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alastor-simp · 9 months

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Alastor X Reader - Dressing Up As Him

"Hum hum hum~♫" Alastor was walking around the hotel lobby, humming a tune to himself as his eyes scanned all of the inhabitants at the hotel. Charlie and Vaggie were putting up more banners and decor in the lobby, Nifty was sweeping, and Husk and Angel Dust were at the bar. Alastor kept looking around to spot you, but he had no luck. Heading over to the bar, he leaned over the counter, smiling his signature grin. "Ah, Husker my good friend! Having a good day?" Alastor said, as he gazed at the grumpy cat, wiping a glass with a towel. "F*** off." said Husk, as he glared at Alastor, not wanting to deal with him. "Hey smiles~ Looking sexy as always." said Angel Dust, as he leaned back slightly on the bar stool, winking at Alastor. "Please refrain from flirting with me Angel.” Alastor said, extending his mic towards Angel, trying to move him away. "Ah your no fun." said Angel as he pushed Alastor's mic away from, and crossed his arms, placing them on the bar stand. "Anywho! Have any of you seen y/n? I didn't happen to see them in the lobby." Husk just shrugged his shoulders, as he didn't really know where you were, but he also answered quickly as he just wanted Alastor to leave. Angel dust was nice enough to answer as he told Alastor that he had heard you, rummaging around your room along with music playing in the background. He was gonna bother you, wondering what was happening, but he decided not to, and left you alone. "Thank you Angel! I will go find them now!” said Alastor as he walked away from the bar, missing the wave from Angel and the middle-finger from Husk.

Heading towards your room, Alastor was hoping that you were alright. Before, Alastor didn't really care much about you when he first met you as he though of you as another simpleton staying at the hotel, but after talking and hanging out with you a few times, he slowly started to care about you as he found you to be a rather sweet soul that wasn't common to see in Hell, with the exception of Charlie. Of course, he would hide that from the others as he had a reputation to uphold as being "the radio demon", so the less the people knew he had a kind heart, the better. Arriving at your door, Alastor knocked a significant beat, calling out your name, hoping for an answer. He could hear what sounded like electric swing playing in your room, but no response from you. He wanted to barge in, but he thought that would be rude so he continued to knock until you answered.

Standing in front of the mirror, you were eyeing yourself to make sure everything was set in place, and your outfit was fitted perfectly to yourself. You were wearing a striped red coat on top of a red dress shirt with a black bow tie that matched with the dress pants and black shoes, along with the outfit, you had on a red wig with a deer ear headband on top of it. Yes, you were wearing Alastors exact outfit. You really loved Alastors look, and you actually wanted to cosplay as him, but you would never tell Alastor that, as you didn't want to weird him out if he had caught you wearing his outfit, thinking you were some type of creep. You did remember that Alastor was very close to the overlord, Rosie, who owned the big emporium, so you had confided with her if she could help with your cosplay idea. Rosie was very surprised, but found your efforts cute and she actually was able to connect you with the tailor that designed a lot of Alastors clothing. It took a while, but you were able to get the whole outfit from the tailor, and you couldn't be more excited and happy to try it out. You had everything fitted to a T, but the only thing missing was the microphone, but you could think of an idea for that later. Staring at your reflection, you stretched your mouth into a wide smile, trying to match Alastor. The smile looked great, but holding that smile all day was going to be very difficult as your cheeks started to ache. Sighing, you turned away from the mirror and headed towards the radio to turn the music down. As the music died down, the thumping beat from the door, alerted your prescence: "Yes, who is it?", you called out. "Hello, Its me, darling. Are you well? I noticed you were not with the others in the lobby, so I decided to pay you a visit!” Oh No! Alastor was here, in front of your room. You couldn't bear for him to see you, wearing his outfit. "Um, I'm okay. Just tiding a bit, don't worry." You lied, as you were hoping Al would head back to the lobby. "Ah, I see! Well you wouldn't mind if I come inside, do you? I would very much like to have a nice chat.", Alastor said, as he continued to stand at the door on the other side. Oh Satan, he was not planning on leaving. Panicking, you run towards the door, unlocking it, to signify to Al it was open, before running towards your bathroom, closing the door.

Entering inside Y/N room, Al looked around your room, but didn't spot you anywhere. "Darling? Where are you?," Alastor called out, as he made his way further into your room, standing with his hands behind his back. "I'm in the bathroom, Al. Just washing up a bit. You can sit on the bed and we can chat from here." He had heard you call out. Arching his eyebrow, Alastor found it a bit strange, but he didn't question anything further, and made his way over to the bed, and sat down. As he gazed around the room, Alastor happened to spot something on the floor. As he gazed closer, he recognized it was a bow tie that was similar to his. Reaching out and picking it up, he eyed it and questioned to himself why this was in your room. "Darling?" "Yes, Al?," you said behind the door. "I found a bow tie that is similar to mine in your room. Do you know why this is here?"

Panicking, you looked down and saw that the bow tie was no longer on your shirt. "Sh**!", you whispered to yourself, as you tried to come up with another lie to tell Alastor. "M-maybe you left it here by accident." you said, mad at yourself that you stuttered. "I would happen to remember losing something like this the last time I visited you." Alastor said, as he kept eyeing the bow tie, turning it around to eye it. You stood on the other side of the door, realizing that he didn't buy it. "T-hen umm-", you froze, stuck on what to say next. Alastor noticed your change in tone, getting up from the couch and making his way towards the bathroom door. "Darling~, is there something you are not telling me perhaps?", Alastor said, smirking to himself, as he stood in front of the bathroom door. "N-no.", you said, as you heard voice more clearly now. "Then why do I sense such nervousness in your voice?", he said, as he continued to stand in front of the door, inching closer to hear you. "I-I." Stuttering, you couldn't think of another thing to say as Alastor figured out you were acting odd. "Darling~, What are you hiding? Come on out.," Al sang behind the door, as his smile got wider, enjoying the situation you were in. "OKAY! ok. I'll come out, but could you back away from the door a bit and also close your eyes please?", you said, letting Al know you were ready to come out. Al raised an eyebrow that you wanted him to close his eyes, but he said nothing, as he walk backwards, and shut his eyes.

Opening the door, you saw Alastor standing in the middle of your room, hands folded behind his back, eyes shut, and his signature grin on his face. Standing a few feet from him, you told him to open his eyes, while you cast your eyes down to the ground. Alastor opened his eyes, and he was put back for a second as he saw you dressed to the nines in what look to be his clothes. Everything you were wearing was matching him, and the only thing that was missing was his mic staff and the bow tie, that he was holding in his hand. Looking up, you noticed Al's face was stunned, but he was still smiling. "Before you say anything, just know that I'm wearing this for cosplay reasons. I'm not a freak and these were custom-made for me, they are not from your room, I swear." you blabbed all of this out, twiddling with your fingers, and looking back down towards the floor. Silence filled the room, after you were done talking. You were afraid to look back at Al, as you were expecting to see radio dials in his eyes.

"HAHAHAHAHA! My my, how dapper you look, darling!” Alastor laughed out, along with his mic that started playing a laugh track. Looking back at him, you weren't expecting a reaction like this from him. "Y-your not upset?" you questioned Al, as you continued to twiddle your fingers. "Upset? Why no, darling! Is that why you were hiding from me? Cause you figured I would be upset?" said Alastor, as he tilted his head at you. "Well, I didn't want to disturb you if you saw me wearing your outfit." "Well, I must admit I was surprised, but I am not upset. But I do have to ask, why are you dressed up like me?", he said, as he approached you, red glowing eyes staring at you, and his award winning smile on his face. Sighing, you explained to Alastor that you really enjoyed his look and outfit, so you wanted to cosplay as him. Alastor smiled softly at you, and hooked his finger under your chin, raising your head to look at him. "You are quite adorable aren't you, my dear." he said, as he then let your chin go, and began tying the bow tie back onto you, finishing it quickly and taking a step back. "There we go, dear! All set! Now we just need a smile! Come on dear, smile!" Alastor said, as he leaned closer towards your face, smiling wide. Blushing, you looked away for a second before giving Al a smile as big as his. "Perfect! I must say you make a good me!” Alastor said, as he placed his hand on your head, giving it a rub. "Thanks Al." you said, as you blushed and looked down again. "Now, since you want to be like me, we could engage in some carnage in the city! Imagine, the radio demon and his doppelgänger causing mayhem to the denizens of the Pride ring! Quite a premise!" said Alastor, extending his hand out like he was giving a performance in a play. "Um, sorry, but no thanks. I know we are in hell and all, but I'm still not use to all the violence and carnage yet." You said, as you looked at Alastor shyly. "Aw, don't be such a wet blanket , my dear." Alastor said, as he looked at you again, still smiling, but his ears were dropped down, signifying that he was a little sad. "Sorry , Alastor. Maybe we could do something else instead, like head to a cafe or go to one of Mimzy's shows?", you said. "Hmmm. Fair enough." Alastor said, as his ears perked up after he heard you say that. Hooking your arm in his, he pulled you next to him, as he raised his fingers up, ready to use his powers to teleport: "Lets go, my dear! I feel like this is going to be very entertaining!”

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rattys-prinxiety-countdown · 2 months

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HE'S FINALLY DONE! This would have been posted hours ago but the day got away from me and I needed to catch up. Presenting the one, the only, Intruality fusion Cox! (Thank you to @frogsandsquids for the name recommendation, I hope you like it!)

Intruality is admittedly not a ship I know a lot about, or initially one I liked very much. At the start of creating this fusion, I had no idea how to mesh a character I adore (Remus) with one I don't really care for (Patton). I gave it my all to figure out what worked, and what didnt 😩. I started with trying to do a something that leaned into a creepy/cute aesthetic (Sort of like Melanie Martinez if you know her vibe??) but then my friends thought I should try to lean more into a "Sexy Dad" aesthetic, so it got scrapped, and I restarted. Two more times. (HUGE thanks to my friend Miles, who let me bounce ideas off them for hours before I settled on what became the final product.)

Beyond the designing nightmare, this took way longer than it should have (9 hours) but I have a good excuse. I was testing new skills and trying new things during this process. This was the first time I tried giving my art a thicker outline to make it pop. Also, this was the first time I made a piece where I had to add "layers of clothing" to the base layer. Click more to see what I mean

BOOM! Hes a jester!

This is Cox (He/They). This fusion has a love for jokes, pranks, and above all, baking (who cares if only 10 percent of the time the recipe goes according to plan, we're measuring with our HEARTS, and NOT with the recipe cards!)

Thanks again to my friend Miles, I got some ideas for how this fusion behaves. One may think the fusion would be a little sexual or even flirtatious, but anything Cox comes up with goes through the Patton-Pending Dad™ filter. He's very affectionate, and unfortunately, can be little overbearing/annoying without realizing it. He constantly deflects with humor, and is a little self deprecating, but they're working on it and doing a hell of a job.

Lets talk about the mask. (This gets a little heavy and I do apologize for that)

It was initially going to stay bunny ears until Miles+CO. talked me out of it. The mask is literal. Cox uses it to mask himself, and put out a very bubbly "Patton-like" persona. He choses to keep the "less happy, family friendly" part of himself away from view while Patton and Remus work on it from the inside. They enjoy the quiet time they get while baking, and it gives the Remus inside Cox to experiment with some less than ideal recipes.

There's so much I still want to say I'm just forgetting. I will point out that Miles hasn't even seen Sanders Sides, all the information they got (and by extension, the ideas they passed onto me) were given from the Sanders Sides Wikis 😭 he took the time out of his day to research Sanders Sides lore and I'm so appreciative of it. They also sketched an idea for their own Intruality fusion, but admittedly its got an incredibly angsty, dark theme and I dunno if he's ok with me sharing it.

I'll be working on the analogical fusion next! It will be here soon-ish!

Ps: I went digging for some intruality fusions to gain ANY sort of inspiration for this, and instead found tons and tons of fanart. I came out of this understanding the appeal of the ship a lot more and *dramatic sigh* woe is me,,,, i ship them now 🤭

#not a countdown #sanders sides #sander sides #thomas sanders #intruality fusion #intruality week #patton sanders #remus sanders #uhh #other tags #i dont know

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kanekoii · 11 months

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hear me out.. xsoleil one bed trope 👁

like, imagine reader and xsoleil member on a school trip, and the room they booked had to be changed to a one-bed room :3

lyra’s notes -> i will in fact hear you out on this

pairings -> xsoliel x gn! reader

genre -> fluffy scenario + silly little hotel things cuz lowkey why is staying in a hotel so much fun

song -> pink cheeks - eldon

warnings -> not established relationship, food mentions, reader wears a swimsuit in melo’s but no body types or anatomy is mentioned for reader :), why does this take place in such a fancy hotel lol

VER VERMILLION ->

due to the sudden change in arrangements with your room in particular, it left poor kaichou insanely flustered and wondering what the hell he was to do in that situation. he’d end up walking shyly back into the shared main room in his black and red pajama pants and grey t-shirt, hair taken out of its usual side-swept style and tousled, hanging slightly over his rose colored eyes. in an attempt to make it less awkward, he’d make a small divider using blankets between your bodies. but before either of you went to bed, ver heard your stomach grumble and suggested you go to the small in-hotel café downstairs in your pajamas together. the elevator ride downstairs was full of giggles and some looks from the people around you, wondering why students were at a hotel, not knowing it was for a counsel trip.

the downstairs café was very calm in atmosphere, ver ordering a pastry and a hot tea while continuing to talk and crack jokes with you. god, he was adorable. as the night went on, he quietly encouraged you to head back to your shared room to rest, and you obliged with sleepy eyes and an equally quiet voice.

you had no idea what had went on while the both of you were asleep, but you woke up in the counsel president’s arms as he slept so peacefully, as if you were simply a plushie. you were wrapped in warm blankets and so was he, ver’s warm body drawing you ever closer to him. you couldn’t help but drift into a deep sleep again with his warmth as your company.

MELOCO KYORAN ->

she figured it would be a good idea to go to the hot tub for a bit to de-stress. she invited you to go with her with a smug smile on her face as she adjusted the deep purple silk bathrobe she wore over her swimsuit. meloco was more than happy to have you accompany her, it was just an excuse to get even closer to you. seeing as her hair was very long, it was tied into a loose bun high up on her head so the chlorinated water didn’t interfere with its softness.

you sat in that hot tub with her for what might have been hours as the sun finished its descent under the horizon and the moon and stars took its place. she was so enthusiastic when talking to you, in stark contrast to her usual stern and sarcastic manner.

she would flop down on your now shared bed in her adorable and soft, lavender colored nightshirt that hung over her body like a dress. her long hair hung flat to her head since she had taken a shower after the hot tub. a glance at the clock would tell you that it was far past midnight and time to sleep. meloco wouldn’t mind holding you in her sleep, in fact she would really like it if given your consent cuz consent is hot. you’d wake up with your head on her soft chest as if it were a pillow (booba 🤤).

DOPPIO DROPSCYTHE ->

why is bro so enthusiastic about this. it’s almost like he has a crush on you or something. he’d get pizza or something of the like that you enjoy delivered to your room while you watch reality tv with him. please watch 90 day fiancé with him he will become even more infatuated with you as he munches on his pizza while making the silliest comments on the show. his hair would be tousled and messy, his pajamas would be black sweatpants and a dark pink-purple shirt with a white design on it saying “#1 cheftecfive”. you couldn’t help but giggle at his shirt and how cute he looked in it.

you’d stay up with him late into the night until you fall asleep and end up resting your head on his shoulder. piochan would gently wrap a blanket around you and turn the tv’s volume down until he was ready to go to bed. he’d wrap his strong arms around you and hold you like a little teddy bear.

ugh imagine his deep and slightly raspy morning voice as he wishes you a good morning, holding you so tightly.

KOTOKA TORAHIME ->

she’s so precious. girl will be so excited to share a room with you and watch movies long into the night, so excitedly exclaiming how happy she is to be with you for your time together. she’d eventually decide to keep the movies playing even if she’s about to fall asleep, which ended with you holding each other, fast asleep by the time the sun began riding.

kotoka would wake up first, not wanting to leave your arms or let go of you and letting herself fall asleep. her onesie was so cozy to snuggle her in, you just couldn’t help but hold her tightly in your sleep.

you’d awake so happily in the morning too, just so excited to have kotoka by your side in her adorable cat onesie. she’d get breakfast delivered to your shared room, filled with giggles on the cool morning.

HEX HAYWIRE ->

oughhh he is so teasing about it. he won’t hesitate to hold you and be your big spoon in his sleep, brushing your hair after your bath or shower at night or morning (personally i’m a night bath kinda guy but yk) and saying affirming things to you in his naturally deep and gravelly voice. he’s so. ugh.

hex will wake you up in the morning with your favorite caffeinated drink and something you’ll eat for breakfast with a gentle smile on his face as he adjusts his glasses.

the way he looks when you wake up before him though…god. his hair will be more tousled than usual, his normally sharp eyes closed in soft sleep and the most small and gentle smile on his face as he presumably dreams a happy dream. you can’t help but fall asleep to the sound of his gentle and calm breathing.

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abbysimsfun · 28 days

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Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 24 (Waiting For Baby)

To prepare for her son's arrival, Heather pored over job applications at the clinic. Once her son was born, she wanted to spend as much time with him as she could, but she was confident leaving the place for Marcus alone would be a mistake.

Despite Marcus' endless flirtation with customers, the clinic had done well enough that Heather could hire another employee, and she found Kaori Hayashi enthusiastic and hard-working from the start. "I hope you'll be able to lead by example," Heather said when she hired her. "I won't be far away once my son's born, but I'll be happy to know the clinic's in good hands. I think you'll be a great help to Marcus while I'm away."

"I'll try, Doc Nesbitt. He told me this morning my butt looks great in these scrubs."

Heather sighed. "I'm sorry, I'll talk to him."

Kaori laughed. "No, it's okay. I told him thanks but his butt could look better, and now I think he's afraid of me."

"If fear motivates him better than I've managed, I guess that's a win. But if he tries anything again, please tell me."

"Will do, boss!"

Heather made friends easily with Brindleton’s many strays. The town had no mayor, but the locals' favourite stray was a tuxedo cat who wore a tiny donated top hat – to the town, he was their honourary “Mayor Whiskers.”

After her arrival in town, Mayor Whiskers took a particular interest in Heather and followed her everywhere. No one in Brindleton grew better catnip than Heather!

But soon, he was spending so much time at Heather’s home with her other two cats, speckled grey King Tut and fluffy white Boomer, she officially adopted him.

It had been a long time since she’d had to think about training bad habits from her well-behaved felines, but even with exhaustion and back pains in her third trimester, she was up to the task.

Mayor Whiskers had spent his life chasing birds as a stray. He didn't know what was wrong when Heather lectured him about eating trash or scratching furniture, but he loved his new home, and slowly changed his habits to please his new human.

Despite the summer heat, Heather worked hard at her clinic right up until delivery. She knew raising a child would be expensive, and she needed to make as much as she could from the clinic before giving birth. Marcus Flex, her perpetual work issue, even picked up some of the slack when she grew tired more easily.

"You shouldn't work so hard, boss."

"I enjoy working, Marcus."

"And you're really good at it! But it can't be easy carrying that thing around." He glanced casually at her bump.

"I wouldn't mind being able to work a little less, but royalties from my VetConnect app took a hit from Petcare's splashy new competitor in the app store, so the clinic is the only way I'll be able to care for my son."

"It was pretty uncool for Petcare to do that," agreed Marcus. "Why didn't they offer to buy your app if they wanted the same one."

Heather sighed. "I have a feeling they knew I wouldn't have sold it to them."

"Too bad, Doc. Selling apps can be good business. Maybe you should design another one! Maybe instead of a vet finder service, you could do a pet finder service! Like one stop, with breeder reviews, highlighting shelter pets."

"What? Like PetConnect?"

"Sounds good to me, boss. I'd download it in a heartbeat!"

Heather cocked her head at her vet tech as he exhibited a flash of brilliance she never saw coming. "It's a great idea, Marcus. If I ever put it together, I'll owe you credit."

With Petcare's app replacing hers on the market, she was even more grateful Malcolm kept his distance after his visit. Just as she’d hoped.

With Petcare and Landgraab Corp. actively working against her ability to care for their son, she wouldn’t have anything nice to say if she saw him again.

Heather was beginning to feel like she'd been pregnant for an entire year, and couldn't wait to meet her son. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

#sims 4 #sims 4 gameplay #sims 4 screenshots #sims 4 legacy #sims in bloom #ts4 #ts4 gameplay #ts4 legacy #ts4 screenshots #sims 4 story #ts4 story #legacy challenge #sims legacy #ts4 legacy challenge #gen 2 #brindleton bay #marcus flex

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fahbev · 1 year

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Babs, Bruce and Danny in my dpxdc merfolk au!!!

argh, plz excuse the poorly edited photo lmao- lost a lot of detail TvT

Babs has her info Here. But this is her design! I’m not actually entirely sure if any of these designs are final, i might tweak them, but here she is! I gave her necklaces.

Bruce is based on a leatherback sea turtle! The spots aren’t actually super accurate to a leatherback’s underside, but if you look at it a little harder... you may find a fun little easter egg. It’s subtle... or at least i tried to make it that way. (If people don’t get it i’ll explain in a rb lol) Did you know that leatherback sea turtles can be up to 880 pounds? Idk what that is in metric but that’s roughly 7 and a half Bahfevs. They’re also much more triangular/less round than other turtles, so I reflected that in his design. And ofc, Bruce and Damian are both sea turtles bc they’re related. But they’re different sea turtle species so it doesn’t make much sense. Who gives a flip. What’s Talia, you ask? To that I say: 🤷‍♀️

(Side note: apparently, I’ve conditioned myself so I can’t draw nuetral expressions. It’s gotta have some emotion or else it looks wrong, and it feels natural to always have something going on there. So... drawing Stoic McStoicface here was a pain in the penis. He kinda has an expression anyway lol)

Danny is based on a ghost knife fish! I’ll be honest, i didn’t even know these existed until I looked up “ghost fish” in the hopes of finding something thematic. But then... omg! They’re black with little white accents? Like Danny’s design? And they have cool, funky bodies? AND they produce electricity!?? That’s so FKING COOL! I’ll have to do more research, but so far i’m pretty sure they don’t produce enough electricity to hurt someone. They are related to electric eels though! I first learned that electric eels were knife fish and not true eels when I was researching the moray eel for Duke. Funny how that connects!

Danny’s story under the cut!

Heehoo!

Okay so basically: Danny went diving to gather pearls because he wanted to make his parents happy/proud. While he was diving, His foot got caught in a rock and he couldn’t get it out. He panicked and he begged— to who? God, maybe? The universe, or the ocean? Maybe just begging fate or any higher power that could be out there, he doesn’t know. His only prayer was “Don’t let me drown!”. Unbeknownst to him, one of the pearls he’d grabbed was a magic, wish granting pearl. They’re rare enough that humans don’t even have legends of them... but the merfolk do ;).

The pearl took his very non-specific wish and decided to give him a tail and gills. He swam back up in a panic, and saw his new tail. Of course, this is a very horrifying thing to happen. But in less than a minute... it was already starting to dry off. As it dried, it turned back into skin.

Now, Danny has to be extremely careful not to get his legs or hair wet when he’s near people, because he’ll turn back into a merboy.

i... probably should have given him a shirt? He’d be wearing it, right? But i also did need to see what I was doing with that fin thing lol. I mean, a shirt would get annoying with that fin- he’d probably take it off. Tbh he’d probably have it off when swimming in general? Idk.

So: funny thing that happened when I was drawing Danny:

A first grader came up to me while I had it open on my desk, and she was like:

“Oh my god, that’s so good! Like, how did you even draw that?”

so I was like: “Oh thank you! ❤️”

And I think she asked again “How did you even draw that?”

so I was a little confused on how to answer, so I said:

“Well, I used my pencil...” and held up my pencil—

and then she got distracted by a spinny chair.

She’s so precious omg 🥰

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higharollakockamamie · 2 months

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Dawntrail Thoughts

Just putting my thoughts together.

SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE EXPANSION

Overall, I enjoyed it. The parts I liked less were more missed opportunities than anything outright bad. There was definitely nothing on the Werlyt scale of bad, which is what I was afraid of ever since I heard my personal enemy Werlyt Guy was working on MSQ. You can see where the less experienced writers are getting a feel for things, but I think they did a reasonably good job of it.

Things I Liked:

The environments are gorgeous. I spent plenty of time just ramming my face into plants so I could look at the leaves. Those leaves!

Meeting the different people of Tural was a lot of fun. I liked the summer vacation feeling of just exploring and learning about different cultures. I liked that there were a lot of things for us to do besides "go here kill this", like trade some wool for fancy mezcal like that one guy who traded a red paperclip until he got a house.

I loved seeing fantasy with a Central/South American inspiration. It's really fresh and the colors and designs are wonderful.

The centering of female characters. We had lots of women in major roles, and I really appreciate that. I especially love to see a female villain. I am a full supporter of women's wrongs.

Bakool Ja Ja going from a goofy enemy it was fun to give crap to (I love Wuk Lamat's delivery of, "Be quiet, Bakool Ja Ja. No one cares what you think.") to a tragic child overloaded with expectations was great.

Zoraal Ja betraying his Obviously Going to Betray Him Evil Vizier was hilarious, though it came at the price of giving us less Sareel Ja, who I enjoyed

I liked that the WoL stepped back and took a mentor role. I don't really invest in these kinds of blank characters - they're just a wall for the characters to play tennis against - so you could replace the WoL with a piece of cold pizza with "nods" pepperoni'd onto it and I wouldn't care. So I'm down with them being a supporting character.

Wuk Lamat. I love her design, I liked seeing her journey and growth throughout the story, and I liked the story being based around the development of a leader, this time based on maintaining the peace rather than overthrowing an oppressor. I also thought her voice suited her well. I understand the frustrations of people who thought she monopolized screentime. More on that in Missed Opportunities.

Sphene's part of the story was a lot of fun. I loved how openly friendly yet very suspicious she was, and I enjoyed trying to guess her secrets. Exploring her lands and figuring out the dark side of this ostensibly happy place made me and some friends think of The Giver, and that was fun to compare and contrast.

The combat and dungeons were a ton of fun. Vanguard is a personal favorite. Gotta love any dungeon you crash a train into.

Things I Didn't Mind:

The music used the main leitmotif a lot, but then again, so did Endwalker. In that case a lot of the big bangers that massively slap came in the patches, and, given how Honey B Lovely's theme has taken up residence in my head permanently, that pattern looks to hold out. Also I love the jazz in Tuliyollal.

Missed Opportunities:

I would have liked to see the Scions take more of an active mentorship role. Like, for each culture/area, have one of our buddies teach a lesson: like, Alphinaud should have definitely gotten a chance to talk about not letting yourself think you're the big omnipotent smarty boy who can solve everything yourself. This would have been a fun way to show the Scions' development as well as helping us not overdose on Wuk Lamat by having her be the focus alone.

Where's Zoraal Ja's mom? Where's Gulool Ja's mom? If it weren't for two-heads requiring two parents, I'd think these were those lizards that reproduce parthenogenically.

Zoraal Ja was a little underbaked. He's got this idea of sowing warfare to teach people that war is bad, but where did he get that notion? Why's he willing to go so far for it?

While effective, the idea of fighting someone who is trying to preserve the past at the cost of the present was a bit of an Ascians retread. It's strange that no character ever mentioned that similarity - or, with the idea of things that maintain their existence by sapping the life of other beings, the similarity to Primals.

Also, I hate to argue for more Thancred, who sucks, but "a person you loved and lost continues to exist but at the expense of currently living people" is something he should have been around to have an opinion on.

Where's the Ironworks? There's so much technology they'd have a field day with. Where's Nero? SHOW ME MY BOY

#ffxiv #dawntrail #spoilers #dawntrail spoilers

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ancientgreekyuri · 7 months

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Drabblecember 2022(!) Day 5: Date Night

Summary: Dianthus is about to head out on a date with King Theseus! Unfortunately for her... he dedicated to wear his golden mask out on it.

Notes: As the title implies, I originally wrote this for drabblecember way back in 2022 😭 yesterday I decided to take another look at it and I kept giggling at what I had already written, so I decided to go ahead and finish what I had 💖 perhaps at some point I'll come back and write about their actual date, but until then... well, here you are!

~ 595 words. No TWs for this one! But you do learn why Theseus can get away with so much with Dia 💖

“Lady Dianthus! Are you prepared for our most romantic engagement on this day or night?”

“Of course I am! And I’m very happy to see you, my sweet King Theseus. It is simply that…”

Dianthus looked intensely at her date. Theseus was dressed regally, his usual short chiton replaced with a longer, heavier cloth, decorated with a golden trim. He was handsome in his fancier garbs, his laurel of golden bay leaves being a shimmering reminder of why even in the afterlife he was still referred to as a king. There was an issue, however: He had that damned mask on. Crafted by Daedalus himself, it was made to match the king’s beloved Macedonian Tau Lambda, the world’s first (and likely only) motorized chariot. The mask, made of pure, shining gold, only covered about half of Theseus’ face. As an ingenious aspect of its design, it left the king’s vibrant smile exposed to all who would witness it. There were many things about Theseus’ gaudy fashion choices that Dianthus had begun to adore… such as his love for gemstones and over-elaborate embroidery. But she could not love that mask. It was a mockery of all things good and noble, a horrific affront on all that is beautiful and true. No shade could have crafted that thing with good intentions in his heart, besides; she was quite certain Daedalus made it in jest, not expecting anyone to actually wear the thing. But Theseus loved it just as much as he loved the chariot itself— the dark callings of which often lured him from his bedroom in the middle of the night. How many times now had Dianthus found him polishing that golden-faced chariot at the very crack of dawn? She cursed Zagreus for giving it to him in the first place. With Dianthus lost in thought, Theseus took it upon himself to interpret her silence: “Ah, my lady… you must be rendered speechless by my handsome visage! A truly inevitable happenstance, I assure you. Go on, then, do not be shy! You may bask in my splendor for as long as you’d like!” “...Right. Thank you, Theseus.” Dianthus sighed in response. “Hmm~! Of course, I do not wish for you to merely bask, my lady! I must admit to you that I am quite thrilled about our date! Theseus reached forward to grasp her hands within his own, his thumb brushing gently over the dark ochre of her skin. It was difficult to tell with his mask, but something about his face grew softer, his smile, while still vibrant, less intense. “I am alway happy to spend time with you, no matter what the circumstances may be! But it has been some time since our last proper date, has it not…?” Within seconds he returned to his usual excitement. He laughed warmly, his voice, as always, honeyed with love. “My dearest Lady Dianthus! I shall do all in my power to ensure that this date is the greatest, most romantic, and most jovial you’ve ever embarked upon!!” “...Oh!” Dianthus felt dizzy— she was complaining about something a minute ago… what was it? She couldn’t remember. “I mean… you don’t have to do all that for me, Theseus!” “And yet, I shall! Come, my lady— let us not dally any longer!!” Theseus lifted Dianthus into his arms, more than content to simply carry her to their destination (not that she minded one bit). Perhaps one day she would remember to mention her distaste for that mask… but for now, the topic was nothing more than an afterthought.

#📚 codex #🌺👑 king's flower

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yjyt85r98r · 11 days

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Aikatsu song reviews: One Step

Song

Aikatsu Stars' pop type songs have a slightly more chill and mature feeling compared to the pop type songs from the original series.

This is one of the rare Aikatsu songs in which the chorus (or at least the first half of the chorus) has less going on compared to the verses. The song that came out after this one, TSU・BO・MI ~To The Vivid Future~, did the same thing, although I think the latter took it further than this song did. This one reduces the instrumentals to create a very focused, slow, sound that brings more attention to the beat, which had been in the background up until that point. But even when it returns to the full instrumentals, the impression it leaves isn't all that dynamic, at least not to me.

The voice-like thing (vocoder?) at the end of the chorus sounds eerie, yet oddly soothing. It's probably the part of the song that stands out the most to me.

I feel like my interpretation of this song is different from other people's. I've seen people describe it as danceable EDM, and a lot of people seem to REALLY love this song. Whereas for me, while this song is definitely electronic, it feels less upbeat and more chill, and I don't particularly like or dislike it. It felt like it would go somewhere, but I was waiting for a climax that never came. Still, there’s something a little bit nostalgic and reassuring about it.

Vocals

Yuzu uses a slightly more mature tone here, to contrast against Yume and Ako. I think it was a wise decision, or else Yuzukushou's vocals might be unbearably squeaky.

There are some parts of the song where the vocals – mainly Yume's vocals – sound far away. I assumed it was some kind of weird effect they'd applied, but then I saw someone else mention it, and now I wonder if it was a mixing issue.

Lyrics

They're just your run of the mill anime song lyrics, but the place in the anime where they appear makes them feel a little bit melancholy.

There are lyrics about friendship, but SKY-GIRL's leader is paired with the rivals she dreams of beating, and Yuzukushou is a hastily-assembled group of random idols, one of whom only joins for personal gain, and the other one joins because her usual best friends are both away. The characters bicker and hang out and have fun throughout those episodes, but you can sense the underlying tension. This song is sort of like a patch of light in a cloudy sky. When I think about it for too long, I almost want to cry, which isn't the usual effect you get from a pop type song.

Choreography

Too energetic for the song, especially the part near the end. I get that, in the anime, this is supposed to be a really dance-focused performance, but...

Visuals

The way the stage goes dark and rainbow stars appear during the chorus is awesome, although visually it screams "party" even though musically it's more of a low-key breakdown section. The UFO from Diamond Happy makes a brief appearance during the solo line of Yume/Yozora.

Maybe it's just the way I see this song, and how I can't extract the song from the anime, but there's a little bit of dissonance between the cheerful, casual visuals and the heartfelt nature of the song. It's like, there are fruits and sunglasses and comic book words on the stage, but is that really what this song's about? Nevertheless, I like the stage design.

Good points: The vibe, I guess? I can't really explain it but it's a vibe Bad points: When the vocals feel quiet/far away??

Rating: 7/10 Personal rating: 5.5/10

#one step #aikatsu song reviews

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umichenginabroad · 6 months

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Stockholm Week 9: Booking the Rest of the Weekends!

This week was supposedly a stressful midterm week but thanks to the work I put in last weekend, I had an oddly relaxing week.

I booked a bunch of flights (hopefully the last) this week too ⸜( ˙ ˘ ˙)⸝♡

My wallet is suffering but I’m brainwashing myself that this is a lifetime opportunity I need to catch.

3/11 Mon: Ivar Los Park + Italy!

I had the mission of finding the tablecloth my mom bought in Stockholm Stadsmission during her stay. She was sad that she didn’t buy more of the same design since it fit the table size too perfectly. As a good daughter, I decided to do a scavenger hunt for it before it ran out of stock.

Unfortunately, the ones with the same design were gone when I arrived. Although I failed my mom’s request, my own hunt was successful! I found a skirt and dress that fit perfectly. I couldn’t resist buying them since they were less than $10 each too.

My Midterm paper for Crime Fiction class was due on Tuesday but I was close to being done due to last weekend’s grind. With light steps, I continued to spend time outside, enjoying the sun. Since I was already in Mariatorget and didn’t want to go home yet, I took a long walk around the Ivar Los Park.

The park was smaller than I thought. I sat down on a bench for a little while until I got up to walk alongside Monteliusvägen. The clear sky amplified the beauty of the view, lightening up my mood as well.

I tried to capture every moment in my head so that I could look back to these moments when I was exhausted.

During my 40-minute walk, I discovered a kindergarten, church, ballet school, and Mojang studios (shoutout to Minecraft fans). I shared my happiness with my grandparents in Korea by calling them and chit-chatting for a while.

A few snaps from my point of view

I walked back home since the park wasn’t too far from my apartment. I noticed that our apartment also had a small garden and walking paths, so I strolled around in the little garden until I was satisfied with the amount of Vitamin D intake.

For the longest time, something inside me had been bugging me to travel to Amsterdam and see the tulip festival. I tried scheduling times with my friends, but I couldn’t find anyone available during the weekend I was planning to go.

It was then that I got in touch with my friend from home, who is also studying abroad in Europe. We started talking about our travel plans and scheduling availability. Going to Amsterdam failed again because of our tight schedule, but we managed to find a weekend to visit Italy!!! It didn’t take us long to book our flights and come up with Airbnb lists ( ˃ᴗ˂ )

3/12 Tue

In Swedish class, we were assigned random groups to do a team assignment.

There are too many ways to pronounce words

I don’t know how but dumplings kept coming up in our conversations (we were hungry), and I just had to go grab dumplings after class.

These pork dumplings were a bit greasy but they tasted a bit like dim sum and I loved that

I walked around the vicinity after getting re-energized. More and more flower vendors have been popping up here and there, and I walked by slowly to enjoy the sight and the scent of flowers.

Tulips usually aren’t my favorites but the ones here are absolutely gorgeous ✿(′ᵕ′*)

For dinner, I followed a kimchi fried rice recipe with cabbage instead. It was delicious as usual :)

I’m running out of menus though ;-;

3/13 Wed: Productive Day

Wednesdays without any field studies are arguably the best!

I slept in and made a sandwich salad combo for brunch.

Pesto is always right

I stayed home and worked on the second midterm essay of this week for Glued to the Screen TV Film course. I was more of a test girl than an essay girl but oddly, I enjoyed writing the three essays that are 2.5 pages each. I really think blogging is helping to lower the mental hurdles I have for writing essays.

After finishing the essays early, I switched the subject and worked on two different group projects. It was a very productive day!

3/14 Thu: Malta!

I stayed in the DIS building after the morning class until my late afternoon core class began. I was going to go to one of these recommended study cafes but got too lazy to go out.

A map of good places to study!

I couldn’t get rid of the thought of going to Amsterdam, so I logged into Ryanair again.

The Ryanair website had an option to select “Anywhere” for the destination. Out of boredom and curiosity, I set the dates to one of my available weekends and scrolled through the possible destinations.

I found relatively cheap flight options to Hungary, Germany, Latvia, Estonia, Austria, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Malta. Out of those options, Greece and Malta caught my eye. I would’ve loved to go to Santorini but that wasn’t an option. When I searched Malta on Google, I was captivated by the scenery. I LOVE the beach and it happened to be Malta’s specialty. I could feel my lingering desire for Amsterdam finally dissipating as I looked at the pictures of Malta.

I contemplated for a while, calculating the expenses, and clicked the button to buy the flight ticket. A solo trip to Malta in April is officially confirmed! I’m becoming more and more spontaneous but I don’t hate the change. I’m working on trying out things that I wouldn’t have done before, and this is a step towards my goal.

For dinner, I made a quick and healthy meal out of oatmeal. I’ve been into oatmeal recipes lately; they are easy and fulfilling! Since oatmeal was healthy, I ate chips to balance out.

For the rest of the night, I read the second half of The Legacy by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir for the Crime Fiction class tomorrow.

3/15 Fri

I woke up early around 7 am to finish the book.

After classes, my friend and I grabbed lunch at a Thai restaurant.

The pad thai was good but I couldn’t stop comparing it to No Thai

If you’re reading this in Ann Arbor, please get pad thai or drunken noodles or potato curry at No Thai for me.

Anyway, our lunch date didn’t end there. Yes, we were full after lunch. Yes, we got boba. I have been refraining from getting boba too much because I knew my addiction would kick in again soon enough. But it was Friday and I was productive this week, so I got it as a treat for myself.

I tried working on homework that evening, but I couldn’t get myself to focus enough to finish it. So Friday night ended up as a self-care night in my bed as well ( * ˘╰╯˘ *)

3/16 Sat: Study Date

On Saturday, I got to sleep in until 11:30 am. I was still in my bed rolling around when my friend asked me if I wanted to come with her to go do work in a cafe. It didn’t take too long to realize that I wouldn’t do any work if I stayed home, so I composed myself and got ready to go out.

We headed to Gamla Stan but it was packed with even more people than usual. I blame the good weather.

After failing to find a spot in three different cafes, we moved over to T-Centralen and found a good study place.

The cafe is called the Kaferang City - I got Snapple but it was $5.50 ;-;

The music and distant conversations helped me focus and finish my assignments (+ blogging) for the week!

On the way back home, I stopped at ICA to get groceries. I bought a pack of raw chicken breast for the first time, and it took me TWO hours to cook it + make dinner. My legs hurt by the end but once I tasted my dinner I knew it was worth it!

I was so afraid that chicken would be raw so I cut some into thirds, not even halves

When I went back home I was irresistibly drawn to stay horizontal in my bed. I made a good choice to start a new novel but a bad choice to read until 5 am.

3/17 Sun

Free time!

My roommate hasn’t come back from her weekend trip so I had all the space to myself. Moreover, I didn’t have much to do because I did most of it yesterday at the cafe.

Sooo I basically spent the whole day finishing reading the novel except doing a brief project meeting and submitting finalized homework assignments.

This week was an opportunity for me to rest peacefully, both mentally and physically. I love traveling but felt that taking a rest was a necessary step for me.

It has been two months already since I came to Stockholm. Thank you for reading my weekly essays and I promise you that I’ll come back with more stories to tell next week!

Vi ses,

Jiwoo Kim

Chemical Engineering

DIS Study Abroad in Stockholm, Sweden

#UmichEnginAbroad #IPEStockholm #JiwooKim #IPEWinter24 #Sweden

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raffi-cat · 20 days

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Hi, first of all I LOVE your oc designs they looks so cool. What are their names and what’s going on with them. Gimme the details, if you would like to.

aaa thank you so much!! im assuming you're referring to specifically this post, and yeah, i'd love to talk about them! there isn't really an overarching story, they're all just individuals living their own lives

(also something to keep in mind: i made some of these stories when i was much younger, so they are a bit odd. i've since altered them to make a bit more sense, but i wanted to keep them mostly similar because they are dear to me)

this um, ended up longer than expected, so im putting it under the cut :]

daybreak (skywing): she comes from a family of minor nobility (via maternal generational wealth) and her father was a minor general. they were pretty strict with her and held her to very high standards. she was put to military training when she was fairly young, but the war ended before she was old enough to join

she doesn't really like her parents, especially her mother. there is a matriarch, her great grandmother on her mother's side. daybreak especially doesn't like her. they're all just too strict and it seems she can never quite hold up to their standards

her parents were pretty loyal to queen scarlet, but did easily accept ruby as queen when the official challenge took place. daybreak never liked scarlet, and was very glad ruby became queen

as she gets older she is able to distance from her parents, and moves away from their residence near the palace to live in a smaller town, likely more up north

i might give her a younger brother but i haven't decided yet

desert (sandwing): she has unusually potent venom that seems to eat away at the skin quicker. when her parents found out, being annoyingly loyal to burn, thought giving desert to her as a tool would be the best way they could serve their queen

burn was delighted about a new "secret weapon" but couldn't use her right away because she was still very young. so she was trained until burn deemed her fit to fight (still far too young) the war ended before burn was able to use her "properly", but she did get into many battles before hand, resulting in multiple scars and a partially burned right wing (though not enough to greatly impede her flying)

she was very happy about thorn becoming queen. she didn't stay near the palace long, wanting to get away as soon as possible. she likely finds a small town somewhat similar to possibility

storm (icewing): she was born with a genetic mutation that increases the pigment in parts of her scales. her patterns were pretty light as a baby, and got darker as she got older. if she lived near the palace, she would have been completely shunned. but she lives in a town in the southwest of the ice kingdom, where no one really cares about that. her darker scales do give her a disadvantage as she can't blend in with the snow very well, but she manages. her parents are very loving and she has an overall good life

saffron (mudwing): i don't really have anything for him, to be honest. he's just a sweet boy. i really need to design his siblings, so far i only have a name for one of them. he may not have much but i love him

prismarine (seawing): a middle class seawing, there's not much for her either. but she is gay and has a girlfriend, navy. they are very in love and very cute together

virga (rainwing): she is a pretty regular rainwing, and again not much for her. she's a bit more calm and less excitable than an average rainwing. the village can sometimes get a bit overwhelming, so she likes to spend time in secluded parts of the rainforest

duskfall (nightwing/skywing): her mother (wishkeeper) met a lone skywing soldier (her father, who i dont have a name for yet) while out for a patrol on the main continent. they continued to meet for several weeks and fell in love. she unfortunately couldn't tell him when she found out she was with egg, as he was gone when she went to meet up. (he's still alive don't worry, he was just called back from his post)

back on the island, she was very averse to talking about her egg. there was another dragon she was paired with, though they didn't care much for each other, and she just said it was his without further explanation. he knew it wasn't and was unbothered, but agreed to tell no one

when she had the egg, she kept it near her virtually all the time. even during her work testing animus magic. (i imagine the nightwings would have wanted to do some testing to make sure the magic worked how they wanted it to before using it for something as important as the tunnels. or.. something idk)

due to the close proximity to the magic and a small crack in the shell, caused a minor deformity as her wings being unusually thin and delicate, being practically transparent. this doesn't affect her

(i might change the reason her wings are thin? but this is what the story was and i honestly just haven't really thought about it much, so)

wishkeeper was getting increasingly worried about what would happen when when she hatched and everyone would be able to easily tell she wasn't full nightwing. so, she left the island to hide out in a secluded part of the forested mountains of the sky kingdom, essentially faking her and her egg's death

she found a hidden cave to make their home, and raised duskfall herself. though secluded and often lonely, she had a good mother and a good life. when she got older and the war ended, eventually her father was able to find them again

he was delighted to find out he and wishkeeper had a dragonet. unfortunately he cannot stay with them as he has responsibilities in the sky kingdom, but he does visit. (he got a wife (and potentially a son? haven't decided), but pretty much just for appearances. he doesn't care much for her (it's mutual))

duskfall is an artist and a writer and has always enjoyed capturing moments with her art. fun fact, she is left handed (left taloned?). she likely visits possiblity or a similar town often, but remains living relatively secluded

and there they are! this took longer than i expected but whatever

if you read all of this, uh, thanks! i really appreciate it :]

for your trouble here is a drawing of virga

#sorry this took so long to respond to #i got busier than i expected and then started getting self conscious near the end #also sorry if the wording is like kinda weird i have never put any of their stories into words #they've just lived in my head #this is much longer than i expected jeez #anyways i love my dragons very much #the joy of drawing rainwings is that i can make small adjustments to her patterns and it makes sense #sometimes i just wanna be a bit silly with it #wings of fire #wof #wof oc #ask #raff's art

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b-afterhours · 9 months

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Avenue of Sins: Neon

A sequel to Avenue of Sins

SUMMARY: ‘90s. It’s the aftermath. Jaded, Bill and Alma navigate their new lives as they try to drag themselves out of the dark debacherous trenches they had once ensnared themselves in. It’s easy to forget their evils when a silver lining introduces itself into their lives but can they create a less hedonistic life that would be just as satisfying?

WARNINGS: adult content, mature readers only.

The completed first series can be read and found here.

Author's Note: It's a long one. Happy New Year!

Chapter Nine

Valentine’s Day 1993

Bill was just about to leave his penthouse when the phone rang upstairs. Quickly, he took two steps at a time up the wrought iron spiral staircase and hastily grabbed the phone. It was Alma on the other end of the line thanking him for the dozen red rose vase bouquets that he had delivered to her apartment.

“Is it overkill?” He asked.

“Yes,” Alma laughed. “But they are all very pretty.” She said touching the soft velvety petals of a rose before her.

“I’ll miss you tonight.”

“Me too. But we’ll see each other in a couple of days…”

Bill smiled at the thought. “Uh, I was just heading out but-”

“No. I’ll let you go. I have to do the same. We have a show tonight at the shop.”

“Right,” he sighed. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” click.

…

Bill arrived at Trigger Finger XXX early that day since he wasn’t staying as late as he usually would that night. He had just finished eating a good sizable steak with a side of fries and sauteed asparagus that Bianca had gifted him. She had the kitchen staff prepare it for him making no fuss of it so that he could eat and enjoy it alone in the office. She knew he’d prefer it that way. He had almost forgotten to give her a gift but when leaving the gym he had stopped by a small chocolatier shop close by to grab her a box of intricate chocolates on a whim. One year she had even given him a bouquet of white roses which he found a little weird but deep down it did feel a little nice to receive. He wasn’t a great gift giver himself, it was just easier to hand money off than make decisions about what someone would like. Of course, with Alma, he made a little more effort but she never complained about the money either.

Eventually, he found himself down below in the designated VIP booth he sat at every night. Everyone seemed to be in a loving mood. Quite a few times flower delivery men had come to his club to drop off bouquets to a few girls and he could see all the girls checking them out silently competing over who had the biggest prettiest one. Had they known Alma would have been the winner. Tommy had stopped by his booth, he had just personally delivered pink roses and a large teddy bear that had shiny pink foil heart-shaped balloons attached to it to Bambi. They shook hands and Bill offered him a drink while he was already waving a bartender over before he could happily accept as he slid into the booth. They spoke a bit about Tommy’s cubicle job and house hunting over drinks until the conversation fell back on the celebrations of the day.

“Bambi seemed to really love the gift you brought,” Bill said.

“Ah, thanks she really likes that kind of stuff. I mean girls you know,” he lightly shrugged. “Uh did you get your wife something? Sorry, I can’t recall her name?”

“My girlfriend, Alma. Yeah, I got her roses.” He nodded.

“Oh, sorry I wasn’t sure whether-”

“Don’t sweat it,” he said, picking up his drink for a sip. In the back of his mind, he knew he probably should and would marry her. However, the thought of asking her the question made him so dreadfully anxious. Worried that she would say no even if most likely she wouldn’t. But what if she did? She could be very stubborn.

“I remember you two mentioning at Bianca’s Christmas party that you’ve been together since high school like me and Sar-Bambi I mean.”

“Yeah, long time,” he said, picking a piece of lint off his tailored charcoal trousers. It was easier to give a short answer. They had only known each other since high school. That was a fact but in regards to being together just as Tommy and Bambi were wasn’t. However, he wasn’t about to get into the debacle that was their actual relationship with Tommy two-bit next to him. They never really officially asked each other to be boyfriend and girlfriend, one day they just were after everything else they were to each other.

“Mhmm. Do you ever… get bored?”

Bill turned to look at him with furrowed brows. “Mm. No, she keeps me on my toes,” he smirked.

Tommy just nodded sheepishly to himself. “My wife and I have kind of discussed maybe… inviting a third into our bedroom you know trying to spice it up. But uh we haven’t found anyone we can both agree on.”

Bill quickly side-eyed him. Why the hell was he telling him this? “Um,” Bill sighed. “Sure but I hope you two aren’t fishing for my dancers. I don’t think that that would be app-”

“Not the girls,” Tommy said, cutting him off and giving him a pointed look.

Bill looked away from him for a second, noticing Venus dancing to What’s Love Got to Do with It by Tina Turner on stage, and then turned back to him with a skeptical expression on his face. “Eh, Tommy?”

“You seem fine enough to me. She likes you,” he lightly shrugged.

“Yeah… most people do but they don’t often ask me to fuck their wife.”

“Hey, I was just putting feelers out,” Tommy said, putting his hands up defensively. “But I take it that you’re not interested. I just figured as a man who works in this type of environment that maybe…”

“Sure,” Bill rolled his eyes. “But I learned long ago that I frankly don't like an audience.” He declared.

It was years ago he agreed to let a pathetic husband watch him fuck their wife. It was fine when it started but when he could hear the other man's moans filling the room while he jerked off his less-than-average penis in a corner it began to throw him off. He was being demanded of things from both the husband and the wife. The woman wanted it a certain way while the man wanted to watch something else. Then the man got jealous and asked him to leave before he could finish much to his wife's protests against it. He didn’t like the idea of fighting a naked man while he was vulnerable as well. Instead, he collected his clothes, gave the man some scathing choice words, and went on his way. Though even afterward the woman called his phone but he rebuffed her politely as he could because he surprisingly felt bad about what she had to deal with. By the third time he rudely told her to lose his number and threatened to kick her husband's ass for real if she didn’t.

“Just forget it, man. I read you wrong.” Tommy said, pushing his drink glass away.

“Look, it’s just not for me. But uh I hope you find someone at the very least.”

“Mhmm,” Tommy said, putting on an act of checking his cheap wristwatch. “I gotta pick up our son from his grandma.” He offered his hand and gave him a curt handshake before he left.

Bill just sat there alone slightly amused and stunned as he rubbed the thin white gold chain he wore around his neck between his fingers. To him, Bambi and Tommy seemed subjectively normal and though he’s seen and heard and done a lot in his life people could still surprise him. He shook his head to himself hurrying out of the booth and lit a cigarette on his way to the girl's dressing rooms. It was filled with all sorts of bouquets and heart shaped gifts today. There were a few girls in there when he stopped at the threshold flicking ash from his cigarette to the floor. The scent of Aquanet and strawberry body mist hit him. A few girls were adjusting straps of clothing and others touching up make-up in the mirror of the wall-to-wall-lit vanity. When they registered a male presence they all turned their head and smiled noticing it was him. Though security did a fine job of keeping men out there were times a creep would sneak past and they never liked to miss an opportunity to tell them off.

“Hi boss,” they all said together melodically.

“Hi ladies,” he politely smiled at them. “Happy Valentine’s,” he said, slightly bowing his head.

He walked in further glancing at Bambi who seemed more occupied with touching up her red lipstick than paying attention to him. He wondered if she put Tommy up to the proposal or whether she knew at all. He looked around for Marcy when he realized Payday wasn’t in the dressing room meaning if he didn’t see her on the floor she was most likely in the private rooms working. Marcy was in the back area with Chastity holding onto a wax strip that had been applied to her lower belly as she braced.

“Just do it!” Chastity whined and with that, Marcy pulled it away from her body which made her recoil from the abrupt pain.

“Sorry, sorry,” Marcy said looking at the pink strip that had short dark hairs attached to it now.

“Fucking hardcore,” Bill said when Chastity walked away rubbing the ruddy sore spot below her navel as he took a drag of his cigarette.

“Not so easy being a woman,” Marcy said, turning to him with a wink. “What’s up?”

“I was looking for Payday. When she circles back around from the private rooms could you tell her I’ll be waiting in the loft?” He said pointing behind himself.

Just before he walked out, Onyx came in walking a bit strangely announcing that she needed a tampon. When he got to the loft he plopped down on the couch because Bianca was sitting at the desk looking over paperwork and tapping her long red nails on the desk. He sighed to himself loudly as he lifted his long leg to place on top of the coffee table in front of him and the other crossed his knee at the ankle.

“What’s up with you lover boy?” Bianca finally said.

“Just waiting,” he shrugged. “Thanks for my gift by the way.”

“Of course! Thanks for mine.” She said tapping on the box of chocolates on the desk. He had just left it there for her to discover and placed a sticky note on it that read: To B from B. “And what is this that you’re waiting on? The desk?”

Bill lightly chuckled. “Waiting on Payday. She asked if I’d take her to Simion’s fight tonight last week. I figured why not.”

“Hmm,” Bianca expressed looking a little perturbed. “So she’s with him for real then?”

“Seems like it. Why?”

Bianca shook her head. “You know when I was the house mother I didn’t like the girls to form real relationships with clients. Personally, I know what can go wrong. I met my sons' asshole father here.” She rolled her eyes. “He gave me hell forever when we separated, tried to get my sons taken away claiming I was an unfit mother. Anyway,” she waved a hand trying to dismiss those memories and the risk of repeating a story Bill already knew. “Marcy is with that bogus-looking guy she met here and suddenly she’s gone lax on that rule.”

“Sounds like you might have to talk to her?”

“And you too. It doesn’t bother you,” she asked, lifting a brow at him.

“To a degree but as long as our money keeps coming…” he shrugged but Bianca didn’t seem pleased with that answer. “Sure, I agree with you we can’t start having our high-dollar girls marrying off. If Marcy has a problem just call in the big guns,” he said playfully flexing his biceps.

“Oh look at you! Fuckin’ dork.” Bianca said, making him laugh. “You are looking nice today though, even wearing color for once.” She said pointing out his ruby-colored button-up. “And the red bottoms.” She noticed his new designer Chelsea boots.

“Ah yeah, Alma bought these for me when she went shopping last time she was here. Nice huh?” He said, rubbing a smudge from the sleek black leather with his thumb.

There was a knock at the door and Theo walked in with Payday just behind him holding a clutch purse. She had put on a short satin red dress with a cowl neck that hung low with nude strappy stilettos. Her long dark hair was curled and styled half up and half down with flirty locks framing her face. The shade of pink lipstick she wore on her full lips complimented her tan skin. As he got up to grab his long black coat he thought about how they would match and if he should change his shirt while Payday asked Bianca if she looked cute. He decided that changing it would make it a bigger deal when there were a lot of people who would be wearing red today. In some ways, Payday’s looks reminded him of Alma so he enjoyed looking at her but not much else beyond that did he find interesting. He asked Payday if she’d like to borrow a jacket since there was still a chill in the February air and was only wearing thin fabric and little of it but she politely declined.

They were mostly silent in Bill’s car on the way to the discrete location of the underground boxing match. Payday was sitting with her legs crossed, her smooth thick thigh facing him on display, and was anxiously fiddling with her long French tip acrylic nails.

“Are you cold,” Bill asked.

“No,” she said softly. “Just nervous. I’ve never been to anything like this. And my boyfriend is gonna be up there you know?” She said clasping her hands and settling them into her lap.

Bill nodded in understanding. “Well as a fair warning, it’s not like anything you’ve seen on pay-per-view. It’s a bare-knuckle fight,” when he glanced at her he noticed her wearily frown. “But I’ve seen Simion fight, he’s good. He hardly gets touched.” He tried to reassure her. “Um, did he get you anything nice today?” He said steering the subject to something else to ease her anxious worrying for a bit.

“Oh you know, flowers, chocolates, money,” she sighed. “After the fight, we’re staying at a really nice hotel which I’m excited about.”

When Bill asked her where they were staying he just nodded at the mention of the place. It wasn’t what he would call really nice by his standards but fine enough. Then he thought that maybe he was being a bit of a snob about it. He didn’t come from luxury but now he had preferences for things he never imagined there were preferences for.

“Don’t you have a girl? Did you get her something nice?”

“Hmm. I try.” He said scratching his mustache.

“Oh c’mon!”

“We’re not big gift givers. We mostly like to just be together but she’s living in another state right now. I’m seeing her in a few days.”

“That should be nice. I briefly saw her when she was at the club a few months ago. She’s very pretty, soft, but kinda tough. It’s sexy.” She said which made Bill smile. “But I can imagine you kinda have to be a bit tough to be with you. You know because of your job and you come off as very mysterious sometimes. Like a bit hard to crack,” Payday lightly laughed.

Bill chewed on his cheek in thought for a moment. “By ‘a bit hard to crack’ do you mean like standoffish? Dickish?”

“Hey boss, I said no such thing, you did.” She smirked.

“It’s a fair observation, I guess.”

“I mean even for me it’s hard to date, not a lot of guys have liked that I dance you know. Takes a specific kind of person who’d be cool with it.” She said finishing a previous thought she had to fill the dead space fearing she may have offended him.

They fell silent again. Bill had to admit he was private, more so in recent years ever since the situation with Craig. He didn’t need to make any unnecessary waves. Besides that, he had a family to protect as well whom he didn’t need to make targets of his misdeeds. It had happened once and he’d be damned if it ever happened again.

Payday sat in her seat still nervous but now it was because she felt she may have said something wrong. She peered over towards Bill who was taping his steering wheel with his thumb to the beat of a down-tempo alternative rock song softly playing on the radio unbothered as he drove them. That’s when she peeked at a small photo tucked into the car dash control panel of a sleeping baby. Of course, all the dancers talked about him. She’s heard bits of pieces of things that mostly sounded like bullshit to her. She never liked to make assumptions about people because she didn’t like when people did it to her when they learned of her profession. However, the photo did confirm the baby rumor amongst the bullshit ones she’s heard.

“If you weren’t going to this fight and you didn’t have to work tonight, what would you be doing?” Bill asked her as he turned a street corner. He could sense her nervousness after he had quit speaking and was trying not to seem so cold. It hit him then that it sort of felt like a first date with how painful it felt to carry on a conversation.

“Oh. Um well, I used to rave and go hang with club kids. That’s how I picked up all those little funny games I play with the clients,” she lightly giggled. “But yeah, probably something like that. I bet there are a few on tonight too. Have you ever raved?”

“I’ve been to a couple when I was a bit younger. My girlfriend liked to go to those mostly. She likes to dance but I’m not so good at it.” He lightly shrugged. “We’re here.” He announced as he swooped into a parking spot.

Payday looked around. It was just a random city block with a few sketchy warehouses. She saw some people walking down the street but a few she could pluck out by their more tailored threads. They were most likely headed to where they were.

“It’s still a bit of a walk from here. Will you be okay?” He said with a pointed look at her stiletto heels while he picked up a loose cigarette that lay on top of his dashboard and put it between his lips.

“It’ll be okay,” she hoped. She could do a lot on the platform heels she wore at work but these were flat to the ground, better for sitting down and looking cute on her French pedicured feet.

Without a warning, Bill reached behind his back and grabbed the handle of his gun. Payday watched him check the slide and pull a lever and then he met her shocked expression, apologetically he laid his gun gently on his lap. It was a lapse in judgment on his part, he navigated alone and the only other girl that had ever been in his Thunderbird was Alma who wouldn’t have been startled by it one bit. Surely, the girls at the club knew he carried a gun but he was in a car in a sketchy area alone with a girl being too casual about a deadly weapon. If this was an actual first date this would have been the moment Payday would have decided that there wouldn’t be a second. That thought amused Bill.

“Sorry. They don’t allow outside firearms. They check,” he explained with the unlit cigarette still between his lips until he plucked it away. “Do you mind if I reach over to put it in the glovebox in front of you?”

“It’s cool. I just didn’t expect it.”

“You don’t mind?” He asked again because she didn’t answer his question.

“No,” she shook her head.

She was beginning to wonder what in the world her boyfriend Simion’s fight night got her into tonight. It all seemed so hush-hush and serious now. It seemed like he told her enough but not the details of what underground fighting really was because she imagined it was just some macho guy get-together. Bill reached over and placed his Glock in the glove box. Before he shut and locked it with his key she could have sworn she saw not only a large bottle of Chanel cologne and a pocket knife but also a pair of white sheer panties. That observation quickly left when she noticed the lock of hair that fell out of his slicked hair, his clear skin, and the expensive cologne he wore while he was so close. He was handsome, she loved his big beautiful green eyes that set him apart but she preferred Simion’s muscular brawny build more. Plus, Bill could be a bit stoic whereas Simion was playful. However, she had seen Bill cut up on occasion and how Bianca and him would joke. He just wasn’t someone who’d let people in easily. Almost as if you’d have to prove yourself to be in his inner circle.

After he opened her door and helped her out after a quick reapplication of gloss. They walked half a block and through a tiny residential alley until they finally reached the back area of a nondescript almost dilapidated-looking warehouse. Bill had his coat collar slightly popped up with a hand inside the pocket as he was smoking his cigarette with the other. A few times he had to pause while Payday caught up to his strides. She wouldn’t even answer a callback from him if this was a first date for doing that, that’s for sure, he thought.

They stood behind a few other spectators being patted down. Once it was their turn Bill flicked his cigarette away and asked for her purse before he went first. He passed the small clutch to the security guard and he took a glance over at the ID, coin purse, powder case, lipstick, gloss, and the two light blue condoms inside. Bill passed it back behind himself to her and then put his hands up to be patted down. Payday could tell he was thoroughly annoyed by it and saw him muttering something to the security.

“She’s a lady.” She heard him say in a low tone. “Look at what she’s wearing, what would she have on her.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” the stocky bald security guard said back.

Bill flashed him a dark steely gaze. “I do.”

It was then she glanced down and caught Bill palming the security a few one hundred dollar bills and he waved them through without her needing to be subjected to an invasive pat down.

“Ready,” he asked her with a softer demeanor about him again and then offered his arm for her to grab as a polite gesture.

It was strange to her how he could change his emotions in that way. Almost like a Jekyll and Hyde effect. All she knew was that she never wanted him to look at her in the way he looked at the security guard because she might just piss herself.

Inside there was commotion coming from everywhere. There were two lean muscular boxers on the makeshift but well-built rings in the center of the warehouse but it seemed not many people were interested in watching. There were people still looking for seats and waiters with drink trays weaving between them. A woman at a coat check offered to take Bill’s coat but he waved off the offer. As they continued through she realized it was a full operation which was here in the night but gone in the day.

“I need to stop by the bets real quick,” he said leaning down so she could hear him. Even in stilettos, she was short. “Then we can look for seats.”

She watched him speaking to a bookie placing bets of exorbitant amounts of money. He turned back to look at her over his shoulder and saw her taking everything in.

“Would you like to bet on a round?” He asked her, trying to make her feel included. “On me,” he said before she could say she had no money to bet with.

“Sure,” she said, deciding to participate especially since it wasn’t her money to waste away.

“Okay, boxing usually goes ten rounds right? Tonight’s main event only goes to seven,” he explained. “So from one to seven, you can bet on which round there will be a knockout that ends the fight.”

“It’s just a guess?” She asked and Bill nodded. “Hmm. Round six.”

“Round six,” Bill nodded in approval. It wasn't a bad or good round to choose as long as she didn’t say round one. He would have chosen the fifth round knowing how Simion fought. He turned back to the bookie who asked him if he wanted to do the lower hundred bets and then it jumped to twenty-five hundred or five thousand dollar pots. “What do you think?” He turned to her again.

“Uh,” Payday grinned a bit overwhelmed. “Twenty-five hundred?” That amount of money was a fraction of a fraction of the numbers she had heard him throw out before getting her to play.

“Eh. Maybe a little higher right,” Bill said pointing up. “Something worthwhile.”

“It’s your money, boss,” she said nervously. He only looked at her, waiting for her to agree. “Hm, five thousand then,” and even that was still a modest number from the ones she’d heard before. “Sixth round,” she said more definitively in her tone.

Bill grinned. “Now we’re playing.”

They were held up a bit by the entrance to the boxing ring because Bill had recognized a few men there and was speaking to them. She looked around and quickly grabbed a champagne glass from a passing waiter and downed its contents which earned a glance from Bill but he turned away again with a smirk she mistook for a sneer. She thought maybe that was a bit trashy of her because of the look he gave. But she didn’t know him enough to know he found it funny. As he tried to veer away from the conversation before him he was saved when one of Simion's training crew called his name. He was a young guy named Aaron and Bill had even worked out with him.

“C’mon, follow me!” He hollered above the crowd and waved them over.

Bill offered his arm again to Payday as he kept his eyes on the back of Aaron’s blonde head and navigated them through the crowd. The crowd started to become thinner and eventually, they turned a corner. Payday let go of him and walked ahead down the corridor as Bill and Aaron shook hands a few paces behind. She could faintly hear her boyfriend Simion’s voice and followed it.

“Payday,” Bill said, pointing to a makeshift room as she walked ahead. “In here.”

She turned her head and hastily scurried back and Bill stood behind to let her in first. Simion turned his head in the middle of a pep talk from his trainer and brightly grinned when he spotted her.

“Simi!” She shouted happily.

“Marina my angel!” He exclaimed with his arms out awaiting her embrace. She leaped up and slammed her body against his before they tongue-kissed. Everyone could see her asscheeks because her skirt rode up and she didn’t even bother to adjust it.

“Careful! He’s still got the main event coming up,” Mauricio his trainer chided.

Simion placed her back on her stilettos as she bashfully pulled her skirt hem down. “She is my main event, Mauricio!” He said, kissing her cheek proudly.

Bill was leaning against a heavy punching bag with his arms crossed when Aaron leaned in towards him.

“It’s like some kind of fucked up Rocky movie,” he said to him which made him chuckle.

“Hey, did you get it in,” Bill asked him hushed.

“Right, right,” Aaron said, grabbing a small gym bag sitting on the dusty floor next to him.

Bill used his broad back and large body to shield his gym friend as he dug in the bag and produced a small Sig Sauer he had snuck into the facilities for him. It was easier for him because as a part of the crew, they weren’t subjected to pat downs the way patrons were. Even if he was a bit weary of leaving one of his guns from him to hold on to, Bill also knew Aaron was young and stupid enough to bring it in as a way to impress him. Bill quickly grabbed it, checking the slide and the safety before tucking it into a custom inner pocket he had tailored into his coat. He thanked Aaron with a pat on his shoulder since he had already paid him for the favor prior. He didn’t trust anyone at these events, everyone was into shady seedy shit and Bill had laid down a lot of money tonight he wasn’t risking not having a piece on him. He was sure he wasn’t the only one who did either.

Aaron backed away when Simion approached them in his blue, yellow, and red designed boxing shorts that were meant as an homage to the Romanian flag. Bill straightened up and they hooked hands before Simion pulled him into an embrace. He pulled him like he weighed nothing which took him aback a bit but he held his ground. His biceps were two – close to three sizes – bigger than his.

“Thanks for bringing her brother,” he said to him. “She’s my good luck charm!”

“No problem. I told you I would bring her in one piece tonight,” he said, scratching his neck.

“I managed to get you and her some front-row seats. You know for the trouble.”

“No trouble at all. And I appreciate it but uh I just like to sit in the back you know.”

“Low profile I understand. Well, it’s there if you want it, no worries, brother.” He said, patting his arm.

“Thanks. I can take Payday to her seat though.”

“Such a gentleman. I’d like that.”

“We need to buckle down Simion,” Maurcio bellowed sternly. “The fight right now is almost over, then we got one more and you’re up.”

Bill waited outside the room for Payday as she said her goodbyes to Simion but when they emerged at the threshold he caught Simion pulling her dress down to kiss her bare breasts. He looked away. He had seen them countless times, he could even picture them perfectly but it just felt weird to look at them outside the club.

“I asked you to keep it a surprise,” Payday said to him as she approached.

Bill began to lead her out the corridor before answering her. “I know.”

“Well?”

He looked down at her and took a deep breath. “It’s just a stupid guy thing. You’re his girlfriend. I have to respect that and make sure he was cool about me giving you a ride.” He caught her slightly rolling her eyes and he had to keep himself from smirking.

He led her to the seats, really damn good seats. With an open hand, he pointed to her seat like a good usher would and just as he began to walk off she caught the tail of his long coat.

“Are you really just going to leave me all alone?” She said looking up at him a bit upset.

Bill groaned under his breath and leaned down. “It’s a bit too overexposed for me.”

“I don’t know anyone here but you and Simion?” She pulled on his coat collar to speak into his ear. “Honestly, I’m a little uncomfortable.” She looked around then and while there were a few women amongst the male majority she was there front and center. She felt overexposed as well.

Bill side-eyed her and then closed his eyes in thought. If it was Alma he would sit down if she was uncomfortable. However, she wasn’t but as a friend of Simion’s, he decided he would bear it.

“Fine,” he said begrudgingly.

He shrugged his coat off and again a waiter in passing asked if he’d like to check his coat and again he declined. As far as he knew his Louis Vuitton coat would just walk out without him and the thief would also now have a new gun. He held it by the collar and then draped it across his lap as he finally sat down.

“Thank you,” she said, nudging him.

“Yup,” he sighed indignantly. “Can I ask you something? Is it alright if I call you Marina here?”

“You can call me whatever you like boss,” she smiled politely and batted her silver shadowed eyes at him. It was maybe even a little flirtatious if he wanted to look at it that way. Suddenly this faux date had turned into an escort service by that response. And by how she was dressed it probably did look like that outwardly.

“No like seriously. You don’t have to call me Boss either we're not at work.” He didn’t mind the girls calling him boss but he always wondered when that even started. They used either his name or boss interchangeably but one day it was just boss only.

“So you want me to call you, Bill?” She asked cautiously.

“You could have always called me Bill,” he said, slightly irritated. “So can I call you Marina? Of course, at work, I wouldn’t obviously.”

“Marina is fine... But I usually go by Mari’.”

Bill bit his lip and looked away to keep the frustrated laugh from escaping past his lips. “Okay, Mari’ then.” If he had this exact conversation with Alma he would have sworn she was fucking with him just to start an argument. Unfortunately, it seemed like this was just how Mari was.

And now he just missed Alma all over again. Keeping busy always helped but it being Valentine's just exasperated all his feelings for her because she just wasn’t there. Did he agree to this because it was the closest thing to Alma? Though they were similar in looks he couldn’t keep himself from finding all the things she lacked. What started as a polite favor he now began to wonder if he was just so damn lonely his subconscious planned all of this.

A waiter stopped by them and he quickly ordered a glass of top-shelf bourbon, for Mari Dom Perignon after discovering that’s what she stole off the tray when he asked the waiter what champagne was being served.

“You’re expensive,” he smugly joked.

Their drinks arrived as soon as the second-to-last fight started. He told the waiter to keep the drinks coming until he said when. Bill had bet on this fight and Simion’s so he was interested to see how it would go. He bet that the Irish fighter would win since he hadn’t had a single loss on his record and expected the streak to continue. The first round had the crowd in the warehouse roaring as the Irish fighter put in some work on the other off the bat. Bill finished the rest of his Bourbon and an attentive waiter swooped by to grab his empty glass. Resting his elbows on his knees and wringing his hands together he watched the second round start and it began the way the first went. Until after the last-minute mark when the Irish fighter ducked a punch the other boxer clipped him with a left hook stunning him and leaving his guard down enough that another punch hit him square in the face. His knees buckled from under him and like a dead weight, he fell forward straight on the boxing mat. The crowd's roars were deafening, some patrons shot out of their seats in disbelief. The referee counted down and it was over.

“FUCK!” Bill yelled and his face fell into his hand. “Fuck me,” he whined.

Bill sat back in his seat, shaking his head with furrowed brows. Marina glanced at him remorsefully; she knew he bet on the Irish fighter to win and he went down unexpectedly quick. Money gone, just like that. The waiter came with drinks and she watched him shoot it down like a shot and put it back on the drink tray. She was worried about saying anything because of how upset he looked, twisting around his blue gem pinky ring. The winning team finally got out of the ring after congratulating the underdog and Bill sighed loudly in resignation.

“Well shit,” he said, turning to Marina now. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“That was… crazy. I heard you bet on Simion too,” she said cautiously.

“I did,” he nodded. “Hopefully he wins it all back for me.” He had more at stake in Simion’s fight and he was silently praying to whatever powers that be.

The ring was being swept off and prepared as Simion was the main event. It was quiet between the two while they waited until Marina spoke up.

“Bo-Bill,” she said to gain his attention. “If you weren’t here tonight what would you be doing on Valentine's Day instead?” She was reframing the question he had made up to ease her earlier in the evening.

Bill smiled and turned his body so that it was more open to her now. “Hm. Not sure.”

“Would your girlfriend like to come to something like this?” She asked after taking a sip of the champagne she’d been nursing.

“Probably. But I wouldn’t bring her here for Valentine’s,” he lightly chuckled. “We’d go out to eat, and stay in a nice hotel suite,” he paused, deciding how much he wanted to tell her. “Uh, I like to buy her dresses so she’d be out with me wearing what I bought her.”

“Aw, that’s so cute! And you say you’re not a good gift giver?” She said playfully tapping his arm.

“I mean I told you I try,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. “But the dresses are more for my indulgence.”

“Can I ask a question,” she said softly to which Bill nodded as a reply. “I saw that picture on the dash, whose pretty baby is that?”

Bill looked away a second and looked back at her with a tight smile rubbing the stubble on his chin with his knuckles. He barely gave her an inch and she just went the whole mile. He was worried about this.

“You’re only asking that because I think you already know,” he said to her, seeing through her disingenuous questioning. “I know you girls talk about me in the dressing rooms. Was it Bambi?” He knew when he saw Bambi at Bianca’s Christmas party that she’d be the one to leak that information around whether intentionally or not. He was surprised to even see her there at all as Bianca liked to keep a tight group as well but it was her home he had no say on her guests.

Marina hated feeling caught, she knew better. She responded to him remorsefully nodding her head. “I’m sorry, Bill. That was ugly of me.”

“It’s not your fault for being curious, Mari. I know I’m a cryptic fuck it doesn’t help when it comes to speculation,” he set his drink on the floor and crossed his arms sitting back in his seat. “To answer your question, yeah that’s my pretty little baby,” he smiled and that eased her enough to smile also. “It’s not like some huge secret exactly. I just… want to keep her separate from business, you know? I’m also guilty of being possessive. So when it comes to my daughter-”

“Out of bounds,” Marina said understandingly.

“Exactly,” Bill nodded. “Out of bounds, that works,” he said because he was going to originally say that it was nobody's fucking business. This was less crass.

“So I’m guessing you wouldn’t even tell me her name then.”

That made Bill lightly chortled because she was still trying to pry. “Yeah, no I won’t be. I won’t even entertain a guess.”

“Fair. I can respect that.”

“Thank you.” He said with an appreciative nod.

“Picturing you with a little daughter looks so sweet. You probably wouldn’t like to hear it but it takes a little edge off you knowing that now.”

“Sorry for breaking that facade tonight,” Bill joked.

“The way you’ve behaved tonight towards me, well except for walking ahead of me earlier,” she pointed out to which he quickly threw in a sorry. “Maybe you’re possessive I guess but you’re protective. I can tell you’re a good dad because you light up talking about her. I wish my dad did when he talks about me.”

Bill bashfully looked at his lap twisting the pinky ring that honored his daughter and smiled to himself. “Ah, that’s sweet of you to say, Mari.” He couldn’t ever say that he was a good dad or not exactly; he didn't feel like he had spent enough time with Echo to gauge that. Even with the reassurance from Alma that his daughter loved him and that he was a good dad, he felt like she had to say that as his partner. Hearing it from a near stranger felt nice though it made him feel good about himself.

“So back to my question before since I know what I know now. If you weren’t here tonight. Good food and hotel still?”

“She’d tag along with us. She’s still little,” he said, putting his hand out a few feet from the floor indicating her height. “Alma, my girlfriend, always likes to call her a fancy girl when we’re doing something particularly gaudy,” he laughed. “But yeah she’s fancy, she's got a lot more at her disposal than we ever had. That’s for sure.”

The announcer finally introduced the main event of the night. While Bill tried his best to keep his conversations with Marina dreadfully shallow he now kind of appreciated where their night’s conversation went. It was nice to think and talk about the girls he loved so much with someone else besides Bianca. He was sure he bored her with it sometimes. Now he had to focus, he had money to win.

After the announcer introduced the referee and the other main event boxer, Simion walked to the center of the ring lightly jogging in place and jutting out punches which made the crowd cheer.

“And in the blue, yellow, and red shorts, SIMION ‘THE DRAGON’ DALCA!!! Let the Bloody Valentine’s Fight begin!”

Marina jumped from her seat and cheered her boyfriend while Bill only stood up and clapped next to her. Simion spotted her and she began to blow kisses at him. They sat down as the first fight round went on with only a few jabs from both fighters sizing each other up. From the corner of Bill’s eye, he saw some latecomers to the fight shuffling to their front-row seats just on the other side of the ring. There was a classically beautiful woman who caught his eye first, her honey-blonde hair was in a perfect French roll and she was wearing a brown mink fur coat and white gloves. She looked suitably dressed for a symphony, not some dusty underground boxing fight.

That was until someone stepped aside revealing Joey Russo right beside her. He was dressed in a nicely tailored three piece suit with a rose boutonniere attached to the lapel. He briefly watched as Joey helped the woman take her mink off and handed it off to who looked like personal security. He looked away and took a deep breath through his nose holding the air in his puffed-up chest and let it back out slowly. He and Joey Russo had bumped into each other here and there and were fine with each other but it didn’t mean he liked it when it happened. He’d much prefer if he never saw him ever again but such is life. In the days when everything could seem so trivial suddenly he is hit with too much in a day all at once.

He put all his focus on the fight only pausing a moment to roll up the sleeves of his button up. Though the way the day kept throwing curveballs he was deeply worried. Simion had been putting up a good fight throwing blows that would buckle five men but his opponent was just taking it. Their bare knuckles were bloodied and raw. Simion’s nose was busted open in the fourth round and began to run crimson down his chin and trickled to his sweaty chest just as he did to his opponent in the third. Marina screamed when that happened and involuntarily clutched Bill’s arm. He patted her hand lightly not to remove it but so that she could let off a little as her long nails were digging into his skin. Near the end of the fifth round, Bill’s heart began to thump hard in his chest, adrenaline coursing through him. He reached down for his bourbon and finished it. The alcohol wasn’t going to save him though he was too pent up with anxious energy.

As the boxers fought on the ropes of the ring where Joey Russo sat, he locked eyes with him. They gave each other a nod of acknowledgment and turned their focus back on the fight. Just before the end of the fifth round, Simion threw a medley of body jabs and he cheered appreciatively.

“Yeah!” He caught himself shouting.

He looked toward Marina and could see that she was tearing up. He would hold her hand but he wasn’t going to she wasn’t his but he’d allow her to grip onto his forearm like she had been doing even forgetting about her nails digging in. Once the sixth round started Simion took a bad blow that split his eyebrow which made him curse under his breath but then he felt Marina bury her face in the crook of his arm openly sobbing on him. He moved his arm as he tried to pay attention and awkwardly patted her back. Alma hardly sobbed like this. Usually, a few tears would run and she’d fiercely wipe them away and then she’d become annoyed by them rather than sad. In fact, he could only count the few times she did sob in front of him on his hand. She preferred to cry alone and didn’t want him around until she was finished. Didn’t seem so healthy thinking of it now.

“C’mon,” he nudged her to right herself. “It’ll be ok-”

Just as he spoke then it was as if a fire erupted out of Simion who was once lagging from his tough contender's jabs. They were sparing off blow for blow. Until like a fury Simion hit him one after the other. From their front-row seats, Bill could hear the hard blows and the sweat spraying off their bodies as the punches connected one after the other. With one final uppercut Simion knocked out his opponent. Lights out.

The crowd went absolutely crazy. Bill even jumped from his seat cheering and pumping a fist in the air, he won too. He won big tonight.

“Holy fuck!” Bill said, running his hand through his hair as his main stressor lifted from his shoulders. “God damn it,” he shook his head in disbelief. “Simion fucking did it.” He said, turning to Marina who was now crying happily.

With his coat in his hand, he quickly put it on and grabbed Marina's wrist. He needed to leave before the crowd rushed and blocked him in. The training crew lifted Simion on their shoulders celebrating his win as they left the ringside. Aaron was watching from the entrance of the corridor, he was in charge of watching the locker room that held the crew's items. He was glad for that because at least it was someone he could leave Marina with while everyone else was still celebrating in the ring.

“I’ll leave you with Aaron over there if that’s okay. But we need to see the bookie first.”

He was right up after a few other guys who’d collected smaller wins. Luckily a lot of the crowd were still cheering or arguing with each other over the results of the fight. First, he collected the five thousand dollars for the sixth-round knockout. The bookie wrapped the bundle of cash in butcher's paper and slid it over. Bill put it under his arm while he arranged the dealings of his earnings of the night. The five thousand was only his part of the pot, he had won much more from it. With Simion’s win and the pot earnings, he couldn’t take that amount of cash home tonight so he and the bookie arranged for it to be delivered to Trigger Finger. The bookie even offered collateral on his part to ensure he’d get the money. Bill knew this bookie to be respected and good on his word so he accepted. By tomorrow at 9 am he’d be waiting with security for the delivery at the club.

He turned on his heel and while he was happy as hell he kept a cool poker face. He took the 5k out from under his arm and handed it to Marina and she looked at him shocked.

“No, Bill. That’s your money I can’t,” she said, pushing his hand back.

“You picked the round, you were right. Fuck, you really are his good luck charm,” he laughed.

“No…” she said, looking up at him shaking her head. “No.”

“I won’t accept that,” he said, pushing his hand forward and placing the money on her chest forcing her to take hold of it.

She grabbed it and looked shocked. “This is crazy shit Boss,” she laughed. “Thank you.” She hugged him tightly.

“After tonight uh I hope we’ve come to an understanding about what has been said?” He said, giving her a pointed look.

“You got it.” Marina nodded. “You didn’t say shit to me on the car ride and you sat in a corner all night by yourself,” she winked.

“Thanks,” he said appreciatively. “See you at work, Mari.” Though he couldn’t be certain she would keep mum about their time tonight he hoped the money would be a good enough incentive to.

After paying his drink tab he reached in his coat pocket for his pack of smokes as he headed out into the night. Walking with a few other guests as he reached the street. As he went on to get into his car on the other end of the block he saw a limousine parked at the corner. That’s when his path intersected with Joey Russo’s. He was trying to avoid him and for a moment he felt that he had gotten away. He was helping the well-put-together woman into the limo and saw her flash a cold glance with her ice blue eyes at Joey just as he turned to him.

“Ay, Bill!” Joey said delighted to have gotten to run into him.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath and then stomped his cigarette out. He looked at him with a tense smile then. “Joey,” he said with a curt nod.

“What a fight right?” He said just as the woman inside the limo irritatedly asked him to shut the door complaining that she was cold and telling him to hurry up. “Hm. My wife Carmen,” he wryly smiled. “She’s not so happy that I kinda lied about our plans tonight,” he said lightly chuckling and taking a glance at Bill’s left hand to see if he had a gold band like his own but it was in his pocket while his other was around the handle of his gun. He was trying to find details he may not know about him already. “Do you happen to have another smoke, she can wait.” He said dismissively waving at the limo.

“I do but I’m kinda in a rush?” He said scratching his neck revealing his bare ring finger to Joey.

“I won’t hold you up too long.” He said grabbing the cigarette Bill held out for him he even offered his lighter but Joey had his own. “So it’s been a while. How have you been, huh?”

“Business is still good,” he replied curtly. While he wasn’t asked that, that was all he was offering him feeling no need to speak about himself.

“Same here. You know after Batter passed finally the old guards backed the fuck off. Buncha old school fucks you know?” He said, giving Bill a knowing look.

“Mhmm,” he said, straightening his back.

“But that’s long done,” he said, taking a puff of his cig. “It’s the people like us that keep it fresh. There’s no time for old stubborn fools like that. Shit is changing so fast these days you gotta be on top of it or you get left behind.” He looked over at Bill who looked completely disinterested and just wanted to leave. “You rushing back to your girlfriend tonight? Alma?”

Bill lightly cleared his throat, he didn’t particularly like that he even mentioned her. “Sure,” he said with a shrug as he looked down at him. It seemed to him that he had no idea she lived out of state which pleased him. Had Joey known he would have mentioned it, he liked revealing things he knew to get under people's skin.

“I saw you sitting with that girl… almost thought it was her at first glance. One of your dancers, maybe?”

“The Dragon’s girlfriend.” He was slightly getting irritated the longer this conversation went on. Joey just wanted to hear himself talk because, during their other run-ins with each other, their banter went the same as tonight. Where Bill said little and Joey just spoke a whole lot of nothing hoping that by saying more he’d get more but it never happened with Bill.

“Ah, nice. Not bad,” he said, nodding his head. He was becoming bored too. There was nothing new with Bill. He liked to keep tabs on most people he’s dealt with but Bill was low on his roster. Just some punk kid who did his family a favor once. He wasn’t an enemy. “Anyway, it was good to see you. I know you’re not very keen on me but like I said that was old-guard shit. Though I have to say there’s no room for people like… well, you know.” He said, stomping out his cigarette.

“Mm. I don’t think so,” Bill said, scratching his brow.

“Right.” Joey chuckled. “See you around, Bill.”

Bill walked slowly to his car after the limousine pulled away. He kept a hold of his gun and soon he was finally alone again. He walked around his car looking through the windows before getting in. He locked the doors, sat his gun on his lap with the safety off, and waited a bit cautiously looking through his rear and side view mirrors. When he felt safe enough he pulled away from the curb onto the New York City streets where he drove at cruising speed as he headed home.

“Just three more days,” he thought to himself, glancing at the photo of his daughter on his dash panel.

#my bill writings #avenue of sins #aos #aos neon #bill skarsgard

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grineerios · 1 year

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Show us your knifeholder. Show us the sonboy. I must witness your Kullervo. Please /wheezing from my death bed

oh no.

OKAY SO- Daggers McTraumaboy has gone through *lots* of iterations. As I'm pretty sure I complained to you at one point, I had a hell of a time finding a look I liked.

Uh, enjoy a quick (hahaha, in your dreams) history of my Kullervo, I guess!

I wasn't super into Kullervo until I decided, "Eh, fuck it-" and tried him on the Circuit. I didn't initially like his design, and I didn't really know what his abilities were. Yeah, that time I took him on the Circuit? Instantly hooked. I was nervous about using a shieldless warframe, but when I learned Recompense could heal him, it was all over. I remember going ballistic to my friends when I discovered his Overguard.

Alright, cosmetics time.

Kullervo 1.0- Technically my first foray into Captura too, I just slapped a white Orowyrm's Rage sigil onto his chest, like I do to most of my frames. No alterations to his colors.

Kullervo 2.0- A few hours later, I settled on my first color scheme for Kullervo. A very dark blue, and a slightly lighter dark blue, with bright gold accent. Very pretty- except, in all lights the blue looked weird. It looked more like a faded black than a blue.

Kullervo 3.0- Next iteration of Kullervo lasted a bit longer, dubbed Orokinlervo. I'm pretty sure anyone who's had five minutes with Kullervo gave him a white and gold color scheme. I think I still have this one saved, but I don't really use it. No Orowyrm Sigil, for lore reasons when I was playing with the idea of having Kullervo be Callan's frame. (We've all been there, Duviri frame for Duviri Drifter.)

Kullervo 3.5- I discovered I could pull the knives out of him! Great success! :D I assigned my newly-hatched Helminth Charger, Orchid, to him.

(Apparently, I also made my weapons white and gold to match him.)

Kullervo 4.0- Unhappy with blue, I made him grey and gold instead. Like blue, there was a certain je ne sais que about the colors that rubbed me the wrong way, but I decided that Kullervo just wasn't a frame that looked good outside of his default colors. I thiiink I tweaked his energy(?) color a bit? Orowyrm Sigil and knives are back!

Kullervo 5.0- Fuck it, back to the default colors, screw having a custom look. (Save for the ubiquitous Orowyrm sigil.)

Kullervo 6.0- ...mmm but what if black and gold?? Gold is less intense now.

For the next little while, I rotated between the white and gold (knives out), the black and gold (knives out), and his default colors (knives in).

Kullvero 7.0! What I'd consider to be the direct ancestor to my current look. Two-tone grey, with silver. I changed his energy to be void-green. Knives stayed in.

Kullervo 7.5- Converted my first lich and got her ephemera, so added void-green vengeful shock ephemera!

Kullervo 7.6- Thought "hmm, gold is pretty" before slapping myself on the wrist and remembering that I hated how it looked. This one wasn't bad per se, I just. Lighting hates dark blue on Kullervo.

Kullervo 8.0 - Settled on mid-dark grey and silver. I was going for a Void Angel-inspired look, so I set my sights on the Seraphayre Ephemera from the Holdfasts. I disliked how the Orowyrm Sigil looked on his chest, so it got moved to his back, between his shoulders!

Kullervo 8.1- While I gained standing with the Holdfasts, I made the Fog of War ephemera and used that in the meantime.

Kullervo 9.0- Know how I said lighting hates dark blue and gold on Kullervo? I don't know how or why but I got it to look good on him. At long, long last. Ditched the Ephemera while Seraphayre was cooking. It was a tough choice, but I settled on taking his knives out once more. Also got the Vaenn skin as a treat to myself from selling prime bits to clanmates. (We had a running joke about the "Kullervo Big Sword Fund")

Kullervo 9.1- My current Kullervo! I'm super happy with how he looks- save for the black stuff on his face. (Unfortunate side effect of the Seraphayre Ephemera, but I really like the gold extensions it gives his armor.)

So that's it! A brief history of my struggle with Kullervo's colors. It's been. A ride.

#warframe #kullervo #grineerios has answers!#long post

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justrandomfanfictionskh · 2 years

Text

Mary Todd pt 17

ao3 Beginning Previous

Marinette had told Artemis, that the only thing they could do, was live their lives until destiny called. But that didn’t mean they had to be idle, so that was what they did. For the three months between Marinette coming to Gotham, and her scheduled departure to Themyscria, they lived their lives to the best of their ability. Jason and the Batclan got to know Marinette and soon it was like she was always there. Using Longg, she often went out with them at night, but she stayed out of the press and away from the big cases.

When the gala came, everyone agreed that the Wayne’s outfits were to die for. And while everyone expected the designer to draw inspiration to the heroes because of her work for the Heroes Gala in Paris, Marinette surprised everyone by paying homage to the city itself. A negative of the distinctive Gotham skyline was embroidered on Bruce’s solid black coat, which faded into golden stars up his back and chest. Tim’s grey marbled suit was patterned after the Wayne Building, and Dick’s dark blue suit flowed and shimmered in a way reminiscent of the river at night. Barbara’s silver and blue gown was perfectly fitted to her wheel chair, and paid homage to her father who escorted her in with a smile. Cass’s black dress swept the floor with a thousand silver stars, and no one knew that the train was detachable. And of course, Damian’s Forest green suite was embroidered with the flowers and animals found in the Botanical Gardens.

But Jason, Stephanie, and Duke’s suits were her favorite. Taking inspiration from the neighborhoods where they grew up, Marinette made them the most elegant and royal outfits she could in their favorite colors, and then ruined them. She did it artfully and with intention. Ripping the tulle in Stephanie’s skirt, staining the Gold of Duke’s jacket with browns and blacks, and printing newspapers on the lining fabric of Jason’s coat. If anyone less skilled or intentional had attempted it, the work would have looked messy, and they would have ruined three very expensive outfits. But Marinette had done them, in such a way, that at first glance, you didn’t notice anything wrong with their outfits. It was only on closer inspection that you noticed, the patches on Stephanie’s bodice, the rip in Duke’s tie, and the mismatched fabrics of Jason’s jacket.

The press most certainly noticed what she was doing, and they kept her at the front door for at least forty-five minutes demanding answers. Marinette smiled and explained patiently. “I was adopted from Gotham. In fact, when I was a child I lived in Crime Alley, before my parents, who were visiting, found me and took me home. When I took the Wayne’s commission and these three told me their story, I asked for their permission to share our shared experience with the world tonight. They were very happy to agree, and I’m so glad they did…”

She then proceeded to rave about every single charity, legitimate adoption agency, and foundation available, until Roy, in a more understated but still fabulous suit she had made for him, pulled her into the ballroom. He laughed as he checked his phone when a notification went off. “Looks like you started another internet war.”

“What?” Marinette said as she snatched a champagne flute. She looked over his shoulder.

“Apparently,” he said, “Revealing that you were originally from here has Gotham and Paris fighting over you.”

Marinette laughed and shook her head as she selected one of the tweets. “‘I can’t believe,’” she read, “‘There’s a black-haired, blue-eyed orphan from Crime Alley that Brucie Wayne hasn’t adopted. Someone make sure he doesn’t try to get her by marriage! #whippedGothamboytoy and #badassParischick for life!’ Oh kwami! People are ridiculous!”

Roy chuckled as he put his phone away. “I just can’t believe that hashtag is still trending. Oliver hasn’t shut up about it.”

“How’s that going by the way?” she asked gently.

“It’s good,” he admitted. “But I don’t want to talk about that right now. If you don’t mind, I think I can see the d’oeurve table, and I want to drown myself in it. Care to join me?”

Marinette and shook her head as they moved toward the table. “Always…thanks for coming with me by the way.”

“Hey, it was my honor,” Roy said gently, “Besides what kind of whipped Gotham boytoy would I be if I didn’t escort my bad ass Paris girlfriend to her boring work functions.”

Marinette giggled, as she leaned on him, “Well next date night, you get to pick where we go.”

“So, it’s official then!”

“Zatanna!” Marinette cried as she embraced her friend. “I didn’t know you were going to be here!”

“Yeah well,” the Sorceress said flicking her hair, “Thought I’d crash the party see how my favorite power couple was doing. You’d be amazed the places I can get into with a snap of my fingers. And how are you, Roy?”

“I’m good Z, you?”

“Thriving, mind if I borrow your date for a second?”

“Only if you point me to Jason and/or the bar. I refused to be cornered by the vultures.”

Zatanna complied, and then she and Marinette vanished into the crowd. Roy smiled after them and then, with the skill he’d been honing since his early teens, promptly faded into the background of the party. He made his way to the bar where Jason had predictably latched himself.

“If Marinette comes and asks for a wine, then I’m going to have some severe déjà vu,” Roy said as he ordered a glass of brandy.

“I thought you we agreed you two weren’t going to flirt in front of me!” Jason groaned. “It’s disgusting.”

“It’s not my fault, your sister drives me crazy, and that you’re an overprotective jackass.”

Jason muttered into his glass, and Roy laughed as he leaned back to watch the dancers. In the end it was Jason who broke their easy silence. “Has she talked to you yet? About the whole Paris, Executioner, Arbiter, thing?”

Roy sipped his drink and nodded, “We have. She was very insistent on it. Said it was important.”

“It is important,” Jason said.

“Do you believe you’re the Executioner?”

Jason sighed and knocked back the last of his drink, he ordered another one and then lead them into a secluded corner of the party where they could talk a bit more openly. “I don’t know,” Jason said running a hand through his hair. “I thought I was. When Marinette first explained it, it sounded…right. It would make this whole mess make sense.”

“But…” Roy prompted.

Jason shook his head as he sipped his drink. “Whenever I think of leaving Gotham, even if I’m leaving with her, it doesn’t feel right. I…I tried leaving this place. There have been moments, on missions, with the League of Assassins when I thought, yeah, I could be happy outside of Gotham. But then…”

Roy waited for Jason to get his words. Jason raised a hand and touched the lining of his jacket. A slight smile tugged at his lips. Marinette had shone him the articles she had printed there. It was a clipping of Jason’s debut. The head line had read, “Robin cusses out the Penguin!” and Jason had laughed when he saw it.

“This city,” the antihero said calmly, “It’s a part of me. I don’t know if I can be what she needs me to be. I’m too…broken.”

“We’re all broken Jay,” Roy said, hand on his shoulder. “And Mari will always need you, even if you’re not some divinely appointed warrior sent to protect her.”

Jason scoffed into his glass as he shook his head, “Shut up, before I have to say something rude to keep my reputation.”

“What reputation?” Roy scoffed.

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

“It’s coming,” Zatanna asked quietly. She and Marinette had hidden themselves in a dark hallway away from the party. “Can you feel it?”

Marinette sighed and opened her bag. Plagg and Tikki flew out and greeted the Sorceress Supreme with uncharacteristically somber moods. Zatanna’s eyes bulged at being in the presence of the two most powerful beings in the multiverse. She turned to Marinette and hissed, “Are you wearing both of them?”

Marinette sighed and nodded as she removed her evening glove to show the slender rose gold ring in her finger. “The city’s energies have been swirling for weeks,” she said calmly, “I think Jay-Jay knows somethings up. Roy definitely does. I might have rushed things a bit in order to spend more time with him.”

“You’re going to take the mantel yourself,” Zatanna said somberly.

“I can’t take Roy from Lian,” Marinette said shaking her head, “And I can’t do this to Jay-Jay. His personal balance is too precarious, and I’m running out of time.”

“Do you know when it will happen?”

“I was going to say tomorrow, but I guess that’s wishful thinking.”

“Why do you say that?” Zatanna asked, and Marinette looked away. There was so much pain and exhaustion in her eyes that Zatanna wanted to wrap her up in the biggest hug, but she refrained as the two small gods floated up in between them.

“Because you are here,” Plagg said sadly.

“What?” Zatanna asked startled.

“Sorceress,” Tikki said, “You have been called by the universe to bear witness on behalf of the magics to the ascension of the Executioner, and the completion of the three. Tonight the Keepers shall be made whole, and we of the divine energies of the world might finally be permitted to act and restore balance to the world.”

Zatanna drew in a long breath as Marinette dapped at her eyes in an attempt to preserve her makeup. Zatanna closed her eyes and centered herself. Her friend needed her. She cursed; Marinette shouldn’t have to go through this. She had already given so much to save the world; she shouldn’t have to give more. Zatanna felt like a little girl again, watching her father taking the Helmet of Fate. It had taken years to get him back. Would something like that happen to Marinette? Would Jason and Roy have to fight tooth and nail just to get one hour a year with her.

Zatanna shook herself. This was not helping. She centered herself again and opened her eyes. “What are you going to do?”

Marinette sighed and said, “What I’ve always done…I’ll do what the universe demands of me and pray that it’s enough.”

Zatanna nodded and pulled her into an embrace. “I’ll help,” she whispered. How long they stayed like that, neither of them could say. But they only broke apart when the sound of glass shattering and screams echoed from the gala. The pull of the universe tugged at the hearts of the two most powerful magic users in the world. And so, Zatanna stepped to the side and bore witness.

There are three Keepers of Balance. The Guardian who protects the Miraculous, the physical tethers for the embodiment of the Universe’s divine energies. When the Keepers are called, the Guardian gives the Miraculous away to those who are worthy, and who are in need. But of all the miraculous given, two are reserved for the other Keepers, and none others. The Miraculous of Creation, which is given to the Arbiter, the one who passes judgment. And the Miraculous od Destruction, which is given to the Executioner, the one who sees that judgment done.

Others might wear and use the miraculous, should the need arise, but on the Keepers may use them to fulfill their divine purpose. Only the Arbiter could use the Ladybug to pass judgment. Only the Execution could use the Cat to fulfill justice.

So, Marinette closed her eyes and called upon the magics. The kwami nodded their respect to Zatanna and went to their Keeper’s will. But even as they were drawn into the jewels, they could not help but smile. In a way, they had always known it would come to this. Ever since that final fight with Hawkmoth. Their chosen just needed time before she caught up to destiny. Time and a reason.

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

Jason fell to the ground as soon as he saw the large windows shatter. Goons dressed as clowns carrying everything from tommy guns to bats with nails swung in and quickly surrounded the guests. Jason scanned the crowd and cursed. Bruce was in the middle of the floor with Cass. Tim and Steph were right beside them. Barbara and Dick were with the Commissioner. Duke and Damian were in the middle of a group of socialites who had decided to cling to them. Damian looked like he was about to stab one of them, which was fair, but now wasn’t the time for that.

It looked like he and Roy were the only ones in a position to sneak away, but he wasn’t going to leave until he saw Mari. Roy had said that she had disappeared with Zatanna, so she was undoubtedly safe, but they were no where to be seen in the ballroom.

“Come on,” Roy hissed, and they started to rise in an attempt to make it to one of the nearby exits. But then the main doors burst open in a rocking explosion.

In walked the Joker. He wore a brand-new eggplant purple and line green suit. People screamed as he tossed his fedora at a nearby goon, revealing his stretched and twisted smile.

“What’s this! A party? But where are the balloons? The cake? The party games? Old Brucie! Did you even think to hire a clown?” Joker cried as he sauntered into the middle of the dance floor. The crowd parted before him like the red sea. Only Bruce stood in his way. His face twisted in the fear of his “Brucie” persona, but the hand he used to shield Cassandra was steady. And stood tall and firm, as he stared down the worst villain in Gotham.

“Joker,” Bruce said, allowing a single quiver of his voice. “I’m assuming you want a check?”

“Half right there, old Brucie, old pal!” The Joker sang as he lightly tapped Bruce’s cheek. Jason felt himself growl, and green began to creep into the edges of his vision. That was his father, and the man who had killed him. There was no way in hell, he was letting the Joker get in between them again. Not now, after they had worked so hard to finally get to a place where they could actually talk to each other.

Someone tried to pull Jason out of the room, but he was rooted to the spot as the Joker continued his taunting. “I want every diamond, every ruby, and every gold encrusted bobble in this joint. Laughter ain’t cheap folks, so fork it over or you all get sprayed! But! Before I leave, there’s one more thing I need to see.”

“Whatever it is,” Bruce said as calmly as he could while a goon with a bag began walking around. “I’m sure we can come to an understanding.”

“Yes, I’m sure we could!” Joker sneered, “You see…there’s a rumor floating around Arkham. A rumor of a little China chick, who likes to judge others? Specifically, their fashion. I hear Gotham’s practically in love with her, and their all dying to have her judge them. So, come on Brucie! I’m here to get with the trends! Where is she? I want to be judged! I really, truly want to know what she thinks of me!”

The Joker’s smile practically doubled, as Bruce’s face paled. And if Jason had been in his right mind, he would have been able to guess the cause. However, the moment the Joker had mentioned Marinette, Jason’s vision went pure green, and he began to stalk towards the Joker. Someone was trying to keep him back, and he went to break their hand.

“So, you wish to be judged!” A voice echoed through the assembly.

Jason blinked as the green vanished. He froze and saw that the wrist he was holding was Roy’s. He was about to break Roy’s hand. Roy, however, didn’t seem to be paying attention anymore. His face had gone a deathly pale, but he wasn’t looking at Jason, or even the Joker. Instead, he was staring up at the ceiling, his face twisted in regret and awe. Jason spun and followed his gaze, and his heart sunk even as it soared in wonder. The Joker had called for Marinette’s judgment, and she was here to give it.

Descending from the skylight like an Old Testament angle, A masked warrior dressed all in black stared at the Joker with blue cat eyes that glowed with a fire brighter than the chandeliers that she was among. Her solid black breast plate faded into an emerald green at her arms until it looked as if her hands had been dipped in poison. Her billowing black skirt faded to red until it looked as if she had been wading through blood. She flew on four wings eagle wings. The two that came from her shoulders were a shimmering red as if they were encrusted with rubies. The two that came from her back were green and were like emeralds. Her ebony black hair fell to her waist, but some unseen wind was blowing it about her so that the golden tips resembled a glowing crown about her head.

She was beautiful, wonderful, and terrible all at once. But Jason knew, despite the golden mask covering half of her face, it was Marinette. He didn’t know what had happened to her, but he could guess. Just as he could guess what was about to happen. He wanted to scream. He wanted to run to her, tell her that this was his place. He wanted to stop her…But he couldn’t.

Something rooted him to the floor, and he couldn’t move. And even as he watched in shame and horror, he also watched in pride and wonder. Because that was his sister. That powerful being coming to bring, just a little more peace to Gotham, their home, was his sister. And he couldn’t have been prouder. So, he stayed exactly where he was. He didn’t fight the force holding him back, even as he blinked back tears.

“Joker,” The Keeper declared in that echoing voice that filled the innocents with hope and sent the guilty trembling, “You have asked to be judged, and so I judge you. I judge you guilty. I judge you evil. I judge you a threat against the natural forces that govern this world. I judge that you have destabilized the balance between Order and Chaos, and have turned the world towards evil. You have polluted the rivers of chaos and distorted the natural ley lines.

“I judge you disserving of Justice. And so as Keeper of the Balance, justice shall be met.”

With the last line, the Keeper drew the sword at her waist. The ruby hilt was graceful and elegant, but the emerald blade was twisted and cruel. A slender line of gold ran down the center of both, and caused the sword to glow with the same light of her eyes, dimming the rest of the world with it.

The Joker didn’t even have time to open his mouth before his neck met the blade. There was utter and complete silence as the body slowly fell to its knees in a final act of respect before the Lady, and then fell to the ground. Jason expected the head to role off, but it did not. Instead the Joker just lay on his side, and not even his ghastly makeup could hide the look of pure terror on his face.

“So it is done,” the Keeper said, and she flew away.

For exactly five minutes, no one, not even the goons, moved. Then someone screamed, and the ballroom erupted into chaos. The goons ran out the way they had come. Gordon was on his phone, as the Wayne’s disappeared to get changed. Jason flinched when a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. He spun and saw Zatanna, her face firm and unyielding.

“Come,” she said quietly, “We have to bring her back.”

---------

Roy was shaking. Zatanna had teleported them to the top of Wayne Tower, and it was freezing. But that didn’t matter. They had to find Marinette, and as Zatanna explained the more his panic grew.

“Did she know that could happen?” Jason asked as they scanned the night sky for two pairs of glowing wings.

Zatanna nodded as she worked on a spell meant to draw her to them. “It’s one of the reasons the Keepers are traditionally three. Acting on the will of both Creation and Destruction is…seductive. Imagine doing the thing you were always meant to be doing, you’re whole life, and then having every single barrier removed. If we don’t act quickly, she could lose herself in that state forever.”

“But why?” Jason demanded, “Why did the Universe bring her to us, if we were never meant to help her?”

“You are meant to help her!” Zatanna shouted, “Just not in the way you guessed. Right now what Marinette needs is an anchor, not a protector. So, one of you…anchor her!”

“How?” both men shouted at once.

“We don’t even know where she is?” Roy shouted.

“Where who is?”

Roy jumped and spun to see Marinette floating off the side of the building. She lazily rose up and down with the beat of her wings. Her inky black armored dress blended almost unnaturally with the night sky, making the glow of her eyes and the tips of her hair only that much more luminous in contrast. She stared at them with an innocence that belied the power she radiated, but it didn’t matter. Because she was there, and she was beautiful.

“Mari!” Jason cried rushing forward, as Zatanna approached more cautiously. “Can…can you come down please!”

“Why?” The Keeper asked with that same questing innocence, like a child who couldn’t understand why climbing on the furniture was dangerous.

“Because its dangerous!” Jason cried gesturing to the thousand foot drop beneath where she lazily went up and down, up and down with the beat of her powerful wings.

The Keeper smirked and say, “Silly Jay-Jay. Nothing can harm me! I am one of the forces of nature. I cast a magic spell and make everything better. I hurt those who hurt. I help those in need. I give mercy. I give justice. There is nothing you every need to protect me from again.”

Jason looked like he was about to choke on his tongue. He was so desperate, he couldn’t lose her again. But before he could say anything else. Zatanna stepped forward and said, “Marinette you need to come back. You need to train with Hippolyta. You need…”

Marinette giggled and shook her head. “The universe is guiding me. I am beyond Hippolyta. There is nothing she can teach me. Besides, what I need doesn’t matter. I serve the needs of the world now.” She looked out at the Gotham skyline, the city lights turning the smog into a golden hue. She looked so blissfully happy it was heart breaking. “It’s amazing,” she whispered, “To be so needed. To be able to help so many. I cast a magic spell and make everything better. It’s amazing!”

“But—" Jason started.

“I have to go know,” She said twisting in the air.

“But Mari—"

“The world needs me. Goodbye.”

“But so do I!”

Marinette froze in the sky, as everyone turned to look at Roy. Roy ignored them and took a breath stepping to practically lean over the railing guarding the edge. “Marinette,” Roy said desperately. Praying that his longing and panic seeped into his ever words. “Marinette, I need you to stay. Lian…she still has a lot to learn from you.”

“I can’t stay Roy,” the Keeper whispered, but the wind carried her voice anyway.

“I know,” Roy said, “And I’m not asking for forever. I’m not even asking for tomorrow. But please, just right now. Can you give us right now? That’s all we need.”

For a moment no one moved. There was not a sound on the roof top aside from the swish of the wind, and the beat of her wings. Finally, slowly and gently, the three moved back to give Marinette space in the roof beside them. She dropped her transformation and promptly collapsed into Roy’s waiting arms. Jason rushed forward and clung to his sister. Tears fell down her face at the loss of her power, and the kwami cuddled into her neck and cheek, as she struggled to become mortal once again.

Roy just sat back as he breathed a sigh of relief. It was done. For now. It was done, and Marinette was ok.

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