#a gremlin dipping my finger into the box

[rainbow-angel110]

*eating the homemade garlic sauce straight out of the container*

Me: This is it. This is the peak of my asexuality.

[roppiepop]

JayTim K-POP AU WIP

A plastic box gets shoved to his chest.

Only because he allows it, obviously, because the little gremlin of a brat is still several lifetimes away from being able to get a drop on him.

Though the demon spawn is also a picture of silence, lips pursed and shoulders tense where his fist extends to press whatever he bought on Jason’s pecs.

With a barely audible sigh, Jason peels that arm off to see what it was that demanded his attention so badly that the kid broke into one of the few safe-houses Jason thought was off the Bat-radar.

The answer is a thick box, covered with a glossy sleeve. On the cover are a group of five men piled on top of each other, composed artfully to look like a playful candid rather than an unfortunate accident. The only other thing on it is a logo stylized to look like a clock. Jason might be able to read where the lines form ‘SPF50’.

He sends Damian a blank look. The kid visibly heckles.

“Tt.” he starts, “This isn’t for me- I would like to emphasize that, for the record.”

Pause. Damian crosses his arms. “It’s Jon. He gave me an adequate birthday gift. It would be a dishonor to reciprocate with anything less.”

Jason replies to that with a hand gesture. What the hell does that have to do with him?

Damian looks at him like he’s rotten meat. Jason returns the glare twofold.

A frustrated groan. The kid almost swipes his arm back- like he was about to reach for his katana before realizing he’s out of costume. “Are you daft, Todd? I am asking for a favor. Name your price.”

“Yeah, Shrimp, I got that.” Jason bites back, “I’m just wonderin’ why the hell anythin’ related to this-“ he holds up the album, “-would be somethin’ I have an in with.”

Without missing a beat, Damian swipes back the album and pulls a card out from the middle to show him.

It’s a low angle selfie, cutting the pictured man off at the forehead. Stray locks, black with a blue-ish tint, fall just at the edge of the frame, and shadow a pair of striking blue eyes. Below that is a lopsided grin showing off a row of straight teeth. The rest of the picture is a swath of yellow- maybe a hoodie? Its laughably big though, dipping low enough to show the prominent curves of the man’s collarbones.

“This is why.” Damian says, before Jason could get a word in. “Your paramour, he’s Jon’s favorite in the group. He must be detestable if he has stooped low enough to romantically engage with you of all people, but nevertheless. Have him and his group sign this album and I will owe you one favor.”

“Huh.” Jason starts. Stops. Considers if he’s in the mood to start a fight. Sighs instead. “You’re outta luck, kid. I don’t know any of these guys.”

Damian’s eyes narrow. He steps forward in a stomp. “Don’t try and lie to me, Todd. Everyone has confirmed you are dating this idol. Agree to my terms before I am pushed to use force-Ow!”

Jason’s fingers moved to flick Damian’s forehead before he even registers that they did. “You can’t force me to do anythin’, Brat. I’ll send you back to your Mom.”

He flicks the other’s nose this time before he can respond, garnering another indignant squawk. “And two- just because you heard Blondie constantly yammerin’ about it doesn’t make it a public fact.”

Jason moves for the chin this time, but Damian has jumped away from striking range and looks a second away from hissing.

Jason would probably hiss back at him if he did. Something about this kid is just makes you want to mess with him.

But Damian seems to already be in retreat mode, sulkily skulking back to Jason’s fire escape with a deep scowl.

“Fine.” he says, right by the threshold of the apartment. “You prove yourself yet again useless. But just so you know Brown isn’t the only one talking- Father also suspects.”

And he’s gone just as Jason opens his mouth.

“Bruce?”

[astridthevalkyrie]

#76 from the nsfw prompt with levi my beloved please 🛐

you guys are goooood LMAO

76. “You know I’m holding back from fucking you over this kitchen counter, don’t push your luck.”

warnings: afab reader, almost fingering more like rubbing idk, this is more comedic than hot or at least it's funny to me lol

Levi's pathetic.

In a nice way.

Or, okay, not nice, but pathetic like pathetic for you, and you wouldn't call him that in any other context. But he's pathetic enough to make you want to see him dance. Oh, requesting a strip dance from your husband, that's not a bad idea for the future.

The problem at hand is that Levi thinks you're the pathetic one, which leads you to your current predicament.

"Hello, lover," you simper, leaning back in the too-sexy-too-cool pose that drives him crazy.

Levi is frozen, teacup halfway to his mouth and because of that stupid way he holds his drinks it's at a real risk of slipping from his hand and shattering. It will really not set the mood if your adorable little clean freak gremlin is paying more attention to a mop instead of you.

Wetting the pad of your finger on your tongue, you finger the waistband of the white panties he himself chose out a month ago before promptly forgetting about the whole thing. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"You're fucking crazy," Levi says blankly. Rude. Especially for someone who's hard.

"For wanting breakfast?" Lazily rolling over so that your stomach presses against the marble, you reach over for your spitefully sugar-infested chocolate cereal box. "Jeez, sorry that people get hungry, Lev-ah."

"That's not my name," he mutters, taking one bare breast of yours in his large hand and using his other hand to press yours down. "Did you lose a few brain cells?" His question is sweet-sounding even with how mean it is. With a restrained hiss, he kisses the crook of your neck. "When you thought up this dumbass idea?"

"You're so mean," you whine. Instead of responding, Levi wrestles both your hands behind your back, holding them there in a single-handed grip while the fingers that were at first twisting your nipple and making you mewl dip down to rub you over your panties, two fingers teasingly stroking your clothed pussy.

As you squirm, he kisses your neck, once, twice, rough kisses that make you grind onto his fingers even more. If this kitchen setting wasn't really hot and exactly what you'd been planning, you'd tell Levi to take you to your and his room, so that you could open up the second drawer filled with toys that would drag this out in the best way.

To distract yourself, you tangle your hand into his hair and yank him into a kiss over your shoulder, groaning when his fingers slip in and find your clit, tapping on it torturously. On your ass, you can feel his hardness pressing up against you, and it does nothing to stop the way your mind muddles.

"Brat," he hisses between his teeth, “You know I’m holding back from fucking you over this kitchen counter, don’t push your luck.”

Without waiting another second, you dive back in for another kiss. "Tell me more, lover."

Push you will.

[swanqueensalad]

heyo, i just spent an extended amount of time scrolling through your headcanon posts. with that in mind— do you think you could explore emma and regina’s bad habits? keep up the great work ❤️❤️

thank you for the scrolling bestie and for the ask, i do appreciate it. these are my favourite kinds of posts to make so of course i will oblige and as always, get carried tf away <3

usually tws apply 

as far as bad habits go, i think they both have quite a lot - our girls have both Been Thru It TM and would naturally have picked up many coping habits along the way. they are also both Very Annoying

let's start with emma, who i think has more in what we would think of as a stereotypical way

first of all, ik we all joke about fanon Messy Emma, but emma swan is a gross gremlin girl for real and i actually love that for her. if left unchecked, she will eat chips and dip in bed and gets crumbs everywhere and never brush them off. she will leave All her clothes on the floor until she physically can't move past them. she will let a slice of pizza rot in the box on her kitchen side for a month.

and no wonder, when she's spent most of her life living alone with nobody else to care about or hold her accountable. the sad truth is, emma has never felt like she's had a Home before so she's never had a reason to keep all those cold, empty apartments tidy.

when she starts taking responsibility for henry, she immediately becomes really aware of this and determined to be better and she does, and so by the time she moves in with regina she is way better, but will still leave clothes lying around and old food out here and there (this actually Counters regina's obsessive tidying and somehow they find a middle ground, but we will get to that later...)

emma is not a nail biter, but she's a nail picker. girl will find a strip of raw skin on her finger and Peel. this is more of an anxiety/anger related thing, and she's working on it now.

emma's sleep schedule also... bro... like the mess, she's way better when she lives with henry and regina because these are people she loves with whom she naturally falls into a healthier routine, and she has a job she loves too that she's actually excited to get to work on time for - but most of her life, she's had no concept of time or sleep.

she will stay up til 6am and wake up at 4pm or anything within that boundary. pot noodles for breakfast. cereal for dinner. and again, it's because she's never felt like she's had a 'normal' family, life or routine, it's just never been a part of the way her brain works

(regina loves cooking though and part of her love language is definitely making sure her loved ones have good meals, so these days are long over for emma, unless she genuinely wants a pot noodle for old times sake. now days, she never even leaves for work without a lunch packed lovingly for her by her wife, often with a note or flower enchanted not to wilt. sometimes if regina is out early she'll even leave emma and henry breakfast too)

regina is almost the exact opposite - she is obsessively neat to a fault and will get very touchy about a sock being left on the floor. she will get up from watching a movie because she noticed crumbs on the side and had to clean it up. (because cora left her terrified of ever making a mess or showing a face less than 'perfect')

both of these 'bad habits' eventually slightly neutralise each other, to the point regina can still relax despite leaving the dishwasher for an evening, and emma can make the bed after herself in the mornings because hey, it does only take a few seconds, and it does feel better to come home to.

and besides, they are both trying to set a good example for henry, which leads to them setting better standards for themselves easily, naturally. (emma and regina healing their inner children by raising their child is TOO MUCH for me i'm dead bye)

regina also has bad sleep habits but more in an overthinking/will get a sudden thought and end up knee deep in google tabs for three hours kind of way. emma often has to (gently) remove the phone from her, turn it off and leave it on her side of the bed, before cuddling into her and holding her close til she falls asleep.

regina is an overplanner. she will stress herself out and get snappy about to do lists for to do lists and stuff she is only ever holding herself accountable for. she will also Never know when to rest or leave her work alone until emma can see the frown lines appear and see she's getting a headache and very gently remove her from her desk, get her some wine or water, make sure she's eaten, run her a bath etc. regina is very grateful for this - it's the opposite of everything she was ever taught but damn it, emma does know best sometimes.

(i’ve talked about this before but i have always headcanoned regina as having struggles with disordered eating, and occasionally when she’s super stressed she will fall back into harmful habits, but emma is very on top of noticing the signs for this and helping her not listen to those urges or engage in those habits when necessary)

regina also has a very short fuse still with people she doesn’t know very well or trust, but she’s working on it and she’s getting there! (she’s doing yoga and meditation now but she’s lowkey embarrassed about it and emma is not allowed to tell anyone)

regina actually did bite her nails when she was younger, and she still gets that urge sometimes but usually stops herself before it gets anywhere, because cora punished her every time she caught her doing so

both of them of course have also had the bad habit of snapping at people when they feel uncomfortable rather than being honest, shoving down their own feelings, ignoring their own pain, lashing out and getting defensive, but they have also both worked on those things so much over the course of the years and help each other so much too. our girls learned to communicate and together they find it is easier than they ever thought it could be <3

[ashy-lyn]

HII ASHYYY <33 CONGRATS ON A 100 FOLLOWERS IM SO PROUD OF YOU !!!! <3333

Most would describe me as chaotic and kind, also artistic! I like drawing, walking, singing and dancing, i love sweets and im a sucker for physical touch with those im close with!! I also adore music and I zone out quite a bit (oopsies) a huge liking of mine are dogs and cats, fluffy little babies i heart them <3 My dislikes are confrontation, bitter-tasting things, the heat, and running. I also dislike miscommunication <//33 Can i request romantic headcanons for dain pls <33

(also dont forget to hydrate and get smth to eat if tou havent yet <3)

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐄𝐓 ❣

I can definitely imagine both of you meeting in a confectionary shop.

Dain would be casually strolling by, on his way to grab a quick bite on his work break. While he's on his way, his eyes catch on the glittering gold shelves lined with chocolates and sweets in the confectionary shop, mouth-watering cakes and pastries sitting enticingly near the windows.

He doesn't exactly know how he ended up inside, perhaps it was the tempting tangle of sweet scents or sheer impulse. It's when he's entering does he come across you; reaching for a box of sweets on the highest shelf, fingers barely grazing against the sweet you so badly wanted even though you were on the tip of your toes. The box nearly slips into your grasp, but you lose your footing, the world tilting sideways.

In a quick instant, Dain walks over and reaches out for you, pulling you upright before deftly grabbing hold of the box of sweets and casually passing it to you. You turn around, a billion 'thank-yous' burning on the tip of your tongue when he hastily walks out of the shop.

One moment you're staring dumbfoundedly into the blank space he once occupied, the next your scrambling out of the shop with a box of un-paid sweets, chasing after the gleam of golden hair.

He pauses after several of your calls, watching as you run up to him, panting. With a quick mutter of how you hate running under your breath, you muster a smile before releasing a plethora of thank-yous.

Honestly, Dain can't be more surprised by the fact that you took all that effort to thank him. He awkwardly mutters "you're welcome," before turning once again to leave.

Unsatisfied with yourself, you catch his arm to stop him, mind blanking in a panic about what to say. Fumbling slightly with your words, you ask if you could get him something. A swift refusal slips halfway from his mouth until he captures your hopeful expression.

With a reluctant nod, he follows after you. Dain eventually ends up back at the confectionery shop seated across from you, thinking to himself how exactly he got himself into this surprisingly pleasant scenario (he accidentally ended up coming back late for work).

And that's how the two of you met :D

𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄 ❣

Your fictional trope would definitely be the sunshine x grumpy, with you as the gremlin sunshine and Dain as the grumpy boy with an ever-growing soft spot for you (and your reluctant partner in causing chaos) <3

𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐅𝐘 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐒 ❣

Goofy moments with Dainslief are rare but very indulgent when they do occur.

Dainslief stares at the blank canvas absolutely lost on how to start his painting. Meanwhile, you sit across him, humming happily as you paint away with careless abandon, taking breaks to study his features for your painting.

Your humming comes to an end, capturing Dain's curiosity. He glances over to find you mindlessly pouring bright paint on your fingers. He shrugs it off, thinking you probably were trying out some finger painting.

That is until you creep up behind him with paint-covered hands and plant them firmly on his clothed chest.

Your laughs resound throughout the room as you stare at his shirt now decorated with your handprints in a mildly inappropriate place, Dainslief's horrified expression adding more to your laughter till tears welled up in the corner of your eyes.

Without thinking, Dain dips his own fingers in paint and smears it on your face, putting a halt to your laughter.

Then war broke out.

Needless to say, you both ended up drenching the entire room and yourselves in colour instead of the canvases.

-> EXTRA! Dain still has the shirt which has your handprints and wears it occasionally when he's at home, a constant reminder of that one precious memory with you.

𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 ❣

Your sweetest moments usually happen when Dainslief arrives from a tiring day or when he's worn out, craving your affection, warmth and attention. He'll tackle you into a hug on sight, and mumble sweet nothings into your ear, which leads into a soft cuddle-kiss session ♡ If dain is especially drained out he'll try to convince you to take a nap with him, which eventually turns into full-on sleeping

-> EXTRA! When you fall asleep first, dain lightly cradles your cheek with a small smile, wondering how he got someone so perfect and special.

𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆 ❣

This was difficult hshshs but I decided on this song, I hope you like it! both of you love lazily dancing to this ♡

moon and back -> JVKE Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4228YpK0ZZuY4CZzBDVi3q?si=53b9ee4268b84ab9 Youtube: https://youtu.be/4shXh61dah0

tysm for participating mocha!! mwahmwah <3

this was rly fun to write, so i hope you like it hehe :D ty for the reminders to look after myself, and make sure to look after yourself too <3

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Always There To Get Me Goin’ (Part 1)

Summary: The reader surprises Jensen in Toronto while he’s filming The Boys but the reader gets a surprise of her own when she sees just how much muscle he’s put on since seeing him last...

Pairing: Jensen x reader

Masterlist

Square: Arm Porn

Word Count: 798

Warnings: language, fingering, implied future smut, dirty talk, arm porn 

A/N: Inspired by this picture and several others since! Also written for @supernatural-jackles Tell Me A Story Bingo!

_______

You heard Jensen hum as he stepped into his apartment around seven or so. You heard a few bags and rustling, a sink going for a while before the slight smell of disinfectant was in the air. You risked a peak out of his dark bedroom, Jensen’s back to you as you saw a cloth mask in a laundry basket by the wall. He took out a styrofoam container from a bag and cocked his head when he realized there were two boxes instead of one.

“Did you give me extra?” he said, voice going up as he opened the other box, looking at the printout on top. “No. I definitely didn’t order this one.”

“Maybe it was gremlins,” you said, Jensen whipping his head around. “Hi honey.”

“How are you here?” he asked, rushing over and giving you a crushing hug.

“Damn boy, look at these fucking arms. Jesus you just lift weights all day now or what?” you asked, giggling when he picked you up and spun you around. “Jackles got jacked.”

“It’s been almost two months since we’ve seen each other in person,” he said, sighing happily. You poked his bicep, Jensen chuckling. “Oh my God, you have problems.”

“Your arm is as big as my thigh and I love it. Shit I want sex,” you said. Jensen smirked and tossed the food in the fridge, ripping off his shirt and looking you up and down. His shoulders were huge, pecs more defined than you’d ever seen them in your life and he already had arms that made you drool. This was a whole other level.

“You look like you want to have your way with me,” he grinned, picking you up easily, hoisting you up higher than he normally dared, showing off his new strength. “Very acceptable with me.”

“Pin me down and fuck me Ackles. It has been too damn long.” 

“Yes it has. We can catch up later,” he said, carrying you into the bedroom, hitting the light as he held you with one arm. He set you down on the bed, leaning you backwards, hands on yours, gripping them just enough to keep them in place. His biceps caged you in, a smirk on his face as he cocked his head, looking you over. “God I missed you.”

“Been hiding in quarantine for two weeks. Said screw it, wanted to be here with you,” you breathed out, tugging but his grip too good. You arched your head back, Jensen leaning down, lips brushing over yours. “Need you.”

“Told you I’d make you pay for that little video you sent me last week,” he said, shifting your hands together over your head, wrists pinned together effortlessly under his large one. He trailed his now free hand down your chest and under your pants, dipping down until he found your clit and started to rub lightly. “How long was it that you teased me for? Made me tease myself? Told me I wasn’t allowed to come? Three hours?”

“Oh fuck,” you said, Jensen smiling wickedly.

“Oh fuck is right,” he said, biting on your bottom lip gently. “You got three hours to go before you’re getting off, sweetheart. Don’t worry though.”

He suddenly pulled you upright, pushing your hands behind your back, pinning them together while pressing you against his bare chest, miles of muscle trapping you. He started rubbing your clit again, your mouth falling open.

“Gonna fuck you real good by the time the night’s over. Fuck you so hard you’ll feel where I’ve been for days.”

“Please,” you said, kissing him, his beard scratchy and you shivered when you imagined it between your legs. You started rocking into him, Jensen stilling his fingers and letting you do all the work.

“That’s it. See I’m not as much of a tease as you are. Get yourself off and I’ll give you whatever you want and more, sweetheart,” he said, flexing his arm behind you, shoulders fucking rippling.

“Jensen,” you breathed out.

“Yeah?”

“I so fucking missed you.” He planted a rough kiss on you, stealing the air from your lungs. 

“Missed you. Now get yourself off before I make you ride my thigh for it.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” you smiled.

“Both,” he said. “Be a good girl and maybe tomorrow I’ll let you pin me down.”

“Oh I will pin you down. Only gonna be that much hotter with those huge fucking arms,” you said the bulge in his jeans growing larger. “Fuck me.”

“No, no. We had a deal. Now rub yourself off and next time you come it’ll be on my cock, just like you want. Count on it.”

“I am so glad I came up here.”

“Me too honey. Me too.”

________

A/N: Read Part 2 here!

[mochegato]

Hope on Board

Chapter 11 - Zombies and Vampires and Werewolves, Oh My

Chapter 1     Chapter 10

“Are we ready?” Dick asked, looking to Marinette instead of looking around because ultimately, it was more a matter of whether she was comfortable and felt prepared than what they had.  He really didn’t care about the movie or the snacks. He was just ecstatic to have Marinette in his arms and without worrying about making her feel like throwing up if he touched her wrong, or at all, or even looked at her.

Marinette looked around, taking stock of their supplies in the dark room.  They had their huge bowl of popcorn, some chips, cookies she had made for them to snack on, disgusting looking cheap candy that Dick liked pushed as far away from her as it could be, she mentally thanked God she was almost completely over her morning sickness, otherwise she’d already be throwing up due to the smell alone, water, sodas, and ginger ale in the refrigerator.  They had enough supplies to feed an entire group and she recognized that, but she couldn’t stop herself from going overboard for Dick.

“I think we’re ready.” She nodded firmly. “We’re ready for an entire movie marathon if we wanted,” she chuckled self-consciously.  

Dick smiled and pulled her closer against himself. “I’m okay with that.  As long as you’re cuddled up against me and I can sneak kisses from time to time, I’ll be happy.”

She grinned up at him.  “Who says you have to sneak them?”

Dick grinned at the invitation and leaned down to give her a slow, sweet kiss.  He pulled away, gazing into her eyes affectionately and rubbing her cheek gently with his thumb.  “Are you comfortable?  Do you need another pillow?”

Marinette giggled and looked around them.  “Dick, I think we’re good.  I think if we stacked up the pillows, they’d be taller than me.”

Dick pouted.  “I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable.”

She cupped his face and pulled him down for a sweet, chaste kiss.  “I know. Thank you.  It means a lot.  Now, what did you choose for the movie?”

Dick looked back to the television and started navigating to the show he wanted to watch.  “I thought we could maybe watch that zombie show everyone is talking about. I keep hearing how amazing it is. They just released the entire series so we could binge on it.”  Marinette tensed in his arms.  He looked back at her apprehensively.  “Or… we could watch something else.”

She looked up at him guiltily, a frown pulling the corner of her lips down.  She started fidgeting with her fingers.  “I’m sorry. I just… zombie stories… it just brings back some… um… flashbacks?”

Dick raised an eyebrow at her. “Flashbacks?  Flashbacks to what?”

“Paris.  Akuma. One of the most effective ones we had. She turned almost everyone in Paris into one of her zombies.”  She shuddered at the memory.

He nodded and ran his hands over her arms. “Millions of zombies wandering around wanting to get you… yeah, I can see how that would be terrifying,” he soothed in an understanding voice.

She shook her head.  “It wasn’t really the zombies that were so scary, it was… have you ever seen your friends give themselves up in order to give you a few extra seconds to get away?  That’s what I see.  Not the monster coming.  My friends falling.  The look in their eyes.  The blood. The…”  She stared at her hands for a few moments before glancing back up at him with a humorless smile.  “Sorry. I just brought down the tone of the night.”

He shook his head.  “No, not at all.  We’re supposed to be getting to know each other better, right?  This is a part of you I never knew about.  I want to know.  And, I have. Seen people give themselves up to save me, I mean.  Not a mindless monster, but… yeah, I’ve had friends and family put themselves in the path of a rogue or a henchman in order to give me time to escape.  It… it makes you feel unworthy.”

She nodded along with his words.  “Undeserving.”

He nodded in agreement.  “Even knowing I would make the same choice.  I’m sorry you had to go through that.”  He pulled her in for a hug and nuzzled into her hair to comfort her.  “Any other horror movie tropes we should stay away from?”  He tried to lighten the mood.

Marinette pulled away to think about it.  “Growing up in Paris is kind of like a double edged sword when it comes to horror movies.  They aren’t really scary anymore because we’ve seen them all in real life and the movies could never match how terrifying it is in real life, when your or your friends’ or family’s lives are actually at stake.  But on the other hand, it triggers flashbacks.  

“I mean we had zombies, obviously, werewolves, vampires, chainsaw wielders, ghosts, gremlins, invisible terrors, baby killers, like, babies that killed, literal nightmares come to life, apocalypses, firestarter, that one was particularly gruesome.  I couldn’t go near any kind of flames for months.  Mermaids, not the like, kid’s movie version.  The drag you under the water to drown you kind.  We’ve had shapeshifters, water monsters, dragons, dinosaurs… I think the only horror story creature we didn’t have is Frankenstein. But evil, deranged monster only concerned about his own desires, creating amalgamated creatures to enact his psychopathic will… yeah, almost daily.”

Dick stared at her blankly for a few moments, trying to process everything she just said. “… No horror movies, ever.  Got it.”  Dick nodded absentmindedly.  “I never knew it was that bad there.  Were you ever… did you ever… I mean… I don’t know what I mean.”  There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he didn’t know if he was ready to hear any of the answers.  He wasn’t ready to hear the suffering Marinette had gone through. She shouldn’t have had to have gone through any.

“There are so many questions that could be.  I’m going to need a bit more direction,” she chuckled mirthlessly.  “Did I ever get hurt?  Yes. Did I ever become an akuma? No.  Did I ever kill someone as an akuma?  Also no.  What did it feel like?  I don’t know. Was I the mermaid?  I wasn’t.  Did I get eaten by the dinosaur?  Eh.” She made a more or less motion with her hand.  “Did I ever date any of the heroes?  Pass.  Did I ever date any of the akumas?  Once, to distract him so Chat could get him.  Didn’t work.  Did I ever have to watch my family get hurt or killed?  So much.  Did I have to watch my friends get hurt or killed?  So often.  Did I ever die?”  She paused for a few seconds before shrugging in what she hoped was a nonchalant way. “Which one?”

Dick froze.  His chest stopped rising and falling.  He slowly licked his lips as he prepared them to form the words he didn’t want to say.  “Let’s start with have you ever died?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d miss that.  I wasn’t thinking when I said it and then couldn’t take it back.”  She looked away and took a deep breath.  “Depends on the timeline.  I don’t remember dying.  I’m pretty sure that was a different me?  Oh,” her face fell as if just remembering something.  “I guess this me died a few times too.  But I’m still here so that doesn’t count, right?”

He opened and closed his mouth a few times trying to formulate his reaction.  She had died. She was gone.  Why did everyone in his life die?  He would have never gotten the chance to meet her, to imagine their life together, their baby.  “… I’m pretty sure it does.  How… um… but…”  

“One of the ladybug miraculous’ powers is reversing the damage done by miraculous users, including deaths,” she explained calmly. “The Eifel Tower was destroyed and brought back sooo many times.”

Dick nodded at her words, not really registering them.  She had died and she was so calm about it.  He studied her more intently.  She was looking away, her body tense but trying to appear relaxed.  No, she wasn’t calm about it, she just wanted him to be calm. She didn’t want to scare him.  He took a deep breath and smiled for her, but still didn’t know what to say.  He hugged her closer instead.

She stared at the popcorn bowl for a moment and grabbed a handful, popping one of the kernels into her mouth.  “We even had a popcorn monster once.  That one was amazing though.  Like… have you ever seen the episode of Scooby Doo where the monster trapped them in a giant vat of Scooby Snacks or where the monster was a giant Cotton Candy glob?  It was like that.  Hilariously ineffective.  Everyone kind of enjoyed that one.  Alix set up a projector and put on an impromptu outside movie experience.”

She was making a joke.  She was trying to lighten the mood.  He could work with that.  “Well that,” he reached over and stole some popcorn from her, “sounds fun.  And that cure thing would be helpful.  It would certainly be useful to have here.”  She chuckled at his attempt.  “Okay, how about a comedy, or a romance, or a Disney movie?  Something happy.”

Marinette nodded.  “That sounds good.” She watched as he scrolled through the movie options. “Oooh, how about that one?  I love the Princess Bride.”

Dick smiled, “As you wish.”

She looked up at him with a curious expression, unsure if he understood the significance of the phrase.  She turned to the movie and snuggled further into his chest deciding he didn’t and that was okay.  It was still really early in their relationship.  There were things she loved about Dick and she loved being with him, but she didn’t know if she loved him.  She imagined he felt the same.  They were getting closer and she was positive they were going to get there.  Until then, she enjoyed all the time she got to spend with him.

He ran languid fingers over her arm as the movie started, enjoying the way her skin felt under his fingers, relishing that he could feel her.  That she was there warm in his arms, not laying cold and dead in a box.  He slowly moved his fingers to stroke her side and circle her hip, down along her thigh and back up, dipping across her lower back. She ran her fingers up and down his chest in response.  They slowly became firmer strokes, getting bolder and running along the hem of his shirt.

His touches slowly became more caressing and lingering, lengthening the path and getting brasher.  He grazed along her breast as his hand passed.  She swallowed heavily, pushing further into his chest and moved her leg over his, rubbing it up and down along his leg.  Their eyes were still focused on the movie, but neither was watching anymore.  They both waited for the other to be the first to break and move their supposedly innocent movie night into something more.

Dick was the first one to break when Marinette dipped her pinky just below the waistband of his pants as she traced his abs.  Not far enough to touch anything sensitive, but enough to send his mind racing and let him know she was interested in doing more than watching the movie.  He cupped her face, staring intently at her for a few seconds before diving in to kiss her. She melted into his kiss.  He moaned as her tongue slipped in to meet his. She pushed up to deepen the kiss and grant him more access to explore her body with his hands.

He pushed their stockpile of pillows out of the way and twisted them to lay her down on the couch.  Her hair splayed out on the remaining pillow and she looked up at him with half lidded eyes.  He traced the lines of her cheek and jaw, looking at her in amazement.  The light from the movie was reflecting off her hair and eyes.  She had pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she gazed up at him lustfully.  Her shirt was pulled down just enough to get a good view of her breasts and the top of her lacy bra.  Her hands were running up and down his sides and back causing shock waves of pleasure through him.  “God, you are so sexy,” he murmured almost subconsciously.  

Her lips formed a sultry smile as her hands found their way to his neck and brought him back down to her lips.  She whimpered as his lips caressed hers and his hands massaged her.  She reached down and started pulling on his shirt.  He caught her intention and ripped it off, throwing it away to the side. It landed over the television, obscuring their view of the movie neither had any intention of watching.

Chapter 12

Tags:

@dickinette-february @demonicbusiness @ichigorose @iloontjeboontje @ladybug-182 @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @golden-promises @trippingovermyfeet @emimar7 @laurcad123

[ashxketchum]

"bandaging each other up and sharing a tender moment, grabbing your lover's face and not being able to let go" for TyHil.

Can you write this?

SIMY I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!! Tumblr never showed me the notification for this ask, I just randomly opened the inbox today and I saw this 😭😭😭

This is very rushed and not exactly similar to the prompt, but I hope you like it and I'm sorry for tumblr being stupid with my asks 🥺

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

Tyson drew in a sharp breath and gritted his teeth as he muffled a cry, the stinging pain he felt when the cotton swab made contact with his wound only lasted for a moment, but he had a reputation to maintain, particularly in front of the person sitting across from him. He managed to keep a straight face while Hilary continued to dab the cotton across the scar on his cheek with utmost concentration.

“Honestly, I leave you guys alone for a minute…” She murmured to herself as she dropped the used cotton swab and rummaged through the first aid box for a bandage.

“He started it.” Tyson replied feebly, already aware that if the sight of the cut across his cheek had made Hilary mad, things would only get worse once she found out what caused it.

“He is a child,” She shook her head, “And you should know better.”

“Just because he’s younger than us, doesn’t mean that I’m not a child too.” Tyson protested, frowning.

“Clearly.” Hilary passed him a pointed look and he rolled his eyes at her.

When it came to her own arguments with Daichi, she was as childish as him, if not more, so Tyson considered if he should remind her to follow her own advice sometimes. But seeing as she was the one patching him up, he decided to let the taunt slide for now.

“And what exactly did Daichi do that resulted in that?” Hilary asked, eyebrows arched with suspicion.

Tyson gulped nervously, immediately avoiding eye contact with the brunette out of embarrassment. It had been annoying enough for him to experience and he shouldn’t have to recount the stupidity of it all. However, since Hilary wasn’t exactly the type to let things go and Tyson was in a rush to get back on his feet so he could chase Daichi and extract his revenge, he decided that nothing good will come out of beating around the bush. As for protecting his reputation, he’d have to let that take the back seat for now.

“He launched his beyblade at my face.”

Hilary stopped her rummaging and looked at him wide-eyed, too stunned to speak she just raised her eyes upwards and sighed heavily, before resuming her search for the perfect bandage. While Tyson did find the sudden silence uncomfortable, he was glad that she hadn’t laughed at him, which is what he was expecting everyone else to do. He could’ve easily dodged the attack under normal circumstances, but the little gremlin had appeared out of nowhere and was somehow under the impression that if you launch a beyblade at someone they’d return the favour, only Tyson didn’t have Dragoon on him at the time and Daichi couldn’t recall his in time, so it grazed past Tyson’s face, leaving behind a clean trail on his cheek.

“Well thankfully, the cut isn’t too deep and it should heal in a few days if you keep it covered.”

Hilary finally pulled out what she needed from the box and leaned in to inspect the wound on his face.

Keeping a straight face while she had cleaned the wound with the stinging antiseptic hadn’t been half as difficult as it was now, with her bare knees resting lightly against his and her face close enough for him to rub his nose against hers. He felt his breath get caught in his throat when she placed the bandage across his cheek, her fingers softly tracing its outline to ensure that it was tightly in place, sending shivers down his spine when they lingered for a moment on his cheek before she pulled her hand back. She said something, or Tyson thought she did, but nothing registered in his brain when she dipped her head slightly to do a final check and he caught a whiff of her shampoo as the top of her head almost tickled his nose. Was it vanilla or caramel, he couldn’t quite tell, but it was sweet and addictive and Tyson couldn’t stop himself from letting it consume him.

How could this be legal, he thought to himself, how could they just allow girls to walk around smelling like this?

He heard a light ringing in his ears, and when he focused his eyes on Hilary, he could see that her lips were moving, but it was impossible for him to pay attention now. Even after she had moved back, her familiar scent lingered in the air around him, making his throat feel dry and scratchy, as if he would die of thirst if he didn’t taste something sweet this very minute. But it couldn’t be just anything sweet either, Tyson realised, it had to come from Hilary, it had to be whatever she had used to put this spell on him.

He watched as she frowned at him, obviously upset that he wasn’t responding to her but a little worried too, and his hands twitched at his side. She was still so close, so easily within his reach, all he had to do was reach out and he’d be able to pull her towards him effortlessly, lean his forehead against hers, cup her chin in the palm of his hand and tilt it towards him, lower his head and a second later his thirst would be quenched by-

“Earth to Tyson!”

“What?!”

Tyson leapt up in surprised in his seat at the sound of her shrill voice penetrating right through his dangerous train of thought. He scowled at her, for being so loud and for interrupting right when he’d been getting to the good part...and then immediately dropped the attitude, realising that some times Hilary could read his mind like a book and if she were to glance into it right now, he’d be in some deep trouble.

“I said, I’m done. So you can go catch Daichi now.” She glared at him, speaking slowly so that he’d finally listen to her.

“Right. Daichi.”

Tyson licked his lips in an attempt to calm his racing heartbeat and empty his head of any thoughts pertaining to Hilary or her shampoo. His ears turned slightly red at how squeaky his voice sounded and out of embarrassment over the fact that his brain was still not ready to form full sentences yet which didn’t go amiss by the brunette and she eyed him suspiciously.

“Are you sure Daichi didn’t hit your head with his bey too?”

x

[corruptedconfessions]

Sub!(kinda)Bakugo x reader

So...I was sitting vibing and I had a small idea. And it was basically just “Partner gifts sex toy” and then I went “...Bakugo long distance relationship...gift sex toy...use during phone sex” and then went “...sub/switch Bakugo?”

It was meant to be a quick 500 word drabble to get the idea out of my system and it turned into a 2.3k+ fic so uh yeah xD Enjoy~!

This one is pretty gendernetural. He talks about you fucking him but girls pegging tough guys is my favorite thing s o

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

“Katsuki!” Your cheery voice on the other side of the line lifted the angry hero’s spirits more than he wanted to admit. Even if no one should be happy with how early in the morning it was for you. For him it was later in the night, he had been busy with his post dinner workout when you had texted, asking to call him even though you had just woken up.

“The fuck do you want.”

He grunted softly, tone softening despite the harsh words, betraying his attempts to sound annoyed. He could hear the tinkle of your laughter over the phone, you knew it too. Fucker.

“I got you a present!”

He blinked in confusion, wiping away the sweat that was collected across the back of his neck before tossing the towel away. He cocked his head slightly, musing over it.

“A present?”

It wouldn’t be the first time you had bought him something, sent packages to his door step. Usually they were silly little things. Sweaters or hoodies that you had bought for yourself and gotten an extra of so he could match you even if the two of you were hundreds of miles apart and no one would get it. Little trinkets you liked or thought he would like, spicy foods and snacks from the country you were in that he couldn’t get in Japan.

He admonished you every time for getting him ‘worthless shit’ or ‘wasting money’ but that didn’t stop his chest from warming at the sight of every gift. Or how he had an entire shelf dedicated to the things you bought him. Or the fact that if you sent him selfies wearing clothes he had a match to he would immediately change to match you.

“Yeah! And if the tracking thing is right it should be at your do-or~”

You chirped excitedly in delight, sounding suspiciously enthusiastic about him opening the package. Usually you waited until he texted you that he had gotten it before pestering him to open it while on call or facetime.

“What have I told you about buying me shit without telling me?”

He grunted softly, trying to sound peeved but failing yet again as he immediately got up, making his way to his door. Sure enough as soon as he opened it, there sitting innocently in front of his feet was a small box.

He picked it up, kicking the door shut carelessly behind him as he made his way to his kitchen, grabbing a knife as you eagerly chattered away, encouraging him to open it. Who was he to leave a eager crowd waiting?

He sliced through the tape quickly, harshly yanking the bubble wrap out and tossing it to the side carelessly, too eager to see the gift that awaited him. What he saw had him freezing in place.

“What the fuck?!”

He stared open mouthed at the fleshlight sitting innocently in the box, staring back at him. Faintly he could hear you cackling like a gremlin, clearly trying to muffle and hide it from him.

“What? Don’t you like it?”

He could feel his face steadily turning bright red, an embarrassed flush reaching all the way up to the tips of his ears. Of course you would get him something like this.

“Of course not! What the fuck were you thinking?”

He blushed even harder when his voice came out slightly higher pitched than normal, just enough he was painfully aware of it without it being obvious to you.

“Oh…So you don’t want to use it with me? Hear my voice whispering sweet nothings into your ear as your big thick cock fucks that thing so hard you ruin it?”

Your voice dropped slightly, changing to that tone that had his cock twitching in interest as his shoulders went up to his ears. His face felt like it was going to melt off at this rate. What were you doing to him…

“Give me 10 minutes to finish everything.”

He sighed softly in defeat as you laughed on the other side of the line.

“It’s a date!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Phone nestled on the pillow next to him, set up with you connected to his bluetooth headphones that were nestled into his ears he was finally finished setting up.

He had spent nearly the entire 10 minutes just getting his face to stop being so beet red, and most of the rest of the time turning off his notifications and pulling the fleshlight out of the box and lubing it and his cock up. He wanted to be ready for the main event before you even called.

Which was how he found himself here, curled up on his side answering your call as he held the fleshlight tight in one fist.

“Are you ready for this?~” Your voice was teasing in his ear, sending shivers down his spine all the way to his toes as he hissed like an angry cat. He clutched the fleshlight tighter, trying to ignore how his dick was already hard against his stomach just from the anticipation of it and sound of your voice.

“Of course I am!”  

He scowled, nuzzling his face against his pillow as he slowly pushed his dick against the fleshlight, hissing as he sunk into the tight wet heat, lube was pushed out around his cock, globing around the opening and smearing against his balls. Must have used too much.

“Shit…”

He hissed softly unable to stop the way his hips bucked slightly. It had been so long since he had been balls deep in something, he felt overly sensitive, every squeeze sending jolts through him that had him moaning low in his throat.

“Does it feel good, baby?~”

He rolled his eyes growling softly at your cliché petname, giving a soft grunt as he bucked his hips, tightening his fist around the fleshlight as he slowly started moving it around his cock.

“Barley can even feel anything.”

He lied smoothly, ignoring the way your soft laugh over the phone caused the heat starting to form in his stomach to pulse hard.

“Oh?~ Maybe you should move it faster then~”

He grunted immediately following your suggestion, the lube helping as he started fucking it, gliding it across his dick faster as he grunted. Fuck, it felt good. Not near as good as you did but…Good. He could feel his face heating up as sweat formed around his brow, biting his lip to stifle the pleased noises that bubbled from his throat. He was clearly failing miserably since your voice turned softer, breathier like it always did when he worked you up.

“That’s it, baby~ You’re doing so good, my good boy~”

His cheeks flushed even redder, turning his head to hide his face into his pillows despite the fact you couldn’t see him. His hand kept moving, fast and jerky as he bit back whines and soft moans.

“Of course I am. Shut up.”

Your soft breathy chuckle on the other end of the line send jolts down his spine, leaving him unable to hold back the soft whine that came from him as his hips stuttered forward. Fuck. He wanted you here. The plastic in his hand felt nothing like real skin. It was much too soft, like what people wanted skin to be like. Beside he wanted…

He flushed darker as his hole twitched. Fuck. He wanted you inside him so bad. He had half a mind to just reach out for his bedside drawer. His favorite dildo and bottle of lube was within reach…he could just-

“What are you doing, Katsuki?~ You’ve gotten awfully quiet? You aren’t being a bad boy, are you?”

You’re voice yanked him back to the present, a soft stuttered gasp slipping out before he could stop it. Growling in frustration he pressed his face harder against the pillow, voice muffled as his hand that had slowed picked up the fast pace again. Despite himself he couldn’t stop the way his heart stuttered when you even suggested he was being bad, the anxious flip in his stomach. He liked to mouth off but both of you knew he wanted…needed to be your good boy. Talk was as far as he would go.

“No! It’s your fucking fault for not being here, this plastic doesn’t do shit…”

He grumbled even as soft pants and gasps were clearly heard over the line as he rolled over onto his stomach, pushing his hips in the air as he fisted the fleshlight tighter around his swollen cock.

“I know, I know. Soon, baby.”

He huffed angrily back at you, trying to ignore the ache in his chest. Suddenly he was reminded of how empty the room was, how cold without you there to hold him. Shit, he was getting so weak…so sappy. Aching for your presence, for you.

“I’m going to fuck you so good once I get back, you won’t be able to stand for weeks~ I gotta make up for all the times you came alone, right? I’ll make you cum twice as many.”

It was impossible, he knew it. He came way too many times for the two of you to even begin to catch up in your week long vacation to visit him again. Still, his cock didn’t quite catch that memo, twitching hard and leaving him shuttering, moaning embarrassing loud into the phone.

“You like that, don’t you, baby? So desperate to be stuffed full of my cock~ I’ll fill you up real good~”

He hissed softly his pace picking up, his hips snapping forward into the fleshlight with wet squelches, lube dribbling out around his cock. Fuck…It wasn’t enough! He growled, sweat trickling down his brow as he swiped his fingers through the mess of lube trickling down the side of the toy, coating them in the slick. Vaugely he could hear your praises filling his ears, background noise to the pleasure filling him as he reached back, dipping his fingers between his cheeks, rubbing the lube against his hole.

Part of him wanted to stay here, teasing and lightly fingering himself as your voice rumbled in his ear, telling him how good he was but he didn’t have the patience for it. Not tonight. He pushed three fingers in at once, hissing softly at the burn of the stretch but he didn’t care. Immediately he was poking and rubbing at all the right spots that had him jolting in place, moaning and whining shamelessly loud for you to hear as he kept fucking the fleshlight.

“You suddenly got excited~ Are you fucking yourself, Katsuki? Stuffing your fingers in your hole thinking of me?”

He grunted, whining soft enough he wasn’t sure the phone would even pick it up. He never stopped his pace, the wet sounds of his fingers sliding between his cheeks and his cock fucking the wet flesh clutched in his fist filling the room.

“Shut up…”

His voice was softer, whinier, less harsh than earlier. He couldn’t focus on embarrassment or frustration, too focused on the heat boiling in his belly, his balls pulling up tight.

“Cum for me, Katsuki~”

He would deny it vehemently, as he always did. Insisting he was going to cum anyways, that you just had the right timing and he sure as hell did not come on command. But he couldn’t stop the soft cry of your name, the desperate gasps for air as he spilled into the toy, pumping it full of his cum until it gushed out around his cock, spilling down the sides and collecting on where his hand was wrapped around it.

He planted face first into the bed, collapsing, arms too weak and slow to catch himself as he gasped for air. Slowly he pulled his fingers out of his ass, peeling his tight grip off of the fleshlight and cringing at the mess that coated everything.

The afterglow lasted a few seconds before that sick empty feeling from before crept in. The gasps and pants that filled the room were only his own, not an intermingling of the both of yours. Faintly he could hear the sounds of traffic breaking through the weighted silence that hung over him like a blanket.

After a few moments your voice pierced the silence as well.

“Hey, Katsuki?”

He grunted softly, too exhausted to speak, or move, or do anything but lay there and push back the all too familiar burning in his eyes that came before he cried. He wouldn’t cry. Crying was stupid. It wasn’t as if you were dead…only on the other side of the world away from him.

“I love you.”

His chest tightened, a soft choked noise coming from him. He couldn’t stop the tears from collecting in his eyes now, unwilling to fall but there all the same. He swallowed hard, pushing down the feelings that welled inside of him.

“...Yeah.”

He didn’t say it back. He never did. He didn’t need to, you knew he loved you and you loved him. Always would even with this…Obstacle in the way.

[nyrocwrites]

of curses and carrion (part 1)

A cursed!Tokoyami x mage!Reader fantasy AU from BNHarem Studios and produced on Garbage Mountain by an army of trash gremlins and too much caffeine.

Find the BNHarem Fantasy masterlist HERE.

Rating: M for dark themes, mild body horror (vines/tar), and brief distress/panic. Later parts will likely include continued elements of horror and sexual themes. 

Words: 1800+

Notes: I really wanted to finish this prompt in its entirety before posting it, but it’s turning into an absolute monster so it will now be broken into parts. I’ve warned y’all I’m a trash gremlin. Nonsense should really be expected. Also, I’ve tried to keep Reader pretty gender neutral and ethnically ambiguous so as to be inclusive to many readers. Please let me know in the comments or ask box if there are ways that I can improve this experience, or if you’d like to be added to my tag list!

The darkness has no business in frightening you, all things considered. You do most of your activities in the dim and the grey, guided by the silver moonlight that filters through the rattling bones of trees long dead. You know every prickle bush, every berry thicket, every hollow tree perpetually collecting rainwater and brown leaves in a noxious grog you know better than to drink from. You know the heartbeat of the forest and the pulse of it around you. You know the murky feeling of the soggy bog beneath your feet. You know every burial ground, the planks of wood and slabs of stone so worn from the elements they’ve been impossible to read almost as long as the knucklebones of the bodies beneath them.

The darkness really has no business in frightening you, all of these things considered. Of course, that doesn’t mean it won’t ever try.

It’s not the snapping of twigs that alarms you at first—you’re well accustomed to the life that stirs in the woods. It’s the shift of the breeze, the way a prickling feeling washes over you in the crisp air, the shudder that rattles you all the way to your bones, and you find the atmosphere abruptly soured. It happens slowly at first, and then all at once. You rise from your knees and turn toward the source, your basket of foraged herbs easily forgotten at your feet. 

There’s a stranger there, kept at the edge of the circle you had cast earlier, and there’s so much energy rolling out from under that black cloak it makes you shiver. Something desperate and hurting. Something else full of rage and cruelty. The auras are distinct and, worse, at war with each other, and it’s difficult for you to tell if the stranger bears you any ill intent.

It feels agonizingly painful and for the first time in ages, it makes you want to run.

But you’ve never been frightened by the dark.

“Are you here to harm me?” you call out. You can see the back and forth movement of their head beneath the deep hood. It could be a lie, but the fury in their energy is constant and tamped down. Controlled. You draw a dagger regardless because although you may not be frightened, you certainly aren’t stupid.

Red eyes are guarded as they stare at you from the shadows of the hood. The dagger pricks the skin of your little finger and you reach into the dark to smear the crimson liquid on the cheek beneath one of those eyes. Soft, you think, and withdraw your hand as you step away from that menacing aura. 

“There.”

“Thank you,” the stranger says, and the voice is deep and smooth, not at all unpleasant. He rubs his hands on the front of his cloak, clearing his throat in a nervous manner. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Have you, now?” You’re not unfamiliar with people seeking your particular skills, but it isn’t often that they actually follow you into the woods. 

“I’m told you’re a curse-breaker.”

There it is—the reason for the duality in his energy, for the fury bubbling just beneath the surface of his being.

“Depends on the curse,” you tell him, and you wish you could seem more nonchalant, but your voice betrays your curiosity.

He hesitates. It’s not often that the darkness is more afraid of you than you are of it. Still, he lifts his hands and draws back the deep hood of his cloak. His eyes glimmer red even through the grey darkness of the predawn, little mirrors dipped in blood that reflect the scraps of light filtering through sparse foliage yet unclaimed by winter.

A hum of intrigue rumbles in your throat as you tilt your head and lean slightly to the side to see him at different angles. The man before you blinks to help his eyes adjust to the light, ruby red and brimming with uncertainty. You can’t say he’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen—you’ve scooped far stranger out of secondhand cauldrons—but he’s still a delightfully interesting creature.

“Fascinating,” you find yourself murmuring. He’s regal and angular with black velvet skin on his cheeks, soft like down and smeared on one side with drying rust from your finger, and his hair frills in the back like the plumage of a raven. His face is carved into the likeness of a raptor; you find yourself idly wondering if his beak is sharp enough to pierce flesh. You’ve seen people before with avian curses, but none executed so precisely as this.

He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, apparently uncomfortable beneath the crushing weight of your scrutiny.

“Which of the gods did you offend?” you ask him as you stroll to one side to investigate his figure. You know you shouldn’t pry, or circle him like a hungry shark, but your curiosity is bottomless.

“I don’t know. I was born like this.” He gestures halfheartedly to himself and you give him another once-over. 

The frown that twists your features leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. So much for a lovely morning.

“I can’t break a family curse,” you tell him, and even the irritation from having your foraging trip interrupted is not quite enough to justify the pain you see flourishing in his eyes. You finish your circling and stop in front of him to glance him up and down. The cloak hangs from a thin frame, all lanky and brittle. Poor thing, cursed so young, but there’s nothing you can do.

You feel something in the air, like a shadow that kisses your skin: you feel the change in his energy as his disappointment shifts slowly to fear and then to desperation. That other side of his aura swells and it’s intimidating as it pushes into your personal space to make your stomach churn uncomfortably.

“Please,” is all he says, but the single word is enough to know that he’s barely keeping whatever other entity resides in him from ripping him apart at the seams.

You turn from him and kneel on the earth to resume your foraging with an, “I can’t help you,” that comes out in a far more callous manner than you had intended.

“You’re the only one left.”

“I know. I often am.” You aren’t exactly anyone’s first choice. You’re hard to find and even harder to bargain with. You wrap your hand around the base of a particularly large branch of sage and pull hard as you grunt out, “Doesn’t mean I can help you.”

He pleads with you again and there’s a part of you that wishes you could do something for him, perhaps a glamour so that he feels more passable, more normal in the world, but that’s hardly a solution to the real problem. There’s fiery rage at your back, toxic black cruelty that wants to swallow you up, and it’s all you can do not to cast him out of your circle on instinct. You can feel the pain that radiates from him in waves of cold that creep up the back of your neck. It only grows as the minutes tick by, and you hear the crunch of dry foliage when he falls to his knees behind you.

“I’m sorry, but there really isn’t anything that I can do for you,” you tell him as you turn to face him again. He’s in a sorry state with his ebony face pressed into ivory hands, and you watch as vines of sticky black tar crawl up his arm to his fingertips. They bury into his skin and his aura turns absolutely desolate. So much rage. So much hate. 

So much darkness that it frightens you.

He rasps and then coughs. The inky tendrils are filling his mouth, strangling him in a painful vise, drowning him in the blackness which inhabits his shaking body. He squirms on the forest floor and struggles to breathe, and for a minute you watch him choke on his own tainted soul. It might be better just to let it consume him. He’ll die, or he’ll turn into a monster for you to dispatch, but it will end his suffering either way. You consider it as blood-drunk vines spread from beneath his cloak to constrict about his throat, but your thoughts come to a screeching halt as those red eyes of his fixate on you from the spaces between his fingers.

It’s not quite pity that makes you move, and not quite mercy, because the kindest thing to do would be to put this poor creature out of his misery, to let his curse die with him. This curse that makes him stink like carrion, makes his presence sickening to approach, makes your skin burn as you wrap your hands around his sticky-slick wrists and pull. They come away from his face with a grunt of effort; his grip is bruising as you lock your fingers into his and you feel your knuckles pop under the pressure.

“Breathe, little raven,” you instruct, and in time he does, raspy at first and then with more freedom as the inky tar crawls back beneath his cloak and sinks into his skin where it belongs. You nearly groan with relief when he eases his death grip on your hands. You don’t quite dare to let go. “There you go.”

It takes a while for him to regain his composure, and when he does, he sits back on his heels and finally releases your hands. You rub at the irritated skin as you regard him cautiously.

“What’s your name?” you ask him. He meets your gaze with tired eyes.

“Tokoyami,” he says at length. “Tokoyami Fumikage.”

“That’s a hell of a curse you have, Tokoyami.”

“Hell is accurate.” He drags his hands down his face, pushes his hair back, smears the dirt from your hands across the sharp planes of his beak.

“I’m sorry.”

He looks up at you, startled. Evidently expressions of empathy are unfamiliar to him. You push yourself to your feet and offer him a hand that he uses to stand; you can feel the bones beneath his transparently pale skin, thin and brittle, and the impression of them still lingers even as you brush the earth from your palms and stoop to collect your basket. The rising sun is starting to warm your shoulders, and it won’t be long before the dark of night is entirely banished.

“You’ll have to make amends to whatever entity your family slighted,” you advise, “though I don’t know if that will be enough to break your curse. The gods can be quite fickle.”

“Most of my family is gone. I don’t even know where to start,” he says. “How am I to know where to look?”

“You found me well enough. I’m sure an angry god will be far less challenging.” 

He opens his mouth to answer, but the sun breaches the horizon, and you’re gone before the sound reaches your ears.

[Stay tuned for part 2.]

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 94

94

Lance had fled. The cow crapped in his living room and that was that. He’d made it very clear Matt and Rieva were to scrub the floor clean or they wouldn’t be joining them all for dinner. Pidge and Hunk had a few things to finish up as it was, provided they’d get over the hilarity of Matt and Rieva gifting him a stolen cow. Naturally Hunk didn’t find the cow theft itself funny, only the absurdity and randomness of their now being a cow in the house... which was kind of funny, because no normal person would “relocate” a cow.

The rest of his presents had been marginally better. Rieva proved to be an okay gift giver if you didn’t think about the cow. She’d gifted him non-relocated plants, herbs for his garden and cat grass for Blue. Clearly her idea and not Matt’s who’d given him a “voucher” to join them in bed if his heats got too much. He’s tried to throw it out, but Matt rescued it for “safe keeping because you never knew”. Hunk normally gifted him garlic knots and cookies, a standard and tasty gift, that didn’t happen this year now that Hunk knew he was a vampire. His poor ray of sunshine gifting him a voucher to a department store in Platt, seeming guilty over not knowing what to give him. Lance didn’t mind. It was a practical gift, and lately Rieva and Matt had been wearing off on him. His bed turning into a mound of blankets and cushions, Rieva teasing him about nesting. He didn’t know what nesting was, only that he felt safe in his mounded up bed and seeing it was his house, he could do as he pleased. Pidge declared herself the best gift giver ever. He loved his gremlin, but could only groan at her present. She’d brought him a “vampire hunting kit” online. She was so proud of herself, thinking it hilarious. Lance did not. Trust pop culture to get a hunting kit wrong. There was some major eye rolling at the polished wooden stake in the box... God only knew what was in the enclosed vials that came with the kit, probably dye and water... though the crucifixes were pretty, so that was nice.

Lance didn’t think about the next predicament of what to do now that’d arrived in Platt so early. Dinner wouldn’t be until 6:30pm, so he’d head over to the nursing home around 5pm to spend some quality time with his Mami. It was a little after 11am now, meaning he couldn’t head to VOLTRON given they’d all be getting ready for the mission and he’d be underfoot. That didn’t stop him from parking in front of the bookshop out of habit. With three spare hours, he wanted to see Keith so badly it hurt. Pulling out his phone, he nearly screamed when someone tapped on his window, Krolia all smiles as if she hadn’t taken 10 years off his undead life.

Rolling the window down, Lance wasn’t sure what to say to her. All plans to get her and Keith on the same page hadn’t eventuated. His boyfriend struggling so hard with figuring out how to feel about his mother. It sucked. Lance wanted to take all that pain away, but the only one who could do that was Krolia herself

“Keith hasn’t come in yet, if you’re looking for him”

No. His boyfriend was probably still at his apartment but Lance didn’t want to park up out the front and make a scene

“I was going to give him a call... see if he wanted to get lunch or something before the mission”

“So he told you? Oh... that’s right, it’s your birthday today... Why don’t I take you to lunch, my treat”

Ummm... what?

“You don’t have to go out of your way...”

Lunch with Krolia didn’t seem safe... He didn’t want to step on Keith’s toes, or meet with Krolia behind his back

“Nonsense. It’s no trouble at all”

“I should let Keith know...”

“He’s the reason I thought we should talk. I don’t want to make things complicated between you... but he won’t listen to me. I just want to know how my son is doing”

Lance knew he was fucked. His fierce love for his Mami, and his family, made it impossible to say no. If he was estranged from his Mami, he could picture her asking his friends about him

“You know I can’t say no to that”

Krolia did. Her smile hadn’t wavered at all

“Excellent. I’ll let you choose the place, you know this city better than I do”

Please lord don’t let him be murdered for this... by Keith or Krolia... maybe Krolia... yeah, he’d rather be murdered than cause a misunderstanding between him and Keith. Fuck. His Mami always told him to be polite... and his Mami had hit it off with Krolia...

“Jump in. I think I know a place”

Lance was still quietly hoping for murder as he and Krolia sat inside the dimly lit pub. It was the same place they’d come as a group after the others had learned his secret. The pub itself wasn’t that poorly lit, but he’d tried to pick somewhere kind of unnoticeable from the door. Sitting on one side of the booth, Krolia slid herself in on the other side, picking up the menu

“You look tense. Don’t worry about Keith”

He was pretty sure worrying about Keith was now a default setting, right up there with over thinking

“How can I not? I feel wrong meeting with you when he’s still trying work out his feelings”

“You care about him a lot, don’t you?”

Lance supposed it wasn’t as obvious to Krolia... in fact, she probably thought it was weird

“Very much. That’s why... I don’t want to get between the two of you”

“Keith has made it clear that he doesn’t want to know me”

What kind of crap was that?! Keith was dying to connect with Krolia

“That’s not true”

“Let’s go ahead and order. Do you... eat?”

“I can and I do”

“Excellent. Now, what’s deep fried and covered in grease?”

Lance ordered a salad, with a nonexistent appetite, it was something he could pick at. Krolia ordering a steak burger so raw the meat reminded him of his new cow... that wasn’t his cow and he was in no way attached to. Her plate loaded with fries, and her drink of choice a chocolate milkshake. Not what he expected

“Do you want a fry? You’re staring”

He didn’t mean to stare. No one told him that his birthday was going to take this unexpected turn

“I’m fine, thanks...”

“Then loosen up. You might be a stiff but don’t tell me you have a stiff sense of humour?”

“My sense of humour is fine. I’m just not sure what I’m doing here”

“I want to get to know the man my son’s dating”

“If you want me to break up with Keith, that’s his choice to make”

Krolia dipped a fry in her milkshake, sending drops flying as she shook it

“Whoa. Hold up. Okay. No. Keith is well and truly able to make his own choices... I’m making a mess of this”

He couldn’t talk to Krolia like she was a regular person. The Blades were all weird. He needed to remember Keith’s initial social weirdness and work around it

“No... no. I’m being cranky. I feel like I’m breaking Keith’s trust and it’s not a great a feeling. Your son... he’s amazing. He really is. He’s so smart and funny. He’s complicated and awkward, but he’s so... You’re missing out. He wants to know you, but he’s scared of being alone. He gets scared when he feels out of control and lashes out. Thinking that it’s better to push everyone away before they get to see how much he’s hurting. He gets lonely really easily. And he’s so sweet. Even if our first date was a bit weird, he’s always trying his best”

Lance gushed. Word vomit came easy when he thought of all the ways that made his boyfriend made him happy. Keith wasn’t a perfect human, he had many flaws, like his failure to work without coffee, but Lance wasn’t perfect either. That was the thing about love though. They both knew they weren’t perfect but together they were muddling through it, while working on themselves as they did

“Do you want to see something?”

Lance had no idea where that question was going

“Okay?”

Pulling out her wallet, Krolia passed it over. Lance taking the silent hint to open it. Finding a well worn piece of paper in the back, his fingers shook as he pulled his out. A happy family staring back at him. Krolia, so in love with her partner, a mother’s smile on her lips at Keith, bundled in his father’s arms

“We don’t keep a lot of personal items being Blade members. The newer generation does, but we’re all prepared to die. Every mission I’ve been on, that photos waited for me to come home to. Giving them up broke my heart. It took everything I had not to go back. I really thought Keith would have a better life if I wasn’t there”

“Have you shown him this?”

“No. He wouldn’t listen if I tried”

“Then you need to keep trying”

“Maybe...”

Whatever Krolia was thinking was wrong

“My family isn’t happy. I know what it’s like to have distance and it fucking sucks. Keith... he always feels like no one sees him as anyone other than your son or Shiro’s little brother. He wants... he wants to be accepted how he is and who he is. Krolia, he’s such a good man. He really is. I always kept a distance. I never ever thought something like me could have the love of someone as amazing as him. He wants to know about you. About his dad. What you like. How you became a Blade member. He wants to be closer to you. I shouldn’t be saying any of this because I don’t want to be in the middle of it, but I will always, always be on his side. I can’t forgive you if you hurt him. I can’t. I can’t even cope with him liking me because he’s just... he’s just Keith and he’s amazing how he is”

“I don’t know how to tell him. He was so cute as a child. He had this purple hippopotamus that he’d carry everywhere. His father couldn’t send me updates on him, but... He was the sweetest little thing. He loved that hippo so much. He loved riding on his dads shoulders... he... he was so cheeky, so happy... he’d probably hate the memory if he knew that hippo came from me. You know, his dad named him. I wanted to call him Yorak, but he wouldn’t have it. And I wouldn’t have Keith any other way”

Keith wouldn’t hate the memory. Any memory Krolia could share with him was a memory Keith had lost along the way. Krolia really did love Keith

“I know it’s old and cliche, but if you can’t find the words write them down. And this photo, this photo would bring him so much comfort. He doesn’t talk about it, but I know he’s lost most of the memories of his dad”

Krolia went silent for a bit. Lance had really meddled too much. He’d said more than he wanted to, and this meeting really was hurting his heart because he felt so guilty that Keith didn’t know about it

“Maybe”

Her reply didn’t give him much

“Can I call Keith? I really don’t feel comfortable”

“Yeah. I only really wanted a chance to meet you alone to see what you thought of Keith and if you were serious with dating him. He’s precious to me. Leaving him has broken me like nothing else ever has. Anything else is a bonus. I’m glad my son has someone who sees him... even if you’re old enough to be his father”

“Don’t remind me. I have no idea what he sees in me”

He was dead. Old. Grumpy and didn’t like crowds... he didn’t have much to offer

“I think I have some idea”

Shiro answered Keith’s phone, explaining that Keith was busy. Quickly Lance unloaded on him that he was at lunch with Krolia and wanted Keith to know so there wouldn’t be a misunderstanding. Shiro sounded surprised, then understandably nervous about telling Keith.

Half an hour passed before Curtis, Shiro, and Keith arrived at the pub. Keith ready to explode into a fit of rage

“What the hell?!? What do you think you’re doing?!”

Lance flinched. Yep. This was why he was scared of...

“I’m sorry...”

Huffily, Keith crossed his arms. Lance unable to look at him. He’d known this was wrong. He felt physically sick...

“I wasn’t talking to you. I know this had to be mum’s idea”

Krolia defending him had Lance sliding down in his chair

“Don’t be mad at him. The whole time he was here he wanted to call you”

“Maybe he should have done that to begin with, or maybe you shouldn’t have kidnapped my fucking boyfriend”

“Babe...”

“No. I know you would have agreed because you’re too nice. I’ve been stressing all morning and now you’re having lunch with her”

Lance didn’t mean to turn on the waterworks. Keith was lashing out and every comment felt like a hit to the gut. All he’d really wanted was a nice simple day with Keith on his birthday

“Keith, I think that’s enough”

Placing his hand on Keith’s shoulder, Shiro seemed to know how Lance felt. He knew that Lance didn’t want to be here and how much it hurt to feel like he was betraying Keith

“I’m sorry... I know. I know. I didn’t want to be in the middle of you and your mum. I know I fucked up”

Sliding out the booth, Lance blindly pulled all the bills out his wallet, leaving them on the table before slipping past Keith. This was another bad birthday in a long line

“Lance”

Keith called his name softly, Lance looking at his boyfriend through a fresh wave of tears

“I’m sorry... I’m so sorry I hurt you”

Once again he was fleeing... with absolutely no place to go other than to his Mami because he’d really done it this time.

*

Keith knew he was acting out. He knew and the words still came out. What was his mother thinking taking Lance to lunch like this?!

“This is the part where you’re supposed to go after him. He only met with me because I wanted to talk about you, and get to know him better”

“You had no right”

Yeah. Keith knew this. Lance couldn’t say no because he had a stupidly big heart. That’s what made him such an idiot crumpet. His boyfriend was trying to let them work this out for himself but Keith couldn’t.

Pushing her empty plate towards Lance’s barely poked at salad, Krolia twisted to face him properly

“What am I supposed to do when you keep shutting me out? I want to be in your life. I want to learn about you from you. I thought maybe we could have a nice lunch and talk. That’s all. That man seriously loves you. He said repeatedly he didn’t want to meddle and you should have heard how he talked about you. You need to go after him and apologise”

Like his mother would be the first one he’d listen too about relationship advice. He already knew he had to apologise. He didn’t need her telling him

“What would you know?”

“Because I know how devastating it is to miss your opportunity!”

Keith didn’t know what to say to that. Shiro’s hand was digging into his shoulder now. They all had regrets. Things said and left unsaid... He shouldn’t have blown up at Lance. He knew he shouldn’t have. Triply so on his boyfriend’s birthday

“I don’t know where he could have gone”

“He was parked in front of VOLTRON when I ran into him”

Keith shook his head at his mother

“Lance knows we have a mission today and wouldn’t want to be in the way”

“Where else would he go?”

“I talked to Pidge before and he wouldn’t be going back to Platt. Rieva and Matt stole a cow and Lance wasn’t happy at all over it”

So his boyfriend was already having a bad birthday before Keith made it worse

“Perhaps he went to Miriam? If he knew he couldn’t see Allura or Coran at the moment?”

Curtis was a genius. Lance had to be headed to see his Mami

“Shiro, I need your keys”

“I don’t know if I should let you drive...”

“Give me your keys or your collectables get tossed”

Shiro’s eyes went wide as he pulled away

“You wouldn’t. Not my limited collectables...”

Fuck the stupid things. He had to apologise for being a douche canoe

“I would for Lance. I need to... I need to see him”

Shiro pulled his keys out, passing them over

“Don’t forget you need to be at VOLTRON at one”

“I’ll be there”

As Shiro passed his keys over, his mother cheered him on

“Go get your man!”

*

Keith felt awkward about visiting the nursing home without Lance beside him. The staff kind of recognising that he’d been there, so all it took was a quick explanation before he was signed in and shown through to the garden area where Lance was cuddles up with his mother. This felt like a terrible idea on his behalf. Lance probably never wanted to talk to him again. He was so fucking good at ruining things. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Keith slowly walked over to the pair. Miriam holding Lance as Lance cried softly against her shoulder. Shit. What if Miriam hated him for making Lance cry? He hated him for making his boyfriend cry.

“Mijo, you have a visitor”

Miriam offered him something that wasn’t a smile, nor was it a frown. All Keith could describe it as was a “mum look”. Yeah. He’d fucked up, and she knew that he knew, and he knew she knew and now he was expected to do something about it

“Babe...”

Lance clung to his mother. Miriam sighing at him

“Mijo, you can’t ignore Keith”

“He wants to break up because I hurt him”

Miriam glanced at him around Lance

“That’s the clearest he’s been since he showed up. Would you like to explain what happened?”

Keith sighed. He really wanted to sit on the other side of Lance and cuddle him until he calmed down

“My psychotic mother kidnapped him for lunch and he was too nice to say no”

“Lunch sounds like a lovely idea”

Was Miriam messing with him, or did she think he and Krolia were suddenly going to besties

“It would be if it wasn’t my mother’s attempt at meddling”

Miriam smile fondly, moving her hand to pat the spot behind Lance

“It’s a mother’s job to meddle within reason...”

That was Miriam meddling. Sitting on the edge of the bench, Keith’s stomach was a pit of nerves as he rested his forehead against Lance’s shoulder, hand moving to rest just past Lance’s elbow

“I deserved to be punched in the dick”

Lance sniffled loudly, hiccuping as he wrestled his tears under control

“I don’t want to be in the middle. I want you two to work it out together. I know it was wrong... but she wanted to know if you’re okay... and I got to see a photo of your dad... she really fucking loves you and I don’t want to pressure you... and I don’t want you to keep fighting. I want you to be happy. Stupid Matt and Stupid Rieva stole a cow. Pidge dressed as a vampire. Hunk didn’t give me food because he thinks I don’t like eating normal food. You’ve got a mission. Our whole night was changed. And you were so mad at me”

That was a lot of “ands”. Lance didn’t seem to be having a good day at all, or everything he’d been trying to laugh off he couldn’t cope with now Keith had messed up. He was mad. Mad. Scared. Confused. Hurt. Betrayed. And a dozen different words that made his heart race at the sight of them together at the pub

“I was... am... I just don’t see why you’d go out to lunch with her, or why you didn’t tell me sooner. You can’t let her bully you”

Smooth. Real. Fucking. Smooth. Maybe he could go on his mission and just not return? Perhaps the ground would swallow him whole so stopped being such a dick?

Lance placed his hand over Keith’s, still talking at mami’s chest rather than Keith

“But she’s your mum. I... I want to know more about you and her. I’m 19 years older than you. I’m not cool, or hip, or rad, or whatever the word is these days... I know you hate having to talk everything out... and I know you both are awkward as hell... but you’re hurting and I hate it”

“That’s not your pain, babe”

“It is because it’s yours. I want to be the one you lean on, not the one you feel you have to keep secrets from. I know it’s hard for you, and I felt so rotten that I couldn’t tell you before we talked”

“I’m the one who overreacted. I know you’ve got a good heart and I shouldn’t have snapped. It really hurt seeing you able to talk with her”

“I could barely say anything right. Please don’t be mad. I told her if she can’t find the right words to say to write them down. It doesn’t make up for her leaving, and what she says isn’t my business. I’m not trying to force you to talk her. You’ve got to move at your own pace and be ready when you do”

Keith knew that. He knew Lance respected him enough to handle this on his own and that his boyfriend only wanted what was best for him. It was a little early, but he really wanted some time with Lance before the mission

“Mami, do you mind if I borrow Lance?”

“Heaven’s no. You two make up properly or neither of you get dessert tonight. I must say I’m looking forward to dinner”

“I hope you don’t mind. When I organised it, it was supposed to be just the three of us”

“Lance isn’t very good at handling his birthday... or his friends. Don’t worry about me, as long as you two work this out”

“We will. I’m sorry I upset him”

“Couples fight. Making up is the fun bit”

Lance snorted wetly, Keith didn’t know what kind of face to make when Mami was hinting at sex so openly

“Mami!”

“Go have a good time with your boyfriend. I’m very proud of you, Mijo. Happy birthday, my precious little boy”

“Mami, I’m 45”

“And you’ll always be my precious little boy. Go on. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time with Keith”

Lance seemed lost as they walked back to where they’d parked, Keith finding a spot across from Lance. Almost shyly he asked

“What do you want to do?”

His boyfriend was too cute

“I’ve got the hotel key... I know it’s early, but I’ve still got time before the mission. It’s your birthday, and I really want to spend some time with you”

“You haven’t even said it”

“That’s because I’m waiting until we’re at the hotel. You want to lead and I’ll follow? You’re probably better at finding this place again...”

A smile finally crept across Lance’s lips

“You do have a habit of getting lost”

“Directionally misplaced. Get your phone out and I’ll send you the address”

“Sounds good... babe... I really am sorry”

Keith couldn’t not hold his boyfriend. Wrapping his arms around Lance, he melted into the hold

“I’m sorry too. There’s no excuse for how I acted”

“I get it... I’ll see you soon?”

“Yeah, babe”

[nataliedanovelist]

GF - How A Star Is Born ch.V

A Hercules AU, founded by @evaroze, whom this fic is a gift for. I hope y’all like it!

ch.IV - ch.VI

AO3 link

~~~~~~~~~~

Years went by. Both Dipper and Mabel went through vigorous training under their uncles’ supervision. After allowing Mabel to visit the world, Stanford had combat training be added to her lessons so, if needed, she could defend herself. Now a master of duel swords and a brand new goddess of the arts, Mabel spent her days inspiring humans, helping to keep Olympus beautiful and safe, and exploring the woods throughout Greece.

She also spent a lot of time talking to Dipper. At least once a week he would sit at night and draw in his journal to talk to his sister, swapping stories and inspiring each other to learn and grow.

Dipper was no longer a scrawny little boy, but a strong, muscular, clever young man of seventeen. Stan had never been more proud in his entire life, boxing with the kid and having him go through trials and tests and watching him grow up. He even managed to teach Dipper a few swears.

Stan coughed into his fist, standing at the end of the most difficult obstacle course Dipper had ever been set to. He grinned as Dipper emerged from shark-infested waters, blazing hoops, electric spikes, and racist homophobes, without a scratch on him, and Stan and Dipper high-hived and cheered and celebrated.

“You did it, kid! You were great!”

“Thanks, I couldn’t have done without you.” Dipper said with a smile.

“Obviously.” Stan smirked, earning him a soft punch in the beer belly. “Oof! Okay, okay. You go pack up, ya gremlin. We’re going to Thebes!”

“Isn’t that place, like, the worst place in Greece?” Dipper asked as they headed back to the Mystery Shack.

“You got it, you’ll be just what the doctor ordered.” Stan explained. “Young hero like you can help a lot of people in an Underworld-hole like that. Great place to start out. If you can make it at the Big Olive, you can make it anywhere.”

The men set sail before the sun rose the next morning. For some odd reason, Stan locked up the shack in a way that made it seem like they were never coming back, but Dipper assumed it was only because Stan believed that Dipper could make it big. The young man smiled, determined not to let his teacher down, and made sure they were on the right track.

After sailing across the ocean for a few hours, they floated into a river that traveled along the woods, taking a shortcut for Thebes rather than travel through the sea for Greece. Stan was resting in a chair with a cold drink in his hand, letting Dipper sail for a while, when they heard a scream.

The old man shot up and grinned. “Perfect! A damsel in distress! Good warm-up before we hit down. Lower the anchor here.”

Dipper did as he was told and they crept down the river for the waterfall, where they saw a young lady stumble away, groaning and growling in her throat.

The girl had long, beautiful blonde hair and stunning blue eyes that crackled like raging fire, wearing a long baby-blue dress. She hurried to her feet but was soon scooped up by the enemy that came around the river bend.

A huge Manotaur with a toga around his waist was so huge he grabbed the woman in his fist around the waist. “Not so fast, sweetheart.” He growled.

“Put me down right now, Chutzpah, or I’ll…!” The woman threw a punch at the monster, but he held her away and laughed.

“I like ‘em fiery!”

“HEY!” Dipper yelled from the riverbank and stomped on the river, leaving Stan in the bushes to munch on some popcorn.

“My money’s on Hooves.”

The girl and Chutzpah stared at the newcomer and the monster growled, “Beat it, twerp, I’m busy.”

“Sorry, mister, but you’re gonna let her go, or…”

“Keep moving, junior.” The girl sneered.

“... or I’ll…” Dipper’s sentence dropped and shattered. “But aren’t you… er, a damsel in distress?”

“I’m a damsel.” The woman said as she tried to pull herself free from the giant fist. “I’m in distress. I can handle this. Have a nice day.” She said with a sly grin with cold blue eyes.

Dipper swallowed and cleared his throat, reaching for his sword. “Uh, ma’am, I think you might be too close to this situation to realize your…” But the Manotaur punched him with so much force that Dipper flew onto a big boulder on the other side of the river.

Stan winced while Chutzpah laughed and the damsel looked bored. “C’mon kid, shake it off!” The old man coached.

Dipper charged, leaving his sword behind, and started to toss left and right hooks back and forth and landing, making the monster dizzy, and then used his head to hit him so hard it was his turn to fly back onto a hard surface, landing behind the waterfall and dropping the girl in the process.

“YES! That’s what I’m talking about, sport! Keep it up!”

“UGH!”

Dipper looked down at the wet girl and gently scooped her up out of the river to sit on a rock. “Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am. That was dumb… Excuse me, please.” And he and Chutzpah resumed their battle, the demigod using his strength to throw the Manotaur over his shoulder and putting him in a head-lock.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” Stan chanted while the girl rang her hair dry, a smirk on her face.

“Not bad, not bad.”

“What are you talking about, he’s great!” Stan cheered. “Throw him a left! Atta boy!”

With one final punch, Dipper made Chutzpah the Manotaur fly up in the air and then come back crashing down face first in the water, a shiny bruise on his snooze button.

“Alright! Nice work!” Stan coached. “You could’ve gone without the distraction from a pair of big goo-goo eyes, but good recovery! Alright, let’s hit the water and move on.” And he walked off for the boat.

But once again, Dipper was distracted. The woman was rubbing her arms dry and sliding off the rock to stand, stretching her slender back; Dipper’s face felt hot and his whole body felt like it wasn’t even there. “Uh… are you alright, miss…?”

“Pacifica.” The girl said with a voice that dripped with sarcasm, like she believed she had better things to do than be standing here and talking to him, but she didn’t know what. “I’m fine. Thanks for the save. So, you got a name to go with all those rippling pectorals?”

“Uh… um, ah… I’m uh… uh…”

“Don’t speak Greek or something?”

“Dipper!” The man cleared his throat and answered in a calmer tone. “M-My name is Dipper. How did you get mixed up with the…”

“Knucklehead with hooves?” Pacifica finished for him. “Ah, you know how men are. They all think ‘no’ means ‘yes,’ and ‘get lost’ means ‘take me, I’m yours.’ Well, thanks for everything, Dip. Bye-bye.” And Pacifica began to walk away.

“Wait!” Dipper called out quickly, a reflex of seeing someone beautiful and cool-headed going away, and he offered sheepishly, “Uh, c-c-can I give you a ride on my boat, erm, me and Stan’s boat?”

“I’m fine,” Pacifica giggled coldly. “I’m a big tough girl, I tie my own sandals and everything. I can look after myself. See ya, Dippin’ Dots.” And Dipper watched as she disappeared beneath a hill.

“Uh… bye.” Dipper said weakly, clumsy on his feet as Stan sailed their small boat behind him, going down the river for Thebes.

“OY! Knucklehead! We going or what?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah… yeah…”

Dipper pulled himself on board, smiling with his head in the clouds. Stan sighed and shook his head, muttering, “Twitterpated.”

As Pacifica walked further and further into the woods, the atmosphere got darker and darker. The young lady walked as coldly as the air, unafraid and all too familiar with who was approaching her. When a huge gust of blue fire erupted from the Earth and a floating triangle appeared before the teenage girl, she rolled her eyes and sneered, “Great, I needed cheddar for dinner.”

Bill cackled as he held his three-sided body and kicked his legs in the air. “Oh, my little Llama. Care to explain what exactly happened?” He made a chess board appear before him with various pieces of monsters and anomalies on the board. “I thought you were gonna persuade the River Guardian to join my team for the uprising and, here I am, kinda River Guardian-less.”

“I gave it my best shot,” Pacifica said coldly as she flicked Chutzpah off the board. “But he made an offer I had to refuse.”

“Okay, fine,” Bill replied as he made the board disappear, closing it like a book. “Instead of taking two year from your lifetime sentence, Imma add two on, okay? You got your best shot?”

Pacifica groaned and walked away, leaning against a dead tree. “Look, it wasn’t my fault, okay. It was this Wonderboy who beat your Manotaur up.”

“Wonderboy?” Bill repeated.

“Some new hero who came with this big innocent farm-boy routine, but I could see through that in a Peloponnesian minute.” Pacifica said with a cold snap of her fingers.

“New hero, huh?” Bill said, a hand to what might have been his chin but was really just under his eye. “If some new guy is beating up my minions it could weaken our chances of over-throwing Sixer…” The demon stopped his talking when he heard a voice. He swooped Pacifica up into the trees as a dark cloud, just in time to hide from the intruder.

Mabel was running through the woods with a pig at her feet. He had grown quite large since the young muse had met the pig, and now they both ran as fast as they could, but the teenage girl made it to a tree first, planting a hand on it, making the dead tree sprout leaves with life, and she jumped and cheered and punched the air. “That’s twenty-two for me… How about twenty-two out of forty-five?” She asked Waddles.

The big tired pig flopped over and showed his belly lazily. Mabel awed and fell to her knees to scratch him. “Aw, you’re just a big dummy-dumb. C’mon, why don’t we go see if Grunkle Ford is too busy to hang out. This Mabel’s gotta have some family time.” And she picked up her pet pig and skipped back home.

Bill plunged back onto the ground, dropping Pacifica, who sat on a rock boringly, as Bill glowed red with fire and yelled loudly, “WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!” And soon every tree circling them was no more.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Who’s a cute lil guy? You are!” Gideon said into his hand mirror, sitting at the front desk of the Underworld.

The huge doors flew open as Bill, still red and fiery with anger, entered and grew to the size of a giant before his minion. “YOU SAID YOU TOOK CARE OF THE TWINS!”

“The what now?” Gideon asked calmly.

Bill towered down at the white-haired chubby teenager and bellowed, “Sixer’s brats! The ones destined to stop me from ruling this dimension! You said they were dead as doornails! But the girl is still alive!”

“Yeah, so?” Gideon asked. “The prophecy said both twins had to be there for you to lose. There’s only one. So there. And besides it took you seventeen years to realize Stanford was still dotting on his niece. If anything you suck at keeping up with your own prey.”

Bill shrunk down, shaking with anger and still red, but he had to admit that the jerk was right. “Fine, but the boy, Mason, is dead, right?”

“More or less.”

“”WHAT DO YOU MEAN MORE OR LESS?!”

“He will be when the mortal world is done with him.” Gideon sneered with a crooked smile. “That scrawny twerp doesn’t stand a chance in Thebes.”

“And you know all of this HOW?!”

“It’s fun watching him struggle and lose.” Gideon admitted with a shrug.

“I’m not taking any chances!” Bill yelled and floated away. “We’ve got one year until I can free my friends and take over this dimension! Since I can’t curse Shooting Star into a mortal, I can still kill Pinetree.”

“I’m telling you,” Gideon said, following his boss. “That loser doesn’t stand a chance. I know just who to send to kill him.”

And Bill’s anger melted away as he listened to his minion’s plan and helped make it better.

[angelofthequeers]

Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Yes I know that Nooroo is transmission and not transition but let me be salty at this show’s utter failure of symbolism okay

I also drew a lot from this post, so go and give @loosescrewslefty a lot of love for the effort they put into it! And credit for the Aztecan Miraculouses to @sparklyaxolotlstudent and I highly recommend checking their posts out.

Chapter 7 | Chapter 9 | AO3 link

“I never thought I’d be glad that you go to school,” Plagg comments once Adrien’s car drives off. “Blech, your father was in a mood.”

“And I still didn’t even get to see him,” Adrien says, rolling his eyes. “I just got a five-minute disapproving stare over tablet during breakfast.”

“You know, they say that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness,” says a cheerful voice from behind him. Adrien jumps and staggers back, only to flush when he sees that it’s just a laughing Marinette, with Alya and Nino behind her.

“Payback’s a bitch, huh?” Alya says. She fist-bumps Marinette. “Don’t mess with my girl, Agreste.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean to scare her last week!” Adrien says as they head into the courtyard. His brain lights up like a Pavlovian firework when Marinette hands over his daily paper bag of pastries; he hasn’t gotten a box since that first day, but he sure as hell isn’t going to complain when it’s free treats from a brilliant bakery. Today’s lucky dip is a chocolate croissant and a cheese bun, and he surreptitiously breaks off a chunk of the bun to save for Plagg, even though the little gremlin will no doubt complain that it’s not Camembert.

“You were saying that your dad couldn’t even show up to be disapproving, right?” Nino says. “Dude, that’s rough.”

“At least my dad tells me when I’ve fucked up in person,” Alya says, threading her fingers with Nino’s. “But then again, your dad is really extra.”

“Of course he’s extra,” Marinette says. “Have you seen what he wears? I’d get blacklisted from the fashion industry if I tried to get away with that.”

Adrien can’t help but burst out laughing at that. God, what a miracle that Marinette hasn’t actually hated him all this time, because now that she’s started to come out of her shell around him, she’s a super cool friend to have. And that’s not even counting the time he’d visited her as Chat Noir. It would be nice to know why she’d been so weird for the past year, though.

“Adrien! Hi!” Lila stops next to him, beaming. Okay, whoa, she’s way too close, and Adrien’s sure she’s nice enough despite the lies – really, as if she’s Ladybug’s best friend, his lady isn’t irresponsible enough to be friends with someone who’d broadcast it everywhere – but there’s just…something about her. Something he can’t quite put his finger on. Maybe he’s just uncomfortable because she loves to touch him in every way possible whenever she’s around him.

“Hey, Lila!” Marinette smiles, but something about it rings false. Does she also know that Lila tends to not be truthful? “How was your weekend?”

“Oh, I was supposed to have lunch with Clara Nightingale, but she had to cancel at the last moment,” Lila sighs. “She was so bummed, though!”

“But Clara’s not even in Europe right now,” Alya says with a furrowed brow.

“Yeah, dude,” Nino says. “Last I heard, she was over in California. In America.”

“She was going to fly me over in her private jet!” Lila says. “I guess she’s just too busy with her upcoming album.”

Marinette, Alya, and Nino don’t look fooled at all. How does everyone else believe these lies? But they’re not really hurting anyone, so Adrien sees no point in starting a fuss. The only person who could get hurt by these lies are her, once people see through them and decide not to associate with her.

“Do you want some of this croissant?” Adrien holds the pastry out to Lila. “It’s freshly baked from Marinette’s bakery!”

“I’m still salty that he’s the only one you give pastries to,” Alya grumbles. “It’s not like I’m your best friend or anything.”

“It’s not like Adrien’s being neglected by his father or anything,” Marinette retorts. Alya groans.

“Touché. And fuck your logic.”

“That’s so sweet of you to offer!” Lila says, shooting Marinette and Alya a weird glance out of the corner of her eye. Then she leans in and, without taking it from Adrien, takes a large bite out of the end of the croissant that he had been eating and lets out an appreciative hum. “This is delicious! Your parents are so talented, Marinette!”

“Um, thank you!” Marinette says.

“Anyway,” Lila says, running her hand down Adrien’s arm. He instinctively leans away, but she follows him. “I was wondering if you wanted to get ice cream with me after school, Adrien?”

Shit. Is she asking him out on a date? Or just an outing as friends? What does he do? If he assumes it’s a date and it’s not, she’ll get offended. But if he assumes it’s not a date and it is, he’ll be leading her on and letting her think that he’s interested in her, when he’s really not. Besides, the thought of being alone with Lila is…worrying, especially if this is how she touches him around other people. Time for a convenient excuse.

“Sorry, but I really can’t,” he ends up saying. Lila steps back and stares at him with wide, glossy eyes.

“Oh, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable!” she says.

“My father just –”

“I understand. It’s okay. I shouldn’t have assumed – I’m awful – I understand if you don’t want to –”

“Uh, what?” Alix says from behind Lila, with Kim and Max beside her. “It’s nothing against you, Lila.”

“Yes, Adrien’s father is incredibly strict,” Max says. “There’s a ninety-nine-point nine percent chance that Mr Agreste wouldn’t allow Adrien to get ice cream with you.”

“Oh.” Lila’s shoulders slump. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. I had no idea that your father was so strict!”

“Weren’t you protesting with us?” Kim says.

“Oh – yes, but I assumed his father was just angry,” Lila says. “I didn’t realise he was like that all the time! I’m so sorry, Adrien!”

“It’s fine,” Adrien says. Lila smiles at him and walks off. “Thanks, guys. I didn’t know what to do.”

“If you don’t want her to touch you, why don’t you just tell her that?” Alix says. “I mean, Chloé’s Chloé, but Lila would stop if you told her.”

“It’s alright,” Adrien says. “It’s not like I’m not used to it. People touch you all the time as a model.”

“Still doesn’t make it okay,” Kim says and flexes his arms. “You wouldn’t believe how many people wanna touch all this.”

“Absolutely no one,” Alix deadpans and Kim sticks his tongue out at her. Next to Kim, Max’s eyes flick away, and Adrien’s forcibly reminded of Marinette’s words to him as Chat Noir the other day about Max and Kim.

“Kim’s right,” Marinette says. “Just because you’re a model, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to tell people not to touch you! It’s your body!”

Adrien can’t help the smile that breaks free at his friends’ words. “Thanks, guys,” he says. “I just don’t know if I’ll be able to ask other people not to touch me.”

“That makes sense,” Max says. “Due to your father’s strict nature and refusal to consider your wishes, along with your modelling, the chance of his influence leading to your inability to vocalise what you want when you’re uncomfortable and therefore developing the unfortunate habit of putting up with your discomfort to make it pass faster is –”

“Alright, alright, come on,” Alix says, grabbing Max by the arm.

“But I haven’t finished my analysis!” Max protests as Alix leads him away. Kim snorts and follows.

“You know maths makes my brain hurt,” he’s saying as he leaves. Adrien, Marinette, Alya, and Nino are left in silence.

“Well,” Alya eventually says. “Trust Max to call you out like that.”

“I don’t think he realised that he might be making Adrien uncomfortable?” Marinette says. “I know I sometimes don’t think –”

“Actually, he didn’t,” Adrien says absently. “I think he’s got a point. I just don’t know what I’m going to do about it yet.”

“Yeah, not like I’ve been telling you that crap for months, dude,” Nino says dryly. “But sure, listen to the nerd with maths on his side.”

“No!” Marinette and Alya cry when a smirk spreads across Adrien’s face.

“Don’t fuck with me!” Adrien says. Marinette and Alya groan and grab Nino to make a run for it, so he chases after them, ignoring the people around them that are staring. “I have the power of God and Anime on my side!”

“Stay away!” Alya calls over her shoulder. “Keep your vines away from us, meme freak!”

.

“Fancy seeing you here, milady,” Chat Noir says when he lands on the rooftop behind Ladybug, who turns and greets him with a smile. “How did you know I liked afternoon strolls?”

“Just a lucky guess,” Ladybug says. “I’ve got a little after-school class to attend.”

“What a coincidence! So do I!” Chat Noir says. “In that case, allow me to escort you there.”

“I think you’ll find that I’ll be escorting you,” Ladybug teases and then jumps off again.

“Hey! No fair!” Chat Noir cries as he races after her. It’s a tight race to get to Master Fu’s, but Ladybug just edges out a victory and lands in front of the parlour a split second before Chat Noir, though he’s not too upset to have come second when Ladybug gives him a kiss on the cheek as a consolation prize and holds the parlour door open for him.

“Hello, Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Master Fu smiles when they enter the main room.

“Hi, Master!” Ladybug says.

“So, why are we here?” Chat Noir says. He sinks to the floor with Ladybug when Master Fu indicates that they should sit.

“I’m very proud of the partnership that you two have formed,” Master Fu says. “And of the progress that you have made as Ladybug and Chat Noir.” He pats the Miracle Box between them and adds, “I thought that it was time to teach you about the Miraculouses. You’ve certainly earned the right.”

“Looks like you were right about the afternoon class, milady,” Chat Noir says, and Ladybug giggles. This time, when Master Fu opens the box to reveal the colourful ring around the yin and yang symbol, more compartments spring open down the sides of the box in a descending spiral. Chat Noir’s eyes widen. Whoa! How many more Miraculouses are there?

“Aren’t they based on the Chinese zodiac?” Chat Noir says once he’s taken in the Rooster, Snake, Pig, and Dragon and noticed a certain pattern. Master Fu nods.

“This is the Chinese Miraculous set. There are other sets of Miraculouses with other bases, such as the Aztecan Miraculouses of life and death, but this is the only surviving box after my mistake,” he says. Huh. Must have been a real big mistake if these are the only Miraculouses left. But Chat Noir’s pretty sure that this isn’t the right time to ask about that.

“And…are they based on Wu Xing?” Ladybug says, pointing out the Fox, Bee, Turtle, Peacock, and Butterfly slots. “The Five Phases? Five elements?”

“Correct, Ladybug,” Master Fu says.

“My bugaboo is so smart!” Chat Noir says. Ladybug’s cheeks pinken.

“My mum’s Chinese,” she says, and Chat Noir files that bit of information away in his mental safe of Ladybug Facts. “I don’t know any dialects or anything, but…she did tell me a little bit about Taoism.”

“Each Miraculous corresponds to an element, with three tiers of power,” Master Fu says. “I won’t teach you about the zodiacs today, but I do want to talk about the elementals.”

“The Miraculouses don’t necessarily represent an element,” Wayzz chimes in. “There’s no “fire Miraculous” or “water Miraculous”. It’s more that they correspond with an element that represents their concepts. For example, I correspond with the element of earth!”

“Because earth is stable, right?’ Ladybug says. “And you’re a pretty wise and solid kwami.”

Wayzz beams at her words and nods. “Yes! I embody protection and defence, so my powers reflect that. The Butterfly corresponds with water because of the fluid nature of akumatisation.”

“How is akumatisation a good thing, though?” Chat Noir says. Master Fu doesn’t answer, instead tilting his head at them like he expects them to figure it out for themselves. To be fair, as a teacher, he probably is expecting that.

“No Miraculous is necessarily good or bad, right?” Ladybug says. “I mean, you’d think Chat Noir would be the bad guy, but his Cataclysm is invaluable when saving Paris. And I can think of so many ways someone could use mine for evil.”

“Then…if you had someone who was upset…” Chat Noir says slowly. “Someone who felt helpless…they could become an akuma, right? That’s what Hawkmoth does. But instead of making them supervillains…they could be superheroes?”

“Correct, both of you,” Master Fu says with a wide smile. “The Butterfly creates champions to fight alongside themselves and their allies. It doesn’t necessarily rely on emotion, though, as Duusu the Peacock kwami is the kwami of emotion. Rather, the Butterfly draws on injustice and the desire to right it, and it metamorphoses its target with the power to fix that injustice. Hence, Nooroo is the kwami of transition and metamorphosis, just as a caterpillar transitions into a butterfly, and just as water can transition between physical states.”

���And every akuma we’ve faced has felt wronged!” Ladybug gasps. “Ivan when he was bullied by Chloé!”

“Nino when he couldn’t throw m – Adrien a party!” Chat Noir says.

“Alya when Chloé got her suspended!”

“Alix when her watch was broken!”

“Mr Agreste when his book and brooch were taken!” the two of them chorus together. Ladybug’s bluebell eyes are glittering like she’s discovered the secrets of the universe, and Chat Noir would be utterly captivated if he wasn’t certain that he looked the same way. A small part of his brain laments that he can’t see her eyes in their true shade of grey, to know just how much prettier she could possibly be.

“Indeed,” Master Fu says. “The positivity or negativity of the emotion doesn’t matter. Someone could feel the righteous desire to do good and right wrongs and they would be just as able to be akumatised. I suspect that Hawkmoth targets those with negative emotions because it is easier to take advantage of them, to convince them to help him with the promise of getting to right the wrong that left them in their situation while their judgement is clouded. And injustice is very subjective to the person. What could be just to one person could be unjust to another.”

“That would explain the…odder akumas,” Ladybug says.

“It’s okay, you can say Mr Pigeon and Animan,” Chat Noir says, making Ladybug snort.

“And unlike the Peacock, which can amokise itself with no ill consequences, the Butterfly holder should not akumatise themselves,” Master Fu says. “The Peacock’s amoks are external, whereas the Butterfly’s akumas create internal change within the target themselves, and so a transformed Butterfly cannot affect themselves with an akuma. And akumatising themselves when not transformed, without the safety net of the holder’s control over the akuma, can potentially have harmful effects on their psyche. Only a truly desperate holder would akumatise themselves.”

“What kind of effects?” Ladybug says quietly. She bites her lip and shoots Chat Noir a look, clearly remembering back to their suspicions of Gabriel Agreste…but he wouldn’t akumatise himself! He can’t be that desperate, right?

“Impossible to say for sure, since there are almost limitless ways to akumatise someone. It could affect their grip on the world around them. It could affect their morality and how far they’re willing to go to achieve their goals. It could leave them with twisted flashbacks, or distort how they see their friends and family, or many more options that I couldn’t even begin to delve into. It depends on how they akumatised themselves.”

“Well, it can’t be Fa – Gabriel Agreste, then, right?” Chat Noir says almost desperately, like he’s pleading with himself. “He must have something to lose. Like his son?”

“That’s what I said to Tikki when I asked her,” Ladybug says. Chat Noir’s heart leaps at the reminder that Ladybug cares so deeply for him, even if it is his civilian self that she’s crushing on. In a way, it’s painful to know that she’s crushing on him but also not on him; it’s not like he’s had the chance to ask her out as Adrien, and he doesn’t know her civilian identity, so he can’t try and build a friendship and maybe eventually a relationship there.

“Can we keep going, Master?” he says to pull himself out of his swirling thoughts.

Master Fu nods and points at the Bee comb. “The Bee corresponds with the element of fire,” he says. “It’s a very passionate Miraculous and represents subjection and rejuvenation, just as the bee stings those it deems a threat in order to protect its hive and pollinates the land around it. Bees also represent growth, so Pollen’s ideal holder is someone who has much potential for growth to be coaxed out of them, to learn when to sting for the greater good and how to remain warm while not burning out of control.”

“Well, I wouldn’t make a good Bee, then,” Chat Noir jokes weakly. “Bugaboo sets my heart on fire.”

“Oh my god,” Ladybug mutters and shoves him. But her lips are twitching, and his heart is a little lighter, so he counts his joke as pretty effective.

“The Fox corresponds with the element of wood,” Master Fu says with a fond little smile at their antics. “Trixx pushes his holders to grow and adapt and change, just as wood branches out. The Fox represents illusion and manipulation, so its primary power of Mirage allows its holder to stay back and work from the shadows, involving themselves when necessary.”

“So, it shouldn’t go to someone aggressive?” Chat Noir says.

“It can,” Master Fu says. “So long as that person recognises the value of working from afar and withdrawing when needed. There are personalities that would not at all fit a certain Miraculous, but no Miraculous has only one type of person who would be compatible with it.”

“I may represent protection, but I’ve had some very aggressive holders before,” Wayzz chimes in. “And Pollen has had quite subdued and quiet holders that mirror herself, despite representing a Miraculous of passion. Some of Nooroo’s holders have been so empathetic that they were driven to help right all the injustices they could, while others were able to completely detach themselves from their target’s emotions and create champions for their cause with no emotional investment themselves.”

“But isn’t the Peacock about emotion? Ladybug says. “You just said that the Butterfly relies on emotion around injustice.”

“The Peacock and Butterfly are similar, yes,” Master Fu says. “They can both sense the emotions of those around them. But while the Butterfly uses its champions’ emotions as a catalyst of sorts to persuade them to come to the holder’s aid, the Peacock is emotion. Its primary power is amokisation, allowing it to summon a sentimonster based on the emotion of its target. It requires a soulful holder; someone who can truly delve into the depths of emotion and understand its complexity.”

“So…an akuma is based on what the holder wants, but an amok is based on what the target needs?” Ladybug says. Master Fu beams.

“Yes,” he says. “Subtle differences, but still differences nonetheless. The Peacock corresponds to the element of metal, so it is a very introspective Miraculous. The wrong emotion for your purpose can have…vastly different results than desired.”

“Sounds like there’s a bit of history behind that?” Ladybug says. Master Fu nods but doesn’t say anything, so she doesn’t push and neither does Chat Noir, not that it would be their place to do so anyway.

“All of the Wu Xing Miraculouses have a secondary power, and the Ladybug and Black Cat have quite a few more powers,” he says. “But it’s up to your kwamis to decide if you are ready to learn and understand them. Especially Black Plague.”

“The last time Plagg taught his holder Black Plague was in 1338, although the date of 1347 is far more widely known,” Wayzz says. It takes a moment for the significance of that date to hit Chat Noir, but his stomach suddenly churns when he grasps it.

“Oh,” he says weakly. Next to him, Ladybug has paled as she too realises. “That makes me feel good about myself.”

“Black Plague can be extremely useful in the right hands, under strict control,” Master Fu says. “That Black Cat wielder was…not the right hands. But Plagg has refused to teach it since, understandably.”

“And that’s the counterpart to my Miraculous Ladybug?” Ladybug says, and Master Fu nods.

“This is all so cool,” Chat Noir says. “And mind-screwy. I think my head’s going to explode.” But he’d totally take this over normal school any day. Especially because he gets to learn with his lady!

Actually, no, he probably shouldn’t jinx the whole normal school thing. Normal school, he enjoys; it’s just the stuff that all normal kids learn that can be a drag. Especially when he’s learning about Miraculouses right now!

“Should we discuss the Ladybug and Black Cat another day?” an amused Master Fu says.

“Yes, please,” Ladybug says faintly. “I think I need to take notes.”

“I can always tutor you, milady,” Chat Noir grins.

“Sure, kitty,” Ladybug drawls. “I’ll give you my notes, so you know what to teach me.”

“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Chat Noir says loudly, ignoring Ladybug’s giggle as he jumps to his feet, even though the sound fills his insides with warmth. “Thanks for the lesson, Master.”

“Thanks, Master!” Ladybug says. Master Fu smiles at both of them.

“Good luck, Ladybug and Chat Noir,” he says. “I don’t think I could have picked a better duo.”

[cchexmex]

there should be an undo button on here, accidentally deleted (thanks to my terrible tracking pad) 

pulled from my old notes, Kotalblack as parents.

“It’s time to wake-“ a familiar voice, barely breaking through his still sleep addled mind “up.” Air squeezed out of him as a heavy weight landed on his stomach, eyes snapping open and finding the culprit “c’mon it’s so late...” a plaintive look growing on his son’s face, though a crooked grin quickly made it’s way through. “Ko’atal, get this gremlin off of me...”

“We have spoken about this, you are a growing boy, one of these days...“ A smile on his face as he gently chided him, motioning for him to lay in between them “your father may not find this amusing anymore-“

“When have I found it amusing?” his voice rough, crying out for water. Clearing his throat he watched as Akachi crawled over to the small space available between them, tugging up the covers and making himself comfortable “felt like a damn cannonball landed on me...” a deep rumbling laugh, Erron groaned-rubbing at his stomach for affect, clear in his mind who was the one that found this amusing.

“Dad, can I have this? Please?”

“What? I don’t know, bug. Go ask your pops-“ looking over what they had in the cart he considered what they needed for the weekend.

“We need those things, y’know with the cheese and bread, and that um-meat?”

“Pizza bagels?”

“Yeah, I like those a lot. Ok, I’ll be back...” he ran a short distance, down to the end of the aisle were Kotal stood, throwing his arms up and showing the toy to him. Pizza bagels, he grabbed a handful of boxes, knowing full well how quickly they were destroyed. Throwing them into the cart, he leaned his shoulder against the glass door, smiling to himself. A little scribble through the ice on the glass, flicking off the frozen condensation that built up on his finger. Glancing back down the aisle, empty. Toy aisle, no other place they were likely to be-he thought with a sigh.

“He doesn’t need that...”

“That’s not fair. You said to ask him, you can’t tell him stuff like that-”

“Grenade launchers, realistic sounds and it glows in the dark. What a curious toy...”

“I know, it’s the best. So, can I get it?”

“Yes, you may” he handed the box back to a now beaming Akachi “I appreciate that you came to ask me...” Kotal set a hand on the top of his head, ruffling his hair gently.

“Where’s your duck?” looking in the full cart, searching out the small wooden duck he’d carved for Akachi when they first visited Earthrealm together-quickly becoming his favorite toy.

“I gave it to dad, so I wouldn’t lose it.” He grumbled out, starting to climb the cart’s metal frame-hands wrapping around his waist as Kotal lifted him. “Safety, my conetl. Buckle yourself up, and I believe you are forgetting your manners.”

“Thank you-“

“So, that’s the duck right?” Erron pointed at the slight bulge in Kotal’s sweatpants pocket. He closed the distance between them, placing his hand on the small Kotal’s back “Or are you just happy to see me?” Voice low-just above a whisper, smirking as Kotal closed his eyes and shook his head. He tilted his chin up, his smirk faltering as his lips relaxed, Kotal placing his arms around his shoulders.

 “I am always happy to see you...” a chuckled breath against his lips as Kotal dipped down slightly, pressing his forehead against his, a gentle kiss on his lips.

“Akachi-“ Kotal pulled out the shopping list from his pocket, handing it over their boy-who was now trying to open the box, fingers tearing at the cardboard “you are now charged with leading us...”

“Okay... we need milk-It has to be chocolate.” a serious tone, setting the box down in his lap “I don’t like plain milk.”

[morelike-bi-light]

Bingo Fic: Leah/Victoria Fluff

So, this took literally forever to write - which is weird since it's the fic that was by far the easiest to plan out. At least part of it is because the wifi in my new apartment and my computer have a vehement distaste for one another. So I typed it on my computer and copied it into my phone. Anyways! I promised 500 word fics to the first people to fill out my bingo sheet a long while ago, and @effervescent-emmett was one of them! I love you, dude, and thank you for being so patient. And thank you for requesting Leahtoria, which is my heart and soul. It was so much fun to write when I finally got the chance. And I'm pretty sure this is longer than 500 words if that makes up for the lost time. It also definitely fits into the larger Victoria and Bree Cullen AUverse. Hope you like it and again, ilysm.

🖤🐈🧡

She doesn't know how long she sits there, legs crossed and back against the couch, staring at the side of that open cardboard box in the center of the coffee table. The box is white, with thick swishes and stripes of sky blue against which 'We deliver!' is spelt out in chunky block letters.

"What is wrong with you?"

Rosalie's tone wavers between awe and disbelief, and if she didn't know any better, Victoria would mistake her for impressed. As it is, she's pretty sure she's just amazed at the new levels of stupidity reached by her own - well, not flesh and blood, but sister. It seems all eternity has provided her is unlimited opportunities to break her own records.

Victoria groans, slumping over on the table and hiding behind her hands. Normally, she'd have some quip prepared, something about her being what's wrong, or there being something wrong with Emmett for somebody cool like him to see something in her – it doesn't have to be believable, just rude – but she just doesn't have the faculties to be eloquent at the moment.

"I don't know," she says instead, shrugging helplessly. "I don't know."

"Because there must be something wrong with you–"

"I know."

"–if you think that..." Even as she points an accusatory finger at the box, Rosalie keeps her appendage close to her chest, as if she's worried getting too close will make her catch the crazy. "... is a good idea."

"I know."

She really does. Victoria tucks an orange curl slipping from her ponytail behind her ear, screwing up her mouth. Slowly, she straightens up, sitting on her haunches, and peers into the open box.

"But look at them," she scowls. "They're pathetic."

Four tiny eyes - one pair gold, the other green - peer back at her from fuzzy, feline faces. The black one squints and meows, like he knows he's been insulted.

"Jesus Christ," Rosalie mutters, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"It's true!" Victoria insists. Brows furrowed, she dips her hand in and scoops up the first fluffy tube to stumble into her hand, lifting it up on display with both hands. The little white calico blinks up at their visitor, paws extended and shoulders hiked up to her little triangle ears, not unlike a zombie. "How are they supposed to hunt for themselves like this? They can't."

"That's what the mother is for." Rosalie crosses her arms and raises a stern brow. "Find the mom. Give them back."

Grimacing, Victoria shakes her head, gently – if a bit awkwardly – placing the kitten back in its makeshift pen.

"Trust me, I'd love to," she mutters, eyes sliding away.

Rosalie's gaze narrows. "And yet?"

"Well," she starts, "Bree and Esme went out for a quick hunt this morning..." The look on her sister's face stops her.

"Oh, no."

"Yeah. Bree's pretty, uh, bummed out about it. So I told her I'd go back and grab the poor thing's kids."

"For God's sake," Rosalie mutters, but her expression is concerned. Then she sighs. "Still, you can't expect them to stay here of all places."

"I'm not that stupid," Victoria grumbled. "Alice helped me find homes for the other three. She took two for the hospital and one to visit Charlie at the station. But there were two left, and I don't have a lot of options, so–"

"Wait," Rosalie sniffs, whipping towards the woods, then snaps back to fix a surprised stare on her sister. "Is that your little werewolf girlfriend?"

"Like I was saying–"

"I thought dogs and cats don't mix."

Victoria rolls her eyes, but she sits back on the couch, shifting nervously. "Would you get out already? I've got this. I'll figure it out."

"I'll hold you to that," she mutters, as she turns on her heel. "Fine, I'm leaving. Keep your pets off the furniture."

"I'm not responding to that," Victoria mumbles, and her sister vanishes just in time for Leah to emerge from the treeline, jogging over to back porch as she makes a last ditch effort to smooth out any tangles in her hair. Her dark stare is soft in the sunlight, creasing gently as her lips stretch into a fond grin. Victoria starts smiling, starts running without even realizing it, suddenly painfully aware of the ache in her stony chest that always creeps in when they've been apart too long. Yanking open the door and leaping forward, she snatches her love into her arms and spins, burying her lips in the crook of her warm neck. Yelping and giggling, Leah wraps her legs around her waist and her arms around her neck, leaning away from her girlfriend's cold nose.

"Warn a girl, would you? I'm ticklish!" She snorts, and though she makes a show of pouting, the redhead obliges and sets her down, hands moving to rest on the small of her back. Her petulance only elicits a smirk in response. "So I take it you missed me?"

"Who would have thought four days could last so long?" Victoria groans, resting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. "You know I'm so happy and proud of you – you deserve nothing less and way more – but I'd be just as proud if your publisher ran its business out of, I don't know, Canada."

"Aww," Leah hums. "If it helps, San Diego was nice, but it was pretty boring without you."

Victoria straightens and shrugs, trying to hide the way her mouth curls in satisfaction. "A little, maybe."

"A little," Leah nods, smothering her own smile.

Victoria's about to ask how the meeting went, if her editor was nice, when the shifter stiffens, blinking. She turns her head towards the house, mouth pursed, then slowly looks back at her girlfriend.

"Hey... is there a reason why your family's house smells like cats?" She asks, brows creased quizzically.

Going still, Victoria glances between her girlfriend and the door, mouth poised to answer but no sound coming out. After a moment, she reluctantly lets go of Leah's middle, gently removing the arms around her neck and sliding her right hand into Leah's left.

"There was an incident, this morning," she starts, then pauses, searching for the right words. "I have something strange to ask you."

"Okay... I'm listening."

"Do you... have room for a couple of cats?"

"In my apartment?"

"And your heart," Victoria teases, trying for a cheesy smile, but pulling off what feels more like a grimace.

"Are you serious?" For a second, Leah just looks at her, eyes roaming her features like she isn't totally sure she's real, but then she sighs. "Shit. Alright, lead the way."

From Leah, that's actually exactly the response she was hoping for. Hiding a smirk, Victoria pulls her girlfriend in the direction of the mewing box of furry babies, wisely declining to respond when she laments the irony of being born a 'cat person'. And it's true – the second the Clearwater lays eyes on them, you can physically see her fate being sealed. It's pretty adorable, really. She melts in their teeny presences, tucking them close to her chest and planting quick, sneaky kisses on their foreheads as she spouts off her supposedly limited wealth of cat knowledge.

"I'm such a sucker," she laments after fifteen minutes of fawning. She lifts the black kitty up to her face and he licks her nose. "I'm a fool. I deserve this."

Worried what kind of romantic goop will come out if she tried to respond verbally, Victoria just nods, love in her eyes and the fiestiest calico on the planet gnawing fruitlessly on her pinkie.

"And you don't mind this little guy?" Leah asks with a wry glance. The lapse in her attention frustrates the orphan occupying her lap, and soon she's given into the black kitten's insistent mewing and nudging with careful head scratches. "I mean, black cats were said to be bad omens in your day."

"Or witches." She takes a moment to reflect on this, before shrugging. "So were redhead girls who played near the woods."

For a second, she feels her age acutely. She avoids Leah's eyes, thoughtfully running her fingers through the calico's fur, observing quietly as she attempts to knead at her leg. The kitten grows increasingly frustrated as her claws pierce through denim only to scrabble against what may as well be marble. A warm weight settles on Victoria's shoulder, and she leans into it, burying her nose in Leah's dark hair.

"So were women who loved each other, right? And I love you," she murmurs. "So, okay, screw it. More fun to be 'wicked' together."

"A lot more fun," Victoria smirks, turning to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth, but Leah frowns, tapping her nose before it can go any further.

"Not in front of the children," she scolds. "Speaking of which, what are we gonna name these little gremlins?"

Victoria huffs, then looks over the gremlins in question, starting with the one furiously pushing her claws into her jeans in an increasingly erratic rhythm. "I don't know. Spot?"

The suggestion earns her a look of disbelief. "That's a dog name."

"Jake is also a dog name."

"Shut up."

"I like Spot," Victoria insists, "and she's on my lap. I think that gives me naming rights."

"Naming rights." Leah rolls her eyes, before gluing them back to the animal in her own lap. "Okay, fine. We have Spot. Now we just need to figure out this little guy."

"Well, he's on your lap. So the responsibility falls to you."

"Lucky for him," Leah mutters under her breath, then pauses. "What about... Lucky?"

"Huh." Victoria blinks. The corners of her mouth start to twitch. "For our little bad omen?"

Leah shrugs, stroking a finger along his cheek. The purr it drags out is loud enough to startle Spot into looking up from her work on distressing her name-giver's denim. "Yeah, what do you think?"

Victoria looks at the cat in question, who looks back with pleased, gold slits.

"Hey, Lucky," she says. "Meet your sister, Spot."

"And the weirdest parents you could have possible hoped for," Leah laughs, shaking her head.

"Happy-weird," Victoria corrects her.

"Right. Happy-weird."

🖤🐈🧡

And, so it turns out, to the eternal amusement of the entire Olympic Coven – but especially Emmett – that Leah and Victoria are both cat people. Fun fact, immediately after I wrote that bit about Leah teasing Victoria for picking a dog's name, I got excited about naming their black cat Pluto because I thought it was a cute and fitting name. Only to realize a couple lines later that Pluto, is in fact, a very famous dog's name. But lucky - ha! - for me, a cuter name came to me anyway. Oh, sorry for the long post, by the way - I can't figure out how to do Read More on mobile. Okay, two down, two to go! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed, guys!