#// i still get new followers on here on a rather regular basis which shocks me tbh

[devourmist]

// lowkey when it comes to writing noah, this blog is on a hiatus i guess. i just don't rly have much motivation to maintain two blogs, but he's been fun as a brief break from my main blog when i was Going Through Things but yah. follow me on @hellguarded or idk, add me on discord ( @echorruption ) because i'm more willing to write other muses on there than on tungle, otherwise see u sometimes laterz i guess

[myfellowmelo]

Brother’s Best Friend

Context: Your brother’s best friend happens to be the popular basketball player, Lamelo Ball. And no matter how much you say you don’t feel anything for the boy, your body says otherwise after every encounter/game.

Includes: Smut, Oral sex, masturbation, teasing, swear words, hint of degrading.

Word count: 4040?

My POV.

“We can’t keep doing this Melo.” I whimper as his cock starts plunging deep inside me. Stuck in the locker rooms where he dragged me in there. His celebration for winning the game started early.

“You say that a lot for someone who’s obsessed with my dick.” He tells me. Before I answer him, he picks me and slams me onto his locker. Arms wrapped around his neck as he picks up the pace. “Melo! Oh god!” Gripping his hair as he relentlessly pounds my g-spot. Making it his absolute goal to have me cumming all over his cock. He needs to have me walk out the Spectrum Center with your hole stuffed with his liquids. “Take it baby. Fucking take it!” He groans. Sucking on my neck as he desperately tries to leave me as many marks as he wants. He loves how well I tighten around him. I love how no matter how hard I try not to fall, I still end up in his arms. Begging him to fuck me senselessly over and over again. Rolling his eyes back as I grip his hair yet again. Usually he would say some stupid sarcastic comment about leaving him bald like his head, but my pussy felt so good he couldn’t even muster up the words to say anything.

Omniscient.

Your moans were absolutely beautiful. Something he needs to hear on a regular basis just to even function. Having you fucked out until you could barely stand is what he was striving for. But it was all cut off short when he heard the locker room door open. Pulling out of you, you two quickly dress up.

“Melo ? Are you there?” Your brother Miles calls out.

“Hide!” He tells you. Signaling the shower room, you run inside quickly.

“Yeah I’m here!” Melo stated composing his breath.

Walking from around the lockers, Miles’ eyes brighten up, “Oh there you are! I was wondering when you were planning to get out of the locker room. Hey, have you seen y/n by any chance?”

Melo scoffs, “Do you see her around here?” A nervous chuckle leaves him but covers it up by a huff.

“Asshole. I was just asking.” Miles says as he rolled his eyes. Miles grumbled  “I can’t reach her-“

“Well she must’ve been tired. Probably went home.” Melo interjected him mid way.

“Yeah you’re right. Oh I know!” Miles claps his hands that startles Melo.

“What?” He furrows his brow.

“She’s hooking up.” Miles says with stars forming around his eyes.

“What?!” Melo says, taken aback. How did he know? And just when Melo said that, you too did as well in the shower room. Heart racing as you waited for yours and his name to fall out of your brother's mouth.

“Yeah, she once mentioned about this crush she has on Nate” Miles says looking back at his memories.

“Nate? My friend Nate?” Melo says surprised

“Yeah-“

“Nate, my teammate? Number 30 Nate?” Melo says again trying to confirm if what he heard was real.

“Yes! Nate Darling. She’s had a crush on him since I came here. Well I don’t know if she still likes him but she has been running off lately so I won’t be surprised if she comes out of a room with a large hickey on her chest. He’s very goofy.” Miles states while searching around the locker room.

“Yeah well I’m goofy too.” Melo mumbles. Shoving his stuff in his bag.

“What was that?” Miles asks him.

“Nothing! Now shall we get going?” Melo says as he gathered the remaining items and stuffed it in his duffel bag.

“Oh yeah, let’s go, You hungry?” Miles said as he gave up and went to the door with his stuff on hand.

Making his way out, you peek your head. Looking at Melo who merely glanced at you and walked out after your brother.

“Shit,” you cursed under your breath.

—————

“Melo, please call me back.” You say to the voicemail. It’s been three days and ever since he found out about your old crush on his friend he can’t even talk to you. Not even look at you for that matter.

You didn’t understand. You two weren’t anything. You guys weren’t dating and on the occasion he’s made it very clear that you two are nothing more but fuck buddies.

“Hey you okay?” Your friend asks you. Taking a seat next to you after grabbing her lunch.

“Oh yeah I’m, I’m okay,” trying to mask your emotions.

“You sure? You know I’m good at telling when one is lying.” She says giving you the look that was so tempting to have you spill out all of your thoughts.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I stated while I tried to divert my gaze to the floor.

“Okay but you know I’m here when you’re ready yeah?” Nodding, she smiles and hands you her green apple. The only kind of apple you like. Appreciating it, you take it and take a bite out of it. As she told a story about something, you couldn’t focus on anything but his table. He wasn’t there, but everyone else was. Including Nate.

“Oh my god.” Your best friend gasps.

Averting your eyes from the table you look over at her. “What?”

“Can’t believe it.” She said with her mouth hanging open.

“What? What’s going on?” You said as you look around.

“He said he was done hooking up. I swear if he brings another girl home I’m going to lose it.” She said, glaring her eyes. You see, she is Gelo’s girlfriend and they are both staying over for the week before going back to Cali.

Turning around to meet her gaze, your eyes widen when you see Melo enter the cafeteria with a girl around his arm. No no not just any girl. The captain of the Hornets cheerleading team. You couldn’t tell what shocked you more, that Melo already replaced you with some girl days after he continuously dodged you, your texts, and your calls. Or the fact that he was able to pull the head leader of the cheerleading team. The CHEERLEADING TEAM. You expected one of the nurses which could’ve made more sense. Usually everyone in the cheerleading team tends to take their work very seriously and never have time to not even hook up. Now this, this was truly a shocker.

Walking past you. He ignores you yet again and plants a kiss on her temple. Arm around her as she giggles and holds his hand. What a brat. Following their movements until they reached their table, where the boys greeted him. Cheers burst when he introduces them to her. Who looks to be his new girlfriend.

“Shocking right? Psh wrong.” Your best friend scoffs.

“Yeah. Sorry you have to deal with that,” you say genuinely.

“Yeah I feel sorry too but boys will be boys that’s just the sad truth.” She shakes her head and continues on eating her lunch.

“Yeah…” you mutter watching as he converses with his friends. His arm is still around her neck. “You’re right.” You finish off, looking down to the barely eaten apple.

For the next few days you ignored Melo completely. You didn’t know whether you should confront him or not. I mean it is his loss if he wants to push you away. But also another part of you wanted an explanation and maybe to seek salvation of the last bit of what you two have. If you guys even had anything in the first place. But Melo seemed serious. He had her with him at all times. And any time he saw you, he would get all cuddly and affectionate with her and it would get too repulsive to even stand being in the same area as him. What sucked is that both him and his little girlfriend shared the same afternoon as you. Workouts. The two of them sit in front of you which is worse because he’s constantly baby talking to her. Asking her if she needs any help and never lets her lift heavy weight. What an ass kisser really.

And you couldn’t really understand why you were so bothered by it. You never saw Melo anything other than a fuck buddy. There were times where you would ask yourself if you could see yourself dating him and it always ended with you gagging and having to eat a snack to clear your head. Yet here you are, wishing that this girl would walk off the face of the earth. While you were too busy sulking, you didn’t notice someone taking a seat next to you to use the weights.

“Hi y/n!” Nate says cheerfully. His boxy smile facing you as he set his stuff onto the table.

“Hey Nate-“ and then it hit you. Oh why did you not think about this sooner? Think y/n, think! Turning your head to face the bubbly boy, you tilt your head and smile at him. “Heyyy Yangyang,” you said again trying to be flirtatious.

Furrowing his brow, he looks at you oddly. “You okay?…”

“Totally!” You say nervous laughing it off.

Melo before you who was once cuddly to his new girlfriend was now tense. “Say Nate, how come we don’t hang out as much?” You ask him.

“Oh well I’d like you to hang out but you don’t like getting body slammed onto the court huh?” He said elbowing you.

Giggling, you shake your head. “We should hang out someday.”

Melo scoffs as he rolls his eyes. His girlfriend giving him a confused look.

He sends her a fake smile and signals to the coach who has now entered the training facility. As if his reason for scoffing was the coach entering. Picking up his large water bottle, he spins the cap off and goes to take a sip.

“So like a date?” Nate asks you genuinely.

“You want it to be a date?” With this, the boy in front of you who was once taking a sip from his water bottle, is now choking on it. The training facility silences as they stare at him curiously.

“You okay Ball?” The coach asks him. Not answering with words but rather with a thumbs up, he nods and proceeds to start the lecture.

“A date is then babe.” Nate says, using his index finger to bump your chin lightly.

—————

“I knew it! It was about time you two finally got together.” Your best friend claps her hands.

“We’re not getting together. It's simply a date, nothing else.” I say to remind her.

“Please you two will be dating in no time. Now let’s see what we can have you get dressed in.” While she went through the pile of clothes I brought for her to piece together an outfit. The front door opened and slammed close.

“Geez I bet it’s Melo, another sucky practice.” She shakes her head.

Chuckling, I nod along. “Right. Hey can I go grab a bottle of water real quick?”

“Yeah go ahead, it’s gonna take me a while to make an outfit with these clothes. Your wardrobe isn’t the most stylish no offense.” She said while still looking at the clothes.

“None taken” you shake your shoulders. Leaving her room, you go down the stairs and into the kitchen. In there was the boy you wanted to see. Ignoring him, you walk past him who was seated on the stool chair.

His eyes following you as you opened the fridge and pulled out a water bottle. Jumping back when he was standing right next to you once the door was closed. “My goodness Melo what the hell?-”

“Why didn’t you tell me about Nate?” He said while his breath fanned against your neck:

“What about him? It’s none of your concern-” You turn around looking up to face him.

“It is!” He says, flying his arms around in frustration.

“Shhh keep it down Melo!” You said as you patted his upper stomach because that’s all you could reach.

“Or what? Afraid your brother will find out huh?” He says while he took a step forward, you took one back. Doing so until you were up against the counter. “Afraid your brother will find out how desperate you are for me. How I’m I able to get you begging for my cock over and over again mm?” He tells me slowly. His head lowering closer and closer to my lips. Pulling his head and smashing my lips onto his. He immediately responds, pulling me closer to him. Picking me up and resting me on top of the counter. A nice grip on his hair as I kiss his lips until I am sure they’ll be swollen. His hands roamed up my shirt. Already missing my soft skin against his hands. Leaning in more and more, wanting - no needing more of me. It’s been almost two weeks and he really missed me. Yet he would never admit to it. His growing erection began to tighten his shorts. And I knew this.

He groans and curses when I lay a hand on his crotch. “Missed me that much?” I ask him tauntingly. Chest heaving as he looks down at my hand softly stroking the outline of his dick. Softly thrusting forward, needing more of my touches. But he was surely mistaken if he thought I would give in easily. Pushing him back, I get off the counter. Shock written all over him. “Don’t think I forgot the shit you pulled on me. I was over Nate a long time ago. It was barely even a damn crush. But because of your stupid stubbornness, you no longer have a shot at having me anymore Melo. Enjoy your time with your precious girlfriend.” Taking a step forward, on tippy toes, I got closer to his ear and whispered, “Bet she doesn’t make you cum like I do.” Biting my lip, I grab my water and walk away.

Watching as I walk away, he shuts his eyes close and shakes his head. “Fuck.”

————

“It was nice hanging out with you Nate. And sorry for any wrong intentions I might’ve given you in the training facility.” I said getting up after the date with Nate was over.

“Don’t sweat it. I’m not dumb I know that you and Melo have been having sex for a while now. Just didn’t know it was this serious.” Nate said following my lead.

“It isn’t serious.” I restated.

“Really?” He asks, raising a brow at me. His smoothie in hand as we walked around the downtown mall. “Doesn’t seem like it.” Nate sighed looking up at the sky.

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously

“Doesn’t take Einstein to know we have feelings for one another.” He said laughing seeing the dumbfounded expression on my face.

“Woah! Hold on, feelings?! Psh I don’t have feelings for him.”  I said defending my self.

Nate scoffs and shakes his head. “It’s so obvious.”

“It’s not-”

“It’s so!” He said again standing his ground.

“You have completely lost it, Nate Darling.” He laughs, taking a sip from his drink.

“Please, I knew something must’ve gone down. I had my guess when he started arriving at our training all gloomy and silent and not even having the same energy. But then when he brought Natalie to our table I knew something was definitely up. Then you ‘asked’ me out. You two aren’t doing this simply to get back at each other or get on one another’s nerves. You guys are doing this in hopes one of you two will snap out of it and confess!” Nate said spilling it all out.

I stayed silent. I mean he wasn’t necessarily wrong. I asked Nate out in front of Melo knowing he would be listening in hopes that he would talk to me. Confront me, tell me how stupid I am and that I am  his. I also wanted him back. Even if he wasn’t entirely mine to begin with. Now if I were to ask that very same question that had me gagging at the mere thought of it, it didn’t sound so bad of a question. Can I see yourself dating Melo?

______

Omniscient.

“I bet by the end of the date, it’s going to be official.” Your friend beams. For a good fifteen minutes now she hasn’t stopped talking about you and Nate getting together after so many years. It’s annoying the hell out of him. And what makes it worst is that Natalie is sitting next to him smiling at her squealing at your potential relationship with his teammate.

“You okay baby?” Natalie asks him. “Mhm? Oh, uh yeah I’m alright.” He fakes a tight smile and goes back to being on his phone. Looking at the date, he sees that he has yet another game tomorrow. A part of him was wishing you would come to his game. What was he thinking of course you will just not for him but rather for Nate. The mere thought of it already has him rolling his eyes.

“Someone doesn’t seem in a good mood.” Your best friends voice brings him back from his thoughts.

“Just tired it’s all. Gotta game tomorrow.” Melo said Turing off his phone.

“Oh yeah that’s right. Aw man I wish I could go but I have my thing going on with the modeling agency.” Your friend stated cleaning up the kitchen.

Natalie pouts. “It’s alright.”

“Well I guess I better start heading up to my room. Imma text y/n how her date went with her soon to be boyfriend.” She wiggles her brows.

Fighting the urge to scoff. “Yeah I should get going too.” She smiles at him and says her goodnights.

Natalie left a few minutes later, getting on her tippy toes, he got the sudden Deja vu from when you did that to him not long ago. Moving his face so that her lips connected with her cheeks. She waves him goodbye and leaves. Closing the door, he sighs and his head gets rushed with images of you. Very naughty things of you. Once again feeling that tightness in his shorts begin to grow.

“Fuck y/n!” He hissed. Fisting his cock as he teases his tip. Getting off to the thought of you sucking him off. Your pretty lips on his tip, those gorgeous eyes looking up at him as you try to pleasure him. Remembering how even when he’s finished cumming you still don’t pull away. Turning him more at how you have an oral fixation that you found out because of him. Biting his lip as he concentrates on jerking himself off. Memories on how overstimulated he once felt when you just couldn’t pull his dick out of your mouth. Whining when he tried pulling you off him. “God baby. You take my cock so well shit.” He mutters. Tilting his head back as he rubs himself faster. His hand jerking himself quicker as he felt the familiar need to release begin to bubble up.

Thinking about having you bounce on his cock as you beg him to continue fucking you until you’re sobbing. Telling you how much of a slut you are for his cock. Your hands gripping his hair as you suck hickies all over him. And just like that, his warm fluids were shooting all over his bed sheets. Catching his breath as he was consumed with the darkness of his room.

______

Omniscient.

It was the day of the game. People started filling up the bleachers but no matter how much people were entering through the metal doors you still haven’t shown up.

“Hey Nate, where’s y/n?” Melo asked curiously.

“How will I know?” Nate said with the ball in his hands getting ready to shoot.

“She’s practically your girlfriend, you should know by now if she’s planning on cheering for her boyfriend” Melo says. Tone harsh when saying boyfriend.

Nate stares at him and later laughs. “What?” Nate shakes him and pats his shoulder. “You’re funny dude.”

Walking away, with a puzzled look. He sighs and takes one last look at the bleachers. His eyes met yours. Trying to hold in his smile. But you caught it. After thinking back on what Nate said, he was right. You wanted his attention and if he wasn’t going to do something first, you would. Smiling softly at him as you give him two thumbs up. He chuckles and nods. Eyes looking down and freezes when he sees Natalie. He forgot the cheerleaders are taking a break for 2 weeks. Holding a poster with his jersey number in it. Looking away quickly, as he hurries back to the rest of his team.

By the end of the game, the crowd was loud and rowdy. Anxious as it was a tie once again. Melo , who was now with the ball, rushed until he got near the net and dunked the winning point. The crowd roared as they clapped and cheered for him and the team's victory. Standing as you cheered for him too. Going down the steps to congratulate him. Looking for #1. You smiled warmly at him as you walked up to him. Freezing when a familiar figure walks the aisle before you calls out for his name. Rushing down the steps and enveloped him in a tight hug. Smile dropping as his eyes never left yours. He was still with her, and a part of you felt stupid. Were you really going to confess? Especially since Natalie is such a sweet girl and really likes Melo. She couldn’t ruin that. Couldn’t ruin what they have. But maybe there’s hope. Maybe he doesn’t have the same feelings for her and has some for you.

“Surprise!” She tells him excitedly. But you were certain that wasn’t true when Natalie pulled Melo down for a kiss.

Scoffing, you felt stupid. Embarrassed really. Turning around, you make your way out of the Spectrum Center. Melo pulls away quickly, keeping Natalie at arms length. “Melo? Baby what’s wrong?” Natalie said, looking up at him with her arm around him.

“Natalie, I'm sorry. But I can’t do this, I know it’s sudden and you deserve an explanation but I can’t keep going on in a relationship I don’t want to be in. I’m really sorry but I have to go.” He said as he broke the contact, heading to the door.

“Melo? Wait- Melo!” But he was already out the doors. Rushing after you.

“Where are you?” He says under his breath in search of you. Looking through every hallway and room and still no sign of you. “Dammit y/n where are you?!” He slammed his hand on the door and went inside of the locker-room.

“I’m here.” You said silently.

Turning around, there you were before him.

Staying silent as you two suddenly didn’t know what to say anymore. After much contemplation on what he should say to you, he starts taking small steps towards you.

“It’s you. It’s always been you.” He tells you softly. Meeting him in the middle, you grab his face and pull him in. Gripping your waist as he kisses you desperately. The kiss was no longer the same old one that was filled with lust and need. It was now filled with passion, love and want. Pulling away, leaning your forehead on top of his.

“Can’t go another day without you.” He said underneath his breath.

“Then don’t. Don’t let me go.” You said, with tears threatening to fall.

“Never baby.” Melo said, looking down at you.

————

“You two were what?!”

Your brother exclaims in pure shock. Both you and Melo are standing before him, hand in hand. Standing behind you and he plants soft kisses on your temple. Rubbing your arm for comfort, comfort for the burst of your brother who is now finding out the truth of you two. But no matter the outcome, he was just glad he now has you. In his arms once again. Only this time, he’s got you locked in. And you aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• I hope you liked my first imagines, I know there are some errors with the POV, but I’ll fix it later!

Thank you for reading 😊😊

[qianinterprises]

WayV Reaction: to you flirting with their younger sibling

Pairing(s): WayV x Reader

Genre: crack, fluff

Warnings: none

Word Count: 2.9k

Author's Notes: Hello anon! I'm sorry it took me so long to get to your request! I really hope I interpreted your request accurately! And thank you! I'm so glad you like my content! (I also want to mention that I used younger brother for all of them because I thought the request said brother until I went back and looked. Then I didn't want to change everything I'd just written so I just went with it. I'm sorry).

Tagging: @treasuretaeil @hachanbaecon

Kun:

Shortly after Kun was announced to be joining NCT in 2018, he also found out that his mother was expecting a second child, which, naturally, came as quite a shock. He was already an adult. Had his mother decided on more children when he was younger, a teenager even, he wouldn't have even batted an eye! But his little brother or sister would be 22 years younger. That was just weird.

However, that didn't stop Kun from nervously sitting in the waiting room holding your hand the day his little brother was born, vowing to always protect the sweet little bundle of joy.

It was that promise that led to where you both were now, Kun holding his babbling three year old brother in his arms as the boy waved to his retreating mother.

"I'll pick him up tomorrow morning," she called over her shoulder as the door closed behind her.

"So what do you want to do now?" Kun asked, looking between you and the little boy squirming in his arms.

"I wanna dance with (y/n)!" the little boy declared, wiggling out of Kun's hold and reaching for you.

Laughing, you took hold of the boys hands and led him into the center of the room, sending Kun a wide grin as he played music on his phone.

"It would be an honor to dance with you kind sir," you responded in an overly posh voice, taking his smaller hands in yours and spinning around the living room.

He let out a giggle as you spun him around before picking him up in your arms and swaying to the new, now reasonably slow song.

"You're an even better dancer than your brother!" you cooed.

The boy beamed at you.

"Hey!" Kun argued, biting back a laugh as you turned to look at him.

"You can't go stealing my significant other away from me!" Kun said, playfully glaring at the young boy in his arms.

Said boy, seeming to take his confidence from to much time spent with Ten, leaned up and pressed a kiss to your cheek, smirking at his brother.

"Wait for me to get older!" he said before squirming out of your hold.

"I'll wait forever, my prince," you laughed, placing him on the floor, watching him run over to YangYang, who had just entered the room. The maknae leaning down to scoop the boy up, disappearing back into his own room.

Kun stood up from his place on the couch and placed a kiss to your cheek.

"He really likes you," he hummed, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you close.

You just smiled, resting your head on his shoulder as his hips suddenly began to sway to the music still playing, coaxing you to follow his lead as he danced you around the living room.

"I'm a much better dancer," he whispered.

You leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to his lips in response.

Ten

The whole world knew that Ten had a younger sister. She was never hidden away, taking her camera confidence from her older brother as she took the newfound attention that came with her celebrity brother in stride. What the world didn't know, however, was that Ten also had a younger brother, one year younger than his sister. A brother that was extremely shy, choosing to hide behind his older sister rather than face the limelight.

Both had been over to visit the dorm countless times, though Ten's sister could only visit when Yukhei wasn't in the dorm after the large man had gotten slightly drunk and stupidly confessed to finding his ge's sister incredibly hot. His brother, on the other hand, was always welcomed and often found himself visiting once every few months for a week when WayV had a little less packed schedules.

You and Ten had picked the younger boy up from the airport two days prior and he'd been laughing and goofing off with the other members (especially Sicheng, to Ten's surprise). Today, however, the younger boy had been surprising glued to your side, always offering to get you a drink or a snack or share a blanket with you, which only made the older boys grow smirks as they not so subtly teased the boy.

"I think he likes you," Ten muttered, eying the boy retreating to the kitchen to grab a water.

You nodded, leaning against your boyfriend and desperately trying to surpress your giggle, not wanting the boy to feel awkward or bullied.

"I don't like it."

You slapped Ten's chest softly.

"Let him be, it's puppy love!" you cooed.

"Puppy love or whatever. You're mine."

You rolled your eyes at the older boys antics and gave his brother a soft smile upon his return, taking the water he offered you.

"Thank you, sweetheart. You're so nice!" you grinned, reaching up to lightly ruffle the boys hair.

Pink dusted his cheeks and he looked down, but he couldn't had his growing smile.

Ten gently elbowed you in the side and pulled you closer to hiss in your ear.

"Flirt with him again and I'll make sure he hears you screaming my name later," he hissed in your ear.

"Come on Ten! He's your brother for goodness sake! It's not like he's going to ask me out. It's harmless!" you argued back.

Ten let out a grumble and turned back to the television, tugging you closer slightly.

"You're going to be the death of me," he grumbled.

WinWin

The day Sicheng found out that he had a half brother on his father's side, he didn't know how to feel. On one hand, he ecstatic. He'd always wanted a younger brother. On the other, what was he supposed to do with this information. His estranged father had never had any intention on telling him that he had a brother, so why now.

It seemed the answer was easy enough to figure out as the eight year old boy was suddenly dropped off at the dorm after Sicheng had been blindsided to watch the male while his father and his step-mother went on a seven day cruise.

While Kun had promised that it was fine, Sicheng knew the leader would rather do other things than help Sicheng take care of an eight year old on their only week off, so Sicheng had called you to come help, promising that he'd take you out for a fancy dinner if you helped him babysit for the week.

You didn't need promises to spend time with your boyfriend, even if it was babysitting.

When you entered the dorm, the first thing you noticed was Sicheng's younger brother playing game with Kunhang on the living room television, and from the looks of it, the eight year old was killing it.

"I win again!" the little boy declared as Kunhang gaped at the television.

"I- how-" he muttered.

"You must be really good to beat Kunhang!" you piped up, sending the younger male a teasing smile.

To the new voice, the eight year old looked up and the controller dropped from his hands.

"Your hot," he declared matter-of-factly.

Your eyes widened. You certainly hadn't been expected that, but a small laugh bubbled from your lips.

"Your not so bad yourself," you retorted with a wink.

"Are you flirting with my brother?!" Sicheng asked, voice sounding scandalized as he approached the two of you, holding a small cup filled with fruit punch for the young boy.

"How can I not when his looks rival his brothers." you responded, sending a wink to the young boy before pressing a kiss to Sicheng's cheek.

The boy had red rising to his cheeks and he took a sip on punch to distract himself as he awkwardly toed at the floor. Kunhang let out a boisterous laugh from his place on the couch.

"This is so weird and so comically!"

"Bet I can beat you again even with this hot person sitting beside me! They'll give me good luck!" the boy decreed, hoping up onto the couch beside the other member.

"Don't call my signifiant other hot!" Sicheng whined.

You gave Sicheng another peck to the cheek and leaned against him.

"Let him have his fun," you muttered, reaching down to grab Sicheng's hand in yours.

Lucas

Yukhei and his younger brother had always been somewhat close. They spoke on a regular basis and his brother had certainly spent time at the dorms, but he was also a busy person.

Unlike Yukhei, who had given up taking over his fathers company to be an idol, his brother was being groomed by their father to be the next CEO of said company, which meant that the boy didn't come around a whole hell of a lot. Which also played into the reason why he'd never meant his brothers significant other. That is, until you opened the door to the dorm while Yukhei was being scolded by Kun for letting Bella pee in the house again.

"Can I help you?" you asked, eying the tall man.

Right away, you knew this person had to be related to Yukhei in some way. They two were practically identical. This man might just be a little shorter and not quite as stocky.

"I believe it is I who can help YOU, beautiful," he said.

Immediately, your cheeks heated up from the awkwardness. Clearly this man had no clue that you were sleeping with his brother. Or maybe he did and he just didn't care.

"I uh... come in... handsome..." you mumbled back awkwardly, having no clue how one should respond to such a greeting.

"So are you their maid or something? Because if you come work for me, I guarantee I can treat you better."

This guy was shameless!

"Uh... the others are this way... But I'm not a maid so..."

He followed behind you into the dorm and you could practically feel his eyes on your ass. You didn't think you liked Yukhei's brother very much.

"Come on babe, I know you're a shy little mouse, but give me something to work with here! Aren't you at all interested!"

"Well... you are handsome. As handsome as your brother but-"

"My brothers got a girlfriend! If you like him, surely you'll like me! Come on, one date!"

"I-I"

"Yeah her boyfriend doesn't really want her going on a date with her boyfriends little brother," Yukhei said, swooping in and draping an arm around your shoulders.

You felt yourself relax into his side, especially as the male in front of you realized the error of his ways.

"Oh my God! I am so sorry! I don't know why I just assumed you were single! Can we start over!" the male requested, getting on his knees to beg for forgiveness.

Ok, maybe this guy wasn't so bad.

"Get up you idiot. You're acting like you've never met a girl before!"

At that, a loud laugh erupted from your lips, making them both look at you.

"It's really ok! You didn't know! Just don't do it again," you laughed.

Xiaojun

The thought of Dejun having a younger sibling was something that had never crossed his mind, especially when he'd turned 16. He just never considered his parents would want to have more children until his mother informed him that she was, in fact, pregnant once again. Six years later, he didn't get to spend much time with his baby brother, but when he did, he tended to make the most of it. So when his mother offered to let Dejun babysit for the afternoon while she did some shopping, he couldn't have been happier. Especially because you'd finally get to meet the little boy.

When he was dropped off, you were blown away by the cute little boy that you immediately pulled him from Dejun's arms, cuddling him to your side.

"You are the most precious thing I've ever seen!" you cooed.

The boy cuddled against your side and placed a kiss on your cheek, one that had you beaming.

"You're so handsome! When you get older, you're going to have all the heads turning, just like your big brother!"

The boy giggled at that and wrapped his arms around your neck, hugging you tightly.

"Can I date you too when I get older?" he asked.

Dejun scoffed in the back of his throat, but you could see the fond smile on his face.

"Why of course you can! Unless you already have a partner!" you beamed, ruffling the boys hair.

At that, Dejun crossed his arms over his chest and stared at you with a pout.

"I don't wanna share," he whined.

You rolled your eyes at him, letting out a small little laugh as you pressed a kiss to his little brother's forehead and patted his back, sending him off to Kun, who promised to make the younger boy ramen for lunch.

"Are you seriously jealous of your little brother?"

"You shouldn't flirt with other guys," he whined.

You cooed at the male and leaned in close to press a soft kiss against his lips.

"You're the only one for me baby," you promised, laughing as you overheard the younger boy requesting that Kun make you a bowl as well.

"He's getting too attached," Dejun mumbled.

You kissed his lips again and took hold of his hand.

"I'm yours babe, and nothing is going to change that," you promised.

Hendery

Kunhang thought his parents must really like having children. And, to be fair, his childhood had been a pretty happy one. However, he was the youngest of four and the only boy. He was the baby and it showed. He was constantly being doted on by his parents and even his sisters who, at one point, would dress him up in make-up and make him pretend to be their fourth sister.

However, all of that changed when Hendery was 10 and news of his mothers pregnancy reached his unwitting ears. He had been angry. Angry because his youngest sister had told him "horror stories" of what it was like for her when he was born. He wasn't exactly ready. However, when his brother was born, he had a friend. Even if said friend was 10 years younger.

Now, a twelve year old boy sat perched on the couch between Kunhang and Ten, eyes glued to the television as they watched Harry Potter for the thousandth time.

"Does anyone want anything to eat? I'm going to make a sandwich," you called.

When no one responded, you set to the kitchen to put your own sandwich together when a figure suddenly appeared behind you.

"I bet your sandwiches are delicious! Could you make me one?" he asked.

You glanced back to give him a wide grin.

"Sure thing honey bunches! What would you like on it?"

He listed off everything he wanted on the sandwich and you set to work assembling it for him. You sliced the sandwich in half triangle style the way you usually ate your sandwiches and gave him a wide smile.

He sat down at the island and took a large bite, humming a little over-exaggeratedly at the flavor.

"It's so good!" he said.

You laughed and ruffled his hair before opening the fridge and handing him a 12 ounce bottle of coke.

"Only the best for you! Gotta keep those muscles growing if your gonna play spots when you get older!"

"Mom says I'm made for the soccer field! She wants me to try out to be a professional player! But I want to be an idol like Kunhang!"

What he said surprised you. Kunhang hadn't told you his little brother had interest in joining the entertainment industry.

"I'm sure you'd be great at it!" you encouraged.

"Do you think I'd fit in with NCT?" he asked.

"Are you kidding? You'd put them all to shame with your looks and talent! No one could beat you!"

"What are we talking about?" Kunhang asked, moving up behind you and wrapping an around around your waist.

You picked up half of your sandwich off your plate and offered it to him, to which he took a bite straight from your hand.

"He's interested in joining the entertainment industry!" you beamed.

Kunhang looked over at him, eyebrow raised.

"Ok, but stay away from my partner with those good looks and talent that could put us all to shame," he mocked, kissing your temple before plopping down beside you.

YangYang

YangYang was born five minutes earlier than his identical twin brother, which he had kept a secret from the prying eyes of the fans. His brother, while sharing his same facial features and eyes, was very different from YangYang.

His twin was more introverted and, unlike YangYang, had 0 interest becoming an idol. Rather, he wanted to become a veterinarian to go along with his love of animals. So, when YangYang went away to train, his brother was taking medical classes and it just never made sense for either of them to mention each other, specifically because YangYang's twin didn't care much for access media attention.

The members, however, were very aware of YangYang's twin, although they'd found out the hard way when his brother had come to visit and Sicheng had accidentally yelled at him to get his "damn shoes out of the hallway."

It had been hysterical when it was all said and done and his twin had quickly bonded with the older boys, letting them pull him out of his shell to find the energetic boy that liked to compete with YangYang on everything.

While you knew that YangYang had a twin brother, and that they were identical, the thoughts didn't cross your mind as you showed up at the dorm to spend time with YangYang. When Dejun opened the door, he informed you that YangYang was finishing up a shower and would be out soon, directing you to his bedroom.

When you walked in, however, you found "YangYang" sitting on his bed playing a game on his phone. Assuming he'd gotten out of the shower before Dejun had realized, you thought nothing of it and sauntered over to the boy, taking his phone out of his hands and plopping down on his lap.

"I missed you," you said, leaning back against him, letting your head rest against his collar bone.

"I um..." the boy stammered.

You'd never known YangYang to get flustered, but chopped it up to the members being in the dorm.

"What's wrong baby? Cat got your tongue?" you cooed, sending him a mischievous wink as you purposefully wiggled your bum on his lap.

"I-I"

"What the hell is going on?!" a very familiar voice tore through your reverie and your eyes shot up to the door where... YangYang stood, towel wrapped around his waist, another drying his hair.

"YangYang?!" you gaped, jumping off the lap you were sitting on. "But who?!" you turned back to the man on the bed and then it dawned on you.

YangYang had mentioned earlier in the week that you should come by to meet his twin brother. Somehow, that had slipped your mind and now...

"Oh my God!! I am so sorry!" you screeched, voice going up an octave as your cheek flushed a bright red.

The boys shared a look before both burst out laughing, doubling over with hilarity as your cheeks burned.

"This has got to be the best mix up I've ever seen!" the real YangYang cackled, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you against him.

[marjansmarwani]

all the difference in the world 

2.7k || ao3

Carlos and his partner Mya respond to the hostage situation call. --- A 2x05 coda (a.k.a if the writers won’t give Carlos scenes, I will.)

This was mostly written out of spite. Mostly beta’d by @officereyes, but any errors in the part I added after are on me and me alone. 

---------

“I’m just saying, I can’t believe you didn’t invite me to the roller derby.” 

“I’m sorry, I had no idea it would be your thing,” Carlos shot back defensively. 

His partner turned to look at him for the briefest of moments with an entirely unimpressed expression, “It’s badass women on roller skates, Reyes. What exactly about that sounds like ‘not my thing’?” 

Carlos rolled his eyes. “I’ll be sure to invite you next time, Esquilin,” he promised, “as long as you don’t mind hanging out with TK’s crew.” 

“I think the badass women on roller skates can balance out the company of firefighters,” she quipped, shooting Carlos a grin, “probably.” 

He rolled his eyes again, but his retort was interrupted when their radio sounded from the dashboard, “Be advised, all units: Code 3 at 235 Heyward St, unit 3F. Hostage situation, suspect is armed and dangerous.” 

Carlos shot Mya a look and she nodded, flipping on the lights and sirens as she took the next left, bringing them closer to the emergency in progress. 

“Dispatch, this is 363-H-20, responding. ETA 8 minutes,” he announced into the radio before replacing it on the dashboard, a grim set to his mouth as he stared out the window at the houses they sped by. 

“I hate domestic calls,” Mya eventually said into the silence and Carlos nodded grimly. They had both seen calls like this end badly, and he knew they were both desperately hoping to never have to see that again. “Where did they say she was?” 

“Third floor.” He glanced at his partner to see her biting her lip as she considered, “Why?” 

“I’m just trying to figure out how we can possibly get up there without tipping him off. Dispatch said he was armed, we don’t want him spooked. That’s not going to end well for anyone, especially not her.” 

Carlos nodded, trying to focus on the problem rather than the possible disastrous outcomes. He and Mya had responded to a similar call almost two years ago now and that one had not ended happily. It was one of his experiences on the force that had affected him most and one he still thought about from time to time, especially on bad days. But it was also an experience that didn’t help them now. If they wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again he needed to focus on the now. 

Which was all well and good, but he didn’t know they were supposed to get a victim out of a third-floor apartment before they breached without anyone getting caught in a crossfire. They didn’t have the time, resources, or training to scale the building to approach that way. The only way in was the stairs and the door. 

He looked over at Mya who met his gaze with an equally frustrated expression. Clearly, she had not come up with any brilliant ideas either. He sighed and leaned back in his seat. It’s not that he thought he and Mya were incapable of coming up with creative solutions. But after spending so much time about the 126 he had a new standard for “creative,” and honestly he could use some of that insanity he witnessed on a regular basis right now. 

“We just need a way to get her out,” Mya said eventually as they drew closer to their destination, “once she is safe we can handle the guy. I just don’t want to risk her getting caught in a possible crossfire.” 

Carlos nodded and opened his mouth to ask his partner if she had any brilliant ideas to make that happen when he froze, a half-formed thought popping into his head. Without saying a word to Mya he reached for the radio again, switching it on to call dispatch: “Dispatch, are there any available fire units in the area of the Code 3?” 

“The 226 is in the vicinity and available.” 

Carlos glanced over at Mya, who had pulled her eyes off the road long enough to give him a baffled look. He smiled at her before he spoke into the radio again, “Dispatch, can they respond to the address in question and deploy the rescue cushion?” 

He saw the dawning realization on his partner’s face as he waited. She beamed at him even as the voice of the dispatch supervisor sounded over the radio, “Affirmative, 363-H-20. The 226 is en route and will have the rescue cushion deployed in time for your ETA.” 

“10-4 dispatch, we’re about 4 minutes out now.” 

He replaced the radio and turned to look at his partner, who shot him a knowing grin, “Only someone who has spent a little too much time around firefighters could come up with an idea as crazy as that.” 

He scoffed at her, “Crazy enough that it might just work, you mean.” 

She shook her head, still grinning, and Carlos sighed and leaned back in his seat, grin fading. “I hope it does work,” he admitted more somberly. “I don’t want this to be a repeat of…” 

“There’s no point in thinking like that,” Mya interrupted sharply, “that was a long time ago. And there’s no saying this is going to turn out the same way. Not if we have any say in it. We’re already in better shape than we were then. We’re not going to make the same mistakes.”

Carlos nodded tightly and they continued their ride in silence. He knew Mya was right and that they had prepared in every possible way. They had done all they could, but there were still so many variables. There always were. Working with people in crisis was never an exact science and there was always a chance that nothing went according to plan. 

They arrived at the scene and Carlos was out of the vehicle before Mya had even brought it to a complete stop, rushing over to the team unfurling the rescue cushion. The captain looked up as Carlos approached, “We’re just about ready to give the go-ahead,” he called, “we’re all set on our end!”

Carlos nodded gratefully and turned on his heel, meeting Mya’s eyes and jerking his head towards the building. She followed without question, waving for the other officers who had just arrived to follow them. They headed up the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible and Carlos did his best to avoid the creeping feeling of dread. He knew they had done everything they could, but that didn’t stop the fear that it might somehow still end in tragedy.

They had just approached the last flight of stairs when the scream ripped through the air. They froze as one, all waiting to hear the outcome. Carlos was nearly toppled by the relief of hearing the voices of the firefighters drifting up, assuring her that she was safe now. He could feel Mya’s hand on his arm and glanced over his shoulder to give her a quick smile. The victim was safe. From here, it was all simple. 

He gave a nod to the other officers gathered behind him and they resumed their journey upwards, entering the hallway and barreling through the door. The man spun to face them from the railing, a look of shock covering his features. Carlos held his gaze as he ordered him to put his hands up, and he saw the moment he made a decision. Dispatch had mentioned that this was his third strike; he knew there was no happy ending in this for him. 

He lunged for the gun in the same moment that Carlos thrust himself fully into the room, grabbing him before he could achieve his goal, stopping his hands mere millimeters from the gun. He could feel the collective sigh of relief from his fellow officers, as well as his partner’s gaze on the back of his neck. He ignored it, for the moment, as he wrestled the man’s arms behind his back, slapping the cuffs on him as he read him his rights. He stood then, pulling the suspect up with him as Mya stepped further into the room. She glanced over at the two officers behind them before addressing the pair: “We’ll take this loser down and get him to the station, can you two do a quick sweep and make sure all’s good here?” 

They nodded and Mya gave them a quick thanks before taking the suspect from Carlos and guiding him towards the stairs. Carlos gave his own thanks to the other two officers and quickly followed. He could tell his partner had something on her mind, but he also knew she wouldn’t say anything about it until they had the suspect safely secured in the back of their squad car. They descended the stairs in silence before eventually exiting the building back into the parking lot where the 226 was in the process of packing up the rescue cushion and the victim was getting checked out by the paramedics. 

Upon seeing his ex their cuffed suspect made to lunge in her direction but Carlos stepped between them, blocking his line of sight and staring down at him coldly, “Don’t even think about it.” 

He deflated and Mya scoffed as she pulled him in the direction of the squad car, opening the door and guiding him inside without a word. Once the door was closed behind him she turned to face Carlos, eyebrows raised and an unimpressed look on her face, “You wanna talk about what happened up there?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, we got the guy.” 

“Yes, we did. After you threw yourself in between him and his gun and our guns too, I might add.”

“Mya…” he began, but she held up her hand to stop him. 

“I’m not trying to scold you, Carlos, especially because I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing. I’m just asking you to be a little bit more careful, okay? We take enough risks as it is, you really don’t need to go out of your way to create more. I kind of like you as a partner so I would appreciate it if you could manage to not get yourself shot if you don’t mind.” 

“Aw, you do care.” 

“I will deny that in a court of law,” she countered without missing a beat. 

He grinned at her and she sighed before shaking her head and walking back around to the driver’s side. “Just remember I’m not going to be the one to tell your boyfriend you got yourself shot,” she called over her shoulder, “so maybe avoid that if at all possible.” 

He chuckled, but her words also ignited a hint of anxiety in his chest. He had followed his instincts and he didn’t regret it, but now that the adrenaline was gone and he had the advantage of hindsight he could see how badly that could have gone. But he also knew that dwelling on it would accomplish nothing. He had spent a career trusting his instincts and he knew that was the best way to approach this. He knew that trusting himself was the best chance he had. 

That didn’t lessen the risks and the fact that he had so much more to lose now than he ever had before.  

As he opened the passenger door he glanced across the scene to see the woman sitting in the back of the ambulance, talking to another officer who was taking her statement. Her expression of relief was evident even from this distance, and Carlos smiled. This reality was better than any of the anxieties running through his head and he would focus on that. Today had been a win. They didn’t always get those, Carlos knew that all too well. They had to take the successes they could get, and savor those. Focusing on what-ifs never helped anybody. 

Today they had won and the would-be victim had her life back. Today they had managed to get the ex before the worst had happened and that made all the difference in the world. 

--------

Carlos looked up as his front door swung open, a smile spreading across his face when he saw his boyfriend and Paul crossing the threshold. TK met his eyes and matched his smile as he crossed the room towards him, “Hey, babe.” 

Carlos met him at the edge of the counter, pulling him into a kiss that lingered. When they finally pulled apart, he grinned at TK, “Hey yourself.” He looked over TK’s shoulder to Paul, “Hi Paul.” 

“What, no kiss for me Reyes?” 

Carlos rolled his eyes fondly as TK chuckled, setting the grocery bags he had brought on the counter to start unloading them. Carlos grabbed some of the groceries from him, stealing another quick kiss in the process before he glanced between the two firefighters, “No Mateo and Marjan tonight?”

“They’ll be here,” Paul explained, “they’re just handling a situation right now.” 

Carlos raised an eyebrow, “That sounds like a story.” 

“It is,” TK confirmed as he put the last of the groceries into the fridge, closing it behind him, “and we’ll tell you as soon as you tell me what you might know about the 226 having to deploy a rescue cushion under a third-floor balcony at the request of APD.” 

Carlos smiled sheepishly, “You heard about that, huh?” 

“Austin’s a small town, Carlos,” TK reminded him with a sly grin, “and the fire department is even smaller. There’s not much I don’t hear about.”

Carlos looked past TK to Paul who raised an eyebrow, settling onto the couch to watch them, “We’ll tell you ours after you tell us yours.”

Carlos made a face at him before turning back to meet TK’s expectant gaze, “It was nothing major. There was a hostage situation in a third-floor apartment and we just needed to make sure that she was safely out of the line of fire before we went to take down the guy.” 

TK moved closer to him, wrapping his arms around Carlos as he peered up into his eyes, “It sounds pretty major to me. Your idea probably saved her life, Carlos. She’s safe because of you.” 

Carlos shrugged self-consciously, “I wouldn’t say that. Grace did most of the work, figuring it all out and keeping her on the line.”

TK shook his head and removed one of his hands from Carlos’s waist to turn his face so their gazes met, “Grace is brilliant and certainly deserves a lot of credit, but you had a hand in it too babe, don’t sell yourself short.” 

Carlos studied TK’s eyes. They were sincere and full of love; so much it nearly overwhelmed him. His boyfriend meant every word he had said, and he was not about to let Carlos get away with arguing. The amount of faith TK had in him staggered him sometimes. He let himself smile and gave TK a nod. At his nod TK smiled wider, leaning in for another kiss before stepping away. 

Paul chuckled from the couch, “I’ve gotta hand it to you Carlos, that was pretty crafty. It definitely worked but it was also a little crazy. Almost like something a certain someone else I know might have tried.” 

Both Carlos and Paul’s gazes turned to TK, who looked at them indignantly, “What?” he demanded, but Paul just laughed. 

“I think he might be rubbing off on you,” he informed Carlos with a raised eyebrow. 

Carlos huffed a laugh in return but reached out an arm to wind around TK’s shoulders and pull him closer, placing a kiss on the inside of his neck. “Maybe,” he admitted, “but who’s to say that’s a bad thing?” 

Paul rolled his eyes and TK smiled smugly, twisting in Carlos’s grasp to face him, leaning forward to give him another kiss. When he pulled away his expression grew more serious as he studied Carlos’s expression intently. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, “I know how you feel about domestic calls.” 

Carlos pulled him closer again, placing a light kiss on the top of his head, “I’m okay,” he assured him with a certainty that almost surprised him, “really.” 

TK grinned at him and Carlos smiled back, looking up and meeting Paul’s gaze as well and giving him a reassuring nod. Of course he was fine; he had everything he could possibly ever need right here in his arms. He was fine because despite it all today had been a good day, but he also because knew that even if it hadn’t been, he had a second family now and they would catch him should he fall.

[iculyrea]

One Last Lap

well the time is now, so enjoy my first story (: I have picture of what it would look like so let me know if you want them (:

The idea of retiring came from him constantly being away from his family, watching his sons grow up and getting into hockey just like their father and watching his six month old daughter grow up was getting to him. Any time Sid was home he would soak up all of his time with his kids. Rather it would be helping his kids put on their school uniforms to picking them up at school after practice just to get some extra bonding time with them. He really wanted to spend more time with is his daughter because she was their first daughter but also the last child him and y/n would have. Eventually he made up his mind and told the team and close ones about this season would be his last season. Some people were surprised while others understood and were sad. As usual he wanted to keep it private and when he was ready, he would make an official statement to the media and the fans. The opening night game went well for them and won against the Flyers. This would be the last first home game of the season for Sid and he made sure that he would enjoy it all and remembering every little thing. He was happy that you, Alexander (10), Bastian (8), Marcos (7) Iliana (6 months) were there at the first home game of the season. Cheering him on while the boys had their father’s jersey on and Iliana had a Pens onesie on with a black and gold bow on her head. He was a proud father that his children are able to see him do what he loves the most. This season was probably one of the best seasons for the Pens and most memorable for Sid. Which would make saying goodbye to this lifestyle and friends and fans a bit harder for him. As the regular season was coming to an end Sid was secretly getting a bit emotional because he knew things were ending soon. He was happy but also sad. Luckily, the Pens made it into the Stanley Cup Playoffs which gave him even more time to spend with his teammates as they prepare for the first round. The excitement was fun for the whole family, Alex and Bastian would stay up a little later during the away games if it was on a school night. In the morning they would tell Marcos what happened and talked about the game on the way to school. Hearing the boys talk about their father made your heart so happy. Not only did it make you happy but also Sid too. This was one of the things that you knew you were going to miss once Sid retired. After clinching the champion spot for the Stanley Cup Finals Sid made the decision to announce to the world that he is retiring after this season. “After playing many years of playing the sport I fell in love at a young age, I have decided to retire after this coming season. It is with a heavy heart to know that I will not be coming back to PPG Paint Arena this coming fall. As well as not seeing my second family that I call my team on a daily basis and the friendly staff and employee’s when I walk in almost everyday. Also not seeing the most passionate fans that we have here. I have had a good hockey career in my life, and I am lucky that my children have been able to see me play. The boys are sad that their dad isn’t going to be on tv anymore but happy that I will be home more. I will be able to spend more with Iliana and scare away any boy that comes near her. Mostly, spending more time y/n and watching our kids grow up and support their dreams like our parents did for us. This wasn’t easy but I felt like my time on the ice as come to an end. It has been a crazy roller coaster and I am thankful for everyone in my life who has joined me during this part of my life. I will always been a Pittsburg Penguin and now it is time to focus and bring back the Stanley Cup to Pittsburg one last time.” The news came to a shock for everyone in the hockey community and the sports community too. You and Sid got numerous messages, phone calls and emails, even gifts about his retirement. Everyone supported him and his decision, even the fans were okay knowing that their captain was hanging up his skates at the end of the season. It made every Pens fan have more excitement and passion for the last round of the Stanley Cup Finals.  The Pens were playing against the LA King’s. The Kings won against the St. Louis Blue while the Pens won again the Capital’s. The Pens were down one game so game six was in California which took place on the weekend. You wanted to go because this would be Sid’s last away game even more so last play second to last playoff game. You decided to take all of the kids to California, to support him before game 7. You told the boys to pack their bags for the weekend and they were so excited to see their dad play in California. The game plan was to pick them up from school early and head to the airport. The flight was about five hour which gave the kids time to work on their school work then relax. All three of them were playing hockey in aisle together while Iliana was on your lap looking at the window. (they are in a private jet cause why not) Once yall arrived at the airport you and the kids headed to the hotel and stayed there for the rest of the evening knowing that tomorrow is a big day. Sid didn’t know yall were coming at all so this would be  a complete surprise to him seeing yall at Game 6. Once you arrived at the stadium and got settled in the suite, and the kids had their jersey’s on along with Iliana in a Pens onesie and waited for the puck to drop. Once the puck dropped everything was happening so fast, Sid was doing amazing and playing with so much passion. Y’all both knew that time was cutting short for him. He played his heart out and everyone in the stadium knew, even the fans knew that were watching back home. The amount of energy he had playing was rubbing off on the rest of the team. Halfway through the first period still scoreless but no one was going down without a fight. The shots on goal were slowly getting higher and higher, if the Pens lose then game 7 is back home. Second period came and finally someone scored on the Pens team. The boys and Iliana were happy and cheering on their father. You were taking all of this in because you knew this was also the end too. A few minutes later the kings scored which made you nervous. Sid was getting nervous too, but he knew he had to push on with a positive mentality. As the second period ended and it was tie, everyone in the bench walked off the ice on edge. Sid for some reason decided to look up and he saw all four of his children with the biggest smile on their faces. They even made a sign that said ‘’ GO DAD WE <3 YOU’’ and for Sid it made him happy knowing his family was there supporting him and his team. As the third period started, the kings put another point on the board. Things weren’t looking to well for the Pens, however they still fought hard but ended losing which meant game 7 was back home. You took the kids down to the dressing room to go meet Sid. Alex and Bastian were sad that they lost but Marcos happy that game 7 was going to be home cause he said the food at the arena was better back at PPG Paint Arena than here. Sid was happy to see all of yall and thankful that everyone could come. Of course, Sid was upset but he knew he had one last chance to get it right at home. That was the only thing he was thinking on the way back home along with the rest of the team. Winning one last Stanley Cup for Sid was going to mean just as much as the others. The following couple of days everyone worked harder on the ice and during work outs. They were ready for game 7 just as much as the fan were ready. Finally, game day at PPG Paint Arena, Sid was about to leave the house and all of the boys hugged him for good luck and kissed you before he left. He got to the stadium earlier than normal, this was it. The last game he would play. It was there were mixed emotions for him and everyone, even for the staff. He didn’t want this to distract him from playing his heart out. The stadium had special rally towels for game 7 and for Sid. It was the calm before the storm, everyone was wearing gold and black and went all out. As you arrived with the kids, everyone was coming up to you and the boys asking how everyone felt about Sid not playing anymore. You said it will be a big adjustment for everyone but of course you would be sad. The boys were sad because this is the life and atmosphere that they grew up in and Iliana was also getting use to it but didn’t understand much. They would even ask for signed hockey sticks from other players as gifts. The other players children were practically liked cousins to them. You even were looking back at taking Alex to his first game and first playoff game. Alex was taking it the hardest that is why he is playing hockey to be like his dad.  As everyone got settled down in the suite and Marcos being happy cause the food is better. The boys brought more signs and wore their father’s number on the back, same with Iliana. Sid was focused and was ready to play one last time with his team. The puck dropped and the Pens were in control. The passes were clean and crisp, everyone was communicating with each other. Boom first goal of the game was scored by Sid, they were up one to zero. The atmosphere was crazy, everyone was cheering and screaming. You were excited to watch Sid as if it was the first time back when yall started dating. You were mesmerized and anxious too, the boys were cheering and screaming too. Iliana was happy and dancing on your lap which made your heart melt. Halfway through the first period the Pens scored again. Everyone felt good but didn’t want to get comfortable. As the first period ended Sid saw the signs that yall made and couldn’t help but smile. The signs said “ ONE LAST TIME FOR US DAD” “BRING THE CUP HOME” “LET ILIANA SIT IN THE CUP”. Second period started things were still going well. The kings scored which came out of nowhere but that didn’t stop the energy. Halfway Sid scored again which made it 3-1 but again no one was getting comfortable. Once the second period ended and both teams left the ice. Sid  stopped to one last time to look at the signs yall made and made him happy again, he laughed cause Marcos had nacho cheese on his face. Walking out of the dressing one last time was sad for Sid cause he knew that this was it. He had one amazing career and this last 20 minutes was going to be the longest 20 mins ever he had ever played. The teammates were already telling him his goodbyes along with the coaches and staff. Third period started and it was a race against the clock. The Sid scored again making it 4-1 that quickly changed to 4-2. Sid kept fighting and skating as fast as he could. There was fire in his eyes because he wanted to bring the Stanley Cup back to Pittsburg as he said goodbye to his hockey career. The 20 minutes turned into the last 5 minutes of the game. You took the kids down the ice level to celebrate with him along with the other families. As the final buzzer buzzed, everyone went crazy. They did it, they won 4-2. Sid was as happy as could be. All the boys ran on the ice towards Sid to hug him. You and Iliana walked careful but met Sid you guys halfway on the ice. Tear were in both of yall’s eyes. You and Sid both looked at each other with happiness, Sid said “ No don’t do that..don’t cry because if you cry I’m going to cry and you know how much I hate crying at work” you couldn’t help it. Neither could Sid, he was so happy and emotional that tv reporters kept the cameras on him. There was not a dry eye in the stadium, just like tradition on winning the cup. Sid took one last lap with the Stanley Cup above his head. People were chanting “One more year” but he knew that this was the only way to end his hockey career. You and S, the boys and Iliana took pictures. Sid took the kids around the rink so he could do one last lap with them too. He was giving the fans one last look before walking off with his family and Stanley cup. .

[deltas-writing-corner]

Courtship: Invitation

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland (Malleus x GN!reader)

Warnings: mentions of blood | depictions of firearms/firearm handling | mentions of hunting

Previous chapter | Next Chapter

AO3 version

Slight revisions and full version posted on: 5/4/2021

“Here,” Sam hands you a thick envelope. “Your pay, as usual.”

 You trust Sam not to go behind your back and the mutual agreement set between you two, but you make sure to grab and stop him from walking away with all your produce just yet. You need to count the money he's handed over and ensure every last madol is where it should be. Thankfully, it is, but there are a few extra bills you know aren’t supposed to be in there.

 You remove the extra money and hand it back to him. “You gave me too much.”

 He pushes your hand back and shakes his head. “Consider this my holiday gift for you.”

 You give him an incredulous look. “You sure? Because if you come back here next week telling me I owe you money I’m going to sick the wolves on you.”

 Your threat is met with a hearty laugh from the shopkeeper. “Have I ever done you wrong, my friend?”

 “Yes, you have actually.”

 “Haha, good times indeed!” He casually waves at you as he hauls away your vegetables on a large wooden cart. “Happy holidays!”

 You have half a mind to remind him that the holiday season is over. Instead, you decide that it’s best to just turn around and walk away. The money is in your hands and your produce is in his care and that's all there is to it. This season's harvest is now officially concluded and you can start prepping for the spring. After a long-deserved rest, of course. The few extra madols give you just a little more than what was needed to put down for a brand new generator for the dorm. You have a model already picked out ahead of time. All that's left is to order and wait for it to come in.

 "Well?" Benji floats up to you as soon as you enter the front door. "Do we have enough?"

 You proudly wave the envelope in the air. "We have enough and then some!"

 Your housemates cheer and pull you into a group hug. Frankie takes the envelope from you and heads out, most likely heading to the safe you’ve hidden from Grim so he can put all the money together and deposit it at the nearest bank. Once the ghosts come down from their brief celebratory high, you excuse yourself and head to the backyard where Malleus is waiting for you.

 "I'm back!" you happily announce your arrival.

 "Welcome back," he smiles up at you. "Did you get your payment?"

 "I did!" you nod. "Frankie's taking it to the bank, so I should be able to get that new generator before sunset."

 "That's good. It'll be one less problem for you to worry about."

 "You can say that again," you sigh. "Thanks for your help today. I'm surprised we managed to pick and clean everything up before noon!"

 You situate yourself next to Malleus, who's sitting down on the low porch. Gunter's pups have been following him since breakfast and you don't think they'll be off his heels for some time. It's been like this since they were born. One might even be able to say that they like him more than they do you. Malleus doesn't show it or verbally express it, but you can tell he enjoys their attachment to him. He allows them to jump all over him and drench him in wet kisses without much of a fuss. Who knows, when they grow older they just might start following and taking orders from him rather than you. Maybe he won't need Sebek and Silver to follow him anymore if they stick around?

 You can imagine Sebek being incredibly offended that a bunch of wild wolves took his job.

 Malleus looks at you. "Have you given them names yet?"

 "The pups?" you ask for clarification. "I've been meaning to, but my head can’t think of any. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them."

 Malleus mulls over your offer. He picks up one pup at a time, trying to think of an appropriate name to give them. After about 10 minutes his shoulders go slack and he looks back over to you with disappointment. "I'm afraid I'm drawing a blank as well."

 "Well, you gave it a shot," you clap your hand on his shoulder. "Tell you what. Once we get that new generator, we can sit down and do a bit of name-brainstorming over some tea."

 "Yes, that sounds lovely," he smiles again, and you start to realize that he has a damn good smile. "When do you want to get together?"

 "Sometime next week. With the extra money Sam gave me I can get the generator in faster!"

 Malleus seems momentarily excited, but it quickly dies as he suddenly realizes something. "Can we meet the week after next? I have something important coming up."

 "Sure," you say. "What's happening next week?"

 "It's…" he hesitates. "It's my birthday next week."

 Your eyes pop wide open. "Oh shit, for real?"

 "Indeed."

 One of the pups desperately tries to jump up onto the porch, but his stubby legs and meager strength aren't enough to push him over the edge. As you reach down and help him up, you ask, "How come I'm only hearing about your birthday now?"

 Malleus carefully lifts the other pups onto the porch as well. "You never asked me."

 "No kidding", you snort. "To be honest, I thought that maybe you didn't celebrate it anymore since you're hundreds of years old. Don't birthdays lose their novelty after a few centuries?"

 "They do,” he agrees  “I haven't had a grandiose party since I was about your age."

 "Wow," your eyebrows lift in shock. "That's just rude."

 He suddenly looks so terrified. "I didn't mean it-"

 "I'm kidding!" you quickly reassure him. "Lighten up Tsunotarou! I'm not going to shoot you for poking a bit of fun at me."

 "So you say," he grumbles.

 "I'm not!" you defensively shrill. "If you're talking about the time I shot at those sea worms, I had every right to! No way in hell was I gonna be intimidated into giving my dorm up. Not now. Not ever."

 Those "sea worms" you're referring to are Jade and Floyd Leech from Octavinelle. During exams week, Ace Deuce and Grim as well as many other students who made a deal with Azul for his infamous study guides practically kissed the very ground you walked on in order to convince you to rescue them from their dubious contracts. Initially, you refused their request no matter how much they pleaded or bothered you. It wasn't until Jade and Floyd caught onto this bit of information (it’s hard to ignore a dozen students following you around like a bunch of chicks) that they began to set their sights on you. The two tried to squeeze you into a deal that would release everyone who signed a contract with Azul for his infamous cheat sheet, so long as you could keep up your end of the bargain. 

 It was clearly too good to be true or fair. Nevertheless, you decided to at least listen and attempt to negotiate some sort of proposal that would make both sides happy, if only to have your intruded space restored to normal. Unfortunately, Azul wouldn't settle for anything less than your dorm, which you refused to hand over despite Grim's OK to put it up for grabs. Jade and Floyd insisted you agree to the terms for the sake of your friends and fellow schoolmates, but you bluntly told them something that, to this day, never fails to make Malleus giggle even when he's in a foul mood.

  "You're not getting my fucking dorm! Not now! Not ever!"

 Unfortunately, Jade and Floyd began to follow you around too and even went as far as to visit your dorm during unconventional hours, on a regular basis. Their insistent arguments began to turn into veiled threats, and you aren't the type of person to take them all too well. Malleus remembers visiting you one day only to find you out on the roof, your hunting rifle in hand, keeping a vigilant eye out towards the gates for the Leech twins to make their expected visit. Malleus knew that your weapon is a dangerous one when used correctly, but he did not expect as much power behind it as it had until you shot a couple of live rounds near the merfolk's feet.

 His ears still ring thinking about that powerful discharge.

 "Where is your rifle?" he asks. "Also, where is your falcon?"

 "Twilight? She's still upstairs in her cage." You make a vague gesture towards the second floor.

 Twilight is a falcon that you found during one of your hunting trips, having suffered a nasty injury to her wing. You have some experience with falconry so you immediately recognized her mannerism as that of a hunting falcon as well as her breed, an Aplomado. You tried to find her original handler while you nursed her back to health, but unfortunately, no one came forward to claim her and you decided to keep her. You and her bonded very easily, so rehabilitating and training her to take commands from you was a breeze. While you expected her to maybe leave your side once she was able to properly fly again, she remains determined to stick with you.

 You stand up and turn towards the back door. "I should probably wake her up before she gets mad at me.”

 "I'll watch over these while you do that," Malleus grabs one of the pups who topples over another and refuses to get off of them.

 "Thanks!" You bend down and give him a quick one-armed hug from behind. "You're the best!"

 As you're about to head back into your home, you stop at the door and turn back around. "Are you sure you want me to bring my rifle?"

 "Do you not want to bring it out?"

 "I don't mind bringing it. It's just, not everyone likes to be around guns."

 Malleus nods in understanding. "Well, I'm not like everyone," he playfully remarks.

 "No, you're not," you smile. "I'll be right back then."

 "Take your time," he assures you.

"Rise and shine pretty bird!"

 You lift the dark sheet off of her cage so she can bask in the morning light. Twilight was busy preening herself, but now that you're in her sight she begins to happily screech and shuffles closer to the door, eagerly awaiting for you to open it so she can jump on you.

 You quickly slip on your handling gloves and help her transfer from her perch to your hand. Her sharp talons tightly grip around the sides of your fingers, but the thick leather prevents them from piercing your raw flesh. You snap your fingers a couple of times to get her attention focused solely on you. When she maintains steady eye contact with you, you reach into your pocket and present your other gloved palm to her. In it are some bacon bits you managed to snag from the leftovers of this morning's breakfast. She eagerly pecks and munches down the small meal.

 "It still isn't the best time to go hunting, but how's about I let you out anyways and you can stretch your wings for a bit?"

 She expands her wings and flaps them a few times, a sign that she's eager to take you up on your offer. You haven't taken her out to hunt for about a month, mainly because you were gone half of the time. The winters here are especially harsh, even with a bunch of fire faeries keeping the campus somewhat warmer. The pickings are also dry since most of the wildlife on the island are sticking close to their burrows to stay warm and wait out the season.

 You've been itching to head out into the forest recently, but winter is usually a bad hunting season for you. Luckily, you've met and befriended a few of the locals on the island who live off the bounty of the land as you do. They tend to look out for one another and offer help during difficult times, and the barren winter is no exception. You make a mental reminder to reach out and ask where some of the best hunting spots on the island are once this generator fiasco is all taken care of.

 "Now, you wouldn't happen to know where my rifle is, do you?" you ask her. When she goes to nibble a piece of your hair, you know that she has no clue.

 As you're about to head down to the foyer (you often leave it there), a sudden squeaking noise catches both Twilight and your attention. There, at the other end of the hall, a beady-eyed Jerboa bounces up and down in a steady rhythm in an attempt to grab your attention.

 Scarabia wasn't entirely traumatizing. You met Gizmo, the Jerboa before you, during one of the exhausting desert marches, nearly dead from severe dehydration. The little guy brought you a bit of comfort throughout the entire ordeal. He also was able to bring you the enchanted envelope Malleus gave you before he went back home for the winter break. It immediately sends any letter you place inside it to him once you set it on fire. How else could you have contacted him after your phone was conveniently confiscated after your first escape attempt?

 "Good morning, little guy," you smile down at him. "You wouldn't happen to know where my gun is, do you?"

 It seems he does, as he turns and begins to race down the adjacent hall. He stops every so often to look back at you, making sure you're still keeping up with him. Eventually, he stops in front of a door to one of several lounging areas. This one, in particular, is more the ghosts' lounge than anyone else's. It's filled with all sorts of memorabilia and photos from the dorm's heyday. The ghosts have shared a few stories about the shenanigans they got in when they were both alive and students at NRC. Interestingly enough, the dorm was a sort of "halfway home" for students undergoing the difficult process that is switching to another dorm. The idea was to separate the student from those of their originally assigned dorm so they can better learn and adopt the characteristics of the dorm they wish to transfer into.

 Soon enough, the dorm began to house more and more people. A common feeling amongst the residents of the past was a feeling of displacement or disconnection towards the other formal dorms and the ideals they upheld. While not approved by the headmaster, the residents began to form a sort of pseudo dorm with its own set of principles as well as assigning a dorm leader and vice leader just as the others did. Nothing was ever written in stone, but the ghosts vouched that the main “characteristics” amongst Ramshackle’s past residents was a desire to establish camaraderie with those around them, no matter their background or origins.

 Listening and learning what the Ramshackle once meant to them and so many others hit home for you. You lived near a small rural town, surrounded by people who were willing to share their resources with their neighbors and even the occasional stranger simply because it was a kind thing to do for one another. The students of NRC are willing to put their heads together, sure, but there almost always has to be some sort of catch that benefits the individual.

 Living with students like that is stressful as hell. Somedays you just skip school entirely, having already gone through the many woes and few wonders of high school back in your world. You have zero patience to deal with people who only view each other (and subsequently you) as inferior or a mere stepping stone to trample over. Ace and Deuce are your friends and have proven that they are "exceptions" so to speak. However, they're still just a couple of kids. No matter how well you three communicate and work well with each other, there's just a natural disconnection you feel with them that not even magic can fix. 

 It makes your close connection with Malleus, someone who's centuries older than you, incredibly ironic. You've essentially had your life figured out back home, and in some strange serendipitous way, so does Malleus. He's going to become king of his home country immediately after or sometime after he graduates, while you were going to continue living that nice rural lifestyle you lived back home, alongside your 3 aunts and many cousins. At least, once Crowley finds a way to send you back.

 Maybe that's why his confession felt so much more confusing and intensely when it happened. Everything seemed so linear before he uttered those three words to you. Now, it feels like the clear and concise timeline you've had pictured in your head for months is just one big blob of scribbles and nonsense.

  "Am I doing something wrong?" you desperately ask Frankie. "Because it feels like I made some huge mistake and now it's coming back to bite me in the ass right now."

  "Of course you haven't done anything wrong," he rubs your shoulder reassuringly.

  "Then why does it feel like everything around me is slowly falling apart?" You're sobbing at this point. The cigar you took from him earlier is now abandoned, snuffed out in the ashtray. "Why does it feel like  I'm  falling apart?"

  "Nu-uh," he shakes his head and gives you a stern look. "We're not gonna do none of that. Do you hear me? None."

  "Then what the hell do I need to do?!" you shriek. "Frankie, I'm fucking losing it here. I'm one more backhanded dismissal away from kicking Crowley's teeth in. I swear, if one more overblot happens, so help me. I can't deal with someone else's problems when I can't even get a full night of rest anymore!"

  "You've done nothing wrong, you hear me?" he reaffirms. "I get it, I do. Right now, life is handing you a bad hand and you don't have the people you usually rely on for support. I've been there kiddo. We all have. We may not be like your aunts or your loud-ass cousins,"

  A smile finally cracks on your face. He's using your own words you've used to describe your younger family members. You love the little tykes, but they can be a handful sometimes. 

  Damn, you miss them, your aunts too. They're all that you have left after a messy custody battle with your parents. This garden. Your rifle. Hell, even your insistence at taking over many of the household chores have all been your desperate attempts of finding some sort of familiarity in this new and strange world. 

  "But remember, those in Ramshackle stick together and help each other out when they're in a pinch. We'll handle all the little stuff, the cooking, the cleaning, the occasional clogged pipe," he scoffs, annoyed just thinking about the pipes clogging up again. They've been doing it a lot lately and everyone in the house is incredibly over it. "Right now, your only priority is yourself. Okay?"

  It takes you a moment to really take in his words, but eventually, you nod in understanding. "Alright," you affirm out loud.

  He squeezes your shoulder. "Good."

  A sharp and muffled whistle pulls your attention away. Johnny's voice is a little hard to make out, but you're able to make out "generator working" and "warm coffee".

  "C'mon," Frankie holds open the glass door and ushers you outside. "I don't know about you, but I could use a cup of coffee."

  "I could use two," you sigh.

  He gives one last squeeze around your shoulder. For a moment, it feels like you're back home. You feel a little better too. A little bit more secure.

 As you enter the room, you see that Benji, and Johnny are gathered for the usual late morning/early afternoon poker matches. 

 "Hey, prefect," Benji, the first one to notice your entrance, greets. "Need something?"

 "Have you seen my rifle?" you look around the room for any immediate sign of it. "It's been a while since I used it and I've completely lost track of it."

 "Should be under one of the floorboards here," Johnny, who is playing busy rearranging his cards, says. "If not, try the floorboards in the living room."

 You thank him and begin carefully stepping and tapping your foot against the wooden floorboards, trying to find and search one of many secret spaces made back in Ramshackle's glory days. Nothing dangerous (you hope) was ever hidden. It was mainly used by the students who lived here during its heyday to hide bottles of alcohol and cigarettes. You know, the typical items a bunch of teenage outcasts would keep around.

 There was actually a bottle of some rare and expensive wine that was left behind as the number of residents began to dwindle. You and the ghosts are waiting for the right occasion to crack it open and enjoy the vintage-like a bunch of fiends. Grim won't be having any. Hell no.

 Twilight has temporarily detached herself from your side and perches comfortably on Benji's shoulder. Her talons dig into his white spectral body, but he doesn't wince or show any sign that he's in any pain. She nibbles on his worn scarf to pass the time until you call her. Gizmo busies himself by helping you find all the secret spaces. He finds one and begins jumping over it more enthusiastically. When you pry the wooden slat up, you perk up as the familiar scent of old gunpowder fills your nose.

 "There you are!" you practically sing when you lift the board and see your trusty gun. "And here I was thinking Benji lost you."

 "I heard that!" he shouts, deeply offended.

 "I know," you reply. "Glad to know that your hearing hasn't gone out yet. Had me worried for a while, gramps."

 Johnny erupts in a symphony of loud laughter. While community and mutual respect were a value shared between Ramshackle residents, a bit of teasing and the occasional prank is always welcomed. It's a great way to keep morale up. It's also satisfying to say a remark that makes everyone laugh or have a prank go as planned. So long as no one got hurt, it's all fair game between you all.

 You lift the heavy rifle out of the space and do a routine check. The internal magazine is empty and when you probe the back of the chamber with your pinky you don't feel a loaded round inside. You flip the safety on and off and pull the trigger a few times to make sure the mechanisms are working correctly. You also do a quick count of your ammunition. While guns do exist in this world, coming across bullets is much harder than it is in your world. This is mainly due to the reliance on magically sourced bullets that help reduce the use of resources. Their rarity makes them expensive, and the few blacksmiths who do make them usually don't sell to anyone unless they feel the buyer is a genuine enthusiast of their craft. The buyer also needs to have a license to own them, which you thankfully earned after a few safety lessons and a short exam.

 Lucky for you, the one and only smith on the island who makes bullets was more than happy to provide you with some bullets at an affordable price after you allowed him to ogle your rifle for a few hours. It's an old model, supposedly used by your great grandfather after he was enlisted into the army. When the war ended and he was sent back home, he customized it so it can be used for hunting deers instead of people. Your first aunt Gia was always handling it. Whether she was taking it apart and putting it back together or out in the backyard doing some recreational target practice. 

 She always looked strong yet elegant carrying it around, not that she isn’t without it. During your first year living with her, you tried to imitate her, slinging some large stick you found out in the woods to try to exude the same energy she did. When your second aunt Lucia moved in with your cousins after her divorce, she was quick to reprimand you and confiscate any of the newly found branches you brought back home and waved around as an imaginary rifle. Your aunt Gia eventually began to teach you how to properly and safely handle her firearm. By the time your third aunt Marisol moved in after graduating from university, you were one hell of a sharpshooter and a damn good hunter.

 With the rifle now deemed safe to take to Malleus, you sling it over your shoulder and make your way out of the room. You whistle the signal for Twilight to return to your side and she immediately heeds your command. Her obedience earns her a few more bits of bacon. Gizmo also wishes for some compensation for helping you locate your rifle. You make a quick trip to the kitchen and give him a few raisins to snack on. He's the only one who eats raisins in the dorm, so you don't skimp out on him.

 Blossom does try to snag a few for himself, but a threatening screech from Twilight scares the gluttonous fawn away. That deer sure loves to eat.

"I'm back, again!" you announce as you reclose the back door behind you.

 "Welcome back, again," Malleus regreets you. "And a good morning to you, Twilight."

 Twilight also loves Malleus. She eagerly shifts her feet, desperately wanting to fly onto his arm and properly say hello. You let her transfer onto him once he slips on the safety glove you provide. After a few minutes of giving her loving neck scratches and trying to stop her from nipping at Malleus's ears (she likes them a lot and, now that you’re thinking about it, you do too), you take her back and help send her off into the air for some much needed soaring time. 

 "I see you brought your weapon," Malleus looks at your rifle with an examining eye.

 "I did," you bring it around and into your arms. "Now, why did you want me to bring it again?"

 "No reason in particular," he admits. "I just...I'm quite used to seeing you with it. You're never without it unless you're attending classes."

 A proud smirk finds its way onto your face no matter how hard you try to hide it. "I'll take that as a compliment."

 A potentially stupid idea pops up in your head. "Do you want me to teach you how it works?"

 "Truly?" Malleus looks extremely shocked at your offer. "You dislike it greatly when another person touches it."

 "I dislike it when people who don't know the first thing about gun safety touch my gun," you correct. "But count yourself lucky, because I know everything there is to know about this one right here!"

 "Very well,” he gives a conceding nod. “Have at it."

 This is the most excited you've ever been since waking up in the floating coffin all those months ago. While you aren't the biggest gun enthusiast out there (you only ever use it for hunting), you do like it when people show interest to learn about your hobbies. Ace and Deuce are teenagers, so it's no surprise that they don't exactly find the long and grueling labor that goes into gardening all that exciting. Your firearm is nothing more than a toy in their minds, though Deuce is a bit more serious than Ace is when it comes to safety.

 Speaking of gun safety. "Now, I don't mean to nag but it's important to remember that, under no circumstances, are you to ever point a gun at anyone. Loaded or unloaded."

 Malleus makes a face of confusion. "Then how come you pointed and shot at the Leech twins?"

 "Hey," you put your hands up in defense. "I wasn't shooting at them. I shot at the ground and it just so happens that their feet were near my line of shot."

 "Ah, I see," he chuckles at your convenient excuse. "So shooting near an individual is ok, so long as the bullet doesn't hit them."

 "Exactly," you wink at him. "But seriously, don't point it at or near anyone. And don't look down the barrel. Lilia nearly gave me a heart attack when I caught him doing just that."

 He closes his eyes and gives a deep nod like you just bestowed upon him a great piece of wisdom. "Duly noted."

 "Next is the magazine," you turn and pull back the bolt handle to show him the empty magazine hidden underneath the bolt itself. "This is where you put the bullets. The magazine holds up to 4 bullets, 5 if you keep one loaded in the chamber. Since my gun is an older model, you can’t pop in an external magazine. Unless you're in a desperate situation, it's best to"

 You look up to make sure Malleus is following along with your explanation. Maybe he is, but it's hard to tell when his eyes completely ignore the rifle you have set between the two of you and instead keeps his eyes focused solely on you. Your throat immediately dries up and you feel your heart begin to beat just a bit faster after it skips a beat. The look he's giving you is the same one he gave you at Scarabia, a content, and dazed smile. There's a hint of melancholy in his expression, evident by how the inner corners of his eyebrows turn upward. 

 He looks so at peace, yet so sad.

 "What's wrong?" you ask, though you know full well what's making him feel that way he does.

 He shakes his head in denial. The visual sadness goes away once he settles. "Nevermind me. Keep talking, please."

 "R-Right," you stutter. "Where was I again?"

 "You said your gun is an older model."

 "Right," you remember. "Since the model is old, it's best not to reload too quickly, otherwise you risk jamming the gun and in some cases, you might break a mechanism."

 You feel a faint vibration underneath your leg. Thinking it's your phone (now set back to vibration mode) you start to pat down your clothes to try and find the device. Surprisingly, it actually came from Malleus's phone. It keeps pulsing in fixed intervals, likely from someone calling him. He quickly pulls it out and clicks on the red reticle, sending the caller to voicemail without batting an eyelash. You couldn't see who was calling, but you swear their name started with an 'S'. Could it be Silver or Sebek calling? You hope it's not Sebek because once Malleus starts to manually decline his calls, the next person he usually rings up is-

 You feel another vibration, this time it's coming from your phone that you apparently left in your back pocket. Lo and behold, it's Sebek that's calling you. You show your screen to Malleus, who makes a dramatically loud sigh of exhaustion. Sebek...While he's well-intentioned and has his charming points, he can be a bit of a handful...

 Ok, that's too nice a way of putting it. Really, as passionate as he is, he can be a bit annoying to deal with sometimes. You're trying to be polite as you can be with him because you've been told that Faes offended easily and you're not going to be that asshole. Though, you’ll be the first to admit that he’s such an easy and fun target to joke around with. Blame the ghosts, their behavior is gradually rubbing off on you.

 His protectiveness and the deep admiration he has towards Malleus is a little quirky, even cute at times. It reminded you of a child vehemently protecting their parent from their lover, not that you and Malleus are dating or anything. 

 Why did that last part feel weird to say in your head?

 "Go ahead and answer," Malleus concedes. "I’m not entirely in the mood to listen to his shouting in the middle of the day."

 "Oh, his heart would break if he heard you," you place a hand over your fake-pained heart. "You are such a cruel man, Great and Benevolent Malleus!"

 The two of you erupt into a brief fit of laughter. After calming yourself down, you answer the phone. "Hello, you've reached the Ramshackle dormitory." 

 You have to turn away and cup your free hand around your mouth so the phone doesn't pick up Malleus's uncontrollable giggles.

  "Human!”  he shouts into the phone and you have to pull it back to alleviate your overwhelmed eardrum. “  If you would kindly put Lord Malleus on the phone, I would greatly appreciate it."

 You look over to Malleus, but Sebek was loud enough that you don’t have to mouth anything to him. He gestures for you to hand the phone over to him, but you put your hand up to tell him to give you a moment.

 "If you want to talk to Malleus, press two,” you blankly say. “Those are the rules."

  "Human! I don’t have time for your terrible jokes!"

 Malleus then gestures for you to hand over your phone. "Do as they say, Sebek," he calmly commands.

 Your hands slap against your mouth to cover the loud and ugly screech you make when you hear the loud dial noise come right after. 

 The two talk for a while. It’s mainly Malleus listening to whatever Sebek is passionately rambling about while giving the occasional hum and idle acknowledgments. At one point during the call, he looks over to you and frowns. You mouth “what’s wrong?” but he shakes his head and looks away. Once he hangs up, he lets out a very stressful sigh and slumps a bit. He’s upset.

 “Hey,” you move your rifle and scoot closer to him, giving him a gentle shoulder bump once you’re near. “Talk to me. What did Sebek say?”

 “It’s nothing important,” he continues to dismiss. “Just a trivial matter.”

 “ Malleus,” your voice becomes stern. “C’mon, talk to me.”

 He tends to downplay his troubles since he thinks they pale in comparison to the many other aspects going on in his life (being royalty can’t be easy). When it was clear that you were more than just an acquaintance, Lilia gave you a bit of advice about Fae behavior so you can better communicate with Malleus and get him to open up to you. Faes cannot lie, but they can give half-truths, and, depending on how powerful one is, they can tell white lies. It took a bit of work, but eventually, you gained enough of Malleus' trust as well as reassured him that you won't up and abandon him for simply voicing his opinions or feelings, even if you might disagree with him.

 “You first,” he says insistently.

 Also by the advice\of Lilia, you have a bit of an ongoing exchange with Malleus. For every instance he bears his inner thoughts and feelings to you, you have to tell him something about yourself that others don’t know about. 

 Have all your facts been embarrassing admittances? Yes, they have.

  “No offense, but aren’t Fae notorious for being a bit...y’know?”

  “Mischievous?” Lilia snickers.

  “Right,” you cross your arms in an attempt to provide yourself with a bit of comfort. Lilia’s casual demeanor surely isn’t helping you. “Telling Malleus all my innermost secrets is surely going to come back and bite me in the future.”

  “Well, in most circumstances you wouldn’t be wrong.” Suddenly his playful voice becomes firm and actually assuring for once. “However, there is no need for concern. I can say with certainty that whatever you tell Malleus, no matter how embarrassing or incriminating it is, will forever remain with him and him alone.”

  The old Fae pats you on the head, despite being taller than him. “He cares deeply about, truly.”

 That fuzzy feeling in your chest returns. Your hands have an itch to fidget with something to try and distract yourself. It ends up being a strand of your hair that gets blown in your face after an especially chilly gust of wind dishevels it. That’s when a small bulb lights up in your head.

 “I hate the winter,” you admit. “The long nights throw me off and I have terrible luck running into wild game when I head out into the field. Really, it's cold weather that I hate in general.”

 “Interesting,” Malleus clearly takes in and files away this new fact he’s learned in his head. “This likely isn’t a surprise, but I enjoy this time of the year.”

 “What's winter in the Valley of Thorns like?”

 Malleus, shocked at hearing your sudden interest in his home, begins to paint as detailed a picture as he can about the kingdom during the colder seasons. Greenery is a bit sparse given the Valley’s more mountainous terrain, but he insists that the thorn bushes you can find in nearly every corner of the land are beautiful in their own right. No matter the season, there’s always some amount of fog that dilutes the rays of the sun, so a day without one is often seen as a sign of good fortune by the people. Modern machinery is all but nonexistent as well, so there are no buildings, pollution, or lights to obscure the starry sky at night.

 “Now it just sounds like I’m back home,” you let out a sad reminiscent sigh.

 “What about your home? What is it like?”

 “About the same as yours, except we got plenty of sunlight and we had lush forests instead of rocky cliffs. There was a small town about half an hour out, but most of the businesses there have been around since the ’50s.” You notice his confusion as your terminology, but a brief explanation of your world’s calendar clears it up.

 “It sounds charming,” he says. “I’d love to visit it one day, should the opportunity present itself.”

 “There’s an ice cream shop down the main avenue,” you mention, knowing how much he enjoys the cold treat. “The owners even change their selections every other day, but the rainbow sherbet is the best one they have!”

 “Is that so?” he chuckles at your enthusiasm. 

 A sharp screech cuts your conversation into an abrupt close. That was without a doubt a signal from Twilight, letting you know that someone is walking up the pathway to the dorm. You aren’t expecting anyone, and Frankie is likely just arriving in town by now. You remember how Malleus seemed dejected after his call with Sebek.

 Just as you connect the dots, Malleus stands up, brushing off any dirt and debris from his clothes. “I apologize, but I must head out now.”

 “Already?” you ask with playful sadness. The fuzz in your chest dissipates into a dull ache. Weird.

 “I need to go over my guest list for my birthday once more. Lilia insisted I send out handwritten invitations to immerse myself into the festivities.”

 “That sounds about right.” After standing up yourself and insisting you’ll walk him out, you ask, “So when can I expect my invitation to come in?”

 “You want to come? Even after,” he immediately stops himself from speaking.

 Does he really think he messed up that badly with you?

 “I do want to go,” you firmly tell him. “Even after everything that’s happened.”

 There’s a brief silence between you two before he says, “You don’t have to force yourself.”

 “I’m not,” you reassure him.

 “So you say.”

 “Malleus,” you sigh. “If there’s anyone scared about our friendship dissolving because of what happened, it’s me. I’m the one that’s keeping you in suspense, even now.”

 The truth hurts, but no amount of shared laughs and the occasional antics between the two of you is going to magically dissolve the damage present. You’ve hurt him, and in a way, it’s hurting you as well. Life isn’t as linear as it was, but sulking and bringing the people around you down is a terribly selfish thing to do, especially towards someone you care a great deal about. You weren’t raised like that. You were taught to appreciate the little things and watch out for those around you. Not for personal gain, but because it was simply a kind thing to do.

 This feeling of insecurity came before the winter break. Being around so many people whose ideals and actions clash with yours often succeeds at making you think that you’re the one in wrong, that you’re the helpless and naive one. That’s far from the truth. The community you’ve built with the ghost trio and the natives on Sage’s Island is proof that your values are shared with others. 

 It’s just like Frankie said, life is just serving you a bad hand right now. You can prevail and return to the better days. The better days when you and Malleus were the best of friends. But why does your heart hurt when you think about his confession for the umpteenth time? What’s making you so hesitant? More importantly, why couldn’t you tell him “yes”, yet you also knew you couldn’t tell him “no”?

 As you watch Malleus and Sebek depart from your front door, making their way down the steps towards the front gates, you hastily announce that you’ll be back and begin running towards them.

 You need to make things right. 

Malleus noticed the way your hands sought something out to fidget with when you were feeling...he doesn’t know what that was. You weren’t feeling uncomfortable as far as he could tell. 

 Were you perhaps...flustered? 

 No, that can’t be it. You don’t think of him that way, he’s sure of now. When he quickly reassesses his behavior, he didn’t do anything that would warrant you to become nervous, other than look at you with a far too amorous gaze while you explained the ins and outs of your firearm. He couldn't help himself. Seeing you so passionate and animated, even if it's over something he has no knowledge or a particular interest in, made his heart flutter as well as ache yet again.

 They fidget with the nearest object when they feel uncomfortable. Remember that.

 “What was that, Lord Malleus?” 

 Sebek’s booming voice catches him off guard a bit, but he quickly recovers as if nothing disturbed him at all. “It’s nothing, just thinking aloud.”

 “I see. In any case,” he quickly changes the subject. “The materials needed to write and send the invitation letters are all ready. Sir Lilia insists that you write each one on your own, but I am more than capable and willing to offer my assistance should you need it!”

 “That’s quite alright. There aren’t a great many I need to send anyways,” Malleus gracefully rejects Sebek’s eager offer. 

 There really aren’t that many people who will be attending, just the residents of Diasomnia and that’s it. He initially had plans to invite you, but he’s caught between a rock and a hard place. You’ve expressed your desire to come, but he can’t help but feel that it’s only out of pity.

 He doesn’t want that from you. At this point, he just wants things to return to how they once were before he opened his mouth and began to spew a bunch of one-sided nonsense. He just wants your friendship, pure and untainted like before.

 Perhaps he’s destined to never have a friend after all.

 “Malleus!” your distant voice calls out to him, causing him to stop in his tracks and turn around to search for you.

 He doesn’t understand how you do it, but just hearing you call his name utterly burns away all the muddled thoughts circulating within his head. He is exceptional when it comes to defensive magic, yet whatever spell you manage to cast on him that makes him so taken by you, it exceeds even his own magical prowess.

 But you don’t have any magic. Not even a speck courses through your veins. You’re just an average human. His nearly crippling infatuation is entirely his own doing.

 "Oh, thank goodness you haven't made it past the front gates yet," you heaved out. Did you run all the way here? Did he forget something? He quickly pats his front pocket and feels a hard lump, his phone. It’s the only personal item he brought.

 "Human," Sebek's voice sounds annoyed at your sudden presence. "What do you need from- AH!"

 Sebek's scream hurts Malleus's ear, but the slight and momentary ring means little when you've wrapped your arms over his shoulders and pull him into a tight embrace. He immediately melts into your arms, smothering his face against the crook of your neck and taking in your scent like a desperate man. Despite the sweat you and he worked up from hours of labor, you still smell so nice, like fresh cotton and assorted herbs. It's unique. It's comforting. 

 It's you.

 "One week," you whisper in his ear. "Give me one week. I'll have an answer for you then."

 He pulls back and looks at you like you’ve grown a second head. "Pardon?"

 "I've hurt you, badly." you look down in shame. "I still am, but I'm going to make it up to you. I promise"

 "A promise made with a Fae is a dangerous thing, especially when you don't uphold your end of the deal," he says with a warning tone. "One week. Are you sure that's enough time?"

 "It is," you say with certainty.

 You're not one to lie or bite off more than you can stomach. You know when you've been beaten, that's why you called for his help over the break. His interpretation of trust differs greatly from yours, and it's not given to many, Fae or not. 

 "Very well,” he yields. “I will trust you to keep to your oath.”

 “Thank you,” you squeeze him closer against you. “And I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright. Just please, don't break my heart any further," he whispers pleadingly into your ear.

Apologies are dangerous words to say to a Fae, even a bit demeaning to some. The same with words of thanks, which you often say to him regularly. Malleus has developed a habit of accepting them out of courtesy. It's an aspect of his culture that you struggle to adjust to since it's interpreted differently in human society. You've also told him something he finds humorous, how your aunts constantly enforced you (in your words “beat it into you”) to say "please", "thank you", and “sorry”, as they didn't want others to think they were living in a crude household. It's incredibly ironic considering you tend to swear every other sentence.

 You explained that "Thank you"s are acknowledgments of the efforts one makes for another, no matter how small or grandiose the gesture is. Apologies are acknowledgments that one has wronged another and wishes to make amends.

 It sounds like common sense, but he understands now what you mean when you tell him "It's the little things that matter most". His heart was hurt when you couldn’t tell him “yes” or even a simple “no”. He's still suffering from the aftermath of his confession, even as he signs off on the last of the invitations for his birthday party, his mind failing to commit to the enthusiastically written words. You've acknowledged that you see his pain and that you recognize that you're its source. Despite having other troubles of your own, you've made it clear that he's now been pushed up your long to-do list and that he's now your main priority.

 It brings much-needed relief to his pained heart, though just a bit.

 He waits until Sebek is gone before he rummages around his desk for a beige-colored envelope, the one he enchanted and gave to you so you can speak to him over the break (he preferred this method over text messages). It still has your SOS letter in it, written with your now aged and darkened blood.

  Malleus. I'm sorry for the smell, but it's all I have on hand. I'm in Scarabia's dorm and they're not letting me leave. I've been here for a few days to help the vice dorm leader with some sort of internal affair, but I think he did something to me that's making it impossible to refuse him anymore. I tried to bail, but they caught me and now they're locking me up and keeping a close eye on me.

  If I may be a bit bold, I'm fucking scared out of my mind. I know it's rude of me to make demands without proper compensation, but I think I need some help. I don't want to cause a big fuss, so if you can could you come alone? If you can't that's fine. I'm sure I can pull through until the break ends.

  I hope you're doing well. Again, sorry for the smell.

 He makes a few more creases in the paper due to gripping it so harshly. He remembers opening it the first time and nearly ripping it in half because of how utterly livid he was. Your fresh blood also didn't help at the time. You didn't state what your current condition was when you drafted the letter and his mind immediately thought of you being injured and that was the reason you wrote it in your blood.

 The time between him sneaking past his castle's security once he received your letter to arriving on Sage's Island via his own magic (curse the dark mirror for being inactive during the winter) is a bit of a blur. All he can remember is that he was just so worried for you, a magicless human against an entire dorm of wizards in training. Even someone with subpar control over their magic can do you a great deal of damage.

 If sneaking out of his home without telling a soul, potentially causing one of the largest search hunts to commence had someone noticed and reported to his grandmother, doesn't prove how much you mean to him, he doesn't know what will.

 One week. If it takes you one more week for you to realize this, then he will wait.

 He trusts you, just as you trusted him when you sent him that letter.

 He grabs his quill and dips the tip into a jar of ink, writing something quick and straightforward on a spare piece of parchment.

  "Please come to my party. It would mean the world to me."

 After the ink dries, he folds it and places it in the envelope, sealing it with wax bearing the crest of his family. He needs not utter a single incantation to have it erupt in a blaze of green fire. He waits. One minute. Two. Suddenly, a spark of blue fire erupts on his desk before dissipating, leaving behind the same envelope he burned minus a wax seal.

 He opens it.

  "Of course I will!"

[gstqaobc]

'I still don't believe Meghan': Piers Morgan tweets defiant Churchill message and says he stands by view that saw him quit GMB - as Susanna Reid tells morning viewers 'it's going to be very different' without him

Ranvir Singh will host Good Morning Britain with Susanna Reid today - the day after Piers Morgan stormed off

Mr Morgan faced a social media campaign over comments he made about Harry and Meghan's interview

He faced a huge online backlash after he said he 'didn't believe a word' of the Duke and Duchess' Oprah talk

Twitter users responded by sharing links to Ofcom and gave instructions on how to complain to TV regulator

Ofcom today announced it was launching an investigation following the raft of complaints from Twitter users

MailOnline editor at large, who has helped show to record ratings, had blazing row with Alex Beresford

They were discussing the Sussexes' interview with Oprah, where the couple accused Royal Family of racism

Piers Morgan today doubled down after quitting Good Morning Britain by tweeting that he still doesn't believe any of Meghan's incendiary claims to Oprah in a defiant message sent as the show began without him with Strictly star Ranvir Singh in his chair.Susanna Reid admitted it will be a 'very different' programme without her co-star of five years and told viewers this morning that he had been a 'voice for many of you' through Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.Mr Morgan sensationally quit the show on the day it scored record ratings after he told viewers he 'didn't believe a word she [Meghan] said' to Oprah and branded her 'Princess Pinocchio' after an interview where the Duchess said she was suicidal while five months pregnant and accused the Royal Family of racism. His views sparked more than 41,000 complaints made to Ofcom.

Just after the show began at 6am this morning he tweeted to his 7.8million followers: 'On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t. If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on. Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions'.

He also shared a quote by Britain's greatest prime minister Winston Churchill, which said:  'Some people's idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage'.

On an extraordinary day for the show he also walked off set live on air after the show's weatherman Alex Beresford accused him of unfairly 'trashing' Meghan, branding him 'diabolical' and saying: 'I'm sorry but Piers just spouts off on a regular basis and we have to sit there and listen'. Mr Beresford was not on screen today, with Laura Tobin presenting the GMB weather this morning.

Hours later Mr Morgan quit, with his supporters defending his views and claiming his exit is more bad news for free speech and a sad indictment of cancel culture in Britain after critics including Labour MP Dawn Butler encouraged people to complain to ITV and Ofcom. Others have questioned whether GMB's viewing figures will hold-up without its star, who helped add a million new viewers in his time on the show.

After Ranvir Singh, a GMB reporter and star of Strictly last year, stepped in for Piers today, Susanna then gave a short speech on the tumultuous events of the past 24 hours.

Ms Reid said: 'A number of people will know the news and many of you will not and will be surprised that Piers Morgan is not here this morning. Now, Piers and I have disagreed on many things and that dynamic was one of the things viewers loved about the programme.

'He is without doubt an outspoken, challenging, opinionated, disruptive broadcaster. He has many critics and he has many fans. You will know that I disagreed with him about Meghan's interview. He himself clarified his comments about her mental health on the show yesterday.'

Reid said there are 'many voices' on Good Morning Britain and 'everyone has their say'. She added: 'But now Piers has decided to leave the programme. Some of you may cheer and others may boo.

'He has been my presenting partner, Monday to Wednesday, for more than five years and during Brexit and the pandemic and other issues, he has been a voice for many of you and a voice that many of you have railed against.

'It is certainly going to be very different but shows go on and so on we go.'

Ranvir Singh, Reid's co-presenter for the morning, replied: 'Well said.' She described Morgan as a 'big character' and said 'many viewers will be absolutely gutted'. Singh called Morgan 'Marmite' and acknowledged his role in Good Morning Britain's success. Ms Singh is amongst the favourites to take the job, but said: 'I was here anyway, don't read anything into this, I was here anyway. I've shifted seats on this brand new desk'.

It came after 55-year-old Mr Morgan shocked viewers by walking off camera during a heated on-air row with weatherman Alex Beresford, saying 'I'm done with this' after being challenged on his position of the Duke and Duchess by his co-star. Afterwards ITV CEO Carolyn McCall - who formerly worked for the left-wing Guardian newspaper - said that the broadcaster's media and entertainment MD Kevin Lygo was speaking to Mr Morgan.And last night it was announced that Mr Morgan had quit the hugely popular ITV show - which he co-hosted with Susanna Reid.An ITV spokesman told MailOnline: 'Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.'It is understood Mr Morgan had been asked to apologise for his remarks which had been criticised by mental health campaigners but had declined.It brings to an end his six-year long association with the breakfast show, which he originally joined as a guest host in 2015, during which time he has made it must-see TV with a strong of exclusives and his strident opinions.Ironically it came the day after GMB recorded its highest ever viewing figures in the wake of Megan Markle's blockbuster Oprah Winfrey interview.It also came on the day that he had followed up with an agenda-setting interview with her father Thomas in which Mr Markle had taken aim at 'snotty' Harry, defended the British people and Royals against her claims of racism and revealed that he felt she had betrayed him, not the other way around.Earlier Morgan, who this evening Tweeted a picture of himself with former manager David Ferriter and the message 'trust your gut', also addressed his previous comments regarding the Duchess's mental health.Yesterday, he was criticised by the charity, Mind, after saying he 'didn't believe a word she said'. I wouldn't believe it if she read me a weather report,' he added.Today he addressed these remarks and said: 'When we talked about this yesterday I said as an all-encompassing thing I don't believe what Meghan Markle is saying generally in this interview and I still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said.'But let me just state for the record on my position on mental illness and on suicide.'On mental illness and suicide these are clearly extremely serious things and should be taken extremely seriously and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and the help they need every time. Every time.'And if they belong to an institution like the Royal family and they go and seek that help they should absolutely be given it.'It's not for me to question if she felt suicidal, I am not in her mind and that is for her to say.'My real concern was a disbelief frankly and I'm prepared to be proven wrong on this and if I'm wrong it is a scandal, that she went to a senior member of the Royal household and told them she was suicidal and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family.'If that is true a) that person should be fired and b) The Royal family have serious questions that need to be answered.'But it was not enough to stop a wildfire social media campaign against him that resulted in 41,000 complaints to TV watchdog Ofcom by last night who announced they had launched a probe under their 'harms' code. The campaign featured an avalanche of tweets which criticised the host and supporting Meghan - some sharing direct links to the Ofcom complaints page. Among those launching criticism at Morgan were Labour MP Dawn Butler, who copied in the Twitter page of ITV to her Tweet.

In her social media post, which shared a comment from Mind criticising Morgan's remarks, she asked: '@ITV what have you decided to do?'Another Twitter user said: 'It took me about seven minutes to complain to fill in the Ofcom online form to complain about Piers Morgan's disgusting behaviour on mental health and race issues. It's not much, but if enough people complain they have to do something!' One Twitter user - who said: 'I am determined to get Piers off GMB Lolz. Which petitions do I need to sign?' - received a response with a link to the Ofcom complaints page.Their decision to act was in stark contrast to what happened with 24,500 people complained about dance troop Diversity's BLM-inspired routine on Britain's Got Talent last year when the watchdog refused a probe and said: 'We carefully considered a large number of complaints about this artistic routine, an area where freedom of expression is particularly important.'Diversity's performance referred to challenging and potentially controversial subjects, and in our view, its central message was a call for social cohesion and unity.'Any depictions of violence by the performers were highly stylised and symbolic of recent global events, and there was no explicit reference to any particular political organisation - but rather a message that the lives of black people matter.'Mr Morgan is also Editor at large for MailOnline and writes a twice weekly column for the website. A spokesman for MailOnline said: 'This is a very sad day for British free speech and one ITV will come to regret very quickly. We stand by Piers 120%.'  LOADS MORE ON THE DM

WELL HE HAS CERTAIN MADE HIS OPINION CLEAR AND MANY AGREE, MYSELF INCLUDED! EVEN GIVEN PAST ERRORS HE IS TO BE COMMENDED FOR TAKING SUCH A PUBLIC STANCE!

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 8

November 10th, 2019

Aberdeen Bloom was in her hotel room.  

The Leafs had lost to Chicago.  Chicago scored four goals in the first period.  It was a shitshow.  And although the boys rallied back late in the third period, they just couldn’t get that fifth goal to send it into overtime and at least get a point.  William scored two goals – en route to a hat trick – but didn’t get it.  He did get third star of the game though.  Aberdeen knew he was trying to impress his parents and show off in front of his brother.

The team was spending the night in Chicago before leaving late tomorrow for Long Island, meaning that Aberdeen had the day off and could actually go and explore.  She’d never been, and she knew eight or ten hours was not nearly enough to really explore a city, but she thought about taking a city bus tour that hit all the major sites.  Truthfully, she was learning more towards just spending the entire day at the Art Institute of Chicago.  It was on her bucket list.  

After the stress of travelling and the back to back games, she was tired.  She’d taken a long, hot shower before putting on her pajamas and slipping into the hotel bathrobe.  With her hair wrapped in a towel, she ripped open a sheet mask and put it on, massaging it onto her face.  She texted Kasha, who sent her some pictures and videos of Minerva sleeping on her bed, which calmed her down but also made her wish she was curled up with her cat.  Eventually, Aberdeen lay upright in bed, trying to get some reading of Women Talking by Miriam Toews done before she fell asleep.

But then there was a light knock at her door.

She was so tired and so annoyed and so engrossed in her book that she didn’t even bother to look through the peephole to see who it was.  She forgot she was in her pajamas and bathrobe.  She forgot she had an entire sheet mask on her face that made her look like Jason.  She just opened the door, not thinking about anything.

Which made seeing William on the other side of the door all the more frightening.  

He had quite the amused look on his face.  “Hey.”

She shut the door in his face.  She turned around so her back was against the door, internally freaking out, looking around for a means of escape.  She seriously contemplated jumping out the window.  It was only eight floors – that didn’t mean too many broken bones, right?  She could…she could…

“Open the door, Aberdeen,” she could hear him from the other side, his voice low but loud enough that only she could hear.  

“No,” she said, having the wherewithal to finally rip the sheet mask off her face and shove it into the pocket of the robe.  It was still wet, damn it.  A sheet mask wasted.  

“Come on, Aberdeen.”

“What are you even doing here?” she asked.

“Would you rather Brendan find me outside your hotel room or would you rather hide me in the shower where he wouldn’t see me?” William asked rhetorically.  

Aberdeen’s heart and her mind started racing, thinking that Brendan was on the way down to her room or down the hallway or something.  She rushed to open the door and stuck her head out, looking down both ends of the hallway.  William, for his part, slipped past her and into her room.  “Is he here?!” she asked in a harsh whisper.  

“God no.  Brendan’s asleep,” William said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  “It’s eleven at night, Aberdeen.  The man needs his rest.”

She looked back at him practically sauntering into her hotel room and shut the door, locking it behind her for full effect.  She crossed her arms to make herself appear angry.  William still had an amused smile on his face.  “I reiterate my question – what are you even doing here?”

“Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“Weren’t you going to dinner with your parents and Alex?”

“That’s done.”

“So, like, don’t you want to spend time with your parents?”

“They have an early morning flight to catch to Dallas to visit Jackie at SMU,” he said.  “They went back to their hotel and went to bed.”

“And shouldn’t you be doing the same thing?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Cause I wanted to see you, minskatt.”

A blush overcame her cheeks.  “Will, this is really inappropriate,” she said, trying to mask it.

“Why?”

“You’re a hockey player in my hotel room,” she felt like she had to spell everything out for him.  “If Brendan finds out he’d freak.  If Kyle or Peter found out, they’d freak.  Hell, if your teammates found out—”

“Even if they did, they wouldn’t say anything,” William interrupted her.

She stopped dead in her tracks.  That was not plausible.  Any single one of them would go to Brendan in a second if she and Will were caught together like this.  In her hotel room.  At night.  Alone.  “I have a hard time believing that.”

“They wouldn’t.  They know that I like you, so they wouldn’t.”

Aberdeen couldn’t respond with anything because she could think of anything to say.  He flummoxed her constantly.  He kept rendering her speechless and she didn’t know what to do about it – didn’t know if she could do anything about it.  She watched as he leaned against the TV stand, crossing his own arms over his chest.  “I’m asking for a third time now – what are you doing here?”

“Was that a sheet mask you had on your face before?”

“Yes.”

“For what?”

She gave him major side eye.  “Moisturizing.  The traveling is drying out my skin.”

Will let out a slight chuckle.  He looked past her towards her bed, and she followed his eyes and looked behind her.  “What book are you reading?”

Was he being serious right now?  Had he seriously made his way into her room to ask her about sheet masks and books?  Not like she’d do anything else with him.  But still.  “Women Talking by Miriam Toews.”

“Do women talk in it?”

She audibly scoffed.  “It’s about sexual assault in a Mennonite community.”

Will’s face dropped.  “Oh fuck.”  

Aberdeen couldn’t help but snort as she saw the look on his face.  She tried to cover her mouth and her smile but the attempt was futile.  He looked so embarrassed and it just brought her so much…well, delight.  “God, Will,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning back to grab the book.  “You are something else.”

“You like to read, then?” he tried to recover the conversation.

“I have a major in English, Will.  And I want to become a writer.  You can’t become a writer if you don’t read.  Well I mean, you can, but you won’t be very good.  And beyond that, I’ve made it my goal to read the shortlist of the Governor General Awards and the Giller Prize,” she said.  She saw a slightly confused look on Will’s face.  “They’re Canada’s highest literary awards.  They’re like – well, not really, but you’re Swedish, so – it’s like being a Nobel Laureate, but obviously the Nobel is much more prestigious.  I read them too.”

The smile that appeared on his face was so innocent and pure that she wanted to wipe it off his face.  She couldn’t handle it.  “I remember that you want to be a writer.  You told me the first time we met,” he said.  Aberdeen shivered.  “So what are you doing here with the Leafs?”

“In my quest for any type of job, they were the only ones that called,” she informed him.  “No newspapers or magazines came calling, so it was this or bank telling.”

He pushed himself off the TV console, making his way over to sit beside her on the edge of the bed.  He looked over at her.  “I think you’d make a great writer.”

“Thanks, but you haven’t read any of my writing.”

“Can I?”

“No.”

It was Will’s turn to snort.  “Fair enough.  Maybe I’ll get to read it one day.”

“I don’t know about that,” she said, smiling down at the book as she held it between her hands, being very careful not to lose the page.  “How was dinner with your parents?” she pivoted, not wanting to talk about herself or her writing anymore.  “I bet you miss them a lot.”

William shrugged his shoulders.  “I’m kind of used to it.  When I was a kid my dad would be gone a lot.”

Aberdeen thought the worst.  “Why?”

William looked at her weirdly.  “My dad was an NHL player, Aberdeen.”  He saw the shock on her face and couldn’t help but chuckle.  “Do you not, like, google these things?”

“Why would I google your dad?  I thought he was just…I don’t know, your dad!” she tried to defend herself.  

“Well, he is just my dad—”

“But he was an NHL player,” she said.  “What team did he play for?”

“A bunch.  He was a journeyman.  Alex and I were actually born in Calgary, but then it was Tampa, Chicago, Washington, Boston, New York…then back to Washington,” William listed off the cities he’d lived in.  “It was a lot of moving around.  A lot of back and forth.  A lot of missing dad.”

Aberdeen could never imagine moving around that much as a kid.  She was very fortunate to have lived in the same house her entire life, however old and small it was.  She knew William’s life growing up was probably very nice – much nicer than hers, in the sense that he had a lot more money with his dad being an NHL player and all – but all of that couldn’t make up for missing your dad because you couldn’t actually see your dad.  The first time Aberdeen realized she actually missed her parents was the grade nine orientation retreat her school ran, when she went to a camp in Muskoka for three days and two nights and got eaten alive by mosquitos.  She couldn’t imagine that feeling happening over and over again.  And not just over and over again…but throughout her entire childhood.  “But Sweden is always home?” she asked, trying to brighten up the mood.  

“Always,” he replied automatically, resolute in his tone.  “In the summers, when we’d be all together in Sweden, and it was just…you know, family time…that was the best.  Our house in Stockholm, or our house in the countryside…it was always amazing.”

Aberdeen smiled at him.  He was so clearly fond of Sweden and fond of his family.  If their Halloween talk didn’t secure it enough, this did.  She wondered how much he missed his siblings on a regular basis; how geographically, they were so far away from each other, but in every other way they were so close.  Much like she and Siena.  She missed Siena every day.

“Hey Aberdeen?” Will’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“You haven’t kicked me out yet.”

She gave him a look.  He started chuckling at her scrunched up face, still glowing with moisturizer.  “Don’t push it.”

***

November 13th 2019

Aberdeen felt both mentally and physically exhausted as the charter plane landed in Toronto just before midnight.  The Leafs suffered another loss to the New York Islanders, John’s old team (who booed him every time he touched the puck, the savages), even though they battled back again from a goal deficit.  Will scored.  John scored too.  But it wasn’t enough.  Now, the team was officially on a three game losing streak (okay, technically only two if you didn’t count the shootout loss against Philly).  Aberdeen was just…tired.  She had the day off tomorrow to prepare for the Major Donor Dinner that night, worked Friday, and then – surprisingly – a full weekend off, since Brendan wasn’t traveling to Pittsburgh.  

To says she was looking forward to it was an understatement.  

“Who’s driving Aberdeen home?” John asked out loud as he always did when they came back from road trips late at night.  She didn’t know if he’d taken it upon himself as the team captain to spearhead the movement, but she didn’t oppose it anymore.  If they wanted to be chivalrous, she wasn’t going to stop them.  

She usually rode into the city with Morgan, with Bee picking them up.  Twice she’d gotten driven back into the city with Saylor and Kasperi.  She was fully ready to hear Morgan’s voice pipe up like it always did – especially because Bee was always on time and already waiting for them by the time they landed.  She even saw him about to say it, but he was cut off.  “I’ve got it,” Will said immediately, not even looking at her.  Morgan looked back at him, shrugging his shoulders.  That was that.  

Aberdeen noticed he drove a Volvo – of course he would, the Swede.  She put her carry-on in the trunk and slipped into the passenger seat, waving goodbye at Justin Holl who had parked beside Will and was already backing out of his space.  Will slipped into the driver’s seat, starting the car.  He looked over at her, the smallest smile on his face.  “Hey.”

“Hello.”

“You tired?” he asked.

“I’m exhausted.”

“Good,” he said, backing out of the parking spot, making his way out and onto the street.

“Good?”

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a while,” he said, a smile on his face.

She side-eyed him.  What exactly did he think they were going to get up to in his car of all places?  She was wide awake now.  “Why?”

“You always have your headphones in on the bus or plane when Brendan doesn’t need you.”

“So?”

“So it’s obvious you like music, and I’ve curated a playlist for this exact moment,” he smiled, fiddling around with his phone.  He really shouldn’t have been doing that, since he was driving and it was illegal to do so.  Aberdeen looked as he swiped through Spotify quickly, obviously knowing exactly where he needed to go.  

“What moment is that?” she asked.  

“Driving through Toronto at night,” he said, stopping at the red light.  She chuckled slightly to herself, leaning her head back on the headrest and looking out her window.  Of all the guys on the team, only Will would do something like this.  Bee never made any playlists for driving Morgan home in the middle of the night.  Hell, Saylor didn’t either.  She was more preoccupied with telling Kasperi the exact details of what she’d been up to while he was gone, or telling him where they were going to go for drinks and oysters after they dropped Aberdeen off. “You ready?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“If you put on Drake to drive through Toronto at night, Will, I swear to God…” she warned.

There was a dramatic pause.  The opening notes of Drake’s ‘Passionfruit’ played.  Aberdeen overexaggerated her scoff and disgusted face, and William’s infamous laugh was so loud it could be heard over the music.  “God, William…” she chastised playfully.

“Oh come on!  It’s a good song!” he tried to defend himself.

“It’s one of his better songs, sure.  I’ll give you that,” she said.  “But what a lousy start.”

Will’s jaw dropped.  “Oh, really?  You can think of something better?”

“I can think of a million different songs that are better,” she quipped.  She looked down at his phone sitting in the little cubby and went to grab it.  She scrolled through the list, getting more and more disgusted by the songs and artists he’d added to the playlist.  “Your taste in music is awful,” she scoffed again.

“HEY!”

“It’s true!”

“Okay Miss Superior Music Taste—”

“Okay, first of all, if you’re going to choose a Toronto artist to start a ‘driving though Toronto at night’ playlist, it should be The Weeknd,” she began, typing his name into the screen and swiping to add ‘Starboy’ and ‘I Feel It Coming’ to the playlist.  “Like, where is Tory Lanez?  Where’s Daniel Caesar?  And why is it all rappers?  This is so stereotypical.  You need better music.”

“It doesn’t just have to be people from Toronto,” he said, making a turn.  “And it’s all rappers because I li—”

“Seriously, this is awful.”

“You’re really mean when you’re exhausted,” he quipped.  

“If it doesn’t have to be just full of people from Toronto then I’m hijacking this playlist and making it good,” she ignored his comment, already swiping her fingers all over his screen and typing in name after name.  

Will would glance over occasionally, trying to keep his eyes on the road but finding it hard.  She looked so cute concentrating so hard as Passionfruit played in the background.  He bit his lip, trying to remain composed.  “God, you’re gutting that thing,” he said.

“That’s how bad it is.”

He shook his head playfully.  “You better hurry up.  Passionfruit’s almost over.”  Aberdeen finished off, keeping his phone in her lap as she let Passionfruit end.  “It better be good,” he said.

She shot him a playful glare.  “It’s awesome, thank you very much.”

As ‘Passionfruit’ ended, ‘Bride’ by San Fermin came on.  Aberdeen was immediately pulled into the sounds and beats, closing her eyes and let it wash over her.  William, on the other hand, furrowed his brows.  “What is this?”

“San Fermin.”

“Who?”

She shot him another glare – how many she’d shot him in this car ride alone, she couldn’t even say.  “Can you just listen?”

William gave it about a minute before he began shaking his head again.  “I’m sorry.  I can’t do this.”

“You’re weak.”

“Put on something good this time,” he said as she picked up the phone again.  He switched lanes to get onto the onramp for the Gardiner Expressway.  He saw Aberdeen scrolling through the playlist, finally picking a song.  ‘Green Light’ by Lorde.  “Lorde?  Really?”

“Don’t you dare say a bad word about Lorde,” she warned.  “She’s perfect.  Her music is perfect.”

“You think so?”

“She wrote Pure Heroine at sixteen.  Sixteen!” she exclaimed.  “I would give my left arm to have written like that at sixteen.  I was writing awful, pretentious poetry about stupid boys in my high school at sixteen.  And she wrote that entire album!”

William laughed, her clear enthusiasm and love of Lorde shining through in her words.  It was adorable.  She was adorable.  She was many things, but right now, she was adorable.  “Is she your favourite?” he asked.

“I have a lot of favourites,” Aberdeen admitted.  “But yeah.  She’s up there.  Do you not listen to her?”

William shrugged his shoulders.  “I know Royals.  That was the big one, right?  That’s basically it.”

“Well, you need to listen more.”

“Not the first time someone’s told me that,” he joked, keeping his eyes focused on the road.

Aberdeen bit her lip.  She knew they were in the context of talking about music and her favourite artists, but that was a loaded sentence.  When she and Brendan made their way to the locker room after the Islanders game, she could hear Mike Babcock’s voice from down the hallway.  She’d watched and listened to some of his post-game interviews, and she wasn’t completely ignorant to the fact that he constantly, constantly, backhand complimented William and his skills.  It didn’t matter if William got an assist, got one goal, even two goals – it was like Mike couldn’t say a good word about Will without undermining him somehow.  She remembered the season opener, when William told her “I’m used to it” when she asked about it.  She shifted uncomfortably in the passenger’s seat.  “Will…”

“Hm?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course, minskatt.”

She paused to try to collect herself.  “What, like…I mean, I don’t mean to be nosey or whatever, or intrude…but what – I mean…like what kind of like—”

“Spit it out, Aberdeen.”

“What’s the issue between you and Mike Babcock?” she finally asked.  

Will looked over at her quickly, shocked that she’d asked the question.  “Hell if I knew,” he mumbled, shrugging his shoulders.  That was a lie – he did know part of it.  At least, he thought he knew part of it.  “I don’t…I…okay.  Last year,” he began, “the 2018-2019 season.  It was my contract negotiation year.  I went unsigned throughout the summer because I was holding out for a specific number and a long-term deal instead of what we call a ‘bridge’, so like a two or three year deal.  I…I didn’t want to be anywhere else but Toronto, no matter what anyone else said.  I still don’t want to be anywhere else but Toronto,” he explained.  “And so, because of that holdout, I didn’t attend training camp.  I didn’t play basically for the beginning half of the season.  There…there was a lot of drama.  A lot of rumours in the Toronto media – really nasty rumours, some of them.  A bunch of talk about trading me.  It produced this really…I don’t know, this really toxic, like, cloud surrounding me.  A lot of people were angry about it.  But I got my deal – I signed on December 1st, the last day legally possible to be able to play.”

Aberdeen thought back to what he told her about his dad.  How much Will missed him as a kid growing up because Michael would be travelling for hockey.  How much Michael was gone all the time.  How every few years, the family would have to pack up and move to a completely different city, in a completely different part of the country, following Michael on his journeyman hockey career.  Of course William wanted a long term deal.  It was no wonder.  He didn’t want to experience what he had to experience growing up – being shuffled around the league – now as an adult.  

“The media did their job though,” he continued, breaking her train of thought.  “They were relentless.  Malicious.  They turned a lot of people against me – a lot of fans who were influenced into thinking I was a spoiled Swedish brat.  Overhyped, overpaid, waste of money.  A plug.  Getting in the way of hiring a good Canadian boy, forgetting the fact that I was born in Calgary,” he almost smiled to himself, shaking his head.  “So…I don’t know.  I guess Mike didn’t get over my holdout.  Maybe he feels bitter about it.  Maybe he thinks I’m selfish, that I shouldn’t have held out.  Maybe he thinks I’m an overhyped, overpaid plug taking a spot from a good Canadian enforcer or something.  But it’s all hypothetical.  It’s all maybes.  I can’t tell you why, exactly, he always says those things.”

Aberdeen didn’t know any of this.  She didn’t know William held out on his contract.  She didn’t know there was a portion of the city that hated just him specifically.  She didn’t know about bridge deals, long term deals, and about him wanting to be in Toronto – nowhere else.  She didn’t know any of it.  And that’s when she finally realized: that was her exact problem.  This was why she kept making careless comments that made Brendan so upset.  She didn’t know anything about the team; she didn’t know anything about its members, how they got to Toronto, how they liked being here.  She didn’t know the history and barely took time to learn.

“You need to walk into this building everyday knowing and understanding the history of this hockey club beyond just the surface level and what Brendan tells you,” Kyle told her after she went crying to him like a baby.  “But you already know what to do, Aberdeen.  You just need to find it within yourself and do it.”

She needed to understand the team as an institution, but also as a group of guys creating and carrying on the legacy of that institution.  

Now she knew.

“That’s awful,” she said, considering everything he told her.  She couldn’t believe a coach would hold something like that against a player.  “You…you don’t deserve that, Will.  Any of it.”

“I know,” he said, nodding his head slightly.  “You don’t have to tell me that, minskatt.  Mike’s just…listen, he’s a good coach – a great coach.  I mean, he’s won two gold medals.  And he has a very specific system—”

“William,” she interrupted him.  He looked over at her.  “Don’t make excuses.”

He smiled at her – a true, genuine smile.  And as he did, the opening notes of ‘Style’ by Taylor Swift began to play, and a shiver ran up Aberdeen’s spine.  She had to look away – had to – because if she looked any longer at him, she would spontaneously self-combust.  That, or lean over the centre console and do something she would immediately regret.  As she looked out the front, she saw them approaching downtown – all the lights and the skyscrapers illuminating the city, and the CN Tower lit up brightly in red.  “This is my favourite drive,” she mumbled.

“What?”

“This is my favourite drive,” she repeated, speaking up.  “This…the Gardiner going into the city.  Swerving through all the buildings.  All the lights.  And this song is perfect for it.  Absolutely fucking perfect.”

William continued to smile at her, looking between her and the road as ‘Style’ continued to play.  The riff, the beat…everything was perfect.  She was busy focused on the view, and on the beat of the song, singing it lightly to herself, her voice getting above the volume of the song only minimally.  She even took out her own phone and began recording the drive and the lights, no doubt to post on Instagram later.  She looked perfect.  She was perfect, at least to him.  He needed to utilize every ounce of self-control he had in him as he continued to watch her.  “This is really hard,” he said out loud, breaking somewhat.

“What?  Listening to Taylor Swift?”

He laughed.  “No.  All I really want to do is reach across the dash and hold your hand but I know I can’t.”

She blushed, looking down at her hands instead of looking at him.  She always had a few rings on – a few dainty ones, stacked, and one her mom gave her that once belonged to her grandmother – and she began playing with them nervously.  He signalled to get off at the appropriate exit.   “Will…”

“I know, I know,” he said.  He was biting his lip down, hard, probably to stop him from saying or doing anything else.  “I’m sorry.”

The rest of their ride was silent, since it wasn’t much longer until he reached her condo.  When they finally arrived, she made sure he knew he didn’t have to get out of the car when he popped the trunk for her to get her carry-on.  She rolled it back to the passenger window.  “Thanks for the ride Will,” she smiled.

“Will I see you at the dinner tomorrow?” Will asked out the window, leaning over the centre console.

She paused for a second.  He knew about that?  She thought it was an office personnel only event.  “You’re going?”

“Of course I am,” he smiled.  

She rolled her eyes.  “Of course you are.”

“Brendan likes to shuffle some of us out as a surprise for the donors.  It’ll be me, John, Jason, and Mitch,” he explained quickly.  “So I’ll see you there?”

“Yes.  You’ll see me there.”

[mcheang]

I'm back and with an idea i just had to share with you a fic with Alya knowing Lila was lying but wanted to knock Marinette down because he felt jealous and inferior to Marinette who had talent and headstart to her carreer and celebrity connections (she was still friends with her cuz Mari had a lot of perks )so she has an excuse to lash out her frustration and Mari calls her out saying Mari has been nothing but a good friend and she's been nothing but a bad person bcuz of her insecurites

Jealousy doesn’t become a hero

I very much prefer writing Lila and/or Bustier salt. But I hope this draft satisfies you.

When Volpina had been defeated, Marinette went to check the Ladyblog and was relieved to have found the interview deleted. Adrien must have informed Alya.

Imagine her surprise when Lila kept lying about her time with Achu. Despite her evidence, Alya dismissed it as jealousy.

Um...maybe Lila decided posing as her BFF was a bad idea and asked Alya to take the video down?

When Chameleon came about and was given the most embarrassing defeat of all time, Marinette sat watching Lila give her class a full-detail tall tale about how she rescued (defeated) her.

Then, struck by inspiration, Marinette went back to class, a triumphant air about her, her smirk barely repressed.

Adrien saw but shrugged it off. He figured Marinette realized Lila would get caught sooner or later. He joined her at the back later and soon their old seating arrangement was back.

That night, Alya was surprised when she heard a voice in her bedroom window.

“While I am glad that you don’t run after every akuma now, I hope you still check your sources, Alya.”

Alya turned and beamed. “Ladybug! What’s up? Do you need me for another Mission?”

Ladybug leaned against the wall. “No. I’m here regarding Lila. I’ve been hearing rumors that you posted an interview of her claiming to be my BFF- without checking with me.”

Alya blinked. “Oh. You think I’ve been suckered. Don’t worry, Ladybug, I know Lila’s nothing but a liar.”

Ladybug blinked. “But your interviews?”

Alya nodded and went to open a page on her laptop. She figured one of her classmates must have spread the rumor until it reached Ladybug’s ear (she doesn’t know why Lila was akumatized into Volpina). “I did post her interviews. But do you know how you can control who sees what you post? I made sure those interviews could only be seen by our class. And I have to approve what comments appear on every post. The comments you see are made by our classmates solely, but Lila doesn’t know all that because of their usernames. Like I’m going to ruin my journalistic career for a tabloid post!”

Ladybug blinked again, confused. “But why indulge Lila? Why let her lie to your friends?”

Alya shrugged. “It’s a weird way to make friends, sure. But maybe once Lila realizes how cool we are, she’ll learn she can trust us with the truth.”

Ladybug narrowed her eyes. Manipulating their classmates to serve her food is not a way to make friends. (And dismissing her was not very friendly of Alya either!) “You are lying to me, Alya Césaire.”

Alya started backward, and started to get nervous. Ladybug was the reason her blog was so popular, and her only chance to become a hero. She was the smartest girl in Paris and could see through lies like glass.

Alya had 2 choices. Lie again and be exposed (and never be a hero again or granted interviews), or tell the truth and never be a hero again (but at least Ladybug is more likely to forgive her)

“Fine. I indulge Lila because it’s nice to see someone else in class get the spotlight.”

Ladybug tilted her head. “I’m sure Chloe has been improving.”

Alya shook her head. “No, not her. I mean Marinette.”

Ladybug was shocked. “The bakers’ Daughter?”

Alya wasn’t surprised Ladybug knew Marinette, not when she was the one who arranged her first official interview with Ladybug.

LB: How is she in the spotlight?

Alya sighed. “She’s the most popular girl in class. She gets confessed to on a regular basis. Even my own Boyfriend was interested in her before me. She knows Jagged Stone, which is probably how she knows Lila is lying. Marinette even got her designs praised by Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeois. Her parents are owners of the most popular bakery in Paris. Clara Nightingale and Adrien Agreste both think she is star material, and worthy of being called Ladybug.”

Alya kept going on, noting that Ladybug’s surprised face wasn’t exactly discouraging her. In fact Marinette was still too stunned to react.

“I just wanted someone else to be in the limelight. And if it couldn’t be me. I’d rather it be anybody else, even a liar.”

Ladybug gathered her thoughts. “So you’re just jealous? That Marinette is popular? But you’re popular too.”

Alya gave a bleak laugh. “Hardly. In class, I’m dismissed as the obsessive and nosy reporter. I don’t know any celebrities and they certainly don’t follow the Ladyblog. More people download apps for akuma alerts and hero sightings than subscribe to my blog. I’ve been dismissed for proposing crazy theories, which in hindsight is reasonable.”

LB: I’m assuming you didn’t tell Marinette you know Lila is lying because of that.

AC: Obviously. Because then I’d have to back her up and she would be the hero again. I used the excuse that she was jealous, and she was. But I knew Marinette is above jealousy. It’s annoyingly. She was ready to give Adrien up to an ice queen.

LB wrinkled her eyebrows, drawing on her professionalism and burying her own hurt for later. “If you are upset by Marinette’s success and annoyed by her attitude, why befriend her?”

AS: Because of her connections! Thanks to her, I got to star in Clara’s music video. She somehow got you to agree to do an interview with me. I persuaded her to take over as class president so I didn’t have to do the real work and Chloe wouldn’t be in charge anymore. She gives me free custom designed clothing. And no offence to my mum, but Marinette’s pastries are the best breakfast in the world.

Ladybug finally stood up tall. Alya had been so lost in the relief and satisfaction of finally venting out her jealousy and frustration that she had momentarily forgotten that her listener in the shadows was a very influential idol whom she wanted to make a good impression on.

Ladybug said coldly, “From what you are saying, it sounds like Marinette has been a better Friend that you have ever been. You are as bad as Lila Rossi. You lie for your own gain. And if there’s one thing I despise above all else, Miss Césaire, it’s liars.”

As Ladybug launched her Yoyo out, Alya rushed to make her plea. “Wait! Please wait! I’m sorry!”

LB: No, you’re only sorry you got caught.

ALya cried out, “what can I do to make it up to you?”

Ladybug gave her one last impassive look. “For starters, I’d say tell the truth. To everyone.”

Ladybug left Alya in horrified and torn silence.

As Ladybug returned home, she detransformed and wept on her balcony, amid the perfume of flowers. She could finally face the betrayal and sadness she had kept away in front of Alya.

Tikki sadly cozied up to Marinette’s neck, trying to offer comfort.

Hawkmoth was alerted by a teenager’s despair, agony and betrayal.

Hawkmoth: Hooray, I get to akumatize Marinette after all!

He doesn’t. Adrien saw Ladybug outside and went out to join her. As he searched for Ladybug, he saw the akuma heading for a weeping Marinette.

“Marinette, move!”

Marinette looked up in surprise (Tikki quickly hid among the flowers) “Chat?”

“Cataclysm!” He destroyed the butterfly in front of her face.

Marinette gasped.

Chat quickly steadied himself on the balcony. “Marinette, are you alright? What’s wrong?”

Because she was definitely not alright. Those were tear tracks on her face. Chat felt sad that his princess was sad, and wanted to rip out the face of whoever made her cry.

Marinette shook her head. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Chat was doubtful. An akuma appeared. Clearly she couldn’t handle it. “Are you sure? I’m here for you, you know.”

Marinette finally burst into sobs. She leaped into Chat’s arms. Chat held her close as she confessed the source of her troubles.

“I just learned that Alya wasn’t really my Friend at all. She was just using me.”

Chat was confused. What was she talking about?

Marinette saw his confusion and explained. “I was the one who told Ladybug about Lila first. She got mad and went to confront Lila, i assume that got her akumatized. When Lila got akumatized again today, Ladybug went to visit Alya to make sure she knew Lila was a liar.”

Ok...Chat guessed that explained Marinette’s attitude just before lunch ended.

“And it turns out Alya knew Lila was a liar all along. She never really posted her interviews to the public. She’s just been indulging Lila because she wanted to knock me down.”

Chat was shocked. “And Ladybug told you all this?”

Marinette let out a bark of laughter. “She didn’t have to. I heard Alya myself. I was near her bedroom door when I heard voices saying my name. Once I heard what Alya had to say about me, I didn’t bother knocking or to announce myself. I doubt Nora would bother mentioning me since she was preoccupied with the twins and her parents weren’t home.”

Chat guessed Marinette had new evidence that Lila was a liar and wanted to show it to Alya. But instead she happened to hear a conversation that revealed Alya’s true colours.

Marinette wiped her cheeks bitterly. “She did everything today willingly. She left me to sit in the back alone, without consulting me. She dismissed me and accused me of being jealous. All along, she was the jealous one, and I actually thought she was my Friend!”

Marinette buried her face in her hands.

Chat rubbed Marinette’s back consolingly. “Cheer up princess. You still have the rest of your friends, and me.”

Marinette sniffled. This was not comforting to her. Her friends weren’t much better. And she didn’t see Chat regularly.

Chat sensed he was failing at comforting her and tried again. “So what are you going to do tomorrow. Will you confront Alya?”

“I don’t know. I sit next to her and she is the first person I talk to every morning at school. But I can’t see her face without wanting to shout Liar now. And if I do, she’ll just turn the whole thing against me, like Lila did. (Lila did what now?) I don’t know what to do.”

Chat’s heart broke at how lost Marinette sounded. He tiled her chin up so she would look at him.

“Tell you what, princess. Tomorrow, you are going to walk with your back straight and head proud into that classroom. You are going to give Alya Césaire a polite greeting and ignore her. Talk to your other classmates. Listen to music. Write in your notebooks. Revise old lessons. Do whatever. But don’t give Alya the time of day until you are ready to face her.”

The next day, Adrien was prepared. He ignored Lila and gave a confused and sad Alya the cold shoulder.

When Marinette arrived, Adrien was all sunshine and immediately invited her to a conversation.

Marinette gratefully accepted. And though she stumbled, she kept Chat’s advice and ignored Alya’s nudges and comments.

They kept talking until class started. The girls were thrilled to see progress.

Throughout the first half of the school day, Alya kept trying to talk to Marinette or slip her notes. Marinette ignored her.

Alya guessed what had happened and braced herself. She had to tell the truth. She didn’t want to know what Ladybug would do otherwise if she didn’t.

When Lunch came and Adrien invited him to join her; Alya firmly grabbed Marinette’s hand and said in a low voice. “I need to talk to you. Now.”

Marinette reluctantly followed. Unbeknownst to her, Adrien and Lila decided to eavesdrop, for different reasons. Adrien wanted to be there for Marinette and Lila wanted dirt.

In a deserted classroom, Alya finally said the words. “Ladybug told you about last night, didn’t she?”

Marinette’s answer was vague. “She didn’t have to. But she did give me a brief warning this morning. I connected the dots on my own.”

Alya laughed bitterly. “Of course, even Ladybug chooses you over me.”

Marinette stayed silent, waiting for Alya to continue.

“Let me be clear, Marinette. I’m only being honest because of Ladybug. I’ve only been your Friend because of what you do for me.”

Even though Marinette was expected it, it still hurt. Thankfully, her only controlled response was an audible exhale.

Adrien: How could you Alya?

Lila: oh snap!

“I know Lila’s lying but I indulged her because I wanted someone else to take the stage instead of you.”

Lila: she knows?

Marinette raised a brow. “Even at the risk of your blog’s reputation?”

“The interview is only seen by our class. The public can’t access it.”

Lila fumed. She had been played. Alya had used her instead of the other way around. Silently, Lila brought out her phone to record the conversation. Despite Adrien shaking his head, Lila glared at him, daring him to lecture her now.

Lila got the whole juicy bit. Alya admitted what she was jealous about, her betrayal to Marinette. And at the end of it, Marinette was still composed. Adrien had to admire her for it, standing strong in the face of such betrayal.

Marinette: you did all of that just to hurt me? Out of petty jealousy? That you accused me of envy- you resented me that much? and you only used me for free stuff and have been my friend when it's convenient? (This was part of the request) you know, I actually felt hurt that you were just taking advantage of me Alya. But now I just feel sorry for you. Some people like Chloe and Adrien are lucky, they are born with opportunities we can only dream of. But the rest of us, like Nathaniel, like Kitty Section, like myself. We work hard. Sure we have help from our friends, but we never take advantage of them. We have struggled and yes, we do face setbacks, but throughout it all, we have stayed true to ourselves. But you, the moment you see someone thriving, you don’t focus on improving yourself, you just try to leech off that person, like you did to Lila, and like you did to me. You can’t think of safer methods to record akuma fights. You never listen to anyone’s reasoning and criticism of your theories. You are stuck in your own entitled world, that you can’t see the bigger picture. You’re a parasite, Alya Césaire. So...I won’t expose you, because I have no doubt you’ll turn everyone against me. But I won’t be your Friend anymore.”

Alya wasn’t bothered. “Fine. So we agree to never speak to each other again unless necessary?”

“Yes.” Marinette walked out first. Adrien and Lila scattered before she could open the door.

Adrien immediately went to grab Marinette for lunch and did all he could to distract her from her recent ordeal.

Meanwhile, Lila edited the video to avoid incriminating herself and sent it to the class group chat.

She hates Marinette sure, but no one plays Lila for a fool and gets away with it.

The class is shocked and angry at Alya, who tries to claim that Lila is lying. She runs away from the mob and returns as Lady Wifi to punish Lila.

Ladybug defeats her but Alya demands a question if Ladybug is friends with Lila. Feeling sorry for Alya, Ladybug announces that her only Best Friend is Chat Noir. She does not befriend civilians.

Alya is sentenced to switch seats with Nathaniel. Adrien takes her place as Deputy. Nino dumps Alya. Lila and her new desk mate keep sabotaging each other.

[charlietheepicwriter7]

Hey, Little Songbird

Chapter 3 - AO3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The place Dupain-Cheng took him to was a small bakery not far from the school. Stepping inside, the smell of fresh baked bread assaulted his nose. In the display case, dozens of macaroons in all colors lined parchment paper next to croissants and cream-stuffed pastries. Felix expected Dupain-Cheng to get in line to order; instead, the girl skipped the line, approaching the woman at the register directly. "Hi, Maman," Dupain-Cheng greeted. 

Felix wanted to scoff as he watched mother and daughter hug. Of course, she'd take him to her family bakery! She wouldn't be able to afford any of the places his pallet was used to. But... despite his first instinct, the establishment did have a rather... warm feel to it, further embellished y the downpour outside. And the food did look impeccable. Not his usual fare, certainly, but one day off his diet wouldn't hurt him. 

"Welcome home, Marinette," her mother greeted. Her eyes met his and furrowed with confusion before her expression smoothed out. "Who's your friend? He's never dropped by before." 

So she could tell him and Adrien apart. Good. 

"Ah! Maman, this is -" 

"Felix Graham de Vanily," Felix cut in smoothly, smiling charmingly. "I'm new in class and your daughter has been kind enough to help me gain my barrings at Fransis-Depoint. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mme. Cheng." He bowed at the waist, eyes lowered. He wanted to make a good impression - 

"It's nice to to meet you too, Felix," Mme. Cheng nodded, seemingly amused. "Why don't you two grab something from the back and eat upstairs." She glanced at the line, which had only grown in number since they arrived. "It seems like it's about to get full down here."

"Thanks, Maman." Dupain-Cheng pressed a kiss to her mother's cheek. "Come on, back here."

Felix followed her behind the counter and into the kitchen beyond where an extremely large man, presumably her father, was icing a particularly tall wedding cake. "Hey, Dad! Felix and I are just grabbing some food before going upstairs."

The father smiled, surprisingly calm about his daughter arriving with a strange boy in his shop. "Go right ahead! There's some fresh chicken salad and cold cuts in the fridge if either of  you want them."

They each loaded up their plates, but when Dupain-Cheng started to ascend the stairs, Felix hesitated. He looked back at M. Dupain. "Sir... Forgive me, but how do I pay for this?" Father and daughter exchanged a shocked glance. "I didn't get a chance to properly observe the menu, so otherwise I'd-"

"Don't worry about it!" M. Dupain laughed. "No friend of Marinette has to pay! Consider it the 'friends and family' discount." 

Felix frowned. He didn't really consider them friends yet; acquaintances, yes, but not friends. Though, if the quality of his classmates refused to improve, she might end up being the only person he could stand talking to on a regular basis. "Sir, I must insist-"

"They're not going to let you pay, trust me," Dupain-Cheng said. "You're not the first person to try, nor are you going to be the last. Just come on." She went upstairs and Felix reluctantly followed. He wasn't used to other people doing favors for him. Usually people wanted favors, thinking he'd be naive enough to allow them to ride off the Graham de Vanily family coat tails. Felix never allowed that mentality to stick around him long; no one had ever been stupid enough to try more than once. 

The familial part of the home looked nothing like the elegant, cold entry hall of his family's manor, nor did the connecting living room resemble any parlor or sitting room that he's ever been in. It looked well-used, lacking the meticulous housekeeping that the maids kept, with a blanket crumpled up on the couch and a video game console pushed to the side, like someone had finished playing in a hurry. He could see into the open kitchen from the living room and noticed that although it looked clean, there were dishes stacked in the skin. Was this how commoners lived? Clearly despite their beloved establishment, the Dupain-Chengs weren't nearly as well off as some of the other members of their school, like himself, Adrien, and Chloe. So how did they attend? The tuition was rather costly; did she get in on scholarship? 

Of course, Felix had enough sense not to ask her about her family's financial status.  Things simply weren't done in polite society, and while Felix often didn't feel the need to follow those unspoken rules, there was no need to insult someone in their own home. 

Dupain-Cheng sat on the couch while Felix took the love seat nearby, sitting gingerly upon it as though it could bite him. Despite the home being so banal, Felix found himself... liking it. It was warm, much like how the bakery below was warm, with a lingering sense of comfort radiating from every square centimeter of the home. He found himself sinking into the plush of the chair without meaning to. 

To distract his mind, he tucked into lunch, only to find his meal delicious. He paused after a single mouthful. Somehow, the simple meal was able to rival those made by the professional chefs in his family's employ. Good work deserves to be complimented, so Felix told Dupain-Cheng so and she flushed. "T-Thanks. I'm sure my parents appreciate it," she said with a cough, having swallowed some of her food wrong. "Would you like to go over where we are in the curriculum now?"

"Yes, that would be quite useful."

She showed him her notes for their classes and just as he thought, he was already ahead in most subjects. The only exception was literature, but only because his school had focused more on British authors than French. Still, it wouldn't take for him to catch up. But there was still one thing about the day that bothered him and since Dupain-Cheng volunteered her service, he asked, "I am unsure if this falls under you assisting me around the school, but could you explain what that Lila girl was trying to do today?"

Dupain-Cheng set down her utensils and exhaled heavily. "What has she lied about this time?"

"Apparently I pushed her after a greeting. Which is odd because I had no idea she existed before class." Not that Felix really cared. But saying he pushed her was a step too far; he has far more subtly than direct physical assault. At least be clever when you try to slander him!

"Huh, so she's directly attacking you already? That's weird, I could have sworn she'd make up some lie about forgiving you and promising to help you meet your favorite celebrity if you promised to be nice."

He scoffed, but Dupain-Cheng made no similar noise. Like... she was serious. Oh God, she was serious. "Are you telling me people actually believe that swill?" 

"Most of our class, Mme Bustier, and our principal. Fortunately she hasn't started working on making the people in other classes believe her yet, but there are a handful there too." It seemed as though speaking about it unleashed a dam inside the girl. "And it doesn't make any sense because most of her lies can be disproven with either an internet search or a phone call! She claimed that she saved Jagged Stone's cat from an airplane, but was there any media coverage from it? None at all! She claims to go on all these expensive vacations, but either her photos got damaged on the way back or she just shows the class stock images of generic tourist stuff. And the volunteer work! Sure, I can understand charities not advertising who their workers are, but all you'd have to do is call them and every charity she's mentioned ends up saying that a Lila Rossi never worked with their organization. I just... I don't understand how they can keep falling for this stuff! None of them even bother to consider that she could be lying!" Her chest heaved after her rant, but she looked relieved, like she'd finally been able to get it off her chest. "They... none of them even think that I'm telling the truth," she continued in a small voice. "They all think that poorly of me."

Their... classmates, as much as Felix hated to admit any relation to those morons, had really done a number on her. He found empathy to be distasteful, especially with his plan to become a ruthless business man later in life, but he could help but pity her. Not that he'd ever admit it. Perhaps he could change the subject? Or at least lighten the mood. 

"I'm going to be surrounded by idiots then. Lovely." She shot him a hurt look. "Well, not you. Obviously. Though seeing past such a clear liar isn't really a point towards you as it is a negative three against the others."

"You rate people on a point scale?" Her eyes were starting to lighten, brighten. 

"Only when I need to inform others of how lowly I consider them." He sniffed haughtily. 

"Does that mean you think better of me than them?" she teased, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

"No need to get a big head now; it's not that you're better, but rather that you're less awful." He smirked in return, hopefully letting her know that he was returning her tease. At least, he thought that's what he was doing. He never really understood how to communicate with his peers in a fashion that reflected well on him. 

"I'm pretty sure that's the definition of better though." 

"Well, if you're so desperate to claim the title, you could always prove it." Felix folded his hands under his chin. "Prove that you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are worthy of my time."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure if I want it now."

He frowned in disappointment, but inside he was triumphant. "Truly a shame; and here I wanted to get to know the real Dupain-Cheng... But alas I fear that knowledge will forever be out of reach." 

"Who says 'alas' anymore?"

"Well!" he huffed, "Just because you're unused to refined vocabulary doesn't mean you have to insult me, Mademoiselle!"

The verbal sparring went back and forth for a while and as rapier wit battled rapier wit, Felix found it hard to keep a smile off his face.

Taglist: @graduatedmelon @novicevoice @dur55 @kris-pines04 @18-fandoms-unite-08 @moonlightstar64 @bee-a-garbage-shipper @sol-o-shade @kittyotakunoir666 @tinyterror333 @allieoftheenemy @marichat00 @xgxmxtx

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Too Smart for Your Own Good: Part 2

Pairings: Machine Gun Kelly x Reader, (Past and Future) Henry Cavill x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, one night stand, unprotected sex

Word Count: 2,129

A/N: Doesn’t have a completed end yet, but just giving you more content to try to get myself out of a writing funk.

Part 1

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

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” Your father, Negan, chuckled as you got off the golf cart in front of the trailer you’d be celebrating Christmas in again, like you had for three of the past ten years, at the Los Angeles County State Prison.

“Hi, daddy.” You breathed in relief, grateful to spend any amount of time with the only family member that you could completely trust. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry fucking Christmas to you, too, Princess. Fuck you, give ‘em.” He barked as he pulled the bags of food and your clothes off the back of the cart before you could even think to reach for them. You simply rolled your eyes and grabbed your guitar case before thanking the officer and heading inside the family visit trailer. “So what kinda trouble did you get into this week?”

“Well…” You sighed as you sat down at the small table in the kitchen. “… I went to Cleveland on Saturday and flew back yesterday morning. Pretty sure I got pregnant, too.”

“You fucking what?!” Your dad roared as he slammed a box of Mac and Cheese down on the counter. “Fucking Henry?”

“Henry is not coming back!” You shouted back, defensively. “And does it fucking matter? I made a choice, two choices actually, to sleep with some douche bag and not take Plan B after. It is what it fucking is.”

“So what, you're just gunna throw away your fucking life…” He started as he went back to throwing groceries in the cabinets, angrily. 

“No, I made the choice to not be fucking alone any more!” You interrupted as you looked over at him. You couldn't hide the hurt in your eyes when he turned around to stare at you, shocked that you were actually talking about your emotions.

“Sweetheart…” He breathed as he abandoned his task and came over to sit down in front of you. “You are not fucking alone…”

“I am alone, daddy.” You nearly whispered as you put your feet up on your chair and wrapped your arms around your legs. “Mom’s dead, and you're in here for who knows how much longer. And Henry…” You scoffed and shook your head. “Henry isn't coming back. He loves being some hit shot doc the Army more than he ever loved me. So other than my research, which I've all but abandoned anyways out of sheer boredom, I have nothing. I have no one, daddy. Just the occasional visit from Ashleigh and some of the harlots from the club. Maybe a once a month lunch date with some of the people from UCLA. But that's it. So I made a choice not to get the morning after pill after I stared at the box for over an hour and weighed out the pros and cons. And I would much rather raise a sperm donor baby than be alone in that house anymore.”

“OK.” Negan whispered with a nod as he rested his hand on your bent knee. “OK. I don't fucking like it, but I will get on that train all the fucking same.” Tears welled in your eyes as you rested your cheek on the back of his hand, and you closed your eyes to hide them. “So I'm gunna be a grandpa?”

“Maybe.” You choked the slightest bit as you opened your eyes to look at him again. “It just happened but I know I'm ovulating…”

“Eww fucking gross.” He fake gagged to get you to smile as he pulled his hand free and got up to finish putting groceries away. “I don't wanna hear that shit.”

“That's what you get for raising a daughter with no filter.” You pointed out as you propped your chin between your still bent knees.

“Fucking gross.” He repeated with a laugh. “So the fuck was in Cleveland? This fuckin guy?”

“Ashleigh’s client. He’s a rock rapper that needed someone that could learn music fast and played the guitar well. So Ash landed on me. But dude is a total self absorbed prick. B minus in… well in the broom closet.”

“I'll have Simon kill him.” He said almost 100% seriously.

“You are not going to kill this idiot for being bad at sex.”

“No, I'm gunna fucking kill him for laying a Goddamn hand on my daughter.” He responded with a smile as he balled up the last empty grocery bag and put it in the recycling bin.

“You're an idiot.” You laughed as you grabbed your guitar and got up to sit outside for a while.

“Hey, be nice to your old man.” He huffed as he grabbed a pack of cigarettes and a pack of matches off the table and followed you out front to enjoy the California sun. “And go easy on me today.”

“Yea fucking right.” You laughed as you sat down on one of the plastic lawn chairs and pulled out your guitar, which took you almost a year of bribery to be able to get it into the jail it now lived in in the first place. “Where’s the fun in that?”

“Pain in my Goddamn ass.” He grumbled around his cigarette as he moved his chair out off the shade and pulled off his blue prison issue shirt for as long as he could get away with it. “Alright… rock music from the 70’s.” You nodded at the category and tuned your guitar before picking an easy AC/DC song to start with. Which is pretty much how you always spent your days when you visited your father in prison.

——

Your office hadn’t looked so chaotic since you were working on a regular basis, but as of that morning, every available surface was covered in every single medical textbook, (with a focus on pregnancy and pediatrics) and motherhood book you could get your hands on. The dry erase board that usually had your equations to see if your Milky Way black hole theory was a possibility, had been wiped clean and replaced with columns upon columns of notes, to separate the ridiculous from the actual facts you would need to go through a pregnancy and raise a child.

You were blazing through the ‘Essential Neonatal Textbook’, when your house phone rang, startling you the slightest bit and forcing you to pull your attention away from a long list of the benefits of cord blood. You sighed and snatched up your headset as you set the book down to work through all of the information and pick out the more important bits and pieces to make the best informed decision.

“Ms. (Y/L/N)? I have a Colson Baker here to see you.” Your fingers froze with the cap of the marker in one hand and the marker itself in the other.

“You can let him in.” You sighed as you took a step forward and started a new list under the newborn column in the middle of the board. You heard the line click in your ear and you wrote quickly, trying to get some of the information down so you knew where to pick up when you came back inside. You got a short start and reluctantly forced yourself away from your research  to let your guest in. You started to work out your ideas vocally as you opened up the two gates and watched his purple Lamborghini pull into your driveway. You waited just long enough for him to make it half way to you, before you turned and headed inside to add more to your cord blood list with him following behind you.

“Umm… what the fuck is this?” Kels asked as he looked at the board over your shoulder in shock.

“Did you vaccinate Casie?” You asked as you continued to write.

“You’re fucking pregnant?!” He shouted over you as you capped your marker and set it back down on the easel.

“I am pregnant.” You said evenly as you walked over to find the ‘The Umbilical Cord Blood Controversies in Medical Law’ book to cross reference the former textbook. “Did you vaccinate Casie?”

“Were you gunna fucking tell me?” He shouted as you flipped through the pages, easily reading 20,000 words a minutes despite the distraction of your visitor.

“I was neither planning on telling you, nor keeping it from you.” You said simply. “I want nothing from you, Mr. Baker. I don’t need money, and I don’t need you to step up to be a father. You were a one night stand that I chose to not take Plan B after. My choice, my child, my body, my life.” He looked at you completely lost for words as you set your finished book down and headed back to the white board to add and change notes. “I would like your family medical history, though. I could easily do a diagnostics test and an MSS while I’m pregnant but…”

“Oh, I’m gunna be fucking sick.” He groaned behind you as you finished your idea and turned to move on to the next section. You grabbed the trash can and handed it to him on the way past as you tried to keep your thoughts as straight as possible, relatively unsuccessfully.

“I don’t wanna be alone.” You sighed as you looked over at him for a moment. “And after the way you treated me that night, the way you just used me and threw me away like I didn’t mean a Goddamn thing…” You exhaled through your nose and shook your head as you looked away from him and out the back door to the ocean. 

“I don’t care that you’re not happy here, Mr. Baker. I don’t care if you want to be in this child’s life or not. I don’t care if you see me or this child as a mistake, or what you see us as at all. I just don’t care. What I care about is having a calm, healthy pregnancy, and becoming a mother. And I will not tolerate having someone come into our lives to walk in and out of it because he never wanted us in the first place. Nor will I tolerate someone treating me like I’m worthless trash in front of my child.” Kels didn’t say a single word as you shook your head and turned back around to go back to work. “Stay as long as you want. I have work to do.” 

As Colson sat and thought, you went over to find a book about banking cord blood so you could round out that column. The next column was pros and cons of breastfeeding verses formula, which was a lot more extensive than you originally expected due to the varying opinions on length and benefits, but after reading through seven different books, and writing and erasing conflicting notes, he finally spoke up.

“Breastfeed for a year.” He almost whispered as he watched you work. “That’s what we did with Casie. And yea, we vaccinated her.” You nodded your head as you erased the idea you were writing and stood up to make a note in the vaccines column. “I don’t turn my back on my kids.”

“OK.”

“I’m sorry.” He continued as you capped your marker “It’s no excuse but I was high as fuck and running on adrenaline. I used you and that was shitty as fuck.”

“Yes it was.” You agreed with a nod as you leaned against the front of your desk and crossed your arms over your chest.

“Well I’m fucking sorry.” He said a little harshly. “And I’m sorry for knocking you up.”

“Pregnancy happens, Colson.” You breathed with a shrug of your shoulders. “I’m obviously a little more prepared since I actually made the decision…”

“Yea, that’s a fucking understatement.”

“OK, you can fucking leave and I can file a restraining order.” You snapped. “What’s done is done. I’m pregnant, you’re the father, your kid and my kid have a new sibling. You’re not going to have to pay child support, I’m taking primary custody with open visitations. And no, I am not going to date you. Not now, not ever. You left a sour taste in my mouth and I want nothing to do with you or your crazy lifestyle.”

“You’re just making this super fucking easy, aren’t you?” He asked as he pushed himself out of his chair. “I’m outta here. I’ll get your number from Ash and I’ll be in touch.” You rolled your eyes and gestured toward the door behind him.

“You can see yourself out.”

“Such a fucking bitch.” He muttered as he stormed out the doors and through the atrium to leave. You let out a huff and shook your head as you went back to your research.

“Idiot fucking sperm donor.”

Part 3

[nicnacsnonsense]

Aziraphale & Crowley's D&D classes?

Short version:

Aziraphale is a paladin, and Crowley is a bard.

Long version:

Aziraphale originally created his character as a paladin at the suggestion of the DM because it was going to create the best team balance and be the best fit for the planned campaign. However, as he played he found he didn’t really enjoy the melee combat and would much rather be support class. He’s continually tried to change classes to cleric, but the DM won’t let him.

And Gabriel’s not even the real, original DM. She stopped answering anyone’s calls ages ago. They know she’s not dead because they managed to get a hold of her... husband? flatmate? assistant? attorney? dude who speaks for her, but she’s not talking to any of them. So the group decided to elect Gabriel to take over as DM to continue the campaign.

I say the group decided, but Aziraphale was not consulted on this policy decision. And quite frankly he’s not really enjoying playing anymore; Gabriel is a terrible DM, and the whole group has gotten rather overbearing. He considers quitting on a semi-regular basis, but always feels bad about potentially leaving everyone else in the lurch, and besides, where else is he going to go? He doesn’t know of any other D&D groups he could join or how he would go about finding one.

Meanwhile Crowley started out with his group as a bard, but then one of the other players basically tricked him into making a warlock pact with a demon prince, forcing the class change. And what’s worse is the guy texted everyone the day after that session to let them know in the most condescending way possible that he was quitting. The DM decided to narratively address this issue by revealing his character was actually the demon prince in disguise and shifting the character to a sporadically appearing NPC, so now this arse gets off scot-free while Crowley is stuck with him.

Crowley hates playing as a warlock, admittedly partially because it was forced on him, and feels like the group as a whole is getting pretty toxic. He plans on quitting, but first he’s trying to find a way to force the story to dissolve his pact with the demon prince on principle/out of spite. He just has to keep his plotting from the DM because he knows Beelzebub would stop him if they knew about it.

And Beelzebub isn’t even the original DM. They just took over when the first DM basically vanished. Crowley hates them as a DM, and feels like they’re part of the reason this whole thing has gone toxic.

In a twist that shocks all the players but precisely zero members of the reading audience, it turns out both groups’ AWOL DMs are in fact the same DM. She was running both campaigns concurrently and had been secretly weaving them together. The plan was for a big reveal and then to do one last story arc as a joint effort before closing out the campaign. Which means now Gabriel and Beelzebub are trying to co-DM, despite the fact they can’t stand each other and 2 minutes and 13 seconds is currently their record for longest they’ve gone without one of them insulting the other. And the both of them swear they’re moving things forward exactly the way the DM had planned based on her notes, as though they didn’t all know she always had a million and one things going on in her head and wrote less than half of them down. The whole thing is quickly turning into a shit show without any actual playing happening.

So Crowley is watching all this go down and seriously considers leaving for a minute, before screwing up his courage and sauntering over to sit down next to the good-looking blond guy from the other group, Az-something his name was. “Well this is going down like a lead ballon.”

Az, Az... Aziraphale! That was his name, Aziraphale. Aziraphale glances over at Crowley and chuckles a little, but he looks extremely nervous. Hopefully it’s a general social awkwardness thing, and not something about Crowley in particular that he’s finding off-putting. “Sorry, what was that?” Aziraphale asks.

“I said, ‘Well this is going down like a lead ballon.’”

“Yes, yes, it is rather,” Aziraphale agrees.

Emboldened by his success so far — given that Aziraphale is the type of person to show up for a casual game night in a waistcoat, bow tie, and pocket watch, whereas Crowley’s the type of guy (well, guy-ish) to wear snakeskin boots, women’s jeans, and get a snake tattooed to the side of his face, he’s willing to consider not getting immediately shut down a success — Crowley leans closer to whisper conspiratorially. “You know my disaster of a neighbor runs sessions with the local gang of eleven year olds, and I bet even they run a smoother game than this lot.”

“I shouldn’t doubt it.” Aziraphale huffs in annoyance. “At this rate we aren’t going to get anything done today at all, and I can’t possibly stay late just because everyone else is bickering and disorganized. I have dinner reservations for that new Italian restaurant; I hear they do remarkable things to oysters.”

“I’ve never eaten an oyster,” Crowley replies.

“Oh, well, let me tempt you to—“ Aziraphale cuts himself off and quickly looks away, blushing.

Crowley grins. “Tempt me to what?” he asks, gently knocking Aziraphale’s foot with his own.

Aziraphale darts a sideways look at him, and then back down at his hands, still blushing faintly. “I was just thinking it’s such a shame you’ve never tried oysters before and that, well, if you aren’t busy of course, that you might want to join me tonight.”

“I wouldn’t want to wreck your dinner plans,” Crowley says, which is half true. He has no problem with wrecking dinner plans in principle — he finds he especially doesn’t have a problem with crashing a date that Azirapahle might hypothetically be on — but he doesn’t want to do it if it would upset Aziraphale.

“I doubt it’ll be a hardship to ask the restaurant to bump my table for one to two.”

“Well, in that case,” Crowley drawls. The two of them are both smiling at each other now, and that’s... good. It’s very good. Very, very good. In fact, “Why don’t we head out now? Go see a movie before dinner.”

Aziraphale looks scandalized. “We can’t leave early. Everyone else is counting on us to be here to play.”

Crowley nods over toward Beelzebub and Gabriel, who look about two seconds away from an actual fist fight at this point — Crowley’s money is on Beelzebub; they’re small, but they’re scrappy, and Gabriel might be built, but he doesn’t look like he can take a punch for shit. “You really think they’re going to miss us?”

“Ah, well...” Aziraphale hems.

“It doesn’t have to be a movie.” Crowley says. “We could go for a coffee, a walk in the park, to the museum...” Aziraphale lights up at the last suggestion, and Crowley’s heart starts to beat a little faster. He firmly tells it to calm the fuck down; they’re trying to play it cool here. “Come on. You tempted me to dinner, only fair to let me tempt you to a museum, huh?”

Aziraphale takes on last glance at the rest of the group before turning back to Crowley. His smile is small but extraordinarily pleased, and he wiggles a bit in his seat. “Temptation accomplished.”

After that the two of them leave for their “is it a date? Who the fuck knows; definitely not these two idiots.” The following week they go to Newt’s D&D session instead. Crowley is allowed to immediately revert his character back to a bard. Meanwhile Aziraphale ends up staying a paladin, but the kids have enough big damage dealers in their group that he can play the character as an unusually tank-y healer.

[imaginepirates]

Loving and Loved

A third part to Scarred and Scared! For @kay-maybe, who wanted some more Beckett. Well, here you have it. Featuring: an incredible amount of self-consciousness and some tender treatment. 

~3000 words

@paljonkaikenlaista @emdrabbles @tesserphantom @viper-official

~~~~~~~

          The weeks following your capture were pleasant. Beckett had certainly found a new use for you, and you were enjoying yourself more than you’d like to admit. He always had a hand on yours, and he would press light kisses to your knuckles or the back of your hand. Occasionally, when he was feeling particularly bold, he’d ask you to guide one of his hands to your cheek so he could kiss you there. Only when you were alone did he let you kiss him on the lips, and you could feel him smile when you did so.

          Currently, you were rubbing the sleep from your eyes, stretching in the morning sun that streamed through the curtains. You donned your usual robe; Beckett gave you robes of all colors and levels of scandal to wear around the house. You indulged him, even if he couldn’t see you. They were comfortable, and light in the Jamaican heat. You chose one of seafoam green with little white shells embroidered across it. Fitting, you thought, given your location.

          Though Beckett owned a dining room, he hardly ever used it. You met him in his office during most mealtimes, unless he was meeting with somebody over food, which was the case more often than you might have liked.

          You visited the kitchens to get a tray filled with breakfast foods before walking back to his office. You gave the door a little push with your hip and entered, setting the food on a table in the middle of the space. He hummed, acknowledging that you were there.

          “I brought breakfast,” you told him.

          He leaned back in his chair, looking up in your direction. “I can smell that. A good thing too, because all I’ve had is tea.”

          “I figured as much.” He drank enough tea to fill an ocean. You walked over to him, helping him out of his chair and over to the table. He was getting better at walking, you noticed. It didn’t take him as long to move from place to place. Everything was slowly becoming easier for him, and you were glad to see it.

          He yawned upon reaching his seat, and you handed him a pastry. “Will you keep me company this morning?” He asked.

          “Of course.” You often did, simply sitting in a chair near him, reading a book, your hand over his. It was nice enough, and he always wore a small smile when you stayed.

          “I’ve scheduled the servants to have tomorrow to themselves. They’ll be leaving this evening.” Beckett picked at his pastry, eating small chunks at a time.

          It was the first time he’d scheduled a day off for his household servants, but you heard it wasn’t uncommon. Every month and a half or so, he’d give them a day entirely to themselves. That, of course, had been before his injury, when he’d been self-sufficient. You assumed you’d be staying with him, even if you didn’t consider yourself a servant.

          “Will you be leaving as well?” he asked.

          “Why would I? You need somebody to take care of you.”

          “I’m sure I can find someone up to the task. Besides, you haven’t been able to properly explore the city since arriving here. It’s a beautiful city; don’t let me hinder you.”

          You moved closer, placing a reassuring hand on his arm. “You’re not a hindrance to me. Not you.”

          He didn’t respond, nor did you expect him to. He was unused to your compliments and assurances, and you thought it possible that he didn’t quite believe them. Over the past few weeks, he’d been shocked by your kindness, and it had clearly shown. You pitied him a little for that. How he’d grown so unused to any kind of affection baffled you. Had it really been so long since somebody had cared for him?

          You assumed, by the way things were now, that Beckett lived a solitary life. He was surrounded by his work and his domestics, but they weren’t people he shared his life with on a personal level. His thoughts and feelings were kept to himself, creating a lonely man.

          You helped Beckett back to the chair at his desk. He’d have servants to read all the papers to him and write down his responses, so you could continue your regular routine of reading by his side. You sat with a copy of Macbeth, enjoying the soft sounds of the ocean from outside. Without his sight, Beckett was primarily concerned with sound, so he made sure windows were left open so he could hear things he couldn’t see. He was at his most calm when outside, listening to cicadas and birds during the early evening. You agreed that it was less stressful than the sounds of people, and less dull than the readings of documents.

          Though you had learned, while reading, to block out the voices around you, you had a harder time ignoring your own thoughts. Lately, they had plagued you with nothing but worry and guilt. You’d been staying with Beckett for weeks with no knowledge of what was happening in the outside world. Sure, you could read the latest news from London and women’s fashion, but you wanted to know about your world. You wanted to know about piracy.

          Every time you thought about it, a pang of guilt shot through your chest. You were living a life of luxury with Beckett to provide for you, the exact same luxury you’d so hated before. This sort of wealth went against your moral code. No one person should control so much, especially if they were controlling human lives in the process, one of the many things Beckett did on a daily basis. You worried that you were changing into a new person, somebody you shouldn’t be. You were getting accustomed to living with the enemy.

          The enemy. Exactly what Beckett was, really. It hurt you to think so. You’d grown close with him- too close- and every minute with him drove you to insanity. You couldn’t decide if it was bad of you to love a person you knew was the enemy of your lifestyle. He was your opposite, and you’d been taught to hate his kind from a young age, but you found that his treatment of you was far better than most people’s. You were afraid of what this meant. If it meant giving up your old self, you weren’t sure you could stay, no matter how much you wanted to.

          In truth, you were afraid of how close you were to him.

          Evening came, and the servants were dismissed. You hadn’t been paying attention to the time, distracted with reading. Dinner came and went, and it came time to retire to your rooms. The house was strangely quiet with nobody but the two of you, and it felt entirely too big.

          You took Beckett back to his room, unsure of what to do next. With no servants to help him, you weren’t sure he could do everything himself. You were a bit nervous about leaving him alone; he had a tendency to try doing things he shouldn’t, and you were afraid he would hurt himself. He was too stubborn to admit he needed help with things, so you weren’t sure if you should bother asking him if he wanted you to stay.

          As if to prove your point, he fumbled with the buttons of his waistcoat, unsuccessfully struggling to rid himself of it. You pushed his hands aside, unbuttoning it yourself. He protested slightly, but you undid the waistcoat and set it on a chair.

          “I can do that myself, you know,” he grumbled.

          “I know you can, but I can help you. For convenience’s sake.”

          “I have to be allowed to do something myself.”

          You sighed. “I know it makes you feel better to do things yourself. I just want to help you. You’re taking care of me here, and I want to care for you in return.” So saying, you pulled at the ties on his undershirt, letting the top hang open.

          “You’re rather eager to undress me, aren’t you?” A smirk played across his lips. “Shouldn’t you at least be taking your time with me?”

          “Oh, I don’t know.” You had your fingers tucked around the bottom of his shirt, tugging it upwards to get it over his head.

          Beckett’s fingers closed around your wrists, keeping your hands in place. You were startled by the quickness of his movements. He stared uncomfortably at the floor, lips pursed. You hadn’t thought he would mind your helping him, but his face said otherwise. You found yourself feeling a little hurt.

          “I can do the rest myself,” he whispered.

          “I’m sorry.” You didn’t quite understand his reluctance. He’d just been flirting with you the moment before, even though you’d meant the act as being nothing but helpful. “I hope I didn’t overstep anything.”

          “No, no,” he assured you. “I would just rather you not see.”

          “See what?” You were thoroughly confused. You’d taken off his shirt before, in the lighthouse, to apply salve to his burns. It was nothing you hadn’t seen before.

          “The burns. The scars. The obvious signs of age and the… eating habits of the upper class.” He continued to stare at the floor, as if he would see disappointment or horror on your face if he looked. As if he already could.

          “Cutler.” You spoke softly, but he flinched as if you’d hit him. “I’ve seen it all before. There’s nothing for you to be embarrassed about.”

          “I was unconscious then, so I didn’t have to deal with your reaction. I admit, I care about your opinion of me too much now.”

          His admission took you by surprise. “You don’t think I’m judging you, do you?”

          “Everyone else has.”

          “Well, I’m not everyone else.” You cupped his cheek, running your thumb across it lightly, tracing over his scars. You pressed a kiss to his cheek, pausing to whisper his name. “It’s been a long time since anyone’s said it, hasn’t it?”

          He hummed his agreement. “It sounds sweeter on your tongue than it ever did on anyone else’s.”

          You blushed a little. He still got to you, sometimes. Most of the time, actually, but you’d never admit it. “Do you trust me?”

          He hesitated. “Yes.”

          You slipped a hand under his shirt, lightly tracing over his chest and stomach. He stiffened, and his breath hitched, making you smile. “Have you let someone do this to you before?”

          “I was considerably younger.” One of his hands came to rest in your hair, his fingers tangled in it.

          When you finally lifted his shirt over his head, he gasped faintly, just enough for you to hear. He crossed his arms over his chest in what you guessed was an attempt to hide himself.

          “Don’t be afraid of me,” you whispered. You rested your hands on his chest as his arms fell to his sides. You stared for a moment at the burns covering his body before you kissed him. He let you do so eagerly, returning the kiss with a searing one of his own.

          You both pulled away a moment later, and his hands came to rest on your waist. “Are you sure you want this?” He sounded more vulnerable and unsure than you’d ever heard him.

          “I make it a point not to do things I don’t want to. As it stands, you have all my attention.”

          “Oh.”

          Suddenly, you came together again, your mouths hungry for one another. He pulled you close, fingers pressing firmly into your sides, holding you in place. You smiled into your kisses; if he liked anything, he liked control.

          He kissed you desperately, his body pressed flush against yours. The sensation was both overwhelming and delightful. You let your hands wander to his back, feeling his scars there. Your fingers found thin scars among them, clearly caused by something other than his burns.

          “What happened?” you whispered between kisses, your fingers tracing the scar.

          “Pirates.” Beckett took a shaky breath. “I was eighteen. My ship was taken by a pirate, and he had no trouble bestowing his gifts,” he said bitterly.

          Things began to make sense. No wonder Beckett hated pirates so much. “I’m so sorry.”

          “It’s not your doing.” And, as if reading your mind, he added, “I don’t hate you for who you are. I know you’re still a pirate at heart. But you’ve shown me the most tenderness I’ve ever known.”

          “I hope to continue doing so,” you answered. You lightly traced his burns with a finger. “You should get some sleep.”

          “I suppose.” He made no move towards the bed, instead preferring to let your fingers wander over his skin. “Will you join me?”           Too embarrassed to answer, you stood trying to form words that you couldn’t quite find. You knew your face must be burning red.

          “I only mean to sleep.”

          You gave an inward sigh of relief. Kissing him had been enough excitement for the evening. You weren’t sure you should do too many firsts at once. You agreed to stay, helping him to the bed and climbing in next to him. The experience was new to you, and you were unsure of what to do. Thankfully, Beckett answered your question by wrapping an arm around you when you laid down, pulling you closer to him. Your back was pressed against his chest. You considered, briefly, how indecent it was to wear nothing but a silk robe while in bed with him, but you ignored the intrusive thoughts, instead focusing on his arm around you.

          “Sleep,” he mumbled.

          You did, drifting off comfortably with Beckett next to you.

          Sunlight filtered through the curtains when you woke, and you turned over to find Beckett still asleep against you. He rubbed his eyes as you rolled over, letting go of your waist. You stretched out on the bed, then turned your attention to your bedmate. Beckett sat up sleepily, his short hair sticking up from his head. Yours wasn’t any better, you knew, but you laughed all the same.

          “And I’m sure your hair is perfectly styled,” he said after you explained your amusement.

          “I’m sure mine’s a mess. Worse than yours, because it’s longer.”

          “Shame I can’t see it. I suppose I could feel it, if I liked.” His fingers curled into your hair, and he tugged you forward suddenly, kissing you. You could feel his smirk against your lips.

          “You’re wicked,” you breathed.

          “So I’ve been told.” He pushed himself up to sit beside you and groped around his bedside table. “I don’t suppose you can see where my nightshirt went to.”

          You rolled out of bed, snatching the shirt up from off the floor where you’d left it. You handed it to Beckett, who pulled it over his head, and you sat on the edge of the bed. “Should we go to breakfast? The servants will be back by now.” You were starving, having only picked at your dinner the night before. Then, in a more panicked tone, “should I leave before they find us together like this? They might think….”

          “Oh, bugger what they think. And what of it? You’re no lady, no socially important woman. There would be no scandal anyway.”

          “I am a pirate. A few of them know that, anyway.”

          “All the better.” He stretched and patted the sheets next to him. “I don’t have to meet anyone until later this morning. Come back to bed for a while longer.”

          You slid back under the sheets. You remained sitting, but found that the covers kept your legs warm while you were in your robe. Beckett’s hand found yours, intertwining your fingers. His hands were warm, and he rubbed little circles into the back of your hand with a thumb.

          “Do you like it here?” He asked softly.

          You hesitated. Of course you did, but your thoughts wouldn’t leave you. Somehow, this was wrong, no matter how much you enjoyed Beckett’s company. “I do,” you answered after a moment.

          Beckett frowned. “Something’s bothering you.” He swallowed. “You can always tell me if my affection is uncomfortable.”

          You almost rolled your eyes. Wasn’t I the one who took off his shirt? “It’s not you,” you assured him. “I just….miss my old life. I feel like I’m betraying it, somehow.”

          “Listen to me.” He cupped your cheek, turning your face to look him in his milky eyes. “You owe that part of your life nothing. You’re allowed to grow, and change, and do new things. The old part of you doesn’t have to die for you to add more to yourself. You can be the same person you’ve always been, and you can have new things, too. You aren’t defined by one thing, and you can’t be blamed for staying with me. Why turn away comfort and security? It costs you nothing. I’m not asking for anything in return, so why leave? Nobody would blame you. You’re not doing the wrong thing.”

          “It goes against everything I’ve ever known,” you admitted.

          “Then learn something new. Learn that you aren’t betraying yourself by choosing a new path. And you don’t have to stay here, if you don’t wish to.”

          “If I left, I’d be leaving you behind.”

          “Yes. I’d rather you stay, of course.” Then, softly, “I do love you.”

          You pulled him closer, giving him a light kiss. “I know. Don’t think I would have stayed here so long if I didn’t love you in return.”

          His eyes went wide, and you couldn’t help finding his surprise to be adorable. “Oh.”

          “Have I not made it obvious?”

          “I didn’t want to assume.” A smile lit up his face. “You won’t mind staying in our current arrangement, then?”

          “I’d like nothing better.”

          You’d found a good life for yourself with him, you realized. Strange, but good.

[quicksilversquared]

Luka and the Jewelry Heist

S3 Finale AU

In a timeline where Hawkmoth didn't lose the Miracle Box almost immediately after getting it, Marinette has to get the Miraculous back some other way, even if that means stealing them back one at a time. Her first target is Chloe, Hawkmoth's one known ally.

....Luka really doesn't know how he got involved in this.

links in the reblog

When Marinette had invited Luka to hang out for the evening, he had expected that they would do something chill, maybe hanging out in a park together for a couple hours, or spending some time at a cafe or the movies (probably not the latter, honestly, that seemed a bit more date-like than Marinette seemed to be ready for), or maybe grabbing a sandwich for dinner and just wandering around for a bit. The most excitement they would have would maybe be someone recognizing him from Kitty Section or Marinette from her work with Jagged Stone, surely, and they could just enjoy their time together.

As it turned out, Marinette had other ideas. Or, rather, one other idea. As it turned out, she had somehow managed to find out that Hawkmoth would be giving Chloe Bourgeois the Bee Miraculous permanently that evening, and she needed backup while she stole the Miraculous.

Luka had not signed up for this, but apparently Marinette didn't have anyone else that was available or willing to be backup for her and he wasn't exactly willing to let her go on her own, so he reluctantly trotted along after her anyway. Maybe he would be able to talk Marinette out of it as they headed for the hotel, or pick out holes in her plan so that she would decide against it, or, or...

Luka was used to crazy. He lived on a houseboat with an anarchist mom and a sister who had gone through several less-than-typical hobbies, after all. He went to an arts-focused school, where free thinking was encouraged and odd ideas were common. But magical jewelry theft?

This was new, and even though he had been a superhero a couple times, it wasn't exactly something that he wanted to do on a regular basis. Not without superpowers and an experienced superhero on his side, at least.

"I'm already seeing a problem here," Luka commented as he jogged to keep up with Marinette, who, by the way, walked crazy fast for someone who was so much shorter than he was. Maybe he was no regular powerwalker- unless there was an akuma nearby or he was running late, Luka much preferred a relaxed stroll- but this was insane. "How are we meant to get into the hotel? I've heard that they're pretty picky about who comes in. And if the doorman sees us come in and then Chloe pitches a fit about her Miraculous getting stole- or just some jewelry getting stolen, I suppose she can't tell anyone about the Miraculous now- he'll be able to tell her exactly who took it."

"Oh, that's easy," Marinette said nonchalantly, as though breaking into the Grand Paris unnoticed was something she did regularly. She dug in the bulging delivery bag at her side, pulling out two motorcycle helmets and matching jackets. "We dress up as delivery people and tell the doorman that we're bringing a delivery for Chloe. It worked just fine last time, and I actually know what she normally orders now, too, which helps. The helmets hide our faces, and the jackets hide our shirts. And I wore my biking outfit instead of my normal clothes today, too, so that clue is gone, too."

"Last time," Luka echoed faintly, because apparently this was a regular thing. "Uh."

"And the delivery people always park their bikes on the same side of the hotel, so we'll come from that angle," Marinette continued, still not even remotely out of breath. "And I have a delivery bag for you, too. It would be a little odd for there to be two delivery people for just Chloe, but Jagged Stone is here, too. We'll say one order is for Chloe and the other is for Jagged-"

"And he won't get upset about that?" Luka asked. Maybe the rocker and his mom didn't get on very well anymore, but, uh, Luka was still not interested in getting on Jagged's bad side. "'Cause, like..."

Marinette waved that off. "Nah, he knows that I'm using him as an excuse to get in. He just texted me that Chloe's already down in the restaurant with her father." She passed a jacket and helmet over to Luka, then dug a second delivery bag out of hers and passed that over, too. "We can put these on in the next alleyway. The camera has been broken for months, and even when it wasn't broken it only covered the back half of the alley."

Why did she know that? Why did Marinette know any of this? While Luka couldn't deny that it was probably better to be with someone who wasn't going into a magical jewelry heist completely unprepared, the degree of preparedness was a little disconcerting.

A lot disconcerting. Like, he was starting to feel like he didn't know Marinette at all disconcerting. How much was he missing if he thought that something like this was totally out of character when it clearly wasn't?

When they got to the next alleyway, Marinette shimmed into the jacket and pulled on her helmet, slinging the delivery bag over her shoulders and filling it with a couple boxes salvaged from the top of the trash so that it wouldn't look empty. She looked completely relaxed, which was the complete opposite of how Luka felt.

Sure, he could believe that she could saunter past the doorman without causing an ounce of suspicion. She didn't look suspicious. But Luka, normally the picture of cool, calm, and collected?

His blood pressure was starting to inch up, he was sure of it. Still, Luka followed Marinette as she headed confidently down the street, her hair and face completely covered by the helmet. Most delivery people that he had seen didn't hide their faces, but other than that she completely looked the part. Still, Luka had his doubts. Surely the Grand Paris had better security than that?

"Sushi delivery for a Chloe Bourgeois," Marinette announced as she strode up to the door. Her voice was pitched slightly lower, making her sound older without sounding fake. Clearly Adrien wasn't the only one in her friend group who could probably go into voice acting. "And an order for Jagged Stone?"

"Of course," the doorman agreed at once, stepping aside and waving them in. "You know the room numbers?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you."

And just like that, they were in.

"Keep your helmet on," Marinette warned Luka as she led the way towards the stairs. "We'll be going up to Chloe's room first, and I'll get some stuff set up. Then Jagged Stone has to leave to do some recording work at his studio in twelve minutes, so I'm going to have you play lookout down in the restaurant and tell me when Chloe's coming up so I don't get taken off guard. I can pay you back for whatever you order."

Luka blinked, a realization finally sinking in past his (apparently permanent) shock. "Wait, did you say that Jagged Stone knows what you're up to? And he's supporting it?"

"Of course. Hawkmoth is totally not rock 'n roll, you know." Marinette led the way towards the stairs, and Luka scrambled after her. "I have a button-up and a wig in your bag for you to use while you're in the restaurant. You can change in the bathroom- there's one without a working camera in the hallway on the third floor. But we'll go up to Chloe's room first."

...there was literally no part of this that should be of course.

Luka was out of breath by the time they got up to the top floor. Ahead of him, Marinette didn't seem winded at all as she pushed open the door carefully before stepping into the hallway. With a confident bounce to her step, Marinette headed for one of the doors, slipping a white card down between door and frame until the lock popped open with a small click. Luka stared.

"That should not have worked."

Marinette shrugged, pulling the door open and tucking the card- a hotel key card, he could see now, when had she picked that up?- into her pocket. "Everything here looks fancy and top-of-the-line, but I've been here enough to know that looks can be deceiving. Mr. Bourgeois cut corners where he could, and he depends too much on security downstairs keeping out anyone who might want to break into the rooms."

"...the security that just let in two people who had their faces covered because they claimed that they were delivering food?" Luka asked, unimpressed. He had seen better security at the budget hotels that he and Juleka and their mom sometimes stayed at when their houseboat needed repairs or when they went on vacations to places that weren't along bodies of water. "Lovely. And, uh, what about cameras in this hallway?"

"They exist, but they never have anyone monitoring the feed during the day, only once the front desk shuts down for the night." Marinette ushered him in, then quietly shut the door. She checked her phone quickly, then led the way into Chloe's room. Or, rather, the middle room of Chloe's three rooms. That was needlessly excessive. "I assume that they'll meet in Chloe's main room, rather than her bedroom. Near her balcony door is most likely, because he and Mayura will want to have a fast escape route, but far enough in that they can't be seen from the outside since they don't want anyone to get confirmation that Chloe is still Queen Bee."

"I can't believe that anyone is actually buying her excuse that Queen Bee is actually just someone else impersonating her to try to get her in trouble. That's, like, the world's most paper-thin excuse." It was infuriating, actually, to see Chloe getting away again with behaving terribly, and this time with something as serious as cooperating with a terrorist. From what Juleka had told him, Chloe had been insufferably smug at school, though she refused to tell anyone why even though they all knew. "And apparently Ladybug and Chat Noir believe her, which- I thought they were smarter than that!"

Much to his surprise, Marinette snorted in what sounded suspiciously like amusement as she continued her scoping out of Chloe's room. "Do you really think that Hawkmoth would let his guard down enough to give Chloe the Miraculous permanently if the superheroes still publically suspected her? And if they kept insisting that the current Queen Bee was actually Chloe without, like, video proof of her transforming, I bet the mayor would cause some problems for them, and that is the last thing they probably need right now."

...that was very true and also very strategic. Luka was going to count himself impressed. It was also very logical, now that he was thinking about it- the mayor had thrown a big public fuss about Ladybug going over his head to talk the president of France into passing a law about arresting people who willingly worked with Hawkmoth, and while he had tried to pass it off as concern about the police using the law to go after akuma victims, Luka seriously doubted that. It was far more likely that he knew that his daughter was lying and he wouldn't be able to do anything about the law or stop the police from arresting Chloe when she messed up and confirmed her identity.

Again.

"Anyway, if they're probably going to be in here, I'll want my camera set up...mmm, about here." Marinette tapped at a side table, then tugged up the side of her jacket to get at what looked like a fully-stocked tool belt that had somehow materialized around her waist. At this point, Luka wasn't even going to question that. "It might not be a perfect angle and I might decide to move it later, but I need to be able to grab it quickly and I don't think Chloe will notice it-"

"Wait, that's a camera?" Luka demanded, staring at the thing in Marinette's hand. It was about as thick as one of his fingers, and the same length, with a cord dangling off of the end and ending in something the size of a small remote. "Is that meant to be some crazy spy equipment? Where did you even get that?"

"It's a wildlife camera," Marinette said with a laugh. "Meant to stick into very small holes, like woodpecker cavities. And I borrowed it from the zoo- and yes, I got permission to borrow it. They use it when they have birds nesting during the spring, to spy on the nests and see what's going on. It can record a couple hours of footage and can stream to phones, too, if you're close enough." She reached out, palm up. "I can set it up on your phone so that you can see what's going on in here, if you want. It would probably be easier than trying to text back and forth all the time."

Luka handed his phone over at once. He still thought this entire attempt was pretty much a suicide mission, but Marinette seemed determined and the most he could do was make sure to do anything that would make it less dangerous for her.

"Once Chloe comes up, I want you to linger up here in the stairwell and give me a heads-up if her butler or her father comes up," Marinette told him once his phone was connected to the camera. "Just look like you were heading up to the rooftop or back down if they come, but you just paused to check your phone. Then I can try to hide better and won't get caught by someone coming in her door. And you should be able to hear the elevator from the stairwell, too- it's not exactly quiet."

"I hope you know that all of this is killing my stress levels" Luka informed her. "I was perfectly chill this morning. This afternoon, even. Now, I'm going to be too anxious to eat."

Marinette considered that for a second, and for a moment, Luka hoped that maybe, just maybe, he had finally gotten through to her and she would leave the retrieval of the Miraculous to the superheroes, who also had magic powers and could fight and didn't just have a motorcycle helmet and a flimsy biking suit as protection. And then Marinette shrugged.

"Maybe you could get some tea instead?"

  Chloe was definitely acting twitchy, Luka noted from where he sat with his steaming cup of tea. She was glancing out the window regularly, and when she wasn't doing that, she was checking her phone. She seemed snappy with her father, too, who looked concerned but clearly wasn't willing to question her at all in such a public setting.

He didn't know where Marinette had gotten her information about Hawkmoth swinging by the Grand Paris today, but it looked like she was right.

The ball of nerves in his stomach got worse, and Luka picked up his phone to check it again. Marinette hadn't sent anything yet, which he had to assume was a good thing. To kill some time, he opened his chat thread with Juleka and typed out a quick message.

Luka: If I don't come home later, tell Mom the jewelry heist wasn't my idea.

It was a joke, mostly, but that didn't stop him from feeling nervous. Maybe he was going to be in the stairwell, not close to the supervillains like Marinette, but if Hawkmoth really lashed out and destroyed a large part of the building in the process...

His phone lit up again with a response, and Luka scrambled to pick it up. Juleka had already responded and, well, she wasn't taking him seriously.

Juleka: LOL have fun!

...Luka was not having fun. Seriously, he hadn't had nerves this bad since he was younger, and he had not missed them. It was an absolute miracle that he hadn't gotten sick yet.

(Luka would give anything to have the Snake Miraculous right now. Having the option for almost endless resets... that would give him at least some peace of mind, even if he still had to put on a brave face just like he had all of the other times that he had transformed. A superhero couldn't let on how nervous he felt, even if it was just to other superheroes.)

(Also, this really seemed like something that Ladybug and Chat Noir should be dealing with instead of Marinette. They had powers and protection and were used to doing dangerous stuff.)

Across the room, Chloe finally finished her meal and stood, saying something to her father as she left. He didn't try to stop her as she headed across the room, simply watching her go with a slightly concerned look before shaking his head and standing himself, heading in the opposite direction. Luka downed the rest of his tea- it had not helped him relax, unfortunately- and then stood as well, thankful that he had already paid so that he could follow Chloe at a distance, texting Marinette as he did.

Luka: Chloe is leaving the dining area now&is headed back upstairs.

This was real now. Marinette wouldn't be able to leave Chloe's room easily once Chloe returned. She could still decide against trying to swipe the Miraculous, of course, or at least decide to delay until after Chloe took the Miraculous off for a shower or to go to bed or something. Even then, she would still have to spend time in the same room as not one, but two or even three supervillains, all without alerting them to her presence.

Luka wasn't going to be able to sleep for a week once this was over, he was so stressed.

(He had thought that being around Marinette would be relaxing, once. That time was starting to feel eons ago.)

It didn't take long for Chloe to get upstairs, and it didn't take long for Luka to get situated in his lookout spot, either. He leaned against the wall of the staircase, one foot propped up, and kept his attention on his phone as he navigated to the app that Marinette had installed earlier and popped one earbud in so that he could listen to the feed. If anyone passed by him, they would think that he was just a regular teenager, hanging out and trying to get some peace and quiet away from his family or something. The wig- mousy brown, about as far away from Luka's normal teal as they could get- and the rest of his borrowed outfit would ensure that.

On his phone screen, the picture hung for a few seconds as the connection established, and then started moving. Chloe was pacing back and forth anxiously, her eyes flashing to her window every so often. Marinette was nowhere to be seen, but that was probably a good thing. Nothing looked out of place yet, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Marinette was smart enough to not leave any indication that she was there- or at least Luka assumed that she was. He was starting to reconsider his initial impression of Marinette, after all, because no one sane would try what she was doing.

(She- she did remember that she was dealing with a supervillain who could detect emotions, right? There was no way to know if he would be able to pick up the fact that there was more than one other person in the room, and that- that was dangerous.)

Marinette: No sign of Hawkmoth yet, but Chloe keeps muttering something about five minutes to go.

Luka let out a long breath, flipping back from his text messages to the video stream and dropping his head back to rest against the wall for a long moment. Normally, five minutes seemed like not a long time at all, flying by in a flash. Now, he suspected that it was going to stretch out into an anxious eternity.

A family tumbled by to go up to the pool for an evening swim, despite the lingering chill in the spring air. An older couple came down the stairs, nodding politely to Luka as they passed. There was a tense thirty seconds when Luka heard the elevator, but it whirred up past the top floor and up to the rooftop instead. On his screen, Luka watched as Chloe finally stopped pacing and spun around to face the window, peering out into the dark sky. Seconds later, the tall, forbidding silhouettes of Hawkmoth and Mayura appeared, stepping inside of Chloe's room.

"We're going to make this fast," Hawkmoth told Chloe as they came to stand in the middle of the room. He glanced around briefly, as though checking for anything out of place, and Luka's heart jumped up into his throat, but apparently nothing stood out. "We have one more person to stop by after this yet, but we want to make sure that you understand the rules first."

Chloe's expression turned sour. "I know the rules. This is hardly the first time that I've worn a Miraculous, and I'm not dumb."

Luka snorted at that. That was...debatable, honestly.

"Yes, I think the entire city is aware of your time spent as a superhero," Mayura commented cuttingly, one eyebrow raised in clear derision. "And you decided to go with the exact same transformation again despite that."

Chloe stomped a foot and yeah, Luka could definitely see why Hawkmoth had decided to trust her with a Miraculous. Not. "I didn't know that I could change it! You could have told me that. And anyway, it doesn't matter now because everyone's bought my story about it being someone else who's just jealous and trying to make me look bad. I got myself out of that problem, easy as pie. Everyone was dumb enough to believe me."

"Yes, well, we would like to avoid any more problems like that," Hawkmoth said, cutting off whatever Mayura was about to say. He took something out from under his arm- an octangular box, with a red design on the top and little golden circles on the side- and set it on a small side table. "So first of all, no wearing the Miraculous around. People will be on the lookout for it and even disguised, I think people will notice if you're wearing a comb. So have it in your purse, not in your hair. And do not leave during class to transform, that'll be too obvious."

"I know that."

The look Hawkmoth gave Chloe was dark, and shut her up quickly. "I can still change my mind, you know. Maybe it's inconvenient, but we can go back to just bringing you the Bee when we have a particularly promising akuma. That, of course, carries more risk to you, as someone could take a picture of you with us and prove that you're still the one behind Queen Bee."

Chloe went pale at that. Evidently she was smart enough to realize that even her father wouldn't be able to fully shield her from the fallout of something like that happening. "Right. I- I can be careful."

"Very good. And if you aren't, I will reclaim the Miraculous." Hawkmoth gave Chloe another long look, and she nodded quickly. "All right. If you can keep the Miraculous hidden and be subtle about joining fights- only ones when people won't notice you leaving- then we'll give you the Miraculous." He popped open the lid and- oh. Oh god. That was an entire chest of Miraculous. The fact that Hawkmoth had that...

Not good. Luka worried his lip, now more positive than ever that Marinette shouldn't be trying to steal the Bee. It was dangerous enough by itself, but when Hawkmoth had so many other Miraculous at his fingertips- sure, every Miraculous on the superheroes' side was a good thing, but was it worth it? It would just put a tiny dent in Hawkmoth's reserves. He probably wouldn't even care.

On-screen, Chloe had perked up. "You brought all of the Miraculous with you? You have all of them?"

"Most of them, but not the ones I need," Hawkmoth confirmed, passing over the Bee and then immediately shutting the box again and pushing it back a bit before Chloe could start rummaging through it. "As I said, we have someone else to visit today, and we have to figure out what Miraculous they might work best with."

"One Miraculous or more than one?" Chloe demanded, and Luka could see the greed in her eyes. "Can I have another Miraculous? That's more powers to use!"

Hawkmoth subtly nudged the Miracle Box back a bit more. "Not quite yet. I want the other person to have a full choice of the Miraculous. Besides, I want to see how you do with keeping the Bee secret first. We'll see later."

Chloe didn't look thrilled by that, but she clearly wasn't willing to push any more. "Right."

Wait. Hawkmoth had said he was going to be giving a Miraculous to another person, someone besides Chloe. Was there seriously another person in Paris selfish enough to want to side with the supervillain for- what? Their own gain? Revenge? Some other reason?

Whatever it was, Luka was willing to bet that it wasn't good.

"You haven't told anyone that you're still Queen Bee, correct?" Mayura demanded. "Anyone at all, even your friends?"

"No!" Chloe denied at once, but Luka could pick up the slight quiver to her voice. It was a lie, more likely than not. "I'm not going to tell anyone!"

Not going to tell and haven't told were two different things, but the supervillains seemed content.

"Very well. See that you keep it secret, then. If not..." Hawkmoth let the threat hang in the air. Chloe nodded frantically, shoving the comb into her hair with shaking hands.

And then behind them, the TV clicked on and Madam Chamack's voice filled the room, the volume turned way up. Marinette's distraction.

"-we continue covering the story of a local pet shelter-"

The supervillains both whirled around in surprise, followed by Chloe. There was a split-second of shock, and then Hawkmoth pulled a sword from his cane and lunged at the TV. Behind them, faster than lightning, Marinette popped up from behind the couch, swapped out the Bee Miraculous in Chloe's hair for a plain comb, and flung herself soundlessly back over the couch and into hiding again before anybody could turn around.

It was absolutely seamless, and very effectively covered by the sound of Chloe shrieking at Hawkmoth for destroying her giant TV. Marinette still was wearing the helmet and her dark, formfitting biking suit, but apparently had ditched the delivery jacket for the time being.

Considering that that was bright red, that was probably a smart move. Also, that was crazy smooth.

"Somebody has to be in here," Hawkmoth was saying onscreen, his voice carrying over Chloe's shrieks. There was a dark scowl on his face as he stepped forward, eyes scanning the room. Luka's heart jumped into his throat. "TVs do not just turn themselves on-"

"They do here!" Chloe shouted at him angrily, and, uh, had Marinette been sneaking into the Grand Paris on a regular basis to do that? There was no way that Chloe's TV just happened to have a problem that would provide the perfect excuse. "Mine has been doing that for the past week, and Daddy was going to have an electrician come in tomorrow to fix whatever the problem is, but now you've destroyed it! How am I meant to explain that?"

Hawkmoth paused, glancing over at Chloe. "This...is a known issue?"

"Ugh! I just said that, weren't you listening? It woke me up two nights ago at three in the morning! I had to unplug it last night so that I could get my beauty sleep!" Chloe stomped a foot, clearly unhappy. "And just because you're paranoid, you've destroyed it!"

"I think that you'll find that in this business, paranoia is better than letting your guard down," Hawkmoth told her, voice practically dripping with ice as he sheathed his sword. Clearly he wasn't going to spend any time trying to placate Chloe. "Perhaps you should have kept your TV unplugged, if you knew that it might turn on while we were here. Consider it a lesson. It'll give you practice in coming up with cover stories."

Chloe opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again, clearly fuming. For once, things weren't going Chloe's way and she had to accept that. Luka tried not to snicker at the expression on her face as his phone buzzed with an incoming text.

Marinette: Head out. Now.

"Wait, what?" Luka asked his phone, frowning, but he pushed away from the wall and started down the stairs regardless. Marinette was the boss of this operation, so he would listen to her. "Why?"

Marinette's grab of the Bee had gone smoothly- there was no reason for him to have to leave! All she had to do now was wait for the supervillains to leave and for Chloe to go to bed, and then Marinette could just stroll out of the room. Simple, and not- well, it was still a bit risky, but not nearly as much as before.

"Wait- Luka, is that you?"

Startled, Luka glanced away from his phone and came face-to-face with Adrien coming up the stairs and behind him, Kagami. She looked openly exasperated, which was odd. "Adrien?"

"It is you! What happened to your hair?" Adrien leaned closer. "Is that your natural color? Why are you wearing sunglasses at night?"

"It's a disguise," Luka admitted, honestly too surprised that Adrien had even recognized him to try to deny it. "What are you guys doing? I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Adrien's lips quirked up. "I could say the same to you, honestly. But, uh..." He glanced around, suddenly shifty. "We're here for, uh..."

"Oh, you might as well tell him instead of beating around the bush," Kagami cut across, exasperation clear in her voice. She elbowed Adrien, making him stumble to the side with an oof. "Adrien somehow found out that Chloe was getting the Bee Miraculous from Hawkmoth for good tonight, and he had the idea that he might actually be able to persuade Little Miss Selfish to turn back over to the good side, or at least return the Bee to Ladybug. I came to make sure that she wouldn't just skewer him and drop him in the Seine."

"I was also considering just trying to steal it from her," Adrien protested. "I mean, persuasion would have been my first step, but I don't think she would have expected stealing-"

Luka tried not to groan at that. What was this, Magical Jewelry Thievery Night and no one had told him? "You're too late. Marinette's already done that."

Adrien blinked, looking rather as though he had just been clobbered over the head with a codfish. "She- what?"

"Yeah, I've been playing lookout," Luka told them, holding up his phone. He could still hear Hawkmoth's voice in one ear, quizzing Chloe on his instructions. "And watching- Marinette has this camera-"

A loud FWOOOSH over his earbud cut Luka off, and he glanced back at his screen and promptly yelped. "There's fire! Why is there fire? Where did the fire come from? Oh my god-"

"We're leaving," Kagami decided for them when Adrien made to dash up the stairs and Luka had half-turned to follow him. She grabbed their hands and yanked, stopping them in their tracks. "Stop trying to play the hero, Marinette is fully capable of taking care of herself and getting out of there. Come on, let's go!"

  Marinette caught up to them several blocks away, after Luka, Kagami, and Adrien had finally stopped. It was far enough away from the evacuated hotel crowds that they could talk without being overheard, but still within seeing distance of the Grand Paris. The fire in Chloe's room was still going, but not nearly as strong as before.

"Oh my gosh, you startled me," Luka said with a half-laugh, handing back his delivery bag- with his outfit and wig stuffed inside, since he hadn't wasted any time in shucking them once they were out of sight of the panicking crowd of guests. "And you somehow changed again? How?"

Marinette just shrugged, looking very put-together and not at all like someone who had just stolen magical jewelry and then committed arson. A dark blue jacket and long, swirling black skirt covered almost all of the bike suit, and her hair was pulled back in a low bun with a sprig of flowers tucked into it. If he ignored the rather strong smell of gunpowder and smoke lingering around her, Luka would think that she had just come from a date. "I hid more clothes in the alleyway that we changed in before. I thought it would be a good idea."

"You are absolutely insane," Kagami informed Marinette. Out of all of them, she seemed to be the only one to share Luka's opinion that the whole ordeal had been crazy and asking for trouble. "Insane. You and Adrien both, thinking that you could steal a Miraculous-"

"I did steal a Miraculous," Marinette pointed out, tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear. "More than one, in fact. The Bee and the Peacock and- wait, did you say that Adrien had the same idea?"

Luka's jaw dropped, staring at Marinette. She had done what now? "You got the Peacock? I- just- how? What?"

Seriously, he had thought that Marinette was just a relatively normal girl, celebrity connections aside. But this- had she gone to spy school or something to be able to pull a heist like that off by herself?

Marinette looked confused by his confusion, which, just. What. She hadn't told him that stealing a Miraculous from a transformed, experienced supervillain was part of the plan! Why would he not be confused?"Yeah? That was why I set the fire, so that they wouldn't be able to see me coming. I would have preferred to get Hawkmoth's Miraculous, but he was already more on edge and in a bad spot and it would have been harder." She shrugged. "Better to get a small fish and be able to eat than to go for a large fish instead and go hungry."

What.

"That's smart, Marinette!" Adrien said eagerly, apparently completely oblivious to how crazy all of this was and apparently either missing or ignoring the implication that Marinette thought that she could have potentially gotten Hawkmoth's Miraculous at all. "The superheroes might be able to use the Peacock create sentimonsters that are tailored to defeat Hawkmoth's akumas so that they can deal with Hawkmoth directly when he comes out! That's a really good Miraculous for them to have!"

...okay, seriously, was there something in the water at Adrien and Marinette's school? Luka wouldn't have been able to come up with an idea like that on the fly, without some serious outside influence. Unless he was actively fighting an akuma as a superhero, Luka wouldn't consider what the superheroes could do to fix it, just because- well, it wasn't his problem.

(That sounded bad, maybe, but it was true.)

"But Hawkmoth still has a number of other Miraculous on his side, does he not?" Kagami questioned. Her expression suggested that she, too, was choosing to ignore the absolute astronomical levels of crazy coming from their friends, at least for the time being. "I mean, I can recognize that any progress is good progress when it comes to getting Miraculous back, and that's a nice point that Adrien made about how they can use the Peacock to counter the akumas, but..."

Luka nodded, remembering what Hawkmoth had said. "Yeah, he had a giant box of Miraculous with him today. Apparently they were going to go visit another ally after giving Chloe the Bee."

Kagami startled at that bit of information and let out a string of words that, considering the context, Luka was assuming was rather colorful swearing in Japanese.

Marinette's lips quirked up into a little smirk that rather reminded Luka of Ladybug when one of her plans worked perfectly and she had taken down a particularly difficult akuma. "Well, about that..."

All three of them turned as one, gaping as Marinette opened the bag at her side and rotated the motorcycle helmet inside to reveal the Miracle Box jammed inside of it.

There- there was no way. How?

"Hawkmoth was too distracted by Mayura's Miraculous getting stolen and the fire to guard the box, too," Marinette explained, looking rather pleased with herself as she rotated the helmet back to hide the box and zipped her bag shut, holding it in front of her where she could keep an eye on it. "He was rushing to get her hidden and akumatized so that her identity wouldn't get revealed. So I grabbed the box on the way out."

"Did you use the Bee?" Adrien asked curiously. "I mean, to get out fast..."

"Yup!" Marinette grinned. "I used the light and distraction from my hairspray firebomb to transform with the Bee, and then I activated Sting pretty fast and got Mayura. Hawkmoth is a big scaredy-cat who would rather turn and run than fight when things aren't going his way, so he wasn't willing to get close."

...was Marinette human? All signs were starting to point to no. Luka was starting to think that if Marinette and Ladybug ever teamed up, Hawkmoth would be flattened in the time span of about an hour. Despite having never actually fought him before, Marinette didn't seem at all scared by Hawkmoth.

And that was honestly pretty unnerving.

  "How was your evening, Luka?" Anarka asked as soon as Luka returned to their boat, absolutely exhausted and still smelling very faintly of smoke and gunpowder from the hotel and from standing next to Marinette. "Did it go well?"

Juleka grinned over at him from where she was working on her homework at their table. "How did the jewelry heist go? Did Alya catch you guys?"

Luka paused halfway through rummaging through their fridge for leftovers and turned to Juleka, frowning. "Wait, Alya? Why would Marinette try to steal something from Alya?"

"It was a dare- wait, you mean you weren't trying to get Alya's new bracelet?"

He wished. Not that retrieving Miraculous from a supervillain wasn't more productive or helpful, because it was, but just getting a bracelet for a dare would have been more fun and less worry. Knowing what he did, though, Marinette had probably been able to pull off that particular dare by herself and in the time span of about two minutes. "Uh, no?"

"Well, either way, you weren't the only one to have an exciting evening," Anarka told Luka, handing him a plate of food. "Have you heard yet? There was a huge fire at the top of the Grand Paris! They've gotten it put out now and the only person hurt at all was the mayor's daughter and it wasn't terribly serious, but it broke out really suddenly, it sounds like."

"Yeah, I know, I was there. That was Marinette," Luka told her, resigned to this apparently being his life now. He accepted the plate, striding across the room in a few quick steps before flopping down on the bench next to Juleka. Now that the adrenaline was gone and his heart rate was slowly inching back to normal, he was exhausted. All of his energy had just drained out of him, it seemed, and it wasn't a particularly good feeling. "Somehow she found out that Hawkmoth was going to bring Chloe the Bee Miraculous for good tonight- and she never did explain that- so she decided that she was going to steal it, and then while she was there, she decided to just, like, steal the Peacock and the entire box of inactive Miraculous Hawkmoth had with a can of hairspray and a lighter while she was at it. There might have been the contents of a firework or two too, Marinette wasn't entirely clear on that bit."

For the first time in a long while, his mom was left speechless. Juleka looked impressed.

"Rad."

"She wanted me to play lookout, so that she didn't have to worry about people coming in from the hallway unexpectedly, and I don't think I've ever been so stressed in my entire time." Luka let out a long breath, and yeah, his fingers were still shaking. Even if he had wanted to play guitar to try to relax, he wouldn't be able to. "And Marinette was completely calm, like this was something she did every day! Like, she rejoined us- oh, and by the way, Adrien also showed up to try to steal the Bee from Chloe, with Kagami as his backup, because that was apparently just the thing to do tonight- and she was just all, like, oh, by the way, I didn't JUST get the Bee, I also got the Peacock, and then just grabbed this entire box of Miraculous as a bonus on the way out, AND got footage of Chloe cooperating with Hawkmoth-"

"Oh, she did?" Juleka asked, perking up. "Sweet. Everyone knew that Chloe was lying, we just couldn't prove it."

Luka nodded. It had just been yet another absolutely unbelievable achievement of Marinette's. He had figured that, to get the Peacock and the Miracle Box, Marinette had to have cut her losses somewhere. Apparently not. "She said that she flung it away towards the door and out of reach of the flames before going for the Peacock, then circled back around to grab it after Hawkmoth ran off. She and Adrien were going back to her house to go over the footage and see if they could get any clues about who Mayura might have been."

"You didn't go with them?" Anarka asked, clearly disappointed. "That would have been so cool! Fire and fireworks and rebellion against supervillains- that sounds fantastic!"

"Adrien seemed excited about the idea and I had had enough excitement for one day, so I waited with Kagami until her driver came, and they gave me a ride back." It sounded like an underwhelming end to the night, Luka had to admit, but he had appreciated the opportunity to relax and talk with someone sane and not get roped into any more insane schemes.

Not, of course, that he didn't think that Marinette wasn't sane, but he hadn't expected her to come along with so much excitement.

And stress. Also stress. So much stress.

(Marinette was fantastic and creative and brave and all that, but Luka was starting to think that they might be better as friends, if that evening was any indication of what a relationship with Marinette might be like. His blood pressure wouldn't survive and, well, Marinette would probably do better with a partner who was fully willing to follow her into anything and be more than just a stressed-out lookout.)

"It would be really rad if they figured out who Hawkmoth is," Juleka said, clearly still fascinated. "Alya has been trying to figure that out for months. I bet that she would have loved to come along!"

Luka frowned. Yeah, that was true... and also very odd that Marinette apparently hadn't asked her best friend to play backup for her. The Ladyblogger seemed to thrive on danger and thrills, always taking risks during battles-

-and actually, that was probably why Marinette had decided against bringing Alya. Bravery was important, but so was restraint and common sense. Having someone who could very well decide to go rogue and burst into the room to try to get a scoop would be less than ideal. Besides, from what Luka had seen, Alya seemed to vastly overestimate her best friend's clumsiness and underestimate her frankly superhuman ability to get things done.

"Yes, I'm sure she would have," Anarka said, but her voice came out strange. Luka glanced up from his dinner with a frown, glancing over at his mom, but she was frowning down at her phone. "Luka, you said that Adrien was definitely going to the bakery with Marinette, right? There was no chance at all of him going straight to his house instead, right?"

"Yeah, he was going to Marinette's place," Luka confirmed, frowning. That seemed like a strange thing to suddenly focus on. "Why?"

Anarka hesitated, clearly deliberating for a moment, and Luka's frown deepened. He hadn't ever seen his mom like this before. Normally, she just told them whatever was on her mind, even if it was something that most parents would keep from their kids. Whatever she was seeing on her phone was bound to be serious.

"Mom?"

"I just hope you're right," Anarka finally said after another pause. "Because, well..." She crossed the room and held up her phone, and Luka's heart dropped into his stomach. Next to him, Juleka gasped.

Because there, on the screen, was the Agreste mansion, smoke wafting gently out of the smoking crater where the center of the house had previously been.

This is a one-shot and is complete, but there will be a companion piece coming up on how, exactly, Marinette managed to pull everything off. One hint: magic :)

[riverboundao3ff]

Riverbound, Chapter 20

Your name is MICAH, and ten nights have come and gone in what felt like a few hours.

It’s still early enough that even Lynera is still asleep in the next room over, which is really saying something because that girl is up at the asscrack of dusk no matter what night it is. You’re curled up on the sofa in the study, staring at a fungus-shaped nightlight that does a poor job of actually illuminating the surrounding area, and wondering what the hell you were going to tell your friends in the future.

Hey, guys! Sorry I kind of dropped off the grid for a while there. I fought this fucked-up version of one of my human friends, vanished into the literal void to take a nap because I was super tired from splitting a whole universe apart, and then traveled back to the past to help fight in a literal revolution… because I want to save my other friends, I guess? You don’t have to worry about that changing the future or whatever, I promise! I’m literally a god now, so I have total control over time and space.

Geez. You hope Vriska is ready to stop the others from kicking your ass.

Should you just go? You could easily spend the night on future Alternia and be back by breakfast. Teleporting still makes you a little nervous; the fear of messing up still lingers in the back of your head, but nothing bad has happened yet, so…

Yeah, you’re definitely not getting any more sleep. Might as well be productive.

You roll off the couch with a grunt, stagger a bit as all the blood rushes down to your legs, and then stumble over to the bathroom to brush your teeth and wash your face. Maybe you were about to pull up to the future to get yelled at by a bunch of teenagers, maybe not, but that doesn’t mean you have to look like crap.

The person looking back at you in the mirror startles you more than you’d like to admit. Their eyes are tired but wild, like a feral animal that’s been hunted to the point of exhaustion. Too-pale skin reflects the ceiling lights with an intensity that hurts your head if you look for too long. The dark shadows underneath both eyes are so dark they look like smudged mascara. You’ve always been very fair, even for a white kid, but you know that looking like this can’t be healthy.

Then there’s the fact that you’re still pretty underweight. You’ve been doing your best to eat on a somewhat regular basis, but you just don’t feel hungry anymore. It’s like your body already decided to give up.

And to be honest, the rest of you isn’t too far behind.

“Look at you. Sans Undertale looking-ass,” you tell the shadow in the mirror.

The shadow blinks in agreement at the same time you do.

You can’t look at yourself anymore. Moving as quickly as you can, you brush your teeth and do your best to assemble yourself into what could maybe pass for a functional human being and leave to go get dressed.

You’re rifling through your backpack for your water bottle when the lights come on in Lynera’s room. The bedroom door cracks open, and a messy head of pair pokes out, bits of sopor slime still clinging to black curls.

“Micah? What are you doing up so early?” she yawns.

“I, ah, I gotta go visit some friends a ways out of town. I’ll be back in a bit,” you promise. “Sorry if I woke you up.”

“You didn’t! A new cluster of eggs is due to hatch tonight and I want to be there!” she practically sings as she gets ready.

You feel the sadness leave your body as Lynera practically prances around as she gets ready for her shift. It’s not often she lets down her walls, but when she does, you can’t help but take a step back to enjoy the show.

“Give those babies some love for me,” you tell her as you hoist your backpack over your shoulders.

“I will!”

Alright. Here we go. You close your eyes and visualize Vriska’s living room. That’s a good place to start, right? You’ll have a quick talk with Vriska, you’ll go visit your other friends one at a time to explain what’s going on, and then you can talk to those who are interested about helping the rebellion from the future.

Time and space part easily as you zap out of Lynera’s study and--

“-- worry about OH MY FUCKING GOD.”

You yelp in surprise as somebody shrieks at a deafening volume right next to your ear. Instincts take over, and you spring backward into something big and hard. That ‘something’ turns out to be a bookshelf, as you soon find out as a couple of novels fall from the top shelves and hit you right on the head.

“Ow! Shit!”

And that’s when you realize you have twelve young teenagers sitting around Vriska’s living room, all staring at you in various degrees of shock. Nepeta, Equius, Kanaya, and Sollux are all on the sofa, with Sollux perched on the backrest like he’s ready to take flight. Terezi and Vriska are standing on the coffee table together for some reason. Eridan’s curled up on the loveseat with one hand on his rifle. All of the others are sprawled out on the carpet.

All of the others except for Karkat, that is, who seems to have been returning from the kitchen with a pile of chips on his plate.

“Oh, hi!” Aradia says cheerfully. “Wow, I can see your bones--”

“THEY’RE BAAAAAAAACK!” Vriska hollers, launching herself off the coffee table and slamming into you at full speed.

The air is smooshed out of your lungs before you can brace yourself for impact. Thankfully, Vriska catches you before you can eat shit, otherwise you would have probably just teleported back to past Alternia and tried this whole thing again some other time.

“Hey, Vris,” you wheeze, patting her back. “Happy to see you too.”

“Fucking HELL, don’t do that,” Karkat yells, stomping over to the sofa and plopping down next to Kanaya. Kanaya purses her lips in mild amusement and delicately plucks a chip from his plate to eat.

Vriska just scoffs. “Don’t be a baby, Vantas, you know full well Micah can teleport--”

“Eat my full ass, Serket.”

“Hi, Micah!” Nepeta trills. A general murmur of greetings follows that, some more enthusiastic than others. Sollux, Equius, and Tavros all seem to be very on-edge tonight.

Feferi actually hops up to give you a hug as well, thankfully with a lot more care than Vriska had. It’s becoming weirdly normal to know that this big-ass six-sweep old girl could crush your skull like an eggshell.

“Don’t worry, nobody’s mad at you, I promise,” she whispers in your ear.

“Huh?”

Vriska grins and clasps your shoulder. “Oh, I already told them everything.”

“... Oh, boy.”

You turn back to the others and try your best winning smile.

“Yeah, what the fuck, dude?” Sollux demands.

“How are we even gonna exist with this kind of thing?” Karkat splutters, throwing his hands up in the air.

Tavros winces. “We get that you can do crazy space-time stuff, but--”

“You’re in way over your pan, retard!”

Ah, fuck. “Listen, guys, I know what I’m doing sounds pretty insane. And I’m sorry that I can’t tell you how exactly I’m going to pull all of this off because… you know, time shenanigans. But I need you guys to trust in me, at least for now. Also, Karkat, let’s not use that word. It’s extremely disrespectful.”

“Who are you, my lusus?” he challenges.

“No. Should I zap over and get him myself?”

“NO!”

“That’s what I thought.”

Vriska snickers under her breath. Karkat gives her a look that just screams murder.

Everybody else still looks a little queasy. Guilt rears its ugly head for the millionth time in the hour you’ve been awake, fearful and taunting and ashamed all at the same time. If you could just tell them everything, right now, you wouldn’t have to feel like this anymore.

Tell them.

You don’t, because you’re a coward, but you do try and calm everybody’s nerves again. “To elaborate on what Tavros just tried to say, yes, I can do crazy space-time stuff. Which means I can do stuff in one point in time and it won’t completely fuck up all the other points in time. It’ll change things, sure, but it won’t erase people.”

“What about our memories?” Eridan asks tersely.

“Definitely not,” you tell him. I won’t let that happen. “If everything goes according to plan, things will just start… changing.”

“We’re gonna make a new world that’s better for everybody!” Vriska announces proudly. “That’s why you guys are all here today.”

“By our human friend fighting in a rebellion that was already lost? Setting aside the fact that’s… treason… that also sounds rather dangerous. Micah, you aren’t a great fighter,” Equius says. His voice is quiet, but he’s so stiff you could probably use him to prop open a barn door.

“A rebellion is a lot more than just fighting, dude. So far I’ve just helped teleport people around,” you remind him.

“... Still.”

Nepeta suddenly surges to her feet, eyes blazing. “I don’t care that it’s treason! Don’t you care about what they did to me? My whole neighborhood got burned down in a drone strike!”

“Nepeta--”

“No! I remember everything now. I’m gonna help them win, ‘cause, ‘cause… even though we all had to suffer, the ones who come after us might not have to.”

Nobody speaks for many heartbeats after that. Something about what she said rings inside your head, sticking to your neurons like glue.

“See? Nepeta knows what’s good!” Terezi yells.

“This is insane.”

“Yeah, it’s awesome!”

“I’m in,” Aradia agrees, winking at you as she smooths her skirt down. Your anxiety backs down a little at her blatant support. Aradia Knows Things, right? Surely if she thinks you should keep doing what you’re doing…

“So am I,” Tavros announces, setting his jaw defiantly. Nepeta seems to have set off a chain reaction, because everybody else sits up a little straighter, eyeing each other as if daring anybody else to go first.

“And I,” Kanaya adds.

Karkat groans. “Fuck you guys. Fine! It’s not like we can play SGRUB anymore.”

“You guys are gonna die,” Sollux says, scrubbing his face with the palms of his hands. “We. Are. All. Gonna. Die.”

“So are you in?” you ask, reaching over to poke his arm.

He smacks your hand away. “Get fucked. Sure. Whatever.”

“Yay!”

Eridan huffs quietly and crosses his arms. “Well, you guys are gonna need somebody with power to help. And money. I’m in.”

Equius turns to stare at him with his jaw nearly on the floor, and you’re so full of pride you think you’re going to explode. You should have known your friends would eventually come around. And with not one, but two whole seadwellers on their side, they were truly going to be a force to be reckoned with.

“I knew it! I knew you cared!” Feferi squeals, jabbing a finger at her ex-moirail. Eridan curls up tighter on himself, but that doesn’t stop a small smile from lighting up his face.

“Is that a yes from you, Feferi?”

“It’s a hell yes, Micah!”

Gamzee smiles lazily from underneath the coffee table. “I told you motherfuckers. I told you a miracle was coming, and here it is.”

Poor Equius looks like he’s on the verge of a panic attack. “I-I… you can’t possibly, I mean--”

“If you’ll excuse us!” Nepeta chirps, effortlessly pulling her moirail from the couch and slinging him over her muscular shoulders. The indigoblood yelps indignantly, but Nepeta just prances on upstairs as if she’s carrying a sack of potatoes and not a teenage boy nearly twice her size.

“What’s up with olivebloods and being insanely buff? I mean, my girlfriend’s taken on a jadeblood and a teal at the same time and she won,” you wonder.

Karkat immediately focuses on you with the intensity of a laser. “A girlfriend? You’re in a relationship?”

“Micah’s got a girlfriend!” Feferi yells, picking you up and twirling you around.

“What quadrant?”

“Is she cute?”

“An oliveblood, right-?”

“We wanna meet her!”

“Guys! Can we please focus on taking down the Empire? We can gossip about Micah’s love life later!” Vriska yells, clapping her hands for order.  

You rest an elbow on Feferi’s shoulder, enjoying being tall for the moment as she’s carrying you. “Ooh! You got a mission plan, Vriska?”

“You bet your skinny alien ass I do!” She pauses for emphasis and puffs out her chest. “We’re gonna go beat up a bitch for using lowbloods as FLARP bait!”

“Didn’t you do the exact same thing not too long ago?” Karkat scoffs.

Vriska scowls down at him. “Yes! Yes, I did! But now I’m gonna turn things around and help them instead, okay? ‘Cause I’m changing my…. my toxic behavior.”

She looks to you for support, and you give her the thumbs-up.

The others actually look a little impressed, which gives her the courage to keep going. “In half an hour Terezi and I are going to meet this violetblood dude who’s been responsible for a lot of rust and bronze deaths in the area. It’s a FLARP session at sea, so he’ll have his team-- I mean hostages-- on board with him.”

“You need a team?” you ask.

“You offering?”

“Of course.”

“Yes! But no passing out on me! Our goal is to neutralize the threat, secure the hostages, and deliver them back to shore so they can go home. Any questions?”

“I’m coming too,” Eridan says. He hops to his feet, dusting off some invisible debris on his pants. “That’s not a question, though.”

“Can I come? It sounds exciting,” Aradia begs.

“Sure! Anybody else?” Vriska scans the crowd with a smirk, as if saying You are all too pussy for this kind of adventure.

Unfortunately, it works. Karkat and Feferi step forward as well, which brings the team total up to six. Everybody else gets ready to go home before the sun comes up. Out on the horizon, heat lightning crackles in the sky like a strobe ball. You end up leaving your jacket with your backpack on the couch, because even for somebody who has trouble retaining heat, Alternian summers are brutal.

Surprisingly, the team figures out their FLARP-ing shit quickly enough, as they all played at one point or the other. You still have no idea what to make out of all the numbers and stats and scores that come with each move, even though Vriska makes it all look like child’s play. Karkat keeps grumbling about “games for girls” which has your hackles up until you remember that female trolls tend to be more violent than the males. That makes sense to you, especially when you remember Remele beating the shit out of that purpleblood and all of Lynera’s knives.

In almost no time at all the six of you are sailing out to sea, the wind in your hair and the smell of salt water filling your nose. If you close your eyes and pretended, you could almost imagine you’re back on Earth, taking a boat ride with your mom’s boyfriend and your stepsister at the lakehouse--

A particularly large wave knocks you back on your ass, and the memory cuts off as quickly as it began.

“Fuck!” you hiss, trying to get your bearings. You try as hard as you can to visualize what you just remembered, but all you can recall is sunlight sparkling off water, the rumble of an engine, a man laughing and nearly choking on his beer as your tiny preteen self got knocked around by the rocking of the motorboat.

A strong hand picks you up by the arm and sets you on your feet. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Fef.” You pat her elbow. “Sometimes it’s rough being a little guy.”

Her eyes are round with sympathy. “Looks like it. That reminds me, I wanna ask your opinion on something really important.”

“Oh, okay!” Wow, the Heiress of Alternia is asking my opinion on something? Talk about friends in high places.

… Wait, what was I trying to remember?

“What do you think of the hemospectrum?”

You purse your lips. “Well, if that ain’t a loaded question I dunno what is.”

“I mean, you don’t have to answer, but…”

“You know what I think? I think that the hemospectrum could have been a really good thing. Those who live for quite some time, paving the way for those who won’t be here as long? Sounds great. But then it became about power and control. And-And I think that if-- that once we win, we can’t go back to that system. There’s just too much trauma that’s been birthed from it that’s affected literally every troll to have ever existed,” you explain.

Feferi considers that, and then she nods in agreement. “That makes sense.”

“Oh, shit, is it big brain hour?” Terezi calls from the wheel.

“It is!” Then you do a double-take. “Why is the blind girl driving?”

“Vriska’s getting dressed.”

“Do you even know where we’re going?”

“Forward.”

“Bruh.”

Karkat throws up for the fifth time over the side of the ship. You groan and stumble over to him to pat his back.

“You’ll get your sea legs soon,” you promise.

“I hate the ocean. Why does there need to be oceans. I never would have thought I would ever say this but by infant Troll Jegus do I miss Texas. It’s hot, it’s human-racist, but there is hardly any damn water and for that it’s easily one of the best places I’ve ever been,” he rasps.

You smile. “Wanna see Dave after this is over?”

“Yes, please. Strider’s bullshit is the only thing that can numb me to the pain of occupying the realm of mortals.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Eridan smirk. You turn to look at him in confusion, and he makes the quadrant symbol for flushcrush: two thumbs pressed together over the center of his chest, where a troll’s heart would be.

Really? you mouth at him, delighted by this unexpected turn of events. He nods eagerly, clearly just as enthusiastic about Karkat getting a boyfriend as you are, but before you can sneak off with him to get the tea his gaze fixates on something past you.

You turn to see the small speck of what is undoubtedly another ship coming your way. A ship that is much bigger and fancier than the 8rigantine, at full sail and most likely armed to the teeth.

“He’s coming on our eleven!” Feferi calls up to Terezi.

“Go get Vriska,” the tealblood orders. Her perfectly white fangs flash in the light of the moons as she grins like a shark. “Time to kick this bitchboy’s ass!”

[itszephoria]

Saw this pop up and your followers ask you which ones they’re interested in. But people don’t really ask much when I post or they don’t ask the ones that might make you feel uncomfortable. And well, honestly I’m so bored that I’ve decided to break all the damn rules and just answer all the questions because I can. *shock horror*

So information dump on the ‘Be nosy’ that popped up in my feed today. If you’re interested.

Be nosy

1. What’s your sexual orientation? 

Straight. But maybe for the right woman I could sway but wouldn’t go so far as to call myself bi or bi-curious though.

2. What are you obsessed with right now? 

Obsessively obsessing about my health and how to get well and failing it all. Oh and anime movies on Netflix.

3. Ever done any drugs?

I do drugs everyday. But I assume this is referring to illegal. No and was strictly no up until recently. I now take marijuana oil on a regular basis for pain management. Also being stoned/high is not pleasant and I don’t understand why people would enjoy that as a leisurely pastime.

4. What piercings do you want?

I want to get my ears pierced again. Holes have closed up, but currently due to my health that’s not possible. I can’t even enjoy clipons :(

5. How many people have you kissed?

The massive number of 5.

6. Describe your dream home.

It’s tiny in the sense it has all the space I need. A cosy tiny-like home. But not one on wheels, fixed to the ground. And it would be made of all natural materials, stone and wood. It would be unique and resemble something out of a fairy tale. It would sit a beautiful clearing with only nature to view in the distance and all the animals and wildlife would stay well away because I’m pretty much terrified of all it, 

7. Who are you jealous of?

Healthy, painfree people. I am jealous of past me who didn’t realise how lucky she was and miss her.

8. What’s your favorite show to binge?

I don’t binge any show on repeat. I’d rather look for a new show to watch or enjoy, there are so many. The last shows I binged in two days was Queen’s Gambit and Emily in Paris.

9. Do you watch porn?

Yep. But struggle with it because it’s overdramatic, unrealistic and would kill or someone to make porn with a decent storyline with people that can act. 

I prefer to read it if I’m honest or maybe just write it for myself.

10. Do you have a secret sideblog?

Sort of? More like my other one I used I was known for all my slash writings in F1. But now I just hang out here.

11. If you could teleport anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?

No where. The world is riddled with co-vid and well, I’m probably in one of the safest countries and I’m at risk of death should I catch it. So I’ll stay here in my safe bubble.

12. What’s one of your fantasies?

I wake up tomorrow and I’m not me. I wake up and I can take a deep breath without gasping for air, I wake up in no pain, I wake up and my body isn’t terribly scared, I wake up and can have a ‘normal’ life.

13. Do you have/would you get your nipples pierced?

Nope and no desire too. Won’t that just hurt?

14. How would you spend a million dollars?

I’d by that dream house I described, set everything up to be self sufficient. Pay and travel to try every cure available for my diseases. And then bank the rest and live off interest. Or maybe donate it. I don’t want money and I don’t really want a lot of things.

15. Are you in a relationship?

Yep and it’s a struggle and am constantly fighting to prove it’s worth continuing. Oh and that’s a relationship with myself.

16. Do you follow porn blogs?

No.

17. Are you angry with anyone right now?

No, I suppose it’s more disappointed and let down by people more than angry. I’m working everyday on letting it go but it’s not easy.

18. What tattoos do you want?

I have always wanted one, but have never found something that I really loved and haven’t been imaginative enough to create something unique. The older I get though, I’m not sure I want one. I did for the longest time though think about getting a Ferrari tattooed on my inner wrist, but pleased I never did that. I don’t love the sport or Ferrari enough anymore to want a permanent reminder of that.

19. If you could change your name, would you? What would you change it to?

I am changing name actually. Hoping to action that in the next two weeks. I would have done it earlier but they closed the borders. I have a dutch sir name that has two words. It confuses every one, systems don’t get it, it has caused issues with plane tickets. And well I’ve decided no more and am dumping a portion of it.

20. What is something you’re obsessed with?

This is a duplicate. Skipping.

21. Describe your best friend.

When you meet her for the first time she can be a little crazy and wild, and she kind of scared at me first because she’s so unlike me. But as you got to know her, the *real* her she doesn’t let people see, you realise how kind and soft she is, and she’s the most empathic person I have known. She gives so much of herself to everyone, thinks so little of herself and her needs because she’s one of the most selfless people I know. I love her more than most of my family and would do anything for her.

22. Tag someone you think is hot.

Is this followers? Uh most I don’t know what they look like? I assume they’re all hot!

23. Who are five of your favorite bands/musical artists?

Don’t have any really. My music is varied and is based on my mood and really changes around. And with most bands, I generally lean towards one or two songs. This is one of those questions I really struggle with whenever I see it. Will say however, have been enjoying The Beatles recently and a bit of old school stuff.

24. What are three places you want to travel?

Japan. Norway. Canada.

25. Describe your perfect Friday night.

Generally hanging out with people I like. Enjoying a good wine, some cheese, either playing some board game or dungeons and dragons, or watching a really good movie. Good company makes any night a good night.

26. What’s your favorite season?

Autumn. One because I think it’s neglected as a choice and every season should be loved, and two because I love the colours of autumn and the colours associated with autumn. 

27. What’s your pet peeve?

I’m sure I have a heap of them, but currently it’s people that have an issue with you and instead of being an adult and talking to you about them choose to silence and blank you. I’m so tired of it, I’ve quit being peacemaker in those situations, those people are no longer worthy in my book.

28. Who is the funniest person you know?

Uh... I don’t think anyone I know is super funny. Friends and family all have a good sense of humor. But out of my circle of life people I’m always told I’m the funny one, which I find the biggest joke ever. 

29. What’s the most overrated movie?

Can not think of anything off the top of my head. I will say if I think a movie is getting too much hype I refuse to watch it, whether all the reviews are raving or not. It’s why I didn’t watch Harry Potter for like ten years or any of the new Star Wars movies. I just refuse to be apart of all the hype and jump on bandwagons.

30. Tag someone you want to talk to but have been too shy to message.

I’d love to talk to everyone. I’m shy to start any conversations to be honest and I think all the people I talk to regularly were the first to message me, and I love them for it.

31. Do you like paper books or ebooks better?

100% love an old fashioned paper book. The texture of the paper. The smell of a book. That being said, I don’t think I’ve picked up a proper book to read in years. I live in fan fiction more than anything or am busy writing myself.

32. If you could live in a fictional world, what world would you pick?

Any of the disney worlds, anything from the past, or verging on fantasy like. I want a simpler time not full of technology which I grow to hate more each day. The older I get the more I’m pretty sure I’ve been born in the wrong decade.

33. If money was no object, what would your wardrobe be like?

I’d build the perfect wardrobe capsule. Everything would be of high quality, not necessarily brand name and all the clothes would be sourced from ethical businesses or be handmade.

I like classic pieces, love the fashion of the 50′s and 60s and while stylish it would be comfortable to wear and everything could be worn in public (sorry comfy tracky pants).

34. What’s your coffee order?

There ain’t no coffee order. I don’t drink it. Sorry @leoni-speedyf1 I know how addicted you are to it, happy to buy you anything you like though :P

35. Do you have a crush on anyone?

In real life? No one.

36. Do you still have feelings for any of your exes?

Not romantic. I have feelings in that I hope they’re doing well, achieving what they want and they’re all happy. I didn’t have any ‘bad’ breakups and all my relationships ended very amicably.

37. Have any tattoos?

No. See above for more on this.

38. Do you drink?

Rarely. Can’t with medication and condition. But on occasion I do enjoy a good glass of red. Pinot Noir is my preference. 

39. Are you a virgin?

Nope.

40. Do you have a crush on any of your mutuals?

Not in a romantic way? The ones I talk to regularly I love immensely though.

41. How many followers do you have?

99

42. Describe the hottest person you know.

Uh all the men I know I am not attracted to. Probably a good thing as they’re either family or partnered with a friend or family member.

43. What’s your guilty pleasure?

Can’t think of anything. I try not to feel guilt for anything I enjoy to be honest, whether it’s food or an activity. Life is too short for that.

44. Do you read erotica?

Yep. Even write it.

45. What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?

It was a few years back. I met this guy online and we went to the city and spent most of that time just strolling next to the river for our first meet up. Why was it the worst date ever? Well it wasn’t the location that’s for sure.

The guy had two kids, and I’m a firm believer all parents have favourites, though I have yet to meet a parent that will voice that aloud. This guy, had no qualms with telling me about this favourite kid, and that wouldn’t be a problem if didn’t spend just as much putting down his younger son. It kind of left me reeling and wondering how his son felt if his dad didn’t hide just how much he didn’t like him as a person. The kid was four and the reason his dad didn’t like him was because he didn’t like bikes.

And so the guy was a bmx rider so he spent the rest of the time on our walk just pointing out all the tricks he could do. He didn’t ask about me, only talked about himself. It was also lunch time and assumed we would get something to eat together, but nope, no food was offered. And when I suggested to get something to drink because it was so hot and we’d been out in the sun for like an hour, he just took me to a subway and told me to get a drink and waved me to the line. No offer to join me, no offer to pay (which doesn’t bother me btw, but this was capping off a terrible day), no offer to get food.

I was so happy to get out of there. Didn’t speak to him again once I had left.

46. How many people do you follow?

I currently follow 59 people. I don’t follow anyone that creates drama, and try and follow only people that post about F1 as that’s all I use tumblr for now.

47. If you could marry any celebrity, who would you pick?

Either Sebastian Vettel or Ryan Reynolds. Both are married though, so I don’t think that’s going to turn into a reality anytime soon.

48. Describe your ideal partner.

I want someone that shares the same core values as me. Doesn’t want kids, isn’t super religious (grew up in a cult like religion so I avoid it now), is on the minimalist side and isn’t someone that needs new things things all the time or is desperate to replace something the moment they deem it out of date. Someone that doesn’t live their life on social media. Someone that prefers simple things, someone who is kind and giving, and someone that truly loves me - and it’s the last part that I struggle with finding more than anything with all the guys I have dated. 

I am currently not looking for a partner, I am not in a place for a relationship and am fully focused on myself. And I am very content with that decision.

49. Who do you text the most?

Currently my bestie.

50. What’s your favorite kind of weather?

Clear blue skies and a warm day to enjoy the sun. But there are times when I simply love the rain, hearing it on the room, watching it fall endlessly and knowing that everything will be green from it.