#also i just got the odette skin and i love

[glorismorningstar]

THE LION CHRONICLES

Pairings: fatherfigure!Alastor x f!reader, Charlie x bodyguard!reader, Vaggie x reader, situationship!Carmilla Carmine x reader

Summary: The group is hesitant when a certain serpent-like threat returns to the Hotel for the third time to ask for redemption. Y/N begins to accept that Carmilla is the one she's with and grows more comfortable in the relationship.

Warnings: WLW, mentions of sex, aftercare, nostalgia, canon-typical violence, Alastor being Alastor, betrayal

A/N: damn this part sucks so bad in comparison to the others, but I have to keep it going, and the next few parts are gonna get so much saucier >:))

| PART 1 // PART 2 // PART 3 |

˚₊‧ ꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

˚₊‧ ꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

“What was up with you last night, corazòn?” Carmilla purred from beside me, soft lips skimming over my shoulder with appreciative pecks. “You didn't want to come over, I got a little worried.”

“It's no big deal, I just had a lot on my mind.” I sighed softly, carding my fingers through her white and black strands of hair. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked.

“Not really,” I replied, guilty about keeping her in the dark. As much as our relationship was casual and mainly carnal, I did care about Carmilla, and I wanted to tell her everything about my sisters, my status and Lute, but I always ended up deciding against it. Alastor said it was better for my safety to keep it a secret. “Now's not the time to think about it. Tell me about your day.”

“Ugh, Vox canceled on me today again.” She groaned in frustration, which drew an eye roll from me. Nepotism ran rampant among the Overlords, that was how I'd met Carmilla and all the other Overlords. Months before Alastor's sabbatical, he had asked me to attend meetings with him enough times to get me used to going there. Gradually, he began to skip meetings more often, which resulted in me filling in for him for the last seven years. His one-sided homoerotic rivalry with that bonehead Vox, and incidentally the other Vees, had also been passed on to me. Well, not so much the rivalry itself as the general distaste and animosity for them.

“Again?” I huffed, shifting on my side to face her. I brushed my fingertips along her bare arm, tracing imaginary patterns on her skin.

The gesture made her relax, the annoyance with Vox melting away. “Yeah. But it's just as well, at least we got to make up for last night.”

“Mhm, you're right.” I chuckled, brushing her hair away from her neck to expose the fresh love bites littering her gray skin. The way they bloomed so easily on her pale complexion reminded me of-

No. Enough. I hadn't seen Lute in twenty-seven years, and she either thought me dead, a deserter or a traitor. Even if I could get a chance to see her again, the odds of her wanting me back were far too slim.

Get out of my head, I groan internally. You're in bed naked with another woman. Stop it.

“So, how are the girls?” I cleared my throat, shaking the previous thoughts out of my head.

“Actually, they've been asking about you.” She hummed. 

“They have?” Her daughters knew about our little affair, as they had seen me sneaking out multiple times before. Before becoming involved with Carmilla, I'd met Clara and Odette at the meetings, they'd accompany her just as I did Alastor. They seemed quite fond of me, and I found it adorable that Carmilla named them after ballet characters. I wanted to protect all three of them, it finally felt like having a family again, but seeing Lute again…

Ugh, what's the point? I'd never get back to Heaven again. I needed to care about the family I had to protect now, situationship or not.

“Yeah. They said they'll keep you if I will.” She chuckled, gazing at me with something beyond simple care in her eyes. Damn it.

“They really said that?” I laughed softly, endeared. 

“Yeah.” She said, nuzzling her nose into my neck. My hand buried itself in her hair, stroking through the silky white and black locks that flopped over her forehead. Carmilla was a single mother and extremely busy. Even if Clara and Odette weren't children, they needed to be maintained. It's not like they had money problems, but if either of them ever wanted to go on their own path, they'd need support in any way they could. The way they had so much faith in me made me feel responsible for them. 

I made up my mind. If Carmilla decided to ask me out on a proper date, I'd say yes.

“In fact, I've been thinking-” My ringtone cut her off, which made me curse under my breath and peer over my shoulder to see who was calling. Vaggie. Fuck. She hung up and a message appeared on the screen:

SOS, Pentious is back at the hotel

18:37

“Son of a bitch.” I mumbled, running a hand through the single tuft of golden mane atop my head. 

“What- what's going on?” She stuttered, sitting up on her elbows to gaze at me with a little nervousness in her gaze.

“Some buffoon who attacked this morning is back at the hotel. I have to deal with this,” I huffed and sat up, gathering my clothes from the insane spots they had ended up in. “I'll make this up to you, I promise.”

I pulled my purple striped jacket on and buttoned it up, then bent down to plant a long, passionate kiss on her lips, thumb rubbing her cheekbone with care. I smiled at her and pressed another kiss to her forehead, which drew another smile from her. “Bye, cielo.” 

“Bye, corazòn. Text me when you're safe.”

I nodded at her and ran a hand through my mane to fix it, then blew her another kiss and walked out the door, running down the stairs and towards the hotel as fast as possible.

˚₊‧ ꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

I reached the hotel and spotted a flash of gray and yellow walking inside, recognizing it as Pentious, which drew a low growl from my throat. My claws protracted with a small shink noise and I stalked after him without a sound, tail swaying side to side for balance as I prepared to pounce- “Change of plans, he's staying.”

“I'm sorry, what?”

“He says he wants to try redemption.” Vaggie explained with a look of dismay.

“But he attacked us just this morning, how is that not a trick?” I gritted, ears perking up at  each of his hisses with great irritation. 

“It is, but the point here is to give people second chances,” she sighed, looking at Charlie as she showed him around the hotel. “Just keep your eyes open. Don't leave her side, especially not when he's around.”

“Alright.” I mumbled and followed after them, eyes already supervising his each and every move like a hawk. I let out a silent huff. I couldn't believe that I had to leave Carmilla alone after sex to put up with a nutbag and a golden retriever’s poor judgment.

“What are you booing about? Taco booty call got cut off?” Angel asked sleazily, elbowing me in the side with two arms.

“How many minorities can you offend in a single breath?” I replied with a roll of my eyes, crossing my arms as I followed after Charlie, not drawing my gaze from her and Pentious.

“If that pisses you off, you should watch the Olympics with me.”

I sighed in exasperation and trailed after them, ears twitching atop my head as I listened to their conversation, “-and this is the new wall after you broke the last one, heh, and- oh! This, this is-”

“Babe, you don’t have to show him every detail.”

“Sorry, I’m just so excited to have our first real guest!”

Right. A hissy man child who destroyed one of our walls and came back six hours later to request sanctuary. There’s no way this could end badly.

“What the hell am I then?” Angel asked, offended.

“A spider that lives here rent free.” I replied promptly, tail curling around my leg as I moved my gaze back to Pentious, as ordered.

“Well, you’re an important part of our family here, Angel, but you, um…”

“Constantly make us look bad, sexually harass the staff and have literally never once tried to improve?”

“Correct.” I affirmed, having nothing more to add to the list.

“What they mean is, it’s nice to have someone interested for once.” Charlie rephrased in a misguided attempt to soften Vaggie’s true words. “Over here, we have Nifty!”

“The bad boy is back!” The little lady exclaimed, crawling up Pentious’ upper body and clinging to his shoulders with a creepy whisper, “Never leave me again.”

“Don’t mind her, we’re about eighty percent sure she’s harmless.” I said, coming up behind him and standing over at Charlie’s side, giving him a death glare that ensured that Nifty was harmless, but I sure wasn’t.

“And over here, we have-”

Oh, boy, here we go.

There stood Alastor, with his questionable posture, his signature grin and his hands resting home on his lower back. I rolled my eyes fondly and watched the scene unfold with amusement, as Pentious had ripped his coat earlier today.

“-oh, uh, Alastor, our gracious facility manager! You’ve met our newest guest, Sir Pentious… heh, heh.” Charlie chuckled nervously as Pentious gave an awkward wave.

“Ah, yes, you’re the one that ruined my coat,” said Alastor, drawing another eye roll from me. And so it begins. “I definitely remember you now.”

They're cute when they're about to wet themselves. I cringed while Pentious swallowed thickly and Charlie's expression grew into a concerned one and she scrambled to salvage the situation. “Well, I guess this is a great time for your first lesson-”

She cleared her throat and I smirked, leaning against the railing of the stairs as I observed the princess mediating the two petty, petty men. “-how to apologize. The first step to becoming a better person is to admit when you are wrong. Why don't you give it a try?”

Charlie pushed Pentious forward and Alastor kept staring at him with his scary-ass smile, while the snake man smiled awkwardly and tried his best to apologize. “Yes, um… Mr., um, Radio Demon, sir, please forgive me for attacking you and ruining your very lovely coat… um, here…”

He pulled a chunk of red fabric from his pocket and handed it to Al, obviously thinking it was a good idea. I snickered under my breath and pretended to rub my jaw to cover it up, watching the scene with great amusement. “Oh-ho, not many people have been able to take even this much off me! It must have meant quite a lot to you.” 

After putting on a look of faux empathy, he set the fabric on fire, green flames wrapping the material in a tiny blaze as he held it between his red gloved fingertips. I pursed my lips tightly to keep any comments or laughter at bay while the other two stared at the flames with concern.

˚₊‧ ꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

“Now, with a new resident, I think it's important that we all get to know each other, so we are going to play a little game. Everyone, follow me,” Charlie began, then cleared her throat softly and sang, “My name is Charlie - clap, clap - I like to sing - clap, clap - and when we get to know each other, it's the greatest thing - clap, clap.”

She then pointed at me, who sat beside her, and I stumbled over my words, scrambling in my mind for any good ideas for the improv. “Uh, my name is Y/N - clap, clap - I like to draw - clap, clap - and when I'm in difficult endeavors I try not to use my claws - clap, clap.” I pointed at Pentious with an expectant look, still distrusting of him. 

“My name's Sir Pentious - clap, clap - I like to build - clap, clap - and despite my stupid Egg Bois, I think I'm very skilled - clap, clap.” The three of us looked at Angel, the one that was left to play the game. 

He boredly looked up from his phone and grumbled, “This is stupid.”

“This is not stupid - clap, clap - it's just the game - clap, clap - Y/N and Sir Pentious did it well, so now please try to do the same - clap, clap.” Charlie sang, hoping to keep this from falling apart. Angel was never particularly interested in redemption itself, maybe it was the free room and food, because, and I quote, crack is expensive.

“I'm too sober for this.” He complained, rubbing his face with one of his hands.

“Well, get used to it and learn how to play,” I began, which Vaggie finished with, “This is gonna be your whole day - clap, clap.”

˚₊‧ ꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

This was hilarious.

I had to purse my lips to keep from laughing because this is the best thing I've ever seen since Alastor's commercial. Angel was wearing a trench coat and a hat and roleplaying a crack dealer, while Pentious was wearing white and eating a lollipop. Oh, if only I could get this on video.

“Oh, I'm a bad man on the streets who never got enough hugs. Now where's an innocent kid I can sell crack to?” Angel read. My God, the script was garbage, but it's so garbage that it's actually good. “Wow! Who wrote this?”

“It's great, right?” Of course it was Charlie. 

“I'm telling you, you're no Homer, but it's really funny.” I snickered, drawing my bottom lip between my teeth and rubbing my jaw to hide the chuckles escaping my mouth. My phone pinged in my pocket and I took it out, seeing the notification from Carmilla. Damn it, I forgot to text her.

Are you alright corazón?

22:37

Are you safe? 

22:37

Hey <3

22:37

Yeah, sorry I forgot to text you earlier

22:38

Everything's fine, it was just a false alarm

22:38

What happened?

22:38

I'll call you later and tell you all about it, okay?

22:38

I have a little thing to finish up right now

22:39

Okay, have fun

22:39

Bye amorcito <3

22:39 

Bye <3

22:40

“The only cool thing here is to say no to drugs,” Pentious recited with a proud smile. I still didn't trust him, but at least he seems to be trying. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to not have sexual intercourse before marriage!”

“Yes! Oh, bravo!” Charlie cheered. 

“Nah, no one in Heaven cares about that, anyway.” I said carelessly, which caused Alastor's radio filter to static for a brief moment. Damn it. 

“Really?”

“Uh, yeah, think about it. Adam's in charge and he's probably had sex with half womankind.” I replied, my heart and stomach deflating with relief at my last ditch salvation. I couldn't believe I was about to spill my biggest secret out of a dumb comment. 

“Yeah, she's got a point. The guy spent half the meeting talking about some girl he scored with.” Charlie complained, which drew a humorless chuckle from me.

While Charlie praised Pentious for his performance, I noticed Angel Dust walking up the stairs with a weird look on his face. He usually kept up this act of being horny all the time, now it's just… gone. A small confused frown settled on my lips before I walked to my room, excited to call Carmilla.

˚₊‧ ꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Loud crashing and arguing roused me from my sleep. I opened my eyes and yawned, ears twitching towards the sounds below. It's like one in the morning, what in Heaven's name is up with these people?

With a groggy whine, I got up from my plush mattress and waddled down the stairs, following Charlie and Vaggie to the library with half-lidded eyes. I pushed the door open and saw Angel glaring at Sir Pentious, which made me tense in alert and my tail stiffen. I had a bad feeling about this.

“What's going on?” Charlie yawned.

Angel, with a grip on Pentious’ arm and an angry expression, gritted out, “This little bitch is a traitor!”

His words made me frown and I glared at the snake as well, claws protracting out of instinct as I awaited any confirmation. I knew there was no way he could change his mind in the span of six hours, I should never have let this happen. “Preposterous! I would never betray you. You are my best friends!"

I moved out of the way when he hugged Charlie and Vaggie, a grumble of apprehension and distrust falling from my lips. “Uh-huh, then explain this.” Angel pulled a book aside and uncovered a camera. I recognized it as a VoxTek device from the vibrant blue static line on the side, to which I bared my fangs and a low growl rumbled from my throat.

“You dirty little liar.” I hissed and took a step forward while Pentious scrambled to the window and pleaded for evacuation. Vox answered the phone and I trotted forward, standing just behind Pentious in case he had to be stopped.

“I can't believe we thought you could handle even something this simple,” Vox patronized. I should have known. I did know. I should have stopped it while I had the chance, I knew I shouldn't have let him in. “Do us a favor, if they don't kill you, go ahead and do it yourself, you miserable failure!”

My ears drooped and my lips morphed into a frown. That was really over the line, even for a back-stabber. I saw how the tears beaded up in the corners of his eyes and he lost hope, which made my heart hurt a little. He walked over to us and lied down on the ground, “Just make it quick, I guess… not that I deserve it.”

“Gladly.” Vaggie said and approached him with her spear, which made me hold out a hand in front of her to stop her.

“No, don't.”

“Pentious?” Charlie approached the snake curled up on the ground and extended a hand to him with a kind smile.

♪ It starts with sorry

I saw how he blinked with confusion when she chose to spare him, and to help him, no less. I watched with a soft tilt of my head and a little smile as she helped him up and encouraged him.

♪ That's your foot in the door

One simple sorry

Charlie touched a hand to his chest, which made him look at her with a different look, almost one of surprise.

♪ The path to forgiveness is a twisting trail of hearts

But sorry is where it starts

Pentious shook his head and stepped aside, dejected and unconvinced. 

♪ Who could forgive a dirtbag like me?

I don't deserve your amnesty

♪ Can't we just kill him? 

Shoot him and spill his blood?

Angel and Vaggie piled on, backing him into a shelf with their respective weapons, the spear and the machine guns. I walked to stand in front of Sir Pentious to keep them from harming him and sing,

♪ That's an option you could choose

♪ Works for us

♪ But who hasn't been in his shoes? 

Charlie joined in with me at the next verse, once again extending her hand, and this time he took it, dancing along with her.

♪ It starts with sorry

♪ Sorry

♪ Dig down deeper and say one sincere sorry

♪ I'm so sorry

Pentious said dramatically but from the heart and dipped into our arms, which drew a smile from me and I pushed him back up to encourage him to keep going. Vaggie and Angel still looked skeptical, but to me it seemed honest.

♪ And your journey's under way

♪ It'll take time to cover your vast multitude of sins

But sorry is where it begins

It starts with sorry

Nifty walked in in a little pink nightgown, standing at the door with a pout. “I hated that song! Why are you so lame? Not a bad boy!” She gave him a little kick and stomped away and I laughed, patting him on the back and shaking my head fondly.

“Good first day,” Charlie sighed and walked out with Vaggie's arm around her waist, Angel following suit. “Let's get some rest.”

I chuckled softly and rested a hand on his shoulder, offering him a kind smile. “Welcome, new guy.”

He smiled back and nodded gratefully, then we walked along all together to our rooms. Before leaving the hallway, I heard Alastor's voice ringing out and Vox raging on the device, followed by Alastor's cackle. A smirk of satisfaction adorned my lips and my tail curled mischievously behind me as I walked away, satisfied with the Vees’ failure.

As long as they stayed away from my home, I'd be happy. 

[seramilla]

Ok after reading through ALL of the current posts. I think I got a good enough summary of the College/Crack AU (Note: Some of these lines are copy pasted directly from the asks and replies of the posts)

Seramilla gets married by Asmodeus, who gives them an Asmodean crystal so they can take a break on Earth. They bring Clara, Odette and Emily but when Sera finds out that Vaggie was an unborn Carmine, Sera brings her too. They, somehow, forget to tell her this so Vaggie thinks she's just a guard who needs to fit in so also goes to college.

Vaggie calls Charlie to save her. Charlie arrives but after spending sometime in the human Realm decides to stay to learn more about it, forcing Vaggie to accept her fate, eventually.All of them have human disguises, Sera, Emily and Carmilla look like notherpuppet’s human designs from their Human!Radioapple AU. Clara, Odette, Vaggie and Charlie just have different skin tones and eyes and more normal heights (Vaggie approves of this one).

Vaggie does not do well in academics since she was raised to be a soldier, but does AMAZINGLY at sports and extracurriculars. Military tries to recruit her, she decline and she HEAVILY side-eyes the ROTC students. Charlie has comprehensive double major in hospitality management and musical theatre with two minors in conflict resolution and counseling. Clara and Odette have Mechanics/Engineering and they're so good at it that they corrected the teacher until the teacher quit. Emily is doing something in Early Childhood Development and Education.

Carmilla applies for the Dean of the college that hosts the mechanical engineering program so her daughters and the other students will actually learn something. You don���t manufacture supernatural angelic weapons for hundreds/thousands of years without outsmarting literally every mortal on Earth. Meanwhile, Sera becomes Chief Financial Officer and Head of the Board of Trustees. She improves fundraising efforts to help fund scholarships and financial aid, appropriates funds and directs them to appropriate departments to improve campus infrastructure and buy teaching equipment, and reduces overhead by cutting executive salaries to pay professors and student workers more. Everyone loves her.

Whenever they go on a field trip they ALWAYS forget to tell Vaggie what they're doing and where exactly they will be going. Clara is still dating Kiki and Velvette and Odette is still with Verosika. Kiki and Verosika visit their girls whenever they have a gig in the human world. Velvette still hasn't come up yet, though I doubt this would last long.

Hope this helps everyone. Some parts of this is still a bit confusing but I hope this helps makes sense of this (lovingly) CrackPot AU

You’ve summarized it better than I could! 😂

Only thing I’d add is Seramilla pretending to not know each other, to have some fun with the staff and student body, but on their last day on Earth, they pull a stunt on stage showing they were married all along. The fan club goes wild! They knew it the whole time!

Thanks for the summary!! 🙏💜

[dancingdanvers]

[female - she/her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [SLOANE AUBREY DANVERS]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [MADELAINE PETSCH]. You must be the [THIRTY] year old [BALLERINA]. Word is you’re [DRIVEN] but can also be a bit [VICIOUS] and your favorite song is [RAISE HELL BY DOROTHY]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [AURORA BAY DRIVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it! 

@aurorabayaesthetic

Drugs tw, abuse tw, eating disorder tw, manipulation tw, alcohol tw

Youngest daughter of Daphne Danvers and younger sister to Daisy Danvers, Sloane always had her eyes set on stardom from a young age. She didn’t know how but she knew she wouldn’t be just any old resident in Aurora Bay, she had her aims set much higher. 

When she started showing a talent for ballet as a young child it was a no brainer for her to focus on that aspect of her life, her mother nurturing the side of her daughter that excelled towards great things. Always encouraging, making sure she had everything she needed to get to the top of her game. Sloane took her dancing very seriously, eyes set on New York from her early teenage years. 

Thick skinned and tough she was never someone to be messed with, even when she was prancing around in her baby pink tutu there was an air of danger about the redhead that let it be known she could flip on a dime. With her mother’s fiery temper very much intact.

When she turned eighteen she was admitted to Joffrey Ballet School, and her path to the New York Ballet was well and truly set in stone. Her dreams of becoming prima now in her opinion just a matter of when, no longer if. Spending every moment she had in her day practicing, she refused to settle for anything less than perfection, the heaviest weight the one she placed on her own shoulders.

Graduating top of her class she was a shoe in for the New York ballet, starting off in the chorus just like everyone else, but Sloane was truly living her dream. No, she wasn’t going to just settle for background though, not for a second. Every role she got was a stepping stone towards the one she truly wanted. Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, Odette in Swan Lake, Giselle in Giselle, she was determined that one day she would be the one dancing in the spotlight at Lincoln Center.

When she was twenty four something happened to Sloane that felt like a dream and a nightmare all rolled into one. Seemingly singled out by one of the higher ups in the ballet company it was heavily implied that if she was to give herself to him *entirely* she would be rewarded  in the form of a higher position in the company. She knew it was wrong, she knew it wasn’t how it should be done, but the taste of Prima was on the tip of her tongue and Sloane relented. She became the girl who slept her way to the top.

She thought stepping out onto that stage as Clara that first Christmas in The Nutcracker would feel like every dream was coming true, and it was special, but the voice in the back of her head telling her she hadn’t earned it was ever present, and ever since it’s never left her. She carried on with the illicit affair as was required of her to keep securing the coveted roles, leading to her being disliked by a lot of other dancers who couldn’t understand why she was having all the best roles bestowed upon her so easily. But in the background there was nothing easy about what was going on.

The man, Harrison, who had taken advantage of her need to strive for the top became controlling,  nasty even, and Sloane fell into the world of alcohol and drugs. Sometimes he supplied them, sometimes she got them from other sources, either way she found a way to get her fix. Cocaine often, occasionally pharmaceuticals, on top o the appetite suppressants she was already on to keep her figure, her health was becoming a total mess. Both mental and physical. Still her pig headed determination to be the best kept her eyes on the prize, night after night she went out to dance, day after day she would train for hours on end.

When Harrison found out he was not the only one Sloane was conducting extra curricular activities with he flew into a rage, threatening her, declaring that he was going to ruin her unless she stopped. She had to be exclusive to him. His little puppet, that’s how it felt at least, and she told him she would. Except that was just impossible, Sloane had no interest in the man, he was just the only way to keep her career. On the side she was meeting other people that captured her heart even from the depths she’d buried it a long time ago, making her feel a tiny bit valued, and she couldn’t get enough.

Well, the threat he’d given her when he first found out about Sloane sleeping around finally came to fruition when she was entering her fourth year as Prima for the New York Ballet. Weeks out from opening Sleeping Beauty as Princess Aurora he made good on his word, spreading around the industry how she’d managed to get to the top. The things she’d done, most of which had been forced upon her by him, but funnily enough that part had been left out. The narrative twisted until it looked like she’d pursued him with the ultimatum, that she had taken the drugs to improve her stamina or calm her anxiety. He painted her as a disgrace, and soon no one would touch her with a barge pole.

With no other option Sloane left the city to return to Aurora Bay where she had grown up. Furious, humiliated, broken, and out to get anyone who even looked at her wrong. The girl was a shell of the person who’d left for the city over ten years ago and that was obvious to anyone who knew her. Still riddled with addictions and an eating disorder she was nothing short of a bitch to be around. Icy, Sloane had tried to cut herself off emotionally to avoid the pain of getting hurt again, the pain of what had already happened running so deep inside her. Wearing a mask of someone who didn’t care, but she did. God did she care.

Sloane loves fashion, music, make up, partying. She is in essence the typical girly girl. Spends too much time posting on instagram (Although this is bad for her since it’s often followed by a barrage of horrible comments from people on her photos) she is the baby of the Danvers family and boy does she know it. A total mommy’s girl, she’s returned back to her family house with a broken wing. Trying to down her pain in frivolous activities because deep down she’s convinced she’s no longer worth anything. On the outside it might look like Sloane Sloane Danvers is overflowing with confidence, but underneath the facade there is no one who hates the redhead more than herself. No one who puts more pressure on her for perfection than herself. No one who expects more from her than herself. 

[destinylordoffreaks]

Random barbie questions / thoughts part 2

1: why does prince Nalu from fairytopia look like a Peter Pan reject

2: Why do we not see any other puff balls until magic of the rainbow and the only other one we see is a puffball that very obviously had some sort of you nosy producer, or Director going no no it Hass to look obvious that it’s a girl we can’t possibly have Bibble be in love with something that doesn’t looks like it isn’t obviously a girl

3:Why are all of the other fairy guardians understudys absolutely annoying. Selfish unlikable pricks like the enchantress wouldn’t have just taken one look at these students and been on like no go pick someone else 

4: Also, do you notice that some of the guardians changed colors between the first Fairytopia and the third one like I am all for diversity but it is a little weird However do I give them props for just not mentioning it at all they’re just like oh yeah, they have different skin tones now deal with it

5: In Barbie Rapunzel mother Gothal is the only mother we see in the entire movie we don’t see Rapunzels real mother, or her princes’s, just there Dad’s 

6: Also, who else is it annoyed that we never got like dress up expansion packs for the rapunzel Barbies that had all of the other dresses she drew

1: And why do we not have 2000s Barbie nostalgia merch yet? Where is my T-shirt with Barbie Fairytopia on it dang it

 2: who else had Barbie dolls with stuck on clothing on them and has result grew up  to hate Barbie Dolls was stuck on clothes on them but also we’d still track down and buy the those same dolls we had has a kid 

3: also, does anybody else have a teenage sister who just loves Barbie princess charm school because Porsche is hysterical to them mine is convinced that she’s high

4: And Barbie life in the dream house is a literally just one giant Barbie meme and as a result, even though it’s really stupid, I just can’t hate it 

5: nd we should be getting like a nostalgia releases of the Barbies from the early Barbie movies like where is Claire has the sugarplum princess Rapunzel Odette from Swan Lake Elena from fairytopia, Annalise and Erica from princess and the pauper could you imagine fully articulated versions of these Barbies? It would be so cool.

6: And does anybody else appreciate that for years Barbie has released multiple different versions of their main character dolls from the Barbie movies in different ethnicities. And if you ever pointed it out like they’re trying to earn brownie points, or something they just been like oh yeah, there are multiple versions of this doll so that all of the girls can feel included. I love that. 

What are your thoughts? 

Also, all of this was written  speech to text, so is there any spelling or grammar mistakes I’m sorry.

[laterlavender]

Alright, how about 1 and 2?

Also who do you consider to be your tav's canon love interest?

Weeeee thank you for indulging me *^*

*cracks knuckles*

I italicized keywords in my responses if ppl are just skimming & want the TLDR

Tell us about your Tav! Name, class and subclass, race, pronouns. Do you have a headcanon for where they're from? Their family? Are they a Dark Urge? Or did you choose an Origin Character? Was it an easy decision? (1)

Answers below the cut!

[Original Post here]

•Name: My Tav goes by Jubilee, a virtue name meaning celebration & revelry. Her given name is Dianthus (a classification for pink flowers), but she doesn't tell people this because it reminds her of her family & makes her sad. Also she thinks it sounds kind of uncool LOL

•Info: She's a college of lore bard, Mephistopheles tiefling, Criminal background, she's from Waterdeep and is about 23-25 years old, she/her!

•Ho boy family. She's not born of tieflings - she's the kind that pops out of nowhere in the lineage, so she was seen as a bad omen. >>Her father works for the city as a creator of legal documents, such as proof of citizenship & the like. When things went south he became an alcoholic >>Her mother was a well-known harpist & singer, where Jubilee got her love for music. She died in an accident (which Jubilee may or may not have caused) which caused their family to fall apart. >> She has an older sister named Odette who she has bad blood with & has not seen for years (jubilee may or may not have caused this as well)

•Character creation: I made Jubilee before the game & tweaked things as I went along so I didn't spend too long in the character creator because I knew exactly what I wanted

Was there something about the character creator that just couldn't capture your Character? Please tell us about their hair, facial hair, tattoos, piercings, disabilities, their trans or intersex body, or anything else you're comfortable sharing. (2)

Her body type, for one. She's pretty curvy/thick, especially in the legs. The shades for her hair & skin are hard to get right so she looks kind of crazy in some scenes ngl. And the piercings!! I'll have to make a detailed drawing of how I imagine them. I really like double nasallang piercings with chains. I didn't expect them to have any of these things tho LOL. I had planned for her to have braids, but not sailor moon hair - it grew on me & now it's her canon hair hehe

Who do I consider to be her canon romance?

Wyll! I had created her with the intention of romancing Astarion, but as I played I realized Wyll was the perfect match for her?? She & Astarion would trigger the shit out of each other & be awful as a couple lol. They had their little night in the woods (for bad reasons on both of their parts) but didn't sleep together again - not even at the party because he pissed her off with the 'I love you' comment

I think she & Astarion are similar in that they need someone more steady & down to earth to ground them; they'd make each other worse in the not-funny way

Wyll is a good fit for her because he's attentive & observant, & most importantly very openly affectionate. He isn't afraid to say how he feels & how much he adores you which she really needs in a partner. His openness makes it easier for her to be open as well. He sees the good in her when she can't; she helps him center himself more and to not always put everyone else before him. She also puts HIM first which he has a hard time accepting because he isn't used to it.

Surprisingly they have somewhat similar backstories in some ways - they just went polar opposite directions in how they dealt with their issues

And they both have a love for corny books and romantic fairytales & what more do you need than that??

TLDR Jubilee is a mess

[takaraphoenix]

new tag game: list ten of your childhood ships

Tagged by the wonderful @blairwaldcrf​ - thank you, dear! This sounds like fun!

Though also this had me questioning how to define “childhood”. So, I went with “ships I sailed before I discovered ‘fandom’ and ‘shipping as an activity’“. I am really trying to pre-date my actively-involved-in-fandom days here. It’s also amazing how I can suddenly not remember a single thing I watched as an actual child.

1. Charmed - Cole/Phoebe

These two shaped me so much. Had the most imprint on me, ship-wise, before I knew what shipping was. I still hold such a candle for them.

2. Sailor Moon - Seiya/Usagi

This ship changed my brain-chemistry. Prior to this ship, there was always... one endgame. And you didn’t question the endgame. And then Sailor Moon went ahead and put her main love interest on ice and introduced Seiya and it wasn’t just Seiya who liked Usagi, Usagi spent her time blushing and showing signs of attraction herself. This was mindblowing for tiny Phoe because 1. it is a hundred times better than the actual endgame ship, 2. it is AN OPTION to change ships? I think that this ship very much introduced the concept of shipping, as in, you don’t have to stick to the one main couple, to me.

3. Jungle Cubs - Shere Khan/Bagheera

I don’t know what to tell you, I love those two. Mostly due to Jungle Cubs, honestly.

4. Anastasia - Dimitri/Anya

This movie. I think part of why I loved this movie so much was because this ship was so great. A yearly rewatch for me, and I always loved those two and the way they fell in love. The agency Anya had, compared to most Disney princesses at the time? The roguish nature of Dimitri, compared to most flat Disney princes at the time?

5. Swan Princess - Derek/Odette

Similar to Anya and Dimitri, only even more probably? They near-parodied Disney movies and heteronormative movie settings with how they montaged the childhood and set up the heteronormative Boy Meets Girl and then they should be in love already and she asks why he loves her and all he can come up with is uh because she’s pretty now? And then he has to go on a journey and really fall in love with her, and she with him. And it’s beautiful.

6. Ojamajo Doremi - Akatsuki/Doremi

I am still an Akatsuki/Doremi truther, I don’t want to think about them trying to set her up with her lame-ass classmate, even though that was probably where that was going. The Flat4 were so much cooler.

7. Ranma 1/2 - Ranma/Shampoo

If you asked me to pinpoint one piece of media that kickstarted me figuring out I am Not Straight, it was Ranma 1/2. This shit was too queer to keep kids straight, man. And shipping was like? Aspects of Ranma? Which? Both? Yes?

8. Gargoyles - Goliath/Elisa

Introductions into monsterfuckery, by Disney. It’s been so long since I watched this show, but I do remember loving those two and I am fairly sure this is at fault for the monsterfuckery.

9. Kim Possible - Shego/Kim

Not to copy Cherry’s homework, but yeah no definitely KiGo. Though I didn’t watch the whole show back when it first aired and only caught some episodes every now and again, the green-skinned villainess really got me and how often do you get a female hero/female villain dynamic? This was. Life changing. Yeah.

10. Digimon - Joe/Mimi

I’ve considered which one to pick, but I honestly think the only Digimon ship that I was invested in from the OG series there, from the beginning, were Joey and Mimi.

Aaand I’m tagging @kunfyouzed​ @kimmycup​ @justonemorechapternicercy​ @m1yaku and anyone else who wants to do this! Feel tagged! <3

[dancingdanvers1]

[female - she/her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [SLOANE AUBREY DANVERS]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [MADELAINE PETSCH]. You must be the [TWENTY EIGHT] year old [BALLERINA]. Word is you’re [DRIVEN] but can also be a bit [VICIOUS] and your favorite song is [RAISE HELL BY DOROTHY]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [AURORA BAY DRIVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it! 

@aurorabayaesthetic

Drugs tw, abuse tw, eating disorder tw, manipulation tw, alcohol tw

Youngest daughter of Daphne Danvers and younger sister to Daisy Danvers, Sloane always had her eyes set on stardom from a young age. She didn’t know how but she knew she wouldn’t be just any old resident in Aurora Bay, she had her aims set much higher. 

When she started showing a talent for ballet as a young child it was a no brainer for her to focus on that aspect of her life, her mother nurturing the side of her daughter that excelled towards great things. Always encouraging, making sure she had everything she needed to get to the top of her game. Sloane took her dancing very seriously, eyes set on New York from her early teenage years. 

Thick skinned and tough she was never someone to be messed with, even when she was prancing around in her baby pink tutu there was an air of danger about the redhead that let it be known she could flip on a dime. With her mother’s fiery temper very much intact.

When she turned eighteen she was admitted to Joffrey Ballet School, and her path to the New York Ballet was well and truly set in stone. Her dreams of becoming prima now in her opinion just a matter of when, no longer if. Spending every moment she had in her day practicing, she refused to settle for anything less than perfection, the heaviest weight the one she placed on her own shoulders.

Graduating top of her class she was a shoe in for the New York ballet, starting off in the chorus just like everyone else, but Sloane was truly living her dream. No, she wasn’t going to just settle for background though, not for a second. Every role she got was a stepping stone towards the one she truly wanted. Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, Odette in Swan Lake, Giselle in Giselle, she was determined that one day she would be the one dancing in the spotlight at Lincoln Center.

When she was twenty four something happened to Sloane that felt like a dream and a nightmare all rolled into one. Seemingly singled out by one of the higher ups in the ballet company it was heavily implied that if she was to give herself to him *entirely* she would be rewarded  in the form of a higher position in the company. She knew it was wrong, she knew it wasn’t how it should be done, but the taste of Prima was on the tip of her tongue and Sloane relented. She became the girl who slept her way to the top.

She thought stepping out onto that stage as Clara that first Christmas in The Nutcracker would feel like every dream was coming true, and it was special, but the voice in the back of her head telling her she hadn’t earned it was ever present, and ever since it’s never left her. She carried on with the illicit affair as was required of her to keep securing the coveted roles, leading to her being disliked by a lot of other dancers who couldn’t understand why she was having all the best roles bestowed upon her so easily. But in the background there was nothing easy about what was going on.

The man, Harrison, who had taken advantage of her need to strive for the top became controlling,  nasty even, and Sloane fell into the world of alcohol and drugs. Sometimes he supplied them, sometimes she got them from other sources, either way she found a way to get her fix. Cocaine often, occasionally pharmaceuticals, on top o the appetite suppressants she was already on to keep her figure, her health was becoming a total mess. Both mental and physical. Still her pig headed determination to be the best kept her eyes on the prize, night after night she went out to dance, day after day she would train for hours on end.

When Harrison found out he was not the only one Sloane was conducting extra curricular activities with he flew into a rage, threatening her, declaring that he was going to ruin her unless she stopped. She had to be exclusive to him. His little puppet, that’s how it felt at least, and she told him she would. Except that was just impossible, Sloane had no interest in the man, he was just the only way to keep her career. On the side she was meeting other people that captured her heart even from the depths she’d buried it a long time ago, making her feel a tiny bit valued, and she couldn’t get enough.

Well, the threat he’d given her when he first found out about Sloane sleeping around finally came to fruition when she was entering her fourth year as Prima for the New York Ballet. Weeks out from opening Sleeping Beauty as Princess Aurora he made good on his word, spreading around the industry how she’d managed to get to the top. The things she’d done, most of which had been forced upon her by him, but funnily enough that part had been left out. The narrative twisted until it looked like she’d pursued him with the ultimatum, that she had taken the drugs to improve her stamina or calm her anxiety. He painted her as a disgrace, and soon no one would touch her with a barge pole.

With no other option Sloane left the city to return to Aurora Bay where she had grown up. Furious, humiliated, broken, and out to get anyone who even looked at her wrong. The girl was a shell of the person who’d left for the city over ten years ago and that was obvious to anyone who knew her. Still riddled with addictions and an eating disorder she was nothing short of a bitch to be around. Icy, Sloane had tried to cut herself off emotionally to avoid the pain of getting hurt again, the pain of what had already happened running so deep inside her. Wearing a mask of someone who didn’t care, but she did. God did she care.

Sloane loves fashion, music, make up, partying. She is in essence the typical girly girl. Spends too much time posting on instagram (Although this is bad for her since it’s often followed by a barrage of horrible comments from people on her photos) she is the baby of the Danvers family and boy does she know it. A total mommy’s girl, she’s returned back to her family house with a broken wing. Trying to down her pain in frivolous activities because deep down she’s convinced she’s no longer worth anything. On the outside it might look like Sloane Sloane Danvers is overflowing with confidence, but underneath the facade there is no one who hates the redhead more than herself. No one who puts more pressure on her for perfection than herself. No one who expects more from her than herself. 

[thesoupistoohot]

based on this leyendecker painting, and inspired by @dashiana. bless you for this pairing.

[4dtk]

pas de deux — gojo satoru

pas de deux [pa•de•de] (french, literally “step of two”), a dance duet. 

summary: striving to become a principal dancer, you’re unaware of the curious blue eyes from across the studio, only knowing of his reputation from rumours. when you have to shadow your seniors to learn a principal role and meet the infamous gojo satoru, what happens then?

word count: 11k lmfao

genre: a bit of angst, mostly fluff

a/n: gojo brainrot done. sorry this took so long lol i’m not used to writing long fics but i’m glad i did bc this is acts also as a place for me to dump my passion of ballet aha :”)

playlist here! most of them are classical pieces and a bit of ballet class music, i hope you don’t mind uwu. personally, i’d recommend watching (before or after the fic doesn’t matter hahah) the crazy talented marianela nuñez and vadim muntagirov in the pas de deux that i reference a lot in this fic. they’re my absolute favourite! (´･ᴗ･ ` )

tags: @fiona782​

it was unconventional to see a ballerino don white hair during rehearsals, let alone in a company; the familiar head of white whizzes through the studio like an angel of the night, with graceful moves and powerful jumps to match those of a faerie's seamless manoeuvers through her flowers.

that was only expected out of a principal anyway.

gojo satoru, a principal dancer of the six eyes theatre. they were part of the three prominent companies that carried the ballet world and industry. behind all the glimmer and glitz lay hours of endless rehearsals and worn-out pointe shoes, as well as smiles behind kitri's fans or even the emotional miming from giselle.

he was untouchable, a leading face that carried the ballets he starred in with immense skill and an aura admired by everyone. anyone lucky to score a pas de deux with him would be torn between a world of conflict. those soft eyes that looked down at you with love were solely meant to portray siegfried's ardour for odette and nothing else.

you sigh, eyeing the confident man giving his all in the company class, no doubt hyping himself up for tonight's last show. you couldn't fall behind, either, knowing your performance was monitored way more now that you were considered amongst the directors to be promoted to principal.

"next group, pay attention, loves!" the teacher for the morning caught your attention, letting the chattering group in front head out first before the next group of dancers took their turn. 

dancing was all you could remember, taking up most of your life even when you were a kid. through competitions and gruelling schedules, you managed to land in the six eyes theatre. sure, it wasn't as popular as the zen'in company or the kamo national ballet but, it still held up a wicked reputation, partially thanks to gojo satoru. 

your feet naturally hail your command, placing it behind the other in a curtsey to thank the instructor for the morning class as you stretch your feet in some simple pointe repertoire. 

"nervous about your posting, (y/n)?" nobara asks, rolling the arch of her feet back and forth with a tennis ball.

you shrugged, "in a way, yeah. i'm getting observed on mainly every move that i make."

the smile your best friend gives you calms you down, at least. megumi chipped in, "hey, you'll become one of the best principals around, i know it."

"yeah! and we'll go to your shows, no matter wha... oh, right, we're first soloists," itadori trails off. 

you laugh, settling down to wipe the sweat from your brow. however, there's an uncharacteristic silence when you start to remove your pointe shoes.

"what if i do become principal? i'll miss you guys like hell." you mutter, rubbing off the skin peeling from your toes. removing the tape and toepads, you sigh again even after nobara lands a hand on your arm.

"stop sighing, you idiot, the company's small. sure, you'll have extended rehearsals, and i will now have to deal with yuji's noisy ass, but i doubt we're going to be separated like oil and water." 

you roll your eyes, chuckling a little through glossy eyes, "true. it's just that we've always been together, through the competitions where we met and going up the ranks. hell, i wouldn't even imagine all of us becoming first soloists when we entered six eyes."

megumi raises an eyebrow, "are you underestimating us?" 

putting your fingers together, you offer a sheepish smile, "just a little."

"and now you're going to become a principal, (y/n). we all know you put yourself to crazy standards that you always reach, maybe even higher than that. you're going to kill it as a principal, i'm sure."

thankful to nobara for the little speech, you pat her arm gently, easing into a stretch to prevent any tensing up later in an afternoon class. 

"(y/n), they're coming over, look sharp," itadori notifies you, turning to the barre to do his own stretching as your friends busy themselves with their phones.

you take another curtsey at your instructor, along with the director of six eyes, masamichi yaga.

why... was he here now?

"(y/n), love, we'll need to talk to you about something. would you mind coming to the office later on? just before the company's afternoon class at 2 would be good."

you were at a loss for words.

was i already raised to principal? no... they wouldn't promote someone who's only danced her first soloist role a couple of times. were they going to remove me for consideration? maybe they found a better dancer to monitor?

"it's nothing terrible, (y/n), i promise." with a smile, masamichi walks away, not before patting your shoulder for reassurance.

the next few hours go by in a flash: eating lunch, lazing around in the studio, filming some tiktoks and then getting ready for another class took up most of your time that you didn't get to ponder over the office visit.

so you were definitely surprised to see gojo satoru himself, a shit-eating grin on his face once he hears you enter. he lays back on both arms to welcome the first soloist, you. 

you curtseyed again to ms ieiri and masamichi. before you got to gojo, however, he held a hand up before standing up himself to bow. you let out a small smile as the familiar step led you to curtsey on the other foot.

it left a weird feeling in your bones to greet a principal dancer, but you two weren't all that close, anyway. plus, curtseying was basic courtesy in the company, where actions spoke louder than a "good morning" or a "thank you".

"nice to see you, (y/n). miss nitta, as you know," masamichi gestured to your teacher and then to the white-haired man, whose beauty never fails to amaze you, as cliche as it sounds, "and gojo satoru." 

"nice to finally talk to you, miss (y/n)," he nods his head, wearing an attractive smile that had you sucking in a breath. you could only manage a smile at the moment, brought back to reality when masamichi's firm voice resonates in the office.

"you've done a tremendous job these past few months, love. we've been watching your roles this season, hopping from one position to the other with no problem at all. i'm sure you were informed that you were being considered to be principal..." you leaned forward in anticipation, "...although you'd have to let your skill shine through more before we promote you to principal any time soon."

bummer, but it's nothing you can't handle.

"we do have something to ask of you, however. your potential is clearly set in the right place, and your talent and determination are not lost. we want you to shadow and learn the repertoire of shoko ieiri and gojo satoru while they rehearse for the next season's premiere."

nevermind, it might actually be something you can't handle.

"me?"

masamichi only lets out a knowing smile. "are you up for the challenge, (y/n)? you'll get to learn and watch how principals rehearse, act and mime out the story in the hands of ballet masters and mistresses like kiyotaka ijichi and mei mei and even tengen hoshi." 

your fingers dug into your thigh at the well-known names, always seeing them in the corridors but never knew how they taught or conducted rehearsals. this was your chance.

"of course, director masamichi. i'd be honoured to observe and shadow the company's principal dancers, let alone miss shoko ieiri and mr gojo satoru here. their chemistry onstage is honestly unmatched!"

okay, shut up, (y/n). you're laying your fangirling thoughts on the actual director of six eyes theatre. a simple yes would've sufficed.

"great! you start tomorrow. skip the afternoon class and come straight to the studio on the ground floor. we'll be expecting you."

you couldn't help the grin that appears on your face this time, passing a bow to everyone in the room before curtseying and almost exclaiming a "thank you!"

once you're out of the professional eye, you have a little celebratory dance outside the office, immediately fishing out your phone to text the trio. 

"a...ah! gojo senpai!" you take a step back in instinct, the tall principal looming over you with nothing but an intimidating air around him.

however, nothing screams intimidating on his face, as he shoots you a polite smile and a hand to get introductions out of the way.

all you can think about is his large hand enveloping yours while he tells you his name. you're stuck in a trance, locked on his eyes cut off by the black of his sunglasses. 

how would those hands feel on my hips when he's lifting me? or maybe we'd engage in a kiss in romeo and juliet...? are we doing r&j for the next season's shows?

fuck.

"uh- yes, nice to meet you too, senpai! i-"

"call me gojo, (y/n)."

you're at a loss for words, the man knowing he's left you speechless with the way he's smirking off into the other direction. you manage to get the prodigy out of your head, willing yourself to get to the company class as soon as possible. since your distraction was gone and the air cleared of any tension, you were able to hear the voices in the office.

"are you sure about this, nitta? we can't have any more dancers off their game just because they were enamoured with satoru to the point of confessing their love to him. every time we get first soloists and principals to pair with him, something always comes up."

"i'm sure, director. (y/n)'s mettle and focus on her roles are strong, and her skills are off the charts. if anything happens, we'll just pair her with another principal, like kento or something." masamichi sounded unconvinced, grunting as their footsteps increased in volume.

company class! company class!

you slipped into the studio just in time to avoid nitta and masamichi, carrying your things as you looked for the trio.

"(y/n)!" yuji catches your attention, although a little too loudly for your liking. you were left to greet the other dancers on the way to their corner, dumping your bag with much more exasperation than you expected.

"what's wrong?" megumi asks, doing some plies at the bar to warm up his feet and muscles.

"i think i should text y'all instead. let's wait for after the show tonight."

you get three nods from the trio in reply, dropping into some simple stretches as the next instructor takes over. at least gojo wasn't here...

・．━━━━━━━━━━．・

the applause was deafening as you take your bow, thanking the audiences from the balcony and stalls as you gestured to your pas de deux partner, megumi. putting your hand in front of your heart was a big thing to do, giving thanks to one of your best friends and partners for a fun pair such as bluebird and princess florine. 

as you walked back to join the other dancers, the principal roles were taking their bows with no doubt roars and cheers from the audience from yet another electrifying performance from the golden pair as princess aurora and prince florimund: gojo and ieiri. 

as ieiri led the conductor on stage, he was the last to thank the audience, bringing the heart of the ballet to life with the score of tchaikovsky's sleeping beauty. 

with one last bow, the curtain closes, leaving you to let loose from the rigid position you were used to. 

"we're done!" you laugh, hugging megumi as nobara and itadori squeeze their way through the many dancers on stage. the two convey their compliments, prompting you to nudge the two on their puss-in-boots and white cat roles. the two then freeze up, staring at something that was approaching from behind.

"miss (y/n)-" gojo bows, interrupted by ieiri as she crashes into you with a hug.

"oh man, (y/n) you were great out there!" you grin, embracing her as tight as she did. 

"thank you, senpai," you were practically beaming, thankful she still remembered you after being promoted to principal years ago. it was hard to communicate and talk when she had so much going on, a natural dancer who rose up the ranks fast with her hard work. 

ieiri formed herself up into a refined dancer that you wouldn't think she was the young girl at your studio trying on pointe shoes for the first time years ago when you were a kid.

that was if you didn't know her personally, of course. 

"here, first position, just like that!" the curious girl interacted with the kids outside a smaller studio, teaching them the various positions that at least a grade two or three class would use.

she picked up pointe work fast, obviously guided by the mentors at the school with nights of rehearsal and decision making whether she wanted to pursue this professionally.

"oh shush, you, you don't have to call me senpai, see you tomorrow (y/n)!"

ieiri bids you goodbye, no doubt to talk to the choreographers and director. gojo follow suit shortly after your exchange, not before taking your hand to plant a kiss on it.

you retract almost immediately after his lips descend on your skin, the area hot from the lighting, your sweat and your feelings.

nobara tsked, "what's his deal?" you let out a shaky sigh and shrug, hooking an arm around megumi's as you went around to mingle with the dancers.

・．━━━━━━━━━━．・

[nobara is typing...]

you're to shadow gojo-senpai and shoko-senpai?! no way???!?!1/!?!?

[itadori is typing...]

no way, that's so cool! 

what was he like? was he in the office that day?

[(y/n) is typing...]

yeah, he was. not gonna lie, a bit cocky... kinda overheard that partners throw themselves at him sometimes too, which makes it a bit troublesome, lol.

and yes, kugisaki i'll need to observe them starting tomorrow. i cant come for the company class :(

[megumi is typing...]

Then what about Shoko-senpai?

you shake your head even though no one could see you, the forgotten tv series playing in the background while you text your friends instead.

[(y/n) is typing...]

she's too good for him, i think. they're long time friends too, but i'm not sure if any feelings blossomed since then tho

[nobara is typing...]

you don't like him, do you? i know you dont like guys that are full of themselves, altho that man rlly is that attractive .......

[itadori is typing...]

LMAOO whos the smitten one now

nobara sends a vibe check sticker, the one with both hands outstretched with a threatening stare into the screen. 

[nobara is typing...]

i'll kill you tomorrow, yuji itadori.

[itadori is typing...]

you'd have to reach my height first, loser

[nobara is typing...]

you- UFGGHKHH

i'll kick your shins, thats what!!!!!! 

you roll your eyes as the two of them get into another friendly banter, leaving the group chat to blow up in messages as you switch off the neglected tv. 

there's a silence that feels almost too foreign, contrasting to the fact that you enjoyed silences daily. it felt criminal, almost, to be in such a quiet space with no one to fill in the gaps.

you look to your black and white poster for some clarity, the young boy standing at 16 with a softness in his eyes and a lengthened extension that conveyed his love of ballet to you.

you never knew who was the boy, getting a poster shoved into your hands in a hurry when you and your mom bought tickets to the local ballet competition. you never questioned the poster, nor had you caught the boy in the midst of his variation either, settling for a theory that his performance had already passed the day before.

"how do you think it's going to go down tomorrow?" you mumble to no one in particular, tossing and turning in your sheets that didn't quell your worries no matter how much you thrashed.

the dreamless slumber welcomes you into its arms almost immediately, although the morning after was the opposite.

"shit, shit, shit," was your mantra, jumping from place to place in your small apartment to get the things you needed for class. you manage to catch the bus in time, heading straight to the studio with no cup of tea in your hand as usual. 

"(y/n)!" nobara grins, seeing you stumble through the door just as everyone finishes their individual warmups. the instructor greets everyone, eager to get into the class as soon as possible.

the thought of the rehearsal shook you up more than you thought it would, leaving you to let out nervous breaths that got worse by the time that class ended. 

ieiri didn't miss the way you'd wipe your hands on your tights in worry, going over the steps more than you usually would. you had a killer memory, but it seemed that today that that ability had melted away at the sight of gojo.

"wish me luck, guys," you muttered, hurriedly packing up your things before heading off yourself. the trio only could give you a small smile, knowing you had wanted time to yourself to calm your nerves.

you had always done this for the many shows you starred in: the music and positions mimicking a recording. it was as clear as day when it replayed in your head, the different orchestral parts and the dynamic changes you apply to your steps to give the best performance, for performing your best was all that mattered. the trio understood instantly, always sending you off on your memory replay with an encouraging smile.

well, almost, for you didn't even know what the rehearsal entailed or what piece they would be dancing to.

"hi," your voice appeared meek in the big studio, the only three people there slowly getting warmed up to each other. your feet carried you into a curtsey.

"ah, mei mei-sensei! miss shoko and mr gojo," you acknowledged their presence, placing your things down right where you stood.

"let's begin then, shall we? for this is a gala event, the pas de deux couple will only be performing the entree and the adagio parts. there might be the possibility you two would have to rehearse your individual variations and the coda. still, the organisers haven't gotten back to us on the duration we'll be on stage for. with the switching in and out of the different repertoire, this year should align with don quixote. before we start, i wish that everyone is honest with each other; that way, we can learn from different views."

don quixote?! you hold in your excitement at the revelation, thinking back to the fiery portrayals of kitri and lively spanish music to pair with it. your excitement was on cloud nine while by fifteen minutes, your feet and body were seemingly screaming at you to take a break.

to say it was tiring was an understatement, at the very least. you were to only shadow ieiri's parts, and the absence of a male partner proved challenging when you were the first soloist mirroring a principal and her partner.

"(y/n) should try too, of course! come, come," mei mei beckons you over from where you went over the steps, fingers fidgeting with the waistband of the sheer skirt you'd just bought a few days ago.

"i trust that you are familiar with the wedding PDD, (y/n)?" mei mei asks.

you nod eagerly, not missing the way ieiri beams at your enthusiasm. 

"good. we'll just try this part on your own. remember to keep yourself lifted and trust your partner," mei mei eyes you while gojo was already getting comfortable with a hand on your back, "would you like to try it without the music first?"

you nod cautiously. you take note of the way it burns like fire, the contact of his skin on yours. oh god, you wished you had wiped the sweat from it, although the other didn't seem to mind it due to the many partners he's worked with before.

with a quick glance, you snuck a look at the tall dancer, never much prepared for the striking blue of his eyes. however, this time, the cheeky gojo appeared to be kept under wraps, bringing forth a more solemn and nervous exterior. he did seem different and quiet, even catching the attention of mei mei-sensei and ieiri herself. they opted not to say anything.

nevertheless, the two of you narrate the lifts and steps, mixing in the counts with the french vocabulary that stuck with you throughout the years. you were surprised at how much leeway gojo had provided you, allowing you to move freely while bringing you back effortlessly for the couple work.

a smile formed on your face at the flow of your steps as the music plays seamlessly in your mind with how much you've watched different renditions of the wedding pas de deux.

"with the music now, my dears."

ieiri shoots you a thumbs-up, noticeably more tired than you, as she massages the bottom of her feet with calculated force.

the piano starts as the pas de deux passes by smoothly with minimal mishaps, save for some off balances here and there. as always, your hand tingles when it comes in contact with the principal's, willing the quick heartbeats away by thinking of his cocky smirk the other day. with the easy beginning completed, the lifts were now appearing more often.

"hold your body up during the fish dive (y/n), hold your back and position!" gojo stumbles a bit at your mistake, but for the second time around, you manage to get it, coming up from the tricky step into a beautiful arabesque. 

a hasty nod, and you're off, pulling away from gojo a tad bit quicker than how you wanted to initiate it. he's taken by surprise at your change of personality, wondering where the flustered soloist had gone to previously. with the same corrections directed at you, mei mei gives you a "good job" before bringing ieiri back in.

"we'll cap you two's pas de deux at that point before the turns. ieiri, you ready to get back into it?" she hesitantly nods, albeit more relaxed than the earlier exchange.

the music starts again, and this time, you manage to gape at the couple's artistry, weaving over and under to fit the delicate notes of minkus' score. with the many turns and tour en l'airs, it now came to the difficult part of the pas de deux: where the woman will wind their hand around the man's single finger, engaging in two turns connected only by that single contact point.

they complete it easily, leaving ieiri to then balance en pointe with one leg suspended in the air. the two repeat it again with no problem, except for the fatigue seeping through their faces at a few moments in time.

as the music reaches its climax, so does the movements with increasing pirouettes and lifts. their chests heave with exhaustion, but their smiles showed that they were satisfied with the run.

it was hard to believe that gojo and ieiri only started to rehearsed this a few weeks ago, especially since these were leading roles with a reasonably complex pas de deux to pair with. nothing seemed to faze them as they received the feedback from mei mei, nor did they have trouble correcting the lift that had gone wrong earlier or the balance that ieiri fell out of.

so this was what it meant to be a principal.

"(y/n)! any feedback that you'd like to give to the two?"

"h..huh, me? i'm not sure if it'd be helpful to-"

"nonsense, hit us, (y/n). rehearsals are always a place for feedback," ieiri grins, taking your hand to bring you closer to the three of them.

"well, i think... i'll comment on the repeated melody where you'll go from the turns into the attitude balance is where it's a bit difficult. since gojo-senpai is tall, he might've put his hand a little too high. i mean, of course, lifting up is ideal, but ieiri-senpai might have some trouble balancing because of that."

they wordlessly try it out without the music, noting how gojo places his hand at a lower height for ieiri. it might've felt foreign, but it looked a tad bit better to you, with a better centre of gravity and stability. 

"yeah! like that!" a smile dons your face, "does it feel better, senpai?"

"tons," gojo simply states, almost too eagerly as blue eyes uncharacteristically boring into yours. opposed to the quick glances he always gave you along the corridor or within classes, this one was a strange, longing one. ieiri's voice snaps you out of the spell, almost not wanting to leave his stare.

"way better, thank you (y/n)," she pats your arm before turning to the sound of mei mei's voice.

"alright, beautiful legs and extensions, but we still have a lot to work on, as well as getting (y/n) accustomed to more pas de deux and principal work. would you like to stay on (y/n)?"

you admired your own determination, but sometimes it was better to take a break. having just attempted the coda, you could already feel blisters forming due to your prolonged use of pointe shoes. with a breath, you let gojo complete his pirouettes, restraining the sigh coming from your lips at the perfect revolutions and momentum he had going.

a little more, and you were close to catching a breath, finishing off a quadruple pirouette and tour en l'air with gojo's help. with a slight stumble, you let out a startled laugh before taking your last step with a knee to the floor. with palm outstretched, the piano does a trill before ending off on a chord.

out of the corner of your eye, you spot gojo smiling down at you, a beam that doesn't come often with how much confidence he carries around the company. 

ieiri applauds first, followed by mei mei's impressed smile.

"you execute your fouettes well, (y/n)," you bow your head in thanks, brought up unconsciously with gojo's hand as it stays linked in yours. 

"thank you, mei mei-sensei. i'm just glad to have tried it out; the don Q coda is one of my favourites," you gush, "the costumes, the music is just everything."

・．━━━━━━━━━━．・

"to dance with your partner is one thing, but the connection is another. translate the story of the elation of kitri - her father finally gives his blessing for their wedding, and she's excited to the moon. basilio is marrying the girl of his dreams. know what and who you're dancing for." mei mei speaks over the music easily, giving pointers they go over the steps like always.

"i know it's just an empty stage. there's no set, no scene to show the joy all around the cast, but you still are dancing as kitri and basilio," mei mei says after, "let's try again with (y/n)."

rehearsals carried on like this, day after day. some days longer than the other, and on others, you were paired with another first soloist. however, he wasn't tasked with shadowing the couple every day, so the pas de deux was left to you to master. 

as you wipe your sweat, ieiri waves her towel in front of you, "wanna have lunch with us?"

"i don't want to intrude-" 

"it's gojo's treat," ieiri whispers, "plus he doesn't treat people often."

"is he okay with me coming alo-" she pulls on you, leaving you no choice but to pack your things hurriedly.

"(y/n)'s coming, yea?" ieiri mumbles quickly, hooking her arm around yours in a hassle as you try to keep your things from falling out of your bag.

"i'd like that." gojo says to no one, finally catching up to you two after switching off the studio lights.

"whaaaat, you're leaving so fast?" you pout, eyeing ieiri's neat tray of finished food as gojo lets her pass through in the booth.

"i'm sorry you have to stay here with this dumbass (y/n), but i have a date with the orthopaedic today," ieiri groans.

"like an actual date?" gojo jokes.

"no," she rolls her eyes, "my muscles are acting up a little lately. plus, my arch hurts more often than it usually does. it's best to just check it out, i guess. but yeah, an actual date would be nice, too."

you shrug, "eh, hard to come by when you're a busy ballet dancer in a company. bye, senpai!" you and gojo wave to her as she leaves the diner, now coming to terms with the fact that you were alone with the charming dancer, as much as you hated to admit it.

with his perfect hair and long eyelashes and the enchanting smirk he always seems to wear. not to mention the sheer strength in his leaps in contrast to the delicate grip on your waist-

"thinking about me, love? of course you are."

"what? no!" you stiffen, the blush on your cheeks immediately giving away your thoughts.

"for the record, i've thought of you, too," gojo drops a bomb, leaning over the table to plant a gentle kiss upon your cheek before leaving the booth in a hurry. 

you were thankful that he was gone, at least and thankful for the empty diner, leaving you to melt in a puddle of confusion and warmth. 

just like the first rehearsal, your cheeks feel hot, as does your body. the place where his lips touched seemed to burn a hole through, your gaping mouth failing to close even after a minute of staring into nothing.

fishing out your phone was the first thing your mind sought out from the endless thoughts in your head.

nobara, nobara, nobara... gotta find her contact..!

[nobara is typing...]

he WHAT???!??@

・．━━━━━━━━━━．・

"ieiri-senpai, what's a pas de deux to you?" you mumble after rehearsals one day, picking at the tape stuck in between your toes.

"it would have to be what mei mei said, definitely. she still says the same exact thing till today: dance and connection are two different things. and it can't go to the point where two different stories are being told by the male and female dancer. you'll need to go into pas de deux work with a mindset that you come in a pair. every correction and every emotion needs to be felt by both parties for it to reach the audiences."  

"what about you?" the question catches you by surprise, resorting to humming as you think of the answer.

"it's something along the lines of your answer and mei mei-sensei's definition. you'd have to be on the same wavelength as your partner. every extension that appears or a gentle port de bras is meant to show the character's personality. you'd also have to think of the context of the ballet, i guess," you stop yourself, looking at gojo as he finishes a tour en l'air en passe. three revolutions and you realise that a. you're staring and b. you were talking way too much.

"sorry! i'm rambling again," you splutter, going back to your original task of taking out the tape from your toes.

ieiri giggles, "no, no! ramble all you want. i love listening to my juniors talk about how much they love ballet."

"sleeping beauty, just like the show a week ago, is set in the royal court, so it's hard to show aurora's personality. she's a little playful and young, although it's hard to slip that in when the wedding pas de deux for that is so grand. and then you'll compare it to the black swan in swan lake, where it's also in a royal court, but odile's the one deceiving siegfried, so there's an opportunity to include some side-eyeing in it. i personally love zenaida's version," you trailed off, "i mean, of course, there's also-"

"then what about odette?" gojo shouts across the studio, with his hands on his hips. the white of his hair matched the pureness of odette's tutu, something you always wished to wear and dance and master when you got accepted into six eyes theatre.

"don't mind him-"

your words take precedence without effort, "with the white swan, odette has to show the struggle of her spell with the frantic miming that she has to do. 'i'm the queen of the swans, rothbart the bastard turned me into a swan' and so on and so forth. because she's a swan, she has to imitate the gentle way that swans move, along with the technical challenges of the pas de deux. she's very soft and fragile, and the violin makes it all the better in showing the shyness and fear in odette."

two pairs of eyes stare at you curiously as the male's smirk leaves you to break into a nervous laugh as you fidget with your fingers. 

"sorry, i'm talking a lot. too much. do carry on with your jumps," a small apologetic smile appears on your face, failing to note gojo's hesitation to move from his spot and his interest in the way you can talk endlessly about the art.

gojo's smirk merges into a smile even when he accomplishes the many pirouettes demanded of him. he'd want to hear it from your lips next time when you're wrapped up in each other.

・．━━━━━━━━━━．・

"don't you think he's a little bit too confident for his own good?" nobara whispers to you. with rehearsals off for a few days, you were able to see your best friends again, munching up the calories lost from the afternoon class. 

"yeah... for all we know, he might be stumbling around in rehearsals and picking up girls," megumi muttered.

you rolled your eyes, "he's... not like that, guys. he is confident in class and seems a bit cocky, but that's because he really does live up to his name."

"we might not know much, either. (y/n) has been in rehearsals with the guy. he's probably more focused when there are lesser people in the room," yuji chats through his food, gaining disgusted looks from the three of you when lettuce and chicken litter the table.

"well... don't go falling for the guy, yeah? i've beaten up too many exes in the past," megumi tsked, devouring the salad bowl in front of him.

"yeah, but i didn't ask you to, plus you'd do it anyway. didn't even have to ask," you grin, leaning back in your chair triumphantly.

"if i beat up gojo-senpai, i'll probably get jailed."

you and yuji stifle a laugh at his comment, but nobara doesn't seem impressed with the joke, instead focused more on you and your reactions. 

you weren't actually developing feelings... right?

the memory and kiss linger in your mind like a stubborn stain, not forgetting the intense stare nobara had given you before you said goodbye to the three. a vibration from your phone snaps you out of the daze, opening your chat group to answer your friends. 

[nobara is typing...]

how was rehearsal today?!???! we jsut finished class

also it's been so long since we saw u :(

[(y/n) is typing...]

so good as always is that even a question luv xx

theyre both so talented as individuals as they r in a pdd... it was rlly insightful too!

gojo-senpai kept staring at me today for some reason tho. he felt different today, a little more reserved and whatnot

[megumi is typing...]

Maybe he felt intimidated by your skill lol

"i'll take my leave first, (y/n)! i've got an errand to run. mei mei's accompanying me," ieiri grins, bringing you into a sweat-filled hug. she's used to soaked leotards, even if the grimace on your end doesn't go unnoticed by the principal.

she lets out a chuckle, "you'll get used to mixed sweat and whatnot, (y/n). see ya!"

curtseying comes easy, bidding goodbye to the principal and the ballet mistress.

you were ready to go back to the conversation on your phone, although a call of your name distracted you from the conversation.

"yes...? gojo?" you mumbled, the last name feeling foreign on your lips without the honorific at the back. you put your phone away as the studio immediately diminishes in size, seemingly putting the two of you in a tight space with nowhere to go. it certainly felt like it, with the wordless prompt of his hand.

"try the pas de deux with me," gojo proposes, pulling up a piano rendition of the score on spotify. it wasn't hard to spot the mischievous sparkle in his eye, along with the attractive grin plastered on his face.

the studio appeared calmer now that ieiri and mei mei had left, yet the conflict in your mind was loud and unwelcomed. it felt like a battle between the angel and the devil, and you were sure the devil was nobara herself, screeching at you to remind you of the shit-ton amount of conceitedness he had.

"are we allowed to? don't other people need to use the studio?" you mumble, standing up with the help of gojo nevertheless.

you're playing right into his hand, yet you took it anyway.

he waves a hand, "it's fine; you do know the pas de deux, don't you? we didn't go over it together much, but i'm sure the past rehearsals served you well."

the beginning was refined, having done it earlier with mei mei's help. it was mostly the only thing the two of you went over when mei mei was around, leaving the more complicated parts to ieiri. the fish dive comes naturally this time, imagining the glowing lights and the striking wedding tutu that kitri sports in the third act. 

there are howls of laughter at the many mishaps after that. knowing you hadn't rehearsed any of it with your partner, nor with the music before, it was only fair that accidents were to happen.

"no, no, if you let me go, i will kill you- ah! gojo!" you threaten, but it's lost in your mouth as he spins you way too many times, letting a loud shriek escape your mouth.

from a failed pirouette to a fish dive where he almost dropped you (he didn't), the laughter spilling from yours and his lips weren't common in a company class with everyone trying to dance their best.

"hey, hey, lay off the hair!" gojo quips, catching your off-balanced pirouette with a secure hand on the waist. you went along with the music, anyway, giving your exaggerated interpretation of kitri just as the music builds up. that earns a laugh from him, skillfully guiding you through even with the light banter in the room

"here it comes," he mutters to you, feeling the support of gojo's hands on yours as he pushes you off the complete the double attitude turn before hearing a loud ‘thwap!’.

"fuck, sorry! oh my god," you apologise, retracting your leg almost immediately after the collision.

"ah, shit," gojo exclaims, rubbing the side of his thigh as he brings you down gently. there's a frown on his face as you take a peek at the place you hit, the only thoughts running through your head being the articles or scandals you might be caught in.

(y/n) attempting to harm six eyes theatre's golden principal dancer? (y/n)'s downfall full of jealousy? (y/n) and the infamous gojo caught in a fight?

a giggle gets you out of the trenches, hands revealed like a finished magician's act. 

"i was kidding; that didn't hurt one bit," gojo jokes, hands naturally reaching forward to place them on your hips, "loosen up a bit, (y/n)."

"i am loose!" your mouth falls into a straight line, "shit that sounded bad, didn't it?" bursting into laughter, your head falls onto his shoulder as your hand reaches up to grasp at his forearm before recovering from the unexpected joke.

as the pas de deux fades off into nothing, only your breaths could be heard in the large studio, blending with the cold air of the air-conditioning and the hot breaths coming from your mouths. strings play softly from the phone, but all you can hear is the echo of the familiar melody as if it was being played in an auditorium. 

gojo gives you a gentle smile that you reciprocate, stuck in that annoying hypnotisation of his blue eyes and the same soft look he gives you whenever you aren't looking. 

you were looking now, though, and you'd like it even better if time stood still for you to savour this moment.

"would you like to go on a date with me (y/n)?"

there it was, the million-dollar question. it wasn't like you imagined this every night before you slept or whether he'd perform a flashy proposal to ask you out.

but even then, you thought back to the smirks he directed at every other dancer, you thought back to the conversation in masamichi's office, you thought back to nobara's advice.

"surely you're not thinking of getting wooed by gojo satoru, are you? it's dangerous, (y/n), i'm sure you know that."

"fuck, i know! but then he kisses my cheek that one time and everything feels right again. he jokes with me in rehearsals and nudges me when mei mei-sensei compliments me. he treats me to lunch and looks at me with so much passion i almost want to believe it. these past weeks of rehearsals have taught me well in dance, but i'm sure it's making my love life miserable with how much he looks at me and then goes back to flirting with the other dancers."

"i'm sorry, i can't, gojo."

you make haste with the way you're scurrying out of the studio, breaking into a jog to make sure he doesn't catch after you.

you should've said yes, right? with how much he's been building up the courage these past few weeks, careful not to let ieiri spot his sneaky glances. even the kiss on your cheek left his heart pumping long after he's left the diner. 

all that to leave him in the dust.

gojo lays in bed that day, eyes fully open as he struggles to get some rest, unaware of the similar turmoil you were going through. the dancer managed to sleep after innumerable amounts of overthinking, departing from consciousness with thoughts of you, just like he always has.

・．━━━━━━━━━━．・

there weren't any tears involved on your end, save for some of the glossy looks you've given your black and white poster as you played with your pillowcase in anxiety. 

you dreaded the next rehearsal, knowing you had to face gojo sooner or later, especially with how you reacted to his question.

"mei mei-sensei, gojo," his name was muttered instead, embarrassed with the way you rushed out of the studio the previous day. mei mei looks between the two of you, clapping her hands together to get your attention.

"ieiri pulled a nerve around her arch, which was why we've been going to the orthopaedic more often. it's a minor injury, and she's resting right now, so we'll have to work with the two of you first. we'll stop at where we always do but feel free to continue if you feel comfortable."

great. it had to be on a day where i couldn't possibly face gojo.

he says nothing at that, both you and the pianist unsure of whether you were to continue.

gojo was still in his a game, hitting every leap and lifting you without much struggle. you, not so much, as the words you said to him replayed in your head like a broken record.

you fell off your balances, you couldn't portray kitri well, you felt the weight of your body get heavier with each repeated thought of the day before. hell, even your practice tutu felt heavy. 

he sighs again for the umpteenth time as the music stops, the two of you receiving the same criticism from the previous run. mei mei tries her best to be polite, although you can tell she's losing her patience as well.

"(y/n)? what's gotten into you? i understand every dancer has their bad days, but today appears terrible with the silent treatment you two are giving each other."

you swallow at the question, taking a shaky breath before opening your mouth. you look to gojo for help, but his eyes evade yours by looking at the floor with arms crossed. his head whips toward you with your following words.

"he asked me... on a date. i rejected him, rushed out the studio," you mutter, tracing the fabric of the tutu hanging on your hips.

"you asked her out on a date?" mei mei states in disbelief, looking at the ballerino with a face full of perplexity. 

"yeah, i did, and i would do it again," the last whisper is lost to you, unable to hear because of the distance between you and him.

"wh- why? what's wrong with that?" you ask mei mei-sensei, yet again being pulled in by the sky blue of his eyes before looking to the ballet mistress.

"mei mei-"

"gojo never asks anyone out. ever. i'm sure you're the first one."

you can see gojo deflate at that at the corner of your eye, shoulders sagging forward in defeat while mei mei takes the chance to leave for you to sort things out. 

"what...?" was the only thing you could muster, eyes following your instructor as she exits the space.

"you two are dismissed for now. talk to him about it and resolve your problem," she waves a hand at you, the tension growing by the second as she's entirely out of the studio.

"gojo?" you ask cautiously, stepping up to him to pull him from the position he was in.

"you believe the rumours, the articles, don't you?" he says, completely unrelated to the situation at hand. the look he gives you was something you couldn't figure out, snatching his arm out of your grip as he puts some distance between the two of you. 

"you think i'm some cocky bitch who's just strutting around the company, free to do my own thing?" the other says it in a quiet tone, but it didn't make it less menacing than if he were to shout it. 

"do you think i enjoy the way the female dancers throw themselves at me when i'm trying to focus on my mistakes and corrections? you think i enjoy the annoying ass articles written about me?"

with each question, gojo doesn't fail to intimidate you, taking a step each time until you're cornered against the barre. those questions are left unanswered as gojo's eyes bore into yours, losing its usual spark when he glances at you during the pas de deux or when he's laughing at a joke you made over lunch.

"do you think i enjoy being talked about every. single. time?! when i'm passing in the corridors, in masamichi's office, in the company classes, among the little trio you have going on. when i asked you out, it was because i genuinely felt that i could connect to you: with no wrong assumptions or bad impressions," gojo runs a hand through his sweaty hair, the frustrated emotions he felt seeping through into his speech.

"...everything felt so fake to me while getting to know you were the only real thing i could cherish when i get to hold you during the pas de deux, or when my lips landed on your cheek. it was the only real thing that brought on your blush that i imagine your lips on mine way too much."

you chose to ignore the way your heart flutters at the confession, staring up at him with apparent conflict on your face.

"then why can't you just ignore them? i'd expect someone like you to not give a shit about what people think," you whisper.

"you got to know the wrong gojo, then. just like right now, i can't face what others have to murmur around about me."

"right now...?" you caught onto his words fast, your eyes immediately spotting the curious faces of both your friends and a few other dancers fighting for a spot to watch you two through the studio door's glass.

"c'mon, pack up, let's not talk here," gojo states. within seconds, the two of you were out the door with your hand clasped in his. you were quick on your feet to leave the premises, naturally following gojo's lead to an unknown building. 

letting go of his hand, you explore the space, taking note of every tiny little thing that made the apartment his own.

"sorry for the mess. i live alone and hardly clean the apartment." the nervousness from the studio stayed, the other opting to remain at the doorway in worry. the silence in the apartment grows, your eyes now trained to the floor as gojo suddenly speaks up.

"i couldn't ignore them, (y/n). their expectations disguised as gossip and rumours allowed me to perform properly. i was afraid of disappointment, of getting ridiculed if i were to make mistakes on stage. any slip-up was seen by the company's sponsors, critics, everyone. their eyes were always on me, and i could never let myself get eaten up by the articles." 

"the industry is filled with competition and talent. anyone can replace anyone at any given time; you'd have to have a mind of steel to not get affected by every little thing!"

his eyes meet the back of your head, the fatigue leaking through the lines of his eyes and face. as you turn around, you meet his exhausted ones, and, step by step, you approach the man.

"i can't say i have that mind of steel that i mentioned. i hardly come close to it, (y/n). i'm happy with the company, i'm content with my place, and i'm terribly in love with ballet, but... i'm so tired, really."

your expression of unsaid pity was all you could offer, bringing gojo into a hug as he wrapped his arms around you. the way he relaxed told you of the safe space you provided, while his tight, squeezing arms showed he hasn't embraced in a long time.

a minute or two passes, relishing in the now comfortable silence as the other collects himself. 

"i'm laying everything on you, fuck, i'm sorry."

you shake your head into his chest, "don't apologise, you idiot. i should be the one saying sorry for rushing off like that," pulling away, you were heartbroken to see the shine of his tears waiting to cascade down his cheeks.

"i'm sorry i ran off. i was afraid, for a different reason. my rational side always protects my heart, knowing i've had bad experiences with friends and connections. if i couldn't sustain a friendship, who was i to jump into a relationship?" you hand trails to his nape to mindlessly play with the hair there as a form of habit with your own hair.

"it was brave of you, putting yourself out so vulnerably when i only looked at the surface of what you were. i'm sure it felt like those weeks of getting to know each other meant something to you, and i threw it away in fear that you'd leave me after a few months."

"so please don't apologise, i'm sorry i ever made you feel like shit because i didn't know about the weight on your shoulders."

a smile graces your face, the hand on his nape going back to his cheek.

"and stop crying; it doesn't make your eyes look good," you whisper, wiping the tears before they fall as gojo lets out a chuckle.

"you think my eyes look good?" 

you roll your eyes, "god, who wouldn't? it's like looking at the sky and the ocean all at the same time. and when you stare at me? i always have trouble looking away from you because of how striking they are."

"are they now?" distracted from the emotional vomit earlier, he grins at your description of him. you're lucky to have your hands on his cheeks just so you can feel the effect you have on him every time you offer a compliment.

"are you done complimenting me?"

"i've only commented on your eyes, though. would you like me to continue?"

"i think you should kiss me first."

you're taken aback by gojo's boldness, a surprised expression appearing at the question. the way he looks at you beats the gazes through the mirror as he warms up and the look of interest over his bowl of miso soup. it beats the glances at you during the company classes and the short, fleeting glimpses as you move together during the pas de deux. it beats every single one that your head descends back into his chest, shy at the look of adoration he was giving you.

"can i really?" you whisper in his shirt, refusing to look up even when he pulls away from your embarrassment.

as his arms unwind themselves from your middle, he crouches down to reach your eye and bring you back from a world of uneasy firsts.

"is it your first?"

this was when gojo satoru was at his rawest, with his hands cupped around your cheeks in the slowly darkening apartment as he prepares himself to kiss you.

"it is."

gojo says nothing after that, the moment of silence feeling like forever before his lips meet yours. the sunset coming in from his windows hits at the right time, because then you'd be able to point at it and describe the colours you feel when his mouth moves against yours. you'd be able to sense your heart pumping and blood flowing more clearly than when you've just finished a demanding combination of steps when he encircles his arms around you to bring you closer.

without choreographed steps, nothing feels more fitting than a kiss full of passion that isn't in a pas de deux. ironically, it was the ones you enjoyed more, more than the kisses in romeo & juliet or in manon.

oxygen becomes scarce, then, prompting you to break away from gojo just as your heart fills up with joy, way more than you can fathom.

you crash your lips into his again, now catching him off-guard. he melts into it with no problem, a laugh spilling from his lips at your eagerness.

"i like you a lot, tons, (y/n). i don't say this often, but i like you."

"it's too early to say it's love, right? because i think i like you too, a lot, tons."

・．━━━━━━━━━━．・

you agreed to keep it under wraps for now, with you planning to leave half n' hour later to avoid suspicion. the dancer sacrificed his Z's so you could catch them instead, although you continued to lay awake in his bed watching the white-haired man get ready. 

"are you sure the floor wasn't uncomfortable? you could've just used your own bed, y'know."

he only shakes his head, "'s okay. my back was acting up, anyway. it was basically free therapy."

you laugh at that, now sitting up fully to admire gojo's physique. with how affectionate and sweet he is behind closed doors, you swore that he was a different man. he shoots you a finger gun and a wink, knowing the way he's got you wrapped around his finger.

"see you later," gojo whispers, landing a peck on you before taking off on his own. it wasn't long before you had to get up, taking in the room and its decorative spaces. he has ballet posters and photos of his friends; he even had a diffuser.

a yawn takes over you as your hands land on the shirt on you.

fuck, you didn't have anything clean to wear. gojo had provided you with a shirt and pants from his wardrobe yesterday, rejecting his briefs with a laugh. with no bra, you decided to just use a spare leotard you keep in your bag, settling for the clothes gojo had lent you the day before.

the theatre felt different when you entered, heading straight for the studio to avoid any more prying eyes from the younger dancers. 

"hey," you say, rubbing at your eyes to the trio warming up their feet.

nobara gasps, grasping at your hand immediately to pull you down onto the floor.

"are you good?" she mumbles, staring at your face for any signs of hurt or crying.

"do i need to beat him up?" megumi challenges, flexing his bicep as a joke, "i've been working out more."

"i'll go tell him off for you, (y/n)!" yuji grins, preparing to quite literally stand up to head over to the other corner of the room.

"no! i mean, yes, i'm good. please don't beat him up, and... sit down, yuji." you sigh. 

"nothing... happened, guys. i know what it looked like in the studio yesterday but there wasn't any catfights or physical fights," you pause, looking at megumi, your hands instinctively going to the pouch where you kept your shoes, "we figured out our problem and solved it, that's all."

"so why are you wearing his shirt, then?" nobara shoots without hesitation, causing you to halt your movements for a bit. beside you, you can hear yuji choking on his water. 

"i... we.. uhm," you trail off, trying to find the right words to fill in the gaps of your explanation. your eyes flit around the room before landing on gojo's, finding that his were already fixed on you.

"uh... yeah... we cleared up our differences and talked a bit," you mutter, lips breaking into a smile before you break eye contact with him. the trio stay dumbfounded at your word vomit, witnessing the exchange with the principal dancer with puzzlement. 

"oh my god, did you guys fuck?" nobara whispers.

"what? no!" you laugh, whacking her shoulder as you stood up to loosen up your feet, preparing for the class conducted by masamichi himself today.

"i'll explain everything when i get back home, okay?" you say to the three of them, stuck in a side hug with nobara as her arm stay loosely wrapped around your waist.

they can only offer you their  nods, bidding you goodbye with a slight wave.

as you enter the same rehearsal studio, there's only a single lone dancer in it, stretching over in a middle split as he scrolls on his phone mindlessly.

"hey," you call out to gojo, setting your bag of things down while you run up to him. he stands up instantly, pulling you into an embrace that shocks you with the sheer force of it.

"did you already miss me? that's fast."

he mumbles into your hair, "mhmm... shut up, please."

you laugh at that, recovering from the hug despite the other's protests.

"c'mon, i need to warm up, plus we're supposed to keep this a secret, right?"

gojo whines but lets you go anyway, but not before he plants a kiss on your hand as he lets you do your own thing. the next set of footsteps catch you in surprise, eyes widening at her presence when you run up to her in excitement.

"ieiri-senpai! are you feeling better?" you ask, peeking around at her feet, where she limped on earlier.

"yes, i am, (y/n)," she pats your head and realises your choice of clothing. you noticed her smirk, but before you could counter her question, she beats you to it, "and... i've seen that the dumbass finally made a move."

there's no denying the blush that makes its way onto your cheeks, seemingly oblivious to the stares from everyone when in reality, they were curious to know of what happened the day before.

"yeah, i guess he did," you sigh dreamily, giving off your feelings as ieiri could only smile at your situation.

mei mei enters the room with authority, making you perk up at her words as she walks to the centre of the barre with purpose.

"i trust that you've solved everything, yes? because you two have been quite the talk around the studio," mei mei states, braiding her hair into a side braid as ieiri takes a seat.

"i took her hand to get away from the crowd, sensei. if anything, i should be blamed for engaging in contact that might've given off the assumption that we were dating," gojo steps up.

"but you are dating, aren't you?" mei mei grins, putting on her shoes.

"i..." you tried to speak, but gojo interrupts you before then.

"only if she'll have me, then yes, we are."

you fight back a smile, stepping forward to catch his hand in yours. he's shaking, not at all the confident gojo satoru that you've become so accustomed to.

"yes," your single affirmation holds so much weight, looking up at him with as much joy as he did with you in the morning.

"okay, good! i've gone through enough of gojo staring at you from across the room. let's continue," mei mei casually says, "i'm sure (y/n) has heard the news, yes?"

she's quick to pull you out of your thoughts of gojo looking at you during rehearsals with the question of the news that left you texting the trio at 1am.

[nitta-sensei is typing...]

(y/n)? do you have a minute to spare?

[(y/n) is typing...]

yes sensei?

what seems to be the...

you're cut off by the abrupt phone call as gojo brushes his teeth, speaking to you, though incoherently, through the foam and lather in his mouth.

"yes, nitta-sensei? what is it?"

"i'm sorry for conveying this news over the phone, and i was too excited to wait until the next day. you might or might not like it, but... you're to replace ieiri in the gala event for now." by now, gojo had stopped brushing due to your lack in reply.

he peeks his head out of the bathroom as nitta continues, "she has to heed her orthopaedic's advice and take a break for now, but since you've been shadowing the two for a good amount of time, masamichi thinks its best you take up the role of the female part."

your jaw stays dropped even after nitta says her goodbyes, the phone lit up due to your shock. 

"(y/n)? what happened?"

"i'm going to be dancing with you, gojo," you say quietly, "i'm dancing the pas de deux with you!" 

you bow your head in acknowledgement, "yes, i have." 

ieiri sees the hesitation since now the original dancer was seated in front of you. she shoots you a double thumbs-up as motivation while mei mei briefs you on the gala like she did with the couple at the start.

it's short, and within the next moment, you're already flying through the sky with gojo's help. the steps start to become more apparent and distinct to you, letting the pianist lead the way as the lifts and pair work merge together like a seamless thread.

mei mei is firm in her teaching, knowing your weaknesses and strengths by heart with the past rehearsals that she's done. stopping the two of you before letting ieiri take over was routine, but for now, ieiri contributes with her wisdom from the chair instead. 

the rehearsal progresses slowly, opting instead to complete it bit by bit as the weeks turn into days and the days turn into hours. you had to take extra care of your feet, icing them and making sure your blisters don't distract you as rehearsals extend longer to ensure your best performance.

when you had your own commitments, your best friends had theirs, fulfilling principal or first soloist roles just for the gala. there was hardly any time for you to see the trio, but you made up with late facetime calls and online dinners with them.

even with the distance in the company class, gojo never fails to make it up to you with kisses under the moonlight as you watch video after video on don quixote, although taking a specific liking to the pairing of nuñez and muntagirov. 

・．━━━━━━━━━━．・

"you ready?" gojo lets out a nervous breath, already hearing the chatter of the gala attendees behind the curtains. beside you, other dancers are warming up for their own parts. some were doing a solo while others were doing a pas de deux like you were, but nonetheless, everyone gathered here was to share the love for ballet.

"hell no, i'm shaking," you laugh, playing with the elastic that was to go over your middle finger. a beautiful, white tutu was tailored just for you with minor tweaks from ieiri's tutu while they were in the midst of completing it. to honour and perform the role of kitri gave you immense joy and excitement, even though you were jittery at the responsibility passed on to you.

"how are you doing?" nobara asks, making you jump at the sudden voice. she lets out a giggle, "sorry."

 "i'm... very nervous. is that even a question?" you ask her, holding onto her exposed shoulder a little too tightly. she dons a breathtaking, flowy costume with puffy sleeves and intricate detail. at the same time, yuji was suited up as nobara's partner in a pair of yellow tights, completing the couple look in the comedy-filled la fille mal gardée.

"oi, hot pants, come here! my partner's here finally after taming his hair," nobara jokes, pulling yuji over. they lean into each other's sides naturally, posing with peace signs and big smiles that they were asked to convey to the audience.

"good luck out there," megumi catches your attention, awkward as can be, as he pulls you in for a hug. his pas de deux partner is smiling at you beside him, taking your hand in hers.

"your rehearsals with gojo-senpai are incredible, (y/n)-senpai! all the best for your performance later," she bows, clearly relieved at saying the things she wanted to say.

"all the best for your le corsaire, too," you grin, waving them off excitedly before joining your basilio at the hip.

"you'll do great out there, trust me," gojo places a peck on your temple, holding you close by the waist as you warm up together. there's shared laughter between the two of you, exchanging jokes to calm your nerves and keep your mind moving. with the rush hour backstage, it was imminent that the show was starting soon, the many dancers continuing their warmup without trouble.

only you seemed to be on edge, performing as the first couple of the night for a role you've always loved and adored while watching from the balcony of auditoriums.

"i will. we will." you nod, hands twined with the other's as the curtains make their way up.

"breathe. we'll nail this like we always do," gojo kisses your linked hands, staring down at you with those same eyes you fell in love with. a smile replaced what you couldn't say out loud, bumping your head into his chest as an affectionate gesture, "let's go."

among the cheers and blinding lights, you could only focus on gojo's hand on the small of your back as he led you out. with practised steps, nothing could faze you except, maybe, his dazzling smile and the gentle eyes he has on you for the whole pas de deux.

living the life of an innkeeper's daughter was what you had to portray. while your 'father' was hesitant at first, he's finally given you the blessing to marry your lover, basilio. the glimmering tutu and effortless partnership was only half the job done, and for the radiant smile you had on at the moment, you hoped at least ieiri and mei mei would be proud of the story you were telling together with gojo.

the feeling from rehearsals is amplified on stage, with the orchestra's power and the costumes, providing you with a feeling like no other. and as gojo approaches with a flawless tour en l'air, you realise that with how much work you put in behind the scenes, the result always pays off. 

as gojo has his hands on your waist, twirling you around like nothing in a quadruple pirouette, you realise that every step was made possible with the help of ieiri and mei mei and your best friends and lastly, gojo satoru.

the golden, treasured prodigy which you somehow managed to develop feelings for. the talented principal who whines when you won't refuse to give him affection and the once-cocky individual who softens just at the sight of you.

and as the music reaches the end, you want nothing more than to stay in this pas de deux with gojo satoru, in a dance of two.

you end off on an incredible note, chest heaving from the demanding technicalities of the pas de deux. nevertheless, your brain shuts out the thunderous applause, with some imparting you with their standing ovations and others who decided to scream 'bravo!' at the stage.

gojo offers a grin, bringing you close with a hand as you thank the audience with endless curtseys. bowing to your partner was next, thanking him for the interminable rehearsals and that hectic day of emotion from the studio right up to his home.

you almost practically run backstage with the adrenaline flowing through your body, the next act already on stage for the gala. 

"oh my god, oh my god!" you whisper-shout in pure glee, hugging gojo close the moment you were out of view of the audience.

"you did it."

"we did it," you reassure, pulling from the embrace to smile up at him. you could feel the dancers' eyes around you, not knowing whether they should look to you or to look away.

his voice snaps you out of your thoughts, "'s okay, let them look. i don't mind it when i'm with you."

"just to confirm, we... shouldn't kiss, right?" you mumble, but you inch closer to his lips anyway.

"no... i don't think we should," gojo grins, indulging you in the very kiss you've waited for, knowing that right now, it wasn't the stage lights, nor was it the general heat after completing a difficult pas de deux.

it's as if the world gave you rose-tinted glasses, because that was all you could recognise now as gojo pulls you from backstage with your hand tightly locked onto his. he wasn't the six eyes theatre's prized principal, he was just gojo as you run past the many costumes being hung with the click-clacking of your pointe shoes.

you could compare it, almost, to running across a field with a billowing dress behind you, but alas, you were satisfied with being his kitri. for when she and basilio have a life of marriage ahead of them, you and gojo satoru have nothing but longing glances and shared laughter over your stumbling slip-ups in the studio as you tackle one act after the next.

the pas de deux was a connection and a story, and the both of you were just starting out yours. 

[death-fears-by-deaf-ears]

swan lake || t.h.

pairing: tom holland x reader

summary: you can't stand tom holland, the guy in your ballet ensemble. But when you two get the roles of Odette and the prince, you two will have to put your differences aside and learn to work with each other.

word count: 2.5k

warnings: language

chapter one

Not again.

This was starting to become a recurring theme - it was Monday and your bus had just left without you. You mumbled profanities under your breath, your duffle bag slung across your shoulder. Frustrated you slumped against a street lantern, when you felt the first drops of rain on your skin. You let out a groan of anger and pulled your hood up over your head, cursing yourself for staying up too late last night. But because you anticipated this, you had already put on your leotard and tights on at home, so when you got to class you’d only have to strip your clothes and start your warm up.

Last week you had gotten whacked on the head with a newspaper for being that late, but with a little bit of luck you wouldn’t have to endure that today.

When you arrived in the ballet studio almost an hour later you were soaked and freezing. You ran through the halls of the studio, already in the process of taking off your jacket and shirt, revealing your dancing clothes underneath. Three minutes left to go.

Your usual locker was already occupied, making you rush to the next best one, ripping the door open, throwing all your clothes in there and only taking your training ballerinas out and slamming the door shut. You had done your hair in the bus already, so it was in a low tight knot. You put your shoes on, running toward the door. One minute left.

“How kind of you to join us today on time,” Sophie, your dance teacher said, following you with her eyes as you took your position. Everyone in the room was staring at you and you could feel their looks drilling in your back. Tom next to you was bowing his head down, obviously trying to hide his laughter. You shot him a poisonous look, rage as well as embarrassment burned inside you. Tom had a special power of making your anger levels go from 0 to 100.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” you said, your face running hot.

“Let’s start with the warm up, shall we?”

“Why is everyone whispering and staring at me,” you whispered through gritted teeth to your friend Hannah, who was helping you stretch. “Ouch!”

“Loosen up,” Hannah whispered, pulling you even closer to her. You were sitting in front of each other on the floor, pushing the others’ legs out. “Haven’t you seen the role sheet today?”

“Fuck,” you whispered, partially because of the stretch, but also because you had forgotten that today the roles for the upcoming show were published. You must’ve not seen the sheet in the locker rooms. “What role did I get?”

Hannah shook her head as you pulled her towards you, adjusting her pose. “You got the role of Odette.”

You immediately let go of Hannah, slapping your hand on your mouth, making her fall forward. You grabbed her shoulders. “I got the main role?” You whisper-screamed, trying your hardest not to get caught by Sophie. “Well, who is playing the prince?”

Hannah cringed and turned her gaze to the side, where a few of your colleagues were standing. Instead of stretching they were very obviously flirting with… Tom. He must’ve noticed you staring at him, as he turned his head and met your gaze. Both of you rolled your eyes as you turned away from each other. “You can’t be serious,” you said.

“I’m sorry,” Hannah huffed, sweat pearling on her dark forehead. “But hey, congrats on the role?”

You finished stretching and continued with your training, going through forms and positions, polishing your moves and getting scolded for flailing your arms too much. As you were approaching your first break, Sophie stepped towards you.

“We will begin with your training for Swan Lake today at 3, make sure to bring your pointe shoes.”

“Yes, ma’am,” you said, your heart fluttering at the idea of dancing to your favourite show. The fluttering quickly vanished when you noticed Sophie walking up towards Tom, telling him the same. So you’d already dance with him today.

You tried to shake the bad feeling and it mostly worked, since focusing on your dream always made things easier. Dancing and performing was a way for you to let go, to get completely lost in the story and think about nothing else. There wasn’t much in the world that could ruin that for you.

Oh how wrong you had been.

“I have never seen people with less chemistry than you two,” Sophie sighed. You have never heard her be this exasperated and desperate. “Do you two even dance? Are you really professional dancers? Where did your grace go, where did the love for dance go! Look each other in the eyes for God’s sake!”

“It’d be easier if you didn’t squeeze the hell out of me,” you spat through gritted teeth.

“It’d be easier if you weren’t this heavy,” Tom spat back, his face falling immediately after he realized what he had said.

You jumped out of his grip, staring in disbelief. “Well-” you stammered, not knowing what to retort. “How about you get a little stronger…”

Sophie whacked him with her newspaper over the head. “That is NOT something you say to a lady!” Tiny strands of hair were escaping her neat bun, making her look even more stressed than she was. “We’re finishing this part today and then you two can go home.”

“Sorry,” Tom mumbled under his breath.

“Save it,” you said, taking your start position. Kneeling down on the floor, Odette would wait for the prince to come and lift her up to start the dance with her. In the original the two would fall in love the minute they laid eyes on each other. You tried to do the choreography justice, although your dance partner made it incredibly difficult for you.

“Smile!” Sophie shouted, making you two put on fake plastic grins.

“I’ll spit on your face on stage,” you said through your grin as Tom lifted you up, making you look down on him.

"Do that and I'll rip your lashes off," he said softly while lowering you on the ground again.

You tried to continue the choreography without any incidents but you couldn't help but feel every step, every nudge to be executed with a hint of passive aggression. Tom basically let you fall on the ground instead of putting you down, you avoided each other's eyes, grabbed too harshly, turned too sharply.

"Alright," Sophie said after about four hours of it. "I can't watch this any longer. You both know the choreography, and that's all I can teach you for now. If you don't know how to be nice to each other, don't bother coming to me for help until you do. We'll work on the solos and the other dances first, until you two calmed down. Dismissed."

You slumped down on the floor, rubbing your face. You untied your shoes and took them off, throwing them in your bag. This was going to be hard.

“So how was it?” Hannah asked while the two of you sat on the studio floor.

As an answer you slammed your pointe shoes on the ground several times, breaking them in a way that made them comfortable for your foot. “Take a wild guess.”

She raised her eyebrows as she was sewing the elastic band into her shoe. “What did Sophie say?”

“She refuses to work with us anymore until we get it together,” you grumbled. You slammed your fist on the top of your shoe, softening the box. Suddenly the door opened, making you and Hannah turn your heads.

Tom was marching in the room, directly towards you.

“What the hell,” you mumbled, putting your shoe down and looking up at him as he stopped in front of you. “Can I help you?”

“Are you free today after class?”

You raised an eyebrow, looking at him up and down and smirked. “Are you asking me out?”

Tom crossed his arms, not saying anything. His foot was tapping impatiently on the floor which was tiled with dancing tiles.

“Yeah, I am. See you then,” you said, rolling your eyes. You waved as a good bye, signalling him to leave you alone. You turned to Hannah. “He told me I was too heavy to lift.” “Excuse me?” You shrugged, taking the thread and the needle. Your friend slapped her hands on her thighs in exasperation. “What an ass.”

You finished sewing and breaking in your shoes while talking about anything other than Tom - mostly Hannah’s new date she was going to see that very day. It was nice talking about something else, preparing yourself for class. You could feel that today was going to be a slow one - you eased into your shoes, then into your stretches, and finally into your training, testing out the waters with your new footwear and getting more comfortable as the day progressed. Your mind was empty, completely free of oppressive and depressing thoughts. Your body moved in unison with the music, following the tides of the melody, back and forth seemingly weightless and freed of gravity.

Before you knew it afternoon rolled around and class finished. You packed your stuff, and settled down in the locker room to have some lunch and lie down, coming down from your training.

As always your lunch break went by way too fast. You stood up, shaking your limbs and grabbing your things to go back to the now empty studio. Tom was nowhere to be found, so you warmed quickly up on your own. Your body had cooled down a bit, and you didn’t want to pull a muscle or something, so you did a few squats, jumping jacks and push ups to get moving again. You took your position at the railing in front of the mirror, practicing positions and movements, taking your sweet time. The clock ticked in the back of the room, showing 3.16pm. Where the hell was Tom?

At that moment the door swung open.

“Took you long enough,” you said in an arabesque pose.

“Sorry,” he said, getting in and throwing his duffle bag in the corner of the room.

You put your foot down, looking at him properly. You raised your eyebrows at his childish demeanor. You were already annoyed by him. “Bad day?”

He plonked down on the floor and began to put on his shoes. “I just want this day to be over.”

“Well then cheer up, do you expect me to dance with an energy as bad as yours?”

He looked at you incredulously. “Can’t I be in a bad mood? Do I have to be all sunshine and daisies all the time?” His voice rose now, making you back away a little, but you weren’t having none of that. You had an idea.

“I just said to lose the fucking attitude,” you said, getting louder now as well.

“What if i don’t want to?! God, you’re annoying!”

You took a deep breath putting force in your voice. “Then scream it out, because I don’t want to deal with this!” His hands turned into fists, his eyes lighting up a tiny little bit at the memory your words just triggered. But he was still angry. “Fuck you!”

“No, fuck YOU!”

And without a cue you two just started wordlessly screaming in the other’s face, a prolonged and agonizing scream, throwing it all out. Dancing didn’t require vocal chords, so you had no qualms absolutely shredding yours. You didn’t know if anyone else was in the building, but you didn’t care.

As you two ran out of breath your shoulders slumped, moving heavily up and down as you gasped for air. The room was awfully quiet except for your breathing. Your bodies seemed to mirror each other, more in sync than when you tried to be. Destruction seemed to be more constructive to the relationship between you two than anything else.

You swallowed, standing up straight. “Can we start now?”

Again you were on the floor, folded over in your starting position. You had decided to train without music, so you jumped a little as Tom’s hands touched your wrists, softer than usual. He lifted you up off the floor, placing his hands on your waist. This dance wasn’t particularly difficult or demanding, but for it to work you need a prince who guides Odette just enough without gripping her too tight, and an Odette who knows how much to rely on the prince and how much on herself. There were a few hang ups here and there, but you danced through the whole routine without saying anything once, enjoying the flow of your movements. The dance was still clinical, mostly about getting the order of the moves right. It ended with Tom lifting you up, and slowly lowering you down, and bringing your faces together, hinting at a kiss between you two. You still needed to work on that part.

“So,” he said as you jumped away as the dance ended. “With music this time?”

You nodded. “Maybe don’t grip me this tight when I do the pirouettes,” you said. You took a sip of water and put the bottle away. “I can basically do them on my own, just give me a quick spin and I’ll be able to do them faster.”

“Alright,” he said, getting into position. “But try to do your moves independently from me. It’ll make them look better.”

You folded over on the floor and waited for the music to start. When it started you closed your eyes for a second anticipating the touch on your wrists. Still it sent a jolt through you. “Softer,” you said as you did your pirouette, and the grip on your waist turned to a fleeting touch every few moments, accelerating your turns.

“Lean in properly,” Tom said as you leaned in his hands to the side to lift your leg. You did as told and managed to lift your leg even higher and with less effort. He lifted you by the waist, brows furrowed the slightest in concentration, turning in a circle. Your hands rested on his shoulders, eyes trained on him. You wondered if Odette really fell in love with the prince on sight.

The routine went smoother with each time you tried it, your movements dynamic and easy like a well oiled machine.

After a while you decided to call it a day, and after you awkwardly said your goodbyes, you went home. Suddenly you didn’t know how to act around him, everything you did felt clumsy and weird. You were used to being annoyed by him and just being generally mad at him. But now that you had to cooperate and put those things aside, what was left?

a.n.: this is the first chapter of maybe two or three, lmk what you think! this is the first time i post to tungle, be kind lmfao

[loadingrat]

⿻ 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞 → 𝐤. 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐣𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠

🏻 ⃟⿻ 𝐠 𝐞 𝐧 𝐫 𝐞  →    angst; retelling; fantasy

🏼 ⃟⿻ 𝐬 𝐮 𝐦 𝐦 𝐚 𝐫 𝐲  →   with the burden of a crown on his head, Hongjoong finds himself forced to get a bride before he turns twenty two, yet he finds himself struck by love with a cursed young woman named Odette, who's body turns to swan at dawn. it all should be as simple as snapping your fingers to break the curse, when all it takes is three little words, yet, when spoken wrongly, they may do more harm then good.

🏽 ⃟⿻ 𝐰 𝐚 𝐫 𝐧 𝐢 𝐧 𝐠 𝐬   →   this awfully written i apologise; based off the ballet, so suicide; dark magic; violence; mention of a curse; the usual swearing; hunting; instant love; drowning; overprotective parents and another shitty ass parent if you ask me; forced marriage; the reader is referred to as "Odette"

🏾 ⃟⿻ 𝐰 𝐨 𝐫 𝐝 𝐬   → + 5.5k

🏿 ⃟⿻ 𝐦 𝐚 𝐬 𝐭 𝐞 𝐫 𝐥 𝐢 𝐬 𝐭 𝐬 →  main masterlist   ⦚   retellings

   Hongjoong always enjoyed watching as the wind bent under the will of his arrows, obeying them and letting the weapons find their way right in the middle of the red target. It brought pride in his chest, and helped him feel more like a boy stuck with a crown on his head than a prince stuck with the future of a kingdom on his back. He loved to see how flour would purr out of the sacks full of the snow like powder that stood in the royal yard, and so did his friends, as they always cheered him on, despite getting their expensive clothes all dirtied up.

   Saying that Kim Hongjoong's life was anything but exiting would've been the understandment of the year, that only if the words wouldn't have reached his mother's ears. However the queen was always aware of anything and everything going on in her kingdom, as if the old woman with her hair like silver had eyes in every corner of the territory. The prince always disliked that in her as he himself was never allowed to even leave the palace without one of his parents following. Of course, he was grateful that the queen and the king were the most understanding royalties he's ever met, and he got to speak to a lot on a daily, however, when it came to actually understanding him, sadly they were left lacking. The prince hated the way he pictured himself in this situation, but he couldn't do much and just accept that he was like a swan trapped in a dove's cage, and it made him feel completely hopeless.

   "You'll try getting out this evening, won't you?" The words slipped prince Wooyoung's lips as if he asked the same thing over and over. The smile on his lips had always faded during previous days, as the answer would've been a sad shake of the head, but the said day it only bloomed as Hongjoong turned his head around, looking at his bow as if it was the most interesting thing he's seen in his lifetime. "Holy shit, he didn't deny it!" Wooyoung spoke, a loud sound like a hyena's laughter ringing from his lungs as he repeatedly slapped his best friend's back. The other prince tried moving away, his abused body protesting with each hit Wooyoung delivered, but deciding that he'd fail anyways, Yeosang resorted to catching the younger's hand and delivering a harsh hit back. "But he did not agree to it either."

   It took only two more hours for the man to find himself sitting at a lavish dinner table, all kind of foods placed before them, yet the anxiety growing inside his heart made it easy for his appetite to stray away. "Hongjoong?" His father's voice was harsh as he demanded the prince to give him his attention. His mother's words followed right after, tone dripping with honey and Hongjoong knew something was in her mind. "The date for your birthday ball is approaching." She stated, and the man couldn't help but try to anticipate what she would've said next. "And we thought that it would be a rather perfect time for you to find a bride."

   The prince sucked in a hard breath, not trusting his voice to speak up his mind as it could've cracked, and he was not a teenager anymore, so he feared the way it could've made him look weak in front of the King. Hongjoong had met many princesses, duchesses, nobilities of all kinds, even country girls with exceptional talents, but none ever intrigued him and he surely wasn't going to choose a bride just yet. Hongjoong liked to believe he was too you for marriage, but his two friends always nagged that if he'll dare pass twenty five by himself, no princess will ever marry him for his heart, but for his crown instead, to which Hongjoong only scoffed as he dispatched another set of arrows. "I don't think anyone's marrying me for my heart now either."

    "So what do you say?" He felt as if his words were stuck in his throat and he was unable to get then out, but even if he would've answered as he truly believed, he knew his pleadings would've fallen on deaf ears. Hongjoong knew this day was going to come sooner or earlier, he just didn't expect it quite yet. "I agree, mother," the prince didn't know what gave him the courage to stretch his words, or to arch his eyebrows upwards, or smile like he did, all the while still looking in his plate. "However i also have a proposal.."

   Truly, Hongjoong doesn't know what came over him that evening, yet it was because of his boldness that he found himself mounting one of the finest mares in the stables. The prince had taken care of the horse since it was barely standing, he himself being only a child, enchanted by the pure white little fur on it. He's called her Zoya, a fitting name for a mount like herself, and despite leaving the palace only a couple of times, alongside of his father or mother, he considered the creature loyal enough to not abandon him when he'll most need her.

   With his bow resting in at his hip, the prince started following a rather small river, which eventually brought him in town and down the valley the palace rested on. Hongjoong wearily adventured himself in the wide forest that spread before him, the darkness of it making him shiver slightly as his mind finally wrapped around all the danger that could've hid around. Wolves, bears, mountain lions, all kind of creatures lurked in the forest, however the silver haired prince advanced nonetheless, clutching his bow tighter as if it could've made him feel secure once more.

   Just as he was about to urge his horse to start running, the sound of rapid wings flapping in the air made his skin crowl and his head shoot back, his eyes snapping rapidly on a flock of birds. Their fathers were as white as you could've imagined and as pure as it could've gotten, their bodies long, majestic and elegant, and Hongjoong couldn't help but let his mouth hang open as he stared at the beautiful swans that took over the sky. Within seconds, the brave prince clutched his bow and aimed skillfully, ready to let his arrow pierce through what he nominated as the prettiest swan, but Hongjoong wasn't as hard hearted as his father believed him to be, his eyes saddening and his chest burning as he asked himself how could he kill such a beautiful creature.

   The prince sighed deeply, putting his bow back and giving the horse a gentle nudge as a sign to follow the flock and Zoya took off obediently, rushing Hongjoong through the woods. He enjoyed the way wind blew through his silver locks, caressing his cheeks harshly and he love the adrenaline that came with riding this fast and thinking about how free one could be, thinking about what he's missed his whole life. Hongjoong knew that where there was a smaller river, there had to be a wider water source near by, and the swans that seemed to start heading down only gave him more reasons to believe he was right. The only problem was that he was not expecting the woods to end so quickly, his horse coming to an abrupt halt as it hooves planted in the mud as harsh as it could.

   He jumped eagerly from his horse and there, right before him and barely at two steps away from where his horse stopped, a grand body of water spread itself so widely that the other side of the lake was barley visible through the thin mist. The water sparkled in the shy sunlight of the evening, the sound of a small cascade barely audible in the back and the prince felt his jaw drop slightly one more time. If his mother would've been with him, she wouldn't even look at the beauty in front of her, but would scold him about how unmannered he looked and how that wasn't suitable for princes like him, not even in a million years, but as he spotted the swans floating happily around, everything about manners felt long forgotten.

   The boy in him had the urgent need to sit down in the slightly damp yet soft grass, eyes wide on the beautiful birds before him, yet the mature side in him wanted to mount back on his horse and move forward. There was so much more to explore and so little time, his mind wrapping around the fact that his father had gave him one single day to ride around the kingdom, with the condition that he'd return the evening before the horologe rang three in the morning. Therefore, the prince clutched on the horse's reins ready to mount, sparing one last glance at the lake, who's water started reflecting the rosy color of the sky.

   Hongjoong sucked in his breath, feeling how air left his lungs as he swore he started imagining things. His head whipped back, the forest remaining the only sight for a while, and he took his time thinking about what came into his sight seconds ago. Not long after, he turned around and came to the horrifying conclusion that he was indeed watching as the small bodies of the swans, that now rested calmly on the shore, morphed and twisted, becoming mere humans. Their build was more than just elegant, bodies long and delicate, nothing short of pure beauty. Each wore long gowns, as white and pure as their dazzling wings were, little silver necklaces with one sapphire gem decorating their necks, yet he quickly took notice of the one swan that stood in the middle of them all, sitted on the old trunk of a tree, her eyes glimming with happiness while a silver tiara rested on the top of her head.

   The prince watched them with amazement, as if they had put him under a thick spell like sirens would do to the poor sailors adventuring in the deep waters. Yet the more he watched, the more he couldn't help but feel like an intruder. The women danced and laughed when younger swans tried to impress them, then ran quickly to hide under an older swan's wing. The innocence of the moment was making his own heart fill with happiness, lips curling upwards gently and eyes turning in crescents as a squeaky giggle rolled off his throat.

   The moment all the laughter stopped and a cutting silence settled in, the prince knew he had done something wrong. He felt the warmth that had built in his chest being stripped away from him, eyes growing wide and startled, just as the swans had became. It didn't take long for Hongjoong to see how every pair of eyes rested on him, making him feel anxious. Should he leave? Or was he supposed to stay now? Either way, the answer would've been to not panic, which he's failed the moment one of the youngest of the creatures approached him, yelling loudly the name of who he supposed was the swan with the tiara.

   "Odette! Odette!" The small girl yelled happily, grabbing the prince's hand and jumping up and down while giggling. "It's prince charming! He's come to save us!" At her words, Hongjoong's cheeks started flaring pink, his heart beating faster as each pair of eyes rested on him, and he completely forgot about his tight grip on the bow in his other hand. The mare let out a loud cry, startled by the poor girl before slamming it's hooves harshly in the ground multiple times. In alert, Hongjoong let go of his bow, grabbing the girl's body in his arms and hurrying further away from the horse, who angrily took off back towards the town.

   "Yuna, dear!" The swan quickly run to the prince, her hands coming to grip Hongjoong's arms, which were still holding tightly onto her. "Are you alright?" His voice sounded unsure as he let the woman gently take her in her own hold, hand placing the younger's head again her chest. When a little laughter came from Yuna's lips, everyone sighed in relief, smiles painted on the swans' lips when the smaller swan jumped back on the grass and began twirling around the royalty as she giggled loudly. "Yuna, where are your manners?" Another swan called out, her lips pulled in a thin line and her eyebrows furrowed, and she most definetly was the oldest of the group, her aura holding a maturity that amazed Hongjoong, despite her youthful features.

   "Don't tense yourself, Yongsun." The youngest girl however rolled her eyes at the authority in Yongsun's voice, her own lips pulled in a pout as she bowed slightly in front of the silver haired man. He gave her a polite smile before bowing right back, sending the women in awe. "Come sit with us." The girl next to him offered, and he couldn't help but let his eyes wander over her striking features. She was an unique type of beauty, something he's never seen in anyone before, not even in all the princesses that's come to court him. He loved her voice as well, her tone being like honey to his ears and he couldn't even bring himself to care about the sudden drop of formalities when his orbs found hers.

   "I would hate to make such beautiful ladies uncomfortable with my presence." He acknowledged humbly, felling a shy smile tug at his lips while hearing how the woman, who he assumed was named Odette, let out a wholehearted laugh, her eyes turning to crescents as one of her hands came to hide her mouth. "Bother us? It would be a crime to not enjoy your presence." She assured, nodding her head towards him like encouraging him to take a step forward, and so he did. One step at a time before he found himself sitting in the grass besides a couple of children, who playfully pulled at his clothes and wowed at the fine material.

   "What's your name, son?" The oldest inquired, making Hongjoong's cheeks become pinker again, however this time, his eyes fell on the ground, where his ring decorated fingers gently pulled at the damb grass. "Kim Hongjoong." He spoke softly, not expecting any grand reactions form the group, who only nodded their heads in adoration. "We'll would you look at that, it really is prince charming." Another swan laughed, making Hongjoong himself let out a shy giggle, his eyes involuntary traveling to the swan with a tiara. It felt like hours that he stood there and just watched her, her skin bathing in the golden light of the sunset, and her eyes glimmering with love as she looked at each swan, before her eyes settled on him as well.

   "Do you like to dance?" One of the younger swans looked at him curiously, her small hand coming to grasp at Hongjoong's with excitement as she awaited a reply, and when the prince nodded his head in agreemen, he girl softly tugged him after her, bringing him to his feet. Together, they marveled at the way the forest started lighting up as soon as the sun went under, mushrooms and strange plants glowing in the dark, along with the moss on the trees, it was absolutely beautiful. However Hongjoong didn't have long to observe the landscape, his attention being brought back to the small girl that began dancing with him as the others started singing along, and it didn't take a while for the swans to join in as well, a chorus of laughter spreading trough the rather dormant forest as they all had their fun.

   Yongsun smiled happily as she took Odette's's hand, bringing her closer to the silver haired prince, who bowed deeply and offered his hand, an invitation, the girl concluded as she accepted happily. Perhaps only for tonight, she could forget about her curse, see herself as an actual princess and lose herself in the idea that Hongjoong would be the one to break the curse. However nothing like that happened as they began dancing, a tough wind starting to pull at their bodies, darkness spreading like a plague. The youngest girls found coverage behind the elders, while Hongjoong placed his arms around Odette and brought her closer to his chest, protecting the swan from whatever danger eas awaiting them.

   "Well well.." the sharp voice of a girl that came with the calmness of the weather startled the prince, who felt reluctant to let go of the swan in his arms, yet still let go of her and watched as disgust painted over Odette's features and anger over the others. Just on the shore stood another woman, her gown way shorter and messier as well as dotted with darker shades of black. Her features were just as graceful and as striking as the others, her own features making her look like a devine, but something about her tone made the prince feel sure that she wasn't just as beautiful on the inside.

   "The swan princess found herself a rescuer." She taunted while getting closer, her thumb and pointer wrapping around Odette's chin and bringing her closer. The princess, as the stranger called her, let out a scoff before pulling away, making the black swan laugh as if she was in hysterics. "Hoping you'll turn human again, little one?" She fumed, letting her eyes fall on Hongjoong, who stood stiff and angered, eyes on her like, if he had his arrows, he wouldn't have hesitated to let one of them pierce her heart.

   "It'll never happen, we'll make sure of that, little Odette." The stranger cocked one of her eyebrows while shaking her head and her fingers glazed over the necklace she was proudly wearing. With a last laugh, the black swan took a couple of steps back before her body quickly morphed in the one of a swan, yet her feathers looked disturbed and unhealthy, her body, small, too weak for a creature that was supposed to look as beautiful as a swan.

   "Who was that?" Hongjoong found himself asking, his own eyebrows arched upwards in confusion. His hand found Odette's and gripped it lightly a reassuring smile tugging at the girl's lips as she found comfort in the prince, who was still a stranger. "Odile.. Her father tried casting a curse on the town, however it did not go as planned and it ended up backfiring." She began explaining, choosing carefully her words as she took a glance at his chocolate warm eyes. The prince himself let his gaze meet hers, observant eyes curiously investigating her for a while before he spoke out loud. "Then why are you trapped as swans as well?" Silence washed over the group, the tension growing so thick that Hongjoong could've cut it with a knife. "I didn't say that it didn't work."

   Not much passed before Hongjoong excused himself, getting up and fetching his bow that stood patiently in the grass. He's dropped it earlier when Zoya took off and completely forgot about it, however, in his favor, his loyal mare had found her way back to the lake, thirst driving it back the way it's come. After the prince found himself back on his mount, thanking all of his lucky stars for bringing it back to him, he finally let his eyes fall on the woman with a little crown on her head. He swore he felt his heart beating faster than ever, swirling with the desire to take her with him and keep her to himself, to make her his, and at that moment he knew that there was no one that could ever become his queen, except her.

   "I must head out, however my family is hosting a ball tomorrow, at dusk, in order to find me a bride. It would be a honor to have you as a guest." He spoke softly, taking in the surprise on Odette's face, who only nodded before waving elegantly. With a polite nod from himself, the prince saw himself off as Zoya started galloping as fast as she could towards the palace.

   "You must go." a cold and harsh voice spoke, making the girl's shoulders fall, she put so much hope that perhaps this time, she'll be able to find love by herself, and hearing her father speak like that made her whole world shatter. With a long sigh, the girl turned her head around, in order to hide her glassy eyes, telling herself that it all starts being unfair the moment even her father had turned against her. "I shall not, father." Was all Odile said before she lifted her chin high, eyes becoming sharp as she told herself that it was time to pull free from his strings, yet she had a feeling that it will not be as easy as denying his orders.

    Rothbart, the black swan's father, smiled triumphally, as if the crown had already been placed on his head. He let himself turn around and face his only daughter and with a hushed voiced he whispered. "You'll go.. oh you'll go." Odile wanted to protest, to yell and say something, but the second her father touched her necklace, the poor girl knew it was too late. It took her a quick moment of thinking, preparing herself for what she might see, before she finally turned to the mirror that stood patiently on a wall. It was then that complete sorrow engulfed her heart, failing to find her own reflection. Instead, a familiar face started back at her, Odette's features looking so beautiful and so graceful, yet so ugly to Odile, as she was left to deal with her pain before she could've stopped it. "You do not have a choice."

   "But what should i wear?" Odette sighed, bringing her hands in her lap as she eyed nervously the ground. Her crown was resting on her head, sapphires sparkling in the gentle moonlight. "I cannot show up to a royal ball in this gown.." as much as she loved her dress, it's material softer than silk and whiter than the pearls found in the ocean's depths, she feared it was nothing short of what noblewomen wore to sleep. The more she thought about it, the more Odette found herself trapped between her own thoughts. What if her hair was was not as elegant as the other princesses', what if her little white slippers were to dirty up the expensive carpets around the castle. Worse, despite knowing how to dance, Odette had little knowledge of etiquette, as she's grown up as a simple village girl. She was going to make a fool out of herself and the prince for inviting her.

   "Worry not, Odette." A soft voice came from behind her, but before she's gotten the chance to turn around, a pair of cold hands rested on her bare shoulders, making her gasp at the sudden feeling of chilliness. Shivers traveled up and down on her back, eyes becoming wide in surprise as the speed she turned her head around could've given her a whiplash. Yongsun giggled softly, amused by the fact that she actually spooked the younger swan. "You look beautiful, and your gown is magnificent. Made with soft material like your wings, pulled together by a thread of magic. My dear, you look breathtaking."

   Odette stood a second just looking at her friend, a long sigh leaving her mouth when she understood that Yongsun was right. All she had to do was to have fun, she'd be dancing and talking to people, nothing she hasn't done before, so why was she worrying now? "You should leave, it's getting late." Was all the older woman said as she bent down to kiss the top of her head like a mother would before sending off her child off. A couple of younger swans insisted of going with her, clinging on her gown and her hands before she agreed in defeat. A chorus of laughter and giggles following her the deeper she walked into the forest and the closer she's gotten to the palace.

        Hongjoong stood sitting on the throne, a crown on his head while his parents stood at both of his sides. His rather small body seemed to shrink more and more with every second and with each nod he gave to the young women that would come to bow before him. They were all wearing beautiful gowns, feminine features painted by a thin layer of makeup, jewelries decorating their necks, ears and hair, he had to admit that they were all beautiful, but none of them where Odette. His Odette. He waited patiently for her to make her appearance, eyes running back to the spiral staircase in hopes that he'd spot her, and his observant mother did not take long to notice. "You're waiting for someone." She announced, a hand resting on her son's shoulder in a way of assuring him that it will all be fine.

    Hongjoong nodded, his lips parting slightly as he pondered on his thoughts, however, before he's even gotten thr chance to speak, a familiar face made his heart beat like it never has, and his breath got stuck in his throat. A wave of heat crossed his cheeks, feeling as a strong blush took over his face. From one of the corners of the grand ballroom, he noticed Yeosang smirking his way, Wooyoung whispering something to him before they both snickered.

    "Your highness.." when she arrived in front of him, Hongjoong quickly has gotten up on his feet, refusing to let her bow before him. One of his hands gently taking one of her own as the other traveled to her side in order to bring her body closer to his own with a shy embrace. At the action, a couple of gasps could be heard throughout the room, everyone surprised at the prince's action, yet he did not care, and it could've been the reason why he completely looked past the vile smile that played on the girl's lips. "Odette.. will you dance with me?"

    "We've arrived too late!" One of the little swans warned as she peeked trough the closest window, huffing in defeat at the sight. Odette waisted no time in following her closely, face crumbling in defeat as he watched how her dear Hongjoong waltzed around the room with no one else but Odile. His eyes were so fixed on her that it seemed like she was his whole world, hands gripping her close like she'd parish if he let go, and everyone around them saw it. How in love he was, how much care he put in every step they made together, and that made Odette's stomach churn in pain. Her eyes began watering, heart screaming at her to do something yet her body remained frozen in place.

    "Odette..?" The little girl asked, her tone wobbling as her own eyes began to water as she watched the princess of the swans. The young woman's skin began morphing, little fluff and white feathers growing from her arms and shoulders at a slow peace, like she was to turn in swan once more. With each second she spent looking at her beloved dance with another woman, looking so smitten by her, the little sapphires on the crown she wore began to crack more and more, and panic took over the three children when their own necklaces followed closely and as Hongjoong's voice rang trough their ears.

    "So, Your Highness, would you say that you love me?" Odile questioned as she made eye contact with the prince, who giggled shyly before sighing deeply. He felt caught red-handed and all he could do now was nod his head slightly before speaking softly. "I love you." Yet something didn't feel right, deead filling his heart as he said his words, like a kid that's done something wrong and waited anxiously for his parents to scold him. It was then that he began to fall out of the spell he had been put under, noticing how the woman in front of him did not wear a crown yet a necklace, amber decorating the gem that rested patiently on her neck. The white gown that the swan once wore was not completed jet black, eyes harsh as a voice so cutting he began feeling dizzy.

    "You're not Odette." He stated, stopping from dancing and taking a couple of harsh steps back. The prince's hand flew to his sword, threatening to take it out and use it, yet Odile's smile never faltered. "Even if you harmed me, my mission here had ended." She explained, giggling once more before turning herself in the same swan she morphed in when they first met and before anyone could do anything, she flew past him, soaring trough the open window where four little figures stood at.

    "Odette..?" He asked, feeling his hear break as he noticed how heartbroken she looked, how her skin began turning in feathers and how tears cascaded over her cheeks like they couldn't be stopped. "Odette!" He yelled louder, rushing to jump over the window, yet failing to do so in time before the woman began running back towards the forest. "Hongjoong!" His father warned, yet the prince was far gone, already chasing after the swan with unshed tears blurring his own vision.

    It didn't take long for the two to reach the lake, scratches from little branches decorating their skin as neither had been careful while running, yet that did not matter to them, the heartache burning every bit of ration they had. "I did not know, Odette!" He tried explaining himself, taking a step forward towards the woman, who only took one back, her feet so close to the shore that it made Hongjoong's heart freeze in place. "I thought it was you.."

    Yet what was done was done and both of them knew it, the sapphires finally shuttering as Odette took her crown off, breaking it in two. Without even thinking about the outcome, the swan threw it into the lake, a muffled sob leaving her mouth as she herself took a step closer to the edge. "No! Odette please! I love you!" He shouted, yet it was all in vain as he knew that the curse will get to her before his words will.

    The second he noticed what she intended, the prince rushed to her side, gripping her waist tightly and pressing a soft kiss to her lips, eyes deeply staring in her own like their hearts spoke to each other, and it all felt more than ethereal as both of their bodies hit the water, sinking slowly as they held each other like not even death could do them apart.

   And perhaps it couldn't, as the second the sun began rising, the women that stood next to the lake and mourned the passing of their princess did not turn back to swans, and their gowns turned back to the clothes they once wore when they were running errands around the village. On the other side of the forest, Rothbart felt his powers leave him, a sudden weakness taking over his body as it slowly began turning to ashes. "No!" He yelled like a mantra, yet it was all in vain as ths moment the shy sunlight peeked trough his window, all that remained of him was an amber ring and his daughter, who only stared at the cracked mirror on the wall, ashamed of herself and mad at the world like never before.

    And even years after, deep down, on the bottom of the lake, the two lovers stood embraced, untouched by the time, as if they were simply sleeping. So perhaps, the curse that once plagued the young women became a blessing, as not only has she found peace, but love as well.

[utterlyinevitable]

I'm sending out a few questions to my favourite writers over here because I can never have enough of your otps 💕

For Ethan and Becca/ Ethan and Odette

Who cleans the most? And who is the messiest? Who has the best table manners? How do they resolve their arguments? Who remembers dates, birthdays, and appointments? Who is the most physically affectionate?

Who has the most nightmares and how do they deal with them? Who steals the blankets? What do they do when they’re bored and together? Do they go to sleep at the same time as each other? Do they shower/bathe together? If so, how far does anything go?

Thank you for thinking of me and my beans 🥺🥰

Who cleans the most? And who is the messiest?

B&E: Ethan cleans the most, he is such a neat freak. Becca is a controlled mess, in that she leaves messes in her wake but knows where everything is inside of the anxiety-inducing piles 😆

O&E: They have hired help because Odette likes to organize rather than do deep cleaning. Everywhere everything is minimal and perfectly in place except for her shoe closet and her office. Ethan is strict in that everything has a place and he knows how Ode's OCD flares up if anything veers from the way she likes it.

Who has the best table manners?

B&E: Ethan. Idk who taught him proper etiquette because it surely wasn't Alan. Becca likes to talk about bodily habits at every turn and can be very unseemly at the dinner table. In more ways than one 😏

O&E: They're both on the same level. Odette is better at chit chat. Ethan was taught English etiquette and eats with both hands, knife in right hand and fork in left, its okay to rest wrists on the table. Odette was taught American, eating with only her dominate hand and the other resting in her lap unless she's cutting a bit of food.

How do they resolve their arguments?

B&E: They usually just ignore them, or fuck them out of their system. Once they have kids and have been together for over 5 years, they learn to agree to disagree and only do what's in the best interest of the family. At times they keep a tally of who got their way and alternate 🙄

O&E: They both need to take some time alone after an argument, to sort through their true feelings on the matter and whatnot. Then one of them (Ethan, more often than not) will apologize and they'll move on with their lives. Ode hates (afraid of?) confrontation so they don't get into arguments often.

Who remembers dates, birthdays, and appointments?

B&E: Ohhhh hmm. If it's super duper important like medical appointments, their kids birthdays or their wedding anniversary it's Ethan. He's always prepared for those well in advance. Becca remembers the smaller things, like the color of the sky during their first kiss and the first thing he's ever given her. To her the smaller moments are the crux of their relationship. She's also chaotic. The longer she and Ethan are together the more she realizes she doesn't need to remember the big things because he'll always make sure she's reminded. That way her mind can focus on other things.

O&E: Odette is like a haute elephant - she remembers everything. She's got a photographic memory and synesthesia.

Who is the most physically affectionate?

B&E: Becca, she enjoys climbing and hanging off of him like a tree. If they're in the same space odds are her hand is in his or on his thigh.

O&E: Ethan. They don't do PDA much. When they're alone he's rubbing her shoulders, peppering kisses to her skin, or just wrapping his arms around her while they relax.

Who has the most nightmares and how do they deal with them?

B&E: Becca. She's got a lot of trauma in her life and can't seem to shake it. Most nights she's fine as long as Ethan's pressed up against her. When she's pregnant she has frequent nightmares and it adds to her stress. Neither of them think she ever truly got a restful night during her pregnancies. How she deals with them is by going for a stroll to the kitchen for some water, or if its an aggressive one Ethan is up and rocks her to sleep.

O&E: Ethan, especially after Louise comes back and shakes up his entire world. Depends on how bad they are he either reads while in bed with the intent to fall back asleep, or just starts his day early. He doesn't like to dwell on them as he knows they're irrational fears and not real.

Who steals the blankets?

B&E: Becca. She steals the pillows too, even though she sleeps with 4 and Ethan sleeps with 2 🤣 She also likes to sleep smack dab in the middle of the bed.

O&E: Odette. She sleeps like a burrito. She used to have a weighted blanket but stopped using it when she and Ethan began spending every night together. She didn't need it when his arms are wrapped around her.

What do they do when they’re bored and together?

B&E: Becca likes to bake, so she's moving about the kitchen and he's making sure she doesn't burn the place down. They watch movies or one of the shows they can actually agree on watching together. Sex, obviously. Or Becca will pick a random street or neighborhood she's always wanted to explore and they'd go do that.

O&E: They like to workout. He prefers weights and running, she prefers yoga. If it's a gross day out and they can't run they'll take turns - though after a while she gives up trying to get Ethan into yoga and does it in the same room while he's working out so they can still be together. They like listening to music and shopping. Ethan likes listening to her play. He's gotten really into music history podcasts lately and likes to discuss it with her.

Do they go to sleep at the same time as each other?

B&E: They try to as evenings are the only time they truly get with one another.

O&E: When they both worked on the DT, yeah they did most days. As her career took off and his changed, there are days dinner is waiting in the microwave and the other is asleep. Weekends are for them and they get up and go to sleep together.

Do they shower/bathe together? If so, how far does anything go?

B&E: They do both. Bath's are always foreplay (unless Bec is pregnant then it's a medical necessity for her aching bod). They love showering together because it's so intimate, but more often than not it leads to sex and they cannot afford wasting all that time 🤣 They'll usually shower together at the end of a long day where it's 60/40 it'll end in sexy time.

O&E: Not often, but yes. When they shower together it's intimate - washing the others hair and body, sometimes steamy touches. It's all about the connection with them. Also Ode likes to shower immediately after sex so when they are showering together it's aftercare... Does skinny dipping in their hot tub often count as a bath?

I loved these, thank you so so much!! 💞💞

[thedreammweaver]

Black as Pitch and White as Snow (Burton-schumacherverse riddlebird au, mayor!Oswald, ballet dancer!Ed)

Warnings: depression, poor self care, insecurities, insecurities about weight, murder mention

Boring. That was the word for it. Oswald’s life had become boring. When he’d become mayor he didn’t intend on actually being good at it, he’d wanted to use the position to enact long brewing evil plans but it was so easy to get distracted these days. It had almost been a year and he hadn’t done anything diabolical yet, in truth he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to anymore...he’d lost his drive for mischief.

 He could feel himself getting slow and slipping deeper into the cliche of placated tub of lard politician but he didn’t know how to make it stop. The red triangle gang had left him when they noticed it, fine, he didn’t need them anyways though he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t lonely. His only ‘friend’ these days was Max Shreck after all and the man was hardly good company. The praises of “You’re doing great, Mayor Cobblepot.” Had gotten old fast. There was one thing that made him feel better though. He’d found himself going to the theatre a lot and he’d gotten quite taken with one dancer. At first he’d only seen the man in the background of some shows until the theatre’s main show had switched to a production of Swan Lake where the dual role of Odile and Odette had been adapted for a male dancer as there’d been a series of accidents within the company and that was the only option left. Oswald hadn’t thought anything of it at first, making Swan Lake gay wasn’t the weirdest thing going on in Gotham. That was until he realized the lead was the dancer with ginger hair that’d captured his eye so many times. He’d overheard that the man’s name was Ed while lurking around after one of the shows only to chicken out of introducing himself. Of course Oswald had been to see the production multiple times after learning that his obsession was in it.

   Oswald would rather be feeling inadequate while watching Ed dance than having to sit through dinner with Max. The faux sweetness with which the waitress approaching him said “Your table is ready, mayor Cobblepot.” Made Oswald feel worse.

Oswald tried to lose himself in the decor of the restaurant while Max droned on and on. That was until Max snapped his fingers to get the shorter man’s attention. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What?”

“You look like you’re in a funk, you just got re-elected you should be in a celebratory mood!”

Oswald hummed in miserable agreement.

“What happened to that excited crude little guy I met last Christmas, huh?”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you..” Oswald sighed.

       Maybe it was the way Ed’s shoulder blades looked oh so much like wings or how graceful he was or how when their eyes met so briefly it felt as if he was dancing for Oswald alone. Whatever the reason Oswald was smitten, that scared him though. There was no way someone so obviously athletic and poised would put up with Oswald’s wobbling waddling form, especially with how he was now....boring and sedentary. He once wouldn’t have hesitated in trying to woo Ed but as the theatre seat slightly pinched his sides he was reminded of the stark difference between them. He guessed he’d just have to be content with watching which...wasn’t too hard. The costume Ed was in still had a poofy skirt as the dance didn’t look right without it but the top had billowy sleeves like some traditional male ballet outfits though it dipped in the back, showing off the well honed muscles that lay under Ed’s skin. Oswald was watching in awe as Ed expertly performed the thirty two fouettes that were apart of Odile’s coda. Though he’d seen it many times it was still just as beautiful and impressive.

       Oswald decided to walk home feeling like he needed the exercise. He’d thought he was out of shape when living in the sewer but he had been traversing tunnels and going up and down ladders on the daily in that place, now he spent most of his time with his ass planted in a chair. His life had become a cycle of being depressed because he felt sluggish and feeling sluggish because he was depressed and he knew that his current lethargy wasn’t helped by eating his feelings everytime he felt miserable. Oswald was startled by a tap on his shoulder, the almost blind adoration for him had been watered down to simpering respect so he didn’t get approached often in public. He felt as if he could drop dead when he turned to see that the person wanting his attention was Ed. He’d never actually seen the man out of costume before. He was in a green sweater that said ‘virtual babe’ on the front in a pink glittery design, fuzzy green pants, and pink sneakers. He also had a backpack that was shaped like a frog, which was of course green as well. Ed adjusted his glasses nervously “Mayor Cobblepot? I- well, I...you’re at the shows a lot and I wanted to say hi.” he said, awkward but cheerful. “H-Hi..” Oswald said shyly. The way Ed was being lit by the streetlights so beautifully galvanized Oswald into blurting out his next words “Would you like to have a drink with me?”

Ed looked a bit surprised but not put off “Oh-uh..yea- yeah I would.”

     Oswald hoped Edward hadn’t noticed his struggling to keep up or his somewhat heavy breathing as they’d walked together. He put away his umbrella as Ed was admiring the foyer of Cobblepot Manor, awestruck. He was currently ogling at a rather large parasol that had been custom made into a chandelier. “That’s the biggest parasol I’ve ever seen..” Ed whispered in wonder. “Yeah, it’s nice..”Oswald mumbled still feeling a little nervous but trying to feign enough confidence to woo the other man.

After a few drinks talking to Ed had gotten easier. They’d ended up on the couch with Ed leaning on Oswald’s shoulder watching him intently as he talked. Oswald felt a bit tense as Ed’s hand was on his chest absently fiddling with his jacket. He was still having trouble believing Ed was in his house and actually touching him. “So how come you’re at the theatre all the time, don’t you have important mayor stuff to do?” Ed giggled. “It’s relaxing!” Oswald decided to shoot his shot “I..also enjoy seeing you..”

There was a beat of silence that almost made Oswald panic “Can I tell you a secret?” Ed asked. Oswald nodded. Eddie was giddy but shy as he spoke “I...uh, well, I hurt two other dancers and killed three to get the part..”

“Ed!”

“Don’t worry I pinned it on the two left alive, no one suspects me. I had to be the leads so you would notice me...I wanted to be your bird.”

Oswald was bewildered “You did all that for me??”

Ed nodded, the mischievous glint in his eye was re-awakening something in Oswald. “I-I didn’t think you could ever like me..” Oswald admitted. Ed sat up a bit “I’ve loved you ever since I saw you for the first time.” He moved into Ozzie’s lap “I need you, Oswald. I need you now.” He leaned in to kiss the shorter man. Oswald felt torpidity melting away as he grabbed Ed by the waist and pulled him close.

[whatareyousearchingfordean]

Happiness Begins

Part 11

Chapter Summary: Jensen and the reader deal with the aftermath of their night spent together. 

Word Count: 4.3K+

Warnings: Language, slightly dub-con kiss

Author’s Note: I’m so glad so many of you enjoyed their first little “get together”. Your words of encouragement make my day and I love reading each and every one of them!

Catch up with the series masterlist and check out Alexandra’s Library for more work by yours truly!

The sun began to rise, its rays shining into the guest house at the perfect angle across her face. She nuzzled into the pillow now underneath her head, not wanting to get up just yet. As consciousness pulled at her to wake up, memories of the night and whose bed she was lying in came crashing back to her. She sat bolt upright in the bed, the sheet falling off of her naked body. Soft snores came from the other side of the bed. Jensen lay on his stomach, his arms folded underneath the pillow. She took a moment to take in his peaceful state. His long lashes rested against his freckled cheeks and his pink lips were slightly parted as he breathed evenly. 

She slipped out from under the covers and began picking up her discarded articles of clothing. Her plan was to relax for a few minutes before slipping back into the house so she could say goodbye and head home. Somewhere along the way, both of them had fallen asleep, and now she could only hope that after their late night, no one in the main house was up yet. 

Her mind was racing as she hastily redressed herself. Too many different thoughts sped through her head, her anxiety on high again. If her mind running wild wasn’t bad enough, it seemed her garter did not want to cooperate with her either. The clasps kept popping as soon as she moved on to the next one. Eventually, she gave up, deciding to just slip on her dress and call it a day. If she had to pretend like she slept in her costume, no one would question her looking disheveled. As she picked up her coat, her phone tumbled across the hardwood floor and making the loudest sound she would have imagined it could. She swore under her breath as a loud snort came from the snoozing man on the bed as he roused from his slumber. 

“Good morning.” His gruff voice called as he rolled over and rested his weight on his elbows. He only had one eye open and a small smile on his lips in his groggy state. She smiled back at him as she pulled on her shoes. 

“Good morning, I gotta run.” She hung her coat over her arm as she sprinted from the guest house. She ignored Jensen calling after her, she couldn’t face talking to him right now, not when she couldn’t even put together her thoughts for herself. Avoidance was her specialty after all. 

She crept up to the large sliding doors to the kitchen and peered inside. Genevieve was standing at the stove, her back to the window and Odette on her hip. She cursed to herself before rounding the house to the sliding door leading to Jared’s office. If Gen was up with the kids, then she could assume that Jared was still knocked out. She just hoped that his office door wasn’t locked. 

She was in luck, as she tugged on the handle, the door gave and she slipped inside. She grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and shook it out before refolding it and tossing it in a new position on the back of the couch. The little details mattered. If Jared found out where she spent the night, he would not be happy. Jared didn’t like the idea of her sleeping with any guy. Throw in that guy being his best friend, and nothing good would come of that. 

The door opening to Jared’s office caught Genevieve’s attention. She turned towards her sister-in-law, a huge smile on her face. 

“Hey, I didn’t know you stayed here last night.” Gen noted as she shifted Odette’s weight on her hip. 

“Yeah, after three glasses of whiskey, I’d rather be safe than sorry.” Y/n laughed, the noise sounding forced. Gen didn’t seem to notice though. 

“Well, I’m glad. Will you stay for breakfast?” Gen asked her as she turned down the pan she had bacon cooking in. 

“Um, I don’t think so. I really just want to take a shower and get into some comfy clothes. Thanks though.” 

“If you’re sure,” Gen turned more towards her, a frown on her face. Gen knew how much she loved having breakfast with her niece and nephews, so her turning down the opportunity was rare. 

“I’m sure. Love you guys.” She kissed Odette, blowing a tiny raspberry on her niece’s cheek before running off. Odette’s giggling was the last thing she heard as she shut the door behind her and ran for her car. She sped out of their driveway and headed towards her apartment. The whole time her mind was running wild. 

Y/n couldn’t decide where to start. She had woken up in bed naked... with Jensen? It wasn’t that she didn’t remember last night, it was more a question of how they had ended up there. Both of them had been a little inebriated, sure, but they both had also openly consented. Jensen had told her that he wanted it. Why though, she couldn’t figure out. She had been sure he only saw her as a little sister. What had changed? Was it their talk behind the guest house. He had confessed intimate things to her and was easily feeling vulnerable. Had she taken advantage of that? Her stomach churned at the thought, but it was the best explanation she could come up with considering he said that he doesn’t do one night stands. But what else could you classify last night as? Should they just chalk it up to one big mistake? It was easier for her to convince herself that it was a mistake. That was the easiest way for her to protect her heart from his inevitable rejection. 

That being said, it was a mistake that she would make again and again she told herself as she pulled up to her building. Last night had been the best night she’s had in a long time. Her whole being felt light this morning. The stress of the last few months that she carried on her shoulders was gone. Jensen had thoroughly fucked her last night. That much was evident from the ache between her legs. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had come that many times in one night, if ever. Her thighs squeezed together as more memories from last night came back to her. She held onto them, and committed them to memory. They were probably going to be the only ones she ever got. 

As she walked through her apartment, she began stripping her clothes, tossing them wherever she pleased. She started the shower before going over to brush her teeth. She ran a comb through her hair, tossing the fallen curls over her left shoulder when she noticed it. Right there, at the base of her neck on the right side, was a small red hickey. In going over all her memories, she hadn’t realized he had been forceful enough to leave a mark. Her fingers danced over the sensitive flesh, committing it to her memory too. She cursed herself for her naivety, hoping Gen hadn’t noticed it this morning. With Jensen being the only other single person at that party, there was no way she would be able to explain it away. 

With a deep breath, she jumped into the shower, letting the hot water run over her body. She took her time, washing everything and just enjoying the heat against her skin. The ghosts of Jensen’s hands on her body could be felt in the tender flesh of her hips and the scratches on her backside where her own hands traveled as she washed away last night. 

When she stepped out, her whole bathroom had become a steam room. She could no longer see anything in her bathroom mirror as she dried herself off and tossed her hair into a towel on top of her head. She made her way back into her bedroom, picking out comfy sweats and a sports bra to wear. 

As she walked out of her room, her stomach growled at her, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten. She was putting a bowl of oatmeal into the microwave when she heard her phone vibrating from its place on her coffee table. She pressed start and went to fish her phone from her coat pocket. She had some missed messages from friends wishing her a happy new year, but it was the two messages from Jensen that caught her attention.

We need to talk.

Please?

Her stomach sank as she read over the few words. She knew the ‘lets just be friends’ conversation was inevitable, but that didn’t make any of it easier. She guessed she could be thankful that he wanted to do it in person and not over text. It was the classier move.

As much as she tried to convince herself on the drive that it was all a mistake, she had failed. The rejection stung, no matter what she tried to tell herself. Still, she would get over it. She always did. Years of rejection had made her a pro at it. What was one more? 

The microwave beeped and she decided not to reply to him. They didn’t need to talk face to face, she didn’t think she could handle it. She had gotten the message loud and clear anyway. The two of them would go back to be whatever it was they were. Friends? Coworkers? She wasn’t sure exactly how to define their relationship, but she supposed it didn’t really matter. The show was over after this season, and they would never be forced to see one another again. Maybe he would be periodically around Jared at the same time she was, but they would not be forced to be alone together. 

She went back to grab her breakfast, pulling the towel from her hair so it could air dry the rest of the way. She plopped down on the couch and pulled up some random trash tv show to watch as she ate. Her phone buzzed another handful of times, but she chose to ignore it. Whoever or whatever it was, could wait until she could get her thoughts in order. When she finished her breakfast, she took the empty bowl to the sink. As she headed back to her living room, a knock sounded at her front door. 

With trepidation, as she had not been expecting company, she went to open the door. The last person she expected to see there was Jensen. Yet, there he was, his hair still damp from his own shower, a somber look on his face.

“What are you doing here?” Her brows scrunched up as she stepped back to allow him inside. 

“You wouldn’t answer my texts.” He shrugged as his eyes scanned the inside of her apartment. 

“So you came to my apartment? How did you even know where I live?” She crossed her arms against her chest. Her hopes of having a peaceful day had been dashed. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with right now. 

“Uh,” Jensen rubbed the back of his knuckles across the stubble on his jaw. The memory of his beards scratch between her legs had her biting back a groan. “I asked Jared to borrow his phone. I told him mine was dead and I needed to check my email.” 

“Well, you really didn’t have to go to all that trouble just to reject me.” Her tone was sour but she couldn’t help it. Now that she was physically close to him again, it was like something went off inside her. Her whole body was calling out to him, just begging to be touched by his hands one last time, to feel his muscles rippling underneath her fingertips as he moved above her.

“What are you talking about, reject you?” Jensen was confused. Did she really think that he drove across town just to reject her?

“You said we should talk. I get it okay, we were both a little messed up and vulnerable last night, it was a mistake.” She spit out through gritted teeth. It physically pained her to say the words out loud.

“Is that really what you think? That last night was a mistake?” Jensen couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Last night had been incredible, and even now, he longed to touch her again. 

“No, I don’t.” She admitted. “But that doesn’t mean that it should ever happen again. We lead different lives Jensen, not to mention the possible backlash from everyone we know.” Her mind was grasping for reasons that it wouldn’t work, because that was the only way she would be able to get over it when it did end. She turned and walked away from him, plopping down onto her couch. Jensen followed her, sitting on the edge, his body turned towards her.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since our last night in Vancouver.” Jensen admitted. “And last night… last night was amazing. I don’t think that is something that you just let go of.” He placed his hand on her knee, squeezing it so she would look up at him. “Y/n, you are this crazy, beautiful, insanely intelligent mystery that I just want to get to know better. Believe me when I say that last night wasn’t just about the sex, no matter how great it was. Let me take you out on a proper date this time, let’s do it right.” 

“Jensen,” She started, ready to tell him all the reasons she had come up with why it wouldn’t work, as much as she didn’t want to believe them. “What about Jared? As much as I love my brother, I don't think he would be too thrilled about this.” 

“We don’t even have to tell anyone, at least until we figure out what all this is. Just look me in the eyes and tell me it’s not something you want, and I’ll drop it. We go back to being friends and forget this ever happened.” He stared at her, intent on keeping her gaze. The intensity of his stare stirred up those butterflies inside her again, and she knew that she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell him that she didn’t want to do it all again. She couldn’t tell him that all she had wanted since she ran from his room this morning was to crawl back into bed with him because they would all be lies. How could she say no to the man basically begging at her feet? It was like he said, she couldn’t stop thinking about him, and who knows, maybe they aren’t meant to be. What is life without taking a few risks, and she would be damned if she didn’t take this one. A small smile began to form on her lips as she held his gaze.

“Is that a yes?” His voice was wary as he stared at her. 

“It is Ackles, so you better make it worth my while.” He flashed her a toothy grin, his tongue peeking between his teeth.

“Don’t you worry sweetheart, I never leave a woman disappointed.” 

****

A week went by without another word from Jensen. She saw him in passing when she was at Jared’s house to say one last goodbye to Gen and the kids. He didn’t say much to her, but he wasn’t avoiding her either. The whole concept of a secret relationship, if you could even call it a relationship, was foreign to her. She had no idea how to act when they were around other people. The lack of communication between them didn’t exactly help either. They were stuck in this weird limbo between a hook up and a ‘first date’ and neither of them knew what to do.

The thoughts in her brain where firing on overdrive every time he was near her that day. She was like a dog in heat, and the only thing on her mind was the way his muscles rippled under strain, or his breathy moans in her ear as he fucked her. On multiple occasions, Gen had to snap her out of her little trances. She would brush it off, telling them that she was just thinking about work. That then would only lead to everyone telling her that she worked too hard, which wasn’t a lie per se, it just wasn’t her current problem. 

Her excitement to be back in Vancouver only heightened as the week passed. It would give her the perfect opportunity to be distracted by something other than Jensen, at least that was what she hoped. 

She grabbed her bag from the security conveyor and followed after Jensen and Jared towards their gate. “I guess I’ll see you guys when we land.” She stopped outside the first class lounge, her stomach knotting up as she glanced towards her crowded gate. 

“Think again.” Jared grinned. 

“What are you talking about?” She had no clue what he was hinting at, but judging from the look on his face, he was up to something. Jared pointed to her hand that held her passport and boarding pass. 

“Take a look at your ticket.” She glared at him suspiciously before she scanned the boarding pass in her hand. Under the boarding class, it read ‘First Class’. 

“Jared, what did you do?” She sighed. 

“I upgraded your ticket.” He was all smug, not catching on to the tone in his sister’s voice. 

“Why? You know I don’t care about that crap.” 

“You don’t care about your seat, but I know how you feel about airports. It’s much quieter and less crowded in here and you deserve it.” He put his arm around her shoulders and guided her into the lounge, not allowing her to protest. There was a tv on one wall playing the local news station. On the opposite wall was a table with snacks and fresh coffee. Jared wasn’t wrong when he said she would feel better in the lounge. It had put her at ease just walking through the doors. 

“So, this is how the other half lives?” She teased as she chose a seat to rest in before boarding. 

“Get used to it. Before long, you’ll make more money than I do and you’ll be purchasing all the first class tickets your heart desires.” Jared admitted as he sat in the seat beside her. She shook her head at Jared’s antics. She didn’t want to admit to how much she was already enjoying his surprise. It made her a little guilty that he had done something so nice for her and here she was, hooking up with his best friend and hiding it all from him. Both her and Jensen had decided though, that until they could figure out whatever it was that was happening between them, it would stay just between them. What was the point in fighting with everyone if all of meant nothing in the end anyway? 

She sat back in her seat, watching the news as they waited to board. They were being called onto the plane shortly after they had arrived. She followed behind Jared and Jensen down the tarmac, their longer legs carrying them faster than she could go. Not to mention she was busy reading the seat number on her ticket as she walked, allowing a few people to slip in between the guys and her. To her surprise, as she came up to her seat, her neighbor was none other than Jensen. 

“Really? That’s convenient.” She met his smile as he stood up when he noticed her. He took her carry-on from her and lifted it into the overhead bin. 

“I promise I had nothing to do with it.” He closed the full compartment and stepped back so she could slip into the window seat. She set her purse down and buckled up as Jensen did the same. 

“Just lucky I guess.” She turned her head, looking around for her brother. He sat at a window seat on the other side of the plane, two rows back from them. He waved when she met his eye and she offered him a small wave back. 

“Think he can hear us?” Jensen’s voice was low as she settled into her seat. 

“I doubt it. He’ll probably have his headphones in any second anyway.” 

Jensen turned his head towards her, his voice low. “How have you been this week?” 

“Honestly? Weird. I don’t know how to do this, how to act. I’ve never had to hide from the people around me in that sort of way.” Her voice trailed off as the flight attendant came and asked if they wanted a drink. Both of them opted for a water. As soon as the attendant had handed them their drinks and was out of ear shot, Jensen spoke again. 

“I know what you mean. When I saw you at Jared’s, I had to fight the urge to kiss you on the spot.” His words had her breath catching. She cleared her throat and took a drink of the small water bottle in her lap. He had a smug grin on his face as she looked back at him. 

“You enjoy seeing me flustered don’t you?” She bit her lip as she tried to hide her own smile. The stern face she was attempting to convey was failing to come across properly.

“I do, especially when your cheeks flush pink like that,” He tipped his chin at her and she could feel her blush deepening. “Been thinking about about your flushed skin all week.” 

“Oh,” She looked away from him and crossed her legs. He chuckled lowly at his success as the plane took off. “You need to behave.” She pointed a stern finger at him. He put his hands up but she could still see the twinkle in his eye. Jensen didn’t understand the concept of behaving. If he kept it up, she would never make it through this flight. That little growl he had as his voice dropped went straight to her core, and she could feel the slick settling between her legs. 

All of his comments were giving her whiplash. He was more brazen after not talking for nearly a week than she was expecting. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it, she just had no idea where they sat with each other, and him trying to rile her up in front of a plane full of people was just as confusing as it was arousing. The two of them had only slept together once, but it was almost like he knew her better than she knew herself. 

She made a show of taking out her headphones and putting them in her ears, letting him know that she was pointedly ignoring any further attempt he would have devised to get under her skin. The attendants brought by snacks and more drinks for them. Besides interacting with them, she was doing a good job of ignoring Jensen. After her second bottle of water though, she needed to use the restroom. 

She pulled out her headphones and unbuckled her belt. “Can I get up? I need to use the restroom.” She nudged his knee. 

“Oh, now you want to talk to me.” He undid his own seatbelt and stood up into the aisle. 

“I’ll talk to you as long as you can behave. Can you do that?” She paused before continuing. 

“No promises, but I’ll try.” He played. She nodded and headed to the small bathroom. The bathroom seemed to be more roomy than she was expecting, though still small. Just another stupid perk of first class. Jared was trying to spoil her, and she hated that it was working. She washed her hands and pulled on the door. The overhead light shut off and the light from the main cabin was blocked by a large figure in the opening. 

“Jay?” She had not been expecting him to be there, and was even more thrown when he pushed her back into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. “What the hell are you doing?” The two of them were nearly chest to chest in the tight space. 

“Don’t worry, Jared is sleeping.” Jensen put his hands on her jaw, bringing her face up to his. Her body reacted to him of its own accord, closing the small space and opening her mouth to him. She could taste his cinnamon gum on his lips and smell his signature cologne. It all brought her back to New Year’s and she never wanted it to end.

“‘T’s not Jared I’m worried about.” Her words were breathy as she pulled away from him. “I’d rather not get arrested.” Jensen chuckled, pressing his lips back to hers. His tongue swiped across her lips and she granted him access. Their tongues moved together until her head was dizzy and her chest was heaving. 

“I just couldn’t wait to do that again.” He brushed his thumb across her swollen bottom lip. 

“Well now that you have it out of your system, can we go back to our seats before someone catches us?” Jensen nodded at her request.

“One last thing. Friday at nine, think you can slip out past your brother?” He grabbed the handle to the door, ready to walk out. 

“I’ll figure something out.” She agreed. Jensen pulled open the door, the light above them going out again. 

“Good, now go, I’ll be out in a minute.” He urged her out of the bathroom. She peeked her head out and made sure no one was paying attention before heading back to her seat. She sat down and buckled up, her lips still tingling from his touch and a soft smile on her face.

Part 12

Forevers: @spn-impala​​ @22sarah08​​ @turtlepad​​ @callmekda​​ @chaldei​​ @hobby27​​ @casualfestivaltrashpainter​ @cowboysnwinchesters​​ @tranquility-or-chaos​​ @pikabootoyouchu​​ @dawnie1988​​ @grease222​​ @frackinawesomeninja​ @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce​​ @polina-93​ @clarinette07​​ @moonlight-babeh​​ @suckerforfanfic​​ @witandnargles​​ @sleepylunarwolf​ @stiles-stilinski-24-dylan​ 

Et Cetera: @jbbarnesgirl​ @hillface89​ @arses21434​ @thevelvetseries​ @sslater34​ @mrsirishboru​ @smoothdogsgirl​ @spnfamily-j2​ @encounterthepast​ @facadeformyrealblog  @supernatural-bellawinchester​ @screechingartisancashbailiff​​ @rebeccathefangirl​ @squirrelnotsam​ @heartinmyhead1​ @1d-killed-me​ @samsgirl93​ @deans-baby-momma​ @deanmonandnegansbitch​ @woodworthti666​ @supraveng​ @onethirstyunicorn​ @heartsaved @know2grow​ @littlewhiterose​ @surprisinglysarah​ @stoneyggirl​ @carryon-doctor-lock​ @thebookisbtr​ 

Idk why Tumblr is a little bitch sometimes and will randomly stop letting me tag certain blogs, so if your URL has a line through it, blame Tumblr

[barnesbabee]

[this is just me letting out my feelings, you don’t need to read]

Barbie, Bratz and Monster High is so much more than people make it out to be... People always look at it as these girly cartoons and movies... It takes girls out of their stereotypical image, cause when has barbie ever needed a prince? He was there, sure, but Genevive stood up for her sisters alone. Odette saved herself alone cause the prince was too dumb to realize he wasn’t dancing with the real Odette. Anneliese got out of jail by herself and the person that helped her take down the bad guy was Erica, not the prince. There wasn’t even a relevant man in the crystal palace, it was just about friendship. Not even mentioning that in fairytopia 2 barbie saves the man and everyone else with the help of another woman. The only useful dude in all of these movies is  Bibble. Barbie shows women and little girls they can be whatever they want, that they can be strong, independent and that they can be themselves no matter what others might think. It’s not just a girly show.

Bratz taught us so many times that friendship has no boudaries. Jade is half-chinese, Chloe is white, Sasha is black and Yasmin is latinx. Bratz is one of the most inclusive children’s cartoon I have ever seen, it teaches us about our dreams, about being strong and confident and not giving up.

Monster High has the clearest message out of the three: we’re all different, and you should love that. Each student is the daughter/son of a different monster, they’re all extremely different, yet there’s no discrimination. Monster High highlights how each of us works differently, how each of us has different looks and personalities that need to be taken into account (take for example Cleo and Draculaura, they’re in the same group of friends yet you couldn’t find people with personalities as divergent as theirs). It also speaks with the differences in relationships, in instances Lagoona comes from salt water, while her boyfriend Gil comes from lake water or whatever the fuck it’s called in english. Their parents didn’t consent to their relationship, but they remained true to themselves.

It’s important to be able to see these messages, and I feel like us, as girls, were so lucky to have empowering messages like these as we grew up, yet we didn’t realise it. That’s not a bad thing however, because we were influenced by them unknowingly. How many of us haven’t dreamt of being as stylish as bratz? Did any of us ever hate any of the Bratz for having a different skin colour? Did any of us miss a prince, or a lover in a barbie movie? did we ever dislike anyone from monster high for being different? of course not, that would be silly, because they’re all different. 

We were so lucky, there are other shows like Winx that play a lot with friendship and ethnicity as well, but these were the main ones from my childhood. It’s a long post, I know, but when I say I love these, I really mean it, because they had a huge impact in me, because evevn though I might have been in the ‘cool clique’ when I was in high school, I spent a lot of time alone when I was a kid because I wasn’t exaclty the most popular one as a child....

If you’ve made it this far, thank you I hope it made sense and I hope it wasn’t boring, it’s very out of the blue ik, but still... all the love!! 💖💖

[linn-zy]

We'll meet again...

(Part 2) (part 1; https://linn-zy.tumblr.com/post/641461768657551360/well-meet-again )

Tangled RP story

Featuring Rapunzel, Eugene, Varian, Judy(OC of @punkydodd ) , Robert and Emeline (my OC's)

*******

Odette slept while being close to Judy for warmth. The baby-swan opened her eyes for a bit, before she went back to sleep. Then she shot them open and see the ghost in the middle of the room.

She ducked her head and hide behind a sleeping Judy, unsure if she should wake the others to let them know.

Soon another figure emerged from the smoke aswell, a tall handsome dark man, he tapped the woman on the shoulder and she turned to him with a smile.

"It's  been far too long my dear."

He took her to dance to the music.

"Hundred years as always, my love."

They spoke to one another, not seeming to notice anything around them, only being lost to each other.

Odette slowly moved her head up, still a little frightened. But her fear slowly calm down, she watched the two ghost dancing around the room. They didn’t noticed the sleeping group, only focusing on each other like they were in their own world.

Pascal also woke up soon  after, getting out of Rapunzels hair and making a little squeaky sound, watching the couple move around.

Varian stirred a and slowly opened up his and sitting up, causing Ruddiger to slide off his stomach and into his lap, still fast asleep.

“What’s going on? Did my trap work?”

He asked out loud while rubbing his eyes a bit.

"Hrrmm ? Is something happening ?"

Rapunzel yawned and blinked slowly.

The ghostly couple kept dancing, not knowing they were being watched.

"You look marvellous as always my darling..." the male spoke and even though he only spoke to her, it was heard all through the room.

"And you are as handsome as always, Robert..." the woman replied with a gentle smile.

Odette hopped on Judy, who groan in her sleep. “Five more minutes Ma..” she grumbled.

Varian removed his hands from his eyes and blinked a few times, letting out a long gasp at the sight of the ghosts.

“Guys look!”

He whispered and pointed at the scene.

“Wait, why didn’t my trap go off? They should have activated it...”

He mumbled and tapped his chin thoughtfully, did he miscalculate? It wouldn’t be the first time.

"Doesn't  look like your trap worked, Varian..." Rapunzel whispered as she peeked over the edge from their little camp that was slightly above the stairs.

"Shall we go talk to them ?"

Odette then peck at Judy’s face, waking her up. “Huh? What?” She pull herself up. “Did the ghost came?”

She turn her head and saw the two ghost. “They’re..dancing.” She whispered in surprise.

“It should have worked...oh well, guess it was a bust”

Varian shrugged a bit and looked at the ghosts again.

“They don’t look to be hostile...should we wake Eugene?”

"Nah...let him sleep....I'm gonna go closer."

Rapunzel said and stood up, going down the stairs then.

"Uuumm hello? Ghosts ?"

She waved her hand a bit to them and and smiled friendly.

Judy turn her head at the sleeping Eugene, who have his body lean on the wall and snoring softly, along with the other guards.

“Rapunzel wait!”

Varian quickly got up and followed Rapunzel, grabbing her arm.

“We need to think carefully about this. I mean they don’t look hostile but we don’t know what their intentions are”

"Oh Varian...look at them...they're just dancing...how bad can it be ?"

Rapunzel said to him and waved her hand a bit.

Varian bit his lip and sighed.

“Just...be careful, okay?”

He knew Rapunzel was capable of taking care of herself but he still got worried for her safety sometimes.

"Come on..." She pulled at his arm a bit to get him along, extremely excited.

"Hello...excuse me....ghosts ?"

The couple abruptly stopped in their dance, staring back at Rapunzel and Varian, a look of confusion.

"Robert, who are they?"

The woman asked the man.

"I don't know, they shouldn't be here...."

Judy stood up, while Odette hid behind her leg.

“Hello there.” She waved nervously at them with her other hand behind her back.

"Oh...hello there....Who are you ?"

The woman asked with a low whispy voice.

Rapunzel wked closer to them.

"I am Rapunzel....Princess Rapunzel actually...these are my friends, Pascal, Varian, Ruddiger, Judy and Odette....We were told that a ghost would appear in the castle and we wanted to see it...."

Varian was still a little cautious and kept close to Rapunzel, though he had to admit that he was fascinated by the ghosts. He had never seen them up close before, mostly because the first ghosts he saw tried to kill him.

Although being translucent Rapunzel could see the man had dark skin, light brown hair, somewhat lighter than Eugene, deep blue eyes and a little stubble goatee. He had a deep blue shirt, black pants, a thin looking sword at the side, a black cape that hung over one shoulder, attached with a golden brooch.

"Why are you two coming here ?" Rapunzel asked curiously.

The man sighed.

"To relive the last moment of our lifes, dancing together for hours and hours, I've just come back from many years in the war, my darling Emeline was loyaly waiting for my return every day...."

"Robert came back on my 18th birthday, a grand ball was held, no one belived that he had survived, it was a splendid and lovely night...." Emeline contined, getting something dreamingly in her eyes.

“It must be, you two have a wonderful love between.” Judy said, standing by Varian.

“This is fascinating ”

Varian exclaimed, circling the two ghosts to get a better look at them, his curiosity getting the better of him, he was till a little cautious though.

“How long have you been like this?”

He asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.

"Hundreds and hundreds of years I'm afraid." Robert answered politely.

, holding his lovers hand.

"We can only meet once every hundred year..." Emeline said.

"Oh no....that's so sad...." Rapunzel frowned.

“I am terribly sorry.” Judy sadly said. Odette tuck her head down in a sad manner.

Varian hummed.

“Hmm...well there should be a way for you to move on...Rapunzel, didn’t you help a ghost with that?”

He asked, looking to Rapunzel to make sure he remembered right.

“Maybe we can help them somehow?”

"Yes of course, with Ruth it was her wish for wanting to perform that had her stuck here....." Rapunzel said and then looked over to the two.

"What happened to you two ?" She tilted her head a little.

"The castle took fire, it burned to the ground, but me and Robert kept dancing, lost in each other....so every hundred year of that day, we come back and have our dance again until the fire appears and sweeps us away....."

"Hundred years is a long time..." Robert said quietly.

"But at least I get to see my Emeline again..."

“Soooo, if you complete your dance...you’ll find peace?”

Varian asked, a little skeptical.

“Does that mean we have to set fire to the castle?”

"Oh heavens no....The fire will appear just like we do...." Emeline chuckled a little.

"Like a memory playing up the past..." Robert spoke.

"I don't think there is anything you can do about it...."

“I wish there was.” Judy added, rubbing her arm. Odette nodded, agreeing.

“There has to be something, right?”

Varian asked, looking to Rapunzel again. She had more experience with situations like this so she would probably know what to do.

"Hmmm...I don't  kn...."

She didn't even have time to answer before Robert swooped  Emeline around, dancing with her again.

"We only have a few hours, darling. I wish to not waste them..." He said to her.

"Me neither, my love." Emeline replied to him.

Rapunzel  sighed sadly.

"What can we do? There has to be something? Right ?"

Judy place a hand on her shoulder. “We will find a way for them to Rest In Peace.” She said.

“These two doesn’t deserve to be trapped like this forever.”

“Do you think some kind of magic is involved?”

Varian asked Rapunzel, he couldn’t really make sense of the situation and he was pretty sure Alchemy wouldn’t be to much help.

Rapunzel hummed a little.

"Perhaps...."

She tapped her chin a little.

"What do you think happens if we get them out of here before the fire starts ? Or maybe....maybe if they kiss each other before the fire starts? A kiss of true love...."

“Hmm...it’s worth a shot right?”

Varian shrugged a bit and looked over the two dancing ghosts.

“Should we ask them about it? See if they’ve tried anything before?”

“We can try.” Judy said, looking at the couple dancing.

“They didn’t mention anything other than dancing when the fire got them.”

"Uhmm uh...excuse me....Robert...Emeline...?"  Rapunzel tried to get their attention, going around and around but then suddenly her eyes seemed to change, becoming almost dull, she took Judys hand since she was the closest and pulled her around to dance with aswell, now the two was  being  victims of the enchantment aswell.

“Raps?! What are you doi-“ But before she could finished, her eyes turned dullaswell and she danced with Rapunzel.

Odette honked in shock of this and ran to Eugene to wake him up.

“Uhhh...okay, definitely some kind of spell...”

Varian backed up and ran over to Eugene, shaking him a bit.

“Eugene! Wake up! I need your help”

He whisper-yelled, looking back at the group dancing.

Odette peck at Eugene on the nose, which makes him jolted awake and push Odette off him.

“What?! Is that ghost here?!” He look around.

Rapunzel danced around with Judy following the same dance that Robert and Emeline danced.

Twirling and swooping around to the odd music that both filled the room aswell as sounded to be far away, as if in a dream.

“Blondie? Kiddo?” Eugenes jaw dropped. “And, there is another ghost. Wow.” He got up and straighten his back from sleeping near the wall.

Varian chuckled a little, a little panicked since he didn’t know what he should do.

“Yeah...well they seem to be under some kind of spell that makes them dance”

He said and looked at the ghosts again.

“Maybe if we get them to stop dancing, Rapunzel and Judy will too and we can figure out how to break the spell!”

His eyes lit up as he got an idea and ran over to his satchel on the floor, starting to rummage through it.

“Sounds like a good idea Varian.” Eugene said, watching the dancing four.

Meanwhile Pascal ran around, trying to get Rapunzels attention to no avail, instead he was at the risk of getting stepped on, luckily Ruddiger ran in and picked the chameleon up, saving him from getting trampled.

Varian pulled out some chemical balls from his satchel and turned to the ghosts.

“Looks like it’s up to alchemy”

He went the safe route and threw a bath bomb at them, hoping the bubbles would distract them so they could talk.

TO BE CONTINUED

(Emeline and Robert art made with Picrew)