#And so we'll have to see what happens from there

[miirohs]

all yours, all mine [c.l.c]

pairing: Mob Boss!Charles Leclerc x Wife!Reader wc: 1.3k cw: again, slight yandere/possesive tendencies, allusion to abuse an: guys i am feeling uninspired lately,,,, needed to pull everything in me for this one. sigh. its 2 in the morning what am i doing with my life i need to sleep not be up to this bs GODDDDDDD strike me down.

Charles knew you weren’t truly his wife.

He himself had shot his bride to be, too loud and too lecherous to realize how she’d met her end, bragging about killing him for his money in his club.

He thought that’d be the last of it, that their family wouldn’t be brave enough to show face again.

Yet, they became audacious, sending him a woman, a woman who was nothing like the bride he had seen. 

Hell, you didn’t even look the same as the other.

There was no way their family didn’t know by now that he was the one who killed their only daughter, yet he could only imagine this was their attempt at faking normalcy because he’d never seen his bride before, right?

He laughed, in all honesty. 

He could’ve played along, see what would’ve happened, and have been done with you by dinner if he wanted to. But part of him wanted you to show your true colors, to be able to kill the venomous woman hiding behind the veil.

That day never came though.

He was too baffled by the sight of you clinging to their sides, eyes down as you could barely keep up in the shoes slightly too big to be yours.

He pretended not to notice. 

At dinner he questioned you, much to your visible discomfort. He could see the glances you gave the other members of your supposed family, meekly responding back as they glared sharply at your head, only smiling when they noticed his stares. It didn’t take long for him to connect two and two.

It was there and then he’d made the awfully irrational decision to go forward with the marriage. He wanted to pull you out of your shell, see who you really were under the supposed mask you had on in front of everyone.

Your marriage was a grand affair, bosses from all around the globe visiting just to see the ceremony. He had refused to give in to their demands for a smaller wedding, going all out just for you.

And true to his word, he treated you with more respect than he’d ever cared to show anyone else. For him, hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks as he tried to pull you out of your shell.

It was a while before he got the first laugh out of you. He felt like he’d won everything when you gave him small smiles. He did everything to get them out of you. Showering you in lavish gifts, surprising you with expensive dates, it made him feel like he was finally doing something right. 

Seeing your full smile was what truly made it worth it, easing the pain of your time with your former family, if he could even call them that. 

He’d made sure to cut all contact with them, and he knew you were contacting them against his wishes, so he took it into his own hands to make sure they couldn’t bother you for a single cent again. He plotted behind your back and as sorry as he felt for lying to you, he paid for his guilt in consuming you with his neediness, wrapping you tightly from your waking moments almost as if you’d disappear forever if you left his field of vision.

You didn’t question it, but you couldn’t lie and say it didn’t startle you a bit.

He hummed as you gently ran your fingers through his hair, pit forming in your stomach as you heard him mutter in Italian on the phone, pen scratching against the paper of his notepad.

You heard the bare sentences of his conversation, too fast for you to understand, but you thought you had a good idea of what he was planning.

“Dovremo metterli a tacere (We'll have to silence them)-”

A couple heartbeats passed as he listened, your heart clenching almost painfully as you held the cuff of his suit jacket between your thumb and index finger. Maybe he had figured it out, maybe he was already plotting ways to dispose of you for tricking him in such a grievous manner. You hadn’t heard from the family in weeks, and it made you anxious.

“Non sono d'accordo? Bene, uccideteli (they won’t agree? fine, kill them).”

For a moment there, you didn’t see your husband, but the Devil of Monte Carlo.

He didn’t say anything, and you couldn’t bring yourself to, letting your hand slip away from his crown.

“Y/n? What happened?” He frowned, hand rubbing against the small of your back.

You couldn’t bring yourself to say it, words lying on the tip of your tongue as he cocked his head at you.

“It’s nothing.” You moved your hands away from his neck, balling into little fists in your lap.

“It’s not nothing,” He pressed, staring you down firmly despite the gentle tone of his voice. He knew you, almost too well.

“I… i don’t know how to tell you. You’re going to hate me if I do.” Your voice warbled out as he kissed you on the neck, too light and breezy to mean anything serious.

“Try me. You’d be surprised at how well I take things, and I'm not unreasonable.” Another kiss, leading up the column of your neck as you squealed at the feeling of his warm lips on cooled skin.

“Well, uh, i-” He bit down lightly, earning a soft smack from you in the back of the head, “-Char, what are you doing?”

“Trying to cheer you up.” He said, kissing on the spot he’d bit with an incomparable amount of gentleness.

“I just have something to tell you and i-”

“Is it important in any way that actively harms our lives?” He butt in, giving you a curious look.

“No, but-”

“Then I don't care.” He shrugged, placing a kiss on the corner of your mouth. You didn’t even know you could’ve gotten that loud, when you finally spit it out.

“I’m not your real wife, Char. I never was.”

He didn’t say anything, humming against the crown of your head as his hand snuck up your back and held you closer to him.

“Char, please.”

“I knew that, this isn’t new news.”

You held on, mouth gaping slightly.

“You… you knew this whole time, and you-”

“I deliberately didn’t tell you.” He scoffed, pulling your chin down to look at him. “I knew you’d run back to that so-called family that I did if I had told you. You barely trusted me, and it was their fault. So that’s why I'm going to make sure all of them take a nice long vacation.”

You couldn’t really feel the abject horror anymore, melting into sheer relief as you finally looked at him once more.

There was something about the way he looked at you, tantalizing and hypnotized almost.

‘But, aren’t you mad about me…?”

“Oh I was, I was furious.”

His lips ghosted over yours, the hint of a smile somewhere there.

“But they ended up giving me something all the more precious, something I couldn't replace. You know what that is, mon amour?”

You didn’t even have to say it, as he kissed you, lips smooth against your slightly chapped ones. The expensive perfume grew smaller, closer and closer to you as the space between you closed.

“I’ve done some unspeakable things.” He panted quietly against your lips, landing another soft kiss on the other corner. “But nothing as unspeakable as killing your so-called “family” this late in the game. Some part of me wishes i had done it earlier to spare you that grief.”

You didn’t respond but he continued nonetheless, hands wrapped around your waist to bring you closer to him .”Remember that you're mine and I'm all yours. I would do anything for you.”

And the worst part is, somewhere deep down, you knew it to be true. He was always yours, and you were always his. He'd made sure of it, and you weren't entirely complaining.

[mayu-otome]

Drink, Get Drunk, And Drown - Alfons Sylvatica

These translations are solely for entertainment and not profit. Accuracy is not 100% guaranteed. MDNI

(quick note that English and Japanese are not my native language and there might be some errors and mistakes in my grammar and wording in the translation)

On the way back from accompanying a mission to a warehouse suspected of selling drugs.

Roger: You have some nerve to use a person as a human shield.

Alfons: I'm putting to good use, those muscles you're so proud of. shouldn't you be grateful towards me instead?

The two started fighting.

(It all started when Alfons used Roger as a shield against a gun-wielding man...)

Alfons: Can you not come any closer? Joining shoulders with a filthy man like you is giving me the chills.

Roger: Young lady, say something too.

Kate: .… I agree with Roger on this one!

Alfons: How cruel! You're disregarding your lover and agreeing with that man's opinion!

Kate: You shouldn’t use people as shields in the first place!

Alfons knocks Roger arm off and wraps his arm around my waist.

Alfons: Then we'll be around here. Let's go, Kate.

Roger: Hey, you're not planning on running away, are you?

Roger: I risked my life to protect you. I guess it makes sense to treat me to a glass of alcohol

Alfons: Huh? Why do I have to treat you?

Roger: Generally you—

(If things continue like this, we won't get anywhere. When it comes to this...!)

Kate: I’ll treat you!

Alfons & Roger: …..Huh?

…

Alfons had a disgusted look on his face as Roger gulped down his beer.

Alfons: You've finished drinking. Please go home.

Roger: Of course I’m still going to drink

Alfons: You're always drinking the same thing. seriously, you're no fun at all.

Roger: What’s wrong with drinking what you like?

Kate: Alfons, you seem to know a lot about Roger.

Alfons: This is a well-known fact that everyone in Crown knows, but it’s not even worth remembering.

Roger: I've known Al for a long time.

Alfons: I'm very dissatisfied.

Roger: I think of you as a friend.

Roger: Kate, if something ever happens with this guy, I'll be your listening ear however much you need.

Alfons: In your case, it’s probably not enough to just listen.

Roger: I mean, the little lady’s face is quite my type.

Kate: Eh….!

Alfons: What are you embarrassed about? Don’t tell me….. You’re planning to cheat on me in public?

Kate: T-this is because of the alcohol!

Alfons: Heh….. I’ll leave it at that.

Suddenly, a joyful voice rises from the seat in the back.

When I looked over, I saw two men lying face down on a table with many glasses on it.

Alfons: Most likely they were having a showdown to see who could drink more.

Roger chuckled upon hearing those words

Roger chuckled upon hearing those words, seemingly having thought of an idea.

Roger: Let's do it too, Al.

Alfons: No thanks, Please do it alone.

Roger: You're not in the mood, then—

Roger: How about betting on the young lady?

Kate: Me?!

Alfons: What ridiculous thing did you just say?

Roger: If I win, I'll spend the night drinking with the young lady. If you win, I'll pay for the drinks and get out of here.

Alfons: I don't want to have anything to do with you

Roger: Are you afraid of losing to me?

Alfons: —Huh?

Alfons: ... I get it. Let's do it.

Kate: You're really going to!?

Alfons: It's okay. I won't lose to this idiot.

Leaving me surprised at this unexpected turn of events, the two of them took a quick sip from their glasses.

Alfons: You can still drink... please just hurry up and pass out.

Roger: You're not already at your limit?

Alfons: Please don't take your jokes too far.

(Roger is strong. Alfons is a stronger drinker too.)

(Still…..)

His hair is disheveled behind his ears, his reddish cheeks and unusually loose lips doubling his sex appeal.

(As expected, this might be violating the rules.)

As I’m exposed to the sex appeal of my drunken lover, our eyes meet.

Alfons: ....What kind of face are you making?

Kate: eh?

Alfons: I'm leaving

Alfons stood up and grabbed my arm, forcing me to stand.

Kate: We're still in the middle of a showdown…

Alfons slammed the money down on the table and glared at Roger.

Alfons: Were you satisfied?

Roger: I'm satisfied because I found out that you're more excited than I imagined. Kate, next time let's have a drink when Al isn't around.

Alfons: ...It seems you really want to be killed.

Roger: Haha! If you try to kill me, I'll shoot you back.

Alfons: …. I’m leaving

(This is the first time I've seen you so drunk...)

His gait was shaky and unsteady….

(Besides, he’s usually talk a lot, but…. he’s been quiet the whole time.)

(They say that alcohol reflects a person's true feelings, but I'm surprised that Alfons is so quiet.)

…

Kate: Kyaa!

The moment I entered the room, I was pushed onto the bed.

He got between my legs and hung over me so that I couldn't move, before stealing my lips.

Kate: ….Nn, Al

Alfons: ….You looked incredibly naughty just a little while ago

His tongue slipped into my mouth.

Alfons: You got excited seeing me drunk? What a pervert.

Kate: That—!

The spilled breath was hot.

The ribbon of her blouse was untied and her underwear was roughly pulled down.

Kate: Ah!

The moment the red ripe tip was played, a sweet voice came out.

Alfons: ……

He usually says provocative words here, but for some reason, he just kept attacking me relentlessly.

Kate: Not there—!

My legs instinctively tried to close in pleasure, but were blocked by his hand.

Alfons: ...Isn't it faster than usual?

Kate: Because, ah!

A long finger slowly enters through the gap in her shorts.

Kate: It’s hot….

I feel like I'm going crazy just from the heat of the fingertips,

(Because Alfons is silent….!)

The lewd sound of water echoed throughout the quiet room, and my aroused body came to an abrupt climax.

Kate: Nn !

Alfons silently put his hands on his belt.

Kate: Al—-

Alfons: ... Seriously, what was going on with that man?

Kate: Eh?

(That man is Roger, right?)

With an irritated look, he threw his hair back and gently stroked my cheek.

Alfons: I'd never give you to him.

Kate: … Are you perhaps jealous?

Alfons: …. What if I say yes?

Kate: Ah…..

Alfons: It's fine, so please just let me hold you.

I gasped at the warmth that replaced the fingers that smoothly left my cheeks.

Alfons: I love you because I'll be causing a big scar that'll someday drive you into despair.

She drowns in the pleasure he gives her and becomes intoxicated with him.

<The next day>

When I opened my eyes to the glare, I found myself in his arms.

(Innocence sleeping face…..)

Just as I was about to reach out to touch his cheek.

Alfons: Will you give me a kiss?

Kate: You’re awake !?

Alfons: I’m not awake. Look, my eyes are still closed, right?

Kate: You’re already awake.

Ignoring him, who was reluctant to open his eyes, I tried to get up, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

Alfons: Let's go back to sleep. I drank too much and I'm really tired.

Kate: …. I think I'll go get some hangover medicine from Roger.

Alfons: When did you become such a bad girl, always mentioning other men's names in bed?

In an instant, I couldn’t help but laugh at the furrowed brows.

Alfons: What are you laughing at?

Kate: Fufu... that's because I thought that even you'd get jealous, Alfons.

He let out a sigh as I laughed.

Alfons: What if I say yes?

I put my arms around his neck, trying to answer the same lines as last night.

Kate: I’m happy

Kate: And... I was a little happy to see you different from usual.

Alfons: …. You seriously are something else.

When he finally opened his eyes, he lowered his eyebrows in annoyance, smiled, and kissed my forehead.

Alfons: You really are an idiot.

[luna-has-some-thoughts]

Pt 2. EXTRA Danny accidentally becomes the president

P2 extra: Danny becomes the president

Danny slept for ONLY a few days and when he woke up he was healed of all injury. Oh, and also, he wasn't in his room. NO, he was in a mansion, a FRUITLOOP type of mansion. A beautiful gothic inspired mansion that screamed "I AM ELEGANCE, I AM BEAUTY I AM MONEY" it was only when he one of the workers in the mansion came in did he get informed about what happened these last few days.

APPARENTLY this wasn't just a mansion, it was a WHITE HOUSE. Except it was panted like a black and green galaxy because everyone hates white now

And also he's the president.

A Fenton is either EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL or EXTREMELY UNSUCCESSFUL.

All he wanted to keep to protect his town from the GIW. But considering that fainted he was... unsuccessful? But that slight failure did help the amity parkers decide to help themselves and finally accept him as hero so maybe not??

He was happy that they accepted him and protected him but he really wasn't expecting this at all. Why in the world did they make him president??? He didn't think they liked him that much! Also! How is he president??? Amity park is just a random town in the middle of nowhere Illinois!

Wait...what??! WHAT DO YOU MEAN AMITY IS AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY???!! I WAS OUT FOR 3 DAYS! THEY HAVENT EVEN STARTED CLEANING UP YET HOW IN THE NAME OF THEY ANCIENTS DID WE GET DECLARED AS AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY????!

"I see..." Danny nodded after finally calming down. "So let me get this straight..." He counted on his fingers, "You," he looks at the woman in front of him "along side other people and ghosts, and mom and dad, and fright night, and Pandora...kidnapped the us president"

She nodded.

"Took him to UN headquarters, then Bribed, blackmailed, and harrased the UN members into declaring us a country"

.she nodded.

"Then declared me as king and president of amity"

She nodded.

"You know this new development is gonna attract the league of bitches right?"

"Oh we won't have to worry about that for now, but when they do then we'll be prepared." She smiled innocently.

Danny stared at her with tired eyes as he channeled his inner amity parker, the power to say well, I guess this is happening now. He sighed "Fine, but I can't be king and president at the same time. I can be king since you're all liminal, so technically all of amity is part of the whole ghost king territory." He sighed, "but I can't be president, too much responsibility, I'm already in charge of a whole ass realm"

So now they needed a new president, preferably some uncorrupt, someone who doesn't care much about the money and will always look for ways to improve the living standard, someone kind but not a push over.

Next day it was declared that.

MADDIE AND JACK FENTON, PRESIDENTS OF AMITY.

Danny was stunned when he saw the news. Did they seriously pick the resident mad scientists as president.

Don't get him wrong, he loves his parents and know that they're awesome but can they do this???

Turns out they can.

The president Drs Fenton's first move was healthcare for Both ghosts and humans and a free class dedicated to helping yourself.

Helping yourself classes include:

How to stitch your self up

How to use fudge as a weapon

How to fight the world most dangerous villains.

How to fight the worlds strongest heroes

Etch.

They launched some programs that might seem weird at first.

Programs like:

A defence class against sentient food.

Making friends with the realms

A school for the liminal

A class for avoiding the fae.

Using the blob ghosts as construction workers.

Etch

They might be weird but the end results turned out to be pretty usefull for the amity parkers.

At some point they decided to build a wall around the countrys property. It would ensure that only the amity parkers and people with permission would be able to enter/leave the town. There would be no gate and the only way out would be trough the portal system built by the Fenton's.

Danny thought it was too much

The amity parkers thought it was perfect, they didn't want anyone in their country, this was the kings haunt, this was their home and they would die and then come back as ghosts just to protect it.

And so the wall was raised..

Amity park continued to live in harmony and peace for many years...

-----

A couple of years later.

Flash had come across the wall.

And of course, alerted the league of bitches.

Batman was having a headache, no matter where he looked, no matter how many government systems he hacked, there was nothing. Not a single piece of info, not a single paper trail on what could possibly be whats behind the wall, and when it was built.

But it's impossible for something that big to just appear out of nowhere.

So the JL had suggested looking over Illinois via satellite, the wall didn't have a roof so they should be able to see the inside.

"What the heck" Oracle cursed as she looked at the camera. "Hey RR, look at this"

"what is it?" Red Robin walked closer, coffee mug in hand.

"Somethings interfering, I can't get a view of the wall at all" she took a sip of her own coffee as she tried hacking. Emphasis on TRIED.

The batcomputer was covered in static, then turned black. After that it flashed gold with a Egyptian like gold simbol and a message.

"NU UH"

" Get wrecked ".

Suddenly whoever was On the other side started hacking the batcomputer.

It turned into a nearly 24 hour, (Oracle: does this hacker not sleep??) battle of trying to keep the hacker away from their bat systems.

It only stopped when the hacker sent a message.

"Nice as this little war was, im getting bored so bye (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠)"

Seizing the opportunity they tried to hack in. Only to be hit with a firewall and a virus.

--------

Life was good, life was stressful but it was good for Danny.

He thought to himself as he walked towards the wall that kept them safe.

Appearantly the clan of glorified furrys tried hacking them last night. Unfortunately for them not only was Tucker incredibly good at hacking, his liminality also gave him less need for sleep so he just kept messing with them until they were exhausted.

But this little occurrence made Danny think a bit. Now that the GIW was gone and the Anti ecto acts were basically burned without a trace , there was no need to hide. There was never a need to isolate their little country in the first place.

The amity parkers are free come and go whenever they want, the wall isn't here to keep them in, it's to keep the outsiders out. The rich familys often go out, they can't just disappear from society after all, but the other amity parkers, they don't. They haven't left at all, claiming that it was better for them here as they probably won't be accepted. Just because the Anti ecto laws are gone doesn't change the fact that liminals and ghost aren't recognized as species, they were closer to myths than metas and the world, (especially the league of bitches) werent like them, they were terrified of change. So they stayed in amity.

The people just wanted to feel safe for a while, lay low until they're sure that no one would hurt them any more. But they're stronger now, better than before and more ...magical.

Danny stops waking and looks back at the town. Liminals, ghost, blobs, and humans with ghostly features from the ecto walked, talked and played together. He grinned so what if the world would have a hard time accepting them? The worlds opinion doesn't matter, destroying it or fleeing to another dimension was always a choice and his people aren't the type to back down from a fight.

Yeah, It was time to reintroduce Amity to the world. He flipped the switch and the walls portal gate opened to Gotham.

Now then? They had a plan, his people suggested he take the lead in the plan and they will follow.

The plan? The plan was to become a head ache for Bruce Wayne, aka the The Furry knight.

Rich fruitloop with a plan to takeover the business world style.

_________

Tim is stressed not only is he stressed with the whole random Illinois wall situation he's also stressing out about this random Business man that appeared out of nowhere And is competing against WE!

Okay, maybe not competing but still!! It's only been two months, TWO MONTHS since this company appeared and it was already competing for one of the richest companys in America! How?????

So he tried looking into the owner. The owner looked like about his age! Looked like a fresh 18 year old but his file says he's 25, something about slow aging that runs in the family, maybe a meta gene? But theres no way he could build a billionaire company from scratch at only 25 so hes definitely born in a rich family. Daniel Fenton, his name, a perfectly normal name. Only issue is that, THERE ARE NO BILLIONAIRE FAMILIES NAMED FENTON!.

He looked deeper, he found an interview that said he was from a country called Amity when asked where it was, he gave coordinates. Not an address, not a continent, but COORDINATES. And Guess where the coordinates led?

THE FREAKING WALL OF ILLINOIS!!!!.

This man came from the wall! Well... Most likely INSIDE the wall. But from the wall nonetheless.

So he told Bruce, and what was the best way to get a business mans attention without being suspicious?

A GALA

Tags, I'm not gonna do tags anymore, might make a masterpost so look out for that instead.

@vixen-uchiha

@sebas-nights

@whotfevenknowsanymore

@jaguarthecat

@serasvictoria02

@devilbunny612

@sumatra513

@just-lurking-dont-mind-meh

@i-love-mangoes

----

[sweetnans]

a/n: This could contain some mistakes, english is not my first language. Enjoy 💫

Pt.1

You saw Bakugo flying away, blasting explosions through the air, chasing Midoriya, who was miles away from him. A bad omen twinkling in your guts right after he disappeared from your sight.

You were in the city, trying to help the heroes establish the order again. Helping elders and kids find his relatives again in the middle of chaos, some of your classmates helping you and the other heroes doing some sweeping in the remains of disaster after Shigaraki broke the city in two.

Ochako screamed your name because your quirk was useful in the thing that she was doing. That helped you a lot to keep your mind away from your boyfriend.

He told you we'll be careful and you trusted him with all your heart.

Cleaning the city, evacuating civilians, and watching your back for any villain to appear out of nowhere, made you extremely tired.

You were putting your hands in some wreck from machia destroying everything on his way when an agitated Todoroki stumble in your view.

"Have you seen Bakugo?" He asked right away catching his breath a little bit.

"I saw him fifteen minutes ago flying that way chasing Midoriya," you pointed out to the horizon, and that didn't change Todoroki demeanor, made it worse. "Why?" You grew anxious at his face. Todoroki wasn't the kind of person who wore his emotions on his face, but right now, it was fear all over gaze. "Why Shoto?" Your voice trembled.

"We have to go, right now" he looked at Ochako, and she caught the hint right away.

"I got your back," she said, giving you a little push.

Todoroki grabbed you by your arm and started making a path of ice, sliding in it with you at his back. You ignored the cold and the way that he was going so fast that you almost slipped two times only for him to grab you tighter. You've never seen him act like that, desperate and breaking the rules, not to mention Ochako as well, after what happened in Kamino, you saw a change in her but never expected to cover you two for running straight to something very dangerous without any hero escorting or knowing about.

"Are you okay?" Todoroki shouted in front of you, his voice muffled for the sound of the ice and because he was giving you his back.

"I don't understand what's going on" you yelled back.

"You know your boyfriend," he said, giving you a side eye, "He can be very reckless"

Ok, now you expected the worst.

"What did you see exactly? Where the fuck are we going?" You sounded desperate and you knew that you needed to keep your calm because you were a hero, you needed to act like one but in the other hand, you loved the bastard and you didn't know anything about him and in what state you would find him.

"I think there's something bigger going on in that direction. I'm pretty sure my father is there, and I think that neither Midoriya nor Bakugo should be there. That's what worries me"

He sounded like he was worried. You knew that your boyfriend and Midoriya made him come out of his shell of trauma, and that, even though Katsuki didn't think that, they were friends.

"If your dad is there, maybe they're not in danger. He's protecting them, isn't he?" You asked, trying to see the bright side. At least they were with the number one hero.

"Why do you think my father is there?"

He didn't mean to make you feel dumb but it was a conclusion that you didn't want to come to.

It didn't settle your nerves down, the exact opposite, and it increased when you started to notice the columns of smoke and flames far away, the sound coming straight after that.

"Fucking hell" you muttered to yourself.

You closed your eyes, putting away all your intrusive thoughts and preparing yourself to fight against Shigaraki.

The villain was like an unhinged king Midas, but instead of making gold, he destroyed everything he touched. His capacity to break down everything was absurd, and he seemed undefeatable.

"Hang on!" Todoroki screamed worry laced in his tone.

His path of ice stopped while grabbing you firmly, so you wouldn't trip over him from the impulse. He was still in front of you, blocking every view from you to see. The grip in your arm was hurting, but you didn't have the chance of saying anything before he made a mountain of ice to stop Shigaraki from tearing up Aizawa's face.

You were shocked to see your teacher bleeding and on his knees.

The neurons in your brain connected quickly. He was using his quirk to suppress Shigaraki's quirk. Now that he wasn't able to do that, the situation morphed into one that was ten times worse.

Shigaraki destroyed Todoroki's ice in an instant. You were in the ground when Deku appeared out of nowhere and tackled Shigaraki.

You ran towards Aizawa kneeling at his side to see the damage in his face. He couldn't open one of his eyes, and the bleeding wasn't stopping.

"What are you doing here?" he coughed his answer and put on a worried face.

"We are the back up team, remember?" You tried to joke but you were out of breath.

"Get away from here. It's too dangerous. " He was getting weaker, and you grabbed him, helping the other heroes.

"No chance, sensei. I promise you'll have me in one piece when this ends"

Your quirk wasn't very useful in hand to hand combat. You could grow vines in every part of your body, making them useful for climbing, swinging, catching, and with suitable surfaces, flying, but this time you didn't have any building at your sides to tie up your vines Sero style.

"Why did you bring her here?" You heard Bakugo yell at Todoroki while shooting explosion to Shigaraki.

Todoroki didn't answer.

After a round full of fights, Shigaraki stopped. He was in the center of it while everyone was panting at his side in a prudent distance. Todoroki made his way to his father, throwing him some of his ice so he could cool down and keep fighting. This was far from ending.

Bakugo made it to your side. He didn't touch you in any way. He was just by your side, his chest rising and falling with every breath he took.

"Before you say something," you started knowing that he would call you out for coming. "I'm here to back everyone up. I want you to do your best there and destroy that bitch"

He smiled smugly at your words and gave you a look taking you in.

"You got it princess"

You ran back to Aizawa, wrapping his leg with your vines to cut the bleeding. Midoriya was there losing it. The heroes telling him to go.

"Midoriya," you snapped your fingers at his crying face. "Go"

In your peripherals, you could see Shigaraki ready to touch the ground again when something in his chest exploded, shredding all his skin. He reached his limits.

Everything happened so fast. Midoriya grabbed you all with his quirk lifting you up from the ground before Shigaraki destroyed everyone.

You didn't know that Midoriya could float, and it seemed that the other didn't know it too.

You couldn't let go Aizawa's leg from your vines, so you weren't much of a help trying to secure the others with your quirk, lightening Deku's work. You could keep them floating, but you needed something to tie your vines and there wasn't any building around.

While thinking of ways you could help, Deku left you all in the ground just staying with Shigaraki in the sky.

"Shoto, take care of the wounded" Endeavor said looking at him and then looking at you. "You, help him too"

You nodded and went straight to settle Grand Torino on the ground.

Bakugo started yelling at Midoriya, but you couldn't catch anything he said.

Midoriya started to punch Shigaraki in the air repeatedly, over and over, but the bastard was far from getting unconscious.

"He's going to break his limbs again." Shoto remarked, standing up and watching the fight. You did it, too.

"Todoroki are you done?" Bakugo said.

"Yes, what do you-"

"Come here and hold on tightly,"

Todoroki made his way to Katsuki while he was yelling his plan to Endeavor. He was going to Midoriya to help him get rid of Shigaraki.

With Endeavor and Todoroki at his back, he started elevating, making his way faster to his friend.

Bakugo grabbed Endeavor and throwed him to Shigaraki. Enveavor hugged him, telling everyone to go away. He lit himself up, burning Shigaraki to the core, leaving him roasted like a burned chicken.

Endeavor fell, and Todoroki caught him in the air.

You were out of breath watching everything passing so quickly in front of your eyes. From your position, the scene seemed like it was near to end. You thought that Shigaraki was the next one to collapse from the air.

"Why isn't he falling like Endeavor?" you asked the heroes that were beside you, but they were clueless too.

In a span of seconds, something emerged from Shigaraki's body, aiming straight to hurt Midoriya when the explosions caught your eyes, three to be exact.

Bakugo tackled Midoriya receiving all the impact from Shigaraki's quirk, red spiky blades passing through his arm, chest, stomach, and leg, hurting him bad.

You heard you screaming like it was a third person. You felt your throat getting sore and your vocal chords straining out.

Your vines weakened beside you, breaking loose from Aizawa's leg because you couldn't concentrate on anything other than Katsuki hurt and falling from the sky above you.

You were ready to throw some vines to catch him, but Todoroki grabbed him by his leg holding Endeavor's and Katsuki's weight.

"Hey, we need you here," Lock Hero snapped you from your trance.

You blinked a few times, dissipating the tears you hadn't noticed streaming down your face. You put yourself together and kneel beside Aizawa, wrapping your vines around his bleeding leg.

You tried not to look up. You wanted to keep your vines in position so your teacher wouldn't bleed to death before the EMTs arrived. But the try was worthless.

Midoriya was turning into something you hadn't seen before. He was seeing red. He made his way to Shigaraki, biting the blades until he was in front of him. The villain was able to reach him now, and he absolutely did.

Todoroki screamed, everyone did, even you. Shigaraki was absorbing Midoriya's quirk.

You were midway of keep screaming when all of a sudden something lit up in the sky and blinded you, then, complete silence. Both of them, Midoriya and the villain fell from the sky.

What happened after was something that you were almost unable to explain. The other from the league came and made his appereance venting out some secrets that took you and everyone else by surprise.

Everybody ended wounded, even though that, while taking care of the already wounded, had to interfere. Aizawa and Bakugo, whose heartbeat was steady but faintly, got all your attention. You had to keep them safe.

You were one of the conscious ones while everybody was dropped dead. You helped the paramedics carry the bodies of your classmates and friends using your vines and tucked them safely in the ambulance.

They took you to the nearest hospital, where they checked your vitals and looked up for hidden wounds. You didn't have any.

"I need to see my boyfriend," you almost pleaded to one of the nurses.

When Todoroki dropped Bakugo to your side to keep fighting against his own brother, you leaned on your boyfriend for a while, touching his hair and cleaning the blood from his body, the tears dropping to his uniform. You watched his eyes closed and prayed that he wasn't feeling any pain.

The nurse gave you a sympathetic look. You weren't asking for impossible. You knew he would be fine, and he would give you shit about your look and make fun of you for being a cry baby.

You needed him.

"I'll see what I can do"

That sentence stucked for a few hours. She gave you his room, but the doctors didn't allow you to come in. They said that they were still checking on him.

Mitsuki called, and even though she sounded like she was about to cry, she said firmly to you that you had to punch him in the face the minute he woke up, for being so stupid to get hurt.

You cried a little talking to her, and she told you the same that his son told you just the say before. He would never leave your side.

After two hours, the doctors and several nurses left Katsuki's dorm. You stood up at the sight of them and the doctor just smiled to you.

"I think he wants to see you too"

That took all of your breath away. He was awake.

Joining your hands, you made your way to the dorm while the doctor held the door for you.

You couldn't help but sob at the sight of him. He was connected to several machines, and his body was wrapped around bandages.

"Don't cry," he told you, holding his own tears at the sight of you. "C'mere"

You sprinted at him and pulled the chair to sit by his side.

"Oh no," he said, scooting over his bed. "I need to know I'm not dreaming"

"I don't want to hurt you," you said, doubting if it was a good idea or not.

"It's hurting not having you right here," he pleaded.

He sounded desperate, touch starved. You complied.

Silence flooded between the two of you, only the beeping from the machine echoing in the room and your heartbeat matching his.

"Your mom called. She said she's proud of you, " you told him. Well, you lied to him, but you knew that deep down that was Mitsuki meant.

"She didn't say that shit," he shook his head in disbelief.

"Nah, she said something about you being stupid for risking your life." You looked up at him, and he pouted. He did that face when his mind went cloudy.

"Mm," he hummed in response and stayed still for a moment, caressing your hair and twisting your locks in his fingers while brushing it with them. "I'm sorry"

Katsuki wasn't the type of boyfriend to verbalize his apologies. He was more the type of doing things to fix what he did. His love language was acts of service for rights and wrongs.

"If you are saying sorry for what I think you are saying, sorry, I won't forgive you," you whispered, searching for his eyes to meet yours. "I'm proud of you Katsuki, you did exactly what every other heroe would have done"

"But I broke the promise I made to you," he sounded conflicted. He was a man to his words but he was also a great hero.

"You did what you had to do. You saved not only Midoriya's but many more lives. I know you just woke up, but have you realized what it could've had happened if he hurt Midoriya instead of you? That son of a bitch was acting like some sort of unbreakable loser and after he did that to you Midoriya went nuts, he almost lost his mind using Shigaraki as a punching bag"

He went quiet for a minute and then hugged you with the remains of his strength after a huge fight. You could feel his arms around you, hanging faintly but his grip firm on you, his head against yours.

"It's okay baby, you are okay, I'm okay, everybody's fine," you hummed against his chest.

"When I saw you behind icy-hot, I almost lost it," he blurted. "The first thing in my mind was getting you out of there, getting you as far away as possible, and then I saw how you were helping Aizawa with his leg, and then I realized that you are one of us too. Back there, you were doing ground control, but what if we need you and your quirk fighting next to us?, I can't lose it like I did with you there knowing that you are as capable as me doing this kind of shit, I'm sorry" his voice trembled and you tried to look at him.

"Sorry for what, Katsuki? For caring for me? Please, we saw Shigaraki, how he broke everything in his way. I was scared as shit when I saw you fighting, and when you got hurt, but I do know you too, I know your strength, I know you stubbornness, I know you care for others even if you try to hide it, I would've do the same for one of our classmates and I know it felt more personal to you being that person Midoriya, it's fine, shit like this is going to happen again and again but I'll be here, next to your wounded body everytime and I know if it was me laying here with all these bandages in my body, you'll be here too"

You didn't expect that your speech broke him, but he did, in a Bakugo way. He exhaled the longest sigh that you ever heard, and his heart was beating like it was going to blast out his chest. But he was fine knowing that you wouldn't leave his side anytime soon.

[askdeoxys]

Deoxys lingered in his seat for his least favorite pastime..: people watching. He knew it bad for him, but he couldn't help it. If he couldn't have it himself, he could at least live vicariously through those who walked past him.

He watched the countless social encounters progress past him. It was, of course, his own fault that he didn't have what he watched. There were attempts from others-- there were moments where a spark formed-- where he may have had a chance for something deeper. But.., did he deserve it? That was always the problem. Every chance he had-- Deoxys let it slip..

..

However, his train of thought cut-- a presence descended upon him.. In his own paranoia, his orb sparked, and he dreaded the worst upon him.

..Huh?

The alien started at the mon before him. Was this.. a farce?- a prank of some kind? ..No, what a ridiculous question. Deoxys inherently knew the intent of those around him. He knew the words of the fruity man to be true..

Deoxys had only one response-- a response that was repeated over a dozen times.. at least. Fortunate for him, the friendly mon matched his energy:

And, like that, Deoxys tried again. Why not? He knew it would end all the same like it always had. It would end with Deoxys, full of fright, letting it slip by the wayside. It might as well have been written in stone.

Despite the future Deoxys was sure would come to fruition.., he allowed the mon to invite him out. What was the worst that could happen?

The two departed together, both parties unaware of the bond that would soon form..

Across the town, Marcin took Deoxys more places than he could count. Marcin was genuine, and he was true.

The night of fun turned into days which turned into weeks. Deoxys continued to come back to find his new friend, and he didn't know why. Why waste his time? It was destined to end as it always does: with Deoxys running away. ..Yet, Deoxys continuously returned. He desired more time with Marcin-- he desired to grow this friendship.

Why? It was a question he was unable to answer.

Maybe, this time.. Maybe he wouldn't run away.. Maybe he could allow himself the chance.

During yet another day where the two decided to meet- during a bright, sunny day- Deoxys knew he had to voice his feelings.

That bright, sunny day- as the pair walked- Deoxys couldn't help himself but let out what he was thinking, "I.. won't dump upon you my burdens, but I.. am not used to accepting such kidness. Usually, I would run from these kind of things.. or just flat out not show up. Yet, I find myself coming back- again and again."

"I just wanted to thank you, that is all. You are a very kind soul, Marcin, and I think this budding friendship has opened my face. And, I think.. I think I like this universe. I am going to stick around. At least, if you'll have me. Would that be okay? May I continue to visit you?"

If this friendship worked out, maybe his other ones would too.

Maybe, he thought, Maybe he should check on his other.. friends? Did he deserve to call them that? Maybe he should check on them as well.. Maybe they would be happy to see him.

[ @harmonia-university ]

'Wait a second, askdeoxys, isn't most of that art from a year ago?? Isn't there some style clashing there? Those cameos, those can't be canon, can they???' You're probably asking.. Perhaps, perhaps.. Who is to say, really.. I am not going to tag the people whose characters I stole, we'll see if they NOTICE. However, I needed some cameos, so like the community menace I am, I TOOK them. Yeehaw

[sproutzai]

Do you have any fluffy Dazai in love headcanons you'd like to share?

ABSOLUTELY I DO !!! ( some of these are obviously x reader others are just. general hcs )

dazai obviously absolutely adores cuddling. it can't be a headcanon post without mentioning how he clings to you whenever he can get his grubby hands on you. he's a little like a big dog if you squint - you can sit anywhere and even if he's not supposed to fit in your lap , damn we'll hes crawling into it and nestling himself into your chest regardless.

he likes sharing meals with you too. he's always had problems with eating, everyone knows that. but with you? something about the joint effort gives him that extra push. maybe it's the excitement behind preparing the meal, maybe its how he enjoys reading your expression on what restaurants you want when you're ordering takeout. or maybe it's the quiet praise you give him when he's eaten more then usual. whatever it is, it's a good motivator to get him to eat anything.

he figets with anything. any necklaces or jewellery you're wearing are basically toys to him. dazai adores listening to you ramble while he plays with the loose threads of your shirt, fiddling with your hand while you talk about whatever hell you'd been dealing with lately. he adores your voice, and something about the closeness and how he can keep his hands busy makes it all so much better. it helps him focus on anything other then his mind.

he likes going on walks, this might seem pretty basic. but sometimes hearing the birdsong and feeling the breeze on his cheeks sways him away from finding any new suicide methods to attempt while out there. the scent in the air as he passes a bakery, when he decides to give himself a little treat. seeing things in the window he knows his coworkers would like. things like that .

on the subject of coworkers, dazai likes to leave little gifts around for you and members of the agency. he doesn't credit himself for them at all - but sometimes there's a new pen on kunikidas desk that dazai doesn't annoy him into snapping as fast. sometimes there's a lint roller on atsushis desk , because he knows how bad white cat hair is on black trousers. sometimes there's stacks of candy on ranpos desk, ones he'd been rambling about wanting to try for months. little things like that.

whenever its cold outside he has a habit to share pockets with you. gently taking your hand in his and pulling it into the pocket of his trenchcoat, chuckling when you ask him what he's doing and simply kissing the top of your head as an answer. proximity is everything to him - if you couldn't tell already.

dazai gets really sleepy around you easily. he feels a LOT safer around you , and as a result he doesn't mind it as much when he finds himself drifting to sleep when he's laying in your lap after a long day. he knows you won't hurt him, he knows nothing bad will happen to him when hes unconcious. so he allows himself to close his eyes and snuggle that little bit closer.

[anitalianfrie]

I am begging you to translate this: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7eN1flsqvO/?igsh=Y3R5MGFuMWdiZzNr

(It is several minutes long though and will probably be a huge pain so no pressure!)

sure! here's the link . I recommend watching the video while you read this bc the volg is cut really weird, there's not one long conversation and what happens in the video is pretty useful to understand what's going on in the translation. unfortunately i wasn't able to translate some bits, but i tried my best

as always, my comments/specifications are in between []

Mig: hello everyone, I've arrived at bez's house. Cele's not here yet

Mig: hey

Bez: sium

Mig: I couldn't not start a video like this, could i?

Bez: with the plane

Mig: with the plane. it gives it the look of a vlog, doesn't it? We're waiting for Cele

Bez: the excruciating wait

--

Cele: I'm at the roundabout, the one with the car dealers

Bez: what car dealer bro?

Cele: ehhhh, the ones that-

mig: what kind of question is that

Cele: i don't know, anyways i'm here, two minutes and i'm there

Bez: okay, okay

Mig: two minutes like those before, or two real minutes?

Bez: sorry, but what car does he have?

Cele: the Cupra

Bez: yes, here he is, here he is

Mig: listen to him

Mig: tac!

Mig: in the end, [something i don't get]

Bez: we're ready

Cele: the boots for Mugello, because I go to Mugello. With stile.

Mig: well, it's not like those boots are super new. Understandable. you- why-

Bez: one different from the other

Mig: one different from the other

Cele: obviously. I even have another pair even more broken

Mig: but the backpack is the right one

Cele: yes [something i don't get]

Mig: well i mean, we stay away the night but, whatever. everybody- this pair [of boots] is in a bit of a better state than the other one

Cele: yes. better. [cele shows the boot to the camera]

Mig: this one is perfect

Cele: nooo

Mig: two left boots

Bez: but the others are left and right

Cele: yes, I know, but-

Mig: what shoe size do you wear?

Cele: but what if I slip on the left?

Mig: what's your shoe size bro?

Cele: 40, 41, 42

Mig: You can borrow mine

--

[then mig googles a scarperia (shoe shop) and google maps pinpoints a place/village named scarperia near florence]

[here's the song they were listening to in the car]

--

Franky: Marco

Bez: Franky! how is it?

Franky: everything's okay

Mig: hi Chicco! [chicco is usually the nickname given to people named federico. knowing mig this is a reference of some sort i'm not able to place]

Bez: yes, we were doing a round fo calls, we wanted to know how you were

Franky: everythings alright

Franky: there's also Celestino, what is he doing

Cele: hi Franco

Franky: what is he doing?

BEz: he's here, he's here

Mig: hi Franco!

Franky: hi Celes!

Cele: hi!

[i assume bez's laugh here is bc franco is completely ignoring mig wich. hilarious to me]

Franco: hi!

--

[second song they were listening to. yes it's calcutta i almost couldn't believe my ears]

mig: we're here. one hour and- almost two hours later

--

Bez: ohi where are you?

Pecco: at the hotel

Bez: in hotel?

Pecco: have you arrived yet?

Bez: ah so you've arrived before us

Pecco: well, obviously

Mig: we're here

Bez: we've arrived just now

Pecco: ok, then now we'll go downstairs, let's meet in the lobby at eight. which is now.

Bez: we're here now, now we park

Mig: i would do the check in, and then we go back downstairs

--

Mig: here they are, here they are

Mig: it's like in shining

Cele: we can go to misano directly tomorrow

Pecco: if we go back in time, we go

--

Mig: hello everyone, ehhh we're ready we've woken up and now we go to the circuit, we go to the others

Mig: now, where are our champions? Let's go see near the car. oh, here they are

Mig: Come on! Good morning! Let's go, come on! and sbam!

--

Mig: you do the greeting, this is the classical greeting when you arrive at the circuit, you rise your hand

--

Guy: - because we were thinking of putting down the names of singers, or-

Cami: the name on the transponder is the name of a singer

Pecco: for me either Steve Taylor or Francesco Renga. Now i have to decide

Franco: good morning

--

Mig: ehhh, what's the theme? Singers or bands, or like is it the same...

Guy: singers

--

Mig: my denstist will be proud of me. Shoutout to Doctor Bausi, he's the number one. Super important [something i don't get bc of the toothbrush]

Bez: you cut three, four tens of a second each lap

--

[all the conversations in the box were either very difficult to hear or with too little context to make them translatable (or even useful to translate) sorry]

--

Mig: well guys, this is all, from the track, now the return trip awaits us

--

Mig: that's true, we stayed on the phone the whole time, but now we're here.

Bez: yeah

Mig: bye. we're here, and nothing else. we go home, it was amazing, and... do you have something to declare to end this- here there's a knee slider by the way, i guess it's vietti's... is it yours?

Bez: i declare that.. this return trip has been one of the greatest trip of all time, with a group phone call of...

Mig: one hour and fifteen

Bez: one hour and fifteen

Mig: since before Bologna

Bez: we never felt alone, we felt cuddled by our friends

Cele: we never felt this close

--

Mig: there's a spider, it doesn't open

Bez: can i say it now? you didn't do as you- what is that, what rug is that?

Mig: it's nice isn't it

Bez: where did you stole it from?

Mig: i bought it. I bought it from Toriani, a carpet- from Toriani Tavullia's hardware store, a rug with the sun and the moon, for a step, this a step rug

--

Mig: bye everyone, it's been great

Cele: thank you [while hugging bez]

Mig: it's been a pleasure

[buddiebeginz]

I thought it was interesting that we had a scene in 7x09 with Bobby and Buck where they talked about T*mmy and Bobby called Buck kid. Something T*mmy has also called Buck. I know you could make the argument that Bobby has called Buck that multiple times before so it's no big deal but I think it highlights how T*mmy doesn't really see Buck as an equal.

I feel like you can also see this in how T*mmy talks to Buck most of the time. He comes off as dismissive to Buck's feelings or like he knows better because I think he thinks he does. It's one of the reasons why I don't think this relationship is going to work out in the long term. I also will forever theorize that T*mmy was originally pursuing Eddie who I think is older than Buck and who generally comes off as a little more mature than Buck in some ways. That's not a dig at Buck btw it's just how their personalities tend to differ.

I think T*mmy likes Buck and he thought he was cute so he decided to go for it when Buck said he wanted his attention but I also think T*mmy knows there's something going on between Buck and Eddie. I'm positive we'll get some line from T*mmy eventually where he'll say he knew this wasn't going to be a forever thing. But even that aside the longer T*mmy and Buck are dating (or whatever their relationship is at this point since the show hasn't clarified) it becomes apparent that they're just too different to be in a relationship together.

I've seen B/T shippers argue that when T*mmy makes his snippy comments to Buck it's just his personality and he's just being sarcastic or whatever but it doesn't come across that way. I think Buck is at times silly and full of energy and also often needs to feel supported and reassured (especially given his family history) and I think T*mmy doesn't always want to have to deal with all of that. Look at how he was during the bachelor party or how Buck was excited at the award ceremony and T*mmy's response was just "enjoy it while it lasts".

I know I'm biased because of course I want Buddie to happen and I don't like T*mmy but even if those things didn't exist I can't imagine I would want this to be Buck's forever love. Everyone should ship whatever makes them happy but I will never understand how so many people now have dropped Buddie for this ship when there is so little substance there and what little of it is there just doesn't seem like a good fit. Buck deserves better.

[freddie-77-ao3]

Riordanverse Characters As EPIC Lyrics

"I no longer dream, only nightmares of those who've died" is Clarisse after manhattan

"Whatever we face, we'll be fine if we're leading from the heart" is Silena in general

"No matter the place, we can light up the world" is Lee and Luke, when they're dreaming of college right before Luke betrays them

"Time... I've unlocked it, I see past and future running free" is Rachel before manhattan, she sees all sorts of visions and doesn't know what's going on, just knows that it isn't happening now

"There is a world where I help you get home, but that's not a world I know" is Leo to Jason. If only he'd made it back just a bit sooner-- maybe jason wouldn't be dead

"A man who gets to make it home alive, but it's no longer you" is drew returning to camp after manhattan, and at the start of this war she was happy and bright, and now she's unrecognizable.

"I'm the only one who's line I haven't crossed"

"What if I'm the one who killed you, every time I caved to guilt"

"What if I've been far to kind to foes but a monster to ourselves"

"Learn to be colder when she got older, and now she saves them the pain" Drew refusing to let aphrodite kids fight. if people don't remember they CAN fight, they won't make them fight. if they're kept out of the worst of the battles... well. drew will have protected them in the way she can.

"Does he throw away his remorse and save more lives with guile"

"Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves" that's a general drew and malcolm idea that connor is opposed to but can't get through to them on

"i must become the monster, and then we'll make it home" percy in house of hades (especially with ahklys)

"I have something that I must confess, something that I must get off my chest, until it is said I cannot rest" silena, trying to tell clarisse she's the spy, before she resorts to the drastic pulling a patroclus

"No, i'm not a player, I'm a puppeteer" Drew Tanaka in general. like she won't fight. she'll watch from the sidelines, manipulate people into doing things, but she doesn't want to get her hands dirty again.

"Of course I'd like to leave now, of course I'd like to run, but I can hardly sleep now, knowing everything we've done" Connor, refusing to run away with Malcolm and Drew the night before a big battle (you choose if it's manhattan, the BOO, or a trials of apollo battle)

"Wouldn't you like a taste of the power, wouldn't you like to use more than words?" some new camper trying to convince drew to fight (and then promptly getting stabbed, because drew CAN fight, she just prefers charmspeak)

"I've got people to protect... so I'm not taking chances" silena on why she chose to join luke. like yeah she was groomed but she also honestly thought it would protect those closest to her.

"i still believe in goodness, I still believe that we could be kind" connor, trying to reason with malcolm, drew, or clarisse in war counsel (about the romans specifically)

"you are reckless, sentimental at best" ares to clarisse about her fighting in manhattan (her loved ones' deaths were the things motivating her and she told kronos to fight her so)

"I know what I'm fighting for, while you're fighting to be known" malcolm to annabeth in an argument early on.

"what good would killing do, when mercy is a skill, more of this world could learn to use?" connor again, probably about the romans.

"the blood we shed, it never dries, is this what it means to be a warrior" sherman praying to his father, (he was so paralyzed by guilt after the battle of manhattan he would have nightmares about being covered in blood again and just throw up), (this is when he loses faith)

"this life is amazing when you greet it with open arms, whatever we face, we'll be fine if we're leading from the heart"

"i'd like to show my friend that kindness is brave" silena about clarisse

"Have you forgotten to turn off your heart?" clarisse to silena

bolded are chb in general

[babyyoda234]

The Intern: The Laughing Fish

Gotham harbor buzzes with energy this morning. Fishermen compete for the best catch. Dozens of workers prep the yachts for their bosses rich escapades. Even the seagulls are hard at work today, eagerly searching the docks for their next meal. A perfect image of regular people living their lives. Unfortunately if we've been called, then something must be going horribly wrong. Judging from the crowd of distressed fishermen forming towards the end of the boardwalk, my gut feeling was right.

As I draw near the distressed crowd, a familiar voice rises above the rest.

"We are sending our best people to look into this. Keep an eye out for a press conference by the end of today." Commissioner Gordon addresses the crowd.

The crowd erupts in a chorus of anger.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm going to brutalize that clown!"

"God, I hate this city."

Behind the greying commissioner stands a very sour looking Dr. Harris. I maneuver my way through the crowd next to him.

"Dr." I greet from behind.

Dr. Harris says nothing while attempting to catch a slippery fish.

"How adept are you at evolutionary biology?" He eventually asks through the sweat beating down his face.

"I dabble..." I respond growing closer to peer over his shoulder.

Dr. Harris grabs a fish with his bare hands. Before I can move the wiggling vertebrate leaps from his hands directly at my face.

"Catch it!" Dr. Harris hisses.

The flying tang leaves a wet trail across my cheek before dropping into my hands. The poor fish fights with everything it has to get away. Against all odds, I manage to wrangle the wiggle worm into a somewhat sturdy position in my palms.

Once the fish slows a bit, I notice something. The fish is smiling. A big yellow toothy smile with a red outline that one could mistake for lips. The external scales have turned a peculiar, yet familiar shade of pearly white. Both the pelvic fin and the pectoral fin have developed into a contrasting shade of dark green.

If I didn't know any better, I would say it looked like-

"Joker..." A voice growls interrupting my thoughts.

Turning to face our new arrival, I almost laugh at what I see. Batman's suit looks a little goofy in the morning light. Maybe even a little warm in the humid air. The cowl has a slight shine to it. Dr. Harris immediately begins explaining our situation to the Caped Crusader.

"This batch came in last night. We don't know how or why. The working hypothesis is that this may be a side effect of the Jokers latest toxin."

"Is it deadly?" Batman questions eyeing the gasping fish in my hands.

"Not to the fish. We should get the test results back by noon if we start soon."

Batman nods.

"Let me know what you find out."

I take pity on the fish and throw it back with the rest. Most of my life I've struggled with asthma: I know the feeling.

"What would he have to gain from this?" I wonder aloud.

Turning to the Dark Knight, I am stunned to realize there is nobody there. Batman disappeared. Doing a 360, I notice a dark figure hiding in the shadows on the nearest boat.

Huh.. Maybe the dark suit doesn't look so dumb in the daylight after all.

Dr. Harris smiles at me for the first time. My heart pounds. This can't be good.

"Didn't you say that you liked smoothies?"

I do like smoothies, but why does this feel like a test? I nod slowly.

"I hope you didn't eat anything too heavy this morning. We'll need to prep quite a bit of samples."

I narrow my eyes. Samples are typically liquid. How would we make fish.... Oh my God... This cannot be happening.

"Don't we need to test the water for excess nutrients? We don't want an algae bloom to form from the toxin."

There's a glint that forms underneath his unnecessarily large glasses.

"All in good time dear. We can worry about that after lunch."

Hoisting the barrel of Joker fish into the bed of his pick up truck, Dr. Harris teases down at me.

"After we prep those samples, how about fish and chips? I'm having a craving."

[blue-lollipops-and-ice-clouds]

Sleep Token's "The 100 Songs That Changed Our World" Article.

(Source - photos courtesy the lovely jawsofeden)

Transcript:

100 - Sleep Token

The Summoning

(Take Me Back To Eden, 2023)

The meteoric rise of Sleep Token caught us all by surprise. At the start of 2023, the mysterious masked band were one of the metal underground's buzziest names. Led by enigmatic vocalist Vessel, they were a band to watch, for sure, but firmly attracted the niche passion of a cult following.

Then came the song that would change everything. On consecutive days in early January, the band released two singles from their third album, Take Me Back To Eden: the burning, crashing Chokehold, followed by The Summoning - and it was the latter track that would turn them into an Earth-conquering, expectation-shattering phenomenon.

Veering between depraved tech metal, soulful vocals and shimmering electronics, an enormous, hymnal chorus gave way to an Earth-shifting breakdown and screams. Intricate and groove heavy, The Surmoning was more like three songs seamlessly crafted into one genre-fluid modern masterpiece. And it still had its trump card to play: a bendy, thirst-trap, funk outro that went viral on TikTok, turning the internet intoalusty Take1 puddle. Suddenly, Sleep Token were the most talked-about band on the planet.

"THERE ARE HINTS OF EARLY SLIPKNOT THERE."

COREY TAYLOR

"It took me three listens of [The Sumroning] to realise that when they do that whole psychedelic section at the end, that it's actually the same chorus as it was before, only in a completely different way," Evanescence's Amy Lee told Revolver. "And I love it even more that. I thought they just went a whole new direction and wrote a new part, and then I was like, 'Wait, that's the same...but not at all'."

Sleep Token weren't the most obvious choice for a commercial breakthrough. The success of The Summoning, an unconventional, seven-minute, brutal shapeshifter, bucks just about every music industry trend there is.

"It's going to a lot of different places, and I think there isn't any other band out there right now that's able to do that," Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford said earlier this year.

The Summoning set a chain reaction in motion that was unprecedented in modern metal. In just a few weeks, the band saw their Spotify figures jump from the thousands into the millions. To date, the track has been streamed more than 123 million times on Spotify and 19 million on YouTube. On release, Take Me Back To Eden went straight in at No.3 in the UK and was the most streamed metal album of 2023. When the band announced a show at Wembley Arena, tickets sold out in 10 minutes.

Earlier this year, they left the metal-heavy roster of Spinefarm Records for RCA, the home of mainstream megastars Justin Timberlake and rapper Doja Cat.

"In heavy music, or even in just rock, even in the last decade or 15 years, there's so few stories of bands ever breaking through," says Health bassist and producer, John Famiglietti, who supported the band at Wembley and sees Sleep Token's success as proof metal still can resonate on a massive scale. "This is one of the few times I've seen a band go from a fucking club to an arena in six months. And I don't know the last time that happened."

It's worth pointing out that in the social media era where celebrities and artists are more accessible than ever, Sleep Token have achieved all of this on their own terms. To date, they've barely done any press, while their masked mystique is all part of the allure. Last year, fans reacted with outrage when bassist III's identity and birth certificate were allegedly leaked online, seemingly leading to a decision to wipe the band's Instagram.

"There are hints of early Slipknot there," Knot vocalist Corey Taylor told The Allison Hagendorf Show in 2023, thinking back to the early internet days before Slipknot removed their masks. "At first, we were like, 'Nope. You get nothing. This is what you get, you figure it out. We'll let the music speak for ourselves.

Today, Sleep Token are being mentioned in the same breath as potential future Download headliners Ghost, Gojira, and Architects. The only difference? Sleep Token have managed to ascend to the same level as those bands in a fraction of the time. Metal needs new superstars who will push things forward, innovate and keep the scene relevant - and with Sleep Token we have a band we can believe in. DL

[vulpixisananimal]

"Headed off for the day?"

(Your hands were shaking as you left the Defenders House, you were so excited! Today had been buuuuuusy, but none of that mattered now. You waved to the doorman as you left.) "Yup!! I'm running off to meet a friend!"

"Oh? Have fun then, Ramos!"

(You had the biggest grin on your face. You tried not to run through the streets you were so excited; it wouldn't be good if you showed up all sweaty and breathless, take your time! That's the advice Isa would always give!)

(You couldn't believe it, he was actually visiting! Your old buddy! You had half a mind to send him a letter if he didn't show up soon. Change, he must be busy after saving the country and all, so you couldn't really blame him.)

(You passed by the farmers market, still open from yesterday. Didn't you hear about some scuffle that happened there yesterday? You rub your shoulder, it still aches a bit. You guess maybe yesterday was just one of "those days".)

(You wonder, as you make your way through town, is Isa here alone? Or did he show up with the other saviors. You were just told the rumor that he was around, though you don't remember who told you.)

(Should you be concerned about that? Your memory had been spottier than usual.)

(You ignored it. Today was going to be great! You'd meet Isabeau, maybe their friends, and then. . . W-well. Well then they'd be your friends too!)

(. . . It, it still felt wrong.)

(Sure, they wont know you changed their memory. And, if they think you're not useless, then there's no way they'll leave you in the dust!)

(But, it still felt wrong.)

(That was something to think about another time. You had this gift, so use it! Oh! This is the place! A two story house, yard in front, it's really nice. You open the gate to the yard and walk to the front door, pausing before knocking. Alright, alright, you got this, you lift up your hand and-)

"Ramos?" (You jump, that voice!) "Is that you?"

(You turn and- oh Change! Isabeau was sitting right there! There was an outdoor table and chair hidden behind some foliage! You didn't even see it! How cute!)

"Isabeau?!?" (You walk over.) "Yeah! It's me!!"

(Isabeau smiles back and waves, he was doing some embroidery it looked like- Embroidery?!? You never would have thought!) "Yeah!! Wow, good to see you again! I heard that you changed and, wow, looks good!!"

"O-oh!" (What?!? You made it so everyone thought you always looked like this! Well, everyone you could touch at least. Guess you missed someone.) "Y-yeah! I was, uh, real nervous about it!"

"Haha!! I was too." (He looks as nervous as you do right now. You guess you did catch him by surprise.) "Take a seat!"

"Dunno if I could carry it home but I'll try." (You respond cheekily, laughing as you sit down. Isa laughs too.) "It's, i-its really good to see you again."

"Y-yeah. . ." (He rubbed his shoulder.) "With the curse and all, if we didn't win. . ."

"Ah but there's no way you wouldn't have! You're the best!" (You say, smiling. You point at the embroidery.) "Whatch'ya doing by the way?"

"O-oh!!" (He looks a bit surprised you asked.) "I-I, uh, wanted to, uh, branch out a bit! And try some, some new things!"

"That's the name of the game isn't it? Changing and trying new things." (You say, smiling. It looked good from your angle.) "Can I see?"

(Now's your chance, you hold out a hand.)

(Isabeau looks at it, then you, then looks away.)

". . . Uh, Isabeau?"

(He bites his lip before responding.) ". . . Can, can we talk about something kinda serious?"

(You take your hand back, not your chance then.) "Oh? What's up?"

"W-well. . ." (He takes a breath.) "We're friends, Ramos, and, and I promise, if you just tell the truth we'll still be friends, ok?"

"H-HUH?!?" (You try to contain your worry. What. What. What does that mean! What?!?) "I-I, I don't-"

"Ramos." (He's looking right at you.) "Please."

(Your heart is beating out of your chest, what. What. What could this be about. Did he find out? Does he know?!? Calm down, calm down. Just promise.)

"I, a-alright, I'll try."

(Isabeau nods, and takes another breath. Finally, he asks,) "Are, are you using Mind craft, Ramos?"

"HUH?!?" (WHAT. WHAT WHAT WHAT. WHAT. HOW. WHAT.)

"I-its alright! W-well, it's not, but, please, just, trust me. Please." (He put his hands up that way he does when he's worried.)

(Don't tell him.)

(You should be truthful, tell him.)

"I-I. . . Y-yeah, maybe, yeah." (Your voice is wavering, quiet. Your tapping on your chair nervously. How.) "How'd, how'dya find out?"

(Isa pauses.) ". . . A-a friend of mine, a good friend, they can restart a day over and over again if, if something bad happens." (He looks away again, he looks afraid.) "T-this morning, they, they nearly died. They've repeated today a couple dozen times a-and, and it's killing them."

(You think you knew where this was going. You didn't respond.)

"Ramos," (He sounds desperate.) "Ramos I, they said you changed my memories, once, and. . ."

"And what." (You say, a bit harsher than you mean.)

"And I don't want to Believe it!" (He turns back to you, he's crying.) "Y-you, you said you wanted to be strong!! B-but, but are strong! Even if you struggled with things, you are SO strong!! You'd keep trying and trying and stay up for hours practicing one thing to get it down! You gave being a defender your all!"

(He thinks you're strong?)

"S-so, they told me you, you wanted to be stronger, like me and, and, you'd change people's memorues to do that, I couldn't believe it but." (He shakes his head.) "I don't want to, but-"

"You, think I'm strong?"

(Your voice is a whisper. He thought you were strong? You? The weakest twig who could barely figure out a slowdown craft a few months ago? You? Who couldn't face how your guardian might look at you after changing?)

(You, who had to hide behind Mind Craft?)

"Yes!! I always have!! Always, always, always!!" (He continued.) "Even if you weren't the best, that was ok! You always tried to do better! And weren't scared off by what was hard!"

"That's not true-"

"It is!!!" (He grips the table.) "I-I, I wish I could have been more like you!"

(What.)

"I, I don't want to just be a big dumb defender guy, Rams, I want people to think I'm smart, and to know I can sew! I want to make clothes! But, I could never tell people that- o-oh, oh crab are you ok?"

(Huh? Oh, oh you're crying, you wipe away your tears. You? He looked up to you?) "T-thats. . . I-I'm ok." (You shake your head.) "I'm, I'm sorry."

"It's, It's ok." (He holds out a hand to you.) "Ramos, listen, I'll help you fix this just, promise, don't forget you're strong. Ok?"

(You look at his hand. What. Why. Why was he being so nice. Over the last few months you had been, been changing people's memories. And he was willing to trust you, just like that?)

"W-why, why are you trusting me."

(He looks at you, his eyes, warm, nice, his mouth quivering just a bit out of worry.) "Because, you're my friend."

(. . . You take his hand.)

(He takes breath, then a second. You take a breath with him. Don't, don't change anything, don't touch his mind. Don't do it.)

(Don't do it.)

(Don't do it.)

"O-ok. I'm sorry." (You finally say.)

"I'm sorry too, for leaving so suddenly."

"Haha, no, that's ok. You had a country to save. It's in the past."

"Exactly! It's in the past!" (You look up, he's smiling again.) "You promise you'll stop?"

"I-I. . ."

(You spent months doing this. You'll just throw it away?)

(Sunk cost fallacy. You were wrong. It's ok.)

"I promise."

(He takes your hand in both of his. You're crying, still.) "See? Not that hard, right?"

(You nod.) "It's, it's still blinding scary."

(Isabeau looks up a bit, surprised?) "Wh- say that again?"

(You blink up at him, confused.) "Blinding scary?"

"Yeah! How'd you know that word? 'Blinding.'" (He's perked up, wait, you remember that face, Isa was figuring something out.)

"Oh! Y-yeah, my guardian said it all the time, dunno what it means, just picked it up." (You tilt your head.) "Why?"

"Well, It's complicated- oh! Right! What about your broche! The wish one?"

(You tilt your head.) "My, oh!" (You take your hand back and undo your bandana. Your emblem, you didn't go anywhere without it now.) "I got it from someone I met!"

(Didn't you promise to keep it secret?)

(So what. You can't lie to him.)

"Someone?" (Isa tilts his head.) "Someone gave it to you?"

(You nod excitedly.) "Yeah!! He said that it was, it was. . ."

(Ow. You shake your head. He said, he said. . .)

(What is going on.)

(You need, you need to find his friend. You need to find them. The one who turns back time.)

(What? What? WHAT?!?)

"Ramos?" (Isa looked worried.) "Is, everything alright?"

"N-not, right." (You shook your head. Why? What's going on! Why should you, you go find them?!?)

(Because I told you so.)

(You stand up and stumble back, gripping your head. What. What is.)

(Relax, Ramos. You said you'd help me out, right?)

"I-I, I did! I did but, why now! Why, w-why-" (Your breathing quickened.)

"Rams?!?" (Isa stood up too, he looked worried.)

(Relax, Ramos. It'll be like yesterday, you wont remember a thing.)

"I- what?!?" (You smell something.) "I- no! I don't want, I-I, I-"

(You wont remember. It's fine, It'll be like nothing ever happened! And it'll even make your guardian happy, right?)

"What's going on?? Ramos! Buddy!" (Isa ran over to you, he was about to grab your shoulder. You quickly back away, stumbling over.)

"N-no! No I, d-don't- I-" (You smell mint.) "I don't, can't, think-"

"-op! You need to rest!"

(A girls voice, no, it was that housemaiden. You turn to look. The door to the house was open, she, her name was Mirabelle, was there, trying to get someone back inside.)

(White cloak, white hair, white pointy hat-)

(That's the one. Go touch them, Ramos.)

"NO!!!" (You grip your head- no! Wait! Not the head! You tug at the stupid crabbing star around your neck. This stupid! Blinding thing!!!)

"You." (The person in white was walking at you, murder in their eyes, knife in their hand. They looked, they looked terrifying.)

"L-loop! Wait! It's, I'm not effected! It's fine! They're-" (Isa was sticking up for you, even now.)

(Go on, Ramos. Touch them. All you need to do, one touch.)

"No, no no no!!!!" (You tug hard at the star, it hurts, you're going to bleed. You're starting to cry.) "I, I don't want to!! I don't want to hurt them!!"

(It wont hurt, you know it wont.)

"SHUT UP!"

(You can barely see through the tears, you're feeling numb. You're feeling sick. You're lightheaded. The smell of mint, it's sickly, it's unbearable!)

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

(. . .)

(You're yelling at nothing. You're yelling at, at something, not, here. You need, to, to. . .)

(You smell burning.)

"Gems alive. . ."

(There's others. Tall lady. Lady with hammer, one with a pan. And. Mirabelle. A-and-)

"Wh, what is. . ."

(Your vision is, it's, you can barely see, barely think. The smell of mint, burning mint. They looks so distant.)

"Ramos!?!"

(Isabeau. You're sorry. You're so, so sorry. You just, you just-)

"Look out, everyone!"

(You just, you just wanted to be brave.)

[jessicas-pi]

Bo and the Blueberry AU incorrect quotes

Bo-Katan: How’s school going? Ezra: Terrible. I want to stab everybody there. Bo-Katan: Okay, just don’t get any blood on your clothes. Ezra: …you shouldn’t be condoning this.

---

Ezra: If history repeats, I'm so getting a Mythosaur.

---

Sabine: I'm not mean. Name one mean thing I’ve ever done. Ezra: When we were kids, you convinced me eggs weren't real. Sabine: They're not. Ezra: Haha, very funny. Sabine: I'm serious. Didn't you hear? Ezra: No… what happened? Sabine: …Why would you fall for this again-

---

Din (after Ezra becomes Mand'alor): I think I mostly want to see what happens when this whole place breaks apart.

---

Sabine: You know what’s funny about Ezra? He’s my best friend, and anyone who’d hurt him is someone I’d murder, probably.

---

Bo-Katan: We'll talk about this later. Ezra: Ok, I won’t be listening.

---

Tristan: I found an old note that said Note to self: Get revenge on Ezra. Tristan: Except I couldn't remember what I was supposed to get revenge for. Tristan: But I trusted my own judgment, so I went with it. Ezra: Hmm… I don't know what you were supposed to get revenge for, either. Tristan: I can only assume you got what was coming to you. Not 100 percent sure, though. Ezra: Well, whatever I did, I guess I deserved it. Tristan: Let that possibly be a lesson to you.

---

Bo-Katan: Come on, Ursa. Nobody actually believes that Din is in love with me. Ursa, to the other Mandalorians: Raise your hand if you think that Din is helplessly in love with Bo-Katan. *Everyone raises their hand* Bo-Katan: Din, put your hand down.

---

Korkie, looking at his friends: I need to become a therapist faster.

---

Ezra: I’m not being weird. Am I being weird? Tristan: Yes, and that’s coming from me.

---

Ezra, to Sabine: You drink too much, swear too much, and your morals are highly questionable. Sabine: … Ezra: You are everything I’ve ever wanted in a best friend.

---

Ezra: Your smile? It makes my day. Sabine: Your happiness? I live for that. Korkie: A room? Get one. Tristan: Hotel? Trivago.

---

Ezra, texting Bo-Katan: *sends a voice message* Bo-Katan, texting back: I’m a little busy, is it urgent? Ezra: No, don’t worry, just listen later. *later* Bo-Katan: *presses play* Ezra's voice message: THERE’S A FIRE-

---

Sabine: Relationships should be 50/50. Ezra tries to be Mand'alor while I sit on the armrest of his throne looking intimidating.

---

Ezra: I need life advice. Korkie, sipping Space Gatorade and eating cookie dough: You came to the right person.

---

Sabine: Okay, I’m going to make sure the flower decorations have arrived. Ezra: Perfect, while you do that I’ll check on the ring bear. Sabine: … Sabine: You mean ring bearER, right? Ezra: … Sabine: Look me in the eyes and tell me you are not going to bring a dangerous wild animal to our wedding.

---

Bo-Katan: I left instructions for everyone while I'm gone. Ezra: Mine just says "Ezra no." Bo-Katan: I want you to apply it to every possible situation.

---

Tristan: Why is Ezra making me do the dishes again? You haven’t washed them in a week, Sabine! Sabine: It’s because I’m Ezra’s favorite. Tristan: I hate you.

---

Korkie: I have a bad feeling about this, guys. Sabine: Oh don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Ezra: Yeah, what’s the worst that could happen? Korkie, being bailed out of jail the next morning: I hate you all.

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep3 Musings - Loumand

Last post, I promise; I needed another nap; this ep's a freaking rollercoaster. And these two queens nearly gave me a stress ulcer!

DEBATABLE, Louis. I can think of FAR worse vamps than you, love.

Why're y'all having this whole conversation where anyone can hear?

They got Sartre's wall-eyes down; good makeup this season, team! 👌

DreamStat's a Loumand bed-death truther, jfc. 😭

I wanna know EXACTLY what Armand sees--or "feels"--whenever DreamStat pops up in Lou's head. Cuz he clearly knows precisely where Les is; he looks right in his direction. But does he HEAR Les too? (God I hope not, this song would've had me SEETHING--Back to Hell with you! 😅)

"Oh dear" indeed; I was HOLLERING.

SAM WAS DEVOURING THIS SCENE HOLY GOD GO AWAY DEMON

Armand looked PISSED, I was scared for Louis' life! And he DOES know, actually, yes Lou. I can almost GUARANTEE that he knows PRECISELY where Lestat is AT THIS VERY MOMENT, yes Lou.

If only you knew.... 😬

Claudia's suffered more than Christ. And nice cut to Daniel sneaking around with Raglan James as Armand talks about Furies punishing "human wrongdoing." It's really interesting that Armand told the lawyer that LOUIS is the owner of the paintings. Is he the owner of the penthouse too? HOW MANY DEEDS DOES HE HAVE, ROLIN?

I wonder what AMC might be saying about Loumand's art collection, not just wrt what we know about art heist!Armand (which we'll likely see a nod to in Ep4 at the Louvre); but also wrt what we know about Dubai's godawful neocapitalist hellscape economy, and Loumand's "moralizing" about Parisian black markets in S01E02.

I wonder if that's the excuse Armand'll give the coven when Louis shows up for dinner in Ep4--very much NOT dead; and rips out Santiago's tongue.

WILD voice-over, cuz you KNOW that's what Santiago was thinking, too, LOL. (You wish, Francis.) But yes: Louis' finna end your whole career. XD

Another TERRIFYING jumpscare from the coven, like in Ep2 with Annika. Louis, I am shocked & appalled--can you not HEAR all these vamps planning your bloody murder around you? CLAUDIA! WTF!?

But this is how you know Armand's true personality--he hates getting his hands dirty. He kills all the time, but he makes his victims' deaths pretty. He'd rather sit back & let Lestat/Louis come in and wreck his whole coven, even though he has the power to just light those mofos up all on his own! I wish AMC emphasized a bit more that Armand not only writes/directs the plays--he's an ACTOR, too. And istg he's an expert at PRETENDING to be helpless, meanwhile he's the strongest vamp that's NOT one of the Children of the Millennia (thanks to how well Marius made him).

Armand, that is LOW; waiting until Claudia's stuck under the oaths b4 you tell her she's guilty of breaking Great Laws she doesn't even know about yet. WTF?

How TF you gon' hold Louis accountable for following the Laws when he wasn't even allowed to be in the effing room when they were read!? He's not even a member! WTF! (I get it--any rogue vampires are subject to death, yadayada; we know it's a stupid policy.)

I love how he plans to leave by himself here--it had nothing to do with picking "another one" over Claudia. He just didn't want to hold her back anymore. And his presence was causing problems. 😭 It's so cute that Louis' stipulation about London was that if it's "too large" he'd leave and go to Ireland (?!?)--he's become agoraphobic or something? He just wants to be alone in his hermit hole--MOOD. 😭

Good to get confirmation that the Fire Gift here is Armand and blessedly NOT Santiago--so why's he zooming around in the sewers?

Look, sometimes folks make terrible first impressions--Lestat was being hella racist, Louis' always playing defense, Armand was finna kill Louis in a gay public park. It happens.

Foreshadowing like crazy, as usual.

WILD thing to say. I'm gonna cry, please stop.

(What kinda hypocrisy is that, when you were made young your dang self!?) She's already 30+ years old--maybe she'll last a little longer if y'all (read: sexist, racist, ageist, ableist, etc society) don't eff around tryna make her life even harder! But AMC's deliberately cutting Claudia's life in half, compared to the books, cuz misogynoir's real and Claudia gets NOTHING out of vampirism, not even a fair chance. And y'all let her into the coven KNOWING how much she loves y'all, and KNOWING y'all were gonna kill her. EFF THIS WHOLE COVEN, ARMAND INCLUDED. (Lemme calm down--this kind of betrayal is exactly how Lestat must've felt in S01E07; I get it; they're getting a taste of their own medicine. But LESTAT EFFING HAD IT COMING. The coven should've just told them: y'all got til sunrise to GTFO our territory, you're not welcome here. This whole bit's unnecessary.)

THE PARALLELS ARE PARALLELING

SKILL ISSUE. Cuz Louis' got the least power, and he's finna clear that whole bish out in just a couple episodes. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Louis, love, ARMAND DON'T GIVE A EFF ABOUT RAISING SOME OTHER MAN'S OFFSPRING. This is the call of the wild, as Alphas KILL the children their stolen Omega brides had for other Alphas/Betas, so he can restart the gene pool with HIS DNA instead. I know y'all had National Geographic back then already--READ A BOOK, Louis, it's what you're best at.

Incredible. After all of that Louis said Lestat never broke him. BENT BUT NEVER BROKEN, that's right! 💪😤

Boy, we're not talking about some little (unrequited) CRUSH over a man you only knew for a few months (which you've CLEARLY not gotten over yet). Louis was MARRIED to the man for 30 YEARS. This is his MAKER. Lestat knew his whole family; went to the Black cookouts and everything! They literally built a home AND business together! They raised a child together! WHATCHU KNOW ABOUT THAT!?

And that's LESTAT'S DAUGHTER TOO--how much can you possibly love EITHER of them while planning to knock her off!? I can't listen to too much more of this. *hands Louis the torch and scythe*

Beautiful end of this STACKED episode. Incredible work, AMC! Jacob acted his PANTS off; he excels at the trembling voice, agonized facial expressions, and utter mental breakdowns. He's pulling DEEP within him, holy god; it's so raw, it's almost hard to watch. EMMY WHEN?!

[jessicaloons]

Chapter 44:

Sometimes walking out is the one thing, that will find you the right thing

Masterlist - Previous - Next

"Do you really think it was a good idea? Taking him with us?" I asked, while Arlo spread out in my lap, yawning.

"He will be fine! Everyone will look out for him when we're in the car..." Charles replied, scratching our little baby's head "Look at him! Could you leave this cutie behind? No, you couldn't!"

"No, I couldn't, you're right." I chuckled, leaning back in my seat.

Since the moment I walked through the door and Arlo appeared in my peripheral I was done for. He followed me everywhere I go, always tilting his head adorably when I ignored him for a moment.

"He's a mama's boy..." Charles sighed, and I looked at him.

"He loves his daddy just as much..."

"Absolutely not true! But its okay, he's your baby boy..." he leaned back as well and as if on cue, Arlo scrambled up over the armrest and console, making himself comfortable rolled up in Charles lap "Oh well, never mind, he's my baby now." he chuckled, gently rubbing the little puppy's back.

"He's our baby!" I insisted patting Arlos head before I put on my headphones, watching how Charles leaned a little down, cooing at the little fur baby.

I started a movie and by the end of it I saw that Charles fell asleep, his seat reclined and Arlo rolled up on his chest, slumbering as well. Carefully I grabbed my phone out of my bag and took some pictures, knowing that Charles would love them, then I reclined my seat as well and put on some music, trying to sleep a little myself. I watched Charles and Arlo for a while when I must’ve fallen asleep.

"Shhh… it’s okay. We‘re okay. Just…" I heard Charles mumbling next to me, shifting around "All good, Arlo."

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Charles sitting, a wet stain on his T-Shirt, Arlo halfway wrapped up in his hoodie. I sat up immediately and they both flinched.

"What happened?" I asked and both looked at me.

"There was a little accident. All under control. We just need a moment in the bathroom." he got up, searching through his backpack "See? I used to have a spare shirt with me because of Liam in the past, now because of Arlo. All good." he walked away and I looked over his seat, where everything looked dry and clean.

After a couple of minutes Charles returned with Arlo, the puppy with slightly wet fur, wrapped up in a towel and Charles with a new shirt on, he handed me Arlo right as a flight attendant appeared, handing him a plastic bag.

"Here you go Mr. Leclerc." she smiled at him and then at me and Arlo "If you need anything else, just call me."

"Thank you." Charles nodded, while he packed his wet t-shirt and hoodie into the plastic bag, stuffing it back into his backpack.

"I guess such a long flight was a little too much…" I said quietly, stroking Arlo’s back.

"Maybe a little. But it’s okay. We’re almost there."

"And then it’s welcome to Miami, Arlo."

"There's a new family member since China? The little one is here as well?" Natalie asked and I smiled.

"Yep, his first big trip with us. We won’t take Arlo with us to every race, well out of Europe at least. But he's still in the phase where he has to get used to us so we didn't want to leave him at our family to take care of him..." I smiled and she nodded.

"Arlo was your gift from Charles for your second anniversary?"

"Yeah, he's crazy! After last year surprising me with tickets for the Era's Tour, even meeting Taylor, I was like, he can't top that... and then I come home from the supermarket and this little fur baby appeared out of nowhere and yeah... crazy!" I chuckled

"Maybe he's your good luck charm then for this weekend!" Natalie laughed.

"That would be amazing, we'll see I guess." I waved goodbye and followed Julie back to our hospitality, where Arlo was playing on the lawn with Charles and Liam, the moment he saw me he bolted and Charles got up immediately but then relaxed when he saw that Arlo was running towards me.

"Hey my little boy..." I cooed and scooped him up, smothering him with kisses before I sat him back down, walking to Charles and Liam.

"For one second I thought he would run off... you scared me, you little rascal!" Charles bent down, scratching his head "But of course, he only saw you and we're long forgotten..."

"Oh don't be so dramatic!" I laughed, watching Arlo playing with Liam.

"I'm not dramatic, I'm honest. But it's okay, I understand him." he laughed pulling me to his side, kissing my temple.

"Ewww don't kiss. That's eww..." Liam scrunched his nose and began to giggle hysterical when Charles picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder and tickling his sides "No stop! That's unfair... Charlie..."

"You want me to give you some kisses? Huh? Bubba?" Charles laughed and I joined in.

"Yeah, come on, give your favourite auntie a kiss."

"Nooooo... girls have cooties!" the moment Charles sat him down he ran off, Arlo following him.

"I don't have cooties!" I pouted a little and Charles laughed, pecking my lips.

"Nope, you don't have cooties... but even if you would have, I still would kiss you." he chuckled and I rolled my eyes playfully, when I saw a young boy approaching.

"You've got a visitor." I smiled at the boy, waving him over and he shyly stepped next to Charles, who turned around and smiled at him.

"Oh wow, look at you!" Charles said, gesturing to the boys Ferrari shirt, cap and shoes.

"Hi Charles." the little one said nervously, and Charles kneeled down "Could you- umm could you sign my car and cap? Please? If it's okay?"

"Of course! Do you have a pen?" he asked, and the boy nodded, turning a little to his mother, who opened her purse, but then searched frantically for the pen.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I must've lost it!" she said, looking at her son, whose shoulders slumped a little "I'm really sorry, Micah."

"How about we take a picture together?" Charles asked, and the little fan nodded "Great... now a big smile for the camera!" he said and the mother of the boy took a picture, right when Arlo jumped into the frame.

I walked back into the Audi hospitality looking for my bag.

"Do you need anything?" Julie asked and I nodded.

"Do you know where my bag is? I need a sharpie for Charles." I said.

"Oh yeah, wait." she walked in the back and pulled my bag out "Here you go. Oh wow, you have a lot of sharpies?" she chuckled when I pulled one out of the zipper bag.

"I'm with Charles, do you know how often people ask for an autograph and then their pen doesn't work? Or they don't even have one? Yeah no, their sad faces? Nope. So, I carry around some myself, just in case." I shrugged and she smiled.

"That's cute!"

"Girlfriend duties, I guess." I walked outside, where the little boy petted Arlo's head

"Here." I handed Charles the sharpie and Micah made big eyes.

"Looks like you're getting that autograph after all!" Charles smiled, taking the car from the floor, signing it "On your cap as well? Yeah? Alright."

"Thank you so much! Can we-... umm can we maybe take a picture with you too, Lizzie?" Micah looked at me and I smiled, kneeling down next to Charles, with enough space for Micah to stand in between us "Thank you!" he smiled and after one last pat on Arlos head he and his mum walked off, waving us goodbye.

"You made his day!" I smiled at Charles who cocked an eyebrow.

"Me? Who brought out a pen so I can sign his car and cap?

You know how many fans day you already have made with carrying a pen with you all the time?"

"I mean, I'm with you. I have to be prepared for your fans!"

"Our fans, cara mia."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. His fans. Most definitely his fans.

"I don't understand why they didn't manage to bring your car back to the pits and then get it ready for you to drive for at least half an hour? 20 minutes?" I asked, my legs dangling in the pool.

"I don't know. I made a mistake and that's what you get for it.

It's like this." Charles scratched Arlo's ears and I sighed.

Miami didn't start the way we hoped it would. After Charles spin in FP1, making him miss the entire session and my engine problems in SQ2, making me start the sprint from P15, I hoped that the Saturday would be better for us. And for Charles it turned around with a second place in the sprint race and a P2 in qualifying. Not for me though. The car didn't feel good the entire sprint race and in Q1 my worst nightmare came true and I had to stop the car, setting no time, making me start from P20 in the race. I made it from P15 to P9 in the sprint, but from P20? Not a single point this weekend. Another bad weekend, right when Sainz was in talks with Audi about my seat in the team. On the way back to our hotel I looked out the window, deep in thoughts when I felt Charles knuckles brushing gently over my cheek.

"Cara mia?" he asked and I nodded slowly "I know it's looking bad right now, but you're an amazing driver! Overtaking in tight corners is one of your best treats! Don't give up already... the race is long and you can make up a lot of positions, okay?"

"I have to finish ahead of Sainz at every race. I have to show Audi that I'm the better driver." I breathed out, making Arlo look up from my lap, tilting his head

"And you will. It was their car that ruined your weekend so far! Not you! You didn't make any mistakes!" Charles insisted

"I know, but it's a scary feeling, not to know if I have a seat next year or not."

"Audi would be stupid, if they would choose him over you." he scratched Arlos head "Come on, little one, cheer up your mummy."

"You already did that, Arlo." I kissed his head and he stretched "Ouhhh big stretch!"

"He's so cute!" Charles chuckled a little and I nodded.

"You topped Taylor. I honestly didn't think it was possible, but here we are!"

"I mean, just buying you the tons of different versions of her new album would've been boring..."

"No! That was already enough!" I shook my head and smiled at him "You're too good to me!"

"Only the best for you, cara mia." he took my hand in his and kissed the back of it "And now stop frowning and worrying, you'll be amazing tomorrow!"

"If you say so."

"You'll see, I have a feeling that we'll have a good race. You and I."

Charles POV:

"Swap positions with Sainz." I couldn't believe my ears.

Swapping already? He was only faster because he was in my DRS range.

"Why?"

"Sainz is faster."

"But I don't un-..."

"We will swap back if he can't catch up to Verstappen." I heard that before. And what happened was, we did not swap back. I lost a potential race win. But this time it was different. Fred was here. He made the final decisions. I swallowed hard. Letting Sainz by. I focused on my tyres. My lap times. My pace. But after 10 laps, I was still in his DRS range, having definitely more pace than him.

"I'm destroying my tires like this, guys. We need to swap back."

"Copy. We are checking."

"No, there is nothing to check. We need to swap back." I was getting frustrated "Xavi?"

No answer. I knew what that mean. Sainz refused to swap back.

"Xavi? Tell them that I have pace. I can catch Max."

Radio silence. Once again fooled by my own team. Why was I this stupid? I kept pushing and pushing to overtake Sainz by myself but he left me no space. He was ruthless. And the inevitable happened.

"I need to box. My tyres are fucked. I have no grip at all."

"Copy." at least now Xavi reacted "And box for hards, next lap."

"No. Not next lap. NOW!" I was getting furious.

I was sick of it. Again, I did what my team asked from me and again I would be the one losing.

"We will box next lap." his words were final.

"Fantastic." I spat out.

I was almost blinded by rage. I did what was asked of me, although it didn't make any sense and here we were again. I was fooled again. After I had my new tyres, I stopped listening at all to what Xavi said. I drove the way I thought it was right, ignoring his input. At one point I managed to get Sainz behind me, he was not able to go my pace and I made sure it would stay this way, pushing as hard as I could go. I had Oscar in front of me, then Checo. It was a long way up to P3 but when I parked my car and got out I congratulated Lando for his first win and then went straight to my weighing. Not to my team. I know it wasn’t moat of them’s fault, but I felt betrayed. I had good pace. I was managing well. I was getting closer to Max. But they ruined my chances of trying to fight with him.

"Hey mate." Max said when I sat my helmet down, wiping my face with a towel "Amazing for Lando, right?"

"Yeah. I’m happy for him." I tried to sound cheerful. Tried to not show how furious I was "Do you know where Lizzie ended up?" I looked at him but he shook his head and I sighed.

"Why didn’t you ask your engineer?"

"I forgot." I lied.

"Then ask her herself." he nodded towards someone behind me and I turned around.

Just a moment later she pressed her warm and soft body against mine and I felt all my anger and frustration leaving me.

"I’m so sorry, Charles… Pete told me what they asked from you, how they messed up your race…" she whispered in my ear and I took a deep breath, inhaling her scent "Stop smelling me, I’m all sweaty and disgusting."

"Oh stop…" I chuckled, kissing the side of her head "How was your race? I didn’t ask Xavi where you finished? I was ignoring him…"

"I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to make it up to P6…" she began and then let out a surprised squeak when I lifted her up, spinning her around "Charles!"

"P20 to P6? Fucking hell, Lizzie! You’re brilliant, you know that?" I was so proud of her "What an amazing race!" I sat her back down and kissed her, not caring for the cameras flashing, the people cheering, not even the surprised gasp she let out.

"Go get your trophy…" she whispered, cheeks flushed, pushing me towards Max before she disappeared in the crowd.

"Oh lover boy, you’re so down bad for her…" he laughed and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah I am. I mean look at her? Look what she’s doing?" I shrugged and Max nodded.

"No, I totally get it."

"So, little Lando is a race winner now." I said, taking a bottle of water and sitting down.

"Yeah baby I am!" Lando cheered as he walked through the door, going for some water himself, before plopping down in the chair next to me "That safety car was your guys doom."

"Maybe, maybe not." I replied and Max nodded along, watching the race highlights.

"They made you swap with Carlos?" he looked at me and I followed his look on the screen "And he refused to swap back then or…?"

"I don’t know. We’ll see later at the debrief I guess…" I said, trying to sound calm although I was anything but it.

I was putting on a brave smile. Waving as the crowd was cheering for us. Spraying Lando and Max with champagne. Smiled for the cameras. Then I left. Getting into the golf cart that would bring me back to the hospitality to get prepared for the media pen and press conference.

"Directly to the media pen, if that’s possible?" I asked the driver and he nodded. I didn’t want to go back to my team. Not yet. So the media pen was the only place I could hide for now. All questions were about the swapping of our positions, the not swapping back, how I was met with silence when I asked why this decision was made. I just smiled, said it all would be discussed at the race debrief. Lizzie walked in, talking with Mia and both looked relieved when they spotted me, walking over.

"Where the fuck were you?" Lizzie looked at me with wide eyes.

"Didn’t want to go back to the team…"

"You could at least tell me that? Did you say something to the press already?" Mia sighed.

"I did, sorry, but I said nothing that would make us look bad, don’t worry." I reassured her and she nodded.

"I’m sorry about what happened…"

"Yeah, me too. It’s like this…" I replied and Lizzie rolled her eyes next to her "Can we wait at the press centre? I don’t want to go back to the team…"

"Umm- yeah. Sure." Mia nodded and I looked at Lizzie.

"See you later, cara mia." I kissed her cheek but she held my hand "What?"

"Your team fucked up today, okay? Not you. You did amazing. You fought back and made it even onto the podium… with the input they were giving you, you wouldn’t make it up onto P3, okay? That was you. You alone. Don’t blame yourself… please." she looked at me, her eyes soft and pleading.

"I know. It was out of my hands today." I nodded and she smiled a little, pecking my lips.

"Good. Pick me up later? Arlo is probably missing us like crazy already…"

"I’ll text you."

"I never saw you this quiet at a press conference…" Mia said as we slowly walked back to the hospitality.

"I didn’t want to say something I might regret." I replied, sighing when I spotted the big, prancing horse "Let’s get this over with…"

"It’ll be okay, come on now." she smiled and we walked inside, where we were met with silence, everyone looking up from what they were doing, glancing at us.

"Charles…" Andrea walked over, handing me my bag with my bracelets and watch.

"Thanks mate."

"I’m sorry." he whispered and I nodded, putting my watch back on "I brought your bag and stuff down from your room… I figured you want to leave as fast as possible."

"Thank you, Andrea." I took the bag from him and walked to the quiet hallway with the bathrooms, locking myself in to one of them, quickly changing into jeans and Ferrari shirt. I laced my shoes when there was a knock on my door "One minute." I squashed my race suit, fireproofs and boots into the bag and put my RayBans on, unlocking the door.

"Fred wants to see you." Andrea said and I scoffed.

"Now? Can’t he say whatever it is at the debrief?" I handed him the bag and he shrugged his shoulders, handing me my phone, pass and car keys.

"I don’t know. He’s waiting at his office…"

"Alright. Thanks." I walked up the stairs, feeling a lot of eyes on me but I didn’t care. I was mad. That was no secret. I knocked once and opened the door when I heard Fred.

"Charles… come in, come in." he looked older than usually. Exhausted.

"You wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes. Charles, I know you’re not happy with the race today…" he began.

"Damn right. Not even 7 laps in and you already wanted me to swap positions… telling me we would swap back if Sainz wouldn’t catch up to Max, which he didn’t do, so when I had more pace again and said we need to switch back? Nothing. Xavi ignored me." I blurted out.

"Just like you ignored him in the end?" Fred raised his eyebrows.

"Wouldn’t I do that, I wouldn’t have ended up on the podium. So yeah. I ignored him."

"I understand Charles, I do. But you’re not alone on this team… we had reasons to believe that Carlos might be a little faster than you, so we had to give it a go. You have not all the input we have at the pit wall."

"And I understand that, but the race had barely started. I had to build up my pace before anything else, and as soon as I had it, we should’ve swapped back, like it was told to me! But we didn’t! I fucked up my tyres!" I was getting frustrated again.

"I know Charles. And it wasn’t right from us to not swap back. But Carlos…"

"I don’t care what Carlos said. Or what he did. He was slower. End of the story. That’s all that matters. He was slower. I was faster. I should’ve been allowed to swap back immediately when I asked for it and maybe I could’ve caught Max. We’ll never know."

"We told Carlos to swap back. But he said he can extract more from the car."

"Yeah? He said that too in the past. And that costed me a win in Silverstone. And maybe it costed me a win today as well…"

"Charles, you are both my drivers and I need to equally make sure that both of you can extract every ounce of performance. And if he says he can go the pace and push more, I have to let him try. Carlos has his own driving style on track, you have yours, but at the end of the day I have to make sure that you both don’t interfere with each other and have to make decisions you might not like, but they benefit the team."

"And did it benefit the team today? Did it benefit the team in China?" I asked him and he wiped his brows.

"No. But you have to understand-…"

"Why can he drive like he wants to, not giving a shit about me, the team, but as soon as I’m slightly doing the same, I’m the one to blame?"

"No one blames you! We just need to make sure that we are all on the same page for this season, Carlos is part of our team. Our family. We have to look out for each other and so when he steps over the line-…"

"It’s tolerated? He can do whatever the fuck he wants? Is that it what you’re telling me?" I was seething.

"Charles! It’s not-…"

"No. I’m done. I was promised that it would change. I was promised that now that Mattia is gone and I signed a long term deal with the team that I’m the number 1. The future. But still I get treated like shit. Still my races get compromised. Australia? China? Today? No, Fred, I signed because I believe in this team. In you. And in myself. But not like this. I want to be world champion with Ferrari more than anything else. But if this team doesn’t treat me like they want the same, I maybe need to find a new team." the words were out before I could stop them. They were true. Every single one. But still. I swallowed hard, Fred looking like I just punched him straight in the guts. I walked out of his office. Down the stairs. Out of the hospitality, a bunch of reporters already waiting. But I shook my head and walked past them. Not reacting to any of their questions. I walked straight into the Audi hospitality where Felix looked at me, shaking his head.

"A shame Charles. A real shame. I’m sorry!" he said and I nodded slightly "They should’ve listened to you."

"Something they tend not to do for some reason…" Lizzie said bitterly when she appeared next to me "Let’s get out of here, come on. Let’s go home."

"Are you sure? You don’t have to-…" I began but Felix patted my back.

"No. It’s good. You can go." he smiled a little and I nodded.

"Thanks Felix, I really appreciate it." I watched Lizzie walking back into the hospitality and a minute later she returned, an overly exciting Arlo in her arms "Hey my little boy. Come here." Lizzie handed him over and I cradled him close to my chest. He snuggled right into me, licking my face and my bad mood was almost gone.

"Come on. Let’s get you both home…" Lizzie smiled and we walked to the parking lots, where a bunch of fans were waiting, Arlo saw the many people and hid his face in my chest.

"Guys, can you leave us a little space? He’s a little scared…" I smiled and thankfully the crowd took a step back "Let’s get you in the car little one." I cooed at Arlo, sitting him down on my seat, before I turned back to the fans, Lizzie already writing autographs and taking selfies. I did the same and after a couple of minutes there was only a little girl and her father left, talking to Lizzie about the race. I opened the door for Arlo who jumped out, running straight to Lizzie.

"Hey my little one…" she cooed, kneeling down, her eyebrows scrunching together, a little scowl on her face, but it was gone after a second and she smiled again "Say hi to Sarah, Arlo." the young girl kneeled down as well, carefully sratching Arlos head.

"He’s so cute!" she smiled and Lizzie nodded, although not as enthusiastic as usual when it was about Arlo.

"He really is. Charles gave him to me for our second anniversary!" I smiled a little when she looked up and Sarah looked at her dad.

"Oh I know that look…" he chuckled.

"I want a puppy too, daddy."

"Puppies are a lot of work, you know? It’s not just all sunshine and rainbows… it’s a big responsibility, taking care of a little one." Lizzie explained and the girl nodded.

"Maybe when I’m older?" she looked at her father and he nodded.

"Yeah. Then we can discuss again." he looked at Lizzie, mouthing thank you "Come on now Sarah, I’m sure Lizzie and Charles need to relax now, after the race."

"Okay…" she got up and scratched Arlo’s head one last time before she looked at me "Bye Charles."

"Bye Sarah!" I smiled at her and she turned to Lizzie.

"Bye Lizzie!" she said and Lizzie hugged her.

"Bye Sarah!" Lizzie got up, waving the girl and her dad off "She was the cutest."

"Are you okay?" I asked as we walked back to the car.

"Hmm?"

"You looked like you’re in pain there for a minute?" I mustered her face, every little movement.

"Yeah, it’s nothing. Just a headache." she sat down, Arlo jumping on her lap, then I closed the door, rounding the car "Come on, let’s get out of here."

"Lizzie… you know that I can tell when you’re lying?" I looked at her pointedly.

"Okay, okay! God! I think I’m getting a migraine… it was pretty bad this morning already, and it’s only getting worse…" she rolled her eyes and I sighed "Can we now please go back to the hotel where I can take some painkillers and go to bed?"

"Yeah…" I looked her over and decided to not pressure her anymore for now. I was sure it wasn’t just a migraine she was hiding "You would tell me if your sleep paralysis would’ve started again, right?"

"Yes. Yes, I would." she mumbled, her head leaned back against the head rest, eyes closed "But it’s not that. Please believe me."

"Okay."

"Thank you."

"You should just call him? Or go to him..." Lizzie said when she saw me pacing back and forth.

"I can't! You haven't seen his face. Lizzie I said some horrible stuff." I groaned plopping down on the sofa.

After we arrived back in our hotel room and I took a long shower, in which I thought about what I had said to Fred I felt bad. Horrible. I shouldn't have said half of what I did. It wasn't his fault that Carlos didn't swap back. Could they anticipate it? Maybe. But at the end of the day he had more pace at one point, so they of course tried to maximise our performance. Letting out all my anger and frustration on Fred wasn't fair.

"Charles?" Lizzie straddled me, cupping my cheeks "Its Fred we're talking about. He loves you. Okay? Go. Talk to him. Explain why you said what you said. He'll understand."

"And what if not?" I whispered.

"Then you still apologise and tell him that you show him on track that you believe in him and his vision for the team." she gently kissed my lips and I felt myself melt into her. I pulled her tight into me, inhaling her scent "Come on now, you can do this." she got up and pulled me with her "Go."

"Okay..." I whispered, slipping on my shoes, leaving our room, making my way towards Fred's room a floor under ours.

I stood in front of his door for some time, five minutes, ten, maybe more, when I finally found the courage and knocked on the door. Anxiously waiting for Fred to open up and as soon as the door cracked open and I saw Fred's confused face I took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. I mean not all of it. I was just so frustrated. But I shouldn't have said that I would look for a new team. I would never. You know how much this team means to me and I'm ready to give my all for it. But I just need some reassurance every now and then, I need to know that it's not me against the rest, like it was in the seasons before a lot of times. And I know that you treat us all fair and equally. I'm sorry-..." I blurted it all out and Fred looked at me with wide eyes.

"Charles..." he began but I shook my head

"I understand that your mad at me and need some time but I really wanted you to know that I'm sorry. And I will show you that it wasn't a mistake extending my contract and…"

"Oh you silly boy stop the rambling! I'm not mad at you! Was it painful to hear that you would look for another team? Yeah, but it also made me realise how fed up you must've been over the last seasons. I'm not mad, or hurt or anything else, okay?" Fred said and I looked at him.

"You're not mad?" I asked confused.

"I'm not mad. At least not at you." he shook his head a little.

"Okay..."

"After you left I thought a lot about what you've said. There are some things that need to change. Some things might take time, but there is one thing that I will change immediately." he sounded determined and I cocked an eyebrow "Miami was Xavi's last race as your race engineer."

"Lizzie, little Arlo is with us this weekend?" Clarkson asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, in Europe we take him with us as much as we can." I replied, smiling at the picture they showed of our little fur baby.

"Will he see a win of Charles or you?"

"I mean we will try it, right? With both our cars having new upgrades? We’ll see."

"Alright, let’s open the floor for questions."

"Alba Marquez. Marca. Carlos, how are the talks with Audi progressing? Your father said in an interview that for now he’s confident about the negotiations."

Negotiations?

"I don’t want to talk about that now. It’s still early in the season and I want to focus on my current team, not on my future team." Sainz replied, smirking knowingly.

Future team?

"That sounds like we will hear soon some big news?" the reporter asked and Sainz laughed.

"Next question." he said and I swallowed hard.

Why did it sound like I already lost my seat to Sainz? I felt the bike rise up my throat, everything becoming a blurry mess. I didn’t listen to the questions, trying to calm myself down as good as possible and whenever I was asked a question, I answered in short sentences. No details. Just straight up facts. But there were too many questions about my future in Audi. Too many questions if I already thought about a plan b if I would lose my seat to Carlos. I stuttered out that I would focus on this season, and then at the end of the year I would start to think about the next one. My heart was racing. Should I start looking for a new seat already?

"Michael Hauer. Autobild. Question for Carlos. Last year there was a physical altercation between your father and Lizzie in Maranello. The official statement read that it came to a verbal disagreement that turned physical as Lizzie punched your father. You were asked multiple times what this disagreement was about. You stated it was a simple disagreement over the race a day prior in Monza. Lizzie disagreed with your father and then overreacted?" the grey haired man in the first row asked and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes and say what really happened.

"Yes. That’s what I said and that’s what happened? What’s the question there for me?" Sainz asked and although he lied shamelessly, in all fairness, I had to agree with him, it wasn’t a question. It was more a statement.

"So you’re saying Lizzie punched your father because she had a different opinion about the race and not because your father said and I quote him here 'He, I guess he was referring to Charles, He should learn how to tame his bitch', after saying that 'She should go back in the kitchen and cook her man a meal'?" the reporter had a satisfied smile on his lips and I looked at him "The video that has been posted was without sound but as of today we have another video, from a different angle where the conversation that was being held was clearly audible. An interpreter translated the Spanish into English."

It was quiet in the room. Too quiet. The female reporters all looked at Sainz with wide eyes, some of them with an angry look on their faces. The male ones were just shocked. Then all eyes wandered to me and I felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Am I correct when I assume that you speak Spanish?" Michael Hauer asked me.

"I’m fluent in Spanish…" I replied when my phone vibrated.

"Good umm- I think that’s it for today. Good luck this weekend." Tom Clarkson ended the press conference and Sainz jumped up, leaving the stage immediately.

I checked my phone. A text from Charles. Check mate.

I walked back to the Audi hospitality, flanked by Julie and JK, as a lot of reporters were trying to get a word with me.

"No comments." Julie said for what felt like twentieth time, as I walked inside our hospitality and I already dialled Charles number, flinching when it rang behind me.

I turned around and looked at him, a slight smirk on his lips.

"What did you do?" I asked and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't do anything..." he replied, and I groaned.

"Charles! That was you! I know it!"

"Did I maybe write some fan accounts who I saw posting pictures from that day with me? Asking them if they knew someone who was in that school class and maybe finding someone who filmed it? Yeah. Did it take a damn long time because they weren't allowed to take their phones inside, and they were scared of the consequences they might have to face if it comes out that they filmed? Yeah. But did I reassure them that no one will ever find out their names? That I'm the only one who knows, and it stays that way? Yep, I did." Charles smiled and I pulled him in, crashing my body into his.

"Thank you... seriously..." I whispered and he stroked my back gently.

"I told you, I won't let them get away with it? Silencing me, us, by threatening to file an official complaint at the FIA because you were there? No. This is justice. And the look on Carlos face? Priceless." he chuckled a little.

"But you send that video anonymously, right? I don't want you to be in trouble because of me!"

"I'm not stupid, cara mia. Let's see how Audi likes the way Sainz sr. was talking about you and Carlos lying."

"I honestly don't care about that. I care more about the fact that everyone knows now that I didn't just punch him for no real reason. I mean, sure, violence never is the answer, and I shouldn't have punched him in the first place, but at least now everyone knows that I punched him because he's a sexist asshole." I shrugged my shoulders a little and Charles nodded.

"He deserved that punch, sadly you were-..." he began when his phone rang and he groaned after he saw who it was "That's Sylvia. She probably wants to talk to me about this little dumpster fire she has to take care off now."

"You should go, and don't look too pleased with yourself. You have to act innocent!" I said and he rolled his eyes "I'm serious!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure... I'll act all surprised.." he pecked my lips and left, not before scratching Arlo's head, who laid on one of the armchairs, rolled together.

"Lizzie? Can we talk?" Felix waved me over and I nodded

"Looks like the Sainz family has some explaining to do..." he winked and I grinned a little "That's good. The board should think twice if they want to replace their female driver with the guy who covered for his sexist father. Doesn't look to good on them."

"Are you sure?" I asked and he nodded.

"I will talk to them after Monaco. I want to discuss your contract extension with the board."

"Thank you, Felix. Really. You have no idea how much it means to me, that you, the rest of the teams has my back like this." I hugged him and he patted my back.

"You're our driver, little one. We want you. And we fight for you. And now off you go. I have some calls to make."

"Alright. And Felix?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for having so much faith in me."

Charles POV:

"... a disaster! Here in Imola! At home!" Sylvia was on the phone, while furiously typing away on her iPad "I don't know! No. No. Yes. Okay, talk to you later." she hung up the phone, groaning.

"What's going on?" I asked, as innocent as possible and her eyes narrowed.

"You don't know? Your girlfriend caused us a lot of trouble. Again!" she let out and I had to bite my tongue.

"What are you even talking about?"

"Haven't you seen the press conference? Where were you, by the way?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I was waiting for Lizzie, playing with Arlo, then you called, so I came? So, what did Lizzie do?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"There's a video going viral, from Maranello last year, that day she didn't have herself under control a-..."

"You mean when Carlos' dad called her a bitch that I should tame? After telling her to go back into the kitchen to cook a meal for me? Yeah, I know what he said, Lizzie told me as you know." I looked at her pointedly.

"Well, everyone knows it now. The cat's out of the bag, Ferrari put out a false statement while one of our drivers was lying about what happened."

"Thank god that driver is not me." I chuckled and if looks could kill, I'd be dead by now.

"Do you have any idea how this looks? For the team? For Carlos?" she spat out and I shook my head

"I told you to be honest and tell the truth about what happened! I told you that Ferrari should be on the right side!

You didn't listen. You didn't care. That's what you get. You fuck around and find out." I shrugged my shoulders when Fred walked in, together with Carlos.

"Carlos, we will have to put out a statement." Sylvia looked at him and he nodded in silence "This is a disaster for the team."

"Well, the team just tried to protect their driver. Oh no wait, their drivers' father. Hmm not a good statement, sorry..." I couldn't hold back and in the corner of my eyes, I saw Fred fighting a grin "I'm sure you'll come up with something. Just like last year. And now if you excuse me. The media pen is waiting for me."

I walked out of the hospitality right into Mia, the look on her face showed me that she knew where I was coming from.

"How convenient that this clip was found and released right when it looked like Audi would really offer Carlos a seat next season..." she said, and I nodded

"What a coincidence, no?" I winked at her.

"I don't even want to know if you had anything to do with it. But just for the record, I'm happy that video was found. The hate Lizzie got afterwards? Deemed to be an emotional, overreacting girl who didn't have herself under control? That wasn't fair."

"No it wasn't. Then again, what was fair when it came to the media's perception of Lizzie? The way she was portrayed? Talked down? Insulted?" I replied.

"You're right. But as much as I hate to admit it, it doesn't look good for Ferrari." she sighed "A podium or win would help." she wiggled her eyebrows and I laughed.

"I'm on it."

"I'll take Arlo to Joris, you take care of your fans. See you later" she kissed my cheek, walking away, Arlo following her.

I took some selfies, signed caps and shirts, before I said my goodbye, going straight for the Ferrari hospitality.

"There he is, go..." Joris unclasped Leo's leash and he ran towards me, jumping excitedly up my feet "I thought he would never stop howling!" he shook his head, when I bent down, scratching the fur balls ears "You will have to learn to love me more than these other fellas! I'll take care of you at the track!"

"Loving you more than me? Possible. More than Lizzie? You lost. Don't even try to compete... did you see how his ears peaked up, just mentioning her name... Lizzie... see! Sorry Jo, but that's a battle you'll never win." I laughed setting Arlo down, right when Andrea walked in "Let me change real quick and then I'm good to go."

I put on my race suit and boots, leaving the hospitality with Andrea, walking towards the garage, when an Italian reporter joined us.

"Charles, quick question, is it true that the reason why you and Lizzie didn't speak up and tell everyone the truth about what happened was that Ferrari threatened to file a complaint against Lizzie, for trespassing a competitors' faculties?" he asked and I contemplated answering.

I didn't want to throw Ferrari under the bus. It was my team. My home. And since Fred was here it all changed. But on the other hand, I didn't want the people to think that I just accepted what Ferrari did to Lizzie.

"Partly true. The only people who witnessed what happened were Mattia, the three Carloses, Lizzie, Joris and 1. The direct threat came unfortunately from Mattia. He was the one who asked us to stay quiet otherwise the complaint against Lizzie would be filed." I answered honestly. It was Mattia who said that. And he and Sylvia were responsible for the statement.

"Will there be any consequences for the team? For Carlos?"

"I don't know. And I honestly don't know why the whole team should face consequences for one man's decision." we arrived at the garage and he nodded

"Thank you Charles." he walked away and I sighed.

"I didn't want to throw Mattia under the bus like that, but rather him than the team…"

"He did enough damage to the team. Its only fair if he takes the blame." Andrea said and I nodded thankfully "Come on now. Today is important. We need to get you on pole."

"I'll try it."

"And that's P4. You did a good job, we knew that the track doesn't suit our car." Bryan said and I sighed.

"Yeah, I hoped the update would help a little but it's like this." I said and drove back into the pits, climbing out of the car when Lizzie walked over, a bright smile on her lips.

"That was... hot." she whispered, and I laughed "Seriously, you should do that more often."

"What can I say, sometimes I really like the dark side." I shrugged my shoulders and she laughed.

"How was it with Bryan?"

"He did a good job. It's nice to have someone who actually listens to your input for once."

"That's good. Really good." she smiled, and we walked inside for our weighing "He's fuming, I would guess..."

"His problem."

"Who are you and what have you done to my sweet Charlie bear?" she laughed, and I pinched her side.

"Sweet Charlie bear realised that he sometimes has to be selfish and not so sweet..."

She nodded and as soon as we had our receipts we went to the media pen, where Mia was waiting already.

"You know that they will ask about it. Be neutral. Not petty. And for god's sake don't be happy about it!" she said and I nodded.

"Don't worry, I got this." I laughed, ready to face the interviews were I did what Mia asked of me and when we left and made our way back to our garage she looked relived. Not like Sylvia, whose eyes shot daggers at me. But I ignored her and took my helmet from Andrea who walked by.

"What was that?" Carlos asked when I sat my helmet down.

"What?" I replied, wiping my face with a towel.

"You overtook me in fucking qualifying! I was out in Q2 because of you!" he was fuming and I took a sip from my water bottle.

"Sucks, doesn’t it? When your own teammate does that?" I winked and he was taken aback.

"Wha- that was-… that was different!" Carlos said immediately.

"You’re right, it was, because you did stuff like that and it was okay for everyone. You were even praised for it. I do stuff like that and all of a sudden I’m a bad teammate… but thankfully the drivers championship is only for one driver… and not for him and his teammate." I grabbed my helmet and left a too stunned to speak Carlos behind.

"So you think you can win?" his voice was a sneer and I turned around "The championship?"

"I know I can. I will." I smirked.

"First podium for Ferrari in Imola since Michael Schumacher’s win in 2006. Sounds fancy." Lizzie kissed my shoulder and I laughed.

"First winner for Ferrari in Imola since 2006 would sound even fancier, don’t you think?"

"Mhhh… maybe, but you can’t have it all, no? But you know what you can have? Another win in Monaco." she smiled at me, looking over the railing onto the harbour, where hundreds of yachts were trying to secure their best spot along the race track.

"We’ll see. But I would have nothing against it, that’s for sure. But first I need to get the pole."

"I have a pretty good feeling for both."

"Or maybe it’s your first win of the season?" I pulled her in my lap, nipping at her lower lip and she let out a soft moan "Lizzie Doetterer wins her first home race of the year…"

"First? So Hockenheim will be my victory as well?" she cocked an eyebrow and I nodded.

"I’d say no one on the grid knows Hockenheim the way you do. You raced there for years. Testing several cars, for several teams. Hockenheim is yours to win this year." I nodded.

"I’m just glad there is a race in Germany this year, for me to drive in. Winning it? That would be freaking amazing, not gonna lie." she whispered and I kissed her slowly "You win Monaco. I win Hockenheim. Deal?" she breathed out against my lips and I smiled.

"Deal."

Right when I pulled her into a heating kiss Arlo drew attention to himself, beginning to howl, jumping up my feet.

"Silly little rascal, come up here." I picked him up and sat him down between Lizzie and me and he happily began to litter us with kisses.

"Our little fur baby doesn’t like to be left out." Lizzie cooed at him and he tilted his head a little, basking in the attention he got from Lizzie.

"I understand him. I hate it when I’m around you but can’t constantly pull you into me, kiss you, cuddle you…" I sighed, scratching Arlos head.

"Oh come on! You do that!" she laughed.

"Not true."

"So true! You can’t keep your hands to yourself!" Lizzie said pointedly and I shrugged.

"I mean I could, but why would I want to, when it’s you I’m touching?"

"Focus on me?" I looked at Elijah and he nodded.

"People were disappointed that you were barely in the last season of DTS. So we thought it’s Monaco, it’s your home race, Lizzie’s now too, kinda. We should film not just her, but also you. I have some amazing visions of split screens, showing you both at the same time, probably doing the same thing just in different hospitalities, divided by colour, but the work remains the same…" he replied and I looked at Lizzie, cuddling Arlo.

"What do you think?"

"Sounds fun. And I agree, you didn’t have much screen time last season…" she chuckled.

"Okay… but you know we still make a lot of things together? Like now, we were heading to my mum’s hair salon, I need a haircut."

"It’s almost like a ritual, before every Monaco GP, he goes and cuts his hair." Lizzie got up, grabbing Arlo’s harness, securing it on him.

"Be as natural as possible. We just follow you around and film you." Elijah nodded and I got up, slipping on my shoes and grabbing my car keys.

"No." Lizzie said and I looked at her, confused.

"No?"

"No." she glanced at the keys and I rolled my eyes "Stop the eye rolling but if you want to drive, then we’ll not taking this car…"

"I honestly don’t know what your problem is with the 812-…"

"It’s so not you? The colour, the car, it’s just a monstrosity. It’s horrible. Daytona or Purosangue… or we’re taking my car."

"Which has the same colour like the…" I began but Lizzie scoffed.

"Don’t you dare compare my beautiful, pure alpine white with this pretentious, ugly off white of your car!"

"Daytona it is…" I chuckled and looked at the camera rolling my eyes "See what I have to deal with?" I whispered.

"Excuse me?" Lizzie looked up from securing the leash on Arlo’s harness.

"Nothing. Let’s go, Maman is waiting…"

"We’re not alone today, Maman." I said when she released me from her tight hug, going straight for Lizzie.

"I’m not blind, Charles." she scolded me a little, while pulling Lizzie close "Mon belle fille. You look beautiful today." she kissed Lizzie’s cheeks who only chuckled, her cheeks blushing a little.

"Oh come on!" she said.

"No! It’s true, look at how you smile today." Maman laughed, scratching Arlo’s head "Hello mon petit chou."

15 minutes later I sat in the chair, Maman combing my hair, chatting a little with Lizzie and answering some questions from Elijah about me and Lizzie.

"Are you als cutting Lizzie’s hair?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, it started at a race weekend in Italy, our families knew each other for about a year, I think? Lizzie was a little annoyed by her hair, it was too long to be comfortably under her helmet and so she wanted to cut them off herself…"

"I was so annoyed! They were not fitting all under my balaclava!" Lizzie said and Maman nodded.

"I saw her with the scissors and discussing with Marina, her mum and before she could do any damage I said I would cut it. And even since then I was cutting her hair." she said proudly.

"So you’re the hairdresser of not one but two famous F1 drivers?" Elijah asked and I shook my head.

"Charles, dear, stop moving your head please!" Maman said gently and I laughed.

"First off, she’s the hairdresser of 3 famous drivers! She did David Coulthard’s hair in the 90s! And also, you’re so much nicer to me when there’s a camera, Maman!" I said and Lizzie punched my shoulder "Ouch! I’m just honest!"

"You’re so full of shit, don’t listen to him, Pascale is always the sweetest to our Charlie bear!" I said, looking at Elijah "Please Pascale if there is one day you have to mess up it’s today."

I looked at Lizzie in the mirror, her eyes twinkling with mischief, Maman just laughed, patting my shoulder.

"I would never do that, you know me." she smiled, right when Lizzie stepped next to her with a scissor in her hand.

"But I will." she laughed and I flinched a little "Oh the fear in your eyes. Priceless."

"We edit that out, later…" I looked at Elijah, but saw Lizzie looking at him, shaking her head.

"We’re not." she whispered and I laughed.

"Done." Maman said and I looked in the mirror. She styled my hair a little and then took off the cape "Now you look perfect again."

"And before I didn’t?" I laughed.

"You look always perfect." she replied and Lizzie scooped up Arlo, walking over.

"Arlo approves."

"That’s all that matters." I said, booping his nose.

An hour later we were back at home and I cooked pasta for everyone, while we were chatting about the upcoming days.

"Do you cook often?" Elijah asked and Lizzie chuckled.

"Yeah Charles, do you often cook for us?" she wiggled her eyebrows and I rolled my eyes a little.

"Lizzie is teaching me some easy recipes…" I said, stirring the pasta.

I mixed the sauce with the pasta, grating some Parmesan on top and turned to Lizzie.

"I think I’m done." I opened the cabinet to my left, looking for plates and she laughed.

"Plates are not in there. I set the table. You cut the bread." she smiled and I nodded.

"It smells pretty good." Diego, one of the camera guys said, sitting down.

"Yeah, if it tastes how it smells? I’m not worried!" Elijah said and I nodded carrying the pot over to the table.

As soon as everyone was sitting and had a plate full of pasta and salad in front of them

I was waiting for everyone taking their first bite.

"It’s good… the pasta is maybe a little… a little more than al dente?" Sarah, the sound lady said carefully and I tried the pasta myself.

"Not the first time we’re eating crunchy pasta, no?" Lizzie chuckled and I swallowed the really too al dente pasta down.

"Yeah but come on, that was different!" I said.

"True…" she laughed.

"What was different?" Elijah asked.

"Don’t you dare say it!" I looked at Lizzie.

"He made some pasta dish al forno… and burnt it… very crunchy." she said and they laughed.

"Hey! You said it tasted good!" I pouted a little.

"It did, it was just very crunchy!" she kissed my cheeks and I laughed.

"Thank you. But sorry guys, cooking this much pasta was a little more tricky."

"It tastes still pretty good." Diego said and everyone was nodding in agreement.

"Then I’m glad."

The next two days were filled with media duties, events and of course practice sessions on Friday, Elijah and his team following us around everywhere we were going. On Saturday morning they arrived too early and filmed us getting ready for our day ahead

"You just used my perfume…" Lizzie said when she pulled her hair into a high ponytail and I looked at the flacon.

"I have not…" but then I smelled at the bottle "Oh nooo, cara mia why does it look like mine? I don’t want to smell like you… oh now she’s giving me the death glare." I said when she left the bathroom and the camera followed her walking out.

"I didn’t know you don’t like how I smell…" her voice was quieter now, as if she was walking towards the front door.

"Are you leaving? Lizzie? Is she leaving?" I looked at Elijah, walking towards the door, right when she walked back in.

"And it looks like yours because the spray cap of mine wasn’t working and then I used your empty bottle you wanted to throw away to fill it in that one…" she put a sticker on the bottle and looked at me.

"Oh… I remember, but… didn’t the smells mix?"

"I rinsed it thoroughly…" she said, putting her bottle into her cabinet.

"Thor- thorow-fowly?" I stuttered.

"Like super clean? What’s the word? Soigneusement?"

"Got it!" I nodded grabbing the Ferrari shirt on the counter, ripping off the tag.

"You do know we have scissors in this house!" she shook her head and I laughed.

"Yeah but that way it’s faster." I shrugged and she sighed.

"Okay… Let’s go now. I don’t want to be late today." Lizzie walked out and we followed her.

"Quali day, baby." I cheered and she laughed.

"Who will get the pole today?" Elijah asked and Lizzie and I looked at each other, stepping into the elevator.

"She will."

"He will."

I laughed and Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"Aren’t you adorable." Elijah joked.

"That was a tight battle!" Lizzie looked at the replays on the tv of our last flying laps "But in the end Mr. Monaco did it."

"Mr. Monaco?" I chuckled, handing her her food.

"Prince of Monaco?" she wiggled her eyebrows.

"That title is already taken, I’m afraid." I sat down next to her, careful to not squish Arlo, who was lounging between us.

"Nope. For me you’re the real prince of Monaco." she chuckled and Arlo yawned, looking up "And you too."

"Don’t let the real real Prince hear that." I chuckled.

"I don’t think he would have a problem with that. And maybe when you win the race this time, you’ll even attend the victory dinner he held for you…"

"I told him that it was a really emotional day that I wanted to spend alone with my girlfriend." I replied and Lizzie dropped her fork into her salad "What?"

"You did not say girlfriend? Charles no one knew that we were dating back then!" she looked at me with big eyes.

"Well… the Prince knew… sorry." I said sheepishly and she laughed.

"Unbelievable!"

"Look at the bright side, he approved of you."

"What?"

"He said he always knew that one day you and I would finally admit that we belong together, he said although he never met you, he felt like he knew you, because of how much I talked about you…" I held a piece of cheese in front of Arlo’s nose and he sniffled a little before opening his mouth.

"You talked with the Prince of Monaco about me?" Lizzie asked slowly.

"Yeah… I mean, I talked with him about my life. My family. Of course I talked about you."

"Wow… now you so have to win tomorrow! I want to go to that fancy dinner!"

"Or you could win? And then it’s your dinner!" I suggested but she laughed.

"Was there a dinner for Max last year? No. Was there one for any other winner? No. It’s only for you." she rolled her eyes a little and I leaned over Arlo, gently grabbing her chin, turning her head.

"But maybe if I ask him, he’ll still host it, for my gorgeous girlfriend." I pecked her lips and she blushed slightly.

"I don’t want to break up the Leclerc 1-2…" she whispered against my lips and I chuckled.

"But cara mia, you’re a future Leclerc, no?"

Winning a race is always awesome. But winning your home race is special. It hit’s different. And when the checkered flag was waved and I won my second home GP, I screamed my lungs out. Seeing all of the principality plastered in our flag, my name, my number, even my face, was incredible. No words could describe the feeling that I had when I parked my car in the P1 spot, standing on the hood, throwing my hands up. Cheering with my team. All of them lined up, waiting for me to celebrate our win. I jumped into them, felt everyone patting my back, shoulders, helmet.

"Grande, Charles!" Arthur chanted when I managed to hug him, ruffling his hair. Next up was Fred, teary eyes, clapping excitedly.

"You’ve done it boy! What a brilliant day!" he said and hugged me, John Elkann behind him.

"Congratulations, Charles. Good job!" he said and I hugged him when Andrea was patting my shoulder, pointing behind me.

I turned around and saw Lizzie wiping her face with a towel, patting Oscar’s shoulder, congratulating him. I couldn’t do it 2022. But today I wouldn’t let this opportunity pass. I pulled my helmet off, next my balaclava and handed it Arthur, then I walked towards Lizzie and spun her around and she looked surprised for a moment. I pressed my lips on hers eagerly, gently biting her bottom lip to make her gasp. I forgot the world around us, the race. The win. Everything. It was only Lizzie and I in this moment. And when all the oxygen in our bodies was gone and we had to pull away I looked at her, pink cheeks, mouth slightly agape, eyes twinkling.

"Congrats, race winner. I’m so proud of you." she whispered.

"Congrats, Miss I wait for the last lap and the last corner to go for the tiniest gap there is and secure P2." I chuckled and her cheeks turned a shade darker.

"It was stupid. I don’t know what got into me. It’s way too narrow there. I could’ve ended Oscar’s and my race…" she rambled but I pecked her lips again.

"You saw a gap and went for it. That’s what every true racing driver would do."

"Yeah… I guess so…" she mumbled but I lifted her chin up and looked at her, saw the grin forming "You’re right. And now go. Your interview is waiting!" she pushed me towards Jenson Button and walked towards Oscar, both of them watching me, smiling and joking.

"Longest press conference of my life, I swear. Where the bell were you?" Lizzie chuckled when we walked back to the garages.

"Yeah! Lizzie and I took a nap, while waiting for you!" Oscar nodded and I held my hands up apologetically.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! But there were so many people!" I said and Lizzie smiled.

"They all celebrated their Prince of Monaco."

"Does that make me a Prince as well?" Oscar joked and Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"Hold your horses, I didn’t even agree to this whole adoption thing, okay?" she joked and Oscar played offended.

"So I can’t call you mum? Mummy?" he laughed and Lizzie shoved him a little.

"You better not!"

"We’ll see…" he walked inside the McLaren garage "See you Dad… Mum…" and he was gone, not without laughing his ass off at Lizzie’s offended look.

"Next race I’ll push him off." she said and I laughed.

"Hey! You can’t do that to our son!" I joked and she punched my arm "Ouch… okay, okay I’ll stop! Will you be at the harbour?"

"You think I’ll miss out on the opportunity of seeing you and Fred jump in there?" she scoffed a little and I laughed.

"Then I’ll see you later, have fun with your team." I kissed her cheek and watched her walk into the Audi garage, Pete and Felix waving at me. I waved back and then walked the rest of the pit lane to the Ferrari garage, where the whole team sang Sarà perché ti amo, dancing around the table with our trophies. The moment they spotted me they erupted in loud cheers.

"There he is! Mister Monaco!" Fred laughed and I grinned "I hope you know that I was serious about us jumping into the harbour."

"Good, because I make sure that you keep your word." I chuckled a little.

"Here!" someone pushed a large bottle of champagne in my hand and I took a swig out of it, immediately frowning "Yeah it has no fizz from all the shaking and spraying."

I laughed and celebrated a little with the team when Fred grabbed me by the arm and nodded.

"It’s time. Let’s do this."

"Everyone, to the harbour!" Fabrizio shouted and it almost looked like a procession.

We stopped at the edge and I looked for Lizzie, leaning against a fencing giving me the thumbs up.

"It’s going to be cold, no?" Fred looked at me and I nodded.

"Probably, yeah." I laughed and he took a deep breath looking at me.

"See you in there!" he screamed and jumped in, I quickly followed, diving into the cold water.

"Daghe Charles!" everyone was cheering and celebrating but I only had eyes for Lizzie, smiling at me.

Fred and I splashed around for a moment and then swam back to the harbour wall, I saw an empty bottle floating in the water and grabbed it, taking it out with me. Everyone was patting our backs and I looked around for Lizzie, when I spotted her, talking with Andrea.

"Here." I handed her the empty bottle.

"What’s that?" she cocked an eyebrow, looking at the bottle.

"That bottle swam in the harbour, I thought I’ll take it out with me, would you’ve seen it, you probably would’ve asked me to jump back in." I shrugged my shoulders and her face softened.

"Oh Charles…" she pulled me in, pressing her soft, warm lips against my cold, wet ones.

When she pulled away her hair was glistening with water drops, she licked her salty lips and smiled.

"My Prince of Monaco, who cleans the ocean." she whispered and pecked my lips again.

"You love me, right?" I whispered against her lips.

"Yeah… what’s that even for a…" she began when I hugged her tight and she shuddered a little, then I took a few steps back, pulling her with me "What are you doing?" she asked when I grabbed her tight, preparing for the jump "Wha-… No! No! Charles!"

"I love you, cara mia." was the last thing she heard before the cold harbour water engulfed us.

"I’m going to kill you!" she spluttered out as soon as she emerged from the water, wiping her wet hair out of her face.

"No you won’t." I laughed, swimming towards her and hugging her close to me, not caring at all about the people watching us "I’m your Prince of Monaco. Which basically makes you my Princess. So, princess, ready to party?"

"I would’ve been ready without a bath in the sea, but yeah. I’m ready." she chuckled and I kissed her, swallowing down the little surprised gasp she let out. My team, the fans, spectators all erupting in cheers and whistles.

"Let’s get out of here."

Chapter 44- HE DID IT! CHARLES LECLERC, THE MAN YOU ARE! I think when I say we’re all beyond proud and happy for him, it’s still an understatement!

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[maximoffromanoffs]

WANDANAT’S KIDS UNIVERSE

description: the moms are out on one of their regular date nights, aunt yelena looking after the girls. when Wanda realises her wife’s had a little too much to drink, she makes the responsible decision to take her wife home, but doesn’t think about how the girls are going to react to their mother being completely drunk.

—

Date night. It was a regular thing that the couple made sure to do at least once a month, to rekindle their love and spend a night just the two of them.

Each time the girls bicker about who is going to look after them, especially when all of their favourite people are free, so Wanda made up a rule. Every time this happens, the family play a game before the mothers’ date night, and whoever wins gets to choose their babysitter for the night.

Charlotte always chooses her aunt Yelena, Grace opts for uncle pietro, and Rose wants to see her grandma Melina any chance she gets. Clearly Lottie won the game today since Yelena is looking after the girls, which may or may not have left both Grace and Natasha with a pout as they lost, never being good sports when they lose a game.

Before the mothers left, the doorbell was non stop ringing, as well as banging on the door until someone answered. *knock knock* “HELLOOO”, That someone being Natasha who wanted to slap her sister for being so annoying. As soon as she opened the door, Yelena launched past her, catching sight of her niece Lottie, grabbing hold of her and spinning her around in her arms. Of course she then greets her other two nieces, and then returns to her sister and Wanda to say hello.

It takes a moment for the mothers to get their things together, making sure to say their goodbyes to their children. Wanda kisses each of her daughters’ heads before waiting by the door for Nat, who was telling her sister to make sure she looked after the girls. She then quickly mumbled her goodbyes to everyone, before meeting her wife at the door to leave. Just before the door closes they hear Natasha shouting "Be good Yelena!" making all the girls giggle at that.

Throughout the night Yelena was in fact not 'good' in Nat's words, in fact she had both Wanda and Nat rather stressed.

Not only was she sending videos and photos of the kiddos and her with nerf guns, at one point Charlotte and Yelena teaming up on Grace, resulting in them hitting her straight in the face; at another point the three of them sneaking up on Rose- who wasn't interested in taking part and all of them hitting her from different angles. There was also evidence of a complete mess in the house: what seemed to be flour all over the floor behind them, nerf gun bullets left in just about any place you looked, and to top it all off there was blankets and pillows stacked in a massive pile in the middle of the living room.

Wanda could see her wife's blood boiling as they sat at what was supposed to be a chill and romantic evening for the two of them, and she tried her best to calm her down. "Natty it'll be okay, we can just forget about it, have a nice time and then we can lecture Lena later and make them tidy everything up in the morning. We'll sort it out." When Nat stops and waves the waiter over, it confuses Wanda, but as soon as she asks for "4 of your strongest shots" she doesn't know whether to laugh and join in, or cry.

When the shots arrive, Nat takes one without even saying anything, then she shouts her thanks to the waiter. She picks another up and points it in Wanda’s direction while raising her eyebrows, as if to offer her one. Wanda furrows her eyebrows and shakes her head “Someone’s gotta drive us home," Nat just waves in her direction, dismissing the comment with a shake of her head "Taxi?" Wanda debates her wife's offer but ultimately declines, not wanting to return home to a complete mess and 4 children, when they're both drunk.

The dinner actually went quite nicely after the alcohol helped Natasha to forget about what was going on at home. The two spending a lovely night together, almost reminding them of their earlier stages of their relationship- being all lovey-dovey with one another. Nat couldn’t help but admire her wife, not only staring at her, but reaching for any part of her she could: her hands, her arms, her cheeks.

She makes Wanda let out the biggest smile when she mumbled about “I’m so glad I have you, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

After many love-filled kisses, and laughter throughout the night, Wanda decided it was about time to get home and tend to the children they’d left in the care of a bigger child for the night.

Linking her arm with her wife, Wanda led Natasha to the car and made sure she got in the passenger seat safely. Nat didn’t make that easier for her, considering she insisted on driving them home because that was ‘always her job’. “No NO I drive, always drive us, ‘s my job.. not yours,” as she points a finger at Wanda. Letting out a chuckle Wanda grabs her hand, shaking her head while saying “It’s your job baby but I’m going to do it tonight.” Despite the pout on Nat’s face, she does let Wanda manoeuvre her into the seat, and put her belt on, before getting in and driving the two home.

Wanda’s too slow when they get home to actually help Natasha get out of the car, because she’s already out and in the front door, leaving it wide open.

After cursing under her breath she gets out the car and rushes inside after her, being greeted with her three daughters and their aunt laying on the massive pile of pillows and blankets they have, and just as she’s about to grab Nat, she lunges forward, jumping and landing basically on top of her kids. Of course she aimed for Yelena, but missed because her vision is a bit altered right now.

Upon realising their mothers are back, the girls all rushed to greet them, not expecting to see them again tonight.

Grace and Lottie rushing over to Wanda because they jumped up before they could get squashed by their mom. While Rose was still laying so she shifted to lay in her mom’s arms once she had flopped down.

Wanda greets her twins with a smile “Hi my babies” as she leans down to kiss both of their heads. She holds them closed absentmindedly stroking their hair as she asks Yelena “So did everyone behave?”

Yelena laughs responding with a wink and “What does it look like?”

Wanda cant help but smile, just glad her girls are happy, as she suggests “right my loves, I think it’s bed time.”

What she does expect is when her youngest two whine in protest, saying they want to watch one more movie.

However what she doesn’t expect is for the other two adults to agree. To be honest, all it took for Yelena to agree with her was a harsh look her way, and she was mumbling her goodbyes and leaving to go home for the night. But not her wife. She was sat pouting, pulling Charlotte and Grace to her sides- who were also pouting. They all knew Wanda couldn’t resist.

All while this was happening Rose was kind of just minding her own business. She could tell her mom was drunk because she barely ever acted how she was acting, so she chose to stay close to her mama for right now, knowing she was sober; while the twins were sprawled out next to Natasha.

Wanda cant help but let then watch another film “Okay you win, we can watch one more, ONE, and then bed, okay?” She receives eager nods in response, which are shortly cut off by screeches and giggles as Nat starts to tickle Lottie and Grace.

After a moment of catching their breath, Nat moves to rest against the sofa, so the twins can cuddle into her easier. Once they do, she lets out a gasp, saying “where’s my mini?” as she starts trying to sit up, yet failing because of course she has the twins sat against her.

Lottie laughs at her mom saying that, knowing she means Rose, who is like a mini Natasha, Grace pinches Nat’s side, clearly unimpressed with her squirming about.

Wanda also laughs before saying “Hey now, I’m stealing her since you stole my little ones. You can’t have them all!”

Wanda moves to sit right by Nat, of course still with the twins laying on Nat, then pats her lap “come here baby,” making Rose cuddle up to her too.

Wanda cant help but let out a relieved sigh at having all her family within arms reach for the moment, she kisses each of the kids cheeks before leaning over to give Nat a kiss too.

What she again doesn’t expect from her currently unpredictable wife, is for her to grab hold of her cheeks and keep her against her lips, seemingly forgetting the girls are literally on top of them right now. Natasha is strong though and Wanda can’t quite break the hold she has on her, not that she wants to push her away but they usually try to keep it down around the kids.

Both Grace and Charlotte shriek and shout “EW,” Grace even ending up pushing her hand between her mothers’ mouths so that they can’t kiss anymore. That does work to stop them, Nat acting a little annoyed, while Wanda flushes red a little embarrassed, but she presses a kiss to Grace’s palm- that separated her and her wife. Lottie turns away and buries her head into her mom’s side so she doesn’t have to look at the sight. While Rose just diverted her attention elsewhere, until she felt a kiss to her temple, making her look back up to her mama.

The temporary peace is disrupted again when Grace shrieks and wipes her hand on her mama, mumbling “that’s so gross.” Wanda can’t help but feel offended as she scoffs, saying “excuse me, you love my kisses.” Grace hums in agreement “yeah but not after i have to watch you and mom do that!”

Wanda flushes at that, feeling embarrassed again, while Rose giggles at her sister’s words. Wanda gasps saying “huh you think it’s funny too? I didn’t hear you complaining when I kissed you!” Rose just snuggled into her in response.

While this is happening, Nat and Charlotte are laying quietly, both sort of in their own little worlds. Nat seems to be partly thinking about something, and also reaching out to hold her wife’s hand, or stroke her cheek or hair.

For a little while everyone seems to focus on the movie, enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by family.

Until everyone is disrupted for a second time, by Charlotte this time, jumping up and instantly covering her ears with her hands. “EW EW EW WHAT MOM WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?”

The others kind of jump in surprise, not expecting the outburst and also not hearing Nat actually say anything to cause the outburst.

Wanda tilts her head confused as she asks “Why did she say what lovebug? She didn’t say anything out loud?”

Lottie can’t do anything other than stand there with her hands over her ears, wanting the erase what she heard and visualised.

Since she got no response from her daughter, Wanda turned to Nat instead, who still seemed zoned out. Despite never liking doing this, Wanda couldn’t help but look into her wife’s mind briefly to see what she was thinking about, that spooked her daughter so much.

When she does she wishes she hadn’t, opting to slap Nat’s arm, “Nat! Come on seriously, we’re watching a film with our kids and that’s what you’re thi— hold on. Lottie? How did you know that’s what she was thinking abo- oh my gosh.. you can read minds?!”

Lottie gasps, asking “I can?!” Just confirming Wanda’s thought because Charlotte still had her hands over her ears. “Woah.”

“But mama i don’t want to hear mom thinking about having se-“ with Wanda swiftly cutting her off “okay okay I know honey, I’ll help you to control it okay?”

Lottie nods saying “thank you mama,” making Wanda smile “you’re welcome sweet girl, now I think it’s bed time.. I’m exhausted.”