#and oh is there regret later that Red doesn't want to hear about - she leaves Storybrooke earlier but most of what happens is untouched

[solarisburns]

Dorcas knew something was wrong when Evan showed up at her door one night. At the start of the war, right before she graduated all three of her-the boys took the dark mark. She wanted, desperately, for there to be more to the story, but if there was they never told her. So when she found out she was furious told them all she never wanted to speak to them ever again, and the only time they would see her face is from behind bars or in a shallow grave. They respected that and before she knew it, its been over a year and she missed them like she misses a limb. but she does not regret her decision.

So when one night evan shows up alone, dorcas knows something is wrong. she nearly curses him outright when he asks to come in but he offers his wand to her and doesn't even flinch when she rips it out of his hand. idly she considers snapping it. Evan didn't look good, he was more wirey than before the war and he looked depressed. his eyes were red.

he came into her apartment and looked around in curiosity, right he had never seen her apartment they had stopped speaking a week before she moved in. he sat on her couch and she pretended not to be hurt about how right it felt to have him here. then he spoke, "We wanted to tell you, I swear we did but he told us that if you knew and someone found out you would be a target. You and marlene and your family. We tried Dorcas we tried so fucking hard but were losing and we don't know what to do and you, your the most powerful witch we know and Reg-" he rambled frantically and when he tried to say Regulus' name his voice broke and Dorcas was filled with this horrible sense of dread. She knew why Evan was here but she didn't want to believe it. She needed to hear it out loud but merlin she didn't want to.

"Evan, what are you doing here."

"Regulus is dead."

"Oh."

And the worst part is, Dorcas knew, they all knew that Regulus would not make it through this war. One way or another, no matter what side, this always ended with Regulus dead. She feels a stab of resentment for the dead boy.

"Were spies, we um have been for years. Regulus stole something from Voldemort, he uh he died to get it. He told us if he didn't make it back to bring it to you, that you would have the power to destroy it. It's with Pandora at the moment, we try to keep it moving so theres less of a chance it can be tracked, but we wanted to tell you now. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you, I know you never wanted to see me again but Pandora is telling Sirius and Barty the Potters." Evan was crying, and he was desperately trying to hide it. Then Dorcas realized she was crying to. They sat there and cried and cried, it could have been for hours the two of them cried.

She clears her throat and looks at the clock, "Marlene will be home soon, you should leave. And uh tell Pandora she, alone, can bring whatever it is over tomorrow afternoon." Dorcas wants to forgive them but she can't, not yet. And Regulus is dead, it doesn't feel real except for the way it's all too real.

Evan nods, "of course, whatever you need." he holds his hand for his wand and turns towards the door when he gets it, but hesitates. "I know I have no right to ask this, but Cas, can I have a hug?"

She's up before he finishes his sentence and pulling him into a hug "Sure Ev." she whispers into his ear as she rocks them, their the same height now, she used to have an inch on him. he huffs what might be a laugh. and before she knows it their letting go and he's almost out the door.

"See ya around Meadowes?"

"See you around Rosier."

And then he's gone and if she closes her eyes she can pretend that he was never here at all. That somewhere in the world the three boys are out there getting drunk and ruining peoples lives and growing up without her. The boys are spies and lied to her for years and Regulus is dead. She sinks down the closed door and sobs.

(She never does see Evan around, he died two months later)

[quitealotofsodapop]

(resending this cuz it seems like some of my asks got deleted)

thank you for posting this ver of the ask, and thanks for the extra responses!

[Macaque having the mega-regret when he finds out all those years later about the Stone Egg, feeling like a dad who wasn't around for their (ex)partner and unborn baby and barely having enough time to adjust when baby arrives.]

considering he just finds out about the baby mere weeks before their born, and only actually starts the path to reconciliation the day before if not the day Wukong goes into labor depending on how long it is between the final battle ending and the campsite scene, he really didn't have a lot of time to get used to the idea of possibly being a dad (not even knowing if he wanted to rebuild his relationship with Wukong until he was un-possessed) until their was already a baby in his arms, but he is forever grateful he made the decision to stay.

that being said, I feel like with him feeling like he missed a lot causes Wukong to have to reassure him often that what really matters is that he's here now, and that as long as he makes the effort to be apart of Yuebei's life now Wukong wouldn't have it any other way. I think Macaque (even if a little wistfully) loves to listen to Wukong telling old pregnancy stories of funny or fond moments he missed. he probably likes hearing stories of bad moments too, so he gets a more full understanding of Wukong's pregnancy experience.

[likely responding to the Samadhi fire like it would consumable dao like; "Hey, can I eat that- OOO NO SPICY!!!").]

Yuebei trying to eat the Samadhi fire is absolutely hilarious, so is Yuebei describing a world ending fire that can tear apart the fabric of reality "spicy" in baby terms. as a baby she tries to chew on Red Son hair "because the spiciness has gone down."

[Wukong's mental health was not good after the ritual]

Wukong def doesn't leave Ao Lie's side for weeks after the ritual to make sure he's okay (I like to think that the fourth ring wasn't a problem at first, but as time passed symptoms started cropping up and then they started getting worse and worse). When the affects of the ring start becoming noticeable and then beginning to worsen Wukong only becomes more distraught. he tries everything to help Ao Lie, but he just keeps getting worse, Wukong apologies at least 200 times everytime they see each other, Ao Lie never blames him for anything. Wukong is there when he dies, Wukong's mental health obviously takes an even worse turn.

[Wukong risked his own baby for them, and the couple don't learn this until centuries later.]

they are both all the more grateful when they finally learn, especially PIF who understands that putting his own baby at risk for hers must have been a difficult decision, so he also has more respect from her because of that. they also chastise him for putting his own baby at risk.

but imagine how they (and Ne Zha) would feel upon learning the reason he slipped was his baby reacting badly to the fire, considering losing control and slipping was something he got a lot of flack for because of the danger it posed.

[Spider Queen turns, only to see Guanyin/Kuan Yin glaring her down like the vengeful goddess she is.]

Spider Queen is losing her mind because of her loss, she turns her attention on her own minions for a moment, they don't react at all because they are used to her temper. all of a sudden, they do start shrinking back and acting scared, Spider Queen's yelling falters as a shadow falls over her. she turns, looks up, and finds herself being stared down by a very angry Guanyin.

SQ gets her ass handed to her.

LBD stays hidden until Guanyin leaves, ot wanting to risk being seen by the vengeful goddess and risk their wrath. SQ trusts her a little more than in og canon because when LBD comes out of hiding she also brings a healing item of some kind to heal SQ from injuries sustained from her beat down from Guanyin.

[Instead of the infamous "OH WUKONG!" while flying overhead at the end of S2, Macaque instead announces hos presence to MK specifically.]

so blatantly ignoring Wukong's presence while the bone demon is practically hovering over his shoulder would be too obvious. he fixes this by only seeming to attack when MK starts trying to talk about him. MK's got Wukong alone on the deck of the airship about to tell him about the shadowplay? "ooooo MK!". Wukong and MK meet up while trying to escape the east sea palace and MK once again tries to warn Wukong about the shadowplay incident? I don't think so. MK: *running out of the east palace* Monkey King, there you are! are you ok? SWK: I'm good bud MK: good, I know I didn't get to explain earlier about Macaque but he- MK: *Macaque's staff skims his hair and embeds itself in the wall behind him* MK: STOP INTERRUPTING ME! MK: *a shadow clone comes out of nowhere to punch him, causing both MK and wukong to scramble* MK: on second thought, maybe I'll just stop talking.

[Wukong gets the drop on him cus it's such a paradoxial offer. If he agrees, his baby will be a lonely little cub in the world like he was + he'll lose all his found family and the world at large. If he refuses, LBD might just decide to aim for the Egg directly, taking away something Wukong has been incubating/nuturing for centuries away from him and using the energy accumilated within to fuel her mech.] + [LBD does not think about feeding Wukong in this timeframe ofc, since in her mind he's an immortal self-sustaining puppet now. It's ultimately what leads to her demise...]

the thought of losing the found family he's managed to gain after spending so long alone makes him falter, he pushed everyone away for centuries until now and he's just started relearning what it's like to have his loved ones around again, he doesn't want to lose them now.

but on the other hand the thought of LBD targeting his egg and using their dao to fuel her mech makes him feel physically sick. he can't afford to lose his egg, not after this long. he'd never recover.

funny, how it ends up being LBD who gets consumed by the egg. how the tables have turned.

as concerning as the egg consuming her initially was, Wukong can't help but smirk and call it hubris.

[You know when the Mayor gets un-possessed by LBD? Think that, but the soul energy is getting eaten like a string of noodles and slurped into Wukong's body.]

that is terrifying, I'm gonna have to draw that now. (as of you seeing this, the drawing has already been submitted)

[The Egg needed Wukong to gain a couple few more family members before it could "hatch" into Baby. XD]

egg was like "troop is here? mate is here now? food is sufficient? now these are prime birth conditions!" *sends Wukong into labor*

[Mac's crying cus he's finally coming to terms with why Wukong hurt him all those years ago + he's meeting his former mate's little cub who looks like him!! He makes a sound akin to a dying squeaky toy when he's asked how he thinks of little Yuebei.]

seeing Yuebei look like him and the joy that brings him and Wukong both is def one of the things that makes it finally click. he so easily could have lost this by his own hand, he could've cost Wukong this. in that moment he not only gets over the whole dying thing completely in an instant, he almost feels glad that Wukong did whatever he had to to ensure little Yuebei's safety, even if it was Macaque himself Wukong had to keep her safe from.

Wukong def thinks Macaque's "dying squeaky toy" reaction to being asked about what he thinks of Yuebei is adorable.

[DBK holds it together until he has Yuebei in his palm. Smaller than even Red Son was as a baby. DBK does one deep breath... and quickly has to pass the baby to PIF cus his eyes have turned into waterfalls. She's so small!!] + [... but holding Yuebei is the first time in a long time she makes a joyful snotty sob. The baby monkey is confused by the bodhisattva's reaction, and tries kissing her tears away. This only makes her honorary aunt/grandmother cry even harder with pride and joy.] + [+Not to mention how hard MK cries when Wukong introduces him to Yuebei as "your honorary big brother". Mei has hundreds of timelapsed photos of MK as his face contorts into an ugly cry as he holds Yuebei for the first time.]

Wukong and Macaque as DBK's sworn brothers def joke that they always knew he was a big softy.

Wukong is laughing at Yuebei trying to kiss Guanyin's tears away whilst also giving Guanyin a big hug.

MK loves that he's being referred to as the big brother, even if only honorary. Mei def has hundreds of photos of everyone's reactions.

[He reminds himself to say sorry to Wukong for not checking if the Buddha's punishment was Stone Monkey friendly. Wukong and Mac laugh him off cus the Gold Star of Venus is currently having his beard nearly yanked off by the playful newborn cub.]

all in all, Gold Star is very happy that it all worked out for them in the end. they are too.

[Azure: "What do you think little cub? Am I not a fine Emperor and guardian? Do you think your mother will warm to being at my side?" Yuebei, hungry, frustrated, and bored: *glares and makes a distinctly "Macaque"-sound as her ears glow* The Brotherhood: "..." Peng: "She must be hard to impress. As any princess ought to be." Azure: *feels a little better* :'3 Yellowtusk the Wise, internally: "I'm telling Guanyin. I am not going to be held responsible for what nonsense Azure gets up to regarding Wukong and the infant."]

it would be even worse considering Yuebei likely has Azure as a "bad voice", so him talking about her Baba would not make her feel any better, even if she can't actually understand what is being said.

Yellowtusk looks at Azure talking about having Wukong at his side at last with an infant (that he was being neglectful of) that so very clearly belonged to Macaque, with Macaque and Wukong seeming to be on good terms these days if Macaque's anger at Azure for imprisoning Wukong in the scroll was anything to off of, and start seeing just how possessive and obsessive Azure really was and just goes "oh, you are a terrible person, actually" and decides that his brothers aren't actually the people he wants to associate himself with.

[If Azure still had a tail, Yuebei would have taken it as a chew toy long before the MKrew (love that name) got there. And Wukong would have let her keep it as a trophy.]

they'd have it like, preserved or something so they could keep letting her use it as a chew toy. if not that then they would have hung it only the mantle place where they've also been keeping LBD's skull for the time being.

Referencing this Slow Boiled Au post.

[considering he just finds out about the baby mere weeks before their born, and only actually starts the path to reconciliation the day before if not the day Wukong goes into labor depending on how long it is between the final battle ending and the campsite scene, he really didn't have a lot of time to get used to the idea of possibly being a dad (not even knowing if he wanted to rebuild his relationship with Wukong until he was un-possessed) until their was already a baby in his arms, but he is forever grateful he made the decision to stay.]

Once Mac learned that Wukong got possessed trying to take down LBD, the shadow monkey almost 99% decided that he wasn't going to lose his King to that bony biotch. And depeneding on how messy the Samadhi Fire ritual goes, the last thing Wukong says to Macaque is along the lines of "You ruined everything!", and Macaque doesn't want those to be the last words he hears his King say...

And ofc the protective Stone Monkey instincts kick in once he sees; 1: His pregnant mate being forced to fight, 2: LBD tossing her human-cub host aside like trash, 3: The kids almost dying trying to control the Samadhi Fire etc...

And soon Macaque started to remember how much him and Wukong discussed Having a family once the war on heaven was over, and how much they both wanted to be parents...

And soon there's a newborn monkey in his arms, and Macaque can't stop smiling and crying at the same time. He's so excited and overjoyed and scared that he isn't sure how to feel.

[that being said, I feel like with him feeling like he missed a lot causes Wukong to have to reassure him often that what really matters is that he's here now, and that as long as he makes the effort to be apart of Yuebei's life now Wukong wouldn't have it any other way. I think Macaque (even if a little wistfully) loves to listen to Wukong telling old pregnancy stories of funny or fond moments he missed. he probably likes hearing stories of bad moments too, so he gets a more full understanding of Wukong's pregnancy experience.]

Macaque says something like: "Sorry I wasn't here for alot of it.", and Wukong just replies like "Eh. You got plenty of time to make it up."

Macaque often asks Wukong "how it was" to be carrying the Stone Egg. especially for so long, and he's always glad to hear Wukong's rambling stories about his odd symptoms ("You couldn't eat peaches?! How did you survive?") and the tales of the many gods and demons that shrunk away nervously when they discovered his condition. Macaque is still shocked that Wukong managed to keep the Egg a secret from PIF and DBK (and most of Heaven) for so long too - and might give him the stinkeye for risking himself and the baby during the Samadhi Fire ritual.

Its also around the time Macaque really has it sink in that; "Oh sh-t. I attacked the Monk and fought Wukong when he was pregnant. No wonder he killed me." He isn't sure how to build himself up to discussing this fact with Wukong yet, but he'll get there.

[Yuebei describing a world ending fire that can tear apart the fabric of reality "spicy" in baby terms. as a baby she tries to chew on Red Son hair "because the spiciness has gone down."]

Red Son holds Yuebei for the first time (after a lot of encouragement from his parents and MK), and the first thing the baby does is tug Red's hair from his ponytail and try chewing it. Red's hair is ruined with baby monkey drool by the time someone gets Yuebei off of him.

Wukong, snorts out a laugh at the sight: "She must like hot food. She tried eating the Samadhi Fire the first time around." Nezha: "She what?!" Wukong: "Oh yeah... didn't tell you that part yet." Nezha, angry flames flaring up: "You mean to tell me that you were "with Stone Egg" during the ritual to separate the Samadhi Fire!? She could have suffered the same fate as Ao Lie!" Wukong, guilt-ridden: "Yeah. Don't remind me. She kicked me non-stop for days afterwards." Yuebei: *tries grabbing Nezha's skates to test the "spicyness"*

Red makes sure to keep his hair covered the next time he sees the cub.

[Wukong def doesn't leave Ao Lie's side for weeks after the ritual to make sure he's okay (I like to think that the fourth ring wasn't a problem at first, but as time passed symptoms started cropping up and then they started getting worse and worse).] + [Wukong apologies at least 200 times everytime they see each other, Ao Lie never blames him for anything. Wukong is there when he dies, Wukong's mental health obviously takes an even worse turn.]

Even being a dragon that could handle flame magic, Ao Lie was ultimately just *one* dragon. One that rarely used his fire magic at all save for the time he acted out at his father pre-Journey. He practiced great self-control in making sure that the Ring he held within didn't start a blaze that spread outwards to hurt his friends.

But in supressing his symptoms, Ao Lie inadvertently hid how much pain he was in from his dearest friends. Wukong knew something was wrong immediately when the infamous White Horse Dragon no longer had the strength nor will to carry even one of his pilgrim brothers. The weakness, the pain, the burning in his joints; it was all to obvious how hard the dragon tried to hide it.

Wukong cries for months after Ao Lie leaves them/passes away. And the dragon's last words to assure his friend that he never blamed him for the accident, nor his baby. Ao Lie was just sad that he'd never be able to meet the cub in this lifetime. He just wants Wukong to stop being so hard on himself for it. If only the dragon he tell him that in person.

[they are both all the more grateful when they finally learn, especially PIF who understands that putting his own baby at risk for hers must have been a difficult decision, so he also has more respect from her because of that. they also chastise him for putting his own baby at risk. but imagine how they (and Ne Zha) would feel upon learning the reason he slipped was his baby reacting badly to the fire, considering losing control and slipping was something he got a lot of flack for because of the danger it posed.]

OH the second PIF hears that Wukong put himself at risk of the Samadhi Fire whilst pregnant - she's flying straight over to shout how "stupid and reckless it is!". But she soon calms down and pulls him into a soft hug, whispering with a single tear (out of range of the kids); "Thank you for saving my baby. Now allow me to protect yours." Wukong was confused but very touched that the Princess recognised the risk he took in helping lil Red Son all those years ago. She knows it was a tough call to make.

When the lotus prince overhears that Sun Wukong has been pregnant "since at least the Journey", he just crumbles at the realisation that Wukong was in fact pregnant during the ritual. Nezha blames himself for not recognising that Wukong was carrying at the time, and even more so how he blamed him for "screwing up!" the ritual whilst distracted. He now realises that the baby was likely reacting to the sudden surge of fire magic and Wukong was in great pain. He def makes an awkward apology once they run into eachother at the start of S3. He refuses to let Wukong get into danger or exert himself tho - Nezha's a momma's boy at heart after all.

[Spider Queen's yelling falters as a shadow falls over her. she turns, looks up, and finds herself being stared down by a very angry Guanyin. SQ gets her ass handed to her.]

Spider Queen hears the sounds of a thousand knuckles cracking and realises that she's looking at the person who might as well be the Monkey King's Mama. SQ ain't even mad by the end of it. She would have done the same (she'd def the kinda mom to beat up her kids' bullies).

I love the imagery of the rest of the Spider Gang just... watching it unfold. They only need a single glare from Guanyin to not step in. LBD is hiding far away atm cus she knows the goddess would recognise her magic at a glance. Or recognise her host as being a possessed little girl and reverse-kidnap her for an exorcism.

LBD only comes out to heal SQ's injuries from the Divine butt-whooping once Quanyin has left. And although SQ kinda trusts the demon a little more, she's far more hesistant to step on the Monkey King's toes than before if his Mama's gonna respond. SQ is a lot more scheming for the rest of S2.

[so blatantly ignoring Wukong's presence while the bone demon is practically hovering over his shoulder would be too obvious. he fixes this by only seeming to attack when MK starts trying to talk about him.]

I can almost imagine Macaque's demeanor becoming especially cold towards the crew, particularly MK. He can't risk Wukong knowing that MK told Macaque about not only the baby, but also how Wukong was pregnant during the Journey. He just wants to grab the Kid, give him to LBD, fufill his contract, and maybe make up for it later when this all blows over.

Macaque from MK's perspective during S3;

But by ignoring Wukong and focusing solely on MK, he still draws Wukong's attention. His sunlight isn't a dumb monkey. He knows what Macaque ignoring somebody looks like (thinking back to the Brotherhood days when Macaque would pretend not to hear Peng's criticisms). And he's still protective over "his cub" whenever MK dodges a shadow attack.

Eventually it comes to a head when they meet just after Lantern City. Macaque is clearly in pain from an icy curse, and isn't saying anything to him. He's aknowledging Nezha sure, but it's like he's pretending Wukong doesn't even exist right now - even as he leaves the King untouched by the powers lended to him by LBD.

Wukong, shouting: "Why are you doing this!? Don't you know that Lady Bone Demon will kill everyone if she gets her hands on the Fire!? Macaque: *silently tries to fly past Wukong towards the ritual sight* Wukong, flying infront of him: "STOP! You've been like this, this whole road trip! Are you possessed? Or are you too much of a coward to look me in the eye!?" (*a small one-sided mid-air fight happens as Wukong beats the everloving crap out of Macaque, slamming him into the rocks below*) Wukong, crying: "C'mon! JUST TALK TO ME!!!" Macaque, sad frown as the ice spreads: "I don't... want to make you choose again." Wukong: "What!? That makes no sense!" Macaque: *goes silent again. Escapes Wukong's hold via shadow portal and books towards the ritual altar*

Odds are Macaque doesn't even force Tang to do the ritual, the ice on his body having spread so much that he can barely whisper "Do it." before the scholar catches on the severity of the situation. Wouldn't be surprised if the shadow monkey stayed with the group afterwards as a "my bad" once the curse was lifted.

Wukong only realises after he confronts LBD and gets her ultimatium what Macaque meant by "choose again"...

[the thought of losing the found family he's managed to gain after spending so long alone makes him falter, he pushed everyone away for centuries until now and he's just started relearning what it's like to have his loved ones around again, he doesn't want to lose them now. but on the other hand the thought of LBD targeting his egg and using their dao to fuel her mech makes him feel physically sick. he can't afford to lose his egg, not after this long. he'd never recover. funny, how it ends up being LBD who gets consumed by the egg. how the tables have turned. as concerning as the egg consuming her initially was, Wukong can't help but smirk and call it hubris.]

In the question of his new family vs his Egg; Wukong would always be left stalling. Wukong def sees LBD'a hubris as her downfall, but admits that she really threw him for a loop when she made the offer. He especially laughs at the fact that the Egg consumed LBD almost in the same fashion it tried absorbing the Samadhi Fire so many years ago - guess his baby found the ancient demoness "less spicy".

BTW I love the art you did for this scene!! Stone Egg had enough of LBD's nonsense and was Hangry, and Bama had spoken some sense into Baba, and now Nom NOM NOMNOM.

[egg was like "troop is here? mate is here now? food is sufficient? now these are prime birth conditions!" *sends Wukong into labor*]

Be post-battle Wukong thinking all his aches and pains are just from his injuries/possession, and not from his baby sending him into extended labor. >:3

Stone Egg knows when the Time is Right. And the troop is all here so... being born time.

[seeing Yuebei look like him and the joy that brings him and Wukong both is def one of the things that makes it finally click. he so easily could have lost this by his own hand, he could've cost Wukong this. in that moment he not only gets over the whole dying thing completely in an instant, he almost feels glad that Wukong did whatever he had to to ensure little Yuebei's safety, even if it was Macaque himself Wukong had to keep her safe from. Wukong def thinks Macaque's "dying squeaky toy" reaction to being asked about what he thinks of Yuebei is adorable.]

Oh gosh Macaque realising that the baby looking like him brings Wukong joy too would make him cry even harder. He almost cost his mate everything by risking the world over his own debt to the Bone demon. Mac would gladly have died all over again if it kept the baby safe.

Wukong, petting Yuebei's big fluffy *glowing* ears: "So cute. What do you think, Plums?" Macaque: *blubbering, dying squeaky toy sound* Wukong, laughing softly: "Me too." *kisses Yuebei's face* Yuebei: *grumpy sleepy coo*

Its a very sappy moment between the pair.

[Wukong and Macaque as DBK's sworn brothers def joke that they always knew he was a big softy. Wukong is laughing at Yuebei trying to kiss Guanyin's tears away whilst also giving Guanyin a big hug. MK loves that he's being referred to as the big brother, even if only honorary. Mei def has hundreds of photos of everyone's reactions.]

PIF isn't far behind her husband either. The tiny precious thing in her arms nearly died in a bid to save her own baby. She plants a big kiss on Yuebei's forehead, forgetting that her lipstick stains. Her husband chuckles, still teary-eyed, at his wife's embarassment at planting a big kiss mark on the baby's head.

Guanyin is at Wukong's bedside, still crying at how beautiful and healthy the long-awaited baby is. And Yuebei is just "why you crying? lemme do the thing everyone did to me when I was crying" and tries planting big wet kisses below Guanyin's eyes. Wukong is just beaming with how sweet the sight is.

MK is having unknown instinctual urge to curl up with Yuebei (his honorary sister) next to the other monkeys. Pigsy laughs that MK did the same with his fave plushie for years.

[it would be even worse considering Yuebei likely has Azure as a "bad voice", so him talking about her Baba would not make her feel any better, even if she can't actually understand what is being said.]

Yuebei has very vague memories of Bad Sounds, like the three Brotherhood hurting her Baba a long time ago. The birdy (Peng, who captured Wukong in the Yin-Yang vase that nearly killed him) gets the fastest response of anger - which only proves to the trio that Macaque is the baby's other parent.

Peng: "Hmph. With these ears, we don't need any guesses on who the other-" Yuebei: *screeches like a banshee when Peng comes closer!* >:O! The Brotherhood: "..." Peng, amused smile: "Though, she's certainly braver than he was." Yuebei: *most intimidating hiss she can muster* Azure, thinking it's like a kitten spitting: "Aww."

Also, Mac is def the kinda guy to use exaggerated versions of the Brotherhood's voices when narrating villain characters in Yuebei's books. The little raspberry noises (or "Boos" as Mac likens them to) she makes at the voices encourages him even further.

With the Brotherhood, Yuebei keeps hearing them talking about her Baba and Bama, and the rest of her troop, but its all in tones that sound super negative and she *hates* it. She just wants her parents!

[Yellowtusk looks at Azure talking about having Wukong at his side at last with an infant (that he was being neglectful of) that so very clearly belonged to Macaque, with Macaque and Wukong seeming to be on good terms these days if Macaque's anger at Azure for imprisoning Wukong in the scroll was anything to off of, and start seeing just how possessive and obsessive Azure really was and just goes "oh, you are a terrible person, actually" and decides that his brothers aren't actually the people he wants to associate himself with.]

By this point Azure is also corrupted by the Emperor's power, so a lot of what he's saying is a mix of geniune yearning, and maddened desire. In the old days, Azure would at least keep these thoughts hidden and focus on the bigger picture. Now he's spiralling down a Caligulan rabbit-hole with Wukong's increasingly-distressed infant in his grasp.

Yellowtusk immediately catches on that this Azure Lion is not the man he called brother anymore. He makes the quick decision to alert someone outside the Celestial Realm for assistance, even if it compromises their successful coup. And considering Yellowtusk is the only one with the sense to feed and bathe the hostage infant, he's not surprised when she turns on Azure and Peng specifically.

[they'd have it like, preserved or something so they could keep letting her use it as a chew toy. if not that then they would have hung it only the mantle place where they've also been keeping LBD's skull for the time being.]

Oh they would have. Wukong def would preserve Azure's tail like a dog's chew toy if Yuebei wanted to keep it. But I think Azure canonically doesn't have a tail - it's not in his design, though in Jttw its's described as "long as a broom". If it were I def see Yuebei throwing Azure around by it like plush toy.

Some of Peng's feathers are stolen too (Yuebei had a mouthful of them) and Macaque and Sandy turned the feathers into a cat toy. Mo and Yuebei both adore it.

[marisaeon]

Aeon angst week day 3 -

Amnesia ── (Not finished in picture :))

Read the rest of the story below the cut! Or, support this over on my ao3! :)

She used to think she finally found happiness. Accepting the fact that she's capable of loving someone is more difficult than ever. In finally doing so, she was happy everyday, living with him.

Growing closer than ever, sharing conversations past midnight, being able to sleep with the comfort of the other there. That was love.

She's never loved anyone before, not truly. The love for Leon is real, and she doesn't know if anyone could ever replace that. Matter of fact, she knows nobody would. The little things he did when she was down, buying her favorite foods rather than a pile of jewels. As much as she would let him know, he remembered and used for the next time.

Until one day, that all came crashing down. Just one accident and he doesn't remember her. One accident and he doesn't remember the very woman he swore he'd never forget.

Ada would visit him in the hospital, he, unaware and unconscious. Spending hours there by his side, hoping he'd wake up soon.

People rarely came into his room, suggesting he'd be leaved to rest and just get his hourly needs.

This gave her more time to spend with him, she didn't want anyone to know she was here. A private marriage was kept even after all these years, to keep them safe.

She's starting to regret that now, knowing that she'll have to steal information to find out what's wrong with him rather than just hearing the news as his spouse. It wasn't anything new to her, she supposes.

Ada holds his hand, he's so unresponsive it feels as though he's dead. It's not the same to when she would hold his hand in bed as he slept, slowly awakening at her touch. She so hoped he would though, maybe she would be the one to wake up. Wake up from a terrible dream. This felt all too real, and it was.

Later, she was fast asleep, tears dried up on her face and her makeup smeared throughout. She looked like a mess, and she didn't feel any better. A faint noise woke Ada up as the door began to open, she quickly got up and hid in the somewhat large room.

Just a nurse coming in to fix his IV, and check his vitals. The room is silent as she does so, nobody to talk to anyway. Since the only other person in the room was unconscious, or at least she thought was the only person.

A heartbeat later, the nurse gasps, "Leon?" She runs to his side, noticing he had opened his eyes, and is regaining consciousness.

"Oh my.. I'll be right back, okay?!" She ran out of the room to go collect the doctors.

Ada let out a soft gasp herself, realizing that he was finally awake. She wanted to go out there and embrace him so bad, but she knew it wouldn't be too long till a whole group of people came into this room. Her heart feels like it's beating out her of chest, she can hear it in her ears as her blood pools. So much that she had to remind herself to breathe, and take slower breaths. This wasn't like her, she needed to calm down. He was going to be alright...

She rubs at her eyes, black and reds stain her fingers.

A group of doctors come into the room...

And that was the night she found out, he didn't remember her.

She told herself she wouldn't run away anymore, but this gave her every reason to, in her eyes.

From that point on, it's been years since she's seen him. Ada would tell herself she didn't want to see him. But that was a lie.

The beach was always her comfort place. She doesn't know why, like a lot of things she likes. Something about the waves crashing against shore, or the way the sand feels underneath her. Or the cool winds that hit her while she spaces out.

But one thing she wouldn't be expecting, is her hat to be blown off her head, and the very one handing it back to her being Leon.

She froze, her heart dropping into her stomach as her head spun.

"I believe you dropped this." He smiled politely and gestured the hat towards her.

"Thank you... I thought I'd lost it for sure." Ada grabbed the hat, still looking at him. She was sure she was talking about the hat.. Right?

Every careful detail of him is still there, the way she remembered it to be. The soft features of his face, to the constant stiffness in his shoulders. Everything.

"Lose your hat often? It feels brand new." He joked.

She's snapped out of her haze. "..I suppose so. You could probably find fifty of my hats on this beach, if you tried." Ada hummed, trying her best to hide any emotions of hers.

Leon chuckled. "Fifty? I don't think I've ever owned that many hats in my life."

"Yes, I'm... quite the collector."

"You can never go wrong with too many hats," He beamed.

"Yes..." Ada honestly still can't believe it. This doesn't feel real, nothing has since that day in the hospital. This is her life now, alone, again.

●・○・●・○・●●・○・●・○・●●・○・●

How do people conversation. This killed me ( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;) 

Hope you enjoyed anyways!

[sovonight]

sketched in pen for the first time in who-knows-how-long & drafted a few visuals for dialogue that's been in my notes for a while :)

(Radri, holding an amulet of protection)

Radri: I'm sorry, my friend. I must sell you off.

Radri: You'll go on to protect so many. Merchants, thieves, heroes of any alignment…

Radri: But you won't care about a single one of them, not really. You protect them only out of the sense of duty in your heart, performing your assigned task without caring whether your bearer lives or dies.

Radri: Then one day that will change. One fateful day, you'll—

(Radri freezes, realizing that Xan is looking over her shoulder)

Xan, amused: Go on.

Radri: Ah—I—I'm just sorting out what to sell! Ha ha.

(She hides the amulet behind her back and gives an embarrassed grin)

Radri: Did, um, you need something?

Xan, smiling slightly: Not anymore.

=======

[The lengthy premise to Xan's "it's okay that you're a bhaalspawn" apology from halfway through this]

(You know when you return to Candlekeep there's that old couple there that talks about how charname was as a child. Radri is so polite that she stays for the entire convo, so everyone in the party gets plenty of chances to tease her for her childhood antics, and in the end—)

Radri, having finally had enough: Okay! Well! You all can stay here, but I have to move on. I'll be upstairs.

Couple 1: Oh, dear, don't hide yourself on the upper floors for too long—we won't be able to fetch you for dinner!

Couple 2: It used to be that Gorion was the only one who could find her. Of course, now…

(Radri leaves before she hears any more, her face already red with embarrassment)

—

(Radri finds the letter and reads it there in Gorion's old quarters. She's left numb after the reveal, but Jaheira expresses her support, and Radri starts to think things might not be so bad—until Xan opens his mouth. Radri's too hurt to say anything to his response, only giving him a wide-eyed, wounded look before running out of the room. Immediately regretting his words, Xan tries to follow, but when he passes through the doorway, she's already disappeared from sight… the rest of the party filters out into the hall as well, and Jaheira is notably annoyed.)

Jaheira: Xan! What is wrong with you?! If I weren't certain I'd be tasked with healing you afterwards, I would smack you upside the head. Perhaps it would return the senses you have clearly lost.

Imoen: Eep. Guys…

(Watchers storm up the stairs)

Watcher: You! You're all under arrest for the murder of the Iron Throne!

Watcher: Wait—where is Gorion's ward?!

—

(Radri sits at the top floor of Candlekeep, looking out the window)

Tutor: Child, have you visited your foster father's quarters yet? I understand that he left something for you. You should see it before you go.

Radri, with a tired, forced smile: I… I know. I will, in a moment.

Tutor: Oh, child… It seems that you already have.

Radri, dead inside: So I am the last to know.

Tutor: Not the last. But indeed, many of us knew. Radri… those of us who have watched over you know there is no evil in your heart. Your destiny is a terrible one, but remember that it comes at no fault of your own.

Radri: …Doesn't it?

Radri: If I had not hidden that night….

Watcher, storming in: Radri, child of Candlekeep! You are under arrest!

—

(Later in the jail cell, Jaheira handles the talking as Radri sits silently in the corner, staring listlessly at the wall as Imoen hugs her arm, trying to provide some comfort. Xan, relegated to the opposite side of the cell from Radri, can't take his gaze off her, clearly wanting to comfort her and make up for earlier. Khalid is seated beside him.)

Khalid: N-not yet, Xan.

Xan, not even sparing him a glance: I do not recall speaking to you.

Khalid: You w-want to comfort her, but I would g-give her space.

Xan: What would you know? She and I are bonded—

Khalid: And yet we have all seen th-that that doesn't soften the b-blow of your words. I would think on your next move c-c-carefully… for her sake.

Xan: …

—

(They're fighting their way out of Candlekeep via the catacombs. Another skeleton falls before Radri's blade, but she looks deader inside than the undead, going through the motions rather than exercising any conscious thought. Jaheira calls for a halt.)

Jaheira: Hold! We will rest for a moment before we go any further. Half of you look like you're on your last legs.

Viconia: Ugh, at last. Better here than in the accursed sunlight outside.

(Though the majority of the party prepares to rest, Radri goes silently off into the shadows. Xan follows, having been held back from speaking to her long enough; the rest of the party watches him leave.)

Jaheira: If he comes back without her, I really will whack him on the head.

Viconia: I hope she kills him. It would spare us all the whining.

.

[midsummereve1993]

can you write mick and readeer cosplaying as kermit the frog and elmo? idk i think it would be fun and cute and lovely and nice <e3

Here we go anonymous, hope you like it. I knew nothing about cosplaying, so I went with what I watched and found out upon research.

@youlightmeupfinn @appetite4savage @valeriiecameron @niksixx @la-undercover-latina

Mick mars

He was doing what.

July 8 2002

Nikki looked at his phone for the ten thousand time hoping to hear back from Mick but to no avail which made him frown, "still no response from Mick yet Vince said leaning up to look at Nikki and tommy. "No and I done messaged him and called him but each time he doesn't pick up or respond, "dude mick has be Mia for ten days and no one has heard from him and his children assure us he is still alive but this isn't like him Tommy said looking to his two bandmates with worry in his race. All the time they have known mick he has aways be on time and not once be late but now him not responding to messages or call raised a red flag, "you don't think he is geting tried of us do you Vince said as nikki shook his head.

"No dude he isn't because he would've told us," Nikki said looking at his bandmates, "well why don’t we go check on him then I mean It wouldn't hurt right Tommy said as he stood up and grabbed his coat before the other two followed him out the door. A few hours later they pulled up to Mick's house and looked around, "nothing out I'd the ordinary or a reason to be worried Vince said looking around before they walked down the steps and knocked on the door, a few minutes Vince turned back to his bandmates with his eyebrow raised. "No one answering and we knocked so I guess it was all for nothing Vince said before he noticed Nikki walked up to the door with Bobby pins.

"Dude what are you doing Vince said looking at nikki with wide eyes, "you said it yourself we knocked and no one answered so I am taking matters into my own hands. "By picking the door dude mick will kill you Vince said as nikki rolled his eyes, "relax dude everything will be ok. "Mick or Cherry could be hurt and if we leave without finding out that is something I don't want to regret," Nikki ssid as he finally got the door opened. "How the hell did you learn to do that or better question when did you find the time, "Don't worry about that dude let’s just get in nikki ssid as they all walked into the house.

As the looked everything seem to be in order and nothing was out of place, as they walked into the kitchen they nothing out of place and started up the stairs, "dudes really yall just gotta walk up there without worry tommy said standing at the bottom of the stairs with wide eyes, "yeah becsude mick is out bandmates and cherry is his wife so we need to make sure there ok Vince said as him and nikki walked up the stairs as tommy stayed where he was. Nikki and Vince checked all the rooms until there was only one left and they heard giggling and music which made them both turn to look at each other.

"Do you hear that Vince said looking to nikki who nodded his head, "Yep sure did but why does that music sound familiar nikki said as they walked up to the door and opened it and both of them saw something they wished they had. Mick dressed like Kermit the frog was kissing cherry who was dressed as Elmo making both men's eyes widen out of their eyes sockets, "my gosh Mick thus was a fantastic ideal cherry said feeling Mick kissed her neck before her eyes trained on the door and her eyes widened. "OH MY GOD" she said, making Mick lean back and Cherry jumped off the bed as Mick finally followed her eyes, "WHAT THE HELL GUYS he said to his two bandmates who quickly shut the door and raced down the stairs.

"Oh great, just another thing they can hang over my head," Mick said looking at his wife who was laughing. "Don't worry honey because judging by the looks on there faces I doubt they want to talk about it cherry said laughing at the shocked looks on there faces , "there faces were pretty funny and I say let's torture them for a bit mick said laughing as they changed out of the Costumes and heading downstairs.

Meanwhile nikki and Vince were still shocked by what they saw, "dude what happened up there because You ran down the stairs like the house was on fire. "Dude please Don't make us stay it, "mick was dresses up as Kermit the frog and cherry was dressed as elmo and they were kissing Nikki said as vince banged his head on the table, "what are you three Idjits doing here mick walking into the kitchen and looked at his bandmates. "Dudd we messaged and call you but you didn't respond to our calls so we come to check on you but now I wish we hadn't Vince Said unable to get the slight out of his eyes at what he saw up in the bedroom.

"Yeah because I turned my phone off so I could enjoy some time with my wife but apparently I can't because three idjits are standing in my kitchen. Mick said feeling angry that they messed up the plans he and Cherry had made, "honey they were only worried about us that is normal. "Look guys, we 're sorry we didn't answer but we told stormy and les that we were gotta be busy and you could have talked to them and they could have gotten in touch with us cherry said looking at the three men who were looking anywhere but at her. "But why was yall dressed like that, "my eyes are forever indebted with that slight nikki said as he look at mick bt only saw him as Kermit the frog

"Well boys, have you heard of cosplaying?" Cherry said, looking at all three men who were looking at each other, "not really but I never want to see that again," Vince said as he rubbed his eyes. Everytime he closed his eyes he saw Mick dressed as Kermit the frog kissing Cherry who was dressed as Elmo and it made him sick. "Well boys let me enlighten you on the subject of cosplay cherry said taking a seat and looking at all three men, " cosplay is the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game and engaging in activities such as a comic con or some other things cherry said and watched as all three men turned red.

"Wait, "do you mean to tell me that yall were spicing up yall sex life tommy said looking at Cherry and mick who were smiling like they won tye lottery, "TOMMY DUDE Vince said not wanting to think about mick having sex as Kermit the frog. "What did I say Tommy said looking at his two bandmates who were pale, "what you said so now we have the images of mick and cherry having sex as Kermit the frog and elmo. "But dude the Muppets and sesame street was the bomb, "ow Tommy said as he felt two slaps on his chest. "Dude please shut up nikki said looking at tommy who looked like a kid in a candy store.

"Oh come on you idjits it perfectly normal and I was having the time of my life until you three messed it up and I lost the spark, " Mick please we already have a hard time looking at you without seeing you as Kermit. "Ok guys enough torture cherry said looking at her husband and back to tye three men, "yall can go and she has never seen them run so fast in there life as she turned back to see her husband laughing. "Come on baby, "let's go finish helping Kermit and Elmo put out the fire, Mick said as he led his wife up the stairs and giggled along with her.

Meanwhile all three men were walking away from the hosur trying to think of the activities that were happening right now, "let's vow never to bring this up tommy said to his two bandmates who shook their heads and continued walking down the sidewalk.

A few weeks later mick showed up dressed in green and all three men nearly threw up at the slight, from that point on the boys couldn't look at mick without picturing mick dressed as Kermit and that would lead them to having nightmares.

[underworldbar]

It's been playing on my mind since Sula mentioned it. Eden is coming over to... help her. Help her get ready for me. It's probably a good idea; the princess is very tight and it'll be her first time and I don't want to hurt her. But the idea of her and Eden alone in their bedroom trying on lingerie and playing with Eden's toys... fuck, it's driving me wild already. The thought of Eden with all her experience guiding my princess into taking something inside her bigger than she's ever taken before, teaching her to use various toys, even just the two of them lounging around in sinful lingerie drinking wine... I am incredibly, overwhelmingly grateful that Sula has agreed to let me visit her after Eden has gone to bed. Because I'm half hard already and Eden has only just arrived.

*

There's a tension in the air and I have no idea if anyone else can feel it. The three of us are hanging out in Sula's bedroom eating dinner - the girls have opened a bottle of wine but I'm on duty so I'm not drinking. I think drinking would be an unwise choice even if I wasn't working, knowing what is going to happen in that room later. Am I jealous? She's eighteen, she deserves the opportunity to experiment and Eden is definitely trustworthy but... I'm feeling increasingly like I want to keep the princess all to myself. I want to be the only one who touches her and pleases her and teaches her about pleasure.

*

Oh gods. The fashion show has begun. The girls are disappearing into Sula's dressing room and coming back out wearing different styles of lingerie and asking my opinion and it's so difficult to hide my feelings for Sula. I mean, Eden is also incredibly attractive right now in this wine red ensemble that leaves very little to the imagination - particularly when she turns around - but my eyes are glued to Sula in a deep, deep blue set that makes her look like a sunrise over the ocean with all her golden skin and sunshine hair. She's so incredibly sexy and I'm shifting my legs to hide just what they're both doing to me. This is torture.

*

This is torture. Eden has opened her "bag of tricks" to show Sula the different kinds of toys she's brought with her and my imagination is going wild picturing them using them on each other. There are vibrators and there's a wand and there are two dildos - one of which is rather intimidating - and something that I don't recognise but which Eden is describing as a "suction toy". I am deeply, deeply turned on by the thought of the princess and her friend using these toys together and I want nothing more than to join them - to be with Sula openly - but we need to keep this a secret. Even from her best friend.

*

"So is it still accurate, now you've seen it in person?"

Eden is handing Sula the bigger of the dildos and I just know I've gone bright red. Sula has spoken to her about my cock - obviously Eden doesn't know it's my cock that the princess is talking about but she must have compared it to that dildo and whilst I'm incredibly flattered, I'm also blushing and if the girls look over at me now they'll just know. I need to leave before I do something I'll regret, so I subtly adjust my trousers to hide how hard I am, clear my throat, and make my excuses as Sula is saying how she "can't even really fit my whole hand around him, honest!"

*

I can hear the beginnings of moans. They're muffled and soft and I can picture the girls making out so clearly. It's agony knowing that they're in there and I can't join them or be in Eden's place, but my little princess deserves the chance to experiment. That's what I tell myself as I hear her moans - higher than Eden's, clearer - get louder as a muffled voice says something, something I can't quite make out.

*

They're louder now. Well, Sula is. I can hear Eden talking in a low, reassuring voice and I can hear Sula moaning and I get the feeling that she's spread open on the bed as Eden slowly works the dildo inside her. Getting her ready, preparing her for what it will feel like, helping the princess get used to the feeling of being fucked. Like she's been begging me to do ever since we started whatever this is.

*

Now it's Eden's turn to be the louder one. In fact, I can't hear Sula at all. Maybe Eden is demonstrating a toy to her? Maybe she's putting on a show for the princess? But then I hear Sula's muffled voice saying something and Eden's reply, clear as a bell; "your tongue is fucking magic, Sula, keep going, please keep going!" and I nearly come just from hearing that. The princess is giving her friend head and fuck, if that isn't the hottest image I've ever had to suffer through.

*

I've had to sit through moans and buzzing for hours. These two are insatiable, but I think things are winding up now. The sounds have grown softer, and I can picture them, spent and flushed, making out lazily on Sula's bed to wind down. Thank all the gods that it's over. I'm not sure how much more I could have taken of these girls fucking each other; they're both incredibly loud and I know that I have to do something about the guard underneath the balcony. I can hear shuffling and soft voices and then the door is opening and Eden is coming out, shooting me the dirtiest wink I've ever experienced as she walks towards her guest room with an exaggerated sway to her hips. She has no idea what's about to happen, though. Nobody does. I put all thoughts of Eden out of my mind as I walk through Sula's door, rock hard and desperate...

[lovecanbesostrange]

It started with an ask on konako’s blog, that led to a small scene with Red kneeling before the Evil Queen. (x) That was almost Red Queen fun. But it spun into something very dark, because the Evil Queen did capture Red and torture as punishment followed (this goes into dead-dove territory, you are warned, it’s messed up). Here are 4k words of what happened in the palace dungeon afterwards (spoiler alert, excessive use of silver):

summary: Red made the Evil Queen look foolish and gets utterly destroyed for it (graphic depictions of violence included)

Finally a little triumph. The Evil Queen went down the stairs into the dungeon. Every step of her well-shined heeled boots echoed loudly from the stone steps. Sometimes she wished she had more patience to make good use of the cells down here. But she was bored too easily not getting answers and the prisoners died quickly. Her torturer barely had anything to do. Why did she even pay him anymore? (Did she pay anyone in the palace? They were allowed to live and had nice enough accommodations and food, for sure that was enough.)

But now Regina wanted to take all the time in the world. Her knights had captured that wolf woman! After the bloodbath she had caused weeks ago that made Regina look foolish, she would enjoy their time together now. And it would send Snow White a message in the end.

Two guards were posted outside the cell and two inside. Of course knowing they dealt with a werewolf made handling the prisoner easier. For one the full moon was a couple of nights away. And silver was easy to come by to keep her in line. Regina had also instructed her blacksmith to forge some chains in preparation for when she would be captured. It had been a priority task.

When Regina entered the cell she smiled and took in the sight. Red was chained up in the middle of the room. She was stripped down to her undergarments, her clothes on the floor, except for her cloak that was draped over one of the tables. Her arms were raised above her head, wrists bound by the heavy cuffs each connected to a chain going through a loop in the ceiling and then stretching all the way to a bolt in the wall. Her ankles were cuffed as well, a short heavy chain in between so she couldn’t take any significant steps. Not that she could run away, since her toes barely reached the ground. Red had to carry her weight in her arms, shoulders.

“Well, well, well, so we meet again.” Regina took her time to enter and circled Red, who tried to follow her with her eyes. “You made quite a spectacle the last time.”

“Do you want an apology?” Red’s voice was firm. Too firm for Regina’s taste.

“I don’t think you could muster up an honest one. You’re a deceiver.” Regina stopped in front of her. “Begging for those peasants’ lives and then killing my men.” She grabbed Red’s chin with her thumb and index finger. “You said there was no need for bloodshed and you happily slaid them anyway.”

“I wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t tried to take me.”

“As if you thought I would let you walk away from there.” Regina looked closely into those green eyes. Was the bravado real or just posturing? “Don’t get me wrong, the way you killed those men without a second thought was impressive. I can admire that. But the humiliation it would have been to return to the village and enact punishment, admitting to being defeated that day - I can’t let that slide.” She slapped Red across the cheek.

Red closed her eyes and didn’t turn her face back up. She was glad the villagers had been spared. Regina didn’t know how long she had stuck around to make sure there was no retaliation. And whatever was about to follow, would have been worth it. Snow had her plans to strike and they were close to luring the Queen into a trap. But every day more innocent people could die and Red could not sit by. She owed it to the victims of the wolf to use her strength for good now.

She heard Regina take a few steps back and looked again. The cloak was in her hands now. “Do you have any other name or should I just call you Red. Not very original, is it? Naming yourself after a bit of fabric.” Her fingers traced the patterns. “I sense magic in this. But I guess asking about it will not bring me answers, right? Just like any of Snow White’s plans won’t leave your lips.”

Statements. The Evil Queen had made up her mind already, questions weren’t part of whatever this encounter was. Red turned her hands around and tried to get a grip on the chain, change her position the slightest bit to take some strain off of her already burning shoulders.

“Do you know there isn’t much to find in books about your kind?” Regina exchanged the cloak for something else from the table. It reflected a bit of the amber light emitted from the fireplace and Red could see it was a simple dagger. “The one thing that is said over and over though is your weakness towards silver. I’m curious. Is it just the metal or wounds inflicted by it?”

Red already clenched her jaw before Regina put the blade against the skin on her upper arm, preparing to get cut. But instead Regina pressed the flat side on her skin first. Definitely silver. Pure. Red felt the effect in a matter of seconds and bit down, grinding her teeth.

Regina stood close again, caught her eyes with her gaze and kept pressing the blade against the tender side of her arm. “Don’t worry, I will write down everything I’m about to do here, so the books can add a chapter about how to break a wolf when in their human form.” And with that she turned the dagger and cut the skin. Red flinched, more from the shock than the actual pain. It was a relief actually to have the silver leave her.

“Are there noteworthy differences between a cut with this,” Regina lifted the dagger, “and a normal blade?” She gestured towards one of the guards and he immediately unsheathed a dagger from his boot. Without hesitation Regina reproduced the cut on the other arm. The blood almost tickled as it ran down. “Oh no, I’m making a mess. Getting blood out of clothes is such a hassle.”

Regina let one of the daggers fall down and with the other cut along the seams of Red’s top half of what she was left wearing. Red closed her eyes again as she felt air hit her exposed body. She knew which weapon Regina held and she could feel the silver being drawn over her skin, over her collarbone, between her breasts, down to her navel. The point barely left a scratch, but the offending metal felt like being brushed with a nettle. Red took in deep, sharp breaths through her nose.

That reaction was exactly what made Regina go slower with her movements. It wasn’t the sharpness that left the light red mark, no, it appeared the longer she held the blade in place. What an interesting sight to watch. Regina brought her free hand up to Red’s chin again, this time squeezing her jaw with her palm, digging her fingers into her cheek. Red looked at her again.

“You know, the longer you resist, the more adamant I will be to make you scream. That is how these things work.” She brought the dagger up to Red’s forehead, this time with the edge to cut into her skin again. It took a few seconds, but then the blood running over her eyebrows made Red blink.

“Can you hold this for me?” With that she wedged the silver dagger between the torn clothes and Red’s hips. Red squirmed trying to get away, but the blade touched her thigh ever so slightly. “I learned a valuable lesson the other day. A blacksmith works with iron. Like those chains holding you. Not used to working with silver. You would have to ask a silversmith about it. I even found one and he is working on special silver cuffs for me. Or rather, for you.”

Regina stood at the table again, her back to Red. When she turned around she held up a necklace. “So for now, I have to settle for delicate jewelry instead of the collar you deserve.” Under any other circumstance Red would have admired the piece. Obviously the star-shaped ornament was meant to hold a gemstone in place, a diamond or a sapphire, but this was stripped down to the silver components for one purpose only. “So you will get used to a leash later,” was all Regina added as she put it around Red’s neck.

Red held on. Her skin was crawling all over, the itch on her thigh burning already, but she tried to stay as still as possible. She couldn’t do anything against the tears forming in her eyes, betraying her brave face though.

Regina stood before her, brows furrowed. “Your healing isn’t as fast. I will need to wait hours to compare those cuts on your arms. There is something I am forgetting.” She rubbed her temples, feigning to think. “Oh, of course, I need a point of reference!” A clap of her hands alerted the guard. “You, get the girl from next door.” Red’s eyes went wide.

“No. Wait. You don’t need to drag anybody else into this.”

Regina stepped closer and slapped her across the cheek again, harder this time. “I don’t remember asking for your opinion and you will stop being so informal around me!”

“Yes, Your Majesty”, Red quickly gathered herself. “But please, there is no need-” But she already saw a frightened young girl being pushed into the cell. About her height and weight, seemingly healthy. For now. The girl fell to the floor and cowered there.

“I caught her stealing, so normally she would already be dead. But she can be of use for me.” Regina put a hand into her hair and yanked her head up, to make her look at Red. “Or do you want her dead right now?”

The terror Red felt was mirrored on the girl’s face. Was there a chance of survival for her? She was ready to beg for her life; to lie on that table where Regina obviously had more silver tools; to take any punishment herself. “No,” Red whispered. Another yank at the girl’s hair. “No, Your Majesty.”

“A fast learner.” She pushed the girl into a chair with cuffs on the armrests. Seating her in front of Red. The girl trembled and looked to the floor. Red tried to pull at her chains, but it only sent a jolt of pain through her shoulders.

Regina paced the room. After a while she came up behind Red. “Your shoulders must really hurt by now. Let me help you with that.” Her fingers played with the necklace and Red hissed. Shifting it around made the pain more noticeable. “The plate.” She said towards the guards. Behind Red a wooden plate leaned against the wall. A thin metal sheet on one side, coated in silver. She knew that before the guards shoved it under her feet. The wood added a few inches so in theory this took some of the weight off her shoulders, but the soles of her feet would soon itch, turn red, swell, hurt and most likely blister. She tried to balance on the outside of her feet only, to not hurt everywhere all at once.

“Do you know what the second thing is that some texts suggest to use against a werewolf?” Silence. “Oh, that was a genuine question directed at you. Do you know?”

“Fire.” Red answered between breaths. Her mouth was open now, it was dry. She didn’t dare to fully fill her lungs, because that made the necklace move. The attack on multiple parts of her body with the silver was starting to overwhelm her.

“That is correct. You know your weaknesses it seems.” Regina conjured a fireball in her hand. “Fire is pure. It doesn’t discriminate. It can be very elegant.” She stepped closer to Red, hand outstretched so she could feel the heat of the flame. “How fast can you heal a burn wound?”

“I don’t k-” Red couldn’t finish that sentence, because Regina held her hand to her side now. A scream was all that escaped her lips. The fireball wasn’t cast, but the flame burned her flesh. Red clenched her fists and tried to step away, the chains around her ankles making a screeching sound dragging over the silver plate. There was no escape, because Regina just followed with her hand. She closed her hand and the fireball vanished. Red went slack, her breathing sped up. The only good thing was that in this commotion, the dagger had gotten loose and fallen to the floor.

Red sorted out her senses, trying to gather her bearings, when she heard the girl scream. Louder, more fearful, indicating the horrible pain she never felt before. Regina had torn her clothes and burned her at the exact same place on her body. For reference. Red couldn’t put the horror of it into words. Would it indeed be better for the girl if she was dead already? She didn’t even know her name.

And Red didn’t learn her name over the next few days, because whatever happened, she would not talk to her. Regina had strictly forbidden it and the rotating guards would hit her at a single word. It was almost comical. Red’s body went numb. Cuts, rashes, bruises, welts, burns, scratches. It came and went. The pain was a constant throbbing, she got repositioned a few times, but it felt like she would never use her arms on her own accord again. But whatever happened to her, the girl looked worse. Red did heal faster from any wound not dealt with silver. But it did take a lot from her regardless. She lost track of time. What was sleep? Any kind of shame about being naked had vanished. Instead of clothes her body was covered in forming scars, marks and blemishes.

Red tried to count the rotations of the guards, to get any kind of feeling for the passing days. It was only days, right? It felt like forever. Silver on her skin somewhere at all times, lashes from a whip, getting burned with a torch, red hot iron, and so many cuts to make her bleed. The worst still a long deep wound on her right cheek, starting at her ear right to the corner of her mouth. When they allowed her some water, it even hurt to swallow.

Later Red found out it had been five days in total. It seemed like a small window of time. But the Evil Queen lived up to her name. Especially on day four, when she left permanent damage. While Red was mostly kept standing up, the girl was strapped to the chair. Not that she had any energy left to walk out of here, even if they’d opened the door for her. Regina stood behind her and pulled her head back.

“Just look at me, I’m sure this won’t hurt you.”

Red looked on as Regina dripped liquid into one of her eyes. The girl flinched, but that was a reflex. None of her sounds of discomfort or pain left her throat. That made Red more nervous than she would admit. And she was right to be.

“Just as I thought. Look at that, barely irritated.” She pushed the girl’s head forward, her eye teared up, maybe a bit reddened.

Regina walked around her and caught Red’s gaze. “Such beautiful green eyes. Quiet unusual. Of course not as remarkable as the wolfish gold, is it?” The way she kept staring was unnerving and Red’s breathing already picked up. Fear. In a short amount of time she had learned what fear truly was.

“Hold her steady.” A guard came and grabbed Red’s head from behind. Panic sunk in and she started to squirm, tried to turn her face away, to wiggle out of his grip. She wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but she knew she wanted out. Right now. No more pain, she couldn’t take anymore. But she had to.

Regina got a few drops out of the vile, into Red’s right eye. “Don’t worry, it’s mostly water. Just a tiny bit of silver dust mixed into it.”

Red pushed her body back as hard as she could, but her mangled feet had no grip, it was more like leaning into the guy. No force to get him off. And then the pain started. It felt like a needle prick. And all of a sudden the colors exploded in Red’s sight. Everything was sharper, the light from the fireplace brighter. She knew her eyes turned golden like before she would transform. It had happened a few times, when highly agitated. Now it was a physical response.

Regina laughed. “I did not expect that.” She met Red’s terror with fascination. More needle pricks in her eye, the urge to rub it away. Red pulled at her chains, she wanted to press the palm of her hand against her eye and get the irritating feeling out. But there was no chance. All Regina saw was the golden color and Red gasping for air, holding back a scream. The hitched breathing was a good enough tell that this hurt.

Worse than the pain that kept sinking in was the way Red started to see white dots, blind specks in her vision. Three, four, five, more and more. She blinked, her tearducts fighting off the intrusion, but the silver too strong an opponent. Red clenched her jaw and groaned. She let out a growl from deep within, filled with frustration and pain. It was more of a bellow than a scream. Regina smiled at that.

While Red’s left eye got back to its human green, the right eye stayed golden, a misty layer clouding the bright hue. It drew Regina’s full attention, while it would be weeks for Red to discover the permanent change. Blinded, only noting a change between light and darkness. Her eyeball feeling like it was rubbed with sandpaper made the rest of the day seem like nothing. Time moved on

And then unthinkable happened. The chains were loosened completely, the cuffs came off. Red tried to curl up on the floor, but she could barely move her joints. Everything hurt too much. But Regina laughed. “Remember that I said I will make you beg for more than mercy? How about you ask me to end her suffering?”

Red looked up. Trying to adjust to the impaired vision. As bad as she felt, the girl looked worse. “Please…”, the girl said and the guard standing behind her, hit her against the head immediately.

It took everything Red had to turn herself upright, to bend her knees and sit on them. To kneel before Regina again. No side eye, no hint of a smirk, no failsafe. The burn marks hurt worst next to the chafed skin around her neck from the necklace that was also gone now. “Your…” Red was shaking, she had to cough trying to speak. “Please, Your Majesty. End her suffering. I beg you. Please. It’s enough… enough…” And with that she fell down again.

“Pathetic.” Regina’s verdict was cold as ice. “And to think I had a gift for you just now. Guards.” They stood next to Red and pulled her to her knees again, held her up. Regina leaned towards her. “My silversmith has arrived.” She produced a silver object and only when the lock clicked around her neck did Red realize this was the collar she had talked about. She felt the burn on her throat and winced. It was a sound she was used to producing by now.

“So?”

“Please… Your Majesty…” Red was panting, she could not finish the plea.

Regina rolled her eyes. “If this is the best you can do, so be it. Ending the suffering now.” And with that her hand shot straight into Red’s chest and pulled out her heart. “Kill her. Rip her throat out like you always do.”

Red wanted to scream. She wanted to jump the Evil Queen. To tear up the men holding her. But what she wanted was irrelevant all of a sudden. The will to do it was overwritten. She looked at the girl, defeated, not even surprised. While Red’s mind fully woke up for the first time in days, all her muscles reacted to something else. The pain all over her body was terrible, but every second she didn’t comply was even more agony.

Red crawled more than she walked to get to the chair. She hovered over her nameless victim, tried to hold back, but those terror-stricken eyes met hers. “Make it quick, please.” Oh, if only she could turn into a wolf, those sharp teeth would take less than a second. Regina had specified how this girl was supposed to die and Red could not opt to cut her throat with a knife, she sunk her still very human teeth into it. The larynx, so easy to wrap fangs around, was hard, the skin and flesh thick. The scream the girl let out was only short, because the pressure suffocated her. It was impossible to make this quick-

Finally Red tasted blood. Tears ran down her face, but she could not stop herself from this horrible act. This slow, agonizing, inhumane death of a nameless chamber maid, who probably hadn’t even stolen a thing. Someone at the wrong place, at the wrong time, who had suffered for days for cruel experiments with no merit. One more victim added to Red’s tally. Not for good. Not in battle. Not in defense. Needless cruelty.

When the girl’s heart stopped, Red finally could let go. She sank on all fours, spat out what she could of the blood and wailed. Her own heart wasn’t even in her chest, but it had never felt heavier.

“Get the smith down here now, he knows what to do.” Regina sent one guard away. Red looked up, warm blood dripping from her chin, she could feel it. Disgusting. If she had any strength left, this would be the time to strike. But all Regina needed to do was a little squeeze. Her heart hurt. No, Red was helpless. Any thought of fighting back an illusion.

“I think it’s best that you lie down on the table for this next part.”

Red wanted to put her head under a guillotine right now. To kill like that was worse than any of the torture methods the Evil Queen had come up with. Regina had won. But Red couldn’t do anything but comply and lied down, waiting for her fate.

It came in the form of a small white haired man, holding a sort of chalice with a long tongue. His hands were shaking and Red couldn’t tell if it was because of what he was doing or just being in Regina’s presence. She couldn’t make sense of what was happening. A guard came and put her wrists into the handcuffs again, strapping her to the table. A chain going over her thighs and under the table fixated her.

Regina squatted down next to her, stroking her hair. “Feel free to scream for me now.”

“The mold.” Wood was pressed against her back. “Careful with your fingers there, wouldn’t want to burn you.”

And then everything was fire. The scream from Red’s throat surprised Regina enough that she stood up. Loud, agonizing, on the brink of collapse. What looked like a chalice was a melting pot, containing a few grams of molten silver. It was poured on Red’s skin and burned her instantly, severely. Water followed mere seconds later to turn the liquid back to solid, but the damage was done. A silver ring fused into her flesh. The pain and the sensory overload from heat to cold send her into shock. She was still screaming with the taste of warm blood in her mouth when the faint claimed her.

[levisgirll]

Hi! It's me again the levi hc anon haha.. How are you doing? I was wondering if you could do a hc on Levi having a crush who's good with kids. OR a scenario where he doesn't still know his crush that well and they're in an orphanage and a kid runs to her yelling "Mama!" and then Levi's like 'I lost my chance with her.. She's not single" and then he somehow gets to know that she doesn't have kids and she is single. Thanks!

𝐀 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

→ Text: Omg hello there! thanks for coming back with another request 🥺💕 I am doing alright (just getting so tired nowadays cause of work-) I hope you are well though! also, this is such a cute idea for a request so thank you for sending it! I hope you like it and sorry for the delay <3 enjoy it :,) 

Synopsis: Y/N has started her new job as a nurse caregiver in a orphanage institute, wanting to look after kids who don’t have any family or parents and show them support and love. Levi, mistakes this as Y/N having kids and he is quite upset about it, defeated after he was getting to know her ever since he bumped into her in his tea shop which she usually goes to.

cute fluff, modern au, headcanons imagine ♡ —

Levi has been noticing his rather loyal customer recently in his teashop. She would come in usually all the time around the same time, and get the same tea that Levi would prepare minutes before she comes in.

He developed a small which later grew to a big crush on her and he decided to take his chance to get to know her and chat with her.

“Here, it’s on the house. Also, I didn’t get your name?” Levi said while handing her drink, and then started to clean the counter.

“That’s nice of you, thanks! And, its Y/N. I assume yours is Levi?” Her smile was beautiful to him, he loved how you always gave him that smile to him only after you both have gotten close and having small chats once a while.

He sometimes wished you stayed longer and would hope there won’t be any customers in the store whenever you came in, because of the short time you stayed there, he wanted to spend every minute of it!

“So, what do you do for a living? You seem to work.” He said while crossing his arms and taking a seat right next to you. Y/N could smell in his scent which was a scent of pure black tea which he just brew for you, the scent of fresh green leaves, floral and a nice fresh mint smell. “I am a nurse working in a institute.” You say with a smile and turned to glance at him, looking handsome than ever.

“Oh? I see, that’s interesting.” Levi said, he started to become more curious about you and he was dying to know more about you too. But he decided to take things slow and also because, he did feel kind of nervous when talking to you, especially if he starts to stutter or becomes lost of words every time he makes eye contact you, because to him, you looked pretty in his eyes and he admired your beauty and personality.

“By the way, I will be shutting my teashop for a couple of days so I was wondering. Do you want to hang out tomorrow? Of course, if that is a-alright with you.” 

‘Shit, I fucking stuttered.’ He thought to himself and cursed in his mind when he realized that, and now you could see a slight blush on his cheeks. Y/N chuckled and then got up taking her purse and approaching the door to leave, “Sure, I would love that. I finish work early tomorrow, Soo maybe you could meet me there after I am done with work?”

Levi felt pleased and happy to hear how Y/N accepted his offer, now he can have a longer time to spend with his crush and he was happier than ever, getting a fuzzy feeling inside of him. Wishing tomorrow was here already. “That’s fine with me, I will pick you up then and I will find us a place to hang out.”

“Sounds like a plan! I’ll see you tomorrow, Levi.” You gave him a small wave and left his tea shop place. Oh how he adored you so much, and throughout the day he was thinking of what to wear and even where to take you, and how you would look so beautiful, also how lucky of him being able to even see you.

The next day approached, and Levi was exactly on time, and he was around the parking lot of the institute. “Hm, Reiss Royal institute? Why does that ring a bell.” He wondered but let the thought leave his mind once he started to think of you and how he was soon to see you.

“Hey Levi!” Levi looked up immediately from his phone and looked towards Y/N who was waving at him and walking towards him. He quickly put his phone away and he got off from his car as he was laying against it, and Levi was now fixing his posture, nervous a bit but stood still.

“Oi, Y/N How-” As Levi was about to ask how Y/N was doing, he was caught off guard as he saw a child running towards Y/N and she quickly grabbed her hand.

“Mama! Look I drew this for you!” The little girl said with a big happy smile and Y/N bent down and started to ruffle the girl’s hair. “Awh really? This looks amazing. I will make sure to keep this.”

After hearing that, the little girl got so happy and quickly went and hugged Y/N around her neck, while chuckling. “Thanks Mama! I will draw more for you!”

Levi, now stood there still, all speechless and his eyes widen. ‘Wait it can’t be....Is that her kid?’ He thought and suddenly went sad, feeling quite upset how Y/N might have already been in a relationship and was just thinking of Levi as a friend this whole time.

‘I..I lost my chance with her. She clearly is not single.’ As soon Levi thought that to himself, his trace of thoughts was cut off as Y/N waved her hand towards his face. “Hey, I’m talking to you! What’s wrong? You suddenly went quiet?” Y/N said in a concerned tone, not sure what made him change so quickly.

“Sorry. It’s just, your kid surprised me that’s all.” He uttered and looked away from you, feeling quite let down and how he finally lost his chance with someone he finally had feeling for and actually loved for the first time.

But, Y/N quickly held on his hand to get his attention and he turned around, looking at her. “Wait.” She then furrowed her eyebrows and suddenly started to chuckle. “Haha! Levi, That is one of my students! You don’t actually think this was my child right?”

Now, Levi went red, feeling rather embarrassed how he mistook the little girl as her daughter. Y/N kept on giggling and Levi would beg her to stop but, he felt relieved and smiled. He later then realized that, after getting to know her well that she worked actually in a orphanage institute academy and was a nurse there for the kids, and was loved by all the children that called her ‘Mama’ by how caring, affectionate and kind-hearted she was as she treated them and helped them and this made the kids thinking Y/N was their role model Mum!

Y/N would now then, tease Levi, knowing pretty well how seeing him really surprised by what happened and how he was wondering if it was actually her child or not was cute and funny to her. She then reassured him that she doesn’t have any kids and she was actually single. “O-Oh. I see...” Levi said sitting there with a slight blush, now feeling that his chance is back and he was now getting butterflies in his stomach. It was clear to Y/N that with his response that he was kind of happy to hear that instead, and it made her wonder if what she felt for Levi, was the same with him feeling towards Y/N.

In one of their hangouts, Levi finally takes his chance now, before he loses it and regrets it. He took his shot and finally asked you out as his girl. “Y/N, I want to get to know you better..” He said nervously and he went and grabbed your hand, which he caressed lovingly. Y/N went red and her eyes would widen and Levi looked at it, admiring how beautiful they were as the stars in the evening sky was reflecting it. “I want you in my life, so will you...be my girl? Is that alright.” 

Y/N smiled at him, happy how Levi finally took the step and Y/N reassured Levi that they would be having such a loving and happy relationship and that made his world hearing that, especially from you. Just though your words, made his life better and he knew from then on, he would now be happy with you and he couldn’t be asking for more than that as long as you were by his side.

Now, ever since you both started to date and go out together. Levi would always pick you up from work after you were done. Never missing a day, after all you were his priority. With this, the kids would notice Levi and see him now and then whenever they follow Y/N to the parking lot. And the kids were curious who he was and they would be behind Y/N and looking at him, a bit scared. They then liked him as Y/N explained to them that he was not scary at all and he was actually really kind and sweet. This made the kids call him Dada and some calling him Dad too!

“Wait, I’m not your- Tch, Whatever Brats.” Levi said and ruffled the kids head as he bent down, greeting them with a small hand shake, they all quickly liked him. He lowkey liked that though, at how they referred to him as Dada and Dad but he won’t admit that! “Hey Levi! Don’t call the kids that!”

The kids actually love and ship you both, they always tell Y/N when coming by to her nurse office if she is seeing Levi after school and they would ask to tag along to see him. Giving him some craft arts they made and giving it to him as a gift for always coming by to see Y/N. And, ironically Levi on that same day bought many gifts for the kids such as sweets, their favorite chocolates (since he asked the little girl what kind of chocolate the students liked) and some toys.

You then noticed Levi smiles a lot when the kids come to him and you started to find that cute and when you mention that on your way back, he denies that and goes “No, they are annoying brats anyways.”

Okay this was really cute and sweet to write so thank you for the request anon :,)! And if anyone out there enjoyed this then please leave a like, a message or a reblog! Thanks and I hope you all have a great day ahead  ♡♡♡

[cinnamon-roll-seth]

Meant To Be (Part Two) || Nick Goode

- Part One

Request- Can you write an imagine of Nick Goode from 1978 where y/n is a redhead and is the sister of Ziggy and Cindy. Her and Nick were dating before y/n left camp and Nick dumped her. After a year she comes back with her sisters and they meet again and y/n tries to talk to him but he doesn't want to. And there is a fight like Deena and Sam at the beginning of the movie because Nick was also mad at her because she was kissing a boy and he squeezed her ass and he knows she didn't feel comfortable with it just like Sam and Deena’s fight. And after the fight he ignores her, still loving her, and always thinking about her after years. And then after years they reconcile and stay together for years, until death do them part. (there is no curse in the imagine)

“No, no, no.” You groaned, looking in your rearview mirror as a pair of red and blue lights flashed behind you.

You pulled over and sighed, running a hand through your hair while mumbling out a few curses. Cindy was going to kill you.

You reluctantly rolled your window down as the officer approached your car and bent down, “Ma’am did you know- Y/N?”

Of course it would be Nick Goode, of all people, to have pulled you over.

It had been 7 years since that night at camp where the two of you had fought. After that you avoided him at all cost and only spoke to him when necessary.

As the years went by and you’d grown and matured your negative feelings toward Nick had disappeared. You no longer held any hatred for the man. He was simply an old fling to you now, a silly teenage relationship that didn’t work out.

That still didn’t make him pulling you over any less embarrassing.

“Um, hey Nick. Look I’m sorry if I was speeding, I didn’t even realize. I’m late for my nephews birthday party and if I’m any later my sister is going to literally kill me.” You ramble, reaching into your wallet for your license to give to him.

“You weren’t speeding Y/N. I pulled you over to ask if you knew you had a taillight out.” He reassures you awkwardly.

“Really? The left one? Damn I just replaced that one a few weeks ago.” You mutter, “I guess you have to give me a ticket now, huh? Alright, get it over with.”

“Well technically I don’t have to give you a ticket. I’ll settle for your number instead?” He answers smoothly causing your cheeks to heat up.

“Oh..uh-“

Nick cuts off your stuttering, “Look Y/N. I’m going to go out on a limb here and tell you the truth. These past few years I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. About what it would be like if we’d stayed together. You were one of the best things that has ever happened to me and I was a dumbass and went and fucked it up and I’ve never been able to forgive myself for hurting you. Even if you don’t feel the same way please just give me the chance to properly apologize. The way we left things just doesn’t sit right with me.”

You weren’t sure what to say. You’d be lying if you hadn’t also caught yourself often thinking about what would’ve happened if you and Nick were together still. Would you be married and have kids of your own? Would you have that dog the two of you always talked about?

Yes the two of you had left off on bad terms but that was years ago. You were both older now, more mature. Maybe if you gave Nick another chance things would go different this time. Or maybe you’d get the chance to put the past behind you and be at least friends.

Finally you reached over into the passenger seat into your purse for the pen and notepad you kept inside.

You scribbled your phone number down and ripped the piece of paper off before handing it to Nick, “Call me tonight and we can talk.”

He nodded and smiled before thanking you and sending you on your way. You hoped you wouldn’t regret this.

And you didn’t.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Your family and friends cheered and clapped their hands as Nick gently placed his hands on either side of your face and brought you in for a kiss.

“Ladies and gentlemen I introduce to you: Mr. and Mrs. Goode!”

You’d dreamed about this day that summer at camp when the two of you were together. After your breakup you’d thought bitterly about how this day would never happen. And now the day had arrived after all and it was even more perfect then your sixteen-year-old self could’ve ever imagined.

You were finally married to the love of your life. You were Nick Goode’s wife. All because of an out taillight two years ago.

5 Years Later

“Lunch is done!” You called out to your husband and children from the your back porch.

“Mommy come see our leaf pile!” Your daughter yells excitedly. You make your way down the steps and across the yard to where your husband, daughter, and twin sons are standing around a large pile of leaves.

“Wow that is a big leaf pile,” You tell her enthusiastically.

“Daddy was throwing us in it,” She beams happily.

“Guys I think Mommy wants to play in our leaf pile too, what do you think?” Nick asks mischievously.

“Yeah!” All three of your children reply excitedly.

“Let’s all tackle Mommy on the count of three,” Your husband tells them.

“You better not,” You fake warn them.

“1…2….3! Get her!” The four of them come running at you and tackle you down into the pile of leaves.

The five of you all fall into the leaf pile giggling and laughing.

“You little devils! I’ll get you for this!” You yell playfully, grabbing one of your sons and tickling him while he shrieks and tries to wiggle away.

Finally the little one escapes and the three kids jump up and run into the house to escape your playful vengeance.

You turn to your husband and grin, putting a hand on his chest, “We’d better go before those little monsters destroy the kitchen.”

You go to get up but Nick pulls you back down and you let out a surprised gasp as you fall back into his chest.

“Let’s just stay here for a minute,” He mumbles, before pulling your lips into his.

You gladly kiss him back, putting your hand on his chest as he has his on your face.

“EWW!” You hear a chorus of little voices, breaking your kiss as you turn and see all three of your kids on the porch staring at the two of you.

“Alright now you’re gonna get it,” Your husband jumps up and runs after the kids, who run into the house yelling and giggling as their father chases them.

You laugh to yourself and stand up, walking towards the house while yelling out, “Let’s go Maisie!”

The german shepherd stops sniffing the bush she was inspecting and chases after you into the house.

You’d finally gotten your happy ever after with Nick and you couldn’t be happier. The two of you truly were meant to be.

[silverflame2724]

Accidental Martial God WWX

That was exacty what I meant actually but I do have a few more povs if you want.

LQRs reaction to a demonic cultivator ascending, JGS and JGY reaction to the Yin Tiger Tally moving completely out of reach, WQ pondering the true requirements for ascension given WWX doesn't have a golden core yet ascended, WWX musing on Godhood and on his new followers both the good and the more disturbing worshipers.

Maybe LWJ protects the Wen Remnants because WWX asked him to in a dream and after he succeeds (13 years later) he ascends and is finally reunited with WWX.

Lan Qiren did not know what to think. Wei Wuxian, his most troublesome student, a demonic cultivator, had ascended. He’d ascended. How was that even possible? Were the Heavens blind? Why would they allow someone like Wei Wuxian to ascend?

From what Lan Qiren had thought, only those who are righteous and followed the correct path in life like the Lan clan’s founder, Lan An, would be worthy of ascending.

Either the qualifications for ascension were lower than he thought or Lan Qiren had been horribly mistaken about Wei Wuxian’s personality and motivations for using demonic cultivation. That last thought made Lan Qiren feel very uncomfortable.

He’d always been harsh on the boy and disregarded him, even - he ashamedly admitted - punishing him harsher and more frequently than others.

He’d thought he was in the right because of how Wei Wuxian was but…..

But if he was wrong then Lan Qiren owed him an apology.

………………….

Jin Guangshan wanted to scream out in frustration seeing Wei Wuxian ascend. That brat had the Stygian Tiger Seal on him - according to his spies - and now that he ascended, the Seal went with him.

He had had so many plans on bribing Wei Wuxian to his side or killing him when he refused - as well as stealing the Seal - and then taking over the cultivation world, lording over it as he was always meant to be.

Now those plans are ruined. He sighed. Hopefully that bastard son of his can finally prove his usefulness and give him countermeasures or he might retract his favor from him.

……………………

Jin Guangyao’s first thought upon seeing Wei Wuxian ascend was: Oh shit. I have to go make up new plans to help Father.

He knew his father wanted Wei Wuxian and the Seal and didn’t really care how he obtained both or either, just as long as no one traced it back to him. He sighed. This was going to be a big headache. But at least the plans on putting his father as Chief Cultivator were going smoothly. He could only imagine what his father would do to him if even this failed.

..............................

Wen Qing had still been in Yiling, making plans to relocate her family, when the news that Wei Wuxian had ascended had reached her.

Her first reaction was, That’s impossible.

Because it was, right? Wen Qing should know. She cut out his core, after all. But to think he was still able to ascend while he was a demonic cultivator made her wonder what the requirements were for ascending. Perhaps it’s an honest heart? Self-sacrificing tendencies? Or is it a sacrifice of some sorts? She paused. What if.....it was a trial? To test a person’s will? What Wei Wuxian had suffered was.....horrible. Could it have all been just a test from the Heavens?

If that was so, the Heavens really are cru--- 

“A’ Jie, we have to go! Some Jin were spotted nearby!”

Wen Qing gritted her teeth. Members of the branch families of Qishan, regardless of whether they were innocent or not, were captured and subsequently tortured to death by the Jin and sometimes the Nie. Because her family was all in Yiling, they were safe.......but only for now. They had to hurry and escape.

Wen Qing sent a quick prayer to Wei Wuxian, hoping for her family’s safety, and tucked the rest of her belongings in her qiankun pouch, remembering to wrap her arms in bandages to hide the needles she might need to paralyze any Jin that came close.

....................................

Wei Wuxian’s first thought when he landed in the Heavens was, What the fuck.

Then he looked around and looked taken aback and wary at the unfamiliar faces around him. Where the fuck am I?

“Hello.” A rather stoic-faced man greeted.

“Hello.” Wei Wuxian parroted back. The person in front of him didn’t seem to be a threat so he felt a little tension loosen from his shoulders. “Um, Xiansheng? I’m afraid I don’t know where I am?”

“You have just ascended.” The man replied, throwing Wei Wuxian aback.

“Are you pulling my leg?” Wei Wuxian asked. “How is that even possible! I don’t even have---” He swallowed. I don’t even have a core.

“I do not lie. Come, we are wasting time. We must get you washed up and dressed for the induction ceremony.” Seeing Wei Wuxian still frozen, the man sighed, signalled for some people to pick Wei Wuxian up and dragged the struggling man to some quarters.

After absentmindedly washing, drying and changing himself, Wei Wuxian noticed some differences in his body. He wasn’t....cold or hurting anymore. And - he touched his back - he could feel his back! After having his muscles and nerves shredded by Zidian, he didn’t think he’d ever be able to sense touch on his back or even move without pain! But now he can!

He heard the urging of some people and grumbled.

“You will become a god of demonic cultivation.” Was the first thing he heard when he stepped out of the room.

Wei Wuxian choked. “Excuse me?!”

“I said what I said. Now then, if you would please concentrate, you should be able to hear the prayers of the people below.”

Wei Wuxian felt like everything was moving a little too fast for him, but nevertheless complied. Immediately after, a flood of prayers hit him at full force.

“Wei Wuxian!” That was Jiang Cheng! “….Have some fun up there.”

“A’ Xian, do be well. Shijie isn’t there to take care of you so do be well.” Wei Wuxian refused to cry.

“Wei-Xiong! I hope there’s someone up there to supply you with you know what *winks*”

How does someone even wink in their prayers? Wei Wuxian thought amusedly.

“Wei Ying.” That was Lan Zhan. “Wei Ying, I will—be well.”

Ah, Lan Zhan. Always concise even in your thoughts.

Wei Wuxian was a little teary. As much as he was glad to not be a part of the cultivation world considering all the rumors, he did regret leaving behind those that cared for him.

That thought was much more cemented upon hearing…….

“Ah, Lord Wei, the pinnacle of evil, the role model of all demonic cultivators!” Wei Wuxian’s eye twitched. “Please hear my plea for more power! I need it, I need it to destroy everyone who harmed me!”

“Wei Wuxian, I wish to gain power over resentful energy so that I may tear my enemies limb by limb!

“Give me money! You’re a god, aren’t you? Be useful for once and give me some gold!”

“Tch. If I’m going to pray for anything, then it’ll have to be the Seal. You’re a god, now, right? So you have no need for the Seal. Just give it up.”

No matter the good or bad, Wei Wuxian heard the wishes and prayers of the people down below and while some were innocent enough, there were those that wished for death, destruction, tools for torture, power, money, women…….you name it.

It made Wei Wuxian feel a little disgusted with humanity. He cut off his focus from the bad and focused on the prayer he received from his friends and family.

“Wei Wuxian, I heard you became a god.” It was Wen Qing. He hadn’t heard her voice in a long time. “I know this might seem shameless of me after all I did to you, but please. Please guarantee the safety of my family. We’re being hunted down and—”

Her prayer was abruptly cut off, before coming back in full force with notes of desperation. Her family had been captured and taken to Qiongqi Path! Wei Wuxian panicked. He didn’t know how to escape from this place and try to go help her.

The…..person who was watching over him evidently knew what he was thinking about and merely stated that gods cannot interfere with the mortal realm. So he was stuck.

But that didn’t mean he was out of options.

It took a few days, but he managed to wheedle out how to help: via dreams. He merely needed to get into the mind of one of his followers and tell them to help. Much like those prophetic dreams Wei Wuxian had read about as a kid.

So he buckled down, thinking of the best candidate to help him.

……………………………

Lan Wangji looked at the landscape around him and concluded that he was dreaming. Though, it was a little odd that he was aware that he was dreaming. Not that he hasn’t realized he was dreaming before - especially in those many fantasies he had of Wei Ying - but to be aware that this is a dream and to see nothing but a flat landscape was pretty out of the ordinary. 

Anyway, he digressed. What was going on?

“Uhh, Lan Zhan? Can you hear me?”

“W-Wei Ying?!” Lan Wangji couldn’t be blamed for stuttering. He wasn’t expecting this!

“Phew. Oh good, you can hear me. Anyway, Lan Zhan, I gotta be quick about this because I’m kinda sorta bending the rules here, but do you think you can go to Qiongqi Path and rescue Wen Qing and her family?”

“Okay.”

“Huh? Just like that? Not even going to ask me for a reason, er-gege?”

Lan Wangji’s ears flushed red at the address. “If Wei Ying wants to save them, you must have a good reason. That’s enough for me.”

“Ah, Hanguang-Jun.” The title was spoken fondly. “Always so good. I’ll tell you anyway. Wen Qing and her family sheltered Jiang Cheng and I after Lotus Pier fell and even brought back Jiang-shushu and Yu-furen’s bodies! That’s a debt I cannot repay.”

“I understand. I will help.”

He couldn’t see Wei Ying, but could practically feel the amusement from him.

“Wei Ying.”

“Yes?”

“Are......Are you well?”

“Of course I am. I’m actually feeling so much better than before.” Wei Ying grumbled, “I’m not even in pain anymore.”

“You were in pain?” Lan Wangji asked worriedly. “Wei Ying, why didn’t you say anything.”

“Lan Zhan, there was nothing you or anyone else could do to alleviate my pain. It doesn’t matter now. I’m okay.”

Lan Wangji was still worried and wanted to speak to him more, but---

“Ah! Looks like my time’s up!” Wei Ying exclaimed cheerfully as the dreamscape wavered. “See you, Lan Zhan!”

Lan Wangji nodded. “See you, Wei Ying.” I’ll catch up to you soon.

.

.

.

And 13 years later, Lan Wangji kept his promise.

___________________

I didn’t edit this so I’m hoping there’s not too many grammatical errors lol. 

[kusagrasskusa]

Hanzo Hisashi X Innocent! Reader

Thank you EzraPFoxglove01for requesting this adorable thing! I sorta changed a lot you asked for by making it go into depth, and it ended up being the longest story I've ever written lol. So I'm definitely gonna add a shorter, more cutesy version of this story soon.

Change her outfit all you wish; it doesn't have a big part in the story at all. Though due to where she lives, it sorta makes sense for traditional Japanese wear to be her attire. And this is the kimono I have in mind, but change whatever :D To be honest, it makes sense to change the look to be more suitable for fighting while still maintaining an innocent, feminine character.

Word Count: 6733

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

"Hay....ya!" A feminine voice yelled out as she kicked a large hole into a tree. She didn't really have an specific training area so she often kicked and punched holes into tough looking trees, which proven to be as affective as training dummies and whatnot. She pulled away from the tree with a large smile on her innocent features.

She held her arms up to her chest with clinched fists. "Alright! Just 113 more to go," she reminded herself as she prepared for another kick. Yet just before she kicked the tree, she heard rustling in the bushes surrounding her.

She paused and looked around her everywhere. The wind began to blow which made it hard to hear whoever or whatever move again as the wind blew the all the bushes. She made a pouty face and walked over to where she heard the noise the first time. She had a bag that wrapped around her colorful kimono that contained kunai knives, and she pulled one out just in case. To be honest, with her small, airhead, and pouty form, she was the least intimidating person most people could ever see. And her small, F/C kimono with cherry trees on it added onto it.

The wind slowed down for a second and in that time, rustling in the bushes was heard again, where it did last time. "Huh?" She hummed as she slowly and cautiously opened up the bushes. "W-Who's there!" She yelled nervously as she parted the bushes completely. "Ahhh!" She screamed as she stepped back, tripping on whatever she stepped on. A baby bunny jumped on top of her from the bushes, it's guinea pig looking face staring boldly at her. Fuck it was frightening for a bunny to withhold so much toughness and boldness.

She whined as she pulled the bunny of her, causing it to run away quickly. She stumbled to her feet, barely managing to maintain her own balance for a moment. She watched the bunny hop away into the forest as she calmed her nerves. Once it disappeared, she sighed and opened her bag to put away her knife. Yet the sound of a voice behind her caused her to throw it towards the voice with perfect aim and fast speed. Yet as she turned around, she saw her kunai knife had been frozen but it wasn't frozen quick enough to prevent the one and only Kuai Liang from behind cut a little.

"Good aim," the Sub Zero complimented in his deep and husky voice, a smirk on his face. He pulled the kunai from the ice prison it was it and tossed it towards Y/N. Y/N's innocent E/C eyes widened as she gasped.

"Liang!" She ran towards him to hug him– but no, we can't have that without her tripping halfway. "Oof!" She hit the ground hard and whined as she slowly stood back up. She had cut her face on a rock but that wasn't good enough for her to not want to hug him just as hard. So once she stood up, she lunged at him and hugged him so incredibly hard. "I missed you! How are you!"

Kuai chuckled as he softly wrapped his arms around her. "I see you haven't changed one bit, dear friend." It's true that the two of them are close friends; although they don't have any fundamental qualities in common, they managed to meet one day and their opposite personalities captured each other's interest. And so here they are, together after departed months back. Right after Sub Zero and others were free from Quan Chi, the two got close again and only had a couple weeks to get close again before Kuai had to leave. Finally, months later, they're together again!

"I've been just fine, L/N. How about yourself?" He asked as he pulled his arms down. As expected, Y/N didn't let go and continued to sway back and forth.

"Oh, I've been good! Sorta lonely, yeah but I met this one guy! He leads an entire clan that let me in!" Y/N sweet voice called out in reply, her eyes twinkling. "I don't see him often but we've been talking a lot more recently. He's really nice...like a big, strong, teddy bear, hehe," she giggled as her legs went limp. Kuai chuckled at her dramatic description and pat her head; pushing the person she's talking about to the back of his mind. She got back on her feet again and pulled away from him. "Sooooo...do you have any combat stories to share? An adventure?"

Kuai shook his head. "Unfortunately nothing to tell now, but soon," he spoke as he looked up at the bright blue sky. It was maybe 8 in the morning  at the time. Y/N held her arms in front of her as she swayed back and forth as her head tilted in confusion.

"Okay...Oh! There's flowers growing around here and I want you to see it. They're so pretty- and pink," She emphasized as she took Kuai's hand and pulled him to a nearby pond. The trees surrounding the pond were waves with red and pink flowers ground from them. It's hard to tell, but in the distant was a village. And jn that village was, drum roll please, Hanzo Hizashi himself. As the two friends spoke about the scenery, Hanzo had just gotten ready for a day of training.

As he stepped outside, he took a deep breath and examined the place surrounding him. The birds were singing, the soft winds brushing past the trees and plants, the warm sun and clear skies. The sound of children playing can be heard from the background. It was pure bliss really. Yet even so, he had an uneasy feeling wash over him. The feeling that there could possibly be an unwanted visitor.

Hanzo walked closed the door behind him and walked out. He took his time going from his home to a place a little outside of the village; a more personalized dojo. It contained dummies and targets designed for his spear and fire. The little dojo was little ways across a pond near the village so that's where he was headed.

"And that's why that's my favorite color," Y/N said as she finished her story. Kuai Liang, to be honest, wasn't paying attention to her at all and simply nodded. She smiled at his politeness to at least pretend to acknowledge what she's saying; Y/N knows she can get really immature sometimes and right now really isn't her best moment. "Eheh, so what do you want to do?"

Kuai looked over at her with a soft smile on his features. He really was such a peaceful man at heart. "I believe I saw a few rare ducks fly into the pond. Would you like to go see them?"

"You're not going anywhere."

Y/N sharply turned her head towards the pissed looking man walking towards the duo and gasped. She stood up, saying, "Kuai, this is the man that let me into his village! Hey Hanzo, this is Kuai‐"

"He already knows who I am," Kuai cut her off coldly and stood up. "Hanzo, I mean you no harm; had I known this was your territory, I would not have come." Hanzo pulled a sword from his back and held it up in a firey fists once he got close to them. Y/N stared idlely at them with growing anxiety. The two picked up on that quickly, making Kuai speak up again before Hanzo could. "The girl does not know of our rivalry. Don't punish her for my mistake, Hanzo‐"

"Do no speak to me like that. Leave at once!" Hanzo may be alive, but that doesn't mean he can't revert his voice back to his hellish Scorpion one. Kuai took a few steps back before turning around and disappearing. Hanzo and Y/N watched the whole way through in complete silence. Once Kuai was gone, they silence broke.

"I–"

"And you," Hanzo walked up to her and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. "Exactly what made you think bringing a guest without permission was anywhere near exceptable? You endanger every one of us at this village that way." Y/N could feel his fire-hot breath against her as he spoke. A shiver fell down her spine as looked him right in the eye. She didn't respond, but rather bow her head. Hanzo scoffed, flames igniting from his fist that began to burn her clothes, making her whimper beneath him. She felt the flames heating up her neck, which made her whimper more as the pain wasn't something she was exposed to often. "Part of me wants to kill you right now. You are very lucky to have caught me in a better light."

Hanzo let go of her, stepping away. Y/N bowed her full body lowly, hands to her knees. "I'm deeply sorry sir, I really am. I promise I will never bring another guest again. I knew not of Kuai and your's relationship and if I had known when I met him in the woods a little bit ago, I would have got him to leave. It was foolish of me to have not stayed in the village and possibly risks a bloody situation. For that, I am sorry." As Y/N finished, she heard nothing but the sound of a sword being put away.

"As long as this never happens again, L/N," he spoke coldly. "I forgive you. You may continue what you were doing before he arrived here."

"Thank you so much, sir!" Y/N called out happily as she stood up straight with a smile on her face. "I promise you won't regret it!" Hanzo remained quiet and simply glanced down instead. A more calm and positive feeling took over his previous anger quickly, leaving behind a little bit of confusion. Y/N took a few steps back over to where that tree she was kicking earlier was before Hanzo spoke up again.

"I apologize for being so harsh, as well. You said you met you here; was this planned?" He asked her as he his fists were undone. Y/N shook her head when she turned back towards him. Hanzo examined her face for a moment before sighing, then a smile grew on his face. "Very well. I appreciate your honesty. Actually, would you care to join me for tea later? As leader of this clan, it feels right for me to know all my people, whether they are a weary traveler or blood."

"Of course I would," she said softly. "What time?"

"Tomorrow at dawn."

"So be it." And with that, Hanzo began to walk towards his dojo and Y/N walked towards her special tree. The two of them had that tea on their minds as they practiced whatever it is they were practicing. How would it turn out? Would Y/N innocent immaturity get her in trouble? Would Hanzo appear too serious? Will they make up and gain trust? Maybe something else? We'll see in the next paragraph.

Time flies by quickly when you're having a good time, and for Hanzo, he was quite happy about the thought of getting to know Y/N more. And also to learn more of her relations with Kuai. As for Y/N, she was nervous as all hell since she knows she can be a handful sometimes. To be honest, a simple deep breath was able to calm her down and bring the adult side out of her. So here she was now, looking at herself in the mirror of her guest cabin and taking deep breaths to calm her nerves.

"You got this Y/N," she told herself as she took her final deep breath. The kimono she was wearing was different as it was longer and above the wrists, meaning she was unmarried. It still had a pretty design on it, with the colors overall being F/C, pink, yellow, and blue. The had her H/C hair up in a bun with two strands falling over her shoulders. She had a pin that kept her hair up with a beautiful flower attached to it. To contribute to her Japanese asthetic, she had a folded fan that was black with red cherry trees designs in it in her hand.

She smiled at herself in the mirror one more time before she turned to face the door. She slid open the door to the guest home and put on her shoes before walking outside. She closed the door and prepared to head off the selected location. On the other hand, Hanzo was sure to be formal as well.

He wore a montsuki, which is a formal black kimono worn over a white under-kimono and hakama, which are traditional Japanese trousers. It was common for samurais to wear this underneath their armor, so it suited him well. After all, he was both ninja and samurai; he kept his hair in a man manbun as well. He was very good at maintaining a formal way of speaking and acting, yet he knew Y/N isn't all that. Someone as free spirited and naive really isn't all that capable of it, in his mind.

He was sitting down in a chabudai; one of those short legged tables that have cushions to sit on your knees on rather than to sit on chairs. At the moment, in another room of his lonely home, was a kettle that was boiling water. Authoress is not a Japanese fanatic who knows Japanese and is basing these designs of real Samurai and Wife dolls by their bed, I swear. It was perhaps halfway done by the time he heard a voice call from the outside of the front door; "Hello, it's Y/N. May I come in?"

Hanzo smiled softly to himself as he stood up and walked over to the door, sliding it open. To say he was shocked to see the free spirited girl in such a good-mannered attire was an understatement. "You look lovely tonight," he stated as he looked Y/N head to toe. On Y/N's side, she noticeably blushed and gave him a sweet look.

"You look lovely as well, truly."

Hanzo raised a brow and stepped aside for Y/N to step inside. And rather than her normal fast walk with swaying arms side to side, she slowly walked in with her hands held together in front of her. "I haven't yet seen this side of you, Miss L/N. I am a proper kind of person so don't think I won't hold it against you if you act unmannerly," he teased as Y/N giggled to herself and took her shoes off at the front door.

"I thought that maybe I should act a bit more, I guess, fancy in order to match you. As long as you don't believe in the whole women are beneath us bigger men and shouldn't talk unless spoken to thing, then this shouldn't be too hard, hehehe," Y/N said as she was lead to the chabudai by Hanzo. She sat down on her knees on side and he on the other.

"Of course I would not act on such a thing. We are all human with equal rights," Hanzo replied as he sat his hands in his lap. His looked down at Y/N'a hands, which were on the table, before shooting her a look that told her that she was doing something wrong. Y/N hummed in confusion before gasping lightly. She put her hands in her lap and smiled innocently, creating a chuckle from Hanzo.

Come to think of it, the hone hasn't yet been described. It's easy to imagine the paper and wood that made up the walls and doors, and the warm light that shun over the two people. The carvings on the wood above them and around them, the large pot with a bonsai in it in the corner of the room. The little wooden seats with drawers distilled in them built into the walls of the home. The wooden tables with traditional statues and little plants in pots across the home. The sword holder near the front door, the mats across the floor to give the unique taste. In the kitchen had built in furnaces where people would burn a fire in the wholes on the bottom and put cooking appliances and kyūsus on top of it. If you don't want to imagine that, here's something help.

"Have you ever studied Japanese arts? Surely you must have had some experience in a place like this, or perhaps a friend to lecture you on what to do," Hanzo explained his thought process as he looked interestingly at the smaller girl.

"Actually, I had Kuai teach me a lot about Chinese culture. But when I met a swordsman named Kenshi, I learned more of Japanese tradition. I may not be the best, but I tried to use my knowledge of both cultures to act as good as possible! Um, I mean," she paused as her face lit up red. "To act as good as possible." She but the inside of her lip nervously as she grew more and more embarrassed of her voice level as she spoke. Hanzo chuckled.

"I'm glad I invited you here. You are very knowledgeable it seems. Plus quite entertaining," he complimented. The kyūsu began to steam loudly, meaning it was finished. Hanzo glanced over to the kitchen.

"Heh, I wouldn't say knowledgeable," Y/N replied, "but thank you." Hanzo stood up, nodding his head towards her as he walked put of the room.

"I apologize but the tea must be attended to. I will be back in a few moments," Hanzo explained before he disappeared behind a wall. Y/N nodded in understandment and began to fight with her hair, kimono ends, fingers, and whatever else she could once he walked out. When Hanzo walked into the kitchen, he felt heat rise to his face. He leaned onto a little table with his hand on it to keep his steady and his other hand over his chest. Oh kami, he thought, she gets cuter each time I see her. Whether she's trying to be like me but failing miserably or being her bubbly self does not matter; she is perfect.

He did his best to calm his nerves before grabbing the kettle from the furnace and grabbing a kyūsu, an appliance for making tea, and slowly pouring hot water into it. He made a kind of sweet green tea, one that many foreigners don't know about, called Sencha. It has to be made with the coolest kind of hot water, basically, otherwise it will turn bitter. He made sure the watch it carefully for about half a minute before grabbing two cups and pouring the tea. He then picked up the two cups and headed back to the chabudai. Yet before he got to the room, he paused.

A feminine voice sung a soft song as she waited for Hanzo to return. Hanzo felt his cheeks heat up again and his chest felt warm. He could recall this feeling but from where he first felt it is unknown to him. The ready may be able to assume that he was thinking of his first love, his wife, and how he felt when he fell in love with her. But that idea hadn't even crossed his mind as he felt there was no way he could ever feel such an extreme emotion towards anyone else. And marriage isn't even a question since she isn't from the clan. He took a deep breath before walking back into the room.

Y/N stopped singing and she smiled widely as she saw him. "Hey Hanzo! Or, um, sorry, haha. The tea smells very nice," she complimented as she gripped the sides of the cup with her little fingers. Yeah, there was definitely a way he could feel such an extreme emotions towards anyone else. Hanzo sat down on his knees on the other side of her, mumbling a quick thank you to Y/N and a thank you to the Gods' gift of tonight. And in his mind, a thank you for what to him felt like a gift from the Gods' to end his grief from his early wife.

"Mm! This is really good!" Y/N gasped after tasting it. "This is the best tea I've ever had!" Her eyes were wide in awe and her expression showing her impressment. Hanzo chuckled at her adorable reaction as he took a sip of his wom drink. It's been maybe 8 minutes since Y/N got there and she already forgot to remain all traditional and civil. It was adorable to him; she was so precious really.

And throughout the night, the two of them talked and laughed and jokes and got close. They remained at the chabudai most of the night, aside from when Y/N asked for a tour. She adored the bonsais, scenery that can be seen from outside the window, paintings around the home, and everything. She was so naive but to Hanzo, that wasn't particularly a bad thing. It made her all the more fun to be around. And because of how great of a night they were having, they even agreed to meet up the next day.

"Excuse me, Miss Y/N," Hanzo said as he stood up from the chabudai. "I will be back in one moment. Please help yourself to more tea if you'd like."

"I will," Y/N responded sweetly. Oh, on a side note, Y/N completely forgot about the traditional thing completely so don't expect her to stay put in the few minutes Hanzo was gone. Actually, by the time Hanzo came back, Y/N had her head in her arms on the table her body slowly rising and falling with the rhythm of her breaths. Hanzo couldn't help but find himself smiling down at her. He got that warm feeling in his chest again though it was different this time. It wasn't as unfamiliar as before. He knew what it was; it was love slowly blossoming.

He sighed softly before picking up the sleeping girl's tired form and carrying her against his chest. She shifted a little bit in his grasp and ended up being hudled against him more, making that warn feeling in Hanzo's chest grow more. Such a sweet, innocent creature. He slid open his door and brought her back to her guest home, where he laid her in bed and brought her hair down from its updo in order for it to not be as bad of a mess tomorrow. He kissed her forehead and then left to sleep in his own bed until the next morning.

The next day was the same as the previous. And then the day after that, and the day after that day, and so forth. But one day was a particularly cold day and a cold blanket of snow began to cover the land. Y/N was at Hanzo's place, watching the snow fall through an open window with her E/C eyes wide in amazement at the beauty. Hanzo was standing behind her with two cups of tea in his hand.

"Would you care for a drink?" He asked, making Y/N turn around.

"Thank you, Hanzo!" She said as she took the drink from him and took a big sip. It tasted sweet, as it was the tea she had when she came over for the first time. "Say, I sorta wish we could have gone outside today. I noticed that you like to fight in that place by the pond a lot; which is really great to watch! You're so strong, hehe. But you've never actually seen me fight before," she explained right before she took a sip of tea. "Y'know, I'm painfully aware that people view me as an immature, innocent, naive girl who isn't the most aware of her surroundings. But I think you'll be impressed to see what I can do," she said confidently as she hummed.

Hanzo took a sip from his tea and nodded. "Perhaps. When it gets warmer out, I'd love to watch what you can do," he replied with an extra caring tone with his voice. He caught onto his tone quickly and blushed a little bit. "But there is something we can do outside," he started.

"What is it?" Y/N asked, standing up.

"Well, there's a hotspring nearby. We can swim in there if you'd like. However be sure to dress in something not too revealing if you would like to."

"There is? I'd love to!" She exclaimed as she bounced up and down. "I'll dmgi get dressed now," she eagered on as she put her shoes back on before leaving. Hanzo grabbed her up of tea and brought it to the kitchen. It's a shape it would go to waste, but he can always make more. He returned to his bedroom to grab something to put on while swimming but please, just imagine what he'd wear to swim. Traditional swimwear is too nasty to be used in this book, but swimming trunks are too modern. As for Y/N, considering she never had a particular home or culture, it made sense for her to just wear a full body suit she could have gotten from anywhere in Earthrealm.

Of course, the both of them were sure to bathe before hopping into the hot spring. Well, Hanzo slowly got in whereas Y/N jumped in without any care. It was warm, shocker there.

"Ahh...Thank the Elder Gods for getting me here before I froze to death," Y/N shuddered as chills ran up her spine. Though those chills were disappearing as the warmth of the hot spring washer over her soon enough. Hanzo rested his body against the large rocks around the hot spring and found a seat-like area. Y/N swam around happily and sung to herself.

Oh, one thing worth mentioning for the sake of the next paragraph is that Y/N had a necklace around her neck. Hanzo had never noticed it before as it was always under her kimono or shirt. However that necklace had a great significance go it; she was told that with that necklace, she would be able to find her parents who seemed to have lost her at birth. That necklace was the only thing that remained of them and hopefully destiny was kind enough to help her find her parents.

"Kyaa–" shrieked as a splashing sound was heard. Hanzo stopped daydreaming and looked over at Y/N, who's hair covered he face and arm frantically tried to keep her body floating. She quickly pushed her hair out of her face and whined over and over again worried. Hanzo instinctively swam over there as fast as possible, grabbing ahold of her gently yet sturdy. "Where is it!" She cried out, feeling her body and looking around the waters.

"Where is what?" Hanzo asked in his husky voice that was now in a confused tone.

"My necklace! I can't find my necklace!" She replied worriedly, tears swelling in her eyes. Hanzo looked at the tears forming and felt his whole body shiver woman's his heart drop. "I can't see it anywhere!" Hanzo began to swim towards the rock formation he was against earlier, making Y/N cry out, "wait!"

"Y/N," Hanzo sternly spoke. "I will find your necklace and return it. Worry not, please, dear friend," he reassured, taking her hand in his. She shook nervously and wiped her tears. Slowly, she nodded which told Hanzo he could swim away now. And so he did; he headed towards the stop where she cried out and with one deep breath, he went underwater. He had to hold his nose for warm waters were very dangerous to go under as dangerous fungi grow in hot waters. Yet even so, he swam to the bottom of the hot spring using one hand to stir around to look for the necklace.

Y/N waited on the rocks, sniffing and whimpering. She hasn't told Hanzo the origin of the necklace, but he could tell it was important to her. When she was little, she was handed the necklace and was told it would help her find her missing mother as long as she stayed pure. What that means is that Y/N had to remain free from murder, theft, and other ways of sin. Not only that, but she could not ever preform certain adult actions as then she would never find her parents (I say that because Y/N never had a parent figure to teach her what nono stuff is), which is her number one goal in life. She grew up going from city to city, state to state, country to country, and even had been in Outworld before. She grew up with so many cultures and had never found someone that was like her in any way. It felt like she didn't have an identity as she had nothing to trace her orgins to.

Splash! Hanzo took a deep breath of air as he finally reached the surface again, with a silver necklace with a S/F/C gem inside it that's carved to show an unknown design. "Is this your necklace?" He asked as he held it up. Y/N gasped, lunging back into the water and swimming towards Hanzo. Once she got up to him, she wrapped her arms around his muscular figure and cried.

"You found it! Thank you so much!" She cried out happily, pressing her body against him. Hanzo blushed at the sudden affection and slipped the necklace back onto her. He adjusted the back of of it so it wouldn't fall off her so easily again. "I love Hanzo... You're the best friend I've ever had... I really mean it," she whimpered out. Hanzo began to swim towards the rock formation again and once he did, Y/N let go of him.

"I appreciate it, Y/N. I love you as well, you're the closest friend I've ever had," he said back to her with a warm smile on his features. Y/N smiled back at him before examining her unharmed necklace.

"Hmm... Ever since I could remember, I would move from every country in the world to another. I've been to Paris, Beijing, New York, London, Los Angeles, a few different places in Mexico and Colombia, Holland, Tokyo, Osaka, and many more. I was carried from place to place by various of adoptive mothers, and each of them left a bit of their culture and identity with me by the time I left.

"But I had one that was a fortune teller and psychic. She was incapable kf having kids and didn't want to go through the trouble of raising one, so she took me, an 11 year old girl. She gasped when she saw me and took me in immediately. Before I left her, she gave me this necklace. "Y/N," she said, "you have the potential to see your real parents again. Train, grow stronger, read, grow smarter, listen, grow wiser. Stray away from the evil in the world and remain pure from your soul to your body. This is how you'll find your mother.""

Y/N paused and looked up at the larger male. He seemed intrigued with her story and made sure to listen carefully to her every word. So she continued, "as I grew older and began to travel on my own, I thought of her words every single hour of every day. I had no reason to live as I ever did was travel and meet new people, only to leave and never see them again. Just knowing who I really was became my only reason for existing. To this day, I bet the relief of meeting my real mom will feel like being deaf and hearing music, or being blind and seeing color, or being able to walk again after being paralyzed. But now," she paused.

Y/N smiled and looked up at Hanzo. "It's strange to feel so in place, so correct. I-I know I never felt this way about any place before! But I really think that as long as you're around, my chances of meeting my mom are good! Just being with you gives me hope for the next day, truly. It's like being with you is my reason to exist."

Hanzo closed his eyes and smiled back at her. He wrapped his arms around and embraced her warmly, his head being filled with nothing but pure bliss. Y/N hugged back tightly, feeling just as happy as he is right now.

And just as soon as it came, the day was over and the two had to return home and sleep. But this particular night, their dreams were better than usual. And two days later, the snow had cleared up and the ground was dry! That meant Y/N could go train today! Unfortunately, with her absent-mindedness, she forgot she wanted Hanzo to watch her so she remained in private as she kicked thicc ass trees down in two strong kicks and crushed stones into bits by simply punching it once.

"Hai...ya!" She called out as she forcefully brought her first to a stone celler that was abandoned randomly in the woods. But hey, no one was using it, so who's gonna cry about it being broken? The impact of her punch brought a giant circular impact onto the wall, and bits and pieces of it fell down. "Hehehe! 22 more to go!" She thought out loud as she pulled her fist back again. She wasn't alone in these woods, no, as there was a particular ninja/samurai person thing, idk, watching from the nearby bush. Not to be creepy of course! He was on his way to his dojo but heard noises, and discovered it was her after checking it out.

And d a m n. If Y/N saw his shocked face the first time he saw her punch the wall with that much force and endurance, she would laugh and tease him about it for a long time. He didn't expect her to be so quick in her movements and to cause such force. Like, a short little bebe in a pink, cutesy kimono with cherry blossoms being able to cause a fucking massacre to the wall? How could you blame him?

"Hmm... that reminds me!" Y/N exclaimed as she spun around to look at Hanzo. "I told you that you should watch me train! Is that what you were doing?"

Hanzo blushed heavily and was unfortunately incapable of hiding it in the direct daylight. "Indeed, Y/N. This is truly a wonderful sight to see," he replied as he looked away for a moment. Y/N gasped and ran towards him. He took a few steps back when he noticed how close she gotten, which caused him to get a little bit more flustered.

"You're sick? You're face is all red, Y/N whined as she pulled Hanzo closer. "You should be inside, mister, getting better! Not out here watching me fight when it's colder out here! Let's go bring you inside," he said as she grabbed his muscular arm and held it close. She turned towards the village of the Shirai Ryu and began walking towards it, pulling Hanzo along. How bold.

Hanzo but his bottom lightly and remained as flustered as before. "There really is no need, Y/N," he replied back.

"You're being quite irresponsible for a ninja, y'know," Y/N replied as she continued to walk him home. Hanzo sighed and just let her pull him along. He knew she would question him if he told her he wasn't sick so he choose into except it.

"Thank you for your concern," he replied lowly. Y/N giggled proudly and nodded.

"The best for you!" They arrived to the pathways of the village and began their walk. There was a few pedestrians walking by, including a dad and daughter and a separate woman. "I'll make you some tea and you can go to bed, okay?" Hanzo nodded, smirking to himself about how funny the situation really is.

"How caring," Hanzo spoke as they arrived at his home. The got inside and took their shoes off at the front door.

"Of course," she replied before heading towards the kitchen to make tea. Hanzo wasn't sick but he's been tired lately and what's wrong with sleeping in for one day? When he got the tea, it no doubt tasted way too bitter as Y/N doesn't really know what she's doing to be honest. But hey, it's the thought that counts.

Hanzo lied in bed, with an empty cup by his side and an small girl on the other. She sat on the bed, talking to him quietly about a bunch of random things until she said something strange. "To be honest, I know this is weird, but it almost feels like we're married sometimes. I mean, we're together all the time and have a very close friendship. You let me drag you in here and give you bitter tea even though you didn't want to. That's really nice, hehe," she giggled as she looked over at Hanzo. Her eyes shun something different from simply joy this time. Instead, it showed rather care. And potentially something more.

Hanzo felt a shiver go down his spine as he looked deep into Y/N's eyes. Emhe had to examine them to ensure that he wasn't just crazy or actually sick, but no, it looked like she really did care about him more than a friend. After all these months, it was officially, wasn't it? It was mutual. Hanzo smiled as he sat up on the bed. Y/N's cheeks lit up a little bit as he stared down at her with that look.

"Sometimes it really does feel like that, does it not? I can see as a good pair to be truthful. What about you?" Hanzo asked softly. Y/N cheeks flushed pink and her expression softened.

"I agree, definitely. I mean, how can I not, heh heh. You've been there from the very beginning and I've always seen you as this big, strong teddy bear of sorta. So sweet, so nice, so caring," she replied. Hanzo leaned in, making Y/N want to lean in too. And slowly, the pair came together and finally...they kissed. It was soft, tender, and it felt like it was meant to happen. Y/N's face turned red and Hanzo's tense emotions he felt disappeared immediately.

Heh, you know what? To be honest, they lady next door was known to be crazy about losing her baby girl a very long time ago. They had matching necklaces that were bought from a village far away from their's years ago when the Shirai Ryu was attacked by Quan Chi's forces. She escaped and went into hiding, and then found a man to marry to. Her child was named Y/N L/N, and whether she's not fully Japanese or fully related into the Japanese clan, she is blood and therefore she is capable of being the love of Hanzo Hisashi. Maybe the two of them will meet some day, huh?

[itsadamcole]

alive

fem!reader x drew mcintyre

it’s Drew’s wedding day and reader has a secret ...

word count: 4.3k+

warnings: friends to lovers, cheating, smut, kinda angsty

— hi hi. here y’all go —

masterlist || request an imagine here

~ 18+ content below - read at your own risk ~

"You have to tell him today, Y/N," your best friend and former Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair says. "He's getting married. After today, he's gone."

You're putting on your red lipstick to match your red satin gown as you say, "Char, I love you, but he's my best friend. His happiness comes before anything, including my feelings."

Charlotte blinks at you and says, "You'll regret it."

You finish up your makeup and say, "I won't if it means that he's happy. If that's not with me, fine. I'd rather not tell him and stay friends, instead of telling him and losing my best friend."

The Queen stares at you and says, "You're missing an opportunity. He obviously cares for you and he wants you in his life, even after the drunken sex incident a few years ago."

You cringe at the thought of the drunk sex you had with him. You both were just signed to NXT and became instant friends. You always felt some kind of connection with Drew, and he felt the same way about you. One night, the night he won the NXT Championship at Takeover Brooklyn III, you both went out drinking. Both of you drank too much and you spilled how you felt.

Back then, it was a little crush. Now, about three and a half years later, you're in love with your best friend. He met his soon-to-be wife almost right after the drunk and sex-filled night you had with him, and he always gushed to you how in love he was with her and how he wants her in his life forever.

When he told you he was going to propose to her, that was the moment you decided to keep your feelings to yourself. He wanted to marry her, and you wouldn't get in the way of his happiness.

So, you let it go. His fiance asked you to be her maid of honor since you were Drew's closest female friend, and you said yes. You've grown close with Drew's fiance and she's an amazing person. They're cute together, and you won't ever get in the way of that.

"Hello? Earth to Y/N?" Charlotte says. "You better have zoned out thinking of ways to tell Drew that you love him."

You sigh and finish getting ready before saying, "I am not telling Drew that I love him. That is not happening, Charlotte. His happiness means too much to me, and so does our friendship."

Frustrated, you leave the room. You wander around for a bit, and of course, you find yourself outside of Drew's room. You knock gently and you hear Drew say, "Come in."

So you open the door and walk inside, hiking up the dress a bit so you don't trip over it.

The dress is a red satin mermaid style gown. The dress is tight until it gets to your knees, where it flares out. You're wearing black heels under the dress because you couldn't find a pair of red heels that paired well with the dress.

Drew looks at you and says, "Wow, look at ya. I was with ya when ya bought the dress and ya still look beautiful."

Your face turns red and you eye up the Scottish man in front of you. He's already in his suit and his hair is in a neat ponytail on the back of his neck. "And you look handsome in that suit of yours," you say. "I've wondered what suit you got."

"It's not too much?" he asks. "I tried t'go with the traditional American suit but I think I overdid it."

You giggle and notice his tie is a little off so you walk over to him and say, "You need to work on your tie tying skills, McIntyre. It's crooked."

Drew laughs as you start to fix his tie. Even with heels on, he's still several inches taller than you and you have to reach up to fix his tie. You stand close to him and you can smell the cologne he's wearing. It's your favorite, but you've never told him. You haven't told him a lot of things.

The Scotsman says, "Yer face is red, Y/N."

Quickly, you say, "Must've added too much blush when doing my makeup." Your face is red because you definitely are standing a little too close to Drew.

After an eternity, you finally finish fixing his tie and you back away, admiring your work. You chefs kiss and say, "Perfect."

Drew laughs and says, "I don't know what I would do without ya, Y/N."

"You would be lost with crooked ties without me," you tease.

The taller man smiles at you and says, "I definitely would be walking around with crooked ties."

This is why you'll never tell him that you love him. You don't want to lose this. Missed opportunity? Oh well, you want Drew in your life and if omitting how you feel keeps him in your life then you will never tell him.

You almost admire the man standing in front of you. The dark color of the jacket and pants brings out his bright blue eyes. The jacket is a tight fit and the pants he's wearing hug his butt nicely. He has a little thing of white flowers attached to his jacket.

"Yer staring, Y/N," Drew says, bringing you back to reality. "And ya look like ya have something to say."

Quickly, you shake your head and say, "I don't have anything I want to say. I just wanted to come by and say hi and good luck today."

Drew says, "Yer face says otherwise. Ya can tell me, ya know. Nothing will change, Y/N."

You almost let your guard down and tell him but instead, you say, "Fine, you look handsome and I was caught a little off guard. Took me back to that night a lifetime ago."

His face softens and he asks, "The night I won the NXT Championship?" You nod in response. "That was one of my favorite nights since I moved over here a while ago."

Surprised, you mumble, "It was my favorite night ever."

"I wish we could've just had more than that one night," you admit.

Drew says, "I met my fiance a week later, Y/N. Trust me, that night between us was amazing, and I wouldn't change that for anything. I fell in love with my fiance almost immediately, and wanted to do everything for her."

You say, "I know, Drew. I'm just saying that I wish that we could have had more than one night together. It was never off the table for me."

He says, "It was for me. I got into a relationship I was happy in and I didn't want t'ruin that."

You begin to get upset and you say, "I get that, Drew. I wasn't going to ask you for sex while you were in a relationship. You were happy, and that's all I care about. I've put aside my feelings and did what I could to keep you happy. I said yes to being her maid of honor, I helped with every single detail because I know you so well. Everything I did over the past year was because I love you.”

Drew's jaw almost drops and your eyes widen when you realize that you let how you felt slipped.

"I'm about t'get married and ya lay this on me now?" he says, accent thick. You can't tell if he's angry or upset that you told him.

You sigh and say, "It doesn't have to mean anything, okay? I'll just leave you to finish getting ready and we can talk about this later. I'm sorry." You turn to walk away and feel tears prick your eyes.

As you walk to the door, you hear Drew say, "This doesn't mean nothing, Y/N. This means everything. I can't just ignore that ya just told me ya loved me."

"You can't do anything anyway," you sigh. "You're getting married today, in less than three hours. I'm sorry I even said anything. Just enjoy your day and we'll talk whenever you get a chance."

Drew says, "I have a chance t'talk t'ya right now, Y/N. Stop running away."

Your hand is on the doorknob and you say, "I'm not running away Drew. I'm walking away before I can embarrass myself even more."

The Scot says, "Yer just telling me how ya feel. That's not embarrassing, Y/N."

"It is when I'm telling my best friend on his wedding day that I love him," you sigh, voice shaky. "It's so embarrassing, especially when I have had so many chances before today to tell you how I felt."

There are footsteps behind you and you feel a presence behind you. "Why haven't ya told me?" Drew asks, voice a couple of octaves lower than it usually is.

You turn around and look up at Drew before you say, "You're my best friend, Drew. You were happy and I could never get in the middle of your happiness or stop you from being happy. I was scared that if I told you then you would leave because you make me feel alive. When I met you, I felt like I could breathe for the first time because I was so alone in an unfamilar until I met you. When we met on NXT, you had just come back and it was my first time in WWE. When we met and we became friends, I felt relieved that I made a friend. That's why I never told you because I was scared."

Drew's eyes are on your face and you stare up at him. You sigh and continue, "Then you met her, and I could tell you were happy. Truly happy. I became her maid of honor to make your day special. I planned my best friend's wedding, putting all feelings aside. I didn't want to ruin your day, which I'm pretty sure I already have."

The man in front of you is quiet for a few minutes and tension builds in the air. He reaches out and cups your face in his hands. They're rougher than they were all those years ago. "I think ya lied t'me when ya told me ya added too much blush when ya were putting on yer makeup because yer face didn't turn red until I touched ya."

You didn't even realize that your face was heating up when Drew touched your face. You stare up at the Scotsman as you say, "I said that because I didn't want to tell you the truth."

"I wish ya told me how ya felt," Drew says, eyes flickering down to your lips. "I really wish ya did."

Before you can stop yourself, you grab the collar of Drew's jacket and you say, "Well I'm telling you now even though you can't do anything about it. I am in love with you."

Drew's thumbs run across your cheekbones before he says, "I hope I told ya how beautiful ya look in that dress. I'm almost happy that I'm one of the first people t'see ya in it."

"You're making this harder on me than it already is," you sigh, staring up at Drew.

The Scotsman kisses your forehead and you close your eyes before he mumbles, "I'm sorry, Y/N."

You look up at Drew and he stares down at you, eyes wandering all over your face as you give in to what you really want. You get on your very tiptoes and pull Drew down to you before bringing your lips to his.

As soon as your lips touch Drew's, you feel guilt and you feel selfish. You're kissing another woman's fiancee. This is wrong, but it doesn't feel wrong. He slowly kisses you back, deepening the forbidden kiss.

Drew's lips are softer than you remember. Maybe because the kisses you last shared with him were rough and you were drunk. His hands leave your cheeks and land on your waist. He walks forward, forcing you to take a few steps backward until you're pressed against the door. Drew pins your hips to the door and you pull back from the kiss.

Your lipstick is all over his lips and you try not to laugh as you say, "We shouldn't be doing this, Drew. You're about to get married in a few hours. This isn't right."

"It doesn't feel wrong," Drew says, pushing a piece of your hair out of your eyes. "Before ya got here, I was debating on coming t'see ya because I wanted t'tell ya how I felt too."

"You," you trail off. "You were going to what?"

He laughs a bit and says, "Over the past week, I've been doing some soul searching and making sure that I wanted t'commit the rest of my life to someone I met and fell in love with so quickly. I asked myself these questions that were like 'what if this doesn't end well because we were in a relationship so quick?' and 'is she really the right woman for me?'. Then I thought of ya and our night together and how much ya mean t'me."

You look up at Drew and listen as he talks. You have no idea what he's trying to say but you hope he's trying to tell you how he feels.

Drew brushes a piece of hair out of your face as you say, "I hope you're trying to tell me something, Drew."

The Scotsman smiles and says, "Yer smart, Y/N. Figure it out."

Pouting, you say, "That's not fair. I told you straight up how I felt."

The taller man leans down a bit so his face is close to yours as he asks, "What would ya think if I told ya that I want another night like we had all those years ago? What if I told ya that I wanna feel ya around me again, Y/N?"

Your hands begin to shake as your mind flashes back to the night Drew fucked you in your hotel room. The way he moved makes your heart race, and there wasn't even any love or passion behind his movements. You can only imagine what he could do to you when there is.

Slowly, you say, "I would say take me right here, right now because I want to relive that night with you."

With that, Drew's lips crash to yours with such force, you gently hit the back of your head on the door. You quickly push off Drew's black suit jacket and he throws it on the floor. His hands come back up and cup your face as he kisses you.

You wrap your arms around his neck and hold him close to you, not giving him the opportunity to pull back from the kiss.

"Can ya jump, love?" Drew mumbles into the kiss.

His lips leave yours and attach to your neck as you sigh, "Not unless you want me ripping my dress in more than one place."

Drew says, "Then we'll just have t'get it off ya then, won't we." He reaches behind you and touches the zipper on your back. He pulls the zipper down and you shrug the thin dress sleeves off. Drew's eyes wander down to the dress as it falls off your body. You're wearing nothing but a pair of lace black panties underneath the dress.

A smirk forms on Drew's lips and you say, "Don't even think about it, McIntyre. I know exactly what you're thinking."

"And what am I thinking about, love?" Drew says, eyes coming back up to your face. "Enlighten me, Y/N."

You start to unbutton the white button-up Drew is wearing when you say, "I'm wearing nothing but a pair of underwear under this dress. Everyone knows what you're thinking about."

Eventually, you give up on unbuttoning the shirt and you just rip it open. Buttons fly everywhere and Drew looks down at you and his now open shirt. "Jesus, love," Drew gasps.

You leave little kisses to Drew's chest and run your fingers over his toned stomach. You say, "It's been three and a half years since you've touched me like this and seen me like this. Three and a half years too long, Drew."

The Scotsman runs his fingers down between your breasts and says, "I agree. It's been too damn long since I've touched ya or kissed ya."

Your eyes examine his bare upper body before you meet his eyes. You finally jump up and wrap your legs around Drew's waist.

"I jumped," you giggle.

Drew kisses your chest and holds you by your thighs before he walks over to the bed. You untie his hair and he lays you on your back on the bed. You stare up at him as he leans down and kisses you. You cup his face as the kiss gets deeper.

You reach down and unbutton the dress pants Drew's wearing. His finger trails down your body until they get to the waistline of your panties. They dip into your panties and he cups your core, making you gasp against his lips. He starts to play with your clit and you sigh softly.

He mumbles, "Let's get these off ya. I wanna see how wet ya are for me."

Whining, you say, "Drew, please."

He literally rips off your panties and you gasp. "Oops" is all he says.

"Those were my favorites," you pout.

Drew lays on his stomach with his face between your legs as he says, "Next time don't wear your favorite pair."

He kisses your inner thigh and you sigh, "I didn't know I would be having sex with you today."

You look down at Drew between your legs as he says, "Well, I buy ya a new pair, or a few because this won't be the last time I rip off yer underwear."

Your jaw almost drops and Drew dives into you, sucking on and kissing your clit. You put your hands in his hair and push his face into your core. He hums when he tastes you, sending vibrations into you.

Drew suddenly pushes two fingers into you and you moan softly. "God," you gasp.

"Yer so tight, love," he says. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

You don't think you can speak so you just nod. He pumps his fingers in and out of you, slowly at first. Your breathing becomes more labored and your eyes close as you're overcome with euphoria and ecstasy.

You've missed feeling Drew touching your body and kissing you. His lips feel so good on your skin when he kisses you. It's almost selfish of you that you want to keep him to yourself.

Drew adds a third digit and you moan a little louder. "Fuck," you cry out.

The Scotsman smirks and says, "I can feel ya holding back, Y/N. I can feel ya clenching around my fingers. Ya don't have t'hold back for me, love."

You look down at Drew as a pit forms in your stomach. He curls his fingers into your g-spot and you cry out, "Drew!"

"Ya gonna cum for me, love?" Drew asks. "Ya gonna cum from just my fingers?"

Nodding frantically, your head falls back onto the bed. You arch your back and moan Drew's name as you reach your climax. You release all over Drew's fingers as your toes curl.

Drew pulls his fingers out and you watch as he sucks your juices off his digits. He gets on his knees on the bed between your legs. You breathe heavily as you come down from your high. Your mind wanders off to how amazing it felt just to have his fingers inside of you.

You sit up and start to pull at Drew's pants. He kicks off his shoes and you get his pants down to his knees. Drew runs his fingers through your hair as you trace the outline of his dick in his boxers. His eyes are on yours as you hook your fingers into the waistband of his boxers, pulling the thin fabric down. Your eyes widen as you watch his erect member pops out. You forgot about his size, and you wonder how that even fit inside you the first time.

"I, um,” you stammer. “I forgot how big you were, Drew.”

The Scotsman kicks off his pants and pushes you into your back. You stare up at him as he says, “I’ll make sure ya don’t forget this time, princess. Ya still on the pill?”

Nodding, you say, “Kinda. I have an IUD now because I’m so busy and sometimes forget to take the pill.”

Drew laughs and says, “Only ya would get so busy ya forget t’take yer pills.”

Giggling, you push his hair out of his face and ask, “Are you gonna keep asking what birth control I’m on or are you gonna fuck me?”

“Just wanted t’make sure, love,” he says before pushing your legs up over his shoulders. You giggle and look up at your Scotsman. His usually bright blue eyes are dark with lust as he props himself up.

You cup his face with your hands and you bring him down to you, kissing him. You feel the tip of his dick run through your soaked folds and sigh against his lips.

Drew’s lips leave yours and attach to your neck. Your eyes flutter shut and you sigh. You run your fingers up and down his arm. Then Drew slides into you slowly, making you whine softly. “Am I hurting ya, love?” he asks.

Shaking your head, you sigh, “No, it’s okay. Just move, please. I need you, Drew.”

He slides deeper into you, making you moan. “Fuck,” you cry out, squeezing your eyes shut. Drew let’s you adjust to his size before he slowly starts to thrust into you.

Your breathing becomes more and more labored the faster he moves. You dig your nails into Drew’s biceps.

Drew pants and grunts as he moves faster. You cry out, “God, don’t stop, Drew! You make me feel so good inside me.”

Your words give him extra motivation and Drew starts to move harder into you. Your back arches off the bed beneath Drew’s body before Drew pins your hips to the bed.

“Tell me how much ya missed me, love,” Drew pants.

He speeds his thrusts up and you pant, “I missed you so much, Drew. I missed how good you fucked me. I missed your touch, your kisses. I missed all of you.”

The tip of his dick begins to slam into your g-spot and you moan, “Drew!”

When he realizes he found your spot, he begins to slam into it over and over again. Your walls clench around his member inside of you. The familiar pit forms in your stomach and Drew kisses your jaw.

“Oh, God,” you moan. “Yes, Drew. Make me cum again.”

Drew smirks against your skin and speeds up. The pit in your stomach bottoms out and you almost scream Drew’s name. Your legs shake as you orgasm. You didn’t even realize that Drew came inside you until he collapses onto you. You lean up and kiss Drew. Drew pulls back from the kiss almost immediately and you stare up at him. “What’s wrong?” you ask.

He’s quiet before he says, “I have t’go do something.”

Confused, you tilt your head as Drew crawls off of you. He puts on a t-shirt and a pair of sweats before he leaves the room.

Anxiety rises within you as you pull the blankets up to cover your naked body. What if this was him leaving you? What if he’s running to his fiancé to tell her what happened with you and him?

You grab one of Drew’s WWE t-shirts from his closet and put it on then put on your panties. Your phone begins to ring and see Charlotte is calling.

“Hello?” you mumble.

Charlotte says, “Um, I can hear Drew and his fiancé talking in the other room. He’s saying that he wants to call off the wedding.”

Your eyes widen and you ask, “Anything else?”

She’s quiet before she says, “His fiancé is asking why. She sounds upset. Drew just said ...” Charlotte trails off.

“Drew just said what?” you ask. “Charlotte!”

Your best friend says, “Drew just said he’s in love with someone else. He didn’t realize it until today and he said it doesn’t feel right to get married today.”

You smile and whisper, “He actually does love me.”

Charlotte asks, “Did you say something?”

“Has his fiancé left?” you ask, getting off Drew’s bed.

Your best friend is quiet before she says, “Yeah. She just got on the elevator.”

You hang up the phone and run out of the room. You run into Drew on the way to his fiancé’s room, well ex-fiancé. You basically throw yourself around the Scotsman and you hug him. “Woah, Y/N,” he says. “Relax.”

“I knew you loved me,” you whisper in his ear.

Drew smiles and hugs you tight. “Of course I do, love,” he says as you bury your face in his neck. “I love ya, Y/N.”

Slowly, you pull your face out of his neck and say, “I love you too, Drew.”

A third voice chimes in and says, “She fucking did it. She finally told him.”

You look over and see Charlotte. She’s almost beaming and you rest your forehead against Drew’s cheek before pecking his jaw by his ear.

Drew says, “Took her long enough.”

“Hey,” you pout. “You had a fiancé.”

He laughs and says, “I’m kidding, love. I’m glad ya finally told me.” He attacks your neck with kisses and you giggle.

[fanfic-she-wrote]

Imagine being the reincarnation of Dracula's long lost love: part 10

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

Dracula helped you out of the coffin and held you close in his arms, not wanting to ever let you go again.

"Vlad, I was so scared." You told him, pressing your face into his chest.

"Me too." He said, stroking your hair. So he was right after all. You were Maria. You had finally come back to him at last.

You still felt weak and held on to Dracula for support. Not only did you feel weak, but you felt... different. You didn't know what it was, but it was like all your senses were maxed out. It was so overwhelming. There was also this new scent that you discovered. It smelled delicious, but what was it? You wondered looking around trying to find the source.

"What did you mean that you remember everything?" Van Helsing asked, concerned for you.

You faced him, realizing just where that smell was coming from. Your eyes shined bright red, an intense hunger in them...hunger for blood. Normally you would have been repelled by such a thing, but right now you needed it more than ever. Van Helsing watched you nervously as you inched toward him.

"Y/N?" He said nervously backing away, but you did not answer. All you could think about was his blood, the taste of it on your lips. Dracula noticing your odd behavior, grabbed you by your shoulders and held you back. Why? He did not know. He had wanted to kill Van Helsing himself earlier. Perhaps he was trying to prevent you from doing something you would regret.

You squirmed, trying to wriggle free, but Dracula held you firmly in place. "Let me go!" You hissed at him, revealing for the first time your fresh new set of fangs. Van Helsing stared at you wide eyed. What had he done? You were no longer the sweet, brave, and kind Y/N, you were now a monster. He should never have let Dracula turn you. But then you would be dead...looking at you now, maybe it would have been better that way. He just lost it in a moment of grief.

"Calm down, darling." Dracula spoke in a soft voice, trying to soothe you. "You will feed soon, I promise."

Van Helsing glanced up at him. "What do you mean?" 

"She is in a very crucial time right now. She needs to feed." Dracula urgently explained to him.

"So what will you do, go kill another innocent person?" He asked, raising his voice.

"We have no choice."

Van Helsing sighed. "Then she can have some of mine."

"That is not necessary, Doctor Van Helsing." He refused.

"Yes it is. I won't have you or her killing anyone else. I'll run into town and get my supplies. I'll be back soon." He said, buttoning up his coat, turning to leave.

"Henry, take the coach if it's still there and take him home." Dracula ordered. Henry nodded and promptly followed Van Helsing out.

A few minutes later the tapping of horseshoes against the ground could be heard as they disappeared into the night leaving you and Dracula alone. You closed your eyes and let out a long sigh, then looked up at him.

"Is that what it's like for you all the time?" You asked, now realizing how difficult life was for him. How tempting it was to feed on human blood. Even now with no mortals around, you desired it. Dracula simply nodded. "It's horrible...I can't believe I wanted to...to..." You winced at the thought of hurting, maybe even killing Lawrence. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder and held you close.

"Come, let's wait for them upstairs." Dracula said, guiding you from the dungeons and up the stairs. When you reached the entry hall your mouth fell open in shock. This was the first time you had seen the castle in ruins. You felt a very intense anger. How dare the townspeople do this to your home, to Dracula's home!

"What do we do Vlad?" You ask, looking around. He squeezed your shoulder and replied, "We'll find some place else. Anywhere is home as long as I have you."

As you waited for Van Helsing to return, your mind wandered. You thought about how strange fate was. In your previous life you were married to Dracula and Van Helsing was his power hungry step-brother who killed you. In this life you were Van Helsing's friend who ultimately reunited you with your lover.

"What's wrong?" Dracula asked, noticing how quiet you had become.

"I was just thinking. What happened after...after I died all those years ago?" You asked. Dracula knew this question was inevitable now.

"Well, Van Helsing fled and joined the Turks. Soon after, we went to war and I was killed during one of the battles. As I lay there dying from my wounds, the devil appeared to me. I sold my soul and in return I would have my revenge on the Van Helsings." He told you.

"That's when you became one of the living dead?" You asked. He nodded. "But Lawrence doesn't know about any of that. He told me he wanted to get rid of you because he thought you were a threat to humanity."

"He's right. I am." He admitted. "I didn't care how many lives I took. How much blood I spilled. None of them mattered as long as I didn't have you. I was just as ruthless in life as I am in death."

"And now?"

He paused for a moment, thinking. "I don't know..."

Suddenly, from out of the wreckage you heard some rustling followed by a series of painful moans. Dracula pushed you behind him ready to attack whatever it was. From beneath the debris, a man crawled out. He was covered in dirt and blood, the smell instantly flooded your nostrils. "H-help me..." The man pleaded as he slowly pulled himself across the floor. Dracula looked over at you and saw the hunger return in your eyes and how you licked your lips, desperate for just a little taste. He didn't want to admit how turned on he was by this. He smiled and stepped aside, letting you pass. He wasn't about to let you miss out on your first meal.

Your eyes were fixed on the man before you, like a predator staring down it's prey, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

"I'll help you." You lied, your voice sounding menacing.

"Oh, thank you I-" He peered up at you and saw what you had become and let out a blood curdling scream. "Nonnnoo! Please!" He cried, cowering away, but you didn't hear him. You were focused on one thing. You grabbed him by his collar and lifted him off the ground making him eye-level with you. You hesitated for a moment. You knew you shouldnt. That this was bad, but he did try to kill you and your love after all. He deserved it. Your mouth was practically watering as the sound of his pulse pounded against your eardrums. Dracula stood behind you and whispered in your ear, "Do it." Before the man could utter another plea for mercy, you sunk your fangs deep into his neck. His blood dripped down your lips and chin as you sucked every last drop from his body. Dracula wanted you now more than ever. You moaned and threw your head back enjoying the taste of blood as it ran down your throat. Once you were finished, you tossed the corpse back into the rubble he crawled out of.

"How do you feel now?" Dracula asked, eyeing you lustfully. You grinned at him. "Much better, darling." You answered in a husky voice, running your finger under his chin. Unable to resist you a moment longer, he twirled you around and pressed you flush against him. Leaning down he licked some of the blood from your lips, then he roughly pressed his mouth on yours. He could still taste the blood as he slipped his tongue inside. It drove him mad. You couldn't help but let out a moan when he suddenly nipped your bottom lip as he pulled away. You both stared longingly into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity.

You went to kiss him again, but were interupted when Henry and Van Helsing returned.

"Y/N! What have you done?!" He exclaimed noticing the fresh blood around your lips, running towards you. He looked down at the man's lifeless body, a horrified expression on his face. "You killed him..."

"What of it?" Dracula sneered.

"Don't you understand? She killed an innocent man!" He yelled.

"He wasn't so innocent when he tried to kill us." You quickly pointed out.

"Y/N, why? I thought you were better than this." 

"I guess I'm not who you thought I was." You said coldly. Van Helsing felt his heart break again at how much you changed. He wanted to take you far away from here, far away from Dracula. To try to find a way to get his Y/N back. He'd rather you be dead than live out eternity like this...Van Helsing sighed. He had no other choice. He had to kill you and Dracula before it was too late.

"I guess not." He agreed. "There's nothing more I can do if this is the life you've chosen. I'm leaving for London tomorrow." Dracula eyed him suspiciously. Was he really willing to just leave you alone? To just ignore the fact that you might kill again. Did he really care for you that much?

"Will I ever see you again?" You asked, still wishing to remain friends. Even though his ancestor had murdered you in your past life you didn't hold it against Lawrence. He was different.

"No, I don't think so." He replied, looking away.

"I'm sorry to hear that." You said sadly, but you understood.

"I am as well." Van Helsing said. You pulled away from Dracula and went over to your friend, pulling him into a hug. Why did you have to do that? He thought. It only made things more difficult for him. He knew the real you was still in there somewhere, but the vampire took her place leaving a shell of what you once were. You placed a quick peck on his cheek and backed away.

"Goodbye, Y/N." He said, knowing that this was the last time he was going to see you alive, knowing that when the sun came up it was up to him to end your damned existence. He turned and left without another word.

Dracula felt your distress and wrapped you in his arms in a comforting embrace. It was getting close to dawn now. He needed to find you a coffin before daylight broke. So, after he knew you were alright he left with Henry to the local cemetery to find you a coffin.

You wandered the castle ruins thinking about Lawrence. He had been your only friend in the world till now. No one else had stopped to give you a second thought, but he did. He was there for you when no one else was. At one point before you came to Transylvania, you thought you loved him, but he was too involved in his work. His work was his ultimate passion, and you knew you couldn't compete, so you never did. You sometimes wondered what it would be like if you had chosen a life with Van Helsing. Would you be a silly little domestic couple with a house and kids? It was an amusing thought, but neither of you were the type.

Finally, Dracula and Henry returned a little while later carrying a coffin. It wasnt anything fancy, but it would do. Perhaps later, you could get a better one. Sunlight started peeking in through the windows as they hurriedly carried it into the dungeons, placing your coffin beside Dracula's.

"Too bad they don't make couple's coffins." You joked.

"Maybe we could have one made." He teased, kissing your neck where he had bitten you, making you shudder. "I love you." You said softly running your fingers through his hair.

"I love you too." It was so pleasant to hear him utter those words. You wanted to hear him say it again and again.

"Sleep well, darling." You said with a yawn, as you lay down suddenly feeling tired. You took one last look at him before shutting the lid. This wasn't an ideal lifestyle, but you loved him and that's all that mattered.

The sun rose into the sky and the birds began to sing their morning song. It would have been a beautiful day if it not had been for the task that Van Helsing had set out to do. He crept back inside the castle, bag in hand, being careful not wanting to draw attention to himself. He stood in the doorway to the dungeons, contemplating his next move. His chest was heavy as the thought about driving a stake into your heart. But he had to do it. He slowly opened the door and walked inside, and down the flight of stairs to the room where Dracula's coffin had been earlier. Now he noticed, that there were two coffins lying side by side, one belonging to you.

He reached inside his bag and pulled out a hammer and a couple of stakes. Van Helsing strode over to your coffin and pulled open the lid. Inside, you lay looking peaceful and content, a small smile on your face. If only it didn't have to be this way...

He pressed the stake between your breasts and raised the hammer high into the air, ready to strike. But he couldn't. The longer he stared down into your beautiful face, the harder it became to do it. He closed his eyes. Maybe if he didn't look at you...But he just couldnt. Why was this so difficult?

Suddenly, a voice shouted out behind him startling him. "Hey! What are you doing?!" Henry shouted, running at him, tackling him to the ground.

"Stop!" Lawrence yelled, shoving Henry off of him. Not listening, Henry raised his fist and slammed it into the side of Van Helsing's face, quickly tearing the stake and hammer out of his grasp.

He shook his head, feeling dazed for a moment.

"How could you do that?! I thought you wanted her alive?!" Henry asked throwing away his weapons across the room.

"I did, but after seeing what she has become I couldnt let her live like that...but I can't do it. I can't release her from this curse....It's all my fault." Van Helsing sobbed, his head throbbing. This is why he never let anyone get close to him in the first place. He had only himself to blame for this. There had to be another way and he was going to find it by any means necessary.

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to Gang of Secrets!

I'm very late today at writing this because life ;-; You know it's a bigger episode when they start off with a problem. Ladybug doesn't want to detransform so she's desperate to find reasons to remain Ladybug. I love how the entire time, Chat Noir knows something's wrong and wants to get her to talk about what it is, but she just tries to pretend she's fine. If anything, Chat Noir would probably be the best person to talk to considering everything he's dealt with too both with Kagami and his responsibility as Chat! She could mention that she was seeing someone but they broke up because of her secret, and she could tell him how much being the Guardian's having an affect on her. All perfectly well and good without exposing any identities or things like that with questions for details asked. Instead she puts up a front with him and pretends she's okay in front of him and it's just so sad. :/ I understand why she doesn't, probably because she doesn't want him to know how much she's struggling. But ugh my heart hurts for her. Chat: I know where we can go where we won't have to talk! Ladybug: Yes, take me there Chat! *in the theater* Ladybug: You lead me into a trap. I MEAN HE'S NOT WRONG THOUGH! Not many places you can go where it's okay or encouraged to not talk without there being an awkward silence. But that cracked me UP. Also that casual attempt to wrap his arm around her lolol still hasn't give up, I see. I also find it simultaneously hilarious and extremely depressing that Ladybug's ranting like that in the theater because of a romance movie. When your heart is broken, that's probably the last thing you want to be doing. And Chat Noir yanking her down asking that she be quiet 😂 Literally just rants her entire love life out for everyone including Chat to hear in that theater. CHAT NOIR, YOU BETTER BE LISTENING BECAUSE SHE'S TALKING ABOUT ADRIEN HERE "She takes a long time to tell him and stutters and blah blah blah" lol sound familiar, sunshine? If anything please have him recall this later and be like, wait, didn't Ladybug say girls stutter around a guy when she likes him? BAM. Then he's off on his path towards Marinette. I can dream. Ladybug: And how do you know if he loves her? IMPOSSIBLE. Adrien: No, Marinette couldn't possibly be in love with me. *eyetwitch* But at the end of the day. This is Marinette ranting to Adrien about how she had to give up on Adrien and then couldn't make things work with Luka because of her secret. Ooof. And poor Chat having to apologize for everyone because Ladybug's disturbing them XDD THE GIRL SAVES EVERYBODY'S LIVES PRACTICALLY EVERY DAY AND THEY'RE PISSED SHE'S RUINING A MOVIE THEY CAN JUST REWATCH? 😂 She's clearly having a hard time right now, c'mon people! Chat can tell she has a broken heart. This boy is so sweet. He wants her to at least admit that and talk about it so she can feel better but you know, Ladybug's stubborn. I WANT TO GO SWIMMING LET'S GO SWIMMING CHAT, WOO HOOOOOO! Ladybug acting like Chat to hide her pain just like how Chat acts like Chat to hide his pain. YOU KNOW WHAT, IT'S FINE. :') It doesn't matter how much pain she's dealing with, those pictures mean too much to her to remove them. x3 Thanks Juleka for showing us how sad Luka is now, that's very helpful. Marinette's been going into the bathroom at school to cry, and then had planned stupid looking glasses to hide her tears so people wouldn't have to know she's cried because wearing a ridiculous pair of glasses that's embarrassing is better than being asked what's wrong. Because the pain I feel for her wasn't already enough. Ugh I adore Trixx. Trixx being the voice of reason when Tikki's not there, trying to help and letting her know that Tikki may need to rest too when she's so upset it doesn't cross her mind. And the tears in her eyes when she apologizes to Tikki for not thinking of her like she should. ;-; SO MUCH PAIN. OH DANG Alya was literally a second away from seeing a detransforming Marinette lol But she did say DETRANSFORMATION or well in the English dub it'll be "Spots

off" I love Rose, she's really sweet. and considerate But she also shouldn't be touching things in others rooms like that. I never liked it when my friends went around my room touching stuff. Also didn't help that a couple of them stole from me... but it's just not a cool thing to do. Would've probably ended up much better had she not had to desperately hide an exposed Miracle Box. But then we wouldn't have had what happens so it's all good c: Marinette saying she doesn't want to be friends with the girls anymore

It hit Alya deep. Everyone else is like *le gasp* but her eyes all shrunken like that, you can tell it really got to her hard.

This entire exchange right here. Alya's glance at her in the first picture is piercing, like I can feel that OOF feeling in my chest when I see it. The new music dramatizes it so well that a lot of people probably didn't pay attention to it the first time around. Can we just appreciate how these animators got all these emotions so right and did such a good job animating everything for us? And those that work on the music too? Everything's so spot on. Marinette's red-rimmed eyes is so well done. "No, it can't end like this!" Awww Alix getting super upset too x3 I honestly think Alix could be the next one.... you know what I mean BUT I'll wait until the end to talk about it. Trixx pulling a Plagg and rescuing Marinette! x3 I seriously love Trixx, I really do. I know the other Kwami's got mad, but if he hadn't done that it would've been disaster, probably. And the episode wouldn't have ended how it did! And Plagg knowing it was Trixx who caused the Eiffel Tower to be all weird xD Why do I get the feeling the relationship between Trixx and Plagg would be like that of Chat Noir and Rena Rouge? And I want to point out, we got 7 whole seconds of Adrien again! Aren't we lucky? The last time we got so little of Adrien in an episode was when we had his parallel episode Lies. I don't think that'll happen this time but I do hope it means more Adrien later on. Ladybug: They're after Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chat Noir: Okay but remember everybody likes her (so don't go thinking she's a bad person for causing their akumatizations) Yes, I read between the lines. Ladybug being able to get through to Lady Wifi and have her deakumatize herself was absolutely amazing! I know Chloe was the first to fight off being akumatized but once you're akumatized it's obviously extremely hard to break. That says a lot about Alya. "Because you're an incredible friend, Ladybug." One, AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Two, did you notice the little jerk of her head, gesturing to Ladybug like that when she said it?? It's the little details guys that make this so good. 😍 "Chat Noir, nooooo!" Guys, we got our tiny little Marichat scene! It's not actually real, but still! (okay but why do I also get this really weird feeling like something like this may end up being real later?) Alya giving Ladybug that hug 😭 Marinette has such good, supportive friends. I love them all. x.x YES THANK YOU. Alya's finally realizing there are more things going on with her than just boys. One of the things that's always irked me since Chameleon is that any issue Marinette has, be it with Lila or otherwise, she always assumes it has to do with Adrien. Of course, at the time she didn't know she was Ladybug but she should've still listened and realized there's something else up. But now she finally is noticing and I love how she was going to respect her regardless and not push. Pushing has always been one of Alya's characteristics, but she knew whatever it was was something too big and serious to push her on. "Marinette, I'm your best friend, and I always will be." 😭😭😭 This episode brought me so close to tears so many times. Marinette admitting she's keeping secrets, lying to everyone. Admitting that that's why she draws a line between her and Adrien, and why her and Luka didn't work out. Alya saying however heavy it is, they'll carry it together (MY HEART) And then Marinette saying "If I tell you, things between us will never be the same. It's going to destroy everything, change it all." It sounds like this girl is thinking about Chat Blanc and oop there's the sound of my heart breaking again. So much paaaain. "Je suis Ladybug." YESSSSSSS Why they had to leave it off on a cliffhanger But YESSSSSSS First, the expressions she had flash on her face, the gasp 😮, then the expression like she's trying to get her mind to process. Then if you notice, Marinette gives a little nod, as if letting her know that it's true. Then the way her eyebrows furrow and pulls her into the hug as she understands all that she has on her shoulders as that music plays. I'm getting

emotional just writing this. 😭 This episode is just so amazingly good in so many ways, I don't think I can actually cover it all. I'm very impressed. I've loved nearly every episode this show has put out, even those that a lot of people seem to hate. But this one, I don't see how this could actually be hated if you're trying to think of everything that happened from Marinette's point of view, her thoughts, feelings, struggles, depression. I will say, personally I hoped Chat Noir would learn who Ladybug is first. He's been such a good partner, very thoughtful, always putting his life on the line. He's also been dealing with a lot of the same struggles. I felt like he deserved to know first. However, this isn't about who deserves what, it's about what Marinette needs. It's not that she doesn't want to tell him who she is! Don't misunderstand. There are many times throughout the past 3 seasons where she wants to or regrets not being able to. But now, Chat Blanc's in her mind. She knows what could happen if she tells him with Hawk Moth still there, so she can't do it. So instead, she tries to pretend in front of him that she's fine even though talking to him about everything would help and fix so much. In her mind, that's not an option. I just hope that when he finds out she told someone else first, he doesn't think that she doesn't trust him enough to tell him. Next I thought maybe Alix. That way it'd be more understandable to Chat that she'd know, after all future Bunnyx clearly knows and said to Ladybug that she chose her because she's capable of keeping secrets (notice how Alya said that to Ladybug in the alley? I bet Alix will find out in the near future. Maybe not this season, but she'll find out.) But that's for another time. But now Alya knows! Her best friend, the one to have her back and will no doubt have it even more so now! Watch out, Lila. Alya doesn't hold back so I can imagine how vicious she could be to her (and I can't wait). And that brings up a very interesting thought. Alya will realize Adrien has been the only one to have her back in Lila situations. Why would he do that, hmm? When everyone else was so sure Lila's an angel and Marinette must be bad for saying anything negative about her. Journalist Alya, incoming! There's also the matters of Alya bringing up Marinette's feelings for Chat Noir because duh, everybody can see how much she loves him! There are even photos of them kissing, one of which happened in front of Alya's own eyes! Though affected by an akuma, they all know that kiss didn't happen because of it. And of course, Alya has brought up twice in the show so far that Adrien and Chat Noir could be the same person. And last time Alya said that neither of them could be Ladybug and Chat Noir. Except, she's now found out that Marinette is Ladybug. So maybe Adrien could after all be Chat Noir. I look forward to seeing how their new dynamic is. I wonder how this affects their relationship with the other girls. And I'm most curious about how Nino and Adrien may react to this change. I thought during Truth and Lies both that their best friends were going to find out about their breakups. Gang of Secrets was Alya finding out. Even though I feel like another parallel episode is just wishful thinking, I can't help but think it may be a possibility. Nino and the boys are going to wonder what's up with Adrien too. They're going to wonder why he's not with Kagami anymore so suddenly. So what if i the end, Chat Noir ends up telling Nino? I could see it, if this takes place shortly after Gang of Secrets, where she tells Chat that she's confided her identity in a very close friend and somehow they agree that he can tell someone too that he trusts to make it fair. It'd be an amazing way to exercise Ladybug's trust in Chat Noir too. Then we'd have both Alya and Nino in on it, keeping their best friend's secrets for them without knowing about the other one. Oh that'd be so beautiful! And also let them keep their Miraculouses too after the charms are given to them and Alya has the ability to break

free after being akumatized. I adore Rena and Carapace so much I'd be ecstatic if they kept them. 😭 Anyway, so much potential can come out of this episode and I honestly cannot wait until episode 4!!

[dailyzzy]

What If- and just hear me out for a second- redbone bojack horseman au.

Deku is Sarah Lynn (his job and giving up on his dreams really fucked him up, he mostly uses drugs as a way to cope with everything happening around him. Bakugou was the one that introduced him to alcohol for the first time when they were kids, bragging to his "friends" about drinking his mothers vodka once and calling Deku a cry baby for not wanting to try, Izuku drank, mostly out of anxiety and ended up getting drunk. Bakugou and his friend dragged him home and said that they found Izuku like that (inko lectured him a lot about It but Izuku couldnt bring himself to snitch) which was the start of his addiction.)

The story could pass through Bakugous pov mostly, still being a murder mistery, but with oh so much more angst. Kirishima gives me Todd vibes, so unfortunely for him Bakugou also isnt that good to him. He always assumes kirishima os an extra and didnt bother learning about his life until It was of interest to him. I think that the betrayal that happened in bojack horseman on the first season wouldve happened back in UA, Kirishima told bakugou about his insecurities (mostly with his quirk) and about this wonderful internship opportunity, Bakugou got scared of kiri leaving him once he made a name for himself and made him fail/miss the Interview (idk If he would Just make fake accounts and Bully kiri online so his anxiety was so high he wouldnt be able to do good or If he would just mix up kiris papers in order for him to miss the Interview).

Aizawa is a mixture of princess Carolyn and basicallly every single person on the show who noticed patterns and behaviors, but didnt do antything, hes an enabler. I woudl say later, when he realizes just how bad his ignorance affected those around him he would probably regret It, but for now him caring for Eri and the fact his students are already adults is the excuse he uses to not confront people. Thats not to say he isnt a good father, just like princess Carolyn he had a hard time adjusting parenting with work (he secretly has always wanted a child of his own, but never thought he would get the chance to have one) and pretends to give his child the childhood he never had.

Bakugou isnt the only 'villain' tho, i think It would be unfair to base the whole au around him or anyone in particular (many actions of bojack and character arcs will be displayed in different characters) Bakugou is a mixture of herb kazzaz and a side of bojack horseman. Shinsou was a dear friend to him (Hitoshi noticed the way he treated people, but never really cared) back in the first year of UA, they were rival-friends sort of deal. Shinsou introduced him to drugs, and a similar situation that happened with kid deku happened with teenage Bakugou, katsuki got caught and basically begged Shinsou to give out his dealers contact, otherwise Bakugou would be assumed to have been dealing and selling the drugs himself (seeing the large amount found back at his dorm room) hitoshi said he would do it, but Aizawa put quite a pression on him to deny anything, and thats exactly what he did. Bakugou was almost expelled and got a big red mark on his curriculum. He did save Kota on the Summer camp, and give quite some good advice.

The Bojack drug would probably be called Dynamight.

Shinsou is basicallly another side of bojack and Diane together (severely depressed, basically) , he has addiction problems (many times pushed people to get involved too) and has a deep self hatred, but still tries his best to be a better person. The problem is, hes still selfish and cynical, mainly the person at fault for Todoroki having had to go through rehab on his early 20's and many times inviting Izuku to do drugs together even though he knows just how bad dekus addiction is. He loves and cares for Eri like a little sister, and genuely tries to help Todoroki, but unfortunely good intentions dont mean good actions. Not to say he doesn't do anything selfless or good, he never pressioned Todoroki after rehab (neither Izuku after he became sober (Bakugou would be the one to lead him to his death)) and gives pretty good advice when hes sober. His biggest dream is to do sonething with his life, to make the world a little bit better. Hes quite intellegent and informed in todays affairs (him and Izuku have plenty of good convos and Todoroki isnt an ignorant fool mainly because of him). He worked on a case that investigated the hero comission and risked his entire career to try to expose a bit of Injustice, even If he wasnt sucefull he was still willing to risk It all for his morals.

Holyhock's arc could go through Todorokis eyes, he never quite forgave his mom and she was much more cruel than in canon, Rei would start showing signs of dementia very early in her life. Endeavor cheated quite a lot and had a illegitamet (idk how to spell) child with a side kick. He became sober ever since rehab and lived quite a good life, even with some shitty actions and shitty people around him. Things started to go down after his mom showed up and only worsened once she had to live with him.

(im kinda tired now so ill write more later.)

Wow, you really thought this through 😳 I'm impressed

And although Redbone characters are not as deep as Bojack's (or maybe not as realistic as Bojack's), some behavioral patterns can be found between these two anyway.

You have good ideas, if you ever write a fic or smth, hmu 👀

[honeysidesarchived]

WHERE THERE IS NO TEMPTATION, THERE IS NO GLORY.

⊱ a santino d'antonio / oc short-fic

pt. iii: tra i due litigante terzo gode ( read on ao3 ) ( masterlist )

words: 3.6k

warnings: mentions of animal death (canon-typical), clown on clown violence.

rating: m/t

notes: putting this little project of mine up on the internet for strangers to see was incredibly nerve-wracking, but i have been so lucky to be received so kindly by folks! thank you to everyone who reads, it really means the absolute most to me.

i don't know if i mentioned this before, but you can find translations for the (google-translated) italian at the bottom of each chapter on my ao3. i know it's a hassle, i'm sorry!! just can't find an easy place to put them here without spoiling what's going on in the chap ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

thank you as always to my lovely beta @starcrier, my lover my life my shawty my wife; this could not be done at all without you. ♡ and to @belorage, who loves euphie enough to send me the cutest message that managed to kick my ass into gear to get this chapter edited!!

Two days after the engagement party, when Santino has finally made up for his delay and lateness, is when he ruins it all again.

Later, Euphemia will think that he can’t help it—he is destined to be a wrecker, a ruiner, even if it’s for himself. It’s not his fault, not really, she’ll say. Ignoring that he is a perfectly autonomous adult means that she can excuse his thoughtlessness and not call it selfishness.

One of Santi’s men tries to tell her that he’s busy as she strides through the museum, heels clipping the floor with a strict, stark cadence. The smell of the doctor’s office is still stuck in her palette. She feels a wad of anxiety, anticipation, coiling deep in the pit of her stomach, a black stone dropped there to torture her with its heaviness. Santino will be happy, she thinks absently, chewing the inside of her cheek as she moves. He’s always wanted this.

The man is keeping pace with her well enough, despite her long legs and the purpose with which she walks to one of the back rooms of the museum.

“Bella,” he says, reaching to stop her, “per favore, he is in a meeting.”

The words put a sour taste in her mouth. Busy, the man is trying to say, too busy for you, for this, right now.

“Trust me, Gianni,” she replies dryly, “he’ll want to make time for this.”

She takes two steps into the room past the other guards, who don’t bother trying to stop her. The room is marked primarily by a high ceiling, which allows all of the paintings to be hung in it in their varying degrees of size. Euphemia recognizes Santino sitting on the bench first, and then another man that he’s talking to. The man looks like he’s just come off of the streets, his hair dark and the scruff that she can see on the side of his face manicured enough to look like he just hasn’t bothered recently.

It takes Euphemia’s brain a few seconds to register the facial features of the man who turns to look at her over his shoulder. He would be nothing, mean nothing, to her if she didn’t see the way his expression flattened, his gaze sweeping over her—calculating. Measuring. Identifying.

He looks dirty, unshowered, covered in soot, and she thinks back to two nights ago when Santino showed up to their engagement party smelling like fire and gunpowder.

Santino stands abruptly. He might be angry, or perhaps worried; it’s hard to tell the difference with him. But she can’t look at him, anyway, her gaze fixed on the stranger who is not much of a stranger at all, who she knows because of the scary stories. The rest of the world may as well be melting down around her, some sick Van Gogh painting, and she can’t look away.

John Wick has dark eyes. Shark’s eyes, she thinks. Black, soulless. Like the glass eyes on a teddy bear. She feels her stomach lurch as fear washes over her in a slick, wet wave, reminding her that she’s already received one bout of stressful news this afternoon.

He watches her. She’s sure he’s sizing her up—that is what John Wick is made to do—but after a second, he glances to Santino, gauging his reaction. If he thinks she's any kind of a threat, he's not letting it show.

“I told you not to let anyone in,” Santi says angrily to Gianni, helpless behind her—because Gianni would have never dared to grab her arm to stop her, would have never thought it acceptable to handle her like street rabble.

“Santi,” Euphie says, feeling very small and very far away and somewhere that her body isn't, “who is that?”

She knows, but she wants to hear him say it.

He steps around the bench, excusing himself from his conversation with Wick and crossing the space between them to guide her out of the room with his hands on her arms. She lets him, not because she isn’t burning with rage but because if Santino doesn’t show her where to go, Euphemia will just stand there, fear driving icy-hot spears through her chest.

He takes her as far as around the corner of the room, maybe to put as much space between her and John Wick as he can afford, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. She starts to shrug his hands off of her, and oh, there it is—the shrieking, panging fear, and fury, boiling inside of her. Venomous, indignant. Her mind is a mess of color and noise and she’s vaguely aware that maybe she should be working hard to keep her voice down, but it no longer matters.

A lot of things shouldn’t have happened that did. What’s one more?

“You brought him here?” She can feel her voice bordering on hysteria. “Are you a fucking idiot, Santi? What part of I don’t want John Wick near my life—”

“Euphie, Euphie, Euphie,” Santi says, trying his sweet-talk; condescending, like he’s speaking to a child. “Lower your voice, tesora, and we’ll talk about it.”

Her hand moves of its own accord, a knee-jerk reaction to Santi sweetly telling her to shut up, and she slaps him. Hard. As hard as she can manage. The second her palm connects with the side of his face, and the needles start stinging in her palm, she thinks that she regrets it: but all she can really think about is the pure fear and rage coursing through her body, pummeling adrenaline through her bloodstream until she feels like she’s going to be sick.

And, a little, too, a warmth blooming in her chest: satisfaction.

Santino's head doesn't turn back to her right away. There is a heartbeat of a moment where only silence reigns, where his fingers reach and touch the place her palm had made contact with, like he can't believe she did it. Maybe he can't, but then he'd be a bigger idiot than Euphemia thought.

He turns to face her again and holds up a hand—perhaps to call for a moment of inaction, or to be prepared for a second blow, she’s not sure and she doesn’t care. Santi begins, his voice a low threat, “Do not do anything else you're going to regret, Euphemia.”

Anything else you’re going to regret, he says, as though she will regret having done this.

“Fuck you,” she snaps, her voice rising in volume further yet. The poison reverberates on the high, smooth glass ceiling, bouncing off of the marble walls until it’s all echoing around them. “He knows what I look like, what—what I sound like, he knows my name, Santi, you—”

She's pushing him, hitting his chest; an impatient and weak battering. She wants both to get him away from her as much as possible and keep him close. Santi catches her wrists with bruising force, trapping her and making her look at him.

“Euphemia, basta—if you had waited,” he bites out, “then—”

“I’m pregnant!” The words leave her in a visceral, furious shout, her heart thundering in her chest, her flight or fight demanding one or the other. She rips her wrists from his grip. It feels like her entire body is vibrating. “You fucking idiot—I was late, I just got back from the doctor, and—and you’re not supposed to have him here anyway! You promised me, Santino D’Antonio, you promised me!”

There is a heartbeat of time, of space, where her fiance stares at her like he doesn’t quite think that she’s real. Red blooms on his cheek where her hand made contact and the dark of his pupils has all but swallowed up the beautiful green of his irises. Finally, something seems to kick the gears back into motion, and he plunges on, catching his footing.

“Euphie,” Santi says, reaching for her again, “Euphie, listen to me. John came to me, I didn’t—”

“I don’t need a fucking history lesson, Santino!” Euphemia spits, brushing his hand away from her arm. Blood is rushing through her head, louder and louder, demanding she raise her own volume to be heard over it. “I told you to leave him alone. You insisted, and I thought that was the end of it—you came late to the party that night because of him, isn’t that right? So why is he here, Santi? Why is John Wick near me and my baby?”

Santino stares at her. She can see the flex of his jaw when his teeth clench, trying to maintain what shred of control he has. He swallows, lifting a finger, to indicate one minute, and it takes all of her self-control not to scream at him that he doesn’t get any more minutes. But there is some pleasure in seeing him a little ruffled; to see the way his eyes dart over her face, trying to keep everything collected neatly in his mind, filed away for premium use. She wants to shake him until he is really rattled.

“It may have taken more persuasion than I anticipated,” Santi says finally, at last.

Euphemia makes a sound something like wrecking, like grief, because she knew this was going to happen and he told her it wouldn’t but here they are anyway. It’s a death knell, ringing in her ribcage, in the cavity of her chest. Dead, dead, dead, we’re all fucking dead now, don’t you see it? You, and me, and now our baby, dead like stones.

He continues quickly, over the sound of her agony, “But that doesn’t matter—cara mia, listen to me, it doesn’t matter because now John will do what I ask him to, and we don’t have to worry about anything else. Euphie, Euphie—come here, we'll talk about this.”

She’s going to be sick. The doctor’s words are still rolling around in her head; avoid stress, make sure you sleep and eat well. Can’t be worrying that baby, can we, Miss Volpe? Make sure your fiance does all the work, hm?

“It does matter. It matters the most, Santi, I—I told you to leave him be, I told you, and you said that you would only ask and that would be it—”

She’s grieving, now, lamenting the loss of her happiness, the hysteria taking a melancholic edge in her voice as the sorrow sweeps over her. Santi keeps reaching for her, to try and ground her back to him, and for the first time since she met him she just can’t stand to feel him touching her, saying her name, trying to sweet-talk her. His hands sweep her shoulders, coming up for his thumb to brush the nape of her neck; instinctively, her shoulders scrunch up to disembark them, arms shoving his off of her.

He says, “Tesora, we can talk about this—”

“You did exactly what I asked you not to,” she manages out, taking a step back from him. “I ask you for two things, Santi. Helping my mother, and not putting yourself at war with John Wick. I do not—you should not have asked him at all!”

“Euphie—”

By the time Santino reaches for her again, she’s turning and walking away, her steps unsteady. She’s sure that she’s sweating, or crying, or maybe both or neither and her body is just kicking into overdrive with gut-wrenching sweeps of grief rocking through her body now that she’s got Baba Yaga fifteen feet from her. From her and her baby.

“Euphie!” Santino’s voice echoes down the main hall of the museum, lighter now. Almost like they never argued at all. “We’ll talk when I get home, si? Mi amore?”

Euphemia is certain she’s never heard a sentence more infuriating in her entire life. It sparks something violent in her. It had been dormant, had stepped aside for her mourning, but it catches fire the second Santino says, we’ll talk when I get home.

Incensed, she turns and slides the engagement ring off of her finger, throwing it as hard as she can at him. Gianni had been trailing her, certainly at Santino's behest, and he tries to stop her—but it's too late, the fury inside of her forcing her to move more quickly than Gianni anticipates.

He catches her around the waist and she considers, briefly, the logistics of wrenching Gianni's arm off of her to go and slap Santino again; instead, she watches the expensive engagement ring bounce off of the front of Santino's jacket and clatter on the floor.

The way he tilts his head, as though expecting her to lob it at his face, and the irritated expression that comes over him is almost as good as actually having hit her original target of that pretty face of his.

Then, it’s pure, sheer, furious indignation that crosses Santi’s face, but she has no time to think about what that means for her.

“Fuck you, Santi,” she bites out venomously. “Fuck. You. Don’t fucking bother coming home.”

“Bella,” Gianni says, “we should get you back.”

Euphemia debates slapping Gianni, too, but it would be unfair; in his defense, he did try to keep her out of the room. She turns and marches her way out, the doors slamming shut behind her and the cold air of New York in the fall washing over her. As Gianni speaks on the phone and calls the driver around, she glances up at the sky; gray and soft as wedding silk, it stretches, endless, cut in pieces by the skyscrapers parsing it out.

A fool, she thinks. Santino has always made a fool out of me, and this is no one’s fault but my own.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Two hours later, Euphemia hears him enter the loft. He lets the door click shut softly behind him, not slamming it, not storming through. She expected no less; Santi so rarely lets the anger really take hold of him, so rarely lets himself scream or yell or throw something. I’m marrying a fucking sociopath, she thinks, but there’s no heat to the thought; only exhaustion, only a tiredness that goes bone-deep

Even now, she still thinks of it as present tense: she’s marrying a sociopath, as though she didn’t try to hit him in the face with the engagement ring he picked out for her just hours ago, as though in the end, she will still be his. She will.

“Are you calmed down?” Santino asks, in the way that only he could manage—condescending, and soft. Euphemia can’t withhold the vicious scoff that rolls out of her the second he talks.

“I told you not to come home,” she replies tartly, “but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. You are apparently as deaf as you are stupid.”

“So no, then.”

“What do you want me to say, Santi?” Euphemia demands, looking at him now. She’s got a suitcase out but there’s nothing in it; she can’t bring herself to pack, to think about going back home to Tuscany where her mother is waiting, barely sober because she can only stay sober for about a month at a time before she falls back to her old habits. “Why don’t you invite our friend John Wick up for dinner, hm? I’m sure he’d like that, after you did whatever you did to make him show up here. Perhaps you took a page out of that idiot Iosef’s book and killed his new dog?”

“He owes me,” Santino insists, glossing over her needling, “and I will get what I am owed.”

She has to resist the urge to roll her eyes. “Do you know how fucking stupid you sound?” she asks, incredulous. “If I die before telling you how incredibly, disgustingly stupid you sound when you say that, then I will—”

Santino kisses her. He does it because he knows that she’s not expecting it, and it has its desired effect; she stills, all of the furious energy like bottled lightning capped again. He kisses her softly, with no rage, but she can feel it woven into the sinew of his posture.

She thinks about slapping him again. But he probably knows that, because he grabs her hands, gripping them in his; the pressure is more relaxing than it is infuriating, which almost drives her mad, but it does what Santino always does. It pulls her apart until all that’s left is the hurt, the fear, welling up inside of her like a tidal wave crashing into the shore.

“He’s doing what I asked,” he murmurs. “And then we’ll be done with John Wick. Mia piccola volpe, look at me.”

“No,” she says, trying to sound angry but it comes out an agonized sound; she’s crying before she can stop herself, tears burning the edges of her eyes and a big, wet gasping breath necessary for her to keep going. “No, I don’t want to look at you anymore, Santi—”

“He’s doing what I ask, and then I promise, you and I will be done with John Wick forever.” His voice is urgent and insistent. “The three of us, tesora. Isn’t that right? You weren’t just saying that to get back at me?”

She nods, numbly. They had been careful, because she’d said she wasn’t ready—but mistakes happened. Pills got forgotten. She wishes that she could have lied about it and kept it secret. Maybe he’d be acting differently now if she wasn’t carrying his child; maybe his face would be something else.

“Euphie,” he whispers, taking her face in his hands. “My perfect, gorgeous Euphie—my greatest piece of art.” He kisses her cheeks, her nose, her forehead. “And the one with the most bite, too, even when you are so ungrateful for the things that I do. My face still hurts.”

“Good,” Euphemia manages out, her voice wobbling. “You deserve it. Idiota.”

“Maybe,” Santi replies. He tucks her against his chest and kisses her hair. “I never thought I would piss you off enough to get you to hit me—and you did cause quite a scene in front of Wick.”

“Stop.” Just the sound of that monster’s name makes her stomach churn. “Stress is bad for the baby.”

He laughs, the first real laugh in what feels like days since he’s decided on this path with John Wick. “Fine, I will not mention him again. But know that after this, it will be done. Permanently. Forever. Si? Tell me you understand, Euphie.”

She’s so tired. She’s so tired down into her core, the kind of tired that doesn’t go away with a nap or a cup of coffee. “Si,” she replies, closing her eyes. “Capisco, Santi.”

Somehow, Santi’s words that things will be done “permanently” with John Wick only manage to make her more uneasy.

She can’t remember what exactly carries her through the rest of the evening. She remembers calling her mother to check on her, to ask if she’s keeping up with her meetings. She can’t bring herself to come clean about the surprise pregnancy; it’s early, anyway, and her mother would only stress her out more.

“Sei la mia stella più preziosa,” her mother says. “Ti amo, Effie.”

“Yes, mama,” Euphie sighs, unable to say the words back. “Buona notte.”

She hits the red end call button on the phone screen, setting it face-down on the countertop and leaning her palms against the marble. God, she knows that she’d fucking kill a man for a drag of a cigarette—but she could never. Not now. Not when she has—

The sound of paper on the countertop stirs her from her half-bent position. Santino slides it across to her, setting a pen down next to her hand. It’s their marriage certificate. He’s already signed it, and while she stares at it numbly, he takes her left hand and puts the engagement ring back on her finger, but this time with the diamond wedding band he’d picked out as well.

“Santi,” she starts, but he tsks his tongue, quieting her. She’s too tired to be offended.

“Sign the certificate, amore,” he says. “Do not fuss. You’re going to stop throwing this ring at me, yes?”

There are a million reasons not to sign it: but the words that came out of her mouth are, “We don’t have the witnesses or the officiant.”

“Do we need a witness or officiant greater than God himself?” Santino replies. He leans against the counter from the other side, watching her. He is polished, pristine. Any remains of her earlier transgression against him are now completely gone, at least the physical marks. She’s sure that he won’t forget very soon that she raised a hand against him. “Sign it, Euphie, and be my wife.”

She stares at the paper. She feels like she’s melting; her life can’t be real anymore, not when John Wick was, just hours ago, feet away from her, and she’s pregnant, and now Santino is asking her to sign their marriage certificate right now.

The implications fill her with dread. What’s the rush? If nothing’s wrong, if they’ll be done with John Wick, what’s the rush?

“You said that you had nothing before me,” Santino says, breaking her out of her eerie, absent-minded disconnect. He brushes the hair from her face. “You will never have nothing again.”

Euphemia signs the certificate in a haze. It doesn’t feel any different after; she doesn’t feel different and neither does Santino in relation to her, and the realization that they had felt married for a few years now sinks down on her.

Santino rounds the counter to her, taking her face and kissing her; her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, the corner of her mouth and eventually just kissing her. His hand smooths over her stomach, admiring, and he brushes their noses together.

“Perfetto e tutto mio,” he murmurs, his voice barely audible. “Isn’t that right, Euphemia?”

She replies, without thinking, “Si, sono tuo.”

Always, she thinks, always yours, whether I like it or not.