him off. 

You let out a gasp feeling him rub your core through your panties and you bit your lip when he felt just how wet you were already.

“All for me?” He asked incredulously and you nodded shyly. 

“Take them off,” You urged helping him by lifting your hips. In one swift motion he slipped your panties off and you spread your legs for him once again. 

Your hips jolted forward when you felt him rub your sensitive clit for the first time and a quiet moan fell from your lips at the sensation. It had been so long since you’d been touched like this, and Tom was well on his way to figure out exactly what you liked.

“Slip them inside,” You gasped only feeling yourself getting more and more wet the more he circled your clit, trying different speeds and pressures on it. 

You choked on your breath when he eased his finger inside, filling you up and dragging it against your warm and tight walls. Your eyes crossed when he fucked his finger deep, curling it to reach your g-spot and you let out a cry.

“G-god,” You stuttered feeling the air get knocked out of your chest when he slipped another finger inside, stretching you out. You removed your hand from his cock, licking a stripe on your palm and then wrapping your hand around it again. Your hand working him faster the more he worked you up too. 

Both of your moans and groans filled the room as you both got inevitably closer and closer to the edge.

“I, oh god - want you inside me now,” You sighed throwing your head back. 

“Yeah? You ready?” 

“So ready,” You nodded enthusiastically. He got off you and the bed, retrieving his pants and pulling out a condom. 

“Well someone’s prepared, did you bank on getting lucky tonight?” You giggled watching him rip the foil package and fist himself a few times before rolling the condom on.

He let out a quiet laugh, “Well, you can’t blame a guy for hoping,” 

“No, no I can’t babe,” You smiled when he got situated on top of you and he ran his cock along your folds and you felt anticipation roll through you when he started pushing in. 

“Let me know if you need a sec, yeah?” 

You kissed him, “I will,” You reassured against his lips as he bottomed out, staying still for a few moments and you slowly relaxed around him. 

The pleasure was starting to gradually build and you wrapped your legs around his waist driving him deeper inside causing both of your moans to mingle together. 

“You feel fucking heavenly,” He grunted before he dove in and kissed you passionately, building up a pace that made you squeeze down on him, loving the way he was filling you up.

“Oh fuck Tom,” You gasped into his mouth when his cock nudged your gspot making your head hazy. 

Spots of white hot pleasure popped up and you felt your cunt clench all around Tom. He moaned loudly when you did and your climax was building up again from earlier. 

The warm and tingly sensations growing stronger with each thrust he gave.

“Feel so fucking big inside me,” 

“You were made to take my cock darling,” He leaned down sucking your nipple into his mouth and you let out a scream when he did that.

“Harder! Fuck me harder,” You gritted out trying to chase the high of your pleasure, moving your hips in sync with him to take him deeper. 

Your movements turning more frantic the closer you got and he could tell. 

He reached a hand down rubbing your clit fast and hard and you cried his name as the pleasure took over. 

Your body arched and toes curled as your orgasm ripped through you. Your insides liquefying and warmth coursed through as he fucked you through your orgasm, which set off his impending one. He came shouting your name, panting heavily on top of you whilst still pistoning his hips inside of you so that you both could ride out your highs together. 

You caught him and wrapped both arms around his sweaty body, his heart racing and you placed gentle kisses all over his temple and wherever else you could reach.

“You’re fucking incredible,” You smiled dopily at him once he got enough strength to roll off of you. He chuckled breathlessly and discarded the condom, making a jump shot to the bin and you rolled your eyes.

“Oiii that’s a three pointer!” He smirked and you snorted cuddling up to him, nuzzling your face in his neck.

“For the record, you’re fucking incredible too and even more incredible to fuck,” 

“Oh the fucking cheek of you!” You gasped before you both wound up in fits of giggles.

[unclejohnnystorm]

chapter 1 — when lives begin to collide [2.1k]

description  —  you and peter begin vying for the attention of a children’s books publisher.

genre — from past lives lovers to present lives rivals. fluff. angst. slow-burn.

warnings — some mistakes here and there. slight cussing. totally au.

a/n — i can’t find the op anymore but they made a post about this kind of plot. i really thought it’d be interesting to write one so here’s my take. not forcing you to read it but if you do, feedback would be greatly appreciated! thank you!

masterlist

“I can never erase my past. But the present is my pen and I can write a better future. After all, I am the author of my life.”

It was written in capital letters.

‘Damn,’ you thought. ‘That hit hard.’ You read it over and over, trying to take every single word in. It was true and it really did hit you hard. You were not proud of your past, but you were trying to make amends now, and you hoped that it would lead to something better. And that is exactly why the quote felt like a sharp pang in your heart.

You were sitting down on the last step of the education building on campus. The notebook with the quote you have written lay on your lap like an open book. You had just finished your lunch and were waiting for your friend to arrive. Y/fn woke up too late for the morning sessions but you agreed to meet them when they said they were on their way.

You were chewing on your bottom lip, careful not to bite it too hard. That was a habit of yours. Whenever you were anxious, you would chew on your bottom lip, sometimes without even realizing it. But you were not anxious because your friend was going to be beside you any minute. No. It was because it would be the first time you would show your professor the children’s story you wrote. What made you even more nervous was that they were the next class you had.

Writing short stories was a passion of yours. You loved making up characters and scenarios in your head and would write them down on any scrap of paper you could find. But that was all you could do. You knew children’s books always had illustrations, unfortunately, you could not draw to save your life. You were thinking that perhaps when your story would be chosen for some award or anything, they would find you an illustrator. That was how it usually worked, right?

“Hey.” You snapped out of your thoughts, froze your teeth, and looked up. “You okay?”

“Hey,” you greeted back. You shook your head, closed the notebook, and placed it inside your bag. “I was just thinking,” you admitted. “About showing Professor Y/pn my work. You think they’ll like it?”

Y/fn sighed. “Of course, Y/n. We’ve gone over this before, haven’t we?”

You frowned. You didn’t like the way they said it. You shrugged and pretended not to care. “Right. Okay. Let’s just get to class.”

You both walked up the steps and waited for an elevator to bring you up to your floor. Once you arrived inside the classroom, you noticed that some of your classmates were not in yet but your professor was fiddling around with their laptop. You placed your book down on the table, took out your binder filled with your writings -- and you could proudly say that you filed them by title in alphabetical order -- and took a deep breath before walking up to the front of the class.

You cleared your throat and called them, “Professor Y/pn?” That came out more like a squeak rather than the tone of voice you would give when you wanted to start a casual conversation.

Your professor turned to their side and smiled at you. “Yes, Ms. Y/ln? What can I do for you?”

“Well...uh, I was wondering if you could take a look at one of my written works. I need a professional’s opinion so that I know where I can improve on and all that. I mean, if it’s not too much trouble for you.”

“Of course, of course!” they said with a grin. “No problem at all, Ms. Y/ln. I’m honestly surprised that you came to me for a new point of view.”

“No one better than my favorite professor,” you said, copying their grin. “And I’m not just saying.” You giggled.

Your professor laughed. “Well, alright then. Which one should I check out?” They beckoned you to give them your binder and you obliged. “Oh, this is a little heavy,” they chuckled as they held your binder. “You must be quite a writer. Well, you always have been one of my top students in my class.”

“Just here,” you mumbled. “Not so much the others.” You took a deep breath and exhaled. “I was hoping you could look at The Bee and the Queen. Though maybe just that for now, I don’t really have much confidence with the others yet.”

Your professor waved their hand. “Right, of course. I promise not to pry. Do you mind if you leave this with me for now? I’ll give it back after class.”

You saw this as some sort of sign of commitment. Maybe, if they liked your story, they would be willing to work with you. “Yes!” you nearly shouted. “I mean, yes, professor. I’d really love that.”

They smiled. “Alright, I’ll check out The Bee and the Queen and I’ll jot down some notes.”

“Ehrm….”

“On another piece of paper, of course,” they laughed. “Don’t worry, even without the look on your face, I wasn’t going to write it on something so precious.”

You sighed in relief. “Thank you, Professor Y/pn. Thank you so much.”

They nodded. “Off you go, class is about to begin.”

The whole two hours class seemed even longer than usual. Your knee bounced constantly and you kept looking at your watch every minute. There was a seatwork, an essay about children and why they were more inclined to language at a certain age, and at some point, you looked up and saw your professor with their reading glasses on and had your binder open. Finally, the class was dismissed and you waited a bit, hoping for them to call you.

“I’ll go ahead,” Y/fn informed you.

“Sure,” you replied without looking at them.

As your classmates left, your professor smiled and gestured for you to come to them. You pursed your lips and briskly walked to them. “Well?” you asked. “Sorry, that came out a bit rude.”

They shook their head. “Well, Ms. Y/ln. I do like the concept and your style, but we need more creativity. I’m not saying that this isn’t creative, no, not all. But remember these are children we’re talking about. They need something that will catch their attention. They need to stay focused. I’m happy that you managed to apply the moral of the story in examples at the end. But again, put some more sugar in it. You get what I mean?”

“I think so.” You nodded.

They smiled. “I’ll give you a week to come up with something new. And if I’m impressed, you can work with an acquaintance of mine.”

Your eyes widened. “Really?”

“Just show me what you got,” they said with a smile.

“Yes, Professor! I’ll think of something way beyond creative, I promise.”

“Let’s start small, Ms. Y/ln.” They chuckled. “We’ll work our way up as we go along.”

You nodded excitedly. “I won’t let you down, Professor. I promise!” You reached for your binder and bowed. “Thank you!”

They chuckled once more. “Go on now, Ms. Y/ln. You’ll be late for your next class.”

You ran to your seat, grabbed your bag, and waved at them. “Thank you!”

Days later, you were in a coffee shop. You were going to meet up with Y/bfn and you two would be brainstorming on how to make your story better. You already had a concept, you just needed to write down how you were going to execute it. Luckily, your best friend knew you all too well.

You had just gotten the tray with both yours and your best friend’s drink -- because really, you two knew each all too well, too. The place was packed and you had a hard time looking for a vacant table. When you did spot one, as soon as you reached it, another person had arrived as well.

“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were eyeing the table, too.”

You looked to your side to see a tall, blonde boy with very nice blue eyes. He, too, was holding a tray with two drinks. “You can have it,” you said. You didn’t know why but you were feeling a little bit bitter. “It’s fine.”

“No, no, please. Take it.” He tilted his head to gesture to the table. “It’s fine. I’ll just stay by the bar. My sister wouldn’t be here for a while, anyway.”

You brightened a little. “Neither is my friend.”

He smiled. “So…?”

You blushed a little. “I...I guess we can share for now?”

He nodded. “Yeah, that’d be nice.” He waved his hand to allow you to sit first. As soon as you both placed your trays on the table and sat down, he introduced himself. “I’m Peter.” He held up his hand for you to shake.

“Y/n,” you replied and shook his head. 

“Do I know you from somewhere, madam?” he asked.

“Does that line always work for you, sir?” you giggled and rolled your eyes.

He had nice hands. A little calloused but still nice. “I...um...do you live around here?” The shop you were in was inside a subdivision and you haven’t seen anyone as beautiful as him. ‘Oh shut up.’ You were always around thanks to your best friend living around the corner and you pretty much have seen everyone.

He shook his head. “My sister has a friend who lives here. I was in the area and she said we should all hang out for coffee.”

“Oh.” You nodded. “My best friend lives around here. I’m always here. Maybe that’s why I don’t recognize you.”

He nodded. “I’m from the other side of town, actually. Well, my job brings me everywhere so I guess it depends.” He chuckled as did you. “I’m an engineer.”

“Education grad student,” you said. “I work part-time as a PA for my parents. I mean, I was willing to do it for free since they are my parents but they sort of bribed me and said they’d be paying my tuition instead, so….” You didn’t know why this was embarrassing for you to admit.

“Mind if I ask what kind of business your parents run?”

“It’s a multinational company.” ‘Stop being embarrassed, it’s the truth for goodness sake.’ “Y/cn.”

“Oh! Yeah! I know that.”

You forced a smile. “Yup.” You two became silent and you began chewing on your bottom lip but you immediately stopped. It was getting a bit awkward so you decided to get your drink and tried to open it. Unfortunately, it was sealed too tight. Peter could definitely see you struggling, he offered for him to try and held out his hand.

When you gave it to him, you came into contact with his skin.

“It worked on you, didn’t it?” he said with a goofy grin.

You laughed at his confidence. “Not really.”

“Ah! But that usually means it did but not so much.”

You scoffed. “It means no.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well you should.”

Once he was able to open it, he gave it back to you. Your pinky touched his index finger.

“Oh stop it!” You stomped your foot and folded your arms.

“That’s not very lady-like,” he said.

“I don’t care.” You stuck up your nose. “You are impossible.”

“I would like to say that I am impossible to others. I’m always possible when it comes to you.”

“For some strange reason that makes sense.”

He chuckled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get your dress dirty. No need to get all stubborn with me.”

You pouted. “I am not being stubborn.”

“Oh yes, you are.”

You sighed in frustration. “You are impossible, Peter Pevensie.”

“Thank you.” You took a sip and subtly watched him drink his. “I didn’t expect them to take this long.”

“Same,” he murmured. He checked his phone and excused himself.

You watched him leave and then you were left alone. You thought of the surge of electricity that you felt whenever you came into contact with one another. Did he feel it, too? Goosebumps crept up to you and you shuddered. “Stop it, Y/n.”

Peter came back and smiled. “They’re almost here.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Then you realized how that may have sounded. “Not that I didn’t enjoy your company, Peter.”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry about it.”

‘And I like your company a little too much, even if it did get a bit awkward.’

The door of the store opened and you saw your best friend enter.

“Oh, there's Y/bfn,” you said. You waved your hand for them to see you. Your best friend found your signal and walked up to you with a smile.

“Ah, and there’s my sister,” Peter announced. Behind your best friend was another girl around your age. She was very pretty. “Oh.”

You looked at him as he said that. There was a slight tone to it but you couldn’t figure out what. You looked back at your best friend. “Oh.”

[writing-fool]

mlqc | sunday morning

I recently (well~like three months ago) got into this game called Mr Love: Queen’s Choice, and after doing some ‘research’ aka gaming, I felt confident enough to write something. So, here’s a little headcanon about a blissful Sunday morning with the boys~

Warning(s): ever so slightly NSFW (insinuations of a dirty-minded author), profanity/swearwords

Victor

Victor’s quite the workaholic, as we all know

like this man will be working 60-70 hours a week, often bringing work home with him 

you’ll be on the couch in pajamas and acting like a total bum while he’s literally next to you wearing glasses and breezing through 50 reports and documents

you steal his laptop and glasses when he starts criticising your report 

“Victor noooooooo~work mode OFF!” as you zoom past him with his prescription glasses (he got them fancy glasses with the blue light filter because he’s A WORKAHOLIC and he’s always staring at a computer)

needless to say, this man doesn’t usually have time to spare

sunday mornings are yours though

Victor doesn’t necessarily take the entire day off, but after a certain dummy’s whining, he has agreed to try and have a lie-in on sundays

he *usually* still wakes up before you, because he functions on like 5 hours of sleep (lemme tell y’all, it’s a curse and a blessing in one) 

Vic’s a total tsundere, but these moments definitely show off his #SoftCEO side

his little lovebug is sleeping peacefully, wearing one of his pyjama shirts (I bless you with the headcanon that Victor sleeps in silk pyjama pants sans shirt because he runs HOT)

actually, you’re drooling a little bit but even though Victor’s going to pretend he’s annoyed, he never is

oOOhh, also canon that this man is the big spoon in sleeping positions. he naturally gravitates towards you and holds you tight because he’s NEEDY

sometimes you’ll sleep facing each other. Victor holds you against his chest and just cradles your body in his like his life depends on it

100% will entangle his long ass legs with yours

strokes your hair and presses kisses on the crown of your head to wake you up in a gentle way (despite his demeanour, he’s actually remarkably gentle y’all see why i call him #SoftCEO?)

as you wake up, he’ll mock your bedhead with this incredibly fond look in his eyes baby boy these words don’t match your actions

you guys actually get up rather soon after, cos you are both busy people...

fun times in the bathroom not like tHAT well actually kinda~ but for legal reasons everything you do is PG, please spare author-nim who’s still ~barely~ underage

you take a shower and belt your favourite song that’s playing from the built-in speaker (did Victor get a built-in speaker because you thought it was cool? yep. did you ask? nope. did he do it anyways? yehep.) while he goes through his simple morning routine

you probably have more steps in your skincare routine, but he uses a serum, cleanser, moisturizer and some eye cream on the daily

has given you permission to do his skincare at night whenever you both have time

to reciprocate, he dries your hair after your shower you guys HAVE listened to the Right Beside You ASMR, right? ...it’s on YT for free because we’re poor, i know

also canon, blowing raspberries on Victor’s bare back while he’s brushing his teeth will make him choke on toothpaste. tested and approved by MC

“Dummy. What on earth are you doing?”

he hangs around and waits for you to get ready if he’s already done, you do the same. time is something Victor knows all too well, so the precious time he has, he wants to spend with you.

you guys DON’T shower together in the morning because really you’re not getting cleaner ahhh author-nim should really stop

afterwards, you get dressed in some relatively casual clothes (i’m talking a dress shirt without a tie or a polo shirt because no way that this man owns actual t-shirts) and have a simple breakfast

he cooks, obviously. 

always makes a balanced, Chinese breakfast (congee or wonton, noodles, tofu pudding, etc.) because he wants you two to start the day well, even on a slow sunday

also, he travels a lot, so he likes eating Chinese food whenever he’s home

ahh...waking up with Victor just sounds like a dream

Lucien

i’m a bit biased on this bitch because he was my first favourite in the game so this might get long. might not. just,,,we’ll see

Lucien is a bit like Victor, where he doesn’t sleep much and works a lot

On the other hand, his work is...ehem...shadier, so he usually works in his office when he’s at home

you’ll both have your own space to do whatever you need to do

days off for Lucien are rare. he usually powers through until he drops

for someone who constantly reminds you to take care of yourself, he’s mediocre at doing exactly that

after getting to know him better, which wasn’t an easy feat because damn this man has more layers than an onion he’ll also make you cry more bUUT we’re not ready to unpack that suitcase, you start noticing when he needs a day off. often even before he notices

you lock his office door and force him to take the FULL day off at least

he could technically open his office again, but he loves you and he’ll humour your attempts

Lucien wakes up before you. always. you’ve seen him asleep like 3 times in your entire relationship. 

Luci sleeps like 8 hours,,,a week.

he watches you sleep i feel like that makes too much sense for his character. we love a creepy boy. and wholeheartedly feels at rest with your sleeping figure by his side

in his sleep, Lucien lies on his back, holding you by the waist as you sleep on top of him. your leg is often slung around his middle, so you’re enveloping him. he likes the weight of you on top of him; it keeps him grounded and he likes feeling like he’s yours as much as you are his.

on another note, Lucifer—ah whoops—sleeps butt naked. i honestly can’t imagine him wearing clothes in bed. he’s not shy about his body and feels absolutely no need to cover up for his significant other. 

you, however, don’t usually sleep naked. well...nowadays you end up sleeping naked more often than not because alright author-nim’s horrible. can’t help it, he’s a fucking scorpio?

because you guys take a day off, Lucien’s content with waiting and watching until you wake up

he feels you stir on his chest and honestly your drowsy eyes make him swoon

“Already awake, my beautiful butterfly?”

his slightly husky morning voice *really* does things to a person tbh

you guys stay in bed for a good half hour after you wake up, just cuddling and talking, also sneaking in a kiss here and there

you have the same habit of tracing each other’s bodies with your fingertips

his fingers flutter over your waist, you trace his chest or hands with your index again, it’s a very grounding experience to Lucien

when you do get up and head to the bathroom, first thing you do is shower together

he likes washing your hair

bathroom bits might happen, but surprisingly, it’s not a thing that happens a lot so don’t come at me. we’re being wholesome

Lucien’s incredibly intimate and his love language is touch. Yes, he has a way with words but he’s also a really good manipulator

he’s used his words for evil too often and therefore can’t trust words anymore. so he uses physical intimacy as a way to show love.

Lucien has a skincare routine of dermatologically approved products. a double cleanse, serum, essence and moisturizer. he uses anti-age sometimes to prevent later wrinkles.

they’re also one of the reasons why he smells clean and fresh

will tickle you when you’re rinsing your mouth. you’ve sprayed water all over the bathroom mirror before. he loves the reaction. 

if you’re having a day off, you’ll probably just wear sweatpants and a t-shirt or a sweater. Lucien’s closet is relatively plain but clean. he has the best cable-knit sweaters/cardigans though.

your breakfast consists of western things like yogurt or oatmeal. Lucien likes having fruit at the start of the day

the rest of the day is spent relaxing and lounging, walking in the park, biking, reading, drawing, whatever you’d like

maaan...i wish i had more days off

Gavin

Gavin’s actually a decently laid-back person on weekends

like, sure he has to work a lot, but his job doesn’t necessarily force him to work from home, so you pretty much have his full attention at home but also he can’t bear to not give you his full attention so what are we expecting

the nasty thing about Gavin being a police officer is that sometimes, he gets called up and needs to work at unconventional hours

also, he gets injured. most of his injuries are minor, but that doesn’t stop you from worrying.

but anyways, he’s not a total busy bee when he’s at home, and relaxing isn’t exceptional

sunday mornings are...well...active. Birdcop goes on a run/hits the gym every morning, so he’s awake by 6am. what did y’all think i was going to write

afterwards, he takes a quick shower and joins you in bed again. 

Gavin sleeps in a pair of basketball shorts and a singlet. he’s somewhat shy about sleeping shirtless, and god forbid he sleep naked. but it’s all good and he respects your boundaries. besides, he’s comfortable in his sleep and that’s all that matters.

you spoon in your sleep. sometimes, he’s the big spoon because he likes being able to ‘protect’ you in his sleep. other times, he relishes in the comfort of being the little spoon and feeling you pressed up against his back. 

very important headcanon! you’ve learnt to sleep with the bedroom window open. on workdays, Gavin gets home late and jumps right into the bedroom. it’s become a typical habit for you two, although you used to be grumpy about not being able to sleep with the noises of traffic. 

you’re usually awoken by the sound of the shower and Gavin’s humming it’s canon that he hums now, bitches. also I bet his singing voice is amazing

so it’s less ‘sleeping in’ and more ‘lounging in bed like the lazy bastards you are’ i’m kiDDING

if he’s able to, Gavin might convince you to go on a run with him....but let’s be honest, you rarely agree

Gavin’s a total cuddlebug though, so be prepared to spend the next forty-five minutes in the tightest hug ever (to be fair, you’re not complaining)

he’s completely soft for you and you’ll have to wrestle out of his grip to get to the bathroom

you don’t shower in the morning, so everything’s pretty quick

Gavin doesn’t actually have a good skincare regiment tbh...he’ll slap on some cream and that’s it. probably washes his face in the shower with body wash...AND HIS SKIN STILL LOOKS AMAZING

you like making funny faces in the mirror while brushing your teeth and making Gavin laugh while he’s watching you in the doorway. he loves how you just make his day with the smallest things.

you guys both dress in really casual clothing, like hoodies and shorts/sweatpants/pj pants unless you’re going somewhere

Gavin has them grey sweatpants, if you know what I mean okay I’ll chill, sorry~

you wear his shirts a lot because they’re super big on you and Gavin secretly not-so-secretly thinks you’re adorable in them (a good thing about Gavin is that he’s easy to read; he blushes rather quickly)

“Ahh...it’s just—you look so tiny and cute.” guess he’s not the only one blushing now

i see Gavin as a ‘bun for breakfast’ kind of person. he picks them up at the stall a couple of miles away when he heads home. sometimes he does so running, other times...well he’s not called Birdcop for nothing

you guys have 2 buns each for breakfast because they’re delicious 

lounge time is often spent gaming or cleaning the house (you’re both busy people and Gavin tends to get messy because he just chucks clothes on the floor after a hard workday)

you make the most out of your sunday, hoping Gavin doesn’t get called in

who wouldn’t like being domestic with Gavin?

Kiro

Kiro, unsurprisingly, has an incredibly busy schedule

one that, similar to Gavin, isn’t really decided by himself

i suppose his situation is a tad bit worse than Birdcop’s, since his workdays don’t even actually end when he gets home. he constantly practices choreos, singing, etc. at home

so, full days off are few and very, very far between

this makes them extra precious

it helps to have a lazy morning once in a while though (in Kiro’s case, lazy sundays are most likely a bi-weekly thing)

you wake up first! Kiro needs his beauty sleep, and damn this boy can knock in 16 hours of sleep if need be

you’ll probably lay in bed for a while and then attempt to get up and ready for the day

until...you feel Kiro’s arm tugging you back

for a skinny, lithe boy, he’s remarkably strong. he pulls you back to bed with the groggiest, cutest sleep-laced voice EVER 

“Mmm, Miss Chips, it’s not time to wake up yet, is it?” 

he snuggles into you and refuses to wake up unless you give him kisses

during the night, Kiro sleeps in actual pyjamas with cute characters on them. when he feels lazy, he’ll probably just slip on a t-shirt and some boxer shorts, but he likes putting in the effort to wear matching couple pyjamas

Kiro cuddles with you 24/7, and sleep makes little difference here. he’s often the little spoon because he does like feeling your presence and your grip on him. he moves around when sleeping, so you might end up out of each other’s embrace, but Kiro subconsciously always touches you in some way or form, like holding hands or intertwining legs. he’s a man with many identities and needs your presence as a reassurance that he’s still the man that you love

he loves to pepper your face with kisses after getting home from rehearsals/concerts, claiming that it gives him energy

you do the same in the morning, anything to hear that sweet giggle of his

he’s deceptively cute though, and innocent morning kisses tend to spiral into...something more let’s just be honest, his stamina is something else entirely i’M SORRY 

morning exercise? check. Hotel? Trivago. non-sponsored~

you guys don’t shower in the morning. Kiro’s used to showering after practice, which is late at night, and you shower in the evenings to help you relax

however, on a rare occasion, you’ll draw a nice bath together and play around with bubbles and scented bath bombs so fun and relaxing

Kiro totally has a 14-step skincare regiment. you don’t get that beautiful baby-smooth skin without some effort.

he has the best ‘mid-range to high-end’ products on the market, and loves sweet and floral scents for his skincare and makeup. you guys try to line up each other’s routines to be able to do them together every morning.

Kiro also has a huge bedhead in the morning! it’s your job to get this sleepyhead styled for a fun day

even Kiro’s casual loungewear is top-notch hip and trendy. he has fun sweatpants with chains, belts, patches, you name it. he likes holding a little fashion show with you, no matter what you two are wearing

old jeans? strut it. thrifted shirt? vogue, honey.

Kiro’s on a strict diet, so usually he has a smoothie and some tofu pudding for breakfast. on occasion, you’ll indulge him in something decadent, like French toast or pancakes. on moments like these, you swear he loves you juuuuuust a little more but don’t tell Savin!

you guys are a relatively active couple, so unless you’re inside gaming or busy working, you’ll spend some time in thrift stores or karaoke bars, arcades, fun fairs,...

just thinking about Kiro brightens my day...

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this! I’ll try to bring out more content for K-Pop idols, otome characters and anime characters during the holidays. Requests are still open, so don’t be afraid to send a little message in my ask-box!

Love,

R.

[highonchocolate]

Take Two: The Guardian in Gotham Chapter 11

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“Maybe if we use this as a counter agent, it could keep both preserved.” Marinette pointed out, “It says right here that this can balance the whole process quite well on it’s own.” 

Alfred hummed thoughtfully, leaning over to read what she was indicating more thoroughly. “But that is only for one, Miss Marinette. You are talking about four at the very minimum. I don’t know if-”

Her phone chimed with the notification reserved for messages to her yo-yo, interrupting their conversation. “I’m so sorry M. Alfred, may I be excused for a moment?” She asked, looking over at the older man apologetically. 

“Of course Miss Marinette, take your time. We will keep researching this while you go, and inform you if we find anything.” Alfred indicated the tablet sitting in the table, pages of the Grimoire lighting up its screen. Beside him, the rest of the Kwami murmured agreement, engrossed in their findings as they scrolled through the text.

“Thank you!” She smiled and ducked out of the room, standing in the hallway to view the message for Ladybug.

Greetings, Ladybug, this is Princess Diana of Themyscira. On behalf of the Justice League, I would like to formally invite you and your team to come to the Watchtower for your first day of training on October 20th. A member of our team will be in Paris, and will take you there at precisely 900 hours. We look forward to seeing you then.

Marinette read through the short message several times, brain not fully comprehending the words in front of her. The moment they registered, however, she blue screened. 

Marinette.exe has stopped working. 

Her thoughts were a muddled mess of panicked catastrophizing and half-baked contingency plans jumbling together in her brain as she went over what the implications of that message were. 

They were training. 

At the Watchtower. 

Watchtower.

Training. 

Them. 

Holy fuck. She had to tell the team! 

She immediately started a group call, speed hobbling to her room as she waited for everyone to pick up. 

“Yeah?!”

“What’s up?”

“Hi everybody.”

“Hello?”

“Guys! We have our first meeting with the other heroes!” She whisper-yelled in French, trying to contain her excitement.

Her announcement was met with several exclamations of joy from her team. They celebrated for a few minutes, finally feeling hope for the first time in years. “We need to have a plan for what we’re going to do there,” she cut in, worry bleeding into her voice. “Can we all meet at Luka’s in like, five minutes?”

“Uh, sorry Bug, but I can’t go out unless there’s a valid reason.” Adrien sheepishly informed her. “Otherwise my Father won’t let me.”

“Same here,” Kagami sighed regretfully.

“How about we all meet at Adrien’s?” Luka suggested, “Kagami just tell your mom you and Adrien are going to practice your languages together or something.”

“And if that doesn't work, I can always just pretend-demand that you all need to come over for a sleepover.” Chloe added.

“I think...that may work.” 

“My Mother would agree to that.”

“Alright. Adrien’s house in...ten? Fifteen?” Marinette clarified.

“Let’s do fifteen.” Luka said. There were murmurs of agreement before she ended the call and flopped backward onto her bed, hope and excitement flooding her veins. 

---

Thirteen minutes later, she was stepping through a portal into Adrien’s room. As soon as she had gotten through, she was tackled enthusiastically by Adrien and Chloe. “Mari!!!” Adrien yelled, grabbing her in a tight hug. 

Surprising as it may be, Chloe was secretly a cuddler, and Adrien was severely touch starved, so they were always hanging on to other members of the team. Kagami and Luka were also fans of physical affection, but they stood back a little, not wanting to get caught in the giant Celtic Knot of limbs that had formed where the other three were still hugging. 

Breaking out of the embrace, Marinette reached over to the other two and hugged them gently, clutching on for a few moments as she relished the feeling of being surrounded by her friends one again. 

Finally, Chloe spoke up, reminding them why they were all there.”So...when exactly is the meeting?” 

“Oh, it’s on October twentieth. So like, in a week. ” Marinette replied, “We need to plan for this though.”

“Let's set some basic rules.” Adrien suggested, curling up in a beanbag chair. “First things first, even if they reveal their identities to us, we don’t have to reveal our identities to them. Not until all this is over, maybe not even then.” 

“And make sure to stay on guard, and not reveal anything about our civilian lives, right?” Luka asked.

“Yes.” Kagami nodded, “We should wear comms just in case we split up as well.”

“Nettie are we using Kaalki?” Chloe asked, turning to face her.

“We’re not using them, but I will be bringing them along with us. You never know what might happen.”

There were nods of agreement.

“And most importantly, try not to pick fights with the other people.” Marinette added, casting a meaningful glance around at Chloe. “Even if they challenge our honor, or say something rude about our families.” Another glance at Kagami.

“”Oh fine,” Chloe grumbled, rolling her eyes. 

Kagami gave them a little half-smile, one that screamed ‘I make no promises,’ but nodded. “Agreed.” 

“Alright, so nine am, on the twentieth.” Marinette called on Voyage, “I’ll see you then!” 

And she was gone, the portal closing behind her in a flare of blue light. 

---

The morning of their meeting dawned bright and clear in Paris.

Marinette, however, stared out at the dark sky and fog surrounding Gotham, and longed for home. It was nearly always cold here, and she spent every day in a constant battle against her Ladybug instincts. She was going to end up hibernating all winter at this rate, which would not do. Glancing at the clock, she noticed it was nearing three, which meant she should probably go to Paris if she didn’t want to be late. 

She waved to Alfred before walking upstairs, having finally downgraded to a simple brace for her leg. The rest of the family seemed very surprised, and a little suspicious of the rate she was healing, considering it normally took three to six months for a fractured tibia to heal. Granted, she had been injured in August and it was now October, which was a solid two months, but still too short of a time period to be completely normal. 

That’s a problem for future Marinette to solve. She decided, choosing to ignore the thought. 

She stepped through the portal onto the Eiffel Tower where her team was already waiting. Wonder Woman’s message hadn’t told them where they would be meeting the hero that would be taking them to the Watchtower, so they had decided to wait on the Eiffel.

Barely five minutes later, Superman himself swooped down from the sky, landing lightly on the support beam they were perching on. “Well, well, if it isn’t the Man of Steel himself.”  Chloe snarked, rolling her eyes at his appearance. “Gonna get me killed again today?” 

Kagami elbowed her in an attempt to shut her up.

“Bee!” Marinette hissed, giving her a warning glare.

“Sorry.” She muttered, not sounding apologetic at all.

Superman’s eyes went comically wide, before he sputtered out a series of half formed apologies, looking flustered and ashamed at her accusation. 

“Save it.” She held up hand. “It wasn't the first time, and it won’t be the last. You’re here to take us to the Watchtower, right?” 

“Um, yes. We’re going to use the Zeta Beams to get there.” He looked even more concerned at her statement, but chose to let it slide. “Follow me.”

---

Stepping out of the beam, Marinette braced a hand against the wall as she struggled to keep her lunch down. Swallowing against the rising bile, she pressed her hand to her mouth until the worst of the nausea had faded. Looking up, she watched Adrien and Chloe stumble out of the beam, looking as green as she felt. Unlike her, however, Chloe did not manage to keep her composure, stumbling to a nearby trashcan and vomiting into it. 

“Oh yuck!” Adrien wrinkled his nose, enhanced senses already picking up the stink beginning to waft through the air. Kagami followed next, looking as composed as ever. She swayed lightly, but regained her balance fairly quickly, walking over to her girlfriend and hugging her gently as she moaned miserably from her spot on the floor. Luka and Superman were the last to join them, both of them booking unruffled from the ride. “Ah, I’m sorry about that.” Superman apologized, “The beams can make you feel a little nauseous the first few times.”

“A little?” Adrien asked incredulously. 

“It’s subjective.” He shrugged. 

“So, what’s the first order of business?” Marinette asked, looking around curiously. They seemed to be in an entrance room of sorts, but that was all she could tell. 

“Well first, we’ll need to have Martian Manhunter do a quick mind search just to make sure you aren’t enemies, or have bad intentions towards the Justice league. He won’t hurt you.” Diana called from where she was standing. Next to her was another person with green skin, an alien most probably.

Luka stepped forward, arms folded across his chest. “How, exactly, will this mind reading stuff work? We don’t want any of our secret identities being compromised.”

“It’s sort of like a google search.” The green-skinned hero in blue and red stepped forward. “I just search for specific terms, and if none of them pop up, you’re clear.”

“And are you going to do this on us one at a time, or as a group?” Kagami asked, gaze steely.

“One at a time. But it might dredge up some painful memories, so be prepared.” He warned.

“In that case, I’ll go first.” Marinette volunteered, stepping over to the hero.

She closed her eyes, and the visions began.

---

She was thirteen again, opening the box and watching Tikki appear before her in a flash of red light. Flying through the air with laughter singing through her soul. Staring out at stone golems, facing everyone’s doubt, ever her own. Floundering desperately, looking for someone to help, fighting the battles on her own as Chat Noir joked and fooled around. Collapsing slowly under the pressure.

Fourteen and struggling, Siren makes an appearance. Those nightmares have never left her. Drowned civilians, water-logged limbs, bloated sacks of flesh floating in the water. Still no help from Chat, the Guardian remaining as elusive and paranoid as ever. She is falling, falling, falling, weighted down by her duties. She still flies, but there is no more laughter.

Fifteen and Lila comes along. Spinning web after web, ensnaring everyone with poisoned words, dripping honey-sweet with lies. She watches as she loses everyone to a girl that only wanted to fit in. Adrien does nothing, and the last of her love for him flickers out. 

Still fifteen, and there is Miracle Queen. Her cure wiped everyone’s memory, but she knows she can’t afford anymore slip-ups. She’s the Guardian now, and she knows she can’t do this on her own. She adds three permanent members to her team, and with the reveal comes remorse. Chat-no, Adrien-realizes his harassment, and Chloe apologizes. Things are looking up.

Then, she is sixteen, and the bullying becomes physical. Heroing, schoolwork, and commissions for ungrateful classmates wear away at her. Designing loses its joy. She sinks into a haze of monochrome grays, mechanically moving through life. Then there is The Incident, and there is nothing but cold, and red, and-

With a gasp her eyes fly open, and she looks around wildly, bright blue eyes shadowed, and far away.  

“Bug!” Chat called out, reaching for her as she gasped, struggling for air. There was wetness on her cheeks; when did that get there? The other heroes looked at her in concern, Martian Manhunter had apologies written all over his face. Before they could say anything, she waved a hand dismissively and tried for a smile. “I’m okay, really. Did I pass the test?”

Martian Manhunter still looked worried, but nodded. “You are good. You can go sit down or wait here until I do the rest.”

“I’ll stay.”

Adrien was next. 

He stepped forward, feeling his apprehension rise. If Marinette’s reaction was that bad, what would his be?

He breathed in, and closed his eyes.

---

@laurcad123, @liquid-luck-00, @toodaloo-kangaroo

[flightfoot]

Divergent Points: Miraculer

AO3

Alya tossed and turned, groaning.

After some time (it felt like it must’ve been HOURS, but the clock said that only twenty minutes had passed. At this point she wondered whether Bunnix was messing with her), she sat up. 

Fumbling around for her light switch, she finally found it and flicked it, flooding the room with light. 

TOO. MUCH. LIGHT.

Instantly she buried her face underneath the covers again, squeezing her eyes shut until they’d adjusted to that small amount of light.

After a moment she removed the blanket from her face, a little at the time to allow for her eyes to adjust, wincing as the brightness assaulted her eyelids.

See, THIS was why she either stayed up super late or slept through until morning, when light was already creeping in and her eyes were adjusted to at least a little of it.

Unfortunately, her brain had refused to cooperate.

“Kit?” A sleepy voice asked.

Alya looked up to the space she’d cleared out on her bookshelf for the little kwami. “...you remember that salt universe I and the others got dragged into a few months ago?”

Trixx nodded. “Tikki was worried, but I knew you would break out of it. Any Holder of mine learns how to tell when illusions and trickery are afoot.”

Alya smiled, reaching out to scratch behind Trixx’s ears. The little fox gave a small giggle, wagging his tail.

“I was just remembering some stuff that happened there,” she said, curling her knees up against her chest. 

Trixx cuddled up against her, rubbing against her cheek. “You’re safe now. Everyone is. That entity has gone elsewhere, and I can’t see her returning - not after Marinette sent her packing!”

Alya shook her head. “That’s not it. I mean… I feared that for a while and I kept on having flashbacks, but they’ve gone way down - especially with Lila gone.”

She may not have been responsible for what went on in that world, but Alya’s subconscious had still decided to latch onto her as a trigger, causing her extreme anxiety whenever she focused on Lila for too long. So she was pretty glad when Lila’s mother moved embassies again, taking her daughter with her. Part of her felt a little sorry for Lila for being forced to move such a short time after she’d gotten therapy, opened up and started presenting herself a little more honestly to people.

Most of her was just relieved.

Some of her classmates would stay in touch with her. Others never forgave her for deceiving them.

But at this point, it wasn’t something she needed to concern herself with. Lila could form her own future.

While Alya felt like the dark cloud that had been hanging over hers had evaporated.

“That’s not the problem,” she told Trixx. “Not this time.”

Trixx frowned. “Then what?”

Alya drummed her fingers against her bedframe. “One of the things that world showed me, one of the scenarios, was that weird flip between me and Chloe, with me becoming a bully and her turning into Marinette’s best friend and staunchest ally. One of the ways I - or Rena, I guess? that part of myself - pointed out the flaws in that scenario was by calling attention to how that scenario ignored how Chloe treated her ‘best friend’ in reality, that a lot of how that universe twisted me, tried to control me, what it tried to make me into, more closely resembled Chloe than it did myself. Especially with how it made me treat Marinette the way Chloe treated Sabrina - at least before the universe claimed that I ‘turned’ on Marinette.

“Pulling at that thread worked. It created a chink in the universe’s armor that I could use to unravel it the rest of the way. But it didn’t help the real Sabrina at all.”

Trixx’s eyes widened in understanding. “And with what happened today…”

Alya nodded. “Seeing Sabrina akumatized over Chloe again reminded me of their relationship. I generally see Chloe disparaging Sabrina less nowadays - actually, come to think of it, Chloe’s not going out of her way to be mean in general - ever since she became Queen Bee formally and had other things to focus on. But that doesn’t mean their relationship is anywhere near healthy.”

“Do you have a plan?”

Alya bit her lip. “...Maybe. I remember Marinette mentioning that she tried to get Sabrina to stand up for herself at some point. Obviously it didn’t work, but maybe she has some insight…”

-------

Marinette made a face. “Good luck.”

Alya tilted her head. “It went down that badly with Sabrina?”

“Not at first. Actually, it went a little TOO well,” Marinette said. “I pointed out that Chloe was taking advantage of Sabrina, making her do all the work, and that I’d rather have NO friends than be friends with Chloe.”

Her face fell slightly. “That last part I’d take back now.  I’d always just slotted her in as a bully who existed to make my life miserable. Chloe can be awful sometimes - okay, a lot of the time - but… well, she has some reason for being the way she is. And as Ladybug, I’ve gotten to see a side of her I never knew existed. She really wants to prove herself to be valuable and useful, for other people to see her that way. I think she has some pretty bad abandonment issues from her mother leaving. Her mom disparaging her constantly and treating her like dirt didn’t help.”

“Do you think we could talk to Chloe about treating Sabrina better?” Alya asked. “Or at least, that you could. She listens to you, at least when you’re Ladybug.”

Marinette looked uncomfortable. “I dunno… I want her to be a better person, but I’m not sure that Ladybug coming in and just telling her that she needs to be nicer is gonna work. She didn’t seem that happy with me last night, and anyway, it takes more than that to get someone to change their personality and habits, the way they’ve interacted with the world for most of their life.”

“Oh yeah, Adrien tried that before, didn’t he?” Alya recalled. 

Marinette nodded. “It made her give an effort for awhile, but if the only reason someone’s being nicer is to avoid punishment… it’s not likely to last. And I don’t think Adrien wants to dangle his friendship with her over her head.”

Alya grimaced. She’d been through that situation before when she was younger, before she’d even hit the double digits. Some of the neighborhood kids she was friends with liked to use the line “if you don’t do [X], I won’t be friends with you anymore!”

Being so young, she believed they were serious, until her mom convinced her that it wasn’t worth following their commands if they were going to make it an ultimatum like that. 

Sure enough, an hour later her friend was at the door apologizing and they became friends again.

She’d tried using that line on Alya a couple more times, but at that point Alya knew she wasn’t serious and that she wouldn’t want to be friends with her if she was, and she gradually stopped using it.

Adrien may have had a far better reason for his ultimatum, but it still felt icky to her. She wouldn’t want to use that ultimatum on Chloe constantly either - on anyone really.

“That’s fair,” Alya said. “I wouldn’t want him to, either.”

“I’m hoping that with her mom back she doesn’t feel so abandoned,” Marinette continued. “And I’ve tried to reinforce when she does something good, like after Malediktator with celebrating Queen Bee. But, well… she just doesn’t do that very often.” She looked down. “I want to help her be better, I KNOW she can be better, especially with some of the stories Adrien’s told me of when the two of them were younger. But I can’t just- just MAKE her treat people better, to be someone who people WANT to spend time around.”

“That’s not your responsibility, you know that, right?” Alya pointed out. “She’s her own person. Whatever she does, it’s not on you.”

Marinette sighed. “I know, I know. Same goes for you too, though.”

Alya laughed. “We’re quite the pair huh? Both of us have a habit of sticking our noses in other people’s business.”

“Like a certain girl who, in her first few minutes at a new school, stood up to the resident bully for a girl she didn’t even know?” Marinette teased.

“I don’t like seeing people be picked on.” Alya said, putting her arm around Marinette. “Especially since, well… I’d just moved here. I was trying to decide who I wanted to be. Seeing Chloe putting you down like that? I decided that the person I wanted to be was someone brave. Someone who fought for the innocent. Who stood up when they saw an injustice, if they thought they could help. Whose primary concern was helping those in trouble.”

She winced. “I won’t pretend I’ve always been perfect about it, but… it’s an ideal I strive towards.”

“Not like you’re the only one,” Marinette told her. “Remember at Adrien’s party?”

Alya blinked. “What about it?”

Marinette rubbed the back of her neck. “Remember how, uh, conveniently the record the Bubbler was playing changed?”

“Wait, that was you?!”

Marinette laughed, chagrinned. “I didn’t like Chloe and Adrien dancing together.”

“To be fair, I don’t think he liked it either,” Alya said. 

“Probably not,” Marinette agreed. “But… well, I’d be lying if I said that was my main motivation for changing the song.”

Alya snorted. “I’ve helped with your plans, girl. I KNOW.”

Marinette’s smile faded. “Unfortunately I don’t know what else can be done about Chloe, or even Chloe and Sabrina’s relationship.”

“What DID end up happening with Sabrina?” Alya asked. “You never finished telling that story. Obviously their fallout didn’t last.”

“Chloe tried to tempt her with a beret she’d bought, which she actually seemed to be considering until Evillustrator attacked. Kiiiinda had higher priorities at that point.”

“Yeah, being chased with a giant hair dryer tends to do that.”

Marinette laughed. “That it does. Sabrina caught up with me later at my house to work on the project. She actually did my geography homework for me. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to work on it right then, what with the fake date I set up with Evillustrator.”

“Still can’t believe you did that,” Alya said.

Marinette raised an eyebrow. “This from the girl whose immediate thought when seeing a supervillain was, ‘Ooh, I should bike after them so I can film whatever superhero shows up’?”

“Touché.”

“Sabrina immediately took offense when I told her I was busy,” Marinette continued. “Saying that Chloe used that excuse all the time and that the two of us are really similar, that I probably expected her to do all the work, too. I tried to protest, but she’d already made up her mind, grabbing the homework she’d done for me and stalking off. Next time I saw her she was with Chloe again, wearing the beret Chloe’d tempted her with earlier and delivering Chloe’s completed homework to her, calling her her BFF again. Basically, everything was back to normal.”

“I don’t get it,” Alya said, squinting as if that could help make things clearer. “If she thought that you were acting like Chloe - and I’ve seen Chloe, she’s WAY ruder about it - why would that make her think Chloe’s great? And why was that enough to drive her away so quickly? You’d only brushed her off once. Chloe does it regularly.”

Marinette shrugged. “I couldn’t figure that out myself. Maybe because she knew Chloe would take her back? I’d never really paid much attention to Sabrina and Chloe’s relationship before, I was more concerned with just trying to stay away from them so I didn’t fall into Chloe’s cross-hairs.”

“Hmmm…”

That sort of made sense, but… she really didn’t know whether Sabrina thought like that. What her mindset was in general. How she could be okay with just following after Chloe and doing whatever she was told to, with having THAT unequal of a “friendship”. 

Maybe a little more reconnaissance was needed…

But who else could she ask? 

Chloe?

Maybe, but she wasn’t exactly eager to talk to her. Probably wouldn’t get anything useful, either.

But there was one other person she knew who Sabrina was close to...

“Thanks, Marinette, you’ve been a big help.”

“You know of some way to help their relationship?” Marinette asked.

Alya shook her head. “Not yet. But I have an idea for who to ask next.”

------

Alya scanned the park.

Hm, where were they…

A shadow from above flew over the park. 

Ah!

Craning her neck, she took a closer look.

Small? Check.

Grey? Check.

Followed by swarms of other birds heading the same direction? Check.

All converging on…

She looked down at a figure sitting on a park bench, feeding the pigeons.

A lot of people were at least somewhat familiar with Mr. Ramier by now. Kinda had to be, considering that Hawkmoth wouldn’t leave the poor guy alone.

“You know you’re banned from this park,” a stern voice called out.

Alya grimaced. Hawkmoth wasn’t the only one who wouldn’t leave Mr. Ramier alone. Granted, he WAS breaking the rules, but Roger could still give him some slack.

Well she was aiming to talk to Roger anyway, maybe she could spare Ladybug and Chat Noir having to fight Mr Pigeon yet AGAIN.

(Seriously she was beginning to think Hawkmoth had a crush on Mr. Ramier with how much he liked akumatizing the guy, even though he’d become less and less of a threat every time).

Waving her hands, she sprinted over to Roger and Mr. Ramier, just as Roger was starting in on his usual spiel.  “Monsieur Roger?” she asked. “Could I talk to you for a minute?”

He waved her off. “After I’m done telling this criminal AGAIN that he’s not allowed in the park.”

“It’s about your daughter.”

Roger’s head shot up. “Sabrina? What’s wrong? Is she hurt?”

Alya shook her head. “No… well, not physically anyway. That’s what I want to talk to you about. Because I DO think she’s hurt, just… emotionally.”

Roger looked back at Mr. Ramier. He sighed, adjusting his cap before looking at Alya again. “Alright, miss. What’s going on with my daughter?”

“You know how she’s friends with Chloe, right?”

Roger grinned. “Of course! I’m so proud of her. Sabrina really follows the family motto. ‘Protect and serve,’ that’s what I always say! She’s always looking after anything Chloe needs, whether it’s homework help, tea, or anything else! They’re such close friends.”

Oooookay, she was beginning to see why Sabrina didn’t see anything wrong with her relationship with Chloe.

“Uh… Roger… you know that relationship’s really one-sided, right?” Alya asked awkwardly. “…have you paid attention to how Chloe treats Sabrina?”

Roger shrugged. “I know Chloe depends on Sabrina a lot. Sure she can be a little rough around the edges, but she still cares about her. She just shows she cares through presents, while Sabrina shows how she cares by helping her.”

Well… okay, that made SOME sense. Different people had different ways of showing they cared. But Roger was missing a really important piece of the picture.

“She might care about Sabrina on some level,” Alya admitted begrudgingly. “But she still treats her really badly. And I don’t just mean in a ‘she’s bad at expressing herself’ sort of way. Sure, helping friends is common, that’s fine. But Chloe just… she harangues Sabrina all the time, and even coerced her into breaking the law.”

It wasn’t terribly common, but Chloe HAD done it, and would likely be willing to do it again if it helped her achieve her goals.

Roger’s eyes hardened. “WHAT?! My Sabrina would never-!”

“You should try asking her about the time Chloe ran for Class representative,” Alya interrupted. “Chloe told Sabrina to steal Marinette’s diary so she could blackmail Marinette into dropping out.”

Roger growled. “That’s ridiculous.  Chloe’s the mayor’s daughter, she wouldn’t try to get someone, especially my DAUGHTER, to break the law for her!”

“...Like that time Chloe pressured her dad into trying to force you to illegally search one of her classmate’s possessions?”

Roger froze. “I…”

“Just ask her, alright?” Alya said. “Just… just talk about it. And really look at Sabrina’s and Chloe’s relationship. Doing things for a friend is fine. Helping a friend in need is generally expected. But berating a friend for not doing a favor, or not doing it fast enough or well enough for their liking… that’s something to keep an eye on. Especially when that ‘friend’ is contemptuous of you, saying that you’re lucky to have them, that you’d have no other friends otherwise, that you’re a nobody.”

“...I’ll talk to her about it,” Roger said. “And she’ll prove all of this wrong, that she and Chloe have a great relationship!”

Well Sabrina may THINK they have a good relationship, but-

“Sabrina probably thinks so,” Alya said. “That doesn’t mean it’s true. I’m not sure Sabrina knows what SHE should expect out of a friendship, beyond just not being alone.”

“Isn’t that the most important thing?” Roger argued. 

Alya grimaced. “Being lonely sucks. But some friendships are worse than being alone, especially if that friendship is cutting that person off from forming any other bonds. I’m not saying that Sabrina should cut all ties with Chloe, or that there’s no genuine affection between them. But I AM saying that their relationship may need a reorganization. At the very least, that she needs a chance to have a friendship network that extends beyond just Chloe.”

Sighing, Roger looked down, his cap covering his eyes. “I have noticed that she doesn’t really talk about or hang out with anyone else” he said begrudgingly. “I thought the two of them were just such great friends there was no need to.”

“Everyone needs more friends in their lives,” Alya said. “One person might be a best friend, but to only have one friend, period? Can be a problem. Even if it’s with the best person in the world. It makes that person entirely dependent on that one friend. So if an issue arises there are no other options, no one else to turn to. And everyone needs someone to turn to.”

------

Hm… which shade of red was best? 

Comparing the picture on her phone to the different paint colors, she selected one of the brighter shades. It might not be entirely accurate, but next to the black of Chat Noir’s suit it would really pop.

*creak*

Alya looked up.

Chloe strutted through the door, Sabrina following behind her.

Something seemed different about Sabrina though. She looked uncomfortable and conflicted whenever she looked at Chloe, like she wasn’t sure how she should feel about her.

“Oh, Sabrina, look at this!” Chloe said, walking over to Alix’s latest street art masterpiece. “The little punk thinks vandalism is art!”

“Don’t you have something better to do?” Alix asked.

“Well of course, I always have something better to do. I just thought I’d grace you with my presence. No need to thank me. No, actually. DO thank me. It’s the least you can do.”

Alix rolled her eyes, getting back to her spray painting.

“Chloe, over here!” 

Alya blinked, watching Adrien wave Chloe over.

Huh. That was unusual. Usually Adrien preferred to spend time with Marinette (granted she was at her own workstation sewing this time, while Adrien was working at a separate station). Chloe and Adrien may still be friends, but…

Adrien caught her eye.

And winked.

OOOOH.

“ADRIKINS!” Chloe squealed, running over to him and latching onto his arm. 

As the two of them began talking earnestly, Alya noticed Marinette waving Sabrina over. 

For the first time since she’d entered the classroom, a small smile graced Sabrina’s face. 

Seeing Sabrina sitting next to Marinette, having a good time, Alya couldn’t help but smile as well.

-----

(A/N)

Just to make it clear, I don't think Lila's better than Chloe. But any sort of comeuppance or retribution that could be inflicted on Lila already HAS been in fics a hundredfold. At this point I just want her gone so I can pretend she doesn't exist.

Chloe's far more interesting. With her characterization she can be pulled in multiple different directions, can be developed in different ways without needing to break her character. Just having her be a stuck-up bully? There's plenty of canon to back that up. Want her to build herself up, to try to be... if not nice exactly, to at least be helpful, to protect the people she cares about? There's plenty to draw on there as well. She's easily the most versatile character in ML.

Still very annoyed at how often she gets the Draco in Leather Pants treatment while Alya and Adrien get Ron the Death Eater'd to make room for her, though. When it's just a Chloedemption I'm fine with that, but not when other, canonically kinder, more understanding characters have their characterization completely broken in order to make her look better by comparison.

Also her treatment of Sabrina really needs to be addressed. I do believe she's genuinely fond of Sabrina, but she still treats her very poorly. I hope season 4 develops Sabrina more so I can better understand her mindset, that was one of the most difficult parts of writing this. Just trying to understand why she sticks with Chloe, why she keeps going back to her.

I liked how the NY Special let Sabrina separate from Chloe to talk to that boy, to allow Sabrina to have some sort of relationship outside of Chloe. That's what I wanted for her here, for her to have a chance to form some new bonds and be less dependent on Chloe. I can't see her leaving Chloe entirely, but maybe Chloe will treat Sabrina better if Sabrina's more willing to distance herself when Chloe starts treating her badly, along with decreasing Sabrina's likelihood of being akumatized whenever that happens. So far both times Sabrina got akumatized (outside of Heroes Day) Chloe lashing out at her has facilitated it.

As for a Chloedemption, with what we've seen in the show, I just don't think we're there yet. We've had a few people try to intervene, pushing Chloe to be a better person.

Evillustrator: Marinette pointed out the issues in Chloe's and Sabrina's relaitonship, and Sabrina HERSELF called Chloe out for treating her like a slave.

Despair Bear: Adrien tried to push Chloe into being nicer, into making an effort.

Style Queen & Malediktator: Marinette got Chloe's mom to stick around and connect with her a little (albeit in a very unorthodox way), even having a heartfelt moment connecting with Chloe the next episode, getting a better glimpse of her insecurities and trying to help her with them by giving her a chance to show that she's definitely NOT useless, and to get appreciation that she genuinely earned.

I don't really have much more I can add to that to push Chloe over the redemption line. She's already had a lot of people working with her. So I wanted to give Sabrina a push instead. I dunno whether Roger gaining a better understanding of how skewed Chloe's and Sabrina's relationship is and talking to Sabrina about it, letting her know that "protect and serve" has limits, would actually happen or whether that would get Sabrina to reconsider what she should put up with, but I figure it's more likely than Chloe's parents shaping up, especially with how awful Audrey is. At least Roger showed some integrity in Rogercop.

[poppyna]

the visitor ; anton&poppy

timing: earlier in may + last week participants: @poppyvernis & @grantcontrol​ summary: anton gets sent to the hospital. poppy gets a snack a meal plan. content warning: head trauma

In his less than stellar career as an exterminator, Anton was at least able to prove two things: One, he couldn’t dodge bullets, and two, he couldn’t dodge the ground. In retrospect, chasing an overgrown spider on someone else’s roof wasn’t the best idea, but at least it gave him enough time to consider his life choices, as flashes of previously, terribly made ones came running back to him, right before his very eyes, the fall itself peculiarly slow, as if it was intentionally taking an eternity to accommodate this Powerpoint presentation of numerous mistakes and regrets. Then the thud came, and everything else faded to black. 

The next thing he knew, he was coming in and out of consciousness, being wheeled through what smelled like a hospital, what sounded like an introvert’s worst nightmare. What he could see were mere blurs, almost incomprehensible and incoherent images fighting for his attention against the blinding lights of the ceiling. What he could hear were bits and pieces of rushed conversation, none of which he was interested in. 

A familiar voice did ring in his ears, barely making any sense to him, mostly because he was more concerned about the stuffed rabbit he just dropped as they were wheeling him away, his outstretched hand reaching for it but to no avail. “...oh, it’s the exterminator...what happened?” “...fell down a roof…chasing...dog...” “really?! ...well, that’s dumb.” Then the darkness returned, dragging him back into the depths of his own mind, where a haunting shadow patiently lurked. Hello, Anton. You have your mother’s eyes.

Gossip spread through the ER like wildfire, no matter how much the nurses liked to boast about having the perfect mask of professionalism with patients. The ones with strange reasons for ending up there were the hottest topics- at least for a few moments before someone else came with an even more inane reason. Poppy liked to pretend she wasn’t as interested as the rest of them, but even she wasn’t immune to the allure of knowing other people’s business. And the business, specifically, seemed to be an exterminator of some sort who was in over his head.

The reception area had a temporary lull in new faces, and it was her who was tasked with bringing the personal belongings over to the different private rooms. She expected bags of clothes, maybe a phone or two, but not a… child’s toy? The last thing she wanted to see was some sickly child. Those cases always left a bad taste in her mouth. Regardless, she donned a pair of gloves and set out to deliver the goods that had been left.

When she finally came to the room the note on the doll had mentioned, she realized two things very quickly. One, that the doll did not, in fact, belong to some sickly child, and two, that she definitely should not have stepped into that room. Poppy could almost feel the uneasy dream the man laying in the bed was slipping into from her position all the way by the door. She gulped. She definitely should have just asked someone else to do this job. She threw a quick glance behind her shoulder before she slid the door to the room closed with her hip. As she extended her hand to brush over the man’s forehead to enhance the unpleasant dream he had, she noted that this must be that exterminator the staff were all murmuring of. 

“Sorry,” she whispered to herself.

Anton has done his fair share of running. From debt collectors? Check. From adult responsibilities like being a good dad to a young daughter he’s barely met? Check. From bees? Check. The last part, he felt like he’d be doing for an eternity. Or at least until he got tired, which in this place, wherever it was, didn’t feel like it was happening any time soon. Where the hell am I? He wondered, at least for a bit, looking around him as grayish smoke and mist surrounded him, drowning this place as far as he could see. That was, until his attention was once again stolen by the giant bees that were apparently chasing him.

Anton. The voice spoke to him, not as sound in the air but seemingly from deep within, as if the speaker was someone, or something, that resided in his heart of hearts. You cannot run forever. Panting, wheezing, though not actually feeling tired, if only afraid, fearful for what could happen should his feet, knees, fail him, the exterminator continued to run, looking back every now and then to find the giant bees still after him, never speeding up nor slowing down. 

Then he spotted something strange, something new, a face, unfamiliar and out of place, from within the swarming rabble. Sorry, she whispered to him, not as sound in the air but from deep within, only confusing him even more. Who the— He cut himself off as he turned away, colliding straight into something else, something strong enough to knock him back, down on his ass on the ground. Wincing, Anton took his sweet time making sure he was still in one piece before he looked up and saw the man in the beekeeper’s suit, his arms already reaching towards him. I’m already home!

On his bed in the hospital, his physical body twitched and turned, his lips moving, though rare were the words that came out ever coherent. Although the fear was great, his guilt would never come second, and under three words, Anton’s lips moved ever so slightly to allow them a strange passage. “It’s okay…”

Poppy’s brow furrowed for a moment as the visions he saw danced through her mind. What the hell kind of fears did this man have?  She wasn’t creating anything for him to experience- no, this was a nightmare birthed from his own personal hell. If the rush of energy she felt from how terrified some guy and his insects made him feel- she probably would have cared more about that. She rolled her neck and shoulders slowly, head tilting from one side to the other. It felt like a massage to her very core that no physical touch could satisfy. There was nothing better than this feeling, and for a brief second she considered taking it all in that very moment. She wouldn’t need to feed again for quite some time. 

The words that left his mouth snapped her back to reality. She opened her eyes and stared down at him. For a moment, she panicked. Was he awake? What the hell? That had never happened before. Poppy considered her own thoughts that she felt while feeding and bit her lip. The high, warm feeling in her stomach began to fall, leaving her blood buzzing through her veins as though she had just run a race while her heart sat thick in her throat. That’s the monster she pretended she wasn’t. She didn’t even know the poor guy who she just tormented and there she was considering adding a second notch onto her ledger. Fuck.

She retracted her hand slowly, knowing she shouldn’t let it idle on his head for too long. Poppy felt compelled to flee, but there were too many nurses out in the hallways for a fast walk to go unnoticed. The sun had yet to fully set, she couldn’t go intangible and leave, and even if she could the cameras would pick up a door opening and closing on its own, and- and-

Her hold on the stuffed toy in her other hand tightened and she resolved herself to take it face on. Poppy looked behind her, just to check and make sure no other nurse had crept inside while the whole ordeal was unfolding, then took a few steps back. She glided her hand down her face and combed her fingers through her hair, at least trying to make herself look as thought she was a normal human nurse just concerned for a regular patient. 

The Beekeeper was a story Anton’s late grandfather told him and the rest of his cousins whenever they had become too naughty, too rowdy, for the other grown-ups to contain, to rein in. It was a tale of warning, of fear, the title character the appropriate Boogeyman for their family’s line of work. Yet as the years went by, as Anton found himself drifting farther and farther away from his own family, the Beekeeper became more of an afterthought to him, a forgotten string of words from a bygone era, nothing more than the whispers of a past he can never go back to. That was, until he returned to White Crest.

It wasn’t like he was forced to return, however, as his former life in California wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies. He had made mistakes, so many, and though he wouldn’t admit to regretting much, there were major milestones in his life that he dared wish had happened differently. Thus, the move was a welcomed respite from the dark clouds that hung over his head through the years, only to be replaced by darker ones once he arrived in this sleepy town. At the very least, he had inherited the pest control business as well as a better place of residence when that grandfather of his died.

“Am I dead?” The words slithered weakly out of Anton’s lips as his dark brown eyes wandered slowly towards the other person’s very form. Holy fuck, she’s gorgeous. It was a weird first thought, considering the nightmare he had just survived, the fall he had taken. One would assume he’d be more interested in figuring out what had happened, how he got there, yadda yadda yadda. Then again, the exterminator has survived far worse and has taken more dangerous beatings. It seemed that the gates of hell were closed to his soul yet again. “Are you an angel? I’ll go wherever you’d take me.”

It took him more effort than he was used to, but he was able to muster a warm smile, the so-called stone meant to hit two birds: the nurse, as a sign of gratitude for keeping his unconscious body company, and himself, as a distraction from the horrors that he had just escaped from. Groaning, he moved his body around, at least as much as he could, still tired and barely recovered from the fall. When he found a comfortable enough spot, a position that made the rest of him ease a little, he turned to her again, his eyes not wanting to leave her face, his smile unable to falter. There was something about her that drew him like a moth to a flame, a vision of beauty and salvation. Shame that Anton had no idea how that allusion was more dangerous than he could ever understand. 

She blinked. The more conscious he became and the more words that left his mouth, the less Poppy was able to compute what was happening right before her. Her mouth moved to form the first syllables of ‘are you crazy?’, but she stopped herself before she broke whatever illusion had overtaken the man in front of him. This was definitely… different. She was used to crying, used to screaming, even used to people waking up in anger over having vivid terrors ruin their night of sleep. Not once had she gotten a complement. If she could even call a hospitalized man spouting words a compliment.

When more than a handful of seconds of silence passed between them, she blinked and cleared her throat. “Ah... no. Not at all,” she started, rocking back on her heels, “you’re not dead. So… I am not an angel.” A soft chuckle escaped her while her head gestured to the side, trying to point out the walls and machinery of the dimly lit room in an attempt to maybe bring him out of this stupor. (Yet again, she had to hold herself back from saying anything out of turn. There was a reason she wasn’t the one who did courtesy rounds with patients). This had to be a concussion of some sort, a fairly nasty one. That thought stung a bit. Having to wonder if she had just fed from someone with a concussion worthy of putting a professional athlete out of commission was a new low. But upon closer observation, he appeared… “fine” seeing as he just fell off a roof. Well, fine in Poppy’s books. Which had considerably low standards for what humans needed to be “fine”. 

Regardless, Poppy forced herself to put on a mask of kind professionalism, looking back at him with a gentle smile though she made it a point to stare at his ear instead of into his eyes. “Don’t try to move too much- okay? You’re in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?” She lifted the stuffed animal she held and waved it a bit once it was in his line of vision. “Does this help? It seems to belong to you.”

 The smile never faltered on Anton’s lips as he continued to look her over, perhaps even seeing her for the first time. “I beg to differ.” The words slipped out without his consent, though hearing them now, he wouldn’t have even bothered to rein them back if given the chance. He didn’t believe in angels, not as much as he believed in annoying insect monsters that could kill him, that most likely killed his grandfather, but seeing her heavenly face, all that cuteness and innocence, he could definitely see himself becoming a believer.

Slowly, his dark brown eyes wandered around them at her behest, though they didn’t stray long. She had a magnetic presence over him, one he could not seem to ignore. Or at least look away from for far too long, which wasn’t really that long. A part of him feared that she was just a mirage, an illusion, and if he didn’t keep his eyes on her, she would disappear, something he hoped the man in the beekeeper suit was instead. “Oh, hey, Mister Snuffleupagus Von Der Beek!”

His instincts told him to reach out for the stuffed animal, which his body followed and regretted immediately. He didn’t even get to move an inch, his shoulder quickly punishing him for overextending them. “Fuck.” Wincing, he tried to move it around, feeling the pain, before realizing he just swore in front of a goddess. Eyes wide in horror, they found her again, and despite the brief moment of silence, he tried to cover for himself with a warm smile. “Sorry… My shoulder… Pain… You know how it is.”

Anton nodded towards the stuffed animal as he explained further. “That’s the, uhh, favorite toy of my client’s three-year-old. Some overgrown spider tried to grab it and run, but I managed to chase it away and keep the toy but, well, you know… Fall from grace.” He let out an awkward chuckle, not sure if the truth made him look any worse. Couldn’t be any worse than the exterminator who fell off a roof. “I’m Anton, by the way. Anton Grant.” He offered her a hand to shake and winced when even that small attempt made his body hurt. Fucking hell.

While he spoke, Poppy let herself trail over to the hub of machinery at the top of his bed. Her eyebrow quirked at his remark, but other than that, she forced herself not to give any other reaction. Despite the night terrors he just experienced, she could barely feel the residual traces of fear that still clung onto him. All of it had seemingly vanished when he became conscious once more. She hoped that meant that his suspicion for what had caused it was low, too. Though, based on the way he was acting, she was fairly certain there was little for her to worry about in that regard. 

She let herself relax somewhat at that thought, though jumped slightly when the man began to move, caught off guard by his sudden urge to get up. “Ah,” she started, reaching forward with her free hand before pausing, letting it hover a few inches away from him. “Your injuries aren’t horrible, but you still need to lay down. If you try to move too much you might make it worse. And that’ll make your bill worse, too.” A stern look crossed her face for a moment. One that read ‘I mean it, don’t fucking try it’.

Poppy shook her head gently and set the doll down next to his thigh, her hands coming to a rest atop the side railings of the bed. A giant spider? She thought back to his nightmare. Well, if what she had gathered from that was correct and he had experienced some kind of bizarre beekeeper who was out for blood, then the spider story should track. A quiet huff escaped her lips as the corners quirked up. “I don’t… know if I should assume that’s real or fake,” she replied, her voice low with amusement, “but if it is, then… that’s. A nice thing to do. Getting a kid’s doll back.” 

“I’m not your nurse, but… I’m Poppy,” she paused when he attempted to move once more. She used the back of her hand to gently push his down until it laid on the bed once more. “I’m serious about the no moving thing, Mr. Grant.”

Anton has had horrible and worse, numerous times, throughout not just his respective careers as an exterminator and pest hunter but also his everyday life, most of which he will always regret. Her mention of a worsened bill, however, scared him the most, and with a gulp, he resolved to heed the warning, knowing full well his finances were much scarier to deal with than a trio of beeserkers. That look on her face is pretty cute, though. 

His eyes widened in a mixture of horror and excitement as she approached his thigh, though it was immediately replaced with a relieved expression and then disappointment when the doll landed instead of what his crass mind had imagined. Although he was somewhat glad that Mr. Snuffleupagus Von Der Beek was safe and within reach, his thighs craved the touch of something else, someone else. Even in the aftermath of brutality, Anton was still but a boy, hungry for fantastical companionship.

“Oh, it’s real!” He said, almost too excitedly, dark brown eyes beaming with misguided pride. “I really fell down. You see the small rip on Mr. Snuffleupagus Von Der Beek’s right ear?” He winced as he momentarily forgot about all the pain, mostly due to his desire to impress her, and pointing at the spot, straining his arm yet again. His smile only grew wider when she complimented him, as he’s never heard an actual compliment since he came to White Crest, certainly not after he’s been paid at least.

“Poppy?” He mouthed her name over and over again after the word already slipped through his lips, her touch surprising him but in a very good way. He could feel his heart beat race again, her warmth and her scent magnified by his childlike crush. “It’s a pretty name. Perfect for a pretty girl.” He offered her his most charming of smiles, his heart beat rising when she mentioned his name. “Please. Call me Anton.” He tried to distract himself from the loud vibration inside his chest by furthering the conversation. “Is there a way I can choose you to be my nurse? Like a form I can sign or something? I’ll probably need to stay longer now. I’m so hurt, Poppy.”

A quiet hum reverberated from her lips. This definitely was not the first time a patient had acted head over heels for a nurse. And Poppy was sure it wouldn’t be the last, but at least this guy- Anton wasn’t some creepy old man. Just a concussed guy. Who thought she was pretty, it would seem. Her eyebrow raised once more and she stared at him. She’d never encountered someone who acted quite like this before. Even among the strangest of individuals who ended up in the back of the ER.

An idea popped into her head then. Oh. Hey now.  She could make use of an infatuation like this, couldn’t she? The softer voice in Poppy’s consciousness tried to remind her that this was definitely a breach of the Hippocratic oath, but she wasn’t a doctor. She wasn’t even human. Yes, she was pretty certain that oath didn’t account for creatures like her. Who was she to deny free food when presented to her?

“I assume you’ll be kept overnight for observation unless the doctor sees you now,” she said, more to herself than as a response to him. She then let a soft, long sigh leave her lips. “If I transfer to your nurse, would you quit trying to move?” Poppy glanced over to him with that same look, though it was less serious and more teasing than before. She may not have all the schooling that the RGNs had, but she had the same nursing certificate nonetheless. It probably wouldn’t even take much convincing to get whoever was actually assigned to him to let her take over. They’d probably let her take all the patients if it meant getting to sit quietly at the front desk like she did.

“Poppy, I would quit everything for you.” Anton quipped, though part of him was certain that it was true, that he’d actually risk his entire life, change everything including himself for her, for a muse that he could serve. The other part? He’s been there before, a long time ago, and it didn’t end well. He did get a cute kid out of the deal, but she was taken from him, too. Probably best for everyone involved back then. He was, after all, at a terrible place in his life. 

These days, he has most things under control. He had a stable source of income, he wasn’t too bored that he’d do less than legal things for the sheer fun of it all, then a rebellion against his family and everything else, and most importantly, he had a pretty big house all to himself. If he played his cards right, he may find a very attractive, very nurturing nurse roommate. He and the boggarts at Grant Residence.

“Where do I sign? Do I even need to sign anything?” Anton wasn’t quite well-versed with all these medical proceedings. For a long while, he’s been able to skirt out of its way, mostly with help from old acquaintances, accomplices, and his earlier almost rendezvous with death in White Crest introduced him to who both seemed like old acquaintances of his grandfather, Doctor Adams and Detective Lee, the oddest couple he’s ever met. Oh, maybe he’s here! “Oh, by the way, do you know a Doctor Adams here? Weird British guy, has glasses… I actually forgot his first name.” He chuckled, even as pain still lingered within parts of him, dark brown eyes extremely happy at the sight of Poppy.

  “Uh-huh,” Poppy drawled out slowly, her head bobbing once in some semblance of a nod. She briefly wondered if this… infatuation of his was more of a passing side-effect of his concussion rather than anything else. Even so, Anton had definitely made himself out to be an unforgettable person. 

Strange or not, a meal was a meal. “Well,” she looked out toward the door to the room for a moment, then back to him. “I’ll have to go poke my head around and see who’s assigned to your room.”  Her face pinched in concentration. “You won’t have to sign anything, don’t worry, Mr. Grant.”  At his question, her expression softened back to one of neutrality. Doctor Adams, huh? 

“Is… unless he frequents the ER here, I probably don’t. Lots of doctors in the world, you know.” She rolled her eyes half-heartedly, his words sparking a memory of self-righteous doctors that  would sometimes be called down to the ER and throw fits at the state of things. “Alright, I’ll go… run and sort this out. Do you need anything before I go?” She paused. “That, ahem, isn’t me.”

With the devotion of a high schooler suffering a huge crush on his classmate, Anton listened to her intently, a wide grin on his face. Concussion or not, at this moment in time, Poppy was the best thing that’s ever happened to him. The second best was probably waking up from that nightmarish hellscape he found himself in while unconscious, but it was probably just a one-off thing. He’s had the same nightmares before, and although they were never that intense, he did fall off a roof this time, so his brain, as much as it could while working in terrible condition, justified that as a good enough reason. 

“It’s fine. I’ll sign anything you want me to sign.” The words slithered out of his mouth without any thought, none at all. If Anton had been dragged to a network marketing scheme instead of finding his way to the hospital, he’d probably have lost all of his money as soon as he woke up. Thank god for his client, such a kind-natured soul who was probably more worried about cleaning his corpse off her lawn than his actual health. Eh, good enough for me. 

“Yeah, of course!” He laughed at what he perceived to be her quip, already forgetting his question about Doctor Adams. “What isn’t you?” Again, his subconscious tried to help him out, but Anton was presently not 100% whole. A part of him tried to make sense of what was going on, what had happened, but that part wasn’t as strong as the other part of him that catered to his sad, pathetic craving for her companionship. “I’m fine, Poppy. Not as fine as you, but I’m fine.” He grinned, even though his body was obviously not fine, not yet anyway, pain still lingering in his bones and joints. 

As soon as she leaves, however, he mutters to himself, an unnecessary assurance to his own misguided feelings, his still blurry perception of the things happening around him, all while he watched her go. “Oh, yeah. She’s definitely into me.” She was, of course, not that into him, but he needed to believe that lie. At least for now, he felt hope, not as just another lie to trick himself into carrying on but as a warm dream he can aspire to. At least for a couple of days, maybe even weeks. Anton’s romantic relationships never end well, after all.

In the days that follow.

It wasn’t every day that Poppy put a bit of effort into her appearance on a day she went to work. In fact, it was never. Except for maybe the very first week she had landed the job. The long hours and constant moving around and sweating meant that makeup was not the best of ideas. Especially at seven in the morning. But she had been planning for the specific day a certain patient was to be released.  She’d spent much of the time that Anton had been spending in hospital care thinking about what to do. Never before had anyone she’d ever fed on been so… completely unaffected by what she did to them. Not only that, but it was as if the man had been slapped by some cupid’s curse.

Whatever the case might have been, Poppy decided that it would be best to make use of it. These types of things happened for a reason, didn’t they? She told herself such while she put that bit of effort into her appearance. Her hair was pulled back nice, her eyes lined with a gentle wing of brown eyeliner, and her cheeks had a faint dusting of orange blush. Just enough to make her look like she was definitely not a nightmare demon in some human skin.

She walked down the long corridor of the hospital wing and came to a stop outside the door to Anton’s room. Poppy inhaled quietly, then knocked on the wood with the back of her hand. “Mr. Grant?” She asked, opening the door a inch to make sure he was awake, then more so once she saw him. “Good morning. I think I have something you might be interested in.” She raised her hand and waved a stack of papers for a moment. His discharge papers. Fresh and ready to be signed by the doctor.

For the entire duration of his stay, which was like just a couple of days anyway, Anton found the entire thing quite nice. Sure, he’s been having a couple of nightmares here and there, waking up more tired than he expected, but it was probably just the side effect of that fall. Besides, he finally had an excuse to take a day off, and though it probably sets BUG BUSTERS PEST CONTROL SOLUTIONS back for like a few dollars, it wasn’t that heavy of a price to pay. 

Anton could technically take a day off every now and then, but he never did, always consumed by the nagging feeling of guilt and the dread of  disappointing his already dead grandfather. So far, however, the Girl’s text messages, meant to update him on the daily goings-on at the office, were mostly boring “oks” and “someone called but i referred them elsewhere”. If he had known things would be this chill, he would’ve taken a day off a long time ago.

Aside from loafing around in his hospital bed, Anton filled much of his time and attention with the love of his life, his nurse Poppy. Thanks to his concussion, which was a weird thing to be thankful for, the exterminator believed he had finally found his muse. His past relationships all ended terribly for one reason or another, but he had high hopes Poppy would be a different case. If he only knew. 

“Poppy? Please, call me Anton.” He reminded her again, for the nth time, though he didn’t really keep count and consciously didn’t actually mind. The words just felt like the right reply for her calling her future boyfriend Mister. “Good morning!” He greeted her with as much excitement as he could muster, eager to spend another day with her, only to get deflated when his dark brown eyes found out what the papers were. 

“I’m being discharged?!” He turned to her with sadness and despair, as if he was betrayed, rejected, by the girl of his nightmares dreams. How could Poppy do this to me?! “Uhh… There must be some mistake? I still feel, uhm, bad?” Scrambling towards her, he threw off his sheets, grabbing her hands in desperation. “No, Poppy, I’m still in pain... Please. I need you… To take care of me.” He whined. Like a child.

Bingo.

Poppy rolled her eyes playfully and snorted quietly. By that point, she had grown used to Anton’s antics. For the most part, at least. “You say as much, but your doctor says something completely different. Apart from the, uh, bouts of night terrors?” She paused there, sparing a moment to look up at him with some faux-concern. Mostly faux-concern. Seeing the side effects of her noshing still twisted her stomach from time to time, but there was nothing she could really do about that in the end, was there? She still needed to eat. A gentle nudge and she wiggled her hands out of his grip.

“Aside from that, you’re back to being in perfect health.” With that, she set the folder she held down on the rolling table beside his bed. Poppy looked at him with eyes that were both teasing and pitying. “This is a normal part of being in a hospital, you know. You do have to leave at some point.” She tapped a painted nail on the top of the folder twice. 

“It isn’t like I’m going to magically disappear after you leave. I still exist, you know. Is there something I can do to ease the pain of this discharge?”

“Oh, yeah… The night terrors…” Anton simply shrugged. He didn’t really want to talk about them, afraid to unearth a childhood trauma that he may not be yet ready to come face-to-face with. As much as the Beekeeper was but a story his late grandfather used to tell his grandchildren whenever they’d misbehaved too much, the exterminator has seen and experienced otherwise, a part of him certain that there was more to the tale than he was told. With a smile, however, he eased her concern, not wanting to burden the love of his life with his inglorious fears. “Just a side effect of the fall, I think? Nothing to worry about!”

Yet he could not stave off the disappointment and sadness he felt at the idea that this was it, this was the part where they’d, well, part ways, him and Poppy, forever no more. Anton felt his heart wrench, a stinking feeling in the deepest pits of his stomach that almost sent him in a panic. This was the best he’s felt in weeks, months, and now it seems over. Back to lonely nights in his late grandfather’s massive house then. Maybe he should really put that guest room up for rent. “Do I have to?” 

There was nothing normal about him, that much he understood. Certainly, the adjective perfect was rarely used to reference Anton. Poppy was right, however: All things must come to an end, even the good ones, especially the good ones. Life is nothing else but suffering, sometimes tolerable, most of the time annoying as fuck. Still, she offered him hope, and like trout to a lure, he could not ignore it. Forlorn, his dark brown eyes wandered back to her, and he mustered a weak smile. 

“Promise? I mean, I guess it’ll be a little less painful if you, like, I don’t know, keep in touch? By, uhm, giving me your number? There’s, like, a really good restaurant at the docks. Dinner sounds like the least I can do to thank you for keeping me healthy.” 

Poppy smiled. 

She put a finger to her lips, as if to tell him not to tell anyone else. Without saying anything, she pulled a pad of sticky notes and a pen from the pockets of her scrubs. If Anton was anyone else, she would have worried that they might wonder why she precariously had such things in her pocket, but she had learned that by that point, he didn’t seem to care about much other than looking right at her. For a moment she wondered what his reaction would be if he ever figured out what she was. This little façade couldn’t go on forever- at least. For her, time had proven that everything nice would have to end at some point. Would he still be as awestruck if he knew? Or would he finally come back to his senses?

A thought popped in her head. Had she ever cared so much about what a human really thought of her? Really? 

When she glanced up and saw the genuine gleam of desperation in Anton’s eyes, Poppy decided not to worry about it. Whatever he wanted out of her, she could play along. No one else was being hurt- clearly he wasn’t as affected as other humans would have been. As she carefully wrote down the digits to her number, adding a small smiley face at the end, just for the appeal, she spoke: “As long as it doesn’t entail you chasing after some sort of gigantic bug and getting another concussion.” She peeled the note off the pad and flattened it down on the cover of the folder, the ink on the face smearing just-so. 

Poppy took a few steps back and smiled. “Another nurse will stop-by in a bit with some more for you to sign. And then you’ll be a free man once more.”

Anton nodded fervently, dark brown eyes wide in delight as they found themselves glued on the tiny piece of paper that contained Poppy’s number, that he held as tightly as he could, as if he was afraid it would vanish very soon. Committing her contact information to his memory, the exterminator couldn’t hide his triumphant joy, chuckling at her quip. It would be dishonest to not admit that he had thought about doing the same thing again, suffering the fall and the nightmares as an excuse for him to be near her once more, in the same room as the angelic face who woke him up from his nightmare. Her phone number was a safer compromise, though. 

“Thank you. Again. You have no idea how much this means to me, Poppy.” He didn’t either. Not really. Especially all things considered. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

That was the last he saw of her. At least at the time. When he was told to leave, the exterminator unfortunately couldn’t get a hold of the nurse that had a warm grip on his heart. Anton wanted to wait and see her, bid her goodbye at the very least, but she was apparently busy elsewhere and some security guard was being rude, watching him like a hawk does a mouse. With her parting gift, however, he knew it wouldn’t be long until they crossed paths again. Or at least until he’d hear her voice again. Maybe, if she was too busy to have dinner with him tonight, he would at least see her in his dreams. The thought made him smile as he finally made his way out of the hospital, breathing in the fresh air made even better by the memory of his muse.

In fields of poppy,         buzzes this little bee.