#I saw those earrings and wanted to design an outfit based on them SO BAD

[a-stars-art-blog]

Reworking my Kakyoin Cherry Outfit

The inspiration:

[kennahjune]

Flustered (But He’d Never Admit It)

Thanks so much to @rogueddie for letting me write this based on their post!!

( @steddiewithachance )

Desperately hope it lives up to standard 🫡

.

Eddie hadn’t planned on going out, really.

It was a Saturday and he looked forwards to sleeping until noon the next day. Maybe bothering Steve and Robin in Family Video at some point if he decided to grace the people of Hawkins with his presence.

But Nancy of all people had asked him to come. And when Big Wheels asked him to do something, Eddie sure as shit did it.

So he sat in the living room of Steve’s no-longer-really-scarily-empty house. Because Mr and Mrs. Harrington left after the earthquakes and gave the house to Steve. He’s been steadily personalizing it.

Eddie sat between Argyle and Robin on the couch, letting his gaze wander around and land on each photo hanging on the walls.

Nancy and Jonathan sat across from them on the other couch, Nancy’s feet thrown in Jonathan’s lap while he gently rubbed her calfs.

Eddie wasn’t listening too intently to the bickering going on around him, his mind in other places while waiting for Steve.

“HURRY THE FUCK UP, DINGUS!” Robin yelled. Speak of the Devil.

Eddie flinched, as Robin was directly in his fucking ear. He shot her a glare that she returned with a punch to the shoulder.

“HOLD YOUR HORSES, DIMWIT, IM DONE!” was what Steve yelled back from upstairs. Eddie and Argyle snorted at Robin’s offended gasp.

Steve appeared in the living room a few seconds later, struggling to tie his sneakers while hopping on one foot.

“You look like a worm,” Argyle pointed out helpfully.

Steve nearly face planted after he was done, his arms flailing and his hand catching on the back of Jonathan’s head.

“Ouch, dude!!” Jonathan yelled when Steve pulled his hair. Nancy and Robin absolutely cackled at Steve’s unapologetic shrug.

“My bad.”

Jonathan glared and rubbed the back of his head. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Steve fluttered his eyelashes and put a hand on his chest. “You think I’m cute, Jonny? Why, you might as well get down on one knee!”

Robin clapped obnoxiously. “Congratulations on your engagement!”

Nancy gasped, pretending to clutch her pearls. “Jonathan! Another woman? How could you!?”

Jonathan groaned and threw his head back.

“See what you’re doing to this family, Jon!?” Eddie suddenly joined in, surprising a laugh out of everyone; even Jonathan, despite his efforts to remain angry-seeming.

Argyle whistled when they calmed down. “Damn, Stevie. Is that the shirt I got you?”

Robin perked up. “Hey! That’s my button up!”

Steve planted his hands on his hips. “And those are my earrings.”

Robin huffed and rolled her eyes, pretending to pout.

The outfit Steve wore was unlike what Eddie normally saw him in. The same blue jeans as always, though these ones seemed to hug his ass and thighs more (a detail Eddie most certainly saved for later). The button up (that was apparently Robin’s) was white pinstriped, hanging open and unbuttoned to show off the light purple, sleeveless turtle neck (that Argyle got him, apparently).

Eddie kinda wanted to bite him.

.

Jonathan and Steve were designated drivers. So everyone split between the two cars; Nancy, Jonathan and Argyle in one and Robin, Steve and Eddie in the other.

The bar they went to was a small one but was still packed on such a fine Saturday night. The group was quick to find a corner booth to seat all six of them.

Argyle payed for the first round of drinks, everyone just getting beer. But they were all quick to get to the vodka and other shit.

“You not gonna drink anything else, Stevie?” Eddie asked at one point when he noticed Steve was still nursing his first beer.

“Designated driver, remember?”

Eddie hummed and took his last shot, barely buzzed despite drinking so much already. “I could drive us back if you wanna just drink with everyone else.”

Steve eyed him and didn’t respond for a moment. Eddie was ready to take the offer back, play it off as a joke. It wasn’t even like he said anything flirty or whatever! Steve just made him nervous like that.

“Are you sure?” Steve finally asked, his voice timid even as he raised it to be heard over the music.

Eddie grinned. “‘Course, darlin. Lemme take care of it.”

Steve turned away and downed the rest of his beer quickly. Eddie turned back to Argyle and Nancy’s conversation and failed to see the deep red flush overtaking Steve’s ears.

.

That was maybe 20 minutes ago.

At this point in time, Steve was definitely passed buzzed and well on his way to drunk.

He was sandwiched between Eddie and Robin, his head leaning on Robin’s shoulder and his hand playing distractingly and absentmindedly with Eddie’s jacket sleeve.

Eddie tried to ignore how sweet Steve looked, his face flushed with the pleasant buzz and his hair kind of getting floppy because he kept playing with it. He looked so cute listening to Jonathan but still so spaced out and almost floaty.

Eddie kind of really maybe wanted to bite him. Maybe make him cry.

Jesus H Christ.

He took a big drink of his water. “I think I’m gonna head out for a smoke, be back in a few.” Eddie carefully removed his sleeve from Steve’s grasp, fighting off the cooing he so desperately wanted to do at the pout the other gave him for it.

Eddie left in no time, letting himself out into an alley next to the bar. His cigarette was short-lived and he went for another 2 after his first.

He refused to let his mind wander, instead focusing on the burn in his throat and the smoke in his lungs. He was sufficiently calmed down after an extra moment, finally going back in after what had to have been just shy of 10 minutes.

Maybe he should’ve stayed outside.

Because Steve was drunk now, to the point that Nancy had cut him off.

It was in that moment, walking back to the booth, that Eddie fully realized he’d never seen Steve drunk.

When Eddie came into sight of the table, Steve immediately jumped up in his seat and reached obnoxiously over the table to wave at him. It was adorably reminiscent of a 5 year old and a little puppy.

Eddie failed to keep the soft grin off his face. Not that he was really trying.

“Hey, Stevie,” Eddie greeted softly when sitting back down next to him.

“Hi, Ed!” Steve exclaimed loudly and excitedly, basically bouncing in place. Eddie really should’ve stayed outside.

“Steve’s a little drunk, don’t hold anything he may say or do against him.” Jonathan joked from across from them. Or, it seemed like a joke. His expression was playful but his tone was more serious than it let on.

“Oh? A little drunk? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so excited.” Eddie snickered.

“Hey!” Steve smacked at Eddie’s shoulder and immediately grabbed his arm afterwards, wrapping himself around it and holding on. Eddie felt himself grow hot under his shirt collar. “I’m always excited to see you, doofus.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. This was news to him. He shot a look to Jonathan who waved him off, turning to talk with Robin instead.

Eddie put his free hand over one of Steve’s. “Oh yeah, darlin? That’s news to me.”

Eddie watched in delight while a steady blush crept down Steve’s neck. He grinned dopily at Eddie, all teeth and gums and scrunched up nose. It was ridiculously endearing.

“Huuuuuussshhhh.” Steve pointed at him, his arm like a wobbly noodle and uncoordinated; he nearly smacked Eddie in the face. “‘Course ‘m always excited to see you. You’re you!”

Eddie stuck his tongue behind his bottom lip to avoid grinning like an idiot. Steve’s eyes followed.

“Alright, dork. I think it’s time to take you home.”

Steve squawked at being called a dork. Insisting Eddie was the biggest dork he’d ever met.

“You’re a Dork with a capital D!” Steve insisted while they weaved through the crowd. Eddie was taking Steve home early with Robin catching a ride with Jonathan.

Eddie snorted, holding back a comment on ‘capital D’ anything. He had a firm grip on Steve’s wrist, as his drunken friend got distracted at every little thing. After he ran off to talk to some stranger “because they had shiny earrings! I needed to know where they were from, Edd!” Eddie wasn’t taking any chances.

He had to physically buckle Steve up for him in the beemer, leaning over him and clicking it into place. Eddie chose to ignore the raging blush on Steve’s face in favor of a simple smirk.

Steve wouldn’t stop talking the entire ride and Eddie loved it.

“I really wanted to play volleyball as a kid but my dad refused because he thought it was too girly— and than I wanted to play hockey! And I would’ve if my mom wasn’t so adamant about it being too ‘aggressive’ and my dad just going along with it because he couldn’t care less either way— oh!! And then I played soccer for a little bit! Did you know Robin plays soccer? I think she used to be on the track team, too—“

Eddie couldn’t stop grinning. (He made a silent promise to ask Argyle about volleyball so he could play with Steve at some point.)

When he took the turn to Loch Nora Steve went quiet. A brief glance told Eddie he was staring out the window. He let him have another moment before speaking.

“You alright, Stevie?”

Steve’s response was delayed, his voice quieter than it has been all night. “Yeah, ‘m good.”

“You sure? You went awfully quiet over there, darling.” Eddie couldn’t stop the faintly concerned glance he shot to the side.

“Yeah.”

Eddie pulled over to the side of a fancy road, one side houses with huge yards and the other the trees spanning out into the woods. Steve jolted at the stop, glancing at Eddie’s faint reflection in the window.

Eddie twisted in his seat, reaching over to tap on Steve’s thigh to get his attention. When Steve looked over at Eddie he looked like a kicked puppy.

“Why’d ya stop?”

“Cause somethin’s wrong and you’re not explaining.”

Steve’s brow furrowed. “Sorry.”

Eddie smiled softly. “You don’t have to apologize, Stevie. I just need to know what’s wrong so I’m not sending you home while you’re in a bad place.”

Steve’s shoulders hiked up slightly. “Doesn’ matter.”

Eddie huffed, stopping his tapping on Steve’s thigh in favor of grabbing it gently. “Of course it does, sweetheart. If it’s affectin’ you this much it’s gotta matter a lot.”

Steve shrugged, trying to look away. Eddie let him, but kept his hand on his thigh and squeezed twice. Just to let him know he was there.

They were both silent for a moment. The two. Then—

“Don’t wanna.”

Eddie’s brow furrowed. “Don’t wanna what?”

Steve response was slow, quiet. “Go home. Too quiet.”

Eddie’s breath left him in a quiet rush. Even if Steve was slowly making the Harrington estate more ‘him’, the memories it held would most likely prevent it from ever being ‘home’.

“You wanna go back to the trailer with me?” Eddie found himself asking.

Steve’s nod was hesitant, shaky like he wasn’t sure what he was doing. Eddie decided he was going to keep Steve at the trailer for as long as he can get away with this weekend.

“Alright, sweetheart. Let’s get goin then, yeah?” He patted Steve’s thigh twice and turned back to resume driving.

Steve remained quiet the rest of the drive, but he hummed along to the radio so Eddie deemed him a little better.

He parked on the side of the road, leaving the space next to the van open for Wayne’s truck when he got home in the morning.

Eddie had to help Steve up the porch stairs, letting him lean on his shoulder while fumbling with his keys. Steve was still humming to the last song that played on the radio.

Eddie gave Steve a pair of sweatpants and a shirt and silently praised himself for the flush settling down Steve’s neck. But then there was a flush settling down Eddie’s neck because Steve looked really good in his clothes.

They shared the bed like they usually did when they spent the night at each others places. Eddie took the spot by the wall and Steve climbed in to face the door. Eddie wrapped himself around Steve’s back with a hand on his waist and another under his head.

.

Did this take over a month? Nope. (Ssshhhhhhh)

I’m my defense: my biggest hyper fixation atm is ATLA 🤷

Am I happy with this? No, not really.

Am I posting it anyway? Sure am🧍.

Have fun with it ✌️

[shininglynxie]

OK, didn't want this to be my first post on this account, but I just really wanted to share my thoughts and analysis of the Grand Festival announcement.

I knew they were going to place the new venue near the Crater - the first place we saw all the way back in 2021, when Splatoon 3 was first announced. It was even teased in the Sizzle season 2024 trailer with the jellyfish walking by this same Crater backdrop with merch of all three idol groups.

The Pearlina plane walked so that the Now or Never Seven bus could run. It's just great to see something like that plane again!

The golden replicas of the animals from all the hub worlds that represent each idol are a great touch, too!

Now, to analyze the idols' new outfits! Their shared theme feels very orderly and gives off bleached coral vibes. I wonder what's up with that. Most of them also seem to reference non-cephalopod sea creatures, but I don't know how intentional that is.

The outfits always have to be matching with these two, and I love it! The cut on their skirts point inwards on Callie's and outwards on Marie's. Callie's gloves reveal the base of her arms, while Marie's gloves reveal the ends of her arms or her hands. Both of them are also wearing urchin-themed head accessories.

The way they animated Pearl and Marina's interlocked hands being pointed right at us. It's like they're yelling at us: Yeah, they're gay, dammit! They've been giving us quite a bunch of great Pearlina content lately, and they just had to give us more.

Anyways, their outfits. I love Pearl's big hat! It fits her vibes very well! There's also an Off the Hook logo on it, which is neat. As some people have pointed out already, this is the first time Pearl's showing off her midriff, which is cool to see!

I absolutely love Marina's outfit ,though. It's gotta be one of my favorites of the Grand Fest idol fits! That bra/top paired with the jewelry, the laced pants with the boots, and all those rings combine to create such an awesome look to me! Also, something else of note is the fact that Marina isn't wearing headphones here and showing off her ears. It's uncommon for her to do that, and she's mostly done that outside of the games, and, I think, this is the first time you can see her ears in-game, which is really cool and showcases her personal growth! (Btw, I love the pose Marina's making in the shot on the second pic! It's so cute!

Deep Cut, my beloveds!

This is probably among the weaker fits Shiver ever had, but it's not bad by any means. Those pant boots are kinda weird, and I don't know how to feel about them. But I do like that top she's wearing! It kinda mimics her headdress, which also looks neat! It kinda reminds me of seaweed, dunno if that was the intention. She's also rocking that Deep Cut logo temp tattoo, which is dope! From afar, it looks really similar to the octopus tattoo Callie had when hypnotized by Octavio. The bangs on her in-game model seem to be pushed away a little bit, so you can see her other eye, which is an interesting detail. The expression she has on the official art feels a tad unusual for Shiver. She always acts so cold and aloof, so it's strange to see such an expression of genuine surprise from her.

Frye's outfit is great, but there isn't much to say about it. The buns she's wearing kinda remind me of sea slugs, I don't know if that's what they were going for, though. The ear tie thing she's wearing is also a nice design touch! It's an accessory that utilizes her long ears in a very creative way! I love the way she's grabbing Shiver's waist in the official art, it's so Frye!

Big Man's fit has got to be my favorite! He's absolutely slaying in that fin-like headdress and those spikes, and with that makeup around his eye! It feels very Kiss-inspired. The patterns on his fins look claw-like now. This is something that kinda makes me wonder how Big Man's outfits work in the first place with the various skin patterns he took on during seasonal splatfests. He also seems to have something wrapped around his tail. The best shot I could catch of it is this screenshot below.

Overall, I think the idols' outfits are cool, but they don't wow me like Pearl and Marina's Chaos vs. Order outfits did.

The performance of their new collab song will be so cool! It's gonna feel like a proper big concert!

Speaking of concerts, I might be seeing things, but some of the choreography we see the idols perform in their usual outfits seem to be from the songs other than each idol group's day 1 and 2 songs. The third Splatoon 3 concert just might be held in-game. Which is a great idea and makes a lot of sense! Since most Splatoon fans probably never had the chance to see the idol concerts live, it only feels fitting to create an immersive concert experience inside the game! It's a lot more interactive than a video recording, and it will ensure that a lot more people can see it compared to the in-person concert. Plus, all the idols are in one place already, so they can easily perform the collab songs too! If that does end up happening, I hope that the performances do use the concert versions of the songs, as they're almost always better than original, in my opinion, plus that way they won't overlap with the songs that play during gameplay.

Almost forgot about the theme. Which is most important to you? Past, Present, or Future? With each idol group representing a team, rather than a Deep Cut member each representing a team. I think this quite a solod theme for the final fest, if a bit predictable. The fact that each idol group picked a team for themselves also makes this like an idol fest in disguise, but I'm not bothered by that. I wonder how this fest's outcome will affect a potential Splatoon 4, though, as there's no one clear way how I can see it affecting the game's development.

All in all, I'm very excited for what Grand Festival will bring! By the time it rolls around, this account will, hopefully, be properly active. I'll absolutely have some art to post for the occasion!

[mrsbsmooth]

Future Islanders: My thoughts

My predictions about the Islanders we haven't seen yet, based on their character designs. This information will be 100% accurate, guaranteed*

*Not at all guaranteed

Spoilers under the cut. 18+. Contains gratuitous swearing.

Love his style, love his vibe, love his earring. He's so cute, and seems like he's gonna be really fun and flirty. But dear God, when I saw his surprised face, I just:

Those eyes - those fucking eyes. They are lifeless. Like this man has seen either seen some shit or had some serious plastic surgery, and I worry about him. I just… oh god, I got the ick so fast it's not even funny. And then I realised he got the same as Ozzy and got the Rocco flirty face which ends up looking like this emoji specifically

Definitely has a cool job though - maybe a runway model, artist, or some other artistic profession. Definitely from a cool part of Inner London.

*Editing to add:

It’s been brought to my attention that the way I worded this criticism is rather offensive, and I want to clarify what I meant. When I mentioned Andy’s eyes, I was referring to the way they were drawn. Usually when animating a character you’ll give them smile lines or crinkles to show a smile “reaches their eyes” etc, but this looks like they just slapped a shocked mouth on him and nothing else. My intention isn’t to make fun of his eye shape itself, or of any aspect of his ethnicity, it was a poorly worded/thought out criticism and I’m sorry 🤍

Villain. Calling it now, she's a villain. Her pose is too cool and confident to be anything other than a villain, because GOD FORBID Fusebox give us a strong, confident WOC that doesn't have some deep, unbridled desire to get her claws into whichever man we tell her we want.

I LOVE her design though. She's got super cute outfits, and isn't afraid to show a bit of skin (THAT CORSET TOP GIVE IT TO ME!) so definitely great style. I'm calling it now - she's a model. Might even be French. If she's French and a complete and utter bitch I might just fall in love with her, give me the pain, urgh.

SNAAAAKE SNAAAAAKEEE AHHHH IT'S A SNAAAAAKE

Don't let the glasses fool you. This man is a snake. I knew it from the second I saw him, and it's only been confirmed in the Casa postcards that @oliverslove posted. Never trust a blonde man (except Lewie, trust him with your life and ass).

Judges you on your book choices, but hasn't read one himself in years. Namedrops philosophers but has never had a unique thought in his life. Thinks some of Jordan Peterson's ideas "aren't actually that bad, when you think about it".

This is a man who looks innocent on the outside. "Oh, look at me, I'm a cute little nerd who reads books and plays D&D". But I guarantee, he's a fucking asshole. The kind of guy who thinks women owe him something, so treats them like dirt when they don't give him what he wants.

THAT SAID, his daywear is super basic but very cute, and he's wearing Versace underwear, so he's probably loaded. Jobwise - I'm putting my money on marketing or some other office-type job.

Okay, yeah, she cute. But I am suspicious of her too. Something about her screams Lily from S3 to me, like she's gonna come in purely to take my man. And what's worse, in the Casa postcard she's in bed with a girl, so she might even be taking my girl too!!!!

Love her style, but don't love her vibe. I can't even develop any thoughts outside of wild jealousy.

🤢 sorry, let me just *throws up in my mouth*, 🤢 Felix 2.0, God, I hate his character design so much. When I saw him briefly in his daywear I got SO EXCITED because I thought we might be getting a dadbod, but no, apparently the guy who walks around in the camel-hair woven poncho has a FUCKING EIGHT-PACK (FUSEBOX IN WHAT UNIVERSE?!!??!?!??) Then I thought he might be an environmentalist type, you know, vegan, save the animals and that. But then I saw his LEATHER JACKET and SHARK TOOTH NECKLACE and God damn it, I've lost all faith. This guy wants so bad to be Rocco it's not even funny, at least Rocco was decent looking, this guy has a pig snout for a nose and a smooshy face, don't ask me to elaborate, I hate him, and don't get me started on the fact he's wearing SANDALS with his FORMALWEAR

Smokes so much weed he can't get it up, will disappoint anyone who comes near him. Stay away, 0/10.

Gold diggers come get your man! It's Lucas Beresford-Smug the third. If this guy doesn't have a double-barrelled last name and a numeral in his name I will buy a hat and fucking eat it. Absolute guaranteed 100% arrogant FUCKHEAD, giant twat, thinks he is God's gift to women until he inevitably meets MC and falls so desperately in love that he changes his ways to show her he's the man she deserves. Yeah, okay, the storyline's predictable. Yes, he's likely an insufferable, sheltered, self-obsessed pig. But does that make me want him any less? ... No it does not.

Already posted it in response to @rebelrayne's husband's thoughts but what kind of spoilt little asshole wears a US$20,000 watch IN THE FUCKING SHOWER!!!!!!!

I don't care that it's water resistant to 100m you don't wear a $20k watch IN THE SHOWER and expect people to not think you're a complete and utter fucking asshole. He's a Jasper/ Lucas / Tom hybrid, with Taron Egerton's body and face, I'm getting a short king vibe but maybe that's just from the way his suit is way too big through the shoulders for him, making him look like a 1920's gangster. Works in finance or medicine, I will stake my life on it.

Blindfold this man, kidnap him, and handcuff him to the bed in the hideaway, he may very well be the death of my loyal Lewie route. He is so fine I can't breathe, it's something about the beard. Bearded men are the death of me. And if he's Ozzy's older brother, sorry, suddenly I can't breathe.

I have very few thoughts about him other than the fact he's a fucking stunning piece of artwork that, if real, I would physically need to take a bite out of. I am barking at him, god fucking damn. The arrogance and confidence and big dick energy required to wear an all-cream outfit is just... urgh, someone splash me with water.

Unfortunately, like his brother and Andy, our beloved and holiest daddy (Marshall) also got the Rocco treatment for his flirty face

It's not as bad because his beard covers the smirk, but holy shit, Fusebox, do better. I don't want to be doing a steamy scene with the boys and they whip out THIS. It makes me want to punch something. DO BETTER.

What an absolute waste of a hot-guy name. This dude looks like John Travolta had a child with Littlefoot from The Land Before Time. His mouth looks like it was slapped on his face as an afterthought, his eyebrows are too thick, and the only hot face he has is his angry one, which I'm going to be trying to elicit as often as possible. He looks like he's been to prison, Wentworth Miller vibes but not in a sexy way. Tried to join the skinheads but they didn’t want him. Tried to get a teardrop tattoo to look hard but everyone just ignored him. Strongest of strong dislike, 0/10, I will slander Toby until the day I die. Boooo. BOOOOO.

[basslinegrave]

everytime i see ling tongs dw9 design i feel like i won in the lottery cuz his design is so good i love it so much. long rant cringe incoming

it has dw5 vibes but more evolved and the colors go so hard too... and i like how its slimmer overall which fits his weapon (much more than 8 fit the 3 section staff, i love that outfit too cuz it looks so cozy and warm and hes toasty in his scarf and sweater paws. but it doesnt fit his move set using his legs it feels too bulky for that like getting in the way?) the other outfit i didnt like much (the colors clash so much like the pink green purple and dark blue? :/ bad palette) but then the samurai armor dlc was so good (and matching with gan nings which added 3 more years to my life. like when i saw the list before the release i was pogging when i saw that they both have a different description from others but same between each another)

i was so worried before the dw9 design reveals cuz theres always some letdowns and i was fully bracing for them to cut his hair short or come up with something not fitting him like the dw7 draft.. but those madmen made his hair twice as long i was winning and the outfit was an instant fave like my most fav was 8 then i just immediately pushed it aside. make room for 9 this is the best

i wonder what they cook up for 10 if its coming, if and when its coming..., i hope they introduce alternates/dlc too cuz more designs more fun.. i just dont know what they could do next so im just gonna hope it wont be shite but like i think i would live if they changed up his hair but its like some characters can go thru big changes but others have a more singular look so its just about lenght here. his ponytail is so cute i want them to keep it 😭 i also think if they changed his weapon they would probably be inclined to go with the armor-y look they drafted before which doesnt fit much imo, id rather have something similar to the current design but maybe with wider sleeves thats cute, and fingerless gloves!!!! please. and the long hair with middle part or side part im praying 🙏🧎

also i gotta mention gan ning here cuz he went thru a few hairstyles and i gotta say it was also a letdown that while they just reused his dw8 hair for 9, they cut off his mullet! which is my most fave thing! especially how its slightly darker at the longest part.. like man... cant have shit in the three kingdoms (i joke that what they cut off they gave to ling tong [insert after surgery meme wheres gan ning? who do you think gave you the extra hair])

but like for him idc what color or style they do, like surprise me but give him a mullet its funney and give him earrings/piercings and more bells. thats my base in the pyramid of needs like idk why they went with just one bell in the final design since the drafts had more (and also a really cool hairstyle) also remove the stupidass feathers (its nice in 8 kinda cuz more subtle and still keeps the feathers included somehow but i also loved how they just pinned them to his butt in 7 and also how over the top it was in 6 though those are like rooster feathers not goose lmaobut also idk where i read about him being connected to crows so its nice theyre black. also thinking about how one artist used to just draw him without them. boss move. and how sometimes they dont load in 9 in game like the console also hates them lmao)

[absolutepokemontrash]

Kid!MC/Teen!MC Needs someone to go to Parent Teacher Interviews for Them and Guess Who’s Available?

Masterlist

The brothers being bad babysitters/dad figures is something I love very much, I bet you all could already tell that considering the Fic/Headcanon series I have going on. I would just like you all to know that Asmo’s section is based on a true story. Anyhoo~ onto the Headcanons!

Why? Why Him? (Lucifer)

Is MC really dumb, or are they just a kid? No one knows.

Obviously MC asked Lucifer, the only competent one in the house, the most professional, hard-working, controlled-

MC got their things together and gave Lucifer the run down on their teacher(s) before Lucifer got too absorbed in extolling his own virtues in an intense internal monologue.

News flash Lucifer, this isn’t a Shakespeare play, you can’t have a dramatic monologue or soliloquy about how great you think you are

At the actual meeting, if MC is in there, no, MC is not actually in there. Lucifer will speak to the teacher as if MC isn’t there. As someone whose not a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down kind of person, Lucifer expects the teacher to behave the same and not spare MC’s feelings.

Feelings do not deserve to be spared if MC is being a nuisance. No fake-kid/little sibling of his gets to be the class idiot!

If MC’s doing very well academically, he expects to be pointed at projects or tests they’ve done and the grade on it. It really makes him proud to see MC doing well.

Even if they’re not the best academically, if they’re not failing and they’re doing well in other aspects of school, he’s proud.

If MC really struggles in a school environment and just hates it there but they’re still keeping their head above water, they get a head pat of approval.

On the drive home, if MC came with him to the parent teacher interviews and everything went well, he just happens to turn onto the street that has a Baskin Robin’s or something of that caliber.

If they didn’t go, he picks something up on the way back.

No fun treats if MC is being a disruptive little heathen in class, no kid under Lucifer’s care is going to be the class Mammon. Not on his watch.

MC was busily stuffed their face with the treats that were gifted to them. Lucifer had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes at the kid’s blatant disregard for basic table manners when it came to sweets.

“Is everything the teacher said true?” Lucifer asked, MC looked up at him with a smile.

“Yep!”

“Good, good.” Lucifer held out his hand and patted them on the head. “You’re doing well. Keep it up.”

“Geez,” MC mumbled as they continued to stuff their face. “Can you get anymore affectionate?”

“Don’t be sarcastic, MC. It’s uncouth.” Lucifer said sternly. “Besides, I’ll have you know that many people enjoy my headpats. I’m quite affectionate.”

“Really now? Name one person.”

Lucifer opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. He and MC stared each other down, one pair of eyes much more nervous than the other. Spoiler, MC was still calmly eating their treat as they maintained eye contact.

“…Cerberus.”

“If you’re reaching for Cerberus, you’ve already lost.”

…his pride was under attack. Right in front of his desert…

“You’re grounded.”

“Worth it.”

*Rides by on a Skateboard* School is for NERDS (Mammon)

Pff! Stupid human! He’s not goin’ to some lame parent teacher conference-

Wait! What’s with that face?! Ugh… fine. MC’s gone and forced his hand with those damn puppy dog eyes…

Mammon does not dress up for this event, he dresses like he would every day, maybe throw on some designer stuff to let all the parents and teachers know he’s hot shit.

If MC goes with him, he pulls up in his beloved car and takes up two parking spaces (pure evil.). Every parent present already hates him, but at least the other kids there are impressed with MC’s sweet ride. MC would have gained some street cred if Mammon hadn’t managed to trip up the stairs to the classroom in front of everyone.

He’ll act way to casual with the teacher, turning the parent chair backwards and sitting down so he can lean on the seat.

Mammon gets bored crazy quickly while the teacher lists and explains all the stuff the class is learning, so his eyes begin to wander to any and all displays in the classroom. Projects, annoying posters, class pet, anything is more interesting than this teacher’s explanation.

When MC finally becomes the main topic of the interview, he’s all ears. MC’s doing great in school academically? Ha! Nerd! Maybe giving MC a playful noogie and interrupting the whole interview wasn’t a good idea, but whatever.

If MC’s failing anything, or just isn’t that gifted when it comes to grades, it’s very much a “Aw man me too” from Mammon.

This teacher is speaking with the Great Mammon, the first demon in RAD’s history to fail three semesters in a row. If this teacher thinks bad grades will phase him, they’re dead wrong.

Grades don’t mean anythin’ about smarts anyway! I mean, look at him! He’s a fuckin’ genius but he can’t get through a history test without sobbing even though he LIVED THROUGH MOST OF IT.

MC gets treats no matter what’s up in class. Though, if MC didn’t go with him, he’s likely to forget and just order something for the two of them when he gets back home.

“Goddamn teachers and their rambling!” Mammon whined, grabbing a slice of pizza from the open box on his coffee table. “You owe me, MC! Ya really do!”

“Yeah yeah yeah.” MC said, they leaned over and rolled a pizza slice into a pizza-scroll then proceeded to eat it like a veggie roll. “How do you think I feel, listening to them every day? You know how long it takes to get to the actual class material?”

“Five years?”

“Ugh! Five years if I’m lucky! I swear, I know more about my teacher’s grievances with like… five of my classmates than I do about trigonometry, and guess which one’s on the test next week?”

Mammon winced in sympathy, then remembered he was supposed to be whining and went back to it. “School’s shit and a waste of money, ya should drop out as soon as you can and help me run my new business.”

“You mean your pyramid scheme?”

“It’s not a pyramid scheme, MC! It’s legit! It’s a multi-tiered marketing-”

“It’s a pyramid scheme.”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SOCIAL INTERACTION (Leviathan)

Everyone else must have been sick or something for MC to have asked Levi. He’d flat out refuse to go otherwise.

So, Levi couldn’t exactly go to the interview in his usual “I haven’t left my room or changed clothes in eight weeks” look. With the help of MC, he was able to find his military uniform at the back of his closet.

Asmo nearly fainted when he saw Levi in the uniform, not because “oooo, a man in uniform~”, it was because the outfit was so crumpled and wrinkled that it made it physically painful to look at. No time to iron and wash, the conference was in an hour!

Levi (and MC if they went with) rolled up to the school in a less than impressive ride, but one look at the uniform and all the other people present went “yep, time to be respectful (tm)”

For the first time in his life Levi was more intimidating than Lucifer! And he wasn’t even trying!

When the teacher starts explaining the course material, Levi spaces off in horror as he realizes he remembers literally nothing from school (AND HE’S STILL IN SCHOOL!) all that’s running through his head is “A squared + B squared = C squared” and “the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell”.

The actual interview was the least interesting part of the trip, the real stuff happened when Levi passed by some art on display in the hallway and something caught his eye-

Those colours… that hair… that adorable smile..!

IT WAS HER! LEVI’S PRECIOUS RURI-CHAN IN ALL HER GLORY!

Levi immediately started fawning over the art class fanart and by sheer coincidence, one of the kids walking through the hallway happened to notice.

The kid asked MC if their… parent and or guardian liked anime. MC responded with “obviously.” Levi then asked the kid if they drew his adorable Ruri-chan. The kid said no, and that they drew the My Hero Academia fanart a few rows down.

Levi was absolutely floored that there were two anime fans in one class, then his entire world shattered when MC explained there was more anime art inside the art room and other classrooms.

H-hang on… did that mean that… a lot of people here… liked anime..?

Levi needed a while to process. No snacks on the way home…

Levi and MC were sat in the back of their Uber, Levi, the Avatar of Envy himself, was having his entire sense of reality warped. S-so much anime fanart… in a school of all places..! What did this mean for the future of anime?!

“Levi. Stop.” MC sighed. “If this were an anime, the camera angle would be doing that thing where it’s right on the bridge of your nose and dramatic music plays in the background.”

“S-so many kids in your class like a-anime huh..?” Levi stuttered, weakly trying to smile. “Must be nice..?”

“Oh, that’s just my class. The other classes and grades have their fans too.”

“Oh… really?”

“Levi,” MC stopped looking out the window and looked at the otaku that was having a full scale silent mental breakdown. “Anime isn’t even a niche interest anymore. It’s a pretty casual thing to watch now. At least a third of my class watches- Levi?”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH! ANIME! A THIRD OF THE CLASS?! ANIME… HIS PRECIOUS ANIME… WAS BECOMING A NORMIE INTEREST! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

“Levi?” MC waved their hand in front of their spaced out demon’s face. “Leviiiii? Okay he’s dead.”

The Know it All (Satan)

Ah, a smart choice, MC. Satan would be glad to help further their education. He’ll do everything in his power to make sure that the human’s brain is fed all that sweet sweet knowledge.

Satan can’t dress himself normally, MC had to coax him into a suit jacket, but he still only wore one sleeve.

MC was coming along to the interviews whether they wanted to or not, it’s important to hear what they need to improve on from the teacher themselves after all.

The two arrived pretty early, so Satan asked MC for a tour of the school. It was pretty tame until they reached the library. Satan was horrified at the state of some of the books…

Their spines lined with duct tape… pages missing and torn… someone apparently used a taco as a book mark…

The first thing Satan does when it’s time for his interview is demand the teacher take better care of the library, even though they’re not the librarian. MC tries to explain this, but Satan is too distraught to listen to reason.

He enjoyed hearing about the course material, but he made it known if MC thinks the assignments are too easy that they need to be given more challenging work. THEIR BRAIN NEEDS TO BE STIMULATED DAMN IT.

It was up to MC to either agree with Satan and nod to the teacher, or make frantic eye contact with them to try and communicate “NO DON’T PLEASE”.

Similar to (ugh) Lucifer, as long as MC is doing their best, he’s happy for them.

…but if they are in any way in the running for valedictorian he is HELPING THEM WIN.

He decided to stop at a cafe or bookstore to let MC pick out a “congrats on surviving your pitiful school” present after the interviews.

MC gleefully perused the shelves of the bookstore, there were so many books too look at…

“I’ll buy you as many books as you’d like, MC, just,” Satan shuddered slightly. “Promise me you won’t treat them like those poor library books…”

MC put their hand over their heart. “I swear on the duct taped book spines that I will never treat a book like that.”

“Good… good…” Satan breathed a sigh of relief and went back to looking at his book about cats.

“Are you… reading a Warrior Cats book..?” MC asked tentatively.

“Yes, why?”

“Satan, put that back.”

“I Will Seduce the Teacher For the Sake of Your Grades, Don’t Worry.” (Asmodeus)

Oh MC dear! He’d be delighted to go! Just let him get ready~

Asmo may not be the best choice, but he was at least going to be the best dressed person at that conference. (And MC just had to come too so all the other parents could be jealous of how well coordinated their outfits are)

He teased MC a little by saying he was going to flirt with their teacher to make sure they passed the class, but he was just kidding! …but he made sure to ask if their teacher was cute, he needed to know!

While waiting for his turn, Asmo flirts with some of the single parents, if he doesn’t see a wedding ring, they’re fair game.

Once his time slot arrived, MC realized that Asmo is one of those “my child has done and will do nothing wrong ever” types. This may have ended up working in MC’s favour if they were a class nuisance.

If MC is doing very well in sports, clubs, grades, anything, Asmo is fawning over them and gushing to the teacher about how great, smart and adorable they are.

Asmo surprisingly does not exactly flirt with the teacher, he was just teasing MC after all. But um… if MC’s teacher just happens to be cute and young, he may turn up the charm, just a little. Enough to make the teacher giggle and make MC cover their face in embarrassment.

After the interviews Asmo will probably schedule a nice day out for the two of them, shopping, a movie, mani pedis, something fun!

The real weird stuff happens in the months after the interviews… if Asmo did lightly flirt with the teacher, MC gets quite a few questions about their guardian. Questions that ask if Asmo is single in not as many words…

Oh lord, MC’s teacher developed a crush on Asmo.

Nail painting night was supposed to be a fun occasion, but MC was hopping mad and embarrassed. Asmo didn’t seem to notice as he continued to paint the little human’s nails.

“And then I told Phenex to get lost. The nerve of that little monster, right MC?” When MC didn’t reply, Asmo looked up and tilted his head. “MC?”

MC’s angry face would have been much more threatening if they weren’t just so adorable, but it was getting the message across.

“MC..?”

“Asmo.” MC’s glare deepened. “My teacher wants to know if you’re single.”

Asmo blinked a few times, before he hit his tongue to keep from laughing. “Really now~. I knew they’d be madly in love with me-”

“WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIIIIIIIIIIIS?!”

Oh My Demon King is That a BAKE SALE?! (Beel)

Of course Beel said yes! He’d gladly go to MC’s parent teacher interview!

He even put on a nice outfit :D he ended up looking a bit like a secret serviceman guarding MC, the tiny president.

Beel stopped for McDonald’s on the way there, all the other kids were so jealous of MC when they stepped out of the car eating fries.

But a little something something caught Beel’s eye when he and MC walked into the school… was that a… bake sale?

MC quickly explained that the bake sale was fundraiser for their class trip that year and the snacks weren’t complimentary. He had to pay.

And pay Beel did. He cleared out the entire table. MC’s grade’s overnight trip was going to be decadent as hell. That was no longer a crowd funded thing, that trip was privately funded by a tall buff ginger secret service member and this tiny in comparison child.

Kids are incredibly blunt, just like Beel, so when a random kindergarten kid wandered over, looked up at Beel, and very knowingly said “you’re very tall”. Beel was like “yeah”. The kid then said “what’s it like being that tall?”

Beel’s response to this kid’s question was to pick them up and hold them for a few seconds before placing them back down. For just a few moments this kid knew what it like to be over 6’4. Of course, more kids swarmed in and asked to be picked up.

Sure it was cute, but Beel now has an army of kids ranging from kindergarteners to third graders.

Finally, the conference actually began. Beel snacked the entire time and dutifully listened to everything the teacher had to say.

After the interviews are over, he checks with MC to make sure everything the teacher said was true and that they weren’t lying. If all was well, the two made their exit.

They stopped at Wendy’s on the way home.

“I’m so full…” MC groaned, Beel held up a massive cookie.

“So I can eat this?”

“No. Gimme that.” MC took a very defeated bite out of it. “My stomach says no but my mouth says yes…”

“I don’t want you to get a stomachache, MC,” Beel said worriedly. “No more snacks.”

“It’s a little late for that. It’s past nine and I’m still eating, there’s no way I’m getting to sleep at a reasonable hour.”

“Oh…” Beel mumbled. “I may have not completely thought this through.”

“*Snore* Huh? Wha? MC’s Grades? Uh… Fuck…” (Belphie)

MC must be failing a class or something because why on earth would they pick Belphie otherwise.

They ask him to go while he’s delirious from just waking up from a nap, he sort of half nods and mumbles some gibberish before going back to sleep.

MC had to basically carry his ass to the school. Belphie drooled all over them in the waiting room, and when it was their time to go into the interview, Belphie had to be manually put into the chair and slapped awake.

He barely listens, he just sits and nods along with whatever the teacher is saying. The teacher could say MC brought an alligator to school and he’d just go “uh huh…” “mmmph… yep…” “really now?” then yawn.

The only thing that could possibly get Belphie to be interested is if MC is studying space. If they are, than boy howdy is Belphie suddenly interested in their education.

Other than that? *snore*

If MC is in fact failing or doing poorly, MC’s teacher asks to see another one of MC’s guardians at a later date. Their plan failed miserably.

MC drags Belphie out of the school and yells at him for not helping them. Belphie, still sleep delirious, tries to press the snooze button. MC does not have a snooze button.

“Belphie!” MC shouted, shaking the Avatar of Sloth awake. The House of Lamentation’s resident bastard was somehow sleeping standing up outside. “HOW COULD YOU?!”

“Eh?” Belphie half-snorted and looked around confused. “What’d I do? Where are we?”

“At my school! You said that you’d go to my parent teacher interviews!”

“…MC I don’t think I’d pass well for you.”

“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GO AS MY GUARDIAN!”

“Sheesh,” Belphie murmured while he rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes. “You humans are so noisy.”

MC looked up at their dearest demon friend, and gave him their best glare. “I’m going to take all your fancy temperature changing pillows and switch them with normal pillows you traitorous bastard.”

[snow-leopard-7772point0]

I'll Change My Crown, from Light to Dark

The akuma landed on Marinette's windowsill, the girl not even noticing as she sat in the tattered remnants of her designs. Luckily she had dropped off most of her completed works the day before to be delivered to the appropriate patrons, though everything she had yet to send off was ripped, cut, burned, there wasn't a scrap of cloth that was usable for anything but as a guide for buying more. Her sketchbook was in shreds on the floor, paper scattered like confetti over the remaining slivers of all her hard work. 

The akuma danced in place. It's master was urging it to go forward, to possess the girl, but… there were so many objects to choose from! Should it just possess the entire room? The sewing machine? One little scrap of fabric? A piece of paper? What about her emotions? This butterfly had made some of the strongest akumas to date, though the strength behind her feelings was astromically larger than any other person they had targeted. The little insect itself was slightly afraid to act as a bridge for her. It finally flew forward, choosing the scraps of the dress the girl had been making herself for the Wayne gala.

Marinette froze when her emotions intensified, hearing Hawkmoth cooing in her ear. "Greetings, Mistress Hawthorne. They all accuse you of being the bully, of being a liar, never paying attention to the proof you give them. They destroyed your designs, your livelihood, and expect to get away scott free.  I'm giving you the ability to turn all your ruined dreams into hawthorn bushes that force people to see the truth, whether they can accept it or not. No more hiding behind lies or masks, everyone will have to be honest and pay for their crimes. All I ask in return is for Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous."

"I refuse, Hawkmoth "

The villain froze for a second. Only one other person had ever resisted him so easily, and that was due to her love for Ladybug. Nothing about Marinette Dupain-Cheng screamed that she truly cared for the heroes, so why would she resist? He was giving her the perfect way to get revenge! If he didn't fear that it would give the heroes a clue to his identity, he wouldn't have even asked for the Miraculous for this offence! "Why do you refuse? Imagine how great it will feel, trapping them in their castle with your thorns until the truth comes out!"

"Oh, make no mistake, revenge will be divine. But I'm already looking at little to no sleep for the foreseeable future so that I can press charges against them, email all my patrons whose clothes were destroyed about the delay, buy all the fabric to remake their outfits, and get my own dress together for the Wayne gala. Luckily I'm not starting completely over with it, their mindless destruction gave me an idea for my dress, but there is still much to do. I have no time to become an akuma, I have to get to work immediately, and it will be tomorrow before my classmates are all in the same place again."

"What… what if I didn't ask for the Miraculous in return, and you miss a few days of school to get everything completed?

"While missing school may become a necessity before everything is over and done with, I still have much to do. It would take far too long to force the truth out of Lila Rossi, and I am uncertain if Ladybug's Miracle Cure would erase any progress I made on designing as an akuma. You seem like a reasonable businessman, I'm sure you understand."

"Ah, yes, I do, actually. Cut me some slack here, I've been trying to akumatize you for over a year now! What kind of cloth are you cut from?"

"A different kind from my classmates. I refuse to stoop to their level. Besides, I have pride in the fact that I am not helpless, and the costumes I see akumatized people in are atrocious. Please have a nice day, but I do need to get to work."

"I-very well then. Good luck. Please at least make your classmates suffer."

Marinette's smirk alone was fuel to create a fear-based akuma. "They'll pay. But on my terms." The purple butterfly left her dress, and Marinette caught herself as she slumped to the floor. Resisting Hawkmoth had taken much more out of her than she had anticipated.

⏳

Gabriel rose from the underground room, surprising Nathalie. "Sir, surely she didn't-"

"No, Nathalie, she didn't loose. She didn't even accept my offer. I even offered to not require the Miraculous this time, but she still refused. Her mental strength is highly admirable, especially when her guard is at its lowest. She would be a great asset to us."

"In what manner?"

"Any way I can get her. She is one of the best designers I have seen in a long time, especially at her age. I caught a glimpse of her revenge plan when my akuma possessed her and it was astoundingly terrible, and she is kind and independent enough to make an amazing daughter."

"Sir, kidnapping is illegal."

"I don't have to kidnap her, I'll throw Adrien at her." Gabriel started to wave his hand in dismissal, then noticed the look on Nathalie's face.

"Sir, I think you should watch the rest of this." Nathalie walked forward, bringing up the video from earlier. Gabriel had only watched a second of it before rushing to his butterflies, it was easy to recognize the girl's room by her designs. He'd been gunning for her since she lied to him to help keep Adrien in school and made the feathered hat. Her spirit and dedication let him know that she could be a great ally or terrible enemy. She didn't (yet) have the money or power to come after Gabriel Agreste on her own, but he was certain that the girl was being considered for a Miraculous. He knew she didn't already have one, she hadn't responded to Miracle Queen, after all, but several of her classmates had used one. He actually paid attention to the video this time, watching all the way through. The first people seen on camera were the blogger girl and Lila Rossi, several other classmates cropping up through the video. He didn't notice Timebreaker, Evilillstrator, or the Bourgeois girl, though he did see his own son halfway through the recording, happily cutting at a gown that had been carefully beaded with a hawthorn pattern with a pair of scissors, cutting off the beads and chunks of fabric. 

Gabriel's frown deepened. "Cut all ties to Lila Rossi immediately. We will be making a public apology, telling the public that we did not know of her abhorrent tendencies, nor did we expect her to pull Adrien into her schemes. Adrien will be appropriately punished, and we will offer Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng compensation for the destruction of her property, along with a small team of designers that will know to make every stitch to her preference, no matter their opinion on the piece."

"Of course, sir. How would you like to make your statement to the public?"

"Call that news anchor, Najda Chamack, and ask her to come here. I will speak to her in person as soon as she is available. I also want the apology posted to every social media outlet we use, including our official website."

"Sir, is this not overkill? This isn't Audrey Bourgeois."

Gabriel glared at Nathalie. "No, she is not. She designs for more famous people than Audrey does. She is the main designer for the Wayne gala this year. Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Tsurugi Tomoe, even the Wayne's commissioned her work. All of her designs are paid for in a split payment plan, the money for the materials is required upfront while the rest of the payment can wait until after the person received their design to make sure it is what they want. That means there will very likely be several highly influential individuals and families gunning for us because of Rossi and my son."

Nathalie paled. She hadn't imagined that the small girl who stumbled and stuttered every time she saw her would have that kind of power backing her. Everyone knew that the girl had Jagged Stone backing her, MDC was his main designer for everything and anyone who personally met the girl and the rocker knew who MDC was, especially since they were supposed to have their identity reveal at the Wayne gala. Jagged Stone by himself would be bad and the company would take a hit, though she was positive Marinette would stop him before he went too far. But with so many others working with Jagged… Gabriel (the company) would not survive. 

"I will get everything arranged." Nathalie quickly left the office.

⏳ 

Marinette's first order of business was to email all of the clients affected by her classmates's actions. She informed them that they did not need to worry, as she was suing all the students for the costs of what they destroyed- not just materials, but labor as well, and would be buying new material for their clothes out of her own pocket until she got retribution. She also informed them that their orders would come in slightly later than planned, though not by much. Clara, Jagged, Kagami and her mother, and the Wayne's all responded to her email with assurances that things happened and to take her time. Bruce Wayne offered to delay the gala so that she would have plenty of time to rectify the situation, though she was quick to assure him that it was not necessary.

Her next order of business was cleanup. She collected every scrap of fabric big enough to make so much as a small patch or strip and sat them in a small box next to where her personal dress was. Everything else was collected and thrown in the trash. She dug out her receipts for all the fabrics destroyed, including the fabrics for projects intended for her classmates. She quickly pulled up the video Alya had posted, writing down who destroyed what. She matched the fabrics to the people, then calculated the time she would have spent on each piece. She reviewed the video one more time, noticing that none of the art students, including Chloè, were in the video. Though it was to be expected. The whole class knew how important all art was to the art students; those students would have stopped them if they were in the know. Chloè was not only in the art club, but also still exiled from the class, though her relationship with Marinette had gone from bully to ally. They still weren't friends, but they stuck together against most of the class, only Nathaniel and Alix leaving them alone. The class may have had five braincells in the entire room, Chloè, Marinette, Alix, and Nathaniel each having one all to themselves while the rest of the class, including Madame Bustier, shared the other one, but they used that one braincell to know who could be brought in on a scheme like this.

Marinette had just finished calculating who she would she for what and was on her way to buy fabrics when her phone rang. She grabbed it as she opened her hatch, activating her recording app as she answered. "Hello?"

"Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, it has come to my attention that Adrien Agreste and Lila Rossi have vandalized your property. Lila Rossi has already been terminated and Adrien will face suitable punishment for his actions. I wish for you to come by the manor at your earliest convenience for us to discuss payment."

"If you're free now, I was just about to head out."

"Of course. I'll send a car for you."

"Merci, Monsieur Agreste." Marinette pocketed her phone and made copies of the expenses each of her classmates would be charged. She had no way of knowing where, exactly, Gabriel Agreste stood, but she refused to leave anything to chance. The original, along with the receipts, was stored in her diary box while one copy was left on her desk and another found its home in her purse. She stopped by the kitchen to inform her parents that she was headed to the Agreste Manor and would explain later before walking out to wait on the car.

⏳

Adrien was smiling after school. He had never realized how freeing it was to tear clothes apart, especially clothes made by someone who refused to listen to him. Marinette deserved everything she got, plus some. He wondered what of hers he could destroy next.

He was surprised when he returned home to see his father glaring at him from in front of the stairwell. "We need to have a talk, son." The designer's voice promised pain. "About your friends and actions today."

Adrien stared at his father, confused. "Why? What happened?"

Gabriel growled. "Nathalie."

"Sir?"

"Show him the video, then leave us to our discussion."

"Yes sir." Nathalie quickly pulled up the video of the class destroying Marinette's designs and held the tablet out to Adrien before taking her leave. 

Adrien watched the video, unable to understand what had angered his father. "Do you understand what you have done?" Gabriel demanded.

Adrien shrugged. "I got payback. She wouldn't listen to me when I told her to lay low, so I decided to help the class teach her a lesson."

Gabriel coldly glared at his son. "You have cost me over a thousand dollars just in the hours that girl put into her work. That does not include the cost of the materials, deformation of private property, or potential unlawful entry and vandalism charges. How do you know that Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng is not currently an akuma gunning for your head? Or that her clients aren't going to press charges? Her clientele could ruin your entire class, your entire school, with a single phone call."

Adrien scoffed. "She doesn't have that many big clients. Just Jagged Stone. And Marinette can't get akumatized. She's too stubborn to listen to anyone."

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Adrien, I'll tell you this as your classmate is revealing it in less than a month. Marinette Dupain-Cheng has been taking the world of fashion by storm while using her initials, MDC. Only certain celebrities and rich people know who she is, mainly people she has worked or designed for. Jagged Stone is the first and main one, yes. But Clara Nightingale has been using her more and more. MDC is the main designer for the Wayne gala, not only Monsieur Stone and Mademoiselle Nightingale commissioning her, but the Tsurugi family and the Wayne family, along with several friends and supporters of the four families. Aubrey Bourgeois supports her, perhaps even more than she supports me, and I have admired several of her pieces done for contests."

Blood began to drain from Adrien's face, though Gabriel doubted that the boy fully understood anything yet. "Her mother's best friend is Najda Chamack, and Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng babysits her child. Her uncle is a famous chef who loves his family dearly, especially since his great niece learned Mandarin to be able to talk to him and help him with his French. Alix Kubdel is friends with Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, and also comes from a respectable family- as well as Chloè Bourgeois becoming her ally after she helped with her mother. Not to mention that the Dupain-Cheng family is not hurting for money, as they are the best and most popular bakery in Paris. They get orders from all over the city, plus serve at almost every party that has edible food. You attacked the livelihood of one of the most powerful children in Paris. Not only that, but you destroyed the property of some of the most prolific people in the world." Adrien's face had lost all traces of blood, though Gabriel did not expect it to be from shame. No, his son was afraid because he had been caught. "You will not return to school until Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng has revealed herself as MDC to the world, nor will you have access to any of your social media, messages, or phone. You may return to being homeschooled. I shall have to reassess the situation at a later date. If I do allow you to return to school, it will not be François-DuPont. You will drop contact with your current classmates. You are dismissed." Gabriel turned from his son, pulling his phone out of his pocket. 

⏳

Marinette was escorted straight to Gabriel's office upon arrival. The man shook her hand before gesturing for her to take a seat. "Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, my assistant showed me the video of what your classmates did. My sincerest apologies. I assure you that my son is currently being punished and Mademoiselle Rossi's contract has been terminated. I also wanted to offer you compensation for your loss as well as a team of designers that will follow your instructions to the last stitch."

Marinette eyed the elder Agreste. "What do you want in return?"

Gabriel blinked at the girl. He knew she was smart, though he hadn't expected her to ask that. "For this? Nothing. My son deserves every lawsuit you draw up. I remember what it was like when I was first starting my company; something like this would have been devistating."

"Well, Monsieur, covering everything will not be necessary. I have already calculated the damages each student did and how much they owe for it. I am not holding you responsible for the actions of any of my classmates, not even Agreste or Rossi. I'm sure you have paid your son for working for you," Marinette felt viciously victorious when he nodded, "in which case he should be able to pay for damages himself. The same holds true for Rossi; she was a contract model for your company and was paid as such. They should both be able to afford my work- custom or not."

"Might I see what you've drawn up? I heard from Aubrey that you have a tendency to undercharge for your work, and, as you just said, my son and former employee should be able to afford your work. The beaded dress my son ruined, for example, should cost twenty-five hundred dollars, bare minimum. I would charge much more than that, especially with how much work is put behind hand-beading." Marinette could do nothing but gape at her childhood idol. She had been expecting a bribe, a threat, something to try to protect his son.

She pulled the paper out of her purse when he raised an eyebrow, pulling the video up on her phone. "Césaire was stupid enough to put her phone in the corner where I could track everyone's movements, and I can figure everything out if I can get Markov. I figured out who destroyed what and calculated what they owe from there. I don't know who picked the lock to the upper floors, or to my room, though my money's on either Césaire or Rossi. Césaire's obsessed with being a great reporter while Rossi is a liar and a thief. Harleprè, Lavaillant, Bruel, Couffaine, and Lahiffe owe the least, they didn't do much. They just ripped a few pages out of my sketchbook. Raincompx, le Chein, Césaire, Rossi, Agreste, and Kantè did the most damage, and so will face the bigger lawsuits. I have already contacted my clients and informed them of the slight delay. Your team of designers, while most appreciated, will not be necessary. It shouldn't take me more than a few days to recreate the Wayne's suits and send them off, I sent the dresses yesterday. Jagged and Clara will both be in Paris next week and can stop by my house to pick up their outfits and have a final fitting. I can easily deliver the Tsurugi chensogams to their home. That covered everyone that had their outfits for the gala destroyed. I had finished the majority of them yesterday and done the final checks before sending them off. I was supposed to send the Wayne suits off today, though that plan was foiled. I was lucky that I went ahead and finished my commissions rather than more personal projects. Most of what got destroyed were projects my classmates requested of me rather than important works."

"Are you positive you don't want help? At least on your beaded dress?"

Marinette pulled up pictures of what she had. "I have several different scraps of colors, most of them either on the darker end of the spectrum or metalic, from the works they destroyed. I'm going to use those scraps from my other works to make a pair of wings on the back of the dress, the colors getting darker the further down they go and metalic fabrics making the outline of the wings."

Gabriel considered the dress. "You'll look like a fallen angel. I hope you're still planning on charging my son the full amount for the dress."

"Most definitely. There will be some alterations I make besides the wings, putting some pieces back together, cutting or tearing others, partially rebeading sections, I have some work to put in. Your son added to my work load when it was already full, he personally destroyed not only my dress but Jagged and Penny's outfits as well. Might I know what punishment he is suffering?"

"So you can plan revenge accordingly?" Gabriel questioned. He sighed at her innocent expression. "He will no longer attend François-DuPont. He will basically be under house arrest for everything except shoots until after the gala. I am undecided as to whether he shall go to another school or be permanently homeschooled. He is not allowed any contact with his former classmates nor access to social media or his phone. So if you wish to strike, do it right after a photo shoot. You can do it before or during as long as you don't ruin the clothes on display."

Marinette's grin was pure evil. "Don't worry, Monsieur Agreste. I have too much respect for the work designers put into their work to be so crass. Will Agreste still practice fencing with Kagami?"

"I shall allow it on a trial basis."

"Very well. It was nice meeting with you, Monsieur Agreste, but I must take my leave. I have too much to do before I traumatize, I mean get payback, I mean revenge, wait, no, deal with my classmates after the gala. But before I go… You wouldn't happen to know anyone that would be able to teach me how to, how should I phrase this… I guess basically be an Ice Queen?"

Gabriel smirked. "Actually, my nephew, Felix Graham de Vanily, will be at the gala. He's a model from England, and many consider him an Ice King. He'd be a great teacher." And perhaps potential mate to bring you into the family. I wonder how many love akumas it would take to get you two together… perhaps Adrien needs a good influence his age around the Manor…

Marinette slightly felt as though she had signed her future away, though that was ridiculous so she simply thanked Gabriel before leaving.

⏳

The next few days flew by in a rush of designing and lawyers. The lawyers her parents got were more than willing to come to the bakery and talk to Marinette as she sewed, especially since she had eyeballed them and given them all scarves and beanies the next time they were there. Marinette didn't bother to pay attention in Bustier's class, electing to nap instead. She was awake for Mendeleiev's classes, though. She liked her dragon-like teacher as the woman actually taught her students. She managed to finish her clients' clothes with time to spare, having gotten so used to designing for Jagged, Penny, and Clara that very few adjustments needed to be made. A couple Wayne suits had come back with notes on where they needed to be adjusted and how, and those were shipped back out that same day. Her own dress took until the last minute, Marinette completely finishing it, including adjustments, the day before she was set to leave for the gala. She would be staying with Jagged and Penny in the Wayne Manor for the two weeks she was to be there, a week before the gala and a week after. Her classmates's parents were horrified to hear what their children had done, making sure the kids paid every penny of what Marinette was suing for without even going to court. Alix and Nathaniel had nearly gotten in trouble with their families, though Marinette was quick to personally visit and explain things. Apparently the other families had contacted the Kurtzburg's and Kubdel's about the scandal with the children, no one noticing that some of the children weren't involved.

She already had her traveling designing kit packed so that she could make sure the Wayne's outfits all fit properly. Chloè and Kagami were traveling with her, determined to make sure their former rival was well taken care of while their parents took care of the hotel. Jagged was fuming beside Marinette whole they rode through Gotham, the girl talking to her friends.

"So, Mari-hime, you told me that you would explain what was going on if Adrien refused to before we left." 

Marinette gave Kagami a highly stressed smile. "I think watching the video would explain things better. I didn't want you to get akumatized because of me while we were in Paris."

"So you knew Adrien would refuse to tell me what crime he committed against you. What video?"

Marinette pulled it up on her tablet. "For the record, I simply suspected that he would keep his mouth shut. Though Monsieur Agreste is making sure that his interactions with anyone besides himself, Madame Sancouer, and his bodyguard are highly limited." She passed Kagami the tablet, Chloè leaning over to watch it with her.

The Japanese girl dropped the tablet in her lap as she watched, clenching her fists so hard that her palms bled. "How- how dare that baka! They all have no honor! They should meet my blade!"

"Kagami. Calm down. I have it handled. I want you and Chloè to teach me how to be a vengeful Ice Queen while we're here. Monsieur Agreste suggested talking to his nephew for lessons as well. By the time I'm back in Paris, I don't want our classmates to be able to recognize me. I already have some revenge planned, the wheels for those are already in motion. I messaged the Césaire and Lahiffe families to inform the entire family that I will be unable to babysit for them for the foreseeable future. Ambassador Rossi has a request in her inbox to visit the school while we are gone, as Rossi's classmates would love to hear about what it's like to be an ambassador. The le Chein family was sent a list of tutors for their son's failing grades, unfortunately all those tutors work at the same time as mandatory swim practice. I sent Luka a copy of the video, so Kitty Section is about to loose their lead guitarist so that he can learn under my dear uncle. Agreste will be facing a startling amount of bad luck for a good chunk of time whilst loosing all of his beloved friends. By the time I am finished, even Hawkmoth won't want to work with them."

Chloè stared at her friend. "Did you really just say 'whilst?' Who hurt you? I just want to talk."

Jagged continued to sulk. "She won't even let me send my rockin followers after those bloody rats. She's only letting me steal away a new guitarist!"

"Because I have everything planned out. And Agreste will become even more isolated once we return. No matter what I say, Kagami is going to duel him to the, figurative, death before informing him of her distaste for him and his actions."

Kagami mock glared at Marinette. "So what if I do? He deserves it. He deserves much worse. But how will he become more isolated? I will still be sparring with him twice a week."

"A person is more isolated surrounded by people that don't care about them than all on their own. Yes, you will physically be there. But your obvious emotional distance will leave him more isolated than him being stuck in his room all day."

Chloè stared at her new friend. "Where was all this evil cunningness when I was your bully?"

Marinette smirked. "I had a wake-up call. Césaire, ironically, taught me that it's okay to stand up for myself, and Hawkmoth helped release a part of me I had blocked out."

"What? Were you akumatized? How did I not know?" Chloè demanded.

Marinette waved her hand dismissively. "It was a few days before we actually became friends, and he didn't manage to akumatize me. He possessed my dress, but I refused to work with him. Apparently he's wanted to akumatize me for a while, but I'm good at forcing myself to calm down."

"What was he going to call you?" Chloè was highly excited to finally have someone who knew what it was like to fully resist Hawkmoth. Not calm down before the butterfly reached them, not resist for a second before giving in, but fully resist the man.

"Mistress Hawthorne." Marinette laughed. "I was going to have the ability to turn my ruined dreams into hawthorn bushes that would trap everyone in their castle and force them to see the truth." Marinette had to stop, she was laughing so hard. "I told him no, and he was so shocked that he only argued for a second before wishing me luck with revenge!"

Jagged continued to sulk through the teens laughter, refusing to give in. He wanted to crush those bloody teens. No one gets away with hurting his niece.

⏳

As soon as she arrived at the manor and had her bags unpacked, Marinette began tracking down the Wayne's, one by one, and dragging them back to her room with their suits or dresses, forcing them to put them on so that she could fully alter them to her preference. Dick was scared of the tiny Asian girl that slung him over her shoulder before grabbing his suit and forcing him to come with her when he hesitated and then worked silently, ignoring his attempts at friendship. He was so scared of her that he sprinted the other direction the first time he saw Kagami. Jason and Bruce both wanted to adopt the girl- she blended in perfectly with their family, and Jason had witnessed both, the girl's kidnapping of his brother and Dick running away from Kagami. He had to respect someone who could instill more fear than Demon Spawn himself, and Bruce wanted to cultivate that talent until he got a Nightingale. Damian and Cass both respected the girl for her professionalism and silence (and word of her traumatizing Dick had already spread through the manor). Tim instantly fell in love with the girl, as she asked him if he wanted coffee or tea while they were doing his fitting, as he looked dead on his feet (he did not choose both or cry tears of joy, and no one can prove to Alfred that he did). Selina purred at the amount of pure chaos she could feel pouring off of the girl, even with her suppressing it while she worked. She needed a kitten. Bruce already had his litter, it was her turn. Kor'i bounced in place the whole time, trying not to inturupt the girl as she adjusted her glorious creation.

Jagged disappeared with Bruce after his fitting, explaining to the billionaire what Marinette had been going through, even showing him the video of her work getting destroyed, before asking for his help to get revenge. He explained Marinette's known plans, and the rocker and vigilante began planning around hers, using their collective contacts and knowledge to open the class's wounds even deeper.

Dinner that night was chaos. Jason, Selina, Bruce, and Jagged were in a constant argument, with Penny occasionally interjecting, that abruptly cut off any time Marinette drew near, she was only able to catch the words adoption and revenge, Kagami and Cass spent their time in silence, eyeing each other. Chloè didn't breathe while swapping between berating Dick and Tim for their fashion choices and interigating them about Gotham and its foreign student transfer policies. Damian scowled at everyone the entire time from his seat next to Marinette. Marinette did her best to emulate him, not noticing Dick slowly sliding his chair further and further away from her.

Damian decided he liked tolerated Marinette five days into her stay. Dick had been complaining to him and Jason about how much Asian girls scared him and Kor'i wanting them to live with them. Marinette had somehow heard his complaints and came storming up to them, cussing Dick out in a mixture of French, Mandarin, Arabic, Italian, and English. Damian did not know why that caused a blush to creep up his face, though he admired the way her accent curled around the words, making everything seem like a language all of its own. 

Jason chuckled when she walked off. "That. That was the art of cussing at its finest. I'm getting Alfed and we're going to go teach my new little sister how to shoot guns. Angel's my favorite, you can all suck it." Jason walked off in the same direction the girl had left in. It didn't take but forty-two minutes for the sound of gunfire to echo around the house. 

⏳

The night before the gala, the women in Wayne Manor gathered in Marinette's room. The night was spent coaching her on how to act and reveal her identity, both on the carpet and during the gala.

"Don't fret so much, kit." Selina advised. "You are a queen, act as such. Keep you head up and keep your cool. They'll all be tripping over themselves to speak to you, and you don't give them the time of day." Chloè nodded her agreement, even as Kagami objected.

"You're approachable and professional at the same time. Just let people see both sides of you."

The women continued to argue, Marinette finally escaping to talk to Alfred. She spent the night under his tutelage, learning all she could about presentation. The man finally ushered her off to bed. "You have a long day tomorrow. You will need sleep to get through it."

⏳

Once arriving at the gala, Marinette kept her head high as she glided down the carpet, the press quickly stopping her to ask if she was a new Wayne and what happened to her dress. "No." She offered a small smile to them. "I'm the designer MDC. The Wayne's hired me to design their suits, and were kind enough to offer their home to me and my aunt and uncle, even letting two of my best friends, Tsurugi Kagami and Chloè Bourgeois, spend the majority of their time with me at the Manor. My parents live in France, where I will be returning to in a weeks time. My room was broken into a few weeks ago, and some of my classmates ruined the outfits I had in there, including my dress. I decided to take what they did to my dress and use it as proof that nothing will bring me down. Excuse me, I need to go. I do not wish to keep my companions waiting." Marinette offered them a small bow before leaving them, giving the press a good look at the drooping angel wings sewn on the back of her dress.

"Angel," One of the reporters breathed, leading to a frenzy. MDC was announced to the world that night as Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Angel of Gotham.

⌛

Finding her group was easy, and it was almost just as easy to spot Felix, Gabriel's nephew. She grabbed Damian by his forearm, the boy too startled by her random action to react, and drug him over to the boy she assumed was Felix.

She tapped.the boy on his shoulder. "Excuse me, are you Felix?"

The boy gave a hesitant nod. "Great! I want the two of you to teach me as much as you can about being a vengeful Ice Queen."

Felix raised one eyebrow, looking between the girl and the scowling boy. "What do we get out of it?"

"You get to live with the knowledge that I am going to use your teachings to traumatize idiotic classmates and I can keep the girls from making passes at you, as you are already occupied with entertaining a lady."

The boys both quickly gave their consent, refusing to let the girl leave their side for even a moment the entirety of the gala. They were appeased enough with the girl that her lessons continued throughout the following week, the boys enchanted enough with her to seriously consider following her to Paris and watching her strike like a coiled viper.

⌛

When Marinette returned to school, she had changed. Not just in personality, no, she changed everything. Her personality (at school), her hairstyle, her clothes, everything was redone to fit who she had become. Flowy black pants, a black sleeveless top held up by a ribbon that wrapped around her neck, a red leather jacket loosley hung on her frame, and black boots could be seen under the pants.. Her gaze was frozen as it swept over the class. She was unsurprised to see Adrien sitting in his usual seat, Gabriel had informed her of his decision to place Adrien back in Bustier's class for the time being so that Marinette could teach him a lesson. Alix and Nathaniel had transfered out of the class as soon as they had learned of what the students had done, moving to Madame Mendeleiev's class. Chloè was also leaving, though she was transferring to Gotham after the week was up. She wanted that week to be able to watch the havoc Marinette would wreck on the class. Kagami had already decided to join the class, and Marinette spotted her in Nathaniel's old seat. She was not expecting to see Felix frowning next to Kagami, nor Damian smirking at the back of the blond's head. Thanks to those very boys, though, it was amazingly easy to hide her surprise. A smirk crawled its way across her face, even as she stepped far enough into the room that everyone could see her. She had timed her entrance perfectly. As soon as the class went to explode with praises and questions, the bell rang, Madame Bustier walking in and asking them to all take their seats. Marinette made sure her steps were conscice enough to make it seem as though she was gliding up the rows, refusing to shoot her classmates so much as a glance. 

Lila walked into the room moments later, late, her gaze zeroing in on Felix. "Felibear! It's so nice to see you again!" She squealed, rushing up the steps. 

Felix stopped her with a cold glare. "Do I know you?"

Alya glared at the blond. "How could you ask your girlfriend if you know her? Especially since everyone knows you transfered to François-DuPont for her!"

Felix looked scandalized. "I did no such thing! I came here on request of my uncle. There are very few people here that I know from previous endeavors."

Lila burst out into tears. "H-how could you treat me like this? At least my Damiboo didn't do this!"

"Damiboo?" Marinette asked. Clearly Bustier wasn't going to stop the girl.

"Oh, I forgot you weren't here!" A sly grin crawled across Lila's face. "I suppose Damiboo didn't speak to you the whole time you were in Gotham, otherwise you would have known I used to date Damian Wayne!" The girl boasted.

Marinette looked at the horrified expression on her deskmate's face, and began her countdown. "I would never date a harlot like you!" He burst out, unable to stop himself. The class turned to stare at him, then realized that he had been just ahead of Marinette when the Wayne's and Jagged Stone arrived at the gala.

A slow smirk crawled across Marinette's lips, erasing the smile she had given her friends. "Do tell, Lila. I would love to hear all about your relationship with the Wayne's. Or about you dating Felix here. Oh! What about your relationship with my uncle? Save any of his cats lately? Let's not forget Clara Nightingale! Since she steals her music and dance moves from you, perhaps we could get a preview for her next video?"

Adrien frowned at Marinette. She seemed… different. "Mari, don't be so mean! Your supposed to be our everyday Ladybug, the better-"

"Agreste, if example is the next word to come out of your mouth I will steal Chloè's six inch stiletto right off of her foot and shove it down your throat while I laugh at your struggles." Adrien's mouth snapped shut as he paled, the class staring at Marinette in shock. 

"Marinette! That was uncalled for!" Madame Bustier frowned at the girl. Perhaps letting her go to Gotham was a mistake.

"Really, Madame Bustier? From where I'm sitting, it was perfectly called for. Agreste is not going to use my emotions to manipulate me into being the perfect placemat anymore. You are not going to manipulate me into being the perfect victim. I will no longer tolerate this class's treatment of me. Four people in this room have the authority to call me by a nickname. They know who they are. Four people have the ability to ask something of me. None of them were the ones that destroyed my sketchbook or commissions. None of them told me that I always have to be the better person and set an example for my classmates. I refuse to allow myself to be used any longer."

Alya glared at her friend as the rest of the class stared at the noirette in shock or turned their head away from her in shame. "Girl, what are you talking about? First you want us to pay you a while bunch of money, and now you don't want to do anything for us?"

Damian started to retort himself, stopped by Marinette's hand on his arm. Her voice was frosted fire when she commanded the room. "Everyone in this room, excluding my four friends and our teacher, had a hand I destroying commissions for the Wayne gala, requests from all of you, and my sketchbook. That is why you were sued for damages. Some of you paid more than others because Alya was gracious enough to post a video she had taken of what you did on her blog that allowed me to see who destroyed what. That allowed me to see exactly who has hell to pay." The dangerous smirk several of her classmates had noticed danced across her face yet again, like a sword would dance in the hands of Robin. 

Adrien scoffed. "you're just a baker's daughter. What could you possibly do?" He paled not long after the words flew out of his mouth, remembering what his father had told him.

"You look like you just remembered that I am not just a baker's daughter. Why don't you share with the class?" Marinette offered up one of her customary sunshine smiles, though Adrien was not fooled this time, quickly yelling the class exactly what his father had told him. 

Lila blanched. Forget the Agreste's and that stupid reporter, she should have set her sights on Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Marinette smiled down at the class, her court sitting in the back two rows with her. Chloè had kicked Felix out of his seat next to Kagami, and Felix had nudged Marinette into the middle of the bench, sandwiching her between Damian and himself.

Her blue eyes were frigid as she glared down upon her kingdom. The time for the Queen of Light was over- Darkness had come for her, and she welcomed them with open arms. Her crown darkened, from gold and diamonds to silver and onyx, and her reign had only begun.

[ladyanput]

Spots Drawn in Marker Pt.1

Based on the AU by @miraculous-of-salt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Honestly, this entire class has gone crazy.

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

…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marinette felt her heart fall to the floor and shatter.

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

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

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

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

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

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

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 44 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter:  Sutan gave Violet a token of his affection.

This Chapter: Violet works her ass off, Pearl feels restless, Courtney takes action, and Bianca has a surprising encounter.

***

Trixie smiled to himself as he walked around the floor, watching his designers all work on their various bits. They were still only getting into gear, the prêt-à-porter part of the collection now in the hands of tailoring and Bendela. Jovan and Blu were the designers who oversaw that process, the rest of them now focused completely on the runway show.

Trixie had sent out an email to everyone that Monday, outlining the timeline for the couture concepts. Couture was a lot more difficult to plan, since those outfits were typically made in the design department by the same designer from start to finish. It wasn’t haute couture, which meant they still used machines, but it took time to make the elaborate gowns and high detailed pieces Trixie knew Raja and Fame expected them to deliver.

“Hey boss.” Trixie turned to look at Gia, the woman smiling at him. “Can you take a look at these?”

“Of course,” Trixie walked over to Gia’s station, the concepts for their custom-made jewelry all laid out on her desk. They had started to get the first samples from the jewelers they used, Fame insisting that Galactica didn’t use anyone else's designs unless they absolutely had to.

“I like this,” Trixie took the small dangling earrings Gia had handed him. “But I think this,” Trixie pointed at a necklace, “needs to be redone. The chain looks too flimsy.”

Gia nodded, noting it down. Trixie knew Bob was taking care of the shoes, their first samples of the heels Fame wanted arriving in the upcoming weeks.

“Good job,” Trixie smiled, squeezing Gia’s shoulder before he walked away and over towards Violet’s table.

He liked having Violet on his team, the woman clearly more than ready to do the work, but they were still finding each other. Trixie was actually a little sad that Violet’s wasn’t confiding in him yet, that it seemed like she believed that they weren’t on the same team and that he wasn’t there to help her, which Trixie believed to be the most crucial part of his job.

If his designers failed, he failed, and with them the company.

Violet had built what seemed like a little fort of fabric rolls, the sewing table that was attached to her desk piled high with shades of ivory and cream, boxes of golden beads stacked on top of each other.

Violet was leaning over her desk, gigantic headphones over her ears, a miniature embroidery frame placed on it. Trixie watched for a minute, Violet’s clever fingers sewing rectangle beads in long lines on what seemed to be the base structure of a bodice.

She didn’t acknowledge him, whatever music she was listening to drowning him out, and Trixie wasn’t going to interrupt her flow, excitement curling in his belly at whatever Violet was going to pull out.

***

Violet finished the row she was working on, her fingertips raw and red from the intricate work she was doing.

She realized that her back was aching, and as she stood up to stretch it out, her shoulder radiating a moment of pain, her eyes fell on the gigantic clock above the design floor door, time a little past 6.

Huh.

She hadn’t noticed that it had gotten so late, since none of her coworkers had left. Violet looked around, her headphones still over her ears. Normally, the floor would be deserted by now, but instead, she saw Max surrounded by parchment paper and rulers. Alexis was draping a gorgeous golden fabric, Kiara was elbow deep in a structured top, and when she looked over at Jovan, he was bent over a bucket of what had to be dye, the chemical scent reaching her nose now that she was paying attention.

Violet raised her hands above her head, her shoulder aching terribly as she popped her joints. She wasn’t anywhere near done, and didn’t have any reason to go home, but she still needed a break, so she grabbed the glass she had sitting on her desk, making her way towards the breakroom.

Violet kept her headphones on, not really in the mood to talk to anyone, but when she turned the corner, she saw Blu standing by the microwave, the ginger haired woman holding what looked like a cup of ramen, shoveling it into her mouth.

“... Blu?” Violet pulled her headphones off, resting them around her neck.

“Oh!” Blu turned around, her hand flying up to cover her mouth as she swallowed. “Hi.”

“What are you doing?”

“Eating this?” Blu titled her cup of noodles. “I know it isn’t the most glamorous meal-”

“No, I mean-” Violet didn’t know how to phrase it without sounding like a bitch. “You’re usually the first one to leave.”

“Ha!” Blu laughed, putting her food down and leaning against the break room counter. “I am, aren’t I?” Blu smiled. “When we’re not on crunch, we all rush out of here like rats trying to have a semblance of a normal life.”

“Ah…” Violet nodded her head. “That makes sense.”

Violet had thought her new coworkers were just a little lazy, that they didn’t want to work, but it seemed like they were simply sprinters, while she had always seen herself as more of a marathon runner.

“I’ll go back to happy hour as soon as I get the chance, but for now, I’m eating ramen for dinner. Like a champion.” She flashed a bright smile, drinking the rest of the broth and chucking the container into the trash can across the room, lifting up her hands in a victory motion. “Back to the grindstone!”

***

Pearl rested her chin in her hands, watching Adore dig into a pile of Buffalo wings in the hipster gastropub where they’d chosen to have dinner. The first time she watched Adore eat with all the grace and dignity of a 12 year old boy, she’d found it cute. Charming, even. But now, suddenly, it just seemed gross.

She pushed her own plate away, her food barely touched, sighing slightly as she twirled a piece of hair around her finger.

“You okay, baby?” Adore asked, wiping at her face with the back of her hand, which only spread the hot sauce around.

“Uh...yeah. I’m alright.” Pearl smiled, knowing that Katya would tear her a new one if she let her bad mood explode all over Adore. “Just not very hungry.”

“Aww, I’m sorry.” Adore reached out, plucking a steak fry from Pearl’s plate. “Wanna wrap this shit up and take it to go?”

“Nah, that’s okay. You enjoy,” said Pearl.

“Everything okay here?”

A delicate hand slid a stack of napkins onto the table. Pearl looked up to meet the eyes of their waitress, a petite girl with dark eyes, honey-blonde hair gathered in a ponytail, one strap of her tank top sliding tantalizingly down her tanned shoulder. The nametag resting above her perky tits read “Abby.”

“Thanks,” Pearl said, gesturing to the much-needed napkins, and Abby winked at her.

“Is there anything you need?” Abby asked, eyes raking over Pearl’s body in a way that made her shiver. “Another round, maybe?”

“Yeah...I could go for another round,” Pearl said slowly. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, making sure to show off the low cut top she had worn under her leather jacket, her wrist flexing.

“Coming right up…”

Pearl watched as she sauntered away, wondering how much of the swinging hips were for her benefit, when Abby tossed a glance back over her shoulder, giving Pearl a tiny, secret grin before turning to the bartender.

Adore cleared her throat, and Pearl snapped back to attention.

Right.

Date. Adore. Best behavior.

Got it.

“You know, I’m really psyched that you’re coming to Thanksgiving. I think it’ll be good for Bianca to get to know you better. So she can see what a great person you are for herself,” Adore flashed a hopeful smile that suddenly made Pearl feel sick with guilt.

Why couldn’t she just commit to this awesome girl and stop being such an asshole?

“Yeah, no, that’ll be cool.”

“Totally,” Adore smiled.

Pearl polished off the last of her beer, watching as Adore dipped one of her wings into the blue cheese dressing, nose wrinkling just slightly as the chunky white sauce dripped off the hot wing on the way to her mouth.

“Um, I need to go use the restroom,” Pearl said, sliding off her stool.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Adore asked, concerned.

“Yeah. I’ll be right back.”

Pearl steeled her nerves before heading to the bathrooms, just as Abby approached their table with a glass of beer on a tray.

“And where are you running off to?” she asked coyly, fluttering her lashes.

“Bathroom… Is that okay with you?”

Abby giggled. “I’ll try not to miss you too much.”

Pearl laughed, shaking her head as she continued on her way.

***

“Hey Pearl?” Adore asked, pulling her bomber jacket tighter around herself, the November chill an unhappy reminder that winter was around the corner. They were walking home from dinner, and Adore couldn’t stop thinking about that waitress.

It wasn’t like Pearl had done anything wrong--just a bit of light, harmless flirting. Two weeks ago, she’d probably barely even have noticed. But ever since that conversation they’d had about being open, Adore found herself on high alert, mind racing every time her girlfriend so much as glanced at someone else. Which was a lot.

“Yeah?”

“Are you sleeping with anyone else?”

“You mean like tonight?” Pearl joked, and Adore forced out a strained laugh.

“I’m serious.”

“Not at the moment, no.”

“Then why-” Adore paused, unsure of how this conversation should go. “Why not just…try being monogamous?” Adore felt horribly exposed, and even a little scared, but she wanted this to work, wanted them to work. “I mean I know I don’t want anyone else, so…”

“I like the idea of being able to be spontaneous. Without it being like, a big thing,” Pearl explained, shrugging her shoulders. “I mean, I think you’re great. But sometimes…It’s like no matter how great pizza is, sometimes you want a burger. You know?”

“Please.” Adore scoffed, adding an eye roll for good measure.

“Adore-”

“You mean burgers like the waitress tonight? Is she the thing you’re suddenly hungry for?” Adore demanded.

“Will you please chill?” Pearl looked genuinely uncomfortable, the expression one Adore had never seen on her girlfriend’s face before. “There are people around.”

“It’s New York, nobody gives a FUCK!” Adore yelled the last word for good measure, no one turning around, which proved her point. “Answer the question!”

“You’re acting like a child,” Pearl said calmly, and if Adore wasn’t mad before (she was), now she was absolutely fucking furious.

“I am asking a very simple question! Was our waitress tonight the type of girl you like to fuck? Or, I’m sorry, was she the burger you’re craving?”

“Yes! Yes, she was. Does that make you happy?” Pearl asked, stopping and turning to Adore, one hand on her hip.

“Yeah, I’m thrilled. Can’t you tell?” Adore sniffled, trying to hold back the tears pricking her eyes.

“I can’t talk to you when you’re acting like this,” Pearl said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone.

“Fine! Then maybe I’ll just go home by myself tonight!”

“Fine.”

“Fuck you, Pearl!” Adore turned and stomped down the street, back in the direction of the subway, hands stuffed into her pockets, finally letting the tears stream down her cheeks.

***

“Lovely eyes,”

Violet looked up, the expression on Sutan’s face telling her that this wasn’t the first time he had said her name. She was sitting in bed, back resting against the headboard, doing her very best to distract herself from the wrapped ice cubes she was holding in her right hand.

Not that her phone or the puzzle game Katya had suggested she tried ages ago actually helped.

Her fingers stung, but not as badly as her feet had in the ice baths she used to endure as a professional ballet dancer, those sometimes so painful she had cried and had to be held, Milk whispering into her hair that everything would be okay.

“Yes?”

She had stayed at work until past 8, actually expecting to go home and crash, dinner completely forgotten, when she had fished her phone out of her bag, a text from Sutan asking if she wanted to come over.

Violet had been exhausted, getting everything ready for her presentation in the morning leaving her completely drained, but she liked spending time with Sutan, and even if she was never going to spend the money herself, she loved the thread count of his sheets, his bed a guarantee of a good night’s sleep.

The fact that Sutan chest had quickly become her favorite place to dose off not something she’d be willing to admit unless she was being tortured.

“Do you need more ice?” Sutan smiled, looking out at her. He was hanging up his shirts, the dry cleaners bag on the door to his walk in closet. Violet knew Sutan had a housekeeper, but he apparently preferred to handle his closet himself, which Violet guessed she understood. “I still can’t believe you’d-”

“I’m fine.” Violet cut him off, moving off the bed so she could stand up. It was sweet that Sutan worried, actually, really sweet, but Violet knew her body, and most importantly, she knew her body's boundaries, and this, this wasn’t anywhere close. “I am.”

Violet had slaved away all day, Fame and Raja making their judgement calls on who got accepted for the couture line and who didn’t tomorrow, and if Violet’s fingers had to bleed for her gown to be accepted, that was a price she was more than willing to pay.

She walked over to Sutan, stepping into his space, the block of ice still in her hand as she got on her toes, pressing a kiss against his lips.

“I promise.”

***

Pearl closed the door to her room with her foot, her body warm and relaxed, her hands drying her hair with her towel.

She had taken a shower as soon as she had gotten home, the annoyance at how Adore acted crawling under her skin. Pearl threw herself down on her bed, picking her phone up from where she had left it earlier that evening.

“Huh…” Pearl bit her lip. She had expected to see several calls from Adore, or at least a text, but there was nothing, her phone devoid of any notifications from the other woman.

Pearl rolled over, lying on her back and looking up at the ceiling, her stomach uncomfortable with the sensation that she had probably hurt Adore, the expression on her face when they had broken apart painful to look at.

Pearl sighed, tapping her fingers against her stomach. It was a new sensation for her to be unsure, but if there was one thing she knew, it was that Pearl Liaison never texted first.

***

“And you better make it quick!”

Fame watched as Courtney left her office, the blonde closing the door behind her, leaving her and Raja alone. It had taken the majority of the afternoon, but they had finally finished the selection of the looks that entered the final running towards the opening and closing spots.

Fame loved the couture presentations, the designers really showcasing their enthusiasm and personalities since they only had half finished products to present. She liked being able to touch, to see the delicate dreams and the decadence that was a signature of couture.

“Tea?”

Fame already knew that Raja would say yes, the pot on her desk one Ivy had brought over when the redhead had found out that they would be staying at Fame’s.

“Hold the sugar please.”

Fame smiled, grabbing two of the jade green teacups Ivy had brought along too, quickly pouring them both a cup. It wasn’t often that she took the time to just relax at work, that she took time to simply sit with Raja.

“Mmh,” Raja inhaled, the orange blossoms creating the most delicious fragrance.

“Mmh indeed,” Fame chuckled, taking her first sip of the hot tea, allowing herself to sit back on the ivory couch.

“So, we sent the list off.” Raja looked at her. “How are you feeling about the direction right now? You’re not going to decide that you hate cream and ivory on February 2nd, are you?”

“Uh! How dare you,” Fame huffed, actually feeling a little offended. “That was one time.”

“One time too many.”

If anyone but Raja had said it, Fame would have punished them severely, but as it stood, Raja was one of the few people in her life who could get away with openly criticizing her.

“I’m an old woman, Famie.” Raja smirked. “My heart can’t take the pressure.”

“Please,” Fame rolled her eyes. “Don’t take that attitude with me.”

“Someone has to keep you in check, darling.”

“I don’t need to be kept in check.” Fame had to keep from rolling her eyes again, Raja toeing the line of what was acceptable. “If anything, I need support right now.”

“Hmm?” Raja raised an eyebrow, her cup at her lips.

“We’re celebrating Thanksgiving with Patrick’s family, and his mother always wreaks havoc on my skin,” Fame groaned. Patrick’s family was coming to New York, his two sisters and brother all showing up with brats and partners in tow. “I swear, every year it’s the same. If we wanted to have kids, we would have had them by now.”

***

It just wasn’t fair, Aiden thought, staring at his rejected prototypes. He had killed himself all week to come up with 4 different couture concepts for the opening and closing looks, and all of them had been shot down.

This morning, they’d presented their designs to Fame and Raja, each of the designers getting less than a minute to pitch based on sketches, samples, and preliminary construction and then the upstairs bosses had spent all afternoon discussing them, an email sent to the whole design team announcing the finalists a little before 5 pm.

Which was why Aiden was the only one still there at 7, the disappointment of not being included taking over an hour to really settle in. To transform into anger at the utter unfairness of it all. He rose from his desk, wandering over to Alexis’ desk, where 3 dress forms were standing, all of them in looks that made it through. He supposed, though, that was pretty standard, Alexis being one of the most experienced designers there who’d been at Galactica almost as long as Trixie, her specialty being draping the kind of elegant gowns that Fame went gaga over.

No, he wasn’t mad about Alexis.

But Violet...how could that girl catch every single break since the second she walked through the doors? He glared at her muslin prototype, the skirt flaring out, the muslin bodies structured and stuck to the mannequin. On Violet’s table, she had left behind the actual bodice, golden beads sparkling, a portion of the skirt laid out with the intricate pattern. It felt tired and overworked, something he refused to identify burning in his stomach.

Anyone could do beads, anyone could do what Violet did, but unfortunately, he wasn’t in charge, so she continued to get away with it.

Aiden let out a huge sigh, trudging back over to his desk to pack his things.

Another shit week down the drain.

***

After Miss Fame’s comments about her hair, Courtney needed to do something drastic. She knew that Fame’s own salon was a fancy place in SoHo called Jujubee’s, so she’d called to get an appointment. At first, the receptionist told her that there was a 2 month waiting list, but when Courtney name-dropped Miss Fame, sort of accidentally implying that her bossreally wanted to get her in as soon as possible, she’d put her on hold for less than a minute and then informed her that she had an appointment on Saturday with the owner of the salon herself.

Courtney was pretty proud of herself, if a bit intimidated, entering the salon. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting from the owner, but it certainly wasn’t the adorable, friendly woman with a cute little baby bump.

“Hi, you must be Courtney. I’m Juju. What are we doing today?” she said, shaking Courtney’s hand warmly and turning her chair to face the mirror.

“Oh, um...I work for Miss Fame at Galactica, and-”

“Yikes, sorry to hear that,” Jujubee quipped, and Courtney’s eyes widened. “That’s a joke, honey. She’s one of my best friends.”

“Oh. Right.” Courtney laughed nervously. “So, she um...she found out that I was doing my own color and uh-”

“Oy. Okay well…” Juju inspected Courtney’s hair closely. “It doesn’t look too damaged. I think we should fix up your roots, and maybe take down some of the brassy tones in your color, give you a cooler, brighter blonde? That’ll really suit your complexion. And this cut...I’d like to take off a couple of inches, just to make sure we get all of the split ends, maybe some layers in the front...and how do you feel about bangs?”

“I...like bangs.”

“I think they’ll really frame your face nicely.” Juju grinned, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Just relax, we’re gonna take good care of you.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much!”

Pretty soon, Courtney’s nerves disappeared entirely, and she was chatting with Jujubee like they were old friends. She found herself wondering what this down-to-earth, funny, warm person had in common with Fame, and then felt a little bad.

There was obviously a whole side to Fame that Courtney didn’t get to see--she already knew that from Adore. And besides, Bianca was warm and hilarious, and she was also close friends with Miss Fame.

A few hours later, Courtney looked and felt like a brand new person, bouncing from the seat excitedly. That is, until it was time to pay. She’d looked up the prices beforehand, of course. But the cost of an “owner cut” wasn’t listed on the website. She figured it would be a little more than their listed prices, so when the receptionist handed her the bill, she nearly shat out a brick.

Eight hundred and fifty dollars.

Courtney was already planning to split the bill on two cards, but this was insane. Her heart began to pound. What was she supposed to do? It’s not like she could say “oh, forget it”--she already had the whole damn service. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and asked the receptionist in a quiet voice, “Um...can I spread it out on 3 different credit cards?”

The girl rolled her eyes disdainfully, holding out her hand to accept the cards.

“You know,” she said, swiping Courtney’s cards through the reader. “There’s a Supercuts three blocks down. Maybe you should try them next time.”

Less than a minute ago, Courtney had felt like a million bucks, and now she felt like gum being scraped off the bottom of a shoe.

“Are you gonna add a tip?”

A tip? On top of that price? Oh well...she was gonna be paying off this trip to the salon for months anyway, might as well go all in. She took a deep breath, holding her head high.

“Yeah, add another $150 to that purple card,” she said, trying her best to keep her face impassive, put on a haughty air so that the receptionist wouldn’t see how much she was shaking inside. “And thanks for the advice.”

***

Bianca entered the book shop, large sunglasses obscuring most of her face, hair under a silk scarf, trying to be as incognito as possible. She beelined straight for her favorite section, avoiding the few other customers.

Most of the time, Bianca didn’t mind the fame or attention from the paparazzi. After all, it was a sign of her success, and she had nothing to hide--she never left the house with a hair out of place, and she could hold her liquor like a champ. Some days, though, like this one?

All she wanted was to enjoy a lazy Saturday. Pick up some books, treat herself to a nice, simple lunch at the café next door, just be a human instead of a minor celebrity.

She was paging through a Natalie Woods biography when someone interrupted, asking softly, “Bianca?”

Shit. Spotted. She turned around with a sigh, but when she saw the person who’d spoken, her aggravation was instantly replaced with a smile, dimples deep in her cheeks.

“Courtney! Hi!”

She looked like absolute perfection, in a fresh blow-out, hair falling in sexy, beachy waves over her shoulders. Her soft, fuzzy green sweater brought out her beautiful eyes. Bianca found herself amazed at how she managed to look better and better every time they saw each other.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, I know you were probably-”

“No, I’m glad you did.” Bianca offered another smile. “So um, what brings you here? Do you live in this neighborhood?”

“No, I live in the Bronx. But was just over at Jujubee’s getting my hair done-”

“Ahh...well she did a stellar job. She’s a true artist.”

“You think?” Courtney fingered a lock of blonde hair.

“I’d give her more credit, but...she had a pretty good canvas to work on, so…”

Courtney smiled, biting her lip, then asked, “Do you think Miss Fame will approve?”

“Definitely not.”

Courtney’s face fell, for just a moment, brow creasing with worry, until Bianca reached out to touch her arm.

“Fame likes to be the hottest blonde in the room,” Bianca clarified, adding, “So yeah. She’ll hate it.”

They exchanged a small, conspiratorial smile before a pink tinge began to creep into Courtney’s cheeks and she looked away.

“What’ve you got there?” Bianca asked, gesturing to a stack of paperbacks in Courtney’s hands.

“Oh, I’m just...I’m just browsing, really. Killing time for a few hours before I have to go to a class in midtown. But who wants to hang out in midtown?”

Bianca laughed. “And? What kind of books do you like to browse?”

“Um…” Courtney looked a little embarrassed before admitting, “I’m trying to make my way through Oprah’s book club.”

“A worthy intellectual goal,” Bianca chuckled.

“Yeah, well. I’m on a spending embargo after the salon, so I’m probably just gonna get them from the library instead.”

Bianca held out her basket. “Throw ‘em in.”

“No, no, really, that wasn’t, I mean you don’t have to-”

“Throw them in,” Bianca repeated. “You’ve been putting up with my sister’s shenanigans for years, you deserve a couple of paperbacks. I insist.”

“Thanks.” Courtney carefully placed the books into Bianca’s basket.

“You’re welcome,” Bianca winked, strolling towards the register and placing her basket on the counter.

“You know, Adore puts up with my shenanigans too,” Courtney said. “It’s a very symbiotic relationship.”

Bianca smiled to herself, thinking about how sweet it was that she felt the need to defend Adore from the mildest shade. She handed her card to the clerk and turned back to Courtney.

“I’m sure it is. So uh, listen...I was about to head next door for lunch-”

“Oh, sorry to have kept you-”

“No, um…” Bianca chuckled, feeling awkward as fuck. “No, that’s not what I meant. It’s, um, a cute place. You know, if you’re into the whole healthy, organic, locally-sourced seasonal thing...which I take it you are.”

She gestured to the reusable canvas bag in Courtney’s hands, which she’d pulled from her purse to use rather than the bookstore’s plastic bags.

Realization began to dawn in Courtney’s eyes, a smile tugging at her lips as she said, “Guilty.”

“So, um, since you’re trying to kill time...maybe you want to join me?” Bianca signed the receipt and handed over the books, placing her own into her large shoulder bag, knowing that she’d probably not have refused the plastic bag if she were here on her own. Well, whatever--it was still a win for Mother Nature, right?

“Yeah!” Courtney exclaimed, then seemed to catch herself, adding, “I mean, if that’s what you want...”

“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”

“A straight shooter, eh?”

“So to speak,” Bianca smirked, and Courtney giggled.

“What a true role model,” she professed with a flutter of lashes.

“Always,” Bianca laughed, guiding her next door with a hand on her lower back.

***

[misssophiachase]

Blame Taylor Swift for distracting me from my other stories (which are still being updated I promise). Eleven parts - eleven songs. Hope you like it. 

Invisible String

Famous singer Caroline Forbes returns to her hometown for a funeral and to face demons from her past, not expecting someone familiar to return and throw the confected world she's created upside down. Based off songs and lyrics from Taylor Swift's Folklore. On FF and AO3

Chapter one: the 1

Mystic Falls, VA

The large, antique mirror was always one of her favourite pieces of furniture in the house. Her mother had been an avid collector of rare, antique pieces and this was one of her most treasured finds.

Liz told her as a child that mirrors possess magical powers.

They don't lie.

Looking at herself today, Caroline knew that much was true. She barely recognised the woman staring back at her.

Her knee length, black, Chanel dress was modest but stylish and her blonde tresses were pulled back into a low chignon at the nape of her neck with a pair of simple, pearl earrings her only accessories. 

She looked every bit the grieving ex-girlfriend, her publicist had made sure of it. The problem was, only half of that statement was true. Ex-girlfriend, yes, but grieving she wasn't quite sure.

Caroline walked to the nearby bay window, looking down at the beach below.

Her large mansion sitting atop the cliffs overlooking the sea had been an impulse purchase five years earlier. She'd bought it for her mother initially. But Liz always maintained that she preferred the small house on Mulberry Drive where she'd raised Caroline and it had remained vacant ever since.

She couldn't bring herself to sell it, if anything it was a veiled reminder to the residents of Mystic Falls who she'd become and just how much some had underestimated her worth. Petty, yes, but Caroline felt it was justified all the same.

She faltered, seeing the long stretch of sand below. It always reminded her of him. The lazy summer days that passed while they played in the surf and built a myriad of sandcastles, some even taller than Caroline. He was like that, always had to be the most competitive. The best.

But also so loving and kind, his unconditional support like a warm hug that she'd craved for too long before he arrived in town. He was everything she needed and that feeling had never abated, even after all this time.

She looked away and shook her head, determined to push those particular memories deeper inside. This trip was about her ex-boyfriend, not the boy with the dimples who rescued her and what they could have had, what they could have been. Caroline repeatedly told herself that their story was destined to be captured like a snapshot in time, nothing more.

After all, some of the greatest movies of all time were never made.

He'd gone on to become one of the hottest and most sought after actors in Hollywood, his recent nomination for an Academy Award his latest accomplishment. 

Sure, she liked to pretend she didn't keep tabs on his life but that would be lying. Every time she saw him photographed in magazines and at movie premieres, his arm around the latest girlfriend, Caroline couldn't help but wish it was her.

But they'd had their chance and there was too much history between them to ever salvage what could have been.

"Caroline, you ready?" she turned to face her publicist and best friend from the doorway. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" She nodded, her invisible mask now firmly in place, determined to hopefully get through this day unscathed and as quickly as possible.

Then she could get the hell out of Mystic Falls and never come back again.

1 week earlier...Empire Field Mile High, Denver CO

"Thanks everyone, you've been amazing, good night!" Caroline yelled into the microphone, waving at the heaving crowd for the last time.

Whether it was a small dive bar at the beginning of her career or the giant stadiums she'd graduated to, Caroline didn't think she'd ever tire of the feelings it evoked. Caroline didn't think she'd be here, let alone doing something that she loved. She'd been singing since she was a little girl sitting on her mother's lap but never thought she'd be singing her own songs for the masses.

She was discovered in one of those very dive bars at the age of nineteen. It was her first regular gig and although the clientele were either non-existent or questionable, Caroline was just grateful to have a steady job for three months.

When the handsome and immaculately dressed brunette (although she wouldn't admit that to him now) had entered the bar, looking completely out of place, she was mid-song. She could remember the cover song like it was yesterday, Breathe by Sia.

Just after her set, he'd produced one of those impressive-looking business cards before approaching her on stage. Enzo St John was his name. His demeanour was poised, his manner and unexpected British accent extremely polished.

"I'm going to make you a star."

If she wasn't so starving, desperate and facing eviction from her Santa Monica studio, Caroline probably would have scoffed at his cliched terminology. But she wasn't that much of an idiot.

And he did make her a star. As evidenced by her steady climb up the music charts, sold out concerts and complete make-over from small town girl to multiple grammy award winner and current 'it' girl if nights like this playing in Denver were anything to go by.

"You knocked it out of the park!" Enzo yelled, trying to be heard over the loud cheers from the manic crowd in Denver as she walked off stage.

"You do realise this is a football stadium, right?" She asked, taking the towel one of the stage hands had kindly provided.

"I don't understand." The way his forehead creased in utter confusion was enough to prove that very point.

"Of course he doesn't," her agent interrupted their conversation. "Enzo doesn't realise he's used a baseball metaphor because all he cares about is his beloved soccer."

"I'll pretend you didn't just commit blasphemy by calling football that dreaded word, Bennett," he huffed. "Bloody Americans."

"We love you too, Lorenzo," Caroline teased, throwing the towel she'd just used at him teasingly. "Now, what's next?"

Bonnie and Enzo looked at her mouths agape. Only Caroline Forbes, America's sweetheart, would be this hardworking. Her schedule was hectic enough but Caroline always took it in her stride and strived to do more and be better. Her mother had taught her that from a young age and she hadn't forgotten since.

"Ah, I don't know, maybe go back to the hotel and sleep, darling," Enzo responded, finally finding his voice. "This tour is only going to get crazier and you need to rest."

"Even Kat would recommend that and we all know how much she loves a good after party," Bonnie joked.

She was an agent at premiere talent company CAA and had recently come on the road for a few weeks. Caroline had met her and publicist Katherine Pierce not long after Enzo. The three were a packaged deal even if they did fight like siblings. Being an only child, Caroline actually relished in their incessant bickering.

Caroline weaved her way backstage and into her makeshift dressing room. Her finale outfit was meant to not only sparkle but also to stand out. Which was great but comfort definitely wasn't an overall factor in its design.

After an obligatory swig of Evian, she began to change. A knock at the door wasn't wholly unexpected, hence the screen she was standing behind. Usually, it was one of her personal staff needing to discuss various matters. Caroline was someone who didn't like to be alone, especially with her thoughts, so would never discourage company.

"Care," she heard her publicist call out. "You decent?"

"Come in, Kat," she said, albeit muffled by the top she was removing.

"Amazing show, as usual," she smiled, closing the door behind her. "How are you feeling?"

"Invigorated," she grinned. "Performing live is the best high anyone could ask for."

"Well, I'm glad," she began slowly,"because I have some news that I thought you should know." Caroline didn't like the sound of that, it was just like when she'd been informed her mother had passed away in the line of duty three years ago. She suddenly felt sick, holding onto the screen for some much- needed balance.

"News?"

"From your hometown," she added. "I wasn't sure if you already know but given your response I assume not."

"Just tell me," she snapped. Caroline knew it was uncalled for given she was just the messenger but there was something about the mention of Mystic Falls that had the tendency to throw her into a spin.

"I'm sorry," Kat soothed. "Your, uh, I mean, uh, Damon Salvatore has passed away."

Caroline felt the precarious sense of balance she had slowly slipping away, all the way onto the floor. It was only when Kat scooped her up and led her towards the couch that she finally processed her words.

Damon.

Dead.

"How?" She managed to bite out as Katherine force fed her some water.

"Motorcycle accident," she offered, brushing the hair from her forehead. "He collided with a vehicle on the interstate. It was instant."

Caroline closed her eyes. She'd always wondered what it would feel like to hear those words but it didn't register like she'd imagined. She'd wished so many bad things on him too many times. She thought there'd be a sense of relief or freedom.

But all she felt was nothing. Not sad, not angry, not shock or disbelief. Just nothing.

Besides Kat telling her she was "so sorry" and continuing to rub her back, the silence in the room was deafening.

"How do you, of all people, know that?" She croaked, sitting up and looking at her friend imploringly. They'd never met. Damon was nothing but a revised memory she'd concocted for her public image.

The typical small town girl with the high school sweetheart angle and her management team had eaten it up. If only it was true.

"Those rabid vultures at TMZ somehow got a hold of it, want to know if Caroline Forbes is attending his funeral in Mystic Falls."

"Well, given you just told me…"

"I know, like I said vultures," she hissed. "I'm not even going to justify their heartless request with a response. Can I get you anything, sweetie? Tissues, water, a really big bowl of chilli fries with extra ketchup?"

Caroline snuggled back into Katherine's embrace knowing exactly what she wanted. She wanted to forget, even if it was just for one night. "I need a really big bottle of tequila."

Caroline winced from the memory, thinking that tequila truly was evil and that she wouldn't be touching it again anytime soon.

Fast forward a couple of days and Caroline was here preparing for Damon's funeral. They'd only arrived late the night before so as to avoid the welcome circus. Her team had accompanied her to Mystic Falls in a show of support and she appreciated it, even if they didn't know the full story.

Given every media outlet knew about his death via TMZ, Caroline figured if she didn't go along with it then they'd know her backstory wasn't exactly what she'd sold them and that couldn't happen.

She'd worked too hard to get where she was and her past wasn't going to return and ruin that.

[o-neillwith2ls]

Are you kidding me?

Prompt number: 24

Fandom: Stargate SG-1

Rating: T

Warning: none

I want to say this takes place in early season 4 but inside my head it seems to be playing at season 2 maybe 3-- Early on, when Sam at least suspects her own feelings and Jack is flirting with her.

Sam called out from the bathroom. “Are you kidding me?!” she exclaimed.

Janet tried to suppress a chuckle as Cassie didn’t even try. “What’s up, Sam?” 

Sam opened the door to the bathroom and had it not been for the less than impressed look on her face although no one would be looking at it. “Janet, I can’t wear this. This is not a Hallowe’en costume!” she proclaimed. “It's barely a costume at all. It's barely covering me at all!” she complained.

Janet looked her up and down and smirked, trying not to chuckle. “It’s only BDU’s, Sam.”

“In a porno film maybe--” she muttered so Cassie wouldn’t hear. 

The BDU’s were nowhere near standard issue. The cameo material was a romper jumpsuit with hot pants and the zip only came up as far as her sternum with a belt which looked like fake ammo as part of the design of the belt. Her legs were sheathed with some fishnet stockings which were barely needed because of the thigh high shiny black high heeled boots.

“I don’t even know where I’m supposed to put this--!” she waved around what was meant to be the drop holster.

Janet chuckled “You wear it like a garter, Sam.” she said. Sam looked at her friend horrified. 

“That’s-- that’s--”

“Suggestive, sexy--”

“This… this is the reason why men don’t take us seriously. This is what they want us to look like, Janet, so they can objectify us!” she objected.

“Sam, you’re taking yourself too seriously-- I’m wearing a sexy nurse’s uniform--”

“Don’t you feel demeaned?” Sam asked her.

“I feel hot, and you look it!” Janet remarked.

“Janet, I have to face those men tomorrow.”

“Sam, this is a Hallowe’en party, not a dress down. They’ll just admire you even more. Come on, let me do your makeup.”

Daniel walked up to Jack. “You were meant to dress up.” 

“I’m the second in command of this base. I think that's scary enough.” He said, looking at Daniel’s Dracula costume for a moment and shook his head, bemused. 

“Come on, Jack, even Teal’c joined in.” Daniel remarked, pointing over to still standing and serious looking Teal’c.

“He looks exactly the same.” Jack said.

“Yeah, he said as children they were taught if they misbehaved, they would turn to stone, apparently he’s acting it out--Whoa!” he exclaimed, looking at the two women who walked into the room.   

Jack followed Daniel’s eyeline until it hit the two women standing at the entrance and his eyes almost popped out of his head! As if Janet didn’t look hot enough, there stood a Samantha Carter, desecrating the BDUs -- in the hottest way possible! He didn’t think he would ever be able to unsee this! He tried diverting his eyes, but all he could see were the men shamelessly gawking at her as she approached the bar, not taking a seat. He was annoyed not only at himself but at every man in the room for staring at her like that! He honestly didn’t know what to do, so he looked to Janet as she came up to them.

“Hello boys!” She sounded suggestively.

“Janet,” Daniel smiled “You look amazing.” 

“Thanks, Daniel.” She replied, as she did a 360-degree spin in front of him.  

“So does Sam.” Daniel remarked.

“Try telling her that.” Janet told them.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked “Didn’t she pick--”

“No, it was me.” Janet replied. “I told her I’d pick out our Hallowe’en outfits and I thought it would be funny. Her? Not so much.”

Jack sighed, knowing what must be running through Sam’s head as she downed five consecutive shots of vodka. “Janet? Is that the first alcohol of the evening?” he asked her, a concerned look came over his face.

“No, she drank almost a whole bottle of wine while getting ready.” Janet shrugged. “I thought alcohol didn’t affect her.” She remarked.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Beer doesn’t. Wine makes her tipsy.Vodka--” He told her as he watched her as she downed the last shot of vodka and apparently asked the bartender for more. “Oh hell--” he said before he walked off towards her. Any man who was thinking of approaching Sam immediately rejected the idea as they saw the Colonel crossing the room. His destination was obvious.

Daniel shrugged at Janet then offered to dance with her.

Jack stood behind Sam then said loudly so she could her over the music. “What’cha doing there, Carter?” he asked her.

She turned and looked at Jack for a moment before she turned back to the barman as Jack used his body to block the curious glances of other partygoers.

“Me? Oh nothing, just accepting my inevitable fate.” she said slowly with a slight slur to her voice. “Everyone saw me so I might as well accept it. I won’t ever be taken seriously, by anyone, ever. All I’ll be is a hot tottie, arm candy--”

He started to chuckle beside her.

“Oh, laugh all you like, sir, but who could take me seriously now, I mean look at me?!” she complained, but all he could see was her smoking hot figure in a costume clinging in all the right places. “Janet said I shouldn’t take myself so seriously, so I’ll just let everyone objectify me and never respect any of my work ever again, just so I can dress like the pornographic version of a military officer--” 

His brow knotted worrying about the way she was talking. It was obvious she really really hated what she was wearing. He looked down at his own unchanged BDU’s and without thinking about it, he took off the very loose shirt from it and offered it to her. She looked at the shirt then up at him before she stepped up and put it on. When she turned to face him, his hands reached out and buttoned up the front for her. The shirt came to the top of her boots so hid the costume at least and he looked down at his badge reading “O’Neill” then the insignia of his rank on the collar. 

“Suits you.” He smiled at her before he took her by the hand and led her to the dance floor. He didn’t even notice the crowd parting around them and allowing them to cross the room with ease. He wrapped one hand against her waist and the other grasped her hand in one hand and held them against his chest. They danced for a moment or two as he held her a little closer than he should. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Now, do you think anyone won’t take you seriously?” he asked her. “You’re a Colonel with my name.” he smirked.

“Will you ever take me seriously again, sir?” she asked him, worried about the impression she had unwillingly projected to him.

“Are you kidding me?” He pulled back slightly and raised her chin with their joined hands so he could look into her eyes. “If someone has been in a room with you for more than two minutes and doesn’t take you seriously then they’re fools and they deserve whatever it is you have to throw at them.”

She looked down as if disappointed before she shyly asked. “So, you didn’t find it sexy?” 

“Again--” he said, a smirk at his lips “Are you kidding me?” He grinned for a second to see her blush. Knowing Sam, he said softly asked, “But it didn’t make you feel it, did it?”

“No, sir.” She said, shaking her head slightly in disappointment.

He swallowed then looked at her again before drawing her body closer into an almost hug. “You know, there once was a captain who made one hell of a first impression. She walked in to the conference room with a chip on her shoulder and a cut crap attitude and do you want to know all I could think of?” he asked her.

“No?” she replied.

“I thought -- I wasn’t used to something so smart coming out of someone so--”

“So what?” she interrupted looking annoyed at him.

“Hot.” he said with a grin on his face.

“R-Really?” she questioned with a swallow. 

“Yeah.” he nodded.

They continued to dance in silence until the end of the song where he whispered to her, “Some men think a smart, assured woman is sexy as hell. It wouldn’t matter what you wore, you’d still be beautiful and sexy as hell.” He stepped back and smoothed the name tag for a moment before he whispered again. “It suits you.” Then with a grin across his face, he raises two fingers on his right hand to his temple (as a salute) and says “Colonel” before scurrying away.

She felt her stomach do a flip and her heart race. She lifted the shirt slightly and smelled the inside of the collar which still smelled of him. She smiled a little and wrapped her arms around her stomach hugging the shirt to her.

She resented the thought for a moment, she shouldn’t need a man’s approval to feel better about herself, but there was something so unassuming about Jack, something so different!

That it got her to thinking--Maybe this costume wasn’t so bad after all.

[dimensionwriter]

My Little Buddy

Part 2

Part 1

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Male orc x Female Reader

Warning: (Future) PTSD, mention of depression, lots of fluff

Description: As you're closing up shop, the get a surprise visit from the orc from across the street. And he brought cookies.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Closing time. The holiest of moments for any business owner, especially after a busy day. You were so ready to flip that sign around and go home.

Until a little deer centaur came bursting through your doors, you were expecting the night to go a little more smoothly. Luckily, you recognized her as bakery owner two shops down.

She was quite short, barely reaching 5 feet. Her skin was a beautiful soft tan that was emphasized by white short hair. The pitch black eyes were gleaming with excitement as she trotted towards you behind the counter.

"I saw you went to the new shop across the street," she whispered to you, even though the two of you were alone. You grabbed the binder with new fabric order for the week. "Did you meet the owner?"

Quickly, you walked to the back of the store in order to put the binder in your office. It's weird that she brought up the owner. The only time she brings up a shop owner this early in a conversation is unless she wants to gossip. Oh gosh.

"Yeah, I met him," you yelled from your office as you file the binder away. You look to your left to see all the animals you brought a couple of days ago sitting on top of a free table. "He's really nice."

You walked of your office and looked down the hall. You were met with a shocked expression from the deer centaur.

"Are we thinking of the same guy? The big buff orc! The man looks like he could break me in half with his pinkie alone. And not to mention all those scars-"

You cut her off with a harsh glare. She closed her mouth and took a step back from you. Her light brown ears flopped down and folded into her bouncy hair.

"Are you really judging based on looks, because you can look pretty freakish from a human's view point," you said calmly. You tore your eyes away from her and begin to check the register. "Seriously, don't judge him. Have you even tried to talk to him?"

Her head dropped down in embarrassment. She didn't have to say no, but her actions spoke clearly. You felt bad for Vyzer for having to deal with such judgement, especially with that type of personality.

"I know you're a nice person, but please don't go around trying to convince people that he's a bad person just because of his looks. I'm nice to anyone, no matter the gender or species, and I know you're grateful for that. You had your own experiences of being discriminated against because of what you are, so how do you think he feels knowing that he looks scarier?" you extolled holding her pitch black eyes in a meaningful gaze. A sigh came out of her as she ran her hands through her hair.

"Ugh, now I feel bad. First thing in the morning, I'll run over to his shop and actually talk to him. Then, I'll come over to gossip," she said back in that excited voice. You playfully rolled at how quickly she was able to jump back to being happy, but it was because of her naturally happy personality.

"Don't forget you have to open your shop on time too. Don't think anyone didn't notice you opening up late yesterday," you teased as you grabbed the broom. You slowly begin to sweep behind the counter and made a note of getting the hall. You can do the main store tomorrow before you open up.

"I was still asleep. And I was only late like 2 hours," she whined leaning her human half onto your counter. You scoff at the statement and gave her a look over your shoulder. "Speaking of sleep, I better go now if I plan on visiting that shop in the morning."

She began trotting towards the door with a giant smile on her face. You wave goodbye to her before you grab the broom to continue sweeping.

When Vyzer mention people not coming into his shop, you never expected it to be other shop owners on this street. Almost everyone on this street was pretty welcoming of any species.

But now that you think about it, there hasn't been any huge creatures to come in. And almost everyone appears harmless at first glance. No wonder he's standing out, in a bad way. Well, you can help him with that.

You weren't phase when you heard a ting of a bell alerting you of someone's presence. You continue to sweep the hall with your back turned. "Sorry, I am close for the night. If you can come bright in the morning, I will be sure to help you."

"Ah, um. Sorry," the voice said softly. You froze up in recognition of that deep, but soft voice. That unique voice only belongs to one unique person

Quick to fix your hair and outfit, you turned around with your most flattering smile. Your gaze met those beautiful brown and white eyes. The long black hair was styled in a way that went across his face in a way that almost covered the major scar going from his right temple to his left cheek.

"Vyzer," you said walking towards the counter with a bounce in your step. He was wearing his bright pink work shirt with a pair of black jeans. In his giant hands sat a container with unknown content.

"You know my name? I -um- I forgot to introduce myself last time we met. I apologize," he mumbled looking down. His hair slide over his nose causing his scar to be revealed.

"Yeah, it's on your shirt," you joked playfully. His head bopped up with a small blue blush coming onto his cheeks. His hand reached up and moved the piece of hair back across his face. He was putting it there himself?

"Oh, forgot about that. Anyway, I had some free time today, so I-I baked some cookies. And, you know, I was like, 'Hey my neighboring shop may want some.' So, here I am," he rambled turning more blue with each stumble of words. It was so adorable. The way his thumbs played with the end of the container. Or the way his eyes drifted away from you before slowly moving back and then snapping away.

"Well," you leaned across the counter and brushed that strand of hair from his face into the back curve of his right cut ear," I would love to have some cookies from my cute neighbor orc.

You would pay 100 dollars to see his reaction over and over again. First, his eyes widen at your proximity then at your action. Next, the blush intensified so much that the green parts of his skin was a dark blue and his white sections turned into a light blue. And finally, he reached his hands up to cover his face as he turned away from you. He pretended to be interested in your fabric.

"How about I run to the back to get the designs I have for the animals? I can finally show you," you said excitedly while tilting your head to look at his blushing face more. His blunt teeth sank into his plush lips as he gave you a quick slide look. He nodded his head as he continued to 'gaze' over your fabric.

"I love them," he spoke flipping through your sketch book for the fifth time. You could say the same thing for his baking skills. Taking a bite out of his cookies felt like a blessing to your taste buds.

A man that is this adorable and knows how to bake. This really isn't helping your crush on him at all. In fact, it feels like it has tripled in size.

"It amazes me how someone's mind can be so creative that you can envision something and bring it to life. You truly are something…amazing," he said with this dazed look on his face. His eyes came up and you were able to see all the stars held within his eyes.

Make that quadrupled in size.

"Says you," you said trying to quickly turn this around before the blush settles in. "You work with different textured fabrics and sew them to look like an animal. Not to include you make them seem so unique, like they are their own singular being. Now that is truly amazing."

His giant palms slowly rubbed themselves into his knees as he looked down. "Yeah, but my sewing skills aren't the best. And I would like to make them outfits that I feel would match their personalities, but I don't know how," he mumbled sadly. Those stars seem to be dwindling out as he sulked more into himself.

"I can teach you," you said so quickly that you made the same face Vyzer did when his head snapped up. But you liked the idea. "When I close up shop, you can come over to get some lessons on sewing. Or if you aren't busy during the day and are comfortable with it, some days I hold workshops on clothes designing that you are welcome to come to, free of charge."

You felt like you were indirectly begging him to come see you, but it was a nice disguise. Maybe if you kept seeing him and getting the right signals, you can gain enough guts to ask him on a date.

"I-I-I," he stuttered harshly before ending with a cough. "I'm going to need to bake a lot to pay you back."

You started to laugh as he gave this giant goofy smile that make his face seem a lot softer, even with all those scars. His tusk bucked out with the smile making the golden cap on his left tusk gleam under the fluorescent lights

"The offer goes both ways. If you want, I can teach you about making stuff animals. Even though I feel you might pick it up quickly and I might have to deal with some competitions," he teased raising his left eyebrow at you. You let out a slightly unattractive laugh that made you scared for a second for his reaction. But from the stars burning brighter in his eyes made your worries melt away.

"I can say the same about you. I feel like your talent may be endless," you flirted back. The laugh that came out of him made you feel like you were on Cloud 9. The way his head tilted back slightly, allowing his hair to dangle more freely, made his face light up in a new way. Oh you were falling hard, and your parachute wasn't looking like it was going to be opening soon.

"I guess we will see," he said softly looking at you with a dazzling smile. His atmosphere seem to be a lot more relaxed than when he walked in.

You tried to hide your smile by looking down, but you knew he saw. He didn't comment it on it as he excused himself out.

You were a nice host and walked him to the door with a smile on your face. You were so tempted to pull out anything to make him stay, but the two of you had a business to run.

However, it seems like he plans on seeing you a lot in the future, hopefully very soon.

Part 3

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I'm trying my best to hold back from writing 6k words per fic, so I can get more out. So, yeah, this fic is small, but it has some good content. Anyway, please LIKE and REBLOG, so I can see that you guys actually enjoy this series. You can COMMENT on this story on your favorite part of this story or what else you want to see from this series or just anything in general. My asks are open if you want to ask about a character or have any questions for me. I will try my best to answer them as fast as possible. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed.

[missmalice202]

Designing Your Melody: Chapter 06 - Cherry

Chapter 01 - Chapter 05

“DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!” Marinette screamed into her headset as she tapped the buttons on her controller as fast as her fingers would let her.

“Dang, girl. Leave some for the rest of us.” Alya’s chuckle filtered though her headphones over the sound of gunfire. Her orange mecha that had been built for speed and precision performed a deadly dance as she picked off the few stragglers that Ladybug’s mecha had left behind. “You’re out for blood tonight, aren’t ya? Tough week?”

‘Tough’ didn’t begin to cover how frenzied the last week had been for Marinette. After hemming and embroidering and sewing THOUSANDS OF FREAKING SEQUINS, Jagged Stone’s new ensemble was finally finished. Why she had agreed to undertake such a herculean task at the last minute, she had no idea. Well, that’s not entirely true. She knew exactly why she accepted the job: she loved Jagged Stone and she loved a challenge.

Still, the fact that she was stressed out and sleep deprived remained. However, she was still too jittery from the numerous cups of coffee she’d sucked down over the past few days to go to sleep yet, so she figured she’d meet up with her clanmates and play for a little while until she finally came down from her caffeine high.

“Rena, I haven’t slept in 36 hours, I’ve stabbed myself a dozens of times sewing on all those stupid sequins that I thought would be such a good idea to add to his design, and I’ve had enough coffee over the past week that Papa could probably use my blood to make some of his famous tiramisu, so even though I’m freaking exhausted, there’s no way I can fall asleep just yet. I need something to relax me, so here I am..”

“Seriously, dude,” Nino added, “When you told us what you were doing, I thought you’d finally fallen off the deep end. I mean, you’ve got to be crazy to try to design and sew a photoshoot ready outfit for one of the biggest rock and roll stars in the world in just a week!” His avatar, a bright green design with black goggles covering the cockpit, threw up a translucent energy shield over his clanmates that glowed with an ethereal green light, easily blocking the incoming attack of an enemy captain.

“Hey!” Marinette yelled at her friend as she rushed toward the mini-boss, swords flashing as her cherry red mecha closed the distance and she engaged with the enemy. “You make it sound like you didn’t think I could do it.”

“It’s not that, my lady,” soothed Adrien, aka Chat Noir. “We all had faith that you’d get the job done purrfectly.” His onyx mecha landed next to Ladybug, his staff whirling, performing a perfectly choreographed combo attack with his partner in battle. “Fur real, we were just concerned that purrhaps you had kitten off more than you could chew and ended up burning yourself out.”

She closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself. She could literally hear how smug Chat Noir was through her headphones. “For the sake of what little sanity I have left after this week, please don’t start with the cat puns, Chat.”

“Why, I’m feline a little offended here, bugaboo,” he teased. “I’m just saying that there’s no one else who clawed pull what you did off.”

“That last one was a bit of a stretch, kitty.” She should just ignore him, she knew that. You’d think she would have learned by now that when she responded to his bad jokes and ridiculous puns, he layed it on even thicker, just to annoy her. “Seriously though, I didn’t have much of a choice! You should have seen what the stylist wanted Jagged to wear. It was just,” she shuddered just thinking about it, “terrible.”

Rena asked, “How bad? Come on, girl, gimme some details!”

“Ugh, it makes me sick just thinking about it. Imagine Jagged Stone, wearing a powder blue, see-through lace romper..” Her three friends howled with laughter at the mental image she conjured, so she continued to describe the nightmare she had seen in full detail. “Just picture it: THE Jagged Stone, clad in skintight lace booty shorts, white fishnet stockings, and silver glitter loafers. They wanted to stuff him into a silver speedo underneath that ridiculous romper. That’s all! Nothing but a silver speedo and translucent baby blue lace!” she snorted with laughter as she remembered how utterly uncomfortable the poor singer had been when he showed her what the record label wanted him to wear for his promotional photo shoot. “Oh my god, it was awful! I wish I could unsee that sight, but it’s now burned into my memory to haunt me until the day I die. I couldn’t very well say no to his pleading after I saw that abomination.”

“Ladybug,” Chat Noir tried to calm down enough to talk, but he was obviously having a hard time since he had let his guard down and had been killed in the battle. He used his respawn time to finally compose himself enough to continue. “As a life long Jagged Stone fan, you have my eternal gratitude for sparing the public from that visual crime against humanity.” He dissolved into another fit of giggles, causing a chain reaction among their friends once again and distracting them from the battle currently underway.

“I know.” Marinette took a deep breath. “And here I thought that they couldn’t possibly come up with a worse marketing strategy after that whole “perfume ad album cover” debacle. Yeah, I was wrong. This was much, MUCH worse,” she scoffed.

They all laughed hysterically for a few more minutes before they were able to calm themselves enough to carry on their conversation.

“By the way, milady, are you going to be participating in Fashion Week next month?” Chat asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “I’ve finally garnered enough of a reputation as a legitimate designer for my collection to be allowed to participate in the newcomer designer showcase on the last day. I’ve got my collection finalized, so all I need to do is sit down at my machine and make the pieces.” Her fingers flew over the buttons of her controller, sowing a path of destruction in her avatar’s wake onscreen as a new wave of enemies arrived to back up their leader. “Now that I’m done with the Jagged Stone’s request, I’ve got the time to work on my showcase designs.” With a final flourish, she and Chat Noir defeated the enemy captain, leaving Rena Rouge and Carapace to deal with the reinforcements.

The gathered the mission rewards and traveled back to their base.

“Hey, Ladybug,” Rena began, “have you selected the models you’d like to walk in your show? I’m sure Kitty Noir over here would be more than happy to help you out if you need.”

While Alya understood that Adrien and Marinette would probably only be “just good friends”, once a shipper, always a shipper. Over the years, she still created opportunities for her two friends to be alone together in the hopes that something would spark between them and her OTP ship could set sail. Was it wrong to ship your friends? She didn’t think so. Nino disapproved of her antics at times, but she just couldn’t help it. She wanted her friends to be happy and in her mind, they were made for each other.

Marinette had tried convincing her friend that she was more than happy with the relationship she had with the handsome, blond model. She was more at ease with him now and he could be himself around her, even if that did include his utterly atrocious sense of humor. Seriously, the guy’s obsession with puns was borderline unhealthy.

“I’d love to wear your designs again, My Lady,” he purred.

“Won’t you be busy walking in your father’s show?”

“The Agreste show is on the first day. I’ll have plenty of free time after that. All you’ll have to do is get me some of your dad’s famous macaroons as payment.”

She was ecstatic. Having a famous model like Adrien Agreste would bring people flocking to her show, even if it was to see him, not her designs. But since he’d be the one wearing her clothes, it’d be like killing two birds with one stone. “You have a deal!” she squealed.

His chuckle echoed in her ears. “Honestly, I’m getting the better end of the deal. Don’t underestimate the power your family’s bakery has.”

“Awesome,” Alya cheered. “You’ve got your male model. Do you need a female model too or have you found one already?”

“Actually, I texted Juleka Couffaine and asked her if she’d be interested and she said that she’d do it,” she said. “I haven’t really spoken to her since high school since we kind of lost touch with each other, but I’ve seen some of the ads she’s sone and I think she’d be a good fit for the theme of my collection. She’s out of the country at the moment on a job, but she should be back sometime next week, so until then I can get started on what you’ll be wearing, Kitty.”

“Sounds good, Bugga-boo. I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with. Your designs are always so pawsome. I can’t wait to wear them for you on the catwalk.”

She shook her head once more at his antics. “I’ll give you the last one, since that’s a legitimate pun.” Alya and Nino’s laughter rang in her ears as they laughed at their friends’ banter.

“You know, we were wondering if you’d be online tonight, Ladybug, since you’ve been MIA all week.” Alya said. “The others were asking about you since they hadn’t heard from you, but I told them you’d be on when you were done with your work.” There was a brief silence before she teased, “Viperion was especially worried about you. He said how you guys had done some grinding the other night wondered where you had disappeared to since you’re usually on every night..”

The idea of Viperion worrying about her caused warmth to blossom in her chest. To be honest, she had missed the calming effect his presence had on her. “Speaking of which, where is he? Did he say he was going to be playing tonight?”

Nino told her that he had spoken to him earlier in the day and that he would probably be on much later, if at all because he would be working late on a project that he had to completely redo.

A little disappointed that she wouldn’t get to play with her online friend, Marinette decided to call it a night and logged out, finally ready to get some much needed sleep.

 Chapter 07

*Sorry for the delay on posting. This chapter is just kind of a transition chapter, so unfortunately, not much is going on, but I really wanted cat puns and mental images of hard rockers in blue lace rompers hahaha. Next chapter will pick up and our sweet boi will get some screen time. I might even stop torturing him and throw him a bone ;D Until next time, Lovelies XOXO*

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Movie 1: Broly (2/2)

Last time, Frieza was planning a trip to Earth to make a wish on the Dragon Balls, when Cheelai and Leemo showed up with a new recruit, Broly.   Now they’re hanging out in the mess hall of Frieza’s ship, and the strongest guy on the crew is drunkenly creeping on Cheelai.  I guess that lady in the background already shot him down, or he has a thing for the green ladies.

I like this part where Leemo tries to defuse the situation noviolently.   He’s not a fighter, and even if he were, he probably wouldn’t stand a chance here, but he’s lived his whole life surrounded by super-strong guys, and he knows how to make due with what he has.    It doesn’t work here, but it adds a lot to this scene.

Anyway, I don’t think you need me to tell you how this turns out.   Broly steps in, and he overpowers whatsisface in two seconds.   This is especially ironic in the U.S. dub, where Broly was voiced by notorious sex pest Vic Mignogna.   I kind of wonder what was going through his mind when he did this scene, except he probably didn’t even know the context.    They just told him to grunt and yell.   Still, he must have watched the movie at some point, right?  

Like how would he not make the connection that he’s the grey dude in this scenario, and Broly is getting major babyface heat by standing up for Cheelai?   Like, this whole scene was created to make Broly sympathetic, especially compared to his original 1993 incarnation.    Good guys respect women, bad guys harass them.    Did the point just sail over his head?  He was probably all: “Gosh, Broly should have stayed out of this, and donated money to the grey man for his defamation lawsuit against Cheelai.”

Oh, who am I kidding, he probably spent the whole movie staring at Cheelai’s boobs.  Or the nearest woman in the theater.

Anyway, Paragus thinks Broly’s getting out of hand, so he uses the shock collar to settle him down.    Cheelai and Leemo are outraged (again), but Paragus insists that it’s necessary to keep Broly from going nuts and killing them all.   

I’m a bit conflicted about the collar.   It’s clearly a replication of the mind-control tiara Paragus used on Broly in the DBZ movie, but this is much simpler in design.   Just an electric shock, nothing more.    I like the simplicity of it.  

However, I also liked the mind-control tiara.    It looked stylish, and I liked the mystery of how it worked and where Paragus got it from.   There was that scene in Movie 8 where he had an alien henchman run a diagnostic on the device, but there’s no telling if that guy built it or if he’s just the closest thing Paragus could find to an expert.  There was a mystique about the thing, which the shock collar just does away with entirely.   I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not.

But it probably serves this plot better, because Cheelai picks Paragus’ pocket while they talk, and she stomps the controller after he leaves.    Probably would have been harder to make this work with a magic device like that arm thing Paragus used to make the tiara work.   

Paragus gets summoned to Frieza’s chamber again, so while he’s gone, Broly hangs out with his new pals in... I guess a cargo room?     He thinks ordinary water is delicious, to give you an idea of how rough it was for him growing up on Vampa.   He then explains the fuzzy green thing around his waist, which always reminds me of the bathmat at my grandmother’s house.   Paragus used to make Broly provoke a giant green animal on Vampa as a training exercise, until eventually they became friends.     Broly named it “Ba” after the noise it made.  Paragus disapproved of their friendship, so he shot Ba’s ear off to piss him off good, and put a stop to that.   Broly never saw Ba again, so he kept the ear as a memento, and that’s what he’s been wearing this whole time. 

See, I like this better than Broly’s Movie 8 outfit, because it has a backstory.   I think Ba’s ear was conceived as a way to give Broly a wrap like the red one worn by the original, but someone, probably Toriyama, wanted there to be something more to it. 

Anyway, this tale pretty much defines Paragus and Broly’s relationship.   Paragus seems to genuinely care about the boy, but his main objective is for Broly to become as strong as possible so that he can prove King Vegeta was wrong to exile them.    In pursuit of this goal, Paragus has micro-managed Broly to the point where he has almost no freedom at all.   Cheelai suspect that Broly doesn’t even enjoy fighting, which sounds pretty extreme for a Saiyan, but she might be right.  I’d like to think this version of Broly would enjoy fighting, but not the way Paragus has been handling things.

Meanwhile, the good guys arrive at the ice continent to find the seventh Dragon Ball.   Frieza’s goons stole the first six and the Dragon Radar, so it doesn’t take long for Goku and Vegeta to track them down.    Here, we see them in their cute cold weather gear.    I don’t get how those coats do a damn thing in the antarctic, but I love Bulma’s spacesuit-looking thing.  

So they find the two goons, and one of them looks like an alien John Banner from Hogan’s Heroes.    They’re terrified of Goku because he’s breathing hard on the glass of their ship.   I’d be more worried about him doing a pressed fruit basket on the glass.

Luckily for them, they radioed Frieza about finding the seventh ball right before Goku showed up, so Frieza comes to the rescue.  They banter for a while, but the big story everyone wants to know about is Frieza’s backup.   He introduces Paragus and Broly, and Frieza’s plan is to have Broly do all the fighting, and he’ll let them kill Vegeta as long as he gets to finish off Goku.

So Vegeta and Broly start us off.   Broly does reasonably okay, but Vegeta seems to have the upper hand the whole time, and then he turns Super Saiyan, which freaks Paragus out, because he didn’t even know that was a thing.    That bums Frieza out, because I guess he assumed Broly could do it too?  Why would he think that?   I mean, he turns out to be right later, but he should know that not just any Saiyan can pull that off. 

Moreover, Vegeta can transform further than this.   People made a big to-do about this part, where he uses the Super Saiyan God form Goku used in Movie 14, but I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like that big a deal to me.     I mean, Super Saiyan Blue is better, and Vegeta knows how to do that one, so what’s the difference?  I mean, I’m the guy who really wanted to see Vegeta use Super Saiyan 3 a long time ago, so I get why this is a big deal for people, but it doesn’t mean much to me personally.   

At any rate, Vegeta seems disgusted with Broly’s performance, but I think it says a lot that he managed to hold out this long against Super Saiyan God Vegeta.

Around this point, Paragus tries to call Broly off, but he can’t, because he doesn’t have the remote to use the shock collar.  I’m not sure I understand what was supposed to happen if he still had it.   Was Frieza going to fight Goku and Vegeta by himself?  Was he going to just quietly withdraw and leave the Dragon Balls behind? 

Also, I’d just like to take this time to point out that Paragus looks really dumb here.   He looked cool at the start of the movie, when he was younger and looked more like his 1993 design, but then they dressed him in this green and purple number, and the pink shower curtain looks really dumb.    Also, I hate how they lightened his skin tone in this movie.  At least they brought back Dameron Clarke to play him in the dub.     I really like Paragus, and he’s mostly okay in this movie, but he’s nowhere near as cool as the ‘93 version.

As for the fight, Broly somehow gets a second wind, and holds of Vegeta, even in his god form.   Paragus suggests that Broly has somehow tapped into the Oozaru power Saiyans have when they turn into giant apes.   Except Broly’s tail was cut off at a young age, so he hasn’t turned into a giant ape in years.     Paragus seems to think that Broly’s body is using that power anyway, but without the transformation turning him into a big, bulky ape, there’s nothing to slow down his movements.   

Also, Broly is glowing green when he does this, so maybe the implication is that this was what every version of Broly has been doing, and I guess Kale too.    I’ve also seen it suggested that this ties into Super Saiyan 4 somehow.    I mean, it makes sense, because you have to be a Super Saiyan and a Giant Ape at the same time to go SSJ4, and then you shrink down into a humanoid state, with the powers of both.  Broly’s doing it in a different order, but maybe he’s worked out something similar?  

The thing is, I don’t really buy Oozaru power as a useful thing.   This franchise retired the concept thirty years ago, save for a brief comeback in Dragon Ball GT.   Hell, they didn’t even show anyone turning into a giant ape in this movie, which seems to rely onthe concept quite a bit.   If Great Ape power was so hot, why don’t they just go all in and use it?    The implication of DBZ was that, past a point, it just stops mattering, and when Goku and Vegeta became powerful enough, the form became obsolete.   But somehow Broly’s using it and he’s strong enough to throw hands with god-Saiyans.  Or maybe Paragus is completely wrong about all of this, and he’s only guessing Oozaru stuff for lack of a better explanation.  

I mean, I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade.    There’s SSJ4 fans who really like how this movie teased at the form, and that’s great lore, even if this is as far as it goes, but it doesn’t mean that much to me.  Personally, I’m more into how Goku used the term “base form” in the script.   As in: Broly is holding off Vegeta, even in his base form.   I’m pretty sure that’s the first time it’s been used in official material.

So then Goku decides to jump in, using his base form as well, which I find pretty dumb, since Broly was beating up Vegeta in SSG mode a minute ago.    This sort of teeters on the brink of GT Logic.   I really prefer the way things were in the Cell Saga, where no one would even try to fight Cell or the androids until they were comfortably transformed.    I mean, why would you not?  

Goku uses Super Saiyan Classic for a bit, then he ramps up to his own Nacho Cheese form, and he manages to subdue Broly for a hot minute.   He tries to reason with the guy, saying that he isn’t all that bad, so why not make peace.   Notably, when Goku tells Broly he doesn’t have to listen to those bad guys at the ship, it makes Paragus really nervous, like he’s terrified that someone will tell Broly that and he’ll actually listen.

But then Broly powers up and fights his way out of it, and starts taking control of the battle again.   

The weaker bad guys lift off to get clear of the battle, while Frieza and Paragus remain behind to watch.    Cheelai is frustrated that Broly is being used to fight this sort of battle, even though he happens to be doing pretty well so far.   

Piccolo contacts Goku telepathically about this situation, and Goku plans to teleport to Piccolo’s location if things go south.    But first...

... he turns Super Saiyan Blue and tries to fight Broly that way.  

And this is where the movie uses a bunch of CGI stuff, like like in Battle of Gods and Resurrection F.   The graphics look better, like something out of Fighter Z instead of Raging Blast 2, but it still looks dumb.   What Toei doesn’t seem to understand is that this stuff ages really poorly.   This movie’s not even a year old, and it already stands out.    It’s not about improving the graphics, either.  The problem is that the poses look so robotic and lifeless.   This is especially true for this movie, where most of the animation is so fluid and expressive.   

For example.

During this part of the fight, the land gets torn up, exposing the magma below, and Paragus begins to wonder if King Vegeta had been right all along.  Maybe Broly really is too dangerous, and sending him to Vampa was the best thing for everyone.  As it is, Goku Blue is winning, and Broly is too far gone to realize that he needs to stop fighting.    Without the remote, Paragus can only stand by and watch his son get killed.

But Frieza isn’t giving up yet.   Once he’s certain that Broly has no more miracles in him...

... he kills Paragus himself, and calls out to Broly to make sure he sees what’s happened.  

And that causes Broly to flip out and turn Super Saiyan himself.   I guess this is just Super Saiyan 1, and not some nutty alternate form, but the point is that Broly was doing very well in his regular state, so any transformation on top of that makes him unstoppable.   Goku tries to hang in there, but then Vegeta jumps in and tells him that he can’t possibly win alone.    

So they try hitting him with a Kamehameha/Gallic Gun combo, but that does nothing...

... then they lead him directly towards Frieza, and Broly attacks him instead, because I guess he’s not picky at this point.   

Then they teleport to Piccolo.   Goku’s plan now is to use the Fusion Technique, but he needs Piccolo to coach them because Vegeta’s never done it before.

Okay, so a couple of problems I have with this part.   First, I really don’t like the idea of Broly vs. Gogeta being a thing.   I first saw this idea in the opening credits for Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3, and it always annoyed me because I never cared for the idea of Broly as such a powerful threat that only fusion could beat him.    Broly’s deal is that he’s an evil Super Saiyan, so my preferred scenario is for Goku or Vegeta to beat him solo.  

Second, I’m not wild about how this movie tries to do Broly, Gogeta, and Bardock as a combination platter.   The Bardock stuff works reasonably well, since Broly’s origin story takes place when Bardock was around, and Dragon Ball Minus was already written.   And Broly was a non-canon concept, so revamping him for this wasn’t a terrible idea.    But throwing Gogeta in too just feels like pandering to me.    For years, Fathom Events has been screening DBZ features in theaters, and they always seem to go for “Bardock: Father of Goku”, “Fusion Reborn”, and “Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan.”   I feel like a Cooler movie made the cut once, but that was a long time ago.    The point is that someone in charge seems to consider those three specials to be the most popular or best ones, and it feels an awful lot like this DBS movie is trying to cash in on that.  

And I can’t blame Toei for wanting to combine three popular titles, but it just feels a little too convenient.   Fans saw Gogeta coming, because they noticed the lineup Fathom Events had before this movie premiered, and they knew Broly and Bardock would be in this one, so it got them thinking Gogeta would make an appearance as well.  

With Bardock, you can make a case that this version is an improvement over the “Father of Goku” version.  And Broly may be better off this way than the 1993 version of the character.   But this take on Gogeta isn’t nearly as fun or cool as “Fusion Reborn”.    The boys just leave the battlefield and drill the Fusion dance until they get it right.    How does that make any sense?  

Don’t get me wrong, it’s funny how Frieza gets the shit beat out of him for over and hour, but how does that make sense at all?  

I mean, Golden Frieza couldn’t beat Goku or Vegeta in the last movie, so how can he survive against a guy who was taking them both on at the same time?  For an hour?   How did Frieza survive this?  

Really, longer than that, because Gogeta takes a minute to decide what to call himself.   It’s a cute moment, but still.   Part of what makes Fusion Reborn so awesome was that Goku had to convince Vegeta and teach him the fusion in the middle of the battlefield.    When they screwed it up, Janemba kept trying to kill them while they tried to deal with it.  This movie sucks all of that tension away.    

There is a part where Broly goes after Whis and can’t hit him, so maybe Whis kept the big guy busy for a while, but I dunno.   Anyway, Gogeta teleports in and promises to handle the rest.   

Bulma looks really cute here, by the way.

So yeah, Gogeta goes Super Saiyan and they fight so hard that it opens up a dimensional rift or something...

I don’t know what the idea here was, but it’s trippy and I like it, I guess.

Anyway, Gogeta goes Blue and punches Broly hard enough that they go back to the real world.  

But this screencap pretty well sums it up.   A blue guy and a green guy shooting green and blue shit at each other.   

Gogeta even uses the Stardust Breaker from Movie 12, but Broly survives, even though Gogeta’s at Super Saiyan Blue.   I gotta be honest, this is just a bit too wacky for me.  

Meanwhile, Cheelai and Leemo steal the Dragon Balls and summon Shenron.   She forces whatsisname to tell them how to make the wish, but it turns out you can just ask Shenron directly, so it’s not that complicated.  

See, the big twist of this movie, which is really what holds all of this together, is that Broly’s not the villain after all.   He’s the victim here, and that puts things in a whole other light now that Gogeta is turning the tables on him.   When I found out this movie would come down to Broly vs. Gogeta, I wondered how evenly matched they would be, but since Broly is sympathetic, it changes the equation.   Gogeta can just whale on the guy, and it doesn’t matter, because the real suspense is whether Cheelai can save Broly before it’s too late.

As Gogeta prepares a finishing blast, Cheelai wishes for Broly to be sent back to Vampa, and Shenron does it.   Vampa sucks, but at least Broly is safe here.

Then Leemo and Cheelai fly out of here to save themselves.  Frieza tries to blast them out of the sky.   Why didn’t he stop them before they made their wish?   Also, why didn’t Shenron offer to grant two more wishes? 

In any case, Gogeta stops Frieza from killing them, and he shrugs Gogeta off and prepares to leave.   Gogeta just... stands there and lets him?    Why?   Vegeta has always wanted Frieza dead, and Goku learned the hard way in the last movie.    This is dumb.   

Meanwhile, Beerus has done absolutely jack shit through this whole movie and he’s very pleased about it.  

In space, Cheelai plans to drop Leemo off somewhere and then head for Vampa.   She figures she’s a fugitive from the GP and the Frieza Force, so it’s about the only place left for her to go.    This definitely has nothing to do with the generous bulge in Broly’s tights, no sir.  

But Leemo wants to tag along, since he figures he doesn’t have much going for him either.  

Frieza knows that they’re all together on Vampa, but he decides to leave them be for now.   He seems to think they can make Broly stronger and better able to control his power, and that suits him for... some reason.

This line confuses me.  Is he saying he wants another nemesis, in addition to Goku and Vegeta?   Or is he saying that he wants a potential ally to help him defeat Goku and Vegeta?   Or something else altogether?

On Vampa, Cheelai and Leemo are starting to realize what they’ve signed on for here.   The only food on the planet is bitter, and everything is trying to kill them.

Then Goku just teleports into their cave and gives them a capsule house full of provisions.   He even gives them a couple of senzu beans.

Cheelai is suspicious of Goku, but he explains that he just wants them to be safe and healthy, because he wants to fight Broly again sometime.    After all, it took nothing less than Gogeta Blue to beat him, so he must be a worthy opponent.  

Cheelai still regards Goku as an enemy, but he doesn’t particularly care, since he can find them wherever they go, and Broly seems happy with the idea of fighting with him for funsies.  

So Cheelai lightens up a bit and thanks him.   Then they ask Goku his name, because they never heard who this guy is or what he’s all about.  

So he says that he’s Son Goku... and Kakarot.   I like the dub version better, where he specifically says “Broly... call me Kakarot.”   Either way, I like this ending, because “Kakarot” was Broly’s catchphrase in the 90′s, and he never says it once in this movie, because he never heard the name until this point.  So that’s pretty cool.

But more importantly, I like this as character development for Goku, who once bitterly rejected his Saiyan heritage, including his birth name.   Now, it looks like he’s come around on that, to the point where he wants other Saiyans to call him Kakarot.   It works well with my personal canon that Saiyans view this as a matter of honor.   Vegeta knows he goes by “Son Goku”, but he thinks it would be more insulting to call him that, even if that’s his preference.

And that’s the movie.   All in all, a pretty good one, probably one of the best, but not as good as my favorites.   I think it would have been better if they had used new concepts and characters instead of mining the past for ideas.   A different Saiyan could have played the Broly role just fine, but they went with Broly because of his popularity.    Some other power could have been used to defeat him, but they went with fusion because it was popular.    It get the reasoning, but I can’t help but notice how Cheelai became the breakout star of this thing, and everyone loves Cheelai and she just might be the most popular thing to come out of this movie, and lo and behold, she’s a wholly original idea.  It just makes you wonder what else they might have come up with if they hadn’t stopped with her.   

[hattywatch]

J. Vesey - Love Songs

Author’s Note: THIS TOOK FOREVER! Honestly who is even surprised at this point. Sorry to the anon who requested this a million years ago; I hope you get to see it?! Message me and let me know if you liked it!! Based on “I Hate Love Songs” by Kelsea Ballerini 

Request:  Oh my god, maybe a friends to lovers with jimmy? you've told him in the past that you were interested, and he turned you down because he was nervous, so now you're really good friends and have gotten more comfortable being touchy and whatever, and then he realizes that he needs to marry you!!

Looking up would surely help the tears not spill, you think you read that somewhere. You blink rapidly; it does clear most of the water from your eyes. But not before your cousin notices.

"You're so fucking soft, (Y/N)."

You give an unladylike snort through your nose and pat your under eye gently with a tissue.

Slapping your hand across his chest, all you can respond with is a quick, "Shut up, Kev," before the bride and groom begin the recessional back down the aisle as man and wife.

Jimmy starts in on you from the other side of Kevin, "What are you even crying for? Shouldn't you be happy?"

Far be it from you to explain actual human emotion to Jimmy, so you settle for rolling your eyes.

By the time you make it through cocktail hour, Kevin, your actual date, is off making eyes at the pretty bridesmaid with the colorful sleeve of tattoos and you're left at the bar alone, emptying your purse of singles in an attempt to sway the handsome bartender in your favor for the rest of the evening.

When a hand grazes the small of your back, touching bare skin in your backless dress, you peek over your shoulder expecting to see Kevin, but it's Jimmy who's leaning into your ear.

"Hey, use your powers for good and get me a beer. I don't want to wait in line." The bartender sees your new companion as he places your champagne in front of you. He raises his eyebrows, a silent ask if he can get you anything else, and you give in and order Jimmy's beer, shoving it at him while throwing a smile over your shoulder back towards the bartender.

He keeps his hand where it is and steers you back to a table, you plop down, happy to be off of your feet since your heels are way more beautiful than they are practical. But before Jimmy sits he reaches into his pocket and pulls out your escort card.

"I grabbed yours too," he hands it over to you and you lean down to start unstrapping your heels, mumbling a thank you, mostly towards the floor. "Why do you wear those things if you can't even handle them for an hour?"

You've succeeded in kicking off your shoes and you wiggle your toes, now free from their confines and clink glasses with Jimmy as he brings his beer up to his lips. "Because they make my ass look fantastic," you bring your champagne to your mouth and sip, always thoroughly enjoying catching Jimmy off guard. He wasn't ready to laugh and is sputtering and choking on his beer for a second before he catches his breath and looks away.

He's focused on Kevin making a fool of himself on the dance floor, always the life of the party, so you take a moment to watch Jimmy, undisturbed.

He's been around as long as Kevin has. The two of them somehow related in the same way every kid from Boston who plays hockey is somehow a distant cousin.

You're related to Kevin too, on the other side of the family, obviously.

You remember the first time you saw Jimmy, young and skinny. Quick on his skates, but always ready to unleash his smart mouth and drop gloves no matter how big the other guy was. You admired that about him. He was probably your first crush. Well, your first real crush who wasn't like, Zack Morris.

He was different then, more red faced and shy. He'd really grown into himself. You check to make sure his gaze is still on Kevin, and when you notice it is, you give Jimmy a good once over.

Objectively, he's average looking, you know this; your friends didn't really understand the appeal when you've shown them photos. His lips are thin, but you know first hand that his smirk is devastating and on the rare occasion that he smiles, your heart nearly stops. He's still looks slim- almost gangly, or so you had believed until you caught him on the beach with Kevin earlier in the summer, all lean muscle, freckled from the sun.

It's not like you have a crush on him anymore. But you know that you'll always have a soft spot for your first love, even if it wasn't reciprocated- which he made really clear the summer before your senior year of high school. The memory still makes you shudder with embarrassment.

Jimmy finally looks away from Kevin and speaks up pulling you from your daydreams, "I don't get this whole thing," he waves his hand around, at the room in general. You're not sure what he means, so you just tip your head sideways and motion for him to continue. "Seems like a lot of pomp and circumstance to prove you love someone." You get it, you really do, but he's so cynical that you have to laugh.

"Jimmy, sometimes when two people really like each other," he hits you with an eye roll, "they just wanna shout it from the rooftops."

It's at this point that Kevin decides to take a break from dancing and sink down into the chair beside you.

"I think I'm in love," his eyes are still focused on the bridesmaid, leading the group of flower girls and the ring bearer through the cha cha slide.

You look at lovelorn Kev and turn your hand upwards while eyeing Jimmy, "Case and point, my friend."

Jimmy drinks deeply from his beer and drains it. "Had about enough of you softies," he gets up and heads over to the bar. You know he's kidding, but you feel deeply bad that Jimmy hasn't experienced this type of love yet.

Another champagne will probably help.

Kevin gets up with you to head back over to the cute bartender, but Jimmy intercepts you on your way, pushing a new, full glass at you. You raise your eyebrows, impressed, but accept it with a thank you.  

Kevin balks, "Dude, hello?" He holds up his empty hands and Jimmy tips his glass towards Kevin and shrugs a shoulder, "Bar's that way. Cheers, bro."

Once the DJ succeeds in filling up the dance floor after dinner, you join in, too buzzed and high on ~~love~~ to care about your goofy dancing.

When the DJ calls up the bride and groom for their first dance as husband and wife you're back to tears streaming freely down your face, standing barefoot on the side of the dance floor next to Jimmy. Kev having walked off with the bridesmaid to do shots at the bar.

"Would you stop crying? You're a mess, kid." Jimmy drops his arm over your shoulder and pulls you into his side.

"I'm fine! I'm fine, totally okay, don't worry about me!" You manage to wipe away your tears and smile up at him, but then the DJ announces a good luck dance, and invites all the couples to the dance floor, "each couple on the dance floor is an extra year of good luck for our bride and groom, folks. Grab a partner and join us here to celebrate the new Mr and Mrs!"

You give a cursory glance for Kevin, but the flat leaver had already pulled Jo onto the floor and she has her tattooed arms wrapped up and around his neck, her head drooped forward on his shoulder, laughing at something he's whispering into her ear, trying to be heard over Unchained Melody.

Jimmy must feel you sigh, "C'mon," he nudges you forward with the arm that's wrapped around your shoulders.

Shocked wouldn't begin to cover the emotion that bubbles out of your chest. "Jimmy stop, you hate dancing, you don't have to," you protest pretty weakly, but still follow him onto the floor though.

"It's fine (y/n). Three minutes won't kill me. Just turn off the water works, yeah?" You tell him you'll try your best and place your hands delicately onto his shoulders, pushing yourself up, up, up onto your tiptoes to sway side to side with him.

"God, I hate this fucking song," you can't help but laugh because he's such a grump and it's really a nice song.

"You're a spoil sport, Jim." The eyeroll he gives you is real and you're sure he's about to launch into a tirade about the bridal industry, so you change the subject.

"Kev's gonna kick me out of our room tonight isn't he?" Both you and Jimmy have a close eye on Kevin and his new lady love.

That does it, you get a rare Jimmy smile- he actually laughs-, and you feel warm down to your toes with it.

"Yeah, yeah definitely. That's a good assessment."

_________

The next morning you wake up to the snoring coming from the other side of the room and you groan, rolling over. Bless Jimmy's heart for giving you the bed. He looks uncomfortable and smushed on the pull out couch clearly not designed for someone of his height.

Grabbing a change of clothes, Jimmy’s- since your bag is still firmly locked in your room with Kevin and Jo- you escape into the bathroom to wash your face and change. Your hair looks like a rat's nest, so you grab Jimmy's hat on your way out as well as the key card he gave you last night, and head down to the lobby; you're sure you saw a Starbucks down there.

Of course you see Kevin in line, somehow looking more rumpled than you are. You sidle up next to him and bump him with your hip. "Good night there, Hayes?"

"You have no idea," Kev still sounds sleepy and you're so happy he had a good night, because you know he's been feeling a little down since his brother got married, wondering when he'd have something like that of his own.

It seems to hit him that he sexiled you last night as he slinked off the dance floor wrapped up in Jo.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry," he looks chagrined, so you let it go.

"No sweat. Jimmy let me stay with him." You turn back to the board over your head, trying to figure out what you want to order, but Kevin rounds on you.

"Sooooo… did you have a good night?" He's wagging his eyebrows at you as he nods towards your outfit and your ears feel hot.

"Shut up. You know it wasn't like that." He places his order and slides down so you can place yours.

"Yeah, I know, but it could be worse. You guys would be good together. A guy can't wish happiness for two of his oldest friends?" You decide to not even dignify him with a response and take your drinks before heading back to your room after throwing a chilly sniff over your shoulder. You do give him a little elbow on the way past, though.

Kevin was there that summer, so many years ago. You had thought you and Jimmy were getting closer, bonding while sitting in the stands cheering Kevin on at his games, group trips to the cape on the weekends when he wasn’t at hockey camp. You’d venture to call the two of you friends; friends share beers on the beach and help sunscreen each other's backs.

Finally, towards the end of the summer, right before Kevin was leaving for college, you gathered up some courage. Sat around the bonfire with the last days of freedom closing in, you spot Jimmy. He's finally, blessedly alone and you take a deep breath to steel your nerves.

“Hey Vese…” you cringe because- weird- you never call him that, but you shake it off and sit down next to him. “What up,” he spins his marshmallow around and glances over at you. It’s now or never, “I was just thinking, I know it’s kinda far away, but I’m sure a lot of girls will ask you, so… did you want to maybe… go to prom with me?”

He takes a deep breath and pulls his marshmallow out of the flame and you’re already deflating before he can open his mouth, “I’m not really a prom kind of guy, (y/n)... Sorry.” For what it’s worth, he does look apologetic about it, but you can’t even consider how he’s feeling when you can actively feel your heart drop down to your stomach; now you know why it’s called a crush.

Kevin found you crying back by the bathrooms an hour later and faked a headache so he could drive you home.

By the time you get back up to the room Jimmy's awake, sitting up on the couch, scrolling through his phone, shirtless. You walk over and hand him one of the coffees you picked up before dropping back onto the bed with your own cup.

He takes a sip and finds it to his liking, "Best. Wedding date. Ever." He leans in to fist bump you, and you smile at him and reach out your own hand, yeah he's right, you're pretty awesome.

_________

It takes you by surprise when you receive a text from Jimmy a few months later at the beginning of the summer. It shouldn't, you're both friendly. You’ve seen him over at Kevin’s on Sundays for football and go out to the bar with them every once in a while. You hang out at his family’s pool when everyone is back in Boston and it feels like old times. It’s never weird or awkward, but when his name pops up unannounced on a Wednesday afternoon on your cell, it feels different. Usually you see each other around, but never one on one, it's fine, Totally Fine. But his text still takes you by surprise.

Jimmy: Brady gave me a plus one to the blessed affair… wedding date part 2?

You can’t say no, because you’re long-time buds and Kevin is going to bring Jo and you don't want Jimmy to have to go stag. Plus, you know this wedding is going to be incredible, so it’s really a no brainer when you send back:

Obviously. When?

You could literally smack him when he says that it's a week away. You have nothing to wear and he doesn’t know what color the bridesmaids’ dresses are. That's a mistake you don’t want to make- showing up in the same color, it’s so tacky. When you bring this all up to him his response is the little shrug emoji and you drop your face into your hands and sigh.

Deciding to call Kevin had been a better idea in theory that it was in actual practice.

“Soooo, Jimmy asked you on a date?”

You huff and explain for the third time since he picked up the phone, “No. Kevin. Please try to be helpful."

"I'm helpfully pointing out that you and Jimmy are-"

"I'm going to kill you, Kev. Please just text them and ask so I know what's okay to wear and let me end this fucking nightmare of a conversation." You rub your temples with your thumb and middle finger, feeling a headache coming on.

He laughs and you're glad that someone is finding humor in this situation. It's certainly not you.

When he finally gets back to you it turns out the bridesmaids are in "a soft champagne blush color? I'm reading this verbatim, but fuck if I know what that means," Kevin tells you.

Luckily, you do know what it means. And spend the weekend poring through every store in the mall to find something sleek enough for a wedding where you'll be rubbing elbows with young, eligible men. If it also succeeds I'm making Jimmy regret not taking you to prom… well, that's a bonus. Not that you're still mad or anything.

When you finally find a contender that you like, you decide to use Kevin as your sound board and send him a picture of the dress for approval. He immediately calls you when he receives the photo.

"What's up?" You answer on pins and needles, afraid he's going to tell you it's too over the top for the small, rooftop wedding that Brady is having.

He doesn't even say hello, "Did you show Vese your dress yet?"

"Uh, no. Just you. Why? Is it awful?" You start gnawing on your nail before you remember your manicure and pull your finger from your mouth.

"Nah, you're beautiful, cuz. But send it to him… to uh, make sure it goes with his suit."

Makes sense, "Yeah that's a good idea. Thanks Kev.”

There’s about 4 pictures of you in the dress sitting in your camera roll, but now that you’re supposed to be sending one to Jimmy and not your cousin, none of them really look good enough. It’s stupid and childish, but you sit down at your vanity and fix your hair and make-up before slinking back into the dress and finding a pair of heels.

That’s more like it.

You turn in the mirror and honestly, it’s gorgeous. The blue looks fantastic against your skin. It hugs all the right places, even the cut-outs on the side hit perfectly against your rib-cage and none of your usual bra-fat is an issue; it must have been tailored by witches.

You snap 3 photos, one of the front, one of the side, and one of the back over your shoulder before swallowing and hyping yourself up to text them to Jimmy.

Can I show you the dress I picked and you tell me if it's okay? Kevin said I should show you so you can make sure it matches your suit?

Jimmy: I mean, I’m not really good at that sort of thing, but yeah.

You send them in order- front, side, back and get so inexplicably nervous you have to put your phone down and walk away.

Taking the time to peel the dress off and to gently hang it back up, you end up on your bed in a pair of old shorts and a BC hockey t-shirt, ready to check your texts.

Jimmy: Looks great.

It's an underwhelming answer. But, at least all of your shopping wasn't in vain. You're staring at your phone, scrolling back over your conversation with Jimmy when you see him start typing. You wait for his message to come through, but it doesn't.

He starts typing two more times and stops before you finally get a message.

It's not even a text. In front of you is a photo of him in his suit. It's light grey, and underneath is a crisp white button up with the top 3 buttons undone.

It's certainly a look. And you're not proud to say you saved it to your gallery and zoomed into every pixel. You totally did… but you're not proud to say it.

Jimmy: Do you think this will work with a blue tie

You think it would work with anything and everything, including your bedroom floor, but like, you're not about to say that. So you wuss out and just send a few thumbs up emojis.

It's annoying how you feel like you have to be so careful around Jimmy. If he were any other friend you'd have told him he looks handsome and never thought twice about it, but you just don't want to come off like you're hitting on him. Certainly not ready to have him reject you again.

Jimmy: Awesome. See you Saturday?

Can't wait.

_________

By the time Saturday comes you're all nerves- waking up before your alarm and promptly deciding to put on a face mask so at least you can stay horizontal and relaxed.

It lasts for a while. 20 minutes to be exact, before you peel it off and immediately start stressing before just deciding to get ready so you stop chewing on your manicured fingers.

It's a late afternoon wedding in a chic little church with a reception to follow at an intimate rooftop restaurant. The weather seems to be cooperating, checking your phone the forecast calls for sunny skies, not a cloud in sight.

By the time you're doing your make-up and trying to YouTube-tutorial your hair  into a style that looks elegant enough to go with your dress, there's a knock at your door. You jump and accidentally scrape a bobby pin along your scalp while trying to secure a roller in your hair.

"Son of a bitch."

Hustling over to the door, you assume it's your neighbor. Sometimes her cat goes missing and you're pretty much the feline pied-piper.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Dennehy. I can't look for Bootsie right n-"

Swinging the door open mid-sentence in your ripped Cinderella tank top, ratty old shorts, and curlers in your hair, you immediately regret not looking through the peephole. "You are not Mrs. Dennehy."

"Nah. Definitely not." Jimmy steps past you into your place, looking lethal in his suit and tie.

You can't get over it because he's in your space and the room is filled with him, not to mention the fact that you feel like a schlub; hair still in rollers, but at least you finished your make-up.

"That's a good look, (y/n). I mean… I liked the blue dress better, but I don't know much about fashion." Squinting your eyes at him you poke him in the sternum with a pointed finger.

"How the fuck do you even know my address. I thought I was meeting you at Kevin's?" You decide to ignore his jab at your present state.

"I asked Kev. I figured we could go over there together. Him and Jo are still in the mushy honeymoon stage and I love him, but I really want to throat-punch him when I have to witness it firsthand." You nod, because it's a valid point.

You unroll your curlers in the bathroom and are pleased to see that your hair looks decent, successfully mirroring the YouTube video. After hair spraying and sliding your heels on, you pull your dress up over your hips and zip it, leaving the hook and eye at the top undone, since you can never hook it on your own.

"Vese?" Jimmy appears at your bedroom door a moment later, one eyebrow raised.

"I hate when you call me that." You know this.

"Yeah, but it always gets a reaction," you smile and spin around so your back is facing him. "Can you clasp the top of this please and then I'm ready to go, I swear!"

It seems like an okay idea until you feel the whisper of his fingertips over the nape of your neck and you feel your flesh turn to goosebumps, and you realize you're about to have a very long evening.

________

The wedding is beautiful. They wrote their own vows and it has you fanning your eyes trying to keep the tears at bay before they've even kissed as man and wife. Jimmy laughs when he looks over and sees you blinking rapidly, trying to save your mascara.

"You cry at everything, huh?" He deserves the elbow you throw into his ribs.

When the ceremony is over and the bubbles have been blown, a limo whisks away the bridal party for photos, while Kevin and Jimmy lead the way to the reception venue. Kevin has his arm wrapped firmly around Jo's waist and you catch the sidelong glance Jimmy gives as if to say see what I mean?

It's only a few blocks away, but in heels you're wobbly at best. So when you stumble over a dip in the sidewalk, he takes your hand and tucks it into the crook of his elbow.

"You're a fuckin' hazard in those shoes. Look at you." He shakes his head, but you start in, smiling cheekily up at him, "Yeah but they make-"

"-they make your ass look fantastic. I know."

Kevin must hear Jimmy talking, because he looks over and furrows his eyebrows.

"Keep your eyes off my cousin's ass, Vesey." Jimmy responds with a delicate fuck you, Kev that has all of you laughing.

___________

All four of you are tipsy before the cocktail hour ends and the bride and groom make their appearance- all effervescently in love and wind-blown from taking photos on the beach.

You blubber through their first dance, you and Jo holding each other through it- and laughing at how silly you both are- before tapping your champagne flutes and getting Brady to lay a big smooch on his bride.

It's a few more champages that has you kicking your shoes off and dragging Jimmy onto the dance floor to stumble through the electric slide and (a thankfully abridged version of) the cotton eyed Joe. He shucked his jacket hours ago when you found your table and the tie followed soon after, shoved into your purse so he doesn't lose it. He looks loose and happy, surrounded by friends and glowing with summer.

When you hear the familiar snaps of Single Ladies, it seems like a great idea to stay on the dance floor with the other women to try to catch the stupid bouquet Gracia is chucking over her head. It stops seeming like a great idea the second your hands close around the bouquet and you feel the lace between your fingers.

Jo jumps up and down next to you, screeching and laughing in your ear with a gentle refrain of ooooh and you're next! sprinkled in from the other girls, congratulating you on the way back to their seats.

The DJ brings a chair over next to his booth and you plop down, happy to be off of your feet, but increasingly antsy when you see the swell of bachelors on the dance floor. Brady apparently only has very handsome friends- birds of a feather, obviously. There's a handful you're sure are NHL players and you are slightly worried about the cellulite they'd feel high up on your thighs.

When the garter is inevitably flung, it's Kevin's height that gives him the advantage. It doesn't occur to you that he has absolutely no business being on the dance floor at all, since he's surely not trying to feel up his own cousin. Not to mention Jo- she's standing about 4 feet to your left, her camera trained on Kevin.

They're no good terrible people. You're certain of this when you watch in slow motion as Kevin reaches up and stops the garter's trajectory and as falls directly down onto Jimmy. Jo has caught the whole charade on video it seems, since she's cackling in delight, the traitor.

Jimmy accepts a handful of pats on the back, and walks over towards you looking downright twitchy. You know somewhere in the background there's plenty of hooting and hollering, but someone's wolf whistle finally pulls you from your internal panic and you can hear the slinky intro to “Dress” start up.

The DJ is talking into the microphone and Jimmy seems to be paying attention to what his job is, namely- sliding the garter in his hand as far up your leg as you'll allow. You'd take the red flush on his face as a compliment at literally any other time, but your hands are clammy and you're sure your face is giving off more heat than the sun. It isn't until Jimmy kneels down in front of you that you realize the DJ has stopped talking and this is about to happen.

All of this silence and patience, pining in anticipation / My hands are shaking from holding back from you

You quickly decide that this may be the one and only time you'll get to feel him all over your bare skin, so after a deep breath, you meet his eyes, give an encouraging smile, uncross your legs and drop your foot into his waiting hands.

He huffs out a breath, which sounds suspiciously akin to "Fuckin' Kevin," but knocks a smile sideways at you and peers at you with his half glassy eyes.

Say my name and everything just stops / I don’t want you like a best friend / Only bought this dress so you could take it off

Jimmy slides the lace garter over your ankle and up your calf, his hands barely brushing to your knee before he pulls them out from under your dress, but the crowd won't let him off so easily. You're sure it's Jo who leads a "high-er, high-er" chant and you laugh, because if you don't laugh, you might cry.

"Our friends are idiots," he sighs out. You smile and shake your head yes.

"They really are, but they're not going to let you out of this, Vese," you lift your foot off the ground and shake it at him until he takes it back in his hand and lifts your dress up with the other before wrapping both around your knee and gently pushing the garter up higher; hands slowly dragging the scratchy lace up your thigh. The slit on the dress is pretty high, so everyone can see the moment his hands slide underneath, finally hidden from their view.

His fingers are scarcely touching your skin, but you know you're covered in goosebumps. When you make eye contact this time, it has you feeling more exposed than the fact that his hands are inches from your panties.

Just when you're surely about to explode, he lets go of the garter and slides his hands back down your thigh, teasing over your calf and down to your ankle before placing your foot on the floor and standing, offering you his hand to help you up.

Deep down you know everyone is clapping, but you desperately want to crawl under a table, sure that you've just spilled the beans about your residual feelings for one of your oldest friends.

________

Jimmy walks you back to your table but you don't wait around, downing your remaining champagne and scampering off in search of the bar. That's where Jo finds you, sidles up next to you, and drops a five in the tip jar before handing her flute over to the bartender.

"Honestly, you know I love the shit out of you, right?" You already don't like where this is going, but you nod anyway.

"If you two don't fuck tonight I'm going to die from the tension." This is why you love the shit out of her right back.

"Let's go dance?" She downs her drink and leaves the glass on the bar, following you back to the dance floor until dinner is called. The DJ transitions into smooth jazz and some old standards, quieting the party down to eat.

You have no choice, and during dinner you sit down primly next to Jimmy, antsy and nervous to sit too close, your elbow knocking against his and making you jump each time. Both of you knowing the feel of each other's skin.

Brady's grandparents get up and start dancing together, finished with their dinner. It's beautiful how they hold each other close after being together for so long and it has you feeling misty all over again, turned sideways in your chair eyes trained on the dance floor.

When Unchained Melody starts up the metallic clank of a fork on a plate next to you has your eyes jerking over and away from the dance floor.

"C'mon hotshot," Jimmy stands, so tall and lean, looking down at you with his hands in his pockets, head tipped towards the dance floor, and who are you to say no.

You can hear Jo's 'Get it girl!' And you wish you could kill her here, maybe suffocate her with a damned dinner roll.

"What gives? Sick of seeing me cry?" You place your hands on Jimmy's shoulders but it feels too stilted, his hands have already raked up your thighs, so fuck it, you wind them around his neck, pulling him a little closer than you should.

"Nah. It's our song," his grip at your waist tightens and you can barely breathe, but he clears his throat and adds, "Tradition."

You know the grin you lay on him is glowing, your cheeks ache with it, but it's Jimmy and you'd suffer through a lot more for him. When he twirls you under his arm, you know you're fucked and the feelings that you've been doing your best to shake off are going nowhere fast.

Jimmy doesn't leave your side the rest of the night. Dancing with you and smiling,  singing along under his breath.

When he drops you at your apartment later, he kisses you on the cheek after helping you fumble with your key, but he doesn't turn around on his way to the elevator, so you sleep alone that evening. If you keep the garter on, no one is any wiser for it.

_________

It's a beautiful day and you're dining al fresco, happy to have the sun on your skin, but happier with the food in front of you. The company, well…  it leaves something to be desired.

"You guys are hot for each other and just need to bang already. Please. Even Kevin agrees and he's your cousin. Gross." You don't want to hash out your history again, living it out once was enough.

"Jo, no. Stop, it isn't like that!" It's girls' day. A week or so after Brady's wedding Jo had texted to see what you were doing and invited you out for lunch. So here you are, having to revisit the traumas of your youth with your cousin's girl.

"Can you just? Not? Like he texts you every day, and has been to two weddings with you-"

"Technically I was Kevin's date to the first one," you interject and pop a piece of pineapple into your mouth.

She carries on without even acknowledging you, "What is your hang up? Just tell him you're interested. You're cute and fun and you have all the same friends. It's a match made in heaven."

You don't want to get into the prom story, but you think it will get her to take a little pity on you and make her to stop, so you decide to clue her in.

"We've been down that road before." She looks intrigued and waves her hand for you to continue, so you do, regaling her with the whole embarrassing story.

".... and then I finally built up the courage, after all of that, to ask him to go with me to prom and all he can respond is that he's 'not really a prom kind of guy' seriously?" You let out a sigh, all keyed up and anxious again, on the brink of tears as if it all happened 5 minutes prior and not over 5 years ago.

Jo puts her glass down on the table with a clank, "Um. So?" You literally can't believe what you're hearing and stare at her blankly, blinking and waiting for her to understand.

"What do you mean 'so?' Why would I put myself out there, AGAIN- to have it not be reciprocated? Are you crazy?” Surely Jo doesn't get it.

"Babe, that was a LONG time ago. Let it go. Not everyone dreams of a romantic evening at prom. You know how Jimmy is. He's not about that kind of thing." You scoff loudly, and before you can even open your mouth to combat her she continues, "BUT, he danced with you at both weddings. Got you drinks from the bar, and he participated in the STEAMIEST garter toss I have ever, in my life, witnessed. He likes you. What more do you need to see it?"

You mull her words around in your head for a while as she looks on, rather content with herself, it appears.

"I just don't know if I can put myself through that again. Admitting to you that I like him is hard enough. Imagine if I had to say something to his face?!"

All Jo does is nod, "I get where you're coming from. I think you're stupid, but I get it." She pats you on the hand probably more out of pity than comfort, but you'll take what you can get.

______

Kevin asks you to meet him at the bar a few days later. "Watch a Sox game and have a few drinks with me," it sounds great and low-key, so you say yes.

You come straight from work,  emotionally disheveled from a long day, but dressed nice enough for it not to matter too much.

When you walk through the door and peer around you feel like you've been shanghaied.

Kev is there all right. Sat snugly next to Jo on one side of the booth. You don't have to walk over to know who's facing Kevin and Jo, the hat on his head giving it away.

You slide into the only available seat in the booth, right next to Jimmy. If you kick Kevin on your way in, well, these things happen sometimes.

When Jimmy looks over at you and smiles confusedly, you're sure it's a set up.

"Didn't know you were coming, (y/n)!" He seems genuinely happy to see you, which makes your heart trip in your chest, before beating double.

Kevin has this shit eating grin on his face and you know your evening is about to go to hell in a handbasket. "We were just talking about the old days. Feelin' a little nostalgic."

If you could, you'd leave as quickly as you came, but it doesn't seem like an option you have at the moment.

"I was just telling the boys how I lost my v-card at prom to my first boyfriend. He  just had a baby! How far we've come," Jo looks at you with a playful smile on her lips and if you didn't think you'd end up kicking Jimmy in the process, she could catch a foot to the shin as well.

"I wouldn't know about that Jo, where's the waiter?" You didn't really want to drink on a Thursday, but if this was how the night was about to go, who could really blame you?

He pops up and you all place your orders, but it doesn't give you the break in the conversation you were hoping for.

Jo sips her drink and plows on, "You didn't lose it at prom?" she asks, like it's the most normal question in the world. Jimmy's sipping his Guinness and you want to cover your face and slide down under the table, but all you can do is shrug.

"I didn't go to prom, actually," deciding to avoid the question completely. That has Jimmy looking over at you.

"Yes you did," he says it so surely. "You went with Brian."

Well, that's interesting.

"I think I'd know if I went to prom or not. My memory isn't that bad, Vese." He wrinkles his nose at the nickname.

"I hate that and you know it." You smile snidely back at him, still hoping the waiter will get you out of this conversation.

"No, you did. I heard him at hockey practice. He said he was asking you." Jimmy's sat sideways in the booth, all his attention on you and it's overwhelming.

"I mean, he did ask. But I said no." That's when the waiter finally drops your food off.

It's really smooth how Kevin gets up to use the bathroom and Jo gets up a moment later to 'fix her lipstick.'

It's quiet when they leave, you're doing your damnedest to sip your water and focus on the game, but Jimmy clears his throat and nudges you with his knee.

"I, uh, really thought you went with Brian." He is just barely glancing at you from the corner of his eye.

"I didn't want to go with him. He was kind of a douche." Jimmy turns to you, his thigh pressed all the way against yours.

"All the girls liked him, though," he's aiming for detached nonchalance, but he's rolling his beer between his palms and that gives him away.

Maybe it's starting to make sense now.

"Yeah, the dumb ones," you smile and decide maybe Jo is right, and it has been years and your day can't really get worse and you've already made it this far.

You take the chance to steal a french fry off of his plate and idly wonder how long it takes Kevin to pee or Jo to fix her lipstick. "I wanted to go with someone else. I asked, but you know…"

It's Jimmy who sighs this time. "I guess I was pretty dumb back then too."

"I mean, you went to Harvard, so how dumb can you really be, James." You set your sights on Kevin's fries, because fuck him, it's really the least he could do right now.

"So," Jimmy stops and exhales loudly, "this is embarrassing, but," he pauses and looks at you.

You place your hand on his knee and tap it patronizingly, "You weren't shot down  asking someone to prom, so how embarrassing could it really be?"

"Touche, but for the record- I only said no because I figured you'd rather go with him." Your jaw drops in its best impression of a trout. "I just didn't want to get my hopes up only for you to change your mind when he asked you."

"You're right, Vesey. You are dumb," he gives you that little half smirk of his, and you quickly realize your hand is still on his knee.

The look on his face is definitely what people envision when they use the phrase "making eyes at," but of course this is when Kevin and Jo make their grand return, and you pull your hand back into your own lap as quickly as possible.

The rest of the dinner is quiet. Casual small talk over the din of the game. When Kevin and Jo decide they want to head home, you stand too, ready to take your leave.

Jimmy gently grabs at your wrist. "I'm going to have another beer, wanna stay with me?" You hug Kevin and Jo goodbye and blatantly ignore the wink she gives you. Jimmy waves at them but walks off towards the men's room and you take the chance to flip Jo and Kevin off while he's not looking. They laugh and give you a thumbs up while heading to the door.

Deciding to relocate to the bar, you climb up onto a stool at the end of the counter and wait for Jimmy to return.

He does, wiping his damp hands on his pants; he stands next to you. "I didn't know what you were drinking or I would have ordered it for you," you tell him, peering up as he towers over you.

"Oh, no. I'm good to go. I just wanted  them to leave so we could talk alone. Is it okay if we go to my place?"

Sneaky little shit.

______

When you said yes, you didn't think about the five floor walk up Jimmy lives in. "Don't the Rangers pay you enough to live in a building with an elevator?" He laughs, not at all out of breath like you are, the bastard.

You've been here of course, but never alone. Never just you and Jimmy.

Everything seems very real, very quickly. You wish you had opted for a little liquor at the bar, you could use any courage you could get, Dutch or otherwise.

Kicking your shoes off, you sit down on Jimmy's couch. He plops down next to you, more comfortable since he has the home team advantage.

"I really wanted to go with you." You're surprised he just blurted it out like that. He doesn't follow it up with a 'but' or any excuses at all, and it sends your heart soaring in your chest.

"If I had known you didn't want to go with Brian, I would have said yes when you asked." He's looking down at his hands, but speaking slow and steady. "I know it was so long ago, but I just feel like I want you to know that."

Jimmy's confession is making your skin tingle with heat, but he's still sitting there, looking so hesitant. It bolsters you. He chooses that moment to look up at you and you can't help but grin- a wide, cheesy thing.

"You like me," his face instantly flames. He attempts to stutter out a response which really cements it in your head.

Without letting him respond, you continue, "No. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. You like me." He bites his lip and nods.

"Yeah. I just… you know how I am. With feelings and stuff." And you do know.

He's like Ron Weasley, emotional range of a teaspoon. But you, you make him stutter and blush and that's not something you think you'll ever get over.

You're sort of torn between smacking him for putting you through all this and tearing off all of his clothes, so you settle somewhere in the middle and turn to kiss him straight on the mouth.

He was about to say something so when you catch him mid-word your teeth clash and you back off apologizing profusely.

"So aggressive," he laughs and wipes at his lip. "Slow down, we have lots of time now." And he's right, but every second that passes without his lips on yours feels wasted and empty.

"We really don't though," he looks upset and confused, pulling back into himself before you clarify, "I have to be up in the morning so I don't have all night, Vese. Some of us have been patiently waiting for years."

That has him blooming a smile again and you shake with the knowledge that you caused it, but he agrees "Yeah, some of us have been."

_____

It's not the first time Jimmy has stared at you like this, and it probably won't be the last, but right now it's making your eyes water with the sincerity of it.

His hands are on your hips, warm and familiar and your skin tingles under the weight of his palms and your dress.

"Vese," it's the first time the name elicits a smile from him. It may have something to do with the fact that it's his turn to whisper the nickname.

You can't help the smile snaking its way across your face. "It's Mrs.Vese, actually, James." A flash goes off somewhere to your right but you can't be bothered to take your eyes off of your husband.

"I can't believe you chose this song for our first dance," you pull him close so his forehead rests on yours, "you hate this song."

He presses a kiss to your lips, gentle but still eliciting cheers from your audience. "I really do. But you like it, and I love you."

[mahalkitajohnnysuh]

The Model and The Stylist

Hello there! Finally, my first story post! Sorry for the delay, but I was busy with work as always, and I was feeling down for the past couple of days. Anyway, I decided to share this first because your boy’s been getting a lot of exposure lately – modeling, that is. That W Korea May 2020 editorial with Jaehyun is so divine that your girl pre-ordered her copy even if it will take her maybe until the end of the year to get it. See that GIF? Damn! 

This story was based on the story of one of my characters in my original story written ages ago for a friend, and I’m glad that something came out of it now. 

You’ll also get to meet Essie Park now, my Y/N that got a name. I might still post my first stories with Y/N in it, so look out for that. I hope you’ll enjoy and let me know what scenarios you’d like me to write about. 

Mahal ko kayong lahat! :)  

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Summary: Let’s keep it simple: this is an AU where OC is a fashion editor/stylist, and Johnny is a model. 

Word count: 1,600 + words 

Genre: Romance, Comedy 

Warning: It’s so fluffy and cheesy, you might as well think you’re munching on cheese popcorn. But I think this is my specialty so...yeah. 

–––

Essie decided that from this day onward, she would make Johnny’s life a living hell. 

He was one of the most uncooperative models she has ever met – he didn’t bring what was needed, didn’t arrive on time, and didn’t listen to her instructions. 

Even though she was a fashion assistant at the magazine she was working for, he didn’t give her the respect she needed for her job. 

Instead, he bossed her around – asking her to buy him Starbucks, charge his gadgets, and even get him a top that he could use to his next event. 

“Cheska, I need more coffee. Can you buy me another iced Americano, please? With more hazelnut syrup too,” he ordered with that sickeningly sweet tone of his. 

“My name is not Cheska!” she roared before storming out of the set. She wasn’t even halfway through the shoot and he had already worked her like his slave. 

When she got inside the coffee shop, she went on autopilot and ordered his drink of choice. As she stepped out with the drink on hand, she slapped her forehead in annoyance. “I should’ve tampered with his drink to get even with him!” She grumbled, staring at the iced drink in disdain. “Unless…” Her thoughts led her to some of the cruelest pranks she has seen until she figured out what she can do with his coffee. 

Once back on set, she decided to do the classic prank: accidentally throw the drink all over him. It was a good thing that he was still wearing his regular clothes or else she’ll pay the price for damaging designer goods. She couldn’t help but smile evilly at his drenched figure. He was wearing an all-white outfit and she felt satisfied knowing it has turned into a brown mess. 

She might be celebrating a small victory now, but Johnny won’t let her get away with it. 

He swore as well that he would make Essie’s life a living hell. 

\\\

Unfortunately, they worked with each other again. And again. Even Essie’s side projects with her friends in the creative industry. 

Johnny was always the available model who was game to do experimental shoots. 

The two tried their best to downplay their pranks – Essie once poked him a couple of times with safety pins as she adjusted the excess fabric of his clothes. He wouldn’t stay put, which made her more intent to push the pins deeper into his skin. 

“Don’t you even dare try, you cocky bastard,” she grumbled, purposely poking his sides with the pin. 

“I could file a complaint against you,” he whispered in her ear, making the hairs behind her neck stand. He was dangerously close to her, and she noticed that he was about to wrap an arm around her waist. 

“You think I’m scared? I’m not,” She gently pushed him away from her as she locked the pin in place. 

“I’ll make you,” he responded, gripping her arm. “But now, I won’t because I look good in this outfit you picked.” He admired the work she did in front of the full-length mirror and she rolled her eyes in response. 

There was a time that Johnny always set the cable of one of the camera lights for Essie to trip on. He would deliberately stretch his legs to do so or even use his hand to place it to where she’ll be coming from. 

The girl tripped a couple of times and didn’t mind it at first. But when she noticed him sniggering after her fifth trip, that’s when she realized he was behind this. Essie stormed towards him and glared daggers at him.

“You think this is funny, Suh?” she muttered, folding her arms over her chest. He nodded, trying his best not to laugh. “You’re such an immature brat,” were the last words she said before she walked over the cable and glared at him once again. 

\\\

Over time, Essie and Johnny decided to call their feud a truce. It took some mental toll on the girl to prank him. She was already tired from the demands of her job and she had to think of ways on how to make his life as miserable as she could.

The same could be said for him – he was getting more projects now that he has become popular. In fact, he is slowly dabbling into the entertainment industry as a budding actor. 

Since both of them were close to her friends in the industry, they met each other again for dinner. 

It was during this moment that they got to know each other better – they were so similar that their friends thought they were perfect for each other. 

“I think you two should date,” Kibum, a fashion stylist, suggested. “As much as it pains me to admit this, but yes, you two should definitely go out,” Ten, a jewelry designer, agreed. 

Ten and Johnny were the closest in the group and sometimes Essie teased them about their skinship. 

The two subjects looked at each other disbelievingly before bursting into laughter. 

“Seriously guys?” Johnny and Essie asked the people on their table, who nodded in unison. 

Eventually, they would eat their words after a heated argument on another shoot. 

“You are so annoying, Suh! Why can’t you just give me the respect I deserve?” Essie was on the verge of tears, frustrated at how uncooperative Johnny was on set. 

It felt like they were back to square one. The 6-footer would boss her around and give mean comments about the outfits that she chose. “I look like a firefighter in that, and I mean that in a bad way,” he wrinkled his nose in disgust at the red and yellow outfit she chose. 

“That was the instruction from the style sheet, dude. Get over it. You’ve worn much weirder things than this,” Essie was losing her patience as she shoved the outfit in his hands. 

“But you could’ve done better,” he said matter-of-factly, gazing into her brown eyes. “You’re already known for your work but you settled for this mediocrity,” Johnny eyed the outfit in disgust. 

“Ugh! I’ve had it with you!” The girl screamed, earning the looks of the crew as she exited the studio. 

She thought they were already on good terms. They’ve been hanging out a lot more after work – opting to watch the last showing of movies, drinking coffee at 3 in the morning, and even driving around until the wee hours of the morning while listening to the latest album releases. 

Essie felt her heart ache when he treated her like a slave again. The tears rolled down her cheeks and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. She had the urge to smoke but remembered that her kit was inside her bag. 

She was about to return to the studio but he was already there, looking apologetic. 

“What do you want, Suh?” She asked harshly, not looking at his face.

“Hey, I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” he started, walking closer to her. She saw his feet approach her and before she could back away, he already held her wrists. 

“I didn’t mean to upset you, but I mean it when I said that you could’ve done better.” 

She looked at him with all the rage she could muster, even if tears were threatening to spill on her face again.

“Why can’t you just say it like a normal person?” Essie was already sniffing. 

“Because it is never simple with us,” he said softly, now leaning closer to her face. “We always complicate things even if we shouldn’t.”

“Then why don’t we just–––” She was cut off when he kissed her. 

Time slowed as they kissed under the starry sky. It wasn’t as romantic as Essie wanted it to be – they were outside the studio where the air was polluted with smoke and rubbish was almost everywhere. 

When they broke apart, Johnny pulled her closer to him. “Let’s just simplify things. I’ve been attracted to you from the start, Ms. Park,” he said, tilting her chin so she could look at him. 

“You stole the words right out of my mouth, Mr. Suh,” she replied, a grin spreading across her face. “But not the attraction part. I thought you were a big piece of poo,” she stuck out her tongue at him and he pinched her side in response. 

“I admit that seeing you mad was cute but not all the time. You can be scary too, you know,” he said, looping both arms around her waist. 

“Well duh! Is there anyone who isn’t scary when they’re mad?”

Johnny just laughed and squeezed her. “I just want us to be together. Our friends were right – we are perfect for each other,” he looked down on her with the gentlest smile on his face.

Essie felt her cheeks flush and looked away from him. “So what are you going to do about this?” 

“I’m going to tell everyone that we’re dating now.” With those words, he led her back into the studio and announced to everyone that they were dating. 

The crew was overjoyed when they heard this – one of them screamed ‘Finally!’ with all his might. Essie’s boss ordered a giant pizza enough to feed them for days and the photographer got three cases of beer. 

It may seem like another day in the life of a fashion editor and a model wrapping up another all-nighter shoot, but for Johnny and Essie, today was the day they finally came to their senses and became the most adorable (if not sometimes obnoxious) couple the world has ever seen.

–––

FIN