#[ out the gate ready to insult him amazing ]

[dfroza]

Today’s reading from the ancient books of Proverbs and Psalms

for june 9 of 2023 with Proverbs 9 and Psalm 9, accompanied by Psalm 82 for the 82nd day of Astronomical Spring, and Psalm 10 for day 160 of the year (with the consummate book of 150 Psalms in its 2nd revolution this year)

[Proverbs 9]

Lady Wisdom has built her house;

she has supported it with seven pillars.

She’s prepared a feast:

She’s slaughtered her animals, poured a spiced wine,

and set her table.

She has sent out her servants with the invitation to come to the party;

she, too, calls out from the highest point of the city:

Lady Wisdom: Whoever is young and gullible, turn in here.

You are welcome in this place!

Then, turning to those who are naive, she says:

Lady Wisdom: Come in. Come, eat my bread,

and drink my spiced wine.

Give up your gullible ways, your naive thoughts, for true life.

Set your course for understanding.

Whoever tries to discipline a scoffer should expect a hail of insults in return.

Whoever tries to correct an evildoer is likely to get hurt in the process.

So do not correct a scoffer unless you are ready to be hated,

but correct the wise and you will be loved.

Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser.

Teach upstanding people, and they will learn even more.

Reverence for the Eternal, the one True God, is the beginning of wisdom;

true knowledge of the Holy One is the start of understanding.

Lady Wisdom: Through me your days will be lengthened,

and years will be added to your life.

If you are wise, wisdom is its own reward.

If you mock what you don’t understand, you alone will suffer the consequences.

Compared to Wisdom, the Lady Folly is rowdy and loud,

naive and ignorant.

She sits by the door of her house,

on a bench at the highest place in the city,

Crooning to passersby

who hurry straight on to their destinations:

Lady Folly: Whoever is young and gullible, turn in here.

You are welcome in this place!

Then, she turns to the naive.

Lady Folly: Stolen water tastes so much sweeter!

Bread secreted away is much more satisfying to eat!

But those who pause to listen to Lady Folly do not know death is the next stop,

that her guests are walking cadavers.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 9 (The Voice)

[Psalm 9]

For the worship leader. A song of David to the tune “Death of a Son.”

All my heart will give thanks to You, Eternal One.

I will tell others about Your amazing works.

I will be glad and celebrate You!

I will praise You, O Most High!

When my adversaries turned and fled,

they fell and died right in front of You,

For You supported my just cause.

From Your throne, You have judged wisely.

You confronted the nations; You have destroyed the wicked.

You have erased their names from history.

The enemy is finished, their time is up;

their cities will lie in ruin forever;

all memory of them is gone.

Still the Eternal remains and will reign forever;

He has taken His place on His throne for judgment.

So He will judge the world rightly.

He shall execute that judgment equally on all people.

For the Eternal will be a shelter for those who know misery,

a refuge during troubling times.

Those who know Your name will rely on You,

for You, O Eternal One, have not abandoned those who search for You.

Praise Him who lives on Zion’s holy hill.

Tell the story of His great acts among the people!

For He remembers the victims of violence and avenges their blood;

He does not turn a deaf ear to the cry of the needy.

Be gracious to me, O Eternal One.

Notice the harm I have suffered because of my enemies,

You who carry me safely away from death’s door,

So that I may rehearse Your deeds, declare Your praise,

and rejoice in Your rescue

when I take my stand in the gates of Zion.

The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others,

their own feet caught, snared by the net they hid.

The Eternal is well known, for He has taken action and secured justice;

He has trapped the wicked through the work of their own hands.

[pause with music]

The wicked are headed for death and the grave;

all the nations who forget the True God will share a similar fate.

For those in need shall not always be forgotten,

and the hope of the poor will never die.

Eternal One, arise! Do not allow mere mortals to win the day.

Judge the nations Yourself.

Put the fear of God in them, Eternal One!

Remind the nations they are mere men, not gods.

[pause]

The Book of Psalms, Poem 9 (The Voice)

[Psalm 82]

A song of Asaph.

The True God stands to preside over the heavenly council.

He pronounces judgment on the so-called gods.

He asks: “How long will you judge dishonestly

and be partial to the wicked?”

[pause]

“Stand up for the poor and the orphan;

advocate for the rights of the afflicted and those in need.

Deliver the poor and the needy;

rescue them from their evil oppressors.”

These bullies are ignorant; they have no understanding of My ways.

So as they walk in darkness,

the foundations of the earth tremble.

I said, “Though you are gods

and children of the Most High,

You will die no differently than any mortal;

you will fall like one of the princes.”

Rise up, O True God; judge the rulers of the earth,

for all the nations are Yours.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 82 (The Voice)

[Psalm 10]

Why, O Eternal One, are You so far away?

Why can’t You be found during troubling times?

Mean and haughty people hunt down the poor.

May they get caught up in their own wicked schemes.

For the wicked celebrates the evil cravings of his heart

as the greedy curses and rejects the Eternal.

The arrogance of the wicked one keeps him from seeking the True God.

He truly thinks, “There is no God.”

His ways seem always to be successful;

Your judgments, too, seem far beyond him, out of his reach.

He looks down on all his enemies.

In his heart he has decided, “Nothing will faze me.

From generation to generation I will not face trouble.”

His mouth is full of curses, lies, and oppression.

Beneath his tongue lie trouble and wickedness.

He hides in the shadows of the villages,

waiting to ambush and kill the innocent in dark corners.

He eyes the weak and the poor.

Ominously, like a lion in its lair,

he lurks in secret to waylay those who are downtrodden.

When he catches them, he draws them in and drags them off with his net.

Quietly crouching, lying low,

ready to overwhelm the next by his strength,

The wicked thinks in his heart, “God has forgotten us!

He has covered His face and will never notice!”

Arise, O Eternal, my True God. Lift up Your hand.

Do not forget the downtrodden.

Why does the wicked revile the True God?

He has decided, “He will not hold me responsible.”

But wait! You have seen,

and You will consider the trouble and grief he caused.

You will impose consequences for his actions.

The helpless, the orphans, commit themselves to You,

and You have been their Helper.

Break the arm of the one guilty of doing evil;

investigate all his wicked acts;

hold him responsible for every last one of them.

The Eternal will reign as King forever.

The other nations will be swept off His land.

O Eternal One, You have heard the longings of the poor and lowly.

You will strengthen them; You who are of heaven will hear them,

Vindicating the orphan and the oppressed

so that men who are of the earth will terrify them no more.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 10 (The Voice)

[houseofhollows]

Can you write something for Alden from The Walking Dead? Kinda like a enemies to lovers type of thing like he's an ex savior and she doesn't like him at first? Thank you so much already!! You're amazing!

let it go

pairing: Alden x reader

warnings: mentions of death

notes: sorry if this isn’t really enemies to lovers… 😭 i’ve never written it before and i haven’t read much of it either but i tried. hope you like it! also i’m super happy you requested alden! there’s barely any fanfic of him :((

The summer sun was radiant, wrapping the residents of Hilltop in its warm and brilliant rays. The crops bloomed tall and bold, ready to be harvested for the following season. Y/N was crouched beside the plants; watering, digging, planting. It was one of her jobs in the little community she hoped to call home–she was once at Alexandria, but after the death of her best friend, Glenn, she couldn’t bear to stay in the place that reminded her of him. 

The gates to Hilltop opened, and a group of men she had never seen before walked in. They all looked dirty and sweaty, their hands tied in front of them. Some were being pushed around by the guards who walked behind them, leading them up the path. They stopped by the fence, where an enclosure was built; it was used to keep people they needed information from or people they simply didn’t trust to be out in the open. The men were escorted into the enclosure. Many of them were complaining and shouting insults. 

Y/N wasn’t quite sure who they were or where they had come from, but she didn’t like the look of them. They were loud and no doubt violent. 

She walked over to where Tara stood. “Who are they?” she asked.

“Saviors. Found them in one of their safe houses. Some of them surrendered but others they had to force out.” 

“What are they here for?” Y/N replied with a certain edge to her voice. After what she’s seen of these men, she wasn’t sure she felt safe having them around. Why bring them here anyway? 

“Information, probably. But also to keep them where they can be seen. Rather them be here than out there, I guess.”

She looked over to the group to find one of them already looking at her. She began to feel a little afraid; she knew what the Saviors were like, what they could do. She had seen what Negan could do. It had taken her a while to get over Glenn’s death, but even then she still found herself grieving. She didn’t feel like being one of their prey. 

– 

A few days later, Y/N was carrying a basket of tomatoes towards one of the tents when she heard someone calling, “Hey.”

She turned to the sound to see the Savior who had been looking at her a few days prior. Scowling, she continued to make her way towards her destination when the voice called louder. Stopping in her tracks, she threw her head back in annoyance and turned on her heel, heading towards the man. 

“Is something the matter?” she asked him, her voice clearly showing her disinterest. She didn’t want to be involved with someone like him. 

“No, just wanted to get your attention,” he replied. “I’m Alden.”

“I don’t care,” she replied. It wasn’t like her to be rude to someone, but how could she not be rude to a murderer? Even if he himself hadn’t directly murdered Glenn, he was still a part of the group of the man who did, he chose to associate himself with someone like Negan. She didn’t care about being kind. 

She turned back around and started walking. 

“Not even gonna tell me your name?” he called out to her. She simply ignored him.

– 

Picking blueberries from their stems and putting them into a basket, Y/N felt someone’s presence beside her. Looking to her left, she saw the Savior named Alden. Rolling her eyes, she continued her work, not acknowledging him. He stood there for a few minutes before he finally spoke. 

“You don’t talk much do you?” he asked.

“I talk a lot actually, just not to you,” she replied. 

“Did I do something wrong?”

“You’re a Savior. That’s what you did wrong. Your leader killed my best friend. Now please go away and never speak to me again,” she said harshly. 

“Look, I wasn’t the one who killed him. And besides, I nev-”

“What did I tell you? Go away. Thank you.”

She hated him. And she would always hate him. They all called themselves Negan, right? So she would treat him as if he was Negan. 

–

Having the Saviors around reminded Y/N of Glenn, of Negan’s brutality. The image would play continuously in her mind and she would find herself either clouded by sadness or by disgust. How could someone do something like that to a person? But morals no longer played a role in society. People like Negan had no morals, and they certainly had no empathy. 

Alden was given special privileges. He had behaved and made promises. Now he was able to roam freely without his hands tied or being watched by a guard. He hadn’t approached her since she told him off, but she could always feel his stare on her back as she worked in the field. Why did he keep looking at her all the time?

She told Tara about him, which lead to Tara giving her a lecture on how Alden wasn’t the one who killed Glenn and Abraham. Y/N knew that, of course. But she couldn’t remove Alden from that association, and so she continued to ignore his looks, even if they made her feel a certain way.

–

Y/N was sat at a picnic table eating dinner when someone sat beside her. She didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. Alden had been trying to talk to her the entire day. A part of her felt bad for constantly ignoring him. But she didn’t like him. 

“What do you want?” she asked him, slightly annoyed. Why was he always bothering her? There were plenty of other people to talk to, plenty of other people who had already forgiven the Saviors they brought in. 

“To talk to you. Is that too much to ask?” he replied. Y/N thought she heard a bit of sadness in his tone. 

“Yes, actually. I told you to leave me alone a while ago and yet you continue to bother me. I don’t know why you keep trying to get my attention, but please stop.”

“I know what Negan did to your friend. But I’m not Negan, despite what you think. I’m sorry that happened to him, I really am. I know what Negan is capable of and I would never do anything like that. I was only a Savior to keep myself safe. I don’t believe in their values.”

Y/N took in his words. She already knew that. But there was a part of her, deep down, that could never forgive Negan, Alden, the universe, whoever, for what happened to Glenn. It isn’t just sadness and loss that consumes her when she looks at him, but the trauma of having to see something like that. She tried to talk to Tara about it, but she could never get the words out. Tara hadn’t been there to see the gruesome scene, she would never understand. 

“You’re right. It isn’t your fault. However, I can’t look at you and not see Negan’s face. And when I see Negan’s face, I see what was left of Glenn’s. You don’t know how terrifying and traumatic it is to see something like that,” she replied, looking him in the eyes. 

“No, maybe I don’t. And I know we’re not…friends or anything but, I’m here for you, if you need someone to talk to about it. I’m in the trailer over there,” he pointed into the distance. 

Y/N truly appreciated the gesture. But if she was going to talk to anyone, it wouldn’t be him. Instead of telling him, she looked down at her food and let him sit there. 

– 

The bright summer days had turned into the gold and scarlet of autumn days. Soon the crops would dwindle and Y/N would have to find another way to spend her time. Unfortunately, seasonal depression had started to sink in. But she couldn’t figure out what exactly was making her so sad. It could be the thought of Glenn and of everyone else she had lost, or feeling like nothing would ever change. The world had ended and there was nothing to hope for anymore. Even if the entire world were to come together and rebuild and repopulate, she wouldn’t be around to see the end of it. 

Some days she sat in her room and stared at the ceiling until the world outside became dark. She had lost so many friends; not just to death but to her own personal feelings. Leaving Alexandria meant leaving her friends behind. The only person she had at Hilltop was Tara, who was usually busy doing far more important things than Y/N ever would. 

And sometimes she was sad when she thought of Alden. Of how she treated him. She let him sit next to her, she let him talk to her. But she never spoke back, no matter how badly she wanted to. He too didn’t have any friends. Sometimes she looked at him as he spoke, not showing any emotion but letting him know that she was listening, and she could see sadness in eyes when he realized she wasn’t going to reply. 

She had accepted the fact that he wasn’t Negan and that he seemed like a good person. But she felt it was her duty to Glenn and even to Abraham to ignore him, because if she became close to him she be close to their murderer. 

But she needed someone to talk to. And a part of her always felt a little happy when he was around her, knowing that someone cared enough to stick around.

Getting out of bed she made her way to Alden’s trailer. She hesitated. Caving in and talking to him would make him feel like he won her attention. She mentally scolded herself for being annoying and knocked on the door.

When he opened the door, he smiled a real smile. Teeth and all. She stuttered.

“I didn’t have anywhere else to go, anyone else to talk to. I don’t want to bother you, seriously, I just…I need to talk to someone,” she confessed. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it at all. I’m glad you’re here. You can talk for as long as you want.”

They sat on the little sofa against the wall and Y/N couldn’t help but spill all of her feelings out. She had never felt so vulnerable. But she didn’t seem to care, either. She cried and he listened. He comforted her and told her to take her time. She couldn’t understand why he was being so nice to her or why it was her that he had attempted to befriend. 

“Can I ask you something?” she asked him.

“Anything,” he replied.

“Why me?”

He hesitated for a moment. “When I first saw you, not only did I think you were beautiful but you also looked so sad. I didn’t know why at the time of course but when you told me, part of me was upset that you hated me so much but I also understood why. You can hate me if you want.”

They looked at each other for a minute. His eyes were so kind, she realized. She felt truly safe in his presence. 

She let out a sigh and dropped her head into her hands. 

“I want to be your friend, I do. But I can’t stop seeing Negan when I look at you. Ever since you and the other Saviors came here, he’s all I can think about. And then I’m reminded of everything else and I just want to stop thinking about it. I can’t go back to Alexandria because I will just be reminded of the horrified look on everyone’s faces, and I can’t stay here because looking at you makes me angry. I know it’s not your fault. Really, I do. But I just can’t,” she cried. 

“Let me change that. I don’t associate myself with him, I never did. Just talk to me and you’ll see that I’m not like him or the other Saviors. Far from it, actually. Give me a chance.”

Y/N thought for a long time. The pros outweighed the cons. She knew she was the problem, the reason why she wouldn’t talk to him. But she also knew she was the one who could change that. 

“Okay,” she said. “Yeah.”

He grinned. 

– 

Months had passed since Y/N made the decision to be Alden’s friend. However, she was started to feel like they were more than friends. They spent a majority of the day by each other’s side, since they really had no one else to interact with. 

She had gotten rid of her hatred for him and for the other Saviors. The only person she hated now was Negan himself. 

She felt better in Alden’s presence. Sadness no longer consumed her, now she was always content, always happy. It was Alden who pulled her out of it, and she would never be able to put into words how thankful she was for him.

The two were sitting on a bench, watching the sunset. 

“Alden,” she addressed him softly.

“Yeah,” he replied, turning his head to look at her.

“Thank you. For everything. I don’t know how to repay you.”

“You could let me kiss you,” he said as his eyes went to her lips. 

“Ok. Yeah.” She leaned in.

She had kissed people before, but none of them felt quite like that. It was soft and gentle, yet she could feel the desire, she could tell he had been wanting to do that for a while. 

When they pulled away they both smiled bigger than they ever had. 

“Thank you,” she whispered against his lips. 

[stay-midnight]

Royals. I

Hyunjin x Male Reader

(Late Hyunjin Day Special)

a/n: Look at me and my late ass post again 💀, Anyways, this would be split up into two or tbree parts cause it’s gonna be a bit long than my other fics. So enjoy this for now 🤧 Smut would be on the second part which would be posted in a week or two (No promises though cuz 🤡)

Things to note: Royal AU!, Insult Fight, Implied Changsung (BinxSung), All of skz is here/mentioned, Implied Hookups, TXT is mentioned, Y/N’s a bit of a dick, Hyunjin is barely mentioned here yet, Minho is also a bit of dick, flirty Minho, Minho and Y/N tension, maybe some Seungmin x Y/N here and there too-. Prince! Felix, Jeongin, Changbin, Jisung, Hyunjin, Seungmin, Y/N and Knights! Minho and Chan. Y/N’s last name here is "Hyangsu"

W.C - 2.9K

A prince of the Hwang Kingdom is having their 21st birthday and you were invited, you were a bit salty about this since you really just wanted to relax after these past weeks of taking different lessons from your oh-so-called studious teacher.

As a prince of Hyangsu Kingdom, you were called to attend the Hwang Prince’s birthday ball, and attending this party was of your at most displeasure since you just wanted to have a relaxing break from your studies.

It was a 21st birthday after all, the age where you’re supposed to find a possible suitor and you just didn’t want to see girls fawning over someone.

You sighed in annoyance as your butler comes rushing with different clothes from your wardrobe, ranging from the royal-tailored attire, elegant clothing to a more casual one.

“Just pick me something that looks presentable as Prince, please.” you mumble to him as you glared him down causing him to tremble at your passive-aggressive tone.

You didn’t even know why they’re so serious about this, you’ve went to many royal banquet and events before, and none of them have ever got your parents or workers so.... worked up.

Is it because the Hwang Kingdom was one of the most powerful in the continent? You wanted to scoff at that thought but you may not be wrong.

In the end of playing a game of picking clothes with your butler, he picked a white suit with gold lines tattered over it, it had a gold plating at the shoulder, a red silk belt matching with the red silk long half-blouse, and white pants accompanied by white boots with a red sole.

After getting dressed you walked down to the lounge, waiting for the caravan to arrive.

You were a bit rude and snappy to people, you hated if they interrupted you one bit, not to mention you were sarcastic and people find it hard to win arguments about you. The only things people really liked about you are your looks and brains, you actually had a brain, unlike those snobby rich prince and princesses — who thinks they own the whole world, and the only aspect that are important to them are looks and money.

You sigh as you wait for the royal caravan to arrive.

. . . .

After minutes and minutes of waiting, “Sire?! The caravan is here, the carriage you are going to stay in is ready outside the palace gates.” your butler said fast, fixing his tie and cleaning his monocle afterwards.

You nodded and stood up to walk over to the gates, without command or words exchanged — the guards opened it as soon as they saw you walk down the path. Bowing respectfully at your presence which you answered with a simple “Thank you.”

You hum at the sight of the royal carriage — colored white with intricate designs and patterns made with real gold and of course, the family crest at the side of it.

A knight in a silver suddenly came out of the royal carriage, removing his helmet and smiling as he waved at you.

You let out a small smile back to him, Ah, the one and only Lee Minho, “Minho.” you spoke, reaching out to shake his hand, to which he gladly obliged.

“Y/N. Always a pleasure to see the prince. Well, if you were a bit more excited about this.” He teased, letting out a few snorts. Petting your head while constantly laughing amusedly.

“I’ll stick a fork in your eye one of these days, you stupid knight.” You gave him a death glare as a warning.

“Ah, Prince, you’re so kind~” he grinned, winking at you too, you rolled your eyes at his behaviour. He was always like this, flirty and sometimes egotistic. You didn’t mind it though since he is an amazing duelist and mentor. He isn’t a King’s guard for no reason.

But one day, his cocky attitude is gonna bite him in the ass.

You grumbled and moved forward to the royal carriage, “Lino, you should move, we can’t be late remember?” You tsked, giving Minho a smirk.

“Whatever.” He spoke up in an sassy tone, you snorted at him, to which he glared at you.

He entered inside the carriage, with you slowly following right after.

After entering inside, you sat down at one side while Minho sat near you. It was spacious inside as expected and a small window was also in place.

You had no interest in staying awake for 3 hours during the ride so you decided to take a nap.

~

“You could use my shoulder, you know?” He teased, patting his shoulder while smirking at you.

“Shut up.” you mumble as you shifted a bit so your head could rest more comfortably against the wall.

As much as you wanted to just sleep laying down at the long couch-like thingy where you’re sat at, you can’t because this stupid knight is watching you.

And the last thing you want is him, teasing you for being less than ‘formal’.

Slowly, the sounds around you seem to deafen itself out causing you to relax your shoulders and fall asleep regardless whether Minho is there watching your every move.

~

Opening your eyes as you felt someone poke your cheek, your eyes drifted slowly to the side. You were eye to eye with the knight, faces inches apart.

Your recently droopy eyes from sleeping — shot open in panic, “W-What are you doing!” you stuttered, leaning back from him which made him grin.

“We’re at the city, prince~” He pets your hair, running his hand through it softly.

You glowered and slapped his hand away, “Ugh, keep your hands to yourself, Lino.” you tried to glare the knight down.

“Ah, Feisty.” he smiled back at you to which you responded with a scowl making him laugh loudly.

“No need to be so aggressive~” Minho winked making you just look away and give up, you ignored him and looked out through the window, finding the surrounding endearing.

The loud chattering from the outside is muffled by the walls of the carriage, from at first glance, this was a very happy city.

It has a warm and vibrant tone to it.

. . .

The carriage comes to a sudden halt after riding in what seems to be a hill due to how it felt riding it earlier, the ground was sloped upwards.

The coachman driving the carriage suddenly spoke up, “We’re here, sire.” he spoke up, muffled by the wooden walls but you caught it.

With a sigh, you opened the door and slowly stepped down — your eyes widening at the sight of the towering castle.

It had a wonderful structure, the stone bricks perfectly fit into one another and of course the Hwang family crest adorned the flags that were raised.

Your kingdom’s castle was in no means small but it pales in comparison to that.

Looking around at the surroundings, you saw that a lot of royals were around, some you recognized and some that you had no idea where they came from.

You looked far and noticed the view of the capital at the city which you saw while taking a ride.

.

“...Prince Y/N.” After getting lost in a little bubble after staring at the refreshing view, Minho was nudging your shoulder.

“Hm? What is it?” you said, looking at him with raised eyebrows as you fixed the tie of your suit.

He rolled his eyes, “Did you even hear what I said?” he glared, tapping his foot on the ground multiple times.

“Would I be asking you if I did?” you shot back, clicking your tongue in annoyance as you waited for his answer.

He groaned at your attitude, “You have to sign up to enter the castle. Lose the attitude too, prince.” he said in a careless tone, looking at you with his icy glare.

“Who are you to talk like that to me, knight..?” you scowled at him as you stood your ground firmly.

What was happening now was in contrast to earlier, this was a more serious battle between you and Minho. These were times were usually one of the houseworkers back at your kingdom, steps in to stop both of you and succeeded most of the time.

To be honest though, this fight shouldn't escalate at all.

. . .

From the distance though, someone was watching both of you in amusement, “The party hasn’t even started and they’re bickering all ready.”

“Chan if you could stop them, please?” The man with long black hair commanded to the person next to him.

The knight fixed his posture and nodded, “Of course, my prince.”

“You can call me by my name, you know? We’ve been friends for a long time.” the long-haired man chuckled.

“Still need to use honorifics, sire.” the shorter smiled at the taller before leaving to stop the heated glare-down and exchange of insults at the entrance.

He took one last glance at the royal that was bickering with a knight, finding him amusing but at the same time, he found him interesting.

“Might need to keep an eye on that one.” he hummed to himself before going back inside the castle.

. . .

Minho just recently called you a brat and undeserving of being called a prince of your kingdom, he even mentioned your brother, the crown prince — next in line to the throne — he says of how your brother is just better than you in every way. This sends a devastating pang to your heart as this was not only hurtful to your pride but in a way, he also disregards all your hard work.

“Fuck you. You have no rights to tell me this. You are not my brother nor my parents. You are merely a fucking knight!” you said, shouting the last part.

Your own eyes are tinted with anger, wanting to choke the life out of your escorting knight.

“What, isn’t what all I said was t—”

An applaud was heard from the near distance, cutting Lino off and causing your head to turn to the source of sound.

The man with the curly locks and a pretty face bowed to your direction, “The opening ceremony of the party is starting soon, Prince Hyangsu Y/N. I suggest you sign the guest book and head on inside.” he smiles at you, dimples shown causing you go soften your look.

“While you,” he said sighing after, pointing to Minho with a finger.

“...Fellow knight, let’s chit chat for a bit.” he coughed and grabbed Minho’s hand — dragging him away despites the struggling knight's protest.

You looked around and noticed some of the royals still outside, staring at you with a hint of disappointment probably because of your fight with Minho.

You grumbled, annoyed and angry at the disrespectful knight — you'll most likely have to talk with Minho after this god-forsaken party.

. . .

A yawn almost slipped out of your mouth as the host of the party or ball, at this point you question which is it. The speech lacked any entertainment of the sorts causing you to just listen with half-lidded eyes.

Then came the introduction of the Prince that is having their born day.

A tall man suddenly came out of the curtains, aura filled with confidence and pride, gleaming and filling the room. You inspected his face and not gonna lie, he was indeed pretty, prettier than most princes you have seen — Long black locks neatly tied up in a ponytail, alluring eyes, thick and kissable li— You snapped out of your little bubble after noticing that you were checking the Hwang, this is not good.

You turned away from the center of attention and looked for your small group of friends but felt as if someone was boring holes into your skull.

Turning back, only to see no one staring at you but instead just the continuous blah blah blah’s by the Hwang Prince.

Sighing, you continue to scout the palace room for any signs of a certain fox-eyed brat, someone who dressed too dark and a ray of sunshine.

You clicked your tongue in annoyance when you still haven’t spotted the trio.

. . .

The Prince finally stopped talking and just announced that the dance will start in about an hour, giving his guests — free time to converse with one another.

After going through a sea of screaming princesses that want to marry him, you sighed in relief and just wished to leave this place. That is, until you finally caught a glimpse of a familiar royal. Finally.

.

You poked the shoulder of the foxy prince which startled him, almost causing him to spill his red drink over his royal wear. “God, Y/N, couldn’t you just approach me like a normal person.” he tutted.

Then returned his dimpled smile, he hugged you with one hand unable to engulf with his arms due to the drink he was holding.

“I thought you didn’t go to this clownfest.” you sighed, your words having a sarcastic tone.

“Me? Yang Jeongin wouldn’t miss a ball, especially one that is hosted by one of the richest kingdoms.” he laughed, taking a sip of his drink.

“Is that wine or juice? Also, why are you talking in third person?” you stared at him with confusion.

“This is red water.” he sassed mockingly causing you to roll your eyes and flick his forehead a bit too hard with your index finger.

“Ow!” Jeongin squinted his eyes at you.

He pulls on your ear at payback which you took easily before yawning and looking at the clock impatiently. You wanted to return home and sleep, and also give Minho a lecture.

“Where’s Bin and Lix?” you piped up before taking a seat at the small seat near a pillar, curiously scouting the again for signs of them.

He sighed and sat down right next to you, “Felix-hyung is hunting for more exotic food, since he liked the Shark meat a bit too much and well...” he trailed off, taking a sip of his drink and clearing his throat.

“Bin-hyung is getting flirted slash hitted on again by Prince Jisung of the Han Kingdom. I thought the he already gave up but nope. He still pursuing the Bin booty.” Jeongin chuckled, calling over a roaming waiter for a refill to which the worker happily obliged

You laughed at that since Han has been shooting hearts at Changbin for a long time and always had flirted with him at different parties. Changbin had always rejected his advances though.

“Also they sent a new representative from the Kim kingdom. I’ve never seen him before. Looks cute though, might be your type.” Jeongin said, nudging your shoulders and pointing at a specific direction. Your eyes raked over the prince’s form, charming and handsome but at the same time cute — He was leaning back at the wall, also drinking something.

You grumbled though, this is once again Jeongin trying to hook you up with someone again. It didn’t end well last time — The last prince, Jeongin hooked you up was Prince Yeonjun — All he wanted was sex though, causing you to immediately cut off ties with said prince, leaving a bit heartbroken at that since he only said that he wanted sex after you already spent the night together.

“Not this again, Innie.” you tsked, crossing your arms around your chest.

“Come onnn~.. I thought Yeonjun liked you a lot, he stared at you a lot during Taehyun’s party” Jeongin mumbles since he knows, that you don't like fooling around with people who didn’t even have a single interest on being on an actual relationship.

He felt bad matching you up with him, since he thought that was time you actually would get out of the singles’ list.

He nudged you and tilted his head to the Kim prince’s direction, “He’s walking over here.”

Your head immediately snapped to him, “Did he notice me staring at him earlier?!” you whispered nervously.

He raised his shoulders as he doesn’t know but you could already hear his evil mind spouting not-so-good ideas when he let out a grim grin.

“Well.....~ Y/N, I have to go find Felix, I kinda wanna try the shark meat, Ok byeeeee~” he said as if he was in a rush but this was just a part of his scheme.

“Jeongin, wait, don’t lea—” You couldn’t even finish your sentence before he was out of sight, the man was already extremely near you, his eyes never leaving your own.

You gulp, not knowing what to do in this situation.

In a mere second, you were face to face with the unfamiliar prince. He looked down at you with a emotionless face before sitting down next to you.

“My name is Kim Seungmin, yours?” He spoke with a honey-laced voice crossing his legs as he looked at you with curious eyes.

A smirk was starting to form at the corner of his lips before you opened your mouth to speak.

But nothing came out

He was attractive but he had soft features and an aura that resonates well with his features. He had this cute puppy-look to him but by that smirk he isn’t all that rainbows and sunshines.

Now, this is totally not good.

Little did Y/N know someone was watching this interaction in the distance, a prince than seems to be allured to you ever since he saw you within the crowd. He doesn't seem happy though~

~ tbc

[svnhos]

Diary - Vernon (A)

Genre: Angst

Warnings : suicide , self harm , bullying

Choi y/n that’s a girl who always walks around with a diary in her hands , when you hear diary it’s not the gushy cute stuff where the diary is about boys makeup girls no her diary is very special , it holds secrets that nobody knows . Let’s go threw a few notes

Day one 1

Dear diary

Wow this feels kinda weird writing in this erm uh hi I’m Choi y/n and this is day 1 of my diary

Erm today of all days was quiet which is unusual I also got to hang out with my amazing best friend Vernon.

But all he did was talk about his ‘amazing’ girlfriend which is not so amazing she’s actually really toxic and not a nice person.

School was alright no one disturbed me

But home ,home was different it was to noisy

My parents are always shouting and arguing with each other but when their not arguing they are hitting me and abusing me

You are probably thinking why don’t you stick up for yourself, we’ll I’ve tried but it resulted in me getting the worse beating of my life.

As you can see y/n isn’t living the bestest life lets skip to day 25

Today was the worse of all days vernon Ignored me and kept on glaring at me

I don’t know what I’ve done to receive this treatment, I feel so alone and depressed lately.

Looks like y/n has been going through and even tougher time today

Let’s see what she’s been up to

Y/n pov:

I just finished writing in my diary I feel so lonely vernon doesn’t want to speak to me anymore and he’s seems mad at me.

Maybe I can try and catch him tomorrow to ask what the problem is.

~time skip to tomorrow ~

It is 7am now I got dressed and ready to go to school as I am making my way through the gate I see vernon walking in

“Vernon vernon !!”

But he just started walking faster

“Please vernon can we talk?” I asked out of breathe

“What do you want to talk about freak” he said angrily

“Freak?” I said lowly “erm why have you been ignoring me ?” I said softly while looking at my shoes

“ OH don’t pretend like you don’t know what you have done I know you pushed Hannah ( his gf)and called her a whore” vernon said harshly

“What I never said any of tha-” I said but was cut off

“Stop pretending to be innocent Hannah told me everything y/n” vernon said

“Please vernon you have to believe me” I said almost on the verge of crying

“Save it y/n you betrayed me” Vernon said in an angry tone and left.

I fell down to my knees crying Hannah lied and … vernon believed her

Third person pov:

Y/n walked through the school door with fear

Everyone turned to look at her

Some turned in disgust, some turned to see whom it was, some turned to whisper to their friends about her, some just outright just glared at her

“Wow Hannah must have lied to everyone” y/n thought

She sighed holding the tears that desperately wanted to fall, she made her way to her locker as she heard the insults they were saying about her

Weirdo , nerd , freak , fake , and so on it continued

But one sentence crushed her heart so bad

“Ugh she should just end it to be totally honest. It’s not like she’s needed anyways she’s just a pain in the ass tbh” take a guess who said that yep Hannah and guess who was beside her laughing and agreeing with her while she said vernon

That crushed y/n even more, the thought that everyone would be better off without her has crossed her mind so many times.

Skip to a few weeks later:

The bullying got harsher and harsher y/n became even more depressed, harsher words where thrown at her

Y/n continued to write in her diary everyday.

But today something was different, today it would all stop, while insulted were being thrown at her she didn’t cry of flinch she simply nodded her head taking it all in

She didn’t cry when her parents hurt her she simply nodded her head

Her diary didn’t have day 90 written in it no it had

The End written

Dear the end

The time has finally come no more tears no more insults and no more people, you know I dead a long time ago, only difference now is that they’ll notice.

Thank you for being with me till the very end, The end has finally come.

Truth is I never did any of those things she said I’ve done but nobody believed me.

To everyone who bullied me, thank you

That’s all I have for you guys thank you

And to the people who brought me into this world, I am sorry for whatever pain I have caused you but now there won’t be a need to remind me how useless I am because I am going I’m sorry and thank you.

Good bye everyone.

Y/n closes her diary after finishing writing she looks at the bottle of pills next to her and takes a handful of them and swallows every single one of them taking a big gulp of water,

She starts to feel dizzy but she just invites the feeling in as her world turns black Choi y/n is finally gone.

[heliads]

Some Small Comfort

Based on this request: “reader is having a really bad day for no reason and Draco comforts her and one of the ways he does is kissing her forehead and wrapping his arms around her so she can bury herself into his chest”

masterlist

The wind is wild around you. It’s a cold, blustery day, and anyone in their right minds would have stayed firmly indoors, bodies turned instinctively towards a roaring fire in their common rooms. However, you are decidedly mad, and instead perch here in the creaking wooden stands, green and silver scarf wrapped around your neck as if the few feet of woven yarn will do anything to keep you warm.

It’s not like you’re alone, though. Hundreds of students are packed in around you, banners of emerald and sapphire being waved frantically through the air at opposite sides of the stands. It’s time for a Quidditch match, the semifinals of the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup. Your own beloved Slytherin is playing against Ravenclaw, who despite being stronger than the past couple of years is being steadily crushed by the swooping and soaring forms of seven green-cloaked players. Your cheers are ripped from your throat by the wind, joining the collective cacophony of the school as you all watch in awe.

“They’re going to win. No doubt about it.” You glance over your shoulder to see Pansy Parkinson. You and Pansy have not always been close friends, and the most you have in common with her is the house you share. She’s overly critical of the fact that you’ve been known to hang around with Potter, Weasley, and Granger. You’re a touch too haughty when you compare yourself with her. If you’re supposed to spend time with people who make you a better person, you’re not entirely sure you’ll find that same company with Pansy. That being said, there is a certain rush in being able to say what you want about whoever you want and share gloating laughs with another girl clad in viridian. It’s always a little more fun to pretend to be the villain, isn’t it?

You flash Pansy a grin. “As if there was a chance they wouldn’t. Slytherin is Ravenclaw but with muscle. It’s easy to see that those blue prats wouldn’t last ten minutes.” Pansy smirks at that. “Besides, it’s easy to cheer them on when you’ve got your star seeker boyfriend, don’t you? I hate to say it, but the two of you are cute together.” You feel your cheeks heat up as she says it, even as you know Pansy only speaks to get a rise out of you. “I’m glad you approve of our relationship. I would be utterly devastated if you didn’t.”

Pansy turns her attention back to the game. “Speaking of which, Malfoy would be utterly devastated if you don’t start paying attention. I think he’s about to win.” You tear your gaze away from your friend to stare excitedly back at the pitch. Sure enough, Draco has spun his broom into a deep dive, plunging farther and farther through the air until at last he snatches at something and rights himself, arm held triumphantly up. Even from this distance, you can see the victorious look on his face and the small golden sphere trapped in his hand, white wings beating uselessly against his palm.

Your shout of triumph is drowned out by Lee Jordan’s voice, which echoes across the Quidditch pitch. “And that’s it- Malfoy has caught the snitch- Slytherin has won. I hate to say it, but it was a good performance from Slytherin all around. We all know we’ll thrash you at the championships, though, you can count on that-” Lee’s hurried speech is cut off by the sound of Professor McGonagall chastising him for a certain lack of impartial commentating. You and the rest of the Slytherins rise up in boos against Lee, although you can’t stay angry for long. Draco has won, what more could you care about?

You rush down through the stands to the grounds below, feeling your heels fly across the packed earth. Draco’s already waiting for you outside of the locker rooms. His face, which you can tell he’s trying his hardest to keep neutral and unimpressed, breaks into a smile when he sees you. You run over to him and he picks you up, wrapping his arms around your waist. You beam up at him. “You were amazing, Draco. Honestly. That last catch was fantastic.” Draco shrugs as if it’s nothing, but you can tell that he’s secretly thrilled himself.

“It was fairly easy against Ravenclaw. Gryffindor’s next, though, in a couple of weeks. They’ll be the actual competition.” You scoff. “Gryffindor is nothing. You’ll handle them just fine, I promise.” Draco leans forward to kiss you. Even despite the bite of the wind, you can still feel a sudden burst of heat radiating through you. “Well, as long as I’ve got you I know I’ll be fine. I looked for you in the stands, you know.” You smile up at him. “I was there. Always am.”

The whole castle is in a buzz over the game. The Ravenclaw team has been training nonstop in preparation, but Slytherin still beat them easily. At this rate, the Hogwarts final will be a walk in the park. Draco still heads out to the pitch all the time, broom in hand and ready to practice, but you can tell by the ease in his shoulders that he’s ready to win. 

Your footsteps echo through the stone corridors, joining the storm of chatter that bounds off of the arched hallways. You doubt Hogwarts has ever been quiet in its long history- too many students, too many spells, never enough time for silence to draw a breath. As you round a corner, though, you’re struck by a sudden lull in the hubbub that surrounds you. It’s brief, but just enough that you recognize a few voices. Hermione, Ron, and a few others.

You pause. You were intending to go back to your common room and finish up a few essays, but you’ve got no actual plans to fill your time. Why not go chat with your friends? You switch directions, crossing over the hallway to turn around a bend and rejoin the Gryffindors. You’re hidden from them by the stone corner of the wall, and you’re almost about to catch up to them when you hear more of their conversation. With a sinking feeling, you realize you know exactly what they’re talking about.

Ron is speaking now. “-and that’s what I was talking about. Quidditch tryouts are going to be opening up next year, and a lot of the oldest members of the team will be leaving. I’d go out and practice, but the field’s swamped with everyone trying to do the same thing I am and learn broom skills before the summer.” Hermione clicks her tongue understandingly. “I have the same issue around exam season. All I want to do is go to the library in peace, and then it’s swarmed with all the kids doing their best not to fail.”

She hesitates a second. “Actually, remind me if you’ve got any brooms to spare. Y/N and I were talking about going over some Quidditch skills. Everyone around us plays the sport, and all flying lessons stopped after the first year. We were thinking it would do some good to have a refresher on the finer points of broomstick flying.” Ron laughs, muttering something about the finer points of broomstick flying, really, Hermione, you’re making it sound so dull under his breath. However, a new voice rings out beside them, and you realize that you recognize it. It’s Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He must still be anxious over the recent Slytherin victory and the upcoming crushing defeat awaiting the Gryffindors, because his voice is cold.

“The Slytherin? Why the hell would you want that?” It’s not just the fact that he didn’t say your name, or the way you can practically see him turning to Hermione in shock. It’s the disgust in his voice, the sheer revulsion in his voice at the thought of ever speaking to you. He says Slytherin in the same way you might say vermin or dementor, and it cuts you to the core. You’re remembering key facets of Oliver Wood now, the way he clings to the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry with as much fervor as he does to his broom. He would never see you as anything more than a snake, and to be honest, the same is likely true with Ron and Hermione. They’re not defending you right now, are they? No, they’re just continuing on with the conversation.

You feel sick to your stomach. You had considered them friends, people you could talk with and not regret a thing. Did they see you as anything more than the one average Slytherin, someone they would tolerate to your face and loathe behind your back? You turn away from them, shouldering your bag and walking hurriedly back down the hall so they can’t see you. You head straight down towards the Slytherin common rooms, but with every step you can feel your spirits sinking. One of the worst hurts is when a friend insults you, but this is worse. They don’t even think of you as a friend, and they would have no problems with tossing you aside.

Finally, you reach the seemingly innocuous stretch of stone wall that marks the entrance to the Slytherin common room. You stand before it, muttering the password under your breath. “Hemlock.” The wall slides away, revealing the long-awaited common room. Usually, your eye would be drawn to the intricately carved stone ceiling and columns, the tall bookcases of dark wood that house every manuscript you can think of, but not today. Even the roaring fire in its wrought iron gate seems cold, the emerald-cushioned chairs unappealing. You feel like you have a lump in your throat that seems to choke you if you even think of straying by the other students, and so you hurry on your way to your dorm. You’re not sure you want to be alone right now, but it’s better than having to force yourself to speak to anyone else.

However, it doesn’t look like you’ll get the opportunity to finally escape. A voice calls out to you as you cross the common room, and you groan inwardly as you realize it’s Draco. His tone is light, unburdened, but it hesitates with worry as he takes in your twisted face. He walks over to you, taking your hand in his. “Are you alright?” You try to tell him that you’re fine, cook up some lie that you’re just tired, but your tongue doesn’t seem to want to move. His eyes glance over the students clustered around the fire and chairs, unwanted ears that could hear your conversation, and an understanding seems to dawn on him.

Instead, he guides you over to the window seat on the far side of the common room, the one that holds the swirling waters of the lake behind it instead of a view of the grounds. He sits down, reaching out for you. He pulls you close, letting your head rest against his chest. Your legs stretch out over the window seat, and you watch as the shifting lights of the lake tint the air around you a comforting green. Draco’s voice is quiet when he finally speaks. 

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” You sigh. “It’s nothing, just- Well, I was walking back here and I heard Ron, Hermione, and a couple of other Gryffindors talking. My name came up, and one of them seemed so disapproving, like he hated me just because of my house. I know we do the same thing to them, probably worse, but it still hurt in the moment.” You can feel him tensing underneath you, head tilting slightly in anger. You look up at him, shaking your head slightly. “Don’t do anything. I don’t even think they thought about it much. It’s not worth it to get a detention so close to the game.”

Draco presses a kiss to your forehead. “You’re too nice to them. They don’t deserve to be around you, and if they can’t see that, then I pity them. You’re far better than any of them, and they know it. They’re probably scared.” You chuckle quietly. “Only you could turn an insult into a compliment. I’m not sure they’re scared of me, I’m not very threatening.” Draco runs his fingers absentmindedly over your arm, tracing invisible patterns into your skin. “Maybe you’re not looking hard enough. I think you could hex any one of them into the hospital wing if you tried.”

You laugh in spite of yourself. “I think you just want me to hex them.” Draco smiles. “What’s wrong with that?” You roll your eyes, but you can already feel your mood lightening. “Thank you for listening.” Draco pulls you closer to him, nestling your head against his heart. “I’d do it any day you ask. You know that.” And you do.

[daemonusdea]

❛ i’m sorry if you got that impression. ❜

𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐍'𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐏 𝐎𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐒 (𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔) 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 – @empathcrowned.

   The lone eye of the Intoner fixates on him steadily, a slow blink that turns to a squint in contempt of the man before her. She might almost look amused if she had any grace to mind her commonly stone-faced expressions.

        “ The impression of you being as boring and snooty as you appear to be? “ Her idea of play doesn’t come without a good stab to niceties and politeness– any good-natured attempt at civil conversation with Zero was all a lost cause, the scrutinizing twitch upwards of her brow breaking her unmoving stare.

     “ You’re doing a pretty shit job if you’re trying to convince me otherwise. Are you even trying? That’s pretty fucking stupid to apologize for something you’re not changing, you know. “

[artzychic27]

The Artist Family? (new movie)

A month has passed since Marc and Nathaniel met and fell in love at age fourteen, now they’re dating

To celebrate their one month anniversary, they decide to visit one of the most romantic spots ever- The burned-down forest they met in- Only to run into some trouble

The mobs from their previous homes have still been looking for them since the incidents and were finally able to track them down

The couple manage to escape the angry mob with the help of Marc’s spiders and a friendly severed hand who cause a distraction

So they can get away quicker, That drives them in an old hearse he found in a graveyard

Marc: Mi querido, why must hoards of angry villagers follow us everywhere?

Nathaniel: *Kissing Marc’s hand* Meyn ziskeyt, I swear to you, we will find someplace so dark, so sinister, so dastardly that no one in their right mind would be caught dead in!

*They arrive in Paris*

Nathaniel: Huh. I see it’s changed over the last few centuries. And I’m noticing a lack of guillotines.

As they lament about how they can’t keep running for the rest of their lives, That, who was recklessly driving, runs over something in the middle of the road, right near an old funeral home shrouded by fog and cut off from the rest of the city

Marc/Nathaniel: *Excitedly* We hit something!

They rush to see who or what they’ve hit, and see that the figure is a blonde, pale young man who seems to have most of his organs missing

They realize that the person they ran over is Félix Culpa, a young man who died centuries ago, but was never given a funeral because the mortician prepping him got the plague. He regains consciousness and goes to attack the two, but Nathaniel just hands him their bags

Nathaniel: Thanks, man. Hey, you mind showing us around the place?

And that’s how Félix became their butler

When they arrive at the old funeral home, they’re given a very warm welcome.

Spirit of the House: GET OUT!

Marc: ... It’s hideous.

Nathaniel: It’s horrible...

Marc/Nathaniel: It’s home.

Weeks goes by, and more people begin to occupy the home, making amazing first impressions

Marinette and Alix actually snuck in and have been living in the walls for a short period of time until Félix found them

Marc found Rose resting in one of the open graves in the backyard

And Juleka Samara-crawled out of the swamp with her hair covering her face

The six of them share their backgrounds, sympathize with each other about how they were run out of their homes, and make the decision to change their last names to Artist

Now they’re sixteen while Alix is still fifteen

Meanwhile, down in Paris, Gabriel Agreste is taking the fashion world by storm, and his clothing (All basic and dull) is a big hit in Paris (For reasons no one understands but they won’t say anything for fear of not fitting in)

His son, Adrien Agreste goes for a bike ride through the woods with his two friends, Nino and Alya, where they come across the gate that separates outsiders from the Artists’ home

They’re immediately scared away when Marinette opens the creaking gate that sounds like the end of the world when opened

Also, Alix’s sinister sixteen is coming up in a few weeks, and part of the celebration is a swordfight, which she is nowhere near ready for

Nathaniel: Alix, you need to practice. It’s the day your family and friends judge you and pass judgement on your worth as a human being!... It reminds me of Hanukkah.

During one dinner, Marinette asks a question that shocks everyone

Marinette: Do you guys think things beyond the gate have changed?

Juleka: ... What?

Marinette: It’s been years, surely things must be different now. Earlier today, I swore I heard people.

Marc: Outside is forbidden.

Marinette: But-

Marc: Forbidden!

Back in the city, Gabriel is anticipating the arrival of tourists to buy his new line of clothing which he calls, Conformist

While filming a commercial, a red balloon floats astray and makes its way towards the Artists’ home, which Marinette finds as she’s “helping” Alix prepare for the Swordfight

Alix: Why are you helping me?

Marinette: Because. You are like my sister... And... I... Love... You...

Alix: ... You seem trustworthy.

Big mistake

Marinette: *Walks inside with the balloon* Good news, Alix is gone.

Marc: *Holding a sword to Nathaniel’s neck* Mari, go dig up Alix.

Marinette: You and Nathaniel are once again weakening this generation.

Nathaniel: *Points to balloon* Mari, where did you get that?

Marinette: I’m not sure.

Marc: Strange. There’s usually a murderous clown attached to the other end of these.

Juleka: *Gasp!* And what is this?! *Plucks a piece of pink confetti off of Marinette’s shoulder*

Nathaniel: Smells like cotton candy. *Off their confused looks* I was young and stupid, alright?

The Artists go outside where they find rainbow confetti raining down, and the fog that covers their home is lifting up, revealing to them the town

Much to Marc’s protests, Nathaniel suggests they go see the place for themselves

Marinette: This day is becoming most miraculously disruptive.

While filming another commercial, the Artist Family’s house is in the camera’s shot, and Gabriel passes out the second he sees it

*Somewhere else* Nino: ... I feel an overwhelming sense of... Joy.

The Artists arrive in their hearse, and immediately capture the attention of the other Parisians. They’re given strange looks wherever they go, and sometimes people run away screaming

No one has run them out with pitchforks yet. Yay!

Alix: Guys! *Pulls a tire off of a police car* They’re just giving these away!

Juleka: Alix, mind your manners, people might want tires, too.

After getting coffee grounds, the Artists come across Adrien, Alya, Nino, Chloé, and Lila in the park, prancing around in pink and blue outfits and singing about being conformists

Rose: Wow... That is absolutely horrible!

Marinette: ... *Dumps coffee grounds* I’ve suddenly lost my appetite. However, that blonde boy... Intrigues me

And it seems the feeling is mutual when Adrien steals glances at the gothic girl with braids

Rose: ... Yeah, I’m done with this song. *She hikes up the hem of her robe, releasing hundreds of bats that scare off the crowd* Done and done!

Done with these people, Marc wants to leave, Nathaniel insists that things have changed, but his boyfriend is still reluctant... Cue Gabriel

He insists on hiring interior decorators to fix up the Artists home (So tourists aren’t scared off) Marc, with some urging from Nathaniel allows him to do so.

Marinette: That man seems deranged. His face reminds me of a death mask.

*Somewhere else* Nino: In the future... I will have a new friend. Blue hair. Braids.

Back at the Artists Home, Nathaniel, Juleka, and Rose help Alix prepare for her Swordfight

Rose: Of all the Sinister Sixteens I’ve seen, Nathaniel’s was the stuff of legends.

Juleka: So no pressure!

Gabriel, Adrien, the design crew, and the news crew arrive, ready to remove the gloom and macabre form the Artists’ home

Félix: *Answers the door* Youuuuuu raaaaaanng?

Adrien: *Calling Alya and Nino* Hey, so I’m going into the creepy mansion. If I don’t come back, I’m dead... I love you too, Nino... Yes, Alya, I know he’s your boyfriend.

Much to his relief, Adrien is left outside and goes around back to explore

Gabriel: I do hope this isn’t a bad time.

Nathaniel: The worst!... Do come in.

Gabriel spends most of the time making light criticisms and jabs at the decor, the Artists themselves, their clothes, and Marc’s spiders (Which he considers the greatest insult)

Meanwhile in the backyard, Adrien is nearly killed by a crossbow. To his horror and awe, he finds the shooter: Marinette in all of her dark glory

Immediately, he develops a small crush on her. She’s not like the other girls at school who constantly cling to and flirt with him because of his father’s wealth

He tries his hand at impressing her by shooting an arrow, but accidentally shoots Rose, which actually does impress Marinette

Adrien: So, why haven’t I seen you and your siblings at school?

Marinette: We’re coven-schooled. But, blondie, do tell... *Leans in close so she can hear Adrien’s rapid heartbeat* Can anyone attend your school?

Gabriel and his crew leave, having made no renovations to the Artists’ home. And when Nathaniel explains that family and friends will be coming over for Alix’s Sinister Sixteen, that just motivates the designer even more

Down in Gabriel’s secret lair, he spies on the Parisians through a social media app where he fills the comments section with rumors about the Artists, saying they’re anarchists and breed spiders... Okay, so they’re not all rumors

*The Next Day* Nathaniel: Monochrome, I know the man is an eccentric, but- *Marinette appears behind him* Aah!

Marc: Mari, you know Nathaniel scares easily. Practice your lurking on someone else. *Marinette appears behind him* Better. Now what’s on your mind?

Marinette explains that she wants to atener school, much to Marc’s horror and Nathaniel’s excitement. She needs to torment more kids her own age.

Marc doesn’t want her to go, worried she might fall under the influence of the... Conformists, but Nathaniel somehow convinced him

Marinette walking into school: Ah, so these are the gates of hell.

Adrien, while being crowded by girls he doesn’t even like (Especially Lila and Chloé) becomes awestruck when he sees Marinette walking in. She looks like a beautiful demon queen

Lila and Chloé see this and try to intimidate her, but this is what Marinette says,

Marinette: Listen you future plastic surgery disasters, I’m not locked in here with either of you. You and your outdated, distasteful “outfits” are locked in here with me. And don’t you forget it.

Alya just might dump Nino so she can ask this girl out. Polyamory works too. / Adrien: Back of the line.

Mendelive’s biology class: They’re dissecting frogs.

Adrien: Aw, I feel bad for doing this.

Marinette: Relax. Rose showed me how to do this hundreds of times. *Cue Frankenstein equipment* FLIP THE SWITCH! *Adrien flips the switch and electrocutes all of the frogs* LIVE! LIVE MY CREATURE!

The frogs come to life and attack Lila and Chloé. Karma at its finest. Alya and Nino are impressed by her more than ever

Alya: It is an honor and a privilege to watch you work, spooky girl.

Back at the Artists’ Home, it’s game night! They’re playing the game of Death, but Marc isn’t focused. It’s late and he’s wondering where Marinette is

Finally, she arrives, but much to Marc’s horror, she has a Ladybug hair clip! He’s in so much shock that his face flushes red and a bat has to drink his blood

Marc: What. Is. That?

Marinette: Adrien calls it a “Pop of color” says it brings out my... Smile.

Marc: You don’t have a smile.

In order to see what’s going on with his sister/friend, Marc suggests they do ‘Tea & Seance’ like old times... Only she bails to hang out with Adrien, and they give each other makeovers as acts of rebellion

Meanwhile, Alix is upset because she still can’t get the hang of sword fighting and Nathaniel has been working so hard to help her

Marinette returns from her hangout with Adrien, almost making Marc faint when she shows up wearing pink and her hair in pigtails.

Marc: Okay, this is where I sever the line! You are not going back to that school!

Marinette: *Gives him the evil eye before leaving* You can’t tell me what to do.

Juleka: Dear Hades, that is some evil eye.

Horrified by Adrien’s new gothic look and attitude, Gabriel spreads more rumors about the Artists

Frustrated by the lack of support from her family/friends, Marinette runs away and goes to stay with Adrien

Alix: I always knew it would end up like this. Just didn’t know when.

Marinette: Farewell, Alix! I will never forget you, but I’ll try.

The next morning, Marinette, Alya, and Nino are helping Adrien look for his phone, which Gabriel his hidden punishment for his new look

While looking, they stumble across Gabriel’s lair and discover he’s been spying on everyone in Paris. Gabriel discovers them snooping and locks them in Adrien’s room while he goes to greet the tourists... And some unexpected guests

Nathalie: *Dials Gabriel* Gabriel, it’s an emergency. They’re here! The Artist Family!

The Artists more... Eccentric family members (Gina Dupain, Uncle Wang, Master Fu, Luka, Fei, Jagged, Penny, and the art teacher for example) have arrived to attend Alix’s sinister sixteen.

Things are going well so far. Juleka reunites with Luka, Fei battles Gina to the death, but Marinette still hasn’t arrived, so they do the sword fight without her... Which Alix fails.

As Nathaniel consoles her, a cannonball shoots through the wall. Gabriel somehow got a catapult for the mob to use

Marc: It’s Gabriel. He’s turned the town into a mob.

Juleka: I oddly admire his determination.

While the mob fires more cannonballs and destroy the house, Alix tosses her sword and grabs her explosives, successfully protecting her family... Until a cannonball blocks their only exit and she runs out of ammo

Just as the ceiling begins to fall and it seems like the end, Marinette, Adrien, Alya, and Nino come in just in time and save them all thanks to the possessed tree

She and Marc reconcile

Marc: I’m so glad you came back.

Marinette: Of course. There was no way you all could survive without me. You’re like weak kittens.

The Parisians begin having regrets about attacking the Artists (Mainly cuz they almost killed a bunch of kids), but this is interrupted by Gabriel

Gabriel: I will relish hounding you all until that nuclear waste dump you call is house is destroyed with you all in it!

Juleka: Oh, you are just begging to be dragged down to hell, aren’t you, Gabriel?

Marinette: And this family will never run from the likes of you again. *Her death glare stuns Gabriel*

Nino: Damn, I gotta learn how to do that.

Adrien finally stands up to his father and exposes how he’s been spying on everyone in the city while Alya live streams everything. Gabriel is now ruined

Months later, the Artists’ Home has been rebuilt by the guilty Parisians who learn to accept their new, weird neighbors. Also, the Spirit of the House has returned

Adrien and Marinette start dating while Alya and Nino share a mutual pining for the girl

[kittinoir]

Phantoms Ch. 12

Read on Ao3

Adrien couldn’t think of a single place he wouldn’t rather be than anywhere else at that particular moment. He’d even trade places with Chloe, wherever she was, if it meant he could get out of this particular date.

Unfortunately, no switch - or miraculous rescue - was likely to take place.

It didn’t help that he’d just spent the majority of his afternoon with Lila’s nearly-naked body pressed skin-to-skin against his - the unfortunate reality of his father’s new swimwear line - while the rest of the team fleshed out their plan. He wasn’t ignorant to the fact that Lila had pushed nearly every advantage the skimpy clothing had given her, as much as he’d pretended to be oblivious.

But all Adrien had truly felt was frustrated; Lila was the last person he wanted to be around.

Pair it all with the fact that in a couple hours he and his friends would be infiltrating his fathers’ very private study, and all Adrien wanted to do was disappear into his four-nozzle shower until the steam melted him straight down the drain.

Things had slightly improved, at least: he was fully dressed now in a suit from his father’s last collection, still new enough to be considered on trend. Even as Adrien admired the fabric, he couldn’t stop the image of Marinette in a matching gown from entering unbidden into his mind. It would have been midnight blue and covered in a thousand little crystals that shimmered when she moved. She would have looked like magic and he would have been the luckiest man in the room.

But he’d never see her in that dress. She wasn’t his date tonight. If it was any consolation, he was willing to bet she was about as excited with her date as he was with his. Felix’s mouth had positively puckered when he’d discovered his part in their plan; it would have been funny if there had been anything remotely humorous about the situation.

But it was hard to laugh at much of anything when you might be sharing a home with a super villain.

“I’ll go over there right now,” Plagg had declared, half way through the wall of the fencing gym where ‘Adrien’ was supposed to have been that morning while Chat Noir patrolled. “I’ll prove it. I’ll sort this out, once and for all!”

But Adrien had stopped him. He couldn’t say it was truly for any one reason. At first he’d been erring on the side of caution: Adrien’s schedule was booked and he wasn’t due to return home until he arrived at the gala that night. He couldn’t be kwami-less if there was an akuma attack.

Then it had come down to practicality: if Adrien knew, he wasn’t going to just wait to pull off their plan. He’d cataclysm right through the floor. And unfortunately, the reckless part of him knew he wouldn’t tell Marinette about it, either, because she would try to stop him - and she’d be right. They needed the little time they had to plan.

But hours later, the waiting felt unbearable. Marinette had called with the details on his too-brief lunch break. It was simple - almost too simple. It required him to do the impossible: disappear in a crowd. Now Adrien’s skin itched with the pent-up adrenaline trying to burn through his system, begging for action.

“You ready, kid?” Plagg asked, drifting up over Adrien’s shoulder. Several empty camembert packages lay discarded on the couch in Adrien’s trailer.

“How does anyone prepare themselves for the fact that their dad might be the monster that’s been terrorizing all of Paris for over a year?” Adrien said instead. He wasn’t even being sarcastic, he genuinely wanted to know. Who could possibly come out of that kind of trauma unscathed? He doubted even Marinette’s magical ladybugs could fix that kind of damage.

“…I’m here for you,” Plagg said, unable to meet Adrien’s eyes in the mirror as he made the gesture. “You’re the best owner I’ve ever had. I won’t let you go through this alone.”

“You think it’s him?” As much as the facts lined up, as much as they always had, Adrien had never been able to let go of the hope that it was all one big coincidence. After all, what were the odds Master Fu would hand one of the most powerful Miraculous to Hawk Moth’s own son?

“I think even if it’s not, you’re going to have a hard time reconciling the fact that you thought he could be,” Plagg admitted as he came to rest on Adrien’s shoulder. “Don’t shut your friends out, Adrien. That’s how you spent months looking for her in the first place.”

Adrien blew out a hard breath, turning from the mirror. As usual, Plagg had no issue bringing up the one thing he didn’t want to acknowledge.

“I don’t know how to share this,” Adrien said as he reached for his blazer. “Because if I do, then that means that it’s all - ”

Real.

Even then, he couldn’t admit it. Not until he was sure.

“Lets get through this party first,” Plagg suggested, disappearing into the blazer pocket as Adrien slipped it on. “No point in unwrapping cheese you can’t finish.”

Adrien finally cracked a smile at that, but it died quickly as a knock came at the door.

He knew what he would find when he opened it, but that didn’t make it any easier to see Lila standing on the other side in a gorgeous red gown.

“Wow, Adrien, you look amazing,” she cooed, leaning in to run one gloved hand down his sleeve. “I wish I’d known which suit you were going to pick.” She pouted. “I would have dressed to match.”

He doubted it; the only way Lila dressed was to kill.

“Sorry,” Adrien said, begrudgingly offering her his arm. “My father chose it. I didn’t know which one it was going to be until after the shoot today.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lila said, waving away his comment as they made their way to the car waiting for them out front. “We still make a stunning couple.”

He didn’t bother to correct her. She always insisted it was just a figure of speech or a slip of the tongue. If she wanted to live in her own fantasy, he wasn’t going to waste his time correcting her.

And yet, he found himself oddly grateful for her incessant chatter as they headed to his fathers’ fundraiser. Anything was a welcome distraction from what he was about to do.

“Ooh, look at the press, Adrien!”

The car ride hadn’t felt that long, but sure enough, she was right - they were already pulling up outside his home.

The normally stoic Agreste mansion was nearly unrecognizable. Enormous floodlights had been erected strategically around the house, and as Lila had already noted, piles of paparazzi were spilling out of the for-once-open gates. The sight of his fathers’ car had whipped them into a frenzy.

Alright then. Showtime.

Adrien waited until his bodyguard made it around the car and opened the door for them before alighting from the car. The man his mother had raised him to be made him wait for Lila, even going so far as to hold a hand out to help her from the car. Shame nudged him as she stepped smiling and waving onto the deep green carpet that led to the front door; she had her faults, but she wasn’t an evil person. He was upset with his father’s contracts more than anything. As frustrated as he might be, he didn’t want to embarrass her in front of these reporters. No one deserved that.

So he held out an elbow for her and smiled back as she took it, holding it even as a dozen flashbulbs went of in their faces.

As far as press lines went, it wasn’t the most painful one Adrien had experienced. Thankfully contractual obligations kept the reporters focused mostly on the fundraiser they were there to support, though every now and then they couldn’t help but to ask them if Paris’s heartthrob was locked up at last. Those questions Adrien was always quick to answer. The one time he wasn’t, Lila made a comment that implied if they weren’t yet, they would be, soon. It became a little difficult to maintain his generosity of spirit after that.

They’d nearly made it to the front doors when the flashbulbs erupted again.

Both he and Lila paused to see what the commotion was about, and Adrien felt his heart stop altogether.

She was so much more beautiful than he’d imagined she would be, but that was to be expected; he never could do her justice. She’d worn her hair down for once, a pink ribbon the same colour as her dress woven through the strands.

At that moment, he could have kicked himself. Contractual obligations be damned; he’d been stupid not to cease this opportunity with Marinette. He’d have done anything to be the one escorting her that night.

And just as suddenly, he realized he didn’t want to shut her out. Through the bad, maybe horrific things, for the good, possibly amazing things, he wanted to share it all with her. God, he couldn’t think of a single thing more beautiful than sharing a life with her. Even this night, this impossible evening, with the wrong girl on his arm and his father on the other side of the door, even if it made it all real…because it could be real.

“Adrien.”

Lila’s hiss drew him from his stupor, and Adrien abruptly realized that despite his best intentions, he’d likely embarrassed Lila anyway. He wasn’t actually sure how long he’d been staring after Marinette, but she and Felix had certainly drawn a great deal closer.

“Shall we?” he offered. He wouldn’t insult her further by apologizing; they both knew he wasn’t sorry.

“Of course,” Lila said. Her tone was sweet, but it set Adrien on edge. It was then he realized that Lila was now staring at Marinette, though she allowed herself to be guided through the doors.

“You didn’t say she was going to be here,” Lila snarled once they were inside.

“I didn’t realize you were supposed to approve the guest list,” Adrien said. “Regardless, I can’t control who my cousin chooses to bring as his plus one.”

Lila’s eyebrows rose. “Felix? She’s here with Felix?”

“She’s not here with me,” Adrien said. Regrettably. Stupidly. Pridefully.

That seemed to placate her. “That must be tough,” Lila guessed with empty empathy, leaning her head on Adrien’s shoulder as they entered the ballroom. The space had always seemed to Adrien to be nothing more than an embarrassment of riches. No one had balls anymore, and if they did, the Agreste’s wouldn’t. Still, his father had insisted it was historical and had had it restored with the rest of the home before they’d moved there. Regardless, it seemed to be the perfect place to hold that nights’ function.

“Father’s outdone himself,” Adrien said as they took in the crowded room, choosing not to follow Lila’s particular line of conversation.

“It’s spectacular,” Lila agreed.

Roses from their own garden had been woven in among some very realistic looking ivy that twined around the many pillars around the edge of the room. Mannequins displaying the pieces to be bid on were set between them. A string quartet was playing something jazzy in the corner, and several waiters were making rounds of the room with trays of champagne and h’ours d’oeuvres.

“Shall we?” Adrien asked, nodding to the floor where several couples were already dancing.

“Absolutely!”

Adrien let Lila pull him onto the floor and into a dance, even if she was closer than he strictly wanted her to be. The only person he’d ever danced this closely with before was -

He didn’t finish the thought. He couldn’t afford the distraction. It was nearly time; the only person they were waiting on now was Kagami.

“This is so nice, Adrien,” Lila murmured as they turned. “We’re perfect. Why won’t you - ”

“Don’t, Lila,” Adrien said, bringing them to a stop. “All we are is friends. All we will ever be is friends. And if you can’t respect that, all we will be is co-workers.”

Lila scoffed. “She’s here with another guy and still you won’t - ”

“Enough!” Adrien took a step back, until her hands slid off his shoulders. “This isn’t about her. It’s about me. And the truth is, she could tell me she hates me and I would still feel how I feel. You’re done. After tonight, consider yourself relieved of your duties. You don’t work for my father anymore.”

She looked as though he’d struck her, and some distant part of Adrien dimly thought that if he’d been trying not to embarrass her, firing her in the middle of his father’s fundraiser was probably not the best way to go about it.

“You…can’t,” she sputtered. “You can’t do that.”

“You’re right,” Adrien admitted, but Lila’s relief was fleeting. “But my father can, and he will once he hears about how unprofessional you’ve been.”

He almost wanted to laugh. He doubted neither he nor Lila would have much of a job after that night if they were right, but he wasn’t going to put up with this. Not anymore. He should have realized a long time ago she would never stop.

“Please, Adrien,” Lila said, latching onto his arm. “Don’t do this. I’m…I’m sorry, it won’t happen again, I - ”

The stupid thing was, he wanted to believe her. He wanted to give her another chance.

But he could still feel the press of her skin against his, and he knew he was out of chances to give.

“I’m sorry, Lila,” Adrien said. “You’ve left me no choice. Excuse me.”

He stepped out of her grasp a second time, and this time he didn’t stop walking until he’d made his way to the secluded table in a shadowed corner where non-alcoholic beverages were being served. He poured himself a drink, then another. He was almost to the bottom when Kagami finally slipped in with Max on her arm. He watched as she made eye contact with Marinette, then sought him out. He stepped forward into the light and caught her gaze moments later. A nearly imperceptible nod was all the indication she gave - and all they needed.

Adrien watched as Felix and Marinette left the room first, seeming to all the world like just another couple interested in exploring the house. His heart pounded, begging him to follow, but instead Adrien turned back to the remaining guests, counting down the ten minutes until he was supposed to leave as well. That was how long he’d estimated it would have taken him to extricate himself from his date; he hadn’t been planning on efficiency.

It felt like hours before the ten minutes was up, but when it was, Adrien gave one more cursory glance to the ballroom, scanning the faces for prying eyes. Lila had apparently thrown herself into the arms of the first person to show interest and seemed bent on illustrating, most likely to him, what a great time she was having without him. Still, he took a roundabout way through the room and exited through the gardens, as though he were simply looking for some fresh air. He wasn’t so naive to think she’d let his sleight go without an attempt reconciliation - or revenge.

Adrien made his way slowly through the gardens, looking for all the world as though he was simply enjoying the evening. At least he hoped he did. Even his acting skills were stretched to the breaking point against the torrent pouring through his head. It was wordless at least, but it blocked out everything else but this single task ahead of them.

Too soon and not quick enough, Adrien found himself in front of the doors to his father’s study. He didn’t give himself time to linger; the last thing he needed was to be spotted outside the doors. Normally they’d be locked, but Felix was supposed to have rectified that.

He knocked once, then twice, their simple signal that it was a team member and not a staff member, before twisting the long handle. The door gave without protest and he slipped inside.

“You’re late,” Felix said without looking up. He was kneeling on the floor behind Gabriel’s desk, running his finger along the carpet. He’d found the seam of the hatch, Adrien realized. Neither he nor Marinette had transformed yet, relying on the excuse of two kids overextending their welcome versus two superheroes actively breaking into Gabriel’s office should they be discovered.

“Did you have trouble?” Marinette asked. She seemed relaxed, but her eyes guttered - or were those just the shadows in the dark office?

“Took the long way around,” Adrien explained, calling on Chat Noir’s transformation before crossing to Felix. Chat Noir’s night vision would be more helpful than his ordinary eyes. “Found anything?”

“The hatch is in the same place as it was in the photo,” Felix grunted as his fingers slipped off the slender seam in the floor, “But other than that, nothing. No latch, no button, nothing.”

“Maybe he opens it from his tablet?” Marinette suggested, but Chat Noir shook his head.

“Nathalie holds onto that,” Chat Noir explained. “My father would want to be able to access the hatch at will, not page someone to activate it for him.”

“The desk then?” Marinette said as Felix stood.

“Pretty minimal for a desk,” Felix muttered as he began to run his fingers across the chrome surface.

But that was his father, Chat Noir thought bitterly. Minimal office. Minimal family. Minimal love.

They all paused as Max and Kagami joined them at last in the office. If Kagami was uncomfortable to be in the same room as her ex and the object of his affections, she didn’t show it. He owed her an apology when this was all over. He’d owed her one for some time.

“Not there,” Marinette said to Felix as Max transformed near the window. Kagami kept watch at the door. “Look. The hatch doesn’t match up with where you’re standing.”

Felix snarled in frustration. “So what does it line up with?”

“The portrait,” Chat Noir said suddenly, looking past his cousin to the painting in question. “There’s a safe behind it; it’s where the Grimoire was.”

“You think the mechanism to the hatch is in the safe?” Marinette asked.

“People like my mother and Gabriel Agreste are obsessed with convenience,” Kagami chimed in. “The mechanism is likely not in the safe, but perhaps in the frame of the portrait?”

“Good idea,” Marinette said, joining Chat Noir at the portrait. “It does line up from this distance.”

“And the angle of Queen Bee’s photo makes more sense,” Pegasus agreed as he analyzed the space between the desk, portrait, and where they were standing. “I knew something about it was bugging me. There’s a 98.6% chance Kagami is correct about the latch in the frame.”

“I like those odds,” Marinette said with a grim smile.

“Let’s hope the rest of the night is as successful,” Chat Noir murmured as he turned back to the frame.

He was vaguely aware of Pegasus using Voyage behind them, of Alya and Nino and Luka joining them in the office, of Marinette, always Marinette, just a few feet away, but it was all secondary to the portrait in front of him.

He’d always thought of the portrait as proof of his father’s grief. Now Chat Noir wondered. Was it one more deception? One more lie, spoon-fed to him so easily because he wanted so badly to believe it?

He found his eyes wandering, tracing the familiar whorls and patterns in the paint. How many times had he stood in his father’s office, looking just past his father’s shoulder at the portrait, knowing the berating would get twice as bad if Gabriel thought his son wasn’t paying attention? How many times had he sought comfort in the likeness of her gaze, in the imitation of her soft smile? How many times had he stood in his father’s office, willing Emilie to step from the frame and lay a restraining hand on his father’s shoulder?

But she never had, and Adrien had been left to weather his father’s moods alone. How many hours altogether had he spent staring at the painting -

Chat Noir frowned, his eyes snagging on a piece of the portrait.

“What is it? Marinette asked, noticing the change in him at once. Perhaps she felt it, as he often imagined he could when something went amiss with her.

“This part here,” Chat Noir muttered, raising a finger as if to touch the painting. “It looks…wrong…” How could he possibly explain that there was a shadow where there hadn’t been before?

“Whatever you’re thinking,” Marinette murmured, “Try it.”

Chat Noir hesitated for only the briefest moment before he reached out and pressed a finger to the canvas. To his shock, it gave way beneath his hand, sinking into the wall.

A button.

“It didn’t do anything,” Felix hissed, stalking up behind them.

“It wouldn’t,” Chat Noir shot back, scanning the portrait for more irregularities. “Convenient, yes, but careless? Father would never make something easily accessible.”

“So what’s the hitch?” Rena Rouge wondered out loud.

“My guess?” Max said, his transformation worn off, “Multiple buttons. Each one increases security exponentially.”

“So how did Chloe find it?” Viperion wondered. There was no judgement in his voice, just open curiosity.

“We can ask her when we find her,” Felix said tightly. “We don’t have much longer.”

Chat Noir hated to admit it, but Felix was right. They’d already been missing too long.

“Tikki?” Marinette called softly. The tiny red kwami poked her head out of a hidden pocket in the folds of Marinette’s skirts and briefly assessed the room before zipping up to hover in front of her holder’s eyes. “Do you mind? The portrait itself, not the safe behind it.”

“Mhmm!” Tikki gave a cheery nod before disappearing into the canvas in a cascade of red glitter.

“Maybe that’s how she did it,” Nino murmured in the abrupt silence. “Maybe Pollen found it.”

“It’s possible,” Tikki chirped as she reappeared. “Six buttons,” she explained as she bounced along each one, “That need to be pressed simultaneously in order to trigger the trap door.”

“Thank you, Tikki,” Marinette said as the kwami came to rest in Marinette’s upturned palm. “I guess…this is it.” She turned to look at Chat Noir, and he realized everyone else had done the same. It was his plan, and his father. They would go on his signal.

“Then let’s go,” Chat Noir said.

The team backed up as Marinette and Felix transformed. In seconds, Marinette’s voluminous ballgown had been replaced by the upgraded suit Chat Noir was still trying to get used to. Felix emerged from a bright white light in the silvery, wolfish suit he’d chosen, hammer at his hip.

“Good luck,” Max said before slipping back out the door. Chat Noir knew he would be heading back to the party. If everything went to plan, Max would be refuelling Kaalki for Alya, Nino, and Luka to slip out when they returned while simultaneously keeping a lookout for anyone headed to the office.

“My turn,” Rena Rouge said with a grin. “Mirage!”

Four perfect replicas of Marinette, Adrien, Felix, and Kagami appeared in the middle of the room, soft smiles on their lips. If someone looked closely, there was a vacancy in their eyes that belied their creation, but Alya was unlikely to give anyone that opportunity

“Go,” Rena Rouge instructed, barely opening the door for them. The illusions vanished into the hall, but Rena paused before following them. “I’ll keep it going as long as I can.” The plan called for her to refresh the illusion as often as she was able, keeping the foursome as far on the fringes of the party as she was able.

“Just do your best,” was Ladybug’s hushed reply. Her friend nodded, then disappeared.

“Now the hatch,” Chat Noir said.

Koira didn’t hesitate as he stepped up to the portrait and plunged his fingers into the buttons.

The hatch dropped away with barely a whisper and the same dark tunnel from Queen Bee’s photo appeared in the floor. Chat Noir’s excuse from that morning fell to pieces; it wasn’t a second safe. The passage was far too deep for that.

“Why didn’t she come for us?” Ladybug whispered as she stared into the abyss. “Didn’t she think we would help her?”

“With what?” Koira asked roughly, kneeling by the opening. “A hole in the floor? She wanted more proof. She went to get it.”

Chat Noir could sense there was more to it that Koira wasn’t telling, but he couldn’t tear himself away from the passage long enough to think on it.

Even then, Chat Noir knew what they were going to find. Felix was right. Chloe was right. Marinette had been right. He knew it in a way he couldn’t explain, the truth suddenly and mercilessly settling along his bones. Maybe a part of him had known ever since Marinette had first brought up the possibility, when she twisted his perspective for just a moment and the entire puzzle had fallen into place. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to know, and now he had no other choice.

“Let’s go.” He barely recognized his own voice, but he didn’t care. The cool rage that had consumed him blocked out everything else.

“Chat Noir…”

He felt a hand on his arm and shook it off. He knew who it was. He knew what she would say. But he was not sitting this out. He’d been sitting out for too long. If they wouldn’t go, he would.

So he stepped into the shaft and let himself drop for several seconds before bracing his hands and feet on the cool metal sides to slow his descent. He felt rather than saw someone slip else into the tunnel, then again, and again, and again as the whole team made their descent. A green flash briefly lit the passage as Nino erected a shield over the office, their last line of defense.

It felt like hours. It felt like seconds. But when Chat Noir finally fell those final few feet and plummeted into the brightly lit, cavernous room, it was as though fate had snipped the thread of his life and he’d fallen into a new reality - a new nightmare.

“Sonofabitch,” Koira muttered, straightening from his drop beside Chat Noir. “She was right.”

Chat Noir didn’t know if his cousin meant Marinette or Chloe. He couldn’t bring himself to care as first one, than three, then dozens of butterflies flitted by them. It wasn’t an attack, he dimly registered; there were just so many it was impossible to step anywhere without encountering at least one akuma.

He started as someone laced their fingers through his. He glanced down, and there she was, as fierce as ever, still standing by his side. Unflinching. He wanted to squeeze her fingers back, but he couldn’t feel his anymore.

Viperion dropped in last and briefly surveyed the room. “Should I…?” He touched two fingers to his bracelet.

“No,” Chat Noir said. His voice sounded a million miles away, as though someone else were speaking. “I need to know this. And I need to see this to be sure. My father…is…”

“Hawk Moth,” Ladybug said. “Viperion, Koira, Ryuuko, see if you can find Queen Bee. We’ll join you in a minute.”

The three of them nodded and split to tackle the room in different directions.

“Talk to me,” Ladybug said. He recognized it as a request from his partner, who needed to know if he could still be relied on.

So he reached for that confidence, that surety that had never failed him. Of course he could be counted on for this. Of course he would never let her down.

Instead, he laughed. It started as a short giggle, but once he heard it, he couldn’t stop, doubling over at the waist, tears streaming from his eyes as he laughed and laughed and laughed.

Through his fit, Ladybug didn’t let go of his hand.

In the dim recesses of the room, they heard Koira shout: he’d found Chloe. Chat Noir laughed harder: his father had really upgraded to hostages.

“What…are…the odds…?” he finally gasped, straightening in fits and starts. “The whole time…the whole time!” And just like that, it wasn’t funny anymore. He’d known things would get worse before they could get better. He just hadn’t anticipated how much worse, or how personally.

He didn’t see the akuma coming. There were so many of them in the room, it was no wonder. He only felt it as it sank into the bell at his throat.

One second they were standing there as unbridled rage poured through Chat Noir.

The next second, it felt as though someone had grabbed hold of that rage with two hands and yanked. Suddenly, he was choking on it.

Ladybug had started talking, unaware of what had just happened, but it wasn’t her voice he heard.

“So you finally found me, hm? Unexpected…but not unwelcome.”

The rage had taken on a life of its’ own, seizing Chat Noir in away he couldn’t understand or see past. Only one thought remained, nearly destroyed by the tidal wave: Hawk Moth couldn’t know.

“What can’t I know, Chat Noir?” the voice came again. “Your identity? Or perhaps hers…?”

“Hate…you…” Chat Noir thought back viciously. He wrestled for control, but it was no use. There was no way out of the emotions Hawk Moth had whipped up in him.

“Mmm, yes, I can feel that,” came Hawk Moth’s reply. “I’ll let you have your shot at me, boy - if you bring me Ladybug’s Miraculous.”

And Chat Noir wanted to. He was tired. He was tired of fighting. He was tired of fighting monster after monster, just for things to stay the same. He was tired of being lied to. And he was tired of letting Hawk Moth dictate the game.

Which was why he finally gave in.

“Yes.”

[sturchling]

An Awfully Big Adventure

Hey! I found an angsty prompt for a Fairy Tail fanfic a while back and have been wanting to write it for a long time. Can't remember where I saw it, but if I figure it out, I'll make sure to tag them in this! Anyways, hope you like it! And if anyone understands the references to the book/movie in this story, you are awesome! 😊

The feeling of the old leather book cover was hardly noticeable to Lucy, as she was engrossed in her book. The book had seen better days, having been damaged from being read over and over. She was so focused on the story, traveling to a far away land only found in the pages of this book, that she didn't notice a certain pink haired wizard coming up behind her. "Lucy! Let's go! I got our next job." But the celestial mage didn't hear him, turning to the next page in the story. Natsu stopped and looked over Lucy's shoulder, reading the next line out loud. "To die would be an awfully big adventure? What does that mean? Sounds stupid." This time Lucy heard him, and jumped at realizing how close he was. Then when it registered what he had said, she jumped to her favorite book's defense, chasing Natsu around the guild hall. "Its not stupid! The hero of the story is cornered by the villain but is still trying to be brave for his friends! He is scared, but doesn't want to scare his friends! This is a great story, with great writing, and don't you dare insult it again! As Lucy stands there, out of breath, Natsu walks up, grabbing her wrist. "Sounds sappy to me. Come on! We have work to do."

Natsu, and Lucy had made camp for the night, just a little ways outside of the town where their job was. Gray, Erza, and Wendy would meet them in the town tomorrow afternoon. While they sat around the fire, Lucy pulled her book out again and read by the fire light. Natsu just stared at her as she was reading for the longest time. Until Lucy finally looked up. "What? Why are you staring at me?" Natsu looked at the tattered book in Lucy's hand. He had seen her reading this book several times before. "Tell me something. Why do you love that book so much? You read it all the time. Surely it gets old after a while." Lucy looks at Natsu, before looking down at the book cover fondly. "Well, its because of the memories I have with this book. This was my mother's favorite story. She would read it all the time, and then finally when I was ten, she read it to me. It was an amazing story filled with adventures and sword fights and even a few pirates. We must have read it together a dozen times." Lucy paused, her smile fading from her face. "But then, mom got sick. So I would read it to her every day. It always made her smile when I did. Not long after that, she passed away. After that, I always kept this book with me and would read it all the time. It was one of the few connections I still had with my mom. Any time I read it, I felt like she was right there with me. I love this book, because my mom loved this book and its a way to still be close with her."

Natsu just sat quietly listening. He understood what Lucy was talking about. It was kind of like him and his scarf. It was a connection to Igneel. Lucy looked back up at Natsu. "Sorry to dump all that on you. I know to you its just a sappy book, but to me its the best book I have ever read. Anyway, we should go to bed. Its late and we have a job in the morning. The two got ready for bed, and Lucy quickly fell asleep. But Natsu decided to do something else. He crept over to Lucy's pack and grabbed the old book. He went and sat back by the fire and turned to the first page. He spent all night reading that book. In the morning, before Lucy woke up, he slipped the book back in her pack and laid on his bed roll. He was exhausted, but he had to admit, it was a good book. Maybe if he had slept instead, he wouldn't have been so tired, and he wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Lucy heard Natsu yell from behind her. They had gone into town to get the information for the job, but were ambushed. The job was a fake, posted by a dark guild that wanted revenge for a Fairy Tail team roughing up their members. It was only Natsu and her in town, the others hadn't arrived. So they were on their own. Natsu had taken the leader, and Lucy was dealing with the others. There weren't that many opponents, so it should have been fine. She had just finished with her opponents when she heard Natsu yell. She whipped around just in time to see the leader's sword go through Natsu's stomach. She stared in horror as Natsu collapsed to the ground. She summoned Loke to keep the leader busy and raced to Natsu's side, praying to anyone who would listen that he was alive.

Lucy dropped to her knees beside Natsu, looking for any signs that he was alive. When she saw that he was breathing, she almost collapsed in relief. But he was bleeding too much from his wounds. She pulled some bandages from her pack and pressed on the wound, earning a groan from Natsu. He started to wake up, and looked at Lucy with eyes fogged by pain. He could see the battle between Loke and the dark guild leader behind her and it wasn't going well. If Lucy stayed here, she would be in serious trouble. "Lucy, listen. You need to go. Run and go find Gray, Erza, and Wendy. They must be close, so it won't be hard to find them. Go!" Lucy didn't even look at him, to focused on stopping the bleeding. "No! If I leave, and don't stop the bleeding, you'll die! I won't let you die." Natsu gave her a pained smile. "To die would be an awfully big adventure." Lucy jolted hearing that line, and looked right at Natsu, tears in her eyes. Natsu grimaced, but smiled at Lucy again. "That's it right? That's the line from that sappy book of yours, right? Hah, nailed it!" Lucy almost lost the grip on the bandages in her shock. "You read the book?" Natsu's smile was becoming more strained as the pain in his stomach grew unbearable. "Last night, didn't finish though. But I got to that line you love so much. And it may be sappy, but its a good story."

Natsu was quickly fading and that was obvious to Lucy. She replaced the now blood soaked bandages and pressed down on the wound again, but it wasn't doing any good. The bandages were quickly soaking through with blood again. Lucy grabbed more bandages, even knowing it was doing no good. She couldn't sit here and do nothing! She just had to keep him alive until Wendy and the others got here. She had to keep trying. Her voice shook as she tried to keep Natsu talking. "Well, then you have to get better. You have to finish the book. We can finish it together. And W-We can go on tons of adventures. Together. All the time, any time you want. Every day for the rest of our lives, will be full of adventure and excitement, okay? I promise, we will have the best adventures of our lives. But you have to get better Natsu. You just have to! Please don't make me break that promise. Just hold on!" Natsu's eyes closed, but he was still smiling. His voice was quiet now, quieter than Lucy had ever heard it. "Yeah, sounds like fun Lucy. Let's go on more adventures..." Natsu trailed off, and Lucy felt her heart stop. "Natsu? Natsu?! Please Natsu, wake up!"

Tears streamed down Lucy's cheeks, but she wouldn't give up. His breathing was slow, as was his heartbeat, but it was there. He was still breathing and his heart was still beating. And that was enough for Lucy. She heard Loke yell from behind her, and felt his gate close. But she wouldn't leave Natsu. If she left, he would bleed to death before Lucy got back. So she stayed focused on Natsu, even as she felt the footsteps of the dark guild leader approach her from behind. He had long since abandoned his sword and started punching Lucy from behind. But Lucy wouldn't let go of Natsu. She would never just let him die. Then, just as darkness started to invade her vision, she heard someone call, "Natsu! Lucy!" She felt a blast of cold behind her, and when she looked, the leader was now completely encased in a blast of ice. She looked at the tree line and saw Gray, Erza and Wendy running toward them. Good. Wendy is here. She will help Natsu. With that last thought, the darkness completely took over Lucy's vision.

When Gray, Erza and Wendy finally got to the two unconscious wizards, they were horrified to see the condition of their friends. Wendy got right to work, healing Natsu as best she could. She was able to stabilize him, but he remained unconscious. Lucy was healed when Wendy recovered, and woke up pretty quickly. Now, Lucy sat by Natsu's bedside in the guild's infirmary. She wouldn't leave his side. She wanted to be here when he woke up. She had started passing the time by reading that old book to him. It seemed silly, but she had always read to her mom when she was sick, and it just seemed right to read to him now. She was about half way through the book, and she had arrived at that scene. Where the hero is cornered and says that line. That line Natsu had said while he lay bleeding in front of her. She instantly started to cry, remembering that horrible day. She hung her head and silently cried. But then she heard a quiet, raspy voice. "Why did you stop reading Lucy?" She whipped her head up and stared into the now open eyes of Natsu Dragneel. "Why did you stop? You were just getting to a good part, and I want to know what happens next. And maybe after you finish the book, we can go on those adventures you promised me?" Lucy smiled, tears of happiness now running down her face. "Yeah. Lets go on an adventure!"

[nhkamira]

MY SPRING 2021 ANIME WATCHLIST🌼🌈✨

Spring is officially starting and what a marvelous season we have ahead. Full of great anime continuations and some news that I’m really looking forward to. Since I post practically every review (only Horimiya left) here I present you my Spring 2021 watchlist:

1. Boku no Hero Academia 5th Season (27/03). Can y’all hear me screaming?😭 Finally, our heroes are back and I couldn’t be more excited. Many friends told me this season would be really amazing and I can’t wait! Bones studio is still in charge of the series so we will continue having a great animation. Genres: Action, Comedy, Super Power, School, Shounen.

2. Koi to Yobu ni wa Kimochi Warui (29/03). A strange encounter spurs the meeting of Amakusa Ryou, a high spec businessman, and his high school sister's best friend, Arima Ichika. From there, he falls madly in love and tries to approach her, while she responds simply disgusted, insulting him without hesitation. Can this be a nice shoujo anime? We’ll see. Studio Nomad is doing the work, I haven’t seen their previous work but the trailer animation looks nice. Genres: Comedy, Romance.

3. Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood (31/03). An original and first series by Bakken Records. Set in alternate history Japan in 1931 the anime will follow the activities of "Nue," an organization of shogunate executioners who enforce the government. The dissident organization Kuchinawa strives to overthrow the administration, while the Nue of the Tokugawa regime, which was entrusted with its extermination, is in conflict. Sawa Yukimura, whose family was killed when she was young, continues to search for Janome, the executioner of the Nue. I don’t usually enjoy historical anime but hopefully, this would be good. Genres: Action, Historical, Supernatural.

4. Shaman King - 2021 (1/04). Can believe this actually got a remake, which I’m really really excited for. In a brief, Shamans are extraordinary individuals with the ability to communicate with ghosts, spirits, and gods. To life circumstances You befriends Manta due to his ability to see spirits, they set out to accomplish You's goal of becoming the next Shaman King. Studio Bridge is in charge, the ones behind my all-time favorite “Fairy Tail” ^^. Genres: Action, Adventure, Supernatural, Comedy, Shounen.

5. Mashiro no Oto (3/04). Lowkey I’m expecting this to be as good as “Kono Oto Tomare. Shin-Ei Animation is the studio behind this and they’ve worked in the Doraemon and Shin-chan movies. The story follows Sawamura Setsu, since their grandfather's death, he dropped out of high school, moved to Tokyo, and has been drifting, not knowing what to do besides playing his Shamisen. That's when his successful and rich mother, Umeko, storms into his life and tries to shape Setsu up. She enrolls him back into high school, but little does Setsu know that he is about to rediscover his passion for Shamisen. Genres: Music, Drama, School.

6. Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou (5/04). Project no.9 the studio of Jaku-chara is bringing a more dramatic story this season. Office worker Yoshida has been crushing on his coworker, Airi Gotou, for five years. Despite finally scoring a date with her, his confession is promptly rejected. Drunk and disappointed, he stumbles home, only to find a high school girl sitting on the side of the road. The girl, needing a place to stay the night, attempts to seduce Yoshida. Despite rejecting her advances, he nevertheless invites her into his apartment. Genres: Drama, Romance

7. Fruits Basket: The Final (6/04). If I started talking about this anime and how excited I am I will never stop talking. I’m ready to cry, get flustered, angry, and be happy. I’m sad but at the same time happy that the story is ending I’m dying to see the zodiac members at least feeling peaceful. Genres: Slice of Life, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Comedy, Supernatural.

8. Shadows House (11/04). CloverWorks is doing this one and it would probably be beautifully animated. The story is about faceless shadow nobles living in a vast mansion, attended by living dolls who spend much of their time cleaning up the soot endlessly emitted by their mysterious masters. It's not horror but I like the creepy vibe. Hope is good. Genres: Slice of Life, Supernatural, Seinen.

9. Edens Zero (11/04). My Fairy Tail heart is singing of joy. J.C.Staff is animating the series so we know it would be good. Ever since the manga came out I started immediately. It’s really good so I hope people enjoy it without being too critical about the resembles of Fairy Tail. Here is a brief: At Granbell Kingdom, an abandoned amusement park, Shiki has lived his entire life among machines. But one day, Rebecca and her cat companion Happy appear at the park's front gates. Little do these newcomers know that this is the first human contact Granbell has had in a hundred years! As Shiki stumbles his way into making new friends, his former neighbors stir at an opportunity for a robo-rebellion… And when his old homeland becomes too dangerous, Shiki must join Rebecca and Happy on their spaceship and escape into the boundless cosmos. Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Shounen

10. Tokyo Revengers (11/04). I really don’t know what to expect from this since LIDENFILMS has done some pretty awful or uninteresting works, but the trailer looked very cool. Our mc is Takemichi Hanagaki, his life is at an all-time low. Just when he thought it couldn't get worse, he finds out that Hinata Tachibana, his ex-girlfriend, was murdered by the Tokyo Manji Gang: a group of vicious criminals that has been disturbing society's peace for quite some time. Wondering where it all went wrong, Takemichi suddenly finds himself traveling through time, ending up 12 years in the past—when he was still in a relationship with Hinata. Realizing he has a chance to save her, Takemichi resolves to infiltrate the Tokyo Manji Gang and climb the ranks in order to rewrite the future and save Hinata from her tragic fate. Genres: Action, Drama, School, Shounen.

11. Fumetsu no Anata e (12/04). I think this is the most expected new anime for this season, and one of the most visually beautiful this season. Follows the story of It, a mysterious immortal being, is sent to the Earth with no emotions nor identity. However, It is able to take the shape of those around that have a strong impetus. Acquiring the form of a boy, It sets off on a never-ending journey, in search of new experiences, places, and people. Genres: Adventure, Supernatural, Drama, Shounen.

12. Marimashita! Iruka-kun 2nd Season (17/04). Yes yes yess. So we finally are going to find out what happened to Iruma-chi at the end of the first season. I’m really excited to see everyone again ^^ if you haven’t seen season 1 I invite you to do it and you can also read my review under this anime hashtag ^^ Genres: Comedy, Demons, Supernatural, School, Fantasy.

This season looks very promising!

[girlactionfigure]

The Jewish Queen

She saved her people.

Esther was a Jewish orphan who became Queen of Persia and risked her own life to save her people from genocide.

After losing both her parents at a young age, Esther was raised by her older relative Mordechai. A beautiful young virgin, she was selected for the harem of King Achashverosh. Esther was forced to leave her home and community and move into the palace. Mordechai warned her not to reveal her Jewish identity. Each day King Achashverosh selected a different woman from his harem to spend the night with, and after Esther’s turn came, he was so smitten with her that he elevated her from concubine to queen.

Even in a non-Jewish environment, Esther found a way to live as an observant Jew. She became a vegetarian so she didn’t have to eat non-kosher meat, and she survived largely on fruit and nuts. Queen Esther arranged to have seven maids, each one working on a different day, so she could keep track of the days and observe Shabbat.

Desperate for news of Esther, Mordechai started hanging out right outside the palace gates. He overheard two guards plotting to assassinate the king. Mordechai told Esther and she told the king, enabling him to thwart the plot.

Meanwhile Mordechai incurred the wrath of grand vizier Haman, who was descended from Amalek, the mortal enemy of the Jewish people. Haman demanded that all subjects of the king bow down to him but Mordechai was the only one who refused to do it. Haman wore a pendant around his neck depicting an idol, and as a Jew Mordechai knew that he was absolutely prohibited to bow down to an idol. He took his orders from the King of Kings.

Enraged at the insult, Haman convinced King Achashverosh to kill all the Jews, and the king promptly selected a date for the genocide. Mordechai came to see Esther and pleaded with her to use her influence with the king to save her people. Esther explained that she is not allowed to approach the king unless she is summoned by him, and she hasn’t been summoned in 30 days, which indicated that she may have lost the king’s interest. It was the law that anybody – including the queen – who tried to speak to the king without an invitation is instantly put to death. Mordechai told her that the whole reason for her to become queen may have been for this moment, but if she didn’t step up, the Jews would find salvation from someone else. With the fate of her entire tribe on the line, gentle young Esther showed she had a backbone of steel. She said, “I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” She told Mordechai she would approach the king, and asked him and the Jews of Shushan to fast and pray for three days.

Clever and discreet, Esther knew how to handle King Ahashverosh. Instead of rushing in with her demand that the decree against the Jews be rescinded, she invited him and Haman to a party. At that lavish event, she invited them both to another party. Before the second party, Haman arranged for a huge gallows to be built, on which Mordechai would be publicly hanged. That night, the king had insomnia and was reminded that he never rewarded Mordechai for saving his life. He told Haman to parade Mordechai around town, dressed in royal finery, riding the king’s own horse.

At the party, Esther revealed her Jewish identity to the king, and begged that her people not be slaughtered. Haman desperately begged Esther for mercy and threw himself on her, but the king thought Haman was trying to assault the king, and he ordered that the vizier be strung up on the gallows he had prepared for Mordechai. The king told Esther that unfortunately the edict could not be repealed, but after she cried from the depths of her heart for her people, the king allowed her and Mordechai to create a royal statement that gave Jews the right to defend themselves and kill anybody who tried to attack them. The statement was sent to all the provinces, and the Jews fought and defeated all those who rose against them.

Esther is a role model to Jews, especially those in the diaspora. Her story teaches that Jewish identity is eternal and internal. What happened to Esther is a Jewish parent’s worst nightmare – a young girl kidnapped from her home and her community, forced to marry outside her faith, trapped for the rest of her life in a non-Jewish environment where she was unable to eat kosher food, celebrate Jewish holidays, observe certain Jewish rituals or pray in community. Yet her Jewish identity remained so strong that she was fully ready to lay down her life for her people.

G-d is never mentioned in the Book of Esther, but it’s clear that the amazing “coincidences” in the Purim story are part of the Divine plan. Esther’s own name comes from the word Astar – hidden – because G-d is hidden, just as He often seems to be in our world today.

For maintaining her Jewish identity and saving her people, at great risk to herself, we honor Queen Esther as this week’s Thursday Hero.

Accidental Talmudist

[cal-puddies]

remember when we couldn’t take the heat || ashton irwin

a lovely anon requested another trope fic for @kindahoping4forever​ and i to tag team, so we did.

As always Crystal is amazing and please share love with her as well (i do share any comments you all leave with her as well!) With her help I really think we were able to take this to next level, so it would not be this good without her! I hope you all love it!

You check your bag one last time before zipping it shut. You check your phone, seeing you still had about an hour before Michael and Crystal picked you up on their way to the airport. 

A week long getaway at an all inclusive resort with five of your best friends (and one last minute addition of a new significant other) was exactly what you needed. 

You thanked your lucky stars every night that Kay Kay was too busy, meaning Ashton had decided not to go. The two of you had never gotten along and you don't think you'd ever be able to relax if he was there.

So you're more than disappointed to see him strolling up to the gate. The second you spot him, you groan to Sierra, “You guys promised me he wouldn’t be here.”

She frowns and rushes over to have a quick sidebar with Luke. She returns, super apologetic and quickly explains that Ashton's relationship had recently blown up again and that he had texted Luke last night some vague questions about the trip but they had no idea that meant he intended to tag along.

“Well. He better not be next to me," you pout, crossing your arms.

But of course he is, because why not start off your relaxing vacation this way? And instead of seeming heartbroken about his break up, he’s flirting with all the flight attendants and every girl in line around him, until he sees he’s sitting next to you. He plops in the seat and immediately scrunches his face up. 

“There’s gotta be another seat,” he grumbles, flagging down a flight attendant who assures him it's a full flight and there is in fact not a single other seat available. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me," Ash murmurs after the flight attendant walks away. 

“Not like this is my dream flight either, buddy,” you groan.

Sensing the already mounting tension, Luke looks across the aisle with an apologetic smile to you and mouths ‘Sorry.'

Ashton immediately pulls out headphones and makes a big show out of ignoring you. He pulls his leather jacket off, accidentally elbowing your shoulder and smacking the sleeve in your face. 

“What the fuck, Irwin?" You seethe. 

He glares at you and shrugs, going back to his music. 

Who the fuck wears a leather jacket to a fucking beach getaway? Could he look any less practical? You wonder briefly if he even brought anything suitable for the weather before you realize you shouldn’t give a single fuck about what’s in his bag.

You successfully ignore each other through the rest of boarding and take-off. At the earliest possible opportunity you order a drink and he comments, "A little early, don't you think?" You search your mind for a better retort than "Not when I'm sitting next to you, asshole" but then you realize it doesn't matter what you say because he didn't even bother to take off his headphones to make his remark.

To compound the dirty look you receive from him, Luke and Sierra order a drink for you as well. You gratefully chug both before ordering another, grumbling under your breath that this flight could not be over soon enough. 

Ashton makes nice with the flight attendant and even takes his headphones off to flirt with her a bit. You roll your eyes at whatever bullshit lines he's feeding her and think now would be the perfect time to doze off for a cat nap if his voice wasn't so fucking loud.

You huff as she walks away, “Can you keep it down loudmouth?” You adjust your cardigan against the side of the plane and close the window shade, crossing your arms over your chest, leaning your head against the balled up fabric. 

“I’d like to be able to see the sun," Ashton says, putting his sunglasses on and flipping the shade up. 

You grit your teeth, “What’s the fuckin point if you put the sunglasses on?” 

“Does it inconvenience you?” He asks, looking at your face and finding you must agree. “Then that’s the fuckin point, Princess.”

Your eyes narrow as you stare at him in disbelief, but you manage to keep yourself from selecting one of the literal hundreds of insulting comebacks you have running through your mind. 

Guys like Ashton live off of getting reactions from people and the best way you could stick it to him is to simply not give him one.

You lean back in your seat and shake out your sweater, draping the sleeve over your face to create a makeshift eye shade for your nap. He scoffs at your actions, clearly hoping you'll take the bait and when you don't, you feel his glare on you for several beats before he pulls out his phone to find another way to entertain himself.

You’re able to ignore him for the rest of the flight, and you feel accomplished knowing it's driving him nuts that you’re no longer reacting to him. 

You wait patiently to get off the plane, getting more than mildly annoyed at Ashton’s impatience. But you try not to say anything. He gets out of the row and you let Sierra and then Luke out across the aisle. “You two can no longer be trusted,” you jab at Luke. 

“I’m sorry, bub,” Luke gives you an apologetic smile. “I didn’t know he would really come and I wouldn’t have wanted you to miss this.” He tries to explain with a pout but you just roll your eyes at the giant man in front of you.

You manage to claim your baggage without incident and you narrowly avoid the misfortune of having to sit next to Ash on the shuttle to the resort. Luke, obviously trying to win back your favor, offers to let you sit with Sierra and he sits in the open seat next to Ashton.

“Just don’t let him get to you,” Sierra says. “We’re still gonna have fun and there’s enough of us that you shouldn’t have to interact.”

Her reassurance helps soothe your nerves for the time being. 

When you arrive at the resort, everyone mingles and chatters excitedly in the lobby while Luke and Sierra check your party in. Calum and his girlfriend keep Ash occupied and away from you and you couldn't be more grateful, taking the opportunity to make small talk with Michael and Crystal. 

Check-in is taking a lot longer than it should and you crane your neck to try and see the front desk from where you're at. You happen to catch Sierra's gaze from across the room and she offers you a forced smile before she quickly looks away. Whatever's happening, it can't be good and you have a sneaking suspicion it has to do with the last minute addition to your trip.

When Sierra and Luke come back, they both refuse to make eye contact with you, making you even more suspicious. They hand out key cards to the other two couples and then both take a deep breath and look between you and Ash. 

“What?” You ask point blank. 

Luke purses his lips together, “They’re booked, they don’t have a room for Ash... but... your suite has a couch...” 

“You’ve actually gotta be kidding me,” you quip. 

“We won’t even be in the rooms except to sleep, it’ll be fine babe!” Sierra tries to convince you. 

You groan, not even bothering to look at Ashton. “Fine.” You grit your teeth.

Ashton is obviously not thrilled with this arrangement either and you see him pull Luke aside, animatedly waving his hands as he complains. 

You take the opportunity to head up to the room first in hopes of marking your territory: claiming the good drawers, the prime counter space in the bathroom. He needs to know you're doing him a favor by letting him stay in your room.

Ash comes in while you’re setting up in the bathroom and he immediately tries to stake claim on the bed. He’s flung himself across it when you come out of the bathroom. 

“Keep dreaming, Irwin.”

“I got here first,” he states, tucking his arms behind his head with a smug look on his face.

You push his boot-clad feet off the bed with a huff. "Yes, you got here to MY bed first," you say with exaggerated enunciation. "MY bed in MY room. Since it was booked for ME. Since I was INVITED on this trip."

“I was invited too,” he reminds you, standing up, ready to argue. 

“But you declined! And reinvited yourself literally last minute. If you had agreed when you were originally asked, we wouldn’t be sharing a fucking room," you say with exasperation.

"It worked out though," he shrugs dismissively. 

You feel like your eyes are about to pop out of your head as you glare at him. "Does this seem like things working out to you?!"

“Honestly yes. We’ve both got a place to stay, I get to be here with my brothers... besides... Rock Star here, need I remind you, I don’t sleep on couches,” he starts. 

“Blow me with that bullshit,” you quip. “This trip was supposed to be relaxing and now I can’t get laid because I can’t bring anyone back here... AND I have to see you literally first thing in the morning... AND you’re trying to take my bed... it’s the couch for you, Irwin. I don’t give a fuck who you think you are. And I think your BROTHERS would back me up on this," you say mockingly.

“I don’t know why you have to be such a bitch about this. And of course Luke will back you up, he’d hate for Sierra to be mad at him,” he rolls his eyes. 

“I think he’d hate to know what a fucking diva you’re trying to be,” you sneer. “Why can’t you just go crash on one of their couches?”

"Like I said, I'm not trying to sleep on anyone's couch, sweetheart," he explains, the condescension dripping off of his words. "Plus, there's no way I'm about to be anyone's third wheel, something you clearly have no problem with."

You take a beat, pinching the bridge of your nose and taking two deep breaths. “Hate to break it to you Rock Star, but you ARE a third wheel on this trip. I just wanted a vacation with friends... but, as per usual your thotty ass comes along and turns it into my own personal hell. I paid for this room, so you can find yourself on the couch, freeloader.”

He gives a single snort in response which honestly infuriates you more than if he had come back at you with some long-winded monologue. He drags his suitcase to the couch and busies himself with unpacking, slamming drawers and grumbling every step of the way. You can't even be happy about winning the bed argument because you're so worked up now you can hear your heart pounding in your ears.

You grab your phone and angrily text Luke and Sierra, “Does 5sos really need a drummer? Can he be replaced? Because the current one is about to be dead.”

Luke responds with the crying laughing emoji which has you about to launch your phone across the room. Sierra is typing for quite a bit but eventually just ends up sending a simple "Hang in there sweetie, it'll be worth it tomorrow!"

You call room service to order a bottle of vodka, it’s the only way you’ll be able to deal with him. You hear Calum in the room and make an appearance, plastering on a fake smile. He gestures to his girl, “We were just gonna go check out the resort, wanted to see if you guys wanted to come?” 

“I’ll pass thanks, I just ordered some room service. But Ash, you should absolutely go,” you encourage, gritting your teeth. 

“Gladly... who goes on vacation to sit in their room anyway?” He quips.

Rather than fight in front of Cal, you give the group a sickly sweet "Have fun!" and breathe a sigh of relief when they shuffle out the door.

You take the chance to relax, changing out of your plane outfit and into something more appropriate for the more tropical setting, you open the balcony doors and wander out onto it. It really couldn’t be prettier. You’re drawn out by a knock on the door and you think it must be room service, but it’s Luke, Sierra, Michael and Crystal. Luke is holding your bottle of vodka. 

“Had it charged to our room,” he says, thrusting it toward you. “We wanna go exploring. But let’s all get a drink first.” He smiles, “Save this for later.” 

“Ash still here?” Crystal asks, peering into the room. 

“He went with Cal... thank god,” you grumble. You set the vodka on the bedside table and grab your bag and sunglasses to head out with them.

One drink with the group becomes two which becomes decidedly more than two and they convince you to explore with them. By the time you get back to the room, Ashton has returned and is lounging on the couch as if he hasn't a care in the world. "Hey roomie," he dryly greets you without looking up from his phone.

“Hey asshole,” you slur, followed by a hiccup. You walk toward the bed and kick your shoes off, and very quickly follow it up with peeling your top off. “Why’s it s’hot?” You hiccup again and land haphazardly on the bed.

"AC wasn't acting right so I called the front desk and they said someone could look at it tomorrow," he explains noncommittally. "I, however, had the decency to leave my clothes on because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable." 

You scoff at his implication. Or you mean to, at least. Despite the climate of the room, the events of the day combined with your intoxicated state has you drifting off before you know it. As you fade into unconsciousness, you think you hear Ash snipe in the distance, "If you barf on the bed during the night, I'm not helping you clean that shit up."

You make a mocking tone at him, you think. And you’re out. 

After an evening of drinking, you wake up at 3 AM, needing the bathroom. You immediately notice you’re somehow tucked in bed, even though you’re 90% sure you passed out halfway on it. Your shorts are unbuttoned but not off and all the lights in the bedroom are off. When you make your way to the bathroom, you peek over at Ashton on the couch and he’s sprawled on his stomach, only in his boxer briefs. It’s then you realize it’s still ungodly hot in the suite. You shut the bathroom door, turn on the light and take a quick look at yourself in the mirror before deciding you need to wash your face before going back to bed.

You're in no rush as you use the toilet, wash your face and brush your teeth. It's been an exhausting day and you could use the alone time. You're careful to shut off the light before you open the door and start to tiptoe your way back to bed. 

You nearly jump out of your skin when a gruff voice barks at you, "Think you could make any more noise in there, princess?" You're livid but you say nothing and lay back down.

When you wake up in the morning, you’ve managed to almost completely forget about sharing your room with Ash. So it’s a rude awakening when you find him emerging from the bathroom with a towel slung low on his hips, water dripping from his hair, muscles rippling as he starts digging through his drawers.

“Oh... the princess has decided to grace us,” he rolls his eyes, seeing you’re awake. “You’ve got like 45 minutes till we all do breakfast and judging by the way your phone has been buzzing, someone thinks I killed you last night.” 

You groan and wipe your hand over your face, “More like making sure I didn’t kill you.”

As you reach for your phone on the nightstand, you realize the sheets are sticking to your skin which is covered in sweat. "Did the front desk say what time they were coming to fix the air? And Jesus, as if this place wasn't humid enough, why exactly did you need to take the world's steamiest shower?"

“Gotta relax these muscles after sleeping on the world's most uncomfortable couch, sweetheart,” he retorts. “And no, I was not given an ETA but I’m sure when we go down for breakfast you can complain again. Maybe if you do it, it’ll get fixed faster,” he snarks. 

You roll your eyes and grab something to wear from your drawers, slamming the bathroom door behind you.

You take a cold shower, partly to wake you up and partly to cool you down (and mostly because Ash definitely used all the hot water on purpose). Even without creating steam, the bathroom is sweltering so as soon as you get dressed, you crack the door open in hopes of maintaining some airflow. You throw your hair in a ponytail and are applying a basic face of makeup when you feel Ash's eyes boring into you. 

You look behind you through the mirror and see him propped up against the door frame, observing. "We're just going to breakfast, not the royal ball, Princess. You don't need all that shit."

“Why’s it any of your business?” You ask, staring at him in the mirror. You wait a beat and then work on finishing your makeup, topping off with mascara and lip gloss.

"Just an observation," he begins but is cut off by a knock at the front door. He leaves to answer and you take a few deep breaths to relax yourself. All you have to do is get down to breakfast and then you can enjoy the  company of the people you actually came on this trip to spend time with. You hear Ash loudly joking with someone and you exit the bathroom hoping to see a handyman on the receiving end of his banter, but it's just Luke and Sierra.

Sierra smiles at you, “Hey beautiful, how’d you sleep?” She asks. 

“I think the only reason I slept so well is because I drank so much. It’s fuckin hot in here.” 

“It’s bad in our room too,” Luke shares. “We tried to call maintenance but no ETA on when they’ll be up, sounded like we weren’t the only ones suffering.” He shrugs.

Sierra notes your look of concern and interjects, "But we've got a ton of fun shit planned for the day so we won't be in our rooms too much anyways and hopefully it'll all be sorted when we get back!"

Luckily you were able to get some much needed space from Ashton during breakfast. You sat at opposite ends of the table and Sierra and Crystal did their best to keep your mind off of things. 

"Sorry I'm being such a bitch, you guys," you confess during a trip to the ladies' room. "I don't want you to feel like you have to baby-sit me the whole time, you're supposed to be enjoying the time off you have with your guys."

"Babe, we get it," Crystal reassures you. "It's not like this thing with you and Ash is anything new, we're all used to having to navigate it."

"And it's fine, sometimes people just don't get along," Sierra chimes in. "You're not obligated to like all of your friends' friends. We’re all adults, we can handle it."

After breakfast you do a few touristy things and a little bit of shopping before going back to the resort to prep for some much needed beach time. 

Ash scoffs as you sort through bikinis, “How many of those fuckin things did you need to bring? Are you going to be ready anytime soon?” 

“It’s not like you’re actually waiting for me anyway,” you murmur, otherwise ignoring him. 

But he’s not ignoring you, he’s watching your body move through the space, clad only in the bikini you selected. And it almost makes him more annoyed the way you definitely seem to be so confident in it. “Was that your best one?” He snarks.

"Sorry that some of us are actually into making an effort," you shrug. "And why is it your new favorite hobby to just stand there and watch me get ready, don't you have anything better to do?" 

You shove past him in the doorway to fetch your beach bag out of the closet. The room's swampy temperature has not improved and you hate that you can feel the transfer of sweat from his skin to yours when you brush up against him.

“I was just trying to be polite and wait for you to head down but I didn’t realize it'd be such an ordeal,” he grumbles, slipping his sandals on. “Fucking ridiculous,” he mumbles to himself. 

“No one asked you to wait, just fuckin go, Irwin. I don’t need an escort,” you exclaim, pulling on a pair of shorts. 

“An escort is probably the only way you’d get laid with that attitude,” he gruffs, slamming the hotel room door behind him.

You ball your fists up in rage and whip a sandal towards the door. It hits with a satisfying smack and you can't help but wish you had tossed it 15 seconds earlier so that noise would've come from the back of Ashton's head.  You walk over to retrieve your shoe and are startled by the knock at the door. 

You open it to find Cal with a half-amused, half-concerned expression on his face and his girlfriend looking bewildered. Their relationship was new and this was really the first she had experienced your dynamic with Ash in all of its dysfunctional glory. 

"You doing alright?" He inquires, trying to peek inside the room behind you. 

"I'm just ready to lay in the sun and not think about anything,” you say, grabbing your bag off the counter behind you and closing the door. 

Turns out the sunshine and drinks was exactly what you needed to calm down and within an hour you were laughing and playing in the water with everyone, though you had to watch Ashton flirt with everything that moved, even encouraging them to call him “Daddy, because all his friends do.”

As much fun as you're having, you can't help but notice the heat of the day doesn't seem to be passing. Tired from being in the sun, everyone agrees to head back to their respective rooms for a short rest before meeting back up for a late dinner. You know even Ashton must be spent when the hot wind starts blowing your beach hat off your head and he retrieves it and returns it to you without comment.

“D’you wanna shower first?” He asks, when the two of you return to the room. “Think you got some extra sun,” he mentions. “I can put aloe on if you need.” 

“First shower would be great, thanks,” you yawn. “You'll probably need some aloe on your neck and shoulders. I have some if you didn’t bring any,” you offer and then head for the bathroom.

You take your brief shower and come out in just a towel. You grab the aloe, gently toss it to Ash and he makes quick work, lightly coating your red skin in the gel. 

“Thanks,” you murmur. 

“Don’t mention it,” he says, capping it and heading for his own shower.

It doesn't hit you how weird it was to have a pleasant interaction with Ash until after you're dressed. You're rooting around in the suite's fridge for cold water and without thinking, you place two on the counter. You stare at the bottles for a beat, almost as if they appeared there on their own.

"One of those for me?" Ash's voice asks from behind you, startling you out of your confusion.

"I... guess so?" You answer with a shrug, turning to hand him the beverage. He's shirtless and the pair of athletic shorts he's chosen for his post-shower attire hang low on his hips and you wonder why you've made note of that.

“Thanks?” He replies, equally confused. “Wanna watch some tv?” He asks. 

“Sure,” you shrug. He clears his stuff off the couch and you sit at opposite ends. You doze off before you even decide on what to watch.

You awaken to the sound of both your and Ash's phones vibrating on the coffee table. You're disoriented but cognizant enough to realize you must have slept through the time you agreed to meet for dinner.

“Oh shit,” you murmur, wiping the sleep from your eyes. You grab your phone and look at the texts and quickly shoot off a reply.

-fell asleep, be down soon-

You gently shake Ash, “Hey they’re waiting on us, we fell asleep.” You wait to see him open his eyes and then you flit off to change into a sundress. “Why is it so hot? It must be cooler outside by now.” 

“Open the balcony door,” Ash sleepily replies, peeling himself off the couch. He quickly changes into black jeans and a short sleeve button down. 

You throw on sandals and mascara and are ready, quickly, which he appreciates.

Some of your friends trade surprised looks when they see you two peacefully arriving together but none of them comment on it. 

You join the group and you all walk together to the restaurant you agreed on for dinner, at the far end of the resort. 

Since you and Ash delayed things slightly, the place is crowded and you have to wait by the bar while the staff finds seating to accommodate your large party. Ash volunteers to order drinks for everyone while you wait and you can't decide if it's endearing or annoying that he brings you a vodka soda without you having to tell him what you want.

Once you’re seated, Luke and Sierra voluntarily put space between you and Ashton but he still ends up across from you. You don't mind his presence as much as you thought you would. 

The air conditioning appears to be working on this side of the resort, the cold drinks are flowing and you feel yourself truly relax for the first time since you arrived. You even catch yourself laughing at a couple of playfully snarky comments Ash tosses at Luke's expense.

You reach across the table to grab the pitcher of water as you’re all winding down and your arm knocks Cal’s drink, spilling it all over him and Ash. Ash blows his top, going out of his way to make a scene. Everyone tries to move past it but you know all the headway you two had made going into tonight was probably ruined as he refused to let it go, continuing to groan about his wet shirt and jeans.

"If the air hasn't been fixed, our room is probably so hot it'll dry the second we walk in," you joke, trying to lighten the mood. 

"Is this fucking funny to you?" He sneers, forcefully tossing his napkin on to the table. 

“It is kind of funny, Ash,” Cal says, trying to calm the situation down. 

“I said I was sorry,” you shrug. “It’s not like I meant to.” 

“Could’ve fooled me,” he snarls, storming off to the bathroom.

Defeat settles into your features, upset from the interaction, being tired and the ungodly heat you knew you were about to face. “I’m gonna head up to bed,” you announce, kissing Sierra and Crystal on the cheek. You wave at the rest of the group while Luke stands to give you a hug. 

You hear Cal’s girlfriend, “That was a little harsh of him.” 

“It’s just the way they’ve always been,” he explains quietly.

When you pass by him, Michael stops you and offers to walk you back since it's dark out and a bit of a journey to where your rooms are but you wave him off, you're looking forward to being alone. 

Heading out of the restaurant, you cross paths with Ash and his eyes shoot daggers at you but he says nothing. As you push through the door, you hear him loudly complain to nobody in particular, "She gets to run off and act like this is MY fault again?"

You ignore it, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a reaction. 

Once you get back, you change and pour yourself a vodka soda. The room is still unbearably hot so you lay across the bed checking your phone, and take advantage of the breeze coming through the balcony door.

About 20 minutes later, you're in the bathroom washing your face when you hear the front door slam and Ash barges into the suite like a tornado; he cranks the TV for no apparent reason, bangs around in the fridge and slams some drawers with little regard for who or what he disturbs. You give a silent thanks for the fact that the surrounding rooms all belong to your friends so you don't have to feel embarrassment on top of everything else. 

You brace yourself for whatever you're going to encounter on the other side of the door and turn the knob. You immediately stumble on Ash's still damp clothes, which he evidently stripped off as soon as he walked in the room. You roll your eyes but as an act of good faith, pick them up and hang them over the side of the bathtub to dry. You exit the bathroom once more and find him standing in front of the balcony, clad only in his boxer briefs. "How is it still so goddamn hot in here?" He says, exasperated.

“I don’t think they even came to look at the AC,” you observe. “I really am sorry about the drink, Ash,” you murmur at his back. You’re having a hard time tearing your eyes away from his back and thick arms. Your eyes take in the tattoo on the back of his neck. You let out an audible sigh, accidentally. 

“Don’t mention it,” he says looking back at you, face red, indicating he was still kind of heated.

"It's just... we had a pretty nice time this afternoon and I was kind of starting to enjoy the peace," you start. 

"You know, that's one of the things I've never liked about you?" He says with a calmness that betrays the harshness of his remark. "You're one of those people who can't STAND not being liked by everyone. I feel bad for you." His brow furrows as if in deep thought.

“I don’t need everyone to like me, I just need to know what the fuck I’ve ever done to you, you fuckin fake deep thot. You know everyone sees right through your bullshit? Your fans and your friends, just humor you.”

"You seem to put a lot of stock in what other people think, is all I meant," he says, seemingly unaffected by your words. "And you especially seem to pay a lot of fuckin attention to what people think about me."

“I actually couldn’t give a fuck less what people think about you, but when you parade around like some sort of imbecile, having random people call you ‘daddy’ because wow what a fuckin turn on - girls with daddy issues- it’s fuckin ridiculous, Ashton. You walk around here acting like I have the holier than thou attitude but it’s you thinking you’re some big shot because you have a few gold records. That doesn’t mean shit in Hollywood, every third fucking barista has a gold record and then flopped. Congrats you’re well on your way to being a 4th rate barista, I’m sure your father is so proud.” 

Even as it left your mouth, you knew the dad line was too far.

You stare at each other for what feels like an eternity, your words hanging in the air. His jaw twitches but doesn't clench. You briefly think to apologize but part of you is still stunned by what you just said and part of you doesn't want to prove his point about caring what he thinks. He considers your statement for a beat more and then finally, he chuckles darkly. He stalks past you without a word and slams the bathroom door.

You stalk toward the bed and grab a pillow to scream into. It’s barely been a full 24 hours and you’re convinced you’ll have the drummer of 5sos dead within another 24. You’re pissed at him for being cocky and hot... wait, what the fuck? You’re pissed at your friends for putting you in this situation. 

You forgo the glass and grab the bottle of vodka, setting up on the balcony because at least it’s cooler than the room, and you seethe.

You instinctively start to text Sierra to vent about the incident but ultimately decide you and Ash have done enough damage to everyone's morale for the night. You settle for absentmindedly playing a game on your phone to take your mind off things. You eventually hear Ashton back in the room but you promise yourself you're not going to be the one to apologize first. He has to come to you. And it’s just easier if the two of you let it cool for a minute. 

He comes out to the balcony, watching you shotgun straight from the bottle. He drags a chair to the other side of the balcony. “I know you know that was a cunty thing to say,” he says quietly. “You’ve definitely got a way with insults though.” 

You don’t respond because you don’t know how, but you exchange a glance in acknowledgment.

You both sit in silence and while the tension between you is thick, you're still able to find comfort in the relatively cool night air and the unspoken truce. You zone out, questioning if this trip is even remotely salvageable and how to proceed with Ashton from here. After a while, you look down at your phone and notice the time, you've been out here longer than you thought. You glance over at Ash, who's scrawling away in some sort of journal, with those goddamn headphones on again.

You stumble over to him and tap what your brain notes is an unreasonable large shoulder, "Hey,  's late."

“Careful, Princess,” he says, pulling his headphones off and resting them on his neck, he checks his phone for the time. “Yeah, it is. Let’s get you to bed.” He breathes, standing quicker than you thought any person should. 

He holds your arm, walking you to the bed. You know you’re drunk but you can’t help the words that spill from your lips, “Should stay in tha bed.” You don’t let him go as he gently pulls from your grasp. 

“You're drunk and we’re both likely to be pissed in the morning. I’ll get you a water,” he mentions, walking away. 

You do everything in your power to stay awake for the 90 seconds he’s away and you latch back onto his larger than normal forearm when he comes back. “Don’t leave me alone,” you whimper.

His gaze focuses on your hand on his arm and then shifts to your face, which he searches carefully. "You're not serious," he declares.

"Bed's closer t’window, can leave it open." You sit up and take a sip from the water he sat on the nightstand. "You'll be more comfortable. No big deal." You shrug and lay back down as if this offer was the most casual conversation you've ever had. To be honest, it probably was one of the more casual conversations the two of you had ever shared. 

“I’m not staying because you asked,” he clarifies. “I’m staying because that breeze can’t be beat.” 

Ash climbs in the bed in just his underwear and he scoffs a little when you strip off your shorts and tank top, leaving you in a sports bra and panties for bed. “Why are you constantly taking your clothes off in front of me? Sobriety might do you some favors,” he grumbles, getting comfortable on the other side of the bed.

"Doing you a favor by letting you see my bangin' bod," you drunkenly giggle. "And please, I've seen your naked torso more times on this trip than I've seen my own." You blow a raspberry that goes on for a little longer than you intended, given your inebriated state.

“Well you definitely take care of yourself.” He agrees, ignoring your childish behavior. 

You plant a pillow between the two of you and turn off the lamp, “Night ‘Shton.” You murmur, cuddling into the bed. 

“Night.” He stares at your back in the dark for a while. Not understanding this new feeling creeping up, or caring why the hell you look so good. It’s not the first time he’s seen you like this, but it is the first time he’s wanted your attention.

You wake up a few hours later, dying of thirst. You spot the water on your nightstand and lunge for it a little too quickly and your head starts to spin. As you gulp it down, you remember you invited Ashton to stay with you and your eyes dart to the other side of the bed. The moonlight pouring in from the open balcony shines on his near naked form and it's a sight to behold. You look him up and down, though you're not sure why. You think to yourself how much easier it is to find him attractive when he's not speaking.

You admire him for as long as your drunk brain can handle, before drunkenly texting what you think is just Sierra -he’s pretty when he’s quiet- and you barely put your phone face down on the table before passing back out. 

Your drunk brain processes your slight attraction and the fact that you begged for him to stay better than you’d ever let your sober brain and it creates quite the dirty dream about the man sleeping next to you. Your brain reminds you just how much of a man he is and how easily he’d toss you around. 

You’re awoken by your own moan and open your eyes to see Ashton staring at you from the next pillow, eyebrow cocked.

"Sleep well, princess?" He smirks.

You shove your pillow over your face, half out of embarrassment, half out of necessity because the sun shining into the room is BRIGHT and your head is pounding. "It's too early and I'm too hungover for you to use that tone of voice with me, Irwin."

“Not very often I have girls moaning in bed before I’ve even touched them,” he says, sounding bemused. 

You groan and reach for your phone, closing one eye and turning down the brightness before unlocking it. You realize the text you thought you sent to Sierra also had Luke, Michael and Crystal on it. Luke commented about you getting soft for Ashton, which vaguely enrages you around your headache. 

“Not like I’m moaning for you,” you quip, slowly moving toward the bathroom. 

Ash is still laying on the bed when you return. “Still fuckin hot,” he grumbles. 

Your phone buzzes and you look at it, Luke had forwarded a text from the hotel, - heat warning in place, advising everyone stays inside, hydrated and cooled.-

You throw yourself back on the bed in disbelief. "This can't be happening."

Ash turns on his side to face you, a little closer than you'd like both because of the heat and because of the dream you had. "What's the matter, princess?" He says with a teasing lilt to his voice.

"Stop calling me princess," you grumble and shove your phone in his face.

“Yeah, I already saw. Don’t worry I plan to escape this room as soon as humanly possible,” he admits. “Just waiting for Cal to get his lazy ass up.” 

“Are you ever just like... nice to anyone?” You shove your face back in the pillow. The sun really is too bright and you can’t take it.

"Are you ever just like... not super judgmental?" He mocks, getting out of bed and pulling the curtains shut for you. "I've been pretty nice the past couple nights putting your drunk ass to bed. You thought I was nice enough when you begged me to sleep in your bed."

“I didn’t beg for anything from you. And I’m more than capable of putting my own drunk ass to bed... you just think you’re better than everyone because you got sober when you realized you couldn’t handle your alcohol. Seriously, if the worst fuckin thing I’ve done is offer you a spot In my bed where it’s more comfortable then that’s worlds better than the damage and destruction you’ve undoubtedly caused in your drunk state,” you spew.

"You're unfuckingbelievable, you know that?" He shakes his head. "There's no WAY anything I've ever said to you has warranted some of the shit you've said to me recently. You always gotta take it too far, always gotta get personal. And I’M supposed to be the asshole?"

“Just shut the fuck up, Ash... I can’t. I’m done. I don’t have the energy. This trip was supposed to be relaxing.” You groan, plopping the pillow over your head.

"Cool. Good talk," he says dismissively and heads for the shower.

You stick your middle finger up in the direction he headed off. You sigh loudly when you hear the water turn on. “What the fuck happened,” you ask yourself, exasperated, thinking over the last couple days and how the day before you and Ash had been chill for at least a few hours. “I just need to shut my fucking mouth,” you decide. “The only way to salvage this trip now.”

You must have dozed off again because the next thing you know Ashton is standing over you -shirtless in those athletic shorts again, goddammit- and poking at you with his room keycard. "The fuck?" You say with only moderate interest.

"Oh good, you're up," he jokes. God, he's insufferable. "Cal and I went downstairs and they've closed the restaurant dining rooms but they're still offering room service. I need to know if you want breakfast."

“Yeah... pancakes.” You wave him off. “..Bacon and hash browns...” You murmur out, going back to sleep. 

A short while later you wake to the smell of maple syrup. You drag yourself out of bed and follow the scent to where Ash is sat on the couch, already eating, full breakfast spread out on the coffee table. "Gee thanks for letting me know the food was here," you snipe without thinking. Dammit. You've already forgotten your plan to keep your mouth shut.

Luckily, as you've learned is the norm, he's preoccupied with something on his phone. "Uh-huh," is the only response you get.

You grab your plate and get a water out of the fridge and then sit at the end of the coffee table furthest from Ashton. 

“I hope it cools down some tomorrow,” You mumble, mouth full of food. 

“What was that? Speak up princess,” he says pointedly to you. 

“I just said I hope it cools off. So we can go back to the beach tomorrow,” you shrug, digging into your food.

"You mean we all didn't fly all the way over here to sit in our hotel rooms with broken AC?" He mocks for no apparent reason.

You roll your eyes but keep your mouth shut, not looking to give him the benefit of another snarky comeback.  You eat as much of your plate as you can manage before heading off to shower. To your slight dismay, he’s still sitting on the couch on his phone when you get done. 

“Ash.” You mention quietly, his head tilts up but his eyes don’t leave his phone. “Do you think you could do the aloe again?” 

His eyes snap to you and he stares for a minute before nodding. “Uh... yeah,” he agrees. 

You grab the bottle and sit next to him as he does your back and your shoulders. “Sorry I always take it too far,” you apologize.

He breathes out forcefully and you can feel it on your neck. It gives you goosebumps. He seems to be choosing his words carefully before landing on "Just seems like you don't think about some of the stuff you spit out in anger." His hands stop working over your skin. "I talk shit and yeah I get you think I'm an asshole, but I have never nor would I ever say anything to you as disrespectful as some of the things you've said to me," he says with a quiet firmness.

You nod, because you know he’s right and you chew on the inside of your cheek for a moment, thinking carefully on your own words. 

“I know. I don’t have an excuse. You get under my skin and it’s always guards up with you. Sometimes we’ll be just fine and then you’ll turn on a dime, like last night at dinner. Easier to push you away and keep you at arms length than to let my guard down because I don’t know when you’re gonna snap.”

"Right because this continues to be exclusively my fault," he says condescendingly and sits back on the couch.

You take a few deep breaths and then get up, leaving him to sit while you go change. 

You come back out, sports bra and lounge shorts and look at him. 

“I’m just trying to be nice. It’s my fault too, I know that. I was explaining why I get that way. I know I’m like that, and I’m working on it. I was just trying to clue you in on a trigger.” You sigh and then head back to the bed, collapsing on it.

He bounds over to you, not ready to let this go. "Sorry to break this deluded narrative you've constructed, princess, but 'I'm only a bitch because you make me one' isn't a trigger, it's an excuse and a weak one at that." 

His face is flushing and his chest is bright red. You know he's getting heated and you know it's not just the tropical climate of the room. 

"You've been like this with me from the second you met me, it's like you never had any intention of liking me and fuck getting to know me." He raises his voice, "If I'm such a shitty person then why are literally all of your friends friends with me? You ever think about that, sweetheart?"

“Well that's a two way street, Irwin,” you huff out. “You’ve never tried to get to know me either. So before you come over here acting like you’re any better than me, remember when you point a fucking finger there’s three pointing back at you.”

You stand to square off with him, like the fight is going to get physical. You know better than to think Ash would lay a hand on you but you’re prepared for anything in this moment. The blood is rushing in your ears again.

"I never said you were a shitty person," he says lowly, stepping closer to you. "I just said you were a judgemental, inconsiderate hypocrite and I don't like you."

“I’ve never said you were a shitty person either, I just think you’re an asshole with entitlement issues that definitely needs to take a look in a mirror when slinging his insults,” you say quietly, also stepping closer to him.

"Sounds like we have a lot more in common than we realize then," he challenges, staring you down with fire in his eyes.

“Seems like if either of us had taken even five minutes to consider the other, then maybe this all could have been avoided.” You don’t waiver, standing your ground. “And maybe, we could have spared our friends.”

It seems like he's about to move somehow even closer to you but the sound of his phone buzzing on the coffee table cuts through the tense air. "Finally something we agree on," he mutters under his breath as he stomps away to check it.

You let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding. You realize it was in anticipation but you don’t know what you were waiting for.  

You collapse back on the bed, grabbing for your phone. You make a mental note of how his phone is more important than any person in front of him and you slink back into your normal feelings about him.

A couple hours pass of you dutifully ignoring each other with your phones. But the heat is unrelenting and eventually the scorching sunlight starts pouring in directly onto the bed. Even with the curtains shut, the warmth is sickening and you have no choice but to find another place to relax. 

Obviously the balcony is out of the question until the sun sets. You huff to yourself and head for the couch where Ashton is sprawled out.

“Can I sit?” You ask. 

“Your space is over there,” he says pointing to the bed. “This is my space and it’s probably best we keep the two separate.” 

“It’s too hot over there, even with the curtains closed,” you whine. 

“It’s what you wanted,” Ash cocks an eyebrow and doesn’t move a muscle.

"Are you fucking serious, Irwin? You're being a child, just move over."

He looks directly at you and stretches his large frame even further down the length of the couch. 

"Sorry, Princess. No room at the inn. Think I saw a cot in the closet."

“Selfish prick.” You mumble, turning to walk away. 

But that gets him up. “What’d you just say?” He asks, tone sharp. 

“I called you a selfish prick,” you whip around, saying it louder.

"Aww, did Princess get her feelings hurt because someone finally won't cater to her every fuckin whim?"

“Literally nothing about this trip has gone my way. You show up last minute and I have to share my fucking room with you because there’s nowhere else for you to stay? Excuse me for thinking for a minute that you might be fucking polite enough to accommodate me a little. Thankless asshole.”

"Didn't realize you were so affected by the mere presence of me," he says with a dark cockiness. He gets in your face. "And I'm gettin real tired of hearing you call me an asshole, Princess."

“And I’m getting real fucking tired of your condescending ‘Princess’ nickname, so I guess we’re both just fucked here.”

"Ohhh I think the name suits you just fine, Princess." He's impossibly close to you now, practically nose to nose. "Unrealistic expectations for everyone and everything. Particular. Judgy. Demanding. Keep waiting for you to tell me to bow down, Princess.”

“I doubt you're good at anything that’d require you to be on your knees, including bowing down.” Your eyes narrow. 

“Shouldn’t I say that to you?” He snorts.

"Well then we'd have to add 'liar' to the list of your many offenses." 

“Can’t make claims like that without backing them up.”

You roll your eyes. "Is that the only way to get you to shut the fuck up for once? Figures," you sneer. You involuntarily lick your lips and you regret it the second you do, he definitely notices.

“Blow. Me. Princess.” He enunciates.

You're not sure where this audacity comes from but you grab at his crotch. OH. He's more than half-hard in your hand. Your heart is pounding from what you assumed was anger but you're now realizing may be something else. You lean into his ear, hardening cock still in hand and challenge breathily, "Make me."

He inhales sharply, “Gladly.” He pushes you to your knees, pushing your hand away so he can drop his shorts, he does a couple quick tugs to get himself fully hard before pressing his tip against your lips. “Open.” He quietly demands in a way that says not to fuck with him, so you do what he asks.

He taps his cock up and down, over and over your open lips. You make a point of maintaining direct eye contact with him when you jut out your tongue defiantly, catching on a vein, making him groan.

You grab it from him and he easily lets go, curious of what you’ll do. You lick the underside from base to tip and slowly rub your hand over his length, placing sloppy wet kisses along the shaft to slick him up more.

You start suckling at the head, hoping to coax out some precum and you'd never admit to it but you accidentally let out a small moan when you feel the substance on your tongue. By the way Ash is tangling his hands in your hair, you can tell he's getting impatient. "Figures you'd be a fuckin tease," he critiques.

You slowly lick the tip a few times before taking him in your mouth, hoping it will shut him up. You slowly work your mouth up and down his cock, not really trying to take all of him, but enough to keep him quiet. Your eyes are still locked on his as you palm his balls.

He bites his lip and you wonder if it's because he's trying to hold back a snarky comment or a moan. You wonder why you care. Rather than unpack that thought, you decide to press your luck and take him down further. He's larger than you realized and he hits the back of your throat before you're ready and you gag. He grunts approvingly. 

Of course he does, you think to yourself, annoyed.

His hand tightens more in your hair and he pushes you further, silently encouraging you to take his cock in your throat, so you do. He lets out a loud guttural moan. 

“If I’d have known the way to shut you up was to put my cock down your throat, we would have done this years ago.” He gently caresses the side of your face.

You wish you didn't lean into his touch but you do. You wish you didn't like the weight of his cock on your tongue as much as you do but that's another thought entirely. You quickly determine you like this experience much more when your mind is quiet so you focus on making him moan loud enough to drown out your thoughts. 

You confidently bob your head on his cock with the occasional detour to tongue at his balls. You make sure your methods are as loud and as messy as possible. He's easy to read, you know what he likes without you being told.

Your jaw aches a bit from having your mouth open that wide for him but it’s a minor inconvenience for hearing his moans, tasting him. Shutting him up. 

“I was wrong about you,” he murmurs. “You can suck a cock.” He smirks and you flick his thigh.

You give him a good suck just to hear his breath catch before you pull off. "And I was wrong about you," you pant, wiping your mouth sinfully. "Turns out there is one thing about you I don't mind." You flick your tongue over his slit to punctuate your point. 

He snorts and looks down at you, yanking your hair so that you meet his gaze. "Tired of you running that goddamn mouth of yours, Princess. Mind if I fuck it?"

“Wish you’d fuck something around here,” you saltily reply.

“I promise I’ll find another wet hole to ruin as well.” He grips your hair in both hands and guides your mouth back on his cock. He gets a couple slow test thrusts in to get you used to it before he starts full force face fucking you. It doesn’t take long for him to grunt and fill your mouth with cum and he holds you on his cock, without being in your throat. “Swallow it,” he demands.

You moan around him and do as he says, though you intentionally let some dribble out of your mouth, mostly to be defiant but also because you think that's something he'd like to see.

“Cheeky little fuck," he murmurs, wiping the cum with his thumb and pushing it into your mouth. “Better than I thought you’d be for a pillow princess.” 

“Not at all a pillow princess and you'd better be returning that favor.”

He clicks his tongue and pulls you up off your knees. "There you go with your demands again, Princess," he says, stripping you naked in record time. "But I'll definitely do you a favor, sweetheart. I'll bet you've been dripping for me since you first got those pretty lips around my cock."

“Try when I first got my hand on your cock.” 

Ash looks at you, gropes both of your tits and pinches your nipples, pulling them a bit. You let out a little whine and he smirks and drops to his knees, quickly hooking one leg over his shoulder. He flicks his tongue along your clit before licking around your opening. “Very wet... Princess likes to suck cock.”

"I like doing things I'm good at." You hope it comes out as confident as you intended but an accidental whine swallows the last word of your sentence.

Ash pulls his face away and chuckles. He slides his hand up your thigh and lightly rubs your slit with his fingers before applying pressure on your clit. “I’ll give you credit, you were good at it.” He smirks, quickly pushing the two fingers in and then pulling them out with a bit of a twist, at an agonizingly slow pace. He watches your face and feels you get a little wobbly on one leg so he grabs you, pushes you back onto the couch. He wraps his arm around one thigh and pushes your other to spread you. He continues the slow pace with his fingers and rolls his tongue over your clit. 

You run your fingers through his hair and breathe deep. You'd be lying if you said he didn't know what he was doing. He catches your clit between his lips and sucks hard. You shudder and tug at his hair harder than you mean to. For a split second you think to apologize but he lets out a groan indicating he didn't mind the pain one bit. He sucks over your clit again and you pull even harder just to hear that noise.

The back and forth continues until he draws out a very loud moan from you. You don’t even think twice about the fact that your friends' rooms are around yours. “Fuck, Ashton, yes!” You whine.

He pulls back to nip and suck marks onto your inner thighs. "That's the most positive thing you've said to me this entire trip, sweetheart, I like it." He lifts your leg and pushes his fingers in as deep as he can. "Princess gonna do me the honor of cumming for me?"

“Please make me cum for you!” It sounds desperate even in your own ears but you can’t seem to care about it. 

His smirk is definitely making you more wet at this point and he notices. “So slippery in here. Can't believe I finally found a way to make you agreeable," he taunts, slowly thumbing your clit.

You hate that his cockiness is threatening to send you over the edge at this point. "Ash... God, Ash, please," you plead.

“Alright alright... don’t need you begging me just yet.” He brings his mouth back to your clit and sucks hard so you’ll yank his hair. His fingers are pumping at an ungodly pace. 

“Yes fuck right there, like that.” 

Your chest is heaving and Ash thinks he likes the view. “Can you be any louder?” He teases.

"Give me a reason and we'll see," you manage to pant out.

He sharply slaps your inner thigh, over one of the marks he'd already left, fingers grazing your pussy as he does. You do indeed, cry out louder. 

"Don't get smart with me when I'm about to make you cum, sweetie, you won't like the outcome. I promise you," he warns.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please make me cum,” you whine. “Ashton, please!” The whine is loud and the moan when he goes back in with three fingers is obscene. He pushes you until you fall over the edge, chanting "Ash" and tugging his hair while he slowly licks over your clit.

You whimper and writhe as he expertly works you through your orgasm, easing the curling of his fingers as he feels you finish pulsing around them. He dutifully cleans you with his tongue until you're pushing his head away, too sensitive to take any more stimulation. 

He lifts his fingers to your mouth and traces one across your lips, coating them in your juices. You look directly at him as you lick them carefully, groaning at your own taste. You keep the eye contact going as you reach for his hand and draw the rest of his fingers into your mouth, sucking them clean.

“Naughty little slut, aren’t you?” He comments, watching in awe. “Be surprised if our friends didn’t just hear that little show.” 

“Like I give a flying fuck," you murmur, pulling his fingers from your mouth.

He smiles as he runs his hands over your tits, giving them an appreciative squeeze. "Gotta tell ya, Princess, I'm finding that you're full of surprises."

You sit up and reach for his cock, which you're pleased to find already hard for you again. "Gotta tell ya," you mimic his smarmy cadence. "I'd rather be full of this." You give him a squeeze for emphasis.

He grins and gets in your face. "Greedy too?" He places his hand over yours and you begin slowly stroking him. "My kind of girl." You feel his breath on your face and you wonder if he's finally going to kiss you. You wonder why you want him to.

Instead of waiting on him, you push slightly forward and press your lips to his and the kiss quickly gets deepened. 

When you come up for air, he cocks an eyebrow at you, “Couldn’t take anymore of your talking.” You shrug. 

He pushes forward and kisses you again. “I want you over the fuckin couch,” he growls. You know he means business, so you quickly turn.

His first priority is to land a hard smack on your ass. You probably should've expected it but you yelp loudly nonetheless. Satisfied with both your reaction and the red mark decorating your ass cheek, he delivers a blow to the other side to match.

“Fuckkk me," you moan, wiggling your ass in front of him.

"Oh is that what you want from me, Princess?" He teases, running his cock over your thighs and ass, everywhere except your throbbing core. You hear a whine you don't recognize escaping your throat when you feel drops of precum drizzling onto your skin.

"Even with my ass in the air for you, you've still gotta talk shit," you groan in frustration.

He slicks the tip through your folds and you press your face against the back of the couch in anticipation. “If you fuck half as good as you lick, I think we can be friends," you smirk. 

“All you need to worry about is if you can take my cock.” He lands another smack to your ass. 

“My throat took it just fine.” You look over your shoulder and wink at him.

"Alright, alright, that's enough out of you," he starts to push in and you gasp at the feeling. He snorts. "My throat took it just fine," he mocks, sinking in more.

He does a couple shallow thrusts before pushing in further. You push your hips back to meet him, taking his cock all the way. 

You moan loudly, “Never been so full in my life.” 

Ashton spanks you again, ensuring he's gonna be leaving your ass red and sore. He gives a couple slow thrusts and then stops. “You want this cock, Princess? Get it.” He lands a smack to the other side of your ass.

You take his challenge, finding a rhythm as you throw yourself back on his cock. He watches, fascinated at the sight of his length disappearing inside you again and again. He holds your hips tight enough that you'll undoubtedly have bruises. "You look real good fucking yourself on my cock, Princess," he groans.

“Feels phenomenal," you breathe. You brace your arms on the back of the couch and look back at him while you take his cock. “Fuck yes, Ashton,” you pant. 

He takes mercy on you and grips your hips tighter, deciding to take over for you. He pulls one leg up, rests his foot next to your thigh for more leverage and starts to pound into you.

The noises filling the room are obscene: heavy breathing, skin slapping against skin, the slick sounds of your arousal, the endless moans, groans and curses pouring from both your and Ash's mouths.

He pulls you by your hair up against his chest and roughly turns your face so he can sloppily kiss you. He pushes your face away when he's done. "All our friends definitely already heard you cum for me, think this time I can make you scream loud enough the whole floor will hear?"

“I don’t care who hears us at this point, I just need to cum on your cock,” you breathe. “Please," you ask nicely, tossing a smile over your shoulder for him. 

The grin that graces his face says it all. He goes harder still. Your quiet whimpers quickly escalate into loud moans of begging.

He smacks your ass a few more times as well as your upper thighs for good measure. He presses into the already forming bruises on your hips. "Pleeease... Ashhh... Fuckkk," you whine, each word at least two syllables longer than usual. 

He yanks on your hair and leans in to calmly command, "Cum for me, Princess. Wanna feel you all over my cock."

It sends you over the edge and you lean heavily against the back of the couch while he continues fucking you through your orgasm. His pace increases and then you hear his breath catch and you feel him cum inside you. He stays tucked against you for a minute. He shallow thrusts all the way in once more so you’ll remember how it felt. 

“Holy fuck,” you groan. 

Ash pets your hair and pulls out. You instantly feel the cum dripping down your thighs. “Don’t move,” he warns. He comes back moments later with a washcloth and cleans you up. You stay in position, panting over the back of the couch because you're unsure if you can even move at this point.

He runs a hand down your back with surprising tenderness. It's then that you realize how goddamn sweaty you are because of course you had to decide to have the most intense fuck of your life in a room that feels like it's on the 4th floor of hell. 

"You ok, Princess?" Ash asks, sounding a bit unsure of himself. It's so unlike him. You're kind of into it.

“Yeah… it's just fuckin hot and now I’m fucked out. And I fuckin love it," you mumble against the couch. 

“Wanna grab a cool shower... together?” He asks, ready for you to bite sarcasm at him. 

“You might have to carry me, legs aren’t working,” you chuckle. 

He stands and gestures for you to climb into his arms, "Well then, Princess, your chariot awaits."

You roll your eyes but you notice you don't feel your blood boiling as much as it usually does when he calls you that. You shift on the couch, he scoops you up and carries you into the bathroom, sitting you on the counter while he gathers towels and turns on the shower.

Once you’re under the cool water you relax and regain some composure. Ash gently grabs your chin and softly kisses you. “Gonna be honest, that’s not at all what I expected from you," he states and then fits your lips back together.

You raise an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? You spend a lot of time wondering what kind of lay I'd be, Irwin?" You tease, softly biting his lip.

“Well no... not really. Maybe a couple masturbatory fantasies about hate fucking you, but you were tied up and gagged for those…" he explains, gently rubbing his soapy hands over your red ass and bruised hips. "Just with who you’ve been to me, I didn’t assume you’d beg to cum on my cock."

You smirk, "Tied up and gagged, huh? Well let's put a pin in that conversation..." 

He shakes his head and grins at you.

"To be honest I didn't expect to hear those things come out of my mouth either," you admit, pausing to hiss when his fingers brush over a particularly sore mark. "But to be fair, based on your past behavior I didn't see you as the type to gingerly clean me up after you came inside me."

“I’ve got a thing for after care, not really a 'fuck em and leave em' type of guy,” he shrugs. 

“What are our friends gonna say?” You wonder.

“I have no idea but I’m betting both of our phones are buzzing off the hook right now," he laughs. 

“No doubt about that... so are we going for round two later or was this a one time thing?” You smile playfully.

He purses his lips as if deeply considering it and you briefly wonder if you'd gotten too comfortable and embarrassed yourself but then he presses you up against the shower wall.

"Like I said before, such a greedy Princess," he teases before crashing his lips into yours with a groan.

After a short makeout, you end your shower and the first thing you both do is go to your phones. Ash snorts. “Cal just sent a bunch of the side eye emojis,"  he announces. 

“Crystal and Mike want to know where I am because something is definitely going on in my room,” you giggle. 

You change into your shorts and a fresh bralette and Ash pulls the black athletic shorts back on. He gives you a quick kiss but is interrupted by a knock at your door. He answers it as you settle on the couch. 

It’s Luke and Sierra. Luke seems chill but Sierra pushes her way into the room and looks astonished she sees you on the couch.

"Hey sweetie," she greets you with what sounds like surprise in her voice. 

"Hey guys," you start but you can tell their attention is focused elsewhere, eyes darting around the room and exchanging wide-eyed glances with each other.

Ash shoots you an amused look but you subtly shake your head at him, waiting to see where this goes.

“Hey… just wanted to check on you guys. There was a lot of noise coming from what we thought was your room.” Sierra looks confused. 

“What kind of noise?” You ask. 

“Sex noises, moaning, ‘fuck Ashton that’s so good’,” Luke mocks, eyeing the two of you. 

Sierra playfully jabs him in his side and he yelps. "Or you know, something like that," he offers half-heartedly.

Ashton, barely keeping in a giggle, says with concern, "Oh I definitely didn't hear anything like that, did you Princess?"

“No... don’t think so, Ash. We’ve just been watching TV,” you explain to the suspicious couple. 

“In here? In this room? Together?” Sierra clarifies, so much doubt in her voice and on her face. 

“I swear we heard someone moaning Ashton’s name. Asking him to make her cum. Begging, really,” Luke muses with a smirk. 

There's another knock on the door and Luke opens it. It's Cal, having walked over from across the hall. “Ok so did you guys hear that too?” He asks.

Luke stands in the doorway discussing the mystery with Cal while Sierra bewilderedly studies your faces.

You bite the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing when you hear Cal thinking out loud, "But how would he get a girl in here without her knowing?" 

"No, man, she's been here the whole time."

"The WHOLE time?"

"Apparently."

"Well... I mean… Maybe… No..."

Sierra’s eyes narrow at you, “It was the two of you.” She determines, looking between you and Ashton. “You two hooked up...” 

“You said I was crazy for suggesting that!” Luke laughs. 

“I didn’t think she’d do it.” Sierra laughs in disbelief. “Holy shit.”

You realize Michael and Crystal must have visited Cal's room to discuss the incident because he shakes his head and announces behind him, "Mike, you were right." 

You hear a shout of "Yay! No, wait, ew that's weird. Not yay" mixed with a quieter "Whyyy?" that must've come from Crystal.

You didn't think you were the blushing type but you feel your cheeks getting warmer and you hope everyone will assume it's the heat. But Ash notices and starts waving your friends out of the room, "Ok folks, show's over."

"So we're right then?" Luke teases.

"Get the fuck outta here," Ash playfully shoos him away.

Luke and Cal shuffle out while Sierra turns back and mouths "Oh my God?" at you and mimes for you to text her.

As Ash shuts the door behind them, you flop onto the bed, exhaling loudly. He laughs and climbs on next to you. He kisses your shoulder reassuringly. "You good?"

You turn to face him, "Yeah, they're just. A lot sometimes." He snorts in agreement. "Fuck, they're gonna be so obnoxious about this, what should we do?" You ask, curious for his opinion.

"Well," he starts but then kisses you long enough that you begin to wonder if he forgot he was in the middle of a sentence. He pulls away and looks at you mischievously. "I say we give them about 15 minutes to settle back into their rooms and then we really give them something to talk about."

Tag list: @cocktail-calum @1dthewantedlove @youngblood199456 @lustingforwunder @calumsphile @neso-k @rosecoloredash @radmcqueen @justayoungandwisefangirl @itsnotmyblood  @lietoash @pushthetide21 @5sosfanficrec @therealmrshale @fallfrxmgrace @lukashemmos @justarandomgirlthatyoudontknow​ @5sos-microwave @madbomb​ @sweetheartmendes1000​ @literally-anythin​ @lfwallscouldtalk​ @clemmingstylins0n​ @ccnicole02​ @lustingfor5sos​ @buteverythingiscopacetic​ @rosesfromcth​ @bodaciousbonzi1996​ @ashtontotheirwin​ @captainam-erika-trash​ @xxgendurvikixx​ @jazzyangel242​ @bluebabycal​ @rhiannonmichellee​ @iovehemmings​ @glitterycalum1205​ @katcontreras​ @cashtonasfuck​ @ificanthaveu​ @kindahoping4forever @here-for-the-uproars​ @canterburyfiction​ @opheliaaurora​  @queer-5sos​ @banditocth​ @gigglyirwin​  @glitterycalum1205​ @rebelwith0utacause​

gc tags: @sublimehood​ @sugarcoated-pain​ @5sosnsfw​ @angelbabylu​ @aspiringwildfire​ @irwinkitten​ @lashtoncurls​ @myloverboyash​ @singt0mecalum​

masterlist || ashton || calum || luke || michael

wanna be tagged? go here

[milk-carton-whump]

I realized that a certain character has not appeared in any of the modern au stories. Time to be reintroduced.

Tagging: @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @sideblogformindtrash @tears-and-lilies @unicornscotty @abitefullofeverything @getyourwhumphere @whumpasaurus101 @twistedcaretaker @skunkandgrenade @heathenville @freefallingup13 @sunnysunfire @alliecat5594 @whatwasmyprevioususername @redstainedsocks @justabitofwhump

CW: angst, breathing difficulty, wind knocked out, blood tw, bullying, thrown off a horse, comfort (light), name calling, just being plain mean, collapsing, modern au, insults

Wednesday Ride

He always looked forward to Wednesday, he had had a long week and the chance to just spend some quality time with his sweet girl was what he lived for. Granted, he saw her daily but Wednesdays were the day that just the two of them could just, be together. 

He wasn't supposed to run so he kept a quick walk that couldn't contain his excitement. He finally arrived, she was there waiting for him a greeting already on her lips. A large grin broke out across his face as he wrapped his arms around the horse's neck. 

"Echo! My darlin' ah think ya already know what day it is." He said as he fished a peppermint from his back pocket. 

The red horse nickered softly as she accepted the treat, she was happy to see him. He opened her stall gate and grabbed her halter to lead her into the walkway, stopping at a point to clip a rope to each side of her halter. He patted her shoulder as he grabbed his brush box to start grooming her. 

"So Miss. Echo, what d'ya wanna work on t'day? We could try somethin' new or stick ta somethin' we know." He said to her not really expecting a response. 

"Hey American! You never cease to amaze me." A distinctly British accent called out. 

Ritz scowled, his good day ruined by Krissy, she was a real spoiled brat who paid to be a captain of the equestrian team. He sighed before deciding to address her, Echo hated her and pinned her ears flat aggressively. 

"What amazin' thing have ah done this time Krissy?" He tried to keep the irritation from his voice. 

"You haven't dropped out, for one. And second, the fact that you somehow managed to get the spot as the other captain is shocking. I didn't think you were smart enough for it honestly." She said cruelly. 

He glared at her, he knew she liked to make fun of his accent equating it to him being stupid. He, unlike her, had worked his ass off to earn the title as captain and much of the team respected or seemed to respect him. He threw his saddle pad over Echo's back before going to grab his saddle. 

"Y'know ah'm not as big'a idiot as ya think ah am. Also, one'a us actually worked ta be captain instead'a payin' with ya daddy's money." He retorted as he pulled Echo's bridle on and tossed his hat to the side to buckle his helmet on. 

He flipped her off as he led Echo to the arena, as the pair walked past Krissy, Echo reached over and snapped her teeth at the girl. He got inside the arena and climbed up onto Echo's back, he let out a deep sigh just relieved to be on his beloved horse's back. The pair worked for a while just warming up, when a loud sound made Echo spook and buck. Ritz managed to stay on and get her back under control but now she was jumpy. He looked around but couldn't see anything that would've made that noise, he leaned down and patted Echo's neck as they worked on some exercises. 

Suddenly Echo seemed to spook at something, Ritz struggled to keep her calm as she bucked. One moment his horse was under him and the next he hit the ground hard. 

Unfortunately, he had hit part of the wall on his way down and now lay in the dirt gasping for air that his lungs wouldn't take in. He was sure he could feel blood seeping through his shirt sleeve, but that was the least of his worries as he had gotten the wind knocked out of him. He managed to force himself to roll onto his side, still struggling to breathe, his eyes screwed shut willing for his body to work. 

After what felt like an eternity, air rushed back into his desperate lungs. He immediately started gasping which resulted in him coughing hard as he got used to breathing again. He wheezed as he pushed himself up to his feet, he tried to take a step and ended up falling back to the ground. 

He took a moment to catch his breath, while he sat there in the dirt trembling, Echo came back over to make sure he was okay. She gently pressed her nose against his face, he was hurt but she knew he would get up when he was ready, he always did. 

Finally after 10 long minutes, he shakily pushed himself back up and grabbed onto the saddle to help steady himself. The pair made their way back to the arena gate, Ritz moved from leaning against Echo's shoulder to unlock the gate and saw a large smudge of blood on her coat. Luckily it was only his blood and she was fine, he would've been beyond upset if she had been hurt. 

Krissy was standing near Echo's stall with her arms crossed and a smug look on her face. 

"Back so soon? That glue factory reject you insist on riding, throw you off?" She sneered. 

He just shot her a dirty look and took Echo back into her stall to take her tack off. Yet, Krissy leaned against the stall doorway. 

"Well if you hit your head, maybe that solved your stupidity problem." 

"Can ya jus' leave me alone?!" Ritz snapped with a wheeze. 

She rolled her eyes and backed off. 

"Fine I'm leaving, if I stay any longer I might lose brain cells then I'd sound like you. A fucking idiot." She called as she walked away. 

As soon as she was gone, Ritz wrapped his arms around Echo's neck tightly. Tears slowly rolling down his face and he quietly cried. Echo gently nuzzled him, sensing his pain.

He hated that girl but sometimes he wondered. He wondered if what she said was true. Did people think he was stupid, did Alex think that too? He let out a shaky breath and buried his face into the horse's neck. 

[sharperthewriter]

Chapter 6 of Possible-y Utah

Chapter 6 - Pool Party II She rolled up the belted overalls and her white croptop in a ball with the sneakers on top and put them on the sofa.

"You got anything to drink, Monique?" Kim asked.

"Some soda, juice, or milk, Kim. Mom's got it all laid out." Monique said, pointing to the refreshments.

Kim got herself a diet soda and headed on outside to soak up the sun's rays. She closed her eyes and laid down face first on the pool chair.

(25 minutes later)

After getting a good slight tan, Ron came up to her seat.

"Hey, KP! You're missing out on the fun!" he exclaimed.

As it turned out, he added goggles, an inner tube, and flippers to his feet.

"Ron..." Kim groaned, "...Monique's pool is big, but we aren't at the beach this summer yet!"

"I wanna soak it all in!" he replied, "Even Rufus is getting in on the act!"

Rufus giggled and put on his small goggles over his beady eyes.

"Rufus?! Is he going to go off the diving board in the deep end?" she questioned. Kim pointed to the deep half of Monique's pool that was at least 12 feet deep. That area had a diving board and slide.

"You bet your Nacos that he is, KP!" Ron grinned.

"That's so him!" Kim chuckled.

"So what do you think is going to happen in our senior year?" Ron then questioned.

"You know what? It is a really big question!" Kim exclaimed. "Considering that we're going to get a lot of our starters back on the football team for the upcoming season, we could make it all the way to State."

"Aww...man!" Ron complained, "My arms are sooo tired from last season!"

It was a longstanding tradition at Middleton High since the 1960s that the Mad Dog mascot must perform pushups on all the points the Mad Dog football team has scored through the course of a game.

"Ron, you need to do this for the team!" Kim insisted, "We need that edge after our Mad Dog football team got eliminated in the second round of the playoffs."

Ron took a deep breath and said, "The pushups are one tradition of the Mad Dog that I wish that can do without...but since you are my BFGF, I am going to do them in your honor!"

"Thank you, Ron, for the support!" Kim replied with a smile before turning her entire body around. "Oh and also, can you rub the sunscreen on my back? I don't want to get a really nasty sunburn!"

"Much obliged, KP!" Ron said in grabbing the sunscreen from the bag. He took out the sunscreen, squirted it a few times, and began to rub his girlfriend's back.

A familiar snarky voice came upon Monique's backyard.

"Out of my way, everyone! The Queen B is here!"

"Oh no..." she muttered, "Not now...please not now"

Bonnie then opened up the gate to the backyard, and she was in a two-piece bathing suit that accentated her figure. However, she wasn't the only one with her.

Another girl also came through the gate. She had blonde hair, light green eyes that were covered by her oversized sunglasses, and, like Bonnie, was in a bikini. The thing that attracted people most was the jewelry with solid gold hoop earrings, four bangles, five rings. She also had her nose and both ears pierced.

"What do you want this time, Rockwaller? You're blocking my sun!" Kim snarked at the brunette.

"Just the usual, Possible! Annoying you and Stoppable like always!" Bonnie replied with a smirk, standing right in front of the sun.

"You know that you haven't been invited to the party!" Kim snarled.

"Yeah!" Ron agreed, "Party crasher!" Rufus gave a raspberry at her.

Monique turned around and saw the three arguing.

"Uh, excuse me, Bonnie, but may I remind you that you and...whomever your friend is...need to leave!" the fashionista insisted.

"But we only just got here, Monique!" Bonnie cackled. "And actually, we did receive two invites from Hope, whom emailed me the copies!"

Kim glared at Hope.

"Sorry, Kim, but Bonnie has been my friend. I just cannot say no to anything she asks me..." Hope whimpered.

"Whatever." Kim sighed at Hope before turning her attention to Bonnie. "Just don't act like a fool for at least a couple hours, Rockwaller. This is Tamara's last party before she leaves for college! And who is your new friend here?"

Bonnie snickered and loudly announced to everyone!

"Girls...and the loser Mad Dog mascot..." she decreed while Ron seethed at her.

"I present to you the newest prospective member of the Mad Dog cheer squad! Rebecca Starlet! She just recently moved from the rich upper crust of Upperton and her family owns the Starlet Oil Company which is worth about $7 billion!"

"Seven billion?!" Ron exclaimed as his jaw dropped.

"That's correct, Stoppable!" Bonnie snarked, "She's like the heiress to the comapny!"

"So that explains all the bling she has on her..." Kim muttered. "Country CB, I would guess?"

"Yep, Possible!" Bonnie replied, still grinning at the glimmer of gold all over Rebecca's body. "She only shops the finest stores and not any peasant dumps like Club Banana!"

"Only sore losers would even wear those fashions that would be dumped into the local Smarty-Mart..." Rebecca snarked before looking at Tara, "...and for those rats that only work minimum wage at the local Cow N' Chow!"

Monique gasped at what Bonnie and Rebecca said about both her and Tara. She clenched her fists, ready to punch them!.

"You take that back, girl, before I am going to pound both your faces in!"

Kim and Jessica held her back before any punches could be thrown.

"We can't fight her now, Monique! Not in public! Not now!"

Monique relented before unclenching her fists. "Someday...karma will shove you right in the face..." she muttered.

Rufus also growled at Rebecca.

"Seems like Rufus doesn't like you on first impressiosn!

"Monique, you never cease to amaze me!" Bonnie chuckled.

"Why thank you, Bonnie, for introducing me to the rest of your squad!" Rebecca replied as she removed her sunglasses. "I hope to contribute to next year's team as we root-root for the Mad Dogs! Oh, and we're going on shopping trips to the World's Richest Mall!"

Kim gasped. "Only the uber-rich visit that place!"

"That's correct...um...what's your name again?" Rebecca asked.

"The name's Kim Possible. Perhaps you have heard my name in the news?" Kim asked, huffing.

"Oh yeah, the stupid crop-top cargo-pants wearing weirdo fighting other weirdoes!" Rebecca taunted.

"I guess you got all that info from Bonnie..." Kim muttered.

"From only the very best!" Rebecca replied before looking at her Club CB watch. "Oh, goodness, look at time! We should be at the salon for our 2pm mani-pedi!"

"Yeah, the both of us would stay and love to annoy you two losers, but we got an appointment to keep!" Bonnie snarked. "Kthanksbye!"

And with that, both Bonnie and Rebecca left Monique's backyard to go to the limousine.

"Ooooo! The nerve of Bonnie to insult me and my friends like that!" Kim shrieked, "And that super-rich so-called 'friend' of hers? I only wish if all that jewelry on her turned to rust!"

"KP! Just chillax! Don't let Bonnie and her rich girl-friend get to you!" Ron replied, "You got me and Monique to hang out all summer long! Plus, we won't have Barkin to push us around for the next two and a half months!"

Kim's frustrations with her rivalry with the Queen subsided...for now.

"Thanks, Ron. I really need to get my temper with Bon in check in time for the new school year." the redhead admitted.

"That's the spirit, girl!" Monique exclaimed.

"I know you can do it, Kim. Just clear the mind off of Bonnie and be in control!" Ron replied.

"Okay, sounds good to me!" Kim said as she sat back down on the pool chair.

"Relax and soak in the summer!" Ron said with a happy sigh, "It is going to be peaceful and quiet!"

[keichan]

Mutual Interest

Request: AAAAA IM IN NEED FOR SUM OSAMU X SHY READER where she loves to cook like him and they meet through a library bc she’s finding new recipes and they both want the same book and bc of that they become friends and then he tries to confess! Adding the team trying to help him too lmaoo ✨✨

A/N: midterms do b kickin my ass! Happy birthday twins! MIYA SUPREMECY

Warnings: Swearing

WC: 4.2k

★Osamu x Reader ★

It was a quiet afternoon in the public library. You wandered down the cookbook isles with your hands in the pockets of your sweatpants, peering through the shelves. Lately you feel like you’ve run out of ideas for your cooking. You were so occupied with your eyes glued to the shelves, you didn’t even notice that someone was right in front of you. 

You collided to the side of a tall boy around your age. Heat quickly rushed to your cheeks and you bowed whispering a brief apology. You avoided his gaze as he reassured you it wasn’t a big deal before his back turned away from you. 

You caught a glimpse of his jacket reading the words ‘Inarizaki Volleyball Club’. It was a neighboring school close to yours was the only thought in your head before you returned your focus back to the shelves. Your hands hovered over a book that caught your eye. You gently pull it off the shelf before analyzing the cover.

“Damn, I’ve been looking for that one this entire time.” The voice of the boy before rang in your ear. You pull the book to your chest before turning around to meet a pair of startling gray eyes. 

“S-sorry, I don’t think there’s another copy.” You stuttered. 

“It’s okay.” He smiled. “It’s just kind of a bummer, every time I’ve come here, it’s always gone.”

You look down at your sneakers, teetering on your heels nervously. 

“Sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it! So do you like to cook? I think I’ve seen you here a few times. In this section I mean.”

You nod with your gaze to the ground. 

“It’s definitely my favorite thing to do.”

“Really?” Excitement flooded his voice. He leaned down to meet your gaze. His eyes bore into yours. “I love to cook! If it’s not too strange I was going to cook some agemochi for a small lunch time snack. I hope it’s not too weird to invite you to my place. Maybe I could browse over the book!”

You didn’t know the tall gray-haired boy at all… But agemochi was definitely one of your favorite things to eat…

“Only because of the agemochi.” Your head snapped towards his followed with a confident nod. He clapped his hands together (silently) with a coy smile etched on his lips.

“Perfect! Let’s go…” he tilted his head at you. 

“L/N F/N.”

He began walking to the book checkout. “Let’s go, L/N F/N. Also my name is Miya Osamu.”

Luckily for you, Miya Osamu lived between your home and the library. 

He halted at his front door fumbling for his keys. He paused to turn to you with a blank look on his face. “I just want to tell you now, if my brother is home, I’m so sorry.” With that, he turned his keys in the door to hear a voice yelling from inside. 

“‘Samu! Is that you? I’m fuckin hungry.” Osamu walked into his home with you in tow, rounding the corner you saw a boy who looked exactly like him, though his hair bleached and had the most bored expression pasted on his face. You peeked your head around Osamu’s shoulder to see his face contort into something completely different. A resting smirk. 

“My, my, who do we have here?” He propped his chin up on his hands before glancing up to meet his brother's eyes. 

“This is Y/N. We became friends at the library roughly 15 minutes ago because she likes to cook, so I invited her over so I can cook for her.”

“How sweet!”

“Shut up.”

The two broke into snide remarks and your eyes traveled back and forth between the two as if it was a tennis match. After roughly a minute Osamu quit bickering and grabbed your wrist gently to bring you into the kitchen. 

“Sorry, he’s a little much.”

“No, it’s okay my-“

“I’m literally right here, ‘Samu.”

Osamu ignored his twin as he began to sort out his ingredients to cook for you. 

“Are you sure it’s okay that I’m over?”

Osamu turned to give you a reassuring smile. 

He began to ask more questions about you, always turning his head to give you a sign that he was all ears for whatever you had to say to coax you out of your shell. He didn’t push you to answer anything but words came out easy around him. Turns out that you two had loads in common on top of cooking. It wasn’t before long before you thought in your mind that you were more than happy to have met him, and not just for the agemochi.

“Osamu, I’m just saying that you’re cooking this wrong. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“I’m sorry, but what did you two just say to me?”

“Oh! This is getting interesting!” Atsumu’s eyes switched between the two of you, holding his drink in both hands like a toddler watching cartoons. 

You covered your face with your hands contemplating, before taking a deep sigh. 

“Osamu, if you cook your vegetables like that and add it in it’s not going to taste right. And you’re cutting it in the wrong shape so it’s not going to cook evenly.” You stammered, looking everywhere besides the twins. 

Osamu crossed his arms with an annoyed expression. “Really?”

You stiffly nodded. Osamu noticed your body tense up and walked towards you with a small smile. 

“It’s okay! I haven’t had your cooking yet since you’ve been coming over! I’d really love to try it, could you show me how?”

“Really?” 

“Really.” He placed a hand on your shoulder for reassurance, offering an eye squinting smile. 

“Why aren’t you this nice to me ‘Samu?!” Atsumu glared at his brother. Osamu used a single hand to wave off Atsumu without another word. 

Atsumu eventually got irritated and went to his bedroom. The only request being for someone to get him when the food is ready. 

The entire time you prepared the dish Osamu peered over your shoulder. His eyes were as big as saucers as he watched you in amazement.

“Y/N, I hate to admit it, but you were absolutely right, this looks way better than mine could’ve ever been.”

You turned your head around becoming face to face with Osamu with such a happy smile on your face. 

Oh Osamu realized. This is your comfort zone. It’s the only time he’s seen you after all of these weekends without a crease in your forehead or your eyebrows scrunched together. He couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Right!”

You focused on the dish with Osamu hovering over you and you presented it to him as if you were in your own little restaurant. 

“Here you go!”

Osamu graciously accepted the plate before sitting down at the kitchen table.

“Are you gonna eat, Y/N?”

“Yeah! I just want to see how you like it first!”

He nods before digging in to take the first bite. Osamu lifts his eyebrows with his eyes closed before nodding rapidly. 

“Y/N this is delicious!”

You touched your face with your hand before looking down at the ground. “Thank you!”

“Mhm! Go get you a plate so we can eat together.”

You nodded.  Before stepping around into the kitchen you look at Osamu. Never in your life have you seen someone in your life so happy to eat your cooking, not even your family. It made your heart warm. 

“We always cook over here, you should come over to my place and cook with me!” You sat on the Miya’s kitchen counter dangling your legs off the ground. 

“Please go ‘Samu. It’s been months. I’m tired of you two invading the kitchen every weekend. I miss my peace and quiet.”

Osamu rolled his eyes. “No free food for you then since you can’t cook for shit.”

“I-I didn't mean it like that I-“

“Don’t worry Atsumu, I’ll be sure to send Osamu home with something for you.” You sent him a small smile. 

Atsumu faced his brother and pointed a finger over to you. “I really like her. You should definitely keep her around.”

Osamu’s cheeks turned a shade of pink. “Shut up.”

You laughed as the twins broke out into a string of insults.

After school was over, Osamu met you in front of the gates of your high school to walk you home on a Friday evening. 

“Are you sure you don’t wanna come over tomorrow and just do Saturdays like normal?”

“No I can’t. We have qualifiers for nationals coming up so we have a lot of extra practice. We just need to squeeze in whatever time we can together”

“Right. Are you guys really good-“ you groaned. “-of course you’re really good! Your school has gone to the nationals like three years in a row! Sorry that was stupid of me.” You pulled at your skirt nervously. 

Osamu chuckled. “It’s okay!”

 He grabbed your wrist and pulled you to look at him. “I know. Also I’d really like it if you’d come out to a practice match, Y/N.”

“Osamu, I’d really like to, but I can’t.”

“If it’s about all the people, I can assure you that it’s not as many as you think, I’d just really like to see your face from the sidelines. I understand if you say no. It’s okay.” With that Osamu gave you a quick smile and a gentle pat on your head before beginning to walk ahead. 

“Y/N, who is this?” Your dad greeted the two of you at the front door.

Before you could open your mouth Osamu stepped in front of you and bowed. “Miya Osamu, sir. I’m a friend of Y/N’s. We met because we both really enjoy cooking.” 

“Oh! You’re her friend that she goes to visit every weekend! Pleasure to meet you!”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Osamu came over so we can cook today, is that alright, dad?”

Your dad nodded before the three of you walked into the kitchen. 

 “I’ll be right back, I’m going to go upstairs and change.” You placed your backpack on the kitchen table before exiting the room. 

Your dad leaned onto the counter. “I’m really glad that you and her met. She seems really happy when she comes home and she’s always looking forward to going over every weekend. Plus she’s always bringing home your cooking for me and her mom so I really appreciate it.”

“Of course, sir. I really enjoy being around her.” Osamu dipped his head slightly. 

“Dad you’re not freaking him out, are you?” You appeared in the doorway fiddling with your hands. 

He chuckled before shaking his head. “Just bragging on you.”

“How embarrassing, sorry you had to listen to all of it, Osamu.” You nodded in his direction. 

“Don’t worry about it. I enjoyed it.” Osamu offered a small smile. 

“C’mon, Y/N! You’re really going to love this bakery! When I found out about it, I just had to bring you.” Today was another day of Osamu wanting to walk you home after school. Your heart felt warm as he interlaced his fingers with yours and began to walk towards the city.

“Osamu, I didn’t know we were going out today. I don’t have my wallet-”

“I’m treating you today! It’s a date!” He grinned at you. 

“I like the sound of this!”

“The date part or the free after school snack part?”

“The snack!” Both.

“Damn.” Osamu let out an exasperated sigh.

“I’m just kidding, you know I enjoy spending time with you!”

Osamu let go of your hand to hold the door to the cute little store open for you making your face 

heat up as you look at the ground. Osamu took your hand in his once more.

“I know you do.”

He stood in front of you to order your favorites as you admired him from behind, smiling. Everyday with Miya Osamu warmed your heart.

“Osamuuuuu!” You whined into the phone. “Open your front door! It’s freezing out here!”

“The front door is too far away.” He retorted. “The couch is so cozy… and warm. I don’t want to.”

“Osamu, pleaseeee! I’m going to turn into an icicle.” You hear him groan on the other line. 

“Y/N, why’re you acting like it's winter outside?”

“It’s December, Miya. Open the door.”

The line disconnected. 

The front door’s lock clicked and the door opened to reveal a very tired Osamu. He yawned, running his hands through his hair before moving aside to let you in. You couldn’t help but yawn. 

You punched his back as you followed him into the living room. 

“What the hell was that for?”

“You made me yawn stupid! And I’m freezing since you made me wait outside for so long.”

“Let me make you some hot tea.”

“It’s okay.”

“You sure?”

“Mhm.”

“Okay.”

Osamu sat down on the couch. “I was watching movies before you got here, hence the wear pajamas text I sent you. Wanna watch my favorites with me?”

You grinned. “Of course!”

You sat down next to him as he began a new movie. 

“Osamu can you share the blanket with me? I’m still pretty cold.”

“If that's okay with you then I don’t mind.” He lifted up the blanket. You comfortably slid over beside him. 

You pulled the blanket up to your chin before holding yourself in your arms in an attempt to warm yourself up. Osamu shifted closer to you before wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pulling you towards his chest. Your body quickly relaxed into his side, into his warmth. 

“I made you some bento boxes for you to take home tonight. They’re sitting in the fridge for you.”

“Thanks, Osamu. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course.”

You gently slid your arm across his stomach to pull yourself closer to him. His other hand moved up to hold your arm gently. The two of you basked in a comfortable silence as the movie continued. 

Atsumu walked down the stairs of his home calling for his brother. He halted in the living room to see the two of you were laying down on the couch, passed out with the TV still running. You were strewn across Osamu, your head buried in his neck and your arms draped across his shoulders. The gray-haired boy held you tightly to his chest. Quiet snores coming for both of you. 

Annoyance spread across Atsumu’s face. He wanted Osamu to cook him something to eat. He walked behind his brother to smack him on the forehead. Osamu winced before Atsumu flicked him. 

“‘Samu. I’m hungry.” He whined. Osamu’s eyes barely opened to scowl at his brother. 

“Make instant ramen, I’m taking a nap.”

“Y/N comes over all the time now and you go to hers all the time,  just do all of this cutesy shit later.”

“Same goes to you and your food idiot.”

“Who are you calling an idiot?”

“Are you being serious right-”

“‘Samu, be quiet. You’re being loud.” You mumble into his chest. He stroked your hair, muttering a quiet apology. Osamu shot his twin a glare before closing his eyes again. 

“Be that way, asshole.”

“Osamuuuuu! Wake up.” Your voice was barely above a whisper as you looked up to poke at the boy’s cheeks. You giggled. When Osamu was asleep, his bottom lip barely jutted out. It was adorable. 

“What?” He mumbled. He grabbed your hand and held it in his to keep it flat against his face. He looked down at you sleepily, your noses nearly brushing. You swallowed a lump in your throat that you didn’t know was there. 

“It’s getting late. I need to go home.” 

“But I’m comfortable, lay back down.”

“But, Osamu-“

“Please?”

“Okay.” You stuttered. “Ten more minutes.”

“Ten more minutes.”

Osamu gave your hand a slight squeeze before his hand traveled down to play with your hair. 

“Y/N.” He whispered.

“Mmm” you mumbled into his chest. 

“I really liked it when you called me ‘Samu. It was really adorable.”

“‘Kay ‘Samu. I think I wanna stay like this for a little bit longer with you.”

“I think the team for the practice match is here.”

“Really? I have a good feeling about this one.”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself.” Kita interjected into the twins' conversation. 

Atsumu held his hands up. “Woah, woah. I would never!”

Kita’s eyes bore into Atsumu’s before briefly walking away. Atsumu gulped before facing his brother. He gave him and Suna and small thumbs up with a stupid face mouthing “we got this”.

Throughout the entirety of the match Atsumu was attempting to show off more than normal. Surprisingly to every member of the team, he didn’t mess up. At all. 

“‘Samu, for the next play we should do the soul swap.”

“Stop giving things weird names.”

“I’m taking that as a yes.”

Osamu rolled his eyes as the team readied themselves on the court. The opposing team served the ball over to the net. Aran did a diving receive leading up to the twins to do the attack successfully, scoring a point for the match. The attack got the entire team in the zone and the twins competition with each other was flowing over the brim. 

It wasn’t before long that Inarizaki had won the match. 

After thanking the other team for the game Osamu walked up to his brother. “Why were you being more irritating than usual? Why're you trying to show off more than normal?”

“I just wanted to set you up to look better in front of her.” Atsumu nodded his head towards the stands. Osamu's eyes landed on you. He broke out into an excited smile. Quite frankly, it scared everyone of the team who saw it. Osamu was usually so deadpan with his expressions, it was alarming. 

Without another word, Osamu began to jog towards you. 

“You didn’t tell me you were coming to a match! This is our last practice match before nationals. We leave tom-.”

“‘Samu! Why didn’t you ever tell me you were so good! Every time you spiked the ball it looked so cool! I didn’t know you could do all of that!” You looked at the boy in astonishment. His face turned bright red. 

“I texted Atsumu about it last minute because I wanted to surprise you before you leave. And you’re right, there weren't a lot of people.” You smiled. 

“Sorry you had to see Atsumu flub his serves a lot today. He’s not as good as he thinks he is.”

You just laughed and waved it off. “Everyone makes mistakes, ‘Samu.”

“But especially ‘Tsumu, I mean you saw him.” He turned over his shoulder. “Oi, ‘Tsumu! Y/N said you suck!” You quickly shook your head over at Atsumu who looked like he could murder his brother. 

“‘Samu!” You slapped his shoulder. His hands slid into yours with ease as the two of you laughed. By now every single member of the Inarizaki boy’s volleyball team was staring at the two the two of you interacting. Confusion and shock and disgust (Atsumu) were on everyone’s face as they started to clean the court. 

Osamu quickly rushed over to help clean after mentioning to you to wait for him so you can come over and help him pack. He went to the locker room to take a fast shower and by the time he was out, you were surrounded by Aran, Kita, and Suna. Instead of seeing you reserved with a worried expression, you were laughing. More importantly, you got both Kita and Aran laughing at what you said. Atsumu appeared next to his twin.

“I can’t fucking believe it. Your girl actually got Kita to laugh. She’s a godsend.” Osamu nodded as he watched you from across the gym, his mouth slightly agape. Suna walked up to the twins. “I didn’t know you got a girlfriend, Osamu. She’s really sweet.”

“She’s really amazing, I-”

“Believe it or not they’re not actually dating. They just spend an obnoxious amount of time together in our house. Cuddling on the couch or cooking. Invading my homelife. The only good thing is that she makes ‘Samu less rude and doesn’t mind bringing me food or cooking for me. Dunno why ‘Samu won’t ask her out, it-”

“Watch it asshole. I have a plan-”

“Obviously not, she’s obviously in love with you, she probably isn’t even sure if you like her. You know she’s too shy to ask you anything.”

“That’s not true.”

“Then why has she talked to me about it?” 

“Stop fucking lying to me.” 

“But I’m not-”

Osamu harshly punched his brother's side. 

“I hate you.”

“Shut the fuck up.”  

The twins looked up to see you, Kita and Aran walking over. They both plastered smiles over while Suna looked irritated.

“Ready to go?” 

Osamu smiled walking up to you, grabbing your hand. He waves over his shoulder to everyone. 

“See you guys tonight!”

“It was nice meeting you, Y/N-san!” Kita smiled at you. The twins looked dumbstruck.

“You too, Kita-san! Bye everyone!”

You and the twins began to walk back to their home. 

“‘Samu, you didn’t have to walk me home, it’s out of the way of the high school.” You laughed. He swung your clasped hands as the two of you stepped in front of your front door. 

“I know but I wanted to.”

“Well, I’ll see you when you get back. I’ll be watching the live streams so you better play well for me.” You let go of his hand to turn to your door but he grasped it again. He pulled you into his chest for a hug.

“I’m gonna miss you.”

You pressed further into him, hugging him back.

“Right back at you.” You leaned up to place a small kiss on his cheek. The two of you paused, staring at each other as if to acknowledge what you just did. Osamu’s eyes flickered down to your lips before slowly leaning down. His lips gently brushed against yours, placing a soft, chaste kiss on them. 

“I’m definitely going to win nationals now.” Osamu pulled away with a gentle smile resting on his lips. 

“I’ll see you next week, okay?” With that, Osamu kissed the top of your forehead and began walking down the street. 

Your fingers grazed your own lips, wondering what just happened

Though you’ve been watching Inarizaki play, you’ve barely heard from either of the twins. Just a hey or sorry text for not responding once or twice a day. You knew that they were insanely busy, but didn’t try to overthink it too much. They’re supposed to come home this morning, but it was already dipping into the late afternoon, but you didn’t want to call or text since you knew they’d be exhausted. Especially after their loss against the team from Miyagi. 

Your phone buzzed gently beside you

Miya Atsumu: Hey, I don’t know where ‘Samu is, but can you come over and cook for me, our parents are out of town again. 

You rolled your eyes. You were already rushing to put on a sweater and lacing up your sneakers before hauling out the front door. 

You raised your hand to knock on the Miya’s door to be greeted face to face with their volleyball captain.

“Kita-san? Did Atsumu ask you to help him cook too?”

 He shook his head and Aran appeared over his shoulder. The two of them presented to you small bouquets of flowers. You lifted an eyebrow at them but the two men just smiled and stepped aside for you to walk in. 

You walk forward to the living room to see the furniture moved out of the way with a small picnic blanket covering the wood floor. With candles and pillows. Best of all, you recognized all of the favorites Osamu has ever cooked for you on little plates, neatly organized. 

Osamu stepped out into your view, behind him were other members of the team, soft smiles resting on their faces (except Suna). 

“I would’ve definitely made this outside but it’s just a tad chilly, so I hope this suffices.”

Osamu carefully grabbed the flowers out of your hands and placed them on the ground before grasping your hands in his. 

“Sorry for kissing you and just not saying much of anything. When we were in Tokyo, outside of playing, the team and I planned this out, that’s why I wasn’t answering.” His grip tightened gently, his thumbs now rubbing over the tops of your hands. 

“I really like you. I’m so glad that we bumped into each other that day in the library. I enjoy you coming over here every weekend, and especially now since you come over more. I enjoy spending my time with you and I hope to do it for a long time. Will you be my girlfriend?”

You nodded before throwing your arms around his neck. He held you tightly before placing a small kiss on your cheek, flashing a thumbs up to everyone signaling it was time for them to head out. 

He pulls away and places his finger under your chin mumbling “thank god for that cookbook.” Before going in for a kiss.

[sunshine-or-some-shit]

Never Let Them See You Cry (Platonic! Aizawa x student Reader)

A/N: I don’t really know what to write right now so please send in requests if you have them! In the meantime, here is some Aizawa being an amazing teacher because he really is and I love the big sleepy dork.

Quirk: Puppeteer: The user can connect strings to another’s body through physical contact. It allows them to essentially turn them into a puppet. The drawbacks are that if the strings are not placed correctly, it is harder to control the person. Additionally, the victim of the quirk does not lose consciousness, so they can try to fight back. If trained enough, the user can shoot the strings out like strings or webs to trap someone.

It had been a rough day, worse than the others at least. You had been training with your quirks in Class 1-B today, and general studies or management kids were occasionally brought out for class (management was learning about publicizing and general studies was studying the development of heroes). Either way, the condescending mumbles and whispers directed your way were not good for your concentration. After a particularly rough hit from Tetsu (which he excessively apologized for), you had to limp your way off to Recovery Girl’s office. Then some of the management kids decided to follow you on the way. 

“God, I would hate to be their manager! Imagine how bad a so-called hero with a villain quirk is when she can’t even win a fight.”

“I’m surprised they even let someone like that into the hero studies. I mean, how is it going to look on UA when she turns into some psycho villain!”

Ignore them, you thought, hands clenched tight around your arms as you hobbled through the nearly empty hallways. If you lash out, you will only prove them wrong. People never believed you when you said you wanted to help people. Fate is cruel, giving you the ability to control another person’s movements. Thankfully, as you got to Recovery Girl’s office, their insults shouted directly at you turned into a normal conversation between the two of them, laughing as they continued down the hall to loop back to class.

That is what led to you standing in the middle of the training field as everyone started to leave. Shaking from the strain on your body, breath uneven, and training uniform jacket stripped to reveal the black tank underneath. The mannequin you dragged out to practice on was undamaged, but strings tightly pulled the arms back to restrain it. Your knees gave out from under you, making you tumble to the ground. Tears pricked your eyes as your forearms and thighs pressed into the dirt. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. What a stupid dream of being a hero.

“You should probably head home, you know.”

A gruff voice spoke out monotonously nearby, causing you to slowly lift your head. Eraserhead, the Class 1-A teacher stood a few feet away, with his arms crossed over his chest, and the infamous scowl on his face. You stumbled to your feet, muttering a quiet ‘sorry’. You hung your head, ready to be reprimanded for staying past school times. The sound of him walking closer filled your ears. To your surprise, when he got close enough, he laid a gentle hand on your shoulder.

“You have the puppet quirk right? I think I remember you from the entrance exams. What’s got you out here?” He mumbled, looking down at you with same tired look as always. The tears that had once pricked your eyes came streaming out, a shaky sob wracking your body. He let out a quiet sigh before moving the hand on your shoulder to the back of your head, pulling you in for a surprisingly comforting hug. It lasted for a few moments before you pulled back, rubbing your red and puffy eyes with the back of hands. 

Your gaze lowered back down to the ground, the situation dawning on you that you just cried on the teacher of the main hero course. “I’m sorry that you had to come out here to get me, sir.” You mumbled, not daring to look him in the eye. 

He placed the hand back on your shoulder, continuing to stare down at you. “Never let them tell you who to be. If you want to be a hero, then there is no way that a misleading quirk could turn you into a villain, you hear me?” You looked up at him in shock, mouth agape that we knew. “I heard some of those management kids earlier today. Next time they watch your class, I want you to stand your ground against any opponent and show them how capable you are.” A small smile formed on your face that Aizawa mimicked. You nodded, going to gather your stuff that you had thrown to the side. “Oh, one last thing (Y/L/N).”

You turned to look at him, tilting your head in curiosity. “What is it?” He started to walk back toward the entrance of the school, before turning to look back at you.

“Never let them see you cry. When you are a hero, you need to seem happy. Also, talk to the school about getting tutored by me. You ever thought of trying to restrain someone without touching them?” He hummed. “Now get out of here before I have to write you up and make more paperwork for myself.

“Thanks, Mr.Aizawa,” You smiled, before running to the gate of U.A. Tomorrow is a new day. A day to be the best hero you can be. Never let those who will only judge you on the bad things see you cry. Show them how strong you can be, and let those who accept you for everything, the good and the bad, see your vulnerable side.

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A/N: Ugggghhh I can’t write endings I’m so sorry but please listen to those last few sentences if you feel that way. You are worth it. No matter what flaws you have, you are worthy of a happy and healthy life. It won’t always be easy, but if you work to be a hero, either for yourself or for others, it will pay off. I care for you and so many others do. Never feel afraid to message me, either with a request or you just need to rant <3.