#Sabrina isn't allowing for it

[lioriel]

Day Five: Youngest Child Wins

For the Sisters Grimm Sketch & Drabble Challenge

I may have spent longer than necessary on this. But I don’t regret it.

[marvelsswansong]

bad for business

summary: Steve's got a lot on his plate - managing his house whilst his parents are out of town, work shifts in Family Video, babysitting six teens. If only his love for you didn't get in the way: you're good for his heart but bad for business.

tags: Steve x fem!reader, tooth rotting fluff, whipped n lovesick bf Steve, exasperated Robin & sassy kids, Steve's parents being toxic, humor, slightly suggestive, Sabrina song fic again

☆ word count: 5.3K+ ☆

⚠️ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 ���𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞.⚠️

Steve still remembered the stern look on his father's aged face, frown lines carving into the old man's dimples as he cautiously dangled the set of keys from his left hand.

"Are you sure that you'll be able to manage everything whilst we're gone?"

There was a hint of doubt laced into his question, a shadow of disapproval and distrust barely masked by his neutral expression. Not that it affected Steve much - he was used to his father's sly comments at this point, the casual passive aggressiveness, the layering of seemingly innocent questions with sour tones.

So Steve simply smiled and rolled his shoulders forward, his fingers meeting his father's wrinkled ones as the house keys were exchanged by the front porch of the house. The car was already running, toxic gas fumes billowing into the air, stacks of suitcases crammed into the backseat.

"Yes, dad. I promise to be diligent."

His father only narrowed his eyes at that, licking his chapped lips as he eyed Steve up and down.

"Well, I suppose it shouldn't be too difficult for you to manage. It isn't as if you're pressed for time: considering you're a twentysomething with a job at a video store and no future plans for higher education."

The insult stung, bitter taste filling Steve's mouth, but he'd be damned if he let it show how his father's cruelty affected him. So his lips only ever so flicked upwards in a faux smile, sick sweetness dripping from his tone.

"Of course. I hope you and mom have a great time in San Francisco."

Steve's mother was kinder upon departure - albeit, only so because she hurriedly left with a swift kiss to his cheek and a stern reminder that she'd left a list on the fridge on all he'd have to do whilst they were gone. It was clear that neither of his parents truly trusted him to take care of the house, which annoyed him to no end, but he swallowed all his protests and waved his parents goodbye as the maroon Ford swerved out of the driveway.

The list of things to keep on top of, as scribbled down by his mother in frantic pencil marks, now remained practically untouched by his fridge. The first morning after his parents had gone, he'd briefly skimmed over the list and began to sort through the tasks in his mind - the laundry, collecting the mail, dusting his parents' room, opening the windows in the basement to allow for air to circulate... And he was determined on being responsible and sticking by it to a tee-

And then you'd called.

Giggly and drunk, calling him from a random phone booth outside a downtown bar, voice low and sweet as you rambled on about how much you missed him. Steve was dashing out of his house in an instant at that, not even bothering to take the time to turn off all the lights or properly lock his front door, and he spent the rest of the night doting after you - bringing you glasses of water, pressing light kisses onto your forehead, devouring one VHS tape after another on the couch with your sleepy body enveloping his.

'I'll get to the list of things tomorrow.' he reasoned then, fingers gently running up and down the curve of your waist as you slept peacefully against his chest. The disapproving stares and condescending comments of his parents disappeared further and further in his mind as he relaxed into your hold, warmth and familiar scents of vanilla and jasmine lulling him to sleep.

That was three days ago.

Steve still hasn't taken out the trash. He's yet to even drive past the post office to see if his parents had received any new packages. The laundry basket is still full and leaning hazardously against his parents' bedroom door, almost mocking him every time he passes by their room. Alas, Steve's been too busy spending every moment with you: spontaneous drives, date nights, and running errands around town with your pinkie finger interlaced with his.

Damn it.

Today's the day, Steve tells himself, fixing his curls in the bathroom mirror before taking a deep breath in. He's going to have a quick breakfast before getting started with mowing the lawn, then he'll move on to sort the laundry, then he can drive off to the post office-

"STEVIEEEE-" your melodic voice rings out from the kitchen, cutting through his frantic thoughts with ease. The warmth that blossoms in his stomach is instantaneous, as is the grin on his face at the sound of your pleading.

"Yes, angel?" he shouts back, peeking his head out the door. You step back from the kitchen counter, Steve's oversized green tie dye shirt hanging loosely and stopping at the top of your thighs. It drives him crazy: your bedhead hair, the bumblebee patterned fuzzy socks on your feet, the innocent twinkle in your eyes as you smile at him from across the room.

"Do you want bacon or sausages with your pancakes?" you ask, deep in thought.

"Either is good with me, love." Steve responds, but you only pout at that, shaking your head sideways in mock dissatisfaction.

"That's not helpful, babe! Or is it because you want both?"

"Fine, uh... sausages, I guess." he resigns and you nod, returning your attention to the sizzling pan. He takes a moment after turning off the sink tap to admire you in the sunlight - golden beams of light illuminating a halo around the crown of your head, pink lips turning glossy as you absentmindedly suck on a strawberry, soft thighs parting and crossing underneath his t-shirt.

It's a sight that makes Steve feral with desire, heart pounding so fast he thinks it'll burst out of his chest. It's a sight that he'd give anything to wake up to, all other consequences be damned.

And Steve's plans for a quick breakfast all but fly out the window the moment you sit him down onto the kitchen counter and insist on him keeping you company through the "most important meal of the day." The excuse of really having to get to the list of tasks left by his parents is sitting on the tip of his tongue, but his mind blanks white at your glittery smile and your soft fingers tracing random patterns onto his shaky hands, legs thrown over his lap.

"Just fifteen minutes, please?" you bat your eyelashes at him too, and he's a goner.

"Of course, baby."

Breakfast drags on for at least an hour - what with Steve wanting to feed you spoonfuls of sweet honeyed pancakes and grapes, your legs kicking forward in delight, and the various kisses he can't help himself to leave along your skin. Head burrowed in to the dip of your neck leading down to the valley of your breasts, one arm tightly wrapped around your waist to secure you in his lap, time just slips away from him easily.

Once the plates are empty and the dishwasher's been filled, Steve forces himself (pulling away from your embrace with significant difficulty) to get on with his tasks. He gets an hour or two at best before you flip the rest of his day upside down, finding him hunched over the washing machine. Face scrunched up in frustration and bottom lip protruding as he intently focuses, Steve's throat then runs dry the moment he looks up and sees that you've changed into his favorite dress. Mint green with light puffy sleeves, a dress with cotton fabric which hugs your figure perfectly.

"It's so nice outside and you want to stay home and do the laundry?" you whine, jumping up and down on the balls of your feet. He's still caught off guard as you trail towards him, mischievous smile on your lips as you tug at his sleeves.

"We should go out, Stevie. I heard Lover's Lake is real romantic this time of the year, and we have enough left overs from last night to have a picnic."

There's still so many things to do - he's only manage to cross off two tasks out of a total of twenty, and his parents are coming back tomorrow morning.

But all he can focus on right now is how breathtaking you look in that dress, the silver butterfly necklace hanging loosely from your neck when you lean over and brush your thumbs against his face, smoothing over his cheeks. The dirty clothes are quickly dropped back into the laundry basket as he caves, hurrying to help you pack a picnic basket and then rushing to open the front door of his BMW for you.

Turns out, you sneak a bit of cherry wine into the mix, making him tipsy off of the sweet alcholic beverage mingling in his mouth, whilst he's simultaneously getting drunk off of your giggles at all his dirty jokes. He stops drinking before he gets fully drunk, of course, but the pleasant buzz in his mind continues as you straddle him, equally as tipsy as him.

"I love you so much, Steve." you mumble into his skin, arms wrapping around his neck, lazy smile painting your face. Steve swears he can feel his brain melt at that admission, stomach so full with love and fingertips buzzing with electricity, it hurts to look straight at you due to the sunlight but he still does so with a goofy grin.

"I love you even more, baby."

The last night before his parents' return is then spent not on catching up on the rest of his duties, but lost to cuddling sessions on the couch as a boring rom-com drones on in the background. His hands can't help but trace your figure teasingly, thumbs dipping underneath your shorts, the gesture tickling against your skin as you giggle and bat at his chest.

"Stop, Stevie." you joke, making Steve look up from where he's pressing kisses down onto your exposed shoulders.

"Not a chance, love. I'm addicted to you." he groans, shifting to sit you up right against his chest. You raise your eyebrows at that.

"Addicted? What am I, a drug?" you tease.

"Even worse." he mumbles, coarse lips ghosting alongside your jaw. "You're all I think about and can ever think about."

A harsh sound - the house telephone perched on the opposite wall ringing - fills the living room and you quirk your head sideways, amused at how Steve doesn't seem phased at all.

"Don't you wanna get that? It might be your parents, after all."

He's not even listening to you, head drawn downwards, fingers gripping at your waist with a lustful smile to match. His irises are glazed over, chest heavy with infatuation - the air feels sickly sweet and heavy to him, intoxicated to be in your presence.

"Let it ring." he insists. He flips you underneath him in an instant, the laugh bubbling from your throat quickly morphing into a moan when his kisses begin to get more aggressive.

"I'm more focused on... something else, if you get what I mean." he lowly teases, starting to tug your shirt over your neck.

Steve wakes the next morning, startled and disoriented, to the sound of his parents' car pulling back into the driveway, accompanied by the yelling of his father to come downstairs. His sleepy mind is still stuck in the crevices of his dreamlike state - your warm legs entangled with his, head resting against his chest as he pulls your scantily clad body closer to him - as he begrudgingly forces himself to sit upright, pulling a shirt over his naked torso.

He looks back at you one last time, still sleeping and head peacefully resting against his pillows, before walking downstairs to meet his parents' fury.

"Did you manage to get the tasks done?" his father fusses, examining the living room with a critical eye. His father is clearly unhappy with the mess you two have left: the blanket draped over the two of you from last night still messily strewn over the sofa, paper plates stained with pizza grease peeking out from the trash can, your borrowed shirt still on the floor (which Steve is quick to pick back up with a reddened face).

"I uh... sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I meant to." Steve starts off slowly, before his eyes fall back onto the shirt in his hands and a smile appears on his face instinctively. "Then I got distracted."

-------------------------------------

Steve's work hours are from nine to six, with a late start on Fridays from ten to seven. He doesn't mind working at Family Video, he might even say he actually likes it - Robin's great company (he can't complain about having his co-worker also be his best friend) and the constant rotation of new media and customers keeps him on his toes.

Steve's always been a diligent worker too. Rises at eight, has breakfast, brushes his teeth, swings his bag over his shoulder and makes the drive across town to get to work precisely on time. His track record is precise, he gets along with all the customers, he doesn't cause too many issues for either Robin or their boss.

That was at least the case, until he fell in love with you.

Steve tries to resist you come every Sunday - he knows he has a full week of work ahead and that if he goes to bed any time later than 11, he'll be yawning and stumbling around like a zombie from the fatigue. But you're dangerous when you call him up at night, voice dripping with honey and maple sugar, he can practically visualize you with your legs hanging in the air as you dangle off of the edge of your bed.

"I'm bored, Stevie." you sigh into the phone.

Clutching the phone receiver closer to his ear, Steve only smirks at that, imagining your cute face scrunch up in annoyance as you complain about your Sunday night boredom.

"I'm sorry to hear that, angel, but I really should go to bed early." he gently coaxes you, but you only huff on the other line. The sound of fabric shifting underneath your figure rings out as you readjust your posture on your bed.

"I know, just... I miss you, it's all."

"Aw baby I miss you too." he coos, wishing he could be by your side right now. "Why don't you ask Nancy to come over? She's taking tomorrow off, I heard."

He hears you rustling through your belongings in the background before you respond, this time with a chirpier voice.

"Oh actually, it's fine! I remember Eddie saying we could hang out tonight if I wanted to."

Jealousy pricks at Steve's heart at an instant, needles poking against his skin, fiery liquid burning his veins.

"Eddie said that?" he chokes out. You don't seem to pick up on your boyfriend's shift in demeanor at the end of the line, only nodding and curling the phone chord between your upper fingers.

"Yeah, and I haven't seen him in a bit so maybe I could call him up. I still have the brownie batter from last weekend in the fridge so it'll be fun-"

Steve's vision flashes red at that - baking sessions are to be solely shared between you and him, he thinks. And the thought of Eddie Munson putting his hands on you (platonic or not), guiding your hands on the kitchen counter and wiping away spare chocolate from your lips the way Steve always does, makes him delirious with anger and jealousy.

"I'm coming over." he announces, already beginning to grab his jacket and keys. You frown from the other side, pulling away from the phone in momentary surprise before responding.

"Are you sure? If you're working tomorrow, it's fine, I can just call Eddie-" you start, only to be cut off again.

"NOPE. I'm coming over, it's final, no need to call Eddie." Steve rushes out. "Love you, see you soon."

Before you can even try to talk him out of it he hangs up, leaving you to stare at your ringing phone with amusement. True to his word, your flustered and out of breath boyfriend is waiting for you by your doorstep in less than fifteen minutes.

"Hi there." you tease, eyeing him up and down. His tense posture - clenched jaw, squared shoulders, anxious twiddling of his fingers by his sides - melts away the moment his eyes land on you in a lacy blue nightdress and pink socks.

Fuck, you look ethereal, he notes, the pale moonlight shining down onto your hair, kissing the top of your brows and carving shadows down your jaw.

"You were jealous, weren't you?" you tease, crossing your arms across your chest. You let out a gentle laugh at his bewildered expression. "You don't have to be, baby. Eddie's just a friend, if anything, he's like the annoying brother I've never had."

"Was not jealous." Steve mumbles, not even meeting your gaze as he shuffles into your house and shrugs off his jacket by your sofa. You suppress another laugh at that, his doelike eyes drawn downwards as if he's a puppy that's been kicked.

"Okay, you weren't jealous." you sarcastically comment, leaning against the sofa. He looks up at that, defensive.

"I wasn't!" the pitch of his voice comes out too high to be persuasive, forcing him to cough and attempt to purposefully lower his voice. "I was not jealous of Eddie."

Leaning forward slowly, you press a light kiss onto his lips - he still tastes like his mint toothpaste - and wiggle your eyebrows.

"Alright, handsome. Whatever you say."

He'd fight you, he really would, but he can't find it in himself to argue with you when the alternative is to be able to hug you from behind as you bake and make you laugh. In between separating the batter and organizing the kitchen mid-mess, Steve makes sure to sneak in a few photographs with his polaroid.

"I swear you're obsessed with that thing." you comment, pointing your wooden spoon at the polaroid sitting in Steve's palms. "Ever since I've gotten you that camera for your birthday, you haven't ever put it down."

Steve just hums at that, sly smile on his lips as he snaps another picture of you leaning over the open oven, the bright flash blinding you momentarily. When the photo pops out, Steve's fingers curl around the edges to shake it back and forth, before he examines the developing photograph with a wide smirk.

"What can I say, I just want to capture your beauty the best I can."

He jokes that he's coming for Jonathan's job as the photographer of the group, and you playfully roll your eyes and tell him that if he's trying to compete with Jonathan, he's doing a rotten job.

"You only ever take photos of me or of us together, babe." you remind him. You're correct, of course. Steve's wallet is overflowing with crammed polaroids of you laying on the sofa, reading the newspaper, sleeping - doing the most mundane and uninteresting things. Not that he cares, if anything, he argues that you look the most stunning during those times.

In fact, you even caught him showing off photos of you to his friends, who all smile at how adorable his infatuation with you is, whilst simultaneously dreading the repeated practice. You have to admit, it does give off a bit of the "old grandfather showing off photos of his grandchildren" vibes at times.

Once the brownies have finished baking, you carefully divide them up into neat squares, making sure to package few of them separately for Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, Joyce and Hopper. You beg Steve to join you by the rooftop to enjoy the rest and so he obviously obliges, exchanging caramel brownie kisses with you under the moonlight with a light blanket draped over both your laps.

"We should really get to bed." you try to reason, pulling away from his grasp, wary of his early start tomorrow. But Steve rolls his eyes at that, left hand coming to cup your chin again, pulling your lips right back against his.

"Another ten minutes."

You smile into the kiss, nodding.

"Another ten minutes."

Of course, with you, kisses are never ten minutes.

Hence why now he's doing the walk of shame into Family Video, arriving at 10.30 - a full hour and a half after his shift was supposed to start - with Robin leaning against the counter with an unimpressed expression on her face. She doesn't even need to question him at this point, considering you've walked into the store with him, smoothing over his hair with your fingers and waving at Robin as you've driven your boyfriend to work.

"Late night?" Robin smirks, noticing how you're having a bit of trouble walking. You laugh nervously as Steve blushes pink at his best friend's teasing, the dark marks decorating his neck a dead giveaway of what you two ended up doing last night.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Robin. I swear, I was trying to get him to sleep but he kept on insisting!" you say, making the brunette shake her head in response, amused grin quirking up her lips.

"You don't have to tell me twice, hun. Steve all but throws out all his responsibilities the moment you come into his peripheral."

Steve rolls his eyes, mouth open ready to defend himself, but he realizes that she kind of has a point. So he resigns to go off to the back room to change into his uniform, but not completely out of earshot from you and Robin.

"See, I was just going to call up Eddie since I knew Steve had work today morning, but Steve just hung up and showed up at my doorstep so I didn't have much of a choice." you recall, only making Robin's smirk widen as she shoots her best friend an amused look.

"Is that true, lover boy? Got jealous of Eddie Munson, the drug dealer obsessed with D&D?" she sing songs, clearly mocking him.

"Shut up." Steve grumbles out, tugging his work vest over his shoulders.

"You two together-" he points between the two of you, you leaning forward on the counter on your propped up arms and Robin standing up straight with her arms crossed, "are dangerous."

"You're just afraid that one day I'm gonna steal her. It's the least you can do to compensate me, with how many times you're coming in late these days." Robin jokes, placing an arm around your shoulder. You laugh again at that as Steve sighs, rubbing his forehead.

"I'm sorry, you can take Thursday and Friday off, how about that?" he tries to console, feeling bad for all his tardiness lately. His best friend chooses to simply hum in response, tapping her fingers against the counter in contemplation.

"I get Thursday and Friday off, and you pay for pizza night at (Y/n)'s next weekend." Robin counter-suggests.

Your boyfriend only huffs at that, flailing his arms around in frustration.

"WHAT? How is that any fair, technically my girlfriend is just as responsible for me being late as myself." he argues, gesturing to you emphatically.

"Not true, Stevie. I told you multiple times I could find someone else for the night and I also did tried to get you to sleep earlier repeatedly." you remind him, giving him a knowing glance.

"Yeah, Harrington, don't try to change the subject. It's not her fault that you're like, obsessed with her." Robin adds, poking Steve in the shoulder.

Unable to handle the teasing further, he relents, shaking his head in defeat.

"Okay, okay. Thursday and Friday off, and I'll pay for pizza night next week."

"Great! I'll see you later, yeah?" you ask, kissing Steve on the cheek. You don't get even more than a few feet away from the counter before he's pulling you backwards by your wrist, liplocking you into a harsh kiss that leaves your lips buzzing and head fuzzy.

"See you later, love."

He watches you leave with infatuation clouding his vision, head still swimming with the taste of your lips. Robin has to physically shake him awake, an exasperated look on her face.

"Come on, Harrington. You don't want to even more late to work, do you?"

-------------------------------------

Steve's never seen without you these days. The kids have gotten used to seeing you by the front seat of his BMW, grinning at them through the window as Steve is there on "pickup duty" - be that from the arcade, the library or school.

There's a light breeze passing through the park today, the summer sun far too nice to pass up a day outside. Erica and Lucas are racing each other on their bikes, Mike's engaged in a casual conversation with Will by the swing set, then you and Max are standing by the walkway with her skateboard.

You're watching intently as the redhead flawlessly hops onto the skateboard in front of you, before jumping up into the air, kicking the board up into a minor flip and landing down onto the pavement safely. Your eyes widen in awe, quickly clapping afterwards, causing the girl's cheeks to turn as red as her hair.

"You have to teach me!" you insist.

"I'm not sure if I'd be a good teacher." Max shyly responds, scratching her neck. You wave her off.

"You'd be fantastic, Max! But only if you want to teach me, of course. I'm sure if I'm learning from you I'll be a pro in no time."

Dustin is stealing another handful of grapes from the picnic basket, sneaking looks in between where you're standing and then to Steve, who has the most dorky smile on his face as he admires you from afar whilst leaning against a large willow tree.

"You're so fucking whipped for her, it's sickening." Dustin comments, causing the older boy to look down at him, black rimmed sunglasses sliding down the bridge of Steve's nose at the action.

"Staring at my girlfriend is not a crime, Henderson." he reminds the younger boy, shoving him lightly in the shoulder. Dustin only huffs at that, straightening his shirt and dusting off his shoulders.

"Sure, but you bring her everywhere with you and you lose all your common sense when she's around."

"Nuh uh, do not." Steve defends himself, sitting up straight. Dustin pokes his tongue out, teasing him.

"Uh huh, you do."

"Do not."

"You do."

"What are we arguing about, boys?" you ask, sitting back down across them, breathless smile on your face. Your wet lips part and wrap around a lemonade bottle, and Steve swears he's never seen a more angelic sight than one of you in a tank top and levi jeans, sunlight accentuating your delighted features.

"Just about how Steve brings you to like, everything, and is obsessed with you and how sickening it is." the curly haired boy slyly comments, biting into a piece of toast. You fake your smile dropping at that, looking down in faux sadness.

"Oh... Sorry, would you prefer if I stop coming to these things?"

Steve hides his amused smile at that, watching Dustin's eyes widen in alarm.

"W-what?"

You drag out your sigh, sadly trailing your finger up and down the picnic mat.

"I know that Steve used to be the only one picking you guys up or bringing you to the park... If I'm ruining all your plans with Steve, I'm happy to no longer come-"

"NO, NO, NO! Oh my god, (Y/n), that's totally not what I meant." Dustin hurriedly explains, speaking so fast that bread crumbs are falling everywhere. "We love having you around, seriously Max and Lucas will kick me in the shins if you stop showing up for these things, I was just making fun of Steve and how much he loves you, it's actually kinda sweet and I was just joking-"

You and Steve both laugh at that point, the dam breaking as you both throw your head back, causing Dustin's expression to morph into one of confusion. Pausing, you brush your hand over Dustin's curls, gently patting him on the head.

"I know, bub. I was just joking, that's all."

Dustin splutters at that, before pouting his lips forward.

"Oh, come on, that was just evil, (Y/n)." he grumbles.

"Aw, I'm sorry Dusty. But I'm always happy to show up to these things, so long as you're all happy to have me."

He looks up at you, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

"I mean, yeah. You're cool. In fact, too cool to be dating this one." he says, pointing to Steve, who raises his eyebrows in mock offense.

"Watch it, Henderson."

Dustin runs off at the sound of Lucas and Erica calling him over, standing over their parked bikes, leaving you to stare at the gorgeous face of your boyfriend's.

"The kids all love you." he comments, his cold fingers brushing over your warm hands. "A bit too much, I think. I'm starting think you're the resident babysitter, not me."

Leaning in close, so close that he can count the individual droplets of water adorning your hair, you shake your head sideways in denial.

"Nah, I don't think that's possible." you pause for dramatic effect. "I think that'll always be Nancy."

"You little-" he starts, pretending to be burnt by your betrayal.

Giggling, you pull away, already beginning to make a run for it towards the kids when Steve all but (carefully) pummels into you, pinning you against the nearest tree. Hands tickling your waist, he steadies your body beneath his, amused grin decorating his lips.

"Apologize, babe." he commands.

"Mmm... I don't know..." you trail off, pretending to be conflicted.

"Apologize or I won't kiss you." he threatens, which only makes you chuckle.

"That's an empty threat, Stevie. We both know that if anyone's going to be more kiss deprived, it's you."

"That's true!" Erica shouts from the background, making your smile only widen.

"Damn those smart ass kids." he swears, letting you back down. You smooth a hand over his forehead and wink at him.

"Don't worry, babe. You're still the resident babysitter."

"Lovebirds!"

You perk up at the sound of Nancy's voice before running over to quickly hug your friend, leaving Jonathan to replace your absence, standing next to Steve with his right hand fiddling with his camera.

"Are we still good for tomorrow?" Jonathan questions, shooting Steve a nonchalant glance. Steve only frowns at that, mind blanking.

"Uh... what's happening tomorrow?"

"Seriously?" the dark haired boy questions, raising his eyebrows. "You volunteered to helped me with my photography assignment, you know, the one for the local newspaper? We've literally talked about this two days ago."

"Oh, right! Yeah, sorry, I just uh..." Steve fumbles for an excuse, truthfully having totally forgotten about his plans for tomorrow.

"It's (Y/n), isn't it?" Jonathan quips, cocking his head towards where you're standing. He laughs at Steve's obvious embarrassment, Steve's eyes suddenly looking away as his ears turn red. "Robin was right, you're hopeless when you're around her."

Thankfully, their conversation is cut off short by the sound of your footsteps alongside Nancy's approaching, allowing Steve to instead focus on how warm your arm feels around his waist as you bury your head into his neck. Rubbing his hands up and down your back, he glares at Nancy and Jonathan who wiggle their eyebrows from behind you, clearly teasing him.

They're all right, Steve supposes. His parents, Robin, the kids, Nancy and Jonathan - to point out that you've turned his life upside down. He's been falling behind on his house tasks, showing up late to work, and forgetting his plans with his friends.

You're going to be the death of him.

Especially with the way you're now whining against his skin, asking him oh-so-sweetly if he wants to have dinner tonight at the diner off the 45 with the good milkshakes.

Steve knows that actually, his parents want him back home by five today, but he decides then and there that they can wait. Dinners with you will always come first, to hell with whatever snarky comments his parents might throw at him afterwards.

Alas, you're good for his heart but bad for business.

a/n: I know I literally just posted another Sabrina song fic after 'tornado warnings' for Eddie like less than a week ago but I COULDN'T resist, I'm still obsesed with emails I can't send and this song is so fucking cute a fluff fic had to be written around it.

Hope y'all like this one, I know the structure was a bit unusual but I loved how it turned out personally :)

[uglypastels]

Not Wholly Evil |IX| pirate!Eddie au [NSFW]

a/n we are getting so close to the endddd oh my god i am so excited and sad at the same time because i don't want this story to end as much as some of you, but I also cannot wait to share my next lil projects with you 🥰 thank you for all the support on the last chapter!

this chapter will include explicit scenes. Minors DO NOT Interact. 18+. if you have read the previous chapters but do/should not wish to consume this content, please read:

Chapter 9 (safe for work version)

Series Masterlist

word count: 13k

"semi dark fic" - READ the warnings:. (gun/sword)violence. blood. mention of severe wounds. minor character death. allusions to suicide. kidnapping. imprisonment. alcohol. open and deep sea. near-death experiences in water. men are pigs: mentions of non-con, but it does not actually occur. [in-dream] non-consensual behaviour. malnourishment and weight loss. paranoia. mention of poisoning. abuse. manhandling. lying. small wounds inflicted by fire. blackmail. binds and knifes. SMUT 18+ ONLY, MDNI - p in v sex. oral (f receiving). no condom (this isn't the 18th century. wrap it before you tap it). choking. thigh riding. jealous!eddie.

Chapter 9: Paragon

“Perhaps the wolf wasn't quite so dangerous as he pretended. Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out for sure——give him a little rope and see if he hung himself… And pray that he didn't tie her up with it instead.”

― Sabrina Jeffries, Dance of Seduction

He looked like he saw a ghost. And maybe he had. You didn’t feel like yourself, so who was to say if you were still alive? You had comprehended how you carried yourself back to the Hellfire. Standing in his room felt like you were looking down at yourself. Aware of everything around you but understanding none of it.

‘I thought you had left.’ He stepped into the room, leaving the door wide open. As he walked, you noticed he was clearing the way for you, allowing you to leave if you wanted to. His eyes were intently focused on yours and threaded lightly. Like any wrong move would cause you to disappear.

‘I wanted to,’ you admitted. You still wanted to. Your thoughts had screamed through the night for an escape. Yet, something tied you down to this ship and made you return.

‘Then why didn’t you?’ He came closer, and so did you. That string pulled at your ribs again, pulling you two closer. You had tried long enough to fight it to no avail. Whatever you thought you wanted did not compare to your subconscious need to be next to him. 

‘I don’t know.’ Deep down, you knew the reason, but the time was not there yet to admit it. In your mind, you still despised everything about him, this ship, the crew, and, therefore, yourself for needing his touch as much as you did at this moment. It was weak to give in to him like you did.

The candle’s light fell upon him at angles that brought something new out in him or maybe revealed what had always been there. The signs of the wear and tear of a life at sea. He wasn’t hiding it any more, letting all that pain be visible, and he looked beautiful. You held back from reaching out and tracing the thin scar against his brow or the flawed line of his nose that must have been broken once. The longer you looked at him, the more you realised that you could look at him in this way forever. 

And that scared you. 

Munson walked past you to his desk, occupying himself with whatever he could reach. It would have been good for you to have something to focus on instead of him, but you stood in the middle of the room with nothing but him to clutch onto. Neither of you spoke, stuck in an awkward limbo, tiptoeing around one another to see who would be the first to step over that line. The line that had kept you, your heart, safe until now. You could impossibly predict what was to happen if it was crossed.

The ship creaked as the tide softly bounced off it. For the rest, it was uncharacteristically quiet on board.

‘Is the rest coming as well? Will we be departing soon?’ It was ridiculous to change the topic in this manner, but you simply did not know what else to say, and this barrier between you and him was dreadful. You could sense it in the middle, waiting for that catalyst to burst. And you wanted it to. Just how?

‘No, I doubt they realised I’ve gone.’ He finally turned back to face you, leaning against the desk, arms crossed, eyes on the ground. If he could just look at you—would that make things easier or that much harder?

‘Why did you? Leave the tavern, I mean.’ With your heart pounding in your throat, tightening your breath, you stepped toward him. 

‘I noticed you were gone. Then I heard you had gone to the harbour with some man and I thought…. I grew worried.’

‘Why?’ You could not imagine him caring for you to go out, away from his crew and his festivities, to look for you. 

‘I know what you’re thinking, and at first, yes, I was thinking about the money,’ he admitted, which took you aback. You took a step closer. ‘But then I—when I realised, or thought, that I had actually lost you, I thought about how I would never see you again, and I realised—’ his words faded as you took your final step towards, letting your chest press against his. He finally let his eyes meet yours. 

‘Realised what?’ Considering your proximity and seclusion, you hadn’t meant to whisper, but it felt right. 

‘That I was scared’ His breath was shaky as his eyes took all of you in. ‘Of loosing you.’

‘I was scared too.’ And maybe that is what kept you from leaving. The idea that if you would go, there was a possibility that you would never see him again, and it was enough to hollow out your entire being with dread. It felt wrong. But that gnawing in your chest stayed there the whole night, even when you had returned to the Hellfire, and it only left once you felt his fingers intertwine with yours. A flutter of a touch at the fingertips.

‘And? Are you still scared?’ He matched your hushed tone with his response. The question was simple on its surface, but only the facade for an obliterating iceberg was the truth. 

‘No.’ Standing in front of him, feeling his breath on you, the warmth that radiated off him, his gentle touch on your skin, seeing the smile hiding in his features, you saw nothing to be scared of anymore. There was nothing to fear anymore. The voice in you that had screamed for help all those days was silenced for a final time when you leaned in to kiss him.

His lips were chapped, cheeks rough with scars and the light shadowy scruff of a beard. His touch was featherlight, as if he was scared to pursue it as if you were to break underneath him. It starkly contrasted the force he had pulled you in with hours before. The intensity had been dizzying, and yet this was what genuinely shut your mind down entirely. But you could tell that he was not there yet wholly. Something kept him guarded. 

You pulled away, but your lips still shared the same breath. When you opened your eyes, you were met with his and how they were shaking with uncertainty as he took all of you in. 

‘Is there something you’re still afraid of?’ you asked.

‘Many things,’ his hand found its place on your waist, ‘but mostly of myself,’ and gently pushed you away. ‘And what I will do to you. I have made so many mistakes, mistakes that hurt you, already in that I will have to live it for my eternity, but I do not know what I will do if I make one again.’ 

There was silence as you took in his words. You understood them, possibly more than anyone could, for they were yours. As your lips met, you thought if what you were doing would lead to your doom, if it would all end in a disaster, but could something that felt so right be so devastating?

He had let his eyes fall to the ground. You reclaimed the one step he had made you take, closing the gap between you once more and letting your hand guide him to look up at you.

‘Do you think that kiss was a mistake?’ Your heart beat faster than it ever had as you waited for an answer, but his lips remained shut, so you continued. ‘If so, do not play with my heartstrings, but tell me, and I will leave. I will return to my cell, and you can lock me up and never see me again until you bring me back home.’ It would only be a couple of days, and it would hurt to mend this extremely fragile piece of you that you had just opened, but like all wounds do, it would heal eventually.

‘Answer me, captain.’ You kept your voice as steady as possible, regaining the confidence you had built up since you got onto the ship. ‘Was that a mistake?’

‘No.’ And with that one final word, you both leaned in for a kiss. Your hand was still on his cheek, his holding you tightly, but you still felt that urge to pull yourself closer to him. As you felt the press of his chest fully against yours, he actually pulled his lips away from yours. He hesitated but finally spoke against the corner of your mouth. ‘But… call me Eddie. Please.’ 

You couldn’t help but smile into your next kiss. Just like that, all that weight of the world fell off both your shoulders, down into the depths of the ocean, never to be seen again. You didn’t hold back with this newfound freedom when you pushed him up against the desk. The furniture shuffled with a creak over the floor, and you could hear some things topple over at the impact. Still, neither of you cared, too occupied with one another. He could just about manage to extend his hand and begin to push all the loose items off the desk to make space for himself. The papers flew around you, and all the measurement equipment clattered onto the crowd. 

As the kiss intensified, Eddie shrugged and smoothly sat up on the desk, pulling you in with him. As he slowly let himself fall back, you followed, attached by the lips, hands, and hearts, until you practically lay on top, arms keeping you up from falling entirely onto him. Well, one hand, as the other found him and laced your fingers together once more. He had tried to make more space around you, pushing objects aside, when he cursed loudly.

You startled away and saw the clench in his jaw as he took a deep breath. He must have read your panic-stricken face as he showed you his hand. ‘It’s alright,’ his voice was calm, humour peaking through it. ‘I might have just put my hand right into the flame.’ And indeed, the side of his hand was glowing red. 

Hearing this did not put your mind at rest as you tried to grab his hand and inspect the damage more deeply, but he pulled it away from you, instead taking your fingers in his and kissing your knuckles. 

‘Don’t worry, my darling,’ he smiled while kissing your hand, ‘Can barely feel it.’

He had just made direct contact with fire; you doubted it would be alright, but then again, you had seen all the scars on his body. This would just be another small blister among the list of many. But you blinked the thought away. Tried your best to not think about the pain he had endured. You doubted he wanted you to feel pity for him and what had once happened to him. 

The look in his eyes was adamant. He needed you to let it go, so all you could do was sigh.

‘You’ve gone mad.’ 

Eddie chuckled at your comment as he let his lips travel over your wrist, over the length of your arm. ‘As mad as any other sane man.’ His kisses moved over the material of your shirt. The lack of contact that was so clearly there shot sparks of anticipation through you, but he took his time taking you all in until his lips reached your collar. He had practically strained his neck to reach you from his position. Some of you wanted to back away to see how far he would follow you, but your weaker portion gave into his touch and melted over it. 

He had just kissed your neck, sparking a fire through you on the spot, when a noise boomed over the silent ship, bursting you out of the solitary moment of bliss. In an instant, Eddie held you by the hips as he gently pushed you off him and got himself back on the ground. There was an alarm in his features, and so, when he looked at you and told you to “Stay here”, for once, you listened.

He closed the door behind him as he left to see what the noise was, and when minutes later, he had not returned, but there had also not been any more ruckus or signs of danger; you calmed down. Unsure of what to do now, you lay down on the bed. In the past few days, the bed had gotten more comfortable as you got used to it, but it still felt strange. You lay down on your side, facing the wall. The patterns in the wooden planks almost seemed to move in the shadowy light and, unfortunately for you, brought you into a trance of clarity and thoughts.

What were you doing? How could you have let all this happen? Kissing the man that had caused the death of so many people that you had deemed friends. How could you betray their souls by… by falling for him? You had lost control of all your feelings and emotions. 

It was a trick of the sea. You had simply been captured on this ship for so long that you did not know what was wrong or right. How else could you explain the yearning feeling that still circulated through you? Why else did you wish he was still here with you, touching you?

With all these thoughts occupying your mind, you must have missed Eddie walking back into the room, mumbling something about how it had been a few of his crew that stumbled back up to the ship. Too busy with your own mind, you did not hear him calling your name softly, assuming you had fallen asleep and telling you good night. You did not hear how deflated the last words came from his mouth. You only caught the sound of the door closing behind him. 

And soon you managed to turn all these thoughts off and fall asleep. Except then, they came back even stronger and in the form of dreams. You found yourself back on the Red Tail. The hawk flapped its wings on the flag in the wind and every man’s uniform. The sun shone brightly in its last few minutes before hiding behind the horizon. It was a strange illusion as you stared down at the ship and the two figures that stood out looking at the sparkling sea. You watched yourself talking to Admiral Carver.

‘I would have imagined you to have grown tired of the water by now,’ he laughed.

‘I won’t say I will be happy to return home, but I can’t ever see myself becoming tired of this view. It is beautiful.’ You leaned forward onto the balustrade and breathed in the salty air. ‘Besides, you have done this for much longer than I have, and you’re here too, so it can’t be that bad.’ It seemed it was only your first expedition while he had crossed the world several times. If anyone was to grow tired of it, you thought it would be him. 

‘Perhaps you’re right,’ he had his arms behind his back, ‘but everything is more bearable when there is something back home to look forward to.’ 

‘I suppose so.’ You would not exactly know what he meant. Of course, you could not wait to see your father again, and your friends, but nothing at home gave you the sense that it genuinely anchored you there or drew your heart in for your return. ‘I am sure you miss your family very much.’

‘Yes, of course,’ He took a step closer to you, ‘but I will miss these moments.’

‘Oh,’ you were startled by his proximity, unsure how to respond. Politely, you smiled and tried to keep the conversation going, ‘I’ve enjoyed them too, uhmm-’, but you were suddenly thrown off-guard when you felt his hands on you. Before he had the chance to do anything, you were quick to push him off. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Taking our last chance before it’s too late.’ He leaned in again, and you stepped back. 

‘What about your–’

‘She does not need to know.’ The sea was a free playing field for most men, so what happened out there was not up to the women at home to know. You had seen adultery but never thought the admiral would participate in such activities. He had been drinking; maybe he wasn’t thinking straight. Before he would make any more mistakes, you attempted to walk away, but he caught you by the arm, putting all his strength into the hold.

‘Admiral, you’re hurting me.’ You tried to pull your arm back, and this is where things began to change. Where the dream made itself apparent. Carver’s handsome features turned into vicious angles as he spoke. 

‘So you’ll kiss Munson, but not me?’ 

‘What- what are you–’ you tried to get away, but it was as if he grew in size. And there were flashes. These flashes of light. Like lightning, there was no thunder, rain, or light. It blinded you, and you tried to regain your sight by blinking, but each time you did so, he seemed to change right in front of you. 

There was him like you knew him, but the next second he turned into this nightmarish version of himself, but there were moments when he wasn’t himself at all. You’d blink, and suddenly you saw Captain Munson. Still in that uniform, however, you would try to make sense of it all. Still, before you could, he would disappear again, and you would be looking into Carver’s blank eyes, and you’d see the blood dripping from his mouth as he spat out his words.

‘Don’t trust him.’

‘What?’ You had tears in your eyes, and your wrist burned from his touch. There was another flash of light. Eddie stood before you again, just as you knew him. 

‘Do not trust him.’

Don’t trust who? Who were you meant to trust, then? The questions rang through you as you woke up, head throbbing with pain, limbs sore and dehydrated. If you did not know any better, you would have blamed the rum you consumed the night before on everything, making you imagine all that had happened. Still, the sensation that Eddie had left on your whole body felt too real to be just a drunken dream or nightmare.

He was not in the cabin when you awoke, but you could hear him outside, yelling commands out. When you looked outside the window, you could tell by how the waves moved that you had departed the Saint Claire harbour and were on your way again.

You sat up in bed but remained still afterwards, uncertain what to do next. Some part of you wanted to go outside and see Eddie, talk to him about whatever it was that had happened that night. Still, a bigger side of you doubted you could ever look him in the eye again. Seeing your reflection from the glass doors of a cabinet in the room, of yourself in his bed, made you feel bad enough. So, staying in the room for the rest of the day was not an option either. You were already at the door, hand on the handle, when it opened, nearly crashing into you. 

‘Sorry,’ his apology was muffled. 

‘I was just on my way out,’ you muttered in the same awkward tone and walked past him. 

‘Wait,’ Eddie reached for you, and the memory of your dream of Carver made you retract away from him, regretting it as soon as you did. Eddie wasn’t him, but you treated him the same because of something your exhausted mind had decided to conjure up. Eddie kept his distance. ‘Can we talk?’

‘Later,’ you pleaded. This was not the right time. You could tell that it would not end well if you stayed there. 

But when would it be right? When would the stars align correctly for you to speak? It certainly wasn’t the next two days, as you kept walking in circles around eachother. You avoided him like the plague, and it was unlikely that he had not noticed yet. 

You kept yourself occupied with anyone else but him, really. Talking to Robin, Steve, and anyone else who seemed to require company as much as you. Almost as much, at least. It shocked you as well as them how smoothly the conversations went. While only a little was exchanged, neither side being too keen on sharing too much of their past, somehow, you still managed to fill hours with polite pleasantries. Some even showed you how to work around the ship, probably more than happy to give you some of their workload now. You didn’t mind. It was alright if it stopped you from overthinking everything that had happened in the past weeks. But it was still hard to do when you felt Eddie’s eyes on you. He’d watch you work the sails or anything else from afar, but when you’d try and catch him, he’d be suddenly occupied with something and walk away. 

The biggest surprise, however, came one evening when everyone had gathered for their final meal of the day. You had gotten your portion and were ready to return to the cabin when Robin pointed to the seat between her and Steve. You wanted to politely decline, feeling like you did not strictly belong in this dynamic—the crew’s meals felt more sacred, a moment for them to spend together, but they all saw your argument coming and shut it down. 

‘Never thought I’d say this,’ Wheeler, one of the lankier crewmates, said at some point, ‘but I might actually miss you.’ There was a cloud of agreeable laughter to which you belonged. It was funny, but what scared you was that you would miss them too when that eventual day of your return home would come. 

And it was coming.

Something about the air around you began to feel more familiar each day. And when you talked to Robin, you could sense that she knew how much time there was left. But each time you asked, she avoided answering straightforwardly. 

‘Not sure. But you know how seatravels are, you can never be sure… I mean, we should have been there days ago and yet,’ she laughed nervously, tying knots in a piece of old rope that someone had cut off once. 

‘I suppose you’re right.’ You had your own piece of rope and were toying with the frayed ends, pulling them apart mindlessly. You could hear Eddie talking to someone somewhere around, and you did your best not to look up. It had been days, but your tension still felt raw and strange. You wanted to simultaneously run into his arms and run away from him as far as possible, and you could not figure out which urge was the right one to follow.

‘It probably won’t take much longer, don’t worry.’ Robin said, her shoulder slumping as she untied another knot to remake it.

‘I’m not worried,’ you admitted. 

‘No, and you don’t need to be,’ Robin panicked, not wanting to give you the wrong impression of what she had intended to say, ‘but I’m sure you’ll be glad to be home.’ To this, you had no response because, very much like in your last days on your old ship, you had been eagerly awaiting your return home but did not feel like you were actually happy to go back. On top of that, you actually had the sense that you would miss this crew. By leaving, you would be leaving something behind, and you had never felt that before.

But it still did not feel right. Like a kink in your neck that you were trying to stretch out until it disappeared.

‘Can I ask you something?’ you said cautiously. 

Robin glanced up from her rope. ‘You always scare me when you say that.’ 

‘I hadn’t noticed I did it often.’ 

‘You’re quite inquisitive. It’s commendable, but dangerous.’

‘Should I be scared?’ You blinked. 

‘Not here, but in other parts of the world they’re not too keen on it, so just beware.’ She had tied a knot she couldn’t loosen anymore. ‘But what was your question?’ 

You took a deep breath. ‘Why did you target the Red Tail? And I know it was targeted, since the captain was aware what ship you were attacking.’ There was that other puzzle piece that was missing in your brain. How would he know if you were supposed to be on that ship or not? 

Robin froze and dropped her rope. You watched it fall to the ground and her reaching to pick it up clumsily. Once she did, she fumbled around even more with it. ‘I’m probably not the best person to ask this; I joined the crew late, I don’t know everything that’s going on around—’ she was getting distracted, losing the point of your question, or so you thought, ‘I had only heard things, but you have to know that people around here, we trust each other and that trust is earned. We might cheat once in a while in a game of cards or dice, but some things you just can’t lie about.

‘So, I didn’t need much convincing from the captain when he said that those— that those were bad men.’

‘He told you that my crew were bad men?’ 

‘They needed to be punished.’ Robin shrugged, but not in the way that made you think she thought indifferent. More so that, there was nothing she could do about it. It was a brief apology to you, not for what they had done, but as if she was sorry for being the bearer of the news. 

‘Punished for what?’ you asked, but Robin shook her head. Right, she wouldn’t be able to know, and you didn’t blame her. Was there anyone around willing to share more of the specifics of this situation? You felt like you had the right to explain what had brought you to their ship, but it would go past some lines of comfort for the men. Could you dare ask Eddie? 

But to ignore him for days just to come up with these questions could not be appreciated; then again, he owed you at least this after being the sole reason for your presence on this ship in the first place. He had caused all this mess. He could at least help you clean it up. 

You finished your conversation with Robin slowly, without any urgency to actually put it to an end. It must have been confusing to Robin, who saw how you tried to tie your sentences up to walk away, just to disentangle them just as she had been doing with her rope and keep pulling it back. Ultimately, she stopped it all and excused herself from the argument she needed back on her lookout post. She walked away, giving you this look that made it clear to you that she knew what you were planning to do and how apprehensive you were to do it. And whatever for? You had fought, punched, slapped and kissed Eddie in the past days without hesitation; why could you not just talk to him now?

Because that would actually mean something to you. It would unblur all the lines that connected you into a clear pattern, and you would have to live with those results, and you just were not ready for that yet. 

You took deep breaths as you walked up to the captain’s quarters. The door creaked as it slid open but was met with a resistant force as you collided with Eddie. He grunted lightly at the impact, and you began to apologise. 

‘Sorry,’ you mumbled, not expecting him to be so close suddenly. You had hoped to catch him at his desk, where the furniture could keep some kind of barrier between you. Still, now he stood mere inches away, towering over you and the heat of his body radiating onto yours. 

‘I was just on my way out.’ He scratched his beard casually, but his eyes said enough about how similarly he felt about your sudden appearance.

‘I hoped we could talk,’ you blurted out, and Eddie blinked.

‘Talk? Now?’ To this, you only nodded shyly. It had been too long. You had made him wait for days, which was simply too long. Why would he want to listen to what you had to say now? Eddie was ready to brush past you, but you were quicker, catching his arm and pulling eachother closer until your lips met in a chaste kiss. The suddenness stunned him, but for a blink of an eye before his muscles melted into position around you. It only confirmed your worst thoughts, how perfectly the two of you fit together, how your bodies simply locked into place with one another. The heat that grew between you could not only be felt by you. It was too strong for that. As much as you did not want to admit it, there was something there that you did not want to lose.

‘I’m sorry, ‘you said breathlessly, ‘for everything I’ve done in the past few days.’

‘You have done nothing to apologise for.’ He sighed.

‘Exactly,’ you jumped back at how loud you sounded. Still, his pull on your waist kept you close, ‘I have done nothing, while I should have stayed here with you, and we should have talked of, of whatever it is that stands between us, but—but I was scared. I thought I hadn’t been, but I was, and that, in turn, scared me even more, so I thought I needed time to think—’ 

‘And did you?’ He looked down at you inquisitively like he was observing a strange, yet highly fascinating, phenomenon in front of him. Something that he should not be enjoying as much as he was. The unwanted smirk appeared on his lips no matter how hard he tried to hide it. It made you aware of just how much you had tried to say in what short of an amount of time.

‘Yes,’ you said with a slow breath to help you calm down. At this, Eddie simply reacted with a gesture telling you to go on, to tell him what kind of discovery you had made. Would it be anything that could help your conundrum? Clear things up in your heads and maybe even hearts? You could not be sure, but it was a start if you just let those parts of you speak freely.

You took one more deep breath. ‘That night you asked me if I was scared, and I said “no”, but…’ you pushed past the shake of your voice. ‘But I realise now that that wasn’t the truth.’ As you announced this, the hand on your waist tightened its grip before leaving your body entirely. The immediate lack of contact made you regret your choice of words. Maybe you should have prepared what to say, but letting it come out unrehearsed and unplanned felt like the right thing to do. It would not cut out any of the emotions you felt. What you wanted him to know that you thought, so you stammered out your following words.

‘There is so much that I am scared of. It scares me how and how much I have changed in the past few days, and I am scared that I do not mind it. It scares me how much I enjoy being here and how much I want to be… with you.’ Your last words faded as you had not expected to hear yourself say them out loud. Eddie, who you had watched as he walked around the room in slow paces as he listened, must not have expected them, too, for he stopped to stare at you, dumbfounded.

‘Why?’ was the only thing he said in response. 

‘Because…’ you let out an exasperated sigh, walking up to him. You had somehow managed to find yourselves at his throne, ‘because this is not who I am supposed to be. I shouldn’t be. You are you; I am me, and nothing here is right.’ Yet the puzzle had never fit tighter together than it did now. But at the same time… ‘As much as I want to spend my days with you, I cannot stop thinking about all the chaos you have caused in my life. Whether on purpose or not…There is blood on your hands, Eddie.’ there were tears in your eyes. Eddie looked down at his hands as if you had meant it literally. They were pale and had a shake to them, but he quickly put them down to his sides.

‘And yet you’re still here.’ He said it with a distance, more to himself than anyone else, narrating the events as if putting it all into words could make it make more sense somehow, and maybe to him, it did. However, you were still utterly clueless and running in the dark.

‘I am.’ You nodded your head lightly. ‘And I wish I could explain why. To you and to myself, but I simply do not know.’

‘Let me pose you these two questions then,’ he spoke sternly, and you got the unexpected feeling that this would be a test you had to ace. ‘Are you still scared of me? Do you regret anything that happened between us?

‘Answer yes to either of my questions,’ he held two fingers up, ‘and I will make all of this very easy for you and disappear. You will never have to see me again but be honest.’ Looking into his eyes the way you were, it was difficult to lie, or it would have been if you had any intention of doing so. The word came easier to you than anything else had in your life, but you still needed to know some things before sealing your fate.

‘Before I answer, I need to know your business with the admiral.’

Eddie scoffed, looking out the window, ‘I could not care less about the admiral.’ Something in him tensed up despite his attempt to make his reply come out casually. Everything besides his eyes, which flickered with so many emotions simultaneously, you could not distinguish between them soon enough.

‘But the attack on my ship was deliberate, was it not?’ You did not need this to become another one of your rows and spoke as carefully as you could manage. If one of you began to raise your voice or fill your words with anger, it would take over the other, exploding fatally in the middle, and that is not what you wanted.

‘What do you remember from that day?’ He looked at you, head cocked to the side as he studied your face. He saw you blink slowly, trying to understand what he was implying.

‘I remember everything.’ How could you not? It was one of the most terrifying days of your life. ‘I remember being on the deck and seeing your dark sails and how I hid under that desk as the canons went off–’ 

‘Whose canons?’ He stared at you blankly, and you mirrored him perfectly. 

‘What?’

‘What canons did you hear go off? Who shot first?’ He did not say anything else, just stood still as you tried to reply with confidence that you lost as soon as you gave your answer some thought.

Everything had happened so quickly, and it was so loud. All you had tried was to block it out. But you heard the bangs. They came from all sides, but the first one... the first one was the closest.

Eddie must have seen the recognition on your face. ‘I know that those people were your friends. And I am sorry that that is how things-’

‘But you said I was not meant to be on board. You knew what ship it was.’ You cut him off at the memory. ‘You would have attacked either way, wouldn’t you?’

‘It is not that simple.’ He shook his head.

‘Isn’t it?’ 

‘No, and I wish I could explain, but I fear that whatever I tell you will only make you see the worst in me and them.’ 

‘You could at least try.’ You reached for his hand, and a bit of you leapt in relief when you saw he did not pull away. ‘I want to understand, Eddie. You do not know how horrible it is to live in this realm of uncertainty and oblivion.’

‘Would you rather live with the horrors of the truth?’ He asked genuinely, with the pain that exactly this truth had caused him in his eyes.

‘Is that not a choice I deserve to make by myself?’ You once again found yourself up against him. Funny how it always came back to this and how you would not have wanted it any other way.

‘You’ve said it yourself; I’ve hurt you enough times. I can not risk doing it again. I will not let myself do that.’ He brushed a strand of hair from your face, brushing his fingers over your cheek. ‘Now, will you please answer my questions?’

‘No,’ and with that, you answered both. Whatever tugged at you from the inside to feel such anxiety had nothing to do with Eddie.

On the contrary, you felt a sense of calm whenever you saw him. And you had wanted, really wanted, to regret those kisses, but you still dreamt of them at night, and it was all with a magical wonder that you wished to experience once more. Despite everything in your life that had led to this that would have told you to turn around and run away, you stayed firmly in your place in front of him with no intention of ever running away again.

Eddie leaned in, and you anticipated a kiss that never came as he spoke against the corner of your mouth, sending shivers down your spine. ‘I need you to say it, darling.’

‘I’m not scared of you, Eddie.’ The tremble in your voice had nothing to do with fear but all with the way he held you. His hand had moved down your cheek onto your neck, fingers wrapped around your throat, thumb caressing your jaw. His eyes pierced through you. ‘And I do not regret anything.’

You knew Eddie had seen all the far corners of the world. You must have come across the grandest of riches. Yet standing in front of him, you could not help but think how seeing Captain Eddie Munson beam his most genuine smile was the rarest and most beautiful treasure of them all. It was infectious; you could not help but smile at it. 

He let himself come close again, but just as your lips were about to touch, he spoke instead. Right against you, the hot air of his breath pricked at your skin with his light laugh. ‘Before all of this, had you ever imagined yourself here with me?’

As much as you had wished it was not true, ‘I did, actually.’ Your mind flashed to your dreams, the ones you had once thought were conjured up to plague you, but now you realised it was just your heart screaming out your deepest desires.

Like a reward, Eddie kissed your cheek for your reply. ‘Really? The princess had thought of me, a filthy pirate?’

‘I’m not a princess.’ You rolled your eyes playfully.

‘Out of all the things to dispute, you argue my words of affection?’ He chuckled, and you could feel the vibrations deep within his chest. 

‘There was nothing else to correct.’ You wanted to laugh but instead froze at the sensation of Eddie lightly putting pressure on your throat as he was still kissing pieces of your face. Just like that, everything in the past minutes disappeared from your mind. When he pulled away, you saw the mischievous glint in his eyes that once used to bring out fear of the worst in you.

‘Glad to know you haven’t changed too much, darling.’ With his hand around you, he gave you little choice but to look up at him. There was a moment in which both of you took everything of the other in. You tried to soak in all his features from this small distance, for some reason feeling the need to remember them all. Meanwhile, he read your face for any signs of reluctance, which he found none of. ‘You enjoyed that, didn’t you, princess?’ 

A question which brought a lot of enjoyment out of him.

Still taken aback by his actions, you stood there with your lips slightly parted, bewildered, so all you did was nod. And again, your response was rewarded with another kiss, finally letting you meet his lips while tightening his hold on you.  The weak sound that came out of your mouth at the feeling was an instinct. You had never heard yourself make such a sound, and he must have known it somehow as his grin grew wider against you. 

The kiss grew in strength by the fleeting second as you both lost control over your bodies, just letting them speak for themselves. It was messy and heated. The pent-up tension that had been sitting between you was finally finding its release. Eddie’s hands roamed over your body, almost in a hunger-like manner, devouring you with his touch alone. Maybe this hunger felt too real when Eddie’s teeth grazed over your neck, sending an unknown spark through your body at the sensation.

You held onto him tightly, one hand on his shoulder as the other rooted itself in his dark locks—which made you soon realise that the tiniest of motions of you caused a reaction in him as well, in the form of a low hiss as you pulled the hairs on the back of his neck. It had been an accident, as you tried to keep yourself up when the pleasure he brought you made you feel light as a feather.

Eddie hummed at your response as his hands continued their wandering path across your body. The pressure of his palms, combined with the slow and tantalising pace at which he moved, drove you to press your body eagerly against him, which, in turn, only spurred him on to continue down this track of your curves. His movements got rougher as he kept going.

With your urge to keep your bodies close, you quickly caught on Eddie walking backwards. You followed him mindlessly until he found his throne seat and pulled you along with him, right on top of his lap. At this proximity, you could feel all of him underneath you.

‘Tell me,’ he kissed you briefly between words, ‘have you ever been with a man before?’

‘Yes,’ you dared to reply with the truth. Anywhere else, it would have been considered a great shame, a sin of the highest degree, but with Eddie, somehow, you felt like he had wanted that to be your answer. You tried to focus on his face, that smile he shot up at you and the short answer you gave him, instead of how his hands roamed over your thighs. Even with the fabric of your trousers in between, his effect on you was immense. He must have felt how you tensed up when he reached your core. 

‘Did anyone ever touch you like this?’ 

‘Uhm, no, not in this way.’ You struggled with the words as he let his fingers press over your most sensitive parts, everywhere all at once. You could barely keep track of it. Another moan escaped you as his hand moved over your breast. Even with the fabric keeping your modesty intact, he had still found a way for his fingers to move smoothly across your nipples. The feeling lulled you into comfort, brewing the heat inside your chest. And so, you gasped as, with one aggressive pull, Eddie ripped the material of your shirt in two, revealing you to him entirely. Your eyes were wide in shock as his darkened with want.

‘Not scared of me yet, are you, princess?’ His hand was on your ribs, waiting for permission to touch your bare skin. 

‘No,’ your voice sounded like a hushed, airy whisper. Eddie smiled but still hesitated with his subsequent actions. As the shirt sleeve fell off your shoulder, he kissed you again. Except this time, his lips met your breast. The arch in your back, the tug of your hips towards him, was an almost mechanised reaction to it. And with it came the friction of his thigh against you. 

‘Eddie.’ His name sounded shaky coming from you as you could barely inhale a steady breath, too occupied with him.

‘That’s right, princess.’ He groaned as his lips remained on your skin, kissing the valley of your chest. With each kiss, your want for him grew, but your movements over his thigh barely covered the needed friction. You dug your nails into his shoulders, making him groan out in pained pleasure. He cursed before taking you by the hips. ‘Stand up.’

You did as he asked, something that did not go unnoticed by either of you. Eddie chuckled as he looked up at you, chin on your stomach, lips nearly pressing against it, so close you could feel the vibrations of his voice. 

‘So you can be good for me.’

A snide remark was already forming on the tip of your tongue, but Eddie was quicker. Smoothly, he pulled down your trousers and let them pool at your ankles. You stood in front of him in only your torn-up shirt. His large eyes were on you up until the moment his face made contact with your core, and at that moment, everything went black. You could just about make out that you held him close to you, pulling at his hair; as for the rest, the world was turning upside down and around at a speed that made everything seem like a sea full of stars. Your moans filled the room as his tongue licked through your slit. 

You assumed that with how he held you with one hand, his fingers would leave marks for days, but the other was much lower. You could hear the sound of a belt unbuckling. He was clearly struggling to work around his clothes with only one hand, especially with most of him already preoccupied with you and your pleasure. Never before had you seen such kind of ferocity in a man. Not when he pulled himself closer to you and practically fell to his knees from the throne. You surely would have fallen back if it had not been for him and the desk that hit your legs and now acted as an extra grip. It was especially needed when Eddie pulled your leg over his shoulder, gaining even more access to you. 

The desk kept sliding back with the force at which he held you in your place, grazing the floor, but it was all blocked out by your moans. They were filled with curses and the repetition of his name as your vision blurred with ecstasy and your body tightened with need. There was no possible way that the rest could not hear you through the thin walls of the cabin, but you could not care less about them. At this moment, they simply did not exist. 

‘You taste absolutely divine.’ Eddie spoke while kissing your inner thigh, making your legs even weaker. You noticed his lips glistening, never looking more kissable than ever before. 

He had run your mind through a mill; words were hard to come by. All you could muster out was a weak hum as you let your hand brush through his hair. At that, he nuzzled himself between your legs again, this time much gentler, and took his time kissing every inch of skin he had access to, giving you the time to catch your breath while still keeping you on that high edge.

‘I—I never…’ you still struggled to form a sentence.

‘Hmm,’ he kissed your stomach, ‘I know.’ And he slowly rose to his feet, catching your face in one more passionate kiss. You had gotten so used to how he tasted—rum, tobacco, sea air— that your flavour threw you off for a moment, but soon enough, you were sinking into him just as before. And again, you could hear the struggling twinkle of a locked belt buckle. 

‘Would you be a doll,’ he said with his amusement running down your cheek, ‘and help a poor man out.’

You reached for his trousers, undoing the belt and unbuttoning them so they could drop down his thighs. You had felt it before, how aroused he had grown, but seeing it made you take a step back. 

‘Nothing to be afraid of, darling.’ He grinned, placing a hand on your cheek. The other made itself comfortable between your legs, toying with your wetness. 

‘I know.’ You looked into his eyes. The warmth of them had burned up into a dark and hungry desire. Putting a light pressure onto his shoulders, you pushed him back down into the chair. Eddie practically bounced in the seat, taking you all in as much as you took the moment to look at him. Your flicker of confidence in the moment when you thought you knew what you were doing fizzled, but he must have read that off of you, as the next second he was the one pulling you down. 

‘Was this how you expected it to be,’ he murmured against your ear, ‘when you thought about us.’ 

‘No,’ you admitted. It was nothing like you had imagined. All your dreams had been of what you had thought he was; careless, dangerous, feeding off your fear. There had been none of this passion that you felt now. None of the heat, the tenderness or the feeling.

‘Anything you’d still like to change,’ he kissed the soft spot of skin behind your ear that made you shiver. 

‘No,’ you gasped. You could feel him against you, just waiting for the moment to enter you. The two of you were dancing around it, letting other make that next move, the plunge off the cliff, with no return. You shuffled over his thighs. One more kiss would seal the final deal when you moved your hips up and he adjusted himself infront of you.

The moan you let out at the feeling of him inside you, of him stretching your walls and filling you whole, was impossible to miss. Ships from miles away could probably tell what was going on, but again, they were not a part of your universe in this moment. Just you. You concentrated at the pace he was making you keep up with. The roll of your hips against the grind of his. Each thrust went deeper and harder making Eddie more aggressive in the most blissful of ways. There was nothing else to think about, because why would you when this felt so good? Reality went lost on you, until you felt his fingers dig into your side, a pain rushing through you. 

Both of you froze.

‘What’s wrong?’ Eddie immediately looked to where he had held you, pulling the remaining pieces of your shirt up to reveal the scar. The rough skin was a stark contrast to the rest of you. He met your eyes again. ‘Does it still hurt?’

‘It’s just sensitive.’ You wanted to push his hand away, cover the mark up again so neither of you had to be reminded of it. It had been a stupid mistake, that much you knew, and it was not as if you could change the past, so why let it pester you? But Eddie was not the kind to give up easily. He pushed the shirt material back up, keeping your hand away from him, to inspect the damage he had caused. 

‘I’ve done a lot in my life that I will forever regret,’ he kissed your shoulder as his thumb traced over the scarred line, ‘but this will probably haunt me the longest.’ His words and touch, combined with how you sat in his lap, still full of him, got you lost for words. Because, of course, you had hoped that this was his sentiment, you understood and appreciated his words, but what else was there to say? The only thing you could think of replying, which felt silly to do seeing your current position, was ask for some clarification.

‘What happened? I would have thought you had more control over your sword than that.’ You aired the conversation with a bit of laughter, but it only spurred him on to thrust deeper into you.

 ‘I had thought so too,’ he kept moving his hips forcefully, ‘I had hoped so,’ he kissed you sloppily, ‘but I lost it all when I saw you with him.’

‘Who?’ you asked. Maybe under different circumstances, you could have thought more clearly to realise what he was speaking of, but that did not seem possible. 

‘Harrington,’ the name came out of him with a bitter taste. Apparently, the feelings from that day had not disappeared as far as he had thought, but now he could let these frustrations out in a less hazardous manner. It still took a toll on you, but there was no pain to speak of. Just pure pleasure. 

Still, the mention of the crew member had surprised you. ‘Why– why would you—’

‘The way he held you, smiled at you, don’t you think I had wanted to do that? From the moment I saw you—but all I did was drive you away. It was just another reminder of my failure and before I knew it I—’ he stopped himself, still unable to properly speak of what happened. You kissed the bridge of his nose. 

‘For what it’s worth,’ you tugged at the words to come out cohesively, ‘I never thought of him as—’

‘It does not even matter what you think of him,’ he laughed, more so at himself, ‘You could fall for and by happy with any man on this earth and I could make my peace with it. I just don’t want to be the reason for your suffering.’

‘I think—’ a moan burst through your thought with another deep thrust, ‘I think you have managed to pay back any of your wrongdoings.’

‘Oh, darling, I haven’t even started to repay my debts.’ And so, Eddie kissed your neck, over and over, and with those kisses moved down to your brest. Your head rolled back with a soft whine at the attention he gave you, if not with his mouth, than the hand that kneaded your flesh and played with your nipples. 

As he kept going, and as your hips met his and the pleasure burst through you, you could feel everything coming to a close. The tightness in your body swelled while your control over it strayed. There was no possible way you could hold on for much longer and from the looks of it, Eddie had no plans on making you wait. He bucked his hips into you harder and harder, almost impossibly for you to keep it all in. You could explode with this pleasure and that is exactly what he wanted.

‘Mmm c’mon, princess. Feel so good around me,’ he hummed, ‘could anyone make you feel this good?’ 

‘Just you,’ you moaned out, holding tightly on to him as you felt the tension build up in you. 

‘That’s right,’ he had a smug smile across his face that you wished you could wipe off, and you would if you did not need him to keep doing whatever it was he did. Were his fingers back between your legs? Rubbing tight circles, sparking up your sensitivity. ‘Just me.’

‘Just you, Eddie,’ his named squeaked out from between your teeth when he reached the deepest part of you.

‘I’ll never get enough of you saying my name.’ 

‘Eddie,’ you repeated it in in a haze with his final thrusts that finally brought you over the edge. Stars fell over you in pleasure as Eddie slowed down his movements, letting you come down from the high. He held you tightly in his arms as you let your head fall on his shoulder until you fell into a comfortable silence. There was only the rush of the waves and your tired breaths that filled your ears.

Once your heart settled back to a steady pace, you knew it wasn’t safe. As good as this moment felt, it wouldn’t last. Whatever this was, there was no possibility in which it would outlive this voyage. Then, once it was over, it would hurt. That much you knew. Possibly more than anything had hurt before, and you would just have to be on the lookout for that end until then to let yourself become at peace with it. There wasn’t another choice, as this idea always stayed with you in the back of your head from that moment on. When you fell asleep in Eddie’s arms that night, you thought how many more days you got to wake to in such bliss as you did the next morning.

You could not tell if Eddie had these troubles, you could not tell, for he went through his following days much like before. The only difference was that his free minutes were now occupied with you.

It had not been your intention to make it so obvious to the crew, but there was also so little you could hide from them. Nothing could escape the dozens of interested eyes, so why hide your affection towards their captain? He certainly was not making any attempts. Any chance he got, he found himself at your side, holding you, kissing you, then behind closed doors, do all the other unspeakable things to you that made the others turn green of envy. 

Your mornings and afternoons were much the same as they had been before the night of the storm and the Hellfire’s arrival at Saint Claire, as you still spent it in each other's company. The difference was now that instead of being separated by the large oak desk, Eddie would often pull you into his lap to sit in the throne, if not making himself comfortable with you on the bed. The nights began with kisses and limbs tangled with eachother and merged into a joined slumber. Unfortunately, as happy as your days felt, it would not stop the nightmares from coming, but each time you would awake in a cold sweat or with shaking hands, he would be right there to coax you back to peace. What surprised you, however, was that you would do the same to him. 

Somehow, the thought of the notorious captain waking up screaming in the middle of the night, chest heaving, eyes wide with fear, had never occurred to you. You had never imagined him reaching for your thigh to ground himself as his reality spiralled in the dark.

‘Shh,’ you held him tightly, ‘it’s okay.’ 

Neither of you asked what the dreams were about, knowing you could do nothing about them. You could just help the other through it. And then, each time, the dreams that followed were much sweeter. 

Then you’d wake up in each other’s arms long before the rest of the world seemed to. Those few blissful moments where nothing could disturb you and the time you could spend in that bed was endless. 

Except it very much was not. And you realised it exactly through what you thought would be your escape. 

It was a sunny morning. The golden sunrays illuminated the cabin as you reached for Eddie, just to find the side of the bed to be empty. Only his impression in the covers, the faint temperature his body had radiated onto them, was still there. It could not have been long since he had gotten up, and indeed, you caught him standing at the window—leaning against it, more like. His trousers were loose on his hips, and his shirt was still on the ground around you. 

Grabbing that shirt and throwing it over your naked body, you walked over to him, and he looked in your direction as soon as he heard your footsteps. The smile in his eyes was genuine but weak. As soon as you were close enough, he pulled you into an embrace, twirling you around so your back would hit his chest and you could look out at the sea. With how the sunrays sparkled across the waves, it all felt like a dream, too good to be true, but you did not know yet that the dream was at the end of its tether.

‘I really am sorry,’ he mumbled, having his face already nuzzled in the crook of your neck, kissing the spot where it met your shoulder.

‘What for?’ Apologies had become a frequent appearance in his vocabulary, showing up in almost every conversation, if not sentence.

‘You know.’ Yes, you did know. For everything. He held a moment of silence, enjoying your presence in his arms for a little longer, before speaking again. ‘I just keep thinking about how everything between us happened, and if it had not been for me, we could have had more.’

‘I’m just as guilty.’ You had been stubborn, aggressive, and just as blind to your feelings. 

‘Highly doubtful statement.’ He laughed, and his breath tickled the hairs on your neck.

‘I don’t think so.’ You shrugged in his hold.

‘Still just as stubborn, aren’t you, princess.’ He squeezed you tighter. 

‘Is that not one of my most desirable attributes?’ You spun yourself around in his hold and quickly wrapped your arms around him. Doing so, hearing his tone and joy in his  voice, you had expected to see him smiling, but he looked just as sombre as when you had walked up to him. ‘What’s wrong?’ Your hand mindlessly began to trace over the scars on his chest, knowing it brought comfort to both you and him by now.

Eddie shook his head, holding back a laugh. ‘You know…’ he kissed your forehead,  ‘when I woke up, I saw you lying there, with the sun shining on your face, and you looked so peaceful, I had honesty considered just locking you away and keeping you forever, but I am a man of my word, am I not?’

‘I…don’t understand.’ You tried to see the meaning behind his words in his eyes, but there was nothing, and it only got harder to figure out when he held his forehead against yours, keeping you close. You still tried to make sense of what he said when you saw it. There, in the far back corner of your eye. So far, it could have been a play of light, and yet it was more real than anything. So undeniably real it crushed everything around you without question. 

From the angle the ship stood at, that was as much as you could envision through the windows, and thus you ran out of the room. As much as you did not want to leave Eddie behind, knowing it could be one of the last moments the two of you had, you ran out onto the deck to meet the silhouette of mountains against the rising sun. The longer you looked at it, the clearer the details became. The ridges of the mountains, the forests, the watch towers and houses. The uniformed ships that stood in the harbour.  

You knew this day was coming, you had been waiting for it, and yet, now that it was right there in front of you, you wished to be as far from it as possible. In what must have been shock, you took a couple of steps back just to collide with something—someone. You turned around to see Eddie and his soft but sad smile.

‘Welcome home,’ he announced.

Home, sweet home.

Your head turned between him and the land in the too-near distance, waiting for one of them to disappear, maybe even both. Why was this so difficult for your mind to comprehend? Why were the first words to come from your mouth, ‘Can we turn back?’ 

‘As much as I would want to,’ he sighed, ‘I’m sure they’ve noticed us by now.’ They must have. The watchers in those towers had the eyes of hawks, one of the reasons why your town was named after the bird.

‘So, what do we do?’ This is not how someone who is to be returning to their family after months spent with criminals was meant to respond. Everything about this was so wrong.

‘Go put your dress on.’ Eddie cocked his head back to the cabin. ‘I doubt they will appreciate you wearing this, as much as I adore it on you.’ That is when you realised you stood out on the main deck wearing only his shirt. ‘I’ll meet you in a few minutes.’ And with that, he gave you that look he had given you all those times before when you had been too headstrong in your own actions. Please, listen to me. It will be alright.

You walked back, feeling like you were floating, but not anywhere near the same way that you had the previous few days. It did not feel like you were weightless, on a cloud, free of worry or from the world. You were drifting. Far out into the abyss with nothing to hold on to. In this same state, you walked over to the wardrobe, where you had hung your dress, removed the item of clothing you had on and put on the old and tethered garment. It had once fit you like a glove, but you were far from the person it was measured for.

Just as you finished putting it on, the door opened, and Eddie walked in. 

You didn’t want to look at him. Not because of anger, you had, after all, no reason to be angry at him at that moment, but because you were sure that if you looked into those brown irises again, you would break down. He must have had the same idea as you as he walked past you, only grabbing the nearest shirt off the rack, and making a headway to the desk.

‘What are you going to do now?’ After all, that had been what pulled you two together, the money your father would offer for your return. That is what kept you on this ship safe for as long as it did… although, in retrospect, you doubted that Eddie would have ever done anything to you. Maybe he had always intended to bring you home before even speaking to you. Perhaps the money made no difference. But funnily enough, you wanted him to get it. Something in you, a deep instinct, told you that it was what he deserved.

‘Write a random note,’ he said, and you could see he was doing his best not to laugh. ‘Then we’ll send the note out, hope it reaches your dearest, and we’ll make the exchange.’ His words were quick and emotionless, but you noted the hint of novice apprehension in his plan.

‘You’ve never done this before, have you?’ you asked as you made your way up to the chair across from him.

‘Try not to sound too disappointed over my lack of experience in selling beautiful maidens back to their prosperous fathers.’

‘Not at all,’ you shook your head, grabbing the piece of parchment and quill from him. ‘But let me. It will be proof of life, and besides, your handwriting is unrecognisable. He won’t be able to read any of it.’ 

Eddie stared at you blankly as you began writing. 

Dear father, 

But what were you to write? The ink dripped off the quill as you pondered on the words. For a message that was quite clear, it was hard to actually phrase it and write it out. By the time you had signed your name at the bottom of the page, the Hellfire had almost reached the coast. You read it through once more: 

Dear Father, 

I know it has been a long time since you last heard from me. The Red Tail is no more; I was the only survivor, to my knowledge, saved by a crew of rogue sailors. They have kept me locked away but are willing to free me for the price of 5.000 pounds. Please meet me at noon at the Star Port for the exchange.

Love, 

Your daughter, 

—

You had decided against the mention of piracy or anything specific about the ship’s sinking, knowing that it would only drive your father away from pain the ransom. Eddie had been unable to keep still while you wrote your drafts but now stood behind you, hands on the backrest of your chair, reading the note along with you, over your shoulder.

‘Who would have thought, my darling extorting her own father.’

‘I am doing no such thing!’ You looked up at him, ‘I am simply… aiding you in extorting my father.’ when it came to this, you had little sympathy for your father. He had plenty of money to spare and often spent it on ridiculous causes. A faux rescue of his only daughter could surely fit in between those other purchases.

There was a knock on the door, which Eddie welcomed, and Harrington walked in. 

‘Got any mail for me to deliver, cap?’ it had been unanimously agreed that Harrington was the most inconspicuous of the whole crew and would be able to walk through the city unbothered to deliver the message. 

You had just been in the middle of folding the parchment. The last thing left was to let the wax melt to keep the corners together. With the seal done, you handed Steve the letter. He smiled at you with thanks, but his face hid an expression of loss, almost. A farewell. But before he left, you clutched him in an embrace, almost knocking Steve over.

When the door closed behind him, it was only a matter of waiting. After your fifth round of pacing through the room, Eddie walked up in front of you, blocking your already quite well-outlined route. He had met you right in the middle. 

‘I would prefer if you did not spend our last moments together walking holes into my carpet.’ 

‘You do not have a carpet,’ you quipped. 

‘Must you be so difficult now?’ He laughed that laugh you cherished so much before he placed his hands on your cheeks and kissed you the way you adored even more. The sun was almost at its peak, and so was your heart, and you had no idea what to do when it would finally fall. Either way, you would find out in a few minutes.

‘Do you think—’ 

‘Highly doubtful,’ Eddie said somberly before you could even finish your thought. ‘You had said it yourself, darling; you are you, I am me. This is not meant to work.’ But what if it could, you wanted to shout, shocking yourself for the millionth time on board this ship.

‘Well, then it had been an honour being your captive, captain.’ You said with a deep breath to keep your composure up.

‘Oh, don’t look so sad just yet, princess, the real fun is only about to begin.’ At this statement, you blinked slowly. ‘Or did you think you were done aiding me?’

‘What else do you need me to do?’ 

‘Since you mentioned it, I think we need to make you look the part of my sweet captive. Make your father believe we really had kept you all good and locked up, hmm?’ He grinned. ‘I really did not do a good job at this, did I? Got you all spoiled up here.’

‘It was much appreciated.’ You giggled, incapable of keeping a straight face when Eddie got like this. Looking back, you could barely imagine the cold and dark exterior that he had once posed in front of you since he had been an entirely different person underneath that. Then again, so were you. ‘So, what did you have in mind?’

‘A lot,’ he licked his lips, ‘but I don’t think we have the time for that. We’ll probably have to do with tying you up like a pretty gift—just your hands, of course,’ he quickly added as he saw your eyes widen. ‘And I��ll be sure to not make it too tight.

‘Alright,’ you nodded. After all, you trusted him. You watched him look through the room for something to wrap around your hands. In the end, he found a piece of rope hanging among the many items on his wall. It was a bit too long for even the intricate, but relatively weak, knot he tied over your wrists—enough to give the impression of captivity, but in reality, barely grazed your wrists. He made sure to check. 

And then it was time. You walked out of the cabin for the final time. The room in which you had spent so many tumultuous days and nights. A silly part of you wanted to actually run down the ladder into the lower deck to see the holding cell one last time. For what reason, you could not fathom. 

Eddie guided you with a hand on your back, down the gangplank, which wobbled with every step you took. You tried to keep your breathing under control, but then again, if this had been a real threat to your life, you would probably feel similarly. The walk down the harbour was the longest of your life. There just came no end to it, and you could not, frustratingly enough, make your mind up if you wanted that or not. After all, each step closer to the port was one step further away from him… and when had you become so dependent on him? Weeks ago, you had thought up visions of killing him in his sleep; now, you could not think of life without him. 

Your thoughts were still fighting for some kind of cohesion when you saw him walk down the street. Accompanied by his usual entourage of guards. Two of them carried a large trunk between them, which must have been filled with gold or other treasures to meet the demand.

‘Papa!’ You screamed out; an incautious urge to run towards him propelled you forward, just to be pulled back by Eddie. You glanced his way, and your breath hitched at what you saw. In the short amount of time that might have felt like an eternity that it took you to walk down the harbour, he had turned into what you could only describe as his old self. The same version of him that you had seen when you were “welcomed’ aboard the Hellfire. The Eddie that terrorised your nightmares. His eyes were pointed like daggers at your father. 

He, in turn, stood aback at the sight of who had been holding you. Most of the men around him did, in fact. It caused a bit of a stir, the murmur of his name travelled in disbelief, but Eddie was the first to speak up in full volume.

‘Governor. I see we meet again.’

‘Munson.’ Your father always had the skill to look unimpressed at the sight of any man, always seeming to be above them, and even now, he did a good job hiding any other emotion, but you could see the crack of fear breaking him on the edges. It was, however, quickly replaced as he spoke in his usual tone of business.

‘Munson. What are you doing here?’

‘Why, returning your precious jewel, of course.’ He grinned, pulling you closer to him. Some of the guards leapt forward but were stopped by your father and Eddie, who reached for the knife at his side. All eyes were on you and him as he let the blade slowly track over your arm. ‘Don’t wanna do that, gents. It will only cost us more trouble.’ 

‘You got the gold, Munson, now let her go!’ There were still several feet between the two sides of the deal. Eddie looked around theatrically. 

‘Do I?’ He cocked his head in his own direction. The two men in charge of the trunk hauled it over to you. You had no idea how Eddie was meant to carry it back to the ship. As they brought the gold over, your father spoke again. 

‘Is she well? Unharmed?’ 

You nodded, but Eddie nudged you with the hilt of his knife, his lips against your ear, ‘C’mon, darling, the man’s asked you a question.’

‘I am fine, father.’ You spoke. By that point, the men reached you and, with a final kiss to your temple, Eddie let you go. You were immediately pulled out of his reach by the guards. They must have thought they were holding you up as your legs objected to moving. You were unable to look away from him. All up until you felt your face pressed against your father’s jacket. 

‘There, there, it is alright,’ he hushed, and it took you a moment to realise why. You were crying. And if only he, or anyone else, understood that it was for all the opposite reasons. No fear or relief was escaping you through those tears. It was a loss as you saw Eddie standing there, bowing down at the end of his performance, blowing you a kiss goodbye.

It was the panic when you saw the rest of the people in the harbour. All of their eyes on you. On him. None of them were simple bystanders or civilians. 

Your dream had been crumbling into ruin all these days, but this was the final blow. All of it came down, all at once, and it started with your father’s call.

‘Guards!’, and suddenly the tenfold of guards appeared out of all possible directions. They had him surrounded, weapons at the ready. Eddie had nowhere to run. Your father spoke clearly, cutting the silence with the blade of his words. ‘Munson, I arrest you on charges of murder and high treason!’ 

Chapter 10

thank you so much for reading!! if you want more of where this came from, check out my masterlist.

and please support your (not so) local creators by liking AND reblogging. I would love to know what you thought of the story, so please consider leaving a comment, or maybe an ask or even an anonymous review ;P

you are also more than welcome to join the Eddie Munson taglist. right here.

@nope-thanks @seventhlevelofhell @strangerfreaks @hangmanscoming @blueberrylemontea-fanfic @vintagehellfire @raven-rust @eddiesguitarskills @taccobelle @imjusteddietrashatthispoint @lunar-corgimon

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[leclerc-s]

big reputations - part six

series masterlist // previous // next

sabrinacarpenter posted new stories

pre-qatar dinner and this dude looks way too fucking happy. is there an off switch or something? cars go vroom! little brother won a race or something? it's like a big deal 3x world champion or whatever jokes aside i'm literally crying?? who knew i would be crying over some silly little men in silly little cars??

alex albon ARE WE GONNA TALK ABOUT WHAT FUCKING HAPPENED YESTERDAY??

max verstappen i kissed daniel, so what?? george russell THAT'S NOT WHAT WE SAW BITCH!!

oscar piastri clearly you were all drunk. i saw max kiss daniel and charles. charles said it was glorious.

charles leclerc it was, i went to my hotel room and i questioned everything. pierre gasly FUCKER YOU KNOW WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT

daniel ricciardo is it suddenly not okay for me to kiss max??

yuki tsunoda HOW COULD YOU KEEP THIS FROM US RICCIARDO!! THIS IS SO FUCKED! THIS IS FUCKING BETRAYAL YOU FUCKING FUCK! YOU DICKHEAD!

esteban ocon is this why max knocked liam out the other day??

max verstappen i didn't knock him out, i simply helped him rest his eyes for a bit. he seemed tired.

alex albon I KNOW WHAT I FUCKING SAW YESTERDAY!!

oscar piastri i think you guys are cra

oscar piastri so these are the famous f1 drivers oscah and sharl cannot shut up about. nice to meet y'all!

logan sargeant oscar? you okay buddy?

max verstappen sabrina, dear god, give oscar his phone back.

oscar piastri KISS MY ASS VERSTAPPEN. I WILL DECK YOU max verstappen when you can reach me, sure. oscar piastri SOMEONE GRAB ME A FUCKING FORK!! max verstappen yup, still can't stand you. oscar piastri OH FUCK YOU SID!

oscar piastri i apologize for her, she isn't house trained.

charles leclercDID YOU JUST CALL ME A BITCH PIASTRI?? YOU'RE FUCKING NEXT!!

charles leclerc added one person

sabrina carpenter now, did you guys seen pierre kiss yuki?

pierre gasly what?

charles leclerc i swear i saw k-mag and and nico kiss

sabrina carpenter oh, you guys are allowed to say nico? i thought that was off limits because of lewis. #ripbrocedes

daniel ricciardo lewis isn't here.

carlos sainz jesus do you people have to talk so fucking much??

sabrina carpenter HEY, I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU MR. SAINZ!

carlos sainz who is that? why are they yelling at me?

sabrina carpenter JUST BECAUSE I WASN'T AROUND FOR SPA DOESN'T MEAN I WILL NOT DEFEND MY LITTLE BROTHER OSCAR!

oscar piastri let it go sabrina

sabrina carpenter I'LL LET IT GO WHEN DANIEL LET'S THE CHARLES THING GO!!

carlos sainz what's the charles thing?

max verstappen nothing daniel ricciardo nothing charles leclerc nothing oscar piastri nothing sabrina carpenter nothing

yuki tsunoda STOP CHANGING THE FUCKING SUBJECT! DANIEL JOSEPH RICCIARDO ARE YOU OR ARE YOU FUCKING NOT DATING DAPHNE FUCKING JONES??

daniel ricciardo i plead the fifth

george russell that's a yes to me

alex albon THEY WERE FUCKING MAKING OUT AT THE BAR!! OF COURSE THEY'RE DATING!!

sabrina carpenter no, that was daniel and max. i don't know what you people saw. clearly the tension from when they were teammates got to be too much and now they're acting on their feelings. i really thought it was going to be a lestappen endgame.

oscar piastri okay, you need to get off of f1 twitter seriously.

sabrina carpenter well how else am i supposed to learn f1 lore? and it's not just twitter, tiktok has been very helpful.

george russell just how much time is she spending on f1 twitter and tiktok?

sabrina carpenter "i'm here to fight, i'm here to win, i'm not just going to wave him bye because he's max verstappen in a red bull."

sabrina carpenter "what am i now? i'm heavily depressed." sabrina carpenter "suck my balls mate." sabrina carpenter "nothing just an inchident."

oscar piastri yeah, she's gonna be doing that for a while

sabrina carpenter "bwoah!" sabrina carpenter "james, it's valtteri, fuck you." sabrina carpenter "ALL THE TIME YOU HAVE TO LEAVE A SPACE!"

sabrina carpenter okay, i'm done now. i think oscar was right when he said i needed to step away from f1 twitter and tiktok

oscar piastri you think? i have been receiving an f1 quote from you at least 8 times a day.

logan sargeant free my man oscar, he shouldn't be suffering this way

sabrina carpenter logan sargeant you're next on my list

max verstappen CONGRATS YOU IDIOTS, YOU FUCKED UP!

daphne jones you know, i can see that now, but it's so hilarious knowing the other drivers are losing their mind.

daniel ricciardo the only reason we haven't told them is because you have some stupid plan to get daphne to sing about it at a show.

max verstappen MY PLAN IS A GOOD ONE! TAKE THAT BACK BITCHIARRDO!

oscar piastri what actually is the plan??

sabrina carpenter you know that line in karma, where it's like, "karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me?"

oscar piastri yeah?

charles leclerc max wants daphne to change the lyrics to something like "karma is the guy on the track coming straight home to me?"

max verstappen why is that better than what i had?

sabrina carpenter his was "karma is the guy in the alpha tauri coming straight home to me."

oscar piastri DO BOTH!

max verstappen she can't because someone took daniel out of the season

oscar piastri I APOLOGIZED WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME??

daniel ricciardo MAX EMILIAN VERSTAPPEN IT WASN'T HIS FAULT! LEAVE HIM ALONE

charles leclerc wow we really are like a family.

sabrina carpenter max has been promoted to brother-in-law because the entire internet seems convinced that he's fucking charles

daphne jones do you have no filter?

sabrina carpenter i wrote a song called nonsense that's a euphemism for sex. what do you think?

oscar piastri i'm talkin' all around clock. i'm talkin' hope nobody knocks. i'm talkin' opposite of soft. i'm talkin' wild, wild thoughts. you gotta keep up with me. i got some young energy. i caught the L-O-V-E. how do you do this to me?

max verstappen you just know the lyrics to the song?

oscar piastri i googled them.

sabrina carpenter FAKE FAN!!

oscar piastri i never said i was a fan. i just tolerate you.

charles leclerc i can't stand either of you

daniel ricciardo peak older sibling behavior

taglist: @glow-ish @agustdpeach @msolbesg @spilled-coffee-cup @1nt3rnetgf @six-call @smol-scream @fernandoswarcrimes @arieltwvdtohamflash @Mimolovescookies @brekkers-whore @camdensreg @mycenterfold @dear-fifi @chiliwhore

strikethrough means i couldn't tag you

¡leclerc-s speaks! yeah, i don't know what this became towards the end. i saw one tiktok and i spiraled towards the end, i'm also a bit sleep deprived. i apologize in advance for this. you can't convince me sabrina carpenter isn't a menace to society, i bet she is.

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet. enjoy!

[syninplays]

Lady-Moriel dump - conversions by me (;

Back with even mooore medieval/fantasy-ish conversions because I have no self control :D / This time it was @lady-moriel turn and so I converted all the cc I've been hoarding in my likes for months :p

>Sabrina Dress

8,7k poly, has all morphs including pregnancy + first swatch is fully recolorable, but includes a few other non-recolorable swatches too.

>Anna Dress + Necklace

Dress is 8,8k poly, necklace is 2,9k poly. Wasn't that much into the sleeves so I didn't convert them, but I don't mind doing it if someone wants them (: / Has 9 swatches, non-recolorable.

>Elven Priestess Dress + Necklace + Wreath

Dress is 6k poly with all morphs including pregnancy, necklace is 3,8k poly and wreath is 1,4k poly - allowed this one for males too + works with aWT's hat sliders (; - everything is recolorable!

>Nocturnal Dress

Had mixed feelings for the hat so it's just the dress but feel free to request it and I'll convert it too (; - 6,6k poly, has a single swatch which technically isn't recolorable but you might be able to slightly change its color. [unrelated but this is my new favourite dress]

>Druid Set

Dress is 6,8k poly and has all morphs including pregnancy, accessory cloak is 1k poly and made it recolorable as I thought it could pass as a fur coat hehe

>Letho Outfit

10,3k poly with morphs, also has a single swatch and it's not recolorable.

>DOWNLOAD< (patreon but free)

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Adoration

You know, between Sabrina and Zoe, it's hard to tell who gets screwed over more in this episode.

Let's get into the seventeenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Adoration

We start off with Zoe talking with Andre about a movie he made when he was younger. Apparently, he made it to declare his love for Audrey. The fact that he thought making a movie to please someone as abusive as her either means Andre is a real idiot, or Audrey is an absolute goddess in bed.

We then cut to school the next day, where Marinette and Zoe are put in charge of organizing it. The two met up at Marinette's room, where Zoe comments on how beautiful it looks... even though she was already there at the end of “Gabriel Agreste”.

Okay, in all seriousness, this is a minor error compared to the other retcons this show has made, and I can see the writers forgetting that scene since Zoe didn't say anything in it anyway, but this does have a purpose. While thinking about where to hold the dance, Marinette settles on the Eiffel Tower, and asks Zoe if she can talk to Andre about it.

The two go to Zoe's place, and surprise, surprise, Chloe throws a hissy fit about Marinette stepping on one of “her” stairs. Okay, writers, just admit you're running out of ideas for Chloe to antagonize Marinette. Zoe stands up to Chloe, who then goes to Audrey, but she's so apathetic, she doesn't even intervene, so Zoe calls it a win.

Marinette: What happened to the scared Zoe who moved here from New York a few months ago?

Zoe: It's all thanks to you, Marinette. You're the one who helped me change!

Uh... how? Outside of “Sole Crusher” and “Queen Banana”, the two have never really had any meaningful interactions. It's almost like Zoe has had absolutely no development since her introduction last season, and the writers are trying to convince us that they actually gave her character development.

Andre decides to approve holding the school dance under the Eiffel Tower, he tells Marinette and Zoe not to tell Chloe. Chloe overhears this, and gets angry for... some reason. Seriously, what did they even do? All Marinette and Zoe did was ask to hold a dance, Chloe overheard it, and the very next scene, she's talking with Lila and Sabrina about how to get revenge. She doesn't even make it about the dance, she just gets angry Zoe is talking with her father. Again, after five seasons, it really seems like the writers are running out of ways for Chloe to incite conflict, because this is just lazy.

At the Agreste Mansion, Adrien talks to Gabriel about asking Marinette to the dance, but Gabriel forbids him from doing so. Nathalie convinces him to concede, but then he calls Lila. The next scene has Chloe talking with Sabrina about a plan she has.

Chloe: Do you want to be demoted from underling to punching bag? You want to join the baker girl and the half-of-a-sister?

Sabrina: (gasps) No! I'm your friend!

Chloe: (shakes her head) My underling. You are my underling. If you're not willing to do anything for me, then get lost!

This can't seriously be the script the writers stuck with, right? Now Chloe's just saying things you'd hear from a dark lord from an RPG. Granted, it's hard to tell how honest Chloe is since her chewing out Sabrina is revealed to be a plan by Lila, but given how Chloe has been this episode, it's hard to really believe she was exaggerating anything. Either way, Sabrina is upset enough for Monarch to send an Akuma her way, akumatizing her into Vanisher again through a whistle.

Vanisher's design is pretty lazy, even back when it first appeared in Season 1. It's just Sabrina with a purple filter when she isn't using her powers to turn invisible. I guess it kind of makes sense given she's not meant to be flashy, but this just screams “cutting corners”. The Miraculous power shown this time is the Dog Miraculous' Fetch, allowing Vanisher to steal as many things as she wants.

Vanisher comes back into the room, and we actually get a funny joke where Chloe asks Lila if she's a witch, even if a funny joke in this kind of show only gets a reaction along the lines of...

Anyway, Marinette and Zoe plan out the dance some more, where Marinette talks about how hard it is to tell Adrien she loves him, to which Zoe agrees, revealing she has her own crush on someone. As the two talk, Vanisher sneaks in and we get a montage of her tagging things with her whistle. During the montage, Marinette assumes that Zoe has a crush on Adrien, which will be more important towards the end.

Once things with the dance are set up, Vanisher uses Fetch to teleport all the things she touched into Marinette's bag. Chloe accuses Marinette of being a thief, and even though Lila isn't in the rest of the episode, everyone's about as gullible as they normally are in a Lila episode, so they decide to believe Chloe. Mr. Damocles prepares to expel Marinette, but Zoe takes the blame for it, allowing Marinette transform into Ladybug.

Ladybug figures out that Vanisher is behind this because Chloe threw some paper flowers that accidentally fell onto her, so she summons her Lucky Charm, a pinata. While Ladybug fights Vanisher, Adrien gets to a safe place to transform into Cat Noir. Ladybug hands Cat Noir a bottle of some kind of spray-on glue and just as Ladybug breaks the pinata above Vanisher, Cat Noir sprays her with it, covering her in confetti. Ladybug ties up Vanisher while Cat Noir Cataclysms the whistle, freeing the Akuma.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, Chloe yells at Sabrina for failing, and even though this blows her cover, somehow isn't punished for it, Sabrina gets a useless Magical Charm from Ladybug and because I've already seen the rest of the season, I already know that Sabrina is still going to work with Chloe for some reason.

Anyway, Marinette and Zoe talk about the latter supposedly having feelings for Adrien.

Marinette: I know... you're in love with Adrien. Don't sacrifice your feelings for him because of me. He has the right to hear your declaration.

Zoe: Adrien? But you're the one he loves.

Marinette: Even if he loves me, he'd be flattered to know that you love him too. Let him know how you feel about him. Zoe, you're an amazing person. One can only feel honored to be loved by you.

Zoe: Are you sure?

Marinette: Of course! You can't keep it to yourself! Zoe: But... Adrien’s not the one I’m in love with.

Marinette: Oh? Who is it, then? (Zoe simply looks at Marinette and smiles) Oh... Oh! Oh. I am truly, very honored. I mean it, Zoe.

Zoe: Thanks, Marinette.

Oh my God... I can't believe Zoe has feelings for Alya.

Okay, in all seriousness, let's discuss this scene. While I'm glad that we have confirmation that Zoe has feelings for Marinette, which is a big deal after the show danced around the idea with Juleka and Rose, and the reveal itself is done very well with Zoe and Marinette's facial expressions doing all the work, my problems with this scene stem from a different issue, and it ties back to my earlier point about Zoe.

Zoe as a character has always been criminally underdeveloped. Other than the fact that she's nice and is different from Chloe, very little is done to establish who she is as a person. With every focus episode she gets, the writers just slap on some kind of trait or idea to try and get viewers invested in her. In “Sole Crusher”, she had her vague backstory about being bullied, in “Queen Banana”, she became Vesperia, in “The Kwamis' Choice”, she temporarily replaced Cat Noir as Kitty Noire, and in this episode, we have her feelings for Marinette. None of these are really bad things, but the show just expects us to connect with Zoe for all of these things that happen to her with little buildup or character development. Like I said earlier, the show tries to act like there's been character development with Zoe, but it doesn't work because she's barely gotten to do anything that isn't the writers trying to shove her into the main cast.

As for the reveal that Zoe has feelings for Marinette, it sort of falls flat because again, the two have barely spent any time together since “Sole Crusher” and “Queen Banana”. Yeah, Zoe was present in other episodes like “Gabriel Agreste” and “Crocoduel”, but she was only part of the group and didn't really interact with Marinette on her own. It's hard to really see this reveal as impactful because not only did we not get a lot of hints that Zoe was into girls, but we didn't even get a lot of hints that Zoe had developed feelings for Marinette in the first place. That's not to say this couldn't work. In The Owl House, there weren't any hints that either Luz or Amity were into girls, but the difference there was that their growing feelings for each other became an ongoing story. Here, there's nothing that really comes of Zoe having feelings for Marinette other than so the show can say they have an LGBT character. If there was an episode about Zoe struggling to deal with her unrequited feelings for Marinette, or an episode where she tries to ask another girl out, this could have worked, but nothing really comes from this.

And finally, there's the reason behind this reveal. The episode goes out of its way to establish that Zoe has feelings for Marinette not to really expand on Zoe's character, but rather, to expand on Marinette's. Zoe's coming out story is less of a big reveal about her sexual identity, and more of a cautionary tale about not being able to confess your feelings to someone you care about until it's too late. The reveal that Zoe has feelings for Marinette isn't about Zoe taking a risk that could jeopardize her friendship with Marinette, it's about giving Marinette the confidence she needs to tell Adrien she loves him, and even then, that moment is undercut because the very next scene, Gabriel uses his influence to order Adrien to go home when he's about to kiss Marinette. The episode basically ends with Marinette trying to reassure herself that progress was actually made when we know Gabriel screwed that up.

So basically, THIS EPISODE WAS A GIANT WASTE OF TIME! Oh my God, this was bad, and it's hard to really explain. I'm not really as angry as I was towards episodes like “Kuro Neko”, “Penalteam”, or “Illusion”, but this episode just had so many little things that got to me that all piled up by the end. The attempt to give Zoe character development didn't really work, Gabriel and Chloe had no reason to incite the conflict other than because they felt like it, Lila had no real purpose being here (yet she gets to be in the end card instead of Chloe), the Akuma was underwhelming, Sabrina still hasn't gotten any major character development herself, and the ending just felt like a cheap excuse to keep the story going. This is still one of the worst episodes of the season, but I still think “Derision” and “Illusion” are worse.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... ANDRE (THE OTHER ONE)

While Gabriel came close to getting his third Biggest Idiot Award in a row, I ultimately gave it to Andre because the episode tried to make him out to be a good father even though he's scared of his own child. He made an entire movie to show how much he loved someone as terrible as Audrey, wanted to keep organizing a school dance a secret from Chloe, kept enabling her even when she framed a classmate, and didn't even punish her afterwards when it was obvious she framed Marinette with the help of an Akuma.

[eddo-tensei]

The Power of Love according to Season 5 of Miraculous

Something disturbing dawned on me concerning...a lot of the development in Season 5 and it comes down to one thing: Love.

At first, Andre and Felix getting redeemed while Chloe gets sent off to the worst fate the show would allow didn't make a lot of sense. The only thing I could get from the writers was just that "Chloe bad, so everyone else good." It was stupid, but it wasn't insidious. At least, not that insidious at first. And then the finale with Gabriel happened and while it took me a while to process my frustrations with this, something finally clicked. Not only concerning that, but some of the other developments I've seen.

Felix getting another chance to the point of JOINING the heroes in the new universe seemed like nonsense until you look at what happened before that. He was someone who Astruc went out of his way to bury in the narrative and was exclusively causing trouble for everyone up to and including GENOCIDE...until he showed his love to Kagami. Suddenly, his actions are seen as righteous and his backstory of being abused by his father was justification for his actions. You see, he loved Kagami and he also apparently loved Adrien too because they were "the same."

Andre was basically just some corrupt politician who was also a pathetic snob. Then when Zoe came in, we suddenly get all of these humanizing bits about how Chloe totally mistreated him (because apparently, not having the guts to say no to your daughter is mistreatment) and when he divorced Audrey, he gets Zoe because he's someone he could be happy with. A true familial love unlike the one he had with Chloe.

Chloe, meanwhile, doesn't love anyone as far as the writers are concerned. Any genuine connection she might have in either the platonic, familial, or the romantic sense, whether it'd be to Adrien, Sabrina, Zoe or Ladybug, are shown to be either fake or so utterly shallow, it doesn't count as "love." With that, everything she does is absolutely reprehensible and doesn't deserve a shred of forgiveness even if it's clear she's a neglected child who needed help. BUT, because she "doesn't love anyone", she doesn't get redemption and deserves to be sent away with a parent who doesn't love her either. Same with Lila, she doesn't love anyone at all and in fact, just jumps from family to family purely to keep up her manipulations.

Finally, we have Gabriel, who had done nothing but sheltered, belittled, and outright ABUSED Adrien as well as commit a multitude of horrid crimes throughout the series. His actions constantly escalated in awfulness throughout the series, even showing that he doesn't care if he destroys the universe to get what he wants. Yet there was always this trait he possessed. His love for Emilie and that ended up coming to the forefront in the finale. Marinette, who had Gabriel dead to rights, decided at the last moment to try and appeal to his humanity because she knows he loved Emilie and in her mind, that love is enough grounds for her to offer him one chance to step up and help. Then when Gabriel opts to betray Marinette and starts the wish, he tells her at the last moment to try and help Adrien remember all of the times he "tried to be a good father," which is apparently an indicator that he actually LOVED Adrien too. THAT ended up being why Marinette decided to lie about Gabriel by saying he died fighting Monarch and went as far as to try and tell Adrien to remember him as a good man. All because she knew Gabriel "loved" him.

This tells me something distressing. Now, the concept of "Love Redeems" is something I'm not at all against and is in fact common in a lot of stories I like. However, it's what Miraculous does with this concept in Season 5 that angers me. The message of Miraculous ends up giving in its grand finale for the Agreste arc isn't that love can help people find the way to kindness. It's that anything you do can be justified as long as you do it for "love." It doesn't matter if you purposely get a cab driver in trouble, attempt to sabotage a date that your crush is in, put together a project that tries to commercialize air, betray someone to help a terrorist, commit genocide, cause untold amounts of damage to your town and beyond, or even destroy the universe! As long as you love someone, everything you do can be justified. Except when we decide that you don't love ANYONE, then we'll do everything in our power to show that all of your connections don't count as love so you can have the worst punishment we could possibly muster. Regardless of intent, that's how the writers ended up describing the Power of Love in Season Five of Miraculous and that's wretched to me.

[sleepy-gee]

snowed in - gerard/gn! reader fluffmas ao3

A snow storm blows out the power, leaving you trapped in an ATM vestibule with a certain celebrity crush of yours. (Heavily inspired by that one episode of FRIENDS ngl)

meet cute, plotless/mostly fluff, celebrity/fan dynamic, takes place in '07 read here on tumblr v or on ao3 (link above ^)

"5.. 10.. 15.. 20.. Good." You mutter under your breath, counting the amount you had pulled out from your bank account out loud. One week until Christmas, and there's still lots of shopping to be done. The last stop on your list for the night is a hole in the wall comic store for your younger brother, who's into all sorts of nerdy comic-y things. You have no idea what you're doing or what to get him- Maybe they'll have a cool figurine or something. They only take cash for some reason too, meaning you had to stop by and pull some out.

Although, you're also beginning to wonder if you should go home and do this in the morning- The snow is only getting worse by the minute, and you don't want to risk anything going wrong. The power could go out at any moment- knock on wood- and this vestibule isn't the comfiest. The ATM's are running smoothly, and the doors are functioning with no problem, so things should run smoothly.

You pocket your cash before walking to the front, and pulling the door handle. Clunk. It doesn't open. Maybe it's a push? Clunk. Not a push either. Just as you're about to give the door handle another tug, the lights flicker, before shutting off.

"... Shit-" You grumble, running a hand through your hair. Well, there go your plans for the evening. You spoke too soon, it seems.

“Aw, crap-” An awfully familiar voice sighs from behind you as well. “Guess we’re stuck.”

You only hum in agreement, turning around only to find yourself face to face with Gerard fucking Way.

…

“Holy shit.”

Like many of your friends, you had discovered My Chemical Romance in your late middle school/early high school years and became a massive fan, downloading every song of theirs you could find and buying as many magazines that had them on the cover as your parents allowed you too. Now, a little older and a bit more mature, you grew out of your phase, but the celebrity crushes still remained- Were they as intense as they were when you were 15? No, but certain photos did get your heart fluttering a bit.

Gerard pulled out his phone from the pocket of his trench coat, walking a few steps away before speaking. “Hi, yeah- I’m okay, I’m okay- The power went out and I’m trapped in the vestibule.” He paused. 

Right. You should probably call your own family and let them know where you are. You felt around your pockets, only to remember that you left it at home. Well, shit.

“No, I’m not alone..” Gerard glanced at you briefly. “I don’t know. Some guy.”

“Ha. I’m some guy.. What the hell is wrong with me?”

He spoke a few more brief words before hanging up, then awkwardly clearing his throat and turning back towards you, holding out his phone. “Do you wanna call anyone?”

You took his phone with an equally awkward demeanor, and dialed your moms number- You were supposed to drop by for a family dinner after a quick shopping trip, but the snow decided that you had other plans. After listening to it ring for a while, it goes straight to voicemail. Gerard gives you a sympathetic glance as he takes his phone back, putting it in his pocket.

"I just called my mom from Gerard fucking Way's phone, no big deal at all-" Secretly, you wished your cousin, Sabrina, had answered. She was supposed to be there, too, and was a massive MCR fan a few years ago like yourself. She would've been great to ramble with about this.

Neither of you spoke a word for the majority of the time, the only sound being the violent storm passing by outside. You decided to take a seat against the wall, awkwardly tracing the floor tiles. Gerard had a few other calls, some made and some received- It sounded like Christmas stuff, mostly.

"Busy?" You asked out of nowhere after his third call.

He gave a tired chuckle and nodded. "Yeah.. Christmas is always a big time of year for me. I'm.. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or boasting, but I'm.. Sort of a musician. A bit big- Too big, if you want my opinion. Always some merchandise bundle scandal to deal with, or a tour that collides with vacation time-" Gerard paused, cheeks going slightly red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."

"No, no, it's okay. I asked, didn't I?" That seemed to calm him down a bit. "I've.. Heard of you before, I think. You're pretty good." 'Heard of you' was putting it lightly, but there's no way in hell you're going to come out as a superfan and risk embarrassing yourself in front of your teen hero.

"Ah.. Well, thanks. I appreciate it. Really." He smiled shyly, gaze still facing the ground. Your heart fluttered again. Jesus Christ. "What about you? You have anything going on?"

"I was supposed to be Christmas shopping. I came out here to pull out some money, but-" You gestured to the window showing off the blizzard outside. "Mother nature decided I had other plans."

"I get that." Gerard stepped closer to you, taking a seat beside you on the floor. Ho ho holy shit- "I wanted to do some shopping myself before I went home.. Came here to pull out some money. There's a comic store nearby that I like that only takes cash for some reason."

That caught your interest. "Spikes?"

He nodded, giving you another soft smile. "Yeah! You've been there?"

"Once or twice.." You brushed a loose strand of hair out of your face. "My brother is really into comics and superheroes and all that stuff.. I figured I'd stop by and see what I could find him. Too bad I don't know the first thing about comics."

"Lemme tell you, as a fellow comic book nerd, a figurine of his favorite character will probably make his day. D'you who or what he likes?"

"Uh.." You paused as you thought. "Really, really big on Iron Man. He can't wait for the movie to come out. Hasn't stopped talking about it since he saw the first few previews."

"Iron Man.." Gerard repeated softly. "Well, he's one of the most recognizable superheroes ever, so I have no doubt you'll be able to find him something Iron Man related. Figurines can get pretty expensive, though.."

".. Will $20 be enough?"

Gerard chuckled like you had just told him a joke. "If they're having a sale.. Maybe."

You chuckled as well, the sound cut off by a shiver running down your spine. With the power off, whatever heating units they had going was also off, and it was getting pretty cold. "You okay?"

You nodded, wrapping your jacket around yourself a little tighter. "I just get cold easily."

Gerard frowned, scooching to the side for a moment to take off his trench coat before settling it over your shoulders. "There."

You mumbled a small thank you, cheeks heating up to an embarrassing degree. Why were you so easy? Who gets flustered from someone giving you their jacket? Maybe since it's Gerard fucking Way-

The two of you continued to exchange a few words here and there, small talk turning into lighthearted and playful conversations. It was a little surreal getting to know him. Yeah, you had read all sorts of articles and watched all sorts of interviews, knew every song lyric by heart, and could drop so many of his iconic quotes into any conversation, but you were able to see who he was off camera. And who that was, was an adorable, loveable bastard with a passion for comics. Who knew he had such a sense of humor?

Your time together came to an abrupt end when the power flickered back on, the ATM’s came back to life and the door unlocked, finally. The both of you stood up, and you gave his coat back, not feeling quite as awkward or shy around him.

"This was a surprisingly good time." Gerard said after putting his coat back on, adjusting the collar around his neck. "Any chance I can get your number so we can meet up again?"

You blanked before nodding. "Uh.. Yeah, yeah.. Sure.."

Gerard smiled. "Awesome." He opened his contacts and handed you his phone, in which you typed your number in with shaking fingers. "I'll, uh, text you soon?"

"Yeah- Totally. I'm free besides the holidays."

"Great." He began to step away, walking towards the front door, before turning towards you at the last moment. "It was nice meeting you."

"Y-You too." And with that, he left. You found yourself needing a moment or two before you left yourself.

...

Sabrina’s never gonna believe this-

[zoe-oneesama]

Hello, Zoe! I can't believe there's only four episodes left of SL. I see you recently finished Frightningale. The next is I believe Malediktator. I would love top hear your thoughts of the episode.

Lord have mercy, this episode wasn't good when it came out and only got worse with hindsight:

There are two big, huge stinkers in this episode. Chloe's "arc", which got covered in even more mold over time, and Adrien.

My thoughts at the time (and I know because I went back and FOUND my thoughts) was that this episode would've been a good START for Chloe's redemption..but it was the Finish. So it sucks.

It had all the elements. Chloe being Chloe:

Pretending to be Ladybug just to sing her own praises as Queen Bee

Making her Important Historical Person Project about herself

Getting insultingly defensive when called out and doubling down despite how obvious her lie is

Focusing on Marinette telling her she's not a hero despite the rest of the class being just as "mean" about her time as Queen Bee

Her over the top demands of a disproportionate punishment for the slight by crying for Daddy to shut down a school and banish Marinette from the city

Having an over the top tantrum when she doesn't get her way by declaring she's leaving the country despite her father being on his knees, begging her not to go

Making an over the top announcement of her departure under the delusion that her going to live in New York will somehow negatively effect her former classmates

Her continuing to lie about the circumstances of the akuma to Ladybug herself, only trickle truthing after being pressed multiple times

And in the conclusion, flaunting her ridiculous wealth to not only her peers who were doing something nice for her, but to her best friend who was genuinely upset at her leaving.

Chloe being Chloe. Chloe being a liar, a bully, a spoiled princess who only cares about what SHE wants.

And in this episode she breaks the one person who was always in her corner, even more than Sabrina - her father. As far as a redemption arc goes, that's probably the best way to start things, because this is the guy who'd drop everything for her, bend heaven and earth for her whims, who abandoned his dreams of being a movie director to instead become Mayor to get the power and money to take care of her (at Audrey's insistence). And she broke him. Left him, just like her mom left them both before.

In another universe, maybe this would be the thing that broke Chloe, that finally made her look inward and realize that the call of toxicity, negativity, and entitlement is coming from inside the house. She is the one who makes people around her miserable, and in turn, herself miserable, because it makes no one want to be with her, it makes no one like her.

Realizing this, vocalizing this, and doing something about this could've been a good start. She can be rewarded for being vulnerable and open and taking responsibility by being given the Bee Miraculous and being allowed to fix things, which could start her wanting to fix things without a Miraculous. Thus, a START of her redemption arc.

But as I noted back then, and as I note now, this isn't the start. It's the finish.

All this vulnerability about not being liked and hurting her daddy's feelings and feeling worthless comes after info-dumping about her Sad Mommy issues which were pretty much resolved as soon as they were brought up THANKS TO HER SWORN ENEMY MARINETTE, and after she picked up a Miraculous and kept it for herself, and after she abused that power to CRASH A TRAIN to try and win herself clout. So I'm sorry that I don't care that Chloe "deserves a second chance" or that "maybe Queen Bee will make her a better Chloe" after she almost killed people to show off for Mommy.

The big finale says "Well Chloe's sad so maybe she could possibly be good, though only when it directly effects her." She can't even muster a goddamn thank you for the party, they didn't even pretend she was going to change.

And that's where hindsight makes this even worse. I clocked this as a failed start when this episode came out, but adding on top of that the next two seasons where she unofficially joins the villain's side makes this even dumber.

The episode does the usual shtick of Somehow Blaming Marinette: she feels bad for telling Chloe she's not a hero, she feels bad for celebrating her leaving, she gives HERSELF partial blame for Andre being akumatized. Well, I don't blame her, show. In fact I'd say she's pretty justified.

For one, what did Chloe do as Queen Bee that was heroic? Try to crash a train to get credit for stopping the crash, which she couldn't even do, and then being akumatized? How about the fact that she found this Miraculous and didn't return it? Or let's look wider and assume Marinette wasn't even talking about just Queen Bee: What has Chloe done that was heroic? Oh one time she kinda helped with Despair Bear - oh wait but she also CAUSED that akuma so it kinda cancels out.

Chloe's not a hero. She could be, she has all the resources, she just isn't because she doesn't want to be.

And why should Marinette feel bad that Chloe's leaving? Adrien says she left angry and upset, but she seemed pretty content when she was throwing out fliers from her helicopter and announcing it to the whole school in one last hurrah. Play me the world's smallest violin. After TWO SEASONS of abuse from this whiny little rich girl, why shouldn't Marinette be happy for herself? Happy that she won't have to worry about her property being vandalized? Or work stolen? Or relative's career sabotaged? That next year she doesn't have to dread going to school because there's no chance Chloe will be in her class? Why WOULDN'T she throw a party over that?

And in what universe is Marinette to blame for the akuma that she didn't even come in contact with? Just because, as usual, Chloe decided to blame Marinette for all the backlash she rightfully got even though Marinette was the last one to say something? Just because her classmates agreed with what Marinette said, and Chloe got weirdly fixated on Marinette, and Chloe took it out on her father, it's somehow Marinette's burden and blame for Maledictator? Sure Jan, that'll hold up in court. The mental gymnastics to even blame a twice removed party...

And all of it is for naught. Marinette sees a vulnerable side of Chloe and gives her a chance as a hero and throws her a party to celebrate her "accomplishment" as Queen Bee because "Being Ladybug made me a better Marinette, maybe being Queen Bee will make her a better Chloe".

Well guess what. It didn't. It inflated her already massive ego and gave her another thing she felt entitled to that she didn't earn and led to the mother of all tantrums when she was told multiple times she wouldn't be getting her way, leading to Marinette losing Fu as an ally. All the self flagellation, all the bowing to Chloe's ego, all the hoops Marinette went through to make Chloe feel better did nothing to help Chloe change into a better person, so all it is is a waste of time and teaching Marinette a lesson that ends up blowing up in her face. It was frustrating back when this episode came out to see how unearned it all was, and now it's extra frustrating because you know how pointless it all was. All the deliberate audience manipulation for a complete non-starter.

SPEAKING of frustrating to watch, I believe I promised you TWO big stinkers in this episode.

Get back here Adrien, I'm barely even started with you. How fucking dare you come in here and lecture anyone about treating Chloe badly? I don't care if Chloe was your friend when no one else is, that doesn't invalidate the happiness everyone - and I mean EVERYONE, including teachers, your classmate, and your own Best Friend - was feeling at her departure. Good for you that she was a warm body to stand next to in your childhood years, but what kind of criteria do you even have Mr. If We Made Eye Contact We're Friends?

Because you haven't shown us that she was a good friend. Hell, you haven't shown us YOU were a good friend! If you were so concerned for her, why didn't you go after her when she left in a huff? Why didn't you text her or try to convince her to stay? Why didn't you stop your class from pointing out her bullshit when she gave her duplicitous presentation? Why NOW is your only move to berate her number one abuse victim (next to Sabrina) and then sulk in the corner like a dark cloud trying to ruin everyone else's good time?

Why aren't you NOW going after her or texting her? Why are you still at this party? Why aren't you lecturing any of your other friends about what they're doing? Why why why?

(Logistically it's so Marinette and Adrien are on the outer rim of the party and don't get hit by Maledictator's command spell to destroy the school, but literally since when has the show cared about logical reasons for the two to get away from a crowd?)

You know what sucks? This episode was fun until Adrien opened his big mouth. Everything was fast paced and melodramatic and over the top and fun - and then party pooper Adrien has to call everyone TeRriBlE despite ALL the terrible things Chloe's done over the course of this series RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM.

And because the writing is poor and doesn't want to actually challenge Adrien in any way, they have Marinette call Chloe "useless" when that is literally the least of her problems: a bully, a brat, selfish, spoiled, vindictive, manipulative, a liar, self centered, delusional, I don't know, just plain fucking MEAN. If Marinette stuck to any of these things that Adrien couldn't refute, maybe we could've had something INTERESTING here. But instead they gave him a near strawman just so he could refute ONE THING "bad" about Chloe instead of confronting the fact that his childhood friend was and is a shitty person.

Maybe on top of Chloe realizing something about herself, we have Adrien realize the nature of their relationship: that he's so conditioned to accept her and his father's crap that he's even conditioned to be uncomfortable when anyone ELSE challenges their crap. That he's put unrealistic expectations on his other friends just because of his own coping strategy against the people in his life that constantly take advantage of him. That it's unfair of him to expect other's to just shut up and put up with unfair treatment just because shaking the status quo makes him kinda nauseous. Just, you know, if they wanted to do something INTERESTING for once.

Maybe this could've where Adrien realizes that not only do his friends deserve to be treated better, but so does he. That by not invalidating his friend's feelings, he can stop invalidating his own. It could be a first step to him overcoming his people-pleasing nature and begin his own arc about taking charge of his life, maybe eventually leading into him taking control of his portion of the plot, MAYBE leading him into being an actual deuteragonist in this series instead of the semi-damsel love interest.

If Adrien would've been made to actually face the fact that the person he grew up with was a garbage person, maybe he'd take some time to look at his dad differently, or Nathalie, or even his own mother and try to see them from a different point of view. A view where he realizes he deserves better.

But instead he manages to guilt trip the only person in the room who wouldn't have challenged him so badly that she actually gives the cruelest person she's known a freaking Miraculous and throws her a celebration party for doing ONCE the thing she herself does on a daily basis with no accolades. And it was aaaaaaaall worthless.

Or should I say "useless"?

[generalluxun]

Do you have any headcanons, be they positive, neutral or negative regarding Adrien & Chloe's friendship, either pre series or during? Feel free to ignore later seasons as well if preferred.

Oh several! My usual go-to is based off their early interactions with some extrapolation based on other traits, history, etc.

On Chloé's end she adores Adrien growing up. Sometimes I play it as genuine romantic affection, sometimes it's confused territorial displays based on genuine friendship mixed with fear off loss. Adrien was the only friend she was allowed to have growing up. She's extremely scared of someone 'taking him away'.

Yes Sabrina was tolerated, but considering her situation I can already hear André, 'How will you having a friend like this reflect on me?'. We already see she uses gifts to keep Sabrina... Exactly the way André treats Chloé. Adrien was the only friend encouraged/approved of. Sabrina probably wasn't even allowed around when Audrey was in town.

On Adrien's end there is genuine affection, and I have actually played it both ways. Often it's a sibling bond style friendship. I have also had fun giving him a crush on her *However* it doesn't play out like a normal crush. You see he still grew up thinking of her like a sister, so it's more 'Oh no, why is my sister suddenly hot now? What is wrong with me?' Which goes to explaining why he looked uncomfortable at times when she got too close. He's embarassed.

You see his reluctance/discomfort makes no sense otherwise. They've been lifelong friends. Considering the parents, Emilie would have been the one watching them growing up. She wouldn't have let Adrien endure discomfort, and young Chloé wasn't born how she is today. She would have adapted to him while they grew up. Her physical affection early in the series has to come from 'it's been okay before.' We even do see times when it is okay. Generally when they aren't trying to make us mad anyone who isn't Marinette is touching Adrien.

As the series plays out and they become estranged I generally play it as more of a tragic thing. His world is expanding, duties+new people confirms her fears and makes her a smaller part of his life. Sometimes they reconnect, sometimes they don't. However there is an undercurrent that always remains.

Chloé is the person Adrien goes to when things really go wrong with his life. She's the outside force, the fresh and sometimes needfully harsh perspective. Marinette is usually somehow involved with things going wrong (no salt on her, just romance, work, etc. she's such a bug part of his life she's either solved the problem by this point or she is part of the problem) All of Adrien's other friends generally come to being his friend through Marinette(even Nino is part of DJwifi and Alya has a huge influence there) this means they're all Marinette, Adrienette, and happily ever after cheerleaders. It limits their perspectives.

Hmmm that's the basics I suppose. Hope I answered it well enough.

[littlxpxtal]

Therefore I Am

TYRANTS || STORY MASTERLIST PAIRING: rafe cameron x fem!reader WARNINGS: MDNI 18+ Content, swearing, sexual content, drug and alcohol use, violence WORD COUNT: 3.7K

Don't talk 'bout me like how you might know how I feel

Top of the world, but your world isn't real

Your world's an ideal

So, go have fun

I really couldn't care less

And you can give 'em my best, but just know

I'm not your friend or anything, damn

You think that you're the man

November

“Okay so I made this cute ass invite on this website and you can send it out as a text blast.” Sabrina explains to me as we walk to first period together. 

“Sab who are you planning on inviting?” I ask. She was keen on throwing me a huge blowout for my 18th. I had gotten better at making friends on Figure 8 but there was a pit of doubt inside me that anyone would actually show up.

“We have to invite everyone whos anyone. Adn they’ll forsure come cus we haven’t had a big rager since Halloween. Everyone is fiending for a party. And everyone is talking about how cool you are.” I roll my eyes at this last declaration.

“No they are not Sab what are you even talking about.” I ask before we walk into the classroom.

“You’ve really impressed everyone at all of my pregames, and even Rafe’s friend group thinks you’re cool. Everyones obsessed with your style, and are dying to know why you’ve spent the last three years wasting time on the cut.” she whispers as we take our seats.

“How do you even know Rafe’s friends like me?” I pull out my history book and homework, feeling my face flush at the thought of them talking about me.

“Just trust me I know.”

“You know, I’m inviting my friends from the cut.” I say with a straight face, dreading her response.

“Y/N … Why would you do that?” she asks, pulling out her supplies.

“Cus they’re my friends. If it’s my party I should be able to invite whoever I want.” I state matterof factly. 

“That may cause some problems.” she mumbles before the bell rings. “Im sending the text blast out at lunch. If there’s anyone you dont want there let me know, or else its going to my entire contacts list.” she hisses to me before the teacher starts taking attendance. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I adjust the strapless black mini dress on my chest, fidgeting with the zipper on the side before Sabrina walks into my room. 

“People are going to start coming in 10 are you ready yet?” she asks, holding a red solo cup out to me.

“Yea, just gotta put on my lipstick. Whats this?”

She smirks and walks over to my full length mirror.

“A concoction just for the birthday girl.” she teases, pulling out her phone to take a picture.

“Get in this with me.” she says. I pose in the mirror with her and take a small sip of the drink, practically choking.

“What the fuck is in this Sab?” I ask, stuggling to keep myself from yakking.

“My version of a tequila sunrise. Mostly tequila.” she says sweetly, taking a sip form her own cup.

“Yea I can tell.” The doorbell rings and my eyes widen.

“I’ll get it. Hurry up!” she exclaims, running out of my room. I take a deep breath and take the berry shade of lipstick I bought for tonight out and start applying in the mirror. I decide to take a selfie of myself, admiring the way the dress fit around my curves. 

Somehow Sabrina convinced my parents to let me have this party at my place and got them out of town for the weekend. They were easily convinced by her sweet talk, and were encouraged by the fact that I had been making friends at Kildare Academy. They were more than happy to give Sabrina and me their credit card to buy decorations and even allowed us to use some of the liquor from their cabinet. 

I made my way up the stairs to see the living room was starting to fill with familiar faces I had seen in the hallways. I admired my house filled with helium balloons and silver streamer curtains. The room was illuminated with a large disco ball and LED lights. The DJ started playing music in the backyard.

“I think we’re gonna have a big turn out.” Sabrina says when she finally reaches me.

“Do these people actually know what they’re even here for?”

“Of course they do. I even made a card box for people to give you gifts.”

“Sabrina, I don’t want any of these peoples money.” I say confused.

“These people come from old money its practically tradition. Plus theyre drinking the booze we bought so its like an entry fee.” she says giggling and grabbing my hand, leading me to the backyard.

“You got the playlist I sent right?” she asks the DJ. I recognized him immediately, he was a barista at the cafe I always went to when I used to hang in the cut. He smiles softly at me and I thank him for being here tonight. 

“There’s the birthday girl!” I hear someone shout from the backdoor. I turn around to see Topper, Kelce, Rafe a group of random girls surrounding them. He’s holding a handle of Titos up in the air.

“TOP!” Sabrina exclaims, dragging me over to greet them.

“Happy birthday Y/N” he says, greeting me in a hug. “This is for you, from all of us.” he says handing me the large bottle. I stare at in shock and laugh.

“Thanks guys.” I respond. Before I can greet Kelce or Rafe, Sabrina takes the bottle from my hands.

“Shots?” she asks the group. The guys cheer in response and she leads them back inside the the kitchen where the cups were.

“Happy birthday.” Rafe whispers in my ear, trailing right behind me. I feel goosebumps rise on my arms. “You look good.” he murmurs as we reach the counter.

“TO Y/N” Sabrina declares and we raise the shot glasses up to the cieling

“TO ME!” I Cheer before downing the shot. I hiss at the burning in my throat and squeeze my eyes closed. 

More people fill into my living room and start piling into the backyard. I’m greeted with hugs and fist bumps from people I vaguely remember, they thank me for inviting them and I have to pretend like I’m the one who even made the invite in the first place. 

I finally check my phone for the first time since people started arriving.

Sarah Cameron

We’re pulling up in a sec

I smile at my phone and scan the room to see if they’ve arrived.

“You waitin on someone?” I hear Rafe ask from behind me.

“Yea Sarah’s comin.” I say without looking back at him. 

“I assume that means the clowns will be making an appearance as well.” he asks, finally standing next to me, his arm brushing against my shoulder.

“Play nice it’s my birthday.” I remind him, taking a sip from my birthday concoction.

“Long as they play nice too.” he responds before walking off. I roll my eyes and scan the room again. They still weren’t anywhere in sight, so I walk off to mingle with my guests.

I find a familiar face in the sea of people and make my way to him.

“Hi Noah.” I say, interrupting his conversation with a girl I had never seen befroe.

“Hey Y/N . Happy birthday!” he says before pulling me into a hug. It lingers for a little too long and I feel my cheeks blush when he finally releases me. 

“This is a great party. Much better than my 18th.” he says, standing close and leaning down to be eye level with me.

“Whadid you do for yours?” I ask, trying to hide my disgust as I take another sip from the drink Sab made me.

“I had the flu. I had to go to the hospital and everything.” he says shurgging his shoulders.

“Damn that sounds awful. You can pretend tonights your birthday if you want.” I say, trying to cheer him up. I feel his eyes scan my body up and down and he inches closer.

“Well I know what I would want for my present.” he whispers. I bite my lip and giggle.

“Cute” I say in response. From the corner of my eye I spot JJ and I run towards him.

“JJ!” I shriek, throwing myself into his arms. He lifts me up and spins me around.

“Happy birthday doll. You have hella friends now huh?” he asks giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I dont know half of these people. Sabrina just invited them.” I say in response. He smirks and scans the room.

“Whos the dude who was practically eye fucking you?” he says, I glance over to see he’s giving a death glare to Noah.

“Kid I know from Kook academy.” I shrug.

“BIRTHDAY GIRL!” Kiara shouts, popping up from behind JJ.

“Kie!” I squeeze her with all my might. I feel a rush of excitement fill my body as people I actually knew and loved were finally here. John B and Pope pile into our hug.

“Where’s Sarah?” 

“She went looking for you. Looks like she ran into her brother though.” John B says, nudging his head over towards the back of the kitchen. I direct the group to follow me, leading them through the crowd of people stuffed into my living room. I trip over a ballon on the floor, and feel an arm reach out to help me gain my balance. I look up to see its Rafe.

“Thanks” I mumble, pulling my arm away from his grip. I direct my attention away from him and smile at Sarah

“Happy birthday girl! I heard Rafe got you a present and I think it’s only appropriate that we indulge.” she says, wiggling her eyebrows and holding up the half empty handle of titos up at me.

She fills up shots enough for everyone including Rafe. His body is blocking me from being in the circle, so I shove past him, forcing my way into the center. 

I look at Kiara and smirk, “arriba! abajo! al centro! pa dentro!” We cheer. The group finishes the shot and I find myself brave from the liquid courage I had just been given. I pull a chair out from behind the counter and stand on top of it.

“THANK YOU FOR COMING AND CELEBRATING MY 18TH WITH ME!” I Shout to the crowd of people in the kitchen and dining area. “LETS GET FUCKED UP!” I shout.

Pope hands me a Natty Lite from his book bag and I tip it to its side, cracking the bottom open with my teeth. For a second I realize my inner pogue is coming out. But I decide I didn’t give a fuck. It was my fucking birthday. 

I crack open the can and inhale the beer in 3 chugs. I crush the can with my hand and toss it out into the crowd. The room erupts in cheers and I turn around to my friends seeing their shocked yet excited expressions on their faces.

“Lets fucking dance.” I say. JJ walks up to the chair and puts out his arms.

“Lets go dance princess.” he says, pulling me down into his arms, placing me softly on the ground. I grab his hand,  leading them to the backyard where the DJ began blasting the Pursuit of Happiness remix. 

The backyard area is filled with people already dancing. I squish us into the center of the crowd and notice that Rafe and his friends decided to join. 

I feel my body moving along to the beat, not giving a care in the world, sticking my hands up in the air and letting the crowd's movements take me around the circle. Dancing face to face with Sarah, her back against John B’s.

Our bodies are squeezed together and I slowly grind against hers before I’m pushed to the side and end up in front of Kiara. She’s dancing against Pope and I remember I need to ask her how that situation is coming along. Before I can lean into ask, my body is moved again to be in the center of the circle.  I take a few steps back to the beat and spin around.

Losing my balance, I end up with my back pressed against a tall figure. His arms softly grab my hips. If I didn’t know any better I would assume it was JJ. But I look over to see him standing in between John B and Pope. I crane my neck to look and see its Rafe, with a slight smirk on his face. 

I decide to play along, turning my body to face his. His hands move furth up my back, running them up and down as I grind my body against his. I keep my eyes closed, refusing to make eye contact with him, trying to show that I would dance with literally anyone like this. I wrap my hands up around his neck and jump around to the beat before the song stops and there’s silence amongst the crowd. I drop my hands from his neck and whip my head towards the DJ, and see Sabrina standing up there with a lit up cake.

She grabs a microphone from the DJ and begins singing Happy Birthday to me. I feel my face get hot and body tense, realizing that everyone was staring at me, singing along in unison. My worst nightmare. She makes her way through the crowd, everyone making a path for her to reach me. 

When she finally does the song is almost over and I feel tears brimming in my eyes. Mainly becomes I’m so drunk and overwhelmed with anxiety from what was happening. 

“Make a wish!” I close my eyes and blow the candles out. The crowd erupts into a cheer and the DJ starts up a new song, everyone returning back to where they were before the serenading.

“I hate you.” I say, as we walk to the kitchen.

“Noooo you love me. And look at all these people here for YOU.” I give her side hug as she places the cake on the counter.

“Thanks for doing this for me.” I say. She turns to face me with a large grin spread across her face. “I’m glad we met.”

“Stop being sappy and go back out and dance.” she says, pushing me towards the back door.

“I have to pee first” I say, making my way towards the basement door. I make my way down the stairs to my room. After finishing my business I walk back into my room and see Rafe inspecting my bookshelf.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” I ask, startled at his intrusion.

He doesn't respond, just glances over, eyeing my body up and down before picking a book off of the shelf. 

“You read a lot of fiction.” he states.

I walk over and grab the book out of his hand. 

“I asked you a question.” I place the book back in its place and turn to face him.

“I was curious.” he says, shrugging.

“Okay, well I’d like you to leave now.” I say pointing towards the door.

“No you don’t,” he says, stepping closer to me. So close I can smell his cologne. It was woody yet musky. Dior Sauvage I would guess, making a mental note to check it out at the mall next time I got the chance. 

“You say that like you know what I want.”

“Cause I do.” he says, staring down into my eyes.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“I’m Rafe fucking Cameron. And you’re just some girl who has a birthday party with kids she doesnt even know. I see right through you.”

“Im not just some girl, who do you think you are talking to me like that?” I feel rage flowing through my body and I take a step closer, our chests practically touching. His chest is rising with deep breaths and I glance at his hands that are balled into fists.

“You think you’re hot shit now that you hang with kids on figure 8. But they won’t forget where your loyalties lie. You proved it tonight by inviting your fucking pogues.” I roll my eyes.

“Is that what this is about? Cus I invited my best friends? They’re just people Rafe. You and your loser friends only care about labels. We’re not even fucking friends why are you here if you’re so hung up on who I invited?” 

“You think anyone would be here if I wasn’t?” I scoff at his arrogance.

“God you’re so full of yourself. Get a grip.” 

Everything happens in an instant. His body moves forcefully against mine, pushing me into my closet door. I wince at the abrupt force. His arms are planted on the door above my head and he dips his face to meet mine.

“You're not as cool as you think you are pretty girl. You can stand on a table and shotgun all the beers you want. You can dance like a fucking slut at any party but that’s all anyone gonna remember you by. A party girl with no personality.” I feel tears well in my eyes at his bitter words.

“You act like your entire personality isnt partying. You live in a fucking fantasy world where its cool to do coke and fuck random girls like its a well respected hobby. You don’t know shit about my personality because I would never let someone like you know anything about me.” I spit back.

He stands silent for a second, his breathing hard and heavy. My eyes meet his, tears no longer threatening to spill over. All I feel is hot rage and red staring into his blue eyes. His right-hand moves from above my head to grip the back of my neck. He pauses as if he's second-guessing his next move.

Before I can think of a response his mouth collides with mine. I melt into his touch, tasting the liquor shared between our breath and his cool tongue grazing over my bottom lip. Reluctantly I let out a groan, frustrated that he was a good kisser. He moves his mouth aggressively against mine, pushing me hard against the wall. My hands finally move from my sides up into his hair giving a slight tug. 

He finally releases his grip from the back of my neck and I gasp out trying to catch my breath when I hear screaming from outside. I decided it would be quicker to get to the back through the sliding door in my room that leads to a small patio on the side of the house. I run out and around the house to see a commotion happening on the dance floor.

My breath hitches and goosebumps rise across my body as I realize what is happening. Rafe trails behind me as I get closer to the group of people fighting, seeing JJ and Pope getting kicked around on the ground

“WHAT THE FUCK” I screech, pushing through the crowd, trying to pull the guys off of my friends. I turn around to Rafe.

“HELP ME” I ask, He runs his hands through his hair, contemplating on what he should do

“Please” I beg before turning around to try and pick JJ off the ground. I turn around to see Rafe grab the idiot off of Pope and help Pope stand up.

“PARTYS OVER” He roars across the crowd. The DJ instantly turns off the music and I see Sabrina running over to the scene. I’m holding JJ up with my arms as he limps over with blood smeared across his face. 

“JJ what happened? Where’s Sarah and John B?” I ask. I then realize JJ is drunk out of his mind and cant even look straight. 

I turn around to see Pope is sitting on a chair with Rafe standing next to him.

“Pope what happened, where is everyone?”

The crowd starts to clear and I tug JJ along to sit next to Pope.

“They went looking for you and some kooks started talking shit about us being here and…” he trails off. “Sorry to ruin your birthday Y/N”

“I know its your birthday n all but I really dont think these people wanted us here.” JJ finally says.

“No shit.” I hear John B saying behind me.

“There you guys are. What the fuck happened I left for 5 minutes and these fools are getting curb stomped?”

“These are your new fucking friends lets remember that” JJ Says, finally standing. “Look, we love you Y/N. But its not a good idea for us to be comin to any of these events again.” he says harshly.

“But I wanted you guys here.”

“And we wanted to be here to support you but, JJs right Y/N. Its never a good outcome for us to be in Figure 8.” John B says, pulling Pope off of the chair. “Lets go guys.”

I stand there feeling hopeless. I wasnt allowed back on the cut, and if my friends wouldnt come to my side of the island, I would never see them.

“But- but” I stammer. 

Sabrina interrupts the moment tugging my arm to face her.

“Hey, I’m gonna go but I’ll be back in the morning to help you clean okay?” Sabrina says, nudging her head over to the top of the patio where the DJ was standing there, with all his stuff packed up. “He’s gonna walk me home.” she says with a smirk. 

“Okay I’ll see you.” I turned to realize my friends were making their way towards the front door. 

“Guys please dont leave.” I plead catching up with them.

“We gotta get them home Y/N,” Kie says, holding Popes hand. 

“I’ll text you when were back okay? I hope you had a good birthday.” she says, giving me a kiss on my cheek and opening the front door.

“I’ll see you soon okay?” Sarah says, giving me a tight squeeze before walking out with the rest of them. I watch them walk down my driveway, feeling defeated and angry. 

I turn around and slam the front door shut, looking around the room to see a mess of red solo cups, streamers and popped balloons all over the floor. I rip my heels off my feet and walk towards my basement door before I hear the back door slide open.

“I don’t think we were finished.”

Previous Chapter | Instagram AU | Next Chapter

[hischierswhore]

cafés & catch ups

pairing: Mason Mount x Reader

TW: none

A/N: inspired by ‘skinny dipping’ by sabrina carpenter 🤩

You walked through the door of the café, the air cool against your cheeks as the spring weather wrapped around you and entered the establishment alongside you. The café was one you used to frequent since leaving your hometown nearly 2 years ago for a man you were so deeply in love with.

That man was none other than Mason Mount. You'd dated Mason for over 3 years, with you choosing to move to London to be closer to him after your 2 year anniversary. After about a year, your relationship was not in a good place, and you ultimately decided to end things.

You had felt like he wasn't as in love with you anymore. He'd been so distant with you and didn't make much effort to spend time with you. You thought moving closer would make your relationship stronger, but it only seemed to make things worse.

Now, nearly 7 months after your breakup with Mason, you were back at that same café you both had been to frequently after you moved to the city, except this time you were alone. It was your first time visiting the café since your split, as it reminded you too much of him.

After ordering your usual, you head to your old booth and decide to scroll through Instagram for a few minutes.

“Oat Milk Latte for Mason!” The barista calls out. You look up from your phone, looking around as there’s no chance it’s him. But it is. He makes his way up to the counter and collects his drink & muffin before walking to find a seat. As he makes his way across the café in an attempt to find a seat, his eyes meet yours, causing him to stop in his tracks.

After a moment, he slowly makes his way to the old booth.

“Can I sit here?” He asks, as the rest of the seats were filled. You nodded, allowing him to set his belongings on the table as he seated himself across from you.

“Hi” He spoke, breaking the silence between the pair of you.

“Hi, how’re you?” There wasn’t any bad blood between you both. He’d just fallen out of love.

“I’ve been good. You?” His reply had some tension in it, something you were unable to put your finger on.

"I've been fine" You replied before getting up to get your drink. When you returned to the booth, you both spoke for a bit longer, catching up on everything that's happened within the past few months.

Just being in his presence made you ache in a way that not even the breakup had previously. He sported the same sweet disposition he always had and he wore it well, it was always the thing that made him the most attractive to you.

"Well, this was really nice, maybe we should do this on purpose sometime" Mason suggested as he looked at you. You smiled lightly, liking the idea of seeing him again. It could help mend some of the wound that was still there when you broke up.

"I'd really like that" You replied. Mason returned the smile before saying his goodbyes and leaving the café.

As you exited the cafe, you noticed you had a text from an unknown number.

Unknown: Hey, It's Mase. Are you available tonight? Maybe we could actually catch up and hang out?

You: Yeah, I'm available. Just pass by my apartment. It's the same one as before :)

- hours later -

Mason passed by your apartment and drove you over to the restaurant he'd arranged for you both to eat at. You didn't have a car, and the restaurant was quite far, so it would simply be easier for him to drive you.

As you entered, you realized that it was the same restaurant he took you to on your first date.

"Isn't this a bit nostalgic?" You asked, deja vu hitting you like a train as you remembered your first ever date with him years before.

"Maybe, but we won't sit at our same old table, I promise" He smiled as the hostess guided the pair of you to a secluded section of the restaurant. He pulled your chair out for you before sitting across from you.

He grabbed the menu and started reading. You looked at him for a moment, noticing how different he was now compared to the man you once dated. He seemed happier now, somehow more comfortable in his own skin and less stressed out. A part of you wanted to reach out and pull him into your arms, but you knew you couldn't. He wasn't yours anymore.

His brown eyes glanced up briefly as he read the menu, catching your eye for a brief moment before you looked down at the menu. A light chuckle came from him, causing you to look up at him.

"What?" He simply shook his head at your question, leading you to roll your eyes jokingly and look over the menu once more. You then decided to try and change the topic.

"So what are you having?"

"This girl once recommended the Penne alla Puttanesca. Thought I'd give it a try" He smiled at you as he spoke. The girl he was referring to was you; it was one of his favorite meals you'd ever made for him. You were certainly surprised that he remembered.

"Well, that girl has great taste because it's absolutely phenomenal"

"May I ask where she got the recipe from?" His hands joined together on the top of the table as he spoke.

"An old friend" His mother had given you the recipe many years ago, after you'd been dating for over a year.

"How's Debbie by the way?"

"She's been good... she's always asking for you. She also uhm... she doesn't exactly know that we broke up..." He fiddled with his fingers as he spoke.

"Why didn't you tell her?" He sighed at your question.

"I didn't want her to know that I'd fucked up and let you go" He mumbled but you still heard him.

"Y/n, I didn't want to bring it up because it's been months and I'm sure you've moved on, but I do want to apologize for that night. I should've tried to explain myself before you left. I hope you know that I didn't ever stop loving you, nor did I ever fall out of love with you. I was just dealing with a lot with the club and I was stressed out. I shouldn't have let you leave. I should've fought harder to keep you in my life. These past few months without you have been absolute hell for me, but I never stopped loving you. You're still my entire world." You flinched slightly hearing those words. You didn't expect to hear them.

The waiter brought your food the moment he finished speaking, both of you saying 'thank you' before continuing the previous conversation.

"I tried to move on, Mase. I really did, but everything reminds me of you. All the little things you did that made me feel so happy, I can't do anything without being reminded of you" You let out a soft sigh as you saw his eyes widen slightly at your confession.

"I wish you would've told me what was going on before I'd ended things between us. If I'd known, I could've helped you deal with it better. I never stopped loving you either, Mason. I don't think I ever could stop loving you" A smile spread across your face as you spoke. His eyes flickered across your face for a moment, taking in every feature you had.

"We could have dealt with it differently if we talked sooner, instead of waiting until it was already too late. Either way, I don't see anyone else in my future besides you" You continued.

"You're the only person I see in my future. I don't want anyone else but you" You swallowed hard at his words, feeling the nervousness come into your system.

Mason reached across the table to hold your hand, making you glance up at him momentarily.

"Can we try this again?" He spoke lowly, his eyes filled with hope as he stared into yours.

"I'd like that very much, Mase" You smiled as he leaned forward to capture your lips in a kiss. It was the perfect kiss. Smooth, yet passionate. The perfect kiss to help ease the hurt inside you that was now healed.

—

~ taglist ~

@ithinkimokeei @myheartgoesvroom @mounthings @tall-tanned-tattoo @itsnotgray @alwaysclassyeagle @charlewiss @pianoisland @fallingin20 @chelseagirl98 @lovelynikol16 @username-envy

[blvddy-bxnnii]

More Tissaia and Yennefer Headcanons!

These are individual hcs for both women that I've been working on for a lil bit now

Quick Disclaimer: Yennefer’s list mentions self-harm, eating disorder, and ptsd. The rest is pretty angsty, including Tissaia’s portion

Perhaps a little bit of a projection onto Yen but not by much

_______

Yennefer

• When she's nervous, Yennefer fidgets with her hands and rocks back and forth in place or if she's sitting she'll bounce her leg. She has a bad habit about picking her nails from her childhood so she wears gloves to prevent it but you can still see her scratch at her fingers through the gloves. Partially why she wears gloves in the first place. This is also why she frequently crosses her arms, it gives her a sense of security in times of anxiety or when Tissaia isn't available. Coping mechanisms in a way

• Yennefer is plagued with nightmares and night terrors from her childhood which has turned her into a night owl. She may say she's retiring to bed early but in reality, she simply stays awake. Bussing herself with reading or practicing spells; sometimes slipping outside for long walks deep. She's afraid of sleeping alone and having no one to ease her from the ptsd she's garnered from the abuse and bullying. A few times waking up with a scream or crying, shaking and holding herself if she's alone. Using magic to prevent dark circles forming under her eyes and to keep her awake

• Yennefer does in fact have ptsd. She hides the symptoms of it but they show through small gestures. Flinching away at touch if she doesn't instigate it, constantly in a state of panic or on edge. She never feels like she can relax for even a mere moment and she'll do random, unnecessary tasks to keep her brain occupied. Vivid nightmares as mentioned before with insomnia, fidgeting whenever she stays still for too long, hypervigilence around crowds of people, and rash and quick irritability, especially if itdisturbs the only few moments of ease she gets. (All of this is only heightened after Sodden)

• Yennefer has a bad habit with eating she picked up from childhood and surviving on the sides of trails where food was scarce. She goes days without eating, often or not forgetting she has to eat or that she's hungry at all. It was especially bad when she returned to Aretuza. Only nibbling on the food provided and saving the rest as if she wouldn't eat again. Something Tissaia would constantly remind her of with a few others such as Triss and Sabrina that she is safe, she is allowed to eat and not worry about when she'll eat again

• Despite being as powerful as she is, Yennefer hates the dark. Constantly needing a light source because she's afraid. Created by the times where she'd be forced to sleep in the barn and the threat of wild animals or monsters were always there, her father scaring her with stories so she wouldn't run away. She keeps a candle lit at night no matter what, she isn't able to sleep without it (when she can). When she's sleeping alone she needs it the most otherwise she'll proceed to stay up. Why she doesn't join Geralt in caves or wanders very far whenever she's out at night

• Another fear of Yennefer’s is rejection. Stemming from the years of being a hunchback. Even though she is inhumanly beautiful, knowing that she could have anyone she so wishes, it's still a lingering thought that stays in the back of her mind. That underneath the enchantment they'll still see the imperfections, the bitterness, the hurt little girl that craves affirmation, love, protection. The ugliness that the enchantment couldn't fix

• Yennefer is bisexual with female preference. As she does enjoy the company of men and found herself relatively good at getting what she wants from them and pleasing them, something about women is different. Finding herself enjoying their compliments, paying attention to the smaller details on them; how they smell, how soft their hair and skin were. To how they would dress, presenting their figure

• Yennefer’s love language is quality time. She isn't one to shy away from speaking how she feels or or get physical but for love it's different. The emotion she never knows how to properly show thus she expresses it with quality time. She'll actively listen or would much rather sit in silence. To her it's comforting just to be in her partners presence. Even if she's just reading a book or creating potions, knowing they're in the room is enough

• Yennefer has an anxious attachment towards love. She's achingly lonely, learning to protect herself after everything life has thrown at her and the amount of times she's been told she's incapable of being loved. Any serious relationships have ended because she pulls them close, pushes them away, runs, and then returns. She desperately wants to be love but she's too anxious to open up and trust, revealing unhealed wounds that could possibly have salt thrown in

• She still experiences urges to self harm. When certain situations remind her of her abuse, stressed, overwhelmed, Yennefer finds herself craving relief. A dull ache over her scars that makes it hard to resist. This is the other reason as to why she wears gloves. To not only hide the scars but also prevent herself from relapsing. It has happened a few times but not enough to kill her as she wished before hand

Tissaia

• Tissaia has a really mild form of ocd. Not enough to make her unable to function but in a way where she constantly needs her desk organized and clean. If it's not, she'll clearly be stressing about it all day or finds an excuse to be in her office to make sure its tidy. Same with her clothes, she consistently needs them to have no wrinkles, she won't wear them if they do and will proceed to use magic to make sure they're up to her standards. This also extends to her need for control and minimal chaos in her presence

• Tissaia can sew! Although most sorceresses use magic and enchant a needle, Tissaia, having lived for so long, found it as a hobby to pick up in her free time. Often fixing miniscule rips and tears or if her students come up to her, she offers to fix it for them. She finds it redundant to just use magic to solve all problems but also she uses it as a way to relax and de-stress occasionally

• One of Tissaia’s fears is being alone. Something she often chides herself on but in reality a very true aspect of her character. She may put on facade, a wall and turn others away but she always regrets her actions. They're one of the many thoughts that keep her up at night thinking how her life may have been different if she had not chased away people. Being alone, to her, feels suffocating. As if chained and constantly brought down

• She has been taken advantage of before. Mostly when she first became a sorceress, advising royalty. At the behest and order of kings to serve them while the Chapter turned a blind eye and deaf ear, that led her to accept that seduction is one of the most powerful tools a sorceress has. It contributes to why she's so reserved and modest. Even when water is involved, she submerges herself fully clothed or use magic to change outfits when no privacy is available

• Tissaia is a lesbian. She's lived long enough to try all sorts of sexual endeavors but she came to the conclusion she preferred the company of a woman over a man. From her time serving courts but also the years she spent enduring men's gazes and reading the thoughts they would conjure. The fantasies they had in mind that made her severely uncomfortable. She wouldn't doubt a few men she's been with were pleasant but women were tender, soft, and so much more rewarding to please. However nowadays she hardly searches for a romantic partner, at least until Yennefer came along

• Tissaia’s love language is a cross between quality time and physical touch. She loves spending one on one time with her partners, that distraction from everything else in her life to focus on someone she loves and listen to them instead of the gossip of girls. Physical touch that include holding hands and tight hugs that reassure her that this is real and not an illusion crated by magic. She also greatly enjoys the intimacy of a kiss

• Tissaia has lost touch with the concept of time. After being alive for so many years and having watched the world change, she genuinely forgets that it truly has been years. Time slips from her easily nowadays. For what feels like months for the rest, to her it felt only a week went by. A phenomenon that terrified her at first but now she's accepted it. However, thinking about it for too long can cause her to feel depressed, that even though she's has many feats and accomplishments, it's never enough

[theerurishipper]

I remembered seeing an old post that comparing Marinette and Chloe and how they have similar behavior. I forgot the detail but the more season I watch, the more it clicked.

They both don't think of problem as "how it affect others" it's always "how it affect me", they both think of Adrien as a property, they both also never get a "no" from their parents, now I think again. In Animaestro Marinette insist that she want to help despite her clumsyness and they end up give in with Sabine say "we should make double batch just in case".

And I think that's why Marinette is the way she is : she's good at putting boundaries but bad at respecting other boundaries, she thought if she insist enough they'll give in (and she's not wrong, almost everyone in the show end up give in to her demand/request, event Su Han) Her parents spoiled her in different way than Andre does to Chloe but in the end, they're spoiled and never/rarely get a "no" from their parents, they let them do what they want.

I wish I could say the difference between them is that Marinette has higher moral ground than Chloe but after s5 I don't know if that's valid.

Reding back now I feel bad for Adrien because those who pursue him think of him more as a property than actual person with feelings, except Kagami.

I think that's uncharitable to Marinette. She does have trouble understanding others, but it's often when she's trying to help and she always means well, it's just that she isn't good at considering others' perspectives. Chloe on the other hand doesn't care about the people she torments (I don't include Andre in this list for obvious reasons). The one exception to this is probably Sabrina, whom she likes but treats poorly regardless.

And I don't agree with the comparison between Andre and Tom and Sabine. Tom and Sabine are good parents. I don't think them agreeing to let Marinette help them is a bad thing, in fact it's good that they are allowing her such opportunities. She didn't browbeat them into anything or ask for anything that was unreasonable. Marinette's parents don't spoil her, they give her responsibilities (Timebreaker), and they do take her to task when they have to, (Simon Says). We see less of that in the future seasons, but we don't see much of her parents in general, so.

I also disagree that they think of Adrien as property. Both Marinette and Chloe think Adrien is perfect, as does almost everyone else, but they also genuinely care about him. Marinette tries to help Adrien many times throughout the show (The Collector, the New York Special, etc.) and Chloe also cares about Adrien as a person (Felix). Marinette is bad at recognizing Adrien's feelings and sometimes her crush on him overtakes that care for him (Glaciator 2), but she does care.

They can both be self-centered and can think of themselves, yes. But their reasons are entirely different. Chloe thinks about herself because she doesn't care about whether she hurts someone or not, because she considers herself better than them and derives joy from hurting them. Marinette is self-centered because she can be very anxious about things, and this can cause her to get stuck in her own head and forget to think of others. It's something she needs to work on, but she's also shown that she does try to work on it. Of course, Chloe isn't evil or anything and most of her worldview is derived from her abusive mother and her enabling father, but still.

But I will mention this:

I wish I could say the difference between them is that Marinette has higher moral ground than Chloe but after s5 I don't know if that's valid.

I do sort of agree. I harp on and on about the protagonist-centered morality that began pervading this show in Season 4, and that is once again the problem here. Marinette is not as bad as Chloe thanks to her intentions being pure and because of her willingness to grow and change, but the narrative started to justify her actions, which started getting worse. I think she can't be compared to Chloe, because the mistakes they make are different and stem from different situations and reasons, but my point that Marinette is never portrayed as being in the wrong still stands. She's the most amazing person in the world, and everyone must apologize to her.

Marinette is not a bully. She's not cruel and she's not arrogant. She's not like Chloe. But there's not just one type of mistake in the world, and Marinette is making an entirely different kind of egregious mistake by doubling down on her lying and covering for Gabriel, all after she spent a while deceiving her partner. She hasn't grown as a person, she hasn't learnt to consider other people and listen to them, she hasn't learnt not to deceive them (which is especially bad since that was the whole point of the conflict last season), she's doubled down on her flaws and her mistakes and she's gaslighting her boyfriend into loving his abuser. And the show portrays her as in the right.

(And not to be nitpicky here but I think the Season 5 finale dashed the idea that Kagami respects Adrien as a person, because she also seems to be on board with the lying and the gaslighting, so.)

I think it's not fair to compare Marinette to Chloe, but as of the Season 5 finale, she's awful in a completely different way. And honestly, I wish I could chalk it up to it being OOC for her, but it's not. She's poorly written as in she doesn't develop and is always justified, but honestly, it's not out of character for her, and so I can't even wave it away like that in my head. And she angers me more than Chloe does, because like, at least Chloe gets called out. But yeah, that's what I think.

Thank you for your ask!

[seeingivy]

method acting asks!

first of all, you guys ate the style chapter so bad EEK im so glad you guys loved it. more where that's coming from! been having the worst week but watching people react as they read has been super fun and I thank you all for that :')

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMM2wqGJV/ oh bestie...oh you're SO RIGHT. like y/n's nickname is princess but I definitely think as time goes on historia fits more of the princess vibe and y/n as the popstar. also some part of their friendship is loosely based on olivia rodrigo and sabrina carpenter, just like solely as vibes so

https://x.com/erjgrs/status/1765732630643851685?s=46&t=Uk-oZnZapecdEA4wRzncKw real. a picture lana would post and the quote tweet would be y/n.

(this isn't a method acting ask but it's eren and legit the only eren thing i've written since july so it counts)

hi!!!! thank you so much for the love :') i'm so excited to share it with everyone!

the opening and ending songs are the same! I make a shinzo sasageyo joke in the next set of tweets....I agree with you, I do think that they would write all the music that was included in the actual show and that certain songs are for ceertain characters

table scenes twitter reactions coming...your wish is my command...

vampire by olivia rodrigo, ding ding! one of my fav songs that I get to include i'm so excited eek. I def think lana would cover the song but I think the main like song she would write about ricky would be something like would've could've should've by taylor swift/goddess by laufey/ or history of man by maisie peters

I hope you have a lovely day too!!!! thank you so much for supporting me :')

I actually considered going with heavenly bodies as the theme for this met gala in the fic (just bc that was litearlly the best met gala) but I ended up deciding against it. but I totally get what you mean,,, they would serve....

also a slight hint, but I did end up giving lana marilyn monroe kim kardashian controversy dress because that is something that lana would do. also in general, lana/clarkson's are based off of kardashians (if you couldn't tell) so....it fit

HARD AGREE. I think whatever they bond over is something that eren just...can't do. like if they're watching a reality tv show and really invested, he'd sit there being like....it's fake just to get mad glares fro zeke/carla/and i'm adding colt to the mix. eren's cool with the kiddos (falco and gabi) but y/ns cool with the big brothers (zeke and colt)

@najaemism omg I'VE ACTUALLY NEVER HEARD THSI SONG BEFORE but actually you're so right. also very mikasa during jeankasa meltdown.....also historia (more on that later)

@leave-rae-alone HI POOKIE! don't worry...I disappear off the face of my blog like every other week. I hope you're doing well and take time to rest!

am I allowed to say megan thee stallion bc I am in love with megan thee stallion? but actually though, I think her style fits the character, she likes anime and this is an anime fanfic, and her using like stuff from tokyo ghoul as references during the nicki drama is actually something that I think y/n would do. also I just love this outfit i would include it as a red carpet outfit or something

hm. there are a few that @/bsenpai and I mention bc we actually talk about method acting everyday like its an illness. I think y/n and eren would do she's the man (that's the movie they've promised ethan cole btw), eren and y/n also do pride and prejudice 2005, I also think she would act as the daughter as interstellar. those are the ones that come to mind rn!

no comment. you did ask this before I posted the chapter tho but you like manifested that one hard so.

LMFAOOOO. wait can I tell you the funniest thing....is that I actually think young gojo in method acting would be like young justin bieber. like i had this thought the other day when i was listening to somebody to love and i was like....ok chill out gojo damn. like I naturally think he would have that charisma and be one of the first people to pop off on youtube....but he would not flop like current justin bieber.

that's all for today. here are the songs + some hints for the next chapter:

see you again by tyler the creator ft. kali uchis, end game by taylor swift, and vampire by olivia rodrigo

an award wrapped in a ribbon

a red lipstick mark

smashing a crown

sukuna splashing a glass of wine in someone's face...soulmateism if you ask me

there are some of these i think you could technically figure out. but oh well, I will see you then!

[muggle-born-princess]

You really out here backing Chloe then bashing felix? Chloe has been given the opportunity to change loads of times but she’s still the same old Chloe. Felix was severely abused and told he was a monster. I don’t condone his actions, but at least theres an explanation for them. If someone is told they’re a “Monster” for long enough, they’ll of course begin to believe it or at least internalize those words. He’s the perfect example of an antihero and he has far more potential than Chloe to become a better person (with proper therapy and support of course). Its been heavily foreshadowed that hes going to become an important character in the series and character growth is on its way. I dont think we’ll have to wait long.

I dont mean to come off as rude. Ive been studying psychology and abuse and i just really dont like the misunderstanding of Felix’s character in the fandom. I see him as a kid who has good intentions, but has a warped sense of justice. I think Kagami and Mari are just what he needs to set himself straight.

You do realize what you'd just said can also describe Chloe right? Let me change a few words and I'll show you:

Chloe was severely abused and told she was not exceptional. I don’t condone her actions, but at least there's an explanation for them. If someone is told they’re "Not Exceptional” for long enough, they’ll of course begin to believe it or at least internalize those words. She’s the perfect example of an antihero and she has far more potential than Lila or Gabriel to become a better person (with proper therapy and support of course).

I just really don't like the misunderstanding of Chloe’s character in the fandom. I see her as a kid who has good intentions, but has a warped sense of justice. I think Adrien and Sabrina as well as Zoe are just what she needs to set herself straight.

Now I'm not saying that you're not allowed to hate or dislike Chloe; as long as you're not an insane maniac who thinks she deserves to die or be killed or r*ped or whatever fucked up minds these extreme Chloe haters have. If you honestly think Chloe isn't sympathetic, that's your opinion. And yes, looking back at it now, maybe I did good too far with my Felix hate. Maybe it's as bad as Thomas's hate for Chloe. Maybe they're equal. However, my problem is how they basically point at him and go "BUT BUT! HE' S A SENTIMONSTER! HE'S A SENTIMONSTER! SO YOU MUST FEEL SORRY FOR HIM!"

If Chloe having a strained relationship with Audrey doesn't excuse her actions, why should Felix being senti excuse his? That's the question you should be asking.