#Her parents: Okay well the guy who's supposed to marry you is currently studying to be a super monk so we should probably look for other-

[bumblingbabooshka]

I know Tuvok didn’t complete his Kolinahr because he went into pon farr and married T’Pel but I’d like to tweak that so it’s actually T’Pel who went into pon farr and Tuvok abandoned his Kolinahr studies to be with her anyway. Because I think it’s very wife guy of him.

[mc-lukanette]

Now that Wishmaker is out, how would you rewrite that chaos? The Lukanette need is strong.

"Did anyone else see me?" Marinette asked, her hands shaking as she put on the mask she'd made with her newly-given knitting powers. They were sitting down in a shadowed alley, free from anyone's curious eyes.

"No," Viperion replied, his voice breathless from the revelations he was having rather than the fly to their hiding spot. "Just...just me." He glanced down at his wrist, noting the unticked snake bangle. "...I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Marinette's gaze darted over to him, then to his miraculous. A flicker of understanding passed over her expression as she whispered a small, "Oh."

Guilt tore up his stomach, even knowing deep down that it wasn't his fault - the akuma had surprised them, giving no time for him to use his power - but he'd been brought in to use Second Chance in the first place, and yet...

Marinette's hand fell upon his wrist, making him look up. She smiled at him, her eyes reassuring.

"It's okay," she said, though her voice wavered. "It was only you who saw my face, and even if you'd used Second Chance, you'd still know anyway."

He could tell that she was still processing, but let the subject go for now and smiled back. There were more important matters to attend to.

They must've been on the same wavelength too, as Marinette pulled away and sighed, thinking aloud, "I have to figure a way to be Ladybug again. The akuma could just be destroyed, but I need Miraculous Ladybug to turn everyone back to normal."

Viperion nodded, briefly giving her a once-over. Her power and wings were useful, but unfortunately didn't help them with the current situation.

It was also distractingly cute, and he couldn't fight that way.

"Wishmaker said that he wanted people to live out their childhood dream," he murmured in thought.

Marinette brought a hand to her face, pinching her cheek in contemplation. "Maybe...maybe if I live it out then, I'll change back?" She considered it a moment longer, then groaned and stood up, starting to pace around the small area they were in. "But we don't have that kind of time! Yeah, my earrings aren't here so Shadow Moth can't make a wish, and I could definitely make enough of a living with my new knitting powers, but that would take years, and—"

Suddenly, she stopped and looked over at him, catching Viperion briefly off-guard since he hadn't said anything. Her eyes scanned him up and down, mental gears turning in her head even if he couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"...That's it!" she gasped, hurrying over to him. She knelt down, clasping his hand in both of hers as she rambled, "Maybe I just need to live out my dream to the fullest!"

He blinked in confusion, unsure of where she was going with this.

"Part of my dream was to eventually make a wedding dress and tuxedo for me and my future husband!" she exclaimed. "If I do that, I might turn back into Ladybug!"

"Ah—" He shut his mouth before anything else could come out. He couldn't deny that it was a solid plan, but he wanted to tread carefully given his feelings, not wanting to make her feel awkward. "That's a great idea." He tried to grin reassuringly, though it came off a little crooked. "Should I go find Adrien?"

"What?" She shook her head. "No, it has to be you!"

He gaped, his heart doing confused flips in his chest. "Why?"

"The guy I always dreamed of marrying when I was little," she began, eyes practically sparkling, "he was exactly like you!"

— — — — —

Marinette hadn't exactly caught onto what she'd said until it already left her mouth, but the way Viperion's face turned red had definitely given it away. Things had gone quiet after the fact, with him sitting a couple meters away while she knitted away at the tuxedo; the tuxedo for him.

She found herself blushing faintly at the thought and immediately forced it down, reminding herself that she didn't love Luka, but Adrien. They were made for each other, like everyone said, and she—

She closed her eyes and took in a steady breath, knowing that she was getting off track. Things were complicated enough with all her thoughts and fears about the future, especially now that Viperion knew her identity.

Though, strangely enough, she didn't feel as nervous about it as she thought she would've.

Her gaze darted over to Viperion, who was keeping lookout and patiently waiting for her to finish with her knitting. He thankfully didn't seem closed off from her at all, and it just served as a reminder as to how mature he was.

Without thinking, she found herself speaking up. "M...my parents..."

He looked over at her, his senses still apparently tuned for her despite his keeping watch. She averted her gaze to the knitting needles working their literal magic into the tuxedo.

"We saw a lot of movies where the girl gets the prince in the end, so they made sure to teach me that love wasn't about money or power or fame or anything like that." She bit her bottom lip, Adrien briefly flashing to mind. "So, I imagined me as the knitting fairy, and I'd make clothes for the whole world until I found him." She peeked up at him. "Someone who wouldn't laugh when I fell on my face. Someone who'd be there for me and think of me first. Someone who wouldn't scold me for everything I did or make me feel bad for it. Someone who'd see more than just clumsy, nervous Marinette."

As much as it hurt to admit, the description didn't fit Adrien. Unless they found each other by coincidence - something that actually happened today, oddly enough - he didn't go out of his way to spend time with her; it was her putting in the effort.

"And..." She trailed off momentarily, lost in her thoughts. "after we fell in love, I'd give up my powers and live happily ever after with him, because we didn't need powers to be happy and it wasn't my powers he fell in love with in the first place."

She'd finished the tuxedo at that point, courtesy of her knitting powers, but her hands dropped to her lap afterward, not making any further movements as her thoughts took over.

Out of the corner of her vision, she saw Viperion take a quick look outside the alley, then get up to move over to her. He sat next to her, picking up one of her hands and letting it rest in his palm.

"I think your dream is really beautiful," he told her gently.

She scoffed, blushing in embarrassment at what must've been fake praise. "Chat made fun of me wanting to be the knitting fairy."

"He was wrong," he retorted immediately. "Your dream might not be realistic, but that doesn't make it any less nice, and there's nothing wrong with dreaming of the perfect guy."

She met his gaze, the softness in them having not lessened even since their break-up, and found the strength to start working on the dress. Being with Luka - dating or otherwise - had always been so easy, excluding all the factors outside of just them being them. She could vaguely imagine her younger self clinging to Luka, claiming him as hers and insisting that he marry her when they grew up.

But things weren't that easy. Nothing was. Marinette had spent her whole life fighting for what she wanted, needing to prove herself to people in order to be accepted.

Fighting for years to smile against Chloe's bullying, because no one would do anything about it. Fighting to be acknowledged by her parents as someone who could do things and didn't need their protection. Fighting against herself to be the one who didn't make all the mistakes or have to be the one to apologize in the end.

After becoming Ladybug, her future became even cloudier and the fighting continued. Waking up in the morning was even harder thanks to late-night patrols, getting through tests seemed impossible due to having less time for studying, and even maintaining a romantic relationship carried the struggle of not being able to tell them her identity.

Marinette stared at the shimmering pink and white fabric beneath her fingertips, it shaping and forming to her will. The occasional sparkle or flash from a beam of sunlight that happened to shine through reminded her of the day at the TV station, where Luka had confessed and she could see only him for just a moment.

"I'm sorry."

Viperion hummed in confusion, raising a brow at her.

"I made everything complicated for you—us," she explained. "All the time, ever since we met. I even got you akumatized, twice."

"Twi—" He blinked rapidly, then leaned closer. His hand came in contact with her cheek as he directed her gaze back to him. "You mean Silencer? How was that your fault?"

"I challenged Bob Roth, and when he grabbed me, you got upset. It pushed you over to the edge."

"You were defending me and my music," he argued, a sternness in his tone that wasn't there before as he put his hand to his chest, "and my emotions are my own. I'm the one who gave into Hawk Moth, not you."

"But..." She sighed, conflicted. "Even later, I kept my identity from you when we were dating. I made us both miserable because of it. I was so upset that I ended up yelling at my friends and they all got akumatized, and then I went and gave my identity to Alya anyway."

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second, though he quickly schooled his expression for reasons she didn't know. His gaze strayed momentarily before he looked back at her, asking, "Would you be upset at me for feeling happy for a moment, knowing that you were just as miserable as I was?"

"W-what?" She shook her head; if anything, knowing that he'd also been miserable made her happy as well, probably in the same way as it was for him. It meant that they both cared about it. "No! Not at all!"

"Then I don't blame you for your emotions either."

She pouted at him, but he merely smiled in response. She knew this wasn't a matter he was going to budge on, but it was difficult for her to understand when she was so commonly blamed for things. That was Luka though, she supposed, always forgiving and able to see through her faults.

She remembered her dream husband again and tried to act like her full focus was on the dress so as to not give her thoughts away. She'd only drawn the unnamed man once or twice, and it was just occurring to her that he had black hair and blue eyes as well. Having not understood the concept of kids looking like their parents in their own way at the time, the child version of her had thought it'd be "fair," because then their children would look like both of them no matter what. It was strange, just how much the "simple" version of her love ideals lined up with the boy sitting in front of her now, even with his temporarily green eyes.

Friendship had become something very precious to her ever since the day she'd gotten her miraculous, maybe even more than love itself. Despite the complications and their brief time dating, she was friends with Luka above all else. No matter what happened in regards to the romantic aspects of their relationship, their friendship remained unchanged, like they really would be friends even if they had the worst break-up in the history of Paris. It was comfortable, to the point where she felt embarrassed for ever avoiding him in the first place.

She was reminded yet again of another stark contrast with Adrien. She hadn't been scared of starting anything with Luka, yet Adrien was a constant cloud of dread above her head, the fear of being rejected or being made fun of holding her back from doing what she wanted.

If her child self could see her now, she'd be confused. Marinette could hear her now, asking why her love - or at least, what she believed to be love - caused her so much stress. That was never what she'd wanted; in fact, it had been the exact opposite. Crushing on Adrien had done nothing but humiliate her, the little girl inside her covering her eyes from the sight. Her time with Luka, on the other hand...

"It looks beautiful."

Marinette jerked her head up to see Viperion's approving gaze, then looked down to the wedding dress in her lap. It was finished, pink with flashes of white and blacks; exactly the kind of dress she would've wanted when she was younger, though obviously with an older touch.

"Thank you," she hurried to say when she realized that she hadn't responded to him. He chuckled in reply, though it was good-natured.

He reached for the tuxedo she'd set aside, but stopped halfway as if realizing something. He looked to her, then the dress, then back to her, asking carefully, "Do you want me to keep watch while we put these on?"

It took her a moment to realize what he meant; that he - wearing a bodysuit - could easily slip on the clothes over it, but she didn't have that sort of luxury due to her dress. She managed to summon enough of her inner Ladybug to focus on the importance of the task over the potential embarrassment, giving him an appreciative nod.

She trusted him not to look.

As she went to the darkest parts of the alley to change, Viperion heading in the opposite direction, her mind drifted back to the past again. The little journey there, even if it'd been unwilling on her part courtesy of the akuma, had been a nice change from constantly worrying over her future. As important as it was to focus on what she wanted to do and plan accordingly, the past was equally as important. It shaped her into who she was now and offered insight on herself that she couldn't have gotten otherwise.

"...Lu—I mean, Viperion?" she called just as she finished putting on the wedding dress.

"Yeah?"

She turned to face him, then giggled when noticing that he still had his back turned to her. "You can look now."

He hesitated, then slowly shifted to face her. He was mostly dressed, but was in the process of buttoning up the tuxedo, his hands fumbling with one of the buttons as he took her in.

She approached, gently brushing his hands aside as she started taking care of the few remaining buttons. Not wanting to delay talking to him like before, she figured now was the best time as any to say what was on her mind.

"I still don't know what I want for my future. I feel like a lot of doors are opening and closing every day, and whenever I want to try one, there just ends up being more doors, or it's already closed when I get there. There are too many possibilities and I keep being afraid that I'll trip on the one I really want to go to." Her gaze left the button she was holding so she could meet his eyes. "I just know that I really want you to be there for all of it... i-if that's what you want." Wanting to make sure instead of presuming like she tended to do, she asked cautiously, "Do you?"

His face didn't show a visible reaction, but she heard the slight sound of him swallowing, synced up with a single blink. Afterward, he absolutely beamed at her, the smile more blinding than the light being cast against his back.

"I do," he replied,

In time with his words, the final button was slipped into place. Marinette felt a warm sensation run through her body, starting from her feet and then making her shudder as it moved its way up to her head. Her body was turning white, just as before when Wishmaker first shot her, though Viperion's tuxedo had joined as well.

There was a flash between them, and she found herself back as normal, wingless Marinette when it faded.

Viperion, now lacking what she'd made for him, still looked just as happy to see her.

"I-I did it!" she gasped, genuinely surprised that it worked. "We did it!"

She threw her hands up in the air in celebration, but snapped back to reality as she remembered that she still needed to turn back into Ladybug and take care of Wishmaker. She opened her purse, easing as she saw Tikki already munching away on a macaron.

"Marinette?"

She looked back up at Viperion, noticing that he still had something to say. "Yes?"

"I might not be able to make enough sense of your inner music to tell you what you'll want, but I don't think you have anything to worry about. I know that whatever you decide to do is going to be as extraordinary as you are."

She stifled a squeak, blushing at the sudden compliment and thankful that Tikki was still chewing the last bits of the macaron. "A-ah, thank you. You too—with the extraordinary thing, not your inner music, because I can't hear that even though I'm sure it's really amazing!"

Had it been anyone else, she might've prayed for a hole to swallow her, but it was impossible to feel weird when he smiled at her the way he did.

Once Tikki had gotten her fill, Marinette transformed and they began to leave the alley together, though Ladybug stopped partway as she remembered something; something she'd done many times before and felt it time to get back to doing.

Viperion raised a brow at her sudden stopping, then stiffened when she leaned towards him and kissed his cheek. She flashed him a smile, noting silently that she missed these little exchanges between them, then leaped away to head back to where Wishmaker was likely to be. Viperion followed suit, but a split second behind his usual speed.

She was sure he'd be smiling back if she looked, but she didn't have to; they were connected, maybe not by some sort of magic thread or cosmic force, but by them and the relationship she hoped that they would continue to build in the future.

And whenever they got back to the fight, just in time to see Chat Noir allow himself to be hit by Wishmaker's attack, a few more doors would close and her future would start to look a little different than what she'd considered that morning.

Not necessarily in a bad way either.

[persphonesorchid]

Butterfly - KNJ

Notes: Here I present to yall the fic that was supposed to kick off Euphoria before I got too excited and posted Hobi's fic first - sigh- N E way! I hope you guys have enjoyed Fate's Doing and I hope you're as excited as me for the other stories! This was actually written like a month before the euphoria series started living in my head rent-free, so the pronouns are written in she/her format. Okay, enjoy! And let me know what you think!

Part of the Euphoria series - Masterlist

“Your soul mark, as we all know, is your bond to your soul mate. People have different soul marks for different reasons: there are some whose soul mark change depending on their mate's emotions, the rare case of two people having matching soul marks, there are some, where the marks bloom into color once their mate is found. And the common where your soul mark is what's most important to your mate.

There are the lucky few, who find their mates early in life, and there are those, who have to be patient and wait a while before they do.”

How long was a while?

Namjoon had been asking himself that for a very long time. It's been years. He's seen his friends find their soul mates, some at young ages, some of them had to wait a while, too. But even then, they still found theirs before he did. Don't get him wrong, he wanted nothing but the best for his friends, but it was hard to watch them all find their other halves and he was just stuck wondering if he would ever be lucky enough.

He had given up hope for a long time, a very long time ago. It wasn't strange that someone would have a soul mark but not find their mates, it wasn't uncommon, those few to which that occurs usually marry people who hadn't found their mates either. Hoseok met a woman years ago, and they had a child, though they didn't have a happy end like everyone had thought.

The prospect saddened him, why would fate pick out the perfect person for you, only for you to struggle to find them and then in the end, give up completely. His parents weren't soul mates, and his mother had constantly told him since he turned fifteen that not finding your soul mate wasn't a bad thing, you can still find happiness.

He's been trying to find that happiness his mother spoke of. He tried filling the gap drowning in his studies, and working his ass off to be where he is now. He must admit that they were brilliant distractions, but they only lasted so long. There were always small moments when he would remind himself why he was constantly working, constantly trying to fill up the void that had grown in his chest after he realized that there was no chance of him ever finding his mate.

He often wondered if he just wasn't looking hard enough, if he hadn't given up he would've found them by now. But it would be of no use, all that thinking did was send him spiraling downwards into a deep dark place, and he didn't want to worry anyone, just grin and bare it as he always did.

Namjoon sighs, rubbing at his temples as he felt a headache building; maybe it was time for a break. He was clearly stressed out, he could feel how tense his shoulders were, and now the dull ache of a headache was beginning to throb behind his eyes. He's been staring at his computer screen for more than two hours now, trying to get through his work emails he said he was going to stay away from while on holiday.

He should eat, he hasn't eaten anything besides a few snacks here and there, and it's well into the evening by now. Jin, who he shares his apartment with was out for the night at a party that Namjoon currently didn't have the energy for. He didn't want to feel left out and then evidently put a damper on everyone's mood, so he opted to sit this one out, under the guise of getting some work done and then resting.

He wasn't expecting him back for a while, so the peace and quiet was a blessing. He wandered out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. He gazed around at the room, poked around in the fridge, but there was nothing he felt like making. Namjoon stared out of the window for a moment, watching the way the departing sun painted the sky an array of burnt orange and violet. He watched down at his wrist, it was only a quarter past six, the cafe that's not too far should be open, maybe if he walked fast enough.

He frowned when his eyes caught the sight of his soul mark, a strange thing that got him teased as a kid. He always wondered why it was a butterfly, it was small compared to other soul marks he's seen, just covering the expanse of his wrist. The butterfly was blue, a deep sea blue with black along the edges, and one broken wing. He also wondered why that was, but he had long lost interest in finding out.

He grabbed his sweater from his room, hoping to deflect the coming cold of the evening hours, and slipped out of the apartment. He idly swung his keys between his fingers, whistling a tune he heard somewhere as he made the short trek to the cafe.

He always liked the cafe, he's been a regular since Yoongi bought him a coffee from there, which was about a year and a half ago. He made sure to check in a few times if he had the time to do so. It was peaceful there, and sometimes, he went there to unwind when his job was becoming too much.

Namjoon peers in through the glass from his spot on the sidewalk, glad to see that there was no one inside. He fixed his baseball cap over his head regardless, and stepped in, sighing as the tension left his shoulders immediately at the smell of coffee and pastries. He stood a few steps away from the counter, watching the menu screen for a moment, trying to decide what he wanted to go with his coffee.

There was also none of the employees in front, so he had time to choose and not be worried about wasting the person's time standing there too long. He hummed at the options, his fingers tapping at the material of his sweat pants, and his head snapped to the side when a muffled squeak was heard.

He watched as a girl practically run from the back room to stand at the register, Namjoon couldn't possibly hold back the chuckle at her panicked expression.

"I'm so sorry!" She says, tucking her hair behind her ear with flushed cheeks, eyes wide, "I hope you weren't waiting long."

"No, it's alright, I was trying to decide what I wanted," Namjoon offered a smile, noticing that the girl was a new worker here, and it was probably her first day going by the nervous smile she returned.

"Oh, yeah sure. Take your time," She stepped back a bit and smiled politely, she looked down and frowned at a spot of flour on her black apron, rubbing at it while muttering something to herself.

It was then he noticed her soul mark, at the back of her hand was a musical note, it was small and near the knuckle of her third finger. Namjoon tilted his head at it, of course, everyone's soul mark weren't the same, it was very rare to find someone with a soul mark that matched your own.

Since his soul mark had always been filled with colour, he ruled out one of the theories. It never once changed in any shape or form, so that was another one gone. And since it was so rare to have a matching soul mark, it only left the other one, in which it meant something to your mate. Another reason why he paid so little mind to his own after a while, who in the hell liked butterflies that much?

He shook his head, brushing the thought out his mind before stepping up to order. The girl fumbled a bit, but Namjoon only smiled. He knows what it's like working a job like this, he's worked a few getting through school, and his first time was hell.

"Is that all? Wanna add anything else?" The girl smiled with a tilt of her head when he finished giving her his order.

"Ah, yeah that's it,"

He watched as she rang up the till, and he paid, telling her to keep the change. She thanked him and wandered over to the espresso machine to make the cappuccino he ordered.

"It's a bit late for coffee," The girl mused, her back to him, her eyes meeting his briefly, "I mean I'm not one to judge or anything, but it's always weird to drink coffee this late, it'll just keep you awake."

Namjoon chuckled, "Yeah, I'm just doing some work back home, need all the energy I can get,"

The small talk was nice, no one else came in after him so he was free to stand there and watch her work. She was pretty, Namjoon hummed to himself, watching as her every movement seemed effortless. She ran an espresso shot into a small cup, waving her hand to clear the steam that poured out of the wand at the machine's corner. She was focused, barely paying him any mind as she went about her job, smiling at something she must've thought of, and by God Namjoon would be in here every day if she smiled at him like that.

"Yeah I know how that is," She passes him the cup over the counter, now finished with his drink and then slipped off to get the sandwich he ordered as well.

"Want me to warm it up for you?" She rose a brow and Namjoon couldn't help his teasing smile.

"Trying to keep me here are you?" He made sure to keep the amusement light, in case she'd think that her asking was going to be a problem.

"Well, coffee junkie, I'm working alone tonight so I don't mind the company." She smirked and waved the neatly cling wrapped sandwich at him, "Getting this warmed or not?"

"Warmed if it's not too much trouble,"

He smiled at her, and considered her offer of staying, since all he had to do back home was get back to work, but he said he'd take a break, and it would be a nice break. She brought the sandwich back in a brown paper bag a couple minutes after, neatly folded if he chose to leave. He took it and found a seat in a corner of the store.

He sipped at his coffee, scrolling through his phone and the messages Jin had sent in the group chat that he shared with his friends, most of them were photos of the man himself. Namjoon hoped he wouldn't drink too much, knowing that Jin had went to the party alone.

Namjoon was alone with his thoughts for a long while, until he finished his sandwich and the end of his coffee had gone cold. He people watched mostly, sitting facing the window left him with not much else to do. A couple passed by, their hands linked and swinging between them idly and for the second time that day Namjoon stared at his soulmark. He wondered briefly, what it would be like to find happiness in another person and without knowing why, he glanced at the girl behind the counter, and a small light of hope burned his chest. Perhaps, maybe it was possible to find that happiness.

"Hey, can I ask you a personal question?" Namjoon called out, setting down his phone next to his empty cup.

"How personal are we talking here?" The girl spoke up, her form partly hidden by the counter where she was ducked down looking for something. She raises to peek at him with a raised brow and a teasing smirk.

"Have you...Um.." Namjoon trails off, suddenly nervous, "Have you found your soul mate yet?"

"Oh, I see, very personal then." The girl tilted her head, still smiling as she leaned against the counter, propping her chin in her palm. She frowned, absently rubbing a finger against her soul mark. "Nope, still looking though. You know how these things go, it's not like the world lights up when you find 'em."

"Yeah," Namjoon says, nodding a bit sadly to himself. If that were the case, he would've found them by now, he wish it was though, then all the time he's waited would actually lead up to something.

"Chin up, coffee junkie, you'll find them soon. It won't take forever," It seemed as though she said the last part more to herself than anything as it was said so softly Namjoon barely heard.

He did chuckle though, at the nickname he was now branded with, "Namjoon, that's my name," he smiled, laughing a bit at the sparkle in the girl's eyes he could see from where he sat at the offering of acquaintanceship.

"Y/n,"

In the weeks that followed, Namjoon frequented the cafe more times than he could count on his fingers. Getting to know Y/n beyond him just coming in and ordering coffee. They exchanged numbers by the month's mark, and talked when she wasn't busy at work or he wasn't drowning in his. She was a little get away from the stress of it all, of the pressure he felt sometimes and the worry of him not finding his other half.

It was strange at first, when he felt doves in his stomach whenever he saw her at work or when they were up late talking nonsense to each other despite the both of them having early mornings. He had finally found that happiness that his mother spoke of.

He saw less of her eventually when he had gone back out to work, but he'd always stayed in touch. He'd try to go to the café if she was working, mostly it was just to see her and she hadn't dropped his moniker as he continued to order coffee at odd hours. Sometimes he'd surprise her with lunch that Jin made before he'd go off to work, or call her just to ask how she was doing and complain that the coffee at the office doesn't taste right.

During all that time he's made sure to keep his growing crush on the cute barista a secret.

When two more months had passed and Namjoon accidentally made it slip that he liked a girl during the annual end-of-the-month get together with the boys, he was done for. Jin had given him a knowing look that left Namjoon confused. He'd said that he already knew, because apparently whenever he'd come home with an empty cup from the café down the street he'd have a stupid look on his face, it wasn't hard to put together.

"Not like I don't hear you giggling with her at two in the morning anyway," He'd said, winking at him suggestively and laughing when Namjoon promptly chocked on a sip of his water.

"I'm sure it's not like that, Hyung," Jimin says, softly patting Namjoon's back with a worried furrow in his brow.

"Yeah, you should be happy. I for sure thought he'd taken a vow of chastity or something."

Laughs were shared that night, and now that his feelings were out in the open between his closet friends, he'd become hyper-aware of them. He decided to ask her out the week that followed.

The date had gone extremely well, all his awkward nervousness aside. A movie was never a bad idea for a first date, and they'd laughed over popcorn and overpriced theater food. Namjoon could still feel his heart ready to pound out of his chest whenever he thought about her kissing his cheek when he left her at the door to her apartment.

↱❖↰

"Okay, okay, so tell me something I don't know about you. Any dark secrets lurking in those pretty eyes of yours?" Y/n nudged his arm with her shoulder one evening as they were taking a walk to a park. She wiggled her eyebrows, making a humming noise as she laughed.

Namjoon's heart fluttered, still stuck on the fact that she told him his eyes were pretty to answer her question. "Oh, yeah. Sometimes, I lure people into my house so I can lock them in a basement until I'm hungry," He smirks, laughing at the faux disgust on Y/n's face as she reached for her phone in his pocket. The sundress she wore prevented her from keeping it on her person.

"Do I need to call the police?" She asked, chuckling despite herself and knowing full well he didn't have a basement.

"Nah, you'll get bored without me,"

"Don't worry, I'll come visit you in jail. I'll even bring your favorite coffee for you," she smiled, tilting her head up to look at him.

"Oh aren't you just a peach,"

Y/n laughed and nodded, looping her arm with his as they walked, falling into a comfortable silence. Namjoon felt contented, just being like this, in her presence. It wasn't long before she was complaining about the warmth of the midday air, and moved to brush her hair from off the back of her neck with a huff. It was then Namjoon saw it, just at junction where her shoulder met her neck: a butterfly with blue wings and black around the edges, one of the wings were broken.

Namjoon almost tripped staring at it, and he was certain that she could feel his heart pounding a mile and hour where she placed her hand on his chest to steady him. Worry creased her brow, but amusement shown in her eyes, "Are you okay?"

"Is that a tattoo?" He asked, his voice sounding way more breathless than he had intended.

Y/n hummed in question, slim fingers reaching up to touch the spot absently and she nodded. "Yeah, I got it when my mom passed away. She had a necklace she always wore, it was a butterfly but one of the wings had broken off..."

He stepped away from her, still watching her as he pulled the sleeve of his t-shirt up to bunch at his elbow and fumbled with the clasp of his watch. It fell to the ground, and by the crack he barely heard he was sure that it broke, but he couldn't bring himself to care. A sudden doubt was in his mind, what if this was nothing but a coincidence? What if she just happened to have a tattoo that's the exact replica of his soul mark? But he had a feeling, he just knew.

He extended his hand to her, ignoring the slight shake of his limbs, and the feeling that he was gonna pass out if she didn't say anything. She stared at his mark for a long moment, her eyes filtering between it and his face for a good solid minute before she laughed, a kind of relieved sound that barely made it before the tears in her eyes.

"Hey--" Namjoon frowned, her crying was the last thing he'd expected, "Don't cry, please don't c--" his sentence was cut short as he was nearly knocked off his feet, he stumbled backward just a bit as her weight was suddenly thrown on him.

"You have no idea how long I've been looking for you." Her words were muffled against the fabric of his shirt, her arms tight around his middle and her shoulders shook. Namjoon wrapped his arms around her, the realization that this was actually happening finally settling in. It took him a moment, and he laughed, feeling all his worries float up and away, his head going with them; he felt light.

Though it took a while, it was worth it in the end.

—- ✴ ️･゜: *• °* ✴ —-

Euphoria Taglist: @eren-fall @amon-rei @astormunchar

[illuminatedquill]

Extracurricular, An Analysis

Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri

“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is sign on as it’s accomplice.”  - Tom Robbins 

You know the story. You’ve heard it before, right? 

Boy meets girl. 

Girl finds out that boy is running a side protection business for prostitutes. 

Girl decides to blackmail boy into letting her join his business. 

Classic high school criminal shenanigans ensue leading them into more dangerous situations where they are forced to make desperate decisions to stay alive. 

Oh, and they fall in love along the way. 

Oh? You haven’t heard this one before? Then let me introduce you to this delightful kdrama called Extracurricular. 

I watched this one while waiting for the newest Hometown Cha Cha Cha episodes to drop and ended up binging the whole series in two days. There are many remarkable parts of this series: it’s a crime drama, first and foremost, that showcases high school teenagers caught in a cycle of violence and crime, abandoned by the society and adults that are supposed to be protecting them. There are no clear good guys and bad guys in this drama; everyone is cast in shades of grey. Our main leads, Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri, run the prostitution business, and are both from broken family backgrounds. Their actions are morally questionable at best, but the top tier performances from Kim Dong Hee (you might remember him from Itaewon Class) and Park Ju Hyun make you cheer for them anyway. You want them to have a happy ending, despite the horrible things they do. The audience is always reminded that despite how clever they are in staying ahead, their actions have consequences, and they’re just high school kids. The drama never pulls it punches. 

But, weirdly enough, it’s also a love story. And that’s the part the really sticks with me until now. (The chemistry between the main leads is absolute dynamite and I could watch ten episodes of them just verbally sparring with each other. They don’t even kiss. They’re that fantastic when together on screen.)

I’m writing this because this is undoubtedly one of my all time favorite kdramas and I have a lot of feelings about our main pairing, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri. I can’t call them a couple (wait, didn’t I just say they fall in love) because their relationship can’t be labelled simply as that. Think of it as something similar to the main leads in My Ahjussi. Two people who should have become soulmates, yet met at the wrong time. 

This kdrama is not particularly happy, and while I do encourage people to watch this, I am warning that the subject matter is extremely dark. If you’re sensitive to scenes depicting sexual assault, graphic violence, or anything in that zip code you’ll want to steer clear. 

Also, I’ll be diving into spoiler territory in this analysis. So if you want to go in clean, then stop reading here. 

Still here? Awesome. Let’s dive deep into the messy, amazing pairing that is Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri. First, let’s do a brief character background on our two main leads, starting with Ji-soo. 

Oh Ji-soo is one half of our main pairing and this story starts with him. He lives by himself and has been essentially abandoned by his only parents; his father is a failed businessman who gambles whatever money he acquires on scams and his mother ran away. His apartment is small, sparse, but functional. He owns only a few outfits aside from his school uniform. The only unique item he owns is a pet hermit crab that he takes care of. His life outside of school is non-existent; he has no friends, no one to hang out with and do typical high school teenager activities with. He takes care of himself and lives only for himself and his “dream”: to graduate, attend college, get married, and have kids like a normal person. 

But to do that, he needs a large amount of money. He has no other financial means to do so (his father is largely absent, as is his mother), so he decides, at some point, to start up this protection business for prostitutes. The drama doesn’t go into detail about the how and why he came to this conclusion that this was the best way to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, so you’ll have to suspend your disbelief from the get go. Considering the themes of the story (how youths abandoned by society tend to act out in extreme ways to make it in this world), it’s not hard to believe his desperation would drive him to make such a decision. 

Ji-soo, despite his shady business, is actually a decent person. There’s a streak of humanity that exists inside him that refuses to go out, despite the increasingly dark and bleak events that start to overtake his life. He’s attached to his hermit crab, cares for his “employees” outside of them being tools to make him money, and doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt. He goes above and beyond what’s required to help out people at the risk of his own life (in particular, Gyu-ri, and we’ll get into that shortly). 

What we learn from the first few episodes is that Oh Ji-soo is extremely smart and methodical in how he approaches his life. At school, he is known as a model student - quiet, top of the class in terms of grades, doesn’t draw any attention to himself, always follows along with what the teachers ask of him. Only his homeroom teacher, Mr. Cho, seems to consider his quiet style of existence to be concerning and tries to make him less socially awkward by pairing him up with another student in a new extracurricular club. This leads to the introduction of Bae Gyu-ri, Ji-soo’s longtime crush and future partner-in-crime. 

Meet Bae Gyu-ri, the other half of our dynamic duo. Her introduction into the story kickstarts the entire plot, as one of her earliest actions leads to a domino effect that spells increasing doom and tragedy for our main leads. She messes with Ji-soo’s operation at a critical moment and she spends the rest of the drama doing her best to make up for the consequences that follow. 

In my personal opinion, she is probably the best main female lead I’ve ever seen in a kdrama. Hands down, no other character exists (currently) that rivals her sheer cunning, wit, and badassery. Gyu-ri is Crazy, capital C, and is the chaos to Ji-soo’s control; the fire to his ice. Despite being the direct cause of half the events that happen to Ji-soo in the drama, he can’t help but need her because of what she offers. They make an incredible team. Her competitiveness, her need to win no matter the odds, helps them survive time and time again. 

Gyu-ri is from the opposite end of the spectrum of Ji-soo; he’s dirt poor and she’s insanely rich (always nice to see a reversal of typical kdrama tropes). Her mother and father run a successful entertainment company. Gyu-ri is popular at school, friends with seemingly everybody, pretty, cheerful and gets along well with her teachers. Ji-soo, and the audience, believe from the beginning that she has the perfect life. It’s not hard to believe that she’s just involving herself in Ji-soo’s business because she’s bored and needs an outlet, at first. 

We soon learn otherwise. Gyu-ri has more in common with Ji-soo than he initially realizes, in that they’re both trapped in circumstances beyond their control - it’s just that Gyu-ri’s cage is gilded, whereas his is not. Her parents are strict and have her life planned out for her, all without her consent or input, leaving her feeling frustrated and powerless despite her rich lifestyle. A suicide attempt hasn’t done much to change her parents attitude towards her, only serving to further their control over her life. 

So, when she learns of Ji-soo’s operation she immediately seeks to angle her way into it. First, she tries to rip him off, believing that he’s an evil “pimp” and thus deserves it. But after spending some time with him, she changes her mind last second and decides to help him out instead. 

And, now, let’s get into their relationship, which is one of the best (if not the best) aspect in the entire series. 

I need to be upfront about something: the relationship between Ji-soo and Gyu-ri is not exactly healthy. I wouldn’t describe it as toxic - the circumstances surrounding them aren’t exactly the best environment to encourage open and honest communication - but it’s definitely not what should be considered ideal, especially for young adults, and especially for young adults who are dabbling in crime instead of studying. 

So, why do I love them so much? If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you know that I loathe toxic relationships in kdramas, so I understand if you think I’m coming off as hypocritical here. Why do I like Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri when I didn’t like, for example from recent history, (oh boy, here I go again on my Nevertheless BS) Park Jae-eon and Yu Na-bi?

First, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are way cooler than Jae-eon and Na-bi ever could be. They run a criminal enterprise that involves having a high amount of intelligence, cunning, and daring to do so. Do Jae-eon and Na-bi run a criminal enterprise as a side business? No, they don’t, because they’re boring art students. 

Secondly, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri actually progress in their relationship and change their views as they learn from each other. Now, granted, that progress isn’t towards becoming better versions of each other - quite the opposite. But at least they have progress. Jae-eon and Na-bi stayed in the same stupid cycle for the whole series and then decided that it was better staying that way as opposed to trying for something else. 

Last, but certainly not least, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are actually interesting to watch for me. The chemistry between Park Ju Hyun and Kim Dong Hee is explosive and they way they spar, exchange looks, and just generally exist around each other on screen is something I can watch forever. I’ve said this before but Han So Hee and Song Kang’s on screen chemistry, outside of their intimate scenes, really didn’t impress me. 

Okay, back to Extracurricular. This relationship, man. It’s all I can think about (other than HomeCha’s Du-sik and Hye-jin, but that’s another post). Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are so good together. 

I’ve noted before that Ji-soo is methodical in how he approaches his life; he plans out everything ahead, and rigs any situation as much as he can in his favor. It’s brilliant, but when a crisis happens, he doesn’t know how to deal with it effectively. He panics and flounders; becomes indecisive at a time when clear, decisive action is required. 

Enter Gyu-ri. She quickly becomes the partner he never knew he needed. When there’s a situation, she becomes invaluable in her quick thinking and wit, coming up with solutions on the fly. It’s not perfect, but it keeps them just one small step ahead of whatever is coming their way. 

The only thing preventing them from becoming unstoppable is the lack of communication and trust they have with each other. A lot of that has to do with how Gyu-ri entered Ji-soo’s business - she blackmailed him first, and, when that failed, she strong armed her way into getting him to accept her help. It’s implied in the drama that Ji-soo has had a crush on Gyu-ri for a while (since ninth grade, I believe) and in the first episode he actually gets the chance to spend time with her outside of school on a sort of quasi-date. 

It goes sideways pretty quickly because of some shenanigans from his business, but not before she gets to know him and says some pretty touching words regarding his situation. Poor guy is head over heels - even after finding out that she’s the one blackmailing him, his feelings are only dampened, not extinguished. When he catches a glimpse of her family’s situation, he gains a deeper understanding of her and why she acts the way she does. Even more importantly, Ji-soo treats her the same after finding out this information which, to someone like Gyu-ri, means more than if he comforted her about it. 

If you want to see a physical representation of how he feels, other than paying attention to his actions, you can see it in him keeping mementos from Gyu-ri. She has an interesting habit of folding bags into origami shapes and giving it to him. Even after the blackmail reveal, you can see that he continues to keep these in a container on his desk. It’s really cute that he keeps these, when it probably doesn’t even matter that much to Gyu-ri. 

Towards the end of the drama, Ji-soo prepares to turn himself in to prevent Gyu-ri from being implicated in the crimes they committed. And it costs him almost everything to protect her. Ji-soo, the quiet, nerdy kid, puts himself on the line time and time again to protect Gyu-ri, knowing that it puts his life and his dream at risk to do so. And all for what? For some girl that he thinks doesn’t even like him in return? 

Well, let’s talk about that. Because I’ve seen some comments that Gyu-ri was only using Ji-soo for her own selfish gain. And I can agree that was how it was at the beginning for her; she definitely was only interested in acquiring money, like Ji-soo was, in order to achieve her own goal of being free from her parents. 

But, oh man, that is not what is motivating her at the end. 

It’s actually pointed out relatively early by some of her friends that it’s obvious that she likes Ji-soo more than he likes her. Understandably Ji-soo is keeping her at arms length from him given the whole recent blackmailing, so it would make sense that it looks that way. 

Further questioning reveals what she likes the most about him: 

“It’s not like I’m crazy about him. He’s fun. And amusing. He’s smart. And there’s a certain charm he has. He also has a wolfish side to him. But he thinks he’s a puppy.” 

- Bae Gyu-ri

But, as she gets to know Ji-soo better, you can certainly see that she starts to fall hard for him. As a cover story for why they hang out so much together during and after school, Gyu-ri states to everyone that they’re dating. The reactions across the school definitely imply that this is a shocking development, which means that Gyu-ri hasn’t dated anyone before. So why Ji-soo other than the reasons she herself states? 

He challenges her, just as she challenges him. Gyu-ri may be the more dynamic, quick thinking of the pair but Ji-soo is every inch her intellectual equal - just in different ways. She doesn’t seem to be the type to be easily impressed, but you can tell that she’s definitely impressed by Ji-soo’s operation and how thoroughly set up it is. When Ji-soo is frustrated at the beginning by his setbacks, he blows up at another student (knocks him out in a crazy punch) and immediately walks over to Gyu-ri afterwards (who saw the whole thing) to inform her that she is now his partner in crime. 

The look in her eyes, and the small smirk she has speaks volumes about her attraction to him in that scene. Smoldering. 

And, oh yes, she’s prone to jealousy. Another classmate, Min-hee, gives Ji-soo a present out of the blue (it was supposed to be for her boyfriend, Ki-tae, but that’s another sub-plot) - all within view of Gyu-ri. It’s hilarious how she tries to brush it off. Later, for plot reasons, Ji-soo has to spend more time with Min-hee which only furthers Gyu-ri’s annoyance. 

And her motivations stop being entirely about the money and more towards helping preserve the dream that she and Ji-soo share about being free. There’s a scene in episode 8 where it’s revealed that, due to a business partnership with a local gang (set up by none other than Gyu-ri herself in a desperate move), Ji-soo would have to drop out of school permanently to work on their behalf. Gyu-ri overhears this and, despite badly needing the gang’s help in sustaining their own business, immediately terminates the partnership. 

All because it would interfere with Ji-soo’s dream. 

Man, if that isn’t love. 

In the following episode, Gyu-ri, and later on Ji-soo, is kidnapped by the same gang in retaliation for terminating their partnership. Ji-soo comes to her rescue but Gyu-ri is already almost free (again, she’s really, really badass) and is demanding that they bring Ji-soo to her instead of running for her life. 

Surviving this latest attempt puts the two in a reflective, vulnerable mood and Gyu-ri asks Ji-soo why he keeps saving her. Ji-soo asks later on why she keeps risking her life to be with him. They don’t say the answer in words but in an almost kiss (yeah, you read that right - almost). 

And then, if you aren’t already convinced, Ji-soo crosses his one last remaining line in an effort to keep Gyu-ri safe; he accidentally pushes a fellow classmate down some steps and, instead of helping her, leaves her to die after grabbing the evidence she has on him and Gyu-ri. 

Extracurricular pulls off quite the magic trick here, hiding this well done love story in the middle of a serious crime drama. 

The real tragedy is that Ji-soo thinks that Gyu-ri views this whole business, and by extension his life, as one big game. It’s something that she takes offense at, visibly becoming upset when he says that. 

But even if that were true, he should be assured since Gyu-ri doesn’t like to lose. 

As they hurtle towards the end and face up to the consequences of their actions, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri undoubtedly lose sight of their original goals and dreams. They do some fairly horrible things to stay alive and ahead of the police who are close on their trail. You can’t really blame them for doing what they did; in the face of a society that has abandoned them, what they’re doing is a logical outcome to gain what they want so desperately and deserve so much: the chance to be free to live like normal, care-free people. 

I can’t say for certain that they achieve that. The drama is serious in consequences and, at the end, the net around them is drawing tighter and tighter. I won’t spoil the ending scene for you, because I highly encourage you watch this drama yourself but I will say this: Ji-soo and Gyu-ri seem stuck in an impossible situation with nowhere to go, and no one to help them, with a clock ticking down towards either death or discovery by the police. 

But, all the same, I’m always the optimist. They’ve gotten through situations like this before and they can certainly do so again. Maybe not as bad as this one, but not too far out of their league. And, like I mentioned before, Gyu-ri doesn’t like to lose. Especially when it comes to Ji-soo. 

Their relationship is truly dangerous, as Ji-soo himself notes. Them being together is the source of their problems; they’re too much alike now, as opposed to the beginning of the drama where he stated that they’re too different. Their love is the kind of love where both of them are willing to burn the whole world down if it means keeping each other safe. 

I’m a real sucker for those kind of love stories. No one’s a hero here. They’re just kids in high school, doing the best with what they know. 

Who are we to judge what is right and wrong? Especially when the one committing the acts are high school kids who don’t know any better and just want to save each other? 

Do we have that right? 

Do they really deserve that punishment? Shouldn’t we be pointing fingers at the society that forced them to act this way? 

Extracurricular really makes you think about that. Is it really so outlandish and terrible what Ji-soo and Gyu-ri do to survive when the adults who are supposed to be protecting them, teaching them better, have failed in their duty? 

Maybe they really did win at the end. Not so much in succeeding in their goals but in gaining something that not even regular people are likely to find - a partner, a soulmate, someone who will stand by you no matter what. 

If you do watch the ending, and are not an optimist like I am, then all I can say is this: whatever happened, they were together at the end. 

They were together. 

[worldserasingandcreatinginmymind]

Unfaithful | Part Five

Series Summary: After dreaming of your perfect wedding since you were a little girl the big day is almost here. But after meeting the priest you start to question your relationship.

Pairing: Hot Priest x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2005

Warnings: angst, lots of angst, drunk priest, bad friend 

A/N: Please be warned there will be some themes of toxic/abusive relationship in this series. Also, spelling and grammar is not my strongest skill so please be kind :)

Part Four | Masterlist

- - - - -

I can’t sleep. 

Half excited for my hen party, and half nervous for the talk I know I need to have with the priest. 

I spend hours lying awake imagining how the conversation will go, all the possible outcomes. I must of drifted off some time in the early hours because I'm awakened at 9am by a text from Daniel: 

‘You looked so peaceful when I left for work I didn’t want to disturb you. But I just realised that since I’m going straight out with the boys for my stag do later, the next time we see each other I’ll be in my suit and you’ll be in your dress walking down the aisle to me. I can’t wait. Enjoy the fundraiser and have and wonderful hen party tonight. I love you Mrs Davison xxx’

The text makes me smile, until I read the last sentence. ‘Mrs Davison’ send a panic rushing through me. This suddenly all feels very real. I’m getting married tomorrow. I take a deep breath. It’s fine. I'm fine. This is just pre-wedding nerves. Completely normal. 

I take another deep breath and get out of bed. 

— — — — 

“Ah Y/N! You’re here” Pam greets me at the church doors and swiftly ushers me around the side of the building towards the church garden where the fundraiser has already started “We’ve got an emergency” 

“What do you mean?” I reply as she leads me through crowds of people till we reach a table lined with various numbered prizes. 

“Ruth was supposed to be running the raffle but she’s just called to say she can’t make it, ate something bad she thinks and now she can’t stop throwing up.” 

I grimace slightly at the story but mostly I’m just wondering what any of this has to do with me…

“So if you wouldn’t mind taking over and running it for us that would be wonderful. Tickets are a pound each. Thank you!” 

Before I can say anything she’s gone, rushing off to check the youth band are ready for their performance. I stand bewildered for a moment, looking around at the crowds until I spot the priest who is currently admiring cupcakes at the bakery stand and laughing about something. Suddenly he turns and locks eyes with me. His face drops, he stares at me like a deer in headlights. I give him a small smile, which he doesn’t return. My heart hurts. 

“Excuse me, how much is a ticket?” Someone asks, forcing me to turn my attention away

“One pound” 

“Can I get five please” 

By the time I complete the transaction and look back to the bakery stand the priest is gone. I scan the crowd again, but there’s no sign of him. 

An hour later I still don't know where he is. What I do know is I really need the loo. I ask the person on the stall next to me to watch the table while I head inside in search of the toilets, but when I enter the building I bump into someone. 

It’s him. 

“What are you doing here?” He asks

“Just trying to find the ladies room” 

“I mean here, at this stupid event”

“Pam didn’t really give me a choice” I explain and he just looks irritated “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I wasn’t welcome”

“I just wasn’t expecting to see you here today”

“Well here I am” I say dryly and there’s an awkward silence. I take a deep breath before I speak again “I actually wanted to talk to you… about what happened-”

“Nothing happened. We agreed”

“But it did happen, Father, we need to talk about it”

“Oh, fuck you calling me Father like it doesn’t turn you on just to say it”

My mouth drops open, dumbfounded by his comment. I shake my head slightly as I try and think of something to say.

“I know what you’ve been doing” he continues

“Please, enlighten me because I have no idea what you're talking about!”

“Playing the sweet, innocent girl. Making me like you, fall for you. Making me think that you needed saving from the douchebag boyfriend… Was any of it real? Was anything you said actually true?” 

“I never lied to you” I almost whisper as he gets really close to my face, moving my hair off my cheek to study what’s left of the burn scars.

“Did he ever really hurt you? Or did you just make that up so I’d feel sorry for you”

“Fuck you!” I say through gritted teeth as I start to walk away, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I stop and look back at him “You’re the one who told me you loved me, remember? That was you! If you regret it, that’s fine. There’s no need to be such a dick about it” 

I turn and leave again, his final words repeating through my head as I walk away. 

As I walk home I can’t stop the tears from coming as I replay the conversation in my head over and over again. Why is he being like this? How can he be so loving to me one day and so nasty a few days later? What changed?

I get home and go straight to bed. I wrap myself up in the duvet and try to push everything out of my mind so I can get in a quick nap before I have to get ready for my hen party. The last thing I feel like doing right now is going out celebrating, but I know there’s no way I could cancel.

Thank God there’s going to be alcohol there. 

— — — — 

“Bride’s turn! Truth or Dare?”

“Truth” I say happily, finishing off my third glass of wine. 

“Okay… if you could have a free pass and choose any celebrity, who would you sleep with?”

The girls start whooping and laughing, but before I can even answer Tiffany cuts in.

“She won’t answer that, she’s far too vanilla”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, slightly offended by her tone.

“Don't start Tiff” Eva rolls her eyes

“I’m not starting anything, I’m just telling the truth. She’s only ever had one boyfriend and she’s marrying him tomorrow. She lost her virginity to him and I bet you anything that they schedule the days in the week when they’ll go to bed and have boring missionary sex. Vanilla! She’s never even kissed another guy…”

Maybe it’s the alcohol in my system or the way she’s talking about me like I’m not here, but I can feel myself getting more and more irritated.

“Actually I have!” I speak up and she laughs.

“A kiss from your dad doesn’t count”

The room falls silent as everyone stops to watch my reaction. I can see from Tiffany’s face she instantly regrets her words. She knows how much I miss my dad, but it’s too late to take it back now.  

“Well done Tiff” I hear Eva say as I walk away from the group. I head outside and take a deep breath of the fresh air. Looking up at the stars I find myself thinking of my parents and wishing they were here. 

“I’m sorry” Tiffany’s voice makes me jump, I hadn’t realised she’d followed me outside and was now leaning against the wall next to me “that was a low blow, I shouldn’t have said that”

“It doesn’t matter” I mutter quietly 

“It does! I should have thought about what I was saying… I just forgot”

“I forget too. So often I pick up my phone to call him and realise he won’t be on the other end. I would give anything for them to be here right now”

“I know, come here” she pulls me in for a hug, squeezing me tightly before leaning away to look me in the face “I’m sorry I called you vanilla”

“Maybe I am. You were right, I’ve only ever been with Daniel. Until this week he was the only man I’d ever kissed!”

“This week?” She pulls away completely and my heart drops as I realise what I’ve just said “You kissed someone? Who?”

“No I- I didn’t mean to say that” 

“Its okay, you can tell me. We have been friends forever haven’t we?”

“I guess… but you can’t tell the others!”

“I won’t”

“Promise me Tiff!”

“I promise!”

I take a breath. 

“I kissed the priest” 

“What priest?” She replies blankly.

“THE Priest! The one who’s doing the wedding tomorrow!”

She stares at me blankly for a moment as she processes what I’ve just told her. I can almost see the cogs turning in her brain and suddenly the penny drops.

“OH MY GOD!”

“I know”

“Y/N!” 

“I know!”

“Does Daniel know?”

“Of course not”

“You have to tell him!”

“Are you insane?! He’d go mad!”

“He deserves to know that his so called fiancé has been cheating on him”

“I haven’t been cheating on him, it was just one stupid drunken kiss”

“If it was ‘just a kiss’ why haven’t you told him?”  

“Because-” I think about telling her the truth. That if I told him he’d get angry and most likely hurt me. But I don’t. “I just can’t”

“If you don’t, I will” 

“No, Tiff please you can’t”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t go there now and tell him” she says and stares at me as I silently stare back at her. When she begins to walk away I panic.

“Because he hurts me!” I finally admit, and she looks back at me confused “That’s why I’ve been too scared to tell him”

“No” she shakes her head “No he wouldn’t, he swore he’d never be like his dad”

“And he’s not. He’s not as bad as his father was, he just gets angry and sometimes he takes it out on me.” I explain but she’s still shaking her head in disbelief “a few days ago I had to go to the hospital because he burnt me” I pull the collar of my dress down to expose the burn scars on my neck “this is what’s left of him throwing boiling hot coffee in my face”

She looks from my neck to my face, sadness in her eyes as she processes everything. After a few moments she finally speaks. 

“I won’t tell him” 

“Thank you!” I breathe a sigh of relief 

“But I also won’t be at the wedding tomorrow” 

“Tiff, you're my maid of honour! My best friend! I need you”

“I can’t pretend to be happy for you, pretend that I agree with this marriage. I’m sorry”

“Tiff! Tiffany!” I call after her but she continues to walk away, hailing a passing taxi and disappearing into the night. 

“Y/N? What happened? Where’s Tiff?” Eva asks, poking her head out the door and looking around. 

“She’s gone” I say simply, turning to look at her “Guess I need a new maid of honour” 

— — — — 

The following morning goes by in a blur. The girls, minus Tiffany, stayed at my house over night while Daniel stayed at his mate’s house. I was awakened by the sounds of the girls running upstairs, screaming excitedly that “today is the day” as they jumped into my bed. 

Once they’d calmed down we had all gone downstairs for a light breakfast before the girls began getting ready. Maybe it’s the constant sound of laughing and chatting, or maybe its the slight hangover from the night before but I suddenly feel the need to get out. I excuse myself and head outside to get some air, taking a seat on the front step of my house. I take a few deep breaths and allow my head to drop into my hands, my elbows propped up on my knees. A few seconds later I hear footsteps up the driveway and look up to see the priest. 

“Hi” I say, unable to hide the confusion in my voice. 

“can we talk?” 

Final Chapter

[jujutsubabe]

How Satoru react if s/o was bonding with his students and becoming a parental figure/older sibling to them and was super protectively them, even going so far fight off a deadly curse to keep them safe?

oh god Gojo with someone who takes care of his students 😭😭😭

He calls u two a power couple, like he loves having someone being just as hyped up about his students as he is.

Whenever you two talk about the students, he makes u refer to them as “our kids” as if you two were parents 😌

“Hey did you drop our kids off yet?”

You can literally hear him smiling over the phone,“Yeah, our kids are at the school.”

“Ok, thanks. Love you bye.”

He squeals and rolls around when you hang up 💀 wtf is wrong with this man....

Expect him to make custom shirts with your first names on the front and on the back it says “Gojo power couple” Good day💀

If ur willing to fight off a curse for his students he’s going to hype you up from the sidelines, even going as far as to make a poster with your name on it 😭.

“If you have the energy to make that then help me...” You would say.

“I don’t want to ruin this poster! Team Gojo you got this!”

He’s lucky he has Itadori to cheer back while the rest of you glare from behind...

You’re super protective of the students when there’s a curse, so you always hold your arm out, pushing them away to explain what they all need to do.

You’ll be explaining the team work they need to do, looking super serious and trying to focus but like,,,,

Ur kinda hot......

*cue Gojo internally squealing.*

If he has to join in, he’s so excited to work with you. At the end of every fight he says, “wow! Look at us? Aren’t we just the best?? Look at the examples you guys have, you must be so happy to have parents like us!”

“Gojo, were not your kids.”

He waves Megumi off and tries to make out with you, as if the kids are not standing right there.....

sometimes the student’s will be watching a movie and pull you in.

They update you on the current part and get all excited talking about it and aw ❤️ theyre so cute.

You have to physically hold in all of your squealing and cooing as you see Itadori do his dorky character impressions.

Honestly?? The kids love hanging out with you, it’s so fun!

You’re mature enough to call them out when they’re wrong, and also laid back enough to laugh at their jokes.

They eventually get really comfy with you, not minding if you’re in the same room as them, kinda inviting you whenever you walk by.

They all have specific things they like to do with you!!

Nobora likes it when you paint her nails, Itadori likes it when you pet his hair, and Megumi likes it when you cook dinner with him.

They all see you as a parental figure okay💗guh ugh dawwww

He feels like he’s apart of a family when you’re around, you being the serious parent and him being the fun one.

When he sees you interact that way, he fr cannot help but join in, it makes him warm and sticky inside🥰.

When Satoru isn’t around they go to you for help, asking for advice on cursed energy and sometimes!! If you’re lucky!! They ask about dating or life advice!!

you overheard Itadori talking about the topic once, you were passing by his room when you overheard him on the phone speaking loudly with someone.

He was talking about his love life, and you being the nosy person you were, decided to hear just what he talked about.

You listened in as Itadori talked about this girl he had his eyes on, “Yeah, she’s great. I think she’s the most beautiful girl in the world.”

You nearly choked on your spit, Itadori actually liked someone??

You didn’t expect to hear this content, especially not by just walking past his door!

You leaned your ear closer, “Her smile is so beautiful! I’ve never seen anyone like it, I have to marry her.”

Your eyes popped out of your head, marry!? Marry who!? Did your ears stop working or did you hear that right?

“She’s in my room right now actually, if you want to see.”

Your jaw was on the floor. Your hands nearly shaking from his confession. Who was this girl that Itadori thought was beautiful, marriage material, and had in his room???

Though you loved the idea of him having a girlfriend, as an adult you couldn’t allow Itadori to be alone with a girl in his room, especially without telling anyone she was even in there!

You took in a breath before knocking at his door.

You heard a thunk and shuffling on the other side as he opened the door, probably hiding the girl as he walked over.

When he opened the door, his hair was disheveled as wide eyes adorned his face, “Hey, is something wrong?”

You shook your head, then backtracked and nodded. “Yes Itadori, I was passing by and couldn’t help but overhear your conversation about a girl being in your room.”

“Oh you heard that?” He cocked his head, and you pitied the poor boy, you didn’t want to be the one to bring such down information. “I thought I was being quiet.”

You shook your head, “No, and though I think it’s great you’re getting into a relationship, it’s not appropriate for her to be in your dorm. Especially without you telling anyone.”

His eyes seemed to race in thought, probably going over an excuse of some kind that you could only shake your head at, “Oh but—“

“No but’s Itadori, do her parents even know she’s here?”

“Well I don’t think...they do.”

You sighed, you hated having to set rules, it sucked being the bad cop in the situation.

“Itadori, that’s so dangerous! How did you plan on taking her back home? Her parents must be worried sick.”

This was so unlike him, to hide something from you, you wondered if Gojo even knew about this.

“Uh well,” he fiddled with his thumbs, “maybe it’d be better if you saw her...”

He pulled the door open to reveal Gojo posing behind him in a skirt.

“Hi honey!”

Was shocked the right word to describe the situation?

You stared dead at your husband with your mouth dropped. How... how were you supposed to react to that?

“We were trying to prank Fushiguro and Nobora if it helps.” Itadori said, holding his phone up.

Nobora’s face popped up on the screen, “Don’t worry, it didn’t work.”

You could see Megumi studying in his room and shaking his head. “Go get your husband, he’s been bothering us for hours.”

You always wondered how long you could drag Gojo by his ear for.

Answer: 45 minutes

(He bribed you with food if you let go...)

So he likes the way you interact with the kids and he really likes playing around with you😌

[ennui-gt]

Here it is. A Piece Of Borrower Content Written Entirely In Stream Of Consciousness:

AN: so this is incomplete and very…needs revisions to the timeline to incorporate some things I added later! It’s the original universe that Mira’s from! I edited it like Slightly to just change Ross’s name to Ross (if u see Max anywhere that’s his old one I just felt like changing it so that’s just him but different. Anyway) Everything's under the readmore tab, cheers!

The Library Fairy:

-

Basic Plot (Chrono, comic starts from human perspective abt the ‘legend of the library fairy’ ig maybe. Nothing here is permanent cept the characterization)

Part A

1- Mira is borrower currently chillin in a college library

2- She lives off of the cafe on the second floor nd reads lots and lots of stuff about everything when the upper floors close (lower floor open 24/7 but upper floors r vacant p much after 12:00 AM)

3- she starts getting increasingly curious about human stuff cos she’s literate nd books r pry neat

4- it starts one night when she spots an unattended notebook and a half eaten blueberry muffin, nd it’s 12:30 so nobody’s coming back in atm (it’s the 80s so no laptops for the plebians quite yet)

5- so she goes ‘welp’ nd takes part of the muffin, then sees the work on the page and goes ‘hmmmm this is incorrect’ so she helps our and leaves notes here n there to point the kid in the right direction and puts down some book refs for further study bcos at this point she’s been there for 2 years and she knows where most things are

6- she stays behind to see if the human comes back for it, hidden in a hidey hole near the desk

7- human comes in, sees notebook, practically melts w relief nd stuffs it in his bag

8- next day human comes back nd leaves nother notebook and a cookie, along w a hidden camera

9- Mira goes ‘o boy, this a trap, innit’

10- Mira then decides ‘eh whatever I haven’t had contact w anyone in years now so I might as well’

11- she steals the camera film nd leaves a lil scrap of paper saying ‘nice try ;)’ on it

12- student comes back, sees paper, goes ‘dammit’, then leaves note addressed to the ‘library fairy’ and another cookie, as well as more of their work for her to help with

13- bout a decade goes by and now the “Library Fairy” is an urban myth, it’s currently 2003 so she’s also wound up on the school’s unofficial Wikipedia page under ‘local cryptids’

14- most library employees know of her but they don’t go looking out of fear stemming from superstitions bout her, somehow the legend grew from ‘can’t be photographed’ to ‘a student once saw her and died that day’

15- there’s now a small shrine devoted to her where ppl bring offerings hoping to get good grades in return, sometimes they will leave papers for her to proofread nd stuff

16- new prof (named Alexei) finds online article thinks he Knows What’s Up bcos he had a borrower friend as a kid, but they left when borrower’s fam found out about them knowing each other

17- he leaves note wedged in one of her secret entrances behind outlet, asking if she can meet w him at some point

18- Mira, already In it, goes ‘Okay. Alright. This has gone on for long enough. Time to go and never return’ but ofc she’s curious as all hell and like she decides she will at least honor the guy’s request for a convo b4 she goes, but on her terms and w/o speaking face 2 face

19- they Talk in the library after hours, bcos he paid off the janitor to let him stay after hours nd most of the student employees recognize him as a prof nd leave him alone

20- they talk again for every subsequent night

21- she uhhhh finally decides to reveal herself nd prays that her hunch was right nd he won’t try to grab her or anything

22- he doesn’t but she’s nervous so she winds up gettin caught in her own climbing rope like idiot, is now dangling from ceiling in tangled mess

23- he stifles chuckle nd she says smthn sarcastic

24- he moves closer and offers to untangle her

25- she’s like ‘please’

26- so he do, but her grip on the rope slips nd he has to catch her

26- so now she’s in his hand and he just sets her down and now he’s a bumbling embarrassed mess bcos he said he wasn’t going to hold her and he just did and o dear pls forgib him

28- nd she’s like ‘dude u just saved my life it’s fine ur fine chill’

29- internally she’s going HOLY FUCK AAAAAAA but externally, her human’s already worked up enough as it is so she’s gotta b the level headed one

29.5- after a while they both kinda get used to each other more, he gets tenure, they celebrate, some more stuff happens, Aleksei got married (not to Mira, Mira hasn’t actually rly thought about being in a relationship w anyone cos she’s laser focused on gaining as much knowledge as possible)

30- eventually Alexei’s like ‘hey so I’m dean of faculty for the biotech branch now uhhhh would u like actual job teaching students? Cos, uh, you can do it remotely thru online lectures n stuff, no in person interaction, and I uh was just kinda wondering—‘

31- she’s like ‘yes. Yes!!! LET ME HELP PEOPLE OFFICIALLY KINDA’

32- so now she’s a professor, and has revealed her Secret a few times here n there to a number of the faculty, nd she has recorded her own findings in a personal journal

33- ‘humans will treat u like a human if they think ur human first. The kids call it ‘catfishing’’

34- enter Ross, an mall goth who accidentally tripped headfirst into a premed program

35- Mira’s favorite field of study is bio so naturally she’s his prof for a majority of his classes

36- being the good boy that he is, he now knows Mira’s secret. There is an Entire Chapter on him finding out and legit just continuing their conversation as if everything was normal bcos he thought that was how he was supposed to handle the situation

37- then she says ‘u can ask questions, u know’ he’s like OH THANK FUCK CAUSE I HAVE SEVEN HUNDRED OF THOSE

38- and now he kinda knows what to look for in terms of ‘do borrowers live here check yes or no’

39-in his apartment, the answer is yes and he mistakenly kinda stumbles upon the mom one night when he wakes up in the middle of the night for Snack and opts to pretend like its not happening. Unfortunately the thing she was trying 2 borrow (piece of crumb cake for Son Boy’s birthday) is the thing he wants 2 eat so he’s like “uh. ‘Scuse me, ma’am.” and he peels back the saran wrap on the other side of the plate, takes piece, nd then leaves some there for her

40-so now the woman is like ‘welp guess it time 2 Leave’

.1- she and husband Talk

.2-they decide it best 2 go

.3-theyre Packing

.4-lil bab Ellie confused

.5-hawk attacke

.6-cut to Ross

41- Ross also happens to work at a bar and he goes outside for a break

43- he finds smal child—smol smal—on the sidewalk and said child is missing an arm, nd has lost a lot of blood, so he’s uhhhhh Losing It highkey

43.5-parents r nowhere 2 b seen, but the hawk is nearby and circling. Ross gets an idea of what just happened

44- he up and leaves work, thankfully his apartment is above the shop so he jumps up the fire escape w the child and

45- he make tourniquet

46- he calls Mira nd asks her 2 come over to ASAP. he’s A Mess at this point

47- it is Very touch and go, kid needs blood, Mira is the only viable donor so she’s just gotta pray that the blood type is fine and won’t kill him

48- and then eventually they manage 2 stave infection thru antibiotics properly dosed to his size, Mira does Math and Prays basically

49- ‘bout a month in, kid wakes up

50- kid doesn’t rember much since he’s only 3

51- hes v scared of Ross at first but over time he gets used 2 the human

52- kid (elliot) starts 2 call Ross ‘dad’ after a while

53- Ross: *internal screaming but in a good way*

54- the end kinda for now

Part 2

A- New Borrowers In The Building

—three of em. paranoid dad, mom, nd daughter that’s Elliot’s age so he’s pumped

B- Elliot offers them a place 2 stay briefly

C- he knows by now bout like, how borrowers don’t typically interact w humans and Auntie Mira’s a bit of a weird case so he just doesn’t tell em bout his dad being the human

D- the kid finds out first nd doesn’t tell the parents, but they figure it out later kinda and think that it’s a ‘o god he’s being kept as a pet’ sitch so they’re >:| abt it

E- they move out and try to take Elliot w them (by force bcos they think he’s brainwashed) but he escapes and makes it to Ross, who’s like “uhhhhhh”

F- and the mom come out the hole near the counter n starts yelling at Ross, who is…kinda used to it since Mira brings in ppl who need help from time 2 time and they typically don’t react well when they’re lucid enough to understand what’s going on. He’s just not used to being questioned about his own kid

G- so they’re like “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING WITH HIM”

H- and he’s like “r…raising him???”

I- and Ellie steps up and he’s like “this is my dad. I decided he was my dad when I was three. He’s being a good parent”

J- and Ross is like “yeah what he said. I’m a good parent.”

K- Ross is riding that high til the end of fucking time but like back to the story at hand

L- this is when the husband comes out nd is like “lissen. wifey. ily but that is a very big human and he hasn’t grabbed us yet so let’s count our blessings and gtfo”

M- but she’s like “uh no we stay until I’m sure Elliot is Safe and fucking Sound”

N- so they stay for dinner nd stick around a little longer.

O- Val (the kid) gets closer 2 Elliot and also Ross a bit

P- Mira shows once or twice, first time she shows up they’re like “oh god it’s the crazy doctor lady this all makes sense now” (bcos Mira does check up on as many borrower families as possible in her free time so word has got around by now Of her, and the number by which to contact her in case her services r needed)

Q- After a month or so, then they decide to leave bcos they’re like “look we get that ur son is ur son and he only has one arm and in our profession that is kind of a death sentence but we can’t have our kid getting used to dealing w humans who know about our existence” so they go and leave on a kind of sour note bcos Ellie can do anything he wants to do just as well as any other borrower Thank You Very Much and Ross is ready to fite anyone who thinks otherwise

R- Elliot starts trying 2 b more independent, basically from now on he’s like ‘I can do everything my Damn Self Thanks’

S- but uh he does it to a point where he’s going out of the way to endanger himself

T- so they get into a fite about it and ross Yells and Elliot is like ‘kthxbye’

U- and the boi just. Fuckin bolts. Runs Away. Ross is a Mess, he starts smoking again (he quit cold turkey the day he took Elliot in) to curb the depression, he’s jus. Not doin good, worried that his son is dead and the last time they talked it’d ended badly

V- FREEDOM!!!1! Except Ellie doesn’t kno how to take care of himself so it’s a rough month or so and then he runs into some other borrowers livin in their own town in the wild ig, chillin, being hella independent, and he’s like “uh yes ofc I will join u, I was w my dad for a while but.........” he neither confirms nor denies that his dad’s dead but everyone kinda just assumes.

Part 3

W-anyway a year goes by and then the borrower group gets hit hard w some kind of sickness ig. Elliot gets it too he’s basically incapacitated n drifting in and out of lucidity. So. They contact the weird crazy doctor lady who hangs around humans, a.k.a. Mira, and she’s like “oh. fuck. I know this kid.” bcos she does, u kno, and she jus treats em all for their ailment and shows them how to make antibiotic poultice thing in case smthn like it happens again. Mold. Penicillin is basically what it is

X-she and Elliot hav a Chat (Mira basically yells at him a lot) once he’s fixed up and he decides he’s gonna visit his dad but he makes it very clear that he is a Grown Up (he’s not, he’s literally sixteen), and he is living on his own now

Y- he agrees to stay for a week tho since he misses his home a lot tbh and Ross is just. Over the fucking moon to know he’s ALIVE, he’s not gonna fuck up their relationship by insisting that he stay. Or like, by keeping him ofc he would never

Z- unfortunately the borrower community put two and two together and figured out his dad’s human so they have his stuff packed up when he gets back w mira, who’s ready to go the fuck off on them

End 1:

-Ellie is living at Ross’s place atm and hopeful about the future basically. He eventually will go off on his own but he’ll keep in contact w his dad and stuff

Part C.5

55- few yrs later

56- elliot is Adult now he does adult borrower stuff

57- he moves out

58- finds nice borrower gf (her name’s Tess)

59- doesn’t tell her about his dad being human but talks about his dad a LOT

60- so when she asks to meet said father he’s just like “uh. Maybe we don’t do that actually”

61- and she’s like “y tho”

62- and he’s like “bcos”

63- anyway she decides to look into it cos she knows he goes to see his dad nd keep in touch but his dad is allegedly “a recluse who lives in the big scary human’s walls to avoid other ppl”

64- which is. Not true in the slightest tbqh he’s def not an introvert he’s just a workaholic and he Is the big scary human

65- anywho they run into Val and her wife and she’s like “how’s Ross been?” And Elliot is acting Very Suspish so she, being Smart, calls it immediately and is like “oh shit u haven’t told her yet have u”

66- Tess: “told me what”

67- Val: “El’s dad is a human, bro.”

68- Tess: “I’m sorry?”

69- this results in a Big Fight and they separate for like, a month. Elliot blames Val bcos he’s being irrational and doesn’t wanna admit to the fact that lying to his girlfriend for over a year was Real Bad Actually, but over time he’s like ‘yeah it’s my fault sry for snapping at u’ cos he works thru his emotions n stuff

70- Eventually gf comes back cos she’s like “ok so. I understand why you lied to me about your dad. It was a dick move but I do get it and I still care about you a lot. I would like. To meet him.”

80- this is a lie she does not want to meet him she is doing this bcos she does not want to lose Elliot and that outweighs the fear of his dad

81- so they go to meet him but she’s just kinda. Behind the wall at first like “that’s a crazy big human this is crazy ur crazy it’s time to gO”

82- Val is also there bcos she hasn’t seen Ross in a while

83- they eventually coax her out of hiding

84- and by that I mean Val picks her up and drags her out into the open by force bcos she basically freezes up the second she catches sight of Ross and Val’s like “u didn’t come all this way for nothing, bich”

85- they have a Painfully Awkward First Meeting, Tess is trying her best but oh god he’s just too fucking. Larg. Ellie ur dad too big

86- tbh tho the ice kinda breaks after Ellie and Ross get into a fight over smthn stupid (im thinking Elliot grumbles bout Ross’s hair being unruly and he’s worried that mira’s using it like a personal storage system again and Ross is like “I’ve been keeping better track of that actually” and then like a little line of paper clips and a few hand-bound notebooks tied together w some string fall out of his fucking mane and he’s like “I can explain”

87- “dad you can’t keep letting her use your hair like a fucking NEST”

88- Tess is laughing now cos god damn this was not what she was expecting

89- that’s it the end it ends w Tess laughing at them being idiots good times r had by all

Uhhhh that’s it so far. I have More but it’s kinda jumbled rn and I need to fit stuff in places. Anyway.

[imekitty]

Because I'm sadistic, I have a Prompt: Danny has incredibly slowed age. He looks about twenty, when he's almost sixty, and his mind is as sharp as ever. He's attending Sam's funeral

This was exceptionally hard to write.

———–

Tucker parked his car in the cemetery’s front parking lot. Past the gate, Danny could see a large crowd of people gathered, every single one of them dressed in black. Exactly the way Sam would’ve wanted it.

Or maybe not. Maybe she wouldn’t have liked how everyone was dressed in her signature color. She did like to be as unique and different as possible.

Danny unbuckled his seat belt and gave Tucker a weak smile. “Need help getting out?”

“You really haven’t aged,” muttered Tucker. His smile was also weak but still deepened all of the lines in his face. “You just can’t help being a brat even now at a funeral.”

“Look, I just know your knee gives you trouble.”

“Yeah, it does, but I’m not decrepit yet.”

Danny hopped out of the car and walked to the other side just in time to see Tucker groan as he put weight on his leg.

“Here.” Danny held out an arm to help, an arm still strong and taut.

Tucker shook his head and shut the door. “Thanks, but I’m okay.” He stretched his back and looked up at the sky. “It’s sunny. I’m not sure Sam would’ve liked this.”

Tucker squinted in the bright light, his eyes crinkling, skin sagging. Creases and jowls that Danny did not have.

“You gonna let everyone see you?” asked Tucker.

Danny looked down at himself. “Oh.” He turned invisible so that no one could see him. Because there were people at this funeral who might recognize him. People who would wonder why his hair was still so dark, his skin tone still so even and smooth, why there were no spots or wrinkles anywhere on his face.

The price of keeping his youth for longer than he was supposed to.

Danny walked alongside Tucker past the gate into the cemetery, kept his pace slow and synced with Tucker’s. Tucker stared straight ahead, acting as if there weren’t an invisible man by his side.

When they reached the gravesite, the oldest woman there approached Tucker. Pam Manson, Sam’s mother. At eighty-two years old, she had outlived both her husband and now her daughter.

“Tucker. So wonderful you could make it.” Pam directed him to a seat.

“Of course,” said Tucker. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

“But it seems Danny would.”

Danny rubbed his thumbs over his knuckles in an attempt to keep calm.

Tucker smiled, the corners of his mouth and eyes twitching. “Danny really wanted to be here, Pam. But he unfortunately had some family matters to take care of.”

“Of course, I understand. I wouldn’t expect him to put one of his oldest childhood friends above his family.”

Danny’s lips thinned. Sam’s mother never did like him, and after more than fifty years, that apparently hadn’t changed.

Well. At least Danny didn’t have to pretend to smile. He could make faces at her all he wanted and she’d never know.

Danny stood silently next to Tucker and only listened to the conversation he was carrying with the family beside him. This was fine, really. He was always so shy anyway and bad at making good impressions. It was just fine that no one could see him so he didn’t have to interact with anyone.

Just… Just fine.

The funeral conductor began addressing the crowd. Danny did not recognize him. In fact, he did not recognize most of the people here. When he and Sam were younger, he knew everything about her and the people in her life, but after high school, she moved pretty far from Amity Park to attend a more prestigious university, and then she just…never returned. She met a guy in one of her classes who was also a goth in his high school years, and they married shortly after graduating. Danny remembered opening the wedding invitation, smiling at how not at all surprising it was that she’d marry a guy named Lucien.

And now her children were all grown up. He could see them in the front row, all four of them. They even had small children of their own now.

During the funeral, throughout the eulogies and speeches, no one mentioned her cause of death even once. No, of course not, they all wanted to focus on her life, her strong moments, not her weakest.

But Danny’s mind kept drifting to how this all started, to that first phone call from Sam just a little under five years earlier when she told him she had been diagnosed with leukemia. She posted frequently on social media about her journey through chemotherapy, remission, recurrence, more chemo, a second remission, another recurrence, more chemo and experimental treatments, a third remission.

And throughout it all, Danny talked to her on the phone as often as he could and used rips in the Ghost Zone to visit her in the hospital when needed.

After the fourth recurrence, when the cancer spread to her brain, the doctors sent her home to die. And Danny visited her every single time she informed him that her husband and children weren’t around. He had to keep his half-ghost secret even from them.

“You look good, Danny,” Sam remarked during one of their final times together.

She had been lying on a hospital bed that had been set up in her home. The left side of her face drooped as she looked at him out of only her right eye; the cancer in her brain had caused irreparable nerve damage. Danny sat beside her and held her nearly translucent hand riddled with veins.

“It’s incredible how young you still look; I keep forgetting you’re sixty like me. You look like you could still be in college,” said Sam feebly but with humor. “Maybe I should’ve zapped myself in that portal with you.”

Danny studied her pale face, the sparse patches of hair on her head, her loose skin.

“You look beautiful, Sam,” said Danny.

Sam gave him her familiar smirk, the one he loved so much even if it was slightly lopsided now. “You don’t have to lie to me.”

Danny wished he could make her believe he absolutely meant it with all his heart.

“I don’t think I’m going to become a ghost,” said Sam the very last time he visited her. “If you’re worried.”

Danny furrowed his brow.

“I’ve had five years to prepare for this,” said Sam. “I’m okay with it now. I feel ready. I’m not going to die with any intense regrets or unfinished business. So don’t worry; I won’t be making your life as a ghost fighter harder when I go.”

She gave him one last smile, one last memory for him to cherish.

“There’s just no longer a call for me to stay.”

Danny stifled a sob and put a hand over his mouth even though no one at this funeral could see him anyway.

“You okay?” whispered Tucker.

“Yeah,” Danny replied as breathlessly as he could. He looked forward again at the current speaker, one of Sam’s sons. His eyes were dry but bloodshot.

One of them had to die first. Of him, Sam, and Tucker, one of them had to be the first to go. Danny didn’t expect it to happen quite this soon, but it was always inevitable. And then the next friend would die, and one would outlive the others.

But he and Tucker both already knew who would be attending whose funeral in the future. It was only a question of when Tucker would die and how old Danny would appear at that time.

And Jazz, well, he knew he’d be outliving her, too. And that was normal. Him, Sam, Tucker, Jazz, they were all about the same age. It was supposed to be that way.

And it was also normal for him to attend his parents’ funerals. They were both gone now. He had expected them to die first and was at peace with it.

He again looked at the speaker, Sam’s son, speaking at his mother’s funeral because that was how it was meant to be, children burying their parents and then moving on until their own children buried them.

In the front row, Pam cried into her hands.

And Danny realized that would one day be him.

He clutched at his chest but kept his shuddering breaths quiet. His children already looked older than he did, which could only mean—

They would get old before he did.

They would die before he did.

And for all he knew, his grandchildren might surpass him in age as well, and then he’d be attending their funerals, too.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. This wasn’t how he was supposed to be. He wasn’t supposed to be half ghost. He was born human and he was supposed to stay that way.

Was this God punishing him for bastardizing the body he was given? Forcing him to watch everyone he loved die before he could finally leave, too?

Pam was still crying. If only Danny could ask her what it was like to bury her child. Maybe she could help him prepare for when he would have to bury all of his.

Danny sniffled as a couple tears slid down his face. Tucker glanced up in his direction but said nothing. For once, Danny was glad to be invisible. He hated crying with other people around, but here, he could cry as much as he wanted and no one would ever know.

He was supposed to grow old with his wife. Supposed to grow old with Tucker. It was hard to even think of Tucker as his “bro” these days, not with this difference in appearance and abilities. Tucker was once full of energy, and now he was just tired all the time and unable to walk or run for long without triggering inflammation in his knee. Hanging out with Tucker now was mostly just watching TV or talking or maybe playing a video game if Tucker was up for it. Nothing like the adventures they used to have, the adventures Danny still had energy for. It had been years since Tucker even joined Danny on ghost patrol.

And that should’ve been fine. That should’ve been normal. Danny should’ve been right there with him, advanced in years and down on energy, the two of them enjoying the remainder of their lives while watching their kids take on new adventures.

Instead, he was watching everyone slowing down and dying while he was stuck here and unable to follow them. Even if he wanted to join them all sooner in death, his ghostly obsession would never allow it. He had to stay here for as long as his supernatural body and health allowed him to.

You’re so lucky, Sam, Tucker, Jazz, his wife, and even his kids kept telling him. So lucky to not have to deal with wrinkles and thinning hair, straining eyes and aching joints, discolored skin spots and bulging veins.

Well, someday he was gonna be all alone. Then how lucky would he be?

A cloud covered the sun as a new speaker moved to the front. Danny shivered in the new cold shade. He wished he could say a few words, let everyone know just how amazing Sam was and how much he missed her and how much he still loved her.

But he couldn’t. He was stuck right here.

[whatisthiscontentyouspeakof]

Guardian of Light

Being anxious about post the last chapter and how well you guys would receive it has resulted in me not looking at any of the notes this account has gotten because anxiety, so if you asked to be tagged, I haven’t see it yet and thus you haven’t been added to the tag list. I promise to have you added for the next post though.

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Chapter 3: Friends

(Age 12)

Marinette looked at the girl in front of her. She was pale, caucasian, with blond hair and bright blue eyes. Her hair was straight with a slight wave to the ends of it, with half of it pulled up in a ponytail with the rest staying down along with two strands at the front to frame her face. She wore a canary yellow aline dress with a black bow along the waist seam, with black cuban heeled boots and a black wide brim hat. And most importantly, she was staring at Marinette as if she was looking at an alien.

“Can I help you?” she asked the blond politely.

“Marinette,” her birth name came out of the girls mouth like a whimper, as if saying the name pained her.

“Yes?” she said.

Tears formed in the girl's eyes and she brought one of her hands up to cover her mouth, revealing her french manicure. “I-” the girl had to stop as her voice cracked. She took a few calming breaths before speaking again. “I’m sure you don’t remember me, god we were so young. We used to be in the same class back before you were taken. If I hadn’t been such a brat back then, maybe you never would have gone missing.”

That clicked something in her mind as she flashed back to one of the few memories she had before becoming Niu. “You’re the girl in the park.” She whispered. “The one throwing a tantrum.”

That didn’t seem like the best thing to say as the girl full on started to cry, not the kind of crying that came with sobs and screams but the kind where tears leaked from your eyes uncontrollably. After a moment of silence the girl laughed. “I'm sorry, I’m such a mess. I’m Chloe by the way, not sure if you remember that much.”

“I would say I’m Marinette, but I think you already know that,” Marinette said, not sure how to continue. Was she supposed to get angry at the girl since she obviously blamed herself or was she supposed to say it was nothing and the past is in the past. When in doubt, go with nice. “Hey, it’s fine, okay. I really don’t remember much about that day. We were three, I’m sure it wasn’t your fault I was taken. And it’s not like you were the one who took me.”

“I know I’m being ridiculous just so you know,” The girl, Chloe said. “It’s just, I was such a brat and I threw the fit and that’s why none of the teachers were watching when you were grabbed. It was a bit of a wake up call for me, that not everything revolved around me and I spent all this time thinking I got you killed, that you were dead in a forest somewhere but then I heard you’d been found and I couldn’t believe it.”

Marinette studied the girl before coming up with an idea. She took a step back and turned her back to the girl. She could feel the girls confusion as her crying slowed down. Once she was sure the girl was calm she turned back around. “Hello,” she said with a wide smile. “My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. When I was three I was forced to live with some people who weren’t the nicest; I don’t want to talk about it so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask any questions. I’ve been living with my parents again for the last two months after being in a year long coma. I’m going to be going into Sixieme at College Francoise Dupont. And you are?”

The girl hesitated for a moment before wiping her tears away. “I am Chloe Bourgeois. I used to be a spoiled brat, having two rich parents can do that to a kid but when a kid in my class disappeared I got realized that other people mattered and tried my hardest to do better. I still have my moments in which I’m a bitch and materialistic but that’s not all I am. My mom is Style Queen Audrey Bourgeois and my dad is the current Mayor of Paris Andre Bourgeois. I’m also about to enter Sixieme at College Francoise Dupont, and I’d like to be the first to offer to show you around Paris again since you’ve been gone for so long.”

Marinette smiled. “Why not.”

Afterall, if she was going to be in Paris for a while, who better to have as a friend then a socialite and daughter of the mayor?

Marinette followed Chloe up to her bedroom, having an off feeling about the blond. So far she’d been nothing but nice to Marinette, showing her all the ‘hip’ hang outs and catching her up on all the students that would be in their year, all useful information, but the girl had something planned and it was putting Marinette on edge. She doubted it was anything to cause her harm, the blond had yet to give off any signals to suggest such, but her training refused to allow her to let her guard down. You never knew who was just pretending to be your friend after all and who knew, maybe Chloe had been trained by someone similar to how Marinette had been with the Order.

Chloe showed her around the room when suddenly three people walked into the room, one was a blond boy, another was a stern looking woman with black hair that had some bits dyed red, and the last was a large, buff man who stood looming over the boy with a protective air about him. She’d seen enough bodyguards and personal guards in her life to know what one looked like. The question was why did the boy need one.

“Ms. Bourgeois, I thought Mr. Agreste made it quite clear that Adrien was to spend today hanging out with you, per your request, and no one else.” The stern woman said when she caught sight of Marinette. She seemed like a personal assistant or other hired worker of whoever this ‘Mr. Agreste was’.

“I can leave if you want,” Marinette said, not wanting to step on any toes quite yet. She needed a better understanding of Paris, and who would be useful and not useful to play nice with, and pissing off someone who obviously had money and potentially influence, would go against that.

“That’s ridiculous. You’re my friend Marinette and so is Adrien. If I want to hang out with both of you then I should be able to. Tell Mr. Agreste to shove his over protectiveness . Marinette isn’t going to hurt Adrien and my floor is one of the safest places in Paris.” Chloe snapped. “Adrien is going to grow up and become an adult eventually. Mr. Agreste should be careful not to push and push until Adrien resents him.”

“Chloe,” the blond boy, Adrien, said He looked more and more uncomfortable the longer she spoke.

“Chloe, it’s fine. Mr. Agreste obviously has certain rules in place and I would hate to break them.” Marinette said, her voice firm. She turned to the assistant. “I’m sorry for any trouble I may have caused. While it would be nice to make more friends here in Paris, I can understand a parent not wanting their child to hang out with someone they do not know. I am however friends with Chloe,” something she wouldn’t have personally called them, especially not so soon, but Marinette was willing to go along with it, “and as such, there could be more situations in which she tries to hang out with both of us. As such I’d be willing to meet with Mr. Agreste so he could decide for himself whether I am someone he wants around his son, and I am sure my parents would agree with a meeting as well.”

The assistant looked at her, trying to see if she meant what she said, before nodding. “If you wish to give me your number I can talk with Mr. Agreste and see what he has to say. I will call if he is willing to have a meeting with you and your parents. Until then, I ask that you stay away from Adrien and leave if Chloe tries getting the three of you to hang out together.”

“Of course,” Marinette said.

A week later Marinette found herself with her parents, that was still a weird word to her, sitting in an office waiting for Mr. Agreste to arrive. Her parents seem impressed by the Agreste Mansion though Marinette found it to be an arbitrary display of wealth. The rooms were too large, the white and black theme of everything in the house was old and overused. The giant portrait of Agreste’s wife was an obvious rip off of the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, commonly known as The Women (or Lady) in Gold, which was just weird. At least be original with your art instead of ripping off a piece of stolen Jewish art.

From her research Gabriel Agreste was a famous fashion designer of the brand Gabriel in which his son, Adrien, was the main model and face for. Mr. Agreste had been a fashion designer since high school, designing and making clothing for his schools theater program. He eventually studied at the Royal College of Art in London where he graduated top of the class and worked for Alexander McQueen in London. He met his wife a few months before graduation, probably one of the reasons he stayed in London instead of moving back to Paris. He stayed with McQueen for a year before leaving to head back to Paris to start his own fashion company, with his now wife, then girlfriend, Emilie following. Around a year or two later he caught the attention of Chloe’s mother, Audrey Bourgeois, aka The Style Queen, skyrocketing him to fame. Within another year he was the Paris designer to watch, married and expecting a child. When his son was five, someone attacked him and his mother to try and ramson them for Gabriel's wealth. Since then the man has been quite the recluse.

Emilie Graham de Vanily grew up with money and wealth in London. Unlike her sister Amelie, it appeared from school reports and interviews that her upbringing didn’t go to her head, keeping a kind and compassionate heart even while surrounded by greed and vanity. She found a love of acting while in College. It was during a dress rehearsal for a small time play she was in that she met the designer behind the costumes, Gabriel Agreste and quickly fell in love. She supported his passion for fashion, encouraging him to start his own fashion house, resulting with her moving to his hometown of Paris. Once his career picked up, following the praise of Audrey Bourgeois, Emilie found herself agreeing to marry the man who had stolen her heart, the two starting a family not long after. During this time Emilie continued to act, mostly in smaller productions, happy to be the supporting partner in her relationship. Not long after giving birth to her son, she starred in the movie Solitude which became the film she was most well known for. When she and her son were attacked, she agreed with her husband to take a step out of the limelight, and while she was seen more than her husband, she still got the title of recluse added to her.

Marinette sat up straighter as she heard approaching footsteps. She gave her parents a pointed look causing the two to stop their conversation as they became aware of the approaching footsteps. They all stood as Gabriel and Emilie Agreste entered the room, Nathalie Sancoeur, who was Gabriel's personal assistant, followed a few steps behind them, staying by the exit, an ipad in her hand.

Her parents politely shook the other two parents hands, introducing themselves and Marinette before any of them sat again. Marinette took note of the fact that Emilie stayed standing behind her husband's chair, suggesting a submissive nature and that she was fine with following Gabriels lead. Her parents on the other hand, generally stood side by side unless one was better equipped to handle a topic, suggesting an equality between them. That did not suggest that there was anything wrong with having a more submissive and dominant relationship, it could offer just as much balance as an equal one giving the right conditions and a respect for all parties involved.

“I understand you wish to interact with my son.” Gabriel Agreste said, skipping over the niceties.

“Yes sir.” Marinette spoke before her parents could try and speak for her. “I befriended Chloe Bourgeois not that long ago and she is insisting that she spends time both with me and Adrien. I will be honest, I don’t mind the idea of making more friends,” it would help her fit in more, “but I understand that you have rules and I’ll understand if you don’t want me hanging out with Adrien after this meeting is over. I’ll even make sure Chloe doesn’t try to set anything up like she had tried to do last week.”

Mr. Agreste studied her, as if trying to see if she was lying. As if he’d be able to tell even if she had been. “I am glad you understand Ms. Dupain-Cheng. I take Adrien’s safety very seriously and do not wish to have any bad influences getting him in dangerous situations.”

Marinette smiled up at the man softly. “I understand. The world is a dangerous place. I have to say, I don’t know what I could say that would make you trust me.”

“I’m surprised to hear you admit that the world is a dangerous place.” Mr. Agreste told her. “Most children your age, my son included, seem to think themselves invincible.”

Marinette allowed her smile to become more rueful, “I’m can assure you Mr. Agreste, I am not ‘most child’.”

“What our Marinette means to say,” Tom Dupain spoke up. “She has had a bit of a rough childhood, and knows better than most that the world can be dangerous.”

“I assume you're alluding to the fact that she had been kidnapped as a young child.” Mr. Agreste said boldly. Someone wasn’t worried about upsetting people's feelings. He smiled at her parents' surprise. “I do background checks on every person my son comes into contact with. Marinette’s missing person file is the top result upon looking up her name. I assume congratulations are in order, since, while there are no news articles speaking of her miraculous return, that return still seems to be recent.”

“I was found collapsed in a park over a year ago,” Marinette explained to him. “I was rushed to a hospital where I was checked over and the doctors realized I had fallen into a coma. When I eventually awoke it was to discover that I was in my hometown, which I had no true memory of, and was reunited with my parents. I am still settling in, but it’s one of the reasons I wouldn’t mind more friends. I’ve never really  had the chance to make some before.”

“That still doesn’t explain where you’ve been all this time.” Mr. Agreste pointed out.

Her mom spoke up for her when she refused to answer. “Marinette refuses to speak of her time away. The therapist that the police directed up to said it is likely the trauma she faced that makes her refuse to say anything and that we shouldn’t push her. I ask that you don’t either.”

Mr. Agreste looked at her curiously. “Don’t you wish to put the people who took you behind bars.”

Marinette kept with her act of saying nothing, refusing to react to what Mr. Agreste said to her. Not that she had one, no police force in the world would be able to take the Temple or the Order down, especially not with the League of Shadows hadding their own protection.

“As we said, Marinette does not speak of what happened to her.” Sabine repeated. “The police believe, after hearing everything the therapist got from reading Marinette’s body language and listening to what she would speak of, that the people who took her are the type of people who kidnap young children to raise as their own only to get rid of them once they start to get too old. That they likely abandoned her where they found her and left her to survive on her own. That she wouldn’t actually know any real facts or details that could help the police find them since they likely lived under fake names in a different part of France if not in a different country.”

“Do you agree with what your therapist and the police believe?” Mr. Agreste asked her.

She just continued to look at him. While having a friend and making a larger friend group in general would help her fit in more, she wasn’t about to tell them what actually happened or confirm any speculation when it could get any one of them killed and bring her unwanted attention.

Mr. Agreste just gave a little nod of his head. “That will be all. My assistant, Nathalie, will escort you out. You’ll be informed of our decision soon.”

The dismissal was clear. The trio left the house behind, her parents insuring her that Mr. Agreste  was a [asshole] (not their words) and that she would make other friends in time. To not let that get her down.

Marinette just sighed internally, a part of her wishing she could go back to being Min, being Tianshi, encased in darkness with Nuri as her only company. At least then everything around her made sense.

Three days later, Marinette was once again in Chloe’s room when Adrien bust through the door, his bodyguard behind him.

“Chloe,” Marinette chided.

“I didn’t invite him,” Chloe insisted.

Adrien smiled widely at her as he handed her a note.

She opened it to see a note, typed not handwritten, stating:

Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I have come to a decision.

You shall be allowed to hand out with Adrien from this point forward.

Gabriel Agreste

Marinette looked back up to see a hand in front of her. Adrien was smiling widely at her, his hand stuck out for her to shake. She slowly reached her hand out and placed it in his.

“Hi!” he said excitedly. “My name is Adrien Agreste. I can’t wait for us to become friends.”

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A Misunderstanding: Lee Minho Soulmate Au Pt.3

Hey guys, I know it’s been a while since I posted for this series and I would like to apologize for that. In the past couple of years, I have had things happening in my life for the good and the worse which has affected my overall health. Because of that, I was never in the right headspace to continue this series. But every now and then, I’ll get notification that people have read my series which makes me happy. Now, that everything is okay with me, I have decided to continue writing and finishing up this series. There will be another part to this with an epilogue in the end so do look out for that! But for now, do enjoy the continuation of this series, part 3 of A Misunderstanding!

PS: It’s been a while since I’ve written so that quality might be bad...

PSS: If you have any questions or requests do leave them in my box, I’ll be sure to read and write them because I have nothing else to do during quarantine now

But anyways, do enjoy reading!

- Iman

_______________________________________________

Genre: Romance, Soulmate Au, Themes of Hanahaki Disease, Slight Angst

Pairing: Lee Minho (Stray Kids) x Reader

Word Count: 3195 words

Description: Y/N and Minho have been best friends for their entire life and have bonded as soulmates but there is one problem within this fantasy. Minho has been blinded and tricked by a fellow classmate by making him believe that he is her soulmate. A replica of Y/N and Minho’s soulmate bond has been tattooed on her body in spite of stealing him away from his original lover to fulfill her needs and crush on him. Now, if Y/N doesn’t find a way to bring Minho back to reality and become an official couple before the end of their high school careers, she will have to suffer from internal and external pain for the rest of her life because of the separation from her one and only. Will Y/N be able to make her best friend and her soulmate realize that she’s the one for him before it’s all too late? Or will she have to suffer the life-long consequences?

Prologue / Part 1 / Part 2

_______________________________________________

Minho’s POV

“Minho have you heard of soulmates? My grandma told me that two people who have the same mark on their body and fall in love with each other when they get older!” “That’s cool! I wonder if we have a mark or the same mark!” I remember hearing Y/N talk about the concept of soulmates when we were younger and it always intrigued me. After my mark was visible on the side of my torso, I always walked around town pulling up people’s sleeves and taking a quick glance at their arms to find a mark that was somewhat similar or identical to my own, however I couldn’t find anyone with any marks with birds flying and a bouquet of flowers so I started to lose faith and hope in the whole idea of soulmates. When senior year came along, I found Seoyun, my soulmate. I was ecstatic to finally find my soulmate after 17 years of finding them, but it affected my friendship with Y/N so badly I have caused her so much damage and pain. All this time, I was blinded by a girl who wanted me for my popularity and skills rather than falling in love with a gain who knew me inside and out and was always there for me no matter the time of day or the place I was at. However, I only realised my mistakes after seeing my best friend suffering alone at the hospital with a chance of either dying or losing all emotions due to her diagnosis of Hanahaki Disease. In order to find out more about my mistake and to learn in-depth, I decided to go back to the countryside quickly to visit my grandparents and the local shaman to talk about this issue. 

An hour bus ride back to Gimpo from Seoul is enough time for me to read the book Jennie gave me when we saw each other in the hospital. She told me to read it in order to understand what soulmates are and the consequences of soulmate rejections. I remember seeing this book in my parents’ house because of their special bond. My mother and father consequently are soulmates and they found out about their faith in college and got married a few years after the whole incident. When I get back, I want to talk to both of them about their experiences with the whole concept of soulmates. Anyways here we go, hopefully by the end of this, I can understand fully about this concept Y/N dearly loved ever since she was a child, fix my mistakes and make it up to her no matter what it takes. 

Gimpo Station, Gimpo Station. We will be arriving at Gimpo Station shortly. 

Well, that’s my station, hopefully both my grandparents and parents are home so that I can talk to all of them. I need to do this quickly before something bad happens to Y/N while I’m out. I make my way to my small house where I used to grow up in in the countryside, a lot of memories flash through my mind especially my memories with Y/N. The playground reminded me of the times where I would play at the swings with Y/N and push her from behind, I still here her scream “Push me higher! I want to touch the skies'' in my head. Makes me chuckle knowing that sometimes she’d lose her grip and fall on her face. Damn… she means a lot to me but I’m so lost, confused and blinded. I walk through the gates of my house and open the doors, a familiar smell of the house hits my nostril and brings me back to my childhood days, “Eomma, I’m home!” I reunited with my parents after 3 years of not seeing them because of my studies in Seoul and my dancing career under JYP Entertainment. Brief hugs and kisses are given but after all of that commotion, I pull both my grandparents and parents into the living so that we could talk about my problems and issues back in Seoul. “Eomma, Appa, I wanted to ask you about relationships and soulmate bonds in specific... Can you tell me about your story about how you met, how you got together. Also can you explain why this whole soulmate thing is really important and why people who are bonded should be other and not with other people?” 

“I see that you're having problems with Y/N and Seoyun, and you’re unsure who your real soulmate is. Don’t worry my child, we’ll help you find your true identity and loved one. I hope you have time on your hands because there’s a lot to talk about. So, sit down and pay attention to what we have to say.” 

After hours sitting down with my parents and finally understanding the concept of soulmates with their expertise, I have come to a conclusion that I have in fact messed up and caused great pain to the person that has been by my side since we were young and always supported my dreams. I don’t know if she’ll ever forgive me for the pain and agony I have caused her but, I’ll do anything to make sure things are cleared between the both of us. I need to fix what I have caused and end things with Seoyun even if it means certain consequences. Before I take my leave back to Seoul, my parents give me their last advice and hand me a good luck charm hoping that I can mend things before things are too late.

“Minho, my baby, you need to know that the hanahaki disease may or may not take Y/N’s life after this considering the stage she’s currently in right now. It may hurt you and cause you pain after this as there were mishaps along the way that require consequences so do keep that in mind, but remember we’ll always be by your side and will help if you need anything from here onwards, okay?” My parents say while bringing me into a warm hug for support. I thank them and make my way out of the house and back to Seoul where I need to make things right with the girl I love. 

Y/N’s POV

Bright lights start coming into view and hushed noises start surrounding me as I wake up. 

“Hey babe, you’re finally awake. How are you feeling right now? Feeling better?” Jennie comes up to me from the chair across the room with a bottle of water in hand. I nod my head to her last question as my throat feels too dry to give a reply. “Here take this and drink up”

As I drink up the water she offers me, so many things start going around in my head. Am I okay? What’s going to happen to me after this? Is everything going to be alright? Am I even breathing properly? 

“Where is Minho?” I ask Jennie. 

She looked at me unsure of what to say which made me think he’s probably with Seoyun right now doing whatever. The thought of them together makes me so agitated that I started to cough out more flower petals in the process. Jennie looks at me frightened and runs out of the room in search of a nurse. As she leaves, I come to a decision that I can’t live like this anymore and decide to go through with the removal surgery regardless of the consequences that come with it. I look at the clock beside me and hope for whatever faith has in mind for my future.

Minho’s POV 

After arriving in Seoul after a long bus ride, I start making my way to Seoyun’s house to break things off with her and start fixing things with the girl I was supposed to be with a long time ago. Along the way, I start to think of ways to make it up to Y/N and how to apologize to her for all of the troubles and pain I have caused her. Seeing Seoyun’s house in the distance, I dash up to her front step hoping to end things quickly and make my way to the hospital. I knock on the door and wait a bit for her to come down. While standing outside, I hear her come down quickly and hear a slight tud.  

“Jagi what are you doing here? It’s late” Seoyun opens the door abruptly while looking slightly disheveled. I look at her up and down in confusion. While I am suspicious of her previous activities, I make my way into her home and sit on the couch telling her that we have to talk which makes her a bit uneasy. 

“Seoyun, just tell me the truth, are you really my soulmate?” I ask while I look up at her while she’s fixing her hair and shirt. “Of course, I am. Why are you asking that so suddenly? Why are we even talking about this right now? Can we talk about this tomorrow morning, I need to sleep babe”  She answers back. While I look at her I can tell she doesn’t feel comfortable and looks as if she wants me out of the house. Her uneasiness raises some suspicion in me and makes me think she’s hiding something from me.

“Why do you seem so uneasy and why do you want to talk about this tomorrow morning and not right now?” I ask her while taking some steps towards her. As she’s about to answer me, I hear a low voice talking in the background, “Babe, are you still talking to him? Are you not coming back upstairs?” I look around to see a head pop up at the staircase. Tensions start rising between the three of us and the puzzle pieces start coming together. 

Seoyun looks back at me and the figure at the staircase and seems to come to a realization that things have gone wrong. I look back at Seoyun in anger and start asking her who that man was and what was going on right now. She looks back at me in fear and has nothing to say to the situation that unfolded. While she’s flabbergasted at the situation, I look back at the man and start approaching him to find out what was going on. “Who are you and what are you doing in my girlfriend’s house?” I ask him. He looks back at me, “I was going to ask the same thing”. We both look back at Seoyun hoping to get an answer to our questions and that’s when the truth starts coming out for the first time from her.

“Okay stop, Minho, you’re not my soulmate. I was just using you because I wanted the fame and wanted to have more status at school. Also, I was jealous of the bond you had with Y/N so I wanted to take that away from you and have it all to myself. I didn’t know how to do it but I found that pretending to be your soulmate was the way to have my plans to go the way I wanted them too.” Seoyun confesses with no remorse on her face. She looks at the man beside me with love in her eyes  and quickly glances back at me “But now, since I found my true soulmate, I don’t need you anymore”. Her final sentences create so much emotion in my body that I didn’t know how to react. The man beside me could tell that things were settling in my mind and I was going to take action for her faults, so he reacted by holding me back before things went down. 

“I can’t believe you did this to me and Y/N! Because of your selfiness, she’s in the hospital hurt and suffering because of you and your selfish gain. You have a soulmate now and you know the consequences that come with it if you reject him. If you rejected him, he would be in the hospital right now contemplating whether he wanted his emotions removed, but no, you found a way to use me and find your true soulmate. But guess what? That’s what Y/N is going through right now because of your bullshit! You hurt me and Y/N, I hope you understand the problems you’ve caused!” I start screaming at her while thrashing around in the man’s grip. I look back at the man holding me to see some pain and regret in his eyes for the things his soulmate has done to two innocent people who were minding their own businesses. 

I jump out of the man’s hold and start making my way out of the house. Before I leave, I look back and say, “Seoyun, I hope you understand what you’ve done and let’s say things that you had in your plan will be crumbling down when I see you in school again.” With that, I walk out of the house and start making my way to the hospital to start fixing things with Y/N. I take out my phone and start looking through my contact list. “Chan, I’m on the way to the hospital. I broke up with Seoyun and found out the truth behind my relationship with her. Now, I need to fix my friendship with Y/N before it’s all too late.” 

Y/N’s POV 

Jennie manages to find a nurse who comes to help calm down my coughing fit and keep things in place for the time being. After she helps with my coughing fit, she starts to check my vitals to make sure everything is okay and to see if my condition is stable after what has happened. I looked at the nurse and asked her to bring my doctor in as I needed to talk to him about my decision. The nurse nods at my request and makes her way out of the room to find my doctor. After a while, the doctor makes their way into the room and takes a seat at the edge of my bed. 

“You called me in Y/N to discuss something?” The doctor asks. I look back up at him and say that I wanted to go through with the removal surgery. “Alright then, I’ll get the documents ready and we will go through with the surgery.” He touched my lower leg as a way of an understanding and support and made his way out of the room. I lay back on my bed and contemplate whether I have made the right choice. 

I heard a door swing open. I look up to see Chan and Jennie standing at the door catching their breaths. 

“Y/N please don't go through with the surgery please. It’s not worth it”. Chan and Jennie saying hoping to persuade me out of the decision I just made. “I can’t guys. I just told the doctors I wanted to go through with it. Plus, Minho is with Seoyun, I don’t have the power and strength to keep this up anymore. I need to get rid of the flowers in my chest even if it means no more romantic feelings.” I say as I look at the room around me too scared to look at them in the eyes.  “Y/N, Minho’s on the way to the hospital. You don’t have to do this. He said that he called it quits with Seoyun and wants to fix his friendship and build a relationship with you. He knows how much he fucked up and how blinded he was to not see that the love of his life was helping and aiding him the whole time and was right in front of him. He knows the whole soulmate thing by heart now and wants to make things right for you and him.” Chan says to me while making his way towards the bed. He takes my hand in his and looks me in the eyes and says, “Don’t go through with this surgery Y/N because now it will hurt the both of you.”  

I take my hand away from his grip and look at the both of them. 

“Sorry guys what’s done is done. I am going through this no matter what.” 

Minho’s POV 

After making it to the hospital, I get on the lift and make my way to Y/N floor. As the elevator doors open, I see a stretcher being taken away from a familiar room, and realize who was on that stretcher. “Y/N don’t please! I’ve come to make amends” I shout from the lift. As I shout, I see the doctors and nurse look back from the stretcher and point in my direction to show Y/N that someone was here for them. I see her head pop out from the strecther and lay right back down on it. I start running towards them and ask the doctors to give us a moment. The doctors agreed and walked away to allow us to settle some things. 

“Y/N I know I fucked up and I know I caused you so much pain without even realizing it, but I want things to work between us and restore the things we were supposed to do together as soulmates. I just broke up with Seoyun and found out the truth from her.  I know you might not forgive but please give me another chance so I can make it up to you. Please call off the surgery and let’s fix things together.” I begged while holding onto the handles of the stretcher. I feel a few tears running down my face as I try to hold in my sobs. I could help but feel like an asshole as I hurt the person that loved me more than anyone, and to see her goes through this surgery pains me even more. While sch thoughts are going through my mind, I feel a hand on my face wiping my tears away. I open my eyes to see Y/N with her arm out with a slight smile on her face. 

Before I could say anything to her, she spoke up. “Even after all the times we’ve been through together and even having those connecting thoughts or even finishing each other sentences, this took you a while to understand which makes me question if you’re really my soulmates.” She says while touching my face. She lets out a small giggle which warms my heart.

I take her hand in mind and I look straight into her eyes, “Y/N I know I’m in the wrong but I want to make things work between us even if it means damaging my health for you. We can make things work out and I finally understand that you’re the one for me. I’m sorry for what I’ve done. Please forgive me and call this surgery off. I’ll nurse and help you back into good health and fix things between us first, and you can decide our future together after that.” 

[watchoutforthefanfics]

Your Heart Thine Destined To Be // Part One

Ship: Eventual Logince, Moxiety, and Dukeceit.

Summary: (Arranged Marriage! AU) Okay, sure. Roman’s in the next place for the crown. Okay, SURE. Roman’s not ready for that, and his parents know this too. So, what’s their solution? Have him marry someone who is, because God knows they aren’t going to let Remus have the crown.

Originally was going to be a comic, but my art skills are wack right now. And I need thissss.

Tags: @enragedbees @dante1138 @arc-gx @logan-sanders-enthusiast @nic-is-here

Let me know if you wanna be tagged!

//◇◇◇\

Okay, yes.

Roman was supposed to be at breakfast right now with his two brothers and his parents, at the long dining table. It was his schedule.

But he was out in the lush forest, climbing a tree instead. Which, he believed, is completely understandable, he should be able to miss breakfast to explore.

To be active? They were going to discourage him from being active? Doubtful.

The way the air bubbled onto his skin, the way that the sunrise lit up the sky, it was all so… perfect.

He wasn’t going to miss it for some… breakfast. He had breakfast everyday, this sunrise… it felt like one in a million.

“Roman!” a voice called to him, low from the bellows and he immediately froze –his father–, “What are you doing up there? It’s time for breakfast, you sho-”

“I know, Dad. It’s just-” Roman groaned, holding onto the trunk as his eyes flocked to the sky (which at this point was a beautiful mix of blue and pink), “-look at this sunrise!”

King Gerald, a burly man with a thick beard (more teddy bearish than you’d think), faltered; his voice pausing and his dark eyes running to the sky.

He watched his father light up, eyes twinkling, and lightly wondered to himself, where would he be if he wasn’t crowned King?

Is this what he always wanted?

“It is,” the King murmured, “-quite beautiful, son.”

Roman sighed, “But?”

King Gerald sighed, straightening his posture, “You– We have duties, Roman; you have to learn to stick to your schedule. How are you supposed to-”

Roman froze, he’s going to say it, he doesn’t think I can rule. His heart pounding, he watched him struggle for words, trying to voice his thoughts, but upon matching his eye, fell silent.

“Roman,” the King sighed with a tired smile, “-you will be an excellent King someday, and a King… has priorities. Of which I am the current King, so you’re coming to breakfast. For your dear old Dad’s sake?”

The prince took a longing glance at the horizon, knowing he didn’t want to stay here, but it was his only option, “Fine… but I want a blueberry muffin.”

His father laughed, his deep belly laugh, “Deal, knucklehead.”

^^^

The castle’s dining room was, as assumed, very shiny with soft carpets and polished wood on every surface. Roman almost liked it almost as much as the ballroom, but with just the bare eye, the two would never compare.

His eyes first rested on his mother, who was sitting with poise, with her light hair and tan skin made to perfection. Her eyes, however, held a glare at her son; purely because of the concern, he’d guess.

“Roman,” she spoke with the softest of tones, with an edge ready to bite just awaiting the sign to launch, “Why are you late for breakfast?”

Roman opened his mouth to explain, but his father spoke first, “No worries, darling. It’s all taken care of.”

With a grateful smile to his father, Roman found his eyes fall to his little brother: Patton. He wasn’t much younger, but he definitely looked it. With his chubby cheeks and doll like blue eyes, Roman found his curly hair was something he’d wanted all his life.

“Good morning, Patton!”

“Roman!” Patton smiled, jumping up and pulling him into a hug, as expected.

“Ooh,” Patton squeaked, “-I have something for you! Don’t let me forget.”

“Will do, Patt.”

And finally, his eyes rested on his twin. His forsaken, nothing-like-him-at-all twin, Remus. He wasn’t ugly per say, but he definitely wasn’t upholding the squeaky clean majesty title with his messy hair and makeup 24/7.

“Remus,” he grumbled, trying to avoid eye contact.

Remus didn’t even look up from… whatever he was drawing on the napkin; Roman honestly didn’t want to know.

“Honey,” his father scoffed, straightening out his newspaper, “-look at this! They’re already asking about the new crowning! What is even-”

“Mi amor,” his mother, Madeline, soothed, “-we’ll talk about this later, yes?”

King Gerard, a large broad shouldered man mind you, pouted, “I’m not that old yet.”

“‘Course not, honey-” his mother hummed, “-the magazines are despicable, you know this.”

“So,” his father added, to move on the conversation, “-what’ve you boys been up to?”

Patton spoke first, careful and considerate, “I’ve made flower crowns for everyone! Our gardener helped me pick ones to match you guys! So… yeah.”

Their mother smiled, “That’s so sweet, I’m sure we’ll love it, kiddo.”

After running her fingers through his hair, she faltered, her glance a little dampened, “Remus? What have you done, honey?”

Remus looked up, his eyes wide, and subtle with the look of… appreciation, “Uh, I painted today. It was a roaring Cyclops, attacking a town, and he’s rippin-”

“Re, buddy-” their father coughed, “-how about we stop there? You can tell us later, when we’re not… eating.”

Remus nodded, his face falling just a smidge, “Yes, sir.”

Roman paused, messing with his food on his plate and quietly humming to a tune he’d had stuck in his head for days.

“Roman?” his mother’s sweet voice broke through, “What about you? How are your studies, training, or… Forgive me, what were you working on?”

“My romance novel?” Roman grinned, attention on his food quickly scrapped, “Oh, it’s swell, mother! My characters are coming together so fast, I swear they’ve got a mind of their own.”

“What about your fencing?” the King acquired, with a puzzled look on his worn face. He’d had about two meetings with a few other leaders that morning, or at least that’s what Roman remembered.

“Yes, uh-” Roman nodded, tapping his chin as if he hadn’t remembered every lesson he’d ever had, “- Ms. Maple is doing wonderfully. I feel such great improvement.”

Breakfast was short-lived after that, Patton kept popping in with puns, and his father was bringing up a few things the kingdom had going on in a few weeks.

“Roman, I’ll have you know-” his father chuckled, shaking his head, “-I’ve been contacted by… many suitors for your hand." 

Roman rolled his eyes, "Dad, stop!”

His mother chuckled, “You’re a very handsome, young man, it only makes sense!”

Roman blushed up to his ears, “Thank you, Mama. That’s very kind of you, but I wish to be swept off my feet for reasons, other than personal gain.”

“Picky,” Remus muttered, as he drew into his napkin harshly.

Roman rolled his eyes, “Says you. Your standards are bare minimum!”

The King raised an eyebrow, a curious expression glazing his dark eyes, “Standards?”

Remus spoke, simply, “A hot guy.”

Roman began, taking a breath, “Taller than me, blue or green eyes, lovely, cute, shared the same interests… Hmm, he HAS to have the softest hair on this Earth. I don’t make the rules-”

“See,” Remus interrupted him, “-picky bitch.”

His mother gasped, but Roman would bet she wasn’t as surprised as you’d assume, “Remus Mich Elliott! You did not just speak like that at the table.”

“Yeah,” Roman hummed, muttering, “-plus, you’re the bitch, bitch.”

“Roman Chase Elliott! I can’t believe you two! No more talking at this table, until you can gather your manners, boys. Right, G?”

Roman’s eyes wafted over to his father’s, his face was flushed and he was hunched over, trying desperately to hold back laughter.

His mother sighed, “You boys are… Patton, are you done with your meal? If so, I say we take a trip to the gardens. Pull some new flowers for the vases I received yesterday?”

Patton smiled, “I’d love to, Mama.”

In a blink, the two were walking out of the dining room with interlocking arms.

It was quiet for a second, then a minute, and then his father finally spoke.

“Is she gone?”

“I-” Roman glanced towards the doorway they had exited through, “I think so, Pops.”

It was in that moment, his father slipped into a body-throwing laughing fit with a red flushed face, and soon Roman felt his own smile squirming up onto his lips.

In just a few seconds, the whole table was full of excess laughing, to a point that the staff had come to check in on them at least 10 times in the past 30 minutes.

“Alright,” the King raised from his seat, wiping his eyes, “-that’s enough playing around. You two, head off to your room.”

Roman paused, his face switching in the quickest of blinks, “But, I thought-”

“Ah, ah, ah-” their father shook his fingers, “-both of you know that Patton, nor your mother, like those words. You both knew better.”

“Father-” Remus groaned, in tune with a sigh of his own.

“Nope,” he shook his head, “-go to your room until lunch, and then apologize to your mother immediately after.”

The twins rolled their eyes, each muttering a disgruntled, “Yes, sir.”

Roman sighed, making his way up the stairs to a place without the sunshine in the morning. He could open up his window, he’d thought, but wouldn’t be the same view from that tree.

He was furious, the kind of furious you’d get when you couldn’t get ice cream as a kid, but he wouldn’t stomp or throw a tantrum. Not that he was past that. 

It was just that his hair was styled to perfection, and he was not doing that disservice to the Earth to lose it.

So, he just made his way up there with every inch of pettiness he could put into his walk. Which, he’d learned to do quite well.

With a dash and a skip, Roman arrived at the dark oak door -edged with an art design he’d carved just a few years ago. 

It was a shield, painted red and yellow, with a castle and the beautiful sun; he’d made it out of pure spite, just because Remus had said he couldn’t.

But, he’d actually loved the design. So, he began to incorporate it throughout his art -the knights he drew held it on their arm, flags on castles were woven with it in a shimmering fabric, outfits adorned the symbol, faces had it painted on their cheeks, and sometimes, he just drew the landscape on it with simple colors and dazzling visuals.

With blink to refocus, Roman pushed open his door, a feeling of urgency suddenly hitting him there as he stood. In a few quick steps, his eyes were blessed with the tower view of the sun beautifully raised in the sky.

He’d always loved the color blue. It had held so many different interpretations, so many different emotions.

Of course, red always had a place in his heart, but blue? It was calm and urgent, like ocean waves and yet also like, a thunderstorm. It could make him float off into a world of wonders, and quietly he would stay there, dreaming of a world where everything was relaxed… and he’d have no impending future.

That woke him up from the dream, the idea that he’d be destined to take care of the kingdom… His eyes shifted from the fluffy clouds above, to the beige-stoned buildings below.

It was beautiful, yes. Flowers sprouted in gardens, scattered throughout every lawn they could be. The roofs were varied, each dressed in a unique trim, that matched up with a unique family –unique people– in each home.

One day, he’d be responsible for them all, all the children giggling through the street, all the hard workers reaching to make ends meet, all the parents who’d had so much life to live, all the elders who chatted away with stories of the past, all the people who deserved… so much better than him.

[whirlybirbs]

✶ ┈ PART TWO !

summary: loki meets the grandmaster and you intervene. the agreement (it’s really not an agreement, okay, more of a cause of circumstance) of parading as a married couple happens and neither of you are very excited about it. pairing: fake!wife reader x loki, set in ragnarok. a/n: hehehe here’s another 1.7k of these two. READ PART ONE HERE.

The third time you meet Loki, he’s strapped to that contraption the Grandmaster uses to intimidate the new fighters.

You’ve had a long week.

You’d woken up in a trash heap, bruised and sore and somehow alive. You’d decided, wholeheartedly, not to think too much about it -- not that you had an option. After stumbling over an entire mountain of inter-galactic trash being deposited by the varying collapsing stars around the planets atmosphere, you were quickly descended upon by a terrifyingly pretty woman with a tight braid and white symbols painted down her cheeks.

She smelt like booze and swaggered like a practiced warrior.

You didn’t trust her.

“You a fighter?” she’d called out, tilting her head.

“Where am I?” you’d asked, narrowing your eyes.

“Sakaar,” she chirped, “Now, are you a fighter? Yes or no?”

The moment that followed was tense -- a bit like a standoff.

“... Depends.”

“Hm.”

She’d caught you in the neck with a tracker then, a smirk on her face the whole way. In one swift move, she’d thumbed open the control device in her hand and sent you convulsing to the ground.

“The Grandmaster likes the pretty, clever ones.”

Her condescending smirk was the last thing you saw before you blacked out.

You woke up in the same chair Loki’s strapped to currently, bleary eyed and confused -- that man, The Grandmaster as he called himself, had decided rather quickly that he liked you. Perhaps it was your sudden decision to praise him and his choice of make-up.

(That was a great way to make friends in the bathrooms of bars -- surely compliments are universal.)

“Who are you, then?” he asks with a slow smile.

“I’m a Doctor,” you say slowly, “I study astrophysics.”

The smile drops immediately.

“Boring.”

He’s about to wave his hands, then, send you off to some horrible fate, you’re sure.

“A-And I tell stories!”

(That wasn’t really a lie -- you had a minor in classics. If you recited the plot to Hamlet to any of the colorful people in this penthouse suite, you’re sure none of them would realize it. Perhaps being entertainment would be worth keeping you around until you figured out how the fuck to get back home.)

“Stories, huh?”

So, here you are now, swathed in Sakaarian socialites, faux-smiles plastered to your face as you giggle into your neon colored drink. Your gown is something deemed fashionable for this planet, all colorblocked and tight with high slits and low dips. Along your cheeks is the same stark white branding as the brazenly mean warrior-lady you’d first met on Trash Mountain. You realize, half-way through the application by one of the Grandmaster’s maids, that it’s a mark of ownership. It’s rather disgusting, the whole fact you’re someone’s property now -- but, you suppose that it’s keeping you alive and in this current state? 

You really can’t complain.

Until you see Loki.

You choke on your drink.

You stand swiftly, leaving your martini and the gaggle of others behind as you move quickly upon the center of the room. The Grandmaster reels for a moment at the obstruction amidst his usual induction -- and your jaw drops.

“You.”

Quickly, the look of surprise morphs into one of anger and Loki’s eyes widen. You feel like you’re suddenly had all the words you’d thought about screaming in his face these last seven days pulled from your brain and all you can do is snarl and shriek:

“... You!”

Your finger jabs his chest, prodding at the green and gold armor there with such ferocity it’s no wonder you’re not stabbing him. For the first time, Loki gets a good look at you -- it’s clear you’ve somehow managed to worm your way into this “Grandmaster”’s circle; it’s commendable. For a Midgardian.

The Silvertongue, with every passing moment, is beginning to see his opportunity to do the same slip away.

“What? What’s the matter?” the Grandmaster coos, circling Loki to place his arms around your frame. You stiffen. Loki watches you swallow your anger. If he wasn’t strapped to a chair, maybe he’d find your discomfort amusing. However, Loki can’t help but avert his gaze.

Your anger is well deserved, really. He did throw you out of the Bifrost.

“... Oh, I see what’s going on here.”

Both you and Loki blink at the Grandmaster.

“... I’m sorry?”

“Star-crossed lovers.”

Your face twists into disgust as Loki blinks between the two of you -- confusion splits his features into an attempt of a charismatic laugh.

“Good sir, I believe you’re mistaken --”

“No,” he raises a finger, “I’ve seen this before. And you told me of your crash landing, my pretty little pet -- you said you lost your friends on the way. Lost a love… Raven haired and pale...”

You’d been entertaining the party with a poorly remember retelling of Romeo and Juliet to the Grandmaster’s court, but okay. It’s pretty clear the Grandmaster is making his over revisions as well.

Loki’s brow quirks.

There’s a moment pause. Then, the Grandmaster stops his blinking between the both of you and claps his hands. “But, if not -- I’ll have him executed. Your reaction was warrant enough. Can’t have my best storyteller off her game, can I?”

The maniac’s ability to bounce between party and murder is astounding.

Loki’s eyes are wide. His look is pleading.

You, in that moment, are put in the biggest moral dilemma of your life.

You can, of course, turn the other cheek -- but that means cozying up to the global terrorist who unceremoniously threw you out of the Bifrost to try and save himself from his own sister. On the other hand, you’d be letting Thor’s brother die all while losing your potential way off this planet. But, there’s no guarantee the trickster will help you. However, if there’s anything you remember from that one mythology class in college, it’s that gods tend to honor their debts.

Saving his life is a debt owed, right?

(And honestly? Letting Thor down and never seeing your parents again sounds pretty horrible.)

“It’s just… I thought you were dead.”

Loki, in that moment, is nearly impressed by your acting.

“I was worried sick,” you continue, clearly gritting out the last bit, “I… I was sure I lost you.”

“Fear not,” Loki’s mood swings then into one of pure amusement, smirk brandishing his features, “I apologize for scaring you, my sweet.”

“You know,” the Grandmaster’s face is twisted into a grin, “I have this six sense -- I can just… smell love in the air, or something. I knew it, I mean… Look at you two. God, it’s… adorable. Really. So, what is this, huh? Just a… a fling? Or --”

“We’re married.”

Where the fuck did that come from?

Loki’s got the same look on his face.

“She’s the crowned Princess of Asgard,” Loki says then, slowly. His eyes are glued on the way you shrink away from the Grandmaster’s gaze, “My wife.”

“Ass-gard, huh? Wow.”

He hums.

Loki is suddenly realizing there’s a reason to why you’re doing this. You’d made it apparent in the Sanctum that you weren’t intimidated by the likes of him. Somehow, though, this Grandmaster figure has earned your evident anxieties.

(Maybe it was because you’d watched him roast a guy who made a poorly timed joke about the color blue on your second day here. The smell was awful. But, it’s not like you can tell Loki that -- you just have to hope that somehow this little improv plan works and you and Loki can somehow get the hell off this floating landfill.)

“And… what’s his gig, huh, my pretty?” he’s addressing you now, lips upturned in an expectant smile, “Besides… well.. good bone structure.”

“He’s a Silvertongue, Grandmaster,” you explain slowly, hands clasped in front of you, “In more ways than one.”

Loki suddenly feels a bit like a piece of meat.

You relish in his discomfort as the Grandmaster bursts into an excited bought of laughter.

“Oh, see! This is why I love you! You’re so clever,” he chirps, waving his hands, “Your wife, Mr. Low-key, is lovely.”

“Isn’t she?” he grits.

The Grandmaster is unphased. “Quite! Now, this is good, this is very good -- I mean, it’s evident your… sexual tension is there. I can’t see why you two would lie to me, y’know? That would just be… uh… a bad idea.”

Behind him, Topaz clacks the Grandmaster’s staff on the red and white floor. You swallow thickly.

“I could never lie about my love for him, Grandmaster,” you supply, a delicate hand moving to touch Loki’s cheek. His skin is cold, “It’s simply not in my nature.”

“Nor I,” Loki says sweetly, “We make a better pair than separate, good sir, I promise you that.”

The man claps with glee.

“I love this, two lost loves reunited,” he nearly cries, “Topaz, get these two their own room, will you?”

It works.

Somehow it works.

The penthouse apartment they set you and Loki up in is big -- it’s better than the slave quarters you’ve been sleeping in for the last week. The far wall is ceiling to floor windows. Outside, Sakaar flies by; it’s the first time you’re actually getting a good look at the planetside. It’s bustling and the sun is setting between two twin moons, bathing the capital city in pinks and oranges.

“You are idiotic, bug, to propose this little plan -- had you wanted to sleep with me, you only needed to say so; lest I would.”

You recoil in a snarl. Loki is staring at the room in disdain.

“I just saved your life.”

“That colorful maniac had neither the strength nor gall --”

“Oh?” you chirp, hands flying to your hips, “Really? Sorry -- when did you get here? Ten minutes ago? Yeah, nice, cool, I’ve been here for a week and I’ve seen him toast like, five people for fun. The smell is awful.”

Loki’s mouth snaps shut.

Who in the Nine Realms are you?

“Besides,” you snarl, “I’m not doing this for you -- I’m doing this to get home.”

“And who, pray tell, said I would help you, bug?”

You, then, engage in this game of chess again -- your movements are slow and calculated and predatory and Loki has to admire your ability to dish it out. Your fingers jabs his chest once, then again.

“I did,” you seethe, “When I made sure you didn’t get easy-bake-oven’d, asshole. You owe me.”

He opens his mouth, keen on biting into your argument, when there’s a knock at the door.

“Dinner is being served, Lord and Lady Loki!”

You both save it for another time and exit the apartment holding hands.

The third time you meet Loki, you’re married.

[waeziverse]

Royal Punch (chapter 11)

“Dimi. You are upsetting the little ones.”

Dimi looked at Aura with a grim expression on her face as she stopped sweeping the stable. The wife of her godfather was holding a griffin cub she was studying to see if the newborn animal was healthy. The cub began to cry, and so did the other three cubs that were hiding under the wings of their mother who growled while looking at Dimi.

“I’m not doing anything.” The human princess returned to sweeping.

“You are scaring the little ones, they can feel you are upset.”

Dimi sighed. The downside of her animal empathy powers were that they could feel all of her negative emotions as well. And cubs were extra sensitive to that. “I have a right to not feeling cheerful.”

“Oh, you most certainly do.” Aura returned the cub to her mother and siblings. “But you don’t have to be here while being... moody.”

“I’M NOT MOODY!” Dimi snapped at the sphinx woman.

That resulted in all of the four cups crying loudly. Aura narrowed her eyes as she made a now-look-what-you-did gesture.

Dimi groaned as she dropped the broom. “FINE, I’m going outside.”

The human girl sat on the chopping stump near the stable. She looked at the forge. Smoke came out of the chimney, meaning that Ivan was still working. This suited her just fine, since that meant she didn’t have to see him just yet. She was almost as angry at him as she were on her father.

“So, you wanna talk about it?”

Dimi looked to her left. Aura stood and looked at her somewhat worried with her arms crossed.

“Talk about what?”

“Well, you are clearly upset about something. And you are not talking to Ivan about it, that’s not a good sign.”

“That’s because Ivan is part of the problem.”

“Really? What did he do?”

“He DIDN’T tell me that my dad was a spineless jerk.”

Aura lifted both her eyebrows. “Ouch. Harsh words. Where is this coming from?”

“I met a gorgon today.”

Aura’s left eye twitched. Dimi luckily didn’t notice. “A gorgon? That’s... nice.”

“It was, until she explained to me that humans killed a ton of her ancestors, treated them like garbage AND that my dad didn’t do squad to make up for it.“

“Ah. I see.” Aura leaned against the stable. “That’s rough, kiddo. But what is Ivan to blame for here?”

Dimi scoffed. “He didn’t tell me! For so long I wanted to get my dad back, and NOW I know that he is a cowardly jerk!”

“You wanted Ivan to call your old man that?”

“YES! Wait... no? Yes? Ah...” Dimi looked dumbfounded. “I don’t know! Look, I wanted the truth!... I think!” Dimi slapped her forehead. “Dammit, I’m not suppose to be angry at him!”

“Who? Ivan or your dad?”

“BOTH OF THEM!” Dimi stood up and kicked a bucket.

“Dimi...” Aura wondered if what she was about to say was a bad idea. “Ivan and me talked a lot before getting married. He wanted me to know everything about him before the wedding. We talked about things he might not tell you. You want to know about what he thinks of your dad?”

Dimi stood with her back to the sphinx for a couple of seconds before she turned around and walked over to Aura, leaning against the stable. “Sure. Yes.”

“Look, you have a right to be angry about not being taught about the negative aspects of your family history. Trust me, I can relate.” Aura narrowed her eyes. “History is not exactly appreciated where I came from, I know what it is like to hear the ugly truth. And sure, your dad was sort of a pushover. But I think you should consider that before your dad became king, he was just, well... a normal guy, I guess. Just regular Pater the Human. He grew up in this little town as a normal guy without much talent for human magic either. And then he met a girl who was ANYTHING but regular, one who actually fell in love with him. A princess. They decided to start a family together. But you know the problem with marrying a princess? You become royalty. Worse, you become a MONARCH if your wife die. Pater assumed he was just gonna be the husband of the queen, that he was gonna look pretty and nothing else. But then his wife died and he had a whole KINGDOM to be responsible for. Not everyone is cut out for that sort of responsibility.”

“So WHAT?!” Dimi narrowed her eyes. “It was STILL his responsibility. And he screwed up.”

“Well, he did do some good things. He made better laws for foreigners like me. the only reason to why I was allowed to move into the kingdom of Nesredna after I deserted the army was because of king Pater.”

Dimi looked shocked at Aura. “Wait, army? You were a soldier?”

“I will tell you some other day. What you need to understand is that your dad became QUITE unpopular after that little law change, so he decided to play nice so to say. Give his subjects what they wanted. And most of these subjects were humans who hates gorgons, minotaurs and others.”

“Why would Ivan then even agree to raise me?”

“Your dad was his best friend. They grew up together like brothers. And when no one else gave a damn about Ivan, your dad pulled MANY strings to help him out.”

“With what?”

Aura hesitated. THAT she thought Ivan had to tell her if she needed to know at all. “That’s... grown-up stuff, Dimi.”

“Whatever. I’m still angry.”

“That’s okay. You are entitled to be angry.” Aura laughed. “You are a teenager for gods’ sake, you are SUPPOSE to be mad at your parents.”

“NO, I’M NOT! I’m not SUPPOSE to be angry at my dad. I’m suppose to miss him.”

“You should especially be mad at him if you miss him.”

Dimi was about to say something. Then, she just sighed and looked defeated.

Aura placed her clawed hand gently on Dimi’s shoulder. “Being angry doesn’t mean you don’t care about him.”

“Whatever.” Dimi looked at her feet to evade eye contact.

“Would you... heh...” Aura smiled awkwardly. “Would you like a hug?”

“I’m not a baby.” Dimi scoffed. Then she looked the lion-woman in the eyes. “... Actually, a hug would be kinda nice.”

The sphinx embraced the human girl who awkwardly hugged back.

“Okay...” After the hug had lasted for a couple of seconds, Dimi gently pulled her herself free from Aura’s embrace. “That’s enough Ah... thanks.“ 

“Don't mention it.”

***

“OW! Damn it all to hell!”

Ivan blew on his finger that he had hurt with his hammer. He was normally not that clumsy. In fact, he wasn’t clumsy at all when it came to his work.

Then again, it bothered him how angry Dimi had been. Or he assumed that she was angry? In fact, he was unsure if she was angry at him. Ivan had no idea what went through that girl’s head. He partly felt bad about not going looking for her to see how she was doing, but he assumed she wanted some space from him.

Or maybe she didn’t?

“Why is it so hard to figure out how young women works?!” Ivan yelled as he fetched his hammer to finish the horseshoe.

“Tell me about it, we can’t figure ourselves out.”

Ivan turned as he heard Dimi’s voice. She had just entered the forge. She looked at him and looked at him with an expression that was somewhat hard to read.

“Hi.” Ivan didn’t know what else to say.

“Maybe you should take a break? I can take over for a while.”

“Sure...” Ivan shrugged. “That would be... nice.”

Dimi took the hammer from Ivan and looked at her feet. “I’m not mad. Not at you, at least. Just... confused?”

Ivan shrugged again. “That’s fair.”

The human girl and the bull-man smiled awkwardly at each other, not sure what to say. Dimi then tied an apron around her waist and started hammering on warm steel while Ivan went to the house to prepare dinner.

Aura was already doing so when Ivan entered the house. “Hey, darling. Did you and Dimi talk things out?”

“Something like that.” Ivan kissed his wife on the cheek. “I wonder who told her about Pater.”

“Dimi met...” Aura hesitated. “A new friend. They talked about her negative feelings toward Dimi’s father. I decided to talk to her about it and tell her what you told me.”

“Ah...” Ivan looked worried. “Did you tell her about... Veronica?”

“No, absolutely not. IF she needs to know about that bitch, YOU should tell her, not me.”

“I don’t mind her knowing about Veronica as such.” A grim expression appeared on Ivan’s face. “But I don’t want her to know about my mistakes.”

The next day...

“I’m telling you, Dimi, Oswald is the cutest Satyr in the kingdom. Sure, not as cute as my Cobalt, but I think you would like him.” Amethyst followed Dimi to the former bakery while she tried to convince her to go on a double date with her and the dwarf she was currently in a relationship with.

“Amethyst, I’m...” Dimi sighed. “I don’t have time for stuff like that. I train and I work and I rather wanna spend my free time with you.”

“Yes, and I do think you should spend it with me. AND Oswald.”

“I don’t know him.”

“Yes, and we can fix that.”

“Right now, I want you to meet Ruby. I think you will like her and she needs a hand fixing up her new place.”

“More than happy to. It is about time we got a place where we can go to eat locally.” Amethyst smiled about the thought of a restaurant in Jadedale.

She stopped smiling when she spotted who she assumed was Ruby.

The young gorgon stood with her back against Dimi and Amethyst as she was adjusting her dark glasses when she was taking a break from cleaning a window. One of the snakes on her head hissed. Ruby turned around and noticed her new friend and a dwarf had come to lend her a hind in fixing up the place that was gonna be her very own eatery. “Hey, Dimi! Glad you came, I could use a hand here.”

“Sure, no problem. I brought a friend to help.” Dimi smiled at Amethyst as she waved a hand at the snake girl. “Amethyst, this is Ruby.” Dimi stopped smiling when she noticed that Amethyst looked like she has eaten something she couldn’t stomach. “What’s wrong?”

“Hello, nice to meet you.” Amethyst made a half-assed smile at Ruby(who gave the dwarf a tired look) then turned to Dimi and pulled her arm. “Dimi, could I talk with you privately for a sec?”

“Ah, sure?” Dimi looked at Ruby who narrowed her eyes the same way she did when Dimi pointed out that she was a gorgon. “Ruby, we will be back in a sec.”

“Sure, whatever.” Ruby sighed as she went inside with her bucket and wet rag.

Amethyst dragged Dimi a few steppes away from the closed down bakery before she gave her a stern look. “Dimi, how did you meet her?”

“Ah, in Onyxville?”

“No, no. I mean how did you meet her?”

“Ah... when some creatures were ganging up on her?”

“Alright. Why did they gang up on her? Did you ask her that?”

Dimi gave the teen dwarf a blank stare. “Ah, no? I kinda think it was unimportant why anyone would.”

Amethyst groaned. “Dimi, you can’t be that naïve. Did you consider that maybe that gorgon did something? That she had it coming? That she was... you know... asking for trouble?”

Dimi’s blank glare was replaced with an angry one. “No, it didn’t occur to me. Why would you even think that?!”

“Dimi, she is a snake person! Doesn’t the snake part bother you just a little? Everyone knows that gorgons are violent, their freaky hair has a mind of its own, they steal, eat up animals while they are still alive-”

“AND WE HAVE AN AMAZING SENSE OF HEARING ON TOP OF THAT!” Ruby yelled from inside her house.

Amethyst blushed while Dimi gave her an angry glare.

Dimi was so angry she was practically steaming. “What the hell is WRONG with you?!”

“Dimi, I didn’t mean to upset you-”

“Upset me?!” Dimi pointed at Ruby’s soon-to-be restaurant. “You just called Ruby a criminal, violent snake-monster!”

“But she most likely IS one!”

Dimi grind her teeth. “If Ruby is a snake-monster, then maybe YOU are a freaky, bearded BIT-”

SMACK!

Dimi’s cheek turned red after Amethyst had made a small jump to reach the human’s face in order to slap her.

The human and the dwarf glared angrily at each other before Dimi smiled mockingly and said; “I dodge punches for a part-time job. You only stroke me because I LET you do it.”

“SOD OFF!” Amethyst stomped away while steaming like a kettle.

Dimi sighed as she watched the dwarf leave. She entered Ruby’s shop to be met by the gorgon at the door. The puddle at the floor around her mob indicated she hadn’t done much while Dimi had talked with Amethyst. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Nothing you should be sorry about. Hey, should I mob the floor?” Dimi said with a tone that indicated that she didn’t think they should mention the incident.

“Ah, sure.” Ruby handed over the mob. “Hey, while you do that, how about I warm us up something to eat? How does turkey ragoût sound to you? I made some earlier.”

“What’s ragoo?”

Ruby smiled. “Give me a few minutes.”

After a while when Dimi had just begun drying up the floor, the human could smell something amazing and  stood up from the floor to see Ruby holding a wooden bowl in each hand. Dimi took one and saw a sort of stew in it. The two of them leaned up against a wall and Dimi took the spoon from the bowl out and took a mouthful of the “ragoo”. It tasted unbelievably good.

“Ruby, on behalf of everyone who lives in the village, I wanna thank you for moving to Jadedale. This restaurant is gonna be a success!”

Ruby smiled bitterly. “Glad you are an optimist.”

Three days later...

Ruby threw another knife that impaled the opposite wall. She groaned as she stepped out of her kitchen and looked to see if someone had entered the restaurant.

As expected, no one had.

She kicked a chair that stood by one of the four tables in the room. She was frustrated, but not surprised. Moving to a smaller town had not helped at all.

Her savings, as well as her dad’s savings, had been wasted for nothing.

She had gone to the city square to do shopping. The only good thing to say about Jadedale was that people at least just gave her looks of dismay instead of downright insulting her. Bottom line was that no one wanted to associate with her unless she actually talked to them, and they would keep it short.

“I’m moving to the ocean to live with my parents...” The young gorgon made a sigh of defeat as she sat on the floor and felt helpless.

***

“Feast your eyes, ladies. It’s vegetarian night!”

“BOO!”

Ivan smiled like a watermelon as he placed the pot with spicy carrot soup on the dinner table while Dimi and Aura shoved their disapproval by making thumbs down gestures.

Ivan shook his head. “Don’t you boo at this soup. It is my grandpa’s recipe. Nectar of gods I tell you!”

“What kind of god, a rabbit one?” Dimi smirked as she poured soup in her bowl.

“Ivan, I want meat tomorrow, you hear me?” Aura sipped the soup of her spoon. “You can eat all the vegetable you like, but I want MEAT when we go out to celebrate our anniversary.”

“OH, that’s right!” Ivan placed his spoon in the bowl. “We still haven’t agreed on where to go. There are plenty of places we could eat in Onyxville.”

Aura made an awkward smile. “Except for Pie House.”

“Oh, ABSOLUTELY NOT the Pie House. Never setting my foot inside that place again.” Ivan made an awkward laugh.

As Dimi had finished her soup, she realized something. “Hey, I have an idea for where we could go.”

“Sure, we are open for suggestions.” Ivan smiled at aura as he poured more soup up for himself. “Right honey?”

“I think Dimi very much has a say here.” Aura grinned, revealing her sharp teeth.

“Well...” Dimi coughed. “We don’t have to go to Onyxville. We have a place where you can buy food now in Jadedale. And I had food at Ruby’s that was great.”

Ivan and Aura seized smiling right away. Ivan looked as if he was about to choke on the soup. Aura looked worried at Ivan.

“Ah... Ruby’s?” Ivan began to blink nervously. “That’s right, I forgot that we... have a new creature in town.”

“Yeah, she is great. And I had her cooking before, we should totally go there tomorrow.”

Ivan bit his lower lip. “Dimi, I’m not sure I would be... comfortable about that.”

Aura slapped her forehead as she mimed the word No with her lips.

Dimi raised an eyebrow. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

Ivan realized he had messed up. “Um, it means that... I just think we should go to a place we are familiar with since we rarely go out that often.”

Aura slapped her forehead three times more.

“... I don’t believe it.” Dimi stood up and pointed a VERY accusing finger at her godfather. “You are just as bad as everyone else!”

Ivan blinked. “What is that suppose to mean?”

“You know EXACTLY what I mean!” Dimi slammed a fist on the table. “I always loved how everyone in this little town got along despite the many diverse species. But not I realize it is because it was all the good species lived here. As soon as this nice girl moves into our supposedly very welcoming community, EVERYONE give her the cold shoulder because she just so happens to have scales!”

“Dimi, be fair now.” Ivan tried to use his I’m-older-thus-smarter voice when he wanted Dimi to accept something he was about to explain. “I don’t know your new friend, but have you considered that maybe there is a reason to why people don’t... trust that kind of creatures?”

Aura sighed as she rolled her eyes.

Dimi gave Ivan a glare that could set a house on fire. “Suuure. I bet there are plenty of good reasons to why no one likes gorgons. Hey, I bet there are good reasons to why people think minotaurs eats babies!”

Ivan looked shocked at the human princess, then looked at his wife for backup.

“Don’t you look at me.” Aura waved a clawed finger. “The kid has a point.”

Ivan stood up and looked at the girl with anger in his eyes. “Dimi, that was uncalled for. That was not fair.”

“You are right, Ivan. It is so not fair. It is not fair when people talk smack about you behind your back in Onyxville. And it is NOT fair that people assume Ruby is trouble when she has only been here for less than a week and done nothing wrong. It’s not fair that no one gives Ruby a chance.”

Ivan opened his mouth. Then he didn’t say anything since he was unsure what to say. He closed his mouth so he wouldn’t look stupid. He lifted a finger, then lowered it.

“Ahem.” Dimi and Ivan turned their attention toward the sphinx woman. “If anyone would like to know what I think, then I think going to Ruby’s sounds like a lovely idea. We get a nice meal as well as supporting the local economy.”

Ivan looked at his wife. Then at his protégé. He sighed as he sat down. “... She serves vegetarian food?”

***

Ruby stared at the still closed door as she threw a second knife at it.

“Move to the countryside, he said!” Ruby sneered as she took aim. “Creatures will be more welcoming in a smaller town, he said! Start fresh!” Her snakes all hissed in anger along with the teen as she impaled the door with her knife. “Bunch of ignorant, self-righteous, butt-scratching HICKS!”

Ruby was about to throw another kitchen knife... and almost had a heart attack as the door was opened.

A minotaur looked terrified at the knife in Dimi’s hand. He gulped as he raised his hands above his horned head. He looked at the young gorgon who blushed and looked very embarrassed.

“Oh, NONONONO!” Ruby bit her lower lip as she smiled. “I wasn’t... It’s a cook thing!”

“Hello...” Ivan smiled awkwardly at the snake girl. “Do you have a table for a party of three?”

“Sssuuure...” Ruby looked at the empty chairs. “I can squeeze you in.”

“Name is Ivan, I’m the town blacksmith.” Ivan stepped inside. He was dressed in a green jacket. He looked at the knife attacked to the door before returning his attention toward his host. “I’m here with my wife and my goddaughter that I believe you know?”

A lion-bird-woman stepped inside along with Dimi. Both of them in dresses that weren’t expensive but looked nice.

“I’m Aura.” The sphinx made a warm smile as she grabbed Ruby’s hand and shook it firmly. “I heard your ragoo should be divine!”

Ruby laughed timidly. “Oh, you won’t be disappointed, madam. I promise you that.”

“Madam?!” Aura laughed. “Dimi, I LIKE this girl!”

Ruby pulled herself free from the handshake as she looked at the bull-man. “And I hear you are a vegetarian, sir?”

Ivan wanted to kick himself. This gorgon was a nice young lady. “Yes, you have any soups or salads?”

“Oh, I have something much better.” Ruby looked very please. “Ever tried ratatouille?”

Ivan looked baffled. “Rattoo what?”

Ruby chuckled. “Give me a few minutes and you are gonna have a new favorite dish, sir.” Ruby looked at Dimi. “And ragout for you?”

“Absolutely!” Dimi sent Ruby a big grin.

“Alright, give me a few minutes and... oh. right.” Ruby went to the front door and pulled the knives free. “Gonna need these...”

Dimi resisted the urge to giggle as Ruby went to the kitchen. She immediately lost the want to laughed as she front door was opened once again and two dwarfs entered the establishment.

“Come now.” Amethyst’s mother Agate gently pushed her daughter toward the table where Dimi and her family sat. “Go on.”

Amethyst sighed as she walked toward the table, not looking Dimi in the eyes. Dimi however stared at the teen dwarf.

“Dimi...” Amethyst groaned. “I had a long talk with my mom... and she pointed out that maybe judging creatures because of garbage she has been told by idiots may not be that smart. That I should be more unbiased when I meet new creatures. And that I was just being rude and should be more open minded. And...” Amethyst looked up and stared Dimi directly in the eyes. “I’m sorry. I was a jerk.”

“Am, I’m sorry I made fun of your beard.” Dimi stood up from the table. “But I’m not the one you have to apologize to.”

Amethyst looked like she wanted to shrink into nothingness. “Do I have to?”

Dimi nodded. “You don’t have to like her, but she is my friend and you insulted her.”

Dimi offered Amethyst a hand that the dwarf girl reluctantly accepted as she walked toward the kitchen.

“Ivan...” Aura decided this was a good moment to talk with Ivan about why he had had issues coming in the first place. “I know you didn’t want to come here because you kept thinking about Veronica when you heard about Ruby.”

“Oh, PLEASE.” Ivan shook his head. “I was being stupid, I realize this now. That Ruby girl and other gorgons can’t be held responsible for the actions of one woman.”

“I didn’t want to say anything.”

“Well, I’m glad Dimi did.” Ivan sniffed. “Hey, I think I can smell eggplants!”

***

Old man Sunmut the Satyr and Greg the Goblin looked at the restaurant from a distance.

“This would NEVER have happened back in my day.” The old goat man looked at the little building with a judging look. “Here I thought Ivan was a smart lad.”

“Yeah, and the dwarf family too?” Greg sighed. “Some people have no standards.”

“I’m telling you, they will all come out turned to stone.”

“Hear ya, hear ya.”

The two creatures said nothing for a while.

“... smells kinda good though.” Greg gave Sunmut a look.

“Yeah...”

The goat and the goblin exchanged glares.

“Ah, to heck with it!” Sunmut tightened his grip around his cane. “I’m old, it’s too late for me to fear death. I’m going in!”

“So am I, I’m STARVED.”

[chaoswillcalmusdown]

Title: saw your face and got inspired Pairing: Mohammed Razzouk/Amira Thalia Mahmood Summary: Amira’s getting ready for another year of university when she meets a special someone who knocks her fully off her feet. My @yousanaexchange gift for the awesome, super sweet and super smart @thickskinandelasticheart I tried really hard to make it enemies-to-lovers as per your request but it might be a bit more of dumbasses-to-lovers. Either way, I hope you like it! I really enjoyed writing it. Special shout out to @naslostcontrol for reading it over and making sure it was fit for public consumption 😊

It's not like Amira planned to end up in this situation, it just kind of spiraled out of control. She's never been scared to speak up or voice her opinion, but she's realising that they've been arguing for 15 minutes at this point and the rest of the group is starting to shift in their seats and look at their phones. Amira takes a deep breath, then stares into Mohammed's frustratingly sparkly eyes and calmly says, "Look, I just don't think it's fair to demand emotional labour from oppressed groups in order to educate those who don't give a single shit." She shrugs and then looks over at Faizal, the president, and says, "Uhm, sorry, this really wasn't relevant for the meeting."

She can see from the corner of her eye that Mohammed's head is tilted as he stares her down from across the room. As if she's going to be intimidated by that? What a dick.

Faizal smirks, rolling his eyes, "oh, so we're allowed to move on now? You're finished now?"

Amira smiles angelically, simply adding, "Yep."

The meeting was supposed to be about what kinds of educational events the islamic society wants to do, and Amira thinks all the suggested options cater way too much to the Alman desire rather than intra community issues and needs. She's honestly sick and tired of having to sit through the same kinds of panels discussing whether or not islam is actually feminist/sexist/peaceful/violent/homophobic and so on, she's sick of force-feeding Almans hours of information and sharing her lived experiences only to be met with the same kind of liberal 'color blindness' bullshit she's faced since kindergarten. She deals with enough of that from her fellow students, professors, even the girls from time to time. The islamic society was supposed to be a place where she could chill and hang out with "her people". Faizal decides that they'll postpone the decision making another few weeks and in the meantime asks everyone to make sure they send in suggestions, so the future votes can be as democratic as possible.

Amira takes that as a slight dig, because she knows her opinions aren't really popular among the group. She came into the society looking for friends from within the community but she's managed to clash with most of the group in some way, either with her views or more likely the way she presents them. Nothing out of the ordinary, to be honest. She honestly understands the point of inclusive or educational events, but she would just love it if they could do something else as well. She'd love for them to go beyond what makes the university look good and woke, and do some important things. Create real change. The way German society still isn't okay with hijabis in certain careers is only one of the issues that she's passionate about, but the rest of the society seem to be fine with focusing their attention and resources on holding Eid barbecues and islamic panels where everyone always agrees on everything. She wants to do something that makes a difference. Something that matters. Maybe this society isn't the place for her, after all? Maybe Amira should be focusing more on the campus political parties in the next semester? The meeting wraps up and there are always snacks at the end, so Amira pours herself some tea and grabs a pastry. It's only Tuesday but her mum's been texting her all day about coming to the mosque this Friday. She's really running out of excuses that aren't the truth, but it feels too complicated and ungrateful to put into text and send to her mother, so she just replies with an affirmative.

Faizal comes over to her, giving her a fond but exasperated look. "Dude, I know you've gotta be tough to handle politics, but like. I think you need to relax just a tad. You-" He cuts himself off when someone walks behind Amira to get to the cups. "So, now you've met our charming Amira, eh?" he says to this person, grinning way too widely for Amira's comfort. Sure enough, she turns around and is face to face with Mohammed. He's frustratingly perfect-looking up close, even though his hair is stupidly swoopy and his eyebrows are huge. He's grinning at Faizal in a way that feels condescending as hell. Awesome. Amira sighs, ready to say something mean so she can excuse herself from this entire narrative.

But Mohammed beats her to it. "Yeah," he says softly, this time directed at her rather than at Faizal, "The girl with the coldest gaze." Amira really doesn't like his tone. It's condescending and smug. "It's been an enlightening but terrifying first encounter, Frau Bundeskanzlerin." He mimes a tiny bow, still fucking smirking, and then walks off. What a dick.

- - - - -

Amira has a lot going on in her life. Apart from her combined history and political science degree and her part time tutoring job, she's a sister, a daughter, a friend, and apparently a severely underpaid life coach. She's sat with Sam and Matteo in the campus coffee shop, drowning their sorrows in pastry and trying to get some work done at the same time. She attempts to listen intently to Matteo's latest crisis while she watches Sam sketching for a project. There's something going on with knitting and apparently it's all about dimensions and angles. It's kind of interesting, honestly, with the geometry of it all. But it's mostly making her feel a bit dizzy because of how circular Matteo's anxieties are.

Amira can't help but interrupt, "Matteo, habibi, you know I love you?"

"But shut the fuck up?" he asks self-deprecatingly, scrunching his face up, still dragging one hand harshly through his hair.

"Hä? No, no. I was going to say that we've had this exact conversation before. And, remember how I told you that there's nothing wrong with going to therapy, even just to try it out."

Matteo clenches his jaw, dragging his hand down his face, then letting it drop limply onto the tabletop. He'd gone once during his gap year, but after he'd decided to study programming he claimed he felt "much better" so he never went back. David's been worrying about him, and has tried to involve Amira in his plan to get Matteo to therapy. Along the way they've found that it's truly not possibly to get Matteo to do anything Matteo does not want to do. Amira still prays that he'll find peace and get help, but she's really stopped nagging him. However, when he brings up feeling overwhelmed and frustrated she can't help but speak up and repeat the suggestion. Maybe he'll eventually take the advice.

David arrives and drops down next to Matteo. He's working on a short film outside of his studies and is currently storyboarding, which of course means that Matteo is going to do anything he can to disturb the creative process. It might be cute how they devolve into play fighting even after multiple years, but Amira honestly just finds it ridiculous. Sam is asking about Amira's studies, nodding along to Amira's story about the world's most boring professor, when the impossible happens. Mohammed walks up to the table, wearing the cafe's  apron, asking if they've got any empty cups they want to get rid of. Sam thanks him, being friendly in a normal way. Amira's just frozen. Before he leaves, he gestures to Amira's full black outfit complete with black nails, then to her phone which is lying on the table with the case side up, proudly stating 'Black is my happy colour' and says, "Black suits you." Then he turns and jauntily walks into the back, with his tray of dirty mugs. Amira can feel her face heat, which in turn pisses her off. Thankfully, at least no one else can tell she's blushing.

"God, what a dick," Amira huffs.

"Hä? Amira!" Sam laughs. "He didn't even say anything bad?!"

"He commented on my looks? Is that seriously necessary?"

"God, Amira, don't be such a manhater. He was just appreciating your aesthetic. I'm sure he's a totally nice guy. I mean, he's really attractive, and you know incels are always fucking ugly."

Matteo apparently tunes into the conversation at this point, "hey! What's this about hating men? Men are totally awesome!"

Amira narrows her eyes at him, gesturing to where he's stretched across David, keeping him from his sketchbook and holding David's pen high in the air so David won't be able to reach it.

Matteo straightens up, puts David's pen back. David grabs it with a wink in Amira's direction. "I mean, sure, we're stupid, but all men aren't?"

- - - - -

Whenever she says she's busy, Amira's mum gets annoyed with her, so Amira finds herself at a random event at her local mosque. There's some kind of lecture, and then supposedly there'll be food after. Amira can't help but notice that neither of her brothers were nagged into attending, but that's fine. She's somewhat excited to see the girls she used to hang out with all the time, but now only really sees occasionally at the mosque. Or at someone's wedding, which there have been a lot of. She's officially the last one out of her Sunday school group to be married, not that she would have expected anything less. Aunties have always told her she'd have a hard time finding a man to put up with her "strong opinions".

Amira grabs a mug of tea, and is about to scan the room for her girls when an older couple appear. She vaguely knows who they are, thinks they're parents of one of Omar's friends from school. She says hi, and tries to make some polite small talk. Then, the woman goes, "Oh, we heard your brother's getting married!" and Amira realises what's about to happen. She pastes on a polite smile and replies, trying to look around for someone who can save her from this conversation. The husband continues on to jokingly ask if she's next, and Amira keeps the smile on her face when she says, "Oh, I'm focusing on my career first. I still have another a bit left until I graduate." The wife pats her husbands arm and points out that Amira is studying politics. He chuckles and asks, "Are you still doing that? And what are you going to use that degree for? Are you planning on being the first German chancellor with a hijab? While somehow managing a family, as well?" They both chuckle, in a kind of 'oh how silly of her' way. The wife says, "No, Amira, habibi, I think it's great that you're getting yourself educated. They always say that an educated woman teaches a whole village."

Amira sighs, draining her mug. "I don't know about a whole village," she laughs dryly, then says a somewhat polite goodbye and hightails it out of there. When Amira finds her friends, Nadia's talking about her new husband, complaining that he expected her to know what to buy his mother for a 50th birthday present. Someone else is laughing and saying, "Well, wasn't he always a bit distracted?" Amira remembers him well from school and cannot imagine that he has since grown out of his fuck-boy phase into a good husband. While the girls chat about their awful spouses, Amira's attention drifts and she somehow ends up on Mohammed. With a woman in a hijab and two younger kids. She feels a bit unsettled, even worse when they lock eyes across the room and Amira feels her face heat. Mohammed looks confused but then gives a tiny wave before he turns back to the kids.

When Amira snatches her eyes back onto her friends, everyone's looking at Amira. "Hä, sorry?"

Nadia rolls her eyes, "We were just wondering if there's anyone special in your life?"

Amira barks out a laugh, "Wow, no, I'm way too young to get married." She might have forgotten to censor herself there for a second. "Um, I mean, I'm going to graduate first, but I'm looking into post-grad right now, so. It's not a priority yet."

- - - - -

Amira gets home from the mosque annoyed. Over the weekend she goes to a boxing class, and afterwards decides to focus on her studies, and figure out what she's going to do about the islamic society and everything else later. And what she's going to do about everyone at the mosque constantly asking her about her future, all now that your brother is getting married, isn't it your turn next, dear? She's got a few really interesting classes going on at the moment and she heads to her first tutorial which is on European politics. She sees a few familiar faces and chats until the professor shows up and they all file into the room and pull out all their notes. Amira's rooting around in her bag for a pen to lend to her neighbour, when she hears the door open and a smooth voice say, "sorry I'm late". The professor, a really nice but very old white man chuckles and says, "no worries, we haven't quite started yet." Amira reflexively looks over to see who it was, locks eyes with Mohammed, and firmly looks away. This is fine. There are always new people in tutorials, and sometimes you recognise them from around campus. No big deal. Amira passes the pen along and logs onto her computer. She's always been an achiever, and she's not planning on letting herself get distracted by anything. As always, she raises her hand to answer the first question the professor asks, but is surprised when she looks over and sees Mohammed already raising his hand and speaking. Even worse, he's saying the exact thing Amira was going to say. She drops her hand, cracking her neck and stretching out her shoulders, and makes sure to be the first one to raise her hand at the next opportunity instead. Game on.

- - - - -

As much as Amira tries to focus and center herself on what she's trying to achieve, her education and all the things that matter in her life, she can't help but feel unsettled. Every time she has a politics class, Mohammed is just there, raising his hand a split second before Amira and constantly just arguing and disagreeing with her. Whenever she goes to an islamic society meeting, Mohammed is there and yet again, frustrating her and disagreeing with her. She keeps up with her routine, prays and goes to boxing with Sam or Hanna, and tutors, and studies. But she keeps getting distracted, while studying and while praying and even while boxing. All because of one annoying guy. She's heading over to her brothers' shared apartment on a Friday night to drop off a text book for Essam on her way to Mia's place for "girls wine and cheese night". She's got two essays almost due and would genuinely love to get a start on those, but the girls won't let her sit at home on a Friday night while doing research for school. Sam had said it's out of the question, mom.

Essam opens the door, while stuffing his face with pizza. Amira plops her bag down on the floor by the door and shakes out her shoulders. When she looks up, Essam's got a confounded look on his face, "Are you carrying around bricks?!"

"I wish," Amira mutters pulling out the book he needed and dropping it on the ground, letting it thunk. "Gimme some pizza."

Essam snorts and gestures into the apartment, "Bad week?"

"You don't even know. The most annoying guy is in my class. And literally everywhere I look. Such a fucking pain in the-" They turn the corner into the open plan kitchen-dining-living room, and who's sitting at the breakfast bar, handsomely typing away at a computer? Mohammed, of course. At this point, Amira should be fucking expecting it.

Essam grabs Amira a slice and, upon seeing her bewildered face, goes, "Oh, you haven't met! This is my pal, Mohammed, he's the guy who's gonna take over Omar's room after he gets married. My soulmate, yadda yadda."

Mohammed smiles at Amira, "We've met, actually," he says. Amira swallows around her bite, trying to smile since she can't speak due to the chewing. "Through the islamic society," Mohammed adds, shrugging. Amira tries to read off his face whether he heard her ranting as she entered, or not. He doesn't look very offended, so she figures he probably did not.

"Huh," Essam says, nodding. He turns to Amira, "Hey, sorry, you were venting. Something about a really annoying guy?"

Mohammed leaves about twenty minutes later, apparently heading home for dinner. Amira waits approximately 2 seconds after she hears the door close, until she's rounding in on Essam. "How did you not tell me about Mohammed?!" She demands, not realising how ridiculous that sounds, until it's too late. Essam stares at her like she grew a third eye.

"I don't tell you every time I make a friend, Litschi! What the hell?"

Amira shakes her head, pacing. "That's Mohammed," she says. Essam nods, looking towards confusedly at the now closed front door. "No, Fruchtzwerg, it's Mohammed. The annoying guy who appears in every fucking part of my life, and frustrating the hell out of me. It's Mohammed."

"Oh shit."

- - - - -

Essam's confused about the entirety of Amira's story, because Mohammed never argues and Mohammed's the nicest guy ever and most confusingly Mohammed? Is in the islamic society committee? Really? Amira's at a loss. Essam claims to know the guy, but either he doesn't know anything about him or Mohammed's just different with different people. And that's always a bad sign when it comes to guys. Obviously guys lie, and Amira's had enough interactions with guys from all over the place to know not to trust one at first sight. Not that she would want to trust Mohammed for any reason. She just doesn't want her brother to be scammed or anything. It would suck for Essam if Mohammed turns out to be a shitty person.

Amira eats most of Essam's pizza while she fumes over Mohammed's occupation into yet another aspect of her life. She really doesn't know how she's supposed to handle all this exposure to his dumb face. And then Essam points out that Mohammed's going to be in Omar's wedding, so Amira needs to somehow settle a truce with the guy, which is just perfect.

That Sunday marks some anniversary of Kiki and Carlos' which requires a house party. Amira arrives after her prayer with some vegetarian pizzas from down the road. She catches David and Matteo chatting, or probably more likely making out, right inside the front door, and then gets encased in a monster hug from Sam. They chat over pizza, and then, who comes through the door after Jonas? At this point, it should not even surprise her. Mohammed walks through into the living room, waving awkwardly as he gets introduced to everyone. Sam and David seem to already know him, and Matteo, too. Amira is just lost. Even more surprisingly, Essam walks in after them. He waves excitedly at Amira, and Amira really longs for a time where all the different parts of her life were neatly compartmentalised and never met each other at house parties. Next, she's gonna have to introduce her parents to Kirlos or something equally ridiculous.

"He's very cute, huh?" Sam asks Amira, jabbing her playfully with her elbow. Amira rolls her eyes reflexively. "Oh come on, Amira, he's cute. And he's wholesome. You always say I need to date more wholesome men."

Amira shrugs. "But you know a lot of arabs are racist," she mumbles, taking a swig of Pepsi to calm her suddenly agitated nerves.

Sam snorts, "Yeah, thanks, I know. I can be careful, mom."

Kiki and Mia walk over, with Kiki looking between Amira and then Essam and Mohammed. "The blond guy was waving like he knows you," Kiki points out, while Amira curses Essam's entire personality and existence, "Are these guys like your relatives?"

Sam busts out giggling, asking Amira in a silly voice, "Do you know all the arabs in Berlin, Amira dear?" When Kiki looks shocked, she adds, "No, Kiki, I'm kidding, don't worry, sorry, sorry," all while still giggling. Amira thinks back to the time when Kiki had asked Sam if she and boy Sam were related.

"Ha-ha," Amira mutters. "I actually do know them, though. The blond one is, unfortunately my brother."

"No way!" Mia gasps, slapping Amira's shoulder. "You're nothing alike."

"Alhamdulillah," Amira mumbles, setting Sam off into another bout of giggles. Mia smiles, but manages to restrain herself. Amira huffs, adjusting her scarf. "No, he's not that bad… he's just loud? He's my younger brother so of course he annoys me".

"What about the other guy," Mia asks, "You know him, too?"

Sam hums, "Hot, right?"

Mia's appraising Amira very intently and Amira really hates it. She shrugs, "He's a friend of Essam's, I don't know him very well."

Essam appears at her shoulder with Mohammed in tow, and they all get introduced. Essam flirts way too much with Kiki, and Amira tries to melt into the ground with secondhand embarrassment. Eventually Carlos drifts over, probably to show Essam that Kiki is taken, which is just cringe worthy on its own. Amira catches Mohammed's eye just as Carlos wraps his arm firmly over Kiki's shoulders and Kiki looks back at him confused. Mohammed looks like he's trying really hard not to laugh, and he raises his eyebrows, pinching his lips together. Amira shrugs, mouth lifting into a smile before she can stop herself. She pulls her eyes away, anywhere else. Her eyes settle on Jonas trying to teach Matteo some chords on the guitar, and Hanna chatting animatedly with David in the corner next to them. Then, she overhears someone daring to besmirch the name of Mohamed Salah. She looks up, locking eyes with a grinning Mohammed. Carlos is saying something ridiculous about Manchester United, and Amira truly cannot believe the joy she's seeing in Mohammed's eyes. Or the way he's confidently nodding along with Carlos' unbelievably incorrect rant. Sam and Mia look lost, but Essam's grinning gleefully at Amira. As the middle child in a family of strong opinions, he's grown up to become the most neutral person Amira knows, and watches sports mostly to see how riled up Amira and Omar get. "You must have an opinion on this, Litschi, as someone who has a life-sized cardboard cutout of Mo Salah in their room?" Essam's making himself sound like a beat reporter, looking around the group to make sure he has everyone's attention.

Amira clenches her jaw, knowing that she'll never live that nickname down now that the girls have heard it. She can see Sam mouthing it, looking delighted. "You bought me that cut-out, Fruchtzwerg, but yes, I do have an opinion on Mo Salah, the best football player of this generation."

Her argument doesn't quite convince the boys, but then her Maghrib alarm goes off and she slips away to Kirlos' bathroom followed by their bedroom. She's perhaps making a lot of effort to walk without stomping, but having to be at a party with her idiot brother is just really fraying on her nerves. She's never had to interact with him and her friends at the same time. She knows that he thinks she's acting weird, and so will the girls, probably. The'll think she's too harsh on him, or something. Amira's really not a massive fan of praying in her friends' bedrooms, but it's better than a bathroom so she'll take it. She can hear literally everything that's going on in the party, the bass vibrating the walls and floor, and honestly doesn't know how she's meant to be able to focus on anything except that new Zara Larsson song that Kiki's doing a cover of.

When she walks back into the living room, she can't help but feel frustrated about the way she always misses random chunks of parties. She'll come back from praying and catch the girls in a joke that falls flat when they try to explain it to her. You had to be there sometimes feels like the story of her life. The groups have rearranged since she left. Kirlos have ended up on the sofa, with Sam and Mia still talking to Mohammed, while Essam seems to be bonding with Matteo. God help them all. Amira walks over to Sam, because she's still holding Amira's drink. Not for any other reason. She can't help herself, so she asks Mohammed if he's not going to go pray, knowing full well that Essam won't. His smile falters, but he shrugs and says, "I'm not really going to bother in these circumstances," gesturing at the loudness of the party.

Amira can hear Essam's carefree laughter, bristles at the ease and lack of tension in Mohammed's shoulders and she truly doesn't mean to, but she ends up saying, "So you just pray when it's convenient for you?"

Amira can hear Sam make a noise of awkwardness next to her, and she knows she's out of line, knows she has a tendency to attack first, but she's bone-tired and frustrated and nothing she does or is expected to do is ever easy or convenient.

Mohammed, eyes hard, replies, "I thought Islam taught you not to judge. And I don't know if you know, but Germany has laws that regulate a person's right to practice religion how they want, or not practice at all, thank you very fucking much." He looks disappointed at her, which hurts more than she'd like. And then he turns and leaves. Amira feels like the whole party has quieted down, like everyone saw that, but in reality only Sam and Mia did. Though Essam will probably hear about it later.

"Ouff," Sam whines, "Amira, that was harsh".

Amira groans. "You okay?" Mia asks, looking concerned. Amira sighs, squishing her eyes shut.

"Fuck."

"You look like you need a drink," Sam points out. Amira laughs, desperately. "Let's make you a fabulous mocktail. I'm too tipsy to solve anything right now."

- - - - -

Amira wakes up in stages, first noticing the offensive brightness of the room, and burrowing deeper into the covers to try and avoid facing the day. She and Mia went home with Sam and ended up falling asleep and Amira can hear Sam and Mia chatting away, though in hushed tones. She can't help but groan as she stretches. It's far too early.

"Morning, Litschi!" Mia calls, and Amira groans louder. She forgot about that.

The girls let her wake up while they get some tea and wrangle together breakfast. Amira stares at the ceiling and pointedly does not check her phone. She does, however, get up to pee and then pray. When she gets back the girls have managed a decent spread with the leftovers in Sam's fridge.

"We should talk about Mohammed," Sam points out. Mia nods. "You were really mean." Mia nods again.

"You like him, don't you?" Mia's got her knees up, chin resting on them. Amira sputters in response.

"That's a yes!" Sam cheers, giggling.

"It's not," Amira sighs. "He's just a douchebag. Like, he's so flippant about important stuff. Like religion. And he's constantly appearing everywhere I go and annoying me."

"But you still went off on him pretty harshly," Mia points out.

"Maybe he's not muslim?" Sam suggests.

Amira shrugs, mutters, "if he's not then I definitely won't like him but he's in the islamic society, so I doubt that's actually the case. Even though he's maybe not a very good muslim."

"He's there, too? Like, is he stalking you, or?"

Amira sighs, shaking her head, "No, he's just in the islamic society and in my politics class and living in my brother's apartment, and also apparently he now goes to my mosque, too?!"

"Don't forget he's pals with Jonas, too," Sam mentions, laughing. "Listen, there must be a reason this handsome but annoying man has entered your life. Maybe you just need some patience."

Amira groans, but Sam pushes on, "No, Amira, you always hate guys on sight. Like with Alex," she gestures at Mia and Amira does feel bad because she's never really owned up to that, "or with Jonas, with Stefan. Guys lie and all that."

Amira honestly can't argue with that, and she hates it. Mia's been quiet for a while, and looking thoughtful, but she then gets this sparkle in her eyes. Amira hates that even more.

Later that day Mia texts her:

(Not to play devil's advocate but, don't you think it's possible that you're hiding a bit behind the 'bad muslim' thing? Because I think you guys have some incredible chemistry)

That text might haunt Amira for a while, even if she sends Mia a very stern reply.

- - - - -

Amira's chatting to her dad on the phone later that night, and she'd been trying to finish her assigned reading for the week but she kept getting distracted. She honestly felt pretty shitty about how she'd treated Mohammed. She'd had a whole heap of small frustrations building up and she had just accidentally unleashed them all straight into his bothersome face even though most of her frustrations were not at all his fault. She knew she had to apologise, and she genuinely wanted to but she struggled admitting to her brothers that she'd gotten an actor wrong because she hates being wrong. She's always right, so she's really not good at admitting fault.

"Amira, habibi, are you doing something else while we're talking?"

"Huh? Sorry, dad, I'm just a little distracted."

"Ah, I see, well, tell your old man and he can solve all your troubles."

"Hah, thanks, dad. I don't know if you can solve it, though. I was pretty rude to someone for no reason and now I have to apologise to them."

Amira's dad hums. "Was this the same boy as the annoying one in the islamic society that your mum told me about?"

"Yes," Amira mutters. Her parents truly seem to not keep any secrets from each other.

"Hah, well, you've always been very proud, kiddo. I always loved that about you. You know your worth and you don't take shit from anyone. But, before you get too comfortable, you're also terrible at admitting when you're wrong."

"Wow, thanks, dad."

"You get that from your mum, you know. I truly do think it's a good thing, but I hope you don't feel like you always have to be perfect. You've always been strong but it's good to be vulnerable, too. It's hard, sure, but good things do happen when you let your guard down just a tad."

"Ugh, dad, that was so sentimental."

Her dad laughs, "Yes, habibi, I know, I know. Let's switch topics. Tell me about the lecture you had this morning."

- - - - -

Amira is really not in the mood for an event, but even she can agree on the importance of this specific one. It's taken a lot of organisation for everything to work out, and it involves 4 societies (which is also partly why David is involved) and spans a month with one focus each week. This week's fundraising focus is the charity Jonas volunteers for, which does a lot of work with refugee integration in Berlin. She arrives a bit earlier because she promised David and Jonas she would, even though her mother is frustrated with her for not coming to the mosque for some kind of "women in islam" lecture held by a panel of men. Kiki's asking the group chat for a pre-party and since Amira is arriving at the club, she just turns the sound off and heads in, following the music to where she expects to at least find Jonas. She sees Matteo and David hanging out by the stage, where Jonas of course is sat on a stool with his guitar. Jonas sees her and calls her over and while she's approaching she takes in the other figures in the room. She mostly sees people she's never seen or people she's possibly passed on campus before. But then she sees Mohammed standing behind Jonas, by the mic, singing quietly and chatting to Jonas about something, brows drawn. He doesn't seem to notice her, so she keeps approaching.

"Study partner!" Matteo whisper-calls out, turning around to grab and open a coke bottle for Amira, "come join the soundcheck squad."

Amira accepts the drink and asks what they're up to, trying to avoid Mohammed's eyes now burning into the side of her head from where he's still chatting to Jonas.

David wiggles his eyebrows at her, "oh, we're just waiting for the jam session to pick back up. They weren't sure on which key to use, or something nerdy like that." He turns to look at Mohammed, who rolls his eyes, but Jonas starts playing. The room is filling up, there are a few people working behind the bar and some others decorating and moving tables around. Everyone's chatting to themselves and no one is really paying any attention to the stage, where Amira assumes the boys ended up helping Jonas with "soundcheck" in order to avoid manual labour. Amira truly hates being a cliche, but when she first hears Mohammed's voice, goosebumps erupt along her arms. She crosses them across her chest, gripping the coke bottle. David's swaying along and he and Matteo whoop encouragingly at certain notes and lyrics. Amira can't help but grin at their contagious hype, but when she turns her attention back to the stage, Mohammed's looking straight at her. She can't help but swallow, caught out, but looks right back, never one to back down.

Dragging along, follow in your form

Hung like the pelt of some prey you had worn

Remember me, love, when I'm reborn

As the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn

Amira can feel her face flushing as she narrows her eyes at Mohammed. He just smirks back at her, and finishes the song. The boys clap and cheer so loudly that they draw the attention of some official looking person with a clipboard, who sighs and huffs and splits them up. David and Matteo grab Amira to head towards the back and David turns on the way to yell some more compliments towards the stage. As they walk, David hums, "You know, Hozier is a man that I'm sure you would agree is an exception to the general rule of male shittiness."

Matteo snorts, mutters, "fucking Hozier…" but David carries on. "He doesn't write boring love songs. He doesn't get intimidated by confident women. To be honest, he loves a strong and terrifying woman-"

Matteo interjects to say, "It's one of those 'choke m-'" but thankfully gets interrupted by David clapping a hand over his mouth before Amira needs to bleach her entire brain and soul.

David sighs and hands Matteo a box of string lights that are supposed to go up somewhere. Matteo takes them with a wink and walks back into the event room. David shrugs, looking at Amira. "Anyways, Mo's got a good voice, right? I keep telling him, but he acts like it's no big deal."

Amira immediately feels suspicious. "How do you all know each other?"

"Huh? Oh, Jonas met him at some kind of open mic, jam thing. I don't really know. And then Jonas and Matteo, you know. We went to one of Jonas' gigs and Mohammed was there." David gestures in an encompassing way, like he's trying to say the rest is history.

- - - - -

The girls all arrive and 'ooh and ah' over how magical the location looks. Amira has to admit that it's nice, even if she's slightly on edge due to how often she keeps bumping into Mohammed while turning a corner. Sam happens to be next to her one of these times and she sighs and goes, "He's so charming. How is he so charming?!" Amira sighs and switches subjects by asking about Sam's nephew, which is honestly the most effective subject change ever. She even gets adorable baby photos out of it.

Later on she's walking from the bar with Mia, when Jonas announces a new song and Amira spots Mohammed by the stage. Based on earlier, she really can't handle another song so she slips away into the back garden. She can see Mia shrugging and looking questioningly at her through the large open doors, but she plants her feet and starts up a conversation with a girl she knows from her European History class. A few minutes later, Mia appears at her side, looking like the cat that got the cream. Amira tries to drag the conversation out, but she and this girl, Anna?, really don't have much in common so she leaves shortly after. Mia's arms are crossed, shit-eating red lipped grin and all.

"How's it going with Mohammed?" she asks.

Amira huffs, assuring Mia that there is nothing going, but she'll apologise when she gets a moment, thank you very much. Of course this is when Amira's Maghrib alarm goes off. Mia looks like she wants to protest, but in the end she realises she can't really argue with it so she just gives Amira her unimpressed tm look when Amira starts backing away, to find somewhere to pray. She was planning to scout out a good location while helping to set up earlier, but Mohammed had ruined those plans for her by distracting her with his face and voice. She asks one of the bartenders and gets led to the staff room, which has an adjacent but tiny bathroom. She's honestly had to settle for worse, even if the staff room could really use a lockable door. She decides to just hurry, and hope no one interrupts her.

Afterwards, she feels centred and calm, like always. She touches up her makeup, and quickly checks her phone. Sam's sent multiple messages to the group chat, the most recent being:

omg how sexy is mohammed's singing voice?! how is he so charming???????

Amira pockets her phone as she opens the door, but hits something. She pauses for a second and tries again. This time the door opens smoothly. Standing on the other side, running a hand through his stupid hair, is Mohammed.

"Sorry," he mumbles. "I was heading to the bathroom and one of the bartenders was about to head in, so I-" He waves a hand at the door.

"Oh," Amira can't help but feel stunned, because she definitely doesn't deserve that level of consideration from him of all people. They stand in a slightly awkward silence, Amira looking everywhere except at Mohammed. She realises she's being a bit childish about it so she squares up, clears her throat. "Hey, listen, I'm sorry about my behaviour." She dares a glance up at Mohammed's face. He looks annoyingly smug, arms crossed over his chest. He waits her out, smirking. "I perhaps judged you a bit early. And harshly. It's.. It doesn't happen ever, really, but, I guess… I was wrong. Sorry."

Mohammed nods slowly, looking off to the side. "No harm done. So, listen-"

The door separating the club space from the staff space slams open and a frazzled bartender startles at the sight of them, looks confused. Amira takes this as a perfect opportunity, explaining herself, "Oh, sorry, I was just praying, you know," while gesturing at the locker room behind her and also her head. When the bartender nods, still confused, Amira hurries out to find the girls.

- - - - -

Amira's back at her parents' house for a weeknight dinner. She's helping set the table because her parents don't want her near the food, but she also does not want to sit and chat at the table since Essam's started the night by badgering her about Mohammed in front of their mother.

"Seen Mohammed any more?" Essam asks with a grin when Omar arrives. Amira sends him a look that could kill from across the table. Her dad perks up, "Oh, Mohammed's a good kid. You know Mohammed, Amira?"

Amira sighs, "Yeah, we have a class together, and some friends in common."

At this, Omar looks thoughtful. "You'd like Mohammed," he says, as if it's only just occurring to him, as if the gears are starting to turn.

Her dad latches onto this idea, "Yeah, that's a good point! You're very similar, Amira, stubborn but very smart." He pats her on the shoulder as he walks back into the kitchen to help their mother with the cooking.

When Amira walks back with a stack of plates, Essam's gleefully feeding Omar blackmail material about how Amira had unfairly snapped at poor Mohammed in front of everyone. "I was planning to try and convince them to date but Amira hates him."

"Hä? What did he do?"

"Thanks, Essam," Amira sighs, "He didn't do anything, he was just arguing in favour of stupid shit, and-"

"Like what?"

"Just… He keeps advocating for inclusive events in the islamic society. Having all our events open for everyone even though that always means a whole bunch of people appear and demand us to hold them by the hand and explain every single thing that's going on. Every single event. I'm sick and tired of having to educate ignorant white Germans who can't just google it. That's not why I joined the islamic society."

Omar hums. "Mohammed grew up in Syria, you know," he points out. "He didn't have to grow up in a country full of Almans who know nothing about islam and require hand-holding. So, maybe he just has a higher tolerance for that than we do?"

It's a fully reasonable argument, which Amira kind of hates. She hasn't really ever asked Mohammed anything, barely even spoken to him except to argue with him or be hostile to him. "Yeah, okay, sure. We're just not compatible people, that's all." Essam snorts. "Listen, it doesn't matter anyway. I'm not going to ever date a guy who isn't a proper muslim, so that's that. Leave it."

They both look confused. "What do you mean 'not compatible'? And why would you think Mohammed's not religious? He's in the islamic society, isn't he?"

Amira shrugs, "He doesn't pray? He's- I don't know, Essam said-"

"I was surprised he was on the committee, because he's been struggling. But what even is a proper muslim, Amira?" Essam asks, with a grimace. "If Mohammed isn't then I've barely been one lately either, but you don't hate me for it?!"

"No, of course I don't hate you."

"You said my crisis was valid, and I can assure you that Mohammed's was valid, too. Is this why you snapped at him?"

Amira groans, "I don't hate him… I just. Lost my temper, I don't know why. It wasn't like I snapped on purpose. He just aggravates me. He just keeps aggravating me for no good reason." She realises she's been gesturing pretty aggressively, so she drops her shoulders and lets her hands fall to her side. "What do you want me to say?"

"Oh my god, you like him."

- - - - -

Of course, it all comes to a head at Omar and Nour's Henna night. The girls have all been invited and some of the boys (specifically Jonas and Carlos). Amira had tried to convince her brothers that she absolutely did not have any feelings for Mohammed, but it seemed as if she was not very convincing. At least, she managed to get them both to agree to leave her alone and definitely not mention anything about it to the guy in question. And Amira knows they wouldn't dare cross her. During the night she has managed to mostly avoid the aunties and uncles that have been giving her far too wide smiles all night, and she's managed to duck out of several conversations before she had anyone ask her when's your turn, habibi and ended up snapping at anyone. She's chatting to Jonas and Hanna in a decently secluded corner, teaching Jonas the accurate pronunciation of all the sweets he's eating. He's shockingly good at it, and he's really pleased about that fact.

Then, there's a tap on her shoulder. Hanna's eyes widen, and she gently but firmly drags Jonas away. Amira feels this sense of doom impending, but she's also got a few hardcore butterflies appearing in the depths of her stomach. She turns, and there's Mohammed. He's got a piece of baklava in the palm of his upturned hand and he grins at her.

"Frau Bundeskanzlerin," he mutters, doing a really douche-y bow. Amira can't help but laugh, and glances around the room. God, everyone can see this, Amira thinks, even though realistically no one is looking in their direction, but instead talking to the future bride and groom.

"What's your deal?" is what comes out of her mouth.

Mohammed snorts, smile faltering just a little, "my deal?"

"It's really not cute to be flirting with a girl if you're not even fucking religious, you know. Do you know how fucking impossible and rare it is to even have decent interactions with men as a hijabi without them wanting to save or objectify you? It's literally not something that happens. I am sick and tired-"

"Wow," Mohammed mutters, though grinning, popping the piece of baklava he was supposedly presenting Amira with into his mouth and chewing. "What have I done to deserve this utter annihilation?"

"What have you done? You're impossible to read. You're debating in the islamic society one day, then you're not a practicing muslim, then a day later you're in the mosque. What's your deal?"

Mohammed rolls his eyes, crosses his arms in front of his chest. "I'll hold a full length lecture on my relationship with islam in the morning, if you want, but as for what my deal is, I've been trying to ask you out on a date." He shrugs one shoulder, like it's obvious.

Amira splutters in surprise. "You've…. what?"

"It's not my fault you're distracting. You know, you're the one who's impossible. I've literally been in love with you since you gave me that stink eye in ISOC. I think you're amazing even though you're infuriating and judgemental as hell."

"Hmm, we'll agree to disagree."

Mohammed bursts out laughing, "What? No, we definitely won't! Come on!"

Amira notices, from the corner of her eye, that a few aunties and girls she knows from elementary school are taking an interest in them and then she realises how close they've drifted during their conversation. "Shit, people are looking at us."

Mohammed hums, looks around. He shrugs, takes a demonstrative step back. "There we go, much more appropriate."

Amira rolls her eyes, cheeks aching from smiling. "So, your method of flirting is just being oppositional, then?"

"Might be… It worked, though, right?" Amira snorts. "Maybe I should've been more direct and asked for an audience through your secretary?"

It shouldn't make Amira giggle, because it's not really funny, but she still giggles like a schoolgirl she definitely is not. "Hey, Mohammed?"

"Yes?"

"Do you want to go out with me?"

Mohammed bursts out laughing, "I'd love to."

[teddy-bea]

inscribed on back of photo, mom’s cursive: Dale’s back from camp!!  Teddy INSISTED on coming with us to the airport.  She burst into tears when she saw her.  She’s got the softest soul I’ve ever known.

i persist and resist the temptation

twins have a way of knowing things.

but this wasn’t about twins.  this wasn’t about honey calling teddy, throwing her abruptly out of her sleep at three in the morning, arm fumbling around her nightstand for her phone and lifting herself up from under the nest of auggie’s arm to the accusatory, panicked voice of her twin, her honey, asking her, “are you pregnant?”

(to which she’d assured her she absolutely was not, she’d just been feeling sick since they’d gotten back from paris, and she had a doctor’s visit planned for the morning — but if anything, they were just hoping it wasn’t anything severe, anything like what their father was currently quarantined with.)

(fast-forward seven hours later, and her doctor is telling her that she — and her BABIES — are perfectly healthy.  how’s that for twin telepathy?)

but this, again, is not that story.

this is about daily.

her name wasn’t actually daily — until she was sixteen, at least, when their parents let her legally change it from “remy” — but it’s what they’d all called her since she was born.  apparently, it was because she’d cried when she was a baby.  “daily,” her dad would always bemoan to her., and he’d always do it with a smile on his face because her dad did everything with a smile on his face.  “she cries daily.  daily, daily, daily.”  and it had just stuck.  she’d been daily ever since.

it suited her, really, because daily was a cool name.  and daily remy graham was the coolest person teddy had ever known.  and heck, remy had been a cool name too.  daily’s destiny had preceded her.

she was loud, but she was gentle, she was outspoken, but she was kind.  she wanted to be a rockstar when she grew up, and she settled for being teddy’s lead guitarist since she was fifteen years old and always told her that it was never “settling” in her eyes.

honey was her twin, olive was her best friend, auggie was her soulmate, her siblings were her life, but daily was her person.  

she was the one who stood up for her — even if she was only eighteen to teddy’s naive sixteen — when her first record label tried to shortchange her in a lousy deal.  she looked over every contract, combed through every deal, made sure teddy was never settling for less than she was worth.  she cracked jokes with the band, the opening acts, was everyone’s best friend on tour, in the studio, online.  you couldn’t not be magnetized by her.  it had been the same way at school — she’d just been that good.

so, when teddy had been home for christmas, just before everything in their world had been rocked to its absolute core, teddy might have seen something that wasn’t supposed to be.  a poem — not that that was rare, by any means, since daily always carried notebooks and a tablet with her, but this one seemed deeply personal.  this one, teddy could tell, was about alex.

alex, who’d been daily’s high school boyfriend, who had turned into her college boyfriend.  everyone joked that she and alex were going to be the next ollie and josie, the next big fat “lifetime of togetherness” to come out of the graham family.

until daily broke up with him out of nowhere before college graduation.  he was going to propose, had asked her parents’ for her hand and everything.  teddy and bixby had planned a whole, ridiculous engagement party, were already in the process of writing a song rhyming every possible word with “daily” that they could.

there was no doubt in their mind, in any of their minds, that she and alex were going to get married.  they’d all set up a surprise party at the graham party when they knew that alex was planning the proposal, everyone hiding behind various furniture as if their entire family weren’t a towering forest of trees, and when daily came in — alone — shoving her keys into her bag, she’d looked at them in horror as they all came flying out from behind the couch with poppers and confetti, screaming out, “CONGRATULATIONS!”

“where is he?” bixby had asked with a furrowed brow.

daily frowned.  “who?”

belly snorted from their twin brother’s side.  “what do you mean who?  alex, dumbass.  mr. daily graham.”

“oh,” daily said, her face shifting ever so slightly.  “we broke up.”  

she said it like their dad used to announce rained out days in the park.

both her mom and teddy were moving for her at once, but daily backed up.  “i’m fine.   i thought i was surprising you guys by stopping by for dinner tonight,” she shot a pointed look at honey and teddy, “but apparently you guys already knew.”

“hey,” honey said softly, softer than usual.  “you good?”

“why wouldn’t i be?” daily breezed.  “it’s not like he was gonna propose to me.”  she saw the looks across all their faces and grimaced.  “all right, too soon.”  she shot them a peace sign — which, if you’ve ever met daily, you would know is her international symbol for ‘not okay, but don’t ask — and headed upstairs for her old room.

teddy gave it a solid three minutes before she was heading up after her.  honey was at her heels.

they weren’t the type of family who knocked — never had been — so teddy just stepped in and held the door open long enough for honey to follow her before lightly tapping it shut with her foot.  she didn’t see how everything could have gone so horribly south so fast.  alex had texted her ring ideas while she had been across from daily in tour rehearsals.  she was juggling classes and graduation prep and her relationship with alex and tour prep… had it been too much?

“day, what happened?”

“you guys,” daily groaned.  “there’s.  it’s.”  she looked up from where she was doodling line art into a notebook.  “it wasn’t going to work, okay?  i have so much shit going on with graduation and getting ready to leave across the country and—”

“—if this is about me—”

“—it’s not about you,” daily’s voice nearly broke.  “it’s about me.”

something in honey’s stance moved, her jaw clenched and unclenched, her eyes softened.  “oh.”

teddy looked from honey to daily before she was looking around daily’s bedroom, seeing the pictures along her dresser and bookcase that had changed in and out from over the years — there was still the picture of her holding belly when they were born, and the picture of her and honey and teddy and ollie all throwing their arms around crosby before he left for his volunteer trip to argentina.  there was one of her and their parents and a photobombing bixby at her high school graduation.  

daily had photos everywhere.  she documented everything, carefully and methodically.  her bedroom was a time capsule. her and teddy when teddy got her first record deal.  her and teddy on stage at the first talent show they performed at together.  her and her best friend naomi when they were six years old, laying out in the backyard with their hair hanging over the edge of the graham family pool.  naomi at sixteen in her cheerleading uniform, face scrunched into a scream of a laugh, and daily with her arms wrapped tightly around her, muddy in her soccer uniform.  her and naomi in a photobooth when they were twenty, studying abroad for a semester in florence — four photos of them getting closer, and closer, and closer still.  there were two pictures of her and alex, with his movie star good looks and his eyes glued to daily.  hers were off camera, always searching somewhere beyond her.

and it hit her.  like a ton of bricks.

“oh, daily,” she murmured, sitting down beside her.

“we don’t need to have a seventh heaven moment right now,” she said with a laugh, but she was wiping tears away with the back of her hand.  “like i said, i’m fine.  it sucked, and telling him sucked, and the whole thing fucking sucked, but it’s fine.  i’m fine.  he’ll be fine.  it’ll be fine.”

fine, fine, fine.

      in my defense, i have none --

the tape fast-forwards to that very same bedroom, but it’s years later.  there is no paris, not yet, but teddy is back in that house in los angeles, the one she has called her own since she was born.   the one she and her six siblings have always come back to, would always come back to.  she is back in this room, and she is looking for scotch tape to finish wrapping the last of her presents before tomorrow morning rolls around and everybody gets their gifts in shopping bags.

the journal is under her bed, untouched and forgotten about, but it’s there and it’s teasing her.  she just takes a peek, just a little one.  that’s all.  

it turns out, a peek is all she needs.

    -- for never leaving well enough alone

the tape is spinning once more, and it is early may.  teddy is waiting for her sister to pick up on facetime, sitting in front of her keyboard with her leg jiggling nervously.

“down in front,” auggie teases, cereal bowl in hand.  he kisses the top of her head once, and then once more, as the screen shifts and daily comes into view.  he gives her a nod of a greeting and ruffles his hand through teddy’s hear before he’s slinking down into the den to start his stream.

“what was so urgent, o’ talented one?” daily hums, sitting up with her bedhead.  there is a soft grunt from beside her, a muffled, “hey ted,” from a still-dead-to-the-world naomi.  daily is off camera for a second but teddy can hear the soft, unmistakable sound of a kiss from anywhere, before she is standing up from the bed and moving through her apartment, the early morning light of los angeles streaming in.

“gotta remember time changes one of these days.”

“yeah,” daily snorts.  “we both know that’ll never happen.”  she grabs a coffee mug off the counter, moving around her kitchen and looking back at the phone.  “what’s up?”

once she’s sitting down, teddy looks back down at the piano, and then back at her sister.  “first off, remember you love me.”

“nothing good ever starts with that.”

“i just.  i saw…something, at christmas.  and i kind of decided to run with it.”

daily’s eyebrow quirked up.  “what kind of something?”

“a poem kind of something?”

and then daily’s face went pale.

“just.  look.  you’ll never sing it — even if you should — so.  i thought i’d take a stab at it.  if you hate it, it never sees the light of day.  okay?”

daily sits back, taking a sip of her coffee.  “all right, maestro.”

i’m doing good, i’m on some new shit; been saying yes instead of no.  i thought i saw you at the bus stop, i didn’t, though

we were something, don’t you think so?

[thorne93]

Stan Lee University (Part 19 - FINAL)

Prompt: What would the Avengers be like in college, more importantly, what would they be like if Y/N existed around them?

Word Count: 3850

Warnings: language and “adult themes”

Notes: This is based on a HC from @carryonmyswansong. They helped brainstorm and write part of this series. In this AU, no one will have powers, everyone is a normal human. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong. 

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

Just before spring break, Wanda had approached you after work and sat you down. 

“Hey, I want to apologize for what I did. About this whole job and internship nonsense. I was a real bitch, and I shouldn’t have been.”

All you did was slowly nod as you listened.

“Look, I only did it because I really needed it and I figured you’d find another internship easy, but this was looking like my only option.” 

You didn’t say anything and she started to get desperate.

“You’re some tough competition, alright? I only did it because I’m threatened by you, doesn’t that make you happy in some way?”

You shook your head. “Wanda, I didn’t want some stupid internship to come between us. So no, I’m not happy you felt like you had to dick me over to get an internship. If you’d just come to me and said you wanted it, I would’ve backed off.”

She bobbed her head, biting her lip as she played with her fingers. “So, still mad?”

“I was never mad. I was hurt. That our friendship meant less than an internship.”

“Well, to be fair, I only said that you were busy, not that you weren’t qualified, if that helps,” she offered, a smile slowly growing on her face. 

You couldn’t resist smiling back at her. 

“I suppose that’s true, and I do work there now, so… I forgive you.”

“Oh, thank you so much. I’m so sorry,” she cried as she hugged you tight. “It’ll never happen again.” 

“As long as we’re friends again,” you said, happy to hug her back.

“Absolutely.” 

------------------------------

Following that spring semester, you and Stephen spent all of your time together. If you weren’t at his house, he was at yours, or you were out doing something together. His whole family went on a vacation to the Bahamas and took you with them, then when you all got back from that, your family went to Hawaii, and he came along. 

The sex, after your first time together in the lab, only grew better, somehow. You weren’t entirely sure how it could get hotter or better but it did. There was a deep connection every time, and there was always something new, something fresh, something exciting. He wasn’t a selfish lover by any means, and you had no problem repaying that feeling. In some ways, if you weren’t being affectionate, it was hard to keep your hands off each other. Whenever he was overtly kind to your loved ones, whenever he impressed you with science, whenever he did something completely responsible, you were rearing to go. Because like your friends had said long ago -- you have a type -- the successful type. That’s what Stephen was. Mature, well-adjusted, goal oriented, intelligent, funny, and sweet. He filled all the roles you wanted in a partner and more, and how could that not turn you on?

Since senior year was approaching, so were MCATs and med-school applications, so you two discussed your options. Stephen had his sights set on Columbia, whereas you were gunning for Johns Hopkins. Of course, you both applied to every medical college east of the Mississippi. 

At first, you agreed that you should go where your careers would take you, that you shouldn’t sacrifice for the other. It felt right to both of you that if you were going to dedicate yourself to this line of work, it needed to be at the place that fit you best, not a place to compromise on. 

But when the acceptance letters started coming in, decisions had to be made. 

Stephen brought over all of his letters to your house and you were in the dining room, trying to discuss where to go. 

“Well if I went to IU, and you went to Columbia--”

“Y/N,” he started, staring at you. You were pacing, talking to yourself, while he sat at the dining room table.

“But then I think it’d be closer if I went to--”

“Y/N,” he said again. 

“But then we need to consider.”

“Y/N, I got accepted to Johns Hopkins and I’m going,” he finally said, hoping you heard him. 

Still rambling and rattling, his words finally registered with you and you stopped, turning only your head to him. “I’m sorry, what?” 

“I got accepted to your school and I’m going to go with you.”

“What? No, no that’s not what we agreed on. We agreed we shouldn’t sacrifice our careers for each other, we’d never do that.” 

He stood from the table and put his hands on your biceps. “I’m not. We sacrificed time with each other so I could study abroad. You did that for me, so I could have opportunities like this. I’m repaying you. Johns Hopkins is where you want to go, and I want to be with you. I can’t stand the idea of us living states apart for four years, and that’s not including residency.” 

“But what about Columbia? What about neurosurgery?” 

“Is all at Johns Hopkins. I can do that anywhere. What matters to me is that you’re happy. It’s not like Hopkins is exactly a downgrade.”

You half smiled. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to wait and look down the road ten years and resent me for this.”

“I’m making this choice, not you. I’m not going to resent you. I’m still getting my degree, it’s no big deal.” 

You nodded. “Okay, only if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure about us, about you, the rest is just details.” 

He kissed your forehead, then rested his against yours. 

“So we’re really doing this? Med school? Together? For four years?”

“Hopefully it’s longer than that.” 

------------------------

Four years later….

You had just graduated medical school, about to go into your residency. The graduation ceremony had just ended and your parents and sister found you, along with Stephen’s parents and his brother.  

“Oh, get together you two for a picture!” your mom gushed, trying to not cry any more. You two held up your diplomas, smiling proudly with your caps and gowns on. 

It was a long, grueling road, but you made it. Both of you made it out with MD-PhDs, somehow, by some crazy miracle. He was guaranteed a fantastic residency, as were you. 

“Oh, we’re so proud of you,” Beverly said, coming over and hugging you two at the same time. 

“Thank you,” you gushed. 

“Oh, wait, shit,” Stephen suddenly said, checking his pockets. “I think I dropped my class ring. It was in my pockets. Hang on,” he said and you started to look around on the ground. He got down on his hands and knees and started to look around, patting the ground.

You turned around to talk to your family for a second, giving him time to look. Then suddenly, he said, “Ah, here it is.” 

“Oh, did you find it--” you started to ask, whirling back to face him, only to be stunned when he was on one knee, a ring box opened. 

You gasped, throwing your hand over your mouth, you nearly dropped your diploma. Your eyes flashed to the Strange’s who were merely grinning, they must’ve known this was coming, but your family seemed just as shocked as you. 

“Y/N, I could list all the ways I love you. From your amazing laugh, to your intelligence that at times, can put mine to shame, putting my ego back in its place. But know that it’s your kind heart, your driven mind, your stunning humor, and overwhelming love that made this decision easy for me. So, Y/N, you started out as my lab partner, how do you feel about being my life partner? What do you say? Will you marry me?” he asked with a giant grin.

“Yes!” you all but screamed, and he laughed, standing so you could hug him quickly before giving him a huge kiss. He slid the ring on your finger and you kissed him again. Then hugs and kisses from both sides of the families went all around. Congratulations were in order and everyone went out for dinner to celebrate a day of fond endings and bright beginnings. 

--------------------------

Three years later....

You and Stephen weren’t thrilled at the idea of waiting to actually get married, but you agreed you wanted to have your careers before having a marriage. You waited until you completed your residency and gained licensure and then you’d get married.

Which is where you were today.

The ceremony had already happened, with Stephen in a sharp tux, Victor as his best man, Clint as your Man of Honor. You found a stunning wedding dress that was adorned in every clear crystal on earth. 

You wore your mom’s veil, and borrowed Beverly’s bracelet. You got married under an oak tree older than even your grandparents. A garden as your backdrop, with a beautiful crystal ballroom and garden area for the reception. 

You had a smaller-ish wedding with only about 65 in attendance, but this felt better to you. Of course, most of your families were there, along with several people from med-school, as well as colleagues at the residencies. 

The vows were all said, the vendors were all paid, the dancing was all done. 

The sun was just now setting, letting the air cool slightly, but not enough to give a chill at all. Stephen and you were sitting on a little bench that swung, a nice cushion on it, your hand laced with his, your wedding bands shiny and new. 

All around you, filling out a little concrete slab under another oak tree, and the end of a small path through the back garden, were your friends. 

Tony and Pepper were sitting together, an engagement ring on Pepper’s finger. Clint and Nat together, wedding bands on their hands, and Nat’s baby bump starting to show. T’Challa and his younger sister Shuri were there. Steve and Sharon, a girl he met at his new job. Bucky, Scott, and Sam were all there. Wanda and Pietro were there. Wanda had brought a date, a guy named Paul who had blonde hair who was inside currently. And of course, Peter was there. 

Stephen and you had found a moment alone, and stole it, but then Tony found you, and soon after that, everyone else did. 

Fourteen people, all but two you’d shared most of your life with. Up until medical school, these people were your family, by every sense of the word. Sure there were bumps, bruises, fights, but after everyone had grown up, you all stayed in contact. 

Tony already amassed an empire, leading in engineering. Bruce was working independently on biomolecular research, but every once in a while, he teamed up with Tony to pioneer some project. Bucky and Peter were on his design team, with Scott heading up the mechanics and running a few independent projects. Pepper was Tony’s right hand and they did a wonderful job together. Clint and Nat opened up a training ground for agents for the government -- if they were CIA, FBI, or otherwise, they went to their camp. Steve was head of operations for a finance firm but got in some art in his free time, even selling some of his work. Wanda worked as a psychologist out of Manhattan. Pietro went on to be an Olympic athlete, winning four gold medals for four different categories of running. Sam got work with the Air Force, helping to design and implement their aircrafts. T’Challa went on to be elected as mayor for his hometown. He was the youngest in history, but his ratings were also the highest. 

And now, they were all here, to support you two. 

For the past hour, you’d been explaining how you and Stephen met, what all had gone down that year, and how everything had transpired to bring you two here.

“Wait, so that’s how you two met?” Sharon suddenly asked. 

“Yeah. Kind of dorky, isn’t it?”

“I think it’s cute,” she noted.

“Wait, Tony, you knew Y/N and Stephen were having sex in the lab?” Bruce suddenly demanded, making nearly everyone laugh. “And you just sat there with music playing?!” he questioned, clearly horrified.

Tony grinned. “Hey, what do you want me to say? I wanted to see how far these two love birds would take it with me in the room.”

You two just shrugged, smiling. 

“How often did this happen?!” he questioned. 

“Well to be fair,” Stephen suddenly said, his cheeks a little pink as you peered up at him lovingly, “that was our first time together.” You scooted a little farther into his open arm, happily remembering the first moments together.

“And you decided to desecrate my lab in doing so,” Tony scoffed.

“Oh, don’t even pretend like you never did that in your lab, Stark,” Sam shot, a shit eating grin on his face. 

“That’s besides the point. It’s my lab.”

“Actually, it was the school’s lab, and it was just once,” you assured, laughing. 

“Ugh, now I’m going to have nightmares,” Bruce said, shuddering, sitting back in his lawn chair. 

“I still can’t believe Loki did that shit to you,” Steve noted, looking down at his beer bottle. 

You shrugged. “Hey, the way I see it now, I was a challenge.” 

“Still shitty,” Scott noted. “You deserved better.”

“Hey, Debbie Downers, look around, she got ‘better’,” Nat defended and you smiled at her. She winked back at you. 

“And clearly you two did too,” you noted. Clint and Nat did get married right after senior year but this was their first baby, and all of you were so thrilled for them. 

“Yeah, little guy here is going to make things interesting, right, Daddy?” Nat asked, signing the question to him. 

Clint nodded and signed back, “Absolutely, I’m so excited.” 

“Shit, I forgot I dated that chick, Molly,” Sam suddenly said, his mind drifting back a few years. 

“Yeah? How’d that turn out?” Steve wondered.

“Clearly not well. She ain't here,” he said with a serious face. “Nah, I think she was a little too spacey. Nice girl though.”

“Aren’t they all?” Bucky asked with a teasing tone before Sam slightly shoved him. 

“What a wild ride,” Sam noted, thinking. “It seems like forever ago that we were in sociology together,” he noted.

“I know,” you agreed. 

“I can’t believe I was such a bitch to you,” Wanda commented. “I don’t what was wrong with me,” she said with a sour face. 

“Small town, lots of competition,” Bucky reminded. “Besides, clearly it worked out anyway, if Y/N got to be your boss.”

“Oh yeah, those first few months were just fantastic. Don’t let Y/N fool you, she totally threw her weight around for the grief I gave her,” Wanda informed to the group, pointing at you.

You nodded humbly. “Hey, can you blame me?”

A resounding “No,” hit your ears and everyone laughed. 

“God, you guys,” Pepper suddenly said, “where has the time gone? It’s like just yesterday we were all juniors, just 21--”

“Or 19,” you corrected with a mischievous grin.

“Or 19, and now we’re approaching our 30’s. We’ve got careers. We’re getting married…” she stated, looking around and everyone slowly nodded. 

“We graduated together almost a decade ago,” T’Challa remarked, his eyes going wide. “So much has happened. So much time has passed.” 

“Where are we going to be in another ten years?” Steve asked as his eyes settled on everyone in the circle, but obviously no one had an answer.

Finally, you spoke up, “Exactly where we want to be.” 

“Let’s hope so,” Bucky said. 

“Let’s make a pact,” Tony suddenly said, standing up, raising his champagne flute. Everyone else stood as well. “We meet in ten years. No matter where we are, what we’re doing. Life gets busy, and I’m sure we can’t always meet every year, we can agree that on Y/N and Strange’s tenth anniversary, we can get together, just like this.” He paused a second, looking around. “While some of you are brand new to the group, and others have a few more miles than the others, and some of us have been around since the beginning, I think it’s important we keep this group together. Yeah?” 

Everyone agreed and raised their glasses.

The rest of the evening, you spent reminiscing, talking about your time back in college, your time growing up in that town, and everyone’s lives since they left. It was the happiest you’d been since Stephen proposed. Your family was back together again. 

------------------------------------------

The old gang did get back together ten years later at your anniversary party at your mansion. 

Not much had changed for anyone. Tony and Pepper still ruled a technological empire, whom you often worked with to get top of the line medical gear and equipment. Bucky, Scott, and Peter all still working for Stark Industries. T’Challa had moved on to Governor and was talking about running for President, which you fully supported. Clint and Nat left their training program in capable hands and actually joined a private sector for work. Steve and Sharon had married and had children, in fact, so did Tony and Pepper. Peter met a girl named MJ at the company, and they were engaged now. Wanda and her boyfriend, Paul, from the party got married about four years back, and their first baby was on the way. Pietro had retired from Olympics but now he taught and trained other athletes and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Stephen had turned into the nation’s highest paid and sought after neurosurgeon. He was on the front of every discovery, every progressive and innovative surgery, every life saving method. 

You were the nation’s highest paid and sought after psychiatrist. You were the pioneer for a deeper look into the human mind and psyche. 

Both of you were invited to speak at symposiums, lecture halls, Ted talks, and conferences. You’d both been approached at different points to write books and while Stephen declined, you accepted the offer. 

You had three kids, and they were just as bright as you and their father, maybe even more so. Curiosity burned in their veins and solutions lied on their tongues. Two boys, and one girl -- Donna.

After your careers got up and going, you offered to move your families out near you so that you could keep going with your work but not be far from family. Stephen’s parents said they’d move closer but refused financial help. Your parents accepted a small gift to help on a down payment but that was all they’d take. 

Claire and Victor actually worked in the area as well, so they lived nearby, so you had everything you’d ever wanted.

Life couldn’t get any better. Every day with Stephen was full of love, adventure, family, and work. Your careers were never a competition, and no matter where the roads took you, you supported each other without ultimatums, expectations, or conditions. Each day was a blessing and more. You’d each given the other a life you’d always dreamed of, and that’s all you could ask for in a life partner. 

Now, you stood in your living room with everyone, the kids in the parlor being entertained with the grandparents. 

“Well, we made it another ten years,” Tony remarked. “Any regrets, anyone?”

Everyone shook their head as they looked around the room. 

“So, everyone’s good? All the kids, all the gray hairs, all the stress?” he pressed. 

“Yeah, man, no complaints from me,” Sam remarked. 

“Same here,” Scott agreed.

“Wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Peter concurred.

“I’m living the life,” Wanda said happily as she put her head on her husband’s shoulder. 

“So that’s it, huh? We all made it?” Tony asked. “Impressive. I was sure that it was touch and go there for a while with Scott and his run ins with the law. And let’s not forget Nat and Clint going total CIA.”

Everyone chuckled. 

“No, I think everyone is exactly where they want to be,” you noted, holding Stephen’s hand and looking up at him lovingly. “I know I am.”

He smiled down at you before kissing you quickly. 

“Me too,” he agreed.

“Oh, get a room, lovebirds,” Tony joked.

“You mean like your lab?” Stephen shot back before Tony shook his head.

“That’s never going to leave my mind…” 

Just then, your mom said it was time to cut the anniversary cake. Everyone nodded and began to leave the living room before Stephen tugged your hand.

“Hey, hold on one second. I want to give you your gift now, in private,” he said.

“Oh?” you said, intrigued. 

He nodded and walked over to a box that you hadn’t noticed before. It wasn’t wrapped at all, it was natural, dark wood. 

“What is it?”

“Open it up and see, genius,” he quipped with an eye roll. “Honestly, two doctorates and I still have to instruct you on how to open a gift.”

“I’m about to open a can of whoopass on you so hard that not even you will be able to stitch it back up, doctor,” you shot, working on unclasping the box. 

As soon as the lid was up, you recognized the contents, well, they were familiar at least. You reached in and pulled out a bundle of letters. 

“Letters? Are these the letters from your time abroad?” you asked, leafing through them. 

“Actually… these are new. A letter for every year. One on our wedding anniversary, one the day I proposed, one on the day we graduated SLU together, one on the day I got back from abroad, and every other year was one letter on your birthday.”

“You didn’t,” you said, happy tears immediately rolling down your cheek.

“I did,” he said with a cocky grin, reaching up to thumb away the tears. “And I’ll keep doing it.” 

“I love you more than anything in the world,” you said in a hushed tone as you stared at him with admiration. 

“I love you more than myself, and that’s saying something,” he said with a chuckle. You laughed too before leaning in to wrap your arms around him. 

“Where’s my gift?” he asked. 

“Oh, it’s right here.” You went to the coffee table and pulled out a loosely wrapped bundle. “Careful, it’s not in a box.”

“I gathered that much,” he shot back. 

“Wasn’t sure you could deduce that, Sherlock,” you said, rolling your eyes.

He just smiled as he tore open the bag. “What is this?” he asked, pulling it out. 

“Well, you once asked me if I wore a cape, being a superhero. I only thought it was right, then to give you this. You save lives every day, you deserve a cape. But most importantly, all those years ago, in my dorm, you saved mine.” 

“This is cheesy,” he remarked before leaning down to kiss you. “But perfect. I love it, and I love you. Happy Anniversary, sweetheart.”

“Happy anniversary, darling,” you cooed back. 

The two of you leaned forward, your lips brushing together for a kiss to signify ages of love past, and to come.

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

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