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shotofire · 3 years

Text

Adjusting

Jean Kirstein x F!Reader

I got a few Jean requests which i’m super happy about :)) so I decided to sorta combine them, enjoy! (I had SO much fun writing this)

Overview: How you and Jeans lives are going in Marley

Warnings: Cursing, slight nsfw, anxiety

Season: 4

Things are different, to say the least. Marley seems more like ‘Paradise Island’ than your home did. There’s no constant fear of death here, no scraping for food, it seems like everything your people wanted and deserved. Yet you were still considered a devil, whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. It’s nice here but you still can’t help but envy it, and long to wipe the smile off these heartless people’s faces.

The time you’ve been here has completely lost tract, you can’t even recall the first day. Jean has been by your side since the beginning, helping you remain calm. There are many moments where you want to yell or call out someone disrespecting your home, but you’ve had to hold back. It really pissed you off more than anything else you’ve ever dealt with.

“Don’t let their ignorance get to you, doll,” he’d said as tears built in your orbs. It was earlier on since you two had gotten there, and you had to hear the harsh words for the first time. The person wasn’t even talking to you, but the terms were technically still about you and everyone you cared for. “How can so many be so oblivious?” His lips traced your neck from behind, leaving soft kisses that had your body melting. “Remember you’re better than them.”

You long to go back home, but you know your time here has not yet received a due date. There’s no telling how prolonged this mission will be. The little town home you and Jean are staying at is pure filth, you wish Levi could be here to make it spotless. Thankfully most of your days together were spent moving around Marley gathering as much information as possible. You’d seen Reiner a few times, which scared the shit out of you.

Today was a somewhat normal day, and it’s beautiful outside. Your fingers are looped with Jeans as he buys a news paper. Not much has happened so far but it is still earlier on in the day. You enjoyed days like this, they were more calm and enjoyable. At this point you weren’t sure what else you and Jean could possible find out, the rest was basically left to Eren. The only thing you loathed about being here is your daily attire.

You constantly have to wear a skirt or a dress, which is totally not comfortable in this heat. “I’m hungry,” you mumble as you two walk away from the news paper stand. Jean’s hand gives yours a squeeze, “We will eat in a bit, okay?” You couldn’t help but let out a groan, you were starving from all the walking.

Jean doesn’t know who’s genius idea it was to send you two together. Sure you’d basically been a thing since you were teens but you still annoy each other like an old married couple. Then again he wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else, he just wishes you could be a little less whiny. “Doll, we’re going to get food. I just need to give a letter to Eren first, he has someone who can send them back home without it being checked.”

Your arms wrap around his waist and you lean into his side as your walk continues. “I just want to lay in bed all day, is that too much to ask for?” He chuckes while observing the cute pout on your face. “Sadly it is too much to ask for.” His arm comes to swing around your shoulders down to your middle, and he pats your hip with the newspaper. Anyone watching your current state would think you’re brand new lovers in the honeymoon stage, but this has been going on for years.

“I heard there’s a festival in a couple days, are we going?” He’d already heard about it and knew you’d be dying to go. But the thought of going was so overwhelming for him, he wasn’t even sure if he could handle it. That many people, so many unfamiliar faces, there’s no telling what could happen. “We’ll talk about it.” That always means no, and you can’t help but let out a groan.

The day goes on and you finally get food, which was better than anything you’ve ever had. Jean didn’t dig in like you however, he seems to have a lot on his mind. “Whats up with you?” You ask through a mouthful of rice, any other day he’d scold you for your bad manners but he wasn’t in the mood. Together you sat at a table for two at a eatery that is rather empty, only a few workers and even less customers. “Do you ever think someone else should be doing my job?”

You should’ve known he would be doubting himself by now. Your love always fails to see his potential and strength, and it breaks your heart. He eyes are fixed on the bowl in front of him, his appetite quickly vanishing. The man felt sick and disappointed in himself. So far he hadn’t found out or accomplished as much as he had hoped for, and is afraid that he’s letting his friends down. Afraid he’s letting you down.

“That’s a stupid question,” you scold him with a scrunched face, “of course not! You were sent here for a reason, we all believe in you. Hell, they believe in me!” Jean doesn’t say anything, only lets out a soft laugh at your words. “What are you thinking about?” You reach across the table to grab his fidgeting hands, “tell me, please.”

Brown eyes finally land on you. He finds comfort in your touch and soft voice. “Uh, I’ve just been doubting myself lately. I feel like there’s never much to write back about, like everything is just a repeat from the letters before. There’s just something telling me that I can do more, but I just haven’t figured it out yet.” In all honesty, you felt the same about yourself. This move was all so hectic and a lot to take in, and sometimes it felt like you could be doing more.

“I understand, you know I do. This was a lot for the both of us and you can always talk to me. Personally, and you know I don’t lie to you, I think you’re doing a damn good job. Our circumstances are shit and you’re doing better than expected under all the pressure, give yourself more credit!” Your hands are waving in the air wildly as you rant with pure love.

Jean’s teeth are sunk into his bottom lip trying to suppress his smile. Somehow you always know what to say, and he admires that so much about you. “I love you so much.” A blush creeps onto your cheeks and you show a big smile, “I love you more, idiot.” He gets up from his seat across from you, quick to find his way to your side. Strong arms swoop to pick up your frame, as if his new bride, and you let out fits of giggles.

“What are you doing?” You ask with bright eyes. The small amount of people inside are watching the scene with crazy looks on their faces, but neither of you give a shit. He carries you out of the place as you continue to laugh, and reach up to ruffle his locks a few times. The man manages to carry you all the way home, setting you on your feet infront of the door way. “You should do that more often, be my personal carriage.” “Wouldn’t you just love that?” Sarcasm laced in his voice.

He opens the door with a key, that never works the first time, before kicking the door open and grabbing onto you once again. Your body is thrown over his shoulder as he enters your temporary home, then closing the door behind him. “Put me down, you dummy!” He does as you ask, dropping you onto your shared mattress. The light of the moon shines through the window onto your smiling face, and Jean thinks it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. An even better sight than the ocean.

“You’re gorgeous, you know that right?” His compliment sends butterflies to your stomach. Before you can answer his lips are connecting to yours in a loving kiss. Hands grip your hips, pulling you closer to his frame. You two stay like that for a moment, kissing and grabbing at one another like hungry hormonal teens who’ve never had physical touch.

Once his lips move to your neck your eyes open, and a small whimper slips from you at the feeling of his soft mouth. “Did my words cheer you up that much?” You ask with a smirk, and you’re answered with a bite to your nape causing you to yelp. His hands have moved under your long skirt now, palming at your thighs. This man will forever know how to make you feel good, it’s as if he has a magic touch. Scratch that, he does have a magic touch.

“Isn’t Eren-“ You cut yourself off with a moan as he sucks at your collar bone, “Isn’t Eren supposed to be coming by?” Jean smiles against your skin, and he feels a shiver run through your body. “I guess we’ll just have to get started now, huh?”

A knock echos through the small home and you two scramble for your clothes. “Hold on!” You yell, and then accidentally fall over as you step into your skirt. Jean let’s out a snort at the scene, and you narrow your eyes at him, “I’m having trouble walking right now thanks to someone.” He smirks while buttoning up his shirt, “You weren’t complaining while I was doing it. I recall hearing a, ‘More Jean, please more!’” He mocks your words, in a high pitched voice, from the earlier events and you blush, but try to hide it with an annoyed look.

“Shut your trap and open the door.” He laughs and buttons the last of his shirt before opening the door. There stood Eren with a very knowing look on his face. The long haired man observes you two, and it’s very telling. Each of your manes are sticking in every direction, not to mention the room has that smell to it. “You knew I’d be here and you still couldn’t keep your hands off of each other?”

Jean’s face goes blank and so does yours, but it’s short lived before you’re letting out strings of laughter. He can’t help but smile as well, but his gaze is set on the floor to keep from further annoying Eren. “Oh cmon Eren, it’s a little funny.” He completely doesn’t agree with you, but you continue to giggle.

This has been a very long mission for Eren with the two of you. Atleast you both didn’t give a shit.

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basically-i-write-shit · 3 years

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“No no, I’m not interested in your friends. I want you. Give yourself over, and they’ll be safe.” annnnd... have you written Osamu x Yama at all yet? UshiYama, if you aren't feeling OsaYama. Omegaverse, if you like?

ahhhh I got an osayama prompt before I watched season 4 and then my drafts glitched and deleted before I could actually write it ;-;

Mafia prompts

One of the perks of having an onigiri shop as a front for your brother’s gang is the fact that no one knows it’s a front- which means, occasionally, when a member of a rival gang comes in, Osamu gets free intel. No one suspects the poor overworked cook/waiter to be listening in on your business.

It’s not honest work, but it sure is fun. And this way, Osamu doesn’t have to directly get his hands dirty. His brothers’ men do all the hard stuff. Which gives Osamu the time to flirt with the pretty omegas that come through and not have to worry about telling them what his job is- his job is here, at his shop. Being a good cook is always a hit with omegas. However, as of late a certain omega has been coming in that fulfils more than just his instinctual needs.

The bell at the door rings, but Osamu already knows without looking who’s there- the sweet, enticing scent of candied fruit and raw pastry dough reaches Osamu’s nose before he even turns around.

“Welcome back, Yamaguchi-kun. The usual?”

“Ah, not the boys’ order today, actually. Just me.” Yamaguchi says with a shy smile, sliding into one of the hightops nearest the window peering into the kitchen. He smooths down his skirt as he sits, fidgeting with his phone as Osamu turns back to the kitchen, smiling at him through the window.

“The boys already eat tonight?”

‘The boys,’ being Yamaguchi’s ‘roommates,’ usually ordered from Onigiri Miya every now and again, and Yamaguchi always came to grab it. They’d been doing this for nearly 8 months, and in that time it’s become glaringly obvious that Yamaguchi was in some way involved with one of ‘Tsumu’s rivals, the Karasuno Crows. How involved was still somewhat a mystery, because sometimes he came in covered in bruises and cuts and other times just fine, almost always well-dressed and never once acting secretive; in fact, Yamaguchi is always quite open with Osamu and talks with him like an old friend every time he comes to visit. He tells Osamu about his ‘boys,’ Kei, Tobio, and Shouyou, and asks about the shop. Talks about work and the weather, and nosy neighborhood aunties who always want to know how he got such a dark bruise, and “thank you so much for not asking, Osamu-san, I just don’t know if I’ll ever be okay talking about it so openly.”

“Yes, that, and I’m also going straight back to work after I eat. It’s a...rush season, for my job, and we’re pretty understaffed at the moment so I’ve been there all day working.”

“My my, all day? It’s almost 9:00 Yamaguchi-kun. When will ya be goin’ home for the night?”

“Ah, probably around midnight or so...The poor guys, they’ve been in the same boat as me- I haven’t seen them in what feels like ages,” Yamaguchi says, pouting, and Osamu chuckles as he rounds the corner with Yamaguchi’s usual order. He sets it on the table before sliding into the chair across from Yamaguchi; he leans against his palms, smiling when Yamaguchi cocks his head to the side, confused. “You don’t have anything to do around the shop? You close soon, don’t you?”

“I mean, I suppose I do, but I can spare a few minutes t’ chat with my favorite customer while he eats,” Osamu teases ever-so-slightly, and he grins wider when Yamaguchi’s cheeks turn pink. It’s true that it’s a bit odd, him doing this, since he’s almost always kept their conversation distanced between a counter or the kitchen window, but he’s feeling a bit adventurous tonight. And Something tells him this is a good idea. Maybe it’s the faint scent of pre-heat on an already stressed Yamaguchi, or maybe it’s just the fact that he looks almost delectable in that short little skirt, but Osamu wants to be close to him. “Is that all that bad?”

“N- Not at all, I just didn’t want to keep you,” Yamaguchi says gently. “How was it, today?”

“Ah. not too busy but it's a Sunday, so not a lot of people are goin’ out.”

“Must be pretty boring sitting here all day every day, huh?”

“No, not really,” Osamu hums, watching as Yamaguchi begins to dig in, looking very much like a starving prisoner with how quickly he devours the first onigiri. “I suppose some days get repetitive, but there’s never a dull day here.”

And that’s the truth. The shop doesn’t get a lot of traffic, so Atsumu or one of his men are usually hanging around- or stumbling in the kitchen, mortally wounded and needing a desperate healing from a barely-first aid certified Osamu.

“Sorry, still sounds pretty boring to me- if I’m not moving all the time, I get pretty antsy.” Yamaguchi says, still stuffing his mouth. Osamu laughs.

“I can tell. Ya’d probably be bored if ya were a housewife or somethin’,”

“Oh, definitely.” Yamaguchi says. He finishes his meal, hopping down from the hightop with a little puff of his skirt. He slaps money on the table, collecting his things. “Thank you for the meal, Osamu-san, but I need to get back to work. I’ll see you around.”

And, call him stupid, but something tells Osamu not to let him go alone. “W- Wait! Why won’t I walk ya back to yer office?”

Yamaguchi seems to hesitate, his brows furrowing as he searches Osamu’s face.

“...Don’t you have to be at the shop?”

“It’s almost close, and one of the waiters is still here- I’d hate to let an omega walk alone so late, even if I know he c’n talk himself.” Osamu insists, throwing one of his signature smirks Yamaguchi’s way, and he can see the omega’s resolve melting. Yamaguchi sighs.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. It’s not far from here, actually,” Yamaguchi says, turning towards the door. Osamu scrambles to follow, throwing his apron over the back counter and shouting to the back that he’s taking a smoke break, despite the fact that he hasn’t smoked a day in his life and Aran wouldn’t care either way where he went-

Osamu makes conversation with Yamaguchi as they walk, the dim streetlights illuminating Yamaguchi’s curves, and in the near darkness his scent sticks out above all else, distracting Osamu ever the slightest. He doesn’t even notice they’re in the middle of Karasuno territory, even though he should’ve figured they would be, since Yamaguchi works for Karasuno. It isn’t until he’s yawning, stretching his arm over his head, that he realizes he’s maybe made a bad decision-

“Osamu-san, is that a tattoo? I wanna see,” Yamaguchi says, and suddenly there’s a hand on his arm, holding it in place as another hand lifts the sleeve of his teeshirt to get a better look at the logo printed on Osamu’s shoulder. Osamu freezes, his eyes widening, and the only thought in his mind is, “Oh god, Tsumu’s gonna kill me.”

“I- uh- it is, but it’s-”

“...Your shop, it’s a front, isn’t it, Osamu-san?” Yamaguchi asks, his voice low, and his grip tightens impossibly on Osamu’s forearm. Osamu tries to wrench his arm away, to grab Yamaguchi by the hair and drag him off before he can make a fuss, but it’s useless. Yamaguchi is deceptively strong for an omega. “Answer me, Osamu-san. Your shop, it’s a front, yeah? You have gang members hang around, and launder money from your shop?”

“I- I don’t know what yer talking about, Yamaguchi-kun.”

“Right, right...” Yamaguchi murmurs, reaching behind him, and Osamu’s heart hammers in his chest when he sees Yamaguchi pull out a pistol. “Y’know, Samu, I don’t like liars. I thought we had a little thing going...”

“W- We did?”

“Of course. We’ve been flirting ever since I first came in, didn’t you get the hints?.,Hmph, no matter now. You’re not telling me the truth, and that hurts my feelings, Samu. I’m sure my boys would tell you how much I hate being lied to, though I don’t think now you’ll get to meet them.”

The tip of the gun slides up Osamu’s chest, up his neck, and Osamu shivers. There’s a reason he works in the shop and doesn’t do any of the dirty work- and this is the exact reason he doesn’t. Fear makes people do some crazy things, and Osamu’s pretty damn scared right now.

Even still, he won’t sell out his brother. “I’m not gonna tell ya shit about what does or doesn’t happen at my shop. What I do is perfectly legal.”

“But what your brother, Miya Atsumu, does isn’t. Isn’t that right?”

Osamu gulps, shuddering when he feels the cool metal of the pistol press against his adam’s apple. “I don’t know what yer talkin’ about. Leave him out of this, leave- leave everyone out of this-”

“No no, I’m not interested in your friends,” Yamaguchi says, laughing, and Osamu’s mouth falls shut with an audible click. Yamaguchi leans forward, catching Osamu’s chin in his free hand, the other still holding the gun to the junction of his chin and neck. “I want you. Give yourself over, and they’ll be safe.”

Osamu swallows again, his breath thick and shuddering. He can’t believe this is happening. He’s being overpowered and threatened by an omega. What the hell. But he thinks back to Atsumu, and the empire he’s building, and he can’t let that be ruined, can’t let their cover be blown, and so he nods.

“...Fine. You have me. But I can’t stay forever, I have a shop to run.”

Yamaguchi grins. “We’ll work something out.”

#haikyuu!!#osayama #yamaguchi tadashi #miya osamu #osamu miya #tadashi yamaguchi #omegaverse #mafia au #alpha/beta/omega #alpha/beta/omegaverse #alpha!osamu #omega!yamaguchi #omegaverse dynamics

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yunaffie · 3 years

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No Matter What [Lynne & Sissel]

Happy Ghost Swap to @redwoodrroad, here is your exchange gift!

Written for @fyeahghosttrick's Ghost Swap exchange.

Crossposted to AO3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32039206

Spring

The pursuit of a fleeing suspect had sent Lynne right into the path of a speeding truck. A swift call brought Sissel to the scene of the accident. Finding the unfortunate detective still unconscious, he wasted no time in reversing her demise. At the very last second, Sissel thought he could hear her voice.

Returning to the present, Sissel saw it - a core of the dead. Rather than engage with her right away, he chose to observe. The little moments of confusion, of spacing out, of looking for something or something that wasn't there didn't fail to escape his attention.

One evening, after finishing work for the day, Lynne left the police station while Sissel trailed along a short distance behind her. Every so often, she would make little glances back over her shoulder though she didn't seem to spot him. Unexpectedly, she made a turn off her usual route and travelled along a path that took her to a quiet little spot by the river. Sissel remained out of sight, continuing to watch her.

"It's getting nice and warm now, isn't it?" Lynne leaned back, focusing her eyes on the horizon. The setting sun cast a warm glow over her and her surroundings. "Suppose the breeze's still a little chilly, but it's nice to just sit out here and enjoy nature once in a while."

(... Huh? Is she talking to herself?)

"You must like it too, being a cat and all."

"...!"

"How long are you going to hide like that?" Lynne patted the empty spot on the bench. "Come here."

(Huh. I guess she knew I was there all along.)

"Of course I did."

"You heard my voice just now?" Sissel walked over and hopped up next to her.

"I've overheard you plenty of times. Even heard you talking to Detective Jowd. I thought I was going crazy at first." Lynne reached out and rubbed Sissel's head. "You could have just said something, you know."

"I suppose I was waiting."

"Waiting, huh?" Lynne's gaze shifted to the rippling surface of the river. "For me to remember?"

"You do, don't you?"

"I remember a lot of things. Living with Kamila, trying to save Detective Jowd, dying so many times on that night... and finally being trapped on that submarine, waiting for a miracle to happen. And of course, you." Looking back at Sissel, Lynne's face lit up in a bright smile.

"Lynne..."

"I believed in you. I was so sure you and Missile would find a way somehow, and you did." Lynne picked Sissel up, pulling him into a tight hug. "Well done, Sissel."

"I wasn't sure if you'd remember. Though I had a feeling when you found my name familiar."

"I told you, didn't I?" Lynne held Sissel up to her face. "That I would never forget you, no matter what happened." Her brow furrowed. "I'm a bit confused about that part. So, you saved that man, right?"

"Right."

"I see." Lynne's face softened. "That's wonderful. And because of that, a whole new ten years were born. Boy, we have got so much to talk about, haven't we? Say, would anyone miss you if you were to come over to mine for a little bit?"

"Not at all. I can always come over the phone line too."

"Wait." Lynne blinked. "You've been coming to my apartment through my phone?"

"Uh... maybe?"

"Oh gods. Please don't tell me you saw me get drunk that one time and sing to Missile with my hairbrush!"

"What?"

Lynne clamped her lips shut, averting her gaze. "Nothing. But let's set a rule, okay?" Poking Sissel's head, she regarded him with a stern expression. "You tell me when you're visiting, alright?"

"Alright, alright."

"Great. So glad we got that sorted. Now then, off we go." Lynne got to her feet, hugging Sissel to her chest. "And on the way, I'm getting Missile a special doggy treat. I would say he's earned it, wouldn't you?"

"Definitely."

Summer

"How do I look?" The patterned blue fabric rippled around Lynne's slender form as she gave a twirl.

"Well, you look different. Not in a bad way. I mean, I've never seen you wear something like that before."

Lynne released her breath in a loud puff. "Yeah. I should know better than to ask a cat for his opinion. But it's a nice dress, right? Perfect for a summer festival."

"It's certainly shiny, alright. Very attention grabbing."

"Well, don't you start playing with it now or anything." Lynne picked Sissel up.

"I have no idea what you mean. I grew out of the playful whims of a kitten a long time ago."

"Like heck you did. You turned my new blender on last week!"

"That wasn't playing, I just wanted to see what the buttons did."

"If there had been something in the blender, you would have ended up decorating my entire kitchen!" Lynne exclaimed. "Anyway, this is your first festival, right?"

Sissel took a moment to look over the crowds of people milling through the rows of stalls illuminated by hanging lanterns. "Yes. I do believe it is."

"I haven't been to a festival in forever." Lynne let out a little sigh. The wistful expression that appeared on her face was quickly replaced with an enthusiastic grin as she pumped her fist. "Alright! It's time to eat lots of festival food and play games! We're going to have so much fun, Sissel!" She hurried into the crowd, joining Kamila who was occupied with holding back an excited little Pomeranian.

The rest of the evening passed by, filled with fun and excitement. Lynne didn't fail to impress with how much of the stall food she was able to put away. A brief debate took place on whether it was fair for Sissel to use his ghost tricks to help on the shooting range game. In the end, he relented. Lynne's puppy dog eyes and Missile's pleas to do it for Lynne and Kamila were just too much to bear.

At the end, the festival goers formed a crowd, ready to watch the fireworks. Lynne, Kamila, Sissel and Missile gathered together, along with the goldfish the ladies had managed to win, an event that had Sissel wondering if there might be deaths to avert in the future.

"Ahh." Lynne let out a soft sound as the first firework burst into the sky. Sissel briefly looked at her face, seeing the way her face lit up in wonderment, before turning his attention to the display. "You've seen fireworks before, haven't you, Sissel?"

"Yeah. It's certainly a beautiful sight."

"It is, isn't it?" Lynne hugged Sissel to her chest just a little tighter, watching the fireworks go up, one after another. "We've had such a wonderful night tonight."

"Indeed. I'm glad I was able to experience this with you. Festivals really do look like a lot of fun."

"They really are." Lynne's expression softened. "We'll keep finding lots of fun things to do together, Sissel."

"Yeah. I'm looking forward to it."

Fall

"Right, that looks good." Lynne gave a satisfied nod as she eyed her handiwork. Leaves in hues of red, brown and yellow had been gathered together in a neat little pile. "Now, I just got to start the fire," she added, rubbing her hands together. "Mmm. It's been a long time since I last enjoyed a roasted sweet potato."

Sissel sat on the edge of the fountain, pawing at the basket, taking care not to dislodge any of the sweet potatoes as it rocked back and forth. "This seems like an awful lot of potatoes. I know the little lady is here, but still."

"It's fine, it's fine." Lynne chucked. "Hey, be careful with that basket. Why don't you go run around with Missile and Kamila or something?"

"As fun as it might be to run laps around that little doggie until he passes out from exhaustion, I think I'll pass. The little lady's doing a good enough job at keeping him occupied." Sissel jumped down and went to sit by the leaf pile. Lynne sat as well and got to work on the fire. "It doesn't bother you, right? Being back here in the park after all this time?"

Lynne shook her head, flashing Sissel a reassuring smile. "Not at all. You're here. Kamila and Missile too. There's nothing to fear. I mean, what are the chances of someone dying, right?"

Despite lacking the ability to feel, Sissel swore he still felt a chill run down his spine. "Please don't joke like that, Lynne."

"Okay, sorry." Once the fire was made, Lynne took a potato and buried it in the leaves. "I know a lot's happened here, but it's not like there's a curse on the park. Probably."

("Probably", she says. Still, I guess there really isn't anything to worry about.) Sissel turned his attention to the small figures in the distance. The little lady hurled a ball and the little doggie gave chase. "It's such a peaceful scene, even in this place where tragedy and terror reigned."

Lynne was quietly humming to herself as she poked at the pile with a stick. "I used to enjoy doing this when I was a child."

"You certainly did seem pretty into it."

"Sitting in front of a burning pile, smelling that aroma, finally tucking into that delicious sweet potato, it was one of the highlights of the season." Lynne's expression had turned somber mid-sentence. "And I used to do it all alone. But, you know, I still enjoyed it. Even if I had nobody to do it with."

(Poor Lynne...) "But it's different now, right?"

"Yeah." Lynne's lips curved into a smile. "I've got all of you now, and I'm finally ready to release the shackles of fear that held me back from ever coming here again."

"I'm glad to hear that." Sissel felt a gentle warmth stir within as he studied the look of contentment on her face.

"Right then." Lynne waved. "Hey, Kamila! Come and get a potato!" At her call, Kamila came running over with Missile in hot pursuit.

While the ladies engaged themselves in roasting potatoes and Missile watched on with a pleading look, Sissel occupied himself with batting at a stray leaf, content to sit by and witness this joyful scene.

Winter

Jowd came home from work late in the evening, flanked by Cabanela and Lynne. Sissel came over, letting out a mew of greeting.

"Hey, Sissel." Lynne reached down to scoop up the little kitten in her arms.

"Hey. How was your day at work?"

"Oh, you know, just the usual. There's nothing too major going on right now, fortunately." Lynne walked across the room to the window, watching the falling flakes of snow. "It's snowing tonight too. Just as it was then."

"Then?" Sissel hopped over to the sill.

"Right." Lynne watched him expectantly. "You do know what today is, right?"

"Hmm." Sissel lapsed into thought. (Let's see. Alma did have her birthday just a couple days ago, so... right. That must be it.) "It's the anniversary of your becoming a detective, isn't it?"

"That's right." Lynne's face lit up in a beaming smile. "It's been a whole year. How time flies, huh?"

"And in that entire year, you managed to die only once. Well done."

"Hmph." Lynne puffed out her cheeks, shooting him a narrow stare. "But, you know, I think I am kinda glad I managed to die just once."

"Glad?! Why would you even say something like that?" (This girl really does say the craziest things sometimes.)

"Well, because it meant I was able to remember you and talk to you again after all!" Lynne clasped her hands behind her back, leaning closer to him. "You were happy too, weren't you, Sissel?"

"Er, well... I suppose-"

"Oh come on, just admit it already! You were thinking to yourself 'When is Lynne going to die again already', right?"

"I would never think such a thing!" Sissel flattened his ears, giving her a haughty look.

Letting out a laugh, Lynne scratched his head. "Aw, I was only kidding, Sissel, you don't have to take it so personally."

"Honestly." Sissel let out an exasperated sigh. "Still, leave it to you to see the upside of things, I guess. For what it's worth, I... I really am happy that we were able to talk again. It's never a dull moment with you for sure."

"Hmm." Lynne raised an eyebrow, looking at him doubtfully. "I'm honestly not sure if that's a compliment or not."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I really do enjoy your company."

"Aw, thank you. That's such a sweet thing to say. You know, Sissel..."

"Hm?"

"You really are one of my very best friends."

"Gee, you're making me blush."

Lynne softly chuckled then planted a light kiss on the top of the kitten's head. Stepping back, she flashed him a radiant smile. "There will be many more years in store for us, won't there, Sissel?"

"Sure. Happy anniversary, detective."

#ghost trick #ghost swap

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burninghoneyatdusk · 4 years

Text

For me, Bob’s post was the confirmation I needed. I don’t think he would ever bait us, and I no longer have any reason to believe the death was not legitimate. Now it feels even more shitty that basically none of the rest of the cast posted a fairwell, but okay.

I’m going to log off of stan twitter for a while and take a day or two break from here as well. The level of upset I am makes me realize that my hyperfixation on this show this season has been more intense than it usually was in past seasons. Having depression and being isolated during the pandemic, it’s been something to latch onto. Escapism can be great, but not in the sense of ignoring real life and just other interests in general, and not if it has the power to plumet your mental health.

I won’t be watching the rest of the season, given both his death and what feels like a character assassination for Clarke. I could write an essay about how confusing this is as a narrative. In the future when I’m in a better headspace and have time to process, I just might.

I have always given JR the benefit of the doubt, even when others dragged him. I figured that even if for selfish reasons, he wouldn’t do something like this to his show. His legacy will be worse than GoT and good luck with the prequel now. But now, I can really see no other reason aside from spite for the choices he made. We’ll never know what happened behind the scenes but it seems clear now that the abhorrent death was influenced by that. I quite literally cannot see another reason for these choices, no matter how long I search my brain. I know the story is not over until it’s over, but if Bellamy is not coming back, then there is nothing that can change the fact he died alone, hated or misunderstood by his friends, brainwashed and not him true self, and at the hands of his best friend. Therefore, I don’t see a reason to stick around.

So I’m going to detach myself from t100 and find joy in other interests - getting back into cooking, attempting to do yoga at home bc I still feel too anxious to go to my studio but I miss it immensely, and reading other books like PJO and novels that have been sitting on my to-read list for far too long. It’s hard to want anything to do with the canon version of this show right now, even in fic.

That being said, we are absolutely continuing to accept prompts and write for @t100fic-for-blm. Thankfully, all my own prompts for the foreseeable future are AUs, so I’ll still continue to write and post them bc I can separate that from canon enough. Please, please continue to support this initiative, even as you stop watching, either now or after the series finale. It is a great way to work through emotions about this show and our characters, but most importantly this cause will continue to need support moving forward. Unlike the t100, this has real life implications and it’s important we continue to stand by the BLM movement and not let support slip away, even as media coverage inevitably does.

Lastly, a big thanks to everyone who nominated me for @bellarkeficawards! I’m absolutely blown away by the nominations and support and it has made the last few days that much better. A year ago I was new to fandom and almost quit before I really started, and I’m so glad that thanks to some kind people who reached out, I didn’t. Since then I’ve loved sharing all my work with you guys and have met incredible people, both within the @t100fic-for-blm group and otherwise.

Hang in there everyone. This will be hard for so many of us, but one thing I do know for certain, that I remind myself during my own lows, is that no feeling lasts forever. Time will make this easier and I think most of us will eventually be able to look back on our crazy fandom experience fondly. I myself don’t intend to *leave* fandom, but I know many will inevitably drift from it post-series, even more so now that the show has been irreparably damaged in the eyes of some. So a big thanks to all writers, creators, and awesome people who have been here to share the enthusiasm over the years. Our showrunner might be awful, but overall, this fandom is one to he treasured

Sam 💙💙

#I meant to write like a paragraph and this came out whoops #bellarke #bellamy blake #the 100 #the 100 s7 #the 100 spoilers #burninghoneyatdusk

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i-turned-the-emperor-to-dust · 4 years

Text

Miraculous Fanfiction

It Started With a Kiss [AO3 Link] (Based loosely on the Korean Webdrama: Who Kissed Me?)

After drinking too much at a collége reunion, Marinette recalls kissing someone after the party but can't remember who. Enter one flirty, ridiculous cat who's hell-bent on helping her remember!

(Yaay, finally finished my first Fanfic in the Miraculous fandom! I’m so proud of my muse - finally cooperating for once 🥳)

— — —

The memory itself was vivid, even if the details themselves were a bit fuzzy. But Marinette knew this much: the lips had been soft against her own, the pace slow and languid, and they certainly knew how to use their tongue, how to apply just the right amount of pressure as their hand tangled in her hair, greedily pulling her closer.

A perfect kiss.

Well, nearly perfect. Marinette still couldn’t remember just who those lips belonged to.

“I swear, girl. Only you would experience the most memorable, mind-blowing make-out session of your life, and not even remember who the lucky guy is!”

As Alya gave her another comforting pat on the back, Marinette nodded morosely, emotionally spent from the memory alone. “It’s not fair. I’m cursed, Alya,” she despaired, arms dangling dramatically over the side of her chaise longue as she wallowed in self-misery.

“You got that right,” replied her helpful, supportive friend.

“Are you sure you don’t remember who I left with?” She asked again, desperately hoping her friend hadn’t suffered a mental-blackout like she had and would have the answer ready to unwrap like a present.

“Sorry, girl. Like I said, I left early with Nino. Trust me, if I knew you were going to drink too much and have a sexy tongue-soiree after a self-imposed drought, I would’ve stuck around to film it for posterity.”

“Gee, thanks,” Marinette groaned, cursing the unfairness of it all. Apparently, all her Ladybug luck was on reserve for when she actually needed it to defeat akumas.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out,” her best friend assured her, a determined glint entering her eye as the seasoned journalist took over. Nothing got her blood pumping like a mystery to solve. Climbing to her feet, Alya walked over to her rolled-up poster board and yanked down a nice clean page, then grabbed a marker and prepared to write. “Alright then, first we need to go over the list of suspects, starting with every single person that was at that party last night.”

“All of them? There were a lot of people, Alya.”

“Not that many, really. It was just our collége reunion, so let’s start with the people that actually showed. Let’s see,” she hummed, thinking back to last night. “Adrien was there with Kagami, as usual. And Luka, Juleka, and Rose all came together. Max and Alix were with Ondine and Kim, and Mylene and Ivan arrived a little later.”

“Nathaniel and Marc came too,” Marinette added, even though she thought this brainstorming session was kind of silly. She couldn’t imagine sharing a kiss with any of their old classmates. It was more likely she’d left the party alone and ran into some handsome stranger along the Seine.

“Right,” Alya nodded, adding the final names to the list. “Alright then, all done.”

“Really?” Marinette teased, glancing meaningfully at the poster-board. “You’re sure you’re not forgetting anyone? No one else comes to mind?” As Alya continued to stare at her blankly, Marinette giggled and added sweetly, “An adorable, newly engaged couple, perhaps?”

Realization dawned, and Alya chuckled as she rolled her eyes. “Alright, fine, me and Nino were there too, though I think it’s safe to say the only lips we were rocking last night were each other’s.” But even so, she dutifully added both names to the list, as meticulous as ever. “Now that should be everyone.”

With the list more or less complete, Marinette took a step closer to examine their handiwork. She supposed she should be grateful that Chloe, Lila, and Sabrina weren’t on the list. At least she’d have one less nightmare to contend with; if it had been any of them, she’d rather cut out her tongue and live in denial forever.

“See? We already have a pretty great suspect pool,” Alya enthused, encouraged. “So, where should we start?”

“Well, you can definitely cross off Adrien,” Marinette said morosely, though saying the words didn’t hurt nearly as much as they used to. Ever since she’d accidentally discovered he was Chat Noir, she’d found herself even further relegated to the friend zone. But since she couldn’t tell her friend that, she said instead, “He left with Kagami shortly after you and Nino.”

“Damn, girl, you sure know how to ruin my fun,” she complained and made a big show of crossing out his name—a single line wouldn’t do, oh no, he got the royal treatment. There were now four dark strikes through his name, and beside it, a face with its tongue sticking out.

Thankfully, Kagami was saved from a similar treatment. Before her friend could put a mark across the other girl’s name, Alya’s phone rang, and glancing down at the caller, the journalism intern nearly jumped two feet in the air. “Oh shoot, I have to take this,” she said as she picked up the phone and wandered clear across the room, leaving Marinette to continue thinking in peace.

But thinking was hard.

Her head continued to pound thanks to the hangover she was still fighting, a fact she knew Tikki wouldn’t let her forget anytime soon. It certainly explained why she was having so much trouble remembering any more details about the kiss. Her mother’s homemade tonic may have helped, but there was still no better cure than staying sober.

If only she could remember something, their hair or eye color, their build and height—any hint would be useful—or better yet, if Tikki would stop being stubborn and just tell her already, then the mystery would be solved and she could finally stop driving herself crazy!

And judging by the way Alya was jumping up and down in the corner, she had a sneaking suspicion her best friend wouldn’t be any more help.

Unsurprisingly, Alya hung up her phone moments later and hurried back, her hands steepled in apology. “I’m so sorry, Marinette. I know I said we’d hang until you had to leave for Kagami’s, but I just got dibs to assist on a super-exclusive interview, so tell you what—you go over our list and eliminate anyone you can, alright? And if you run into a dead-end, just start calling some of our classmates and see what they remember. I’ll call you later tonight and we’ll go over all the evidence. Hopefully by then, you’ll have gotten your answer or remembered something. How does that sound?”

“Good, I guess,” she replied, though she doubted she’d get very far.

“Great!” Grabbing her bag, the-tornado-known-as-Alya gave her a quick hug and a wave, and then disappeared through the hatch, leaving her alone with her silly suspect pool. By the time she spoke to Alya later, she had a feeling there wouldn’t be a name left on that board that didn’t have a line through it.

“You know, if you had been responsible last night instead of drinking to excess, you wouldn’t be having this problem,” Tikki chastised as she came out of hiding. It was a wonderful reminder of why she hadn’t wanted to be alone today. She loved her kwami dearly, but having to be reprimanded while nursing a hangover wasn’t exactly her definition of fun. “You’re just lucky there wasn’t an akuma last night, Marinette. Or anyone nearby to overhear you.”

“I know, Tikki. I’m sorry.”

And really, she was. It had been irresponsible and thoughtless of her. Not to mention, if Hawkmoth had attacked, Adrien would’ve been forced to fight him all alone since she would’ve been more than useless. At the time, though, she hadn’t been thinking about Hawkmoth, about Paris, about anything, really.

After watching her “friend” laugh and joke with Kagami all night, just once, she hadn’t wanted to be responsible. Just once, she hadn’t wanted to think at all. She might have resigned herself to never being with Adrien, but knowing he didn’t see her civilian self the same way he saw Ladybug, didn’t make the reality hurt any less.

So instead, she was left with the haunting memory of a kiss she couldn’t forget and a well-meaning kwami who was too noble to give her an easy way out of her misery.

Resigned, she asked: “You’re still not going to tell me who I kissed, are you, Tikki?”

“Sorry, but no,” Tikki replied as she took another bite of her cookie, and Marinette had the distinct impression she was being judged.

Despondent, she sagged against her seat, desperately wishing Alya were still here. At the very least, she could use a distraction.

. . .And when she heard a familiar thump come from somewhere above, a distraction was exactly what she got.

— — —

Chat paced across Marinette’s balcony, silently trying to pump himself up.

It was all good, it was fine. THEY were fine. It was just a kiss, nothing to get nervous and bent out of shape about. She wouldn’t be mad at him. She’d be happy, thrilled even! And when she hugged him, which she totally would, he’d convince her they were meant to be together, that this was destiny, and there was no way he was going to let Hawkmoth destroy what they had.

He had his speech memorized. His arsenal locked and loaded; hopefully, the flowers wouldn’t be overkill. And Plagg had been adequately threatened to keep quiet.

Now all he had to do was make himself move.

Staring at the trapdoor, Chat took one tiny step forward, then another, knowing his future was just within reach…

And then collapsed, his hands in his hair, the panic rising.

What if she hated him now? What if she insisted he took advantage of her and never wanted to see him again? What if she decided to take their hypothetical hamster, the very one they’d discussed in length just last week, and raise it on her own? What then?

Luckily, he didn’t have to fret for long. Without warning, Marinette’s skylight was flung open, and her beautiful face peeked through. With cat-like reflexes, Chat quickly skidded away, surprised to see her there so suddenly.

“Chat?” she asked, a tinge of exasperation in her voice, though to him, it might as well have been music. “I thought I heard you up here. Why didn’t you come in the front door?”

Chat grimaced. He couldn’t exactly explain that it was safer this way, that despite his promise, Plagg would definitely use this opportunity to torment him. So he simply shrugged and tried not to look too guilty as he slowly crawled closer. “Sorry, I just wanted to surprise you. Surprise,” he finished lamely as he greeted her with a tiny wave. Noticing he was waving the same hand holding her flowers, he blushed in embarrassment as petals rained across her balcony. He quickly hid them behind his back.

A forced, awkward smile settled across his face.

“You’re ridiculous,” she said as she rolled her eyes fondly, teasing. “Come inside, you silly cat. Unless you’ve got more grooming to do for a photo shoot." With a chuckle, she disappeared back inside her room. Encouraged by the fact that she hadn’t refused to see him, that she seemed happy, even, Chat followed after. A couple quick jumps later, he found himself standing in the middle of Marinette’s room.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” he told her with a grin, even though he’d just been here as Adrien a few days ago, and it hadn’t changed one bit.

Marinette chuckled. “Thanks, it took a lot of work.”

Well, that cinched it. He loved her. Only Marinette would go along with his lame jokes and silly puns and not even bat an eye.

He had meant it, though—he loved her room. It was cozy and comfortable, warm, and lived-in. The complete opposite of his own. Despite being eighteen now, it hadn’t changed that much from when they were young. The walls were still her favorite color, in varying shades of pink, and she had all the same trinkets and furniture that had hardly aged a day. The only thing that had changed were the pictures she used to have of him all over her walls. At some point, they’d been replaced with photographs of all their friends and inspiring fashion pieces she’d come across in magazines.

He wasn’t sure when that had changed or even why, but it was one of the reasons he was so nervous. He knew she had liked him once, and if their conversation last night could be believed, she still did. But today, in broad daylight, without the help of wine, would she still feel the same?

“So, what brings you by?” Marinette asked curiously as Chat lovingly placed her flowers on her desk. “I thought we were going to meet at Kagami’s in a couple hours.”

Chat shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “I had some time to kill, and thought I’d spend it visiting my favorite purrincess.”

“Oh? And since she wasn’t home, you came to see me?” She put a hand to her forehead and pretended to swoon. “My, my. I’m flattered, monsieur super-hero.”

Seeing an opening, he took her outstretched hand and placed a quick kiss there, his eyes searing into hers, absolutely relishing in the way she blushed. “Not as flattered as I am,” he told her, the words “my Lady” on the tip of his tongue but held back by sheer will alone.

Now wasn’t the time.

“So, did you have fun?” he asked, reluctantly releasing her hand. “At the party, I mean.”

He watched her closely for her reaction, looking for the slightest sign she was unhappy or upset or disappointed somehow. She hadn’t brought it up herself—maybe she wanted to pretend it didn’t happen, or worse, maybe she didn’t like it. Was she preparing to let him down gently AGAIN?

Marinette, unaware of his catastrophizing, shrugged as she walked towards her unrolled poster-board, fingering the corner of it thoughtfully. “It was alright, I guess,” she replied, flushed, as she glanced at him with a smile. “I’m a little iffy on some details, though.”

Chat raised a questioning eyebrow. “Oh? Why’s that?” he asked, trying his best not to sound too curious, too invested. Though it was hard.

“I guess I drank a little more than I should have,” Marinette admitted as she bit her lip in shame, irrevocably drawing his gaze. Because those were the same lips he’d finally gotten a taste of late last night. Swallowing at the memory, Chat flushed as he forced himself to look away, to act nonchalant, like he didn’t want to resume right where they’d left off.

To distract himself, his eyes followed hers. For whatever reason, he found himself staring at all the names of their old classmates written on a giant poster board. Well, not all of them, he realized. It was only the ones that had come to their reunion party last night. “Are those the details you’re iffy about?” he asked, stepping up next to her to get a better view. “You’re not class president anymore, you know. You don’t need to take roll call, Marinette.”

She swatted him playfully across the arm. “I know that. It’s just a small project I’m working on.”

“Ooh, what kind of project?”

Again she blushed, and Chat realized there was clearly something he was missing here. “Well, aren’t you a curious kitty,” she cooed, scratching him underneath his chin as he leaned into her touch. It was such a Ladybug thing to do, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t made the connection sooner. Of course, the line between Marinette and Ladybug had been blurring for a while now. Even before he learned the truth, he’d dreamt about them being the same person multiple times. And with moments like this, it wasn’t surprising why.

“Actually,” she continued haltingly, “about last night. Something did happen, but it’s all a bit of a blur. See, I—I kissed someone, but I can’t remember who it was…”

At first, her words didn’t register. Then, slowly, Chat’s eyes began to widen ever-so-slightly, understanding firing all eight cylinders.

“Wait, you mean, you forgot?” He stuttered, and realizing what he’d almost admitted, cleared his throat and continued awkwardly, “I—I mean, that’s too bad, really bad. Seems like the kind of thing you’d want to remember.”

“I know, right? I knew I shouldn’t have taken that last shot! Kim and Alix can be very persuasive.”

“So, um, what all do you remember then?”

Marinette put a finger to her chin and began to tap-tap-tap, and he thought that was just the cutest thing ever. Everything about her was cute! “Not much, to be honest. Only that the kiss was amazing.”

Chat’s cheeks went pink, and he just knew his entire face must be blazing. Not for the first time, he was glad he was still wearing his mask. “R-really? You really thought so?”

Marinette nodded as she absently tapped the poster. “Do you think it could’ve been Luka?” She asked, turning to look at him with an open and vulnerable expression. “We talked a lot last night… maybe he wanted to get back together?”

At the very thought, Chat clenched his teeth so hard his jaw hurt, and if he were really a feline, he would have hissed.

“No, it definitely wasn’t Luka,” he muttered, much sharper than intended, and when he realized Marinette was staring at him strangely, he hastened to add, “I mean, I-I saw him last night, walking with Rose and Juleka—when I was out on patrol! I’m not sure what happened with that amazing kiss,” he continued with a wink, “but I have a feeling whoever the guy was, he wouldn’t just kiss and leave. At the very least, he would’ve walked you home or called.” A thought occurred to him then, and he asked nervously, “He, um, didn’t call. Did he?”

“No, he didn’t. I guess you’re right,” Marinette confirmed, sounding almost disappointed as she picked up a marker and crossed Luka’s name off the list. Despite that, Chat couldn’t help but feel relieved as his biggest rival was summarily removed.

One down, he thought cheerfully. Only a dozen more to go!

But first, it was time to get out of this cat-suit. He could practically hear Plagg grumbling in his ear, demanding cheese and freedom. And despite the risks of releasing his unlucky kwami, he knew it was necessary. If he was going to get his heart trampled on, he was determined to do it as Adrien; Chat had enough rejection to last a lifetime.

Unfortunately, he didn’t bring any cheese. Smelling like camembert when he planned to confess to the girl he loved was the last thing he’d wanted. So he turned to his partner, prepared to beg for a small slice as tribute—“It’s on the workbench,” Marinette told him, having read his mind, and Chat followed her gaze to see she already had a plate waiting for him, piled high with a variety of gooey options.

Chat shook his head in awe.

He shouldn’t be so surprised—that’s how in sync they were. It was one of the many reasons they belonged together. And yet she never failed to take his breath away.

The urge to confess had never been so strong, so not wanting to waste another second, he commanded, “Plagg, claws in!” Like always, his entire body was enveloped in warm green light, and once it was done, he opened his eyes to see Marinette staring at him with a cute, gob-smacked expression on her face. Even a year later, she still looked at him like she was seeing it for the first time. Adorable.

He chuckled at the sight, but realizing potential disaster awaited, turned his full attention to his greedy little kwami. “Alright, Plagg, remember our deal,” he whispered, green eyes narrowed in warning. “Not a word, or you’ll be living off cottage cheese for a month.”

With twinkling, giddy eyes, his kwami scoffed. “Oh, please. Like I’d want to ruin the fun of wherever this conversation is going. Please, by all means, dig yourself in even deeper. It’ll be a joy!” And just like that, he was off, his mouth already buried in a slice of brie.

“What did Plagg mean by that?” Marinette asked, sidling up next to him.

“Nonsense, as usual,” he muttered and turned his attention back to the “suspect pool”, quietly wondering who he should eliminate next. Nathaniel used to have a crush on her, maybe he should start with him? But then he noticed his own name had already been crossed off, and there was even an unflattering drawing right next to it. “Hey, what��s this?” He complained, putting his hands on his hips, intentionally keeping his voice light. “I was eliminated before I even had a chance to compete?”

“Well, obviously, I knew it wasn’t you,” she teased, tapping him in the chest with the tip of her marker. “We’re friends, right? Besides, you already have Kagami.”

Wrong. He hadn’t been with Kagami in almost a year, ever since he started realizing he had feelings for his good friend Marinette. Of course, she’d been with Luka at the time, so he’d been forced to wait and watch, and yet, even when they finally had broken up, the perfect opportunity just never seemed to present itself.

Until last night.

“I’m not with Kagami,” he told her softly, though considering how often they still hung out, it wasn’t surprising she’d think that way. “We’re just friends, Marinette. We’ve been that way for a while now.”

The friend he absolutely didn’t want as a friend, gasped, staring up at him in disbelief. “What? I’m so sorry to hear that, Adrien. I had no idea.”

He shrugged. “It was so long ago and it was mutual. We agreed to split as soon as I realized I was in love with someone else…”

Marinette’s beautiful blue eyes widened at that revelation, and the prettiest blush colored her cheeks as she turned her attention back to the board. Her hands shook the slightest bit as she crossed Kagami’s name off the list.

“Well, you two still left together,” she said softly. “So I guess I can rule her out.”

Adrien laughed as he took the marker from her hand. “Wow, you can’t even remember the gender? You were drunk.” And though he felt the tiniest bit guilty about that, she hadn’t seemed drunk. They’d held an entire conversation before the kissing had even begun. Still, knowing that all of that build-up and ground-work had been destroyed was depressing.

“So, what do you remember? Aside from it being the best kiss in the history of kisses,” he added slyly, fighting back a grin.“You must remember something. Like, what led up to it? What color was his hair? His eyes? Do you even remember where you were at?”

“I think I remember stairs—in Montmartre,” she replied, and watched as Adrien began crossing names off the list. First, he removed Nathaniel, Alix, Kim, and Max. And after that, drew a line through Ivan and Mylene, easily eliminating half of her suspects as if it were nothing.

When she raised an eyebrow in question, Adrien shrugged, though his eyes were full of mirth. “They all hate stairs,” he said by way of explanation, and with an encouraging smile, asked, “Anything else you remember?”

Marinette dutifully looked away as she closed her eyes, searching for any details floating just out of reach. Though they both knew the answer, knew where all of this was headed.

Still, he waited patiently, allowing her to figure it out for herself. And sure enough, when her pretty bluebell eyes flew open and her lips parted in surprise, he knew she knew. “Green eyes. Blond hair,” she whispered as Adrien continued down the list, eliminating the rest of their classmates one by one, everyone who didn’t match that description. And when no one was left, he circled his own name, again and again, until it stood out like a shining star against that pure white background.

“Adrien?” she breathed, finally looking up at him.

“Surprise,” he said again, laughing lightly as he fearlessly met her gaze. But inside, he was shaking. Once more, he felt like a love-sick cat standing on a rooftop, bracing for rejection. “I came back, you know,” he told her, feeling strangely shy. “I forgot my bag and saw you sitting outside on the stairs getting some air, and we got to talking, really talking… I—I honestly can’t believe you forgot all of it.”

“Sorry,” Marinette mumbled, just as softly. “There’s a reason I don’t drink very often.”

Adrien bit back a smile, knowing the real reason behind her sobriety. After all, the savior of Paris couldn’t exactly fight Hawkmoth while intoxicated, could she?

“Then what made you drink last night?” he asked, despite already knowing the answer, having heard them from her very lips on those stairs. Yet the selfish part of him, the part that wanted her to remember what they’d shared, needed to hear those words again. “Surely your classes at IFA couldn’t be that stressful. Not already.”

Marinette released a quiet little sigh as she nervously fingered the poster-board. “Well, why did you kiss me then?” she shot back, and Adrien laughed, not expecting her to turn this back on him so quickly. But unlike his Lady, he wasn’t afraid to be upfront and honest.

“Because I wanted to. I’ve been in love with you for a very long time now, Marinette.”

“Y-You have?!” Marinette stuttered and then stumbled, nearly tearing down her poster-board in the process—which was quite the feat, considering she’d been standing still. But as always, Adrien was there to catch her before she could fall too far, his arms around her shoulders, holding her steady.

Reluctantly, he let her go. “I have.”

“But, but I had no idea! Why didn’t you ever say anything? Why did you let everyone think you were still dating Kagami?”

“I didn’t! I didn’t even know that’s what everyone thought!” Adrien insisted, shaking his head. “I was just being friendly, and since she’s one of the few people my dad actually lets me hang out with, I had no reason not to. Besides, the only reason I ever dated her in the first place was because I couldn’t have you—you didn’t like me that way!”

“I’ve always liked you that way!”

“Well, sure, I know that now,” he complained.

“Then, so, we do like each other. Both of us,” Marinette confirmed, blushing like mad now. “And last night, on the steps, we confessed to each other . . . and I don’t remember any of it!” It took all of five seconds for Marinette to go from flustered and shy to absolutely distraught as she turned away, hands tangled in her hair.

Adrien simply took another step closer. “That’s nothing new for me,” he reminded her, having experienced an unfair amount of memory issues in the past. “But if it bothers you that much, I can always remind you what happened if you want.”

Marinette stopped pantomiming long enough to glance over at him. “Really? Y-you’d do that?”

“Of course,” he told her with a happy little laugh.

“O-okay then,” she said, staring at him, expectant and trusting.

And Adrien was determined not to disappoint. He’d give her a story she’d never forget.

“So there we were,” he began, setting the scene as he leaned towards her, his eyes sparkling mischievously. “All alone on the stairs on a beautiful night. There was romantic music drifting in from the venue, and the light from the street lamps bathed us both in a warm, soft glow—so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when you confessed your undying love for me right there on the spot.”

“I WHAT?!”

Adrien nodded, fighting back a grin. “That’s right. Apparently, you ‘couldn’t keep your feelings to yourself anymore’—those were your exact words, by the way. And you started insisting we were destined to be together, that fate and Hawkmoth, and even ‘dumb, purple butterflies’—again, your words—could never tear our love apart.”

Unsurprisingly, Marinette’s face had gone from a pale, sickly white to a bright fuchsia, so red, it was entirely possible her blood-vessels may have imploded, but Adrien continued on innocently, enjoying being able to unbalance his Lady for once. “And that’s when you kissed me. And then I kissed you, and honestly, we did a lot of kissing last night, Marinette, it’s kind of hard to keep track—but it really was as epic as you remember.”

At some point during his retelling, the love of his life had collapsed soundlessly to the floor, her legs splayed out beneath her as she stared at the rug in utter humiliation and self-reproach. And Adrien felt a little bad. But only a little.

He hadn’t exaggerated too much.

Hoping to cheer her up, he knelt down, slowly placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, like he was approaching a startled rabbit that was ready to bolt. “If it makes you feel any better, I did bring you flowers,” he reminded her, gesturing to the abandoned bouquet on her desk. “I would have given them to you last night after I brought you home, but it was too late and all the stores were closed.”

Finally, Marinette lifted her head, her cheeks slowly resuming their color as she glanced at her gift from across the room. “Flowers? Those were for me?”

“Of course,” he teased. “I don’t give flowers to just anyone, Princess.”

“But—Kagami? I thought they were for her birthday.”

Adrien’s gaze softened. “I already gave Kagami her gift last night. I bought those for you, Marinette. I couldn’t exactly come here empty-handed, could I? Not after giving you a kiss to end all kisses,” he reminded her with a wink. “Of course, if you don’t want them…”

“I DO! I want them!” Marinette insisted loudly, too loudly apparently, because her eyes instantly widened and she threw a hand over her mouth in embarrassment. “I-I mean,” she floundered as she lowered her hands and gave him a dazzling smile. “Thank you, Adrien. They’re beautiful.”

And if he wasn’t kneeling, it would’ve been his turn to collapse.

“Not as beautiful as you,” he replied sincerely, and Marinette practically melted right there on the floor. Adrien laughed, pleased and encouraged by how open and unguarded she was being. If she was angry or regretted anything, he had no doubt she would’ve kicked him out long before now—his lady was nothing if not decisive.

And apparently delusional, because the next words out of her mouth were: “Thanks, but I’m not, not really,” and at her shy expression, Adrien scoffed so hard he nearly gave himself whiplash.

“Of course you are,” he insisted, just as loudly and as passionately. “You’re beautiful, Marinette. You’re brilliant and brave and talented and kind and just-just amazing. It’s no wonder I fell in love with you twice,” he told her, and if he thought her face couldn’t get any redder at that point, he’d be wrong. “I’m only sorry I never saw it sooner,” he continued, needing to get the words out. “That I was stupid and blind, and mistook what I felt for you as friendship when it was obviously something more.”

Marinette stared at him in wonder. “How can you say all of that so easily?” she asked him, shaking her head in disbelief. “I-I’ve been trying to tell you that for four years now, and it took getting drunk and then blacking out before I could even get the words out!”

“Well, what’s stopping you now?” He asked, giving her an encouraging smile as he threw out his arms, opening them wide in invitation. “I’m here. I’m listening. Go on and woo me, Bugaboo.”

Marinette stared at him, completely slack-jawed. And it took waaay too long for Adrien to realize what he’d just let slip, what he’d unknowingly confessed. And just like that, he found himself at a crossroads.

“B-Bugaboo?” She repeated uncertainly.

He could deny it, of course. Could laugh it off and say she reminded him of his lady. But if he was honest with himself, Adrien was tired of the lies, tired of pretending he didn’t know. Now that everything was out in the open, it was time to be honest about everything. “Would you prefer Wonderbug, My Lady?” He asked, unable to hide his nervousness, “Or Mrs. Agreste? That’s on the table too, if you want it.”

A dreamy look entered her eyes at his suggestion which made him sit up and take notice. But just as quickly Marinette began shaking her head, as though mentally berating herself.

“But HOW did you—WHEN?”

“So, that’s a funny story, actually,” he continued, red-faced now, and absolutely dreading this conversation. Why couldn’t they just go straight back to kissing? “Last night, you may have, kind of, sort of, admitted you were Ladybug to me—not that it mattered,” he hastened to add, “I’ve known for months now!”

“YOU’VE WHAT?”

“I mean, I saw you—months ago, by accident. Not on purpose! I wasn’t following you or anything, I swear!”

Thankfully, as he rambled like an idiot, Tikki finally decided to make her presence known. Now that Marinette knew the secret was out, she had no reason to stay hidden. So, like an angry little hornet, she buzzed onto the scene, antennas twitching irritably. “That’s right, you did,” she chastised as Marinette’s look of panic increased ten-fold. “Now do you see why I was so upset with you, Marinette? That was very irresponsible: Anyone could have overheard you! You are NEVER allowed to drink alcohol again!”

“Aw, come on now, Sugar Cube,” said Plagg, flying lazily beside her. “Leave the kid alone. Humans always do stupid things when they drink. You should’ve set a better example.��

Despite Tikki turning that terrifying displeasure on her partner, Plagg didn’t even flinch. “I certainly do not drink, nor to excess,” she shot back, leveling him with a glare. “If anyone’s been a terrible influence, it’s you and that cheese addiction of yours! Do you know how difficult it’s been for her to sneak enough cheese out of the bakery to sustain your insatiable appetite?”

“No more than your macaroon addiction, I’d wager!”

“I don’t have an addiction!”

As the two kwami’s verbally sparred, Marinette stared at Adrien who stared right back, somehow their own conversation forgotten in the unexpectedness of what they were witnessing. “S-sorry,” Adrien replied at last, nodding his head towards Plagg. “He can be a bit of a glutton.”

“It’s really not that much cheese,” she hastened to assure him as Plagg laughed derisively at Tikki’s latest rant. For some reason, they were now talking about the extinction of the dinosaurs. As one, the two found themselves naturally gravitating away from the arguing kwami’s, and both took a seat on her lounge chair, looking uncomfortable as they watched.

“I’ve never seen them fight before,” Marinette whispered, her own worries and fears suddenly seeming small while watching two ancient, tiny gods verbally duking it out.

“I know, right? Plagg doesn’t usually get this passionate about anything other than camembert. I didn’t even realize he was capable.”

Marinette sighed, realizing she wasn’t going to get any helpful guidance from Tikki anytime soon. “So, what do we do now?” She asked, turning so she was facing him directly, though her expression was worried. “I’m the guardian now, Adrien. Doesn’t that bother you? What if we get together and I forget all about you after passing on the miraculous?”

Adrien laughed, though it was filled less with amusement and more with resignation. “You mean like how you forgot everything last night?” He teased, knocking his shoulder playfully against hers. “I’ve got news for you, princess, as long as Hawkmoth is around, nothing between us is ever going to be easy. But you’re worth it. WE’RE worth it. And if you do forget me,” he continued warmly, “well then, I’ll get to enjoy making you fall in love with me all over again. I can be very persuasive, you know.”

The way her cheeks flushed at his comment seemed to suggest she agreed whole-heartedly. But Adrien wasn’t done. As if afraid the words would fester and rot, he knew they had to be said.

“I still love you, Marinette. The feelings I had for you back when we were in collége, when I only knew you as Ladybug—they never went away. There will never be anyone for me but you. You’re not just my partner, you’re my best friend and the only person who knows me so completely, inside and out.” Praying she could feel his sincerity, he took her hand in his. “So please don’t tell me last night was a mistake.”

Marinette stared down at their linked hands and to his relief didn’t pull away. Instead, she met his gaze without fear or hesitation and gently squeezed his hand in return. “I know I wasn’t in my right mind last night but I meant every word I said. All of it,” she told him, her lip quivering as a bright and beautiful smile broke free. “I love you too, Adrien. Even after learning you were Chat Noir, my feelings for you only grew. I love you, my chaton. I always have.”

It may not have been very manly to tear up, but he had waited YEARS to hear those words. Feeling overwhelmed, relieved, and loved at last, Adrien wiped his eyes with the back of his arm. “My lady…”

“Oh, for crying out loud, would you two just KISS already?” Plagg complained, apparently taking a break from tormenting Tikki just to torment them.

Adrien, who had been staring lovingly at Marinette, shrugged helplessly. “Permission to show you exactly what you forgot?” he asked as he leaned closer, lips quirked, and only a breath away.

“I am a bit fuzzy on the details.”

“I can definitely fix that.”

Carefully placing an arm around her waist, Adrien pulled Marinette even closer, drawing her in for a heart-stirring kiss. Her lips were soft and sweet and every bit as amazing as promised. He kissed her slowly, reverently, like they had all the time in the world because this time he was determined to make sure she didn’t forget a single thing.

Though neither of them knew what the future might bring, one thing they knew for certain: Separate, they were already pretty amazing. Together, they would be miraculous.

THE END

#miracuous ladybug #adrienette #adrinette #ladynoir #marichat #ladrien #identity reveal #drunken kisses #adrien x marinette #one-shot #piece of fluff

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lyssismagical · 4 years

Note

Can you do a hurt/comfort parkner story where Peter overworks himself cause someone died and he thinks it’s his fault so Harley has to help him. No rush at all 💞

It’s hard for Harley to really offer much, living so far away from his boyfriend.

When Peter stops responding to texts, stops answering his endless calls, cancels their virtual date nights, there’s not much Harley can do. It’s not like he can really force Peter to answer him.

The days without Peter, without his witty texts, his soft crackling laughter over the phone, the heart-eyes he gets whenever they have Skype Dates, it’s hard. Harley hates to be so far, still stuck in Rose Hill, with no way of getting up to New York for more than a couple weeks a year, but being without Peter, not being able to see him or hear from him or even get a single text to ease his nerves, hurts like his chest has been pried open, heart trying to escape and find it’s way back to his love.

At first, he assumes Peter’s just busy. They’re rounding on Exam season and Peter’s a Junior, so class loads are pretty heavy, not to mention the Academic Decathlon competition he’d been talking about the last time they called.

But even when Peter’s busy, he always remembers to text at least once. Especially with how nervous and worried his texts get as the days pass with no answer.

His boyfriend is a superhero. How could he not be worried?

He’s had the news on almost constantly at home, annoying the hell out of his little sister, and his phone ringer stays on high all day at school, getting him into a few detentions. But so far, nothing’s come up about Spider-Man.

After four days of radio silence on Peter’s side, nearly a hundred messages staying on Delivered, he finally caves and calls Tony.

“Wow, my second favourite young adult!” Tony says, sounding mostly chipper. As chipper as someone like Tony Stark can. “What’s got you calling? Normally, I hear everything through Peter.”

“So you’ve heard from Peter?” Harley asks, voice lifting almost an octave higher in his worry and panic. “He hasn’t answered me in four days and I’m kinda freaking out.”

Harley starts pacing the length of his bedroom, heart hammering in his chest. Abbie shoves open his door, rolling her eyes overdramatically at him, but she still sprawls out across his bed, watching him carefully.

“Um, now that you say that, he cancelled his last Lab Night with me. I didn’t really think much of it but he’s been kinda snappy with me last week too,” Tony says. There’s a few clicks of a keyboard, and then Tony sighs. “It looks like he’s been logging a lot of hours as Spider-Man. Like a crazy amount. Yesterday, he was out from four pm, when he got out of school, until five am.”

“Is he mad at me? Did he say anything?”

Even Abbie frowns at his question, laced in desperation.

“I don’t know, kid. I haven’t spoken to him in like a week. I’ll ask May, I’ll see if I can corner Peter into telling me anything and I’ll let you know, okay?”

Harley frowns, saying a quick goodbye and dropping onto the bed beside his little sister. “I hate this. I just wish he’d call me.”

“I know, Harls, but there’s nothing either of us can do. It might be smarter to just take your mind off everything. Weren’t you planning a trip up over summer? That’s only another two weeks out,” Abbie says, forever going to be the smarter, more logical of the two Keener siblings. She shrugs but still wraps an arm around his shoulders, tugging him into a comforting hug.

“I know you’re right,” he says, still staring at his phone. “I just… I really think I love him. I do. And I’m scared he’s mad at me or that things are falling apart and there’s nothing I can do about it. I just really wish he’d call and talk to me.”

Abbie doesn’t say anything more, knowing there’s nothing more she can do to make it better.

* It’s another three days before Peter finally responds.

All he’s heard since then was a single text from Tony reading Peter’s acting weird, think you were right. He’s not talking to me or May or even his friends, falling asleep in class, getting detentions. I’ll try to talk to him or at least get him to talk to you. But I’m pretty positive it wasn’t anything to do with you. Don’t fret.

And then it had turned back into a waiting game until Peter finally texted him.

It was simple, small, sweet.

I miss you

It made Harley’s chest jump, and he immediately asked to go to the bathroom, ducking out of class and dialing Peter’s number again.

He waits and waits and waits, but Peter doesn’t pick up. He tries again, heart pounding and pacing down the hallway.

On attempt three, Peter finally picks up. “Harley.”

“Peter, honey, thank god. I was starting to get worried. You weren’t answering my texts and cancelling all our dates and I was- I just-”

“I’m sorry.” Peter sounds miserable. Tired and upset and confused. “I meant to but I kept freaking out and I didn’t know how to… Is there anyway I could convince you to come up to New York early?”

Harley frowns. He wants to see Peter, he’d drop everything for Peter any day but he has his own exams the following week, plus Junior Prom on the Friday. It’s not like he can really skip any of it. Plus, changing his plane tickets is going to be a hassle.

“I don’t know if I can. I might be able to fly up on the Saturday, but that’s still another nine days from now, and that only changes our plans by four. It’s not really…”

Peter sniffles. “I just- I really wanna see you. I miss you and things have been hard and I just want you here, you know. I miss you. It’s been, what? Three months?”

“I miss you too, sweetheart, I have exams next week. All week. I don’t mind skipping junior prom, it’ll probably be awful anyways considering the disaster that was homecoming last year. But I still need to be here until Friday.”

“I know, I know, I just-” Peter cuts himself off, voice trembling.

Harley checks his watch, knowing he’ll get another detention if he spends too much time out of class. “How about, for now at least, we’ll set up a Skype date for tonight, and then we’ll talk more about making another trip up.”

“Six?”

“Yeah, six is good. I’ll look up plane tickets for this weekend, but I can’t make any promises, okay?”

Peter sniffles again. “Okay. ‘m sorry for worrying you.”

“That’s okay, darlin’. Don’t you worry about me. Are you home?”

“May grounded me when she found out I was skipping curfew. And when she saw just how badly I was skipping curfew, just how little sleep I was getting, she made me take a sick day to sleep but I couldn’t stop thinking about you and how much stress I must’ve been putting you under.”

Harley sighs, already knowing from Tony just how little sleep Peter had been getting. It makes his heart ache with the idea that he’s not there. He’s not close enough to wrap Peter up and protect him from everything, take care of him. He wishes, more than anything, that he could do that, that he could be there.

“I’ve gotta get back to class before I get a detention, but Skype call at six, okay? And we’ll talk about everything, make everything better, alright, honey?”

“Thank you, you’re the best, you know that? I really don’t deserve you, Harls,” Peter says, voice slipping into a quiet murmur. “You’re too good to me.”

Harley shakes his head, voice dipping too. “You deserve the world, darling, I swear.”

* Seeing Peter, through the old camera lens, makes everything make a little more sense.

The dark circles under his eyes, the puffiness of his tear-stained cheeks, his bloodshot eyes, the slight tremble of his shoulder, the bruises mapped out across the pale expanse of his skin. It makes Harley’s chest hurt so badly, makes his heart ache to be close to his boyfriend again.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Harley starts, voice rough and pained. “Everything okay?”

Peter shrugs, bottom lip sticking out. “I miss you. I wish you were here. The only thing I want right now is a hug from you.”

“Oh, I know, honey. I’m so sorry I can’t be there all the time to take care of you, to protect you, to hold you. I’m sorry I can’t. I’m sorry this has been so hard on you.”

“I know this has been hard on you too,” Peter says, obviously trying his best not to cry. “I’m sorry I’ve been so distant lately. I just- I got so caught up in- in feeling like this and working so hard to be better, I didn’t think I deserved to have your support.”

Harley looks down, not wanting to cry in front of Peter who obviously needs him to be strong and stable for him. “You deserve everything and more.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew.”

“Knew what?” Harley says and then quickly rephrases, “Whatever it is, that’s not going to change how I feel about you, that’s not going to change how much you deserve.”

Peter frowns, lip trembling and eyes watering as he turns his gaze to his hands. “Last week, I was out patrolling and there was this fight happening out on the streets and I went to go save them, I wanted to protect her. She was- She was young, like maybe mid-twenties, and she was so scared and alone and I tried- I tried so fucking hard but-”

“Honey-”

“I got shot,” Peter says, voice breaking. “In the hip. I fell- I didn’t want- I couldn’t-”

Harley shakes his head, wanting nothing more than to hug his boyfriend, press a kiss to his forehead, hold him and make all of his pain go away. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

“She died,” Peter chokes out, tears falling down his flushed cheeks. “She got shot and I tried to swing her to the hospital and keep her awake and get the bad guy, but with my stupid hip, I- I didn’t make it in time. I can’t- I-”

“Oh, sweetheart, that’s not on you. You can’t save everyone, you know that. I’m so sorry that happened, but just because some bad guy hurt a civilian, doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be cared about. It doesn’t mean you have to overwork yourself to make up for something that wasn’t your fault.”

Peter lets out a quiet pained noise, shoulders shaking. “It was my fault. I was right there. I should’ve gotten up and saved her. I should’ve been faster, more careful, something. I could’ve saved her.”

Realizing just how bad this is, the overwhelming need to wrap Peter up in a hug, makes itself obvious so he grabs the emergency credit card Tony had given him, and books the next flight to New York, leaving the next day. It’s not cheap, but he’s sure Tony would understand.

“Darling, it’s not your fault. I know it seems like it is, but you weren’t the one holding the gun, you weren’t the one who put her life in danger, the only one at fault is that bad guy, okay? This isn’t on you.”

Peter sniffles, ducking his head. “I visited the family yesterday as Peter Parker not as Spider-Man, well I told them it was me, but I told them what happened, how sorry I was.”

“Did they say it was your fault?”

His boyfriend deflates, shaking his head. “No, they said exactly what you did. That it’s not my fault, I tried, I made sure she wasn’t alone when she went. I know logically, there was nothing I could do, but- I still feel like I need to work harder to make sure it doesn’t happen to anybody else. That I won’t lose anyone else.”

“It’s not up to you to save everybody, Peter,” Harley says, hoping he can get it through to his boyfriend for at least tonight. “You’re the only superhero within the Avengers who actually cares about the little guy, it can’t be just your responsibility to save everybody in New York. That’s not feasible, right?”

“Right,” Peter agrees, finally slumping. “I know you’re right. I know I’m being crazy. I know it’s not up to me to save everyone, Tony’s had that conversation with me about a thousand times. I know, I just- I feel like I’m falling apart.”

Harley nods sympathetically, offering a small smile. “You’re definitely sleep-deprived, that can’t help. How much have you been doing?”

“I’ve been patrolling for like twelve hours every night,” Peter admits quietly. “May’s been working overnights so as long as I can get home before she gets home around six, she wasn’t going to find out. But I’d only get like an hour or two of sleep before school and exam prep and homework- I don’t know. Too much, really.”

“I just bought tickets to come home for the long weekend,” Harley says, smiling when Peter’s whole face lights up. “Tomorrow night, I’ll be flying out and you’ve got me until Monday morning. As long as you promise we’ll spend a little time studying for our exams.”

Peter quickly swipes a hand over his cheeks, ridding himself of the tears that still linger. “You know you didn’t have to do that. I could’ve hung in there for another week or two.”

“If I’m being honest, it’s only half because of you. It’s also half for my benefit.”

“Because you need me to reteach you all of calculus?” Peter teases sweetly, smile making his eyes sparkle.

Harley rolls his eyes, smiling back. “Believe it or not, I have missed you too. Not for your genius brain, somehow understanding how to do stupid calculus, but for you. You know I’ve gotten more detentions these last two years than ever before because of how often I’ve been caught texting you or just daydreaming about you.”

“I don’t want to put your education in jeopardy,” Peter says, mostly joking but there’s an undertone of guilt.

“You’re not. That’s all on me. I think I’m really the bad influence here, not you.”

“You’re really coming all the way to New York? Just for this weekend? Just because I said I was upset?”

Harley rolls his eyes again, smiling softly. “You really doubt me? The things I’d do for you, Peter Parker, are so much bigger and higher than flying out to see you for a weekend.”

“You’re too good for me.”

“You won’t be saying that when I get there and physically force you to sleep if I have to. I’ll be your self-care enforcer all weekend. Eight hours of sleep, no Spider-Man outings, the exact number of calories your metabolism needs, everything.”

The love that fills Peter’s expression is so open and whole that Harley’s chest starts to hurt again, the same aching, fullness like he can’t possibly fit this much love inside his heart.

They talk throughout the night about what they’ve missed over the past couple weeks, of school and friends and Spider-Man and Tony, catching up on each other’s lives, until eventually Peter looks like he might pass out if he stays up for a moment longer, and Harley has to pack for the weekend, so they say their quiet goodbyes, see you soon’s bleeding into their every sentence with unbearable amounts of fondness.

And the next day, after a few hours’ plane ride, Harley makes it to the New York airport, dropping his luggage to catch his boyfriend in a tight hug, they finally murmur the three words they’d been holding close to their chest, I love you leaving their mouths between kisses like a promise.

Taglist: @littlemissagrafina @spidey-reids-2003 @romeoandjulietyouwish @c-artara @shadedrose01 @likeaphoenix13 @pj-hermes-tonystark-obsessed @you-get-killed-walk-it-off @kitkatwinchester @emo-girl10 @justme--emily @hold-our-destiny @imalivebecauseirondad @spiderman-peterman @dykeragee @maryserrao @heeeyitskay @parknerandirondad @lilacsandlilies4 @loveliestdisappointment {Let me know if you wanna be added or removed}

#lyss writes #parkner #parkner fic #harley keener #peter parker #tony stark #irondad #harley keener/peter parker

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birdlord · 3 years

Text

Everything I Watched in 2020

We’ll start with movies. The number in parentheses is the year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year. Here’s 2019’s list.

01 Little Women (19)

02 The Post (17)

03 Molly’s Game (17)

04 * Doctor No (62)

05 Groundhog Day (93)

06 *Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (86)

07 Knives Out (19) My last theatre experience (sob)

08 Professor Marston and his Wonder Women (17)

09 Les Miserables (98)

10 Midsommar (19) I’m not sure how *good* it is, but it does stick in the ol’ brain

11 *Manhattan Murder Mystery (93)

12 Marriage Story (19)

13 Kramer vs Kramer (79)

14 Jojo Rabbit (19)

15 J’ai perdu mon corps (19) a cute animated film about a hand detached from its body!

16 1917 (19)

17 Married to the Mob (88)

18 Klaus (19)

19 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (19) If Little Women made me want to wear a scarf criss-crossed around my torso, this one made me want to wear a cloak

20 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (19)

21 *Lawrence of Arabia (62)

22 Gone With the Wind (39)

23 Kiss Me Deadly (55)

24 Dredd (12)

25 Heartburn (86) heard a bunch about this one in the Blank Check series on Nora Ephron, sadly after I’d watched it

26 The Long Shot (19)

27 Out of Africa (85)

28 King Kong (46)

29 *Johnny Mnemonic (95)

30 Knocked Up (07)

31 Collateral (04)

32 Bird on a Wire (90)

33 The Black Dahlia (05)

34 Long Time Running (17)

35 *Magic Mike (12)

36 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (07)

37 Cold War (18)

38 *Kramer Vs Kramer (79) yes I watched this a few months before! This was a pandemic friend group co-watch.

39 *Burn After Reading (08)

40 Last Holiday (50)

41 Fly Away Home (96)

42 *Moneyball (11) I’m sure I watch this every two years, at most??

43 Last Holiday (06) the Queen Latifah version of the 1950 movie above, lacking, of course, the brutal “poor people don’t deserve anything good” ending

44 *Safe (95)

45 Gimme Shelter (70)

46 The Daytrippers (96)

47 Experiment in Terror (62)

48 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (88)

49 My Brilliant Career (79) one of the salvations of 2020 was watching movies “with” friends. Our usual method was to video chat before the movie, sync our streaming services, and text-chat while the movie was on.

50 Divorce Italian Style (61)

51 *Gosford Park (01) another classic comfort watch, fuck I love a G. Park

52 Hopscotch (80)

53 Brief Encounter (45)

54 Hud (63)

55 Ocean’s 8 (18)

56 *Beverly Hills Cop (84)

57 Blow the Man Down (19)

58 Constantine (05)

59 The Report (19) maddening!! How are people so consistently terrible to one another!

60 Everyday People (04)

61 Anatomy of a Murder (58)

62 Spiderman: Homecoming (17)

63 *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (95) Of the 90s drag road movies, Priscilla is more visually striking, but this has its moments.

64 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (92)

65 *The Truman Show (98)

66 Mona Lisa (86)

67 The Blob (58)

68 The Guard (11)

69 *Waiting for Guffman (96) RIP Fred Willard

70 Rocketman (19)

71 Outside In (18)

72 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (08) how strange to see a movie that you have known the premise for, but no details of, for over a decade

73 *Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (91)

74 The Reader (08)

75 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (19) This was fine until it VERY MUCH WAS NOT FINE

76 The End of the Affair (99) you try to watch a fun little romp about infidelity during the Blitz, and Graham Greene can’t help but shoehorn in a friggin crisis of religious faith

77 Must Love Dogs (05) barely any dog content, where are the dogs at

78 The Rainmaker (97)

79 *Batman & Robin (97)

80 National Lampoon’s Vacation (83) Never seen any of the non-xmas Vacations, didn’t realize the children are totally different, not just actors but ages! Also, this one is blatantly racist!

81 *Mystic Pizza (88)

82 Funny Girl (68)

83 The Sons of Katie Elder (65)

84 *Knives Out (19) another re-watch within the same year!! How does this keep happening??

85 *Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (10) a real I-just-moved-away-from-Toronto nostalgia watch

86 Canadian Bacon (92) vividly recall this VHS at the video store, but I never saw it til 2020

87 *Blood Simple (85)

88 Brittany Runs a Marathon (19)

89 The Accidental Tourist (88)

90 August Osage County (13) MELO-DRAMA!!

91 Appaloosa (08)

92 The Firm (93) Feeling good about how many iconic 80s/90s video store stalwarts I watched in 2020

93 *Almost Famous (00)

94 Whisper of the Heart (95)

95 Da 5 Bloods (20)

96 Rain Man (88)

97 True Stories (86)

98 *Risky Business (83) It’s not about what you think it’s about! It never was!

99 *The Big Chill (83)

100 The Way We Were (73)

101 Safety Last (23) It’s getting so that I might have to add the first two digits to my dates...not that I watch THAT many movies from the 1920s...

102 Phantasm (79)

103 The Burrowers (08)

104 New Jack City (91)

105 The Vanishing (88)

106 Sisters (72)

107 Puberty Blues (81) Little Aussie cinema theme, here

108 Elevator to the Gallows (58)

109 Les Diaboliques (55)

110 House (77) haha WHAT no really W H A T

111 Death Line (72)

112 Cranes are Flying (57)

113 Holes (03)

114 *Lady Vengeance (05)

115 Long Weekend (78)

116 Body Double (84)

117 The Crazies (73) I love that Romero shows the utter confusion that would no doubt reign in the case of any kind of disaster. Things fall apart.

118 Waterlilies (07)

119 *You’re Next (11)

120 Event Horizon (97)

121 Venom (18) I liked it, guys, way more than most superhero fare. Has a real sense of place and the place ISN’T New York!

122 Under the Silver Lake (18) RIP Night Call

123 *Blade Runner (82)

124 *The Birds (62) interesting to see now that I’ve read the story it came from

125 *28 Days Later (02) hits REAL FUCKIN’ DIFFERENT in a pandemic

126 Life is Sweet (90)

127 *So I Married an Axe Murderer (93) find me a more 90s movie, I dare you (it’s not possible)

128 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (67)

129 The Pelican Brief (93) 90s thrillers continue!

130 Dick Johnston is Dead (20)

131 The Bridges of Madison County (95)

132 Earth Girls are Easy (88) Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum are so hot in this movie, no wonder they got married

133 Better Watch Out (16)

134 Drowning Mona (00) trying for something like the Coen bros and not getting there

135 Au Revoir Les Enfants (87)

136 *Chasing Amy (97) Affleck is the least alluring movie lead...ever? I also think I gave Joey Lauren Adams’ character short shrift in my memory of the movie. It’s not good, but she’s more complicated than I recalled.

137 Blackkklansman (18)

138 Being Frank (19)

139 Kiki’s Delivery Service (89)

140 Uncle Frank (20) why so many FRANKS

141 *National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89) watching with pals (virtually) made it so much more fun than the usual yearly watch!

142 Half Baked (98) another, more secret Toronto nostalgia pic - RC Harris water filtration plant as a prison!

143 We’re the Millers (13)

144 All is Bright (13)

145 Defending Your Life (91)

146 Christmas Chronicles (18) I maintain that most new xmas movies are terrible, particularly now that Netflix churns them out like eggnog every year.

147 Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (18)

148 Reindeer Games (00) what did I say about Affleck??!? WHAT DID I SAY

149 Palm Springs (20)

150 Happiest Season (20)

151 *Metropolitan (90) it’s definitely a Christmas movie

152 Black Christmas (74)

THEATRE:HOME - 2:150 (thanks pandemic)

I usually separate out docs and fiction, but I watched almost no documentaries this year (with the exception of Dick Johnston). Reality is real enough.

TV Series

01 - BoJack Horseman (final season) - Pretty damned poignant finish to the show, replete with actual consequences for our reformed bad boy protagonist (which is more than you can say for most antiheroes of Peak TV).

02 - *Hello Ladies - I enjoy the pure awkwardness of seeing Stephen Merchant try to perform being a Regular Person, but ultimately this show tips him too far towards a nasty, Ricky Gervais-lite sort of persona. Perhaps he was always best as a cameo appearance, or lip synching with wild eyes while Chrissy Teigen giggles?

03 - Olive Kittredge - a rough watch by times. I read the book as well, later in the year. Frances Mcdormand was the best, possibly the only, casting option for the flinty lead. One episode tips into thriller territory, which is a shock.

04 - *The Wire S3, S4, S5 - lockdown culture! It was interesting to rewatch this, then a few months later go through an enormous, culture-level reappraisal of cop-centred narratives.

05 - Forever - a Maya Rudolph/Fred Armisen joint that coasts on the charm of its leads. The premise is OK, but I wasn’t left wanting any more at the end.

06 - *Catastrophe - a rewatch when my partner decided he wanted to see it, too!

07 - Red Oak - resolutely “OK” steaming dramedy, relied heavily on some pretty obvious cues to get across its 1980s setting.

08 - Little Fires Everywhere - gulped this one down while in 14-day isolation, delicious! Every 90s suburban mom had that SUV, but not all of them had the requisite **secrets**

09 - The Great - fun historical comedy/drama! Costumes: lush. Actors: amusing. Race-blind casting: refreshing!

10 - The Crown S4 - this is the season everyone lost their everloving shit for, since it’s finally recent enough history that a fair chunk of the viewing audience is liable to recall it happening.

11 - Ted Lasso - we resisted this one for a while (thought I did enjoy the ad campaign for NBC sports (!!) that it was based on). My view is that its best point was the comfort that the men on the show have (or develop, throughout the season) with the acknowledgement and sharing of their own feelings. Masculinity redux.

12 - Moonbase 8 - Goodnatured in a way that makes you certain they will be crushed.

13 - The Good Lord Bird - Ethan Hawke is really aging into the character actor we always hoped he would be!

14 - Hollywood - frothy wish-fulfillment alternate history. I think the show would have been improved immeasurably by skipping the final episode.

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justcallmefox89 · 4 years

Text

Mammon’s Wedding Part 2 -Truth or Dare Series

Mammon and Arianthi visit the human realm to get some much needed time away, but not everyone is pleased by their absence from the Devildom. Time away from home makes the couple think about their future together.

(Artwork is a commission of my OC Arianthi and Mammon by @daddydemus They are an amazing artist so go visit their page and show them some love.)

This story is told from the perspective of my female OC Arianthi, and also features my enby OC Jax, from the Artist in the Devildom series.

NSFW: blowjob, face fucking, unprotected sex, demon sex, foreplay, soft gentle sex......just some good old fashioned smut y’all.

I sit wrapped in a large blanket on the hard packed sand of the beach watching the sun start to set and fog roll in over the water. There’s a soft shuffling sound behind me and I smile to myself when I hear familiar muttering.

“What are ya doing out here? Tryin’ to freeze to death?” Despite his grumbling Mammon sits down behind me, pulling me between his legs so I can lean back against his chest.

“And what was the big idea leavin’ me alone like that?” He kisses my temple, pouting.

I wrap his arms around me and squeeze his hands gently. “I’m sorry baby. You were sleeping so well I didn’t want to bother you.”

I can almost feel him frowning behind me. “Are ya not sleepin’ again?”

“I’m ok baby, I promise. I slept a little bit but I wanted to come watch the sunset. There’s nothing like this in the Devildom.”

His arms tighten around me. “Sure isn’t. D-do ya miss it? When you’re there with me?”

I lean my head back against his shoulder and tip my face up, silently asking for a kiss. Mammon obliges and I savor the feeling of his lips against mine.

“Sometimes I do,” I answer once we break apart.

“O-o-oh.”

“I had 24 years of sun and different seasons.......24 years of this.” I gesture out to the ocean. “It’s hard to just let all of it go.”

Mammon stays silent, his body tense.

“I’ll never regret trading this to be with you,” I murmur, raising his hand to my mouth to place a tender kiss on his knuckles.

The tension automatically flows from his body and he chuckles. “Of course ya don’t. Who would ever regret bein’ with THE Great Mammon?”

I laugh and gently squeeze his thigh. “You are so full of it.”

“But ya love me,” he whispers, nuzzling his face into my neck, tickling me.

“So, so much.”

We sit in companionable silence, watching the horizon turn pink as the last few rays of the sun disappear.

“What would ya think about stayin’ here? About maybe not going back?” Mammon finally asks.

I twist in his arms little so that I can look at him. “I didn’t think that was an option.”

He gives a lazy shrug. “There’s nothing sayin’ I have to stay in the Devildom. I just can’t ever go back to the Celestial Realm.”

His places his hands gently on my stomach. “And if we ever get another chance at startin’ a family don’tcha think we’d be better off raising the kid here?”

I frown a little, considering his words. “But what about your brothers? And your modeling?”

He doesn’t look at me, just shrugs again.

I stare up at the sky, watching stars appear in the velvet darkness.

I miss this. Seeing the sky and the sun. I know he would miss his brothers though. I would miss them.

“I think we should go back,” I finally say. “That’s where your family is. I don’t really have anything holding me here, just my friends from college, and we can visit often enough to see them. Besides, if we have a baby that’s anything like you I’d like to have your brothers around. I’m sure we’ll need all the help we could get.”

“Hey!” Mammon pretends to be offended then squeezes me tightly. “Are ya sure about this baby?”

I nod. “I’m sure.”

He gives a low rumble of happiness before kissing the top of my head. “So what are ya wantin’ to do about the wedding?”

“Oh. Well, how does it normally work in the Devildom?”

Mammon scratches his head, thinking. “I mean, it’s not really a thing down there ya know? But there are commitment rituals for the ones that want to do it, just most of ‘em don’t stick with one person forever, so those are pretty rare. How do ya do it here?”

“Some people turn it into a whole big production,” I say, laughing. “Before the wedding there are usually bachelor and bachelorette parties and the wedding shower, which is just a classier party with better gifts.”

Mammon smirks. “So parties and presents? Sounds good so far.”

“Then there’s the wedding itself where you promise to love and take care of each other forever.”

He squints at me in confusion. “We already did that.”

“Um well, a few of my friends have gotten married and they all had their ceremonies in churches.”

Mammon wrinkles his nose like he’s smelled something foul. “I liked the party thing better.”

“Don’t worry I’m not crazy about that either. I don’t care where we get married, just that we do get married. Most people have a reception after their wedding though, which is just another big party with booze and food and dancing.” I pat his hand and smile at him reassuringly.

He nods begrudgingly. “That sounds ok.”

I think for a second, trying to remember other details from different weddings I’ve attended. “There’s a lot of paperwork you have to fill out and submit to the government to make the marriage legal. And all the girls I know from college who’ve gotten married have taken their spouse’s last name.”

“So ya got to turn in some papers to get married? That’s what makes it official? Not the lovin’ each other and promisin’ to be faithful and all that?” Mammon looks singularly unimpressed.

“Welcome to the human realm.”

Mammon suddenly frowns. “I don’t have a last name,” he grumbles.

“You could always take mine,” I say teasingly, smiling and booping his nose.

He doesn’t laugh the way he usually does when I boop him; instead he looks unusually serious.

“Mammon Wolf,” he says, knitting his eyebrows together, considering.

I stay quiet, rubbing gentle circles on the palm of his hand with my thumb.

“Mammon Wolf.” He tries it out again, rolling the name around in his mouth. He finally breaks out into a wide smile. “I like that. I wanna do it.”

“Yeah?” I look down at my hands, suddenly feeling very shy.

Mammon rubs his nose against my cheek. “Why ya being all blushy baby?”

“I don’t know,” I mumble, trying to hide my face against his chest. “I guess......it just makes me really happy you’d want to do that.”

“Mmmmm. You’re so cute when ya get all shy like this baby,” Mammon teases, kissing my neck softly. “I still think it’s stupid ya gotta fill out paperwork to get married. The promises are more important than some pieces of paper.”

I cuddle deeper into his embrace. “You’re not wrong. It’s not like you could fill out the paperwork anyway.”

“Mmm.” He nibbles on the delicate shell of my ear. “You wanna go grab some food?”

“Grace’s?”

I feel him smile as he kisses my cheek. “Sounds good.”

He helps me to my feet and we walk the few hundred yards back to our Air BnB hand in hand. We’ve been staying in a tiny town on the Washington coast for two weeks now, our return date to the Devildom still undetermined. We’d spent our days so far exploring the beaches and small shops in town, returning to the beach house in the afternoons to cuddle and take long naps.

I leave the blanket hanging on the porch railing and follow Mammon into the house.

“Shower with me?” Mammon raises an eyebrow and smirks at me.

I tap my chin and pretend to think about it.

“Oi!” He grabs my hips and pulls me towards him, growling low in my ear. “Ya really gotta think about it?”

I run my hands under his shirt, walking my fingers over his abs and up to his chest. He shivers beneath my touch, his skin breaking out in goosebumps. I move my hands lower until my fingertips skirt the waistband of his jeans. He closes his eyes and tosses his head back, subtly rocking his hips forward. I run my hand over the front of his jeans, gently palming his hardening cock.

“Uh,” Mammon whimpers. “Play fair baby.”

I lean forward to mouth the sensitive skin below his ear. “Never.”

He gives me a stinging slap on the ass and laughs. “Go get in the damn shower human.”

I give him one last grope for good measure then sprint to the shower. He chases after me laughing and calling my name. We help each other undress and step under the stream of warm water, still teasing and laughing at each other.

“Help me wash up baby,” Mammon murmurs suggestively, rubbing his body against mine.

“I don’t know......” I tease, pushing my hips back against him.

“Come on Ari, please.......” he whines.

I love it when he calls me that.

I wrap one hand around the back of his neck and pull him in for a searing kiss. His tongue brushes mine and I reach lower, stroking his cock as he gasps into my mouth. His hips move on their own accord, thrusting his cock into my hand as he grips my waist. We’re both slick with soap and desperate with need; the build up of two months without sex.

Not quite yet.

I smirk and speed up the movement of my hand, listening as Mammon’s breathing picks up, waiting for the little cues that tell me he’s getting close. He sucks in a deep, shaky breath as the muscles in his thighs and lower abdomen tighten. When he bites his lip and his eyes start to flutter closed I know it’s time. I slow my hand, gripping the base of his cock and pressing the palm of my other hand firmly over the head.

“Unh!” Mammon’s eyes go wide and his mouth drops open. “W-w-what? Why?”

I take a step back and brush my wet hair out of my face, shrugging innocently at him.

“Babyyyyyyyy,” he whines as he uses his body to press me against the cold tile of the shower, rubbing his hard cock against my thigh. “Don’t stop.”

I reach around him to grab my shampoo, ignoring his pleas. He ruts against my thigh needily, whimpering into my neck while I lather my hair. I let him play while I rinse and then condition my hair, confident that he won’t cum without permission. He bites down hard on my shoulder, trying to get my attention.

I grab a fistful of his hair and jerk his head back. Hard.

“That wasn’t very nice baby,” I murmur, nibbling a path up his neck to his ear. “Be a good boy and don’t do it again.”

He mumbles something unintelligible as he reaches for me, trying to pull to me closer.

“What’s that baby?” I tug on his hair again.

“I won’t do it again miss,” he whispers, resting his forehead against my shoulder.

“Such an obedient boy,” I praise him before dropping a series of soft kisses over the taut skin of his chest.

“Please Ari, please.......please,” Mammon whimpers, rocking his hips, desperate for more friction.

“Mmmmm........I don’t know baby,” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a teasing kiss on the lips.

I stretch up on my tiptoes to bring my mouth close to his ear. “Wouldn’t it be more fun to wait until later tonight? It could make the finish a little more.......explosive.”

Mammon goes stiff and his whole body shudders; I can almost hear his thoughts. On one hand, some quick shower fun and a nice orgasm now. On the other hand, hours of teasing, frustration, and orgasm denial culminating in some no holds barred sex......which he hasn’t had in months.

I watch his internal debate for a full minute before he growls in frustration and lets me go.

“You’re gonna be the death of me,” he mutters, turning the temperature of the water down to freezing and standing directly under the spray.

I shriek and jump out of the shower. I hear Mammon yell, “Serves ya right!” before I grab a towel and scamper out to the bedroom to get dressed.

An hour later we’re finishing up a doubles game of pool at Grace’s, a low key pub that we discovered our first night here. Our opponents are another pair of tourists and Mammon being Mammon, has bet $100 on the game. It was a good bet considering our opponents have yet to make any of their shots and all we have left is to sink the 8 ball.

I study the table, trying to decide which pocket to call. Mammon is animatedly chatting up the other couple, gesturing wildly with his hands while they laugh.

“Hey baby?” I call out to get his attention.

“Hmm?” He turns his blue eyes to me and raises his eyebrows.

I raise my pool cue. “Come help your girl make this shot?”

Despite the blush on his cheeks he gives me a cocky smirk as he saunters over.

I hook his pinky with mine and grin at him. “So what do you think I should do?”

He tilts his head and studies the table for a moment before gesturing and saying, “Corner pocket.”

I pout and look up at him through my eyelashes. “Help me?”

He raises his eyebrows. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do.”

“Is it going to work?”

He doesn’t even hesitate. “Damn right it is.”

I giggle as he stands behind me and we lean over the pool table together. He hold his hands over mine, back flush to my chest, our hips pressed tightly together. Mammon bites his lip in concentration as he helps me line up the shot and I subtly press back into him. He starts a little but doesn’t loose focus. I press my hips back a little more and grind my ass over his cock.

“Fucking hell baby,” he mutters, stepping back quickly.

“You ok?” One of our opponents asks.

“Just fine,” Mammon answers between gritted teeth, narrowing his eyes at me.

I blink back at him innocently before calling and sinking the shot. I lean against the pool table and smile at Mammon as he collects our winnings and then walks back over to me.

“Nice shot baby,” he says as he leans down to kiss me gently.

“Couldn’t have done it without you Mr. Wolf,” I murmur against his lips.

His eyelids flutter at the sound of the name and he shivers in delight. He grabs my hips and lifts me onto the pool table, standing between my legs.

“Say it again,” he growls.

“Say what?”

“You damn well know what.” He nips at my earlobe. “Say. It. Again.”

I grab a fistful of his shirt and pull him closer, wrapping my legs around his waist. “Come here and kiss me Mr. Wolf.”

“Fuuuck.” He brings his lips down on mine, jerking me into a rough kiss. I flick my tongue against his and he moves to grind against me, stopping himself at the last moment.

“Hey you two, knock it off!” A playful voice reprimands us as a dishtowel smacks against the side of Mammon’s face.

We break apart sheepishly and Mammon helps me down from the pool table.

“Sorry Grace,” I apologize to the bar’s titular owner.

“No you’re not.” She smirks at me, brown eyes shining.

“Not even a little.”

She laughs, pushing her white hair out of her eyes. “How much did you take off those tourists?”

“$100.”

“Play you for it,” she challenges Mammon with a grin.

“Feelin’ luckier tonight than ya were a few days ago?” He smirks.

I think I’ll leave before the shit talking truly starts.

I kiss his cheek for luck. “I’m going to go talk to Jordan.”

“Bring me another beer when you come back?”

“Sure thing my love.”

Mammon smacks my ass as I walk away and when I turn back to glare at him he and Grace are both laughing. I smile and roll my eyes before making my way to the other side of the pub, looking for Grace’s wife. I find her cleaning glasses at the far end of the bar.

“Hey you,” she greets me as I slide onto a bar stool. “Where’s your man at tonight?”

I nod towards the pool tables. “Playing pool with your wife.”

She chuckles. “Get you anything?”

“Two more pints of Guinness?”

“Sure thing kiddo. Do you mind if I finish these glasses up first?”

I shake my head then rest my chin in the palm of my hand to relax and watch her work. A loud whoop comes from the direction of the pool tables; Jordan and I both look over to see Mammon sink a trick shot. He looks up, searching the bar for me, wanting to show off. He relaxes and smiles wide when he realizes I’ve already been watching him and gives me a small wave.

“When are going to marry that boy?”

“Hmm?” I twist on my stool to face Jordan. “Sorry, what did you say?”

She grins at me. “I said, when are you going to marry that boy?”

“Just as soon as I can,” I answer softly.

She frowns a little, pale blue eyes studying me carefully. “Somethin’ not working out with the wedding planning?”

I stare at her, mouth open. “Someday you’re going to tell me how to do that.”

“You pick up a few things when you’ve been bartending as long as I have. So spill. What’s the problem?”

I shrug, tapping my fingernails on the bar top. “There’s nothing wrong.”

I think back to the earlier conversation at the beach. “Mammon has some......special circumstances and he isn’t able to fill out the paperwork so we can get married.”

She arches an eyebrow at me. “So?”

“So........what?”

“So what does some paperwork matter? That’s not what makes the marriage.”

I keep tapping moodily on the bar top. “That’s what Mammon said too.”

Jordan grabs one of my hands. “Look kiddo, you think Grace and I had legal paperwork when we got married in ‘79? We wrote our own vows and got married anyway and we’re 41 years strong.”

I nod, following along.

“Let me ask you something; where ever you two are going after this, is having legal paperwork going to make any difference to your situation?”

“No.”

She grins at me. “And I know you’re both over 18. So go on and marry that boy your way.”

I find myself grinning back at her. “Thanks Jordan.”

She slides two more pints of Guinness across the bar. “No worries. But it looks like your guy could use a little rescuing.”

I turn to see a petite redhead standing entirely too close Mammon. As I look on she reaches out and strokes his arm with her fingers, smiling brightly at him. He quickly steps out of reach, looking down at her in confusion.

I dig a twenty out of my pocket and slap it down on the bar. “Thanks Jordan.”

“Go get ‘em tiger.”

I grab the two pints and purposefully stalk back to the pool tables.

Is this what Mammon feels like all the time? Jesus Christ. No wonder he gets cranky.

I set the two pints down on the pool table then hug Mammon from behind, slipping my hands into his front pockets.

“Make a new friend baby?” I ask.

A rush of air leaves Mammon as he sighs in relief. “Nope. Just missin’ you.”

He moves me to stand in front of him, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

The redhead frowns prettily, eyes flickering between Mammon and me. “I didn’t know you were here with someone.”

I hold my hand out. “I’m Arianthi. His wife.”

Mammon momentarily starts behind me before sighing happily and hugging me to him more tightly. “My wife,” he echoes.

“Amy.” She gingerly shakes my hand. “Um, well.....I should be getting back to my friends.”

I hear Mammon chuckle behind me as she scurries back to her friends.

“What was that all about? Were ya feelin’ jealous?” Mammon’s tone is equal parts shock and amusement.

I turn in his arms to face him. “Yes.”

His mouth drops open. “Oh. I didn’t think you’d admit it.”

I laugh then nuzzle my face into his chest, mumbling softly.

“What’d you say baby?”

I sigh. “I said you’re mine.”

He grins down at me. “Goddamn right I am.”

“I didn’t like seeing her touch you. At all.”

“Ohh, I like this cute little face you make when you’re jealous.” Mammon runs his fingers along my jaw. “Thanks for rescuing me baby.”

I give him a soft kiss. “Anytime. Now drink your beer before it gets warm.”

We stay at Grace’s until last call then wander back to the our beach house hand in hand. I dreamily gaze at Mammon as we walk, admiring his profile in the soft light of the moon. His hair and gold jewelry stand out in stark relief against his tan skin, and his blue eyes glow in the darkness.

Mammon catches me looking. “Oi! Whaddya starin’ at?”

“You.”

“What for?” He grumbles.

“You’re really pretty Mammon.”

Mammon’s eyes go wide and his face flushes. “O-o-oh.”

I slip a hand in one of the back pockets of his jeans and squeeze. “You’ve got a great ass too.”

“Yeah?” He gives me a cocky grin.

“Oh yeah.”

We climb the porch steps and I wait while Mammon fumbles with his keys to unlock the door. I stand behind him, pressing my breasts against his back and running my hands along his thighs.

Mammon’s hands shake a little and he nearly drops his keys. “Damn it baby.”

He tries to sound gruff but the breathy tone of his voice gives away his excitement. I reach around to stroke him though his jeans and smile at his sharp intake of breath.

I lean forward to kiss his neck. “Come on Mr. Wolf.......get door open so we can go play.”

Mammon groans, hurriedly shoving the key into the lock and turning it so quickly I’m afraid he’s going to snap it off. He quickly pushes me inside, kicking the door shut behind us before he picks me up bridal style and carries me into the bedroom.

I yelp in surprise when he unceremoniously drops me onto the mattress. “Mammon!”

“You’ve been teasin’ me all damn night,” he mutters, yanking his shirt over his head. “Rubbin’ that cute ass on me, feelin’ me up every chance ya got.”

He kicks his boots off next. “Kissin’ on my neck the way ya know I like it.” He unzips his jeans. “Makin’ me a goddamn horny mess.”

He steps to the edge of the bed and pulls his cock free of his jeans, stroking and staring at me hungrily. “Get over here and finish what ya started in the shower.”

I shiver in excitement and my eyes roll back in my head a little.

Stern Mammon makes his appearance.

“Right away Mr. Wolf,” I murmur, moving so that I’m lying on my back, my head hanging off the edge of the bed.

“Holy fuckin’ hell,” he mutters, moving to to stand over me. “Are ya sure baby? I-I don’t know if I can be gentle about this right now.”

“I’m not asking you to be gentle Mammon.” I look up at him and very deliberately open my mouth wide.

He lets out a guttural moan and works his jeans down a little lower on his hips. Cock hard and heavy in his hand, he strokes as he rubs the head over my lips and tongue, teasing me and letting me taste his pre-cum. He’s trying to ease me into it, to not start off too rough right away; his hands are trembling, the muscles in his legs straining against his urge to give in and ruthlessly fuck my face.

I reach out and grip the back of his thighs with my hands, urging him forward. He looks down at me uncertainly. I urge him forward a little more, opening my mouth wider and taking his cock deeper into the warmth of my mouth. The fragile thread of his self control snaps and Mammon places his hands on the mattress, one on either side of my head, and rocks his hips, thrusting his cock deep into my mouth.

My back arches up off of the bed and I choke a little as I take the entire length of Mammon’s cock into my mouth. His eyes widen in alarm and he attempts to pull back but I dig my fingertips into the soft flesh of his thighs, holding him still. His hands grip the sheets and he hisses in pleasure.

“Ya really want it like that?”

I swirl my tongue around the head of his cock in slow, lazy circles.

Mammon’s eyes flutter closed and he lets out a deep growl. “Tap my leg three times if ya need to breathe.”

He withdraws then snaps his hips forward repeatedly in a punishing rhythm, barely giving me a chance to take a breath before bottoming out in my mouth again. The sound of fabric ripping fills the room and cold air rushes over my chest. Mammon pushes the remains of my shirt and bra aside and caresses my breasts gently, the soft touch at odds with his rough treatment of my mouth.

I gasp around his cock as Mammon’s cool fingers tease my nipples, pinching and tugging them to sensitive buds. I close my eyes and relax my throat, humming in pleasure.

“Oh fuck.” Mammon’s voice is breathy and I can feel his his body tense as he nears orgasm.

I reach up and behind me to drag my fingernails down his abs, scraping gently at the sensitive flesh. Mammon shivers and thrusts into my mouth one final time, his thick, warm cum filling my mouth and sliding down my throat as he moans out my name in pleasure. He takes a few deep, shuddering breaths before pulling his softening cock out of my mouth and helping me sit up.

I swallow his cum and greedily suck in a deep breath of air before smirking at him. He immediately flushes pink and looks down at the floor shyly.

“Whaddya lookin’ at me like that for?”

I shrug out of the remains of my shirt and bra, using the ripped fabric to wipe my mouth and chin. “You’ve never used your strength like that before when we’ve......you know.”

His eyes widen. “I-I’m sorry. It just felt so good, it was too good baby, I just needed to.......”

“Don’t be sorry!” I reach out and pull him down onto the bed with me. “I liked it.”

I cuddle into him, dropping soft kisses down his neck and across his collarbone.

“Yeah?” Mammon smirks down at me.

“Oh yeah. You owe me a new bra though.”

He chuckles. “When we get back to the Devildom I’ll buy ya all the lingerie ya want baby.”

I laugh and tug on his jeans. “How ‘bout you take these off and get in bed with me?”

“After a blowjob like that I’ll do anything ya want me to.”

We both shimmy out of our jeans and slip beneath the cool sheets, cuddling close to each other for warmth. I curl my fingers tightly around the object I pulled out of the pocket of my jeans before I got into bed.

Mammon taps a finger against my closed fist, smiling softly. “Whatcha got there baby?”

I reach for his hand and gently press a simple platinum band into his palm. He looks at me in confusion then raises the ring to look at the writing on the inside of the band.

“What’s this say?” He asks softly, tracing the engraving with one slender finger.

“Da mi basia mille, dein mille altera,” I whisper, running my thumb gently over his full lower lip. “’Give me a thousand kisses, then a thousand more’. It’s Latin, from a love poem by Catullus.”

I take the ring from him and slip it onto the ring finger of his left hand. He gasps quietly, blue eyes flying up to meet mine.

“I love you so much Mammon. You are the only person I want to kiss for the rest of my life. I promise I will always be on your side; I will always be your best friend and your fiercest protector. I promise to make you laugh every single day, and to never let you forget how very loved and wanted you are. I’m so excited to build a life with you and to see you be a father to our children. I can’t believe I was lucky enough to find you and I’m so proud to call you my husband.”

I bring his hand to my lips and gently kiss each finger, lingering on his wedding band.

Mammon gives me a shaky smile and pulls me tight to his chest. I can feel his heartbeat thundering beneath my fingertips and he presses a soft kiss into my hair.

“If ya would’ve told me a year and a half ago I’d be gettin’ married and tryin’ to start a family and bein’ more responsible I woulda thought you were out of your damn mind. Especially if ya told me I’d be gettin’ married to a human.”

I swat at his chest playfully and he grabs my hand, kissing my fingertips.

“I’m bein’ serious when I say you are the very best thing that has ever happened to me. And I’ve been alive a long damn time. You’ve always made me feel important; you make me brave and you make me confident. I promise I’ll always keep you and our family safe. I’m gonna work so hard to never let ya down again. I can’t promise I never will but I’m always gonna try. I promise to keep bein’ your best friend and to always put ya first. I’m gonna do everything possible to be the best husband and dad I can be. I love ya so damn much it hurts sometimes, but I’m never gonna stop. I’ll love ya until my very last breath. Thank you so much for bein’ my wife baby.”

Mammon holds me close and cups my face in his hands, kissing me softly, a few happy tears dropping onto my cheeks. I thread my fingers through his silky hair and pull slowly on his bottom lip with my teeth. He sighs into my mouth and I brush his tongue with mine, tasting him. I grip his hips and slowly pull him on top of me, arching my body up to meet his.

“Please Mammon.......I need you,” I murmur against his lips, breathless with lust and happiness.

His whole body shudders at my whispered request and a soft pink blush dusts his cheeks. “I need you too,” he replies, shifting his body so that his hips rest between my thighs.

Mammon lowers his head to my neck as one large hand slides down my waist to my hip. He drops a series of feather light kisses against my neck and I throw my head back against the pillows, giving a soft gasp of pleasure when he slides one slender finger deep into my pussy.

He moves his head lower and gently sucks on of my nipples into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue and fangs. I grip the sheets beneath me tightly and whimper when he slowly adds a second finger. He strokes me gently, delicately, taking his time to work me into a frenzy. Mammon’s mouth moves to my other nipple to lavish it with attention while his fingers slide out of my pussy to trace teasing circle around my clit.

“Mammon.......” I let go of the sheets to card my hands through his hair, flinching in surprise when I suddenly feel his ......horns?

My eyes fly open to see Mammon above me, still stroking and suckling, fully in his demon form, his wings spread wide as he pleasures me. I slide my hands into his hair again and teasingly stroke the skin around the base of his horns.

“Holy fuck,” he whimpers, before his eyes open wide in realization and he starts to pull away from me. “I’m so so-”

I grab his face in my hands and pull him back down to me, passionately kissing him. “Don’t you dare apologize,” I order him when finally break the kiss.

“’I’ve never shifted in the middle before, I mean.......you don’t mind if I stay like this while we.......” He trails off, the tips of his ears scarlet.

I stretch languidly, pressing my body flush to his. “Not even a little bit Mr. Wolf.”

He smiles at me shyly. “Well in that case......”

Mammon lowers his head, kissing and biting along my collarbone, before working his way up my neck and across my jaw. His hands caress my thighs and he gently pushes my legs back until my knees are touching my chest. He gives me a deep, sensual kiss, his tongue entering my mouth at the same moment he slides his cock into my pussy. He slowly bottoms out, rolling his hips as his thick cock stretches me.

“Tell me how ya want me Ari,” he whispers.

“Be gentle with me tonight Mammon.”

He nods, pressing soft kisses all over my face as he hooks my legs over his shoulders and pulls out, before slowly thrusting back into me as deep as he possibly can. He presses his face against my neck, sliding his hands up the mattress to grip mine and pin them above my head. I don’t resist, fully surrendering my body to his worship.

“You are everything,” he murmurs, mouthing at the sensitive skin beneath my ear, continuing his slow, deep thrusts. He keeps my wrists pinned with one hand and uses his other to slowly trace the curve of my waist down to my hip.

I arch my body, trying to feel as much of his skin against mine as possible.

Mammon’s hand slides back up to cup my jaw and he tenderly brushes his thumb over my lips. I open my eyes to see him gazing down at me adoringly; his blue eyes soft and hazy with tears of joy and love. I raise my hips to meet his every deep thrust, captivated by the way his body moves as he fucks me.

He pulls away from me for a moment to adjust our position, lowering my legs and allowing me to wrap them around his waist. He pushes up to his knees and lifts my hips to thrust his cock deep into my pussy. I bite down hard on my lower lip in an effort to stop from screaming out.

His hand comes back up to stroke my cheek and he gently works his thumb into my mouth.

“None of that baby,” he purrs, rolling his hips, each movement carefully calculated to allow his thick cock to stretch me even further. “I wanna hear every little noise ya make tonight.”

“Yes Mr. Wolf,” I mumble around his thumb.

His eyes roll back a little as his hips stutter. “Keep that up and I’ll cum before ya know it,” he mutters.

I grab his hand, guiding it down to my breast and whisper, “I’m sorry Mr. Wolf. Please forgive me?”

He groans, hands tightening on my breast and hip so hard that his fingernails prick my skin. A shudder runs through his wings and he snaps his hips forward in one brutal thrust.

“Fuck,” I gasp. “More Mammon, more.”

He smirks at me, pulling all the way out before thrusts his cock back into my pussy excruciatingly slowly while his lazily circles my clit with one fingertip.

“You said ya wanted gentle baby,” he murmurs. “I’m gonna work ya up nice and slow. Make ya cum so hard and leave ya so fucked out you won’t wanna leave this bed for days.”

Mammon rolls my clit between his thumb and forefinger as he buries his cock in my pussy, sending me over the edge. He holds still as I cum, my pussy clenching and spasming around his cock.

“Fuck I love makin’ you cum.” He resumes his languid pace, slowly working my body up to my next orgasm. “Do you even know how pretty you look, cummin’ all over my cock like that? And ya feel so fuckin’ good, all tight and wet just for me-”

He moans loudly and buries his face into my neck. I wrap my arms and legs around him to hold his body flush to mine. I slide one hand into his hair, reaching up to grip one of his horns.

“Ari.........Ari please baby,” he whimpers, nipping at my neck. “I’m gonna cum if ya keep doin’ that.”

I snake my other hand into his hair, gently wrapping my fingers around his other horn. “Cum for me then. I’m so close.....I want you to cum with me Mammon.”

He shivers in response and his wings flutter. “Yes........yes baby.”

I kiss his neck, leaving gentle bites, and close my eyes as I lose myself in the sound of our breathy moans and the feel of his cock deep in my pussy. Suddenly he presses his forehead against mine.

“Look at me baby, please. I need to see you,” Mammon whimpers, his thrusts becoming sloppy.

I look up at him; taking in his disheveled white hair and the way small beads of sweat roll down the firm muscles of his chest. He bites his lip, hungrily looking down at me with wide blue eyes. I feel my second orgasm coming on, hot and quick. I pull his face closer to mine and kiss him gently, tracing his lips with the tip of my tongue.

Two more deep strokes and I orgasm again, my body pressed tight against Mammon’s. He follows me quickly, whimpering as my pussy clenches around his cock and his warm cum fills me.

We stay joined for several long moments and kiss softly while Mammon cradles me close to his chest, his wings draped over us.

“I love you,” I whisper.

“I love you too. So much,” Mammon replies, nuzzling his nose against mine.

Thirty minutes later I emerge from the shower, smiling to myself when I walk back into the bedroom and hear Mammon snoring softly. He’s stretched out on his stomach, his head cradled on his right arm, while his left arm is flung out in front of him and resting on my pillow. The early morning light seeps through the window, highlighting the bright white of his hair and making the platinum of his wedding band spark.

Too adorable. Must. Take. Picture.

I find my D.D.D. and snap a quick picture, writing a quick caption and uploading it to Devilgram. I tag Mammon in the picture and grin when I notice that he’s made a change to his Devilgram page.

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

Several hours later Diavolo is sitting in his office at R.A.D., taking a break from a mountain of paperwork that has accumulated since Arianthi has been in the human realm.

With Mammon.

Diavolo’s face darkens and he scrolls through his D.D.D. searching for something to take his mind off of her. His eyes suddenly widen and he grits his teeth, the small muscles in his jaw twitching as he stares down at the screen of his D.D.D. His hand tightens on the device and it shatters, small pieces of plastic raining down onto the surface of his desk.

Barbatos silently steps forward and sweeps the remnants of the D.D.D. into a small wastebasket and makes a mental note to pick up a new one for his master.

Barbatos says nothing as he watches Diavolo despondently cradle his head in his hands. The only sound he makes is a soft sigh as he exits Diavolo’s office. If only Diavolo had listened to his subtle suggestions on wooing Arianthi. Things could have been so very, very different for his lord.

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

Jax and the six demon brothers lounge in the living room after dinner.

“Has anyone heard from Arianthi or Mammon today?” Lucifer inquires as he sifts through student applications to R.A.D.

“Not me,” Satan answers without looking up from his book.

“Nope,” Beel and Belphie say in unison.

Levi and Jax shake their heads while Asmo frowns down at his D.D.D. in concentration.

“Asmo?” Lucifer raises his voice to catch his younger brother’s attention.

“What?!” Asmo asks, startled.

“I asked if anyone has heard from Mammon or Arianthi today.”

Asmo shakes his head then returns his attention to his D.D.D. and frowns again.

“Is there something wrong Asmodeus?”

“Oh, no. Mammon changed his screen name on Devilgram is all.”

Lucifer rolls his eyes before picking up a pen and turning his attention back to his work.

Jax lays their head in Beel’s lap and smiles up at him as they pull out their D.D.D. Beel gently runs his fingers through their hair before opening his potions textbook and beginning to read.

Jax brings up Devilgram up to check Arianthi’s page, curious to see if she’s uploaded any new vacation photos. They pause on her newest photo of Mammon and give a soft smile.

“Awwwww,” they coo, drawing the attention of the brothers.

Levi quirks an eyebrow at them. “What was that for?”

“Arianthi posted a really cute picture on Devilgram of Mammon sleeping.”

“What!” The brothers all scramble for their D.D.D.s to check the post.

Lucifer smirks while Levi and Satan snicker and Asmo re-blogs it.

“This is too good,” Belphie chuckles. “I wonder if he’ll make her take it down once he sees it.”

“It’s cute,” Beel murmurs, leaning down to kiss Jax’s forehead.

Jax smiles at the picture one last time and starts to exit Devilgram when something in the picture catches their attention. They scroll to Mammon’s page then quickly go back to Arianthi’s page.

“Holy shit those crazy bitches really did it!” They exclaim, sitting up so quickly they startle Beel into dropping his book.

“Who did what now?” Levi asks, annoyed.

“They got married!”

“Who did?”

Asmo’s eyes go wide as he puts the pieces together. “That’s why he changed his screen name!”

Lucifer scowls. “What are you two talking about?”

“Mammon and Arianthi got married!”

“WHAT?”

Jax motions everyone over to them and opens up Mammon’s Devilgram. “He changed his name to Mr. Mammon Wolf. Wolf is Arianthi’s last name.”

Everyone but Asmo looks at them skeptically.

“Now read her caption - ‘My present, my future, my forever’.”

Lucifer looks at him, completely unimpressed. “Is that supposed to mean something to us?”

Asmo sighs. “That caption is so disgustingly sweet only a newlywed would have written it.”

“Weak,” Levi scoffs at his younger brother.

Jax rolls their eyes and brings up the picture Arianthi posted of Mammon sleeping. “Look! Look at Mammon’s left hand.”

“Oh my dark lord,” Lucifer breathes.

“Is that....?” Satan whispers.

“That’s a wedding ring. I’d bet my right nipple on it,” Jax says triumphantly.

Mammon’s brothers share one long, shocked look while Jax sits in smug silence.

A small smile slowly forms on Lucifer’s face. “Well. It seems that we’ll need to prepare a party to welcome them home.

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After posting the picture to Devilgram I slip back into bed with Mammon, snuggling under his arm and close to his chest.

His eyes blink open slowly and he gives me a soft smile. “Hey wife,” he whispers, his voice thick with sleep.

“Hey husband,” I murmur, gently brushing my lips over his.

Mammon chuckles and his arm tightens around me. “How ya feelin’?”

“Sleepy. Happy. Loved.” I sigh in contentment as I sink deeper into his embrace.

He kisses my forehead. “How ‘bout we get a little more sleep and then I’ll show ya just how loved ya are?”

I roll onto my side and he pulls me to him, my back flush to his chest, and he curls his body around mine protectively.

“I love you baby,” Mammon say softly, kissing the back of my neck.

“I love you too,” I murmur as my eyelids flutter shut and I drift off to sleep, safe and warm in my husband’s arms.

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ddixons-angel · 4 years

Text

Fated: Season 2

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence (the typical TWD stuff), major character death

A/N: Only 2 more chapters left of Season 2! And then we’re off to the Prison with Season 3! I love the Prison era, haha~! The finale of Season 2 will be up this Friday!

Chapter 8

Gloria was in Dale’s RV, putting back her first aid kit in the compartment. She limps back out as she left the crutches outside, deeming it a hassle to go into the RV with the crutches. She’s greeted by Dale who helps her down the steps of the RV, handing her the crutches which she mounts once she’s out, thanking him.

“I wanted to ask you about something.” Dale says, his expression serious.

“What’s up?” Gloria says, looking at him, returning a serious expression.

“What are your thoughts on the execution?” he asks, crossing his arms, ready to listen intently.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s right, but regardless of what we think, it’s going to happen.” she sighs.

“Well shouldn’t you say something if you think it’s wrong? More people need to voice out their opinion if they don’t agree with it, I can’t be the only one! Staying silent is the same as agreeing with killing the poor kid!” Dale rants, throwing his arms in the air in frustration.

Gloria takes a breath, “Dale, what else can we do? If we let him out there, he might bring back his entire group and kill us all in our sleep. We keep him here, we’ll have one more mouth to feed and I don’t think the others are willing to spare any more of our resources, or we starve him which is an even crueler way of execution in my personal opinion. I hate to say it, but killing him is the only clean way to guarantee our safety from his group.”

Dale’s face falls, defeated, he nods as he understands Gloria’s point. He climbs into the RV, Gloria gives him an apologetic look then goes off herself. She hobbles around the farm in deep thought about the entire situation with Randall that she didn’t even realize she had walked to the side of the barn he was kept in.

“Your mom out here too? You’re lucky, still got your family.” Gloria overhears Randall speaking to someone, she hobbles closer to the barn, “Hey, I-I don’t know what people have been saying about me, but I didn’t do nothing, I swear! Your dad was gonna let me go until his friend started fighting with him.”

She looks around the outside walls of the barn, searching for a hole or crack she can peek through to see who he’s speaking to, finally spotting one, she puts her eye to the crack and looks in, she gasps, “Carl...”

“It got pretty bad, I was kinda worried. My camp, we got lots of supplies, you help me, I’ll take you and your folks back to my people. We’ll take good care of you.” he continues.

Gloria frowns as she feels anger towards Randall, “asshole’s trying to manipulate Carl...” she’s about to go into the barn when she saw that Shane had barged into the barn, shouting at Carl to get out, then proceeds to interrogate Randall about what he said to Carl.

---

Back at the house, the meeting was taking place as the group discusses what to do about Randall. It’s evident that most of the group is on the side of execution as they have no other good alternatives to guarantee their safety.

“So, how do we do this? Do we take a vote?” Glenn questions.

“Apparently only me, Glenn, and Gloria are opposed to this.” Dale says, looking at the siblings, Glenn waivers hesitantly, “Glenn! They’ve got you scared!”

Glenn stutters, “Wha- h-he isn’t one of us!”

Gloria takes a breath, “I originally was opposed to it, but now... now I think it really is the right call.”

Dale looks at her with wide eyes, enraged and disappointed, “What changed?!”

“Well...” Gloria looks around, everyone’s eyes on her and she hesitates, deciding not to tell them that Carl was in the barn, “I spoke with Randall.”

Glenn turns to look at her immediately while Daryl pushes himself off the wall he was leaning on, “he tried to manipulate me, saying that if I helped him, he'd take me back to his people, that they’re good people and they’d treat me well. The complete opposite of what Daryl told us when he interrogated the kid. He’s up to no good, and I don’t trust him.”

“You went into the barn?!” Glenn shouts, upset that she would take that risk.

“I told ya to stay outta there!” Daryl joins in, fuming.

Gloria rolls her eyes and groans, “I’ll deal with you two later! Right now, we have to deal with the piece of shit in the barn!”

“Why the hell were you even in the barn in the first place?” T-Dog asks, a frown on his face as he’s also worried about her safety.

She sighs, knowing she’s going to get into trouble with Daryl after she says this, “I was gonna patch up the kid, just in case... You know, we decide not to kill him, but after he started trying to manipulate me, I just left him.”

At that, Daryl storms out of the house, his vote was already clear. The rest of the group proceeds with their votes, and with Gloria’s new information, the results were all in favor of the execution. It was decided that Rick and Shane as well as Daryl would do it tonight in the barn. Gloria makes her way out of the house, wanting to find Daryl when Glenn stops her.

“What the hell were you thinking, going into the barn without letting anyone know first? Are you crazy?!” Glenn scolds, the last part in Korean.

Gloria sighs, “the kid wasn’t speaking with me, it was with the sheriff’s son.” she responds in Korean, referring to Carl.

Glenn frowns, “then why didn’t you just say that you overheard their conversation?”

“Are you crazy?” she rolls her eyes, “both his parents were in there, and if I told them that their son was in the barn alone with the kid, you really think they’d be calm? Also, I don’t want to be the reason he gets grounded forever.”

Finally, Glenn nods in understanding, then a thought dawns on him, “hey, I know I keep asking you this, but seriously, is there something going on between you and the archer? He looked pretty upset when you told us all you talked to the kid.”

Gloria sighs, “he’s probably just upset that I didn’t listen to him when he told me not to go into the barn, and now I’m gonna have to explain it to him.” she responds in English, “wish me luck.”

She starts to make her way to find Daryl when Glenn calls out to her, “You still didn’t answer my question!”

“That’s a discussion for another day.” Gloria calls back without turning around.

She makes her way to the stone structure where Daryl had first moved his tent when they had found Sophia. He was sitting on a rock, shaving pieces of wood with his knife to make more arrows. Gloria hobbles towards him, sighing when he purposely ignores her call.

“Daryl, will you just listen to me, please?” she pleads, looking down at him.

“When the hell will ya listen to me, then?” he retorts, not even looking up at her.

“I did.” Gloria starts, “I did listen to you, I didn’t go into the barn and I didn’t talk to Randall.”

“Then why the hell d’ya say ya did?!” Daryl yells, facing her finally.

Gloria looks around and makes sure the others are far enough to not hear what she was about to tell Daryl, “because it was Carl. He snuck into the barn somehow, and Randall was trying to manipulate him, not me. I couldn’t tell Rick and Lori that, Lori’d most likely freak out and nothing would have gotten done.”

Daryl purses his lips as he looks at her, “so ya’d rather freak out me an’ Glenn instead?”

“Hey, in my defense, Lori’s still pregnant and I doubt the news would sit well with her.” Gloria shrugs.

Daryl nods and stays quiet. He goes back to making arrows, only looking up at Gloria when she starts chuckling, he raises an eyebrow at her.

“Did you just indirectly admit that you care about me, Daryl Dixon?” she smiles at him.

Daryl scoffs at that then looks away, trying to hide his blush, “nah.”

Gloria takes a seat beside Daryl and nudges him, making him glance at her, “I think you care.”

“Ya think what ya want.” he tries to hide a smile growing on his lips.

She takes a stick from the ground, one that Daryl would use to make arrows and watches as Daryl shaves the wood. Taking out one of her own daggers, she tries to imitate his blade work. Daryl gives her some pointers and ends up teaching her how to make his arrows.

---

The group is resting in their campsite as they wait for Rick, Shane, and Daryl to return from the barn after they execute Randall. Dale had walked off, unable to be around them as he strongly disagrees with the execution. Shortly after, Rick and Shane return to the tents with Carl, both of them seemingly very frustrated.

“He was watching, he was telling me to do it.” Rick tells Lori, shaking his head, “I couldn’t with him watching...”

She soothes her husband, holding him to her. Shane looks away from the two, sighing at the sight. Gloria looks over to Carl who’s sitting down near his family’s tent, making sure that he’s alright, she sees him pout. She sighs as she thinks that he’s probably pouting because he wanted to witness the execution first hand. She shakes her head at the thought, a child his age should never have to witness something like that. Gloria’s thoughts are interrupted as well as everyone else’s conversations as a blood curdling scream sounds throughout the night air. Everyone looks in the direction the scream had emitted from, seeing Daryl who had stayed in the barn with Randall dashing to the middle of the field. He sees a walker and tackles it down, immediately stabbing it in the head. He rushes over to the man it had attacked, Dale.

“Help! Over here!” Daryl waves his arms towards the rest of the group, shouting loudly, “it’ll be okay, buddy.” he says down to Dale, comforting him as best he could given the circumstances.

Everyone rushes over, Gloria’s standing beside Glenn, she had left her crutches back by the tents due to the frantic situation, Glenn had helped her limp over. Gloria gasps at the scene, Dale had his abdomen ripped open, his intestines and guts spilling out as he laid there, groaning in pain and agony. Andrea kneels by his side, crying helplessly.

Glenn turns to Gloria, “y-you gotta do something...” he chokes out a sob.

“I... I can’t... we won’t be able to move him... h-he’s lost too much blood.” Gloria breathes out, her body shaking; even if she’s worked in a hospital, she’s never seen anything as gruesome as this.

Hershel rushes over to the scene as Rick had been frantically yelling out for him, “oh my God...”

“Hershel, we gotta do something, anything!” Rick pleads, tears falling from his eyes.

“He’s passed saving... I’m sorry.” Hershel says regretfully, looking away.

Dale reaches his hand out to Andrea as he continues to groan, unable to form words from all the pain, “He’s suffering... somebody do something!” she sobs out.

Rick wipes his face with his hand and sniffles, taking out his gun and aims it straight at Dale’s head. He stares at Dale and struggles, regret written all over his face. Daryl takes the gun from Rick, nodding to him, telling him it’s fine, that he doesn’t have to do it.

Daryl kneels down, putting the gun directly on Dale’s forehead and cocks the gun, “Sorry, brother.” with those final words, he pulls the trigger.

---

Next Chapter

I felt like this was a rather eventful chapter, with the voting, to a little fluffy moment, then Dale dies... sigh... well, as I said before, one more chapter left until Season 3! What do you guys think is gonna happen? Let me know what you thought of this too!

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, please don’t panic, we will get through this!

And as always, I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!

Taglist (please let me know if you’d list to be added/removed!):

#Daryl Dixon #Daryl Dixon Fanfiction #Daryl Dixon Imagine #Daryl Dixon X OC #Daryl Dixon X Original Character #TWD Fanfiction #TWD Imagine #The Walking Dead Fanficiton #The Walking Dead Imagine #The Walking Dead #Glenn Sister!OC #Glenn Sister!Original Character #Fated: Season 2 #Fated: S2: Chapter 8

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tjkiahgb · 5 years

Text

Episode Recap: 3.20, “We Were Here”

Guys, I’m sorry. I know the whole idea is, oh, tjkiahgb does his funny little recap and makes his jokes and all that.

I don’t know what to do about this episode.

I feel like this recap is just going to be a bunch of screencaps and me writing “I’m emotional!” underneath each of them. I’m going to have to do 15 paragraphs on Celia in a dinosaur costume just to have anything to say.

Alright, well, let’s see if I can pull myself together long enough to do this.

OH MY GOD, IT’S THE LAST “PREVIOUSLY ON ANDI MACK” WE’RE EVER GOING TO SEE. I NEED TO LIE DOWN!

Okay. I’m back. Let’s try this again.

For the last time, our episode begins at Celia’s house.

Celia’s all packed and ready for a trip. She gives Bex her orders and lays down the law.

Bex is like, come on, mom, you know we’re going to have a party.

And Celia’s like, yeah.

Consider this my wedding gift.

Celia departs for places unknown and...

OH NO IT’S THE LAST TIME WE’LL EVER SEE THE INTRO! HELP MEEEEE!

At Bex’s, Andi and Bex gather supplies for the party.

Bex is like, oh thank God we still have those. It’s not a party until the cheaply made SWAG sunglasses make an appearance.

They start making a list of the essentials for a party: food, balloons, glow-sticks.

Bex says she’s been meaning to get one of those. So, wait, she doesn’t already have one in the apartment’s emergency preparedness kit? What happens if there’s a natural disaster?

Bowie wanders in and they let him know there’s going to be a party. Bex and Andi start wondering what they’re going to wear to the party. Andi runs off to decide, but Bowie holds Bex back for a second to talk to her.

Bowie goes to retrieve a letter he brought in from the mailbox.

But, more importantly:

THE CAT! An appearance in the finale for The Cat! He’s been here since season one, he deserves it!

Bowie tells Bex there’s a situation. Andi has received a letter from SAVA.

The two wonder about the letter. Acceptance letters usually have a lot of paperwork and such in them and arrive in bigger envelopes. Rejection letters, on the other hand, are usually just a piece of paper that says “Thanks but no thanks.” on it.

They worry about how sad it’ll make Andi if it’s a rejection letter, and don’t want to ruin her night with that possibility, so they decide to keep it quiet for now.

Then Andi appears and Bex sits on the letter. Andi tells her she found something for her to wear, so Bex gets up and Bowie jumps on the letter like it’s a grenade.

Once he thinks the coast is clear, he gets off of it, but then Andi appears again and Bowie crumples up the letter in his hands to hide it and does this completely natural thing...

Oh, don’t mind me, just listening to my hands.

Andi tells him she picked out something for him to wear, too, and runs off.

Bowie examines the state of the letter.

On the bright side, if it is a rejection letter, you can always say this is how it showed up and trash SAVA for lacking the decency to take any care in mailing their letters. I mean, if this is how they mail stuff, imagine how little care they show in other places! Who would want to go to such a school anyway, right?

That night, everything is in place for the party.

Bex comes walking down the stairs in her wedding dress, which looks nice but feels impractical for a night of partying.

Andi tells her how beautiful she looks.

There’s a knock at the door. Andi lets Bowie in. He’s wearing his father’s tux.

Andi starts up some music and invites the bride and groom to the floor for their first dance.

And-- oh GOD it’s the song from the first season.

Well, we’re six minutes in and I guess this is going to mark the point of the episode where I start going under and just never recover.

The party is in full swing now. Cyrus finds Buffy watching Marty from across the room as he chats up another girl. Cyrus asks her if things are still weird between the two of them but she doesn’t know. He asks her what she would like things to be like between them.

Buffy feels that Marty doesn’t like her anymore. Like like. Cyrus doesn’t believe that’s true, but Buffy says Marty said it himself.

He’s like, you’re really going to believe the word of a known liar like Marty? If he’s so honest, what’s his last name? And don’t you dare say Fromdaparty.

Then TJ walks in and Buffy’s like, perfect timing, let’s get off my thing and onto yours, Cyrus.

And TJ’s like...

*waves in goofy*

And Cyrus is like...

*waves in goofy back*

Look, in fairness, there’s no way to wave enthusiastically without looking goofy. That’s why we invented that like, hand up thing, where you just put your palm out and hold it there for a second. But that’s for business scenarios and not parties. You’re at a party and see the boy you’re crushing on, you do a goofy, enthusiastic wave. It’s how it goes.

Then Kira walks in and the atmosphere instantly drops.

If some random kid came running in and shouted that they found a dead opossum on the floor of the bathroom, it could not have made the mood in the room worse. There’s a non-zero chance it could’ve made things better because at least we’re wondering where the opossum came from now.

Buffy assures Cyrus that the reason TJ is hanging out with Kira is not because he likes her, but he doesn’t agree. He thinks that ship has sailed.

So Buffy and Cyrus commiserate, both thinking they’ve lost their opportunity to get their man.

Later, Kira and TJ watch from the sidelines as the others dance.

How did Cyrus take and pass a dance class and get worse at dancing?

Kira asks TJ why he doesn’t want to dance. He says he just doesn’t want to.

Kira notes Cyrus dancing and starts to laugh.

TJ’s like, what’s so funny? Kira says look at Cyrus.

TJ’s like, yeah, he’s great, but Kira’s still laughing at him. TJ tells her she can’t do that -- laugh at someone for their dancing. Kira’s like, you thought it was funny. TJ’s like, no, I thought it was fun. There’s a big difference.

So, Kira’s like, okay, here we go again.

She says that if she made him pick between her and Cyrus, he’d pick Cyrus. TJ’s like, the fact that you’re even going to the place where you’d think of making me pick proves how wrong this all is.

Kira says that answers her question and exits the party.

The party continues on.

Electronic music starts, the lights go down, and the dinosaur descends the staircase.

Nice to get one last sentence in before the end where I can write what’s literally happening on the screen, take a step back and go, what the hell did I just write?

Everyone gathers round to watch the neon dinosaur dance. They chant “Go Andi! Go Andi!”

Then Andi shows up.

Their next guess is Jonah, but then he shows up, too. He couldn’t find the dinosaur costume because it had been stolen by the mystery dancer.

The music ends and the audience cheers for the dancing dinosaur, who finally reveals herself, ripping off her face mask like a Scooby Doo villain.

Everyone gasps. They’re like, uh oh, the party police are here and they showed up in a T-Rex costume for some reason.

But then Celia’s like...

Everyone wants to know what Celia’s doing back. She’s like, well, I got four hours out and realized I’d rather be attending one of these parties than on a vacation somewhere so I turned around and came back and snuck into the house through a second story window so no one would see me and inflated this dinosaur suit and put it on and waited for the right music to start and shut off the lights and came downstairs and performed this dance routine. Was it worth it? I spent the whole four hours on the way back practicing that “No parties, just kidding” thing.

And everyone’s like, yeah, it was alright.

And Celia’s like, okay, cool.

She’s like, I’m glad I tried fun. And then she walks off and that’s the last we ever see of her. From strict mom to dancing grandma in a dinosaur suit. What a ride. I hope she enjoys her vacation.

Later on, TJ has gotten on stage with a piano. He starts playing the intro to “Born This Way”.

TJ, NO! We don’t have the money for the rights to that song! Are you crazy? Can I interest you in some generic production music that can be purchased for a tenth the cost? Maybe something in the public domain? How about we all sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”?

But it’s too late. TJ, to celebrate his liberation from Kira, elects to come out to the entire party by showing he knows how to play the gayest song of all time on the piano by heart.

The whole party is like, oh, this is nice. He’s playing some music. And then Cyrus is like...

SURPRISE! I have a microphone and this is a performance now!

Amber starts singing, too. TJ calls up Jonah and/or Bowie to get on stage and provide some guitar, but then Bex is like...

SURPRISE! I have a guitar and I know how to play it!

Jonah and Andi get on stage and get thrown mics.

Buffy grabs a mic and joins in. The entire cast can sing! It’s a musical miracle.

Cyrus joins TJ on the stage and they sing together.

Bowie at some point also wandered up with his own guitar and joined Bex.

Everyone performs in the song, except for Marty, who just kinda sings from the sidelines like, “Eh, this is nice but pop’s not my genre.”

The song comes to a finish.

Everyone celebrates how good that was despite it never having been rehearsed.

A gosh-dang musical miracle, I tell ya.

Later on outside, Jonah finds Andi and tells her he has something for her. Andi immediately panics. Jonah reassures her it is not one of his famous terrible gifts, like the piece of rice with Andi’s misspelled name on it. He asks if that was the worst present ever.

Jonah says this isn’t a present anyway.

He found their bracelet. The one thought lost for so long. Well, he didn’t find it.

Oh, Judy Bartholomew, you never cease to impress!

Jonah offers it back to Andi, who promises to make it disappear forever. But Jonah says, he actually wanted to know if he could keep it. It’s a great bracelet and he’s always liked it.

Andi puts the bracelet on him. She wonders what things would’ve been like if they’d met when they were older and more mature.

Well, older, at least.

Back inside the party, Buffy finds Marty at his usual party position, hanging around the food table. She starts reenacting the conversation from their first meeting. They get to the “eat a live frog” bit and Marty can’t continue.

Buffy tells him that she didn’t think that. She found him funny. Marty warns her that she is dangerously close to complimenting him. She tells him it was a compliment.

Buffy wants to try having a conversation to see if they can. So they ask each other how their day was and both agree they had fine days. Marty asks her what the next step is and Buffy decides the next step is to leave.

Buffy heads outside, but Marty chases after her. He says he thinks he messed it up and wants to try the straightforward thing again. He tells her to go first.

Yep, that’s straightforward. Marty compliments her on how straightforward it was. Buffy tells him that’s all she wanted him to know, in case he ever changes his mind about liking her, but Marty’s like...

He goes in for a kiss.

They smile at each other and head back into the party.

Cyrus, meanwhile, heads to the backyard where he finds TJ sitting on...

T H E B E N C H.

Cyrus asks what happened to Kira. TJ says he poured water on her and she melted. Boy’s dropping Judy Garland movie references now. Really laying it on thick.

TJ says Kira’s not a nice person, but Cyrus reminds him people used to say that about him, almost verbatim.

Cyrus says he knows that, but there are things he didn’t know, like that TJ played piano. TJ tells him his mom is a piano teacher. Cyrus didn’t know that either. TJ promises he’s not that mysterious, just ask him anything.

TJ panics. He’s like, oh, you went right for the kill shot. He doesn’t want to say what his name is. He says there are only like five living souls on this planet who know what TJ stands for, and they are all of Kippen blood.

TJ’s really digging himself a hole here with Cyrus. The more you sell the mystery of this, the more a kid like Cyrus will want to know.

“My name’s only ever been said out loud once before, by the doctor who filled out the birth certificate, and then he disappeared, never to be seen again! Mythology says that my name used to be sung by the Sirens, who’d use it to lure unsuspecting sailors to their dooms! Legend says there’s a secret cave in the Gobi Desert, and that if you shout my name into it, a trap door will open revealing billions of dollars in hidden treasure! So surely you must understand, I can’t possibly tell you what it is.”

Cyrus says if he doesn’t learn what TJ’s full name is, he will literally die of curiosity. Now faced with the impending death of his crush, TJ realizes he must make the ultimate sacrifice to save his life and tell him what his name is. First, he swears him to secrecy. Cyrus swears.

TJ tells him his parents were way into music, so they named him after their favorite artists:

This is where I’d make a joke like, “It could’ve been worse, they could’ve named him...” but I don’t have a way to finish that sentence. I guess like, Beethoven Mozart, so then he couldn’t even use his initials or they’d be B.M.?

You know, though, it’s such an odd name, it becomes immediately endearing.

To Cyrus as well. They didn’t come all this way, accepting each other through everything, to be stopped in the finale by bad dancing or weird names.

TJ says his grandparents stepped in to intervene. They were like, this is preposterous and we’re not going to spend what short time remains of our lives on so many syllables! He’s TJ!

TJ asks if there’s anything else Cyrus wants to know and then he makes just the ever-so-slightest of hand movements toward him and I’m telling you right now, I don’t know if I will ever be okay watching this.

I’m serious. I don’t know when I’ll be able to watch this scene and see that hand movement and not get emotional. Definitely not now, and I can’t imagine anytime soon.

Cyrus sees his hand. He asks TJ is there’s anything else he wants to tell him.

TJ asks Cyrus if there’s anything he wants to tell him.

They grab each other’s hand.

And both let out this nervous exhale.

And they hold each other’s hand and smile at each other as the screen fades to black.

Just the two of them, together, in their own little world.

I get that people might have wanted more, more words, more actions, and I don’t necessarily disagree. I don’t think there’s a hypothetical version of this scene that has more and is bad or anything.

But, in my opinion, I think this is brilliant. In its subtlety and in its simplicity, this is one of the sweetest, most graceful, most touching ways I’ve ever seen two people express their affection for one another. That they’ve been through so much, and that they know each other so well that they can just look at each other and only need to say yes to tell the other one all they need to know, to tell each other everything? I’m not going to label two middle schoolers as “in love” because, look, they’re kids and it’s middle school. But what I will say is this: that’s what love is. When someone knows you so intensely and so intimately that you don’t have to say it. When all you have to do is look at someone to know. It’s a connection that goes beyond words. It’s beautiful.

Or, in other words, I’m emotional!

Later, after the party has ended, the GHC, Jonah, and Bex and Bowie hang out in the backyard, reminiscing.

Andi shares a picture of the GHC starting second grade.

From the day they met.

Buffy remarks how they’re still together after all these years. And Cyrus says they always will be. And Andi says...

They’re like, uh oh. Andi says she wants to show them something and leads them to Andi Shack, which has been stripped clean.

They ask why, and Andi tells them she doesn’t need the Shack anymore. She needs a studio because she got into SAVA, which makes her parents very happy, but bums out Cyrus and Buffy. They’re happy for her, but...

This is going to change things.

Bex remarks how a lot of life has happened in Andi Shack. We see some nice clips from over the years, and, if you liked those, you can see more clips by purchasing previous seasons of Andi Mack on your preferred streaming platform. (And coming to Disney+ this Fall!)

Bex tells Andi how proud she is of her and they hug.

Bowie hugs her, too, and tells her she’s going to do great things.

And then, like responsible adults, they decide to go clean up the house. We’ve all really grown so much, haven’t we?

Andi regroups with Cyrus, Buffy, and Jonah. Cyrus says they should be mindful of the moment because after this, we’re all going our separate ways. They all yell at Cyrus for this.

Andi reassures them all that no matter where they go or what they do, they’ll always be a part of each other’s lives.

And then they do this weird sort of group imagine thing where they actually manifest images of the future.

Where they’re all like, doing adult things, but also, still look like children? It’s, um... it’s a little odd.

But I’m going to retain my positivity and head for the finish line.

Andi asks Jonah to take a picture of the GHC standing together as they did on that first day of second grade. Then, Cyrus drops a Winnie the Pooh quote: “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

The four share one last group hug.

Andi asks if they’re all going to meet tomorrow at The Spoon, and they agree.

Each one hugs Andi one last time before exiting.

Andi watches them leave, then heads inside Andi Shack to put up the pictures. She smiles and walks out.

And that, my friends, is a wrap on Andi Mack.

This isn’t goodbye -- I’ve got a little more stuff planned -- but I think this is probably the thing that will be read by the most amount of people familiar with my blog, so let me just say this here: if you’ve read any or all of my recaps, or even if you’re just reading this one, thank you. I have loved writing them and I have loved being a part of this fandom, and I appreciate all of you who took the time to be a part of it with me.

This show and this fandom have been such an amazing experience for me, and it has brought me so much joy this past year and a half. So, once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I will truly never forget it.

#Andi Mack #Buffy Driscoll #Cyrus Goodman #TJ Kippen #Jonah Beck #Bex Mack #Bowie Quinn #Celia Mack #Amber #Marty #Kira #Andi #The Cat #Tyrus #Bexie #Muffy #Jandi #episode recaps

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living-dead-parker · 4 years

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Day 1: Decor and Cookies - P.P (12DOC)

Summary: It’s Christmas season again, it’s finally time to decorate!

Warning: Some cussing I think, fluff, Christmas stuff

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: This will be more like ten or eleven days of Xmas thing bc I couldn’t come up w more, so there will be a gap between some updates!! I hope you guys enjoy day 1!!

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Giggles fill the halls of the Avengers HQ. Those unmistakable giggles that belong to the one, and only, Morgan Stark. The giggles that awake your slumber because they're so shriek-like. It's adorable any other time when you're not sleeping. Nonetheless, much as you expected, your bedroom door silently opens and any sound disappears as the tiny girl, who's not as tiny as before, creeps into the room. Her feet quietly pad against the hard floors and you can feel Peter's grip tighten on your abdomen. Almost as if he's bracing himself. As subtly as you can, you check the time, which reads 9:30 AM.

Then suddenly, you feel tiny cold hands press against any exposed skin, and you have to hold back from flinching. Before you know it, the not-so sneaky little girl yells right into your ear, "Wake up! Christmas is coming!"

Shooting right up in your spot, you groan at the sudden loudness. You were not expecting that, at all. In fact, neither was Peter, based on how quick he shot up and covered his ears. Morgan giggles as you playfully glare at her, but then you play your favorite card against her. Your glare turns into a frown and you make your lips quiver a bit and you lean into Peter as you begin to pretend to cry.

"Morg, why would you d-do that?" you ask sadly, feeling Peter wrap his arms around as he plays along. This kid is such a traitor, you think. Morgan notices, and because she still falls for it, her devious smile turns into a slight frown. "You scared me, Morgan, and now," you state as you push yourself closer to Peter. "I'm gonna cry."

Morgan jumps up and wraps her arms around you. "I'm sorry, N/N!" she exclaims rather guiltily. As much as you love dragging on jokes, you pull the girl into a tight hug, smiling and laughing as you let her know you were just joking. "But next time, maybe don't scream in people's ears?" you ask. Morgan nods, grabbing your hand excitedly and attempting to get you to stand up.

"Daddy said we're decorating today!" Morgan chatters excitedly. The tiny girl running out of the room, her feet still loudly padding against the hard floors. Suddenly, another door slams open and you can hear Morgan yell Harley's name from the door. "Y/N said not to yell in people's ears, so I'm yelling from the door!"

A laugh rips through your lips, shooting straight from your belly in amusement over the girl's ingenuity. Peter's laughter mixes with yours as the two of you finally get up from your bed and head to the closet to grab some clothes. "Iron Man boxers?" you ask, finally looking over at Peter as he reaches for some of his clothes. At this point, he might as well just live with you. Almost all of his clothes are here in your closet. Peter's cheeks turn a bright red as you giggle.

"They were a gift from your dad," Peter says slightly flustered, as he turns around and grabs a long sleeve shirt, some black jeans, and other articles of clothing. You, on the other hand, can't help but stare at him. Taking in every inch of him, stopping to admire his arms and his butt for a few seconds longer. You bite your lip, not able to look away. "I can feel you staring," he states as he bends down to grab something. He sticks his butt out some more, doing it on purpose.

"Damn, Peter," you exclaim. "I think you got more ass than me-"

"Definitely not something I wanted to hear this morning," your father says as he enters your room and stands at the door of your closet. "Nice underoos, underoos," Tony says, nodding at Peter before turning to look at you. "This family runs on the idea of having a great ass, we will not let webs over here ruin that," he continues. "But I just came to say that all your new decorations came in and we're all getting so antsy to put them up."

"Oh sweet," you exclaim. "Give us like ten minutes and we'll be down," you say as you begin looking for some clothes of your own. Tony agrees, walking away and shutting your bedroom door. When you turn around, you see Peter staring at you this time.

"You might be right," Peter says as he stands in front of the mirror in your closet. Going between checking you and himself out. "I think I might just have more ass than you."

After 15 minutes, you and Peter head to the common room, where almost everyone is sitting around. Pepper and Morgan sit in their pajamas still, watching Elf on the large TV. Harley sits on the love seat with Rhodey. Happy and Tony walk in from the kitchen with a mug each and sit on the large couch with Pepper and Morgan. "Good morning," both you and Peter greet everyone, earning some greetings back. "Where's everyone else?"

"May and Wanda are in the kitchen making hot chocolate. Steve, Nat, Sam, and Buck are all bringing in the trees and other decorations that were in storage."

As the words leave your father's mouth, you walk over to the packages that sit stacked against the elevator wall. A total of 12 boxes. A smile makes its way across your lips as you walk over to the boxes, opening the smallest one at the top. Inside sits a medium-sized Tiffany-blue box. A few seconds later, you put the box back and join the others in watching Elf until the others return with the tree for the common room of the compound. There was also a second one, which Tony revealed was for the penthouse. You all spend half the time there, the other half in the common room.

"Let's get to it!" Tony exclaims, making everyone stand up. The movie was promptly changed to Christmas music instead. The first thing you all decided to do was put up the Christmas tree and work around it. Steve, Tony, and Pepper all worked to fluff it out. Meanwhile, Peter, Harley, and Sam worked to untangle all the lights. Bucky worked on untangling the tinsel. Morgan, Nat and yourself all worked on getting the hanging decorations to look nice or by putting the hooks on them. Rhodey and Happy were busy documenting the moment by recording on the camera Tony had just bought a couple days ago for just this.

Everyone made a game of it. Stand around the tree and everyone passes the tinsel or the lights around to wrap it around the tree. It was unnecessary, but it was fun, so why not? Finally, once the tinsel and the lights were done, the hanging decorations were up next. Everyone grabbed their favorites and just any random plain ones they could and started putting them all up on the tree. At some point, May and Wanda came out with trays of hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream and trays of cookies. They decided to join in on the decorating before everyone decided to take a break for some chocolate and cookies.

"Wow, these are so good, May," Pepper states as she takes a big bite of her tree-shaped cookie. May shrugs, thanking her as she takes a bite of her own cookies. "It was a recipe that Peter and I used to make, but then times got hard. But nonetheless, it's nice to make them again," May explains, earning a smile from Peter.

"Chocolate is really good too, Wanda," you exclaim. Wanda smiles. "Trick is to use actual chopped chocolate rather than the powder. Tastes better that way."

After the short break, everyone got back to decorating. However, now that the Christmas tree was done, that meant it was time for the rest of the room to be decorated. Lights went up around the whole room's ceiling. Gel clings were placed on the inside of the windows and stockings were hung on the walls. A wreath is placed above the elevator and the pillows on the couches are replaced with matching Christmas ones. Overall, the room looks more cozy and colorful.

After that room was done, the party moved upstairs to the penthouse. Everyone decided to go help out there. Sitting in the center of the living room was a large tree, much like the one in the common room. However, it's bare and needs some fluffing. So, Pepper, Tony, and Steve get to fluffing that one out as well. You all get to untangling lights and tinsel as well as adding hooks and strings to the hanging decorations.

As everyone gathered around the tree, you smile, knowing that this is your family. No matter how fucked up you all are, how dangerous your life may be, that crazy bunch of people who are helping decorate that tree are your family and you hope it stays that way forev-

"Peter, just because you can stuff ten cookies in your mouth doesn't mean you should."

Send in feedback, requests, asks, or just come talk to me!!

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ngame989 · 5 years

Text

“Drive” - TGG SVTFOE Fanfic Collection Ch. 8

Writing: @ngame989

Art: @toxicpsychox

Editing: @ubercelloczar, @toxicpsychox, @seddm

Alternate fic links - FFnet, AO3

Summary: It's back to school for Marco, and Star is left to face the specter of real world responsibility once more - with a bit of help from the adorable antics of Mariposa.

Comic Page

Masterpost

Finally, a new chapter! This one took a long time to put together in a way I was satisfied with, so sorry as always for the delay. Writing is a bit of a secondary hobby for me, and while I absolutely love Starco and love making this series, the actual act of putting words to a page is rather draining for me. I'd love to promise more or faster updates, and if the right creative inspirations strike that is still what I'd love to happen, but it's gonna come at whatever pace it comes at. If that means I'm here for years to come, so be it. See below for the text, hope you enjoy!

“Alright, next up is Wilhelm… Wund? Want? Wouldn’t? Marco, this name is weird.” Star waved the flash card around in the air.

“Wundt, but the Ws both sound like Vs. It’s German.”

“German… that’s the place where that guy who was basically mustache Mina came from, right?” Marco froze in his tracks as his eyes widened in complete incredulity. Star uncurled from the ball she was in on their bed and sat up, hair and nightgown all astray as she tilted her head to the side in befuddlement. “What, did I say something wrong?”

“No, that’s- it’s just- that’s one way to put it. Don’t worry about it.” No way he was touching that subject with a mile-long pole.

She crossed her arms proudly. “See, I did remember something from school, then! OK, so Wundt, what’d he do?”

“What didn’t he do? He basically invented psychology! Before him, everyone just kind of thought about thinking, but he was the first one to really study it with any sort of scientific method.” The first week of school had been going fairly well, Marco thought, but it was certainly busy. Maybe it was the fact that this was his first classroom education in two whole years, but it was way faster paced than anything he remembered. All the reading he’d done to prepare before the school year started helped, sure, but it was a sizable effort to keep on top of everything.

“Mhmm, I see.” Star tentatively raised her hand, nodding thoughtfully to his every word. “Tell me about his glasses.”

“What?”

“The glasses? For seeing someone’s problems really clearly? Come on, Marco, it wasn’t that hard to figure out. I bet they were ginormous.”

A few giggles escaped his lips and Star puffed her cheeks up in indignation. “No, Star, that’s not how glasses work. They just sorta- they make you look smarter, I guess?”

Star stuck her tongue out and pinched her fingers together to form two circles, aiming her hands carefully to position them over Marco’s eyes. “Nope, you seem just as smart without them. Anyway, let’s see here, next up is Pavlov.”

“Oh, you’ll love him. He studied stuff with his dogs.”

As if on cue, some of the laser puppies scrambled out from under the bed, jumping into Star and Marco’s arms. Star’s shout of “PUPPIES!” sounded like background noise behind the licking and panting invading his personal space, but it was a welcome change. With how big their yard was now, their pets were often gone for so long at a time that Marco felt like he barely saw them anymore, but they had a way of showing up randomly at oddly convenient times. Despite being laserless since magic had been destroyed, whatever dog breed the wand had concocted seemed to stay just as small and cute forever. Barko Diaz stayed in Marco’s arms while Star cuddled the rest and cooed over them one by one. “Anyway, his dogs drooled whenever food was placed in their mouths; that’s just the natural response. But Pavlov noticed that if he just held the food in front of them before feeding it to them, after a while they’d start to drool whenever they saw the food. That’s how he invented the name conditional reflex.”

“I, Star Butterfly, officially vote for puppy guy as the best- Sajak, hahaha, stop it!” The dogs pounced on her face and she fell backwards onto the sheets. “Marco, help! I’m being swallowed by a fur-ocious tidal wave! Get your jammies on and join the fun!”

Marco rolled his eyes as he pulled off his shirt and pants. Top drawer… nothing. Middle? Nope. Still only in his underwear, he quickly rummaged through both their sets of drawers in search of his usual blue pajamas to no avail. A frustrated groan rumbled in his throat as he bent over to check underneath the drawers.

“That’s it, mama like,” he could hear Star murmuring. He quickly glanced behind him to find… Star sitting up, his pajamas in hand. “Staaaaar,” his voice and brain both exasperatedly grumbled. Though he’d figured out that his own sense of sexuality was grounded in emotional intimacy more than anything, they’d still become quite comfortable with each other and themselves physically; normally he wouldn’t complain in the slightest about the attention, but he still had a job to do.

“Ooooone more second,” she drawled out while her half-lidded baby blues roamed his body.

“Alright, Star, let’s just pick one more card, OK? I need to make sure I’m ready for tomorrow.”

“Fiiiiine. The last one is… Freud. I’m probably saying that wrong, too. Wait a second, Janna talked about him once, after I told her about that psychology stuff we did years ago. She said he’d be really good at figuring out my mom issu-”

“Not the same thing. Come on, Janna…” Marco grumbled. Leave it to Janna to give the worst possible introduction to academic psychology. “Alright, that’s enough of that,” he stated decisively and snatched all the index cards out from under paws and tails before crawling onto the edge of the bed.

“Yay! Now scooty that booty, you cutie patootie!” Star gently cleared the space between them and the puppies all left the room except for Marco Jr. It wasn’t the best dog name, but it was at least better than it would’ve been for his sibling.

He propped himself up on his elbow and fluffed his pillow. “I’m honored to do my duty.”

“Hehe, you said doodie.” Before he’d even fully settled into his usual spot, Star had already climbed halfway on top of him and settled her head on his chest, prompting him to embrace her. Marco smiled and planted a soft, lingering kiss on her neck. Sometimes it was too warm, too cramped, and she’d strangle his limbs hard enough that it took him 10 extra minutes to stand up in the morning; despite all that, he couldn’t be happier to snuggle every night away.

“I-I know it’s been crazy this past week, so thanks for helping with this, even though you hate school.”

“Hey, I don’t hate it. I just don’t like classes, tests, homework, and having to ask to use the bathroom...” She paused and blinked a few times. “OK, maybe I do hate school.”

“If it makes you feel any better, in college you can just go whenever you need to.”

“You know, that actually kinda does. Anyway, learning can be fun, and you’re a good teacher. Keep it up and in a few years maybe I’ll have a secondhand degree,” she snickered. Her fingers started to fidget with his hands while her toes tangled themselves up in his pant legs. “Sorry I was so distracted. I guess it’s finally sinking in that you’re gonna be doing this for years and years and now I’m the one with no clue what I want to do. Sucks a little bit to think about.”

“Doesn’t mean we’re not still gonna be a team, but it- yeah, that kinda does suck. Maybe we can try looking through some more options, if you want? I know you didn’t like any programs at the college, but I’m sure there’s all kinds of jobs or volunteer work around town. We could-”

She squirmed in his grasp, tilting her head downwards and away from his. “Marco… I don’t know, I just really don’t think I’m even in a place where I can just point at something and say, ‘yep, that sounds like a great job to sign up for!’ Maybe I’m just not ready for that yet.”

It always saddened him when she had this little faith in herself because he knew firsthand how capable she was of the most amazing things. Whatever he could do to help get her self-confidence back and live up to her potential, he would. He brought his hand closer to her face, stroking her cheek gently - though not before clumsily misjudging distance and poking her in the mouth, which elicited a snort of laughter. “OK, whatever feels right. Besides, it’s not like I know what I want to do with my entire life right now either. We’ll figure it out whenever you’re ready. In the meantime, there’s a new season of Dude’s Food Feuds and a plate of nachos with our names on it this weekend! “Plus, I heard Mom and Dad say they might spend part of this weekend at Eclipsa’s…” he trailed off, nuzzling into her neck and pulling her closer.

She twisted herself to look at him as best as she could. “Oh yeah?” Her eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

“Yeaaaaaaahn.” His attempt to continue being flirty was foiled by a giant yawn, indicating once and for all that it was time to sleep, and her laugh at his expense was stifled by her own yawn indicating she was in the same position. “Let’s get some shuteye, I’ve got another early morning tomorrow. Night, Star.”

“Night, Marco.” After a good-night peck Star turned herself around and they resumed their embrace. Less than a minute later, slumber claimed him.

***

“Dangit, Tom, again? You’ve gotta be free to chill at some point!” Angie folded the corner of the poetry collection she was perusing and looked up at Star who had her phone sprawled across their couch. “But I wouldn’t even mind doing kingdom junk. It’s better than another day on the couch by myself!” With her free hand, Star absentmindedly dangled around a spare doll of Marco in the princess outfit, which a starry-eyed Mariposa was stumbling around on the floor trying to catch. “So I’m not ‘physically capable of sticking my arms into lava tar’, I don’t see what that has to do with-” Even from the other end of the phone, Angie could still pick up on the mounting frustration in the demon prince’s tone. Star suddenly sharply inhaled and took a moment before responding. “Sure, maaaaybe it would have something to do with clearing a toxic hellgae infestation from the depths of the lava tar pits. Ugh, fine, you’re right. Can I at least see you next week, then?” Only a split second went by before Star sat up suddenly. “JANNA? Hello? Dangit,” she groaned while tossing her phone to the other end of the couch.

“Is everything alright, Star?”

Star crossed her arms and huffed. “Tom’s super busy with Underworld stuff, and I guess Janna’s there too for some reason even though humans really shouldn’t be able to handle any of it. Ponyhead has some kinda interview with some production company or something, Eclipsa and my parents are on vacation, and even Ferguson and Alfonzo are too busy to hang out!” She flopped facedown into one of the cushions; her final cry of “stupid school” was barely intelligible.

Mariposa giggled and yanked the doll from Star’s now-limp hand. “Mago! Mago!” Mariposa babbled while waddling around. Her little foot got caught on the fabric of the doll’s dress, and like a tiny giant she slowly toppled to the ground. Angie moved to help her daughter, who let go of the doll to grasp for her mother’s hand. “Mama!” It had been only a few weeks since Mariposa began to put together words with any regularity, and she’d already taken a fierce liking to calling for her parents and brother.

“Mariposa, I’m trying to be grumpy here and that’s really hard when the cutest thing in the universe is talking about the other cutest thing in the universe, and that includes the entire Puppybunny Dimension!”

Suddenly, an idea came to Angie. “Why don’t you come with me to the community college and help watch Mariposa? I’ve missed spending time with her this week but I couldn’t take care of her all day, plus it’d be good to get her out of the house.”

“Marco said he was really busy today, though,” Star pouted.

“Well, then I guess it’ll just have to be a girls’ day. What do you say, Mariposa? Do you want to go with mommy and Star to school?”

She clapped her hands cheerfully. “Gool!”

“Who am I kidding, I can’t say no to you,” Star cooed, pinching the toddler’s cheeks. “So when are we going?”

“I have office hours in an hour, so the sooner the better. Come out to the car whenever you’re ready.”

“Just gotta get my purse!” Star bounded across the living room and up the stairs quickly enough that her voice trailed off even at full volume. Angie smirked as she went about gathering her usual toddler travel supplies. While all the reasons she’d given for their trip today were true, she had an ulterior motive. It was pretty obvious that Star was in a funk from life catching up to them, and a change of pace never hurt. Well, that, and Star drives everyone a bit crazy with nothing to do at home. Seriously, who knew one girl could spill so many gallons of pancake batter all over the counter in a day?

Once she had everything, she headed out to the faithful family minivan and strapped Mariposa into her carseat, tossing in her small satchel for work and the much larger bag of baby supplies. Right as she finished, she heard the front door shut and lock behind her as Star made her way to the car. “Can I take Mariposa around the college today? Marco’s baby carrier fits like a glove.” Star quickly strapped it on, tightened it, and did a little twirl before taking it back off and climbing into the backseat.

While Angie was driving, she barely had any ability to check how the girls were doing in the backseat - there’d been so much construction on the Earthni road system that she could never trust the routes she was used to - but there were little glimpses of Mariposa being enthralled with Star’s playful antics. Star’s classic yellow smiling star purse swung like a pendulum for Mariposa to catch and they both cheered when she finally succeeded. Before she even knew it, they arrived at the Echo Creek Commewnity College, which had expanded dramatically in both size and architectural diversity as a result of the Cleaving. Most places in town (and throughout the world, so she’d heard) had merged in ways that left individual communities intact, but for whatever reason the college campus had become completely intertwined with a Mewman campground. It was certainly more of a spectacle than the once-modest town college and did wonders for getting both halves of the Earthni community involved.

Star marveled at the seamlessly blended hybrid buildings and scenery while Mariposa did much the same with her own thumbs. Nondescript brick buildings mingled with medieval wood and stone and the occasional ornate decorations, which is why the quad had a marble dragon standing proud among the trees. “Woah, is that a cornball and football field at the same time?”

“That’s a good question. Honestly, I’m still not used to all the changes myself,” Angie laughed. “A few months ago I tried to use the swamp water machine for my coffee. I had lily pads in my teeth for days.” While they were walking, Mariposa had become noticeably fixated on Star. Her dress, her hair, her hands, anything that was available to gawk at and grasp was fair game.

“She’s such a wonderful little tot, isn’t she?” Angie asked as they stepped into the cool air of Bonner Hall. She walked slowly towards her office while Star flitted around poking at every plant in the hallway.

“Yeah. So much calmer than Meteora. Remember the birthday incident?” Angie lightly chuckled in response; how could anyone not remember that? It wasn’t every day that a one year old just spontaneously grew a full head of hair and then got her tail hopelessly caught in it at another one year old’s birthday party.

Once they’d arrived at her office, she pulled out her key and opened the door to invite Star in. “Bienvenue! I’m teaching Intro to French Literature this semester, so I’ve got this whole theme going on.” Quotes and pictures of authors hung all around the room alongside some images of major landmarks and a little French flag sat on her desk next to a miniature statue of the Eiffel Tower. Angie helped Star unstrap Mariposa and set her down on the floor where she began waddling and crawling around.

Star sat on the edge of Angie’s desk kicking her feet back and forth, careful to avoid the toddler. “Soooooooo… what’s the plan for today?”

“You’re more than welcome to stick around but if office hours get too hectic it may get pretty cramped in here.” She’d have liked to do more with a larger space, but given how infrequently other community college faculty even got offices to themselves it was a blessing to even have this. “Although I have to teach later so you won’t be able to get back into this room if you leave after that.”

“Marco’s not free until, like, 6, so…” She trailed off dejectedly. The vibrant enthusiasm that Star normally exuded was still lacking. Hmm, this might be more serious than I thought.

Angie gently laid a hand on Star’s shoulder until those big blue eyes finally met her own. “Star, honey, it’ll be fine. I know it can be hard not being able to spend all your time with someone anymore.”

The headband on Star’s head shifted and almost fell off from how hard she was tugging and frazzling her own hair absentmindedly, “It’s not that… well, it’s not just that. Everyone else is starting their big life dreams now, you know? Marco wants to be a psycho therapist or something, Tom’s actually kinda happy about being a prince for once, and even Janna seems like she’s figuring it out in her weird Jannaniganish way! I have no idea what I want to do! Even went through a big ole’ list of ideas with Marco and they all just seemed blegh.” Star threw her hands up in frustration before curling back into herself more than before. “And I want to find something too, you know? Ugh, where’s Mr. Candle when you need him...”

The words resonated very strongly with Angie but it was difficult to put into words. She backed away from Star, her gaze darting around the room until she had a realization. “Have I ever told you the story about my summer in France?”

“Don’t think so.”

“When I was about your age, I wanted to get away for a while, so I packed up all my things and went to France for a whole summer. The food, the music, the history… everything was better there. For months after I came home I tried desperately to hold on to all of that after it was over, and I still cherish that experience, but it was just a fun handful of weeks that I spent someplace else and it was better that I just dealt with the fact that it was over. But,” she forcefully interjected when Star raised an eyebrow in protest at the seemingly antithetical point being made, “I know now that it’s not a universally ideal handling of such events. All the excitement of the last few years made me think about that… people might sort these things out for themselves in very different ways.”

“Like how Jackie literally spent a summer in France too, but she and Chlóe are still together long distance.”

“Mhmm, I could see that.”

“Or how Ponyhead started wearing a prosthetic tail for a while after staying with Seahorse’s family.”

“Hang on, what-”

“Don’t ask.” Never a dull moment.

“Or what about when-”

Alright, I’ll just have to get to the point myself. “I was mainly thinking about Marco, Star. I told him this same story before he left for Mewni, and honestly, I didn’t know how important it was to him. But he grew into such a confident and capable young man there and I couldn’t be prouder.” Angie softly took both of Star’s cheeks into her hands. “Star, you’re a wonderful, caring, smart young woman. So what if you’re not following every step at the same time as your friends? Everyone goes through these sorts of crises at some point or another, but what’s important is that you take the time to make the decision that’s right for you.” Star’s gaze sunk to the ground while the gears in her mind were so obviously turning that they might as well have been visible and Angie gave her some space in turn. “So, with all that said, what are you thinking now?”

Star crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. “Even if I’m not rushing to figure everything out, I don’t want to just do nothing until I magically find my lifelong dream. And I know Marco and I aren’t gonna literally live the same lives; heck, I don’t want to do all his school junk anyway, but… whatever I end up doing, I still want it to be together. That’s why I left for Earth,” she finished with her voice dropping to a solemn whisper.

“Didn’t he do the exact same thing? You don’t need me to tell you that you two are something absolutely special. I may not know what all is going through his head, what mother of a teenage boy does, but I know he’d do anything for you, Star.”

Nodding more to herself than to Angie, Star took a deep breath before speaking. “Thanks, Mrs. Diaz.”

“You can call me Angie, if you’d like. Or Angelica, or maybe ‘The Coolest Mom in Town.’ I’m not picky,” she said with a smirk.

After a short pause, Star hopped off the desk and wrapped Angie in a bear hug so deceptively strong that it knocked the wind out of her, but she still managed to reciprocate. “Thanks… Angie.” A rumbling sound interrupted the moment. “Heh, well, seems like I’m also thinking about lunch.”

“That’s an excellent idea. Why don’t we-” The digital clock on the desk caught her attention. “Dammit, office hours already started a few minutes ago. Don’t think I’ll have time for a while. But there’s plenty of places around here to eat, and a few of them are actually good!” she chuckled. Just as she mentally ran through some places in the student union, a thought struck her. “Say, Star… there’s a lot of clubs and events and such that are open to non-students too. Maybe it’d be worth looking into some of them? It’d be something to do, you and Marco would be closer, and I could even drive you some days if you needed. Why don’t you take Mariposa with you and explore for a while? She seems pretty restless today.”

Taking a few deep breaths to center herself, Star nodded her head. “Yeah, that’s a good idea! Heck, it’d be good just to know my way around for any time I visit Marco anyway.” She bent down and beckoned for Mariposa, who’d been ogling a bronze baguette for some time now. Once the carrier was locked and loaded with a docile toddler and some of her supplies once more, Star skipped out of the office. Angie’s time alone, however, was cut short when a student skidded in and immediately started nervously rambling about homework questions and grading policies and the works of François Villon. Back to teacher mode. Angie afforded herself one last glance through the door at her young daughter gleefully riding along with the girl who might as well be her other daughter. Rafael had mentioned to Angie on more than a few occasions that Star and Marco reminded him of themselves in their youth, and Angie had agreed at the time but now she wasn’t so sure. Her teenage - and even young adult - years with Rafael, while wonderful, had been filled with many bouts of uncertainty and it’d taken them many, many years to get it right once and for all.

But Star and Marco? As far as she was concerned, they already had.

***

Boring classroom… Boring classroom… Boring restroom… Hey, wait a minute, is that a cornshake machine? A few minutes, a few dollars, and one cornshake (plus a sippy kid size) later, Star found herself not much better than she’d been when she set off an hour ago, but the surprisingly high quality of the vended drink did bolster her spirits. She resisted the urge to call Marco because it’d be waaaay more fun to surprise him later. And also because he might still be in class, that too. A tall rock creature walked in front of her, interrupting her thoughts, and she saw a nervous expression on his face as he feebly tried not to disrupt foot traffic too much. Looking around, she was a bit surprised to see just how much the cultures of her own world had been brought to the forefront and blended in despite humans comprising the majority of people she’d seen on campus. Some people who she guessed were Mewmans by their dress glanced back for a bit longer than most but otherwise went about their day without a fuss. Two guys, one human and one Septarian, were laughing and holding hands on a bench. All in all the atmosphere reminded her of high school, but was freer in a way that didn’t discomfort her as much as she’d anticipated.

A few of the passersby looked her way as she wandered, and one or two even said hi to her - not that uncommon, given that it was public knowledge that she and Marco were responsible for the Cleaving, though Eclipsa had tactfully phrased it as a consequence of the two working together to destroy magic - but it was just as likely that Mariposa was the one attracting attention for a multitude of reasons. She knew she shouldn’t have expected it, but part of her was disappointed that after going through four whole bustling buildings she hadn’t run into Marco, or even anyone she knew. Glum and tired, she was about to abandon her pursuits when a huge bulletin board around the corner caught her eye. As she jogged over to it, her hopes came true: it was a giant wall advertising all the clubs and events on campus for the start of the year.

Her eyes roved the board up and down, left and right scanning for anything that seemed interesting or had some sort of meeting today. There were some fliers that Star dismissed right away, including a woodworking workshop series, a community choir, a sketchy-looking “how to date a demon” seminar. The last one might have at least been good for a laugh, but it had a note scribbled on it that attendance was maxed out already. She noted some sort of upcoming school dance for all local teens, but it was months away and the poster was uninspiring since the theme was still listed as TBD. It made sense that most extracurricular activities didn’t happen in the middle of a school day, but she still frowned at how few options seemed available and potentially interesting. Once she’d perused the entire wall and selected those that were, she set out on her mission to find her purpose.

“You ready, Mariposa?”

“Gool!”

Chess Club

“Rook to G3.” Star’s opponent, whose nametag said Fred, positioned the black castle piece ahead of most of his pack.

“King to-” Her tongue stuck out as she concentrated on the board layout instructions, trying to find her place. “King to E3!”

“Um, first of all, the king piece is not allowed to move more than one square at a time. Second, since it is the most important piece, the singular goal of the game is to keep yours alive while defeating the enemy’s. Therefore it is ludicrously ill-advised to position your king into such immediate danger, and in most cases would automatically lose you the match” Star’s opponent responded matter-of-factly.

Star scratched her head in puzzlement, replacing the piece. “Why is the king so slow? My dad was literally a king and he can run at highway speeds.”

“Perhaps the Mewman traditions are different, but the Earthly ways of the monarchy are enshrined in a-

“Alright, whatever. Then I have my Queen ride the horse into combat! No, wait, can it be a warnicorn instead?” She ripped off a corner of the scoring sheet and deftly curled it into a cone before placing it on the top of the plastic figure with a satisfied grin.

“Although an intriguing concept, there is no precedent in the ancient tradition of the sport for-” Mariposa interrupted her tirade by kicking the edge of the table, which knocked over Fred’s black king. See, now this was the sort of thing she could see herself getting into!

“Checkmate!” Star shouted with a wide grin, one decidedly not mirrored by her opponent or any of the onlookers.

Cornball Tryouts

“Well, Mariposa, that was a bust. But cornball is a Mewni thing, so I’m gonna super nail it this time!” Star set Mariposa down and removed her from the baby carrier. “Stay right here, you little angel,” she cooed before jogging over to the group of hopefuls discussing strategy. “Hiya everyone!”

One of the girls who resembled a fox waved in welcome. “Sup, I’m Bleck, I was the Monster Cornball League’s ace stickler for a few years.”

“And I’m Jason, I was Mewni Cornball Alliance’s forward maizeman.”

Star shook both their hands. Did something seem familiar about them? “I’m-”

“Star Butterfly, we know,” Bleck responded. “You set up that integrated game on Mewni. Sorry about that, by the way. We were the captains and it, um, kinda got out of hand.” Ah, so that’s why Star recognized them.

“Yeah, that was our bad.” Jason rubbed the back of his neck shamefully with one hand with his other on Bleck’s shoulder. “I’ll be honest, this whole ‘monsters and Mewmans and Earth Mewmans all together’ thing is still new to me, but don’t wanna let some petty grudges get in the way of some good old fashioned cornball. These Earthers are crazy competitive, we’ll need the best team we can to have a chance of even making regionals.

“Speaking of which,” another Mewman spoke up warily. “Does anyone know anything about that new teenage husker that already made captain? CB Nation says she’s already poised to be hotter than Jispy Jenkins.”

“I heard she’s the reason the Cassidy bros quit moat guarding.”

“Well I heard she averaged 50 shucks per game in her rookie season.”

A hush fell over the group; as much as Star loved the sport she never really followed it, but it was still clear just how good this mystery player was.

“I think that’s her…” one of the monsters said, pointing at a shadow emerging from the clubhouse. “Oh corn, hold me!” He fainted on the spot.

“Star? Star!!!!!!!!” It was hard to make out details against the glaring sunlight, but there was a webbed hand waving at her. Wait, was that-

“KATRINA!” Star dashed as fast as her legs could carry her to meet her friend who was doing the same. Katrina scooped her up in a big slimy hug. “You’re so big now!” The girl was now taller than Star, with a stocky build, but her big sparkly eyes still had every bit of youthful wonder that she remembered. Given how much of a powerhouse Buff Frog was, Star could only imagine the athletic potential his kids could have.

“Yeah, I’m starting ECCC this year! I got a full ride scholarship as team captain! Sorry I haven’t been talking to you as much lately… I’ve been so busy working towards this, it’s a dream come true!” Katrina set her down and glanced over towards the sidelines. “Is that Mariposa over there! Hi, baby! Wow, humans age really slowly. You and Marco better not take too long getting your own kid, Auntie Katrina still wants to still be spry enough to play with ‘em.”

Star’s face heated up. “I- Katrina, you- We aren’t-” She stammered incoherently. This was going to take some getting used to.

“C’mon, Star, I’m kiddiiiiiing. I’m already four, I’m not a kid anymore. Anyway, are you here for the team? That’s so cool! You’re always so great at everything, you’ll definitely make the team.” She finally turned to the rest of the attendees to begin the session. “Alright, welcome to the ECCC cornball tryouts, I’m really happy you’re all here! Let’s go over some logistics. Practice is five days a week in the evenings until the league begins on Dartuk 30. That’s the 26th of September for all the Earth people here. We’ll have two regular matches each week and will be travelling most weekends. If we want to show who the real cornballers are, I’m going to need your complete dedication to this squad! School’s important too, but otherwise this will be your life while you’re on my team, so let’s talk drills-”

With each passing sentence, Star’s anxiously fidgeted more and more. It was… intense, more than she’d ever expected. She was ecstatic that Katrina was finding so much success and joy doing this and felt her heart swell with pride as the crowd hooted and hollered in support, but was this really what she wanted most for herself? While Star was zoned out, Katrina had apparently wrapped up her speech and everyone else had already dispersed. Katrina took Star’s hands and shook them up and down excitedly. “Are you as pumped as I am?”

“Yeeeeeeaaaaaah…” Star hesitantly cheered, casting a nervous glance back at Mariposa who now was booping Star’s purse repeatedly with her nose. “About that…”

Driver’s Ed

Maybe I should just learn to drive so I can visit Marco myself, Star pouted. “I could get us a pair of matching cool car driver sunglasses, so we can be rad Earth style,” Star whispered to Mariposa while Miss Skullnick (who was apparently working at the college now, and was human again) finished going over her slides.

“And that’s the introduction for this seminar series on automobile safety. Any questions?”

Star raised her hand and Skullnick sighed heavily before calling on her. “Is there a way I can start driving next week?”

“Get out!”

***

“Today sucked,” Star gloomily groaned. She was curled up sideways on a bench in one of the open quads while Mariposa was using her stomach as a pillow for her late afternoon nap, tuckered out after a recent diaper change. “I mean, it was so cool to see Katrina again, and in a weird way I almost missed Skullzy too, but I’m still completely stuck. But hey, at least I got to spend a day with you.” Star gently stroked Mariposa’s soft brown hair. Now that she thought about it, getting to spend hours a day with the adorable tot was one of the only consistently rewarding parts of the past week, it seemed. Even Meteora’s shenanigans were heartwarming in their own way, namely one that involved way more property damage. Her eyelids drooped shut, heavy with the weight of everything on her mind.

She couldn’t have been out for more than a minute when a child’s voice startled her. “Hello? Are you sleeping?” Was that Mariposa? No, it couldn’t have been, her mind concluded as she exited her half-conscious delirium. A small monster child, no older than the human equivalent of four or five with some features of an elephant, tugged on the sleeve of her dress with tears in his eyes. “I’m scared.”

Star rubbed her eyes and gathered everything into one corner of the bench so she could make room for the child. “What’s wrong, little guy? I’m Star.”

“My- my name’s Trevor but Mom and Dad call me Trev. I was playing on the slides but then everyone was gone,” Trevor began sobbing pitifully.

“OK, it’s OK. Let’s take a deeeeeeep breath, OK? Like this.” She inhaled as much air as she could, puffing up her cheeks and chest before blowing all of it out with an exaggerated flair. The boy nodded and took a small breath. “Again!” Star repeated, and he followed, back and forth until he had calmed down and was grinning at her absurdly over-the-top routine. “Feeling better?”

“A little.”

“How about we play a game? I’ll say one word, and you say whatever word comes to your mind. Ready?” He sniffled once, but nodded.

“Candy.”

“Tasty.”

“Dancing.”

“Fun.”

“Snuffleupagus.”

He cracked up a bit at that and she grinned back at him. “Silly.”

“School.”

“Sad.”

“Why does that make you sad?”

“My brother’s busy at school here all day now, so he has daycare watch me instead. My group was at the playground and Felipe bet I couldn’t go on the big slide so I did but I got stuck and when I got out, everyone was gone.”

“You poor thing,” Star responded. “I know how you feel. Tell ya what, let’s go try to find them together!”

“Can- can we stay here?” Her heart broke at how obviously terrified he was of the situation and the prospect of any more unfamiliarity wasn’t something he was ready to deal with at all.

“For a little bit, but then we really should get you back to the daycare.”

“OK,” he said somberly. “Who’s that?” He pointed at Mariposa who was crawling in circles around the bench.

“Oh, this is Mariposa! She’s my boyfriend’s sister.”

“What’s a boyfriend?”

Of all the conversations Star thought she might have today, this was far from one of them. “It’s like… boyfriend and girlfriend are like what a mom and dad are before they become a mom and dad.”

“My Uncle Matt is Mom’s brother but Dad calls him brother too. Does that mean she’s your sister too?”

Star met Mariposa’s eyes for a moment. It was weird to think about, but… was Trevor even wrong? She’d been living with the Diazes for almost all of Mariposa’s life, after all. There wasn’t a clear definitive answer in Star’s mind, but she needed one to sate the boy’s unending curiosity. “Yeah, I guess she is.”

“Cool! My big brother’s awesome. I miss when we used to play all the time. You’re really cool, too.”

“Thanks. I know change can be scary, but I’m sure your brother misses you a lot too. Sometimes big kids and grown-ups have to do grown-up things for a while, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still love being your brother.”

A few voices echoed in the distance; once they were close enough for Star to make out the words, she realized they were calling Trevor’s name. “Over here!” she shouted back in their general direction. A large elephant monster with ripped jeans and ear piercings ran as fast as he could and gave Trevor a tight hug. “Hey, Trev, buddy, where’d you go? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“It’s OK, Star took care of me.” It came out muffled from how his face was still buried in his brother’s arms.

“Woah, wait- Star? Like, the Rebel Princess Star Butterfly?”

“That’s me. Or was me,” she shrugged.

“I was your biggest fan for years! Remember the cave hideout? Don’t think I introduced myself then, I’m Geoff.”

“Oooooh yeah, you were with the ‘alternative monsters’! How have you been?”

“Pretty dope. Once that wicked Cleaving thing happened, we found a bunch of humans just like us! Being alternative is just, like, normal now. They even sell clothes with all the holes in them already so you don’t have to do any work! It’s nice to just get to be myself now, and I don’t think I’d ever get to do that without everything you did. You’re the best, Star. And thanks for taking care of lil’ Trev here. C’mon, buddy, let’s get you home.”

Trevor hopped up on his brother’s shoulders for a piggy back ride and waved. “Bye, Star! Bye Mariposa!”

“You must be a miracle worker with the kids,” the human man who had run up with Geoff finally spoke up. He had a thick beard and glasses and wore a red flannel shirt and jeans. “I’m Antonio, by the way, I run the ECCC Child Care Center. We just call it the Six Cs.”

“Nice to meet you,” Star responded. “I just did what anyone would, really.”

“No, you definitely made Trevor’s week. He just joined on Monday and he cries almost all the time from missing his family. We see that a lot, but it’s definitely hitting him harder than most, going from being at home all the time to being with a bunch of strangers for hours a day.”

Star unconsciously turned away and rubbed her arm. “Yeah, I… I know the feeling.” She shook it off and turned back towards him. “So, what happened with Trevor?”

“One of the girls got a splinter on the playground. Everyone was busy trying to keep her calm when we left the playground that we skipped headcount. I called Geoff right away, he was very understanding. It’s no excuse, but we’re way too short on people right now with all the new students.” His attention suddenly pivoted to Mariposa who was reaching up to grab at the fabric of his shirt. “This is Angie Diaz’s kid, no? May I?”

“Yeah,” Star dumbfoundedly responded after a moment’s hesitation. “You know her?”

Antonio hefted Mariposa up like she weighed nothing and gently rocked Mariposa back and forth in his burly arms. “Her older son, Marco, used to come here every now and then. Heard through the grapevine not too long ago that she had another kid, I asked if she’d be coming to the Six Cs but she said she already had someone at home. I take it I’m talking to her?”

Star’s eyes widened. Angie had said that? She was the only one who didn’t have plans most days, so… it had to be her. “Marco’s my boyfriend. I was their foreign exchange student for a year, then he came to live with me on Mewni for a year, and then… well, you’ve probably heard about how the Cleaving happened.”

“Afraid not, I don’t keep up with the news much these days. I just try to take care of all the kiddos as best I can, doesn’t much matter to me what goes on with the world. So what brings you to this humble campus?”

“Well, Marco’s going to school here now and I don’t have much else to do, so... yeah.”

“Ah.” His deep voice was laden with sympathy, and with that one word Star felt like he immediately understood her turmoil. “Well, if you’re ever looking for something to do, we could use someone like you on the team.”

“Really?”

“You’ve clearly got a big heart and a keen eye for how to take care of the younguns, that’s more than enough in my eyes. This one’s been staring at you almost since we started talking, she clearly trusts you more than you may know.” Huh, he was right; even while being rocked gently into slumber, Mariposa’s warm brown gaze remained firmly on Star’s face. “Well, I should get back to the staff. No rush if you’re unsure, but you can come with me to meet the crew before they leave for the night if you want.” He set Mariposa back down on the bench while Star reassembled the baby carrier and got Mariposa settled back in.

Star couldn’t say she was any clearer now on a life goal, but maybe that wasn’t what she needed right now. Looking back on the day and week thus far, even the most exceptionally crummy day in recent memory could be salvaged by Mariposa alone, so why should she be worried about more of that? Though she hadn’t really thought of herself as Mariposa’s caretaker until just a few minutes ago, her breath hitched with pride at the notion.

When she finally answered Antonio’s question, it was the least unsure she’d felt in a while.

***

Done. Finally. Marco swiftly stuffed his assignments into the binder in his backpack and hustled out the door of the student union. Cramming all his homework into one day had drained him, but it was worth it so he and Star could have the whole weekend to themselves. He liked all the things about school that Star hated, sure, but his life had changed so much and so many times that he worried he wasn’t even cut out for it anymore. ‘B’ on the pop quiz, really Diaz? The rational part of his brain knew it was fine, but the Marco of old was disappointed. He’d aced the questions he’d studied with Star, at least, so maybe the Marco of old wasn’t the one to follow.

Nachos, ever the talented dragoncycle, had founded a part-time rideshare service in the town and was busy tonight, so Marco navigated his way to his mom’s office for a ride home. “Hey Mom, hey Star, h- wait, Star?”

“Marcomarcomarcomarcomarco!” Star excitedly leapt into his arms with a barrage of cheek kisses and a crushing embrace.

“Missed you too, Star,” he chuckled, kissing her on the forehead in return before backing away to take off his backpack and slump into a chair. “What are you doing here?”

She sat sideways in his lap, hooking her arms around his neck. “Surprising you, goofhead!”

He closed his eyes for a moment and drank in her affection, letting it wash away his fatigue. “Well, color me surprised. Really glad you’re here.”

“Long day? Did you defeat the quizzards?”

“Yeah, and for the third time, it was just a regular quiz and not evil mystical quizzards giving me riddles. Besides, don’t they have a game show now?”

“Totally, totally, totally… I knew that.”

“I just kinda miss you, Star. It hasn’t been the same going all day without seeing you. I guess the last few years have made me realize I don’t want to be wherever you aren’t.”

“So cheesy,” Star cooed while pinching his cheek. His mom and Star exchanged excited glances. “But don’t worry about that anymore, Diaz, because I’ll be here now too!”

“Hubbawha?” Marco blurted out.

“Star’s going to volunteer for the Six Cs and take care of Mariposa there.”

She stood up and walked over to Mariposa, poking her nose just as she came out of a nap. “Yep, and they said I can make a schedule around yours so we can dragonpool to school and have lunch together or whatever! Plus I get to spend time with my other favorite person in the whole wide world.”

Mariposa fully opened her eyes and stared vacantly at Star for a second before smiling wide. “Ta.”

Star stopped in her tracks. “Wait, is she saying-”

“Tar. Tar. Tar!” Mariposa bobbed up and down on the desk, clearly as overjoyed about her words as everyone else was. Tears welled up in Star’s sapphire eyes as she leaned down to gently snuggle Mariposa. Marco walked over to join her and caught his mom absolutely beaming with as much pride as he’d ever seen her have. The wholesome moment was interrupted as his little sister, not content to stop, kept rambling on. “Tar! Mago! Tago! Tago!”

“Not you too!” Star sputtered out, still choked with emotion, and Marco couldn’t help but laugh.

And later that evening, after the four had gotten dinner and piled into the Diaz van for the trip home, Marco looked over to see that Star had fallen asleep on the other side of Mariposa’s carseat. He took her hand in his, yawning as he realized a nap wasn’t such a bad idea. Just before succumbing to the day, he swore he heard a soft, squeaky murmuring from the toddler next to him.

“Sihtah.”

#starco #svtfoe #star vs the forces of evil #fanfic #tgg svtfoe

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steve0discusses · 4 years

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Yugioh S4 Ep 17: Just Throw em on the Murder Pile

Ah, week one of the Stay-at-Home mandate. After a week of getting so little work done, I decided to get Animal crossing so I could get away from the people I live with to our own little virtual islands. So, I spent my time, fishing so many fishes and bugs for the the museum that wasn’t open yet, placing them all over the island so I could use them later. Went to bed having done all this wonderful work, my masterpiece, my beautiful island.

The next day I woke up an hour later than my brother, who spent that time logging into Animal Crossing, not realizing he was sharing an island with me (for some reason you only get one island per switch, which was a decision they made???) and he was like “the hell are all these fish everywhere?” So he sold all of them, made himself an Oricalchos shirt and a Yami third eye in the fashion editor, and then used all my fish money to buy so many oil drums and put them all over the trash side of his island.

I was asleep one hour. One single hour. It is all trash oil drums and fire and a poorly drawn Oricalchos t-shirt.

Ah, the irony when you get a game to escape the people you live with only to realize that you share the location of the game itself--with those same people. The irony.

So anyways, we found out that our efforts were futile anyway, long story short we sort of...soft locked this children’s game, and had to restart the entire island. lol.

So while I recover from that shock, lets talk about Yugioh.

They’re still on the Caltrain and Yami is still appearing to have a lot of difficulty remembering how to use cards without Yugi. But, we find out at the end of the episode, he’s mostly just pretending to have difficulty. We’ll get to why this bluff is so mind boggling later--Yami just has a lot of weird layers to him, and most are just so...so lovingly stupid.

Anyway, Timaeus doesn’t work with him now, but honestly it wasn’t clear why Timaeus ever did in the first place since Yami is both two people and a dead person at the same time. Yami shouldn’t exist.

This doesn’t matter in the end, because Yami is good at cards when he isn’t actively trying to get cursed to give himself a handicap like he did with Raphael.

Unlike Yami, Joey decides to reflect upon the moral consequences of Hella Killing a Guy, which youknow...should mess you up a little bit.

But obvi, Rex has to die for the plot to move forward, so RIP.

(more RIP under the cut)

Yugioh made sure to give Rex a big send off that took waaaaay longer than Gurimo, just saying.

Lololololol

Just two u’s, sleeping so pleasantly.

And I’m just guessing, ps, but I feel like it’s a good guess. I feel like this wasn’t like this in the original.

Back at the train that should be crossing the ocean at this point, Weevil has pulled out some misdirection. Knowing that Yami has been misdirecting Weevil this entire time, it is just so baffling that he’d totally fall for this.

If someone did this to Seto Kaiba--that I would believe, instantly. But to Yami? OK there, Yami.

Mind you, Yami is grieving, and he’s not mentally all there in both the literal sense and in the mental sense, but wow, Yami. You fell for that.

Yami has lost his entire mind and is just kind of winging it until he gets arrested.

He has no reason to be better than this. He’s like “FML. I’m gonna go ape, I don’t freakin care”

Like, Yami has this anger problem, which the show has said out loud a few times this season, but we haven’t really seen too often in previous seasons to a great degree. So we have to give him some places where he can demonstrate getting super pissed, to make up for the fact that Yami’s character developed has mostly been about “I’m too lonely and cursed to make friends, Yugi.” and “I’m DEAD, Yugi, I don’t want to learn about my history.” and “Gods why are you always making problems for me to solve for you, Kaiba?”

Not saying he hasn’t been mad and vengeful before this moment, but he hasn’t been as explosive before this season--it’s always been a chill anger, a quietly menacing kind of crazy, youknow? But...characters change. Yami’s developed to be different now and that’s fine. Being pissed someone killed your soul bud that you share a body with, I feel, is a natural thing to be pissed about.

But, Yami is permanently in a state of anger and brooding since Yugi left, despite being pretty chill for most of the past 4 seasons. It’s like the first time we get to experience Yami be Just Yami since the beginning of Season 1 and it’s a completely different Yami anyway.

I guess this is to point out that they really did rely on the other to complete their personality. Which is weird, but that is a thing you do with people that you’re spend a ton of time with--you kind of forget how to do things solo.

Like there was this interesting study where they took married people and asked them simple grade school questions, and they answered them fine when they were together in the same room. But, when they were separated--they suddenly would blank on random stuff. They couldn't remember capitals or multiplication tables--simple stuff. But people who were single, were able to do these things fine alone or with a friend.

People who spend a hell ton of time together learn to help eachother answer the questions as a team, and the parts of the brain you use to like...memorize capitals and multiplication might decay because there’s someone else who will just always do it for you.

So anyway, the takeaway I get from this is that the part of Yami and Yugi that could read if Weevil is lying was Yugi and that’s a lot to take in. Yugi might be smarter than Yami? Weird. Low bar, but weird.

So, Yami won’t need to justify to himself like Joey, he’s just gonna kill this guy outright. Immediately. There was some card shenanigans, and I guess he had the opportunity to beat him even further after he was dead? I didn’t fully pay attention to the card logic but it was so brutal that Tea had to get involved.

She was quicker to save even S1 Seto Kaiba, just throwing that out there. Tea was like “I’ll step in between you two, but I’ll be run really slow about it.”

I think she was more worried about Yami going dark than Weevil who’s...already dead. And again, you don't have to worry about Yami going dark. I say it a lot but he’s a dark wizard. This is kind of his zone.

And then, they actually touched for the first time in like--kind of a lot of episodes. I kind of forgot about this ship.

How come when she’s wrestling him it looks more like a hug than the few times they’ve hugged? These writers, man. They’re just...so close to figuring out how to write a ship but just so, so far away.

I just want to remind y’all that the Oricalchos broke Valon’s arm but Tea and Tristan just walked away because they’re that hulk IRL.

I just love that Yugi is so short that Tea has to be on a ladder below him in order to have this pose happen.

After that awkward moment that Yami lost his entire mind and killed a guy, he had another weird moment where he just...looked down at his hands and was like “I’m the real monster?????”

He didn’t think about the moral consequences until AFTER he killed Weevil. And honestly, that feels a lot more like the Yami I know. That was maybe the most Yami thing he did this episode. Reminder, they got into this train duel while trying to stop a runaway train, and they did nothing about that.

So anyway, how’s this train going?

(San Jose has over one million residents but don’t tell Yugioh.)

And then, sadly, I had to say goodbye to my penultimate favorite character in Yugioh, second only to the storyboarder. Goodbye, forever.

At least the death sequence for the Caltrain seemed appropriately long, as it should be. Rex’s went ON but the Caltrain? Lets get that slowmo pan for it. Goodbye, first train in Yugioh (that wasn’t shaped like a dragon.)

And I just figured it was Darts who did this, but apparently Darts was just as upset as I was when he saw that train derail and then soar 500 feet above the track like a figure skater.

Y’ALL

First off congrats to Darts’ fluffy as hell lower eyelash extensions, I’m lowkey jealous.

Second off, every year on the ballot we get a measure that wants to funnel money into the Caltrain. Every single year. It almost never passes, and when it does, the money sort of vanishes into the aether. It’s really annoying.

To think that THIS ineptitude is what helped Darts loose track of Yami and I’m going to assume save the whole damn world.

I can’t believe the auto lobby and the corrupt Caltrain management just saved the world like that.

I can’t believe that’s Canon to Yugioh.

My expression when I found out that after we just mercifully cut the cast by two, they decided to stick in this new guy?

Ugh a new guy.

So Yugi and Tea do say at the end “you ok?” “yeah” so it’s nice that Tea can survive a train crash off a cliff into a ditch. Tea, and this reincarnated ghost. God tier.

Anyway if you just got here, this is a link to read these in order

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

I feel like I say every week “ah, I finally have time to catch up” but I still post at exactly the same rate anyway but...I guess we’ll see, huh?

#ygo #yugioh #Yu-Gi-Oh #Yugi Muto #Yami muto #Tea gardner #joey wheeler #rex raptor #Weevil underwood #Darts #very sorry to the Dart enthusiasts who just want to talk about the game darts #caltrain #Wow caltrain I'll miss you #This episode is Yami acting like a crazy person for like half the time and I'm all for it #S4 #Ep17

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pancake-man · 4 years

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i’m already cursed

This is my Pinescone Secret Santa for Pamela @ladynightmare12 ! She gave me the prompt Fairytale and I instantly knew what to do. I’ve been wanting to write something for this song for so long! Thanks so much, I hope you enjoy it!

Here it is on Ao3!

Story below the readmore!

Lyrics and Inspiration: Fairytale by Alexander Rybak

Years ago, when I was younger,

I kinda liked a girl I knew.

She was mine, and we were sweethearts.

That was then, but then it's true.

Two children, hair wild around their heads like messy halos, dirt clinging to the edges of their clothes and mud stuck between their toes. Smiles on their faces growing as wide as their eyes at each new thing. A stick bug looking for food. A deer stepping lightly through a forest. The call of a bird, shrill and loud above the gentle sounds of the forest.

Dipper’s cap is long forgotten. He doesn’t need to hide, not out here. His birthmark is clearly visible, freckles in an odd pattern, connected by a shaky line of pen. Wirt says he looks cool.

And Wirt, forever cold, even with the warm sun beating down on their backs, closed up in his cape. The ends are frayed and covered in burs, but the blue stands out brilliantly against all the green. Dipper doesn’t ask. It’s not important.

It’s a summer of laughter and running wildly through the woods, shouting Catch me, catch me! And hiding in thickets. Neither of them wants to leave.

But growing up is impossible to avoid, and both have their responsibilities. Dipper packs up his gap-toothed grin and Wirt abandons his dissonant laughter. The wind is ready for winter, and they say see you later! instead of goodbye.

I'm in love with a fairytale

Even though it hurts.

'Cause I don't care if I lose my mind.

I'm already cursed.

Sometimes Wirt is there. Sometimes he isn’t. Dipper is thirteen, his voice hoarse from changing hormones and from screaming into the silence hoping for some kind of response. He thinks he sees blue through the leaves, but it’s the sky, and he wants to give up.

A childhood of silly games and happy giggles is a fading memory. Dipper wonders if he dreamed it.

The awkward smile seems like a curse, haunting him at the back of his mind when he wonders what he did wrong.

Dipper has never been one for sitting around doing nothing, so instead he does something. He picks himself up and starts writing. He documents the way the temperature seems to drop around certain parts of the wood. He illustrates in rapidly-improving style the odd twists of the trees. He finds the money for a library computer pass and does whatever research he can. Maybe he doesn’t have time for anything else. He knows it’s worth it.

Every day we started fighting,

Every night we fell in love.

No one else could make me sadder,

But no one else could lift me high above.

Dipper is fifteen. Two years of research have given him a book of matches and bags beneath his eyes. The forest seems colder than he remembers when he steps into it for the first time this summer. Nine months of seasons and he still knows where each root and rock is, carefully making his way to the center even when he can’t see his feet.

The match casts shadows over the trees around him, turning the knotted wood into pained, twisted bodies, calling out for his help. Dipper isn’t there for them.

He steps closer to Wirt’s favorite tree, a towering mess of tangled limbs and leaves. The blaze of the match is nothing compared to the blaze of his eyes.

“Please,” comes the voice from behind him. Dipper spins around, his match extinguishing. In the shadows he can only make out the vague shape of a cloak. “Don’t do this,” the voice whispers.

“Why not?” Dipper asks, arms crossed because even if he can’t see Wirt, he knows Wirt can see him, and it’s important that Wirt know how pissed he is.

There’s a pause. “You know what I am, then?”

“I have an idea,” Dipper says, and it’s so hard to keep malice in his tone when Wirt sounds like that.

Wirt sighs and his shadow melts a bit. “I’m sorry, I couldn't-”

“Sorry?” Dipper interrupts. He actually wasn’t expecting an apology. “You abandoned me. You lied to me!”

“Lied? I never-”

“‘See you later’, that’s what you said. It’s later, Wirt! And I can’t even see you!” Wirt’s outline shrinks a bit. “I want more than ‘I’m sorry’, now. I want an explanation.”

The silence of the forest becomes deafening for a long moment. Dipper has to cover his ears, and then Wirt is speaking again. “Come again tomorrow, in the day. I’ll… explain what I can.”

“No,” Dipper pulls his hands from his ears. “Everything.”

“...Right. Everything.”

I don't know what I was doing

When suddenly we fell apart.

Nowadays I cannot find her,

But when I do, we'll get a brand new start.

Wirt isn’t there the next day. Or the next. Dipper’s research stagnates, and then one of his journals is lost when a leak in the ceiling soaks the pages beyond legibility. He’s seventeen and walking through the forest when he should be somewhere, anywhere else. He’s given up on seeing Wirt, but something about the air still calms him the way Wirt’s smile always did.

Dipper is eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Every summer he still goes back to the forest. He talks out loud to the rabbits, the raccoons, the birds. He tells them about his life, how he’s doing, asks if they could please let Wirt know he’s okay. Dipper is studying mythology now. He wants to be a researcher. The things he found on his hunt for Wirt lit something within him, and he regrew his passion into something more… productive. Dipper sits on a log, his head in his hands.

“Please, Wirt, I don’t…” Maybe he’s finally going crazy, talking to open air like this. “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand, but I want to. I miss you. Wirt..”

Dipper imagines the hand on his shoulder, and dreams the cold comfort he gets from it.

I'm in love with a fairytale

Even though it hurts.

'Cause I don't care if I lose my mind.

I'm already cursed.

The forest is no place for a home, not for him. Not for someone whose clothes and hair and mannerisms are all manufactured, manmade, fake. But Dipper stays close, his useless degree at least getting him a job as a forester. He clears fallen trees, checks on the wildlife, chases away hunters(not that the forest needed any help with the last one) and more than anything, he talks to Wirt.

Occasionally Dipper needs extra cash, and he’ll venture into town for odd jobs. The people trust him with their work and nothing else. The crazy man who talks to the trees he lives with. Dipper is fine with that reputation.

And with time, he’s happy. The forest is calming and protective of him. People are difficult and scary. More and more of his home leaves the grid, until he’s surviving on rainwater and old logs for firewood. He knows Wirt keeps him safe. Wirt is the one who leads him home when the skies darken, or to bushes full of berries when he’s hungry. Maybe he can’t see Wirt, but he’s there, in the trees and in Dipper’s heart.

She's a fairytale, yeah.

Even though it hurts.

'Cause I don't care if I lose my mind.

I'm already cursed.

Dipper hardly notices as he becomes more and more a part of the forest. Leaves in his bed in the morning likely blew through the cracked ceiling, or twigs caught in his hair are from midnight walks through the wood.

His face sags with content wrinkles and his hands grow knobby. Checking on the trees becomes painful as his joints creak and scream. He fashions a cane from a branch left on his doorstep. Pamphlets advertising retirement are promptly burned. Dipper is old, and in love, and happy.

Soon it isn’t skinned rabbits or firewood on his doorstep. It’s Wirt, his age indeterminate. He’s older than Dipper remembers, though he has the body of a young twenty-something. The only tell of his true age are the bags hanging heavy beneath his eyes.

“You came back,” Dipper says.

“I said I would,” Wirt replies.

“It’s time then?”

Wirt nods. “Is there anything you’d like to say goodbye to?”

Dipper looks about at his home, a rundown cabin on the brink of collapse, nestled on the edge of the forest he loves so much. “No.”

Wirt hums, sways awkwardly. “Are you ready?”

Dipper smiles, and seeing this Wirt relaxes. He smiles back.

Two men, boys, friends, lovers, soulmates meet in an embrace as warm as the sun and strong as the trees. Years of waiting, loving, proving themselves worthy.

The townsfolk tell stories of the crazy old man who protected the forest. He talked to the trees, they say, and one day he disappeared. His body was never found. The people know the rules: Never enter the forest alone. Never hurt a living being within the forest. Never disrespect the trees.

#ladynightmare12 #pinescone #pinescone secret santa 2019 #pinescone secret santa #dipper pines #gravity falls #wirt #over the garden wall #dipper gf #wirt otgw #fanfiction #i hope u like this!!!#larquill

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little-dragon-stories · 4 years

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She's my destiny (1/2)

Countdown to Christmas pairing writer Jimin and female reader.

Featuring OT7 and NamJin as the loving fathers of a little boy.

Ok guys, here it is.

First of all, I want to say an immense, a huge, a big thank you to my lovely princess @aspaceformyself. She made that mood board for me. She named Kookie «baby Koo» and I stole that nick name from her (with her permission of course) and she is the one who asked me an AU with writer Jimin and baker reader. I transformed the idea into a countdown to Christmas.

Princess, you know how much I love you already. There is not a day that ended without me telling you how much I love you (and you too… you love me too :) )

Also, fuck Elsa :)

So, in this very long story, we’ll have all interactions between Jimin and his girl, from the very first meeting to the final explosion at Christmas. It’s a long one that takes time to set, action is slow. It’s perfect for this holiday season.

Read the warnings but know that it’s a very comforting reading. There is no big drama, no real angst. But… there are some sensitive topics in it.

W.C the total of the whole thing is more than 18 000 words… I worked like crazy on it. Won’t be perfect tho, English is not my first language.

Warning: just because there will be question of it: abortion, child mistreatment, child malnutrition, a smutty part (nothing graphic). If you are homophobe and against gay people to adopt, you can suck my toes don’t read. Basically, my main warning would be: this fic is so long...

December 1st

So it was true, the weather forecasts had not been wrong. They predicted the biggest storm in the history of Seoul, an accumulation of snow on the ground worthy of the Nordic countries. If anything, the blizzard seems stronger than expected. Looking at your window, you haven’t decided yet if you would be happy about the snowstorm or not. You stand up, grab the cup of latte you had programmed an hour earlier in anticipation of the temperature. You drink your precious mixture of espresso, milk and honey, warming your fingers on the mug while looking outside. There was several centimeters of heavy snow lying on the ground, covering everything you see like a thick white blanket. The situation is bad enough for people to be snowed in, a premiere in Seoul. In a few hours when the city will wake up, you’ll see people dig to found their cars, little kids will built forts and snowmen. The more you think about it, the more you’re happy. It’s going to be a wonderful day. After a quick shower you dressed warmly, brushed your teeth and as you tied your pink and white scarf around your neck, you heard the beep of your cell phone. It was a text message from your best friend and no.1 employee of your french style bakery and coffee shop.

Taehyung: Boss (the new nick name he gives you that you hate so much) I won’t be able to do the opening with you. It’s hell outside and the roads seems atrocious. I’m sorry :(

You: It’s ok Taehyungie. You shouldn’t even come today. I bet there won’t be any customers anyway

Taehyung: Of course I’ll come, today we have to test our yule logs, remember? So many work to do. Gotta go, careful in the stairs, it will be slippery. Love you

You: Take all the time you need. Work is less important than your life. If you aren’t comfortable driving today, just stay at home. I will manage alone with the cakes but for a day only, I don’t want to lose you forever and ever :’( imagine my life without you

Taehyung: Don’t be dramatic :) See you

You pocketed your cell phone, grabbed the shovel by the front door and go out to face the storm. As soon as you stepped outside, you felt the bite of cold on your cheeks, the only part of your body that wasn’t covered under multiple layers. At the beginning, it was absolutely wonderful to look at the millions of snowflakes drifting down towards you but when the rigorous winds would rouse them suddenly, you were hardly able to keep your eyes open. Fortunately, you lived on the second floor of the duplex housing your french bakery so it shouldn’t take too long to clear the stairs and the entrance to the store. That was technically. You forgot to consider the strength of the winds that slowed you down, the heaviness of the snow and the fact that as you pulled snow out of a place, the wind swept around and came back to deposit a new significant amount on your trail. For now, you just want to get to the ground floor, clear the entrance and finally warm up inside the pastry. If you are lucky, Tae let you a croissant, a brioche or a cinnamon roll near the coffee machine like he often does.

You had never felt so poetically alone in this huge city. The astonishing noise of Seoul, even in the middle of the night was replaced by the violent gust of wind that swept up the streets and the sound of the snow cracking under your feet. The workers all seemed slowed down by the weather and the night workers still have to be digging their cars or trying to catch a brave taxi. Shivering, you managed to reach the last step. It took you longer than expected, you have to admit. You took a few breaks to let yourself be amazed by the charm and grace of this winter wonderland. You even became a kid again for a few seconds, sticking your tongue out to catch a snowflake. Or 2.

As soon as you reached the last step, you leaned the shovel against the wall and adjusted your hat and scarf, trying by all means to warm you up. You didn’t expect the temperature to be this cold. How do people survive such extreme temperatures on a regular basis? Finally ready to attack the last meters that separate you from the main door, you are surprised by a man you didn’t hear coming.

«Let me help you. You have work so hard to get downstairs» He started to shovel a path to the door right away.

«Oh, sir, it’s very nice of you to help me like that but I can do it. You don’t need to help me out».

«It’s alright, I love to play in the snow. It reminds me when I lived in the United States» he said. «Let me a few minutes and it will be done».

He definitely had a better technique than you. He was working fast too, probably because he was stronger. He was able to take bigger scoop of snow and sending it very far. What would have taken you 1/2 hour, he did in maximum 5 minutes. You let him shovel, way too happy with this unexpected help. He cleared the last centimeters in front of the entrance door than dropped the shovel on the ground. Taking off his gloves to release a strand of hair that fell before his eyes, he turned around and you could see his face for the first time. His cheeks were pink because of the cold and effort, his breath was short and his smile illuminated his entire face.

«Here you go» He bowed at you. He was the one who has done you a favor, you should be the one who bows before him. However, you were dazzled by so much grace and refinement. How can a human being have this perfectly sculpted face? «You’re ok ma’am?» He asked when he noticed your lack of reaction. Realizing he was talking to you, you pulled yourself together quickly. Bowing at him you said «I am very thankful for your help. Would you like to have some coffee and pastry or something as a thank you gift?»

He shook his head «No, I didn’t do it to have a favor in return. I just wanted to help you. I will continue my way. Have a good day”

«Something you could bring with you?»

«It’s very nice of you but I will eat my breakfast a little later. Maybe another time» he shrugged.

«Well, ok then. Thank for your help, it’s highly appreciated».

He vanished into the storm as fast as he had appeared, luring you with the memory of a perfect face with a dazzling smile.

December 2

«I’m telling you, she was the prettiest woman alive, almost to the point of disbelief» Jimin dreamly exclaimed to his brothers. «She was devastatingly attractive, the kind of attractiveness that makes you look twice, thrice. I watched her as she was shovelling the stairs, she was digging in the snow with grace if the thing is possible… and her voice man. She has a fruity voice. No! A singsong voice» he stated.

«Fruity? Singsong? What the hell are you talking about Jimin?» Yoongi asked while concentrating on the road ahead, the bad meteorologic conditions being a nightmare for the brave drivers.

«Hey, cut him some slack. He’s a writer, you’re not, he’s got his own way with words» Jungkook took the defense of his brother. Unperturbed, Jimin continued to talk.

«Thank you baby Koo! Man… let me tell you this. If the gods are real then this woman is their masterpiece»

«You’re being completely obsessed».

«Yoongi hyung. Let him be happy. When was the last time you saw him so excited about a girl, huh?» Kook asked.

«I’m not feeling it… what can I say».

«Then say nothing at all»

Unbothered about his big brother attitude and their debate, Jimin said with conviction «She will be mine one day. She will be my wife, there is no other way possible».

Never in his life Jimin has been so positive, so sure about something. For him, there was no doubt. It was love at first sight. He couldn’t explain why he felt like this. But he did.

«Hey loverboy! You have a long way to go before the wedding proposal» Yoongi looked at his younger brother on the back seat, using the mirror. «Maybe start by being brave enough and not let your shyness stand in the way… like accepting that coffee would have been an acceptable first step» Yoongi lovingly teased his little brother.

«Ooooooh, I guess he’ll have to go back then» Jungkook said. Jimin’s cheeks went crimson red.

«Have a little faith in me! I will go back» he muttered more to himself then to his brothers. «I have no choice but to go back, she’s my destiny...»

Yoongi and Jungkook shared a look, scared for their brother.

December 3

Hopefully, today won’t be paralysed like the last 2 days were. As the storm slowed down the entire city, customers were almost non-existent. Your only regular customers were Jin, Joon and their son YooSang. If it hadn’t been for them you would have been alone in the bakery, serving only a few rushed customers.

At the end of that day, while you leaved Tae the management of the place, you hang Christmas decorations with the help of your brother Hoseok. He offered you his help since he had no literature classes to teach.

«I’m telling you, this book is amazing, it’s so well written. I’ve never read a writing style so refined since... since… I can’t even tell»

«Hoseok, can you please focus here. You’re not really helping me right now»

«oh, sorry y/n» he laughed and held out the lights you’ve been waiting for, palm up before you. Smiling at him, you can’t resist the temptation to tease.

«Oppa! Books won’t keep you warm at night. You should really go out sometimes, try to found a nice girl...»

«… who could read me aloud?» he cuts you off. You burst out of laughter, dropping the light garland you were going to install along the cake displayers.

«I give up. You’re a lost cause». Ever since you were young, you’ve always seen him with a book in hands. He was the best big brother a little girl could wish for, always ready to read a story or invent one if you couldn't find what suited your tastes of the moment. Growing up, you became close friends.

It took you 4 hours to put a Christmas atmosphere in the bakery. You were often interrupted by customer starting conversation with you. Having always given warm and personalized service to each of and every one of them, they felt welcomed and they appreciate your presence as much as your cakes. This is exactly the kind of business you wanted to run when you opened it. A cozy, intimate and familial ambiance.

«Let’s go home now y/n, mom is cooking us dinner tonight»

«Yes, let me just see if Tae needs anything before you drive us there»

You just had to look at your friend, he understood your silent question. He lifted his thumb up and shown you his biggest smile, gesturing you to go away.

«Go have fun with your oppa.».

«Thank you. If you need anything, just call me».

«Yes, will do. It’s still ok if I sleep on your couch tonight?» he asked.

«Of course Taetae, you have the key. I may not come home tho, depending on how the night goes».

«Then I’ll see you tomorrow Cherry Pie».

And the cherry pie nickname was back. It described your relationship with him better than «boss». You didn’t see the handsome stranger who helped you the other day. He just came in and was now waiting in line. He, for his part, noticed your presence as soon as he stepped in. Not to mention, he heard the last words you exchanged with Taehyung.

«Oppa… Not coming home tonight… holy shit, she has a boyfriend» he thought for himself. Disenchanted, he went on the second part of the pastry where tables and chairs were spread around for people to eat in. It was a small eatery room and he felt good as soon as he came in the first time. He opened his computer and started to write, sad because of the conversation he just witnessed but having the best idea ever for his next novel. It will be about a cute… no a beautiful baker who runs a french pastry somewhere in Korea.

December 4

“Baby Koooooooo she has a boyfriend» Jimin whined to his little brother over the phone.

«Oh! No! that’s bad! How do you know?»

«She called him oppa and said she may spend the night when she was going out with him. Oh man! What can I do?» Jimin was frustrated, the girl of his dreams wasn’t single.

«I’m sorry hyung”.

«What am I gonna do?»

«I’m afraid you can’t do anything» Trying to awaken his older brother’s good mood, he corrected what he just said «No wait! I can go and kidnap him. I could hide him in mom’s basement for a year, this way you’ll have plenty of time to conquer her heart». Jimin giggled, he knew what Jungkook was trying to do.

«You’re so creepy sometimes. But even then, it wouldn’t work. She would wait for him and...»

«May I remind you that you never talked to her except to say ‘’yes, no, shovel and snow’’.

«I was able to read in her eyes Jungkook. I know she would stay faithful to her man, hoping he would be back one day»

«And I am the creepy one? Jimin, you’re scaring me» Kook mocked his hyung. He never saw Jimin like that. Irrationally in love. Well, he saw him like that once. It didn’t turned out well.

December 5

«Yoo Sang! Come here! Stop running between the tables» Jin said to his 3 years old son.

«I can’t appa! I’m too excited».

You entered the pastry at that very moment, coming back from placing an order directly with the suppliers. As soon as you saw your favorite clients, your mood lightened.

«Jin ssi, Yoo Sang! My favorite boys are here»

«Hi Miss y/l/n» the little boy told you. Coming to stand before you, he reached his arms out, ready to receive his daily hug. You squat down to be at his height and hold him very softly in your arms before you ruffled his hairs.

«Good afternoon y/n. We just built a snowman and made the longest snowball fight in the history. But the little monster still has too much energy» Jin said with a fond smile on his face.

«It’s not my fault appa. My legs won’t stop».

You and Jin laughed at his statement. Indeed, he was energetic. He reminded you of your brother somehow. The only thing that would calm him down was a storybook.

«Aaaaaw, you’re so cute.

At this very moment, your gaze was drawn to the window where two wonderful men walked while talking. You recognised the shorter one as the man that helped you the other day. You will never forget that smile and those beautiful eyes. Your smile spreads wider as you waved at him, not taking the time to think twice about your gesture. He nodded and smiled shyly in your direction then continued his way along the street.

Jin who saw it all, suddenly had adorable frowns lines.

«What did I just saw?» he chuckled «our little y/n and our little Jiminie» he was mocking you.

«No no no, it’s nothing like that» you protested, your cheeks blushing fast «he helped me shovel the snow during the blizzard a few days ago. He was so helpful and kind». Jin made a face that meant «yeah, I believe you».

«It’s the truth. We barely talked. I invited him in for some sweets in exchange but he refused».

«Oh! You invited him for a coffee? It’s even better than I thought» He was having fun.

«It was not like that Jin ssi, I swear. But to be honest… no forget it» you wanted to tell him that you wouldn't mind a coffee date with that man called Jiminie but you’re too scared that Jin would spit the tea.

«Let’s change the subject, shall we?» you said, pretending not to hear his jokes anymore.

«Yes ma’am. But let me tell you this. If you want to know more about him, ask me. He’s our neighbor». He blinked. You will certainly keep that information in mind.

«Yoo Sang, you want me to make your honey hot milk with my secret ingredient»?

«YEEEES!» the little boy said jumping with joy.

«Come with me on the back, TaeTas is there too»

«Youpidoo» he ran and opened the swing door in a bang.

«Thank you y/n, for treating us like family. Since he has no mom, you became an important female figure for him, you don’t know that but you are the first woman he trust”.

«Of course Jin. I love your family with all my heart. You and Joon are the most wonderful dad I ever saw. You raise such a beautiful and healthy kid. I will go before Tae and him make a mess in the kitchen, 2 kids together can soon turn the place into a disaster» you joked. «Say hello to your husband for me, actually, wait. I will pack him a crisp strawberry strudel, I just bake them a moment ago.

«Yaaaa, you’re so kind. Let me pay for it».

«Certainly not. It’s my treat for Appa Joonie” Jin laughed.

«Thanks, seriously. For everything. Please send Yoo here as soon as he got his hot milk. You guys are so busy this month».

«Will do. See you soon Jin»

December 6

Jimin was trying to write, but he couldn’t. His apartment was too calm, too silent. Also, the chocolate croissants that his favorite pastry shop offers seemed to be a prerequisite for his creativity. No, he has to face the facts. Viennoiseries, as good as they were, had nothing to do with his inability to put his ideas into his writing. He should rather blame it on the pretty baker who’s been on his mind for a week. He closed his laptop, thrown it in his bag, put on his coat carelessly and leaved his apartment not even saying goodbye to his brother Kook.

As soon as he opened the bakery door, the scent of Christmas ginger cookies enhanced the atmosphere, tickling his nostrils. A popular Christmas carols was playing and approaching the cash register on the left, he had a direct view of the kitchen. He could see and hear his favorite baker and her assistant singing this childish song in what it seemed to be a friendly competition of who will be the most ‘’off pitch’’. As soon as you noticed him you stop singing and with your floured hands in suspension in the air, you slowly walked towards the cash register. He was ordering gingerbread cookies and a big cappuccino to eat-in.

«Good afternoon! I’m so glad you came, I can finally pay you back» you told him. You turned to the cashier and said «please don’t charge for his order, he’s my special guest. Also make sure his cup is always filled and treat him with extra care».

«Yes ma’am»

«Thanks h/n»

You looked and that man in the eyes and couldn’t help but smiled at him.

«Well, enjoy your time here, sir».

«Jimin. My name is Jimin»

«Nice to meet you Jimin ssi. I’m y/n. Make sure you say hello next time you pop in”

«I certainly will» Realizing that his order was ready and that the queue was getting longer behind him, he bowed at you and headed for the second half of the pastry. With a dreamy look on your face, you watched him walk into the double doors, sighing.

You don’t know how long you stayed like that, probably just a second or two longer than necessary. When you turned around and walked towards your work station, Tae was flashing his teeth.

«Well, well, well...» he started

«Just shut up Tae, everybody is looking at us right now» you blushed.

Of course, he won’t let that go. But for now, his smile just got wider and wider.

«That was… so freaking cute» he said before he started that singing competition again, alone this time. You were too busy thinking about the beautiful man with a beautiful smile named Jimin.

December 7

It was late at night. Tae was squatting your couch again like he often did when you had long day at work. He lived far from the the city and sleeping at your apartment saved him transportation time. Since you’ve been best friend since high school, you din’t mind at all. He was talking to Hoseok that came by to give you some homemade food he cooked himself. Knowing that you spent the day behind the ovens and won’t be thrilled to cook when you get home, he often comes to eat with you after your days. Recently, these moments are later and later and it was his duty to inform you that he didn’t like it. At all.

«You are working too much y/n. Look, already 21h40 and you haven’t eat a proper meal yet”.

«I know Hobi, it’s temporary»

«Don’t Hobi me. I am your oppa, treat me with respect» Oh! damn, he was mad. When he insisted that you call him oppa, you were in big trouble.

«Excuse me oppa» you looked down «I know you are telling me this because you’re concerned. But I have Tae. The girls also, they makes the business run while we bake. I have help. I am not overworking».

«Yes. You are. Look at those black bags under your eyes. You also lost weight» Tae, sitting in the middle was very uncomfortable being involved in your family feud. He stopped to eat and with his mouth wide open, looked at both of you, one after the other as you were speaking.

«Oppa, it’s temporary. It’s december, the busiest month of the year».

«Then will come january. You will take january to treat your regular clients and you will spend the month creating new recipes for them, constantly wanting to offer them new things. Then, there will be february and...»

«Valentine’s day» Tae said at the same time as Hoseok.

«You’ll want to offer your classics. But you won’t stop there. You’ll want to create new stuff again for the love birds»

You know what he meant. He was right. You’ll have to hire a new baker, maybe?

«Hobi oppa» you compromised, not ready to let him win completely «I’ll take it in consideration”.

«You better. I’m really proud of you y/n, you’re an amazing person and really hard working. I know it’s your business and you want it to prosper. But if you kill yourself at work, you won’t win at the end of the day. How many months a human can endure, working like that….”

He continued to lecture you for a few minutes. At some point, you just let him talked, tired and not in the mood to fight. When he realised you weren’t listening to him, he got mad. He stood up and leaved your apartment without another word and without looking back.

December 8

Jimin was in line with his big brother Yoongi. He wanted to make him taste your delicious hot chocolate and your Yule cake. It was the middle of the afternoon but the luminous garland were already lit and christmas music was playing. There was a wonderful light snow outside and the temperature was warm. As soon as you noticed Jimin’s presence, you came to talk to him. You could feel Tae’s gaze on your back. He will tease you for hours, again.

«Hi Jimin! Glad to see you again today»

«Hi y/n, my brother is in town, I wanted to make him taste my favorite bakery shop”.

You smiled at him shyly, your cheeks blushing automatically. Unfortunately, the atmosphere changed when you heard your brother’s cold voice.

«Y/n?» he said and when he had your attention «Take off your apron and come here please». It was more an order than a demand. You knew what he wanted so you obeyed. He didn’t feel good at all and he only wanted to make it better with you. As soon as you faced him, he cupped your face and looked at you fondly.

«I’m so sorry for last night. I didn’t want to yell at you or make you feel bad. It’s just that I think you work too hard and we have less time together» he kissed your forehead and took you in his arms.

«I love you. I hate when we fight» he pouted.

«I love you too oppa. Come visit tonight, we’ll talk about it, ok?»

«Very good. Have a good day my little baby» you always hated that pet name. He used to called you little baby while pulling on your ponytail when you were kids. Today, he just said it to make you smile and it worked.

«Have a good day oppa and thanks for coming by. I will have a better day now that we talked».

«Yeah! Yeah! You’re so annoyingly cute sometimes» he teased.

«Hey, get away from here» You said not mad at all. As he walks out the door, you turned to Jimin and his brother. Jimin’s face has changed but you couldn’t tell exactly what was different.

«Are you ok?» you asked him, concerned

«Of course, I will take it as a take out finally. I forgot that we have stuff to do»

«Oooh, what stuff» His brother asked him but he let the question unanswered. Looking at you he said «it was nice seeing you again miss y/n. Have a good day».

«You too Jimin, I’m always glad when you come by» you felt the heat rise on your cheeks, you were certain that you were as red as a tomato.

«I will come back then» he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

December 9

Jimin was with his brothers, devastated. They were arguing, you being the central element of their discussion.

«Jimin, he’s her brother for the 10th time, I am telling you. Her brother. B_R_O_T_H_E_R»

«No no no! You didn’t look at them as much as I did. He’s her man. I lost my only chance to get married one day» Jimin whined overdramatically.

«Yaaa, don’t be like that” Jungkook said.

«Ok. Jimin. Let me say it again. He called her ‘’my little baby’’ like a mom would call her daughter. Not “BABY’’ he stated, insisting on each words. «He told her she was annoying with those proud brother eyes. I can tell, I look at the both of you like that sometimes when you’re not being stupid. And you look at Koo like that too all the ducking time”. He was half smiling, half annoyed.

«But… he kissed her. He hugged her».

«Yes he did. Indeed he did. In a fraternal way. He kissed her forehead. They obviously had a and he was just making things right with her».

«No Yoongi. You’re wrong. I heard him call her ‘’baby’’».

«Fuck Jimin, you’re so stubborn. He was teasing her. Plus, she was blushing when she was looking at you. She’s into you.»

“Baby Koo, you’ll have to come with me and give me your opinion» Jimin told his little brother.

«If it makes you happy, I will certainly do».

That night Jimin went into bed with hope in his heart. Maybe he didn’t lost his chance to conquer your heart if Yoongi was right.

December 10

Jimin came to your bakery shop today but you seemed concentrated. You were cutting cookie dough in star shapes and Tae was filling dry dates with what seemed like almond paste. He didn’t want to bother you so he went on the eatery and started to write on his laptop. Magically, when he was here, he felt inspired and words flown with ease. He didn’t see the time flies.

Couple of hours later, he couldn’t tell how long for sure, he was interrupted by the joyful scream of his young neighbour.

«JIMIN SSI» he came to reality with a jolt.

«Hey, my little friend YooYoo Jimin smiled and gave him a hand shake. «What’s up buddy?»

Hearing Yoo Sang screamed you left everything you were doing and came in the eatery. It was the late afternoon and you were about to close when Joon, Jin and their son came in. Jimin was your last customer and when you looked at him he was busy working on his computer so you didn’t disturb him. You couldn’t refuse a treat to your favorites clients so of course you served them hot chocolate and croissants. When you realised that Yoo was safe, you laughed.

“Miss y/n, it’s my neighbor Jimin ssi, he lives the door next to ours” he told you.

“That’s nice Yoo» You smiled at the little boy. Jin remembered your attitude the other day, the way you were waving at Jimin. He had an idea.

“Y/n, since it’s almost closing time, why don’t you lock the door and come have something with us”.

“Oooh, that’s a good idea” Namjoon seconded.

“Boys, I am so tired, I gave my employee the afternoon thinking it would be a quiet day. I was wrong. I am dead tired so yeah, coming”.

You came back with a fuming cappuccino for yourself and another latté for Jimin. You also had a jug of cold water and a basket of different kinds of treats for everybody. Jimin stood up as soon as he saw you coming in with that big tray in your hands.

“Here, let me help you”.

He took the tray from your hands and Jin made place on the table.

“You had a rough day?” Namjoon asked you.

“I wouldn’t say rough. I was just very busy. Aaaah, also a customer complained that he found a hair in his cake. He showed me the said hair. It was a short and red hair like his own! None of my employees have short red hair! I was so pissed when he thrown a tantrum in front of everybody”.

“Oooh poor you” Jin said “how did you resolved this?” You burst out of laughter remembering how the story ended.

“You remember my friend Tae? He told the man that we don’t need that kind of customers in OUR pastry and that he was welcome to leave without never coming back.

“Amazing”, “Wow”, “That’s my boy” the 3 men said at the same time. “I’m glad he was there”.

Yoo that came and sit on your laps as soon as you had sat down stated “of course he will be there, Tae is her boyfriend”. You ruffled his hairs playfully.

“Tae is not my boyfriend Sangie. He’s my best friend”.

Jimin was hoping for more information but you didn’t add anything being caught in a conversation with Namjoon.

For the first time, thanks to Jin and his good idea, Jimin had a nice conversation with you that went deeper than formalities exchanged over the cash register. For that wonderful 30 minutes spent in your company, he will always be grateful to his neighbor. From time to time, Yoo Sang would get down your laps and come onto Jimin’s and they would be in their own little world for a minute. He was just switching between what seemed to be his 2 favorite seats for the day.

«I love all your baking y/n but this one is my new favorite» Jimin indicated before eating the last bite of his ‘’baba au rhum’’ dipped in a cinnamon and ginger syrup (your personal seasonal variation)

«I’ve never tasted something that good in my whole life. I think I am addicted now».

«Then I should bake it more often» you shyly told him.

«Aaaaw» Jin and Joon scoffed.

«Sangie, your fathers are mocking me. What should I do?»

«Tickle them, this is how we resolve things at home»

«Good idea love. Tickle them for me»

He did as you asked him, the end of the day ending in a chaotic good mood.

December 11

You were about to close the pastry when a gathering of elderly persons came in. Tae was supposed to close with you but tonight, he was going out on a date so you gave him permission to finish earlier. You let the old persons take a seat on the eatery and invited them to enjoy their moment here. Then you started to clean your workstation.

You were looking outside for a short moment when you saw Jimin walking briskly along the street. You noticed his expression changed and became worried. He stopped suddenly and squatted, disappearing from your view. Curious, you approached the window. You didn’t see what he is doing because you could only see his back. He was leaning over something. You saw him taken off his scarf and carefully put something inside. He stood up, holding ‘’the thing’’ precausciously against his chest. He started to walked again, backtracking. That’s when you saw a little ball of fur in his arms. Not thinking about it, you came outside in the winter cold without anything else than your apron to keep you warm.

«Jimin?» You called out to have is attention. «Is the kitten ok?»

«Hey, well not sure… It was about to freeze on the spot… He’s not wild at all, it looks like he’s just been abandoned here.»

«Aaaaw, poor little baby, he’s so small. Keep him close to you» you said, coming closer to caress the animal. «We need to warm him up. You’ll bring him to your place?»

«I can’t, I live with my brother Koo and he’s really allergic to cats».

«Shit, let’s bring it to my place then» shivering, you buried your arms behind your apron.

«Jimin, I have customers and I can’t bring it to the pastry shop. You want to put it in my apartment? And maybe have an eye on him until I come in in a few minutes? I don’t want him to die, and certainly not alone»

«Wow! I am always the dramatic one normally, seems like I have competition now» he teased you «Yes, you have a good idea».

«Ok, wait» You ran inside, took your keys and gave it to Jimin.

«Go fast please. I have a leftover salmon in the fridge, please feed him».

«Will do»

The next 30 minutes your clients took to eat and gossip looked like an eternity. You purposely made dishes noise, indirectly signifying that you were ready to leave, you didn’t care if they think you were rude. The only thing you wanted was to go home and see if the kitten survived. The second they left, you put the key in the door and ran upstairs. You were not prepared for what you saw.

Jimin was sitting on the floor with the little ball of fur on his laps, rolled on the blanket that you use to warm up at night. The black and white kitten was licking his paw and scratching the back of his ears. He was purring loudly under Jimin’s loving gaze and caress.

«Oh! My! God! This is so cute… Look at this little thing» You said while you came closer. You sat beside Jimin and caressed the kitten little back. For the first time ever, you noticed how cute Jimin’s hands were. He had veiny, masculine hands but they were so small and cute at the same time. You were melting for both the cat and the hands.

«Our instinct was right. He’s a little boy» Jimin said interrupting your thoughts.

«Ooooh, he’s so cute. What are we gonna do with him?»

«Do you want to keep him?»

«I never had a cat in my whole life. Can I take care of it?»

«Of course you can. It’s really easy. If you want him, I’ll tell you what you need to know for now»

«Oh! Yes then. I want to keep him. He came to my pastry after all. It’s a sign»

«Technically, he was on the other side of the st….»

«Shhhhhh» you interrupted him «let me live in my own little dream in which he chose me to be his mommy».

Jimin burst out of laughter and he handed you the kitten. “Here, meet your mommy, little boy” he said. When he placed it in your hands, his pinky touches your palm gently. This simple touch made you shudder. His hand seemed so soft and warm.

«Look at his little black nose. He’s perfect isn’t he?»

«Indeed he is. He’s got his family genes»

«Aaaaaw, that was so cheesy» You mocked him.

Jimin stood up. He grabbed his coat and put it on.

«Stay with your baby. I will go buy some food, and litter. The basics. I will be back»

«Really? Do you want me to...»

«No, stay with him. Get to know each other better. I’ll be back soon».

«Thank you Jimin. I appreciate it»

Jimin left your apartment and suddenly you missed him. He came back 15 minutes later with his hands full of bags. He placed and filled the litter where you wanted it. He put some bowls on the floor and filled them with moist and dry food for kittens. He gave your cat all sorts of toys and after a last caress and kiss on the top of his head, he left.

One time only. He had come to your apartment only once. But you never wanted him to leave again. His smile, his sweetness, his energy. You already missed everything.

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