#'oh Ivan so prideful to think you have heard it all' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

valenthewhore · 2 years

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5 ᔕEᑕOᑎᗪᔕ

↳ Vince Note: This was supposed to be ANGST but no- my mind and fingers said no <3 so you get fluff- there will be more parts- short series go brr- also I made this for pride month- Ik im late T^T

↳ FT: Luka x male reader

↳ Word Count: 2346

↳ Warnings: Confident!Juleka, everyone is aged up not for nasty purposes- just this kinda thing doesn't fit in the school universe of things, Pining!Luka, Adrien is implied to be Luka's ex

↳ Playlist: You Feel Romantic, Sharing Headphones with Luka Couffaine

The crowd was in full swing as Kitty Section jammed out on the stage. they were barely on their 5th song of the set and everyone was feeling the moment. Luka felt the exhilarating rush emanating from the crowd. The best part of putting on these shows was seeing everyone happily enjoying themself.

As they finished off the last song, he was breathless but nonetheless happy as can be. He grabbed the mic, “Thank you for coming Paris!”The crowd cheered which only made him smile wider from ear to ear. His eyes surveyed the venue as he and the rest of Kitty Section left the stage. People were already leaving and that was when his eyes landed on you. You looked flushed from the rush of the concert, and you too were smiling from ear to ear as you said something to a friend. It hadn’t been more than 5 seconds since he looked at you, but it felt like an eternity.

“Luka c’mon the next band needs the stage-”

“Coming-”

It had been awhile since that night, and he couldn’t get your smile off his mind. He had performed many of these concerts before, each leaving the crowd smiling and cheering. Even the ones that didn’t go as planned left the crowd in such a blissful effect. “Luka you need to stop thinking about him-” Juleka strutted onto the boat, her brightly dyed purple hair in a ponytail with Rose following shortly after. “C’mon Jules- I let you rave about Rose all the time, let me have this.”

“In her defense we are a couple-” Rose piped up in her cheerful voice as she started to place the equipment together with the help of Juleka. “Exactly-” Juleka reveled in teasing her older brother, “Besides- What if he’s not in Paris anymore?”

“I’d have to move on I guess-” It had sucked, he’s lived in Paris his whole life, and not once had he seen you before. Either you had just moved to Paris or you were visiting. He really hoped it was the latter. “Where’s Ivan- He was supposed to have been here by now-” Rose said, noticing their drummer was missing. It was as if fate had placed a blessing hand upon Luka that day as he heard someone running up to the boat.

“Sorry! Sorry!”

You were like some kind of angel… that was until you stepped onto the boat and immediately tripped over a wire that was loose. You immediately got up and picked yourself up. Everyone was looking at you as if they saw a ghost. Maybe your fall was more horrible than you thought and now you were beyond embarrassed.

“Sorry for the intrusion. My name is Y/N- Ivan won’t be able to make it today!” You were so polite and Luka was ready to jump off the boat and into the seine. “We are all at a Nature March- and he hadn’t realized he left his phone here-” You continued feeling even more embarrassed. No one was saying anything and it was getting awkward. “He asked me if I could grab his phone and also tell you guys he can’t make it.” You finished with a smile hoping that would make everyone stop staring at you weirdly.

Juleka cleared her throat and lightly shoved Luka on his side, jolting him back to his senses, “Oh um yes- Ivan’s phone-” With that Luka disappeared below the deck and into the kitchen where he promptly began to freak out. He made short paces from one end to the other, hand placed on his chin as he connected the dots, “Nature March… Ivan..” His mind was already racing to infinite possibilities. How did you know Ivan? How was this the first he’s heard of you? Was Ivan trying to pull on over on you- He wouldn’t right?

“Luka if you keep hiding down here, you’re going to have to explain yourself to him,” Juleka came below the deck, arms crossed as she made eye contact with Ivan’s phone on a table not more than 3 steps away.

“I can’t go up there. Fate is playing a trick on me-” Luka sighed slumping down on one of the nearest chairs.

“What happened to the old Luka, by now you would have flirted your way into a 3rd date.”

“I think I lost my edge-”

“Don’t tell me you’re still messed up because of him, It’s been months, you have to find your groove again. He’s found his touring all of france for his fashion shows with her-” Juleka placed a comforting hand on her brother’s shoulder, “Just start with giving him Ivan’s phone- you know the thing the came here for- It’s already been 5 minutes”

Luka let out a sigh and took the phone from her hand, “You’re right-”

With that both of them walked back up to the top deck, one felt proud of herself for cheering up her older brother, the other felt like jumping off the boat was still a valid and promising option in this whole thing. “Found it-” He walked over to you with his famous Luka smile adorned on his lips as he handed you the phone.

“Thank you!” You gladly accepted the phone with a smile of your own, Luka’s knees sure felt very weak at that moment. Your smile was like music but for his eyes. “I’ll get this to Ivan! It was nice meeting you guys! Your last concert was my first one and it was off the chain!”

“Really you liked it?” Luka asked more gladly to hear those words than he would outwardly admit.

“Oh yeah! Ivan has been raving about your band for like ever and now that I’m in Paris I just had to check it out!” You pocketed Ivan’s phone, “I should be going, I would hate to miss much more of the Nature March-”

“Yeah wouldn’t want that-”

Just as you were about to start leaving Luke grabbed your hand, “Just a second-” He disappeared into the deck but this time didn’t take so long, and came back out with two paris of tickets, “Here- for our next concert if you are still in town by then- Maybe you can come backstage after? We’ll gladly sign something for you-” God when had he become so bad at flirting?

You looked at the tickets in awe and gladly took them, “Heck yeah! I’ll see you guys then!” You waved off leaving the boat making sure not to trip on anything on your way out.

“Look at you Luka, you did it!” Rose cheered him on giving him a pat on the back. “Yeah after I had to knock him back into his senses” Juleka hugged Rose from behind, “You did great too Jules-” She lightly patted the hands of her lover.

“He’s coming to see me-” Luka was overjoyed.

As the days went on, Luka was practicing more than usual. He would run through the set list hours before the rest of the band arrived and hours after they’d leave to go live their lives. On their break days he’d be coming up with new music to try and wow you constantly texting Rose for lyric ideas and thoughts on new melodies he was working on that would best fit you.

“Luka you cannot be seriously working on that right now it’s 3 am and we have our concert tomorrow-” Juleka leaned against the door of his bedroom, “Have you even slept? Everyone else went to sleep 5 hours ago?”

“Well it’s kinda hard to sleep J u l e k a- He’s going to be in the crowd and I want it to be perfect-”

“Well it will flop if you fall asleep in the middle of it-” Juleka walked over to him grabbing all of his utensils and shutting off his laptop ignoring his protests. “Look- you obviously like him, he liked your music before you knew of his existence, just play like you regularly would and you’ll do fine capisce?”

Begrudgingly he agreed, allowing himself to fall back on the bed, his eyes trained on the ceiling as he heard the click of his door. Would you like the concert? He put his whole effort into making this one the best one he’s ever done. He hoped he could see that smile again-

“That goes over there-”

“Yes ma’am”

Juleka was busy making sure everything was going smoothly, their usual manager was expanding her fashion design career on a tour with Adrien Agreste all over Paris, so Juleka had to pick up the slack.

Her eyes trailed over to where her brother stood looking out onto the crowd from the safety of the curtain. He was a hopeless mess over you and it was showing to everyone around him. Luka bit his lip so slightly as his eyes landed on you walking into the venue, your arms linked with Mylene's. You looked so happy he could stare at you all day. The way you laughed at something Mylene had said. The way you had gotten embarrassed at something and looked so shy.

“C’mon Luka we are starting-”

“Coming!”

The concert ended like most of their usual ones with the crowd cheering their name and asking for an encore. Luka was breathless, his hand stretched out into the air, a rock and roll sign on a clear display. He was feeling such a rush and as hoped you had a great time too. As the crowd dispersed, you and Mylene made your way to the backstage.

“You were amazing Ivan!” Mylene congratulated her boyfriend with a hug and just general affection that would make sad and lonely people hate them for existing. “Yeah you were all really great!” You continued averting your eyes from the couple- and instead you eyes landed on Luka who was smiling from ear to ear which only made you worried. “Is there something on my face?”

Juleka nudged him slightly, “Sorry what did you say?” Luka cleared his throat with a cough and a hand to his mouth.

“Was there something on my face? You were kind of um staring-”

“ No! No there’s nothing, just um exhaustion?” If he wasn’t sure why he would say exhaustion of all things. And his answer made the whole group chuckle. All except You, Ivan, and Mylene. The three of you weren’t sure what was wrong.

“Um so anyways- Thanks for the tickets!! I’m glad I was able to make it to another one of your concerts!” You reached into your bag and pulled out one of their albums, “Truth be told I’ve been listening to your songs for months, since Ivan told me about you all and um if you don’t mind could you sign this?” You handed the album to Luka with a gleeful smile on your face, “Oh um could you all sign it-” You followed up with noticing how everyone was staring.

Luka stared at the album in his hand, “Uh yeah yeah we can- pen- I need a pen-” with that Luka disappeared off somewhere to get a pen or sharpie.

“So how’d you and Ivan meet?” Juleka handed you a can of soda internally realizing her brother would take forever to get a pen.

“Funny story actually, we met a couple months ago at an ecologist convention. I was going to do a speech on climate change. I was supposed to be on stage B but I got it completely mixed up and went to stage A” You fumbled with your fingers explaining yourself. “After the whole mix up was solved we all exchanged numbers and kept in touch,” Mylene continued for you as she was canoodling with Ivan.

“Yeah after that Ivan told me about his band and since then I have been listening to all your songs!” You said excitedly. You really were happy for this chance to meet them all in person. Just a you were about to say something else Luka came back with the album in one hand and a sharpie in the other. He handed it back to you with a sheepish grin.

“I already signed it for you,” He leaned over pointing at his signature that was just LUKA in bold letters. He didn’t even have to point at it, it took over most of the space which only made you stifle a giggle, “Thank you Luka, if I didn’t already know your name, I do now.”

“You are so welcome-” it was almost like only the both of you were the only ones in the room, and the romantic tension in the room was oh so evident to everyone else but you. Juleka cleared her throat, shifting her brother out the way, “I wanna sign it too!” she gave you a slight wink as she signed her name in a cute flurry ending it with a heart and passing it along to the other members till it reached Ivan.

“Oh yeah I almost forgot- I need to take leave for 5 days-” He signed his name on the album in a pretty plain way and handed it back to you.

“You are?” Luka questioned putting away his guitar into its case, a gleeful smile on his face from the prior exchange.

“Yeah we are all going to London for a retreat with all the people in our group-” Ivan stood up helping the band pack away the stuff with Mylene’s help of course. “Well I am not going to stop you-” Luka finished slinging his guitar case over his shoulder, his eyes slowly returning back to you. You were absolutely beautiful in his eyes. He kept staring at you; he almost missed what was said.

“Luka you should come to-” Juleka said as she wrapped a hand around Rose.

“Come where-” Luka was lost, maybe he shouldn’t have checked out mentally while checking you out.

“To London with us! It’s only a five day trip! And the convention could really use your lively music.” You beamed at him.

“Sure-”

Taglist: @hangesidekick @straydestiny

Comment or send a message if you want to be part of the taglist

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honeydazai · 3 years

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with a reader who has anemia

characters: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Dazai Osamu, Chūya Nakahara, Nikolai Gogol

so, FYODOR is anemic himself

he understands your suffering well enough

he often gets dizzy when standing up and so do you

romantic couple experiences ☺️☺️

both of your hands are always cold

so neither of you can warm the other up

which is sad

but at least he won't complain if you sleep beneath multiple blankets at night!!

headaches are a constant annoyance for you both

Ivan will carry painkillers for you two to share 👍🏻

when you're about to faint, he might try and catch you

but if he gets up too quickly, his own legs suddenly give out 🤧🤧

now you both collapsed

congratulations

he doesn't mind you clinging to his side if you're feeling exhausted just from standing for too long

he's got the same problem, but he's too prideful to use you as support LMAO

instead tries to casually lean against a wall to ease the exhaustion

also, he probably never takes his meds

relatable

if you're female and his s/o though, you're in tough luck

because he knows that anemia with women can lead to complications during pregnancy

so if there's any plans of you and him ever having a child, he'll force you to take your medication

even if he doesn't take his own

hypocrisy at its finest 🤨🤨

“Hm? Are you feeling exhausted already? Oh my, you're in a worse condition than I am today. Just hold onto my arm, then. I've said before that it doesn't bother me when you use me as support.”

DAZAI actually knows you're anemic before you even tell him

the signs are all there - your regular complaints about headaches and the way you cling to him when you're cold, despite the temperature not being low at all

the way you get so pale when having to stand for too long, your nausea-

yeah, it's quite obvious to him

so when you actually faint around him, he's prepared to catch you

he's quite dramatic about it, too

thinks the way he caught you in his arms is romantic <3

he actually likes that your skin's all pale, claims that it's pretty 🤨🤨

also, he kind of enjoys it when you lean against his side while walking when you get exhausted??

it makes him feel..... needed

if you're on a walk together and you need to sit down and catch your breath, Dazai always makes sure you don't feel like a bother

especially if he knows you're insecure about it, he makes up excuses for you to get some rest

he's like

"oh, darling, look! there's this new crêpe shop I wanted to check out! I'll get us some, you already go and save us a seat, alright?"

and even though it might not seem like it to you, he does take your condition seriously

immediately worries the moment your lips pale more than usual

he's overdramatic tbh

BUT HE JUST WANTS YOU TO BE ALRIGHT

YOU'RE EVERYTHING HE LIVES FOR

he's allowed to be a little worried

“Belladonna, you're looking really pale! Is it the anemia? Please lay down if you're feeling unwell. Look, we'll lift your legs up so you'll feel better, alright? This would be such a sad place for you to die! And how rude of you, too, to not take me with you.”

the first time CHŪYA notices that you're not entirely healthy is when he's walking you home after a date

since it's already dark outside and he can't help but worry, he insists on bringing you to your doorstep

a gentleman 😼😼

you're chatting cheerfully, Chūya's coat draped over your shoulders since you mentioned you're cold, when you suddenly ask him to stop for a moment

the second you sink to the ground to sit down for just a second, he's worried

have you been poisoned?? drugged??? are you getting your period??

you're quick to mention that you've simply got anemia before he panics

he's like

huh??

man has never heard of anemia in his life

as soon as you're less dizzy, you explain that it's just iron deficiency and that there's multiple symptoms to it

Chūya decides then and there that anemia sucks

now that he's aware, he's always ready to support you

will absolutely catch you when you suddenly faint or just so much as stagger a little

either in his arms or through using his ability if he's too far away

will scold you if you stand up too quickly and get all dizzy

honestly, he's overprotective

incredibly worried

will carry all your groceries for you if you're feeling weak

lets you cling to his side to support your weight

also, he's not scared to pick a fight if someone ever complains about you walking too slowly or needing to take a break

if said person doesn't back off after he yells or swears at them, he's won't hesitate to get physical

will use his ability, but doesn't have to

also likes to just break a jerk's nose while you sit, look pretty and rest

“No, love, please don't cry. That guy was an asshole and I took care of him, alright? He won't bother you again. Come on, I've got you. Just lean against me if you get dizzy again. I also don't mind carrying you, though.”

despite knowing Fyodor, NIKOLAI doesn't have a lot of experience in dealing with anemia

"not a lot" meaning none

the first time he notices you getting all dizzy and weak when standing up too quickly, he doesn't really react

probably thinks it's a one-time thing

the moment he gets that those moments of weakness happen regularly, he's confused

decides to just ask you about it

after you tell him about your illness, he has some kind of light bulb moment

he's like

OOOOH

finally understands why you nap a lot and suffer from constant headaches

honestly, a relationship with Nikolai can be difficult at times

this topic is no exception

it's, well, a double-edged sword

will mock your weak immune system tbh

he's like

“we literally went outside once and you already caught a cold?? LMAO you're just as bad as dos-kun!”

but he does care for you when you're sick!!

he's very clingy in general and it only gets worse when you feel bad or are in pain

you don't even have to mention you're cold, he simply always gives you something of his to wear

and he doesn't take no for an answer <3

he's constantly sticking to your side with some form of physical contact happening

cuddles might not help your headaches or nausea, but at least you're less cold

if you faint, he's at your side in an instant

though he might not take it very seriously 💔💔

he's just like

“oopsie-daisy, looks like you fell again! you're so silly!”

still, he's at least loyal and clings to you 24/7

when you need to lie down on the bathroom floor with your legs elevated, he's sitting next to you on the ground

no matter how long it takes until you feel better

“Oh, you need to sit down? Of course I'm joining you on the floor! Wait, I just had an idea - I could also just carry you everywhere. Oh, that'd be fun! Which one are you choosing; bridal style or a piggyback ride?”

notes: i was never able to relate to cute Fyodor imagines that are like "he's got anemia and cold hands, he cuddles close to you for warmth", so I decided to write something for readers with anemia LIKE ME 💔💔 we're an anemic power couple now, as long as we don't stand up too quickly.

if you liked this, consider tipping me on ko-fi! it'd mean a lot!

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whumpcereal · 2 years

Text

behavior modification

WRU has hired renowned behaviorist Dr. Ivan Peters to refine their training protocol for Romantic acquisitions. When Jack Kenyon--the brilliant young partner of one of Ivan’s med school rivals--applies to be Dr. Peters’ research assistant, he has no idea what he’s signing on for. Maybe reblog or leave a note if you feel so inclined? This is my first real whump offering, and I’m excited!

part one: jack and ivan at dinner

content warnings for creepy whumper, implied future captivity and noncon, dehumanization, and vague references to childhood trauma and specific psychiatric disorders

The restaurant is crowded, but not too loud. It isn’t the sort of place that ever gets out of hand. White linen table cloths, soft lighting, a gentle undercurrent of piano, polished stemware—everything exudes taste and class. Ivan knows it’s impressive; doing business here always gives him immediate caché with his potential interns. They want to be what he is. They want what he has.

Jack Kenyon is no different. At least, in theory. He is young and eager. He is looking to improve his resumé before applying to doctoral programs. He’s heard of Ivan’s work and wants to be a part of it.

But Jack Kenyon doesn’t know that he’s already been handpicked for a very special project.

Jack says all the right things, of course, and as he talks, Ivan lets his eyes move over the boy’s face, his body. Darling Jack takes pride in his appearance, that much is clear. Straight shoulders, lean jaw. Dark hair, thick, but neatly trimmed. Big blue eyes beneath a fringe of black lashes, the kind people always say are wasted on boys. Lips, sweet and pink; one corner lifts higher than the other when he speaks.

Ivan’s fly is tight just imagining what he’ll be able to do with those lips, the way those eyes will look up at him when sweet little Jack is on his knees where he belongs.

Ivan smiles at the thought and takes a careful sip of wine. “So, you’d want to focus on trauma work?”

“I do.” Jack nods eagerly. “I—it’s very important to me.”

He looks at Ivan for approval. It’s cute, Ivan thinks, how badly Jack already wants to please him. That will be useful. But Ivan will not tip his hand. Not yet.

“And why is it so important?”

It is a pointless question. Ivan already knows the answer. He’s done his research. But Ivan enjoys seeing the sudden alarm in Jack’s eyes anyway; it suits him. It is an animal’s unconditioned response.

“Oh, uh—”

“You don’t have to say, Jack. Not if you don’t want to.”

But darling Jack knows better. If he wants this position, he has to answer. And Jack wants this position.

At least, he thinks he does.

“No. It’s fine. I—well, I was in the system when I was a kid.”

“Foster care?”

“Yes.”

“I suppose you saw a lot of things.”

“I did,” Jack says softly. “I was a really angry kid. Oppositional-defiant disorder, intermittent explosive disorder—”

“Post-traumatic stress disorder?”

Jack nods, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.

Ivan’s seen the boy’s records, of course. Seven foster care placements before he was twelve, then a series of halfway houses and group homes until seventeen. And a stint in juvenile detention at thirteen, for attacking his foster father. The man had gone after Jack, and not for a beating. And Jack, sweet little Jack—he’d fought back.

Ivan hopes Jack still has some fight left in him. It’ll keep things interesting.

“But I got help,” Jack is saying. “There was—one of the group homes, it was actually run by someone who gave a shit—” he winces, and it’s adorable, “I’m sorry—someone who knew what they were doing. They hooked me up—connected me with my first counselor, and it was maybe the first time in my life I didn’t feel like what had happened to me was my fault. I—I’d like to do that for other kids—other people like me.”

Ivan nods. Jack will never do any of that, of course. But that doesn’t mean he won’t have his uses. Ivan will make sure of it.

“That’s a noble goal, Jack. To be of service.”

And he will be. When Ivan is done with him, Jack’s only use will be to serve.

“Thanks. But I’m not doing it to be noble.”

“Of course not,” Ivan agrees. “We’re all in this because we want to help people. Because we want them to find what they’re meant to be.”

Jack’s blue eyes light up. “Exactly. That’s exactly it.”

“You understand that my work isn’t exclusively trauma-based, yes?”

It is a white lie. What Jack doesn’t know won’t hurt him until Ivan decides that it should.

“Oh, yeah. But behavioral analysis is key to a lot of trauma-related therapy, right?”

Ivan nods. “Of course.”

“Then I’m sure working with you would be an incredible opportunity.”

“No need to flatter me, Jack. You’re doing quite well, you know?”

Jack’s cheeks flush a beautiful shade of red, and he fumbles for his own wineglass. “Well, thanks, Dr. Peters. I—I really wasn’t expecting to hear from you.”

“Your resumé is very impressive. And you’re just what I’m looking for. You understand that this project is at the request of a corporate investor?”

Jack nods. “I was going to ask—”

“Oh, we can’t discuss specifics,” Ivan says. “Not until final decisions are made. Legal matters, you know. But I need someone to, ah, sell the company on my research. And you, Mr. Kenyon, are a very strong candidate.”

Darling Jack looks quite pleased with himself. Ivan wonders what the boy will look like when he realizes what’s going to happen to him, what he’ll become. Perhaps those blue eyes will fill with tears before they go blank forever.

It will be beautiful.

“That’s wonderful to hear,” says Jack.

“It’s the truth,” Ivan demurs. “Your graduate transcripts are outstanding, and to already have some publications under your belt? That’s quite impressive. I want someone with a sharp mind.”

The sharper the mind, the more fascinating it will be to dismantle. He smiles at Jack.

“I certainly hope I can offer you that,” Jack says with a laugh.

“I’ll take all you’ve got,” Ivan promises. He leans back in his upholstered chair, swirling the dregs of his wine. “Speaking of—this position is rather an intense commitment. I’d have to be sure that the person who takes it has the time necessary to devote to our research.”

“I mean, the semester is over soon. I’d be all yours after that.”

Oh, does Ivan like the sound of that.

“Would you? You don’t have any—personal entanglements that might weigh on your time?”

Jack grimaces, and Ivan feigns concern, even though he knows what Jack is about to say.

“Actually, I—”

“Yes?”

Jack scratches self-consciously at the back of his neck, and Ivan can’t help but imagine what that long, white throat will look like when it’s collared. There is an insistent twitch low in Ivan’s belly, and he spreads his legs just a bit wider beneath the table.

Jack’s cheeks are red again. “I—about that—well, you’re going to think this is crazy—I mean, it’s a small world, right?”

“Is it?”

Ivan knows precisely how small the world is, but he waits patiently for darling Jack to explain. The boy runs a nervous hand through his hair. An unconscious defense mechanism. Gorgeous.

“I’m actually involved with—I live with—I mean, I’ve been seeing Dr. Joseph Prescott?”

Ivan laughs. “Oh, of course. Old Joe.”

It was a minor scandal among their graduating class. Joe Prescott and his handsome infant of a graduate assistant, shacking up together. Jack was at least ten years their junior. But perhaps Joe and Ivan had more in common than Ivan had ever realized. Perhaps they both liked easy prey.

Jack bites the soft pink of his bottom lip. “I, well, I know that you two went to med school together. And that you didn’t really—I mean, you weren’t—uh—”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Jack,” Ivan purrs. “No, Joe and I were not close. But then we can’t all be psychiatrist to the stars, can we?”

“That’s an overstatement. But Joe says that you were brilliant. Are, I mean. You are brilliant.”

“I am.” Ivan drains the last of his cabernet, politely blotting his lips with his linen napkin when he sets the glass back down. He is sure that Joe Prescott has other things to say about him, things that have nothing to do with his brilliance, but he won’t bring them up just now. “And you’re brilliant too, my boy. Your—relationship with Joe has no bearing on our work together. It’s immaterial.”

Or, at least, it will be. When Ivan is done with Jack, if all goes according to plan, the boy won’t even remember that there is a Joe Prescott. And even if he does, old Joe won’t ever see his pretty little boy again. Of course, Ivan’s work with Jack is about scientific knowledge—but watching Joe Prescott suffer will be an added benefit.

“Oh,” Jack says. “Well, that’s—that’s good, right?”

“Terrific,” Ivan replies. He nods to the sommelier, who returns to the table with what remains of their bottle of wine and fills Ivan’s glass again. Ivan leans forward. “You know, I saw that your Dr. Prescott is on the list of keynote speakers at next week’s APA conference.”

Jack beams, holding his glass out to the sommelier as well. “He is, yeah! On trauma-informed practices in combination therapy. He’s practiced for me. It’s going to be great.” He smiles to himself. “Joe’s the best. If I can be half the clinician he is someday—”

“—he is, isn’t he?” Ivan interrupts. “Will you be attending the conference then, Jack?”

And there’s that pretty blush again; Ivan hopes he never loses it.

“No. I mean, someone has to stay at home with the dog, right?”

“The dog?”

Jack laughs, and Ivan is not immune to the sharp line of the boy’s jaw as his head tips back.

“Carl. Our Berner. He’s a bit of a diva—he’d never forgive us if we left him all alone.”

Ivan clicks his tongue. “But you’ll miss Joe’s presentation.”

And Jack will be all alone.

“I told you—he’s practiced for me. I don’t mind. Besides, it’s the end of the semester. Finals to proctor, papers to grade.”

“No rest for the wicked, then?” Ivan says warmly.

“There’ll be other conferences.”

There won’t be. Not for darling Jack. No conferences. No papers. No doctorate. Nothing that requires thought or choice. He’ll be a sweet little lab rat.

Perhaps Ivan should be more concerned about depriving the psychological community of what Jack Kenyon has to offer, but he is not. Jack certainly has other charms that Ivan will enjoy taking for himself.

“If I get the job—” Jack hesitates, and then he smiles nervously at Ivan, “If I get the job, who knows? Maybe we’ll present our research together the next time.”

Ivan only raises his eyebrows. WRU certainly won’t want this research made public, and if Jack knew what he was in for, he wouldn’t either.

“Dr. Peters?”

“Hmm?”

“I—I know the interview isn’t over, but—”

Ivan smiles. “I’m looking forward to working with you, Jack.”

The boy’s face lights up. “You are?”

“Of course. The interview was mostly a formality; I just wanted to put a face to the name.”

“That’s amazing! I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the opportunity.”

“I know you’ll be perfect for me,” says Ivan.

“I’ll do my best not to let you down, sir.”

If Ivan were more committed to the bit, he would tell the boy not to call him ‘sir,’ but he does not; after all, it’s one less thing that sweet little Jack will have to learn.

“Is all the information on your resume correct, Jack? Phone number, home address, that sort of thing? It’s important that my office can get ahold of you next week while I’m at the conference.”

Jack nods. “Oh, yeah. Everything’s current.”

“Perfect.”

It is, too. With Ivan out of town, no one will be able to tie him to Jack’s inevitable disappearance. And with old Joe at the conference, no one will know that Jack’s gone. Not until it’s too late.

Ivan raises his glass. “Someone from my office will be in contact next week with all the necessary paperwork. Shall we toast to our new arrangement, Mr. Kenyon?”

Jack’s smile is infectious. “I think we shall.” He clinks his wineglass gently against Ivan’s. “Thank you so much, Dr. Peters. I can’t wait to get started.”

Oh, sweet little Jack. “Neither can I.”

next >

#whump #whump writing #behavior modification #creepy/intimate whumper #captivity whump #psychological whump #box boy whump #sort of #jack kenyon oc #ivan peters oc #maybe let me know what you think!

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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youtube

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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hqamore · 3 years

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boreal star ✵ chapter one

people cannot outrun their past, not even the all-powerful darkling. and it so happens that his past just arrived at the palace gates.

series genre: romance & angst

series pairing: [past?] general kirigan (the darkling/aleksander) x reader

word count: 1.6k

non-english words: durak (a stupid man, a fool) & dorogaya (darling, sweetheart)

note: hope all is well! i was surprised to actually see interactions with the preview, so thank you very much. if you enjoy what you read, a comment goes a long way in terms of encouragement! if you have any questions or see any issues, i welcome pms or asks!

here’s the masterlist

when you arrived at the palace gates, a heavy guard presence and a lengthy line came into your sight. various emotions were scattered amongst the people: anticipation, dread, and hope. the line crept forward, guards tossing out several individuals in the process.

“the palace grounds are not open to visitors! if you do not have official business and papers to vet you, get lost!”

there was a pause followed by a number of sulking ravkans excusing themselves, grumbling about the sun summoner. the guards shook their heads as they continued processing each person.

when it was your turn, the guard gave you a dead look as he scanned your frame. “did you not hear what i said, little one? no papers, no entry.”

you offered him a tight smile. “i may not have any papers, but i think you’ll find the alternative plenty sufficient.”

he raised an eyebrow unconvinced. you rolled your eyes before gathering your hands in front of you. suddenly, he began floating in the air. gasps littered around you. the other guards, seeing their comrade in the air, rushed over and pointed their guns at you. as you lifted your arms in surrender, the floating guard found himself quickly acquainted with the ground again.

you hummed. “a six out of ten on the landing. what d’you think, boys?”

“arrest ‘em!” the guard huffed, straightening himself. “then, alert the king. he’ll want to see this grisha for himself.”

you extended your arms and two guards dragged you with them. “alright, alright. no need to be so rough, lads.” they were unrelenting and marched you right onto the palace grounds.

well, there’s no going back now.

✵ ✵ ✵

you stared up at the ceiling in your cell when footsteps grew closer.

“get up,” commanded a guard.

you lifted your head and gave him a once over. “and for what?”

with the jingle of keys, your cell door creaked open. one of the guards stepped in with wooden shackles. “the king will see you now.”

“oh, lovely.”

a guard pulled you up and yanked your arms behind you, securing them in the shackles.

“you guys certainly like to use force. have you tried talking to someone about it? it’s not good form to treat allies like this,” you chattered.

ignoring you, they pushed you towards the stairwell. you lagged behind them as you took in the nostalgic walls of the grand palace. not much had changed since the last time you laid eyes upon them. it was just as boring as you had remembered.

when you entered the throne room, whispers faded. a guard pushed you onto your knees before presenting you to the king. “this is the grisha we spoke of, your highness.”

the king peered down his nose, expression unchanging.

“is it true you’re grisha?” he questioned.

you looked at him with a small smirk. “would you like a demonstration, moi tsar?”

the guards around you trained their guns on you. you glanced at them unimpressed as you continued, “i mean that with all due respect. i spoke the truth when i said i was grisha. i am only here to help ravka.”

the king rubbed his goatee. “i hear you made a man float. what does that make you?”

“an etherealki.”

“a squaller then?” he speculated.

you shook your head as your smile grew. “a gravity summoner.”

hushed conversations erupted at your words, confusion reflecting in everyone’s faces. the tsar leaned forward in his seat with intrigue.

“i have never heard of such a thing,” he said.

“i do pride myself on being one of a kind,” you drawled. “surely, you would like to see a demonstration.”

he waved an attendant over. “call a heartrender.”

then, he nodded to you. “you understand, don’t you? as king, you can never be too cautious.”

you bowed your head slightly, still maintaining your smile. “i’m honored you’d think of me as a threat.”

“i would be a fool not to,” he snorted.

before the attendant could make it out of the throne room, a dulcet tone spoke from behind you.

“there’s no need, your highness,” it called, sending shivers up your spine. “i came as soon as i caught wind of an unknown grisha.”

you feel the mass of two bodies approaching the king. you tensed as a black ketfa swept past you. met with a familiar silhouette, you held your breath and redirected your attention to the ground.

“though, i am confused, moi tsar. if the issue was about grisha, why did you not call for me?”

the king waved his hand and nonchalantly said, “i wanted you to focus on training the sun summoner. this is a minor issue. no more, no less.”

“i see.” the man nodded to the corporalki who fixed his sight on you. “ivan, listen to their heart and make sure—”

you heard his talking cease once his feet faced you. there was a brief pause. you inhaled deeply before lifting your eyes to meet his. in that moment, your mind raced.

he looks the same as the day i left him... except that cockamamie hair is new. hmph, he’s still stupidly handsome but also plain stupid looking. look at him trying to piece it together.

“general?” the corporalki called, pulling you out of your thoughts.

the darkling cleared his throat and ripped his eyes away from you to look at the guards. “unchain them please. we need to see what kind of grisha they are.”

the guards unlocked your shackles, allowing you to rub your chafed wrists. you pushed yourself up and studied him for a moment. “i should get on with, ya?” you asked.

ivan glanced at his general, concern furrowing his brows at his odd behavior. he returned his focus to you and nodded, raising his hands in front of him. “if you get any ideas… well, i’m sure you’re familiar with what a heartrender can do.”

you let out a mocking laugh. “you’d be surprised at what i could do before you could even start.”

instantly, you felt an intense pressure in your chest, making your knees buckle. the corporalki smirked as blood rushed to your temple. in your struggle, you scowled at kirigan before you centered your hands. you shoved your hands down, increasing gravity’s pull on the heartrender. the pain in your heart let up once he fell to the ground. you gasped for air.

releasing him, you shakily regained your footing and breath. “do not forget, durak, i am not the enemy. you would have already perished if i were.”

slow clapping drew your attention away. the king looked overjoyed.

“that was riveting! general, what do you make of her?”

you raised an eyebrow at his statement. “are you sure? i haven’t even done the fun part. i could do more like make everyone in the room float or...” you trailed.

when you peeked at the shadow summoner, you could see his tense jaw and closed fists. his dark eyes met yours before he turned to the king with a false smile. “i’m sure they will be a valuable asset to ravka with the proper training.”

the king let out a hearty laugh, “i’m sure they will! treat them as though you would treat me, general kirigan. i have a feeling they will win me more than just expeditions across the fold.”

both grisha men bowed and pivoted towards you. kirigan clasped his hand around your forearm before pulling you away from the room. your feet stuttered as you tried to match his pace.

“either slow down or let go of me!”

relentless, he continued to stalk across the courtyard towards the little palace. you tugged away from his grasp and planted yourself with your powers. he circled to face you, rage evident in his glare.

“leave us,” he commanded. without another word, ivan left the two of you.

i suppose he wouldn’t want to do this where there are others.

while he was pacing, you stood there silently and waited for his eventual outburst.

his eyes were closed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. a heavy sigh left his lips, “where have you been, [y/n]?”

“shu han, actually. it was quite lovely and the weather was just—”

“saints! [y/n], do i look to be in a gaming mood?” he yelled.

you tilted your head and your lips quirked. “no? then, why act as if you had no idea who i was? were we not playing pretend? you seemed so into the game, general kirigan.”

he closed in on you, his gaze burning. he opened his mouth but no words left it. he gritted his teeth and turned away as his hands clenched and unclenched.

“it has been thirty years, [y/n]. why return at all?”

in a moment of confidence, you inched closer to him. your hands slid up his back, onto his shoulders. you leaned into his ear. “for you, my love.”

you let go and created space between you. he spun slowly, his features riddled with disbelief. “you still have feelings for me?”

breathy laughter escaped you. “feelings for you, darling? don’t be ridiculous. as if any of my past affections for you could bring me back to this over-glorified cage you’ve created. no, aleksander, i’m here to ruin you.”

his body tensed before an arrogant smirk set on his lips. he crept nearer. “ruin me? i’d love to see you try. you forget, dorogaya, i have an army. what do you have?”

“you. or, rather, i know how your mind works. i know your tactics, general. let’s see how you fare when i pick you apart from the inside,” you sang as you brushed past him. “now, come show me to my room.”

continue to chapter two? yes

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone imagine #general kirigan x reader #general kirigan imagine #the darkling x reader #the darkling imagine #shadow and bone fanfiction #grishaverse fanfiction #aleksander morozova x reader #boreal star

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infjsnightmare · 3 years

Text

How You Met: Rats in the House of the Dead + DOA Style

***SPOILER ALERT*** Manga spoilers

A/N: Back at it again! Spoiler alert for this one, since it contains manga-only characters. Also, I will be including the last two mentioned members of the DOA in separate editions since one of them thematically is a bit more difficult to write for and the other one will fall into a different group for their edition. I mashed the Rats and the DOA together because neither had very many characters. I also didn't include Pushkin since we don't get much of his story, although if there is anyone particularly interested in him, I could write him in the extras. More brief author's notes under the cut for those who don't mind spoilers.

Spoiler A/N: Bram Stoker will likely be included in the extras since I will have to write it for him being pre-impailed, so I'm thinking something victorian or gothic stylistically. "Kamui" will be included in the Hunting Dogs edition for obvious reasons, so he does not appear in this one. So, here we go?

Fyodor: The top shelf. Of course that's where the canned peas you needed were. You'd been staring down the cans for at least 5 minutes now, wrestling with your pride about whether or not you should climb the shelf in the supermarket. Your eyes began to glaze over in thought, but you were brought out of it by a low hum to your right. A tall, pale man stood there beside you. He must have been watching for a good few minutes, too. The second he saw your eyes turn to his direction, he put on a honey-sweet smile and it had to have been the fakest one you'd ever seen. Your eyes narrowed as his slender arm moved past you to reach up and grab the can for you. Except... he put it in his cart and began to walk away, leaving you incredulous. Just then, he stopped, tilting his head to look over his shoulder at you. A devilish smirk had taken root on his face.

"Oh my, did you need one, too?"

Ivan: The cafe you frequented was crowded during the lunch-time rush, but you were lucky to have gotten there early, finding a nice window seat. You'd been sipping your tea, eyes focused dreamily on the book in front of you. The romantic fantasy between two strangers, the air of mystery as lovers meet. The book was all that you could focus on to drown out the onslaught of customers and chatter around you. Suddenly there was a slight shadow blocking the light from the cafe. You looked up, seeing a slender man with long, angelic locks and the most serene expression of joy on his face. Your eyes scanned the porcelain cup on his hand, noticing the tag for the tea was the same as yours. When his pale lips opened to speak, the most pleasant voice rang through.

"Excuse me, but is this seat taken? There don't seem to be many open spots at this time of day."

Mushitaro: You were at the bookstore, perusing the shelves half-heartedly. You'd been bored at work and your colleague had mentioned picking up reading as a hobby. Except you had no idea where to start. You thought that maybe a mystery would keep you entertained but, beyond that, you were clueless. You saw a well dressed man in a suit with slicked hair sheepishly glancing through the mystery section, while carrying what looked like an occult-based novel. You must have looked as out-of-place as you felt, since his eyes kept wandering from the shelves back to you. You quickly snatched a random book from the shelf and turned to go check out. The man grabbed a book from an author named Yokomizo and haughtily replaced the one you had taken. He sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"If you insist on reading a mystery, you should at least make sure it is one of quality."

Sigma: You'd heard about the sky casino from the old lady at your grocery store a few days ago and thought that it might be a fun weekend trip with a few friends. So, here you were getting settled into your room before heading out to test your luck. You were wandering through the hallways for at least 10 minutes before you realized you were thoroughly lost. Your friends had already headed out together as you said you would stay behind to unpack some things. You wished you had gone with them when you had the chance. You hastened your pace as you looked around each corner for any indicator of where you should go. You quickly turned into another hallway, crashing headfirst into what may just be the most gorgeous man you'd ever seen. Your face flushed scarlet as you began an incoherent stream of "I'm sorry"s. He held his hands up to placate you, a warm smile on his face, framed by his silver and lilac hair.

"Don't worry at all. I should be the one apologizing. After all, I'm the manager. It's my job to make sure everyone is alright and here I am bumping into a customer."

Nikolai: You had just gotten done viewing the latest installment in the SAW horror movie franchise. You were jittery as you exited theater number 13. All the excitement had your nerves on fire. You enjoyed watching horror movies, but sometimes you wished your friends would agree to come with you. You threw your empty popcorn container in the trash can. Standing next to it was a super lifelike jester mannequin. It must have been, since it didn't move even a centimeter and the expression never changed. You were admiring how well made it was. It must be for a new movie coming out and you wondered what kind of movie it would be. But, it suddenly moved out of position and grabbed you, the white braid swaying behind the tall man as he smiled a maniacal grin. He let out a laugh similar to the doll jigsaw uses.

"I want to play a game!"

~After Note: You ran screaming as the man chased after you. You heard him apologizing profusely as he caught up behind you. You stopped to hear the man out as he explained that he had just wanted to get the attention of such a cute human bean. You couldn't stay mad as he bowed his head in apology with a playful wink and a mischievous smile.~

#readerxrats #readerxfyodor #readerxivan #reader x decay of angels #reader x doa #Fyodor Simp #you can pry him from my cold dead hands #also #shameless self-inserts #until next time

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oddsnendsfanfics · 3 years

Text

Unraveling in the Sheets

Genre: Fan Fiction

Pairing: Henry Cavill/OFC

Warnings: Language, Sexual Content, NSFW

Rating: M

Length: Short Story

Disclaimer: a strict work of fiction, I own nothing except the original characters and the plot line. In no way am I affiliated to any of it.

A/N: Spoiler Alert, there is smut. Be warned. It's there.

Also, I am no longer doing tags on posts. Since my list exceeds the tag limit. Please feel free to join the chat in place of the tag list.

Henry Cavill Master List

“How did you do it though?” Gliding the car into a free parking space, Henry glanced at Nell in the passenger's seat.

“How did I do what?” Eyeing him curiously, she tried to hide her gloating smile. She could be a terrible winner, even if she wasn't the winner, she had came ahead of Henry.

“You know what I mean, Nelly.”

He looked so silly, his new mustache curling when he laughed or smiled. Nell had to admit, if any man could wear the 'stache Henry did it well.

“Oh, you mean how did I suddenly leave your ass behind and finish nearly 50 positions ahead?” She laughed, crinkling her nose. “I told you, I've been working hard for this. Besides, you're too big. You move slower than I do. It's that simple. Maybe next year, you will finish ahead of me.”

��You're impossible.” Unbuckling his seat belt, Henry hurried to get out of the car and around to the other side, before Nell could open her own door. Nearly there, he frowned when she opened the door, stepping out of the Aston Martin. “You were supposed to let me open that.”

“I am supposed to do a lot of things that I do not.” Nell grabbed her hand bag. “I'll let you open the door, next time. You big dork.”

Henry was always the gentleman, even when Nell would rather rip his eyes out than speak to him in a civil manner. Not that she ever felt the former much, but on the rare occasion. Sometimes that's how things went for ex-lovers. The mid May air was growing cool, leaving a few goosebumps on Nell's exposed arms. She had expected to be back before now, which is why she'd left her sweater in the hotel.

“Well, happy late birthday. It was nice having dinner with your family. I've missed them.”

“They've missed you, too. I could tell that dad was happy you came along. He hasn't talked that much during a dinner since the last time you came over.” Henry smiled fondly. "I'm glad that you came, Nelly." Hands in his pockets, Henry sauntered along beside Nell. Approaching the main entrance, he held the door allowing her to enter.

When he'd invited her for the weekend, he wasn't confident that she would come. Wrapped up in work, Nell didn't take too much time away from Dublin these days.

"It was a nice break from work." Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, Nell bit her bottom lip. "I know that you are busy, but do you have a few minutes to talk?"

"I always have time to talk with you." Scanning the hotel lobby, Henry tried to find a spot for them to sit and chat privately. "Should we have a seat at the bar?"

"We could, but I would really like to change. Do you mind coming up with me? We can just talk in the room. It's probably more comfortable anyway."

"Is this about the wild boy?"

"Isn't it always?"

Laughing, Henry pushed the call button for the elevator. Their son was truly something else. One day he would surely take over the world; Henry could see that coming from the day he was born. To say Ivan was Henry's pride and joy would be a massive understatement. He lived for their son. This weekend having Ivan, and Nell, in Jersey had been fantastic. A short glimpse of what life could have been. The ding of the elevator brought Henry back from his brief fantasy.

He and Nell had split up several years ago, there wasn't much chance she would feel the same as he did. Lost in the thoughts of happy little family. Allowing Nell to step onto the elevator first, Henry stood silently with his hands clasped in front of him.

“So, Ivan has been doing well in school?” He may as well get this under way.

“Define doing well,” Nell snickered. “I get a call nearly every day from his teacher. The woman is impossible, but knowing our son, he isn't making it easy for her.”

“I was like that in school. Right up until the day I left.” Henry shrugged. The elevator gently bumping to a stop, he stepped forward to hold the door for Nell.

Muttering a thank you, Nell dug for her key card, leading the way down the hall. She loved this hotel, it was the only one she stayed in, if she could help it, while visiting the Island. A great view of the water on one side, the other dazzling with a fantastic look out into the city. The first time she'd ever been to Jersey, she had stayed in the hotel and fell in love with the charm. There were days when that felt like a life time ago.

Opening the door, Nell paused to allow Henry in. “Have a seat. Anywhere you'd like. Sorry it's kind of a mess. I'm going to change.”

The hotel room was anything but a mess, minus the few sketch books that Nell had dropped on the bed. Always working. Henry took a seat on the edge of the king sized bed, casually glancing at the colour coded notes and designs that Nell had in one of the open sketch books. Costumes. A few notes detailed leather armor and Viking era clothing. She'd done well for herself, since he'd met her. The same shy costume apprentice hiding out on set of The Tudors, was now helping drive forward the details of Vikings.

In the bathroom, Nell pulled off her dress. The fabric had became clingy after a while and she needed to be more relaxed. Running shorts and a tshirt would do the trick. Sighing at her reflection, she bit her bottom lip glancing down at her top. The worn coral Nike tshirt was her favourite, it was showing the love and wear in a few spots. Perhaps she should have picked something less frumpy? She was a busy, single mom she didn't have to look the part. Ah fuck, who cared. Henry certainly wouldn't.

He was here to discuss their son, not flirt with her until she gave in to that smile. Or got lost in his eyes, those gorgeous blue eyes – the left with the flecks of brown. His charm alone was enough to make anyone weak in the knees. Damn it, she needed to get over it. He had moved on. She needed to do the same.

Blowing out a breath, Nell reached for the door, pausing when she heard Henry talking. His tone told her that he was speaking to Ivan. Quietly slipping out of the bathroom, she smiled.

“Hold on, just a sec.” He pushed the screen of his phone, allowing the speaker to connect. “Alright, wild boy. Say goodnight to your mum.”

“Mum, momma, mum.” Ivan's voice filled the room. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Ivan. Are you being a good boy?”

“Uh huh. I love you. Good night.”

“Good night, wild boy. I love you.”

“Night dad.”

“Good night, I love you. I'm going to be back soon, you go to bed and I will see you first thing in the morning.”

“Okay. Oh, dad, can Kal sleep in my room tonight?” Ivan was fond of the large black and white American Akita. Henry laughed.

“Of course he can. You and Kal go to bed, now.”

“Okay, bye.” A little too quickly, Ivan hung up the phone. Henry laughed at the eagerness, he would talk to his mother when he got back to the house. Making sure that Ivan and his dog had gone to bed as they were told, with no fuss.

"Can you believe he is growing this fast? My god where has that time gone?" Henry rubbed his hands against his face. His mustache and subtle stubble scratching his palms.

"Time is a cruel mistress." Rubbing her hands on her shorts, Nell stood. "Drink? I have a bottle of Johnnie Walker."

"Of course you do." Smirking, Henry shifted on the side of the bed. “I had a look at some of these designs, by the way. They're magnificent. My god, Nell, you are so talented.”

“You're saying that to be nice,”

Shaking his head, Henry accepted the glass, resting it on his knee. “No, I am saying it because its true. You are one of the most talented costumers that I had ever met. Are you enjoying the job?”

“I love it.” Nell smiled, leaning against the large wooden desk in the corner. “The work is great, the people are amazing, and Ivan is really enjoying it. I'm glad we went.”

“Good, that's good. He talks about it, a lot. He really seems to love being there. I'm glad. Once things settle, I am going to try and come visit. I kind of miss it, Dublin.”

“You should.” She smiled fighting the urge to scoff and roll her eyes. Henry was always busy. He'd make it to Dublin, when Hell froze over. “So, how is work coming on this new character.”

“I can't say much, but I can say that I will be happy when I can shave.” He rubbed the mustache expertly. “It's not as bad as some of the beards that I've had to grow, but it's not my favourite look.”

“You look good with a beard. I know you hate them, but you do.”

Leaning forward to set his glass on the bedside table, Henry licked the whiskey off of his lips. “I'm glad to have that compliment.”

“Sure.” Nell nodded, tipping her glass to finish the drink. “Another?”

“Uh, I'm good.” Henry motioned to his glass. Rubbing his hands across his jeans, he furrowed his brow. “I've been thinking, since I am fairly busy the next few months, what if I keep Ivan for a few extra days? Once you leave, I will take him back to London with me, until I have to go.”

Shifting on the bed, her face warm from the second glass of whiskey, Nell sniffled and cleared her throat. “What about school?”

“What about it? He isn't going to miss much, is he? They're nearly finished up and I don't know how long it will be, until I see him. Possibly not until Christmas.”

All he wanted was to spend a little time with his son, was that so hard? His next move would have to be calculated, Nell had been known to stat arguments over less. If Henry wanted to avoid a shouting match, he would have to go about this carefully. Reaching for his glass, he downed the remaining contents in one large gulp. Sighing.

“I want to hang out with him a little. It wouldn't be more than three days extra. Then you get some time alone, as well. Nell, I know that you need a bit of a break. You work so hard and take care of Ivan, please.”

“If you want to, then I suppose I can't really say no. What kind of mother would I be, if I didn't let you see him?”

“Don't say things like that, please.” Henry reached out, his hand taking hers. Gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. “You are a wonderful mum. You know that.”

“Sometimes, I feel like I could do better. I really do.” Nell shrugged, allowing Henry to continue holding her hand.

“All parents feel that way, I am sure. I know that I feel like that, all the time. I guess it's natural, always wanting to do better, to be better, for our children.”

There he went again. There were times when Nell could not stand to be near him, other times she wanted to be as close as possible. Damn it. Watching him talk about Ivan and the few extras days they would be together, Henry's eyes lit up. His smile broad and the enthusiasm in his voice was one that dictated proud father. Nell nodded, only because she felt it was appropriate to the conversation.

Henry continued to chatter about how he wanted to take Ivan to a new exhibit at the Natural History Museum, in London. Leave it to the father and son, finding a day at the museum to be high on the list of fun. Nell sighed, continuing to half listen, half gaze at Henry in awe. One thing she loved – well love could be a strong word – adored? Enjoyed? About Henry was how much he loved Ivan.

Mid sentence about some Sir David Attenborough documentary that he'd watched with Ivan; Nell couldn't help it any longer. Leaning in, without warning, she grabbed Henry's face turning it to her and kissing him. Lips connecting, she stopped and jumped back as if hit by an electric shock.

Clearing his throat, Henry rubbed the back of his neck, but not pulling back. “I didn't know that the National Geographic was that exciting.”

“I'm sorry.” Hiding her face in her hands, Nell shook her head. Oh that had been a mistake. She had absolutely no right. None. Henry was crazy, if he didn't get up right now and walk out. If he was angry, then she deserved that.

Blushing, Nell shook her head. “Henry, I shouldn't have.”

“I'm certainly not going to complain.” He shrugged, leaning in his arm sliding around her shoulder. Nell glanced up, getting the nerves to look at him. Oh she had fucked up. “Next time, I would like some warning though.”

“Warning? Next time?”

“Hmm, yes. Kind of like this, close your eyes.” Henry instructed pulling her closer and kissing her. Nell sighed her body melting against him. She loved the way his lips felt on hers. Soft, with a slight force.

Straddling his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck, Nell's fingers laced together. Her lips leaving his, tracing along his jaw, nearing the sweet spot below his ear. A slight nip and he was an unraveling mess. Henry nuzzled his face into her hair, she smelled amazing. Comforting and warm. A groan erupted from deep in his throat, as predicted she had gone straight for that spot.

“Nell, Nell,” Henry cleared his throat, holding her at arm's length, “Janelle, stop.” Looking for any sort of sign that she truly felt that this wasn't a good idea, he sucked in a breath. “Are you sure about this? Because if we continue, I won't stop until...”

“I am.” She nodded firmly, “I don't want you to stop. I don't want to stop. Oh god, Henry. Please.”

“I need to know that you truly, absolutely want to do this.”

“If you don't stop talking and bend me over, I am going to kick you out and do this myself. Please, stop talking. If I didn't want this, I wouldn't have started it.”

A deep rumbling laugh followed, Henry rolled his eyes. God, she was something else. Who was he to deny a gorgeous woman what she wanted? Would this come back to haunt him? Probably. Did he care? Not much. Come morning they would once again go their separate ways, but that didn't matter right now. Right now, he could pretend that he had everything he wanted. And what he wanted was her.

Pulling her to him, Henry kissed her hard. Nell moaned, the force of the kiss was nearly dizzying. Arms around his neck, she rubbed her body against his, trying to grasp the friction that was created when she started to grind herself against his thighs.

“Henry,”

“Hold on, you need patience.” He brushed a bit of hair out of her face, “all in good time.”

Nell squealed when he stood, her legs desperately scrambling to hold onto him. In a futile attempt she huffed, when he let her go, standing in front of him pouting. Unbuttoning his shirt, Henry smirked giving her a heated stare. “Well, are you going to get on the bed or make me do all the work? Shorts off.”

Sliding the mesh shorts down her ass and along her legs, Nell made a bit of a show letting them pool at her feet. Stepping out, as slowly as possible, while lifting the old tshirt from her body. Allowing it to go where it would, as she dropped it. Sitting back on the bed, she could feel her heart in her throat and her stomach where her heart should be.

“Lie back.” Henry instructed, kneeling at the edge of the bed. Arms around her thighs, guiding her to him, he studied her for a moment. She was trembling as his fingers slid across her thighs, positioning her in just the right way.

“Oh god, Hen-Henry.” Nell's mouth was suddenly dry and her voice hoarse. His hot breath between her legs was tormenting her, in unimaginable ways. In anticipation she bucked her hips forward, trying to clench her thighs. Holding her knees with his shoulders, Henry chuckled.

“Eager.”

“Please.”

“You are...” He lingered, kissing the inside of her leg. “Gorgeous. Look at you.” He brushed his thumb against her. Nell whimpered trying to push further. “Hold on, hold on.”

“Why are you teasing me?”

“Because I want to enjoy the view, for a moment.” He shrugged, her legs lifting gently. A hand on her lower abdomen, as if holding her in place, he used the other to gently tease and trace along her calf. Without warning, his lips attached to the most sensitive part of her body with his mustache adding an extra sensation, Nell bucked her hips hard, shoving his face further between her thighs.

Nell's head was swimming, it had been a while since she'd felt this good from such an act. Sure, she'd had the odd date here and there, semi-serious relationships, but nobody could do this the way Henry could. He was a fucking magician, she was certain of it. Humming against her mound, Henry couldn't hide the laughter in his eyes, when she began to squirm and wiggle against his face. She was desperate and he was going to prolong this as much as he could.

Sucking her clit, his tongue generously lapping at her, he thoroughly enjoyed the show. Pushing his head as far down as she could, Nell was nearly in tears each time he leaned in, his mustache tickling in just the right way. Oh god, she gasped trying hard to find release. Henry was cunning, backing off at the right moments.

“Henry,” She whined, threading her fingers through his hair. “Don't tease me, I really need you to finish.”

“Stop being so impatient.” He was teasingly stern. Pushing her hands away, he locked his fingers with hers, holding them at her side. Lifting his head, he smirked, kissing up her body ending with another dizzying kiss. Nell sucked on his tongue, freeing her hands from his, she tugged him closer, pulling at fistfuls of hair.

Cleaning herself from his tongue and lips, she sighed. “I'm going to need more than that.”

“You're sure?” Henry paused, holding his weight on his forearms, resting above her. His jeans still on, he could feel the strain against the denim.

“Jeans, off.” She demanded, sitting up to watch. Shivering against the slight chill, her breasts on display giving him the perfect view of her erect nipples. Nell blushed under his gaze. She was not the tight, toned, and perky body she once was. She wasn't out of shape, by any means, but compared to Henry...

“You are gorgeous.” Henry complimented, his jeans on the floor, boxers being pushed down to join them. Stepping out of his pants, he stood at the side of the bed, in all his glory.

Nell licked her lips, reaching out to take him in her hand. Hissing under her touch, Henry involuntarily bucked his hips forward into her hand. Rubbing the head, Nell intently watched Henry while she leaned in taking him fully in her mouth.

“Fuck, Nelly.”

“Hmm,” She hummed, sliding her head back along his length. Hand wrapped around him, stroking in place of her mouth. Bobbing her head back down, she swirled her tongue around the base. He nearly choked her the first time she'd ever gone down on him. Oh how long ago that felt.

Dragging her tongue against his length, she felt her core tighten, with each moan Henry gave. His slight salty taste mixed with the aftertaste of the Johnnie Walker, Nell inhaled deeply through her nose, hollowing her cheeks around him. Gripping the back of her head, Henry tried to not force her too hard, as he began to guide her movement.

Happy to go along with what he needed to feel good, Nell allowed him control over her guidance. Her finger nails grazing the back of his thighs, she mentally checked the small victory when he threw his hips forward at the sensation of her wrapped around him and her nails on his skin.

“Good girl,” Henry mumbled, his head lulling back, his chest rising rapidly. “Keep it up, just like that. Oh shit,”

Nell's chest swelled a little, she could still make him feel good, even after all of this time apart. That was not something she would take lightly, even if this shouldn't be happening. Oh fuck, who cared? They were two consenting adults. Henry's legs quivered, his hands unsteady stroking the back of her head.

“Nell,”

“Hmm?” She glanced up at him. His face soft and his jaw slack, she could feel him tightening. The perfect time to stop her actions. “Not yet,” She smirked, wiping her hand across her chin, drool gone. “Fair is fair.”

“Jesus,” Henry grumbled. He had been so fucking close, the knot in the pit of his stomach clenched Slowing his breathing, he took a moment to think of anything else. Laundry? Running? How much longer until he had to renew his passport?

“Henry?”

“Yeah?” He snapped his head to look at Nell.

“Are we going to stand here all night, or...” She shrugged, a devious smirk on her face. Laying back on the bed, she curled her finger beckoning him to her.

“You're still sure about this?” Henry asked. His eyes on her, waiting to see if she had any hint of doubt or hesitation.

“I don't have a condom, but I'm clean. It's not like I'm getting pregnant, so....” If she were to get pregnant, there was going to be on hell of a hefty lawsuit against that surgeon.

“You're sure? I know that I'm...but I don't have.”

“if you don't want to, then I understand.”

“I do, though, but...”

Nell shook her head. “No buts. If you want me, then I'm yours.”

“Fuck, you're making this hard.”

Giggling, Nell glance down. “I think we're beyond things being hard.”

His body betraying him, Henry cleared his throat, she certainly had a point. Fuck it. What did they have to lose? Unless this, some how, came back to bite them. No, no he had to stop that. Give in, enjoy what was happening. It had been too long since he'd been able to watch her in such bliss. Bliss that he was responsible for.

“You're sure?”

Nell nodded siting up, opening her arms, “Come here.”

On the edge of the bed, Henry sighed, his large frame leaning into her. Nell held him for a moment, stroking his hair, the feel of his warmth against her sent shivers through her spine. Pushing him back on the bed, she bit her bottom lip, waiting for the go ahead. Henry gave her a slight nod, adjusting himself on the bed to get comfortable. Straddling his hips, Nell lifted herself to slowly take him.

Sheathing him inch by inch, Nell groaned at the fullness. This was her favourite part, taking him to the end, feeling him stretch her. Rocking her hips forward, she countered the motion sliding them back in the same tantalizing pace. Henry held her hips, pushing his up to meet her. Nell squeaked and giggled. She loved the way he hit all the right spots.

“You can touch me, don't be shy.” Nell winked, lifting her arms and crossing them above her head, allowing him a full view of her breasts. “Go on.” She encouraged.

His large hands cupping her breasts, Henry softly rolled her hardening nipples between his fingers, giving on a slight flick when she moved herself up on his length. Close to letting him slide out, she moved back down, her ass grinding against him.

The way her body moved against his was mesmerizing. Massaging her supple skin, from her breasts down her sides, one hand settling on her ass and the other on her hip. Henry loved the shape, even if she had changed a little since having Ivan. God she was stunning.

Hastening her pace, Nell rocked back and forth, up and down. Henry closed his eyes feeling every bit of movement, each clench. Taking in the sounds of her breathing, mixed with his, her small moans not going unnoticed.

“Henry,” She whispered, biting her bottom lip, leaning forward to touch her lips against his. “Please,”

Without having to be asked twice, he moved swiftly, turning them over to pin her beneath him. Nell sighed and stretched her arms over her head, the pull of her muscles caused another shiver. Her head now against the pillow, she reached, tracing the lines of his face with her fingertip.

“I don't know that I can be as slow as you were.” Henry nipped her finger. Holding back on his desire to pound her into the bed.

“Then don't.” Nell batted her eye lashes at him.

Somehow that was all he needed, that tiny bit of permission. Picking up the pace, Henry grunted. Nell moaned drawing her knees upward, allowing him an even better vantage to this position. As if the pent up emotions from the last few years, hours, minutes had been released the couple were lost in the sensation of skin on skin. The feeling of sparks and electricity coursing through them. Connecting them.

“Fuck, Janelle.” Henry hissed, his arm locked into position on either side of her head, keeping him from tumbling on top of her.

“Henry,” She squealed splaying her hands against his chest, tugging at the soft hairs. “Oh god. Please, don't stop. My god, oh fuck.”

“You are fucking amazing. Fuck, look at you.” Kissing her roughly, he sighed, steadying his pace. His hips slapping hers, Nell shook slightly her soft sobs of pleasure were enough to send him to an end.

Shaking with pleasure, Nell gasped trying to bring herself down from the high. Henry moaned, his head back and chest heaving. It had been a while since he had felt that good. Nell laid with her legs hooked around his thighs, no desire to move. Collapsing with his head on her chest, Henry allowed his body to rest. Sweaty and sticky, they laid tangled together. Neither one wanting to break the feeling.

Dosing in and out, Nell was the first to move. Her body growing heavy with Henry still on top of her. She needed to move, before seizing up. Pushing his head to the side, she giggled and kissed the tip of her nose when he lazily looked up.

“I need to pee,”

“Hmph.” Henry nodded, slowly rolling over. Allowing her to escape. Laying flat on the bed, while she scurried off to the bathroom, Henry pushed himself up off of the bed. He should be getting back to his parents, back to Ivan.

All thoughts of moving were squashed, when Nell came back, climbing in beside him. Her clothes still on the floor. Her body was comforting against his. “Hi,” she whispered, sliding in under his arm.

“Nell?” Henry laid with his arm around her shoulder.

“Huh?” Nell grunted, her face buried in his chest.

“I should head back.”

“If you want to. You can stay, I don't mind.” Nell yawned. Her eyes closing.

“Okay, but only for a little while.” Henry agreed, closing his eyes. In a few minutes, he would get up, shower, and head back.

With a start, Henry woke, a loud banging noise rattling him. Looking around the dark room, he squinted to find the source of the noise. Hearing someone whispering at a distance, Henry laid in bed, listening. Against him, Nell stirred, but didn't wake. Someone in the hall was talking, no doubt they had been the source of the banging. He had fell asleep, Nell wrapped against him.

Looking at his watch, Henry frowned. 4am. If he left right now, he could be back before anybody woke. If he left now, he risked Kal barking and waking the house. If he waited, he would risk walking in and having to explain himself to one or more person. Of course he could tell them that he'd ran into some old friends, had some drinks and stayed on a sofa somewhere. Too drunk to drive.

Shifting in bed, Nell sighed, her arm around his waist she snuggled in closer. She was content, who was Henry to try and disturb her sleep? He would wait an hour or two, before he made his departure. So what if he waltzed in, being faced by one of his brothers, or even his mother. He was an adult, if he wanted to stay out all night enjoying the company of a fantastic woman, then he would do just that.

Kissing the top of Nell's head, Henry smiled, sinking down further into the covers, closing his eyes.

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#henry cavill #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill smut #oddsnendshenryfics

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iloveitwhen · 4 years

Text

What Team? (pt. 2)

(yes, everytime i see “what team?” i think “wildcats!” and i just couldn’t help myself with the title heehee)

I hope this meets all of your expectations! if not then sorry i guess lmao. if there are mistakes or inconsistencies let me know(:

So I got a little carried away and this is much MUCH longer than the first part so... sorry? you’re welcome? idk but turns out the story has not progressed but it basically has so let’s say it did. I also got a little carried away with Alix meeting the waynes... (Also I should add I don't know squat about roller blading)

Part 1

Based on this post by @unmaskedagain

--------

Alix wasn’t stupid, granted her best friend was Kim and together they were pretty stupid, but Alix was not inherently stupid, Kim just lowered her IQ by a significant amount just by being around him, ok? Not her fault. But anyways, point being, Alix was not stupid, she could see the way Lila's face morphed to disgust when she looked at Marinette and thought no one was watching, or when she sneered at the backs of all of her classmates when they turned around, so of course she knew why Lila really tried to force "Lukanette" down everyone's throats, she wanted to be on top. Alix aslo prided herself in not having problems such as crushes, why bother yourself when clearly people are not… hot, attractive, sexy, ect. Alix didn’t understand how or why people so desperately wanted to kiss each other but not having that urge really brought light to her class’ situation. She had learned from the way Kim used to look at Chloe and the way Max looked at Kim and the way Marinette looked at Adrien, there were plenty more examples, like Mylene and Ivan, anyways, they all had the same look even if they were trying to hide it. Lila looked at Marinette with that same look but hidden under disgust, but then again she also looked at Adrien that way too, without disgust and hate though. But she also hated Marinette, plain and simple. Wait, definitely not simple. As for why she hated Marinette, Alix just hadn't gotten that far yet, but she was sure it had something to do with Adrien. And being a closeted gay.

As for everyone else it was no secret that Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Lila Rossi did NOT like each other but lucky, or unlucky depending on how you look at it, the class simply ignored the both of them when they tried talking about the other.

Marinette, picking up on the fact that she won that battle, stopped trying to tell everyone about Lila’s obvious lies. She knew the girl still had it out for her but she was completely powerless when it came to taking Marinette’s friends away. It was quite exhausting listening to Lila and not being able to say anything that would disprove her lies because no matter how sound her proof was her classmates wouldn’t listen. And Marinette honestly just wanted to sleep.

Lately she didn’t know what was going on, all week people kept whispering and would change the conversation when she arrived. She thought they were talking behind her back but they never gave her dirty looks, in fact they were even more friendly and she got a large increase of “morning Marinette!” and “How are you doing?” which was only slightly confusing. At least they were finally being as friendly and considerate towards her as she was towards them.

“Hey Marinette?” Marinette looked up from her sketchbook as her thoughts scattered to see Juleka nervously tapping on her desk with her nails while Rose stood behind her girlfriend with a look that could only be described as sparkly. Marinette raised an eyebrow but smiled kindly at them.

“Yes?”

“So, umm,” she cleared her throat nervously, “can you help me and Rose make shirts that say “Team Luka” on them?”

“Team lu- uhmm sure?”

Juleka gave her a rare smile and a soft “thanks” before returning to her seat with Rosa who squeaked “you're the best Marinette!” Marinette gave the girl a weak smile and a small nod of appreciation and just stared in confusion at the spot where the two girls stood previously.

What?

The heck?

“What was that all about?” Alya voiced Marinette’s thoughts and slid into her seat, poking Marinette’s arm to break the black haired girl out of her stupor.

“I'm... not sure....” She furrowed her brows in confusion. Who was Luka going against that required Juleka’s support? She hadn't heard of XY making headlines lately and Luka wasn't either, well she wasn’t really online either anyways. “They asked me to help them make Team Luka shirts.” She looked over to her friend and was brought to even more confusion. Alya looked… offended? But she quickly wiped the look off her face and pursed her lips together before turning to face the front saying,

“Interesting....”

After school Marinette, with Juleka and Rose, went to buy supplies before heading to the ship to meet with Luka. Together they made ten teal tie dyed shirts which they had printed “TEAM LUKA” on the center of it. Marinette tried asking what it was for but all three just redirected her so she eventually just dropped it.

As she was leaving Luka stopped her. “Thank you, Marinette,” he said softly, “you really are a wonderful girl, you deserve the world.” Of course that made Marinette blush, what was up with this guy and his cute, mushy words?

“Thanks, Luka. An- and don’t worry about it! Anything for you,” she trailed off for a moment before rushing to add, “and your family of course. Obviously.” She chuckled nervously while Luka just gave her an amused smile.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Have a wonderful evening, Marinette.” He turned and walked back onto the ship, leaving Marinette weak in the knees. She quickly steeled her nerves then chastised herself while walking away. Stop feeling for multiple boys. Stop feeling for multiple boys. Stop feeling….

---

Alya was not happy to find Juleka and Rose wearing teal tie dyed shirts saying “TEAM LUKA” printed on them. So they want to play THAT game. Ok. She can deal with that. In her desire to plan she missed Marinette’s rambles throughout class and the bell that signaling the start of lunch.

“ALYA!” she snapped her head to the source of the sound to find the one and only Chloe Bourgeois with a hand on her hip and pursed lips. She looked around the room to find it completely empty except for the two of them.

“Chloe!” she scooched over the bench and hopped up, accidentally almost bumping noses with the blonde girl from being too close but Chloe just gave a disgusted face and quickly took a step back. “Just the person I needed! Did you SEE those shirts?” Chloe huffed and rolled her eyes.

“Of course I did, Césaire. That is the only reason you will be spending more time than I am comfortable with in my presence. Come on.” She turned her heel and strutted out of the classroom while Alya scrambled to grab all of her belongings.

---

Not long at all after Marinette saw Juleka and Rose (Ivan quickly following suit) wearing the Team Luka shirts, Alya and Chloe, a pairing Marinette NEVER saw coming, walked in with matching shirts, orange for Alya and yellow for Chloe, with a fancy, clean font spelling out “Team Adrien” on the front and a bold “SUCK IT” on the back. Marinette watched Alya approach her seat with her jaw hanging loose.

WHAT WAS GOING ON???

“What is- you know what? Nevermind. I don’t want to know.” Alya smirked and slid into her seat. “You purposefully came last didn’t you?”

“Yep!” Alya replied happily while pulling her phone out and started typing furiously.

“Babe, where’s my shirt?” Nino had turned around and gave his girlfriend puppy eyes.

“Oh, here you go,” she pulled a green shirt out of her bag and tossed it to him while Adrien watched with interest. A sound of excitement escaped Nino when he caught the shirt and he opened it up to see the front which revealed the back of the shirt to Marinette. She felt the blood drain from her face and she lifted her hand to cover her mouth in horror. The back had a perfect snapshot of Adrien’s side profile from his ad for cologne when he was gliding through the air. Marinette glanced at Adrien and saw that his jaw had dropped and his face started to burn a deep red. Marinette just wanted to cry. Nino flipped it over and Marinette saw “Team Adrien” in the same font of Chloe and Alya’s shirts while Nino let out an unearthly squeal.

“It’s PERFECT! Adrien! Look!” he flipped the shirt over to show Adrien but the blonde boy had already curled in on himself and hid his face in his arms.

“Whyyyyy, Alyaaaaa.” Alya smirked and looked up from her phone.

“Don’t worry Adrien, we’re rooting for you.”

Marinette cried (internally) that night as she prayed to every Kwami she knew to save her soul.

---

Adrien didn’t know what was going on, at first when he saw Luka’s shirts he really wanted one too to show his support of his acquaintance. Adrien didn’t know the boy that well but he was very kind and any team that Luka was on Adrien wanted to be on too heehee. After his friends started wearing Team Adrien shirts he felt… conflicted. And slightly uncomfortable. He was happy his friends were supporting him but it just felt wrong to root for himself. So to counteract this he approached Juleka when the school ended and got his own shirt. The next day he changed into it after getting dropped off at school, obviously because his Father would make him burn the shirt if he ever saw Adrien wearing it, and when he came out of the restroom he found Lila climbing the stairs in her own Team Luka shirt. Her eyes shot up in surprise at the sight of him before a strained smile etched onto her lips.

“Lila! It’s great to see we’re on the same team.” He smiled kindly at her and gave a silent prayer to Plagg that she didn’t think he was flirting with her as she always seemed to assume.

“Indeed, Adrien.”

Everyday for the next week more and more people wore their own team shirts until the class was split in half, save for Nathanial, Marinette, and Alix. Adrien continuously tried to find out what the teams were for but someone always assured him that it was nothing to worry about.

It wasn’t until he saw Chloe’s retweet of Alix’s tweet that he realized that his class was warring over who was the better match, him or Luka, for one of Alix’s friends that apparently the entire class knew besides Nathanial and Marinette as they never picked a side. He wondered if he knew the person that the class was talking about and decided to logout of twitter before anything got out of hand as it usually did whenever Chloe was on twitter.

---

“We have a problem.” Dick stated to his two brothers and adoptive father.

“Ok, what’s new?” Jason asked lazily, polishing his gun.

“Marinette is trending on twitter.”

“What?” Tim pulled his phone out and started going through the app as Dick continued.

“Team Luka, Team Adrien, Lukanette, and Adrinette are trending on twitter. Take a wild guess what that could mean.” Bruce rolled his eyes and started to say,

“Dick we don’t have time for this,” but Dick cut him off mid sentence and spoke over him.

“These boys are getting fought over who would be a better fit for Marinette. OUR Marinette. As in Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Jason stopped polishing his gun and actually looked at Dick while Tim gagged.

“What?” all three voices before him spoke up in unison. Dick was surprised that Bruce spoke up with a little more exasperation.

“No!” Bruce dropped his face into his hands and groaned. He was certainly taking this far worse than Dick thought he would. The older man raised his head and gave Dick a look he usually gave him when he was trusting him with an important mission, “take care of this, make sure none of those boys steal Marinette away from Damian.” Dick nodded his head once.

“Yes, sir.”

---

Marinette and the Waynes go way back, so far back that when Bruce let it slip that he and Alfred used to have a neighbor at a lake house who would repeatedly visit whenever Alfred was there the batboys KNEW they had to find the one and only Gina and meet her ENTIRE family. Marinette was ten at the time and was immediately enraptured by Damian’s “old man” personality and forced him to have fun like a child during his short stay. The Batboys, as much as they were scared of Damian and what he might do, immediately shipped them together, Jason (being the fanfiction writer/reader which he never admitted to anyone) deemed the ship “Daminette” which the others agreed to fervently. But now, five years later and three very determined Daminette shippers later, Damian and his brothers were on a plan to France to meet with Marinette.

“Momma Cheng! Papa Dupain!” Dick swung the bakery door open and sauntered in while the others trailed behind him rolling their eyes, except for Tim, Tim was excited for good coffee.

“Oh Richard!” Sabine walked around the counter and gave all the boys a quick hug and handed them off to her husband who cracked their backs with his monstrous hugs. Sabine reached Damian and pulled him into a hug before he could protest then held him at arm's length. “Oh my have you grown! Tom,” she turned her head to her husband while still holding onto Damian.

Tom set down Tim who stumbled and was caught by Dick before hitting the ground. “Yes, dear?”

“Hasn’t he grown so much? Such a handsome young man,” she let go and pinched his cheek which he pulled away from when suddenly he was lifted into a smoldering hug and felt the cr-rick cra-ack! of his spine. He wiggled in the grip finding he couldn’t get out but when he was placed back down he felt a little lightheaded and refused to stumble like an embarrassment Tim was.

“You fellas can grab some treats, Marinette won’t be home until pretty late but you boys are welcome to stay until she arrives” The boys all nodded in response and said their chorus of thank you’s and went to grab some pastries before heading to the inside of their home.

Jason quickly got restless and Dick followed him to babysit keep an eye on him while Tim pulled out his computer and started typing away. Damian got bored and decided to explore. He knew it was probably inappropriate but he politely asked Sabine if he could go up to Marinette’s balcony knowing she probably kept her garden growing up there when she started it out of spite of him after he insulted her capabilities to take care of another thing, much less herself. He was pleased, and slightly annoyed, to find a beautiful garden with an array of flowers, herbal plants and even a beautiful small tree.

After a while being by himself a ragged looking cat sauntered over to the balcony and Damian quickly made friends with the animal and deemed it sweet and good and no harm would ever come to such an animal under his watch. He decided she was worthy to carry the name Enibas and smiled as she curled up on his chest while they both drifted off to sleep on the deck chair.

---

Alix re-strapped her skates and got back up, ignoring the pain in her badly scraped hip and rolled out her shoulder while skating back uphill to the beginning of her obstacle course. She spun around and narrowed her eyes at the several cones placed strategically in front of her. She had set up her area by the Eiffel Tower and the locals already knew to steer clear as she had been doing this regularly for the past seven years ever since she got her first pair of skates. She blocked everything and anything out of her mind and focused on her breathing and steadied her body, with one more huff of breath she shot out towards the cones.

First: three cones placed closely together in a line and a fourth further behind, she spun in circles and lifted her heel of her right foot and toes of her and glided through the three cones quickly, she then jumped in the air and spun in a circle in midair over the fourth cone in a slight pirouette position before landed on her left foot with her arms out, bent over slightly, and her right leg sticking out behind her.

Second: she was still gliding very fast and twisting her extended leg gave her the momentum to face behind her, there were no cones but she knew what to do. She bent the leg supporting her and cut to the right and expertly landed on her padded hand and using the walled walkway beside her she pushed her left leg out to skate alongside and up the wall. Placing her other hand on the ground she pushed her body up high, higher than anybody should be able to do but given the fact she discovered Fluff gave her a bit of an advantage, she twirled and twisted to land on both feet. Once again Alix was facing downhill and even though she lost a lot of speed with the last move she was gaining again.

Third: there was a little makeshift ramp, Alix huffed again and pushed herself downhill. She would make it this time. Going as fast as she thought was safe, she skated on top of the ramp and keeping her legs straight she let it lift her, Alix let herself fly for a bit letting her legs carry up as her upper body fell before tucking her legs in to quicken the flip. However, instead of flipping too fast like last time, slipping, and slamming onto her shoulder, she went higher than she anticipated and shot her legs out to reach the ground quicker and ungracefully swung her arms about to prevent her from falling backwards again. She thumped onto the ground but before she could celebrate her success of landing on two feet she tripped from the unbalance and yelled “FU**!” before smashing into the ground.

Alix groaned from the pain and thanked the Kwami’s she always wore her helmet, if not she was sure she'd have much more than just a scratched chin.

“Are you okay?” a panicked man’s voice entered her ears and without moving to see who it was she gave a thumbs up.

“Holy sh** that was AWESOME!” another man’s voice invaded her ears again. Great. American tourists.

Alix pushed herself up to see who it was speaking to find, what most would call, a handsome gentleman with black hair and clear blue eyes filled with worry. She looked over at the other man who looked pretty much the same except with a weird strip of white hair and was typing furiously on his phone.

“Oi!” she pointed at the white striped hair dude, “di**head, did you take a video? Where are you sending it?”

“Jason!” the first with the blue eyes looked back at his… partner? “Don’t send that to anyone, alright?” The guy looked between the man in front of Alix then to her before shrugging.

“I wasn’t going to.” Alix still stared at him while he went back to his phone but walked up to the two on the ground.

“Are you sure you're ok, miss?” the man in front of her asked. She looked back at him and raised an eyebrow.

“I've been doing this since I was eight. I’ve had worse.” the guy nodded then smiled brightly.

“That was very impressive though.” He stood up and offered his hand which she took and stood up with him. “Do you mind if I join you? I would love it if I could. I’ve never actually done flips and stuff with skates but I think I can handle it. So can I?” His smile was so big and innocent that Alix laughed at him.

“I’m sorry but this isn’t exactly something you can just pick up and be good at, I’ve fallen enough times I won’t break a bone and while he,” Alix pointed at the other guy, “might be able to take a few crashes you don’t look like you’ve ever been in a serious harm. Like ever. No offence or anything I just don’t want some broken bones blamed on me.” She replied as nicely as she could but the man just started laughing.

“How about I show you what I can do on skates first and if you deem me unworthy I’ll take my leave.” Alix narrowed her eyes at him then gave him a slow nod. “Great!” he whipped out his phone and started texting someone while Alix just turned around and headed for her water bottle. These guys were weird.

Ten minutes later another guy showed up, Tim, as Alix was informed earlier, also had black hair and blue eyes except he seemed younger and was skinnier than the other two, and was carrying three pairs of new skates. Alix gawked at him, those were some of the nicest, most expensive pairs of skates in Paris and he had three. Yup. These were some rich fools.

Dick, as he introduced himself as (Alix laughed at him for such an unfortunate name), squealed and rushed to put on a pair of skates and wheeled around doing impressive jumps and moves that he really had no right doing while Jason yelled “I told you not to get me a pair!” the new boy shrugged and put his own on. Alix sighed and shook her head, accepting that these particular rich fools would be quite stubborn.

“Ok. I’m ready.” Alix turned towards Dick who looked at her expectantly.

“Ok. What are you waiting for, am I supposed to help you with something or…?”

“Oh! Uh… can I do the course? He pointed downhill at her makeshift course and she nodded.

“Sure. Don’t blame me when you crack your head open, you should really get a helmet by the way.”

“Oh don’t worry,” he waved her off and smiled like he wasn’t in actual danger, “I do stuff like this all the time.” He readied himself and went through her course, not as dramatic as she had done but toned down motions and movements and when he got to the ramp he jumped as far up as he could but didn’t flip. He skated back up and went through again adding a little more complicated movements through it. Alix watched with interest as Tim skated up to her side and stuck a hand out.

“Hello, I’m Tim.”

“I know.” Alix accepted his hand shake, “I’m Alix,” she replied before returning to watching Dick go through the course.

“I hope we’re not bothering you too much. I saw the video and I really wanted to meet you and I knew Dick here would love to do some stunts of his own. Did he already tell you what you did wrong with that flip that made you lose your balance?”

“Huh? He’s good but I don’t think he’ll be flipping on skates anytime soon.”

“Oh, actually we all kind of do crazy stunts like this on a daily basis and he specializes in acrobats so I just figured he told you already.”

“Ok! I think I’m ready!” Dick called out after his fourth round skating up the hill.

“No,” Alix breathed out. “He’s not gonna do the backflip is he?”

“Yup,” Tim lightly chuckled. “Sorry we’re all a little crazy.”

“This is for you, Alix.”

“Wait, no-” but Dick ignored her and started through the course again. He skated skillfully around the cones and did a perfect pirouette over the fourth cone as if he’d been doing it for years and did his own little crazy stint with a backflip then raced towards the ramp and with straight legs he let his legs fly up and his head drop much longer than she was comfortable with, then tucked his legs in but not as much as she did and landed perfectly and glided down the hill with his arms raised up like a gymnast.

“What!?” Alix yelled. She was highly peeved. She’s been trying this for the past week and he tries and lands on the first try!? Unfair. So unfair.

“Can I try?” Tim asked. Alix whipped her head to him and scoffed.

“Not you too? You're going to just flip like it's nothing too? No. No no no. Dick!” she yelled out unintentionally calling him the American curse word in the process to the man who turned around and started towards them.

“Yeah?” Alix waited until he stopped in front of her.

“How did you do that?”

“I just waited a bit longer before tucking my knees in. I noticed that you tucked too early and brought your knees too close to your chest which made you over flip. And by waiting a little longer you would have dropped a little further so you wouldn’t have struggled with being too high.” Alix huffed in annoyance.

“Ok… ok…. My turn, I’m going to get it this time.”

Alix went to the beginning of the course and took a deep breath, blocking everything out and shot out. She did her tricks and jumps and when she got to the ramp she felt a rush of adrenaline from the slight fear. She went up as high as she could and her legs went up and her upper body dropped. She waited past her comfort zone and looked down to the approaching ground. Then everything clicked. She tucked her legs in, following Dick’s words, and straightened them out again until they were slightly bent and landed. She whooped and pumped her fists in the air. She’d finally done it! She turned back around to find Jason on the side with his camera out and cheering her on while Tim and Dick did the same but without their phones. She laughed and skated back up the hill.

“I finally got it!”

“Yes!” Tim held out a hand and she high-fived it. “That was awesome! You are amazing!” Alix grinned widely at the praise.

“Thanks! I just have to land at least ten more times in a row,” she said as she readied herself to go again.

“Wait, I can’t go yet?”

“My course, my rules.” Tim smiled and nodded his head.

“Good point.”

For the next two hours Alix skated with the two boys and conversed with Jason when she was taking a break. That’s how she found out they were in Paris because of Marinette and refused to have two boys fighting over Marinette when she was already taken, well not yet but they were determined to get their brother Damian and Marinette together. She then decided she liked Jason, despite him taking unwanted videos though they turned out to be fun to watch (she cringed when she saw herself faceplant in the first video). It was nice to see people like the three of them looking out for Marinette, heaven knows she doesn’t have a guardian angel because she gets into way too much trouble without even trying, though the three of them were also troublemakers and chaos was basically Alix’s occupation. It was 19 hours (7:00) when they had to go but Alix was very excited when they invited her over with them to meet Marinette who they hadn’t seen in several years.

---

Marinette sighed from exhaustion as she pushed the front door of her parent’s bakery open. She had been working nonstop with Jagged Stone on his new stage outfits, she loved the guy but he was a handful sometimes.

“Marinette!” She looked up and gave her mother a tired smile while the woman handed a pastry to a customer. “Have a wonderful day,” she told the customer before walking around the counter as the man left and hugged her daughter. “We have some guests who came to visit you.” Mrs. Cheng smiled brightly at Marinette who scrunched her brows together in confusion.

“Who?” Her mother shook her head and pushed her towards the entrance to their home.

“You’ll see.”

Marinette walked through the door to find Alix wrestling Jason Todd to the ground while the man was pushing her face away with a pillow and Tim Drake watching, but not really watching, as he sipped on something she assumed was coffee, and Dick Grayson who was ignoring them all, laying on the couch watching spongebob in french. She cleared her throat to get their attention but nothing happened.

“Excuse me.” she called out but again, nothing.

“ExCUSE me.” Nothing besides Alix’s ‘hmph’ as Jason flipped her over and stood up, lightly smacking her with the pillow while yelling. “Taste defeat!”

“HEY!” Marinette finally yelled out. All four heads snapped to her and everything was silent for a moment before chaos erupted and all the three boys started shouting and squealing (Dick) and clamoring for hugs.

“Mari!”

“Nettie!”

“MY FAVORITE SISTER!”

Marinette made a strangled noise as they all squeezed the life out of her. Marinette was smiling and laughing with them but was very glad when she was finally back on her own feet.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“What, we can’t visit our little sister?” Jason asked innocently and Marinette crossed her arms and looked at him with disbelief etched in every part of her.

“Ok so we heard about your situation in your class and-”

“Hey!” Alix suddenly cut in and stuttered when all eyes were on her. “I mean, hey, so I was just hanging out with these guys all day and they’re all hungry, let’s fix them something to eat?” She looked at Marinette in question then clapped her hands together and nodded once to confirm it with herself. “Yes.”

Marinette looked at her suspiciously then at her pseudo brothers who suddenly started nodding in confirmation.

“Yes, food.”

“Yup.”

“Hunger is a thing I have.” Jason’s stomach grumbled as if on cue which broke Marinette’s suspicion and she giggled at him.

“Ok, spaghetti it is. Blue Bird, you're on cutting duty, Tim-Tam, you get the ingredients, Jay-Jay…. Alix, keep Jason busy.”

After a few minutes bustling around the kitchen Marinette suddenly remembered something and she turned to Dick, “Where’s the old man?”

After dinner was made Dick bounded into her room claiming Damian was napping on her balcony which Marinette smiled to in triumph but when Damian came downstairs her triumph washed away along with her soul.

Marinette was doing fine all day. She was completely rational and fine. She was fine. Currently she is NOT fine. She is NOT ok. And as for Damian? He was fine alright. Oh boy was he fine. As soon as he walked down from her trapdoor her jaw dropped to the floor.

---

Alix shook her head, she was having quite the time watching Marinette’s reaction to her childhood friend but felt a rush of relief that she didn’t have Marinette Problems.

“Seriously, Marinette? Close your mouth.” The girl snapped her mouth shut and tore her eyes away from Damian to land on the skater.

“Alix,” she hissed, “why is he so damn hot?” Alix smirked at her friend’s rare use of a curse word and watched as Marinette’s face started to pinken and she ducked behind the kitchen counter. Alix leaned over the counter and saw the tip of her friend’s head.

“Relax,” she tried to be reassuring but couldn’t stop grinning. She heard footsteps get closer and whispered, “he’s coming,” before plopping back onto her seat.

Damian walked into Marinette’s view and stopped to look at her on the floor with a scowl that Alix was sure was not helping Marinette’s situation.

“What are you doing on the floor, Dupain-Cheng?” Alix snickered while Marinette shot up on her feet.

“He’s a male Chloe Bourgeois!” she said mostly to herself.

“None of your business. I see you haven’t changed a bit, Old Man.” Damian scoffed.

“Neither have you, it seems, Sunshine Face.” Wow. Bad nickname.

“Oh,” Marinette placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side, “so you still admit my face is pretty?” Oooo, where did Marinette get her game?

“What? No. More like I can’t look at it for too long because-”

Marinette began waving her hands back and forth to get him to stop, “ok ok ok,” where was she getting this confidence? She was literally hiding from him five seconds ago. “When you explain it, it loses the humor, did you learn nothing all those years ago?” Marinette shakes her head and Alix silently agrees, “pity. Anyways, my cooking has improved, as well as everything about me, I have clearly surpassed you, and here is some spaghetti we made while you were napping.” She grabbed a plate and waved her hand towards the food still on the stove while handing it to him, “help yourself.” She walked by him and headed to the couch where Jason and Dick had settled and plopped between them while they played video games. Alix nodded in approval as she watched Marinette walk away. When she turned back she found Damian watching her as well with cheeks slightly tinted pink. Wow. Does every boy she talks to fall for her? Even Kagami, poor soul, had fallen for Marinette as quickly as she could say “Begone, Adrien.”

This is going to be a fun week.

---

Marinette groaned in despair. Nino walked in with a blue shirt with a white outline of Adrien’s face like he was some kind of pop star and a red hat that of course said “Team Adrien”

“What's next,” Marinette mumbled to herself while leaning back and crossing her arms, “Team Damian?” Marinette heard a gasp and turned to see Alix staring at her like she had the greatest idea ever.

Very suddenly things clicked for Marinette. Her classmates were picking sides of who she should date. Adrien or Luka. It was literally the only connection she could find between the two boys, they only had about one or two conversations together in their entire lives and Marinette was definitely terrible at keeping her crushes secret so there was no way that at least Kitty Section would know about it. And thinking about Kitty Section they were the ones who started it. Oh no. Marinette made those shirts. Does Luka know? Probably. Adrien definitely doesn’t. Wwwooowww. Some friends she has.

And now Alix.

That BRAT! She was typing something on her phone… oh no.

“Alix,” Marinette said slowly as if approaching a rabid dog while unraveling her arms from her body. “Alix, no!” She jumped from her seat and lunged for the skater over Mylene who merely leaned back in her seat as if she’d been through this a million times. Alix jumped back while continuing to type then very clearly pressing send. “Noooooo…” Marinette slumped onto Mylene’s lap who patted the top of her head in pity.

She laid there for a moment taking in Mylene’s silent comfort before slowly standing up and ignoring everyone’s stares. She straightened her clothes saying a polite, “thank you, Mylene,” and a nod at her before focusing her gaze on Alix. “You’re dead, Kubdel,” she said then turning around and sitting straight backed on her seat trying desperately to ignore another snapshot of Adrien in a Gabriel line of workout clothes showing off his muscles on the back of Nino’s new shirt.

Marinette was slowly losing her mind.

---

The next day Alix walked in with a black shirt with green bold font saying “TEAM DAMIAN” on the front and she could feel Marinette staring daggers at her. She purposefully exposed her back to the class so they could see the “FIND YOUR OWN GIRL” printed on the back.

Alix ignored the stares while pulling out her school things until she heard Lila’s sickening sweet voice call out to, “who’s Damian?” Alix waited for a beat to make sure everyone was listening before smiling smugly, she couldn’t help it, and shrugging.

“Damian Wayne, obviously.”

---

Marinette would deny it but she felt a sick sort of satisfaction when Lila’s face paled.

BONUS:

“Plagg!” Adrien sounded exasperated and the little god chuckled evilly. It was such fun to tease his holder. The boy hadn’t caught on that his infatuation with Ladybug was just that: infatuation. He couldn’t see that he merely admired the girl, his father saw to it that Adrien was so sheltered that he couldn’t separate his feelings of the different types of love.

“Just saying, I know what you're doing there, “chaton”,” plagg mimicked Luka’s voice perfectly on the last word which instantly made Adrien become very red in the face, “you and I know what team you play for.” He threw the boy a wink and cackled before leaving him to ponder his words as he searched for more Camembert.

---

Felix rolled his eyes at his phone and quickly pressed the unfollow button on his cousin. What an embarrassment. He had absolutely no clue what he was throwing away because of his naïvety.

---

“I can feel your rage from here, Kagami.”

“Sorry, mother.” Kagami’s mother nodded her head as an acceptance of her apology.

“I’ve heard about that pesky little feud Gabriel’s child is in.” She stayed quiet for a moment but Kagami didn’t break the silence. “You are a Tsurugi, Kagami. No hesitation.” Kagami couldn’t stop the little smile that slid onto her face.

“Yes, mother,” she said quietly.

-------

Team Luka:

Lila, Juleka, Rose, Ivan, Sabrina, Adrien

Team Adrien:

Alya, Chloe, Nino, Kim, Max, Mylene

Team Damian:

Alix, Dick, Tim, Jason, Bruce

some long ass notes:

I didn’t add kagami and felix into the mix because it would really complicate things but for clarification in my mind Marinette and everyone is between 14-16 and Marinette doesn’t know it but she does have feelings for kagami but she's focused on the other two boys, she knows she likes boys and doesn't want to think about girls since it would complicate her situation and open a door to many more problems with her poor little teen heart. Kagami knows she likes Marinette though, she took one look at marinette and said “nope. Bye Adrien.”

SO i think it be pretty cool if whoever wants to can reply with their own versions of whatever ships they want and the characters interactions with them. I won’t be actually putting any characters together as to leave the imagination up to the reader but if you want you can go ahead and add yourselves to whatever team you want (:

Part 1

@miracleofadisaster @consumeconstantly @mermaidreject @alenee13 @how-to-fuction-properly @dreamykitty25 @certifiedbidisaster @kris-pines04 @ira-sairain @crystalangelluna @i-wanna-be-a-ninja @our-preciousss @iamabrownfox @susiej1118 @thenillabean @tired-butterfly @fantasyislive @prudencerika @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @clumsy-owl-4178 @notmycupoftea26 @iamablinkmarvelarmy

#adrinette #lukanette #daminette #what team #miraculous ladybug #ladybug #lil bit of lila salt but she's struggling #adrien x marinette #luka x marinette #damian x marinette #ok its too long i dont wanna reread it imma post it

738 notes · View notes

quokkacore · 3 years

Text

son of wolves III [park chanyeol and byun baekhyun]

summary: your entire life, you've fought bravely to defend the walls of your home from the evil forest spirits of the spearwood trying to destroy it, alongside your family, friends, and your betrothed, baekhyun. until you're infected by the evil that resides in one of these spirits, and you run away from home, before it can spread to those around you. it's in your exile, wandering through the spearwood that you meet the wolf prince, a tall man of hardened eyes, few words, and a fiery temperament, raised by these spirits you've so grown to resent. it's here that you begin to question everything you've ever known, and wonder whether the evil was out here, in the forest, or inside the walls of a place you once called home.

pairings: hunter!baekhyun x reader, wolfprince!chanyeol x reader

genre: reverse princessmononoke!au, ANGST, fluff, slow burn, enemies to lovers, fantasy epic, war au, wolf!au

warnings for this chapter: love bombing, emotional manipulation, non-sexual nudity, themes of infidelity?, mentioned child abandonment, gaslighting, guilt tripping, language, chanyeol is not in this chapter :(, baekhyun is an asshole and has huge mommy issues, reader makes No Good Decisions, mentions of gun violence, baekhyun is a bit forceful with reader at one point, threat of physical abuse(?), emotional abuse, blackmail, reader is drugged, possible non-con? (reader is drugged and baekhyun gives her a kiss on the lips)

song recs: fool of me - say lou lou & chet faker // blinding - florence + the machine // all my pride - black honey // king and queen - exo-cbx // power is power - sza, the weeknd & travis scott

word count: 5.8k

a/n: i’m sorry. i just had to!!! this isn’t the final chapter, i had a last minute idea of giving you guys ONE LAST CLIFFHANGER kjdkfjdk please don’t hate me!! thx to my irl best friend for all of the feedback (if ur reading this hi queen ily) and to @riajae for all of the help <3

disclaimer: i do not condone baekhyun’s actions in this chapter and i don’t believe that the real baekhyun would act like this in real life.

story masterlist // main masterlist

chapter three: the return

When you awoke, it felt as if you had never known peace in your life. Because your thoughts were jumbled when they should have been slow and sluggish as you were roused from your sleep. Despite the warmth of the quilts, you felt numb, as if you were still stuck in the cold.

Your eyelashes fluttered, body stretching across the bed. You’d never felt more out of place in this bed.

What you should have done was sighed in satisfaction at the bunches of quilts keeping your toes warm. You should have sunk further into the mattress, and buried your nose into Baekhyun’s pillow and taken in his scent after being deprived of it for so long. But as you recalled what had happened, you felt yourself sinking, but not because you were finally in your bed after so long.

Immediately, you understood where you were, what had happened and what had led you here. To a degree, you had an odd sense of coherency you weren't sure a person who had almost died of hypothermia could have.

You could hear the murmuring behind the door. The sound of Baekhyun's voice mingling with Yixing's coasted through your ears, but you were only able to catch bits and pieces. Your thoughts were too jumbled to latch onto the conversation.

"When you… was she...?"

"Delirious… didn't understand… anything she said."

"I need to… anything else?"

"No, I think… let you know."

You sat up slowly, when you heard the front door close. Your eyes squeezed shut, and you let out a quiet whine as you stretched your arms.

Your eyes fluttered open, head immediately craning to the pristine, white gauze wrapped around your arm. The bandages made their way around your fingertips, and all the way to your shoulder now. Aside from that, someone had changed your clothes, and now you were wearing clean clothes, at last.

You swallowed harshly, clenching your jaw. As you sat up, the sound of the front door closing made its way to your ears. Then, came the sounds of feet padding across the floor. You tried to move your legs, to stand. They wouldn’t budge, slightly weak.

The bedroom door opened quietly, as if whoever was trying to open it didn’t want to disturb you. However, once the familiar pair of brown eyes settled on your sitting form, it swung open.

“Y/N,” Baekhyun sighed in relief, striding towards you. You tried to stand, needing to feel his embrace. “Baekhyun—”

Your knees buckled, but he caught you just in time. His hands grasped your waist, and you gasped, bracing to hit the floor facefirst. But you didn’t, instead coming face to face with the man you had so longed for for so long. His face was inches away from yours, his breath slightly ragged. Baekhyun’s eyes seemed to be painted in disbelief, and your heart twisted at the thought—that he seemed to be shocked that you were here, in your home.

The next thing you knew, his lips were on yours, bruising, desperate. He hummed softly against your lips, out of relief, out of exhilaration, out of heartbreak. Your shoulders slumped, and you almost sagged against him before wrapping your arms around the back of his neck. He lowered you back onto the bed gently, lips not leaving yours. Carefully, his body hovered over yours, cautious to not pin you down or press his weight down on you.

His hands came up to cradle your face, before gently pulling away. “You idiot,” He huffed lovingly, pressing kisses all over your face, “Do you have any idea how worried I was—”

“Baek—”

He cut you off with another soft kiss before pressing more kisses to your face, “Thought I would never see you again, love…”

“How did you find me?” You murmured, finally gripping his chin and pulling his lips away from your forehead. You met his eyes, which were full of mirth. He caught his breath before finally speaking.

“Ivan marched right up to the gate a few days ago. We did our best to track his prints in the snow, and branched out when the snow covered them completely. You walked right into our search party the next morning.”

“Wait, how long was I out?” You asked, pushing a stray strand of hair out of his face. His lips turned downwards, eyes turning serious.

“Y/N, you were out for about two days. We only got back here late last night. You were asleep that entire time. We were all scared we wouldn’t be able to keep you alive long enough before we could come back here, but we managed it, somehow.”

Eyes not straying away from his, you let out a shaky breath. “Baek, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“That doesn’t matter now,” He shushed, quickly rolling off of you. He gathered you in his arms, lifting you like a man would his new wife. “What matters now is that you’re home, and you’re safe, and we’re back together again.”

You nodded, stomach heavy with guilt. Your small smile didn’t seem very convincing, even though you hoped it was.

Baekhyun led you to the washroom, setting you on the wooden chair, before telling you he’d be right back. He was gone for about fifteen minutes.

During that time, you crossed your hands in your lap, twiddling your fingers as you sat in silence. Quietly mulling over everything you’d been through for the past few weeks, you leaned back in the chair as emotional exhaustion overtook you.

The curse. The isolation you’d subjected yourself to willingly, at your naivete, the pride that you could negotiate with a god. The cold, the hunger, the loneliness… Chanyeol. Everything he’d said to you, the sensation of his skin on yours... his revelations from that night. Your natural distrust of his words. The uneasiness at the idea that they might be true.

Even if you’d been asleep for just about two days—the sensation of being tired seemed to have seeped into your bones, permeating the air worse than any hate curse ever could. It seemed to wrap itself around your neck, choking you until tears began to fall down your cheeks.

Baekhyun returned some fifteen minutes later, carefully carrying two buckets: one of boiling hot water, the other of cold water. He filled the small basin with both, testing the water with his hand to make sure it wasn’t too hot or cold.

When he finally turned, he seemed to realize that you were crying. “Oh, my darling,” He said, kneeling in front of your chair, “Come here.”

As if it was second nature, your face buried itself in Baekhyun’s chest, his damp hand coming up to rub up and down your back, the other petting your hair. “I’m sorry,” You sobbed brokenly, hands gripping the white linen of his shirt, “Baek, I’m so sorry. I was wrong, s-so wrong…”

Baekhyun pressed a soft kiss to the crown of your head. “Maybe you shouldn’t have,” He murmured against your hair, causing a pang of guilt to rack through your chest. “But you’re alive, okay? As long as you’re alive, everything else doesn’t matter. Come on, love, we need to get you cleaned up.”

He pulled away from you, wiping away the tears streaking down your cheeks. His eyes were glassy, and that made it even worse. Your body shook with every cry, vision blurring and lips trembling.

His voice was gentle. “Don’t cry, Y/N… you’ll make me cry, and then you’ll cry even harder, and then I’ll cry even harder…”

A soft laugh made its way past your lips between your blubbering, and Baekhyun mirrored your laugh. “There’s my girl,” He said lovingly, “Come here. Can I take your clothes off?”

You nodded, not trusting your voice. Wordlessly, he began to undress you. You lifted your arms when he pulled off your shirt, and wiggled your hips when he pulled down your pants. His actions were gentle, tender, intimate, and the familiar hands tending to your body, lifting you up again and placing you into the bath, calmed you substantially. Automatically, you brought your knees up to your chest when he stood up, getting ready to wash you.

“Can you get in with me?” You asked quietly, voice scratchy and weak. You pouted up at him, eyes still teary, and he put his hands on his hips. He nodded, smiling sympathetically.

“With that look in your eyes, you make it hard to say no."

Quickly, he shed his clothes, setting them onto the chair next to yours, before motioning you to scoot forward. He sat down behind you, placing a soft kiss on your shoulder. You craned your head back to lock eyes with him.

“You keep kissing me,” You murmured.

“Well, I wasn’t able to kiss you for three weeks,” He replied, pressing another kiss to your shoulder, eyes not leaving yours, “I need to make up for lost time.”

“Yeah, well I haven’t been able to bathe in three weeks. If there’s anyone who needs to make up for lost time, it’s me.”

He chuckled at your quip, cupping water with his hands to let it run down your skin. Picking up the soap, he got to work helping you wash. Running the bar down your arms, on your back and around your chest, touch never too heavy.

A few seconds after he started, you opted to speak. With a heavy sigh, you told him just about everything. The first week alone, Chanyeol attacking you, your meeting with the gods.

“So he is still out there,” Baekhyun muttered when you described Emyr, “Who would have thought.”

You left out certain things, nervously swallowing the urge to question your loyalties. The story about removing the bullet from Sehun was left out.

So was what happened at the hot springs. You remained silent as he washed your hair, which was greasy and matted from weeks of not being cared for properly. You sighed in quiet satisfaction, eyes fluttering shut at the sensation of his hands massaging your scalp. When he was finished, he spoke again.

"So they just made you follow them around all night?" His voice was quiet, tone unreadable. “Love, I don’t think they ever intended on healing you. It sounds like they were stringing you along.”

You nodded, unsure of what to say. In another life, you would have believed him.

“Baek?”

“Hmm?” His hand grabbed yours gently, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles.

"Would it be so crazy if I thought they weren't?"

He hummed pensively, his grip on your hand tightening ever so slightly. He remained silent for a long time, and you tried to keep your breath steady. "I wouldn't say… crazy. Maybe a bit too optimistic. It's not… we've been enemies for how long now? Not crazy. Maybe a bit naive. Which I wouldn’t really expect from you, but...”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You murmured quietly, turning your head. Your teary eyes met his unreadable ones. He pursed his lips, shaking his head. “I’m not trying to be mean, love. It just… You have to understand that I told you not to go, and you went anyway. I lost my mind when I woke up that morning. And I’m still… I don’t know. Never mind.” He shook his head, frowning.

“Baekhyun…” You sounded defeated, turning your torso further back to get a better look at him.

“Y/N, I just want what’s best for you,” He answered earnestly, straightening the chain of your necklace, “I was worried. I’m sorry if I’m taking that out on you now.”

Looking down, focusing on a mole on his bare chest to avoid his downtrodden gaze, you shook your head. “It’s alright,” You whispered, “You have every right to be angry at me.”

He didn’t rebuke you, shame bubbling in your chest when he pressed a kiss to your forehead instead. “Let’s get you into some new clothes. The Council wanted to see me after this, I’ll bring you along too.”

Wordlessly, you obeyed. He dried and dressed you, hands tracing over your body as if you were gentle porcelain as he draped clean, warm fabric across your skin. When he finished getting himself dressed he walked back over to you and kissed you again. While a few weeks ago you would have killed just to have one of these kisses, now it has simply left you hollow.

You weren’t sure if it was because of the guilt gnawing at your insides or because every time his lips met yours, all you could think of was Chanyeol’s; his skin on yours, the piercing blue of the water, everything that could have been but ultimately wasn’t—because you were both too cowardly to face the truth.

“You ready to go?” His hands made his way to your cheeks, gazing at you tentatively, warmly. Like he was scared that at any moment, you’d break away and run off even if he begged you not to.

And you nodded, too exhausted to argue, even though all you wanted was to curl up in bed and ask him to hold you while you cry. Maybe if he held you for long enough, these feelings would go away and you would forget about everything that happened to you in that forest. But you didn’t, and he didn’t ask you if you wanted to stay.

So you took his hand, and he helped you out the door.

To say the Council was furious was an understatement. You thought you’d be given a reprieve when your father rushed to you and crushed you in a hug. He didn’t say anything, but when he pulled away, his eyes were glassy.

But that seemed to be the extent of their mercy. You were berated for a good fifteen minutes, going on about how your escape was an insult to the military prowess, about how you had disobeyed a direct order, that if it were anyone else, they would have been tried for treason and abandonment.

You let them go on, not finding the energy within you to protest. You were already feeling as low as you thought possible, and doubted they could make you feel even worse.

Oh, how wrong you were.

“You say you met the old gods?”

You sighed, nodding. “I was forced to work for Selyne’s sons when I did find them.”

“What of the wolf rider?” One of the men asked, “Does he speak? What did you find out about him.”

Clenching your jaw, you decided to test the waters. “He told me his name and the names of his brothers. His name is Chanyeol.”

“He can communicate with the wolves?” An elderly woman asked, and you nodded tentatively. You needed to be very careful with your next words. If you revealed you could communicate with them also, you were done for. You would be tried for treason for sure. Maybe even witchcraft.

But you couldn’t shake the idea that you were wrong. Not because of everything you’d been through, but because of what you’d told Baekhyun. That you were wrong to go out there. With every word spoken, you felt a growing sense of unease, an urge to protect the wolves, the Spearwood, and everything it stood for.

“From what I saw and heard, yes. But it’s… strange. He spoke out loud to them, and I couldn’t hear their responses. I asked him how. He said it was because he’s connected to the she-wolf, and as a result, to the other creatures of the forest as well.”

They asked if he was from here or from somewhere else. You knew it didn’t matter. At the end of the day, they saw him as human, so it didn’t matter. He would be considered a traitor regardless.

“He told me he was born in the forest. That’s all I know.”

There was a pause in the conversation, only perking up when Jongdae spoke up. “He said he’s connected to Selyne,” He pointed out, “What would happen if she were to die?”

Suddenly, the air in the room changed, and your stomach dropped.

“He would have to lose his connection to the forest.” Minseok seemed to catch on to what Jongdae was saying. “On top of that, we get rid of one of their leaders. It would be a huge dent in their morale and strategy. That could give us the upper hand.”

Your father nodded. “Y/N, you know the forest better than any of us now. If you worked with the wolves, you must have seen their den.”

“I was with the pr—her sons. She lived in another den… I didn’t see it.”

“Still, you’re our upper hand,” Baekhyun said, looking slightly hopeful. It made your stomach churn. “If you were able to survive for so long on your own, we could plan a military campaign and invade. We’re stronger in numbers.”

The chatter started up again, discussing possible strategies, and it became too much. You felt a ripple in your arm, but you managed to hold it back.

“No.”

The chatter died down as quickly as it had started, and everyone turned to look at you. Your heart began to pound in your chest, your palms turning clammy. “They… they said once they’d be willing to negotiate a truce. They’re just as scared as we are, as tired of the war as we are, and they just want peace—”

"We have an opportunity to get rid of them once and for all, so we can finally expand our home and reap the benefits of having the forest for ourselves," A man told you, "You wish for us to let it slip through our fingers?"

Swallowing, you shook your head. This wasn’t what you wanted to happen. "I don't think it's wise for us to simply invade, when both sides want the same thing—"

“Hold on, so they want peace but then they decided to ambush us one day?” Baekhyun said, sounding a bit louder. You didn’t like the accusatory tone in his voice.

“They wouldn’t have ambushed us if you hadn’t shot Sehun!”

Baekhyun’s head shot back, eyes widening. He was silent for a moment, eyes darting back and forth before he could speak again. But your father beat you to it.

“Y/N, who is Sehun?”

“The wolf that bit me that day,” You admitted. “He got shot. The wound got infected, and that’s what he spread to me. I pulled out the bullet myself—they forced me to.”

Your head turned to Baekhyun, who had interlocked his fingers and whose eyes were dark and unreadable. “Chanyeol said that you were the target that day, because you were the one that shot him.”

“So you’re just going to take that—that creature’s word over mine?” Baekhyun’s voice was low, bordering on angry, “Really, Y/N?”

“I’m not saying that I believe him, I’m just saying that if one of us hadn’t—”

“It sure sounds like you do,” Jongdae snapped.

“—Provoked them, we wouldn’t be—”

“Enough!”

Your father’s voice rang through the room, and suddenly, you could hear a pin drop. The look on everyone’s faces gave it away. You had just made a fatal mistake.

“We’ll take a recess,” Your father said, glaring at you, “Baekhyun, take Y/N back to the house. Keep her there and when you return we’ll resume discussing strategies. Clearly, three weeks of wandering through the cold have made her unwell.”

“What?” You cried, incredulous. Baekhyun stood, walking towards you, cautiously gripping your arm. "Come on, love, let's go."

"No!" You tugged your arm out of his grip, "You can't do this, it's not safe and it's not smart—"

“Clearly, she’s gone mad from the cold and the isolation! How can we believe anything she says?” The old woman from before you was scowling at you, “Get her out of this room. Immediately.”

“How dare you,” You fired back, “After everything I’ve done for this Council you would just—”

But Baekhyun was pulling you away anyway, and within a matter of minutes, you were back inside the walls of what was once your home. Baekhyun didn’t let go as he tugged you over the threshold, leading you towards the bedroom.

“Baekhyun, let me go,” You demanded, still trying to pull away, “Byun Baekhyun, let me go! You’re not listening to me—”

“Why should I listen to you?” He snapped as he shoved you into the bedroom, pushing you to sit on the bed.

“Because I know what happened to me in there! I’m not crazy! I’m—”

“We will discuss this when I come back from the meeting. My word is final.”

He looked furious, which completely caught you off guard. He seemed to be sneering at you when he slammed the door, shaking his head.

Then, you heard a soft click, and your blood ran cold. You shot up, darting towards the door, jiggling the knob.

He had locked you inside. You banged on the door. “Baek! Baekhyun, let me out! Let me out, please, Baek.”

You heard the front door slam, and the next thing you knew, you had collapsed to the floor, sobbing, clutching the knob like a lifeline.

How long you stayed like that was a mystery. Eventually, your tears dried up, and your wailing quieted. What you were left with were a hollow interior, a growling stomach and a pounding head. You craned your neck to look at the bedroom, which was slowly getting darker as the afternoon stretched into the evening.

Your eyes landed on a chair you hadn’t previously noticed in the morning. Draped over it were the clothes you had worn for the past few weeks, undoubtedly dirty. Making your way over to the chair, you picked up the shirt. When you lifted it you crinkled your nose, the smell of dried sweat and blood making its way to your nostrils. Had you really smelled like this the entire time?

Shoving the thought to the back of your mind, you looked in the pockets of the shirt until you found it: a small opal dangling from a chain of gold.

You weren’t sure what to tell Baekhyun. Hell, you weren’t sure if you should tell him at all. He’d always been quite sensitive when it came to his mother.

And to tell him now, with the way he was acting…

You stared at the small stone, silently cursing Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s father. If you hadn’t been such a dick, I wouldn’t be in this situation.

Thinking over everything that was said in the Council meeting was painful. It didn’t help the pounding in your head. How you’d been called mad, and you’d been effectively silenced by the people who would easily listen to you in the past.

You considered what they might be discussing right now. Because you knew they wanted the forest for themselves, to strip it barren and use it to build an empire. Your hands tightened around the necklace when you realized it.

This war wasn’t being fueled by fear. Not on this side, at least. It was greed, pure human greed, and it wouldn’t stop unless a major change happened.

You didn’t hear the front door open, but you heard the padding of feet headed towards the bedroom door. You shot up, shoving the necklace into your pocket as the lock clicked, and then the door swung open.

Baekhyun’s eyes fell on you, standing right across from you. There was an odd mix of contempt and satisfaction in his eyes. You’re not an idiot. You knew which one of those emotions was reserved for you.

“I brought you some food,” He murmured, “I figured you might be hungry.”

Nodding, you sheepishly put your hands in your pockets, and trudged over to him. Baekhyun led you to the small dinner table, where he’d set down two bowls of soup, which he must have bought from Mrs Yang’s tavern. He was silent the entire time, watching you as you scarfed down the soup. The taste was as rich as ever, but this time there was a new kick to it. You also ate the bread roll you’d picked up from the basket in the middle of the table. The meal was warm and hearty and while it filled your stomach, the void in your chest was still there.

“We’re leaving early tomorrow, before dawn,” Baekhyun said finally, “We plan to go as far in as we can.”

Your heart just about stopped, the stones on your chest and in your pocket weighing you down, stopping you from shooting straight up. “Why?” You croaked, eyes filling with tears.

Baekhyun sighed and scowled at you, pushing away his half empty bowl. “You were wrong.”

“What?”

“Today,” He clarified, “You said that the old gods were just as scared and tired as we are. You’re wrong. We’re not afraid of them. We haven’t been for years.”

Your hand grabbed his. “Baekhyun, you can’t,” You pleaded, “Please. Listen to me. There’s no need for all of this, this violence. It can end tomorrow if you’re just willing to negotiate with them.”

“We don’t want to negotiate.” He spat out the last word as if it was offensive. His hand pulled away from yours. “That forest is ours for the taking and we’re not about to let it slip through our hands.”

He stood, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “We’re expanding our home. This is for the greater good, Y/N. Can’t you see? A future for us—”

“I’m going to die soon.” Your voice was trembling now. You couldn’t blame yourself. “There is no greater good for me, no greater good for us. For how long would it last, anyway? If the forest is gone, how do we hunt? It’s provided for us for generations, and all we do is take and take and take and we never give it anything in return—”

“Why the hell would I want to give anything to that forest?” He yelled, slamming his hands down on the table with a loud bang, causing you to flinch. “Over the years, they’ve killed hundreds of us—”

“And we’ve killed thousands of them!” You had stood now, chest heaving. “I know it’s hard for you to think there’s good in there, but there is, Baek. It’s calm and quiet and peaceful and that’s all—they—want. To keep it that way.”

He shook his head. “There’s never been good in that forest. Not since we left. It’s evil, and it corrupts anyone who stays there for too long. I-it corrupted that rider—Chanyeol or whatever his name is—and now, I’m starting to think it’s corrupted you too.”

“That rider will die if you don’t convince the council to stand down.” Your hands were trembling, but somehow, you mustered up the strength—the courage really—to throw the necklace down onto the table, just as Baekhyun was asking why he should care so much about Chanyeol.

At first, he didn’t understand. He probably thought it was his necklace, the one he’d given to you. His eyebrows furrowed, his lips turned downward, and then he looked up to see your face. Only when he meant to look back down at Chanyeol’s necklace and began to lower his gaze, did he realize that there was more than one opal necklace.

His expression turned uncertain, blinking a few times in disbelief. “Where… where did you get this?” He asked, breathless. Your voice wavered, uncertain of what would come next.

“Chanyeol gave it to me,” You said, staring at the necklace, “He said… He said it belonged to the woman who gave birth to him. His… his mother.”

Baekhyun looked back up at you, mouth gaping. “That can’t be possible,” He murmured, shaking his head. You shrugged. “I didn’t believe him either, Baek. Not at first. But… I don’t know.”

“What exactly did he tell you?” He murmured, gritting his teeth. “I need to know.”

So you did. You told Baekhyun the same story Chanyeol had told you, the same story Selyne had told him as a child. Of a young woman who died of frostbite after running away from her husband, who gave birth to a baby boy with wide brown eyes and big ears, who begged a wolf goddess to raise the baby as one of her own.

The entire time, your gaze remained trained on him. His eyes turned glassy but his tears didn’t fall, and you felt your chest ache when you finished, and he took a shaky breath.

“So that’s where she went,” He whispered, “I had always thought…”

You shook your head. “I’m sorry, Baekhyun. I wish I could have told you under better circumstances.”

Hands trembling, he picked up the necklace, and traced over the stone with a delicate finger. You saw a tear fall, but just as you were about to comfort him, something in him shifted. His breathing became heavier, his top lip twitched, before twisting into an angry sneer. His fist closed around the necklace, right before he threw it across the room. You heard it hit the wall, but you didn’t see where it went.

“No.” His teary eyes met yours, and you knew that something had taken over inside of him; some deep rooted pain he had locked away for years upon years. “I’m not helping him. Not after what he took from me.”

“Baekhyun—”

“Why do you seem to care so much about him, Y/N? Huh?” He leaned forward, voice dangerously quiet. “Did something… happen while you were out there? Is that what this is?”

“Nothing happened,” You growled, tight lipped.

He scoffed, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

Baekhyun walked towards you, once again gripping your wrist, this time even tighter. He tugged you towards the bedroom, you protesting every step of the way. Where you found the energy, you didn’t know. Because you were so tired.

“You’re hurting me,” You told him, but he didn’t let go. “Baekhyun, please! If you could j-just hear me out, o-or let me out so I can talk to the people in town—”

“What, you think they’ll believe you?” He snarled, slamming the bedroom door shut and finally letting you go. He stepped forward, but you refused to concede. “Doll, you just spent three weeks wandering around in the wilderness because you didn’t want to die. At first, everyone felt bad, you know? Poor little Y/N, all alone in the woods because she wants to live a full life.”

He stepped forward again, this time grabbing your face. This time, his grip wasn’t painful, wasn’t even tight. You didn’t pull away as his eyes filled with mock sadness, lips twisting into an exaggerated pout. “But then they watched as I, your poor, poor fiance, walked in and out of that forest for three weeks trying to save you. Because I thought I could,” He let out an empty, humorless laugh, “I thought I could still bring you back and take care of you until you died. Maybe have a less elaborate wedding, but a wedding nonetheless. They watched me do that and then they realized that maybe, just maybe, you were being a selfish little brat and only thinking about yourself. So tell me, my love, who are they going to be more inclined to believe, huh?”

Yanking yourself out of his grip, you stared at him in disbelief, but he didn’t stop. He seemed to be caught in his own little reverie, monologuing as if he were the one who had supposedly gone mad. “We were supposed to get married and lead these people to greatness. It was our destiny. But now you’ve gone and ruined everything.”

“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t shot the damn wolf,” You hissed. His eyes flashed, and he shook his head. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “No. I suppose it wouldn’t… but I guess it’s better this way.”

He put his hands on your shoulders, and you jumped. “How?” Your voice was barely audible.

“If you hadn’t gotten bitten, we wouldn’t be here. But that means I never would have found out that you were so… susceptible to the forest. We shouldn’t have such a weak leader running around. Wouldn’t want that, would we? But we are here, and now I know. So here’s what’s going to happen.”

His hands pushed down on your shoulders, forcing you onto the bed. You glared up at him as he put his hands on his hips. “I’m going to leave with the other soldiers in a few hours, and I’m gonna kill myself a she-wolf and her little bastards. You’re going to stay right here.” His condescending tone wasn’t missed, even as he got more sentimental.

“I’m going to come back, and we’ll get married, and we’re gonna be happy until you die. And when you do, since I, as your widower, will have married into your family line, I’m going to lead my people to destroy that forest once and for all. How’s that for a plan?”

You couldn’t answer. You didn’t want to play the hero and say that he would never win. Because the truth was, he very much could. The gods and their followers didn’t understand the guns or how to treat bullet wounds. Even worse, Baekhyun had a sort of magnetism that drew people to him, that made them hang on to every single word he said.

You had no more cards to play. Every single one you had tried had backfired, horribly.

Pursing your lips, you sighed. “...Fine. I’ll stay.”

You refused to concede. It wouldn’t end this way. But right now, you were too tired to fight back, and your muscles seemed to be getting heavier and heavier by the second.

“That’s my girl,” Baekhyun murmured, gaze beginning to warm. “Get to bed, love. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

You nodded, holding back a yawn. You tried to kick off your shoes, but quickly realized your movements were sluggish. All at once, despite the slowness of your body, your mind snapped to the conclusion.

The soup tasted differently. You were tired. Your movements were slowing down. Baekhyun had spiked the soup.

“Baek,” You slurred, “What did you do?”

“What was necessary, love.” It sounded so twisted, the way his voice was so warm. “I needed to make sure you wouldn’t fight back.”

But maybe this was how Baekhyun had loved you all along, and you had never realized; in his own sick, twisted way. Maybe he had never loved you at all, maybe he just wanted to own you. The realization came as he removed your shoes for you, before guiding you under the covers. Your fists weakly came up to hit at his chest as he did, but they did no damage.

“You’re vile,” You whispered. You heard Baekhyun chuckle. “Maybe I am.”

He tucked you in with a kiss on your forehead, one you barely felt. You were already beginning to slip away. “Yixing will be here in the morning to check on you. You’re still recovering, you know.”

You couldn’t respond, too groggy to do so. But you were aware enough to hear his final words, whispered into your ear before he pressed one final kiss to your lips.

“If you try anything, I’ll fucking kill him,” He said, voice saccharine sweet, “Family or not. He stole something from me once.”

Your eyes fluttered shut, but not before you heard him open the door.

“I’m not going to let him do it again."

taglist: @delightpcy @chanyeolscoon @xxbluestrifexx @imsoba @chogiwhy127 @always-wishing-for-rain

#exo imagines #exo au #exo scenarios #exo angst #exo smut #exo fluff #byun baekhyun x reader #baekhyun angst #baekhyun fluff #kpop au #kpop scenarios #kpop angst #park chanyeol x reader #my writing

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ladyanput · 4 years

Text

Spots Drawn in Marker Pt.1

Based on the AU by @miraculous-of-salt

(I promise this isn't full on bashing.)

Marinette sighed ever so softly as she tapped her pencil against her sketchbook. Today was not seeming to be an inspirational day and she had a portfolio to finish by the end of the month.

"And I just couldn't believe that Jagged's concert was almost cancelled. But he called me and I filled him with such inspiration and determination that he just couldn't help but rock out." Lila spoke in an airy, wistful tone that Marinette had no doubt she practiced to get just right. "He said I could even get VIP passes to his next show, thanks to what I did, as many as I want."

Well there goes any and all hope for any inspiration this morning. Lila just leeched any creativity out of any room she's in.

"Do you think I could get one?" Alya piped up, beaming over at Lila as she recorded the entire conversation. "I mean, since we're besties, I'd love an interview with Jagged. Lately he's been very tight lipped about a lot of things."

"Of course, Alya, anything for my second best friend!" Lila hugged the girl, beaming brightly as Alya began posting the recording on her blog.

Marinette merely rolled her eyes and settled back in her seat in the back of the class, going back to sketching her ideas for the morning. A beautiful scarf, maybe a nice warm sweater… Marinette was quickly lost in a world of design, a world she could have control of. It was something she had often turned to after Lila had caused her life to go spiralling into a pit where her friends brushed off her concerns for the lies of a shiny new toy.

Marinette was so caught up in her sketching, that she didn't notice when Miss Bustier came in, guiding along a girl who shared a wink with Lila. If only she had noticed.

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. This is Rébecca, she just transferred to our school today. I hope you will all give her a warm welcome." Bustier beamed at her class as many of her students mumbled clumsy, half-hearted hellos.

Marinette glanced up from her sketchbook and took a good, long look at the new girl. She was tall, slim, with dark bluish-black hair that reached her shoulders. Marinette could tell by looking at them that her clothes were Gabriel brand, the skinny jeans clinging to her long, long legs like a second skin, the leopard print top accentuating any curves the girl may have had.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Lila has told me so much about you all!" Rébecca beamed at everyone, and that instantly made Marinette narrow her eyes a fraction, while Rébecca strode over to where Lila and Adrien sat, sending a flirty little smile to the model. "And I heard you're quite the helpful one, of course. I'm so glad you volunteered to show me around today."

Oh, that was it. Lila brought along a croney to try and manipulate Adrien some more, maybe help granduerize her stories. Well, this was certainly becoming a fun class. Marinette pressed her lips into a thin line as Rébecca sat down next to Adrien, causing the boy to be uncomfortably sandwiched between the two girls. It made Marinette's blood boil at how the two girls kept pawing at the model, who clearly wanted to get away, while Alya and the others just cooed and urged it on.

Honestly, this entire class has gone crazy.

Marinette made a move to go down there and get them to stop, but Adrien had looked back at her and given her a look that pleaded that she didn't. That's what he wanted, for her to sit down, shut up, and not cause trouble. It took everything in Marinette not to snap her pencil as Miss Bustier began to lesson.

…

Adrien didn't quite know how to feel about this new girl hanging off of his arm, seeming overly cuddly with him, fluttering her lashes and trying to get most of his attention.

"How exactly do you two know each other?" Alya had asked when she and Nino sat down with the duo and Lila. Lila had only perked up, and got a somewhat secretive smile on her face, while Rébecca let out a soft giggle.

“All I can say is, Alya, that Rébecca is my best friend.” Lila boasted, giving Alya an overly obvious wink. Alya stared at Lila, as if slowly digesting her words before her eyes lit up and her hand shot for her phone.

“You’re serious?!” Alya began to open an app on her phone, but Rébecca reached out a hand to stop her, then gave Adrien a pleading look.

“Adrien, I’m very parched. Do you think you could grab me a soda, please? I would greatly appreciate it.” She slid a hand slowly along his arm, giving him a smile then when their eyes met.

Adrien opened his mouth, but then nodded and made his way to the lunch line, which had grown fairly sizable as lunch was halfway over.

“You’re Ladybug?!” Alya beamed as she reached out and took Rébecca’s hand, an eager gleam in her eyes. “I knew Marinette was wrong about everything! Can I see the earrings?”

Rébecca nodded and pulled aside her hair from her ear, showing off the black spotted red earring, making Alya practically squeal with delight.

“I just want to say that I’m so honoured that you chose me to be Rena Rouge.” Alya took Rébecca’s hand, so awestruck that she missed the surprised look Lila and Rébecca exchanged.

“Well it was Lila that gave me the glowing recommendation.” Rébecca grinned as Alya began practically bursting with excitement as she began dumping question after question on Rébecca, who answered every one with ease, puffing out her chest with pride. Nino even seemed to get into it, thanking her profusely for allowing him to become Carapace, thankful he was able to protect the people of Paris.

All the while Marinette was seated on the other side of the cafeteria with Rose and Ivan, trying her hardest to design something new for Kitty Section’s concert in a month, completely unaware of the imposter across the room. She was merely smiling as she discussed with Rose the possibility of adding more sparkles to the outfits, while Ivan was increasingly pleading for them not to.

“Oh come on, they won’t be that bad.” Marinette smirked up at her distressed classmate, playfully sticking out her tongue. “Maybe I’ll even make the costumes neon orange.”

“Don’t you dare..” Ivan growled softly, but any playful banter was cut short by an explosion nearby that shook the school. Many students let out surprised screams as trees seemed to burst from the floor out of nowhere.

“Hello Paris, I am Dryad, prepare to start tossing away those construction sites you use as excuses to cut down my precious trees!” A voice called out, echoing across the area, and it was then a panic began. Students cried out and began running in various directions, as the branches stretched from the trees and began snatching up various people.

Adrien ducked off into an alcove, and thinking the coast was clear, transformed and took off, completely unaware of Rébecca watching from around the corner, a stunned look on her face.

…

As soon as school was over, Marinette stretched and let out a soft groan. Her body felt so stiff from that akuma battle earlier, Dryad had been an eco-activist who had been angry that her favourite park had been dozed over to make room for a spa, so she had been an easy target for Hawkmoth.

“Mari, I have to tell you something.” Alya ran up beside her and grabbed her arm, stopping her friend in her tracks. Marinette gave her a smile, though silently wished she were heading home right now for a nap. She just felt so drained after the day, and she wanted to relax with a nice cup of hot cocoa and some cookies with Tikki.

“Oh, did you get a new scoop?” Marinette’s smile widened when she saw the eager look in Alya’s eyes, the slight bounce in her step. She knew right away that the young reporter had quite the story if she was stopping Marinette right outside of school.

“I sure did, and it’s all thanks to Lila.” Alya grinned, but it quickly dimmed when the smile fell from Marinette’s face. She then huffed and crossed her arms, cocking a hip. “Marinette, this jealous streak of yours is getting annoying.”

“I’m not jealous, Alya, I’m just tired of you believing her lies, which are so obvious.” Marinette crossed her arms, her own annoyed expression matching Alya’s.

“God, I don’t know why I even try with you. You’ll see soon enough what a fool you’ve been, never giving Lila a single chance. When you see my interview tomorrow, you’ll be begging Lila for forgiveness.” Alya said this in the most confident tone she could ever have spoken, making Marinette’s frown then press into firm line.

“Alya-” Marinette’s words died as soon as Alya held up a hand and began storming away. The young girl felt a heavy weight in her heart as she watched her best friend walk away. Why did it feel like she was about to walk away from their friendship..?

Marinette shook her head. No, she wouldn't let it come to that! Whatever stunt Lila was trying to pull, it wasn't going to work, Mari refused to back down and let her win, because if Lila won, she'd oh make things worse. She's hurt Marinette's friends, keep using them like she had. And she might even get her hands on Adri-

Adrien. Oh no, that new girl was trying to sink her claws into Adrien too, wasn't she? It just hurt to think about how those two would try and manipulate Adrien. But he wouldn't fall for it right? He knew Lila was a liar, he wouldn't fall for any tricks..

Marinette made her way home, tightly gripping the straps of her backpack, an uneasy feeling rolling in her stomach.

…

Adrien frowned as he was dragged off by Rébecca, who was clutching his arm like a vice.

"Rébecca, what's this about? I have a modeling gig in a few hours, so I can't stay very long.." He tried to point out, stumbling slightly when she abruptly stopped and turned to him, realizing the two of them were in an empty classroom. "Rébecca, is something wrong?"

".. I can't believe it. My Kitty has been before me this whole time.." Rébecca blushed as she slid her hand down his arm, gripping his hand lightly. "I've been so blind."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Adrien blinked in surprise as the girl set her other hand on his chest.

"Don't you recognize me, Chat? Don't you recognize your Ladybug?" She whispered, biting her lower lip. "I guess without the mask, I'm not so special anymore.."

Adrien felt his breath hitch at her words, his mind racing. No, she couldn't be.. Could she?

"I accidentally saw you detransform when I was trying to sneak back into school after our fight with Dryad. I'm sorry, but I thought since I knew, it was only fair to tell you.." She whispered, looking away as if in shame. Rébecca was internally thankful that Lila told her everything she needed to know about Adrien and the class, and was even more grateful she had given into Lila's silly little plan to try and trick the class more. Being Ladybug could be fun, afterall, she always wanted to be famous.

"What, no! M- my Lady, that's not true!" Adrien blurted out the words before he could stop himself, alarmed at the sight of the tears beginning to stream down her face.

"The.. the reason I've been rejecting you is because I've been in love with you, Adrien. And when I found out that you and Chat Noir were the same person, I just couldn't believe it, but it made so much sense" Rébecca leaned closer, their bodies pressing lightly together. "You're right, kitty, we are meant for each other, I was just simply blind to it.. Do you think I could get a second chance, please? I love you, Adrien."

Adrien was silent for the longest time, his mind trying to process all of this. This was Ladybug..? His heart began to pound as she poured her heart out to him, his hopes skyrocketing. She loved him, she really loved him! It felt like his dreams were coming true! Grinning, Adrien leaned close, their foreheads pressing lightly together as he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, eyeing her earring before chuckling.

"I love you too, my Lady. We're soulmates, something silly as a misunderstanding could never tear us apart." He murmured, and both of them leaned closer and shared a soft kiss, Rébecca practically preening as she ensnared the gullible model.

…

Marinette huffed softly as she stared at her essay. School had to be built to torture people, there was no way these institutes built up every person of every walk of life, because these essays and term papers were a pain in the butt.

"Tikki, I think my eyes are going to explode.." She groaned as she closed her eyes and rubbed them, feeling the beginnings of a migraine beginning to form.

"It's probably because you stayed up all night." Tikki scolded her, the alarm clock next to Marinette suddenly going off, making the girl jump in her seat.

"Oh no, I'm going to be a total zombie in school today.." Marinette groaned as she put her face in her hands. She hadn't even realized she had stayed up so late, but she had really wanted to finish this dark essay before it became a bigger problem than it was worth. She should have been more mindful.

It was then that her phone beeped. When she looked at the notification, she realized Alya had published that interview she had mentioned yesterday.

"Well, since I'm up on time, I can watch it while I get ready." Marinette shrugged and tapped on the video to play it, and began getting dressed.

Alya was seated in her room, beaming proudly as she sat between Lila and Rébecca.

"Hey guys, it's Alya your lovable Ladyblogger here. I'm here to give you guys the scoop of the century! Over the past year, you've all come to know my amazing best friend, Lila, and her amazing exploits!" Alya grinned as she wrapped an arm around Lila, giving her a quick side up before sitting up again. "Well, Lila has managed to convince someone very special to give me an interview at long last, without her mask."

Marinette watched as she brushed her teeth, raising a brow as she took in Alya's words.

"Everyone, I'd love you to meet our very own Ladybug, finally showing her face, right here, on my blog!" Alya grinned like a cat who had cream.

"I have to say, it's an honour to finally reveal myself to all of you, especially on one of the most important blogs ever. Without you, Alya, I think I'd be lost. You always do the best detective work, and give everyone the greatest stories." Rébecca praised, carefully stroking Alya's ego. "Lila finally convinced me to show myself to the world. You're right, Alya, the world has the right to know.'

Marinette felt the toothbrush drop from her mouth as she stared at her phone screen, the blood beginning to pound through her veins.

"Tikki.." She croaked out after she spit her toothpaste into the sink, her body beginning to tremble. "Oh God, Tikki, she's lying.. She's- she's claiming to be me!"

"Marinette, you need to calm down!" Tikki flew in front of her Chosen's face, panic making her gasp as she saw the tears beginning to well up in Marinette's eyes.

"Why would Alya do that?! I've told her time and time again that I want to keep my identity a secret! It's important to me, it keeps everyone I love out of danger, why would she do this?! Now Rébecca's family could be in danger!" Marinette pulled at her pigtails as her mind began to race.

"Marinette, please, calm down! Maybe you can tell Alya these things at school today! I'm sure she'll listen if you calmly explain these things to you, I'm sure she'll fix it."

".." Marinette sniffled and wiped away the tears. "You're right, Tikki. Alya has to at least think this is strange, it would be out of character for Ladybug to suddenly out herself like that.."

…

But when Marinette got to school and tried to talk to Alya, the girl merely cut her off and gave her a glare.

"I told you that you'd regret it, Marinette. I told you to try, and look at how things are now, even Ladybug herself thinks you're being unreasonable!" Alya snapped, motioning to where Rébecca sat with Lila, the class all overjoyed to have their wonderful hero Ladybug in that very room! The sight made Marinette feel ill.

"But Alya, Ladybug is always saying how she wanted to keep her identity a secret. Why would she suddenly start exposing herself, while Hawkmoth and Mayura are still at large?" Marinette held out her hands, trying to get Alya to see some kind of reason.

"You know what? I can't believe you're being this selfish right now. Honestly, this is the biggest story I've ever released and you're trying to ruin it!" Alya threw her hands up, catching the attention of a few of their classmates.

"Alya, we're best friends! Please, I just-" Marinette began,but was cut off again by Alya jabbing Marinette in the chest with a finger.

"Exactly, which is why best friends call each other out when they're being unreasonable,when they're making a complete fool of themselves! Look at you, you aren't even looking at the facts, Marinette, this jealous vendetta you have us ridiculous!" Alya snapped, then turned on her heel and stormed away. Marinette was left standing by her desk, her stomach coiling into a nervous ball.

Adrien entered the class not long after, a wide smile on his face. Before he could say anything, he caught Rébecca's eye. The girl stopped talking and abruptly got to her feet and rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck as the two shared a passionate kiss.

Marinette felt her heart fall to the floor and shatter.

"Whoa, dude, didn't you two just meet yesterday?" Nino looked confused, as did the rest of the class. Inside, Lila was seething with rage, but she maintained a small smile.

"It may seem like that, but.. We've known each other for so much longer. I've been in love with Ladybug ever since I first met her. And it turns out, she felt the same way." Adrien beamed, lovingly kissing Rébecca's cheek.

Marinette began running before she realized she was doing it. She ran passed Alya, who gave her a look that screamed 'you took too long to confess, this is what you get', a confused Adrien, and a grinning Rébecca. She ignored the shouts for her to come back as she ran and ran, the tears streaming from her eyes.

She didn't have the proof, because the last time she had outed a lie as Ladybug, it had had disastrous consequences. And nobody believes her! No one saw the truth!

Marinette ran from the school and kept running, her lungs soon burning, her muscles soon aching, before she found herself into one of the small parks, which was completely deserted.

Marinette fell to her knees beside one of the fountains, burying her head in her arms as she rested against the basin, crying so hard, she soon passed out.

#alya salt #miraculous ladybug #lila salt #fake ladybug #false ladybug au #adrien salt

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urlocalbunny · 3 years

Note

Hello ^^ How are you ? I was asking myself a question in your opinion ? How would the boys react if Eloise had never learned to read and write ? I love what you write ^^ Have a nice day ^^

Hello, I'm alright now. Covid sucks but that's life, isn't it? Let's hope my family will learn to take care better now. I hope you'll like this and have a nice day too!

Aaron:

He would teach her himself, but he would be extremely surprised because she's very smart and knows how to articulate.

Eloise would explain that she had to learn because the other kids in the orphanage always had their tricks and she had to fend for herself because there were too many kids while she was one of the oldest.

They would write and read occasionally, and he would keep it a secret from the others so that Eloise would be able to learn in her own pace if she wanted to. He would always be by her side or hugging her from behind while sitting in bed and squeezing her when she got something right.

One day, Eloise is writing on the lesson, crouching over the desk with quill and ink in her hand. It looks suspicious, but he let's it slide thinking she just writes weirdly because that's her first time doing it alone.

When he finishes showering and goes to his room, a blushy Eloise hands him something, hugs him tight and runs. It's a heartfelt letter, very well written and eloquent, thanking him and confessing once more. (He cries.)

Raphael:

"W-what? M-miss, that's unacceptable! How can such an artist as yourself live without seeing the wonder in books? Let's change that this instant."

He feels so bad for her because she loves listening to the books he reads for her, and he feels like he should have realized sooner how much she wanted to read by herself. He doesn't think less of her.

He teaches her how to read braille and he gets some help from Beliath sometimes with some kids books and an alphabet that he can feel with his hands to teach her himself. They don't tell Vladimir or he would pass out. Every time Raphael gets in the library, Eloise skips inside, eager to learn a little more.

He has Eloise writing and reading in no time. After that it feels kind of lonely though, she begun reading the whole library and that's going to take a while...

Beliath:

"shoves fifteen kid books inside her dress." "You better be reading in no time. I'm serious." He won't let her get demotivated. He teaches her the letters and then he puts the words together with her. Then he makes her read the books for him out loud.

He's got a lot of patience and persistence. When he runs errands for Vladimir, he makes her read contents in bottles, outdoors, posters, anything.

He enjoys Eloise's face when she goes out after a few weeks and she knows how to read. Her eyes dart everywhere and she even wanders off alone, dismissing him.

"Ah, they grow up so fast, Ethan." He sighs as Eloise cradles some bottles of the flavors of juice she likes but never found before because they weren't so obvious in their illustration. Ethan scoffs. And pulls her aside. "Hey, let's read this magazine. It's called Playboy. A nice story, really." (Ethan got his ass beat at home)

Vladimir:

"Oh, pride and prejudice? Yes, I have heard this book before." "I am sorry, heard?" "Yes, I can't read, so I have to listen to audiobooks. Technology stuff, you wouldn't enjoy it." "... You cannot... Read?" "Or write." "Y-you c-cannot write?!" "Nope. You know how it is."

After that Vladimir is livid. How did they not teach her how to read properly? That was wasting a big potential. He wouldn't have that. Every week they'd have very strict lessons where Vladimir would pace around and teach her many things from literature from many places.

Eloise would lap everything up and find her own interests with time. He tries to focus on making her write her own small stories, grading her exams AND having her read him stories for... Um... Better reading, yes. It's not like her voice is really sweet when she reads or her little giggles when she makes a mistake are really cute.

One day before bed, Vladimir finds a small book in front of his door with a rose. He opens it and begins reading a story of a boy that travels in a big balloon and the wonderful creatures he finds on the way.

He's engrossed and asks Raphael about it, but he can't remember such book in six hundred years. He asks him to read and they both try to find a second book, but when he asks everyone in public casually, Eloise starts jumping around in joy, talking about how much of a successful writer she became. Vladimir covers his mouth in shock, tears brimming his dark eyes.

Ethan:

She better get ready to learn every science aspect through books. He doesn't leave her alone and scolds her A LOT because she didn't look for knowledge and that's her RIGHT.

She feels kind of sad because he is right and she feels like she wasted time, but he will make good use of her realization.

He will teach her biology and chemistry and try to push her to her limits as much as she can handle, assign homework and grade it. She's going to do so many essays she can't count, but he's very gentle and Eloise notices that she had an A+ in some works from weeks ago that weren't as good as the A+ she had in her hands right now.

Eloise will end up taking a BIG interest in chemistry and will end up studying it further to make soap and shampoo for herself with Ethan's tools. He can't say he's angry though.

Ivan:

He knows she is smart and she got away with MANY tests looking for audiobooks and paying attention to the classes, but he will teach her from scratch because he's scared of things happening to her like they did to him and she can't even write a will or look for her rights.

He's very calm and chill, Eloise learns fast and they read both old and modern books. Ivan asks Raphael and Aaron for help in the days he might feel too thirsty or feverish because he's still too young, and they more than willingly assist and provide her with books she enjoys and some she doesn't because that's important too >:(.

When Eloise reads a book for him for the first time he begins wailing like a child. Eloise loses focus because he's crying like he found out they'll have a kid. "I'm so proud of you, baby. We did it!" "Chill Ivan tf we won't have a kid or marry or sumn"

Aaron and Raphael are also very proud and as a gift they give her a diary with some leather and dried flowers raphael chose and Aaron crafted. She begins taking a liking to writing and sending letters. Vladimir also likes her enthusiasm and they exchange gossip through mail all the time.

#moonlight lovers #moonlight lovers headcanons #bunny's writing #moonlight lovers fanfiction #ml aaron #ml raphael #ml beliath #ml vladimir #ml ethan #ml ivan

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fruit-teeth · 3 years

Text

The Doctor

He was fifteen, and in his mind, he was destined for nothing short of greatness.

Hans combed his hair in the mirror, whistling to himself as he thought about what he was going to do that day. He’d recently been accepted into a medical program at his school, and to celebrate, he would attend a party held by one of his classmates. Excitement flared within him at the thought of finally being invited to a party, and as he pulled on his day clothes, he felt as though he could take on the world.

“Hans!” His sister called from downstairs. “Hans, are you ever coming down? Your breakfast is getting cold!”

Hans huffed, stepping down the stairs. “Here I come, Johanna! It hasn’t even been that long...”

Johanna was seated at the table, drinking her hot tea as Hans approached. “Oh, you dressed up,” she noticed, quirking an eyebrow. “What for?”

“What else?” Hans accepted his bowl of porridge, taking a seat. “To celebrate getting into the medical program, of course!” He grinned, his eyes shining with excitement. “Oh, I’m so happy! This will get me into a good college, just like mother says!”

Johanna looked Hans up and down, before going back to her porridge. “Whatever you say...”

Hans pouted at his sister’s reaction. “You’ll see!” He insisted. “I’ll do great things— I’ll prove myself!”

“Hans,” Johanna set her spoon down, giving her brother a look. “You failed all of your science classes, so how you even managed to get into that program is a miracle. Once they realize you don’t know what you’re doing, they’re gonna kick you out,”

“You don’t know that!” Hans countered, taking a big bite of porridge. “I might do really well— I might get a job from it!”

Johanna rolled her eyes, standing up and clearing her dishes. “Whatever you say...” she repeated. “You might just end up being a bartender, like mother,”

Hans grunted in annoyance. “No...you’re wrong,”

Despite this, Hans went to school that day with a spring in his step. He did not have many friends, but he met up with the other medical students during the lunch hour to discuss the party that night.

“My parents will be out,” Stephan, the boy who was hosting the party, explained. “So we will have the house to ourselves. I have fresh sausage and bread to eat, but we cannot get into my father’s liquor cabinet,”

Ivan, a broad-shouldered boy with a thin mustache above his lip, just smirked. “Your father doesn’t need to know— he won’t notice there’s a little bit missing!”

Laughter rippled through the group, and Hans piped up, “He’ll notice! My mother noticed when I used some of her perfume, parents always know...”

The laughter died down, and there was an awkward silence. After a moment, Elisa, the only girl in the group, asked, “Will you need a ride, Hans? Or will you walk?”

“I will walk,” Hans affirmed. “Stephan’s house is not far from where I live!” He grinned, elbowing Stephan a little. “I see you out in the fields sometimes,”

“Oh— yes, I help my father with the wheat,” Stephan chuckled, clearing his throat and looking to the clock. “We should get back to class...”

As everyone dispersed, Hans called out to the others, “I will see you all tonight! We’ll have fun, I know it!”

The day ended, and Hans went home to get ready for the party. As he put on a fine vest and combed his hair again, his mother, Mila, stepped into the bathroom, getting his attention by knocking on the wall.

“Oh,” Hans turned around, glancing up at his mother. “Mother? You’re back early!”

“I wanted to say hello to you before you go off to your party,” Mila explained, tucking some hair behind his ear. “Oh, look at you...you are so handsome,”

Hans smiled, looking away a little. “Mama...”

“You are,” Mila insisted with a chuckle. She looked him up and down for a moment, clearing her throat. “Are you...sure you want to go to this tonight, son?”

“Huh?” Hans tilted his head, confused. “What do you mean? Of course I’m sure...”

“Well...” Mila wrung her hands a bit, taking a breath. “It’s just that...you don’t know these people. They’re not...” she shook her head, composing herself. “Maybe I’m being silly, but I just have a bad feeling,”

“Mama,” Hans took his mother’s hand into his own, giving it a squeeze. “I will be fine! I’ve never been to a party before, and I’ve never really had friends until now...I just want to have fun, to celebrate!”

Mila sighed, but she smiled, squeezing her son’s hand in return. “Well...all right, son. I know you’ll do well...”

As Hans walked along to Stephan’s house, he felt a strong sense of giddiness and pride. For most of his young life, he had been ignored and shoved to the sidelines in social settings. He’d had friendships before, but they had been fleeting, and it wasn’t often that he could have friend groups or even a best friend. But now, he knew that would change— not only that, but he would prove his family wrong. This group and program were his ticket to medical school: never again would he have to worry about not being able to succeed.

That was why he never could have anticipated what would happen that night.

When Hans first arrived, things seemed all well and good. There were snacks on the table, games to play with the others, and the atmosphere felt warm and relaxed. As he took a bite of sausage while playing a game of Bridge, he felt as though nothing could go wrong, like it was everything he dreamed and more.

As the radio played commercials, the games and laughter subsided for the time being as everyone relaxed in the living room. It was then, though, that Ivan looked at Hans, scanned him up and down, and then asked a question.

“How did you get into this program?” He wanted to know, propping himself up on his elbows.

Hans glanced up in surprise, not expecting the question. “Oh! Well...” he shrugged. “I just applied. They had the form, and I filled it out,”

“We know that, but...” Elisa tried to phrase it nicely. “How did the teachers let you?”

Hans paused, his brow furrowing. “What...what do you mean?”

Stephan sighed. “Listen...Hans, we’ve heard the teachers talk. You’re failing everything.”

Another boy, Oscar, spoke up as well. “We didn’t want to listen in, but we did. We heard you dissected a frog wrong,”

“Yeah!” Ivan affirmed. “How do you dissect a frog wrong?”

Hans groaned, covering his face. “No, no! I am smart, I am!” He let his hands drop, taking a breath. “I’ve just...wanted this for a long time,”

When everyone else went silent, Hans continued. “My father died when I was very young, and my mother had to work hard to provide for us,” he paused, listening to the ramblings of the commercials on the radio, feeling his heart ache. “I...did not like seeing her struggle. So, I wanted to be a doctor, because I know doctors make lots of money. Also, I just...” his eyes glinted with excitement for a brief moment. “I like to learn about bodies, how they work, what they do...everything! So, I want to be a doctor,”

There was a hush among the group. After a moment, Elisa spoke up again. “You want to be a doctor just so you can make money?”

“And so you can study bodies?” Oscar asked with a grimace.

The others murmured amongst themselves, though Hans did not understand what the issue was.

“What?” He asked, his brow furrowing. “Doesn’t everyone want money?”

“Don’t you want to help people?” Ivan questioned, suddenly seeming annoyed. “Don’t you want to make a change?”

Hans frowned, thinking about it. “Well...yes, of course I do. But—“

Stephan suddenly wanted to change the subject. “Hey, everyone! I forgot, my mother left us a cake in the icebox! Let’s go cut some slices, yeah?”

The others agreed, getting up and following Stephan to the kitchen. Hans stayed behind, though, watching them, before sighing and getting up.

He headed to the back porch, closing the door behind him to have some time alone. He hugged his arms, already feeling as though he’d made a mistake...but what had he even done?

Hans stayed outside for a few minutes, trying to calm down, when he heard the door behind him open. He turned around, seeing Ivan standing there.

“Oh...” Hans gave a little wave and nodded. “Did you get cake?”

“No.” Ivan replied, approaching Hans, crossing his arms. “What was the reason you said you wanted to be a doctor?”

“Uh...” Hans swallowed, looking down. “To...make money? And...to...explore—“

Ivan cut him off. “That’s what I thought. You don’t want to be here for the right reasons, you just want money!”

Hans glanced back up in alarm. “What? Right reasons?”

“I’m in this program because I want to be a helper,” Ivan informed Hans, jabbing a finger into his chest. “I want to help others and save lives, I want to be known as a hero! That’s what we all want! You just want money and to play with organs like they’re toys!”

Hans suddenly felt anger bubbling up within him, and despite being significantly smaller than Ivan, he stood up to him. “That isn’t true! I never said I did not want to help anyone!”

“Please,” Ivan scoffed. “We know you, Hans— you never hand in work on time, and you have no idea what you’re doing! I’ve heard what the teachers say about you. You’re just lazy, and you’re using this program to take a shortcut!”

“I’m not lazy!” Hans snapped, his hands balled into fists. “Shut up!”

All of the sudden, Ivan raised his hand and slapped Hans across the face. “You know I’m right! Don’t tell me to shut up!”

Hans flinched when Ivan’s palm made contact with his skin, and he stood there for a moment, unsure of how to process what had just happened. He felt his body tense up, and tears started to prick at his eyes as Ivan began to taunt him.

“What’s the matter?” Ivan shoved him, glaring daggers down at Hans. “Are you crying? Are you crying because I’m right? Is that it?”

Hans clenched his fists tighter, and feeling the anger fill him more and more. He thought about his sister, how she had told him she didn’t understand how he’d made it into this program. He thought about his mother, having to work a job she couldn’t stand just to provide for her family. He thought about the teachers, who never gave him a chance or actually listened to why he was failing their classes— it infuriated him, all that was within him at that moment was pure, unfiltered rage. Ivan shoved him again, and without thinking, Hans leapt up and tackled him.

As Hans began to beat him, Ivan yelled and struggled to his feet, trying to pry the smaller boy off of him. He managed to shove Hans to the ground, but Hans jumped up again and pounced on Ivan, only to knock him down the porch stairs this time, winding up on top of him as the two fell to the dirt in a heap.

Hans caught his breath, sitting up, only to realize that Ivan was still laying there, not moving. After a brief pause, Medic leaned over to look at him, only to pull away with a horrified gasp. Ivan’s eyes were wide-open, and a quick feel of his pulse confirmed that he was dead.

Hans just sat there in the dirt, feeling shock and panic. He looked all around, glancing up the porch steps to the house, realizing that no one had seen them as they hadn’t come to check. After taking a few deep breaths, Hans stood up, trying to plan his next move— he could run home, act like this never happened, but of course the others would find Ivan eventually. What then? Hans would surely be found out, since they had both been outside at the same time...oh, how stupid this was! A fight of all things, leading to a death! If only there was some way to just reverse death—

Wait a moment.

Hans stared down at Ivan’s body, his mind reeling. Could he do it? Could he bring back the dead? He hated Ivan, but he didn’t want to get into any trouble, and this had been an accident...

After confirming that no one had seen the altercation, Hans grabbed Ivan and dragged him into the garage, setting to work.

He checked Ivan’s neck, finding that it had been broken on the way down. There was no way to fix that...or was there? Hans got up and looked around the garage, trying to find something, anything that would give him some kind of answer.

Finally, after opening a drawer, he discovered things that could be of use: a motor, jumper cables, and a canister of lighter fluid. He also gathered some water out of the bathroom sink, which he managed to sneak into while the others were busy playing games inside.

With everything assembled, Hans poured the water and lighter fluid into the motor and hooked it up the jumper cables. He then hooked the cables up to Ivan’s body, hooking one to his finger and one to his ear. However, when he started up the motor, nothing happened.

Hans cursed to himself, frantically searching for something else. He then spotted a wrapped-up, half-eaten sandwich on the garage bench, and somehow, he knew that was the missing piece. Hans snatched up the sandwich, shoving it into the motor and turning it back on again.

This time, something miraculous happened: electricity flowed from the motor and down the jumper cables, accompanied by a hazy red light that seemed to fill the room. Hans watched in awe as the light seemingly popped Ivan’s neck back into place, and the sparks of electricity flickered just above his chest. The light faded after a moment, but before Hans could even do anything, Ivan suddenly sat up and gasped, his eyes wide with terror.

Hans nearly dropped the motor in shock, and he ran over to feel Ivan’s pulse. “You’re alive!” He exclaimed, laughing from the overwhelming shock and triumph of it all. “You’re alive— you were dead, you were dead but I brought you back and you’re alive!”

Ivan, however, did not share the same excitement. He trembled, his eyes filled with fear, and after a moment he started to sob, curling up into a ball onto the table. Hans watched him in confusion, before realizing that the whole experience probably shook him up in a way nothing else would for a long time.

The garage door opened, and Hans felt himself jolt with alarm when he heard Stephan’s voice. “Hey— what’s going on in here!? Ivan? Ivan, are you crying? Hans, why do you have our lawnmower motor?”

Without thinking, Hans bolted, escaping the house and rushing away into the fields behind Stephan’s house. He ran as fast as he could, the motor and jumper cables still in his hands as he followed the path and eventually ended up at his own house.

It was late at night by this point, and Hans entered through the back door, his body thrumming with anxiety. He slammed the door behind him, catching his breath and sinking to the floor.

He’d killed someone, but...he’d also brought him back. He looked down at the contraption in his hands, wondering if all of this was a dream. He didn’t even know what to make of what just happened...in any case, though, he knew he had to keep it a secret.

Hans went upstairs, shoving the device beneath his bed as he cleaned up and got ready for bed. Somehow, he managed to fall asleep, though it was a feverish and anxious sleep, one that was accompanied by fits of nightmares and strange mental images of battles...

The phone rang, startling Hans out of his sleep. It was still early in the morning, and when the phone rang a few more times, Hans knew he would have to be the one to answer.

His hands shaking, he walked into the adjacent hallway and picked up the receiver, swallowing. “H...hello?”

A woman was on the other end, though she spoke in an unfamiliar accent. “Hello. Is this Hans Ludwig-Humbolt?”

Hans froze. Not many people knew his full name...

Despite his panic, he responded, “Yes?”

“Hello, Hans,” the woman greeted. “My apologies for calling at such an unusual hour of the day, but I wanted to let you know that I saw what you did last night,”

Hans felt his heart thudding against his chest. “D...did you? But...how did you—?”

“Don’t worry about that, that’s none of your concern,” the woman insisted. “What I’d like to know is what you did with that contraption you put together, that device you used to bring your classmate back to life,”

“Oh...” Hans shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “I...I have it, it’s with me,”

The woman sounded relieved to hear that. “Oh, good. Well, keep it with you in a safe place, all right? My associates and I would like to stop by tomorrow and take a look at it,”

“Associates...” Hans repeated, confused. “But...but why?”

“Hans,” the woman began. “I work for a company called Mann Co., which is stationed in America. We have interest in purchasing this formula of yours, and if we like it, you will have an opportunity to come and work for us someday,”

Hans felt everything stop for a moment. He considered this offer...it sounded far too good to reject, though he was still scared.

“How much money would you give me for it?” Hans wanted to know, fiddling with the hem of his pajama shirt.

“We will work out a price once we all meet,” the woman explained. “But, rest assured, this company will pay handsomely for such a formula,” she cleared her throat. “So...what do you say?”

Hans turned over the offer in his mind a few times. He could hear his mother snoring down the hallway, blissfully unaware of what was taking place. She would have to get up in a few hours to go to work, to that job she hated...Hans did not want that for her, and he did not want that for himself, either.

“Yes,” he agreed. “Yes, I’ll sell it to you...but I want to work for you, one day,”

Hans could almost hear the grin in the woman’s voice. “Good...I think you will find that you’ve made the right choice today, young man...”

#HAHAH OMG I ACTUALLY DID IT #i finally got medic’s origin written!!!!#I’m so proud of myself #I dunno if its as good as the others but still #aaaaa #gotta go to bed now tho cause I’m tired #my writing #writing #tf2 #tf2 fanfiction #tf2 medic #tf2 administrator #death tw #food mention #ask to tag #just cause this is pretty dark #origins #long post

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slashingdisneypasta · 4 years

Text

NATM 2 Rogues (Sans Kah) x Teddy Roosevelt (Super Platonically) || Oneshot

Title: I Was Made In A Mannequin Factory In Poughkeepsie

Notes:

This may become a series. For now though, enjoy the meeting of Teddy!

Plot: Even though Larry has agreed to travel with the tablet between the three museums, seeing as it wouldn’t be fair to out of the blue bring all these things and people (back) to life and then dump them back into non-existence, it was deemed necessary to move Kahmunhrah’s ‘business partners’ to the Natural History Museum so they’re far away from Kahmunrah’s gate and cant even ponder bringing him back- because that is undesirable outcome, for everyone.

After they arrive at the museum, most of the other exhibits (Sans the good old Easter Island Head and Dexter) keep their distance from them. Everyone’s uncomfortable about this move and change, and that’s understandable but it doesn’t feel good at all… until Teddy steps in.

Warnings: I guess, exclusion? But don’t worry, Teddy will fix it

~~~

“Its is a… nice museum, I suppose.” Ivan, the first to talk when they leave their crates -Larry had yet to figure out a place to put them or construct exhibits for them,- the first night at their new home, 3 hours after the sun went down. They had been busy wondering around the halls, exploring the new playing field together… thinking. Now they stand together, alone, back with their crates in a hallway.

No one had come to greet them unless you count the Easter Island Head asking for ‘gum gum’- but they had looked at them, for sure. Some scowls, some glares, but most they were wary looks as people walked away. Its not that the three men expected a warm greeting, but they didn’t really expect news about them to spread so fast, either.

Napoleon takes a deep breath, breaking out of his thoughtful trance and glances up at Ivan. It was be impolite to leave him without a response when he’s attempted -however blandly, - to fix the mood… Looking around the place quickly, Napoleon notes the tall ceiling and the railings. “Uh, oui, it has some beautiful architecture, Ivan… “

“I like the colour of the wood.” Ivan adds, continuing the conversation because what else is there to do?? If this aloneness is any indication of how they’ll be living for the rest of their time here, then theirs no point in sitting and being solemn about it. Al, on the other hand makes a face at the Tzar from his place sitting on his crate beside Napoleon. Napoleon nods in agreement, looking around at the floors with risen eyebrows.

“I agree, it’s very, uh, museum-y.”

“Da.”

Theirs a lapse of awkward silence in the conversation, before Napoleon promptly turns to Al. “What do you think of the wood- “

“Oh nah, nah, nah, don’t look at me. I’m not playing this game with you people.” He takes his hands off the crate on either side of him for the first time since he sat down and rubs the lines left there from how tight he was gripping. “We’re all thinkin’ the same thing. You saw what I saw, how they’re lookin’ at us. They know about Kahmunrah and us. We ain’t safe here.”

Ivan’s eyebrows raise up his forehead. “Are not safe??” That’s a little bit of an overreaction, isn’t it? He was thinking maybe they were looking at a long, lonely life with just each other but… peril? What? That was not on the radar!

“Oui, I agree with him. Ivan, haven’t you heard of Caesar?” Napoleon looks forward again, face growing darker. “A great leader… like us… stabbed thirty-seven times in the middle of a crowded room. These rooms feel like that when we’re in them.”

“I’m sure you are overreacting. These are all but peasant, who- “Ivan immediately squints, on realising what he said. He looks for an even amount of time between Al and Napoleon, suspicious. “Wait.”

“If I was gonna kill you, man, I’d do it my Tommy.” Al raises his gun, rolling his eyes at Ivan. “Which doesn’t work, as we all know.” Ivan and Napoleon nod slowly at that, remembering Al’s idiocy that the man himself choose not to mention. He puts the useless gun back down in his lap. “Besides, probably couldn’t get a knife through all those layers on you, anyway.”

Ivan spares another suspicious look at the back of Al’s head. Then they watch some faceless soldiers pass by them in the hallway, ignoring them completely.

“So, what are we going to do about this??” Napoleon asks, a high and impatient tone in his voice and he whips around the face Al. “I don’t know about you two, but I’ve already died once and I do not look forward to giving that red, horned beast another chance at me.” When he was alive, Napoleon would have never mentioned the Devil outright like that. He never would have suggested he was going to that place, in the first place.

… but now he knows how he’s remembered. He knows what parts of his life he’s judged on. The blood, the fear, and the death. He doesn’t see why deaths judgement will be any different.

Ivan takes a deep breath in, hearing Napoleons words like a stab through the gut, and looks furiously at him, but stays quiet. He’s right…

“Me neither. Boys, we need a plan.”

Ivan immediately rejects one part of Al’s phrase. “I am not one of your monochromatic minions, Alphonse, refrain from calling me your ‘boy’.”

And Napoleon, another. “For what?! Its not like we can charter a carriage and travel back to Washington in our condition!”

Al takes in a deep, refrained breath of his own this time, and slowly turns threatening around to speak quietly to Napoleon, first. “Mate, no one charters carriages anymore anyway. They’re called cars, now. And of course, I wasn’t suggesting that- don’t assume I’m an idiot!”

“I beg to differ! I think it would be much safer for us all if we all assumed that!”

“I’ll get right back to you, Froggy. And Ivan! I don’t take kindly to being told what not to d- “

“Ah! There you are!”

The new voice startles the 3 out of their budding argument, and the all turn down the hall towards where the Easter Island head is planted- to see an older man with a brown moustache, a jolly smile on his face and his hand on the handle of a sword coming towards them. Ivan raises an eyebrow, confused about who this could possibly be and why he is coming towards them so familiarly, Napoleon whips out his own sword and jumps to his feet, and Al just watches the 26th President of his country speed walk towards him, dumbfounded. None of them are yet used to historical figures they know, being alive also.

As soon as Teddy stops in front of them, he calmly raises his hands in surrender. “No, no. Sorry, sir. I just hold the handle of my weapon, so it stays still while I walk. I should’ve known better- my apologies.”

Napoleon holds Teddy’s stare for a moment… Ivan and Al watch the tension a little worried and a little amused… and then the general puts his sword back away on his hip. Something about the way this man calls him ‘sir’, acknowledging their military positions and the kind sparkle in his eyes… Napoleon tries to calm down again, as Teddy smiles to them all in turn, under that moustache of his.

“Good evening, men! I apologise that I’m late. I meant to greet you as soon as we awoke for the night, but I’m afraid there was an unfortunate run in between our night guard and a monkey. Just routine stuff, don’t worry! Its settled now.” He offers his gloved hand to Napoleon, the closes to him, first. “Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President. Don’t be afraid to call me Teddy, though. I’m not president anymore.”

The way he says it makes them all think he’s joking about not being a leader anymore. Like it doesn’t actually bother him, and none of them understand it.

But they move on, anyway. It’s something to discuss later, anyway.

They all shake their hands and introduce themselves, and Teddy nods his head. Once introductions are over, his hands both touch the sides of his thighs in, nearly a ‘A-Ten-HUT!’ kind of stance, spine completely straight. Ivan and Napoleon appreciate the good form. “So, I trust you’re settling in here well? Everyone is being welcoming??”

Al takes his hands, puts them on Ivan and Napoleons arms and prods them out of the way so he can go toe-to-toe with ‘Teddy’. They just give him dirty looks and shuffle to give him room, Ivan rolling his eyes at Al’s temperament. Such a child. “Actually bub, they been givin’ us dirty looks all night. We feel like them slaves, in Rome, ‘bout to be thrown into the auditorium with the lions!”

Napoleon sighs deeply. Coliseum… not, auditorium…

But Teddy doesn’t disregard Al’s statement because of a small mistake, like any superior Napoleon new, would have. His face fills with concern and frustration. “Well, I’m very sorry you feel that way. I told them to… we had a meeting… “Teddy’s face looks positively stormy, for a few moments there, a stark difference from his earlier cheer. Al feels pride well in him, getting such a serious reaction. He thinks, maybe this guy, who’s clearly the leader of this motley bunch, will get some executions going now! That’ll be great! This place is about to get a real glow-up! -

… That is, until Al truly recognises the expression on the older mans face.

Its not murderous. He doesn’t even think he describe it as ‘pissed’.

More like… disappointed. Like a mother about her children.

Al sets himself back onto the heels of his feet as he had popped onto his tippy toes. Good god, what kind of Brady Bunch shit has he walked into?

Finally, Teddy sighs, kisses his lips and comes to a conclusion. “Well, we’ll fix that. Come along, men! We’ll introduce you to the group!” He starts walking off back down the hall the way he came, calling loudly to the Easter Island head that honestly creeps Ivan out a bit, to please call a meeting.

Napoleon, Ivan and Al look at each other for a moment.

… Follow? Or stay behind?

Or, more specifically, go force themselves out of their comfort zone and make acquaintanceships, or cage themselves in to a lonely rest of their time here and possible assassination?

Ivan turns, squares his shoulders and follows the ex-president first, followed by Napoleon with his nose in the air, and finally an uncertain Al. “Fine, but I aint trust none of ‘em.”

#Night At The Museum Fanfiction #Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian #Al Capone #Ivan The Terrible #Napoleon Boneparte #natm al capone #natm ivan the terrible #napoleon natm #Teddy Roosevelt natm #Larry Daley

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angelofthequeers · 5 years

Text

Checkmate

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Ladybug: the episode where the A-plot sucks ass and the B-plot shines.

Summary: After making his deal with the devil to clear Marinette's name in 'Ladybug', Adrien seeks the help of Kagami to take Lila down. Lila really should've taken him seriously when he'd told her not to mess with his friends...

AO3 link

“So, you made a deal with the devil.”

“What? No!” Adrien splutters. Kagami just raises an eyebrow from next to him on the locker room bench. “Okay…yeah…maybe…”

“And now you want me to get you out of it.”

“I don’t need you to save me.” Adrien digs his fingers into the material of his fencing pants. “Just…help me figure out how to out Lila. I don’t know how to prove that she lied.”

“Why now?” Kagami says, fiddling with her ring. “Why not literally any other time before now? When I was akumatised? When she was only just starting to spread her influence? Back when Ladybug outed her in front of you? You’ve known she’s a liar all this time.”

“I didn’t think her lies would hurt anyone, okay?” Adrien says. “And I didn’t want her to get akumatised again. I thought she’d just get herself caught in them and out herself. I didn’t think she’d go so far as to get Marinette expelled…”

“Or get me akumatised for the second time,” Kagami says. Adrien can’t quite tell whether there’s an accusation in there.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m a dick. That should’ve been the snapping point for me, but all I did was warn her to stay away from you and my other friends.”

“Yes. That should’ve been the snapping point for you.”

When Kagami doesn’t say anything more, Adrien frowns at her. “So…?”

“So what?”

“Will you help me?”

Kagami sighs. “As annoyed as I am at you, Marinette’s my friend and Lila’s still out for her blood. I’ll help you. Besides, I still owe Lila after that photograph stunt that she pulled.”

Adrien’s shoulders slump. “Thank you, Kagami.”

“Don’t thank me yet. We have to manoeuvre Lila into a corner by getting proof from someone who could irrefutably call out her lies. And for that, we need the help of a certain someone.”

“Me? Help Dupain-Cheng?” Chloé scoffs. She dabs the final bit of green nail polish onto Sabrina’s pinky finger, then screws the brush back into the bottle while Sabrina fans her nails dry. “Adrikins, you know I’d do anything for you –”

“It’s not just for Marinette,” Adrien says. “I’m the reason Marinette’s back at school. I had to make Lila fix the mess somehow.”

Chloé narrows her eyes. “Adrien Agreste,” she says slowly, “what did you do?”

“Is that why Lila was in that photoshoot with you?” Sabrina pipes up. She immediately scoops up the bottle of scarlet nail polish when Chloé extends her hand.

“Well…yeah,” Adrien says. “Lila asked why she should help Marinette. I…might have made a deal to be her friend if she did.”

Chloé blinks. Then she blinks again, and then she pinches the bridge of her nose with her free hand.

“Of all the utterly ridiculous – Adrien, you should’ve come to me in the first place! I might hate Dupain-Cheng, but if I’d known you were going to sell your soul for her –”

“Enough with the lectures, alright?” Adrien says. “I got enough of that from Kagami when I asked her for help.”

“Tsurugi?” Chloé wrinkles her nose.

“Yeah. What’s your problem with her?”

“Nothing, nothing. Look, alright, I’ll help you expose Liar Rossi. I owe her for that time she utterly humiliated me, anyway.”

“And you know I’m with you too!” Sabrina says.

“Yes, we’ll probably need you to make sure that such a busy diplomat is available when we need her,” Chloé says and Sabrina beams.

“You’re the best, Chlo,” Adrien says. Chloé smiles rather smugly.

“Oh, no need for flattery, Adrikins. Just meet me at school tomorrow with Tsurugi. The more kids of rich and powerful parents we have, the better.”

“Look, I’m not sure –” Mr Damocles tries to say.

“You haven’t even investigated how those answers got into Marinette’s backpack,” Kagami says with crossed arms. “Or the necklace into her locker. And if Marinette didn’t take them, it stands to reason that someone planted them.”

“Which is exactly what she said before you expelled her,” Adrien says.

“You heard Miss Rossi – she has a very rare disease –”

Kagami snorts. “She doesn’t have a disease. She’s a compulsive liar. No disease is making her do all this. And for that matter, why does Lila get to claim any of this with no proof?”

“We pride ourselves on believing our students, Miss Tsurugi.”

“Like you believed Marinette?” Adrien mirrors Kagami’s crossed arms. “I even tried to point out that Lila was lying, and you wouldn’t hear it.”

“Have you even consulted her mother?” Kagami says. “With as many illnesses as Lila has, the logical thing to do would be to seek extra advice on accommodating her. And as far as I know, every other disabled or chronically ill student has to have supporting paperwork.”

“Miss Rossi’s had a very hard time –”

Chloé scoffs. “Wait, so you’ve got this ridiculous rule that someone has to prove they’re disabled or sick, and you don’t even hold Lila to that rule? Incompetent, utterly incompetent!”

“Miss Bourgeois, please –” But Mr Damocles is wilting under the three-pronged attack of Adrien, Kagami, and Chloé.

“I’m sure my daddy would simply love to hear about this,” Chloé says. “Expelling one student and not believing her, while believing another student because of a sob story! No one will want to send their students here if they hear that.”

“Especially if the son of famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste and daughter of renowned fencer Tomoe Tsurugi happened to lend their support to Chloé,” Kagami says.

“No! No! Please!” Mr Damocles babbles. Excellent. Now they’ve got him where they want him. “What do you three want?”

“For you to call Mrs Rossi,” Adrien says. “We want to talk to her about Lila.”

“I don’t think I can just –” Mr Damocles says. Chloé pulls out her phone. “Okay! Okay! I’ll call her!”

“And I think we should move this to the classroom,” Chloé says. “I’m sure the other peasants would love to hear this. But don’t tell Lila what’s going on or she’ll lie her way out of it.”

“But –”

Chloé starts to dial a number.

“Alright!”

The four of them head for Ms Bustier’s classroom. Class has already started, so Ms Bustier is in the process of writing on the board, and she beams when they enter the room.

“Ah, Adrien! Chloé! I was wondering where you two were!” she says. “I thought Sabrina would be with you, but I suppose she’s just sick or late.” Her brow furrows when she catches sight of Kagami. “Aren’t you in Ms Mendeleiev’s class?”

Kagami just stares right back.

“How rude,” Mr Damocles tuts.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kagami says. “But since no respect was shown to Marinette when she was accused of cheating and stealing, I didn’t think I needed to show any in return. I wasn’t aware that it was common practice in France to humiliate a student in front of their entire class over an accusation rather than pulling them aside quietly.”

The way Marinette’s eyes light up at this defence of her leaves Adrien’s insides warm and fluttery. He never realises just how much he treasures that light until it’s gone. Watching her nearly give in to Hawkmoth is probably one of the most horrible things he’s ever seen in his life; next to watching Ladybug get captured over and over again during his stint as Aspik or believing that his lady was dying when Mayura had summoned that Ladybug sentimonster.

“We’ve got some, uh…business to address, once our guest arrives,” Mr Damocles is saying when Adrien tunes back in. “For now, why don’t you two take your seats, Miss Bourgeois, Mr Agreste?”

“I don’t think so,” Chloé says. “We’re fine here.”

“What’s going on?” Ms Bustier says. No one answers her.

It only takes about ten minutes after that for a rather flustered Mrs Rossi to arrive, her coat thrown on hastily and haphazardly, with Sabrina in front of her.

“What a morning!” she exclaims. “Everything’s been disappearing – my keys, my purse, everything! It’s as though the universe didn’t want me to go to work today. I’m grateful that this young lady’s father offered me a lift and that she was lovely enough to guide me here.”

Sure, the universe. Or a certain redhead. Adrien peeks over at Chloé, whose smile is almost proud as Sabrina slips into her seat.

“Mamma?” Lila gasps. “What are you doing here?”

“Yeah, what’s going on?” Ivan says.

“Um – ahem – these students wish to talk to you about your daughter,” Mr Damocles says. Mrs Rossi’s brow furrows.

“You called me here for schoolchildren?” she says. Adrien glances at Chloé and Kagami, playing a mental game of chicken, but the look in their eyes is very clear: he got them into his mess, so he can step up.

“Sorry to trouble you, Mrs Rossi,” Adrien says. “My name’s Adrien Agreste –”

“Ah, Adrien!” Mrs Rossi’s face lights up. “My bella’s boyfriend! Lila simply can’t stop talking about you!”

“Mamma –” Lila tries to say.

“Excuse me?” Chloé says.

“His boyfriend?” Kagami adds.

“Not likely,” they chorus.

“Chloé and Kagami are right,” Adrien says. “I don’t know what Lila’s told you, but I’m not and I never have been her boyfriend.”

“But Lila wouldn’t lie to me! She’s my little angel!”

Angel. Yeah. Right. More like the devil. “Ma’am, she’s been lying since she set foot in this school,” Adrien says. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Marinette trying to conceal her incredulous smile. “She tried to lie to me about being descended from a fox superhero called Volpina. She’s been lying to our class all year.”

“She posted photos of herself kissing Adrien without his consent,” Kagami says.

“But that doesn’t sound like Lila at all…” says Mrs Rossi.

“Ahem.” Mr Damocles clears his throat. “These three raised an, uh…excellent point. Now that I’ve finally got you here, I was wondering if you could provide us with a full medical history for Miss Rossi. Purely for accommodation purposes, of course, so that we can ensure that she’s given a quality education.”

“I already told you –” Lila says.

“Medical history? Accommodations? Lila doesn’t need accommodations!” Mrs Rossi says. “She’s healthy as can be!”

“But she said she’s got tinnitus from saving Jagged Stone’s kitten on a plane runway!” Alya says. “Our whole seating arrangement was reorganised to accommodate her!”

“No, wait, it got miraculously cured by Ladybug,” Chloé says. “Her bestie.”

“Oh, and don’t forget the arthritis!” Adrien says.

“And her disease that makes her lie uncontrollably,” Mr Damocles says. “She did tell me that herself when confessing to accidentally framing Miss Dupain-Cheng for the theft of –”

“Stop! Stop!” Mrs Rossi clamps her hands over her ears. Mild guilt starts to bubble in Adrien’s gut – what is he doing, bombarding the poor woman – but his resolve is steeled at the reminder that he’s doing this for Marinette. Who was nearly akumatised and is the only other person in their school who hasn’t been akumatised, as far as he knows. The only reason she wasn’t was because of that freak scarlet akuma retreat!

“Something tells me she’s been lying to you as well,” Kagami says.

“None of this is true!” Mrs Rossi’s got a wild look in her eye, like her world is slowly unravelling around her. “Lila doesn’t have tinnitus! Or arthritis! She was never on a plane runway! What sort of irresponsible mother do you take me for?”

“She also says that she’s Ladybug’s best friend,” Adrien says. “I’ve been so worried for her ever since she said that! What if Hawkmoth targets her to get to Ladybug?”

“We keep our friendship on the downlow!” Lila protests.

“But you gave Alya an interview for her Ladyblog!” Marinette says.

“Ladybug? Lila was akumatised on her first day here!” Mrs Rossi says. “How could she be friends with Ladybug? And what were you thinking, broadcasting something like that on the internet and endangering my daughter!”

Alya swallows and looks down, blinking rapidly.

“Mamma, they’re just trying to gang up on me!” Lila’s eyes fill with crocodile tears. “Ever since Marinette was simply horrible to me –”

“Dupain-Cheng “apparently” stole test answers and Rossi’s grandmother’s necklace and pushed her down the stairs,” Chloé scoffs.

“I didn’t even touch her!” Marinette says.

“Yeah, I know,” Chloé says. “You’re disgusting. You’re a little princess. You’re the least likely person to do something like that.”

“Thank you…?”

“Lila’s grandmother’s necklace?” Mrs Rossi says.

“Yeah, it’s a fox tail!” Rose says.

“And she tried to claim that it was a Miraculous,” Adrien says. “But Ladybug called her out for lying.”

“You knew?” Nino exclaims.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I thought Lila would eventually get caught in her own lies and people would see and then she’d get to change without being humiliated. But after she got Marinette expelled?” Adrien looks Lila straight in the eye. “I know she doesn’t regret anything she’s done.”

“A Miraculous?” Mrs Rossi says. “I think I’d know if a piece of magical jewellery was a family heirloom!”

“And how could Rena Rouge be a thing if it really was a family heirloom?” Kagami says. “Everyone knows that Ladybug gets the Miraculouses from another location when she needs help. And Lila still has the fox tail necklace, which means that either Rena Rouge is an elaborate prank, or Lila’s “family heirloom” is a fake.”

Alya winces at that for some reason.

“But we’ve never had a fox tail family heirloom,” Mrs Rossi says.

“We do! Nonna just never told you!”

It really is interesting to watch Lila flail and try to protect her lies, even now that the whole class is openly staring at her with scepticism in their eyes. Huh. Adrien could get used to this. Maybe there is something to being actively involved in justice.

“I can’t believe this. I simply can’t believe this.” Mrs Rossi turns to Lila with severely squared shoulders. “You told me that the school was closed down due to akuma attacks and that’s why you missed all that school!”

“She told us that she was travelling overseas!” Rose says. “And that she was invited to Achu by Prince Ali!”

“I never said that he personally invited us!” Lila says.

“Yeah, you did,” Nathaniel says. “You just said that you didn’t get to see him.”

“Prince Ali? I’ve never even met him, and neither has Lila!” Mrs Rossi says.

“So, you really don’t know Steven Spielberg?” Nino says.

“Or Jagged Stone?” Juleka says.

“No!” Mrs Rossi says hysterically. “Why would my daughter know famous musicians and directors? I’m a diplomat, not an actor or a filmmaker!”

“Miss Rossi, I believe we have a lot to talk about,” Mr Damocles says rather coldly. “And I would like to thank Mr Agreste, Miss Bourgeois, and Miss Tsurugi for bringing this to my attention.”

Adrien tries not to snort. Yeah. Right. Mr Damocles is just trying to save face. But if it clears Marinette’s name and exposes Lila, he’ll just stay quiet for now and let Mr Damocles take this one.

“But Marinette’s been bullying me!” Lila says. “And now she’s got her friends to gang up on me too!”

But that’s apparently one lie too far.

“Marinette? Friends with Chloé?” Alya says.

“Please,” Alix snorts. “Those two would tear each other’s hair out before even looking at each other nicely.”

“I wouldn’t have helped Dupain-Cheng if Adrien hadn’t requested me personally,” Chloé drawls, examining her nails. “Sabrina, you really need to learn how to paint nails properly.”

“Sorry, Chloé!” Sabrina says.

“Come on, Lila,” Mrs Rossi snaps. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, young lady!”

Lila sniffles as she gathers her bag and treks down to the front of the classroom, with everyone’s scorching gazes on her as she passes them. Once she’s next to Adrien, she says, “How could you do this to me?”

“Because you hurt my friend,” Adrien says. His eyes move to meet Marinette’s, and she flushes brilliant red and snaps her head down to look at the desk. “Marinette’s very dear to me, and she’s not the only friend you’ve hurt. And I told you never to hurt my friends, Lila. Ever.” He leans in and whispers one word. “Checkmate.”

#miraculous ladybug #aotq fic #ml season 3 spoilers #episode: ladybug #adrien agreste #kagami tsurugi #chloe bourgeois #marinette dupain-cheng #lila rossi #ml salt #basically adrien has a spine #bamf adrien #epic chloe #epic kagami #don't mess with adrien's friends #lila gets what's coming to her #c h e c k m a t e

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