#and my hair grows ANNOYINGLY FAST so its already longer again

[florida3exclamationpoints]

Well. Still no polls. Like this post if you think i should attempt to cut my hair like this. Today. (I have work tomorrow 😀)

For reference here is my hair right now

[sparklingchim]

fiery mornings; m | pjm

pairing: jimin × reader

word count: 3k

genre: smut, fluff, established relationship, idol!jimin

warnings: swearing, fingering, protected sex, some breast play

summary: waking up with jimin, but add a little spice to it 🌶

a/n: hello lovely people! i didn't proof read this because it's almost midnight for me now and i'm really tired but luckily tomorrow is saturday 😴 i hope you like it! and have a good morning, day, evening or night❤ i'm heading to bed now💤

masterlist

-

The sun peeking through the curtains and encasing the room with crumbs of light is what wakes you up.

These stupid blinds - that you hated as soon as you slept over at Jimin's place for the first time - were not doing their job properly. The sun overflowing his room every damn morning woke up everytime. You'd like to get more sleep because - let's not lie - Jimin and you don't go to sleep very early with both your needy and touchy hands when you lay in bed at night time. However, Jimin didn't care about your aversion against the blinds - he wasn't the one waking up due to them though... - and said something about them looking cozy and domestic.

You really tried to erase the thought of just ripping them down and buying him some new ones that don't let any sunlight shine so annoyingly in the room, but you hold back. But it's really tempting...

You stretch your arm to the nightstand, tapping on your phone to see what time it is. 7 am? Oh, how bad you want to rip these blinds off.

Nonetheless, the warmness of the sheets that you're both tucked under and Jimin's body radiating a comforting glow around you makes you stay in bed.

Jimin's arm is loosely wrapped around your stomach, his body pressed against you from the back. You glance back at him, his nose pressed against your spine and eyes still closed. Your heart softens at that doting sight, seeing him innocently sleeping. No worries in his mind, but only disguising his features in a tranquil state. Jimin is finally able to gett as much rest as he wants and needs after coming home from the tour.

You push some strands of his hair that are falling into his face away. The need to place kisses all over his puffy adorable face looms inside you, but you stop yourself from doing that, so you don't ruin his peaceful slumber that he's currently in.

Instead you could prepare some breakfast for him, so when he decides do wake up he has a delicious meal prepared for him. You think of some dishes that you could cook even though just staying in bed with him felt more enticing which also leads you to grab your phone despite your original plan to get up and start cooking breakfast. But there was no need to rush, Jimin won't wake up for approximately three more hours.

As you take your phone from the night stander you suddenly feel Jimin's grip on your stomach tighten. He lets out some displeased grunts, like a little child not pleased with something. You softly smile, rubbing soothing strokes with your thumb on his arm that's wrapped around you. Jimin nuzzles his face deeper into your back, sighing out in satisfaction.

God, he is so adorable.

You occupy yourself with your phone, checking social media and maybe salivating at some pictures from Jimin that you come across.

20 minutes pass, before you decide that it's time to start the day and prepare some breakfast for your boyfriend who still snoozes behind you, gaining all of his energy back after working so hard for months.

But then you feel something.

Eyebrows scrunched together, you try to make out what could possibly be poking you in this cuddly bed.

Oh.

Only spending a second on looking out for an answer to your oblivious question, you find the possible solution for that.

Jimin early-glory made it's appearance by being pressed against your butt, letting you feel his hard muscle.

Yeah, it was definitely about time to get up.

But when you prop myself up on your elbow, still laying on your side, you hear a muffled complaining sound behind you. To emphasize his need, Jimin's hold tightens on your belly again, just like he did before, though this time you actually attempted to leave the bed.

You squeeze his arm lightly to beguile him into letting you go. ,,I'm gonna make us breakfast, Minnie," you say whispering, tilting your head sideways, so you're able to look at Jimin. His eyes remain close, only parting is plump lips to mutter a little 'no'. You sigh out, head falling back onto the pillow. ,,It's not gonna take long," you try to convince him, even though the dishes you plan to cook would take a bit longer than normally.

,,Stay with me." Jimin's hoarse and raspy voice uttering its first full sentence this morning.

Then you seek to wiggle yourself out of his embrace, but it's pointless, because letting you go isn't even up for a debate in Jimin's mind.

,,Then there's no breakfast for you," you utter in defeat. Jimin doesn't answer, suddenly placing soft kisses over the crook of your neck. His sudden sweet kisses cause goose bumps spread all over your body, the tingling feeling automatically relaxing you, although laying in bed with Jimin is already so calming.

,,I'm only hungry for you right now," he says. Your cheeks flush at that cheesy comment, but luckily he can't see your reaction towards his words, knowing he would be smirking and teasing the shit out of you. Jimins usual cute and endearing way of waking up is vanished and instead he pulled out his charms to make you melt for him.

Jimins hand traces over your clothed stomach, heading down to you leg to stroke his fingers up to your thigh, pushing his shirt that you're wearing slightly up. His feather light touch induces shivers down your spine. The accentuating tension effects your whole composure, evoking you into pushing your ass back onto his bulge which results in Jimins body stiffening behind you. The impetuous act caught him off guard, but he relishes in the satisfying friction, coaxing him into the blissful thrill he was all too familiar with.

,,You want this?" Jimins tone was low, turning you on even more.

,,Yes, please," you beg, grinding your ass on his hard length. You both breath heavily, the pleasure building in a fast pace.

Soon your pussy burns in need, desiring to be filled with his huge cock. Your movements of his dick gliding through your clothes pussy makes your wetter by the seconds. It doesn't require much till Jimin has enough of the teasing rubbing and shoves the comforter away from your bodies.

,,I love you," Jimin murmurs, placing little kisses over your neck once again. He gently sucks at your skin, only for a brief moment though, not wanting to cause a mark on your flesh before he darts his tongue out and licks over the slightly flush skin.

,,I love you too," you reply breathless. You don't stop your ministrations. You can't desist when the sensation of his cock was getting you so riled up, brewing you into so much pleasure. Last night you were sceptical when Jimin didn't put on any clothes after your little rendezvous, but it really had its perks having him naked behind you.

Jimin hand wanders further, fingers toying with the side of your panty. Once his fingers get a hold of the thin material, he pushes them down in a swift motion. You help him to get the panties completely off and toss them away with your feet. Jimins hand lifts your leg up a bit, his hand hovering over your warmth, but not attempting to do anything yet. You fuss beneath him, craving his touch.

,,Are you sore from last night?"

,,No." You are. But not too much and your mind is too clogged up with the anticipation that builds for the pleasurable feeling Jimin is able to give you.

,,You're sure?"

,,Yeah, please touch me."

At your wish Jimins finger rubs up and down over your slit, coating his finger with my arousal. A little moan escapes your mouth. You enjoy the feeling of his digit touching your slick folds, gathering all your juices. When you feel his thumb circling your swollen sensitive bud, your legs tremble and you sink your teeth into your bottom lip. Jimins index finger makes it way into your entrance. Your aching walls immediately clench around it, acting as needy as ever.

,,Shit," Jimin curses under his breath. ,,You're always so ready for me, baby." How could you not when a men like that was laying next to you in bed?

You let out a strangled moan when he plunges another finger inside you, his pace slow but steady. Jimin crooks his fingers, hitting that lovely spot every time he shoves his fingers back inside your quivering hole.

,,Just like that," you pant, your hand gripping his arm between your legs. Jimins fingers pick up on speed, your moaning spurring him on.

It doesn't take a lot of time till he gets you at that certain point, the familiar knot in your stomach growing quickly. Your body chases after your high, but you desperately want to cum on his cock, so you squeeze his arm gently and Jimin slows his pace.

,,I- I want to cum on your cock," you manage to say and he stops moving his fingers, withdrawing them after. Your body instantly misses the penetration and you whine at the loss of contact.

,,Shh, I'm gonna give it to you, baby," he soothes you, propping himself on his arm to slightly hover over you. You shift your head to see his awaken state for the first time that morning.

Jimins hair hangs into his forehead again, a tired but sincere smile on his face and his eyes puffy from his sleep. A smile immediately appears on your lips at when you look into his loving eyes, his whole being radiating so much comfort and contentment.

With Jimin you felt like it was you final destination. There was nothing else in this world that could give you more than what he was capable of giving you. Nothing in this world could compare to Jimins love. His love was tightly swathed around you and never vanished since the day you both knew that the tension between you was more than just a friendship. No day would pass in which he wouldn't jostle all his adoration to you and show you how much you meant to him. Jimin could never get tired of showering you in all the devotion he has allocated for you, he loved you after all.

You lace your fingers through his soft hair and for a few seconds it stays like that, pushed back on his head, but then it falls down onto his forehead again. Jimin stays still and watches how you play with his hair, until he can't prolong his desperate need to get some friction on his throbbing cock.

,,Can your grab a condom?" he asks and pecks your forehead briefly. You nod and quickly turn to the nightstand on your side, fishing a condom out of the drawer. You hand it to him and rips the package, doing fast work in wrapping the plastic around his member and tossing the useless package somewhere behind his back.

Jimin preps a few kisses on your jawline, making his way to your lips and every so gently capturing your mouth into a tender kiss. You share a passionate and slow kiss together, savouring the moment of being together again after being apart for months. He dips his tongue in, both of your wet muscles tangling tighter.

When you both need to break the kiss, Jimin doesn't intend to go for another, but raises your leg higher and alignes the tip of his cock on your entrance.

,,Oh my God," you breath out.

Jimin slides his cock up and down your folds, gathering your arousal before he's back on your entrance, slowly pushing in. He breathes heavily, your tight walls latching onto his cock so securely. The more his thick length sinks inside your needy warmth, the presence of the soreness from yesterday night makes itself perceptible. Jimin stretches your walls till he's completely buried inside of you. He stills once he's balls deep in, giving you time to adjust to his size.

,,You're good, baby?" he makes sure, looking you in the eyes. You nod slowly, the feeling of his dick being completely in making it hard to let out any words.

When there's still no attempt of moving from Jimin, you tap his arm that has a hold of your leg in the air. ,,Go on please," you whisper, needing to feel his deep thrusts.

After he hears your wish, desperation lingering in your voice, Jimin bottoms out till only his tip is left inside, but quickly pushes back again. The longing feeling finally getting stilled with his tangy thrusts. Jimin continues his movements, his hips snapping faster and faster from behind you and you just feels so good.

,,Lift your leg for me," he instructs, before leaving his hold on your leg to slide his fingers under your - well, technically his- shirt and palms your breast. Jimin pinches and rolls your nipples between his digits, coaxing louder moans out of you. He furrows his eyebrows, you sweet tones prodding him more on. He relishes in the fact that he is the one making you feel this way, making you moan so sweetly for his hear only. Jimin lets out breathy moans, his pace rapid and hard.

Your hand wanders around his neck, tucking at his hair and he answers with soft groans. Then you push the back of his head closer to yours, pressing your lips against his plush ones and kissing him hungrily. You feel yourself getting closer, you're body reaching your high in a short span of time. Of course Jimin feels it, your walls clenching around his member and greedily wanting to milk him are way too obvious. You retract from the kiss, shutting your eyes close when all the sensations overcome you. Jimin lets go of your breast to nestle his hand between your thighs and soon you feel his thumb circling on your clit.

,,Cream all over me," Jimin murmurs.

The added pleasure on your sensitive bud makes you mewl, biting your lip really hard.

The slick sounds of your pussy getting hammered by Jimins cock and his skin slapping against yours fill the room. Combined with your moans and his breathy sound, makes you so much hornier and all you want to do is to cum around his big cock.

,,I'm- I'm gonna cum!" you warn him, the knot in your stomach getting so close to finally snap.

,,Me too," he pants, his thrusts going faster.

Jimins length kisses your cervix every time his hips shoot back into you. ,,Shit, look at me."

Your head instantly tilts to him, meeting his eyes that were already locked on your face. Your eyebrows knit together, the sharp thrusts of his body making you so close to reach your end. Jimin sinks his teeth into his plump bottom lip, never breaking the intense eye contact with you. Fuck, he looked so hot and stunning.

After a few more hard and deep thrusts, your climax approaches and your hand wanders to his shoulder, digging your nails into his skin. Your legs start to tremble and his hand that was playing with your clit, leaves the wet place to hold your leg up when you have trouble keeping it high because of all the  sensations shooting in your body.

,,Jimin!" you cry, heavy pants following.

It doesn't take long for him to come undone too - only a few thrusts later he spills his cum into the condom, making you feel the way he twitches your quivering hole. Jimin groans loud and nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck, letting go of holding my leg up. And just like that you both lay there - breathing heavily, bodies fully spent and coming down from your high.

Jimins hand wander to your face, cupping your cheek and rubbing soothing strokes with his thumb on your flush skin. He plants a few kisses on your neck, whispering sweet nothings into your ear. Your body tingles, his breath fanning over your skin creating goose bumps over it.

Ever so slowly he bottoms his now softened length out of your walls, your sensitiveness causing you to shiver.

,,It's okay baby, I've got you," he coos, giving your cheek a peck.

You turn around, now laying on your back and looking into his brown orbs. They have this beautiful glisten in them, making me feel like I'm safe when I'm with him. His eyes are full of love. And he could say the same to you.

You both exchange some more smooches here and there, being all cuddly and acting like you didn't already say I love you for a hundred of times in the past already. Your heart flutters every time he says something sweet, grazes his fingers over your skin or plasters sweet kisses all over you.

After some time Jimin stands up, discarding the condom in a bin and throws some boxers on. Then he grabs tissues and comes back to the bed, digging his knee on the mattress and spreading your legs. He tugs your shirt up to clean you and when Jimin is done with that  he pushes the white fabric down again.

,,I'm definitely not gonna prepare breakfast now," you say when he turns around to get rid of the dirty tissue.

,,I can do it," Jimin answers, turning to you again. His abs were on full display and you can't prevent yourself from looking at his firm chest before looking into his eyes again.

,,Mhm, you can?" you cock an eyebrow.

,,You don't think I'm able to make the same breakfast as you?" he asks back.

,,Of course I think you can to it, babyy," you  tease him and giggle after he furrows his eyebrows, an angry pout displayed on his lips.

,,I'm gonna show you," he says competitively and leaves the room, making his way to the kitchen.

And yes, he did indeed show you.

In fact, he showed you the burned rice he attempted to cook.

[softinkshadows]

battlefield encounters (gojo, nanami, geto, sukuna) (part 3)

Some short vignettes of jjk men x female reader imagined scenarios, where reader meets them for the first time in the middle of a fight (all taking place within the same world and timeline of the manga/anime, although as parallel storylines). Geto Suguru “You disgust me.” His voice is hot against your ear as his strong hands slam you against the wall, nails digging into your flesh. “What is a filthy human like you doing here at this hour?” You try to turn and speak, but your face is pressed hard to the crushed stone wall, and you can feel a thin trickle of blood dripping down the side of your cheek. On most days, Geto would not even deign to touch a human trespasser, preferring to unleash one of his low-level curses on them instead. But today, he is in the mood to get his hands dirty. 10 hours ago, you had received a tip-off at the agency that some nefarious dealings might be underway at a temple on the outskirts of Chiba prefecture. Some suspicious deaths and probable connection to the Star Religious group, the report had said. Now, it is night, and here you are unceremoniously pinned to the outer façade of the main temple by a stranger, your hands held behind your back, agonisingly out of reach from the gun on your holster. “Talk.” His tone is sharp and dominant. A rough grip twists your head to the side, allowing you to finally catch your breath. Lessons from your years of training begin to swarm your mind. Play dumb. “I-I’m a fellow devotee,” you stutter nervously, praying whoever is behind you won’t notice the gun at your belt, and quietly thanking the gods that you wore a long coat to hide it today. “I’m a new joiner, and I heard from a friend inside that there were night sessions as well.” You are spun around, back to the wall. Your hands, still caught in the vice-like hold of his pale arms, are starting to feel bruised. A man with long black hair stands inches away from you, dark locks falling over his face, his flowing robes brushing up against your thighs. His black eyes are terrifyingly cold, piercing, and you catch them glancing to the wound on your head. For a moment, he looks pleased. A shudder runs through you. “A devotee, hmm?” he murmurs thoughtfully, though his eyes never leave yours. There’s something about his gaze, the way he’s holding you, that suddenly fills you with vertigo, as if you’ve tumbled off the edge of the universe and found yourself on its flip side, a darker, frightening world that no one should ever have to encounter. You feel your guise slipping away. Oh god, he knows. Your body tenses. His fingers now stroke the inside of your palms, running them lightly across your heavily calloused skin, the scars from all the combat you’ve faced throughout your time at the agency. The hands of an experienced fighter. His mouth turns up in a slight smirk. “You’re not a very good liar.” ---- Ryomen Sukuna “Hurry up, Itadori,” you yell over your shoulder, scaling the large stone boulders dotting the forest path, moving deeper into the trees. The sun is setting, and the way downhill will be getting dark. But the pink-haired brat is still at the clearing, gawking loudly and admiring the cityscape of Tokyo from the viewing point. So much for babysitting a small-town bumpkin, you groan inwardly, pausing to wait for him. The day before, Gojo had called in a favour. As always, that smart-mouthed ass didn’t bother to give much information. The boy known as Sukuna’s vessel was recovering from a fight with some “patchwork curse,” and both him and Nanami would be busy with jobs the next day, so “would you please look after him, being the independent ‘window’ that jujutsu society doesn’t know about, and oh, by the way everyone thinks he’s dead!” Bewildered, you didn’t have much of a choice but to accept, given how Gojo had been helping to keep your identity under wraps for the last few years. Thus resulting in you having to entertain the boy with a low-key sightseeing tour of Tokyo. “Sorry Y/N-san!” Finally, you hear Itadori’s light footsteps approach from a distance. He catches up with you easily, his physical prowess allowing him to leap from boulder to boulder with ease, even in the growing darkness. You don’t hear the chant that follows next, and neither does Itadori. “Enchain.” The forest grows cold. You feel the cursed energy leaking out from behind you like a frothing pit, curling and extending its tendrils towards your feet. The hairs on the back of your neck stand frigid. You turn around fast, knowing that the person in front of you is no longer the annoyingly cheerful brat you spent the afternoon taking care of. Why now? “Sukuna,” you hiss, moving into a defensive stance. This is a troublesome scenario. In the worst case… your eyes flit to the set of bronze cursed rings on your fingers. You may even have to use it. Not even Gojo, bearer of the Six Eyes, knew about that. He emerges from the shadows into the faint moonlight, torso bared, revealing the black tattoos running across his body. He stretches his arms as if they have stiffened from a long slumber. Now he’s awake and ready. The glint in his eye unsettles you. “I’ve been meaning to have a chat with you,” Sukuna says. His voice is flippant, though edged with curiosity. Like a king seated on his throne casting a second glance beneath him out of amusement. “To what do I owe this honour?” you scoff sarcastically, gritting your teeth. Then, sharp pain courses through you, and the air is knocked out of your lungs. You feel yourself crashing through tree bark, the wood splintering and scraping your skin. When you come to on your knees, slightly dazed and mouth tasting of blood, you realize Sukuna is already standing over you. A strong hand grabs you by the throat, lifting your body off the ground. “Now, I don’t have much time.” You can feel the pressure building in your chest, as you grasp the thick hands around your neck. In most cases, you’d have kicked your way out by now, but Sukuna’s cursed energy is so immense it paralyzes you, especially in your current state. He continues. “Gojo Satoru thinks you’re just a non-sorcerer who can see curses, but that’s not the case, isn’t it?” He rams your body against the tree, making you gasp in pain and cough from his hold earlier. Blood trickles over your eyelids. He leans close to you, nose almost touching, eyes boring into yours. His left hand remains closed over your throat. His right grabs your left hand forcefully, raising it close to his face. “This…” he smirks, pressing so hard on the cursed rings on your fingers that you wince, “has a pretty interesting ability, after all.” Your eyes widen, then narrow in irritation. Shit. Of all the people who could know about this, it has to be him. Then again it makes sense, given how long the king of curses has been around. He strokes your cheek with a finger, making you grimace. You feel his punishing fingers about to pull the rings loose. Your heart hammers wildly. “Show me my dear,” he whispers slowly, “what you’re hiding.” ---- Notes: The Sukuna portion makes some references to the binding vow made between him and Itadori Yuuji. A ‘window’, like Ijichi-san, refers to non-sorcerers at Jujutsu Tech who can see curses and help to report curse sightings/missions. Hope you guys liked this one and hope it tingled your imaginations~~ --- Taglist (っ˘ω˘ς ) : @encrytpta @wilddreamer98

[nobodyfamousposts]

BURN THE WITCH! - Part 8

Finally! It is finished.

Also...warnings I guess for itchiness. And severe scratching due to itchiness.

Here goes:

Lila was prideful. Exceedingly so. But let it not be said she was too prideful to know when it was time to jump ship.

And the ship that was Paris was sinking fast.

All thanks to Ladybug, of course. Because “Little Miss Righteousness” just had to stick her nose into Lila’s business. How dare that insect make a fool out of her?

She would have had to leave soon anyway. While she could certainly come up with a new story to fool her classmates and explain away the previous unfortunate incident, it would still be difficult since they were starting to wise up and it would be harder to keep them under her thumb if she stayed much longer. While the akuma had been dealt with and everyone’s memories erased, Lila didn’t want to take any chances.

Then there was the matter with Hawk Moth. She had some suspicion of his identity—but that was all it was: suspicion. The evidence she had to go on was circumstantial at best. Unless she could find something to confirm it, it was useless. And even if she was right, there wasn’t much likelihood that she would be able to make use of it without proof.

She clenched her fists in growing rage at the reminder.

How dare he turn on her like that?!

There was something that grated at her knowing that she would be leaving things unfinished. That she would be letting him get away unscathed. She at least wanted to get some sort of payback for him leaving her to dry.

If there was any real justice in the world, she would get the chance to try and take his Miraculous for herself. Wouldn’t that be ironic? Especially after how he had cut ties with her.

But now he would expect her to try something. He may even try to take her out himself first. It was what Lila would do in his place.

No, it was better to cut her losses. She still had the an exemplary school record. She still had her position and experience as a model to take with her. She could just move somewhere new and start over. There was nothing worth staying in Paris for anyway. She was getting bored here.

Her decision had absolutely nothing to do with Ladybug’s threat though! Ladybug was clearly the one jealous of her! She wasn’t scared of that pathetic little bug! She was too much of a goody-goody to actually do anything to Lila herself! Ladybug was supposed to be held to a higher standard, after all! She was just bluffing! She wouldn’t actually do anything to her! So Lila had no reason to be scared! And she wasn’t!

It took a moment for Lila to realize her hand holding the phone was trembling. She bit back a curse and clutched the hand with the other to hide it and force the them to still. But when that didn’t work, she set the phone on speaker before putting it on its stand on the table.

Lila’s mother, bless her, was ignorant of this inner turmoil—or if she was aware, she simply attributed it to Lila’s claims. The woman was all too willing to blindly trust her precious daughter. All Lila had to do was use that and soon Paris and all its problems would be nothing but a bad memory.

She busied with drying her hair with a towel while regaling her mother with the tale of the latest attack—albeit a heavily edited version. Honestly though, wasn’t that stupid Cure of Ladybug’s supposed to fix everything to how it was before the attack? So shouldn’t she have been dry already? And back in her new designer clothes?

As it was, her fall in the Seine had left her hair a mess, and she barely had time to simply wash it properly, much less take the good long soak she really craved. She was fortunate enough that there had been time to return home and try to clean up at all. And especially to get rid of those clothes she had “borrowed“ from Marinette’s home. The last thing she needed was to be seen running around in that. Not that there was anything wrong with the clothes themselves, but questions would no doubt arise as to where she had gotten them or why she was wearing them. And the last thing she needed was for her mother and Marinette of all people to meet.

After a moment of consideration, she twisted the towel just enough to cause her pain. With a hiss and a gasp, it sounded quite like she had been crying. Enough to fool someone who was not physically there at any rate.

“I just miss Home. It’s been so long.” She said, ending with a sniffle that may have been partly exaggerated and may have been partly a sign of a cold coming on.

“But what about your friends? You just seemed to be getting so settled in Paris. You even have a boyfriend. From what you’ve been telling me, you two are awfully close. You have a difficult enough time seeing each other as it is. Won’t moving just make it worse?”

Geez, the woman was being annoyingly persistent today.

“We can write and video chat.” Lila replied easily. She could just “break it off” later. Maybe claim he’d been cheating on her. That was usually good for some sympathy points.

Her mother paused at that. “But long distance relationships are much more difficult. And I thought you liked it in Paris? You’ve been doing so well here. I hadn’t seen you so happy in a long time.”

Of course she’d been happy. She had people devoted to her every whim, fame and connections as a model, and a cushy front row seat to the downfall of that so-called hero.

Lila narrowly avoided clicking her tongue in irritation. Why did her mother have to be so parentally concerned now of all times?

“But Mom, I’m just worried about all of the akumas!” She said with exaggerated earnesty. “This last one was really dangerous! I could have been killed!” She bit her lip and hitched her breath, as if trying to hold back tears. Or hide her lack of them. It was a good thing her mother wasn’t there to see and possibly call her out on it.

Not that she would. She was such a good mother like that. Overly trusting and easily duped. How many teenagers could say they were so lucky?

“I’ve tried to make the best of Paris, but it’s just too much!” Lila cried.

“Oh, my poor dear!” Came her mothers’s voice over the phone. “I’m so sorry I didn’t realize how much this move has had an effect on you.”

In that instant, she knew she had good as won. From the safety of her home and with no one in direct sight, Lila allowed herself a smug grin of victory before schooling her expression back to that of the pitiful child she wanted the older woman to see her as. No one may have been there to see it, but as an avid actress of her skill level, it helped her to match her desired tone and inflection with an appropriate expression. She gasped loudly and grabbed the phone to bring it closer to her.

“But Mom, I know how important this job is to you! I don’t want to get in the way...”

“It’s all right, dear. I can contact your aunt and have you stay with her and your cousins until I can finish things here.”

That made her frown.

Lila’s aunt was...not ideal, as her cousins had been among the earlier victims of Lila’s manipulations. She dared say her aunt favored her over any of her children by the time she’d left them. And her cousins were wary of her to say the least after the way she had played them against each other and themselves. But that had been a couple of years ago and she couldn’t be sure they hadn’t caught on and solidified their relationships to better counter her.

Still, if Paris was any indication of how easily people could be fooled and turned against one another, she could probably manage it again.

“Lila?” Her mother called, drawing her attention back. “Are you all right?”

Lila played up the uncertainty. “I don’t know…I wouldn’t want to cause you or Auntie trouble…I can just stay here.” She looked down and to the side and spoke tonelessly, the picture of a dejected daughter. “I’m sure I can just try to put my fear aside and make the best of it…”

“Nonsense!” Her mother exclaimed. “You should never have to make yourself suffer like that!”

There was the sound of papers being shifted, followed by the clicking of a mouse. No doubt her mother was already looking into the procedure on how to transfer.

“I only want you to be safe and well, mi bella.” Her mother said, softly. “And if Paris isn’t the best fit for you, then I’ll discuss the matter with the Embassy and see about ending my assignment early.”

“But Mom, you don’t have to! I can manage, really!” She half-heartedly attempted. “The heroes are even starting to do a…half-way decent job.”

Her mother scoffed. “A job that they have been at for over a year and still can’t manage! It’s clearly not safe here if the city’s own heroes can’t even do their jobs properly.”

Hook.

“But let’s get you taken out of that school first.”

Line.

Lila smirked, unseen.

“Thank you, Mom.”

Sinker.

__________________

Another loss. And a worse one, even.

Witch Hunter had been ruthless and efficient. Perhaps one of his better creations to date. Her powers to know one’s sins and enthrall anyone who heard her announcements soon gained her the entirety of Paris under her sway—and by extension, his. That the powers specifically targeted one girl would have been a disadvantage had the girl in question not had such a…sordid history. That history fortunately gave plenty of opportunities to rally others to the cause, but as evidenced from the fight, it still had limitations.

If only Lila had some ounce of subtlety. Then even Ladybug would have been affected by Witch Hunter, and both Miraculous would have been willingly handed over to him if it meant getting rid of the girl in exchange. The key had been that Ladybug’s opinion of Lila had already been so low that no “reveal” of her misdeeds had been enough to enthrall her.

How curious. He had been aware of Lila’s grudge against Ladybug, but he hadn’t realized that the feelings were mutual. Just what had Lila done to make Ladybug despise her so?

He could hazard a guess, but not any that would lead him anywhere. Lila’s list of crimes was rather extensive. And despite the knowledge he had of her, even he couldn’t boast immunity to the rage.

So what had kept Ladybug from giving up on her?

Was it Ladybug’s Miraculous that protected her? Some sort of inner strength? Or was she already aware of his use of Lila? But even if she was aware, how would that be enough?

He had been able to keep his head, but some of the things he heard had been enough to turn his stomach and make him question his alliance with her. He had been accepting at first of her audacity in how she approached him on both sides of the mask, as she presented herself as useful and willing to aid him. And she had been useful, he would give her that. Her main concern was having others under her sway and she was willing to do anything to maintain it…even remove anyone who would become a threat to her.

He hadn’t lied when he told Lila she was of no more use to him. But that hadn’t been the entire truth. Given what he now realized, she was more of a threat than he had ever considered. He couldn’t put it past her to try to figure out his identity to take his Miraculous for herself.

He took a breath.

Perhaps...he needed to reconsider the girl’s position? On both sides of the mask.

“Sir? What should be done about Lila Rossi?” While the interruption from Nathalie was timely, it didn’t truly disrupt his current thought process.

It was a good question. She had been a willing ally and useful tool in manipulating people. He certainly had praise for her skills.

But...

Perhaps he should have been more cautious and try to question just how she obtained those skills?

As well as her intentions for the future. For himself and especially for his son.

How much did she know? Had she discovered him? Did she suspect? What plans did she have? And now that she had been revealed as a willing ally, what information could others get out of her that could lead back to him?

Lila Rossi was a threat. He could see that now.

But just how much of a risk was she? How much did he risk if she were allowed to remain free? It was clear Ladybug knew of their alliance, and she would be keeping an eye on the girl from here on out. What else could she gain from Lila if he didn’t remove her?

“Sir?”

He paused, considering for a moment.

Then came to a decision.

“Nothing.”

Nathalie started at that in surprise.

“Her contract with the company will be terminated, of course.” He stated, turning to go to his desk and prepare to sign the necessary paperwork. “The company will put out an official statement that we deny any knowledge of her history or dealings, and that we disavow her actions. Anything else is already held under a nondisclosure agreement she signed upon her hiring. Though we should prepare legal action if she attempts to retaliate.”

“But…what should be done about her assistance to you as Hawk Moth?” Nathalie asked.

He straightened.

“Nothing.” He repeated. And he did not like to repeat himself.

“Sir? Is that wise? She has been an accomplice.” She warned him with a frown. “What if she has learned who you are? She could become dangerous.”

He sighed.

“She is a loose thread. But to act on it at this point and try to remove her will only backfire. Ladybug will doubtless be keeping an eye on her from now on. We would risk more if we were caught trying to get rid of her.”

“But since you left her to Witch Hunter’s mercy, she may try to retaliate against you.”

Oh, of that he had little doubt. It was in her nature to turn on those who would not play by her rules.

He had little choice at that point. Witch Hunter and all of Paris were focused solely on seeing the girl punished. He had no way of knowing Ladybug wasn’t already part of the crowd by that time. His mistake was underestimating Ladybug’s will, but even then, would he really have responded differently?

Lila Rossi had lost her use as a tool, and with her antics had used up any good will he had towards her. She lacked the subtlety or even the good sense to simply limit the extent of her lies lest she be found out and face backlash. But much like Miss Bourgeois, she seemed inclined to push the limits of what she could get away with. And unfortunately, with superheroes and villains in Paris, the bounds of what she could normally get away with had increased drastically. Even worse was that she fully seemed to believe she ‘deserved’ the praise and attention simply for claiming things she had never done.

And given how one of her first actions was to buy a trinket to pass off as a false Miraculous and proclaim herself a hero, how long would it have taken for her to decide that she ‘deserved’ a Miraculous as well?

“It was only a matter of time before she set her sights too high. It would be better to cut her off now before she got any ideas about taking a Miraculous, even if it was my own.”

He couldn’t put it past her. Because as much as she despised Ladybug, how could such a girl be satisfied only with her destruction? If she did aid in Ladybug’s defeat, she’d likely just take the Ladybug Miraculous for herself at the first opportunity, and then Gabriel would be back at square one.

No, worse. Because Lila Rossi wouldn’t risk herself for others. It was highly likely she would run away with the Miraculous and then he would lose any chance of obtaining it in this lifetime.

…

Lila Rossi had her uses, but it was best to cut his losses with her now. And Witch Hunter had been the prime time to do so.

It would have been foolish of him to risk his hold over Witch Hunter just to spare Lila at that point. But there was no doubt that she will seek retribution for it. She was certainly spiteful enough, even when it would be to her own detriment.

Still…

“That girl has caused enough problems. We don’t need her interfering with our plans.“

Nathalie clutched her tablet, still worried. “But if she knows…if she tries to reveal you…”

“Lila Rossi is a liar.” He stated as he pulled up news footage of the latest akuma fight. “She is a liar and now people know it. Anything she thinks she knows, we can dismiss as a jilted teenager with delusions of grandeur and an unhealthy interest in my son.”

He paused for a moment, then leaned back in his chair to look to his assistant.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the tale of the ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’?”

“I am familiar with it, yes.” She replied, albeit confused as to the sudden subject change. “But what does that have to do with this?”

“In the story, the boy is eaten. But his final claim is ultimately proven true, for all the good it does him.” He looked back to the footage, pausing it on Lila’s expression while she was on the pyre.

“But if we do not respond…if Hawk Moth does nothing to silence her, there is no ‘proof’ to her claims. People will suspect it to be another lie. Even moreso, that it’s merely an attempt to get back at me as her ‘former employer’. There will be no ‘wolf’ to validate her claims, even once she’s gone. So yes, we will leave Miss Rossi to her daily life. Let her say what she may think she knows.”

He smirked.

“She could scream it to the world and no one would believe her.”

__________________

It took a while for them to have their conversation and for Marinette to dry her tears. By the time she was able to reach some level of calm, it was almost time to return to school.

One would think that they would be allowed the rest of the day to recover from the akuma attack, but Paris as a whole and the school in particular seemed used to the frequent interruptions by this point. Though perhaps it was more of a testament to Ladybug’s efficiency in dealing with akumas.

…as well as the efficiency of the civilians to set up an entire festival on a spur of the moment. Perhaps she should recommend they try another one at some point? One that doesn’t involve lighting anyone on fire?

When she went downstairs, she found her parents in something of a state of worry. They looked up in surprise when she came down, but were relieved to see her.

“Marinette? When did you get home? I didn’t see you come in.” Tom said.

“A little while ago. We must have just missed each other.” Marinette replied quickly. Then frowned when she notice their expressions. “Is everything okay?”

“There was an akuma attack earlier and one of your schoolmates came here.” Sabine explained. “We had tried to help her and allowed her to change clothes here into something dry, but she took it upon herself to go into your room.”

Marinette’s eyes widened. “What?!”

“I don’t know what she was doing in there.” Sabine huffed, angrily. “When I caught her, she tried to claim she had gotten lost. Then your father had gotten a text message from Nadja about a ‘Witch’ and she took off running.”

Lila. There was no one else it could have been. Which meant she had probably done something to sabotage her.

Great. Just great.

They had checked her room and taken pictures of how she left it since they were uncertain of what she may have messed with. As it stood, they wanted to know if anything had been stolen and were questioning whether to call the police.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Her father told her.

“We both are. She was soaked and we had wanted to give her some privacy while she changed.” Sabine shook her head. “I hadn’t thought she would go roaming around the house, much less sneak into your room.”

Tom rested a hand on Sabine’s shoulder. “We should follow up on this though. Maybe Roger will have some advice.”

Sabine nodded to him before turning to her daughter. “Will that be all right, dear?”

Marinette hesitated.

She would be lying if she said she wasn’t frustrated. With them. With the situation. All of it.

In their defense, they hadn’t realized it was Lila. And even if they had, they weren’t aware of just how horrible Lila truly was. Despite Marinette’s pleas of innocence during her expulsion, her parents hadn’t fully taken her word for it and even afterwards hadn’t quite believed that Lila was a chronic liar.

But there was a part of her—the part that was still full of indignant anger over the incident and would have formed the core of the Princess Justice akuma Hawk Moth had wanted her to be—that blamed them. If they had just listened to her back then. If they had simply heard her out. If they had believed her about Lila.

They should have known. They should have recognized Lila. They should have remembered what she had done before and at the very least thought to keep an eye on her just in case she tried anything like she had before.

…but Marinette didn’t have it in her to hold a grudge. Especially after what she had seen with Lila and her own grudge.

It wasn’t their fault, it was Lila’s. And while she was irritated with her parents for their negligence, she was willing to forgive them and keep her focus on the one who really deserved her ire.

So for now, she would try to move forward and do what she could.

“I’m not happy about it. But if anything can be done, I’d like to see if we could.”

Her parents agreed and offered reassurances that they would try to address the issue. They also promised her they would be more cautious in the future, which was nice fo them. They offered to let her stay home from school, but that was one thing she had to turn down.

Whatever Lila had done, Marinette probably wouldn’t know until Lila revealed it. It made her dread returning to school. But she couldn’t keep putting it off. If she went now, she could at least try to meet with the others and head off anything Lila could do.

So she made a quick rush to the kitchen to get a small lunch for herself and some cookies for Tikki. With her parents otherwise occupied, that meant that Tikki could come out of hiding and they could talk freely for a bit longer.

“Marinette, maybe you should take a break and stay home for the rest of the school day?” Tikki suggested. And wow, she was certainly taking this ‘be more supportive’ role to heart.

Something in Marinette warmed at that. And in any other circumstances, she would happily have taken Tikki’s advice.

“I’m fine, Tikki. Really.”

Tikki frowned, clearly not buying it. “But you’ve spent half of your day dealing with the crisis caused by Lila and then the akuma that was caused by that crisis, all while trying to keep Lila safe. Even when she was working against you.”

Yeah. There was that.

“You did a lot today. Both as Ladybug and Marinette.” Tikki continued. “No one would fault you if you let yourself recover.”

Marinette hesitated at that.

It was tempting. She was tired. And if she was being honest, she really just wanted to sleep and not deal with anything until tomorrow at least.

But…

She bit her lip.

For all that Tikki’s words made sense and clearly came from a place of concern for her, Marinette couldn’t help but be reminded of only a couple hours ago where Tikki had been trying to convince her to let Lila burn.

She knew that this was different. A matter of self care and health. But even though it’s something she’s wanted and something she appreciates hearing from her kwami, it still felt so strange now that she was experiencing it.

This was something she was going to have to get used to. And she would, she was sure. After all, Tikki was clearly trying for her. And Marinette wanted nothing more than to reciprocate—and also to just drop off into sweet blessed sleep…

However…

“I need to see this through.” She stated, resolutely.

She needed to get back to the school. Both for class and to check on her friends.

After all, even if her Miraculous Cure had fixed the damage caused from the akuma, that didn’t mean her friends were fine. And she still wanted to check in on Rose at the very least.

Tikki looked up at her sadly. Then she floated over and nuzzled Marinette’s cheek, showing her silent support.

It only took a few minutes to gather the rest of her things and make her way to the school.

Even if Tikki assured her that what happened wasn’t her fault, Marinette still felt the need to apologize to Rose for what had happened. Maybe they could still find some way to fix things.

She reached the school in minutes and had almost immediately run into one of her classmates.

Just not the one she had been expecting.

“Adrien?”

He spun to face her, appearing nervous. Even panicked.

“Oh, hey! Marinette! Hi! Hey, um…hey.” He finished, looking embarrassed. “How…are you?”

“I’m fine. Just…have a lot on my mind.” She shrugged. “Just…with Rose and the akuma and everything.”

“Good. That’s good. Well, not good-good about the akuma. But good that you’re okay. Um. Me too.” He looked away, clearly still nervous.

She frowned in concern. “Are you okay?”

“Fine! I’m fine! Just…y’know…got caught up in the akuma attack and was one of her minions for a while. But Ladybug saved me so we’re good.” He said with a not fully sincere smile.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She hadn’t recalled seeing Adrien among the mob. But given how big it had gotten, she wouldn’t be surprised.

He hesitated for a moment before speaking. 

“Marinette…one of the things Witch Hunter said…” He looked her in the eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me Lila had threatened you?”

She straightened in shock. “What?!”

He rubbed the back of his head, looking to the ground. “I’m sorry, it’s just…she said a lot of things Lila had done that I hadn’t known. Like…well…” The book. Her framing Adrien for insulting Nino. Her working with his father. “How she threatened you?”

“Oh.” She said, a bit blankly. Because what else could she say?

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He implored her. “I had said we were in this together, but…you didn’t tell me she did that.”

It was true. She hadn’t.

But…why hadn’t she?

“I…didn’t think it was a big deal?”

Why was she asking him instead of telling him?

“Not a big—Marinette, she threatened you!” His eyes widened in realization. “Her expelling you was part of her threat, wasn’t it?”

She flinched, but nodded.

“Just…why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you! I would have done more!”

She waved her hands frantically, trying to console him. “It’s okay, Adrien! Really! You were only—it was just…”

A tap at her leg caught her attention. It came from her purse. A quick glance downward revealed Tikki looking up at her from the safety of the clutch she carried with her. The little kwami remained hidden to Adrien, fortunately, but visible to her. Tikki looked up at her with wide eyes and gave a smile and small nod of encouragement.

Why would she—?

Oh.

Oh, right.

“No.” She admitted. “It’s not okay.”

She had been spending months now convincing herself that things were okay when they weren’t. That she was okay when she wasn’t. And that if she at any point felt she wasn’t okay, it was a failing on her part.

That wasn’t a healthy way to live, as she was only just now starting to understand that.

“I don’t know if you realize this, but I’ve been listening to you on things because I look up to you. I took your advice because I trusted you and believed that you only had everyone’s best interest at heart.”

“But I did!” He insisted automatically before catching himself. “I mean, I thought I was...”

“I trusted you over my own intuition. I listened to you when you kept emphasizing the feelings of others over my own. Chloe was bad enough, but Lila too? Even if they were the ones who were horrible, it felt like I was expected to just...” She struggled for a moment to find the wording to accurately convey her feelings before simply shrugging. “Just deal with it.”

He winced. He hadn’t realized the impact he’d had.

“Because of that,” she continued, “whenever I started to have an issue, I brushed it off because I figured that if there was a problem with someone and something they were doing...well, it was just me, right? So I had to do the right thing. I had to be the bigger person. I had to be the ‘Everyday Ladybug’. Even when I didn’t feel like I could be.”

She took a breath.

“And that wasn’t fair to me.”

He looked up at her. Sad and worried and sympathetic all in one. “I never meant to make you feel like you didn’t matter. I just thought...”

“Chloe’s your friend so it makes sense that you’d want to defend her.” Marinette reasoned. “But Lila, too?” She wrung her hands. “They both did horrible things. They both hurt me...really badly. And it felt like you’ve cared more about their feelings than mine.”

“That’s not it!” He exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. “I just...I know they aren’t then nicest, but they’re struggling. It’s…harder for them than it is for you.“

“If they’re having a hard time, it’s because it’s entirely of their own making. Chloe has been bullying everyone for years, so it’s not our fault that we don’t want to continue to deal with that mistreatment. And Lila has been actively lying to everyone not to be like, but just so she can manipulate them. I get that you care, but your attempts to protect the people you see as ‘needing it’ has resulted in harm to other people who don’t deserve it. You aren’t just enabling them...you’re rewarding them.

“You said to take the highroad, but whatever the highroad is, I don’t think that’s it.”

He gaped at her, some combination of shocked and horrified.

“But I haven’t been encouraging any of this! I tried to help you! I made a deal with her so she would get you back into school.“

Well, that was something she hadn’t known. Although his sudden friendliness with Lila had been suspicious. As had the schools sudden change of heart about her expulsion. But she hadn’t realized the two had been related.

She was grateful to him. Truly. He had only done it for her.

However...

“I never asked you to.”

She wouldn’t have wanted it had she known.

“I never asked you to become Lila’s toy or put yourself in such a bad position for my sake. I only asked you to stand by me and support me.”

She had turned to him that day, wanting him—just someone who knew the truth to speak up in her defense.

To say she was innocent.

To admit that Lila had lied.

To just say she was believed. That she was worth believing in.

“And you didn’t.“

He stared at her. Long and hard. As if this had never occurred to him before. He seemed unable to speak for a full minute.

Until…

“I’m sorry.“

She jumped in surprise.

“I was a hypocrite. I knew she was lying but I convinced myself it wasn’t that bad. And even when I knew people were hurt, it didn’t matter until her lies hurt me.”

He gave a weak laugh.

“Witch Hunter…did you know? The way her power worked was that you only fell under her spell when she announced something Lila did that truly makes you angry.”

He covered his face. In resignation? In guilt?

“I only fell under Witch Hunter’s spell when she revealed Lila had been spying on me for my father. Not when I found out what she did to Rose. Not when I found out what she did to Nino. Not even when I found out what she did to you.” He shook his head. “It only mattered, really truly mattered when it affected me.”

He hung his head in shame.

“I’m a real jerk.”

The denial was automatic on her lips.

“You aren’t a jerk!” She insisted. “You were just—”

He gave a bitter laugh, cutting her off.

“I was so proud of myself that day. When I told you to take the highroad and not out Lila.”

He looked up at her smiling humorlessly.

“Do you know what it’s like to watch you? All the time, I see you doing the right thing. Standing up for people. Doing things to make people happy. Making things better.”

He sighed.

“It felt...it felt good being the one you would listen to and follow.” He admitted. “You were looking up to me and taking my advice. I was so proud of myself! I got to be the one who had solved the problem and made everything better!” He announced with a wave of his hands in an exaggerated fashion before slumping down.

“I’m such an idiot.”

She stared.

He…really admired her that much?

And at that time, he’d just been trying to impress her?

That…hadn’t been the inclination she had gotten at all. It had just felt that he was admonishing her at those times for not being the bigger person. Looking back, now that she was willing to admit it, it had felt like more expectations and double standards.

“I can’t say what you did was okay, because it wasn’t. Lila was able to hurt me. And now she’s hurt Rose and everyone else now because neither of us spoke up when we should have.”

She took a breath.

“But I think I get it. About wanting someone you care about to listen and look up to you. Because that was how I’ve felt about you.”

He jumped and looked up at her in surprise.

Because when it came down to it, hadn’t she been the same? Doing things that had hurt her or others because she had been so focused on Adrien and wanting him to think well of her?

Was it ironic that it was only now, after everything that had happened this day, that she could finally voice even a bit of the feelings she has for him?

They just weren’t the feelings she thought she’d ever be sharing…

But maybe, she thought as she felt Tikki’s comforting presence by her side, these were the ones she needed to?

“It hurts that even when I’m doing the right thing and you say you’re with me, it still feels like you’re not really on my side. Even—especially when I’ve let things get this far at your request.”

“I didn’t mean—I’m sorry—” He started, but he broke off as she raised a hand to stop him.

“I just...” She shook her head. “If we really are friends, I wish you would show it more. And...that you would stand up for me the way you do for them.”

He stared at her in shock. Perhaps a bit of horror as her words really got to him.

“I’m sorry.” He murmured. “I never meant to make you feel that way. I never wanted you to think I don’t care.”

He stood straight and held out his arms to her in clear indication of…something. But she was exhausted—both mentally and physically as it was and her mind was a bit slow to catch just what he was intending to do.

“I know you can handle things, Marinette. You’re strong. And brave. It’s why I know I can trust you when things get tough. But…that you can handle things doesn’t mean you should have to. It doesn’t mean you don’t need support.”

He smiled at her. And oh damn, that smile. It was like a miniature sun and she couldn’t help but stare even as her brain was yelling at her to look away.

The next thing she knew, she was in his arms and…oh…this must be how being held by the sun felt like…

“I want to be someone who you can count on to support you, Marinette.”

Oh. Okay. Nice. This was nice. More of this please. More of just all of this.

The hug must have lasted an eternity. An hour at least? Because it felt like forever until she was drawn out of the soothing feeling by a rumbling and a series of sounds that seemed to mean something…

Could she just…stay like this? For a day or two? Maybe the rest of her life? Tikki tried, bless her, but kwami arms just weren’t the same as human arms and the feeling of being wrapped up in sunshine was bliss.

Oh wait, he was talking more. She should probably be listening right now.

“—contract. Maybe I could talk to them? See what else they know of that could help?”

“Hmm?”

She was dazed and completely out of it, something Adrien seemed to pick up on as he released his hold (noo, don’t do that!) and backed away (noooooo) to arm’s length to look her over.

“Marinette? Are you okay?”

She blinked a few times as her mind reoriented to where she was.

And more specifically to who she was with.

“Oh! Right! Fine! You’re fine—I mean, I’M fine. Just…” She sighed, rubbing at one eye with the palm of her hand. “Just a…long day.”

Maybe she should have stayed home after all if just one hug could do that…

Adrien seemed to notice this and frowned in concern. He took in her state and apparently there was something about her appearance she had missed earlier because he seemed to get the same idea.

“Marinette, are you okay? If you’re tired, maybe you should go home and rest?”

She shook her head insistently. “No. I can’t.”

He rested a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to push yourself. Remember? I’m going to support you. And I know everyone else would understand.”

She didn’t think they wouldn’t. But as much as she just wanted to sleep until tomorrow and skip the rest of this day, she wasn’t sure she would be able to relax at home if she didn’t know what was happening with her friends.

“If nothing else, I want to check up on Rose.” Seeing that he looked ready to argue, she rushed on. “I need this. Please.”

He hesitated. And she was worried he would push the issue, because she was sure that she would give in if he did. She just did not have the energy to argue at this point. Fortunately though, he seemed to understand as he took her arm in his.

“Okay. But I’ll be right here with you.”

Any other day, she would be a stammering mess if Adrien were to take her arm and walk with her like this.

Today, she was simply grateful.

__________________

It didn’t take them too long to find Rose. She was in the hallway talking with Alya. The two seemed deep in conversation that they didn’t notice the duo approach.

“Rose!” Marinette exclaimed, loosening her arm from Adrien’s hold and rushing to her friend. “Are you okay?”

The blonde looked up at her, tearful.

“I’m okay.” She murmured as she wiped at her eyes. 

“But are you?” Alya broke in, asking Marinette. “Girl, I saw the footage!”

Marinette blinked.

“Footage?” She asked, and then started to back away at the expression on Alya’s face.

Alya could be headstrong, but she never really got angry. Upset, certainly. Annoyed, often. But even in the heights of Lila’s worst attempts to make Marinette look bad, Alya had never truly gotten angry—just righteous and in Marinette’s opinion that was admittedly a bit resentful at the time, acting a bit superior. Perhaps the only time she had ever seen her friend look truly angry was during Hero’s Day, and even then it took a hit from Dark Cupid and Hawk Moth’s control to get her there.

So seeing Alya looking ready to claw someone’s eyes out was…unsettling, to say the least.

Even Adrien apparently seemed to think so, as he moved up to Marinette and almost seemed to position himself slightly between them. “Alya? What happened?”

Despite Adrien’s attempt to act as a barrier, Marinette tried to reach out, concerned for her friend’s state. The way she was looking, Marinette half wondered if she wasn’t still affected by Witch Hunter. A quick glance to a worried Rose disproved that easily enough, but perhaps it was a remnant of her power the Cure missed? “Are you okay?”

“What do you mean am I okay? Are YOU okay?!” Alya shouted, pointing at Marinette. “Girl, I saw what what happened with you and Lila!”

Marinette jumped. Her mind immediately raced to her call out of Lila just a little over an hour ago. Did someone record her going off? Was there something that had revealed her as Ladybug? Had she messed up?!

“What?! No wait—it’s not what you—I didn’t mean—!”

Alya was pulling up her phone, and by the time she turned it so that Marinette and Adrien could see, the video already started playing. The video was recorded from someone within the akuma’s mob—not yet grown to the level of the city yet.

Marinette briefly recognized that the location in the video seemed familiar but hadn’t quite registered how when a sudden commotion caught the attention of the group. The person recording turned the camera sharply, which blurred and then focused on a fallen figure a short distance away.

“—conspirator helping the Witch! Someone grab her!”

…oh. That figure was her.

And the moment when Lila had betrayed her and tried to sacrifice her to the mob.

“Hey! That’s Marinette!” Came Alya’s voice from the phone, shortly followed by the exclamations from the crowd that Marinette already knew were coming because she had lived this and yet despite seeing it on record, she still struggled to believe it actually happened.

…the crowd leaving her alone part. Not the Lila betraying her part. THAT, she could believe no question.

“I can’t believe she would do that!” Alya exclaimed. The real Alya. The present one. Who was standing in front of her and not the one in the phone—who was almost disturbingly cheerful in how she was calling for Lila’s blood.

…to be honest, Marinette wasn’t sure whether that mob Alya or the furious one in front of her scared her more. Present Alya, for her part, was clearly NOT happy about the events.

Neither was Adrien, apparently, as he grabbed the phone from Alya and looked to be furious himself.

“Wait—Lila did WHAT?!” He demanded. And…wow, was this what Adrien had been like as part of the mob? She hadn’t known he could get that angry.

“She tried to throw Marinette to the mob!” Alya bit out.

“I can’t believe it!”

“How could she—?!”

“When Marinette had just been trying to help her!”

“That lousy little b—”

“WHY did she even think that was necessary?!”

“Is it too late to torch her and say the akuma did it?”

Marinette looked between the two, feeling that she should be saying something but honestly, just getting all the more overwhelmed.

A hand on her arm broke her attention away from the two and back to poor Rose, who looked almost to the point of tears again.

“I’m so sorry, Marinette! I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Oh Rose, you deserved better than this.

“No! You actually let me go.” She insisted, much to the blonde’s visible relief. “You were focused only on Lila. And aside from getting people to help you hunt her down, you didn’t do anything to anyone else.”

If anything, the people of Paris seemed pretty happy for the excuse.

…maybe she really needed to talk to the Mayor about having a fun festival to just let everyone blow off steam?

She could focus on that later though. She shook her head and returned her attention to Rose. The girl still looked nervous, but less worried at least. That was good.

Rose sniffled. “I didn’t know. I’ve just been scared to see what my akuma did.”

“No one was hurt in the end.” Marinette assured her. “Ladybug came and stopped it. Nobody was hurt.”

Because Rose never really wanted to hurt anyone, she was sure. Even if it was Lila.

At most, maybe Lila got a little smokey smell to her. And a lot wet. But she survived. And without burns.

Rose seemed to slump in relief. “I’m so glad.”

And this…this right here was why it was worth it. Because the difference in Rose’s posture and expression within a few seconds meant a situation she could feel move on from versus a guilt she would be carrying with her all her life.

“I can't believe I almost did that! What did I become!?" Rose cried.

“You were akumatized. You were rightfully enraged by someone you thought was a friend taking advantage of you. Honestly, the only reason I didn't join in is because nothing about her shocks me anymore.”

Despite the attempt at reassurance, the smaller girl drew in on herself more. She rubbed at her eyes to wipe away tears and merely nodded at Marinette’s words. Hearing, but not fully agreeing. Or maybe it was the reminder that Marinette had known and tried to reveal Lila sooner to no avail.

Of all people, Rose didn’t deserve this. None of the classmates did, but Rose had been particularly trusting and was affected the worst because of this.

She couldn’t help it. She hugged Rose. If Adrien’s hug earlier had been so nice for her, maybe this could help the smaller girl in turn.

Rose certainly seemed to appreciate it as she hugged back…quite strongly, actually. Marinette had known Rose had some upper body strength given how she had been able to carry Chloe during the Zombizu attack but wow. Rose was smaller than Adrien, but her hug was just as warm but more tight.

Marinette lost herself a bit in the comfort she was giving and receiving. She barely even noticed that Adrien and Alya were still talking. She was peripherally aware that it was happening, but once again had lost track of what they were actually saying.

She had checked on Rose and made sure she was doing…well even if not fully okay. Maybe this was a sign she should go home?

“LIAR!”

It seemed it wasn’t to be, however, as a sudden commotion caught her notice, dragging her attention to a gathering down the hall.

And suddenly, Marinette was wide awake.

__________________

“—trusted me. Ladybug knew I would never do such a thing! That’s how she was able to ward off Witch Hunter.”

Lila giggled.

“You could say that the ‘power of friendship’ saved the day!”

Of course she was lying through her teeth once again. Not that she needed to at this point, really. Her mother was firmly in her corner and Lila would be getting to leave Paris soon enough. But there was a part of her that wanted to see if she couldn’t convince them one more time.

While she may not have a chance of getting revenge on Hawk Moth, she at least wanted some victory to take with her when she left. After all, Lila was hardly one to simply let things go and let this end without a last hurrah. No, if anything, when the chips were down, she was used to going all in. And if she lost? Well, not like it mattered if she wasn’t there to pay afterwards.

This time would be no different.

Truthfully, the only reason she was at the school at all was so her mother could file the paperwork to transfer her out. She hadn’t really wanted to go, but she had needed to be there to run interference in case anyone attempted to approach her. It had been part of the reason she had insisted on going despite her “harrowing” experience. Her mother had insisted on starting the process to remove Lila from the school immediately. And while she was sure no one would recognize the woman if she arrived alone, Lila knew she had to be there to “lead” the discussion between her mother and the Principal, as well as protect her mother from hearing any untoward rumors that could taint her view of her loving and trusted daughter.

Lila hadn’t intended to be caught by her soon to be former classmates. The original plan had been to simply disappear from their lives and leave them with their guilt and uncertainty. It was part of the reason she had agreed to come with her mother to the school so soon, as she had expected that everyone should be in class by the time they arrived. But her mother had gotten out earlier than expected, and people were still milling about the school.

She had kept her head down and hoped that no one would notice her. But luck was not in her favor it seemed, as Bustier had been late for some unknown reason, so her students had chosen to hang out in the hallways instead of waiting in the classroom or simply calling it a day and going home early.

A minor hiccup. She was sure that they would be forced to leave once class started. She separated from her mother with the pretense of saying goodbye to all of her friends, in the actual intention of simply buying time until the teacher returned and called them away. Her mother and Damocles had even seemed eager for her to, reassuring her that they did not need her and ushering her out of the room, which was all the more in her favor she supposed.

And really, how could she resist one more opportunity to see them dance for her?

After this, she would be home free. Not like they could do anything to her across international borders even if they did try.

There was no risk to her at this point. So It was worth pushing to see just how far she could milk this.

And these were the best saps a girl could ask for.

The present classmates listened to her tale of woe. Though  only a fraction of the crowd she would normally draw and not quite as eager as they used to, they were still listening to her patiently at least instead of simply blowing her off or calling her out. Which meant there was still a chance they would believe her.

A few of them actually seemed to be buying her story. And it had been one of her better tales, in her personal opinion. There were one or two that rolled their eyes—which, rude. A couple who seemed disinterested. But most of the rest seemed uncertain.

It was a shame Rose wasn’t there. Lila was sure that she would especially appreciate the performance. Though part of her was relieved, since she figured that the emotional girl would probably start crying if she had been.

Though there was also no Marinette either, which meant no one to counter her story as she had no doubt the little Miss Perfect would.

“You’re really saying that Marinette handed you off to the violent mob?”

That also meant she wasn’t there to defend herself either.

Lila hunched her shoulders and brought up a hand to her face in a nervous expression. “It’s not her fault. I’m sure it was because of the akuma. Even she wouldn’t turn on me like that just because she doesn’t like me…”

Cry her a river? She’d be seeing Marinette cry a river once she was done here. If she accomplished nothing else before she left, she would at least make sure Marinette Dupain-Cheng regretted talking to her like that.

“I’m sure she wouldn’t have done it if she was herself.” Mylene reached forward to comfort her but stopped a foot away and immediately decided to back off and keep her hands to herself. She coughed into her hand and looked away.

Lila frowned, scratching her head. What was that about?

She shook it off and kept to her plan. Play up the innocent act and leave them guessing until it was time to go. Whatever happened after that was their problem.

“I was so scared.” Lila whimpered. “Her expression at that time was…terrifying.”

Some more of the classmates looked sympathetic. Yet none of them approached her. Now that Lila noticed, there was a distinct space between her and the rest of the class. No one would come within five feet of her.

She hugged herself, looking the picture of wounded and helpless. “I was just lucky I was able to get away after she outted my hiding place to the mob.”

“LIAR!”

Everyone jumped to see a fuming Alya approach. A somewhat less visibly angry but still no doubt displeased Adrien was right behind her.

Both of them were focused completely on Lila.

Lila gasped, as if hurt. “What do you—”

“Can it.” Alya cut her off immediately, not even giving her a chance to spin some new lie. “You can’t be trusted, Lila. Or did you think we would forget about earlier?”

“That was a misunderstanding.” Lila explained, raising her hands in a peaceful gesture. “You weren’t here, but I had already told everyone what happened and why.”

“Oh really?” Alya asked, clearly disbelieving.

“She said that she was hit by an akuma before the attack today and only snapped out of it after Rose was akumatized.” Alix stated with a droll tone and an expression that said she didn’t believe it either.

Alya gave Lila a flat stare. “Do you actually expect us to believe that?” 

“It’s the truth.” Lila rested a hand over her heart akin to an oath before curling her fingers and drawing in on herself as if pained. “I was horrified when I woke up and realized what had happened.”

“Then where is the money?” Alya demanded. 

Lila resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Usually Alya would take her at her word, which was useful when others in turn trusted her for her reporting skills. It worked to her advantage when Alya believed her, but having those skills turned on her was a real pain.

“Hawk Moth must have taken it.” She suggested. It couldn’t be proven, of course, but it couldn’t be disproven either. And this group was particularly gullible and willing to believe the best in anyone regardless of common sense.

Except this time, apparently.

“If Hawk Moth needed money, we would be seeing akumas robbing banks, not stealing donations from teenagers for a fake charity.” Kim pointed out.

“He was probably being discreet.” Lila said hastily.

“Stealing money from a charity isn’t discreet!” Alya shouted, drawing even more attention much to Lila’s annoyance.

“Everyone already knows you lied and pocketed the money. The very least you could do is admit it.“ Adrien said, looking rather cross.

Of all the times for the doormat to actually try to stand up on his own, did it have to be now?

Lila gasped, looking hurt. Internally, she was annoyed more than anything. He was supposed to be passive. He’d never stood out like this before!

“But Adrien, you said we were friends, remember?”

It was a reminder of their “deal”. As well as a thinly veiled threat of what she would have free reign to do if that deal was broken. Not just to Marinette, but to him as well. After all, Adrien knew about Lila’s lies all along and did nothing. If he was going to out her here, she would be dragging him down with her.

“I said we were friends as long as you didn’t hurt anyone I care about!” Adrien corrected her. “And you have! You hurt Kagami. You hurt Marinette. And now you’ve hurt Rose!”

“Wait—dude! You knew?” Nino asked, looking hurt.

“I knew she was a liar.” Adrien admitted to everyone. He looked down in shame. “I didn’t want to say anything because I thought…” He paused before shrugging. “Well, I thought a lot of things that were wrong.”

“Dude.” Kim muttered.

Ivan gave Adrien a stern glare. “You owe Rose. Big time.”

“Marinette, too.” Alya added, gesturing to the pig-tailed girl who had approached the group alongside Rose.

“I know.” Adrien nodded and turned to the two, even going so far as to bow lowly from the waist. “And I’ll accept any punishment if it means you will all forgive me for not speaking up sooner.”

He knew better now. The absence of overt conflict doesn’t mean that the problem is solved. He had thought he was fixing problems, but really, he was only dealing with symptoms.

Rose looked uncertain. She stared at Adrien, biting her lip. She was snapped out of her thoughts by a touch to her shoulder. Looking up in surprise, she saw Marinette and remembered that the other girl had still been beside her. Even now, she was acting as a support.

Marinette patted her on the shoulder and smiled at her reassuringly. “It’s up to you.”

Rose looked back to Adrien.

He hadn’t been the one who did it. But he knew…if not that Lila was lying, then at least that she was a liar. He knew and he didn’t say anything. Which…well, wasn’t AS bad as Lila actually lying, but still bad.

She frowned.

“I want your endorsement on the charity.”

“Done.”

“And a cake for the class as an apology.”

“Just tell me what flavor.”

“And for you to take Marinette on a date to a fancy restaurant.”

“I’ll check my sched—wait, what?” He asked, standing up straight.

Marinette covered Rose’s mouth before she could repeat herself.

“Just the first two will be fine.” She said, flushing with embarrassment. Because really Rose?

Rose, for her part, gave her an annoyed look but didn’t fight her. Nor did she attempt to keep up the demand even after Marinette released her.

“Are you sure?” He asked, holding up a hand to her as if in offering. “After everything, a nice meal would be the least I could do.”

Then he smiled.

And suddenly, Marinette’s initial willpower just took a hit.

“It’ll be my treat.” He promised.

Marinette felt herself heat up at that. He hadn’t seemed to notice the ‘date’ part of Rose’s statement, but seemed rather stuck on the idea of getting a dinner together and Marinette knew she shouldn’t, but she didn’t want to say no either…

The classmates were all grinning or sending each other knowing looks. Alya was getting her phone out to record for blackmail future wedding material. Rose was beaming excitedly. They were all glad that some good was coming out of this.

Except, of course, for Lila.

Any cheerful atmosphere or chatter immediately died at the way Lila cleared her throat. Somehow, she just seemed to draw all attention to herself. The others looked to her in question. But Marinette, who knew Lila well enough to know she was plotting something, only felt dread.

“But is that really appropriate?” Lila asked, innocently. She rubbed at her arm. “After all, you wouldn’t want Adrien to be leading on Marinette the way he did me.”

The others stared. “What?”

Marinette paled.

Oh. Oh, this was going down a bad road, she could feel it.

Adrien glared. “I never led you on, Lila.”

Lila chuckled cheerfully. “Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, of course. But taking a girl out to a fancy dinner would…well…certainly imply things. Especially if the girl in question already is enamored with you.”

He blinked.

“What?”

“She holds feelings for you.”

A moment’s pause.

“You mean…as a friend?” He asked.

…seriously? Was he not getting it?

“She is clearly crushing on you.” Lila stated flatly.

Adrien stared.

“…What?”

Lila sighed in irritation. “Why else do you think she always freaks out around you? The stammering? The nervous giggling? The weird statements that don’t fit the context?”

Marinette pulled at her pigtails in frustration. Because of course. Of-freaking-course Lila would sink this low!

Adrien blinked, then rubbed his chin. “I thought it was because of the way I kept surprising her? Like approaching her from behind. Or appearing behind her locker right as she closes it.”

Nino squinted at his friend. “Which I’ve been meaning to ask, how do you even do that?”

“Not the point.” Lila cut in before turning back to Adrien. “Seriously, Adrien, didn’t you wonder why she had all those posters of you in her room?”

“Because she’s a fan. She even told me as much.” He stated.

Lila stared as Adrien beamed at his Very Good Friend. “And it’s kind of nice knowing that a fashion designer like Marinette likes what I do. And looks up to my father.” He snapped his fingers in realization. “Hey! Maybe I could see if you can’t meet my dad sometime!”

Marinette smiled uncertainly and just…sort of nodded. “That sounds nice.”

Because really, what else could she do at this point?

Lila gaped in growing outrage.

Was…was he just going to keep ignoring her? To focus on…THAT?

“What? No! Adrien, she is crushing on you! Like…obsessively!” Lila exclaimed.

Adrien seemed to be getting annoyed with Lila’s continued interruptions, given the look he threw her. “Lila, do you really have to keep making things up?”

“I’m not making this up!”

“Yeah,” Alix said sarcastically. “Just like the charity.”

“And Marinette leaving you to the akuma.” Alya added, still clearly angry about that.

“And everything else you’ve ever said.”

Lila growled. “But this is true! And I have proof!”

With a smirk, Lila held out her phone, showing the picture she had taken earlier of the schedule inside Marinette’s room.

“See? Marinette has your schedule on her calendar!” She exclaimed.

Adrien frowned at her, disapprovingly. “Are you seriously making things up now just to make Marinette look bad?”

Marinette winced. 

He was really keeping his word and trying to support her. She knew in this moment that if she denied it, Adrien would believe her. And it may save face and protect her from any further humiliation.

As well as sticking it to Lila, which was always nice.

…But Marinette hated liars. And if there was one thing that this entire mess taught her, it was that great harm could come from lies. She didn’t want to give Lila any additional ammunition to use against her, but she knew it would only be worse if it got out later.

And she didn’t want to misuse Adrien’s trust in that way.

“Actually, I do have your schedule.” She admitted.

Adrien stopped in the middle of the lecture he was about to give Lila. He turned to her in surprise.

“What?”

“It’s just…you would mention certain activities or plans. Fencing. Tutoring. Lessons. And I would hear and add them to my calendar so I would be aware when it came to planning things.”

Silence.

Lila smirked in victory. So the goody-two shoes had a fault and was actually admitting to it for the entire class to see. Even Adrien’s protective best friend must be up in arms as he took Lila’s phone with the picture of the schedule to look it over.

Adrien, for his part, blinked as he registered the information.

“So you’ve kept track of all the events and scheduling I’ve told you about to add to your calendar?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

A longer pause. Marinette mentally kicked herself. Why hadn’t she just stayed home and avoided this mess?

Then he smiled. “That was nice of you.”

“What?” Marinette asked, stunned.

“What.” Lila less asked than stated. Shrieking even in her disbelief.

“Well, friends keep friends on their schedules.” Adrien said, nodding resolutely.

Lila stared, her eye twitching slightly.

But he paid her no mind, keeping his gaze on his very good friend.

"Can I see it?" He asked her.

Marinette blinked. "What?"

He was actually looking eager now. “That way I can fill in any gaps so we can choose better times to hang out!”

She flushed. This was not the direction she had expected this to go. And from Lila’s disgusted expression, neither had she.

Far be it from her to argue. Especially against Adrien’s hopeful puppy eyes.

"Okay."

“Great! I’ll come by your house later! Maybe we can play Mecha Strike while we’re at it.” He said with a smile that—gah, too bright! It would probably blind her if it didn’t make her heart explode.

Marinette blushed.

“Okay?” She agreed because really, what else could she do at this point?

"WHAT?!" Lila raged, her skin starting to turn red. "Why would you want to help her keep your schedule?! Isn't that creepy?!"

He turned to Lila at that with a frown. “But...she's my friend. I'm on her Personal Calendar with all the people she considers friends!" And she’d done this even before their talk today, so that meant she really did like him, right?

Lila rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Adrien! Who actually does that?"

Adrien shrugged. "Nino does."

A pause. Slowly, all eyes turned to Nino.

The cap-wearing teen realized the sudden attention he'd got and jumped back, waving his hands.

"Well, how else were we supposed to have hangouts with that schedule of his?" He defended before turning his attention to Marinette. “You’re missing his Chinese lessons by the way.”

Marinette turned to him in surprise. “What?”

“Yeah, also he has a photoshoot this weekend and in the middle of next week. And I see my schedule on there, too, but you don’t have my gig Friday.”

“Wait—you’re on her schedule, too?” Ivan asked, surprised.

“All of her friends are.” Nino confirmed.

Kim raised his hand. “Am I on there?”

“All of her friends are.” Nino repeated, and looked down at the picture of the calendar. “She has your swim meet for next Tuesday. And a plan to bring some of those tarts you like.”

“Sweet!” Kim exclaimed, giving a fist pump.

Nino nodded to Marinette before handing the phone back to Lila. “Plus Alya and I are having a date Sunday, not Saturday, so we won't need you to babysit. Might want to add that.” 

Marinette blinked as she just…tried to register everything.

“Oh. Okay.”

Apparently, that was becoming her default word as she was still trying to process how any of this was happening.

Alya stared at her boyfriend.

“So wait, you have Adrien’s schedule, too?”

“Of course, I do! Hangouts are difficult enough, but we also need to know what times we can video chat.” Nino shrugged. “How else do you think I knew when his dad was leaving? And how to get past his bodyguard?”

Lila gaped. She couldn’t believe this!

Even the other classmates seemed unbothered. Did they really have no concept of boundaries?

…of course they didn’t. They were teenagers.

The fact that Lila herself had commonly infringed on Adrien’s boundaries in a physical way on a daily basis and most recently violated Marinette’s boundaries specifically to find this information to use against her in the first place seemed entirely lost on her.

“You’ve got to be kidding me? How are you okay with this? Are you seriously that stupid?” Lila demanded.

Adrien frowned at Lila, stepping in front of his friends. “Marinette and everyone else here are my friends. Of course, I care about them and would want them to know when I’m available—”

“You can’t possibly be that blind! MARINETTE. HAS. A. CRUSH. ON. YOU. She is so hopelessly in love with you that it’s pathetic!”

“Don’t talk about her like—”

“She has birthday and holiday gifts for you for YEARS!” Lila shouted. “HOW IS THAT NOT WEIRD?!”

The classmates blinked or jumped in surprise before all eyes turned to Marinette.

Why? Why was she Lila’s go-to target?

“I was just…I mean…” She stammered, looking down in shame and embarrassment.

The classmates seemed to be waiting for an answer. It seemed they were at least trying to give her the benefit of the doubt since it was LILA making the accusation, after all, and it was clear by this point that she was simply throwing out anything to make her look bad.

Hesitant, she looked up to see Adrien’s reaction.

And Adrien…oh god, he actually had tears in his eyes!

“Really? Is it true?”

Marinette jumped to try and explain.

“I—um—well—you see—”

His eyes widened. “I can’t believe it...”

“No wait! It’s not—”

Okay, yeah, she was a mess and had nothing.

“You felt so bad about missing my birthday that you’ve been making gifts for me ahead of time so you won’t miss it again!” He exclaimed, looking excited.

Which was okay, apparently, because Adrien had apparently drawn his own conclusions. As evidenced when he pulled her into a hug.

“You didn’t have to do all that, Marinette.” He said, giving her a squeeze. “I don’t hold it against you that you forgot my birthday. You didn’t know.”

A part of Marinette was screaming. Because oh, the irony. If only he knew…

Alya…out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Alya also looked like she desperately wanted to say something. Probably the truth about his scarf. Which now was a bad time to reveal.

“You have no reason to feel guilty for not getting me anything.” He told her, releasing her with a smile and patting her shoulders. “But I appreciate that you felt so strongly about it that you would try to get such a head start to make up for it. It means a lot that you care so much about me.”

Marinette…yeah, Marinette.exe has shut down.

“But that’s not...” Mylene started, only to pause for several seconds before frowning with a small wince. “Actually yeah, that does sound exactly like something Marinette would do.”

“Remember how she got Alya an interview with Ladybug after she accidentally deleted that video?” Kim chimed in.

Nino slapped his forehead. “Oh yeah! Alya went on and on about that for weeks!”

Alya—even Alya, her best friend, who knew full well about her crush and the gifts actually looked uncertain at the news. She bit her lip, looking back and forth between Adrien and Marinette in confusion and concern.

Because she remembered that Adrien’s father had somehow wound up with credit for Marinette’s gift to Adrien. She also remembered how Chloe had broken into Marinette’s locker and vandalized her gift to Bustier. Then there was the time Marinette made Adrien that hat but didn’t take credit for that either.

Marinette…just seemed to have bad luck when it came to giving people things, apparently.

So was it really any wonder that the girl would become that anxious over gift-giving? Or that Marinette, being Marinette, had gone so far as to prepare a multitude of gifts as backups in case something like her gift being stolen, lost, or vandalized happened again?

Alya...honestly didn’t know anymore. Maybe that was something she should try to help with more in the future.

Adrien for his part was simply basking in the glow of happiness that came with knowing how much his good friend Marinette cared about him. Nobody had the heart to argue with him. Nor did any of them even have an argument to make.

“Are you kidding? No one keeps that many gifts for one person in their closet! Can you possibly be that stupid?”

Except Lila, but after everything that had happened, no one was really feeling inclined to humor her.

“Since you’re bringing that up though, here’s a better question.” Alix cut in, giving Lila a glare. “How do you even know any of this?”

Lila drew back in surprise as she suddenly found herself the subject of glares from the rest of her classmates.

“I somehow doubt Marinette invited you into her room.” Alix continued.

“Her parents did!” Lila quickly explained, absently scratching at her wrist. “They invited me inside since the mob was after me.”

Okay, yeah no. Marinette’s brain had rebooted at that. There was no way she was going to let Lila implicate her parents.

“I already talked to my parents about what happened after I saw you wearing my clothes. They invited you into the bakery.” Marinette corrected angrily. “They did not invite you into my room.”

“It was an accident.” Lila claimed. “I had gotten lost, but once I realized where I was and what I was seeing, I just had to warn everyone—”

“‘What you were seeing’,” Marinette cut her off coldly, “should not have been seen unless you had been looking for them. I kept those gifts in my closet. The schedule was put away. The pictures were not visible from my trap door—which you should have realized right away would NOT lead you to any exit.”

Lila scratched at her neck. “Well, I hardly know anything about you since you keep me at arm’s length. Can you blame me for being a little curious?”

“YES.” Came the resounding echo from…well…nearly everyone. It was clear that nobody was buying anything Lila was trying to sell.

“You don’t try to ‘learn about someone’ by breaking into their room, recording what you find there, and sharing it with people!” Mylene ranted.

“It sounds like you’re trying to make Marinette look bad to distract us from your own actions.” Ivan said with a glare. “Because none this changes what you did.”

“You lied to us about the charity and EVERYTHING else you’ve ever said!” Alya exclaimed.

“Did you make up all those illnesses, too?” Kim asked, disappointed and disapproval evident in his voice.

“I bet you were the one who nearly caused Marinette to get expelled.” Alix hissed, leading more growls and angry muttering from the audience.

“No, I haven’t! It was just a misunderstanding!” Lila insisted.

“Was it?” Came a voice.

Everyone immediately silenced and all eyes turned to one person.

Rose stood tall. Or at least as tall as she could in such a situation. In truth, she was shaking. Her lip was trembling like she was trying not to cry. And she stared straight at Lila, almost as if she was gazing into her soul.

If it was anyone else, Lila might have been concerned.

But it was Rose. Poor simple Rose who always believed in everyone and would listen to anything she said without question.

It’d be easy enough to get back in her good graces.

And all it would take…

Lila sniffled, lowering her head. “I’m sorry.”

Everyone stared.

Marinette wanted to bang her head against something.

Lila rubbed at her eyes to give the illusion of tears. She even managed a couple of hiccups. “You were just all…all so amazing and I was scared about fitting in. I did embellish some things but I…I just wanted you all to like me.” She covered her face, effectively hiding her eyes.

“Things just spiraled out of control and before I knew it, I was trapped! I couldn’t be honest and I was so scared of what you all would think of me!” She sobbed out. 

Disregarding, of course, the fact that she had just tried to throw Marinette under the bus—and not for the first time.

Lila looked up at the group, eyes watery though no actual tears have been shed. “I never meant to hurt anyone.” She whimpered. “I just admired you all so much! I’m so sorry!”

They hesitated. Of course they did. They were easily played by emotional appeals. All she’d ever had to do was fake pain or sadness and they would fall over themselves in response before any true logic or reason could set in.

And of course, Rose of all people stepped forward.

The small blonde rested a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes, with what had to be some form of reassurance on her lips.

Leave it to Rose to forgive any transgressions and be willing to start anew. She was always the first to offer reassurances. The first to believe in someone. The first to support a good cause. If anyone would understand and show sympathy, it would be her.

“I don’t believe you.”

That…was not it.

Rose stepped back from Lila, her nose scrunched in disgust. She backed away a good couple of feet. She even wiped her hands on her dress—or attempted to, until Mylene handed her some hand wipes. As if touching Lila had been filthy to her.

“Is even touching me that bad?” Lila asked, acting pitiful.

A long pause. Several of the classmates glanced between each other. They all seemed to want to say something, but couldn’t seem to bring themselves to.

“You stink.”

Except for Juleka, who was glaring at Lila.

Lila gaped.

“What?”

Did…she mean that literally or was she just being juvenile?

Kim actually pinched his nose. “Yeah, I wasn’t going to say anything, but you kind of reek.”

Lila clenched her fists, her anger growing and her skin starting to turn red. “How dare you?!”

"Like...you stink...and you stink. Figuratively and physically." Kim said, sounding nasally with his nose plugged.

“Kind of smells wet and musty.” Nino muttered.

“I was thinking it smelled more like a dumpster.” Mylene noted.

“It’s probably her soul.” Alix muttered, shooting Lila a dark glare.

Marinette gasped and spun on Lila. “Wait! Lila, didn’t you jump in the Seine earlier?”

Lila flushed, embarrassed at the reminder and the realization that her shower earlier had only done the bare minimum for her hair. “It wasn’t by choice!”

The other teens gave Lila disgusted looks.

“You…do know the Seine isn’t the cleanest, right?” Ivan asked.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Lila exclaimed. “It was that damn Ladybug who splashed me with water!”

Several of the classmates bristled at that and the insult to their city’s hero.

“She was putting the pyre out.” Alya countered, looking up the video on her phone. “Otherwise you would have been burned. And then you would have died. And none of this would even be up for discussion right now.”

“Really, you could show a little more appreciation for Ladybug rescuing you.” Adrien said, narrowing his eyes at Lila. “Even if she wasn’t your best friend.”

He knew she wasn’t. He had been there when Ladybug herself had confronted Lila on her lies, so of course he knew that they weren’t friends. Not that anyone else did. But the reminder of that particular lie and Ladybug’s recent threat brought out a level of fear within her that she hadn’t experienced before.

She could almost swear that she felt Ladybug’s gaze on her.

Lila silently fumed momentarily but forced herself to calm and steady her nerves.

Remember, she was still the one in control here. Not the school. Not these classmates. And certainly not Ladybug!

She closed her eyes and let out a breath.

Oh well. She gave it a try and it didn’t work. An annoyance, but ultimately, no real loss. She was still leaving. And they had nothing they could pin on her.

Rose was the one who collected the money. The school and teachers were the ones who hadn’t verified her paperwork. Gabriel had been the one to hire her to spy on his own son. Hawk Moth had been the one to use her. And Ladybug had been the one who didn’t protect her.

Really, wasn’t it their own fault?

“If that’s how you all feel, then I’ll just leave.” Lila said, looking away in a manner she was sure looked dejected. Such a look would normally lead people to feel some pity for her and some remorse for anything they had done.

Here though, it just made her look petulant.

None of the classmates were impressed. Several looked ready to argue. Maybe to even try to brave the stench around her and force her to stay and admit to her acts.

Except…

“The one thing I don’t understand though is why did you keep doing it? Why all the lies?” Rose asked.

“Yeah,” Alya agreed. “Looking back, your lies were all over the place and didn’t amount to much. Not until the fake charity scam, anyway, and you were bound to get caught. What was even the point of it all?”

What was the point? Was she serious? It was everything.

Lila rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Like any of you would have really cared about me if you hadn’t thought I had something you could use.”

They all just stared at her incredulously.

“Um…but we would have.”

Lila paused, blinking in confusion.

“What?”

Rose brought her hands up. “We would have liked you regardless, Lila! You didn’t have to lie!”

“And even if you do lie,” Mylene continued, “we still could have forgiven it and liked you anyway.”

“We may not have been happy about being lied to, but we could have understood. Maybe even helped.” Ivan stated, rubbing his head.

Marinette stepped forward. “I told you before Lila. We could be friends when you stopped lying.”

Lila stared at her. Was she serious?

That was…

Lila gaped at them all in disbelief. None of them argued. Many even nodded their heads in agreement.

She couldn’t believe it…

That was the dumbest thing she’d ever heard!

Who actually forgives people for things like that? Even little acts that seemed weird were often enough to turn people off. Even good qualities like leadership, prioritizing, and professionalism could be twisted and used against the person. This was supposed to be a world where any flaw should be enough to ruin someone and warrant raking them over the coals!

And these idiots were just…fine with it?

Honestly, it was no wonder she was able to get away with so much! These idiots were practically begging to be manipulated!

Lila forced tears to her eyes. “You would be willing to forgive me? Just like that?”

“Well, not now, no.” Adrien said, finally speaking up.

Lila stared. Because…this was Adrien. Adrien Agreste who was Paris’s Sunshine Child and seemingly incapable of holding a grudge. Or standing up for himself.

And…he was going to refuse to forgive her?

“I figured your initial claims about knowing famous celebrities was just to make people like you. We could have forgiven you for that.”

His eyes narrowed.

“But then you used your lies to hurt people. And in ways you had to go well out of the way to do.”

“What?! No, I didn’t—”

But he cut her off.

“You tried to get Marinette expelled. You stole from all of us and made Rose’s charity work into a criminal act. And while we’re at it…” He drawled, making Lila nervous. “Maybe we can discuss how you’ve been spying on me for my father?”

Lila tensed briefly before putting on a wounded expression.

“That was just the akuma making things up!”

“Yeah, I spoke with my father about that.” Adrien continued, sounding…particularly cold. “Oh, and by the way, you’re fired.”

“Fired?” Lila balked. She clenched her fists and her shoulders raised in growing ire. “What do you mean ‘fired’?!”

Adrien steepled his fingers together as if he was trying to think. “Um, how else can I say it? You’re being let go. Your department’s being downsized. You’re part of an outplacement. We’re going in a different direction. We’re not picking up your option. Take your pick. I’ve got more.”

She grit her teeth.

She’d known from her call with Nathalie earlier that they were firing her. Part of her had believed that it was simply due to Witch Hunter’s control. But if that was the case, they shouldn’t remember it now. Though it could be that they remember the initial claim from Witch Hunter that brought them under her influence, but even then, there wouldn’t be any proof.

No…this had to be intentional. Given her suspicions of Gabriel, she had considered that he would cut ties, but to do it like this? Through Adrien? In front of everyone?

Oh. She was going to make him pay.

Outside of Lila’s thoughts of revenge and misery, the classmates realized something about Adrien’s totally cool and not at all corny or referenced speech.

Kim stared. “Dude…did you really just…”

Nino held up a hand. “Let him have this.” He wiped away a fake tear. “I’m so proud.”

Muffled chuckling from others indicated that they all knew what he had been referencing.

Except for Marinette, who was looking around in confusion. Because sure, Adrien was being cool just then and it was kind of funny to see Lila get some comeuppance, but what was all the snickering for? “Wait…what was that about?”

Adrien spun on her in shock. “Wait—you’ve never seen Emperor’s New Groove?”

Marinette blinked, uncertain. “Um…no?”

He took her hands in his, looking so serious that this had to be a matter of grave importance. “We must rectify this immediately. Will you come watch the movie with me? Father is being unusually lenient about things to make up for everything with Lila that he’ll probably allow a hangout this weekend.” He smiled. “So would you like to binge watch movies together?”

Oh. Oh, Marinette thought she was over this. But clearly not as she felt her face flush and her heart leap into her throat. Her brain was short circuiting because this was…this was a date with Adrien? ANOTHER date with Adrien? THREE dates with Adrien? That she hadn’t even had to be the one to ask him for? Just what is life right now? Was this life? Was this a dream? Lila finally outted as a liar and Adrien agreeing to spend time with her…this felt like a dream.

At best, she was only able to nod. And Adrien’s smile in response was near blinding. She didn’t even notice the way their classmates grinned or gave each other high fives.

…or the way Lila was turning red in her growing ire. 

Lila scratched angrily at her neck. Hard enough to leave marks.

Not only did he fire her, but now he was ignoring her and just flirting right in front of her?! It was bad enough she was revealed and chased around for the past few hours thanks to an akuma. Then betrayed by Hawk Moth. And then threatened by Ladybug. But this…this was just adding insult to injury by this point!

She wanted to say something—anything to break up this delightful little scene and wipe that happy look off their faces.

Sometimes, spite overcame reason.

“Oh please!” She shouted, drawing everyone’s gazes away from the cute scene and back to Lila where she was pointing at Adrien in anger. “The only reason he’s firing me is because I know he’s Hawk Moth!”

A long pause.

Alya looked at Adrien before turning back to Lila, eyebrow raised. “You mean Adrien?”

The blond in question paled and drew in on himself. It wasn’t true, but what if she brought up some ‘evidence’ like his tendency to disappear during akuma fights? Would anyone else believe her? Especially given how he’d messed up before and inadvertently helped Lila to create prime akuma material?

“Adrien isn’t Hawk Moth!” Marinette insisted, looking angry, and Adrien felt a combination of relief and admiration for the girl.

“Yeah!” Nino agreed, wrapping an arm around Adrien’s shoulders and holding out the other hand in front of them like he was trying to ward off Lila or perhaps her stench. “Don’t be talking about my boy like that!”

“Wow.” Kim muttered. “You’ve told some bad lies before but that takes the cake.”

“Shame on you, Lila!”

Lila reared back in shock at the direction this went. “What?! NO! I meant Gabriel Agreste is Hawk Moth!”

But people were just…rolling their eyes and looking away from her.

She held her hand to her chest in earnesty. Her other hand went to scratching her side, which kind of spoiled the effect. “He knows I’m a threat and he’s trying to discredit me!”

A long pause.

“You’ve already discredited yourself, Lila.”

“Yeah, it sounds like you’e just saying anything at this point.”

“She’s just mad that Mr. Agreste is letting her go.”

“After everything she did, I don’t blame him.”

“The guy os a jerk, but come on. Hawk Moth? Really?”

No one was even considering what she had to say now. If it wasn’t clear before, it was now.

Lila had lost any credibility.

Several of the classmates were gathered around Adrien, trying to support and comfort him over the accusations. She had a feeling that even if she had irrefutable evidence, they still wouldn’t believe it. Not now, anyway. It grated at her, but at this point, there was nothing she could do.

There was nothing she could do and she had just wasted her last trump card to no effect. And if it got back to Gabriel that she had accused him…

All the better to get out now then.

“Hey, wait!” Alix shouted as she noticed Lila trying to sneak away. “We’re not done here!”

Honestly, it was perfect timing that the teacher arrived to start class.

“All right, class! To your seats!” Bustier said, smiling nicely in her usual fashion.

And it looked like that would be the end of it. With Bustier back, there would be no further pressing of Lila. No retribution. No way to hold her accountable.

Alya for her part tried though. She raised her hand and called out insistently. “Wait! Ms. Bustier! Lila has been—”

Bustier shook her head. “I’m sorry, Alya, but it will have to wait. We’ve missed part of the school day as it is.” She paused and turned to Lila. “Oh, Lila! Your mother and the Principal are waiting for you in his office.”

Lila smiled politely. “Thank you. I’ll head right there.”

This was it then. A final meeting and she would be out of this school and out of Paris.

…though maybe after she takes a more thorough shower first, she thought to herself as she scratched at her neck.

Still, she couldn’t help but send one last smirk back at her now former classmates as she walked away. She hadn’t managed to pull them back under her sway, and she couldn’t say she had won.

But she could at least find some satisfaction in the growls and shouts of anger as she left them behind.

__________________

In the Principal’s office, the adults had a…rather interesting conversation of their own once Lila had departed.

“Good heavens! I didn’t know how much longer I could stand that smell.” Principal Damocles asked as he opened a window to try and freshen the air.

Amara Rossi took her seat in front of the desk, feeling a bit lightheaded herself. “Did something happen today? Science class? Chemicals, perhaps?”

“It could have been an akuma attack. We had one just earlier.” He replied.

Her eyes darkened. She was reminded of the constant prolonged akuma attacks that disrupt daily living and the inept superheroes who allowed them to persist. “I see. That will be one thing we will no longer have to worry about once we leave, at least.”

“Quite right.” He agreed kindly as he went to his files to pull out Lila’s paperwork. “I do hope that Lila’s new school will be better suited to accommodate all of her illnesses.”

Amara shook her head, uncertain of what she just heard. “I beg your pardon?”

“Of course we did try to adjust to Lila’s needs as we were made aware of them. Especially with her little…fibbing illness. But it was difficult without official documentation to clarify what she had and the best ways to address them. And we were never able to get clarification during her stay here.” He rested the paperwork on his desk and looked up to make eye contact with Mrs. Rossi. “We of course are not judging, but it would be prudent for you to make the appropriate arrangements prior to her arrival at her new school, wherever it may be.” He puffed up in pride. “And of course we will be more than happy to assist in sending over documentation as well—”

“No wait. Hold on.” Amara interrupted him. “What needs are you talking about?”

Needless to say, once Lila was out of the room, it didn’t take long for them to notice things weren’t adding up. And the conversation that followed ended up being…

“What tinnitus?”

Quite informative.

“What fall down the stairs?!”

With certain parties being made aware of things they hadn’t known previously.

“WHAT LYING DISEASE?!!”

By the end of it, both adults were in shock.

Damocles wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, clearly…unnerved to say the least. “I…erm…take it that some of these things might have been said…er…erroneously?”

Amara covered her face with her left hand, exasperated. “Unless my daughter has been under an akuma’s influence for the past several months the school has been closed.”

He frowned at that, unnerved. “On that note, I’ve been trying to reach out to you for some time about your daughter’s absences. Have you not gotten my calls?”

“I only received one or two. And Lila warned me not to answer because you were akumatized.” She paused in thought for a moment before lowering her hand and looking to the Principal. “Has the school been closed at all? Lila said you had been akumatized and that the school had been shut down, which was why she had to stay home for so long.”

Damocles blanched at that. “It was only the once! Well…twice actually, with the attempted mass akumatization during that one incident. But I assure you, madam, that the school was never closed. Certainly not for more than a day at any rate!”

She frowned, unsure. “But…the heroes…”

“Are quite adept at their job for youngsters!” Damocles hurriedly told her. “Akuma battles are normally finished within a couple of hours. Some have lasted overnight at most. There is only one to my knowledge that continued for a few days, but that was a rare exception and the damage was minimal.” Though the harm to Chloe’s mental state couldn’t be quantified.

“Oh…” She murmured. Wow. While Lila’s complaints had dampened her view of the city’s heroes, she had known her coworkers and the city at large seemed to admire them greatly. She regretted that she had never really listened to their gossip about them, but she was grateful she had never spoken up on what she had believed. Otherwise she would likely be a laughing stock at work.

He shook his head. “But no akuma has lasted for months, I assure you! In fact,” He said, reaching to his monitor and turning it so that they both could see the screen, “the Ladyblog should have all the facts about the akumas and our heroes!”

Amara observed the blog, curious. It was well made. Perhaps they could get the designer to help update the embassy site.

But on point, the blog listed news reports and updates. Hero sightings. Events. Akuma attacks. And in particular, the most recent attack…

“Wait!” She gasped. “Is that Lila?!”

From there, it had been a simple matter of reviewing the footage from the latest akuma attack.

Including the incident where Lila had shoved an innocent girl to the ground in front of the mob. (“That would be Marinette Dupain-Cheng. A bright student and the Class Representative. But…er…she and Lila haven’t quite seen eye to eye and there was an…incident a few weeks ago…”)

As well as a compiled list that had been taken of every claim made by the akuma—Witch Hunter? She was apparently a classmate of Lila’s. And according to the Ladyblog, she had been a victim of Lila’s lies, which had resulted in her akumatization and targeting of Lila. (“My word!”)

And worst of all, a video of Lila tied to a pyre and surrounded by a mob of people wanting her to burn. In and of itself, it was horrifying. Especially for any parent to see their child in such a state.

But for Lila…it was like she didn’t think it was real. Like she didn’t think she was in any actual danger. Or she thought this was a game.

And that, Amara found most terrifying.

“This is…” She muttered in shock. She couldn’t even begin to describe it. Her daughter, tied to a pole. About to be lit on fire. All because she had been lying this entire time? Not just lying, but stealing from her peers? Framing people? And she didn’t dare say it, but from some of her statements in the video and the akuma’s claims, it almost looked as if she had been working with a known terrorist!

She had known her daughter wasn’t perfect or innocent. But this much? To go this far? And for what? She couldn’t even begin to understand…

“Madam, I…think this is a most serious matter.” Damocles stated. He was trying to be delicate but…well, really. How can one approach this sort of thing delicately?

“I agree.” She stated, resolutely. “Lila has been playing everyone it seems. But now that we know, what should we do from here?”

Damocles stroked his beard as he thought. “I admit we have never had a situation this extreme before. But if you will permit, I believe there may be a way to approach this…”

The rest of their time was spent discussing the matter at length and coming to an agreement. Damocles admittedly had his failings, particularly when it came to stubborn and selfish students with access to parents in positions of authority and willingness to abuse that authority to get their way. But when he wasn’t having to work around such barriers and had parents who were actually working with him instead of obstructing the school regulations, it was substantially easier to make appropriate accommodations and plan accordingly.

Which is what Lila ended up walking in to once she was asked to return to the office.

“Is everything settled?” She asked sweetly, her expression belying her earlier anger. Honestly, her only concern was finishing this as quickly as possible and going home to shower. A good three or four times.

She forced herself to ignore the way the adults in the room turned their heads away from her with upturned noses. She took advantage of the moment and attempted to unobtrusively scratch under her arm. Honestly, this itching was only getting worse! How had she not noticed it earlier?

“Well, Lila.” Damocles coughed as he turned on a fan. “Your mother and I have been discussing things and we couldn’t help but notice a few discrepancies.”

Lila froze. She steeled her expression to hide her rising panic. Because no. Not here. Not after everything.

“Lila…” Her mother called, her tone harsh and warning of her slowly boiling anger. “You told me that the school had been closed. And here I come to find that not only had it still been open and running all this time, but that you had been excusing your absences with claims of trips around the world!”

Shit.

Why had she left them alone?!

“But there were akuma attacks!” She insisted. “And the school was closed!”

“Not for weeks at a time!” Her mother exclaimed, furious. “And what is all this I’m hearing about your actions since you got here? Lying to your teachers? Stealing from a charity? Getting another student expelled?!”

Here, Lila straightened. “She had been bullying me and I had only been trying to protect myself.”

“Then why did you claim a lying disease to have her brought back?” Damocles questioned.

Lila hugged herself to look sad and sympathetic—and also used the opportunity to scratch at her side again. “I was threatened.” She admitted morosely. “Adrien said—”

“Adrien? Adrien Agreste?” Her mother interrupted. “You mean the boy you said was your boyfriend?”

Lila hesitated for a moment before a plan came together and she nodded. “Yes. It was why I wanted us to leave Paris. He’s been harassing me, Mama.” She shuddered and hitched her breath as if in fear. “He threatened me if I didn’t take back the allegations. He’s been cheating on me with her, Mama!”

“Interesting. Very interesting.” Her mother said in a blithe manner that only made Lila more nervous. “Because according to this Ladyblog, it sounds like  you were the one harassing him. As well as this Marinette girl, regardless of whether she is his girlfriend or not.”

Lila snapped up and gaped at her mother. The woman never bothered with the Ladyblog. Lila had been sure she hadn’t known it even existed!

“You can’t trust the Ladyblog! It’s just a teenager’s fan site! It’s nothing but lies!”

Her mother glared down at her. “Like this informative interview of you claiming to be Ladybug’s ‘bestie’?”

Lila paled.

“I was only trying to get people to like me and make friends.” She said, lowering her head in shame. Not that she had any, of course, but it paid to look the part at least. “I didn’t think anyone would see it.”

“Lila, the Ladyblog is extremely popular. It’s a central news source for anyone in Paris to know what the most recent update is regarding any akuma attack! Anyone would have seen it!” Damocles exclaimed.

“Even if it wasn’t,” Her mother continued. “You still shouldn’t have been claiming things like that! What if Hawk Moth saw it and thought it was true? What if he tried to kidnap or hurt you?”

She wasn’t worried about that. He wouldn’t have harmed her since she was working for him.

Well, Lila realized with a small wince. Not anymore.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Lila said, looking away.

“Getting back on point.” Damocles interrupted. “There is the problem regarding all of the days you’ve missed. Your teacher was led to believe that you were out of town while you had informed your mother that the school was closed. This is a serious matter, young lady.”

There was no way to lie that she hadn’t done it now that both of them were aware and on to her. But she could still try to reframe things in her favor.

“I’m sorry. I had just needed a break for a while and I didn’t know how to tell you.” Lila spoke, tearfully. “It was just…all of the akuma attacks and everything with Adrien and the bullying…it was too much!”

She sobbed into her hands.

“I just couldn’t take it! I’m sorry!”

She continued her sobs for a good minute. Since she had her face covered and her head lowered, she couldn’t quite see how the adults in the room were responding. Sneaking a peak got her a glimpse at best lest she risk them seeing her.

Her mother looked drawn. The Principal seemed tired. Neither of them so much as tried to get closer to Lila to comfort her. Though that may very well have been due to the smell, and she cursed Witch Hunter and Ladybug both for causing the situation in the first place and for not fixing this with the Magical Cure as well.

Really, she thought hatefully. This was all their fault. Rose’s. The class’s. Hawk Moth’s. And especially Ladybug’s. She never would have ended up in this position if not for her!

“I’m sorry, Lila. If you were truly having such trouble, then you should have spoken to one of us about it and we may have been able to help you.” Damocles sighed. “I’m afraid there’s nothing else for it now. It’s already gone much too far for us to be able to overlook.”

Amara nodded, resigned. “I understand.”

Lila sniffled and raised her head.

“So I guess I’ll be expelled?” She asked with a mournful tone.

Okay. All right. So she would be sent to another school somewhere. A boarding school perhaps? Some sort of alternative or otherwise stricter school meant to “rehabilitate“ her, no doubt. She could handle this. It was still someplace new where no one would recognize her. It wouldn’t take too much before she could just start over. Within two months, no one there would even really know why she had transferred.

She could still make this work for her.

Damocles, however, looked at her in surprise.

“Expel you? What are you talking about? We don’t expel students for truancy.”

Lila froze.

“What?”

“You will be suspended for a time.” He continued. “Though I believe given the nature of your actions, it would be better for your suspension to be altered so you remain on campus and under constant supervision.”

Lila stared. She would swear she could hear cracks forming in her reality.

“And we will have to keep you in a separate classroom as well to remove any...distractions.”

Crack.

“Of course.“ her mother agreed. “I’ll be removing her computer and phone for the time being as well. Depending on how things go, we may have to dispose of them altogether.”

Lila felt her eye starting to twitch.

“This will be an opportunity for you to catch up on all the coursework you missed.”

Crack.

“And there will be a hearing as well.” Damocles continued. 

Lila jumped to her feet and slammed her hand on the desk.

“But—but you expelled Marinette immediately without a hearing!”

Damocles appeared flustered at that. “My actions at that time were…admittedly hasty, especially considering that it turned out they were based on a lie...” He gave her a sharp look at that. “But given what appeared to be dangerous and escalating behavior at the time, I had only acted in a way to protect the other students in this institution.”

He clasped his hands. “But less school is not the appropriate answer for a student whose crime was skipping school. Especially in this case given that Lila may very well need to be held back a grade as it is.”

“What?!” Lila demanded.

He gave her a dry look, unimpressed with her reaction or the repeated interruptions. “Young lady, regardless of your reasons, you’ve missed months of your precious education. Surely you didn’t think you would be able to graduate alongside your classmates. At this point, you won’t be able to get the approval from the conseil de classe to move on to the next grade, much less be prepared for the brevet.”

Lila blinked. “The what?”

Her mother groaned and covered her face. “It’s the mandated test required in secondary school into get your diploma, Lila.”

Lila gaped, glancing back and forth between the two, as if expecting this to be a joke. “But…college in France is just scuola media! It’s middle school! How do they require a diploma?!”

“It’s a national requirement and certification of the knowledge and skills acquired.” Damocles explained, ignoring the way mother and daughter were reacting as he instead puffed out his chest and straightened his jacket. “And we here at Francois-Dupont are dedicated to our students and making the appropriate accommodations to help them succeed! Regardless of any…”

He paused, sending Lila a look. “Complications.”

Amara sighed but faced Damocles. “So what would you recommend?”

He brightened at that. “The best answer to get young Lila back on track would be an alternative remedial program in which she can remain in school and make up for what she missed in a setting where she can be more closely monitored to keep something like this from happening again.”

Remain here? In Dupont? With everyone aware of her lies?

“You can’t do this!” Lila shouted. But to no avail as the adults paid her no mind at this point.

“What about the fraud?” Her mother asked. “I believe she had solicited funds under false pretenses?”

“Oh, that is outside our jurisdiction.” Damocles answered, waving it off. “We can only deal in school and school-related matters. Fraud is a legal issue, so that will be going to the courts as a separate case. But on that note, I would recommend getting a lawyer.” He said, turning serious.

“Hopefully, that won’t be necessary.” Amara replied. “As we will be making arrangements with the students who started the charity and reimburse the funds Lila took.”

“WHAT?!”

“Returning everything you bought with the money to the stores you purchased them from should be a good place to start,” the woman continued, “assuming they will even accept the exchange once they know what you did. Which you will be telling them if they didn’t already know from that akuma.”

“But…but I don’t have them!” Lila exclaimed, suddenly realizing that she had worn Marinette’s clothes back home and left her designer items at the bakery.

“Then you will just have to find some other way to make up the lost funds.” Her mother stated, dismissively.

Lila stomped her foot, the picture of a child throwing a tantrum. “But that’s not fair!” 

“You stole money from your classmates, Lila!” Her mother bit out sharply. “Giving back what you took is the very least you could do!”

“But I can’t pay it!” Lila yelled, scratching at her chin in fury.

“Then you can use your now copious amount of free time to take on some extra employment. Because you won’t be sitting around at home doing nothing or getting into more trouble while I’m not there. And you certainly won’t be going out with your friends—assuming you have any left after this mess.”

“But…where am I supposed to find employment?!”

Her mother looked through her tablet and pulled up a number of listings when she then handed to Damocles to print off. “There are always openings for extra hands. Odd jobs. A part time job. I don’t care if it’s something like washing dishes at a diner, you will be doing it. And whatever you earn is going to go to straight into the bank until you pay back every euro you took.”

Lila gasped. “I’m fourteen! That’s child labor!”

“That didn’t seem to be an issue when you were modeling for the Gabriel line without telling me.” Her mother countered, growing more furious.

Lila glared back, enraged and for once incapable of speech.

“Whatever you have to say, this is your own fault for stealing the money in the first place. And also using it when you knew it wasn’t yours!” The woman shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t even understand how you thought that was supposed to work.”

“We were supposed to be out of Paris already!” Lila muttered darkly.

Unfortunately for her, her mother heard her well enough. “Which I suspect was the real reason you suddenly wanted to leave, wasn’t it?”

Lila stayed silent. Merely sitting petulantly and scratching at her arm.

Her mother looked down at her daughter. She had never seen her like this before. And now that she knew what the girl had been up to, she wondered if she had been blind to the truth. And for how long.

She sighed.

“You dug yourself into this, Lila. And you won’t be running away from it. You are going to pay back what you took, no matter how long it takes. If this does end up going to court, you are going to agree to any deal they offer and you will make this right. And if you are very very lucky, they will accept your apology and your return of the money, and not pursue harsher charges. Because if they do, you will be accepting those charges and any consequences that come with them.”

Damocles coughed, daring to interrupt. “Am I to presume she will be losing her cellphone and laptop as well?”

“That would be a given.” Her mother replied. “Though at the rate this is going, I may very well sell those off as well to contribute to her debt.”

“What?!” Lila screeched. “But how am I supposed to do schoolwork then? Or keep in contact?”

“With pen and paper like everyone else. And you won’t need to worry about contacting anyone since you are going to be grounded for the foreseeable future.”

Lila groaned and sunk further into the office chair. She tried to keep her arms crossed, but couldn’t hold it for longer than a couple seconds before she felt the itchiness again and started scratching at her arms once more.

“And would you stop scratching yourself?”

“I can’t help it!” Lila cried, spilling real tears for once.

The lighting in the office was decent. Adequate to see by, but not quite enough to get a full detail of what they were looking at. In an attempt to help, Damocles turned on his desk lamp and moved it shine on Lila, putting her skin in much clearer display.

And particularly, the red and splotchy areas that were slowly spreading on her body.

“Good heavens!” Damocles shouted as he went to his phone to call the nurse. “That is an extensive rash, dear girl!”

Her mother grabbed her arm to look closer. “What did you do? Take a bath in the Seine?”

“I didn’t have a choice! I was being chased!” Lila exclaimed, attempting to pull her arm out of her mother’s hold so as to scratch more.

“That…would explain the smell.” Damocles noted before the receiver picked up and he quickly turned his attention to requesting the school nurse’s assistance.

“Did you at least wash it off? Didn’t you shower when you got home?” Her mother asked, exasperated as she had to keep hold of Lila’s arm to prevent her from scratching herself.

Lila hunched over. “No. I had to call you first.”

Her mother groaned in response, much to Lila’s irritation. She glared up at the woman who should be reassuring her own child in this hardship but instead was merely shaking her head at Lila like this was something she had simply brought upon herself!

How could she?! What sort of mother would be so cruel?

She barely paid any attention when the nurse entered the office with some ointment in hand. She only realized what they were doing when they started to slather the gel on her skin, which felt gross and humiliating. Made all the moreso with the way the nurse and her own mother couldn’t fight the looks of disgust at the smell that still covered her. Even Ladybug calling her out in front of Adrien hadn’t been so humiliating.

But it would get worse.

Damocles coughed. “We will resume this discussion another time. Madam, if you are willing, I can arrange a meeting with the students involved and allow you to discuss reparations in an informal…non-court setting.”

“If you please, that would be preferred. In the meantime, I will be taking Lila home so we can deal with all of…” She paused, waving her arms around and trying to think of the right words before simply shrugging with a sigh. “This.”

“Wait! I can’t go out there! Everyone will see me like this!”

It was perhaps out of some love as a mother, or just some small mercy that had Amara Rossi agree to take her daughter through a roundabout path out of the school. One that allowed Lila to take hallways that were less used and offered less visibility in and out of the classrooms.

And most importantly allowed her to avoid Bustier’s class.

After getting instructions from the school nurse regarding skin care to get rid of the rashes, Amara thanked both Damocles and the nurse before taking Lila outside. The two made it to the front of the school with few being there to witness Lila’s ‘walk of shame’ so to speak. It was probably more than Lila deserved, but her mother was hardly cruel. Tough when she had to be, certainly.

There was now just the final leg of the trip. Amara started down the steps of the school and made it to the bottom before she realized her daughter wasn’t following her.

“Lila!” She hissed. “Get down here!”

“But…” Lila hesitated, looking up and behind her to where Bustier’s class would have a perfect view of her exit.

“Now, Lila. Or do you still want to be out here when classes are over?”

Lila forced herself to move down the steps—both as quickly as possible to try and lessen the amount of time anyone had to see her and as carefully as possible to avoid anything touching the ointment on her skin.

“When we get home, the first thing you’ll be doing is taking a shower to clean yourself properly this time. We will be going through your room as well and taking back your laptop, your phone, and anything I even think you may have bought with that stolen money.”

Lila grumbled but didn’t argue.

“Yes, mother.”

At this point, she just prayed no one had seen her.

__________________

They saw her.

“Is that Lila?”

“It is! And her mom!”

“What’s that on Lila’s arms?”

“Oh. Wow.”

Bustier had stepped out of the room for what she said would be a minute while leaving the class with some assignment to do until she returned. Naturally, given the drama of the day, no one was really able to focus on the schoolwork. So instead, they took to quietly chatting with one another. Or in Alya’s case, nudging Marinette repeatedly as the girl tried to wrap her head around the prospect of having a date with Adrien.

No, THREE dates. Wait—were they dates? Like…date-dates?

Fortunately for her own peace of mind, her imagination was put on hold by the exclamations of those near the windows. Helpless to the draw of wanting to know what all the fuss is about, Marinette and the others on her side of the class joined those at the windows to see just what it was about Lila that had grabbed their attention.

And she had to say: Yikes.

“That has to be the worst rash I’ve ever seen.”

“Looks like that dip in the Seine did not agree with her.”

Marinette winced in sympathy.

As Ladybug, she had a few instances of having to make use of the Seine or the sewers as an exit, so she knew full well how nasty the water could be. The suit and resulting Cure would normally rid her of any of the water or contaminants or so Tikki said, but that didn’t stop Marinette from taking a good long shower afterwards. Or three. Just to feel clean afterwards, despite Tikki’s reassurance.

What happened this time?

She looked down to her purse, but the little clasp remained resolutely closed. Even when she tried to pull at it.

Tikki...what did you do?

“I feel kind of bad.” Rose murmured, resting a hand on the window. “She only jumped into the Seine because of me. Because I had everyone hunting her.”

“I don’t.” Alix replied. “You were only after her because of what she did.”

Nino nodded in agreement. “Yeah. And if the info on the Ladyblog regarding Lila’s crimes are any indication, she may have been doing it to help Hawk Moth.”

“We can’t prove that, though.” Ivan noted.

Rose hugged herself.

Marinette hugged her as well. “Whether or not Lila deserved it, it happened because of Hawk Moth. Not you. So please don’t blame yourself, Rose.”

Adrien came up next to them and rested a hand on Rose’s shoulder. “If we try to question who is truly at fault, we’ll be dragging this out forever. All we can do at this point is try to figure out where to go from here.”

“Hey, that’s right!” Mylene realized. “Rose, what are you going to do about the charity?”

Rose looked down. “I don’t know. It’s kind of pointless now since we don’t have the money anymore.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t try again.” Nino reassured her.

Adrien nodded in agreement. “Plus Alya and I were talking earlier. If you still have the ledger of the funds, you could try to bring up charges against Lila to get the money returned. My father has some attorneys our company frequently uses for any legal issues. I could see about getting one of them involved to find out how to proceed on this.”

“Dude, seriously? Is your dad cool with this?” Nino asked, completely taken aback that the man would do such a thing.

“It’s only the beginning of what he could do to make up for his part in this.” Adrien muttered.

Nino blinked at his friend and his…strangely dark expression. Then he grinned and slapped Adrien on the back. “Good for you, man!”

“But what about Lila though?” Ivan asked.

“Murder?” Juleka asked.

Which of course, none of them took seriously.

Right? Right.

“If Lila’s mom’s attitude is any indication, I don’t think Lila will be getting away with the theft.” Kim said, looking out the window in the direction the two ladies left. “She looked maaaaaaad.”

“She is angry from what I have heard.” Max said from his seat. He didn’t look up from his tablet and was the only one aside from Nathaniel to not move from his desk. “Apparently Lila had been lying to her mother and the school about why she’s been absent for months. And then with the theft on top of that, plus all of the other things revealed thanks to Witch Hunter, I believe there is a 97.3% chance that Lila will be grounded for the foreseeable future.”

“Wait. How do you know that?” Kim asked.

“Markov told me.”

“Oh.”

A pause.

“And…how does HE know tha—”

Max simply disregarded him and turned to Rose. “You should probably discuss the matter with Lila’s mother. It sounds like she is taking the issue seriously and would like to meet with you and work this out appropriately.”

“Oh. Okay. Thanks.” She said with a smile. Albeit a somewhat wary smile.

“So there may be a chance to get the money back then?” Ivan asked, hopefully.

“But wait—what about Prince Ali?” Alix realized.

This brought all eyes to Rose, who looked hurt at the reminder of her friend cutting off ties with her.

“Rose…” Marinette started.

She winced. “I…still have his email. I don’t know if he’ll talk to me, but…I can apologize. And I can try to make it right. I think…” She took a breath. “I think I understand now why he was so upset. He’s a Prince and must be used to a lot of people trying to use him.”

She hesitated, looking down.

“Lila was…probably that exact type of person. And she was able to use him through me—even if she didn’t know it.”

The others winced.

Yeah, it was probably a good thing they learned about Lila now before it got too serious. Who knows what would have happened if Lila had ever actually gotten to meet him? Or really any of the other celebrities they actually knew.

Rose bit her lip for a moment, then looked up. “I’ve been thinking…if I do get the money back…since the charity Lila had told us about doesn’t exist, we can’t donate the money as planned. I would like to give the funds to a charity with a similar purpose—I even found one that looks genuine and does a lot of good, but…” She frowned. “That’s still misleading to the people who originally donated.”

“So what will you do?”

“I have a log of everyone who donated since I had wanted everyone to get credit or some sort of ‘Thank You’ for helping. I can try to reach out to them and ask them what they want to do.” She brightened slightly. “Alya is also helping by putting a notice on the Ladyblog about what happened and what we’re doing so that anyone who did donate before can be alerted and know to contact me.“

Alya smiled. “It seems to be working so far. If anything, I’ve been more messages from people wanting to donate as well.

Mylene gasped in delight. “You may end up with even more funding for your charity, Rose.”

“Just as long as we make it clear it’s the real deal this time.” Alya agreed. “I posted the charity’s info on the website as well as some links to verification sites so people can check for themselves that it’s real. This way, we don’t run into the same problem we had with Lila or get accused of lying ourselves.”

Well, that was a relief. They had a plan and they were certainly taking this seriously.

“I’m glad for you, Rose.”

Rose smiled back. “Thank you. I know this doesn’t really fix everything, but it feels like the right thing to do.”

“Aww!”

The group hug that commenced was just what they all needed.

__________________

Tom and Sabine had quite the busy day. Especially with that girl who had come in earlier and snuck into Marinette’s room.

And the akuma. Though they were at least getting used to daily disruptions caused by those.

“I hope nothing came of it.” Sabine worried as she was finishing putting things away. “I’m sure she was doing something up in Marinette’s room.”

“I’m sure if anything happened, Marinette could handle it. And if she couldn’t, she would let us know.” Tom replied as he headed to the laundry room to put away their used aprons and towels.

There was silence for a bit.

Then…

“Honey?”

Sabine paused and turned towards her husband. “Yes, dear?”

“Did that girl ever come back with Marinette’s clothes?”

Confused, she started towards the laundry room where her husband was. “No, why?”

Tom turned to her, with some items in hand. “I think she left her things behind and the Miracle Ladybug Cure didn’t send them back.”

Sabine stared. “Oh my!” She reached forward. “These look practically brand new!”

“And expensive.” Tom added.

The two looked over the items before looking up at each other. With a nod, they seemed to come to the same conclusion.

“Early birthday gift for Mari!”

“We’ll take it to Roger.”

…not…so same conclusion, evidently.

Sabine gave Tom a flat look. Tom smiled embarrassedly and rubbed his head.

“Yes. We can take it to Rodger as part of the case.” He agreed, sheepishly.

Sabine sighed and shook her head.

“Though maybe we can discuss it with the school.” She mused. “Since that girl is a student there. And some of the things on the Ladyblog are a bit concerning…”

“Should we still press charges?” Tom asked, worried. “Let’s wait and speak with Roger tomorrow. And see what Marinette has to add.” Sabine said, taking the items from Tom and placing them in a safety box where they wouldn’t be mistaken as common items.

…or early birthday gifts.

__________________

Taking the Dragon Miraculous back to Fu was easy enough.

Apologizing for beaning him with a pot was less so.

“It is all right, Marinette. Really.” Fu assured her as he took the box back from her and restored the choker to it’s rightful place. “With the Miraculous Cure, I no longer have the injury.”

Marinette winced from her seat at the table. “Still, I feel really bad about it.”

He shook his head. “You did what you had to. The akuma’s influence was widespread by that point and the situation was dire.”

Especially since her kwami and the Guardian himself had both been affected as well.

He wouldn’t say he…approved with her methods. Or the headache it had caused him. But it had allowed her to defeat the akuma and restore things in the end. And truly, that was what mattered.

“It took a lot of strength from you today, Marinette. I am proud of what you accomplished.” He told her as he returned the Miracle Box to its hiding place.

“I just wish I could have helped Rose more.” She murmured.

“You did everything you could, Marinette!” Tikki insisted.

“It is difficult, but sometimes there is only so much that can be done, even with the aid of the Miraculous.” Fu returned to his seat at the table. “But I sense that is not the only thing on your mind today. Am I wrong?”

Marinette gasped. “Oh, Master! There’s something we’ve discovered today. Something really important!”

Tikki gasped. “That’s right!”

The two nodded to each other and spoke at the same time.

“Gabriel Agreste is Hawk Moth!”

“Adrien invited you to see a movie!”

Marinette froze, turning red at the reminder.

Tikki, for her part, blinked at Marinette in confusion.

“Wait…you mean what Lila said earlier?”

“That’s right.” Marinette said, turning her attention to Fu and away from any distractions of stupidly cute blond boys. “Earlier today, Lila tried to claim that Gabriel Agreste was Hawk Moth.”

Fu frowned. “Marinette, are you sure about this? Lila Rossi was Hawk Moth’s accomplice. As well as an unrepentant liar. This may be a lie as well.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Lila tells lies if she thinks they’ll benefit her, but she’ll tell the truth if she thinks it could serve her more.”

Yeah, she knew that much from Lila’s attempt to sneak into her room and get dirt on her.

But more than that, Hawk Moth had betrayed Lila. After working with him all this time, someone she had…at least trusted she could use if not actually trusted had turned on her. And was even outright going to let the akuma kill her.

If Lila could be so spiteful for this long over Ladybug simply telling someone she had lied about knowing her, she couldn’t put it past the girl to not hold some grudge against Hawk Moth as well. And if she thought she knew who he was…

Well, if all else had failed her, there was no reason at that point not to try to reveal it.

“It would explain her connection to Gabriel Agreste as well.” Marinette reasoned. “He was a known recluse for a year before Adrien started school. He would keep Adrien from any events. Refused to let his friends come to visit him or for him to visit them. And wouldn’t even let Adrien have a birthday part.” She frowned, tapping her chin.

“So why would a man like that who is so protective of his son trust some random teenage girl with Adrien’s well being? Especially one he has never met who lied to his staff, forced her way into his home, manipulated his son into a photo op,” Not that she was bitter of course, “…and snuck into his personal office?”

Fu frowned, considering her words. “That is strange.”

“Exactly!” Marinette said, pushing closer to the table in earnest. “Even if she didn’t know he was Hawk Moth at the start, she still tried to get to him because of his control over Adrien. It was a connection she knew she could use, so it would benefit her. Which is Lila’s MO.” She said with a roll of her eyes.

She shook her head. “But this would explain why he would seemingly trust her. If he was Hawk Moth, that means he akumatized her before. Three times, even!”

Fu nodded. “The powers of the Butterfly would have let him know what she was like. If she was a willing assistant as Witch Hunter’s scroll proclaimed, he would have known.”

Tikki gasped. “It could also explain the mass akumatization when you had gotten expelled!”

Marinette gripped the table in growing anger. “They must have planned it! How else would he have known to have it ready?”

“Calm yourself, Marinette.” Fu reached out to place a hand over her own. “This is a good theory, but you don’t want to open yourself to an akuma. Especially not after everything that has already happened today.”

She wilted at that. “You’re right, Master. I’m sorry.”

“That is all right.” He assured her with a kind smile. “It is healthy to feel emotions, but you cannot let them overcome you.”

“But…” She hesitated. “Do you think I’m wrong?”

He paused for a moment, thinking it over as he took a sip of tea. “I had suspected once before that whomever had the Grimoire likely had both the missing Miraculous as well. After Gabriel Agreste had been akuamtized, I had wondered as you did whether it was simply coincidence.”

“Because the Butterfly user can’t akumatize himself, can he?” She asked.

He gestured to the tablet containing the translated Grimoire. “Normally, I would say not. But as you have learned, there are ways around any barrier. And as coincidences increase, at some point, we must ask how many coincidences are necessary before something is proven true.”

He smiled. “One such coincidence may be that he had the lost Grimoire. But another may be how convenient it was that he should be akumatized immediately when anyone may be suspecting him after its loss.”

She frowned, uncertain.

“Let us think on it for now, Marinette. And it will be best if we keep an eye on both Gabriel Agreste and Lila Rossi in the meantime.”

“Yes! Thank you, Master Fu!” She nodded before getting up and heading to the door.

“Goodbye, Master! Goodbye, Wayzz!” Tikki chimed before she flew into Marinette’s purse.

As Marinette walked down the street towards home with Tikki in tow, she continued to think over things. What she had learned. What Master Fu had told her. What she had experienced throughout the day.

“Oh!” She gasped as she realized something.

“What is it, Marinette?” Tikki asked from within the opening of the purse. They were mostly alone for the moment, so they could afford to speak if they did so quietly.

“Something I’d been meaning to ask you.” Marinette told her. “What happened with Lila today? The Cure normally fixes things to how they were before the akuma, so why was Lila covered in a full body rash?”

“The Cure sometimes acts in mysterious ways.” Tikki replied.

Marinette frowned. The answer was obviously vague. And Tikki’s refusal to meet her gaze indicated she knew more than she was letting on.

“Tikki…”

“Oh, look at the time! You should be getting home, Marinette!”

“TIKKI!”

__________________

Rose looked over her draft for what had to be the thirtieth time.

Excessive, maybe. But she wanted to make sure she was doing it right.

Ali,

I do not know if you will read this letter, or if it has even been permitted to reach you. At the very least, I am hoping for a chance to tell you from the bottom of my heart:

I am sorry.

While I had never meant to harm you, it doesn’t change the fact that you were harmed. And this harm could have been prevented had I been more cautious.

I could come up with any number of reasons as to why I chose to put my trust in the wrong person. The girl I had thought was promoting this charity was my friend. I wanted to believe the best in my friend. But that is no excuse.

If I truly had respect for you as a friend and as your station of Prince, I should have done my due diligence in ensuring the honesty of anyone I trusted. Especially before I tried to encourage you to trust them as well.

You were right. It was foolish of me.

From your perspective, it must have seemed as a sign that I did not take your friendship seriously. And I am deeply ashamed that I ever allowed that impression to anyone, but to you most of all.

If you choose not to forgive me, I understand. But I at least want you to know that I am going to make this right.

I am pursuing legal options against the girl in question. I do not know how much we will be able to see returned, but I fully intent to refund the donations to you and everyone else who had trusted me to do the right thing.

This may not fix anything. And you do not owe me anything from it. But I hope I can at least try to make up for my mistake and be the person you believed me capable of instead of the fool she turned me into.

Thank you for everything,

Rose

She took a breath.

Okay.

This was it then.

Any last words? Any final changes? Any regrets?

…no.

She shut her eyes and clicked ‘send’.

And finally exhaled. With the air, she breathed out all of her anxieties, fears, and doubts.

She had done what she could.

She was doing what she can.

That was…that was all anyone could expect of her.

All that she could expect of herself.

…

…

…

That didn’t make it not ache though.

But there was nothing for it now, she realized as she turned away from her computer to go to bed.

She wanted to fix things. Desperately so. But she couldn’t force Ali to accept her apology and forgive her anymore than she could force Lila to be honest.

Rose curled up under her covers and hugged her pillow close.

It was a small comfort. But one she was going to allow herself.

She hoped for the best. She always did.

But even if he didn’t…she would move forward and continue doing good. Just as he inspired her to.

She just…

A couple tears fell.

She had just wished he would be around to see it.

It would take another hour before she would fall asleep.

…

…

…

It would be another three hours before an email alert came up on her computer.

__________________

Ugh.

Lila fell onto her bed, huffing angrily.

This whole day sucked.

She was attacked by an akuma. Everyone turned on her. Hawk Moth was going to let her die. And even when everything was saved, everything was ruined.

Thanks, Rose. Thanks, Hawk Moth. Thanks, Ladybug.

And now she was stuck here in Paris and couldn’t even get away from any of it!

She groaned into her pillow. She couldn’t be too loud, though, as her mother was being annoyingly alert and “keeping an eye on her” now. The last thing she needed was to give her reason to suspect something was up and cause her to come barging into her room.

There was no escape this time. Not now that everyone knew.

She’d still have to deal with her class. Even worse, she’d have to see Adrien and Marinette making eyes at each other.

She’d still have to deal with the school. And now that they knew what she did, she wouldn’t be getting away with anything again.

She’d still have to deal with Hawk Moth, and his akumas would still be a risk for her, as well. She wouldn’t put it past him to try to take her out. What little power and control she had was gone now.

And worst of all…

…Ladybug.

That measly little bug and her damn threat against her. To follow her. To keep an eye on her. To be her…special friend.

Like she would really do that.

Lila turned over in her sheets, settling into her bed and getting comfortable.

Or trying, at least.

Something felt off. She just didn’t know what.

She glanced around her room. It was much more barren now since her mother had cleared out a lot of her belongings. Her laptop and cellphone were gone, as was the limited light they provided in the dark.

She huffed and turned over to face away from the door.

Half asleep, she glanced out the window.

Two glowing blue orbs were staring back.

She screamed.

__________________

A creak of a window opening and closing.

A giggle.

“Huh? Tikki? Zzat you?”

“I’m fine, Marinette. I was just checking on something.”

A yawn.

“What was it?”

Another giggle.

“Nothing important.”

Two blue eyes sent a glare out into the city.

“Nothing at all...”

[narrators-journal]

The most dangerous game

I know I’ve been hella dead, but I return with my usual! Stano smut! I dunno why I adore writing these two so much, but I guess I’m attached, so yeah. Ya’ll get content.

CW: Predator/prey vibes, Xeno gets chased but there’s no real big acknowledgement of it.

It was likely because Xeno had developed a persistently wonky sleep schedule that he got so many night time jobs. That, he supposed, was why he was once again out at night hunting another Vampire, despite having told his boss of his run-in with a particularly pretty vampire. However, at the moment, Xeno somewhat wished he was dealing with Stan instead. At least with him he could rely on his need to flirt and toy with him to give him away. But no, the scientist wasn't hunting Stanley, but instead a completely different vampire who was proving his dislike for hunting the blood sucking monsters. Taking advantage of how dark the night was, the human's weaker vision, and whatever ninja techniques he had learned from the internet, the young vampire had hidden annoyingly well in the thick blanket of shadows and clutter on the streets. So, the white-haired college graduate was poking around at every rock and thicket of grass or bushes along the sidewalk before the boiling irritation in his veins got to be too much and he let out a mix of a groan and a scream like a tea pot. Stomping over to one of the few flickering street lights on the road, the hunter stood in the light and dug out his knife, then used it to slash at his stomach to fill the air with the alluring scent of fresh blood. With a pained hiss and the new wet feeling of blood dripping sluggishly down his pale skin, the trap was set, and all the hunter had to do was wait for the shallow cut to work its magic. Which, didn't take long. All Xeno had time to do was get one of his metal stakes from his pocket and extend it, then he was set upon by the vampiric ninja-wannabe. However, despite his skill at stealth, the vampire was young in both a human and vampire sense. Freshly turned at a young age, he'd become a problem because he had yet to grow out of his pubescent hormones quite yet, and giving him a predatory draw and increased strength had only encouraged him to turn hard into the bad boy persona. Sadly, being a new vampire wasn't all improvements. It also meant an increased hunger and little control of your newfound strength. Which is what had led the young man to be targetted by the monster hunter association, and swiftly wiped out by a stake through the throat via Xeno Wingfield. With a grunt, the monster hunter threw the freshly dead young man to the sidewalk, wincing at the burning and itching sting bending down to yank the stake from his throat brought to his stomach. For a moment or so, he felt bad for the creature. He'd been young, and he'd let his newfound powers obviously go to his head after a lifetime diet of anime and movies, the silver haired hunter could understand his over excitement, but he also had little to no patience for dumbasses who couldn't register that they weren't in Naruto. So, his sympathy was brief, and he was soon just dragging the young creature's corpse into some bushes and calling the cleaning crew to come collect him. Then. He spoke.           "God damn, Doll. You're quite attractive when you're being lethal." Stan hummed, hopping down from his hiding spot in a nearby tree and giving the hunter a charming smile that he refused to admit brought a little heat to his face.         "Oh, so you're just gonna become a full blown stalker now? Did you follow me from my house, or was this another 'coincidental' run-in." Xeno's words dripped with sarcasm and venom, but the vampire simply rolled his glacial blue eyes,          "Actually, I'm here because I smelled fresh blood," At the mention of fresh blood, the scientist glanced down at his work shirt, spotting the tiny stain of blood his cut had left,          "Oh." He inwardly winced at how disappointed he sounded, but tried to recover with a sniff, "I had trouble luring the bastard out. It was quite the shock for me to find out that not every vampire would want to chase me down and prowl around my house for the entire fucking night." Stan simply snorted, fishing out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one before he spoke again,          "Nah, that's just my thing, doll,"         "Quit calling me doll! You have my name now, fucking quit." The vampire put his hands up in mock surrender, though his smirk didn't falter under the scientist's withering glare. For a moment, they simply stood in the cool night's darkness, the hunter with his arms crossed and dark eyes narrowed, and the vampire returning his malicious look with his own nonchalant, half-lidded one while he breathed whispy smoke from his dark mouth. Both men seemed to dare the other to say something or do anything, each looking for an excuse to make some sort of contact until the smaller male spoke again,           "Are you expecting me to run away? Because I told you the first time we met, I'm not likely to do that," He huffed, but Stan simply shrugged,           "I'm just messing with ya, doesn't matter to me if you run or not." He grinned more at the lightning fast moment of irritation on Xeno's face, but the hunter schooled his facial features back into their usual disdain-filled glare, only broiling with frustration on the inside. He hated this man's relaxed demeanor. He was a monster hunter, the tall, hypnotically pretty predator should be avoiding him at all costs. Yet here he was, needling at him as if he couldn't end him just as quickly as he had the younger blood sucker. Okay, well, not as quickly. Stanley had a good four inches on the monster hunter at least, and had a body that had been frozen at the prime of his life, toned and pruned like an artfully shaped shrub through the years into a gorgeous, powerful example of why humans were the apex predators of the world. Or, well, they were, but with his change into the more monstrous his status as the perfect predator had only increased. Stan was perfectly built to hunt humans. Not only did he have a supernatural magnetic beauty to him, but he'd been human, so he knew how humans behave first hand. He was a nightmarish wet dream. Xeno gave his head a good shake to banish those thoughts from his mind when he realized he was looking the vampire over with the hunger of a sugar baby sizing up their next piggy bank.           "Hey, Xeno," Stan hummed, but the hunter refused to look back at the man, which he simply took as a greenlight to continue, "you wanna play our little game tonight?" The hunter snorted in response, staring off into the darkness while his cheeks cooled,           "I thought you were only here to bother me, not play a game of fucked up tag," He said calmly, only looked back at the man when he heard him walking closer, only stopping when he was about two feet away, maybe within reach, a grin on his pretty face,           "Well, I thought it'd be a bit more polite to offer that rather than just asking if I could drink your blood outright." he reasoned, amused at the edge of poutiness that he seemed to sniff out through the veil of aloof indifference the hunter spoke with.            "No thanks to either offer, I don't want to be chased tonight." Xeno sniffed in response, simply adding a thicker layer of ill temper to cover how excited he was at the thought of being pursued a second time. The first time had, admittedly, given him a thrill, but he wasn't ready to voice such to the annoying vampire in front of him. However, Stan seemed to have picked up on his kryptonite from that first round,              "But aren't you curious to see what happens when you add the scent of blood to the mix?" The purr in the man's voice annoyed Xeno immensely, but the thought of maybe learning just how sensitive vampire instincts were, and how quickly one would succumb to them. Obviously young vampires are more prone to being controlled by their need to feed, but Stanley isn't a new vampire, that curious voice mused, already setting Xeno on a very likely stupid and dangerous path, It'd be immensely helpful to know just how easy it is to bring out those base urges in him. If he's going to follow you around it's best to know what to avoid so he doesn't go feral. It further encouraged, stoking the flames of the scientist's natural curiosity until he hummed,              "I suppose it would be useful for the association to know exactly what triggers a vampire to go into a frenzy of some sort. Fine." The vampire grinned at that,             "You do know that I can't promise my feeding instinct is the only one that'll come to the surface," he pointed out, making Xeno blink and raise an eyebrow at him,             "What? Why would any other instinct come into play?" turning red as Stan laughed,               "Well, in simple terms, I find you too attractive to promise that when I catch you I'd only want to drink your blood~" Xeno's face warmed up more at that, getting huffy and tripping over his words in his rush to snap at him.               "You can have a five minute head start, just like last time," he simply assured, "Just need a bit of blood, because your original scratch has closed," He laughed more when Xeno pulled up his shirt to see that his shallow cut from earlier had in fact begun to heal, no longer bleeding and instead beginning to scab over. The hunter only responded with a glare at that point as he plucked his knife from the sidewalk where he'd dropped it and wiped it off before leaving another cut along his stomach, this one a bit deeper than the first, but not enough to linger for more than a day or two. With that, Stan gave him a charming smile that showed his extending fangs, his blue eyes already getting a hungry gleam to them. So, without further conversation, Xeno took off down the street. The cuts on his stomach stung and itched more from his running, but he pressed on. His main concern was regulating his breathing and energy so that he could get as far away from the vampire as he could in his small window of time. Naturally, his plan wasn't to just run in a straight line and wait to be caught, not only would that likely be dangerous, as a vampire in a feeding frenzy was much more violent, but was less likely to fulfill the goal of bringing those deadly instincts to the surface at all. So, instead, he sought out other people, a crowded area, maybe a shop, that way it wasn't as easy for the predator to catch up to him. This is insanely stupid, that voice of reason finally spoke up, not only am I playing with fire by instigating an instinctual reaction, but I am woefully under prepared to run from Stan. He realized, filling his veins with icy terror when the weight of his situation fully sunk in, The first time we did this I barely survive on pure panic and him toying with me. If he really loses his shit and goes into a frenzy, I can't outrun him. The reality of the thought hurt, but it was sorely true. Despite all of his training as a monster hunter, Xeno had never been one for good cardio, namely in the stamina category. He relied on his wits and pure speed, not his ability to maintain those speedy response times or pace for long periods. but it's too late now, he reminded himself, thinking back to the way the vampire's fangs had extended so soon after he'd given him a fresh source of scent. Nope, he couldn't chicken out now. He had no choice but to stick to his plan and push the panic and fear aside. Instead, he simply focused on the route ahead of him and locked onto the light of a store further down the street, which he headed for instantly. The bright, artificial light blinded the pale scientist for a moment when he stumbled into the store, but he was swift to regain his barrings and dash down the aisles and through the crowds of night owls and whatnot that were still up at this hour. He knew that his five minutes had ended a minute or so before. Meaning he didn't have long before the vampire would be on his ass. So, thinking quickly, he swiped his hand over his wounds, then smeared the blood on his palm onto the tile flooring in an aisle. Once he had that down, Xeno ran off deeper into the store. He had very few places to hide. The bathroom was basically a dead end with no windows and only one door, he couldn't climb up the shelves or to the rafters in a timely manner, so he forwent that plan. Instead, he did the next best thing. leaving as distracting a trail as possible before bolting out one of the fire exits.            "Shit," he wheezed when the fire exit triggered a screaming alarm through out the store. If Stan was in there, he'd definitely know he got out now, but that only meant the scientist had less time to think of such things. He had to focus on running. So, Xeno ignored the way his legs throbbed, and his lungs ached from gulping down the cold night air. He focused entirely on getting home, or at least to a more residential area. He could feel his limbs getting heavier, threatening more and more to give out with each step, but his grit his teeth and bared it until the threat became reality and the asphalt bit into his skin. And there he laid for a few seconds, gasping for air and scraping up as much energy as he could to push himself to his feet. As he did, he glanced back down the street, and sure enough. Stanley was coming out of the alley Xeno'd run out of, his glowing blue eyes locking onto the scientist in an instant. With another curse spat out through gritted teeth, Xeno took off again. His legs still screamed from exhaustion, and now his hands stung viciously from the fall, but he kept going. He could hear Stan closing in on him, which gave him a final burst of frantic energy that carried him to at least the park near his home before the vampire finally tackled him to the grass. The scientist could only wheeze in response, letting the vampire crush against him and push his face into his pale neck with a growl. That seemed to snap him out of the exhaustion cloud, and in an instant, Xeno was squirming and forcing himself up once again. The only way he managed it was because the vampire was taken by surprise, so he was able to slip from his grasp and scramble up, but he only got a few more steps before he had to lean against a tree for support so that his legs didn't crumble a third time. Then, just as quickly as he'd gotten away, Xeno was back in Stan's luke-warm arms, trapped against his needlessly heaving chest with his fangs hovering over his jugular once more. However, he didn't bite down. To the contrary, the feral vampire seemed to hesitate for a moment, seemingly weighing his options of what to do with the hunter before settling on a choice and swiftly switching to almost slamming him against the nearest tree.           "S-Stanley!" The hunter wheezed, more surprised then anything, pushing back so that his face at least wasn't forced into the course bark and he could look back to try and see the blonde behind him. Said blonde was keeping him in place with a hand on one of his shoulders, looking Xeno in the eye and almost relishing the dawning realization that painted his pale cheeks before he used his free hand to hook into his pants and tug them down pretty roughly. Then, he was back at the man's neck, but this time he bit with his blunter teeth, sucking at the skin until Xeno's mewls and hums were pulled out and he was satisfied with the hickey he'd left. The scientist, meanwhile was a bit ashamed of how quickly he accepted the turn of events. He tried to save some face by muffling the noises bubbling in his throat, but Stan's mouth at his neck, paired with the way he ground his groin into his now-bear rear drug a few noises out. Though, it also bat back the fog of hormones and lust long enough for the hunter to realize that he was very likely to get hurt if he didn't intervene. So, he whined and reached up to tangle his fingers in Stan's messy hair, tugging at it until he finally relinquished his throat from the second hickey he was dedicated on leaving. Carefully, Xeno turned himself around with what little room he was permitted between the vampire's muscular chest and the much-less-forgiving tree. Once they were face to face though, the college graduate's brain no longer seemed to work, so, the two simply stood there, panting a bit from the chase, before he finally gave up on using words and instead simply sunk down to his knees. Keeping his eyes glued to the glowing blue pair above him as he went. Luckily enough for him, his actions at least intrigued the vampire, because he was allowed to tug his bottoms down just enough for his member to spring free, which earned him a noise somewhere between a growl and a hum. With Stan's pants down and his member now standing erect in front of him, Xeno hesitated. Should it matter if I'm any good at this sort of shit? I just need some sort of lubrication, and he shouldn't really care about anything beyond...mating, so surely he won't give a shit, right? He asked himself, puzzling over the predicament before Stan reached down to grab onto his shirt, reminding the scientist of his lack of patience. So, Xeno threw his insecurities to the wind and grabbed onto the base of the shaft so he could slip Stan's impatient member into his mouth. The vampire moaned in response, and Xeno took that as a sign that he'd bought a bit more time for himself. So, he slowed down, bobbing his head at a medium sort of pace to work himself up to taking as much of the length as he could, which, thankfully for him, was almost all of it thanks to years of speed-drinking coffee and energy drinks and eating at record speeds in college. He also found that once he actually got to moving, the embarrassment of his lack of skills faded away, and part of him simply enjoyed the groans he got out of Stan while he moved his lips up and down him at a steady pace. He simply continued to work him as much as he could until the vampire let out a little hiss and gripped onto the scientist's shirt until he pulled away and let his throbbing member go with a coy 'pop'. Suddenly, Xeno was yanked back to his feet and whirled around again to be slammed back into the tree. His pants were tugged down once more and his feet were kicked apart in rapid succession so the monster hunter only got a moment's break before Stan pushed into him. And while it hurt still, the white-haired man found that he didn't mind as much. As the vampire began thrusting into him, one hand clawing into his hip, the other on his shoulder, Xeno moaned out curses and did his best to grab onto the tree or Stan's neck to keep steady under the merciless thrusts of the blonde. It was shameful how hot his body got, but with how Stan was hitting that sweetspot within Xeno, his face back to being buried in his neck for more marks, Xeno couldn't care less.        "Mmmm, fuck! ah, r-right there, please!" he plead, tangling his fingers back into Stan's hair as he moaned, giving another lewd noise when his pursuer did as he asked, swiftly learning that doing so got more needy noises from the hormone-addled hunter. With that, Xeno lost all coherency as euphoria further fogged his mind, and soon brought him to his peak with a whine of the vampire's name. Though, Stan didn't stop when Xeno came, he just kept thrusting into him, still flooding his pale body with more and more pleasure while his hot puffs of breath tickled his hickey-littered neck. The continued rough treatment was beginning to sting, but the edge of pain only seemed to bolster Xeno's pleasure back to its peak, pushing a second orgasm from him before Stan finally grew sloppy with his thrusts and soon gave one final movement before emptying himself into the hunter. After that, the monster hunter let himself melt against the tree, relying on Stanley to hold him up because he was on the verge of passing out after that night's activities. The last thing Xeno remembered was giving a thumbs up to what he assumed was the question 'are you okay'. Then, he let his exhaustion take him into dreamland.

[imagine-loki]

Soulbonds and Fairy Dust (rewrite)

TITLE: Soulbonds and Fairy Dust (rewrite) CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 3/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine one of the fae has been helping the Avengers, jumping in to help them on missions and vanishing before Shield can bring her in.  Loki joins the team and convinces her to come talk to the team and consider joining before Shield takes more drastic measures. RATING: M NOTES/WARNINGS:  This is a rewrite of the original work of the same name.  Also on AO3 here

“Hey!” she protested, tugging on her wrist, trying to get it out of Loki’s cold vice-like grip.  Unfortunately, he was stronger than she was.  And he was dragging her further into the building.  There was no question in his body language or the bruising grip on her that she wasn’t getting away.  Not without truly hurting him.  Whatever her words had sparked was riding him hard.  He wasn’t letting her out of his sight again.  

He also annoyingly still had her ring, so it would be a pain to flee now. She would just have to sneak back to claim her ring later, which was easier said than done when a magician was involved.  He ignored her protests and kept his grip on her wrist firm as he dragged her into the elevator at the back of the reception area.  He was silent the entire ride up the tower, and dragged her out into what appeared to be a living room with a huge tv and too many couches and comfy chairs spread around it. 

“Let me go!” she protested again, yanking harder against the hand holding her wrist.  She really didn’t want to force him through violence. His grip should not have been that strong on her overtop of her coat.  She didn’t want to force him to let she go, but she would if he didn’t knock it off and start explaining things. 

Soon.

“Please do not fight me, Lady Fae. This is important,” Loki told her firmly, but not unkindly, just in a tone that told her clearly that he expected to be obeyed. She noted that while he was holding her firmly, he wasn’t hurting her, not really.  He just wasn’t letting her escape.  It was almost as if he were afraid of losing her if he wasn’t physically holding onto her.

She huffed, “Fine,” she grumbled and walked with him into the common room.  Struggling wasn’t going to help matters any.  Not if she wanted answers or her ring back.

Thor was waiting for them in the common room and stood when they entered. He had been so excited when Loki had said he wished to meet the fae lady downstairs. He was glad Loki had finally wanted to do something, anything. That that activity had to do with another person was an even better sign.  Though Thor stiffened when he saw her wrist firmly in Loki’s grip; that was unacceptable behavior towards a guest. “Brother, that is not how you treat a guest…” he told Loki, his tone dry, but trying to keep the situation from turning violent. He didn’t care for how the fae lady was being treated any more than she did. 

Something about the two men’s interaction brought back a memory of two boys, one with black hair in a green tunic, the other was blond in a red tunic having some kind of argument. she were standing nearby huffing in exasperation at her silly boys. Not her sons, no, her friends. She had been the same size as them. 

Now where had that memory come from?

“Brother, now is not the time for you to berate me, you will understand my actions in a moment,” Loki told him, his voice calm as his hand remained clamped around her wrist, his grip not loosening at all, as if he were afraid she would disappear if he let she go. “Lady Fae, please inform my brother of your name,” he addressed her pleasantly, gently.  There was a sense of caring and something that could easily be mistaken for love.  Had they actually known each other.  

She huffed at Loki’s treatment of her and hoped there would be explanations soon. “My name is Sigyn, what of it?” she grumbled and watched Thor’s eyes go wide after she said her name. 

“You see why I did not wish to risk losing her again now that I have found her?” Loki asked his brother with desperation in his voice.  Thor nodded, but didn’t say anything yet as Loki turned to her and finally dropped her wrist. “I apologize for my rough treatment, lady. I was surprised when I heard you name. There was a young noble lady on Asgard by the name of Sigyn who went missing around 500 years ago, we presumed her dead. She had been my best friend,” he added that part softly and she weren’t sure she or Thor were meant to hear those words. She saw the haunted look and pain in his eyes and all she wanted to do was go hug him. 

That was a strange reaction for someone used to being alone. 

“You think I’m you missing Sigyn, though surely the name can’t be that uncommon…” she said softly, the pieces coming together from what he’d said so far. He thought her his long lost friend. She couldn’t just accept it without any form of evidence, though, so she had to bring up the question.

Loki shook his head.  “The name was never very popular on Asgard, and became nearly taboo to use after y-she,” he corrected quickly, very nearly saying ‘you’ to her.  He couldn’t let himself have that much hope, not yet.  Not without proof.  “disappeared,”

Sigyn wished she could remember more of her childhood, but she couldn’t yet. She’d had to hide the memories even from herself. A golden lady had taught she that piece of magic when she were a child. When she was teaching the black haired boy. 

Her memories were coming back slowly in the presence of these two men. 

“You told me earlier that you were taken when you were younger, you said 500 or so mortal years, and don’t remember where you’re from,” Loki added gently to the fae lady, to the lady who looked nothing like his Sigyn, but… still seemed so familiar.  He was also explaining for Thor’s benefit. The pieces were falling into place and it seemed more and more likely as the conversation went on. “The timeline fits, especially from a child’s memory…Sig was only 500 when she was taken from us,”

“True,” she agreed softly, “I had to hide my memories, even from myself to protect the people back home from the fae,” she added just as softly.  She had a feeling that with these revelations, she definitely wasn’t leaving their care. She had a feeling they were right, but there was no proof.  How could there be?

“Can you find your memories again?” Thor asked her gently, and gods he sounded so familiar, with that overly protective brotherly tone and the true concern in his words. 

She nodded, concentration in her eyes. “Given time I can, but not soon enough to answer your questions as fast as I’d like,” she explained, Loki nodded along, seeming to know exactly what magic she’d used to hide her memories all of those years ago. He was a magician, of course he knew, or had a good idea. 

Thor looked to Loki. “How do we find out the truth?” he asked Loki just as gently. He didn’t want Loki hurt if she wasn’t really his long lost best friend. The longer Loki was left to hope she was his Sigyn, the more broken hearted he would be if she weren’t.  And Loki had already tried to kill himself once in recent history. 

Loki considered that and both Sigyn and Thor could practically see the gears in his mind turning as he thought over the situation. “I would suggest I help her unlock her memories through magic, but I am not sure that is wise as I have never tried to look into the mind of a fae. I can contact Mother and see if she has any ideas,” Loki finally replied cautiously.  He didn’t want to take risks, not with this, not with potentially hurting his Sigyn. 

“Can you contact Mother from here?” Thor asked a bit incredulously. It was incredibly far from Midgard to Asgard, especially without using the Bifrost’s power. He wasn’t sure whether to believe Loki’s skill could truly reach home. “Is her ring enough of a clue? It is a noble lady’s ring, and they contain magic, do they not?” Thor was trying to come up with a solution that didn’t mean Loki had to contact Frigga between the realms.  He didn’t quite believe Loki could do it as easily as he was claiming. Loki was a known liar, especially when it came to solving a mystery he wanted solved.  And Loki was desperate to find out if she were his long lost best friend.  

Desperate was an understatement. 

“Mother and I are connected from any distance. She taught me my magic, you oaf. Yes, the rings have magic in them, spells to make sure they grow with the wearer and a protection spell on them. It protects them until they hand over the ring to the one who owns their heart,” Loki explained to his brother, though the fae took in the information as well.  The information was familiar, known, but still so new to her.

 Thor sighed and grumbled at his brother. “I am merely throwing out suggestions of easier ways to solve the mystery than trying to reach across the realms with magic.” The fae had been watching them silently, unobtrusively.  She was quite practiced at not drawing undue attention to herself and was taking in all of the ‘new’ information as they spoke. 

Loki’s eyes glazed over a little as he spoke telepathically with Frigga. Sigyn and Thor couldn’t hear the conversation, though Loki had to draw enough power and concentration that its as obvious what he was up to. /Mother, can you hear me?/ he asked her as he made the reach between the realms.

/I can hear you darling. Is there trouble?/ Frigga replied, concerned that Loki would be contacting her from Midgard.  There was no other reason she could think of for Loki to be contacting her over such a long distance except for some kind of trouble. 

/Not exactly…/ he paused, nervous to explain now that it was time to find out the truth. He didn’t want to lose the hope he had built that this fae lady really was his Sigyn. /There is a fae lady here who says her name is Sigyn, though we do not know if she is the same Sigyn Thor and I knew when we were younger, the same Sigyn we lost.  We could use you help in confirming the truth for her/ He really meant ‘for me’, but left those words unspoken.  He knew his mother would understand.

/Why would a fae lady be our missing Sigyn? Though that name is not common. It lost favor with the people after our Sigyn went missing/ she paused while she considered how to test the lady for Loki.  /Though it is easy enough for me to confirm or deny. I assume she is there with you. Have her perform a piece of Asgardian magic, if she can. I taught Sigyn when you were both children so I can recognize her magic, just as I can yours/ As long as Frigga was linked with Loki she would be able to feel the fae’s power.

Loki looked at Sigyn, which was more than a little weird with his eyes glazed with magic as they were.  “Lady Fae, would you be willing to perform a piece of magic for me? My mother will be able to confirm or deny you identity from that, since she taught Sigyn magic when we were children,” his voice was a little monotonous when he spoke while still in trance.

“A-alright,” she replied shyly.  She wasn’t used to dealing with, or really being around people.  She only had a couple friends on Midgard and liked to keep it that way.  She created a little illusion rose.  It was the first little spell she thought of and was the magic of her childhood, not from her powers as fae, somehow understanding the request from Loki’s question, though he hadn’t stated it. 

/That is our Sigyn!/ Frigga confirmed, sounding excited that she was back from the dead.  Of course she was excited.  Frigga adopted all children who came into her life, especially the ones who came into her children’s lives.

/Thank you, Mother/ Loki replied and ended the connection before it drained his powers too much to keep it open.  Even he had trouble holding the connection across the realms.

He turned to Sigyn properly and she saw unshed tears of joy in his eyes.  “Mother confirmed it. You are of Asgard and the same Sigyn we knew when we were children,” he told her, with joy in his expression, though she had the feeling he hadn’t experienced joy in a long, long while.  Sig and Thor both stared at him in disbelief, but it just clicked with her as the truth, fae could hear lies after all.  Though she vowed that she was going to regain her blocked memories as soon as possible to know for sure herself. 

But she remembered something… “You’re the same Loki, then?  The black-haired boy I studied magic with?” she asked softly, her own eyes glazed as she fought to remember. “And hammer brain the oaf?” she looked at Thor who rolled his eyes.  

“She remembers nothing else except that terrible nickname,” he grumbled and all three of them laughed.  

Loki looked like he was trying to remain proper and polite, but he was fighting and failing.  He rushed to her and after a moment of hesitation, a moment where she could tell him no to deny him the touch, he pulled her into his arms.  She remembered that his skin was always freakishly cold, though she couldn’t feel it through her coat.   “I thought I’d lost you forever,” he whispered as he held her to him.  

She slowly wrapped her arms around him, comforted by the feeling of old memories, even if she didn’t quite remember them yet. 

Still, being in his arms felt like home.

[makeste]

BnHA Bonus Rant # 5: All for One for All

Okay guys, so ever since I first read chapter 217, I’ve been thinking about certain One for All things and going “hmm” a bunch. Like so:

hmmm.

hmmm.

hmmmmmmmmm.

And like. I’ve had these bits and pieces of some kind of theory for a while now, and I think I’m finally ready to try and put them together.

So I’m gonna try to make this as straightforward as possible. First off, here’s the “official” story as far as we have been told:

AFO steals a “power-stockpiling” quirk from User X and gives it to his brother (henceforth referred to as Lil Bro).

The power-stockpiling quirk fuses together with Lil Bro’s own latent quirk, which happens to be a passing-down quirk similar to All for One.

The newly created quirk, One for All, allows the user to stockpile power within the quirk and then pass the quirk on to a new user, who in turn can then pass it on to another user, and then another, etc., all the while accumulating more and more power.

Fast-forward a century or two. All Might, the eighth user of OFA, passes the quirk down to a new successor, Midoriya Izuku. Izuku eventually becomes the first user to unlock another secret power hidden within OFA this whole time -- the ability to use the past users’ quirks.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. 

Anyway, so that’s basically it. This is what we’ve been led to believe up till this point.

So now, here’s my alternate take.

AFO steals what he believes to be a minor strength-enhancing quirk from User X. However, upon stealing it, he realizes he’s fallen victim to one of the classic blunders: namely, that if a quirk relies on some kind of “stockpiled resource” so to speak, he can only steal the quirk itself, and not said resource along with it. Much like another quirk-copier we know of:

So now AFO is stuck with some useless quirk that does fuckall for him, and wondering what to do with it. And then a light bulb goes off in his head. Of course! He has an annoyingly rebellious brother he’s been meaning to try and persuade to see things his way... by force, if necessary.

He doesn’t want to give his brother anything too strong, of course. Ostensibly out of kindness and concern for Lil Bro’s fragile state, but in reality he probably just didn’t want him to ever be able to oppose him.

But a quirk like this? One that doesn’t actually do anything? That’s pretty much perfect. He can force his brother to submit to him without ever granting him any actual power. So he gives Lil Bro this supposedly useless quirk, thinking that this is the moment when he’ll finally succeed in getting his brother to join him.

But instead, two things happen which AFO did not expect. Two things which, quite unknown to him, will ultimately work to seal his doom.

Let’s backtrack for a sec and examine just what that power-stockpiling quirk is. It’s actually pretty powerful stuff! Basically it seems like it gradually stores up someone’s power over time and then lets them use that accumulated power in bursts.

But as we now know thanks to Deku, that’s not all that it stores up.

Okay, so now just… hear me out.

All for One steals User X’s quirk. Unbeknownst to AFO, upon being stolen, said quirk immediately goes to work doing what it’s been designed to do: stockpiling the power of its current user. It no longer has the accumulated power of User X, because as we made note of earlier, power can’t be transferred through that method. It is, however, still a perfectly fine quirk, and it’s got a new user now. And so as far as the quirk is concerned, it’s back to business as usual. It’s accumulating power once again, this time from a new wielder: All for One.

So that is Thing # 1 That All For One Does Not Expect.

And here’s Thing # 2.

Like I said -- you can’t transfer accumulated power through stealing or copying or otherwise duplicating someone else’s quirk. For whatever reason, it just can’t be done.

But.

A WILD LOOPHOLE APPEARS ohhhhhh shit.

Listen, I don’t know why this is, but it is, though. We already know; we’ve seen it in action. One for All can be transferred from user to user with its power bundled in free of charge. It’s the only quirk we’ve seen thus far that’s capable of doing that. It is possibly unique in this. But it only works if the user wills the power to be transferred. Otherwise it will not happen. And All for One, in his arrogance and hubris, did in fact willingly grant this power to his younger brother.

So here, finally, is what I’ve been trying to get at. I don’t think Lil Bro actually ever had a quirk after all. I think our boy really was quirkless. That passing-down quirk he supposedly had? The one that supposedly fused together with the power-stockpiling quirk to create One for All?

Well, I think said fusion actually took place when AFO was still in possession of the quirk. In other words, I think One for All actually is All for One.

We have a quirk that stockpiles its users’ power and “quirk factors.” All for One was in possession of that quirk. It stockpiled his power. It stockpiled his quirk. And then without realizing it, he passed that power on to his younger brother. The quirk, along with whatever power it had accumulated from him.

One for All is literally All for One. The power to grant quirks from one person to another comes directly from AFO’s power. No other quirk has the ability to do that. We have copy abilities and shapeshifting abilities and clone abilities, and all of these are capable of duplicating others’ quirks to some extent. But none of these powers is capable of granting quirks to other people. The only abilities we have seen that are capable of that are One for All, and All for One. That’s not a coincidence.

Know what else isn’t a coincidence? The fact that Deku all of a sudden possesses multiple quirks. Not temporarily, but permanently and with no apparent restrictions other than his own ability and stamina. Again, that’s a power we’ve only seen in the hands of one other individual before now.

Yeeeeeeeeah.

So yeah. That’s my theory. This entire time, One for All has not actually been an “offshoot” of All for One, but is in fact All for One itself. And AFO has, ironically, been the originator of OFA this whole time. He is the first wielder of OFA. His brother is the second.

Oh hey wait, yeah. So about that. You know how All Might has been really fucking reluctant to bring up the topic of All for One, even now that he’s finally been ~defeated~ and locked up in Tartarus? Like, remember that one panel I was going “hmmmm” at earlier? “I didn’t want to raise that point…”

Well I think that might be because...

Which would mean... well...

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah.

So yeah, Deku. Hate to break it to you kid, but you might in fact have a certified evil dude currently taking up residence in that big ol’ hero brain of yours.

“But makeste,” you point out, “we’ve already seen the other vestiges and none of them look like AFO, and also there are only eight of them and if AFO was included, wouldn’t that make it nine?” All of which are good points which I will acknowledge. But in turn please consider:

(1) AFO has a gazillion quirks, including at least one that’s capable of altering his physical body and appearance (namely, whatever de-aging quirk he’s using). He could be invisible. He could be in disguise. He could in fact even be in disguise as a certain explosive boy whom Deku instinctively trusts! That one’s a bit out there, I admit, but frankly all of the theories related to That Silhouette are pretty out there so I’m willing to roll with it. But my point is basically that there are lots of possibilities here.

And (2), we don’t actually know jack shit about the past users of OFA. We only know Deku is the ninth because each user apparently kept count, because at least they were capable of doing that much. But All Might doesn’t know anything about any of the users prior to number six (whom he only had a vague description of, not even a name), so at some point all of that history was lost. It’s possible that they were keeping track of it but then Shimura or someone else purposely destroyed the information and didn’t pass it along to Toshinori in order to keep the other predecessors’ families safe. She gave up her own family for the same reason, so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch.

But my point being, we don’t actually know that there were in fact eight users following Lil Bro. There may well have only been seven, and they just assumed there were eight because everyone caught at least a vague glimpse of the Vestiges once or twice during their time, and they all counted a certain number of people, and so they assumed (quite correctly) that that’s how many past generations of OFA there were. Their only mistake was thinking that Lil Bro was the first, rather than the second.

What else. -- Oh, the thing with OFA being passed down via DNA transfer rather than by touch can probably be handwaved, tbh. That may have been because Lil Bro only received a little bit of AFO’s power and not the full-blown deal initially. Or it could just be that since saying “here, eat my hair” did work, they never thought to question whether it could be passed down via other methods too. But in either case, it may well be that Deku is capable of doing the touch thing and much more now that AFO has been churning about deep within OFA’s core for a couple centuries, and has, just like the other quirks, gradually been growing stronger this whole time. It may well be that All for One 2.0, Version: Deku is finally ready to rumble.

And if so? If he is? Well then that may just be the perfect solution to this whole damn mess. How do you stop a villain with unlimited power? Particularly if he does finally obtain a healing factor quirk at some point in the game and is restored to his former glory? There’s really only one way I can think of: give him a taste of his own medicine. Fire Lord Ozai style. Set a thief to catch a thief. Poetic fucking justice.

So that’s about it, I think. This is my current theory about OFA and AFO. This also means that, just in time for Father’s Day, I’m now pretty sure that AFO is not in fact actually Deku’s dad (and I may possibly owe @addermoray a beer). Or at least, the one theory probably isn’t true if the other is. So yeah, congratulations Deku, you get to pass on all of the I’m-secretly-the-son-of-my-greatest-nemesis angst after all! In exchange, you get my-greatest-nemesis-is-currently-inhabiting-part-of-my-soul angst instead. Heh. Have fun with that there, kiddo.

[potaetaezz]

|| Sweet Like Coffee || 12

prev << >> next

pairing: Nct Dream x Reader  [female]

genre/au: fluff | teeny bit of angst (to come) | enemies to lovers | Everyone is just a clueless bunch of weirdos, you get the drill… or so you thought.

warnings: slight swearing, immature content, underage drinking

A/N: its’s my first fanfic so no judgment lol | Longer Chp | here we go~

_____________________________________

Your cheeks were on fire as Haechan eyed you up. Your stomach knotted, a soft panic began to rise in the depth of your heart. You glanced to Jaemin who seemed relaxed, almost calm. But his posture was too straight. You were now aware of how close he sat beside you. Aware of how you didn’t move away. Haechan was persistent, awaiting your reply. The silence roared. You couldn’t take it anymore.

“I—”

“Leave her off Haechan.” Jaemin got there first. Amusement lining his deep voice. He was enjoying this. 

Satisfaction leaked from Haechan’s unpleasant smirk, making you tense. His expression, that look made you feel uneasy. Contentment found in the darkness of his ebony eyes. His longing stare. He knew something.

He could see you were all too close. He could see Jaemin’s simper. He was aware. You hoped for the best. Pleaded that he didn’t know about your kiss in the dark. But his face, that cruel smile told you otherwise.

You could feel the heat of Jaemin’s gaze on you. Watching your reaction. But you didn’t give in.

Jeno came back just in time to lighten the mood, handing you the glass of water. 

“It’s a game night, right? Are we gonna play some games or-”

“Yeah Mario Kart, duh.” Renjun laughed.

Haechan turned back to Lila with a glowing smile, but Jaemin kept his unlawful eyes on you. It was irritating, to say the least. You turned to him, prepared to finally ask ‘what’, but instead he moved his gaze to the game console. Gesturing to the now free game controllers.

“Think you can beat me?” He said. 

“Is the pope Catholic?” 

His eyes wander to the floor for a second, almost processing, thinking about your words.

“Oh my go- yes of course I can beat you.”

He quirked his eyebrows, a smile taunting his lips.

You settled yourself onto the floor. Hands gripped the controller comfortably. You were a master at video games, but playing against Jaemin made you doubt yourself. 

“And if I lose?” He added. For if you were going to play, there had to be a consequence.

“If you lose,” you thought for a second, “bring me in coffee for a week.” You did love coffee, and he knew that all too well.

He nodded his head, smirk growing. “And if you lose, I’m walking you home tonight. I might even try to meet your brother.” He winked at Haechan discreetly. You would’ve missed it if you weren’t staring right at him.

“Well, then I won’t lose.”

You picked your characters for the race and the pathway. You chose ‘Princess Peach’ in spite of his nickname, and he chose Wario. Everyone was watching, all eyes on the two of you. You were both competitive, both stubborn and both wanted to win. What else could you want for a great game.

As the screen counted 3, 2, you leaned forward, repeatedly pressing the acceleration button. You got a head start, speeding into the lead. A bend appeared, you drifted, keeping tight on the corner. You were ahead, first. You held your position until Jaemin sent a green shell just for you. You reacted fast, swerving to the left, avoiding it.

You kept right in front of Jaemin, making sure he couldn’t pass you out. But he was good. He drifted early on the bend, using the slipstream to speed past you. 

You sighed, hands cramping. 

You saw a shortcut Jaemin had stupidly missed. A smirk tugged the corner of your mouth. You just might have a chance at winning this. As the shortcut ended you pulled out on to the road at perfect timing, right in front of Jaemin. You soon drove through a mystery box, collecting a banana. You dropped it immediately in front of Jaemin. He was too close behind, he couldn’t swerve or move. He drove right into the banana, spinning out to the side.

An agitated grunt slipped from his mouth.

You were in the lead yet again, but you didn’t underestimate him. You kept your turns tight, avoiding any shells sent your way. But the finish line was in view. You were so close, almost there. 

Until Jaemin speeded up beside you out of nowhere, with the help of a mushroom. But his speed wasn’t going to last long. He failed to overtake you. You kept your speed up. You were ahead by a fraction, by a breath. You sped through the final set of mystery boxes but you were too focused to get anything. A thundercloud appeared above Wario’s head, giving him that final boost. But the finish line was close. He swerved. He just barely touched you. 

A lightning bolt began to spin above your head. It flashed. You were hit. You stopped just for a second. But it was too late, that was enough for Jaemin to drive right through the shining finish line. That stupid smile glued to his face.

“What’s your brothers name again?” He asked, getting even more arrogant.

“Uhh, I’m pretty sure it’s ‘Fuck off’.” You tried to hide your laugh.

“Don’t be a sore loser now.”

Renjun had already snatched the controller from your hand before you could stand up, challenging Jaemin to another game.

“Bring it on.”

———

The rest of the night was packed with multiple people losing to Jaemin, you beating Jeno more than once, and Renjun insisting he’s actually good at Mario Kart. It was hard to admit, but that night was actually a lot of fun. Maybe because you were was temporarily relieved of the heavy weight balancing on your conscience.

Jeno seemed to be back to his 'regular self’, or his ‘good self’, cracking jokes left right and center. Bad jokes at that. Haechan was preoccupied with Lila for most of the night, acting suspiciously nice to her. As for Jaemin, you thought his company was okay. Well, annoyingly enjoyable to say the least. You two could finally get along, finally agree on something -> that Mario Kart is at least in the top five best games ever created.

But as they say, there’s always the calm before the storm.

———

“Don’t forget I’m walking you home.” Jaemin whispered as you watched Lila and Renjun attempting to dance. 

“Oh, how could I forget?” At least it was a short walk to your house.

Jeno had already left, to complete ‘unfinished business’. Haechan was gathering his stuff to leave. He shouted out a ‘thanks’ before disappearing out the door.

“You ready?” Jaemin added.

You nodded your head. It was getting late and you couldn’t stand to watch Renjun dance any longer. 

“You’re leaving already?” You heard Renjun shout as you opened the door. If you stayed any longer to answer that question, he’d never let you leave.

The air was warmer than you imagined as you stepped out into the night, Jaemin following. Although he didn’t speak for a while, you two just walked in silence. 

“Since when were you such good friends with Renjun?” You broke the silence. Unable to hold back the seriousness in your voice.

“We hung out at the party, and yesterday we all had to help Haechan clean up. We got to know each other then.” 

Of course, the party. The party where Jeno had changed. The party where you kissed Jaemin. You took a quick glance at his lips. The party, how could you forget. It was all too easy to forget Jeno’s words that night, all too easy to forget Jaemin’s tricks. 

You began to feel the pressure of unsaid words between you both. Stretching. Screaming. Begging to be released. Finally, Jaemin gave in.

“So, Jeno huh?”

You knew what he meant. You knew what he wanted you to say. But you played innocent instead. Avoiding the question, the real question lurking in his words. 

“Yeah, what’s up with him lately?”

———

POV - Jaemin

———

“So, Jeno huh?” He tried to chuckle, tried to laugh, but his throat was closing in. He wanted the truth. But he knew you wouldn’t tell him of all people. 

He could see you thinking it through, processing every inch of his voice. He could see your thoughts before you spoke. For your face thought before you did. 

“Yeah, what’s up with him lately?” A diversion. How clever.

He could’ve easily told you what’s wrong with Jeno, what he was doing. He could’ve easily ruined Jeno’s disguise, his plan. But what would you say? What would Jeno do then? So instead he swallowed the truth clawing its way up his throat. Ignored the plea in his heart. He decided to let you be fooled, for you were a fool all the same. 

“He’s the same as always.”

———

POV - y/n

———

There was a tension between you both. Taking up space in the darkness.

“He’s the same as always.”

Was he though?

You couldn’t help but wonder if Jeno’s change was due to alcohol or lust, or if he was just battling between two different sides of himself. Nevertheless, you were beginning to miss his kind gestures and warm smile.

Your eyes finally settled on Jaemin once again. On his chest rising and falling with each breath. On his hair gleaming thanks to the moon. On his vulnerability in the darkness, which he tried ever so hard to hide, which you tried ever so hard to ignore. It was getting harder and harder to remind yourself of his reputation. Of who he really was. Haechan’s warning rung in your ears.

The next you knew you were at your doorstep. 

“Why did you want to walk me home?” The words fell from your lips casually. Surprisingly. 

“Did you kiss Jeno?” He also spoke casually. Finally allowing himself to speak the words that had been crawling up his throat all night.

Your eyes widened. “Wh-what?”

“Nevermind.’ He hissed, turning around. 

“No.” It barely escaped your lips. 

He spun back around to meet your gaze. The light in his dark eyes barely shinning. He stepped closer. A string pulling up the corner of his mouth. He was satisfied. He got what he wanted.

“Oh and y/n,” his expression bringing back that ache inside of you, “thanks for letting me win.” 

You scoffed at his confidence, something you should be used to by now. But before you could retort, he was already walking away. He got what he wanted, what he asked for, an answer. So why should he spend any more time in your presence. 

You were grateful nonetheless, because sadly, horrifyingly, he was also becoming harder and harder to resist. Something happened at the party, something happened to you after that kiss. Something that you wished you could get rid of, dispose of, ignore.

But you were forgetting, neglecting one fact, one detail, that that kiss only stemmed from Jeno and his watching eyes. 

———

POV - Jaemin

———

Something like guilt tugged at his seams when he looked into your eyes. He knew the bet was wrong, he knew he shouldn’t mess with your heart, with your mind. He didn’t want to hurt you. But he also didn’t want to lose. He was winning, his lips had already fused with yours, but he didn’t dare underestimate Jeno. 

He got his answer from you, yet still, he wanted to stay, wanted to keep admiring your features, your lips. But that same sense of guilt that pulled at him everyday and night tormented him, until he couldn’t take it anymore.

———

nanajaeminn: be early for school tomorrow, we need to talk. 

———

Monday [8:06am]

Jaemin swore he’d never been in school that early, but things had to be discussed, and they would more than likely take a while. He walked into the cafeteria and sat down at their table. Of course, he was first. Not long after he noticed Jeno sauntering in, bag falling off his shoulder.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, we just need to discuss something.”

“Let me have a guess, the bet?”

Jaemin nodded his head. “Oh by the way, how was Mina last night?”

Jeno chuckled, “She was good, if you get what I mean.” He winked.

The door opened as Haechan appeared. Bags gathered under his eyes, most likely from lack of sleep. His hair was messy, his jacket was half on. He more than likely just woke up. “What did I miss?”

Jaemin cleared his throat, gathering their attention before he spoke. “Let’s stop the bet.”

 Jeno and Haechan looked at him with wide eyes, speechless. Until Haechan attempted to gather some words together.

“Wh-wha, why, it’s just getting fun?”

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of losing?” Jeno piped in with a snide remark.

Jeno was taking this discussion as a joke, but Jaemin was deadly serious. He had no idea what he wanted to say, or what he was going to say, but he had to say something. For the guilt was torture.

Jaemin swallowed. The guilt, the regret pulled at him, shook him until it exploded. Until he burst.

“It’s not fair to y/n. Let’s just stop it, okay? Why can’t we just stop it?” The ache, the torment ceased. He could finally breathe.

Jeno began to laugh, but it wasn’t amusing. “Since when did you care for her?”

Haechan kept his mouth shut as Jeno continued, “You’re the one who started it in the first place.” 

“I know, but I regret it.” Jaemin sighed. He wasn’t used to being the good guy, the guy who wanted to stop someone from getting hurt. He hated that y/n brought it, pulled it out of him. 

“Look, the bet is still on unless you want to give up. But I think you’ll be losing anyway, because I’ve still got some tricks up my sleeve.” Jeno stood up, and walked away. 

Jaemin knew exactly what he was going to do, he could read it off Jeno’s face. 

He just feared y/n was going to fall for it.

———

POV - y/n

———

There was no Renjun that morning with your coffee; he probably stayed up all night to improve his Mario Kart skills. Instead, there was Lila.

You walked to school together. She seemed to glow (more than usual) and a smile was plastered on her face. She normally hated mornings, and could barely drag herself out of bed, but this morning she was practically skipping to school And let’s just say, she hated school even more.

“Any reason why you’re so happy this morning?” 

The smile disappeared in seconds, as she began to glance at the floor, “Uhh, uh-em no, nope.”

You left it at that. She clearly didn’t want to tell you, but when she was ready, she would.

‘At least she’s happy’

You arrived at school earlier than usual, but there was still a good few people in. You parted ways with Lila as you entered your classroom. You looked up to see Jeno at your desk, reading a new book. You nearly halted, for Jeno was never in this early. You had expected to come in and get some work done alone, but with Jeno there it might be a bit difficult. Not because he would talk, but because your eyes would constantly feel the need to look at him, at his perfectly carved features.

You tiptoed over as to not disturb him, but he looked up regardless. 

“Jeno,” you laughed awkwardly, “what’re you doing here so early?”

“Y/n hey,” and he smiled that irritatingly perfect smile, “Just to read.”

“So early?”

“It’s just quieter here.” he chuckled softly. 

You took your seat and pulled out some Biology books. Putting in your earphones as you opened your notes copy. Music made studying a lot easier. The sun began to shine inside the classroom, and finally your heart was at peace. With Jaemin and now Jeno being so confusing (as well as your own heart), it was hard to relax, hard to stop thinking. But studying was always a way for you to forget, to ignore your problems. 

A while passed, until Jeno pulled out one of your earphones. The corners of his mouth upturned into a charming smile, his eyes crinkled.

“I forgot to ask you something.” 

But that smile was soon replaced with that same expression he held in the dark, at the party. Something clouded his raven eyes, his smile turning into a smirk. Whatever had changed him made you feel uneasy. The usual ache grew in your stomach, dragging your heart down with it.

His eyes snagged on your lips. The room began to darken, as well as his face. He spoke again, his words charged with confidence, voice trapped in appeal, husky and deep.

“Care to go on a date with me, y/n? But I’ll warn you, I don’t take no for an answer.”

_____________________________________

See you next time -> Thursday 31st xx

-------

A/N>> hope you liked it!! Are you ready to hear y/n’s reply?? Or see what Jaemin does next? Stay tuned for Thursday!!

_____________________________________

[acrobaticcatfeline]

Logan Alastair and the Slytherin Curse (the Hogwarts AU)!!!

Word Count: 3391

TW: Oof, ok so, bullying, violence, blood mention, bruises, um, its implied that Patton can see through invisibility spells and has more understanding of things than he should which might be a squick(is that the right term?), IDK Patton just knows... a lot more than he should. I think that’s it? let me know if there’s anything else!

Notes: Here it is!!! God I swear the headcannon had like thirty notes up until a few days ago and then it exploded!!! It’s at 206 notes now heck I’m glad this is something yaller excited for! I hope you enjoy reading this as much is I enjoyed writing it!!! This is the first half of the “intros”, once I’m finished introducing at least Virgil, we will be up into the 3rd year and we’ll have some shenanigans of the boys just being boys!

Pairings: nothing... yet. some slight slight hints at logince at the end? eventual logince and moxiety and maybe more, IDK yet if I’m adding more characters.

Summary: “you are a disgrace to this house. The sorting hat has made its first ever mistake it seems, good to know.” Logan Alastair didn’t choose to be a wizard, are you kidding me? He wants to be back at home with his dogs and parents and dealing with normal bullies, not ones that could kill you with the wave of a hand! This is all way too much at once, but maybe things will get better with a few friends...

“you are a disgrace to this house. The sorting hat has made its first ever mistake it seems, good to know.”

The snarling replies from every person at his house table caused the boy to cast an invisibility charm and run to his common room. He felt the gazes still, likely from the house ghost, as he hid on the other side of the stone wall. He was lucky to have overheard a Slytherin mention the password, otherwise he would have probably flung himself into the lake. He flicked his wand and his belongings appeared on his bed. He sat on the floor, casting an illusion spell that lasted much longer, pulled out his spell book, and picked up his new owl, affectionately named merlin. He held the bird close as he read through his book, practicing different spells he saw as simple enough that any pure blood would know. He had always been a bright kid with a passion and speed for learning. On the train here he had hidden in an empty carriage and been practicing different spells that could be used for defense and very simple attack spells.

He had no disillusionment that this new school would be free of bullies, and after getting sorted he already wanted to leave and sleep in his own bed and hug his dog. He should have pulled a “harry potter” and asked the sorting hat to keep him out of Slytherin, but he had hidden and saw no need until he had already gotten sorted.

Now, Logan Alastair sat hidden in a veil of illusions so he could read his books in silence. He traded focus from his spell book over to his history book. He enchanted it quickly to search for passages about Slytherin. The first bit of information he got was about Salazar, telling stories of his hatred of muggles and ‘mud bloods’ as they called them. After a quick search he realized just why his housemates shouted this at him. He brushed it off soon after, looking at the dark tinting of his skin and grimacing, didn’t seem far off from what people at home said about him. It seemed much less hurtful than what some muggles had called him before. Regardless, he continued through the book, smiling fondly at the fact that merlin, the famous wizard merlin, was a Slytherin true of heart. He read about Severus Snape, and while he seemed like less of a genuinely good person and more like a selfish jerk that just so happened to not be the absolute worst, it was nice to see instances of not evil cruel Slytherin’s. He then traded focus yet again to a recent history of Hogwarts, and the battle of Hogwarts told by survivors. He did the same spell, getting far more positives than before. It told of less well known Slytherin’s that did good in the end. Regulus Black, Andromeda Tonks, Draco Malfoy, Astoria Malfoy, so many that had shady roots that redeemed themselves in more ways than one during the battle and onwards. He read a small bit on Isolt Sayre who had a short blip saying they were a direct descendant of Slytherin but had fled to the new world after escaping her murderous relative.

This of course led him down a rabbit hole, searching for the name in any other book, and after a few minutes he found that she had been the one to institute the school of Ilvermorny and had broken the pure bloodline by marrying a muggle. Well he had a new role model geez… he made it to the magical beast’s textbook and smiled as he recognized the authors name as a famous Hufflepuff who was known for defeating Grindelwald, a terrifying purest the likes of Voldemort but you know, he had a nose and skin pigment. He had always read exceptionally fast, it was the thing that occupied his time in his youth, as he couldn’t make friends very easily. He thought it had been hours when the rest of the Slytherin students made it up, however he had only been there for approximately half an hour. He quickly stashed his things and sat on his bed, drawing an illusion of him sleeping as a curtain on his bed. He looked through and saw people actively find a bed as far from his as possible, and he had no problem with that. He sat watching closely as everyone set their bags down and luckily for everyone, everyone ended up 2 beds away from him at least. Logan felt his stomach grumble and cast disillusionment on himself and dashed out of the common room quickly. He made it up to the kitchen area soon, knowing that he would be able to get past the house elves easily. He went to grab food only to get swatted by… something. He turned over and saw a boy who looked his age with big round glasses nearly falling off his face. The boy has curly red hair and his eyes are ocean blue behind the red frames he wore. He wore a yellow and black jumper over a pair of black sweatpants with the Hufflepuff mascot across its leg. Another look at their face and he saw freckles scattered everywhere and he was surprised he hadn’t noticed them sooner. However, he seemed to have taken a while to respond as the boy crossed his arms and pouted at him.

“uhm… you can… see me?”

The boy rolled his eyes somewhat playfully and gave a grin at him. He changed his posture to a more relaxed one, putting his thumbs in his pockets as he answered.

“well of course I can silly! You’re just slightly glittery! Why, am I not supposed to see you?”

“well, no? no you’re not, this is a chameleon spell I'm supposed to be blended in with the environment no one should be able to see me!” he got grumpy and shed the charm, glaring at the annoyingly taller student.

“oh well geez I dunno! Oh, hey you’re not glittery anymore!!!”

“did I do the spell wrong? Does this spell only make me less corporeal? Oh gosh I need another cloaking spell oh god my housemates will see me, and they’ll kill me what was I thinking? Maybe, maybe there's another train out? I can just go home to my dog and I wont have to do this magic stuff it’s not worth it I didn’t want this I wanted to grow up like a normal kid and see my parents everyday and go to school with normal bullies, not ones with literal death machines the size of a pen why did I come this is stupid I bet this isn’t even real maybe if I just go to sleep Ill be back at home-”

“hey kiddo, calm down! I uh, I don’t know how to help you out, uhhh, here, let’s get you some food and get you sitting down somewhere so you can breathe. Come on kiddo lets get you some food.”

After stacking a plate sky high with food, the boy hands Logan the plate and pulls out his wand, tapping on some barrels then causing one of them to fly open. The boy looks towards Logan again waving his wand at the plate and chants ‘ebublio’ to which the plate gets surrounded in a bubble. He grabs it from him and beckons Logan as he hops into the barrel. Logan, who now has his food on the line follows, somewhat hesitantly. They reach the end of the passage and the boy turns yet again and waves his wand this time at Logan, chanting the word ‘colovaria’ and when Logan looked back at his robes, he was shocked to see he wore Hufflepuff colors.

“sorry, it’s a precaution. No one from another house has ever come inside the Hufflepuff common room and if word got out that some year one kid let one in, I would be done for. Anyways, sit on down kiddo, anywhere you feel like it, though, the couches are super-duper comfy.”

Logan honestly had no idea what to do with the last few minutes, so he did as instructed, and giggled softly as the boy dramatically popped the bubble. He grabbed a piece of bread off the top and takes a bite, eyes widening in awe at the good taste. After getting over the initial shock he looks at the boy curiously.

“what's your name?”

The boy giggled heavily and smiled a big toothy grin. Logan felt slightly bad about the fact that he automatically noticed the slight gap in his teeth. He fiddled with his bright red frames and bowed dramatically.

“where are my manners!!! Hello Logan, I am Patton Scamander!!! The one and only!!! Pfft I sound silly, don’t I? anyways yup yup I'm the 4th generation of Scamander hufflefluffs!!!”

Logan stared at him blankly for a good few seconds before his eyes finally widened in realization.

“wait, you’re related to Newt Scamander? Isn’t he the one who”

“yup! He wrote fantastic beasts! And apprehended Grindelwald!!! Oh, and my mom is Luna Lovegood! She’s a hoot and a holler let me tell you, she thinks I'm quirky!!!”

Logan was in disbelief. This kid was the son of famous Ravenclaw wizard Luna Lovegood. And the great grandson of newt Scamander the magizooligist. Granted he literally only learned all of this information today, but he had a general idea that Grindelwald was a magical Hitler and thus made anyone involved in his capture war heroes and at least back home he was told to respect war heroes for defending their freedoms and yada yada, Logan was rambling.

“wait, that means your mom knew Albus Dumbledore!!! I uh, I only found out about him today, I only found out a lot of stuff today, but wasn’t he like”

Logan wasn’t able to form words for what he had been trying to convey and started vaguely gesturing and Patton just nodded and agreed. After finishing his food, he got up and poked at the entrance, trying to figure out how to leave.

“aw, leaving so soon Lolo? We were just beginning to become friends!!!”

“uh, well its late and we do have class tomorrow and I should probably sleep…”

“well can’t you sleep over? We have plenty of time to get our books between breakfast and our first class! Speaking of which, what's your first class?”

“uhm, well I guess I can? I dunno… um, when did we get our schedules?”

“oh, we don’t get them until tomorrow technically, but I have a pretty general idea of what I have, I guess. Was just wondering if you did too!”

“oh, no I uh, I don’t even know what classes there are. I didn’t know magic existed until today.”

“oh!!! Oh… oh you poor muggle born got sorted into Slytherin I'm so sorry!”

“speaking of which, what is the differences between each of the houses?”

“oh geez, uh how do I explain this… ok so my house is Hufflepuff! Hufflepuffs are in general, hard workers, who are dedicated patient and loyal! We are known for being just and true and our motto is ‘do what is nice’! We’re also great finders! Ravenclaws are smarty pants!!! Wisdom, intelligence, creativity, cleverness and knowledge, that’s them basically, they value brains over brawn! Their motto is ‘do what is wise’. Gryffindors are brave, adventurous, loyal, courageous, daring and chivalrous, they’re the storybook heroes! Their motto is ‘do what is right’. And Slytherin’s… well they have good qualities! Not all of them are bad! Obviously, because you’re really nice!!! Ok so they’re generally cunning, resourceful, ambitious, intelligent, and determined and they’re natural born leaders! They love being in charge, but they’re often arrogant and prideful, their motto is ‘do what is necessary’. The reason they get a bad rep is because many dark wizards are alumni from that house. It’s also a stereotype that all Slytherin’s are pure bloods. Its not far from the truth but anyone can be a Slytherin. I mean even harry potter fit into the house! The only reason he was a Gryffindor was because he begged the hat for anything else because Draco Malfoy made a bad impression on him. Slytherins are not bad, I feel a need to emphasize this. I feel bad for you because the current members of the house are less than savory. They aren’t evil, but they’re certainly not very nice. And it sucks that your first experience with wizards is them calling you names and hiding under the covers until the sun goes away.”

“heh that was very specific…”

“you’re a rather easy read Logan, you’re very interesting nonetheless!”

“um. Ok? Thanks, I think?”

“you’re positively welcome!!!”

Months pass, and Logan has picked up the habit of spending nights with Patton in the Hufflepuff commons. At this point in the year, late April, he’s already gone home for visits twice, and he’s contentedly walking back to the Hufflepuff commons after a walk through the library.

Of course, him being who he is, he notices a fight in the corridor. All he can see at his vantage point is green and red, a punch to the face and the greens laughing. Of course, the Slytherin’s were torturing innocent students again. He ran towards them and yelled, waving his wand and shouting ‘stupefy’ leading the two Slytherin boys to fall over. He swished his wand at the Gryffindor in front of him, saying ‘wingardium leviosa’ before booking it to Hufflepuff quarters.

He’s surprised to make it all the way there without getting caught, though the pictures on the walls can talk and… he might’ve passed Severus Snape and he did not want to be in the open when headmaster McGonagall heard about it. She’s a Gryffindor after all, she might get the wrong idea.

No no, he would say, no I wasn’t the one to knock him out I swear, it was two of my housemates who I don’t know because I'm terrified of them and that’s why I took the Gryffindor kid to my friend who knows healing magic and no its not a Hufflepuff, sorry I don’t know there house of course not because I didn’t go into the Hufflepuff commons, no ones been in the Hufflepuff commons, of course it was a um Ravenclaw yeah it was a Ravenclaw cuz they’re smart and would know healing magic, I mean they do know healing magic, of course I wouldn’t make a bet on maybe heheh yeah so in conclusion I'm sorry please don’t expel me miss McGonagall I did nothing wrong!

Yeah that wouldn’t work in the slightest. Hopefully he was fast enough that Snape didn’t see his face. Or maybe he wouldn’t tell because he was biased toward Slytherin’s. Let’s hope. Either way at the moment Logan had to enter the code for the Hufflepuff dorms as quick as possible because he did not want this Gryffindor to wake up and panic. He wordlessly changed the color of both their robes before jumping in the barrel.

“Patton? Patton there might have been an incident?”

“Comin Logi-bear!!! Ooh geez what happened!!! Logi you know fighting’s bad, how’d you end up in this situation?!?!?! Oh, give him here, oh I know him the poor thing looks half dead!!! Come on kiddo we’ll fix you right up!”

Patton grabbed the floating boy and carried him to the couch. He ran back and forth, grabbing bandages, ointments, elixirs, ice, anything and everything to make the boy less in pain. He set a bag of ice on his face, the spot Logan saw him get punched, put ointment on a cut on his lips and one on his eyebrow, and poured a little bit of the elixir in the boys’ mouth. He then rolled up his sleeves and checked out his arms, finding quite a few breaks of skin and bruises, indicating possible fractures. Patton looked over at Logan before looking back towards the arm he was bandaging.

“so, what happened lo? He’s a wreck, I doubt you could’ve done this if you wanted to!”

“why do you always assume the worst in me?”

“I don’t! I usually assume the best in you, but I prepare for the worst. Worst case scenario isn’t you getting grumpy this time! You’re not this strong, and you usually realize your mistakes sooner, you wouldn’t have caused this much damage before your conscious weighed back in. Really lo, it’s obvious.”

“I'm going to ignore your oddly astute conclusion in favor of defending myself. A couple of other Slytherin’s were ganging up on him and I was on my way back from the library when I bumped into them. I unfortunately have a moral compass-”

“that’s me!!!”

“-and I stupefied the lot of them, and grabbed this one who was knocked out, likely due to the impact on his cranium, the only actual hit I saw thrown. I imagine the two were cruel enough to continue attacking him even if he was unconscious on the ground. So, I brought him to you. If its of any importance, he’s from Gryffindor.”

“oh yeah, no I know who he is Logan, he’s a friend of mine, Roman Weasley. With the Weasley name I wouldn’t doubt any of it. The same people in your house that hate you hate him for the same reasons. Weasleys are blood traitors, willingly involving themselves with muggles, muggle borns, half-bloods, the whole nine yards. Cedrella black was disowned for marrying a Weasley, to put it in perspective. Their family is part of the sacred 28, the list of all currently completely pure-blooded families. For the most part all the families are Slytherin predominant but there's still the Weasley’s and Longbottom’s, as well as some others I can’t list off the top of my head, that defy that rule. Of course, the Slytherin’s make the biggest deal out of it, but anyways. Its good you brought him he is worse for wear the poor thing.”

Patton waved his wand over the boy, Roman’s, face. Soon after, his eyes slowly opened, and soon after that he was flailing upward in panic, falling off the couch in attempt to escape a perceived threat. Once he fully recognized the situation, he let out a deep sigh and laid on the floor.

“Patton you really mustn’t do this to me I have enough nightmares of people in my face without waking up to it! Where am I even, I don’t recognize this part of Hogwarts.”

“sorry bout that Ro! Was just worried about you! You’re in the Hufflepuff common room!”

“huh. You know when you said it was next to the kitchen, I expected it to smell more like food.”

“I expected it to smell like weed but apparently wizards get high in other ways…”

Roman turned to look at Logan with an odd stare.

“what weed? Gillyweed? Snakeweed? Also, why? I mean I know the best herbology students are usually Hufflepuff but-”

“no not- ugh how do I say this, its, it’s a hum-mor-muggle thing. Its actual name is something different, but it’s a… it’s a bad thing that people can eat and smoke, but it makes them really hungry afterwards. It doesn’t matter.”

“that sounds weird. You’re weird, who are you? How do you know Patton?”

“I know everybody!!!”

“precisely that. I have become friends with Patton. It’s also why you’re here instead of having my housemates still attacking you like big jerks.”

Roman stares blankly at Logan and Logan questions why the boy’s cheeks redden.

“oh. Uh, thanks then. Uh, I should probably be going I have class, but um, what's your name?”

“Logan. It was a pleasure meeting you Roman”

“uh yeah, you too-”

“hold on Ro drink this! It’s a painkiller, it’ll help make sure the bruises and cuts don’t hurt.”

“oh, thanks popstar! Quite nice of you!”

He drank the elixir and gave Logan an odd look before absconding to class. Logan didn’t understand this, and he also didn’t understand the warm feeling in his own cheeks, or the smug look Patton had on his face. He didn’t quite understand what was going on, but he knew enough to know that he didn’t want to know more. At least, not right now…

Taglist: @fivebyfive-finebyfive @fandoms-winkitywonk @thennevermind @the-shipper189 @confinesofpersonalknowledge @bruntriceballs @creativity-killed-thekitten @crookedlyoptimisticdestiny

Let me know if you want to be tagged in my writing!!! Or if you want to be taken off my list!!!

Thank you for reading I will see you later ladies lords and nonbinary royalty!!!

[angstalottle]

Dream Come True

@prince-yoongi and me are doing a little colab, their doing the next part of the story

When Shiro was called back to the castle because Lance had an accident he was certain he would find the boy laying in a healing pod with a trail of blood leading from his lion.

What he did not expect to find however was for Coran to take him directly to the pool where lance was swimming quite happily above him.

“Lance… what the fuck dude.” Shiro goraned gesturing up at him.

Lance to his credit at least looked somewhat sheepish as he stuck his head out “In my defence i saved a kid.”

“What does saving a kid have to do with you being turned into a merman?!” Shiro yelled feeling the vein in his head throb like it may explode from stress.

Lance’s long blue tail shimmered in the water, iridescent scales covered his spine up to neck and the side of his face. His ears had gained a slight point to his ears and a blue tint to his skin.

It was a little off putting to see such drastic physical changes to his teammate, even if according to Coran he was in perfect health Shiro couldn't help but worry.

Lance bobbed back into the water, either to hide his shame or to breath Shiro wasn't sure. He eventually resurfaced “honestly i don't know, i just figured if you knew i did a good deed you wouldn't be pissed that i drank some weird potion an old lady gave me.”

Shiro let out a long, long, sigh.

How was this his life? Why did he have to be the one to [lay babysitter to a bunch of teenagers in space where when he sends them off on seperate missions so he can try and strengthen his bond with the black lion that coming back to one of them no longer being the same species he was at breakfast is a possibility.

“Lance… why would you drink something a stranger offered you?” Shiro asked massaging his eyes, he could feel the stress headache working its way to the front of his head annoyingly fast.

Lance nervously flicked his tail from side to side not meeting Shiro's gaze as he muttered his reply “she was the kids grandma, it was meant to be a way to say thanks. She said that it would make my dreams come true so i figured it would make me a better paladin… instead it made me into literally what i dreamt last night.”

Hearing Lance admit his belief that he didn't believe he was already a great paladin was almost as weird as the whole merman situation. Shiro would never have imagined that the loud confident Lance could be anything other then secure with himself and his place on the team. But not it was appearing to be a mask he wore to hide his true fears.

How had he been so blind?

“Look Lance you don't need a magic potion to make you a better paladin, your already our perfect sharpshooter and we wouldn't have you any other way.”

“Thanks Shiro… though i guess now we really will need a replacement.” Lance gestured to the tail “can't exactly run around saving the universe without legs can i?” he laughed but there was a note of distress to it, like the gravity of his situation was finally hitting him.

It suddenly occurred to Shrio if this potion didn't wear off or they couldn't find a way to reverse the effects there was no way Lance could continue to be a paladin, and what's worse he could never return to Earth without being in great danger.

“Dont worry kiddo, Coran and Allura are already looking into it. In the meantime i would suggest you enjoy it, Hunk said you always had a thing for mermaid right?”

A genuine smile spread across Lance’s face as he nodded “Yeah… yeah your right, besides i've been wanting to spend some time in the pool even if it is a little cooler then i would like.”

Lance used his tail to push himself out of the water so he was just a little above Shiro, his wet hair dripping on the floor.

He was close enough that Shiro could see the gills on his neck and ribs fluttering, desperate for water.

He could also see the boy shivering as he wrapped his arms around himself. It was slight and likely wouldn't do any more damage then discomfort but Shiro still made a mental note to talk to Coran later about turning up the temperature of the pool.

“It's not hotel pool that's for sure.” Lance gasped out before retreating into the water to catch his breath.

“It's an athletics pool, it's supposed to be cool. I'll talk to Coran but i can't make any promises.” Shiro turned to leave watching from the corner of his eye as Lance disappeared under the water swimming round and playing seemingly without a care in the world.

Shiro couldn't help but smile, he deserved a chance he be a kid and have some fun now and again.

As the doors closed shut Shiro had no idea that the pool was growing steadily colder and Lance was finding it harder and harder to just stay awake.

[a-little-international]

The Height Of Summer

Summary: She’s a whirling dervish, and he’s trying his best to keep up.

Warnings: Alcohol, mild swearing, a lil bit of a thing called fluff

Words: 4448 (I got carried away, sue me)

A/N: damn, haven’t written anything in about three years but here we are???? I think this is some kind of extreme procrastination mechanism my brain has employed to get me through the trauma that is my final semester. Anyway, let me know what you think???

The Series: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9

Chapter 1- Summer

House parties were always fun. What could possibly be better than getting a whole bunch of friends together, drinking beer, and blasting the music loud enough for the entire street to hear? Granted, they were probably a little old to be throwing down the way they did when they were nineteen, but having a civilised glass of wine in a fancy city bar didn’t quite cleanse them of the corporate world the way a good house party could. 

And that’s how Summer Little ended up at this particular house party, having given next to no resistance to her friend Eli’s invite. Eli occupied the desk opposite hers in the office and the two of them had become fast friends though their mutual hatred of Jackson-From-Accounting. Eli also had to be the most popular person Summer knew; he seemed to be friends with every second person in Toronto and was constantly being invited to stuff like this, to which he, in turn, would always invite Summer.

This particular house party belonged to a guy named Brian – how Eli knew him, Summer wasn’t entirely sure. Definitely childhood-related, she deduced, judging by the very jolly greeting the pair had shared upon arrival. Lots of “Jesus, dude it’s been too long!”, and “Oh look, you’ve finally managed to grow a beard!”

It had been an hour since then, and Summer had lost Eli to another group of people in the kitchen he seemed to be annoyingly well acquainted with – classic Mr. Popular.

Three beers in and Summer herself had buddied up with her own group of new friends. Everyone was sprawled across the couches and armchairs, the already pokey living room now teetering on the edge between cosy and cramped.

Shrieks of laugher and loud hollering filled the room, all eyes on Summer as she sat perched on the piano stool, giving a rendition of Smash Mouth’s hit song I’m a Believer that was so obviously bad it made it all the more funny. Her fingers kept slipping into the wrong chords, her voice a tipsy, off-key warble, the lyrics constantly being muddled and interjected with uncontrollable giggles.

This whole situation had started during The Great Shrek Debate (which seems to crop up at the majority of house parties, sooner or later), wherein opinions were divided between whether the first or second movie had the better soundtrack. Being three beers in, Summer had of course decided to announce that she had learnt how to play I’m a Believer way back in the day when her parents had sent her off to piano lessons in the hope she’d actually learn something more sophisticated, like Chopin or whatever. Chopin was decidedly not her style, and she’d used the few years of lessons to learn what essentially became the entire Shrek soundtrack. Really, she hadn’t played piano properly in years, but being able to halfway play such a classic tune sure was a good party trick.

Dramatically whipping her wild, blonde curls around, pretending she was performing at Carnegie Hall, she didn’t notice Eli and his group entering until she heard him exclaim a loud “Incredible!”.

Grinning she looked up, fingers still banging away on the keys, hitting more false notes than correct ones. Once she saw who was standing slightly behind her friend grinning right back at her, she pulled her fingers away from the piano like she’d been burnt, her face flushing a mortified shade of deep scarlet.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she snorted, clapping her hand over her mouth, a nervous laugh escaping through her fingers. World famous musician, Shawn Mendes, just kept grinning at her, his hand raised in a small wave.

Summer shot a look of panic and confusion at Eli, who in turn shot back a wide, shit-eating grin. “Shawn, this is Summer, and it looks like she’ll be putting you out of business soon.”

Everyone laughed at that. Summer did not. Summer was desperately wishing for the ground to open up an swallow her.

It was one thing doing a ridiculously bad, theatrical performance in front of a group of casual, drunk strangers. It was a whole other thing having an actual professional musician walking in on said performance.

“Okay, definitely not,” she managed to scoff in reply, pulling a face as she clambered away from the piano, taking a few steps back in the hopes she somehow wouldn’t be associated with it anymore in any way, shape, or form.

Shawn’s eyebrows raised, and he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, “I don’t know, I reckon you’ve got yourself a smash hit there. Total headlining performance,” he joked.

Summer couldn’t meet his laughing eyes, choosing instead to train them on Eli – a desperate call for help. Eli, of course, was no help. He just shrugged, barely containing his amusement; he was enjoying this situation way too much.

“I think I need another drink,” Summer announced, letting out a shaky laugh, and moving to push through Eli’s group huddled by the door, right past Shawn.  

Her heart was beating loudly in her ears, her brain practically shredding itself in its embarrassment. Summer was generally not one to be embarrassed easily, but then again this was hardly a normal situation. One does not simply go to a house party and expect to be walked in on giving what could really only be described as a mockery to music by none other than Shawn Mendes. What kind of planet had she arrived on?

Once in the kitchen, she made a b-line right for the 24-pack of Canadian Club that was sitting on the island, cracking open the first can she could wrangle from the box and tipping half of it straight down her throat.

A firm hand was placed on the small of her back, followed by Eli leaning over her shoulder, still grinning. Summer frowned at him.

Finishing off her gulp, she turned to her friend, “I hate you,” she said dryly.

“I love you,” Eli laughed back. “You’re such a legend.”

“I hate you,” she repeated again, nodding quickly as she crossed her arms across her chest. “Why the fuck…since when do you know Shawn Mendes?”, she exclaimed, his name coming out in a hiss.

Eli just shrugged, leaning against the island with one elbow, his other hand running through his dark mop of hair, “We used to play hockey against each other, wayback in the day. Cool guy, really, haven’t seen him in ages though.”

“Huh, I wonder why that is?” Summer quipped sarcastically.

Just then, there was a knock against the doorframe and leaning against that doorframe, knuckles still raised against the wood was Shawn.

“Speak of the devil,” Eli smiled widely.

Shawn’s eyes flitted to Eli and then back to Summer’s, his expression warm if not slightly bemused. “Just thought I’d come and say hi properly,” he said, his voice gentle. Taking a single, long stride towards Summer, holding his hand out for her to shake. “I’m Shawn.”

“Summer,” Summer replied, her breath seeming to get stuck in the back of her throat as she took his hand and shook it. It wasn’t an unusually long handshake, he didn’t hold on for longer than was necessary like in the movies, but Summer was still overly aware of how soft and large his hand was around hers and it made her heart swell. “I’m so sorry you had to witness me being a total disaster.”

The boys both let out small chuckles at that. “Don’t worry, I reckon I’ve definitely done worse in my time,” Shawn replied.

Summer knew he was only saying that to be kind and to make her feel less embarrassed, but nevertheless, it worked.

“Mate, you haven’t seen anything yet. When Mr. Brightside comes on, there’s no stopping her,” Eli wiggled his eyebrows at Summer, teasing.

Summer widened her eyes warningly at him, “Can you not, please?”

“She also knows all the words to Nuthin But A G Thang,” Eli continued, ignoring Summer’s horrified expression.

Shawn left out a loud laugh, raising his eyebrows at her, “By Dr. Dre?”

“What can I say? I have many talents,” she shrugged, deciding she better start playing it cool or Eli would never stop pushing her buttons.

Eli, however, had other plans. “Yeah, I hear she’s very talented,” he smirked, and Summer tried interjecting, knowing where he was headed, but it was too late. “A freak in the streets and in the sheets.”

“Eli!” Summer exclaimed, punching him in the arm. “I swear to God I will fight you.”

Shawn looked on extremely bemused, and his cheeks were flushed pink, whether from the alcohol or not wasn’t entirely clear.

“What? With these tiny little hands of yours?” Eli scoffed, grabbing them and waving them around. “Look Shawn,” he turned, pushing them towards his friend, “look how teeny tiny her hands are!”

Much to her surprise, Shawn reached up and took one of her hands in his again, inspecting it closely. “Mmm,” he nodded, giving her a half-smile, his head bowed low, “these do appear to be very small hands you’ve got here.”

“You’re both so annoying,” frowned Summer, pouting, her hands still suspended between the two boys.

“I mean…” Shawn trailed off, smirking, as he placed the palm of his hand flat against hers, the size difference really quite ridiculous.

Summer did her best to square up to him, trying to ignore the fluttery feeling in her stomach that had erupted the second Shawn decided to pull the Tarzan and Jane card. “Listen here, you abnormally tall human, you. We can’t all be –“ she broke off, pulling her hands free to wave them at his towering frame, “whatever you are.”

Eli slung his arm around her shoulder, “Babe, accept it, you’re just a little Little,”.

Summer rolled her eyes at him, “You always make that joke and it’s never funny.”

Eli grinned up at Shawn, “It’s funny because her surname’s Little, and she’s little!”

“I think that’s pretty good,” Shawn laughed, throwing his head back lightly.

Her rescue, her knight in shining armour, came in the form of Brian sticking his head into the kitchen.

“Dude, Shawn,” Brian started, as Shawn turned around to face him, “can you go down to the store and pick up two crates of beer? They’re already paid for and everything, they’re just not delivering anything anymore and I don’t want to leave the house alone with the hooligans,” he said, laughing, nodding his head right at Summer.

Summer scoffed indignantly, “I am not a hooligan thank you very much.”

“Never,” Brian winked back, shifting his gaze back at Shawn who was already nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, just give me the keys and I’ll be off. You guys want to come?” he asked, turning back to Summer and Eli.

In perfect synchronicity, Summer answered with a happy “yes”, and Eli scoffed a resounding “no”.

“Alright,” Shawn laughed, holding his arm out to Summer, motioning her to step out of the kitchen ahead of him. “Looks like I’ve got an assistant.”

-

It was a warm summer night, the type that’s just humid enough to make your face a bit dewy and your palms a bit clammy. The suburban street they were walking down was quiet, except for the faint rushing of cars in the distance, and a dog barking in somebody’s back yard. Summer had to engage her power-walk trying to keep up with Shawn’s long strides.

“You know where we’re going, yeah?” Summer asked, glancing up at him. They’d already been walking for about ten minutes, wrapped in a comfortable silence. She had been trying her best not to look too closely at the way the oncoming breeze was pushing his curls into his face, or how good his arms looked in the short shirt sleeves clinging to his muscles.

Shawn frowned down at her bemusedly, “Of course, Brian hasn’t just sent us out on a wild goose chase.”

“Would be pretty exciting though, you’ve got to admit,” Summer said, nodding decidedly.

“Excuse you, I think this is plenty exciting. You and me, out here, stalking the deserted streets of Toronto’s suburbs. What more could you want?” Shawn joked, “We’re like a vigilante group.”

Summer let out a loud laugh, running a hand through her messy curls, “I don’t think you’ve quite grasped the concept of what a vigilante is.”

“Just because we haven’t stopped any crime yet, doesn’t mean we won’t,” Shawn argued back.

Summer nodded, “Alright, I guess you could be the Robin to my Batman.”

“Why don’t I get to be Batman?!” Shawn protested, throwing his long arms into the air. Summer raised her eyebrow at him, “Because we wouldn’t want you damaging that pretty little voice of yours doing his ridiculous one, duh. I’ve got it all thought out.”

“Hmm…you really do, don’t you,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at her, sizing her up.

There were a few moments more of comfortable silence before Shawn decided to break it again.

“So…” he started slowly, moving in closer to her so he could nudge his arm against hers, “You think I’ve got a pretty voice.”

Summer could hear the smirk in his voice before she’d even turned her eyes up at him.

“I see you fishing for compliments, Mendes, and I’m not falling for it,” Summer shook her head lightly, turning her eyes back to the road ahead. She could see what looked distinctly like a liquor store right up ahead; their destination was near.

Summer heard him chuckle and it was so hard not to smile back at that sound. “Well I thought you also had a pretty voice.”

“Shut up,” Summer scoffed as they approached the store front, “we both know that’s a lie.”

“Yeah well,” Shawn shrugged, looking at her innocently as he pulled open the door and held it for her, “I’m trying to flirt with you, so just go with it.”

It took all of Summer’s willpower to not let her jaw drop to the floor, took all her concentration to maintain the light, almost nonchalant smile on her face as she passed under his arm and into the store. A brightly lit, cramped suburban liquor store was the last place she expected to be confronted with such a statement, and quite frankly she didn’t think she had the mental capacity to deal with processing it right there. Summer said absolutely nothing in response, the neurons in her brain firing so rapidly she couldn’t think to form a sentence.

“Pick up for Brian,” Shawn said to the clerk, leaning against the counter with both of his arms outstretched.

Summer, her heart racing like a jackrabbit, allowed herself to look up at his imposing form. She could clearly make out his back muscles, straining both under his weight and against the thin fabric of his shirt. His arms looked somehow both strong and soft, and all she wanted to do was reach up and run her fingers against his skin. His hair was a curly mess that might almost be able to rival her own. His cheeks were flushed, and she couldn’t believe how good he managed to look in the harsh, fluorescent light.

She was brought out of her total reverie by the loud clattering sound of the clerk placing the two large crates of beer on the counter, and Shawn thanking him.

Summer and Shawn had still not said anything to each other, even after a few minutes of having commenced their walk back to the house party. Summer couldn’t stand the silence. She also couldn’t stand the way his arms strained, and his breath deepened as he carried both crates, stacked on top of each other, for one more step.

“Hey, let me take one,” she piped up, stopping in her tracks and motioning to the crates.  

“I can carry them,” Shawn shrugged, smiling down at her.

Summer raised her eyebrows at him and kept gesturing at him to hand her a crate, “Believe me, I know you’re very strong – I can see that clearly, but I feel like a knob just walking beside you without carrying anything, so hand one over.”

“You been looking at my muscles?” Shawn teased, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Summer pursed her lips. “Again, with the fishing for compliments, what did I tell you? Now hand one over, come on.”

“Or what? You’re going to fight me, Little?”

“Watch me,” Summer cocked her chin up at him, challenging him to challenge her. Shawn met her eyes and she knew he was deliberating whether or not to continue this backwards and forwards.

“You’re not going to drop this are you?” Shawn asked, sighing, and Summer just grinned, knowing she’d won in that moment. He bent down to her level and Summer deftly grabbed the top crate, heaving into a more comfortable position in her arms.

“Okay, let’s go!” She announced with a swish of her hair, and she was off ahead of him, her short legs carrying her faster than he was expecting.

-

“You’re back!” Brian exclaimed as they walked into the kitchen, sliding the crates onto the island. “Shawn, you let her carry one?” he continued, giving his friend a judgemental look as he reached to unpack the bottles.

Shawn raised his hands in defence, “I tried to stop her.”

“There’s no stopping her,” said Eli, coming to his defence.

Summer nodded solemnly. “I couldn’t let him be the only one showing off his muscles. How can you expect me to deter your friendly neighbourhood criminals if I’m not flashing my guns?”

“I’ll have you know this is a very safe neighbourhood,” Brian said as he opened a bottle and brought it to his mouth.

“No thanks to Summer and I giving them a muscle show,” Shawn joked, shooting her a bright smile.

Summer smiled back, biting down on her lip. “Yeah, we established we’re your new vigilantes, you’re welcome.”

Eli looked between Shawn and Summer, narrowing his eyes slightly. “You guys were gone for half an hour and you’ve already teamed up, I can’t believe it.”

“Don’t worry, babe, you’re still my favourite,” Summer grinned, patting him on the cheek, but Eli just grumbled some more.

“We were just starting s’mores outside if we want to move out?” Brian suggested, heading for the back door.

Summer gasped in excitement, grabbing a bottle for herself before moving to follow, “You don’t have to ask twice!”

“Bloody love s’mores,” she heard Eli say behind her, and Shawn hummed in agreement.

Judging by the amount of people in the garden, the majority of which were huddled by the fire, almost half must have left the party during Summer and Shawn’s absence.

Summer went to take a seat on one of the padded deck chairs, but Shawn came dashing past and beat her to it, plonking himself down. She gave him an unimpressed deadpan look, to which he just responded with a smug grin and outstretched arms, beckoning her to sit on his lap. Thinking this was a bit forward and not fully trusting her level of self-control, Summer pointedly walked right past him and pulled up a plastic garden chair, choosing to sit on that instead.

“You don’t want to keep me company?” Shawn asked, the crackling fire reflected in his dark eyes.

Summer bit down on the side of her cheek, admiring how soft and warm he looked in the darkness. He really wasn’t holding back much and, quite frankly, it scared her a little. She was a sensible 23-year old woman with a stable corporate job, who admittedly, was also a bit of a loose cannon on occasion. But surely, she thought, she was not enough of a loose cannon to fall for the words coming from the lips of none other than Shawn Mendes, no matter how tempting. It was almost so easy to forget who he was, and she really wanted to just forget and dive in. But things are never that easy, are they?

“I’m sitting right next you,” she shot back, giving his arm a quick, sympathetic pat. She couldn’t quite help herself.

Shawn pouted at her, pushing his bottom lip out, his big brown eyes making her heart tremble a little, “I’ll make you the best s’more you’ve ever had in your life.”

“Talking a big game here, Mendes,” Summer smiled widely at him, taking a sip from her beer. “Impress me and I might reconsider,” she said, “the operative word being ‘might,’” she added on quickly, seeing his face light up excitedly.

“Okay,” Shawn started, as he leaned forwards and grabbed a marshmallow from the bag, shoving it over the skewer tip, “the key, my big secret – and you mustn’t tell anyone because it’s my biggest secret –“ he said sincerely, a small smile tugging at the side of his mouth, “is to start the marshmallow melting process from the edge of the fire. See, you’ve got to get it all soft from the side, you don’t want to just shove it in,” he continued, glancing back up at Summer to see if she was still paying attention. “Because if you make the rookie mistake of shoving it straight in the middle, you’ll just end up burning the outside but the inside won’t be all melty and nice.”

Summer nodded down at him, very sincerely, humouring him. Shawn was acting like he was a Michelin star chef and honestly it was equal parts hilarious and adorable.

“Look,” he continued, pointing at the marshmallow, “it’s starting to look a bit goopy, so I think it’s time to put it right in the middle and crisp up the outside. But we don’t want to overdo it, or you’ll just be biting into charcoal.”

“We definitely wouldn’t want that,” Summer agreed. She couldn’t pull her eyes way from him as he stared intently at the marshmallow now fully engulfed by the fire The light from the flames was bringing out a hundred different shades of golden brown in his hair, his sun kissed skin was glistening, his eyes flickering along with the erratic movement of the fire.

“Alright,” he announced, pulling the skewer from the fire to reveal, what Summer had to admit, looked nigh on like the perfectly toasted marshmallow. “I need you to hold out the two crackers with the chocolate,” he said, nodding at the other ingredients in bags on the floor. Summer followed his instructions diligently, smiling lightly.

“We’ve got to let the marshmallow cool down just a bit now, we want to melt the chocolate, not burn it. It’s a precious food that needs to be handled with tenderness and care,” he said, looking straight up into Summer’s eyes and for a split second she couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t talking about the chocolate at all.

“Mmm-hmm,” Summer hummed, any and all words getting stuck somewhere in the back of her throat.

Shawn slowly placed the perfect marshmallow on one side of the crackers and chocolate combination she was holding out to him, and then guided her other hand to complete the sandwich. He took it off her and squished the s’more together lightly, being extra gentle not to break the crackers with his big hands.

“Now,” he said quietly, almost solemnly, as he held it out to her, “are you prepared to taste the best fuckin’ s’more you’ve ever had, Miss Little?”

Summer responded with a little nod, “I think I am,” she said, glancing between his face, which was closer to hers than it had been all night, and the s’more he was offering.

She reached for it and placed all of it in her mouth, only breaking eye contact with Shawn once the molten heaven that was the marshmallow and chocolate combination coated her tongue. She could sense his eyes were still on her, and when she opened hers again, he could see the beginning of a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“And?” he queried, his eyebrows pulling together slightly.

Shawn hadn’t lied. It was indeed one of the best s’mores Summer had ever had. She didn’t know what else to say other than to nod her approval.

Shawn’s face broke out in the biggest grin she’d seen all night from him, as he leaned back in his chair triumphantly, holding out his arms to her.

Summer’s cheeks flushed and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help her widening smile. Maybe it was the alcohol coursing through her veins, or the warm comfort offered by the fire, but in that moment her brain stopped caring about logistics and let her heart swell up. Without much hesitation, Summer got up from where she was sitting and moved into the waiting lap of Shawn Mendes, immediately feeling his long arms wrap around her small waist, and she felt safe. In that moment, she didn’t care what the other people in the garden were thinking, what Eli must be thinking, even what her own brain was thinking. She just felt safe and full of affection for the boy with the brown curls and warm eyes that was smiling so widely at her she couldn’t help but smile back and sink into his embrace.

“So this is nice,” Shawn commented, and she didn’t think it was possible for anyone to have sounded more smug.

“Not as nice as your s’more, but you set the bar pretty high,” Summer quipped back, shrugging as she reached up tentatively to wrap her arm around his neck.

“Ouch,” Shawn chuckled, dropping his head, “well how about I try flirting with you some more tomorrow and you can keep giving in to me,” he said, smirking up at her.

She knew she couldn’t say no to him, not when his hair was flopping into his eyes the way it was, and how distinctly she could feel each of his fingers resting against the fabric of her dress, giving her a light squeeze.

“As long as you don’t keep fishing for compliments, you know you won’t catch any with me,” Summer said, ruffling his hair lightly because it looked too soft not to touch.

“How do you feel about dinner?” Shawn asked, suddenly sounding distinctly less confident, only glancing up into her eyes quickly before looking back down at her legs on his.

Summer contemplated his offer for a few seconds, playing with the curls on the back of his neck. Then, when she knew she couldn’t string it out any longer because her heart might beat out of her chest if she didn’t start talking again, she replied with a simple “I get off work at eight.”

-

TAGLIST (let me know if you want to be added!)

@crownedbyluke

[vorthosjay]

Let’s Talk About Return to Dominaria Episode 9

This one is a fast one, because it’s late, but I feel like there’s a lot to talk about. Here’s the story link. I got exactly what I wanted from Jaya and Karn, but the compressed timeframe for the story and some transitional problems become apparent here. Sorry it’s late, but it’s been a super busy week at work and I wasn’t able to fit it into my usual lunchtime routine.

Chandra’s Outburst by Yongjae Choi

Chandra paced back and forth on the loose dirt near Karn's crater, waving her hands. "Are you kidding me? You've been lying all this time? Why?" They were surrounded by piles of smoldering trees and pieces of wrecked automatons, the air heavy with smoke. Furious, she faced Luti. Or Jaya. Or whoever this was. "Why would you do this to me?"

"Not everything is about you, Chandra." Jaya was annoyingly calm.

I already love Jaya. I’m very, very happy with how this reveal was pulled off, and I’m glad Jaya is way more than her Mother Luti persona.

Jaya sighed. "A long time ago, I went to Regatha, helped a few people, got drunk, talked a lot, apparently did some very impressive pyromancy, then left. Two hundred years later, I went back and found they'd started a religion based on me." She folded her arms and admitted, "It was all a little embarrassing, frankly."

This is quite possibly the best quote ever.

"I didn't want to be a religious icon, but I had to make sure they weren't misrepresenting me!" Jaya said, as if it was obvious. "And I thought I owed them a little guidance. Where do you think the monastery kept getting those 'long-lost writings of Jaya Ballard' from?"

This is EXACTLY what I called out in Jaya Ballard Returns. I love that this blows Chandra’s mind.

Jaya laughed. "Oh, don't look like that." She sighed and her expression turned serious. "I felt guilty. I never meant them to take me that seriously, but there they were, years later, treating me like an all-knowing deity. But I liked the work they were doing, helping young pyromancers. I'd been aging for sixty years, and I wanted to do something worthwhile for what was left of my life." She eyed Chandra. "You have some idea of how hard it can be to help those kids. They're impatient, reckless, refuse to listen to anyone . . ."

THE SHADE. Jaya is like

"And now I'll let you tell me what I need to know to be a more powerful pyromancer."

Jaya took the goggles, and her expression turned hard as stone. "Absolutely not."

"When I was Mother Luti, you dismissed me as a useless old woman. As Jaya Ballard, suddenly I'm worth listening to."

"What are you digging for?" She had been so busy arguing with Jaya yesterday, she hadn't even thought to ask.

"The Cylix," he told her. "It was created by Urza to help defeat the Phyrexians. I intend to take it to New Phyrexia and detonate it there."

"So it's like a bomb? A giant bomb?"

"Exactly like a giant bomb," Karn said.

A couple notes here.

Urza did not create the Golgothian Sylex. I can absolutely see why history would think he did.

“Sylex” is not a real word. Everything after antiquities has used Cylix. This is not an error but the fixing of an error.

"Yes, to help protect the excavation from Multani's attacks. In his semiconscious state, he senses that the Cylix is being uncovered, brought closer to the surface, and he fears it. For good reason; it caused great damage to him.

Ha! I apparently called this one, almost exactly, last month.

"Yeah." Still watching Karn, Jaya shook her head a little. "Everyone I've talked to thinks the Phyrexians aren't a threat anymore, but . . . He needs to do this. I just wish he didn't."

Chandra frowned. "They destroyed a whole plane, so why is destroying them a bad thing?" The problem with interplanar threats was that by the time you realized you were in danger, it was generally too late to do anything about them. Or that was how it had worked with Bolas on Amonkhet.

"Because it means he'll have to go back there." Jaya grimaced. "And that could be a disaster for a number of reasons."

It could be! We don’t know what effect it will have on New Phyrexia. A mission to New Phyrexia, in general, is fraught with dangers, not the least of which is Karn’s recapture.

But Chandra looked back at Multani. Karn had said he was semiconscious, that he would never do any of this if he was awake and aware. She didn't want to leave him like that. And she thought she knew a solution. "No, you two go. I want to try to fix this."

"Fix it?" Jaya asked, startled. "How?"

"Something a friend of mine showed me."

They’re leaning into Gruulfriends here a bit, aren’t they?

She said, "I know you can hear me. I know you don't want to be like this, you don't want to hurt people. That's not what you are. Think about water, still cool water. Flowing over your skin, your bark, into your branches and leaves. You're a light, floating on that water."

Just saying the words like Nissa had, visualizing them, made Chandra feel calmer. I miss her, and I don't know if I'm ever going to see her again. Chandra imagined the light floating on the water herself and let her emotions still into a calm sadness. She remembered what Jaya had said about knowing your true self and added, "I know you don't want to hurt anyone. Sink into the water, find your true self waiting there. Remember—remember who you are . . ."

"I don't want to fight with you, Jaya. I'm sorry about how I treated you and I understand why you don't want to help me. I wouldn't want to help me, either. But I hope we can still be friends."

Jaya eyed her, a small smile tugging at her mouth.

Hey, more character growth for Chandra, that’s not all that common so I’m happy with this.

Teferi lifted his brows. "Karn could help. But you forget, I'm no longer a Planeswalker. Unless Bolas comes here . . ." He trailed off as Jhoira lifted her pendant and opened it. His eyes widened.

"I'd never forget that," Jhoira said, watching him gravely. The Powerstone in the locket was reflected in Teferi's eyes. He had recognized it immediately, felt its call to him.

Karn leaned forward to look. "It's your spark?"

Teferi's brow furrowed. "How?" he said.

"The Mana Rig." She held it out to him. "Will you take it back?"

Lol, okay, so this makes it pretty clear we’re not getting the metaphysics for how this happened. Just accept that it did. That’s fine, I doubt any attempt to explain the metaphysics of it would actually help in any meaningful way.

Teferi expended his spark on Shiv to restore it. I’m sure that if Jhoira could detect the dispersed power, she could charge a powerstone with it somehow. Not a big deal.

"He didn't tell you about the Black Blade," Liliana said, with an irritated glance at him. "It's a sword that slew an elder dragon, and Gideon is too delicate to allow us to use it."

I’m pretty sure this ends with Gideon using it (which we know from the flavor text) because he doesn’t want anyone else to make that sacrifice.

A thump of displaced air made him flinch, then with a sudden blaze of blue light, someone else stood in the compartment.

Gideon shoved out of his chair and grabbed for his sword. Jaya was already on her feet, Liliana threw herself back against the wall and lifted her hands to cast a spell, and Chandra vaulted on top of the table, fire already crackling around her hair. Then Gideon froze, recognizing the aether trail almost before he recognized the newcomer's face. "Jace!"

This is heavily incongruous with the time frame presented in the Ixalan story, where Jace has been for about five months.

The time from HOU to this story, as presented for Chandra, is less than two weeks.

That’s not a small discrepancy. A few days are whatever, a few months are... significantly confusing. 

I talk a bit about my unhappyness with this continuity error here.

Basically, I’m of a few minds about it. I don’t like being the continuity police, and I’m willing to overlook quite a bit. Dominaria is weird because there is a lot of deliberately misremembered history, too, so it’s not always clear whats a continuity error and what characters don’t actually have their facts straight.

I think what happened here is the timeline for developing Dominaria and Rivals of Ixalan’s stories overlapped, and some details were lost in translation. It’s entirely possible that, simply, no one realized the timelines didn’t match up. Ixalan was a labor of love by Kelly and Alison, along with editor Gregg Luben. Those credits show an incredibly short staffed creative team that’s only gotten more so. It’s possible that simply put, no one had time to triple check for continuity errors like that. The Jace scene, as written, isn’t a big deal because that kind of thing happens all the time in serialized stories like this, but there are a few other questionable bits of continuity in the stories for Dominaria that I’ve mentioned in this series as ‘huh?’ moments.

Ultimately, I’m going to chalk it up to growing pains. I’m looking at getting an interview with the new Senior Narrative Franchise Designer so we can get a better idea of what the story development process looks like these days.

*STRONG LANGUAGE WARNING, SKIP AHEAD IF NECESSARY*

And honestly, I’ve thought about it a lot, and you need to understand how much of a continuity clusterfuck most of Magic’s history is, especially regarding early Magic history. The difference of a few months is a big continuity error to us today, but that really just speaks well to the current creative team because once upon a time timelines didn’t line up, characters existed in different forms across different novels centuries apart, and the same location existed on completely different continents, among other shenanigans.

Dominaria’s issues are incredibly minor by comparison.

Jhoira smiled faintly. "I don't know what the future holds, and this might be a moment we both regret later. But this is a weapon you should have." She pulled the pendant off her neck and dropped it into Teferi's waiting palm. "Welcome back."

How does he get his spark back out, though? Does he eat it? I imagine this is going to be another one that’s just not explained.

[kpopfanfictrash]

No Strings (VII)

Author: kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: You / Jimin

Rating: 18+ (smut)

Word Count: 4,956

Summary: It started off as such a simple question. How to know if you’re bad in bed? Of course when you asked, you didn’t imagine Jimin would actually answer.

The next morning dawns bright and clear, in direct contrast to your mood. You are scowling when you enter the kitchen and when Minsun sees you like this, she pauses her cereal. 

“Wow,” she nods. “You take paintball seriously.”

Looking down, you laugh because you have dressed almost entirely in black. Even your hair is wrapped in a no-nonsense ponytail. It is not your typical style, so Minsun’s comment makes sense and opening your fridge, you try not to think about why you are dressed this way. It is hard not to think about why you get angry the moment you think about the upcoming day – the moment you think about who will be in attendance.

Shutting the fridge, you stare at its closed doors. Remembering what else happened on top of those doors, your cheeks heat. “Yeah, I guess I went a bit overboard.”

Minsun laughs and takes another bite. “Nah,” she mumbles. “I just need to change.”

Your roommate is still dressed in shorts and a t-shirt from last night, as you pull out a kitchen chair beside her. “How was the rest of last night?” you ask, watching her eyebrows rise.

“It’s was fine.” Minsun swallows, gaze curious. “What happened though? One second, I see you kissing Sungmin and then – poof. You disappear.”

Unable to meet her gaze, you stare at the water bottle in one hand. “Yeah,” you say, wincing. “I think I need to break it off with Sungmin. He’s super nice and all but when we kissed… there was just no spark. I’ve been thinking about what you said to me in the bathroom.”

That last part at least, is not a lie – you have been thinking a lot about what both Minsun and Namjoon have said. You should not play with Sungmin’s feelings any longer.

Minsun nods. “I get it,” she sighs. “It would have been nice if we were cousins-in-law, but I guess some things just aren’t meant to be.”

When you laugh, you shove at her shoulder. “I wanted to like him too, Min. I just… don’t.”

Minsun nods. “Look, at the end of the day, you can’t force yourself to feel something you don’t. Is there anyone else, though? Anyone else… that you like?” she asks. 

Although the question may seem innocuous, you see the stark curiosity in her gaze. 

“What?” you ask, heart racing. “Who?”

“I don’t know.” Minsun raises a brow. “Just someone. Oh my god, look at your face. Don’t worry,” she laughs, pushing her plate away. “I’m going to go get changed. Meet me in ten to head to the paintball place?”

Pulse returning to normal, you nod. “Sounds good.”

As Minsun disappears from the kitchen, you lower your head to your hands. That was a stupid way to react – what did you think she was going to say? Pushing this thought from your mind, you stand from the table and grab an apple. You need to eat, despite the growing pit in your stomach.

A pit which does not lessen the entire drive to the paintball place. Before you know it, the two of you are pulling into a slightly weathered-looking parking lot. Minsun pulls keys from the engine, surveying the site. “I’ve never done this before,” she admits, glancing sideways. “You?”

“Nope,” you say. “This’ll be a first for both of us.”

Sighing, Minsun pushes open her side door. “Here goes nothing, I guess.”

The gravel crunches beneath your feet as you walk, and your pulse races the closer you get to the building. Seokjin texted Minsun they are already here, and you see Namjoon and Seokjin’s cars in the lot. When you enter, a bunch of heads turn and Namjoon waves, as does Katie. You spot Seokjin and Jimin conversing by the water fountain, although they stop their talking when the two of you enter.

Jimin’s gaze flicks to you before looking away, making you frown. There are two other people here, too – Hoseok, a friend of Seokjin’s and his girlfriend, whom he introduces as Vikki. Hoseok works with Seokjin and you have met him a couple of times, but never Vikki. The name makes you do a double take but nope, she is not Victoria.

The thought of Victoria makes you angry all over again and you cast your gaze elsewhere, stubbornly looking everywhere but at Jimin.

Vikki smiles, lacing her hand in Hoseok’s as they stand. “Is this everyone?” Hoseok asks brightly. Everything Hoseok does seems to be bright.

“I think so?” Minsun scans the room. “Seems like it.”

“Eight total,” Namjoon nods, breaking away from Katie. “I think they want to talk to us before going over the rules and stuff.”

Nodding, you follow Namjoon to the back of the building where there are a bunch of lockers, each hung with a green or black body suit. You stare down the rows, observing helmets and boots laid out before leaning over to Seokjin. “Is this dangerous?” you whisper.

He laughs. “It’s fine, so long as you follow the rules.”

Biting down on your lip, you cross your arms when a staffer enters the room. “Good morning!” she calls, a bit too enthusiastic for the time of day. “I bet you’re all eager to get out there and play, so let’s keep things simple.”

There is an answering chorus of yeses and nods.

“Good!” she chirps, looking down at the piece of paper she holds. “Which one of you is Namjoon?”

Namjoon raises a hand, stepping forward. “That’s me.”

“Our first team leader!” she smiles, motioning him up. “You’ll be Team Black – you can all rename once we’re split. We’ll also need a leader for Team Green. Any volunteers?”

After glancing around, Minsun raises a hand. “I’ll do it!”

“Minsun,” you laugh, tugging her sleeve. “You’ve never even played.”

“No worries,” she shrugs. “I’ll still be better than half the people here.”

Seokjin nudges her forward, already grinning. “I’d trust her on this.”

“Right.” The woman nods, steering the conversation back on track. “Now you’ll pick the members of your team. Then, it’s into your suits and off to the playing area. Namjoon,” she says, looking at him. “Why don’t you start?”

“Love to.” Namjoon steps forward. “Jimin!”

Slow-motion running, Jimin exchanges a high-five with Namjoon before facing the group. His gaze barely meets yours before it is gone. You frown, noticing Jimin keeps not looking your way. This is annoying, especially since you are the one trying to ignore him. Not only that, you cannot help but wonder what Jimin has to be angry about. He was the one who went home with Victoria, who slept with somebody else – none of that is your fault.

It also might be against the rules. You said you wanted to be safe; who knows if Jimin actually followed the rules with Victoria? It would defeat the whole purpose of the document Jimin sent earlier that he was clean. Staring at him across the circle, you almost do not hear when Minsun calls your name.

“What?” you ask, head snapping up. “Already?”

Seokjin pushes you forward. “Get over there.”

“This is blatant favoritism,” you laugh, stepping up beside her. “I’ve never even played, this makes no sense.”

“Exactly,” Minsun nods. “We’ll have beginner’s luck on our side. You’re also underestimating yourself – you’re fast.”

“Katie,” Namjoon calls.

“Hoseok,” says Minsun, lifting her chin.

Seokjin looks stunned. “Baby,” he blurts. “What is this? Hoseok before me?”

“Vikki,” says Namjoon, separating Hoseok from his girlfriend.

“Jin!” Minsun opens both arms to her boyfriend.

Seokjin trudges over. “I’m last,” he grumbles, put out. “Embarrassing.”

The staff woman claps her hands. “Okay, everyone grab a locker! Put on a suit, helmet and boots over your clothing. We’ll meet in the open field right outside those double doors,” she says, waiting until everyone moves before walking away.

Grabbing a dark green suit, you step inside and zip it all the way up to your chin. Your shoes are replaced with boots and you shove a helmet into the crook of one arm, locking your things in the locker. The field is bright outside and you wince, grateful the visor of your helmet is tinted.

The staff woman stands beneath a clump of trees and you head in her direction, slowing when you realize the only other person there is Jimin. He sees you approaching, visibly stiffening and forcing your footsteps to slow.

Entering the circle, you look at the staffer. “Hi.”

“Hi!” she says back, fiddling with a bunch of equipment on the post.

Jimin has not said a word, so you decide to be the better person and wave. “Hey, Jimin. What’s up?”

He glances at you, expression a mask of ambivalence. “Hey.”

That is all. You blink, unnerved when he says nothing more. “Jimin,” you say, uncertain. “Are you... mad at me or something?”

He raises a brow. “Nope.”

There is none of his usual warmth to his gaze, though. Staring back at him, you recall the last time you saw Jimin – walking off the dance floor hand in hand with Victoria. 

“Really?” you say, own eyes narrowing. “This is how you want it to be, huh?”

Jimin shrugs, annoyingly calm. “I don’t know what to say, Y/N. I’m not mad at you, or anything.”

“Fine,” you snap. Out of the corner of one eye, you see others leaving the building. “That’s just fine, Jimin. Be a dick – I don’t care.”

Although Jimin’s lips tighten, he says nothing and soon enough Hoseok enters the circle. “Woo!” he yells, clapping Jimin on the back. “This suit is super restrictive, isn’t it?”

The rest of the group is not far behind and once you are all present, the woman nods. “Okay, listen up! The rules are as follows. Look at the line in the middle. Each team gets a side and the goal is to ‘kill’ each member of the opposing team.” She motions at your suits. “A kill shot is inside the red zone, clearly outlined on your body. If you hit anywhere outside the red zone, it doesn’t count as a kill. No shooting the head or face. Only shoot when on the designated paintball ground. No physical contact. Other details were outlined in the waiver you signed. Understood?”

Eight heads nod back.

“Good.” The woman gestures towards the rack of fake guns. “Grab a weapon. You have two hours to play – may the best team win!”

There is a weak cheer from Seokjin, while the rest of the players grab guns. You do this too, glaring at Jimin while reaching for the weapon he wants. Suddenly, you are very glad to be on opposite teams because right now, you want nothing more than to shoot Jimin in his red area.

Lowering his visor, Jimin watches you through tinted glass. Eyes narrowed, he looks as though he is thinking the same. Although why he is angry with you, you have no idea. Jimin is the one who went home with someone else; all you did was dance with Sungmin. Okay, and maybe you kissed him, but Jimin does not even know that – he was already gone when it happened.

“Y/N,” Minsun yells, waving a hand. “This way.”

Following her away from the clump, you join Hoseok and Seokjin on the field. Minsun stands in the center, marking where you four will start the game. “Okay.” She holds her gun loosely, looking between you. “The goal is to hit them, before they hit us.”

Hoseok cracks up, bending to rest both hands on his knees.

“That’s it?” Seokjin glances to where Namjoon waves animatedly at Jimin, Katie and Vikki. He draws large circles on the ground, outlining what appears to be an elaborate attack.

“That’s it.” Minsun nods. “I know Namjoon. He’ll overcomplicate this, attack us in some stupid way. What we do is we hold our ground and shoot straight. Hoseok, front, right quadrant. I’ll take back, right. Y/N is front, left. And Jin is back, left.”

Hoseok mock salutes. “Right, chief.” Turning on his heel, he marches towards his portion of the field.

Seokjin laughs but obeys, heading backwards when you start to move. From across the field, you notice the other team splitting apart. At first, you do not see Jimin – but then you roll your eyes, spotting him in the grass. Minsun was right. Namjoon’s elaborate plan is already in place.

“When do we start?” Minsun yells from behind you.

“NOW!”

Namjoon bursts out on one side, running with Katie towards the red line in the middle. The playing field is dense with grass and objects, littered with things to make it easier to hide. Katie slides behind a rock, shooting at Hoseok while Namjoon runs straight for you.

Standing your ground, you calmly aim in his direction. He is not even running in zig-zag pattern – taking your first shot, you wince when this one goes wide. Namjoon continues to run, aiming for you as he goes, and you fire again. Arm shot. Frowning, you aim for a third time. You are just about to fire when a paintball splatters your leg.

“HEY!” you yelp, whirling to see Jimin blowing fake smoke from his barrel. Namjoon swears, off to your right and when you glance over his way, you see he has been shot in the chest by Seokjin.

“YES!” Seokjin cheers, looking in surprise at his barrel. “I did it!”

“GREAT JOB, BABY!”

“MINSUN, CAN IT.” Namjoon waves his gun over his head, indicating he is out.

Letting out a whistle, you aim your gun for Jimin. Your first shot goes wide but Jimin hears it, dropping to the ground and rolling away. He ends up behind his side of the line, propped up on his elbows to shoot.

Ducking behind a wall, you hear his next shot whistle aimlessly off course. “Missed me!” you yell, knowing the rest of your team is busy with Vikki and Katie.

Jimin swears, his voice closer than expected. When you glance backwards to see him, you spot his helmet not too far away. He has army-crawled forward and, realizing you are looking, he ducks behind a large black bin.

Crouching down as well, you aim your barrel in his direction. Jimin will have to come out eventually, and when he does – you will be here. Breathing heavy, you see the sleeve of his black suit peek out. You open fire, exclaiming when you hear a hit on his suit. Just the elbow, but Jimin pops back up.

“Y/N!”

You dive when he returns fire, rolling to avoid his sudden onslaught. Crouched behind another (farther away) wall, you tell yourself not to peek but it is hard. Your limbs are spread at an awkward angle and you struggle not to reveal yourself; glancing to the side, you see the rest of your team otherwise occupied. While you watch, Hoseok is shot by Vikki.

He cheers for her before walking off of the field.

“Hey!” Minsun yells, one hand on her hip. “Whose team are you on, anyways?”

There is no sound from behind you. Unable to stop yourself, you peek over the the wall – and are promptly hit in the face by a paint ball. “AH!” you yell, falling flat on your butt.

Struggling with the gun, you blindly aim in his direction.

Jimin gasps, sounding shocked. “Y/N! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean – AH!” he yelps, stumbling backwards when your shot hits his shoulder.

“Yes!” you cheer, wiping your visor to lower your gun. “Got you, you’re out!”

“Am not!” Jimin marches forward until he stands right before you. “My shoulder is part of my arm, not my torso. Doesn’t count.”

“It’s on the red line,” you say, tilting your head to one side. “Wow, Jimin. I never pegged you for a cheater,” you snap, a harder edge to your voice than intended. Jimin’s eyes widen for a moment before narrowing.

“I’m not. I don’t – what are you saying?” he blurts, cheeks flushed.

“Hey,” Namjoon yells from across the field. “Jimin, the ref says you’re out.”

“Fine,” Jimin huffs, still staring at you. “Whatever.”

He turns without a word and you stare as he walks past, trickles of blue smeared across your vision. Jimin seems angry and, not for the first time, you wonder what his problem is. He seems angry, but he has no right to be. He is the one who broke the rules, not you.

The game does not last much longer, with Team Black quickly backed into a corner by you, Minsun and Seokjin. Vikki is the next one out and she shrugs as she goes, crossing the field to plop down between Hoseok’s knees. You watch him wrap his arms tightly around her, pulling her against his chest and feel a slight pang of jealousy. It would have been nice to have that with Sungmin.

Katie gets hit not long after, although she manages to take Minsun down in the process. It is just you and Seokjin left at the end, high-fiving with blue-splattered hands. 

“That was awesome,” Seokjin laughs, trudging across the field towards the rest of the group. “We’ll have to do it again.”

There are enthusiastic responses from everyone but Jimin, who remains silent. He walks alongside Namjoon as you leave, refusing to even look in your direction. Back at the parking lot, Seokjin suggests the group head to his place. Not wanting the day to end, the group echoes agreement and you all pile into cars, spirits high driving the short distance to their apartment.

It is mid-afternoon at this point and Seokjin disappears into the kitchen to order some pizza. The first movie you watch turns into a second and before you know it, the light has long faded from the room. TV and streetlights provide the only illumination while you eat pizza and beer.

Jimin sits cross-legged, leaning his head against one side of the sofa. You are seated on top of the couch with Minsun and Seokjin, although not on the same side as Jimin. He does not look in your direction, although it is a purposeful sort of ignorance. It is the kind which says he knows exactly where you are and what you are doing. Because he knows, he chooses not to look.

When the main character on screen starts to cry, your attention is drawn back to the movie. It is nearing its end, the lead guy finally realizing what an ass he has been. You open your phone before you can talk yourself out of it.

Y/N: hey, are you mad at me? [8:38 PM]

You watch Jimin get the text. You see his screen light up, watch him notice the message – and then see him ignore it. Jimin slides his phone into his pocket, folding his arms tighter over his chest. It is suddenly hard for you to hear, you cannot stop staring at the back of his head and slowly, your blood starts to boil. Fine. If Jimin does not want to talk, that is not your problem.

When the movie ends, people push themselves upwards to stand. Minsun stretches both arms overhead, chatting with Katie as you head towards the door. You grab your coat from the pile, staring down at the scarf in your hands, then at the hall. Jimin left the minute the movie ended, retreating to his room and closing the door.

The sight of this is so mocking, you turn to face Minsun. “Hey,” you sigh. “I need to talk to Jimin about something.”

Minsun’s gaze moves to the door over your shoulder. “Yeah. He’s been acting weird all day, hasn’t he?”

You nod, not wanting to say more. “I’m not sure what’s up with him. I want to make sure he’s okay.”

Minsun smiles, buttoning her coat to her chin. “That’s cool.” She nods at Namjoon, saying goodbye to Katie. “I said I’d give Joonie a ride home, you want us to wait outside?”

“No,” you say, shaking your head. “I’m not sure how long this will be. I’ll just get an Uber home or something. Really, go.”

With a quick shrug, Minsun slides her bag over her shoulder. “Okay. Sounds good – see you tomorrow, Y/N.” After a quick kiss to Seokjin, she disappears out the door.

Seokjin waves goodnight, heading into his room while you look at Jimin’s door. Crossing to his room, you stop before slowly raising your hand to knock. “Jimin?” you call. “Can we talk?”

There is no answer. As you stare at the door, you feel your blood start to boil, thinking about Jimin sitting in there ignoring you. It is one thing to ignore your texts, but to pretend as though he cannot hear you? You knock louder. 

“Hey, Jimin! Get your ass out here and talk to me, or I swear –"

The bedroom door flies open. Jimin appears, tugging a t-shirt overhead. “God, calm down,” he says. “I was changing. What’s up?”

Instead of answering him, you walk past. You wait until Jimin shuts the door before turning around to face him. “Why are you ignoring me?” you demand. “I saw you get my text and read it.”

Jimin’s mouth tightens. “I just… didn’t feel like responding.”

“And then today,” you add, barreling on. “You barely spoke to me before paintball and practically attacked me out on the field. What’s up with that? Why are you mad?”

Closing his eyes, Jimin shakes his head. “Just drop it, Y/N,” he says, voice tight. “I’m sorry I took it out on you.”

Ignoring him, you step closer. “No,” you insist, crossing your arms. “You’re pissed and I’m not leaving here until you say why.”

Jimin’s eyes snap open. “Oh? You want to know why I’m pissed, Y/N? Maybe because you broke the rules and didn’t even have the decency to tell me.”

Taken aback by his tone, you falter for words. “What are you talking about? I broke the rules? Which rule?”

Heart pounding, you wonder if Jimin is about to explain what you did last Friday. It must have been bad, for him to still be angry at it – and after an entire week, at that. Then you pause, confusion only growing. The thing is, Jimin did not seem angry with you before today.

Stepping closer to you, Jimin’s eyes sharpen. “The rule about being safe,” he scoffs, rolling his eyes. “How long have you been sleeping with Sungmin? I feel like an idiot, sending you that stuff earlier this week when this entire time, you’ve been sleeping with him. Did you use a condom, at least?”

“I’m not… I’m not sleeping with Sungmin,” you blurt out, incredulous. “What even gave you that idea?”

Jimin looks to the side. “Come on, Y/N,” he mutters. “I saw the two of you making out on the dance floor last night. Namjoon told me the two of you have been dating for a while. I thought,” he pauses, shaking his head. “I didn’t think you were into him like that.”

Your stomach drops, because he saw you with Sungmin. “You saw us kiss?” you blurt, head spinning. “How? You left with Victoria.”

Jimin’s brow furrows. “What? No. She asked me to talk, we went off to the side, she asked me to go home with her and I said no. Then I came back inside to see you with that – that guy.”

There is a hardened edge to his voice and you falter, at a loss for words. It is hard to grasp but – how would Jimin have seen the kiss, if he is not telling you the truth right now? He did not sleep with Victoria. He did not sleep with her, but you kissed Sungmin and – oh, god.

Groaning, you bury your face in your hands. “I’m not sleeping with Sungmin.” This is all so ridiculous, you almost laugh. “I asked him to kiss me because – well, I was trying to see if I have feelings for him.”

“And?” When you lower your hands, Jimin is staring right at you. “Do you?”

“No,” you admit, almost a whisper. “I felt nothing.”

Something unreadable crosses Jimin’s expression, taking a step closer. “Oh.”

Just one word is full of emotion. You hear relief, mixed with uncertainty, embarrassment and excitement. Slowly, his hand finds your face, thumb tracing the curve of your jaw while something flutters inside you.

Jimin bends his head slowly, capturing your lips with his while his hands find your hair. You groan as his mouth opens with yours, arms pulling you forward and into his embrace.

“Jimin,” you exhale, as his lips fall to your neck.

He takes his time with the next kiss, lips moving languidly against yours. Each brush brings your body to life, responding to him in ways you only imagined you could. Every kiss is new, each noise purposeful and raw. This is what you wanted with Sungmin, you realize.

Jimin breaks away, grabbing your hand in his. He pulls you to his bed, sitting on the edge to stare up at you. “Take off your top,” he instructs, voice hoarse.

You pull your shirt overhead, tossing this off to one side. Jimin sits there for a moment, eyes darkening while he takes you in. You do not stop there, hands sliding to your jeans to unbutton one at a time. Jimin shifts on the bed and you realize he is hard, evidenced by the front of his sweatpants. Without looking away, you slide your pants from your body.

“Come here,” Jimin says and you obey this as well. Crossing to him, you lower yourself to his lap. Jimin kisses you roughly, catching your lower lip in his. He bites down, erection pressing into you as you move gently on top. You whimper when his hands start to explore.

His finds slide down your back, undoing your bra and leaving you practically naked. Sitting on his lap, completely exposed, somehow you are not embarrassed. Maybe it is how Jimin looks at you, his pupils dark and blown out with desire. Or, how he lowers his head to your chest, teasing first one breast, then the other.

Unable to stop yourself, you move your hips against his; grinding his thighs until Jimin lets out a moan. “God,” he mutters, pulling back to look at you. “I’m supposed to be the one in control here.”

This only makes you grind harder, pressing forward as warmth spirals through your core. Jimin’s hand slips between your legs, pulling your panties aside for his fingers to find you swollen and wanting. “Ji-min,” you moan, burying your head in his neck as his fingers begin a teasing dance.

He chuckles, continuing to kiss your neck. “What’s wrong, baby?”

A shiver crosses your spine at the nickname. “You have too many clothes on.”

Jimin pulls back, halting so you can pull his shirt overhead. You press your chest to his, humming when his hand resumes its motion. His fingers stroke over your body, bringing you tantalizingly close to the edge before he exhales. 

“No,” Jimin murmurs, lifting you to set down on your back. “I want more.”

Flipping over, he bends to kiss down your body. Lips moving everywhere they can reach, he draws whimpers and moans from your throat. When he finds your thighs, Jimin pauses, slowly pulling your underwear down. You watch him dazedly, certain there is nothing sexier than Jimin with his hair mussed, eyes glazed and dropping between your legs.

The first lick is tentative, a question your body clenches in response to. Jimin’s hands find your thighs, opening further while he moves against you. His tongue is warm and wet, coaxing your body close to the edge; each nerve is aflame, making you bite down on your lip to keep from moaning.

Jimin moves faster, sliding a finger inside you while his mouth continues. He looks up when you cannot keep yourself from saying his name, lifting onto his elbows. 

“Fuck, I love hearing that,” he groans, moving so he is on top, body pressing you into his bed. “I could listen to you say my name all night, I really could.”

“Jimin,” you breathe, sliding your hands to his sweatpants and pushing them down. You do not waste time, taking him in your hand and running your thumb over his tip. You spread moisture down his shaft, wrapping your hand as he unsteadily draws in a breath.

“Y/N,” he groans, unsteady. “I just – I really want to be inside you right now.”

You nod, already aligning him to your center. “Please, Jimin.”

His hands fall to either side of you while his lips meet yours and slowly, he enters, pushing forward while your legs wrap tightly around him. Jimin’s other hand yanks your thigh higher, tongue finding yours while he fills you completely.

You can barely think straight, hardly string together a coherent sentence. It has been a long time since you have been this intimate with anyone and having Jimin inside you like this is new. You pull him closer when he starts to move, pulling back to sink into you with long, drawn-out thrusts.

You moan, hands fisting in his sheets and his hair. Every move is purposeful, languid and needy. You feel your orgasm building, Jimin’s slow thrusts driving you crazy. “Jimin,” you moan, restless beneath him. “Faster.”

He obeys, rolling his hips to speed up and you feel your insides start to tremble. “Fuck,” you groan. “Jimin.”

He kisses you again, fingers interlacing with yours as he presses even closer. This is something more than what you normally do, you realize as you careen out of control. The things you are feeling, the way your body is responding to him – it is not normal.

It is as you think this, Jimin brushes his thumb over your sex and you cry out, overwhelmed by the sensation. “That’s it,” he murmurs, voice taut. “Come for me, baby. God, you’re gorgeous when you come.”

That does it – you tighten around him, vision blacking out while your orgasm shudders through you. Clinging tightly to Jimin, you clutch at his body because right now it is the only thing that makes sense.

Jimin comes as well, gasping your name while warmth floods your body. When he is done, you fall back with Jimin’s hands in your hair. Jimin looks at you, smiling gently before rolling off the bed. He cleans himself, bringing over a towel and having you do the same. He then falls down beside you, pulling you in for a kiss.

You are so tired, you can barely think. Can barely face the looming repercussions you now know are there; you can feel them off to the side, feel their weight about to overwhelm as you drift off to sleep. Jimin’s arms tighten around you and there is only one certain thought on your mind.

You are thoroughly, royally screwed.

[Master List]

Playlist: It Ain’t Me, Kygo & Selena Gomez; Flame (Remix), Tinashe & Kaskade; Break a Little, kristin; Sweet Creature, Harry Styles; Black Out, VIXX; Coloring Outside the Lines, Misterwives; Dance, Dance, DAY6

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