#Still not done Nona but I’m so close

[zombie-bait]

I can’t believe Gideon and Harrow had like 3 weeks of something approximating fun before experiencing 2 solid years of endless suffering 😭 lemme tell you, nothing could’ve prepared me for that or the realization that post book 1 these poor fuckers just never get to spend any time together, I miss the old days of One Flesh One End Bitch!!!!! We had it so good and we didn’t even know it

[literary-illuminati]

Books I Read In September

45. The Oleander Sword, by Tasha Suri

Pre-ordered this, and I’m entirely happy with what I got. I mean it’s got intrigue and angst and the literal and metaphorical selling of souls and lesbians and eldritch horrors and war crimes, what’s not to love?

But really, I’m pretty sure I already made the joke, but SFF lesbians and weird power dynamics around fealty and martyrdom sure are a pair, huh? (Or maybe that’s just a random bit of selection bias in the books I read/see talked about, but eh. I should catch up on Montress.)

Anyway, Malini is a joy to read, and the Yaksha are absolutely gorgeous and come across as rather believably alien, though I really do wish they weren’t quite so straightforwardly malevolent, and the temple/palace intrigues with whatever the asshole emperor’s name was and his priests was great. Can’t wait for book 3.

46. None the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

My other pre-ordered book of the year. And look, I am largely outsourcing my opinions on this book to the ongoing 24/7 symposium digging into every bit of symbolism and possible reference in these things going on here in the tag. But, like, book good. 

Also Pal and Cam, my beloveds. And Nona is adorable. 

I need to go scream in the wilderness a bit again.

47. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

This month’s attempt to acquire some Culture, via what was apparently the most influential book of 2007 (literally recommended to me because a coworker’s book club is doing it). 

But no, this was good! Very much of it’s time, though less in a ‘dated in a bad way’ way, and more in a ‘future generations of college students will get assigned this and told to write an essay about the cultural fallout of the War On Terror.’ 

It really, really committed to the whole ‘life story told in a conversation over dinner’ framing device, to a degree that books basically never do - the prose of the whole thing still felt conversational and like it could actually be said by one person to another. The constant asides to the cuisine being served and the order of the courses and everything did eventually start to grate, though. 

The big central twist is, well, barely a twist - except that the title gives you a very definite idea of where the protagonist’s arc is going to end up that you bring with you into the book. Still, really well done.

I’m surprised you don’t see the janissarya analogy made more often in modern polemic. Shoe doesn’t exactly fit, but close enough that you’d think it’d get some use.

48. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

I really do adore Murderbot stories. They’re just perfectly sized for a lazy afternoon or two of reading, they’ve got the plot structure of a tightly edited 40-minute tv episode, and they’re just great fun comfort reads. Perfect book pringles. (Also Murderbot is one of the greatest protagonists of all time).

This one in particular would have honestly worked pretty well as a finale to the series? Or, since it clearly isn’t, I guess ‘works as a season finale’ is the better way to put it? It resolves the central underlying plot thread that’s been running through the books so far quite nicely, anyway. 

I totally admit that aside from Murderbot only, like, four characters have made a sufficient impression that I can reliably identify them by just their names, though. 

49. Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky 

Hey, I finally finished the last Hugo nominee! Now to start feeling properly guilty about failing to answer that ask about my ranking/opinions from a month ago. 

But no, this was good. The only Tchaikovsky I’d read before was Children of Time/Ruin, so this was definitely a change of pace (obvious similarities in setting aside). The whole central conceit of ‘fantasy setting is actually the result of an apocalypse destroying a technologically advanced civilization and the descendents of the survivors viewing the remnants as magical relics and sorcery’ is so thoroughly cliche I think people just stopped writing it for a couple decades, but the execution is really well done. 

Nyr and Lynette are both fun POVs, anyway, and I absolutely adore anything that has multiple POVs seeing/taking part in the same events and interpreting them wildly differently. The one chapter that had two columns with Nyr providing exposition on one side and what Lynette&co actually understood him as saying on the other was great. 

Tchaikovsky also did a really excellent job of capturing the whole horror and grief and ennui of being the Last Of Your Kind better than I usually see, and also saying Fuck the Prime Directive, which is always appreciated. 

Also incredibly endearing that Nyr’s whole transhuman civilization gave themselves giant badass horns and then collectively decided to pretend it was for pragmatic utilitarian reasons. 

50. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

Because it’s 2 murder 2 bot month, I guess (but no all my holds on these really did just come in at once).

So apparently this was actually written after the novel, which I only found out after finishing it, but chronologically it seems to have taken place before? Which conveniently means I didn’t accidentally ruin any big twists for myself.  

Anyway, this was a fun detective story sort of thing. Murderbot being continuously annoyed at how much harder the lack of a dystopian panopticon made their job was a great running gag.

51. The Thousand Eyes by A. K. Larkwood 

Because it’s magical lesbians month, I guess. 

But no, this was a fun read. The whole setting and tone were very, hmm, D&D? Like a real mixture of super fantastical elements and generic fantasy things given different names (there are elves, and orcs, and for some reason specifically yuan-ti) and then the vision of society and the economics and the mindset and vocabulary of everyone who hasn’t been asleep in a ditch for ten thousand years is just incredibly modern. Not a complaint, it’s just very much a thing. 

My actual complaint is that this was like four different discrete stories stacked on top of each other and put into a compactor until they all fit in one book. There were a lot of times where I was kind of left feeling that Larkwood was relying on me knowing how a given story/character arc goes so she could just skip through the high points and then resolve it without necessarily building it up beforehand. 

(I also have a perpetual dislike for the plot beat of ‘oh no, the abusive cult who raised you was just doing their religion wrong. We’ve got a direct line to your/their god and he’s actually a great guy!’)

Interesting how minor a character Csorwe is in this one compared to Unspoken Name, really, but Shuthmili and Tal are both incredibly fun POVs so can’t say I really mind. Tsundere dragon goddess of betrayal and destruction was also a great time. 

[seashard]

kiriona gaia is written to be as shocking as possible.

the lead up in the novel is that pal has a clear plan. bring nona close enough and soul gravity will punt gideon back into her body and hey presto. it’s simple it makes sense. prevailing fandom theory has been that since you have her soul preserved courtesy of harrow, you have her body perfectly preserved, it’s neatly set up for her to be revived once the two are brought together.

but then they actually finally reach her corpse and there’s this awful unreality around Nona maybe ? hallucinating her opening her eyes? before she seems completely corpse-like again and nothing happens. then she does start talking but she’s so WRONG she’s callous and she’s been conscious for 6 months already and her jokes AREN’T FUNNY (her greatest sin tbh). like nothing is going as expected. so many people come out of her first scene thinking it’s an evil doppleganger or john puppet scenario bc it just seems so fake.

it’s in direct contrast to htn, where Gideon arrives at the end and brings a great sense of catharsis in “she’s finally back and she’s tearing to shreds everyone who wronged harrow over these past nine months”, but now in ntn is only adding to the confusion and pain.

when they’re in drearburgh this scene is set up so you walk in and it looks like Gideon has just killed a bunch of the ninth in cold blood, and you kinda believe it….

the deaths and resurrections in this series don’t feel cheap. in htn harrow goes through hell for the whole book to keep gideon’s soul intact. im not saying i need the characters to suffer, god knows they’ve done it enough, but you can’t expect gideon to go through everything she’s gone through and come out emotionally unscathed. other people have already talked about the difference in seeing her without her internal narration and her abandonment and loss of agency and possible ulterior harrow-saving motives etc etc (poor girl she’s got a lot going on). this is why i dont agree with theories about how harrow has the part of her soul that is her emotion and her heart or whatever. it feels like a disservice to her character to say it’s just a case of straightforward compartmentalisation and that all her problems can be solved by harrow giving her back her missing piece <3 (she also CLEARLY feels things about harrow and camilla and aiglamene)

however i am curious what is actually going on with her soul re: being restored to life/lyctorhood. TM’s comment about gideon’s happy meal soul and pyrrha’s comment would indicate that some of Gideon’s soul is still inside harrow

(Pyrrha’s knowledge tends to be pretty reliable, so I kinda believe she’s right abt this but maybe not to it’s full extent abt there being no retrieval possible whatsoever)

palamedes also gave an explanation for why a soul from harrow wouldn’t have gone back into Gideon’s body (jod’s meddling and warding to make her invincible)

if Gideon’s whole soul is restored to her body it MIGHT bring her back to life? it sounds promising but that’s what we thought about the original plan. a big part of john’s chapters is about the soul and how it’s the key element to resurrection, but then he hasn’t resurrected anyone since the main event. Unfortunately he’s very vague about the actual details of the resurrection itself 😭 so it’s unclear whether it’s a case of he can’t or he won’t. it seems like a decaying body would barely be an obstacle for him so Gideon’s not really at much of an advantage. however he’s definitely putting in extra effort for her than when she was just harrow’s cavalier she was begging him to bring back.

there’s also the question about the state of Gideon’s soul in harrow’s body. I’d say Nona still counts as being unaware of its existence and therefore not absorbing it but I’m not sure, especially since harrow did come back to consciousness in the epilogue. also the lobotomy is maybe still in effect?? but only in this one instance lol, not any of the times she actually saw gideon, but it’s a weird callback to put in.

I’d say that the most likely path is for harrow to resurrect Gideon by putting part of her own soul in gideon in an exchange like John did with alecto, but I’m not even sure if perfect lyctorhood is the endgame anymore. it’s such a controlling, sinister concept that I don’t know if it can be redeemed, but maybe like with Paul it’ll be the only option they have. idk though there are so many things answered but still so many questions 😭 like even with nona we have the vague idea that she is kind of alecto (but also she’s just. nona) but when it comes to the specifics like what are her upper and lower minds or the voice that said “fool. you’re killing her”, iunno. so i mostly just wanted to bring together some of the hints i saw. would love to know what other ideas people have!

[intercoursefluids]

Where Do I Belong? Chapter 2

It is 3:40 AM and the letters now look like colours. I hope this is semi-comprehensible but if it is not, I am sorry

This chapter mostly focuses on getting the ball rolling on Lila's redemption arc

3 weeks.

3 weeks since her parents had died.

3 weeks since she moved in, temporarily with Adrien.

2 weeks and 5 days since her Nona had been ruled out as a reliable parent.

2 weeks and 3 days since her Grandpa Rolland had been approved and she had moved in with him.

1 week since she buried her parents.

6 days since Adrien and Nathilie disappeared from the Agreste mansion without a trace.

3 weeks since her life was turned on its head and thrown in the trash.

Marinette sighed, splashing her face in the sink.

She was still hunched over the sink, scrubbing the evidence of tears from her face, when the stall door behind her opened.

In the past Marinette would have tensed up at being alone in a room with Lila, but she was just too tired, too numb, to even care.

For a while there was silence, nothing but the sound of Lila washing her hands.

Marinette, finished with drying her face, was almost to the restroom door when a wet, trembling hand grabbed ahold of her sweater.

Marinette turned, eyes widening as Lila broke down in sobs before her.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! It wasn’t supposed to- this wasn’t supposed to happen! It’s all wrong! It's wrong! It’s wrong! It’s wrong!”

Marinette crouched down beside her, confusion overcoming her.

“What’s wrong, Lila?”

“Everything!”

Marinette took her into her arms, at a complete loss of what to do as Lila broke down against her.

After a while Lila’s sobs softened into small hiccups, her breathing becoming more regular than it was.

“I never wanted this, you know?”

Marinette raised an eyebrow, staying silent to let her get her thoughts out.

“My mom and I  used to travel a lot, it's always just been us, drifting from place to place. The longest I ever stayed in one city was 8 months.”

“When we moved to Paris, Mom told me that we were here to stay. I didn’t believe her.”

Lila sniffs, wiping her nose on a paper towel.

“I started lying so long ago that I can barely even remember when it started, but I know I turned into a habit when I was around 10. They were usually harmless, I would tell just enough to seem interesting, to look important, and then we would move. I never had to worry about it, I was just having fun, y’know?”

“Then we came to Paris.”

Lila pulls away from Marinette, leaning against the wall instead of her.

“Everyone here was already so- so special! Nothing I could think of seemed like enough to make me important to you guys! So, I started telling bigger stories. I wanted you all to remember me when I left, but then I figured out we really weren't leaving.”

“By then everything had already spiraled out of control! Nothing was going right! First it was the lies, then it was Adrien, and then it was you!”

“You had everything I ever wanted! After a while, everything I lied about was just something that you had already done! You met Jagged Stone? I saved his kitten. You met Clara Nightingale? I helped her write her next song. You were friends with everyone! Everyone loved you! And I wanted that so bad!”

“And Adrien- Adrien! I really just wanted to be his friend, I just didn’t know how to make him my friend. So I started trying to impress him. When that didn’t work I tried to get close to him. When that didn’t work I practically welded myself to him so I could just get a chance at being his friend.”

When Lila pauses, Marinette takes a second to look at her in a new light. Noticing for the first time how tired and- sad she looked.

“After a while I realized I never even needed to pretend to be as incredible as I was making myself to be. None of you really cared about that stuff! You all had the same enthusiasm to me saying that I met the prince of Achu to Kim winning his swimming competition.”

“By the time I realized it though, I was in too deep. I tried to tone down my ‘achievements’ or at least make most of them real, for the most part. I tried so hard not to feel bad about lying but- I just couldn’t! It was eating me up inside!”

“I had been planning to apologize for a while now, but then everything happened, your parents, Adrien, it was just never the right time. And I’m sorry to bother you with this now, but I had to tell you. I’m so sorry Marinette, for everything. I don’t want you to forgive me, I don’t think I deserve it after all I put you through, but I am sorry.”

Marinette took a deep breath, allowing herself to absorb all of the information that had just been dumped on her.

“Alright Lila,I’m not going to forgive you, at least not yet but, if you are serious about trying to change. I need you to go tell everyone in our class the truth. They deserve to hear it from your own mouth.”

Lila nods pathetically, taking Marinette’s offered hand and getting to her feet.

“Will you come with me? When I tell them?”

Marinette nods and together they march to their classroom.

The reveal goes as well as they could expect it to, the class is hurt and angry but are willing to listen and try to make amends, with Marinette’s encouragement.

Everyone works to correct mistakes caused by Lila’s lies, actually putting together resumes and portfolios while they still have time instead of relying on Lila’s ‘connections’. 

Alya ended up putting out a message on the Ladyblog that she came to the realization that she hadn’t properly labeled several of her videos as satire, practice, and theories and went back to correct them, including not just the interviews with Lila but several others as well.

While everyone was still hurt and upset at Lila, in comparison to losing the Dupain-Chengs and Adrien’s disappearance, the lies hardly seemed like a big deal. 

That night, everyone went to be with hopes of a better tomorrow.

Tag List:

@Dontbenddontbreak

@Its-maemain

@Toodaloo-kangaroo

@Doll246

@Jennifer-rose123

@Razzledazzle247

@Cydaeashootingstar

@Madhatter-crazyasahatter-blog

@miyatalksshit

[pressradio]

I agree with you on hope : they killed it. After the summer m, with smiley Charle, upgrades that were working (not as much as McLaren but our car is shit so we couldn’t hope for much) and rumors about Carlos out of the team I was starting to have hopes again for 2024 (not a championship but on track to great results and proper racing)

Then they really crushed it. Still so many beginners mistakes. I struggle to see one area where they improved and we can say they are now good and we can rest easy on that side. Even pit stops while they improve we still have some bad ones while a team like RB are close to perfect. And when everyone is closer perfection matters on those things : Mercedes might have lost their best opportunity on a pit stop with Lewis in Austin (pre DSQ or course)

Mercedes is being messy so that helps, but they can be very quick at turning things around. Ferrari, it takes 20 years. And politics + fear of Charles popularity + pressure … Nona great sight.

Also we don’t hear about new recruits anymore. And while I’m happy close to nothing comes out of maranello those days while we had a rumor a day in the past years and journalist were being fed by Ferrari minions … it’s a bit scary. It’s a real issue to have a team only in Italy, they lose some big names that don’t want to move, speak Italian … I’m not saying they have to move because they are Ferrari it’s part of the identity but it’s one more cause of worry.

Yes, Charles was so happy and calm and it gave me so much hope and then they did this. THIS (I’m still not over).

They only positive point I see - pitstops. And engines stopped blowing up.

But we went from p2 to ?(I guess p3-p4) in constructors. WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT!!

I think they only announce top position and well I think it’s done.

I don’t know what to expect of next season (at all)

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

I laughed so hard tears are in my eyes and I keyspammed so hard I SOMEHOW stumbled on the keyboard shortcut that reblogs a post you’re in the middle of typing tags for.

Because I fucking....

“NINTH HOUSE

You’re in a cult kid, call your dad

Pray the tomb is shut forever. Pray the rock is never rolled away. Pray that which was buried remains buried, insensate, in perpetual rest, with closed eye and stilled brain.

The Ninth House is a house of secrets, a cloistered tomb tended by silent nuns and skeletal thralls. Tasked with a dreadful duty by the Emperor, the Ninth are treated with fear and suspicion, but command respect. It is rare indeed to meet a scion of the Ninth in polite society.

Want a different House? Time to enroll in Remedial Bones with Dr. Skelebone and retake the quiz when you’re ready. Got that? Done? Good.

Satisfied with your House-ly assignment? GREAT. Make sure you pre-order Nona the Ninth! Ianthe hates it when people support their favorite authors with cool pre-orders, and we ALL love to make Ianthe mad 😈 “

--

(I’m going to click the link for Dr. Skelebone and retake the quiz with the ONE answer I fudged just a little. That was unironically my answer for the Desert Island, One Book question, because... Studying Will Keep Me Occupied better than fantasy if I’m somewhere it’s too hot to enjoy.)

[ritacrow-blog]

-daminette

-introverted mari

-the usual class, adrien, lila, Alya! Salt

-Chloe redemption. She appoloises but leaves for New York a few months later due to bullying from the class.

- To distract herself from all the negatives in her life she immersed herself in work.

-has trust issues with strangers. Supportive Friends (Luka, Chloe and Kagami) and Parents.

-designs and sells her designs under MDC

-Solves cold cases while hunting down hawk-moth as "Nettie". (and because of this, hacking becomes a secret talent of hers) and reports her findings to the chief of police. Sabrina's dad (I forgot his name). Using Ladybug as the messenger. Ladybug explains to the Chief that she found someone to help track down hawk-moth, but doesn't want to be known. And that she is only giving acting as Nettie's messanger for cases that she just so happens to "accidentally" come across while searching for hawk-moth. So he sees Nettie as a "Robin Hood" just without the stealing part.

-She hangs out with Kagami but also learns how to use a Katana from her as an excuse to give to her mother. Like: learning how to teach people and is using Marinette as her Guinea pig student. Which Marinette then starts to enjoy. Especially when she needs to vent and just cut something down. And she eventually gets really good at it.

-the bullying gets worse

-by this time she's already gathering evidence against Gabriel and Natalie. Also finds out that Chat noir is Adrien. (she isn't very surprised). And makes a promise to herself that she will take them down before the school year ends.

-She goes to the Chief as ladybug to report what Nettie found. So they plot.

-stealing the miraculous from Adrien first before finding Kagami to be her Black cat for the final battle. And Luka as Python (different costume for identity reasons). They sneak into the Manor going straight to the lair where she found Adrien's Mom via CCTV. Heals her (let's pretend that LB has healing abilities. Ya?) and explains everything that is going on while Panther and Python search the area for the miraculous just in case. LB talks ladybug into getting Gabriel to surrender and she agrees. But Gabriel and Natalie storm in already transformed to fight. Not noticing Emily at first. When he finally does he stops. While Angry at them she convinces Gabriel and Natalie to stand down and surrender the miraculous to ladybug and face proper judgment.

-Ladybug, Panther and Python escort Gabriel and Natalie to the police waiting outside and Emily to get herself checked by the medics. Adrien is still asleep and unaware in his room. He will definitely be having quite the shock in the morning. His miraculous is gone. His mom is alive. Emily knows about him being Chat noir through LB. Is now under Emily's strict supervision.

-The last few months of school are loud after the news. Court hearing scheduled a week after the last day of school. Gabriel reveals Lila's role. Lila tries to get out of it but is proven guilty with evidence provided by Nettie. Bye-bye Liela~

- the class find out about what lila did and try to find Marinette to apologise.

-Marinette forgives but doesn't accept them as friends anymore.

Alya: "so now that we're friends again. Think you could get me that interview with Ladybug about the Hawk-moth case?"

Mari: "No"

Alya: "Thank you so mu-... What?... Why? We're best friends! True bestfriend help each other out!"

Mari: "exactly. Best friends help each other out. But where were you when I was bullied by lila. Heck the whole class. How about the harassment with Adrien. When I was clearly over him. We're not best friends alya. Not even close to being a friend"

Alya: "when did you get over adrien??? I thaught you were dating Luka to make adrien jealous."

Mari: (-_-) "I'm not. I haven't had a crush in adrien for 3 years now. I got rid of everything related to him. And I set Luka up with Kagami. They've been dating for over a year now"

Alya: "what the hell"

-not wanting to have anything to do with the class anymore. She applies for her last year in Gotham Academy (let's just say that she likes their curriculum: includes fashion design, coding and programming, and a kendo club. Kagami successfully converted her into a katana welding badass)

-Mari gets permission from her parents to move in to her Nona's apartment in Gotham.

- She leaves without telling anyone from the class. Only her family, Kagami, Chloe and Luca know.

-She arrives in Gotham and encounters Scarecrow on her fist day there. Gets caught in the fear gas.

-She sees her old classmates. Hawk-moth. Mayura. Chat Noir and Chat blanc. The Akumas. Purple butterflies.

-fights while under the fear toxin. Attacks every "akuma" (goons) coming her way. Unknowingly fighting the batfam thinking that they're "akumas". Until Nightwing holds her down and Robin injects the antidote.

Mari: *muttering* fuck you hawk-moth and your disgusting purple butterflies. *faints*

Red Robin: What the fuck...

Red Hood: I call dibs on Pixi pop becoming my sister.

Batman:.......

Nightwing: *looks at Robin* please tell me you heard that too...

Robin:.......

-Mari wakes up in the ambulance. Feels fine so she just hops off and goes straight for her bags.

Nightwing: where are you going? You still need to get checked.

Mari: I'm fine. I've dealt with worse. I'm just gonna go and get my bags. I don't trust the security here.

Nightwing: hey! Wait!

Mari keeps walking to her bags. Picks up her katana and straps it to her back and grabs her luggage.

Nightwing: Hey! You still need to get checked anyways... And questioned...

Mari: *stares*..... Fine. But please Hury I want to get to my place before it gets dark.

Batman: how did you fight the fear toxin?

Mari: it's called fear toxin... No wonder I saw what I saw... *looks at batman* I'm used to having to deal with my fears. I've had to fight them head on in Paris constantly.

Red Robin: Isn't Paris a peaceful city?

Mari: *scoff* peaceful my ass. It hasn't been peaceful at all the past 3 years. I've seen enough deaths and magical shit to last me a lifetime.

Batfam:......

Mari: *sigh* sorry for my language. I'm just cranky from not having had any sleep in the past... 1,2,3,4,5... 6...oh shit... Anyways... Look I just landed I haven't had sleep the past few days. Got caught in the attack. Somehow fought them of. Lost consciousness... Not even sure why I even woke up considered my lack of sleep...and now being questioned... And... That pretty much it really.

Batfam:.....

Mari: what still not satisfied?

Robin: you mentioned having encountered enough magic and deaths to last you a lifetime.

Mari:..... I did?

Batfam:......

Red Robin: yes you did

Red Hood: *mutters* why do I suddenly feel like I'm looking at a female replacement....

Mari: Oh... Damn... I'm not even sure if the blackouts been lifted yet.

Batman: blackout?

Mari: the media blackout...it should be lifted soon. Not sure when....

*Phone notification rings*

Mari: speak of the devil... Here.

*she shows batman her phone*

He goes through the news and 2 videos of akuma attacks.

Mari: can I have my phone back and go now? It's getting dark.

Robin: how are you getting there.

Mari: a cab.

Batman gives her phone back

Mari: am I done here?

Batman nods

When mari is leaving...

Batman: Hood, Robin keep an eye on her and makes sure she gets to her destination safe. We're going back to the cave to look more into this.

When mari gets out of the cab. She feels like she's being watched and followed. Discretely looks around trying to spot who's following her. (ladybug sense is tingling~) She shifts her katana to her hip just in case. While going to her apartment. And instantly locks the door and checks the windows. Wonders if they followed her... Then she spots Robin on the neighboring building.

Mari: ah... Its just them... Welp I'm off to bed.

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

Robin POV

Robin: She knows she's being followed.

Redhood: I'm not blind demon spawn.

They watch her enter her apartment while on guard.

Redhood: one of us should probably pass by her window. Just to let her know we're not goons. Pixi looks wound up...

Robin: ill do it.

He swings by her window. They guessed right. She was keeping watch.

Robin: something isn't right...

Redhood: no shit sherlock.

Robin over the comm: she's in. We're heading back to the cave.

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

Batcave

-Siren, Gigantitan, Hero's day, mourning star (saw this in a fanfiction somewhere. Its a sad one)

Redhood: Holy shit...

Batman: How did we miss this?

Red Robin: found a call on the JL emergency call log.

Batman: play it.

Video call from Ryuuko on Hero's day. Showing the chaos, requesting for help, getting controlled, dropping the phone and walking away.

Batman: who answered this call?

Red Robin:.... Green Lantern

Robin: wait... Scroll up... Its the girl from the airport.

They play the mourning star akuma video.

Mourning star: a widow that had a miscarriage. Mourning the death of her husband and unborn child. The akuma kidnapping children and killing them infront of their mothers. So that they know the pain of losing a child. (I know it's depressing... I found this in a fanfiction. Forgot the title. And it was way more depressing than what I just wrote...) (ill skip this bit)

Marinette getting children to safety. Away from the akuma. Calming them down and getting them to hide in an abandoned building. Distracts the akuma by pissing it of and luring her away from the nearby preschool. (she's badass both in and out of the suit) then suddenly transforms into a mouse themed hero while on the run. Divides herself into smaller selves. And splits up each going down different alleyways. (she never becomes multimouse again after this: she got compromised again. Let's just say that she staged this bit to get halkmoth off her trail... In case he suspected her of being LB). Then not long after Chat noir shows up looking for LB. When LB finally shows up... He starts flirting and causing even more trouble. Akuma gets caught. Butterfly gets purified. Magical ladybugs fixing everything and LB punching Chat in the face. The end.

Redhood: he had that coming.

Robin: She was a hero? Are there others?

Redhood: why? Got a crush~?

Robin: *blush* no.

Red Robin: found one. Evillustrator. CCTV footage...

CCTV: Evillustrator breaking into the top floor of a bakery. Then leaving. Chat Noir showing up. Marinette answering the door. Chat Noir flirting. Marinette sarcastic acting. More chat noir flirting. He leaves. Fast forward. She leaves the bakery all dressed up (Robin's thaughts: she looks cute... WHAT THE FUCK BRAIN!!!! NO!) (I changed it a bit hehehe)

They shift to different CCTVs until she gets to her destination. Meeting up with the akuma (Redhood: what the hell... She went on a date with an akuma?) (Red Robin: wait look... Chat Noir) (Robin: *clenching his teeth and fists*) chat noir sneaking on the boat. And laying low. Mari snatching something and throwing it at chat. Chat messed-up. Mari gets trapped with chat in a glass box with the boat sinking. Chat trying to find a way to get out of the box. Mari just standing there until she gets fed up. Grabs the baton and extends it upward while grabbing chat noir's tail/belt and flinging him towards the pier. Gives back his baton. Chat flirts again. Kisses her hand then salutes. Mari turns away of cam. (Nightwing: did that count as a date?) (Redhood: yes) (Red Robin: no) (Robin's thaughts: strong, beautiful, smart, tricky ... Just what else do you have under your belt... Shit I called her beautiful...) (Batman: follow chat noir)

Shifting again to other CCTVs. Stopping on one viewing a hotel. Chat and Ladybug already on the scene. Doesn't take long after that for the battle to end.

Batman: we need to keep looking more into this...but right now. I'm going to the tower. And deal with Green Lantern.

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

-after this Robin makes sure to make Marinette's apartment to be part of his patrol route.

-Mari notices but doesn't try to call him over.

-he observes her and finds more things about her. (a designer, a gamer, a Baker and if her katana and fighting skills is anything to go by... Judo?)

-Mari knows that she's being observed so she makes sure the kwamis are hidden.

One night she decides to embroider on her balcony.

-curious... Robin comes closer to take a peek at what she was making... A dragon embroidery.

Mari: are you going to stay there or are you going to come down here and tell me what you need?

Robin:.... This place is part of my patrol route....

Mari: I noticed but I don't believe that that's all your here for.

Robin:...... you're one of the heroes...

Mari:........ *she looks at him* ex-hero... Retired hero??.... Who cares. I've been compromised.

Robin: I know... But it looked on purpose.

Mari:....... What do you want? Did you need something?

Robin:....... I don't trust you..... Your confusing...

Mari: I'd be worried if you did. Trusting people you just meet... Not a smart move.

Robin:.........

Mari:........ Anything else?

Robin: No. I'll be on my way.

Mari: wait hold on a second... Here (she gives him the extra macaroons she made) I'm a stress Baker. I made too much.

Robin:....... I thaught that we agreed that we didn't trust each other....

Mari: I don't. Not completely. But I also know your not a bad person. Protective sure. But that's to be expected considering your cutrent occupation...... Just take it.... You've been observing me the past few days. You should know by now that I'm not a horrible person...here I'll even take one. (she takes one and pops it in her mouth) see? Safe.

Robin: fine I'll take them to the idiots........thanks.......(then he leaves)

Mari: hmm... Now back to work...

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

Keeps going on like this for the next few months.

Until its time for the new school year to start....

(I'm sleepy right now. I'll continue this tomorrow. I'll edit this same post. I won't be making it separate)

[itsmeevie01]

A Moment in Time: Ch 6

MASTERPOST

At dinner, Gina regaled them with stories of her adventures with Jason. When Tom expressed his surprise at some of the things Jason had tagged along on the Gotamite laughed.

“you do know the only reason Bruce got me was because I was caught stealing the tires off the Batmobile, right?” Marinette choked, snapping to lock eyes with her mother.

“I told you he did something stupid.” The woman laughed in agreement, while Tom studied the young man in front of him.

“who did you say adopted you Bruce Something?” Jason rolled his eyes.

“Bruce Wayne. Gotham’s resident billionaire, and the collector of lost children.” Marinette narrowed her eyes.

“This wouldn’t be the same Bruce Wayne that the entirety of the media has decided I’m either dating the son of or am the newest child of, would it?” Jason laughed.

“yup defiantly the same Bruce. To be fair, he’s been on a quiet kick with the adopting thing. We think he’s planning something. And, in my defense, the only reason I knew what was going on was Tim came into my apartment simmering in anger that the press was stalking him again[Jd1] .” He paused, “oh and I went to pick up one of the tabloids so that I could immortalize his shame and was met with your face.” Here he turned to Marinette. “if they hadn’t run that story, I may never have seen you again.” The watery smile that he was met with made him smile. Gina spluttered.

“Bambino! Do you really think I would have let you go without meeting my family! Honestly!” Marinette giggled, while her mother rolled her eyes.

“let’s go back to the Batmobile for a moment. What were you going to do, just leave a note after taking the tires? Write a quick thanks and leave?” Sabine’s humor quickly lightened the atmosphere as everyone laughed.

“no, actually. I was going to leave a red chrysanthemum.” Jason’s response made Marinette break into giggles.

“you were going to leave my sign? Jason!” the rest of the table looked around, clearly lost. Taking pity on them, Marinette went on to explain. “the red chrysanthemum is my favorite flower. It’s also one that we were able to get ahold of easily in Gotham. Jason always called me his Chrysanthemum because it means hope. He called my Chrys when we were with other kids so that I was harder to track. He literally called me his hope for years. It’s also why,” here she looked her grandmother dead in the eye, “they are the symbol for my brand.” The older woman tossed her head back in a laugh.

“Only you, Marinetta. Only you.” Here, her Nona focused her attention to Jason. “although I’m surprised I didn’t put it together sooner. After all, that is Jason’s favorite flower.” The young adult turned red. “he even has it on his keychain.”

The entire family all turned to smile at Jason.

After dinner, Jason and His sister climbed the ladder to the attic. Jason glanced around as his sister closed the trap door. The grey walls were covered with pictures of who he assumed were her friends. There were designs interspersed, and above the desk, a corkboard was filled with designs. A dress form was next to the desk, a grey dress pinned onto it, partially done. A chaise lounge and a collection of bean bags were over in the corner, and there were lights strung along the walls. His sister moved to lean against a ladder that led to a loft.

Now that they weren’t with the others, Jason could see her mask slipping. Tears started to tumble down her cheeks again, and Jason strode over to the small girl. “I gotcha. I’m here.” His sister clutched his jacket and buried her face in his shirt. Jason simply held his sister as she cried once again. Eventually, she looked up at him, her blue eyes still watery.

“Can we go to the balcony? I…” he squeezed her shoulders.“of course. You lead, and I will follow you. Anywhere.” A small smile was sent over his sister’s shoulder at that, and the girl climbed up the ladder. At the top, she fiddled with something in the roof. Then, there was a shift, and a small hatch above her bed flipped open. She lifted herself out of the hatch and gestured for Jason to follow.

When he poked his head out onto the roof, Jason was met with a sea of lights and the city around them. A moment later, he was leaning against the rail, while his sister curled up on the lounge chair. “I’m sorry.” Jason’s head whipped around to look at her, shocked.

“Why are you sorry, sis? You have nothing to be sorry for.” The small girl shook her head, staring out over the city.

“I…I left you though. I should have tried more to get back. I should have-”

“No. hey, kid.” she continued to stare over the city, fear obvious on her face. It hit Jason like a truck, as he studied her. His sister was scared that he would blame her. She was scared that he would leave her. She was resigning herself to taking the blame for a situation that she had no control. “you were FIVE. You couldn’t control what happened. Hell, even when I was older, I wasn’t able to do anything.” Jason pushed off the railing and squatted in front of his sister. “we were given the short end of the of the fucking stick as kids. Our lives are a mess, but in the end…” the small girl shook her head, blue meeting blue as they locked eyes.

“but…Jason. I don’t. I don’t deserve this. I-I’m just me. I just have…I’ve been given chances and opportunities. But I-” Jason reached out and laid a hand over her clenched hands. She looked down in surprise before releasing her hold on her hands.

“you have always been smart, creative, and kind. Life dealt you a shitty hand, and you have blossomed under the care of Tom and Sabine. You are becoming a strong, beautiful, talented young woman.” She narrowed her eyes, objection clear on her face, when Jason shook his head. “don’t think I didn’t notice the designs in your room. Those aren’t amateur.” His sister shook her head.

“but I left you. I left you and you were all alone. And I know that there’s a police report with your death on it! It was later revised, but it was there! for years. And- and- you were hurt. And I know that if you know Nona, then you weren’t safe when you two met. And it’s all my fault because I wasn’t there.”

Guilt hit Jason like a brick, settling in the pit of his stomach. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His sister blamed herself for something that she shouldn’t even know about.

“how did you know about that?” his sister’s hands started to shake, and she gripped her forearms.

“Are you mad?”

“no…sis, I…that file is buried deep in the GCPD database. The only person who can really access it are the bats. Bruce asked them to literally burry that information.”

“I hacked the GCPD years ago. I wanted to know if you got brought in. And then…one day, that…that file came up. It was horrible. I didn’t tell anyone what happened, and when they asked me later…I just told them that you were dead. I didn’t…didn’t explain.” Jason wrapped his sister in a hug and held her tight.

“you hacked the GCPD?” she tensed.“yes. I promise I-”

“that’s fucking badass, kid. I have a friend who hacks, all the time. She would probably love to see what you’ve done.” She glanced up, surprised.

“really?”

“of course.” She smiled and fidgeted happily for a minute. Then, the smile slid off her face, and she stared down at her hands.

“it’ll never happen though.”

“what? Why do you say that?”

“you hate me.” Jason jolted, staring down at his sister.

“what.”

“you hate me.”

“yeah no. I heard ya, kid. I just don’t know where the fuck you are getting this idea from.”

“Jason. You won’t even say my name! downstairs you did, but now…you won’t even say my name.”

“fucking hell kid. I- that’s not- that is not- of course I don’t hate you.” She snorted her disbelief obvious on her face.

“you don’t have to pretend Jason. There’s only the two of us up here. You don’t need to spare my feelings.”

“no, kid. You don’t- That’s not it. I just…you. Your name changed. I didn’t want to…it’s your name, whichever you choose but. I- I don’t want …I don’t want to call you Chrys if you don’t feel comfortable with it anymore. I don’t want to call you Marinette if that’s not who you are. I just-”

“oh” suddenly, Jason was knocked backward, his arms suddenly full of his sister. “I didn’t. I. thank you.” He held her close, and stayed there, knocked back on his ass, his sister in his arms, and the Paris skyline surrounding them.

His sister shifted eventually, turning her blue eyes on him. “I don’t care what you call me. As long as you don’t leave.” Jason smiled, relief flooding his system.

“never. Never again. I promise.” She smiled and leaned against him. the siblings stayed in their hug, blocking out the outside world for just one more minute. Eventually, Jason could hear Sabine call for them down below. Resignedly, he separated himself from his little sister. As they approached the trap door to return to the house, she turned to him and smiled;

“I do like the name Marinette. It’s given me a new start.” Jason smiled at her.

“of course, M. I think it’s a very pretty name too.”

His sister, Marinette, lit up.

A/N hey! how are we? questions? comments? concerns?

we are catching up with my AO3, so updates may not be as long soon. if you've read the companion pieces, do they make sense with the story?

see you soon!

TAGLIST:

@moonlitceleste @redscarlet95 @ultimatetornshipper @mochegato @liquid-luck-00 @maskedpainter @trippingovermyfeet @nathleigh @m0chick0furan @susiej1118 @t1dwarrior-of-earth @sassakitty @remy-289 @laurcad123 @iamabrownfox @corporeal-terrestrial @girl-in-thechair

[starrylane]

My girlfriend @today-is-not-over and I have been talking about who's the body who's in the body and all that. Separate to this, we believe that the body Harrow grew up seeing is Anastasia. I threw out that it could be Anastasia in Anastasia's body, just with amnesia - But that wouldn't fit with the whole Nona being worried about having to give the body back.

But what is it's Samael?

Gideon prime compartmentalized Phyrra without realizing, so is it really so far fetched that Anastasia would have done the same for Samael after getting so fucking close to perfect lyctorhood, even with Jod's interference? What if a kernal of Samael was still in there and due to the chaos of the beast, being flushed into the river, whatever happened at the tomb (particularly with the sun flickering) he came to the surface but totally memory wiped. Someone tell me if I'm wrong but I don't believe we have any insight into what Samael was like, so who's to say Nona isn't behaving how he would behave?

My girlfriend also suggested that the crush's grumpy cousin might be Cassiopeia, if Cam is the crush. The obvious cousin would be Palamedes, but IF we're dealing with either Anastasia or Samael, then Cassiopeia coming back into the picture would help us answer some questions here. Maybe too many questions, but TM did say we'd get some answers right away in Alecto-now-Nona.

(this is of course dependant on the theory that she didn't actually die but only faked her death)

I'm writing this slap dash right before we're going to bed so hopefully this is coherent. I might come back to link the other theories and reorganize later, but who knows

**edited for spelling

[writer-panda]

The Hit on the Groom and What Became of It - Chapter 4/I’ll never let you down (in an open casket)

Chapter 1  -|-  Previous -|- Next

The Hit on the Groom and What Became of It - Chapter 4/I’ll never let you down (in an open casket)

-----------

As she hanged up, Marinette rushed to the doors and let her mother in. The previous night she spent mostly on working with Kwamis to prepare. Most were in agreement that she needed to act and not leave her kitty’s fate to chance. Tikki protested for a bit, but in the end, she saw that there was no changing Marinette’s mind and joined in on scheming. Except she had no way of tracking Adrien. Not… until she received the call!

Except now her mother entered. Sabine greeted her daughter by giving her a bone-crushing hug. 

“I was so worried! When the police called I couldn’t just sit there and wait!”

“Maman. It’s alright. I’m okay. See?” The girl did break away from the hug and smiled.

“I know. But I couldn’t help but worry.”

“Maman… Adrien’s been kidnapped.”

“I know.” Her mother’s expression didn’t reveal any emotions now.

“I… he’s been miserable ever since that wedding mess, and now this.”

“I know.” Again, nothing. 

“He’s my friend.”

“Not the love of your life?” Sabine questioned with a bit of amusement in her voice.

“No. He doesn’t need another fangirl. He needs a friend. Someone who can support him. I… I wasn’t a good friend before this…” She didn’t reveal that she wasn’t a great partner either. Chat hid things well, but from time to time his shell cracked. She should’ve seen the signs. She could’ve done something. Or at least do something with Lila. She had connections and Lila deserved a lawsuit or five. 

“Oh, sweety. You were a great friend. You are a great friend. I’m happy to see you’re not about to chase after some misguided love, but after friendship.”

“I know I’m only… wait, what?” Marinette.exe stopped working. If the problem keeps repeating itself, please contact customer service or the nearest Kwami. 

“When I was fifteen, I dropped out of… school to explore the world on my own. It wasn’t until a few years later that I met your father.” Sabine said in a bit dreamy voice like she was reminiscing. “We had several adventures across Europe before finally settling down in Paris.”

“But… Papa’s a baker.” Marinette protested. “I thought he was always a baker, like his father.”

In response, her mother chuckled. “No. Your father had much more in common with your Nona than with his father. I met him when he was fighting in an underground cage-fighting club.”

“Whoa…” Marinette’s eyes widened. That was a story she never heard before. “So how did you two got together?”

“I will tell you some other time. The point is, I know that even if I took you to Paris with me, you would’ve run away to look for your friend.”

“Maman!” For a moment, the girl wanted to protest. But then she decided that there was no point. “Yes… you’re right. But I can’t just let it happen! If the police find him, he will end up back with his father!”

“I know. And what’ll you do about it?” Her mother had this mysterious smirk on her face.

“I guess… I need to be the one to find him. I will get him situated somewhere safe. Maybe stay with him for a bit. He’s smart. And a quick learner.” He mastered being a superhero faster than I did.

“Good. Then you have my blessing.” 

“I can’t just abandon-” Marinette.exe stopped working again. Contacting the customer service might be in order. Technically, Sabine kept hinting about it. Practically, Marinette would miss a clue even if she was holding a gun to its head. “I have your what now?”

“You can go. Save him. Find yourself. And maybe kick some asses while you’re at it.”

“Most parents would be worried sick about their not-yet-adult children running off to an adventure.”

“You wanted to know how I met your father. The answer is I was the first to beat him in that cage.” Sabine’s smirk was replaced with a serious expression. “Of course I will worry, sweety. I’m your mother. But holding you back now will not help you. You’re a strong young woman and to be fair, I’m not sure how we could hold you down. You have steady access to the rooftop and two years of parkour training.”

“What now?”

“Did you honestly think we wouldn’t notice you sneaking off through the balcony?”

“And you didn’t even tell me?” 

“It would be hypocritical of us.” Sabine defended. “And if the worse came to happen, I had several… souvenirs from our travel around the world.”

“Thank you, Maman. I promise I will come back; And call you often. Well, maybe not too often.” Marinette already dashed to start packing. 

“Of course you will. And don’t get into too much trouble. I would hate to have to go and find you.” Sabine threatened with a bright smile on her face. 

“I’ll try, Maman.” The girl was only half-listening now. She couldn’t waste any more time. She learned how to trace the call about one-and-a-half years ago when she was still a bit ‘stalker-ish’. 

Sabine watched her daughter with amusement. So many memories returned to her now. Youth mostly well-spent if someone asked her. The ‘mostly’ part came to bite her just that moment as her phone pinged. She quickly checked the message and frowned. 

“I’m sorry, my little cupcake, but I need to go check it. An old friend turns out to be in town.” 

“I’ll call you later!” Marinette called from where she was furiously working on her laptop. 

When Sabine left, the kwamis swarmed her immediately.

“Your mom is so cool!” one of them cooed.

“And she’s one bad-”

“Roaar!” Tikki scolded the tiger kwami. 

“What’s the plan, pigtails?”

“Adrien’s call was made from within Gotham City. He’s still here for now. I also managed to track him to Burnley.”

“Didn’t that mercenary you called mention some Lawton?” Trixx offered.

“Yeah. I did try to search him up, but the only one with that name that I managed to find is Zoe Lawton. Wait. There is more!” She beamed up. “An old article in some Mexican newspaper.” She clicked on the link and read it aloud for her co-conspirators “Floyd Lawton, also known as Deadshot, was recently arrested after an assassination of a small group of smugglers. It is yet unknown if it was a hit or was it personal.” The article went on, but there was nothing more of interest.

“So the guy’s a mercenary too? That’s good. He’ll bring Adrien to you.”

“Not so fast. I remember hearing about him. Deadshot is one of the few mercenaries who try to keep some resemblance of a code. He’s also noted to be soft around children.”

“Isn’t Adrien almost an adult though?” Kaalki asked rather uncaring.

“Have you met the guy? He’s a literal ray of sunshine!” Plagg protested.

“So… he won’t deliver him and won’t return him.” Seeing that some Kwamis didn’t understand her logic, she clarified, “I don’t think that if he learns how Gabe treated his son he will be in any hurry to return him.”

“That makes sense.” The little being all nodded in agreement.

“So what’s the alternative?”

“He could adopt him,” Ziggy suggested.

“Please.” Marinette dismissed the idea. “He’s not Bruce Wayne.”

“He could smuggle him out of the country.”

“No. Everyone’s looking for him.” Roaar countered. “He would try to lay low somewhere.”

“Burley is large and full of potential safe houses.” Marinette started to think. “But there is also a large concentration of organized crime. Alone, we would have a hard time, but if we got them to help…”

“Is it wise to involve more criminals into your schemes Marinette?” Tikki asked skeptically.

“Don’t worry, sugarcube. To catch a bird you need wings. To catch a criminal you need crime.”

“I’m not sure that’s how it works.”

“What’s the worse that could happen? I will go there as Seamstress. I won’t even appear in person. Right, Trixx?”

“You can count on it.” The fox kwami grinned.

“But… but…” Tikki wanted to scream her head off. Why did the previous guardian choose a juvenile criminal for her holder. Marinette used to be such a sweet girl. Where did Tikki go wrong?

---------

It was dark when an eerie mist filled one of the less-than-legal clubs in Burnley. From among the smoke, a figure entered. She was wearing a godet-type black dress with a side-cut that reached to her belt. The dress was overlayed with a very visible deep-blue corset that pronounced her blue eyes. It had some intricate laces on it. She also wore a puffy-sleeved blazer (also black, but with a dark blue finish) with large and very pronounced cuffs. Around her neck was a white double jabot fixed to a choker with a large black gem surrounded by diamonds. Her long deep-blue hair was let loose and hung over her shoulder. A simple black-and-white domino mask hid her features.

As she marched, one of her legs shifted the fabric to reveal she was wearing dark-blue socks reaching above her knee and black leather boots. A knife was strapped to the right one and several leather strips around her thigh and knee suggested she had more weapons on her. 

One of the men whistled.

“Looks like the entertainment arrived, boys!” Several cheered at that shout. At least until the man who dared to say it ended pinned to a wall with a rather large needle holding his jacket in place. It was also uncomfortably close to his jugular. 

“I’m not entertainment.” The Seamstress hissed. 

“Then you’re not invited.” Several men got up, many were holding now-empty bottled which they turned into impromptu weapons. 

“You will help me find what was taken from me.” She demanded.

“Yeah? Or?” One of the men laughed before charging at her. 

What followed next was perhaps the strangest carnage Gotham City has seen in years. The Seamstress danced between the attacks with almost unnatural grace and agility while stabbing the attackers in various places with large needles. None of the hits were life-threatening and most would heal within hours. The wounds were meant to incapacitate with minimal long-term damage.

By the time she reached the far end of the bar, almost every man was laid out on the ground groaning in pain or scrambling in fear.

“I am not asking. You will be rewarded for your obedience.” She then disappeared into the back alley. One brave/foolish enough who still had some fight left rushed after her, only to find the place completely empty. 

On the rooftop, Marinette let out her breath. She didn’t use any miraculous for that one, but she kept Plagg’s ring on. Chat Noir wasn’t seen in some time, so it would’ve been easier to explain that the ring was stolen by a criminal. She would really need to thank her mother for all the training she forced on her ever since the Akumas started to appear, as well as the lessons during her childhood. Those were all only the most basic grunts tonight, but she got their attention. One of them would run to their boss. There, she could actually do what she planned. 

--------

Just like she predicted, some of the less injured guys left the bar in hurry and drove their bikes to another part of the district. They disappeared into a three-story building. The windows were boarded, but some light seeped through on the top floor, so that is where she climbed. Indeed, by hanging on the edge of the window sill, she was able to hear the panicked screams inside.

“...and then she just disappeared! It was like that damn Bat, only much more terrifying. She was so small, and yet there was this… this… aura of power.”

Thank you Chloe for being queen B. Marinette stifled a laugh. Mimicking Chloe was the right choice. 

“Probably another one of his useless brats.” The boss dismissed them. Marinette decided that it would make the best impression if she contradicted him right now.

She wondered for a moment how to enter the armored building. She could rip the boards away and enter that way, but she was aiming for ethereal, not brute. In the end, she pulled a pair of glasses and put them over her mask. 

“Kaalki. Would you please help me break into headquarters of a criminal organization to scare them into serving me?”

“How many sugar cubes is it worth?”

“Ten. No more, no less.” Marinette had a small window of opportunity. 

“You’ve got a deal.” 

“Kaalki! Full gallop!” The light enveloped Marinette. When it died down, she was still in her outfit, only now the blue accents were brown instead. The gem on her neck held the symbol of a horse miraculous. “I love magical clothes. So easy to maintain the image.” Marinette muttered before a blue portal opened before her and she entered.

Inside, the five men (two who came to report, the boss, and his two guards) watched as the blue portal opened before them. The mist started to pour through it as well as through the boarded window. A figure calmly stepped inside.

“I didn’t expect the Gotham criminal organizations to be so… cliche.” She commented. Two needles sailed through the air and pinned the guards to the wall. Her horseshoe weapon waited patiently on her back should she need to use it.

“Who… who’re you?”

“Me? Oh. I’m The Seamstress. I had business in Gotham, but a fool dared to double-cross me. I need to find him.”

“Why… W-why shou-should w-we help… help you?” One of the guys from the bar asked.

“Oh. I’m not asking. I’m telling you that you’ll help me.” She informed. “I’m about to make you an offer you shouldn’t refuse.” 

The boss was now shaking. Damn city with its damn overpowered supervillains. They think they can simply run things as they want. First Red Hood took out most of the top brass of the underworld and then this? Working on his father’s farm was sounding more and more appealing. Then there was the shouldn’t. The reference to the classic movie was not lost, but she said shouldn’t. Not can’t. Once more he remembered how Red Hood took over. Submit, or die. This was the same. She clearly wouldn’t hesitate. He liked to think he could see those things. 

“I’m waiting.” The lady growled. “I’m not used to waiting.” Channeling Chloe is actually fun here. 

“Fine. You can have my seat. I’m going back to dad’s farm. Just let me go and you can have them.” The boss stood from his seat and motioned for her.

Marinette.exe is not responding. Do you want to execute the process? Not yet. 

She managed to keep enough cool to smile and take the seat, although she didn’t even register what was that. 

She would panic later. For now, tracking Adrien. “I need to find where Floyd Lawton, also called Deadshot, is hiding with my… asset.”

“It… I will see to it, Boss… lady.” One of the guys from the bar nodded very fast before rushing out of the room.

“I… will bring you the list of current assets.” One of the guards informed and walked somewhere. They were used to aggressive takeovers. This was their third. Boss change, guards remain. This was honestly the first time the previous boss managed to escape with his life. 

Meanwhile, Marinette finally realized what just happened. She really wanted to hit her head on the desk, but she was too afraid to show any signs of weakness. Why did she end up in this mess again?

----------

Sabine Cheng was waiting for her plane back when an airport guard approached her.

“Lady Cheng?” Sabine’s blood froze for a moment, but she refused to show any outward reaction at her past codename. “There is a man who wishes to discuss some… past debts.”

Damn it. And here she thought that bald bastard would forget about her. He had several more suitable people. He knew the risks of angering her.

Then again, she knew not to anger him either.

“Lead the way.” Her face was stone cold as she stood up. 

Inside a comfortable private lodge sat a blad man in a suit more expensive than the yearly revenue of her bakery. 

“Ah… Lady Cheng. I’m so happy you could’ve joined us.”

Sabine looked around and noticed that there was another man there, standing slightly in the shadows. A man she came to despise just as much as Luthor. Standing there was Gabriel Agreste.

“I can’t return the pleasure, Luthor.” She snarled, not letting her gaze drop from Agreste.

“Figured you’d say that.” The billionaire laughed. “But it doesn’t change that you came.”

“Be quick. I’ve got a plane to catch.”

“About that.” Lex smiled. “I’m afraid you won’t be on that plane. I need you to do something for me.”

“Sadly, my calendar is full for the foreseeable future.” She retorted coldly.

“Then you will clean it. Unless that is, you want me to tell my good friend the president about your little assignment for me twenty years ago. If I recall, your pardon didn’t cover that particular crime.” The man chuckled.

The only upside of this whole situation to Sabine was that Agreste finally realized exactly who she was. Or at least how dangerous she was. The deal she made ensured that Lady Cheng disappeared from everywhere but some people’s memory. To her dismay, Lex didn’t forget. And he still had that damning evidence.

She also knew exactly what was the job.

“I don’t do jobs involving kids, Luthor.” She seethed through gritted teeth. It wouldn’t matter, but she hoped it would at least give him a pause.

“Adrien Agreste was about to be married. I think that can calm your conscience. He was all but adult.” That despicable man dismissed her concern, as she predicted.

“I’m a little rusty. Don’t you have someone younger? Someone who would actually want to do this?” Sabine deadpanned. She kept true to the deal she made for her and her husband’s pardon and didn’t do any… extracurricular work.

“Alas, the fact you’re unwilling is why I need you. You see, the client, whoever they are, picked Agreste Jr. as a target in a… battle royale of sorts. It quickly stopped being about the ludicrous money reward. It’s now about proving who’s the best. And they won’t stop until they deliver him to that mysterious Seamstress.”

“So what do you want? I’m sure you could’ve bought some of them to drop the glory part.” She really didn’t want to do this.

“I offered to pay five times the price, but most of the competent ones want a shot at whatever that job is. A mysterious benefactor with no history, nonexistent in any database in the world, paying a small fortune for a simple job and offering further work? Doesn’t it sound familiar?” Lex reclined in his chair and smiled.

“One job only. I want everything you have on me. And ten times the bounty.” She noted his discomfort. “Don’t give me that look, Luthor. You can afford it. My daughter’s about to start a university.” Sabine turned to Gabriel. “I must thank you for the idea. Homeschooling really helps when one is gifted.”

“I’m sure we can come to an agreement,” Lex grumbled. If he didn’t know the quality of her works, he would’ve laughed at the price. Except he foolishly revealed that he was desperate.

“Oh, I’m sure we can.” Sabine smiled. She was like a cat that just caught a mouse.

[cassava-49]

Death 1

Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7

The water looks so inviting mostly after all that has happened to you. Marinette felt numb, not really caring whether or not people, other than her family, would care. She didn't feel like the bubbly girl that she was since the start. She didn't feel the responsibility of being Ladybug surge through. All that filled her head was how everyone in class turned against her because of Lila's lies.

"Marinette can you stop being so jealous and possessive and manipulative for once!" Alya shouted at her. "Alya, can you stop blaming Marinette for once!" Adrien shouted back. "I know that Lila's lying and I know Marinette's telling the truth. Can you stop! For once, stop thinking that Lila's such a perfect angel!" he added. "Adrien, just stop, please," Marinette pleaded him. "I-i-it's a-alright Alya, Ma-ma-marinette didn't mean to," Lila cried, hiding her victorious grin. "Sh, sh, don't worry Lila, but it's not okay," Alya comforted her. "Dude, you should apologize," Nino said to the pair. The two then scowled at their ex-best friends, but before they could retaliate, Natalie appeared to the scene. "Adrien," she sternly called. He flinched, knowing what will happen. He then took Marinette by the wrist and walked towards the exit with Natalie following behind. "I'm sorry Adrien," Marinette said as he got into the car, he then gave her a sad smile and a curt nod.

That night she waited for his call. Anxiety teasing through her body, finally after dinner, she heard her phone ring. She immediately answered it and heard Adrien's shaky voice on the other line. "What happened? How did it go?" she asked. "H-he, m-my father," he stuttered. "He's pulling me out of school," he said. "What! Why?" she asked, worry slowly sunk in. "He said that you're a bad influence and so is the school, he's sending me to New York," he replied. "I-I'm so sorry Adrien," she replied, feeling the tears attempting to escape. "It's alright, it was my choice anyway. It was either going to school but ignore you, or go to a different country but be able to contact you," he replied. "If I chose the former, it would break my heart seeing you, and it's not like I have any other friends," he added. "Promise that we'll keep in touch," she whispered. "I promise, but I've got to go now, I need to do something," he answered. "Yeah, sure, good night," she replied. "Good night," he responded.

Once the call ended she summoned her transformation to vent out by swing across the city. She arrived at their rendezvous point to find a crying Chat. Without hesitation she walked to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Chat, are you ok?" she asked. "My lady," came his response. She then sat beside him as she let go. "What's wrong?" she queried. "I'm leaving," he replied. "Why?" she asked. No please, not Chat, I can't lose them both at the same time, she thought. "My father, he wants to transfer me to New York," he answered. "That's why I have to give up being Chat Noir. I'm sorry," he said in between sobs. "When?" she pressed. "Tomorrow, he already got the papers done this morning, with all his connections and money, I never doubted it," he let out a strained chuckle. "I planned to give up my miraculous after patrol. One last taste of being Chat Noir. Never had I wanted an akuma attack so badly," he cried. He then felt Ladybug pull him up to his feet. "Let's go have one last run together, until you come back," she said with tears in her eyes as she wiped his. He gave out a small smile as they raced on the rooftops of Paris.

After their run they heard a blast, making both of them smile and eagerly defeated the akuma. With five minutes remaining, they raced on the Paris rooftops with Ladybug leading. Ladybug grabbed his arm and pulled him onto her balcony. "Why are we at Marinette's?" Chat asked. "I want to tell you who I am," she replied. "A-are you sure?" he asked. "I've never been more sure. I want you to know," she replied as both of their transformations fall. If they were not crying earlier, they were crying now, crouched down in each others arms. Adrien Agreste WAS Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng WAS Ladybug. They smiled at each other and hand in hand entered her room The two then spent their time in her room as Plagg floated next to Adrien, knowing that he'll miss his presence. It was one in the morning when Ladybug returned Adrien to his room with a longing kiss goodbye, promising to be together once he's back.

That was our plan, Marinette thought as she leaned on the railing if the bridge. The bridge where she and Adrien bought ice-cream from André's. This was the bridge where she and Kagami became friends. This was the bridge where she shared her ice-cream with Luka. Unfortunately, Adrien's plane crashed in the Atlantic, the cause was still unknown. If he had the horse miraculous, he would have survived, she thought again. Ever since his death, she gave up her miraculous giving it to the new ladybug holder as she apologized to Tikki. She also told her parents the truth and asked them to be part of the order of the guardians, and taught them the secrets to the miraculous.

It's been weeks since Kagami and Luka became the new Lady Luck and Monsieur Noir of Paris, they still reminded Paris about the original Chat Noir and Ladybug, who will always remain in their hearts, they even asked the mayor to make their debut Ladybug and Chat Noir's day. As for Lila, she began making more lies as to why Ladybug quitted like, "She felt too much pressure and wanted me to become the new ladybug but I had to refuse since I didn't feel worthy and it would be too obvious because I'm the new Ladybug since I'm her best friend, but I helped in picking out the new recruits."

Lies, lies, it was all lies, Marinette was the one who gave Kagami and Luka the cat and ladybug miraculous. It hurts, it hurts, so much. With one last look at the stars, she fell into the icy cold water of the Seine. She didn't feel anything else, until her head collided with a sharp rock at the bottom.

...

Marinette woke up with a massive headache. She found herself in an hospital ward, but her clothes were what she had been wearing when she tried to commit suicide. She watched her parents stare animatedly at her but said nothing. She then realised something, her parents were not looking at her, but something behind her. She followed their line of sight to find herself. She had her head wrapped up in bandages, her hair was down, a pipe was in her throat for food. Her nose also had the typical dexterous to help her breath, another was connected to her large intestine for excretion. That was when she knew, she was in her astro form. Her soul left her vegetable body and is free to wander since she was in a coma.

She got up and began walking towards her parents. Their tear strained eyes watched her wistfully, hoping that she would wake up soon. Her grandfather's bread was in a basket next to her bed. Her Nona's helmet was found in one of the chairs, signifying that she was there. She touched her father's cheek, only to have her hand pass through his face. She was a ghost, or a spirit, either way she was neither dead nor alive. She went to her mother who was walking towards her body taking her hand, she felt warmth, a sign that she can still feel and not exactly dead. She watched as the monitor showed that her heart beat was normal and resting.

All of a sudden her classmates, along with Lila were inside her room. All with devastated faces, even Lila, which surprised her. Alya and Nino was crying along with Rose, Mylène, Chloé and basically everyone was crying except for Lila who still had shock written all over her face. Although the same couldn't be said for her parents. Tom got up as Sabine moved closer to Marinette's body. "Leave," he said. "What? Why? Marinette is our friend, we have to be here for her," Alya exclaimed. "Really, so you have no idea as to why she committed suicide?" Tom asked with a growl this time. "Isn't it obvious? It's because Adrien died," she answered. This time Sabine got up and threw her Marinette's note. Alya dropped to her knees as she read it out loud, causing everyone to cry harder. There she explained that Adrien was not the reason as to why she died. He was the reason as to why she still lived even though he passed, but she said that she could not take it anymore, all the bullying, all the rumours, all the lies and the threats. After reading the note, Alya turned to Lila asking for an answer. But this time she was crying, was it guilt or were they real.

"Get out," a growl erupted from behind them, to find Marinette's grandfather. "I-I'm so so-" Alya tried to say. "Don't give us your half assed apology, the damage has been done, now get out!" Sabine shouted. They all but rushed out of the room with Marinette's ghost. Once the door was closed they all turned to Lila for an explanation and as if some divine intervention, Jagged Stone appeared with his mascara dripping down with his tears as he pushed past the teens to enter her room.

"Mr. Stone?" Kim asked. "What! Can't you see I'm in a hurry to see my niece!" he exclaimed. "Niece? But isn't it just Marinette in there?" he asked. "Just Marinette," he says in a low voice. "Just Marinette! This is my niece we're taking about, the sweetest, kindest girl I'll every meet!" he exclaimed as Penny arrived. "But what about Lila?" Kim asked. "Lila? Lila! That crazed girl who thinks I have a kitten and deliberately bullied my niece! She's here? Where is she!" he exclaimed with outrage only to be held back by Penny.

If Marinette was still alive, she would have enjoyed watching Lila's lies crumble down, but now she doesn't feel anything. "What a mess?" she heard someone say from behind. She turned to find a boy around her age standing beside her. Not really minding, since he couldn't see her, she returned her attention towards Jagged and her classmates. But she turned her attention back to the boy when she saw a nurse pass through him. "Y-you're a ghost?" she asked catching his attention. "You can see me?" he asked. Now looking at him she thought that he resembled Adrien, like a lot. He was blond with green eyes, a head taller wearing a grey Polo shirt with a black vest she tie. "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she introduced herself unconsciously. The boy stared at her and replied, "I'm Felix Graham de Vanilly." They turned their attention back to the commotion as they watched Alya punch Lila letting out her anger once she found out the truth.

"I'm sorry, they're my classmates," she huffed. "What's the deal with the girl in the glasses and the Italian?" he asked. She sighed and replied, "It's actually a very long sob story. Are you sure you want to hear it?" she asked. Felix smiled and replied, "There's nothing wrong with a long story, it's not like I'm going anywhere." Marinette smiled as Felix lead her away from the commotion as she began telling him her story.

[fahhhhq]

Never Say Never - Parte Nona

Pairing: Henry Cavill x Reader (Fem)

WaRnInGs: Fluffy fluff.

Summary: The connection you and Henry have is indescribable, but when it comes to getting close to someone, running is what you have always done best. Is being with Henry finally going to change the way you view love, or will you again run?

Thank You for reading, baby dolls🤍

If you want to read parts 1-8, click right hurr

P.s. sorry it’s kinda short. the next one(s) will be longer ;) 

***

            As you stand in front of the elevator at 4 in the morning, it suddenly daunts on you that you have nowhere to go. Sadness again consumes you and more tears spill from your eyes. You push the button to go down, but as you get into the elevator, you suddenly remember that you do have a room. You look inside your purse and find your key. You press your previous floor and suddenly you are there.

You are thankful your key still works. But when you enter the room, it feels empty and smaller. Henry’s presence was so intense, that not being with him was like falling into a deep pool and not being able to swim up. Being with him was being able to breathe.

The emptiness not only in the room but in your heart, make you sob harder. You pull the covers off the bed where you first made love to Henry and get in. The cold hitting you like a cold bucket of water, so you pull the covers over you.

You imagine Henry kissing your forehead and cuddling to you, but soon that fantasy vanishes, and you cry yourself to sleep.

*********

You wake up feeling Henry caressing your face, but soon realize that you were just dreaming. Your eyes feel heavy and crusty from so much crying. You look at the clock and you can barely see that its 1:20 p.m.

Your phone pings and it takes you out of your pity-party trance.

You check it and you have ten missed calls and a few text messages. All from Henry.

“Y/N, please answer me.”

“Why did you leave?”

“I need to know you’re ok.”

“I know a million things are going through your head, but I need to hear you.”

“I'm not ready for this to end, and I know you aren’t either.

A knot forms in your throat and your heart constricts. You had never had this intense feeling for someone, and it was not a sensation that you wanted to ever feel.

Henry mentioning that he did not want whatever you guys had going on to end gave you a little hope. But how would that work. He was a world-famous actor, and you were no one. How would that work? It would not.

With a heavy heart, you decide not to answer him. You put your phone face down on the nightstand and lay back down.

After spending a few more moments in bed looking outside, wishing you were spending the day with Henry and then feeling like shit, you decide to get up. You wash your body, and it feels like a blur. You try not to remember the time you and Henry took that amazing shower, so you shower in record time.

After changing and ordering food, you lay back down in bed and you feel a sense of loneliness that you’ve never really felt before. Henry had become more than a guy you had sex with, he had become a friend. In the past few days, you had laughed more than you had in a long time. You enjoyed spending every second with him, even when you were silent. You enjoyed being with Henry more than you enjoyed being by yourself. And that was saying a lot. It was not only the lust that you felt for him, or how handsome he was, it was that need to be with him, around him.

Your only fear was if he felt the same way.

And then you hear your phone ping again. Your stomach drops.

“Although I have had my heart broken many times, the pain I felt before is nothing compared to how my heart feels now. I cannot bare to lose you…”

It feels like your heart is actually aching. There’s a knot in your throat. Henry’s words hitting you like a bucket of ice-water. Making you think that maybe you weren't the only one that felt the way you did.

Then your phone pings again:

“I know you leave for Italy tomorrow, but I don’t want this to end… I want to spend more time with you. I'm not ready to say goodbye.”

Did he just say he wanted to go to Italy with you?

For some reason that scared the shit out of you, but at the same time, your heart was thrilled. What now, you think. What was keeping you from going to him and telling him that you did not want this to end either, that you wanted him to go to Italy with you.

Nothing.

Because you were fucking tired of running. You had been running from love for far too long, and Henry was definitely worth stopping for.  

Your stomach becomes invaded by butterflies when you get up from bed. You were doing this; you were going for it. You did not even change. You grab your key and your phone, put on your slippers, but when you check yourself in the mirror, you realize that your eyes are puffy, and your hair is sort of a mess. Fuck.

After you put some BB cream on your face and brush your hair a little, you are walking to the elevator. Your stomach in knots because you are already doubting yourself. Stop it, you say to yourself.

You arrive on his floor and slowly walk to his room because you realize that you are not sure if he’s still in the room. You stand outside his door, nervous, but decide to go for it. Knock, knock, knock. And the door flies open.

Henry’s beautiful eyes find yours. That chemistry going off like in the movies. Or at least that is how it felt for you. Your heart racing and the butterflies in your stomach ragging like if in a rave.

His curls disheveled, and his stubble darker. And that elegant nose, sharp jawline and graceful eyebrows making you weak because those are the parts that make him so perfect to you.

“Hi,” you finally say. He can hear the shyness in your voice.

“Hullo,” Henry responds in a husky and rich tone that grabs you by your neck.

“Can I come in?” you ask, worried that he might say no.

He frowns, “Of course,” he quickly says and opens the door wider.

When you pass by him you feel the heat radiating off of him. You had become so accustomed to it that you wanted to feel his heat on your skin again.

When you are inside the room you turn to him, his sapphire eyes cutting straight to yours with little hesitation and clearness, that you shiver all over. You see the fire and the passion that these past few days have burned you to the core it feels like its burning you all over.

And without a moment’s hesitation, Henry takes a few steps and sweeps you up in his arms. Your arms and legs automatically wrap around him. He squeezes you hard against him and then his soft lips find yours in a hurried manner. Like if you were both finally able to breathe. You both kiss each other like if you have not seen each other in a year.

When you part, you are breathless. You can already feel your lips swollen of the pressure both of you were kissing each other with. You grab the side of his face and look at him with sadness in your eyes, your lip trembling, “I'm sorry I left.”

“You came back, that’s all that matters,” He whispers in a low voice. With his thumb, Henry wipes away a tear you did not know had fallen. You feel embarrassed that he is seeing how much the thought of leaving him hurt you. But in the back of your mind, you know he feels the same way.

He lets you down but doesn’t let you go. “Don’t leave me again,” he says searching your eyes for something, not sure what.

With your arms still around his neck you say, “I’m done running. I’ve done it for so long, I'm tired.” You lean forward and lean your forehead against his shoulder, nestling his neck. But then you pull back and look straight into his baby-blues, “Please don’t hurt me.”

Henry’s strong brows knit together and places a hand on your jaw, his thumb on your lower lip, “Never.”

Your lip trembles, “Never say never…”

He places his forehead against yours and takes a deep breath, “This is the first time in my life where risking it all for a person is finally worth it.  I met you a few days ago and what I feel for you, I did not even feel it when I was engaged. So yes, when I tell you ‘never’, I mean never.”

Henry leans in and places a tender kiss on your lips. It sends a frisson down your body.

“So, it’s not just me that feels this?” you say quietly staring into his eyes.

He shakes his head. “Fuck no,” he smiles and you both chuckle happily.

***

Later, the two of you are curled up in bed watching television, laughing in unison to the funny parts and excited in the action scenes. Making you even happier of how much you have in common, and grateful that what do not have in common you actually appreciate.

“So, you want to go to Italy with me?” you ask when nothing important is happening. You turn in his arms and face him. You place your hand on his hairy chest and lightly massage.

Henry wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you more towards him, “If you’ll let me.”

You roll your eyes, “Duh. But I thought you said you had more press to do this week.”

“That’s right,” he thinks about it a little and then says, “What if you push your trip back a few days? I’ll pay for all the upgrades and the changes to your itinerary.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

Henry smiles tenderly, “Anything to go on this Vacation with you.”

“Ok,” you smile. “It’ll give me something to do.”

Henry presses his hand to the side of your face and then traces your lower lip, studying the surfaces of your face. Like you’ve done so many times to his.

“You’ve been to Italy before, no?” you asked.

He raises a brow and nods, “Mh-mmm, but only for press and to shoot some videos, but I haven’t really been to the places you have planned to visit. First time, I’m going as a true tourist.” He smiles gladly.

You grin, “So, what you're saying is that we’re both going to pop our cherries?”

Henry squeezes you ass and grins, “Oh, I'm going to pop your cherry in every town we visit.”

You press at his chest and raise a brow, “Sir, we’re going to a lot of towns, a month’s worth of towns.”

He gifts you a cheeky grin, “Oh, I know.” With a growl he leans in fast and burrows his face on your neck, biting it. You yelp and laugh, lightly pushing at his chest but wrapping a leg over his hip. He continues to growl and nibble, and you continue to act like its not a fucking turn on.

After more laughing and chatting, you both end the night with your arms still wrapped around each other. Like if letting go of you would be losing you again. But you did not want to leave again. For some reason, when he said that he did not want to lose you, ever, you believed him. Really believed him.

You couldn’t wait to travel with him, and you were as excited to continue to get to know him. You wanted to know everything about him and him about you.

They say if you really want to get to know a person, traveling is the best way. So, you knew Italy had something special in store for you.  

    Taggity Tags🤍: @tapismyforte​, @xxxkatxo​​, @stephartrave​, @summersong69​​, @viking-raider​​, @nie-die-richtigen-wortex​​, @omgkatinka, @babylooneytoonz​​, @thegirlnextdoorssister​​, @xoweebox​, @atomicpaperhairdouniversity​, @trashybrooke 

[thetorturerwrites]

Lamb Ch 11 - Tell Me

***This amazing artwork was gifted to me by @elmidol​​. Please do not re-use or re-post it without permission from them and/or myself. Don’t be a dickbag.

Previous Chapter

Summary: “Please don’t pretend.” It was little more than a hoarse croak that cracked at the end. “I can’t bear it. Let me be.”

“What do you know of pretending?”

He pinched your chin and bade you look. It wasn’t a rhetorical question; he expected an explanation, but there was no simple answer.

“I know you don’t like me. You’ve made it clear.” You sniffed and looked down, hiding behind your lashes. “I just don’t know why.”

Author’s Note: This chapter has my heart. I hope you enjoy.CN: Mentions of pregnancy, mass death, self-harm inclinations

***

Even in Hosnia, with its perpetual twinkling twilight, there was night.

Gradually, a stillness swept over the land. The stars dimmed to a faint flicker. The wandering wind settled down to rest. And the expanse of The Ren’s keep went stone silent. Not a ripple in the bath. Not a creak from the ages-old walls. Not a crackle of candlelight. 

It was a crypt. Your crypt.

And yet, you could not die in it. You remained suspended in this agonizing in between. Perhaps if you lay quietly enough, you could slip beyond his enchantment, will your heart to beat slower and slower. Perhaps if you wallowed low enough in your grief, you could trick yourself into believing you weren’t apart from your family when the bombs dropped. You’d died with them.

Perhaps if you concentrated on it enough, you could simply cease to be.

These morose notions kept you curled into yourself. After leaving him in the throne room, you’d escaped to his bed, hoping for a few hours of reprieve. You kept on your cloak, hiding your head and face in the folds of the hood. You tucked your knees to your chest and hugged them tightly, imagining it was Nona. It was the only comfort you would get here, but it was hollow. Hollow, like everything else.

Numb, you ignored him when he entered. You didn’t need to see him anymore to know he was here. He changed the atmosphere by entering, altering the barometric pressure enough that you had to pop your ears whenever he came near. When the work was put down for the night and the souls collected, he came for you.

You thought briefly that maybe he would leave you alone. You’d fulfilled your part of the agreement. As far as you could tell, you were, in fact, pregnant. You’d done your part. But you let the wish die, as everything did here. He was too arrogant to stop turning your body against you. For all of your hostility and heartbreak, your body responded to him in a way you couldn’t quash. Regardless of how hard you tried.

You didn’t bother unwinding from your ball. He would move and position you how he saw fit. Your eyes, dry and red from staring into nothing for so long, closed in preparation. You found you could endure his emptiness if you did not look at him. It made the times he bent you over to have you less bitter. You’d been grateful for the ability to bury your head and not be tempted to look.

Tonight, however, he did not pull you from your self-pity. Neither did he jerk you from your cocoon. He watched you; you could feel it, but you would not, could not, give him the satisfaction of looking over your shoulder. You were simply too wrung out to care. Whether it was pity or anger or outright meanness, he slid into the bed behind you without a word.

An inkling nagged at the back of your mind, an anger you were too deadened to acknowledge. His presence comforted you, irrespective of your ire. Knowing where he was and that he was so close made you feel safe. He was the only indomitable soul in the whole of existence, and you had quite a good reason to be protected. More so now.

Despite yourself, you fell asleep.

You awoke to a tangle of limbs and the decadent scent of belladonna. You’d nearly forgotten how good he smelled close up. Having rolled out of your nook in your slumber, you'd stretched out and were cradled in his embrace with his fingers lazily stroking the back of your head in a way that made your scalp tingle.

Alarm bells rang in your mind. This was dangerous ground, and you needed to escape. He could fast make you forget your commitment to staying away. You shifted in his hold enough for him to ease it open slightly; but when he understood you meant to flee, those wrought irons trapped you again.

“Let me go,” you said timidly.

He not only ignored you, he tipped your face up to press an almost chaste kiss to your wrinkled brow. It was too much, the very thing you feared. Your fight erupted, and you twisted to get free. You heard yourself telling him you’d done what he asked; he could leave you alone; you can’t do this.

He doused your outburst by rolling onto you, punctuating your feebleness. With one arm and one leg trapped beneath him, you gulped down fear and exasperation. He slid his leg up between yours, situating you so your cunt rubbed his broad thigh. Your cheeks burned, a complex mix of mortification and yearning. You’d finally found an empty place, a desolate oubliette in your heart where you could hide, and he was already dismantling it.

“Please.” You turned your face to one side, lips quivering. “Don’t do this.”

You knew you begged more tonight than you did when you arrived, more than you did when he fucked you the first time, but it was unstoppable. You wouldn’t come back from this. If he broke you, if he cracked you open to make room for himself, you would never again be able to contain the sadness. You would ache and cry and pine without solace.

"This," he said flatly. It was an admonition and a challenge combined into a single syllable.

“Please don’t pretend.” It was little more than a hoarse croak that cracked at the end. “I can’t bear it. Let me be.”

His thumb swept across your pulse, feather soft and lingering. His jaw ticked the way it always did when you frustrated him, but you’d weather it. It was worth the risk if you could get free.

“What do you know of pretending?”

His patronizing question stoked the resentment lurking in the dark matter of your brain, but you fought it, blowing out as steady of a breath as you could manage. He pinched your chin and bade you look. It wasn’t a rhetorical question; he expected an explanation, but there was no simple answer. You knew you made far too many assumptions about his character, but he wouldn’t tell you anything to color your vision of him otherwise.

“I know you don’t like me. You’ve made it clear.” You sniffed and looked down, hiding behind your lashes. “I just don’t know why.”

“Hm. Why.” 

He dipped his head to place another soft kiss to your neck, right above the hollow. He enjoyed finding the particular places that made you shiver. You pushed at his shoulder weakly, a last ditch effort, but he caught and drew your offending limb up over your head. His granite fingers latched around your wrist, keeping you bound to the bed, to him.

This was bad. Both hands at his mercy. One leg stuck between his. His thigh perfectly situated to welcome your body’s yielding. You felt more bare, more vulnerable, more weak.

Carefully, he pulled the string holding the hood of your cloak in place. Until he untied that bow, you’d forgotten you wore it. Dutifully, he unpeeled you, layer by layer and in a fashion far too intimate. You’d jumped through that door with only your cloak because he kept you clad in as little as possible for easy access. And plunder as you might through room after room, there were simply no other clothes that would fit you available.

That idiot decision led you directly to this moment and this torturous undoing.

You suspected the lack of attire was deliberate, but you forgot about all of that when he tugged the hood apart and pushed it further back. He caressed the length of your jaw with his knuckles, deliberately drawing out your suffering. This was calculated; he had millennia to learn manipulation, physical, mental, and otherwise.

You didn’t stand a chance.

“You ask too many questions.” 

Egregiously slow, he popped the first button on your cloak, the one below the same hollow he’d kissed. With his index finger, he drew a small circle there. Your toes and fingers curled involuntarily. You wanted to argue that you only asked questions because he wouldn’t tell you anything, but you realized he answered your accusation. It was why he didn’t like you. A boulder dropped into your belly because you didn’t want to hear it. It was enough that he didn’t; you wouldn’t recover if he told you why.

“You are stupidly reckless.”

The second button met a similar fate, a leisurely unfastening. It wasn’t only the fabric he plucked apart. It was also you, and you squirmed beneath the utter slowness of it all. You wanted him to edge you forever and to hurry the fuck up.

The last button sat over your heart, and you cursed it for being so bloody prophetic. You felt like howling. You wanted to hurt and sob, but the trail of his fingers made you forget your own name. With the third button gone, he traced the line of your sternum before dipping down to lick up a bead of sweat between your breasts.

“You distract me,” he murmured, lips crawling back up towards your pulse.

That last one cracked lightning in your head. The room tipped sideways into spinning. Your lungs turned to steel, struggling to expand. You ground your jaws together painfully, and your throat burned with acrimony. With those three words, he shredded your tender soul to ribbons. Ruined, you squirmed, all pins and needles and lust. It felt like you wept, but your cheeks were too hot to be damp.

I don’t. I don’t. I’m sorry. I don’t. I’m sorry. I can’t. Don’t.

It became your litany. You chanted it, lamenting and weary, but his hands did not waver from their task. He flipped the cloak open, bearing your flesh to the cool midnight air. His slightly calloused palm smoothed up from your calf, along the curve of your hip, and over the ripe swell of your breast. He squeezed, fingers digging in until your hiccups changed to whimpers. The noise he made right before he covered your straining nipple with his mouth coaxed your entire body into a jerk.

“Kylo,” you choked, barely able to get it out. “Please. Don’t make me.”

It was the first time you said his name, and his head shot up. His eyes bored holes into you, swirling incandescent. Fast as a feline, he shifted, settling more of his body on you and looking down. He went from halfway lying between to spreading your thighs obscenely wide with the sheer size of his frame.

You didn’t want him to see the things you couldn’t hide, but he clearly had no plans to let you loose.

“Make you.”

His truncated parroting was infuriating, but you fought valiantly to not be goaded into an argument you'd never win.

His thumb breached your lips to swipe at your tongue, and your body surged up painfully as though he electrocuted you. You’d worked hard to forget the sugary taste of him, the way his skin drugged you to an erotic high at the briefest taste. He was deadly in every way and sexier than anyone had warned you, or maybe even knew.

It was pointless to argue any further. He would win. He would always win. Hardening yourself against what you knew to be a hungry gaze, you looked up at him. For a flash of a second, he wavered at the sight of you, but he disguised it with the press of his lips into a steadfast line.

“Don’t make me feel like I’m not alone.” 

You said it with much more calm and confidence than you actually felt. Your time in his captivity, beneath him and wrapped around him, developed this new ability to distill your rambling down to its foundation. He didn’t like questions or mortal nonsense. He wanted it plain, always, and you’d learned how to do it. He didn’t like a lot of extra words; but no matter your newfound skill, you overflowed with them. The essence of your human-ness was to make connections, to find understanding and empathy.

“I have nothing. Not a home, not a family, not you.” 

You studied the way he studied you, watching him swallow what looked startlingly like a feeling. 

“I’m not like you. I’ve had to mourn my family alone, and…” You stalled, but you knew he wouldn’t let you not finish. “I have to mourn you every time you say something nice to me or do something that looks like kindness but isn’t.”

His brow cocked, a clear response to what he felt was your false presumption, but you didn’t care. You were beyond it all. You may as well say to him whatever you wanted because it couldn’t get worse than his stony countenance day after day, and the alternative to that was the peaceful forever of death. 

“I’m not asking you to like me.” Foolishly, you carried on, but your voice dropped, quieter and more afraid. The bravado you felt faded fast. “I’m asking you to not make me like you.”

The way he looked at you, slightly off stoic but decidedly demanding, boiled your blood. He reached down and hooked his fingers under your knee, drawing your leg up and around his hip. It parted your legs more for him, opening you up in a way that made you swoon. You thought you could stay out of reach of his dick; but with it so close, you practically salivated for it.

“It's far too late for that.” Following the first, he tugged your other leg into place around him. “Your body gives you away.”

You wanted to disagree, but his teeth nipped your cheek. You shuddered at the tease of his hard length sliding through your mess, seeking its target in the warm and wet that never quite abated. Your everything swelled for him. Breasts, nipples, pussy lips puffy and engorged with your rushing blood. He wasn’t wrong, but you despised him for pointing it out.

Your breath ruptured into wild panting, sharp through clenched teeth. You stared up at him, hopelessly lost to the spiraling of color in his irises. He took advantage of your deliriousness and pushed your previously pinned arm above your head with the first and held both down with one massive hand. It elongated your body and arched your torso up into him, a thing he enjoyed if the thrum in his chest was to be believed.

You imagined yourself an insect, wings stretched out and nailed to the bed; and all the while, the mad scientist above you inundated your senses. His mouth descended upon your breast once more, eliciting a strangled keening when your vocal chords caught up to the rest of you. He batted the hard nub with his tongue until you writhed pitifully, and he only switched to the other when you tried to buck him off from the over-stimulation.

Playing more and more into his hand, you hugged his sides with wobbly legs and tried to draw him in closer. Your body did truly lead the way, each movement beyond your mind’s purview. It no longer hearkened to your whims but to his. Your insides leaked out of your sex, painting both you and he with heat and want. It scented the air and mingled with his tempting poison. 

You were seconds from begging him to fuck you when the blunt head of his cock found its place. He gripped your hip and mouthed at the side of your neck as he rocked himself further into your weeping slit bit by bit. Your eyes rolled back in your head, and your fingers dug into his because it always amazed you. He was long and thick and perfect; and though he stretched you open to the point of burning, it was intoxicatingly good. Thankfully, he bottomed out right when you thought you surely couldn’t take any more.

You whined his name, which spurred him to bite at your shoulder. You convinced yourself it was to cap off the grunt you heard in the back of his throat. He masked another noise by burying his face into your nape and sucking a mark into your salty skin.

You clamped your eyes shut because these were the sounds you so desperately wanted to hear for weeks. Anything to show you did well, to show that he enjoyed you, or at least your pussy, in a way he would never say. You’d forgotten, however, that shutting your eyes so hard contracted your cunt at the same time until he withdrew without warning and rammed back in to enjoy that tightness. You yelped in surprise but angled your hips to give him a deeper channel. The moans you tamped down for so long clamored to the surface. Ablaze, you couldn’t be quiet to save your soul. You mewled and yowled with each powerful snap of his hips and the way he pillaged you for every last centimetre your cunt had to offer. 

This was unlike any time he’d had you before. He kept your limbs immobilized and your body taut. He kept his pace persistent but unhurried, which had you pleading pitifully. And he kept his mouth on you, lips grazing, tongue tasting, teeth scraping. Enticing, sinful noises were pushed into your skin as though he didn’t want you to hear them but couldn’t contain them.

And then, it happened. The thing you wanted so passionately. The thing you dreamed about.

He snuffed out your cries with a fiery kiss, blasting through the last of your willpower. 

His mouth was heaven, delicious and plump and divine. He knew exactly how he wanted to kiss you, and he led you to it expertly. He tipped your face precisely the right way and wrecked you with the spice in his spit. And when your lips trembled, agitated by sadness and relief and passion, he bit them, as though to chase those things away and replace them with himself.

Abruptly, it all came to a halt. He pushed up to his knees, lifting the lower half of your body in the doing. He didn’t pull out, not willing to surrender his occupation of your body. Nor did he relinquish his rigid grasp of your wrists, opting instead to splay his free hand across the soft swell of your belly, pushing down to trap you there. Your head swam, and you groaned because you felt more full as he pressed on your abdomen. You knew he waited for you to look at him, but you blundered, destroyed and witless.

“Do you want to die?” 

His normally razor sharp tone lilted into something you could not name. Your eyes struggled to settle on one particular feature because he was hypnotically beautiful. His eyes shone brilliantly bright; a soft pink blush blossomed across his nose and cheeks from his arousal.

Punctuating the question, his hands found the magic he laid upon you at your forearm and thigh. He rubbed through the ever-looping blood, which, somehow, made your insides shiver. It was a wicked sensation, a stroke to your very veins that pulled a carp from the depths of your being.

“Tell me.”

Your eyes stung. It was cruel of him to ask you this while buried to the hilt inside you, while he was in the middle of obliterating the walls you tried so hard to build between you. But it wasn’t a threat. As you peered up at him, charting a course from one irresistible mole to the next, you saw he asked in earnest. He offered you the escape you hopelessly sought.

Strange how you weren’t so sure you wanted it.

Your loved ones still lay unavenged. Your call for the annihilation of The Resistance still had not been answered. You fought so hard to make it here, sacrificed so much of yourself to that end. What would it say about you if you abandoned it? Weak. Childish. Unworthy.

Beyond that, you had to admit he was right. It was too late to pretend your feelings for him didn’t complicate the issue. You weren’t so stupid as to think he loved you, but you burned for his kind word. You craved his touches even when they weren’t kind. He lit a fire in you and made you feel, a feat you’d not accomplished on your own since the death of your people.

Not yet trusting yourself, you worried the inside of your lip and sought his eyes, but you weren’t prepared for the way he looked at you. He was primal desire manifested, ragged and raw need encased in the skin of a man. The first man. The only man.

But what if he died? What if he found Vader and walked off his own cliff? You’d be here, alone and lonely, with only whatever semblance of a child he produced to stop you from going mad.

How you answered would change the arc of your life irrevocably. If you said yes, this teetering on the edge of begrudging coexistence ended. You could slip into nothing and be done with all of this. If you said no, he would have his hooks in your spirit for eternity. No matter if he never loved you, you wouldn’t be able to refuse him. Ever.

“N-no.”

It was a jittery, hesitant sound, but it was true. He accepted your supplication by pulling you close so he could lift you up. He guided your fingers to his shoulders and settled back on his haunches, holding you closer than ever before. Your weight sunk you down onto his cock and you whinged from the way it nudged your sensitive cervix. You crossed your ankles and tried to inch upwards for a bit of relief.

One chiseled arm held you aloft, while the other traveled your length, winding from the nape of your neck to wrap around your generous hip. He found the spot between where your thigh ended and where your ass began and made a handle, using it to move you up and down, forward and back.

In mere moments, he had you wound up and ready to combust all over again.

“S’ansur yien,” he crooned into your neck, a murmur more profound than thunder. “Tyor ilohira.”

“Kylo? I…”

The way he growled into your neck and slammed his hips up into yours when you said his name settled your curiosity. There was no doubt he enjoyed hearing you say it, and you wondered if he’d ever heard it on another’s lips before. You clung to him as his pace quickened. Over and over he said those eloquent, alluring things into your neck, your hairline, your shoulder. Things you'd never heard before; things it seemed like he couldn't not say.

Tyor ilohira. Yie ilohira. S’ansur yien.

His presence expanded, saturating the room with a consuming euphoria that addled your mind. All while he worked you on his cock in much the same way he did that first day, using your body for his pleasure. Unlike before, he was as deep in your cunt as he could physically be without ripping you apart, and he strained at the seams to keep from doing so.

You quaked. There was nothing for it but to brace. Your pussy stung, and each subsequent shove of his dick tore at your cunt more. You bled for him, as you had so many times before, and you knew he could certainly smell it tinting the air with the slightest hint of iron. It roused him to a roughshod railing every time.

His mouth lined up with yours in a kiss that could only be called a brand. It was fierce and full of urgency, lusty and skirting frantic. His grip turned brutal, possessive; and then, it was your turn to swallow the indecent sounds he made as he flooded your battered cunt. He rode the orgasm out, pumping his hips slow and insistent until his satisfied hum abated.

You swayed, coiling your fingers in the hair at the base of his neck to not topple backwards. You were wary but content to stay here however long he might like. You traced the line of his scar down to his shoulder blade with a skimming fingertip. He was ethereal, holy, and you wanted to pray to him, to exalt all that he was and would ever be, though you didn’t know why. He hadn’t exactly earned that level of worship.

He didn’t meet your stare. Instead, his luscious lips rolled together as he pieced his indifferent veneer back together. A gasp lodged in the back of your throat because he had been affected. You saw it; here was your proof. He’d ridden that whirlwind with you, the result of which was plain as day on his face.

“Kylo?” You dared a whisper, not wanting to break the moment, but your ludicrous need to know things simply would not allow the niggling question to go unasked. “What was that you said?”

His lips lifted at the corners, an entertained huff that won you a nudge of his nose to yours. His eyes softened slightly. And you thought you might fly out of your body.

“No more talk of cliffs,” he said, blatantly dodging your question.

An almost affectionate kiss to your forehead closed the book on the topic, but you’d remember what he said forever, the secret he accidentally shared. You’d already begun plotting the rooms you’d ransack for the language texts you found while he was battling Solo.

The mesmerizing crest to which he carried you ebbed further and further away. A fatigue seeped into your muscles and bones. At his withdrawal, an altogether bleak vacancy infused you with doubt, right down to your marrow. You tried to curtail the childish grumble, but it escaped through the harsh way you chewed the inside of your cheek. 

Had you been conquered or consecrated?

What you wanted at the moment was sleep. Whereas he needed none, you still required it daily, a marker of your human fragility. The bath, and its healing ripples, could wait until tomorrow. He did not see fit to allow you this luxury, however. Instead, he scooped you and the blanket you tried to wrap about yourself up. He stepped into the hallway and turned in the opposite direction you expected. You peered over his shoulder forlornly, having decided that a bath would be preferable to whatever this would be.

He walked towards the doorway that started this insanity, dousing the embers inside that had you believing you might make it through today. You shrank more and more into yourself the nearer it drew. A blind terror took over, but you couldn’t move a single cell to save yourself.

The choice he asked you to make meant less than nothing. His decisions were the only ones that mattered here; and having debased you, having obliterated all that you were, he intended to throw you out anyway.

You dared yourself to be furious, to find indignation and hate in the cavity where your heart should be, but there was none. There wasn’t fear either, only resigned acceptance. A heavy sigh sunk your shoulders down, and you closed bleary eyes. You might not fight your fate, but you wouldn’t welcome it.

But the blast and crackle of the portal opening did not come.

To your dismay, he set you on your feet in front of the free-standing obsidian wall in his throne room. The disturbing looking glass you tried so hard to avoid these days. The temptation to lose yourself to memories of Nona was too great. Scowling, you refused to face it. When he attempted to tip your face up, you stubbornly shook your head and crossed your arms over your chest.

It was his laugh that drew you out of what you were quite aware was a fit.

You amused him, and it might have annoyed you had it not been for your outright astonishment. It wasn’t a smile so much as a smirk, and it wasn’t a full laugh so much as a chuckle, but it was a thing you had absolutely no idea how to process. You’d only seen him angry, lewd, or uncaring. You didn’t know how to process…. affable.

Disregarding the flabbergasted look on your face, he turned you about, but you were so afraid of what you would see that you stepped backwards, trying to dodge what came next. His trunk-like arm cinched about your middle, anchoring you in place as he leaned over your shoulder on the right. He shushed your uneasy chirping and placed his hand upon the cool rock.

“Kylo,” the warble in your voice betrayed your apprehension, “I don’t…”

The picture burst onto the surface, cutting off the woeful entreaty you planned. It took a full minute before you understood what you looked at — the destruction of a world. Your hands flew to a throat filled with fiberglass. Revolt roiled in your stomach and turned to chalk in your mouth.

“No!” You yelled and thrashed. “I don’t want to see this!”

The aggravated rumble in his chest didn’t dull your attempt to look anywhere but where he wanted. His fingers at your side dug in painfully, cementing you to this spot. It wasn’t that you feared for your safety. With him engulfing you like this, there was no safer place to be. The concern was that you didn’t want to see what annihilation truly meant. You wanted that to remain as nothing you could imagine, the scope of it too far beyond your insipid, idiotic mind.

He wouldn’t let you go until you obeyed, though, and you knew it. The tears that had been threatening to spill for hours broke loose, rushing over your horrified flush. The devil at your ear spoke, but it was lost to the dreadful cinema playing out before you. There was only the ringing in your ears as you watched blackness detonate and spread outwards across a lovely land that was so alive before.

If he hoped to stun you into a stupor, he succeeded.

Your thunderstruck neglect allowed him to slide the blanket from around you and toss it aside. The next time his mouth found your pulse, it was with the press of his bare body to yours. He plied the back of your neck with slow kisses until you exhaled. You didn’t remember stopping, but a burn in your ribs forced the issue.

“D’Qar,” he said quietly as the dead planet faded.

Another took its place, and your mouth went slack. You couldn’t help but place your hands there to gag yourself or to foolishly forestall what already happened. It assuaged your own guilt by little more than a fraction. The next planet met the same gruesome end.

“Yavin Hoth.”

Your brow knit, and you tilted your head to hear him better. Taking advantage, he licked a stripe from his thorny collar to behind your ear.

“Dantooine.” 

The picture shifted once more; the devastation coming quicker and with less and less mercy. Your eyes shot open, bulging out with understanding. He begat a war inside of you with this burdensome lesson because you knew those planets. You recognized them from the miserable, despondent plight that led you here.

“Takodana. Ilum.”

Resistance planets.

Your knees buckled, the weight too great to bear. It was only his sturdiness that kept you from hitting the floor. With his ghastly slideshow finished, his hands were suddenly everywhere. Around your throat, squeezing your ribs, hauling you onto your toes with fingers in your sticky pussy.

“Is this not what you asked me for?” 

His dramatic declaration did not match the reality of what he was and what he did. He took your request, your dying wish, and hideously warped it. You asked for The Resistance to be exterminated, but what he’d done was use your heartbreak as an excuse to further his own cause. He wiped out entire worlds with you as his unwitting muse.

Worst of all — You couldn’t tell him to stop.

What did that mean for you?

You dropped into him, a sack of flour against marble. Torn between two truths, you choked on an appeal, unable to get it to leave your lips. The first was that you did this. You were responsible. There was no separating from the fact it was likely you who sparked the idea for his crusade. You’d unknowingly unleashed him upon the Galaxy when you asked him to avenge you.

The second was that you didn’t regret it. With all that happened, with the icy isolation, the bruises you bore for him, and the devastating fact that you’d snuffed out billions of lives, you regretted no part of it.

Disgust clogged your mouth and fattened your tongue. Many of those people did not deserve to die. The overwhelming majority of them did not deserve that fate. But The Resistance did. In the darkest pit of your heart, you were glad. Glad those planets were gone. Glad The Resistance lost so much. Glad he’d done what was in his nature and wiped so many of them from existence.

You were so mired in the swampy feelings and cloudy thoughts you didn’t feel the slide of his lips over your shoulder. It wasn’t until he pushed you face first into the thing that you broke from your reverie. Just in time for his mouth to connect with the bottom of your spine. You shot up to your toes when he bit your ass and hauled your hips back towards him.

Before you could protest, or think of why you ought to protest, he planted his face between your thighs and directly into the center of your cunt. You barked a curse, arching and squirming under the sinful slither of his tongue. At your front, his insistent thumb found your throbbing clit and pressed in, eliciting the most abject whine you’d ever produced.

It wasn’t the first time he’d tasted your blood, nor the first time he’d enjoyed toying with the rips he made in your fragile flesh. It was simply the first time he seemed to care if you enjoyed it.

You’d been in his bed for weeks, maybe years given Hosnia’s disparate slog through space and time; and though the first few encounters were decidedly more patient and mild, he’d long since tired of waiting for you. Lately, he fucked you hard and fast, and he didn’t care for anything other than filling you as many times as necessary for his seed to take root.

But now…

Now, Kylo Ren, Death, the embodiment of all endings, was on his knees. For you. 

He laved your cunt with his saliva and sucked your plasma-tinted slick down like candy. You vibrated each time his tongue delved into you and scratched at the infernally smooth surface to keep from tangling your fingers in his hair. His nose rubbed indecent parts of you that had never received such attention. His teeth tugged the engorged meat of your labia until it popped loose with a squelch. Your cunt pulsed around his probing, and he moaned in what sounded like delight.

Like a bitch in heat, you twitched in exquisite agony.

You pressed your forehead to the wall, barely upright, blinking heavily, and hardly seeing the floor. Overwhelmed was not an apt description for the moment, but it was the only one you could latch onto.

What you could see, however, what you could make out between your legs and just past his punishing hand, was the bob of his cock, recovered and standing tall, proud, and ready. The thought of him rendering you further asunder dropped you off the edge, and you shuddered. You couldn’t muster a moan through the orgasm; it was too entrenched in your guts, too laden with emotion.

But he knew. He knew, and he claimed it all with sloppy kiss after sloppy kiss to your exhausted lower half. Cunt. Thighs. Hips. Ass. Vertebrae. You hissed when he slid two impatient fingers into your well worn core to scoop out the very last remnants of your downfall.

He did it. He won. Conquered, not consecrated.

The tangy aroma of you wafted close by when he collected you in a new embrace. He folded you into his dizzying gravity, covetous of his prize.

“Kylo?”

Your brow crinkled because a strange flutter disrupted your equilibrium. You struggled to identify it because it had been so long since you felt it. You pressed a hand to your hot forehead, to your belly, to your ear, trying to uncover the source. Was it fever? Exhaustion? Had you pushed the limits of his spellbinding too far? 

Untroubled, he hummed his response into the side of your head, no doubt expecting another of the endless questions you produced.

And then it was there. This bodily function you’d forgotten because you didn’t need it here. 

“I’m really… hungry.”

Whatsoever The Ren offers me, I shall accept. He will carry me across dark waters, guide me to the distant shore, and bear me hence to my ancestors.

And I will praise his name for all my time there.

[ur-favorite-queer-queen]

Death

For Maribat March day 14 theme death 

Master List

Marinette stayed cuddled in Damian’s arms as she scrolled through her photos. All dated more than a year before, she looked so happy, being able to go outside and do normal things. No constantly readjusting a mask, no being careful not to touch anything, no staying as far away from other people as possible, and no fear of dying just by leaving your house. 

However, Damian felt her freeze as she reached a photo from a year and 2 months ago. It was the last photo she took with her Nona. It featured her and her Nona in front of her Nona’s motorcycle. It was the last time her Nona had visited them before Covid had gotten bad. 

She wanted to punch herself for being so stupid a year ago. When they had received the email that they would be getting a few weeks off of school in order to stay safe, no one had taken it seriously. It was like an early break in their eyes. She remembered she was one of the students that went and hugged her friends, claiming that over the break they would have sleepovers and parties. How she couldn’t have been more wrong. She couldn’t have been more stupid. 

Because a couple of weeks later she found out her Nona had passed away. Somewhere along her travels she had caught Covid and was unable to be treated in time. They held a small funeral, it was only her, her parents, and her grandpere. 

Then they found out that they would not be returning to school. The city, the country was on a lockdown. Everyone was required to wear a mask everywhere they went, people wouldn’t leave their houses unless it was absolutely necessary. 

Over summer she video chatted with all of her friends, unable to hang out with them in person. Many of them had also experienced the grief that Marinette felt. Some of their loved ones had passed away as well. Yet despite that they all thought that this would be over by the time school started. That everything would go back to normal. They were wrong. 

School would now be online and there was a small chance that they would be able to go back in person. She had to settle for continuing to see her friends and classmates over a screen. Her grades were the worse they had been in years since learning online was so much worse than in person. Sure she was never late, but it was so hard to learn online. 

This whole time it felt like she was going crazy. She never realized how bored she could get when she was so cooped up in her house. She got what many people called stir-crazy. And that wasn’t the worst part. 

Her parents business was starting to slow, they had to switch to delivery in order to make ends meet. But with the spike in cases people were taking no chances. 

But finally good news had come in the form of the Wayne family. They had offered to take in Marinette for the month of March, all of them had tested negative. Alfred, Bruce, and her parents had even been able to get the vaccine. 

Her parents thankfully noticed how she was slowly losing her mind and let her stay with them. With daily check-ins, she was even flown with the Waynes’ private jet. 

Of course that made school a little harder but she was glad to be in a new space. Plus, the manor was huge and it felt like she would never get tired of exploring it. 

However today was March 14th, exactly a year ago she had thought that this quarantine wouldn’t last that long. Now here she was a year later, still in quarantine, still unable to do anything in the outside world. 

But thankfully things were getting better, slowly but surely, vaccines were getting out and places were reopening. It just sucked that things would never, could never be the same. 

Not with so many people losing so many loved ones. Including her Nona, who she hadn’t gotten to spend enough time with. 

“Marinette, are you okay?” Damian asked, alarmed, moving her so that she was sitting up and facing him. His hand wiped her cheek and she realized she had been crying. 

“No. I just-I just hate all of this! Why did this have to happen!” She cried, burying her face into Damian’s shoulder. 

“It's okay, things are getting better. They will get better.” Damian comforted, rubbing circles into her back. 

“I wish this never happened.” She whispered, Damian almost missed it. 

“I know. I do too. I’m sure everyone does,” He pushed her back so that he could look in her eyes, “But I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want you to cry. She would want you to live your life once this is all over.” 

A new wave of tears overcame Marinette as Damian pulled her into another hug. She couldn’t help it, she just missed her so much. 

“How about I tell you about Tim’s latest attempt to stay up on coffee? He thought that this quarantine was a good excuse but Alfred caught him in the act…” 

Marinette just snuggled into Damian, intently listening to his story. She would forever miss her Nona, but things were getting better. She just had to stay positive and hope for the future. 

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I know, I know. You read fanfiction to escape the horrible reality of our world. Well, I did it, I wrote about it. And I’m not sorry. 

Addressing the issue more, I am very lucky to say that Mr. Rona has not taken any people from me like he has so many other people. However, I thought that it was something that I wanted to address nonetheless. 

Today I consider was the first official day of quarantine. Since it was the day after we were told to stay home. 1 year ago on March 13th of 2020, my whole school got an email stating that we would be doing online school up until spring break. After spring break was over we were supposed to return. We never did. We still haven’t. 

I base Marinette’s experience off of my own, minus the death part. I celebrated with my friends, hugging them claiming we were going to have sleepovers over the break and god was younger me so stupid. I’m so ashamed because I didn’t take it seriously and none of my classmates did. The teachers did, especially my history teacher but we didn’t. In fact I had one classmate who would put on a mask, gloves, and spray down his desk as a joke on how seriously our history teacher took it. I look back and wish I had done the same. 

But here we are, 1 year later, still in quarantine. I’m so thankful that vaccines are getting out and that no one super close to me was effected, but it sucks that this has happened. So to all those reading this it’s not over yet. Please wear a mask, avoid crowded areas, when hosting gatherings make it small, if you can get the vaccine. Things are getting better but we can’t jinx it just yet. 

Sorry this had to be so dark, but since it has been officially 1 year I couldn’t help but address it. Now on a lighter not I was actually able to get this out what I consider early. Since it’s not 2 hours before the day ends. I do hope you enjoyed reading and this will get better, we just need to do our part. 

@maribatmarch-2k21

[kiyoo-omi]

from my love to you

Hello moots and followers! I just want to say happy new years and heres to 2021 treating us right. I’m not too good with words tbh but here I go!

I really can't believe I'm in a position to know so many great people on here! I’m so thankful that each and everyone of you are so welcoming. Every little likes and reblogs mean so much to me as as artist. But interacting with me makes my day so much better and brings such the biggest smile on my face! I’m so grateful that you guys even bothering interacting with me. I wouldn’t have continued this blog have it not been you guys!! I appreciate it so much and it means the world to me. You guys makes me strive to me a better artist (and writer)! I want to be able to make you guys happy and I hope whatever I do on my blogs bring u guys joy as much as it does me!

I hope to be better moot for everybody (cause I’m just a little too shy to interact with you all) Thank you so much for giving me a place in this community and I love you all!

To my lovely friends!

@lavenderpisces

JEN! MRS. BOKUTO! MRS. AIZAWA! MY BABY MY LOVE MY ANGEL CAKES LIGHT OF MY LIGHT APPLE TO MY EYEE! BOKUJEN AND SHOUJEN SUPREMACY UP IN THIS THIS BITCH 🤪! Aaaahhhh bby I don't know what to say but I love you so much!!! I know I don't show my appreciation as much lately or its been a while! But you are literally a light to my life and I value our friendship so much! I remember our baby talks on here and can’t believe here we are today! I'm counting five/six years girl and I want to celebrate every new year together until we are old as hell. I love when we fangirl, I love our little movie nights, I love getting you gifts, I love daydreaming about our future together and I hope you do too??? Please know I'm literally here for you, I would fight the world and book a ticket there for you if u ever need me to too. Just say the words! Please don’t ever hesitate to hit me up if you ever need to. I hate whatever you you are experiencing that makes you sad, I wish I could be there to fight it away for you! I know this year hasn’t been too nice, but please know that I’m literally just a text or call away! You are my priority. I can't wait for the day where we can see each other one day! I love u so much!

@coralpeachcalm

MIMI! HI!! Asdfghjjkkll sorry if this is a little awkward but I'm so glad you were one of the first person I have had the pleasure to meet! I don't remember who reach out to who but I’m so glad one of us did. I remember us fangirling so much back then! Thank you for being so supportive on my art and literally anything, and I’m so glad to have found you again! Here's to 2021 treating you right! I value you so much and I love you!

@seijuroww

Hi cameron! I hope you’re doing well lately! I just wanted to say holy shit! Im so proud of you and what you’ve done an accomplished! Just seeing you’re growth and journey has been so awe-inspiring. I hope you’re happier lately and im just so happy for you! Please know I’m here for you if you ever need help! I love you so much! 

To my lovely close mooties! 

@chibishae34

Hi SHAE!! Thank you for being one of my biggest supporter back on dinnachusart and just constantly liking and reblogging my works. You don’t know how much it meant to me being a small as artist and trying to scramble for a crumb of notes (XD lol). Sorry if I don't have much words to say I'm just so thankful that you were able to see me grow as an artist and i hope you still do!! Thank you for also being my penpal and please expect something hopefully this month! Here to 2021 treating you good and spending it together!

@datech

HI DIANA!! It’s the way you have my heart! You’re so sweet and adorable, you interaction in anything can brighten up anyones day. I'm still so surprise that were moots! It blows my mind cause I really admired you and your writing and I was intimidated by you!! Now look at where we are now! I’m ur disamu art dealer asddghhjkklldd.Thank you so much for your support on my art! It really does means the world and your comments are absolutely everything. Thank you for being one of the reason I stay on here! Cheers to 2021 love you and you deserve the best!

@sanriobimbo

HI PLUMMIE! PRETTY PLUMMIE SOULMATE!!! I'm so happy and glad we were able to hit is off so well! You’re one of the person I can feel so at ease with! I love our interactions and me just joking around with you lol! Just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you! Don’t ever doubt your writing please! Its the greatest and the world to my eyes! Make sure you take breaks and don't ever force yourself to provide or write! You simple being here is the greatest thing to happen to everybody you’ve come across! You deserve the world and imma fight 2021 if it ever crosses you! Love you lots plummie!

To my mooties who I'm so thankful that you even follow and interact with me!! I be fangirling and get so happy when you do! just know I love you all and appreciate you so much! I hope to see you all grow andsucceed to the absolute best in your life! Love you lots! Cheers to 2021. 

(In no particular order! I’m sorry if I sound repetitive. I’m sorry if you don't considered us moots ill take u off if u don't wanna be on here!)

@tsumtsumland : hope you doing well! Love you lots and ahhh im so thankful for you!! I love interacting with you! thank you for being my penpal and I hope to see more of eachother! I hope 2021 can be kind to you! 🤲🏽🥺💞💞💞

@midnightweeds: hi weeds! I just wanted to say im so grateful for you! Thank you for being so generous and lending a hand when i needed it the most! Thank u for sending me sakusa pictures as well! 🥺💞

@atsumuse: hi lay! ur such a cool person and I admire u so much! I hope 2021 treats you well! I love ur writng please its the best. 🥺💞

@tsukkis-crybaby: hi felicity! ur so beautiful and thank u for our interactions togther! I love seeing you on my dash and inbox! I hope 2021 is a good year for you! kisses for you!😘

@amberalisa hi alisa!! I hope ur doing well! I really love ur suna fic and can’t wait for your other one! happy New Years and I hope this year is a good year for you!!

@hisoillusandwich: hi Mae!! 🥺💞 ur sakusa fic is one of my favs and omg the fact ur interact with me at all my heart! here to 2021 being good to u beautiful!

@prettysetterbaby: hi jj!!! *screaming* you are so beautiful and deserve the utmost best in life! I love seeing you on my dash! thank you for being such a great person and supporting my art! you are so loved and I’m wishing nothing but the best for you! 2021 better treat you right!

@bucketofforks: hi hi bof! I’m so grateful for your interactions! they bring such smiles and laughs, I hope 2021 goes good for you!

@hq-trashies: hi kaley!! love seeing u on my dash sorry if we don’t interact as much! But you are such a beautiful person! Thank u for your book recs! send more my way haha’ I hope 2021 goes well for u!!

@velvesagi: hi jem!! Love seeing u on my dash!! thank u for ur interactions they mean a lot! Here’s to 2021 being a better year for you!

@sunaswife : hi knifey! I found you through ur suna series and I really love it!! I hope 2021 is a good year for you! Thank u for even interacting with u, pretty sure I was fangirlibg! Lol

@lovingnekoma: hi artimes! thank u so much for your interactions! they really do brighten up my day! I hope to be a better mutual to you! I hope 2021 can be ur year!

@inxriyama: hi bunny! 🥺🤲🏽💞💞💞really love ur writing and really enjoy our small interactions together! Here’s to 2021 being a good year!

@kurooblesse: hi tesh! I hope ur doing well and ughhhh please ur writing!! 😩💦 🥴 gives me the hots! Here’s to 2021 being good to you!!

@kenmasbb: hi tia!!! gaawwddd ur writing!! Please give me room to breathe! I really love our interaction and I hope u doing well and happy 2021!

@rintarhue: hi Kopi!! ur smau series are the best and ur rin one is so creative!! such a great writer and I hope to see more from you! here to 2021 being a good year to you!

@shoyosun: hi Marta!!! your art is so cute and can’t wait to see more of it!! thank u for being such a sweetheart and I hope we can interact more! cheers to 2021 being a good year!

@omijime: hi nini!! your so adorable and omg thank u for interacting with me! It means a lot! I hope you Samu, and suna have such a happy 2021 together!

@dxddykeiji: hi Sammy!! I know we don’t interact as much!! but I enjoy seeing you on my dash! thank you for being my moot and I hope 2021 is the best for you!

@radiantful: hi Martha! I’m so thankful for your interactions they brighten up my day! I hope 2021 is good to you!

@ukeishin: hi Celeste! thank u for poppin in my inbox here or there! I love our little interactions and hope we can interact more! I hope 2021 will treat you right! U deserve it!

@ladyrenart: hi Lena! I love your popping in my inbox! they make me smile so much! I appreciate you so much! cheers to 2021 being good to you!

@toniiihime: hi toni!! your so beautiful and your drawings are so cute! I can’t wait to see more! Can’t wait to see you grow! 2021 is ur year!

@aiiishiiiteru: hi nona! I know we don’t interact as much but I looove ur writing!! I’m screamed when u followed back XD! Cheers to 2021 being a good year for you!

@mi-yams: ren wifey!!! I love our interactions together!! you’re so fun and cute! I hope 2021 treats u well!

@darlingoshiki: hi saint! I hope 2021 is good to you! Thank u for popping in my ask here or there and I enjoy seeing on my dash!

@helloaisabelle: hi aisy! I love ur writing!! ur national team got me 🥴🥵 thank u for your interaction and I hope we can interact more! I hope 2021 is the best for you!

@onefortyninecm : hi Danielle! I’m grateful for interactions together m! Your art is amazing!! and you deserve all the love coming your way! you’re very beautiful and I hope I can be a better moot! here’s to 2021 treating you good! 🥺💞

@picassho-18​: hi Kate!! just wanted to say thank you for your support and I love seeing you inbox abs post! Wishing 2021 the best for u!

@inarizakicafe​: hi ni! I know where new moots. But I absolutely love your writing! I hope to interact more with you if that’s okay! cheers to 2021 to be a good year for you!

@itzdaichi​: hi lovely!! I just wanted to say your so sweet and adorable! Your interaction bring so much joy to me! I hope 2021 treats you right!

@tsukkikou​: hi kou! I really love our interactions and thank you for popping in my inbox for a while! It makes me really happy and I hope your doing well!

@suhkusa​: hi hi guys! Just wanted to say I love your writing and I hope 2021 is good to the both of you!

@sunseteyes​: hi gel!! ur so beautiful and I know we don’t interact as much! but I love when we do! I hope 2021 is a good year for you!

@alto-march-of-death​: hi al!! I appreciate our interactions and thankful that you even do in the first place! I hope to be a better moot and wishing 2021 is good to you!

@churochuu​: hi chuu!! I love our first interaction together!! you're art is so cute and adorable! 2021 better treat you right!

to my lovely anons and character interactions whoever you are. you guys absolutely have my heart. im so thankful that you guys even do this for me?? i feel like i dont deserve it. you guys make my day so much and i hope 2021 treat you so good. you dont know how much you guys are appreciated by everyone! love you! 

thank you to everybody for making the remaining month of 2020 one of my best! i love you all! 

[zecretsanta]

FIC: Four Times Hazuki Kashiwabara Almost Lost Her Kids (and One Time After They Found Her)

To: @mortellanarts​

From: @grumpsterkitty​

For mortellanarts for Zecretsanta 2020 – “Lotus and her kids on Christmas”. This story mentions a near miscarriage.

AO3 LINK

(1)

It was an accident.

An honest accident.  Not like the ones that would happen at home.

She asked to watch the surveillance tape, after, once she had seen the doctor and she had reassured her that everything was fine.  Even in black and white, she could see the horror on Wendy’s face as she tripped over the electrical cord.  She replayed the moment when Wendy stumbled into her, knocking her into the copier.  Watching as her pregnant belly seemed to compress to an impossibly small size.

If she had lost the girls, she probably wouldn’t have been able to forgive Wendy.

To be honest, she hadn’t forgiven Wendy.

Which wasn’t entirely fair; perhaps the bulk of the blame was on the repair technician, or whoever decided to put the copier against the west wall, which had fewer power outlets, or whoever built and wired the building to begin with.

The blood - her blood - looked dark grey on the video.  It looked innocuous, like spilled soda.

She left the job three months after the twins were born, when she was sure they’d all be able to transfer to her husband’s insurance.

(2)

She cursed under her breath as she dropped the first aid kit.  The alcohol wasn’t even in here, she remembered, as she saw the band-aids scattered across the ground.  A tiny drop of blood slid down her ear and onto the Ace bandage.

The doorbell rang just as she managed to find the alcohol in the clutter under the sink.  She sloppily splashed some on a cotton and glanced at herself in the mirror.  The blood hadn’t gotten on her outfit, at least.  The doorbell rang again, and again, and again, as she barreled down the stairs.

“Dammit, when did you get so impatient?  Girls, Liz is early, are you done with -?”

She was cut short when she entered the dining room and saw their dinner plates still on the table, barely touched, and her daughters nowhere to be found.

“Girls?”

The doorbell ringing continued, but she ignored it.  She went through the rest of the house, picking up the pace as each one was empty.  She was only upstairs for what, ten, fifteen minutes?  Just long enough to change and put on her damn earrings. She called out their names as their babysitter kept pressing on the doorbell.

In panic and rage, she stormed to the front door and flung it open, ready to scream.  But it wasn’t Liz, just Nona and Ennea standing there with popsicles in their hands.

“We didn’t realize the door would lock behind us,” Ennea explained.  The grating music from the ice cream truck got louder as it came down their street.

Hazuki allowed herself a sigh of relief before she chastised them.  “You left, without even asking, to get dessert, before you finished dinner?”

Nona just shrugged while Ennea at least had the decency to look embarrassed.  “Mom, come on.  You know they’re the only one who have the blueberry ones we like.  We’ll still eat our dinner.  We promise.”

“We promise,” Nona reiterated.  “Even the carrots.”

“Maybe half the carrots?” Ennea said, a grimace on her face.  “I read if you eat too many, you can turn orange.”

“You eat too many blueberry popsicles, you’re going to turn blue.  You have a perfectly reasonable portion of carrots on your plate and I expect them to be all gone when I’m done.”

Her daughter’s expression changed, from disgust to worry. “Mama, what happened to your ear?  Daddy … he didn’t come by, did he?”

“No.”  Hazuki kneeled in front of them.  “Remember that paper I told you about?  He can’t come here or he’ll get in a lot of trouble.  It’s just been a little while since I wore earrings and my holes must have closed up.  I tried to force it through and I shouldn’t have.  Now finish up your dessert and eat your dinner.”

Her twins exchanged a glance before heading to the dining room.  She took a deep breath and went back upstairs to finish getting ready.  As much as she had wanted to wear her new jewelry, she could see the earlobe swelling up.

There would be time for wearing earrings, later.  Now that she didn’t have to worry about her husband ripping them out of her ear.

(3)

It started to drizzle, but she stayed on the bench. She could see Deanna about to cross the street into the park.  She had her hand on the stack of hundreds in her purse.  Deanna waved at her and Hazuki clenched her teeth.

It was silly.  Nobody had tailed her, she was certain.

Deanna sat next to her, seemingly uncaring that the bench was wet. Hazuki handed over the envelope of cash without a word.

“It’s definitely done?” Deanna asked.

“I think he could appeal, but he probably won’t.  He didn’t actually want the girls.  He just wanted to hurt me.”

“I hate men.”  Hazuki must have made a face, because Deanna laughed.  “I can hate men and still be a hooker.”

“I thought women in your price range called yourselves ‘escorts’.”

“We’re all the same.  Just because I don’t stand on a street doesn’t make me better.”

“Well.  Thank you.”

The smile faded off Deanna's face.  "I've done this before. That wife wanted to get out of a prenup and take his money. Which I could respect. Guy was an asshole. Do you have a picture of your kids?"

The sudden shift in topic left her mental gears spinning for a moment. She supposed there was no danger in it; she had researched Deanna thoroughly before emailing her.  She dug into her bag and pulled out her keys, with the keychain the girls made for her last year.  The picture inside the heart-shaped frame was of the three of them, the girls flanking her on either side, all of them smiling.

As she handed it to Deanna, the other woman looked like she might cry.

"I see my boy a few times a year, and that's it," she said finally.  “My ex didn’t have a problem with what I did when he got to benefit from the money I made.  Then I found out he was having an affair and he needed to tell the court I was an unfit mother so I wouldn’t get custody and he wouldn’t have to pay child support.”

“System is biased against women.”  She took her keys back and tucked them back into her purse.  “I work hard, take belly dancing lessons, and already started dating again.  That was enough to make the judge question if I was a good mom.  If you hadn’t been willing to –”

“Nobody’s going to protect us.  We have to do it ourselves.”

They sat there in silence for a few moments as the rain started to taper off.

“What does your ex do, exactly?”

Deanna snorted.  “He works for a health insurance company.”

“Any idea how good their firewall is?”

(4)

“Excuse me? Hello? Does anyone work in this hospital?!”

The nurse who came over looked exhausted, with dark bags under her eyes; any other day, Hazuki would have felt bad being so harsh, but she had been there for almost ten minutes and hadn’t gotten a single answer.

“Which kid is yours?” the nurse asked in a near monotone.

“Nona and Ennea Kashiwabara. I got a call they were brought here.”

“Ah, the twins.  Yes.  I’ll find their doctor.”

“Wait, are they okay?”  The nurse seemed to ignore her as she walked down the hallway.  “Can someone just tell me if they’re okay?  What the fuck is wrong with you people?”

She felt a hand on her shoulder and almost took the man’s head off when she turned around.  He was entirely too tall, with a well-chewed pen stuck behind his ear.

“I’m Detective Lynch.  Can I help you?”

“I just want to find my damn kids!”

“Kashiwabara, right?  The staff here are a little overwhelmed, but your kids are in good hands.  And your girls are okay.  Nona has a scrape on her knee, but that’s the worst of it.”

“Did you interrogate them?  They’re minors. You can’t –”

He held up a hand.  “I met the detective who rescued them at the pier.  I rode with one of your girls here.”

“Did you say the ‘pier’?  The – but – I was told they were found in a building in Nevada.  Where – what the hell happened to them?  They were missing for days!”

Lynch opened his mouth as if to respond, but suddenly seemed distracted by something just off to her left.  She turned to see what he was staring at, but he reached out and took her hand.

“We’re looking into it,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.  “When the nurse comes back, go be with your daughters.  Take them home.  I’ll give you my card.”

He barely took his eyes off her as he pulled out a business card and scribbled something on the back.  He handed it to her and walked off without another word.  His cursive was sloppy, but she could clearly read the message – not safe, text me, I’ll call you.

“Mrs. Kashiwabara?  Your girls are in room 407.”

When she turned around, there was no one there but the tired-looking nurse.

“The … the policeman who found the kids, where is he?  Is he still here?  Can I talk to him?”

“No, ma’am.  I think he went back to the station.  407 is this way.”

She realized she was clenching her fists and had crumbled up Lynch’s card.  But the writing was still legible.

(+1)

“Are you really sure you’re both okay with this?”

Nona cracked open the oven and clucked her tongue.  “Not quite.  And yes, mom, although it’s a little late to ask again now.  And stop eating all the deviled eggs, or you won’t have room for dinner.”

Hazuki rolled her eyes; before she could grab another egg, Ennea swiped the plate out from under her hand.

“Need me to help with anything?”

“Sure mom, you can make the cranberry sauce.”  Nona handed her can and an opener.  Hazuki sighed heavily as she cut the lid off and schlorped the dark red jelly tube into the bowl.

“There, sauce is made.”

“It’ll be good to see Mamoru again.” Ennea told her.

“Oh, you’re on a first name basis now?”  Nona teased.  “What happened to Detective Watanabe?”

“He hates formality and you know it.  Did you know he shares a name with a porn director?”

“Seriously?”

“Girls.”

“It’s true, though,” Ennea insisted.  “The guy did a film called Virgin Rope Makeover.”

“Did Mamoru tell you that?”

“No, mom, the internet is a thing.”  Nona peeked in the oven again. “Ah, finally.”

Hazuki tamped down the urge to remind her daughter that the turkey pan would be hot and heavy and to be careful.  She had never been one of those mothers while her girls were growing up, but ever since … ever since, it was hard not to be overprotective.  As soon as Nona had the turkey out, Ennea put in the pie.  And then the doorbell rang.

“Okay, please no mention of porn directors,” she told her daughters.

Ennea rolled her eyes as she set a timer and followed Nona out to the living room.  When Mamoru came in, he had to duck his head to avoid hitting it on the doorjamb.  He inexplicably had a large cardboard box in his hands.

“Hey, so, uh, hi.  I brought wine, but then I realized I didn’t know if you liked red or white, to I got both, but the girls couldn’t drink it, so I got grape juice, but then I realized I didn’t know if they liked red or white, so I just got both of those, too.”

Nona took the box from him and grimaced as if she hadn’t anticipated how heavy it was.  “No worries.”

He shrugged out of his coat and Ennea giggled as she took it from him and put it on herself.  It was so big on her it was practically a dress, and when she held up her arms, it was clear her hands were where his forearms were supposed to be.

“I call it … Three and a Half,” she declared.  Hazuki smiled and Nona chuckled, but Mamoru looked puzzled.

“Oh,” he said finally.  “’Cause I was Seven.”  With that, he let loose a loud guffaw.

“Go on,” Ennea told him.  “Dinner is basically ready.  Do you feel like carving the turkey?  Mom and I usually butcher it when we try.”

“Uh, sure.”  He followed Nona as she hauled the box of beverages into the dining room.

As Hazuki put her arm around Ennea, she heard Nona ask, “Is it true you share a name with a Japanese porn director?”

(fin.)